BG3 Honour Mode: strategy & tactics (many spoilers)

[Black Elk]

Another annoyingly close miss vs the 3rd Devil on the Nautiloid...

I wasn't even going to try for it since we got a spike bulb for a big loot drop, but then Shadowheart landed her Command on the first try and inflict wounds for 37 dmg! I think that's the best I've seen so far, for a Shadowbae crit. I used to keep guiding bolt for her since the knock on effect is pretty nice, but now I think I will keep that one handy instead. Sadly Lae'zel had a miss for our last chance at a big hit, had to bail and connect the transponder before the ship crashed.

Last run I found myself upcasting Inflict Wounds quite a lot, even in place of necrotic Spirit Guardians sometimes. It hits pretty heavy, just going the more death cleric vibes. I figure maybe Jaheira can go radiant and use the orbs and such as a Star Druid, and Red Din just keeps his eye on the prize with the pure class Shadow Sorcery. Getting the hound of Ill Omen with as little fuss and as quickly as possible without giving up too much in the process would be nice. 44 minutes from the Bridge just on that, so I invariably try to make it up somewhere here or there if I can skip ahead comfortably to lvl 5 from this point, just doing a few more things before taking it to the Creche.

My main issue is that I always want Lae'zel in the party doing her battle mastery so feel like I have to do the Creche path sorta by default since it gives more Lae'zel high drama. I tried playing her as an Eldritch Knight, which I think is probably better mechanically, certainly for the endgame, but I just think it's more fun to use the Battle Master moves and that tension of which maneuver to take lvl 3. Sorta guides the way she plays mechanically in the moment for me. If Lae'zel is doing the big ridiculous jumps and the acrobatic menacing attacks with giant astral swords that feels pretty on brand. With Karlach going Giant, I think that's another instance where I can lean in with those antics, using stuff like improvised throws or the kick push, taking Tavern Brawler or whatever and hand wave it. When I have them both together in the party it becomes pretty cartoonish, but then I enjoy it for what it is. I think in Act III I will want Jaheira to sorta anchor us though, and I usually switch her out with Shadowheart on the fly, since their kit is similar. Like if I deck Shadowheart out in the Luminous Breast Plate with whatever Gloves, Scimitar and the Club of STR probably as a Death Cleric, then later on Jaheira can sort of steal all her gear pretty quickly or vice versa depending on the story beats. I like Shadowheart's look in her Sharran style armor too, but the Breast Plate is better for the radiant stuff, so I figure if Shadowheart is going Necrotic Death type focus, then Jaheira could just slot in with the Starry stuff and I won't be losing too much in either department. The extra necro damage applied after crits for a "finish them!" flourish is very satisfying. Double Death Toll is sorta not the most useful though I did a few uses out of it last time when the chips were down hehe.

Maybe this time we'll get to Act II in a slightly better position. I think it's sorta necessary to somehow resolve the Grove/Goblin thing before just charging ahead, cause when all the Tiefs are dead the Last Light Inn feels pretty depressing. I was going to try and see if I could just get it all done in one rest somehow, but then the timing on Alfira knockout is tough. I usually want to burn a lvl 2 spell on that for Hold Person to see if I can land it, which gives no negative hit to attitude if I pull it off on the first try. It's like a coin toss I think about 45%, but better than Arron jogging over. I think if I can take Alfira out non lethal, then do the Goblins right away to start the Grove fight we might be able to KO Minthara and keep everyone else around so that Act II remains somewhat more engaging, or with more stuff to do if still under levelled. I lack impulse control sometimes, so I like the idea of a quickie route in case I botch something somewhere hehe.

Red Eye Din I think has racked up the most honorable deaths, and probably the most failed romances with Shadowheart lol

 

[Black Elk]

My Insomniac run has been going better than expected thus far. I opted not to rest when we hit the beach and just tried to keep it going for as long as I could. For this one I entered the Grove and did the quick circuit for Arabella and Alfira, avoiding the Dank Crypt and Astarion, before warping out of there and going straight for Scratch. From there my plan was just to make one big ass circuit with a single pass through Goblin Camp and the Underdark. I did the Arcane Tower and most of the Underdark.. I wanted to grab the Club of STR 19 for Shadowheart and the Boooal fish god bonus for 750 xp via Persuasion hehe.

