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[Blackraven]

@Grond0, nice to see your wrecking crew do what they're good at.
@ussnorway, thanks for your word of welcome  I like Druids as well, and I can see myself try again with an unmodded Shapeshifter to see if that's a bit more challenging. For now I'm focusing on the Wizard Slayer though, glad you think they're ok hehehe.

Hardeth has made some decent progress, so I'm giving you all another update. Having decided that she wasn't prepared to forgo the Boots of Avoidance, Hardeth returned to Nashkel to confront Nimbul who was still loitering in front of the inn. She waited till the Amnish Guards had arrived and then approached the assassin. Her strategy was to try to stun her opponent with her darts, and to use the 'door trick' (entering and leaving a place, in this case the store, to escape a spell from connecting). This didn't work out. First of all, she failed to stun her foe, and secondly, the door trick didn't work on Nimbul. When she entered the Nashkel store, the assassin followed her inside. He started casting Confusion there and somehow finished casting outside when Hardeth had fled there. Luckily (and imo deservedly) she saved vs. spell. This is something to remember though: do not rely on the door trick in SCS BGEE.

Spoiler

He then hurt her with a Magic Missile, but soon she had hit him enough with her darts and hammer to penalize his spellcasting. The two engaged in melee combat, and it quickly turned out that Hardeth, aided by the Amnsih soldiers, was the stronger fighter. When he fled from her in fear, she finished him off with a dart.

Spoiler

 

As it would be rather tedious to farm almost 50k XP to make it to level 8 before taking on the bandits, Hardeth traveled straight to the Wood of Sharp Teeth. She cleared the Larswood of its bandit presence, but she left the feuding Druids alone. She was waylaid by Molkar & Co but managed to leave the area just in time before Drakar's Hold Person could reach her. In the Peldvale area she killed a few more bandits and then infiltrated the bandit organization via Raiken.
At the Bandit camp Hardeth avoided a fight with Tazok, filled her coffers, and cast Protection from Electricity on herself (a green scroll she had picked up at Thalantyr's). Then she entered Tazok's tent. Her first target was Venkt. She attacked him with Darts of Wounding, of which she had only five, rather than with her many Darts of Stunning. The reason for this is that DoW require a save vs death and DoS a save vs. spell to prevent the wounding/stunning effect, and mages' saves vs death aren't as good as their saves vs spell. Of her three darts at least one inflicted poison, and two or three must have hit the Mage; he failed to cast another spell and resorted to attacking Hardeth with Darts. She finished him off with her Hammer, just to be sure he wouldn't trick her later.

Spoiler

Her next step was to speak with Ender Sai, making him leave, and quickly put on her Boots of Grounding. She had the bandits come close to her and then, 100% electricity resistant, she opened Tazok's chest. The lightning bolt trap (severely) injured a number of the bandits, making the remainder of the fight relatively easy after she put on her Boots of Avoidance again. Britik the Gnoll was the most dangerous of her foes, not very tough but hard-hitting, so he was her first victim. The others fell soon after.

Spoiler

She fully healed herself with potions, and then left the tent. Taugosz Khosann wasn't happy to see her, nor was the rest of the camp. She landed a couple of hits on the Black Talon leader, but soon noticed herself overwhelmed by the bandits.

Spoiler

She ran off toward the northwest corner of the map, allowing herself a quick escape if necessary, and managed to seduce Taugosz into a continuation of their duel there. (Most of the other bandits were archers until their ammo ran out, so they didn't walk in her way initially.) A tiring battle and various potions of extra healing later, Taugosz lie dead upon the ground. Hardeth swiftly looted his corpse and left for the FAI.

Spoiler

She's now tentatively exploring the Cloakwood, clad in Taugosz' full plate mail and well-equipped for a Wizard Slayer, with a nice stock of antidotes and healing potions (though only one potion of extra healing remains, two scrolls of Protection from Magic and one of Protection from Poison. The Ankheg armor and some miscellaneous loot from the Bandit Camp she sold at the FAI.

Here are her character record and inventory screen:

Spoiler

Surviving the Cloakwood with its SCS improved spiders is a terribly challenging mission. The most important decision for Hardeth to make is whether or not to go after the Spiders' Bane. Its Free Action effect could be a life saver in ambushes, but obtaining it is likely to be very difficult.

 

[Grond0]

Best of luck with those spiders Blackraven!

 

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 59 - (update 1)

May, human necromancer (Grond0) & Blaggerd, human blackguard (Gate70)

 

It proved third time lucky in today's session for this couple as they made some decent early progress (it should be no surprise that much of that was down to the vicious poison available to blackguards).

 

The normal sort of starting encounters were pursued - opening up with Shoal, Beregost, Nashkel and Meilum.  Meilum was the only one of those to cause a real problem - Blaggerd missing with all his poisoned attacks there and he was forced to do quite a bit of running while May almost depleted her magic missile wand to take Meilum down.  There was still considerable lag in the session, so running from an enemy is always a bit chancy (it's not easy to know where they really are when they progress by jumping around the screen).  

