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[Blackraven]

With the assassins' invitation to the inauguration I was allowed into the Duchal Palace. I sneaked into the main hall, where I counted five noblemen who who had to be the doppelgangers in the service of Sarevok as mentioned in his letter to the assassins. Sarevok himself was standing next to the Grand Dukes. In the back of the hall I set three lightning bolt traps that would hopefully get triggered by the doppelgangers once they'd start chasing me and the Grand Dukes.
 

My next step was to Animate Dead thrice. My first two casts only brought forth one skeleton each, but fortunately my third and last cast summoned two more skeletons.

I protected myself and my summons from Evil, so as to make us more resilient in battle, and I proceeded to buff myself further, borrowing from Cyric's divine might, with casts of Holy Power and Draw Upon Holy Might. I also quaffed an Oil of Speed allowing me to move myself at lightning speed (I was already wearing Speed boots) and to manoeuver my dagger faster than I normally can.

When I spotted two guards near the Dukes I walked that way too, with my skeletons by my side, so as to form a buffer for the Dukes against the shapeshifters should they want to attack while I was in the process of exposing Sarevok. I didn't get the chance for that though: before I could do or say anything the five noblemen shifted into five Greater Doppelgangers that started to attack the Dukes. To my satisfaction I heard my traps activate and injure some o the doppelgangers or at least consume some of their Mirror Images. The Doppelgangers hand mind altering magic, but I had shielded myself against that.
I split my skeletons in two pairs to take on two different foes. I joined one pair and I soon noticed how my superior speed, strength and prowess with my weapon made me deal some serious damage. It must be said that the Flaming Fist guards (mainly as decoys), Grand Duke Belt, and my skeletons did their part as well. When I'd just slain my first foe, I saw only two remaining doppelgangers. Belt had taken down one with a critical hit (for 32 damage), and one of my other pair of skeletons had killed off another doppelganger. So there were only two doppelgangers left. Three of my skeletons were still standing, and both Grand Dukes as well.

With a critical strike I slew my second doppelganger of the evening.

Unfortuantely, the last remaining Doppelganger then struck down the Grand Duchess, just before I could slay it.

Grand Duke Belt was most grateful for my timely intervention though he didn't offer me any reward. I told him about Sarevok's schemes, even showed him the evidence. An infuriated Sarevok then started to attack everything and everyone that would come near to him, until one of his associates, a mage, teleported him away. I told the Duke that I'd check out the rooms upstairs, for his safety. I reality I was more interested in any magical trinkets. (On one of my ventures with my colleagues of the Guild I'd managed to break into the Silvershield Estate where I would find a Manual of Gainful Exercise.) Alas, the Duchal Palace harboured no such treasure.
Belt used his divination skills to identify the whereabouts of Sarevok. Apparently Sarevok had passed through the Guild, which suprised me becuase I would have known of any alliance between Sarevok and my friends of Shadow Thieves. Anyway Belt just said that he'll teleport me toward Sarevok, so that's where I'm heading.

[Matuse73]

becuase I would have known of any alliance between Sarevok and my friends of Shadow Thieves

 

The thieves in BG aren't the shadow thieves. Sarevok tries to frame the Shadow Thieves for killing Entar Silvershield in an effort to incite the war against Amn.

[Jianson]

Nice going there, Blackraven.

Ah, when you said 'lightning bolt traps' before, I assumed you meant Glyphs of Warding. I see now that it's part of your character's kit.

Five grater doppelgangers and not six?

Krystin is more advanced than in my setup. How come? Are you using a later version of Stratagems than I do?

[Aasim]

Krystin is more advanced than in my setup. How come? Are you using a later version of Stratagems than I do?

SCS doesn't beef up encounters systematicaly (it does for certain enemies/encounters, but Krystin is not one of them.) What SCS does is check for creature level and class. If Krystin was modified by a mod installed prior to SCS that beefed up her level, SCS applies smarter AI and an appropriate spellbook for her level (including a mage kit, either Enchanter, Invoker, Necromancer or Conjurer).  

 

As for dopplegangers, I'm really not sure about their number. SCSv28 does change this encounter a bit from v21, now there is a Dop.Assassin, Mage, Shaman, and iirc 2 Greater Dopes - 5 total, but I may be wrong here.

[Blackraven]

The thieves in BG aren't the shadow thieves. Sarevok tries to frame the Shadow Thieves for killing Entar Silvershield in an effort to incite the war against Amn.

That's interesting, I always assumed that it had to be the Shadow Thieves as they were the biggest and most powerful network of thieves' guilds, from Waterdeep all the way south to Amn... But what you're saying makes a lot of sense. Amnish Shadow Thieves, supposedly hired by Amnish stakeholders, to take down Silvershield.

