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[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 54 - (update 3)

Jackie, halfling thief (Grond0) & Pariah, dwarf cleric (Gate70)

 

There was a generally pretty well controlled session yesterday as this pair broke the back of their BG1 campaign.

 

They started in the Cloakwood by letting the ettercaps play with some summoned skeletons. Moving on through, their next stop was Drasus and co. at the mine.  They were comprehensively defeated with Rezdan silenced, Kysus backstabbed and Drasus and Genthore held - meaning the summoned skeletons weren't really needed.

 

In the mine the pair made their way down to Daveorn avoiding the mages on the way, though they did have to do some relatively hard fighting against regular guards.  Typically battles involved Pariah occupying the attention of attackers while Jackie skipped around corners looking to hide and backstab.  On Daveorn's level Jackie disarmed several traps (including the battle horrors), but found the hard way that he wasn't up to one of them.  After resting and healing Pariah brought out some skeletons and then successfully silenced Daveorn twice (the second being insurance against the first running out).  Before Daveorn could recover his mirrors were beaten down and he was finished with a backstab.

 

Moving on to Baldur's Gate, Jackie took advantage of the dexterity tome before Pariah went after the wisdom one.  Jalantha failed to cast a spell under assault by skeletons and the pair headed for Marek.  On the way there was a minor disaster when they confronted Larze and he took advantage of lag to reach across the room and snuff out Pariah.  After getting revenge with a few backstabs, Jackie took Pariah's body to the temple before the pair returned to collect equipment and rest.  Finally they were able to come to grips with Marek - or at least the skeletons were and they ignored his confusion spell to finish him off.

 

Ramazith had a bad day, becoming another victim of silence - the backstab following that just added insult (well, death actually) to injury.  His tower was then looted with the help of a freedom potion used by Pariah.  Pariah then led the way to Durlag's Tower to complete the haul of tomes before returning to the city.

 

The enhanced edition appears to give Nortuary a different script and he badly wounded Pariah on the way up the Iron Throne building.  That caused the pair to continue right on up and rest on the roof before coming back down.  Tactics used against parties previously of silence, skeletons and hold person once more worked a treat here with the opposition being destroyed in no time.

 

The final objective before returning to Candlekeep was to go and sort out the basilisk area.  That nearly proved costly when Jackie's stealth broke and he was spotted by Mutamin - a horror spell sending him for a run round the area, but fortunately he didn't trigger anything too nasty and was undamaged.  After the Iron Throne party it seemed unlikely that Kirian's group would be able to resist the silence / hold / skeletons / backstab treatment - and indeed they didn't.

 

Stats:

Jackie, thief 8, 49 HPs, 154 kills

Pariah, cleric 7, 51 HPs, 102 kills, 2 deaths

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

Operating deep in the Cloakwood, Forest we defeated three Ettercaps, two Cave bears & two baby Wyverns before Minsc waded into a nasty fight w/two Sword Spiders, got injured with a gash & I tried to pull him back but before he could he was hit again & fell.  I led us to finish them off & head back but after selling everything I could afford to I still didn’t have the 800gp needed & refused to sell Jaheira’s Scimitar +1.  I left Minsc’s equipment @ the FAI & headed back to tackle the Cloakwood w/just five of us.  Back @ the Cloakwood we had a tough fight early on against five Guards in Splint Mail which drained us. They  weren’t BTE but they were stout. After that we fought & defeated two Sword Spiders, two Cave Bears & six baby Wyverns.

 

Key Event:  Then we found a huge cave. As my SOP is to prepare before entering an area that is obviously a great place for a monster to build a lair, we did so. But before we did that, I assessed that we needed to rest as we had some injuries from our earlier fights, so we stood down for eight hours near the entrance so that we could watch anything coming in or out. Then Blessed by Jaheira who’d added Barkskin on herself, Dynahier protected herself w/Shield & Imoen w/Reflected Image. I’m glad I require these measures b/c inside the cave were two huge Wyverns & three baby Wyverns.  Without Minsc the front line was all mine & I am reminded how true a comrade he is when he isn’t there battling @ my side.  My spellcasters & ranged warriors were magnificent. I took some hard hits we defeated all of them. W/enough treasure to Raise Minsc I had us head back. 

GREAT VICTORY IN THE BATTLE OF WYVERN CAVE (WITHOUT MINSC!)

