I need to test that combo for Shadowheart. Her attack deals Cold damage, creates an icy surface, and she is not affected by it.
Her off-hand deals Radiant damage that adds 2 turns of Reverberation, reducing the saving throws. Or maybe I'll swap the hands. First reduce the chances, then add ice.
What the fuck just happened to Astarion? One good night sleep and he became a statue?
Aaaaand he pretends like nothing happens after I resurrect him.
1HP after a long rest. Hmm, no.
And you, you don't even sleep in your bed!
And Shadowheart needs to wash a tiny little bit.
Contemplating a dead lake, in the Shadowfell, with a dead necrotic wizard in your backpack.
And I lied to a Drider to get the lantern. I had two broken lanterns already, but at least this one works.
This I need to test with Astarion and AoE damage. Will it illuminate everyone? Will it re-apply on DoT?
Also, I installed the latest patch and the ring of Color Spray effect is now once per short rest instead of at-will outside of battle. So no more spamming of it to trigger wild surges.
I'm testing the Moonlantern aura. I need to either carry it in my hand, or drop it on the floor for it to work. Merely having it in the inventory is not enough.
Dropping it on the floor is a free action, but manually changing what is equipped hand costs and action in combat. The game provides a nifty Toggle Light Source button, so maybe it can be used freely (like Toggle Dual Wielding) in combat.
Found a hatch to the undergound. I'll first keep exploring the ground floor, better understand the topography.
An Icebite Robe. Resistance to Cold Damage. I think that's the second one I find with this Resistance. I'll just take the free Armour of Agathys, though.
I can pass it around my characters so everyone can cast it, but it seems the spells disappear if I unequip it. Also, couldn't cast it on Astarion because he already had 4 temp HP, and it prevented him from getting 15 from the spell.
I'm exploring a graveyard by the way.
Found Boots of Apparent Death. Need to see if I can cast that on a caught thief to make them leave Dialogue mode. And what the target can do while in a coma.
It can be cast on myself or a nearby friend.
It can also be twinned with Twin Spell. Let's all go into a coma, shall we?
It does grant a lot of resistances. But they can't do anything.
I can throw them. Will it wake them up?
Nope, still feigning death. And can't get out of it. I can't go to camp with them, they stick on their state.
I half expect to find the grave of Daer'Ragh, the very powerful sorcerer that popped in Nashkel when clicking on his tombstone too many times.
Hmm, Raphael the devil is here. Let's see if I can pickpocket him somehow.
He only has his diaries. I might want to read that. I wonder if I should try to reverse pickpocket some sussur plant as well or... Maybe I can reverse pickpocket Necrotic Bomb Gale? Ok, I'll try that.
Wow, wait, what? I approached him with my Necrotic aura, he lost some HP and now he has 666 HP?
He is very powerful, but does not have any Necrotic resistance.
So he's just taking a bit of damage now and then. I'll wait to see if I can kill him that way.
Gale, even if he is technically in Raphael's pocket is still considered in my party.
Quick calculation of how long I'll need to wait. He takes 1d4 damage each round, averaged to 2. A round is 6 seconds in real life and he has 600 HP. I will need 300 ticks to bring him down. 300 ticks is 1800 seconds, so about 30mn in real life.
Going to be long, but getting there!
So far I put a Sussur Bloom flower in the pockets of Voss, the Gith rebel, as well as in the pocket of Vlaakith, the Gith goddess. I don't know if I'll ever have to fight them, but if I do, I expect them to still have the flowers and unable to cast.
Slowly getting there...
Almost there. I might attack him for the last HP.
Next tick!
WHAAAAAAAAT. You cheat! He keeps taking damage, but it has no effect on him. Well, I want my Gale and Plant back now.
I learned that I can exceed my carrying capacity by stealing. Picking up items won't allow me to do that.
Anyway, I couldn't kill him right here and there. I should have put a token of some sort in his pocket though, to see if he would still have it next time we meet.
I encountered some Cursed Kuo-Toa, and I'm trying EB after the last patch. I didn't had any charges yet, so it did the expected Force + Necrotic for each EB because of Hex. I would have expected to get some charges after the first EB so the second would get the additional +1 Lightning, but all the charges seem to be acquired at the end of the spell. I now have 4 Charges.
Two EB got me 4 Charges
Two EB only got me 2 Turns of Arcane Synergy.
So either Arcane Synergy tooltip is buggy and it's only one turn per damage. Or it considers EB as only one source of damage (which would be inconsistent with the way the Lightning charges are added). Or maybe I can't have more than 2 turns, more damage won't add more turns.
This does Lightning damage. I might try a build with Shadowheart where she has this in hand, and the Cold staff in the other hand. With the ring that creates ice when hitting with ice, and the boots to protect from it. And that to potentially make the ground surface electricity, and another ring to protect from it.