 

Nice going there, Blackraven.

Ah, when you said 'lightning bolt traps' before, I assumed you meant Glyphs of Warding. I see now that it's part of your character's kit.

Five grater doppelgangers and not six?

Krystin is more advanced than in my setup. How come? Are you using a later version of Stratagems than I do?

re: Doppelangers: ah I miscounted then, must have been six.

I'm using SCS v21, what about you?
 

 

SCS doesn't beef up encounters systematicaly (it does for certain enemies/encounters, but Krystin is not one of them.) What SCS does is check for creature level and class. If Krystin was modified by a mod installed prior to SCS that beefed up her level, SCS applies smarter AI and an appropriate spellbook for her level (including a mage kit, either Enchanter, Invoker, Necromancer or Conjurer).  

 

As for dopplegangers, I'm really not sure about their number. SCSv28 does change this encounter a bit from v21, now there is a Dop.Assassin, Mage, Shaman, and iirc 2 Greater Dopes - 5 total, but I may be wrong here.

This explains Krystin then...
Have you played this encounter with SCSv28?

[Blackraven]

At the Thieves Guild I went down a stairway I hand't used before, which led to a maze with lots of traps, various slimes and jellies, and four undead who fell to my backstabs. At the end of the maze I encountered the mage who had teleported Sarevok away from the Duchal Palace. He was injured, and had been left by Sarevok to die, it seemed. He told me that Sarevok's sanctum was to be found a short walk from there. He recommended me to take on Sarevok, lest he would attack me on his terms.

On my way to Sarevok's sanctum I scouted a party of six, mercenaries most likely, or some of Sarevok's remaining associates perhaps (two priests, a mage, and three fighters). I retreated, summoned five skeletons, placed three traps, and drank an oil of speed, just in case things would get messy. I then walked up to them, and their spokesman asked me whether I had any association with Sarevok. I told them that was none of their business, but they though otherwise and proceeded to attack.
The traps hurt three or four of them, but killed none. My backstabs did however. With my extreme velocity and the semidarkness hiding and striking from the shadows was easy. I didn't even need my undead summons.
 

Spoiler:

The mage fell to my poison.


The others I simply stabbed to death.

[I only did this fight because I hoped to find the Manual of Quickness of Action on one of them. If Teyl survives the fight with Sarevok, I'll have him look for the Manual before reporting to Belt, who'll send him to Amn.]

Before the entrance of Sarevok's retreat I met with Tamoko, the woman who had given me instructions to stop Sarevok. This time she wasn't so helpful. While I didn't want to fight her, she insisted and paid for it with her life. [This must have to do with my reputation, which was 9 at that moment.]

I entered Sarevok's sanctum, a dark, rustic temple. When I approached him he told me he was going to take Bhaal's essence and become the new Lord of Murder. In response I asked him what would happen if I wanted to take the essence for myself. This taunted him and caused him to call forth his four truest followers: Diarmid (a ranged fighter), resurrrected Tazok, Angelo Dosan (a Fighter-Mage, and in charge of the Fist after Scar's assassination), and Semaj (a mage). Sarevok told me I had to kill them first before I could even touch him. I don't know what kind of black magic was involved in that, but I took his counsel to heart without questioning it.

Protected against mind-controlling and movement hampering magic, and boosted with an Oil of Speed, I was confident to attack from up close, using my proven hit and fade tactics. Thus I slew the first of the four minions, Diarmid, with two backstabs. I was shocked to see how out of Diarmid's remains rose a Skeleton Warrior. The same would later happen with the remains of Sarevok's other minions by the way. To take the undead warrior down I used backstabs with my club the Root of the Problem.
 

Spoiler:

I then tried to take on Angelo, but had difficulty hitting him due to his many Mirror Images (I think he cast that spell thrice). A skeleton I had summoned was no match for him, and my Wand of the Heavens' Flamestrikes did little damage. When I saw Tazok appear I decided to focus my attention on him instead. With two or three backstabs I banished him for the second time to the Nine Hells.
 

Spoiler:

After Tazok's death and that of the Skeleton Warrior that rose from his remains, the fight lost some of its pace. Both Angelo and Semaj had turned invisible and weren't even provoked to attack by my skeletons. So I started taunting Sarevok, with surprise attacks, to see whether his remaining lackeys would come to Sarevok's aid.
This worked after a while, when Semaj turned visible. Like Angelo he was very difficult to hit. Not much later I saw a non-Mirror Imaged Angelo casting a spell, so I decided to go after him and leave Semaj for now. That turned out to be an effective strategy. A poisoned backstab and one hit with my Frost Dart ended his existence, and made Shar-Teel an orphan.
 

