Alesia_BH

Yes. What do you mean, exactly? Where does the damage go if you attack Thaos when he's in stasis, while the statues are alive, but after he has jumped? I think it goes to the Magical-Land-of-Wasted-Effort, but I'm not sure. (I alway ignore his body once he's in stasis and inhabiting the judge.) Best, A.

High Int mages can be tanky for significant lengths of time. Ashoka's defenses were excellent, but Alikae's were arguably superior for much of the adventure. Alikae at L7, for example:

Any thoughts on your next run, Semiticgod? Best, A.

(You can't dominate the statues, as you noticed but, interestingly, you can dominate Thaos- at least with Gyrd Haewanes Stenes!)

Congrats, Semiticgod! I knew Thaos would fall! Best, A. Btw, I've alway been inclined to focus on forcing Thaos into the statue before turning my attention to the Headsman. Why do you prefer to attack the Headsman first?

Ashoka: Pale Elf, Kind Wayfarer- Entry 13: Gratuitous XP Hunting Ok! First, I'd like to apologize for the dearth of updates of late. My wifi is very slow here in Costa Rica and that has made playing more fun that uploading pictures. Posts have fallen so far behind that I have an entire successful run from beginning to end that I haven't even started covering yet. Before we get to that, though, I need to finish up with Ashoka. So where were we? Right: Post Through Death's Gate. After completing the Through Death's Gate quest, Ashoka was eager to secure the aid of The Dozens and resume the hunt for Thaos. I, however, was a bit concerned with her party's lack of experience. It's not that I doubted her, mind you, it's that I doubted myself: I wanted an XP cushion to compensate for my manifest ineptitude with a game that I'm still just learning. And so our intrepid heroes were reduced to minor questing in and around The D. But first, some storyline work: The Man Who Waits. The Man Who waits quest is the easiest of the three chapter 2 storyline quests, but I always save it for last. The story just makes more sense to me that way. You pick up clues in Heritage Hill and Through Death's Gate: then and only then should one see the man himself, The Man Who Waits, Thaos. Quick question before we get to the action: Does this seem a little Spellhold to y'all or is that just me? I mean, an arch villian infiltrating a sanitarium- setting up a mid adventure confrontation with the plot line's central antagonist? There's even a battle involving released inmates. This is not a critique. "A good artist borrows, a great artist steals," as Picasso said. Anyhoo: To the fight. This was very straight forward. I'll cover it in a wee-bit of detail, nonetheless, if only to remind myself of the tactics that we were using at this stage of the adventure. Here we see the battlefield, along with Pallegina's active effects. We're using Zealous Focus and Zealous Endurance to subtly bias the combat math in our favor. Holy Radiance and Circle of Protection are among our preferred buffs. Curse of Blackened Sight, Expose Vulnerabilities, and Interdiction, our standard debuffs. And as you can see, we also like to eat. With two paladins and a fighter (supported by a stupid, goofy adra beetle that I hate but can't yet ween myself off of) our front line is formidable. Strange Mercies and Consecrated Grounds (now from Pallegina's boots, Shod in Faith) give the line plenty of passive healing. And with two Scion of Flame priests -each with a bundle of single target burn damage spells- the occasional backline charger gets scorched quickly. Most fights are very easy: the front line bulldozes, the second line bombs away, if the front line is breached, the breachers get scorched. Simple. After completing The Man Who Waits, we were ambushed once again by a group off assassins, replete with backline chargers who are effectively Aloth-seeking-missiles. Kudos to me for finally figuring out the Aloth doesn't need to run around in circles every time this happens: he can fire up his Hardened Arcane Veil and Llengrath's and easily stand his ground. Moving on... Our next stop was Od Nua levels 3 through 5. I'll focus on two battles here: Zolla on L3 and the drake on L5. We'll cover Zolla first. With the party at level 7, I felt confident enough to angle for some style points here. Instead of using the choke point, we claimed the center of the battlefield and worked from there. Here's the opening: Ashoka goes west, Eder goes east, the adra beetle gets parked to the north, near the ogre druid, while Pallegina readies Firebrand and prepares to charge. Pallegina makes her charge, and we have a secure pocket. Aloth and Cassia rush in to claim it. Doesn't that look cooler than hanging out in a doorway? By now, Pallegina and the adra beetle have finished the druid and the western ogre is flaming chunks, thanks to Ogrnd and Cassia. Aloth turns his attention to debuffing Zolla in preparation for the finish. Dazed and with her vulnerabilities exposed... Zolla doesn't last long. Onto the drake. This fight was ridiculous. Drakes look scary, but they're usually pushovers. I have a terrible habit of squandering resources on these fights. Case in point: here we are running Scroll of Defense, Scroll of Protection and a bunch of potion buffs for a fight that lasted seconds. We're still buffing and the thing is already dead. Lesson learned: a scary animation doesn't necessarily mean a scary enemy. Not all winged things are dangerous. Save the potions for later I'll post on Ashoka's next quest, The Bronze Beneath the Lake, soon. Best, A.

