BG3 Honour Mode: strategy & tactics (many spoilers)

[Black Elk]

Conquered the Conquerors is so satisfying! Nothing feels better than Dirtnapping those Githyanki guys with the crossbows! Love it!


I was stuck away from my computer for a few days bouncing around. Managed to get Double Dragons at the ready for the Ketheric right, just in case I mess it up again to have another backup in play there, but then I took a break. During the downtime I was pitching ideas to Volo for our imaginary camp roundtable.

The idea was to try and get as far as I could, as quickly as possible, with the least amount of experience. Then worrying about how we would finance the thing by grifting our way through Act II and make it up on the backend hehe.

Avendors Assemble!

I started by fleeing from the initial Imp battle with Lae'zel and then running away at every subsequent opportunity to avoid XP gains. I picked up 5 xp on the beach cause that can't be avoided, then another 10 xp, when Zevlor managed to kill one imp with his Hellish rebuke before we could jump out of there. I got all the way to the Shadowcursed lands before they gave me a second level! Then died because I forgot not to get distracted by the Limelight or the Moonglow or whatever.

We didn't get as far as I'd hoped but did begin building a silly crew of hireling templets for the next heist. I was going to try soloing as a boilerplate barbarian rogue, but I felt like I would need some flavor at camp, so I put Professor W on filling out our Wither's Force 4 to start testing the ropes.

The team leader in this timeline is actually Wanda Minmaximoff, the Sorceress Sup'meme.

She's like the last of the Minmaximovs in exile, ever since her twin brother Maximinion got chunked out by Doctor Yes and Galactagon. The surf on that one was pretty gnarly, and so now it's basically all up to her to keep the line going. Currently she's dueling the Time Lord in the buffer zone though, after getting clomped by a Death Shephard, so angling to get her back on board could take a while.

Then we got Bragnar the Barbarian as our main heavy hitter for the latest issue. A hulking half human from Bragsgard, where the Bragsgods all drink Hill Giants for breakfast! He was almost cast as the lead initially, cause in his audition tape he made it the farthest, the fastest. But then totally died at the Last Light Inn at lvl 2, like most of the rest. Test audiences all agreed that while he can carry quite a lot sometimes, he probably can't carry this one all by himself, and could he maybe be an orc instead? Don't worry we're workshopping it.

The shortlist was supposed to include Stretch Longfoot AKA "the Bolt" (Ditch Dashagin's alter ego), but he got cut from the roster when I remembered there are no Wither's hireling zombies to fit that bill. Instead we worked some movery magic, and managed to get Skim Skardashian to reprise her role from the last BGU franchise, for an absolutely absurd amount of gold on contract. Probably enough to hire like 5 Bragnars, but the crossover potential was just too much to ignore. Alas they all got sent back to the nether realm when the Fugue Patrol got abruptly cancelled by Marcus and all those flying fucking demon monster!

I couldn't think of a way to escape after triple crossing everyone at the Last Light Inn and then getting both Isobel and Jaheira killed. My hope was to somehow keep Jaheira around. But then my hope was just to escape. Sadly at lvl 2, the very first paralyzing strike totally did us in.

The Curse of the Restartitus heheh

 

[Black Elk]

The Scarlet S'witch, hitting the books and taking us all back to school. For the no rest hurry-up plan, she's been teaching Red Eye'd Din how to Hexendance in the latest episode of "Repeats and Re-Runs"

Although we have died and been reawakened many times, we took the opportunity to develop a kind of engigma code on that, just to save ourselves some headaches in the inevitable future. I quickly determined that our best approach to keeping everyone around, was to tag team the enhanced Leap with Lae'zel right from the getgo. Basically we give her the boost then she B lines for the Bridges, while I remain behind and run interference. Lae'zel enters the bridge combat by herself since I'm so far away at that point, and so I don't have to waste time watching those turns. Lae'zel does the jump and dash to the transponder and we're usually off inside of like 5 min. Since Lae'zel pulls the switch this puts her in the cage.

Shadowheart is at the Gate by the Dank Crypt but I dodge her and grab Gale and Astarion instead, send them both to camp. Then I free Lae'zel from the cage but keep her on board. We double enhance leap, but while I bail, Lae'zel remains in combat froze in time for now. Next stop, Lump, Scratch and Karlach in that order to save time.

Here I got destracted when Wild Magic briefly turned me into the coolest possible dog!!!

I have no idea how it happened, but he has like the backpack side pouches and everything. Alas our life as a dog was all too brief as we polymorphed back after only a round.

"Lost condition: Wild Magic Dog Form" like what? How do we get it back!? That's all I want, but we set our cynicism aside for the time being and rescued Shovel. I figure if we make the effort to onboard Gale might as well go the distance. All told to grab Lump, the mini dragon, Scratch, with a brief detour to free Barcus wasn't too much time.

