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

[Alesia_BH]

It was a Potion of Magic Shielding. In hindsight, a Greenstone Amulet before combat would’ve worked better. Totally forgot it protects against fear as well.

Are you sure it was a potion of magic shielding? The first one is typically in the Cloakwood Mines area.

 

[WiseGrimwald]

Journal of Balduran of Karatur

In Beregost, while I calmed down Marl, took a tome to Firebead, and bought a sling for Carlo, he investigated the town and returned a lot richer. I am hoping that he gained all the loot honestly, but have my suspicions that he didn't.

After meeting up again we headed south, killed a couple of ogrillon, and some hobgoblins who unwillingly furnished Carlo with some boots of stealth.

We are now heading for Nashkel.

 

[Alesia_BH]

Ava, Halfling Swashbuckler: The Chateau

Having progressed Ava's coverage to the game she is actually playing, BG2, I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. Almost. The tunnel is long. The light, dim. I can see a few stray photons but that's more or less it.

In the interest of aligning coverage with progress, I'll be moving quickly through SoA. We'll start with the Chateau, because, well, that's where the game starts.

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The screenshots from the Chateau are at odds with my recollections. In the screenshots Ava's progress seems efficient, almost elegant. At the time it all felt janky and improvised. Reality is likely somewhere in the middle ground, as is often the case. Reality tends to prefer the middle ground between variant perceptions.

(That got oddly deep for a minute, didn't it, huh? Whatever. Let's get back to killing things.)

Here we see Ava and Imoen teaming up to defeat the mineral mephit. This bloke is reason #1 why I take Imoen along in the Chateau. I'm not even sure if her still regenerates in v35, but I recall him being a nuisance in one recent SCS version, and I just don't have space in my life for a hurdle this early on in BG2.

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Otyughs are super annoying in the early game. Immunity to missile weapon damage and a slow on hit effect is a pretty nasty combination. I'm glad there aren't any high level otyughs who can detect the invisible, because that would kind of suck.

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Against the duergars we used a Stoneskinned Imoen to draw attention while Ava plinked away with a crossbow. Ava doesn't have a pip in crossbows yet, but that's ok.

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See? It worked.

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Against Ilyich's crew, Imoen's spells did the heavy lifting. Ava's crossbow was still a part of the conversation.

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The death of Ilyich allowed Ava to switch to a much preferred sling.

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Your job is simple, Imoen, stand there and don't die. Just give me a sec to fire up DuHM.

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Good work, Immy.

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With the acorns in hand, we rested and then proceeded to Ellisimes's room. Once the portal key was secured, we got the rock out of dodge, ASAP.

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In the mephit room Yoshi took backstab duty while Ava waited in the wings.

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And done! Nice work team!

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On to the final hurdles. Imoen's reloaded spell book did most of the work here.

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Since we stealthed by the final thieves, Frenneden was our last foe. Nice backstab, Yosh! Ava's jealous, ngl, but you'll be jealous of her before long- assuming you're alive that is. What? No. I didn't say anything. Of course I don't think you're going to die. Why would I think that...

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Best,

A.

 

[Alesia_BH]

Ava, Halfling Swashbuckler: Early Adventures in Amn

Early mid SoA is all about the potions. Early, early SoA is all about the rings.

Historically I've prioritized the RoAC and The Victor. These days the Druid's Ring is my first acquisition.

Why? This is why.

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And this.

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And this.

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The Druid's Ring grants free passage through slaver part, 1- especially now that David has fixed the behavior of charmed creatures.

Ok. One on one, you and me, beast master.

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Actually, me and me. So long and thanks for the bow.

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Once, and I mean literally once, I saw Lethinam beat Hendak in a fair fight. That memory stayed with me, and so I'm always slightly nervous when these two throwdown. I'm always tempted to join in on Hendak's side, but I have this thought in the back of my mind that that could turn Bernard hostile. It doesn't and it can't. I can't shake the image though, or at least I usually can't. Apparently I got over it this time, since Ava landed the killing blow.

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With slaver part 1 complete, we were free to do a little shopping. Suna ambushed us en route, however.

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I usually invest a potion of firebreath in this. This time I decided to take a minimalist approach, luring Suna Seni to traps, collecting Arbane and moving on.

