16405 réponses à ce sujet

[Blackmalkin]

Gate70 wrote...
 I'm not certain but believe the BG2 engine 5 summon restriction still applies to wands?

Apparently not:



Monsters summoned by wands seem to be excluded from the limit. Same goes for rabbits, squirrels and birds (I should know). And illusions, like the ones created by Mislead.

Edit: Here's another screenshot:



Interesting that the limit information appeared but changed nothing.

Modifié par Blackmalkin, 08 avril 2012 - 03:05 .

[Blackmalkin]

Update on Dhanushka and company:

Playing with an overpowered party is rather boring (reminds me why I played a wild mage), but a few interesting things did happen lately. Bugged Dagger of Venom caused Droth to talk after dying. He even cast a few spells and did some damage before the poison that kept him alive have expired. His helm went to Dhanushka.



After bying all useful items from Ulgoth’s Beard, Melodia managed to steal Ring of Free Action. With skill at only  87% – potions of master thievery doesn’t stack in SCS and bard can’t use potions of perception.

After that I went to explore Durlag's Tower upper levels and 1st level of the dungeon. Ghost was not so easy to kill, but hit and run tactic finished him without party taking any damage. Kirinhale died before even turning hostile, as she needed to apporoach a party member to initiate dialogue (strange that SCS didn’t change this). Samadarshin raised his wisdom to 19. Vaitali gained a second 3rd level spell – Haste.

In the dungeon there were some problems with greater doppelganger in the library, as there was not enough room to position archers after casting Webs. Dhanushka had to gulp potion of freedom to save Samadarshin (who attacked the doppegangers wearing the Ring of Free Action and got confused) and Grunkh (who was webbed while trying to find a shooting position, and then charmed). When enemies were dead or dying and Web have expired, Vaitali used wand of paralyzation to stop Grunkh from killing Samadarshin, and the latter regained his senses just in time to refrain himself from killing the barbarian.



Final 1st level battle went easy, but not without a casaulty. Some Webs were cast before Grunkh talked to Love, and retreated before it reacted. Webbed Fear was shot to death. When party waited for other enemies to show up, Shari was critically backstabbed by Avarice.



Avarice was dead before Shari’s body hit the floor. Other opponents were nowhere to be seen. Prde was lured out and shot before it could attack anyone. Love have disappeared, so sneaky Dhanuska went to find it. When she did (somewhere near the training room) she did some damage with shoot and hide tactic, but suddenly Love was protected by Physical Mirror. Without casting it or any other indication – looked just like Minor Globe. It was rather irritating, so I sent an enraged barbarian armed with sword of berserking. And it was a good thing, as the only spell that Love cast before being chunked was Dire Charm. By the way, it shows what’s wrong with SCS' AI. It acts according to knowledge it cannot possess – like casting Unholy Blight on the only good-aligned character without using Know Alignment spell or not casting Sleep on 5th level characters – but fails to notice what is noticable, like barbarian’s rage activation.

I retreated from the Tower, resurrected Shari and went to Cloakwood. Seniyad and his lackeys were killed with a single Web and about a quiver of normal arrows – I was so used to casting multiple Webs lately, that I’ve nearly forgotten that sometimes one is enough. Remembering my last battle in the spider lair, I provided the party with some buffs before entering, especially Haste on all. Except for Dhanushka, who gulped a potion of free movement too fast. But it wasn’t a problem and fight went exceptionally well. Dhanushka opened with a critical acid arrow shot, killing Centeol before she even noticed anything. Grunkh charged to the middle of the lair to grab the Spider’s Bane. One of the sword spiders were killed with combined attacks of Samadarshin, Dhanushka and Vaitali. The other was massacred by barbarian’s powerful critical hit. Others soon followed and the battler was finished within one round. I think that killing Centeol quickly spared me some of the giant spiders – I only had to kill 2 of them this time.



Party status:
Dhanushka – archer 7, 66 HP, 689 kills
Grunkh – barbarian 7, 72 HP (he doesn’t have much luck with dice), 295 kills
Samadarshin – fighter 6/cleric 6, 65 HP, 248 kills (he’s catcthing up)
Shari – swashbuckler 8, 43 HP, 100% detect illusion, 151 kills (she has noticably less kills then others mostly due to the fact that she is usually not allowed to kill low-level creatures, as they tend to be revived by her poison, as ridiculous as it may sound)
Melodia – skald 8, 46 HP, fav. spell: Friends, 73 kills (raise in kills is resulted mostly from learning Fireball)
Vaitali – sorcerer 8, 35 HP, fav. spell: Sleep, 45 kills, took Stoneskin as 4th level spell

[saros_shadow_follower]

Nope, the summon limit doesn't apply to wands in BG Tutu.

