Alesia_BH

Yeah. Quest ordering is tricky in PoE. It is in BG, too, for beginners. I'm dealing with that issue now. I'd like to gain some more XP before heading to Dyrford, but I'm afraid I'll stumble into something horrible.

We look forward to having you, Hazmy! But first, yes: Enjoy your first BG run! It's a great game! As you surely know by now, the BG No Reload Challenge threads, linked earlier, are many, many hundreds of pages long. There's a ton of content to learn from. They're filled with spoilers galore, obviously, but they're a great resource for aspiring NR players. Check them out, once you're ready (but not too soon- enjoy a blind run first)! I'll note, too, that we have a thread specifically for prospective no reloaders here: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/66243/the-adventurers-lounge-guidance-and-support-for-no-reload-challengers-newbie-or-veteran#latest If you're having trouble with something, feel free to post there. You can mention that I sent you, if you feel the need. Someone will take care of you! Best, A.

Ashoka: Pale Elf, Kind Wayfarer- Entry 10: Raedric Hold The first time I played PoE I didn't even know that you could fight Raedric. I figured there had to be a way -the guy was clearly angling for some come-up-ens, what with the tree and all. But since I hadn't completed the Guilded Vale minor quests, I never got an invite. When I learned of the Raedric fight, by reading online, I became aware of the quest's reputation for difficulty. Heeding calls for caution, I've tended to return to Raedric's Hold post DB, only after I've taken a couple levels. It's an odd quest, balance wise. L4 is too early, apparently, but L5, strangely, feels a bit much and L6 is ridic. We took the ridic approach this time. I have no regrets -it was an enjoyable baddie stomp- but I'd definitely like to try the quest with a well equipped L4 party in the not-too distant future. Ok. Let's get to it, shall we? Each time I've completed the quest, I've gone left, and climbed up the vines, entering the Sanctuary. Aloth gets tired if you do this, but it does get you around the army. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/g3/bgi7i1p67u9n.jpg You take out a handful of guards up on the ramparts and then enter the Sanctuary itself, where you face paladins, priests, and acolytes, mostly. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/a3/n564pyudbnbd.jpg The minor encounters in the Sanctuary were easier than I recall- presumably because I'm getting better. Word of advice: Don't Divine Mark Pallegina. She loves killing priests. It's like her hobby. Everybody needs a hobby, right? https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/gi/1hh8lqisjmlh.jpg The area's focal battle, in the chapel, got a little strange. Our foes literally decided to line up and take on Ashoka kung-fu movie style, one by one. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/dr/8b6tl7dl1eko.jpg With Aloth in need of rest anyways, and with a set of camping gear nearby, down in our next stop, Osyra's Pleasure-Palace, we decided to drop some spells. I hadn't cast Fireball before. On style grounds, I never liked it in BG. I can't say I'm fond of it in PoE either, although I'm sure it has its uses. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/mo/exvrhvtyc23w.jpg Down in the Pleasure Palace, against Osyra, we sent Pallegina on a behind-lines mage killing mission while the rest of the party sliced and diced the grunts. Very straight forward. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/ci/sylq2hs2k3pc.jpg On to the Raedric himself! We used our standards party fighting tactics here with one wrinkle: we summoned the adra beetle and let her take care of the backliners. What's the consensus on the adra beetle? Is it over-powered easter-eggy or is it a respectable item? It's always felt a little goofy to me- especially since you can acquire it so soon. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/4a/gf1lihtmbn53.jpg With Ashoka, Eder, and Pallegina engaged in melee, supported by flame bombs (Divine Marks and Sunbeams) from Cassia and Ogrnd, and an occasional spell from Aloth, this went quickly. There's only one man left standing in this shot. He didn't last long. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/8p/83d9aagvfaa7.jpg What's next? I'm not sure, honestly. Dyrford is the obvious choice, but my druid fighting tactics are still pretty poor. I'm open to suggestions. Would blind running White March 1 be a terrible idea? Best, A.

