Whew! SoA Solo No Reloads Rambling.

[Raistlin Majere]

Originally posted by Xen: quote: Originally posted by Raistlin Majere: quote: Originally posted by Alson: but then came Rataxes, my saviour, with his Imp Ilyich walkthrough. Worked like a charm.

and where is this walkthrough located? ironworks? [/QUOTE]Yes...do a search button [/QUOTE]i did...but with little success. i guess ill try again...

[Rataxes]

Don't bother searching, it's not very obvious in which thread the walkthrough lies. This is it though:

http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/cg...c;f=2;t=020848

A few posts down, it is very detailed and long-winded though

[Link]

Now what exactly is your definition then of a non-reload game then, Alson? I don't think I should take that too serious (as you've mentioned the 'Illyich killed me 5 times'), but I'm wondering what the defintion is.

Furthermore; if you ever plan to play Baldur's Gate non-reload solo and plan to get insane stats at the beginning of SoA: try a Cleric. With all the things you can get in Baldur's Gate 1 (IIRC) you can attain some incredible stats at the end of ToB Too good to be true

[Xen]

Originally posted by Link: Now what exactly is your definition then of a non-reload game then, Alson? I don't think I should take that too serious (as you've mentioned the 'Illyich killed me 5 times'), but I'm wondering what the defintion is. Furthermore; if you ever plan to play Baldur's Gate non-reload solo and plan to get insane stats at the beginning of SoA: try a Cleric. With all the things you can get in Baldur's Gate 1 (IIRC) you can attain some incredible stats at the end of ToB Too good to be true

AFAIK he did define this in ToB forum. He just started a game from the beggining. With a new character i suppose

[Rataxes]

Originally posted by Alson: There's an old saying: "Best way to block a punch - not be there".

Sounds familiar, sensible though [img]smile.gif[/img]

I'm trying to come up with ideas as for how to counter dispellers. The Sorcerer and the Fighter/Mages are protected by Spell Immunity. The Ranger/Cleric gets the Boots. PC Fighter/Thief... I guess I'll just have to take the punch in normal battles (in which buffs aren't crucial), and save every possible Spell Immunity scroll for the Big Guns - Improved Irenicus, Eclipse, Improved Abazgial & Ascension. Korgan can hang at the back with K'log if any there's a danger of dispelling.

So 4 out of 6, well good enough. Just move away with the character that got targetted by the dispel magic, then it'll only affect that one character, and the odds are with you that this character will be immune anyway.

Tip of the day: Spell Immunity: Alternation will nullify that annoying Teleport Field o' Doom effect.

Yep, though ironic that the one character that needs to get close to the Lich to be useful, is the one who cannot get SI. Does SI also protect you from being recalled?

Hate that thing. BioWare should've come up with something more creative than Arkanis & his other MINHP1 friends.

[/qb]I actually never met Arkanis, not even when I attacked Aran after he had turned hostile, but I couldn't talk to Aran all the same, so there was no way to get to Brynnlaw after that.

Do you restart after bugs!? If I would've restarted after every bug or crash, I would've despair long ago.

Depends really, I would've benefited a lot from reloading after that incident. I got a lot of useful information that I really shouldn't be entitled to have. It was the same deal with the first time I met Firkraag, I did actually restart after that one, despite what I said. I gained so much useful information from that failed attempt (he became untargetable after using the MR spell on him), that I got a big advantage in the next attempt, an advantage I shouldn't have had according to these self-imposed rules [img]smile.gif[/img] So it felt a bit like I cheated by reloading instead of restarting after those bugs, since they gave me such a big advantage. Most bugs and crashes don't give those kind of advantages though, so I do of course mostly reload if I'm struck by a bug or crash.

I'm thinking of replacing Korgan with a Totemic Druid, to ease the earlier stages a bit. What do you think? Any criticism about the weapon selection?

You're thinking of the spirit animals? Aren't the really tough moments in the earlier stages the ones where your enemies will be equipped with highly enchanted weapons anyway? Granted, I'm not very experienced with totemic druids, but I don't think they'll help much vs anything that you can't easily take down yourself. A few things about the weapons, your Ranger/Cleric will definitely not need Belm once he's got Fulcrum. With the GM it grants you'll already have 9/2 ApR at lvl 13+, which you could raise to 5 with the gloves, no Belm needed [img]smile.gif[/img] Also, I noticed two of your guys are going to wield Ages. But you'll get Sola before Foebane (or will you?), so someone's going to be left out in the cold for a while there [img]smile.gif[/img] Also, I think the reason you're going with a throwing axe is to have a shield as well, but the Throwing spears you have access to are just that much powerful, their superiority will outbalance the advantage a shield gives you I think. Just think... Bloodbane [img]smile.gif[/img]

Not as it may seem. Till Chapters 4-5, this will be a 4 men party (ever seen Jaheira without armor? )... so the advancement won't be that bad - both Sola & Imoen adjust thier level to the party's quite well. I'm intending to do the errand-quests, and some of the "mildly dangerous" ones, and head off to Spellhold.

Ah, well that helps a bit I suppose. But you're still going to gain most of your total XP after you've picked up Imoen and Sola. I was mostly speaking of the beginning though, so that might not be very relevant.

[Borg]

Alson, Jaheira as a Ranger/Cleric and Imoen as a Figher/Mage?? Are you creating your own characters and naming them the same, changing their stats using ShadowKeeper (never thought of that before, but sounds intriguing), or just indicating how you will use them?

If you are planning on changing their stats, does it affect anything else in the game that you know of? This opens up a whole new realm...

