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 That's right folks, it's time for the official 2015 Something Awful Baldur's Gate Ironman Competition! It is here that true heroes will compete for honor, glory, and the chance to not be killed by wildlife at level 1. So sharpen your swords, review your spell book, and roll those stat dice 200 times cause Ironman is here! This is the second and most current version of the 2015 Ironman thread, as the original OP got eaten by wolves outside Candlekeep. First thread is over here - http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3692451 Hall of Heroes Current Adventurers The Red Queen, the Ironman Thief/Illusionist is at the Fire Giant temple. Rochard the Ironling Berserker is catching up on sidequests in Chapter 6. Cap the Ironling Avenger is tangoing with unspeakably powerful demiliches. Stabs McBadidea the Ironling Solo Fighter/Thief is rampaging through Amn. Mazus the Ironling Cleric of Helm was last seen fruitlessly attempting diplomacy with rakhasas in the Trademeet area. Rolf the Second, the Ironling Fighter/Cleric is bumbling around the Amish countryside. Akkurat the Ironling Solo Wizard Slayer is in the Copper Coronet. Nick Familiar the Fighter/Mage/Thief survived the Cloakwood, and is sending out a casting call for My Great Aunt Petunia the Shadowdancer has flooded the Cloakwood Mines. Drouin the Berserker finished the Bandit Camp. Agnar the Cavalier is roaming the Sword Coast after clearing the Nashkel Mines. Gimmick the Inquisitor is scouring the Sword Coast. HULK II the Barbarianis doing more smashing, now at MAX SPEED. Liana the Fallen Archer is seriously considering buying a lifetime support plan from the temple. Nierto the Shadowdancer is sweeping through the Sword Coast. Valesan the Fighter is wandering around the southern Sword Coast. Seren the Cleric/Ranger has started her grand adventure! The Honored Dead Airon the Fighter/Thief died to Iron Throne mercs under Candlekeep. Richard the Fighter was our first Tarnesh death of the thread! Drizzaw Layers the Wizard Slayer was slain by the wrath of the gods in a storm. Imizael the Dragon Disciple was killed by Silke's Lightning Bolt. Foolio Displasius scored a double kill on an Ettercap. Yolo Cashmoney Swaggins the Barbarian got perfected by Tarnesh. Iron Archer the Archer met her end inside the Bandit Camp. I'm Not Frodo Goddamnit the Thief was killed by a wolf outside Candlekeep. Jonathan Jonestar the Sun Soul Monk (1) was laid low by a bandit ambush. Jorgo the Punisher the Wizard Slayer was killed by severe daddy issues. Zara the Assassin did NOT pay the toll on the Gnoll Stronghold bridge. Stanczyk the Jester learned the hard way that you should not play Ironman while on the phone. Gargamel the Transmuter was killed on the road to Nashkel. Tiny the Kensai was killed by Karlat in Beregost. Cruithne the Totemic Druid kissed a sirine. Nick Fissure the Fighter/Mage/Thief got Silked. Galatea the Not-Dwarven Defender was mobbed by flesh golems on the Sword Coast. Team Wildmage #1 died to Bassilius. Dunworthy the Avenger was killed by Silke. Team Wildmage #2 was stopped by the almighty Montaron. Garon Half-Orcen the Wizard Slayer got poisoned a lot in the Cloakwood. Winston Smiter the III, the Priest of Talos got counter-smited by Tarnesh. Comstar the First the Cleric/Ranger got punched by Thalantyr's Flesh Golem. Comstar the Second the Cleric/Thief was sentenced to death by Candlekeep guards for stealing. Perra N'Oya the Fighter/Thief, with clone bodyguards accidentally killed herself while finishing off a group of assassins. Lady the Ironling Archer was killed by Dagomir the Red while attempting Hexxat's quest blind. Brakh the Skald was mobbed by an army of ogrekin. Oldman the Ranger/Cleric sucks at chess. Iron Backscratcher the Fighter/Thief lost a bar fight in the Low Lantern. Boudica the Wizard Slayer is a disgrace to her chosen profession. Team Wildmage #5 played with fire one time too often. Iron Blackguard the Blackguard got chain CCed by ghouls. Gwydion ap Dion the Berserker took a crit noscope headshot from a dirty camping bandit. Yolo Cashmoney Swaggins III the Illusionist got ambushed by bandits en route to the FAI. Delf the Stalker was killed by Lamalha and her amazon buddies. Goose the Barbarian was killed by friendly fire wild magic. Dumby McWolfsdottir the Shapeshifter died to Neira in Nashkel. Ji'Shomara the Shadowdancer died to a ghoul south of Beregost. Robina the Archer is the first person to die at the final hurdle of Baldur's Gate! HULK the Barbarian met an mysterious but appropriate ending at the hands of Sendai. The Iron Skald the Skald died to spiders in the Cloakwood. Comstar the Third the Thief/Mage died to a wolf right outside Candlekeep. Dio the Ironling Solo Assassin discovered that mephit portals are more powerful than your evil Bhaalspawn brother. Blinston Blighter the Blurd, the Priest of Talos got Neera'd. Gram the Inquisitor was dissolved by Narcillicus's mustard jellies. An Egg Salad Sandwich the Sorceror got ran over by the Ogrillion train south of Beregost. Vin the Anime Inquisitor was zerg rushed in the Bandit Camp. Talindra the Ironling Swashbuckler got blasted by Prebek. The Tyrant Valvatorez the Blackguard foresaw his own death to Sarevok, and was unable to prevent it. Eldomar, the Priest of Helm got shanked by Shank's shank. Mugsy the Skald, Boneitis sufferer was killed by the backlash from his familiar dying. Juriana the Thief/Illusionist was mauled by a bear. Another Crazy Wildmage Party's adventure ended with five dead wild mages and a squirrel living in the Cloakwood mines. Julian the Minimalist Thief/Illusionist fell to Sarevok. Natsume the Ironling Kensai/Druid tried to duel Drizzt and failed. Cynora the Ironling Sorceress has abandoned adventuring to mourn her lost sister. The Victorious Mountaineer's Lady the Archer defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Purist, Honorable Trader, Battlemaster, Roleplayer Netcat's Dio the Solo Assassin defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Purist, Conan the Bhaalspawn, A God Among Men. Mountaineer's Natsume the Kensai defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Purist, Honorable Trader, Battlemaster, Roleplayer. Joebungaloe's The Red Queen, the Thief/Illusionist defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Purist, Librarian, Honorable, Iron Party. Suspicious's Cynora the Sorceress defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Purist, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader, Battlemaster. Rulebook Heavily's Akkurat the Solo Wizard Slayer defeated Saverok! Honors: Ironling, Purist, Overcoming Adversity, Conan the Bhaalspawn, Honorable Trader, Battlemaster, A God Among Men Arivia's Talindra the Swashbuckler defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader. Tuxedo Ted's Archie the Fighter/Mage defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader, Battlemaster. Umbra's Cap the Avenger defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Purist, Born Hero, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader, Battlemaster. Stumiester's Mr Lizzzard the Solo Avenger defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Purist, Honorable Trader, A God Among Men FairGame's Mazus the Cleric of Helm defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Purist, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Roleplayer Ninja Debugger's Stabs McBadidea the Solo Fighter/Thief defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Conan the Bhaalspawn, Honorable Trader, Battlemaster, Purist Joebungaloe's The Red Queen, the Ironling Illusionist/Thief defeated Jon Irenicus! Honors: Ironman, Purist, Honorable Trader, Gaxking's a Wuss, Roleplayer Smiling Knight's Rolf the Second, the Fighter/Cleric defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Purist, Librarian, Honorable Trader, Battlemaster Taliesyn's Gwyn ap Nudd the Berserker defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Purist, Double Damage, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader, Battlemaster, Roleplayer Ilyich's Mr. Kipling the Solo Assassin defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Strategist, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Melee Champion, Conan the Bhaalspawn, Honorable Trader, Battlemaster Tuxedo Ted's Bhaal Jr. the Inquisitor defeated Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader, Iron Party, Battlemaster Bench Warmers The following adventurers have not been updated in a while, and are hereforth temporarily banished to Limbo until such time as they make a reappearance. Bashi Ironling the Ranger/Cleric is wandering through ankheg land. Cris Saegrim the Evil Blade has killed NIMBUL and rues the fickle RNG of the HP roller. Jesty the Jester is attempting to clear the Nashkel Mines before running out of companions. Cedric 2.0 the Ranger/Cleric has cleared the Nashkel Mines. Joseph Jonestar the Bounty Hunter (2) cleared the Gnoll Stronghold. Enigma the cowardly Berserker has cleared the Gnoll Fortress. Reshad the Totemic Druid relieved the belt fetish ogre of his burden. Redd Shirrt the Inquisitor is on his way to the Friendly Arm. Clyde the Uncultured the Fighter/Cleric is wandering around east of Candlekeep. Brakh the Cavalier has left Candlekeep. Comstar goes Fourth the Swashbuckler has avenged his predecessor by killing every single member of the Candlekeep Wolf Mafia. Koskinator fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Jan 31, 2015 |