Spoiler:

For Semaj I needed lots of backstabs to consume his Stoneskins. With my lightning speed (the combination my Boots and Oils of Speed), there was little risk involved in that. When I struck him down, Sarevok showed some concern.
 

Spoiler:

With all the Skeletal Warriors dead as well, only Sarevok and I remained.

He said: "You know Rieltar once told me I could never be like him. Wouldn't have bothered him knowing you were around somewhere alive."
- "So, you found out you're not a businessman after all," I replied.
- "Just a man."
- "An ancient race," I told him. "Other Rieltars will be along, and they'll kill it off. But you won't live to see that happen."

I quaffed a Potion of Invisibility and pierced my dagger through his armor into his flesh. He tried to retalliate with a swing of his greatsword, but although he was remarkably quick and agile for a bulky, heavily armoured warrior, he was still too slow for me. We danced around a statue, and we played hide and seek, with me hiding in shadows whenever I saw the chance. To his credit I must concede that he was able to take many a hit without losing morale or his concentration. I knew that he would fall sooner or later, and so he did.
 

Spoiler:

***
NOTE 1:
With this I could move Teyl on to Amn, but I won't have him report to Belt yet. While this is a roleplayed playthrough, I can't live with the fact that there's a Manual of Quickness of Action out there, and that Teyl hasn't found it. If something spectacular happens, I'll post another update. If not, his next update will be from Amn.

***
NOTE 2:
Besides Im' really enthusiastic about this I idea to run a group of specialist mages who may only scribe and cast spells from their own schools.
In BG1 my party would consist of Xzar (Necromancer), Xan (Enchanter), Edwin (Conjurer), Dynaheir (Invoker), Quayle (Cleric/Illusionist), Charname (CN Gnomish Transmuter). In BG2 I'd have to edit some of the NPCs. For BG2/TOB my proposed party would consist of: Edwin (Conjurer), Imoen (Thief->Invoker) / Nalia (Thief->Invoker), Aerie: Cleric/Abjurer, Xan (Enchanter, mod), Jan (Illusionist/Thief), Charname. I think it would teach me how to make optimal use of arcane spells. This might intervene with Teyl's run. Am also not sure if it would be no-reload (perhaps only till charname dies for the first time, if Ilike the run a lot).

[Mr_Goldbeard]

Tilvanus - Half Elf - Cleric/ Ranger being played on Core settings with no slider to easy for better HP gain

Astonishing 95 Roll

STR : 18/62

DEX : 18

CON : 18

INT : 14

WIS : 18

CHR : 9 (I probably should've done 5 and put the spare four into INT, but I didn't)

HP : 13

Mace ** / Hammer ** / Two Weapon Style **      

 

 

Picked up Imoen right at the get go, probably gonna keep her as long as possible.  We headed up to the ambushed site to pick up any loot.  Made our way south into HH to pick up a ranger buddy named Kivan then double timed it up to FAI to pick up the Mage ring, flamedance ring for the woman's quest, and the golden platoons.  Imoen tore through Tarnesh's castings, while I whacked the poor guy to bits.  Decided Khalid, Jaheira, and/or Vic isn't really needed, Tilvanus covers up all their aspects (Fighter/ Cleric/ Druids are awesome).  We decided to go check out Beregost and later give the mines a go to fix everyones problems.

 

In Beregost Imoen got a little sneaky and bagged up The Stupifier and gave it to Tilvanus to equip it.  Headed off to the carnival and dealt with the exploding ogre and angry mage, we restored life back into Brenwen couldn't just leave her there to die.  At Nashkel we acquired another ranger buddy, and agreed to help him along his quest.  Along the way to the Gnoll stronghold I figured we could tackle the xvart encampment, but Minsc fell in battle, so had to go revive him.

 

Made it to Gnoll Stronghold and meet my unfortunate demise.  The Gnoll chieftan got a critical and the standard got a hit at the same time.  Tilvanus died

[Grond0]

Well done Blackraven - I hope things continue to go well with Teyl in Amn.  

 

Hard luck Mr_Goldbeard.

[Aasim]

This explains Krystin then...

Have you played this encounter with SCSv28?

I only use v28, so yes. But Krystin in my game can't use Incidenary Cloud, bless her.

And congrats! Very fast and clean run.

Mr_Goldbeard, that's a bummer. I tend to avoid such battles where 2 crits will kill you for at least until Charname (I only play non-casters) has 25 HP.

[Grond0]

Mille - dwarven wizard slayer (update 1)

 

I've been thinking recently about trying a solo wizard slayer again.  I know how to do that safely solo in BG1, but I've never made much progress solo in BG2.  However, it's quite a while since I tried it and I know BG2 much better now than I did.  I can now see just a very faint glimmer of a possibility for making progress there ...

