I'm trying to solo a Beastmaster!!!!(Major Spoilers)

tlibro · Post by **tlibro** » Fri Aug 31, 2001 9:50 am

OK, all the posts about how much Beastmaster's sucked prompted me to do this. Let me say that I've NEVER solo'd before and I've never played as a Ranger before. I just finished running with my multi fighter/thief and only Jaheira so I've got a little handle on what to do. However, even though I know where most of the traps are, I don't know what any of them do as I've ALWAYS just found and disarmed them. On with the story. I made him a lawful good elf so he'd have +1 with longbows and resistance to sleep and charm. Here are my stats:

STR 16
DEX 19
CON 18
INT 11
WIS 14
CHR 7

I didn't spend alot of time trying to get the best stats because, frankly, I didn't expect him to last. I had 103 hit points to start. I have 2 *'s in quarterstaff and club because these are the ONLY melee weapons I can use. I also put 2 in Longbow and get 2 in two weapon style for being a Ranger.

So I dumped Imoen immediately, which was a mistake because I should have had her open the painting with the healing potions first. Oh well, then I put on the studded leather and helmet, picked a quarterstaff and was on my way. I got thru the first room no problem. Cast Draw Upon Holy Might, talked to the Genie and fought the Ogre Mage. He gave me quite a beating before I killed him. I was down to 35 HP's. I cast the two Cure Lights I get as Bhaal powers and then cast Find Familiar(I guess it's a Beastmaster thing) and got 12 more HP's. Now I went and fought the goblins in the hallway and they hit me with several arrows and I was again down to about 40 HP's. I then figured I'd be OK since now I could shoot some arrows. WRONG!!! The goblins had composite longbows which need a strength of 18 to use. I couldn't use them!!! I went into the room with the Golem that opens the doors, and tried to fight the Mephit. It cast a spell that knocked me unconcious, then proceeded to gnaw on me until I died!!! I'm now thinking this is IMPOSSIBLE. I reloaded though and then made the discovery that's let me continue pretty far. I hit the stealth button and found I could Hide in Shadows!! I didn't know Rangers had this ability. It works about 30% to 40% of the time. Now I hid, walked up behind the Mephit, whacked him with the staff, whacked him a 2nd time before he could attack, and down goes the Mephit!!! I get a couple of healing potions and a +1 longsword that I can't use. Go to the jar room and use the same strategy to take out the mephits in that room. Now I get a shortbow which I can use. Unfortunately, I couldn't force open the locked box with the +1 staff so I just went on without it. I then hid in shadows, moved up until only 1 goblin was in sight and peppered him with arrows. Fortunatley for me, his buddies were too stupid to figure out what was happened and all just stood around while I picked them off one by one. This strategy worked in the library, with the duergar, and with the Cambion. Hide, shoot, run, repeat. Took out everything on the floor that way!!! Now I got to a real dilemna and I had to "cheat". I had to go fight the Otyugh now, and it required a +1 weapon to hit. I had none because I couldn't open the box with the +1 quarterstaff. I zapped in a potion of Giant Strength and forced open the box. I knew the box was trapped, so to make it as "real" as I could, I did it this way instead of just zapping in the staff. I killed the Otyugh and moved on. After setting off the alarm in the back room, I ran back to the Otyugh room so I'd have plenty of room to run while fighting the Golems. I hit one with an arrow of biting and then ran. However, the Golems were just as fast as me so I couldn't run and shoot. I got all the way back to the first room and stopped in the doorway and fought one golem. The other golem couldn't get to me and ran around. I defeated the first golem but took a pretty good beating so I went thru the door and closed it so I could figure out how to fight the 2nd one. The golem came around though and opened the door!!! I didn't know any monsters could open doors. I paused and closed the door again and he opened it again!!! Fortunately, this was the one I hit with the arrow and he died quickly. I then went to the Djinni room, sneaked past all the Mephits and did that quest for the experience points. No fighting, just sneaking. It worked out well. On to the 2nd level. I went to the first room, cast DUHM, used an oil of speed, then hid and moved in and hit the first portal. When it went down, I gained another level. I paused and went up, getting 12 more hit points. I killed the next two portals and moved on to the last one when the darn Radiant Mephit knocked me unconcious again. I thought I was a goner, but woke up with 4 HP's left and took out the last portal. I then used the same Hide and shoot method to clear the rest of the dungeon. Once outside, I immediatlely did the circus tent with practically no fighting. Just killled the "peasants" and freed Aerie. Went to the next room, picked up the scrolls and headed straight up the stairs. Moved in and killed the illusionist. Very easy. Now I went to the Adventurer's Mart and sold everything, since I can't use it anyway. I bought a +2 Staff Mace and a +2 Shield and now my AC is -2. Moved to the slums and did the slaver quest. I found out that the Charm Animal ability is a touch spell so you have to walk right up to the hostile animal to charm him. It failed on the Winter Wolf and I had to kill it. I almost died fighting the beastmaster but I escaped and freed Hendak. During this battle, I went up to Level 9 and got 12 more HP's. I did the easy Graveyard quests, completed the Buried Alive quest, completed the Tanner quest without going downstairs and fighting the two thiefs. I don't think I'm ready for that yet. I collected enough gold to buy the Girdle of Hill Giant strength. I REALLY wanted the horn that summons a fighter when you blow it, but I "died" for the 2nd time trying to get it. The chest is trapped with a Maze spell and since I'm the only one in the party, it's INSTANT DEATH. I'm not sure where to go next. I think I'm going to try the Thief Guild.