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Jan 17, 2015 02:31
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FAQ Q: Spoilers? A: Yes, this thread is full on spoilers. This is an Ironman thread, so it's assumed that everyone has probably played the series at least once or twice already. No spoiler tags are necessary. Q: Is it ok if I narrate my run like a regular Let's Play? A: This usually ends up being case specific. Obviously we don't want 20 people doing overlapping play by plays of their whole game. However, if you think you can write a solid humorous/dramatic narrative then give it a shot. If people like it, you can continue. If not, you can stop. Q: What exactly are the rules for an Ironman run? A: An Ironman run is simple. You do not load the game for any purpose other than continuing where you left off, or in the event of a bug/crash. If you are killed or if you load for any other reason, the Ironman run is over. Re-rolling stat during character creation is allowed. Q: Are there any rules as to difficulty level/mods? A: No. You may play on any difficulty or with whatever mods you want. However, if you play on lower than "core rules" or if you use content mods which add OP items or something, then everyone will think you're a big baby. Q: Is this a competition? Is there any verification process? A: Not really, and no. There is no prize or prestige to be won besides nerd-cred, and progress is reported purely on the honor system (verification being 100% impractical). However, if you lie about your Ironman run you will have to live with the fact that you are a poopy head. If someone has a truly epic run I may issue an award in the form of a forum upgrade/new avatar. This is an entire non-binding offer and completely dependent upon my subjective judgement. Q: Do I have to start in BG1? A: No. You can start at any point you want. However, there is definitely more nerd-cred in starting at BG1, and I will not include anyone who starts at ToB in the Hall of Honor (cause that's for babies). Q: How do I set up custom portraits? A: The measurements for player portraits are 38X60 pixels for the smaller portraits (8-bit color runs faster but it can be up to 24 bit color), and 110X170 pixels for the larger portraits. To use a custom portrait, place it in the Portraits directory (in the install directory for the game) and add an S to the end of the small portrait name and an L to the end of the large portrait - otherwise the two names must be identical. The names must be 1-7 letters long, maximum - so the filename with the S or L added to the end is no longer than 8 total characters. The portrait files must be in BMP format. For example: XXXXXXXS.bmp for small (38x60, 8-bit) XXXXXXXL.bmp for large (110x170, 24-bit) If someone wants to give me the relevant information for the Enhanced Editions I'll include it in the OP. Other Info and Links When registering a character please include the name, class, and a screenshot of the character sheet upon creation (the Print Screen button will take a screenshot and deposit it in your Baldur's Gate folder). Irfanview of course is also an easy alternative. This thread is screenshot friendly! Feel free to post a screenshot or string of screenshots if you want to share an epic battle, a humorous development, or whatever else as long as it's interesting (if you just post eight screens of noober dialogue you will get yelled at). In the next post is a list of honors to be competed for (if you care) and dishonors to avoid (unless you don't give a poo poo). These are purely for amusement and you may strive for or ignore them as much as you desire. Characters who complete an Ironman run (any portion) will be moved to the Hall of Honor, and any honors they earned will be listed. Note to all adventurers: If this thread gets going in full it is possible I will occasionally miss posted updates about characters. When posting an update for your character, please include his/her name and class in bold. For example, Garrick the Assassin completed BG1. Also, if you post updates like "Kornak the Barbarian" has cleared the Nashkel mines, I will update your status accordingly. Main Baldur's Gate thread over here. Some custom portraits here: [urlhttp://www.kirith.com/[/url] The main modding sites for you to start with are: The Gibberlings 3 Spellhold Studios Pocket Plane Group List of mods we like: *ToBEx - Hardcode hacks to change things normal mods can't. *BG2 Fixpack - Fix up those bugs. Assassinations - Extra content, especially for the Evil characters. *BG1 Unfinished Business - Restoring cut content for BG1. Unfinished Business - Restoring cut content for BG2. Almateria's Restoration Project - goon-made mod to restore even more BG2 cut content. SCS - AI and challenge mod for BG1 SCS2 - AI and challenge mod for BG2 Rogue Rebalancing - Massive overhaul for the Rogue classes, and throws some big extra challenges at your for good measure. aTweaks - Miscellaneous tweaks, mostly aimed at a more P&P experience, but with some extra danger thrown in. BG2 Tweakpack - Options for changing your game galore. *Not EE-compatible. OP mostly from Chomp8645's last-but-one BG ironman thread. Note: All honors on this page are purely for entertainment purposes and in some cases to give veteran players something new to try for. Feel free to ignore these completely if you think they are dumb.   Ironling: Complete Baldur's Gate 1 Ironman: Complete Baldur's Gate 2 (requires Ironling) Irongod: Complete Throne of Bhaal (requires Ironman) Strategist: Complete Baldur's Gate 1 with the Sword Coast Stratagems mod. Tactician: Complete Baldur's Gate 2 with the Tactics mod. Born Hero: Do not reroll your stats during character creation, take the first set given to you (redistribution is ok). Purist: Do not use any mods that add/modify content (except Tutu, Ascension, SCS, or Tactics), do not create extra characters for your party, do not modify existing NPCs (convenience mods like infinite stacks ok). Double Damage: Complete the game on the highest difficulty. Overcoming Adversity: Complete the game as a Wizard Slayer, Shapeshifter, Beastmaster, or non-Blade Bard (requires Purist). Librarian: Find every stat tome in Baldur's Gate 1. Trap Dodger: Complete Durlag's Tower. Melee Champion: Complete Baldur's Gate 1 without using any missile weapons. Conan the Bhaalspawn: Complete the game without ever having an arcane spellcaster in the party Honorable Trader: Do not steal any wares from merchants. Iron Party: Do not resurrect any dead party members (stone to flesh and freedom allowed) OR never have a party member fall in battle. Battlemaster: Kill Sarevok in Baldur's Gate 1 without summoning any creatures or laying any traps. Dragon Slayer: Kill Firkraag, the Shadow Dragon, the Black Dragon at Suldanessellar, the Silver Dragon, and the Dragon in the underworld. Helm's Champion: Kill Saladrex and Demogorgon in Watcher's Keep Gaxkang's a Wuss: Kill Kangaxx. Legendary Arms: Acquire the Equalizer, Crom Faeyr, The Wave, The Silver Sword, and the Short Bow of Gesen. Swiss Valor Award: Complete the game with only neutral aligned characters in the party (lawful, true, or chaotic, must have at least 4 characters, requires purist). Roleplayer: Do not have a good aligned character and an evil aligned character in the party at the same time (includes PC, requires purist). Leader of the Underdogs: Complete Baldur's Gate 2 or Throne of Bhaal with a full party of six without using Aerie, Keldorn, Edwin, or Haer'Dalis. {requires purist). A God Among Men: Complete the game alone. Do not remove or modify the level cap (requires purist).  OP-ium Addict: Play as a Kensai/mage, Kensai/thief, or Cleric/mage Scroll of Wuss: Use a scroll of Protection from Undead or Magic when fighting a lich, demi-lich or vampire. Don't Hurt Me!: Play the game on a difficulty lower than Core Rules.Note: Any honors the restrict choice of party members in any way (class, alignment, or anything else) do not apply inside Irenicus' dungeon in Baldur's Gate 2. You may use anyone you want while inside it, but will have to boot the appropriate people once you reach Waukeen's Promenade. Note: Any honors/dishonors which do not apply to a specific game in the series can apply to any. For example, Double Damage can apply to any game in the series, and you can earn it three times if you go all the way From BG1 through ToB. Note: If anyone wants to mention stuff that should be edited to include changes in the Enhanced Editions let me know. I'm not sure how good the new party members are and whether they should be discluded from Leader of the Underdogs. Thanks to Gutrot for all the wonderful badges. Koskinator fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Jan 23, 2015 |
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Jan 17, 2015 02:32
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Here's the new thread, everyone! I'm open to suggests for improving its organization. I'm thinking of ordering the current adventurers list by progression.
