Alesia_BH

That's helpful. Thanks!

Yes. That's the impression I was under. That's the only reason I was willing to take the Sky Dragon on in a quasi-blind attempt. I knew she wasn't terribly challenging. Despite some dithering, we had gotten her to badly injured before she even used her breath weapon. I'm sure it's possible to drop her very, very quick. A generic esotec, actually. By that point the game was essentially over. Aside from a few bounties and undead Raedric (all of which we were over leveled for) we didn't have any blind content ahead of us. The known content we were facing was likely to be trivial, including Thaos. The choice wasn't of consequence. I was happy with all of our weapons, save Eder's occasional use two-hander. For kicks, I decided to custom build a weapon for Thaos, with Superb + Kith Slaying + Damage Lash. Those enchantments alone add up to 12. There weren't any interesting esotecs that we could fit them on, so we built a weapon from scratch. It was fun and it worked.

Arcadia, Moon-Godlike Wizard: Sky Dragon Prior to this run I had faced the Sky Dragon exactly once. That was about 6 weeks ago in my first play-through, on easy (a play through that was, despite the difficulty level, far more difficult for me than any since). When we arrived at the Sky Dragon we were at level 7, which I, in my naivety, thought was a high level, entirely sufficient for the Sky Dragon, even for a novice player. I couldn't have been more wrong about that. We were absolutely destroyed. I didn't even consider retrying the fight. Instead, I consulted the Interwebs, in search of an easier way to Sun in Shadows. Once I found one, I never looked back- not until this run, that is. Heading into this fight I was confident, but nervous. I'm more experienced now than I was 6 weeks ago, but that was Easy and this was PotD. For all I knew I was marching Arcadia to her death- feeding her to an over-powered foes. That was possible. I just couldn't know. As it turned out, Arcadia, now at level 11, was eminently capable of defeating the Sky Dragon. But while I've learned a lot in the past 6 weeks, my dragon fighting tactics are still underdeveloped. By the end of the fight, the Sky Dragon would point that out. The battle begins. We take our buffs, including Bulwarks all around. We send in our tanks and call our summons. It's time to check the Sky Dragon's defenses. Ok. We can work with that. Deflection is high, but within reach. Will, too, is within reach. We can't see Reflex yet, but it's probably in the same neighborhood. The weak points are crushing and fire. We decide to go with Expose Vulnerabilities (Will)->Concussive Missiles (Crushing, Deflection) + Pillar of Fire (Fire, Reflex). That should work, although it's possible our pillars will miss. We also added tentacles for distraction and possibly a bit of extra crush (probably nor worth it). We land Expose Vulnerabilities. Our Concussive Missiles hit hard. We now know that the Sky Dragon's Relex is higher than his Deflection, but the Pillars of Fire remain a good choice for the priests. Some miss, but those that do hit, hit well. We're getting there. The Sky Dragon is at Badly Injured and we haven't taken a scratch. We're crushing this. But those familiar with PoE dragon fights surely see the problem: our entire team is on the same side of the dragon in a fan shape. That's a terrible idea! The Sky Dragon took advantage. What looked like an extermination is now a fight to the death. Arcadia and Alikae are down. Alena and Cassia are seriously wounded. Our tanks are fine, thankfully. Our casters heal and regroup. Now we have to choose: scatter or finish With the Sky Dragon at Near Death, we choose to press for the kill, maintaining our positions. Wrong call. Lesson learned: positioning must be priority one in dragon fights. We resolve to scatter upon recovery this time. But just as we prepare to heal, Pallegina ends it. Victory! My very first PoE dragon kill! And in a no reload on PotD, no less. Fun stuff! Up next: Undead Raedric! Best, A.

Yuppers! We'll open another thread in the PoE 2 forum when some of us are ready to transition. I'd prefer to have at least a few of us active and ready to post on the day the thread opens, to get things off on the right foot. I'd be happy to accommodate others on the timing. Arcadia is ready for export. I'll hold her in reserve until someone else is ready to go. Best, A.

