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i'd prefer 800x600 screenshots. even on my not so big 1680x1050 display current ones look a bit too small. also, one or two pics won't load at random whenever i refresh the page. other than that, it's all good.
Sure it's easy if you have replayed it 7 17 times and you know the encounters/items by heart. Most games are. The game has good difficulty the first time you play it.
i'd prefer 800x600 screenshots. even on my not so big 1680x1050 display current ones look a bit too small. also, one or two pics won't load at random whenever i refresh the page.
And Firkraag is really only hard if you intentionally don't buff yourself, as you've been doing. At your level, fully buffed you should be able to kill him in a few seconds without taking any damage.
I hope you're wrong, but if the game becomes too easy because of overleveling, maybe I should start adapting Fable-style challenges for quests. 'Naked', 'Unarmed', 'No potions', 'No magic'.
It's not that the game is un-challenging solo precisely (ok, maybe it is), but fighter/mages in general are pretty overpowered once they start getting into the level 14-16 range. For example, on Firkraag if you stack resist fear, resist fire, mirror image, blur, spirit armor (which would make your life much easier if you used it), draw upon holy might, and improved haste you will have an AC of like -14, 8 attacks/round, and will be immune everything he can do to you.
Basically, if you take the time to fully buff before fights the only hard things in SoA are mind flayers, and maybe Beholders if you can resist using the Ultimate Cloak of Cheese.
Our hero continues his trek through the corridor forest.
[*smack*]
[*thwap*]
[*smack*]
Ah, this is new.
Someone's going to die, alright.
Let's see if druids also have magic fists.
They fight with weapons.
Magical sticks then. Whatever.
[*smack*] I think I wasted that spell. It wasn't needed.
I'm starting to understand why Lord Paco hated druids so much.
A Nightmare on Elm Street!
Meet my boomstick!
Bullzeye!
I honestly think casting these spells is an overkill, but it makes this encounter slightly more interesting.
Mwahahahaha! Slaughter!
How exactly do you chop people to little pieces with a staff?
I think they just realise how awesome I am when they are hit, and then explode unable to bear it.
Mwahahahaha! Slaughter!
They should have brought more hitpoints into this fight.
This one did not explode. My staff just punched through his stomach and spine.
I'm sure he's really proud of that right now.
Mwahahahaha! SLAUGHTER!
Careful, you start getting a bit carried away there.
Why is that bad?
Where did this wolf come from?
That's a mighty fine piece of architecture, considering my current whereabouts.
Is this hostility justified? I know, I know, you're a woman, but have we even met before?
Ahem, The Codex is challenged by Adratha's masterful skills of deceit, but he manages to discover her true identity using the information provided by Itona, during their encounter in Trademeet.
I manage what, using what-else, provided by whom?
Just roll with it.
You mean I should kill her?
Yes.
That I can do.
Don't even tell me who this guy is, I don't really care.
It's like some invasion of killer cats from outer space.
Alright, this looks interesting.
Um, you are suffocating, I think?
Useless shit.
Exactly the thing I was missing in my collection of gruesome souvenirs.
The djinns wanted this.
Really? How odd.
It is kind of sad that picking up a staff will not ever be exciting again, because none of them will be an upgrade over my exisiting one.
Despite the misleading name that suggest uniqueness, this is just a regular +3 staff.
The famous hand-placed loot in this game often makes no sense at all. What are the odds that the rakshasa pack would keep a variety of magical missiles for various projectile weapons, despite not using them at all.
Who cares? Vendor trash is vendor trash.
Trolls under the bridge? I see what they did here.
Lately, I feel like a cleaning service more often than like a hero.
This place makes me want to play something post-apocalyptic.
Good to see the tradition of hiding stuff in haystacks next to a cow being kept alive throughout the series.
Every weapon allowing for an extra attack is nice, but I don't do scimitars.
Right. What kind of a forest would it be if there were no mushrooms here.
Mushrooms farting out other mushrooms nonetheless.
Suddenly, it turned into a full-fledged mushroom samba in here.
Red hat! Red hat is the best!
Are you out of your... Oh. Well, this could hinder our progress...
...Or not.
Wait, what happened? I kind of blacked out and now I'm here with dead mushrooms everywhere!
You were just being yourself.
I think that's the last one.
Or maybe this one is.
I think I've met some of your friends before, they had a similar view on life.
From Hell!
Note to self: druids are not very resistant to fear.
Nor are they resistant to being poked with a stick.
This looks mildly promising.
I think I still prefer my stick of +5 against everything.
Damage over time, quite rare.
Yes, but let me express my opinion about using clubs as weapons: HAHAHAHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! No.
Time to finish this quest, bringing peace to Trademeet and gold to my pocket.
All these druids are remarkably non-hostile.
Maybe it is because you are invisible?
Oh, right.
What? That's cheating!
Indeed. But it's not the end yet.
Two can play the cheating game. We will let Cernd join our party.
Won't that invalidate my recent statement that I don't need *anyone*?
Who cares?
Fuck, Cernd, I'm not interested in the technical details of druidcraft.
Fine. Can we go now?
See? I brought my pet druid to deal with you. Why he didn't come by himself, prefering to just wait outside instead, I have no idea.
The two dueling druids enter the fighting circle naked, each only with a staff in hand.
Unfortunately for Faldorn, Cernd is a shapeshifter.
As it turns out, naked wrestling with a werewolf is not a good idea at all (unless you are into that sort of thing, I guess)
When I said 'pet druid', I meant it as a joke. I had no idea he will turn out to be a dog in disguise.
That's honestly not very interesting.
Yeah, no. I'm, uh, alergic to fur.
Kthxbye.
Area completed!
Wasting no time, we go straight back to Trademeet. A lot of dialogues ensue.