I used the disguise self Drow spell a fair bit, since I didn't have the Illithid Wisdom to force my way past the guards without revealing or true Dragonborn form lol. The only damage I took was from environmental fiascos along the jog, but I just kept popping the healing potions as we went. After we got the Club of STR, the Boots of Speed and that Mind Ring from the Society of Brilliance crew, my thought was to head back up the ladder into the Goblin camp and get things going with Minthara.

Main concern is that if I don't rest at this point, then my Durge scene with Quill might be interrupted by the Camp celebration. With all that effort to keep Alfira alive via KO I didn't want to risk it, so I think we will pitch camp here. I also need an Illithid Wisdom I think to handled the Gnolls the way I want to, so I think sleep deprivation may have to take a back seat to ensuring my game doesn't bork out too hard from attempting not to rest at all.

I got pretty far though, no short rests used yet, I think I could keep it going by heading back to the Emerald grove and just doing more walk around stuff, but I think that would wind me up with basically the same dilemma after another 30 minutes or so hehe. Also slightly nervous that Arron may have witnessed our Alfira knockout antics and will run us down if we renter the Grove without taking a nap first. Invisibility I only used the one time, but it was pretty clutch to escape the Bulette, I think I will replace it when we lvl up to 5. I gave Karlach the Smuggler's Ring so she could be our primary lockbuster for the Selunite Outpost. Worked pretty well. I think if trying to do the Hag's Hair and the Grove battle for day 2, seems like we might need to hit the hay at least once before trying for the autosnoozes. The one which happens when going to the mountain pass. Will have to see how many naps it takes me to get to the Shadowlands, at which point I think we'll probably have to rest a lot more to avoid major snafus.

I'd be nice to get a clean circuit that does all the main beats, saves the main peeps, and can be done in like one solid night of BG3 gameplay, instead of 2 nights which is what it usually takes me to pull this off lol

 

[Black Elk]

Insomniac plan unraveled when Wyll interrupted the Durge scene. I think this is because I had yet to use Illithid Wisdom on one of the Goblins to get the group dialogue about the tadpoles. Instead it was the Wyll and Karlach stuff along with the Dream Guardian. Once I had committed to knocking out Alfira I felt like I had to just double back. It took me about 3 more rests to realize that I needed to use the Tadpole in convo (I thought maybe using it on the Flind would do the same, but it didn't give me the group chat with everyone weighing in.) Had to burn a few spellslots and then it was like might as well sleeping bag the initial plan and just try to gun for lvl 5 however. On the third night of Alfira knockout Lakrissa got involved and we had to feather fall to escape combat. Luckily got the Durge scene that night, cause I think the tiefs are starting to get hip to the camp carousel.

I think the issue for me is that one thing leads inexorably to the next, so like as soon as I set foot in the Grove then a whole sequence of events need to occur or I don't feel quite satisfied, as if I was leaving too much on the table. Then again, in the Underdark, felt like I had to do most of the things. I couldn't afford the Acid ring so I cheaped out with a cloud of darkness and KO. It was near disaster when the whole Mushroom colony lit up. Had to flee before we were overwhelmed.

If there was a more elegant way to skip ahead and just be in Act II with some set amount of XP and gear for getting there, I think that could be a fun way to play. The alternative I guess is just to sorta play both the Underdark stuff and the Creche and do everything even though that always takes me like 20 hours instead of the target of 4 or 5 lol. If I skip Grymforge I lose out on the Ironhand Gnome stuff, if I don't do the Grove no Tiefs in the Shadowlands to keep things lively. Side with Minthara and we lose half the crew etc, so it's sorta like no matter what I'm losing out on a fair bit. In this one everything was going according to plan on day 4, but after we did the Shadow Druid stuff with Kagha, Shadowheart decided to have a convo moment. I forgot I had used Friends on Kagha to persuade her back to the light, but then she agro'd and threw us back into the fight. Rath joined her team and so both had to get exploded with a smoke powder barrel before anyone else ran over.

Pretty rough for team Emerald Grove there, but not the worst outcome I suppose lol. I think the choice now is whether to try for the Hag's Hair, or the Gith, or run the Grove battle, any of which will ensure lvl 5. Then I can just go to the Creche and jet through that way. Certainly takes a lot more time than the direct cut to the chase though.

 

[Black Elk]

Ok this is easily my best yet lol...