Arcadia, Moon-Godlike Wizard: The Battle of Yenwood Field By the time we finished White March, we were ready to take on Thaos. I decided, however, to leverage our powerful party to explore some content that I had previously avoided out of fear: The Battle of Yenwood Field, the Caed Nua bounties (5), undead Raedric and, as mentioned earlier, the Sky Dragon. Of those quests, the Battle of Yenwood Field was by far the most enjoyable. This is a really cool quest, which I strongly encourage all our players to explore. If you haven't done it yet, do it (And, yes: spoiler alert!) We'll start with Gathbin's ambush at the Crate & Barrel. (I know, I know: It's actually the Charred Barrel, not Crate & Barrel, but I prefer to think of it as a bourgeois furniture shop, rather than a tavern- hence the name change.) This fight is barely (barrel-ly?) worth covering, since we were so over-levelled, but I've decided to share it mostly because I was impressed with the amount of punishment these blokes took. We opened with our standard buffs and then put everyone to sleep with double Calls to Slumber. Now, in reallife, I'd advise against doing terrible things to people while they sleep -totally don't do that. But in PoE, it's kind of fun. Adra beetle starts us off with a wicked Shocking Blast- 6/6 on crits. Not to be outdone, the priest follow with Pillars of Holy Fire. Cassia goes 3/4 on crits, but tops adra beetles max damage with a 95. It's fun to blow things up! To the main event. Here's our army: crucible knights, veteran troops, and crag ogres. We also have a full complement of 8 hirelings. I'm fair certain that I botched the dialogue based general tasks, so our numbers are thinner than they probably should have been. Now, I had no idea what I was doing here- I've never fought a battle even remotely like this. Our crew emerged unscathed, but I think I kind of butchered the army. I'll do better next time. We take our buffs and observe the evolution of the battlefield. Our troops have the enemy's southern contingent under control, but Gathbin is leading a charge to the north. We place our beetles in his path, to grant ourselves more time. We make our move, heading northward. Cassia tosses us a prayer against fear, to counter those war dog cries, while Alena and the wizards get to work, leading with Shinning Beacon and Call to Slumber. We went with party friendly stuff here because we have allies all over the place. Gathbin and his assault team are down. We're into the archer line. Alikae's Fireball does middling damage. But Arcadia's Call to Slumber->Blast of Frost works beautifully. 4/4 on crits, each for +100 damage. Alena bakes a straggler while the wizard turn their attention to assisting Cassia, who had been sent to reinforce our southern flank. Clean up time. Fin! That was a lot of fun! We could have fought better -I was vaguely overwhelmed by the scale of the fight- but our core crew emerged happy and healthy. I look forward to fighting this battle again! Best, A.

Understood. $50 does seem steep. Makes sense. Anyhoo, I hope you get PoE II up and running soon. We need our first Hall of Heroes entry! Best, A.

Arcadia, Moon-Godlike Wizard: The Forge Guardians Arcadia entered the White March seeking vengeance for Aotha. I was a little nervous heading into this fight, but, as it turns out, the forge guardians aren't nearly as fearsome as they seem. They may look scary, but they aren't terribly dangerous. Arcadia prevailed with ease. There were two distinctions between Aotha's battle with the forge guardians and Arcadia's: positioning and resolve. By positioning, I mean where were placed ourselves on the battlefield. By resolve, I don't mean the game stat but, rather, my commitment -as a player- to winning this fight and completing our run. Both made a tremendous difference. Since I knew to expect a fight this time, I pre-scouted the area for favorable terrain. We chose this cozy piece of real estate, with the understanding that Pallegina could keep our friendly-neighborhood forge guardian under control. We took our buffs. I don't recall which, exactly, honestly, but I believe we took Scroll of Protection + Circle of Protection + Shield for the Faithful + Devotions for the Faithful + Inspiring Radiance for the team; Arcane Veil for the wizards; and Llengrath's (potions) for the priests. The priests also kept their shields equipped for the duration of the fight. We had Bulwark potions at the ready, but we decided to conserve those after noticing that our Reflex scores and an already deployed Moonwell (over-kill) would more than suffice. A tentacle wall helped grant us the time and space needed to buff in peace. Ok. Let's do this. Our first objective was to eliminate the fragments. Call to Slumber from our moon wizard and fireballs from our fire wizards quickly achieved that end. Note that Arcadia opted to take her Llengrath's now, after casting Maura's and Call to Slumber. Sometimes non-standard sequencing makes sense. With the wall up, Llengrath's wasn't needed. Better to focus on disabling the enemy casters, and take the Llengraths later, as the wall comes down. Just one fragment left now. The priests will handle that one soon enough. Arcadia and Alikae turn their attention to the guardian, choosing a Pull to relieve pressure and Blast of Frost for damage. The priests eliminate the final fragment as the now seriously wounded guardians struggle against Alikae's pull. We've entered cleanup phase. Arcadia finishes with a Blast of Frost. Vengeance is best served cold, am I right? Next up, the Battle of Yenwood Field, followed by the Sky Dragon (my very first PoE dragon kill!) Best, A.

