Just thought. The reason why he couldn't use long bow could be lack of strength.
Will try in after I have finished this game.
Knifty the Knife
Halfling Assassin.
After using the oil of speed in the training room and applying poison to my daggers, I ambushed another assassin and killed him with one strike. It is well that I did as he was carrying a poisoned blade himself.
I then took on that skinflint Fuller and acquired his dagger +1.
Thus equipped, I drank a potion of clear thought and took on Firebead after first giving him a scroll of identification. Before he had a chance to use it, I acquired it again by killing him.
I then took on a second assassin who was waring good quality thieving armour. He also had a bag of holding which was empty. Presumably he had only just started to burgle the room.
I killed him too and went on to kill Mendas who was awaiting me in a rat infested room.
I then killed Hull and some Watchers stopping my killing spree only when the oil of speed ran out. I left Candlekeep with a reputation of 1.
For some reason it went back up to 16 after arranging for the burial of Gorion.
I made my way to Beregost and there I calmed Marl and had a rest.
Went down to Nashkel, got a ring from Lord Foreshadow and became able to cast a minor healing spell.
@Grimwald: 17 STR should suffice for the use of longbows (not composite longbows though; they require 18 STR).
@all: I just had a very nice run with a BH end. Mutamin cast Remove Magic, and with it removed both my character's PfPetrication and the effect of a potion of magic shielding (or at least the potion's protection was bypassed somehow). The description of the the potion says that all saves are made automatically (and Remove Magic does allow a save). My character got petrified. Are things supposed to work this way? And if yes, how could one protect oneself against Mutamin's Remove Magic, other than using a green scroll of of PfMagic?
@Blackraven: What many soloists do is approach Mutamutins' invisible, then have Korax chomp on him - once held, then assist Korax with the mage and the basilisks.
@Grimwald: 17 STR should suffice for the use of longbows (not composite longbows though; they require 18 STR).
Not really. Str requirements for weapons are moddable, whilst thieves with long bows are "generally" moddable - You cannot create a thief kit and give him long bow usability without giving the same usability to another thief kit already in game (i.e. a swashbuckler).
and Remove Magic does allow a save
No, it doesn't. It's checked for caster level vs target level.
how could one protect oneself against Mutamin's Remove Magic, other than using a green scroll of of PfMagic?
I usually use poisoned arrows. Other than that, backstab (highly risky) and similar stuff which allows you to kill him before he triggers the dialogue. Ghoul can be helpful, but with SCS Mutamin will usually kill him very quickly.
A fairly good tactic is drawing Muta away from basilisks. Then, when he uses Remove magic, drink a Magic Shieldning asap. Doing this in basilisk vicinity is pretty leathal however; thus if you can exploit the fact that Muta moves 2x the speed of basilisks do so.
Not really. Str requirements for weapons are moddable, whilst thieves with long bows are "generally" moddable - You cannot create a thief kit and give him long bow usability without giving the same usability to another thief kit already in game (i.e. a swashbuckler).
No, it doesn't. It's checked for caster level vs target level.
I usually use poisoned arrows. Other than that, backstab (highly risky) and similar stuff which allows you to kill him before he triggers the dialogue. Ghoul can be helpful, but with SCS Mutamin will usually kill him very quickly.
A fairly good tactic is drawing Muta away from basilisks. Then, when he uses Remove magic, drink a Magic Shieldning asap. Doing this in basilisk vicinity is pretty leathal however; thus if you can exploit the fact that Muta moves 2x the speed of basilisks do so.
- Re: longbows, I'm no expert on kit modding. Was merely saying that the 18 STR requirement doesn't concern longbows but composite longbows.
Btw I have an Archer of Silvanus Druid kit that can use long bows (and composite ones at 18 STR) with no problem, but maybe that's because I removed weapon restrictions using another mod.
- Re: Remove Magic. In BGT the spell description says "Saving Throw: Special", but that should be "Saving Throw: None". I understand now that it's purely a percentile matter (with 1% success or failure regardless of the odds), rather than a saving throw that decides the matter.
Does this mean that Potions of Magic Protection (two) would have worked? In my case there was no time as Mutamin appeared from the fog of war, but it would be good to know.