So far, I think this may actually be possible. I'm really worried about undead though. I can't think of anything that a Beastmaster can use that gives negative plane protection. I guess I'll cross that when I get to it. I'll post more as I go.

two · Post by **two** » Fri Aug 31, 2001 10:53 am

Check my old thread "soloing a beastmaster on insane difficulty":
[url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=003037"]http://www.gamebanshee.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=003037[/url]

As I recall, the big problem with the beastmaster is yes, his sucky AC. The weapon issue is another one that looks bad at first, but it isn't really. I would suggest dual-wielding clubs instead of using a staff. Also make trademeet one of your first major quests. At trademeet you can get excellent, stupendous clubs. Also, your beastmaster can USE a scimitar (belm) but not get proficienty points in it. Go figure. Anyway if you grab blackblood and gnasher, both great clubs, you can dual-wield them through the game -- well, until you get CromF which makes even a sucky BM a monster.

I remember thinking that beastmasters could wear some dragon armor, but I'm not sure which one. Shadow armor, possibly? if so this is the way to go. Otherwise, buy the simulacrum helm, a scroll of protection from magic, and whack Kangaax. His ring, and its improved haste, will help you kill the worst of the worst. Doesn't last very long, though.

It's very possible to do this solo... just go slowly, use your summoned monsters as fodder, etc. I stopped, as I recall, because on insane difficulty it was just -- boring. I had to go SO slowly that it was obnoxious.

[ 08-31-2001: Message edited by: two ]

Kameleon · Post by **Kameleon** » Fri Aug 31, 2001 1:04 pm

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Good luck, mate

Seriously, if even two gave up on the Beastmaster, I would be very interested if you complete the game. And @two, can't Beastmasters wear all armours that normal Rangers can, i.e. all? That's what it says in the manual, anyways. And I think the White Dragon Scale was the one they could wear with no penalties.

dimon37 · Post by **dimon37** » Fri Aug 31, 2001 2:12 pm

Since you are a ranger, once you gain some spells, you'll be able to wear amulet of power.

Xyx · Post by **Xyx** » Fri Aug 31, 2001 5:46 pm

Using scimitars is a bug. Baldurdash has the fix...

The Umar Hills is good for soloers. get 27K XP a couple of times for just running around.

To get that Horn of Valhalla, you'll probably need the Helm of Vhailor & Scroll of Protection from Magic, or just drink some lesser magic resistance potion and be prepared to reload a couple of times.