A bit more exploring in Astarta's game:

Lvl 4 of Durlag's tower - walk in the park, actually, especially with a thief to disarm the nasty traps. Obtained several important items, like a sling +3 for PC and the Staff of Striking for Yoshimo's excellent backstabbing weapon. The Demonknight itself, while very dangerous to a soloer, is really very easy with a party. Everyone was protected from fire save from PC, who was NOT to take action in the fight. Aerie was stunned by a power word, and the demonknight shot several fireballs, but as was said - everyone was protected from fire, and enemy Remove magic really affected only summons. Arrows killed the demonknight while summons kept him busy.

Chapter 5's mainquest: First with the gold obtained from the tower were recharged 2 fireball wands and a Monster summoning one. Second, many potions and scrolls were purchased. The party completed Scar's first and second assignment , although Minsc died in the sewers once (being held in a web and poisoned by 5 Phase spiders which chose that exact moment to teleport around him). Was resurrected at a local temple. The ogre mage's carrion crawlers were evaporized via Fireball wand charges and he himself was not a big deal.

The party managed to obtain a second Non-detection cloak in the Sorcerers Sundries, by completing a subquest. Good - will come in handy. Eqipped by Aerie.

Next, the party crawled inside the Iron throne headquarters. Using 3*Friends spell, Astarta managed to make her way all the way up to the 5th floor without anyone turning hostile. In the basement the party killed a lone guard and looted some valuable items, but someone noticed them. Without waiting for the Flaming fists to show up, the party quickly left the basement, therefore leaving the stupid Flaming fists to wait in the basement forever.

Lvl 5 of the Iron throne building - first Aerie and Yoshimo snuck in, sure that they will be undetected. And indeed, enemies wasted 2 divination spells on them. Next one by one, Astarta, Minsc and Drizzt entered straight into the back rooms of that same floor. Aerie and Yoshi joined them, party buffed well (including 2 Frost Giant str potions for the rangers), Yoshimo positioned himself behind the enemy cleric, and here Astarta and Alia showed up too early, the enemies saw them and triggered their starting buffs...but Yoshimo still scored an excellent backstab. The enemy mages started Remove Magics casting on the two party wizards (dunno which one was targeted). Aerie and Astarta hid in the backroom, and apparently enemy spells were disrupted by doing so. Rangers killed yet another enemy, but Yoshi had to be moved (forgot about him), so he ate some nasty backstabcs and did only half a job (dispelled only Alai's illusions). The enemy archer was next in line to be killed, while party mages started acting with Remove Magic and some summoned monsters. Yoshimo was killed, and Aiai's Confusion spell confused Aerie. The two rangers took care of Neeman, the doppleganger and Gardush, while Astarta summoned some more fodder to keep the enemy thieves occupied. Aiai fell last, mostly to the summoned monsters.

Enormous loot, most notable items - Ring of Free Action for Minsc, and Minor Spell Sequencer scroll for PC. Chapter not yet completed, as the party needs some more gold to buy all valuable potions and scrolls in the city.

[Grond0]

PicklePepperPiper wrote...
Also I hope you're not referring to me as a veteran with Grond0 in the same sentence! I've never even completed BG2!

I suppose I might count as a veteran for BG1, but I've never completed BG2 either (apart from with Gate70 holding my hand in multiplayer).  Hard luck with the vampire wolf by the way.

saros_shadow_follower wrote...
Nope, the summon limit doesn't apply to wands in BG Tutu.

But does in BGT.

[BelgarathMTH]

@PPP: I was going to say welcome to the challenge, but then I read the vampire wolf incident. Condolences. I'd love to see you join the minimal reload.

@Saros: welcome.

@Blackmalkin: Thanks for all the testing and the great screenies. Dang, I've never seen so many Hold bubbles in my life!

@Gate 70: Thanks for all the final battle advice. Unfortunately, I don't know how to find all those magic items. I've already given the Girdle of Piercing back to Unshey this run. But I will definitely be on the lookout for more fire protection items. I'm hoping Death Ward and Protection from Petrification will make Semaj surviveable. I just don't know if I have the skill to do all the running around and rebuffing you describe. Something always manages to go wrong. I still haven't even managed to find all the battle horror traps, even with Imoen at 100 percent Find/Disarm. This probably means I'll never get a no-reload past BG1 into BG2, because I have so much trouble with this. Maybe I can keep posting run updates in the minimal reload thread, but it's going to be awfully embarrassing having 5 or 6 reloads on my counter just from this one scenario.