Does this mean that Potions of Magic Protection (two) would have worked? In my case there was no time as Mutamin appeared from the fog of war, but it would be good to know.
Worked for what? Remove magic ignores MR, and dispels potions. I don't know if you can stack them, if you can then 100% MR would keep you safe from basilisks, yes. The only way to stop Remove magic is Pro Magic scroll (that otoh doesn't stop basilisks) or SI:Abjuration.
Oh - another fairly fail-safe way of killing Mutamin is summoned undead - at least on my install, they're immune to basilisk gaze attacks, and can whack Muta fairly quickly, who usually lacks the spells to kill them all.
Fwiw, SCS Mutamin is one of very few BG1 fights I take very seriously - he always has at least one Remove Magic (developer intent!) and relying on low saves isn't a viable option in BG1.
I returned to Beregost where I lured some spiders outside.
One of them followed me upstairs into an inn where I charmed Algernon.
Algernon got killed which meant that I was able to get his cloak.
The spider followed me downstairs where it killed some of Lathander's followers.
That spider followed me outside where it joined the other spiders in the carnage.
This provided me with Northern Bite, a +2 dagger.
Annie Dudley was also charmed and met the same fate. I was wanting the necklace that I gave to her to improve my reputation, but it was nowhere to be found.
I set some of Lathander's followers onto Silke . They killed her.
I finished off the spiders and became a level 5 assassin.
My Lord Cyric will be delighted with the carnage that I have wrought.
Karlat was hurt by spiders, but I killed him.
I charmed a Flaming Fist Mercenary to take on Tristan and Isolde.
With his sword, Tristan held the mercenary. Whilst they were doing so, I killed Isolde and retrieved his +2 throwing knife. I went to Beregost to rest and returned to kill Tristan with poisoned weapons.
I used the thowing dagger to kill hobgoblins whilst acquiring some boots of stealth and potions of healing.
Worked for what? Remove magic ignores MR, and dispels potions. I don't know if you can stack them, if you can then 100% MR would keep you safe from basilisks, yes. The only way to stop Remove magic is Pro Magic scroll (that otoh doesn't stop basilisks) or SI:Abjuration.
Oh - another fairly fail-safe way of killing Mutamin is summoned undead - at least on my install, they're immune to basilisk gaze attacks, and can whack Muta fairly quickly, who usually lacks the spells to kill them all.
Fwiw, SCS Mutamin is one of very few BG1 fights I take very seriously - he always has at least one Remove Magic (developer intent!) and relying on low saves isn't a viable option in BG1.
Thanks Aasim, I've always used the same strategies depending on class (Korax, Poison, Traps, Skellies or drawing Mutamin out and kill Basilisks out of Mutamin's sight), and was unwise to try something different...
Also, we can safely say that my knowledge of the workings of Dispel/Remove Magic and of the Basilisk gaze attacks was below par, and honestly it's still a bit confusing to me that two Potions of Magic Resistance for 100% MR protect against basilisk gaze (which suggests that that gaze is a magical attack), and that PfMagic scrolls, which create a barrier through which no magic can enter, does not protect against basilisk gaze.
I think Grond0 had issues wwith this once.
Sleight, halfling shadowdancer (Grond0) & Pighte, human dark moon monk (Gate70)
An extended session today allowed this pair to finish the bulk of their required work on the Sword Coast despite their relatively fragile state meaning that encounters took a bit more time than usual.
They started by picking up the belt from the ogre: I couldn't remember whether BGEE had changed this interaction with Unshey so we gave him the belt to test that. Next Melicamp was successfully revived.
The amazons were left for now and after sorting equipment out the duo moved on to the Cloudpeaks, which were explored without problems. That couldn't be said about the sirines in the lighthouse. The intention there was for Pighte to tank the sirines using a potion of clarity, but Sleight was late saying he'd thrown the potion to Pighte and a dire charm took effect on him just before the potion did. As a result Sleight had to save against not one, but two charms before getting to safety. Once the charm expired Pighte (now protected by the potion of clarity) tracked down the sirines, but still struggled as by now they were split apart and using their arrows on him. At this point things looked bad when he'd just used his only antidote and was poisoned again at near death. However, I think that must have been hobgoblin poison as it was slow acting and he managed to run away and stay alive with healing potions. After finishing those sirines Pighte showed how it should have been done against Sil. The golems were mainly shot with +1 arrows, though there was another moment of danger there when I forgot there are traps in the cave in BGEE and Sleighte had to save against some sort of spell effect.