With you. Even on easy, the Sky Dragon is kind of a wall if you roll in at level 7 and don't know what you're doing. We had to take the peaceful route, too. The thing to keep in mind, I think, is that there is tons of XP available off the main quest line. I tend to minimize side-questing (rescuing cats from trees and such when the world is at stake never makes sense to me), so my three play-throughs were completed at 7,8, and 8 respectively, but I think most players arrive at that fight at much higher levels. It is. It's not hard, it's just different. As I mentioned earlier, my BG experience made the learning curve tougher, not easier. I had to unlearn before I could learn. I'm glad you're getting it! Sounds good! Will you be posting this one? Please do! Best, A. Btw, if you haven't completed the game yet -and it sounds like you haven't- best of luck with the endgame!

Wonderful! That's what this challenge is all about: sparking enthusiasm and facilitating communal fun. I look forward to next weekend! Cheers, A.

Ashoka: Pale Elf, Kind Wayfarer- Entry 9: Caed Nua The most important news from our party is that Ogrnd made an appearance on Extreme Makeover: Defiance Bay Edition. Ogrnd likes his new look. He feels suave and debonair. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/ot/9o1gglh5jk4v.jpg He intends to keep rocking it unless his namesake insists that he stop. Ok. Enough fashion. Let's move on to some killing. We didn't do much in this session. We stopped by Caed Nua to check out the renovations and then descended into the depths for some recreational spelunking. We finished up by murdering a few Doemenrl thugs. Easy-peezy- for us, at least: the janitorial staff at Caed Nua Hall felt differently. On Level 1 of the Endless Paths, we used our standard bulldozer method. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/fe/vamefbbjfvbv.jpg No real injuries here, save the confrontation with the Spider Queen. Pallegina's Firebrand made quick work of it, but Miss Thang did splatter us with poison first. We should have been more aggressive with #/rest abilities. Always learning. The bulldozer sufficed on Level 2 as well. I'm sharing this screenie just because the colors are pretty. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/ao/rcm1il2dpfm4.jpg We had a little fun with the level's final battle. We let ourselves cast here. Eder and Ashoka formed a wall, backed by Cassia, with Pallegina astride, wielding Firebrand. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/8x/lskmwdz7t9qd.jpg Cassia: Armor of Faith->Concecrated Ground; Ogrnd: Inspiring Radiance->Circle of Protection; Aloth: Whatever- it didn't really matter. Reviewing the screenshots suggests that we should have tossed a Prayer Against Fear. Pallegina looks frightened. In this shot we're on the verge of breaking through. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/pf/14arv22joe70.jpg Sucks to be this guy. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/j7/t9b2ubgze8x6.jpg Finally, the Doemenel thugs. After sending Pallegina around the scrum to knock off the ranged caster... https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/od/2qlj6orgoxas.jpg we converged for the finish. Like I said, easy-peezy. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/p7/p7k1esrabile.jpg (We totally need more mops, though. Brutish Warrior is on his way -again- and we'd like to make the right impression before showing him the door. Has anyone ever met that guy? Maybe it's just me, but when a dude named Brutish Warrior reaches out, I'm inclined to ghost.) Next stop: Gromnir's Castle Raedric Hold. Best, A.

You're joining us, Jaheiras Witness? That's wonderful news! I'm very excited to see a run from you! Cheers, A.

@Hulk'O'Saurus. Very impressive, once again! Your tactics were great, but the biggest eye opener for, personally, was that you fed your character from the inventory screen. I had no idea you could do that. What a time saver! That's awesome. Cheers, A.

The more I think about your approach, Enuhal, the more I like it. Opening volley to eliminate casters, two tanks, four ranged fighters at a safe distance: It makes sense. I suspect that I've gravitated toward my every-bum in the scrum, heals all-around style because I have very little experience with party based strategic positioning. Most of my BG runs were solos, and when I did party, I used heavily buffed arcane crews in dense teleport fields. I have virtually no experience managing positioning with a team. Acquiring that skill should be my next developmental step as a PoE player. I look forward to Liresh's next post! Best, A.

