Some Screenshots From My Assassin Game

[thetruth]

Uninterruptable Chain Gating is not fun/enjoyable, period. Maybe if the player was masochistic, then yeah, go ahead, install the mod.

I agree with this.Pit Fiends become too overpowered with Tactics.
A tactic I use when I face them with a low level party is the following:

I give to one of my NPCs the Sensate amulet or the Staff of the Magi (though difficult to have it so early) for the permanent Prot.f.evil.I buff him with Resist Fear and Protetion from fire (better from items or cast SI: Abjuration).Also I cast haste on him (or boots of speed).
Then I buff the rest of my party with P.f. Evil, Resist Fear,(Improved) Haste and equip them with +3 or better weapons.
Now after I kill the lich (Azuredge the easiest way in early game) I have my NPC requipping the Sensate amulet to lure the Pit Fiend and I make sure to keep him away from the rest of the party (fireballs,remove magic can be deadly).Then I attack with everyone else.

This tactic requires a lot micromanagement but I find it very effective in early game.Some spells like Skull Traps,Holy Smites or even Harm can help too if they get through the Pit Fiend's MR (50%).
Also the first Pit Fiend doesn't get unsummoned but the others,gated in from the first one, get unsummoned after 33 rounds.And if you have an effective tactic to fight them you can exploit their Gate for some (not easy) EXP. 12500/Pit Fiend.

So far I have not heard good things about the 'Improved Fire Giants'

This is the most unbalanced/overpowered component of Tactics IMHO and things become worse if you have the Improved Battles mod installed (F.Giants get improved by both mods).I could write down a list with their new abilities,but it wouldn't be very pleasant

[Dundee Slaytern]

Finally completed the Cult of the Unseeing Eye quest with Keldorn, and completed Keldorn's NPC quest as well.

As expected, the Beholders were easily taken care of by Jaheira, who was equipped with the Shield of Balduran and the amulet that granted Poison Immunity. This is one area that you do not want to let the AI Scripts handle.

Now I just need to wonder on how to handle the Hive Mother's Imprisonment in Chapter04... Darn these Anti-Magic Rays.

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I decided to crop the screenshot instead of resizing it, so that the image clarity is better.

Goodbye, Keldorn


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Final Aran Linvail Quest Spoilers Ahead. Ctrl+A to read on,

564006"> With the Amulet of Power, the Improved Ankheg Plate Mail, two Rings of Preservation +2, blah-blah, yada-yada, etc... Jaheira was basically mowing through the Vampires in Bodhi's hideout. The rest of the party basically just gave fire support. To make matters even more amusing... the mod component, 'Smarter Vampires', lent itself to a flaw... When a PC( any character in your party) is sighted, and said PC has no form of protection to Charm, the Vampire becomes Hell-bent on trying to cast Domination on that PC. Even if it is being blocked by summons and being clobbered to death by Jaheira. So erm... yeah. [img]tongue.gif[/img] I was not really in the mood to play fair with Improved Bodhi, so I basically took advantage of her AI Script. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Bodhi, for reasons unknown to me, will always Dimension Door to your Protagonist. This. Is. Very. VERY. Abusable. So right. After I staked the third vampire, Lassal, using a hasted Jaheira, I quickly scooted out of the chamber as Bodhi begins her speech. This meant that Bodhi and her cohort of Grim Warders were left to chill while my party got ready in the blood chamber above( since everybody was out of her sight). Between my Assassin and Yoshimo, we laid down the maximum number of traps possible( seven is the limit per area-map). Once done, I positioned my Assassin next to the traps. [img]graemlins/littleangel.gif[/img] Jaheira, still hasted, went down the passageway linking the two chambers and said hi to Bodhi, before quickly scooting back up. Now that Bodhi's combat script had been activated, and she could not see any of the party members, she did exactly as I predicted. She Dimension Doored next to my Protagonist, who was standing next to seven traps. [img]graemlins/evillaughter2.gif[/img] I can just about imagine my Assassin flicking her fingers, [img]graemlins/finger.gif[/img] , at Bodhi and telling her to shove her cheese up where the sun don't shine. [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img] Heh... so anyway, onward to Chapter 04. ^_^

[Babyseal]

Just curious Dundee: Why is Joshimo still in your group? You already have a full time rouge with Rena. What equipment is Rena using atm? A screenschot from her stats and gear would be nice.

Kind regards.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Originally posted by Babyseal: Just curious Dundee: Why is Joshimo still in your group? You already have a full time rouge with Rena. What equipment is Rena using atm? A screenschot from her stats and gear would be nice. Kind regards.

For the sake of the story. It has been a loooong time since I have played with a party properly. Most of my previous runthroughs have been solo, and I do miss the party banter so. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Rena Ryuuguu is currently level 17. I realise that this is... an inappropriate level to get Imoen at, since Imoen will be, at most, level 14; but for the sake of ease of mind, I had no choice.

This is Rena Ryuuguu's current inventory, and this is her current character screen.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Chapter 04 Spoilers ahoy.

If you do not wish to be spoiled, do not read on.

Right. So I have arrived on the Pirate Island. The Vampire ambush was swatted aside with the usage of Daystar's Sunray ability. With them out of the way... there was nothing left to oppose me on the island really.

Jaheira revealed that she had a heart of stone baloney, when Rena agreed to help Ginia. Really, Jaheira. Where is your compassion? [img]tongue.gif[/img]


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I had placed a trap at his spawning spot before talking to Sanik.


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Visiting Perth the Adept brought about a strange bug. I know Perth is... a little touched in the head, but seriously...