On return, I had us mop up our work around the Cloakwood Wyverns Cave. We defeated three Huge Spiders, three Giant Spiders, 12 Tasloi & a Hamadryad before we found & saved Beador in the nick of time as six Shadow druids assassinate him. Twice, once against the Hamadryad & once against these Shadow Druids, Dynahier’s new Wand of Lightning served very well.  In this battle against the Druids it was the first shot fired, followed by one of Imoen’s innate Magic Missiles & Jaheira’s Summon Insects. We had to work to beat these guys. Afterward Beador told us we needed to rush back to the treehouse find Maretha.

 

So we headed to the treehouse & found two druids, one named Andarthe. I sent Minsc, Jaheira & Dynahier around the far side of the tree while Khalid, Imoen & I went around the other. As soon as we were detected, one of them summoned two Dread Wolves that added confusion to the battle. Imoen & Khalid pelted the unnamed druid w/arrows while Minsc got tied up w/a pack of Wild Dogs. (I don’t know where they came from). Dynahier twice blasted Andarthe w/her Wand of Lightning & I think it hit the other druid the second time, killing him. Jaheira cast Hold Animal & Charm Person or Mammal but neither took effect. Once the unnamed druid was down, Khalid & Imoen drew their swords & finished one of the Dread Wolves that had been nipping their heels. I was battling Andarthe & he suddenly surrendered & surprisingly Jaheira was amenable but gave him a tongue lashing. It was the only chivalrous course of action to accept his surrender in that situation anyway but I understand from Seniyad that he took care of justice afterword. Minsc finished his work w/the Wild Dogs w/Dynahier & Jaheira backing him w/slings.  We returned to Seniyad at Jaheira’s request

 

Treasure of Note: Wand of Lightning (Dynahier); Club, Eye of the Storm (Jaheira); Leather Armor +1 (Khalid)

 

Current Disposition: Resting, selling loot, recuperating @ the FAI

Next Steps:  I expect to find the Base in the Cloakwood referred to in the letter we acquired @ the Bandit Camp soon

Level Up:

·         Silvanus made Jaheira an Initiate of the fourth Circle (Druid/Priestess of Silvanus//6) & granted her a 3rd 3^rd Level Spell

·         I humbly accept a promotion to Guardian (Fighter/6) & I’ve improved to Bastard Sword****

 

Current Party: (Reputation: 14 – Popular: Saving Maretha & Beador for Seniyad)

·         Gawain: Ftr/6; Full Plate w/Large Shield +1 w/Boots of Grounding, Bastard Sword**** (SSS**) (Taugasz Khosann))

·         Minsc: Barbarian/5 w/Splint Mai w/Boots of Avoidance, Two-Handed Sword***/THWS** (Spellcaster Defend)(Sword Spider)

·         Khalid: Ranger (Archer)/5 w/Leather +1 w/Bracers/Archery, Longbow***, B/Sword* (TWS***)( Sword Spider) (Ranger

                Ranged)

·         Imoen: Thief (Charming Rogue)/6 w/Stud Leather & Cloak of Non-Detection, Short Bow*, Dagger* & Short Sword* (Shadow Druid)(Thief Def)

·         Jaheira: Priestess of Sylvanus/6 w/Stud Leather, Sling*, Eye of the Storm*, Scimitar +1 (Britik)(Druid Off/Def)

·         Dynahier: Mage (Invoker)/5 w/Bracers of Defense AC8, Sling*, Wand of Lightning (Phase Spider)(Wizard Defensive)

 

Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); MegaModKits v1.01L; level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)

 

Blue Font: New information;

Red Font: Monster encounters (first use)

(Best kill)(Current AI)

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 54 - (update 4)

Jackie, halfling thief (Grond0) & Pariah, dwarf cleric (Gate70)

 

A short session today wasn't quite enough to get this duo to Sarevok.

 

They began the session by travelling to Candlekeep.  With thief skills available the tombs were quickly looted - skeletons providing cover from the phase spiders.  The dopplegangers in the next area were mainly tanked by Pariah, while Jackie ran backwards and forwards attempting to land backstabs.  Pariah buffed for Prat and his gang, but didn't include silence and suffered a fair amount of spell damage as a result before finishing them off.

 

After selling surplus equipment and making use of the tomes, the duo went after Slythe.  He was pulled away from Krystin and an arrow of dispelling left him an easy victim for some summoned dogs.  At the palace Pariah prepared more comprehensively and his buffed skeletons tore into the dopplegangers with a bit of help from more dispelling arrows from Jackie.  Liia died, but Belt was never in danger.

