Bravo Dyara! Formidable work!!
I've never survived Durlag's Tower in no-reload. My best effort was recently with my Skald, who fell on the chessboard. (In my setup, probably SCS, the pieces immediately charge in, so just Fireballing them doesn't work. I still don't knowthe best way to tackle that part of the game.)
Anyway, Dyara looks ready to set some things straight in the city, no? 
Well I never did get back to explore the area where Bassilus was. Gurke asked me to find his cloak which I did. In that area I met up with Coran who wants us to go hunting Wyverns. First however I was given the job of stopping Mutamin. I went to buy the equipment needed and then killed all the medusae, basilisks and Mutamin himself. We then went wyvern hunting before going to the Bassilus area. We were in the midst of a battle with wolves when we were given another task by the temple of Lathander.
However, I then discovered that the task was impossible. A locksmith was a bystander in a battle with spiders. He became hostile when Algernon remembered being charmed. I charmed him, whereupon the spiders killed him. It is therefore impossible to get into the house. I think that Gavin will therefore probably get upset so I went to the carnival and got another cleric who is more closely aligned with me. She is a priest of Tempus called Branwyn. Gavin has left whilst he is still happy with me.
I suppose that we ought now to go and investigate the mines before Isra gets upset.
@Blackraven
Thank you 
Durlag's Tower (without SCS) was rather easy actually... a (very) good AC and free action for the greater ghouls and there isn't much that can harm you. I guess with SCS installed it will be much harder.
As for Dyara I'm afraid she's up to cruise 
... if she survives the Aec'Letec that is.
@Grimwald, if you'd like to have Gavin back:
@Grimwald, if you'd like to have Gavin back:
Spoiler@Dyara, best of luck with Ac'Letec! Remember: don't die!
I didn't realise that wa the key that I needed. I thought that it belonged to another mod. I suppose that usually I have it so there is no problem.
The problem with multiple mods. I don't think that I will get Gavin back on a permanent basis. Branwen fits his ethos much better. I have never played Branwen as a Priest of Tempus before either, so it should be a bit different as will having Xan in the party. Playing neutral is a bit strange..
Upon entering the mines we had not gone very far when we began to be beset by kobolds, and not just ordinary kobolds, commandos and shamans as well!
At first they were little more than an irritation.
As we progresssed we were attacked by duerger assassins. They were quite powerful and took some beating, but eventually we prevailed. Their equipment will most certainly be used except for the axes. Nobody in the party is proficient with them.
Near the bottom of the mine a kobold shaman caused Coran to panic and also cast an acid arrow or similar.
I was concerned that he might get wounded further either by traps or by the kobolds. We killed the kobolds first and then just as Branwen started her heal spell, he died. Most unfortunate. We decided to carry on and successfully solved the problem by killing Mulahey.
He seems to think that I am black-hearted because I did not allow him to surrender. Not so. I am just a fairly good assessor of character and knew that he could not be trusted. Branwen was badly injured when she used our necklace of missiles. It turned out to have been for the best as we were able to heal her after resting and the kobolds can rest wherever in the underworld they now are.
We then exited the mines without major incidents.
Yeah, there's a definite reason that I'm not going to be hitting the EXP cap of BG1; I'm too afraid of Durlag's Tower!
Rhythm, Half-elf Skald, update 3
Right. So... my speed in playing has outstripped both my memory and recording. This is a very bare-bones account since the Ankheg massacre:
Rhythm and company return a bowl to a young priestess of Umberlee before continuing to Ulgoth's beard, purchasing three items: the cloak of Displacement, Greenstone Amulet, and the Returning Frost Dart. From there, we easily murder the Sirines, Khalid still tanking with the Greenstone Amulet and all the others (save Rhythm, of course) firing. The flesh golems are cleared, and the CON tome goes to Neera, of all people. She had 14 CON, and the extra few hit points really do make a difference.
Bandit camp is completely cleared, though the full plate's rather irritating as Khalid can only carry like, ten pounds extra apart from weapons and armor. Even the boss fight was easily dealt, with only a Melf's acid arrow really doing any damage. Back to High Hedge, we purchase a third ioun stone for Neera and for the heck of it, the robe of the Neutral Archmagi for Neera.
We took an eastern swing around the Sword Coast, first getting Khalid to level up on the two Battle Horrors in front of Durlag's tower. From there, we killed off the Ogre Mage inside the Firewine ruins. I considered going the long way through the ruins, but pathfinding in that dungeon is far too treacherous for my liking. The second band of assassins in Firewine is also disposed of, before the first death while we were crossing the Firewine bridge. The summoned Ogre Mage at the bottom of the gulch managed to cast MI before I could interrupt it, and the oncoming flood of spells killed Jaheira. One trip back to the Nashkel temple and she's fine again, though.
