Some Screenshots From My Assassin Game

[theGrimm]

However, there is KAI backstab to keep in mind. Probably not with the amount of backstabbing you're doing, but it's always nice when zapping a mage you know is just brimming with spell protections waiting to cast on sight, and you want to guaruntee a first time kill.

"Grimm: Quintuple Backstab - 30 damage". ARGH.

Of course, a Kensai/Thief, while not _strictly_ legal, is WAAAAY tons of fun.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Kai does not add damage. [img]smile.gif[/img] It just ensures maximum damage. The levels of damage that an Assassin can deal in ToB however, will dwarf the Kensai->Thief. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[theGrimm]

Of course. Didn't mean to imply that it did. Just that 7*(Min Damage) is annoying when it happens.

How about Assasin -> Fighter, though? Duel when you get the 7x backstab?

[Dundee Slaytern]

7dmg is impossible, even if you backstab with your fists( yes, it is true. You CAN backstab with your fists( why you would want to however...)).

Unless... unless...

You backstab with your fists, and have a STR value less than 6, AND roll 1 on the damage die, then yes. You can achieve the game's Assassin's lowest possible backstab damage value( given a x7 modifier). [img]tongue.gif[/img]

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Wryness aside, if you take a look at the values above, the only damage variable is the weapon itself. Most of the damage comes from set values.

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The Assassin->Fighter only shines if you have ToB installed. You sacrifice your Rogue HLAs for raw melee power. It will of course, deal more damage than a pureclassed Assassin, due to Grandmastery.

[theGrimm]

Hehehe, I think you're misunderstanding me (or I'm not being clear).

If the weapon damage is 1d6 + 4, that's a damage variation of 1-6, or 7*(1-6) with backstab. i.e. 7-30.

Though I will agree that it's probably not much by the time you're dealing with 7 times backstab. But it makes a big difference in chapter 2.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Lessons learnt in De'Arnise Keep. Never backstab a Troll. If a Troll dies from backstabbing, it spawns an unkillable body, which later transform into a fully healthy Troll. Not so bad for regular Trolls, but a real pain when it comes to Spirit Trolls.

From time to time, back off from a near-death Troll. Sometimes you may whack them too much that they 'forget' to drop dead.

Nalia's Captain has ACID Arrows on him, but he gives you Fire Arrows instead. Stingy cur. Pickpocket him to get them.

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210dmg on a Greater Yuan-Ti, and counting.

Yes, I do realise I am cheating a bit by using a mod item. Normally I do not install Item Upgrades, but since I am experimenting with it for the first time, I might as well go all out. This will be my only run with Item Upgrades. Subsequent games will not have it installed.

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Jaheira's Harper Quest neared completion when the party arrived at De'Arnise Keep. Dermin arrived to confront her and well... the results were not pretty for Dermin.

Dermin bit the dust early, due to IKitthix. IKitthix is quite possibly one of the cheesiest summons ever. A chance to poison AND web with each hit. Saving throws? What saving throws? Given its' ApR, it is a foregone conclusion that unless the enemy has immunities, they will fall. I could have just let IKitthix win this fight all by itself, but that would not have been fun. Notice how there is already a chunked victim next to Rena. E-yup. She has been backstabbing them.

Thar he blows!. Water's Talon +4 is a very, very, broken weapon. The poison effect is simply too powerful. Jaheira is currently using it, and it completely owns Adamantium Golems, by poisoning them to death. No saves, no magic resistance, and it is applied on EVERY hit. Only sheer immunities will save you from the cumulative poison damage. I shudder to think what it would be like if I Improved Haste Jaheira.

Fun trivia. You may not hurt Stoneskinned Mages with Paralytic Bolts, but you can still stun them with it. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

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I had more problems fighting this Iron Golem( I chose not to use Water's Talon +4) than the Red Dragon from the Random Outdoor Encounters mod. I am not sure what to make of this.

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[Dundee Slaytern]

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"Are you ready Kelsey?"

"Yes Mdm."

"Remember not to cast it too early! We need to bunch them up first."

"Yes Mdm."

"Okay... here. We. GO!"

Jaheira dashed through the open door and brandished her blade againt the Umber Hulks. Taking the bait, they ran towards her.

"Now Kelsey, NOW!"

"Oh God of Death, give me your strength to-"

"What on Toril? You're a Sorcerer! Not a Mage! You don't need to chant!"

"Well yes, but it makes the casting less boring. Oh. There we go."

A greyish white cloud began to emanate from Kelsey's hands, wrapping the Umber Hulks in its' embrace before sucking the very lifeforce out of them.

