15202 réponses à ce sujet

[Alesia_BH]

Congratulations, Corey!

 

Corarcher's second battle with Mel was a thriller. Those close calls are always fun. Good luck with Corerage II.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

@Everyone else. Let's try to get a victory streak going. You're up next, Eyesore and Danya.

[Blackraven]

Fantastic Corey! What a comeback you made there!   
Congratulations with the first Archer in the Hall of Heroes!

[corey_russell]

Thanks you two - several times this run I thought it was going to be over (2nd Melissan battle, getting pinned by Abazigal) - I'm glad Coracher succeeded - I won't have to play rangers for a while. (e.g., usually I only create characters who class I don't already have a trilogy success with).

[Aasim]

Great stuff Corey! Congrats! And a real thriller as well!

[Alesia_BH]

Arcadia, Half-Elven Fighter/Mage: Trademeet and Back Again

 

Arcadia has become the hero of Trademeet and returned to the City of Coin. Upon her arrival in Athkatla, she enjoyed a series of welcome home parties: three, in fact.

 

Arcadia sallied forth from the City Gates to Watcher's Keep, looking to buy a potion case. She expected a visit from an old friend, but Suna was a no show. Next, it was off for a convo with the mayor of Wakeenerville, followed by a little cowardly heroism in the Druid Grove. Lacking a proper fire damage melee weapon, I decided to stealth through the Druid Grove. A prophylactic SI:D was used to thwart any potential divination action from the nature boys.

 

Snagged Belm, looped around the cottage to avoid the shambling mounds, and then greeted Cernd.

 

Once again, I took the path of least resistance against Faldorn by letting Cernd challenge her out of the party. Cernd can not be beaten this way, but my install makes me pay for my cowardice. Faldorn doesn't really fight. Instead, she goes Ironskins-> Improved Invisibility, rinse and repeat- without ever breaking invisibility to attack. Her level is pretty high, so those IIs last awhile and the battle ends up being excruciatingly long. A few rounds into the first Improved Invisibility I fired up Love Boat Season 3, Episode 1: Alaska Wedding Cruise. I was almost halfway in by the time Faldorn fell. I got past the part where Alicia admits that she's been borrowing money from Uncle Frisky (never borrow money from Uncle Frisky), I got past Julie McCoy's romantic flashback with Tony Roberts, I got past the happy couple's arrival on the cruise deck, and past the Pacific Princess's departure from Vancouver Bay. I even got past Gopher's attempt at bigamy. If you've seen the episode you know that's a fracking long time for a scripted BG battle.

 

Anyhoo. Cernd won, and Arcadia returned to Trademeet. There, she nixed the Dao, wielding the Enchanted Weapon long sword, running Stoneskins, Strength, Spirit Armor, MSD, Resist Fear, Pro Evil, Blur, MI, II, SI:D, SI:A, DUHM.

 

Claimed Harmony, and then used the duckets to buy the Belt of Inertial Barrier and the Cloak of Displacement. Ras will have to wait.

 

Next, Arcadia returned to the city, hitting the Graveyard District to claim Pale Green and Namarra. Went with Ghost Armor instead of Spirit Armor here and layered in Fire Shield: Red.

 

Got one of those crazy huge VT hitpoints buffs in that fight.

 

By now Arcadia was dressed for success. Where's the party? There it is!

 

Arcadia opened with RoAC II. She then ran north, and layered in SI:D, insuring that she'd have time to finish buffing before the festivities started.

 

Cut the buffing short to conserve II time, and turned it into a surprise party with a stealth Sunfire. Surprise!

 

That toasted the casters, permitting Arcadia to ditch Harmony in favor of The Reflex. Diced Suna while Eldarin and his buds bounced arrows off The Reflex.

 

Layered in DUHM and then finished.

 

Now, one thing Arcadia did not do was use her last II. I figured since the ambushes were back logged, Arcadia might see more old friends. Sure enough.

 

Casting the last II just before making the transition gave Arcadia the option of leaving, but with her saves buffed to 0 and MSD still running, she decided to mount a little rescue. Mr. Efreeti lent a helping hand.

 

Last party. Opening Sunfire did most of the work.

 

Current character record, sans save buffs.

