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[Alesia_BH]

Aphril, Elven Sorcerer: Sendai's Lair- Part 2

 

Another brief update from Sendai's Spa and Resort.

 

Thelynn'ss

 

At Thelynn'ss's back massage workshop, Imoen discovered that she's a natural. Meanwhile, Aphril led a hot yoga session for an appreciative audience.

 

 

Let's move on, shall we?

 

Spoiler

 

The Tunnels

 

Having sat out the earlier workshops, Aerie was in the mood for a little aerobics. 

 

 

Sadly, she hardly broke a sweat: the session was not up to her standards. It takes more than an army of dwarven berserkers to push Aerie's limits.

 

Spoiler

 

She still had go juice left at the end- even though she was bordering on tuckered out.

 

Spoiler

 

The party will continue its march tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the Sendai fight.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

 

Aerie the Avariel Tank of Doom, L19/17 C/M: Kills- 550; XP Value- 31%; Most Powerful Vanquished- Hive Mother; Favorite Spell- Holy Smite; Favorite Weapon- Flail of Ages;  Revivals: 0

 

Imoen the Quick, L7/21 T->M: Kills- 114; XP Value- 11%; Most Powerful Vanquished- Kangaxx the Demi-Lich; Favorite Spell- Stoneskins; Favorite Weapon- Melf's Minute Meteors; Revivals: 0

 

Adara the Bold, L22 Sorcerer: Kills- 456; XP Value- 26%; Most Powerful Vanquished- Bodhi; Favorite Spell- Invisibility; Favorite Weapon- Melf's Minute Meteors; Revivals: 1

 

Aphril the Almost Famous, L22 Sorcerer: Kills- 501; XP Value- 30%; Most Powerful Vanquished: Firkraag; Favorite Spell- Invisibility; Favorite Weapon- Melf's Minute Meteors

 

NW: Aerie has stretched her kill lead, thanks to her efforts in the tunnels. Surprisingly, she has also regained her position as the party's XP Value leader.

 

NW II: The party remains uninjured in Throne of Bhaal. 

[Alesia_BH]

@Jabberwock. This is the first lead I've found on an occurrence that sounds vaguely similar to yours. This was from a Black Pits No Reload attempt by one of our forumites, Potty1. The report appeared on the Beamdog forums.

 

I rolled a group comprising a barbarian, zerker, and dragon disciple, and twice the barbie spontaneously died from near full health, without any damage showing in the message window, and the body also disappeared

 

I trust that Potty1's understanding of game mechanics is sound enough that we can rule out obvious explanations. Perhaps Potty1 can fill us in on the details.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Well done, Grim Jim!

 

And I agree with your analysis of the error: Jim led with his aura a bit too early.

 

Can you load Spell Immunities into Triggers in your install? In installs where it's possible, I like to keep a Spell Shield/SI:A/Spell Deflection Trigger in reserve in the event that I fail to counter a Spellstrike with Spell Shield.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

Btw. I wasn't aware that Kangaxx is vulnerable to Pierce Magic from the Wand of Spell Striking. Does that strike you as an oversight, or by intent? I haven't examined SCS Kangaxx's CRE file so the logic of his immunity build isn't clear to me. I had expected David to maintain Kangaxx's immunity to spell levels 1-9.

[Alesia_BH]

The description of the Spellcasting Demiliches component says

 

Awesome. That's good to know. Very helpful!

 

Cheers,

 

A.

[Grond0]

Nice description of the Kangaxx fight GrimJim.  Jim looks good to make further progress.

[Alesia_BH]

Quick Note on Aphril's Game: Practice Makes Perfect

 

Just before the party's showdown with Sendai, Imoen, party thief, trickster, lieutenant of morale, approached Sarevok with another request.

 

 

Sarevok: Oh no...

 

Imoen: Umm. Sarevok?

 

Sarevok: Yes?

 

Imoen: I just wanted to tell you that those cupcakes were awesome. Thanks. Really.

