My first solo attempt

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Inspired partially by the "Who killed whom" thread, I have finally begun my first attempt at a solo trip through Chateau Irenicus. If that goes well, I may or may not continue with the solo adventure afterwards.

I say it was inspired by the "Who killed whom" thread, because my goal is to defeat Improved Ilyich 20 with a solo character.

I actually created TWO separate characters to try out. The first is a Skald (Bard kit). I chose the Skald because they get +1 to hit and damage with ALL weapons, so that gives me a combat bonus. I chose a Bard (in general) because they get decent fighting skills, a good amount of magic spells, and the ability to Identify darn near anything they pick up without using a spell or scroll. So this means my Skald should be able to Identify (and potentially use) ANY item or weapon he comes across immediately after picking it up rather than waiting until after his next rest to cast a spell for Identifying it.

So far, things have gone fair. The ever popular Duergar Duo proved especially difficult to defeat the first time I encountered them, so I reloaded from the start and chose a different series of spells to memorize. That helped tremendously. Once again, I'm relying heavily on Dire Charm.

My best accomplishment so far was defeating THREE Duergar Proletariats at one time. After leaving the Sewer Golem's room, I went in search of Reliev. Along the way, I heard some noise in a side corridor ahead of me. I paused long enough to cast Draw Upon Holy Might followed by Mirror Image, then peered around the corner into the adjoining corridor. I saw two dwarven fighters advancing quickly with hammers and immediately cast Dire Charm in thier direction. Fortunately, the spell affected the second dwarf. I retreated back down the hallway to avoid the spellcasters I knew were still lying in wait for me, then I turned on the first dwarf who was still following me intently. I attacked him from the front while his former colleague attacked him from behind. Suddenly, I noticed a THIRD dwarven fighter attacking my new comrade from behind. We managed to kill the first dwarf, then turned on the other that had shown up. The Charmed dwarf obviously didn't appreciate being attacked from behind, as he kept hammering on his former friend even after my Dire Charm spell expired. Alas, his injuries were too greivous and his friend killed him, but not before he had been taken to Near Death himself by our combined attacks. He landed a couple of solid blows with his hammer before I finally managed to put him out of my misery. Now I was left with the prospect of facing the 3 spellcasters that would most likely have accompanied the fighters.

I snuck back to the corner of the adjoining corridor, but did NOT move far enough to see (or be SEEN) around the corner. I then cast my Stinking Cloud into the corridor where I expected the spellcasters to be waiting. I was partially correct - I did find ONE spellcaster there. The Stinking Cloud prevented him from casting any spells himself (except for one Acid Arrow) and I used my Magic Missiles and arrows to finish him off. I never did see his two cohorts, although I assume they were waiting for me just a bit further down the corridor, or perhaps down another side passage. But since I was completely out of spells, I decided NOT to go looking for them (at least not yet ).

************

My second solo character is a female elf fighter/mage. She has better physical stats than the Bard and should be MUCH better in combat. The one big disadvantage to the Bard class is that their physical combat skills are comparable to those of a thief, but without the benefit of a Backstab attack. When I fought the very first imp (in the Lightning Room), I was beginning to wonder if I would EVER hit him at all. I must have missed with 10 or more consecutive attacks. The elven fighter mage won't have THAT problem. I gave her "**" proficiency with the long sword and long bow, which should be cumulative with the natural +1 she receives for these weapons due to her elven heritage. She also got to choose more spells per level, although she actually memorizes one 2nd-level spell LESS than the bard. Fortunately, this is compensated by one MORE 3rd-level spell. Still, I was surprised the Bard actually got more spells than a mage on ANY level.

All in all, I expect the female figter mage should handle the encounters much more easily than the Bard. Of course, she won't have his ability to Identify all the nifty items she finds - so this could present a problem if she finds an item she wants to use right away. Unlike the Bard, she will have to wait until she rests again and memorizes the Identify spell before she can learn what the item does.

[Lord]

There are so many ways to abuse the poor AI in this game, and that part about the duergars fighting each other is a perfect example. Improved Ilyich 20 is the old version that has like, 3,000,000 xp? Or is it the one that's been toned down?

