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[Grond0]

Wrecking Crew {13} - dwarf fighters (update 9)

 

An early start this morning allowed the gang to make considerable further progress and the lights of Brynnlaw are starting to twinkle a little brighter in the distance.

 

Continuing into the Planar Sphere the halflings were largely pulled back towards the Knights of Solamnia one or two at a time - Kayardi got off a chaos as she died, but with no-one else there to take advantage the 2 of the party that failed their saving throws were not a problem. 

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The juggernaut golems again showed they are more of a danger than the adamantite door stoppers, but this time Carlo was prepared for them and didn't have to resort to a disappearing act.

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Arriving at Lavok the gang's summons attacked him, but didn't manage to finish the job.  Carlo waited invisibly for his initial buffs and area effects to wear off then attacked - then waited invisibly - then attacked - then waited invisibly - then attacked.  The last attack was a bit premature as Lavok used detect invisibility, but he now seemed out of weapon protection spells and in a couple more rounds he felt the effects as the rest of the gang joined in the attack.

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Tolgerias was surrounded invisibly and died before he realised what was happening.  

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The fire room was easy enough, with summons being used to split the opposition up.  I considered running in the engine room when a second group of golems started converging, but decided just to make Al invisible to block off one route.  

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That allowed the gang to win the combat without any further tactics required, although Vito did suffer a cursed wound (that prevents magical healing, but not regeneration, so makes no difference to me anyway).

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Going to find a demon heart the gang had no trouble with a Tanar'ri

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and I decided to clear the whole area.  That was accomplished without resting or problems, though there was a little bit of hanging around between battles to regenerate via Gaxx.  After repowering the engine they were able to give Lavok a final taste of fresh air - everyone getting to level 15 as a result.

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The temple didn't recognise Vito's cursed wound problem, so the gang had to pay to remove the Claw of Kazgaroth from Al and give it to Vito before casting remove curse on him.  After selling surplus equipment I decided they should now be able to manage the Planar Prison easily enough.  They took advantage again of the efreeti's 3 invisibilities to enter and kill the mage bounty hunter with a single blow.

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Moving round the area, the yuan-ti mages handed out quite a bit of damage - but not enough to stop the gang.

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The Master of Thralls didn't make much impact

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before Carlo showed himself to the Warden.  The idea behind that was to be able to clear all the pits before killing the Warden and they successfully did that before going to finish things off.  

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The only slight alarm was when Al came out of one pit and was immediately transported into the one next to it, to find a Prison Captain casting slay living - but he managed to keep out of attack range even without resorting to a potion (theoretically his standard saving throw of -3 vs spells would have protected him anyway).

 

While selling equipment I realised that hunting down all enemies like that had meant I never got round to breaking the orb, so missed out on that XP.  However, the Crew had still performed well in there, so I decided it would be reasonable for them to go and tackle some more beholders.

 

Returning to the Unseeing Eye they brushed aside the initial undead (despite all their hard work the gang are not quite up to 2m XP yet and there was no lich).  Coming across a first large group of beholders Carlo borrowed the Belt of Inertial Barrier from Al and attacked.  

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He was still taking damage fast though, so resorted to equipping Balduran's Shield.  I was expecting that to be taken from him by telekinesis, but by the time that happened the beholders were nearly all dead anyway.

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The gang picked up the Dragon's Bane halberd, which is a slight potential upgrade for Vito, before slaughtering the blind priests.  Al then stayed out of the way while the others took on the Unseeing Eye and his death tyrant friends.

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To protect against disasters Al immediately went to return the shield before taking down Gaal.  

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I was expecting reporting to the temple to get everyone to level 16, but Vito has somehow lost a bit over 50k XP compared to the others - possibly a new power given to beholders by SCS , or perhaps XP wasn't properly applied to him while he was suffering from a cursed wound.  The Guarded Compound looks ripe for invasion next time though, which should get him somewhere close to 2m.

 

Stats (cont. from BG1)

Al - L15, 104 HPs (incl. 5 from Helm, -14 from Claw), 944 kills, ***** longbow / **** long sword

Carlo - L15, 122 HPs, 1,058 kills, 5 deaths, ***** flail / ** sling / ** bastard sword

Baby Face - L15, 112 HPs , 864 kills, 5 deaths, ***** 2-handed sword / **** crossbow

Vito - L15, 116 HPs, 801 kills, 2 deaths, ***** halberd / **** shortbow

Mad Dog - L15, 113 HPs (incl 10 from ioun stone), 801 kills, 2 deaths, ***** axe / ** 2-weapon / ** long sword

Bugsy (chunked at L9)

Carlo is the first to break 4 figures of kills and continues to pull away from the others.  Mad Dog is also doing well though and has over-turned a considerable deficit inherited from BG1 to catch up Vito.

[Alesia_BH]

 

 Aphril, Elven Sorcerer: The Underdark (or Where My Dreams Are All Too Clear: Part 4)

 

Woohoo! We did it! We rescued Adalon's eggs! 

 

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Now, some of you are probably all: big deal, I do that all the time. Well, fooey on that I say: Fooey on that. You may do it all the time, but I don't. This is the second -maybe third- time that I've done this. Completing the Dragon Egg quest is, like, the Holy Grail of BG-Dom for me. 

 

Okay, it's not hard, right? But it is kind of hard. You have to have the patience for fetch quest after fetch quest. Get me a damsel in distress! Get me a hemet! Get me a brain! Get me royal blood! And why do you have to do all these fetch quests? To complete a fetch quest: the dragon egg fetch quest. Add in the fact that there are Kuo-Toans all over the place and the whole thing is the bane of my BG existence. It defeats me every time. Or almost every time. Because this time I defeated it.

