Quick synopsis, with details/initial results to follow:
Goal: To do a Dragon Age: Origins run using only a warrior and his dog, whenever the game allows such a party.
Difficulty: Normal
DLCs: Only Stone Prisoner
Origin: Human Noble, Sword and Shield style warrior
General Plan:
I will use only my warden warrior and his dog only whenever the game allows me to do so. I won't go out of my way to do party member quests, as often-times that means having them in the party, which is contrary to my goal. I will refuse party members when possible. This means I left Leliana and Sten in Lothering. I was forced to take Morrigan and Alistair. I will be killing Zevram. Will be siding with the Templars so taking out Wynne too (e.g., not letting her in the group). Will be refusing Oghren's help, if possible. Won't recruit Shale. I won't try to do all content, just trying to reach the goal (e.g., beat Archdemon using Warden and Dog only). I will not be lowering the difficulty. If I have trouble in an area, will leave and try other content/quests. If there's no other content to do but still stuck then that's it my run is over. I will definitely be reloading as needed. Herbalism will be a high priority for my main character, as I want to avoid other party member's help as much as possible.
Note that I won't be artificial about my party composition - that is, when the game forces other party members, such as Worcari Wilds and Tower of Ishtal, I do use the entire party for immersion purposes - I'm not going to leave them on "hold" the entire time. But if I can just be my dog and my Warden, I will do that.
Initial Results:
Castle Cousland:
I got my dog Charlie at Cousland Castle - tried to refuse my mother's help but she insisted. I did not try to persuade that civilian with the sword to help us, as it's supposed to be me and dog only if possible. Otherwise, results were normal for me, no injuries here at the Castle battles.
Ostagar (Korkari Wilds):
The game forced party members. I accepted their help but did NOT upgrade anyone, e.g., kept them as is. To conserve heal potions, as I knew it would be a while before I could get to the Dalish Camp, I tried not to use potions except on the main character. As it turned out, this resulted in two battles where everyone is unconscious except my Warden, who did pull through, barely. Was funny to see everyone riddled with injuries at the end of this quest. I didn't fight that shriek boss, since it drops mage boots and don't want to waste resources that isn't for my dog or my main character.
Tower of Ishtal:
The game again forces your party group. Note that I have herbalism by this point, which I used whenever I could. I put a point in coercion, but later realized that was probably a mistake. The reason being is that even if I had 1000 lesser heal poultices, I still need at least one other type of heal poultice due to the cool down timers. That in turn meant I should have upgraded my herbalism. I will do that next chance I get. Will do at least one poison skill too for grenades, but that might be a while still, as very soon must upgrade to expert combat skill.
Only injuries were at the end against the Alpha Ogre. Alistair and the mage went down, so my dog and my Warden did most of the work. The Warden used his bow here, which worked well.
Lothering:
I did have Alistair's and Morrigan's help against the bandits, however once we had our little talk (you know, about Alistair staring at his navel), I removed Alistair and Morrigan and it was the Warden and his Dog for the rest of the way (Warden's name is Coreduo by the way).
Naturally I couldn't do anything with the locked chests, but that will happen a lot this run, so am prepared for that. I would rather not go into the Tavern, but the merchant has Dog armor so had to suck it up so to speak. I concentrated fire on Loghain's leader, but the Warden went down (a bit too stingy on the heal potions). Dog and Leliana finished the job. I refused Leliana's help 3-4 times in dialog before she finally accepted my answer. Sten was left in his cage.
For the bandits, whenever possible, would pull piece meal with the Warden's bow, so to deal with just a few at a time. This was successful, but took quite a few heal potions. The spiders were dicey, as multiple times the dog and the Warden were webbed, but we pulled through. The bandit leader's heavy chain mail set was a huge upgrade, probably have this for a while.
I also battled the wolves for the locket quest and the bears. I avoided the fight with the commoners, just too many of them and heal poultices are still in short supply. Oathkeeper is my Warden's new weapon now. Time to leave Lothering. Saving Bodhann was difficult, but we pulled through. Only 5 lesser health poultices left, yikes!
Ambushed trying to get to Dalish Camp:
I got hit with the spider ambush. The initial battle was very hard, Charlie (my dog) and the Warden were badly hurt and all out of heal poultices. We picked up a few off the spider bodies, fortunately. I know some elf-root in the area, hopefully will be enough. Had to save at this point, more spiders to come.
To be continued...
A new run: a man and his dog
Débuté par
corey_russell
, janv. 23 2013 07:09
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#2
Posté 23 janvier 2013 - 10:24
DWSmiley
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corey_russell wrote...
As it turned out, this resulted in two battles where everyone is unconscious except my Warden, who did pull through, barely.
I remember a time this happened to me while using the cocky voice and my warden blurted out, "Aha, more loot for me!"
I avoided the fight with the commoners, just too many of them and heal poultices are still in short supply.
That's actually an easy fight if you run into the corner where the chest is so they can't swarm you. Really easy, solo, but trickier with a companion as they tend to run out into the thick of things. Also a great place for an acid flask.
Did you buy the collar from Bodahn, +6 attack and +6 armor? It's the second best collar in the game. Only the High Dragon's loot has better.
#3
Posté 23 janvier 2013 - 10:38
corey_russell
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DWSmiley wrote...
corey_russell wrote...
As it turned out, this resulted in two battles where everyone is unconscious except my Warden, who did pull through, barely.
I remember a time this happened to me while using the cocky voice and my warden blurted out, "Aha, more loot for me!"I avoided the fight with the commoners, just too many of them and heal poultices are still in short supply.
That's actually an easy fight if you run into the corner where the chest is so they can't swarm you. Really easy, solo, but trickier with a companion as they tend to run out into the thick of things. Also a great place for an acid flask.
Did you buy the collar from Bodahn, +6 attack and +6 armor? It's the second best collar in the game. Only the High Dragon's loot has better.
Nice idea about the chest area. No grenades yet no poison skill. Nice tip about that collar, no gold yet but will put on my shopping list. The one in the mage tower isn't too bad, it's +8 armor and something else I forget at the moment.
#4
Posté 24 janvier 2013 - 06:46
corey_russell
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CoreDuo and his Dog Charlie: Update 2
Coreduo and Charlie attempt to solve the problems at the Circle. With no mage backup was quite a challenge, over-all. Still no poison skill. Events of note:
0) Wynne and her mage allies were slain - lot of heal potion gulping but the duo prevailed without going unconscious. This was encouraging, felt I really did have a chance to do the tower, but would have been impossible without the 140 lesser heal potions I had crafted before coming here.
1) The lower levels were VERY easy, we rarely even had to heal ourselves -- I got a bit too slow on the heal poultice and my Warden fell unconscious unnecessarily against the rage demons near the end of the lower level. Throughout the Tower, whenever it was possible to break up large groups by "pulling", Coreduo did.
2) First reload was on the room with the Shiver (the desire demon and 5 charmed templars), level 3. By barely stepping in the room, Coreduo managed to pull them twice, so got to fight 3 smaller groups.
3) Fourth level with the desire demon and the deceived templar with the nice armor and undead friends were impossible. Thanks to the dialogue, was impossible not to get the whole room. So Coreduo skipped that demon and the room next to it, the armor would have been nice but have to pass for now, just not strong enough.
4) Fade was the same as always, except I accidentally got more than one stat bonus from a few stat loots, I've never done that before.
5) Had to reload on the Alpha Ogre in the Fade - this thing is so powerful. Next attempt spirit form managed to land a crushing prison (it sometimes gets resisted in my runs) and carried the day.
6) Freeing the dog from his dream is the easiest (and quickest) I've ever freed a party member.
7) Fighting the Sloth Demon when it's in Ogre form was very difficult. Tried golem but that was a waste, as the golem kept falling down and was taking huge hits. So went in normal form instead, primarily for the healing. A lot of running around and using Coreduo's bow. The dog tanked pretty good, all things considered. Had to use lyrium vents a few times to keep in the fight. The duo eventually did prevail, after a long slog.