 

With some buffs still active the duo quickly moved on to the maze and attacked the inhabitants of that.  Once more the main tactics involved Pariah tanking and Jackie backstabbing and that proved sufficient to clear a way through easily enough.  By that time buffs had ended and the duo rested and healed to be ready for the final confrontation next time.

 

Stats:

Jackie, thief 9, 56 HPs, 173 kills

Pariah, cleric 8, 57 HPs, 115 kills, 2 deaths

[Grond0]

Spectre {4} - human monk (update 1)

 

I thought I would be bloody-minded and try again to make progress with a monk restricted to only his fists as weapons and using passive magic items only.  I'm pretty sure that completing SoA like that is realistic, though ToB might be a step too far.

 

Progress was untroubled up to killing all the basilisks.  Trying his luck with Kirian's party Spectre had a good start when Korax paralysed Kirian, while Spectre stunned Baerin.  However, Korax then died to Lindin forcing Spectre to run - here he's just saved against a hold person, although he was already in the shadows and well out of sight of enemies and would have been safe anyway.

 

One major change from his 3 earlier incarnations is that he's previously benefited from significantly above average HPs.  In this run he's come back to earth with a bump - his character record showing his HPs to be 7.5 below average so far.

[Grond0]

Spectre {4} - human monk (update 2)

 

Spectre had no problems with Mulahey or Tranzig and moved on to the Bandit Camp.  He sneaked into the tent successfully in order to look at the letters, though the trap there would have killed him but for Mulahey's boots.

 

At Ulgoth's Beard he bought the Cloak of Displacement and killed Dushai for her ring.  He completed his planned equipment by buying the Claw of Kazgaroth and going to the Cloudpeaks to get Krumm's girdle.  There was a momentary panic stealthing through the Cloakwood when it appeared Spectre had forgotten to equip something!  However, he broke free while still stealthed and quickly moved on to the mine.

 

Drasus was pulled away from his companions and Spectre successfully stunned him once.  The bulk of the damage to him though was done by running round and using his marginally better weapon speed to get in unopposed attacks.  Drasus did manage to attack twice before he died, but missed both times.

 

Spectre stealthed down to Daveorn and killed the guard there before decoying the battle horrors upstairs and out of the way.  He had to work hard to find places to rest in order to heal trap damage, but managed it in the end.  As last time Daveorn's normal spell sequence appeared to have been disrupted by all the resting and he only tried one spell (probably hold person) that was aborted when Spectre disappeared into stealth.  He was thus able to run round making unopposed attacks until Daveorn had had enough - that also got Spectre to level 7 and his poor HP run continued with just 4 more.

 

He's just arrived in Baldur's Gate, ready for the final leg of his adventures on the Sword Coast.

[Grond0]

Spectre {4} - human monk (3rd and final update)

 

I was initially thinking there was no more equipment that would be of any use to Spectre at this stage, but then decided to go and try again to get Kirian's girdle.  Four horrors were used (with a rest in between) in order to split her off from the rest of the party and Spectre found just enough space to finish her off (Peter is close by here behind the rocks).

 

Spectre stealthed into the Iron Throne, then reported to Duke Eltan and returned to Candlekeep.  That was just a flying visit as he stealthed past all the enemies there as well and returned to the City.  With HPs so low this run I decided that rather than 2 DUHMs Spectre should have 1 vampiric touch (providing extra HPs to survive spike traps).  That was bad news for a commoner, but Spectre soon had her final Bhaal ability.  She used DUHM to get into Ramazith's Tower and acquire his ring +2 before moving on to the final combats.

 

Slythe was pulled outside and Spectre did well initially to get him to badly wounded.  However, he was hit himself a couple of times - including while attempting a vampiric touch - and went to the temple to get healed.  With a single hit putting him in danger from a critical, Spectre went to the temple twice more before Slythe was scared by a LMD and finished off while running.

 

After resting, Spectre moved on to the palace.  After using his DUHM he tried his first horror - without any success.  The second scared 2 of the dopplegangers and Spectre decided it was worth him staying there.  He had soon helped kill 3 of the active ones, with the other having run downstairs at near death, although Liia died during that.  A nice critical finished off one of the original scared ones while it was running.  Spectre didn't manage to catch up to the last one though and it got a chop in on Belt, but died shortly afterwards.  After stealthing downstairs to finish off the remaining one Spectre made sure that Sarevok would chase him (as opposed to attacking Belt) until it was time to go to the maze.

