Shadow Mages

[Xyx]

Zhycxss keeps busy.

Did Kangaxx today. Damn, he's annoying! I wanted to try without using either Protection from Magic or Protection from Undead (cast on my by my Simulacrum, of course). Instead, I tried Berserk/Spell Immunity - Abjuration. Result: two reloads due to a freak failed save versus Demi-Lich Howl.

Kangaxx the Lich is a funny one too. I hit him with a double Sunray (Daystar and Simmy's Daystar ) for over 100 damage, but he survived! I thought he would give me his evil rant and transform, but instead he cast Time Stop - Symbol - Symbol... Had to hit him with a bunch of Melf's Minute Meteors (another 100+ damage) that I wanted to save up for his Demi-Lich form before he bit the dust.

[Xyx]

Zhykxss ups the body count by more than just a little! For yesterday and today, we offer:

• Hordes upon hordes of various types of undead.
• Pai Na (and a zillion spiders).
• Some pirates in a cave beneath the Sea's Bounty tavern.
• Two moneylenders that thought they could swindle the new Lord de'Arnise. (I feel my Alignment slowly shifting from Chaotic Good to Chaotic Neutral...)
• A bunch of stoopid Rangers that attacked me for no good reason outside Valygar's cabin.
• 2 Liches in the Shade Lord's dungeon! I thought these things were rare and solitary. Again, the game unpaused while I was rummaging in my inventory. Don't open your scroll case in battle! I was relatively unharmed, though.
• Thaxll'ssillyia (yes, I looked it up ). He was damn easy...
• The Shade Lord (Simmy killed him without my interference).
• Ajantis, is that you? Well, serves you right for not talking to me when I gave you the chance! Never liked him anyway. (see my Alignment shifting...)
• Loads of goblinoids.
• Samia & Co. She became angry when I wouldn't do her dirty work. Spell Sequenced Skull Traps and two hits from the Flail of Ages killed the whole bunch in five seconds.
• Some weird Beholder-like creature called "Director" that didn't shoot rays...
• 3 Adamantite Golems in Firkraag's dungeons! Where does he get all that metal from!? And what idiot lets a six foot wide Golem guard a four foot wide bridge!?
  
• Tazok. Just keep 'em coming; I don't mind!
• Conster. Well, actually Firkraag killed him with a 68 point breath attack.
• Firkraag. Wow, he killed Simmy! Had to get another one. Not a scratch on me, of course.
• Lord Roenall. Good riddance!

Bought a stack of five scrolls of Prismatic Ray and some Wizard Eyes for one purpose only: Simmy! These scrolls are a bit slow to use, though, so I also got a stack of Skull Traps. My favorite tactic: cast Simulacrum, have it use a scroll of Wizard Eye, send both off to clear out the dungeon. Works like a charm; Simmy kills half the dungeon before the duration runs out. If only I had Project Image!

Cleared out the Graveyard, Umar Hills and Windspear Hills. Various odd things happened...

The Keep is a money pit! There was a flood and I had to pay 7,000 gold to keep the damn peasants happy! And happy they are; they say they've fully recovered from the Troll invasion now. So I levy some minor taxes to earn some money back, and all of a sudden they're still trying to recover fully! Come on, make up your mind!

Some wizard in Umar Hills wants to build a Golem. Golem tries to kill him (so I kill Golem). Did anyone not see that coming?

I suddenly notice that, while spelled up pretty well, I have AC -18, THAC0 -11 and 289 Hit Points... Tenser's Transformation makes Korgan look like some little brat.

Thax drains Simmy down to level 1... Doesn't stop Simmy from using five scrolls of Prismatic Ray, though.

Kill Shade Lord, go to mayor to report back, he gives me the Night's Gift +5. When I try to stash it in my bulging backpack, something falls out on the floor. I check what it is... my familiar! So, you want a time-out, huh? OK, you can stay at the mayor's place then. Gives me more room in my backpack.

At one moment, my Mislead joins the fight! Kills a Stone Golem all by itself.

Where does Firkraag keep Carsomyr +5 on his body!? I don't think I want to know...

Next up (all that's left of Chapter 2):

• The Gong Quest
• Kill the Cowled Ones
• The Twisted Rune

[Stoner Cold]

i couldnt do the gong quest or the twisted rune. i think they were almost the only quests i missed (apart from evil and NPC quests). i didnt do the gong quest because i killed the mercenary group and i was gonna wait for twisted rune till i was better, then forgot about it

[TheDude]

hi all,
in the last 10 days we didn't post more then 40 posts that is really on the low side

Edwin how is your 3 party game working out???

i Think i will be going to play my 2 party game again.
Tried to solo a monk but i got tired from the same lame Irenicus Dungeon so i quited that.