"Oh woe am I. Avatar of Death. Bringer of Shortened Lifespans and Premature Passings."

"Kelsey... we've been through this before."

"Sorry, Rena. Got a bit carried away there."

Rena sighed. Kelsey had always been disturbed by his destructive powers, and there had been times when they simply told him to stand aside, so that he would not need end up killing people.

He had all the non-combat scrolls. Most of his sequencers contained debuffers, not attack spells. Imoen was more likely to kill something than Kelsey; and yet... it was usually Kelsey that helped turn the tide in the big battles. Whether he or they like it or not, Kelsey had power.

"So... Nalia."

"Yes Rena?"

"Any idea what this Torgal is like?"

"I am afraid not. I haven't got a single clue."

Rena gazed meaningfully at Jaheira and Imoen. They caught her stares and tried to avoid the look from her eyes.

"So what we have here," Rena carefully started, "is a scenerio where we are about to meet some unknown entity, probably the leader of what is going on. Oh, of course he would not know of us either, not to mention ME. Right?"

Nalia was not sure what to make of Rena's speech, and it was all she could do to nod her head as meaningfully as possible in reply. "Oh, but of course. I mean, I didn't even know you till I met you at the Copper Coronet. Why should Torgal know you any better?"

"So it only stands to reason that he would... SINGLE ME out, right?"

"Huh?"

Rena was starting to tremble with rage, her body livid with memories. Nalia felt apprehensive and was not sure how to react to this. Minsc and Kelsey were already hiding in the cells, while Imoen and Jaheira pretended to admire the empty crates around them.

"I mean, it only stands to reason, RIGHT? It happened before! Why shouldn't it happen AGAIN?!"

"Calm down, Rena! I understand you had been though a lot, but anger will get us nowhere!"

Rena took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Sorry. Sorry Nalia. I... I guess I lost my grip for a while there."

"It's okay, Rena," Nalia said as she hugged Rena comfortingly.

"Still," Rena said as she embraced Nalia back, "I am going to fight this fight as though he is going to target me."

"If you feel that's best."

Rena sighed softly as she rested her chin on Nalia's shoulder. The doors were already a problem. They had been enchanted to remain open, so locking herself up in one of the cells safely was out of the question. Just what was she going to do?

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"Here he comes!", Jaheira shouted, "Get ready, people!"

Minsc, Kelsey, Imoen and Nalia were already in formation. Each standing next to a trap laid by Rena. Rena herself however, was nowhere in sight.

"GRAGGHH!", Torgal shouted, as he burst through the doorway. "I smell you! I smell you!"

"Erm... smell who?", Nalia ventured, nocking her bow at the same time.

"I SMELL HER!"

Jaheira, Imoen and Nalia gave Torgal quizzical looks while Minsc and Kelsey whewed in relief.

"Me?"

"Or me?"

"Or me?"

"HER!", Torgal thundered, as he pointed at the dungeon cells.

"I don't believe this! What she said is turning true!"

"HUSH NALIA! Don't let her hear you!"

But it was too late. Rena heard it all. A blood-curdling scream of unbrindled rage tore out from the dungeon as Rena began to swear all the lines from the "Book of Vulgarities: A Lesson in Making Demons Blush ~ Version 4", a book they had picked up from the Pirate island. Minsc would later exclaim that Boo nearly died from a heart attack from hearing the things that came out of Rena's mouth. Kelsey's dreams of Rena as a perfect woman shattered beyond repair. Nalia's nobility internalisation made her instinctly recoil in horror. Jaheira shook her head. Imoen took notes.

With Torgal already aware of her presence, there was no more point hiding in the dungeon. Rena ran out to confront Torgal.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!"

The traps triggered, but Torgal did not fall. Grievously wounded, he still managed to strike back at Rena once, mysteriously draining her of her strength.

"WHY ME! YOU BASTARD! WHY!"

"Because you smell different!"

"HOW DIFFERENT?!"

"Just different!"

"DAMN YOU TORGAL! DAMN YOU TO HECK!"

Encumbered by her strength loss, Rena threw 120 pounds of Paralytic Bolts at Torgal as she scooted away. Jaheira and Minsc took this opportunity to strike at Torgal, and delivered his death.

Rena sank to her knees and cried. This was getting to be too much for her. Nalia hestitated at first, but eventually walked over to comfort Rena. After some time, Rena eventually composed herself. There was a burning question she had to ask though...

"Nalia?"

"Yes, Rena?"

"May I ask you something?"

"Sure, Rena. Ask anything."

"What shampoo do you use?"

Nalia blinked. "My... shampoo?"