 

Mille made an excellent start with an additional 29 HPs for his 2 extra levels from Shoal.  There were only 8 more from killing the spiders in Beregost and 10 from the southern basilisks before he recruited Korax to help with Mutamin and got 7 more there (to come back to barely above average at that stage).  For Kirian's party Korax attacked Baerin and got an immediate paralysing blow, before switching to Lindin while Mille tried to shut down Kirian's casting with arrows.  Korax eventually died, but not before Mille had killed Baerin and Kirian and Peter had run out of spells - making him and Lindin easy targets to finish off using run & shoot tactics.

 

Tarnesh didn't get close enough to talk on the way to give Landrin back his things.  Then headed south to clear the Cloudpeaks.  On to the Nashkel mines where I intended to kill Greywolf, only to mis-click on the conversation options and have to watch him slaughter Prism. No problems in the mines - with Mulahey failing to get close enough to Mille to talk.  The same was intended to happen with Nimbul, but a dodgy mouse meant he eventually did come for a chat.  Mille saved against horror though and Nimbul didn't get another chance to cast.

 

Tranzig was shot - Mille dodging up and down the stairs a couple of times.  He then bought some full plate and a green scroll of protection from magic and travelled to the lighthouse area.  Helping Ardrouine got him to level 7 (and 12 more HPs) before he meleed the  sirines (in order to get their arrows) - he was confused by the first group, but there was still plenty of time left on the green scroll to deal with Sil.  The golems were shot with +1 arrows.

 

At the bandit camp the outside area was cleared before Mille stepped into the tent.  He successfully poisoned Venkt with one of the sirine arrows of biting with his first shot and the mage failed to complete a spell before being splattered - the others were then finished off with no bother.  After selling equipment Mille has moved on and just arrived in the Cloakwood spider area.

 

[Serg BlackStrider]

Congratulations, Blackraven! I'm looking forward for both Teyl's Amn adventures and your specialist mages party (nice idea btw).

 

Sorry of Tilvanus' demise, Mr_Goldbeard...

[Jianson]

Nicely done, Blackraven!

What was your protection from mind-altering spells in the final battle?

 

I'm using SCS v21, what about you?

I also use that version. 

 

Have you played this encounter with SCSv28?

It won't install on EasyTutu for me. There is a forumite in the forum connected to the mod that narrowed down the problem to some incorrectly named calls for files. This causes the main component of Stratagems to fail to install and if that happens, nothing else in the mod will even try to install.

It's a pity, as v28 solves (among many other things) the annoying problem with summoned regular Wolves turning hostile. That fix alone would have enchanced the playing experience for me.


You definitely have installed something that raises the general levels of opponents. Look at the XP you received for killing Angelo (12000 vs the normal 9800) and Krystin (4750 vs the normal 3000).
I've never seen any mage cast higher than level 6 spells either.

[Blackraven]

@Grond0, Jianson, Serg, Aasim, thank you! I'm much less adept at BG2 but we'll see how Teyl fares...
Grond0, good luck with your Wizard Slayer, so far you've been doing fine Are you using the vanilla version?

 

Mr_Goldbeard, that's a bummer. I tend to avoid such battles where 2 crits will kill you for at least until Charname (I only play non-casters) has 25 HP.

 

Aasim, out of curiosity, why do you only play non-casters? I find that interesting. More challenging? Do you identify yourself more with warrior/rogue types?
 

What was your protection from mind-altering spells in the final battle?

 

Well I had found a helmet, or a crown, that protects against "certain mental attacks" on Rieltar, very useful, though if I hadn't I would have been generous with activating my Greenstone Amulet. I think it's only important for Semaj; Angelo is more of a damage dealer.
 

You definitely have installed something that raises the general levels of opponents. Look at the XP you received for killing Angelo (12000 vs the normal 9800) and Krystin (4750 vs the normal 3000).
I've never seen any mage cast higher than level 6 spells either.

 

I suspect that DSotSC or NTotSC have to do with it then, because of powerful loot I found on Krystin (Dagger +3 'AdderSting'). In my setup powerful loot generally means that either one of the aforementioned mods are involved....

As to SCSv28, I try to tinker as little as possible with my install, so I think I'll wait with that (even though I use BGT instead of Tutu).

 

[Aasim]

Aasim, out of curiosity, why do you only play non-casters? I find that interesting. More challenging? Do you identify yourself more with warrior/rogue types?

Several reasons, I guess. Kit Revisions is so far a beta,  tweaks only warriors , and I can't play without that mod, imo it's spot on in terms of kit balancing. I install Rogue Rebalancing if I want to play a thief, but I only play swashbucklers as protagonist.