tlibro · Post by **tlibro** » Fri Aug 31, 2001 7:48 pm

I'm not playing on INSANE mode, just normal core rules. I decided to move on to Nalia's but was ambushed and brought the guy back to the Harper hold. I then did the Xzar's quest. I went to the house at the top of the steps, entered, whacked a goblin and ran out. Then used the hide, shoot 'em up technique to take out the two mages. It worked fine. Ran in the Harper hold and got the bird and some treasure. After Xzar died, I went up another level. I also collected enough gold to buy the Bracers AC3. Now my AC is -6. Went off to Nalia's but I realized during the quest that I made two huge mistakes. First, I didn't buy a scroll case so I had to leave all the scrolls there. Second, I didn't identify the Ring of Human Influence so I couldn't charm the guard(I forgot his name). This almost caused me to get killed because I wasn't expecting to fight him. I used an oil of speed and ran and shot until he died. I had no problems with the trolls or anything else. I killed all the golems, except the big guy, one at a time in the chapel by force attacking them. I then grabbed the loot and ran out of the room so the other golem couldn't get me. Assemble the Flail and headed down stairs. Killed the first couple of trolls, used the stew to lure away the Umberhulks away. Then I made a mistake again. I got Torgal all alone and tried standing toe to toe with him. He KICKED MY BUTT!!! I started running and shooting but it was too late. I killed him, but was left no healing. Then one of the other trolls hit me as I was shooting at him and I dropped :-( I reloaded and use the run and shoot technique to easily defeat all three trolls. Left and went back to town. Sold everything and bought a scroll case. Now I'm heading to Trademeet for the clubs. More later.

Xyx · Post by **Xyx** » Sat Sep 01, 2001 2:09 pm

I always use Azuredge (and a lot of patience) to take out that big Golem.

tlibro · Post by **tlibro** » Sat Sep 01, 2001 9:00 pm

Originally posted by Xyx:
I always use Azuredge (and a lot of patience) to take out that big Golem.

I can't use Azuredge, I'm a freaking Beastmaster!!! NO METAL WEAPONS!!!!!!

Xyx · Post by **Xyx** » Sun Sep 02, 2001 3:07 am

Oh. Yeah... That's why it sucked to be a Beastmaster...

Must be fun being a warrior when even Mages have more choice in weapons...

tlibro · Post by **tlibro** » Sun Sep 02, 2001 5:56 pm

OK, so I finished Trademeet. In the Grove, I took out everything pretty easily except in the Troll Mound. There are 3 Giant Trolls that all attack when you attack one of them. They were kicking my butt, so I ran away. They were just as fast so I had to leave the screen and go back to Trademeet. I went to the temple and bought a heal spell. I went back and all 3 Giant Trolls were standing outside the mound. I snuck passed them and cleared out the rest of the mound and got the Bracers of Archery. Otherwise, not too much trouble. I had to go in and out against the Rakshasa because I couldn't kill all of them standing toe to toe. Fortunately, they didn't follow outside. I got the Gnasher club off one of the Shadow Druids. I had Cernd kill Faldorn while I observed so this wasn't a problem either. Next, I went back to Trademeet and bought the Blackwood club and Harmony Shield. I went back to Athkalta and headed to the Temple District. I took up the Unseeing Eye quest and headed underground and got the Cloak of the Sewers. Now my AC is -8. I then took out the group that hangs out in the sewer. I drew off all the fighters and killed them one by one. Then the cleric and mage wouldn't leave each other. I tried going up and killing them but the mage cast Shadow Door and Power Word Stun(no save) and they croaked me. I reloaded, cast Animal Summoning and sent the animals in to take the Stun spell, ran up and killed the mage while the cleric was battling the monsters. Then croaked the cleric. I got alot of cash for the equipment. I decided then that I needed the Ring of Gaax since I was sick of paying for healing spells. I also made another discovery. I can read cleric scrolls!! I didn't know this. So I got the key from Gaal and opened the door. I then went to the Adventurers Mart and bought scrolls of Protection from Undead and Protection from Magic. I also bought the Staff of Rhynn. I went to the Bridge District and into the Lich den. I read the Protection from Undead scroll. Opened the coffin and killed the Lich while he stood there and did nothing. I grabbed the bones and moved to the Temple district and took out the other Lich the same way. I then, moved down the hallway and took out the wraiths that were in there. I then went to the Graveyard district and took out all the undead there too before the scroll ran out. I then went to the Docks District and tried to get in to Kangaax's house. It was locked though and I couldn't force the lock!!! I tried potions and Draw Upon Holy Might and still couldn't open it. I had to go back and get Yoshimo and have him open it :-( Once it was open, I dropped Yoshimo and went in. I then used the Protection from Magic Scroll and Staff of Rhynn and killed Kangaax with taking much damage. Only the Efreet that he gated in hit me a couple of times. Now I went back and finished the Unseeing Eye quest. I had to sneak past the Beholder and Gauth's that were there because I couldn't afford the Shield of Balduran. I finished the rest of the quest pretty easily. Now I took up the Sculptor quest and while I was doing it. It was night time and I couldn't talk to the Ore Merchant, so I decided to do the Thief Guild quest. While I was in the Temple District stealing the amulet for the first Thief quest, I took up the Fallen Paladin quest as well. I kicked the Paladins butts pretty easily. I then finished all the thief quests quickly. Now I have to go back and finsh off Maevar. That's where I stopped. I'm 14th level right now. I'll probably head to Umar Hills next. I've never done any of the Ranger Stronghold quests so this is where I'll start some unexplored territory. More later.