 

Blaggerd has long sword proficiency so called on Greywolf next - he was not as lucky as Meilum and quickly turned a sickly green colour.  Then it was on to deal with the basilisks with the help of a green scroll.  Blaggerd is immune to fear, which meant that Mutamin stood no real chance against him.  May learnt the stinking cloud scroll acquired there and made use of that spell against Kirian's group to maximise the effectiveness of Blaggerd's poison and ensure an easy victory.

 

Melicamp provided the duo with a free chicken dinner on their way to tackle Bassilus.  He managed to affect Blaggerd with rigid thinking, but died before he could do anything else.  However, his undead army refused to disappear which caused May to beat a strategic retreat.  That nearly proved costly as she found some wolves waiting on the encounter spot that they had passed over minutes before: in BGEE wolves are quicker than characters which make them pretty dangerous opponents.  May did get bitten while running them round, but managed to stay alive long enough for Blaggerd to recover his senses and come to her rescue.

 

A potion of clarity ensured that Blaggerd would not get charmed or confused by sirines at the lighthouse and they were quickly despatched.  The golems were a more formidable obstacle - particularly due to the need to beware of the traps in their cave.  However, Blaggerd managed to kill them in 3 encounters - resting between each one to recover health.

 

May inadvertently opened a conversation with Charleston Nib - resulting in him refusing to have anything to do with the duo.  However, Brage was more willing to talk and escorting him home to Nashkel pushed reputation up to 18 - that should soon be maximised next time.

 

 

Stats:

May, necromancer 5, 33 HPs (incl. 6 from familiar), 26 kills

Blaggerd, blackguard 5, 60 HPs, 89 kills, 0 deaths

[Grimwald the Wise]

 

I think that's the first time we've actually failed to get out of Candlekeep, though on the positive side that meant that Gorion was saved from yet another failure against Sarevok.

 

I've made a few changes to the assassins there so that it is always a challenge: a poisonous dagger and slightly better armour makes quite a difference to them without making your character overpowered. Dark Horizons also adds an additional assassin who is a bit tougher than Shank and Carbos. The first time that I came across him, (Mendas) he killed my character.

[Grimwald the Wise]

 

 

Following the instructions of Gorion, I made my way to the Friendly Arms Inn. There I was ambushed by a mage called Tarnesh. His magic missiles were almost too powerful to me and I had to use three healing potions to survive, but survive I did. I then cleared the area of Hobgoblins.

[ussnorway]

Dead by Kobold? That is just too sad... Take revenge Grond0.

[ussnorway]

@ussnorway, thanks for your word of welcome  I like Druids as well, and I can see myself try again with an unmodded Shapeshifter to see if that's a bit more challenging. For now I'm focusing on the Wizard Slayer though, glad you think they're ok hehehe.

I'm liking her story so far... Hardeth could dual to Druid and keep the antimagic... in fact almost any dual is open, is that something you would consider or is she going "all the way" so to speak?

[ussnorway]

@Wise can a Dragonslayer go with two swords?

[Grimwald the Wise]

@Wise can a Dragonslayer go with two swords?

 

Can indeed go with two swords. Because of the good shields in some mods I have installed, I chose sword and shield to start with.

 

I hadn't read the restrictions carefully enough. He can also use bows though he can only put one * in bows. This is what he did upon reaching level three when the fishermen quest was completed.

 

He can also put one * in two-handed swords, so he will not be completely inept when using Carsomyr in BG2.

 

When fighting Tarnesh he was lucky that Tarnesh used spells first rather than his Staff of Terror with which I equipped him. If he had used that to panic Elrohir first, he would not have been able to heal himself when the magic missiles started landing. He has used that staff to good effect when fighting the zombies in the north, but his use of the staff has unfortunately reduced his charisma to 6, not very good for a paladin.

 

(I know there is a ring coming up that will boost it back to 18.)

 

Upon calming Marl he reached level 4.

 

He then killed a couple of ogrillon to the south before heading for Nashkel where he slept at the carnival. Upon getting further healing abilities, he headed north, received a ring from Lord Foreshadow and headed into the town of Nashkel.

 

There he talked to Noober and turned down the offer of gold from Oublek.

 

Heading south he helped Rufie, a dryad and a girl whose cat had died. He is now a bone fide hero.

 

Heading west he killed some ogres on the bridge and made his way to a cave where he found a tome and some other goodies.

 

(I expected there to be some more powerful xvarts there, as I have installed DSoSC and Dark Horizons, but they didn't turn up.)

 

Perhaps a new game is needed for that to happen. I tried installing SCS but it wouldn't install.

[Blackraven]

@Grond0: wishing you and Gate70 the best of luck as well!
@Grimwald: those Paladin kits look nice, and your Dragon Slayer doesn't seem overpowered (quite the contrary: weaker than the vanilla kits).
@ussnorway: well I haven't really considered dualling, since Hardeth is a Dwarf. I could keeper her into a Druid, Cleric or Thief dual class I guess. I've been looking forward, quite prematurely I realize, to bringing her into Amn, and I've asked myself what to do with her: continue solo, assemble an anti-magic party with no arcane casters and with NPCs that fit the anti-magic theme: Keldorn, Valygar, Jaheira & Yoshimo/Imoen (not dualled). Your suggestion of dualling is another option I could keep in mind.

