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[Aasim]

Bertha, 1st BG2 update

 

Did Circus, and Mencar immidiately after to ger a Full plate for Bertha. I used a Web scroll, summoned skeletons and Wands for chateau.

There was one bad moment when Bertha got stabbed (twice) but then the thief ran away.

 

This battle is far more risky than it's worth - Pooky had MGoI and was invurnerable to Skull Traps. Cloudkill got him near death, but he was protected by stoneskins and images, even got an Emotion off that knocked out my sorceress.

 

Regardless, after burning through my healing potions, we finally managed to get Mencar down. He drank a Magic protection potion so avoided most of spell damage. Bertha survived with very few HP left, but now she has a Full plate on herself.

 

Next, Slavers. Emotion did the job mostly.

 

I didn't bother myself with Lirarcor.

 

Did harpers, and payed a short visit to WK. I didn't fight any of the statues, but picked up the loot only.

 

To get money, we did Mae'var. Backstab failed to kill him

 

But he couldn't survive Chaos.

 

 

Payed 15K to thieves.

 

More money - sewers gang. Gaius survived the stab attempt, but magic missiles can be insta-cast with Amulet of Power, which was enough.

 

The rest of the enemies were mostly disabled by Chaos. We had our first death of the run here, Draug Fea killed my sorceress with a huge (40 damage) critical.

Didn't help them any.

 

 

I sold most of their loot and bought some stuff, including 2x Pro Undead scrolls. With that, I go to Umar hills dungeon. We get ambushed, but thieves see they're outgunned and give up.

 

Bertha cleared out the Undead single-handedly using 2x Oil of Speed and 1x Pro Undead. 

[Alesia_BH]

I think my FPS would drop to 5 if I ever did this.

 

 

Yes. Word or warning everyone: this took three tries. The game crashed to the desktop twice during the Let It Go fight.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Jabberwock]

Thanks. But I think the lesson to learn from that fight is that Vecna + Improved Alacrity is overpowered- egregiously so in SoA.

 

I think the casting speed bonus on Vecna should be nerfed to -2. And I definitely intend to use the move Vecna into ToB component the next time I play.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

The CoM and Vecna move to ToB are a great change, in my opinion. Vecna is still pretty overpowered, but at least when it is sitting at the bottom of Watcher's Keep there is a real fight to get it and it only shows up for the last ~ quarter of the game.

 

Congrats on the SoA clear.

[Alesia_BH]

The CoM and Vecna move to ToB are a great change, in my opinion. Vecna is still pretty overpowered, but at least when it is sitting at the bottom of Watcher's Keep there is a real fight to get it and it only shows up for the last ~ quarter of the game.

 

Yeah. I can't decide whether I prefer that approach or just nerfing it to -2. I guess I'd have to try the final battle with a -2 Vecna to decide.

 

I considered using the move Vecna component, but I didn't relish the thought of going all the way to the bottom of Watcher's Keep.

 

Maybe Sendai should wear it? That would keep the Vecna in the late game, while also giving Herself a nice power boost.

 

Congrats on the SoA clear.

 

Thanks! We hope to see another run from you soon!

 

Best,

 

A.

[Aasim]

Fwiw, I think Vecna is ok even at +4 - the real "problem" with it is how it works with Alacrity. Then again, it's fun.

[Alesia_BH]

Fwiw, I think Vecna is ok even at +4 - the real "problem" with it is how it works with Alacrity.

 

I agree. It's the interaction between Vecna and Improved Alacrity that's the problem, not one or the other.

 

The question becomes how can that interaction best be rebalanced. Removing Improved Alacrity from the game? Removing Vecna from the game? Or nerfing Vecna? I think nerfing Vecna is the most sensible call.

 

I'll note though that moving Vecna into late ToB may be enough. At the Throne, I never find myself wishing Vecna were less powerful. Vecna is only a problem earlier on.

 

 

Then again, it's fun. 

 

 

Yes: it is. Vecna Improved Alacrities are a hoot.

 

I just wonder whether I'm missing out on even more enjoyment via added challenge. Take Aphril's fight against Jonicus. It was fun to blast him in a single round, but wouldn't it have been more fun to actually fight him like Serg did?

 

Best,

 

A.

[Aasim]

I just wonder whether I'm missing out on even more enjoyment via added challenge. Take Aphril's fight against Jonicus. It was fun to blast him in a single round, but wouldn't it have been more fun to actually fight him like Serg did?

I don't know. For the followers of your run, probably yes. For your PCs & you, I can't say.