two · Post by **two** » Mon Sep 03, 2001 4:52 am

Go man go!

You may be going where no man, woman, or child has gone before...

Are you dual-wielding Gnasher/Blackblood?

I can't say enough about gnasher; if a monster can be hit by +2 weapons, use this club. With multiple attacks/round, the damage you do with those slivers gets insane. I would suggest dual-wilding with belm off-hand so Gnasher gets an extra attack.

Good luck - souns like you will be able to finish the game! Let me know if you can wear some of the dragon armors!

tlibro · Post by **tlibro** » Mon Sep 03, 2001 5:35 am

Originally posted by two:
Go man go!

You may be going where no man, woman, or child has gone before...

Are you dual-wielding Gnasher/Blackblood?

I can't say enough about gnasher; if a monster can be hit by +2 weapons, use this club. With multiple attacks/round, the damage you do with those slivers gets insane. I would suggest dual-wilding with belm off-hand so Gnasher gets an extra attack.

Good luck - souns like you will be able to finish the game! Let me know if you can wear some of the dragon armors!

I am not dual-weilding right now. I use Blackwood with the Harmony Shield. I was worried about getting charmed or confused so I kept the shield. For some reason, I can equip regular scimitars, but it wouldn't let me use Belm?!?! I have no idea why. I don't use Gnasher very often, but I'll try it the next time I play.

Xyx · Post by **Xyx** » Mon Sep 03, 2001 8:49 am

Beast Masters can use Vhailor's Helm, right? That would give you an endless supply of Rods of Resurrection and Scrolls of Protection from Magic. Throw in the odd Horn of Blasting or Moon Dog Figurine for fun.

tlibro · Post by **tlibro** » Mon Sep 03, 2001 4:38 pm

Originally posted by two:
I can't say enough about gnasher; if a monster can be hit by +2 weapons, use this club. With multiple attacks/round, the damage you do with those slivers gets insane.

WOW!! You're right. This is a great weapon. I just whack for a few rounds, then move on to the next guy and let the slivers kill the first guy. It's great against spellcasters too because it disrupts their spell for a couple of rounds. I use Blackwood on foes that will only last for 1 or 2 hits because it does more immediate damage, but anyone I think will last more than that, I use Gnasher. Cool weapon.