 

I was, like, crazy nervous throughout this. When Aerie put up her Sanctuary and stole the eggs, I was certain the entire city and its SCS Improved Ust Natha Defenses were going to come down on us. When they didn't, I checked and double checked a dozen times to make sure I was putting Phaere's eggs into the hidey-hole instead of Sola's. And when it came time for the meeting with Phaere, and later the ritual, I pondered every dialogue choice as though the fate of worlds hung in the balance. I was certain I was going to screw it up. Certain. But in the end Despana fell, the demon left for darjeeling tea and scones, and Adalon got her groove back. It was awesome.

 

Before I cover the rest of the escape, I'd just like to say that if they made Baldur's Gate action figures, I would totally buy the limited edition Aerie as a drow. I'd love to have that.

 

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Right. Ok. Back to the escape. This was awful. And I mean awful. After all my hard work, fetching so I could fetch and fetch some more, I expected Adalon to take the lead in the fight for freedom. I expected Adalon to demolish the drow party guarding the gate. No such luck. 

 

Do you see Adalon standing there? Doing nothing?

 

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That's exactly what she did for the whole fight: nothing. I wasn't even sure she had opened the door. Hey, Addie! If you're going to stand there, nerfing our AoE assault, how about you do something, mkay? 

 

No dice. She just stood there and the demons ignored her. They came right after us instead. Pull back! Time Stop. There goes some buff time...

 

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Keep pulling back!. And then: No! Kuo-Toans! Cry! Didn't I kill all of you? I specifically came here to kill all of you so you wouldn't get in the way when I made my escape. And now you're back. Where do you come from, you evil freaks!

 

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Predictably, I became completely obsessed with killing each and every last Kuo-Toan. Tick-tock goes the clock on the buffs.

 

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We were just about to lay down a Field and get to work on the demons...

 

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when Aerie's Spell Immunity: Abjuration ran out. She was dispelled and, for the first time in the adventure, truly vulnerable. It wasn't that bad since she still had her Spell Deflection up to foil Power Word: Stun, as well as her Pro Magic Energy, cast by higher level Adara, to foil Unholy Blights. But still, playing on insane, a single melee blow could kill her. It was time to run.

 

Fortunately, the Glaberzu's didn't pursue. But we still had to shield Aerie from the Stone Golem and those Kuo-Toans. This was a little sketch.

 

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Happily, the party made it to the Deep Gnome Casbah. And once they rested and regrouped there was no question what the strategy would be. Aerie was out for revenge. It was Tank of Doom time.

 

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In we went. And this was as glorious as the first attempt was disastrous.

 

Tank of Doom! 

 

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Run Tank of Doom, run! Get to the exit before your buffs run out! Wait, what: Adalon! Adalon is actually fighting! Yippee-Skippee!

 

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Those drow were in for it now: A double punch 

 

Adalon!

 

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Tank of Doom!

 

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Adalon said goodbye.

 

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From there on out it was all Tank of Doom.

 

Tank of Doom!

 

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Tank of Doom!

 

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Tank of Doom!

 

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Chromatic Orb insta-kill! (Yeah, that actually happened, believe it or not...)

 

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And, yes: there were a couple Sunfire Triggers along the way.

 

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But make no mistake: the Tank of Doom led the way. Guess who's coming for you Bodhi! 

 

Best,

 

A.

 

 

Aerie the Resurgent Tank of Doom, L14/14 C/M: Kills- 323; XP Value- 29%; Most Powerful Vanquished- Hive Mother; Favorite Spell- Holy Smite; Favorite Weapon- Melf's Minute Meteors; Cumulative Damage Taken- ~50HP

 

Imoen the Sun-Kissed Kid, L7/14 T->M: Kills- 31; XP Value- 4%; Most Powerful Vanquished- Lich; Favorite Spell- Stoneskins; Favorite Weapon- Melf's Minute Meteors; Cumulative Damage Taken- 0HP

 

Adara the Daylight Dreamer, L17 Sorcerer: Kills- 345; XP Value- 34%; Most Powerful Vanquished- Saemon Havarian; Favorite Spell- Invisibility; Favorite Weapon- Melf's Minute Meteors; Cumulative Damage Taken- 65HP (one death)

 

Aphril the Infinitely Pleased to Be Done With Underdark Fetch Quests, L17 Sorcerer: Kills- 342; XP Value- 31%; Most Powerful Vanquished: Baalor; Favorite Spell- Invisibility; Favorite Weapon- Melf's Minute Meteors; Cumulative Damage Taken- 0HP 

 

[Golden28]

Hey Alesia,

 

I sometimes skip your posts because I'm thinking: she will just buff her team with everything up until the point you cant fracking see the npc's faces anymore and the sprites look like giant spheres of electricity, and cakewalk her way through. I realise this is very effective, but is it really fun that way?, I'm curious .

 

Cheers!

[Alesia_BH]

 

I sometimes skip your posts because I'm thinking: she will just buff her team with everything up until the point you cant fracking see the npc's faces anymore and the sprites look like giant spheres of electricity, and cakewalk her way through. I realise this is very effective, but is it really fun that way?, I'm curious .

 

It isn't for everyone. That's for certain. But, of course, playing fast and loose and losing friends isn't for everyone either. We all have our own styles. 

 

I find the mechanics of defense interesting. I enjoy working out buff regiments for my team, and I enjoy the ritual of buffing. I enjoy working out the logic of buffs in such a way that I can use the same regiment in every fight and prevail without injury. I enjoy the process of adapting as level ups come, as well as the process of adapting to subtle changes in spells associated with different G3 version or SCS versions. I enjoy the way I play, which is why I play the way I play. I'm sure we are no different in that regard.

