Viconia Romance/ Edwina (BG AARs)

[D. Sauzi]

Hmmyes, Merl, that would work lovely of course, but i decided on not using protection scrolls anymore since the 14th incarnation cheesed around with them so much. Still though, the formation leader error is still a quite bad tactic, as is thinking the berserker rage would last long enough to take him down (and if its refreshable). Of course i should have stuck with the plan of having Solaufein use the Spell Immunity, but i should have given him fear immunity against the first lich.

Im a bit afraid of using the Slayer form for this as well, that automatically means using the protagonist, and if im not mistaken, the form deals damage over time, so i might not make it. I guess refreshing spell immunity before it wears off is the best idea. (In combination with some Minute Meteors, or hits by the immunity guy with Crom Faeyr or another +4 or higher weapon).


In any case, yesterday, incarnation XVIII has seen the light, i was doubting between 4 good ideas i have left. First a cleric/thief multiclass, its the safest there is and i have been planning this since i had to abandon durlags tower with 16 due to traps. Combining the trapfinding with the Sanctuary spell almost makes the character able to solo. Add in that the guy who goes game over anyway when in a status effect is also the dispeller is another advantage. Second idea was a Monk, i saw those +4 fist gloves for the first time in the Sahuagin city, and that made me really consider the monk. Add in all the immunities and resistances, including free movement as early as 5th level and its a very nice idea, the start will be slow though. Thirdly i read you could dual class rangers into clerics, and retain the druid spell list, for all 7 levels! Of course this is a bit of a bug, but i dont mind it, i think id like to see the power of a Cleric/Druid in a full plate and carrying a flail hes specialized in. Actually i read about it the Beastmaster route, which would have him gaining summon spells on l1-3 as well, but then i need to dual at 12, way too late for my tastes, as thats BG2 stuff, specializing in flails and slings, or maybe war hammers is quite enough.
Fourth finally is what i choose, a Bounty Hunter. It has the thief needs for Durlags Tower, so it qualifies for that part nicely. Moreover i read something interesting about it, apparently, unlisted, it is allowed to throw its traps, midcombat. I pretty much hate traps, i think they take way too much hassle to set up alone, trigger the bad guys, and trail them back to the trapped place, i also think they are very cheesy, especially when i stack many on top of each other. I only remember one proud use of traps, and that is when i wanted to kill a greater werewolf for honors sake in my solo run a great while back. Anyway, thrown should be great, that makes them fireballs, something id like very much. I also picked a small race for a change, instead of dual classing human thingies, apparently they get significant unlisted save bonuses, id like to see that.
Statrolling went abominable btw, i gave myself the standard five chances, because i didnt need any dual class requirement anyway. Something like 12/16/12/14/15/14 was the best in there. I believe i picked that over 11/15/14/14/10/17.


I started out doing the customary opening, unlike the last game, my little bounty hunter is fighting with darts, pretty much just for fun. There are some good darts in BG2 i believe, but in one ill prolly end up using my other prof, shortbow, more. I think ill add longsword next, in my view thats the most diverse weapon class. Thief points i spend in Find Traps, although this char will get enough Set Traps and prolly some others i want that up to about 70 quickly, and about 150 for the tower and the catacombs.
The Bowl quest went fine as Xzar for a change escaped from death on the crossroads, still going to 1 hp however. This is good as i have plans for him. I read with a tome of wis he becomes able to dual class into cleric, something id like to fiddle about with, mirror imaged clerics are nice. I did get two big random encounters i ran away from before i entered the FAI btw
Once there i completed the usual starting party of Imoen, Xzar, Montaron, Jaheira and Khalid. I sold the ring of wizardry to buy plate armors and some other assorted starting stuff, and did the Bowl thingie, meeting no Ankheg or Bandit on my way.

Decided to go for a full fighter party for as long as it lasts btw, all of them archers, should be interesting, and powerful. Ill allow one to be partly cleric, using Jaheira and Yeslick, after them the full ones, or bad part ones (Branwen, Faldorn, Viconia / Tiax, Quayle). I picked up Ajantis for Imoen, and went to Beregost.
In Beregost i wanted to pick up Kagain, but doubted about who to throw out. I know some ways of splitting the teams of Khalid/Jaheira and the like, like simply killing the other. You can as well petrify/imprison one to keep them in the game, or kill the one you want, kick out the other and then raise the one you want. All of that is out of the question for now, because of the no-raising ideas, and i dont think i can do the petrify thing already in 1. I started fiddling around with them walking towards you to initiate goodbye however, and it appears you can leave the area with your smaller party before Xzar starts talking. Even better, if you come back for some reason later he just stands there and you can speak to him to rejoin.
I split Xzar and Monty this way, and went for the High Hedge to pick up Kivan for Monty, too many thieves, and Monty needs a level to start tanking anyway, even though he has the best dex of the lot.

With that the party is complete for now, with Minsc and Shar Teel as welcome reserves, and once im in cloakwood Coran and Yeslick too. Everyone is carrying ranged, kagain crossbow, darts for me and sling for jaheira, the rest longbow, proficient or not. Killing goes with great speed, Kivan and Ajantis are second level of course, and Kivan, me and Jaheira sport the proficiencies. That, and everyone but me is wearing a plate bought from the lovely ring of wizardry. I raced towards Nashkel, sliding trough ogrillions and orcs right and left.
Right now ive just arrived, ready to outfit someone in Ankheg plate and see if Khalid kills everyone in the bar again.

Hendrika XVII, halfling l3 Bounty Hunter, dart&sbow proficiency.
Party: Khalid, Jaheira, Ajantis, Kagain, Kivan.
Started out enlisting (Imoen, Xzar, Monty) 1: Khalid, 2: Jaheira, 3: Ajantis, 4: Kagain, 5: Kivan
Dead: nobody.


Oh, and for a lovely table, here's all the former incarnations:
name____________class__________died to___________location________chapter
Hendrika I (bg2)___Talos Cleric(fll)___Umber Hulk Trap___ Spellhold l2_______2-4
Hendrika II (bg2)___Rogue8/Mage___Painting Trap______IreniDungeon l1____2-1
Hendrika III_______Fighter(lbow lsw)_Silke____________Beregost__________1-1
Hendrika IV________Fighter(lbow)____Gibberlings_______Crossroads_______1-1
Hendrika V________Fighter (lbow)___Kobold Commando__Nashkel Mines l3___1-2
Hendrika VI_______Archer(lbow)_____Bandits__________Road Bere-Nash 2__1-1
Hendrika VII_____Fighter/Mage/Cleric__Dead Dukes_____Duchal Palace BG___1-7
Hendrika VIII_______Skald______Cloudkill Rahvins Party__Undercity_________1-8
Hendrika IX_______Inquisitor_______Tarnesh__________FAI______________1-1
Hendrika X________Cavalier(lsw)____Nimbul__________Nashkel Revisited_____1-3
Hendrika XI_______Totemic Druid____Wolves__________Crossroads________1-1
Hendrika XII_______Totemic Druid__Sirens + Hobgoblins__Lighthouse_______1-1ish
Hendruka XIII______Barbarian(axe)__Mulahey__________Nashkel Mines l4____1-2
Hendrika XIV______Sorcerer___Dragon from Demon Pride__9 Hells___________2-7
(rule change, no more protection scrolls & bonus merchants)
Hendrika XV___Berserker4/Mage(qst)_Master of Thralls____Planar Prison______2-2
(rule change, no more raising dead characters)
Hendrika XVI___Wizard Slayer(cross)__Kangaxx__________Docks Ath________2-6
Hendrika XVII_____Bounty Hunter_____alive____________Nashkel__________1-1

[D. Sauzi]

Hendrika XVII met an untimely demise at the hands of Taugosz Khosann, actually, the whole fighter party did. Turns out this maybe wasnt the best of ideas, even though i did very well leading up to the Bandit Camp.

I outfitted Khalid with the Ankheg Plate, and went into the Nashkel Mines, everything went well there, able to disarm the traps for a change, and the all ranged strategy allowed me to take out kobold archers one by one. Mulahey was little trouble, he didnt get off any of his holding spells, and went down quickly to all the arrows.
Nimbul on the road back went less succesfull, as did the bounty hunter in the bar btw, in both cases i as most of the time forgot to prepare with fear protection, and in both cases all but my main halfling and one party member got panicked. I managed both without any char deaths though, in Nimbuls case somewhat lucky, throwing out a grand critical on him from i believe Kagain, as he was magic missiling people into heavily injured and still had four mirror images up.

I continued to Beregost to slaughter the iron throne guy there, went on to the Gnoll Stronghold to get the dex gauntlets, and killed Bassilus for the +2 war hammer and some gold and xp, mainly for buying the shadow armor soon, and to get all my fighters third lvl, where they would spend a proficiency is long or crossbow.

