Few-reload Anvil solo walkthrough, I will try to make it no-reload insane Options

[saros]

Editor's foreword (by Sikret):

Since we have thoroughly tested most of the things saros reports in this thread and have found most of them totally false and misleading, we would like to emphasize that the content of this thread is not reliable and can even be misleading for new players. It's worth noting however that none of the things he has written (not even one single word) has been deleted. We could of course delete the entire topic, because we are not supposed to publish false and forged reports about Improved Anvil, but we decided to keep it as an evidence to show how the game should NOT be played for future reference.

saros is playing the game in an illegitimate way with lots of cheats. Many of the things he reports are totally false and can be misleading for other players. So, those who want to read reliable information about IA, should not waste their time reading this thread, because it can affect their mentality about the mod in an invalid and misleading way. As he has admitted in one of his own posts, he is just playing the mod in order to prove that he can win it with a solo character even if it means using cheap methods and cheats.

Even worse than his cheats are his lies. He has reported several nonexistent bugs; for example, each time he fails to win a battle, he retorts by saying that the battle was bugged and such things. Improved Anvil's testing team has thoroughly examined all of his alleged bug reports and has found all of them to be false and fake. Some of them can be interpreted as mistakes of an unskilled player who doesn't observe the events carefully, but some others are so obvious that they can only be interpreted as deliberate and intentional lies.

The best way to tell a lie and make it believable is to tell a big lie and then say "everyone is welcome to test it for himself". This is exactly what saros does. Of course, everyone is indeed welcome to test what he reports and see that he is lying (as we did), but saros is counting on psychological effect of his words and knows that most players won't actually test what he says. I don't really understand what motivates him and what is his purpose of writing so many lies. As I said, most of the lies he writes can't really be interpreted as simple mistakes; they are so obvious that can only be intentional. To see a concrete example of his lies click here. Examples of his lies and false reports are really numerous, but I don't have any extra time to waste on composing a complete list of them.

Of course, at first, we decided to help saros play the mod in a legitimate way in a friendly tone, but he kept refusing to listen.

Cheaters never prosper. True winners never cheat. Liars are even worse than cheaters.

As a newer and recent discovery, saros had actually more than one nickname(s) here at BWL and had cross-posted some of his lies with another nickname as well. When someone is not honest, he is not honest in many ways.

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I wanted to do this, because of the screenshots I'm going to post in the new adventure, of the no reload strategies in chapters 2 and 3, and because of the fact I'm going to use fewer exploits this time. For instance, no more Amnish Patrol killing or multiple Time Trap laying or re equipping Eternal Melody will be done.

My current character is a Gnomish Lawful Good Figthter/Illusionist. Stats : 18(22)/18/18/19/17/4. Proficiencies: ** LS, **Flail, ***2Weapon *Quarterstaff.

For xp inflation I used spell erasing/scribing, several NPC sidequests and also a 'thief for hire', in order to disarm traps and pick locks for xp.
For saving money I used Aerie as party leader with Friends spell when buying stuff.

Quest order:

Circus Tent without talking to the guard(left for later). Also waited for the first two night time encounters in the Promenade.

Copper Coronet: Killed Amalas and Corvale outside.

Reached lvl 9/10

Killed Suna Seni on the way to City Gates. Web was the main offensive spell here. While Emotion is also good, I've found out that Web is even better in most situations for a well protected solo(meaning, save vs spells below -2). Web is a 2nd level spell(compared to Emotion which is 4th lvl), has shorter casting time, catches enemies immune to Hold and Sleep, allows saving at -2(compared to Emotion at 0), and also, if an enemy saves the first round, there is still the each round check(while Emotion has 1 check only).

Obtained some easy xp and cleared the graveyard crypts. Killed the next random city encounter enemy groups easily.

Raised rep to 15 by donating. Raised rep to 17 by exposing Rejiek and talking to the guard outside Circus Tent.

Completed Trademeet Quests(killed the Genies, they're easier). Also, completed the 1st Challenge of the Grove in order to obtain the Root of the Problem. Also, became Great Druid.

Fulfilled Tiris' quest(rep is already 19)

Using Aerie, bought scrolls and an Archmage Robe in Trademeet.

Obtained some more easy xp, like starting Firkraag's quests, clearing Umar Hills, returning Dryad Acorns, stealing a necklace for Mae'var, etc.

When PC reached xp levels 11/12, he joined Jan. Jan joined at 1.2 million total xp, meaning that each lockpick was worth 950 xp and each trap disarmed 2750 xp.

With Jan's help, I looted all of the available city areas, and also a small portion of WK previously cleared by my PC. Also, Jan looted many scrolls, items and gold, as well as 2 Permanency scrolls for me. He had (with potions) pickpocketing skill of 255, so he never failed.

I completed Mae'var's quest. Before that, with the help of Aerie, some items and scrolls were bought from Gorch. BTW, my prof points at lvl 9 and 12 went to Clubs.

I also completed the Fallen Paladins quest(20 rep), and gave Aerie the stolen Helm of Glory, in order to get max discount.

My Thieves guild turned out to be quite a profit. With the gold earned (roughly 4000 per week), and Aerie's help, I was able to buy each and every spell scroll available, and use them for xp boost. Afterwards, I was able to forge a Ring and a Cloak of protection +3. Laeral's tear necklaces are hard to come by, but I was lucky to find 2 as random treasure drop.

In between, I killed the rest of the Vampire nighttime encounters, by using ProMW and Improved Haste. I also killed Mae'var for his items, which didn't in any way affect my Guild BTW. Of course, then I joined Bodhi.
I also had to solve Jan's personal quest.

I also forged the Treefolk's Arm +4.

After the whole xp boost, I completed in the following order:

Bodhi's tasks (using SI: Conjuration in order to avoid Maze traps in Aran's hideout, and later Jan to disarm them).

The lower graveyard tombs, and also PaiNa's guardians(without entering the lair).

Neb's quest.

Belm encounter.

Several other Athkatlan average monster groups, like in the basement of Rejiek or minotaurs of Kangaxx for instance.

The Harper Hold quest(left intentionally unfinished for the Scroll of Permanency inside, and also for killing the Spectral Harpists).

Jaheira's subquests(both of them).

1st level of WK, all monsters and traps, without taking any of the holy quest items(left for later when I have a stronger PC).

Hendak's quests, both of them, plus Lilalcor quest. Bought some powerful scrolls afterwards from Bernard.

The De'arnise hold. The toughest fight was undoubtedly the one with the F/M Greater Yuan Ti and the Whisper Spider. MY F/M was already 16th level Illusionist. I used Improved Haste, Mordy Swords(random treasure drop scroll), and also ProMW to take down the spider quickly. The Yuan Ti wasted a Death spell on 1 sword, and faced 3 more. While battling them, PC cast: Pierce Shield(also random treasure drop, Pierce magic works too), Pierce Shield, Remove Magic(removed Mirror Image), Breach(removed other combat protections) Greater Malinson, Sequencer with 3 Emotions, and...that was that. Web also works wonders against him once his resistance is lowered and he has no Globe of Invulnerability to protect him.

The next 2 weapon prof went to Short Swords(at lvl 15 and 18)

Windspear Hills 1st and 2nd floor without Samia's quest. Due to high xp levels, PC had to face 2 groups of 2 Gem, 2 Coin and a greater Bone golems. Illusion buffs, ProMW, Treefolk Arm vs Bone and Gem golems, and Short Sword of Backstabbing against Coin golems, the fights were quickly won. BTW, Treefolk's arm is a great weapon against golems(and undead too), since it adds additional damage due to the fact that these enemies are unnatural.