 

As for readers, I'm sure there is variation. I'm sure some readers appreciate what my characters do, and I'm sure others prefer the drama of your posts. I, for one, am glad that the challenge reflects a diversity of styles. It's better that way.  I'm glad we can accommodate a broad spectrum of tastes.

 

At the same time, I feel I should note that my playing style differs depending on the character I use. You've just happened to be around at times when I've played defensive minded arcane PCs. There's a good chance that you'd find my bounty hunter more interesting. Perhaps we'll find out. Once this run is over, I'll probably run my bounty hunter once again.

 

Best of luck to Alexander!

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Quick Note on Aphril's Game: Spellbooks

 

Updated books, for the curious

 

Adara

 

L1- Shield, Blindness, Magic Missile, Chromatic Orb, Protection from Evil

L2- Invisibility, Mirror Image, Blur, Glitterdust, Melf's Acid Arrow

L3- Skull Trap, Melf's Minute Meteors, Protection from Fire, Protection from Cold

L4- Stoneskins, Improved Invisibility, Teleport Field, Spirit Armor

L5- Spell Immunity, Sunfire, Spell Shield, Lower Resistance

L6- Protection from Magic Energy, Globe of Invulnerability, Protection from Magic Weapons

L7- Ruby Ray of Reversal, Spell Sequencer, Spell Turning

L8- Spell Trigger, Horrid Wilting

 

Aphril

 

L1- Shield, Blindness, Magic Missile, Chromatic Orb, Protection from Evil

L2- Invisibility, Mirror Image, Blur, Resist Fear, Melf's Acid Arrow

L3- Skull Trap, Melf's Minute Meteors, Spell Thrust, Remove Magic

L4- Stoneskins, Improved Invisibility, Teleport Field, Fire Shield: Blue

L5- Spell Immunity, Sunfire, Spell Shield, Lower Resistance

L6- Spell Deflection, Globe of Invulnerability, Protection from Magic Weapons

L7- Ruby Ray of Reversal, Spell Sequencer, Projected Image

L8- Spell Trigger, Protection from Energy

 

Best,

 

A.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Glad you've satisfied Adalon this time, Alesia. Even if you probably wasn't satisfied yourself to the full extent. For me the Underdark in general and Ust Natha in particular has some kind of chilling beauty ... Like when you are afraid of something but feel an involuntary attraction at the same time (hope you understand what I mean).

 

Keep blasting those foes on your Crew's pass!

 

And btw, I'm with you on playing styles. I don't like losing friends...

[Alesia_BH]

Glad you've satisfied Adalon this time, Alesia. Even if you probably wasn't satisfied yourself to the full extent. For me the Underdark in general and Ust Natha in particular has some kind of chilling beauty ... Like when you a afraid of something but feel an involuntary attraction at the same time (hope you understand what I mean).

 

I can see that. It just doesn't do it for me. It doesn't threaten me. It doesn't fascinate me. And beyond that, I just never jived with the aesthetics of the place. As soon as I get in, I want out.

 

I can see the appeal though. I can understand why some players embrace the Underdark, why some players complete every quest in the Underdark. I envy them, I guess. I wish I could count myself among them.

 

Looking forward to seeing Impish Face in ToB!

 

Best,

 

A.

[Golden28]

Alexander the barbarian episode 2

 

"Everywhere I look I see opportunity and gain, only to be beset by enemies left and right. A life to be feared, but also one of boundless excitement."

 

We go get some cash and xp first. Trademeet is always the best option because we can run straight to Faldorn with Aerie's invisibility. A cloud, 2 skeletons, and 3 consequetive cones of cold from Aerie destroy the druids.

 

Cernd saves against Faldorns creeping doom with his 10% magic resistance from the shapeshifter adaptations. She stands no chance.

 

 

Next is Nalia's keep. We dump Cernd and recruit Yoshimo for his traps which are as always, against improved Torgal, a must. Torgal gets slain. 

 

We are Lord Alexander from now on. New dialogue I've never seen (see below). Usually its: "Poor Nalia with all that luxury, bla bla". We get lots of money from Nalia and collect another 5000 taxes immidiately. That gives us plenty of cash. 

 

We can finally stomp the stone golems who followed us from Rayic's house last time with better weapons and buffs.

 

Rayic Gethras gets slain by 3 flamestrikes at once (Aerie, Anomen, genie). 

 

We collect some xp and gold from the thieves, pay Gaelan Bale his 30.000 gp and start working for Aran Linvale.  

 

Of course we use arcane magic again while killing the traitor shadow thieves. Anomen says what I think..

 

We get them anyways and run from the mages.

 

I read about this trick somewhere: Tanova falls when Anomen strikes from a sanctuary. HA! 

 

Bodhi isnt improved because my game crashes with improved vampires, so is easy.

 

Next I decide to do Neera's quest for the shield of Fyrus Khal and nice items/ loot. Besides, I really love her quest in BG2. 

 

We start to collect Daxus. I ask if he can help us but the idiot blue elf throwes a fireball in our mids.. Gee thanks..

 

He dies. Things are looking grim for our team.

 

We flee outside and tell the refuge of our failure to collect Daxus. 

 

SOME MORE SPOILERS ABOUT NEERA'S QUEST:

 

The refuge is destroyed and we're of to Waukeens promenade to confront the red wizard organization. 

 

First we buy all the gear from the mage vendors (like arrows of dispelling, a second dagger of venom, a second staff of striking) and then we slay them (have to). 

