Vagrant's journal, Building as OP crew as possible Options

[pekkae]

Welcome.

Playing like it was planned to be played. As I have some time on my hands until the end of January and it's like a lockdown here in Finland, what else am I going to do? ( I could ... read books, finish school or something else but ... oh well)

The rules

- No non-protagonist-related drops (no Necro's stuff etc.).
- Our Custom Characters get 90 points to divide among attributes.
- We have the tomes from bg1 to spread among our crew
- Simplified economy + we'll console in the trinkets we need
- No personal stuff, except for the NPC's we are using
(EDIT: - We learn all spells (so we lower difficulty when scribing scrolls)
(EDIT2: - Forging restrictions in place as well)

The exceptions

- We will most likely give our sorcerer (sorceress) the same bonus spell slots as other mages get. I don't get why sorcerers spell slots are not developing in later levels where as every other arcane caster's slots will. Though this will be at such a late stage that it doesn't probably matter at all.
- We have a few supplementing items we'll use throughout the game (described below).

****

Thoughts on the crew

I think I have this figured out.

We are not looking to survive the mod. We are looking to obliterate all opposition and in every and all possible encounters to milk away as many summons as possible to max out our rewards. Our plan is to once again do the demogorgon fight as fast as possible and then just dominate the rest of the way. Demogorgon with my style requires enormous spellcasting capabilities up front while enormous H2H capabilities throughout the fight. We'll try to construct our crew so that every character will be completely and insanely OP once they are fully developed.That's the way we like it. That's the plan. I'm not sure how it will work out. The 2nd thing is that we like characters who can fill out multiple roles, even though in some cases we lose out on some uber-powers.

For Chapters 2-3 we'll just take on rotating crew members so we'll ave as easy time as possible as we want to maximize fun while minimizing endless reloads & trying to figure out tactics. Or our tactic boils down to maximize strengths, enter, obliterate, repeat.

Since we are playing with a Vagrant we won't have a Necro with us. That means we could be somewhat more powerful in chapters 1-5 as plethora of characters are much more powerful than a Necro throughout chapters 1-5 (think: Berserker/Mage, Auramaster, Thief/Mage or even Nalia or especially Edwin). Edwin can easily wipe the floor with a Necro until chapter 6 (+2 spells per level, mirror images, II's). However, since we'll still need 2 spell casters and we absolutely need a sorcerer for early access to all lvl 9 spells, we won't bring Edwin along to spellhold. Most likely. And we want our supporting arcane spellcaster to be able to do something else than just casting, so Edwin won't fill that spot either.

****

Composition

We have our "tank" covered in Vagrant, who by chapter 7 will be better at tanking than any other character in the game. So no DD this time around though we will take one for chapters 2-3 but we most likely won't bring a DD around for spellhold so our tanking capabilities there will take a big hit. Gladly warrior HLA's won't be that far away once in chapter 4 but for a few key fights we'll need a way to survive. As the fights in chapters 4&5 are dominable with 2,5 fighters (that means 2 full fighters +a dual classed / multi-classed one), our plan of bringing along 3-4 full fighters (or characters who count as such under buffs) means we should be more than equipped to handle those encounters.

We are quite set on Vagrant obviously. After that it's Jaheira and Neera. Those are the locks. Neera because of the nice extra quest in ToB and also because she has great stats & personal item. Jaheira because we've never played it and we need healer. She's supposed to be great and she can fill out both "healer" spot as well as dish out huge amounts of damage in H2H (while buffed).

Vagrant is the best tank in the game and can deal & absorb an insane amount of damage as well, but we do need some help up front so we'll take either one of the ultimate damage dishers, so either Riskbreaker or a Kensai. I can't wrap my head around why RB is better than a Kensai, but I've had a Kensai / a version of a Kensai with previous runs so I'm really too familiar with it - I've done everything I wanted with it. Riskbreaker would be a nice change. That's the only reason we are leaning towards a RB.