 

Sarevok: That's what you want? That's all you want? Then why do you have a Black Blade of Disaster in one hand and a Rod of Resurrection in the other?

 

Imoen: Don't worry. Just equip your crossbow, and look over there- over at Cespenar. I just need a little practice.

 

Sarevok: Practice for what?

 

Imoen: Yuk. That first one was a dud.

 

Spoiler

 

Imoen: That's better!

 

Spoiler

 

Imoen: Awh. That one scared Aerie!

 

Spoiler

 

Imoen: I guess I should stop now. But he's standing right there. Close your eyes Aers

 

Spoiler

 

Imoen: I just have to..

 

Spoiler

 

Imoen: Just one more.

 

Spoiler

 

Imoen: Ok. I'm done. 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Imoen: Except...

 

Spoiler

 

 

Imoen: Ok. I'm finished now. Thanks, Sarevok! 

 

Best,

 

A.

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 83 - (update 1)

Pasha, half-elf druid (Grond0) & Rholfre, half-elf dragon disciple (Gate70)

 

This pairing are under way in Amn.  They cleared the dungeon, with the exception of not managing to time damage well enough against Ulvaryl and she flapped away.

Spoiler

Rholfre levelled up on exit and Pasha rashly mentioned sunfire as a possible spell to learn - as if dodging firebreath wasn't enough to worry about .  Sunfire was used for the first time to burn an illusionary circus tent to the ground.

 

Moving on to the Copper Coronet Pasha found a suitable moment to introduce her new fire elemental to an admiring world.  

Spoiler

Needing a bit more cash to pay off Gaelan Bayle they then ventured into the sewers - eventually picking up Lilarcor after Pasha backtracked to get the kobold staff left earlier.  In the slaver ship Rholfre was low on spells to deal with trolls, but finished one off with her last sunfire before dragon breath accounted for the other - Pasha also made a mental note there that she really needs to stand further away!

Spoiler

 

After eventually managing to rest in the sewers Rholfre commented on the need to carefully skirt round the acid trap as it could potentially be lethal - yep that's the way to do it .  

Spoiler

With a fresh elemental available not to mention Rholfre's firepower the slavers stood no chance.

Spoiler

 

Gaelan received his 15k gold before the duo went to report in to Aran Linvail.  On the way they ran into Hareishan - not a problem with an elemental and a couple of big bears appearing while she was busy with the thieves.

Spoiler

 

At Watcher's Keep they picked up a potion container and looted the top floor before Pasha asked to take on the statues in order to get the +4 scimitar (to replace her current +0 version).  Summons helped with most of them and Rholfre still had a few MMMs left with only the golem statue remaining.  Still needing a bit more damage she then turned to sunfires to overcome its magic resistance, but stood a bit too close to the doorway.  Her stoneskin was down and the golem preparing a deadly blow - when a final sunfire blew it apart just in time.  

Spoiler

All that effort produced scant reward though as Usuno's blade is not actually a scimitar, but a ninja-to (scimitar proficiency, but not usable by druids).

 

On the way to start Aran's tasks they ran across Sansuki begging for help.  Pasha's lightning and Rholfre's MMMs accounted for Del

Spoiler

and summons lasted long enough to see off one of the other vampires, though Rholfre was down to the Crimson Dart to finish things off.  Pasha still had a couple of fresh summons left though and that proved sufficient to see Lassal on his way.  They'll be seeking out the Guild Contact next time.

 

Stats:

Pasha, druid 12, 59 HPs (incl. 5 from Helm), 62 kills

Rholfre, dragon disciple 11, 56 HPs, 93 kills, 0 deaths (1 in BG1)

[Alesia_BH]

 

If I ever run a sorcerer again I think his book will be a bit different. I would take greater malison rather than farsight

 

Makes sense.

 

 

swap the order of lower resistance and breach

 

Solo and given your Planetar use, I think that makes sense.