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Getting sniped by arrows while nixing Suna reminded me to pick up the boots of avoidance, so we did that, aided by traps.

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I don't recall the exact order of operations here. I know my early game priorities were the Boomerang Dagger and the RoAC, followed by the Bracers of AC 3, Belm, the Cloak of Displacement, and a defensive potion collection.

I believe we collected the Boomerang Dagger and the RoAC first, snagged Lilacor, and then moved on to Trademeet to fill out the rest.

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That's consistent with the screenshot order at least. (And as an FYI, we pickpocketed the Boomerang Dagger, we didn't fight for it.)

In Trademeet we went full rogue, trapping the dao and stealthing to Cernd.

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With our early game kit complete, we were ready to take on slaver 2, aided by an oil of speed, a potion of regeneration and a potion of strength. DuHM and RoAC II were added in as renewable buffs.

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This was satisfying. No kiting, just a straight up melee butt whopping. Studded leather + Bracers of AC 3 is legit. It's even better enhanced by swashie bonuses.

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Quaff all you like, slavers, you're still toast. Our regen outpaces your ability to land crits, so we're winning here no matter what.

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We took a low end potion of healing here, but we surely didn't need it, judging from the hitpoint total. This was just me being an overzealous healer, which I often am when I'm sharing runs. It looks cleaner to be at or near full HP at all times.

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IIRC, I said no kiting. Revise that to minimal kiting. It looks like I punked Haegan at range, probably because of his strength potion and Ava's lack of critical protection. Oh! Lack of critical protection reminds me, we definitely picked up the Pale Green Ioun Stone in the early game shortly after slaver 1

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And there we have it. Slaver 2 is finished, and we're ready to fill out our potion collection.

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Best,

A.

 

[Borco]

I've really enjoyed reading all your posts, friends - it's delightful to see that both Ava and Luke have been thriving.

Unfortunately, the same thing cannot be said for Edric, at least anymore. In fact, he was involved in a BG-equivalent of a car crash in the Kuo-Toa Tunnels. The autopsy report asserted that he was dead on the spot.

Even though I keep saying this each time I lose a character, this one's been particularly tough to swallow, and it shattered my plans to catch up with the coverage before the final SoA battle.

Our trouble began when I completely botched Phare's rescue, big time. Although Edric was never really in danger, Phare died, forcing us to improvise by hitting straight into the tunnels. The kuo-toa monitors, as if they were not enough annoying already, are apparently able to see through HiS + Cloak of Non-Detection. Consequently, Edric did take more damage than usual before he was able to clear the lair, kill the prince, save the princess - you know the drill. After the fight, I didn't bother to heal. We were just about to scout ahead towards the exit when I realized that the glabrezus beyond the bridge had already turned red circled...

There was no battle, no heroics, only PW: Stun.

I'm not sure what's next. I'm currently trying to deal with my workload under Improved Alacrity and I'll see if there's anything happing in the near future. In the meantime, good hunting to all the active runners.

Regards,

B.

 

[Borco]

to enter combat drunk at every opportunity

 

[Borco]

Are you sure it was a potion of magic shielding? The first one is typically in the Cloakwood Mines area.

I understand that @Finarfin has got this potion vendor available at the carnival, likely coming from the Unfinished Business mod. We specifically checked during our multiplayer game (hosted by me) and he wasn't there.

 

[Alesia_BH]

I understand that @Finarfin has got this potion vendor available at the carnival, likely coming from the Unfinished Business mod. We specifically checked during our multiplayer game (hosted by me) and he wasn't there.

Makes sense. A mod would explain it.

 

[Alesia_BH]

There was no battle, no heroics, only PW: Stun.

Condolences, Borco. PW:S is terrifying.

That's why I've become addicted to halfling rogues and warriors. Equipping Arvoreen in the off hand every time you get near 90HP is a glorious luxury.

 

[Borco]

Condolences, Borco. PW:S is terrifying.

That's why I've become addicted to halfling rogues and warriors. Equipping Arvoreen in the off hand every time you get near 90HP is a glorious luxury.