Mencar's group.
This battle was easy for my 19/18 lvl F/I. Enemy wizard buffs were dispelled with Remove magic and Porky fell. Amon was lucky even the second time with my Remove magic, yet his Improved Mantles couldn't save him from Treefolk's arm great acid damage. My 3 ProMW(one from Contingency) were enough to slay the fighters, and finally I summoned a Planetar which killed the thief by itself.

The important spoils from this fight were scrolls of Ruby Ray and Improved Mantle, and Ashideena, of course.

Pirate's hideout.

The first combat move was Remove Magic, in order to dispel potion of magic shielding buffs, as well as coordinator's Mirror Image. Afterwards, melee, Greater Malinson and multiple Webs kept me well protected not only from Pirates, but from Mordy Swords as well. PC also refreshed Spell Turning once(anti Ruby Ray).

By refreshing buffs, and keeping Improved Mantle active almost all of the time, I waited long enough for Coordinator's SI and globe to vanish, staying at the same time as far away as possible from him(never approached in melee). As soon as his buffs waned, I summoned a Planetar out of enemy sight, which cast True Sight. With Coordinator's Illusion buffs dispelled, I waited for the right moment(Coordinator casting spell on Planetar) to cast Breach on him and simultaneously attack with both Planetar and PC. Still, Coordinator was able to waste one of the precious scrolls of Absolute Immunity, but another Breach and powerful melee strikes killed him.

Spoils from the battle: Spellstrike scroll, Absolute Immunity scroll and other items.

Sewer encounters: Rakshasa fell quickly(4 protections needed to be active: ProFire, ProMagicEnergy, ProMagicWeapons or AI, and SI:A). Tachnor and his band were relatively easy, mainly due to PC's many Improved Mantle spells and Spell Turning recasting against Gaius' Ruby Rays.

The Illithid compartment: I knew this is going to be hard. My PC was already lvl 20/19. I buffed well and drank a potion of Stone Giant strength. I killed the cleric, but still he cast his Storm of Vengeance. I retreated in the 1st room, after killing some enemies surrounding me(Umber hulk and Mind Flayer). Just in time I recast my Spell Turning. I activated 1 more ProMW and again cast Spell Turning. Enemy mage gave up Raying me. Afterwards I focused on the Assassin and the two Gem golems(they're the only ones with weapons of higher than +3 enchantment). Used my last ProMW and one Absolute Immunity to kill them. Killed the fighters afterwards, refreshing SI and starting on the Improved Mantles. Without his allies, the mage was lost.

Alohoon and his army: PC had 3 Impr Haste and 3 ProMW memorized, and ProMW in Contingency. In addition to normal buffs, PC activated only SI:A as spell protection(Alohoon has no Rays), 1 potion of Defense, 2 potions of Absorbtion and 1 potion of Frost Giant str.
PC opened the door and quickly ran on bottom of screen. Only Alohoon and Elemental golem followed. PC Rayed Alohoon 2 times, and afterwards used Remove Magics and melee to kill him. Afterwards, all of the Flayers and Ulitharids and Umberhulks fell, while PC cast Illusion buffs(ImprInvis and Mirror Image). The Elemental golem and his minions couldn't even scratch PC(with -20 AC and an additional -20 Crushing modifier), so PC calmly killed the minions, and when the Elemental golem stopped summoning, he was slain as well.

The most valuable loot from these battles were undoubtedly Wish scroll and Spell Trigger scroll. Well, that's for now. Going to earn some gold and Wands of Spell Striking via Wish...

PC created 4 wands of Spell Striking via Wishing, and sold/rebought one in order to have Pierce Magic option too(wished wands come with breach only).

Firkraag's dungeon: Conster.

By maintaining Spell Turning and ProMW active, PC killed the 8 skeleton lords in melee. Conster had a lot of Ruby Rays(five or more), and my PC's spell turnings ended, but even though Conster managed to remove PC's SI:A, PC's aura was clean and he immediately cast a new one. Spell trigger also helped, with both Spell Deflection and ProMW. Conster's first stoneskin was unremovable by any means save melee.

Samia and her party: this battle is ridiculously easy with sufficient Improved Mantles and Breaching charges from a wand. The battle started with PC(illusion buffed) activating a Sequencer with triple Remove Magic in the midst of the enemy while Cleric and F/D were both casting True Sight. The F/D was very quickly slain(because of his Creeping Doom which not only disrupts spellcasting, but on Insane also deals roughly 120 points of damage for the duration). Afterwards fell the Cleric, Akae, Samia, and last fell Ferric via several Breaching charges and Kaol.
On the body of Kaol I found the Robe of Vecna.

Afterwards was completed Paladin's stronghold quests. Firkraag was slain via a Wish TS&IA. This was a no reload victory, since, if I didn't get what I wanted, I simply left his lair, rested in the dungeon, rebuffed and went again in his lair for Wishing. PC was lvl 22/20, so he had 3 Wishes.

The Unseeing Eye quest was next. Here I made 2 reloads, but since it was because of game bugs, I still consider the game to be a no reload.

The first bug was when I fought the random spawn in the Ghoul lair. A Shade Lich with 2 Grandlords and 2 Lords appeared, and strangely, the lich cast a Ruby Ray which somehow disrupted my spellcasting for 3 rounds and I died. I checked, PC was completely immune to physical attacks, no text in the battle window explaining spell failure, no damage taken, spells which failed to be cast all had 0 to 2 casting time(ProMW, SI:A). I remember having this bug with Cowled Wizard battles on athkatlan streets for spellcasting violation.
I reloaded, the second time the bug appeared when the lich activated his Sequencer. Since, however, its Skeletons were already dead(for 4 rounds only), this time the spellcasting failure was not that essential, and things were normal again after 2 rounds.
A Planetar is a great ally against the lich: it lures the lich to use its ProMW, dispels Liche's illusions and also his Globe of Blades eventually removes the lich's stoneskin.
I have rarely noticed this bug before, because in my previous walkthrough I relied heavily on Time Traps and Time Stop when battling powerful spellcasters.

The second bug was with the Rift device. Since I left the sewers one with only one part of the device, PC was not killed. However, when I assembled it in the depths, immediately the 'sudden death' message appeared. Fortunately, I had a save before collecting the first part of the Device, and I reloaded.

Planetars are great vs Beholders, since their Globe of Blades usually shreds them to pieces.

Improved Lord Roenall fight: as strange as it may seem, several Roenall guards did not use their Arrows of Piercing +4 against PC, while he was protected only by Improved mantle and Stoneskin. The mage was slain via Breaching charges and melee, 1 charge went for each of the elite Guards' hardiness, and the lord himself was slain under a successful TS&IA wish. Since he was alone however, and PC had enough spell protections left, I think that this Wish simply shortened the agony of the Lord Roenall, nothing more.

Kangaxx's guardians were slain under this combo: Ruby Ray, Spell Turning, Spell Turning, Spell Turning, Summon Planetar(Planetar casts True Sight and Globe of Blades), refresh SI: A, wait for all of the Lich's proMW to expire, cast ImprHaste, melee.

Kangaxx was slain in the same manner. However, PC had a lot of Spell Deflections and Turnings memorized for this fight.

Demilich form: note to self: when facing Demiliches, provide some elemental resisance potion buff before the start of the fight.