Second, my hate for arcane casters grows  deep ever since I played a dual-class berserker(13)/mage dual class which slaughtered everything with a simple Mislead casting (somewhere in 2002).

Third, I like melee combat and cannot envision my charname spending his time behind the frontlines shooting his bow or spells, at least not in BG2 (BG1 is in essence a game where range>everything, whilst BG2 is a game where magic users>everything).

I never really thought about the psyhological aspects of my class choices. I wouldn't call myself a brute, tough.

Somehow it always makes me happy when I find a good set of armor; a big sword; a magical ring, and just go splatting. 

[Jianson]

Angelo is more of a damage dealer.

Maybe so, but he still cast Chaos at Imoen's summoned demon and Confusion at my party.


Good luck in BG2. I have only played with SCS once there. I found the 3x Flame Arrow sequencers to be the worst danger in that run. I got Anomen killed twice to it, and then lost my protagonist (a Blade) when Irenicus in Spellhold threw one at her. So I didn't even get a look at the later SoA chapters.

So, being equipped with highly fire resistant gear is something I recommend.

[Grond0]

Grond0, good luck with your Wizard Slayer, so far you've been doing fine Are you using the vanilla version?

Essentially yes, though I've got the Fixpack tweak that allows ranged as well as melee weapons to trigger spell failure.

[Jianson]

Martha, half-elven Totemic Druid

Martha and Imoen moved to the eastern map. I had planned to take on the belt fetish ogre, but Imoen's scouting revealed several 6-packs of gibberlings that we would have a hard time navigating past. No, I did not trust our fighting abilities to take them on...

Instead, we sneaked to the FAI map by pressing ourself along the western edge. We hunted Hobgoblins around the FAI map and gave Joia her ring. Got back on the map to the south and ended up on the main road. From there, Imoen scouted out a safe path to the ogre (sounds easy, but it took a while with her bad stealth and in daylight). We started the fight but soon went to far to the SW. Oops!

Alright, time for a spirit animal. VERY short casting time, that's great. Lion tried to distract the enemies:

When some of the grass monkeys came too close to us, I could not keep up the micro-managing of all three of us, so the lion was left to fight. Not bad:

I still kept it away from the foes as much as I could, especially from the ogre. Lion survived this fight, and I moved us over to some of the other gibberling packs on the map. Turns out that they could only hit the lion on criticals, so we wiped out two more packs. On the next pack, they got some revenge:


Scary micromanagement fighting ensued (note: we were still level 1. A critical on Imoen could have been lethal, and even a non-critical could have been if she was holding her bow. If she held her dagger, Martha would be safe from one hit since she wears a helmet). We each took a hit:

Martha is 5/10 HP here and imoen is 5/8. As you can see, she levelled up and I took care of that mid-fight. We won in the end. Phew.

Beregost was a treasure trove of wealth and XP compared to what we had seen before. Imoen had taken Open Locks to 55% and could now open all locks in town except one. That's a good chunk of XP right there. We did the 'slime and potion' quest from the mini-quests mod. That involves getting into Red Sheaf, so no way around Karlat. Oh crap, he drank a Potion of Defense. We could only hit him on criticals, and that was true for our pet reptile as well:

Karlat scored the first critical though, and a large snake corpse littered the streets. Many many darts were needed to kill him. Landrin's spiders were easy in comparison - required just 3/4 of a lap around the block.

Imoen and Martha tasted the map to the south a bit, killed some ghouls, ogrillons and hobgoblins. Brought Mirianne the letter and then I decided to pick up Kagain. Made him specialized with bastard swords and two-weapon style and proficient with longbows.
We moved south again, lucked out by finding two 3-packs of Ghasts (with enough space to fall back on, they are easy to kill with little danger)
I liked how I used nearly all of Martha's current abilities here:

Spirit animal, Bless on the whole team, Charm an opponent and dart throwing.

Pretty much the same going in this fight, which was considerably tougher:

The bandit leader didn't give a crap about having Kagain in her face. She kept firing at Imoen, then at Martha when Imoen fled out of sight. That tactics of her had its risk of suffering bonus damage, though:

I think I used at least 3 healing potions in the fight. The bandit leader had 4 magical arrows that look like ice arrows (noone has enough lore to make sure). I am glad she didn't fire those.

Before you go to Nashkel, you must talk to Xzar and Montaron if you want to keep them around. I got their level 3 versions when I picked them up, and decided to have a go at Tarnesh. Sorry guys, you are 'disposable' this run. Monty borrowed a long sword from Imoen and did his thing:

Neat. If that had not gone so well, I had Xzar ready with 3x Larloch's and 2x Melf's Acid Arrows, plus a spirit snake.

