Mask of the Betrayer '15

[Lilura]

MotB is arguably superior to PS:T.

This is misuse of "edgy". So I'm edgy just for saying it's arguable that MotB is superior to PS:T? Fuck off. PS:T is the most overrated title on the Codex, after BG2.

If PS:T dropped off after the intro movie, it's good parts would still be almost as long as MotB.

PS:T's best segment is from the mortuary to the Weeping Stones catacombs. The Upper and Lower wards are not as good, but still great. After that, the campaign takes a nose-dive. MotB doesn't nose-dive until the City of Judgment. Each of its areas is A1 up until that point, and there is no filler. Can't say that for PS:T.

So you are arguing that the abomination that is the NWN2 engine is better than IE?

No, but PS:T's UI and control is the worst of the IEs, by far, and it has worse pathfinding than even NWN2. It's portable pop-up is a PoS that only the nostalgia-goggled would defend.

No, maybe, no, no, no, and no.

Oh really? MotB dialogue is just as good but has far more stat checks and an influence system with mechanical consequences.
MotB C&C is off the charts, there is no argument here.
Vhailor, Ignus and Nordom are shallow as fuck, not even fleshed out. Only Morte, Dak'kon and Grace are on par with ANY of MotB's companions.
The Skein alone destroys the entirety of PS:T's dungeon design.
The puzzles in the Thayan academy alone embarrass PS:T's "puzzles".
3.5 > AD&D.
MotB has fewer FedEx quests, too.

Where PS:T beats MotB is in story and setting (factions, lore, cant).

All I remember is Vampire Feast, collect loot, Vampire Feast, collect loot.

onset Alzheimer's.

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

Fallout 1 is the most overrated title on the Codex, after D:OS.

Fixed.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

This is misuse of "edgy". So I'm edgy just for saying it's arguable that MotB is superior to PS:T? Fuck off. PS:T is the most overrated title on the Codex, after BG2.

Not really (Morrowind, Arcanum, Bloodlines, Morrowind, Morrowind, ... Morrowind), but if it was, MotB would be right behind it, since it's like PS:T junior sibling, good in the same ways (but not quite as good as), and bad in the same ways (shit combat, shit exploration, shit character development).

PS:T's best segment is from the mortuary to the Weeping Stones catacombs. The Upper and Lower wards are not as good, but still great. After that, the campaign takes a nose-dive. MotB doesn't nose-dive until the City of Judgment. Each of its areas is A1 up until that point, and there is no filler. Can't say that for PS:T.

Details aside, PS:T is a decently sized RPG (40-60 hours at least), so even if all of it isn't great, you still get what 30-50 hours of quality stuff? MotB is a tiny 20 hour max expansion, so you might get 10-15 hours of quality from it. That alone would cause it to lose points in any argument.

No, but PS:T's UI and control is the worst of the IEs, by far, and it has worse pathfinding than even NWN2. It's portable pop-up is a PoS that only the nostalgia-goggled would defend.

I can't take your word for this since you were most likely too busy wrestling with NWN2's camera to notice any issues with pathfinding. But seriously, worst IE game >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> best NWN2 game in terms of engine, UI, etc.

Oh really? MotB dialogue is just as good but has far more stat checks and an influence system with mechanical consequences.

The quality of writing overall, while obviously very good in both games, is still better in PS:T. You were actually trying to figure out what's going on, what happened in the past, etc, and it took a while for things to unravel (no pun intended). In MotB, I could pretty much see the whole plot after the first visit to Dead God's Vault in the very beginning, it was so telegraphed.

Vhailor, Ignus and Nordom are shallow as fuck, not even fleshed out. Only Morte, Dak'kon and Grace are on par with ANY of MotB's companions.

They were tied in with the Nameless one and his past incarnations, and that made it absolutely fascinating to speak with them. There was nothing like this in MotB, with only much more superficial tie-ins (like Okku fighting the guy who previously contained Akachi).

The Skein alone destroys the entirety of PS:T's dungeon design.
The puzzles in the Thayan academy alone embarrass PS:T's "puzzles".

Meh, neither game was particularly good at dungeons or puzzles. I just finished Ultima Underworld, both the Skein and whatever dungeons there were in PS:T are like kindergarten level stuff compared to that game.

3.5 > AD&D.

