Another V6 journal (from 1 year ago), "Classical" and (IMO) very powerful party Options

[nicoper]

Aim of this run is to have a party that takes as many very difficult pre-spellhod fights as possible, trying of course to play by the golden rules.

List of fights I consider on target: (alphabetical order)
- Firkraag
- Samia and party
- Slaver compound in temple district (apart corridor)
- Teshal
- Troll mound
- Umar

I exclude WK from this list, just because I don't fancy going there pre-spellhold, spider queen and chromatic demon I judge impossible pre-spellhold, other foes (and ambushes) provided patience, luck, etc. think them all possible.
Also exclude Twisted Rune, Illithid compound (tried once, first room doable, last one, well impossible IMO, but prove me wrong...) and Orcus of course.

To spare unnecessary litterature, since ideal party depends on one's playstyle, and I love mages, will go with:
- Mors, usual Necro protag
- Torquemada, dual R7/Cleric 18/03 18 18 9 18 10
- Goliath, half-orc Kensaï 19 18 19 10 10 10
- Gilgamesh, Riskbreaker 18/98 18 16 15 15 9
- Loki, sorceress 10 18 15 18 18 11
- Moss, sorceress 10 18 15 18 18 11
All custom, start with 89 kxp

No begone, clean laboratory
Exit, circus, sell loot, slums to get Nalia's quest and windspear
Gov district (Viconia, Delon, Jan and Tolgerias)
Gate, exit to Trademeet, Suna Seni, good loot.
Druid grove, trolls, shadow druids, Ithafer, faldorn (3 and a half rounds, hold monster and MMM*2), Nilithiri
Trademeet, collect rewards, R/C levels to R7/C8 (and so activates Ranger class).
Umar hills, outdoor quests, general level-up (250 000 xp cap), Ctrl-Y Valygar (because multi player party, so no way to "hire" valygar, and we are no ranger killers, let's consider him victim of a heart attack instead)
De'arnise keep, basement and outdoor. Vengeance trolls downed RB, have to collect his gear and leave for a temple (R/C does not raise dead yet)
Trademeet, raise RB, city gate, help merchant, slums, open sphere
Copper Coronet, tabitha downed kensaï, so temple etc..
Second ambush while going to docks
Docks, harpers, Montaron and Xsar
Trigger chapter 2
Start Unseeing eye, collect scepter, kill beholder, reward (mages level to 11)
Docks, start Meavar guild (so many knocks....)
Bridge, skinner, bards
Cemetery (easy tasks)
Promenade, forge first item, iron horn.
Sewers, free Haer d'halis, planar prison awaits.
Pay Gaelan, complete Aran's first mission then leave city.
Trademeet, help Tiris
Back to De'Arnise keep, kill Glaicas, clean crypt (recover frostreaver...) forge FoA +2 (third head will be hard to get from spider and yuan-ti!!!)
Ponder a bit what to do next, 3 options: stay in Keep, Temple ruins or explore sewers in slum district (Lilarcor and slavers den)
Slums
collect artefacts
kill greater crawler
kill rats
kill lover
SPOILER!

summons: 3 green skeletons and 2 spiders
round 1: lower resist, doom and GM on lover
round 2: lower resist
pounding, lover dead

kill rats
Grab Lilarcor
Party level 10 (warriors and cleric) and 11 (mages)

Enter slaver den through backdoor (love this!)
After reward (quite beautiful for a party at these levels), RB reaches level 11!

Go to a tavern near the seaside
SPOILER!

sorceresses stoneskin and Si:Conj (PW kill hurts!), one casts haste
R/C prot from evil 15', DUHM, chant, bless, defensive harmony, righteous magic
Necro nothing (no protective spells selected, spell slots needed for other purposes)

first round
mages: summon from horn, GM and doom captain
others 3 pound captain

second round
Necro breaches captain (started it just after doom)
Captain dead, pirates follow next rounds (1 or 2 IIRC)

Coordinator alone, he has no chance apart chunking someone

1 reload because comet chunked Kensaï (shame on me!)

PS: forgot to IH RB! noticed that when Si:div expired on coordinator, wanted to blurr, IH was there! (enormous shame on me! and clue that this battle is doable early....)

R/C levels to 11, 6th level spell now, good!
Everybody in party is level 11 apart kensaï (lacks ~7000 xp).

Heading for temple ruins
After cleaning some shades, Kensaï reaches level 11.

Shadow jailor did not stood a chance
Once temple cleaned, Necro reaches level 12 (sorceresses need some hundred xp more, pity they did not reach the cap). Guess what?
SPOILER!

Tried Thax, could not kill him (first try ended in disaster), will be back later

Back to De'Arnise keep
Kill Greater Yuan-ti (3 mages under MMM blew it out of existence) and spider, sorceresses level, forge FoA +3,
Torgal died just before his remove magic landed. Necro gains a scroll she would have preferred to have before this fight (RoF)
Accept keep and leave. Back to big city, guild contact did not survive long, machine-gunned by MMM.
Promenade, talk with merchant, remember there is some funny dwarf around. Fun was short for dwarf, Amon machine-gunned.
Finish Sir Sarles quest.
Time to go to Cemetery.
Crypt royal dwellers killed.
Climb down, three bunches of spiders exterminated, with great help from 2 aerial servants, entry to Païna's lair cleared.
Loot lower tombs, rest (to memorize Free action and wondrous recall), kill Païna.
Meet with Haz
Start killing vampires
Collecting loot, realize that until now did not use any potion of invulnerability nor defence since beginning of this run.
Tanova dead (rush attack under protection from cold and Mages machine gunning MMM)
Downstair, fight was interesting; R/C and RB charmed, mages had to cast GM and emotion to neutralize them.
Lassal just had time to summon two brides, Bodhi routed just after that.
Collect reward, All party members level 12 (around 1.1 Mxp)
Leave city
Founder of trademeet (no rynn...), reputation is now 20.
Back to Athkatla, slums, sphere
Entu, Kayardi &co as fun as always
Golem bunch near golem head less furbished than usual (had gem, coin, clay and bone instead of gem, gem, coin, coin, bone I usually have, think it is because party level lower than usual)

Lavok
SPOILER!

just one gem and one lord
lavok's PWkill were a pain at first because forgot it was a conjuration spell and not necromancy..
then used my 3 RRoR scrolls first round, lavok down quite fast

Tolgerias downed the two sorceresses before going to hell
Engine room, 2 gems and 2 coins at entry, 2 coins, gem, clay, bone as first ambush and a lonely clay.

Astral plane; after killing two demons, Necro reaches level 13.

Lea'Liyl was a pain because of one mistake (moved R/C while casting, so no protection from evil) and since I did not want to use strength potions yet.
DU and hilt are mine, MINE!

Going here and there in the city for minor purposes (Solamnic knights, cleric stronghold, fallen paladins, dawn ring ...)
Time to choose next sparring partner, wish I could go to planar prison, but without RRoR, might be a bit of a hell.

Never went to Cromwell, 250 000+ gp, some forging: morningstar +3, quarterstaff +3, 2 rings +2, 2 cloaks +2

Party is heading to Windspear
Undeads were trouble
Rhuk downed one sorceress and nearly missed RB (still no potions used apart healing)
First golem ambush, RB and Kensaï reach level 13, like other party members were.
Rest party
Vampires cleaned (find them easier than mists)
wander a bit dungeon, meet Samia, think we will have another talk soon
Kill mask guardians, tomb mist, open way to tomb.
Clear western part (apart windmaster that is) and open way to kraag
Kill conster (rush attack), RRoR stock is replenished!
Free garen child and collect reward
Party around 1,57 Mxp

Back to city, planar prison
EBH killed without using scrolls
Intendant and his cohort (yuan-tis and minotaurs) were executed, great pride, I used Intendant lasso against him (lured him to "lasso" RB, mages fired 2 RRoRs and 1 breach in good coordination, Kensaï joined, Intendant died just after re-casting SI:Abj)
Necro and R/C reach level 14 (barely) after exiting prison.
Forge morningstar +3
Back to temple ruins
Thax sent to oblivion
Shade lord dead (taking one sorceress down with him)
All party level 14 now
Do not go back to mayor in Umar yet
Forge phosphorous, cloak +2

Screaming statue
Ashideena
Forge Staff of strength
Party around 1.8 Mxp
Down in the sewer
Teshal
SPOILER!