 

What happens next some of you might not know. We team up with a gang of drunken mercenaries against the red mages. I LOOOVE this fight, but damn, even with all of us, mages are just too op in this game. It is still quite hard..

 

Neera falls by way of a flame arrow, but we quickly raise her with a wand.  

 

Lanneth, the endboss of this quest, gets paralyzed by wand the 3rd try while she was trying to hide, then poisoned. I forgot how good these paralyze wands can be.

 

We finish this quest with lots of xp and gold and dump Neera. We are making nice progress. Next is finishing up stuff. I want to head for Brynnlaw ASAP. The dreaded asylum without our items and gear + improved Irenicus (with dark planetar) await!

 

Cheers!

[Golden28]

Hey BR, is Dagny doing ok? I'm curious where she is so we can have a pint in my favorite pub: the five flagons

 

Cheers!

[Blackraven]

Het Golden, Dagny's indeed in Athkatla. She's involved in a quest atm. I'll report on her status when the quest has come to an end (when better or, Gods forbid, worse).

[Blackraven]

Dagny, Gnome Cleric/Illusionist (take 5), 1st BG2 update

Dagny's deja vu experience didn't end with her triumph over Sarevok. One day Imoen woke her up in an all too familiar dungeon, Chateau Irenicus. The Gnome thanked Imoen for releasing her from her cell, and told her that they'd stand a better chance of escape if they split up. Minsc and Jaheira were freed and recruited for XP, and ditched after that.

Dagny played it safe in the dungeon. She didn't mess with Ilych & Co, the Cambion, or the Plane of Air. She relied on invisiility to get the servant Golem to open the doors to the Otyugh room. Skeletons killed the Otyugh as well as the three Duergar that stood between her and the master's room and those that guarded the nearby portal. She had an accident there when she opened a chest. Apparently she had failed to register that one of the Mephits she had fought had stripped her last Stoneskin.

Spoiler

She wanted to rest, in order to heal, before entering the mistress' room, but she wasn't allowed to. ('You may not rest at this time' message.) She therefore healed with potions, entered the mistress' room, looted it and traveled to the next level. There she did rest, only to wake up dismayed that she hadn't memorized Haste for the three Skeletons she was about to summon in addition to a War Dog (from scroll). Initially the War Dog and two Skeletons got stuck in the doorway that led to the Mephit Portal room, but Dagny (buffed with MGoI, MI, Remove Fear, HP and DUHM, PfE 10' Radius), and the other Skelly handled themselves well, and when the War Dog was unsummoned the other Skeletons came to their aid.

Spoiler

The Skeletons also helped with the Escaped Clone, Mephits, Duergar and Assassins that awaited them further on. A Cloudkill took care of Ulvaryl and a Sanctuary allowed Dagny to secure the Girdle of Bluntness before she left the place.

 

When the drama at Waukeen's Promenade was over, Dagny traveled to the Slums and Gaelan Bayle, and - under Sanctuary - to the Bridge District to solve the Skinner Murders. When she cast Stoneskin on herself at the Tanner's Shop, a Cowled Wizard appeared and gave her a first warning for unlicensed spell casting.

Spoiler

Apparently I installed the SCS component that makes the Cowlies detect indoor spell casting.

She nevertheless decided to confront Vellin Dahn, but had to deal with a Doppelganger before that. She cast a Barksin on herself, but the resulting AC bonus didn't keep the Doppelganger from peeling her Stoneskins before she slew it with a Skeleton by her side. Dagny summoned more Skeletons, went downstairs to say hi to Vellin Dahn, and returned upstairs with a Rune Assassin on her trail. She used her Minor Sequencer (MI + Invisibility) to increase her chances of survival, and quickly left the Assassin to occupy himself with her Skeletons. She then reported her findings to Lieutenant Aegisfield.

 

Not being able to cast indoors was very inconvenient. But there was one place where even the Cowlies didn't bother with sticking their noses: the Copper Coronet, Dagny remembered from experience in her previous incarnation. She rested at the inn, and proceeded to deal with the slavers. Her Skeletons didn't last very long due to the Bears and the Minotaur, but with spells like Chaos and Spook, she managed to more or less control the crowd she had to deal with. MMMs finished the Beast Master, and HP + DUHM helped her prevail over the Grizzly Bear.

Spoiler

When Lethinan and the guards were down, slave leader Hendak thanked her with gold and some items. Dagny sold almost everything she had, traveled to the Gov District, and paid 10k for a casting license.

 

On her way back to the southside, she got ambushed by Eldarin and his clique but she was Invisible, so she could distance herself from them and summon Skeletons and buff (lightly, with MGoI, PfFear, PfE 10' Radius). She opened with a Chaos, and saw it affect two of her enemies, including Arbane's Sword owner Eldarin. He got into a figth with one or two of his colleagues. When Dagny, invisible again, and one of her Skeletons went to check out the Wizard, the latter cast a Web and got caught in it. Dagny didn't hesitate to finish her off with MMMs.

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She dropped a Holy Smite on three assembled foes (Eldarin, a rogue who was instantly slain, and another Slaver who got Blinded). Dagny's meteors then killed Eldarin.

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There was also a Cleric who had the audacity to quaff a superior healing potion when he was at near death status. Dagny emptied her spellbook on him (Magic Missiles, a Flame Arrow) and, after some divine buffing, finished him off with her mundane warhammer.

 

With her spare gold and the sale of the Slavers' gear Dagny could barely afford the Robe of Vecna. There was a brief moment of hesitation (were there no other items she needed more?), but the Gnome decided to see the purchase through. That robe is just too good; it's great how it speeds up her divine spell casting.

