Archer vs. Twisted Rune.

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November 2008, a sort of bet was made, between me and a... lets call him friend, even if we're not really friends. A bet that you probably figured put already. I bet him I can beat Twisted Rune, soloing it with Archer. What's in it, you ask? Nothing but adding a few inches to virtual penis of the winner And hopefully having some fun.

Now, I realise such feat cannot be attempted without enormous amounts of cheese. Ones that will make me smell bad for a month after finishing this. However, that is pretty much a given, so I have no complaints there and neither does a friend. However, I would still require some help.

First, the character. I intend to take half-orc for my race. +1 to STR and CON will be much more useful in this case than elf's +1 to DEX, seeing that I can boost my AC with items and having a few more hp's and a bonus to hit and damage will be much more useful. Since archer sucks in melee, I need all the bonuses I can get. If anybody has better suggestion, I'm quite happy to listen to him. Oh yeah, I'm going to play like the character is being imported from BG1, so he'll have +1 to all stats. Explanation why this is important later.

Next, the levels. I admit, what with playing IWD 2 lately, I somehow forgot how the levels are distributed in BG2. If somebody could get me information which level an archer is at the end of SoA so I can use CLUAConsole, I would be most grateful. Perhaps some sort of spreadsheet for classes would be most helpful. I've been looking on Google, but apparently, my Google-Fu is weak lately, since I didn't find anything.

And lastly, the equipment. Once again, what with not playing BG2 for almost two years now, I'm a little rusted. I have the general idea of what I want, but I'm taking suggestions again, on what would be good to bring along. Lets see what I have planed. Note, most of the items will be Shadow keeper-ed into the game, since I don't plan on playing the entire game, before facing the Rune.

Ring of Gaxx - regeneration, immunities.
Ring of Protection +2 - self explanatory.
Vhailor's Helm - Simulacra once per day.
Boots of Speed - makes me faster, easier to maneuver.
Amulet of Power - immunity to level drain.
Control circlets from mind flayer city, 2 - to keep one or two members from messing with me.
Belt of Stone Giant STR(?) - the one that sets STR to 23. I'm a little in doubt here, since I bet I can get better belts, but I'll be damned if I remember which ones.
Scrolls of Protection from Magic, 2 - what's not to like.
Scrolls of Protection from Undead - as many as I can get, thought I imagine one or two will suffice.
A ******** of healing potions.

As for weapons and armors... this is where I need most help. Perhaps Aeger's hide, to make me immune to confusion? Archers don't have that much choice to start with and AC won't be all that important, since I intend to be hit as little as possible, so other benefits armor can confer are more important to me. As for weapons.... a strongest bow. Gessen most likely, or Tuigan. Seeing how I'm facing enemies that are pretty much immune to arrows, I guess Gessen would be better. And a stack of +2 arrows for Tuigan. I'm thinking 1000 should suffice As for melee.... rangers are two weapon stlye fighters. I'm thinking Celestial Fury, from Koshi and maybe Daystar. Like I said, I forgot about most weapons already, so any suggestion is welcome. Yes, I intend to kill Koshi and his mooks as well, just so I get rogue stone like it's supposed to, so the game doesn't give me any problems. Hopefully, it won't take too much out of my resources for the Rune battle.

So, we have half-orc, with the following stats. 20/18/20/10/15/4, after all the tomes he was supposed to get in BG1. Ten in INT, so he can use scrolls. Nothing too hard to roll, especially for ranger. He'll have five * in short bows, three * in two weapon stlye, * in katana and * in longsword. The rest will be allocated once I get the idea which weapons I'll be using.

And that is it Hopefully, I can get some help from you guys. My first intention is to have some fun from this and I'm taking it as such. The few aforementioned inches are just a side bonus If I manage, I'll even make a video of this, using Fraps or something similar.

 

Well, I can't be of much help other than to point out that half-orcs can't be rangers (unless you use SK, of course). I think your only choices are humans, elves and half-elves.

Also, have you considered using the Generic Archer kit from Tactics? It's similar to the Archer, but it's a fighter kit, and you ca put 2 points in melee weapons. Plus you might be able to select a half-orc (not sure about that, though).

