Alena, Halfling Priest of Lathander, Canon Party Run: The Mind Flayer City- About Those Hips
Do you remember when I said I didn't trust myself in the Mind Flayer City? I should have said I didn't trust myself yet. I was waiting for something. I was waiting for Jaheira.
As measured by XP Jaheira has been our third most effective party member. It hasn't felt that way at all. She's an afterthought in most of our battle plans, and the roles she does play tend to have an aura of make-work.
Nonetheless, I've always said that Jaheira's day would come. Today it arrived.
Jaheira has reached the all important Level 14. That's a major upgrade. For starters, she now has an L7. Divine L7s have dominated this run, ever since Alena got her first. Now Jaheira is a part of that conversation. Better yet, she brings something unique to the table, Nature's Beauty. Level 14 also brings not one but two HLAs. That makes her our second character to reach HLA land, behind Minsc. It also makes her our only character with two HLAs. What to choose?
Some players argue that the Deathblow line is underrated. I see that argument, but as a player who focuses on the difficulty spikes, most notably the Ascension battles, the deathblows have always been a low priority for me. Still, they have their uses, and if anyone should take them it's the druid multis.
With the mind flayer city still on our radar, I couldn't resist taking Deathblow followed by Greater Deathblow. The Deathblows won't take down Melissan but that doesn't mean we can't have fun with them. Today we did.
We began our adventure by stumbling into psionic slavery. Shortly thereafter we had an ever so slightly awkward moment.
Silver Sword, you say? I'm sure I haven't seen one of those.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always loved the kindergarten vibes in this quest. See: All the kids are napping.
Then we get the juicy-juice and everyone wakes up. Yay!
Right. Let’s talk about those Deathblows. Everyone knows about the Fireseed trick, right? Fireseeds + Greater Deathblow = Mass Carnage. Nice work, Jaheira. This time you really, truly absolutely were the right woman for the job.
A couple more seeds and we are out. As an fyi, we’re running CC + Pro Magic Energy + ProFire, along with some other inconsequential stuff. Importantly, we gave Alena the Defender and skipped Minsc’s MIs. We wanted Minsc, not Alena, to be the juiciest target for Ballistic Attack.
With Jaheira’s GDB spent, it was Alena’s turn. Surprise, surprise she went with Firestorm. I still like Hella Good as a theme song for Alena but Burning Down the House is beginning to make sense too.
Onto the Master Brain. Here we brought out all the big guns. Alena on Firestorm. A Love Bird attack under ProMW. Minsc, shielded by the Love Birds, on the Silver Sword. Imoen as a secondary ProMW line protecting Jaheira and Alena. Finally, Jaheira tossing GDB Fireseeds. Looking good.
It’s another race, Haer’Dalis. You better win this one. No for real: your life is going to be miserable if Aerie beats you again. Who will it be?
Minsc steals the kill. Huh? Breathe a sigh of relief if you like, Haer’Dalis, but I’m pretty sure she’s going to claim that one. Minsc is her protector, after all.
Best,
A.