 

Arcadia is now resting at the Flagons, admiring her recently acquired Boots of Avoidance. She'll leave for the Umar Hills soon.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Grond0]

Well done Corey - and a lovely screenshot.  Got to love Mel's decision making there!

[Alesia_BH]

Arcadia, Half-Elven Fighter/Mage: Umar Hills

 

Arcadia has defeated the Shade Lord. The sun is shinning and Mayor Lloyd is feeling fine. He's chillin' on the patio, drinking De'Tranion's Baatorian ales with Malduf.

 

Getting to the Umar Hills was the sketchiest part. Here we see Arcadia casting Invisibility upon arrival at the City Gate district.

 

Why you ask? If you guessed that Arcadia was too broke to buy Breach scrolls, and consequently didn't want to trigger the bullied merchant encounter, you've got part of the answer. The other part -the more important part- is that she had cast Invisibility here once before, just before leaving for Trademeet. Why does that matter? Well, she didn't have her license yet then (rusty me thought it was a free casting zone). And even though she has a license now, it occurred to her that the Cowleds might be waiting for her. Sure enough they were. And with an SCS spawn boost installed, they looked pretty scary.

 

Now is not the time for Arcadia to be fighting random mages with L9 slots, so Arcadia just bailed. She heard a vita just as she reached the gate. And BoIB or no, she had no desire to hear a mortis let alone a careo. Into the woods, and then to the temple.

 

The battles here were straight-foward, but there were a couple wrinkles. Running her buffs, and with her shield equipped, Arcadia has a base AC of -11. Factoring in II, and Pro Evil where applicable, that makes her pretty much unhittable in early-mid SoA save for criticals. The skeleton warriors in the welcoming committee were no exception. They and their pups fell before getting through Arcadia's MIs, let alone her skins.

 

Some of you may be wondering why Arcadia bothers with Fireshield: Red in battles like this, given that few enemies connect. That's a good question. She likes having a Fireshield up more for the feedback than the damage. It makes it easier for her to maintain a stoneskin layer count, facilitating timely refresh.

 

After collecting the sun gem, Arcadia went back to the focusing crystal platform for a snooze. Rebuffed, she finished off the bridge blokes and the second skelly crew. Sunfires helped.

 

But Arcadia's AC did the heavy lifting.

 

Since the Bone Golem may have had the THAC0 to hit, Arcadia treated him with more care. She had Mr. Effreeti run distraction while she whacked monster mash with Tuigan.

 

Last skeleton warrior.

 

Botched the ritual, but an MSD ate the Flame Strike.

 

So, onto the Shade Lord, and sketchy moment two. Spent too much time buffing in Thaxy's crib.

 

That was a bummer, because I had been planning to fight the Shade Lord sans Pro Undead, but once Thaxy advanced the time table, Arcadia just slapped the scroll on and leapt through the door. Sunstone bullet for the altar, Seeking and a Sunfire for Shadow Patrick, Shade Lord in melee: Quest complete.

 

I'll post on the Mencar battle soon.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Got to love Mel's decision making there!

 

I know right. Good thing she didn't just say: "Minions! Finish up! Auntie Mel needs a breather."

[Alesia_BH]

Arcadia Half-Elven Fighter/Mage: Mencar and Co

 

Just tacking on the Mencar fight. This was another battle where buffs won the day.

 

The pre-buffs here were Stoneskins, Potion of Stone Giant Strengh, Ghost Armor, MSD, Pro Evil, Resist Fear, Blur, MI, Fireshield: Red, II, SI:A, SI:D, DUHM. Talked smack with Mencar, and then opened with Sunfire-> Namarra  on Amon.

 

That was basically all it would take, given that the melee guys weren't going to connect against Arcadia's AC.

 

Mencar eventually figured it out and panicked.

 

Orcslicer joined him when Arcadia landed a critical.

 

Finished Mencar with Seeking, just as he was about to split.

 

Orcslicer took one last critical.

 

Brennan, sadly escaped. As for Pooky, he actually survived the opening Sunfire. He had just decided to vanish since he couldn't do anything against Arcadia's buffs. Mr. Efreeti drew him out and finished him with a Flame Arrow.

 

Arcadia will head off to the De'Arnise Keep soon, now sporting Vecna.

 

 

Best,

 

A.

[Blackraven]

You're making good progress Alesia! Very promising, here's hoping you can keep this up.

