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Ah, my favorite annual gaming tradition. I'll make something; not sure what. Probably something weird. Maybe an avenger druid or something.
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Dec 19, 2022 21:34
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| # ¿ May 18, 2024 18:24 |
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Good lord. This was like my 8th roll. Anyway, pretty obvious what my endgame is here. Let's see if I can get through BG1 and my never-gotten-past SoD with her. 
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Jan 10, 2023 16:08
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Ginette Reno posted:Yeah I follow him and he's probably my favorite bg streamer. Definitely worth a watch for anyone who hasn't heard of him before. He posts a lot of youtube content as well with spell guides and stuff like that which can be interesting even if you're a bg vet. He is actually who inspired me to think about trying RR because he's been playing with it and it looks fun I really enjoyed his spell analysis. It's actually kind of amazing how DSimpson was THE voice in Baldur's Gate for so long because of his first-to-market stuff on Gamefaqs and how completely WRONG so much of his poo poo is. Like 15+ years of being "the expert" despite being full of poo poo.
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Jan 10, 2023 21:31
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Ginette Reno posted:Ooof. My favorite rear end in a top hat trap in the game is the one in Durlag's that keeps firing arrows at you over and over and over until you're dead. I'm actually not sure if it ever stops. Possibly you might be able to zone out and live if you trigger it but I've never tried. It stops. I've had a cavalier get through it with a potion of regeneration and durlag's goblet.
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Jan 11, 2023 18:45
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The absurdly high-point barbarian was boring as heck and wasn't going to see an interesting payoff until BG2, so I rerolled a character I've never played before: Haley, a fighter-druid. I still had a good roll. A pity about the strength, but no matter. As you can see, she's gotten to level 2. No getting eaten by wolves outside Candlekeep. I'm planning on getting the swiss valor award this time around--meaning neutrals only. And since I've got some horrible OCD where I can't split up pairings, that means if I want a full party it's gonna have to be Garrick/Branwen/Neera/Safana/Quayle (I'll probably dump Safana for Alora depending on when I reach Baldur's Gate; that rabbit's foot is no joke). This also means I'm running a 4-person party until after Cloakwood, which doesn't bode well for Alora's pre-generated HP total. Also something I'm trying this time around: usually I just try and go for an incredible AC. But getting the drop on people AND doubling crits (and successful hits this early in the game when you swing and miss constantly) is another way to have good offense. So I put 2* in Quarterstaves and 2* in Two-Handed. That gives me -4 speed factor, and staves already have a speed factor of 4. So I'm always gonna get the first word in a fight, and that's a big deal. We'll see why momentarily.  Here's the other crippling OCD thing with me that makes ironmans so tough. I have to do EVERYTHING. Clear all fog of war. Fight everything. It's real bad. That ogre can one-tap anything except a half-orc warrior with max con OR a barbarian with decent con at level 1. So I used the wand of magic missles to kill it. Thankfully got a few max rolls on the missiles and finished it with 1 charge to spare. Cleared the whole area east of Candlekeep, and then the Belt Ogre map. Wasn't planning on getting Khalid and Jaheira, but I wanted the easy XP from Joia's quest as well as turning in the belt. And to get the free antidotes b/c I planned to fight spiders in Beregost. So I bumped up to the Friendly Arm.  My plan vs. Tarnesh was simple: I'd get the first lick in. If it connected, I'd probably one-shot him or at least have a good chance of the guards finishing him without a mirror image and wounded. If it didn't, I'd just drink the oil of speed and run away, letting the guards do the work. But a speed factor 0 critical hit will explode a mage. That was that for old Tarnesh.  This made things easier for me since it meant I'd have the oil of speed in Beregost. Bopped into Taerom's to buy a +1 Quarterstaff (kind of a waste since Silke drops one, but it's not that much money and it's not a real big deal--I'd rather have the +1 to hit and damage immediately). Drank the oil of speed outside the spider house, and then rushed for a doorway where they'd have to fight me one-by-one. Screwed it up a bit and they fought me two-by-two. But still, they fell rather easily. Took 2 hits and made the poison save both times. Thanks to the oil of speed I could always have retreated had I needed to antidote. Killing the spiders got me the XP needed for level 2, where I got 11/13 HP. Not bad at all. It's always worrisome playing a warrior in BG ironman. You can leave a LOT of HP on the table at early levels. With a fighter/druid I'll be more about mitigation down the line anyway with iron skins, though. Though if my playthrough with Jaheira 20 years ago is any indication, I'm gonna be incredibly frustrated between 1.5 million XP and 3 million. But ha, that's a problem for if/when I get that far. Anyway, with the spiders dead I rushed to pick up Neera in the north section of town. Wanted to maximize the oil of speed, y'see.  The only threat here is the mage, and he got splattered with ANOTHER speed 0 hit to start the fight. It's really cool. So then I had Neera--who could also cast from scrolls and give me a chance to interrupt Silke while I tried fighting her.  Neera got the killing shot with the last charge from the wand of magic missiles, though that's because I crit her with ANOTHER fight-opening speed 0 crit. Just incredible luck. Which means now I have Garrick, who joined at level 3 and is the most senior member of the party.  