@Grond0, re wand of summoning in BGT. Dang, there goes the possibility of spamming monsters to win against Sarevok and Co.!

Modifié par BelgarathMTH, 08 avril 2012 - 06:43 .

[saros_shadow_follower]

@BelgarathMTH:

Fire protection items are relatively easy to come by. There are three from the top of my head:

Drizzt's scimitar +3, Icingdeath. It grants 50% resistance to fire, although an icon will not appear. Kinda 'hidden' resistance. And it's an excellent off-hand weapon even if you have no proficiencies in scimitars.

There is a Ring of Fire Resistance in the lower right area (forgot the name of this area - well it's the place where you find Samuel).

And of course, there is a Helmet of Defense, in Dursh + Shoal subquest - kill the ogre and claim the valuable item.

In addition, there are fire resistance scrolls, potions and spells.

Just as a side note, I dtopped my current no-reload as it is far too easy for me. Tried a Necromancer solo SCS no-reload, but without illusion spell backup, the mage was soon eliminated. By some stupid goblin archers...

Modifié par saros_shadow_follower, 08 avril 2012 - 07:43 .

[Gate70]

I wouldn't recommend trying to get the scimitar. There is a second ring of fire resistance in the catacombs below Candlekeep. I expect BGT Angelo will remove your buffs just before Semaj casts, contingencies or tattoos.

I got so fed up of them a couple of years ago I stopped using BGT and went back to Easytutu. Got wiped out a few times in multiplayer BGT with Grond0 so spent a lot of time seeing what worked and what did not. Maybe try Easytutu instead as this battle is one that really plays differently?

Other techniques that worked were;
Having the conversation while invisible then sending skeletons in one at a time (switch sides around the skull mosaic so Sarevok doesn't get too close) so Angelo shoots at them as Sarevok swipes. Angelo will often light Sarevok up too, when that happens Sarevok kills him.

Draw Sarevok into a corner and glug a potion of invisibility. Go somewhere else, buff and take the other three out before returning for him. I believe Grond0 uses this method a fair bit, maybe with a variety of endings.

Firing loads of webs and entangles, cast free action and draw Sarevok in. He can sometimes be affected by greater malison then doom which makes it harder for him to keep moving.

It is worth exploring these options to see what works for you more than 50% of the time. In BGT I found summons were too fragile and party v party always went in their favour.

[Grond0]

@BelgarathMTH - actually spamming monsters against just Sarevok is a very good tactic. It will probably take him 2-3 rounds to kill each lot of summons, which gives you the chance to target him with spells and missiles. That makes finishing off a battle quite easy

However, it sounds like your problem will not be Sarevok himself (particularly if you've used arrows of dispelling to get rid of his haste), but those of his crew with distance attacks. I suspect you may find the fight easier as a solo (you could leave others invisible in a corner - make sure they can go invisible again if they are spotted), which greatly simplifies party management. A single fighter can easily win this fight by running round while taking pot-shots with a bow. Equipment that would be useful would include:
- full plate (buy in Beregost or from Taugosz)
- helm of defense (Shoal encounter)
- boots of speed (Drasus)
- ring of fire resistance (Samuel area)
- ring protection +2 (Ramazith)
- girdle of piercing (ogre)
- cloak of displacement (Ulgoth's Beard)
- potions of fire resistance and healing
- scroll magic protection (several on sale, also gnome in Samuel area, Bentan in Firewine Bridge, Ramazith tower, Candlekeep tombs) with a spare in case first runs out before you have dealt with all the enemies
- potions of speed, heroism, power, invulnerability, giant strength (if using eagle bow or throwing axe) will all potentially make things easier as will various magical arrows

With that lot you can safely go into battle - spells can't hurt you and enemy missile attacks will probably only hit with a 20. If potion supplies are limited then don't take all of them up front in case they get dispelled - I suggest just have potions of speed and fire resistance initially (so that you have over 100% fire protection). Your immediate target should be Sarevok with arrows of dispelling (to slow him down) and then same for Angelo. Continue to concentrate on Angelo after that as he is the most dangerous of the enemies in this scenario.

Edit: if you do want Drizzt's scimitar it is easily obtained.  You can just surround him with npcs and either boot them from the party (if you want your PC to hog all the XP) or turn them all invisible (if you do this make sure AI is turned off!).  Then just attack him with a 2-handed weapon while he flails madly at you with those short scimitars.  There are a number of other methods that can work, but this is the quickest and easiest I've seen.

