Posted by: klaussner
« on: June 29, 2003, 11:42:54 AM »Monk/Thief?
Dual-wielding with carsomyr?
Are we speaking of the same game?
Dual-wielding with carsomyr?
Are we speaking of the same game?
Inconveniencing the Infinity Engine since 2001.
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Posted by: Jim, el Queso Grande
« on: June 15, 2003, 09:54:24 AM »No, solo non-caster type is very doable. (I assume you mean on Insane difficulty level.) My F/M/T with UAI didn't cast a single spell from his book during the encounter, opting instead for better protections (Flesh Armor for the Magical Resistance, or the Big Metal Unit is pretty handy for dodging those Fallen Solars). It should be even easier for a F/T with Use Any Item; I'm not going to replay the game to test, but it should be very doable. I recommend Carsomyr for its dispelling capabilities (Purifier wouldn't bad, either, if you can get it, but Carsomyr allows your Magic Resistance to climb above 100%), Assassinations + Imp. Haste (either from a scroll, Gaxx, or Cheetah Amulet) + suitable dual-wielded weapons w/ Grandmastery (will kill any of the Five in ~1 round if you get a clean shot at them). Use Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialization to boost your rate of attack, obviously. Use the Shield of Reflection to cope with Fallen Solars (if Melissan manages to summon them) and Illasera (if you don't prioritize her). Sendai and Abazigal will fall easily enough to one strike of Carsomyr + one round of assassination-aided mayhem. Keep two normal weapons of your favorite type around to finish off Abazigal after his [illegal!] Pro. Magic Weapons contingency fires. Most of all, time traps, as many of them as you can get. (You can place 5 or 6 if you're careful). Be sure to kill Balthazar during the first time trap (which you should place to be triggered immediately after the Five appear); you don't need TWO demigods to keep you company during time-stops. Around the time that you've killed 3 or 4 of the 5, Melissan will cast Time Stop; use Focus before that happens.
Things to prepare with: before approaching the Throne of Blood Keep a few scrolls of Pro. Magic Weapons around for the final fight, and use Vhailor's Helm to get a simulacrum immediately after draining the northeast pool, which should be the last one you drain. Steal Lazarus' scrolls of Imprisonment to use against Yaga Shura; once the rest of the Five are finished, he can be imprisoned (albeit briefly) long enough to trigger Melissan's mortality. Save a scroll of Protection from Magic from SoA if you can. Oh yes, and Sarevok? It turns out that he's not very trustworthy. Kill him while you're still in your Pocket Plane for the 80th time or so.
A word about demons: by hiding them at the bottom of the northeast pool, I was able to save most of my controlled demons before the battle with the Five began. This is kind of dicey, so you may want to slaughter your demons before the battle begins. If you prefer to use them, however, use chained Gates. If you start the final battle with 2 balors, a marilith, and 2 glabrezus on your side and have all of them cast Gate, you'll probably get three more demons who can cast gate; if you're lucky, one of them might be a Nabassu, which can cast Gate three times. Keep doing this and you'll have an Infernal Host to rival anything that Melissan could call up. Demons can't hurt Melissan much, but they're great for distracting her. Stupidly, she tries to charm some of them, instead of attending the more important business of trying to kill you. Also, if you need a breather after you make Melissan mortal so that you can re-buff, one very useful tactic is to Dimension Door to the pool where you hid your demons, send your demons to hold the bridge between the pool and the central platform and leisurely re-buff while your loyal hellspawn hold the bottleneck. Dimension Door out next to Melissan when you feel up to it.
If you time trap appropriately, you should be able to take out all of the Five but Yaga during stolen time. If you picked up an "ally", feed them to Melissan while you race around the Throne of Blood to kill the other four in time. Then cast Imprisonment during real time, trigger Mel's mortality, rebuff as needed, and close for the kill. Mel by herself is non-trivial to kill without nasty tactics; as I see it, you have two options; first, Ravager form+Hardiness (immune to magic and physical damage)+ Greater Whirlwind or simply close in battle with her with Pro. Magic Weapons, Assassination, and Imp. Haste. I prefer the latter, because if you lose control as the Ravager you'll waste a round or two, after which your chances of killing Melissan before your form expires will be shot. The first time I tried the latter method, I was just about to close with Mel as a horde of demons, still friendly, spilled out of the pool where I'd stashed them. I paused, and after a bit of thought, had them all cast Gate. Then I had them pile onto Melissan, similar to what happens to Irenicus in the ending movie of SoA. :-) They weren't doing any damage, but it made it easy for me to sneak behind Mel and, using the Imp. Haste + Assassination combo, slaughter her in just over two rounds A fitting end for one who would be Lady of Murder, and one that took me back to my Thief of Fate days.
This would be simple enough with a genuine F/T, but a Kensai/Thief, a Monk/Thief, or an Assassin/Fighter should have truly amazing results. If you're careful about collecting quest rewards in SoA, it shouldn't be too difficult to get the second class up to a high enough level, either.
Things to prepare with: before approaching the Throne of Blood Keep a few scrolls of Pro. Magic Weapons around for the final fight, and use Vhailor's Helm to get a simulacrum immediately after draining the northeast pool, which should be the last one you drain. Steal Lazarus' scrolls of Imprisonment to use against Yaga Shura; once the rest of the Five are finished, he can be imprisoned (albeit briefly) long enough to trigger Melissan's mortality. Save a scroll of Protection from Magic from SoA if you can. Oh yes, and Sarevok? It turns out that he's not very trustworthy. Kill him while you're still in your Pocket Plane for the 80th time or so.
