The Candlekeep Annex: RPed Baldur’s Gate No and Low Reload Adventures

WiseGrimwald

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Having had a week in RL that was rather eventful, I,m glad to be back to the more peaceful world of Baldur's Gate!
two earthquakes above 6 on the Richter scale and a sandstorm. Quite a few activities were suspended. Still, nobody was hurt and the damage to Knossos Palace was minimal.

Jarl Duragon continues his adventures by entering the Nashkel mines:

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I forgot to take screenshots at the bandit camp. :( There were no problems. :)

It seems that I left it too late to visit Officer Vai. I have thirty-two scalps for her.

I was however rewarded by Gurke who gave me his cloak and I was rewarded at the temple for the wyvern tail.

At the Cloakwood mine I was able to kill Drasus before fleeing. I killed more wyvern on the way to the FAI where I rested successfully.

It looks like the mines will be a challenge!
 
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Borco

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Hey there, hi there!

I just wanted to chip in with a few updates on my current off-the-thread activity. Remember that totemic druid party run that I mentioned here some time ago? Well, they got stopped cold by the Insane SCS balor in the Underdark.

Following that, I embarked on a practice solo run with a halfling barbarian lass on Hardcore. Even though it's certainly not a proper run due to the absenting coverage, she's been doing fine so far and managed to no-reload SoA. Shout-out to @Alesia_BH and her barbarian Arkona from the Bioware forums for proving us with all the insightful studying materials (albeit in the context of a different install). While the difference between Hardcore and Insane difficulty has certainly been notable, I can report that once again the main obstacle we've been faced with were the SCS balors (we only encountered the one in the Underdark and two of them during the final battle with Jonicus in Hell). Frequent Stoneskins casts made it difficult to take them down at range with Everard GWWs (note that Gesen runs against their lightning immunity), while their vorpal blade forced us to prioritize saving throws over resistances (notably fire) and we ended up suffering big time from their Aura of Flaming Death during each of our offensive pushes. Ultimately, Silver Blade GWWs won the day for us in Hell, since they turned out to be susceptible to its vorpal strike. I've also made a note to remember swapping the Claw for Ring of Fire Resistance or RoP+2 when facing balors in SoA in the future.

Going forward, I'm inclined to finally spend some time with the ToB content either with this character or with Iona, the unsuccessful no-reload sorceress of mine from early this year, or with both, to get some practice and knowledge. After that, I should be ready to start a new properly documented run.

Regards,

B.
 
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WiseGrimwald

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Jarl has just won at the Ducal Palace.

The big question is whether or not to go to Durlag's before killing Sarevok.

EDIT

Decided against it.

Have now reached the Ducal Palace in Siege of Dragonspear. Alora and Dynaaheir left me. :(

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Have arrived at the Coastway Crossing.
 

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WiseGrimwald

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As I have never completed BG1 with an evil party, I just tried again. The party got confused and wiped each other out when attacked by mod assassins. :( Will try again but will continue with a Chaotic Neutral party first. My characters aim to be good, but from time to time fail badly. This is what makes them neutral, rather than aiming to be neutral like the druids.
EDIT
I changed the portraits firstly because Charname looked old and he is supposed to be young, and secondly because Monty Moonflower has been chosen by a Moonblade.

We found Monty's Moonblade on the body of an assassin. We made our way to Beregost where we left Imoen, it being safe enough there, just so long as she doesn't practice her rather poor thieving skills there.

Our efforts to help Neera didn't go quite according to plan. I used a wand of lightning against the Thavian wizard. Whilsst it did hurt him badly, it also injured a commoner and Neera's next spell killed him. I decided not to keep her in the party. She was so grateful for my help that she gave me a traveller's robe and a skull trap scroll which I memorised. The incident cost me two reputation points. :( Typical for me, I try to do the right thing and I kill an innocent!
We headed for the FAI where I found the ring of wizardry- very useful. On the way we also acquired a ring of protection +1 and the girdle of piercing. :)

However despite all of us having acquired better equipment, we are all still at level 1.