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Lord: There are so many ways to abuse the poor AI in this game, and that part about the duergars fighting each other is a perfect example. Improved Ilyich 20 is the old version that has like, 3,000,000 xp? Or is it the one that's been toned down?

I don't know if it's a toned down version or not. All I know is that it is supposedly the most current version. I just downloaded it a little over a week ago.

Using Dire Charm is not an abuse of the AI. I didn't know the "Charmed" dwarf would continue fighting his buddy after the spell wore off. I was hoping his friend would kill him while the spell was still in effect, but not until he had been beaten down to "Badly Injured" or "Near Death" himself. I fully expected to face both of the dwarves if they were still alive when my spell wore off.

I used Dire Charm against Illyich 20 and his crew shortly after downloading the new version of the Mods. As soon as the spell wore of those guys, the immediately began attacking my party again - just as they should have.

As for the recurring Duergar Duo, I look at it two ways. Yeah, the AI is pretty simplified. When I took a party against them, I just had the Proletariates target run around in circles while the rest of the group pounded him with arrows, hammers, swords, and clubs. Yet he never stopped chasing the one character he originally focused on. THAT is abusing the AI. However, it is also a bit unreasonable for so MANY of the Duergar Duo's to constantly "pop up" throughout the dungeon...especially appearing in the same room with you immediately after resting. So the cheese is cut both ways.

It's a bit unreasonable for these guys to constanly "spontaneously spawn" in front of your character or party, but that is offset by the fact that they are pretty easy to beat once you discover the flaws in the AI system.

I would be JUST as happy if the a pre-set number of Duergar were placed throughout the Chateau at pre-determined locations. Then your party or character runs into them when you enter that area. OR some of them could form roving patrols and find you instead of you finding them. Nothing wrong with that, but don't spawn two more replacements if they get beaten.

It's kinda like the recurring party that attacks you throughout BGII if your party goes outside after dark. Sure, I can see another party attacking you or your group in every now and again...but every single time you go outside after dark??? [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img] That's not really logical or consistent with the PnP game that BGII was patterned after. Even the most sadistic DM's wouldn't normally attack your party every single time they stepped outside.

Again, I'm not complaining about the difficulty of the encounters. They AI does have some flaws and the enemy is easy to beat once you figure out what those flaws are and how to exploit them. But I think that offsets the sheer number of times your party is attacked by supposedly "random" Duergar or enemy parties.

[Leslie]

Your "charming" technique just inspired me to try very "emotional" approach to Ilyich party. I will take Emotion as my first level 4 spell and see how the Ilyich gang responds to that.

BTW: I'm playing a sorcerer. He gets his first level 4 spell as soon as Imoen detraps and opens the painting. Hopefully I didn't spoil too much.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Leslie: Your "charming" technique just inspired me to try very "emotional" approach to Ilyich party. I will take Emotion as my first level 4 spell and see how the Ilyich gang responds to that. BTW: I'm playing a sorcerer. He gets his first level 4 spell as soon as Imoen detraps and opens the painting. Hopefully I didn't spoil too much.

Sounds like a good tactic to me - especially against the recurring Duergar Duo. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img] Let us know how it works.

[Leslie]

Heh, I play on Insane so it's Duergar "Quadruplo". I'll try emotion on them just for test but I prefer not to spend too many spells on them. I split and defeat them

[9_1_6]

Wow! You are insane to play on Insane!

Make sure to post how you go with that.

[Leslie]

OK. I'll start a new thread and post my progress.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Leslie: OK. I'll start a new thread and post my progress.

Just read it, Leslie. Good Job {so far} [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img] Entertaining reading and some great ideas for tactics.

As for my solo attempt, it is staggering and stumbling ahead. I had hoped to defeat Ilyich and his entire crew on my own, but I finally had to use the acorns to summon some help against the Galbrezu. I tried several times to beat him on my own, but ended up dying each time. {sigh}

After defeating him (back in the Sewer Room), I had the nymphs follow me into the library and we cleared out the duergar that were waiting for us there. Their spells came in handy since I had used most of mine against the Glabrezu. They disappeared before the battle was over, but they gave me the edge I needed to finish the fight without losing too much health. I still had a couple of spells left, (skull trap and one MM), so I used that to defeat the cambion demon, then I took a quick rest and headed into the Plane of Air to find this genie I had heard about. I defeated the mephits without too much trouble. Just used straight hack-n-slash until I got to the big platform, then sent a couple of skull traps ahead of me to help soften up the mephits there. Took a fair amount of damage from a couple of them before killing them all, but a Potion of Extra Healing took care of that.