We need a supportive arcane caster, so we'll do a custom thief/mage, who'll join in Spellhold. This character will fill out a number of roles, it can support in h2h and will fill out the role of supportive arcane caster. It can also hide in shadows and backstab. Yay!

Then it's just the last slot. We have 3 fighters already in Vagrant, RB ( or Kensai) and the Avenger (so 3 chars who can critical strike already). We have our arcane spell casting covered in Neera + Thief/Mage. We have "only" Jaheira as a healer so we have quite the doubts about our healing capabilities, as we are lacking a Necro & Cernd. So we would likely be looking into healing as well as H2H capabilities.

Pure Cleric's are out of the question because the dual classed version is superior in every way, even getting a 7th level fighter dualled to cleric pumps the cleric to a whole new level. So our choices boil down to dual-/multiclassed fighter-cleric characters where a character like Dwarven Fighter/Cleric would probably fit perfectly. Normally we would be looking into Fighter/Druid combinations, since it's easily and by far superior to the cleric-combinations but ... we already have that in Jaheira and I don't want two very similar characters. Also various Paladin's (or a blackguard for it has permanen NPP + immunity to fear) would be a possibility but since they are quite terrible as healers and lose out to a regular fighter in H2H, it will most likely be a smoother ride with another type of a character on board. And last but definitely not least is the Ranger/Cleric combination, enabling the OP version (where the char will get druidic spells as well). We don't really see why if druidic spells aren't enabled would anyone play that class, as losing out grand mastery and/or faster level gains hurts. A lot.

We are leaning towards the R/C or the dwarven F/C. The F/C could easily utilize staves until chapter 6 when it gets the warrior HLA's. It won't be any sort of a problem protecting that character unitl then. Also Rasaad could be an option.

So we would end up with the following, where last changes will be made in Spellhold. It would be easier if we postpone the last changes until chapter 6, but that feels a little bit like cheating.

PC: Vagrant
Jaheira the Avenger
Neera the Sorceror
Custom T->M
Custom RB (or a Kensai)

And the last slot (most likely) goes to;

Custom Dwarven F/C
Custom Ranger/Cleric combination
Mazzy Fentan
Blackguard (possibly Dorn)
Rasaad

****

Non IA Item's we'll use.

I think compliment IA's items quite nicely while not being OP (with the possible exception of Aegis of Torment)

Tymora's gift (belt +10MR, +3Luck, ch 3)
Black Wolf Talisman (amulet, +10HP, +10Resistance to Cold, +1 AC, ch 2)
Clasp of Bron's Cloak (amulet, +5 phys resistance, ch 3)
Aegis of Torment (amulet, +3AC, +2CON, +15HP, ch 6)
(Edit: we also upgraded the reaching ring to a version that has bonus spells from levels 1-7, instead of levels 5,6 & 7)

+ possibly

Amulet of Ilmater (amulet, +1 AC, +3 Saves, immunity to poison, chapter 6)
Sash of the Black Raven (for a monk, +2 thac0, +2 AC, chapter 6)
Heaven & Earth (mace +4, +2 str, ch 6)
(EDIT: ^We only used amulet of Ilmater)

(EDIT: If anyone is interested the item packs are "Item Pack by Daulmakan 1,8" & "Item upgrade mod pack by Westley Weimer v 4.0". In addition to the items up above they do introduce items that are completely OP, which we do not use & new ways of forging (like rings of protection +2 for 5k), which we do not use either).

This post has been edited by pekkae: Feb 23 2022, 06:55 AM

[pekkae]

GBU
the final battle takes 10 tries. The only difficult thing is keeping the good inspector alive. 2 regens are usually good enough, but for some reason the elementals aggro the good inspector all the time so even with 2xregen the good inspector is quite fast in a lot of trouble. Argh. Anyway, we block the 2 elementals from reaching the inspector and whack away. No milking, since we have to keep the good inspector alive and can't control her.