Recruiting Karlach into the party, we went immediately after Anders and the Paladins. I blew the Horn and allowed the Ogres to initiate the fight. Lump will eventually just ping him with an Acid Arrow but we were well outside, so pretty much spectating and taking bets. Lump got killed by Anders smite, just like we'd hoped then I swooped in to steal the Circlet and the final kills. Karlach burns the house down, and then I send her to camp to cool off.

At this point we've got all our mains accounted for, with the exception of Shadowheart. I head from Anders along the creek bed till we get to Waukeen's rest. Free Florrick and the Flaming fist by fighting fire with fire, then head to Githyanki.

Because Lae'zel is still frozen back at the Gate battle, she will not suddenly run up and join that scene. Instead she is still on her turn with Zevlor and Aradin and whatnot. But also, since we recruited Karlach, Wyll apparently has left that battle. He must have slipped away when nobody was looking lol.

I sneak past the Gith, have Lae'zel enhanced Leap out of the Battle at the Gate, and now we can all transition to the Creche at about an hour and 15 minutes. Went down like so for the cliffs notes hehe

Without having snoozed yet, we say goodbye to the Act I camp, by listening to the song the whole way for 10 xp. If all went according to plan we should see Wyll, Withers, Scratch and the rest of the gang (everybody except Halsin and Minthara) at our first forced rest, but that'll have to be tomorrow I think

 

[Black Elk]

After one more death to make sure we really knew what we were doing I tried again for the perfect plan to take our second lvl in Wizard sooner rather than later. The inspiration came that scroll of Expeditious retreat we found. But then we also got lucky with the Haste potion drop too, so that had me audible the quickie plan and I doubled back for Us, and prepared to face the Devils.

Somehow in this universe Us came like an absolute beast and killed both Zhalk and the second Cambion! 2 suits of Medium mail, a decent chunk of change, drow poison, some oil, poison resistance, and a Trident.

Wild Magic Surge was pretty fucking wild! First we got Explosive healing, which I activated too soon to be useful. Then we got another Wild Magic surge allowing us teleport as a bonus action. The chaos wildcard definitely spices things up.

Lae'zel stomped the second Cambion. The Flayer was also within striking distance, but unfortunately the initiative order was weird with Lae'zel going last. I attempted to have Shadowheart throw the Trident, since there was the possibility I might be able to pull off the 8 damage we needed with that one but she missed. We had to transpond out of there and with Lae'zel still hungry for a flayer head, but lvl 2 before hitting the beach.

This time I really wanted to see if we could catch Wyll in the act of fleeing the battle at the Gate, and just leaving all those Tieflings mid-fight. I mean he'd never live it down right? hehe


I figured best to leave Astarion there as well, just to to catch him extra red handed with another witness to corroborate. Shadowheart followed me to flee, and help with Lump guidence, while Lae'zel and Astarion held back to keep their eyes on Wyll.

Sure enough, soon as I recruited Karlach into the fold, he insta dipped from the fight! Talk about Heroics!

There he is... and then there is isn't! lol

Lae'zel was transfixed in the moment, surely enjoying the unending battle. I positioned Astarion to jump away, but left him in combat. I need one spot to rotate and recruit Karlach, but leaving 2 at the gate fight for now.

This serves two purposes I figure, first it prevents me from resting, even short rest, so sorta tying my hands and making me play as an insomniac, and then second it keeps Lae'zel preoccupied so she won't come running over to chat up Voss when we get there.

This is my first time playing Tavs in a while, so the inspiration game is a little different, but so far so good! Going to thread that needle one way or another.

The only kink I ran into was that when I tried to free Shovel I got the "Trust me beefy" response instead of the "Spell Shite" one, which allows me to recast the spell. I think it's because I took the 3rd lvl in Sorcerer again after Karlach comes on board since she's clocking in at lvl 3 to start. Basically I went Sorcerer, Wizard, Sorcerer, but I think because the last was Sorceror it made it so the spell wasn't assigned for my Wizard class. I think if I respec Shovel will disappear, but maybe if I just keep going and take another level in Wizard the diaglogue response might change. Not sure, going to see if we can get 'em back doing the Anders vs Ogres thing again.

No snooze for the wicked! But back on the shelf for now

 

[Antimatter]

I enjoy reading your reports, @Black Elk! The way you use the English language and all those puns make it all exciting! And ofc, the actual progress updates.

I found at least 2 vases in Act 1 that had something inside (the second vase is next to Karlach below):

We managed to knock out Minthara, but had to allow her to kill Sazza before that. I could have saved Sazza if I used arrows, but arrows are lethal. Oh well, you have to pick your choices, so no Sazza-related achievement for Henry.