 

In the maze he mainly used stealth attacks, though there was a first successful use of vampiric touch.  That still left him 5000 short of his final BG1 level though and I decided he should pursue that (hiding from Sarevok is hard enough anyway).  So he did a few more encounters around the Sword Coast - Melicamp failed to provide any XP, but Ardouine, Charleston Nib and Brage chipped in.  He also belatedly reported to Berrun Ghastkill that the Nashkel mines were clear and found a book for Firebead before a vampiric touch on a gibberling tipped him over the edge.  A welcome 9 HPs reduced the deficit on his HPs to 7.5 below average.

 

He returned to the maze and went on to the temple.  He triggered a lightning trap before resting to be fully healed for the fight with Sarevok and then spent a bit of time killing bats (to prevent them blocking him while running round pillars).  This time I managed to time the use of a LMD on Sarevok perfectly to get him to come out without alerting any of the others.  There were no bugs with the fight this time and Sarevok failed to get an attack in over the course of the 45 minute fight.  I considered trying to finish him off with a vampiric touch for extra style points, but the chance of successfully casting that would be very low and I didn't fancy the possibility of a one-shot critical in response, so just finished him off with stealthy fists.

 

Spectre reported in to Duke Belt and has just arrived in Jon's dungeon.

[Charlestonian Knight Templar]

As anticipated I found the fort I was looking for in the deepest part of the Cloakwood. En route we defeated three more Ettercaps, easily the most loathsome creatures we’ve had to slay.

 

When I got there I walked right out to where there was a bridge leading into the fort. I elected to have our party conduct a reconnaissance in force to make sure I was aware of any danger in the woods round the fort & to get as close a look @ the fort as possible. As we moved around north of the fort we fell into battle w/three BTE, An officer or sergeant & three guards. We defeated them in a long melee but, once again, lost Minsc & on return to the FAI we were unable to raise him w/o parting w/Jaheira’s Scimitar +1 or Dynahier’s Scroll of Protection against Normal Missiles. I reluctantly decided to wait until we had acquired enough gold to raise him w/o disposing on key items we all rely on.

 

Back near the deepest part of the Cloakwood I allowed Khalid, to cross the bridge & scout as much as he could.  He returned to inform me that there were two knights & two apparent mages across the bridge in a courtyard near a building. I elected to finish our reconnaissance & fought & defeated six guards, six wolves & 12 Tasloi before having completely reconnoitered the fort & the woods nearby.

 

Key Event:  After a needed rest, I decided to cross the bridge @ this point & verify that the knights & mages were still there. Sure enough they we so I asked Dynahier to cast her memorized Fireball just out of their visual range. Unfortunately, she was spotted but, in a show of courage, she stood & released the Fireball before one of the knights got to her & safely retreated to our position on the far side of the bridge. I know now that her Fireball killed one of the mages. Jaheira had already cast Barkskin on herself & Imoen Invisibility on herself. As one of the knights charged across the bridge, Jaheira Blessed us all & I stepped out of ahead of our ‘V’ formation to battle him. He was tough but my companions assisted me in his defeat.  Next Dynahier crept back across the bridge b/c there was no movement. Once again she stopped @ the edge of the far side of the bridge but this time she cast a Stinking Cloud from memory. We followed & had to battle the remaining knight after he woke before our ranged weapons had finished him. We defeated him and the last mage, who only woke momentarily. Turns out that these were four more assassins hired by someone named Rielter.

BATTLE W/THE ASSASSIN'S OF CLOAKWOOD MINES

I then had us recon the immediate area and found a barracks where we killed two guards & let a third go who had surrendered but provided useful info before we let him go. Next we found a storehouse, killed another guard & then found the main entrance to what I now know to be a mine. There we killed two more guards before collecting all the Splint Mail, Long Swords & other less valuable treasure, both inside the fort & some from a night battle w/guards listed above. That we couldn’t carry we put in a chest on the ground floor of the barracks to come back for later. Then I returned us to the FAI & sold that necessary to pay for a Raise Dead spell from Gellana to bring Minsc back to us.