Suldanesselar
We clear first parts and T/M levels up. Great. Now she'll get her awesome superpowers as she'll get lvl 9 spells.

**

We go to Cromwell's to forge, but ... we just can't forge MotA. It just doesn't feel right. It just doesn't. It's cheating and we're not here to cheat. We can't do it.

So we forge supreme shelter, githzerai blade & cloak +2. Then instead of MotA we forge the De'arnise signet ring (enhanced) (again). We let go of the idea of forging MotA and revert Nalia back to where she should hae been the whole time, so (as an insanely powerful) F/M. With her enhanced ring + githzerai blade she's very very good already (we rearrange proficiencies for a little bit though).

And our gold drops to 200k or so. Dammit. We need much more gold, since we need at least Judgement Day, girdles of Lordly Might & Clud Giant Strength. And possibly Hammer of Thor as well if we're going to dominate the demogotgon Fight.

**

Suldanesselar
We come back and clear the rest of the areas.

The Black Dragon
It's quite meh. We prebuff to the max, enter, summon Clan Spirit + Greater Swanmay, a greater Yuan-Ti & Greater Djinn. Then we enter to whack. Nalia takes the eastern part of the screen, Neera stays out of sight.

Nalia gets the first greater silence. So she's out (contigency activates tenser's for her and she has foreknowledge + pfmw + stoneskin on cc with 50% hp) Neera enters and drops 2xsecret word on the dragon, then retreats. Summons draw 2 hardwood golems a little bit north, so Neera under alacricity just ST 3xLR + 3xLR + Greater Malision + SS: 3xPO + 2xPO and they are both chickens. The remaining hardwood golem is whacked by our fighters. Neera renew ST with Secret word + LR + Breach. Then IA's & enters dragon's line of sight. She starts breach but dragon immediately greater silences, so she releases the trigger. Fighter activate CS's (unfortunately Jaheira is a little bit away from the dragon) and voila, dragon is "near death" in half a round. It just gets "heal" away before it dies, then fit PfMW's. Bummer. Almost killed it.

We leave summons battling the dragon and retreat a little bit. Once Nalia runs out of greater silence she breached the dragon, we enter, whack and dragon PfMW's. Then we summon a little bit more (Anaconda's, Smilodon + 2 swanmays) and leave them battling the dragon. Once it's out PfMW's we enter and whack it.

Harpist's house
Enter. PC takes dispel & ADHW. We milk maybe 7 golems out of the GeG, the only problematic ones are the amber golems, coins & gems are gone in no-time.

WK Level 4
We milk 15 coins & gems out of the 3xelemental +2x bone devil encounter. Summons tank an elemental, PC tanks one and Jaheira tanks one. We whack the first elemental after 3 spawns, since 2 elementals are much more easy to manage then 3 (pc tanks & Jaheira tanks, that's it). Wonderous recall works wonders here (1st time we need it in the game), as we can get 10 skins back.

btw. Jaheira has terrible AC, we are not sure how to improve it. Maybe the staff of the earth will do the trick. We can get her to -14 or so, but not lower. Well, -18 with Shield or Archons, -22 with Aura of Flaming death and -24 with defensive harmony. Ok, maybe that's ok then. But we actually dislike dropping ac with spells. Shield of Archons is quite good though, but Jaheira is atm still lacking them 7th level spell slots.


Guarded Compound
They don't stand a chance, none. Upstairs we CC 2xtrolls + pfmw and instant IA. Enemies first spells are interrupted with horn of blasting. Then we debuff Sion while Jaheira drops 3x creeping dooms on the cleric & Sion. Trolls take skeleton lords, golems are turned into chickens. We have a lot of fun with the master Vampire (or ancient vampire or what's it called). Jaheira with SoA has non-dispelable NPP, ditto for Imoen (through pendant) as well as Vagrant (AoP). RB is behind the frontline with CF, since it has a nice range.