As all UAI rogues, Edric had been facing a tough choice on what to take for his trip to Brynnlaw. Since I never seem to be able to convince Desharik to take us in, I usually leave two free slots - one for the wardstone, and the other for the Book of Infinite Spells. With potion case + gem bag + scroll case, there's little room for excess baggage. Still, Arvoreen got packed first, even before the shields. I believe that it was actually even outside of Edric's Bag of Holding when this happened - my brain was just too slow to process the unexpected situation with the hostile demons and we got stunned in an instant.

 

[Finarfin]

Sometime ago I ran another swashbuckler, Amara. I lost her to a maze in Suldanessellar, but she had coasted through SoA prior to that, and appeared to have an easy ride to Abazigal at least. Swashies are sub-optimal in BG1, but once they reach UAI, they're filthy. Once they get a few Time Traps they're filthier.

Yeah, I can totally see them as late bloomers when UIA hits. Swashbuckler was one of three choices for my dart thrower actually (other being Archer). I will definitely try it one day. I think for the dart thrower it's the other way around, easy ride in BG1, really hard in BG2 and close to impossible in ToB. We'll see.

I'm looking forward to following your progress with Luke, and I'm glad to see you flexing your creative muscles. That is, to a significant extent, what this thread is about, even if we (I) have arced away from that direction.

I haven't really 'written' anything for over 20 years, so it's nice to test it a bit. Last thing being Heroes of Might and Magic 3 campaign and being DM when we used to play DnD as teenagers with @Borco ... damn, time flies when I start thinking about it. It is pretty fun to do a run with a bit of role play, but I am noticing in BG2 I am doing it less and concentrating more on surviving, as the difficulty spike has jumped from the first game

Sometime ago I ran a similar character. Mine was a halfling slinger, rather than a dart tosser, but the concept, was similar, leaning heavily on an unassuming ranged weapon, partly for comedic value. Sadly, my character died in ToB, killed by her own Smite. She had chucked a Smite enhanced bullet at a cleric who had erected Physical Mirror just in time. Aware of the danger, I had equipped the Reflection Shield (Reflex). Unfortunately, I failed to realize that I'd need to keep the Reflex equipped for the entire duration of Physical Mirror. The bullet kept bouncing between the two surfaces and when I unequipped the Reflex 5 rounds or so later, the bullet landed, smiting my character, and our shared aspirations.

Wow, that sounds seriously hardcore. I have seen similar loop with Fire Shield (poor Mekrath died to it and Efreet with my Cavalier on my last run), but it's great info, I will keep it in mind. Will have to be really careful around Physical Mirror. Do you have a story/posts here somewhere written about the char? Would be fun to read

One of the advantages of using a slinger as opposed to a dart tosser is that sling bullets go up to +4, +5 counting Everard. The +3 ceiling on darts is an onion in the ointment. I see two solutions to that problem: 1) we can allow Cespenar or even Cromwell to upgrade the Crimson Dart to +4; 2) we could extend the expiration date on the Cloak of the Stars darts, allowing Luke to make larger piles. Naturally, you can feel free to skip either of these approaches, but I thought I'd make them available, in the interest of allowing you to see through your character concept. In that vein, it might also be fun to modify the effect of drunkeness on Luke, like, for example, inverting the Luck bonus and capping it at 1. This would give him an incentive to enter combat drunk at every opportunity, without it being totally OP.

I have never though about +3 being not good enough. Is there anyone beside Kangaxx and Ravager who are hit only with +4? I will not go to Watcher's Keep 3 and beyond. I mean Improved Mantle will be a problem, but it doesn't last that long and Luke could fight the summons, or use some summoning items himself in the meantime. In my previous playthroughs most mages used PfMW anyway and I was thinking of using regular darts in those cases.

I mean even one extra damage is good, I can see that already on normal mobs at the start of BG2 I am struggling hard. Eventually I will have to start using melee weapons. Might be Mae'var's guild for all those backstabers (can't imagine defeating Sendai or some other battles with only darts. Well to be honest, can't imagine defeating Sendai, period ). But I will think of both those solutions for some extra modifier for darts, thanks for the suggestions!

Hahaha that about being drunk and changing the modifier sounds great. Do you know which files need to be edited for that? I tried getting drunk and fight in BG1, but the problem was that Luke got sober when he got drunk in Naskel/Beregost, because of that long travelling time to other areas. In Baldur's Gate itself after getting drunk I tried fighting something in the sewers, and had to retreat, it was impossible to hit anything

 

[Finarfin]

Are you sure it was a potion of magic shielding? The first one is typically in the Cloakwood Mines area.

