Bit of background before I commence ranting. I'm running a light-to-moderately modded game, which I haven't really done before. I installed Ascension, Unfinished Business, RR, a bevy of NPCs, and Tweaks. I hadn't messed around much with modding before, despite playing BG1 on release, mostly limiting myself to the occasional NPC mod. I would play with Ascension as well, but that was pretty much the extent of it.
Anyways, I install the foregoing non-npc mods for their generally sterling reputation in the community. I install everything in Ascension, UB, and RR, not looking too closely at the various components. This was gloriously short-sighted of me. Tweaks I installed only the bits I wanted, generally staying away from stuff that would muck with the power curve. No Improved Shapeshifter, or stacking protection items, etc. I did install the loosen equipment restriction for cleric multiclasses.
Anyway, so I'm progressing through the game and I get to chapter 6. I have Xan the Fighter/Mage, Coran the Fighter/Thief, and Isra, keepered to Inquisitor. CHARNAME is an Elven Cleric/Ranger, with full druid spell access, because I'm a dirty cheating pleb. Isra gets plot-napped and me and my remaining party members clear out Bodhi's nest without difficulty. Party is a little bit over 4 million XP, around 4.2. I leave the graveyard and BOOM, I run into the Chosen of Cyric
I'm a pretty chill player. I don't wantonly reload, nor do I rest unless it is justified in-universe. I play on Hard, but I turn off increased damage. I don't kill stuff in fog of war, and I try to play without utilizing meta knowledge, so I'm rarely buffed pre-battle. All my characters wear a regeneration item so they can make it through a "day" without rest spam. I don't really worry about the intricacies of high-level tactics because they aren't really needed in BG2 unless you install SCS/Tactics.
This was a rude awakening.
I get stopped by Venduris, but my organic play lets me [Insight] my way to bypassing the encounter. Arrogant *** that I am, I say "**** that, I want to see what this encounter entails." This was very stupid of me. I reload, and I go through the XP gaining options again, and I jump into the fight. The six enemies disappear, and I don't have true sight, cuz Inquisitor GF is MIA.
I think I died in about 10 seconds in-game. Reload. Huh... let me try that again. Ok, this time I'll spread out my toons so they don't all get hit by the Sequenced malison/confusion. No big deal. Xan explodes into chunks. The hell? I know I cast Stoneskin. Let me try that again. Reload... I can't beat these six with only two. Chunked... but I noticed that he got hit with a "dispel effects" text. Reload.
S***. Ok, I got this. Coran, Detect Illusion. Xan and Charname, let's cube one of these guys. Confused again. S***, I forgot about that. Reload. Ok, spread them out, let coran run into the middle of the invisible pack... confused. Reload. Ok, dig into potion case, get potion of clarity, Coran drinks it and immediately begins detecting illusions. Damn it Coran, why are you attacking the damn Mislea- Oh, I forgot to turn off AI. Reload.
Get a couple of hits in on Venduris and he runs away, stealths, comes back and kills CHARNAME. Reload.
Ok, everything goes smoothly for once and I kill Venduris before he can backstab septuple or death attack. Xan dies by Grok immediately thereafter... F*** it, let's keep going. Stunned by Grok. Reload. Ok, pull out the greenstone amulet, activate it, takes too long. Reload. Ok, have charname run to the front of the invisible group while Coran is detecting illusion. CHARNAME drops Mekrath's Mirror on the ground and runs to the door of the Crooked Crane and casts Insect Plague on the mirror. Xan uses wand of cloudkill on the back corner. Unholy Word. Reload.
This goes on for FOUR HOURS. I know, intellectually, I can bypass this encounter by talking. But I am too gorram stubborn. You know what I learn? I learn that the mages are ***hole and raging ***hole. Mislead Backstab shenanigans are the pits. I learn that Grok is dangerous but predictable, and I can kite him around. I learn that I pretty much have to keep Coran on Detect Illusion or Zaeron's clone hides behind traps and there isn't anything I can do to prevent him from gibbing my party
Venduris... Venduris is chill in my book. He just tries to kill you like like a decent assassin.
Kerith is a pushover.