I'm pretty sure cyan eye Din just saw through the Matrix! hehe

It all started when we skipped Us and Shadowheart missed both her commands on the bridge. I said screw it and connected the nerve on the transponder. Had to just throw the shoes in the river, cause it was going to be that sort of night. I already have a couple backup Dins at lvl 5 now, so idea was just to try something newish.My plan for this run was to take the shortest distance possible to each recruiting/saving each companion NPC before trying to advance to the next act. Goal was not so much speed, as just to avoid backtracking and limit combat to just the essential stuff. I grabbed everyone and went straight to the gate fight Shadowheart, Lae'zel and Gale. I got nailed immediately by a poison blast for the War Priestess Goblin, first Shadow Sorcery save from death +1 hp lol. I decided in that moment that I would just book it in the complete opposite direction, and used Jump to escape the battle lol. Lae'zel wisely followed along with the double dash action surge. Shadowheart who was hidden had half a heart and cast a bonus action heal to save Gale from going nuclear, but then also jumped to flee the battle back to camp.

This left Bladesong Gale as the lone party member still involved in the Gate battle. He used his silly dancing sword routine to fly over and save Wyll with the AoE heal. This in my headcanon must be where he somehow achieves minor Time Stop, we left him there in the midst of that battle while we go off to do all the various things hehe.

It made me chuckle the idea that we'd bail and avoid having to feed him anything. But then I thought might as well set him up for some real heroics and feed him all the magical stuff to just go full spectacle wow at the Gate to the Grove first fight. I figured via the power of sleep deprivation and disguise self drow we could probably get a lot handled without missing him overmuch. I have already acquired for him Phalar Aluve! So far so swinging for sure.

I'm not sure how far we can push this one before maybe it breaks some other scene, but I figure might as well keep it going since I was trying the no rest plan. Like maybe we can get Minthara to show for the epic showdown, while he's still sitting there doing Conan swords swings, effectively frozen in time lol

 

[OrlonKronsteen]

Good news: I have Scratch in my party - I had originally thought a mod was required for that, for some reason. Bad news: I’m afraid he'll get hurt so I don’t want to use him.

Good news: you can still get the owl bear cub without killing the mother. Bad news: that means the goblins killed her.

As for Laezel: conventional wisdom says that BM is the best fighter subclass. However, I feel like Champion is the best. While I like the variety of BM, and the manoeuvres, I find that enemies make their saves against them way to often for them to be reliable. Meanwhile, a crit is a crit.

 

[Black Elk]

Scratch! The best news hehe

Yeah it's too bad about the Owlbears. I want all the Yoshis even the old timers! hehe Greybeard Greyfeather

I have been trying to dive back in but I'm legit having trouble leaving Andor on the table. I rewatched the whole thing again and was just kinda basking in the warm afterglow of that. If only Tony Gilroy could somehow have written KOTOR 3! And if only it could somehow be coming out this week! lol I keep trying to decide whether its worth checking out the old SWTOR account, but for me that means padmapping the Xbox controller again which is a total chore. Instead I played the Tie Fighter level from Battlefront 2 (2005) and got in a quick fix in that way. I mean it was the best in class for the time. Too bad they couldn't make a more battlefront style action focused RPG, or maybe something like a BG3 but set in the Star Wars Galaxy. I mean I know they got the new Battlefronts and Fallen Orders and such, but I like to make a custom character. Hyperdrive-In Theater dream I guess... this cracked me up... Andor 1999 TV Spoilers* season 2 lol, another great riff on the main theme hehe

Spoiler

Anyhow, point being I took a week off to enjoy that once in a generation SW high note, but when I came back to BG3 I had completely forgotten what I was doing with Cyan eye'd Din's run! Even with my notebook and my handy decoder ring with all those screens taken, I was just clueless at picking up where I left off for his backwards route. I was like 'wait, how do I have the Amulet of Misty step already?' then I remembered 'oh yeah, bailed on the Gate fight did everything in reverse.' But I didn't remember until after switching over to Gale and accidentally concluding the Gate battle, since team Tief Alliance basically mopped it up in one round. I'm not sure how long we'd have been able to push it anyway, he already had the arcane hunger.

I tried to trust in my Shadowblade like a fakey lightsaber, but was super disoriented generally. This happens to me sometimes, like in a 4X say, if I start the early campaign come back a week later then completely forget my plan, end up just restarting. Like a primo color grade restoration for all the reels at once, I need that anchor scene at the outset so everything will match and sync up.