Debatable, but irrelevant, because MotB is epic level, and as everyone knows, epic levels in DnD = shit. I seriously don't remember any memorable fights from MotB (or from PS:T for that matter but for different reasons there). Every fight, send in the bear to tank, Kaelyn off-tanks and heals, my mage characters casts whatever epic level spell ability is off cd to clear the room.

 

[Lilura]

Not really (Morrowind, Arcanum, Bloodlines, Morrowind, Morrowind, ... Morrowind), but if it was, MotB would be right behind it, since it's like PS:T junior sibling, good in the same ways (but not quite as good as), and bad in the same ways (shit combat, shit exploration, shit character development).

Pure shit popamoles like Morrowind don't register on my radar. MotB also has better combat, chargen and chardev than PS:T. Their exploration is about equal.

Details aside, PS:T is a decently sized RPG (40-60 hours at least), so even if all of it isn't great, you still get what 30-50 hours of quality stuff? MotB is a tiny 20 hour max expansion, so you might get 10-15 hours of quality from it. That alone would cause it to lose points in any argument.

Pls, MotB is larger than you are giving it credit for: 30-40 hours without a walkthrough. Yes, it's an expansion but not in the sense of TotSC or ToB: it almost entirely stands alone as a full campaign about the spirit-eater, with just a few references to the OC - which one needn't play beforehand to know what's going on (e.g, the Sword of Gith, Bishop in the Wall of the Faithless, and AJ in the academy).

I can't take your word for this since you were most likely too busy wrestling with NWN2's camera to notice any issues with pathfinding. But seriously, worst IE game >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> best NWN2 game in terms of engine, UI, etc.

Strategy mode with cam moved freely on, marquee select on and ceilings off = almost no issues. The only issue that occurs is on raised terrain when you should switch to explore mode because Strat mode zoom height is limited. This is achieved by hitting numpad asterisk. Wow, so hard.

And srsly, Electron UI is kludgy compared to the IE one, in general, but PS:T has that PoS portable pop-up and the poor pathfinding and stickiness of combat units, and that's just as off-putting to me as any Electron inadequacy.

The quality of writing overall, while obviously very good in both games, is still better in PS:T. You were actually trying to figure out what's going on, what happened in the past, etc, and it took a while for things to unravel (no pun intended). In MotB, I could pretty much see the whole plot after the first visit to Dead God's Vault in the very beginning, it was so telegraphed.

I was clearly talking about DIALOGUE, having already stated that PS:T's story is superior. Much of PS:T's dialogue is long-winded FLUFF, with little in the way of mechanical checks. It's supposed to be an RPG, not a novel.

They were tied in with the Nameless one and his past incarnations, and that made it absolutely fascinating to speak with them. There was nothing like this in MotB, with only much more superficial tie-ins (like Okku fighting the guy who previously contained Akachi).

Every companion is fun to speak with in MotB. Ignus is a total bore, and Vhailor and Nordom come too late in the campaign to grow (they are bores, too). So basically, Dak'kon, Morte, Grace and Annah are the companions of value, and if we really narrow it down, it's just Dak'kon and Morte.

Meh, neither game was particularly good at dungeons or puzzles. I just finished Ultima Underworld, both the Skein and whatever dungeons there were in PS:T are like kindergarten level stuff compared to that game.

Yes, I'm sure UU's dungeons employ meaningful C&C; and I'm sure that, as with the Skein, the dungeon environment changes, as a result of player choice.

Debatable, but irrelevant, because MotB is epic level, and as everyone knows, epic levels in DnD = shit. I seriously don't remember any memorable fights from MotB (or from PS:T for that matter but for different reasons there). Every fight, send in the bear to tank, Kaelyn off-tanks and heals, my mage characters casts whatever epic level spell ability is off cd to clear the room.

Death God's Vault hosts some solid encounter design. Flanking vamps and Shadows of the Void. Lich King. Not to be trifled with, not without persistent buffs and thought given to equipment. PS:T hosts no good encounter design. TNO is epic before epic lvls. Resurrection in the starter dungeon at lvl3. Regenerates faster than a troll. Tattoos allow him to reach 25 in Strength in the early stages. 3 ApR, 25 Str, 25 Con and 25 Wis by lvl13. Dak'kon is an AC and DPS lord, and Morte is an OP tank. Everything dies by just clicking on it.

Also, there is almost no reason to re-play PS:T if the campaign is fresh in your mind; and, PS:T is massively biased to high Wisdom and high Intelligence mage TNOs. It's basically "the right way" to play the campaign, since it offers by far the content-richest experience.