[Alesia_BH]

Thanks. Sleep is priority one right now (or maybe wine, Alaska Wedding Cruise: Part 2, and then sleep), but the questing will continue in the morn.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Gate70]

Congratulations Corey.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Congratulations, Corey, with yet another success! That was a narrow escape in the second part of the final countdown (exactly where my Cleric/Illusionist fell back then vs vicious Slayer Shadows) - glad you made it through!

[Alaestr]

Congratulations to Corarcher, his party and their operator. The tension was present all the way through ToB making for an enjoyable read. 

 

Regarding SCS mages, HLAs and Mazes/Imprisonments. My installation adds HLAs to certain high-level mages in SoA, I hadn't played with this option before though, so was surprised that spellhold's Jon had them. Secondly, my Berserker/Mage has died recently to Warden's Maze and he was played solo, so there is no rule which prohibits mages to cast mazes on your solo character. 

[Epsil0]

Congratulations to Corearcher's success! I saw a new character in the BG1 thread, and my heart dropped; I didn't think ToB could be finished that quickly (Or maybe it's the fact that I treat Watcher's keep as part of ToB and usually do it between Abizagal and Sendai...) And Arcadia's moving fast, and even your "rough spots" are a whole lot cleaner than the majority of my cleanest victories.

[corey_russell]

Thank you everyone for the congratulations! Archer is a good class, but definitely not my style, so was glad to succeed the first time (I usually pick classes I don't have a trilogy success yet).

[Blackraven]

Glorydd, Dwarven Fighter/Thief, 1st update

Glorydd has recently arrived in Amn, after having lived many adventures on the Sword Coast. You can read about the start of those adventures here, while an account of her triumph over Sarevok can be read here.

Glorydd was happy to be in the great outdoors again after many weeks had been spent mostly in the city of Baldur's Gate. Being free of worries about possible assassins, bounty hunters or even lawmen on her trail, only added to her bliss until south of Nashkel a light-headedness befell her. Initially she ignored it, but after an hour or so, she felt the need to sit down, and did so, against a tree. Soon after she laid herself down, flat on the ground, her face in the grass. The Dwarf closed her eyes for a moment. But suddenly, murmuring voices sounded right next to her. She failed to register the words. She attempted to get up again, but hadn't the strength. And then nothing, just blackness...

 

Time passed. Hours, days, weeks, maybe even months. Glorydd had no concept of time when flashes of consciousness returned to her. What she did realize during these flashes, was that her reality wasn't pretty: a prison cell, the permanent smell of death and decay, painful magics torturing her, a desire to die, a strange male with a leathery face examining her. 

 

"Wake up you! Glorydd, come on, wake up!" a familiar female voice kept saying. Images of innocent days filled Gloydd's mind. Candlekeep, Gorion, Arkanis, Phlydia, Imoen... Imoen! Glorydd opened her eyes and looked straight at her old friend who had somehow ended up in the same prison, and had just opened her cell door.  

 

The two girls hadn't seen each other in months. Glorydd had expected to find Imoen in Candlekeep during her visit there to investigate the Iron Throne, but her friend hadn't been there. A tear ran down her face as she studied the dear friend whose company she had rejected because of the bounty hunters that had been after her. The lass looked different, scarred in her face, and her eyes were sad. Imoen explained to Glorydd that a powerful wizard had been messing with their minds and bodies. She helped Glorydd back up on her feet, and led her to a small room that contained some gear, stashed in a chest. It wasn't Glorydd's gear, but a suit of mundane leather armor, a unenchanted short sword, a helmet and a small shield were better than nothing. She also picked up a Katana. Equipped with said items, she felt the survivor she had always been rise up in her again. The adrenaline released by the thought of a possible but no doubt dangerous escape did away with the lethargy and feebleness that Glorydd had become used to during the wizard's experimentations.

 

Glorydd instructed Imoen to stay back. She would lead the way for her friend. In the room with the cells the Dwarf released two more prisoners: Jaheira, the bossy Half-Elf she had briefly met at the Friendly Arm Inn (had that woman been following her?), and one Minsc, a loud, befuddled Rashemaan berserker Ranger that claimed to know her. Glorydd had no use for either of them, for she had decided to rely on her stealth ability to explore the dungeon.