8) Fighting the other forms of Sloth were no joke either without a healer. Used fire form on the rage demon, and just used
my natural form for the rest. Ton of pausing to keep the duo's health alive. Trying to save the big potions for Uldred, if possible. This meant if lesser potion on cool-down would run the character until could activate then get back in the fight.
9) I tried to avoid the greater rage demon fight with its shriek allies but apparently you can't avoid it. Very, very difficult. It was necessary to pause almost after every action was completed. I had a single warmth balm, I used it since even my full parties sometimes have to reload here, that rage demon has some powerful attacks. Doing so probably prevented myself from having to reload.
10) Without mage support,the fight with Uldred, was epic, epic, epic. Quite possibly, this might be the most difficult fight I've ever done. The first step was trying to get rid of the starting 4 abominations. That was no small task, as Uldred's initial melee hit dropped Coreduo 50% health. That made it clear that I was going to be doing a LOT of running. Once the abominations were clear, Coreudo would attempt to bow with fire arrows, while the dog would try to keep Uldred's attention. If dog was hurt but can't heal due to cool down timer, the dog would run around until it was active, heal, then get back in the fight. If Coreduo was being attacked, he would run while the dog tried to bite Uldred. If the dog got frozen (which happened a few times), Coreduo would approach to do a shield pummel, just to keep the dog alive, then back off and resume his bow attacks. The dog only has dread howl and charge skills. He did use them, even though the dread howl was always resisted, to try to keep the aggro, so that Coreduo's bow can do the job.
11) The duo did finally slay Uldred, with only 8 lesser potions left after starting with about 140-150. Not much loot of course, since locked chests stay locked. Coreduo sided with the Templars.
Coreduo then went to camp to get a well-deserved rest. Redcliffe is probably our next stop, after stopping at the Dalish Camp once more to craft some more lesser health poultices. Coreduo is level 8, dog is level 7. Still using the heavy chainmail set from the bandit leader in Lothering.
Coreduo and Charlie attempt to solve the problems at the Circle. With no mage backup was quite a challenge, over-all. Still no poison skill. Events of note:
0) Wynne and her mage allies were slain - lot of heal potion gulping but the duo prevailed without going unconscious. This was encouraging, felt I really did have a chance to do the tower, but would have been impossible without the 140 lesser heal potions I had crafted before coming here.
1) The lower levels were VERY easy, we rarely even had to heal ourselves -- I got a bit too slow on the heal poultice and my Warden fell unconscious unnecessarily against the rage demons near the end of the lower level. Throughout the Tower, whenever it was possible to break up large groups by "pulling", Coreduo did.
2) First reload was on the room with the Shiver (the desire demon and 5 charmed templars), level 3. By barely stepping in the room, Coreduo managed to pull them twice, so got to fight 3 smaller groups.
3) Fourth level with the desire demon and the deceived templar with the nice armor and undead friends were impossible. Thanks to the dialogue, was impossible not to get the whole room. So Coreduo skipped that demon and the room next to it, the armor would have been nice but have to pass for now, just not strong enough.
4) Fade was the same as always, except I accidentally got more than one stat bonus from a few stat loots, I've never done that before.
5) Had to reload on the Alpha Ogre in the Fade - this thing is so powerful. Next attempt spirit form managed to land a crushing prison (it sometimes gets resisted in my runs) and carried the day.
6) Freeing the dog from his dream is the easiest (and quickest) I've ever freed a party member.
7) Fighting the Sloth Demon when it's in Ogre form was very difficult. Tried golem but that was a waste, as the golem kept falling down and was taking huge hits. So went in normal form instead, primarily for the healing. A lot of running around and using Coreduo's bow. The dog tanked pretty good, all things considered. Had to use lyrium vents a few times to keep in the fight. The duo eventually did prevail, after a long slog.
8) Fighting the other forms of Sloth were no joke either without a healer. Used fire form on the rage demon, and just used
my natural form for the rest. Ton of pausing to keep the duo's health alive. Trying to save the big potions for Uldred, if possible. This meant if lesser potion on cool-down would run the character until could activate then get back in the fight.
9) I tried to avoid the greater rage demon fight with its shriek allies but apparently you can't avoid it. Very, very difficult. It was necessary to pause almost after every action was completed. I had a single warmth balm, I used it since even my full parties sometimes have to reload here, that rage demon has some powerful attacks. Doing so probably prevented myself from having to reload.
10) Without mage support,the fight with Uldred, was epic, epic, epic. Quite possibly, this might be the most difficult fight I've ever done. The first step was trying to get rid of the starting 4 abominations. That was no small task, as Uldred's initial melee hit dropped Coreduo 50% health. That made it clear that I was going to be doing a LOT of running. Once the abominations were clear, Coreudo would attempt to bow with fire arrows, while the dog would try to keep Uldred's attention. If dog was hurt but can't heal due to cool down timer, the dog would run around until it was active, heal, then get back in the fight. If Coreduo was being attacked, he would run while the dog tried to bite Uldred. If the dog got frozen (which happened a few times), Coreduo would approach to do a shield pummel, just to keep the dog alive, then back off and resume his bow attacks. The dog only has dread howl and charge skills. He did use them, even though the dread howl was always resisted, to try to keep the aggro, so that Coreduo's bow can do the job.
11) The duo did finally slay Uldred, with only 8 lesser potions left after starting with about 140-150. Not much loot of course, since locked chests stay locked. Coreduo sided with the Templars.
Coreduo then went to camp to get a well-deserved rest. Redcliffe is probably our next stop, after stopping at the Dalish Camp once more to craft some more lesser health poultices. Coreduo is level 8, dog is level 7. Still using the heavy chainmail set from the bandit leader in Lothering.
#5
Posté 24 janvier 2013 - 02:08
Ferretinabun
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Sounds like you're through the worst of it. Solo runs are apparently plain sailing from here on in, so it must only be easier with a companion, right?
Honnleath is a popular second stop after the Circle Tower for the Helm of Honnleath and Harvest Festival ring. Though Kitty can still be a pain, of course...
Honnleath is a popular second stop after the Circle Tower for the Helm of Honnleath and Harvest Festival ring. Though Kitty can still be a pain, of course...
#6
Posté 24 janvier 2013 - 04:25
corey_russell
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Ferretinabun wrote...
Sounds like you're through the worst of it. Solo runs are apparently plain sailing from here on in, so it must only be easier with a companion, right?
Honnleath is a popular second stop after the Circle Tower for the Helm of Honnleath and Harvest Festival ring. Though Kitty can still be a pain, of course...
I've heard that duoing is actually harder than soloing, though I have no idea how true that might be, as this is my first duo attempt (and I"ve never done solo).
The main concern I have about Honnleath (and why I didn't do that before the Circle) is not Kitty, as there's a greater warmth balm that helps a lot in the encounter with her, but instead the large group of darkspawn next to the villagers. Even with a full party I often need to force-field a character, but that's not an option in this case, so still wondering how I might pull it off. No grenades yet. With a full party, if I don't have force-field, oftentimes at least one character falls unconscious in that encounter.
#7
Posté 25 janvier 2013 - 12:02
Andronic0s
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corey_russell wrote...
Ferretinabun wrote...
Sounds like you're through the worst of it. Solo runs are apparently plain sailing from here on in, so it must only be easier with a companion, right?
Honnleath is a popular second stop after the Circle Tower for the Helm of Honnleath and Harvest Festival ring. Though Kitty can still be a pain, of course...
I've heard that duoing is actually harder than soloing, though I have no idea how true that might be, as this is my first duo attempt (and I"ve never done solo).
The main concern I have about Honnleath (and why I didn't do that before the Circle) is not Kitty, as there's a greater warmth balm that helps a lot in the encounter with her, but instead the large group of darkspawn next to the villagers. Even with a full party I often need to force-field a character, but that's not an option in this case, so still wondering how I might pull it off. No grenades yet. With a full party, if I don't have force-field, oftentimes at least one character falls unconscious in that encounter.
