[Rataxes]

So I just did it, soloed Irenicus for my first time [img]smile.gif[/img] Never actually thought it would be doable. This was on Insane btw:

Not much preparation had been done prior to the Ultimate battle of SoA, two TS Traps had been placed by the entrance to the corridors leading to the Wraith of Wrath and Sword of Greed. The hero - Teonora the Female Swashbuckler - had reached an impressive lvl 37 by the time it was time to kick Irenicus ass once and for all, and she had used her final Oil of Speed as well dropping her valuables on the ground before inserting the Final Tear...

Irenicus: Say Hello to my little pack of friends
Irenicus: Yadda, Yadda, Yadda. DIE!



She quickly picked up her valuables and commenced to slaughter the 3 weak shadows Irenicus had brought to bug her. With Sanchuu and Belm it was over in no-time.



Time stopped, The brainless Wraith had apparantly tripped on the copper wire Teonora had set up, and she was not about to show him mercy. With all the speed her Boots and Oil of Speed could muster, she charged at the hapless armoured giant. One Whirlwind later, and he was so crippled that the next blow from Teonora's Scimtar knocked him out for good - 1 down, 4 to go.



The floating Sword was her next target, and she reached him just as the next TS trap went off. The Sword was seemingly immune to Teonora's blows, but not even this magical construct could resist the fierce acids that spurred from the mighty Katana with each new blow.



Slowly but steadily, they wittled it down, it was still alive and kicking when Time started again, but what's this?
Time stopped again!!? Teonora was not aware that her trap skills were so magnificant as to allow her snares to activate twice, but she did not care and continued to happily hack away at the now badly wounded sword. It cracked and fell to the ground a moment later



and Teonora decided that it would most likely be beneficial to her if she kept on fighting in the same manner, so she grabbed one of the two Time Stop scrolls she had found during her travels in Amn and followed the instructions inscribed on the piece of paper. She completed the ritual just as time was about to start again, and her foes were once again degraded to mere statues. She headed towards the eastern part of the gigantic cavern and found an enormous dragon.

Ex-cellent she mumbled in an evil tone and commenced to bury her blades deep in the flesh of the Green dragon. One Whirlwind took care of his Stoneskin, and another was enough to kill the massive creature.



Three down and two to go now. Turning south she found a Beholder greased in flames. She was not about to turn herself into crisp in her efforts to slay the best, so she drew her bow and fired off a few Arrows of Dispelling. Time was still Frozen so she used the remaining free time to set up another Time Trap in the center where she was out of sight of any foe in the area, Time had yet to start, so she slew the pets - A Wyern and a Beholder - that her two most recently slain enemies had brought with themselves.

Time started, but stopped almost instantly, the trap in the center had obviously been activated by one of the clumsy shadows that stalked her. The Great Eye Tyrant had conviniently lost her Fire shield before that happened though, and Teonora proceeded to do what she did best.



The monster did not live to see the break of time...
Now only Irenicus remained, and he was surely the toughest foe of them all. But when Teonora approached him, she noticed something peculiar. The wicked maniac of a Lich that Irenicus summoned, had, in his great eagerness to destroy the seemingly pathetic Halfling who had wrecked havoc all around him and his master, released a deadly Incendiary Cloud - without bothering to aim it.

This was a most fortunate event indeed, since neither Liches nor Mages were among Teonora's favourite targets. But now that problem had been taken care off, both the Lich and Irenicus writhed in Pain. Teonora had long been aware of how precious Fire was to the demons of the world, and proceeded to equip her two Fire Resistance Rings. With Near Immunity to the intense heat, she stormed in and began whacking the now crippled Irenicus. The dreaded "Weapon Ineffective" message appeared each time she swung at him though, Teonora searched her mind a moment and then grabbed the rusty old Katana she had once, a long time ago, found in the very first place she encountered Irenicus. She commenced to Whirlwind and slashed and ripped the flesh of the half-naked man in front of him. The pain from both the cloud and the rusty metal was too much for Irenicus, he did not have the strength to Teleport to safety and just stood there and received his punishment. The Lich, who had been trying to help his master all this time, but was constantly interrupted by the heat waves, subdued to the scorching heat and his colorful cloak fell to the ground.

Sensing that all could not yet be over, she once again hid away her equipment to keep Irenicus from messing with her gear. Irenicus the Slayer now appeared in front of her, along with three fresh shadows.



You didn't honestly believe it was all over did you?, he said and tossed her across the room. She made a run for her equipment and even though she was not able to put on her powerful dragon scales, she was once again fit for fight as the Slayer rushed towards her. She decided to pick of his annoying pets first in a mass of Hit and Runs. Twice she was too slow and received two mighty blows which actually severely wounded her, and decided it was time for a little bit of sorcery. She watched in delight as the monster tried to pierce her Protection from Magic weapons in vain, she next used her second and final Time Stop scroll and casually ripped him to pieces.

It was time for Irenicus final incarnation, as usual he had brought three pesky Shadows with him. Teonora dealt with them while waiting for Irenicus, who had cowardly teleported away. She set a Time Stop trap (2 left now) and waited for Irenicus to give himself away. Time eventually froze and she began working on his tough magic protections. A Breach (from one of the many powerful wands she had acquired in Watchers Keep) was followed by her one and only Spellstrike scroll, which was then followed by 5 Arrows of Dispelling.

None of them seemed to budge Irenicus protections. He was just as clouded by graphical gallore as before. Teonora did the only sensible thing - she ran the hell out of there and set a host of new traps in one of the many dark pits of the cavern. A powerful spike trap was the crowning achievement and Irenicus was going to be in for severe punishment when he arrived.

He didn't though, instead, a measly bloody Shadow managed to trip on every single trap, he was blown into a million pieces. Teonora didn't panick even though she had already used nearly all of her most powerful weapons and gadgets, she was simply enraged. Casting an Improved Haste scroll she had had in store for emergencies such as this, she once again switched to the rusty old Katana and charged like she had never charged before straight into Irenicus.

Amazingly enough, she did not receive the "Weapon Ineffective" message and inspired by the glorious piece of news, she used one of her last few Whirlwinds and began eating away at his stoneskins. She actually managed to deal a fierce blow past his skins before he teleported away, scared as a mouse.

Let the Hunt begin! No matter where he teleported, she was always there, hacking away mere seconds before he appeared out of thin air. Irenicus frantically tried to heal himself, but to no avail. Teonora was victorius, she finally slew his final form with a simple arrow.

Notes and thoughts:
1) The Swashbuckler is easily the most powerful character I've played so far
2) Time was almost put to a complete halt during the entire first phase, I don't know if TS traps are more powerful than Spike Traps, but they sure are more fun [img]smile.gif[/img]
3) Teonora gained a new level during the fight and thus got a new TS trap in the heat of the battle.
4) Scripted moves are very annoying when you make heavy use of TS.
5) This was my fourth attempt.
6) Really, the Incendiary Cloud that the Lich released most likely won me the first phase, doubt I could've handled both the Lich and Irenicus without it's aid.
7) No pictures, didn't ever cross my mind to do so in fact [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 01-11-2003, 09:49 AM: Message edited by: Rataxes ]