MotB is replayable several times.
Controlling the curse or entertaining it.
Okku or One of Many: you can't have them both in the party and they can't even co-exist in the same campaign.
Devour the bosses or Eternal Rest them.
Changing the order of the areas undertaken in Chapter 2.
Meta-gaming/building for optimal itemization: fun due to game-changing wields and equippables.
Decent romances in Safiya and Gann.
Companion Influence levels changing quest outcomes. It can be difficult to max Inf for both Kaelyn and Gann, f.e.
Rogue builds are actually fun: lots of useful skills and you don't have to rely on buffing Safiya's homunculus in Death God's Vault (DC 60 traps n locks).
Probably lots more reasons to replay that I'm forgetting...

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

MotB also has better combat, chargen and chardev than PS:T. Their exploration is about equal.

And the kind of regular solid fecal matter that I have after eating a lot of fiber is better than the diarrhea that I have after eating cheap street food. But, I wouldn't go around bragging about either in terms of prized possessions. Nobody plays either of these 2 games/expansions for those things, so whatever trivial advantage one may have over the other is not very important.

Pls, MotB is larger than you are giving it credit for: 30-40 hours without a walkthrough.

Unless you are a bear fetishist and sit there staring at Okku's ass blocking half the screen for hours, there is no way it's that long. I did pretty much everything and it was around 20 hours.

Strategy mode with cam moved freely on, marquee select on and ceilings off = almost no issues. The only issue that occurs is on raised terrain when you should switch to explore mode because Strat mode zoom height is limited. This is achieved by hitting numpad asterisk. Wow, so hard.

And srsly, Electron UI is kludgy compared to the IE one, in general, but PS:T has that PoS portable pop-up and the poor pathfinding and stickiness of combat units, and that's just as off-putting to me as any Electron inadequacy.

I know this is the 'Codex and people must argue over everything, but come on, IE vs NWN2 engine? Really? Really?

I was clearly talking about DIALOGUE, having already stated that PS:T's story is superior. Much of PS:T's dialogue is long-winded FLUFF, with little in the way of mechanical checks. It's supposed to be an RPG, not a novel.

I already said before MotB might be better in terms of C&C which is what you are talking about here, but dialogue is also tied to the story. In PS:T, dialogue was fascinating because you were always unraveling really interesting bits, learning new things about your past or your companions or about the world, whereas in MotB, while this is also true to some extent, it's not nearly as interesting because most of the key parts of the story become apparent very early on, and after that, the dialogue is just about C&C and not really as interesting on its own.

Every companion is fun to speak with in MotB. Ignus is a total bore, and Vhailor and Nordom come too late in the campaign to grow (they are bores, too). So basically, Dak'kon, Morte, Grace and Annah are the companions of value, and if we really narrow it down, it's just Dak'kon and Morte.

Ignus is not a total bore at all. You learn about one of your coolest past incarnations from him, as well as learning useful in-game stuff, and eventually can face off against him.

Yes, I'm sure UU's dungeons employ meaningful C&C; and I'm sure that, as with the Skein, the dungeon environment changes, as a result of player choice.

The dungeon in UU absolutely does, and in a deeper way than C&C games. It has real C&C, as in you don't pick from a couple of pre-made dialogue choices conveniently given to you by developers, but you make choices by using deep in-game systems and figuring out the world, and get the consequence of actually progressing the game, whereas in C&C games, that pretty much happens automatically. Anyways, as I mentioned before, no one plays PS:T or MotB for dungeons or puzzles.

Death God's Vault hosts some solid encounter design. Flanking vamps and Shadows of the Void. Lich King. Not to be trifled with, not without persistent buffs and thought given to equipment. PS:T hosts no good encounter design. TNO is epic before epic lvls. Resurrection in the starter dungeon at lvl3. Regenerates faster than a troll. Tattoos allow him to reach 25 in Strength in the early stages. 3 ApR, 25 Str, 25 Con and 25 Wis by lvl13. Dak'kon is an AC and DPS lord, and Morte is an OP tank. Everything dies by just clicking on it.

Yes, that solid encounter design did so much to enrich the gameplay for me. The intricacy of flanking enemies dying behind me after I cast Vampire Feast instead of dying in front of me had they not flanked was not lost on this RPG pilgrim.