tlibro · Post by **tlibro** » Mon Sep 03, 2001 5:10 pm

On with the adventure. I'm CRUISING now!! I've finished everything before heading out to spellhold. I finished off the Thief Guild easily. I went to Umar Hills and cruised right through all of that. After killing the Shade Lord, I saved and went back down to see if I had any shot of beating the dragon. I cast my Summon Animals spells and ended up with 5 Bears. I had them move in and attack from the front while I was hasted and moved behind. The bears move so slowly though that the Dragon killed them all with a Death Spell before they even took a swing at him!! I attacked from the rear and hit him once before he started mauling me. After he breathed on me and drained 8 levels, I knew this was pointless. I barely scratched him and he was devouring me. I gave up at that point and reloaded. OBVIOUSLY, I'm not going to be able to kill dragons. Now I have my stronghold. I then went back to Athkalta and realized I never finished the 2nd Slaver quest. Piece of cake. I then did the Astral Prison. Not a problem. I just started getting Special Abilities!!! Sneaking and whacking worked great. Now I have the boots of speed!! After the Prison, I grabbed Valygar and he opened the Planar Sphere for me. I had some bad luck here and had to reload. One of the damn hafling mages caught me with a Maze spell and ended my game :-( Reloaded and took out the rest pretty easily. The demon was a piece of cake. I snuck up and hit the Cowled Wizard with Gnasher and this fouled up his spells for a couple rounds while I took out the other guy. Then I mopped up the big wizard and got the Ring of the Ram. Moved through the ice room no problem. Got 80,000 practically free XP by shooting the Tansheron bow at the Golems that can't move along the corridors. Pretty silly. The fire room was difficult. I took LOTS of damage in this room and had to use the Rod of Resurrection to heal myself before I could take out all these guys. That's the first time in a while I had to do that. Went back and took Lavok outside for some more easy experience. I then headed to Windspear. I used a Prot. from Undead to take out all the vampires and cruised through all the rest. I found that if you decline Samia's offer and threaten to steal the treasure from her, her party attacks right then. I Greater Whirlwinded and took out three of them before it ran out!! Pretty cool. The only hard part was the 3 Greater Wolfwere's. They regenerate so fast it was hard to kill them. I used a Greater Whirlwind to kill one. A Lesser Whirlwind to kill the 2nd, and then 2 Improved Hastes from the Gaax ring to kill the 3rd. Everything else was easy. I didn't even think about trying to kill the dragon. It's pointless. I then went back to Umar Hills and a dryad showed up and I finished my first Ranger quest. VERY easy. I then took the Sewer key and took out that whole dungeon. I had to run a couple of times because my INT was down to 1. I ran and closed the door and waited for it to come back, opened the door and finished off all the Flayers. Not too bad. I went back up and assaulted the Guarded Compound. I took them out by going upstairs while hidden, shooting an arrow, then running downstairs. Half of them came down and I wiped them out. Went back up and did the same thing, the other half came down and I took them out. Not a problem again. Next, it's off to pay Galen. I think I'll be able to complete SOA but I don't think I'll be able to complete TOB. Who knows though, maybe with 8 Greater Whirlwinds and a few Hardiness abilities, I'll be able to take out some things. We'll see. Here's where I'm at right now... Level 23, 177 HP's, -9 AC(will be -10 once I get the +2 Ring of Protection), THACO -9 with Gnasher, -10 with Blackwood, 5/2 attacks per round. I don't think I'll have much of a problem completing the rest of SOA. Once I get back from the Underdark, I'll try the dragons once again. More later.

two · Post by **two** » Mon Sep 03, 2001 6:31 pm

Sweet dude.

Yes, imagine what gnasher does once you have greater whirlwind!! Actually, you don't have to imagine...

This is a vasty underrated weapon. It does 2 points of "sliver" damage for each of 4 rounds PER HIT.

This effectively makes it a 1d6+2 +8 damage (slivers) = 1d6 + 10 damage per hit. Close to Impaler, kinda!!! (impaler is 1d6+13). Gnasher is one handed so... I'd pick gnasher. Gnasher by far has the best BASE damage of ANY one handed weapon in SOA. You simply can't do less than 11 per hit base damage (before other bonuses).

Having the damage spread out is either better or worse, depending how you look at it. Vs. mages, it's wonderful because of disruption issues. Vs. a big baddie you want to kill IMMEDIATELY -- it's not so good. Of couse, mages are much more common.

I actually dragged this weapon all the way through TOB and tried it on the end boss. It didn't work; if an enemy needs +3 or better weapons to be effected, the slivers won't damage them. If only this club were upgradeable!

Anyway, enough about Gnasher, you already know!