PC cast Improved Alacrity. Then the fight was exchanging Ruby Rays(Kangaxx), and spell deflection/turning(PC). Gaxx had 7 or 8 ruby rays. Afterwards he started lowering PC's fire,elec and acid resistance. PC read carefully the battle text and drank potions according to resistance lowered. With Impr Haste and Treefolk Arm, the fight was soon solved. PC still had half of his HP lost in the fight.

Pai'na's lair was also cleared. A ring +4 was assembled, as well as 3 rings +2.

Currently PC is lvl 25/22, mainly due to the fact that in each improved battle, I prefer to slay the gated monsters first until the boss stops summoning them. This increases the difficulty of the fight to some extent, since it's usually unwise to leave the boss to do what he wants, as all bosses are dangerous.

I would like to assemble yet another Ring +4 and 2 or 3 Staves of Striking before storming the rest of the tough areas: WK lvl 1 and 2, Temple Ruins, Planar Prison, Lady Vania's quests, Troll Mound, Umar, Guarded Compound. PC now has 3 GWW attacks and 5 criticals, which I fear that may be insufficient for some of the fights. I think that Troll mound and Viper Queen are best left for Chapter six, together with the Cowled Wizards, Orcus and the Twisted Rune.

[saros]

I simply don't understand how this Treefolk Arm works. I mean, it's considered to deal additional 6 points of crushing damage(and has +6 THAC0 bonus) vs Unnatural creatures. Okay, so golems, undead, trolls are unnatural creatures, but elementals and spiders are also considered unnatural? What's more natural than a creature made from elements! Or a wilderness creature like a spider.

Anyway, some recent add-ons on my newest run through.

I cleared the Guarded compound with my powerful 24/22 lvl F/I.

1st level: No spell protection buffs on my character. Contingency: Death fog. Illusion buffs active.
The minor summons fell to the Death fog spell. The Skeleton Lords were next in line(under ProMW). Next were the Assassins, and finally, the Golems(with appropriate weapons:piercing +3 for the Coin ones and crushing +3 or higher for the Gem ones). No leaving of the area(or resting) is allowed until the 2nd floor is cleared, which makes things tougher here.
2nd level: Spell protection buffs were activated(Turning, Deflection, SI:A). With refreshed ImprHaste and illusion buffs, PC entered the 2nd floor. With 3 Absolute Immunities, Critical Strikes, and refreshing Spell Turnings in between, were killed the Skeleton Lords and Golems, as well as the cleric. Afterwards, PC calmly switched to the 6 memoried Improved Mantle spells, which were absolutely sufficient to end the fight. Breach charges took care of enemy Hardinesses. Sion tried to surprise me with a mid-battle Ruby Ray sequence, but I had 2 more Spell Turnings and 2 more SI to counter this.

The Greater Elemental Golem was left for later. I always feel more secure when battling these under Time Stop, so he'll have to wait until Chapter 6.

The Planar Sphere provided my PC with a nice xp boost, due to the 3 random Golem encounters. The fights were relatively easy for my high level character. The 'spellcasting failure' bug, described previously, this time affected my Planetar in Tolgeras' fight.
The thing which Shadan explained, with Unholy Word being cast by enemy Dark Planetars, may explain other spellcasting failures, but in this particular case, my Planetar was summoned after the enemy Dark Planetar was slain. Besides, Planetars(or Dark Planetars) should not have Holy or Unholy word anymore, due to their modifications. Otherwise, it's monster cheating: they summon the old and powerful Planetars, while PC is limited to the new and weaker version.
If this 'Unholy Word' theory proves to be right, then it is the Neutral Aligned characters that are most fitted for completing IA solo, since they *have* to be unaffected by both Holy and Unholy Word efffects.

Borinal and his Amber golem were slain in the name of Lathander as well.

PC is currently lvl 28/24, and has just assembled the Girdle of Lordly Might, which eases most fights immensely.

This post has been edited by saros: Sep 12 2008, 08:18 AM

[saros]

I...decided to start a new no-reload, to test the Unholy Word theory in practice. Here's my character sheet before Suna Seni:



And during that battle



Current adventures: nothing very frightening really, since I focused on completing all unmodded minor quests and fights. After all of this, including scroll erasing/rewriting boost, my PC was with 2 970 000 xp for each of his levels (lvl 18/16 F/I). I was also extremely lucky with random scroll drop, and got Globe of Invulnerability, Pierce Shield, as well as Spell Trap. No Mordy Swords this time, however.
Belm was also obtained: nice xp boost, and the weapon is much needed for a fighter.
Unfortunately, this time I assembled only 3 Laeral's tear necklaces total, so the Cloak my PC's currently wearing is +2 only. The ring is +3 so far, and the other ring is of Wizardry (Jaheira's quest).

Greater Yuan Ti in De'Arnise keep was killed with triple Pierce shield, followed by Greater Malinson, Breach, Web, Web, Breach for his Contingency: Stoneskin, melee.
PC had only Blur active(as illusion buff) in this fight. I don't know if in a party, multiple Blur spells will trigger enemy True Sight casting, but for a solo, Blur alone does not trigger True Sight cast. Mirror Image or Invisibility of any kind, however, will. So, as a result, Greater Yuan Ti didn't waste even one of his True Sight scrolls in this fight.

Afterwards I completed the sewer quests, as well as Slaver's compound. In the Lilalcor's quest, ProMW helped immensely. Against rats, Crushing damage from the club was effective. Vs the Shadow Lover, a +3 long sword created with the Enchanted Weapon spell was very good. In the Slaver Compound, most enemies use Normal Weapons, so Protection from Normal Weapons does wonders. Illusion buffs are unreliable, since the enemy Cleric has True Sight as a prebuff. The enemy mage does not have combat protections, except for Stoneskin, so he's an easy melee target. Again, Greater Malinson&Web took care of all fighters and assassins, including Captain Haegan.

The 2nd floor of Firkraag's dungeon gave me a nice xp boost, with the golems and all. PC reached lvl 20/18.

Mencar and his gang were killed very easily this time... PC charged Amon while he was still neutral and casting Prot from Fire. Mencar gave his speech, PC answered : "All right, I'm leaving" and continued pounding Amon, and...he died. The rest turned red when I started hitting Porky. Even with their mage, they're easy targets. With him gone... Just one thing. The thief, when all alone, doesn't rush in melee in this case. He stays hidden under Invisibility potions. This may cause a bug, since PC cannot leave the area while there is even one enemy alive. And if PC haven't got True Sight, he's stuck on this floor, until enemy Invisibility runs out... Fortunately, in this case, PC had 4 True Sight scrolls, and a Summon Planetar spell. The Planetar has 3 True Sight spells and also can see invisible units...

Pirate Hideout: Spell protections all active: Spell Turning/Defl/Trap, Globe of Invulnerability, SI: A, ProMW in Contingency, great combat capabilities with DUHM and Impr Haste, Treefolk's Arm main and Belm off hand. Fight started with Remove Magic, which removed Potion of Magic Shielding effect, as well as Coordinator's Mirror Image.

Fight continued with melee, with 1 Improved Mantle spell and 2 Breaches which helped to kill the Pirate Captain (he activated 2 Hardinesses)

The summons (2 Swords and 2 Skeleton Warriors) were slain in melee. Should've memorized a Death Fog spell... GoI protected PC from Coordinator's fourth level spells (Emotion, Greater Malinson, etc).