[Aasim]

Bertha, 3rd BG2 update

 

Aquired FoA. I didn't fight Torgal yet. The only dangerous oponnent (I skip golems as well) was Yuan-ti mage who got instakilled.

 

I use Namarra for backstabs - it's +4 damage is awesome.

 

Then I bought Shield of Balduran Cheese and killed Beholders. Unseeing Eye has a few tricks up his sleeve (Flame Arrow followed by PW spells) but a big healing potion was ready, negating any danger.

 

 

I took Talos stronghold and finished all the quests (I like Talos quests). Bertha is now  "a scythe that cuts away the filth".

 

Now, vampires. Pro Undead used, all dead. Killing Tanova rarely felt so satisfying.

 

Bodhi used her sleep on Mini (I had to approach her with someone NOT under Pro Undead), but failed to do anything and ran away.

 

One more big quest done - Windspear hills. I had some trouble vs Rukh there (on a sidenote, I don't really agree with SCS Breach modifications. Hence, I don't use Breach vs creatures that are immune to level 5 spells, such as Liches/Rakshasa.)

 First he hit Bertha with ADHW and sorceress with a PW:Stun.

 

Next, he kills my sorceress with a trigger.

 

I have Mini tank him, when his stoneskins deplete, Mini downs a potion and chunks him.

 

Vamps inside - Pro Undead. Oddly enough, they all start as invisible and non-detectable. I had Bertha summon some skeletons to lure them out.

 

Then, MoD+4 is put to work.

 

Samia's goons were hit by Malison+Chaos, leaving only Akke standing with his mind intact. 

 

One more battle which could be dangerous, Conster. To his unfortune, my sorceress just hit level 14, picking Sequencer as her 1st pick. He start of stoneskined, but 3x Skulls leave him dead instantly.

 

We're now around 1,6 million XP, and are going to do Trademeet next.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Update of Impish Face & Co (or do you know well enough how to kill?).

 

As I can't recall how much time we had to buff after conversation with *talking heads* we took long duration buffs before and tried the shorter ones after (summons, Spell Deflection/Turning, Spell Immunity, Physical Mirror). Mazzy got Reflection shield, Impish Face, Nalia and Imoen are going to take PfMW  immediately as fight begin while Jaheira and Viconia prepared Physical Mirror spells. Unfortunately Illasera arrived right at the moment they chanted those so both castings were canceled by cutscene...   They immediately ran as far as possible from Illasera and turned on her minions instead. While our Planetar and Skelly Warrior were busy with Illasera we put all our attention on her minions with the intent to kill as many of those as possible. Black Reaver Mage had Spell Trap + Spell Shield + SI:Abjuration in his pre-buffs so our mages worked on them with RRR. He fired Secret Word/Breach/PW:Silence on Imoen but Secret Word was foiled by Spell Shield while her Spell Turning rebound Breach back on Black Reaver. Eventually some of Illasera's minions fell to ADHW/melee but that took quite a time so our ProMW expired. Illasera proved her nick immediately firing an arrow on Imoen. This was a sign for Impish Face to withdraw away from Illasera while Mazzy continued her chopping. Black Reaver Mage cast Time Stop but spent most of it rebuffing while Khelben's Whip continued to strip his protections. Black Reaver Cleric hit Imoen with Flame Strike but Illasera was already at the death-door steps and Mazzy chopped her head from her shoulders moments later.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We heed Aphril's tips on PPC #1 carefully so applied long duration buffs before entering the chamber and add Mass Invisibility / Haste as soon as Drow Priestess fell. Greater Elementals/Skelly Warrior/Planetar were already on stage (Earth Elemental was quite handy in dealing with Ogre Mages Earthquaking them). Skelly Warrior, Planetar and Fire/Air Elementals engaged Bodhi, Earth one, Mazzy and Impish Face took care of Sarevok while Nalia and Imoen were busy with Jonicus. Jon Death Spell-ed Skelly and Air Elemental but Earth one survived and Planetar could handle Bodhi well enough by himself (with little support from Jaheira). Jon cast first Time Stop to hit with Mordy Sword/Sphere of Chaos/Absolute Immunity but we all have negative saves vs spells, Sarevok already fell and Bodhi followed him next round. We unloaded spell removals on Jon while he Wish-ed Double Length Time Stop/Improved Alacrity during which he just spammed our Planetar with low level spells (all those were MR anyway). With his spell protections gone, Breach followed and he fell shortly after. No Demons this time. A coincidence, an oversight? Whatever...