Also, there is almost no reason to re-play PS:T if the campaign is fresh in your mind; and, PS:T is massively biased to high Wisdom and high Intelligence mage TNOs. It's basically "the right way" to play the campaign, since it offers by far the content-richest experience.

Yeah, because MotB has more C&C, and is much shorter, it is more replayable, but I would rather play one great 50-60 hour RPG, and then put it away for a few years before coming back, then replay the same game several times to play around with C&C but basically play through the same story and gameplay.

 

[Lilura]

Well, I think MotB being arguably superior to PS:T has been proven here, since we're, you know, arguing it.

Anyway, enjoying my run reprisal with my Air Genasi dual-wielder. It's a pretty weak build compared to my others, but fun enough to muck around with.

Here is a short vid showing her coming close to death in the predator den; she's about 85% buffed and 70% itemized for the encounter. Being a dueler she is not built for mobs; that's more for Frezerkers with their Supreme cleaves.

The vid also shows the power of Strategy mode in dungeon navigation; Free cam on and ceilings off.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Well, I think MotB being arguably superior to PS:T has been proven here, since we're, you know, arguing it.

Haha, .

How many attacks per round can you max in NWN2's ruleset? I beat the game and MotB with a mage, and didn't really min/max companions.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

If you do a fighter/monk hybrid with greater flurry of blows + perfect 2 weapon fighting (some variant of the kaze no kama build) and factor in haste (always have a mage memorize persistent haste) you can have 18 attacks per round. Be warned though, playing this kind of build is unbelievably boring because you never have to do anything, massive AC, spell resistance (pick drow or yuanti), good saves, immense killing power. You just click on something, watch your character run up and suddenly a lot of red numbers are popping up and the mob is dead. Then you click on the next mob.
Even playing a warlock is more interesting.

 

[Black]

Even playing a warlock is more interesting.

Whoa.

 

[Lilura]

Mask of the Betrayer rocks, as usual. Just completed the campaign again, this time as an Air Genasi dual-wielder. Apart from my early-game devouring of Okku, she mainly suppressed and used Eternal Rest.

Final boss fight:



End of vid shows my stats and how I'm itemized.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

How could you devour Okku? He was so fluffy...

That final Faceless Man fight was annoying as fuck cause I was a mage. Ran out of all my spells, had to cast stuff from scrolls and items, summon a bunch of elementals to tank too, since I am usually too lazy to optimize anyone in the party besides main character. Pet peeve of mine, but I absolutely hate RPG fights where the boss refuses to die and keeps coming back over and over as more powerful manifestations. It's kinda like in budget movies, where the good guy kicks the bad guy's ass, and then suddenly the bad guy switches styles/clothes/weapons/etc and comes back with a vengeance.

 

[Lilura]

Okku was devoured because I wanted to craft the +10 strength belt from his essence.

Never faced the boss as an arcane spellcaster, but I would assume meta-magic IGMS spam would do the trick. If you have Safiya with you, she can also spam it.

But yeah, MotB boss fight is a borefest. I thought SoZ had a better boss fight.

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

But yeah, MotB boss fight is a borefest. I thought SoZ had a better boss fight.

I hated the SoZ boss fight. But that may be due to the fact that I suck at gaems.
However, this fight was literally the first time I used cheats in a video game since I was like 15 or so, because without cheats it was so incredibly frustrating.

 

[Lilura]

Well, check the vid above for how fast I took down the boss; and I'm sure ppl can link to vids showing faster kills than that. I remember the SoZ finale being harder, or at least lasting longer; but then, I haven't srsly sat down to play SoZ in quite a while, and I'm much more acquainted with the 3.5 ruleset these days.

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

Well, check the vid above for how fast I took down the boss;

Humiliation

and I'm sure ppl can link to vids showing faster kills than that.

Humiliation

 

[Lilura]

I ... didn't really min/max companions.

There isn't really all that much to it, as they're pretty much set in their role by the time you recruit them, and multi-classing is not allowed. There is a mod that allows companion multi-classing, but it would just imbalance the campaign, even more. Kaelyn is probably the most versatile companion after One of Many. OoM can change roles completely, but you can't select feats or skills for him. Every five lvls, or something, you are allowed to tailor one of Gann's pre-gen slots, too. This is handy for subbing out something shitty like Summon V for a great spell like Owl's Insight.