SI: A was refreshed. Coordinator's buffs expired. PC summoned a Planetar out of his sight. Planetar cast True Sight.:

PC refreshed his Impr Haste and cast his second DUHM. Planetar activated his buffs while the Coordinator wasted some Magic Missiles and Acid Arrows on him.
PC cast Breach from a scroll while Coordinator was casting Acid Arrow. PC and Planetar rushed forward, and with another Breach from a scroll, killed the Coordinator. He managed to activate 2 Absolute Immunity scrolls though, leaving me with 2 only as spoils from this fight.

The sewer party. PC buffed again with spell protections. ProMW triggered from a Contingency. PC quickly slew the clerics and Ganchobar. Illusion buffs bought me a round, when all around me were casting True Sight.

Meanwhile Gaius activated 2 Ruby Rays, removing my Spell Trap and Turning. I activated 2 Rays of my own, removing his spell protections, while also killed Draug Fea. Improved Mantles kept me protected, while I slew Tachor with the help of 2 Breaches.
I refreshed SI:A, but Gaius punched through my Stoneskin, hitting me once. I refreshed the Skin and cast Improved Mantle. Afterwards, with Breaches from a scroll, I killed Gajus. His Improved Mantles didn't protect him vs Treefolk's arm.

My next move was using Jan to disarm&unlock the containers and all in some newly cleansed areas, like WK 1st level, Windspear Hills, Graveyard's lower tombs, Slaver Compound, Sewer levels 1,2 and 3. Some minor quests were fulfilled and some lower enemies like Pai'na were defeated. Most notable was Conster. He had five Ruby Rays of Reversal, but this was not enough.

After fulfilling all of these minor events, PC found a fourth Laeral's tear necklace, thus forging the Cloak of Protection +3. In addition, all of the vanilla Paladin Stronghold quests were completed, except for the last one, killing Firkraag.

Kangaxx's guardians were slain as well.

Finally, PC reached lvl 22/20, thus adding an extra sixth and ninth level spell slot to his arsenal. Now, he stormed the Mind Flayer sewer area:

For the first battle, Mirror Image and Improved Invisibility were activated, in additon to normal buffing, plus a potion of Frost Giant Str and DUHM of course.

Illusion buffs bought PC 2 rounds. First the Cleric's true sight was interrupted in melee. The mage cast ProMW from a scroll, and on the 2nd round, when the cleric was already dead, he cast True Sight.
If PC is not running illusion buffs, the cleric starts with Storm of Vengeance right away.

Afterwards, were slain: the Deva, an Umber Hulk, and the Assassin(he has a dagger +4). Apparently the Assassin has very good resistances, but they were insufficient.

ProMW were kept running at all times so far. Seems like it was a mistake, I should've switched to Absolute Immunities, since the Fighters around attack with magical and normal weapons as well. But at least Gem Golems didn't punch through. My 4 running Spell protections were sufficient to absorb enemy Ruby Rays. Golems and Mind Flayer were slain.

Afterwards the Fighters actually removed my Stoneskin and even hit me once with a normal weapon. I was out of ProMW nonetheless and activated Improved Mantle(five memorized). These lasted until the end of the fight.
The Fighters were slain next. The Mage, although powerful, could not resist PC's attacks and spell/combat removal spells. His Hardinesses were removed via Breach. His ProMW scrolls were already used(since most of the fight he stood by me, and this triggers combat protective scroll reading, in this case ProMW). Needless to say, I refreshed SI: A once and ImprHaste once as well.

Alohoon and his meager army were slain in this order. First Alohoon(Blur only active before slaying him), via 3 Ruby Rays, Remove Magic, melee. In between were also killed 2 Mind flayers, and the Remove Magics also helped vs one of the Ulitharids. PC kept ProMW active at all times.

Next in line were the weaker monsters: Flayers and Umberulks, in the meantime PC consumed 2 potions of Absorbtion.

Afterwards, illusion buffs were activated.

With this amazing AC, no golem could hit PC. PC had 3 more ImprHaste spells memorized(in this particular fight, for protection, ProMEnergy is unnecessary: I rely on Minor Globe of Invulnerability and Pro FireColdAcidElec, since Alohoon doesn't have Horrid Wiltings). Plus, Alohoon has no Ruby Rays, so spell protections are useless, save from SI: A: Alohoon has remove magic spells. Breach is useless as well, since Alohoon is immune to it, but Remove magic is good, and even if it doesn't work, Alohoon has no Protection from Magic Weapon or similar spells at his disposal, so melee kills him outright.

The golems could hit PC only via Critical strikes. So, PC took his time and killed all of the summoned golems(a total of six), and finally, the Elemental golem(he stopped gating more).

Sorry, I cannot post more links to screenshots (or actual screenshots).

With a little Wishing, PC got 2 wands of Spell Striking. These are better than Breach scrolls, since the activation time of the wand is either 0 or 1.

Windspear dungeon:

PC took the last of the Paladin Stronghold quests, the task of slaying Firkraag. If this isn't done and Firkraag is killed, PC would miss a decent amount of xp (35 000 or something like that). Firkraag was slain under a successful Wish for TS&IA(if unsuccessful, resting and re-wishing is possible until PC gets what he wants. He has 2 Contingencies with Stoneskin spells, one triggers when he sees an enemy, the second one triggers when he's at near-death.

BTW: about Wishes. A Gnome has a maximum wisdom of 17, which sometimes results in bad wish choices. In order to optimize my Wishing, I bought for my PC the Axe of Hrothgar(works for gnomish Thief/Illusionists with UAI as well).

Samia's party: I got totally unlucky. While Legoril(Cleric) and Chak(fighter/druid) were casting True Sight, PC released his Sequencer with triple Remove Magic (wizard lvl 21 btw). No luck at all. Except for enemy potion buffs, nothing was removed. I used Breaching charge to remove Chak's protections, and brought him to near-death, when his ally mage managed to make him Invisible. I didn't want to waste a True Sight scroll, so I refreshed ProMW while Chak was casting Heal on himself, killing Legoril in the meantime. Afterwards he came out of his Invisibility, but PC interrupted his Creeping Doom. With 1 more Breach charge, Chak was slain.

The fighters were killed with Breach charges and the last ProMW activated, afterwards PC switched to his 2 Absolute Immunities(and Improved Mantles later if needed). Spell Deflection/Turning/Trap were enough to absorb enemy Ruby Rays, so no spell protection refreshment was needed(except for later SI:A). Kaol, when alone, switches to illusion buffs, although he's running SI: A. Nonetheless, the Planetar(third 9lvl slot) helped PC immensely in this situation.

Afterwards, was done a lot of Wishing, and a lot of potions and wands were assembled. Wands of Spell Striking are a needed reserve, while other wands are sold for money. From the potions which may be Wished, most notable are: potion of Vitality, potion of Absorbtion, potion of Acid resistance, potion of Cold resistance, potion of Clarity. Potions of Fire Resistance cannot be created in this manner. So I advise that any solo would try to buy as many of these as possible, since they're needed later in some Fire resistance lowering fights (vs Noble Efreeti, Steam Elemental Prince, Demon Knights, Demiliches, Ancient Dragon).

I decided to go and check how Kangaxx's doing. In addition to normal buffing, I added 4 potions of Acid Res, 2 potions of Fire res, and 2 Potions of Absorbtion.