Nice cloak. I wonder if it stacks with the Caustic Ring.
I misunderstood Arcane Synergy previously. I thought it would add damage to any attack, but it only adds it to weapon attacks. Still, with double hand crossbow, Astarion can fire a shot as a bonus action, and he can add his CHA modifier to the roll. Arcane Synergy is pretty interesting for characters that cast spells and attack in the same round.
I finally understand how to use the spider sack I found in the early game. I was supposed to throw it, and once it break, it summons a lot of spiders.
Resistance to Necrotic damage as a Plate armor. Won't replace the damage reduction from the Adamantine Splint Armor.
Haha, that's funny. I killed the Zombie and gain an action thanks to Elixir of Bloodlust, but because of his undead fortitude he came back.
Hahahaha. It worked so much better than expected. I hit one with the Cold staff, it creates an area of ice on the floor, and the three others fell to the ground.
If I have charges, the Lightning damage is added to all EB, same as the Hex.
But it seems that I cannot have Arcane Synergy for more than 2 turns, each time I gain it, it removes the previous condition.
I love Shadow Step, being able to move from shadow to shadow is very interesting in conversation. I'm thinking about doing a solo run with a monk levelled enough to have access to it. Maybe 3 levels of thief for the double Bonus action. I'd also like to play a Necromancer at some point, playing with resurrecting bodies from my fallen enemies.
Bided Time. When I'm hit in melee, I gain +1 bonus to spell damage while threatened. Needs some testing to see how long is the duration. I don't think it stacks (more damage), but needs testing as well.
WOW. Can' be blinded. Means that if I'm in a Darkness area, only others have DIS hitting me and I have ADV? This is very very good.
WHAT. I found a random Syringe that does weird things. The description of the Hand Me My Syringe simply states "1d6", but the description says it does 3d8 piercing, but also gives acces to another feat that does 8d8+2?
Found an amulet of Charm Person once per short rest.
Found an undead selling Karabasan's Poison. CON save or Paralysed. I wonder how many doses there are in one, can I attack several times with it? Added with the Reverberation jumps from Shadowheart, I might be able to get some almost guaranteed Paralysation, which means auto-crit...
Hmm wait, I can no longer go into turn based mode once Astarion has started his conversation. Maybe I should have started the convo from TBM.
I'm in the happiest of place, aren't I?
What the fuck is this monster?
I think I found a very nasty exploit. I had Shadowheart walking to those people invisible, with her aura of Necrotic energy. It damaged them, so they moved a bit, and saw my other characters, which triggered a fight. But Shadowheart is still considered out of the fight because she is invisible, so she can freely walk around while the other don't move because they are in combat mode.
I can just have her move far so the aura doesn't trigger and back in for it to trigger again. Oh wait no, while I was writing this my Invisibility wore off (it was limited to 10 turns because coming from a potion). So I got into the fight, but with an everlasting Duergar invisibility, this would have work wonders.
I fired an Arrow of Many targets on one target. The log is pretty hard to understand, so let's read it line by line.
Initial shot is 16 (ADV because firing from invisibility), +1 because it's a +1 crossbow, +3 proficiency and +5 DEX modifier. All fine here.
1d6 + 1 + 5 damage, alright. Damage of the weapon +DEX, +1.
The additional 2 acid damage are coming from my ring. I pick this +2 Acid instead of the +1d4 when concentrating because I though on average it would be the same (1d4 VS 2), and I would not always be concentrating on something.
Then, one of the additional arrows did a critical, with DIS. I'm extremely lucky to be able to roll a double 20 here. I don't know why I'm at DIS though. The damage is also divided by two, because of the Piercing resistance of the target, that's fine.
Then what I don't understand is that the two other arrows don't even have an attack roll, they just go straight to damage, and have the Critical included (they roll twice the dice). But those are NOT resistant to Piercing, so they should have taken full damage.
So maybe the additional arrow pick a close target in range, roll an attack roll with DIS, and if it hits apply the damage to this target and 2 others?
They confused Shadowheart. She's not doing anything, but I think her no-magic aura is already messing with them.
I cast Darkness right in them. Naeblys should still be able to see and Sneak Attack them, but they should not see anything.
Yes, it works. Gonna hit them and then hide in the darkness.
I think that because they are blinded, they can't even do Attacks of Opportunity.
Hmm, what I don't get is that Astarion can fire on them with ADV. I thought I would not be able to make range attacks into the darkness.
Well, I definitely can. 8 from the initial Piercing damage. +1 for the Lightning because I had charges and 8 for using 5 charges for an additional d8 (and it included another +1 Lightning because of charges \o/).
Hmm. There is something I don't get with those Gloves. I don't understand what is the default rule and those do in addition.