Best of luck with your poverty run, Semiticgod! (As an fyi, I'm working on a rogue solo, on Normal. We've made it to Defiance Bay. I'll refrain from posting until Arcadia posts are complete, though) Best, A.

It's the holiday season, and I'm something other than poor. I'd happily gift you a copy. If others would like to contribute, they'd be welcome to (absolutely zero obligation, though!) Best, A.

Arcadia, Moon-Godlike Wizard: White March (Continued) After a full nights rest, the game magically became easy again. We completed the remainder of White March 1 without further incident, save a few trap mishaps, two in Galvino's lair, and another in the Battery. The lagufaeth crews were all dispatched with ease, using Prayer Against Imprisonment, Call to Slumber, and AoE casts, among other spells. Ice blight risk was managed with Pulls of Eora in general, I find White March enemies gimmicky, but not hard for a suitably prepared party. Aside from the forge guardian battle, which I'll cover in detail, there was only one fight on the White Forge questline worthy of mention. Just before the forge, we had accidentally pulled two crews: a group of spirits and a group of forge defenders, with the forge defenders perfectly positioned to assault our backline. We addressed that by Withdrawing the priests, and letting Pallegina block the door while Eder and the wizards finished the spirits. The priests rejoined us for the finish of the defenders. Next up: the Forge Guardians. Best, A. Btw, apologies for the extremely sparse coverage here. I'm unfond of the White March and I have a lot of ground to cover. I basically harikiried Aotha because I was dreading doing catch-up coverage that would include the entirety of White March. Now I remember why. I just want to get this over with. Again, my apologies!

Arcadia, Moon-Godlike Wizard: The White March- Part 1 After our harrowing experience in At the Mercy of the Tribes, we pulled no punches in Hunter Brother, deploying our per rest abilities immediately. Next, we headed into the Endless Paths, seeking Solace. As per usual, the drake posed no threat. We were now read for Thaos, in my estimation, but there was one task left: we needed to avenge Aotha. As some of you may recall, my rogue, Aotha, fell to the Forge Guardians in an off-thread White March blind run. Whenever I lose a character, I like to avenge them. That meant the Forge Guardians had to fall, despite my ambivalence toward the White March. And so we headed north. Now, heading to the White March may not have been a terrible idea. The terrible idea was going before I got some sleep. It was now the afternoon and I still hadn't slept. Crazy, right? Crazy it was. and Arcadia nearly paid the price. Here we are, smiting crag ogres. At level 8, we were seriously over-leveled here (EDIT: Sorry! Picture missing!) These are extremely easy fights. Crew one fell with ease. As did crew two. And then this happened. Three party members down, with Arcadia fallen for the very first time. How did we almost fall to Darzir, after breezing through basically every fight, save the Fangs? Well, for the last few hours I had been half asleep. By the time we got to Darzir I was 9/10ths asleep. At first, I didn't realize we were even fighting Darzir: I thought we had one last batch of generic ogres to go. Worse still, after Darzir fell, I had thought the fight had ended, removed my headphones, and turned away from the computer, only to later learn that we were being jacked by canoneers just off-screen. Fortunately, I realized my error in time. Do you know what I did next? I went to sleep. Finally. It was about time. Arcadia would have thanked me, but she was so mad at me that we weren't even on speaking terms by that point. 9 hours later, we resumed our adventure, seeking vengeance for Aotha. Arcadia was ready. And so was I. Best, A.

Welcome, welcome, welcome, FNGRenegade! It's so good to have you with us! I'm very excited for Mithleans run! Best, A.