I think this puts an upper limit not by total hours, but more in terms of the big breakpoints by act for BG3. Sometimes I find the sprawl of these big interconnected areas and the whole notion of doubling back constantly for 10 maybe 20 hours, but then never returning after that, which trips me up. If I save out at one of the big boss funnel checkpoint type fights, then it's easier. Why I like to leave off at the Ketheric fight on the roof or somewhere like that, maybe the Gith fight at the Creche or Nere battle, something big enough that I'll remember what to do and where to go next, but Act I is very expansive, so it's harder to come back into at a midpoint like this unless doing my standard HM route which is sorta save everyone completionism style. Green Eye'd Din route basically, over-levelled. Red Eye'd Din usually tries to take shortcuts and go into thing under levelled and short some companions. Cyan Din I thought I'd aim somewhere in between these two, and only do the minimum required to recruit the recruitable NPCs, but I feel like once I start it's hard not to just go to the next, do the whole everything. I almost wish there was more early branching based on stuff like class, race, background etc to help define things a bit for an approach. As it stands I feel like I have to make suboptimal RP style choices to see something I haven't seen before which is a bit of a bust. I don't know probably will just take it again from the top hehe

 

[OrlonKronsteen]

I'm battling restartitis again as well. My Paladin run is... fine? Except, well, another RP element is bothering me. Lae'zel. I love Lae'zel because the artwork and voice acting are great. And writing wise, she's great for what she is. However... she's vile. From an RP standpoint, there are just too many red flags for a good party. From the outset, she wants to abandon SH. She's a thug. There's a line where she talks about the time she cut her cousins' throats. She's grumpy and downright unpleasant. Add to that, she's really pushy about getting to the creche. And a gith fortress is not something I'd be eager to visit in RL. I suppose if you're desperate enough to get the tadpole out you'd think about it, but it wouldn't be my first option. Also, she's underwhelming as a BM. Riposte is great, but the enemies save nine out of 10 times on her other maneuvers, it seems. An estimate, but really not far off. It can't be all luck - I've observed this over several starts now. When I ran her as a Champion, she was mowing through the game like a scythe through wheat.

I'm now thinking about a run with SH and Karlach, as my main pals and platooning Wyll and Gale. I keep wanting to do that but I always have a hard time not taking Lae'zel... For all of the problems she is cool in her way, and she is the first 'friend' you meet in the game. And she really is central to the story... And would I roll another paladin, or something else??? Aaaaaah! Man, I wish big pharma - or even a mom and pop apothecary - would invent a cure for restartitis. I'd even take it in gum or patch form.

 

[Black Elk]

"Those who are about to die solute you!" hehe

I had a Gnome Champion at one point, General Maximus Barrelius. My head canon was that he was betrayed by the pretender Nautilus Pyro, and sent off to the mines to die. But then he comes back for the final kaboom in the ring after training with former gladiator Ignatius Shortfuse Boximo. Basically a post mortem cameo at camp via the Withers zombies on that one lol.

I had a whole Gnomish katabasis thing planned out for Grymforge, but I always seem to flame out on the shorty runs. Probably cause there are no legit shorty companions to keep it lively during the downtime. Zombie buddies are a bit of a one note and even there the pickings are slim.

I mean Sir Fuzzalump is the only Gnome hireling available and Rock Gnome is what we got to work with sans mods. So that's sorta what lead me down there lol.

I multi-classed him into a fighter trying to find something that worked high STR to mule the barrels, but it never quite panned out. Every time I try to barrelmance Nere I end up blowing up Barcus by accident anyway. Usually if I recruit the Zombies they probably get sent back to the fugue plane after I take the resurrection scrolls and equipment hehe

 

[Black Elk]

Ran a bunch of experiments trying to get to the Shadowlands as quickly as possible, using a more speedrunner Ditch Dashagin style approach. (Ditch Dashagin is my imaginary Halfling Rogue that I would have played if they'd given us some more compelling Halfling avatar's to work with in BG3 hehe). Anyway the idea being to B-line for the Red Dragon and try to start the campaign from there as sorta the very first stop of consequence.