In the Cloakwood 1 area there was little for Hardeth to fear. In the conflict between Aldeth and Seniyad, she took the easy way out, and sided sided with the Druids. She also slew ten Tasloi for the Cloak of Non-Detection. Both the Cloak and Aldeth's Bastard Sword are safely stored away in a chest in Unshey's house in Beregost, along with various other valuables, should she decide to pick up any companions at some point. 

As she entered the much feared second Cloakwood area, she was immediately attacked by two Phase Spiders; this is expected SCS behavior, and Hardeth was well-prepared for them. Nevertheless the monsters distracted her from casting Protection from Poison on herself. Thus, when she triggered her first trap just west of Tiber, and got held in it, two Huge Spiders inflicted some poison damage, though nothing serious.

Once she saved she left the trap and slew the Huge Spiders. She then cast Prot. from Poison on herself and continued toward the second and final trap she would have to set off in order to reach the spiders' den and in order to leave the area. It's the trap southwest of the den. Along the way she ran into a single Giant Spider that strangely spat its web in the wrong direction, nowhere near Hardeth. And after she triggered the second trap (and saved against its effects), another Giant Spider appeared, moments after Hardeth had killed off a Phase Spider, and again it failed to properly direct its web spit.

I just checked but I did install the Improved Spiders component. Is the above common behavior in SCS v28? In SCS v21 (which I’m more used to) they’re always much more effective. 
So it was that Hardeth could enter the den carefree, and lure the many spiders outside (preventing Centeol from hurting her with her Wand of Frost), and take them on one by one. She was up against three or four Sword Spiders, three or four Giant Spiders and two Ettercaps. 

Resilient Hardeth might survive a meeting with a single SCS v21-type Giant Spider. But this battle against so many Spiders she couldn’t have fought in SCS v21 the way she did today I think.
My original plan was to lure the Spiders out in small packs of two or three, first the faster Sword Spiders and then the slower Ettercaps and Giant Spiders, and to use the 'door trick' on the latter (as mentioned in my previous post) as dangerous as that might have been. Anyway, Centeol is dead now, and Hardeth owns Spiders' Bane so she can provide herself with Free Action.
The Dwarf spent little time in Cloakwood 3. She slew two Dread Wolves and left the Shadow Druids to their business. In Cloakwood 4 Hardeth shunned Hamadryad and had a very tough battle with the Wyverns. They had her quaff many a healing potion to keep her health at reasonable levels. 

The toll that fight had taken on her stock of healing potions, prompted Hardeth to return to the FAI, to do some shopping at Gellana's Temple. She also used the opportunity to ID and sell some loot. On her way back to the Cloakwood Lamalha and friends waylaid her but, just as with Molkar & Co, Hardeth decided not to fight the assassins. 
Near the entrance to the Cloakwood Mines, Hardeth slew two guards and was then pursued by Drasus, shod in the much anticipated Boots of Speed. Drasus proved a very tough nut to crack. Initially Hardeth had the upper hand, but then Drasus raged - apparently he's a Berserker - and drank a potion of Frost Giant Strength. The amount of damage he then inflicted per hit was tremendous, 25+ I think. Fortunately axe-throwing Genthore and the wizards Kysus and Rezdan hadn't caught up with Drasus at that point. Due to his speed it was impossible for Hardeth to attack him with her darts, so she had to hit and heal a lot before she finally felled her foe.

Genthore proved to be much less of a hassle because Hardeth managed to stun him before he could do any serious harm.

After having slain her foe, Hardeth used one of her two Protection from Magic scrolls on herself, and with her Boots of Speed on, she rushed past Kysus and Rezdan, into the Mine. She spoke with Rill and the River Plug operator in order to save the slaves and flood the mine, but other than that she ran straight to Davaeorn, felling only those who barred her way, ignoring all others.

Davaeorn was aided by his Battle Horrors and a few Guards that had followed Hardeth downstairs, but she wouldn't let the lackeys distract her from her mission: finishing off the wizard. The spellfailure penalty and Ashideena's electricity damage kept Davaeorn from casting many spells, although he did manage to let off a Sunfire, killing one of his own Battle Horrors and one or two nearby guards.

Such arrogance:
Davaeorn: Spell Failed: Casting Failure
Davaeorn: Your feeble skills are no match for my magic! 

Hardeth eventually cut the wizard down in his library. She picked up his loot, spoke with Stephane and let him live, then killed off a few more guards that were blocking her way out, and finally, flooded the mine.