Arcadia, Moon-Godlike Wizard: Twin Elms- At the Mercy of the Tribes Have you seen Rocky Horror Picture Show? After jumping ahead to cover Arcadia's battle with Thaos, we now have to jump back, reconnecting with our beloved Moon-Godlike in Twin Elms. We're time warpin', ya see. Am I loud and clear Rocky? Oh, come on: It's not that hard, kid. It's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right.... And now we're here: Twin Elms. As you may recall, Arcadia had reached Twin Elms toward the end of an stupidly long session. I was exhausted. And it was beginning to show. The first slip up occurred in the Northweald forest, where I picked the wrong dialog option and triggered a fight with the Fangs Bright Bloods. I was expecting them to be pushover. In fact, I wasn't even sure we'd need our per rest abilities. But this party is not like most PoE parties. They've got some juice. The Fangs opened by knocking Eder and Pallegina on their keists. Eder was pushed halfway across the map, and to make matters worse, he was stuck in his inconvenient position. The battle had scarcely begun and our line had been broken. Desperately in need of buffing time -and with our beetles trapped in the inventories of our incapacitated tanks- Arcadia quickly cast a Pull of Eora, hoping that would delay the onslaught. It didn't work. Two Fangs made it through. We tried to reinforce with Maura's Tentacles and a second Pull, but that didn't work either. Our positioning was non-sensical, our actions were poorly chosen, and some of our characters weren't even acting. The Fangs were formidable foes, but my exhaustion was the real enemy. Desperately seeking a reset, we pulled back. That was a mistake. We suffered our first in-combat knockouts since the Temple of Eothas. Alikae and Alena fell, with Cassia having already Withdrawn. It didn't look good. Arcadia was all: By now it was clear that we had to stand our ground. Fortunately with Pallegina back in the action, we could do just that. Pallegina, adra beetle; Arcadia, Maura's Writing Tentacles. Ok. We can work with that. Cassia rejoins us behind our newly established line, while Arcadis dispatches the lsat line breaker. Pallegina frees Eder. The tide has turned. We prevailed. Arcadia was all: Actually, no: She was furious with me. But believe it or not, this session still had hours to go. And it got worse. Best, A.

Btw, According to Boeroer's profile, he's a computer scientist. If he isn't familiar with SCS, we should call it to his attention and try to interest him in creating a PoE analog. He seems to have the skill set and judging by the frequency of his posts, he may have the time. Best, A.

I've thought the same. Enemies in PoE restrain themselves. They don't use their best attacks: they use the best attacks that they can without being seriously annoying. I'd like to see what would happen if the gloves came off. A SCS type mod is a big project. We were luck to have David in the BG community. I'm not sure what the odds are of someone similar emerging in PoE-Land. I also don't know whether PoE scripts can be modded as readily. Best, A.

A few comments: It's a matter of taste. We chose Circle of Protection for the casters in the final fight, in the interest of saving a quick slot. The tanks, who we wanted to be on the other side of Thaos, away from the casters, used their own Circle of Defense scroll Thaos's Deflection is only high due to a buff, Shields for the Faithful. If you remove the buff, via Arcane Dampener, then his Deflection will be lower than his Reflex. At that point, physical weapons and a broader array of spells can also be brought to bear. If you have the accuracy to apply Arcane Dampener it's worth doing. We targeted Reflex first and then, after landing a Dampener, targeted both Reflex and Deflection, with each character using their best attack. The opportunity cost of one character applying a Dampener was more than compensated for by the additional attacks and more efficient attacks later. If you lack the accuracy to land a Dampener, then I agree: you're better off focusing on Reflex. Agreed. In our opening we had our tanks immediately break for the statues, maintaining spacing between them and from Thaos. We sent them off equipped with the items they'd need to buff themselves. We kept Thaos in place with beetles. Simultaneously, we had our casters run west of Thaos, reconvening at the maximal distance that kept them within buffing range of one another. With that approach, we were able to achieve optimal spacing, while also applying our buffs before any of our enemies could initiate attacks. Agreed. Thaos should be pushed into the statue ASAP. Once he's in the statue, the Headsman should be taken down first, to avoid freeing Thaos while a statue is still on the field. With that approach, the fight becomes much easier. Best, A.

Congrats! I'm so glad you made it! Excellent work! Best, A.

I'm reluctant to comment, since I'm unfamiliar with the space of possible ways of winning the battle. I only know how I win it. Given my approach, I'd want unbuffed defense stats of around 100 on my tanks, with buffed deflection of 120 or so. I'd also want high DR and Preservation. Build choices influence the feasibility of this. I'd want my characters attacking Thaos to have unbuffed accs in the 80s and 90s. I'd use consumables Coordinating/Marking and active buffs to get those numbers higher. In general, I'm inclined to see the Thaos battle as a trap of sorts. Most of the game rewards the player for attacking fast and hitting hard. The Thaos battle, in contrast, rewards resilience and precision (defense and accuracy). I'm not sure how I'd proceed, given your builds. I'm sure there's a way to do it, but whatever it is, it's outside of my circle of competence. Best, A.

