Completed Let's solo Baldur's Gate 2 on Insane (feat. The Codex)

[Zdzisiu]

And witty banter.

 

[Vibalist]

Go for Lilacor. And while you're at it you might as well do the Slaver quest in the Copper Coronet.

 

[korenzel]

Fighter/Mage/Thief levels up very quickly just by scribing scrolls. There's no need for cheesing Firkraag.

Lower resistance, lower resistance, greater malison, Finger of Death.

That was a (poor) joke in reference to MicoSelva's list of missions, in which he states he will go after Firkraag right away if the Codex asks so.

 

[Krraloth]

Another vote for Lilacor, it should increase the witty banter by tenfold.

This LP delivers.

 

[abnaxus]

It's always funny to see The Codex die painfully, but he needs to have a fighting chance. I also suggest getting Lilarcor : I can't say I ever understood the story behind the quest, but the difficulty's low and the weapon's nice.

I think that had to do with a cut quest concerning illithids in the Athkatla sewers. Only thing that remains of this is the alhoon and his minions + the Hidden in Jan Jansen's quest.

 

[DragoFireheart]

DO IT!

 

[Malakal]

Re-reading this description gave me the hope that some time we will see a sword "Codex +3" with similar description...

 

[Radisshu]

This LP delivers.

 

[Vendince]

This LP delivers.

Couldn't agree more. I laughed my rear off at the first LP, and this definitely is shaping up to be fun as well.

Doesn't hurt that I'm quite fond of the Baldur's Gate series.

And heh, glad it's not just that one friend of mine who realized what Irenicus might or might not have done to CHARNAME and Imoen.

 

[oldmanpaco]

Crap. I better update my LP before you lap me. Or something.

 

[MicoSelva]

Yes, You better do just that.

 

[rpgwight]

Another vote for Lilacor and the slavers . Also beastmaster = tuigan bow and you were switching to that proficiency right?

 

[Crooked Bee]

Ok, I know most of my conversations with women end up very weird and strangely often lead to violence, but this must the new speed record for it.

Also,

This LP delivers.

and

I'm just here for the slaughter.

 

[Volourn]

Good stuff! I need to find a palce to rebuy the IE games with box and manual since someone stole them from me. Urgh!

 

[abnaxus]

Why not go to circus first? Or try taking on Pebblecrusher and his buddies in the Dale of Seven Vales.

 

[MicoSelva]

Ah, yes, reapers we're trying to determine where to go after the circus. I forgot to cross it out as already finished.

Anyway, it seems that Lilarcor's quest has won. I'll head there asap (tomorrow morning probably). As for the next update - once again I'm aiming for the weekend.

Also: OMFG Volourn!

 

[Carceri]

Good stuff! I need to find a palce to rebuy the IE games with box and manual since someone stole them from me. Urgh!

Bioware did it. They are taking the games back.

 

[Moray]

I vote that you do the Copper Coronet and slavers stuff after you're finished with the circus. You're forced to go to the slums first anyway, so you may as well hit them while you're there for the phat loot and exp. The Tuigan Bow is great (that +1 attack is awesome) until you eventually get Tansheron's.

 

[Krraloth]

Where is mah update?

 

[GarfunkeL]

MOAR wanted!

 

[Krraloth]

This is the weekend.

I DEMAND da update.

 

[Crooked Bee]

MOAR MOAR MOAR

 

[MicoSelva]

Last time on Let's solo Baldur's Gate 2, we've finally reached the exit leading out of Irenicus' dungeon.

And not a moment too soon.

Time to leave.

Update #3: Best circus trip EVER

Spoiler

We're immediately transfered to Chapter #1. No, wait, that's not it - we just get some narrative about how we escaped just in the nick of time before the dungeon collapsed!

In the nick of time, MY ASS. I've spent there like a week, resting between fights and stuff. Whoever made this game had no idea how to indicate urgency.

Yeah, and believe me, they haven't improved in that department during the ten years that have passed since.

We emerge from underground during a battle!

If I had known they haven't finished here yet, I would have waited some more in the dungeon. Preferably with the dryads.

I'm not attacking anyone!

He's not talking to You.

Huh? Really? I guess I got used to people talking to me almost all of the time.

Being the protagonist can do that to You, yes.