The Hand and the Key is pretty hard to miss. It's on a bright, gold, gleaming body on Od Nua Level 2. Good point. Thaos spams an AoE charm spell on Hard (probably on PotD, too). I don't recall seeing it on Normal, though. On Hard or above, forced to choose between Aegis of Loyalty and Reviving Exhortation, I'd probably go with Aegis of Loyalty and pack some extra Scrolls of Revival. In Ashoka's run, I skipped Aegis of Loyalty. I came to regret that. If it makes you feel any better, I'm only, like, half-a-step ahead of you. I learned about Ilfan Byrrngar's Solace from you! Best, A.

@Semiticgod. Have you noticed Aegis of Loyalty yet? For fights like Undead Raedric, the thing to do, I think, is have a paladin with Aegis of Loyalty, wearing The Hand and Key.

@Semiticgod. Excellent work! I loved the Raedric fight. It was excruciating to read (since I was terrified that you were going to fall in a battle that you had learned about from me) but enjoyable in the end. Well done! Best of luck with Thaos! You've got this! @Jaheiras Witness. It's good to know that I'm not the only one who chickens out on that skuldr king fight... Best, A.

I just noticed this. I'm sorry for your loss, Borco. The Caed Nua main hall is definitely one of the game's hurdles. I believe I now have a method that insures safe completion, inspired by my observations of Enuhal and Jaheiras Witness (Alikae got through without any knockdowns on Hard, Aotha, my rogue, got through with no knockdowns and very little damage on PotD). I'll be sure to share before your next run! Speaking of your next run, do you have a character in mind? Best, A.

I know, right? In PoE, Minsc would be full silk and packing a grimoire. Best, A.

Thanks. My experience with the class is still very limited. I will add this, however: the one thing that BG rogues and PoE rogues have in common is that they are at their best when they make effective use of items. I suspect that a perceptive and intelligent rogue with a high lore score and Deep Pockets, using potions for defense (Llengrath's, Ironskin, etc) and scrolls for AoE offense, would be a reasonably well rounded character, (although his or her only true comparative advantage would remain single target damage). My current rogue, Aotha (who is an experiment, intended to lay the groundwork for a reincarnation of my favorite BG character, Alesia), is a drifter (stealth and mechanics) but Alesia will emphasize Lore. Best, A.

Interesting! I'll be sure to check that out. Best, A.

I'm currently running a rogue in my first PotD play through (we're in Defiance Bay, alive and well). I chose the class because I wanted to explore it, not because I expected it to be especially powerful. So far, I wouldn't say that my rogue is "bad," she's just not a rogue- or at least not like any rogue I've ever played. The impression I'm under is that the PoE development team was un-fond of rogue tactics in other games and chose to nerf their analogs in PoE. My rogue doesn't use stealth. She doesn't use traps. She's effectively a needy archer/off-tank, demanding micromanagement. She's a White that Wends Hearth Orlan with a perception of 21. Her build emphasize critical hits and coordinated attacks. In the early game, she's been using soldier weapons: an arbalest and a pike. She opens combat with an arbalest shot and then engages with her pike, maintaining a safe distance while triggering sneak attacks and simultaneously leveraging her Hearth Orlan bonuses. With her high crit percentage and sneak attack bonuses, she's a capable physical damage dealer who works well in the context of a team. She's our leading damage dealer and she hasn't been knocked-out yet. Solo she'd be hopeless. Later in the adventure, when she has the items/talents/abilities to make it work, she'll likely abandon the pike and start dual-wielding (though, sadly, probably in heavy armor) Am I disappointed with PoE's implementation of the rogue concept? Sure. I miss the backstabbing, trap-laying rogues of BG. But I do think it's possible to build a moderately effective PoE character using the rogue class: Just don't expect her to be a "rogue." Makes sense. I chose not to comment, but I was skeptical of that idea. (I do still like the idea of a six rogue party that uses backstabs and firearms. 2/rest in a party that rests infrequently? That's too few- you're better off emphasizing criticals. 12/rest in a party that rests frequently? That could be goofy fun.) Best, A.

Eyestrike is a possibility, too, but it has half the duration, as you noted, and less than 1/3rd the radius. I imagine using both, with Eyestrike being the preferred choice against low Fort enemies and Phantom Foes preferred against low Will ones. (I'm entertaining the idea of running a 2 cipher, 4 rogue party. In that context, Phantom Foes could justify itself at L2) Best, A.

(Btw, have you experimented with Phantom Foes? I was thinking about using it in my current PotD rogue run to trigger sneak attacks)

Looking good, Semiticgod! Finish strong! Best, A.