My priority for Kaelyn and Gann is to have them take Extend Spell at the first opportunity, as this sets them up for Persistent Spell. When playing a mundane build, MotB is more relaxing when you have three spellcasters who can give you Persistent Haste, Barkskin, Aid, Prayer, Bless, Regen, Keen, Heroism, etc. This means they are always active, until you rest.

I hate relying on Kaji (Safiya's construct) for traps and locks, though. Lil' blighter needs to be buffed with Greater Heroism and Greater Cat's Grace to handle a few early locks and traps; and stands no chance in the lower level of Death God's. While none of those are plot critical, MotB is the type of campaign where no stone should be left unturned. Other options are to either fill the rogue role yourself or take OoM manifested as rogue.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

I finished MotB too a couple days ago after not playing it for a few years, and yeah, it rocked again
I played a Bard. As a Bard you have Inspire Competence in addition to spells like Heroism so kaji's lacking rogue skills are no problem. Hymn of Requiem did like 110 sonic damage per combat round, so the length of boss fights depends on their HP pool. Akachi has ~700 if memory serves. Of course you can also bash him with your sword a bit instead of just waiting until he dies, but this is optional. Epic bards are OP is what I learned.

I hated the SoZ boss fight. But that may be due to the fact that I suck at gaems.

That boss has an adamantine weapon iirc, so it bypasses DR from stoneskin, premonition and the like. And it likes to go after the cleric first. But if you have 50+ AC it kinda ceases to be a threat. SoZ is a game where some of the best arcane buffs (mirror image, improved invis and the like) are available in potion form for everybody... so, it's not as hard as you think it is.

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

it's not as hard as you think it is.

Humiliation intensifies.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

There isn't really all that much to it, as they're pretty much set in their role by the time you recruit them, and multi-classing is not allowed. There is a mod that allows companion multi-classing, but it would just imbalance the campaign, even more. Kaelyn is probably the most versatile companion after One of Many. OoM can change roles completely, but you can't select feats or skills for him. Every five lvls, or something, you are allowed to tailor one of Gann's pre-gen slots, too. This is handy for subbing out something shitty like Summon V for a great spell like Owl's Insight.

My priority for Kaelyn and Gann is to have them take Extend Spell at the first opportunity, as this sets them up for Persistent Spell. When playing a mundane build, MotB is more relaxing when you have three spellcasters who can give you Persistent Haste, Barkskin, Aid, Prayer, Bless, Regen, Keen, Heroism, etc. This means they are always active, until you rest.

I hate relying on Kaji (Safiya's construct) for traps and locks, though. Lil' blighter needs to be buffed with Greater Heroism and Greater Cat's Grace to handle a few early locks and traps; and stands no chance in the lower level of Death God's. While none of those are plot critical, MotB is the type of campaign where no stone should be left unturned. Other options are to either fill the rogue role yourself or take OoM manifested as rogue.

I didn't get One-of-Many as a companion, whatever I wound up doing in that quest pissed him/them off and he/they ran away vowing vengeance. Oh well, in a game where you spend all time fighting against spirits/undead/other abominations, a threat from some ghostly thingamajig seems quaint. Got Gann, but found him rather annoying, so I parked him in the theater on bench duty. So I wound up traveling with Kaelyn (my favorite companion), Okku (good tank but wish his ass was smaller for viewing purposes) and Safiya I think. Like the thing with me in these party games is, I usually don't want companions stealing my main character's thunder (that's why I generally prefer single character games), so I focus on the PC, and for companions, just level them in secondary roles, so for Okku, i just gave him more constitution and health, utility spells for Safiya and healing/tanking stuff for Kaelyn. This works well for the vast majority of the game, since my PC is a mage and can adapt to any situation by memorizing different spells, but for the really tough boss fights, sometimes you definitely wish you gave your companions more offensive stuff.

All in all though, MotB's boss fights were nothing compared to NWN2 OC. Fuck those were annoying at the end. That dungeon where you couldn't rest, the 3 phase final boss fight, ugghh.

 

[Lilura]

This vid shows me provoking Death God's vault on-rest spawns - Death Knights, Vamp Ancients and Void Spirits: epic undead - in order to farm experience points and essences. My spirit-meter starts at 32 units and ends maxed, at 100.



The reason I am able to rest-spam and not die or be forced to Satiate is: 1) my craving is minimized due to previous suppressions 2) I Eternal Rest (ER) the undead once they reach Near Death status. This is replenishing my spirit meter of what was lost by resting - and then some.