 

Take pierce magic instead of spell deflection, and take spell turning instead of limited wish.

 

Kangaxx's susceptibility to Pierce does strengthen the argument for taking it, but I'd be reluctant to pass on Spell Deflection. Spell Deflection and Spell Turning play similar roles, in that they help protect your SIs from high level spell protections. Spell Deflection has an advantage, however, that makes it more valuable. It will fit in a Trigger whereas Spell Turning will not. I don't see them as interchangeable. 

 

It's a pity that neither Pierce Magic nor Pierce Shield are 7s. One of those spells would fit beautifully in Limited Wish's slot.

 

 

 

Also, poor Sarevok. Once the terror of the Sword Coast, now a training dummy. Was there any danger of disintegrating him?

 

 

Where some see danger, others see opportunity. Imoen is an optimist. 

 

(She would have missed the cupcakes though.)

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

@Grond0. In your monk run, when the Ogre Mage perma-killed Wraith, did you have Gore On or Off? Test in your install, but it looks like David designed his component to work with Gore On only. Sarevok was "surviving" those 450-350 damage backstabs with Gore On. But with Gore Off, he's a goner everytime.

 

Spoiler

 

Best,

 

A.

[Grond0]

I always leave it on.  My experience of that SCS component is that it works well against melee damage and there were previous occasions in that run where I would have expected chunking to occur in vanilla, so it's odd that it didn't do so here.  Possibly the fact that the character was already poisoned may have had an influence - leading to two different types of damage both trying to kill him at once.

[Alesia_BH]

I always leave it on.  

 

Noted. Counterintuitively, that seems to be the best policy with the SCS component installed- at least based on what I've observed.

 

Best,

 

A.

[Alesia_BH]

Spell turning does block level 8 and 9 spells in my install.

 

Yes. I had already edited that part out, as you may have noticed.

 

(Sleepy headed thought- I just woke up)

 

 

The fact that it doesn't fit in a trigger is a good point, but it could be replaced with conjuration immunity since power words would be the biggest threat.

 

 

That occurred to me as well. I'm not fond of that idea.

 

The Spell Shield/SI:A/Spell Deflection Trigger provides better protection from subsequent attacks on magical defenses. Spell Thrust->Spell Thrust->Breach strips you if you're running Spell Shield/SI:C/SI:A. It does not if you're running Spell Shield/SI:A/Spell Deflection. Spell Thrust->Ruby Ray may put your SI:A in jeopardy with the SI:A/SI:C/Spell Shield Trigger. It would not with a Spell Shield/SI:A/Spell Deflection Trigger. The Spell Shield/SI:A/SI:C Trigger would also leave you open to single target spells immediately.

 

I'd rather outsource Pierce Magic than crowd Spell Deflection out of my book.

 

Of course, for me this is academic since I can't put Spell Immunities into Triggers in my install.

 

Best,

 

A.

 

NW: I can definitely see how having Pierce Magic in the book would simplify the Kangaxx fight, given that he is no longer immune to L6 spells. And as I've mentioned earlier, I'd love to have another level to draw on for magic resistance circumvention. I'm not convinced that I'd want to give up Spell Deflection, however, I freely acknowledge that I have a tendency to think about, and defend against, attacks on magical defenses that never come.

[Alesia_BH]

Oops, sorry about that.

 

No worries. I had gotten up, posted, and gone to the grocery store. When I came back, I read my post and was like; "Huh? Did I write that?" It was posted there uncorrected long enough to warrant a response. 

 

Just as an FYI. I tend to edit my posts often. You probably should't read anything I write until a couple hours after I've written it. 

 

 
The most dangerous single target damage would be a flame arrow or melf's sequencer, but those are both conjuration spells. 

 

Considering the arcane side only, that makes sense.

 

Implosion scares me more that Flame Arrow and Melf's Acid Arrow, since Implosion holds without offering a save.

