Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy - Ch26 (Mae'Var)

[Gorth]

Whats with the obscured bits? Has this turned into Japanese porn?

[Deraldin]

Good news: we made it out of Durlag's Tower.

 

Bad news:

 

Hmm. Looks like Greylord and Gorth to me.

 

EDIT: Are you using modified spell effects?

Edited January 22, 2012 by Deraldin

[Blarghagh]

Ouch!

[Nepenthe]

Good news: we made it out of Durlag's Tower.

 

Bad news:

 

Hmm. Looks like Greylord and Gorth to me.

 

EDIT: Are you using modified spell effects?

Think it was me. I knew this would happen just when I was close to getting to lay my hands on everybody.

[sorophx]

Bad news:

 

dum dum dum~

 

the air just got thicker

[Gorth]

Bad news:

 

dum dum dum~

 

the air just got thicker

That's one way of describing a Cone of Cold

[Tigranes]

12. We At Durlag's, Part Three

 

With our newest members, Gorth and Wals, we stomp ever deeper into the angst-ridden halls of Durlag's Tower.

 

Stone Golem: Answer where blame has fallen.

Tale: Everything... is your fault?

Stone Golem: YES! EXACTLY! FINALLY SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS MY PAIN!

Tale: Whoa, hold on there. I didn't-

Stone Golem: It was my fault daddy lost his job. It was my fault he left mommy for an unsuccessful career as an oyster tradesman. IT'S ALL MY FAULT AND FINALLY YOU UNDERSTAND!

Tale: Well, uh...

Stone Golem: TELL ME I'M HORRIBLE! TELL ME!

Tale: Uh... you're horrible?

Stone Golem: SAY IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT! HARDER! LOUDER!

Tale: YOU'RE A HORRIBLE MOTHER-

 

We do understand you, Durlag. You were just a few black eyeliners short of your true identity.

 

For mysterious and totally not contrived reasons, the demonknight's sanctum is not accessible until we have completed the extended therapy session. Durlag now opens the way for us, only to find that some other adventurer's been camping the spawn spot for months. She's pretty messed up at this point, but gives us some useful advice for the battle ahead..

 

But first, the last trapped chest of Durlag's Tower. We manage to pause fast enough to let Sorophyx dodge before she expires.

 

The demonknight is one of the most powerful opponents the Obsidianites have faced thus far, and so we break out various spells, scrolls, potions and traps.

 

Nepenthe steps into its line of sight, but immediately fails a diplomacy check.

 

Nepenthe: My diplomacy only works on the fairer sex, I fear.

 

Yeah, about that. Now that Deraldin's bust, we're probably going to abandon the whole unrequisited virgin subplot. Just so you know.

 

Nepenthe: What? But I only got on this gig so I could get some hot stuff!

 

Mea culpa.

 

As the battle starts, Nepenthe strikes the mirror, shattering it. It conjures hostile clones of all visible in the room, but shattered, creates twisted mirror fiends that pretty much function as greater dopplegangers and assorted monsters... including a second demonknight.

 

We quickly retreat to the upper area and block the stairs with a wandful of monsters. As planned, the demonknights begin to face off against each other.

 

The real demonknight gets mightily chunked by the clone without a scratch on the party, and a few arrows later, the clone too lies dead.

 

Nepenthe: Truly, with my tactical brilliance and courage we have won the day!

 

Not quite. You see...

[Tigranes]

The greater dopplegangers, we know, are dangerous if left alone. We now face two - one on the bottom left side manned by Sorophyx, one on the pulpit on the top right. (The monster in the middle - I have no idea what it is, but it soon dies off.)

 

Tale: Come on guys, everyone on the dopplies. We should be fine if they don't cast confusion or hold person.

Nepenthe: GO FOR THE EYES, BOO!

Wals: Hang on, you've hardly done anything the entire battle! Why can't you take it down with your magic?

Tale: It's on greater invisibility, I can't target with any spells.

Wals: What about some more monsters, then? We can just pepper it from range.

Tale: Oh, come on. They're pretty much dead anyway, let's not waste consumables-

 

Wals: Great Persian Gravy! That thing's just about frozen my nutbags off!

Tale: Wait, why the hell does it have Cone of Cold? I don't have cone of cold!