I'm also yielding bonus essences in the process: note how the vamp ancients and void shadows yield brilliant spirit essences when ER'd. These are rare as all fuck in the campaign, with only several itemized, campaign-wide; a few of which are lost depending on your choices: blackened core craft, Nak'kai, f.e. If you oppose Kelemvor's forces at Eternity's End his pallys and clerics yield a load of spirit essences, but that's at the end-game when things don't really matter all that much; besides, they are limited and volatile.

Of course, you don't have to farm essences or experience points; this is just a demo to show that efficient farming is possible despite the spirit meter. Scarily efficient if I bothered to get my companions involved. At lower lvls (~20) this cheese results in notable power progression gains.

I love how the undead stagger after being ER'd, then topple over.
You will notice that sometimes they are vanquished before I can ER them; my DPS greatly narrowing its window of opportunity (Near Death status). I was a lil' with my pausing, too!

This campaign is similar to Bloodlines, in that the storyfaggotry and depth of dialogue doesn't dissuade me from replaying it, over and over, as a combatfag and meta-gamer (Yes, I'm tragic like that).

For me, that's because of the build options in 3.5, the itemization, the order the areas can be undertaken, and the various game-changing feats stemming from the plot and companion C&C.

I just wish the influence-based feats and quest-based influence shifts were lil' more profound.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

the 3 phase final boss fight

This got embarassingly trivial once you realize you could rest in the starting room.

I admit that's horribly cheesy but by then my patience with the OC was nearing the end of its tether.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

the experienced essence farmer carries a second, non-heavily enchanted weapon with him to precisely get the foes to near-death without accidentally killing them, something like a shortsword+3

 

[Lilura]

Indeed. It's just a quick demo that I made on the spur of the moment, like all my shitty vids.

Forgot to mention, for devour-based spirit eaters there are lots of void shadows to devour from urns, yielding brilliant spirit essences. Problem is, craving skyrockets, there is a 5 min cooldown on devours and resting at high craving lvls is not advisable: 48 spirit energy point drain for one 8 hour rest if craving is maxed (Just eight if it's minimized). It seems Devour Soul can also yield brilliants and the odd pristine, which is sweet. I'm currently playing a devourer for the first time in several years.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

I edited the feats.2da and changed the 300s cooldown of devour etc to something like 30s. I did that and farmed all the undead in the Dead Gods Vault, shadows of the void are subject to eternal rest btw, and emerged with like 13 pristine essences combined. I had to use 2 potions of full heal when farming the group of 6 vampire monks that spawn when you open that one door. Anyway, I actually ended up doing almost no enchanting anyway, so all those essences remained unused. The only things I did towards the end was changing my armor and shield to +7, add +7 deflection to my nymphs cload +8 (imported with the char) and upgraded the DEX+3 from the boots of the sun soul+5 to Dex+4 (for a final DEX 20 appropriate for a mithril breastplate). All this only required a bunch of power essences and air for the dex upgrade. I only used the Milikkie scimitar as is without enchanting it further until I got the sword of Gith. I pondered whether to enchant an actual weapon but it felt pointless (bards are OP as fuck).

 

[Lilura]

Yes, I know void shadows are subject to ER: see post, see vid! Thing is, I don't have that feat because I devoured the Priest, recruited OoM and didn't receive the option to Eternal Rest the furnace, as a result. I am going full evil, full devour mode in this run. But yeah, in the past my farming of essences has wholly been incidental (like in the vid) and never concerted, so the number of pristine spirit essences I have always ended up with has never been enough to craft the ridiculously OP regen items and whatnot. I'm thinking of crafting a few in this run, though; but only from what I yield legitimately through Devour Spirit/Soul. From my experience I've noticed that power and fire essences drop thick and fast, with water and earth being rarer, and air rarer still (without pinpoint farming, ofc).

And yeah, that sextet of vamp ancients is a tough encounter when one considers the probable lowish lvl of the party at that point. I've been owned in a few runs by that pack of bastards! As for scims, I was pleasantly surprised to find the Mielikki +7 for sale after the devs neglected to add a +3 in the tailored-to-weapon-feat drop of the first Imaskari ruins. That saved me two pristine power essences and not having to wait for Safiya to gain the required lvls for the craft. They also sell a wicked +7 scythe, btw.

Never played a Bard in NWN2. I mainly roll with mundane builds. I'll probably post comparison vids for shits n gigs. This Frezerker build is fucking wrecking house on mobs: OP, but still fun.