16386 réponses à ce sujet

[Gate70]

Well done corey_russell

[corey_russell]

Thanks gate70! It always feels to good to beat Sarevok at his own game...(melee).

[Alesia_BH]

Arlene, Halfling Swashbuckler

Ok. Now that my BG install is working again, I'm ready to start a new game.

It may come as a surprise to some, but there are still a lot of classes that I've never tried. Even with my fondness for thieves, the Bounty Hunter kit is the only one I've used. Well, that's about to change: enter Arlene, Halfling Swashbuckler.

 
EDIT: CHARACTER DESCRIPTION AND PERSONAL ITEMS ADDED


Character Description- Candlekeep has been a home to Arlene: a home, but a dull one. Throughout childhood, Arlene dreamed of adventure on the Sword Coast- her fantasies fueled by pulp adventure novels found lying around Winthrop’s Inn. The “swashbucklers” of lore caught Arlene’s imagination above all else. And while she has little talent with a blade -not to mention a bumbling, childlike manner- she fancies herself one of them. But while she dreams of a life of swashbuckling adventure, it’s hard to ignore the vast gap between her fantasies and reality. The road may be a cruel teacher for Arlene.

Personal Items: Arlene has two personal items: The Blade of Undying Adventure and Swish-Swash

The Blade of Undying Adventure

Despite its grandiose name, this is merely a neglected sword which Arlene found in a pile of junk that had been set aside for use as props by Candlekeep’s drama troupe. Hardly a weapon by modern standards, it is nonetheless Arlene’s preferred blade simply because she has spent so many hours swinging it in front of her bedroom mirror. Awkward though it may be, it is a quick and accurate blade in Arlene’s hands- not because of magic, but because she knows its balance intimately.  

THAC0: +1 Bonus
Damage: 1D6
Damage Type: Piercing
Speed Factor: 0
Weight: 3
Proficiency Type: Short Sword

+1 Charisma bonus while equipped

Useable by Arlene


Swish-Swash

The classic swashbucklers in the tales Arlene has read all used bucklers. As Arelene understands it, the name “swashbuckler” comes from the sound a sword makes when dragged against the shield face. In her private play acting, Arlene would dance around her bedroom with The Blade of Undying Adventure in her right hand and an old buckler in her left yelling: “Swish, Swash! Swish, Swash!” Calling the buckler Swish-Swash naturally followed.

Modern swashbucklers all fight two weapon style of course, but Arlene has no way of knowing this.


+1 AC
+1 Luck Bonus While Equipped

Useable by Arlene


Proficiencies: Short Bows, Short Swords
Mods: Tutu, Tutu Fixpack, SCS, NPC Banter


Arlene's progress will probably be sluggish: I'm pretty busy these days. Hopefully she'll get a session in tomorrow. 

Best,

A.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 16 septembre 2012 - 12:08 .

[corey_russell]

Good luck Alesia. I'm curious how powerful a high level swashbuckler will get.

[Grond0]

Hal the monk - appetiser

Gate70 and I started identical assassin characters recently and we are once more starting runs with identical stat characters, though this time not randomly rolled.  Gate70 is currently bashing his way through the Underdark with a standard monk, i.e. using fighter HLAs and thought it might be nice to explore monk possibilities further after that. 

Hal is being run on an installation with the monk HLAs from Oversight and the intention is to get far enough to explore how those perform, though that could require a move into the minimal reload thread.  There is a possibility of further exploration using the monk HLAs from Refinements with other characters if monks are still an attractive option by then.  It is also possible that our monks might team up in multiplayer at some point if they are still going by the time we finish one of our current MP games.

As the aim is to explore HLAs I intend Hal to take a cautious approach to his run.

Modifié par Grond0, 15 septembre 2012 - 07:30 .

[Gate70]

Hal (2)
I was going to use Refinements but the possibility of 2 Hal's together in multiplayer sees me opt for an Oversight run first (so core fixpack, BGT, Oversight, Generalized Biffing). Starting from the savegame that Grond0 sent me with his portrait.