What I normally do in those encounters is to shoot a couple of arrows to whoever is nearest then withdraw, normally only a couple follow.
#8
Posté 25 janvier 2013 - 12:14
corey_russell
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Andronic0s wrote...
corey_russell wrote...
Ferretinabun wrote...
Sounds like you're through the worst of it. Solo runs are apparently plain sailing from here on in, so it must only be easier with a companion, right?
Honnleath is a popular second stop after the Circle Tower for the Helm of Honnleath and Harvest Festival ring. Though Kitty can still be a pain, of course...
I've heard that duoing is actually harder than soloing, though I have no idea how true that might be, as this is my first duo attempt (and I"ve never done solo).
The main concern I have about Honnleath (and why I didn't do that before the Circle) is not Kitty, as there's a greater warmth balm that helps a lot in the encounter with her, but instead the large group of darkspawn next to the villagers. Even with a full party I often need to force-field a character, but that's not an option in this case, so still wondering how I might pull it off. No grenades yet. With a full party, if I don't have force-field, oftentimes at least one character falls unconscious in that encounter.
What I normally do in those encounters is to shoot a couple of arrows to whoever is nearest then withdraw, normally only a couple follow.
Hmm, I could do that (I've done a ton of pulling in Everquest). I'll give it a shot the helm and ring could be a big help. More experience for Charlie can help too, next skill is overwhelm.
#9
Posté 25 janvier 2013 - 01:00
dainbramage
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Most of the darkspawn keep trying to hit the barrier rather than go for you. With careful positioning you can avoid fighting more than 2-3 at a time.
#10
Posté 25 janvier 2013 - 01:27
sylvanaerie
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This is a really interesting thread. Please continue posting the adventures of a man and his dog. I've never tried even soloing the game (though i know it's possible to do)
#11
Posté 25 janvier 2013 - 03:22
DWSmiley
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corey_russell wrote...
I've heard that duoing is actually harder than soloing, though I have no idea how true that might be, as this is my first duo attempt (and I"ve never done solo).
A fight can be easier solo if all or almost all the attackers are meleers and there is a good defensive position to stand in. That forces them all to face the warden, a few at a time, and the warden is more formidable than any companion. The Lothering commoners are a perfect example.
#12
Posté 25 janvier 2013 - 04:58
corey_russell
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sylvanaerie wrote...
This is a really interesting thread. Please continue posting the adventures of a man and his dog. I've never tried even soloing the game (though i know it's possible to do)
Thanks for letting me know of your interest, Sylvanaerie. I will indeed keep posting then, until I am stymied or succeed.
Coreduo (S&S Warrior) and Charlie (Dog) Update 3:
So after the exhausting Circle adventure, we make another stop at the Dalish camp for more elfroot to craft some more potions (I suspect I'm going to craft 1000's of potions by the time the run's done...). We then head to Sulcher's Pass to open up Honnleath and we get the Zevram ambush. The most dangerous opponent in this group by far is the mage, who opens with a paralyze. Chalie gets close and does dread howl and the Warden does his quickest move, which is bash. Both work, then a shield pummel finishes the assassin mage. Lots of heal potions gulped inbetween attacks, but then we slay Zevram. The rest of the assassins are chumps and were easily taken down by the duo. For the first time ever, I slew Zevram instead of interrogating him.
After making it to Sulcher's Pass, we head to Honnleath and get the Blightbear/Blightwolf ambush. We actually failed earlier in the run with these enemies. Both the dog and the Warden have a more resistance (20 CON), so we pull through, even through an overwhelm on the Warden.
Once we got to Honnleath (surface), as usual we tried to fight the darkspawn in small groups by pulling with the Warden's bow. This was successful.
Once in Wilhelm's Cellar, we had our first battle with about 8 darkspawn, just archers and melees. Lots of heal potion gulping, but the duo pulled through without a death. One of my key tactics is I have the dog assist the Warden to make sure enemies are falling as fast as possible. Next group with the emissary we managed to pull 3 darkspawn and killed them, then my dog ran into the large group still remaining. I managed to kill the emissary before the dog was put unconscious using my skills (shield pummel, overpower, etc.). Ton potion gulping, but managed to slay the remaining darkspawn. Oh, should mention I have the hunter's belt I think it's called (0.75 stamina regen in combat) you can get from Bodhann Feddig.
Next up was the room with the shrieks...they must be rather low level, as the Warden and Charlie handled it easily. Something very important happened here, Warden leveled and I got a skill! I been hoarding any grenades/poison materials I pick up, I figured I probably will need it against kitty, especially as I can't get the greater warmth balm in the chest, so picked poison.
First attempt against kitty was a slaughter. Think she did either a cone of cold or a winter's grasp, which caused the duo to go down. I forgotten to dread howl charlie. So 2nd attempt opened with 2 grenades then Charlie got close and did dread howl, and of course warden used his shield skills and that killed Kitty. The warden was still taking a ton of damage from the rage demons, a few times he ran away until his lesser health poultice cool down timer expired so that he could heal and get back in the fray. The duo then managed to slay the rage demons without casualty. Tough, and doubt I would have been able to pull it off without the grenades and poison. So now the Helm of Honnleath and festival ring are equipped on the Warden.
We did recruit Shale, however, Shale's only job the entire run is defense of the gate of Denerim during the Final Battle, the one thing the Warden and his dog can't do.
I still can't afford the +6 attack/+6 armor dog armor from Bodhann (need about 6 gold), so we head to Redcliffe. Bann Teagan said Charlie and I are an unusual group...I hired Dwynn to assist in the defense, told Ser Perth he will just have to make do without any holy protection, did NOT use the oil from the General Store, and promised Owen I would find his daughter.
Time for defense of Redcliffe Village. The Warden would pull with his bow, get quite a few (6 or more) and then run back to the Knights and then engage. This worked out well, no deaths of anyone here, not even Berwick. But I knew this was the easy part.
Next, time to assist the militia. I thought I was going to lose them all, but only lost 1/2 including the owner of the tavern. I made sure to loot the bodies before this part of the quest finished...Success! After selling my junk still about one sovereign shy of the 6 gold I need for Charlie's armor. Time to go into Redcliffe Castle.
Despite being heavily outnumbered, Charlie and the Warden were doing well, perhaps because of the Warden's bravery talent. I did sometimes have Charlie look for interesting things, and one thing he found was dirty pantaloons...One of the difficult fights I knew would be the room with all those Marbarri hounds. I had to reload there. 2nd attempt, the Warden got overwhelmed and killed again, however, we were able to kill the elite marbarri before he died. Charlie would fight, heal and if low health, run, heal then fight etc., this way slowly get the numbers down. He also did a fantastic play, at one point an enemy marbarri was coming in for a shred, Charlie closed the door on it - smart dog! The enemy marbarris opened the door, but the shred did no damage. Charlie then finished the last of them--success! Now for sure we will have the 6 gold I need. Since we were so close we freed Valena first.
We then headed back to Redcliffe village to get our reward, accepted the dwarven armor, and went to camp to sell and finally get the +6 attack/+6 armor piece for the dog. Was getting late, so decided to call it a night here. Of course will head back to the Castle to finish the business there in our next session.
Modifié par corey_russell, 25 janvier 2013 - 05:08 .
#13
Posté 26 janvier 2013 - 05:45
corey_russell
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Coreduo (Human S&S Warrior) and Charlie (Dog) Update 4
Coreduo and Charlie work their way to the courtyard of Redcliffe Castle. He noticed a Revenant and some helpers, he didn't see how his dog and him could get them without a little aid. So he opened the gate and the knights assisted. One knight perished, but the couryard was clear.
Once inside the castle, Coreduo discovered a demon in Connor's body was causing all this trouble. A battle with Bann Teagan and some charmed guards went well. Since Coreduo is not using other group members, going into the Fade was a non-starter. So instead he decided he must slay the boy to stop the madness.
First task? Clear the magical suits of armor who attacked. This was a long and bloody battle. Coreduo and Charlie did win, but all the knights of Redcliffe perished.