Sorophyx: Greylord and the new guy are dead!

 

I actually don't remember greater dopplegangers, or even these mirror fiend versions, ever casting cone of cold. In fact, I seem to remember the mirror creating clones of the party rather than these strange fiends. Since I didn't install any mods I hadn't previuosly tried, and left out various spell related mods, I'm not sure what happened here. In any case, Walsingham was lucky only to be hit on the fringes, or he would probably have snuffed it, as well.

 

Thankfully, we're able to take down the dopplies with no further surprises. We have defeated the demonknight, and survived Durlag's Tower, but have lost half the original party in the process. Gorth is revived after his first death, but for Greylord, the Badass, it 's all over.

 

Greylord: *sniff* I'll miss you guys.

 

Greylord was responsible for a staggering 62% of all the kills in the party since day one - played solo, he would have amassed enough XP to hit 9th or 10th level.

 

But now is the time to look to the future. TrueNeutral, a rather severely minmaxed shapeshifter, enters the fray. (The portrait errors when you add new portraits while the game is running, but soon fixes itself.) Shapeshifters have some powerful, well, shapeshifting abilities like the werewolf later on, but cannot wear *any* armour. This should be interesting.

 

I should note that at this point, I'm using Ctrl+R & Ctrl+J to revive characters without bothering to carry all the loot back to a temple, and to avoid walking all over the place. In any case, the ghost of Islanne, Durlag's wife, sends us back to the surface; surely, a revolutionary dungeon design only rediscovered later with NWN2.

 

Durlag, by the way, is unable to see Islanne, his eyes clouded by his emo guilt; thus even though we are able to free the tower of the demonknight, we cannot free Durlag's spirit from himself. *poignant*

 

But what is truly important is that we end up with no less than 66,496 gold pieces from the Tower. We immediately decide to reinvest most of it on a fully recharged Wand of Paralyzation and of Monster Summoning. The reason is that we now have very little we need to buy from shops, and with 100 charges, these will last us until the endgame (and make Tale a little bit less useless). We do leave enough gold for a Crossbow of Speed from Beregost; with it, Gorth should over time be able to fill in for Greylord.

 

Tale: Hey, wait. You realise I'm still wearing a Traveler's Robes? You promised me an Archmage's Robes when we got rich!

Sorophyx: Quit whining. You're Good, right? I think Thalantyr at the High Hedge is Good.

Tale: Yes, I know. He sells the robes...

Sorophyx: ... but he's also wearing 'em. So all we gotta do is sneak in at night, lop his head off, and it's free robe time!

Tale: We can't do that! He's Good!

Sorophyx: That's the point, you idiot. We can't do it with anyone else, the robes are restricted by alignment!

 

Well... we'll see about those robes.

 

For now, our mission is to engage in a high-speed montage of wanton murder and destruction. Gorth and Wals remain at level 2, TrueNeutral has zero XP; we cannot face Aec'Letec or Sarevok in this state.

 

First up: the wolves that chased us all over the map near Beregost in Update 2 (or 3). It's debut time for our new wand of conjure meat.

 

We also stab some red wizards. (Interestingly, if you have Edwin in the party, they simply remind him of 'his task' then wander off, something never followed up in the game's canon. Open-ended plot design! From Bioware!)

 

We also oblige with the Gnoll Fortress, at least some of it. Step A: Charm Ogre. Step B: Ogre kills other Ogre.

[Tigranes]

Step C: Chunk Ogre.

 

Ironically, now that we have picked up the Gauntlets of Dexterity (Grants 18 DEX), all of our low-dex party members are doing the samba in the afterlife. It accordingly goes to Nepenthe, who is now a walking loot machine sporting a fiersome -7 AC. He will need to play meatshield for our junior members for the next little while.

 

But there's not that much quality XP to be found in the wilderness anymore, and the random encounters keep scaring the Obsidianites. We decide we are better off running various errands in the city.

 

As the endgame approaches, the city of Baldur's Gate has changed a little. Flaming Fist officers now chase and arrest/attack on sight, while rumours abound of Sarevok eliminating potential opposition in politics before his election as Duke of the city.