I'm out of Candlekeep quickly - helps when you pick on Erik rather than Jondalar. Gorion is dead, I've frisked Imoen but said the wrong thing to Xzar and Montaron so no chance to take their potions. Found a diamond, ring of protection and ring of wizardry overnight. Oh, and I've spoken to Marl, Firebead, Noober, returned Brage, said I am not Greywolf and sold some ankheg plate, cursed sword and wizardly ring. Level 3 monk, 25hp.

[Grond0]

Hal - starter

As mentioned in the appetiser the intention was to take no risks.  So naturally in his very first encounter Hal took a 5 HP whack from Carbos when I didn't realise that autopause on enemy sighted was not enabled.  If that had been a critical it would have been an embarrassing end even by my standards!  Incidentally, I have tended to give my solo monks maximum HPs on the grounds that they should be able to benefit from high constitution.  Hal has not got that benefit so has another reason to be cautious.

Hal travelled to High Hedge and then Beregost to avoid the possibility of being shot by an ambush while at too low a level to survive.  He used his sling on the way to (eventually) deal with some gnolls guarding Perdue's sword.  In Beregost Marl and Firebead gave Hal a very welcome 10 HPs for a level (with Algernon suffering an unfortunate accident in between).  Some spiders were given a tour of the streets, though one by one they failed to keep up with the sling-wielding Hal.

With level 3 in sight he nipped over to the temple and disposed of a lumbering bear to get a slightly less welcome 4 extra HPs.  Back in town Karlat was stunned not to see Hal in time (though he actually needed a few more stealth attacks after that before giving up the ghost) and Perdue recovered his sword.

The area to the south seemed to have quite a few ghouls and, by the time Hal had slung through those to get some boots of stealth, the experience for a couple of ogrillons was enough for another level, though just a miserable 3 extra HPs.

Turning East Hal prevented a cow from being turned into burgers to feed some hungry xvarts.  Then, at Firewine Bridge, Bentan and Poe agreed to help Hal out against Meilum, but proved not to be up to the job (first use of Algernon's Cloak here for quite a while in my runs) and Hal resorted to his trusty sling.

Heading for the Friendly Arm Inn an ogre became the first true stunning casualty - Hal doing surprisingly well to fit in 3 successful stunning attacks in the 6 seconds that ability lasts.  Soon after he took things one step further by finishing Tarnesh off before the stun ability expired.  While in the area he returned Landrin's things, picked up some stylish new pantaloons and found 2 rings (returning one of them to Joia).

A quick detour to return a letter to Mirianne and Hal headed north again.  Helping a priestess against some evil fishermen took him to level 5 and 9 more HPs dragged him back to the average.

Modifié par Grond0, 16 septembre 2012 - 06:47 .

[Grond0]

Hal - comfort break

He picked up the cloak of displacement and green amulet at Ulgoth's Beard and went sirene hunting on the coast.  The first group got him to level 6 and he moved on to Sil.  She was dragged away from the others and Hal set about beating her up.  At that point a ghostly voice tried to remind Hal of something, but he ignored it and missed Sil one more time before falling under her spell.

So much for caution!  As Hal is so early in the game I'll restart him.

[Jianson]

I'm out of Candlekeep quickly - helps when you pick on Erik rather than Jondalar.

I do not undestand. What difference does this make?

[Gate70]

Jondalar can take a long time to hit or need a critical for non-fighter types. Erik has a bow and leather armour meaning a roll can be much lower and still hit. Not so much of an issue with a monk with 18 strength I guess but I often switch targets.

Hal (2)
It is time to travel by night and in the shadows. My stunning blow misses a hobgoblin south of Beregost so I run, hide and return. The next hit is a kill from the shadows and I grab his boots. I pick up a ring of fire protection and scroll of protection before taking Joseph the dying deserter to the Friendly Arm temple. Tarnesh is stunned from the shadows but survives to have words with me. A game of cat and mouse through the inn sees a miss from me, a set of magic missiles from him culminating in cure light wounds and a fatal shadow-kick from me.