(very similar to fight I described in specific post)

used potions, storm giant strength on Kensaï, 2 defense on RB and Kensaï

Start with breach/lower resist/ larloch interrupter and 3 warriors pounding Teshal, Teshal dies but released his storm

next round mages (under pfmw from the beginning of fight) start DU on one grandlord (near stairs, luckily just out of vengeance storm), RB and Kensaï pound another, R/C bone devil

round 3 one grandlord dead by blunt weapon, bone devils (2) dead, one grandlord dead under DUs and help from Kensaï, R/C has to start GR (I did a mistake, should have drunk oils of resurgences)

one sorceress breaches planetar, other mages attack it with MMM, warlord falls....

... when alone with lich, R/C and RB had bitten the dust (R/C sliced when attempting to cast heal to save RB)

Lich FoD another sorceress (hopefully not protag)

then died to Kensaï

Searchink Teshal corpse....nothing apart usual items (freedom scroll and armor)

Collect gear, raise in temple, back to business;
Sewer party and horrid raksasa dispatched, lich guarding golden bones erased. Only left illithid compound for later (much later should I say) in those sewers.

Windspear hill, talk again with Samia
SPOILER!

Buffs, all available including potion of defense and 1 cloud giant strength

Necro sequencer GM/emotion/slow stuns Akae
Then classical "all fighters pound kaol", one pfmwed sorceress blocks warlords, other sorceress larloch interrupter on Chak

Kaol dead, Chak did not succeed creeping doom
Samia dead
chak dead
Ferric downs RB
legdoril dead
(meanwhile sorceress, blocking north door, unleashed 3 DU on a warlord)
Ferric dead
Akae dead
One warlord dead (Kensaï finished sorceress good work)
RB raised, R/C then GR
Two warlords left did not stood a chance

Searching Kaol corpse.....Robe of Vecna.... YEAH! (if find out another scroll of memory boosting and one of permanency, will be heaven!)

fight costed some scrolls nonetheless (pfmw, improved mantle)

Party around 1.86 Mxp

Exit Windspear leaving red dragon for the moment. Party goes to Druid grove
Recover Belm (to increase RB damage output)
Troll mound (credit to Ralmevic to prove it doable and for his record of it, gave me inspiration)
SPOILER!

buffs, anti-pwkill measures for sorceresses (DW for one, II for the other), potions of invulnerability

Double RRoR on queen, GM on trolls, RB and Kensaï on King
Necro finishes debuffing queen, one sorceress takes care of King's hardinesses, third one helps killing trolls
2 rounds later King dead

Pesky vengeance trolls earned me 1 reload at this point, pfmw and improved mantle scrolls made sure my mages resisted this vengeance horde.

RB and Kensaï turn to queen, mages debuff queen and pfme warriors in coordination.
Queen dead, pfme on 3 warriors saved RB and Kensaï, R/C, eaten by vengeance and nobles got pwkilled (good team work from foes, could do nothing, had just stoneskined R/C)

Vengeance trolls and noble remaining downed the two sorceresses, Kensaï finished with 15 STR and 20 hp...

Close but victory!

Searching containers.....gnasher, sling of everard, green leaves armor,....Wunderbär!

Visit temple and store in trademeet
Forge ring +2 and ring +3

Try slaver compound in temple district, could clear first floor, climbing up party was obliterated in no time, clearly a stop at those levels.

Visiting country side (De'Arnise keep, Umar,..) for stronghold matters
Paladin stronghold finished, Buy spell turning, hesitate before limited wish price....
Need some xp to have RB reach level 15 (important step!), go kill a lich in bridge district, got beautiful bones, but not enough xp.
Finish vanilla mage stronghold, RB reaches level 15.
Talk with Merella, kill steam elemental, pick scrolls

Completly forgot hard nut to crack
Talk with different squirrels in different places
Prime assassinators did not last 3 rounds.

Party 2.06 to 2.09 Mxp
Wondering where to go now;
Kangaxx? having no rage on fighters is a big drawback... have to rely on coordination DW/remove magic...
Firkraag? If only I had some ideas as to how to proceed there...
Windmaster? was always a pain when tried pre-spellhold, AFAIK limited wish helped me a lot there, did not buy it...

Forgot Umar the witch:
SPOILER!

first clean minor undeads without being seen by Umar (they do not represent any serious threat, but may hinder movements which is disastrous here, one character delay may mean party death)

buff, pfme important
first round 2 RRoR on Umar, 1 on imp
warriors dispatch lords, minotaurs and planetar, R/C GR

second round 2 breaches slightly delayed on Umar (so her pfmw does not last long)
Umar dead

Spiders gate
RRoR on imp followed by breach

imp dies, 2 coins

end of story

Party was perfect for this fight

Rest in Umar hills

Time to get some fresh air
SPOILER!

Some buffs (not that important, dispelled at first whirlwind,...alas!)

Mages start 3 lower resist (2 spells 1 scroll)
Summons (4 aerial servant, golden lion) and warriors pound, R/C takes distance (want to GR if needed at my earliest conveniance)

start another 2*lower emotion and GM from mages

-true whirlwind-

spells land, necro sequencer 3*FA, sorceress FA and AA

FA*2 and AA from mages

Start Sequencer 2*AA, FA AA from mages

-true whirlwind-

R/C GR (is out of whirlwind reach) and comes to fight (FoA quite efficient weapon here)

sequencer and so on land, mages start 2*FA and AA only one aerial servant alive

start another FA*2 and AA

-true whirlwind-

Necro gambles, takes some steps backward and starts sequencer (calculation is 3 FA in 2 rounds instead of 2)
last aerial servant dead

-true whirlwind-

Necro plan succeeds, Windmaster critical, downs R/C... and falls to an acid arrow

Temple in trademeet does good business with us.

Mages wonder whether heading for Skull or Scales?

City docks
forge ring +2 and ring +3
Enter house near inn
SPOILER!

summon 1 aerial servant
RB and Kensaï protected from fire and magical energy, IHasted
Kensaï near coffin, RB in Northwest corner, everyone else in southeast corner

Talk to Kangaxx, Kensaï attacks, Necro with ring of the ram propels lich northwest, RB takes relay beating lich
RB dispelled, Kensaï runs north, RB south to be rebuffed after a while (Kensaï pounds lich waiting for pfmws to vanish)

After Lich timestop, buff Necro (haste, DW, SI:abj, GOI, Spell turning), RB and Kensaï DW, RB finishes lich form

skull face appears
RB and Necro near it, sorceress summons warrior from horn
once skull starts remove magic, RB runs south near R/C, dispel land on them, Kensaï goes north pounding
Kangaxx RRoR, Necro Spell turning, RB with renewed DW goes pounding
Kangaxx RRoR, Necro nothing (has no more spell turning), hope Kangaxx removes GOI
Kangaxx RRoR Necro, Necro GOI
Kangaxx RRoR Necro, Necro GOI
Kangaxx removes magic (targeted Kensaï, will sacrifice him)
R/C renews DW on RB, RB activates inner IH and pounds, Kensaï imprisoned
Kangaxx dead
Joker: killing teshal provided a freedom scroll, sorceress reads it (also have the one on Kangaxx which Necro scribes)

Why the color spray scroll on Demilich???? (diamond necklace, ring and freedom are ok, color spray is out of place)
Bring jewel casket back and forth, if xp limit allows it, will try coldness......

Buy potions a plenty, an over-expensive scroll of limited wish, rest and prepare spellbooks
Time to face my pre-spellhold Arch-Nemesis
Sorceresses close from level 15, since I will need spells, do gong quest from limited wish.
Party entering Windspear
SPOILER!

All based upon assumption that wyrm greater silence stock is finite.