 

We are approached by Tamoko, Sarevok's lover, who pleads with us to spare his life, and leave open the possibility she might be able to help him turn back from madness. I think the comparisons here to Irenicus and Ellesime are interesting; with Tamoko, and later Sarevok's mage mentor (i.e. Gorion's counterpart foil), we see the sacrifice of those who remain loyal to or care for Sarevok even as he passes the point of no return; in BG2, we see Irenicus begin far beyond such a point, but ironically, struggle constantly with a part of himself he was never able to erase.

 

Sorophyx: We still get XP if we don't kill him, right?

 

In any case, it's time to storm the Flaming Fist compound. Sadly, the guards are pretty low on levels and XP.

 

Aided by Walsingham's good old British diplomacy, we rescue Duke Eltan and avert 'accidental' death by poison.

 

We also decide to pay a visit to the local assassins.

 

Sorophyx: Wait, so they don't even come looking for us now? We go visit their HOUSE so they can try and kill us?

Gorth: It's these emasculated city fellows. All about working from home.

 

This fight is potentially tricky, if only because half our party remains useless. We kill the first ogre quickly enough, but there are three other ogre magi that begin invisible and buffed up.

 

Remember the specialty arrows we'd purchased before? Well, now Greylord's bow and arrows pass on to Sorophyx, who first fires a dispelling arrow...

[Tigranes]

...then an arrow of Ogre Slaying. With all the bonuses, you can see even with an initial roll of 4, he hits the target.

 

We continue to hit bags of XP, and mostly, battles go quickly and smoothly. I believe Wals and Gorth hit level 4 around this time, and TrueNeutral level 2; still far away, but soon good enough to contribute. Here we take out Cythandria, Sarevok's consort, and recover the latter's diary - an important piece of incriminating evidence that will allow us to denounce him later.

 

The other MacGuffin lies in the Undercellar, a den of iniquity (and sex) where Slythe and Krystin, an assassin couple, reside.

 

Sorophyx: And now we have assassins who think they're funny. Seriously, there's a massive quality shortage here. Maybe I should open up a guild...

Gorth: Actually, they look pretty strong. We should-

 

Gorth{/b] -make Tale stand at the back a bit.

 

Take Two, we cover Tale and start beating up on the hasted Slythe...

 

But Krystin pops out of nowhere invisible, and takes out Tale again with a single lightning bolt. If he weren't the protagonist, that would be the third and final death for our resident wild mage.

 

Sorophyx: We should just lock him up in a cage or something, then wheel him around. It's not like he does anything.

 

The third time is the charm, though, and the assassins are disposed of. We recover more incriminating evidence linking Sarevok to the assassinations of the Dukes, and also an invitation to the ceremony at the Ducal Palace.

 

Tale: Remember kids, mirror image + minor globe of invulnerability is your friend!

 

We also take the time to pickpocket a certain Cloak of Balduran from a frightened prostitute. You see, there is an elaborate quest wherein a mysterious but powerful man commissions the heroes to track down the famous Helm and Cloak of Balduran. They do this by tracking down some adventurers turned into stone, extracting information, then tracking down the respective items. The Obsidianites, with their powerful metagaming ability, have now independently located both the helm and cloak. All that remains is to return and claim our reward from the man that never gave us the quest.

 

Sorophyx: In other words, you just can't be bothered screencapping all that, right?

Nepenthe: You know, I think he's just getting lazy. I mean, we used to get to say a lot more stuff!

Gorth: I don't even have a one-dimensional character profile yet. How will i know what to do in life?

TrueNeutral: I haven't even SAID anything yet.

 

Guys, guys! I've heard your complaints and agree wholeheartedly with them. In fact, I will act on them immediately! Just after we visit the questgiver, that is.

 

Sorophyx: Why after-

 

Sorophyx: -oh, right. We get to die here, instead.

[Gorth]

Greylord: *sniff* I'll miss you guys.

 

Tale: Hey, wait. You realise I'm still wearing a Traveler's Robes? You promised me an Archmage's Robes when we got rich!

Sorophyx: Quit whining. You're Good, right? I think Thalantyr at the High Hedge is Good.

Tale: Yes, I know. He sells the robes...

Sorophyx: ... but he's also wearing 'em. So all we gotta do is sneak in at night, lop his head off, and it's free robe time!