We levelled up (to 5) right during the same battle, and got a neat inspiration point for Lae'Zel.

Lvl 5 feels immensely powerful, with 2 APR and access to the Fireball spell.

Shovel's battle scream "HERE COMES THE FISTING" (and her successful roll at only a 25% chance to frighten Dror Razglin) was the star moment of the whole goblin camp voyage though:

I was surprised to find out the Aid spell affects the whole group, not just 1 character. This makes it a very good spell for this stage of the game.

Next on the list, some shopping to find (hopefully) the new armor fashionable look for our upgraded group. Astarion is already enjoying his new drow leather.

 

[Black Elk]

Haha! Thanks

Oh wow! So there are vases with things in them after all!!!? My inner loot goblin just grinned the widest grin

Look at Shovel Go! Somehow I gotta get them back in the fold. Those fear barks are the best! Shovel's running commentary strikes straight to the heart!

Those Gobs are clearly going down, but Minthara KO is badass! I always get nervous for that one, especially that one Goblin who throws the jars of acid. Nice work! Bohemian rhapsody! Glad to see the Henry run is still in full swing

 

[OrlonKronsteen]

Talking about unearthing hidden items: I found this little gem messing around in the basement of one of the houses in the blighted village. I'm normally against book bans, but in this case, I could make an exception. I certainly won't be donating it to the public library if/when I make it to Baldur's Gate.

 

[Antimatter]

Our group has some serious drip among ourselves.

We explored the swamp area, the hag's house, and its secrets. The fight vs the hag went alright, but unfortunately, even 6 inspiration points weren't enough to intimidate her into giving us an extra feat, so no +1 bonus to Henry's stats this time.

This reaffirms my opinion that while the Honour mode can be a good tactical/combat experiment, it doesn't blend well with roleplaying your character. And it's not about maximising the character, I don't have anyone in the party min-maxed. It's about feeling frustrated with not being able to utilize something my character should be able to handle, with enough points in CHA and all those inspiration points. This restriction goes against my roleplaying, it's just following RNG.

Following RNG is fun in combat, map generation, for randomized encounters, but not for playing a role-playing game, and not being able to complete the role you're playing.

But oh well.

I was so frustrated with the outcome that I used the tadpoles, for the first time. Consumed just 2 of them, for now. It was interesting to hear what different party members thought about it. I'm still sad the whole system was downscaled for the release version from what had been initially planned.

I never figured out the right way to approach the petrified drow in the Underdark and kinda always just pass by, and then the beholder surprises the whole party. The fight starts very chaotically, usually with someone already down because of the cheating Spectator. New tricks the creature has on the Honour mode were fun.

I focused on the Spectator first and foremost, but the finishing blow wasn't ours.

Considering the main character was down, the drow started speaking to Astarion, and that dialogue ended in resuming the fight. I wonder if there is any option to go separate ways with them, I suspect not, as the drow are "evil". Well, in this case, stupid evil as they were no match for our, even depleted on spells, group.

 

[Xzarloxara]

I never figured out the right way to approach the petrified drow in the Underdark and kinda always just pass by, and then the beholder surprises the whole party. The fight starts very chaotically, usually with someone already down because of the cheating Spectator. New tricks the creature has on the Honour mode were fun.

I always make sure to drink at least one Elixir of Vigilance for this fight. One of my favorite elixirs, it prevents being surprised and increases initiative quite a bit. Very useful for “cheating” surprise encounters and against high initiative enemies. I usually don’t have enough at this stage of the game for all 4 party members, so I often send one guy in alone to trigger the fight, and have the others join in once the surprise wears off.

 

[Black Elk]

"This... is my BOOMSTICK!"

Good old Necronomicon! I mean what could go wrong with that thing just chilling in your backpack? heheh
Nansi would probably know which dewy decimal to file that one under!

Yeah the Elixir of vigilance is like the best 25 gp I ever spent hands down!

I just doubled up there, with like a dozen ready to quaff. Every now and again I find one on Arron or in the Underdark and that feels like a huge get. I think they only come online there after the camp party, but makes such a huge difference. Surprise round with a crazy enemy like a mini beholder, or Githyanki crossbows can TPK before I can count to 5. Enemies who disarm with super attacks or super spells, while my whole team is just waiting around like 'wait what's happening!?' I would just have Shadowheart drunk on Vigilance at all times so at least I can sanctuary and split.