Gaxx uses 3 Ruby Rays in Lich form and 6 in Demi-lich form, so 9 spell protections are sufficient. He has Spell Shield and SI: A only running, so normally, 2 Ruby Rays are enough to remiove his spell protections. This is, however, unnecessary, since anyway, he cannot be Breached. Gaxx wasted his Rays on my Spell Deflection/Turning/Trap, while in the meantime PC lured him to activate his 1st ProMW. In the following combat, PC waited for Kangaxx's ProMW to expire(he had 3 total) and then engaged him in melee(luring Kangaxx to use ProMW is being done by simply staying close to him for a couple of rounds). Kangaxx fired CC with 3 Horrid Wiltings in a desperate last attempt, and also fired Mislead.

The Mislead clone of Kangaxx creates a bug - if it is killed in melee(not dispelled), then Kangaxx does not give his 'transformation' speech and stays forever at near-death. I reloaded here. The second time I used a True Sight scroll when Gaxx fired his Mislead, and this time, everything worked out normally.

Kangaxx (and all other Liches) like to use Bigby's Crushing Hand and Bigby's Clenched Fist. Stoneskin and good save vs death is absolutely sufficient to offer protection vs the Crushing Hand, while the Clenched Fist always holds a character for 1 round(no save). This is no prolem with regular Liches, however Grave liches have both increased speed and great melee capabilities. So, in order to protect from the Clenched Fist, the mage has to: A. be protected from Hold(Free Action, although I haven't tested this one), or B: be under Spell Deflection/Turning/Trap, or C: have an amazing MR score.

Kangaxx gave his speech. Before that(and after dispelling his Mislead Clone), PC buffed with Protection from Elements(random treasure drop, additional fire and elec resistance), Spell Turning, Deflection, ImprHaste, and DUHM. Kangaxx transformed, started Raying. PC cast Improved Alacrity, started refreshing spell protection. The Trigger was a saviour, containing both Spell Deflection and Globe of Invulnerability. After his Raying failed, Gaxx started to lower my elemental resistance, only to find that it was too high to be lowered. He used some Disintegrate spells, but that was about all he could do.

So far, the Unholy Word theory of Shadan seems to be completely right, since my caster has never failed even one casting, being of Neutral alignment.

Newest quests (these were quite easy at current levels and with current equipment and spells).

The Unseeing Eye quest completed: the Ghoul city.

Here are two entrances. If one enters through the left one, he will have to face both Teshal and the random spawn (in my case 2 Skeleton Lords 2 Grandlords and a Shade Lich due to high levels of the protagonist). If one enters through the right entrance, he will face: first Teshal, and afterwards may leave and rest, and afterwards may face the random monster spawn.

Teshal spawns some sort of Bone Golems, but is otherwise quite harmless. His attack dispels specific protections, though(protection from element type spells, prot from evil), which, combined with his one and only Storm of Vengeance, is annoying, but no real threat (I simply forgot to cast ProMW here). His Bone golems are a nice xp boost, and he'd better be killed when all of those are slain and he stops gating any more. There is a Skeleton Lord also.

The random monster spawn was easy. 2 ProMW, running spell protections and melee helped me to get rid of the Lords and Grandlords, and the Fallen Planetar. A lone Shade lich is no problem at all.

With this quest completed, and some spells erased/rewriten (all of the collected Breach scrolls, they're useless to me now), PC reached xp levels 25/22, gaining an extra sixth and ninth level spell slot.

Guarded compound:

First floor: Illusion buffs and Stoneskin active, as well as elemental protections(no spell protections). Potion of Frost G str consumed. Death fog activated from Contingency, killing the minor summons. PC barricaded himself in one of the rooms, near the exit, fighting only 1 or 2 enemies at a time. All were slain, with refreshing of Mirror Images now and again(4 memorized total).

Before climbing upstairs, all buffs were refreshed, and also, spell protections were activated. DUHM was also cast.

2nd floor: entered through the left staircase (closer to the Cleric, and also, the trap here is the better choice). Activated the south trap by passing through it. Killed enemies in following order: Cleric, Fallen Deva, Skeleton Lords, Coin Golem(criticals with piercing weapon), Gem Golem(criticals with Treefolk's arm), being all of the time protected by either Magical weapons or Absolute Immunity. Afterwards, PC switched to Improved Mantles and also killed Koshi with 1 Breach. Then PC cast Improved Alacrity (reduced casting time by 3), 3 Ruby Rays on Sion, Remove Magic, activated Critical (Sion cast Stoneskin), another Remove Magic, 3 strikes and Sion was out. The rest of the enemies were easy.

There is a locked chest on the 1st lvl of the Guarded compound, containing a Morning Star +2. Another may be found in the Planar Prison, so I decided to clear it as well.

The final fight with the Warden was nothing that I'm proud of, since PC simply Wished until he got TS&IA. The Warden and all of the Spiders didn't know what killed them.
If the fight is fought normally, one must be aware that Planar Hounds which the Warden summons remove specific protections with a successful hit. And the Warden has a lot of damaging spells at his disposal...and his magic Lasso, and Whisper spiders Web Lariath are a very dangerous combination.
Note: If a player wants to clear all of the holes in the Prison, he/she must delay destroying of the Control Orb until after the Warden is slain. Then, it is safe to clear the holes. There is a ring +1 in one of them. And there is also a bug in one of them: a mage casting Chaos with no save against it.

Newest encounters: Borinal and his Amber golem and the Planar Sphere.

Borinal summons Rune Assassins to fight for him. The Amber golem is surrounded by sixth level permanent Lightning Shield (similar to the original 4th level spell Fireshield(Red) and (Blue)). He's most vulnerable to slashing weapons, which must be of at least +3 enchantment. PC had previously found the Blade of Roses, and used it, with DUHM and Belm off, to slay quickly the Amber Golem with Criticals.

With only Rune Assassins and Borinal around, PC calmly switched to his 7 memorized Improved Mantle spells, and killed Rune Assassins until Borinal stopped gating them. Borinal had several GWW attacks and several(I think five) hardinesses, which were removed via Breach.

Planar sphere: encounter with Togan&party:

Togan cannot both teleport and drink potions. Besides, he'll not waste arrows of Piercing if all of his enemies are protected(in this case 1 enemy only, protected by Absolute Immunity). Enemy mage and cleric are not very high leveled either.

Lavok: if he's slain first, his Gem Golems disappear. So PC first destroyed the Gem Golems, refreshing Spell Turning now and again against enemy Ruby Rays. Afterwards Lavok was slain under usual Improved Alacrity, 3*Ruby Ray, Breach, Critical, melee, Breach(Lavok cast ProMW from a scroll), melee.

The fight with Tolgeras was very similar to the fight with Lavok, only his assistant mage was slain first, with a couple of Remove Magics.

The 3 random spawns are an excellent xp boost at high PC levels. And the loot (gold and gems) is also not bad at all.

PC is now lvl 29/24, thanx to some stronghold minor xp gains as well.

I absolutely forgot to describe the demon fights in the Planar Sphere. The Demon lord dispels specific protections on melee hit. His allies are 2 Skeleton Lords, 1 Grandlord and 3 Maureshi(improved). Since PC was well protected from Magical Weapons, however, these fights were far too easy.

I also completed the Clerical stronghold (Temple of Helm) minor quests, and was rewarded with a decent xp score.

The Troll Mound:

This time, the battle was far too easy, compared with my previous runthrough. I guess that sufficient amount of Breach charges from Wands of Spell Striking has something to do with that. The problem here is the Troll King, since he doesn't only have great regeneratory abilities, but is quite naturally physical damage resistant, and with Hardiness(he has 5 I think), he's almost impossible to be slain by a solo. But without his Hardinesses, he's an easy target. His attack sends PC unconscious though, so ProMW(3) or Absolute Immunity(3) were kept active the whole time. The Queen was slain under normal Improved Alacrity combo.