Modifié par Grond0, 08 avril 2012 - 08:39 .

[Grond0]

Update for Wolfsbane, dwarven berserker.

I quickly ran him through as far as Baldur's Gate this morning.  He's virtually at his XP cap now.  There was only one major mistake, which he was very lucky to survive, but otherwise it's been plain sailing so far.  A few encounters of interest were:
- I noted in Saros' run that he had killed Elminster.  This was not possible in the vanilla game, but it's a long time since I experimented with it, so wasn't sure if that might have changed in BGT.  I set up a horde of summons to attack him and tried 4 or 5 times, but that just led to a game crash each time.
- his moment of madness came when I attacked the revenant with a non-proficient weapon and lost track of how much time had passed.  The result was Wolfsbane was held when his rage expired, which should have been the end of him.  However, the revenant was still keen to continue a conversation and Wolfsbane somehow managed to force the appropriate response through his frozen lips.

- going in and out of the house next to Tenya spawned an extra copy of her.  Wolfsbane killed one of them before the other asked for a truce.  As usual I agreed, but (not as usual) upset by her unfair tactics I killed her before she could depart.
- a minor mistake was forgetting to pick up Bassillus' holy symbol.  On eventually returning about 10 days later it was still there waiting (as a quest item it doesn't disappear).
- I wanted the full plate worn by Taugosz so decided to bring him into the main tent to take some punishment from his friends.  Raemon's speech turned him hostile, but he was immediately charmed again by Wolfsbane and the pair of them had no trouble clearing the tent.  I tried to give Taugosz an elegant execution by lining him up with the trapped chest, but the lightning bolt appeared to go straight through him so Wolfsbane had to just hit him over the head.

Modifié par Grond0, 08 avril 2012 - 08:42 .

[saros_shadow_follower]

Killing Elminster is best done by a mage PC, with the help of a familiar. Elminster doesn't defend himself vs the familiar. However, if you want the job done faster, use some Dire Wolves which usually reside in that area. They do significant amount of damage vs Elminster.

About equipment for that strategy - you can always spam Amulet of Shielding charges, as each one adds 2 AC modifier vs missiles. If you use a throwing axe, then Shield of the Falling stars should be off-hand.

[aVENGER_]

saros_shadow_follower wrote...
And of course, there is a Helmet of Defense, in Dursh + Shoal subquest - kill the ogre and claim the valuable item.

Just a quick heads up, in case anyone's interested in a slightly more challenging Shoal encounter, a new version of aTweaks which includes the PnP Elementals component is now out.

Modifié par aVENGER_, 08 avril 2012 - 09:27 .

[BelgarathMTH]

@Saros, Gate, and Grond0, wow, thank you for such good advice, and for caring about a no-reload noob. (I'm kind of a noob to this level of intense high-stakes playing despite having played this game since it was released - what? - twelve to fifteen years ago?)

Some of the magic items y'all suggest, I cannot get, simply due to being a role-player who always plays good.

Some of them, I could get, but in my current diviner run, I already sold them due to my noobie-ness. So much for being a skilled "diviner".

I am learning that fire protection by any means possible is paramount to the final battle, and even for the demon knight battle of DT, which I've never cared to attempt, not really being a sadist by nature. (How can you use all your fire protection resources on the demon knight, and then still have enough left over for Angelo, as they are very rare and hard to obtain?)

I never realized before that playing BGT was what set me up for this no-reload ruining scenario! Thank you Gate70, for finally answering my "Why, oh God?" question about why I'm now having such a terrible time with this battle, where I had always found it quite easy to beat on my old computer with an Easy Tutu setup! I'm not sure whether the convenience of connecting BG1 and BG2 is worth this angst or not, but regardless, I'll probably just switch to BGEE as soon as it comes out, and then use that from then on (assuming that it's as good as I hope it will be.)

I think I'll finish my diviner run here as a no-reload, and then I have a new play/party idea that I want to test out as soon as I die (sigh, I'm sure I will in the BGT version of the final battle, if not before). I want to use Divine Remix and play a Cleric of Oghma with the canon party, possibly minus Dynaheir and Khalid via Tweaks, as a four-person party.
 
Update, Todd the Diviner, 4/7/2012:

-I decided to retreat from Durlag's Tower, having received the most horrifying vision of certain doom that I've ever received during my career as a diviner! Thank you, Oghma and Savras!

