Durlag's Tower - Please answer just YES or NO (spoilers)

RPGguy · Post by **RPGguy** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 12:20 pm

I just cleared the elemental level and subsequent chess battle without my PC dying but my party of 4 is severely hurting. I got 2 dead and an inventory crisis. I really need to get back to the surface to heal, resurrect and re-supply.

There's only one door out of the chess room and it takes me to a new level. I am in no shape to tackle it.

Is there a way to get back to the surface without cheating or without exploring too much of the next level? I can imagine what kind of nasties are coming up :speech:

Just a simple 'yes' or 'no' please. TIA

Edar Macilrille · Post by **Edar Macilrille** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 12:35 pm

Yes there is, but you have to talk to someone on the level in order to do it.

Edited to add, I hope that does not spoil too much. I believed not.

RPGguy · Post by **RPGguy** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 12:38 pm

bless you my son!

Edar Macilrille · Post by **Edar Macilrille** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 12:43 pm

If I recall correctly there is not even much fighting to be done first.

RPGguy · Post by **RPGguy** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 1:19 pm

A little bit more than I wanted to know but I appreciate you trying to steer me in the right direction. Right now, a pack of gibberlings would make me nervous.

I got 2 dead, my PC has 3 (of 101) HP left and Imoen at near full health.

hahah, if we run into anything we are booking it!

Edar Macilrille · Post by **Edar Macilrille** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 1:23 pm

That will teach you that healing can be worth something even at lower levels ;-)

When you have only 50 hp 10 hp healed is a lot... damage and healing spells are proportionate with lvl ;-)

RPGguy · Post by **RPGguy** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 2:43 pm

Edar Macilrille wrote:That will teach you that healing can be worth something even at lower levels ;-)

When you have only 50 hp 10 hp healed is a lot... damage and healing spells are proportionate with lvl ;-)

10 HP is nothing against the baddies on the level I just finished. They are hitting for 20-40 HP per attack.

The only reason I cleared the level in one shot was because instead of filling my spellbook with piddly healing spells, I loaded up on Doom (no save), Armor of Faith, Draw Upon, Chant, and of course my undead and nymph summons to distract.

Rather that recover from their hits, I prefer to outright smote them asap.

Edar Macilrille · Post by **Edar Macilrille** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 5:49 pm

Well, I prefer a mage for buffs and damage, a cleric/druid for healing and buffs rest fighters. Nothing does as much damage as melee in BG I & II.

A few arrows of biting to distract enemy mages btw, but melle kicka behind- there is instant smiting for you.

RPGguy · Post by **RPGguy** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 6:45 pm

Edar Macilrille wrote:Well, I prefer a mage for buffs and damage, a cleric/druid for healing and buffs rest fighters.

oh, me too. but I am running without any arcane...unless you count wands of Magic Missle...the BG equivalent of a pea shooter

And the Necklace of Missles have saved the day...potions of explosion as well.

Edar Macilrille · Post by **Edar Macilrille** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:11 am

What is your party?

I prefer:
PC, Ftr (if I ever get Tutu to work, Kensai-Mage-Thief)
Minsc
Kivan
Branwen
Dynaheir (if I get Tutu to work, sorcerer homebrewed)
Imo for RPGreasons, sometimes Ajantis while I send Imo to safety.

I go for buffs + arrows of biting --> melee mayhem.

RPGguy · Post by **RPGguy** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 5:58 am

Edar Macilrille wrote:What is your party

PC = cleric ranger (divine buffing, dual wielding with prof. in flail + war hammer)

Ajantis - kept him to handle any cool edged weapons I found. He has tons of detect evil and prot. from evil which I used a lot. detect evil to figure out what to do with certain npc's and their quests. check to see if they are evil before I talk to them...steers my responses etc..

Kivan - deadliest archer in the game. Saved our asses over and over again, especially at very low levels

Imoen - to handle the mounds of traps in the game and a decent archer with the short bow

Mostly, these are all people I found early and wanted to dedicate XP to them, rather than swapping out people throughout the game

Ode to a Grasshopper · Mon Feb 01, 2010 11:10 am

You might want a few wands of summons and a wizard/bard-type to use them for late and especially post-Durlag's Tower, hey. Having a few spare Dispel Magics wouldn't hurt either...