Summons 3 skeletons, lion and kitthix

Buff like hell (prot from evil, chant, bless, defensive harmony, IH....) Kensaï drinks potion of storm giant stregth and invulnerability

Party and summons stay on stairs, RB walks

RB talks with Firkraag, takes buffet
Necro advances a little,
RB propelled, warlords run after him
Necro spellstrike from scroll (is pfmwed), takes greater silence N°1 and retreats to stair where party wait for warlords
RB takes remove magic, luring Kraag eastward, renews IH, takes greater doom and fireball, drinks potion of magic protection
One warlord down
RB takes buffet (bad, he his propelled near rest of party)
another warlord down
One sorceress takes greater silence N°2
Warlord dead
Other sorceress advances, has time to lower resistance twice on Kraag
Firkraag dispel magic on RB, death spell on skeleton,
Sorceress takes greater silence N°3
RB, R/C and Kensaï join pounding Kraag, wyrm pfmw (is eaten fast), warrior release pressure a bit (do not want warlords spawning yet)
R/C takes greater silence N°4
Kraag cure critical wounds, sequencer on Kensaï who drinks potion of clarity at once
ADHW on RB
Kraag plays with Kensaï you lower fire resistance I drink potion
Necro silenced no more, rebuffs
Kraag pfmw
Necro tests greater silence stock, breach Kraag, no silence for the moment
Kraag RRoR and pfmw
Necro breaches again
sorceress un-silenced, summons skeletons
Kraag RRoR
Necro SI:abj
Kraag pfmw
Necro breaches (from scroll)
Sorceress IH RB
Second sorceress out of silence
RB and Kensaï trigger second warlord wave
Necro is hidden east (has very few hitpoints)
Kensaï goes for warlords with mordys and skeletons, one sorceress pfmw and helps with DU
Kraag takes another 2 lower resist while Warlords are cut to pieces
Pound wyrm
last warlord spawn
R/C lures warlords east, Kensaï and RB pound, mages acidify wyrm
Sorceress claims wyrm's scalp
Now 3 warlords to cope with
A Kensaï and a Riskbreaker are perfect to reduce skeletons to shard

End of Arch-Nemesis, no reload!
YEAH!

Post mortem of this fight:
Limited wish bought at an expensive price was useless
potion used: 4 fire resistance, 1 storm giant, 9 oils of resurgence (winners here IMO), 1 magic resistance, 1 clarity, ~10 superior healing, 3 invulnerability
scrolls: 3 improved mantle, 1 spellstrike, 1 pfmw

Party at this moment (Protag 2 227 396 xp)

Goliath (Kensaï lvl 15) THAX/ staff of strength, Lilarcor 44% kills
Gilgamesh (RB lvl 15) Kangaxx/ Phosphorous, belm 30% kills
Torquemada (R7/C16) Torgal/FoA, club +3 16% kills
Mors (Necro lvl 14) coin golem 3% kills
Loki (sorceress lvl 15) Firkraag! (her previous MPV was Windmaster!) 4% kills
Moss (sorceress lvl 15) gem golem 2% kills

sorceresses's spells (order accurate for 5th + levels, other not sure):
Loki
lvl1: LmD, id, MM, CO, RI
lvl2: knock, AA, MI, doom, Web
lvl3: haste, MMM, VT, prot from cold
lvl4: GM, emotion, stoneskin, RoF
lvl5: breach, SI, undead summoning, lower resist
lvl6: IH, pfmw, CL
lvl7: DU, RRoR
Moss:
lvl1: LmD, id, MM, CO, RI
lvl2: knock, AA, MI; invisibility, Agannazar scorcher
lvl3: LB, FA, MMM, VT
lvl4: Emotion, II, stoneskin, RoF
lvl5: Larloch interrupter, SI, lower resist, breach
lvl6: CL, pfme, IH
lvl7: DU, mordy

Forge red dragon scale armor, ring +2
Take boat (just grave lich in bridge district could be done without risks on spellhold cap, without unsilencable char, estimated this task undoable)

Brynnlaw
Asylum
Golems, yuan-tis, tome, Crystal, horrible as usual (that is why no detailled spoiler, after 3 unsuccessful recorded attempts, no more patience to write down for nought,...success after 5th reload) 3 failures because R/C downed (one ranger would have been enough), other one because RB chunked.
Rest, lords and lich, vampires, cat and librarian (love it)
Then clean minotaurs, Mithril golem (easy because party has powerful summons)
forge 3 boots and leave
Irenicus and scouts pleasant
leave brynnlaw, sahuagin city (just one rest)
Underdark
Drow ambush near globe, 1 reload (bad saves), globe machine, kill demon.
Kuo-toa dungeon, Prince, Demon knights
Clean beholder lair
Clean illithid lair
So far this party is the most balanced I never experienced:
- healing power and clerical buffs
- 3 fighters, 2 being monsters (Kensaï is just terrific)
- 3 mages, good bye enemy buffs, welcome summons and protections

Drow ambush (real one, forgot it completly, was quite nice for ambiance)
Meet adalon
Enter drow city
First mission (boz and gang, free Phaere)
Fights in tavern
Recover Qilue brain
Rest party (latest rest was before meeting big brain)
Missions for phaere (beholder, helmet)
Necro reaches level 18! (good for the spirit!)
Do the main reason why I wanted to keep one scroll of freedom between Teshal and Kangaxx: Free then kill Vithal (btw did not remeber that when "drow", getting book back is free of charge)
Free slaves
Clean Deireix tower, jae'llat hive
sell loot (bags overflow), buy potions, do not buy rod of smiting, useless to forge golem slayer IMO.
finish business in drow city, give back eggs to dragon.

Party when re-entering beholder lair:

Goliath (Kensaï lvl 20) THAX/ 40% kills
Gilgamesh (RB lvl 20) elemental golem/ 35% kills
Torquemada (R7/C21) cat'o nine lives/15% kills
Mors (Necro lvl 18) coin golem / 3% kills
Loki (sorceress lvl 18) Firkraag /2% kills
Moss (sorceress lvl 18) gem golem/ 2% kills

sorceresses's spells (order accurate for 5th + levels, other not sure):
Loki
lvl1: LmD, id, MM, CO, RI
lvl2: knock, AA, MI, doom, Web
lvl3: haste, MMM, VT, prot from cold
lvl4: GM, emotion, stoneskin, RoF
lvl5: breach, SI, undead summoning, lower resist
lvl6: IH, pfmw, CL
lvl7: DU, RRoR, sequencer
lvl8: adhw, spell trigger,
lvl9: MS VII
HLA: Planetar

Moss:
lvl1: LmD, id, MM, CO, RI
lvl2: knock, AA, MI; invisibility, Agannazar scorcher
lvl3: LB, FA, MMM, VT
lvl4: Emotion, II, stoneskin, RoF
lvl5: Larloch interrupter, SI, lower resist, breach
lvl6: CL, pfme, IH
lvl7: DU, mordy, sequencer
lvl8: MS VI, spell trigger,
lvl9: Wish
HLA: DB

Re-enter beholder cave, maze and dracolich

Want some challenge there, can dracolich be killed by magic? (or at least with a significant mage contribution attacking wyrm, not the usual classical pfmw wait out while summoning mrdys and skeletons)
Nice moments where I dig through inventory, spellbooks, trying to figure something out....

Well, time to step into dracolich dwellings
Plan to kill it by magic failed because I fear this dracolich is cheating a bit, or immune to magic.
Usual method (could write it by heart if I was not lazy, see other journals)
loot average (no big luck with randomization here)

Exit, start chapter 6
Tired hearing about Bodhi, party goes to cemetery at once (hoped to find kruin there also, did not, was to be a challenge to fight kruin along 4 eminent vampires...)
First floor cleaned, thanks to limited wish (NPP on party) and planetar who restored a level 2 sorceress just before she was hit by an eminent and lost 4 levels...(case of blatant chunk)
Ressources in spell are scarce (because level drain leaves gaps in spellbooks), nevertheless party climbs down
R/C is at nearly full stock, thanks to amulet of power he was never drained (he wears it since Aran gave it to us)
Enter Bodhi room (hoping she is taking a bath)
SPOILER!