To get there the shortest possible path (or at least that doesn't use any glitch maneuvers) takes us right by Scratch. He's conveniently just a couple jumps away from Karlach who's waiting on the other side of that creek. Going this route it's possible to grab Wyll as well, since he'll recruit into the party from camp once Karlach is on board. Shadowheart will be on the beach other either crash landed right next to us, or knocking on that door to the Dank Crypt like way back in the earliest access. Gale and Astarion are both right by the beach, so if I climb the rocks I can pick them up without any combat, so those companions are still an option. Karlach means doing the Anders fight though, which can be a bit rough under levelled. Easiest move would probably be something like separating the merchant from the other paladins

I think a potentially interesting path for Lae'zel is to delay recruitment until the Githyanki Raider fight right before the mountain pass. If you skip the initial encounter with Lae'zel where she's trapped in the cage and Nymessa says "leave it for the Goblins to kill" then Lae'zel will reappear as the party approaches the Gith Raiders.

In this interaction Lae'zel will use the Tadpole to communicate to the party to 'keep our lips sealed.' Which I sorta read as Lae'zel interceding on our behalf to save us from certain death, even if we've yet to officially recruit her into the fold. So rather than being rescued or resurrected and owing us the life bond, it's sorta the other way. Basically in this case she's doing us the solid. Main issue there though is that unlike Nymessa, Sarth Baretha can be pretty tough to take down, and I think Lae'zel can die permanently in that battle.

I haven't played this route all that much, since usually I rescue her from the Tiefs with deception check, or I'll have Lae'zel fight to the death on the Nautiloid so she be immediately resurrected on the beach (she has to be like dead dead for that to work, portrait all drained of color). Since I've been trying to shortcut and do this first, I wasn't getting the standard tadpole dialogue options at that point to communicate back. In my first trial I crit failed to free Shadowheart from her pod, and then RP'd that Lae'zel would not have made the extra effort. On that one I ate Gale and then left Shadowheart locked into the Gate fight, it went about as miserably as one might expect lol. Second attempt we just barely scrapped by with a 2, so sorta banking our bad luck at the outset heheh.

I think the main issue with my skip ahead approach is that it means no Halsin and no Minthara. For them I have to at least detour into the Goblin camp, but I find this rough, because once I go there I go to the Underdark start grabbing a bunch of whatevers and the route becomes one giant detour. Halsin is clearly out of his depths when he suggests that the Underdark will be the easier path hehe. Like it's obvious the mountain pass where we can just jet and feather fall. I kinda regretted eating Gale that one time, since it meant I had to burn a spellslot on that, next time I'll try to keep him as Evil Gale maybe using, Sorcerer Charisma instead to resist the Dark Urge. I haven't determined if Evil Wyll will still bail on the party after taking Karlach's head, like if leave Act I, but don't resolve the stuff with the Tiefs and the Druids. Seems like a poor trade either way, just to get the infernal robes from Mizora. Sans Tieflings I think Karlach's heart is sorta screwed, no Dammon to fix it up, but not sure if that means she'll bail or just have a worse ending, but might be doable to keep them both around and just make like "what Tieflings, what do you mean?"

Party of the issue with some of the failsafes is that they still just result in dead companions later on if you don't hit the right beats on it. That's a little annoying. Like to me it seems as though anyone we completely ignore in Act I or Act II, might still make it to Act III and show up there and still be recruitable, but the default state is generally that we just find out they died without our interventions. To me it would have been more amusing if the NPCs somehow all worked things out and managed to survive, if only they could avoid running into the player along the way lol. I think that would have been funny for a Durge, but anyway, I think in order for this plan to work I have to hold to my simple of rule of not backtracking and just getting to Act II as quickly as possible. I think this could be my alternative to a challenge run since it cuts off a fair bit of the Itemization power spikes. To keep Lae'zel I'm pretty sure we have to do the Zaithisk though or she will split for sure. I think the only way to really have an ace up the back sleeves is to kill the Zhents and steal their smokepowder since it's basically right there along the shortest path. I mean a quick swing into the burning inn isn't too far off the beaten path, but that's another dicey one with TPK potential going south if I fail the sneak or invisibility. I think maybe just kill the guard at the door and feather fall with invisibility maybe to get the drop on them, but it's invariably the crossbows we gotta watch out for. Always seems to be deaths door for me with those deadly double bolt attacks lol

 

[Antimatter]

Hmm, I think that gith fight is one of the hardest in Act 1, unless you're overlevelled for it. I'm not sure how you can beat them with this beeline style.