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Jan 17, 2015 02:32
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Remove afraid of pain as a demerit  baldurs gate 2 assumes all your dudes have max HP and it'd be dumb to have a character massively inferior to literally every NPC in the game.Except Cernd. That guy sucks.
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Jan 17, 2015 04:07
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Natsume the Kensai has arrived in Athkatla! Hoo boy, back in BG2 again. I'm a little more prepared for it this time. After the starting dungeon, all the good and/or neutral folks got kicked from the party. I went to recruit Korgan, Hexxat, Viconia, and Dorn. Then I went to the docks to start the thieves guild quest to get Edwin.  Rayic Gethras was the first real obstacle, but I made it through okay. Dorn had to solo the Stone Golems since only he had a +2 weapon.  Korgan kept complaining about fetching a book so we raided a tomb looking for it. If I was smart, I would have remembered that Dorn is immune to level drain and would have tried to get the enemies to focus on him.  Turned out Korgan's old crew got the book first, but we sorted them out.  Dorn demanded we murder a wedding party, and I gladly obliged. This hasn't done good things for my reputation.  Finally I got around to finishing the thieves guild quest and killed Mae'var. This pushed Natsume up to level 9 and I could finally dual-class to Druid!  Turns out that I'm still stuck with Kensai equipment restrictions after dual-classing. Oh well, I just need to be cautious and hang in there until level 10. The next step for Natsume the Kensai/Druid is probably to do some good deeds to get her reputation out of the gutter.
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Jan 17, 2015 04:13
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FairGame posted:Remove afraid of pain as a demerit Just do what I do. Install the NWN-style HP roll on level up component of the tweak pack. It gives you about the same amount of HP BG2 gives you when you import a classic BG1 character, roughly 75% of the maximum possible.
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Jan 17, 2015 04:16
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Well, I said I would start another run when the new thread starts. Lied and started it before, but will post it now. Meet The Tyrant Valvatorez, a blackguard.  Anyway, down to Nash was uneventful, and I managed to pick up my main caster.  Edwin is ready for BG and BG2 now. Went to the mines to get my other front line character before going to get more exp and items an- Neera? Neera what are you doing? No Neera now isn't the time Neera.  Dorn, cutting it close there buddy.  Anyway, went back up north to do quests and get items...  … Went to kill Ankhegs and on the way back...  ...Went and talked to him... Really, not going to sense that we are evil there buddy? ...Went back to Bergosh to craft some nice armor when.... Valvatorez, what are you doing?  Val, no Val. Don't sell Melicamp to the inn. No Val no. While waiting for the armor to finish, went back to Gnoll fort to get the tome I forgot to grab.  And killed some Basklisks when Neera pretty much did the most in an encounter by herself pretty much.  Did the mines and got revenge on the ghasts that killed my last blackguard.  Forgot to screenshot my victory.  ...Neera... just because Edwin is a girl now doesn't me he isn't a vicious Red Wizard.  And then Edwin helps kill his own kind without any problems at the end of Neera's quest stuff. Then joined the bandits, looted their camp, killed there leaders, then walked out without too much of a problem. Went and got the con tome.  And now, lets see if I remember to not walk into web traps this time. 
Orrfieldmedic fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Jan 18, 2015 |
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Jan 17, 2015 06:26
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The Further Misadventures of Blinston Blighter the Blurd, Priest of Talos So it's back to the Gnoll Fort, where I nearly get done in by some loving Xvarts. I do wind up with the Tome of Charisma, which will bump Blinston up from a 3 in Charisma to a 4. Wow.  ...y'know what Edwin? We're having a slight change of plans once we find Dynaheir.  Which we do after wading through a gnoll or ten. Alright you two, to the death!  And they're off to the races. Edwin starts strong with a Magic Missile, but Dynaheir remains alive.  ....and then Dynaheir loving beats Edwin unconscious with her bare fists. I just...yeah. Imoen puts an arrow into Edwin's head to end the madness. You aren't even worth a Smiting.  For thy valor in combat Dynaheir, I take you back to Minsc. And then try to just get Minsc to come with me, but that doesn't work and they both leave. Oh well. Casualties Thus Far: Montaron (Spider bite), Xzar (being terrible), Edwin (Beaten senseless by an unarmed girl and mercy killed by Imoen)
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Jan 17, 2015 06:42
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A new thread! Thanks, Koskinator! Baldur's Gate, what a wonderful city.  Well worth the cost of two or three thieving potions. Thanks, Aldeth! 3/3 Shapeshifter Slaying Swords Get Somewhere along this quest this happens:  IT BEGINS.  I know this is nothing special in the long run, but it feels good to backstab with Varscona again after so long with the dagger. The Venom effect was very handy at shutting down mages, but if you can one-shot them there's no need to hope poison gets past their saves. After freeing the merchant guild, Aldeth outlives his usefulness, but not by much.  His brother or cousin or whatever has better prizes.  Actually, we killed him right here in the city, Dabron. (Shar-Teel whiffed the backstab attempt, but he still died quick and donated his magic crossbow to raise money for the Archie War Chest. Anyway, the rest of Baldur's Gate was wrapped up in an orderly fashion and the party crushed the Iron Throne before heading back to Candlekeep. Since Archie already had the 15 strength needed to dual class to fighter and spells to boost it higher, I went ahead and raised Shar-Teel's strength to 19 with the tome...   To effect. Triple Digits! With Candlekeep done and the tomes collected the party went to Dulag's tower.  So far so good! That was Shar-Teel one-shotting the last Greater Wyvern, by the way. The first two chewed through the statue allies really quickly. It was so weird picking up the third and final nonmagic Full Plate in the game and not having a use for it. I had given Viconia the gauntlets of Ogre Strength so she could use the second one we found as well as a better shield. The chess match wasn't a huge problem. Somehow I pulled the king without the queen or the bishops. The knights did come along and nearly killed Tiax. For some reason they went after him exclusively and he had to desperately kite them without accidentally drawing the rest of the chess men. The rest of the party focus fired on the king and killed him just in time. The Demon Knight was not nearly as close a thing. My strategy was nearly identical to Suspicious's run. Have five people with ranged options hang back to arch/spellcast and have one poor fool rush in to distract the demonknight. His Dispel is powerful so it doesn't pay to buff beforehand. After he fired it off, Kagain chugged fire protection and clarity potions to keep him safe from fireballs and the braincage spells before going nuts with a haste potion. With both Shar-Teel and Archie having their regular bows unlocked (Archie reached level 8 in Mage partway down) the Demonknight didn't last long enough to show what he does after trying to stun Kagain. All that was left to do was Aec'Letec!  Yeah, I'm not nearly as Hardcore as Suspicious. Reading about that victory lit a fire in me, though. I made an extra save just before the fight so I could start working out my own proper strategy to beat him without Cloudkill. Maybe my next run I'll give it a shot. Anywho, I remembered to demand payment from whats-his-face that wanted the dagger when accepting the quest, so I got his giant-slaying hammer for once. 90% of the time I forget to ask so all I get is a pat on the back for killing a demon. Not that I had any use for it. Back to Baldur's Gate!  