I kind of like his style.

Right... So, when do I get to do something?

You'll have to wait some more.

Owned.

Yeah, I have, and I am. Also, you owe me a hefty sum for pest control. Say, 2000 gold? I know the price might seem a bit steep, especially with the dungeon having collapsed and all, but believe me, you had one huge goblin problem down there.

Shut up, Imoen, I'm trying to talk here!

Hey! We're not finished yet, don't try to change the subject!

What the fuck did I just say!?

I can unlock it myself, thank you very much.

Except my 2000 gold, of course. And my equipment back. The latter might be even more important, actually.

What? No, you're not getting away with this!

I'm talking to you! Is anybody even paying attention to me? Did I accidentally cast invisibility on myself, or something?

What is going on here?

What?

What?

Exactly. Wait. You are interrupted at every turn? You?

Is it my turn to do something already?

No.

Now, maybe?

Nope.

How about now?

Uh-uh.

I get the feeling my presence here is completely pointless.

I can do it in seconds, just give me control over my movement back.

This guy reads my minds and speaks the thoughts aloud.

Wait. Who? Me?

Ah, no. Everybody still ignoring me, I see.

They'll keep zergrushing him until he runs out of spells? That would be worth seeing.

It's kind of a relief to know that he's actually straight.

He may also be bi.

He might also bebuy? What?

Bi, as in bi-sexuality.

Does... Does that mean he has two dicks?

No.

Because that would explain the three dryads. And that women cloning stuff.

No.

Well, whew. I don't think I could compete against something like this.

And I've done nothing at all in this update yet, despite that we're already 30 screenshots in.

'Illegal use of magic'? What the fuck?

I would consider helping You, IF I COULD FUCKING MOVE!

They're teleporting away.

Good fucking riddance.

Finally! I can move again! Woohoo!

And we have a level-up.

We have some minor loot to pick up here, but nothing interesting.

City of coin? Sounds promising.

WTF? I can't go through the door?

It's only a scenery element.

Fuck that. Why put a door in an RPG if they can't be opened? Imagine this trend followed! We would end up with games where most of the city is there only for decoration, with no access to building interiors!

Yeah, imagine that...

First things first - we go to the nearest merchant.

Selling stuff. Funny that a bastard sword +1 is two times more expensive than a long sword +1.

This area is already fully revealed, so no need for exploration.

What sense does it make? Have I been here before?

I don't think so.

So it actually...

Yes?

It doesn't make any fucking sense!

There's a scroll merchant nearby.

We buy a scroll case from him, one of many item containers we'll be using. They are a very useful addition in the inventory management department.

We also buy a scroll of Cloudkill.

I now feel a much more complete person than just a moment ago.

Let's do some exploring. What wonders will we find behind the nearest door?

It could be anything, considering there are no signs anywhere here.

It's a temple of Ilmater, the god of beggars, or something.

Wow, this sucks.

At least it wasn't a complete waste of time.

Man, what the fuck? You're stealing from an Ilmater temple?

Well, all the exploration I do isn't exactly for sightseeing purposes, is it?

It's just one gold coin, ffs!

You've got to work with what's available.

Moving on, to the next door.

What now? A leprosarium?

An inn, actually.

I'm not a 'male'... I'm an elf! Wait, that did not come out very good...

Before we rest, it's time to level up. The Codex has reached his 11th level in the Thief class.

11th? Last time I checked it was 8th. Time sure flies.

Our combat statistic so far. We're just two kills short of 100.

The fuck? What happened to my 1300+ kills from the previous game?

Irenicus claimed them all, when he buttraped You in that cage.

That did not happen!

Level up summary.

All rested up and ready to kick ass!

Since we are already exploring ths inn, why not check out what is upstairs?

Why do I get the feeling you are trying to get me into trouble?

Because trouble mean XP and loot?

Fair enough.

We encounter a band of merry adventurers.

Did I hear that correctly? 'Puny elf'?

We are treated to some Bioware Witty Banter (TM). Some people actually got paid for that.

'Puny'?

Actually, I won't take them AT ALL!

It all ends in violence, of course.

Everybody surprised by this turn of events should now stand up and jump three times on his left leg.

Or her.

Huh?

His or her left leg. There may be females reading this too.

