Ascension...

[Assassin]

I was just thinking, after beating Ascension for the first time, how many people have beaten Ascension on their first try?                      

[Caedwyr]

I had to take a second try because of the 'Siblings not dying bug'.  My second time try, I had shapeshift + powerword kill memorized and I could bypass the need to do the last bit of damage.  The fight is hard, but with the right tactics it can be a lot of fun.  Mostly its just a matter of figuring out which siblings to kill first and in what order.  Of course, that tends to mean retrying at least once.  :rolleyes:                    

[Seifer]

Several here due to Insane difficulty set on!  As Caedwyr mentions, tactics count and it has a high replayable factor.                    

[Brannin Vael]

I did it on my 2nd try. Insane. Mostly because I used the buffing up technique's I learned before on the Solaufein-Eclipse fight. It was fun, if not a bit easier because you get so many more non-combat 'break' periods to buff up and refresh your party.

When the fighting the 'siblings' as Caedwyr so appropriately labels them, I went after the weakest first and just tore them down that way. Teleport field worked well for me to keep the demons off my back for awhile. And when I could start to damage Melissan...she got all the attention.                      

[Assassin]

I guess that I just like cheese and reading up on battles :0.  What I did was just Triple Project Imag'ed with Tashia and had a Protection from Magic scroll in the Quick Item slot.  *BAM* Sendai and Abazigal get taken down a couple of notches.  Time Stop, Focus, slice up some Bhaalspawn.  Kill Melissan.  The End  I beat it on my first try, but I had a lot of help from reading Trent Gouldings Ascension log.  (Ex: Which enemies were where, etc.  But, it didn't help that the rat-bastard Sarevok betrayed me.  I thought that I was going to face a Dragon, though, not the human form of Abazigal.)

*edit* When I read the Ascension log, it was five months ago, when I was still a purist and believed in a mod-less BG2.  I thought the Ascension battle was insane, so I wanted proof that it was possible to beat it.  Then, I saw the light...                    



[!--EDIT|Assassin|Mar 5 2003, 12:49 AM--]

[Brannin Vael]

I had heard that Sarevok betrays the party, however my PC was evil and I had a rep of 1. Sarevok just rebuffed her offer and stayed with me. I guess if I was good or had a high rep it would probably have come out different...                    

[Althernai]

I had heard that Sarevok betrays the party, however my PC was evil and I had a rep of 1. Sarevok just rebuffed her offer and stayed with me. I guess if I was good or had a high rep it would probably have come out different...

                   If he is evil and you have low rep or if he is good (or if you are playing on Normal or Easy), he stays. If he is evil and you have high rep (and you are playing at least on Core), he goes.

I don't remember how many tries it took me to beat Ascension for the first time. I do recall that it took about 2 hours (on Normal) and then 2 more on Core. However, keep in mind that I hadn't read anything on the subject before winning it at least twice with different parties (I can see why you would go reading walkthroughs if you are stuck, but what is the point of doing that if you haven't even tried?)                    

[Rataxes]

Don't know exactly how many tries, but I'd been playing for three hours before I beat it on Insane. Though honestly, I didn't quite beat it fair and square. I lowered the difficulty slider when I tapped those pools to regain my lost spells, though I thought this necessary primarily due to poor planning and spell selection. If could've bothered to replay the encounter from the start and change my prebuffs and spell selections, to maybe include a Wish or two, I could've done it without dropping the slider temporarily. Also, when Melissan summoned about 20 Alu-fiends and Cambions, I did something I've never done before - I blew them all to bits with CTRL-Y in pure frustration and then proceeded to fight Melissan. Reason for this was that the massive hordes of demons that Melissan always summons when she's all on her own had always been the one thing that downed me. I can get past The Five as easily as anything with my current Hack'n'Slash tactic, but I've yet to find a way to beat half a dozen Balors with undispellable Auras of Flaming Death. Once I actually got Melissan down to near death before my PC's Ironskin casting was interrupted (what are the odds?) and he was overwhelmed by Balors and Glabrezus. So I figured I came close enough for the moment.                    



[!--EDIT|Rataxes|Mar 2 2003, 01:43 AM--]

[Lady Shade]

How do I raise Sola back after I kill him and bodhi? I cant find a temple or anything so I had to beat the game without him which pissed of a lover of my dear Sola...Cuz you know Id like him to be there when we go to hell and back...Anyway, need help. :huh:  stayin cool 4 now, but I want to get this done right!!
 

[Dragon]

Take Sola's body and Bodhi's black heart, go to Amaunator's temple (Near the Umar Hills, where the shade lord was), to the statue of amauny after you cross the floor puzzle, put the heart and the body into its arms, then he's brought back to life, not unlife.
Compri?