With the oil of speed about to wear off, and with Haley having enough HP to shrug off a hit or two from the dwarven assassin at one of the inns, I figured I'd pick up his XP (and get a cheap suit of chainmail for Garrick to wear). He took a little longer to kill but went down without any particular danger. I'm now within striking distance of level 3 for Haley. Next stops: 1.) High Hedge to pawn off Evermemory and pick up some gear that'll make life easier--the wand of sleep, the potion case, some protection from ankhegs since rushing for the wand of fire will make Garrick a pretty nifty guy to have around once I can reliably put them down. (via Branwen's command + the wand of sleep) I guess some protection from basilisks too but that might be a bridge too far; that adventuring party on that map is scary until I've got enough wands of fire/necklaces of fireballs to just immediately remove them from play. 2.) Nashkel and the Nashkel Carnival. Here's hoping I can remember the dialogue sequence to talk the mage at the carnival down. Pick up Branwen and the necklace of missiles 3.) Go fight some Ankhegs. I guess do the Tenya quest while I'm out that way. 4.) If I can reach Ulgoth's Beard (I *think* you can only get there once you can reach the other side of the bridge to Baldur's Gate), pick up the +3 quarterstaff. 5.) Nashkel mines
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Jan 19, 2023 06:27
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Haley the Fighter/Druid's adventures are going just fine. Scroll of acid protection meant I could handle the Ankheg lair. Got Branwen and more importantly, the necklace of missiles. Now between the necklace, Garrick using the wand of fire from the Ankheg lair, and 3 potions of explosions I grabbed from High Hedge after pawning Evermemory, I can nuke basically any rude adventuring party. The group is level 4/5 right now. Will do the zombie farm and the priestess of umberlee, I guess do Durlag's, and then pick up Safana and deal with Sirines via Branwen summoning skeletons. Once I've got all that I'll head to the Nashkel mines and dump Neera for Xan because holy poo poo she makes me incredibly nervous.
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Jan 22, 2023 14:29
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Haley is still alive but not gonna lie; I'm losing interest. I think I'll play something that's not such a ridiculous powerhouse. Maybe a shaman or a shadowdancer; I've never really played with the EE content.
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Jan 25, 2023 02:52
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I rolled a Diviner. Makes sense; grew up around books in Candlekeep. Reluctant hero and all that. ...they don't get Find Familiar lmao. I got brought down to 1HP just vs. the 2 assassins in Candlekeep. But still alive!
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Jan 25, 2023 04:17
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I've got a bastard sword kensai who's doing just fine in BG1, though I pissed off Edwin and he seems to be gone forever, along with the wand of sleep. Unfortunate. Saved Arabelle. About to enter Cloakwood but I want Neera's stupid Adoy quest to trigger before I enter so I can ditch her sorry rear end. i'll post screenshots and stuff if I get past BG1. The biggest challenge for me is getting bored. I love kensais. Something fun about a class that is just completely single-minded. Incredible at the one thing that it does, but without support from mages and clerics, it doesn't get to excel in that job.
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Jan 30, 2023 22:02
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1.) congrats, cheesetriangles! 2.) I won't deal with any difficult encounters (i.e., any opposing adventuring party) until I've got at least 3 ways to drop a fireball on them to start the fight. That's typically "sell Evermemory and use the proceeds to get 3 potions of explosions, the wand of sleep, protection from acid, the necklace of missiles from the Nashkel Carnival. Then use that stuff to clear out the Ankheg Lair and get the wand of fireballs." Just not worth loving with any opposing party when Hold Person is so devastating and difficult to counter. At least "any random bard" can deal with horror, and resist fear is a low-level spell. You get held and you're toast. I can't imagine trying to fight the amazons and their hold person + darts of stunning legitimately. See a bad guy, drop a few fireballs on them. Works great on the chessboard too. Really, the only fights it doesn't work on are the party right outside Sarevok's team, and Sarevok's team.
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Jan 31, 2023 21:25
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docbeard posted:It kind of works on the party right outside of Sarevok's team too, if you go for the variant of 'send in someone with 100% fire resistance, a wand/necklace/potion of fireball, and a big ol' FIRE THOSE ARROWS OF DETONATION AT ME PLZ sign. Even in SCS they have traditionally not been smart enough not to do that. (I will probably eat my words if/when Silas gets there though) I might try that this time around. Historically, there are 4 fights I absolutely dread in BG1, and 3 of them are obvious: 1.) Sarevok and Co 2.) Duchal Palace 3.) Cultists upon returning to Ulgoth's Beard (Aec himself? Pretty easy since he's got 1 nasty trick and you can prep for it w/o too much trouble.) 4.) That damned adventuring party with their arrows of detonation. I'm not willing to backtrack through the damnable thieves' maze, so whatever they do to me I just live with when I go and fight Sarevok. I've definitely had a couple playthroughs where I came up short vs. Sarevok because I was just like "gently caress it; let's get on with it" after losing a unit or two vs. this party. ...I think #3 is actually the worst of it by far.
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Jan 31, 2023 22:24
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| # ¿ May 18, 2024 18:24 |
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Garrick is legit a good NPC. 16 dex makes him a perfectly viable crossbowman with the light crossbow of speed. Bardsong is a great answer to death-by-horror that you face early on. And if you have crippling OCD like I do, his ability to ID everything so you never have to wear/use unidentified stuff is a godsend. And then there's the whole "can use wands" thing. Dude rules.
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Feb 3, 2023 06:16
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