Yeah, right...

A fighter, a barbarian, a thief, a mage and his familiar vs fighter/mage/thief. I seem to be outnumbered five to three. It's been worse.

We open typically, with Mirror Image. Our enemies also use some buffs, of which the strength increase by Smaeluv Orcslicer seems the most disturbing.

The Codex retreats into a corner and... gets confused by a spell. Not good.

Huh? Wuzzgoin'on?

OW! Stop hurting the moose!

Seems we need a more tactical approach here.

Death count: 5

Loading.

Hope you have some kind of a plan here?

Buff as much as possible and kill them?

Good enough for me.

We buff with Mirror Image/MGoI/Haste combo. That should net us reasonable protection from both spells and physical attacks, as well as some increased damage posibilities.

The start is not very promising with The Codex suffering 64 damage from two initial strikes by Smaeluv and Mencar.

SHITFUCK!

Once again, we retreat and try to gain some advantage by casting Confusion.

Go away! Please?

It's half-successful.

No, it half-failed!

I've always prefered 'the glass is half-full' approach.

That's because it's not you who dies all the time when we get 'half-successes'.

You're probably right.

I am also dead.

Right again.

Death count: 6

Reloading.

Fuck this. We're not moving anywhere until I kill that dwarf, who dared to call me 'puny'.

This time we cast Web into the room at the beginning.

Retreating t the death spot corner and trying to get an advantage over the two elfkillers by casting Slow.

We manage to make a stand for some time, even avoiding quintuple backstab damage from Brennan Riesling (he stabbed a mirror image). But The Codex soon starts running out of HP.

Fucking dwarf! That hurt!

Mirror Image to delay the defeat increase our chances.

Yeah...

Death count: 7

Load game.

So... what exactly does 'puny' mean?

Don't even think about leaving.

This time Web is cast before we even enter the room and talk to them. Metagaming, I know. Who cares.

After the conversation, we add Cloud Kill to the mix.

Finally, a good idea!

I removed the armor before combat to ensure all the spells working without a hitch, and had to cheese in going down the stairs during the combat to equip it back. To my surprise, Web and Cloud Kill got cancelled during area transition. Must be some kind of mod thing.

Damn modders! Why can't they leave my cheese alone?

No other outcome was expected when we lost the spells.

Death count: 8

Reloading.

Let's not go down the stairs anymore.

Agreed.

Once more unto the breach.

Mencar is held! Quick, kill him now!

I'm hacking as fast as I can!

Fuck, he has a lot of XP.

We can do it.

Yes!

Fuckyes!

Two seconds later, our hero is down to 3 HP or so.

Fucking OW!

I'm beginning to contemplate lowering down the difficulty. That double damage might be a little too much for The Codex. But let's try one more time before that.

Death count: 9

Loading the game.

So, what now?

I recommend trying the same approach again. It seemed to be working rather well... until You died.

Right.

Web as an opener.

I decide to up the cheese and cast Cloud Kill before intializing the conversation too - which is done in the two seconds it takes Cloud Kill to arrive to the target point and actually start dealing any damage. So, technically, we cast Cloud Kill on them after they became hostile.

That required some really good timing there.

Oh, I have a lot of experience with this kind of gaming, trust me.

Melcar is held again - we're lucky.

Brennan and Smaeluv are unaffected though, so we cast Slow to reduce the threat from their side.

A dodge to the side to ease out the pain of dealing with Inifinity Engine pathfinding. Also: Slow worked quite well.

We hack at Melcar, refreshing Mirror Image when all the fake Codexes get destroyed.

And he's down!

Who's the puny now?

Before dealing with the others we try to soften them a bit with Confusion.

It works rather well.

A full success is much more than two times better than a half-success.

Smaeluv Orcslicer confuses himself down the stairs.

Brennan Riseling soon does the same. We manage to cast Melph's Acid Arrow on him before that happens. Not sure if the spell will still work after his area transition.

Wizard and his mephit, or whatever the familiar was, suffocated to death inside our Cloud Kill.

Man, I love this spell.

Looting time!

And more looting. Melcar had a full plate armor - very nice.

We cast Draw Upon Holy Might (DUHM) before going down the stairs. This boosts The Codex' combat attributes (STR, DEX and CON) by a few points each.