Haha, I had heard about this, but this is the first time I saw it for myself. Thanks, Shar-Teel! I didn't have to stealth my way into the compound or use the help of a baby-murderer to escape. With the endgame approaching it was fun to bust out all the most expensive potions and ammunition I had been using. The rest of the party was almost constantly hasted and firing off fireball arrows and necklaces of explosions. Lots of fun! I somehow flubbed Tamoko's quest and had to kill her, but whatever. In retrospect it was probably because Kagain was in front and he didn't have the Reaction stat Viconia had. Oh well! True Neutral protagonists don't sweat this stuff. What happens, happens. Feeling invincible the party barreled through the undercity and stormed the temple. I carefully spread the party along the bottom edge of the temple so the whole group couldn't be hit at once by detonating arrows and malasion spells. Shar-Teel stealths up and carefully draws the three midbosses without Sarevok following. A quick Chaos spell lands on Semaj and he wanders out the disabled exit somehow in a daze. Not having to dispel and slay him kinda threw me for a loop and Angelo got off several detonation arrows. Most of the party had partial fire resists or potions going, though. He was dispelled and slain in short order before Tazok could even make his way down. He didn't really stand a chance. Single class fighters really do get the short end of the stick at high levels. And without his cronies, Sarevok wouldn't stand much of a chance either. BUT AT WHAT COST  Just like the chess men, Angelo came in gunning for Tiax and Tiax alone. He was the only one without fire resist too. Why would he, he just had to hang back and throw the occasional spell. Why, Tiax, WHY!? Whatever victory may come, it would forever be overshadowed by the failure to keep the party's heart safe. Ah whatever, by this point Tiax was kinda useless. No more traps to spring and his spells paled in comparison to Viconia's, though I did appreciate his 16 con. Surprisingly beefy in a party full of sub-10 constitution scores.  Sarevok was pulled, dispelled, and mobbed in short order. Archie the Arcane Archer, human fighter/mage (7/8), stands triumphant over Sarevok! Honors: Ironling, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader, and Battlemaster.  This screenshot is inaccurate, why would I fight him on top of all those trap panels. Tuxedo Ted fucked around with this message at 13:06 on Jan 17, 2015 |
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Jan 17, 2015 07:46
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Cap has finished durlag's tower, defeated the aec'letec, and prevailed against Sarevok. No matter where the party goes, there are ALWAYS bears to be culled.  The ice prison is a fun and easy enough diversion for some experience. Improved invisibility makes it pretty easy.  Durlag's tower is not without its problems, however. It stings to lose Coran this late in the game, but there is no choice but to pick up Safana and continue.  This might be the easiest time I've had with the four warders fight. I guess my issue is that I don't buff enough outside of ironman. The second level goes by so fast I forget to take any screenshots.  The wands in baldur's gate have so many charges. It feels wrong to have cast over 35 flamestrikes in a runthrough.  I smite the chess fight most explosively. Thankfully Imoen had leveled and regained her thief abilities so I could dump Safana by this point. I take Ajantis for another warm fighter body with decent hp.  The demonknight fight goes well. Yeslick gets stunned at the very end, but it is too late. I knew obsessively buying potions of fire resistance would be worth it!  Minsc gets his moment after some poor performance throughout the playthrough. Aec'letec is downed after a long fight, but nobody dies.  I don't mess up duchal palace. A fight based on an npc you can't control surviving makes me uneasy.  This is the first time in any playthrough I kill Sarevok without using any summons. Turns out the wand of paralyzation is really, really good! The closest I came to death was getting knocked to single digit hp by kobold commandos in the archaeological site area, of all things. That's it for Baldur's gate! On to the second game. Honors: Ironling, Born Hero, Purist, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Honorable Trader, Battlemaster.
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Jan 17, 2015 08:53
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Catching up on the adventures of Talindra, Evil Swashbuckler. Here's some reruns: Remember what I said about killing the leaders of the Iron Throne? (And Tuth of the Lords of the Shield and I think the last one is from the Zhentarim or the Men of the Basilisk, I forget which) It was a downright assassination. They died so easily, crying for mercy.  The only reason I didn't kill this Watcher is that he needs to capture me to make the game continue.   And by continue I mean wait in a cell for a minute and wonder if the game has frozen out or bugged.  This conversation elevated Dorn to best friend and confidante until the end of Throne of Bhaal status. I collected some books:    At this point these ghasts are hilariously easy because I just throw Free Action people at them until they fall over.  I don't know why people have trouble with these skeletons. Thread the needle by going through the SW corner of the arches, take everyone through one at a time, then clear to the NW. Go out the same way you came, really easy.  Tiax, Cyric is named the Lord of Lies for a REASON.  I was honestly a little worried about the end of the catacombs. I remember it being murderously hard to do on one day's rest - the catacombs themselves grind you down, then the assassins put you at a breaking point, and you have no hope against the basilisks. This time I came prepared. The summons are leftover from the assassin fight; Edwin prepared Protection for Petrification just for this moment. Easy. No rest no muss no fuss.  The only trouble was when THIS happened, with a phase spider somehow teleporting away from Dorn fighting on the other side of the map right behind Talindra! Panic! I got out of the Catacombs and rested up. I knew I'd need it for starting on the expansion content because -  Yep. Shandalar was angry. And off I went to this weird prison in the middle of the Trackless Sea. Nothing much notable happened there except for everyone ganging up on Dorn:    I collected Shandalar's Cloak, headed off the island and thought about what to do next. I wanted to skip Balduran's Isle since I've had trouble getting wiped out there, so Durlag's is pretty much my only option.  This was my first "challenge" on the way to the dungeon. Remember when this was definitely deadly? Oh Baldur's Gate you have us come so far.
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Jan 17, 2015 09:44
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Yeah, I'm struggling to think of a reason for doing Balduran's Isle on a hardcore run. Or even a normal run. No fun items, not even a good amount of stuff to sell. I don't even remember if there's a way to raise fallen allies if the croak on the island. Even the EXP isn't a good draw, my party hit their caps easily without it. Best of luck in Durlag's, Arivia. And well done, Umbra! Man if everyone takes down Aec'Letec the hard way I'll have to play through BG1 a second time to do it too.
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Jan 17, 2015 10:11
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I shall take this quest. This is Clyde the Uncultured.  He is a Half Orc Fighter/Cleric. I may have pressed the reroll button a few times but that this was the first roll that got higher than 79 so I blame chance. I have just gotten past the intro with Gorian being dead and Imoen forcing herself into my group and that is it. So far Clyde has caved a few heads in Candlekeep and annoyed some posh nobles and that's about it. Best of luck Clyde, you will need it.
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Jan 17, 2015 12:10
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Fun fact: if dorn is silenced at the end of the simmeon fight, it breaks scripting and he won't pick back up hen it wears off. So whatever the resolution to his quest was, I didn't see it. But simmeon is dead, and other than the zombie farm and the red wizard area, every single area is cleared outside of baldurs gate and all the TotSC content. Will probably finish my run his weekend.