 

Treasure of Note: Mage Robes of Cold Resistance (sold); Knave’s Robe (Imoen?); Morning Star +1 (sold)

 

Current Disposition: Spread out resting @ the FAI after selling/buying, raising Minsc

Next Steps:  Back to the Mines to explore the mines

Level Up: None

 

Current Party: (Reputation: 14 – Popular)

·         Gawain: Ftr/6; Full Plate w/Large Shield +1 w/Boots of Grounding, Bastard Sword**** (SSS**) (Taugasz Khosann))

·         Minsc: Barbarian/5 w/Splint Mai w/Boots of Avoidance, Spiders Bane***/THWS** (Spellcaster Defend)(Sword Spider)

·         Khalid: Ranger (Archer)/5 w/Leather +1 w/Bracers/Archery, Longbow***, B/Sword* (TWS***)( Sword Spider) (Ranger

                Ranged)

·         Imoen: Thief (Charming Rogue)/6 w/Stud Leather & Cloak of Non-Detection, Short Bow*, Dagger* & Short Sword* (Shadow Druid)(Thief Def)

·         Jaheira: Priestess of Sylvanus/6 w/Stud Leather, Sling*, Eye of the Storm*, Scimitar +1 (Britik)(Druid Off/Def)

·         Dynahier: Mage (Invoker)/5 w/Bracers of Defense AC8, Sling*, Wand of Lightning (Phase Spider)(Wizard Defensive)

 

Mods Used: HardTimes-v2; BG1UB_v12; bg1npc-v20; X0black101 (Blackguard); MegaModKits v1.01L; level1npcs-v1.9; bg2_tweaks-v14; Randomizer-v68; scs-v21 (- Tactical Challenges)

 

Blue Font: New information;

Red Font: Monster encounters (first use)

(Best kill)(Current AI)

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 54 - (5th and final update)

Jackie, halfling thief (Grond0) & Pariah, dwarf cleric (Gate70)

 

It only took a few minutes to finish off Sarevok yesterday.  After avoiding the Undercity party the duo moved on to the temple, where Jackie removed a couple of lightning traps.  In the enhanced edition it seems to be standard that Semaj teleports out in support of Sarevok even if he doesn't see anyone.  However, as that was expected he found himself among a group of skeletons and being targeted with dispelling arrows.  He just had time to attempt a domination (which failed), before being cut down.

 

Sarevok had also been dispelled and was immediately put under pressure by a backstab.  Jackie didn't have time to hide and give him another one as the skeletons had got several juicy hits in (I was caught out at how quickly Sarevok died and missed taking a screenshot)

 

Stats:

Jackie, thief 9, 56 HPs, 173 kills

Pariah, cleric 8, 57 HPs, 115 kills, 2 deaths

[Grimwald the Wise]

 

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 54 - (5th and final update)

Jackie, halfling thief (Grond0) & Pariah, dwarf cleric (Gate70)

 

It seems to be standard that Semaj teleports out in support of Sarevok even if he doesn't see anyone.

 

 

That seems standard for my set-up too even though I haven't got BGEE installed. I installed EBG2 which has a lot in common with BG2EE, so perhaps that is why. I'm no modder, so I could be wrong.

[corey_russell]

Nice work Grond0! Hope it works out for ya in BG 2...

[corey_russell]

Multi-Player No-Reload (Corey_Russell, Dogdancing)

 

Zaxxon and Tcos managed to do some adventuring today. We didn't do much, due to Real Life. However, we tried to revive Melicamp (Thalantyr failed), cleared who knows how many skeletons in High Hedge, purchased two freedom potions from Thalantyr, sold Perdue's sword to Thalantyr (oops! had to buy it back) and some more.

 

A number of ambushes, but nothing the duo couldn't handle. We finally got to the Temple of Beregost area and cleared it of all hostiles. Doing this got us both a level in thief and mage. We decided to do one more thing, we went after the ogre with the belt fetish. Luckily for us, some dread wolves appeared which gave us both level 4 fighter.

 

Then Zaxxon acted as bait while Tcos peppered the Ogre with the belt fetish with many arrows. We aren't proficient with our bows, but we do use them any time we want to keep our distance. Most time we dual-wield though. Tcos got the belt - will help with any bandit ambushes, as well as she usually is in the front with more HP, plus Zaxxon can't cast anything if he's in front.

 

RL overtook the players of the game, though, and we had to end our session here.

