omgFIREBALLS

My good sir, your grasp of this game's buff stacking mechanics is a treasure to this community and a shame to your ancestors.

Nearly fifty? H to the O to the W?

BG2 has a Dungeon-Be-Gone mod which lets you skip, as the author names it, Chateau Irenicus. I sure wouldn't mind one that let me skip Cilant Lis. Are you sure about comparing your checkpoints to the various BG titles though? You can always go back to Defiance Bay after reaching Twin Elms. You can't return to Athkatla after starting ToB.

Since nobody's gracing you with the replies you really wanted, I suppose it can't be too wrong to give other answers to the topic question. I'm not a solo player, rather a diehard merc manager who mostly picks up NPC's for their quests to generate stronghold turns, but there are some things I've noted. Spoilers ahead, as likely as manipulative words out of Thaos' mouth. Can't answer the Edér/Durance stuff with more than "sounds about right" as I haven't paid much attention to it - plus there is a lot to pay attention to when it comes to Durance. But how about, Aloth is involved with the Leaden Key? Or how about, Grieving Mother used her cipher powers to make mothers believe their Hollowborn children were fine. There's also entertaining dialogue like Hiravias asking Pallegina if she has a cloaca, and if she has pubic hair or feathers. Or how about... Edér: Sagani, does your fox bite? Sagani: Yes. Edér: Can I pet him? Sagani: It's your hand. Edér: I'm gonna pet him. And how did that go? Seemingly well, eventually.

I play slight variations of this build on all my priests. I like it when my priests can buff fast and hard. So I'd say the gloves and the flail are pretty damn important, as well as whatever is used to buff up int and dex. Garodh's Chorus? Meh. Your priest's damage is just icing on the cake.

I voted fighter. Some conversations (like with Maerwald or Wymund) that lead to combat force your watcher to the front. This means it's advantageous, however slightly, that your watcher belongs on the front line. 'course, if you go over the usefulness of watcher talents/abilities and also consider disposition effects for paladins/priests, it gets trickier. Also I could argue that fighter is a good choice lore-wise too, perhaps being durable enough to survive the ordeal that leads to the awakening (though perhaps it should be about mental durability?). Seems people are approaching the whole lore aspect as if becoming a watcher is a choice your character makes.

Thought of it... but never really came to something good. Maybe nature godlike pally? A Darcozzi Paladini paladin could perhaps fly (NPI) as a follower of Hylea.

It's strange that editing the value to false didn't help, because that's pretty much the key difference I see between a ToI and a non-ToI save. Anyway, try pressing F5 in a game that shouldn't be ToI. If that quicksaves, you're not on ToI. If it doesn't, you should get an error saying you can't quicksave on ToI. I'm guessing Val Doré is Gilded Vale (the first village you reach after losing Calisca and Heodan), and you say you can't go beyond that without dying (somewhere in the wilderness, I presume), which obviously terminates a ToI run. It might be a small comfort but you have many many hours of content left after that. It's not giving up a lot of progress to start over.

No, it cannot be toggled once you've started. At least not through the game interface. By default it's off in my games. This is the button: http://imgur.com/a/rjmMW It's possible some techy people can help you with this, but the game itself supports neither disabling Trial of Iron nor copying a character. If it's possible to do, it will have to be through editing the save file.

Are you playing on Trial of Iron mode?

My original post is very old. There's been a number of balance patches as well as White March I + II since then. You should probably request fresh answers to all my questions, or ask them again yourself

Came here to complain about something, and it turns out my own old thread was the only place except making a new one. Eh! Problem #2 with the same situation: If you don't agree to frame anyone but simply kill her, the only way to finish the quest is an [Honest] response to Kurren saying Lumdala did it. There is no other conversation option. I mean sure, you're telling the truth, but as opposed to what? It doesn't really feel like some grand display of morals or anything... the deed is done and there's a juicy reward with my name on it for the reporting of it. The reason it annoyed me enough to merit lowering my keyboard's durability is however, that until that point I'd been avoiding [Honest] responses like the plague, and this response alone got me a full rank of [Honest] disposition. Quite willing to console that away, really. Magran's flames burn your "also" to ashes, cur, and let it be widely known that you are so poorly endowed that on the rare occasion that you consummate with a woman, even an orlan, your seed will refer to its last journey as the exploration of the Endless Paths. You have naught but repeated my point using fewer words.