It's like a walk in the park. Ditto for the GeG, which is tanked by Vagrant / Jaheira / summons. No RvE regen's needed here.

Supreme Leader
Very, very smooth. We walk in Nalia (skinned, si:abjuration + goi + st + foreknowledge + tenser's pt (she has -27AC agains slashing)) + trolls tank supreme leader, as our spell protections will keep the leader a little bit busy casting RRoR's. The rest of the crew run to blacksmiths and clear the initla batch of golems. Clay / stone golems get instant death from golem slayer / cf. Neera IA's and turns one coin into a chicken and then starts summoning help for Nalia. Gem's don't last for long against vagrant wielding FoA, Avenger with Golem Slayer, RB with CF & Kensai with Staff of Rhynn (that's 25 attacks per round that do a _lot_ of damage). The fight is in control after 1 round or so & all of the constructed golems are dead. RB / Jaheira tank the golems, RB has AC of -28 against crushing so he doesn't get hit and Jaheira has 11 ironskins (+ 4 wonderous recalls).

We leave the blacksmith who's making gems live and milk 10 gems out of it, by Jaheira + Valygar and an occasional sword. Imoen + PC + Nalia whack the Githyaki's & take care of the spawning inquisitors. After we've milked 10 or so golems out of the blacksmith we accidentally kill it (again). Then we go for supreme leader. Neera gets PW:K'd, since a comet partially hits her and her hp's drop a little bit (as we're not that careful). We raise her almost immediately. She has 7 level 9 spells left though so we try to re-up through wish, but it doesn't work. It doesn't matter at all, it would have been a nice bonus, as supreme leader is tanked towards the end by a skinned clan hunter, regenerating smilodon, regenerating swanmay queen & swords & RB, Jaheira & PC. It takes some time but it isn't even particularly close.

We didn't even use RvE here. Very doable without. Two regens cast tough, one on Kensai once she took inquisitor 1:1 (and she used the cat figurine). And one on Vagrant at some point. And ofc we used regen on our summons.

**

Nalia is soooooo powerful. With TpT + Giant strength we can get her Thac0 to -10 with (-15 against demons) 8 APR (belm off-hand). That's really, really good. Alternatively she can use supreme shelter + foreknowledge to drop her base ac to -24 (so -27 / -28 against crushing slashing with a girdle).

Kensai is really, really good already as well (she has 8 critical strikes). She'll blow through most of the things in the game like butter.

**

Saladrex
Prebuff: skins, IH's, pff's on everyone. giant strengths for Imoen, PC. si:abjuration + goi + st + foreknowledge on mages. a few mirror images + blur's. Nalia takes tpt. Jaheira death wards PC, holy powers + giant strengths herself. Neera CC 3xTrolls on sight. Nalia CC 2xpierce shield + breach on sight. ST's breach + lr + something. SS's: gm + secret word + secret word. Regen on Imoen (from Jaheira). Cast RvE:Regen before we enter.

Enter. Summon greater djunn. Summon noble spider. Strip protections with Nalia's CC. Enter with full force. Breach with Neera's trigger. Then send in trolls. Once Saladrex gets PfMW up switch to nonmagical weapons. Launch Nalia's trigger. Switch to magical weapons, activate CS's for everyone. When Saladrex gets PfMW up switch to nonmagical weapons.

Saladrex is dead.

Demilich
Prebuff with everything + death wards. Enter with IA on mages. Turn golems into chickens immediately after they materialize. Activate CS on fighters (35 APR with natural 20 rolls means demilich is dead in no-time).

**

We forge girdle of cloud giant strength, girdle of lordly might & flail of defending and wounding ... giving our PC almost all of his awesome superpowers (we can get his phys resistance to 80% and he has 235 HP's atm.)

We're still missing a few rings, noble staff or air (/royal elemental staff), hammer of Thor and ofc JD before we do demogorgon.

This post has been edited by pekkae: Feb 20 2022, 06:15 AM