Charleston Nib ensured reputation hit its ceiling at 20 even before Brage offered a free lift back to Nashkel. The duo set out for Ulgoth's Beard, but had another problem against the loan ankheg in the bridge area. Lag effects meant that it was attacking Pighte while still showing as underground on Gate70's screen and quickly had him at near death. Sleighte managed to do an area transition before the ankheg could get a killing blow in - only to find there was in fact a lagged killing blow and he arrived at Ulgoth's Beard with a corpse in hand. He immediately travelled back and managed to hide on arrival (the shadowdancer ability of hiding in plain sight coming in handy there) and picked up Pighte's equipment.
After returning from the temple the next target was the Bandit Camp. Initial stealth attacks picked off a good number of the bandits, ending with Taugosz. After resting to heal up the remainder of the external bandits were dealt with before moving into the main tent. Pighte made a good start there by blinding Venkt - that made dealing with the others relatively straight forward, though there was a need to watch out for Venkt running around the place before finally shooting him down.
In the Cloakwood the ettercaps near the web traps were killed on the way to the mine. Drasus was successfully decoyed away from his friends there and eventually finished off though it took quite a bit of running and shooting. Pighte then blinded Genthore before attacking the mages - only to find himself confused. Fortunately he ran immediately out of their sight allowing Sleight to spend time killing Kysus with stealth shots until Pighte rejoined the attack to finish off Rezdan. After sneaking down to Daveorn's level Sleight thought he had disarmed all the traps only to find one still active - but he saved against the glyph. Pighte was less fortunate when he attacked Daveorn without magic protection and got hit by a bouncing lightning bolt. Sleight used a potion of magic blocking to deal with the mage before requiring half a dozen backstabs to kill the mustard jelly. He picked up a few choice items of loot in addition to Pighte's equipment and went to find a temple.
I've restarted a lot recently: I'm not too eager to do a normal (reloading-allowed) ToB playthrough before I continue with Thani the Wizard Slayer, I find myself too impatient for party-play with my mage=>fighter dual, and my Cleric of Talos solo run has been tedious due to the Cleric being a difficult class to solo. As I posted yesterday, I've been playing with a Bounty Hunter, but she got petrified in Mutamin's garden. Rolled a new BH this morning, and have made some progress with her. Will post about her if she gets any further than the promising start she has made so far.
First however, an update on the Priest of Talos, if only a brief one (as he hasn't made much progress). In Baldur's Gate Urval occupied himself mainly with obtaining useful items, first and foremost the stat increasing tomes. The Dex tome was easy of course, but the same could not be said of the Wis Tome or the Int tome. Since this is a strict solo run, Urval couldn't recruit a Thief to pickpocket the Wis tome at the Lady's house; he had to trigger the Marek/Lothander quest and kill Jalantha Mistmyr at the Temple of Umberlee. First of all Jalantha and her girls and a summoned Skeleton surrounded Urval so that he couldn't leave the Temple. His Helmet of Charm Protection and his supply of protective potions kept him safe from Charm and Hold spells cast at him. Urval's own attempts at casting were frustrated by Jalantha or the Skellie hitting him, while his hits with the Ashideena did not interrupt Jalantha's casting.
Having better AC and Thac0 than his foes, he managed to eventually deal with Jalantha, pick up her loot and leave the premises without bothering with the other priestesse. Casson's body was brought to Tremain for the Shield of the Stars, and the Gauntlets of Weapon Skill were picked up and equipped (as there will be no Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise for Urval).
The fight with Marek started off well as Urval used the stairs to get away from debilitating spells such as Confusion and Horror that his opponent would cast at him. On the other hand Marek easily intterrupted Urval's spell-casting attempts.