As @Borco mentioned, it must be UB mod. Totally forgot I still had that as I installed it along with some NPC mods on my last party playthrough and never did a clean install.

I double checked all the mods just to be sure and I still have a few others, but I think it must be one of the UB mods. Beside SCS, Portraits Everywhere and NPC Project, I only have these. I never saw potion merchant in his shop in Baldur's Gate city, so maybe it moves him from there to Carnival?

~SIRENE/SETUP-SIRENE.TP2~ #0 #0 // Sirene NPC for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition
~SIRENE/SETUP-SIRENE.TP2~ #0 #2 // Choose an alternate portrait for Sirene? -> Original BG1 Default (sporeboy)
~SIRENE/SETUP-SIRENE.TP2~ #0 #7 // Choose an alternate class for Sirene? -> Cavalier
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #1100 // Reveal City Maps When Entering Area: v16
~CDTWEAKS/SETUP-CDTWEAKS.TP2~ #0 #3344 // Increase Party Movement Speed and/or Casting Speed Outside of Combat [argent77] -> Movement speed by 100 percent and casting speed: v16
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #0 // Ice Island Level Two Restoration: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #11 // Scar and the Sashenstar's Daughter: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #12 // Quoningar, the Cleric: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #13 // Shilo Chen and the Ogre-Magi: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #14 // Edie, the Merchant League Applicant: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #16 // Creature Corrections: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #17 // Creature Restorations: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #18 // Creature Name Restorations: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #19 // Minor Dialogue Restorations: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #21 // Store, Tavern and Inn Fixes and Restorations: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #22 // Item Corrections and Restorations: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #29 // Duke Eltan in the Harbor Master's Building: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #30 // Nim Furlwing Encounter: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #32 // Svlast, the Fallen Paladin Encounter: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #33 // Mal-Kalen, the Ulcaster Ghost: v16.4
~BG1UB/SETUP-BG1UB.TP2~ #0 #34 // Chapter 6 Dialogue Restorations: v16.4

Not really sure which one it is, but it add two merchants into Naskel Carnival. One doesn't sell anything of value, the other sells 1 Oil of Speed, 1 Potion of Invisibility and 1 Magic Shielding. It's not game breaking, but it does give a slight advantage at the start. Sorry for wrong info about mods at the start of char introduction, I will try to do a clean install on my next char BG2 has only SCS and Tweaks (few more for ammo/potion stacks/bag of holdings)

 

[Alesia_BH]

Hahaha that about being drunk and changing the modifier sounds great. Do you know which files need to be edited for that?

Not off hand but I can look it up.

I tried getting drunk and fight in BG1, but the problem was that Luke got sober when he got drunk in Naskel/Beregost, because of that long travelling time to other areas.

Borco and I sometimes make personal items for our characters. Maybe this could be Luke's personal item, allowing him to imbibe on the go.

Spoiler

 

[Finarfin]

Not off hand but I can look it up.


Borco and I sometimes make personal items for our characters. Maybe this could be Luke's personal item, allowing him to imbibe on the go.

That sounds actually like a great idea! I found there is a 'everflowing mug' in DnD https://dnd.arkalseif.info/items/magic-item-compendium--73/everfull-mug--396/index.html

Could be something similar. I've never modded anything in the game, though I guess it shouldn't be too hard. I will have a look into it

 

[Finarfin]

I've really enjoyed reading all your posts, friends - it's delightful to see that both Ava and Luke have been thriving.

Unfortunately, the same thing cannot be said for Edric, at least anymore. In fact, he was involved in a BG-equivalent of a car crash in the Kuo-Toa Tunnels. The autopsy report asserted that he was dead on the spot.

Even though I keep saying this each time I lose a character, this one's been particularly tough to swallow, and it shattered my plans to catch up with the coverage before the final SoA battle.

Our trouble began when I completely botched Phare's rescue, big time. Although Edric was never really in danger, Phare died, forcing us to improvise by hitting straight into the tunnels. The kuo-toa monitors, as if they were not enough annoying already, are apparently able to see through HiS + Cloak of Non-Detection. Consequently, Edric did take more damage than usual before he was able to clear the lair, kill the prince, save the princess - you know the drill. After the fight, I didn't bother to heal. We were just about to scout ahead towards the exit when I realized that the glabrezus beyond the bridge had already turned red circled...