 

Implosion is not a Conjuration spell. Sendai and the Balors at the Throne cast Implosion. It's one of the most significant threats at the Throne. Illasera's arrows, Mel's Time Stop melees, and Mel's Bone Blades being the others.

 

 I'm assuming I still have shield running, though. If I'm completely defenseless no single trigger is going to cover everything. The rest of your scenarios are correct, but I'm not just going to be standing around. If I need that trigger, my next move would be improved alacrity to get exactly what I need.
 

 

Right. But Improved Alacrity has a non zero casting time- even with Vecna and the AoP. Disruption is a very really possibility at the Throne. You also have schooless single target special abilities and divine spells- including Implosion from Sendai and the demons to worry about. I'd rather have the extra layer of security of Spell Deflection in my emergency Trigger. 

 

Example

 

Sendai: Ruby Ray

Melissan: Spellstrike 

SD-Less Sorcerer: Trigger- SI:A/SI:C/Spell Shield

 

Sendai: Implosion

 

Again, I can imagine making it work, but I have my doubts. I'm not convinced that simplifying Kangaxx is worth the increased risk at the Throne.

 

I've been thinking about Contingency, given that I don't allow it to be cast in combat. That's tempting although I can see problems there, too.

 

Best,

 

A. 

[Alesia_BH]

 

Implosion is something I hadn't thought of and you're very right about it's dangers.

 

Yes. That's the main single target I had in mind. 

 

Sendai at the Throne cannot see the invisible and should not be able to target implosion through improved invisibility.

 

As a reminder, the Trigger we're contemplating is primarily for post Spellstrike emergency deployment. We've already lost our SI:D.  Melissan runs True Sight. We'd be targetable. Having Spell Deflection in the Trigger would save us. SI:C would not.

 

 

 

Simplifying the Kangaxx fight is of course not the only reason for taking pierce magic. I'm with you that it would be nice to have another way of lowering magic resistance. I also think it would be nice to have a backup spell protection remover in case I'm out of ruby rays, as Jim was in the fight against Layene.

 

As you know, I've expressed interest in making room for Pierce Magic before. I appreciate the benefits of having it in ones book- especially with regards to lowering magic resistance without tapping L5.

 

That said, most of the work of Pierce Magic can be outsourced to the wands, although the wands need to be debugged, of course.

 

Against Kangaxx, it would be nice to be able to fire off Pierce Magics during IAs, so that we could safely lead with our auras early. That's one application that the wands, even debugged, wouldn't be suited for. That's why I singled out that application. There are others, nonetheless.

 

I do like the idea of taking Pierce Magic. I just wouldn't want to give up Spell Deflection. 

 

 

I considered dropping contingency, but I think the scroll version would only allow you to go up to level 3 spells, which doesn't help much.

 

 

Yes. The job of Contingency can't be outsourced at all- assuming we aren't using the scrolls cast at caster level tweak. That's the drawback. And that's why I've historically picked Contingency over Pierce Magic.

 

What I need to think through is whether I really need Contingency and Chain, or if Chain alone is enough. I'm undecided.

 

It's easier for me to see situations where the lack of Spell Deflection would be an issue.

 

I like having two separate conditions, although I'm not convinced I need them. Also, even though I loathe setting Contingencies in combat, I like having the option of setting a ProMW:Hit Contingency at the Throne in the event that I've missed a Focus.

 

What are your essential uses of Contingency?

 

 

 

Mostly this discussion is reminding me that Jim has passed the point where I would rather be playing my fighter/mage or mage/thief.

 

I concur. I prefer F/Ms and M/Ts to sorcerers for the Ascension endgame- at least on Core.

 

I'm undecided on Insane. It's easier for a sorcerer to insta-kill Melissan's summoned Fallen Solars.

 

Best,

 

A. 

[Alesia_BH]

Aphril, Elven Sorcerer: Sendai's Lair- Part 3

 

Aphril and Co. have arrived at Sendai's threshold.