She followed a narrow hallway lit by torches that led into a small room with an engine that was humming with electrical energy. A small winged creature, a Mephit, Glorydd remembered from her lessons in Candlekeep, was guarding the engine, but it didn't see the hidden Dwarf. She moved a switch to stop the engine from working and then moved on to enter a cavelike area where she was greeted by a Djinni that wanted to play a game of riddles with her. Glorydd told the creature she had no time for such games, and continued her exploration. In several corridors she scouted more Mephits as well as small bands of Duergar Dwarves, an evil race, she knew well enough, and evil were their intentions with her as soon as she spoke to one of them: they were out to kill her. A Djinni, Mephits and Duergar; Glorydd wondered where she was. None of these creatures she had ever encountered before on the Sword Coast.

 

She relied on hit and fade tactics to deal with the Duergar and the different Mephits, often using the katana for more powerful backstabs (in spite of her lack of proficiency in said weapon). [Note: as you can see Glorydd dealt quadruple backstab damage. That was because surplus XP from BG1 made her reach level 9 as a Thief and level 8 as a Fighter.]

The hit and fade tactics appeared to be Glorydd's only way of survival, because she was too vulnerable in straight combat against the Duergar (especially their sharpshooting crossbowmen). In a library, a backstab that failed to kill a Mephit alarmed not only four Duergar that she had spotted in the vicinity, but more of their ilk, coming from a corridor she hadn't explored yet. Amongst them was a Duergar wizard, which alarmed Glorydd. She had always treated mages with care, and had made a habit of using potions to protect herself against their spells. But this time she didn't have any protective potions. The Dwarf fell back and managed to hide in shadows. She then sought out the Duergar Mage and stabbed him in the back. The attack didn't kill her foe, but it was enough to cause his morale to fail, allowing the Dwarf to slay the mage without having to fear his spellcasting. The corridor from which the wizard and other Duergar had come, led to a large room in which she found some of her gear on a table. Before she could don her Shadow Armor, Boots of Stealth and Cloak of Non-Detection (the only BGTTweaks-imported items I allowed Glorydd to keep, in addition to Semaj's Cloak which she cant't use pre-UAI due to being a Dwarf), she had a bloody battle to win against Ilych, the Duergar leader, and some of his minions. A different passageway led from the room to nowhere, so Glorydd had to return. 

 

In a small room before the library she delivered a wardstone to a Golem that had asked her for the stone in order to open a number of locked doors. These doors all led to an open area guarded by yet another "new" creature, an Otyugh. Glorydd slew it using backstabs and surprise attacks. She then had to battle her way past four more Duergar to reach an open area with trees and friendly Dryads she promised to free by bringing magical acorns she had found on Ilych to one of their sisters in the Windspear Hills. The Dryads referred to their captor as Irenicus, a name Glorydd engraved in her memory.

Next to the green area were two well-kept, but heavily trapped rooms. Glorydd had to draw upon her divine might to be able to remove all the traps.

The rooms contained various treasures, including two more items of hers: the Claw of Kazgaroth and the Helm of Balduran, and a portal stone that enabled her to travel between different levels of the dungeon. (I wonder which mod imports both the Claw of Kazgaroth and the Helm of Balduran into SoA. According to the BGTTweaks readme it's not that mod, and iirc vanilla SoA only imports the helm if both items are in charname's inventory at the end of BG1).

 

On her way to the teleportation portal, Glorydd had to defend herself against two Golems, which she did successfully, abeit with difficulty. With Imoen in her wake, Glorydd stepped through the portal, and saw a Kara-Turan looking rogue approach them. Although not openly hostile, something told Glorydd not to trust the man. She allowed him to follow her but begged him to keep his distance because stealth was a vital aspect of her strategy. The rogue was willing to cooperate and told her that in the next room, she would encounter four Mephit "portals" that would constantly release Mephits. Therefore destroying the portals rather than the Mephits themselves appeared to be the way to go. Glorydd did just that. With an oil of speed at the ready (which in the end she didn't use), she entered the room, ignoring the agitated creatures. She struck at the portals, one after the other, with her two short swords until they all stopped functioning. She then pushed on, eager to escape, slaying a Doppelganger and a second Duergar Mage (which allowed her to pick up a Girdle of Bluntness) on her way, until she found a tunnel hat sloped upwards, toward what looked to be the light of day. There were rogues running around in no clear direction, but they paid little attention to Imoen and Glorydd; something much more urgent seemed to be on their minds.