I agree about HM flattening the RP potential and forcing metagaming weirdness into the equation, purely out of a desire to stay alive. I feel like the game mode would have been better served by having a narrative conceit or an in-game rationale behind this. Some way to justify that mode and the metagamey-ness of it within the overall campaign we were given. I mean the set up is all there. Just so that the eternal return would be more baked into it. Or to use a more circuitous metaphor, if this is Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, then maybe after the battle of the bands finale, we get tossed back into the Endless River from Excellent Adventure. To me that would be a very sound and very philosophical approach, to have it all start with a meandering river and end that way too, back at the start. To loop and corkscrew around on itself like an absurdist raging waters waterpark. I enjoy the angle of being both trapped in Hell, but also somehow still inside the Netherbrain, no exit. It's why Din keeps looking around for his shadow like its Groundhog's day, and why Wanda is rewinding her way through all these re-runs lol.

I would like to have seen a narrative conceit, to set this up in the final battle, so that the restartitus and repetition could have had a nice heavy anchor. The T2 good times traveler, Jacob's chutes and ladders! I mean just something like that hehe. I don't really care if it's a bit cliche, what I really want though is the character import/export rationale to be a bit more cooked.

I've played the Nautiloid so, so many times now, and each time I have to recreate my goons all over again from scratch. Remembering what cantrips to choose, and which soundsets and haircuts to choose, all those color swatches and such for the appearance. Even if we could just import/export those parts of the character, would have been nice. I also find it annoying that all these characters I create don't get to exist outside the specific saved game, like that we don't have a Wither's wardrobe of whoevers for the SP game. Where I could load them up say, and look at them, or their char sheets, without having to launch into the specific savedgame. That would have been cool. Maybe a bio blurb templet with highlights from the last run, or cumulative runs. I know nobody is keeping tabs and I'll never get a special achievement for casting goodberry 10 thousand times with Druid X, but just something like that. In-game though. Not like on steam, but actually inside BG3 itself. I think that would have made sense for a game of this sort. I probably wouldn't have called it Honour Mode hehe. Like we're all dressed in Armor down at the Harbor, but fighting with Honour? I mean just pick a seaside already for the spelling conventions, so they can be consistent lol. Those are minor gripes of wrath though, major would be the lack of an import/export feature for this stuff. The player should have a way to save out their character, even if this was still pegged to a final gamesave or beating the game once or whatever, I think it should have it own sub menu. A place for my Characters that isn't tied to a specific save, or deleted when that campaign/saved game is deleted. I just think the characters we create should get their own folder like that, and we should be able to bring them out of retirement for things like re-runs or MP. Finals Stats, Bio blurbs, all that. I should be able to survey my previous creations from a launch menu without having to actually load in order to check them out. Then have these characters be available as the Wither's hirelings! So everything can be connected like Dark.

I finally figured out Wanda's Shovel problem, it wasn't the Wizardry, but the Sorcerer side of the equation. Shovel won't get down with Wild Magic. I tried Shadowmagic as well just to check.

Dark Wanda also got Beefy checked! Alas, it seems only the Draconic Sorcerers are invited to that party. In my frustration, I decided to put her on pause and check in on the Dins.

Speaking of staying vigilant and throwing stuff...

I definitely failed to take my own advance, with just the sloppiest throw hotbar ever, but Karlach still got him cleaved in two hehe. Lae'zel also got a toss in on that one, with the Brilliant Retort to close. Like of course in our highest fantasy we'd defeat the Dead gods with Gnomish hand grenades hehe

I'm hoping Jaheira will help me get over the hump here into Act III. Reaching for the Stars! lol

 

[Black Elk]

I'm anticipating hitting Act III and fumbling like usual lol

Now I am looking through our collective inventory and wondering if anything that I'm not currently wearing is actually worth hanging onto? For example, have I ever used that one Amulet we got from the sentient Mushrooms? hehe I know there's some sort of bonus that sounds like it might be alright, but then why strap that around my neck, when there's an amulet of extra magic missiles or mass healing word or misty step or something that's otherwise always useful in combat? The spellslot restoration amulets are clearly the best for the way I play, and those are only needed when they're needed, but I find myself rarely taking them off. So I'm just walking around with probably 10 grand in middling items I refuse to pawn away for some reason.

One idea I liked was that if I can't have it equipped on one of my characters at camp, then it should probably be exchanged for things that are more useful like Scrolls, but we're awash in items and scrolls and money. Even though I skipped major sections of Act I and Act II, we still come out ahead casually strolling up to Rivington at lvl 10 probably.