Astarion already added his DEX modifier to the damage done with his off-hand crossbow, and he does not have the Dual Wielder feat.
And Naeblys, when attacking with his offhand also added his DEX modifier. There is also a +2 that I'm not sure the origin of. It might be from his gloves, that wrongly add his STR modifier, even when using a Finesse weapon?
It's true that his main attack doesn't have it. Ah no wait, it's because he is using a Knife +2 in his off-hand.
So, I don't see any difference in damage between Astarion that has no feat, and Naeblys that has the feat and the gloves. Something to keep investigating.
Oh no, I forgot about the Shadow Curse. I had Astarion hide behind a pillar but it moved him too far from the protection of the Moonlantern and without enough movement to come back once I realized it. He took one feeble damage and it was enough to make him lose his concentration on the Darkness area.
Shadowheart was still confused, but I had no idea what happened. She just stayed there and sometimes some shadow explosion seem to appear here or there in the room but I don't know if it was a VFX or coming from a spell.
Yeah, I crit on a 18. -1 because of the Knife, and another -1 because of my hat. Yeah, that works really well.
I then attacked Malus Thorn from inside the Darkness I recast. Two attacks and one off-hand attack and they all crit. This made me reconsider using the ring of +1d4 Psychic instead of the flat +2 Acid, as more dice means more damage. I need to find ways to add additional damage types on my weapons.
I already have my weapons coated in simple toxin. Maybe it's worth changing it for a Fire dip.
Rhaaa I got self pwned again. I had one last Bonus action for Astarion, so I said to myself "hey, I should Hex him"... But it did remove Darkness once again. Grrr.
Hmm, no.
I managed to Stun him with Stunning Strike, so one free turn for me.
I used a Bonus Action for Perilous Stakes (make him vulnerable to everything), then a Sneak Attack. I got lucky and got a Critical. 72 Damage.
That's right, he's Vulnerable to everything AND stunned, so I have one free turn of him just taking double damage.
Easy!
Wow, another part of the big combo. I can Paralyze (so, free Critical Hits) for 2 rounds, when I score a Critical Hit. Because of Luck of the Far Realm, I can force a Critical once. And with Perilous Stakes I also double damage. So this is potentially a way to do a lot of damage in one turn.
This tool, once per Short Rest, might be used for a nice Critical Hit. Lots of additional damage.
There actually are several of those, and as they are all once per short rest, I might use them all before two rests.
Oh, I understand why Astarion was able to fire in the dark. He can see in magical darkness, so he can hide in his own Darkness. That makes all items improving his spell DC when in Darkness much more interesting now.
I cast Darkvision from Shadowheart with two Ki points, but it does not seem to allow seeing in magical darkness.
I kinda like this Darkness tactic. Astarion can cast that, and hide in it with Naeblys, while Shadowheart just run everywhere and focus fire on her.
What I realized though is that the Covert Cowl is considered armor and so wearing it prevents me from getting my +3 AC from sorcerer as well as the +2 AC from the bracers.
I swapped the Bracers of Dual Wielding for the Bracers of AC, and I can see I no longer add anything to my damage. It might be because I'm hitting with the Moonlantern or because I don't actually have Dual Wielder as a feat!
Found a nice Longsword that deals additional Psychic damage.
Some gloves for a potential Heat build. The more Heat you have, the more damage you add.
I went into a subterranean Shar altar and got my stats greatly increased until next long rest.
I took the dagger (an almost mundane green dagger, but I thought it would look great on Shadowheart), which triggered a fight with three Dark Justiciars.
They have a lot of resistances when in shadow, I need to add some lights.
They seem to have taken twice the Wyvern toxin. Is that because I hit them with two different characters?
So yes, it seems I can stack toxins from different sources. Interesting.
I can actually stack toxins from different weapons, so main hand and off-hand works.
The caster tried to cast Melf Acid Arrow on Astarion. This does 10+ damage each round, so I cancelled it, I wanted to keep concentrating on Haste.
And because I used a Psionic Backlash, it put him under the HP threshold and Cull the Weak triggers, killing it, which also turned me invisible \o/
Another also took 7 from my Toxin, and 4 from Astarion toxin, +1 Lightning because somehow Astarion has charges left. So toxins on Astarion are actually pretty good, he should just try to blast a bit everyone.
Hmm, I went outside, and I don't seem to be affected by the curse anymore. I'm not carrying the Moonlantern. Is that expected because I fought the Shar guardians, or is it a bug?
I was just exploring, while invisible, and apparently I clicked on a Shadow that was invisible. It counted as an attack, and thankfully I was lucky enough to kill it in one attack.
Hmm, Naeblys gained Arcane Synergy. Why?
I gave him that, so I might have inflicted a condition. Let's check the log.
