Time for the third part.
Being done with the Docks for now it was time to give aid to Raelis Shai. Watched their little play and accepted their request to hunt down the criminal Mekrath. Down to the Temple Sewers I went. The big fight with the Sewer party awaited, so I summoned my two Aerial Servants and cast the old HRDS (Holy Power + Righteous Magic + Draw Upon Holy Might + Seeking Sword) combo on myself, followed by an Oil of Speed. I had placed a point in the Two Weapon Style upon reaching lvl 12, and so placed my +2 Warhammer in the off-hand before casting the Seeking Sword, resulting in 5 ApR while still keeping my THAC0 at a sufficient -4/3. So then I was ready and charged right at them.
A slaughter commenced. The two Aerial Servants ganged up on one of the evil clerics and bashed him to goo while I proceeded to slice up Tarnor. We all suffered the odd hit, but after half a turn, only that pesky mage Gaius remained. Not having Dispel Magic memorized, I chose to retreat and wait for his fire shields to burn out, at which point I returned to deliver swift justice to him as well, both my Aerial Servants were still alive and they soaked up all the spell damage for me while I ate away at his Stoneskins. Took a trip down to the center to dispose of the oddly clothed man and his kobold squad while waiting, and proceeded to Mekraths lair after Gaius.
A single Seeking Sword was all that was needed to take out both Mekrath himself, and his pet mephits, he did cheesily enough manage to forcecast an ADHW, but I fortunately had enough HP and low enough saves to withstand it. Facing my first 3x Yuan-Ti Mage pack proved to be annoying enough, since the bloody fools through a gazillion memorized Stoneskins always managed to stay alive long enough to bombard everything around them with Skull Traps. Getting them killed was thus not a problem, I gave up on trying to get the credit and experience for the kills though, should've had more Dispel Magics memorized.
With Haer'Dalis rescued, I returned to the theatre and saw the troupe off. But what's this, interplanar bounty hunting?! Clearly a violation of Amnish law, I had no choice but to go after and rescue them from their illegal captivity, after a nights rest that was. Launched the HRDS combo and dived into the portal. Dealt with the bounty hunters that greeted me in a standard melee showdown fashion, did away with the cleric first and all the rest seemed to have severe problems piercing my AC, since I didn't once feel the touch of their blades. For the mage I had memorized a few Dispel Magic spells, and he fell quickly enough to the Seeking Sword once stripped of his protections. Not much interesting went on in the prison, I let a couple of Aerial Servants kill the Yuan-Ti's and soak up the Yuan-Ti mages's spell supply, after which I went in and cleaned up. Hold spells from me and my acorn nymphs took care of the thrall mage and the Master of Thralls.
Risked a bit of a nap and then got ready for the confrontation with the Warden, which didn't turn out to be much of a fight. An Aerial Servant in to soften him up a bit, one True Sight and 2x Dispel Magic later he was naked and dead meat before my HRDS-enhanced cleric. Raelis Shai and the rest were rescued!
Reflections over the progress so far
The Priest of Helm hasn't had any real trouble at all so far, though I never did expect any problems in the early-to-middle game. In HRDS mode, he's been all but unstoppable by fighter enemies, and with his abundance of True Sight and Dispel magic spells, he's been no lesser a magekiller than the Inquisitor these past levels. It used to be annoying to only be able to fight well for a short while per rest, but since lvl 11 I can cast the Seeking Sword twice per day, and now on lvl 14, each casting lasts a good while. Besides I've had one of the best offensive summons in the game, the Aerial Servant, at my disposal since lvl 11, so this guy is beginning to turn out quite nicely, I certainly can't say that he's any weaker than any other class I've soloed in the past.
Part three ends here, accounts of the Druid Grove and D'Arnise Keep will follow.
Looks fit to go to me
[ 04-20-2005, 11:30 AM: Message edited by: Rataxes ]