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Jan 17, 2015 13:56
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FairGame posted:Fun fact: if dorn is silenced at the end of the simmeon fight, it breaks scripting and he won't pick back up hen it wears off. The same thing happened to me. Once the silence has finished talk to Dorn and he will give his speech.
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Jan 17, 2015 14:14
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FairGame posted:Remove afraid of pain as a demerit I agree with this. Replace it with a demerit for removing the experience cap. Anyway, an update for Mr. Kipling. The first thing is getting the Non-Detection cloak from the Tasloi a little to the south of where you enter the map.  It went perfectly. I then helped Aldeth with his druid problem. Seniyad is fairly high level, but he fell easily to a couple of backstabs once his Iron Skins were removed. Moving on the spider nest, the poison was of little consequence since I had about 50 elixirs of health. The web traps were all removed when found. It was slow going, but hassle free. The Enhanced Edition also adds a magical Scimitar to this area, I think it's Rashads Talon but I've not identified it yet. The fight in the nest isn't too bad if you use a potion of defence before entering, then leave to fight the spiders outside. Centeol doesn't do much aside from use a wand of frost.  She only managed to use it once. I skipped fighting the shadow druids and the wyverns, it's just not worth it. Lastly, Drasus and his 3 mates. First, I backstabbed Kysus since he has less HP than Rezdan.   I wanted to charm Drasus, but he used a potion of magic shielding so had to settle for Genthore. Didn't really matter, Drasus thrashed him anyway. Drasus died to backstabs shortly after.  The Boots of Speed are now mine.  And finally, Rezdan. He ran out of spells, he died. Next time, the Cloakwood Mines and Davaeorn.
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Jan 17, 2015 15:54
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Brakh the Cavalier just left Candlekeep. I swear I didn't cheat on his stats. 
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Jan 17, 2015 16:25
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Man, I wish I got that roll for my paladin. I'm gonna shelf Archie for a bit and start again from square one. Archie is great but I feel like I've done the fighter and or mage stronghold quests a zillion times, so I'm gonna pick something I haven't played in ages.. I reset most of the mods I've been using so it should be back to a purist run.  Behold, Gram the Human Wizard Slayer. Sure it says Inquisitor on the tin, but he's gonna be slaying wizards. I just gotta keep him away from Illithids.  Literally the first hit this happens. Dammit, Winthrop doesn't even have another two-hand sword in stock. Had to grab Carbos's dagger. Haha, it'll be fun to stab Shank with Carbos's shank.  OR IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IF THE GAME LET ME. I had to swap out for the magic dagger Fuller gave me. It was kinda fun having a positive charisma score for once. It was kinda tough getting to the Friendly Arm Inn with just nonproficient weapons but I made it and dealt with Tarnesh and grabbed the wonder duo Jaheira and Khalid. After dealing with Kagain's kinda lackluster strength the whole game Khalid's high constitution and kinda ok dex won me over and I decided I'd finish the game with him as the party tank. Jaheira will probably be swapped for Yeslick eventually. Anyway, bought a new two-hander for Gram and set off to take care of that belt ogre and  DAMMIT.
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Jan 17, 2015 17:25
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Okay, trying this again. Introducing Gwyn ap Nudd the Berserker (who doesn't know it yet but will be finding religion). This time around he is NOT a natural-born hero - my first roll was something like 70 points. Difficulty is locked to Insane. As I am terrible at remembering to take screenshots, I'm simply going to have to narrate. One terrible summer day, Gwyn's adopted father Gorion turned Gwyn's world upside-down and fled from Candlekeep with Gwyn in tow. Shortly after leaving, they were ambushed; Gorion, knowing they were overmatched, ordered Gwyn to emulate the legend of Brave Sir Robin and run for the hills, only to be struck down himself. The next morning, lost and alone in the wild, Gwyn was shocked to discover his sister Imoen following them. Teaming up, they began exploring the countryside, pillaging the ambush site for anything useful and taking out their frustrations on all the wildlife they could catch. Soon they came across a bizarre combo - a clearly insane mage and a halfling who looked like he'd sooner eat them than look at them. Despite an offer of assistance, our heroes decided that some help you can just live without. Following the road markings, they headed east, only to encounter some busybody of an old man in a red robe who asked about their business and them moved on. Turning north, they finally made it to the Friendly Arm Inn. Alas, while approaching the inn, a stranger in robes attacked them, summoning a set of wavering, flickering images of himself to defend himself. Gwyn, having had the mother of all bad weeks so far, lost his cool and went utterly berserk, which is probably the only thing that saved him when the wizard's next spell sent Imoen and all the Inn's guards fleeing in terror. The images, most of which had already vanished before the mage's Horror spell struck, were quickly shattered, followed shortly by the would-be assassin's skull. Continuing inside, Gwyn and Imoen discovered their father's friends Khalid and Jaheira waiting for them and agreed to help them discover the cause of the Iron shortage in Nashkel. Adventurers that they are, however, the group stayed in the vicinity of the Inn for a couple days, righting wrongs, recovering and returning lost treasures, and meeting and befriending the paladin Ajantis. Eventually, however, they moved south to the town of Beregost, which was beset by its own problems. The group rescued and recruited the wild mage Neera, and were lured into a trap by the bard Garrick and the mage Silke. Refusing to act as her cat's-paws and murder innocent men, the team turned on Silke. In the ensuing melee, Khalid was struck by a lightning bolt, turning his entire nervous system into a superconductor and providing all of the witnesses with a fine light show. After resting and re-outfiting, a more somber group continued southward, eventually reaching the town of Nashkel, where the mayor of the town himself asked them to investigate the nearby iron mines. Our fearless adventurers were also approached by a hulking Rashemani named Minsc, who begged their help in rescuing his witch from a gnoll stronghold far to the west; a quest to which the team readily agreed. Over the next several days, our rag-tag band of heroes fought their way to the gnoll stronghold, encountering gnolls, gibberlings, xvarts, loggers, and a loving DEMON looking for his puppy on the way. Eventually, however, Gwyn saw the gnolls' fortress in the mists ahead. First, the team cleared out a Xvart village at the base of the fortress, incidentally discovering a magical Tome that taught Gwyn to be slightly less rude to people, improving his charisma. Then, true adventurers they were, the team assaulted the stronghold. Gnolls and gnoll elites fell before them like wheat to a scythe, until finally the gnoll champion himself lay dead at Gwyn's feet. In the pit guarded by the champion was Dynaheir herself, who was so delirious with joy upon being rescued that she immediately ran off to celebrate - and promptly got rendered down into soup stock by one remaining gnoll squad in the fortress. Minsc was inconsolable, but agreed it was best to stay with the team. Wanderlust overcame our intrepid band, and they continued exploring. Alas, Gwyn and his friends encountered a human bandit working with hobgoblin elite archers. As our hero would not hand over his cash, a melee ensued, and one of those hobgoblins must have been using enchanted arrows, as halfway through the fight, Jaheira took one hit to the side, and then almost immediately afterward, a second arrow struck and caused her to explode into tiny, bloody chunks. (Ed: How hard do those fuckers HIT?!?!?) Mourning the loss of their friend, Gwyn and company returned to Nashkel. To take their mind off their pain, the team decided to travel to the carnival just east of the town. Over the course of the next day, they slaughtered a rampaging exploding ogre, rescued a woman from an irate mage, and freed a cleric of Tempus from stone. This cleric, Branwen by name, joined the adventuring party out of gratitude. The thought of the iron shortage, however, had lain heavily on Gwyn's mind, and too much time had been wasted. It was time to investigate the mines. Taliesyn fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Jan 17, 2015 |
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Jan 17, 2015 17:27
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Arivia posted:The same thing happened to me. Once the silence has finished talk to Dorn and he will give his speech. Yeah, that worked. Thanks! I've now entered baldurs gate, and dynaheir died immediately when I fought those dudes in sorcerous sundries. Turns out fireballs hurt when you are both wearing Gorion's belt and fail your save. Ah well, will get around to rezzing her when I hit a sector with a temple. Infuriatingly, she still hasn't learned haste. 0-4 on that front. There's like a billion scrolls in durlags, though. E: that shop when you first walk in had a cursed staff, the ossifier, which casts barkskin on hit. Seems like a good thing to give a Mage, who could then zap a kensai or monk with it.