Red wizards took a beating to the delight of Neera; Skull trap and Fireball from her took out the back three, while Jaheira, Imoen, and Khalid dealt with the first one. Rhythm sang from the back invisibly. Though Khalid and Rhythm ended up victim to a Horror spell, neither wandered into the web traps. The spiders were slowly destroyed. A couple of trivial fights/hours later, and every place besides Cloakwood and the zombie-infested farm has been at the very least visited, and most of them cleaned of all important quests and encounters.
I forgot about BG1NPC's expansion of the Cloakwood, which I enjoyed quite a bit. Neera died for the first time, though, as some non-aggressive black bears decided to turn aggressive as she passed... Two strikes later with me not paying attention and we take a trip back to the FAI for a Raise Dead. We finish the Cloakwood quest, and then the Cloakwood mines. Hareishan doesn't get a spell off under Wand of Fire and Imoen's pressure, and Davaeorn only gets one Lightning bolt off of Jaheira before he wastes the rest of his spells of a group of unfortunately summoned Hobgoblins. No fireball risks today!
Four more deaths happen in rapid succession in the Sorcerous Sundries mage fight; apparently, despite it's description, the Skald's song does not in fact protect against Fear. Fortunately, I had prepared somewhat for this going badly by having Rhythm start the fight invisibly. The four opposing mages make quick work of the other panicking party members, as it's hard to make all the saves when four Horrors reign down on you! Around 4k gold worth of raises and healing later, and we're back in the faces of the mages, and this time the opposing mages soon regret fighting as they're brought down to level 1 spells, most of them being LMD. Not a fight you're winning against a Skald-enhanced Wolf-shape Druid/fighter, even without her gear.
Doppel's are revealed, and another Ogre mage brought low. Numerous quests see a basilisk taken care of, Nestor's dagger from way before returned for burial, and gauntlets returned. Neera had another death as we raided Ramazith's tower after freeing the Nymph; the stairs decided to place her inside the flowerbed that's supposed to be unwalkable, and the Ghasts had a very easy time picking her off. One Raise later...
The INT tome went to Rhythm, since I'd want to use potions of Genius or Mind focusing anyways for INT < 19, so two INT at 18 in BG2 doesn't really save resources as much as you'd think. The Assassin quest is done, though as usual we take a... hostile approach to the temple of Umberlee for killing that one guy's son. This also has the benefit of getting an extra tome of Wisdom for Jaheira. Fighting Marek leaves Imoen unfortunately Confused and she shoots one commoner right before it wears off. A couple thousand gold and two quests get Reputation back to 20.
Confusion continues to be my bane in the Iron Throne fight, as Jaheira, Khalid, and Neera all get confused, though most of their squishy spell casters were dead by then and a couple others affected by a Wand of Fear. Jaheira died here, and Khalid survived with 2 HP, but neither Rhythm nor Imoen were touched that fight.
Candlekeep: we choose to spare Rieltar and company. Clearing out the entire dungeon is barely enough to get max levels on Khalid and Jaheira, and Rhythm and Imoen hit level 9. This means that the bonuses Rhythm's granting are +3 rather than +2, and SUPPOSEDLY immunity to Confusion. I'm skeptical. I'm heading back to Baldur's gate immediately, as the prospect of trying to earn 250,000 more experience just to hit the EXP limit sounds too painful right now.
Statistics: 76 days, 10 hours.
Rhythm: level 9 Skald, 61 HP (6 from familiar.) 0 kills. Favorite weapon: Sap. Favorite spell: CLW
Khalid: Level 8 Fighter, 68 HP (5 from helm.) 386 kills for 169,456 experience. Favorite weapon: Longsword (Varscona). Most powerful vanquished: Greater Basilisk. 1 death.
Jaheira: Level 7/8 Fighter/Druid, 61 HP. 275 kills for 93,168 experience. Favorite weapon: Sling and bullet. Favorite spell: CLW. Most powerful vanquished: Davaeorn. 3 deaths.
Imoen: Level 9 Thief, 53 HP. 254 kills for 88,436 experience. Favorite weapon: Shortbow. Most powerful vanquished: Shoal the Nereid. 1 death.
Neera: Level 8 Wild Mage, 27 HP. 145 kills for 50,032 experience. Favorite weapon: Dart. Favorite spell: Sleep. Most powerful vanquished: Sirine. 3 deaths.