-I went to BG and started investigations for Scar. Cleared the Seven Suns and met Duke Eltan. Went to the Iron Throne and dealt with the fifth floor. This was one of the most interesting tactics I've tried. I buffed AJ with oil of speed, potion of heroism, potion of magic blocking, and cloud giant strength, equipped him with the Spider Sword, and sent him up the right staircase. I cast haste on the rest of my party, and sent us up the left staircase. Upon arriving at the top floor, Imoen cast web, Gavin cast Silence, and I cast magic missiles on the first baddie I saw incanting a spell. The three of us immediately ran back downstairs while AJ stayed on the top floor.

I then had a most fascinating battle to manage on two different maps/floors! Two of the bad guys (fortunately not spellcasters) followed us downstairs, while AJ stayed on top, drank a potion of fire resistance, and pummeled the spellcasters and other baddies there. (Perhaps I should have saved that potion of fire resistance for Angelo, as it may have been wasted together with potion of magic blocking.) Imoen and I both used wands of monster summoning to help on the lower floor while Gavin tanked.

Finally, we all ran back upstairs to help AJ finish the last of the baddies. No serious problems using this tactic. I never even saw a single fireball!

We will report to Scar and then most likely head out to Ulgoth's Beard for Ice Island and Werewolf Island. (If we could make level 10 before facing Sarevok, that would be awsome!)

Modifié par BelgarathMTH, 08 avril 2012 - 10:25 .

[Grond0]

saros_shadow_follower wrote...
Killing Elminster is best done by a mage PC, with the help of a familiar. Elminster doesn't defend himself vs the familiar.

Right.  The reason the game was crashing for me is that Elminster was not designed to be killed and does not have a proper attack animation - therefore the game crashes if he tries to attack.  The familiar's ability to attack without retaliation gets round this.


Wolfsbane has successfully completed his run.  He took no risks and was never in trouble in the closing stages.  Quick summary of his progress:
- recovered tomes as well as helm of Balduran and axe +2 from Helm and Cloak Inn. 
- went past Iron Throne party invisibly before going to Candlekeep and recovering a bit more treasure. 
- decided to attack Prat in order to get his throwing axe.  Fire resistance added to the scroll of magic protection used for the tombs allowed him to throw fireballs at his feet, but the mages (Prat & Sakul) stayed invisible and he needed to wait until the scroll wore off before they came out to play.  While he was waiting he finished off the spiders and basilisks.  He only had a single potion to protect against petrification, but with storm giant strength still operating that was plenty.
- an attack + fire breath potion convinced Cythandria to give up.
- Slythe lost out to Larze.
- Wolfsbane went invisible at the palace to let the flaming fist do a job on the dopplegangers.  In fact had to go invisible twice as Liia cast oracle on him.  He showed himself to finish off the last 2 dopples.
- used the run and shoot strategy in the final fight with Sarevok.  Angelo, Tazok and Semaj were all killed by blasts from arrows of detonation, but Sarevok is pretty resistant to that damage and only gave up the ghost after about 15 turns while being pelted with various forms of magic arrows.

His final tally was 442 kills.

[BelgarathMTH]

@Grond0, gratz!

Update on Todd the Diviner 4/8/2012:

-progressed the main storyline up to the Candlekeep catacombs.

-Goshdarnit to heck! Got a little too fast with the mouse buttons, and got Imoen killed by a lightning bolt trap at the very beginning of the first catacomb! No tomes of strength or wisdom for us. Fast-tracked it the heck outta there so we could get Imoen raised. I made it to level 9 after defeating the greater doppelgangers, and memorized two cloudkills.

-I used Corey's brand "Cloudkill from the Shadows" to place two cloudkills in the rival party's cave, and lots of magic missiles while AJ threw daggers from the edge. Got a nice throwing axe +2 for AJ to replace those daggers. They got two lightning bolts off, but they didn't hurt much, and hurt themselves as bad as us.

-AJ soloed the basilisks with a potion of mirrored eyes.

-Went to FAI to get Imoen raised, and proceeded to Ulgoth's Beard. I think I will attempt Werewolf Island next. Imoen and I filled most of our 2nd level spell slots with invisibility so that we can sneak back into BG to get the needed sea charts.

[ussnorway]

A Lawful Natural caster gets a pickpocketing ferret as a familiar. This little buddy can pick Drizzt of his potion and the offhand scimitar (but not the main hand one). It will take a while but any time he fails his try you can step in and quickly put the furry guy into your pack so that the ranger losses interest in him.

The advantage of using this ploy is that you don’t lose the rep for killing the most famous hero of the known realms.

[Gate70]

I used to lose a lot of thieves in the catacombs, always through being too impatient. It can be done without a thief but you need STR of 24 to bash one of the containers and 23 for the other. Plus all the traps on the way...easier to abandon the tomes in an unprepared no-reload.