It meant that in the end things were going to be settled with fisticuffs. Another long fight in which Urval's staying power eventually proved decisive.
(I'm aware that I could have prepared for this battle with the summoning of Skellies or Woodland Beings out Marek's sight, but that's not what my more 'realistic' approach to this playthrough is about).
Yet another prolonged fight yielded Urval the Int tome and a Ring of Protection +2. Ramazith was of course well-protected, with a Globe of Invulnerability, Prot. from Normal Missiles and Stoneskin, and he proved to be a passionate summoner. His first two skellies he got rid of himself by casting two triggered Skull Traps.
But the two Phase Spiders and two more Skellies that Ramazith summoned then were harder to deal with. The spiders poisoned him twice, prompting Urval to leave the tower on both occasions to cure himself. The Dwarf was happy to see the arachnids unsummoned. He proceeded to do what he has done a number of times before: getting stuck (this time between the couch, Ramazith and the Skellies). It didn't matter though: Urval cast Sanctuary on himself, buffed, and made short work of Ramazith.
He picked up the Helm of Balduran, and via Degrodel/Vail, the Cloak as well. (Urval was low on gold, and there were still important items for him to purchase such as potions, ammo and a few scrolls, so murdering Quenash would have been unwise.) Reaching Degrodel and leaving the wizard's home was difficult as Urval got stuck (again!) between Degrodel's Helmed Horrors, Doom Guards and Invisible Stalkers. DUHM, healing potions and an oil of speed for the extra APR enabled the Dwarf to kill a Doomguard and an Invisible Stalker and escape.
Honestly I'm still not completely sure if I want to go on with this run. Issues with my solo Cleric are: long casting times (and hence many interruptions), impossibility to prevent buffs from getting dispelled, and having only one APR which makes the fighting tedious.
In common with Blackraven I'm not quite sure what I want to play at the moment. I did roll up a kensai with the idea of doing an evil party run, but I'm not sure progress would be quick enough to suit me at the moment.
Instead I thought I would have a go at a solo cleric/ranger multi-class. This is supposed to be one of the strongest classes, but has never completed the trilogy. I suspect the poor saving throws and my tendency to minimise buffing may cause me trouble, but we'll see.
A pre-breakfast session saw Fusion most of the way through BG1. Early on he was using mainly stealth attacks and commands, while later progress saw plenty of skeletons active - a buffed group of those will quickly tear their way through most enemies. Here it was Venkt's turn to feel the force.
The most dangerous moment came early on against Shoal. Fusion put her down once with a command and just managed to get 2 attacks in on her while she was down - in theory with 5/2 attacks that should be easy, but the duration of command seems to be slightly variable depending on where in the round it is cast. Trying it again he did actually get 2 attacks in, but Shoal was getting up as the second hit her and started a conversation. Fortunately she was near death this time and was only interested in surrendering rather than stealing a kiss.
Another spell Fusion used a number of times was hold person. It's slow casting is a problem when alone, but if enemies are focused on a companion then the area effect can be very nice - such as with Kirian's group.
As he gets clerical spells anyway I've held his reputation down to 9 in order to get the Bhaal evil abilities - though he will probably go for DUHM with the final one as you can only have one vampiric touch active at once. Fusion hasn't felt the need to do any shopping anyway, so the low reputation hasn't cost him anything. He picked up his second horror after dealing with Daveorn and is currently about to complete the poison quest in Baldur's Gate.
Urval's saves were amazing thanks to being a 20 CON Dwarven Cleric with the Claw of Kazgaroth equipped, Ramaiths Ring of Protection +2, and the Helm and Cloak of Balduran. I even allowed him to equip the Amulet of Protection +1 (allowed in my setup by one of my mods) because other nice amulets such as that of missiles, or the greenstone one, are extremely expensive and they have hardly any charges. The Greenstone Amulet costs about 27k GP and comes with three charges I believe. It meant that only spells with save penalties (such as Confusion) could affect him. Together with his excellent AC and his combat buffs he became very hard to kill.
