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

[Deraldin]

Yeah but he needs the healing spells.

 

That's what the cloak of the sewers is for! Shapechange to troll for regen!

[Pidesco]

2 deaths?? C'mon Tigs, try to be competent... You are the only thing standing between me and D&D greatness.

[Tigranes]

23. On the Merits of Potions

Click Here for Table of Contents

 

 

Last we saw the brave Obsidianites, and their bravest leader, me, we were about to enter the Planar Prison in search of good loot, XP, and also our kidnapped employers, in that order. But first, we cash in from the De'Arnise Keep, expending 12,000 gold on this beauty. With +3 THAC0 and +5 damage Gorth goes from a formidable archer to a ridiculous one.

 

Gorth: Did... did it say which hair of a frost giant it's using?

 

I'm sure they are cleaned rigorously according to industry standards and regulations.

 

Gorth: We live in a pre-industrial, pseudo-feudalist world and a guild-less market composed of eight shopkeepers.

 

There's your answer, then.

 

We buff up, and we jump in. This isn't going to be easy.

 

The setup is simple: Yuan-ti oppressors, gnomish (?) proletariats, and us, the Revolutionaries.

 

Nepenthe: We shall throw off the collars of oppression! Literally!

 

As usual, the two yuan-ti mages are the dangerous ones. Gorth manages an arrow fast as lightning before the contingency fires, damaging one yuan-ti badly.

 

TrueNeutral summons a fire elemental while my chaos spell does wonders, getting the other yuan-ti - a real coup. Things should be relatively easy from here.

 

A finger of death is fired at Gorth...

 

...but he makes the save.

 

Gorth: After the crossbow, I can save against anything.

 

We make quick work of the welcoming party.

 

We find the Wand of the Heavens, which is an excellent wand for priest classes dealing 8D6 damage each time - great for enemies difficult to damage by standard means. Of course, with the death of Calax, nobody in the party can use the bloody thing.

 

We also find the Boots of Speed, which goes on me.

[Tigranes]

Nepenthe: These are the collars that bind the proletariat to the will of the capitalist. But we cannot go on removing these, one by one; what we must do is find the source of the oppression. This is our task. Our revolutionary mission!

 

I assume there is XP involved?

 

SCS scripting goes a little weird in this area, since the thralls end up walking around firing all sorts of traps. Great for us.

 

Nepenthe: I feel... obsolete.

 

We continue carefully. There are gaping suction-holes in the ground that, should you step into them, will suck party members away into a mysterious location (re: a small room full of werewolves). We had bought Gorth two hundred +2 bolts with the rest of our money; he makes good by sharpshooting a series of enemies from distance.

 

More suicide.

 

Nepenthe: *sniff* clearly, they are choosing death over oppression, and in their martyrdom serve the Revolutionary Cause!

 

The Master of Thralls is some kind of discoloured demon, I see.

 

The demon brings two greater air elementals with him; while they occupy our fighters it Teleports Without Error and slices at Gorth. Smart of him to recognise his greatest threat.

 

We quickly dispose of one elemental and set about bashing on the demon, Gorth at a safe distance...

 

But the demon uses his Paralysis Gaze to disable Nepenthe and Azure.

 

Not good. The remaining air elemental sneaks up on us and starts chewing on the Held members, but we're too busy having Gorth run away...

 

The demon falls, but so does Nepenthe. The two now have one deaths each.

 

Our reward is the Staff of Air +2, which can summon air elementals once a day, and... insta-kill air elementals.

 

Azure: In KOTOR, you get strangely useful items before you need them. Pfah.

 

We also find the Mastery Orb. This is what we were looking for.

[Tigranes]

:oic:

 

I level up, but no sixth level spells yet.

 

Another Pid-Up.

 

We find the brazier, which we had passed earlier, and shatter the Mastery Orb; all around the map, text updates inform us that the remaining slaves, now clear-headed, are turning on their masters.

 

Nepenthe: For Revolution!

 

Of course, they will die very, very quickly, but I suppose they'll soften the enemies a little bit for us.

 

The experience of glorious revolution causes Gorth to become even stronger.

 

Gorth scouts ahead and finds the warden, wasting his seventh level spells on... his own thralls, as punishment for their failure.

 

Azure: Guy's never heard of three strikes rule, huh.