Having just lost Coran, perhaps it was a bit foolish not to head for the nearest temple. However we decided to explore the caves. In so doing we decided to kill a revanant. We accidentally got into conflict with a mage called Narcillicus and in the battle Branwen was killed. We therefore went to the temple and raised our deceased party members.
We killed another assassin in Nashkel and then helped David against the female ogres.
We then proceeded to Beregost where we were greeted by Elminster.
It was only then that I realised that I am no longer a hero!
What caused that? Killing Mulahey without giving him a chance to surrender?
Killing the revenant?
Whatever the reason, it is clearly time to get my reputation up. It gets too expensive otherwise and we need better equipment!
We helped Alanna's neighbour to get into shape and using "Knock" got into Valeria's house and brought her evil to an end. Strangely she seemed quite pleased about it. Unfortunately Xan's dire predictions came true as Valeria killed him. However the temple will soon see to that problem.
We also returned Perdue's lost sword.
We then rescued Arabelle and Samuel. It seems strange to me that you get as many kudos for rescuing a cow as you do for rescuing a person. 
On the way to the Friendly Arms Inn we were ambushed by Lamaha and cohorts. Xan was killed once again. 
This time it was by backstabs before we even knew that the thieves were there. Upon getting him raised AGAIN, we spent half of our gold in improving his armour class. It was a lot of gold but perhaps it will save us gold in the long term.
We then hunted ankhegs and my thoughts about Xan's equipment proved correct as he was ALMOST killed.
We then headed south and killed an ogre with a belt fetish and in Nashkel killed the mage who had petrified Branwen.
After that we headed for the bandit camp where we killed Tranzig and another group of assassins before AT LAST going to explore the area where Bassilus holed up. We killed Zargal and his friends before continuing westward.
We plundered the cave and on the way back we were attacked by more assassins led by Molkar. They turned out to be an easy group to kill. so we then went to the south of the Lighthouse area and accompanied Brage to the temple.
Rhythm, half-elven Skald, 4th and final update
From Candlekeep, the decision is, again, skip all the ToTSC content and go straight for Sarevok's throat, as the most important level for Rhythm, level 9, has already been reached. We clear up Baldur's gate a little by raiding the Iron Throne a second time, saving Duke Eltan via invisibility and stealth from Imoen, before finally taking on Slythe and Krystin. Only scratch damage was taken in all three of these.
The Ducal palace battle: A wand of summoning charge was burnt here to give myself even more meat shields. Even so, two of the Greater Doppel's targeted Belt immediately. Two Bhaal CLW and one from Jaheira were used to guarantee his survival, and then all five of us conspired to box him in during the fight with Sarevok. Success!
The maze fights: only minor problems, such as getting hit multiple times by that wretched Skeleton warrior; I should really stay at range with all my AC against Missile bonuses. And Imoen walking over a Lightning Bolt trap rather than disarming it. Fortunately, the second bounce missed everyone, so no deaths.
Undercity party: Neera has something like 40 charges of Fireball between her four wands of Fire accumulated over the game. They're incinerated for a little extra experience.
Sarevok: Semaj again teleported to the party, where Imoen instantly dispelled him with an arrow of dispelling. With all the buffs we're running, the foolhardy mage doesn't even last a round before he's chunked. Khalid goes north to pull everyone else; within 4 or so rounds, Sarevok's already at Near Death. He's been dispelled as well, so everyone besides the invisible Rhythm is quicker than him. Tazok dies to the attacking four, and Angelo falls shortly after to Khalid and Jaheira in Wolf form. A couple more attacks on Sarevok and...
Fin!
Final stats:
Rhythm: level 9 Skald, 61 HP (6 from familiar.) 0 kills. Favorite weapon: Sap. Favorite spell: CLW
Khalid: Level 8 Fighter, 68 HP (5 from helm.) 402 kills for 201,611 experience. Favorite weapon: Longsword (Varscona). Most powerful vanquished: Greater Basilisk. 1 death.
Jaheira: Level 7/8 Fighter/Druid, 61 HP. 281 kills for 111,303 experience. Favorite weapon: Sling and bullet. Favorite spell: CLW. Most powerful vanquished: Angelo. 3 deaths.
Imoen: Level 9 Thief, 53 HP. 261 kills for 111,086 experience. Favorite weapon: Shortbow. Most powerful vanquished: Shoal the Nereid. 1 death.
Neera: Level 8 Wild Mage, 27 HP. 151 kills for 57,572 experience. Favorite weapon: Dart. Favorite spell: Sleep. Most powerful vanquished: Sirine. 3 deaths.
Well done Epsil0! Good luck in Amn.