The Hard Times mod and later reputation issues meant he was always a bit short on gold. Therefore he did a few more quests than strictly necessary, so that he'd be able to expand his (potion) supplies. He fought Sunin in the faint hope of acquiring the Ring of Wizardry that he knew would sell well, but the wizard predictably didn't drop it after Urval and his Skellies felled him. The fight was uneventful, and although Sunin Spooked Urval, the Dwarf was never in danger.
Another mage he dispatched was Ragefast who used to drop a few good items in previous installs (but not this time). One of Urval's Woodland Beings charmed the wizard, allowing the Dwarf to order Ragefast to waste most of his spells before he was slain.
He also dealt with the Ogre Mage and its Carrion Crawler army in the sewers. He scouted the place while Sanctuaried before he summoned Skeletons and Woodland Beings. Urval (with a potion of free action to protect himself) and the skellies had dealt with most of the crawlers when one of the Woodland Beings managed to charm the Ogre Mage. It was led toward one of the last living Carrion Crawlers, held by the giant centipede, and slain by the Dwarf.
The Iron Throne fight was slow but relatively straightforward, with minimal precautions needed thanks to Urval's good saves and AC. Aasim cast Mental Domination, reminding him to equip the Helm of Charm Protection, and later a Hold Person which prompted Urval to quaff a potion of freedom after he was Doomed.
Naaman's initial spells were avoided by changing between floors. And the other characters were dealt with using buffs (PfE, Holy Power, DUHM, in that order) and a few healing potions. Urval sold the Ring of Holiness and the Cloak of Displacement and invested most of the proceeds in potions (healing, speed, invisibility, explosions, fiery burning) and in enchanted bullets.
Before he returned to Candlekeep Urval got instruction from his deity to pay Hurgan Stoneblade a visit in Ulgoth's Beard. He ended up killing his fellow Dwarf and took from him the Knee Capper; his offhand weapon for the remainder of the game (in my setup characters can specialize in weapon styles - but not weapons - regardless of class). I also did this for reputation management purposes, as his sub 10 reputation would grant him the Divine Wrath ability, one of few AoE damage dealing options for Urval.
Spoiler
Through this ability, the Bhaalspawn can tap into the divine spark buried deep within his soul and release a portion of the raw power in a single, concentrated burst. The unleashed energy damages all enemies in the immediate vicinity of the Bhaalspawn and has a chance to push them away, knock them prone and make them flee in panic. The potency of this ability increases as the Bhaalspawn becomes more experienced:
Level 1: deals 2d8 damage to all nearby enemies
Level 6: deals 4d8 damage to all nearby enemies pushing them away from the Bhaalspawn
Level 12: deals 6d8 damage to all nearby enemies pushing them away from the Bhaalspawn and knocking them prone for 1 round
Level 18: deals 8d8 damage to all nearby enemies pushing them away from the Bhaalspawn, knocking them prone for 1 round and making them flee in panic for the following 3 rounds
A successful saving throw vs. breath halves the damage and negates all secondary effects. Exceptionally large creatures (Giants, Dragons, Iron Golems...etc.) are immune to all secondary effects.
In Candlekeep Urval was framed by Koveras for the murder of the Iron Throne leaders. In the catacombs below the citadel where he was teleported by Tethtoril he used his Stormshield to protect himself against some of the nastier traps (fire, electricity), and the violet potion to boost his STR to 25 so that he could open the locked chests with the STR tome, the WIS tome, and the Cloak of Protection +2 among other things. Sanctuary helped him safely reach the surface.
Feeling Talos' fury inside him he decided to cast PfMagic on himself and kill the Ogre Mages that were awaiting him. He fled however, in the nick of time, when one of the Greater Basilisks wanted to join the fray.
Thalantyr improved the Cloak of Balduran by merging it with the Cloak of Protection +2. In Baldur's Gate, Slythe and Krystin awaited Urval in the Undercellars. As has become his custom (or rather my rule for this playthrough: no pre-buffing until foes have been detected), Urval explored the Undercellars while under the protection Sanctuary, spotted a menacing-looking rogue and preventively summoned his army of (three) Woodland Beings and (two) Skeletons.
One of the Woodland Being charmed Slythe but unfortunately he managed to swig a potion of invisibility, making it impossible to use him. Still, it meant one less enemy to worry about, at least for a while. Krystin was mainly provoked into wasting some of her spells on Skeletons (and courtesans).