 

The girls made their way through the tunnel and came upon a marketplace in a city neither of them knew. Both Imoen and Glorydd had traveled much of the Sword Coast (separately), but the white buildings, large ornamental pillars, and onion domes gave this city a much more southern or maybe eastern feel.

The girls didn't have long to ponder over the matter though, as the leathery wizard, their captor, appeared in front of them. With his powerful magic that Imoen and Glorydd knew all too well, he first dispatched some of the thieves they had seen running around, and then turned to the Dwarf. He started an incantation but was interrupted by a Magic Missile that Imoen cast at him. Glorydd was impressed. "Where did you learn that?" she asked her friend. But before Imoen could answer, four cowled wizards came teleporting in. Irenicus slew three but others took their fallen colleagues' places. Eventually, the wizards arrested both Imoen and Irenincus for unsanctioned uses of magical energy, leaving Glorydd alone again.

She spoke to some of the bystanders but none of them knew where the wizards had taken Irenicus and Imoen. 

[Grond0]

The rooms contained various treasures, including two more items of hers: the Claw of Kazgaroth and the Helm of Balduran, and a portal stone that enabled her to travel between different levels of the dungeon. (I wonder which mod imports both the Claw of Kazgaroth and the Helm of Balduran into SoA. According to the BGTTweaks readme it's not that mod, and iirc vanilla SoA only imports the helm if both items are in charname's inventory at the end of BG1).

I think BGT imports all of the items in inventory that can transfer (rather than just one from each list).

[Alesia_BH]

Arcadia, Half-Elven Fighter/Mage: The De'Arnise Keep

 

When I went to Egypt, I didn't see the pyramids. Going to the De'Arnise Keep and not killing Torgal is kind of like that: nobody gets it, and nobody wants to hear about it. Nonetheless, that's exactly what Arcadia did. She could have killed Torgal. But doing so safely at this stage would have required separating him from his SCS tactical component support crew. I decided, instead, to leave the stinky sniffer be for now and return later when Arcadia is ready to face all the ugly at once. Someday. Not today.

 

As my clicker hovered over the City Gates district, I got a sinking feeling that Arcadia might run into some ornery Cowleds again. Ambushed by bandits en route, I instructed Arcadia to steathily slip past, to conserve spell slots (notably SIs) for a potential encounter with Athkatla's not so finest. The Cowleds were a no show, however, and when Arcadia got a second shot at some bandits in the woodlands. She took it, hoping to score some potions.

 

When you start a fight just for the booze, it hurts to see stuff like this:

 

No! Stop! Don't drink those beautiful potions! Dear god, no! I get it: don't travel without MGOI and a Web x 2 Minor Sequencer. I won't do it again! Just stop! Please!

 

Eventually they did stop, and, happily, there were still some goodies left.

 

So, to the Keep. If CKT would like to add a geek-out post on the architecture of the De'Arnise Keep, he's more than welcome. Until then: Bam!

 

Posting a pic of the first dead troll in the De'Arnise Keep is a tradition of mine. I have another tradition here, as those who have followed my runs know.  Entering the De'Arnise Keep courtyard, hearing that heart pounding music -and then slaughtering Nalia's pooches- is, like, my favorite part of SoA. I try to kill them in an interesting way each time. So far, the champion is Alisa, who turned them into squirrels and made them fight in a grease pit. http://forum.bioware...llenge/page-252

 

Given the way Arcadia's book was set up, she had no hope of topping Alisa. But she gave it her best, for the sake of tradition.

 

I haven't really studied the Polymorph Self: Ogre form, but the times I have used it I've been impressed with the per hit damage, if nothing else. Arcadia decided to try polymorphing into an Ogre to see if she could land some devastating criticals on Rex, Rover, Sparky, and Spot. The problem was that Arcadia only had one strength potion, a Potion of Frost Giant Strength, that she had been reserving for a potential battle with Torgal. The thought of squandering a pricey potion on Nalia's pooches didn't phase her. What troubled her was that it was, as stated, a Potion of Frost Giant Strength, and she'd really need a better potion to do this right: Potion of Frost Giant Strength->DUHM would only get her strength to 24. Nonetheless, she did the best she could with the tools she had, and I guess we have to give her credit for that.