Hardeth has already made it to Baldur's Gate and bought Arrows of Dispelling, Darts of Wounding and a Protection from Magic scroll from Halbazzar Drin, as well as a Protection from Petrification scroll at the Elfsong Tavern. She also did the the Tremain/Casson quest for the Shield of the Falling Stars +1, and the Marek/Lothander quest for the Tome of WIS and for Marek's Eagle Bow (to be used with the arrows of dispelling in spite of non-proficiency with bows).
She also acquired the Helm of Balduran, the Dex Tome at the Thieves' Guild and the INT Tome from Ramazith, who was pretty harmless after she poisoned him with her Darts of Wounding.

And while she was at it, she also picked up the WIS Tome at Durlag's Tower. She's still missing the CON Tome, and I'm not sure if she'll be able to obtain it. In order to get it a Protection from Magic scroll is necessary what with all the Sirines and their charms, and I have only two of those. Bentan at the Firewine Ruins has one (would have to kill him for it), and there's another one in the Candlekeep catacombs but I'm not sure whether I'll have access to it.

In terms of XP, and desired items there is little more for Hardeth to do in BG city, so she'll probably just try to complete Scar's quests and return to Candlekeep.

[Grond0]

Sounds like good progress Blackraven.  Have you got the protection from magic scroll from Hafiz (Samuel's area)?  I seem to remember that the strength potion you get as part of the slime quest in Beregost is usable by wizard slayers - if so that would allow you to open all the tombs beneath Candlekeep.  I think DUHM would allow you to get the one with the protection from magic scroll anyway.

 

Do any of your mods introduce a helm of charm protection?  If so that would be an alternative for the sirines.

[Blackraven]

Hey Grond0, thanks for your suggestions. I really appreciate your thinking along with me
The slime quest in Beregost is a quest added by the Mini Quests & Encounters mod. In my BGT game I have it installed, but not in the Enhanced Edition install that I'm currently playing (which is with one mod only: SCS v28). So no Helmet of Charm protection and no Strength potion I'm afraid. Either way, that potion sets STR to 23 if I'm not mistaken, while I think the chests in the Candlekeep catacombs require 24 STR.

I got Hafiz's scroll, one from Thalantyr and one from Halbazzar Drin. Of those three I used one in the Cloakwood Mines. Meanwhile I made it into and out of Candlekeep and with DUHM I managed to get another of those scrolls. See below.

Hardeth rescued Jasso from the Doppelgangers in the Seven Suns and then proceeded to take on the Iron Throne. She was surprised when Nortuary attacked her for no apparent reason (is that a low CHA thing?). He didn't live to repent his aggression. 

On the top floor she succesfully lured most of Cloudwulfe's friends downstairs, one by one. First the priests, Alai and Diyab. Both were easily dealt with, in spite of their potentially lethal Hold Persons. Hardeth evaded those spells by descending the stairs behind her. Aasim also flamestruck her with his Wand of the Heavens but her lousy 8 MR protected her from harm.

Her next victim was a backstabber named Shennara, apparently an SCS v28 addition, never dealt with him in BGT or in SCS v21. Interestingly there were two Shennaras, with different loot I believe. Hardeth killed one upstairs and one downstairs.

After Shennara 1, Gardush, a hard-hitting Berserker, had Hardeth work for her money. Quaffing a couple of potions, she never really got into trouble though. Alai, next in line, didn't hit as hard as Gardush but definitely more often. It didn't help him though, as he too fell in close combat.

Naaman, in my experience the most dangerous of the pack, was poisoned with Darts of Wounding. Severely hampered in his casting, he couldn't do much against Hardeth, even though he postponed his doom by going invisible once or twice. 

This left only Cloudwulfe, a Doppelganger and Shennara the 2nd. The Doppelganger was dispatched in two hits. Shennara was somewhat difficult to deal with due to his impressive collection of invisibility potions, and dangerous as he landed two nasty backstabs (for circa 35 damage each). He was finally dealt with out of Clouwulfe's sight. Cloudwulfe himself was stunned with a Dart of Stunning and subsequently vanquished.

Thaldorn was slain for his involvement before Hardeth returned to report her findings to Duke Eltan. With his book of great value she traveled to Candlekeep. I'm used to having my Charnames really travel to Candlekeep, and not to being teleported there. It nearly ended my run. SCS places the Ogre Mages from one of the houses in BG City to just in front of the gates of Candlekeep. Hardeth landed right in the middle of the four(?) Ogre Mages, and had to save thrice vs spell in order to avoid being charmed before she got inside the citadel. Admittedly, Charm Person with its +3 save bonus isn't the most awe-inspiring spell for a Dwarf with a saving throw vs spells of 7 (thanks to the Helm of Balduran), but still...
I'm not sure if casting Protection from Magic before speaking to Eltan would have resulted in arriving at the gates of Candlekeep under the protection of that spell.

In Candlekeep Hardeth avoided all fighting. Rieltar et al were ignored, as were the Shapeshifters and Prat and his gang below Candlekeep.
The Tomes of STR and WIS were lost to Hardeth as she hadn't the means to open the chests (crypts?). She did manage to open the chest that contained a green Protection from Magic scroll, raising her total number of PfM scrolls to three.