He injured Urval again, with a last potion of invisibility, but after that he had difficulty hitting the Dwarf, allowing the latter to wear his foe down.
At the Ducal Palace, Urval summoned two Skellies and three Woodland Beings (hoping they would charm their foes) before battle broke out. He also Protected them as well as himself from Evil, and he buffed himself further with Holy Power, DUHM and an Oil of Speed. The Woodland Beings were soon rendered useless, Horrored by one of the Doppelgangers, but not before one of the summons had cast Plant Growth, a party-friendly Entangle-style spell that would keep some of the Doppelgangers in place at times. Both Belt and Liia Jannath got Confused soon after, so it was up to Urval, the two Skellies and the Fist to keep the Grand Dukes safe.
This was pretty alarming because Belt is the more stalwart of the two Grand Dukes, by far. Yet somehow Urval, his trusty skellies and the Fist officers succeeded in keeping confused Liia safe. (Urval healed her twice.)
I think this is the first time for me that Belt didn't survive the fight and Liia Jannath did. She teleported Urval to the Thieves Guild from where he rushed through the maze protected by his Storm Shield and by Sanctuary. He reached the entrance to Sarevok's sanctum, rested near the door and hoped to avoid Tamoko when he got up. However, dialogue triggered ans she followed Urval inside. She cast Physical Mirrors and at one point a Harm, but failed to actually harm Urval with it. Other spells she repeatedly tried to cast were Hold Person and Mental Domination, and I think she also attempted to summon Skeleton Warriors, but Urval disrupted her spellcasting various times. All in all he had less difficulty with her as I feared, and it was fortunate that hardly any resources were wasted except a few healing potions (of which he had less than desired).
In the fight against Sarevok's acolytes, Tazok was the first to show up. He gave Urval a good beating, causing the Dwarf to retreat (after which Tazok disappeared).
Protected from Magic, he had better luck meleeing Angelo, who only managed to hurt him on critical hits. Diarmid too, seemed to either miss or land critical hits (in melee as well as ranged), before he fell.
Urval's second try against Tazok went better. The Half-Ogre seemed particular vulnerable to the Dwarf's potions of Firebreath. When his foe was severely injured, Urval buffed himself and slew him in melee combat.
Invisible Semaj only showed up after Urval kited Sarevok for a while. (Sarevok was then left standing in a corner after Urval quaffed an invisibility potion). I was surprised to see Semaj cast mainly elemental damage spells (Lightning Bolt, Fireball) rather than spells that control the mind, against which Urval would have protected himself with potions.
Fully buffed (even potions of power were used), Urval was capable of hurting Sarevok in melee combat, but the latter hit a lot harder (and had more hitpoints) than Urval did. So other tactics had to be employed. First Sarevok was softened up with 'sneak attacks', using circa 10 invisibility potions to hit and fade. When the invisibility potions were gone, Sanctuaries were used for the same purpose (though this was trickier because of the spell's casting time).
Then Flamestrikes from the Wand of the Heavens and various potions of explosions/fiery burning were used. Individually they didn't a lot of damage but the bits did add up, because when Urval had run out of those potions it only took a few well-aimed sling bullets to fell his enemy.
This was not an easy run, and I can only see things become more difficult in BG2. Maybe I'm not playing the solo Cleric right (it's not a class I've played much), but I really haven't found any solutions to the long casting time issue or to the problem that buffs are so easily dispelled. Does you have any tips perhaps?
Before I move on I have two questions:
1) Do you recommend me drop the Helm of Balduran so that the Claw of Kazgaroth will import into BG2? Getting negative saves asap could be a huge boon for Urval against casters.
2) There is a suit of armor, added by the Sorcerer's Place Collection mod, called Geirthan's Plate, which is extremely expensive, the most expensive object in SoA, but very attractive not because it gives immunity to Death Magic (which isn't that big a deal for a high CON dwarfen Cleric) but it grants immunity to Spell School Abjuration. The thought of being able to buff in the knowledge that one's buffs won't be immediately dispelled is an appealing one, but would using that armor take away too much of the challenge do you reckon? It doesn't seem more powerful than the Robe of Vecna and the Staff of the Magi for Mages, UAI for Rogues or Carsomyr for Paladins, but I haven't enough SoA experience with (solo) Clerics to form an opinion on this matter. All I know is that I wouldn't want to save a lot of gold to buy the armor, only to find it game-breaking and to sell it again.