A word about demons: by hiding them at the bottom of the northeast pool, I was able to save most of my controlled demons before the battle with the Five began. This is kind of dicey, so you may want to slaughter your demons before the battle begins. If you prefer to use them, however, use chained Gates. If you start the final battle with 2 balors, a marilith, and 2 glabrezus on your side and have all of them cast Gate, you'll probably get three more demons who can cast gate; if you're lucky, one of them might be a Nabassu, which can cast Gate three times. Keep doing this and you'll have an Infernal Host to rival anything that Melissan could call up. Demons can't hurt Melissan much, but they're great for distracting her. Stupidly, she tries to charm some of them, instead of attending the more important business of trying to kill you. Also, if you need a breather after you make Melissan mortal so that you can re-buff, one very useful tactic is to Dimension Door to the pool where you hid your demons, send your demons to hold the bridge between the pool and the central platform and leisurely re-buff while your loyal hellspawn hold the bottleneck. Dimension Door out next to Melissan when you feel up to it.
If you time trap appropriately, you should be able to take out all of the Five but Yaga during stolen time. If you picked up an "ally", feed them to Melissan while you race around the Throne of Blood to kill the other four in time. Then cast Imprisonment during real time, trigger Mel's mortality, rebuff as needed, and close for the kill. Mel by herself is non-trivial to kill without nasty tactics; as I see it, you have two options; first, Ravager form+Hardiness (immune to magic and physical damage)+ Greater Whirlwind or simply close in battle with her with Pro. Magic Weapons, Assassination, and Imp. Haste. I prefer the latter, because if you lose control as the Ravager you'll waste a round or two, after which your chances of killing Melissan before your form expires will be shot. The first time I tried the latter method, I was just about to close with Mel as a horde of demons, still friendly, spilled out of the pool where I'd stashed them. I paused, and after a bit of thought, had them all cast Gate. Then I had them pile onto Melissan, similar to what happens to Irenicus in the ending movie of SoA. :-) They weren't doing any damage, but it made it easy for me to sneak behind Mel and, using the Imp. Haste + Assassination combo, slaughter her in just over two rounds A fitting end for one who would be Lady of Murder, and one that took me back to my Thief of Fate days.
This would be simple enough with a genuine F/T, but a Kensai/Thief, a Monk/Thief, or an Assassin/Fighter should have truly amazing results. If you're careful about collecting quest rewards in SoA, it shouldn't be too difficult to get the second class up to a high enough level, either.
Posted by: Sirfin
« on: January 25, 2003, 04:15:21 PM »Recant that, after numerous tries have tossed in towel with solo swashbuckler. It only seemed possible.
Posted by: Ascension - Swashbuckler.
« on: January 12, 2003, 07:28:21 AM »Working on a game now with a swashbuckler who has UAI. Completed everything except the battle with Sendai, Yaga, Abi, & Illisera. Melisan has not made her entrance yet. [gulp]
Know it can be done with enough reloads. [cough] [cough].
Posted by: Assassin
« on: January 04, 2003, 02:06:21 PM »It worked.
On a side note, has anyone actually successfully completed Ascension, solo, using a character that couldn't cast spells? (ie: Monk, Fighter, Barbarian, Thief, etc.)
[!--EDIT|Assassin|Jan 4 2003, 11:42 PM--]
On a side note, has anyone actually successfully completed Ascension, solo, using a character that couldn't cast spells? (ie: Monk, Fighter, Barbarian, Thief, etc.)
[!--EDIT|Assassin|Jan 4 2003, 11:42 PM--]
Posted by: Assassin
« on: January 04, 2003, 01:12:15 PM »Okay, I'll do that. Hope that it actually works this time... Thanks, Kish
Posted by: Kish
« on: January 04, 2003, 01:10:35 PM »Quote
If he had Simalacrum'ed (spelling? Yes, he did during the battle), then would Imoen's dialog have triggered?Yes, the Slayer Change will wear off with time. But it sounds like he'd dead all right.
Quote
Is this a known bug? What should happen?Yes. Either Balthazar or yourself should suggest draining the pools. Looks like you'd better reload and do the fight over.
Posted by: Assassin
« on: January 04, 2003, 01:05:19 PM »I'm currently playing Ascension for the first time through. Yes, I know, it's been out a long time, but I wanted to play the original ending first of all. So sue me... (No, I don't have a lot of money 
)
Anyways, I just defeated Irenicus, Bodhi, and the Two Fallen Solars (piece of cake, by the way). The problem is that nothing is happening right now. Imoen changed back to my side, so I'm assuming that Irenicus is dead. If he had Simalacrum'ed (spelling? Yes, he did during the battle), then would Imoen's dialog have triggered?
Anyways, I waited a good long while for the Spell Immunity: Divination to wear off, and covered the entire field with True Sights; no can do. Nothing yet...
Is this a known bug? What should happen?
)Anyways, I just defeated Irenicus, Bodhi, and the Two Fallen Solars (piece of cake, by the way). The problem is that nothing is happening right now. Imoen changed back to my side, so I'm assuming that Irenicus is dead. If he had Simalacrum'ed (spelling? Yes, he did during the battle), then would Imoen's dialog have triggered?
Anyways, I waited a good long while for the Spell Immunity: Divination to wear off, and covered the entire field with True Sights; no can do. Nothing yet...
Is this a known bug? What should happen?