Time to deal with some undead to get the key to the vault - using all the abilities of the duo, they won again. Coreduo is using shield wall often now for the bonus AC.
Upstairs was a tense battle with a large number of undead. It could have been a disaster but Charlie had the attention of two of them, ran away, healed, then ran back and dread howled again. This was enough to sway the battle to victory. The next batch of undead were dispatched without too much trouble, close coordination between man and dog being the order of the day.
Upstairs was a different matter. When fighting the rage demons, Coreduo fell, even using a warmth balm. There were 3 left and Charlie couldn't finish them (need to get the fire resistance armor for Charlie when I got the cash). Reload again. Almost same strategy as last time, except close coordination between man and beast. Coreduo STILL fell unconscious, however, this time only one rage demon was left and Charlie managed to finish it. Thankfully there was a pause in combat and Coreduo awakened and together the duo battled the demon one last time. For some reason, Charlie refused to overwhelm the demon - they immune maybe? In any case the duo prevailed.
Isolde tried to stop Coreduo from doing what he must. He had to slap her aside to finish Connor. By this time I got obtained the 18 corpse galls, so we headed to Redcliffe Chantry to do the turn in -- the gold is much appreciated. We also got the boots of diligence from Owen since Coreduo plans to get the Knight's Commander armor when he can afford it. Coreduo also got a basic Tier 5 sword here with 2 rune slots to replace his Oathkeeper. After signing up for some quests, the duo posed for a picture for a Redcliffe villager, standing next to Chanter Farrah.
The duo stopped at the Dalish camp to get some more elfroot and at the party camp to get some flasks. Alistair chewed out Coreduo for slaying Connor (-14).
Next task was killing some darkspawn who had already murdered some refugees. This group had an elite hurlock and two darkspawn emissaries. Two reloads here. The curse of mortality (no healing) is really a killer here. Yet again, success was obtained by close coordination of the duo. Charlie did overwhelm on the nearest emmissary, Coreduo used an acid flask and charged, it died quick. Immediately Charlie charged the other emissary, used dread howl to interrupt its spell -- Coreduo charged with a shield pummel. Together they managed to slay it before it could get anything bad off. Once the emissaries were dead, the duo finished the rest without further incident, drinking many lesser health poultices along the way.
Next Chantry task was rescuing some refugees being attacked by many melee/archers plus a darkspawn emissary (boss). No reloads here, but the duo almost died (no spell resistance yet is a real killer). The duo ran FAR away, almost back at the zone in point to heal up. By this point, all the darkspawn were dead except for the emissary. Once healed up, the duo charged. By this point overwhelm, overpower and shield pummel were active - the boss had no chance.
Final task was another band of soldiers slaughtered by many wolves and a bear (boss). Charlie and Coreduo had no trouble at all (Coreduo's physicial resistance is 37 at this point). Coreduo reports back to Redcliffe Chantry, giving him a level and Cleanse Aura. Can't max the S&S line yet, don't have expert combat training, which will be next skill once I get one.
Finally we head to Denerim. We did NOT get the back alley quest. Don't think the duo can do that quite yet, need better equipment I think. We did however, talk to the Sergeant - time to clear out some mercenaries from the Pearl. BUT, on the way got that 8 archer/6 melee ambush. Many reloads here. What finally worked was this -- I set Charlie on hold, then creeped up VERY slowly and take a few shots at an archer at the left. ONLY that archer followed, so I still made sure to stay out of sight of the others and just used my bow, Charlie still on hold. This worked to slay 3 of the archers on the left, one at a time. The last archer brought the melees. Charlie foolishly overwhelmed an archer, which got the attention of 3 melees and the other 4 archers - Coreduo was working on 3 melees himself. Coreduo used acid flask at himself. Charlie was eventually put unconsious, but he bought Coreduo time. Coreduo managed to finish the 3 melees then 3 fresh melees came at him, the archers at the right still unaware of Coreduo. Coreduo did acid flask again at himself and demonic poison, and that was enough to finish them all. Coreduo then healed up to max then charged the remaining archers. He did win, but many poultices gulped to keep his health up.
Finally the duo gets to the Pearl. Forgot to mention, that knight who accuses Coreduo of being a Grey Warden, intimidate failed but persuade somehow worked (19 cunning, 1 rank of coercion). So I tried persuade on the white falcons but failed - hmmm...the duo concentrates talents on the leader and force him to leave. Coreduo treated himself to a lady here for 40 silver, but was disappointed on how fast it went. Moving on...he tries to talk to the Sergeant and meets him on the street, but then Cristof and his White Falcons show up. Honestly this would normally be impossible, too many strong guys, but fortunately the sergeant is unkillable, and now Coreduo has a new weapon, the Aodh.
Next up was talking to Weylon. I did NOT want to go to Lake Calahad, I wanted to unlock Haven immediately. Failed to cause Weylon to incrimate himself, so instead just tried to enter the room in back and then Weylon went berserk. Bad play as overwhelm/overpower left him with no health.
The Sergeant asked me to clear some Crimson Oars. I made the mistake again of not taking close control of both man and dog -- Charlie overwhelmed a minor guy instead of the Crimson Oar leader. Bad mistake, reload again. Once more, but this time concentrating talents on the Crimson Oar leader (and using poison) - success! Though the duo took quite a beating, but they didn't fall unconscious.
The last task of this session was breaking up Loghain's taking of some Bannorn land (Chantry Quest). I don't think I've ever failed this, and sure enough clean victory here.
Next session, thinking of maybe going back to the Circle of Magi and taking on the charmed templar (elite) and the desire demon -- since I still can't afford the Commander's Plate, even 20% spell resist could be helpful for the Sacred Urn portion.
Coreduo and Charlie work their way to the courtyard of Redcliffe Castle. He noticed a Revenant and some helpers, he didn't see how his dog and him could get them without a little aid. So he opened the gate and the knights assisted. One knight perished, but the couryard was clear.
Once inside the castle, Coreduo discovered a demon in Connor's body was causing all this trouble. A battle with Bann Teagan and some charmed guards went well. Since Coreduo is not using other group members, going into the Fade was a non-starter. So instead he decided he must slay the boy to stop the madness.
First task? Clear the magical suits of armor who attacked. This was a long and bloody battle. Coreduo and Charlie did win, but all the knights of Redcliffe perished.
Time to deal with some undead to get the key to the vault - using all the abilities of the duo, they won again. Coreduo is using shield wall often now for the bonus AC.
Upstairs was a tense battle with a large number of undead. It could have been a disaster but Charlie had the attention of two of them, ran away, healed, then ran back and dread howled again. This was enough to sway the battle to victory. The next batch of undead were dispatched without too much trouble, close coordination between man and dog being the order of the day.
Upstairs was a different matter. When fighting the rage demons, Coreduo fell, even using a warmth balm. There were 3 left and Charlie couldn't finish them (need to get the fire resistance armor for Charlie when I got the cash). Reload again. Almost same strategy as last time, except close coordination between man and beast. Coreduo STILL fell unconscious, however, this time only one rage demon was left and Charlie managed to finish it. Thankfully there was a pause in combat and Coreduo awakened and together the duo battled the demon one last time. For some reason, Charlie refused to overwhelm the demon - they immune maybe? In any case the duo prevailed.
Isolde tried to stop Coreduo from doing what he must. He had to slap her aside to finish Connor. By this time I got obtained the 18 corpse galls, so we headed to Redcliffe Chantry to do the turn in -- the gold is much appreciated. We also got the boots of diligence from Owen since Coreduo plans to get the Knight's Commander armor when he can afford it. Coreduo also got a basic Tier 5 sword here with 2 rune slots to replace his Oathkeeper. After signing up for some quests, the duo posed for a picture for a Redcliffe villager, standing next to Chanter Farrah.
The duo stopped at the Dalish camp to get some more elfroot and at the party camp to get some flasks. Alistair chewed out Coreduo for slaying Connor (-14).