3 elite trolls and one mordy as summons
chant, bless, prot from evil, righteous magic, defensive harmony from R/C
haste and IH (on 3 fighters)
spend 3 scrolls of pfmw on mages

Kensaï and R/C on master vampire, RB attacks grandlord in corridor (so this one does no attack mages)
one adhw and two CLs fly,
For next round Necro dooms Bodhi (has no better spells to cast), Loki uses scroll of Wyvern call (she is out of spells) and Moss DB (she has only one level 9 spell left, to choose between DB and Wish)
Spells land, grimwarder dead
Master vampire dies, Kensaï turns to grandlord
Grandlord dead, RB drinks potion of superior healing, attacks Bodhi who just killed Drizzt
Grandlord attacked by Kensaï moves, to save time, Kensaï turns to vampire novice, kills it, turns to bride, kills it
DB lands: novice dead
Mages start 2 MM and one FA on remaining bride
Bodhi drains 5 level to RB, RB Risk decrements
another vampire novice killed (by elite troll)
Grandlord second wave, just as pfmw expires on mages.....
Necro pfmw, sorceresses stoneskin (scroll and spell)
Bodhi dies, taking RB (no chunk!) with her
both sorceress starts DU on GRandlord pounded by R/C (who picked phosphorous on the ground)
Kensaï is luring two grandlords in entry corridor, other 3 pound R/C and sorceresses, one is interrupted, flees to avoid being ripped to shreds
Necro summons fire elemental from staff near fleeing sorceress
Fleeing sorceress fires her last level 9 spell, Wish, for GR on party... not the best pick (wanted rest or hardiness!)
Kensaï kills one Grandlord (has used cat figurine)
R/C has to flee (24 hp left!)
Necro summons elemental, Moss (remaining sorceress, hidden in alcove where books are) cast mordys
Another Grandlord finished, 3 to go
disaster: R/C and sorceress down (could not renew stoneskin nor flee on time), Kensaï pounded upon by 3 grandlords has to flee (again)
Necro renew pfmw and summons fire elemental
Grandlords split, 1 follows Kensaï in corridor, 2 on Necro (while pfmw from scroll)
Kensaï finishes a Grandlord, takes time to drink two superior healings and an oil of resurgence
no more mordy in spellbook for sorceress, two are still fighting grandlords alongside fire elementals
Kensaï joins, another Gandlord gone
Elemental staff has no more fire elemental to produce (1 charge left, want to keep staff)
Mordy alone with Kensaï and grandlord, Kensaï drinks potions (healing and resurgence)
Kensaï activates last Kaï
Victory!

Xp reward allows 3 remaining chars to level up, which is quite good since Necro and Moss (remaining sorceress) have no planetar....
Necro takes planetar as Hla then party is 6 again (too bad, wanted to pick alacrity, but circumstances did not agree with that)
Going to a temple with only 3 people, with Kruin around... would have been a hell of a challenge! not to my liking though!

Rest party
Decide to leave Bodhi's mansion (place is gloomy)
While killing spiders in front of Pai'na former lair, wonder if party, being able to kill Bodhi, Master vampire, various vampires and 6 grandlords could kill 8 grandlords, various vampires, some lords and a demon.
Taking a look at gear, consider answer is yes, problem is that we are short of one Daystar, and grave lich in close quarter is another story.
Kruin will be next
Exit, give weapons to Malchor Harpell
Will fight in slums (long time didn't meet kruin there)

Kruin is not an easy prey, that's for sure, reloaded once. RB was downed twice, sorceress once.
Got my last warning from cowled wizards.

While in slums, rest in sphere
...so cold?
SPOILER!

Buff prot from cold, IH and Free action (all spells), CC3*elite troll on self on one sorceress, foreknowledge for both
sequencer and triggers loaded with RoF
wait for first "why is it..." and then summon planetar, yuan-ti and elite troll

Necro takes purge and pfmw
all attack ice golem, one sorceress alacrity then unleashes RoF all other mages sequencer and triggers

second "why is it ..." spells interrupted! sh...!

ice golem dies, as alacrity expires

all on elemental (a coin has gated)

third "Why is it..."

elemental dies fast
coin also

Pick scrolls
Too soon to talk with merella again IMO, leave sphere.

Meet Lady Vanya messenger
forge indigo ioun stone, memory of the apprenti, amulet of hades, ring of djinni summoning, wave, ring +4, 2 rings +2
Kill cowled wizards

Temple sewer
Enter strange and fetid lair
First room (no problem), good loot, blade of the roses, boneblade, scroll of wish (motivation n°2 to go here)
Second room did not last a round
Third room
SPOILER!

after 4 DB Alhoon dead
coin killed by mages sequencers and triggers full of RoF
gem gates, greater elemental seriously wounded
on purge, sorceresses renew IH on RB and Kensaï, Necro PFE on them, RB and Kensaï hardiness
another coin, greater elemental critical
one last gem and greater dies

Loot: all I need to forge a nice hammer (motivation N°1 to go here)

Talk with Lady Vanya, promise to go visit rune assassins sometimes.
Empty pockets, forge crom and improved cat figurine (115 gp left!)

Rest in temple
Enter guarded compound
First floor cleared without trouble
Ready CC (3 elite trolls on enemy seen), 3 wishes later get rest, climb up.
SPOILER!

Necro comet
party takes purge
R/C moves east, stoneskins, attacks ketta
Kensaï hardiness, attacks lord
CC triggers
RB IH then attacks fallen deva
sorceresses WISH, result is.....25 stats (not bad)...hardiness on party (good!)

Necro second comet (to make some room)
sorceresses gamble, IH on R/C and Kensaï (who has to run, wearing boots of speed, golems and lords ate him fast)
fallen deva dead, RN turns to cleric (who was propelled south by first comet)
too late for Kensaï, MMM downed him
Necro and one sorceress have to pfmw in emergency, other sorceress steps on trap and is held.. hopefully no enemy thinks to take advantage of that
Stalman dead, Sion PWkill sorceress, Necro PWkill Ketta (score is even)
Other sorceress Wishes breach on enemy (nice!)
Skeleton lord dead
Necro summons planetar
Other lord dead (R/C with crom/FoA is doing good!)
R/C turns to gem golem (coin and olaf rasmunssen are pounding R/C too)
Koshi dead
Necro shoots trigger 3*RoF on gem golem
Sorceress is running south, trying to avoid assassin, stoneskins and starts wish
Necro sequencer 3*RoF on gem who dies
Wish gives greater restoration (good!!!)
R/C raise dead from scroll on sorceress then pounds olaf
sorceresses summon (troll and yuan-ti)
Necro starts peeling Sion with RRoR
R/C renews stoneskin
Necro breaches maferan (to accelerate process)
sorceress last wish for 25 stats (this one was great during this fight, funny she was also the one standing up in Bodhi's room)
raised sorceress casts another Yuan-ti (need power more than wish)
Maferan dead, RB runs to olaf
Sion death spell (bad!)
Olaf dead
R/C raises Kensaï
one assassinnearly chunked sorceress
R/C heals, sorceress pfme just in case
Sion dies
second floor is ours (apart corridor)

Cast healing spells, reorganize spellbooks
rest in temple
enter corridor

SPOILER!

4 yuan-tis and planetar wait with party
Necro steps in with boots of haste, take purge, bring greater
Party buffed, pfe on top

Warriors pound, mage renew summons and RoF (on ambers)
This greater spawns faster than light (much faster than the one with aloon), too bad I cannot renew pfe though
After purge, sorceresses renew IH on Kensaï and RB (R/C propelled not touched)
Greater dies soon after
3 ambers, 2 gems one coin left
Kensaï down (GR came milliseconds too late)
cleanning of golems
loot: staff of rynn among other treasures, randomization was kind here!

Will rest in temple as soon as figure what will be next to memorize right spells. Too bad RB and Kensaï do not have CS yet (they are level 21, power attack and hardiness for the moment)


Necro learns many protection from fire, chain lightnings, MS VI, planetar, comet,...to meet next opponent

Kill cowled wizards while crossing city

Gate district, unsilencable Necro (with help from Kensaï and RB) PWkills grave lich (like this one a lot!)

Buy a CC scroll in mart (expensive, but IIRC one is found on Limak, and I cannot cope with forthcoming fights without CC, and for Limak, I want something special)

Back to cemetery
Climb down in catacoombs again, this time with daystar...
SPOILER!

Buffs

have 6 barbarian essences, 2 for each warrior
each warrior drinks oil of resurgence (just before stepping in)
5 scrolls of protection from undead used (out of 6)
Necro giant strength on Kensaï
mages pfmw
FA from cat figurine before climbing (stun!)

prelude:
Necro summons Planetar, sorceresses wish (potion...and Hardiness!!! YEAH!!!!)