 

We stop at the corridor leading to the Warden and buff up. A Yuan-ti mage finds us, but that only makes it easier to kill in isolation; the Warden remains now our sole opponent.

 

Nepenthe charges ahead to trigger conversation...

 

...which is good, because the guy starts a contingency of Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting and various spell protections. It's an 8th level spell doing damage to all in the area - at our level, we wouldn't make the save, and it might be enough for pretty much a one-hit party wipe.

 

The Warden casts Power Word: Stun on me immediately. He is protected by Improved Mantle (immunity to +3? +4? weapons and below) and spell protections, making him practially invulnerable for the first few turns. We'll need to be careful, and-

 

Oh, bugger.

 

(From the graphic, I'm pretty sure it's a Power Word: Kill, since he gets us with a single, Casting Time=1 spell; clearly his SCS-augmented AI is targeting the mage with the low HP. It's a 9th level spell with no defence if your HP is too low - so we'll just have to keep out of his line of sight. Obviously, since our defeat was by no means guaranteed, we will reload.)

 

Seems the Warden's contingency spells are a little different this time, adding a Mordekainen's Sword - an independent, floating sword that deals significant damage, and is immune to many spells. Nepenthe is caught on the fringes of Abi-Dalzim and also blinded. Now, we will-

 

...bugger. The Warden runs up to us, catches me on the edge of his LOS, and it's another reload.

 

Solution: I stay back. Far back.

 

The Warden responds by walking into the party's midst and casting Sunfire, a 5th level spell dealing high fire damage to all around him. Gorth is taken out-

 

Azure: So much for the man with the million dollar crossbow, huh.

 

-and the others are in bad shape too; everyone quaffs a potion. (Potion Count: 4)

[Tigranes]

I concentrate on using my wild magic to try and cast Nishruu, who, as you know, are excellent at fighting spellcasters and cause them to forget memorised spells. (It's 6th level and I cant' cast it legitimately yet, so I have to use Wild Surges - which is why success rate is even lower.) We do succeed here. Meanwhile, everyone else gangs up on the Warden, though Improved Mantle still protects him.

 

The Warden has more high level spells, however. He mazes Nepenthe (8th level) - who will be taken out of action for something like ten turns, completely.

 

We shift our attention to the Mordekainen's Sword, while I succeed with a second Nishruu. Unfortunately, Azure too is mazed.

 

Fun fact: Nishruu can also cast a few spells. Fun fact 2: Magic missile is one of the few spells that the Sword is vulnerable to.

 

The Warden's Improved Mantle finally wears off, but as soon as we land a hit, he responds with a second batch of contingencies: Protection from Magical Weapons immunises him to all the weapons we currently have I think, and lasts a while as well.

 

At this point, though, the Warden too is out of high level spells. There is about ten turns of him attacking Werewolf-TrueNeutral, who quaffs potions to stay alive, as we hold out. (Potion Count: 9) Finally, the buffs wear off... (you also see the air elemental, courtesy of our new staff.)

 

...and Nepenthe returns from Maze. Quaffing a potion, he joins the fray. (Potion Count: 10)

 

And finally, ten potions and about three dozen turns later, the Warden falls from the Fire Elemental, which somehow survived the entire fight. We are victorious!

 

Our reward: a piece of the Wave, a legendary halberd. Anyone use halberds round here? No? Didn't think so.

[Tigranes]

Exposition Time tells us that Raelis Shai, the leader of the troupe, actually caused all this trouble, and isn't sorry at all. That's what we get for 'rescuing' the bastards.

 

There you are. The Planar Prison has been conquered, and the Playhouse is ours! We will return in a couple of updates with money, and will be able to begin the process of hosting our very own play.

 

TrueNeutral: I have an idea! Maybe it could be about a teenage boy who is a loner, a social outcast, intelligent yet marginalised, devastatingly charming yet cold, who one day discovers he, he.... IS A WEREWOLF-

 

No. Level up and shut up.

 

And Pid-up.

 

We cash in our latest batch of loot for these bracers, taking my AC down to 1; this should help improve my survivability. Pidesco can now cast 5th-level spells also, and we invest in a scroll of Sunfire, whose power we had just seen from the Warden.

 

The experience of watching Pidesco memorise Sunfire provokes Azure into a level up.

 

We finally have cash left over, moreover, for a Magic User License; we can now cast magic freely in the city!

 

Gorth: God bless systemised corruption.