Btw, Semitigod. I'm worried about your final battle, judging from the defense scores of your tanks and the accuracy scores of your offensive characters. I'm hopeful that Divinegon pulled through, though. It should be an interesting fight, in any case! Best, A.

Snowcaps grant +40 to defense against Charmed and +20 against Domination. They also grant immunity to Confusion. (In my experience, they're the exact opposite of psychedelic mushrooms in our world. Those cause Confusion and impose -40 to defenses against Charm...) Best, A.

Thanks, Serg! It was a fun battle for me, as a player. I'm glad you enjoyed it as a reader! Best, A.

We didn't get the option to scale up Thaos, since we entered the Court of Pentitents at L12, the original PoE level cap. We didn't reach L13 until we got to the final area. We took our last levels immediately before the fight.

Arcadia, Moon-Godlike Wizard: Victory- Part 2 It's good to have a plan. It's even gooder when then plan is good. In her fight with Thaos, Arcadia was triply blessed: she had a plan, it was a good plan, and it worked. That's the goodest. The Plan: Phase 1: As soon as the battle begins, send Pallegina to the Judge and Eder to the Headsman. Do this as quickly as possible, seeking to maintain spacing between the statues, respectively, and Thaos. While Eder and Pallegina race to engage their targets, have Alikae summon her wood beetles directly in front of Thaos, with the intent of absorbing Thaos's opening spells. Simultaneously, send Arcadia, Cassia and Alena to the opposite side of Thaos. Wait for Alikae to join, and then start buffing, opening with Scroll of Protection + Scroll of Valor from the priests and Llengrath's from the wizards. Follow with Circle of Protection and Maura's Writing Tentacles. Meanwhile, the tanks should take Llengrath's->Bulwark Against the Elements. Phase 2: By now the statues should be pinned behind virtually invulnerable tanks and Thaos should be knee deep in beetles. Begin working on Thaos, starting with Reflex, via Holy Pillars from the priests. Have Alikae buff for melee, while Arcadia works on lowering Thaos's Deflection with Arcane Dampener. When the Dampener hits, let Alikae engage, and start targeting Thaos's Deflection with spells. Knock him into the statue ASAP. Phase 3: Once Thaos is in the Judge statue, send the casters over to the Headman. Let Arcadia lay down a Draining Wall connecting the two statues. Begin targeting Will, via Shinning Beacon, while waiting for Arcadia to land an Arcane Dampener. Once the Dampener hits, switch to Deflection and finish ASAP, though without profligate use of spells. Phase 4: Let Eder join Pallegina in melee. With the additional +20 from Pallegina's Coordinated Attacks + Shame or Glory, Eder should be perfectly capable of taking down the Judge on his own. Bring him down gradually, layering in buffs as he approaches Near Death. End him when we're buffed and ready, but not before. Phase 5: Let Eder switch to his Esotec. Have him engage in melee with Pallegina at his side. Target Reflex until a Dampener lands and then finish by targeting Deflection. Be sure to maintain spacing at all times. Be sure, too, to refresh buffs as needed and break engagement when Pillars of Fire are en route. Execution: The battle went according to plan, with one notable exception. After the Headsman fell, I got a little over excited and made a positioning error. I also needlessly allowed Eder, Pallegina, and Alikae's buffs to lapse. Had I not made those errors, we would have emerged unscathed, with no need for healing. Instead, we needed a Moonwell. We'll get it right next time. Ok. Let's see it! Here's the opening. Pallegina and Eder have engaged their targets. They've taken their Llengrath's. The beetles are down. The casters are in position and taking their buffs. We add some tentacles. Cassia finishes our buffing while Alena starts testing Reflex. Alikae is buffed and ready for melee. Alena's Holy Pillar lands, albeit for modest damage. Alikae approaches, while Arcadia fires up Arcane Dampener. Meanwhile, the tanks are proving untouchable: no significant damage yet. The Dampener lands. It's party time. Deflection is open. The wizards hammer Thaos with Concussive Missiles while the priests use their Prayer Against Treachery and Bewilderment scrolls, just in case. Thaos jumps and the casters move on to the Headsman. Arcadia lays down her Draining Wall. The priests start working on Will with their Shinning Beacons. Arcadia lands her Dampener. The Headsman's Deflection is only 59 now. Alikae closes in melee for the finish, targeting that 16 v Piercing with Citzal's Lance. The Headsman falls, with a nudge from Arcadia via a lowly L1: Minoletta's Minor Missiles. Ok. Now here's where I screwed up. There is no reason for Eder and Pallegina to be right next to each other here: they should be on opposite sides of the Judge to frustrate AoE targeting. To make matters worse, I slipped and let their buffs expire, both Bulwark and Llengrath's. That, too was an unforced error. Worse still, I moved Alikae and Alena too close, putting them in range for an Pillar of Holy Fire cast. We've been hit. The damage isn't bad, but it is noticeable. We regroup, laying down a Moonwell. We ease the Judge down gently, granting us time to buff. We take Prayer Against Treachery and Bewliderment, along with Bulwark and Llengrath's all around. We're ready. Drop him. Let's do this. Eder equips the Esotec of Thaos-is-Totally-Going-to-Die, while Pallegina engages with Shame or Glory + Coordinated Attacks. Our spacing is good, our Reflex scores are high and we're running Bulwark. We're protected from Confusion via active scroll and Hermit Hat + multiple scrolls in the form of Cassia. Alena cements our Domination defense by activating Lord's Authority, insuring her Prayer Against Treachery scrolls will remain under our control. That's checkmate. Thaos is out of options. Cassia ends it with a Pillar of Holy Fire Fin! And with that, Arcadia's run comes to an end. Sort of: We still have oodles of catch up coverage ahead. I'll get on that ASAP, and then circle back to summary comments when Arcadia's updates are complete. Thanks, everyone! Please accept my apologies for the out of sequence post! I was just eager to share! Best, A.