Fusion - half-elf cleric/ranger (2nd and final update)
Fusion finished off his work in the city (collecting tomes and Helm of Balduran and investigating the Iron Throne). The only slight concern there was when he was held by a ghast in Ramazith's tower. However, the ghast was already nearly dead and I had expected that it would quickly be finished off by skeletons if it did hold Fusion - and it was.
After taking his frustrations out on some basilisks he did a quick whip round the Sword Coast raising his reputation to 20 (and picking up the tome from Durlag's Tower) before returning to the City. Despite his high reputation and 100k gold Fusion was too much of a skinflint to buy any resources, but decided the things he had picked up while travelling would be sufficient anyway.
Slythe was no problem - he was pulled away from Krystin and killed by skeletons. That gave Fusion the HPs for an 8th cleric level, though he didn't take it. After resting, he produced more skeletons for the palace - they would probably have coped OK against all 6 dopplegangers, but when 2 ran from Fusion's horror that made things easier (though Liia still died).
He used stealth attacks and clerical elemental protection to pass through the maze and then bypassed the Undercity party to get to the temple. Sarevok was pulled out alone and ditched behind a pillar while Fusion summoned some help. For once though his skeletons proved ineffective - not hitting Sarevok at all, while the big man turned on Fusion whenever he tried to attack. With HPs down low and no regeneration potions Fusion resorted to the old faithful tactic of stealth attacks while dodging round the pillars and in due course Sarevok signalled he'd had enough.
Fusion reported back to Belt and has arrived in Athkatla.
This was not an easy run, and I can only see things become more difficult in BG2. Maybe I'm not playing the solo Cleric right (it's not a class I've played much), but I really haven't found any solutions to the long casting time issue or to the problem that buffs are so easily dispelled. Does you have any tips perhaps?
Before I move on I have two questions:
1) Do you recommend me drop the Helm of Balduran so that the Claw of Kazgaroth will import into BG2? Getting negative saves asap could be a huge boon for Urval against casters.
2) There is a suit of armor, added by the Sorcerer's Place Collection mod, called Geirthan's Plate, which is extremely expensive, the most expensive object in SoA, but very attractive not because it gives immunity to Death Magic (which isn't that big a deal for a high CON dwarfen Cleric) but it grants immunity to Spell School Abjuration. The thought of being able to buff in the knowledge that one's buffs won't be immediately dispelled is an appealing one, but would using that armor take away too much of the challenge do you reckon? It doesn't seem more powerful than the Robe of Vecna and the Staff of the Magi for Mages, UAI for Rogues or Carsomyr for Paladins, but I haven't enough SoA experience with (solo) Clerics to form an opinion on this matter. All I know is that I wouldn't want to save a lot of gold to buy the armor, only to find it game-breaking and to sell it again.
Well done Blackraven - sounds like a good run so far.
You state above that you can only see things become more difficult and then worry that some armor might make the game too easy - I suspect that even without remove magic you would face a decent challenge in BG2.
In relation to the Claw I would probably keep the Helm if you think that you will be able to get the Ring of Gaxx without too much trouble (which you probably would be able to do if the liches can't use remove magic on protection from undead). In that case the Claw would be competing with a +2 ring of protection and would probably not be as good (taking into account the saving throw bonus of the Helm). However, as you note it would offer a saving throw bonus at the start of the game so would be a reasonable strategy if you're concerned about his early vulnerability.
Umm...you might want to check out if it makes one immune to his own Abjurations . I don't think it's more powerful than Vecna, SoTM or FoA +5, but tastes differ.
Grats to both you and Grond0 anyway, be joining you soon I hope.
Knifty the knife never did take his holiday in Amn. He got held by ghasts after defeating Mulahey. Stupidity on my part. He could have run away and used ranged weapons. Overconfidence after defeating Mulahey so convincingly. He didn't even get to summon any allies.