We headed north and returned the bowl to Tenya whereupon she joined us. We had all reached level 2, she level 5.

We then went hunting ankheg which resulted in our experience rocketing. Now to sell shells before going shopping.

All that I could afford was a +1 axe and a +3 axe for Fergus who now has *** in axes., plus ordinary ammo for the rest of us.

We got the charisma increasing tome at the gnoll stronghold.

We were on the way to getting to know how Tenya's bowl worked when disaster! A hord of kobold archers killed m....

End of run


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WiseGrimwald

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The adventures of Trallis Twinaxe, Dwarven Wizard Slayer.

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I made my way to Beregost where I bade Imoen farewell.

Whilst there, I was attacked by Karlat who would have killed me but for the intervention of Finch, a patron of the inn. She healed me twice which was enough for my survival.

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I then headed south to Nashkel, clearing the road of hostile elements on the way. At the town I found some good armour and I killed another assassin near the mine.. He had a +1 axe which fortunately I had avoided during combat. I went to the FAI and returned Joia's ring.

I killed some evil fishermen who had killed Tenya's mother. Tenya has now become my partner.
 
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WiseGrimwald

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The journal of Trallis Continued.

I managed to kill Zordral single-handed. Tenya was waiting outside with skeletons, but they weren't needed.
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We made our way westward killing Vax and Zal, helped a dryad and finally took on more assassins.

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We then went for the charisma tome. The shaman did some serious damage and an ogre mage did the same in transit, but we were still alive on getting back to the carnival where we rested. Now level 5.

Nick the Knife a dwarven level 1 fighter/thief joined us in Beregost. His stats are good even if I would have preferred him to have a higher level. I had +1 studded armour and a +2 knife to equip him.

Together we took on and defeated Bassilus.

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WiseGrimwald

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The journal of Trallis Continued.

We took on the sirines, killing them all and retrieving the loot which was available there.

Droth proved to be dangerous and we had to flee and sleep before returning to the fray.

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We continued to the Gnoll stronghold where we rescued and recruited Dynaheir. The battle was tough.

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Thorin, a dwarf, at Ulgoth's Beard then joined us.

The party then proceeded to the Firewine Bridge. There we fought Lethe and killed her but sadly she also killed Dynaheir.

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It cost 800gp to restore her. :(

The equipment on Lethe's body was well worth the cost of raising Dynaheir. :)
We are now tackling the basilisks and medusae.

I have developed a new tactic that I haven't used before. I summon a skeleton who goes in front of the party so that the basilisks/medusae target it. Meanwhile the rest of the party use ranged weapons . I used it to kill them all, then they absorbed Mutamin's spells, dying in the process, but party members were not harmed.
So I left without the use of potions/scrolls, saving them for later.


I suspect that somebody has already thought of this, but haven't seen it written anywhere.

What has surprised me is that Thorin is at a higher level than charname. NPCs are usually at the same level or lower.

The party that I have appears to be well balanced. I could manage without Thorin, but his toughness is appreciated.

edit

Now Drizzt joined us at level 15. Way too overpowered. I asked him to leave though I did keep his equipment. His armour is just what my fighter/thief needed.

In the mines we were attacked by assassins who were able to kill Tenya before we killed them. Raising her cost 800gp. :(

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The bandit camp was a walkover. Now heading to cloakwood.

However Hareishan's lightning bolt brought the run to an abrupt end.
 
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WiseGrimwald

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The sad demise of Trallis meant that I decided to create a very different character, if similar in some ways. Fireaxe the Fierce has great ambitions for himself. Stats below tell you everything. The portrait also says much, and finding the image pushed me towards making this character. A seer prophesied that I would become a powerful warrior due to an axe which could be found in Nashkel. I therefore put all my effort in learning the art of wielding one.