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Jan 17, 2015 17:41
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Koskinator posted:Here's the new thread, everyone! I'm open to suggests for improving its organization. I'm thinking of ordering the current adventurers list by progression. You mispelled Sarevok a LOT in the victories. Also, link to the old thread in the OP?
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Jan 17, 2015 17:50
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Afraid of Pain is a dumb dishonor because BG2EE maxes your hit dice rolls by default, no matter your difficulty as of 1.3.
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Jan 17, 2015 17:57
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Let's try this again, with... exactly the same character. Got another 75 on my stat roll so just arranged them as before. She gets a different portrait and to be voiced by Sheena Easton at least: Nick Familiar Elf F/M/T, Born Hero, Purist, and I'll be aiming for Iron Party to see if the extra restriction makes me less careless (spoilers: lol)  Everything goes smoothly out the gate. I rescue Neera, take her stuff and them dump her, then grab Branwen and start some sidequests. Melicamp status:  I thought I'd hit up Bassilus early but balls up the conversation and the ensuing fight. He went down easy himself but that's a lot of skeletons with a lot of opportunity for crits, so bye-bye Team Tarnesh. I just noticed if I'd levelled up Monty immediately he'd have survived that hit...  After that I had space for Team EE so hired Neera and Rasaad then picked up Dorn on the way to the mines. Rasaad got Kobold Commandoed (he would have survived if I'd been less stingy with the healing potions, but, like, he'd have drank the whole thing when he only needed about a third of it). Mulahey doesn't get up again after being Commanded and sort of just lies there while we beat on him. I don't want to mess with the Amazons just now so we go out the way we came in, dump Rasaad's corpse outside in the sunshine and escort Xan to the Nashkel Inn, where a guard killsteals Nimbul.  I can't even remember where I was going here (I think to kill Greywolf), but Neera pays for it. Five down! Next I decide to actually rescue Dynaheir for a change so a) I can stop feeling like a psycho and b) I'll have more warm bodies available before I run out. On the way  This poo poo.  Does not.  Let up. Gnoll fort was uneventful - got the Tome and the witch, went back to Nashkel, hired Edwin then left Minsc and Dynaheir chilling in the inn.  Revenge! I let Garrick join for now, then we deal with Tranzig and that's where I left off. Not sure what to do next - probably head in the direction of Dorn's quest? I want to clear a few more wilderness areas before Bandit Camp. Perma-Dead: Xzar, Imoen, Montaron, Rasaad, Neera.
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Jan 17, 2015 18:54
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Speaking of victories, here's some more Talindra, the evil swashbuckler. Talindra made it to Durlag's Tower. As a welcoming party, the battle horrors decided to stave Tiax's head in, which I think actually improved his usefulness to the party.  I messed up with Kirinhale so she attacked me. gently caress this fight.  Dorn was continually Dire Charmed so I had to get everyone out of his sight and trap Kirinhale in a corner because she kept teleporting away. It still took two or three cycles of her teleporting back to that room to get her down. Pain in the rear end.  Level 1 was pretty easy. The guardians at the end fell very easily, for some reason they only came one at a time and I was able to focus them down. Getting very good at this.  The worst, scariest trap in all of Baldur's Gate. Credit to BG2 for its version of the same.  Level 2 did not go so easy as level 1. This was almost the end of me - I lost most of my melee people and it was seriously a single magic missile from Talindra using a wand in desperation that ended it.  This room is really funny these days if you have a good melee fighter and the EE belt of cold immunity. The bear is the only one that can remotely hurt you. (Not shown: Being stupid and going into the topiary and getting Tiax killed again.)  I got lucky with the chess board. Everyone threw fireballs, most everything ate it. There were a couple of bishops that got out of the way but they were arrowed down quickly. The queen only made an appearance to take magic missiles and keel over.  In case you've ever wondered, this floor says "NONE BUT THE DEAD" in Dethek. It's a lovely use of Dwarven because it doesn't use any actual dwarven words (which Bioware definitely had access to, since half this dungeon is a reference to FR11) and it's just a letter by letter translation. Neither Chondathan (which has actual influence from real-world English) and Mulhorandi (same but Egyptian) work the same.  As people outlined in this thread the Demon Knight is actually really easy. Just threw Dorn and Shar-Teel into melee and had everyone else attack with missiles. Dorn ate it but it turned out okay. And that was it for Durlag's! I skipped Aec'Letec not because I feared that fight but because I didn't want to risk getting chunked by the backstabbers at the entrance of Ulgoth's Beard. Which really means it's time to go back to Baldur's Gate and finish the game.  Why would I lie to him? I'm PROUD of what I did in Candlekeep. I know better than Gorion.    I let myself get captured once just to see this scene for the first time. Pretty cool in some ways. After that? I killed any Fist who dared to get in my way. Fools. They should all flee in fear.  Tamoko, you among many other people have made it clear it's a choice between me and him for power. Why would I let him live? No sale.  Yet another idiot sad I killed his father or someone he cared about. He died like the rest: screaming.  He underestimated me. That's why I will take our father's birthright for my own, and he will die.  This is just here so we can all laugh at "Myrtle." It's MIRTUL, you silly devs. (They're pronounced the same way, so someone probably just heard Myrtle and typed it out without thinking.)  I just mobbed the greater dopplegangers with summons. They had no ability to move, let alone really pressure Liia Jannath or Belt. Easy 24k xp.  One last mistake: I missed a fireball trap. Not enough to kill me at this point.  I killed Winski for being weak. No one that idiotic has a place in the annals of MY history anyway.  DORN STOP DYING. Talindra before the final battle. I hit level 10 in the Thieves' Maze, just in time:    And yes I ended the game at 1 reputation, appropriately enough. The last big drop was mostly from murdering Flaming Fist who wouldn't get out of my way. I mean what were they going to do? Send MORE of themselves at me?  Sarevok's final words are much better if he knows you're gunning to be better than him.  He was pretty easy. Fireballs at the back to start. I never even SAW Tazok or Angelo after that, I don't know if that was enough to finish them off or what. Sarevok got slowed very early on and was pretty much a non-issue except for going after Tiax for a bit. Semaj popped up only for Edwin to Secret Word him and then get arrowed to death. Talindra the Evil Swashbuckler has completed Baldur's Gate 1! Honours: Ironling, Librarian, Trap Dodger, Honourable Trader. Dishonours: Afraid Of Pain Now I have to figure out what to do with BG2. Arivia fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Jan 17, 2015 |
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Jan 17, 2015 18:55
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Blinston Blighter the Blurd, Priest of Talos So it's time to make another run at the Mines. I grab Rasaad, entirely to fill up the empty slot with a soon to be dead body.  First though, let's swing by here and take out Greywolf. I remember him having neat stuff.  SMITE! Sadly that's already starting to lose its oomf. And you have to clear everyone out of the way lest it fries your party.  Whoa, Greywolf hits like a ton of bricks. Run away! Neera, do your thing!  ...which she does, turning a Magic Missile into a Fireball. I thought I had Blinston standing clear of the radius, but I think Greywolf walked it closer in his effort to kill him. Dammit. RIP Blinston Blighter the Blurd. Death by Neera
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Jan 17, 2015 19:13
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Blinston noooooo! BGEE seems so much more deadly to me. So many potential deaths by Neera.Arivia posted:And that was it for Durlag's! I skipped Aec'Letec not because I feared that fight but because I didn't want to risk getting chunked by the backstabbers at the entrance of Ulgoth's Beard. No kidding, those guys are the worst. The only way I enter that area after Durlags is by stopping at the Baldur's Gate Bridge and having everyone with less than 50 or so HP turn invisible somehow. It has a duration of 24 hours so it barely manages to last the trip to Ulgoth's Beard. Congratulations on your win! My Inquisitor is doing pretty well. Just being immune to Hold effects makes the early game a whole lot less tense. Ghouls and Ghasts and Vampire Wolves are no problem, not to mention all the enemy clerics hurling around Hold spells. I don't know why the Inquisitor kit gets that protection, though. It makes much more sense on the Undead Hunter kit.