That's basically my Proposal 1 from above assuming you don't mean that characters that died in PoE might qualify for honorable mentions. Those should all go to the Graveyard, in my opinion- no honorable mention consideration for those. So, A) Died in PoE = Graveyard; B) Completed PoE and stopped = Honorable Mention; C) Completed PoE and died in PoE 2 = Honorable Mention (we can add a line denoting this);D) Completed Saga = Hall of Heroes

@Serg. The only reason I didn't suggest what you've called proposal 3 is that it leads to a subset of successful runs warranting no mention while all deaths are mentioned. So, if they died they'd be remembered, but since they lived, they're not? That's a little odd. I feel that if we're going to have a graveyard we should document all the PoE successes. The Graveyard does sound fun.

@ Semiticgod. Agreed. The Graveyard + Honorable Mention is better. The terms "zero" and "nero" sound playful to my ear, but that's because I'm familiar with their use in another context. To others they probably sound harsh. @Everyone. We should decide this by consensus, but Serg's voice should carry additional weight, since he'll be the one maintaining the list. So, let's make it explicit here are the two proposals. Proposal 1: A) Hall of Heroes for Saga runs only; B) Honorable Mention for PoE only runs; C) Graveyard for the fallen Proposal 2: A) Hall of Heroes for Saga runs only; B) Honorable Mention for a player's first PoE run and otherwise distinguished non-Saga runs What does everyone think? Best, A.

(Or, we could have an honorable mention list and allow each player's first successful PoE run to qualify. Subsequent PoE only runs by the same player would not qualify for honorable mention unless they were unusually challenging)

The Hall should be a well earned honor. Finishing PoE alone is too easy to warrant admission, in my opinion. (I, too, own only PoE at this time) Best, A. PS: Here's a proposal. In long distance hiking culture we have terms to refer to days spent in and around town. If you spend a whole day in town -with no hiking- it's a zero. If you hike into town, sleep there, and then leave the next day, it's a nero. If you hike in, resupply, and then hike back out, thus hiking for most of the day, resisting the allure of town, it's a hero. If you like, we can have three lists, borrowing those terms, which would effectively document the outcome of every run. The Hall of Zeros would be for characters who fell in PoE 1 (Ex- Ashoka). The Hall of Neros would be for those who complete PoE 1 only (Ex- Alikae). The Hall of Heroes would be reserved solely for those who complete both (Ex- nobody yet, but my money is on Gloomy Face)

Thanks, Semiticgod! Now to your questions: 1) Alikae does not qualify for the Hall of Heroes at this time. First, her run hasn't yet been documented in this thread: only runs fully documented here qualify. Second, the Hall of Heroes is reserved for PoE Saga No Reloaders, meaning POE 1 & POE 2. Alikae has only completed POE 1. 2) I was thinking we could host the Hall of Heroes on Serg's site. I'll edit my post to include a link. If Serg is willing to take on the responsibility, that should work. Best, A.

Quick Note on Ashoka's Run: Ok, everyone! Since I've been remiss in posting, I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll take a moment to briefly update everyone. I have completed my first NR on hard. It was not Ashoka who earned that honor, however, it was a melee mage named Alikae. Ashoka fell in the battle with Thaos- a victim of two convergent factors: 1) I fought the battle at 4:00am in an airport, exhausted and assuming it would be trivial 2) I failed to anticipate the change in Thaos's defenses on hard, causing our L9 party -which had previously had no need to emphasize accuracy- to have trouble hitting, leaving us exposed to Thaos's spells (notably Cleansing Flame) for too long Following the battle, we completed the fight successfully three times by making adjustments emphasizing accuracy and mitigating Cleansing Flame exposure. I considered running Ashoka again, since I felt bad that I had let her down. But since I've never considered the parallel save method (in which players experiment with a battle and then run through the "real" save) valid or in keeping with the spirit of the NR challenge, I did not feel comfortable running Ashoka again: it would have felt too much like a parallel save run, even though her second try would have been a complete run, sans-experimentation. I chose instead to retire Ashoka and run a different character, with a different party composition, forcing use of different tactics. That character was Alikae, a Fire Godlike wizard. Happily, Alike prevailed. I'll attempt to finish posting on Alikae's run today. I'll also try to get started on Alikae's. I hope to get both done ASAP, because there's an upcoming run that I'm really excited about. I've just -as in just- started a game with a rogue based on a certain bounty hunter that I used to play in BG(!). That should be fun! In any case, good hunting, everyone! I'll get to work posting soon! Best, A.

Thanks again for the reminder, Hulk'O'Saurus! This is the battle that raised that discussion. I just hadn't posted it yet. I have used Moonwell since then and I had used Moonwell previously, in my unpublished successful normal NR. In this case, Moonwell might have been helpful, but it's an expensive solution to a problem that could have been averted entirely through more proactive methods. In my second hard NR play-through, this time with a mage, we took virtually no damage in this encounter. As mentioned earlier, the issue in Ashoka's case wasn't tactics, but rather psychology. This isn't a hard fight. It's an easy-ish fight that I made hard by being sloppy and over-confident. Best, A. PS: My mage, Alikae, at the conclusion of the same fight- little healing needed, Moonwell not required.