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WiseGrimwald

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The seer's prophecy turned out to be correct and with the axe I also found some ankheg armour. Donning it made me feel much more secure in a land where you get attacled for little or no reason.
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Heading south, I was attacked once more as iut seems that I have a price on my head. I noticed immediately that he had a magically improved axe. I hopedd that mine would be good enough to defeat him. It was, but the battle was difficult.

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I thought to hide from assassins in Baldur's Gate, but was unable to gain entry. However, nearby I met up with Tenya, a young Cleric. We have much in common, so I was glad when she joined me. Together we killed an ankheg with ease, and also Zordral, Greywolf. and the Amazing Oompah.

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We killed some ankheg before finally getting around to following Gorion's instructions to go to the FAI where Tarnsh attacked us and was killed.

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We were given a hefty reward for killing Bassilus and some nearby bandits..

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Gallor asked us to retrieve an idol for him. This we did, whereupon we were attacked by a doomsayer. He was killed whilst we fled. We then took Brage to the temple and we have been asked to prove his innocence.

When we went in search of the merchant who switched his sword for a cursed one, we were attacked by Vax and Zal. Their deaths provided me with a second magically enhanced axe and slightly better armour.

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We helped a dryad and D'rienne and killed Ingot before coming face to face with the merchant. The battle with him was tough. He was resistant to command and we had no doom spell memorised. He also had his own spells with the result that I got badly injured. Brage was found innocent as a result of incriminating evidence being found on Borda's body.

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We went sirine hunting in the lighthouse area and looted the cave. We didn't however fight one of the flesh golems. Going berserk helped a lot, as did summoned skeletons.
 
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Finarfin

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Hi everyone!

I’ve been a BG2 player for over 20 years and I think it’s the best RPG ever made. Before I had kids, I used to play it once a year. We’ve known each other with @Borco for a long time and sometimes I have been following his no-reload progress. Few years ago we even tried a no-reload run together, and came pretty far, but then life happened and it was a bit forgotten. I did a normal party playthrough a few months ago, but tried to limit my reloads to minimum. But after that, I told myself I will give this no-reload thing a chance. So here are my first few stories (they happened a bit over a month ago so I will keep them short):

I played all characters on SCS insane without double damage, on max hp on level up.

  1. Evil barbarian dwarf. As I played barbarian with my party all the way through ToB just before, I was feeling pretty confident. That is, up until I underestimated a kobold shaman and got stunned by a chromatic orb in Naskel Mines. Lesson learned - do not underestimate anyone and be prepared to use a potion or an ability as a counter.
  2. Good fighter-illusionist gnome. I wanted to try a dagger/dart throwing char and this looked like a decent choice. Well, my first fight in the game was at the stairs of Friendly Arms Inn and it did not go very well. Another lesson learned, wait with Tarnesh a bit if you don’t have barbarian rage
  3. Restarted my fighter-illusionist gnome. Avoided Tarnesh, went through Naskel mines with invisibility and came as far as cloakwood mines. I did a mistake of resting just before Davaeorn. Woke up with a nice surprise, a bunch of guards next to me. Managed to take care of that party, but I couldn’t leave anymore and rest outside as I had no invisibility to go around some other guards I left on way. So I tried another rest, and unfortunately there was another big party waiting for me and that was the end of my run. Another lesson learned, do not rest in Cloakwood mines before Davaeorn.
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I only played BG1 2-3 times in my life and I found out that I was missing a lot of knowledge about the game, but I was learning run after run, so I was hoping it wouldn’t be too far from finishing the first game next time. Got a lot of great tips from @Borco which helped me get started with these chars.
 

WiseGrimwald

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Hi everyone!

I’ve been a BG2 player for over 20 years and I think it’s the best RPG ever made. Before I had kids, I used to play it once a year. We’ve known each other with @Borco for a long time and sometimes I have been following his no-reload progress. Few years ago we even tried a no-reload run together, and came pretty far, but then life happened and it was a bit forgotten. I did a normal party playthrough a few months ago, but tried to limit my reloads to minimum. But after that, I told myself I will give this no-reload thing a chance. So here are my first few stories (they happened a bit over a month ago so I will keep them short):

I played all characters on SCS insane without double damage, on max hp on level up.