There was no battle, no heroics, only PW: Stun.

View attachment 18127

I'm not sure what's next. I'm currently trying to deal with my workload under Improved Alacrity and I'll see if there's anything happing in the near future. In the meantime, good hunting to all the active runners.

Regards,

B.

Sorry to hear that about Edric. It was lot of fun following his run :-(

Can you actually open the door behind this party without the scroll from Adalon or talking your way into them opening it for you? I always though it can't be opened. On one of my playthroughs, Solaufein was on his way back from killing the gnome patrol and a bunch of drow I did not get rid of killed him. Suddenly the city was closed and I had to find an alternative and killed Adalon.

I found this on net, not really sure if it's correct - can anyone confirm this?

In the northwest tunnel is the exit from the Underdark, guarded by drow. There are two ways to open this door: talk the drow into opening it for you (you can only do this if you are still disguised), or use the opening rune you get from Adalon. As you can see, you cannot leave the Underdark without talking to Adalon (though you can help her, betray her, kill her, or steal from her; take your pick). The drow can be convinced to let you pass, but you have to be very careful with your conversational choices.

 

[Finarfin]

Luke, Halfling Fighter: Part 4 – Cloakwood, Bad Decisions, and the Long Road Back

Luke wanted the Iron Crisis over and done with—every day it dragged on was another day the Grand Tournament stayed shuttered. So he made straight for Cloakwood. The forest was quiet… until four giant spiders materialized out of nowhere. What followed was an exhausting blur of hit-and-run tactics, web-dodging, and frantic dart throws. But Luke prevailed:

Spoiler

Not long after, he found the mines. Tight spaces again—his least favorite. Slipping on his newly bought ring of invisibility, he crept down, floor by floor, until he reached the heart of the operation. There stood Davaeorn, the villain behind it all. Before the meeting, Luke layered on his best protections: scroll of magic immunity, shield amulet, potion of heroism, oil of speed. He decided against starting with a Dart of Stunning—no need to cheapen the moment. As it turned out, he didn’t need it. Whether through sheer APR and THAC0 or divine dartsmanship, fourteen Darts of Acid and five of Wounding brought Davaeorn down before the mage could even teleport:

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Still juiced on buffs, Luke decided to take on the party outside. Drasus, their leader, was fast—berserk fast—and no stunning dart could touch him in that state. Worse, his hits were brutal: twenty-seven damage without a crit? Luke led him on a full lap around the palisade, waiting for the rage to burn out. When it did, a single well-placed Dart of Stunning froze him in his tracks. By the time the rest of Drasus’s gang arrived, Luke had already turned their boss into a pincushion and stolen his fancy boots. Oil of speed still humming in his veins, Luke vanished into the trees:

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It was finally time. Baldur’s Gate. Confidence and over 4000 gold in his pocket. The Grand Tournament. But first—a drink at Jopalin’s Tavern:

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One drink turned into… well, Luke wasn’t sure. The next morning, he woke up in the sewers. “Not again,” he muttered. No gold. No tournament entry fee. Not even enough for a peasant room to take a shower:

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Say one thing about Luke—say he never learns when to stop drinking.

Still, at least his gear was intact. Gorion’s voice echoed in his head: Always look on the bright side of life Luke. He’d earn the gold back. Wandering the city, he met a shady mage named Ramazith, who offered him a “returning exploding dart.” Luke wasn’t buying it. “Returning darts I’ve seen. Exploding darts I’ve seen. But returning exploding darts? Sounds like a way to lose a hand.” He killed the charlatan instead, looted his belongings, and sold them for just enough coin to rejoin the tournament—only to have the Flaming Fist come for him. Murder charges. False, probably. He might have been involved, but he didn’t remember much from that night:

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Thinking it best to flee, Luke spiraled into a dark mood. Maybe it was time to give up—on the tournament, on everything.

