Aurora, Elven Beast Master: The Nashkel Mines to Bandit Camp
Aurora is alike to Dar, but she has a Curupira streak in her too. Aurora abhors the exploitation of nature, and would gladly lead an animal uprising, if such a thing would lead to change. I like to think of her as a descendent of both Dar and Curupira. May she be a credit to both of her ancestors.
Aurora's rejection of metal weapons is a principled decision. Mines lead to the destruction and exploitation of nature. One can not reject that exploitation and destruction while embracing the products that depend on it. Aurora is not limited to wooden weapons. She is empowered to live by her principles.
And so Aurora didn't aid the village of Nashkel to get their mines working again. She did it to learn, in the hope of someday striking a blow against the iron industry. Iron escalates conflict between the races while undermining the ecology that they all depend on. Iron isn't the solution, it's the problem.
In light of our recent discussion of traps in the Nashkel Mines
@m7600 , I'll show, in detail, how they can be navigated by a solo non-thief. If you'd prefer not to know, with the intent of remaining meta-light, please do skip the next three screenshots and the associated descriptions.
Traps along the route to Mulahey are found in two places: on the bridge over the chasm in the middle of level 3, and near the exit to level 4. The traps on the bridge are arrow traps. There are two of them. Seeking to separate trap damage from enemy attacks, Aurora triggered the traps under stealth. They did a total of 19 damage between them. After taking the damage, Aurora pulled back out of sight of the kobolds, where she healed the damage. She then returned to the shadows and moved on.
Stealth got Aurora through the mass of kolbods heading into level 3's final area.
The remaining traps on level 3 are near the exit. If you hug the southern wall and follow its curvature to the exit you can evade the traps.
Ok. No more trap spoilers,
@m7600. Just combat spoilers from here on out, lol.
Like most of my characters, Aurora dispatched the kobolds just outside of Mulahey's lair to facilitate buffing. The Wand of Sleep was the MVP here.
Across runs, I go back and forth on allowing ambush attacks on blue circled foes. The game world operates under the assumption that you'll initiate dialogue, and the fights are constructed around that assumption. At the same time, it's painfully implausible that, say, an assassin, would walk up and introduce herself. It's a problem. I'm not the only one who feels this conflict. Shortly before the Reddit closure, there was a thread about this very subject. Is attacking blue circled foes an exploit, or it is role playing? Interestingly, the majority of respondents called it role playing.
I strike a middle ground. Is it role playing? Yes, it can be. Is it an exploit? Yes, it is. A tactic can be both at the same time. I resolve this conflict by switching between runs. My roguish characters are allowed ambush attacks. It suits them from a RP standpoint, and these characters, by nature, don't play fair. My more chivalrous characters, in contrast, are not allowed ambush attacks. It doesn't suit them from a RP standpoint, and there's no logic in sacrificing fair play. Aurora is not a rogue, and while she appreciates the value of stealth, she doesn't have strong roguish leanings. She will not be allowed to ambush blue circled foes, although she may do so once or twice for flavor. She is, after all, a master of stealth and a cunning warrior. It would make sense for her to leverage that skill set at some point.
In Mulahey's case, Aurora revealed herself. Her buffs here were Potion of Fire Resistance, Potion of Stone Giant Strength, Shield Amulet and Greenstone Amulet.
An early but post buff thwack from Aule's put Mulahey on the defensive. A One Gift Lost charge and a follow up melee blow finished him. A smooth victory, for our beast master.
Nimbul was overcome with the aid of the Amnish army. We used a Greenstone Amulet charge here.
Tranzig was killed with arrows, under Greenstone Amulet. Aurora did charm a worg summoned by Tranzig but I don't have a screenshot of that. Aurora did take some damage here. She was never in danger, though.
The Molkar ambush was Aurora's first legitimate challenge. In some runs you get luck, in some runs you don't. Aurora has fared well so far, but she has, objectively speaking, been insanely unlucky in this run. She's been getting terrible rolls. Her opponents have been getting excellent ones. Her opponents have been getting great potions, too. They always seem to have the right bottle on hand, as if they know what I'm planning. In this case, it was an Oil of Speed from Marvin that threw Aurora off her game. The best counter to an Oil of Speed is an Oil of Speed. Aurora does not have one to spare. We opened with a Greenstone Amulet charge and prepared for a length fight.
The Morvin problem appeared to be solved by a Dart of Stunning, but a Remove Paralysis from Drakar got him up and running again.
With Marvin giving us serious grief, One Gift Lost was the only solution. Aurora quaffed a Potion of Fire Resistance and bombed away, using three charges. With her enemies softened, she finished in melee.
Since we were running low of healing potions and Dart of Stunning, we took a trip to Ulgoth's Beard. Suffering for lack of animal companionship, Aurora charmed a chicken. I highly recommend this move, simply because you get to see cluck caw bucbuc becaw in the battle record. It's worth it, and if you don't believe me, check out how majestic this is:
The Amazonians arrived soon after. They, like Molkar et al, gave Aurora grief. We've been getting rolls like this all run long: Aurora 5, Telka 19.
A Greenstone Amulet charge kept Aurora safe at first, but the Amazonians wisely withheld their disablers this time, unlike in prior fights, forcing Aurora to consume another charge. It's a good thing Aurora activated on "cupio," otherwise I'd be posting on another character right now.
Aurora whittled down the thieves, but again the clerics cagely withheld their disablers until Aurora's Greenstone Amulet expired. Seeking to save charges, Aurora used a recently looted Potion of Magic Blocking to finish the fight.
We appeared to be on the verge of victory, until Zeela quaffed a Potion of Superior Healing. And no: that's not a typo. The enemy potion quaffs in this run have been brutal.
But you can't keep a good beast master down, can you? Not in BG1, at least.
I always fight the Larswood and Peldvale bandits, mostly for flavor. Aurora killed the black talon elites using opening Aule's strikes from stealth, followed by arrows. With her Boots of Avoidance and Cloak of Displacement bringing the black talons into crit only range, Antipode was the best choice for the belt slot.
Finally, Raiken's crew. We opened with a Dart of Stunning on Raiken. It took.
Aule's and the Wand of Sleep did the rest.
I'll post on Bandit Camp soon.
Cheers,
A.
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