Alea Jacta Est
RB opens with risk decrement (that is 25-30 precious damage not to be done later), each warrior takes a Grandlord

RB kills Grandlord 1
Kensaï kills GRandlord 2
3 warriors drink oil of resurgence
last elite troll (from CC 3*troll) bites the dust, planetar wounded
Kensaï and R/C kill Grandlord 3
Orcus meanwhile peels Necro (who does nothing, wait for Vampire)
Kensaï and R/C kill Grandlord 4
3 warriors drink oil of resurgence
Vampire spawn
Necro comet, sorceresses grab weapon and attack eminent near
RB kills Grandlord 5
Planetar dead
Kensaï and R/C kill Grandlord 5
comet lands, Kensaï, nearest warrior from vampires triggers sunray from daystar, killing an eminent and two brides
R/C attacks vampires
Necro trigger 3*CL on vampires (IIRC, electricity, they do not like)
Kensaï kills Grandlord 6, turns to help killing vampires
RB kills Grandlord 7
Kensaï kills bride
R/C kills eminent, Necro pfmw
lords spawn
KensaÏ kills eminent, then a bride
MAster vampire dies under RB and R/C blows
Kensaï kills bride
comet lands expelling vampires away
one lord down, another follows (RB and Kensaï)
Hardiness no more...
Kensaï kills eminent
R/C kills bride
Necro uses cat figurine
Kensaï kills a lord

Assesment of situation:
1 grandlord lightly wounded
1 lightly wounded master vampire (pounded by R/C)
Orcus attacking R/C
RB and Kensaï on Grandlord
Two lords at full health

Not that bad every party member is alive at this point of the fight!

Lords spawn again!
RB has to flee
Kensaï kills grandlord 8!
lord downs RB
Then R/C

party lost......


Reload

This time, improve 2 slight things which proved decisive:
R/C righteous magic
One more oil is drunk

Note: Wishes failed at entry, so no help for start! and 2 precious spells wasted
When vampire spawned, just 2 grandlords alive (barely, both critical, this is because of righteous magic)
Once grandlords dead, warriors focuse on one master, Kensaï sunray, master dead (by swords)
Both masters were dead when lords arrived
Kensaï fell between skeleton lord spawns. Compared to first run, drinking some more oils of resurgence helped keeping 3 fighters up to this point, with 40% resistance less!
When third and last lord spawn, just killed last lord from previous spawn silence expires, all mages pfmw, R/C stoneskins
first wish, potion, second greater restoration
3 lords left
Wish for crap again (twice, one for each sorceress)
no more lords
Wish for potion and IH on everyone apart party members
This fight was not won by luck! (if won that is, still have orcus...)
R/C raises Kensaï, heals, back to full party

Many many rounds summoning, enduring pfmw

Was ready when orcus fired his 3*FoD (on my protag of course), a very unpleasant way to reload this fight (I know what I'm talking about!)

And we won!

Necro, RB and Kensaï level!

Kill cowled wizards

Party right now (Protag 4,41 Mxp)

Goliath (Kensaï lvl 22) Dracolich/ 41% kills
Gilgamesh (RB lvl 22) Orcus/ 36% kills
Torquemada (R7/C23) cat'o nine lives/14% kills
Mors (Necro lvl 20) grave lich (yeah!)/ 3% kills
Loki (sorceress lvl 19) Firkraag/ 3% kills
Moss (sorceress lvl 19) gem golem/ 2% kills

Next step, sphere.

SPOILER!

after many reloads (focusing on elemental first was a mistake here)

summons
Sorceresses IH on RB and Kensaï
RB and Kensaï hardiness, then focus on noble rak
Necro starts alacrity
R/C stays back

Necro unleashes debuffs (breach, remove magic and RoF on elemental)
two wishes, potion and pfme on party (good!)
Noble rak dead, RB and Kensaï on noble marilith
Pasha kills an horrid rak
Noble marilith dies
Alalcrity expires, Necro starts another

Horrid and escort dead
R/C heals Pasha (wounded, but do not want to take risks, since place is clear of foes, low risk to be interrupted)
abyssal dead
Pasha healed
coin dead

elemental alone was no match for us

Could not have won it without alacrity for Necro (I did not pick remove magic in sorceresses spells yet)

sorceresses level

exit sphere, kill cowled wizard
rest in CC
kill cowled wizard

Nuts to crack in bridge district
SPOILER!

Wanted to have fun, Necro had limited wish in CC, choose timestop, debuffing inferno (for enemies) followed
Dracandros bites the dust
Kensaï got an implosion, Necro saves him barely with cat figurine
Then Pitre fell
Prime assassinator (? not 100% sure for this one, maybe exterminator, it is the one just left of entrance)
Falahar
Kensaï (good team work Valeria/late Falahar)
R/C (Valeria and prime)
Exterminator
Prime assassinator
And Valeria

No reload (seldom happens to me here, all the more at low levels)
Planetar raises deads

Get my reward, RB takes ioun stone
Rest in gate district, go to docks
Limak and ... guests
SPOILER!

Masochistic, wanted to try Limak and Zallanora together

Enter docks, Necro summons planetar, sorceresses MSVII and Wish (pfme on party)
Upset by necro summoning, Zallanora and her pack join

Kensaï attacks limak
Necro starts alacrity
Sorceresses RRoR (scroll and spell) Khollynnus Paac
RB and R/C on cowled wizards
coin and cowled gate
Fallen deva summoned, RB attacks it
Kensaï grabs wave and attacks coin
Order summons (elite troll and planetar) to attack limak
Necro alacrity on: remove magic, RRoR, comet, breach, limited wish (horde)
R/C GR (Kensaï badly beaten by Limak)
RB kills planetar, turns to naked khollynnus Paac
Limak pfmw
Zallanora RRoR Necro
Necro spell turning
Khollynnus Paac dead
Necro spell turning again, pfmw
Both sorceress wishes (breach, yeah! and potion...)
coin dead
necro giant strength on Kensaï, alacrity expires
One cowled, and the two bosses around
sorceresses go away (though protected, they are in great PWKill danger if in Zallanora or Limak LOS, lost too many fights because PWKilled !)
Necro, just SI:abj on, GOI
RB and Kensaï come closer from foes to show them party is around (Necro is between ZAllanora and Limak since beginning of fight)
cowled gates
sorceresses wish (potion and hardiness)
Limak is chasing rabbits! (big laugh!)
Zallanora dispels Kensaï (no laugh)
Necro summons planetar (pity Limak)
no cowled at this moment
Like a Buster Keaton movie, Necro follows Limak chasing rabbits (he has the right to, but I fear anti-cheat measures if Limak has no party member in his LOS)
sorceresses renew IH and prot from cold on Kensaï (while R/C and RB pound Zallanora)
Necro MS VI
somer other cowled and coin
double wish potion and geater restoration
pounding, rebuffing warriors, summoning
double wish, rest! and pfme!
coin and cowled
SI:DIV expires!
Necro breaches Limak
Zallanora summons Hakaeshar
RB and Kensaï run to kill it (and get close from Zallanora)
R/C renew DW on sorceresses (to allow them to come within Limak and Zallanora reach), sorceresses SI:Abj on top of that
Zallanora dead!
Another cowled has gated though..
sorceresses trigger 3*lower resist on Limak, then take turn with Necro breaching him
limak triggers 3*CL (hurts!)
R/C GR
cowled dead
Limak critical

Killing blow was for ...greater Yuan-ti! (a bit sad noone will have Limak as MPV, though Limak' scalp is one of the highest ranking!, should be to sorceress who summoned...)

Empty pockets (sell to foven)
forge LoU and adamantine staff of strength

Take a well deserved rest thinking of next step.
If staying on big city like party did since exiting underdark, means either going for old one or for twisted rune.

SPOILER!

contingency pfmw
sequencer fireshield red/prot from fire/stoneskin
CC GOI/spell turning/foreknowledge
old one and graves CC etc.
grave: lower resist Necro
grave: attacks old one
grave: RRoR Necro
Necro: SI:Necromancy
old one: SI:Necromancy
grave: RRoR old one
grave: RRoR Necro
grave: remove magic on Necro

note: at this point stop tracking every action, too much lines to read, and mistakes to be made for sure. Focuse on Necro and actions close by.