Maybe i will also try a solo Bezerker/Mage

or does any one know a new exiting way to solo (and don't say either Beastmaster or Wizzard Slayer !!! )

[General]

Well I'm soloing a mage right now and I must say it isn't even remotely interesting. I haven't played through the whole game forever so I forget some of the quests. I just got into the Sahuagin City and I'm already at level 20, REALLY close to 21. I haven't even done Kangaxx yet. Getting Staff of Magi was a pain though with solo, I actually had to THINK and rearrange spells. 3 sequenced skull traps blow almost anything to bits. hoping to get more level 3 slots so I can sequence 3 and trigger 3

But this should be interesting because I haven't played the Underdark FOREVER and it was so late and I was exhausted so I can't remember much of anything I'm just praying I have another level 9 slot by the time I get out of the Underdark for Time Stop fun.

Dumbest thing is I'm just screwing around and not trying hard at all and its still easy.

[nael]

i've played through the game God knows how many times. and TOB three times already. yes, i have a lot of free time.

i always played with the same weapons and such each time i went through, but the last time i chose little more obscure weapons instead of the obvious long swords and war hammer.

this time through i am going through with a 4 member team of archers sinc ei have never used bows except on rare occasion when the bad guys were trapped in a door way or something.
but in all the times i have played, this has been by far the easiest time i have ever had with the mindflayer dungeon and with dragons without using cheese methods. biggest draw back is the lack of good armour right now.
i know i am not using a thief or a mage, but i figured i'd post a small update on what i've been up to anyways...if for nothign else than to get another post for us.

[Xyx]

Right, Zhycxss nears the end of Chapter 2...

I've been up to sooo much cheap tactics that even I am almost (almost!) ashamed to admit...

Everyone with 25K gold at their disposal can eliminate all of the Cowled Wizards.

• Buy Vhailor's Helm.
• Buy Scroll of Protection from Magic.
• Find nice, quiet corner.
• Make Simulacrum.
• Cowled Enforcer Dimension Doors in. You have been warned etc... More Cowled Ones Dimension Doro in.
• Have Simulacrum use Scroll of Protection from Magic on you.
• Start bashing. None of them will be able to hurt you in the slightest.
• When all are dead, go into inn to rest.
• Repeat ad nauseum.

That's it! No steeenking licence needed. Loot's not that good; scrolls of Sphere of Chaos and Spell Trigger (this one is good ,though). I was hoping for Project Image, of course... Is that thing even in Faerun?

Astonished by this level of success, I decided to try it on the Twisted Rune (they already handed me my a$$ in an earlier experiment where I tried to go about it the No Cheese way...). Cast Simmy, Simmy casts True Sight, walk in, Shangalar gives his rant, walk back to the entry point to avoid the Vamps (which are kind of a problem when all your protective spells are about to be dispelled by your clone), Simmy uses scroll.

Shangalar shows up; I start bashing. First Vamp shows up and drains four levels off me! Ouch. I bash his brains in. Beholder shows up, apparently drawn by the sounds of battle (damn, these things are smart! ). He doesn't waste much time on me (standing right in front of him, 100% resistant and holding the Shield of Beholder Slaying), but instead immediately Dominates Simmy (damn, these things are smart!). I bash his brains in. Other Vamp show up; I bash her brains in, then return my attentions to Shangalar. I bash his Mislead's brain in, then his (meanwhile, Simmy gets unsummoned).

I run up to Layene and (you guessed it) start bashing. Time Stop - Protection from Evil - Gate. Wow, what an original and surprising move! I run back to the entry point. Her protection must've gone wrong somehow, as it's now Layene vs Pit Fiend. A few minutes later, Layene is all out of spells and the Pit Fiend is unsummoned. I run in to mop up.

The Staff of the Uber-Cheese is mine!

Next on my list: the Gong quest. Man, what a run-around this thing is! Some Troll wants to fight, then when Melf's Minute Meteors change her mind, she wants to talk, so I let her. She says I'm honorable for letting her live and tries to walk away, but one of the Melf's must've been in mid-flight when she started pleading; it strikes her in the back and she dies. Funny; she does not regenerate. I walk all over the map only to figure out that I don't have a Wand of Frost with me. More running; gong delivered. Sucky reward. End of quest.