I was surprised that Prat & co could be so easily avoided. She simply ran past them following the eastern route, cast Protection from Petrification just in time to be able to safely pass the Basilisks, and left the catacombs. Interestingly, Prat and a Sword Spider followed her outside, but she didn't wait for them to catch up. She ran straight to the area border and was lucky that the Ogre Mages werent't there (I assume they were by the gate).

Still a bit sad about having missed a STR tome and a WIS tome Hardeth decided use one of her three PfMagic scrolls to help herself to the CON tome in the treasure cave. She simply entered the cave, took the treasure and left. Again, no unnecessary bloodshed. Hardeth now enjoys a CON score of 20 and thus regeneration
In Baldur's Gate, she rescued Duke Eltan from Rashad the Doppelganger, narrowly escaping a fight with the monster and a horde of angry Flaming Fist battle priests.

In the Iron Throne building Cythandria's Golems were lured away to lower floors, with difficulty it must be said. And even Cythandria alone proved to be more than a hand full. With her Darts of Wounding Hardeth successfully interrupted the wizard's spellcasting a number of times, but the latter nevertheless managed to Horror the Dwarf. Numerous invocation spells hurt Hardeth badly, and she was lucky to outrun two out Cythandria's three Sunfires. When she regained her composure, she was severely injured. She healed with potions and then finally slew the wizard in melee combat.

Three fights now separate Hardeth from saving the Sword Coast: Slythe & Krystin, coronation event, and final battle. If she kills Bentan for his green PfMagic scroll she'll have one scroll for each fight, which looks pretty comfortable. Nevertheless I'm going to take some time to properly think these fights through.

To be continued...

[Grond0]

Best of luck Blackraven.  Both Slythe and the palace are formidable obtacles in SCS so you'll need to be careful.  You might consider dragging Slythe into a temple to fight him in order to heal between backstabs ...

 

I've noticed Nortuary gets aggressive in BGEE, though I'm not sure why.  In relation to the tombs only the strength tome needs strength of 24 to break in - and potions can be topped up with DUHM to achieve that.

[Grond0]

Wrecking Crew X (update 3)

 

Back in Nashkel Nimbul survived long enough to cast horror, but he was the only one that ended up running.  Tranzig was never likely to survive a combined melee assault - and didn't.  Following his directions the Crew progressed north, via an ogre with a belt, to the Bandit Camp.  While travelling there though they were ambushed by some giant spiders.  I chose to fight them and Max was poisoned early on in the contest - the spiders were duly killed, but not quite quickly enough to leave before he became the second death.

 

After a visit to the temple the Crew eventually arrived at the Bandit Camp and started working through the occupants there.  Shooting down Taugosz provided Flange with a nice armour upgrade.  After clearing the exterior they rested before invading the main tent.  I decided there not to dodge outside to avoid Venkt's horror and that decision looked questionable when all but Slane started running in terror.  However, he quickly finished off the mage and then had little trouble with the others.

 

Resting after that provided Tribune with a slow poison ability, which will make spiders rather less dangerous adversaries.  They then went to kill Bentan - as a means of reducing reputation.  Surprisingly Max became the first character to have a weapon shatter there.

 

With multiple attackers the sirines were no problem - Flange being the only one charmed by one in the first group, while the golems were also overwhelmed.

 

After clearing a few more areas I thought about a trip to Durlag's Tower, but decided it would be a good idea to get the Golden Girdle first to make the battle horrors easier.  Other than a couple of tomes the Crew have not used any magic yet, so they recruited Korax to lead the way against the basilisks (everyone getting to level 6 in the process).  Mutamin was just shot down before Korax also started attacking Kirian's group.  However, he had no luck there and, as a result, Flange was held by Peter.  I thought Flange would probably become the third to die as a result, but Axe intervened to divert Lindin's attention just in time and the battle was soon won.

 

At Durlag's Tower the battle horrors needed criticals to hit Flange and didn't get many of those.  The Crew then worked their way up the Tower.  There was an early casualty there when a trapped chest sent a lightning bolt after Flange.  That injured him badly while bouncing around for quite a while inside the room.  As a result I didn't think it could possibly last long enough to kill anyone in the next room - wrong again!

 

After another temple visit the Crew returned and continued up the tower.  Daital's ghost realised too late that he had teleported into an ambush and died within a few seconds.  Kirinhale was much trickier to pin down, but eventually stayed in one place and corporeal long enough to get splattered.  I decided not to go mad and attack the basilisks outside the tower or risk the even more lethal traps below ground.

 

They've now moved on to the Cloakwood and just cleared the first area - Seniyad failing to complete his attempted call lightning.