  1. Evil barbarian dwarf. As I played barbarian with my party all the way through ToB just before, I was feeling pretty confident. That is, up until I underestimated a kobold shaman and got stunned by a chromatic orb in Naskel Mines. Lesson learned - do not underestimate anyone and be prepared to use a potion or an ability as a counter.
  2. Good fighter-illusionist gnome. I wanted to try a dagger/dart throwing char and this looked like a decent choice. Well, my first fight in the game was at the stairs of Friendly Arms Inn and it did not go very well. Another lesson learned, wait with Tarnesh a bit if you don’t have barbarian rage
  3. Restarted my fighter-illusionist gnome. Avoided Tarnesh, went through Naskel mines with invisibility and came as far as cloakwood mines. I did a mistake of resting just before Davaeorn. Woke up with a nice surprise, a bunch of guards next to me. Managed to take care of that party, but I couldn’t leave anymore and rest outside as I had no invisibility to go around some other guards I left on way. So I tried another rest, and unfortunately there was another big party waiting for me and that was the end of my run. Another lesson learned, do not rest in Cloakwood mines before Davaeorn.
I only played BG1 2-3 times in my life and I found out that I was missing a lot of knowledge about the game, but I was learning run after run, so I was hoping it wouldn’t be too far from finishing the first game next time. Got a lot of great tips from @Borco which helped me get started with these chars.
You have learned some lessons which I have learned, but sadly failed to apply. Over and over again I have failed to buff when I should have done.
 

WiseGrimwald

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I decided to switch from doing an Evil Dwarf Berserker to a Chaotic Neutral one as I am not comfortable playing evil characters.

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Seeing the blood on his axe reminded me of the Northumbrian king Eric Bloodaxe. I switched his first name to Rowan because of his red hair. Proficiencies in axes and dual wielding.

Upon getting to Beregost it seemed to be a safe enough town so I left Imoen there and stocked up on throwing axes. I delivered a letter to Mirianne whereuppon she gave me a ring of protection in return.

I headed south to Nashkel where I found ankheg armour. That was enough to enable me to defeat an assassin, Zargos Flintblade by name. He had a +1 axe which should prove useful.

I am now level 2.

Fighting Greywolf was even harder. I had to flee to the carnival where I rested for over 7 and a half days. I'll be back!

I did indeed return and Greywolf was at near death when I fell despite using healing potions. :confused:

Lesson learned: If an enemy is proving too much, don't return until you have gone up at least one level. That would have been SO easy to do!
 
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WiseGrimwald

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Starting Again. Only difference is the name and the fact that he is Lawful Neutral. Once he gets to level 3, it will be quite a bit easier.

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Upon arrival at the FAI we were attacked by Tarnesh and Imoen panicked. Due to going berserk, I didn't. As a result, I killed him easily. However, since it seems that my plans are known, I deemed it unsafe to enter the inn and instead head for Beregost. I was able to boost my reputation to 12 by being generous at the temple.

On the way I killed some xvarts and an ogre. I let the ogre get a little too close to me and was badly hurt. I fled, rested and returned this time using throwing axes to great advantage.

I also delivered a letter to Mirianne.

I dropped Imoen off in Beregost as her skill in opening locks is not great. Arrived safely in Nashkel. Am level 2.

I returned to Beregost to deliver the Colquetle Amulet.

This made me level 3 with *** in axes.

I returned to the Nashkel Mines where Zargos Flintblade attacked me. Knowing his strength, I headed towards the mine entrance, hoping that the Amnian Guards might weaken him. Unfortunately they did more than that. They killed him with the result that I lost out on the experience. :(

At least I now have his +1 axe. :)

That axe helped me to defeat Greywolf after which I helped Rufie relocate his owner.