She went to the Den of the Seven Vales but got into a nasty fight with Mencar Pebblecrusher and his goons. This would prove to be a pretty tough encounter that saw Dagny use pretty much everything she had, including expendables, in order to prevail.
She began the battle pretty well-buffed (Stoneskin, Ghost Armor, MGoI, Chaotic Commands, Free Action, Remove Fear, PfEvil 10'), and had three or four Skeletons to help her occupy the warriors and the Brennan Risling, so she could deal with Anon and Pooky. But her buffs would not last long enough. She slew Anon with MMMs, and she Chaosed Pooky, Brennan, and Smaeluv. She was pleased to see them attack and hurt one another.

Spoiler

Brennan even killed Pooky for her. But Mencar wasn't so easily distracted. She retreated and Sanctuaried to restore some of her buffs, and she picked up Anon's belongings, which included a Wand of Lightning. Dagny never really used those wands, she was more partial to Fire and Cloudkill wands, but she still had a great deal of damage to inflict were she to prevail, and she had few damage spells left. She was pleased to see a Hold Person keep both Smaeluv and Brennan in place,

Spoiler

and used up the Wand of Lightning to kill them and to injure Mencar.

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Eventually Mencar stripped Dagny of her Stoneskins and started injuring her. She went downstairs and noticed that the Dwarf, badly injured himself, didn't follow her. She healed and cast Clerical buffs on herself. When she returned upstairs she injured Mencar further with a Divine Wrath and a hit or two, but that wasn't enough to kill him. She resorted to casting Stoneskin from scroll, and Flame Arrow (also from scroll), before she could finally finish him in melee combat.

Spoiler

Selling her opponents' gear allowed her to buy a number of nice scrolls at the Adventurer Mart. After quaffing some INT boosters purchased at the Temple of Ilmater, she copied the scrolls together with a few other scrolls she had picked up earlier, into her spellbook. New spells inluded Spell Immunity, Spell Shield, Minor Spell Turning, Sunfire, Contingency and Globe of Invulnerability. (The latter two she couldn't cast yet.)

 

Dagny picked up Renfeld during another ambush but didn't fight the bandits. She brought him to the Harpers, and agreed to free Montaron for nearby Xzar from the Harper base. Holy Smites, Sunfires, and MMMs were too much for Prebek and Sanasha and their minions.

Spoiler

At the Harper Hold she released "Monty" and brought him to Xzar only to see a Harper assassin slay Xzar. She wasn't pleased with being a tool in a Harper ploy, so she took revenge by killing the Spectral Harpists for 9000 XP apiece. She also looted some goods at the Hold, including a scroll of Phantom Blade that she copied into her spellbook. 

That spell, with its +10 damage against undead, gave Dagny another idea for revenge: she would go to the Graveyard and avenge Glorydd for the tricks the Mummies had pulled on her Dwarven sister, messing with the rogue's saving throws. 

 

She bought two PfUndead scrolls at the Temple of Oghma, and in the lower tombs used Haste for easy positioning and Sunfires and Holy Smites to eradicate the Spiders.

Spoiler

She then agreed to retrieve Spiders' Bane from the sewers for Pai'Na and a stuffed bear from Lynis for Wellyn. When she returned, PfUndead, Remove Fear (Dagny wasn't in the mood to see whether her saves vs spells or wands were sufficiently negative to make protection against Fear redundant vis-a-vis Mummy fright), Holy Smites, MMMs and Flame Blades allowed her to dispatch all the undead in the lower tombs.

 

In the Docks Dagny took a commission from the Bloodscalp to investigate one of his guildhouses. She infiltrated with false papers and did a first task for her supposed new master, Mae'Var. She stole an amulet at the Temple of Talos. Strangely there were two Storm Priestesses there at night, one asleep, the other awake.

Spoiler

Thankfully neither objected to her snathcing the amulet from a locked drawer. 

Cromwell improved Kitthix fo Dagny, in return for 5k GP, a couple of poisoned throwing daggers, a Web scroll and a Spider Spawn scroll.

 

Dagny returned to Waukeen's Promenade, rested, and decided to restore the Circus to its old order. This meant having to go through the ice level again, the area that in a pevious life had so cruelly taken Aerie from her. Dagny went there solo this time, not counting Kitthix and her other summons. She farmed some more XP in the cold, with MMMs and Kitthix: several Frost Salamanders who were worth 9000 XP each, and a few Ettins (3000 XP).

Spoiler

She assembled the keys by slaying their keepers with the help of Skeletons and Kitty (who poisoned the potentially dangerous Orc Mage), to continue to the final level, the showdown with Kalah. He fell to MMMs before the Shadows or Werewolves could hurt Dagny.

 

Dagny had business in the Umar Hills, where she was to procure a murderer by the name of Valygar and to investigate killings and disappearances in the village of Imnesvale, but she had also promised Hendak to free slaves in a Slaver Stockade in the Slums. She decided to carry out the latter task first, and bought the Reflection Shield partly for that reason.

Otyugh, Hobgoblins, Kobolds, and Jellies were no threat, and as a result couldn't keep her from acquiring Lilarcor. 
Dagny entered the Slaver Base invisibly, and cast Animate Dead in a quiet corner. However the Skeletons stood up within sight of some of the Slavers and proceeded to attack while Dagny was still unbuffed.

Spoiler

When the first Slavers, including a Priest of Cyric appeared within visual range, Dagny quickly summoned Kitthix to deal with the priest. (Its Web and Poison abilities are quite potent weapons.) Dagny herself finished the priest with MMMs.