It beats me though that big HoF/Carnage nukes become more of a convenience than a necessity past say level 13 (which ironically enough is when you get HoF?), because similar results can be achieved with Charge (for burst) and Sacred Immolation (for sustained), from classes that I find a fair bit more durable than a barbarian. Fighty fighters are walking death sentences.

Much as I feel I have outpowered the fear of Triple Crown by now, taking most victories rightly for granted, I'm not eager to start basing my battle plans on "jump into the fray and hope you survive"

Ah, I saw the reasoning for TUB/Carnage OP-ness and it all made sense to me, it was really only the barbarian+dagger combo that annoyed me about it. Guess they broke it before I got around to trying it. While you're sharing your insights about squeezing max damage out of a HoF, perhaps you could offer some advice on positioning? I find it hard to hit more than say 4 mobs with a HoF... usually the mobs who decide to converge on my tank.

Thanks for all the replies. I've been experimenting with Gudansthunyr + TUB* on the barbarian, and while the hammer sure is delivering, I'm just not seeing any Firebug procs. I used to cast that spell now and then when I played caster parties, so I know what the visual and the audio are. I cleared out more than half of the Torn Bannermen and everything in Concelhaut's dungeon and I never saw it and never heard it. At times, I would check the combat log after throwing a big HoF but I'd only see slash and crush. Halp. Edit to rule out one obvious question: Yes, TUB is fully upgraded. * [Perception 13] But you said you wouldn't use a dagger on a barbarian. [omgFIREBALLS: Extraordinary Negative]

That's the one I wanted to dupe with the mold - not the skull - but can you really duplicate reagents? I'm just wary of sending more people into melee range, though that dual hammer idea does sound interesting. Thanks.

I'm attempting Triple Crown, and I'm having far more success with it than ever before. However, inattention has caused me some irreparable damage. My party is fighter tank (watcher), paladin off-tank, fighty fighter, tallbarian, chanter and priest. Having slain the sky dragon, I decided I'd enchant my Tall Grass right away. Only, I accidentally used those eyeballs on my chanter's Llawran's Stick instead. I am unsure how to make the best of this situation. I think at the end of the day, the rational choice is to suck it up. TG still has reach and prone-spam. I'll have the option to give my barbarian the Tidefall later when my fighter gets the hammer (much as I am asking for minmaxer input, I'm not giving my barbarian a dagger). Then there's the staff. My chanter does not bring the pain. Even should I commit to pushing her damage, I don't expect she'll get near the fighter. Committing would mean durganizing the staff, and this party does not want for uses for that steel (I've already used it on TG too). I looked at the attack speed invocation, but eh, I don't know that more attack speed is what she needs, or that she can even utilize it all. The staff has +20% already, durganizing would mean another 15%, and then 40% from the invocation, on someone wearing light armor... I admit attack speed calculations are nothing but confusing to me, would any of this go to waste? Does the best way of improving my chanter's damage with reach/range not involve this staff at all, superb or not? And can I use the Helwax Mold on Concelhaut's eyeball? Yes, seriously

I saw them, but apart from maybe the change to single weapon style I don't see how they are particularly relevant to this. Happy for that change though. Mostly I'm cackling manically about the 1/encounter Heart of Fury. That ability is a wrecking ball.