And then fate intervened. On the road, a stranger blocked his path. Luke knew that face instantly. Zal the Silver Hand—the fastest dart thrower in the West, Luke’s childhood idol. Tears welled in his eyes. Words tumbled out: “Zal, you inspired me! I drew pictures of you! I—” But Zal wasn’t there to reminisce. He wanted Luke’s gold. When Luke explained he had none—having drunk it all away—Zal didn’t believe him.

A dart of stunning dropped Zal’s companion, Vax, and Luke tried once more to talk to his hero. Zal answered with darts of his own—all of which Luke dodged easily. Something inside Luke snapped. A flurry of perfect throws dropped the man where he stood. Luke kept throwing, long after it was over. This was Zal? A petty bandit? A fraud?

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Leaving Vax stunned and helpless, the howls of nearby wolves in his ears, Luke walked back toward Baldur’s Gate. He had his purpose again. He’d clear his name. He’d reach the Grand Tournament.

Say one thing about Luke—say he’ll crawl through sewers, fight his heroes, and burn every bridge in Faerûn if that’s what it takes to be the best dart thrower alive.

 

[Finarfin]

Luke, Halfling Fighter: Part 5 – The Grand Tournament

Sneaking back into Baldur’s Gate, Luke kept his head down and his belt pouch close. First order of business: clear his name. Second order: win the Grand Tournament. And this time—no more alcohol until both were done. This time he meant it.

The gold from that shady mage’s gear was still jingling in his pouch, so Luke greased a few palms belonging to even shadier characters. The story they told him made his stomach turn. An organization called the Iron Throne had taken notice of him—specifically their leader, a man named Sarevok.

Apparently Sarevok wanted to win the Grand Tournament himself, not just for the bragging rights but for the political influence it would bring. Word on the street was that he was angling for a duke’s seat, and for reasons only city folk could understand, winning a darts competition was apparently a shortcut to power. Weird priorities, but Luke wasn’t one to judge—after all, he was risking his life over a game of darts.

Sarevok, fearing Luke’s talent, had him framed for murder. The clincher? One of Luke’s own signature darts had been found at the scene—a dart he’d “misplaced” during one of his legendary drinking nights.

Say one thing for Luke—say that if you take away his darts and his good name, he’ll chase you to the ends of Faerûn to get them back.

Tracking down one of Sarevok’s contacts, Luke prepped himself the usual way: scroll of magic immunity, shield amulet, potion of heroism, oil of speed. Then, without so much as a “good evening,” he let fly a flurry of Darts of Stunning, followed by Darts of Acid. The man—Slythe—hit the floor before he even knew what was happening. His girlfriend managed to strip Luke of his magical protections with a Remove Magic, but by then the halfling already had what he came for: key items, a map, and a clear trail to Sarevok:

Spoiler

(Side note: I only had 1 screenshot from Slythe and palace fight, but the fights went easily. I’d been dreading Slythe more than any other fight in the game. With my vow not to switch from darts except for Sarevok/dispel, a couple of backstabs could have ended the run. Thankfully, it took only about eight Darts of Stunning before one connected, and he never got to get invisible.)

---

The Meeting

The air in the old temple was thick with dust and tension. Luke stepped into the torchlight, boots crunching over broken stone. Across the hall stood Sarevok, a mountain of muscle in blackened plate, his eyes burning like coals.

“So,” Sarevok’s voice echoed off the walls, “you’re the little rat who thinks he can steal my glory.”

Luke tilted his head, sizing up the man who had tried to ruin him. “Glory? You framed me for murder over a dart tournament, big guy. You realize how ridiculous that sounds?”

“It’s about power.”

Luke smirked. “And here I thought it was about being able to hit the triple twenty.”

Sarevok took a step forward, drawing his massive sword. “I will crush you.”

“Yeah,” Luke said, flicking a dart between his fingers, “and I’ll just keep poking you until you stop moving. Let’s see which one of us gets tired first.”

---

The fight began with Luke making an exception to his own “only darts” rule, pulling out Arrows of Dispel to make life easier—because honestly, running around forever while dodging hasted enemies did not sound like a good time:

Spoiler

One of Sarevok’s allies hit him with Remove Magic, stripping most of his buffs, but his Protection from Magic scroll stayed put. He reached for his backup plan: potions of firebreath. The smell of scorched armor filled the air as Sarevok’s lackeys began to take serious damage:

Spoiler

It was close—closer than Luke liked. Switching to a defensive stance, he healed up, chugged another Oil of Speed, and washed it down with another tasty beverage - Potion of Heroism.