Spoiler

Then something strange happened. Captain Hagen told Dagny he was going to kill her, and indeed he turned hostile (red-circled), but he didn't attack. He just stood there. Hopefully this is an incident and not a foreshadowing of future bugs. With Kitty, Skellies and MMMs, the Slavers stood no chance. Dagny was helped by the fact that the slavers from the backrooms, including two wizards, somehow must have missed the clamor of battle. They didn't come to see what was going on, not even when Kitthix and Dagny bypassed a snare

Spoiler

and saved against another one (thanks to PfE and II), to deal with two Yuan-Tis.

Spoiler

Cloudkill and MMMs killed some of the Slavers, inlcuding a human Mage, but the Gnome gave Dagny a big scare when he pulled off a Confusion right when Dagny's MGoI expired. Outstanding Gnomish saves let het get away with rolling a 2.

Spoiler

She retalliated with a fatal Sunfire,

Spoiler

and returned to Hendak to claim her reward.

 

Dagny's currently a lvl 10/11 Cleric/Illusionist, and preparing for her journey to the Umar Hills. Cleric lvl 11 is looming, and should be reached in Imnesvale, giving her access to lvl 6 divine spells. But she'll probably have to defeat the Shade Lord to reach Mage lvl 12, and thus lvl 6 arcane spells.

[Alesia_BH]

Aphril, Elven Sorcerer: The Planar Prison (or Home, Home on the Planes)

 

After all that time in the Underdark, it felt good to be home again, back in the Planar Sphere.

 

 

I'm not sure what Nalia and the Guardian Golem do all day in there, but I like to picture them playing Xbox, eating cool ranch Doritos, and getting high, while wearing underwear and socks. That's just me though.

 

Anyhoo: Onto the Planar Prison. We were sort of over-levelled for this, but sort of not. I had zero interest in facing the Warden without ProMW, Sequencer, and Trigger. This was the first time that we've had access to the prison coupled with the means of winning safely. The time was right. And despite our levels, there were some hurdles, even if the party emerged unscathed.

 

Salutations!

 

The welcoming committee was not a hurdle. The welcoming committee was slaughtered. The Tank of Doom handled the priest, the warrior, and the thieves, while the rest of the party took care of the Bounty Hunter mage. For once, I decided to let the mage get his buffs up. I now realize that he's very nearly harmless. I'm not sure why I always insist on insta-killing him. It's probably that memory of him FoDing my PC in my first play through. I'm guessing it's the same for a lot of people.

 

 

Triple Your Pleasure 

 

Onto the triple Yuan-Ti Mage battle. This was completed with leftover buffs and spells. Aerie approached invisible and then opened with a Holy Word. Holy Word is a nice spell for situations like this. Casting time of 1. AoE Deafness with no save. it's a good way to bottle up casters, in theory, although probably irrelevant, in practice, for a party as well buffed as Aphril's.

 

 

A Sunfire Trigger from Aphril took care of the fodder.

 

Wiltings from Adara finished the casters, although credit to them: they lasted longer than expected. We need to stock more Divination stuff.

 

 

Master of None

 

The Master of Thralls may not be a jack of all trades, but he mastered no one today. He was no match for a freshly buffed Tank of Doom. And before anyone asks: yes, I do think someone at SCS or G3 should finally take a look at Vampiric Touch. Sometimes it fails completely, sometimes it works far too well.

 

 

The Tank of Doom clearly had this under control, but Aphril and Adara just couldn't sit still. LR Trigger, Skull Trap Sequencer.

 

 

We're Not Bluffing

 

The Warden played his had well, using Time Stop, warrior HLAs and Improved Haste to good effect, but Aphril held all the cards in this fight.

 

My only concern in this quest was getting past the Warden's Time Stop. I was especially concerned because casters with the demon animations sometimes don't incant, making it difficult to read spells. Fortunately, the Warden does incant in v30. And once he said "praeses" ProMWs went up all around.

 

 

His Time Stop -his only hope for victory- went to waste.

 

 

Checking his buffs revealed that his defenses were weak. He had a magic number of 2. Nonetheless, since the party had his offensive avenues locked down, they decided to use some additional spell equivalent actions to open him up to both spells and weapons. Imoen: True Sight (Book of Infinite Spells, cast previously), Adara: Ruby Ray of Reversal- Warden, Aphril: Spell Thrust- Warden, Imoen- Breach- Warden->Adara: LRx3 Trigger, Imoen Skull Trap x 3 Sequencer, Aphil Skull Trap x 3 Sequencer, Adara Aphil Skull Trap x 3 Sequencer

 

 

Next up is the Unseeing Eye, followed by the lichy-poos.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

 

Aerie the Plane Walker, Liberator of Haer Daelis, L14/14 C/M: Kills- 328; XP Value- 28%; Most Powerful Vanquished- Hive Mother; Favorite Spell- Holy Smite; Favorite Weapon- Melf's Minute Meteors; Cumulative Damage Taken- ~50HP

 

Imoen the Skull Trap-tastic Rogue of Greater Sigil, L7/14 T->M: Kills- 33; XP Value- 4%; Most Powerful Vanquished- Lich; Favorite Spell- Stoneskins; Favorite Weapon- Melf's Minute Meteors; Cumulative Damage Taken- 0HP

 

Adara the Warden's Bane, L17 Sorcerer: Kills- 349; XP Value- 33%; Most Powerful Vanquished- Saemon Havarian; Favorite Spell- Invisibility; Favorite Weapon- Melf's Minute Meteors; Cumulative Damage Taken- 65HP (one death)

 

Aphril the Still Infinitely Pleased to Be Done With Underdark Fetch Quests, L17 Sorcerer: Kills- 354; XP Value- 32%; Most Powerful Vanquished: Baalor; Favorite Spell- Invisibility; Favorite Weapon- Melf's Minute Meteors; Cumulative Damage Taken- 0HP 

[Alesia_BH]

Nice start, Blackraven!