 

Don't believe archers can use amulet of power, only clerics right?

Belt of intertial barrier is a good one to choose for this fight I think.

Arrows of dispelling will be amazing, not sure how many you can find in the game.

Half-orcs can't be archers, I would go with humans since they don't have a con penalty.

Not sure if you can use scrolls as an archer either, I haven't played a ranger to date.

 

Amulet of Power is usable by anyone other than thieves and fighters (at least according to Gamefaqs)

 

Since you aren't above using cheese, I'd take the cloak of mirroring and load up on protection from magic scrolls and a protection from undead.

Then, as the objective is to beat the Rune, not conserve resources you might need later, I'd use protection from magic scrolls on everybody but the beholder and the warrior. I'd use the protection from Undead scroll on yourself when you first arrive in addition to all the buffing. Cloak of mirroring should protect you from the beholder's rays and you should take him down first with your normal missiles while waiting for everybody's mantle to wear off.

Save the undead for last, as they should ignore you with protection from undead and can kill them at will in melee.

Using the protection from magic scrolls ON THE ENEMY spellcasters will prevent them from casting while allowing you to use your few druid spells, potions, and items. Protectoin from undead should make the lich and the other undead ignore you while you take down their buddies. Then you can take them down without them fighting back.

 

Regarding level, if you solo, you should be able to reach the ToB xp-cap sometime not too far before the end of SoA.

The fight itself you would normally segment, in so far as to draw out only 1 or 2 opponents at a time. The first bit would normally be the hardest, but a scroll of Protection from Undead should protect you from the lich and the vampire, giving you a bit of time to deal with the fighter first. You could then take care of the lich and vampire at your leisure, while letting the Cloak of Mirroring take care of the beholder. The only problem here is that the vampire and lich will likely be running all over the place, which means that the human mage will probably spot you and start pelting you with spells. Maybe throw a few Arrows of Biting her way to interupt her spellcasting?

For gear, Arrows of Biting are very good, as are the Arrows of Dispelling. You may want to have something that protects from charm, as a charm = game over for a solo. You can always reload for that, however. Cloak of Mirroring has been mentioned already. Can a Ranger cast scrolls with True Seeing? If so, I'd definitely bring a couple along. Oh, and don't forget the Mace of Disruption +2 for taking down the lich and vampire quickly, although, on second thought, Azuredge would be safer, as you could (try to) kill them while staying out of visual range of the Beholder and human mage.

/edit
Just remembered this. You mention getting the bonuses from BG, but don't forget that you can also get another +1 to every stat from the machine of Lum the Mad, plus an extra +1 to your main stat (I think this is strength for a Ranger, but I could be wrong) from the deck of many things from the gambling Cambion Aesgareth at the end of level 3 on the Watcher's Keep.

 

Arrows of Biting's effect does not penetrate through Stoneskin.

Arrows of Dispelling can not hit an enemy protected from magical weapons (their enchantment level is 0 but they are still considered to be magical projectiles).

For the vanilla game Twisted Rune, I'd apply the following tactic:

Summon Simulacrum with ProUndead scrolls on quickslot. Activate one to protect your Simmy. Cast Farsight, centering the effect on the middle of the room Talk to Shangalar. Retreat immmediately to the staircase, and activate ProUndead scroll with your PC. Use your Simulacrum with whatever arrows you like to eliminate the Beholder - Beholders never attack simmies via their rays (bug of the vanilla game). Afterwards make your Simmy summon a Dancing Blade (Ras) and send it to engage Layene, while your Simmy and PC eliminate Ravanek quickly. Shoot at Layene. If she summons a Pit Fiend, kill it first. Layene will most probably focus all of her spells at Ras, which is 100% magic resistant. If she casts Death spell, summon a second Ras (this time PC) and send it against Layene. Her ProMW will expire, but you don't have to wait - use Dispel Magic to remove her protections quickly and kill her.

 

How? Rangers can't cast 4th level spells.

 

Errm sorry, got a little distracted on Farsight. Yes well even without it this strategy could work flawlessly.