I sent the duo to Jovial Juggler, resolved Unshey's and Landrin's quests, picked up Khalid and Jaheira and travelled to Nashkel, where we are now.

[Blackraven]

Several reasons, I guess. Kit Revisions is so far a beta,  tweaks only warriors , and I can't play without that mod, imo it's spot on in terms of kit balancing. I install Rogue Rebalancing if I want to play a thief, but I only play swashbucklers as protagonist.

Second, my hate for arcane casters grows  deep ever since I played a dual-class berserker(13)/mage dual class which slaughtered everything with a simple Mislead casting (somewhere in 2002).

Third, I like melee combat and cannot envision my charname spending his time behind the frontlines shooting his bow or spells, at least not in BG2 (BG1 is in essence a game where range>everything, whilst BG2 is a game where magic users>everything).

I never really thought about the psyhological aspects of my class choices. I wouldn't call myself a brute, tough.

Somehow it always makes me happy when I find a good set of armor; a big sword; a magical ring, and just go splatting. 

Insightful, thanks! I like these kinds of psychological motivations. BG2 made me too develop a dislike for arcane casters, for the same reason as yours: too powerful. The only type of arcane caster I really like is a spellblade type who uses his magic to enhance his fighting skills. I had a blast with a (shadowkeepered) multiclass Swashbuckler/Mage. He went down, brutally, against improved Irenicus in hell, in a no-reload run. I can imagine playing a Fighter/Mage or a Blade in more or less the same way.

I also really a dialogue between Valygar and Sarevok and ToB:

Sarevok: Valygar, you have not yet condemned my presence. Is not my very existence here an affront to you?
Valygar: Nay, Sarevok... I am not troubled by your presence. Should I be?
Sarevok: I am no longer part of the natural order. I was resurrected with powerful magics, which you so obviously despise. My ... unnatural ... existence does not repel you? You do not see me as an abomination?
Valygar: I see you as a warrior, Sarevok. You may have a cruel and violent streak, but you are not alone in that fault. You do not use foul magic; you wield true steel as I do. We are brothers in arms, Sarevok.
Sarevok: That ... is true. Your words surprise me, Valygar. But I thank you for them.

 

Maybe so, but he still cast Chaos at Imoen's summoned demon and Confusion at my party.


Good luck in BG2. I have only played with SCS once there. I found the 3x Flame Arrow sequencers to be the worst danger in that run. I got Anomen killed twice to it, and then lost my protagonist (a Blade) when Irenicus in Spellhold threw one at her. So I didn't even get a look at the later SoA chapters.

So, being equipped with highly fire resistant gear is something I recommend.

Ok, I didn't work with summons in the Final Battle. In my setup he uses his special arrow a lot ("Angelo's Arrows": 50% chance of  2D6 electrical damage, save vs. spells for half, 50% chance of dispelling magic). But surprise attacks from up close worked well.

Thanks for your advice (protection against fire).

Well done so far with Martha, a few nail-biters, but otherwise solid.The spirita animals are very useful no?

[Grond0]

Mille - dwarven wizard slayer (2nd and final update)

 

I'm not allowing Mille the use of any potions in BG1 (though I think that restriction would be unrealistic in BG2).  He therefore used a protection from poison scroll in the spider area to prevent the danger of being poisoned while stuck in a web.  In the event he didn't get stuck (other than intentionally) anyway and took only light damage while claiming Spider's Bane.  He ran through the remainder of the Cloakwood to get to the mine.  Arriving there, first Drasus and then Genthore were pulled away from the others and meleed.  Kysus was then poisoned twice by arrows, but somehow managed to cast confusion anyway.  Mille had the opportunity to leave the map, but chose to stay and saved.  However, Rezdan then joined in and summoned some monsters before then casting horror.  Mille decided enough was enough and ran away.  Coming back he successfully poisoned Rezdan and decided this time to stick around when the mage responded with an acid arrow.  Venturing a bit further Mille found Kysus was at near death and a single arrow finished him off.

 

Downstairs he successfully lured a few guards away in order to progress without alerting Hareishan.  Before heading down for Daveorn though he took a long detour via Hafiz to get another scroll of magic protection.  The battle horrors were successfully lured upstairs and stranded there, making it easy for Mille to attack Daveorn using his green scroll.  He got to level 8 there, but a minimum 6 HPs dragged him below average despite his good start with Shoal.  

 

A few reputation quests were done with the only problem that Mille took a detour while he had Samuel in his backpack and was unable to revive him at the FAI.  However, reputation is not very important anyway as there is so little worthwhile available for purchase. 