Chaos:

This fight is very hard for a solo F/M of any kind, since Chaos' melee attack dispels specific protections on hit, he's surrounded by a 6-th level permanent Fireshield which deals magical damage, and his Killer Insects not only disrupt spellcasting, but they last until Chaos is slain, and deal thremendous amounts of damage on Insane. Chaos is, of course, improved, with multiple immunities and resistances(my Treefolk Arm did to him only 3 damage per strike, with str 25 and all).

Using Contingency spells (casting of those was possible with spell failure 100%), I kept my ProMW active the whole fight. Using a Resurrection charge from the Rod of Resurrection, I kept my PC alive when he was nearly eaten alive by the Killer Insects. Melee (with or without Criticals) did the rest - for some reason activating my Critical Strikes sometimes gave me 'spell casting failure' message.

The rewards from this battle are IMHO far too little, compared to its danger level.

The only notable areas in Athkatla and the surrounding areas, left so far untouched, are: the Twisted Rune (left definitely for when I have Time Stop and some powerful summons), lady Vanya's quests, the de'Arnise hold (improved Lord Roenall fight), the Temple Ruins and the subsequent Ranger quests + the improved Umar fight, the City Gates' grave lich, the fight with Orcus(again, left for Chapter 6), the Greater Elemental Golem in the Guarded Compound, and WK levels 1 and 2(the Chromatic demon and all of the next challenges are to be left for chapter 6 as well).

Aside from minor Stronghold quests, PC also cleared the De'arnise hold, and WK lvl 1 (mostly):

Tor'gal is a powerful Cleric, but as all clerics, he's vulnerable to melee. IMHO it would be far, far tougher if high-level clerics came pre-buffed with Aura of Flaming death as well in addition to all of their other buffs. Still, the things that annoys me about enemy clerics is the fact that their pre-buff is highly unrealistic - all of those short-lasting and long-casting buffs like Blade Barrier, Armor of Faith, Chant, Air(or Bless) or Regeneration, being cast simultaneously without delay...

WK lvl 1: the fight for the Bell and the Candle

Those two items are guarded by Fanatic Spirits with great resistances. The first Fanatic Spirit(guarding the Bell) is somewhat vulnerable to Piercing weapons of at least +3 enchantment. He wears a helmet(Criticals don't do much) and regenerates at a decent speed.

The second spirit, guarding the Candle, is equally resistant to all forms of melee damage, wears a helmet, but it seems that he doesn't regenerate(or if he does, his regeneration speed is slower compared to that of the first spirit). For this one, PC cast 3 times Improved Alacrity, and activated 9 times total GWW+Critical(to ensure that all strikes hit the target). The Staff of Striking was used here, until only 1 charge remained, afterwards Phosphorous turned out to be normal as well.

Note: I decided to invest a point in Single Weapon style, in order to have the Critical on 19 or 20. This way, when I activate a GWW attack only, and unequip the offhand weapon, PC will have a better chance to hit the enemy.

The Spider queen showed up before PC engaged the spirits in combat. With ProMW, ImprHaste, maximum strength(as well as couple of Improved Alacrity + 3 Criticals + 3GWW combos with Phosphorous only equipped), PC slew the queen without any troubles. The Spider army was easily crushed afterwards.

Note: There are 3 Permanency scrolls which are imperative to be obtained early, since later this may be impossible. Besides, they're very rare in the beginning, and the Phosphorous upgrade(for instance) requires 3 Permanency scrolls in addition to other ingredients. These Scrolls are all located in the Bridge district: one is inside Harper Hold (before completing Montaron's quest), and may be pickpocketed from one of the Harpers inside. The second scroll is in the possession of a priest of Oghma. The third scroll is in the possession of Renal Bloodscalp. Bloodscalp also has Boots of Speed. Of course, after killing him, siding with Aran is impossible(I think), but by joining Bodhi and killing Aran, a ring of Djinni Summoning is obtained as well. These last 2 items(Boots of Speed and Ring of Djinni Summoning) otherwise requre 2 Permanency scrolls and a lot of gold to be forged.

Extended mage stronghold: A Question:

I've started my first examination of the Extended mage stronghold. In the normal Mage Stronghold, I didn't want to forge the last artifact with my apprentices, and thus they were all alive for graduation. Not that I'm that althruistic, but simply, the Robe of the Apprenti apparently may be forged only by a single class Mage or Sorcerer PC, the Ring of Wizardry is useless to a solo(there is a ring in the Harper plot), ant the Staff of Power is good for its GoI and Lightning Bolts, but the chance to be forged in a no-reload is very small. As a result, I have Morul to make me some potions each week.

The Steam Elemental Prince was slain with crushing Criticals. His lower fire resistance spells did him little good vs the additional buffing with proElements and Fireshield red. But now I am in the Gem casket plot: I obtained the Casket, and I looked everywhere for the 'scary girl' or 'her Lady', but I couldn't find them. I'm sure that if I spend another 5 hours looking only for them, I'll find them, but I don't want to waste that much time on simple tasks. So my question is: can someone post me in PM the solution to this Casket riddle?

The impoved Mage Stronghold was completed successfully:

The Gem Casket plot was uncovered on the 2nd floor of the Five Flaggons inn.

The following 'prophecy' was about treasure stored in the Ice chamber.

I reloaded here once.

The enemies here were an Ice golem and an Elemental golem. But more importantly, each couple of rounds there was 'Why is it so cold down here' message, and my PC was Slowed without a saving throw, and forgot to attack as well (a bug). So, I reloaded. This time, before entering, I consumed five potions of Cold resistance as an additional buff, 3 potions of Absorbtion and a potion of Freedom on top of all ofher buffs, including Improved Haste.

The maximum AC crushing modifier seems to be -20, so consuming a third potion of Absorbtion was a mistake.

If a Potion of Freedom is consumed this way, it doesn't remove previous Haste effects, but casting Haste(or slow) on top of it is impossible.

Under these effects, with SI: A running, and personally watching over PC each couple of rounds, reminding him to attack enemies in melee, the Ice golem was slain quickly with the help of the Treefolk's arm(additional 1 point of damage to Unnatural creatures). Dragon Breath has absolutely no effect vs Ice golems, although I think it should.
The minor golems were slain first(six of them) for the xp boost and the treasure as well. Afterwards, the Elemental golem was also slain. The AC again was very useful(plus the AC modifier from potions).

The final Extended Mage Stronghold challenge was tough. I reloaded here once. The fact is, that the plot uncovers, and a new and powerful ally fighter assists your party to fight some powerful enemies, namely: A Noble Marilith, a Noble Rakshasa, and an Elemental Golem. All of those summon minions at their side. When all three are slain, the minions leave. And just before they appear, to make things more interesting, all party buffs are dispelled. The final tactic:

Summon cannon fodder before the start of the fight. Since Ruby Rays are not needed in this fight, Mordy swords are the best choice. I found a random treasure drop scroll.

Joining the Guardian Golem, to follow the party. He is a decent fighter, and is also unkillable(may be brought to Near Death but that's all).

Summoning a Planetar.