Khalid and Jaheira mis-place their potions and Joia is pleased to get her ring back. Beregost is used to store my supplies while I splash out 142gp on a sling +1. Sling beats ogre. I sneak a tome of leadership to High Hedge, grab the head of a skeleton as I leave and Thalantyr sees me soon afterwards with a tome of bodily health and Melicamp (died). Still level 3, still 25hp.

edit, & hard luck Grond0.

Modifié par Gate70, 16 septembre 2012 - 09:45 .

[Alesia_BH]

Quick Note on Arlene:

I think one of the reasons I never connected with Alyssa is that I never took the time to give her a character description or personal item. I've edited Arlene's intro post above to include both.

Best,

A.

[Alesia_BH]

corey_russell wrote...

Good luck Alesia. I'm curious how powerful a high level swashbuckler will get.

Me too. I expect her ceiling to be lower than Alyssa's and Alesia's but I also expect her to be less labor intensive..

She has a decent chance of making it, I think..

[Jianson]

Jondalar can take a long time to hit or need a critical for non-fighter types. Erik has a bow and leather armour meaning a roll can be much lower and still hit.

Ah, OK, but if you are in a hurry, why bother talking to Jondalar at all?


@Alesia: good luck with your character. Nice background story.
There are several kinds of character I have not played either. Swashbuckler will never be one of them, though. I love backstabbing too much.

Modifié par Jianson, 16 septembre 2012 - 12:50 .

[Grond0]

Hal - main course

This time Hal gulped his appetiser down by going to visit Shoal straight from Candlekeep (+18 HPs).  On to Beregost where Marl added 10 more HPs.  After picking up boots of stealth, saving Hulrik's cow and retrieving Meilum's bracers the green scroll let him clear out the basilisks (level 5, +8 HPs) and Korax helped with Mutamin (level 6, +7 HPs).  Korax had no joy with Lindin's party, but Hal's stealth allowed him to kill them as well.

Proceeding on to Nashkel Hal found that all the soldiers there turned hostile immediately.  I belatedly remembered that I killed Bentan myself rather than waiting for Meilum to do it and, together with ripping Algernon's cloak off rather vigourously, that had reduced reputation to 4.

Quickly running away and returning elsewhere Hal soon spawned fights among the solders resulting in all but one of them killing each other.  The last one followed Hal into the inn and provided a distraction against Neira before being left there.  Talking to Oublek got Hal's reputation up a bit to avoid future over-reactions by soldiers.

Journeying north Hal helped Tenya on the way to Ulgoth's Beard, where he acquired the cloak of displacement and green amulet.  Before visiting the sword coast Hal took a quick trip down to the Nashkel mines where Greywolf supplied him with a magic weapon.

The amulet allowed an assault on some sirines guarding a pirate cave.  The first group of sirenes separated a bit, which meant it took a while to kill them and there were still two of them when the amulet protection expired allowing their melee attacks to confuse Hal.  However, their poor melee abilities meant they failed to do any significant damage before dieing.  Sil and her team were all dead before the amulet charge ran out - Hal got to level 7 during this fight and his luck continued with a further 10 HPs.  There were repeated stealth attacks on the golems in the cave to allow Hal to take their treasure.

Hal decided it was now time to concentrate on the main quest.  Back at the Nashkel mines he stealthed down to Mulahey's cave and attacked him.  Mulahey was initially stunned and hurt enough to run away in panic, but he did manage to summon some guards first.  To save time Hal used a fiery potion to cleanse the area then sneaked out after Mulahey and finished him off.

Back in Nashkel Nimbul saved against Hal's first stunning blow, but his mirror images failed to help against the subsequent one.   On to Beregost and Hal's Bhaal powers claimed a first victim when Tranzig tried to run for it.  On to the bandit camp and Hal picked off the outside bandits separately.  Inside the tent a potion of firebreath was targeted on Venkt, but he still managed to get some mirror images up while the others all perished.  A bit of moving in and out of the tent and stealthing saw Venkt's end.

Hal sneaked through the Cloakwood to the mine and pulled Drasus away from the others.  A potion of absorption and a bit of healing allowed Hal to beat him up and open the way for him to sneak down to Daveorn.  Hal pulled the battle horrors away before hiding again and moving forward to combat protected by a potion of magic blocking.  Daveorn's initial lightning bolt  damaged himself a bit and Hal picked out the real form among his mirror images to quickly finish him off.