*ding* Level Up.
It's a dual fighter/mage level up, giving us our first slot for a Level 7 spell.
Does that mean I can summon demons now?
That you *can* does not mean you *will*.
Nice doing business with you.
Although your reward sucks duck ass.
Unfortunately we're not done with the plot yet, and there's a *lot* of it ahead. I don't think I can handle that at the moment, so we will end the update right here.
What?
---
Next time: We will surely finish Trademeet. Honest.
Are you serious? You're going to back away now? Hey. Hey!
He's actually gone. Pussy. Fuck that, I don't need him anyway.
Sure. I am as peace-loving as they get. Ask anyone, who is still alive.
'Hero's welcome' sounds promising. I'll bite.
I am, indeed, a wonder. Nice of you to notice.
I don't remember being showered by the guildmistress. Not sure I would want that, though. Maybe?
It's nice of you to recognize my cat's part in all this, but he did not do that much to be honest.
Oh, you shouldn't have...
Oh, they will smile, or I will rip their heads off, eventually.
Are you hitting on me, lady? Because it certainly does seem like you are.
I don't really care who founded what.
Um, yeah, I would prefer to perform this type of service to a woman. I'm sure you can understand that.
I think I shall do just that.
Wicked! Finally, some respect.
Well... At least they tried.
Too scared to leave home? Have you people invented the internet or something?
And that is exactly why we have the ESRB ratings.
That would be Hollywood magic.
Did you say 'Rejiek'?
Rejiek. The name brought memories. Unpleasant ones. The one unfinished case from years past. The one that still haunted my dreams. Suddenly I wished Lila was here with me. But no, I had to do this one on my own.
Meeting someone at the pointed crime scene was just a little bit suspicious. Mr. Darsidian Moor obviously liked to talk. I let him do just that.
Something about Mr. Moor wasn't right. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but my sixth sense warned me not to trust him. Maybe it was his obviously fake name, which sounded like something made up on a spot by a ten-year old kid.
Too easy. Nobody reveals so much information, unless they have a hidden agenda. I did not need help from any naval officers to spot a trap.
At a first glance, the situation was obvious. But it is my job to cast a second, third or fourth one, if needed.
Rejiek, you slimy bastard.
You are not escaping this time!
Neither of you are!
That was an unexpected turn of events. I bet Tiris wouldn't want his girlfriend able to leave her skin at a whim. Or maybe he would. Kids tend to be weird these days.
That seemed unlikely. Why would Rejiek let slip this piece of information? It made no sense.
Was it reverse psychology? Did he want me to cast the spell on the poor girl? Would it benefit him in any way?
No. He just was an idiot. Oh, well.
No problem. It's what I do.
Closing the skinner case after all this time felt good. Once again, I wished Lila was here to see it, but that's just the way life goes. Sometimes we choose our own destiny, sometimes it is chosen for us. All in all, we can only try to do the right thing and hopefully not fail this time.
Oh, come on, lady! I was hoping for an evening of steaming hot sex, not a lecture about your neighbour issues.
What? Really? A fetch quest? Is that the best you can do?
FINE! Nobody can do anything without my help, it seems.
I admit that closing the door to the tomb was a simple yet brilliant solution to the issue. Undead aren't exactly known for their lockpicking skills.
Yeah, I am. So?
For a high merchant, you are not selling your thrid option very well.
What. Is that all there is to this 'haunted tomb'? One room with four skeletons? No wonder Lara Croft wouldn't even glance this way.
Pathetic.
I'm guessing this is the mantle in question.
Well, the quest item fits the general level of this task perfectly.
I'm not sure if I know this one.
Take it, and let us never speak of this quest again.
I am done with town. I never want to be here again.
Except maybe occasionally visiting to see this. But other than that, I'm done!
The hell? I've played it few years ago and can't recognize these locations?
Right, propably because my playthrough was when I was dead tired... That's when you got shitty job with insane shift shedule...
I fell that my first sentence will be overused in this LP....
three Firkraag updates ?
Sounds like three updates about fight. Have you invented something to make Codex adventures more interesting, despite being tough Kobolds-Trolls-Miller (tm) or something?
No harm in keeping them in your party for the duration. Soloing is generally done for the challenge, and not doing a quest at all is hardly that. Not to mention that you don't even have to use the other party member, and any experience you'd gain during that time is halved.
Unless for some reason you feel that if you accept another party member for even a second your solo challenge is invalidated, I suppose, but that's a bit silly. (And it's already been done in this LP.)
That said, the Astral Prison (and the bits before it with that annoying Tiefling) would be a decent thing to vote for. Because originality is for other people.
three Firkraag updates ?
Sounds like three updates about fight. Have you invented something to make Codex adventures more interesting, despite being tough Kobolds-Trolls-Miller (tm) or something?
Why do I have the feeling that this post was written during intoxication?
Anyway, aren't all updates 'about fight', one way or the other? And no, I haven't figured out any way to make the LP more interesting than it is atm. Just same old troll slaying, with an occasional lich or dragon thrown in. Well, ok, I have figured out not resting during a quest, but I have the feeling this only limits tactical options and makes for a less interesting read, rather than the other way around.
But seriously (well, SCS2 would definitely make things a bit more interesting...), you're doing as good as you can. I'd imagine the "middle" of BG2 is going to be very boring from a solo perspective (to play and narrate) because The Codex is far more powerful and well-equipped than the majority of content is balanced for, making the game seem more like a bit of a slog.
Maybe you could try out some unothodox tactics/combos to liven things up? Use Shadowkeeper to let The Codex wield more diverse weapons? Just throwing out some ideas to make things more fun for you, and maybe for heckling viewers. Lord knows we don't need another abandoned BG2 LP...