The gentleman cannot even use ordinary long bows. So will not use it with current set up. I suspect other mods could be the cause,
Tried out the anti-paladin kit but didn't like it, so now trying another Blackguard.
Congrats Grond0! Nice escape there below Candlelkeep
Aasim and you have my thanks for your input. I think I'll just go after the armor, if it at least it doesn't make the wearer immune to his owen (beneficial) abjurations (something I haven't checked yet.
Sorry Grimwald, as I said I liked Knifty, and reading that he survived beyond Davaeorn tells me that you were doing a good job with him. Ghasts are threat even in late BG1. The only times I have solo characters fight them without free action is with an Undead Hunter or with backstabs.
Edit:
I keepered in the Geirthan's Plate and cast a number of Abjuration spells such as PfFire, PfE and Sanctuary and they all seemed to take effect as they normally do, so the armor seems to protect only against hostile abjuration magics cast at the wearer.
Had Urval report to Liia and Belt (who has apparently been ressurrected), and he now on his way to Amn with the Helm of Balduran still equipped, meaning he'll have to make do without the Claw of Kazgaroth in early SoA. (But this is compensated by the fact that BGT Tweaks imports a number of items into SoA.)
Gate70/Grond0 multiplayer attempt 61 - (3rd and final update)
Sleight, halfling shadowdancer (Grond0) & Pighte, human dark moon monk (Gate70)
This pairing had plenty of potential, but came to an unfortunate end yesterday.
They retrieved the tomes from Candlekeep and returned to deal with Slythe easily enough. Having had unfortunate experiences in the past at the palace we agreed to buff up properly before tackling the dopplegangers there - that included potions of mind focusing and invulnerability to boost Pighte's defences (he also had on the golden girdle). As a result it initially looked like good news when nearly all the dopplegangers attacked him, leaving the dukes relatively unmolested. However, Sleight was supposed to be slowing them down with dispelling arrows and having horrible luck with his attempts (he should really have ensured a potion of power was available and got his dexterity to 25 rather than 22 for this encounter) - only hitting one doppleganger up to the point where a couple of criticals in quick succession cut down Pighte.
Immediately after the monk fell Sleight managed to slow another one and Belt claimed his second victim - with another running scared that left only 3 of them. Sleight tried to pick up Pighte's equipment, but the quick loot facility in BGEE would not allow that and instead he focused on trying to draw the dopplegangers onto him. That was done very successfully and the remaining dopplegangers did little further damage either to Belt or to Sleight. Carried away by his success the cheeky halfling sent the final doppleganger running with his sword and switched back to his bow to shoot it down without thinking about where Belt was. That resulted in an instant conversation with the duke - ending with him asking for documentary evidence of Sarevok's misdeeds. Sleight tried to explain that he had the relevant paper just a few steps away, but Belt didn't listen and just sent in a flame strike. Sleight did actually manage to move after that and was just kneeling down to pick up the evidence when a second flame strike left just a charcoal outline on the floor ...
Vary, human transmuter (Grond0) & Loryl, half-elf transmuter (Gate70)
With the number of character classes not yet attempted now down to just half a dozen or so, the random selection this time turned up a transmuter for both of us. There was just time for them to get out of Candlekeep - each of them using a color spray to deal with Carbos and Shank on the way.
Sorry Grimwald, as I said I liked Knifty, and reading that he survived beyond Davaeorn tells me that you were doing a good job with him. Ghasts are threat even in late BG1. The only times I have solo characters fight them without free action is with an Undead Hunter or with backstabs.
I liked Knifty myself. I got so that I felt that I knew him. I've never played a knife wielder before, so it was a new and fresh experience. I will probably try a similar character again.
I ran a similar character through Candlekeep and tried killing all those who had upset me: Fuller, Phlydia etc. and discovered that killing Phlydia makes even Gorion hostile. Game over. Just wondering if anyone knows if having a high charisma would have helped or if killing her always results in game over.
Retour en haut
Overconfidence after defeating Mulahey so convincingly. He didn't even get to summon any allies.