 

Tribune (hammer) - fighter 6, 63 HPs, 131 kills

Flange (flail) - fighter 6, 60 HPs, 183 kills, 1 death

Ace (axe) - fighter 6, 58 HPs, 234 kills

Max (mace) - fighter 6, 64 HPs, 143 kills, 1 death

Chaste (club) - fighter 6, 59 HPs, 138 kills, 1 death

Slane (long sword) - fighter 6, 59 HPs, 153 kills

[Grond0]

Wrecking Crew X (4th and final update)

 

Poison proved fatal for one of my characters once again in the Cloakwood.  The Crew had worked their way past the ettercaps and attacked Centeol's nest.  Flange was in the lead and I hoped that he could hold the line inside for a bit.  However, he was hit by 3 criticals in rapid succession - the last of them poisonous.  Tribune used his slow poison ability to keep him alive and the Crew then tried to retreat.  That was always going to be a potential problem due to the time required to get 6 characters moving, but in fact they very nearly a clean escape.  Unfortunately, pathfinding issues meant that Tribune got blocked running away just long enough for a giant spider to get an attack in and poison him.

 

The remaining characters had time to get to the edge of the map, but the slower movement caused by the poison meant that Tribune could not make it.  He tried casting CLW on himself, although it's unlikely that would have been enough to save him anyway.  However, even using frequent pauses to begin casting immediately after a poison tick, he was still unable to complete the spell.

 

[Blackraven]

Ouch hard luck with the Spiders Grond0...

Hardeth has come one step closer to completing her mission. In the Undercellars she managed to engage Slythe and sprit him away from his lover, to the Blushing Mermaid.

She opened with a Dart of Wounding that slowed Slythe down. Nevertheless he was faster to follow her than Krystin was, probably because the latter was too busy buffing herself. The fight between Hardeth and Slythe involved lots of running around because the assassin seemed to have a considerable amount of invisibility potions he was inclined to use generously in order to hurt Hardeth with his vicious backstabs.

Hardeth took advantage of the fact that Slythe was slowed down a bit by her darts' poison, and hit him several times more when the distance was sufficient. Even so, Slythe too, managed to land a few nasty hits before the poison finally finished him off.

Hardeth didn't bother with seeking out Krystin and is now wondering how to tackle the coronation event. Honestly I don't see many options for her but to cast PfMagic on herself and hope for the best, unless I recruit a couple of NPCs to help out. Will do some testing with my Shapeshifter before continuing...

[Grond0]

Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 59 - (update 2)

May, human necromancer (Grond0) & Blaggerd, human blackguard (Gate70)

 

After recovering the charisma tome the duo headed north.  Helping out Joia and Farmer Brun maximised their reputation prior to making a few purchases at Ulgoth's Beard.  Other items recovered after that included the wand of monster summoning from a ghast infested tomb and a fire resistance ring.  Samuel was picked up close to the latter, but May forgot he was in the backpack and travelled to Nashkel Mine initially - she immediately corrected her course to the FAI, but Samuel died en route.

 

Back at Nashkel Mine kobolds offered no real obstacle on the way to find Mulahey.  The cleric lasted only a few seconds under poison assault, but May had to change her plan to drop a skull trap on Mulahey's army when BGEE produced some of them behind her.  However, sleep occupied most of the kobolds and Blaggerd soon sorted out the skeletons.

 

The amazons were attacked using stinking cloud and skull traps.  One of them did manage to tag May with a dart of wounding, but she survived the poison.  Nimbul and Tranzig proved less resilient against poison on the way to the Bandit Camp.  Blaggerd cleared most of the bandits there, though a few spells helped him out against Taugosz.  After resting both characters made use of the ring of invisibility.  That allowed Blaggerd to get a free hit at Venkt and he shortly turned green, while the others were scared by a horror.

 

In the Cloakwood Blaggerd used a potion of freedom to take the web traps out of play on the way to the mine.  On arrival there a stinking cloud and skull traps accounted for the mages and occupied Genthore while Blaggerd beat down Drasus' resistance.  The invisibility ring was used again to bypass Hareishan on the way down to Daveorn.  The battle horrors were pulled out separately and softened up with scorchers before Blaggerd finished them off.  Some summoned gnolls then drew out Daveorn's damaging spells, allowing Blaggerd to go and beat him up - though he nearly died in the process from attacks by a couple of summoned monsters.  The initial attempt to flood the mine failed when May realised her inventory had been full when she tried to pick up the key.  However, the duo quickly returned to the scene of their triumph over Daveorn and completed the job.

 

In the City the tome of dexterity was the first target.  Ramazith's tower was then invaded to get the next tome - the 10 rounds of the Greenstone Amulet proving just long enough for Blaggerd to finish off the ghasts on the way up.  There was also a comedy moment there when May attempted to MM a scared kobold commando, but only managed to target herself when the kobold ran past her.  The tome of wisdom was acquired after Jalantha failed to cast through poison, while the same fate also befell Marek.  May learnt a few spells and is currently preparing to support Blaggerd in his next venture - poisoning the Iron Throne.  