 

Best,

 

A.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Nice start, Blackraven!

Indeed! Keep rocking you both!

[Blackraven]

Golden, lot of progress. Keep at it!
 

Nice start, Blackraven!

 

Best,

 

A.

 

Merci beaucoup!
 

Indeed! Keep rocking you both!

Let's all keep on rocking!

 

Alesia, excellent work again at the Planar Prison. I see few obstacles on Aphril's way to Irenicus (other than possible concentration lapses). Serg, I'm hoping to see Impish Face wipe the floor with Jon boy soon

[Grond0]

Wrecking Crew {13} - dwarf fighters (10th and final update)

 

The Crew's luck intelligence finally ran out today after they had survived numerous challenges along the way.

 

At the Guarded Compound the gang defeated the enemies on the ground floor.  I was planning to just let a mordy sword unsummon, but it seemed to be permanent so the Ring of Energy and magic missiles were used to kill it.

 

Upstairs they showed themselves a couple of times, but only Olaf followed them back down.  Staying long enough to attack Koshi then led to a problem when he stunned Mad Dog - I think his sword just has a standard save vs spells, so that seems to be an example of the less than automatic saves we've discussed recently against a spell save of 1.

 

The gang quickly put up some summons and tried to distract Koshi from killing Mad Dog - with the result that he stunned Baby Face as well!  However, he paid for that shortly afterwards.  Mad Dog and Baby Face were both critically injured, but the efreeti and air elemental (used for the first time here) were doing a good job chasing Stalman and Sion away and Ketta went down after landing several backstabs.

 

With only Sion left victory seemed close when he opened a gate.  Rather than risk fireball chunkings from the pit fiend the gang all ran downstairs and regenerated while waiting for it to disappear.  Then they returned to finish the job against Sion.  He summoned a cornugon, but with everyone back up at full health that was no problem and Sion soon breathed his last.

 

Looking to tie up another loose end the gang went to find the Twisted Rune.  The plan there was for everyone to use PfU while killing Shangalar, but I forgot that he would use dragon fear in this installation and Mad Dog went for a wander (and in any case I'm pretty sure that he would have ignored PfU anyway).  

Spoiler

That quickly led to disaster when Shangalar summoned a dark planetar and it chunked Mad Dog.  

Spoiler

Al joined in the desperate struggle and the dark planetar went down - though not before Baby Face was held by Vaxall.

 

Meanwhile Shangalar cast a time stop and threw in a ADHW and comet during that.  That chunked 2 more of them and left Al hanging on by a thread.  

Spoiler

An immediate follow-up time stop included meteor swarm and dragon's breath, which Al managed to survive by separating from Carlo.  Al then read a scroll of magic protection, while throwing another to Carlo, but he didn't have time to read it.

Spoiler

Al tried to run around while using a potion of regeneration, but died to something or other - possibly Revanek had come into range?

Spoiler

 

Without PfU working and in such a tight space effectively that encounter is just a death trap for the Crew.  Even with very high level characters with HLAs they would have no way to defend themselves there - Shangalar can't be hit for quite some time due to buffs and they can't separate much to reduce the effectiveness of his numerous high level spells

[Blackraven]

Uuff, that's a tough break Grond0. I've only successfully handled Twisted Rune solo with HLAs, and by fighting foes one or two at a time. When Mad Dog went on his stroll, things got really difficult for the crew. RIP Al.

[corey_russell]

@Grond0: Sorry to hear the end of the wrecking crew. My party of warriors skipped the Twisted Rune Hideout encounter, as I decided the risk wasn't worth the reward, especially as the reward is meaningless for a party of warriors.

[Golden28]

Wow what a very.. very.. VERY brave attempt with all fighters Grond0..

 

Cheers!

[Golden28]

It isn't for everyone. That's for certain. But, of course, playing fast and loose and losing friends isn't for everyone either. We all have our own styles. 

 

I find the mechanics of defense interesting. I enjoy working out buff regiments for my team, and I enjoy the ritual of buffing. I enjoy working out the logic of buffs in such a way that I can use the same regiment in every fight and prevail without injury. I enjoy the process of adapting as level ups come, as well as the process of adapting to subtle changes in spells associated with different G3 version or SCS versions. I enjoy the way I play, which is why I play the way I play. I'm sure we are no different in that regard.

 

As for readers, I'm sure there is variation. I'm sure some readers appreciate what my characters do, and I'm sure others prefer the drama of your posts. I, for one, am glad that the challenge reflects a diversity of styles. It's better that way.  I'm glad we can accommodate a broad spectrum of tastes.

 

At the same time, I feel I should note that my playing style differs depending on the character I use. You've just happened to be around at times when I've played defensive minded arcane PCs. There's a good chance that you'd find my bounty hunter more interesting. Perhaps we'll find out. Once this run is over, I'll probably run my bounty hunter once again.

 

 

Great response Alesia, thanks. I can imagine buffing the mages is the obvious choice, my team usually doesnt even have enough buffs to go around. I'd love to see a more arcane-light playthrough from you .

 

Cheers!

[Alesia_BH]

Condolences, Grond0.

 

A gruesome end to Al's adventure, but an outstanding run nonetheless.

 

Plans for vengeance? 

 

Best,

 

A.

[Golden28]

Great progress Blackraven. One question, why is it you see: 'save vs spell' repeated 10 times in the message window ?

 

Cheers!