Next i went for the peldvale and the bandit camp, all fighters were now level 3-4 and sported between 25 and 40 hit points, all had ranged profs, and the tank, when needed, had a -3 ac thanks to the Ankheg Plate and the Dex Gauntlets. Seems incredible, and worked as such up till now, for instance Bassilus posed no problem whatsoever, as did random combats with Ogres and the like. In Peldvale i did meet some kind of resistance already though, having quite a lot of trouble with Raiken, resulting in using no tank and running around instead while he was being picked off.
The Bandit Camp next though, showed me i do need a cleric or wizard or some other form of impeding spellcasting, Taugosz is a monster, and needs to be held. I was envying his full plate of course, but didnt expect my dex 16 darts specialist to still have negative to hit rolls against him, nor did i expect him to hit my main -3 tank on rolls of 5/20. Needless to say, Kagain went down in the first two hits, twice 19 damage, and the first kill was a fact.
I still stayed around, i had four more fighters, so i would think i would be able to take him down with arrows from the others, bandits were gathering behind Taugosz but i largely ignored them and they seldomly hit anyway. Taugosz continued his massacre however, crashing trough Ajantis and Khalid in a few rounds, retreating with the three that were left Jaheira was picked off by the bandit mob, and in the end i sacrificed Kivan to get my main out of the area.
Upon leaving though i realized i hadnt picked up any equipment my party members dropped and at least the dex gaunts and ankheg plate are definitely worth the hassle, as are the +2 weapons. I spotted i still had Jaheiras starting invisibility pot and went back to pick up stuff. I made a misclick on the second pile of equipment however, as invisible item gathering is only allowed when you stand on the treasure, not when you click it. As such i became visible right inside the bandit mob, and of course the ankheg plate and dex gauntlets would be in the final heap of items. Two quick hits from the numerous bandits quickly ended my sixteenth incarnation.

Party: Me, Jaheira, Khalid, Ajantis, Kivan, Kagain
Join order (imoen, xzar, monty) 1: Jaheira, 2: Khalid, 3: Ajantis, 4: Kagain, 5: Kivan
Death order:
1 Kagain, killed by Taugosz Khosann, 19 kills including Silke, 13 days 10 hours
2 Khalid, killed by Taugosz Khosann, 41 kills including Bassilus, 16 days 15 hours
3 Ajantis, killed by Taugosz Khosann, 29 kills including a Ghast, 16 days 15 hours
4 Jaheira, killed by Bandits in Bandit Camp, 39 kills including a Cave Bear, 14 days 19 hours
5 Kivan, killed by Taugosz Khosann, 102 kills including Greywolf, 13 days 2 hours
6 Hendrika XVII, killed by Bandits in Bandit Camp, 11 kills including a Brown Bear, 20 days 3 hours

Btw, looking at those final results i will not try this tactic again, comparing the total kills of Ajantis, Khalid and Kagain to the count of Kivan turns out little profitable. Maybe using them ranged only when they get the proficiency is an idea, or maybe even only when they become specialized, but their kill counts are horrible. Khalids i think is even only decent because i used him as dual bastard sword tank when needed, i think he got some xvart kills that way.
Of course Kivan is as well the only one to sport a reasonable dexterity, so that might be the main difference, but still 19 kills for Kagain is extremely little, admittedly he was the crossbow guy, but still, this doesnt do him right.

I suppose next game will be my Cleric/Thief dual idea, as this thief didnt make it to Durlags Tower at all, and i still think it useful to create my own thief for that instead of relying on the NPCs of which, if not taken early, only Imoen is a decent trapfinder, so i should have to abandon the tower as soon as the party thief gets killed pretty much. As well, i've once more noticed the power of Sanctuary, which does allow you to invisibly loot the equipment of your fallen companions. And it allows me to cast hold person on Taugosz.
Party wise ill switch things up completely as well, trying to fit in as many wizards as i can this time, which would be at least Xzar, Xan and Edwin or Dynaheir. prolly Dynaheir, that would allow me to use Ed later, and take Minsc along as tank, suppose a bard like Garrick wont fit as a tank, and i surely wont be doing the dirty work myself. Xzar will follow that dual class by tome idea, and i think a good sixth member would be Imoen, dual classed asap as im a thief anyway. Seems it would be decent if i indeed take a normal tank, of course just casting loads of mirror images should allow a bit of tanking too, but im not sure how early i can start doing that, if i can though, it might be interesting to also invite Quayle or the bards for a full mage party, apart from the main.

[Gorth]

Heh, that reminds me of that all monk party... the Shao Lin Expeditionary Force. Didn't fare particularly well as monks are very weak at low level.

[D. Sauzi]

Hmm long time no posts i see, not that i did much in the meantime, but i fired up number XX yesterday.

You read correctly that that mean XVIII and XIX are already dead, the latter was a monk that died pretty much immediately, during the water bowl quest to get to second level. Apparently i shouldnt totally solo there to take no risks, the priestess in question took him down.
The other guy, the Cleric/Thief, didnt last long either, which is a tad sad. I think that class combo is the best combination to take on the hardcore stuff, the thief allows you to take care of traps (and locks) while the cleric allows you to become invisible, and buff/remove some stuff, makes him the perfect solo target in my book i guess. (Not to mention the raise dead possibilities though i dont do that anymore.)
In any case, the Cleric/Thief lasted until the second commando in the kobold mines, although the story lasted quite a bit as i choose to pick up Dynaheir beforehand, from the looks of my screenies and such i did so by running there, and getting people killed.
Notable encounter is the cursed potion seller Borda wandering around here somewhere on the way to the Gnoll Stronghold, i do not advice taking him on , he killed pretty much all of my party. Looking trough the screenies i rescued Dynaheir with Sanctuary and Invisibility, and took her along with Kagain, Jaheira and Khalid into the mines, where both Khalid and i died to stray kobold 19s and 20s.

Party: Me, Dynaheir, Kagain, Jaheira
Join Order (jaheira, khalid) 1: Imoen, 2: Xzar, 3: Montaron, 4: Ajantis, 5: Garrick,
6: Minsc, 7: Dynaheir, 8: Kagain, 9: Khalid, 10: Jaheira
Death Order:
1 Ajantis, killed by Silke's Lightning Bolt, 3 kills including a Bandit, 2 days 0 hours
2 Minsc, killed by Borda's Magic Missile, 8 kills including a Skeleton, 4d 6h
3 Montaron, killed by Borda's Magic Missile, 18 kills including Tarnesh, 9d 5h
4 Imoen, killed by Wolves fleeing from Borda, 17 kills including an Ogrillion, 9d 5h
5 Xzar, killed by Borda's Magic Missile, 12 kills including an Ogrillion, 9d 5h
6 Garrick, killed by Gibberlings running to Gnoll Str, 10 kills including The Amazing Oopah, 5d 1h
7 Khalid, killed by Kobolds near Commando, Nashkel Mines 3, 6 kills including a Worg, 4d 11h
8 Hendrika XVIII, killed by Kobolds near 2nd Commando, Nashkel Mines 4, 14 kills including Ursa the Cave Bear, 17d 5h.
(alive)
9 Dynaheir, 3 kills including Greywolf, 7d 0h
10 Kagain, 15 kills including a Huge Spider, 5d 3h
11 Jaheira, 15 kills including a Huge Spider, 4d 11h


Yesterday i fired up number XX, i am playing the infamous Ranger/Cleric Dual this time. According to several sources, the Cleric keeps all the Ranger (or Druid) spells in his list even though he never achieved levels to cast those. Of course thats buggy, cheesy, cheating or whatever you like to call it, but im not even sure if it works and i think its a nice exercise to chose the best spells from both on one character. Right now im up to 2/2, so im not sure yet if it will work as i didnt yet gain back the ranger class, i do miss Entangle though among the l1 spells, so thats a way of proof for the future.
Anyway, started the game doing the water bowl quest again, i still like the procedure, and considering it failed the lasttwo tries due to killing her and her killing me respectively. This time i paid close attention and already gasped as Ajantis did 14 damage to her, but luckily i needed another minor drain. By this time i had gathered the easy company of Imoen, Xzar, Monty, Khalid and Jaheira, switching Ajantis for Imoen. My last long going incarnation didnt have enough thieves to go far into Durlags Tower, so im going to be a bit more tight on them this time.
Of course, that meant Montaron was the first to die, though im quite happy it wasnt Xzar, i still have the dual class tome of wis idea in mind for him sometime. I already had a few dire wolf hits while running trough the crossroads, but one during traveling for the bowl quest one hit killed the best ac of the party.

