Whiteleaf plus mind grubs = fun times

[Jojobobo]

I've never seen anyone mention combining these two, so I thought I'd make a quick thread mentioning it (maybe it's old news?). For those of you who don't know, Mind Grubs found in the Luminescent Caves in White March part II offer high attribute boosts (+4 Per, +4 Int) at the rather terrible cost of being sickened (-10 Fort, -10 Will, -many other attributes further reducing defences).

 

By taking Whiteleaf at the same time, you're immune to sickened giving you those juicy attribute boosts at practically no cost (the cost being Whiteleaf crash - 15% less max endurance - if your fight lasts for 10 minutes, and slightly slower attack speed). Further, Whiteleaf can be pretty good against boss monsters already if you don't want scrolls of Prayer Against Fear clogging up your inventory and you're not happy to use Steadfast.

 

Given that the defences offered by the Mind Grub are pretty high because of the attribute boosts (+8 reflex in particular) I'm surprised no one has mentioned this combo before (I couldn't find anything searching the forum or googling the two). I got seven Mind Grubs when I cleared out the caves which is more than enough for all the big boss fights in the game.

Edited September 16, 2016 by Jojobobo

[Boeroer]

Nice!

 

I seldomly use drugs and food (most of the time only when going solo or when trying out weird/difficult party comp.) - so I'm not too familiar with all that stuff. Maybe this is also the case with many other players - so nobody (or only few) found this combo until now.

[Jojobobo]

I never really looked at drugs that much either, but Whiteleaf definitely seems to have benefits which outweigh its cost with or without Mind Grubs.

 

Something I didn't mention in the first post is that you can use the combo to easily hit Intellect 30 so long as you maxed it at character creation, and so double durations for all effects: 18 (base) + 1 (Godlike race or Old Vailia culture) + 4 (Gwyn's Band of Union) + 3 (Forum resting bonus) + 4 (Mind Grubs) = 30. Doubling any kind of CC duration is very nice and can make a world of difference in tough fights.

Edited September 16, 2016 by Jojobobo

[Boeroer]

And then use Crowns for the Faithful on top. Hope Grubs'n stuff don't get suppressed by it? 

[Jojobobo]

Just did a quick test, they do suppress unfortunately. As other spells like the Brideman Slew Thirty also don't stack with any kind of food, it's probably best to assume all those kind of spells will suppress food bonuses. Still for soloing, or just parties lacking a Priest or a Chanter, it's pretty neat.

[Boeroer]

Sure!

[K Galen B]

That is a nice little discovery, thanks for mentioning it.

 

I've been using a few food and consumable items & keeping some of the more useful-looking drugs, but using them is a bit awkward (unless I'm missing something?) and breaking my habit of rarely bothering with consumables in Infinity engine games is really tough.

 

I guess I should expect that from a 15-year-old habit...