He avoided the normal ambushes in the Cloakwood and has just arrived safely in Baldur's Gate.

[Gate70]

Hal (2)
Perdue gets his sword back after I sling Karlat all around town. Two ogrillions also bite the bullet (Monk: 4, 33hp +8, single weapon style) then Caldo and Krumm are next. A few bears and wolves are added to the chase for these two and some have to be left when I run out of bullets. Slow but steady progress here (nothing to see compared to the above).

[Alesia_BH]

Jianson wrote...@Alesia: good luck with your character. Nice background story.

Thanks!

There are several kinds of character I have not played either. Swashbuckler will never be one of them, though. I love backstabbing too much.

 

I can understand that: I love backstabbing to. After Alyssa's run, I felt like a change of pace though.

At this point, I have tactics worked out for backstabbing thieves from the Keep to The Throne. I'd like to work on approaches for warriors as well. Arlene will let me test warrior tactics while still having thieving abilties to fall back on when need be- that's one reason why I'm playing  her.
 
The other reason is that she just sounds fun. :happy: 


Best,

A.

@Grond0- I'm curious: what framerate setting do you play on?

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 16 septembre 2012 - 05:16 .

[Alesia_BH]

Quick Note on Arlene's Game:

Arlene has routed the Bandit Camp and is now headed to the Cloakwood Mines. I'll have more to say about her progress soon. For now, here's her current character record and inventory.




Best,

A.

[Grond0]

Alesia_BH wrote...
@Grond0- I'm curious: what framerate setting do you play on?

Playing my own games I virtually always play at 60.  The multiplayer games with Gate70 are at the default 30.

[Alesia_BH]

Grond0 wrote...
Playing my own games I virtually always play at 60. 

Understood. I've always played on the default setting of 30. Now that I'm busy in RL, I've been experimenting with pushing it up.

I noticed that playing at 60 is more dangerous even with most of the autopauses active. I've toggled it back down to 40.

[corey_russell]

@Alesia_BH: the one thing that surprises me is your pick-pockets is the highest score at 130! Was it that important, even more important than find traps? A few traps in the thieve's maze and Candlekeep crypts need high skill to disarm, though of course you could just trigger them if properly protected.

Just curious as to your thinking.

[Alesia_BH]

I don't obsess over thief skills: you can work with or around any skill setup in BG1. I tend to allocate them based on character concept and RP considerations as much as anything else.

As for Arlene’s pickpocketing excellence, in BG1 it’s mostly a roleplaying/fun thing. When I soloed Bioware's Alora, I enjoyed using the pickpocketing skill in BG1. I thought I’d fiddle with it again this time. More importantly, it seems to fit Arlene's personality- I think she’d be a little like Alora in that regard. Her Pickpocket rank will also be helpful when she builds her potion collection in Amn.

As for the Candlekeep and Thieve's Maze traps, my characters typically buff up and walk through. Arlene will be able to disarm them if she wishes though. Her Open Lock and Find Traps skills are at 40 and 60 respectively. Once she gets her Dex Tome, Potion of Mind Focusing + Potion of Master Thievery will bring her Open Locks to 100% while Potion of Mind Focusing + Potion of Perception will get her Find Traps to 100%.

Best,

A.


Btw. I’ll quickly add that Arlene has arrived in Baldur’s Gate.

[Alesia_BH]

 Arlene's Early Adventures: From Candlekeep to The Gate

While I intitally planned to let Arlene complete BG at a leisurely pace using minimal metagaming, I ultimately decided to fast-track her through. I guess I'm mostly interested in BGII these days: for better or worse.

Arlene's game has been similar to that of my other fast-tracked solo characters; similar, but with one distinction: Arlene is awful- really awful. She's playable, but noticebly underpowered. I expect her to be interesting at high levels but now, it's like playing a mage who can't cast spells (or, more precisely a thief who can't backstab...). 

Anyhoo. She began be gathering items en route to Naskel.


Ring sales financed shopping trips at High Hedge and the Carnival. A pair of green scrolls earned her some quick XP.