Ferret pickpocket backpack strategy sounds interesting, don't think I'll get to use it but can imagine it from a RP perspective.

[Grimwald the Wise]

I have started a new game with an air genasi beserker with all stats maximised except for charisma which was minimised. At level 7 I dualled to mage. I tried the secret of bonehill mod in addition to the usual ones. it was very buggy probably due to conflicts with the worldmap. I therefore bailed out of it. However it did enable me to get two extra points in intelligence before I bailed out. Sadly both Xan and Imoen got chunked but I now have my fighter abilities back having completed Candlekeep.

I have started the Stone of Askvar Mod now and that is going well. If I survive that, I will head for the Greyclan Episode which has now started but haven't been to the Friendly Arms yet.

I had one big blow when fighting Marek. He confused Khalid who killed a bystander. I therefore could only get my reputation back to popular as I have run out of popularity increasing quests. Of course there is Durlag's Tower, but haven't started it yet.

[Gate70]

You could always buy reputation at a temple. Think of it as fixing the roof not a shameless bribe.

[Shadow_Leech07]

I've decided to attempt a palindrome generated game with two fighter/thieves and three fighters in palindrome portrait formation with all 11 in stats and two pips in both large swords and bows as well as being true neutral elves. This party currently looks very weak and I have sincere doubts about the playability but we will see.

[saros_shadow_follower]

Started a solo Necromancer run, so far successful. PC is currently battling in the Cloakwood mines. Will have a little help from Imoen with her 100% detect trap and pickpocket skills - just to save time.

[PicklePepperPiper]

Throwing the line again but this time I spent a good 2 hours reinstalling the trilogy on my super gaming laptop I had bought to play games like Skyrim. Beautiful 1600x900 resolution and am playing at 40 fps. Main thing though is that I've installed SCS and it's added a tremendous amount of depth to the game. Going well so far, same beserker->mage character although I managed to roll a 93 this time.
S: 18/43
D: 18
C: 18
I: 18
W: 5
C: 10

Done as little fighting as possible, but Karlat, Tarnesh, belt ogre, Kagain's bandits and FAI hobgoblins all eliminated. Melicamp survives being a chicken, Perdue gets his sword, a jelly is turned back into a man and the current party (Jacamo, Imoen, Kivan) is looking good. All on lvl 3. Only substantial purchase was +1 long sword - literally 6 normal ones broke on me and I was getting impatient.

-PPP

[saros_shadow_follower]

Okay, Astarta's solo run:

Astarta, LG human necromancer, 18/18/17/18/18/3

Looted Gorion's body. Found a Web spell. Travelled to High Hedge. Traveled to Beregost. Killed Algrenon for his cloak. Reputation dropped to 7. Traveled south. Charmed a couple of Ogrilons and a Flaming Fist paladin. Used them to kill some hobgoblins. Got Mirriane's letter and Boots of Stealth. Traded letter for a ring +1 in Beregost. Sold boots. Bought an Ammo belt from the smithy.

Travelled to crossroads area. Used Algrenon's cloak to charm some gibberlings and Xvarts. Used these as cannon fodder to charm more enemies (of course, some were killed in that process). All in all, defeated 3 groups of gibberlings/xvarts and left 4 alive. Used those to charm several nearby wolves. 2 Xvarts survived. Used the wolves, Xvarts and a familiar to kill Elminster. Reputation dropped to 5. Got a Magic Shielding potion. PC hit level 5.

Killed the local Ogre afterwards, got the Girdle of Piercing.

Travelled to Friendly Arm's inn. Found a Ring of Wizardry. Attempted a fight vs a local wizard-bounty hunter. In SCS, that one is immune to Magic missiles thanx to a shield prebuff, and also has Mirror Image and Horror. Hist 1st lvl offensive spells are weak though - MM and Sleep. PC is immune to sleep, being lvl 5. And immune to MM via Shield prebuff. So the only one dangerous spell is Horror, and it has a short duration. Anyway, PC was successful with a sleep spell, and the fight ended there.

Bought a gem bag from the tavern. Uncovered Jhoira's flamedance ring from some goblins.

Traveled to Nashkel. Uncovered and sold an Ankheg plate. Bought a Potion case from the store.

Traveled to High hedge. Avoiding all enemies, traveled to Talantyr and bought a Scroll case, as well as an Invisibility scroll and a scroll of Skull Trap.