Next task was killing some darkspawn who had already murdered some refugees. This group had an elite hurlock and two darkspawn emissaries. Two reloads here. The curse of mortality (no healing) is really a killer here. Yet again, success was obtained by close coordination of the duo. Charlie did overwhelm on the nearest emmissary, Coreduo used an acid flask and charged, it died quick. Immediately Charlie charged the other emissary, used dread howl to interrupt its spell -- Coreduo charged with a shield pummel. Together they managed to slay it before it could get anything bad off. Once the emissaries were dead, the duo finished the rest without further incident, drinking many lesser health poultices along the way.
Next Chantry task was rescuing some refugees being attacked by many melee/archers plus a darkspawn emissary (boss). No reloads here, but the duo almost died (no spell resistance yet is a real killer). The duo ran FAR away, almost back at the zone in point to heal up. By this point, all the darkspawn were dead except for the emissary. Once healed up, the duo charged. By this point overwhelm, overpower and shield pummel were active - the boss had no chance.
Final task was another band of soldiers slaughtered by many wolves and a bear (boss). Charlie and Coreduo had no trouble at all (Coreduo's physicial resistance is 37 at this point). Coreduo reports back to Redcliffe Chantry, giving him a level and Cleanse Aura. Can't max the S&S line yet, don't have expert combat training, which will be next skill once I get one.
Finally we head to Denerim. We did NOT get the back alley quest. Don't think the duo can do that quite yet, need better equipment I think. We did however, talk to the Sergeant - time to clear out some mercenaries from the Pearl. BUT, on the way got that 8 archer/6 melee ambush. Many reloads here. What finally worked was this -- I set Charlie on hold, then creeped up VERY slowly and take a few shots at an archer at the left. ONLY that archer followed, so I still made sure to stay out of sight of the others and just used my bow, Charlie still on hold. This worked to slay 3 of the archers on the left, one at a time. The last archer brought the melees. Charlie foolishly overwhelmed an archer, which got the attention of 3 melees and the other 4 archers - Coreduo was working on 3 melees himself. Coreduo used acid flask at himself. Charlie was eventually put unconsious, but he bought Coreduo time. Coreduo managed to finish the 3 melees then 3 fresh melees came at him, the archers at the right still unaware of Coreduo. Coreduo did acid flask again at himself and demonic poison, and that was enough to finish them all. Coreduo then healed up to max then charged the remaining archers. He did win, but many poultices gulped to keep his health up.
Finally the duo gets to the Pearl. Forgot to mention, that knight who accuses Coreduo of being a Grey Warden, intimidate failed but persuade somehow worked (19 cunning, 1 rank of coercion). So I tried persuade on the white falcons but failed - hmmm...the duo concentrates talents on the leader and force him to leave. Coreduo treated himself to a lady here for 40 silver, but was disappointed on how fast it went. Moving on...he tries to talk to the Sergeant and meets him on the street, but then Cristof and his White Falcons show up. Honestly this would normally be impossible, too many strong guys, but fortunately the sergeant is unkillable, and now Coreduo has a new weapon, the Aodh.
Next up was talking to Weylon. I did NOT want to go to Lake Calahad, I wanted to unlock Haven immediately. Failed to cause Weylon to incrimate himself, so instead just tried to enter the room in back and then Weylon went berserk. Bad play as overwhelm/overpower left him with no health.
The Sergeant asked me to clear some Crimson Oars. I made the mistake again of not taking close control of both man and dog -- Charlie overwhelmed a minor guy instead of the Crimson Oar leader. Bad mistake, reload again. Once more, but this time concentrating talents on the Crimson Oar leader (and using poison) - success! Though the duo took quite a beating, but they didn't fall unconscious.
The last task of this session was breaking up Loghain's taking of some Bannorn land (Chantry Quest). I don't think I've ever failed this, and sure enough clean victory here.
Next session, thinking of maybe going back to the Circle of Magi and taking on the charmed templar (elite) and the desire demon -- since I still can't afford the Commander's Plate, even 20% spell resist could be helpful for the Sacred Urn portion.
Modifié par corey_russell, 26 janvier 2013 - 05:51 .
#14
Posté 26 janvier 2013 - 10:32
corey_russell
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Coreduo (Human S&S Warrior) and Charlie (Dog) Update 5:
Well I did go to the circle but the demon and charmed templar were gone. So went to Haven instead. Battles there were pretty straightforward, EXCEPT the one after coming out of the store after slaying the storekeep. We went after the mage straight away but the dog got stunned and Coreduo got winter-grasped. Despite my best efforts Coreduo got slain, Charlie finished the mage. But now it's him vs. 3 melees not good...Charlie runs back to the zone in, only to find a host of hostile villagers, uh, oh...Charlie tries to make a fight of it but he is slain...but oddly Coreduo came to life! Coreduo avenged Charlie and finished all the enemies here.
Next up was the Ruined Temple guarding the Urn. Somewhat suprisingly I did MUCH better than I expected, despite almost no spell resist gear. Key was overwhelm of Charlie's as that usually one-shotted the enemy mages. The duo does well vs. melee types. The Armor of Diligence was a huge upgrade also. We did have to reload this segment one fight didn't notice a mage in back. 2nd attempt mage was overwhelmed and that was that.
For the Dragonling part of the Temple, we would "pull" if possible, overwhelm on mages. If Charlie hurt, he would run and and heal and return. This strategy was effective, even when fighting large groups of enemies. Shield Wall ran all the time for the extra AC. We did NOT go in the areas with the Drakes -- maybe we could do it with crafted, more powerful health poultices, but dont' have that option yet. We made it Holgrim, but we could NOT defeat him and his group - in fact not even close!
Still can't afford Knight Commander's Plate, so head to Brecillian Forest battles/quests instead. The duo does very well vs. the werewolves/bears/wolves here. We managed to make enough gold from the loot here to get the Knight Commander's Plate. Oh, for wrist using ancient elven wrist armor.
We finally make it to the Forest Ruins. One suprising reload was when we faced off vs. 4 poisonous spiders. The spiders were killing Coreduo VERY fast (and of course, Charlie couldn't finish the job). On reload, used a lesser nature salve on Coreduo to protect against the poison. That was enough for victory, though the duo still took a beating.
Next big fight was the small dragon (male I think). We only had the lesser health poultices, so Coerduo would engage dragon, run to heal, and repeat. We ran quite a distance up the stairs but prevailed our first attempt.
Skeletons weren't too bad, as long as the numbers weren't too many. If there were ridiculous amount of them they sometimes slew Charlie, though Coreduo pulled through each time. We had a nice big fight at the circle with the undead boy and the massive number of undead - Charlie lived, but only by run, healing, fight, repeat. Coreduo tanked great, especially considering all the swords hacking at him. Below is a screenshot.
We did get the Juggernaut armor, as I was pretty sure the duo could prevail. Well they did, kind of -- overwhelm failed to kill the undead mage, so Charlie was basically frozen to death - should have swapped his armor for cold resist geat, but didn't think about it at the time.
The demon at the bottom of the stairs (at least I think it is one) was killed with Coreduo's bow while Coreduo stayed on the stairs - this avoids the lightning attack that floods the floor. This worked, though ton of health potion gulping again. After looting this floor, was full so had to head back to sell. What's kind of silly is I tried to the do the Cammen quest, and with my poor coercion I failed -- then the Dalish merchant wouldn't sell to me! Doh, didn't realize it was so dangerous to do the Cammen quest - reload and left Cammen alone.
On the return the duo battled to the Gatekeeper fairly easily. Coreduo allowed himself to be escorted to the "Lady" and agreed to get Zathrian. I believe this encounter is high incentive to get templar class for solos/duos - cleanse aura frees the werewolves/witherfang and Zathrian has no chance - of course, Charlie's overwhelm didn't help Zathrian either.
After obtaining the elves promise of support vs. the blight, decided now that I have a little bit of gold I should get the fire resistance dog gear (siege-breaker). Guess what ambush I get? about 10 flaming undead and an elite rage demon! Grrr...fortunately I had bought all the greater heal potions from the Dalish merchant as well as warmth balms (how prophetic). I used warmth balms for both party members - even so we took a beating, but we did prevail.