Then more item collecting. Against groups of weak foes, Arlene goes Wand of Sleep. Against individual powerful foes, Dart of Stunning. Here we see Arlene finishing a stunned Melium.



A little of both here: a stunned Teven and his sleeping pals.


In the Bandit Camp, Arlene opened by stunning Venkt. 100% Fire Resistance allowed her to blast with the Necklace of Missles without fear. Lightning protection was taken in the hope of using the trap as a weapon (didn't quite work). Potion of Regeneration and Oil of Speed offset ranged weapon damage.


Stealth got Arlene through the Cloakwood and much of the mines.


Next, Davaeorn. 

Stunned and diced his guard.


Duped him into icing his own Horrors.


Stabbed him in the gut with The Blade of Undying Adventure. 


I'll post again when Arlene returns to the gate post Candlekeep.

Best,

A.



Btw. I should note that I had to send Arlene back to Candlekeep last night due to a screw up in the Mines. On the second level with Hareisham, I decided to try using the door in the center of the map to get down to floor 3. Arlene caught the attention of a guard unfortunately and when that happens in SCS you end up mobbed with Hareisham teleporting to you. For Arlene, a pair of potion buffed guards is non-trivial, a dozen or so with a mage (not to mention a pair of Ghasts) is a huge, huge problem- especially when boxed in. Nonetheless, she nearly fought through it by positioning herself in a corner and using her Darts of Stunning when opportunities arose.

First the Ghasts.


Then the army of potion buffed guards: fighting two at a time due to Arlene's positioning.


Lack of critical hit protection was and is a problem.


The bottle neck created by Arlene's positioning meant that Hariesham's buffs ran out by the time she could engage. A Dart of Stunning took her out of the action before she could cast. The Greenstone Amulet was activated as soon as she arrived.


The corpses piled, but they just kept comming. Here Arlene has blocked the doorway by Stunning someone in it- letting her work on those behind with ranged weapons. The Guard in the door was restunned before the effect wore off.


It looked like she had made it, but then two more Guards trapped her running Oils of Speed and other buffs. With Arlene out of healing potions, it was clear she would fall. Rather than waiting for the hand, I retired her and then restarted her from The Keep. The earlier screenshots cover her post ******-up Keep to Gate session last night.

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 18 septembre 2012 - 02:23 .

[Serg BlackStrider]

Quite a speedrun, Alesia Hope to see Arlene in Amn soon!

[Alesia_BH]

Thanks Serg! I hope so to.

I have to admit that I'm worried about Slythe and the Duchal Palace though. Arlene is pretty gimpy...

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 18 septembre 2012 - 03:16 .

[Alesia_BH]

Arlene: The Gate to The Gate

Arlene has safely navigated the Candlekeep Catacombs and has returned to Baldur's Gate. She's nearly ready for the endgame sequence.

Upon her arrival at The Gate, Arlene had lunch with some shapeshifting bastards. Darts of Stunning kept them in check. You may not that Arlene often dual-wields when enemies are Stunned and THAC0 is irrelevant.


Stealthed through the Iron Throne, then on to Candlekeep.

No matter how many times I do it safely, the SCS Ogre Mage ambush outside Candlekeep always freaks me out. Doubly so with Arlene since she is, as metioned, awful.


It's always a mad race to the door. Thankfully, mercenaries seeking a 10,000 gold bounty aren't willing to fork over a 10,000 gold book to pursue their prey...


Upstairs, then into the Catacombs. Buffed up the thief skills with PoMF+PoMT+PoPerception. Disarmed the traps, picked the locks.


Stealthed out, however this doppe saw her. Without potions, Arlene would lose badly in a straight up toe-to-toe battle with a doppe. Did I mention that I'm worried about Slythe and the Duchal Palace?


If you're reading this Duke Eltan: don't panic- Arlene with come though (at least I hope so...). 


Best,

A.

Edit: Something funky seems to be going on with the screenshots in this post. Oh well: ultimately the next post is the only one that matters (you'll see why ).

Modifié par Alesia_BH, 18 septembre 2012 - 06:02 .