 

[OrlonKronsteen]

Hmm, I think that gith fight is one of the hardest in Act 1, unless you're overlevelled for it. I'm not sure how you can beat them with this beeline style.

He seems to have mad skills. He’ll take down the devils on the nautalis, for instance, something I would never dare attempt. He can complete no reloads.

 

[Black Elk]

I think it's some combination of ruthless repetition and gluttony for punishment, since I've easily died like a thousand times in Act I. The second Cambion is for sure the most annoying though. I've never managed to knock him off!

I think I could probably do it as another class by now, but for some reason I'm stubbornly committed to doing it as a Sorcerer. I don't know why, it reminds me of that one time I stayed up all night in middle school, trying to beat Street Fighter 2 as Dhalsim on the SNES. Just dying in the final battle with Bison a thousand times trying to do some absurd Yoga Flame maneuver lol. Always seems to come down to the final round and then a series of missed attacks on my part. Here's Din tripping on the final hurdle once again...

Like talk about a Dragon dud! With advantage and everything!? We were all set to fly, but then predictably "missed" hehe.

I really thought we finally had him that time, which would have been extra satisfying. Even if it cost us Us.

Tried as a Golden Eye'd Din (technically Orange Flame I guess) but damn, so close!!! Next attempt down to 1 HP again. Us hit but then Shadowheart somehow missed with the Acid Bulb!

I thought I was gravy with an autohit, but it was the last round before the crash so no time left. Went best 3 out of 4 on that, then of course died to random Goblins in the Blighted Village lol. I forgot to use the Mask to change into a Drow and hadn't slept yet so couldn't use the worm for Illithid Wisdom. I tried Intimidation but failed, already burned the inspiration on the Scratch perception check. Caught 4 flaming Goblin arrows by surprise and instantly died to an exploding Firewine barrel! Serves us right I suppose hehe.

My plan that time was to save Barcus and do the windmill since it's not too much of a delay. From the Karlach pickup point, basically like a 10 minute u turn compared to direct flight Scratch route, with that jump over the creek. Not too bad. I thought maybe I could grab those barrels for the Gith and do Lump. Didn't work so well with the insomniac method though.

I'm pretty convinced now that only way to deal with the Gith raiders at lvl 2/3 reliably is to use Lump's horn and then hide, let the Ogres do the dirty work hehe. I think the blast radius would be tough for Lae'zel not already being on the team, so not sure about that part of the idea. I remember in EA it was possible to try and kill the Red Dragon if one did like everything else beforehand, but then that meant no Lae'zel. That was back when Sarth Baretha still had Black Hair though, so it's been a while. I think she still has the old portrait if you look at her corpse. To kill the Red Dragon will full Honours it's probably something like every single exploding barrel in Act 1 and being lvl 6 or whatever, probably with the Ogres in tow as well. I thought about saving all the Nautiloid tanks for this, but I don't know just feels like the cheapest of cheapshots imaginable, since I think the only way to keep him from flying away is to insta detonate and 1 shot him. Maybe the Owlbear crush could do it? Pretty sure the XP is lowball anyway though. I think he might drop a Silver Sword, but then with no Lae'zel to use it that would probably just depress me. She surely must go hostile if not dying instantly to the kaboom. I feel like Lae'zel would just be judging us from beyond the grave forever if we merc'd Quodenos with no warning like that. I have trouble adopting plans that involve gaming in and out of initiative too. I always seem to screw myself or run down the clock by accident whenever I try the ungroup stuff. Maybe one day we'll give it a go, but for now I think my backwards route is sorta too backwards to work really.

I mean I think the route is good, but I have to do it all in one session or I forget which steps I've already done lol. I need to block out like a good solid couple hours to do everything that needs doing. I can get to the Shadowlands pretty quickly taking the overland route, but then we're stuck at the Last Light at lvl 3 with no friends, so that's a bit of a bust. It's surely my fault for doing all this goofy stuff just to avoid speaking to Nettie for the umpteenth time lol