Going south things went alright this time over, no Silkes Lightning Bolt killing people, no kobold or bandit archers causing trouble. I went straight for Nashkel, only taking time to sell the ring of wizardry and buying some equipment (i might stop doing that some time too, though i still like it for now). In Nashkel i did a little bit more, like killing the Amazing Oopah and the mages on the carnival, come to think of it, i actually did take on quite some groups of hobgoblins, testing the plate armors. Neira was a bit of trouble, the bounty hunter in Nashkel, as she held both Ajantis and Khalid, but i took her down in time with ranged and the wand of magic missiles.
The mines also went alright, apart from one kobold hit near the first set of traps nearly killing Imoen, but things went wrong upon resting between the 3rd and 4th level. I think i tried it about six times there, each time spawning a group of kobold archers, somewhere halfway i got sloppy, and Jaheira got killed by three 19s and 20s. I went on to try the rest upon new map method, something that works quite reliable, but not 100% at all either. This was one of those times, as the next group killed Xzar in one hit, meh, so much for the mage cleric idea.
I proceeded by resting after the second commando group, something i should have done earlier i guess, i believe i even slept in Mulaheys den too, right after adding Xan to the party to make it five again. Mulahey was a walkover, my main cast one command word die sleep something for one round, it worked and he was dead. I worried about not being able to block the choke with just two tanks, but it worked out fine with Mulahey not getting off more than maybe one spell.

From there on, i took no risks in the backdoor map, i had grave troubles there often enough. I only memorised 4 sanctuaries, slept inside four times meeting four kobold groups and then slept outside. With those sanctuaries i fetched the wand of summon monster, which i usually preserve for Sarevok.
Last thing i did was killing Nimbul, who has quite a number of kills on his name too, this time things went perfectly though, as i walked up with the local guard conveniently. He got off his mirror image, but nothing else.

Not sure who ill take to replace Jaheira with, i have the mage, the cleric, the thief and the two tanks, dont really need anything. Suppose that means its time for brave ser Garrick to run away.

Party: Me, Khalid, Ajantis, Imoen, Xan
Join Order (imoen) 1:Montaron, 2:Xzar, 3:Khalid, 4:Jaheira, 5: Ajantis, 6:Imoen, 7:Xan
Death Order:
1 Montaron, killed by worgs traveling to BG Bridge
2 Jaheira, killed by kobolds resting in Nashkel Mines 3
3 Xzar, killed by kobolds resting in Nashkel Mines 4


edit
oh yes, i wanted to show a few pics from that Borda fight:
preparation
a nice horror sending off three in fear
followed by a host of magic missiles
Imoen, running in fear, inviting some wolves
Borda in the pursuit
No leaving the map until Borda kills everyone

If i get a free day in the weekend some time soon i might be arsed to do so updating here, i have screenies lying around from number 16 and up.

[Gorth]

Oh man, not fair. Now I feel like playing the BG's again

My old PC has been put up in a spare room, so I actually have a complete setup that will run these oldies without problems now

I gather that sleeping in the Nashkell mines is bad for your health?

I don't even remember Borda. Is that one of those "named" wilderness encounters or is it just too many years since I've played BG1?

[D. Sauzi]

Oh man, not fair. Now I feel like playing the BG's again

I don't even remember Borda. Is that one of those "named" wilderness encounters or is it just too many years since I've played BG1?

Hehe, thats my job isnt it?

I dont think Borda is that famous a character btw, and as you notice im making a habit of remembering pc names like the bounty hunters and Sarevoks associates (ie Tarnesh, Neira, Nimbul, or Mulahey, Tranzig, Raiken, Taugosz) In a sense that is a bit too much jargon maybe, otoh it will expand your bg vocabulary as well.
Borda isnt one of these though, he is more like a dialog encounter, like the nobleman with the mountain bear or the mad guy that lost his ring of folly in the pirate ship. This Borda is on the map towards the Gnoll Stronghold that has the Xvart village, you meet him just beyond that, and i believe he sells you about four different cursed scrolls and potions. You can tell him he should hand it over, upon which he appears to be a l7 wizard at the least (4 magic missiles).

I continued a bit further yesterday, and i think i've got a game. My main is i think 2/4 now, sporting hp in the thirties, so that should allow me some leeway.
The Ranger->Cleric thing works btw, as i became l3 i got Goodberries among others, which is definitely something not in cleric lists. Entangle doesnt seem the best test, even though im quite sure its a druid spell, for some reason Viconia sports it too.
Not that i am gaining very much out of it now, probably things will start becoming great only when i reach Woodland Being or the different Insect Clouds. My current l1 memorisation is fully cleric, with Remove Fear, Sanctuary and Command Die/Sleep, and the 2nd level as well, with Hold Person and Silence (which im starting to use again, its not as bad as i thought appears from iwd1 multiplay).
One oddish (stun spore) thing is im not getting back my Ranger weapons though, which means i threw away four proficiency points. I wasnt sure this would work, but it works with fighter mages, apparently not so for dualling into cleric. No longsword and longbow for this guy. Luckily i spent the cleric points on war hammer and sling, which isnt bad either.

I continued in Nashkel, selling, identifying and mopping up stuff. The Cleric ring from Mulahey does nice work and i've got some boots and other stuff. Next i went to Beregost to take out Tranzig, which went easily, that guy is quite the joke. Enlisted Garrick and outfitted him with a chainmail +1 from the backdoor mines, apart from that he wont be too much use i guess. He can carry a crossbow and use wands, which is okay, but elsewise its not much, he'll prolly sing most of the time.
Next stop was the High Hedge, my last somewhat longer run found its end at the hands of Taugosz, so this time i want to make sure i have my sleeps and hold persons ready. I bought up all the scrolls of Sleep, Magic Missile, Identify, Invisibility and Mirror Image, along with one of Flame Arrow and Skull Trap for the future, drank a Genius potion and started learning with Xan. He miraculously missed all three Sleep scrolls no matter the 97% success rate, and one of the invisibilities on top. I am almost in doubt whether something was wrong, though he did learn one spell, mirror image.
Without any sleep things will be hard, Color Spray will have to do. (And Hold Person). I went off to the map south of here for some good xp, the chicken quest, Malkax, and Bassilus.
First up were the hobgoblins, and they went wonderfully as one of them got held, and Xan greatly Color Sprayed the poison arrows guy, turns out that works well enough for now, although he needs to go up quite close, best get Shield for him too or something. All this pondering wasnt needed however, as one of the trio dropped a fourth Sleep scroll, which did succeed on Xan.

Next up was Bassilus, who went quite easily as well, even though i as usually messed up the dialog to scare off the undead lackeys. I focused ranged fire on Bassilus and managed to interrupt his first two spells, making good use of the Wand of Frost from Nashkel Mines. Silence didnt do its job as well as i hoped, it worked on pretty much all the undead, but Bassilus was the only one to save. He went down soon enough however, and mopping up the skeleton archers went surprisingly well as well.
Following that i brought the apprentice to the High Hedge, where he got killed on the curing, second time in a row. Ah well. Followed up with gaining the 5k bounty from the temple, and equipped the +2 war hammer. I thought to quickly pick up some stuff with Sanctuary before heading to Peldvale, but i went to the wrong map for the tome of wisdom, instead walking to the pirate ship. While wandering around there i thought not to do this stuff, best come back when i have the Greenstone amu from Ulgoths Beard to take on the Nereid and the Sirens. I did do a bit of sanctuary in the Farmlands map, heading into the ankheg cave for the wand of fireball there. Also noted a good thing about the ranger dual there, as i could drink the giant strength pot in the cove to bring along Bruns son.

Peldvale was next, even though im rightfully afraid of Black Talon Elites. This appeared to be the case as i met three along the center of the map, where i went too to evade Viconia, i believe i remember she leaves if you dont invite her immediately, which i wasnt planning to.
Raiken is the guy to kill here (or go along with), and he went marvellously. Hold Person hit on they guy, while Garrick send one fireball charge to his bandit lackeys which took all of them out.

Onto the Bandit Camp then. Once there i wandered along the church ruin thingy to my usual place of walking up to Taugosz, Hold Person and Sleep at the ready, along with the fireball wand. I scouted a bit with sanctuary, and aimed a sleep at the southern bandits. Bad idea.
Xan walked over there way too much, and i had no tank in front of him to take the hits. I immediately pulled him back while sending in a fireball, but it was already to late. Xan got two arrow hits on him, and went down just after getting out his sleep, which means the running started once again. Especially when the first of my two hold person failed to catch Taugosz, and i know quite well that guy cuts trough level 3 tanks with ease.
Luckily though the second spell hit home, and from there things were easy as most of the bandits were burned or sleeping. Xan is gone though, and that means im out of sleep, again.
I continued to take out the guys in the tent, which went quite well too, with some help of the wand of frost and another hold person i took out the Gnoll and the Fighter, while the mage got silenced pretty well. The archer lasted a while longer, but since he was the only danger things were doable. Khalid did run off in fear again, but luckily not into more bandits as he stayed around on the wooden podium the tent is on.