I think it would be different if the Githyanki Creche path was more of a path unto itself. The fact that we can do both Grymforge and the Gith Creche just means that most times I will do both to grab the big XP or the most important items, but invariably leaving some side encounters on the table, just to avoid the tedium. The choice between going Underground with Shadowheart or overland with Lae'zel, just isn't a very meaningful choice and I always take both characters along because I can. Not that I want to be forced to choose really, but I think it would have made more sense if some characters were just dead set on going one place first and not the other. Even if both ultimately funnel back to the Shadowlands, I think the transition from Act I to Act II is just too fuzzy. To me Act I would be every single thing that was in the early Access but also nothing that wasn't, so it's hard for me to see the Gith Creche as anything other than advancing the game into Act II. The point of no return is at the end of Act II, so it's just sorta weird that the game is even described that way. I feel like it's just because Larian said EA was only Act I. The Shadowcursed lands, despite being kinda tiny compared to Act I (certainly compared to Act III) nevertheless does some serious heavy lifting for a midpoint. For me it's because we get Jaheira or Minthara, and because the enemies there feel memorable. But then we get to Rivington and other than the robocops it just feels like a bit of a rehash on the foes we face. Mostly we're just fighting humanoids, and being hounded by the same Gith and Mind Flayers, Devils or Undead that we were dealing with back in Act I lol. Not that I mind all that much, I mean doppelgangers and dragons, sure thing! but it just makes me feel like if it was going to be a do-over, that we could have had another Wilderness area in the Woods outside Rivington with more animals and such.

Instead of a Graveyard in the middle of the City, it should have been just outside the city I think. Like some hunting lodge or abandoned estate right up against the woods. There should be a place other than the sewers where we can go to recruit a zombie, and a place where there are wild animals that we can befriend or enchant into the fold. Especially for Rangers and the like. Jaheira's house is the closest I can get to feeling like I'm back in the Woods.

 

[Black Elk]

This is Glaive, of Glaive and the Paladins lol

She's out to form a new band and go extra glam!

I can't say I've heard all good things about the subclass, but the fact that we got a Potion of Mind Reading in the chest on the Nautiloid set the tone. One pill makes us smaller, something along those lines. I searched around for the Jimmy Page haircut, but this was about as close as I could get... which I think is the Mayrina? Close enough. I hadn't played as a Tav witch in a while, but then started to feel the vibe again. I've seen the Durge ending a couple times with honours but never with a Tav yet. Typically playing backwards like I tend to do. With Wanda I went Charlatan, so sorta allowing to key off where I remembered Astarion being inspired, and since that fit, but for a Glamour Bard I needed a different in. I figure with a Half-High Elf, not only am I that much higher, but also get to choose booming blade as a cantrip now. I've yet to boom very hard, because most my characters are ranged spellcasters with better cantrips to use, and not too many weapon attacks. There are all these Glaives all over the place, like everywhere I turn we're getting Glaives thrown at us so I figure just lean into it for the whole persona lol.

I wanted something that said hard-edged for the cutscenes, maybe even proto metal, but also not afraid of the occasional foray into soft focus lol.

If we're being honest, our background would probably be Noble, cause we grew up in a nice suburb of Baldur's Gate with all the benefits of a posh Elven education. Sorta high expectations that we'll earn our cantrips with good works. Not super well known, but she's actually half-cousins with Generica D'Tav, the High Elf Barbarian, so not like a total Outlander, but the dream was always there. I figure she probably learned a few tricks here and there from the Elven side of the family. Idea was to take that Polearm feat and vault with it. A Race/Class combo that would really benefit from the Half-Elf racial bonus of Civil Militia, but also without already having access to something better via a martial type class. So basically one of the Gish type subclasses. I have zero doubts that Swords Bard would be better mechanically, but we don't want to be all boxed in like that. Instead, more reach! hehe

Like I just want the Glaive to be the whole thing, cause the name makes me chuckle.

Now the challenge is just forming the right band to back us up, deciding who makes the cut and what they should be playing. Obviously we're going to be on lead lute, like that's not really debatable, and most of the vocals doubtless. Of course Wyll will have to Mutliclass so we can all dress the part and coordinate our moves. I can't decide if I want Lae'zel or Karlach on drums, but they both feel like they'd belong in the Rhythm section, maybe rotating on tour? Not sure there. Gale and Astarion both feel like they'd be on strings, I guess Gale on fiddle maybe and Astarion on the Lyre? But I'm not sure if they're really going to be in it for the long haul, or just sorta for the select studio sessions. Either way I think everyone needs to cover something and pull their weight. Like anyone could get demoted to roadie at any moment, and there The Zombies just waiting in the wings!

 

[Black Elk]

After their breakout single "Tadpoles" briefly topped the charts at the Emerald Grove, Glaive decided to branch out and really dig deep to start working on that multi-slate tour de force she'd been dreaming on. Ever since she got caught up during the Illithid Invasion and the summer of Unlove, it's like the same sprawling tune has just been right there in the back of her head, tap tapping.