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Crew just arrived in Saradush on the lookout for nice company but Aphril & Co are nowhere to be seen. Looks like girls are already left the place but at least the Bartender at Tankard Tree informed Impish Face that drinks and dinner are already paid so they could relax a bit for a moment and listen some *Snowy Tale*. 

 

to be continued...

[corey_russell]

Millen the solo level 18 fighter/level 17 illusionist - Update 9

 

When we last heard of  Millen, he was working on rescuing Imoen. The initial shadow thieves' tasks were easy, was time for the main event, assault of the vampire lair.

 

Millen reluctantly equipped the Azuredge and the shield of harmony, although he would have rather used a halberd. (In my install Azuredge only auto-kills vampires). This worked really well. He did a lot of buffs to battle Tanova, as well as a Hakeashar to help Millen - took a while but success!

 

Next major battle was the battle downstairs. Millen opened with Daystar sunray.

Spoiler

 

Then he did a web/stinking cloud minor sequencer to calm down the grimwarders, this worked well.

Spoiler

 

Lassal was easy to take out - time for Bodhi. Millen decided to be pretty mean - he opened with Protection from Magical Weapons - then GWWs with Azuredge trashed Bodhi and she had to give it up.

Spoiler

 

Time to sail for Brynnlaw! Perth was beat easily - An opening sunfire followed by a Duskblade hit took him out. Spellhold hitself was rather unremarkable. It was time for Irenicus - this took a while, but fortunately the dispelling arrows broke Irenicus defenses, and I think an inmate forced him to surrender.

Spoiler

 

Millen then went to Fish City. He cast a lot of different spells, including things like Sphere of Chaos and Incendiary Cloud, and of course sunfires. It was really smooth actually. 

 

Eventually, Millen gets to the Underdark. As a solo character, Millen doesn't need the experience here. In fact, the only thing he's really interested in, is the Dragon's Breath - once he gets that, he can retire the Duskblade. Dragon's Breath can kill all forms of trolls, as well as very effective against enemy casters. So to that end, he helps the Svirfbelin village - he buffs then GWW a few times on the Balor, and that was that.

 

For the first drow party, Millen tried to use spells like sunfire and incendiary cloud, but they were NOT effective at all. Millen had to use a lot of heal potions and for one of the first times, even needed to run away and regroup. (Millen used drow armor against the 2nd group of drow, and that worked much better).

 

Eventually he gets to Adalon and gets turned into a drow. Millen enters Ust Natha, buying what little he wants here. Then he talks to Soulafein and then goes for the thing Millen was wanting the whole time, to engage Boz and his pals.

 

While Millen did a lots of buffs, the important onces were SI:A, SI:D and SI:C, to foil dispels of his buffs as well as prevent any mazes from Nash'tar. Millen used an invulnerability potion and put on Vecna (glad he did, as he was malisoned). The opening battle was going well.

Spoiler

 

After expending his sunfires, Millen attacks Nash'tar with his Duskblad and destroys Nash'tar - avenging a solo fighter/cleric I had fail here, as well as many of Grond0's/Gate70's runs.

Spoiler

 

So yes, Millen finally gets the weapon he's been angling for (since getting out of Candlekeep):

 

This will likely be his main weapon for a long time, only subbed out if fighting an enemy completely immune to elemental damage. Millen also has ** in Two-Hand Weapon fighting, so this should serve him well.

 

Millen decided fighting the demon knights is probably a good idea. So he does lots of buffs, the important ones being SI:A, SI:D and SI:N to foil vorpal hits (or at least, I hope that foils it...). Combined with his GWWs, Millen defeated the Demon Knights rather easily. The Armor of the Hart will be his main armor when he isn't casting spells. Millen decided, now that he has the Cloak of Mirroring, he can sub his BotIB with the Frost Giant Belt, as if Millen is worried about magic damage he will use his spells to protect him.

 

*** Something New *** (for me anyways)

 

Millen wants out of the Underdark, but he hasn't failed the Phaere quest yet. So he destroys the Kua-Toans on behalf of Alesia. He then talks to the drow guarding the gate - I found out that the drow will accept a bribe! I wasn't sure how much I needed to pay (and Millen has 70,000 gold so it's not like he is hurting for cash), so paid 5000 - the guard let Millen through and Milllen did a bit more fighting and escaped the Underdark.

 

Millen will visit Ribald's and spend a huge amount of gold, most likely. Millen still cant cast level 9 spells. Millen has 5.4 million experience at the moment.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Solid work, Aasim! Illasera already lost her right for the nick *the Quick*!

[Aasim]

SI:A, SI:D and SI:N to foil vorpal hits (or at least, I hope that foils it...)

It doesn't. PfMW does.