Correct: WM1, but not WM2. I wanted to avenge Aotha by defeating the Forge Guardians. I'm unfond of White March, though, so I skiddadled soon after. Best, A.

Arcadia, Moon-Godlike Wizard: Victory!- Part 1 Ok, everyone! Apologies for jumping ahead, but I have some wonderful news that I'm excited to share. Arcadia has defeated Thaos! Hooray! The exciting thing is that this wasn't just a victory: it was a slaughter. This was my first time facing Thaos on PotD. Nonetheless, we prevailed with no knockouts and virtually no damage. The damage that did occur was attributable to a single avoidable error. I'm confident that I have a reliable strategy for the final battle now. That's cool. I've decided to share now rather than waiting until Arcadia's post have caught up for two reasons: 1) I'd like to post while the battle is fresh in my mind; 2) there may be some details here that Semiticgod will find helpful as he prepares for his attempt. So, without further adieux, here it is: Arcadia v Thaos. I'd like to begin by updating everyone on the party's status and abilities. Eder, Fighter (Level 13) Skills: Stealth: 0, Athletics: 12, Lore 4, Mechanics: 0, Survival: 9 Abilities: Armored Grace, Confident Aim, Disciplined Barrage, Unbending, Unbroken, Weapon Specialization: Adventurer Talents: Weapon and Shield Style, Weapon Focus: Adventurer, Rapid Recovery, Bear's Fortitude, Sanctifier, Deep Pockets Pallegina, Paladin (Level 13) Skills: Stealth: 0, Athletics: 10, Lore 4, Mechanics: 0, Survival: 8 Abilities: Coordinated Attacks, Flames of Devotion, Liberating Exhortation, Sacred Immolation, Reviving Exhortation, Sworn Enemy, Zealous Focus Talents: Weapon Focus: Knight, Sword and Shield Style, Veteran's Recovery, Scion of Flame, Bear's Fortitude, Deep Pockets Arcadia, Wizard (Level 13) Skills: Stealth: 1, Athletics: 5, Lore 12, Mechanics: 2, Survival: 7 Talents: Arcane Veil, Hardened Veil, Weapon Focus: Noble, Secrets of Rime, Dungeon Delver, Marksman, Hylea's Boon, Deep Pockets Mastered Spells: Eldritch Aim, Curse of Blackened Sight, Kalakoth's Minor Blights Grimoire: L1: Eldritch Aim, Minoletta's Minor Missiles, Chill Fog, Slicken; L2: Bulwark Against the Elements, Concelhault's Corrosive Siphon, Curse of Blackened Sight, Infuse with Vital Essence; L3: Arcane Dampener, Kalakoth's Minor Blights, Llengrath's Displaced Image, Minoletta's Bounding Missile; L4: Confusion, Minoletta's Concussive Missile, Maura's Writing Tentacles, Pull of Eora; L5: Blast of Frost, Call to Slumber, Citzal's Spirit Lance, Ninagauth's Bitter Mooring; L6: Arcane Reflection, Gaze of the Adragan, Minoletta's Precisely Piercing Burst, Ninagauth's Freezing Pillar; L7: Ninagauth's Killing Bolt, Wall of Draining Alikae, Wizard (Level 12) Skills: Stealth: 2, Athletics: 0, Lore 4, Mechanics: 11, Survival: 4 Talents: Arcane Veil, Hardened Veil, Weapon Focus: Ruffian, Scion of Flame, Marksman, Deep Pockets Mastered Spells: Eldritch Aim, Curse of Blackened Sight Grimoire: L1: Eldritch Aim, Fan of Flames, Minoletta's Minor Missiles, Slicken; L2: Bulwark Against the Elements, Concelhault's Corrosive