Hmm, I don't know. I was running through a spell of Darkness and I lost and won Arcane Synergy. I'll have to be more careful.
So this is a crossbow attack with my offhand. I add my DEX and my CHA modifier. DEX because of the gloves (will be part of my build if I take Dual Wielder). And CHA because of Arcane Synergy. I'm still unsure what triggered it though.
Speaking of Dual Wielder, on Naeblys it would allow me to Dual Wield any weapon I'd like, but only Finesse weapons can be used for Sneak Attack. It would also allow me to add my DEX bonus to damage with the off-hand, but the gloves already do that and I feel it's already added anyway.
Found a nice helm, the Helmet of Arcane Acuity, that gives me +2 to spell attack rolls and Spell DC whenever I deal damage with a weapon. This goes well with the ring of Arcane Synergy, where whenever I do damage with a Cantrip I can add my CHA bonus to my weapon damage. Both feed on each other and if I cast one EB and fire my crossbow every round, it will be pretty powerful.
But it means removing the Warped Headband of Intellect that I use for my 4 Wizard slots. I'm not using them much, and mostly out of combat for utility spells, and in that case I can always re-equip it.
Anyway, it seem a bit buggy.
The spells are still in my hotbar. Can I use them? Hmm yes. I can just prepare my spells with the headband, then remove it. Ok, nothing lost then. Well, it's Light armor, so I'm losing a bit of AC (18 to 15). Gonna try it though.
Oh, I gain Arcane Synergy when turning invisible.
uh, what?
Ahem, ok. That was with a succesful save.
Hey, that could prove useful if I reverse pickpocket a lot of money into someone, with Luck of the Far Realm and Brand the Weak. Well, I'm not proficient with it, so it would be for Shadowheart.
Found other gloves that, when a weapon attack inflicts a condition, I gain Arcane Acuity again (+1 Spell Attack and +1 Spell DC). This would mean removing my DEX 18 gloves, though. They give +1 to Attack roll all the time, and don't require applying a condition. I'll pass.
Whenever I take fire damage (not self-inflicted), I Heat (1d4/round on myself) but can also use the Heat charges to add to fire damage.
Just a screenshot to remember the ambiance here.
Having a drink.
If I do Acid Damage, I inflict Noxious Fumes (which adds 1d4 Acid damage in an AoE). And I have a ring to always deal acid damage.
I gave it to Shadowheart. She will do Ice Damage with her main hand that will also create ice on the floor. She has a mace to do AoE Necrotic (and can even sometimes carry her own Necrotic aura), and she will also add Acid damage.
And I found a two handed club with ADV on attacks when drunk.
This armor mentions "if the armor detects that the wearer is Gith". Does it mean I can trick it with a Disguise self? Does it work on other items that do special things for special races?
I must say I'm impressed by all the meta-storytelling being told in the game. Without any big exposure scene, you can learn a lot about what happened by watching little details.
From that corpse on the roof where you loot thieves tools and a silver goblet, you can understand a thief managed to steal something before being caught.
That communal grave with 4-5 people from the same family and epitaphs saying how much they will be missed, and that lone hole in a dark alley with a tombstone of the same name saying something about being forgiven for that fateful night.
A lot of posters about missing animals on one side of a building, and a cat collar and dog collar abandoned next to a cleaver next to the kitchens.
How you encounter the whole Thorm family, one by one, in every building and now you see an open grave of one Isobel Thorm. And Isobel was the name of that one priestess you didn't save in time. What are all the ramifications of that. Lots of goosebumps of understanding for barely stated things.
Looks like Shadow Step allowed me to teleport right in the middle.
I found a Displacer Beast waiting for me. Gonna use it as a target dummy for some tests I had.
First test is to see if Brand The Weak breaks Invisibility. It does, and it is also considered an hostile action and will initiate combat, so can't be used to prepare an ambush.
I somehow arrived right in the middle of some kind of ritual. No talking, they just attacked me.
Oh, interesting. I can transfuse health on Naeblys, because thanks to Uncanny Dodge, he gives less than the other receives.
This fight has been really hard, because of the bad initial positionning. They were all above me, firing at me. They are immune to Blindness, Fire and Poison, all the spells I threw at them. And resistant to Bludgeoning.
Finally, I managed to Stun him because he broke the Volatile Shield I had on Shadowheart. It means I'll have one turn where he couldn't act.
I have one turn for Naeblys to do damage. So Perilous Stakes, and now we'll go for the Arrows of Fiend Slaying... I don't have any Luck of the Far Realm left, so let's hope it works.
Ah, finally. All I needed was to be able to attack him. That was the only round I managed to land a hit, and it killed him.
This also made me level up. I feel like I levelled up barely a few hours ago.
That's a very good crossbow for opening a fight.