 

Stats:

May, necromancer 7, 39 HPs (incl. 6 from familiar), 74 kills

Blaggerd, blackguard 7, 92 HPs (incl. 5 from helm), 256 kills, 0 deaths

[Blackraven]

After various attempts to solo with another character - my Shapeshifter, without using summons - I decided to give the Ducal Palace a go with Hardeth. I needed to test-play a bit because the coronation event plays out a bit differently in SCS v28 from what I'm used to in SCS v21. First of all, the Doppelgangers aren't just 6 Greater Doppelgangers but they're divided in different types: two traditional Greater Doppelgangers, two Doppelganger Assassins, a Doppelganger Shaman, and a Doppelganger Mage. Especially the latter two proved to be dangerous. Secondly, it was impossible to go upstairs or downstairs during the fight, so luring the Doppelgangers away wasn't going to be an option. Thirdly I wanted to know if I could simply kill the noblemen before they would shapeshift into Doppelgangers. I found out that the conversation in which Charname is to present the evidence won't trigger then, so you get stuck. Fourthly my test-playing taught me that once all Doppelgangers are down and Belt is presented the evidence against Sarevok, Belt will fight Sarevok, which obviously doesn't tend to end well for Belt (and thus for Charname). 

There was very little that Hardeth could do other than casting PfMagic from a green scroll and using her DUHM Bhaalpower. No summons, no traps, AoE spells, nothing... Honestly, I was quite nervous when I loaded the savegame. I considered picking up a few NPCs to help out, but I wanted this playthrough to be a strict solo run, at least for the BG portion, just to see if I could.

Anyway, Hardeth waited for all the Flaming Fists to enter the reception room, making sure they would act immediately after the Doppelgangers were to show their true colors. Then she cast the aforementioned spells, and entered herself. She was standing close to the Doppelgangers but relatively far from Belt and Liia Janneth when the speeches started. 

As soon as battle broke out she drew aggro from one of the Doppelganger Assassins, but she didn't pay it much attention even though it hit her often enough. Her focus was on the Shaman and the Mage. With her Darts +1 she tried to disrupt both caster Doppelgangers as much as possible. Her Darts of Wounding and Stunning were unlikely to be of much use, since the Doppelgangers have ridiculously good saves (all in the 2-3 range), so Darts +1 with their +1 Thac0 bonus seemed the better option.

Meanwhile she had to trust in Belt, aided by two Fist officers, to keep the three other Doppelgangers (two Greater, one Assassin) under control. Liia Janneth didn't really do anything (even though she's a high level Mage), and she died early on.

Hardeth's strategy worked reasonably well. She managed to neutralize both the Shaman and the Mage. The Mage is especially dangerous: if he succesfully confuses or panics Belt and the Fist officers, then battle is surely lost. The Fist appeared to be quite hardy, and they acted intelligently, occupying almost all Doppelgangers, which made it less likely for them to all go after Belt, who by the way is good Fighter.

When the Mage started running away, and three Flaming Fist lay dead on the ground, Hardeth decided to join the fray. She kept the Assassin and the Shaman busy, while Belt was hacking away at a Greater Doppelganger. A fourth Fist officer fell but Hardeth slew an Assassin and Belt his second Greater Doppelganger, and not much later the Shaman. 

This left only the second Doppelganger Assassin as a direct threat, because the Mage had fled to one of the antechambers, and it wouldn't cast any more spells anyway. Hardeth, Belt and two remaining Fist officers finished the Assassin off (not sure who dealt the killing blow). Hardeth then used the opportunity to heal Belt - who wasn't even that injured - with her two Cure Light Wounds Bhaalpowers, before she went after the Mage. The last Doppelganger ran around a lot, which had the fortunate side-effect of luring Belt out of the reception room into one the antechambers, thus removing him from Sarevok's sight. Hardeth managed to take down the Doppelganger Mage with her +1 Darts, after which she presented the incriminating evidence against Sarevok.

Belt remained in the antechamber and Hardeth played cat and mouse for a while in the reception room with Sarevok (you can all guess who played the cat and who the mouse), until Winski teleported in, and out with Sarevok.

Still protected from Magic, Hardeth let Belt teleport her to the Thieves Guild where she hastily replenished her stock of Darts, and then pushed on to pursue Sarevok. Her speedy action allowed her to make it through the maze without being hurt by the traps or by the monsters inhabiting it.
In the Undercity she took a detour, along the southerns paths, so that she wouldn't have to deal with the Iron Throne assassins. In front of the entrance to Sarevok's sanctum she met with Tamoko who despite Hardeth's best efforts to be nice, wouldn't be appeased. 
Overconfident thanks to her Protection from Magic, Hardeth then foolishly to accepted the challenge. Tamoko is a formidable warrior-priestess with dangerous spells and plenty of healing potions and spells, all in all difficult to kill. She summoned a Skeleton Warrior and was aided by more undead (Ghasts, Skeletons and even Skeleton Warriors, all dwellers of the Undercity).

Hardeth failed to kill Tamoko, and when her Protection from Magic wore off, she even had to flee from the Kara-Turan as the latter cast a Hold Person her way.

Tamoko didn't follow Hardeth into the temple, but a number of the undead did: four Ghasts, a Skeleton and a Skeleton Warrior. Particularly wary of the Ghasts' paralyzing attacks, she ran around a lot and managed to take the monsters down one by one with her darts. The Skeletons were dealt with after that. Thankfully this could all be done without gaining the attention of Sarevok and his lackeys.

Hardeth has just healed herself with potions and is now mentally preparing for the final battle.