I choose to take up Viconia in the party next, since i had two of the four full mages die on me, and 3/4 is Dynaheir/Edwin, to use them all you need to use up Dynaheir first, and i didnt want to make room for Minsc just yet, nor did i want to expend my full mages that fast. I gathered with myself being cleric/druid i have no need for the full clerics in the game, and Garrick was doing quite well with the wands, which is really all you need at low levels where magic missiles dont matter too much yet. As such, i think ill use up Viconia and Branwen first (and Faldorn), they are totally expendable. Her 10 str is a bit of a worry for her AC, as she cant use great armor or shields, equipped her with a second Chainmail +1 (from the Ankheg cave).
Oh yes, fun stuff, Ajantis does wish to work with Viccy, unlike Keldorn. Hes wearing the flaming fist helmet as a trophy

Final thing i did was the first Cloakwood map, and that went fine too, no troubles on the spiders yet, and killed the Sashentar guy for the magic bastard sword, which Khalid now wields.

I do admit i feel im going a bit quick here, Bandit Camp on l3/4, Cloakwood on 4/5. I dont think im ready to kill Wyverns at all, but ah well, we'll see. I rather keep the XP areas for later, if i need to get up a thief for Durlags Tower. (xp areas being the Ankhegs, Basilisks and Sirens).


Party: Me, Khalid, Ajantis, Imoen, Garrick, Viconia
Join Order (imoen) 1:Montaron, 2:Xzar, 3:Khalid, 4:Jaheira, 5: Ajantis, 6:Imoen, 7:Xan, 8:Garrick, 9:Viconia
Death Order:
1 Montaron, killed by worgs traveling to BG Bridge
2 Jaheira, killed by kobolds resting in Nashkel Mines 3
3 Xzar, killed by kobolds resting in Nashkel Mines 4, 8 kills including a Worg, 6d12h
4 Xan, killed by bandits in Camp, 4 kills including a Black Talon Elite, 11d6h

[D. Sauzi]

story-telling follows

Party: Me, Viconia, Coran, Faldorn, Branwen, Dynaheir
Join Order (imoen) 1:Montaron, 2:Xzar, 3:Khalid, 4:Jaheira, 5: Ajantis, 6:Imoen, 7:Xan, 8:Garrick, 9:Viconia, 10:Yeslick, 11:Coran, 12:Minsc, (Eldoth), 13: Faldorn, 14:Branwen, 15:Dynaheir
Death Order:
1 Montaron, killed by worgs traveling to BG Bridge
2 Jaheira, killed by kobolds resting in Nashkel Mines 3
3 Xzar, killed by kobolds resting in Nashkel Mines 4, 8 kills including a Worg, 6d12h
4 Xan, killed by bandits in Camp, 4 kills including a Black Talon Elite, 11d6h
5 Khalid, double fireball at Hareishan, 113 kills including Taugosz Khosann, 26d19h
6 Garrick, Bandit poison rest party CWM 2, 35 kills including Kysus, 19d18h
7 Imoen, Lightning Bolt trap near Hareishan, 54 kills including Drasus, 27d11h
8 Minsc, Davaeorns Battle Horrors, 5 kills incl Hobgoblin Elite, 5d5h
9 Yeslick, Ogre Berserker summon from Davaeorn, 6 kills incl Battle Horror, 9d12h
10 Ajantis, Ogre Berserker Summon stairlock while fleeing, gibbed. (~Khalid +10d, +50k, Silke)

[Gorth]

Enlisted Garrick and outfitted him with a chainmail +1 from the backdoor mines, apart from that he wont be too much use i guess. He can carry a crossbow and use wands, which is okay, but elsewise its not much, he'll prolly sing most of the time.

I can't remember his spell casting abilities, does the benefit of armour outweigh whatever spells he can learn (eventually)?

Xan is gone though, and that means im out of sleep, again.

Out quest is vain... so is all the scroll studying.

Khalid did run off in fear again, but luckily not into more bandits as he stayed around on the wooden podium the tent is on.

I gathered with myself being cleric/druid i have no need for the full clerics in the game

No more Cleric/Ranger combo?

I've never played one, but from what I gather is you combine the spell casting capabilities of the cleric with the combat abilities (thac0 in particular) of the ranger. Yes, still limited to the clerics weapon selection though.

[D. Sauzi]

I gathered with myself being cleric/druid i have no need for the full clerics in the game

No more Cleric/Ranger combo?

I've never played one, but from what I gather is you combine the spell casting capabilities of the cleric with the combat abilities (thac0 in particular) of the ranger. Yes, still limited to the clerics weapon selection though.

Oh yes, i am playing the Ranger/Cleric combo indeed. However, im already pretty much calling it cleric/druid because my weapons werent carried over when the dual was complete. Also, i prolly wrote druid to emphasize i got both spell lists, which makes the full clerics and druids not really needed. Also i dualled straight away on 2 to get the most spell slots (and test it), so i dont think the thac0 is of that much use. I am doing extra damage against those filthy ghouls and ghasts though.

On GarrickI can't remember his spell casting abilities, does the benefit of armour outweigh whatever spells he can learn (eventually)?

Hmm, it depends a bit, would he have had Sleep i'd prolly use him as a caster, but right now i see it as an unnecessary risk as the wands are so much better than the single or double magic missile. He has too few slots to make casting armor and such worthwile as of yet, and the same goes for his second level spell slot somewhat. I could do a mirror image, but that would like the armor on, right now i have a web, for the same purpose. I guess spilling the wand of frosts for now works better than a risky aganazzars in there.
Of course, on higher levels it becomes worthwile, (my solo venture was a bard even). I'd say maybe from when he gets his 3rd lvl spell and on or so, but in a sense you're by then fast approaching your elven chainmails anyway. Also, around a lvl 7 or something, those magic missiles are becoming a lot more better, so yes, i think i'd like to switch around there.

Some talk on that last session, though i have a SC2 Beta key now and a LAN fast approaching, so it might be a little on hold for the next few eh time.

Second cloakwood map went quite okay, as i picked up the +2 two hander mainly, and imoen was quite good at disarming the web traps. The fight with Centeol went fine, i sent in a few fireball charges and then ran a bit around with Khalid, though he almost got surrounded a few times.

I went straight on to the Mines, seeing no need (and chance) to fight Wyverns, or playing around with Eldoth or Faldorn. Yet. Drasus party with the boots of speed was the next challenge, and i planned to take it easy, using Viconia in sanctuary as a spotter to at least down the mages with some fireballs. The AI button is a sucker though, when i was almost into position, Viconia pulled out her sling and began flinging. The fight still went marvellously though the wizards were in the game. One pulled off a good Horror which i countered with a double Remove Fear, and furthermore the two big fighters, Drasus and Kysus, were held by mine and Viconias many hold persons.

The Mines went well and easy until the infamous fight with Hareishan showed up. He too is, when approached from the kitchens, a great fireball target, with all his lackeys. Aiming a double fireball there, i this time thought to keep Khalid up front the casting mages (bards), but again the AI button pretty much *i have potty mouth* my plans, Khalid was walking forward and got the double fireball full in the face. Hareishan was still around, along with a few saving stars, so i sent in Ajantis next. He got hit full front with a lightning bolt, and drank an absorption potion straight after to evade the ricochets. Quickly after, Hareishan fell.
I chose to rest before going down here. Great idea, really. I spawned twelve bandit guys with poison arrows who all choose to take aim at Garrick. Poor Garrick managed to drink one antidote after the first hit, but saw no chance to run away. With Yeslick in the party for Khalid i triple hold personed the guard party, and made off to the outside to rest more safely. With that in mind way too much i barge trough the trapped eastern corridor and the lightning bolt strikes trough it, Ajantis lives, Imoen died.

With two more dead i decided on not continuing the Cloakwood mines immediately, resting outside it. I needed a new Thief and a new Caster, so after some debate i chose to head for Coran and Dynaheir. With Dynaheir came Minsc, so that would allow me to drop Yeslick again, which might be a nice tank for later on, while i have trouble doing the CWM in time with this sidequest with Gnolls.
When i arrived at Nashkel however, Yeslick already started moaning, and when i set off to the Gnoll Stronghold, it was someone else to be the next moaner, as Coran started to talk about his Wyverns, oh yes, that too.
I decided on doing the quests quickly now, in the proper order, because i didnt want to risk anyone walking away, so, right back to the cloakwood mines to quickly flood them. I went down the stairs, held some bandits and hobgoblins and followed the corridors on the west side to Davaeorns lair, skipping some nice level 3 spells.