I'm glad we're on the same page. I was trying to be all diplomatic, because I'm new here -and I really, really, really appreciate your commentary- but what I was really thinking was: https://imgur.com/pn8mu9k , A.

Excellent work, Enuhal! I'm glad you're making progress! Best, A. Btw, why do you prefer arbalests?

Cool. These are the ones that I've considered/fiddled with. I'm glad I haven't been missing anything. Thanks! I've always prefered Shatterstar and Shame or Glory. We're using an upgraded saber now, which is ok, for the time being. Best, A

Yes! I'm glad it's still active. (One of us should make a local copy just in case it does disappear some day. I've learned pretty much all of it, by now, but it can be helpful as a refresher following breaks) I feel like it would be easy to miss something that way. It might be better to work from the categories of options backwards. For example, we could assign one person to items, one person to potions, etc. Each person could organize the entities in question by status effects and then we could build a list, like XYX's BG one. Best, A.

Ashoka: Pale Elf, Kind Wayfarer- Entry 8 Minor Quests in and Around Defiance Bay Lady Webb is clearly an OG no reloader. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/t9/4ukbpuyfucpt.jpg Anyhoo. In our last session, Ashoka and pals completed some minor quests in and around the D, including The Parable of Wael, Built to Last, and At All Costs. These quests furnished an opportunity to practice our party fighting tactics in preparation for the assault on Raedric's Hold. We don't have it down yet, but we're getting there. All of these fights were flat out slaughters. Ok! It's party time! Let's start with The Parable of Wael. Our opening now is Ogrnd: Armor of Faith->Circle of Protection, Cassia: Inspiring Radiance->Consecrated Ground, Aloth: Curse of Blackened Sight->Expose Vulnerabilities->Combusting Wounds. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/i9/j0sh8n5wbhoh.jpg Cassia joins Ashoka and Eder, bringing her Consecrate Ground with her. Ashoka targets squishies to trigger Strange Mercies. While Ashoka and Eder engage, aided by arrows from Sagani, Cassia and Ogrnd, both Scions of Flame, drop double Divine Marks, eliminating enemies one by one. Buffs are refreshed as needed. Aloth mixes in damage spells and reapplies debuts as needed. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/85/7acilxasfkb9.jpg Looks good. No damage here, save a few nicks to Itumaak. https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/tx/wszk3j6z11vf.jpg Let's try it again, this time in Built to Last. Opening https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/5o/fa2iq2rami7a.jpg Midphase https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/ei/9s9fbfx1e90j.jpg Endgame https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/mb/ifhdizjtq6yz.jpg (Again, Itumaak took damge. We need to lock that down. Aside from that, this looks good.) Finally, At All Costs Opening https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/7m/5g5vcp9sd3b7.jpg Midphase https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/d0/2paz8c1dk9xw.jpg Endgame. And chickety-check Itumaak this time- all happy and healthy! Remind me: What does the fox say? https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/w4/2jqdhm80kwzl.jpg On that fine note, we decided to part ways with Sagani and Itumaak. They're great. in fact, Sagani is one of my favorite NPCs ever, from a personality standpoint. Pallegina just fits the strategy better. Good hunting, Sagani! May you make your way home. And farewell Itumaak! We should talk more. Best, A.

Interesting, Boeroer! Your insights are always appreciated. It's a pleasure to have you with us! Those particular tactics sounds a little too far on the exploity-side of the spectrum for my taste, but I always enjoy learning about game mechanics. Noted and filed! Cheers, A.

Liberating Exhortation. And, yes: Paladins seem to be a very good choice- especially for novices. Yeah. I definitely need to get better at eliminating casters early. The old opening AoE trick is probably an effective approach, but I've always been unfond of that, even in BG, on style/balance grounds. Enuhal seems to use that method in PoE. Hopefully he'll comment. Agreed. One of the things I like about my party is that our tanks are so tanky that they can break engagement without meaningful damage. With deflections around 70 and DRs in the 20s, at level 5, the disengagement attacks are barely noticeable. That's allowed me to get things wrong and still recover. It's also allowed me to experiment without consequences. (I'd definitely like to get better at positioning and movement. That's probably my biggest weakness now.) Best, A.