A Charname without any blood on their hands... a rare feat.
@Epsil0: Congratulations
Dyara, elven Fighter/Mage/Thief - take 14 (update 11)
Day 68 (9 Flamerule)
After leaving Durlag's Tower behind they made a stop at Nashell to get their loot identified and sold. For Rasaad was still waiting in front of the inn Dyara took pity on the monk and let him join. They left Nashkell then for Beregost where they arrived close to midnight.
Day 69 (10 Flamerule)
At Friendly Arm Inn they rested and took Neera in as well. Killed some ankhegs for Gerde.
Day 70 (11 Flamerule)
As the party was about to enter Baldur's Gate they were told that they still were wanted criminals and that there were wanted posters with their face on it. So the group decided to go to Ulgoth's Beard instead. After all they still had the dagger to deliver.
Unfortunately the dagger got stolen and both Alora and Rasaad were killed by assassins.
Hard-fought, but Dyara is still in the game! And that's what matters
Good stuff Epsil0 - will Rhythm continue to get others to do his dirty work for him in Amn?
As I've yet to even attempt to solo BG2, even on vanilla, and that a Skald's DPS is directly linked to the APR and THAC0 of his allies, I'm going to say it's a fair bet that yes, Rhythm's going to have others do his killing for him. I think I'll even journal the BG2 one, since I just came up with a good reason for this whole non-killing thing!
Well done Epsil0. It's looking good.
Hope that you do well in Amn.
A suggestion for another game.
If you enjoyed this game, try BG1 solo without killing anyone. It CAN be done.
Perhaps not with SCS or some other mods, but certainly with vanilla or Tutu.
When I did it, my favourite weapon was, believe it or not fists. 
Pter has entered the bandit camp - my no reload PR. (And something I've never attempted with SCS before.) Party is currently made up of Branwen, Dynaheir, Minsc, and Imoen. We're fairly well equipped because I invested some time in tracking down randomized items... Feeling as prepared as possible for this. We'll see how it goes.
Pter lounged next to the campfire, idly poking at his food with the point of his axe. He looked over at Imoen.
"So we need a book to get back into the Keep, eh?" he said.
"Yep. And not just any book. Something rare and valuable."
"What about that book on the three dead gods that Firebead gave us,"
"Nope, dime a dozen."
====
Pter tromped into the lower levels of the Nashkel iron mine. He swatted a kobold with his axe, and it crumpled.
"Stupid yipping gnats," Pter said.
"Boo says he thinks so too," said Minsc.
Pter looked worryingly at his newfound companion. "You sure you didn't take one two many blows to the head?"
===
Pter lounged in a chair at the Jovial Juggler, daydreaming. Branwen approached.
"What are you thinking about, Pter?"
"Ghasts. Shambling skeletons. Physical spirits of the dead. We've found a few -- particularly around that Bassilus character -- but not the horde my Lady Bloodhawk bid me to exhume. I'm growing impatient."
"That may be so. You're certainly attracting the attention of assassins, however. Twice in Nashkel, and then those burly dwarves that nearly killed me in the streets outside this inn this morning."
"Yeah, well that priest that held you should have done his work quicker. His head didn't hold up well under your hammer."
Branwen laughed, "Indeed it did not."
"Although next time, you'd better not summon any skeletons. You know I get distracted."
====
Dynahier pointed to a forest on her map. "Larswood, Pter. That's where we need to go."
"Do you think this Tazok and his bandits have a store of rare books? We need one to get back to Candlekeep so that I can finish my mission."
"Certainly I believe they do. In any case, we can't get into Baldur's Gate until we break the bandit infestation. For both reasons, this is our next course."
"Just as long as you're with me on the importance of eradicating the ghouls beneath Candlekeep."
"I can scorch a ghoul as well as any witch."
Dyara, elven Fighter/Mage/Thief - take 14 (update 12)
Days 75 (16 Flamerule)
After the recent events everyone was happy when Dyara suggested to do a cruise on sea of swords. Unfortunately a storm came without warning, the ship was lost to the sea and Dyara and her friends were washed up on the beach of a small island.
Day 100 (10 Eleasias)
After speaking to all the people in the village the party went to northern part of the island where Neera and Rasaad gained their next level-ups. The combat tactic was always to send Dyara into melee fight while Neera casted web and then joined Xan, Alora and Rasaad in ranged combat.
Day 101 (11 Eleasias)
The mage Dradeel asked them to retrieve his spellbook from Balduran's ship. While Dyara went into the ship through its breached hull the rest took position around the opening and again Neera casted web (from scroll) on the exit. Then Dyara lured to wolfweres, vampiric wolves and whatever was inside outside and into the web trap and Xan casted hold monster into the bargain.