But gorram Bodak... Bodak is the single most infuriating creature I have encountered in Baldur's Gate. His dispelling arrows prevent me from keeping xan alive longer than 20 seconds. He runs at the first chance and hides behind traps. He prevents you from kiting grok. Bodak is my new nemesis. When I play Pokemon Sword, I renaming my rival Bodak. He was always the one who would stop me anytime I got close to sniffing victory. I could take down venduris but he would finish off Xan. I would disable a mage and he would immediately dispel it, usually from hiding. I hate bodak with a fury born of a hundred reloads.
In desperation, I google "Chosen of Cyric Encounter." I learn that it is from Rogue Rebalancing (I trusted you) and I pull up the readme, and I go to the Chosen of Cyric Component:
Note: This section contains spoilers. Read it only if you have trouble defeating the Chosen of Cyric party and need help.
Yeah, I think we're past that.
Reading this document brings an epiphany to me. You know when your little brother is in like the 6th grade and he gets picked on by the 8th graders? So he comes to you, and righteous big brother that you are, you leave your 9th grade afterschool the next day and bum a ride back to your old elementary school to straighten that s*** out.
Well, aVENGER is that big brother. BG2 is the little brother. And we mother******* are the 8th grade bullies. We engage in shenanigans to beat the game, and aVENGER rubs those same tactics in our faces. Floaty-Dance mages? Sure. Mislead Backstabs? You betcha. We deserve this. I deserve this.
Thank god, I learn that you can postpone the encounter by dropping the difficulty. I do that, bring back my Inquisitor GF, restore the difficulty to Hard, and I engage again. GODDA- I forgot to turn off AI. Reload. I get it done after that. Turns out casting time 1 true sight and dispels at level 42 make life a bit easier. Xan still dies, but he isn't gibbed, so ::shrug::
Like I said, I'm not a an advanced player, so I bet many of y'all read this and scoffed while soloing this encounter with a 2.95M XP unkitted thief. But that's ok. To quote Weird Al, I'll be laughing my head off when you're burning in hell. jk. mostly.
In all seriousness, to aVENGER, this was awesome. I really enjoyed playing this encounter, and the love and sweat your put into your work really came through, and I now have a truly unforgettable experience. Thank you, and thanks to all of the modders out there who have let us forge incredible experiences in a game that would otherwise long be dead.
Anyways, I install the foregoing non-npc mods for their generally sterling reputation in the community. I install everything in Ascension, UB, and RR, not looking too closely at the various components. This was gloriously short-sighted of me. Tweaks I installed only the bits I wanted, generally staying away from stuff that would muck with the power curve. No Improved Shapeshifter, or stacking protection items, etc. I did install the loosen equipment restriction for cleric multiclasses.
Anyway, so I'm progressing through the game and I get to chapter 6. I have Xan the Fighter/Mage, Coran the Fighter/Thief, and Isra, keepered to Inquisitor. CHARNAME is an Elven Cleric/Ranger, with full druid spell access, because I'm a dirty cheating pleb. Isra gets plot-napped and me and my remaining party members clear out Bodhi's nest without difficulty. Party is a little bit over 4 million XP, around 4.2. I leave the graveyard and BOOM, I run into the Chosen of Cyric
I'm a pretty chill player. I don't wantonly reload, nor do I rest unless it is justified in-universe. I play on Hard, but I turn off increased damage. I don't kill stuff in fog of war, and I try to play without utilizing meta knowledge, so I'm rarely buffed pre-battle. All my characters wear a regeneration item so they can make it through a "day" without rest spam. I don't really worry about the intricacies of high-level tactics because they aren't really needed in BG2 unless you install SCS/Tactics.
This was a rude awakening.
I get stopped by Venduris, but my organic play lets me [Insight] my way to bypassing the encounter. Arrogant *** that I am, I say "**** that, I want to see what this encounter entails." This was very stupid of me. I reload, and I go through the XP gaining options again, and I jump into the fight. The six enemies disappear, and I don't have true sight, cuz Inquisitor GF is MIA.
I think I died in about 10 seconds in-game. Reload. Huh... let me try that again. Ok, this time I'll spread out my toons so they don't all get hit by the Sequenced malison/confusion. No big deal. Xan explodes into chunks. The hell? I know I cast Stoneskin. Let me try that again. Reload... I can't beat these six with only two. Chunked... but I noticed that he got hit with a "dispel effects" text. Reload.