 

Tcos - protagonist, level 4 fighter/level 4 thief

Zaxxon - level 4 fighter/level 4 illusionist

[Epsil0]

I couldn't decide on a class for my PC for the longest time; I think I restarted at least 7 separate times with an Archer, a Dragon Disciple, and Fighter with the intent to dual into mage, two Kensais with the same intent, and Beastmaster planning to go into Cleric. I finally decided that I was sick of kiting things around in BG1 at least, and so settled on...

Reynardine, (Reynard for short) the Human Totemic Druid, first update. Initial stats of 10/18/16/10/18/18. Pips in Dart and in Spear.

Game started as usual with the darting of Shoal, though I had to zone in and out twice to avoid a Dire wolf that I accidentally ran into. Rolled 14 for health, so slightly ahead of average. Melicamp got fried, (and Reynard got a free meal, albeit 2k experience and 1 rep lower than I wanted to be) so we continued to Beregost where Firebead, Marl, and two Giant spiders tanked by a spirit snake granted level 4. I don't recall the hit points, since Reynard went immediately to the Basilisk area and gained a further two levels to be at 45 hit points. Average here at level 6 should be 42.5, so we're still good. North to FAI, turned in quests, diverted myself slightly to kill Basillus with two spirit animals, then south to Nashkel, where Rasaad stole-kill Neira from me, denying me level 7.

 

South again to the mines, where the encounter with Dorn gave me level 7 anyways with a horrid HP roll of 3. 48 where 47 should be the average, so barely ahead right now. The level 4 slots go towards Nymphs, and Mulahey is easily killed by one nymph, a spirit Lion, and Call Insects to add insult to injury. A rest, Sanctuary (I think BGTweaks added Sanctuary to the Druid list? I can't find another reason for this,) and two more summons and two more spirit animals turns the Amazon encounter into a rout. Reynard turns in the quest to the mayor, and then fights Nimbul without any summons: Call Insects hit again, only for Rasaad to killsteal me again. This is becoming into a problem...

 

Current stats: 48 HP, 10/18/16/10/18/18. Next is getting the CHA tome because why not?

[corey_russell]

If you don't actually need the CHA tome (which you don't), you can sell it for a sizable amount, 2500 gold I think. You only need 20 CHA for shopkeepers, so a nymph's cloak would get you to 20 CHA. 19 CHA I guess could be relevant if you intended to use the helm of glory, as that would put your CHA to 20 then....

[Epsil0]

Reynardine, second and final update

 

Heh. I guess this was bound to happen eventually...

Most of the areas were easily cleared with spirit beasts and Insect plague. Davaeorn couldn't even kill one of my beasts before the anti-spellcasting got to him. But I got cocky (again!) and ended up underestimating the Darts of Stunning that the under-Candlekeep group uses; got stunned and burst down before I could do the sensible thing and just invis myself.

 

Next run, hmm... I think I might go make a Skald with the restriction that he cannot ever get credit for a kill. Singing in back lines + spell support? Sounds like a decent idea...

[Grond0]

But I got cocky (again!) and ended up underestimating the Darts of Stunning that the under-Candlekeep group uses; got stunned and burst down before I could do the sensible thing and just invis myself.

Hard luck Epsil0, but you're in good company - he's been responsible for many deaths.  Getting the ring of free action from Dushai (or Iron Throne) allows any character class (except wizard slayer) to negate the danger.  In the absence of free action it makes sense to keep your protagonist out of the action, or target the dart thrower first with melee troops.

[Epsil0]

Worst part was that I had already hit the EXP cap back in BG, and I broke my invisibility to attack them in the first place... I'm simply skipping past them from now on solo. I had another bout of restart-itis, so I rolled up the Skald only to place it on the back burner: I really don't feel like spending the time in BG1 that a party forces. Instead, I again rolled up:

 

Ismalin, Elven Archer, Beginning post

It's not quite a starting shot with those 650 exp; I had killed a Ghast on the way to Shoal before I remembered to screenshot my level 1 stats. Two pips in Shortbow, one each in Crossbow and Spear. Shoal is kited to death for 18 health (level 3, third pip in Short bow) Chickens, Spiders, and a quick chat with Marl gave me another 4 hit points (level 4). Half the Basilisks and Mutamin are cleared out before Korax dies: it seems that BGEE basilisks now go into melee as soon as they realize their target's immune to paralyzation. Turning in the spider corpse plus some wine and boots was enough to get another 8 HP (level 5).