Noted. And I understand. It's hard at first. No Reloading forces you to take a more considered, defensive minded approach to the game. Once you get used to it -and once you get in the habit of studying other no reloaders- it becomes much easier. Even so, every experienced no reloader has lost a character. There's no shame in falling: It happens to us all. We'd love to have you join us. In any case, thanks for your interest! I hope you're enjoying the thread! And best of luck with your current game! Best, A.

What are Gloomy Face and Liresh up to, Serg and Enuhal? Best, A.

That's how I felt when I saw Serg's inventory. I recognized about 1/10th of the items! Same. While I have completed an NR, we finished at L8, using a forgiving party composition. I still only know about 5% of what I'd like to. Like Gurney Halleck said in Dune: "Slow on attack, fast on defense." That's always been my approach. We'll see how far that gets me in PoE. (One of the things I like about that approach is that very few people take it. Consequently, you can find novel comparative advantages with relative ease. It also mitigates implementation error risk) The story is excellent. The prose is on the purple side, to my ears, but the narrative itself is great. Your actions do have consequences and some will be unexpected. When you read the epilogue after finishing the game, you'll probably be like: "Damn! Did I do that? I feel awful now..." With you 100%. Do you remember the passage from Twain's essay "Two Ways of Seeing a River," which I once shared in the Adventurer's Lounge. That's where I am with respect to Baldur's Gate: Now when I had mastered the language of this water and had come to know every trifling feature that bordered the great river as familiarly as I knew the letters of the alphabet, I had made a valuable acquisition. But I had lost something, too. I had lost something which could never be restored to me while I lived. All the grace, the beauty, the poetry had gone out of the majestic river! I still keep in mind a certain wonderful sunset which I witnessed when steamboating was new to me. A broad expanse of the river was turned to blood; in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold, through which a solitary log came floating, black and conspicuous; in one place a long, slanting mark lay sparkling upon the water; in another the surface was broken by boiling, tumbling rings, that were as many-tinted as an opal; where the ruddy flush was faintest, was a smooth spot that was covered with graceful circles and radiating lines, ever so delicately traced; the shore on our left was densely wooded, and the sombre shadow that fell from this forest was broken in one place by a long, ruffled trail that shone like silver; and high above the forest wall a clean-stemmed dead tree waved a single leafy bough that glowed like a flame in the unobstructed splendor that was flowing from the sun. There were graceful curves, reflected images, woody heights, soft distances; and over the whole scene, far and near, the dissolving lights drifted steadily, enriching it, every passing moment, with new marvels of coloring. I stood like one bewitched. I drank it in, in a speechless rapture. The world was new to me, and I had never seen anything like this at home. But as I have said, a day came when I began to cease from noting the glories and the charms which the moon and the sun and the twilight wrought upon the river's face; another day came when I ceased altogether to note them. Then, if that sunset scene had been repeated, I should have looked upon it without rapture, and should have commented upon it, inwardly, in this fashion: "This sun means that we are going to have wind to-morrow; that floating log means that the river is rising, small thanks to it; that slanting mark on the water refers to a bluff reef which is going to kill somebody's steamboat one of these nights, if it keeps on stretching out like that; those tumbling 'boils' show a dissolving bar and a changing channel there; the lines and circles in the slick water over yonder are a warning that that troublesome place is shoaling up dangerously; that silver streak in the shadow of the forest is the 'break' from a new snag, and he has located himself in the very best place he could have found to fish for steamboats; that tall dead tree, with a single living branch, is not going to last long, and then how is a body ever going to get through this blind place at night without the friendly old landmark?" No, the romance and the beauty were all gone from the river. All the value any feature of it had for me now was the amount of usefulness it could furnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a steamboat. Since those days, I have pitied doctors from my heart. What does the lovely flush in a beauty's cheek mean to a doctor but a "break" that ripples above some deadly disease? Are not all her visible charms sown thick with what are to him the signs and symbols of hidden decay? Does he ever see her beauty at all, or doesn't he simply view her professionally, and comment upon her unwholesome condition all to himself? And doesn't he sometimes wonder whether he has gained most or lost most by learning his trade? When it came time to choose between making the transition to LoB -and breaking BG further- or exploring PoE, I chose PoE. I think that was the right call, at least for now. I know, right? Sucking is fun! Yuppers. I've found it interesting to see us learn a new game in parallel. It provides insight into how we got where we are in BG-Land. I hording ideas, in part by creating a pleasurable social context to facilitate the exchange of information. You, getting to work on hacking the mechanics, the mad scientist, off in isolation, preparing to reveal his discoveries to the public. As I said, it's interesting. I look forward to seeing what you come up with! Best, A. NW: I changed the color of the copied Twain text because I noticed it wasn't viewable on the white backgrounded mobile interface.