[Alesia_BH]

Great response Alesia, thanks. I can imagine buffing the mages is the obvious choice

 

Yes. Playing a party of mages on insane, I have two choices: buff or die. I like living.

 

 

 my team usually doesnt even have enough buffs to go around.

 

 

That can happened. I had specifically built this party so that we would have enough buffs for everyone though. 

 

 

I'd love to see a more arcane-light playthrough from you  .

 

 

That'll happen soon. After this run I'll probably play my bounty hunter, Alesia, although my swashbuckler, Amelie, is another possibility.

 

Good hunting with Alexander!

 

Best,

 

A.

[Golden28]

I had plenty of time to play today, so here's episode 3 of the adventures of Alexander the barbarian.

 

"Nearing my goal. Having helped the powerful shadow thieves, I'm sure Aran Linvail will prove trustworthy. I'm coming for you Imoen. I'm coming for you.. Irenicus!"

 

Lets do some stealing with Jan!.. AAAAaaanddd......

Crap.. 218 percent in steal not enough.. :S What are the chances..?

 

We still steal plenty from the potion and scroll vendors, and from the Trademeet vendor though. 

 

Time to take out some other powerful enemies before we consider setting sail. Man vs man, the powerful Smealuv Orcslicer destroyes Alexander..

 

Vs us as a team they are no match though. The thief gets paralyzed by wand and the rest chaos'd.

 

We also take out the remains of team Tanor in the sewers, and go our merry way to have Anomen be knighted. 

 

Only to.. crap.. see Anomen get rejected. I did not expect that. I guess 9 rep isn't enough? Funny thing is, we took Viconia with us and I guess the -2 rep was just enough to brand Anomen unworthy. We quickly dump the angry cleric for a more appetizing drow.

 

I keep being surprised by this game, new dialogue everytime.. This female pirate compliments Viconia on her courage walking around between humans. 

 

I want to finish the planar prison for Haer Dalis, I've never seen much from him and I am curious about the 3-way romance. Also: boots of speed.. The yuan-ti mages have nowhere to escape the toxic air.

 

This seems (ch)easy, but the yuan ti mages hunt us like dogs, SCS AI, hasted and spamming webs and chaos, if we're not careful.

 

A nice critical from Viconia slays the master of thralls (easily enough even though I gave demons more hp with SCS..). 

 

The cambion died because of 2 sunfires from the slaves and then 5 spread-out cloudkills.. That was surprising :S.

 

We save the bard. Once back in the bridge district Jan accidentilly waistes the staff of striking on a lowly random remaining red mage from Neera's quest.. luckely we have 2. 

 

Lets kill Dennis' team for profit before we go but lets not upset any level 30 cowled mages while were at it. Lets just summon skeletons: No arcane magic. We use a wand for cloudkill.. so far so good.. (btw check the two peasents standing just out of reach of the cloud :/). 

Now if Jan can just backstab the mage with the staff of striking. Cast a quick invisibility.....

...

...

crap...

 

I'm so bad..

So another cowled team appears and we decide enough is enough, lets kill ALL the enemies in this room. 

 

With AOE spells enough of our foes die, but Aerie gets targetted all the time and she has pathetic hp. I make her run outside... Wut... There's another team WAITING for us outside? ha ha ha...

 

Ehh.. hello?

 

Finally all fall and we loot the place.

 

Brynnlaw is next. Perth gets backstabbed for 72.

 

We prepare for Irenicus. I devise a plan for the planetar. I want to lower her magic resistance and then spell her to death, all the while stomping her with +3 enchanted weapons (from the spell). 

 

I never knew there was a shop in BRYNNLAW! What the hell.. I've been playing this game for ages..

 

I buy 2 scrolls of lower resistance and up Jans intelligence so we can cast spells on the angel all at once. 

 

With 20 intelligence he fails once..

 

And twice..

 

Wut?..

 

There goes my plan.. Oh well, I decide to experiment with the priest spell magic resistance + a lower resistance. It works and gets Viconia to a mere 4% magic resistance. Guess that shall have to do against the planetar..

 

On towards the asylum. Irenicus is next!

 

Cheers!

[Blackraven]

Great progress Blackraven. One question, why is it you see: 'save vs spell' repeated 10 times in the message window ?

 

Cheers!

Thanks Golden. It's a careful start. No major quests have been undertaken yet, but I always have cold feet at the beginning of BG2.

Not sure why the thing with the saves happens. It's only one save, but the message often gets repeated.
 

That'll happen soon. After this run I'll probably play my bounty hunter, Alesia, although my swashbuckler, Amelie, is another possibility.

Great! Playing with Dagny, my mind has wandered off more than once to my rogues. They came to mind for instance when Dagny was all broke and couldn't steal to fatten her purse. Or when I thought of my fears for Scintilla with SCS/Tactics Irenicus in Hell awaiting her (granted, not a direct concern for Dagny); that's a battle that I only ever won once on no-reload, with Norgath the Bounty Hunter and that I wouldn't know how to handle with a non-rogue (i.e. without traps).

 

Alesia or Amelie would be awesome. My next playthrough I'll probably go with Ace, Dwarven Swashbuckler, or Glorydd first. Not only because I have a deep respect for Norgath and am somehow reluctant to give him a new chance (I wouldn't want me him to sully his own name), but also because I want to see how a high level Swashy or F/T fares. Still intrigued by the discussion you once had with Grond0 on the endgame potential of Swashies and Fighter/Thieves.

Edit: Alesia deserves it to be inducted into the Hall of Heroes anyway. Didn't you already complete BG1 and BG2 with her in separate playthroughs?

Modifié par Blackraven, 23 juillet 2015 - 10:04 .