i've played around in chapter 2/3 a few times but i've only finished SoA twice - once with a swashbuckler->fighter and a full party of six and just now with a solo archer but was getting a touch jaded (it probably didn't help having 8M XP for the final SoA battle - my archer wasn't even bothering with his bow any more . . .)
what i need, i thought, is a character idea i really like (gnome cleric/thief) and a fantasy party i've daydreamed about (Jan, Korgan, Mazzy) and a new challenge - so i instaled tactics and i always play on core rules . . . .
not seeing any long term future with the dungeon NPCs i wondered about striking out on my own (ha ha ha) but thought that if they could help me out of this hole then i'd tolerate their company for a little while - it didn't take me long to realise that i'd woken up somewhere really unpleasant - the spawning dwarf patrols are now legend i realise and i finally managed to stay a spell-book ahead of them by avoiding all combat and hiding in shadows to get the door opened
i managed to kill the otyugh but got seriously depleted in the process and only survived the patrols with enough guts left by sleeping near Minsc's cell and leaving the mage down there
cleared out the traps, spoke to the dryads so far so good so its off to recover those acorns - my gnome approached in stealth only to peer round some shelves and catch the eye of a demon - i sprinted back down the corridor with the infernal beast in hot pursuit and as we burst into the room the rest of my team valiantly pitched in - every weapon we had bounced off, imoen emptied her spell book at it while the rest of us ducked and weaved but that only took it down to injured and that was it - we couldn't touch it and we all died horribly
i tried again thinking i was unlucky to have got the demon at the front of the party but when i got someone else first it was usually worst - in theory i could damage them at least but they could damage me
so much faster
in the end i ignored them and took the portal and got the hell out of there
i got above ground - recruited Korgan - recruited Jan - booted my fellow captives - scribed some scrolls - identified - sold my loot - saved - thought 'that was interesting, lets see what else i've got in store' and turned off the PC
but my obsessive little gnome has lost heart for adventuring, its like a little part of her pride and a little part of her edge and most of her sanity got left behind down there - she's sat in the den of the seven veils now, out of her mind on cheap ale telling anyone who'll listen about the horrors that exist just below their feet
me? i'm going back - but this time i'm going back with a sorcerer
maybe a fighter/mage . . .
EDIT: maybe a cleric/illusionist . . .
[ 09-15-2004, 06:41 AM: Message edited by: Armen ]