Traveled to ankheg area. Tried to charm local bandits and use them as fodder vs Ankhegs thus not having to use the Invisibility scroll. No luck. Bandits are charmed for only a very short time. Charmed a local paladin, but he died quickly, and the Web spell which Astarta shod wasn't that effective vs the Ankhegs either. Sigh. Read the Invisibility scroll, and traveled north. And further north to Ugloth's beard.

Charmed Dushai. Used magic missiles and melee to kill her. She drank 2 extra healing potions unfortunately. Got the Ring of Free Action and another Web scroll.

Traveled to Durlag's tower. Using Web and the ring of free action, Astarta managed to ensnare and kill with projectile spells the two Battle horrors. Hit lvl 6. Next she rested, and attempted a more dangerous fight - with 5 dopplegangers. Astarta didn't engage those until she shot 3 webs off-screen at them, then a Skull trap too. A second skull trap was shot before enemies managed to engage her, and killed 3 of them. The other 2 were subject to Magic missiles while PC was running.

XP, gold and scroll farming: by setting Skull Traps in the spawning point of the dopplegangers, Astarta raised her level to 9, got about 65k gold after selling jewellery dropped by the dopplegangers, and also got several good scrolls from the dopplegangers and sleep-interrupting gnolls: ProPetrification, Fireball, Lightning bolt, Haste, Slow, Dispel Magic, Non-Detection, Flame Arrow, Monster Summoning I, Protection from Missiles and other. Several scrolls were dropped more than once, like Dispel Magic. Also she got 2 good Lightning wands (BG2 lightning wands shooting six 3d6 lightning bolts with each charge).

Raised rep to 20 by donations and completing Jhoira's quest and Firebeard's quest. Bought the Robe of Good Archmagi, Horn and Claw of Kazeroth, Ring of Invisibility, Greenstone Amulet, Emotion, Greater Malison, Remove Curse, ProFire, ProCold, Minor Spell Deflection, +3 Martial Staff, Cloak of Displacement, Purple Ioun Stone, Amulet of Protection +1.

Joined Garrick. Killed Silke by using Greater Malison + emotion. Used summoned monsters to draw her out of hiding. She didn't waste any spells at PC, who was well buffed, with Spell Deflection on top. Dropped Garrick as his pickpocket skill was low.

Joined Imoen. Raised her detect trap skill to 100% and her pickpocket skill to 95%. Bought some potions from the Durlag's tower merchant. Traveled to Ugloth's beard. Used Imoen to pickpocket Shandalar (pickpocket 155% with Master thievery + Perception potions). She didn't fail. However Shandalar doesn't have that much useful spells. He carries Greater Malison, Otilulike's sphere, Emotion, Feeblemind, Remove Curse and Spirit Armor scrolls, from which the only one useful which PC doesn't have is Spirit Armor. Oh well. Used Imoen to disarm some traps in Durlag's tower. Bought a wand of Fire from Durlag's tower merchant.

PC cleared (under ProFire) some nasty Phase spiders in the 1st lvl of Durlag's catacombs. Imoen entered the library and disarmed the traps. Loot: Monster Summoning III, MGoI, Cloudkill. Very useful spells for PC. Also obtained (from this same level) several antidotes and a Wand of Monster Summoning. Recharged the wand by selling-rebuying.

Ditched Imoen in the Durlag's tower area. After all, she'd be needed mostly here. As a side note - each time before leaving the area, the magic traps were re-set at the spawning point of the dopplegangers, so they don't be a nuisanse when the tower is revisited.

Nahskel: PC now entered the tavern and challenged the enemy bounty hunter cleric. Used Web to get rid of her.

Nashkel mines: Nothing scary really, especially with Cloudkill and Fireball. Mulahey tried an Unholy blight, which was ineffective due go MGoI. Got the boots of Grounding for some electrical resistance. Used some fire wand charges to quickly clear the kobolds. ProMissiles helped enormously here since those Kobold commandos hit very often (dunno how or why).

Travelled to Nashkel. Reported about mine trouble. Fought Nimbul...frankly, 2 ogre berserkers summoned via the Monster Summoning III took care of him. Got the boots of Avoidance - a not very useful item to PC, but still kept - who knows what may happen tomorrow

Travelled to Beregost. Fought Tranzig - loot Glitterdust scroll. Rested. Went to the eastern part of the city, talked to Elminster. No point in killing him now Buffed very well, travelled east. Reloaded because of bug (2 enemies spawning instead of 4). Molkan's mercenary group approached (those are usually stationed at Gullykun). Web + Cloudkill finished them. Rested. Travelled to Pedvale. Talked to Raiken (used several wand charges - summons and fire -  to eliminate 2 groups of Black talons, who almost killed PC). Rested. Buffed with longer-lasting buffs. Talked to Raiken. Was transported to Bandit camp. While running, cast shorter-lasting protective buffs. Astarta had just finished casting the last one, when enemies approached. The whole camp came after her. No matter. Combat started with Web, Web again, Greater Malison, Cloudkill, Cloudkill...and there were only 2 enemies alive after that - but webbed. Looted the bodies - a Spell Thrust scroll. Rested. Entered the main tent. Talked to Sai. Buffed well. Cast MGoI as last buff. Opened chest. Lightning trap ineffective. Chapter ended.