A series of interconnected concept ballads that would leave no sound-shape unexplored! Something intended not just for the local venues, or to hum for two bits and a bedroll, but really tapping into this new wave that seems to be sweeping across the land. Like everyone we run across, they all keep mentioning 'The Absolute.' It seems like they have quite a following. We've seen their flyers at pretty much every stop, and it's a little intimidating. They must have some backing too, because their merch precedes them, like everywhere we go!

Undeterred we set out to find our own groove, and just sorta follow where it leads. Someone is going to have to play the flute, I haven't decided yet. Does Shadowheart play the flute? hehe

So far Bard is pretty entertaining. I forgot how much I missed having a bard around. I still think Alfira should have been a recruitable companion. Maybe not the top choice of all the possible recruitable companions, but better than nothing.

The main issue I'm running into is that I'm not very inspired yet lol. The Dark Urge is definitely easier than the standard Tav, because there are more opportunities to pick up inspiration with Durge. It has me rethinking my route a bit, and also because Alfira doesn't jam up the long rest rotation as hard.

I also don't think I've ever gotten that achievement where if you play for enough NPCs and earn enough coin we get a little something. I'll probably try for that this time around. I'm hoping that Glamour will play a bit like my clerics who can't get enough of the command spell. Like probably I will do a bunch of extra work to set something up, that probably could have been resolved with regular attacks rather than bemusing my opponents, but least it's something to hold onto. I get to Act III and the same thing happens every time hehe

 

[Antimatter]

I remember my first experience with the Bulette on the release. It kept popping out in narrow spaces just next to chasms and always sent my party members falling into them.

So this time, I tried to make sure the encounter starts in a relatively safe spot so that nobody could be yeeted into chasms. The new difficulty level meant a powerful (and scary) feat for the Bulette: Diamond Scales which gives it 100 temp HP, makes any damage less than 15 ignored, and also triggers an AoE blast of damage on getting damaged.

However, having the D:OS background, I immediately realized what I should do: make the monster "wet" and then apply lightning attacks, both from scrolls and arrows. It still feels OP that everyone can use scrolls in this game, not just wizardry people. So 3 scrolls of Lightning bolt, 4 arrows of Lightning, and one water barrel (at the start of the fight) did it.

As soon as the Diamond Scales condition was off, I tried to maximize damage because I remember how the monster used to flee the battle at the release while on low health.

Shovel with another catchy battle cry:

Aaaand... done!

As for the Elixirs of Vigilance, I didn't have access to them. I haven't seen them at the merchants I visited, and the BG wiki says only later merchants can sell them, including Entharl Danthelon in Danthelon's Dancing Axe, Kith in Grymforge, and Popper at the Circus of the Last Days. You can also craft them, but you need Sublimate of Bloodstained Hook (procured from Hook), and I haven't fought any Hook Horrors yet.

 

[OrlonKronsteen]

A series of interconnected concept ballads that would leave no sound-shape unexplored!

Yes! No ‘roots’ music. Every song must be at least 17 minutes long.

 

[Black Elk]

Wow! Talk about Ride the Lightning!!! Raspberry Bulette, just shredding hehe. That's some inspiration right there!

We caught up with Ethel to see what was on spinal tap for the quick ups, strength potions mostly. I think we'll need a few for the heavy lifting. Usually I would try to save Mayrina with a silence bubble and just get that out of the way, but we haven't even rehearsed with the Harpies yet, so that's a bit of a stretch. I figure Shadowheart probably likes to be really selective about how she uses the silence, you know like it needs to accent and highlight what everyone else is doing. The production values aren't really there yet. Also if it's going to be a panic, and walls of sound coming from the opposite direction, not really our best play for the perfect set. My second thought was to turn out the lights, maybe have may freak out for a hot minute. Would may run for the the door that way? In any case I didn't want to burn our bridges too soon.

Especially after our icy reception in the Blighted Village. Bunch of Goblin squares there! We played the Windmill and the Wine Cellar, and thought we were about to smooth talk our way into an appearance on Lump the Enlightened's latest track, but they backed out at the last minute wanting more gold! Things got ugly.

Look, I'm not going to say that Lump doesn't have talent. It's obvious that he can keep the beat, but then the way he treated Frank and Chock. It really just soured us on the whole project long term. Also something about not letting it all go to your head right. When we look back on it now, sure, there were some rough cuts left on the floor that might have amounted to something eventually, but it just wasn't really our scene.

Did we bring the house down anyway? Of course! I mean they don't call it the Thunderwave for nothing, but then sometimes in a working relationship like that, creative differences can become personal if one's not careful.

We wish them the best and all, it was fun while it lasted, but in the end we just couldn't see eye to eye. Despite our stage presence, we're all still very grounded and pretty serious about the music. The Ogres had their heads in the clouds chasing fame and a free lunch, and so it was just a matter of time before we had a falling out. All that time spent listening to BG1 Behind the Music, and daydreaming about being the next Haer'Dalis, instead of practicing. I mean would Haer'Dalis compromise? Never!