Then I talked to the genie, learned he had something that belonged to me, and headed back to find it. I killed the duergar that had been spawned after my previous rest and headed for the dryads. Got the genie's lamp, returned it, and got a big sword for my efforts. I then returned to the area with the dryads and took another rest. I knew there were several duergar guarding the portal in the room next to Irenicus bedroom and I wanted to be at full strength when I fought them. I had cast my last Skull Trap before resting, and memorized two more during my rest.

When the Duergar Duo showed up after my rest, I just ran back to Irenicus' room. The fighter followed me but the mage stayed behind. I summoned the nymphs and moose again and we made very short work of the fighter. I then cast my two Skull Traps into the room to catch the duergar fighters in there as they came out. That didn't work as well as expected, since they came by them so quickly that only one went off. There were two fighters, so I used MM on each of them. That damage (combined with the one Skull that went off), weakened them quite a bit. In the meantime, the dryads managed to successfully cast Mental Domination on BOTH of them, so I sent them BACK into the room to fight their former colleagues. Unfortunately, they set off the other two Skull Traps on their way in, which finally killed them. But it also did a LOT of damage to a THIRD fighter that hadn't come out yet, so the moose was able to kill him with just two hits as he chased me around.

Now that the fighter-types were dead, it was time to deal with the mages in the room. I hadn't actually seen them yet, but figured there must be at least two spellcasters since there had been 3 fighters. I cast a Stinking Cloud ahead of me in hopes of knocking them out. I moved forward far enough to see the first one (who was knocked out by the SC). I used a Melf's Acid Arrow on him (in case he recovered from the Cloud), and then finished him off with regular arrows. Much to my surprise, he was the ONLY spellcaster in the room. I searched the barrels there and found a Scroll with Fireball on it (been looking for THAT one for awhile). The nymphs and moose disappeared again at the end of the summons spell, but I still had a couple of spells left over (one Mirror Image and one more Acid Arrow). I healed what little damage I had taken and then cast Draw Upon Holy Might to buff up my physical stats, then went after the Duergar mage I had left in the dryad area. I cast my Mirror Image then hit him with my last Acid Arrow. Then I just rushed forward and started pounding on him with my +3 Club.

So now I am trying to decide if I want to go back through Level One and clear out the other Duergar that I left behind, or just go on to Level Two and try to get out.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Chateau Irenicus - Part 2

After killing the duergar guarding the portal, I thought long and hard about going on to the next level - but I just didn't like the idea of leaving so many of the dwarven devils behind me, so I went back to "clean up" the ones I had avoided earlier. A few more encounters was all it took to convince me that I would be at the task forever. I could defeat them, but I used up all of my spells in each battle - so I would have to rest to regain them. Then even more of these dark dwarves would show up and the whole sequence would start over again. I also had collected far more robes off the dwarven wizards than I could ever hope to carry out on my own - so I decided it was time to move onward and upward.

I went through the portal - a very disorienting experience to say the least - and found myself facing an exotic looking fellow carrying a bow and a katana (a rather unusual sword, but one I fancy for myself also). His features suggested he was from the land of Kara-Tur (or at least regions thereabouts). He introduced himself as Yoshimo, a bounty hunter. I was cautious of his presence and intent, but he managed to allay most of my fears. He told me the door of our room opened into a large room filled with more mephits (by the gods, I hate those hell-spawned vermin). I briefly considered allowing Yoshimo to travel with me through the rest of the dungeon, but I had sent off other comrades that I knew far better than this fellow, so I decided not to be lulled into a false sense of security. Still, I felt that he could be useful for a task I needed done, so I allowed him to join me. We then re-entered the portal and I led him to the Sewage Room. The still-rotting corpse of the Neo Otyugh nearly overwhelmed our senses, but I didn't plan to stay long. I handed the 2-handed sword the djinni had given me to my new ally and I also showed him the large pile of duergar wizard robes I had collected. We carefully folded them and stuffed them into his backpack. I then gave him a couple of other trinkets I had found but didn't want to carry and told him it would be best if we split up now. I told him to find his way to the surface and wait for me to join him there. I would look for him at one of the inns when I managed to escape this place.