 

 

Let's wrap up the lead-up encounters before the final fight.

 

Odamaron

 

I was relieved disappointed when I noticed that Odamaron's hidey-hole lacked SCS Improved Enclave enhancements. For solo play, I run without the Improved Sendai and Abazigal Enclaves. I had intended to add them for this run, but apparently I did not. That's kind of a bummer, but I highly doubt that the improvements would have given this crew trouble. It doesn't really matter in the end. We just missed out on some cool points.

 

Anyhoo. Even with the SCS script, vanilla Odamaron is a pushover. In the first half of round one, Aphril stripped him while Aerie popped off a Holy Word.

 

Spoiler

 

By the second half of the round, he had been blinded...

 

Spoiler

 

breached, bladed, and stunned.

 

Spoiler

 

Imoen finished him early in round two following a second Breach, which had been needed to remove a Contingencied ProMW.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Ogremoch

 

Ogremoch got Tank of Doomed

 

Spoiler

 

One elemental broke off and attacked Imoen, but the ToD came to the rescue.

 

Spoiler

 

Diaytha

 

I felt a little lazy about buffing here so I had Imoen nix Diaytha under Time Stop. She could have killed more, but the Hive Mother made me nervous- especially since I hadn't bothered to pre-buff Immy.

 

Spoiler

 

Sequential Planters fought a proxy fight after that. Totally lame. That's why I hate Planetars, and why I hate summons in general: they can tempt you into boring lame proxy fights.   

 

The Ancient Vamp, who had wandered off, was finished by Aphril.

 

Spoiler

 

Oh Captain, My Captain

 

I had kind of forgotten about Captain Drop-Dead, which is why Aerie and the others are full buffed here.

 

Spoiler

 

Mind the Gap

 

The ToD nixed most of the mind flayers, but she needed a little help at the end when I began to doubt whether Mithykyl had a standard mind flayer weapon that could be foiled by Mantles. He does, as it turns out. Whatever: dead is dead.

 

Spoiler

 

I had intended to fight Sendai tonight, but I'd like to take a little time to think about how to handle Aerie, Imoen, and Adara's buffs. Aphril can refresh lightning fast. The rest of the crew can not. This is a potential problem in long to moderately long fights. Hopefully we'll figure it out. I'd hate to lose a member of the team this late in the adventure.

 

Best,

 

A. 

 

Aerie the Avariel Tank of Doom, L20/17 C/M: Kills- 558; XP Value- 32%; Most Powerful Vanquished- Ogremoch; Favorite Spell- Holy Smite; Favorite Weapon- Flail of Ages;  Revivals: 0

 

Imoen the Quick, L7/21 T->M: Kills- 116; XP Value- 11%; Most Powerful Vanquished- Kangaxx the Demi-Lich; Favorite Spell- Stoneskins; Favorite Weapon- Melf's Minute Meteors; Revivals: 0

 

Adara the Bold, L23 Sorcerer: Kills- 458; XP Value- 25%; Most Powerful Vanquished- Bodhi; Favorite Spell- Invisibility; Favorite Weapon- Melf's Minute Meteors; Revivals: 1

 

Aphril the Almost Famous, L23 Sorcerer: Kills- 515; XP Value- 30%; Most Powerful Vanquished: Firkraag; Favorite Spell- Invisibility; Favorite Weapon- Melf's Minute Meteors

 

Btw. Chapter XP Value Percentages: Aerie- 41%; Imoen- 14%; Adara- 13%; Aphril- 29%

[Alesia_BH]

Btw. Before Jabberwock's issue slips into oblivion: Who thinks there is enough evidence of bugginess to warrant encouraging him to resume posting?

 

Best,

 

A

[Blackraven]

Btw. Before Jabberwock's issue slips into oblivion: Who thinks there is enough evidence of bugginess to warrant encouraging him to resume posting?