Davaeorn was downright a disaster. Coran had shit for traps, so i needed to trigger the stuff, including those damnable Battle Horrors. I sent in my three clerics (Me, Yeslick, Viconia), sanctuaried, to pelt Davaeorns buffs with a double Dispel Magic and add a Silence, while Minsc and Ajantis were supposed to take care of the horrors and Coran would quick as lightning shoot at the mage for interruption. Needless to say the plan went miserably.
Davaeorns first thing to do was dimension door away, evading the double (and only) Dispel Magics, while the Battle Horrors were hitting Minsc hard. The cleric troupe tried a few spells on them but were give proof of them not being human, and i had trouble in chosing the main focus. Davaeorn still had all his buffs up, but his spells can be disastrous, so i went after him first hoping to ignore the Battle Horrors. With most of the guys aiming at Davaeorn he replied with a Lightning Bolt that killed Minsc. I realized the protection from arrows was impenetrable and switched targets to the Battle Horrors again as i was quickly running out of health potions.
After a number of rounds of battle i discovered the Battle Horrors required magic weapons to be hit, so i got them out and went on the melee with a few frost arrows. By now however, Yeslick, Ajantis, Coran and even Viconia were getting very injured when the i was finally turning the tide of battle. Davaeorn added in a dire charm on Viconia to make things worse, but that was to turn out a blessing.
The Battle Horrors fell one by one slowly, as charmed Viconia dropped to the ground unconscious with a few hp left, not sure why, prolly emotion or something. As i killed the last of them however, Davaeorn had another nasty trick in store for me. A summon monster 3 of 4 Ogre Berserkers. I didnt know how quickly i decided to run when i saw a hit on my main on a 9.
Fleeing the place with my four live characters Yeslick was slammed to death, and i dumped the charmed unconscious Viconia from the party to head upstairs. Getting there, Davaeorn and two of the big oopahs followed, and stairblocked Ajantis and Coran. I went in with the magic weaponry to take one of them down, i had too, and did, but not before Ajantis got smashed to paste from 22 damage on a ten.
Together with Coran i started running for the doors, Davaeorn being the only to give pursuit, but he was still buffed, and neither of us could stand a hit. I was already fearing to have to travel off-map and lose my treasures to outrun him, when the prot arrows finally went down. I danced around a lot with my two chars to keep attacking him ranged and finally got him. When i got downstairs the Ogre Berserkers were long gone and Viconia greeted me with her hit point.

With three more dead i was up for reinforcements yet again, but there was one more thing i had to do quickly. With Yeslick dead there is no longer need to flood the mines, but there is still to slay Wyverns, and that is not going to happen with just these three guys.
I decided on quick reinforcements, inviting in Eldoth and Faldorn from the third area, equipped them with some semi useless stuff, and went to kill a wyvern. I already knew this would be hard with only a few half tanks, i would have to rely on ranged and an opening magic salvo. I did just that, but i fled straight after i finally killed the first Wyvern from the cave, these beasts were causing major trouble.

With this massacre i planned to run the expendable chars next, on top of thief Coran and mage Dynaheir, as i sideboarded Eldoth to get Skie in the future and kept Faldorn and Viconia and added Branwen. I have by now just gathered this party, quadruple hold personing my way trough some gnolls.

[D. Sauzi]

Actually took a little break from SC2 yesterday and ventured in the world of BG again for a few hours.

Picking up where i left off with the above party of Hendrika XX, being a host of clerics at the moment with Dynaheir and Coran on top.

Looking at my place in the game i decided not to pursue the treasures in the Cloakwood Mines, Davaeorn is dead and Baldurs Gate is open. What am i waiting for?
Also, i decided on keeping these spare chars. I am still intent on delving into Durlags Tower, so i want my thieves come that time (Safana, Skie, Alora, Tiax and Shar-Teel) as well as the two tanks that still roam the world (Kivan and Kagain (and SharTeel)). As i am the infamous Ranger/Cleric combo, there is no need for all these Branwens, so i'll use them as cannon fodder for the Iron Throne.

I happily wandered into BG to empty the Sorcerous Sundries of its rich collection, buying the invis and genius pots as well as the Bag of Holding, before going on a little item spree troughout BG. First target was the second level of the SS, getting me a nice fireball wand.
Tactics are quite nice with this party. Often the idea is to sanctuary all the clerics (Me, Branwen and Viccy), and use invisibility on Dynaheir, have her cast something, followed up by loads of hold persons from the clerics who've gotten nice positions. This worked wonders on the second floor, but not so with Vay-ya for the Gauntlets of Ogre Power. Bad placement and commoners made that one a lot harder than i hoped for, and im glad i got off a silence.
Next i picked up the two easy tomes, in the rogue guild and the umberlee quest house, where the pickpocket failed, so i had to buy a little reputation. The cloak of Balduran did succeed on the pickpocket and mirror image got met past the trap for the Helm.

Next idea was securing the companions for post-Candlekeep, as i noticed last game Alora and Tiax disappear come Duchal Palace. I dropped my chars at the bridge, and travelled to Eldoth, hanging out in Nashkel. With only Eldoth and Dynaheir with me i planned to sneak in and pick up Skie, but that was not to be. Rather stupidly, i forgot to memorise invisibilities to wander trough the house. I went to a bar to rest, and forgot it again. Rested a second time with the spells ready, and headed for the house. Apparently the front door was locked, and i was without a lockpicker or great strength. As such, back to bed, this time for a Knock. Eldoth by that time, quite justly, pointed out to me that when the word stupidity was introduced to the language, they must have been thinking about me. And he left. I did manage to pick up Alora and Tiax next to put them outside the gates.

Next i went on with the story, which i was playing the game for after all, not all this treasure hoarding. I killed some doppelgangers, had a nice stroll trough the sewers and was preparing to lay siege to the iron throne. In the last moment i decided on taking one more treasure, Jardaks helmet, the other +1 ac one. I went over there, and actually got into a fight with his butler, Drelik, who had never put up a fight before. He did this time, casting a mirror image and starting to spew magic missiles. Normally thats not much of a worry, but it was this time, as Dynaheirs magic missiles had little effect, and clerics of course have the habit of missing. Two pairs of missiles hit Coran, my main damage dealer, who had to flee outside. Amazing targeting chose my main next and he too had to flee after two salvos, the mage still quite alive. He followed my main outside, where i had to go invisible to not be targeted by the next magic missile. Alas that meant Coran would take it, and indeed, die to Drelik. Why didnt Faldorn just die there.

Next time the Iron Throne will fall, and i will take even more clerics i think. Either Tiax or Quayle is going to add to the holding persons. Bit in doubt, Tiax is more expendable, but Quayle was the only one to go into BG2 the last time i made it. Of course i should really bring a fighter, but i dont want to, yet. I want to hold the whole bunch of iron throne mercenaries.

Party: Me, Viconia, Faldorn, Branwen, Dynaheir
Join Order (imoen) 1:Montaron, 2:Xzar, 3:Khalid, 4:Jaheira, 5: Ajantis, 6:Imoen, 7:Xan, 8:Garrick, 9:Viconia, 10:Yeslick, 11:Coran, 12:Minsc, (Eldoth), 13: Faldorn, 14:Branwen, 15:Dynaheir (Eldoth, Alora, Tiax)
Left in game: Kagain, Edwin, SharTeel, Safana, Alora, Quayle, Tiax, Kivan.
Death Order:
1 Montaron, killed by worgs traveling to BG Bridge
2 Jaheira, killed by kobolds resting in Nashkel Mines 3
3 Xzar, killed by kobolds resting in Nashkel Mines 4, 8 kills including a Worg, 6d12h
4 Xan, killed by bandits in Camp, 4 kills including a Black Talon Elite, 11d6h
5 Khalid, double fireball at Hareishan, 113 kills including Taugosz Khosann, 26d19h
6 Garrick, Bandit poison rest party CWM 2, 35 kills including Kysus, 19d18h
7 Imoen, Lightning Bolt trap near Hareishan, 54 kills including Drasus, 27d11h
8 Minsc, Davaeorns Battle Horrors, 5 kills incl Hobgoblin Elite, 5d5h
9 Yeslick, Ogre Berserker summon from Davaeorn, 6 kills incl Battle Horror, 9d12h
10 Ajantis, Ogre Berserker Summon stairlock while fleeing, gibbed. (~Khalid +10d, +50k, Silke)
11 Eldoth, Overslept entering the manor, ~5 kills, ~5 days.
12 Skie, Overslept entering the manor.
13 Coran, magic missiles from Drelik, Jardaks butler. 92 kills incl. Davaeorn, 21d4h.

[D. Sauzi]

More storytelling today, but maybe more importantly, a newsbit, that will quite likely cause you to replay the BGs (again). I've just found out that Gibberlings 3 released the 'item randomiser' we've all been waiting for for ages!
In past there was already one available for the Improved Anvil mod, a mod made by some, pardon the term, nazi, as not only is the mod only for uber-players willing to pause the game six times per round, and the fellow himself was unwilling to share the randomizer as he wanted you to play all his content. More importantly for the qualification however, is his arbitrary banning of forum members and active players of his content, because he didnt like the way they played his game. (not that i have been banned, i just saw some really nice fellows get a ban while they delivered very interesting posts and AARs to his forum.) In any case, this dude is no longer important as the gibberlings three took up the glove to make this beautiful thingy stand-alone. linky

Too bad i'm still in a game and am not willing to give up on Hendrika XX just yet. That, and i have arrived in Durlags Tower, which is largely wiped from my memory anyway. Whenever i want i can finish the maze and Sarevok, and start the randomizing in BG2.
Also, i've decided that for any upcoming no-loading-no-raising incarnations that i will skip the secret stashed items from BG1, (the Ring of Wiz at FAI and the Ankheg plate from Nashkell most importantly), as they tend to be quite good and game changing. The Ankheg plate being the best armor up till Taugosz Khosann, and troughout the game for low-strength fellows, the ring is even worse as it is worth 9k, which results in me buying plate mails for every level 1 or 2 guy.
This also regards any other of those small treasure caches, the Wand of Frost near the mines, the Cloudkill scroll south of there, the Diamond at the start, the Fire Res ring in the most southeastern map, etc. Of course, if these locations are inside said randomizer, there will be no need for this.