Necro: Alacrity: stoneskin, pfmw, RRoR*6, SI:Necro, GOI, spell turning, planetar, prot from fire on planetar, remove fear
Meanwhile graves RRoR, spell turning, trigger CL*3, pfmw*3,
Necro drinks potion of free action
Grave stellar on planetar
old one IDU (for Improved Disrupt Undead)
Planetar heals (good move)
Necro PWkills critical grave lich, since has 3 layers (SI:Necro, GOI and spell turning), starts alacrity
Grave RRoR Necro (if not free action, odds are PWstun would follow spell turning disappearance)
Grave RRoR Necro
Grave breaches
Alacrity on prot from fire, stoneskin, pfmw, GOI, SI:Necro (took another RRoR meanwhile) Spell turning, MS VI (meanwhile old one IDU), MS VI, Necro is breached!!!(may be landed just before spell turning), so prot from fire, stonskin, pfmw
Alacrity expires, necro RRoRed and breached, prot from fire, stellar gravestone lands anyway
old one IDU again, grave is critical
Necro PWKill second grave
Necro starts spell turning
Grave alone is fighting planetar
old one IDU
spell turning raises
Lich and old one debuff/buff
Necro trigger pfmw/prot from fire/stoneskin
Old one IDU
Lich wounded
Lich RRoR Necro
Necro SI:Necromancy
old one IDU
Lich critical
Necro PWKill
Grave dead!

Necro spell book:
lvl1-4 not important apart prot from fire at level 3 and stoneskins at level 4
lvl5: 8*SI, prot from electricity
lvl6: 3*GOI, 5*pfmw
lvl7: 6*RRoR, 3*spell turning
lvl8: foreknowledge, prot from energy, 2*pierce shield, 3*MS VI (few important ressources at this level for this fight...)
lvl9: Planetar, 2*Alacrity, 3*PWKill

Welcom Morid, tell him to brew potions
What next?
In city just remains twisted rune....

Party right now (Protag 4,61 Mxp): lvl/MPV/kills in chapter
Mors (Necro) 20/grave lich / 5%
Goliath (Kensaï) 22/ Dracolich/ 37%
Gilgamesh (RB) 22 / Orcus/ 39%
Torquemada (R7/C23) cat'o nine lives/9%
Loki (sorceress) 20 / Firkraag/ 3%
Moss (sorceress) 20 / Prime assassinator/ 5%

Rest in sphere, carefully picking spells and filling sequencers
Head to bridge district
SPOILER!

buffs (many)
RB and Kensaï drink oil
R/C uses last scroll of prot from undead (him, I don not want drained!), NPP on Kensaï
RB wears 2 rings of prot from fire (has 65%)
summon Yuan-ti, planetar and 4 elite trolls (CC and summon pre-fight)

RB dispelled by shangalar; IH inner then attacks revanek
Necro starts alacrity, sorceresses breach (delay between the two) on Shyressa
R/C and Kensaï pound Shyressa
Planetar, yuan-ti and troll attack shangalar
Alacrity on: RRoR (failed), oracle, RRoR*3 breach (layenne) breach (shyressa), trigger 3*lower resist on layenne, sequencer 3*AA, 3*AA, 4 MM (wait for her second stance)
Shyressa dead
R/C starts GR (RB stunned takes damage, Kensaï drained)
RB down
Layenne Wish-rest
sorceress both fires sequencer 3*AA, Layenne dead!
R/C starts raise dead
Alacrity expires
RB raised, heal, IH, pfme and prot from fire casted
Kensaï down
RB runs, grabs gear, heal lands just on time
One summmon dead (so no more 5 limit)
2 wishes, rest! 25 stats
all summons dead apart a yuan-ti fighting shangalar (and damaging him!)
one sorceress moves cautiously (out of vaxall range) and breaches revanek
R/C raises Kensaï
soreress summons Yuan-ti
Necro planetar
breach lands, vaxall spots sorceress and disables her
Kensaï appears, heal IH and prot from fire on him (Necro, sorceress and R/C)
Revanek hardiness sh...!!!
Stellar flies on RB, RB hardiness, no big damage
Kensaï hardiness, runs to gear, heal lands, attacks revanek
DB from shangalar
RB risk decrement (hope to push shangri-la away, and did!)
Revanek dies!
RB and Kensaï on ray-man
Necro and sorceress wishes result: pfme and breach (useless), then they start MS VII and MS VI
Shangalar again in LOS! (pox on this one!), DB (no great harm)
R/C GR (do no want to take risks)
Vaxall spots other sorceress and disables her too (I did a big mistake there!)
do not know how many hp vaxall has, but they do not decrease fast!
sorceress is enabled! good! wait for next move (so far summons are 5)
Vaxall critical at last....
one troll falls
hesitate to wish, problem if I get what I want (TS+ alacrity), fear it will allow vaxall to heal a bit
Vaxall dead!
RB and Kensaï do good job against shangalar
trigger 3*CL downs RB (forgot it, other mistake), shangalar is seriously wounded
Necro starts alacrity: RRoR*2, oracle, pfmw, DU, (shangalar is now critical) ..PWKILL!
planetar raises RB
No reload!

Challenge to clean Athkatla straight after underdark without going anywhere else (WK, windspear,...) done!

Visit countryside (keep, deal with chaos, assassin hideout)
Report to lady Vanya
Sell (a lot)
Forge poseidon and cloak+3
Get Vanya second quest
Recover ruby of the gods
Get reward from vanya

Party (Protag 5 Mxp) lvl/MVP
Kensaï 23/ Dracolich
RB 23 / Orcus
R7/C25 / cat'o nine lives
Necro 21 / grave lich
sorceress 21 / Firkraag
sorceress 21 / Layene

Start chapter 7
Clean city of golems and raksasas
Nizi (hardwoods were tough!!!, Yuan-tis fell fast to them though they are by far the most resilient summon here, planetar life duration is 2-3 seconds here)
Open way to temple
House of pain
I have a problem here, experience with noble raksasa south shows that Necro (level 21) fails to debuff it, R/C can (level 25), but dispel magic instead of remove magic is a poor thing, all the more in a place where enemy has a nasty tendancy to purge.
SPOILER!

crushed

reload
crushed again

reload
crushed!

reload crushed again
will be back later, clearly a stop.

Leave city in the trees

Finish WK 1
sell loot
visit keep, kill two swindlers
WK 2 (mages, all the more sorcerers, are perfect agains chromatic demon)
Too tempting to forge before maze
Visit keep to forge FoA +4
Deal with lord Roenall
Back to Docks, forge: Thetruth, ring of greater djinni, girdle of lordly might, improved dragon helm
Waukeen, buy warblade
Back to WK
Necro kills green wyrm
start maze
Found out a good use of mages against hybrid tiefling (do not spoil which one, just that it has nothing to do with luck or randomness effect)
Enter WK 4, leave

Elven city, harp house
SPOILER!

enter
sorceresses start IH on R/C and Kensaï
Necro starts alacrity
RB and Kensaï hardiness (after purge)

just took 2 gems, 1 coin , 1 amber

that was it, a couple levels more!

Back to sphere
Sleep a lot in there, time for Morid to research a new spell, start time machine, forge a key.
Back to elven city, collect wine
sphere, brew barbarian essence, forge gold key
kill grandlords, forge another key
Second travel to plane
Say good bye to Morid
forge cloak +3, talisman of greater protection
Party is going to a big tree

Hardwood, with RVE, little problem
Hell (a place where some fight improvement would be welcome)

Enter ToB
Party (Protag 6.38 Mxp) lvl/MVP
Kensaï 27/ Spider queen
RB 27 / Orcus
R7/C29 / Elemental golem
Necro 24 / Green wyrm
sorceress 24 / Firkraag
sorceress 24 / Layene

Illasera
Saradush (nasty vampires)
Forge Warlord's blade (physical resist) and cutthroat +5
Gromnir
forge rimed club, cloak +2
marching mountains (elite fire giants are a pain!)
like Berenn fight a lot after all (if joining every body in big room that is).
forge cloak of arcane immortality, cloak +2

Yaga or Supreme leader?
Choose giant, one reload, then a long and difficult fight (but I am starting to like it)
First wave was eliminated ok, then bad luck (no rest, RB and Kensaï propelled away) made second wave stay while third one spanwned
a lot of raise dead (5 overall), when yaga and 2 EFG were only foes, party was just 3 mages and R/C, with just one 9th level spell left which has to be planetar (R/C could not stop to read scroll, no more stoneskins meant death or chunk with 3 giants around).
Once RB and Kensaï raised, summoned allowed to get rid of EFG one after the other, then to wwait for Yaga to feel the blows.
One of the few fights where having many mages, and so few warriors, is a drawback (unless wishes are nice with rest)
Oasis (very hard)
Draconis
Clear abazigail lair
Necro terminates blue dragon
forge FoA +5, golden spider figurine, boots of the range lord, improved boots of the ranger lord.
Supreme leader
SPOILER!

longest fight RL speaking
3 reloads
was very lucky with Wishes and RVE
Anti-inquisitors had all to be dealt with by sword
Greater yuan-tis precious
critical thing IMO is to get rid of golems spammers fast (so manage moment to cast FA from cat figurine in order not to be dispelled)
one of the fights where using barbarian essences makes sense, since I had a Necro, regen from RVE was enough
R/C with GR is also a good life preservation insurance, much better here than auramaster.