 

Best,

 

A

I do. Jabberwock's character had full HPs, death warded and petrification protected, so there's really no explanation as to what might have killed the character, taking into account the relatively harmless enemy he was fighting. And then suddenly the disappeared portraits. I'd be completely fine with a reload and to me it wouldn't discredit a possible no-reload trilogy succes for Jabberwock.

Whether I'd reload myself, which I said I probably wouldn't (if only because I hate the 'Your main character has been killed message' is irrelevant IMO.

 

[Alesia_BH]

Aphril, Elven Sorcerer: Sendai (or An Epic Letdown)

 

Aphril and Co. have trounced Sendai, although it took a bit of debugging to advance the plot. We encountered the unkillable principle bug, which sometimes occurs when bosses with death dialogs are nixed by massive damage, especially during Time Stop.

 

The lesson I learned from this fight is that I definitely need to install the Improved Sendai Enclave component in party games. Even with the SCS script, vanilla Sendai is no match. Setting the difficult to Insane has no effect, since Sendai doesn't have a realistic chance of doing damage. The girl just needs some help.

 

Anyhoo. I'll report on the fight as it happened. Apologies for the lack of enthusiasm but there just wasn't much here to get excited about.   

 

The plan for the opening Statues was to have Aerie and Imoen engage with Energy Blade and a Black Blade of Disaster respectively while Aphril and Adara faded, summoned PIs, and got to work on reloading the spellbooks.

 

 

 

The only challenge in this fight was insuring that everyone would be full buffed by the time Sendai arrived. But given that the statues don't detect the invisible via script and that Aphril and Adara have 84 Wishes between them, that wasn't terribly difficult.

 

During the Statue phase, the party basically sat around invisible maintaining their buffs while Aphril's PI and Adara's Planetar did all the work.

 

Here we see the Planetar killing the mage Statue.

 

 

Here, the fighter Statue whiffs away at Aphril's ProMW PI while the party refreshes their buffs.

 

 

Freshened up and reset now. Aphril summons a new PI.

 

 

Adara's PI joins the party.

 

 

Spellbooks are replenished again.

 

 

Mage Statue 2 falls. Ruby Ray x N->Remove

 

 

Last Statue.

 

 

At the moment Sendai arrived, the party was full buffed with fully loaded spell books. That of course meant Sendai was in for an epic butt kicking. Minsc would have been proud. 

 

 

Planetar- True Sight; Aphril- Projected Image; Aphril PI- Improved Alacrity->SI:D-ProMW->Ruby Ray of Reversal x4->Remove x 3->LR x3. Sendai is stripped now. Her Chain has fired, but she hasn't cast a spell.

 

 

Aerie and Adara go to work with Energy Blades while Aphril's PI unloads. This was just an awful beating.

 

 

Sendai is already at Near Death now. She's Blinded and she has two more Dragon's Breath unfurling on her.

 

 

Imoen's Time Stop kicks in. 

 

 

Sendai, who had already been at Near Death, took about 500HP of backstab damage in Time Stop. Something was clearly wrong at this point.

 

 

She then DDoored to the South and just stood there, during which time she took a few hundred more hit points worth of backstab damage -all while at Near Death.

 

 

Still at Near Death. Yet more abuse. Still unresponsive. 

 

 

At this point, I tried Contol-Ying her. No effect. Unkillable bug confirmed. Time to reboot..

 

Since I saw no need to replay the entire fight, I simply Ctrl Yed through the Statue phase and then took it easy on Sendai the second time through. We skipped the Imoen Time Stop and just let Aphril, Aerie and Adara gently take her down with Energy Blades and pulsed spells. That sufficed to advance the plot.

 

So, yeah: that's how that went...  

 

I have to admit that I'm a bit bummed about the outcome in Sendai's lair. Between the bug and the unworthy opponent, it was far from satisfying. I really wish I installed the Improved Enclave. Oh well. Next time. I just hope we'll get a better fight out of Abazigal.

 

Best,

 

A.