After killing Vax, Zal, Caldo and Krumm I became fully fledged Hero. :)

Lack of finances means that I couldn't afford needed items at the Carnival. :(

I have managed to prove the innocence of Brage. :) I have reached level 5.

After doing so I bought the One Gift Lost and still have 37gp left.

Reputation now 19.I then helped Charleston Nib before killing the sirines in the Lighthouse Area,

Now level 6, reputation 20.I then went to take on Shoal and was forced to flee to the FAI.

I arrived unconscious, and when I rested it took 29 days and 16 hours to recover. However, I DID recover. :)

Then took on Shoal, then Droth, and then Shoal again. This time it was straightforward.

I killed a carrion crawler and the nearby sirines before returning to the FAI for a rest., on the way killing 10 bandits.
 
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Finarfin

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Fusrodah, Elven Dragon Disciple: part 1

After 3 failed attempts, I was wondering what char I will try next. I always loved sorcerer and I thought I will give him a chance. I saw there was a kit now (probably introduced in EE) called Dragon Disciple and I went for it. I really liked that tanky version of sorcerer, and that one spell less I could live with. Introducing Fusrodah, a lawful neutral dragon born disciple. As before, I went for SCS (v.34) insane without double damage, max hp on level up. It has been almost a month now, but I will try to remember things as much as possible.

After my first 3 attempts, I decided that I will make the whole run a bit more careful and always focus on defense. I decided to level up a bit before doing anything else, so after doing some Beregost and Naskel quests, Fusrodah went to kill the basilisks and part of Durlag’s tower.

Everything went pretty fine, except for in Naskel Carnival tent there was a mage and for some reason Fusrodah became cocky and wanted to fight him (so much for me trying to take it carefully). After getting fear, Fusrodah was lucky enough to get behind a bookshelf in the tent and wait it out while the mage lost him. Suffice to say, Fusrodah flew (and luckily managed to get away) from the tent afterwards and never came back. Since then, he had recurring nightmares about carnivals and tents (little did he know it was not the last of those he has seen in his life)

After short montage workouts with basilisks, lots of experience gained and near death experience, Fusrodah was ready to find out what’s going on with iron in Swordcoast. Having invisibility, he sneaked through Naskel mines, killed Mulahey and got out of there. Easy hit and run he though. He continued to the bandit camp and even though he was as ready as he could be, he had to put invisibility and run twice to get a well deserved rest at Friendly Arms inn. (probably would have helped to use The One Gift Lost, but I was glad to have saved it for Cloakwood mines). From my previous runs I learned it’s better to be careful than too adventurous. And I believe having one less spell as a dragon disciple mattered a bit as well.

Before venturing to Cloakwood, Fusrodah asked his dear friend Imoen to steal a ring of free action from Ulgoth's Beard. After chugging a potion of master thievery, she stole it and as greedy as she is, she tried to steal a bit more, but unfortunately Dushai (or was it Shandalar?) saw it and became aggressive. Imoen, being a good friend she is gave the ring to Fusrodah and the moment Chaos was flying on Imoen, Fusrodah kicked her out of party, left her there and ran away. As much as he cared for Imoen, he cared for himself a bit more. Let’s just say he was not the bravest person in the world, but it was all part of character development. All in all, a clean thieving operation, clean as an elven arse some would say.

With the ring of free action, Fusrodah felt like Forrest Gump and literally ran through all of cloakwood while being invisible. He went all the way to Davaeorn and he had a deep feeling inside that he should not rest in here as he didn’t want to wake up next to a bunch of guards. Using a scroll of protection from magic and fireballs from the amulet, Davaeorn went down relatively easily.