[Grond0]

There was very little that Hardeth could do other than casting PfMagic from a green scroll and using her DUHM Bhaalpower. No summons, no traps, AoE spells, nothing... Honestly, I was quite nervous when I loaded the savegame. I considered picking up a few NPCs to help out, but I wanted this playthrough to be a strict solo run, at least for the BG portion, just to see if I could.

Well done for surviving that Blackraven.  For a solo character horror is a far better option for a Bhaal power than slow poison and can be quite helpful at the palace - even one doppleganger sent running increases your chances substantially.  Horror is also a great ability for a wizard slayer to have in the early stages of BG2 as it allows a number of encounters with casters to be done without risk.

[Blackraven]

@Grond0, thanks! I agree with you that Horror is infinitely better than Slow Poison. I would have loved to have some crowd control for Hardeth. It's something I simply failed to consider while planning my playthrough. I think I also should have gone Evil instead of Lawful Neutral, for the Human Flesh Armor with its Magic Resistance. Of course this is something that could be remedied in hell, but that's a bit late...

[Grond0]

By the time you get to hell your natural MR will probably be maximised anyway at 84%.  You can get an extra 10% from the hell trial and the necklace you get on entry to ToB is wearable - taking you over 100% without the need for the Flesh Armour.  I agree there are occasions where it would be of some use before then, but to be honest if you can survive everything required to get it, you can also survive everything else required to complete SoA ...

[Blackraven]

It is done! Hardeth has prevailed
I'm not sure if Hardeth deserved it. The final battle didn't really go as I would have liked and took a lot longer than necessary. Hardeth brought only one Scroll of Protection from Magic (never killed Bentan for the last one). It meant that she would have to deal with both Angelo and Semaj in relatively rapid succession or risk facing one of the two without being protected any longer.

The battle started off quite well. Angelo was the first to appear; he was debilitated with Arrows of Dispelling, and subsequently dispatched relatively easily. He did injure Hardeth, but that's something she had expected. Healing potions helped her recover.

She then carefully approached the platform and encountered Semaj and Diarmid. Hardeth dispelled Diarmid's Haste and tried to provoke Semaj in wasting his most dangerous spells and his MMMs. Then Tazok appeared from invisibility, causing her to retreat and try to take the Half-Ogre down with mundane darts. Her best darts she wanted to save for Sarevok and Diarmid. This was quite parsimonious of her, as befits a Dwarf perhaps; she had hundreds of special darts in her pack. 

For some reason Tazok got fed up with pursuing Hardeth. He returned to the platform. Hardeth approached a second time. This time Semaj, seeing how his spells weren't any good, came to Hardeth. She dispelled his protections with another Arrow of Dispelling, and poisoned him with Darts of Wounding before she hammered him down. 

With both Mages (and their animated skeletons) dead, Hardeth approached the platform a third time. Unintentionally she entered into Sarevok's line of sight. He came rushing toward her, with Tazok and Diarmid in his wake. What happened next was, I think, crucial for the outcome of the fight. Hardeth shot an Arrow of Dispelling at Sarevok, and she didn't miss. His Haste was dispelled, making her confrontation with her three remaining foes infinitely more bearable. (I can't begin to imagine how she would have dealt with perma-hasted Sarevok right behind her and unable to distance herself from him whilst also under attack from Diarmid, a formidable archer, and Tazok.)

Hardeth knew she had to kill Diarmid and Tazok before she would be able to hurt Sarevok. Initially Diarmid was the more annoying one, hurting her with his ranged attacks, but he soon ran out of arrows, so Tazok, already badly injured, became Hardeth's first target. When he fell to her darts, she had to melee-attack the Skeleton Warrior that rose from the Half-Ogre's body, because her darts wouldn't do much good against the highly resistant skeleton. Surprisingly she managed without getting hit much herself. 
Diarmid proved to be remarkably resilient and well-supplied with healing potions. Hardeth spent about 60 Darts of Wounding on him before he fell.

I didn't even count the amount of darts that were needed to bring Sarevok down. Sometimes Hardeth would lend two or three hits in a row, but there were also occasions that she wouldn't score a single hit in five attempts. 

Here Hardeth's character record and inventory screen right after she slew Sarevok.

[Blackraven]

Thanks Grond0 for the info. So far I've only been getting 1 MR per level up, so I'm not sure if in BGEE a WS will get as much MR as in the original game. Either way, you're right of course, in that many challenges lie ahead stil...

[ussnorway]

Well done Blackraven, I'll tell Nalia you are on the way.

[Grond0]

Congratulations for making it through BG1 Blackraven.  Best of luck with BG2 and watch out for the dungeon - that's not easy for a wizard slayer with SCS installed (at least if you stayed solo).

 

MR is only 1% per level until level 20.  It then alternates between 1% and 5% each level - making 84% at level 40.

[Grond0]

Salira - human monk (update 1)

 

I've been having a bad run lately, but will try to do better with Salira.  To make things easier she will be operating with only my standard restrictions (no item based healing or antidote potions).