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Jan 17, 2015 20:00
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Mr. Kipling has killed Davaeorn and cleared the Cloakwood Mines. I pretty much rushed straight for the 4th level, skipping most of the fights unless they were directly in the way or guarding valuable treasure. Natasha and Hareishan were completely ignored, they have nothing worth the hassle of killing them.  I addition to that unfortunate guard, I also killed the ogre mage on level 3. As far as I'm aware he has the only magical katana in the game. On to the man himself, SCS makes a couple of changes here.  First, the battle horrors from the traps near the entrance are there no matter what.  They're not too tough.  I even one shot this one. Second, after his pre-buff he launches a sequencer (Stinking Cloud + Web) towards the entrance of the level and 4 soldiers (2 Black Talons and 2 regular guards) arrive at regular intervals, similar to the ToB Sendai fight. He usually teleports around the level, casting AOE spells upon sight. For whatever reason he didn't teleport much, he just got surrounded by the reinforcements. I repeatedly used the Necklace of Missiles on the mass of enemies, and at some point his apprentice died, possibly to Cone of Cold.  Luckily he has low HP and eventually, he died. This is a tough fight, even with a potion of defence and the Shield Amulet, I came close to death on a couple of occasions. Next stop is Baldur's Gate. biscuits and crazy fucked around with this message at 20:29 on Jan 17, 2015 |
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Jan 17, 2015 20:26
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Joseph's adventure continues! Before taking on the mines, I set about a couple of quests to gear myself up and please a certain party member. After beating on some wolves, Joseph reaches Level 3 and maxes out the most powerful thief skill.  Now I'm freed up to work on the stealth skills and eventually make him into a dedicated forward scout/trapper as opposed to Imoen who will focus on the utility thief skills before maybe learning some spells. I decide to take care of some of the decent quests immediately surrounding Beregost, picking up Melicamp then taking on Bassilus. He holds and slowly kills members of my party, but I manage to kite him with my ranged characters long enough to finish off the little health he had remaining after Edwin had peppered him with Chromatic Orbs.  Unfortunately, Melicamp doesn't end up as lucky.  After turning in these quests, I head to the southmost regions of the map, taking a more direct route to the Gnoll Fortress than the previous run. I make it there, completing quests along the way. I start making more liberal use of my traps, trivializing several of the encounters in the Gnoll Fortress. Gnarl and Hairtooth die almost instantly to the two traps I set on their bridge.  After passing through the southern path to pick up the tome and fighting through gnoll packs with abundant casts of Sleep, the Gnoll Chieftain dies to a single basic snare that Joseph dragged him into. To appease Edwin, Dynaheir is killed. Sorry!  Next up: Nashkel Mines
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Jan 17, 2015 20:30
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Natsume the Kensai/Druid still survives. First order of business was saving the circus for an easy point of reputation. No longer will Natsume be known only as that lady who slaughtered an entire wedding and travels with a drow.  Saving the slaves in the Copper Coronet was the next step in our good deed parade (enjoy it while it lasts, Athkatla!)  In the sewers we unsealed Lilarcor. I'm sure he and Dorn will become the best of friends.  Oh my, there's a Dorn romance? Of course he'd start hitting on Natsume while she's standing ankle-deep in the corpses of her enemies.  I expect this to be entertainingly terrible. After that, we got around to doing Hexxat's quest. Dragomir was not as much of a threat this time since I actually had some +2 weapons equipped. So what was he guarding?  The real Hexxat, apparently! Nice stats, kind of wasted on a thief though, and they get nerfed by the cloak she wears to protect her from the sun.  With no other pressing matters, this seemed like a good time to go to De'Arnise Keep.  The golems provided only a little difficulty, and I got some nice loot and experience. In fact, the battle put Natsume just on the cusp of level 10 so I had Edwin read some scrolls to get her up there.  Ahh, it was good to get those Kensai levels back.  I forgot to screenshot the final battle, but we saved the keep and Natsume has been installed as the new master. Next time, I'll have to go back to Athkatla and choose one of the many quests remaining.
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Jan 17, 2015 21:38
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Try number 4! It's My Great Aunt Petunia the Shadowdancer. Which strangely enough is a class I've never played. Kind of a crumb bum roll (77), but oh well.  Already I like this. I can do things like rob the Inn and then walk past the guard.  And shank Shank before he can actually talk to me. Which also makes it so the "You cut yourself!" dialogue outside doesn't happen.  What in the nine hells are you talking about? You're like a foot taller than me.  A war to the near death with a wolf to begin. Those things are no joke when you have a crummy archer and a thief who can't really tank.  Tarnesh. This time I am bright enough to send Xzar to talk to him. Also yes, I did name her My Great Aunt Petunia just to see things like this.  As I suspected, Xzar eats the Horror/Magic Missile intended for me. Then one of the guards killsteals him from me. Oh well, so long as he's dead.  Tee hee.
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Jan 17, 2015 22:08
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Stabs McBadidea the fighter/thief has reached Baldur's Gate and is busily depopulating the city of wizards of middling power.
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Jan 17, 2015 22:45
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 So, decided to give it another shot, this time as a solo Avenger. Playing an Avenger is rubbish until level 7. Before 7 you have: slings, chromatic orbs, webs and lightning bolts (admittedly pretty great with boots of absorption). So, you have a few tricks but it's all a bit precarious and requires a fair amount of cheesy searching for easy exp. At 7 you have: the ability to turn into a Fire Salamander with powerful fire bolts who is auto-hasted, the ability to cast shitloads of webs and rip enemies apart as a sword spider, the ability to poison people as a baby Wyvern, fight effectively as a Black or Brown bear, Improved Invisibility, and the best summon in the game (call on woodland beings). Oh, and the ability to with one spell (resistance from lightning), make your most effective spell heal you (with boots of grounding and lightning resistance you have 150% resistance and 4 lightning bolts)  .Took four tries to get to 7, but now that I'm here I'm hoping for a fairly easy time until the city:    Btw, the name is a reference to this, as I spend so much time as a Salamander. 
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Jan 17, 2015 23:45
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Just started up ol' Mugsy today, and wanted to let you all know that this is character is a terrible idea. Running vanilla BG: EE on Insane difficulty. Already past Beregost!
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Jan 18, 2015 00:24
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So, I was thinking of doing something else with my next try. But...naah. Gentlemen. We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better. Exactly as strong. Dumber than he was before. I give you...HULK II - THE SMASHENING  Astonishingly, I did not have to cheat to get those exact stat rolls. Not Born Hero, not Purist. Core Rules difficulty, and I think I've got NWN-style hit points happening (so I shouldn't be seeing max rolls but they should be pretty good). Mod list is more-or-less the same as before. Most notably I have SCS installed (hahahahakillmenow) and the BG1 NPCS NEVER SHUT UP mod (seriously just kill me) but I did remove the item randomizer, as it mostly seemed interested in randomizing the early treasure hoards to "nothing".