Anyway, on with the story, where i left you with a dead Coran on the stairs of Jardaks house. His death prompted me to take up Quayle, for even more cleric-goodness, and he got imported into BG2 last run. With Quayle in reins i slew the Jardak fellow and proceeded laying siege to the iron throne, where i got the deaths i wished for. Finished gathering up BG items, killing Ramazith and Ragefast with silence.
I decided on no special tactics against them, no inivisible positioning or skull traps on the level below. I send in the six men, buffed with a haste, and opened up with a Fireball from dynaheir and quayle and an explosive potion from Faldorn. Alas, this wasnt enough to shut out the mages, and to further trouble their casting i decided on the old Stinking Cloud+Animate Dead, while casting a salvo of silences and hold persons from the cleric suite. Not the best of ideas, as Diyab used his wand of the heavens on Quayle, bye bye, Zhalimar got held, and a few guys got silenced, but not nearly enough. Meanwhile the doppelganger advanced on me, and i put Branwen and Viccy to fight there, the latter dropping just inside the cloud. Viccy always lives though, in this game, and she managed to get up a few moments later, while Faldorn for some reason did rush in, and got herself nauseated and killed. Dynaheir was also nauseated, so that left me with just my main and Branwen. Fleeing time.
However, Dynaheir was lying unconscious right on the stairs, so i had to leave trough the left entrance. I made my main invisible, and when Viccy got up i sent her and Bran to the left. Noticing there wasnt too much left, and a few near-death adversaries were lying around in the cloud, i decided on firing a few arrows at them before really leaving. Branwen knocked off the thief, but went inside the cloud again, to be shot down by Alai. By then Dynaheir woke up however, so i sounded the retreat with half a party. Gardush gave pursuit, but i could still handle him, happy the hold person hit. I healed up Hendrika the Twentieth, and picked off the guys one by one, as only Alai was uninjured.

Many deaths however, finally a good bit of those spare clerics is gone. With the Candlekeep Cats in mind i choose adding a thief, in Tiax, and looking at the characters left in the game, another one in Safana. Both have quite bad trapfinding, so they could use a level or two before Durlags Tower anyway. Also added Kagain as a tank, im so happy i waited with him, as his level 6 version comes with a massive 60 hp.

Into the cats then, after i mopped up some final item gathering prior to the Cats, like Weapon Expertise gauntlets from Firewine Bridge, and buying some Resilient Sphere scrolls in advance for the duchal palace while the flaming fist isnt around yet.
Rieltar went easily, and i went down into the cats guilty. There, i equipped Tiax for some raiding, and he did marvellously well. I didnt expect 45 traps and 55 locks to be good enough, but apparently it was, of course buffed with loads of potions though. (Master Thief, Perception, Res Fire + Ring + Cleric Spell, Absorption, Ring Free Action). He disarmed everything south and west, and went north to the spiders where he got past invisibly to, and in wolf form fro. (Its been some time since i used that cloak, but the wolf speed boost is nice!). Overconfident and greedily i went to the ghasts pile as well, where i got my wolf form trapped inside the undead horde. Luckily though, the treasure contained an invis pot, else it would have been bye-bye for Tiax.
The rest of the cats were easy as i advanced onto Prat, always trouble. This time too of course, though to be honest, it was my own doing. The silences worked wonders again, but the fireball did not. 25 hp of Safana were standing just to close and blown to bits.

Next up was the Duchal Palace, i opted to skip the maze for now, should be able to get past that anyway, i guess, but i do want to be free to wander the city when i head into the Tower. I enlisted Kivan, the other tank i waited with and brought him with me to beat up the iron throne again, with little problem on the Ogres this time. Resilient Sphere works wonders, in case i havent said that often enough yet. Slythe and Krystin were a little dangerous, as Dynaheir was as of yet the only Cloudkill-immune character. She and Tiax' Ghast went up front as such, with Kagain close by to catch Slythe running up to me. Of course Slythe gave pursuit to Dynaheir, and hit right trough her mirror images, something i could have though of, that guys a thief after all. Just in time i managed a hold person on him, and killed him. Krystin didnt last long either, though i was sweating for the cloudkill of course. A dispel stripped her of her defenses and i managed to take her out without any dangerous spells going off.
The Duchal Palace itself went easy, Resilient Sphered the female twice, while Kagain took care of the doppels, and Sarevok had a few big hits (including a 10 against ac -7..) but using wands ot heavens on him prompted him to flee.

With the main game out of the way i ditched Viccy for Shar-Teel to start my final party for Durlags Tower. Happy i waited with Shar too, as she is turning out the perfect thief for this. I dual classed her immediately, and went about leveling her by taking out the basilisks there and the vampiric wolves at the temple. She went to 4 quickly with this, and i decided on making it 5 with the nymphs and the amulet from Ulgoths Beard. Had a tense moment there while resting btw, spawning two with no great protection. With 125% traps at the ready i went for Durlags Tower.

Inside things are going well right now, as i cleared the upper levels easily, watching out for the opening fireball and the nymph on level 2. Got a bit of extra xp from the basilisks on top of the tower, and went to the warden level, where i already had to stop last time, because of massive fireball and lightning traps going off.
Not so this time, as i cleared the whole level, without any real trouble to be honest. This party is quite good, Kagain is a great tank with 75 hp and -7 ac, Kivan deals loads of damage with his weapon expertised bow of markmanship, as does SharTeel with the crossbow of speed. Adding to that resilient spheres that always seem to succeed, and up to five guys with magical melee weapons to take on Battle Horrors and Mustard Jellies, including the spiders bane sword, Bassilus' war hammer and the ssw of backstabbing.
The warden were caught in good tactics, it proved. I was outside of the cloudkill that spawns from Avarice, and the loads of magical ammo around the level were very useful in taking them down, as was a resilient sphere hitting Pride.

Inside the second level it is, and more new ironman content. Going slowly to catch all the traps i advanced onto the fifth room, the one past Kiels helmet. There, the Islanne and Fuernebol doppelgangers had me lose a guy. Dynaheir had already used up her mirror image (she's stacked with Knocks) and caught a triple-ricochet of a lightning bolt by Islanne. I managed to micro the rest out of the lines, but Dynaheir was long gone by then.
Im quite happy with that though, to be really honest. One is having taken her into BG2 already once, and two is her abominable forbidden schools. Admitted, resilient sphere works wonders, but apart from that she really has nothing to cast on levels 4 and 5. She forbids the use of Abjuration, Conjuration and Enchantment, which is perfectly the schools of all level 5 spells in the game i know of. Domination, Feeblemind, Hold Monster, Chaos, MS 2 and 3, Greater Malison, Emotion, Cloudkill, you name it, she cant learn it.

I just exited the tower to pick up Edwin and have learn all the stuff from the scroll-barrel i made for him in Nashkel. There is one little pain in the ass though, as Ed isnt willing to learn identify. That will prolly mean a lot of wandering. I wonder i can buy a scroll or twenty of it to evade some of the shopping sprees.

Party: Me, Tiax, Kagain, Kivan, Shar-Teel, Edwin
Join Order (imoen) 1:Montaron, 2:Xzar, 3:Khalid, 4:Jaheira, 5: Ajantis, 6:Imoen, 7:Xan, 8:Garrick, 9:Viconia, 10:Yeslick, 11:Coran, 12:Minsc, (Eldoth), 13: Faldorn, 14:Branwen, 15:Dynaheir (Eldoth, Alora, Tiax) 16: Quayle, 17: Tiax, 18: Kagain, 19: Safana, 20: Kivan, 21: Shar-Teel, 22: Edwin.
Left in game: Alora, Viconia.
Death Order:
1 Montaron, killed by worgs traveling to BG Bridge
2 Jaheira, killed by kobolds resting in Nashkel Mines 3
3 Xzar, killed by kobolds resting in Nashkel Mines 4, 8 kills including a Worg, 6d12h
4 Xan, killed by bandits in Camp, 4 kills including a Black Talon Elite, 11d6h
5 Khalid, double fireball at Hareishan, 113 kills including Taugosz Khosann, 26d19h
6 Garrick, Bandit poison rest party CWM 2, 35 kills including Kysus, 19d18h
7 Imoen, Lightning Bolt trap near Hareishan, 54 kills including Drasus, 27d11h
8 Minsc, Davaeorns Battle Horrors, 5 kills incl Hobgoblin Elite, 5d5h
9 Yeslick, Ogre Berserker summon from Davaeorn, 6 kills incl Battle Horror, 9d12h
10 Ajantis, Ogre Berserker Summon stairlock while fleeing, gibbed. (~Khalid +10d, +50k, Silke)
11 Eldoth, Overslept entering the manor, ~5 kills, ~5 days.
12 Skie, Overslept entering the manor.
13 Coran, magic missiles from Drelik, Jardaks butler. 92 kills incl. Davaeorn, 21d4h.
14 Quayle, Wand of Heavens from Diyab, Iron Throne. 0 kills, 19 hours.
15 Faldorn, Aasim of the Iron Throne while inside Stinking Cloud, 16 kills incl Desreta (from Low Lantern), 13d14h
16 Branwen, Alai of the Iron Throne while inside Stinking Cloud, 10 kills incl Aasim, 8d4h
17 Safana, Dynaheir Fireball at Prat (Candlekeep Cats), 9 kills incl Greater Doppelganger, 13d23h
18 Dynaheir, Lightning Bolt ricochet from Islanne Doppel, Durlags Tower -2. 31 kills incl Slythe, 59d21h.