 

Nashkel is shot to death with his small army after drinking a potion of freedom, and the Amazons are simply Fireball'd out of existence. Nimbul's boots don't quite save him against a dedicated ranged character, and Ismalin buys a scroll of petrification resistance to finish off the rest of the basilisks for level 6 (4th pip in short bow.) Three more charges from the necklace fries the small gang in the basilisk area, and we're now going to head north for the greenstone amulet to claim the Con tome.

[Grond0]

Nashkel is shot to death with his small army 

That sounds a bit evil somehow, but I'm sure Mulahey was relieved you didn't go after him ...

[Epsil0]

... Wow, that was some terrible phrasing on my part. Took me a good 30 seconds to parse my own sentence! I meant that I took out Mulahey's army along with him, not my own: Archers don't get anything they can summon! And the Nashkel mines instead of Nashkel, of course

 

Ismalin, Elven Archer, second and final update.

Two hours of play secures Ismalin the victory. He makes a couple of stops before heading to the Bandit camp: Ankhegs, Sirines, and flesh golems. That was enough to gain another level for another 4 hit points, putting him at 66 after the tome of Con. I made a slight error in the tent of camp: my first charge of the wand of necklaces accidentally took out Ender Sai, though I didn't see the rep drop until I rested and got horror as my Bhaalspawn ability for the first time ever. A couple thousand gold was donated to temples to mitigate this, and we continued to Cloakwood. The party at the opening is fireballed and shot: this is probably the most important loot for an Archer, since the boots of speed help the kiting process immensely.

 

The mines go fairly easily: Ismalin didn't take a point of damage besides from one trap in front of Davaeorn. The Battle horrors are kited and killed with the Necklace of Missiles, and Davaeorn himself couldn't get a spell off before dying to a flurry of arrows. Baldur's gate is simple, stealing the DEX tome, buying a ton of potions and arrows of dispelling, before blasting through the Ogre mage in the sewers and the Doppels in Seven Suns before killing off everyone in the top floor of the Iron Throne, again taking no damage. It was enough to gain my last level for 10 hit points, getting me to a 76 with an average of 80.5. I get the STR tome and stealth my way through the dungeon, taking a quick stop to avenge myself on the enders of my last run via 4 fireballs. I rest to get my first DuHM.

 

Back to Baldur's gate, Ismalin ignores all the guards and stealths down into the sewers, using an arrow of dispelling to make Slythe that much less annoying. Lila is killed, but Belt survived; at this point I realized I still didn't have my second DuHM and rested in the streets: got it, and all my buffs were still active. More stealth in the under city where he buffs up and debuffs Sarevok and kites his half-brother around until he keels over. Ismalin will continue the challenge a newly heavily-modded SoA.

[Grond0]

Larc - half-elf archer (update 1)

 

I'll probably have another go at a monk in due course, but fancied doing something different first.  After being restricted entirely to melee with Spectre, I decided to go to the opposite extreme and choose an archer  - that should allow rapid progress in BG1.  I'd already rolled it up before realising that Epsil0 already had one underway - oh, well they can compare notes later!

 

She's off to a good start.  After killing Shoal, for a change I carried on and cleared the rest of that area - with the exception of the sirines.  That got her to level 4.

 

She put the lie to the idea that rangers are all goody-goodies by killing Algernon in Beregost.  A few more tasks there meant that she got up to level 5 in Nashkel, where she has also learnt LMD as a Bhaal ability.  She has not been attacked by anything yet.

 

[Grond0]

Larc - half-elf archer (update 2)

 

Larc went to pick up the ring of wizardry from the FAI and used it to purchase the necklace of missiles.  Meilum then contributed his bracers to upgrade her damage output even more before she headed to the basilisks.  They were quickly shot down - taking her to level 6.  Korax paralysed Mutamin and then did the same to Kirian, but Lindin killed him while Larc was shooting Baerin.  She finished off the casters with stealth shots before dealing with Lindin (choosing to finish him off with her first use of LMD).

 

Greywolf provided a melee weapon, in case she might need one at some point, on the way to the Nashkel Mine.  She went through that still without having been attacked, though she took damage from the traps there.  To speed things up the amazons were softened up with a couple of fiery potions before being shot.

 

Back in Nashkel, Nimbul and Neira were stealth shot before Larc moved on to Beregost - where Tranzig failed to survive a serving of called shots.  At the bandit camp she just stealthed in to loot the main tent and leave peacefully.  