 

Moving on to the City Mille picked up the tomes and the Helm of Balduran.  Jalantha was poisoned by Mille's first shot and he didn't need to run out of the temple at all.  Marek was affected by Bhaal horror, so again Mille did not need to use the stairs.  Ramazith was meleed before he could cast a spell (Mille used Spider's Bane to ensure safety against the ghasts).

 

With no means of going invisible Mille was set to fight at the Iron Throne.  He did that very successfully - opening up with one of his 5 arrows of detonation and following up with a horror that affected several opponents.  A couple more arrows of detonation and all the spell casters were either running or dead and finishing off was easy from there.

 

After being sent to Candlekeep Mille used DUHM to open one of the tombs (with green scroll lightning protection), but unfortunately there's no way to get the tomes for a wizard slayer in my installation.  He fought through some dopplegangers on the way to Prat's party - which again he couldn't avoid safely.  Carelessly he had no more arrows of detonation, so used a protection from magic scroll and engaged - switching between arrows and Spider's Bane to protect against Bor's darts of stunning.  With him dead the rest were helpless and soon breathed their last. Rather oddly, basilisk gaze is treated as a non-magic attack, so Mille had to layer in another green scroll to deal with that obstacle on his way out.

 

Back in the City, Slythe was greeted with a dispelling arrow that slowed him down and he was unable to catch up with Mille before falling over.  At the palace a first Bhaal horror affected 2 dopplegangers, while the second got one more.  Dispelling arrows disrupted the others and, though Liia died, Belt survived easily enough.

 

Mille got the XP for level 9 while going through the maze, but didn't level up.  He took several blows from the skeleton warriors and rested before taking the long way round to the temple to avoid the Undercity party.  Inside the temple he used a scroll of magic protection (mainly in order to avoid trap damage) and pulled Sarevok out with a dispelling arrow.  That missed, as did a further 10 (despite only needing a 12 to hit), but finally the 12th shot stuck.  Sarevok was just as fast as Mille (wearing boots of speed), so getting space to shoot wasn't easy (getting bats in his way helped) and Sarevok managed to get one attack in during that lot.  Now he had a speed advantage Mille could pretty much shoot at will and Sarevok failed to get another attack in before he eventually gave the contest up as a bad job.

 

He avoided the Undercity party again on the way out and reported back to Belt for assignment to Athkatla.

[Aasim]

Grond0, I've been told I play fast.  You seem to be able to finish BG1 in less than a day. Congrats.

[Grond0]

Thanks.  BG1 can indeed take considerably less than a day if the aim is to to do it quickly - though a wizard slayer is not a good kit for a speed run.  At the back of my mind I've got a potential challenge for the future of trying to complete the trilogy in a day, but that would need to wait for the unlikely event where I've got a day with no other responsibilities ...

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

***
NOTE 2:
Besides Im' really enthusiastic about this I idea to run a group of specialist mages who may only scribe and cast spells from their own schools.
In BG1 my party would consist of Xzar (Necromancer), Xan (Enchanter), Edwin (Conjurer), Dynaheir (Invoker), Quayle (Cleric/Illusionist), Charname (CN Gnomish Transmuter). In BG2 I'd have to edit some of the NPCs. For BG2/TOB my proposed party would consist of: Edwin (Conjurer), Imoen (Thief->Invoker) / Nalia (Thief->Invoker), Aerie: Cleric/Abjurer, Xan (Enchanter, mod), Jan (Illusionist/Thief), Charname. I think it would teach me how to make optimal use of arcane spells. This might intervene with Teyl's run. Am also not sure if it would be no-reload (perhaps only till charname dies for the first time, if Ilike the run a lot).

 

Tyl is just a little bad-a--!  Great stuff there. 

 

As to your note 2, I'm having fun using Quayle (Ill); Edwin (Con) & Xan (Enc) along w/my Bard.  I'm doing exactly what you say, Edwin is using Melf's Acid Arrow, Flame Arrow, PW Sleep, etc...Quayle helps w/blindness, Invisibility etc & Xan w/Charm Person, Dire Charm etc.  I'm tearing opponents up w/those three teeing off on them, espcially when I use Eldoth to cast 'all those other spells outside of their schools.  Unfortunately, I goofed up & let Xzar leave my party so had to backfill him (I think the Necromancer spells are brutal). 

 

Heck, Xan Charmed Bassilus last night so Bassilus

 

One note (you can probably overcome it b/c you're savvy w/these things) but Edwin & Dynahier will go off on each other.

 

CKT

[Blackraven]

@CKT thanks! Yep, Teyl's not to be messed with
As to your spellcasters, that's great man! You've been doing very well with them.
I recall your self-imposed restriction, but thought you had your specialist casters scribe/cast one spell of each of the other schools per level. Either way, I like it, adds flavour. Looking forward to your next update.