Now that I didn't have to worry about watching my back anymore, I headed back through the portal a 3rd time (and began to get accustomed to the disorientation). Back in the room where I met Yoshimo, I found a chest with a scroll of Fireball in it. You can never have too many of those on hand. I drank a potion of Extra-Healing to mend the wounds I had suffered fighting the duergar, then a potion of Speed. Yoshimo had told me that the mephits appeared through 4 portal in the next room and we had decided the best way to destroy the mephits was to destroy the portals.

With the magical potion speeding my reflexes, I charged into the next room and began smashing away at the portals with that wonderful club Ilyich had given me (well, actually I pried it from his cold dead hand - but he didn't seem to need it anymore). I ignored the attacks of the various mephits (and there were FAR more than I had anticipated). They attacked with fire, ice, color sprays and other spells. By the time I destroyed the last portal, I was singed, frozen and bleeding from several wounds. Time for another healing potion. Aaahhh - that felt much better. Now I had a chance to look around the room. There were several chest, barrels and racks full of various items - but only a few of any real interest. I also saw a large torture rack with dead body on it. The corpse had been horribly disfigured, but he still looked oddly familiar. I have a nagging feeling that I should have known the person, but I just couldn't remember who it was or where I might of have known them from. Maybe the memory will come to me later. I couldn't do anything for them anyway, so it was time to move on.

I saw two doors on the opposite side of the room and could hear faint sounds of battle behind both of them. I decided to look behind the door where the sounds seem closest and found a stranger fighting yet another of those damnable mephits. I decided to offer my aid and shot the nasty beast out of the air with my arrows. But rather than thanking me for my aid, the stranger then turned and attacked ME. Talk about gratitude!. Well, I was still magically enhanced from my Potion of Speed, so I landed two hard blows with my club before the ingrate ever had a chance to raise his sword against me. He fell in a crumpled heap. I decided to investigate a bit further down the hallway and found yet another mephit. (did I mention how much I hate those things?). I shot him with two arrows, but then he disappeared. I could hear his wings flapping closer to me, so I grabbed my club. Sure enough, the little hellspawn appeared right in front of me and breathed on me with his fetid breath. Even with my enhanced speed, the beast was hard to hit. He flitted around in the air so quickly that I had trouble landing effective blows with my club. I did serious damage to him when I DID hit, but he still managed to avoid many of my attacks. By the time I finished him off, I was very weary - but I remembered the sounds of battle from the other door in the previous room. I decided to backtrack and make sure no enemies were left behind me before advance any further. I entered a room with more tubes similar to those on the first level. There was an especially large tube in the middle of the room and I could see a man on the other side fighting some unseen enemy. He wore the same type of clothes as the fellow that attacked me in the hallway, so I decided he would get no help from me this time. I crept forward slowly and saw that he was fighting a female mage. She was badly hurt with several open wounds, but she seemed to get a burst of energy and attacked the man with renewed vigor. He apparantly was unprepared for the sudden offensive attack and fell quickly before her onslaught. Then she spotted me and started yelling something about me being her master and that I wanted her to be like HER, but she would never be her (or something to that effect - it really made no sense at all to me). Then she started casting a spell. Now THAT was something I could understand and I quickly cast a spell of my own. One Fireball later, the rambling lady was nothing more than a charred corpse. I searched the room (including her body and that of her attackers). I found an odd-looking key on her body - very similar to several others I had found. No doubt they will serve some purpose before I am done with this dungeon - so I realized I had better hold on to this one.

After all these battles, my spells were depleted once again and I realized I was going to have to rest. Since I had cleared the immediate area, it seemed safe enough to go ahead and lay down here - but I have no doubt that I will awake to find two more of those damned duergars somewhere close by. I swear to the gods they must be part bloodhound. I can't close my eyes for more than a few moments without at least two of them showing up.

Well, that's all for now. Time to sleep, rest, and recover spells.