 

The first twack on Spot was a total dud.

 

Happily though -and against all odds- Arcadia came through with a critical on Rex. She even screamed, "I will crush!" as her morningstar came down. Highlight of the quest.

 

Anyhoo. Already running Polymorph Self, Arcadia finished up the courtyard in Flind form.

 

The most interesting encounter of the quest was with the bookworm yuan-ti mage. Arcadia took damage here for the first time since Haegan. Arcadia's buffs were Stoneskins, Strength, Ghost Armor, Resist Fear, Pro Evil, MSD, Blur, MI, II, MGOI, II, SI:A, and SI:D. She kept Harmony in the off and The Reflex at the ready for Flame Arrows. Opened with a Sunfire and a Dart of Stunning on the Yuan-Ti. The Sunfire did middling damage, and the dart didn't stick.

 

Mr. Reading Rainbow went invisibility->heal while Arcadia finished the trolls.

 

That's when the damage came. Mr. RR turtled long enough for MGOI to run out. Arcadia had the space and the clear aura to see the spell and counter with a Potion of Fire Resistance, but she ultimately decided to just take the hurt and counter with an extra healer instead.

 

This battle reveals Arcadia's current weaknesses. She doesn't have enough spell slots at this time for debuff spells or -more importantly- elemental specific protections. Arrows of Dispelling will soon address the first lack. Spell slots will be allocated to specific protections as they become available. Until then, potions will have to do.

 

Faded and peeled skins with Arrows of Cold.

 

Mr. Efreeti got the kill.

 

Arcadia didn't have many buffs left by the time she got to the basement. She's a whole different character when she isn't properly buffed: far more vulnerable.

 

Fed the Umbers, opened the chests, made a goofy face at Torgal's door, and then went home. Ok, not exactly home: upstairs to Glaicus and the golems.

 

Glaicus first. Didn't run MGOI when opening the lighting trap chest. Somehow, I felt that was crossing the metagame line (don't ask me to justify that one...) Instead, she just tripped the trap with a Potion of Absorption at the ready just in case. Arcadia took a lot of buffs here for kicks, but she only really needed one: ProNW. Poor Gaicus finally got his critical and, yeah: weapon ineffective.

 

Gotta feel sorry for the guy.

 

So, finally: the golems. Lacking Protection from Poison (the Iron Golem's gas cloud is nasty in my install) and proficiency in a blunt weapon, Arcadia just let Mr. Efreeti run distraction while she made off with the goods.

 

One flesh golem broke off from the pack, desperate for some loving. He got it.

 

And that was that. Arcadia will return to face Torgal when she's ready.

 

I haven't decided what's next for Arcadia but the Windspear Hill is the most likely target.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Welcome to Amn, Glorydd!

 

Best,

A.

[Blackraven]

I think BGT imports all of the items in inventory that can transfer (rather than just one from each list).

Ah, that would explian things. Glorydd should have bought the Horn of Kazgaroth as well then

 

Welcome to Amn, Glorydd!

 

Best,

A.

Thank you Arcadia! Say hi to the Captain for me, will you?
Love, 
Glorydd

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 73 - (update 6)

Eyesore, gnome illusionist (Grond0) & Danya, elf fighter/mage (Gate70)

 

After a long run with no deaths at all those are now starting to add up - but the duo are grimly struggling onwards and made some decent progress in ToB today.

 

Despite her 3 Black Reavers Illasera was never likely to be competitive and didn't detain them long.  Surprisingly that proved true of the first challenge as well, where the opposition was significantly less powerful than expected - finishing off with some pretty bog-standard drow.

 

In Saradush they found a missing spellbook and got access to the mage's stock of spells.  Danya though continued to disdain anything above 6th level as for sissies - she's definitely one of those mages more comfortable with a blade in her hand.  The iMoD made short work of a vampire-infested block of cells, but the fighters and thieves at the end proved hard-hitting and the planetar was hastily summoned as Danya ran backwards.