Armed with my newly acquired Staff of Everything Slaying I march into the sewer to kill Mind Flayers. Some "open door-Cloudkill-close door" later, only the magic resistant Mind Flayers remain. Whack with Staff, turn invisible, whack with Staff, turn inv... Yawn! They manage to drain me once (down to 8, I can't even use wands anymore) and try to blast me a couple of times (Save vs Spells 0, so whatever), and then they're all dead.

Another piece of the fabled hammer is mine. Only two pieces to go, and one is coming my way soon... I'll have to deal with Valygar next; it's the only thing left in Chapter 2.

Sorry, old boy! Priorities, you know?

[Edwin]

ok, my 3 men party has rocked!!!!! When Edwin gained dragon's breath (in the underdark....) everything became boring....i mean: kangaxx was killed with 2 of them (no match), all the dragons are badly injured by this spells (no match); add Jaheira's summon insect and the job is done!!!! Poor Irenicus was no match at all......

[TheDude]

ok today i tryed to play a solo:
- Skald, Bezerker and Monk.

all got stuck in the dungeon lvl1
it is just to boring.
I and all just because internet was SOOO encredible slow i couldn't open a page to get a new Portrait.
Now i have some (really) nice portraits and i can really go for either solo a:
Skald or Bezerker/ Mage??

i think i will pick the last one:
-***** 2handed Sword,*** QuaterStaf ***(**) 2handed weapon Style (i don't know how much points u get if your early Bezerkers stage XyX???????)
if i ahve some left they will go to Flail/Katana and/or WarHamer (anysuggestions???)
- i want to try the Misleadtrich XyX is so proud of
-i think u have (alot of) more hitpoints. (my 'solo' skald had only 61 hp and a con of 18 :eek
-Bezerkers Rage is nice (i guess)
- A Mage has better spells then a Bard.

The Things i will miss most( Playing Bezerk/Mage):
-Singing my song to incredible strong group of Skeleton Warriors
-Pickpocketing everyone in sight
- casting Massive Skul Traps on lousy Pessants

Or should i Go for i Solo Skald??

[nael]

why will you not be able to cast misive skull traps if you are playing a berserker mage?
and rage is really nice when soloing since it prevents being imprisoned, which will end your game rather quickly.
i would consider putting some proficiency stars in sling, the sling of everard+5 is great.
i would also recommend halberds over 2handed swords, not because they are necessarily better but because i imagine you have played with 2handed swords before and the halberds are a nice change and you can get the harmonium halberd from the bonus merchants which is a +3 weapon which gives you +1 strength. i have found that changing from my typical weapons has helped with soem of the boredom from playing SO much.
and a tip for skipping irenicus dungeon, just save a multiplayer game right at the exit, and then you can bring in whatever character you want.

[Xyx]

Berserker gets 6 *s at the start. Heavy use of the Staff of the Magi is perhaps the single most powerful fighting style in the game. Just whack something, then press F2 to go invisible again. Flail of Ages/Crom Faeyr comes second, IMO. Maybe Blackrazor instead of the Flail. I often switch to the Staff just to dispel Stoneskins, Improved Mantles, Protection from Magical Weapons or Mirror Image.

[TheDude]

ok Bezerker/Mage it will be.
** 2 handed weapon style
**** Quarter Staff
** 2 Handed Sword
* Warhammer/flail/sling

any tips perhaps?Dual ad lvl 9 right?

[Xyx]

Zhycxss kicks more a$$es...

Talked to some fellow called Tolgerias. Wanted me to bring Valygar to him and said I would "garner the goodwill of the Cowled Wizards" if I did it... I thought I killed all of those bastards!? Did I miss any? Apparently...

I go visit Valygar again... He gets pretty unreasonable with me (refuses to come out of hiding and go to the Sphere on his own), so I am forced to say something along the lines of "Dead or alive, you're coming with me!". He says he'd rather go dead. Well, if you spell it out for me...

A black page in the diary of Zhycxss follows... I figure I'll just use the Rod of Resurrection on him after I have entered the Sphere. When I get there, his body dissolves into nothingness! Oops...

He should've just cooperated.

Inside the Sphere is a bunch of weird knights. One of them tells me that I am "not ready for true wisdom"... Thanks! Guess you don't know what happened to the last guy to get all stuck-up at me.