Quick Note on Ashoka's Game: Ashoka at 5 Hi, all! I'd like to take a moment to share Ashoka's current build and load out, in the interest of soliciting commentary and proposals for future growth directions. So far, Ashoka has been built as a walking fortress capable of mass healing. Her defenses are very strong relative to the challenges that she's currently facing. And while her comparative offense is starting to lag, I'm comfortable with that at this stage of my development as a player. As those who have followed my BG runs know, my tendency is to think defense first and offense second. As a BG SCS/Ascension solo no reloader, that is almost invariably the right call, in my opinion. I'll acknowledge that it is less obviously the right call in PoE, but I'm inclined to explore that angle, at least for the time being. Ashoka's current character record and equipped items appear below. Character Record pg 1 https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/x4/mjnulle08zli.jpg Character Record pg 2 https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/ua/biqkkazy3hlg.jpg Character Record pg 3 https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/bd/lcsxexiqrhea.jpg Current Inventory https://us.v-cdn.net/5019558/uploads/editor/gq/zobas15mxjx9.jpg Our objectives at this point are to: 1) build a comprehensive defensive toolkit of scrolls, potions, and swappable immunity items; 2) use a minimalist approach to uping offensive output (while simultaneously increasing elemental resistance) by pairing Forgemaster's Gloves with Scion of Flames + Intense Flames + Potions of Eldritch Aim; 3) upgrade her go-to weapon: the main-hand used alongside the Outworn Buckler. I'd be particularly interested in hearing comments on: 1) her go-to weapons for use with the Outworn; 2) the comparative advantages and disadvantage of the approach I'm taking with her, specifically from a NR perspective. Thanks in advance for any and all comments! Best, A.

Thanks, Enuhal! (And, yes, you were right: they were pushovers- no worries there at all) Best, A.

Quick Note on Ashoka's Game: Leaden Key Agents are approaching the stronghold. Should we fight them off or let them sack the place? For reference, we're at Level 5 (with the exception of Cassia and Ogrnd). We just fought off the first assassin ambush with no knockdowns or significant injuries. Best, A.

Group project! We should compose an immunities and resistances database, for NR player reference, and for broader community use as well. How shall we divy up the labor? Best, A.

Good stuff! Knowledge of immunities and resistances is highly valued in NR play. I'm sure I'm not the only one who appreciated this. In the BG world we had a wonderful reference: the Immunities page from XYX's Spell Guide. It listed every status effect in the game and every item, spell, or potion that could foil said effect (in the BG world, that's a very long list). It wasn't 100% complete, post SCS, but memorizing that list was an excellent starting point to locking down your defense. Do you have something similar in PoE Land? Best, A. NW: I'd link the page to illustrate, but, sadly, it's no longer active. Someone really should have archived YYZ's site.

Noted. I just looked up the potion and, yes, that helps. We'll definitely keep those on hand going forward! Thanks! A.