Edar Macilrille · Post by **Edar Macilrille** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 11:44 am

/me LOLs at OTG ;-)

I would say Minsc and Dynaheir would be a fine addition to that party RPGGuy. Total of six, bingo...

And no, I agree a few summons and scrolls does not hurt. And yes, OTG is right, Dispell Magic can come in handy. One often forgets how much use such a scroll can be of at low levels.

RPGguy · Post by **RPGguy** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 3:47 pm

Well the point is moot now. I finished DT last night and it was pretty straight forward. Was disappointed when finding out that the end boss was just a Demon Knight who I smacked out of existence with just my PC and Ajantis within 2 rounds (seriously).

Keep in mind I did most of DT before I did Ulgoth's Beard so I didn't have the back story going in. I just started exploring and started putting the picture together myself which is why I found the quest so intriguing.

But the last level fell flat for me. It was pretty simple and straight forward. I freaked a little bit when I saw the 'Astral Phase Spider' but the name proved scarier than the actual threat. There was also no great release expressed by Dulgar which would have been cool and no uber treasure piece

Agree that some Dispel Magic would have come in handy at the very early leveling phase but that benefit is offset by constant pain of worrying about how to try and protect a 15-20 HP character (if that) and seriously, there are way too many wands (and free wands) in the game and I think it would have made it too easy for me.

Just have some loose ends I want to try and figure out (like what the hell the butter knife of Balduran does) before I go back and snuff out S'vok.

Edar Macilrille · Post by **Edar Macilrille** » Mon Feb 01, 2010 6:05 pm

May I suggest another visit to Ulgoth's beard? I just did... I think you will find it worth your while.

Oh well, your choice. I still found the dispell magic and other scrolls and wands pretty usefull in that part of the journey.

Yes... I did in fact...

Oh well, 01.05 and Peanut is quiet, sleepytime

RPGguy · Post by **RPGguy** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 12:40 am

Edar Macilrille wrote:May I suggest another visit to Ulgoth's beard? I just did... I think you will find it worth your while.

Ya, I was just on my way to the cult compound when you posted that.

Now THAT'S what should have been at the bottom Durlag's Tower!!! Freaking Aec'Letec killed us 6 times before we prevailed...but not without cost.

Imoen was 'ghasted' and now it appears she is gone forever

I am not reloading.

I actually killed the demon on my second try but hadn't killed any of the motionless guards. So when there were 6 suddenly Aec'Lectecs in the room, I simply reloaded...so I count that as a death.

That was very cool and def. my favorite battle in the game. A nice Demogorgon primer.

btw, what the hell kind of death gaze puts you on a timer to becoming undead??? never heard of anything like that before.

PS. Ajantis was also infected but I tried dispelling the curse after the battle was over and fortunately it worked.

Edar Macilrille · Post by **Edar Macilrille** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 3:11 am

That is what OTG and I was hinting at, Dispell magic takes the curse away ;-)

But yes that is a fine battle and BGI's hardest IMO, unless you mod and have a go at The Grey Clan.

Ode to a Grasshopper · Tue Feb 02, 2010 4:44 am

Ode or Odie is the customary nom de guerre.

Freaking Death Gaze.

If you ever find a use for the butter knife of Balduran let us know.

RPGguy · Post by **RPGguy** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:27 am

Edar Macilrille wrote:That is what OTG and I was hinting at, Dispell magic takes the curse away ;-)

ahhhhhhhhhh. lol, too funny.

I was kind of scratching my head at why ODE was advocating Dispel. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a useful spell...but not one that should dictate the constitution of a party.

At least that's what I used to think :laugh:

Thanks guys.

Edar Macilrille · Post by **Edar Macilrille** » Tue Feb 02, 2010 6:20 am

It was quite a clever hint Odie, props for that. I used the abbrevation because I thought Ode might sound ... odious...