 

With most of my characters I've tended to pick up 2 Bhaal horror abilities, but I settled for one with Larc.  Hence, after resting, she did a quick tour round doing reputation quests.  She was attacked for the first time in an ambush during her travels, but took no damage.  While in the Lighthouse area she used potions of speed and heroism to quickly work her way through the sirines (and get to level 7).  None of them got a shot off against her (she was retreating into stealth where necessary) though one did try a charm.  I had intended to use the potion of clarity from Candlekeep to protect against that, but realised belatedly I had forgotten to do that - so a slice of luck with saving there.

 

With reputation at 19 she went to Ulgoth's Beard and reviewed items for sale, but decided there was nothing she wanted.  Instead, she moved quickly through the Cloakwood (using a potion of magic blocking against the web traps).  At the mine she fireballed the mages and stealth-shot Drasus before moving inside and stealthing through the mine.  I was short of time before going to work and hurried the conflict with Daveorn.  Things started well with the battle horrors being nicely pulled aside into a side room, but with Daveorn nearly dead Larc got too close to him when moving away from a summoned ettercap and took her first damage from an enemy attack. She had her revenge a few seconds later though!

[Grond0]

Larc - half-elf archer (3rd and final update)

 

Larc whizzed through the latter stages of BG1:

- initially in the city she just picked up the tomes, Eagle bow, Helm of Balduran and ring +2.

- at Candlekeep she stealthily acquired 2 more tomes.

- Slythe was pulled away from Krystin and zapped with dispelling arrows (level 8).

- at the palace she potioned up and used horror to scare one doppleganger before dispelling the others.  Both dukes were saved.

- she stealthed through the maze, avoiding the traps, and bypassed the Undercity party.

- Sarevok was pulled out with a dispelling arrow and run round until he'd had enough acid arrows pumped into him (which didn't take long at all).

 

She reported to Duke Belt and has just been sent to investigate what Jon is up to.

[corey_russell]

Congrats once again, Grond0 - hope it goes well for your archer in Amn. Wouldn't your archer be forced to use melee for clay golems?

[Epsil0]

Well, there's no place that I know of that you absolutely must kill clay golems to proceed, unlike those two Kobolds in Spellhold. Are you actually restricting yourself from melee? Because if you are, then you can't get the Gesen bow which is... actually, not as important as it might be, since you'll be able to get grand mastery in Crossbows anyways with the levels you'll be able to build. Look forward to Larc joining Ismalin in Amn. She should be able to outpace him significantly with him nearly-dying-to-things-and-losing-party-members-to-far-too-powerful-for-my-level-bosses. And solo. Solo helps.

[Grond0]

Congrats once again, Grond0 - hope it goes well for your archer in Amn. Wouldn't your archer be forced to use melee for clay golems?

Sorry - should have made that clear.  Larc is only operating under my standard restrictions for every character - no healing potions or antidotes and no other item-based active healing. She thus is free to use melee, though I don't suppose that will be done very often.  I am expecting to get Gesen, though I suspect that she won't use it much (preferring the extra APR from the Beastmaster's bow to maximise the impact of her extra missile damage).

[Grond0]

Gracchus - dwarf kensai (update 1)

 

After the early death of my archer this morning I thought I might still have time to run a kensai through BG1 before breakfast.  However, he's taken somewhat longer than I was hoping to make progress and is only just about to get to Baldur's Gate.

 

He's operating with just my standard restrictions (no healing potions or antidotes and no item-based active healing) and using his grand mastery in axes has been able to deal rapidly with many enemies.  He's not so good against missile users though and had to retreat to rest (and get more axes) once in the Nashkel mine.  It was a similar story in the bandit camp where he had to run away twice before completing clearance of the outside.  He then used the Greenstone Amulet there for the first time, along with a potion of firebreath to deal with Venkt & co.

 

By the time he got to the Cloakwood Mine he had regeneration from high concentration and was able to run around in the mine finding places to rest and heal.  He still had problems though with the battle horrors and, after several attempts at melee, eventually drained his necklace of missiles in finishing them off.  A potion of magic blocking and another use of the amulet then allowed him to melee Daveorn.

 

The only really dangerous moment so far was relatively early on when attacking Kirian's party in the basilisk area.  Peter caught a glimpse of him and managed a long distance hold attempt.  Gracchus did actually reach the edge of the map ahead of the projectile, but chose to take his chances rather than run away on that occasion - and lady luck smiled on him.