Went outside. Loaded due to a bug - 2 amazons appearing instead of all 4. Amazons appeared (the ones usually found in the Tomb Valley). Web + Cloudkill...

Travelled to Cloakwood after resting. Uncovered the Non-detection cloak in the first area. Fought some spiders in the second area - used Fireball mostly, but Cloudkill is just as effective vs most of them. And Magic Missiles too. Got the Spider's bane - to be sold. Travelled to Wyvern area almost undisturbed...well, the ones who tried were webbed and fireballed. Entered the wyvern cave. Was attacked by a baby and a big wyvern. Went outside. Big wyvern followed. Used Greater Malison + algrenon's cloak to charm it. Sent it vs a group of local bears, who killed it. Webbed the bears, killed them, collected the head.

Cloakwood mines: Used an invisibility ring charge, scouted a bit, stood right outside of enemy sight range, shot 3 webs, then a greater malison, and all enemies were permanently webbed. Used fireball spells and wand charges to eliminate all enemies. Got a potion of Magic shielding, and other useful stuff, like Fireshield Red wizard scroll.

Lvl 2 of the mines: after killing all guards on lvl 1, went downstairs, and used 2 off-screen cloudkills to clear the first 2 rooms. Not that there are many guards in them, but if they aren't killed outright, they sound the alarm and the whole bunch comes to visit. Also that way PC looted some good potions, including an Oil of speed. Uncovered the secret doors and killed 2 Ghouls via MM.

Went back to lvl 1 and rested. Sleep interruptions got too much - finally used a monster summoning wand charge to summon some bodyguards. Of course, right after that there were no more sleep interruptions.

Went downstairs, through the secret doors. Talked to Riti. Shot a off-screen Cloudkill at the big enemy group (the one with Hareisan). The basic idea was to kill all minor enemies, leaving only her for 1/1 wizard fight (well...at least she would be alone, and PC can gate an army anytime), but the Cloudkill actually managed to kill her too. Strange. I thought SCS prevents things like that. Looted many potions and some scrolls (nothing new).

Rested on the level above. Went to the level below afterwards. Cloudkill took care of many enemies, but there were many more. PC was looting the armoury when Natasha showed at the entrance. Not wasting time, PC quickly summoned monsters, which blocked Natasha's way. Natasha managed to remove PC's buffs via a single Remove Magic spell. Oh well. PC kept summoning monsters, which Natasha repelled to some extent using Fireballs and other spells. Thankfully, PC was well hidden from the Fireball effects. Finally, Natasha fell to the superior monster numbers (she had depleted her spells). She drops a Haste scroll, but PC already has that.

Looted this level almost completely.

Well, next is Davaeorn...have to think a bit on a strategy, and maybe travel back for some items.

[After5CST]

Blackmalkin wrote...

By the way, it shows what’s wrong with SCS' AI. It acts according to knowledge it cannot possess – like casting Unholy Blight on the only good-aligned character without using Know Alignment spell or not casting Sleep on 5th level characters – but fails to notice what is noticable, like barbarian’s rage activation.

Ah, the gaming engine has all kinds of quirky limitations.  My attempts at PC scripting have met with frequent failure: I'm amazed that the various AI mods have done as well as they have.

My simple rationale is that the AI sometimes metagames much like the player metagames.  I just assume enemies who are aware of the PC have done prior intelligence gathering (via divination or conventional means) to determine potential weaknesses. 

The random wizards who have no idea who you are would be a different story... they gotta be cheatin'.  As do I.

[BelgarathMTH]

Welcome, Grimwald and Shadow.

Good luck with your new setup, PPP.

Gratz, Saros. That was an amazing amount to get done in one session.

[saros_shadow_follower]

Playing drowsy. Astarta was charmed by some Sirines while trying to recover the Tome of bodily health. Still managed to defeat Davaeorn with the right tactic (meaning swarming him with summons and forcing him to use his Remove magics on those).