Second only to great wyrm fight in WK IMO, love it!

Forge belt of cloud giant strength (perfect for Kensaï with adamantine staff of srength)
Skull
Saladrex
finish level
Orc horde
ambush liches/grandlords (first grave so far not to fall under Necro's PWKill)
Golem ambush
4 green globes
4 blue
3 red
2 purple (could get 3rd I think, but wanted to enjoy sadistic pleasure of sunray, sold daystar long ago)
Rest (last rest was before golem ambush, no magical rest since then)
finish globes, insert first key
forge noble staff of fire, hammer of Thor, mage robe of elemental resistance
Ancient dragon (one reload because of emotion that downed RB and Kensaï late fight)
Azamantes (without timestop, too easy)
finish WK

Party (Protag 8.77 Mxp) lvl/MVP
Kensaï 34/ Ancient Dragon
RB 34 / Orcus
R7/C36 / Greater Elemental Golem
Necro 29 / Green Wyrm
sorceress 28 / Draconis
sorceress 29 / Layene

Start exploring sendaï' lair
classical inventory overflow after tunnels
Forge great wyrm plate, improved ring of gaxx
Drow ambushes (nice)
Odamaron (did not use timestop, nor DU under alacrity, fought wave after wave till no more pfmw, beware CC 3*FoD and memorize one freedom...)
Various Sendaï helpers (they need improvement, compared to drow ambushes and Odamaron, they are just pitiful!)
Next door Sendaï waits

Party (Protag 9.46 Mxp) lvl/MVP/%kills
Kensaï 36/ Ancient Dragon/39%
RB 36 / Orcus /34%
R7/C38 / Greater Elemental Golem/16%
Necro 30 / Green Wyrm /3%
sorceress 30 / Draconis/2%
sorceress 30 / Layene/3%

sorceresses's spells (order accurate for 5th + levels, other not sure):

Loki
lvl1: LmD, id, MM, CO, RI
lvl2: knock, AA, MI, doom, Web
lvl3: haste, MMM, VT, prot from cold, remove magic
lvl4: GM, emotion, stoneskin, RoF, II
lvl5: breach, SI, undead summoning, lower resist, spell shield
lvl6: IH, pfmw, CL, GOI, pfme
lvl7: DU, RRoR, sequencer, prot. from elements
lvl8: adhw, spell trigger, foreknowledge, MS VI
lvl9: MS VII, WISH, CC, AI
HLA: Planetar, DB, energy blades, comet, alacrity

Moss:
lvl1: LmD, id, MM, CO, RI
lvl2: knock, AA, MI; invisibility, Agannazar scorcher
lvl3: LB, FA, MMM, VT, remove magic
lvl4: Emotion, II, stoneskin, RoF, fireshield blue
lvl5: Larloch interrupter, SI, lower resist, breach, spell shield
lvl6: CL, pfme, IH, pfmw, GOI
lvl7: DU, mordy, sequencer, RRoR
lvl8: MS VI, spell trigger, foreknowledge, adhw
lvl9: Wish, CC, MS VII, AI
HLA: DB, Alacrity, energy blades, planetar, comet

Sendaï fight was great (1 reload)
RB and Kensaï could kill pet before roar (which is quite good here)
web golem are really nasty fellows (suspect them to have the biggest damage output in IA)
Once Sendaï is alone, she is as good as dead
No rest during fight (wished just 5 times, other 9th level where Yuan-tis, 6 RVE no rest)

Forge scarlet ioun stone
Necro reaches level 31
Time to face mercenaries (another improvement for future V6, they are pathetic and there is room to gather some more foes...)
Forge dragon lord (nearly a sine qua non in EDE), ring +2, ring +3
Visit balthazar, pocket challenges (another field of improvement btw)
sell all (even scrolls of AI I will not use in EDE)
forge ring +2 and ring +3
Pick MS V for both sorceress

Party that will enter EDE:
(lvl/xp/MVP)
Necro 31 / 9.80 Mxp / Green wyrm
Kensaï 37/ 9.54 Mxp / Ancient Dragon
RB 37 / 9.55 Mxp / Orcus
R7/C39 /9.59 Mxp / Elemental golem
sorceress 31 / 9.62 Mxp / Draconis
sorceress 31 / 9.66 Mxp / Layene

equipment:
Potions:80 greater healings (more than enough), 24 protection from magic, 25 barbarian essences (did not use many!), 2 free action, 50 oils of resurgence (a lot of grandlords died), 3 clarity
scrolls: 4 wish, MS VII, MS VI, MS V, 24 AI (more than enough, sold others)
misc: improved cat figurine, amulet of the cheetah, ring of fire control and golden spider figurine

Mors (Necro)
AC -10, 134 HP, STR 22
Gear: Memory of the apprenti, scarlet ioun stone, gauntlet of specialization, LoU, ring of greater djinni, ring of fire protection, belt of fire giant strength, cloak of arcane immortality
Weapon: staff of the ram +6

Moss (Sorceress)
AC -7, 71 HP, STR 20
Gear: Robe of elemental resist, lavander ioun stone, bracers of AC 5, LoU, necklace of spell protection, ring +2, ring +2, belt of stone giant strength, cloak +3
Weapons: boneblade/martial staff +3

Loki (Sorceress)
AC -7, 81 HP, STR 10 (!)
Gear: Robe of the good archmagi, circlet of netheril, bracers of AC 4, LoU, amulet of the seldarine, ring +2, ring +2, belt of bluntness, cloak +2
Weapon: Noble staff of fire

Goliath (Kensaï)
AC -7, 240 HP, STR 25
Gear: Amulet +1, indigo ioun stone, ring +2, improved ring of gaxx, belt of cloud giant strength, cloak +2
Weapons: Adamantine staff of strength, warlord's blade, poseidon, dragon lord

Gilgamesh (Riskbreaker)
AC -19, 236 HP, STR 25
Gear: talisman of greater protection, wong fei ioun stone, ring +2, ring +3, girdle of lordly might, cloak +2
Weapons: thetruth, hindo doom +4, cutthroat +5 (mh) phosphorous (oh)

Torquemada (Dual Ranger/Cleric)
AC -14, 164 HP, STR 25
Gear: Great wyrm armor, gauntlet of expertise, improved dragon helm, amulet +1, ring +2,holy symbol, improved boots of the ranger lord, belt of inertial barrier, cloak +2
Weapons: FoA +5 (mh) Hammer of Thor (oh)

One last challenge
As soon as contingency and triggers are designed, spells are chosen, one last rest and party will challenge (most likely defeat) a god

lost first attempt
second attempt
SPOILER!

buffs: 5 barb for RB, Kensaï, R/C and Necro, Righteous magic and hardiness, PFE on RB, Kensaï, R/C and Necro, prot from elec on sorceresses

Welcome Prince
Necro, Pasha, RB, R/C and Kensaï pound supreme, sorceresses and summons delay ultras, summons on Prince
Supreme falls before raks gate
Kensaï and R/C go for an ultra
Pasha and RB finish elemental and keep Prince occupied, Necro under alacrity waits for Raks (and bomb golems)
Universal purge magic! (why?)
Necro renews IH
Raks Gate, R/C and Kensaï go for nobles
most intense moment of EDE IMO, love it, got first wish-rest (Loki)
When raks no more, 4 ambers, 1 coin and 2 ultras with Prince
First Ultra dies,
R/C got chunked by second Ultra, chose to go on
When both Ultras dead, 2 ambers left
Raks gate
Raks and ambers eliminated
Prince first AI (third and last rak wave not spawned), Kensaï power!
Prince second AI (where is third rak wave?)
Rak third wave
UPM and we lost spells
Got wish rest (Moss)
Realize my healing power is long gone with R/C
Prince third AI
Move everybody in an alcove
Prince propels Pasha away, follows him, no more fight in alcove
RB is downed by Prince (hopefully, still have 5 barbarian essences to rebuff him). Here missed my R/C, took a risk not using cat figurine or Hindo doom, lost.
Prince 4 th AI
Prince 5 th AI (2+ RL hours I am playing!)
Bring everybody in an alcove again
First rest with consequence (debuff, planetar and elemental)
Was victim of mage moves rest inefficient, so twice consequences to deal with (not a big proble though, more annoying was the wait for second lucky wish)
Prince sixth and last AI (2:25 hours RL!)