I got the Siege-Breaker for Charlie, and got the quest for Morrigan (why not, don't even have to fight). I saved my session here.
Well I did go to the circle but the demon and charmed templar were gone. So went to Haven instead. Battles there were pretty straightforward, EXCEPT the one after coming out of the store after slaying the storekeep. We went after the mage straight away but the dog got stunned and Coreduo got winter-grasped. Despite my best efforts Coreduo got slain, Charlie finished the mage. But now it's him vs. 3 melees not good...Charlie runs back to the zone in, only to find a host of hostile villagers, uh, oh...Charlie tries to make a fight of it but he is slain...but oddly Coreduo came to life! Coreduo avenged Charlie and finished all the enemies here.
Next up was the Ruined Temple guarding the Urn. Somewhat suprisingly I did MUCH better than I expected, despite almost no spell resist gear. Key was overwhelm of Charlie's as that usually one-shotted the enemy mages. The duo does well vs. melee types. The Armor of Diligence was a huge upgrade also. We did have to reload this segment one fight didn't notice a mage in back. 2nd attempt mage was overwhelmed and that was that.
For the Dragonling part of the Temple, we would "pull" if possible, overwhelm on mages. If Charlie hurt, he would run and and heal and return. This strategy was effective, even when fighting large groups of enemies. Shield Wall ran all the time for the extra AC. We did NOT go in the areas with the Drakes -- maybe we could do it with crafted, more powerful health poultices, but dont' have that option yet. We made it Holgrim, but we could NOT defeat him and his group - in fact not even close!
Still can't afford Knight Commander's Plate, so head to Brecillian Forest battles/quests instead. The duo does very well vs. the werewolves/bears/wolves here. We managed to make enough gold from the loot here to get the Knight Commander's Plate. Oh, for wrist using ancient elven wrist armor.
We finally make it to the Forest Ruins. One suprising reload was when we faced off vs. 4 poisonous spiders. The spiders were killing Coreduo VERY fast (and of course, Charlie couldn't finish the job). On reload, used a lesser nature salve on Coreduo to protect against the poison. That was enough for victory, though the duo still took a beating.
Next big fight was the small dragon (male I think). We only had the lesser health poultices, so Coerduo would engage dragon, run to heal, and repeat. We ran quite a distance up the stairs but prevailed our first attempt.
Skeletons weren't too bad, as long as the numbers weren't too many. If there were ridiculous amount of them they sometimes slew Charlie, though Coreduo pulled through each time. We had a nice big fight at the circle with the undead boy and the massive number of undead - Charlie lived, but only by run, healing, fight, repeat. Coreduo tanked great, especially considering all the swords hacking at him. Below is a screenshot.
We did get the Juggernaut armor, as I was pretty sure the duo could prevail. Well they did, kind of -- overwhelm failed to kill the undead mage, so Charlie was basically frozen to death - should have swapped his armor for cold resist geat, but didn't think about it at the time.
The demon at the bottom of the stairs (at least I think it is one) was killed with Coreduo's bow while Coreduo stayed on the stairs - this avoids the lightning attack that floods the floor. This worked, though ton of health potion gulping again. After looting this floor, was full so had to head back to sell. What's kind of silly is I tried to the do the Cammen quest, and with my poor coercion I failed -- then the Dalish merchant wouldn't sell to me! Doh, didn't realize it was so dangerous to do the Cammen quest - reload and left Cammen alone.
On the return the duo battled to the Gatekeeper fairly easily. Coreduo allowed himself to be escorted to the "Lady" and agreed to get Zathrian. I believe this encounter is high incentive to get templar class for solos/duos - cleanse aura frees the werewolves/witherfang and Zathrian has no chance - of course, Charlie's overwhelm didn't help Zathrian either.
After obtaining the elves promise of support vs. the blight, decided now that I have a little bit of gold I should get the fire resistance dog gear (siege-breaker). Guess what ambush I get? about 10 flaming undead and an elite rage demon! Grrr...fortunately I had bought all the greater heal potions from the Dalish merchant as well as warmth balms (how prophetic). I used warmth balms for both party members - even so we took a beating, but we did prevail.
I got the Siege-Breaker for Charlie, and got the quest for Morrigan (why not, don't even have to fight). I saved my session here.
Modifié par corey_russell, 26 janvier 2013 - 10:32 .
#15
Posté 27 janvier 2013 - 04:07
corey_russell
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Coreduo (Human S&S Warrior) and Charlie (Dog) Update 6:
Just a quick note. I attempted Kolgrim again, and this time was a complete success. The main differences is the Knight Commander's Plate, Shield Mastery (improving shield wall), cold resistance armor on Charlie until mages dead (Charlie was hit with cold spells, so this likely saved him), and also a number of Greater Health Poultices. Still don't have improved herbalism yet, but that's the next skill. Gauntlet was very easy, guess elites don't amount to much if they don't have an elite mage supporting them. The bridge was interesting, two wraiths appeared in the party until we made it across.
Got into a large ambush, maybe 16 darkspawn (maybe more even) plus two shrieks. Took a lot of poultices to beat that group - only one elf survived. Charlie used his speed to run/heal and then return to assist.
Just a quick note. I attempted Kolgrim again, and this time was a complete success. The main differences is the Knight Commander's Plate, Shield Mastery (improving shield wall), cold resistance armor on Charlie until mages dead (Charlie was hit with cold spells, so this likely saved him), and also a number of Greater Health Poultices. Still don't have improved herbalism yet, but that's the next skill. Gauntlet was very easy, guess elites don't amount to much if they don't have an elite mage supporting them. The bridge was interesting, two wraiths appeared in the party until we made it across.
Got into a large ambush, maybe 16 darkspawn (maybe more even) plus two shrieks. Took a lot of poultices to beat that group - only one elf survived. Charlie used his speed to run/heal and then return to assist.
#16
Posté 28 janvier 2013 - 04:26
corey_russell
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Coreduo (Human S&S Warrior) and Charlie (Dog) Update 7:
Early Ozzomar Results:
Coreduo sided with Harrowmont. He failed to get either Harrowmont fighter to change their mind about their withdrawal (yep, still only 1 coercion skill). The proving went pretty good. The only real question was the final one with the boss and an elite - We got 1/2 of them dead then Charlie went down, but soon after the final non-boss mob went down. So now it was head-to-head with the boss fighter. Got a bit dicey, but Coreduo managed to pull it off, most important detail probably being the Master Paralyze run he has on his weapon, which went off a few times during the fight.
On the way to Dusttown got attacked by 5-6 Bhelen Fanatic fighters. I thought he was going to lose this, but he just barely managed to come out on top - yikes.
Next up, the robbers at the Dusttown entrance. We ran/heal a few times, but otherwise the duo won once more.
In order to get the finger bone token, we just concentrated fire on their leader...even as it was, Coreduo's health going down uncomfortably fast (only has lesser health poultices at the moment, still no improved herbalism yet), fortunately the leader both surrendered and failed vs. an intimidate check to get me the key to Jarvia's.
Coreduo opened the door to Jarvia's, and ended his session here. He's about level 13.
Early Ozzomar Results:
Coreduo sided with Harrowmont. He failed to get either Harrowmont fighter to change their mind about their withdrawal (yep, still only 1 coercion skill). The proving went pretty good. The only real question was the final one with the boss and an elite - We got 1/2 of them dead then Charlie went down, but soon after the final non-boss mob went down. So now it was head-to-head with the boss fighter. Got a bit dicey, but Coreduo managed to pull it off, most important detail probably being the Master Paralyze run he has on his weapon, which went off a few times during the fight.
On the way to Dusttown got attacked by 5-6 Bhelen Fanatic fighters. I thought he was going to lose this, but he just barely managed to come out on top - yikes.
Next up, the robbers at the Dusttown entrance. We ran/heal a few times, but otherwise the duo won once more.