Being invisible and sneaking around being one of Fusrodah’s favorite activities, he went into the headquarters of Iron Throne in Baldur’s Gate and stole some documents. After delivering these documents to some big boy in Baldur’s Gate, he was sent back home to Candlekeep, where he got arrested for something he did not do. He was flabbergasted and didn’t know what to do. So he did the only thing he knew how to do, cast invisibility and he started to sneak out. He managed to get out of Candlekeep and back to Baldur’s Gate.

Wanting to clear his name, he went to see his old drinking buddy Scar. Unfortunately finding out he was murdered did not help and Fusrodah ended up in jail. Again. He was getting good at jail break by now and he made his way to stinking sewers where he encountered some weird couple that he decided to get rid of to get an invitation to a party. Having a stoneskin and scroll of protection from magic made things much easier. Slythe and Kristin were dead and he got his tickets to the palace.

Things didn't go very well in the palace. Problem was that Fusrodah had either buffs, or AoE like skulltraps. Not wanting to kill also the guards or aggro them, he ended up using a lot of wands and took it slowly. Things were almost finished and there were only 2 doppelgangers left, but then something happened and I got auto-death. First I thought it was some kind of bug, but later I found out that at least one of the dukes must survive. As this was totally new for me, I did not take this as a ‘load/death’. I gave myself one more chance and told myself that on all my next playthroughs if I fail here, I will take that as game over.

Trying a more aggressive approach helped, and Fusrodah managed to fight his way through the doppelgangers in time now.

Following Sarevok to the temple of Bhaal, Fusrodah fought through all of Sarevok’s lackeys and took down the big guy himself afterwards. @Borco sent me his sorcerer’s (Iona’s) Sarevok battle and I inspired myself a lot from that. It took a lot of potions and wands, but in the end - greater malison + staff of paralyzation made short work of Sarevok. My first no-reload insane run in BG1 was finished.

My spell choices were (as far as I can remember) in this order:
L1: Blindness, Chromatic Orb, Shield, Magic Missile
L2: Invisibility, Melf’s Acid Arrow, Mirror Image, Blur
L3: Haste, Skull Trap, Flaming arrow
L4: Improved Invisibility, Stokeskin

Haste really helped me in the start and my plan was to make a tank/summoner after a while and it seemed like a great choice and can’t imagine anything better there (not to mention I hate walking slow around the world :D ). Blindness helped a lot at the start and invisibility is probably the best spell for a solo no reload I think. Improved invisibility and stoneskin, along with already a bit higher Dragon Disciple AC made survivability much better.

I really liked Dragon Disciple, it seemed like an upgraded version of sorcerer. Even though in longer battles (like bandit camp), that one less spell was felt a bit. But nothing that can’t be fixed with some extra scrolls and I would prepare a bit better for those longer fights now. Extra HP and AC mattered a lot at the start. Constitution was totally useless and dragon breath was OK. Main reason I actually chose dragon disciple was for the fire resist, but that did not play much role in the first game.

Unfortunately I don’t have a single screenshot from this run. Luckily I took some videos in BG2 and will try to make a more interesting story for the 2nd part.
 

WiseGrimwald

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I edited above rather than keep on creating micro posts. I have come to the point where I have to decide whether to carry on solo or create a party. I could of course save the game now and do both.

That is exactly what I have done. One is called Firebeard Bloodaxe Party, the other Firebeard Bloodaxe Solo, which I will play first.
 

Finarfin

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Fusrodah, Elven Dragon Disciple: part 2

Difficulty challenges:
  • Insane SCS 34 (Installed all SCS components except for improved vampires and shade lord)
  • Max hp on level up, no double damage.
  • Allowed
    • Robe of Vecna
  • Not allowed
    • Cloak of Mirroring
    • Scroll of protection from undead
    • Project image/simulacrum/wish. Only exception is final fight in ToB if I ever get there
    • Not using Planetar in SoA. Only exception is when enemies use them first

As I am feeling much more confident in BG2, I decided to put on some self imposed rules. I decided not to use the cloak of mirroring as I really don’t enjoy using it, atop of it being OP. Another easy decision was that I did not want to use project image, simulacrum or wish. It would totally nullify the drawback of Dragon Disciple (one less spell). I actually tried a scroll of protection from undead for the first time in my life with Fusrodah in BG1 and I decided I will not use it again. Last rule was that I did not want to use planetar in SoA as it could make a lot of the combat trivial. Only exception was if the enemies would use it against me first. I did allow myself the Robe of Vecna.