ps. For my next attempt I think I will try for Shadow S'wizard and take the exploding corpse and mage hand cantrips. I really haven't messed with those too much. Idea would be to have Lae'zel grab all the imp corpses and set up some sort of booby trap for the cambions in the hallway. With double mage hands I think I can just move all the nautiloid barrels towards the doorway and try to catch them up that way, but I'm not sure if it's better to set one big trap or a bunch of smaller traps to do like a chain kaboom of some sort. Either that or just try toss a Haste potion. I think with the Haste potion I was able to burst Zhalk down once that way, but then the Flayer ended up pretty strong. Other idea would be to just drop all the imp weapons and corpses on the floor and have the Mage hands try to throw a bunch of crap at Zhalk. Seems like there's already plenty in the room to throw but then if I burn all the movement running around to pick stuff up that seems like it sets me back. Overall the fight feels pretty heavily dependent on whether the Mind Flayer will stun in the opener. Or of course Shadowheart command. Whole thing hinges on that which is pretty tough. Sometimes she's hits the first try and it's on, other times she misses the first command and then the Flayer is almost dead by the time we regroup. I'm not sure if it's better to have Us clear the room of imps and the hellboar save the tank to blow up the devils, but it still seems to come down to the Mind Flayers stun cone attack. Like Zhalk saves and it's just ugh, if he gets stunned it suddenly feels doable, but that's like a coin flip almost probably. Here we got basically the best drop possible, haste potion... I feel like the cantrips Mage Hand and Exploding Corpse I won't really use very often after this, but with Wizard Multiclass I can write the others when we find the scrolls. Prob would be better to take the booming blade one than friends, but I didn't want to get caught without friends again lol. Fingers crossed!

pps. plan didn't work died again on the last mile. I think the haste potion just screwed me over cause I lost a round with like 3 characters. Looked the flayer was going to mow em down but then he whiffed it on the stun and that was all she wrote for that run. I think exploding corpse was too tough to set up and mage hand just distracts me.

 

[Black Elk]

Yes!!! Finally!!!

Din Din Din! We've got a winner hehe!

Golden Eye Din finally killed Commander Zhalk, the pair of Cambions, and the Mind Flayer! Coming so clutch at the very last moment with his Dragonborn Breath attack!

Damn, that felt pretty good I gotta say. Must have tried for it a hundred times before finally stitching this all together today. Without any haste potion or absurd mage hand antics to boot. We corralled the Flayer like champions, and then went oldschool. Just fully Xenomorphed his sorry ass with the spitting Acid attack to clinch it! Fuck yeah

This has me rethinking my whole plan now, because I've never pulled that off before. I will have to play it extra cautious and try to optimize our early XP gains. Everyone survived too, even Us. Loved it! No notes, except for all those notes lol.

Success! At last! That was a rush for sure!

 

[Black Elk]

I've been inflicting so many wounds lol...

Shadowheart just relentless with her death's hand high five. So far so good!

We've been very methodical this out, threading the needle and then doubling back to do the extras. Kill all the mushrooms but one, that sort of thing. I hit most of my usual beats, but then for some reason decided to be extra brazen and battle Minthara at the Gate, rather than my usual approach which would be to burst her down immediately at the Goblin camp. Here we had everything lined up with the Twin Haste meta and non lethal attacks, but alas Minthara was killed by friendly fire AoE!

Her own Goblins did her in, even after we'd secured the knock out, with a big force and fire knockout for all time I guess. Always a tough one that. Really it couldn't be helped. I gave her boots to Shadowheart and her pajamas to Lae'zel. We gave Minthara a proper burial back at camp. Basically we gave her a Valkyrie send off, funeral pyre on Wither's canoe. Seemed apt lol.

Alfira got way too drunk at the party, but at least she's still alive.

I did this attempt only half backwards, doing the Underdark first then doubling back once we had the acid ring, the club of STR, Boooal's boon and such. Helped to tip the scales for sure. We nailed Sarth Baretha much like the rest, necrotic jazz hands, then enlightened Lump with the same. It's a bit of a bummer to lose Minthara to silly environmental antics, like I really just wish it could be a dialogue option of some. I think we may try Wyll as a Padlock Paladin Warlock, since relying exclusively on Karlach for smites seems like it could be tough. Mostly I've been having Gale hit the deck though, so it may not really matter. He's been Bladesinging his heart out the whole time lol

I tried to give Gale a look that said "Blade" like always bet on black, but keeping the Wizards hat too, just for flavor hehe

 

[Black Elk]

Defeated by Lathander's trap!