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Tazok, Sarevok’s last minion, shrugged off every Dart of Stunning like they were love taps. “Save vs. Spell: 1 and still walking?” Luke muttered. “I don’t know what you’re eating buddy, but I’ll take a plate of it.” The acid arrows from nearby skeleton archers hurt Luke, but at least none of their dispel arrows landed.

Spoiler

Finally, Sarevok stood alone, backed only by a Greater Earth Elemental and four skeletons. Luke’s arm ached from throwing, his belt was nearly empty of darts, but his grin never faltered.

Spoiler

“Forty darts,” Luke said as the last one sank home. “That’s how many it takes to kill a man too stupid to dodge.”

The Iron Throne’s leader hit the ground with a crash. Luke stood over him, chest heaving. Somewhere in the city, the Grand Tournament waited—and now nothing stood in his way.

Epilogue

With Sarevok dead and his name cleared, Luke walked out of the temple lighter—not just from the weight lifted off his shoulders, but also because he was down by few hundred darts which were used in that fight. Still, nothing stood between him and the Grand Tournament now.

When the day came, the crowds packed the Elfsong Tavern and spilled into the streets. Nobles, merchants, sellswords, even a few shady figures from Luke’s past—all there to see if the halfling who toppled the Iron Throne could throw as well as the stories claimed.

He could. Oh, he could. Every throw was a bullseye, every cheer louder than the last. He played with flair—underhand, over-the-shoulder, even blindfolded for a round just to show he could. By the final match, his opponent was sweating, and Luke was sipping an ale mid-throw.

When the last dart hit dead center, the room exploded in applause. From that day on, across taverns and tourney halls from Amn to Neverwinter, people spoke the same name with a grin: Luke the Nuke—the halfling prodigy who turned darts from a pastime into a legend.

It wasn’t long before the whispers began to spread.

"You hear about that halfling dart thrower? Luke the Nuke, they’re calling him. Won the Grand Tournament so hard the dartboard had to be replaced twice."

"Aye, they say he took down Sarevok himself before the finals. Iron Throne, assassins, conspiracy—the whole lot. Did it with nothing but darts and a grin. Well, and a few potions."

"I heard in near Cloakwood he cleared a whole bandit camp in the rain—said the lightning was just him throwin’ faster."

"Word is, he’s still lookin’ for his old mentor, Gorion. Fella vanished a while back. Luke reckons now that his name’s in every tavern from here to Calimport, Gorion’ll hear it and come find him."

---

The whole run was done using darts. As far as I remember, only exception being 2 arrows of dispel on Sarevok and switching to Flail outside of Durlag's Tower for those two Battle Horrors. With good APR, THACO and unlimited amount of Darts of Stunning/Wounding and Elemental darts, almost everyone went down pretty fast. I except things to get much worse in BG2, because Luke basically reached his peak by now.

Beside two minor mistakes (where I should have used Greenstone Amulet instead of potions to counter Spook/Fear), there was never any danger of dying as far as I know.

 

[Finarfin]

In that vein, it might also be fun to modify the effect of drunkeness on Luke, like, for example, inverting the Luck bonus and capping it at 1. This would give him an incentive to enter combat drunk at every opportunity, without it being totally OP.

Changed the Luck bonus to give +1 instead of minus X and added Luke his personal item for 2nd game. Great idea, now he will be drinking at every opportunity

 

[Alesia_BH]

Very cool! That sounds fun and reasonably balanced. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Cheers!

A.

 

[Alesia_BH]

I have never though about +3 being not good enough. Is there anyone beside Kangaxx and Ravager who are hit only with +4?

There's Kangaxx and the Ravager in vanilla. With Ascension installed Melissan too.

The other issue is getting over the top of Mantles. For that purpose your Cloak of the Stars darts will suffice, though, since you don't need too many of them.

You could leave the Cloak of the Stars as is and then give the Crimson Dart a post Underdark upgrade to +4. Maybe Cromwell could combine it with Dace's hand or something like that. IIRC, Dace was the undead dart champion from 1124-1163. He was well past his prime by 1369, but there was still a bit of magic in those hands.