Tale: We can't do that! He's Good!

Sorophyx: That's the point, you idiot. We can't do it with anyone else, the robes are restricted by alignment!

 

Well... we'll see about those robes.

The last time I played, I'm pretty sure Thalantyr had Good and Neutral robes.

 

We need a Wand of Beef! Summons cows (the non-mad kind). Explosive Cows optional...

[Deraldin]

We need a Wand of Beef! Summons cows (the non-mad kind). Explosive Cows optional...

 

Well, there is a Summon Cow spell. I think it only works outdoors though.

 

And damn Tig! There is a reason why I only killed 10 things. Greylord killed nearly everything and Onur managed to mop up what was left! You've just been ignoring everyone else in the party in favour of Greylord.

 

I just checked my insanity run (holy crap, what the hell was I thinking going to the werewolf island) and they ended up much more balanced than your group did. Did Greylord have a solo adventure in there somewhere or was he kill stealing?

 

PC Ranger 40% of kills (Mainly bows)

Khalid 30% of kills (Dual Wield swords)

Imoen 13% of kills (Archery)

Jaheira 12% of kills (Meatshield)

Branwen 2% of kills (Crowd control)

Xan 1 kill (Crowd Control)

Edited January 23, 2012 by Deraldin

[Gorth]

I just checked my insanity run (holy crap, what the hell was I thinking going to the werewolf island) and they ended up much more balanced than your group did. Did Greylord have a solo adventure in there somewhere or was he kill stealing?

Well, this screenshot is quite telling:

Sorophyx is a thief. Gorth did 18 point of damage and he just sneezes for 7 points, yet gets the "kill"

[sorophx]

that's your envy talking

[Gorth]

that's your envy talking

Oh no, not at all. Everybody in this room knows who really killed that Ogre Mage

[Deraldin]

Sorophyx is a thief. Gorth did 18 point of damage and he just sneezes for 7 points, yet gets the "kill"

 

Yeah, but Sorophyx is a thief. He's supposed to be stealing.

[sorophx]

Oh no, not at all. Everybody in this room knows who really killed that Ogre Mage

heh, but in the end, when the trip is over and all the enemies are dead, we'll take a look at the statistics and nobody will remember that one Ogre Mage Gorth scratched with his toothpick, the numbers will tell the real story

[Tale]

I'll never understand how you're so good at this game. I may just be that terrible. I couldn't get through half the stuff you're doing without having to savescum.

[Blarghagh]

Whelp, level two and hanging around Sarevok's cronies. That makes me nervous for my wellbeing. Still, I can at least stand back and cure some minor wounds. Possibly mine.

Edited January 23, 2012 by TrueNeutral

[Oner]

Whelp, level two and hanging around Sarevok's cronies. That makes me nervous for my wellbeing. Still, I can at least stand back and cure some minor wounds. Possibly mine.

Those won't be light wounds, don't worry.

[Blarghagh]

Whelp, level two and hanging around Sarevok's cronies. That makes me nervous for my wellbeing. Still, I can at least stand back and cure some minor wounds. Possibly mine.

Those won't be light wounds, don't worry.

 

Still, I feel bad for replacing Greylord. He was badass, and probably the one keeping everyone alive by being a good offense ergo the best defense.

[greylord]

Well, that's how life goes, sometimes you're on top...sometimes you're REALLY cold!

 

You guys really do need to go to the Gnoll fortress and everywhere else now, get as much XP as you can before hitting the big bad guys.

[Gorth]

Well, that's how life goes, sometimes you're on top...sometimes you're REALLY cold!

Yeah, we got hit by a bit of a cold spell there (pun intended). I feel like playing BG again. Just finished installing the GOG version and various fixpacks and UB mods. No tutu or bgt

[Tigranes]

Well, the forum upgrade seems to have put this on the second page.

 

I've been super busy, but don't worry, we'll get there. Currently about to see if our mismatched party can take the Ulgoth's Beard cultists without dying.

[Deraldin]

Well, the forum upgrade seems to have put this on the second page.

 

I've been super busy, but don't worry, we'll get there. Currently about to see if our mismatched party can take the Ulgoth's Beard cultists without dying.

 

But... but I need my fix man! You can't leave me hangin' like this!