Soon after The Codex appears downstairs, Brennan Riesling decides to leave the premises.

Hey! Stop! Come back here with my XP and loot!

As Smaeluv is not confused anymore, we soften him up again. This time with Horror.

FEAR ME!

Works like a charm.

Actually, it works much better than charm, which tends to fail all the time.

Maybe you're just more intimidating than charming?

Fuck, that's a lot of HP. I hope he dies before I run out of arrows.

The best thing here is the complete composure of all the inn patrons. They must all have nerves of steel. Or maybe people killing each other around them is such a common view they don't give a shit anymore.

Smaeluv finally comes to reason and dies.

Yes!

We loot him too, of course.

Is that a magical two-handed sword I see there?

It's not as good as You might think.

Back upstairs to loot the rest of the room.

These guys have trapped a chest in a public place? Assholes. Good thing I killed them.

And they did it to protect four magic arrows.

Assholes!

I'm not sure if this is even worth showing to You, noble audience, but there - we found another Identify scroll.

We will be picking up a lot of generic +1/+2/+3 stuff. I won't be showing it all, as it doesn't make much sense and would just bloat the number of screenshots. I'll restrain myself to screenshotting the items we will be using or at least keeping, and the more interesting ones we won't. This hammer does not fit neither of these cathegories.

Not a bad sword, which we would actually keep if the audience hadn't already decided we're going for Lilarcor next.

'Lira core'? What's that?

Your new best friend. Trust me, You'll like him.

Whenever I hear the words 'trust me' from you, I'm getting a sudden influx of bad feelings.

Good.

A cloak, I've always sold at the nearest shop. Might be keeping it this time, though, due to abundance of detect invisibility during some fights which might require The Codex getting the first strike.

Moving on, we pass by a cricus tent.

Wow, a circus! Let's go there!

What, right now?

Yes! You owe me that much. We did miss the whole Nashkel fair because you decided there are more important matters to do. I especially wanted to see the famous exploding ogre.

Ok, ok. We'll go there as soon as we sell the excess loot.

There's a very conveniently located stash on the wall above Adventurer's Mart. We'll put all the not immediately needed stuff (like the dryads' acorns, equalizer's jewel, ring of protection, etc.) in here, to have easy access to it.

While trying to get into the circus, we encounter an obstrructive guard.

Closed? Like hell! I'm going to see the circus, and you're not stopping me!

The 'missing' garrison is probably just having so much fun they don't want to leave!

Must be some kind of special performance! All the more I have to get in there!

Yes. Go away.

Is your momma Lilith, the mother of all demons? Wait, don't answer.

We decide to go back and rest before actually entering to the circus.

Good idea. Wouldn't want to fall asleep from exhaustion and miss half of the performance!

And we're back.

Wow. That's some impressive decoration! I already like it!

Cool! A riddle!

Meh, it's a math riddle. Lame. You deal with it.

The prince is 30 and the princess is 40.

19.5k experience for answering a question? I wish I met this genie when being at character level #1.

I can only admire all the effort they must have put into setting up these decorations. I especially like how it looks much bigger from the inside than from the outside.

Upon entering we get a conversation triggered.

Shit, what's with this ogre's voice? Must have been castrated! There's no point in living like this, so I'll just end the misery!

Fuck, an ogre mage. Could have seen that coming.

Aerie The foul ogre casts Stoneskin. This is best countered by Magic Missile - unless the enemy has some additional spell protection, of course.

And she he it's down.

That was easier than I thought.

Spider! Kill it with fire! Or wait, it's not hostile?

Right...

OW! The fuck? Do that again and I'll beat the crap out of you!

Ok, that's it! Huh? An orc?

I'm beginning to suspect not everything here is what it looks like.

Yeah. I wish I had some points invested in detect illusion skill. Oh, well.

The dead orc-peasant dropped something.

What, you too?

Die, fucker!

Mwahahahaha! Slaughter!

Oops.

I've come to see the circus, not some half-dressed tart- Now, just wait a minute. I don't think one excludes the other.

Moving on, we encounter some werewolves.

Do you mean the gay native American kind, who walk around shirtless all the time?

No, I mean the bloodthirsty half-human half-animal magical beasts who tend to rip apart human flesh with their claws and fangs.