With cannon fodder summoned, PC talked to 'the prophetess'. The plot uncovered, and enemies appeared. PC ran off enemy sight, and cast Improved Alacrity, using it to cast 27th level Remove Magic on enemies from off screen, and also to buff with protection spells, as well as Spell Turning, Spell Trigger with proMW, GoI, Spell Deflection, also DUHM, Protection from Energy. Contingency triggered with ProMagicEnergy as well. The reason is obvious: enemies have Remove Magics, and the Noble Marilith has Ruby Rays. Although, once the Noble Marilith is engaged by PC, he usually spends his efforts to protect himself from the powerful melee blows by casting ProMW rather than casting Ruby Rays. The Noble Marilith, his Abyssal Specters, and the Rakshasas all regenerate at high rate.

In the meantime, the ally fighter was slain.

Still, with Remove Magics(or Breach charges, or Breach spells), and Melee with Treefolk main, Belm off and DUHM and ImprHaste active, keeping ProMW active all of the time(enemies around dispel specific protections on successful melee hit), the Noble Marilith was quickly slain. Next in line were his Abyssal Specters(PC had five ProMW and five Absolute Immunities memorized). Afterwards, when DUHM ended, PC equipped Phosphorous main and started hitting the Noble Rakshasa, focusing on Horrid Rakshasas when the Noble was protected from Absolute Immunity.
When PC switched to Absolute Immunities, the Noble Rakshasa was at near death. Afterwards, PC slew the Horrid Rakshasas(all of them had their Absolute Immunities used up), and the next in line were the minor golems, and after 3 of them were slain, the Elemental Golem was killed as well.

There was a good xp and treasure loot in this fight. Yet I don't know what would've happened if I saved the ally fighter.

Afterwards was also carried out the Improved bard stronghold fight: 2 high level clerics, a sorceress, and a fighter and a thief were slain. Nothing special(or very hard) in this fight, save from the fact that the Sorceress has a lot of Absolute Immunity scrolls(five), and a lot of Ruby Ray scrolls(four or five). Also, there was a Manual of Elaboration to be obtained.

The Grandfather of the Rune Assassins:

Seems like each fight which was not previosly extensively tested (I.e. I didn't know about all details involved) cost me a reload. This time of pure greed: I killed the minor enemies while the Grandmaster summoned new ones, and...as a result, PC was overwhelmed.

The tactic: 5 ProMW memorized(and 3 ImprHastes), 5 Absolute Immunities (as well as 1 Impr. Alacrity), 6 Improved Mantles, 2 Incendiary Clouds.

Killed the Elite rune assassins on the 2nd level of the Windspear dungeon, cast all of my buffs, Absolute Immunity at the end as well, charged Firkraag's lair.

PC went straight for the Coordinator and cast Improved Alacrity near him (in melee range), while the Coordinator cast True Sight. Afterwards were activated: Sequencer with 3*Remove Magic, Critical, melee, Remove Magic(coordinator went Invisible), Remove Magic(first was unsuccessful), melee and Coordinator died. With IA still active, PC cast: Blur, Mirror Image, ImprInvis, Fireshields, Absolute Immunity, Breach on the Guildmaster, and IA ended.

There are 4 most notable enemies inside: the Guildmaster, who is apparently a very high level F/T, with UAI and mage scrolls of Absolute Immunity and PW:Kill, and the three Master Assassins, that are obviously dualled Assassin-Fighters, since they use Poison weapon and warrior HLAs(but no thief HLAs). The Guildmaster gates enemies, like Gem or Coin golems, or additional Pirate Coordinators. The Master Assassins gate Rune Assassins and Elite Rune Assassins.

To make a long story short: the Guildmaster was the next to fall, with Breach charges from wands of Spell Striking(I spend 10 or more Breach charges in this battle), while keeping at the same time PC protected with Absolute Immunities. Next in line were the Master Assasins. One was close, but the other 2 couldn't reach PC for melee(nor PC could reach them), so I had to make some room by slaying a Gem golem, and a couple of (Elite) Rune Assassins. The Master Assassins have 3 Hardinesses each, so Breach spells and charges from wands were used in abundance.

PC's Absolute Immunities ended, and noticing there were no Golems in melee reach, I switched to Improved Mantle spells. I also cast Greater Malinson, followed by Incendiary Cloud. And afterwards cast a second one. These Clouds are excellent vs the normal and Elite Rune Assassins, and the Greater Malinson insures the maximum Cloud damage.

The remaining 2-3 assassins and the 3 Coin golems left were easy targets.

The Viper queen was slain easily, with the strategy described in my previous walkthrough, although this time my weapon of choice was Treefolk's arm, instead of Staff of Rynn/Striking used in the previous game, since it turned out that with STR 25, GWW, Critical and only Treefolk equipped, it deals the same damage as the Staff of Striking. Again, SI:Evocation ensured that PC could cast without fear of interruption his Improved Alacrities, which are important in this fight.

Temple ruins were completed. At this high levels, I don't think it necessary to describe tactics. Just that small detail: Traxi has a Contingency with ProMW.

The Improved Lord Roenall fight was not very hard, since Lord Roenall is indeed immune to physical harm with Hardiness, but in 10 rounds, it wears off and he's an easy target in melee (for a F/M at least).

The treasure scrolls in the special container in the Extended Mage Stronghold appeared to be refreshed 5 weeks only. Still, they provided my PC with a good xp boost.

The 'extra statues' which I heard to have appeared in WK lvl 1 at higher PC levels didn't show up(again). My guess is that a party is needed in order for those to spawn. Will test it in future games.

Lvl 2 WK: The Steam Elemental Prince and the Elemental golem are familiar enemies. They were defeated easily.

Chromatic demon(again, cost me a reload):

Favourite weapon build: Treefolk main, Phosphorous off. 7 attacks with +4 weapons at str 25, the Treefolk arm deals 2+1 damage per strike, Phosphorous deals 2 per strike against the Chromatic demon in each of his forms.

1st level slots: occupied with Chromatic Orbs, 2nd level: Melf's acid arrows, 3rd level: 7 lightning bolts, 4th level: six Ice Storms, and 3 more in a Sequencer, 8th level: 4 Pierce Shields and 4 Incendiary clouds, plus Protection from Energy. Sixth and ninth levels were filled mainly with ProMW and Absolute Immunity spells, plus 3 Improved Alacrity spells. Fifth level contained ProAcid, ProElec, 4 Spell Immunities and 4 Lower Resistance spells.

Also, in addition to usual buffing, as spell protections were running: SI:A, GoI, no ProMagicEnergy in this fight, six potions of Acid res, 4 potions of Fire res, 4 potions of Cold res, 3 potions of Absorbtion. No Fireshields were activated, because, although they look like an excellent buffing option, due to collisions in between PC and enemy Fireshields, casting of spells with longer casting time is impossible.

All of the Demon's forms is magic resistant(but not 100 percent, I think). This means, that after each shapeshifting, his resistance must be lowered anew before casting spells which will harm him. Usually, for my PC,2 Pierce shields(or Lower resistances) were sufficient for each of the demon's forms.

The demon, when spawned, is in his Fire form. PC's contingency triggered, granting him ProMW, and PC cast Improved Alacrity. Afterwards:
Lower resistance *2
Six Ice Storms(PC's GoI apparently protected him)
3 more from the Sequencer
Melee upon the demon
Demon is on Injured, turned to Ice form.
PC cast Improved Alacrity
Lower res*2
ProMW
Incendiary Cloud*3(it's possible with the help of Mirror Image and waiting a while for a newly cast Cloud to deal its initiate damage)
melee the demon
Demon turns to Fire form. PC didn't have more Ice damaging spells, so melee was the only option. No cold damaging weapon either.
After 1 more ProMW and a little more melee with GWW(demon is immune to Criticals, he wears the Circlet of Netheril), the Demon was at Badly Injured and turned to Slime form. And he immediately activated Death fog, although PC's acid resistance was very high.
PC ran away from Death fog's Area of effect and cast Improved alacrity(last one)
Mirror Image
Pierce Shield*2
7*Lightning Bolt
Demon was at near death and turned to Ice form. Well, seems like Acid damaging spells won't be used.
With melee and some more protection spells, refreshing SI:A, PC killed the chromatic demon and his minions scattered.