[Alson]

Originally posted by Rataxes: So 4 out of 6, well good enough. Just move away with the character that got targetted by the dispel magic, then it'll only affect that one character, and the odds are with you that this character will be immune anyway.

Noted.

Does SI also protect you from being recalled?

Yep - it confers immunity to the entire spell. Hypothesis: Weimer was too lazy to create a new spell, so he used a variant of Teleport Field. All in good spirit, Westley, of course. [img]smile.gif[/img] By the way - the "canon" game does that a lot, too.

I actually never met Arkanis, not even when I attacked Aran after he had turned hostile, but I couldn't talk to Aran all the same, so there was no way to get to Brynnlaw after that.

I met Arkanis on my very first game. Oh, the horror. Imagine.

You're thinking of the spirit animals? Aren't the really tough moments in the earlier stages the ones where your enemies will be equipped with highly enchanted weapons anyway? Granted, I'm not very experienced with totemic druids, but I don't think they'll help much vs anything that you can't easily take down yourself.

Spirit Animals are quite tough: Base AC 2 to AC -1, 45 to 96 HP, Base THAC0 8-10, STR 16-19, DEX 14-20, 2 to 3 attacks, immune to panic, poison, sleep, petrification, confusion, charm, hold, stun, slaying (which makes the excellent spell soakers), and they use special attacks (poison, level drain, etc). Having a Totemic Druid instead of Korgan means more Death Wards, more Chaotic Commands, more Insect Plague, more Nature's Beauty, more Creeping Doom, etc, etc... oh, and Elemental Princes are lovely. On the other hand, I'm losing one ranged-attacker/potnetial tank. 4 frontliners is still quite a beefy team, though. What do you think?

A few things about the weapons, your Ranger/Cleric will definitely not need Belm once he's got Fulcrum. With the GM it grants you'll already have 9/2 ApR at lvl 13+, which you could raise to 5 with the gloves, no Belm needed [img]smile.gif[/img]

Crom it is, then?

Also, I noticed two of your guys are going to wield Ages. But you'll get Sola before Foebane (or will you?), so someone's going to be left out in the cold for a while there [img]smile.gif[/img]

I can use the Blade of Searing, I guess. Or Jhor. Not over-the-top powerful weapons, but not too shabby, either. Oh! I can use Sanchuudoku! Imoen can settle for Fury and Kundane for time being. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Also, I think the reason you're going with a throwing axe is to have a shield as well, but the Throwing spears you have access to are just that much powerful, their superiority will outbalance the advantage a shield gives you I think. Just think... Bloodbane

Heh. Actually, I'm going with Throwing Axes because Throwing Spears are too much, even for me. Really - Bloodbane is absurd. And K'log is really underrated - it's a Fury-like ranged weapon. Heck, it's a ranged weapon with STR bonus, which is already damn decent. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 06-19-2003, 03:07 PM: Message edited by: Alson ]

[Alson]

Originally posted by Link: Now what exactly is your definition then of a non-reload game then, Alson? I don't think I should take that too serious (as you've mentioned the 'Illyich killed me 5 times'), but I'm wondering what the defintion is.

Copying straight from the ToB board:

A no-reload game is just as it sounds - a game in which you don't reload. If you die - you restart. Yep, straight out of Chateau Irenicus. If your tactic fails - there's no "redoing" it. You'll have to deal with the consequences.

Accidently killed a peasent in the Docks? No more entering the docks for you, minster!

Messed up the Windspear Hills quest somehow? You can forget about Carsomyr.

etcetera, etcetera...

It's quite nice - and it's not even as difficult as it may sound (although it can get frustrating at times). If you feel the game is too easy for you - go ahead. See for yourself if you're worthy for the BG2 Holy Grail! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Alson]

Originally posted by Borg: Alson, Jaheira as a Ranger/Cleric and Imoen as a Figher/Mage?? Are you creating your own characters and naming them the same, changing their stats using ShadowKeeper (never thought of that before, but sounds intriguing), or just indicating how you will use them?

The second. It's quite simple, actually:
Have character X join the party (say he's joining with 160,000 XP). Open ShadowKeeper, change X's class to Y, set X's level to 0 (this is important), his HP to 1 and remove all X's proficiencies but the set amount he should have (6 for fighters, 4 for non fighters, or something along these lines). Save. Open BG2.

Once you load the game, you'll instantly see a "level up" message - as your level is 0, but with 160,000 XP, it should be higher! [img]smile.gif[/img] Don't worry about the rest - you'll pass through all the "level ups" from 0 to where you should be now in an instant, and all saves and proficiencies will be recalculated by the game engine.

If you are planning on changing their stats, does it affect anything else in the game that you know of? This opens up a whole new realm...

It really is. It allows you to play with any possible party composition, without giving up party interactions. Note that I especially picked a banter-heavy party: All the NPCs are talkative, Sola & Imoen have lovely dialogues, I get to see the Jaheira Flirt Pack, Kelsey romances Imoen, Sola & Jaheira are fighting over the PC, etc, etc... In short - big fun!

[Indemaijinj]

Hey, I actually know something useful here:

You should be a bit cautious about that Totemic Druid thing: There is one thing that might prompt many reloads early on if you are not careful.

What you should be wary about is using both dryads and spirit animals. I have several times experienced that a dryad have dominated an enemy the spirit animal was fighting. If that charmed enemy manages to land a hit on the spirit animal before you manage to command it to cease attacking you might have a hostile spirit animal to deal with. And that is not an easy task for a low-level party.