Ariel, Halfling F/T: Final BG1 Update
Ariel has defeated Sarevok. Happily, she beat the big fella at his own game. She took him down in toe-to-toe melee with out using stealth or hit and run tactics. This was satisying and justified my decision to re-run Ariel with modified proficiencies. I'm pleased with that.
Dual-wielding Ariel's battle with Slythe was a quickee. It wasn't as quick as quarterstaff Ariel's battle, since quarterstaff Ariel chunked Slythe with her opening backstab, but it was quick nonetheless.
Ariel's pre-battle inventory with the planned buffs. A pair of traps had been set, but they weren't used.
An opening backstab brought Slythe down to badly injured.
A simultaenous Potion of Firebreath got him to near death. A follow up melee strike finished him.
Valuing her buffs more than the death of Krystin, Ariel collected Slythe's documents and made for the Palace.
The Palace fight was messier for dual-wielding Ariel than it had been for quarterstaff Ariel. The reason for this was clear. Ariel, who was wielding Aule's with a pip in two handed weapon style had a zero speed factor range 2 weapon. With Ariel wielding that weapon, the mobile Doppelganger Mage was unable to evade melee hits. After he was dispelled, his attempts to stay on the move proved fruitless. Rashad's Talon is a wonderful weapon in BG1. But at speed factor 3, range 1 it is less suitable for finishing mobile SCS mages. As a consequence, the mage stayed in the game longer. And while dual-wielding Ariel finished the other doppelgangers much quicker than quarterstaff Ariel had, the mage's early survival added some drama.
Ariel opened with a dispelling arrow on the Doppelganger Mage. She then went in for the finish.
Scripted to stay on the move, he evaded Ariel's short and slow weapon repeatedly. After the mage rebuffed and made a break for the side rooms, Ariel was forced to return to the main hall to defend the Dukes.
Ariel cut through the doppelgangers quickly. And while the mage did get off a Confusion all the other doppelgangers were dead by then, making it less of a threat. All that was left was to head to the side room and finish the Doppelganger Mage. Note that a Remove had forced Ariel to rebuff. Liia and Belt both survived, although Liia was later cut down by Sarevok.
The Sarevok fight was satisfying mostly because Ariel triumphed in toe-to-toe melee. In retrospect, I wish she had meleed Tazok as well, but I'm nonetheless pleased with the fight.
Ariel buffed with Protection from Magic, Protection from Poison (for Diarmid), Protection from Undead (for the Skeleton Warriors), Protection from Fire, Potion of Fire Resistance, Potion of Mind Focusing, Potion of Defense, Potion of Storm Giant Strength, Potion of Power, Potion of Regeneration, Oil of Speed, and the Shield Amulet. She wore the Boots of Speed along with the Cloak of Displacement, the Girdle of Piercing and the Claw of the Kazgaroth to minimize damage from Diarmid's arrows.
An opening arrow of dispelling removed Sarevok's haste effect, insuring that Ariel would enjoy a massive movement rate advantage throughout the fight.
Ariel then went to work with arrows of dispelling and arrows of detonation. Her own 100% fire resistance allowed her to fire away indiscriminatly.
Little damage was taken in this phase, but a Remove from Angelo did force Ariel to quaff a Potion of Invisibility and rebuff.
Angelo was the last to fall. In quarterstaff Ariel's run, both Davaeorn and Angelo managed to wait out Protection from Magic with invisibility. Dual-wielding Ariel was given 50 points in Detect Illusions to make that gambit less likely to succeed. Detect Illusions helped throughout Ariel's BG1 adventure, but Angelo evaded detection. Ariel was forced to triangulate his position by using a Potion of Firebreath to find a line that he must be on, and then Arrows of Detonation targeted on Sarevok to find where he was on that line. This worked. Angelo was killed without having been revealed.
Only Big Brother remained. After refreshing some of her buffs and casting Draw on Holy Might, Ariel approached hidden in shadows. She engaged. An opening backstab gave Ariel a head start in the melee duel.
When Ariel succeeded in getting Sarevok down to near death before he could do significant damage, it looked like Ariel was going to prevail in toe-to-toe melee without disengaging or using healing potions. I was excited about this. But then Sarevok had a string of more favorable rolls, forcing Ariel to pull back and quaff a few extra healers. Still, every hitpoint of damage was done in melee, stealth was only used once in the opening, and no hit and run tactics were used. It was a good fight for Ariel. I'm glad she let me come along for the ride.
As soon as I get a stable BG2 install, Ariel will begin her adventures in Amn. I hope some of you enjoyed her time on the Sword Coast. I know I did. And I think she did too.
Best,
A.
Btw. I'm a lot more excited about Ariel's run than I was about Aria's. This has nothing to do with Aria's class: I think R/Cs are excellent. I just never connected with Aria as a character, and consequenetly never had a stake in her adventure. I feared that would happen with Ariel, but it hasn't yet. At this point, I think it would be wise to construct a backstory for Ariel and flesh out her personality. She feels alive to me, but not alive enough. For me that's important. I play much better when I know who my character is.
Retour en haut
. Happy backstabbing with Alba!
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