S***. Ok, I got this. Coran, Detect Illusion. Xan and Charname, let's cube one of these guys. Confused again. S***, I forgot about that. Reload. Ok, spread them out, let coran run into the middle of the invisible pack... confused. Reload. Ok, dig into potion case, get potion of clarity, Coran drinks it and immediately begins detecting illusions. Damn it Coran, why are you attacking the damn Mislea- Oh, I forgot to turn off AI. Reload.
Get a couple of hits in on Venduris and he runs away, stealths, comes back and kills CHARNAME. Reload.
Ok, everything goes smoothly for once and I kill Venduris before he can backstab septuple or death attack. Xan dies by Grok immediately thereafter... F*** it, let's keep going. Stunned by Grok. Reload. Ok, pull out the greenstone amulet, activate it, takes too long. Reload. Ok, have charname run to the front of the invisible group while Coran is detecting illusion. CHARNAME drops Mekrath's Mirror on the ground and runs to the door of the Crooked Crane and casts Insect Plague on the mirror. Xan uses wand of cloudkill on the back corner. Unholy Word. Reload.
This goes on for FOUR HOURS. I know, intellectually, I can bypass this encounter by talking. But I am too gorram stubborn. You know what I learn? I learn that the mages are ***hole and raging ***hole. Mislead Backstab shenanigans are the pits. I learn that Grok is dangerous but predictable, and I can kite him around. I learn that I pretty much have to keep Coran on Detect Illusion or Zaeron's clone hides behind traps and there isn't anything I can do to prevent him from gibbing my party
Venduris... Venduris is chill in my book. He just tries to kill you like like a decent assassin.
Kerith is a pushover.
But gorram Bodak... Bodak is the single most infuriating creature I have encountered in Baldur's Gate. His dispelling arrows prevent me from keeping xan alive longer than 20 seconds. He runs at the first chance and hides behind traps. He prevents you from kiting grok. Bodak is my new nemesis. When I play Pokemon Sword, I renaming my rival Bodak. He was always the one who would stop me anytime I got close to sniffing victory. I could take down venduris but he would finish off Xan. I would disable a mage and he would immediately dispel it, usually from hiding. I hate bodak with a fury born of a hundred reloads.
In desperation, I google "Chosen of Cyric Encounter." I learn that it is from Rogue Rebalancing (I trusted you) and I pull up the readme, and I go to the Chosen of Cyric Component:
Note: This section contains spoilers. Read it only if you have trouble defeating the Chosen of Cyric party and need help.
Yeah, I think we're past that.
Reading this document brings an epiphany to me. You know when your little brother is in like the 6th grade and he gets picked on by the 8th graders? So he comes to you, and righteous big brother that you are, you leave your 9th grade afterschool the next day and bum a ride back to your old elementary school to straighten that s*** out.
Well, aVENGER is that big brother. BG2 is the little brother. And we mother******* are the 8th grade bullies. We engage in shenanigans to beat the game, and aVENGER rubs those same tactics in our faces. Floaty-Dance mages? Sure. Mislead Backstabs? You betcha. We deserve this. I deserve this.
Thank god, I learn that you can postpone the encounter by dropping the difficulty. I do that, bring back my Inquisitor GF, restore the difficulty to Hard, and I engage again. GODDA- I forgot to turn off AI. Reload. I get it done after that. Turns out casting time 1 true sight and dispels at level 42 make life a bit easier. Xan still dies, but he isn't gibbed, so ::shrug::
Like I said, I'm not a an advanced player, so I bet many of y'all read this and scoffed while soloing this encounter with a 2.95M XP unkitted thief. But that's ok. To quote Weird Al, I'll be laughing my head off when you're burning in hell. jk. mostly.
In all seriousness, to aVENGER, this was awesome. I really enjoyed playing this encounter, and the love and sweat your put into your work really came through, and I now have a truly unforgettable experience. Thank you, and thanks to all of the modders out there who have let us forge incredible experiences in a game that would otherwise long be dead.
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