In order to get the finger bone token, we just concentrated fire on their leader...even as it was, Coreduo's health going down uncomfortably fast (only has lesser health poultices at the moment, still no improved herbalism yet), fortunately the leader both surrendered and failed vs. an intimidate check to get me the key to Jarvia's.
Coreduo opened the door to Jarvia's, and ended his session here. He's about level 13.
#17
Posté 29 janvier 2013 - 06:04
corey_russell
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Coreduo (Human S&S Warrior and Charlie (Dog) Update 8:
So we head into Jarvia's. Coreduo and Charlie did very well here, as long as Coreduo was careful to keep the team's health up. Still only lesser health poutices. Mages were also primary targets, if present. While Charlie went down a couple of times, Coreduo did not.
Now for the key fight, Jarvia and her lackeys. I really had no idea what would happen here, never fought here without mages, I don't think, and certainly never with 2 party members. Basically the strategy was to kill the riff-raff, and only attack Jarvia long enough to make her back off of melee, then return to killing the lackeys. This worked well..Charlie however, got hit with pinning shots, a fire trap, and backstabbed by Jarvia. Unlike Coreduo, Charlie has no flanking protection and was slain. Coreduo managed to kill the 2 remaining riff-raff and Jarvia herself, amazingly. As usual, the master paralyze rune was helpful, as it got Jarvia herself a few times.
Time to hit the deep roads -- I tried to refuse Oghren's help, but there was no choice to do that! Hmm...my strategy for the deep roads was to concentrate on the main quest as much as possible, though I think the legion of the dead armor could be useful for Alistair. This meant I did not fight everything in Caridan's Cross and decided I would get to Ortan Thaig via the Deepstalker route rather than the mass of darkspawn the other way. This worked out nicely.
However, when in the main hallway battling the beast (forget its name) the mass of darkspawn, I under-estimated the emmisary and the party was slain - time to reload.
2nd attempt: same strategy (concentrate attacks on the same target), EXCEPT, when the emmisary was in visual range, go for it immediately. This worked, kind of. However, before the emissary died it got off a curse of mortality on Coreduo (hate that spell) - Coreduo is at 25% health and can't heal - there are at least 4 darkspawn archers left. If he stayed in the vicinity he would die for sure, so the only chance was to break contact until the curse expired then heal up with lesser poultices. Charlie stayed behind as a distraction as Coreduo ran back to the entrance to the deepstalker cave. This worked, the curse expired with about 10% health for Coreduo, though Charlie went unconscious. Coreduo ran far enough that no enemy pursued, so Coreduo healed up with the lesser poultices and then charged the remaining genlock archers, slaying them.
Finally some good news! This fight got Coreduo a level, and improved herbalism! Finally can make the basic health poultice. Immediately the duo headed to Dalish Camp to get some elfroot, only to be ambushed by 4 wild sylvans! (don't remember this ambush in my other runs). Very hard fight, charlie went down again, though Coreduo barely managed to succeed. This does confirm, however that my choice to blow my gold on better poultices is a good idea.
Finally we get to Dalish Camp, get elfroot, go to Denerim for the remaining components and fashioned 99 health poultices. Then we head back to Orton Thaig. While the duo did pretty well vs. small number of spiders, and engaged the mass of darkspawn/spiders from range successfully, we had trouble later...we made it through the undead and golems OK. We skipped that "trap" of spiders trying to lure us, just ran past.
The ambush where you cross a bridge and fight corrupted spiders and an emissary, the emissary put Charlie in a crushing prison. Yet again Templar class saves the day with cleansing aura. Charlie immediately heals, then overwhelms and in fact all his skills on the emissary. The emissary still lives (its elite), but eventually Charlie does slay. Coreduo gets overwhelmed a few times himself, but manages to pull through.
I had a long slog with the corrupted spider queen, but the combined webs/overwhelms/poison, and the multiple enemies too, killed the duo -- will have to try again. I did bring nature salves, but not sure they are helping or not. This fight almost seems harder the than final fight, and I'm not sure that is right...
It was depressing to do the long battle just to lose, will end session tonight and try again tomorrow. It should be noted that this is IT, however. That is, there is no other content to do, if I can't get past this my run is over. Any suggestions are welcome.
So we head into Jarvia's. Coreduo and Charlie did very well here, as long as Coreduo was careful to keep the team's health up. Still only lesser health poutices. Mages were also primary targets, if present. While Charlie went down a couple of times, Coreduo did not.
Now for the key fight, Jarvia and her lackeys. I really had no idea what would happen here, never fought here without mages, I don't think, and certainly never with 2 party members. Basically the strategy was to kill the riff-raff, and only attack Jarvia long enough to make her back off of melee, then return to killing the lackeys. This worked well..Charlie however, got hit with pinning shots, a fire trap, and backstabbed by Jarvia. Unlike Coreduo, Charlie has no flanking protection and was slain. Coreduo managed to kill the 2 remaining riff-raff and Jarvia herself, amazingly. As usual, the master paralyze rune was helpful, as it got Jarvia herself a few times.
Time to hit the deep roads -- I tried to refuse Oghren's help, but there was no choice to do that! Hmm...my strategy for the deep roads was to concentrate on the main quest as much as possible, though I think the legion of the dead armor could be useful for Alistair. This meant I did not fight everything in Caridan's Cross and decided I would get to Ortan Thaig via the Deepstalker route rather than the mass of darkspawn the other way. This worked out nicely.
However, when in the main hallway battling the beast (forget its name) the mass of darkspawn, I under-estimated the emmisary and the party was slain - time to reload.
2nd attempt: same strategy (concentrate attacks on the same target), EXCEPT, when the emmisary was in visual range, go for it immediately. This worked, kind of. However, before the emissary died it got off a curse of mortality on Coreduo (hate that spell) - Coreduo is at 25% health and can't heal - there are at least 4 darkspawn archers left. If he stayed in the vicinity he would die for sure, so the only chance was to break contact until the curse expired then heal up with lesser poultices. Charlie stayed behind as a distraction as Coreduo ran back to the entrance to the deepstalker cave. This worked, the curse expired with about 10% health for Coreduo, though Charlie went unconscious. Coreduo ran far enough that no enemy pursued, so Coreduo healed up with the lesser poultices and then charged the remaining genlock archers, slaying them.
Finally some good news! This fight got Coreduo a level, and improved herbalism! Finally can make the basic health poultice. Immediately the duo headed to Dalish Camp to get some elfroot, only to be ambushed by 4 wild sylvans! (don't remember this ambush in my other runs). Very hard fight, charlie went down again, though Coreduo barely managed to succeed. This does confirm, however that my choice to blow my gold on better poultices is a good idea.
Finally we get to Dalish Camp, get elfroot, go to Denerim for the remaining components and fashioned 99 health poultices. Then we head back to Orton Thaig. While the duo did pretty well vs. small number of spiders, and engaged the mass of darkspawn/spiders from range successfully, we had trouble later...we made it through the undead and golems OK. We skipped that "trap" of spiders trying to lure us, just ran past.
The ambush where you cross a bridge and fight corrupted spiders and an emissary, the emissary put Charlie in a crushing prison. Yet again Templar class saves the day with cleansing aura. Charlie immediately heals, then overwhelms and in fact all his skills on the emissary. The emissary still lives (its elite), but eventually Charlie does slay. Coreduo gets overwhelmed a few times himself, but manages to pull through.
I had a long slog with the corrupted spider queen, but the combined webs/overwhelms/poison, and the multiple enemies too, killed the duo -- will have to try again. I did bring nature salves, but not sure they are helping or not. This fight almost seems harder the than final fight, and I'm not sure that is right...
It was depressing to do the long battle just to lose, will end session tonight and try again tomorrow. It should be noted that this is IT, however. That is, there is no other content to do, if I can't get past this my run is over. Any suggestions are welcome.
#18
Posté 29 janvier 2013 - 07:25
DWSmiley
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The nature salves help. Keep the spider queen in melee whenever she's around, otherwise she keeps spitting and every spit adds a layer of poison damage. I recommend Charlie for that while Coreduo kills the other spiders as quickly as possible. Swift salve is very helpful - you may want to backtrack to whatever merchants have some. You'll eventually want level 3 herbalism and the swift salve recipe from Faryn. Flame runes do extra damage against spiders.