Thanks for all the input. Haven't decided between dualing Drawn In Spring, Bittercut or Purgatory, but at least it's now a narrowed selection. As for Reckless Assault vs. Vulnerable Attacks, do you all agree with Stasis Sword? I'm thinking if I respec to get it I might drop Persistent Distraction because with Sap I have a more effective answer to enemies that decide to target my rogue.

I'm not averse to going for CC but none of those weapons feel roguelike enough to me. Level 13 Abilities: Blinding Strike, Deathblows, Deep Wounds, Dirty Fighting, Escape, Sap, Persistent Distraction Talents: Two Weapon Style, Shadowing Beyond, WF: Ruffian, Vicious Fighting, Vulnerable Attack, Backstab I excluded Watcher abilities/talents. Wearing Purgatory and Misery's End, I guess Glanfathan Sneaking Boots and Rabbit Fur Gloves should be mentioned too. Thanks.

After a number of abandoned projects I've finally taken a melee rogue far and I'm pretty happy with her damage (and more importantly my ability to keep her alive). But why settle for pretty happy when I have you guys to make it even better, eh? Conditions - I want to keep the rogue feeling, so no heavy armor, no shield and no two-handers. Single or dual wield (also no ranged weapons) - She has max dexterity because I've never had a Watcher like that and want to explore the conversation options (plus it feels roguelike), which might matter for attack speed calculations At your disposal - The Helwax Mold - Probably every weapon in the game (eventually ), including Misery's End as I sided with the Doemenels - A sky dragon eye that Concelhaut is unwittingly keeping safe for me I've read about dual Purgatory or Drawn In Spring but it seems odd to me that TUB hasn't been mentioned in the posts I've skimmed. My barbarian isn't wearing that because no matter how amazing it is my barbarians don't swing daggers And what about Nightshroud? It's always gone by unused as my priests don't melee. Another dilemma I have is Vulnerable Attack vs. Reckless Assault. The latter looks better to me but I have to spend an odd-level-point on it, where I find I always have some juicy options, whereas the even-level-points aren't very exciting anymore.

So my party is level 12 and I've barely touched the EP... This is a recurring scenario. I'm now looking at suffering through ten-or-so levels of this dungeon before it starts becoming rewarding. And you could say, well if you went there earlier there'd be some useful loot for you. Perhaps so, but I can get useful loot elsewhere and usually with much more experience and variety attached than this quest-starved trash tunnel of a dungeon has to offer. Playing melee parties with AI turned on has certainly helped, but it's still a major chore. What's your family recipe for making the EP more palatable? Anything more sophisticated than "grab quest items and unique loot and make a beeline for the stairs"? While we're at it, is it technically possible to kill the Master Below before killing Maerwald? Obviously on a low difficulty setting as you'd only have access to chapter 1 quests to power up your party. Has anyone done it, and was there any special reaction from the steward?

Thanks. Benevolent +1, but if you're a Bleak Walker I'll instead tell everyone you've been merciless. What I've read here (which might have been changed in a patch by now) is that each kill adds another stack to the buff and another 20 seconds to the duration. What I'm seeing is the first kill grants the buff and consecutive kills don't do anything until it's worn off, at which point you get a new buff upon your next kill. Based on character sheet, not combat log analysis.

I've acquired them for the first time ever. I guess I tend to "out-prestige" the adventure. So anyway, I can't decide who should be wearing them... and I also can't figure out if they work the way I've been reading they do. Currently my barbarian is wearing them, but consecutive kills neither seem to add power nor refresh/increase duration. Here are the candidates. Rogue (currently dual stilettos): Could certainly use the improved defenses, but probably has little use for the attack speed. Not sure how all that works. Second best killer. Barbarian (Tall Grass): Best killer, but doesn't always have use for the defense boost due to weapon reach. May also not need the speed in the long run due to medium armor, though it wouldn't burn my eyes to use plate. Fighter (Tidefall): Third best killer. Needs the defenses less than the rogue but I'm guessing has the most use for the attack speed. +1 Benevolent disposition to be had.