Serves us right I suppose. We were merciless with the Mushrooms and the Druids, then torched the Creche with reckless abandon. Exploding barrels for Ch'rai, the whole nine. But I goofed the trap disarm into turn based mode and sent us all over the edge. Rookie mistake. We had just picked up Nimbus too!

I think the grind to lvl 6 is pretty ridiculous if trying to do it before leaving the initial areas. Like it's doable, but just takes a bunch of extra betrayals and non lethal knockouts. I did basically everything except the Spectator and that crazy Toad in the swamp, just cause they're pretty deadly, but then of course would die in ignominy, self-yeeted into a chasm lol

 

[Antimatter]

Yikes, if anything, this should be nostalgic, BG2 no-reload runs often ended because of not being careful enough with traps. But hey, at least BG3 offers a turn-based mode for this (which didn't exist in, say, DOS1; that's where traps were ridiculously hard to disarm with party AI logistics...)

16 hours for getting to lvl 6 is not long at all. Maybe it seems that way to you after a thousand attempts, but in reality, just 16 hours, and already hitting lvl 6, with all the extra difficulty on top of that, is pretty quick.

Oh well, at least you got the trio of Commander Zhalk, Cambions, and the Mind Flayer that run. A truly memorable moment.

 

[Cahir]

This place is very tricky for no reload runs. I love the reward, but it's annoying to get it.

 

[OrlonKronsteen]

I commend your attempts and successes, Black Elk!

 

[Black Elk]

Hehe right on! We'll get there eventually

Sometimes we roll hot, sometimes not, but it's pretty difficult to reliably kill those devils in the prologue.

This is the most damage I think I've ever done from setting up Nautiloid tank trap...

I used all 4 explosive tanks on that one, 2 for the threshold and then another tank on either side of the door. Sorta luck of the draw there too, also for which direction they get launched, but that time they both felt the burn pretty hardcore.

Problem then is that the flayer was pretty strong. I think when playing as a Cleric of Tiamat or maybe a Fiendish Warlock would be a little simpler, because then we could double up on the Commands. Seems to all really hinge on getting the Flaming Sword as quickly as possible. Otherwise the opposite problem, Flayer just gets gutted and we have to blow too many actions trying to heel it instead of attacking stuff. A solid cone stun seems to be the difference between 'almost almost', and a mile away lol.

I still wish there was more to the Character Creator. Like in my heart of hearts I'd probably be playing the Xzar origin by now, cooking up a Necromancer with a Montaron zombie, but the heads just aren't really there for that and the voices don't really work. I think it would be cool if the Skeletons actually had different phenotypes for the Goblins, Halflings and Gnomes whatnot. Maybe Tiefling Skeletons could have horns. It's the little things I miss too, like being able to name my familiar, or wear a different colored starting outfit. I think a little would go along way. It teases like we'll be spoiled for choice, but then mostly I just use the same heads and voice barks that I like most. For me the thrill is in the early game, but I feel like everything here is sorta pushed out till the mid/end game since that's when all the unique subclass features come online and the itemization becomes more interesting. Just takes forever to get there if doing the rinse and repeat like I tend to do. 2100.2 Hours in total as of that last honorable death lol

 

[Black Elk]

Cyan Eye'd Din is back in the running!

I just replicated my quadruple kill on the Nautiloid, Flayer Zhalk and the Devils using a Haste potion and Melth's multiple mage hand method. Shadowheart prayed hard for the Mind Flayer to stun, and Shar must have heard her, cause he did! Didn't get a chance to use our Acid breath that time, cause we were already dead lol. We got pitchforked then burnt to a crisp by the last imp standing, but just when it seemed like all was lost, Us!

I had them hiding in the shadows with only 1 HP left vs the Flayer's 8 Hp. They bravely doubled back to claw away the 7 hitpoints and bring the Flayer down to 1 HP. Shadowheart was already positioned by the transponder, so it was up to Lae'zel to land the killshot. I was afraid if I used a main hand attack I'd probably miss, so instead tossed a void bulb since I figured that was good for at least 1 force damage. He got sucked straight to his doom! hehe

Out clean with the brain in tow

That time I think I got the maximum amount of XP, since I botched the initial Dex check. I had to go recruit Shadowheart and killed the extra intellect devourer for +10, before going all the way back. Probably wouldn't have bothered, but the haste potion gave us hope.