When Dissonance whispers we can't be all distracted by flying barrels and fireworks ya know.

See Gale knows what I'm talking about, because he's more of an intellectual really. Taking it all in and reflecting it back to see things from the other side. Like he's got this whole Singer Swordwriter inside him and this incredible vulnerability. But seems to really shine when we leave him at camp to work on his solos by himself. When things slow down, we take our time, talk to the people, really try to be in the moment. It's amazing sometimes what you learn just chatting up the folks who hang out after the shows. Was that Lihala? Sounded a bit grim, but the real trick is probably channeling all that pain into something meaningful and mournful, but also punchy and just sorta sticks in your head. Like something by the Earworms. Just timeless and enduring reverb. The Circlet of Intellect really makes you think sometimes ya know

lol

Anyhow, we dodged the devil at the Crossroads on our way out of there. He made his pitch and tried corner us, but we skipped out before getting signed. Good thing too, cause now that we're out on the road, we're free to candlekeep our own schedule, no outside influences or any guild interference.

I like our tunes with a little bark still on them, the high lonesome, even if it's hard we still play it smooth. Scratch and roll, so they can't say we never kept it old timey! hehe

 

[OrlonKronsteen]

Love this playthrough. And you know, it got me thinking. Obviously, it would be nigh impossible to implement in-game, character-created music into a scene. But they could have had bard dialogue for it. Akin to the intimidation mechanic in implementation, maybe?

"Tell me where the leader of the absolute is, or I'll subject you to a 20-minute flute solo." Rolls d20.

 

[Black Elk]

That would be badass! Doubtless! The full loom treatment!!! heheh

Ok well we weren't really going to get into it, but it's important I think for the fans to understand what all went down at that last stop.

I mean Lae'zel, she's been with us from the start right. We'll always have a lot of respect for her grit and determination. As a general manager she was hard to top.

Banging down doors, making sure nobody was trying to intimidate us into doing something lame just for the publicity. Also you gotta realize, when we were out on the road like that, nobody's slept for days. People start passing around the speed potions, you'd be lucky to catch a short rest between gigs. Needless to say tempers were flaring up. Things were already hot when we landed, and then they really came to a head back at camp.

I've got this simple rule, in life as in music, when you get dealt a critical failure, you gotta just own up to it.

Take that Crit Fail on the chin and start again tomorrow. Even though we were super inspired and quite looking forward to taking the stage at the Goblin village (we had just finished dying a new Alabaster Brown get-up, a custom tailored Drow number, that was looking just dynamite!) what happens? Lae'zel comes banging into the room talking about 'yadda yadda Ceramorphosis' and now we gotta all die. Before I knew it my throat was slit, and she was heading for the dog. We had to think fast so we tap tapped the floor and somehow managed to get Karlach's attention.

It was a legit duel of the fates, the Accidental Wild Magic Barbarians vs The Githyanki Creche! One night only!!! Who would prevail? And who would get nailed? Karlach had the Flaming Sword and a mantle of charm, but Lae'zel had Justice on her side and the Paladin's of Tyre with the backbeat.

Just when we thought it was maybe going to get squashed and we'd all wake up in the morning to a manageable hangover. Gale stormed into the fray and started laying down fog clouds like it was going out of style. Lae'zel killed him and his necrotic aura once again threatened the Dog! The whole club was a complete fucking disaster.

One is the loneliest number, sure, but if I have to choose, I'll take the dogs.

We just could not abide the risk to everything we'd worked so hard to build over the last three and half nights, and so both Lae'zel and Gale had to be put down right then and there.

Gale it seems was willing to stick around till morning. After a brief resurrection he was green again, and still hungry, but Lae'zel was candles snuffed. Just completely knocked out. When we woke up the next day she had already packed up her tent and her drumset. Didn't even leave a note. One can only assume she must have got an offer to go solo with the Mountain Pass, but damn. It's like just when you think things are falling into place.

I gotta say, even after all that, we still really respect Lae'zel as a performer, when she's lucid she's tough to beat, when she's agro, look out! It's a good think we were reading Wyll in for the Paladin part. For some of these tunes he'll have to work extra hard to memorize Lae'zel's more complicated maneuvers. I mean if we're meant to keep it both excellent and righteous, he's going to have to really step up. Like if I need a front man to be up front, he better be ready!

All the leaves are brown, just like really alabaster brown. The grindstone grinds alone. It's that sort of mood. Our next slate is probably going to be a real torcher now. Like just trying to pick up the pieces and get out of bed is pretty hard, after our demo got completely demolished like that. Those electric boots. The bouncing ball! It's a lot to take in

 

[Black Elk]

Had to dive back in immediately after that. Sometimes the best way to work through a heavy spell is to unleash at week's end.