 

Moving into the palace an incendiary cloud cleared the opposition on the first level.  Arriving invisibly on the second level another cloud was produced that did plenty of damage, but couldn't prevent Karan the Black squeezing out a symbol stun just before he died - freezing Danya in place.  A planetar dispel failed to help with that, but things should have been rescued when Eyesore loosed a dragon breath to wipe out the remaining opposition.  That was chosen partly as it is party friendly.  However, despite that (on top of being immune anyway) the planetar got annoyed anyway and attacked Danya - its initial hit somehow not even dispelling the stun, before a second killed her, but fortunately without chunking.  After a few laps of the room Eyesore managed to distract the planetar with an efreeti long enough to leave the area and wait for it to disappear before putting the rod of resurrection to use.

 

After upgrading Foebane, quiver of arrows and cloak +2 it was time to go in search of Yaga-Shura.  On the way they wanted to speak with Nyalee, but needed to clear some undead out of the way first.  Both characters were low on spells, but Danya attempted to do the job quickly anyway using a Daystar sunray.  However, that didn't work terribly well and she took a lot of damage through her stoneskins from vampiric wraiths and slayer shadows before starting to run in terror.  Eyesore tried to take the heat off her and got drained a couple of times in the process, but did help enough that Danya was still clinging onto life when she regained her senses.  A quick potion and a bit of running later and the Master Wraith finally got his just desserts.  After resting the other undead posed no problem and the duo were given instructions on where to find the Fire Temple.

 

The fire giants and their associates were handled fairly easily.  Both characters buffed up before entering initially and Danya found standing in a pool of lava a refreshing experience as she took on all comers with a bit of help from a planetar.  Summons, including a first use of mordy swords, helped clear the rest of the lower temple before Danya made a rare use of her bow on the upper level while taunting a group of giants through a hole too small for them to fit through.  She also used GWW for the first time to finish off Berenn when his morale broke and he tried to run away from the missile fire.  After resting Imix shared the general pain and the duo left safely (despite a brief absence of Eyesore thanks to a maze trap).  Nyalee quickly regretted her change of hearts, but too late to save herself.

 

At the Siege Camp Yaga-Shura briefly departed before coming back with his various lieutenants.  Danya found herself in trouble there early on when she didn't get spell turning up quick enough and was tagged by some chasing insects.  That left her running and fighting while gradually whittling down the opposition, while Eyesore was mainly concentrating on just staying out of trouble.  Eventually the lieutenants were all dead and Yaga himself was targeted.  It looked like that would be done safely, but then 2 new fire giants joined in the combat.  Danya did manage to kill Yaga, but got hit herself 2 or 3 times almost simultaneously and joined him in death.  Another use of the rod put her back together again and the duo are currently back in the pocket plane contemplating their next move.

 

Stats:

Eyesore, illusionist 24, 83 HPs (incl. 7 from ioun stone), 527 kills

Danya, fighter 18 / mage 16, 128 HPs, 819 kills, 4 deaths

[Alesia_BH]

 

In Saradush they found a missing spellbook and got access to the mage's stock of spells.  Danya though continued to disdain anything above 6th level as for sissies - she's definitely one of those mages more comfortable with a blade in her hand.

 

 

Arcadia is with Danya on this, but Captain Swarmi claims 7 & 8 are nonetheless useful since they grant additional 4s, 5s, and 6s via Spell Sequencer and Spell Trigger, while also freeing up 3,4,5,6 slots by allowing you to cast specific protections and debuff spells at a high level. He also said something about Black Blade of Disaster->Improved Alacrity->Greater Whirlwind->Critical Strike. That last part didn't make sense to Arcadia. Maybe Danya can figure it out.

 

Finish strong guys!

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Quick Note on Arcadia's Game:

 

Arcadia hasn't made much progress today because she is dependent on me, and I've been watching basketball. She cleared out the Druid Grove and revisited the De'Arnise Hold. She's now at Watcher's Keep, seeking a way to manage her swollen tactical ammo supply.

 

Arcadia is hopeful that she'll be able to complete a major quest this evening.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Arcadia, Half-Elven Fighter/Mage

 

There's something about the Mae'Var quest that puts me ill at ease. I think it's history more than anything else. Back when I was first learning to play, Rayic Gethras demolished my party. Routinely. That was just what he did. He'd have his morning coffee, he'd finish his eggs and backy, and then: wham- he'd obliterate my party. I guess he read the paper next. I have similarly nightmarish memories of Mae'Var. Shortly after I first started using difficulty mods, I sent an RPed party, featuring my bounty hunter Alesia, against Rogue Reblancing Mae'Var. It wasn't pretty. It was the good old fashioned knife fight that I had hoped for, but Alesia ended up on the wrong end of the blade. Add in the fact that oodles of runs in this thread have ended in Rayic Gethras's bedroom, and it's a history that lends itself to discomfort. I fear this quest.