Siphon, Curse of Blackened Sight, Infuse with Vital Essence; L3: Expose Vulnerabilities, Fireball, Llengrath's Displaced Image, Minoletta's Bounding Missile; L4: Ironskin, Minoletta's Concussive Missile, Maura's Writing Tentacles, Pull of Eora; L5: Call to Slumber, Citzal's Spirit Lance, Llengrath's Safeguard, Torrent of Flame; L6: Citzal's Martial Power, Gaze of the Adragan, Minoletta's Precisely Piercing Burst, Death Ring Alena, Priest of Wael (Level 12) Skills: Stealth: 0, Athletics: 1, Lore 12, Mechanics: 0, Survival: 7 Abilities: Inspiring Radiance, Interdiction, Incomprehensible Revelation, Weapon Focus: Noble, Dangerous Implement, Deep Pockets Cassia, Pries of Eothas (Level 12) Skills: Stealth: 1, Athletics: 1, Lore 10, Mechanics: 0, Survival: 8 Abilities: Inspiring Radiance, Interdiction, Weapon Focus: Peasant, Scion of Flame, Marksman, Deep Pockets (Phew! That took forever...) Ok, let's move onto the inventories. First, here are all the consumables that we intended to use/equip for the fight. Note that there is one error: the Duc's shouldn't be there (I neglected to take it out before taking the screenshot) Now the character inventories. I'll cover these in pairs. Pallegina and Eder Comments: Pallegina and Eder will be working as a team to pin-down the statues. Pallegina, who has crush-proofed armor, Scion of Flame, and a high Will score, will be taking on the Judge; Eder, wearing a Blunting Belt, will be facing the Headsman. Note that both have a Preservation item: Ilfan Byrngar's Solace for Pallegina and the He Carries Many Scars helm for Eder. Note also that Eder has Scrolls of Defense, Unbending and Unbroken while Pallegina has Scrolls of Revival, Reviving Exhortation, and Second Chance. As a pair, they'll be very hard to take down. EDIT: Ooh! One more thing: Eder's Esotec- that's a generic Fine Esotec that we enchanted with Superb + Shocking Lash + Kith Slayer. It's purpose built for killing Thaos. Pallegina, wielding Shame of Glory and with Coordinated Attacks, will be stacking an additional +20 acc on it in the closing. Arcadia and Alikae Comments: Alikae's job will be to insure that Thaos is always occupied, and thus unable to turn his attention to the all important priests and tanks. Her summons and melee book will be used to that end. Arcadia is on Arcane Dampener duty and Moonwell. She'll also be expected to do some damage a range. Additionally, she has one summoning item, in the event that Alikae is incapacitated and we need a quick distraction. Cassia and Alena Cassia, wearing the Hermit Hat, and carrying a stack of Scrolls of Prayer Against Bewilderment Scrolls will protect us from Confusion. Alena, wearing The Hand and Key and the Gathbin Family Signet, carrying Scrolls of Prayer Against Treachery, will keep us safe from Domination. The one Snowcap is for Alena. She's using it for the additional +20 v Domination more so than the Confusion immunity. Cassia will be handling our Scrolls of Valor; Alena, our Scrolls of Protection Ok! That's all the background information you need. I'll post the battle after lunch! Best, A.