Physical resistance reduces the duration of webs and overwhelms - Deadhead Charge and the kaddis from the Circle Tower.
Physical resistance reduces the duration of webs and overwhelms - Deadhead Charge and the kaddis from the Circle Tower.
#19
Posté 29 janvier 2013 - 08:57
sylvanaerie
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corey_russell wrote...
Coreduo (Human S&S Warrior) and Charlie (Dog) Update 6:
Just a quick note. I attempted Kolgrim again, and this time was a complete success. The main differences is the Knight Commander's Plate, Shield Mastery (improving shield wall), cold resistance armor on Charlie until mages dead (Charlie was hit with cold spells, so this likely saved him), and also a number of Greater Health Poultices. Still don't have improved herbalism yet, but that's the next skill. Gauntlet was very easy, guess elites don't amount to much if they don't have an elite mage supporting them. The bridge was interesting, two wraiths appeared in the party until we made it across.
Got into a large ambush, maybe 16 darkspawn (maybe more even) plus two shrieks. Took a lot of poultices to beat that group - only one elf survived. Charlie used his speed to run/heal and then return to assist.
I was wondering how you were going to get across the bridge in the Gauntlet with only Core and his dog. Do the wraiths look all 'ghosty' or do they look like random party members? Or are they people from the riddle quest earlier?
#20
Posté 29 janvier 2013 - 01:19
corey_russell
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DWSmiley wrote...
The nature salves help. Keep the spider queen in melee whenever she's around, otherwise she keeps spitting and every spit adds a layer of poison damage. I recommend Charlie for that while Coreduo kills the other spiders as quickly as possible. Swift salve is very helpful - you may want to backtrack to whatever merchants have some. You'll eventually want level 3 herbalism and the swift salve recipe from Faryn. Flame runes do extra damage against spiders.
Physical resistance reduces the duration of webs and overwhelms - Deadhead Charge and the kaddis from the Circle Tower.
These are some great tips thank you. I won't be able to use them all but will use what I can. Keeping the spider queen in melee to prevent spits could be the difference right there. I didn't kill the High Dragon but I do have the physical resist gear for Charlie. Salves are out (I am poor). Will use the nature salves again.
#21
Posté 29 janvier 2013 - 01:22
corey_russell
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sylvanaerie wrote...
corey_russell wrote...
Coreduo (Human S&S Warrior) and Charlie (Dog) Update 6:
Just a quick note. I attempted Kolgrim again, and this time was a complete success. The main differences is the Knight Commander's Plate, Shield Mastery (improving shield wall), cold resistance armor on Charlie until mages dead (Charlie was hit with cold spells, so this likely saved him), and also a number of Greater Health Poultices. Still don't have improved herbalism yet, but that's the next skill. Gauntlet was very easy, guess elites don't amount to much if they don't have an elite mage supporting them. The bridge was interesting, two wraiths appeared in the party until we made it across.
Got into a large ambush, maybe 16 darkspawn (maybe more even) plus two shrieks. Took a lot of poultices to beat that group - only one elf survived. Charlie used his speed to run/heal and then return to assist.
I was wondering how you were going to get across the bridge in the Gauntlet with only Core and his dog. Do the wraiths look all 'ghosty' or do they look like random party members? Or are they people from the riddle quest earlier?
They look like wraiths, not ghosts, nor like party members. If you were to answer a question wrong in the first part of the gauntlet, you fight wraiths -- these look exactly like that. Also, think those 3 chests that spawn wraiths on the way to the wyrmling lair, same creatures.
#22
Posté 29 janvier 2013 - 02:07
corey_russell
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Coreduo (Human S&S Warrior) and Charlie (Dog) Update 9
Corrupted Spider Queen Attempt #2
Well I did some of the changes mentioned by DWSmiley, and even got some luck. Specifically my tactics were:
1) Used Greater Nature Salve on both Warden and Charlie
2) Charlie equipped the physical resist gear
3) If spider queen present, Charlie would immediately engage the corrupted spider queen
4) Disabled assist tactic so that the Warden could work on the minor corrupted spiders while Charlie kept contact with the spider queen
5) Got some luck - looted a corrupted spider during the battle and got a lesser nature salve! As it turns out, the battle did last long enough for the greater nature salves to expire, and the spider queen loved targeting Coreduo with poison spit, so Coreduo use the lesser nature salve when the greater ran out.
Charlie did most of the damage on the spider queen and tanked it quite well. His defense score is 70, and that was apparently enough. When I level Charlie I put one point in STR and 2 in DEX. Since his armor not so hot, I think being harder to hit is more helpful, at least in this duo config. What's awesome is I got the Tier 7 version of the bloodline as loot! Went to camp immediately (after unlocking the Dead Trenches of course) to equip that and give the Aodh to Alistair and swap runes around. Also gave the Faith's Edge to Ogren, and got the +2 willpower ring from Morrigan. Morrigan made love to me in my armor again...
Will be in the Dead Trenches next session...thanks again for your tips DWSmiley, I will definitely keep them in mind for any other duo/solo attempts I might do in the future.
Corrupted Spider Queen Attempt #2
Well I did some of the changes mentioned by DWSmiley, and even got some luck. Specifically my tactics were:
1) Used Greater Nature Salve on both Warden and Charlie
2) Charlie equipped the physical resist gear
3) If spider queen present, Charlie would immediately engage the corrupted spider queen
4) Disabled assist tactic so that the Warden could work on the minor corrupted spiders while Charlie kept contact with the spider queen
5) Got some luck - looted a corrupted spider during the battle and got a lesser nature salve! As it turns out, the battle did last long enough for the greater nature salves to expire, and the spider queen loved targeting Coreduo with poison spit, so Coreduo use the lesser nature salve when the greater ran out.
Charlie did most of the damage on the spider queen and tanked it quite well. His defense score is 70, and that was apparently enough. When I level Charlie I put one point in STR and 2 in DEX. Since his armor not so hot, I think being harder to hit is more helpful, at least in this duo config. What's awesome is I got the Tier 7 version of the bloodline as loot! Went to camp immediately (after unlocking the Dead Trenches of course) to equip that and give the Aodh to Alistair and swap runes around. Also gave the Faith's Edge to Ogren, and got the +2 willpower ring from Morrigan. Morrigan made love to me in my armor again...
Will be in the Dead Trenches next session...thanks again for your tips DWSmiley, I will definitely keep them in mind for any other duo/solo attempts I might do in the future.
#23
Posté 29 janvier 2013 - 07:39
DWSmiley
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You're welcome and nicely done. You are at the stage where 'tis one "interesting" fight after another! Even tougher, imo, are the palace gates in Denerim. A dragon or two, emissaries, alpha archer and assorted other goodies. So many ways to die quickly. If I'm going to get repeated party wipes anywhere, that's the place.
#24
Posté 29 janvier 2013 - 08:28
corey_russell
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DWSmiley wrote...
You're welcome and nicely done. You are at the stage where 'tis one "interesting" fight after another! Even tougher, imo, are the palace gates in Denerim. A dragon or two, emissaries, alpha archer and assorted other goodies. So many ways to die quickly. If I'm going to get repeated party wipes anywhere, that's the place.
Thanks. Really? You think the palace gates are the toughest? I always thought entrance to Fort Drakken was toughest. Palace area has wide open spaces that allow pulling, and separation if needed. If my characters get hit with curse of mortality that can still cause a death however.
Also my restriction is just my party, not armies. But, perhaps I should attempt with it without armies (haven't done that yet). If I'm not going to use armies, I better craft a million health poutlices first...
#25
Posté 29 janvier 2013 - 09:52
DWSmiley
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Ah, ok. I no longer use pulling, not that there's anything wrong with it, nor armies. Though everyone should side with Branka at least once if only to see the awesomeness of an army of four iron golems. 