I run around the Sphere some. Fun place! All kinds of excercise provided. I even get to fight a guy called Lavok. He's a tough guy; manages to cast Horrid Wilting even though I whack him four times with the Flail of Ages! Wow... asbestos skin!

Hell looks nice this time of year. When I go for a stroll, various Demons provide me with some welcome sport. After ripping out various hearts, the Sphere returns to the Slums (of all places). I decide to deal with my last unfinished business; to the Graveyard!

I run into some thieves looting a tomb. While I'm preoccupied with bashing their skulls, some pale girl sneaks up on me and starts a dialog! She wants me to kill Shadow Thieves. Good! After killing Cowled Wizards, that's one of the things I most enjoy doing.

I explore the place I have been granted access to. Strange, how these Vampires have seen fit to line their lair with all kinds of Vampire slaying devices! There are a couple of Stakes lying around, and I even find a Mace of Disruption! That might come in handy later...

Some time later I return to Bodhi, my robe spattered with blood and my face twisted into some insane grin. We set sail to Spellhold. I run around Brynnlaw and kill everyone that looks at me the wrong way (which is almost everyone). Some of the local girls seem quite pleased with that. I send one of them away from the island, to start a new life with her brother in Ulgoth's Beard. I enter Spellhold.

I am greeted by the "Coordinator". Am I supposed to be fooled by this disguise!? That voice is unmistakable! Does this man take me for an idiot? Apparently so... I decide to play along and see where it takes me.

Turns out it takes me into some glass tube, where I am forced to endure various indignities... I'm really starting to dislike this guy. His sister is of a better sorts, though, and wants to play with me instead of killing me. Hey, I'm a good sport!

This Irenicus is some idiot! He lets me go with all of my equipment, including the Robe of Vecna and the Staff of the Magi! Is this guy blind!?

I run around in the maze a bit. How nice of this Bodhi to show me this dungeon; I had completely run out of places to go! I'll have to thank her when we meet again; I would surely have died of boredom had she not done this.

Then, a most extraordinary event takes place... One that instantly doubles my potential... I find a Scroll of Project Image! At last! World, meet Image, Image, meet WORLD!

I am thoughtfully provided the opportunity to test my newly acquired power only moments later, when I inadvertently stumble upon a Lich surrounded by a pack of Skeleton Warriors. I immediately backpedal to around some corner and cast Project Image. Image Immediately casts Simulacrum and Mislead (can there ever be enough of me?) and summons a bunch of Skeleton Warriors and a Wizard Eye. Off they go! A few moments later, I stroll around the corner, only to find they have completely crushed all opposition. I love clones!

Incidentally, I found out that if I load a game that already has a Mislead around, that Mislead sounds like Keldorn and can attack! Can you say...

[nael]

mentioning how irenicus lets you keep all of your stuff..it had would have been interesting if you were stripped of your items and had them scattered through the asylum. or stripped of everything but an easily accessable chest with mediocre items just to get you through till you find bohdi and once she runs off, all of your stuff will be there. not so much for a difficulty thing, but just to make it a little more plausible.

[Xyx]

Zhycxss has found a drawback of Project Image!

Those damn clones cannot open doors (or even cast knock ), so you still have to do that yourself. That's kinda hard with Project Image, since it binds you in place.

What I do now is open a bunch of nearby doors (but don't walk in), then Project Image. The Image summons a bunch of Skellies, casts some protective spells on me (Spirit Armor and Protection from Evil are the only beneficial ones I can cast on others), then casts Wizard Eye and Simulacrum and runs around killing stuff with the mini-army. When nothing is left to kill, I turn the gang on the Image. After the Image croaks, I am once again free to move around. Three Skellies (for the rest of the day), a Simulacrum and a bunch of dead enemies is not a bad catch for only a level 7 spell, right?

There was this really handy room in the Asylum maze that could heal & Haste my Skellies! They cleared out the whole place (including Bodhi & Co) practically on their own after that.

[TheDude]

Ok started a my own Bezerker/Mage Solo-advanture (not gonna tell u the whole story, 1 is boring enough )

Her name: (yes her ) is Andaril.

stats:
str. 16
dex. 18
con. 18
int. 18
wis. 10
cha. 3

quarterstaff/2handed sword/2handed weapon style **

i got the chaos sword and did Irenicus'Prison in 30 min. quite fast (i was pleased )
i saved as much scrolls as possible and almost no Gems .
Money is nice but i get a lot of it very soon and with all those scrolls i will be a lvl 9 mage in no time.