Whew, that's a relief.

There's also a shadow.

The Shadow?

No, just a regular undead (?) shadow creature.

Oh, ok.

More werewolves.

Have to admit, when I was thinking what I'm going to see in the circus, werewolves weren't very high on the list.

Gods dammit! Fuck! Shit!

The werewolf packs quite a punch.

We have to resort to Mirror Image to not die.

Mwahahahaha! Slaughter! And stay down, bitch!

Learning from our mistakes, we approach the next werewolf hidden in shadows.

We don't have a suitable backstab weapon, but getting the first strike alone is almost as good.

This interactive experience is unlike any circus I have ever seen. I love it!

Look out for the shadow!

The Shadow?

Ok, enough of this, really.

And it's down.

We use our sixth sense (the Alt key - or was it Tab?) to find some spell scrolls.

What do you mean, I am providing entertainment? Is this some kind of hidden camera thing?

I don't think they have invented camera here.

Uh, right, I meant hidden crystal ball thing, of course.

Before moving on, we cast the buffs and protection spells.

Why exactly are we doing that?

Trust me on this one.

Ogre mage! Good thing I thought about casting all the buffs and protection spells!

Right.

Wait, I wanted to thank you for the great performance and-

Ah, fuck it, I'll just kill you.

We cast Slow to make sure they won't deal enough damage to really hurt The Codex, and go straight for Kalah, as other targets are mostly distractions.

Mwahahaha! Slaughter!

'Inbred'?

'Beastly greed for adventure'. Well said. Gotta remember that.

If that's any consolation, I really enjoyed the circus!

Oh yeah, about her... Wait, haven't we met before?

Just for the record, Aerie was the second option for romance plot here.

What? You mean I killed a potentially fu- Uh, 'romanceable' lass?

Yep. And with Jaheira rotting in her cage, we're now 2 of 3 down.

Kalah dropped some stuff.

Good thing I spared the spider. Wouldn't want a rampaging demon in the city.

Not every little boy is a demon in disguise, you know...

I know what I know.

For our efforts, we've gained a level. It's dual fighter-mage one.

Mencar Pebblecrusher is the strongest enemy we've slain so far.

'Puny'.

Level up sumary #1. We got a weapon proficiency skill, which could be used to increase two-handed swords or bows skill (one of the installed mods allowes more than two point mastery for multi-classes), but I've decided to put it into quarter staffs, for the unlikely event we find some uber-one...

What? You want me to fight with a stick? Maybe I'll just go around naked and unarmed?

No, thanks, I've already played through this game with a monk.

The rest of the summary.

We gained 2nd level spell slot.

As well as 5th level one.

More cloud kill!

This useful ring will set The Codex' charisma at 18.

Nice.

Girdle of piercing! I have missed you so!

Would have been really useful for You when You were Irenicus' captive, amirite?

Fuck off.

As in the previous game, we prefer this girdle over the bluntness one, as it works against missile weapons too.

Upon leaving, The Codex is approached by a little girl.

I have no candy for you, child. Go ask a priest.

He met with Jafar?

Jafir.

Yeah, a really clever disguise there.

Ok, I'll take care of it. It's not that there's anyone else competent in the world, right?

Yeah, I bet he will. Tell Lucifer hello from me!

We got some experience and a reputation point for dealing with the circus.

Going there was a really good idea.

Some summary screens are due, since we got two level-ups and some equipment upgrades in this update.

Saving throws still need some work.

Also, our armor is mediocre at best.

Ability bonuses look quite good, on the other hand.

This is the flask we got from Myara. Nothing we can do with it other than carry it to the Jafir guy, I guess. I've added this quest to the list in the first post.

And that's all for today!

----------
Next time: The search for Lilarcor.

Please vote on which quest The Codex should undertake after that. The list of available ones can be found in the first post of the thread.

 

[~*´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸-AIN'T]

I vote Unseeing Eye, as it would be funny to see the Codex face a bunch of beholders.

Also son, you need to get yourself a stoneskin scroll

 

[Malakal]

Lilarcor then Slavers I suppose. Seeing him face the Unseeing Eye would definitely be fun and deadly but let him get at least few better items first. Cause beholders without the shield of Balduran are crazy powerful...