[Serg BlackStrider]

Keep rocking, Millen the Avenger!

[corey_russell]

Keep rocking, Millen the Avenger!

Thanks! Will do. I'm surprised how easily I am playing Millen - I know how to play a solo fighter, and thanks to my recent 5 mage and berserker run, I am much more familiar with the possibilities of the arcane, and  with those classes combined Millen has been pretty potent.

[Alesia_BH]

Nice work, Serg! Keep on truckin'!

 

Best,

 

A.

 

 

He fired Secret Word/Breach/PW:Silence on Imoen but Secret Word was foiled by Spell Shield while her Spell Turning rebound Breach back on Black Reaver. Eventually some of Illasera's minions fell to ADHW/melee but that took quite a time so our ProMW expired. Illasera proved her nick immediately firing an arrow on Imoen. 

 

Interesting that he used that Trigger, given that Imoen was running Spell Shield/Spell Turning. 

 

 

Jon cast first Time Stop to hit with Mordy Sword/Sphere of Chaos/Absolute Immunity but we all have negative saves vs spells, Sarevok already fell and Bodhi followed him next round. We unloaded spell removals on Jon while he Wish-ed Double Length Time Stop/Improved Alacrity during which he just spammed our Planetar with low level spells (all those were MR anyway)...No Demons this time. A coincidence, an oversight? Whatever...

 

 

That's pretty much exactly what he did in my game. And I've been seeing a lot of that, actually: Time Stops used to do little more than toss Sphere of Chaos at a party with negative saves. And no demons, huh? No, Planetar either?

 

I was a little worried that his script was busted, but apparently that's just what he does now. It's good to have confirmation on that.

 

FYI: I think I am going to revert to either v 15 (last pre ToBex) or v19 once this game is over. v30 Kangaxx made some nice moves in testing, but across the whole spectrum of encounters, the script performs better in my older setup, at least against full buffed arcane characters. Further, as I suspected, the spell system works cleaner in mage fights with the old Spell Shield in place. I also prefer the classic version of Improved Vampires (the older vamps were a lot less irritating). I doubt I'll miss Clay Golem Cursed Wounds. I may miss the upgraded Unseeing Eye.

 

I was alway happy with my v15 and v19 setups. The only reason I upgraded was to confirm that V30 wasn't substantially more difficult. Aside from the vampires, what I've found, to my surprise, is that v30 is easier in many ways, at least for a party like Aphril's. V30 is also buggier and less stable. I like my old setup better. Although, I should see how v30 treats a warrior or thief PC before I rush to revert. 

[Alesia_BH]

Nice work, Corey!

 

Best,

 

A.

 

 

*** Something New *** (for me anyways)

 

Millen wants out of the Underdark, but he hasn't failed the Phaere quest yet. So he destroys the Kua-Toans on behalf of Alesia. He then talks to the drow guarding the gate - I found out that the drow will accept a bribe! I wasn't sure how much I needed to pay (and Millen has 70,000 gold so it's not like he is hurting for cash), so paid 5000 - the guard let Millen through and Milllen did a bit more fighting and escaped the Underdark.

 

 

Wow! I had no idea. You were in drow form at the time, I assume?

[corey_russell]

Nice work, Corey!

 

Best,

 

A.

 

 

Wow! I had no idea. You were in drow form at the time, I assume?

Thanks! And yes, I was in drow form. The guard says something that he will let Millen through if Millen gives a donation that would honor the guard's house, so my only real choices were 1000 gold or 5000 gold - since I've never done the dialog before, (and had ton of gold) went for the 5000 gold option (which worked).

[Aasim]

Bertha, 4th BG2 update

 

Shortly, we did Trademeet w/o bothering with Rakshasas but killed djinii instead under Pro Petrify.

 

Druid grove was Skull trap galore.

 

I let Cernd take care of Faldorn and now Bertha has Harmony shield, Cloak of Displacement & Inertial barrier belt. 

Second death of the run happened in Ilithid sewer compound.  Mini died to brain devour.

 

There was one dangerous instance where Bertha got her INT down to 3, but she managed to retreat back and use her sling to kill the enemies.

 

Alhoon was a bit of a wuss, but cost me an Invulnerability potion. Didn't get his trigger off.

 

I ended the session with revisiting WK and doing level 1 and level 2 of it; sans Chromatic. We're now over 2 million XP.

[Alesia_BH]

 

Shortly, we did Trademeet w/o bothering with Rakshasas but killed djinii instead under Pro Petrify.