 

History aside, the threats posed by SCS Mae'Var Guild Hall quest are manageable. And Arcadia managed them well- reasonably well that is. Her fight with Rayic Gethras was more resource intensive than it should have been. But in the end, Arcadia and the Captain have found themselves on step closer to their goal.

 

Rayic Gethras

 

Arcadia negotiated Rayic's welcoming committee using her normal buff regiment, buttressed by Minor Globe of Invulnerability. That spell took care of the mephit breath weapons on floor one, and golem slows on level two.

 

Rayic demanded greater care, naturally. This is my first game in over a year, and Arcadia has yet to face a formidable mage. Heading into this, I was terrified that I'd forget something- something that I used to do routinely, but just didn't recall anymore. Happily, that didn't happen. After politely introducing herself and declaring her murderous intentions, Arcadia watched Rayic's buffs fire. An Improved Mantle from Gethras, insured that the early phase of the battle would be a temporary stalemate. At present, Arcadia has no cost effective answer for Improved Mantle + Spell Deflection. Gethras, in turn, had no answer for Spell Immunity: Abjuration + Spell Immunity: Divination + Potion of Invisibility. 

 

Having no line of sight on Arcadia, Rayic spent most of his time filling in his buffs, though he did try a blind Wilting hoping to catch Arcadia off guard. Arcadia was out of range, having anticipated this possibility.

 

Once Rayic's Improved Mantle expired, Arcadia broke invisibility with an Arrow of Dispelling. Rayic countered with a Spell Trigger, which included ProMW. That induced Arcadia to refresh her invisibility. This time she cast from her book. Rayic used the second stalemate period to rebuild his buffs and bring a Mordy into play. Arcadia, in turn, was busy counting rounds- timing the refresh of her soon to expire SIA + SI:D + II combo.

 

The expiration of ProMW caused Arcadia to once again break with an Arrow of Dispelling. Gethras responded with yet another abjuration school weapon defense, this time Mantle. With no invisibility casts remaining in her book -and with the knowledge that the battle could be safely completed without squandering another potion- Arcadia chose to remain visible, protected by SI:A + SI:D + II + Spell Deflection and highly negative saves.

 

Her first move was to bring Mr. Efreeti into the action to nullify Rayic's Mordy sword via Magic Missles. She then waited and observed Rayic's reaction.

 

Predictably, Rayic launched a Symbol Fear. Hearing the Conjuration enchantment, Arcadia checked her save v spells and confirmed that it was still at -4. She also confirmed that Resist Fear remained active. Arcadia knew she'd be fine. What surprised her was that Mr. Efreeti emerged unscathed: he made the save, keeping himself in play, and keeping the pressure on Rayic's Mordy, which would ultimately fall to a combo of Magic Missles from Mr. Efreeti and Vampiric Touch from Arcadia.

 

Rayic then took a shot at debuffing Arcadia, going with a Ruby Ray, targetted through Improved Invisibility. Arcadia countered with an MSD cast.

 

Shortly after the MSD counter, Rayic's Mantle expired. That spelled the end for him. Arrow of Dispelling->Acid Arrow finished him.

 

Mae'Var

 

Arcadia entered the Guild Hall invisible and headed straight for Mae'Var's inner sanctum, chosing to delay the first floor chunk-a-thon. After buffing, Arcadia approached, and chose Mae'Var's priest as her first target. An opening Sunfire and Namarra finished him in a round.

 

With his priest down, Mae'Var took some healing, and then went on the offensive- launching backstab attacks, fueled by his spellbook and a generous potion stack. He looked scary. But checking his hit rolls revealed that he wasn't a threat: he lacked the THAC0 to land against Arcadia's AC. Arcadia, unperturbed, made her way around the room, finishing Mae'Var's assassins.

 

Once the last assassin fell, Arcadia settled in for the kill in toe-to-toe melee, opting for Ages and its Stoneskin bypassing elemental damage. A few rounds later, Mae'Var fell. Victory was Arcadia.

 

Windspear Hills will be next. Dragonslayer calls.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

Current character record and inventory