After a last blow from dragon lord, Prince surrenders

Necro, RB and Kensaï level
Bury R/C remains in a golden coffin (we are rich!) with all his gear (would like to discover such treasure one day!)

Killed Melissane and came back to mortal life

[nicoper]

This because other journal is with a bit "extremist" party, just to give other kind of feedback

[mikel123]

I noticed two things about your party:

1) no thief - isn't this problematic? Or are the traps/locks in this mod generally not changed from vanilla?

2) no NPCs - I heard there was some custom content in v6 for Valygar. Any other NPCs I should include in my party so I can experience custom content?

[Krell]

Nice journal, of course I have my reservations about strategies depending upon Wish for Rest in the middle of a fight - those are good for a random run though.

@mikel123: There is a new arcane spell called Find Traps similar to the divine one. Also, a Fighter/Thief is generally a very good idea and can cover the traps/locks issues. Only bad thing about the F/T is the inability to attain Grand Mastery in any weapon, but you can fix that if you install the "Grand Mastery for multiclasses" tweak from the Ease of Use components. In my runs I had a very powerful Assassin-Fighter, but this is good with experience-gaining exploits only.

Generally, traps aren't that big a problem to an experienced player. There aren't that many dangerous ones to memorize, and there's always load game (well not for me generally). The traps are changed a bit in a way that some of the dangerous ones now either detect illusions or drain levels. Not a big deal altogether. Plus you can always hire a thief temporarily to deal with some traps (that's if you play with a 5-member party or 6-member with an in-game NPC like Valygar).

Valygar is good, but he has no extra content - just a few item upgrades, which are very good. He's decent, but still underpowered to any custom-generated NPC IMHO. There are other characters with item upgrades, but honestly speaking, those upgrades are not worth picking the NPC - like what's the case with Jan's armor or Keldorn's armor. Even Nalia's upgraded ring comes too late in the game for you to choose her as your mage in the beginning. BTW she can effectively deal with traps and locks...

[Sikret]

Only bad thing about the F/T is the inability to attain Grand Mastery in any weapon, but you can fix that if you install the "Grand Mastery for multiclasses" tweak from the Ease of Use components. In my runs I had a very powerful Assassin-Fighter, but this is good with experience-gaining exploits only.

Nope!

Quote from the "Installation" document of the readme:

= Recommended and Ease of Use components to be installed before Improved Anvil: ============================================================================
"Ease of use" (install right after Baldurdash fixpack):
- Infinite Weapon, Potion and Ring/Amulet Stacking for SOA and TOB (Recommended)
- Shut Up "You Must Gather Your Party Before Venturing Forth (optional)
- True Grand Mastery (Recommended)
- Un-Nerfed THAC0 Table, Saving Throws, ... (Recommended)
- Multiple Strongholds (Recommended)
- Bonus Merchants (optional)
- No Drow Avatars On Party In Underdark (optional)
- Imoen ToB Dialogue Fix (Recommended) - Romance: Bug Fixes (optional) ...

Note 2: Don't install any other component of Ease-of-Use except the mentioned ones. You can of course choose not to install some or all of the recommended and optional components mentioned above, But do not install any other components which are not in the list.

[nicoper]

I noticed two things about your party:

1) no thief - isn't this problematic? Or are the traps/locks in this mod generally not changed from vanilla?

2) no NPCs - I heard there was some custom content in v6 for Valygar. Any other NPCs I should include in my party so I can experience custom content?

Thieves are close from useless in V6 (even tried recently a run with a swash AND an assassin to be sure of it, I am sure of it )
traps/locks not changed, a lot of knocks to open and Mirror image to protect (see SHadan's doc in strategy guide if you don't want to be bothered with traps)

Valygar is a tremendous NPC in the game , new kit is VERY nice, with items he is (IMO) the most powerful tank late game , second only to Vagrant protag
Replacing my RB or Kensaï (or a mage) with Valygar is no problem.

I like RB and Kensaï a lot, they are very similar (IMO) and very powerful warriors. There was a time when I would not have dared pick a warrior unable to wear full plate mail in IA, after picking a riskbreaker in my first run I became addicted to RB and Kensaï (because Kensaï can have +++++ in 2H weapons, poseidon, staff of strength...). And no forging headaches for those two!

Among NPCs I just once picked Jaheira in a divine heavy party (Necro protag, sorc then Imoen, 2 undead hunters, dual berserker/cleric and Jaheira), I confess I like her and her quest, but multi class is not the most convenient in IA, find (just a personnal thinking, other people may have different vue) other NPCs not Worth a try.

EDIT: HORRIBLE MISTAKE!!, NALIA is a VERY good pick!!!!!

This post has been edited by nicoper: May 2 2013, 05:55 PM

[nicoper]

@krell: Don't forget I never pretended to no-reload. I try to have as few reloads as possible, but... I reload

[Sikret]

@krell: Don't forget I never pretended to no-reload. I try to have as few reloads as possible, but... I reload

The guy (Krell, Saros, or whoever he is) doesn't even install the mod properly. Just see his post above and my reply to it. I think it is time for all to just ignore him.

[mikel123]

There's two reasons I think a thief might be helpful in this type of game.

One is for pickpocketing, since all of these special items have such a gold requirement. I feel like I'd want to really max out pickpockets and just run around and pickpocket every NPC in the game.

And the second is for the Bounty Hunter abilities, specifically the Maze trap. If some of these fights involve swarms, the Maze trap can really slow things down and let me pick off one enemy at a time. I believe the Maze trap doesn't check Magic Resistance, so it's essentially unblockable.

[Sikret]

Swashbuckler is buffed in IA v6 and may be buffed more in v7.

[nicoper]

There's two reasons I think a thief might be helpful in this type of game.

One is for pickpocketing, since all of these special items have such a gold requirement. I feel like I'd want to really max out pickpockets and just run around and pickpocket every NPC in the game.

And the second is for the Bounty Hunter abilities, specifically the Maze trap. If some of these fights involve swarms, the Maze trap can really slow things down and let me pick off one enemy at a time. I believe the Maze trap doesn't check Magic Resistance, so it's essentially unblockable.

In my 2 thieves run, I pickpocketed nearly all , not that huge a Bounty...

For maze trap, you may have a point (I seldom tried traps from assassin, low levels and Hlas ones, apart trivial enemies, no effect ..)

[lambada]

Pickpocket is an OK skill. Be sure to use it on NPCs who dissapear once you deal with them. I don't have much experience with Swashbuckler class. They seem ok on paper (from Items document).
Valygar is good and complements a custom-made Riskbreaker. I use him with a shield for most of Shadows of Amn.
Cernd is, likewise, a great complement to a Necromancer protagonist.
Nalia is fine, but a Sorcerer is overall a better pick.
I don't play multiclasses so can't say how good a figher/thief or mage is useful. Ditto Jaheira. You might want to try Stalker kit instead if you like backstab. I'm playing one now .
@mikel123
Don't maximize pickpocket skill. It wraps around to a negative value due to engine bug. 200 is enough.
Most of enemies do not use "Carsomyr-like weapons". Some have a chance to dispel all your specific (not combat) protections on hit, some dispel it every time, some dispel illusions, some dispel even PFMW. You should play the mod first then ask such questions.
Most of the enemies in Improved Anvil (this is true even for much earlier versions) are immune to traps.