No i will go to the circus and hit the 9th lvl and Dualclass the get the cheese comming.

i will let u know how things go (but not so detailed )

[TheDude]

ok it is time for some cheese Andaril moves
she now has Linacor (gotta love it ) and is now a 9/10 bezerker/mage.
i have no money all of that went to scrolls.
i bought really crappy scrolls like charms,grease, and stuff just to get the exp.
i had a hard time in the sewers beneth the CC because she was still a mage (and not a great own )
but now with the money from the chaos sword i sold i could buy enough scrolls to get the exp. to get my bezerker activated.
I stopped when she reached lvl 10 mage, so now i'm off to Nalia's hold.

[Xyx]

More Zhycxss!

Did a bunch of riddles in the Spellhold maze... Would be nice if there was one that I didn't already know!

I meet Saemon again; he Dimension Doors away.

I accidentally barge in on Jon before releasing any of the inmates. He casts Wish on me - three times! Nothing happens, though, so I walk out of the room, cast Project Image (that casts Simulacrum and they both summon some more stuff), and send them in to do some damage. They do hundreds of damage to Jon in a matter of rounds and one even casts Maze on him. Jon gets down to Near Death, but nothing else happens (I'll have to try Contagion or a Shapechange scroll to rid the world of those annoying immortals). Finally, my clones are unsummoned... I thought this guy was dangerous!

I free the inmates. Wanev Dimension Doors us to Jon, and I cast a single Magic Missile. Jon somehow instantly kills off all of the inmates, then Dimension Doors away! Why can everybody and their mom cast Dimension Door, except for me!?

Trying to get out of Brynnlaw, Desharik the Pirate Lord suddenly shows up! I thought I had reduced this guy to bloody chunks!? Resurrection-proof and all that...

I end up in Sahuagin City, where a band of three Skeleton Warriors totally sweeps the place clean; none of the Sahuagin rebels can harm them.

I meet some funny Beholder guarding a chest. I figured that if he wants to guard the chest, I could just take what was in it. Couldn't convince him, though, so I equip the Shield of Beholder Slaying... He paralyzes himself as soon as I empty the chest. Since he seems an OK sort, I leave him like that and enter the rebel base. While I'm talking to the rebel chieftain, the thing suddenly appears on a bridge above me and starts shooting rays at me! Damn, this thing is smart!

I kill the kr@zy Sahuagin king and loot a rope and a key from his corpse before it even hits the ground. The rebel Prince then rewards me with another rope and key!

I enter the Underdark...

Some silly Mage that I freed from Imprisonment has me run around performing several lowly tasks (fetch book, kill elemental)... What am I, some errand boy!? Apparently so. He wasn't very grateful for me saving him either.

This guy is not too smart; he casts Burning Hands on a Fire Elemental! I thought you had to be really intelligent to become a high level Mage...

I figure this Mage owes me big time for saving his life and doing his stupid errands, so when he finishes his rituals and tries to blow me off with a couple of trinkets, I get into an argument with him that is finally settled by the Flail of Ages. This nets my clones a nice Time Stop scroll!

I send two lowly Skeletons (summoned by Simmy) up against a Drow war party. They respond with massive overkill, wasting a Flame Strike, two Cones of Cold, a Blade Barrier and a load of enhancement spells just to kill them. After that I send in the real shock troops (clones and Skeleton Warriors) to mop up.

Some Svirfneblin tells me "We tunneled too deep..." and then some big Demon came out. Where have I heard that before? The Demon is easy enough; it kills all my summons rather quickly, but it can't seem to touch me before being bashed up.

I go for Adalon's lair, but take a wrong turn somewhere and accidentally end up in an Illithid lair...

[TheDude]

WOW today i stood for a really big, extremly tempting, outragesly hard delemma

i walk in a store this day, wanted to buy a cd for my brothers birthday.
and suddenly something from the left got in my eye.
Slowly i walked to the shelf and there it was a copy of Throne OF Bhaal !!!!
ad last after alll this time i finally had the cd-rom box in my hand. I was trilled (and not only because the prise was FAR lower then i aspected ).
BUT THEN it became clear to my........ had still had to do much for school and i don't have the time to play it.

so i had to put the box back on the self and walk away empty handed .
I will have to wait until autumm hollyday so ic can buy ToB ad last and have the time to play it .

(sad ain't it )

[nael]

i am soooooo disappointed in you dude