Tersus, the Quartermaster of the Chill and the Black Talons, handed Pter a foul-smelling pile of leather.
"You work for Talons now. You wear armor. Here."
"Umm, I'd prefer to keep my plate," Pter replied, handing the leather back to Tersus.
"No, all Talons wear regulation armor. You take!"
"This leather smells like a ghoul. You know what? I'd rather not wear it. Got any books?"
"Books? No. Got armor. Got arrows. Got swords."
"Well, I need a book. I'm going to make sure you don't have any."
Pter dropped the leather armor and began rooting around in the back of the tent. He found a particularly large chest, locked, in the back. Impatient, he smashed it open with his axe.
"You no listen good. And you thief. I kill you now."
===
Pter stepped outside of the tent, Tersus' blood dripping from his axe. The giant hobgoblin Ardenor Crush, leader of the Chill, looked up from the campfire.
"I knew letting you in here was a bad idea," he said.
It was like Pter had kicked a hornets nest. The whole camp came down on him.
Pter cursed silently. The Lady of Strategy surely would frown on this clumsiness - entering battle unprepared was the worst of sins (second only to losing). He slugged a potion and waded in.
===
Dynaheir fingered the scar at her throat, gingerly climbing down from the temple altar where the Morninglord had just raised her from the nearly dead.
"What happened, Pter?"
"You took a poison arrow. Didn't even get a spell off."
"Did everyone else make it?"
"Yes. But we didn't find any books."
"Bandits aren't really the scholastic type."
"I suppose so. I'm not sure how I'm ever going to get back inside Candlekeep."
Diary of Drizzt the Moon Knight Continued.
We continued through Cloakwood, killing any enemies still remaining until we arrived at the mines.
Through the use of web and wand of fire and the like we defeated Drasus and his allies without difficulty.
Rather foolishly we did not rest at that point, so when we unexpectedly came across some Black Talon who were more powerful than usual, Branwen got killed. 
We returned to The Friendly Arms Inn to get her healed and were met by a group of good guys who had been tricked into fighting us. We were sadly forced into fighting them.
Their equipment however was very useful for Isra.
We cleared up the areas to the south, killing more assassins and getting some good archery bracers for Coran.
Branwen became more and more friendly until we got to the point where it was impossible to be friendlier.
We returned to the mines and swept through until we got to the area where Davaeorn was. Wave after wave of guards who were quite powerful entered from behind us and we were hard pressed. However by pressing on we were able to kill first Davaorn and then another mage and friend.
We then freed the slaves and flooded the mines.
At the bridge into the Gate we met MORE assassins. We killed them.
I found some bracers that have raised my dexterity to 20.
Ok fellow no re-loaders, I rolled a new gnomish Cleric/Illusionist, Scintilla Silverlock.
Scintilla's a solitary type and strictly TN in an 'Everybody leaves everybody else alone' sense. That doesn't mean she won't help others, but merely that she doesn't consider herself obliged to do so. I'll try to make her extremely cautious, making her only take risks where I know the benefits are worth it. The idea is to go solo again, at least for the BG1 and SoA part. (Not sure about ToB due to improved Sendai etc, but let's first see if she can get there haha.) Hope to post an update soon.
Best of luck with Scintilla, Blackraven!
Looks like the end of the travels of Drizzt, though he can travel as much as he likes, he cannot get to the one place that he needs to get to, Candlekeep.
We had no problems with Baldur's Gate and eventually we were sent to Candlekeep where we were met by ogre/mage assassins. One of them cast either confusion or chaos and all but Branwen were affected. Xan had already cast web which helped considerably. The confused party continued to fight and we managed to kill the mages. However one of the party attacked the gatekeeper and he went hostile. I have tried dire charm and the wand of domination without success. (I think that my set-up allows for talking to charmed creatures.)
As far as I can see that is the end of the game.
Sorry to hear that Wise. Arriving invisibly at Candlekeep would allow you either to avoid the ogre magi entirely or greatly cut down their chances of causing you problems.
Thanks for the advice Grond0.
Having thought about it, what would have happened if I had used Branwen to talk to the guard immediately? Would the entire party have gone inside in the state they were in confused or otherwise? At least we didn't die, though the Sword Coast would have become a bloodbath!
Like you I don't like buffing in advance if the character had no way of knowing he was going into danger.
I have no problem with buffing before the ducal palace or the final battle as in both cases the character knew to some extent what was coming.
Funnily enough it is incidents like this that make me like no-reload.
Retour en haut