 

 

It's been years since I've killed the rakshasas. I don't fight the djinni's because they're easier, but because I like Adratha's potion shop. Adratha has a great inventory.

 

Best,

 

A.

[corey_russell]

Millen the solo level 20 fighter/level 18 illusonist - Update 10

 

Millen's getting to be a lot of fun to play now. 

 

Before going to Ribald's and shelling out a lot of gold, Millen wanted to raise his rep - so he did the fallen paladins quest. A minor sequencer of web/stinking cloud was more than sufficient to wipe out the ex-paladins.

Spoiler

 

Millen got a lot of items from Ribald's special stock, including Corey_Russsell's favorite arcane spell, chain contingency. Time to work on the main quest. For the initial vampire ambush in the graveyard, and opening sunray then direct attack was quite sufficient.

 

Inside, Millen did mostly direct attack, alhtough he did use SI to make sure he didn't get mazed by the vampire mage. Millen also decided to dawn the gauntlets of weapon expertise, which will help his halberd use. Millen had all the allies helping him. For Bodhi, Millen did a lot of buffs, but it didn't matter too much, as a GWW by Millen using his Dragon's Breath put Bodhi near-death. The rest was easy to mop up.

Spoiler

 

 

Staking Bodhi gave Millen first access to level 9 spells, he duly memorized Chain Contigency and Planetar.

 

After resting, Millen did some thought - he can't do chain contingency > horrid wiltings x3, so he will have to try something different. He got an idea, and decided to go to the North Forest to try it out (NOTE: I usually skip this area with parties, I have had at least 3 runs end here. So I went here to avenge those runs).

 

The first enemies seen were vampires - while the chain contigency did work it was way over-kill. So Millen setup his minor and spell sequencers and tried to rest - but got ambushed by genies! I've had a run end here by them, so Millen responded with protection from fire. Milllen then did a long fight using his Heartseeker against the genies but eventually won. Time for the main event, to try out his idea vs. the powerful enemy party nearby (who has a time stop scroll...)

 

Buffs: all buffs that help with melee defense, protection from fire, as well as improved invisibility and SI:A, SI:D and SI:C - SI:C is important to make sure not to get mazed.

Chain Contingency: See enemy, Nearest Enemy - Symbol: Stun, Incendiary cloud x2

Spell Sequencer: Greater Malison, Emotion, Slow

Minor Sequencer: Web, Stinking Cloud

 

Execution:

Millen let his Chain Contingency fire - all enemies except a skeleton warrior were immobilized. He then did his Spell Sequencer, and only one enemy wasn't in the incendiary cloud, but they were unconscious due to the spell sequencer, thus melee finished them. The time stop scroll was successfully memorized.

 

Millen will investigate the Planar Sphere next (I only want to go there for the Staff of Fire, otherwise would have passed on it.

[corey_russell]

Millen the solo fighter/illusionist - FINAL Update!

 

I regret to inform everyone that Millen failed to live up to his full potential - his controller (me) had a lack of knowledge, and it proved very costly for Millen. I could mentioned the tremendous progress he made, such as clearing the planar sphere, crushing Nizi, or what not, but guess all that matters is the Temple of Rillifane fight. I did not know the mage there is a mazer - I could have easily defended MIllen if I did. I'm not surprised I didn't know, however, since I never fight him solo (Millen was the first solo-er to engage),as solo I just put the items into the center and avoid fighting. Thus, I saw the maze animation, and I knew Millen was finished. The mage was at close range, there was no time to gulp a potion of magic protection.

 

I had said I would try a party of human fighters, who would dual to thieves in BG 2 - going to give that a go. I'll restart Millen once of these days. He was so powerful in the end...

[Aasim]

Ayyy Corey...  . About I year ago I played vanilla setup with two barbarians. This guy mazed them both - so if you ever solo him again,  remember he has two memorized.

Very good run; hope your fighter-thieves fare better.

[corey_russell]

Ayyy Corey...  . About I year ago I played vanilla setup with two barbarians. This guy mazed them both - so if you ever solo him again,  remember he has two memorized.

Very good run; hope your fighter-thieves fare better.

Thanks Aasim - actually, since solo I never need the experience, I will just put the items in the center, and let Rillifane clear the mage and enemies for me...that's what all my solo runs to date have done (at least, the ones that got past this point), I just need to make it a policy.

[Alesia_BH]

Condolences, Corey.

 

I had high hopes for Millen.

 

Good luck with your upcoming party! 

 

Best,

 

A.

 

Btw. When solo, it's a good idea to use Maze precautions each and every time you encounter a high level mage. I do that with all of my solo characters, arcane or otherwise.