"Yes, your shampoo."

"I... I am not too sure, since it is usually my servants that pass it to me, but I believe it was called F-Fawn's Natural Extracts, or something like that."

Rena wailed, "It can't be it! It's too stupid! Too stupid!"

Nalia was at a loss, and tried to seek help from Imoen and Jaheira, but they could only shrug their shoulders.

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Two more screenshots.

SoVengence 01
SoVengence 02

Storm of Vengence is a very good spell against Torgal's minions.

Conveniently enough, Kelsey got knocked out by a Troll( he is at the doorway), so yeah, he did not stained his hands in this battle. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

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Had to waste a lot time walking to trigger Nalia's kidnapping. Eventually got it done and over with.

Farewell, Nalia

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Cheers.

[ 06-07-2006, 11:49 AM: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ]

[SixOfSpades]

Originally posted by Dundee Slaytern: I am guessing the Silver Sword and the Ring of Gaxx, but which Cloak?

Sword dropped by a Dragon, Cloak dropped by a Lich, Ring dropped by a Demilich, Armor dropped by a Drow, and an Amulet stolen from a Drow. Improved Beholders weep. Hopefully, one day somebody will write a version of Tactics that is actually about tactics, as opposed to cheese and items.

Red Dragon: "Your lackeys will not save you!" Me: "Nope, but your AI Script sure did!"

Thoughts: After I wrote my Tactics Review, Weimer's next version of the mod said it had made Dragons immune to Wing Buffet. So how yours managed to knock itself out is a mystery to me--as well as why it never used its Dragon Breath. When I went up against it, that was always its first move: Incinerate the entire party before they can do a single thing to avoid it.

So it seems that Weimer's decisions here,
1. Keep the way that the Dragon has the party cornered in a little gully, and with the weaker characters protecting the Tanks, no less
2. Keep the way that the Dragon can damage itself and knock itself Unconscious with its own Wing Buffets
3. Make the Dragon forget how to breathe
4. Make the Dragon hell-bent on focusing all attacks on a character it has no reason to think is anything special
are all designed to make this fight as cheesy and unrealistic as possible. Way to go, Weimer. And yes, even though Random Wilderness Encounters was written by Kensai Ryu, I'm still blaming Weimer for including a component that is basically hot crap on a stick.

Originally posted by thetruth: c) Insect Plague/Creeping Doom should pass through the Cloak of Cheese and the Zone of Sweet Air can't remove it.The problem is that if you want to target the Priestess you will become visible, triggering her script.Using summons as targets would do the same. BUT (more cheese): if you drop an item near the Priestess it will not break your invisibility.Then you can target the item with the Insect Plague and the insects will attack the Priestess too.

I like targeting the Insect spells on party members: Since your Tank is going to be in the middle of things anyway, he's the natural center for any area-of-effect spells, and you can always target him. Fly, my insects, FLY!!
(Extra cheese: I once pissed off the Temple Sewers gang and fled the scene before they could mount an assault. With a wicked grin, I planned my attack. I put the Boots of Speed and Cloak of Non-Detection on Valygar, then had Jaheira cast Insect Plague at him--and then he went Stealth and ran away while the cloud of bugs was moving toward him. He completed a circuit of the sewers, turning visible again as he got back to the party--so Jaheira could cast a second Insect Plague on him, before the first one had even hit. He then went Stealth again, and led both batches of bugs up to the Sewers Gang. They hit him and sprayed off onto their targets, while Valygar stood back and watched the fun. And then, of course, the rest of the party charged. Ahhh, good times. )

Originally posted by Dundee Slaytern: Normally I do not install Item Upgrades, but since I am experimenting with it for the first time, I might as well go all out. This will be my only run with Item Upgrades. Subsequent games will not have it installed.

I'm fine with Item Upgrades, largely because if I don't agree with an item, all I have to do is not make it. Sure, Improved Kitthix is a ToB-level summon, available in Chapter 2 and for a fraction of what it should cost, AND you can get 2 of them. . . but that doesn't mean that other items, like the Girdle of Glory or the Buckler of Amaunator, aren't well worth using.

By the way--nice job with the shampoo bit. And see what I mean about Weimer's willy-nilly damage ratings? "This Dagger does as much damage as a 2-Handed Sword, because. . . because it does, that's why!"

[ 06-07-2006, 02:29 PM: Message edited by: SixOfSpades ]

[ZFR]

Small question about backstabbing... is it 7 different rolls or one roll multiplied by 7?

[Assassin]

Multiplied by 7. You can tell by backstabbing multiple times and seeing the results.