 

While we are there, a Cowled Wizard named Tolgerias offers us a proposition, which we had to promise to agree to to get the full details: return the delinquent named Valygar to face 'justice'. His current hideout is in the Umar Hills.

 

Outside in the Government District, however, we receive another proposition: a small squeaky-voiced boy looking for heroes to help the community at Umar Hills against a strange threat.

 

I sense that we shall have a choice: to kill or appropriate this Valygar, earning our reward and keeping our word, or allow him to flee, while we focus on the troubles at Umar Hills. In either case, that shall be our next destination. The question: what will be our choice?

 

Vote, Obsidianites!

[Nepenthe]

I'd do the troubles in the hills first, from what I remember of the Sphere.

 

I'd forgotten how much I like this game.

 

(I won't keep thanking you in every post, but these updates really make my day)

Edited January 4, 2013 by Nepenthe

[Deraldin]

Updated Death Count:

 

Pidesco: 2 (Random encounter slaver, De'Arnise basement Giant Troll)

TrueNeutral: 2 (Random encounter slaver, Tanor the Hatchetman in sewers)

Azure: 1 (Greater Air Elemental)

Gorth: 1 (Planar Prison Warden)

Nepenthe: 1 (Greater Air Elemental)

 

I think people are screwed either way. Most of the hills quest line is pretty easy, but don't forget about Thaxll'ssillyia.

[Gorth]

Nice to see Nepenthe getting a comrade in (dis)arms

 

This fight is like reading epic poems. The Edda got nothing on this

[Azure79]

I knew that Thrall demon would kill me.

 

I actually breathed a sigh of relief when I got mazed. At least then I couldn't die. Did you pick up Pixie Prick+3. I should be a bit more helpful with that.

 

I vote for Umar Hills. Less Beholders, Adamantium Golems and demons.

[Nepenthe]

Did you pick up Pixie Prick+3. I should be a bit more helpful with that.

That's what she asked.

[Blarghagh]

I'm conflicted, on the one hand I'd say go to the Umar Hills first because it'll possibly allow me to survive longer... on the other hand, deaths are hilarious and the Planar Sphere is more fun. I don't know!

 

Then again, my character always wanted to see a dragon and if he goes to the Planar Sphere first I probably won't get to. Umar Hills it is!

[Pidesco]

Umar Hills. I want to live, not die.

[Tigranes]

I actually had to make you wield the Flail of Ages on one hand sometimes, Azure. It was getting tiring hearing you scream "MY WEAPON IS INEFFECTIVE" every six seconds. But yes, I picked up the prick.

 

Umar Hills it is. If Azure can survive for another update or so he should be relatively caught up in XP to start being useful. Pidesco has caught up, but he's still useless.

[Deraldin]

Time for a Pidesco or TrueNeutral death to random encounter on the way to Umar.

[Pidesco]

How are you building my spell book? A fighter Illusionist could be turned into quite a tank.

 

Also, note that there was a snafu with the image for my latest pid-up.

 

Time for a Pidesco or TrueNeutral death to random encounter on the way to Umar.

 

You evil ma --- boy.

[Blarghagh]

Time for a Pidesco or TrueNeutral death to random encounter on the way to Umar.

 

Can it be on the way back?

[Tigranes]

Pidesco now knows Stoneskin, so that's one point in his favour.

 

Pid: I generally tend to favour Evocation/Conjuration/Abjuration over Illusion/Divination/etc, as is clearly shown, which may be why you're not very useful at the moment. Your spell selection is pretty much making you a backup to Tale - e.g. later, you'll be the one casting Greater Malison when Tale casts Chaos, things like that. Happy to take suggestions.

[Chilloutman]

I was hoping to get into party during holidays, ohh well, I still have to hope that Pidesco will die soon and my blade epicness will make his turn. Nah just kidding, hope you will survive long man

[Azure79]

Come on Tigranes. Stop being productive and play some more BG2.

[Tigranes]

Apologies, school is back on and the pace will slow somewhat. I'll try and make it work by sleeping less. Always works!

[sorophx]

by the way, this thread is over 500 posts D:

Edited January 12, 2013 by sorophx

[Chilloutman]

Weekend behinde us and still no update? Tigraness is overworked plasphemy! This thread require update...from Tigranesss...with screenshots!

[Blarghagh]

It's time to get Tiggy with it.