tlibro · Post by **tlibro** » Tue Sep 04, 2001 9:43 pm

All right. I cruised through Brynnlaw without any problem. Then did the dream no problem. I went thru the Asylum with only one difficulty. The Lich hit me with a Maze spell. Otherwise, no problem. Came back and took out Irenicus with any damage at all. I had a funny thing happen while going to take the boat out of Brynnlaw. I was ambushed by some pirates and I whacked the mage a couple of times with Gnasher and she was down to "Near Death". She then cast Shadow Door and disappeared and NEVER came back!! I think the slivers killed her while in the spell and she was blasted to oblivion. That'll teach her to ambush me. I cruised thru the Sauhaigan city with one minor setback again. I was mazed by a trap playing the Imp's game. I used Vhailor's helm and simularum'd then cast Prot. from Magic on myself and finished the game. I took the Princes offer and once the King was dead, I looted the treasurary and went back and killed the Prince. Now, on to the underdark. I can't use a Freedom scroll so I missed out on that whole thing. I first went to the Gnome city and kicked the Demon's butt no problem. I wanted the strength belt in the Kua-Toa dungeon so I went and cast Prot. from Undead before giving the offering. NO DICE. The Demon Knights still attacked me. I used several Greater Whirlwinds and took them all out. I was drained a few levels though. Cast Restoration and went back to the Gnome city and rested. Then took out the rest of the Kau-Toa pretty easily. Now I went over to the Beholder dungeon. I was too ****y and was just walking thru with the Shield of Balduran thinking I was invincible. WRONG. The damn Elder Orb cast Imprisonment on me!!! The next time I snuck up to him, Greater Whirlwinded, then took him out. No problem after that. I went to Adalon and was turned into a drow. After rescuing Phaere, I went to the Mind Flayers. No problem until the 2nd last room. I was fighting some Flayers and my INT was down to 4 so I ran away and hid behind a door. I was standing right next to the door waiting for my INT to come back and all of a sudden, I WAS DEAD!! Somehow, the Mind Flayer hit me through the closed door!!! After reloading, I finished the rest of the dungeon. I'm now 34th level and will go no higher. I've reached the XP cap. I finished the rest of the Drow city quests and now I'm back topside. I was called back to do the final Ranger quest as soon as I emerged from the Underdark. This brought me back to the Shade Lord dungeon. After I took out the witch, I rested and decided another try at the dragon!!! I was planning on casting Simulcarum and a couple other things before fighting, but the dragon saw me as soon as I entered so I couldn't. I cast Hardiness and attacked. After 3 Greater Whirlwinds and about 150 points of damage, and 8 levels drained, the dragon dropped!!!! Not too bad for being totally unprepared. I made the Shadow Armor and I can wear it. However, I'm not going to. I have the same AC without it wearing the Bracers AC3 and the +2 Ring of Protection. However, the ring gives +2 to saving throws as well, which is critical when playing solo. Next, I'm gonna try Firkagg before going after Bohdi. I think I should definitely finish SOA and I'm going to try TOB.

seanthony · Post by **seanthony** » Wed Sep 05, 2001 12:20 am

woah!! you actually REACHED Ch5?!?!? haha.. that is so far! I am envious! hehe... I mean, if I was playing.. prolly just reached..er.. Aeries Circus tent and die.

hehe

TheDude · Post by **TheDude** » Wed Sep 05, 2001 1:14 pm

great story !
and very good u came this far

tlibro · Post by **tlibro** » Thu Sep 06, 2001 3:36 pm

The gig is up. I think I've met my match. I went to Windspear Hills and walloped Firkagg no problem. One Hardiness and two Greater Whirlwinds and he was toast. I then went on to Watcher's Keep. This was pretty tough. I had to use most of my Hardiness and Greater Whirlwinds for each fight. I had to rest ALOT here. However, I made it all the way through to the 5th level with only "dying" once. I decided to try the Deck of Many Things and just keep whatever happened. I got lucky as the first card took all my gold, then next card charmed me though and I had to reload. The 2nd time, I got some experience, then I got a Ring of Protection +3!! Cool item. I didn't even know it existed. Next I got 1,000,000 experience. What a waste since I'm all ready at the cap. No problem on Lum's level. The dragon was kinda tough because he healed himself halfway through the fight, but I took him down anyway. Now I'm on the 5th level and I don't think I can continue. I did the "last" group of guardians first because I know they're the toughest. Man, they just tear me apart. I've tried using Simulcarum and using him to help, but so far I can't even come close to beating these guys. I might kill 1 or 2 of them before I'm toast. They are TOUGH. I'm probably going to try the rest of the guardians, leave and finish SOA and then come back. Maybe I'll just skip it all together as it's not essential to the plot. We'll see. However, I don't think I'll be able to defeat Ravager or Melissan, or probably Sendai, if I can't defeat these guys. Well, I'm going back to Athkalta and I'll post the results sometime later.