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Jan 18, 2015 00:39
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Hm, Gram is getting kinda low on HP, those slimes are getting a surprising amount of hits in. Should I pop a potion? Nah, it'll be fine, I'll just heal up with spells once these idiots are dead. Oh. I tried to run Gram out of range at the last moment, and I got to watch one of those really slow slime projectiles gradually home in for the deathblow. Pop your potions, people, you'll have stacks of ten or fifteen on each character by the end game. I think this might make me officially burnt out on BG1. Guess I'll be taking Archie for a spin through BG2 sooner than I thought. I dunno. I was thinking of doing a bard run first maybe. Glad to see Hulk is back. Hope he never runs into the mind flayers.
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Jan 18, 2015 01:51
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My Great Aunt Petunia the Shadowdancer So Xzar is left dead on the floor of the Friendly Arm. I could have grabbed Dorn, but eh, I'll leave him there as insurance. Meanwhile I take on the belt ogre, and...that could have gone better. He dies, but Khalid *and* Monty end up Panic breaking. Khalid recovers sort of quickly.  Monty does not. That motherfucker runs around blindly for a good minute and finally manages to draw a wolf over to us. I kill that and he's still running.  *Still* running. Finally I start heading for the exit (which would have gotten me a You Must Gather Your Party, but I was kind of assuming he'd just draw another critter himself and die), and he finally stops. Jesus.  To Beregost, where I remember the sequence this time to talk down Marl. Hey, free experience.  Karlat gets drawn out of the Inn and killed pretty quickly, though Khalid *again* Panic breaks on me. At least there's nothing for him to draw in town.  I was expecting trouble out of Silke, but she loses her first couple of spells to interruptions and dies thereafter. Garrick can go blow. And then I lose my screencaps but I ran over to the Temple to get Antidotes (I'm dreading the spider fight. That never goes well), killed the Hobgoblin brigade in a surprisingly easy fight, and then it's back to Beregost. Spider battle incoming.
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Jan 18, 2015 03:09
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Update: An Egg Salad Sandwich was devoured by some Half-ogres. GAME OVER  Here's how it happened since the last episode:  The party moved onto Beregost with minimal issues, killed a few gibberlings on the way.  We rested in an inn and Imoen finally managed to pick a single lock.  Silke went down without even getting a Lightning Bolt off and flush with confidence I stupidly walked into the Red Shef Inn and got a Karlot to the face for my hubris. I took him outside and he proceeded to kill Khalid and generally be a tanky motherfucker. He died and Jaheira leveled up.  We went and recruited Kagain cause I really love Forgotten Realms dwarven characters and look: we found some "donations" to the group in the back of his shop!  I went and sold the +1 staff and a few other odds'n'ends at the smithy, reloaded my quivers and purchased a new shield for Kagain and a +1 sling, in retrospect I should have given it to Jaheira as she spends more time slinging then I do. I also ID'd the belts cause I'm bad and forgot which model is which.  Kagain wanted a belt too, guess which one I gave him? I forgot to take a screen shot of him putting it on   And this is where everything went down hill. I went to recruit Nerra as a new arcane caster and ended up zoneing Jaheira out with her own vines that was supposed to hold them all in place while I chipped safely away at the caster. I kited the melee goons around with her and an somewhat wasted Invisibility potion while the group focused on removing the mages mirror images before they could hit him proper, sadly Kagain and Xar failed their vs Spell rolls when they tried to close the gap and Xar got a face full of death.  Finally managed to get them down (the melee guys died super fast once the caster was gone) but I lost Xar AND Jaheira to the caster before he died I are gud at BG It has been a while since I Wild Mage'd so I decided to try it out just to remind myself what they do. Note: loving don't use her wild mage powers at loving all, ever unless you have no loving choice in the matter. Just be fuckin' happy she has a huge spell selection at level 1 and use that.  Now down a cleric I decided to go and grab a Stone to Flesh scroll from the temple before moving on, however I brain farted and forgot that the fair is next to Nashkel not Beregost thus I ran into these guys. God I forgot so much about this game and it's biting me in the rear end.  Lucky for me Kagain+Armour Potion= Unhittable.  He took ONE hit all fight, literally the ONLY good thing to happen to me all session. Their swords sold for 5gp each so I gathered them all up and went back to the smithy to get some much needed cash flow. And now dear friends: The end. Instead of deciding to end it there I said to myself "Nah Ill just go to Nashkel first. Big mistake.  The Ogrillon on the road shrugged off every attack against them and squished tiny Kagain with their barehands. Like holy poo poo they attacked maybe 6 times, got 3 hits and did 4, 6 and 6 damage to him so quickly he didn't have time to quaff a healing potion.  Without my big shield guy in the front (and the fact I was so depressed I lost my favorite character to some junk monsters) I resorted to attempting to Colour Spray using Reckless on Nerra. This went about as badly as you could have expected. She slowed loving EVERYONE. I don't have a screen shot for what happened next but the ogres rolled a 20 on Imoen and she died in one hit trying to slowly retreat. Nerra was next, she only has 4 hit points and died quickly too having run out of spells. An Egg Salad Sandwich fought on but with only 2 casts of Magic Missile and only 4 charges left on his drat Wand of Missile (having used it up previously in other fights such as the Red Wizard and the dwarf from the Red Sheef Inn) he was unable to kill the ogres and died with his skull crushed. Thus ends the tale of An Egg Salad Sandiwich. Prehaps later I shall try again with something a bit different (though I really want to see Dragon Disciple at full power it looks great) maybe a Spicy Bean Burrito.
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Jan 18, 2015 03:40
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Trundel posted:Just started up ol' Mugsy today, and wanted to let you all know that this is character is a terrible idea. Running vanilla BG: EE on Insane difficulty.  Those stats, why would you do this.why Tuxedo Ted posted:Hm, Gram is getting kinda low on HP, those slimes are getting a surprising amount of hits in. Should I pop a potion? Nah, it'll be fine, I'll just heal up with spells once these idiots are dead. Oof, tough luck. Mustard Jellies are bastards. I always fireball that wizard from out of view so he never gets to summon them.
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Jan 18, 2015 03:47
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Dorn... no, just... no... Anyway, Valvatorez managed to get farther then The Iron Skald did.  And Edwin hit level five shortly after that, meaning level 3 wizards spells.  And he has a nice amount of hp an-  ...Really Dorn, the wizard has more HP then you? The wizard that is the same level as you has more hp then you? Dorn, you are just as bad as Neera.  Level five and you still havn't hit double digits Neera? Really? Anyway, got to the mines. Somehow had a lighting bolt oneshot Dorn, then bounce around and miss me like 5 or 6 times.  And right after that pic, it managed to hit me. Completed the mines.  Was worried because dispel magic wasn't working on him, and somehow he managed to shoot a lighting bolt through the wall at Valvatorez. No joke, it went through the wall, hit him, then bounced around like normal.  Anyway, got to Baldur's gate, fought Simmon. Forgot he was a blackguard and came very close to dying to his poison.  Managed to beat him tough. Although Dorn died at the end. Then again, Neera died at the end of her quest like as well. I wonder if it means something. ...Valvatorez is going to die in the end, isn't he? Anyway did some quests and went to give the priestess the wisdom tome for a scroll to end a geese.  And apparently dropped the tome on the floor, told her it was her's, and she just left it there.  ...Well, if she is just going to leave it there guess I will grab it and give it to Veronica. Anyway The Tyrant Valvatorez got to Baldur's gate ...Wait, Valvatorez, what are you carrying? Valvatorez, why are you carrying those things? Orrfieldmedic fucked around with this message at 05:34 on Jan 18, 2015 |
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Jan 18, 2015 04:40
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 16:39 |
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Orrfieldmedic posted:
Davaeorn is level 11, so if you cast dispel magic on him while you are level 5 or 6, it will fail 95% of the time.
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Jan 18, 2015 05:01
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