[Joseph]

I almost want to dig my old pc out of the storage room and fire up BG. Almost. But I always hated Durlag's Tower.

[Gorth]

I finally got around to create a VirtualPC image with my old Windows XP on it. Lets see if it isn't easier to run these oldies but goodies on them

I'm dying to try the BGT thing.

@Dousi: Hendrika XX? I don't think even the Popes have anything in that number range

[D. Sauzi]

Hmmz, Hendrika XXI even, as i just died and created a Wild Mage for the randomization tool..

And Josan, im not too much a fan of the deep dungeons either (WK and Durlags), but its been so long ago, think i only went trough it twice. Its actually not a bad dungeon either, its no Spellhold, but i think i deem it better than for instance Windspear or Umar. Especially that second level with the doppelganger dwarves sucks you in quite nicely. And there's a chess board.

With Edwin added to the party i headed back into Durlags Tower, finishing up the second level, and difficulty-wise it was very doable. Of course, i lost a guy to a few lightnings, and the traps are everywhere (though better to have them everywhere than scarcely i guess), but i only had real trouble with the Dwarven Doom Guards. Only there did i have to backtrack a bit, as they were swarming Kagain a bit too well.

This proved to be my downfall however, especially with the start of the third level. (Apart from that grossly tense fireball room for ironmanning) I went east first, for a very easy room with Greater Ghouls and Ashirukurus (sp?). Those latter had a few backstab crits that were quite nasty, but then again, its Kagain who's the tank. I did lose my beautiful 150% trapfinding SharTeel there though. There was a ghoul to the right of my screen, and for a change i decided to pursue it, of course a wrong choice, as there was a fireball trap. No biggie, everyone is over 30 hp, so they can take one almost always, and I immediately retreated. However, it was that that was the stupid thing, as Kagain fled along, and the trap triggered again, gone great thief.
Luckily though, 150% is nowhere needed in the Tower, as i had Tiax as well, by then having 80%, and finding every trap as well. I cleared the room and enlisted Viconia again, to keep Alora for last.

By then though, the underestimation got the better of me, as i advanced on the left side of level 3, from the south. I spotted a Greater Wyvern, and thought meh, i should be able to take a Wyvern by now easily, so whatever on the greater. It hit Kagain, once, twice, three times. The third time on a 7. Kagain had ac -7. Right, really Greater then. I moved backward, but couldnt flee well. I wanted to sanctuary my main to pick up all the important tank treasure, but both tries were interrupted by the Wyvern, putting my main in the red as well. I had Kivan take a hit while i cast my third and last sanctuary, and made Edwin invisible, while noting the beasts magic resistance to three wands of the heavens.
With those two chars i made an invisible wall for the Wyvern, i know, a cheesy no-no, but i though i had to, considering the treasure and tank lost already. Kivan, Tiax and Viccy fired away over the wall to get the beasty to near death, when the sanctuary expired. Had to flee again, using chasing around methods to try and get in a few more sling bullets, but i think about five or six 2 damage hits were still not enough. Desperately i tried more magic, hoping for a heavens charge to get trough the resistance, but no luck on that either. By then, i had taken a wrong turn, and Kivan, Hendrika XX and Tiax were in a dead road with the wyvern advancing. I sacrificed Tiax for one more arrow and heavens charge, but no luck, and the Wyvern advanced on the duo with their backs to the wall. I pulled out the invisibility potions, the great last resort; but alas, Kivan went invisible, while my main was still recovering from casting the spell, and that was that for Hendrika XX.

Party: Kivan, Edwin, Viconia
Join Order (imoen) 1:Montaron, 2:Xzar, 3:Khalid, 4:Jaheira, 5: Ajantis, 6:Imoen, 7:Xan, 8:Garrick,
9:Viconia, 10:Yeslick, 11:Coran, 12:Minsc, (Eldoth), 13: Faldorn, 14:Branwen, 15:Dynaheir
(Eldoth, Alora, Tiax) 16: Quayle, 17: Tiax, 18: Kagain, 19: Safana, 20: Kivan, 21: Shar-Teel,
22: Edwin, 23:Viconia
Left in game: Alora
Death Order:
1 Montaron, killed by worgs traveling to BG Bridge
2 Jaheira, killed by kobolds resting in Nashkel Mines 3
3 Xzar, killed by kobolds resting in Nashkel Mines 4, 8 kills including a Worg, 6d12h
4 Xan, killed by bandits in Camp, 4 kills including a Black Talon Elite, 11d6h
5 Khalid, double fireball at Hareishan, 113 kills including Taugosz Khosann, 26d19h
6 Garrick, Bandit poison rest party CWM 2, 35 kills including Kysus, 19d18h
7 Imoen, Lightning Bolt trap near Hareishan, 54 kills including Drasus, 27d11h
8 Minsc, Davaeorns Battle Horrors, 5 kills incl Hobgoblin Elite, 5d5h
9 Yeslick, Ogre Berserker summon from Davaeorn, 6 kills incl Battle Horror, 9d12h
10 Ajantis, Ogre Berserker Summon stairlock while fleeing, gibbed. (~Khalid +10d, +50k, Silke)
11 Eldoth, Overslept entering the manor, ~5 kills, ~5 days.
12 Skie, Overslept entering the manor.
13 Coran, magic missiles from Drelik, Jardaks butler. 92 kills incl. Davaeorn, 21d4h.
14 Quayle, Wand of Heavens from Diyab, Iron Throne. 0 kills, 19 hours.
15 Faldorn, Aasim of the Iron Throne while inside Stinking Cloud, 16 kills incl Desreta (from Low Lantern), 13d14h
16 Branwen, Alai of the Iron Throne while inside Stinking Cloud, 10 kills incl Aasim, 8d4h
17 Safana, Dynaheir Fireball at Prat (Candlekeep Cats), 9 kills incl Greater Doppelganger, 13d23h
18 Dynaheir, Lightning Bolt ricochet from Islanne Doppel, Durlags Tower -2. 31 kills incl Slythe, 59d21h.
19 Shar-Teel, Double Fireball Trap, Ashirukuru room Durlag -3. 23 kills incl Greater Basilisk, 31d7h
20 Kagain, Greater Wyvern, Durlag -3, 187 kills incl Ramazith. 61d7h
21 Tiax, Greater Wyvern, Durlag -3, 14 kills incl Kiel the Legion Killer, 62d23h
22 Hendrika XX, Greater Wyvern, Durlag -3, 134 kills incl Tuth (from Rieltars party), 122d7h
(alive)
23 Kivan, 89 kills incl Greater Basilisk, 42d18h
24 Viconia, 33 kills incl Agnasia (The Tome of Wis priestess), 27d9h
25 Edwin, 4 kills incl Ashirukuru, 13d7h

As such, i wont be trying out the item randomizer in BG2, too bad. Doesnt make too much difference though, as i dont really mind which game i start getting to know it in.
I made myself a nice Wild Mage for incarnation XXI, a choice that shouldnt get me far, as petrify self is on the wild surge table. Should be fun though, seeing the birds fly around when i really need that mirror image.

I already made a little ways into the game testing out the randomizer tool. Didnt trust it in the beginning, as three of the secret cashes were empty (the Diamond, the Ring +1 and the Ring of Wiz) and the FAI shop had no magic items left. For testing purposes i did the Ring +1 quest with the Flame Dance Ring and got nothing either.
Thinking somehow the randomizer wasnt working, maybe due to some conflicting other smallmod, i rushed into the Ankheg cave, using the incredible Faerie Dragon familiar that comes with a stunning inv 10" ability, which i will be using to great extent, with a save, just to see if things worked.
Thing are working nicely, as the hoard there was filled with nice and random treasures. Got a big spoiler there though, as one of the items were the Gauntlets of Dex. This in turn of course, after the load, had me rush towards Branwen and get that lovely thing.