After being tortured and having woken up, Fusrodah was glad to see Imoen again. He felt a bit bad about leaving her in Ulgoth’s Beard after she helped him. He told himself that even though he prefers to do things solo, he might use the company now (Irenicus dungeon and stealing from Ulgoth’s Beard were the only times in the run this wasn’t pure solo). After fighting tons of dwarves and thieves, they managed to get out only for Imoen to be taken. Fusrodah felt really bad and he finally found some courage and decided that he will rescue Imoen.

But the first thing he saw was a huge tent and he got instant PTSD from Naskel Carnival and Zordral. And the courage was gone, no way he was getting into that tent. So he went around the city, killing slavers, solving murders, working for thieves guild and talking to sculptors. He even delivered a teddy bear for a ghost kid and paid local wizards to be able to use magic in the city.

He started to feel a bit confident by now, and he decided to do some adventuring outside the city walls. His first stop was Trademeet where his quest was to talk and solve some djinni problems. He thought that will be an easy job - up until he saw they live in tents. While standing in front of the tent, he started sweating and his heart was pumping hard. He decided he will face his fears and do this. He unleashed his inner Bhaal and made a short work of the djinns. This was a breaking point for Fusrodah, he no longer had fear of tents and he decided he will investigate the tent in Waukeen’s promenade one day as well.

After solving the trade problem in Trademeet, he went to deal with some druids, small town in Umar Hills, killed a bunch of trolls at De'arnise Keep and even saw a red dragon (which he thought at the time is best not to fight). Even though he was a tanky mage, he could hit hard when needed:

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His first choices of spells were:
L5: Animate dead
L6: Contingency
L7: Mordenkainen's Sword
L8: Incendiary Cloud

As I mentioned, Fusrodah wanted to become a summoner and so Animate dead and Mordenkainen's Sword were first choices. When hasted, these guys could wreak havoc among enemies. He chose contingency (at the start with Improved Invisibility) and used it on ‘helpless’. Incendiary cloud went nicely along with his natural fire immunities and Mordenkainen's Swords.

He returned to Athkatla and rescued a bunch of actors from a planar prison and entered planar sphere (with a body of a dead ranger he killed a while ago - surprisingly it wasn’t rotting even after a week in inventory). This is where he experienced his first near death experience in BG2. Not really having any huge opposition so far and having claw of Kazgaroth, he forgot about demons and got held by demon gaze outside planar sphere. Luckily, he already got a lvl 9 spell and chose chain contingency for this case of being helpless. Unfortunately for him, it was an epic fail, Mordenkainen's Sword, Incendiary Cloud and Improved Invisibility (didn’t have protection from magical weapons yet) did not do much against a demon who sees through invisibility and has 100% fire resistance. Luckily he did not forget to summon his army of swords before the fight and they managed to kill the demon before stoneskin ran off.

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With most of the things done in the city, he ventured to Watcher's keep and kept going down until he met a demon. Having enough respect of demons by now, he prepared himself really well for this fight and decided to try out his new cool Planetar spell (as this was ToB content, I let Fusrodah use planetar here). With all the sequencers of flame arrows and acid arrows, he knew he could do this. But it was a bit anti-climatic:

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Alesia_BH

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Welcome to the thread, Finarin! I look forward to following your adventures.

I’m abroad now, without my computer, so I don’t expect to be active anytime soon, but I’ll be back home in about a month. Hopefully the stars will align and you, me and Borco can run simultaneously. That sounds fun.

For now, best wishes and good hunting!

Cheers,

A.
 
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