Teyl managed to find the Tome of Dexterity (had kill Arkion for it), so he's on his way to Amn.
 

[Mr_Goldbeard]

Paarthurnax - Elf Dragon Disciple (Enhanced Edition Class) Chaotic Evil, solo run with Core rules and adjusted to easy for leveling HP

HP : 6

STR : 14

DEX : 19

CON : 14

INT : 13

WIS : 15

CHR 15

90 total roll

 

1st : magic missile, armor

 

Did my usual beginners run, grabbed loot from Gorion and the potion from Xzar, magic missiled the two wolfs and three gibbs I passed along the way to the mage's ring.  Headed down to beregost for the Silke quest, and killed the three men, killed the bounty hunter in the inn, grabbed and sold The Stupefier mace for 750gp.  Decided i could use a level up so I drank a potion of clarity ( one from winthrops inn) with conjuction of armor, and began hurling my sling at Firebeard Elvenhair.  When he would begin casting I would do the dodge and weave trick (exiting and entering the house, causing him to use up his list of spells, but they won't hit me.  When his shadow door wore off, I ate him up with MM's and the MM wand.  He has a lot of HP and is pretty formidable foe, but worth the risk.  Level 2.  Went across the street then dealt with Marl, killed him.

 

Headed up to FAI to give the flamedance ring to the girl for a rep point, and went to kill tarnish and grab the pants.  had a super close run in with Tarnesh, I opened combat by hurling my sling, didn't get to disrupt his mirror image but I did his horror, he popped me with three MM's and dropped my HP from 12 to 1 (5,3,3), but my MM finished him off.  Grabbed the Golden Platoons then headed for Nashkel Carnival.  Did all the little events at the carnival and got to level 3, Pro from Pet was my next spell choice, that way if I forget to grab any scrolls in the future (happens a lot actually lol), and got my Breath attack (its a godsend in BG1, but not so much in SoA and ToB, unless you project image and simmy ) also got LMD as Bhaal power.

 

Headed to the west to deal with Hentold and Revenant.  I popped Rev with MM then bolted out the cave, I'd walk around the tree and the two impassable stones popping off MM's every round, until he had badly damaged, then i used my breath attack for a whapping 22dmg level 4 -Glitterdust (either that or web), HP : 24, and 25% Fire Resistance.  Continued and searching the catacombs, leaving narcillious alone (his mustard jellies aren't fun), and the amazons weren't all that hard, I positioned myself to the lowerer right side of them, and flung a bullet at her, dialogue wasn't initiated but they were hostile, Maneria was the only one able to attack me, so she advanced forth, i shot a glitterdust spell and blinded them all, with them blinded I got up close to them to Breath Attack them for 15-20 a piece, I ran off out of their LOS and rested, glitterdusted and Breath attack until they died (i know its chessy), and continuing venturing off to the south to grab the ring of fire resistance.

 

Inside Nashkel mines nothing posed a threat.  With 10 MM's at two a piece, kolbolds die with one MM.  Mulahey was a piece of cake, I lured him and his minions into the narrow p-way and casted blinding dust, then breath attack killed all the little ones, mulahey died as i flung bullets and MM's at him, I bagged up the loot and scrolls then set off for collecting the quest reward and beregost.

 

Paarturnax - Elven Chaotic Evil Dragon Disciple lvl 4 - kills 89

HP : 24

1st : MM, armor, pro from pet

2nd : glitterdust

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

...As to your spellcasters, that's great man! You've been doing very well with them. I recall your self-imposed restriction, but thought you had your specialist casters scribe/cast one spell of each of the other schools per level...

 

Either way, I like it, adds flavour. Looking forward to your next update.

You are correct.  I allow them to memorize one spell from other schools. An Illusionist only has reflected Image & Blindness @ level 1; a Conjurer Armor & Grease (Find Familiar too but only for the PC).  Now...the Conjurer gets Melf's  Acid Arrow @ Level 2 @ Flame Arrow @ Level 3 so you can load all those in memorized slots, I added one Power Word Sleep for Edwin @ Level 2.  Enchanters w/Sleep, Charm Person, Dire Charm...good for filling up all your memory slots, oh & ray of Enfeeblement has been really effective a time or two.  You'll have fun.  Go for it.  One regular Mage or Sorcerer from the start (not a specialist) might be a plus to give you a wider variety than his/her fellow specialists.  You COULD use Level1NPCs & make Imoen a vanilla Mage (she was always sneakin' into Gorion's room & looking over his scrolls) instead of starting as a thief so she could fulfill that role & then you could keep the Gnomish Transmuter idea for your PC.  

 

Good luck.  Here's what Mordred from Camelot, ugh, Candlekeep's been doin.'!  CKT