Note: the Demon regenerates, at decent speed.

Oops, I forgot about the fight with Orcus(battle was replayed twice successfully, with no reloading).

It was almost identical to my previous runthrough, with some exceptions:

I used the prebuffing, spell replacing(for instance, Spell Deflection and GoI cast and replaced with ProMW, Spell Trap cast replaced with Absolute Immunity), and a single Wish(replaced immediately with Absolute Immunity), until I got Rest, just in front of the Lower Crypts. If unsuccessful, resting, rebuffing, replacing anew, and again casting Wish, until I got what I wanted.
1 additional ProMW and Absolute Immunity memorized due to being a specialist.
No Skull Traps or Horrid Wiltings. These were replaced by Sunfire spells(4) and Incendiary Clouds(2 total cast for the entire fight)
No hiding in rooms. As a result, PC had to waste 4 scrolls of ProMW, in addition to the 7 Absolute Immunities and 10 ProMW spells used normally in this particular fight.

The first rounds of the battle, when Orcus is casting Ruby rays, are of utmost importance. Watching Orcus' every cast, while at the same time keeping protections on, is vital. Since he's engaged in melee, he casts Stoneskin as well, when it's removed. When he stops Raying(he has four or five) it is imperative that PC has SI:A running(and at least 2 more memorized).
Weapon combination(again) Treefolk main, Phosphorous off.
When Orcus and some minions are slain, comes the time of the single Improved Alacrity memorized(as well as activating illusion buffs afterwards, and fireshields as well), Greater Malinson, 4 sunfires, and 2 Incendiary Clouds, thus killing almost all of the Brides around, and focusing on the Master Vampires(they produce a good quantity of Brides), afterwards Skeleton Lords, and finally the Grandlords.

Level 3, WK.

In a no reload game, I advise 2 things:

First, leaving the level for chapter six, when PC would have obtained the Chain Contingency spell, and the upgraded Djinni ring of Greater summoning.

Second, if this level is done in chapters 2 or 3, here are the important things:

In Dead Magic Zones and Wild Magic Zones, only spells cast from Contingencies work normally. In Dead Magic Zones, also may be cast spells from Spell Sequencers/Triggers, but buffs get immediately dispelled, so maybe the best spells to be used are AoE damage spells, or stable summons.

The second Dead magic zone should be avoided(for a solo). It may be completed, but then again, the risk in a no reload is too high, and completely unnecessary.

Back to the walkthrough:

On this level, resting may be interrupted by 'powerful' demons. For example, 4 Bone Fiends, which have good THAC0 and also deal cold damage on strike, but their attacks are considered to be Normal weapons. And still, each of those is worth 22 000 xp. 4 * Yochol demons are a bit tougher, but still weak. 4 Maureshi are also an option for spawn, and the last I've seen so far is a group of five Alu Fiends, each armed with 12 Darts of Wounding, a Scimitar +3 'Water's Edge', and a Chain Mail +2: pure gold cache.

Tahazaar summons unlimited demons, each of them worth either 12 000 or 24 000 xp.

Karashur also summons a bit more demons if left alive. I didn't leave him too much time alive to see much of them.

Toughest battle so far: The Hybrid Tiefling and his gang.
Came in well buffed, with Illusion buffs as well, but SI was Abjuration. Maybe, at these high levels, SI: D would be a better choice. Melf's Minute Meteors were active, with FoA off and DUHM active. Improved Alacrity was the last buff to be cast before entering their room.

Immediately when entering their room, unlimited number of spells with casting time 0 may be cast without 'wild surge' effect. PC, having reduced casting time by 3, cast Trigger with ProMW, GoI, Spell Deflection, Improved Haste, 7 Dragon Breath spells, Critical, GWW, and rushed forward. Enemies turned hostile and enemy mage cast his spell protections and started True Sight before the Dragon Breaths exploded, killing the fighters, the assassins, the little dog and disrupting the Hybrid Tiefling's True Sight spell. PC threw 4 meteors at the Hybrid Tiefling, negating his Spell Turning this way. Afterwards, the Hybrid Tiefling is left with only SI:A running, with 2 Elite Planar hounds only. The Elite Planar Hounds' melee attack dispels specific protections, and applies Chaos on the target, so ProMW must be kept active at all times. Contingency works without Wild Surge check, so it provided my PC with 4 ProMW this way.

3 Ruby Rays were attempted to be cast under still running Improved Alacrity. The first and second one were 'wild surged', but the third one was successful. If unsuccessful, casting Ruby Rays shoud continue until 1 is successful. That is all which is required, to lower enemy's SI:A. Afterwards, Wands of Spell Striking with Breach take care ot the Hybrid Tiefling's combat protection again and again and again. At all times, ProMW should be kept active, with Contingencies, and finally, if they end and the Hybrid Tiefling is still alive, scrolls of ProMW also work normally. However, scrolls of Ruby Ray don't, but still, if all memorized Ruby Rays(10 in my case), are used without success, resorting to scrolls is always an option.

After the Ruby Ray was successful, PC charged the Hybrid Tiefling, first with remaining Meteors, afterwards in melee with FoA main and Belm off(and when DUHM ended, FoA main and Phosphorous off). When enemy's Stoneskins and ProMW were all breached, PC started to activate Criticals, which worked wondrously on the Elite Planar Hounds(4 total) as well. Until the end of the fight, ProMW were kept active. Didn't have to resort to scroll usage. And the last Contingency is best saved for Improved Haste instead of ProMW.

I see that I also forgot to describe the fight with the Green Wyrm.

This will be the last described fight so far. Following the developed no reload tactics vs each of the enemies in chapter 2 and 3, I intend to start a new no reload, with no posts until I reach chapter 4.

Some of the described battles should be postponed till chapter six, namely the last Extended Mage Stronghold battle, and the Twisted Rune, as well as the Greater Elemental Golem in the Guarded Compound. All of the other battles, including the entire WK lvl 3, and the non modified part of WK lvl 4, may be completed in chapter 2 and 3, no reload game.

The fight with the Green Wyrm:

Ring of Wizardry, after buffing, was switched for the Ring of Gaxx, for poison damage immunity. Mirror Image was activated.
The Wyrm casts Horrible Clouds and Storms of Vengeance(he had lots), which disrupt spellcasting. Mirror Image helps for a while, until the beast casts True Sight. PC ran away from the Cloud and cast Improved Alacrity. The spell removal battle began, PC countering the Wyrm's Ruby Rays with Spell Turnings, in the meantime engaging him in melee with Phosphorous off and Black Blade of Disaster main, dispelling his protections with Remove Magics. When the beast's ProMW ended, PC started Breaching him(because of Armor of Faith), keeping his ProMW active when the beast approached in melee. The Wyrm cast 2 more Clouds and at least 3 more Storms of Vengeance, but due to the fact, that after the spell removal battle, PC's casting time was 0(ProMW and Remove magic), this didn't affect him much, with the exception of a single SI:A which had to be refreshed as well.

With breach spells(casting time 2), and melee, the Wyrm was slain quickly, as he lacks healing or regeneratory spells of any kind.