Ever since she crossed over to the other side and returned, Glaive has been getting back into occult mysticism. Rereading old scrolls and old journals. From the deepest depths she decided that what we really needed was way more multi-instrumentalism and a much bigger backup band. So everyone took their dip into Bard for level performance.

First time in a while that we just let Wyll really cut loose and do his own thing. Turns out he can work the floor, so we got him on bass lute. Karlach took over the drums. Shadowheart is on Shadowflute, and now that we've all got some performance checks under our belts the sound is really coming together. The power spikes, not so much, but we haven't shied away. With 1 lvl in Warlock, 2 lvls in Paladin, and 1 lvl in Bard, Wyll is basically all versatility at this point, but stretched a bit thin for a one man show on anything. Everyone has to lean on each other a fair bit. Which is why everyone also has Thunderwave and Healing Word. Plus Vicious mockery for the afterparty flavor hehe

It's definitely optimized, for something. But we may need to finally get our ticket punched at the Dank Crypt. I think Wither's may need to help us work on getting our abilities to match our aspirations lol

 

[Antimatter]

Your rock band looks dope! Must be fascinating to perform rigs in all prominent Faerun places.

But what an unfortunate roll with Lae'zel. Just yesterday, I had to roll twice to keep Shadowheart from killing Lae'zel. These checks are brutal, and, unlike Gale's intial scene, can't be easily replayed as they happen quite late in the run. At least I had a spare inspiration point after Mayrina... Rolled 11 when I needed 10. I would have hated to lose any of them, even if I don't use SH in my active party. It's just... one step too far.

But hey, the Honour mode is fun for combat at least. I had some concerns before starting a fight with Bernard the robot. I remember when I played this previously, I had to change the party composition for heavy hitters in order not to lose.

This time, though, I first examined what abilities Bernard had. Then used the Turn-Based mode and the Tactical camera to put one elixir of Lightning resistance just between all 4 characters and hit it with a weapon. User experience could be friendlier in this game, but alas. It worked just fine.

It took us 2 rounds to finish the main robot off. Arrows of Ice helped as well, Bernard had no extra resistance against Cold. Neither he had anything protecting him from Force, so multiple Magic Missiles from our sorcerer did the trick.

 

[Black Elk]

Short Circuit Too! holding out for a hero!
Nice!

Haha seeing all that electricity in the air really made me want to plug in again and amplify a bit more.

We managed to work our way through the crowds at the Goblin camp, and I don't even know how many drum circles inside, before we finally caught sight of Minthara. It was supposed to be like strictly backstage passes and right down into the pit, but somehow we ended up on the balcony. Eyes were scrying and it seemed like the party was about to get a little out of control, but we managed the knockout. In through the outdoors. We grabbed Halsin on the run, and decided to take it to through the roof. I got a bit misty eyed thinking about Lae'zel and how she wouldn't get to see us take the rafters like that. When the Hobogoblin ate the final explosive barrel and the lights came back up, we made a pretty decent haul and I think the word is starting to get out.

When we got back to the Emerald Grove for the Silvanus Nights festival the whole scene there had basically completely transformed. We dropped the latest and a few new things we'd been working on, then decided to pay a visit to Withers. Everyone has spent the last few days studying extraplanar meditation techniques and cosmic attribute readjustment. Just taking a lot of feedback and working on ourselves to improve as a group.

It was actually Volo who really stepped in and started talking a lot of sense to everyone, like right after we arrived back at camp with all our new instruments. He laid it out pretty plainly. It's not that there's ever such a thing as 'too much bardic inspiration', just that there are only so many slots on a hotbar and only so many bonus actions in a day.

Wyll sorta realized that he already had the gift inside anyway, with his +3 performance just from being a Warlock. So as long he stays true to himself and the crown, it's really all he needs. A 2/2 Padlock that jams.

And Karlach, sure she can shred and go really big when the situation calls for it, but it seemed to Volo like Berserker on the sticks might be a better fit there. Maybe with a boost to performance coming over from a dip into Rogue? We took it all to heart.

Now of course we know that people will show up just to see Shadowheart play the flute, so in that case ok, makes a lot of sense. She can stay Bardically inspired for 1 lvl without going fill Diva about it. When we're out drinking and lighting up the town, it makes a lot of sense for a reliable +2 in Charisma there and maybe a hidden hat, but I don't want to be too overshadowed. When it comes to calling the Song of Rest, Glaive can still pull rank and gets first dibs on the remedial rhymes heheh.

Now we're a bit more solid for the long haul, and not just pitifully behind the power curve heading into the midgame lol