By now i've went all the way trough the Nashkel Mines to Nimbul, losing three guys. Jaheira went down to a few Kobold Archers when i accidentally had cast all my sleeps without resting straight after. Khalid went down to kobolds near Mulahey, actually after i killed him, to two crits in quick succession of the only two not sleeping. Lastly Xan is already gone again, to Nimbul. I had found the Ring of Energy in the cache that normally holds the wand of frost near the mines, and thought it to be similar to the dmg ring in BG2. I never really use it, as it has charges and is to be fetched far to the east in a dangerous map, from a group of red wizards. Turns out it does an Aganazzars Scorcher like effect, and of course when i tried the thing out on Nimbul there was an Amnish soldier in between. This turned the lovely Nashkel army i waited for for support against me, and first arrows went to the fellow with the dagger and no armor.

Its interesting though, that randomizer. Its making me use that Ring of Energy, it had me find the Dex Gauntlets somewhat early, and it removed the crazy dollar items hidden in trees at the start of the game. It also redistributed many of the shop treasures including the speed xbow and the fpm sold in Beregost, all interesting stuff. It seems to randomize a few gems and scrolls as well, which is more goodness.
It feels a bit like gambling actually, as you of course still know which enemies are potential treasure guys. As such i took my bets at Silke, Greywolf, the Nashkel bounty, Nimbul, etc. It also seems as of yet there is some balance in the system, as i didnt get the Ring of Wiz or Longsword with ice +2, and got several +1 stuff instead. I did get a tome from Silke (yay) which made me doubt about it, but as it turned out Charisma, the hypothesis still holds. Even moving the Dex Gauntlets to the Anheg cave is prolly harder, after all not everyone uses Sanctuary in all its splendor.
I love the idea of the variation i think, as some items will simply not appear because i dont deem myself so high as to know all the possible treasure locations, let alone chase them for that boots of speed. On the other hand there is the risk that i will stay close the the main quest line only in the future, instead of taking down interesting challenges like Centeol, Ramazith or Bassilus, because i dont have the insurance of good treasure. I hope it just leads to me doing Ulcaster, Cpt Brage or the boogey-man more often though.
Another interesting result is me planning my party characters more on the treasure i found, something i like as of yet as well. For instance, finding a Halberd +1 in the Ankheg cave led me to hiring Kivan.

Hendrika XXI: Wild Mage lvl 2 with 16 hp.
Party: Hendrika, Branwen, Kivan, Imoen, Garrick.
Join Order: 1: Imoen, (Xzar, Montaron), 2:Jaheira, 3: Khalid, 4:Garrick, 5:Branwen, 6:Kivan, 7: Xan.
Left in game: Xzar, Montaron, Kagain, Minsc, Edwin, Dynaheir, Safana, Shar-Teel, Ajantis, Viconia
(Locked): Coran, Eldoth, Faldorn, Yeslick, Alora, Tiax, Quayle, Skie.
Death Order:
1: Jaheira, Kobold Archers, Road FAI-Beregost (after FAI). 1 kill, a Hobgoblin, 1d20h.
2: Khalid, Kobolds near Mulahey, Nashkel Mines 4. 27 kills incl an Ogrillion, 10d16.
3: Xan, Amnish Guard near Nimbul, Nashkel (returning). 0 kills, 1d9h.

[D. Sauzi]

Hmm, i have a few more stuff lying round from the last couple of weeks.

The wild mage died at the Iron Throne, where she tried to wild surge a fireball onto the leaders only to paralyze herself. The rest of the party sacrificed their lives to save her but couldnt outlast the duration . (I hazard however that his death is mainly due to following the main storyline too quickly. I took the Bandit Camp without level 2 spells (but with wands of fireball), took Davaeorn without level 3 spells (but with Yeslicks single Dispel), and when i entered the Iron Throne only my main reached those l3 spells).

The next guy i started is an Avenger, which i hoped to have fun with its extra shapeshifting forms. Turns out you only get those on 7th level, so i'm left with nothing more than an underpowered druid.
Okay, thats not entirely true, he does come with a mage spell per level, and Chromatic Orb has been very helpful at interrupting wizards and is now even blinding opponents, while the web spell on second level has also helped me on numerous bandit encounters, allowing my mostly ranged party to pick them off. I am going great in the death ratio of this run, as only four guys have died on me as i just entered Cloakwood. All the deaths are tanks though, which might become a tad problematic.
Random treasure has showered me with good luck again, as i found the Dex Gauntlets once more, this time already in Mulaheys den. I think i can consider that the best item in the game, maybe second to the vanilla Full Plates, but one of those is still on Taugosz every game. It by now again gives me that wonderful -6 ac again, making quite sure only crits hit. (with FPM, Ring +1 and Shield +1) I do have the habit by now to just hand out shields to the two-hander tanks in the game, even if they lack proficiency.

Which makes me think by the way, is there a tool to change the character growth of your companions forever, instead of having to go into Shadowkeeper to change things. This because of three reasons, of which one might be cheating a little. First there's actually a few errors around, like Kivan, who has two weapon style while he has no profs in any weapons to use it with (he should have had two handed weapon style). Second because a few weapon groups are not covered, for instance there is noone wielding Flails while there's four guys wielding war hammers and four wielding maces. Thirdly because there's way too many two-handers, of all the tanks that actually have fighter in their class only Jaheira and Yeslick want a shield. Ajantis, Coran and Kivan are two handed guys and SharTeel, Minsc, Khalid and Kagain are all two weapon guys. Seems a bit over done on the childish cool we can dual wield in BG1 part.


Hendrika XXI, l5 wild mage
Party: Killed
Join Order 1: Imoen (Xzar, Montaron), 2:Jaheira, 3:Khalid, 4:Garrick, 5:Branwen, 6:Kivan, 7:Xan,
8:Minsc, 9:Dynaheir, 10:Viconia, 11:Yeslick, 12:Ajantis, 13:Alora, 14:Tiax
Left in Game: SharTeel, Kagain, Safana, Coran, Eldoth, Skie, Quayle, Xzar, Montaron, Edwin, Faldorn
Death Order:
1 Jaheira, killed by Kobold Archers on road to Beregost, 1 kill, a Hobgoblin, 1d20h
2 Khalid, Skeletons near Mulahey, 27 kills incl Ogrillion, 10d16h
3 Xan, Evil Amnish Guard at Nimbul, Nashkel. 0 kills, 0d19h
4 Kivan, Tranzig Magic Missile, Beregost. 20 Kills incl Greywolf, 7d7h
5 Branwen, Evil Amnish Guard while shopping, Nashkel. 8 kills incl Gnoll Vet, 13d12h
6 Yeslick, Davaeorn Lightning Bolt, 2 kills incl Guard (CWM), 0d9h
7 Minsc, Davaeorn Lightning Bolt, 151 kills incl Seniyad (CW1 druid), 19d10h
8 Imoen, Davaeorn Lightning Bolt, 48 kills incl Silke, 38d3h
9 Viconia, Pargus Lightning Bolt, Helm & Cloak party, 19 kills incl Giant Spider, 5d20h
10 Tiax, Zhalimar Cloudwulfe while panicked, Iron Throne, 0 kills, 0d10h
11 Garrick, Gardush while panicked, Iron Throne, 61 kills incl Kysus, 39d6h
12 Ajantis, Naaman while confused, Iron Throne, 2 kills incl Dabron Sashentar, 4d15h
13 Alora, Naaman while confused, Iron Throne, 2 kills incl Kobold Commando, 4d1h
14 Dynaheir, Naaman of the Iron Throne, 58 kills incl Davaeorn, 21d22h
15 Hendrika XXI, Naaman while being held from wild surge, Iron Throne. 44 kills incl Tranzig, 52d4h

Hendrika XXII, level 4 Avenger.
Party: Me, Montaron, Xzar, Imoen, Branwen
Join Order: 1 Imoen, 2 Xzar, 3 Montaron, 4 Jaheira, 5 Khalid, (Xan), 6 Branwen (-Jaheira), 7 Shar Teel, 8 Kivan, 8.5 + Jaheira.
Left in Game: Safana, Xan, Garrick, Minsc, Edwin, Dynaheir, Ajantis, Viconia; Coran, Eldoth, Faldorn, Yeslick; Quayle, Alora, Tiax, Skie.
Death Order:
1 Khalid, Kobolds in Mines lvl 2, 7 kills incl an Ogrillion, 6d16h
2 Shar Teel, Ankhegs & Bandits in farmlands, 34 kills incl Bassilus, 10d5h
3 Kivan, Venkt Acid Arrows (Bandit Camp), 22 kills incl Raemon (Camp Tent), 3d11h
4 Jaheira, Call Lightning from Seniyad (CW Druid), 38 kills incl a Gray Ooze, 13d8h