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Using the Book of Infinite Spells brought about another bug. To put it one way... it became the Infinite Books of Infinite Spells. [img]tongue.gif[/img] It started innocently enough. I turned the page and got an extra book. "Cool", I thought at first, as I turned some more pages( I wanted to get Spell Turning).

2 became 3. 3 became 4. Sometimes the book disappeared after turning a page. Sometimes I got an extra two instead.

It just started getting... out of hand. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

The final tally... True Sight x2, Farsight x1, Wyvern Call x2, Spell Turning x3, and Burning Hands x10. [img]tongue.gif[/img] I threw away the Burning Hands ones of course. Not sure whether I should keep ALL of the rest. They are all useful spells.

This is not the first time I got a duplicate item however. I got two Saving Grace +3 because the avatar spawned twice. That was useless however, since Jaheira is the only one in the entire party that uses shields.

The reward for the Pai'Na quest from the UB mod was not coded properly either, and because of that, I got two Black Spider Figurines, which became two Improved Kitthix Figurines.

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This was just with the Pixie Prick.


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[timothy trotter]

116 dmg, nice one dundee!

[Babyseal]

Nice story so far. Cant wait for the first encounter with Johnny boy and many nice shots from the underdark...

Kind regards.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Oh Rena! How could you backstab me?
Oh Rena! How did this come to be?

You smiled so sweetly as you walked behind,
And plunged your dagger into my spine!
You laughed as I collasped to the floor,
I was not the first and there'll be more!

Oh Rena! How could you backstab me?
Oh Rena! How did this come to be?

What have the Shadows ever done to you?
That you would attack them out of the blue?
Papa Wraith tried his best to stay Undead,
But you went behind and GIBBED HIS HEAD!

Oh Rena! How could you backstab me?
Oh Rena! How did this come to be?

The Demons curse and spit on your name,
Cowardly backstabbings are just so lame.
You distract Pit Fiends with your friends,
Before backstabbing them by your hands!

Oh Rena! How could you backstab me?
Oh Rena! How did this come to be?

Liches keep to themselves and bother no one,
But you still go and kill them just for fun.
You strip them of all their protection spells,
And give them backaches straight from the Nine Hells!

Oh... Rena. When will your killing spree end?
Your motives are really hard to comprehend!

[Babyseal]

...and even good ol´Johnny boy,
will feel cold steel. Oh greatest joy!

Oh Rena! How...

[Dundee Slaytern]

Major Chapter 04 Spoilers ahead. You have been warned.

Mmm... good progress. From the Vampire ambush till all the way to getting the Horn for Saemon, my party did not need to rest once. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Man... I usually sleep 4-5 times in Spellhold. Guess I picked up some good habits from my BG1 experience. It was refreshing not to overly rely on spell bombardments to win my battles.

The Wand of Monster Summoning was crucial in many of my battles, since they provided a ready-made source of fodder to absorb the enemies' spells. Especially for the Liches... sending in a Dire Wolf one by one to the Lich was a surefire way of depleting its' Time Stops and terrible Spell Triggers/Sequencers. Not to mention its' Wail of the Banshee.

The Greater Mummies were a particular pain, due to their Wails of Banshee and Fingers of Death, in addition to the fact that you need +3 enchanted weapons to hit them. Once again, summon fodder to the rescue.

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Kelsey maintains his ill-timing, and this time, I got an option to really tell him how I felt about his small-talk during battles. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Translation: Shut up and fight, Kelsey.


It was during this fight that I pondered why Kelsey and Imoen were not Breaching the Yuan-Ti Mages. Did I... not code my AI Script properly? As it turns out, the problem was not my coding, but... something fundamentally wrong with the Yuan-Ti Mages...

For reasons unknown to me, their Class-type is not MAGE, but... get this, LONG_SWORD. What the fish? Class LONG_SWORD?

... ...

Sigh... after some modifications, Kelsey and Imoen will now Breach Yuan-Ti Mages when necessary.

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The showdown with Irenicus went smoothly enough. I decided not to meddle and just let the AI Scripts do their thing. That does not mean I was twiddling my thumbs watching the show though. I was also taking down notes to further tweak the AI Script for better performance, and taking some screenshots of course.

In this screenshot, I began to wonder whether the Symbol:~ spells were... party friendly. Since no one friendly, and I do mean no one friendly, was affected by Wanev's Symbol:Fear and Symbol:Stun. Hmm... interesting.

Level 08 Wizard Slots are strongly dominated by Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wiltings, Spell Triggers, Pierce Shield, and Simulacrum. Symbol:~ barely registers as a contender. Hmm... I will probably experiment with Symbol:~ in the future when Imoen gets her Level 08 Spell Slots. Kelsey is a Sorcerer, so I have little leeway in experimenting with him.

Level 07 Priest Slots are waaaay too overcrowded with good stuff like Fire Storm, ToB HLAs, Fingers of Death, etc... for me to even consider sparing a slot for Symbol:~.

In this screenshot, we get to see everybody's favourite AoE spell, ADHW. Imoen is holding well on her own. Irenicus could barely cast anything, what with everybody beating on him at once. His protections were stripped bare from multiple Breaches and Secret Words.

He did manage to cast ONE spell though, due to the scripted interference of the dialogue. With the action paused, Jon Irenicus finally gets to cast the spell he was trying to cast the past one turn.

True Sight. [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

All that was left was to collect Yoshimo's heart. I tried to backstab him, but he stealthed too quickly, and too often. In the end, it was a Hobgoblin that got him. [img]tongue.gif[/img]



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So now I am in the City of Caverns... encountering the Improved Sahuagin for the first time. [img]smile.gif[/img] Hopefully it will not prove to be a pain/chore.

Cheers.