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Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Tales of the Sword Coast | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | |
Nashkel | Xvart Village | Bear River | Fire Leaf Forest | Nashkel Mines | |
BEAR RIVER
I arrive here from the Xvart village and start off having to sit through some of Kivan's melancholy. I continue southwards, killing off Hobgoblin Elites and then Ogrillons with standard methods.
Further southward I go, and a man named Jared wants me to dispose of a bear that he's afraid of. On the other side of the bridge is the Mountain Bear. This fight can be dangerous, since the Bear is likely to reach me part way across the bridge. This means at most only 2 or 3 characters can reach the bear with melee attacks. I make sure that Khalid and Avastrian stand at the forefront. Kivan tries to get in a shot or two with his bow, and Imoen tries her Blindness spell, but I'm forced to do it the hard way. I end up repositioning Avastrian so that Kivan can reach the Bear with his Two-Handed Sword +1. Fortunately the Bear's attention is focused on Khalid, who's well protected, so I manage to outlast and kill it.
Jared will reward me with the Boots of the North (+50% cold resistance) if the character he speaks to has good enough Charisma. Thus Jaheira ends up doing the talking. She also wears the Boots for the rest of the game, more out thematic roleplaying than anything else.
Neville
I press on northwards now, fighting more Hobgoblin Elites, Gibberlings, and Ogrillons along the way.
Now I send Khalid on ahead. Neville soon comes into view and with the right dialogue option, so will his 5 Hobgoblin helpers. In vanilla BG1 they used to appear bunched together, so that they could all be rendered helpless with Sleep. This time they're much more spread out. Avastrian can catch at least 2 of them with Sleep. Beyond that the strategy is to have a party member on top of each Hobgoblin with the intention of forcing each Hobgoblin to either waste time retreating or to stop using its bow and draw its melee weapon (which will not be poisoned). If things go well, a party member should be able to kill his or her Hobgoblin one on one. That party member can then regroup with another party member to gang up on another Hobgoblin, and so on and so on until things become progressively easier. Neville is saved for last, and Imoen gets him with a Blindness spell.
Neville leaves behind a Dispel Magic scroll, which Imoen inscribes, and a Longsword +1. Avastrian, check.
Ogres and Hobgoblins at the Bridge
Here's the notorious fight at the Bridge involving 2 Ogre Berserkers and 3 Hobgoblin Elites. Again I have Khalid take the lead. Once the bridge is in sight, I have both Jaheira cast Entangle and Avastrian cast Sleep. Kivan takes his shots at the foremost Ogre Berserker, but it eventually manages to make its way towards me and past everything I've tried. So ... I lead it onwards and away from the others so that I can waste it by itself.
Khalid goes south again to bring the bridge back into view. Once the bridge is again in view Avastrian casts a second Sleep spell in order to make sure that as many Hobgoblin Elites as possible are knocked out. Kivan then comes forward and begins to wear down the remaining Ogre Berserker, who's caught in the Entangle. It does manage to break free, but by then it is severely weakened and soon killed. After that Kivan finishes off the Hobgoblin Elites one by one.
Laurel
Now I go west across the bridge. I soon find a Paladin named Laurel. Her quest for me is to help wipe out a horde of Gibberlings. In SCS the horde is far more numerous than in vanilla BG1. As soon as I speak to Laurel I begin to take position. Imoen backs herself right up against a nearby rock wall. The other party members position themselves very close and right in front of her. There are two points to this. One is that Imoen is the vulnerable party member here, so I make sure that the Gibberlings can't reach her. Second, I always want to keep a tight formation for this fight. The last thing I want is a party member to get isolated, surrounded by Gibberlings, and cut off from the rest of the party's support. I want to keep a tight formation so that party members can come to each other's aid. Thus I exercise a lot of manual control during the course of this fight to make sure that everyone sticks to together and is ready to help each other out. Avastrian unleashes a Sleep spell once all of the Gibberlings have more or less closed in, in order to minimize the risk. He casts it a second time once they start to wake up. By the time they wake up again their numbers are much reduced, making the remaining parts of the battle a simple mop up.
I then speak to Laurel for an xp bonus.
Fat Happy Ogre
I continue westwards, and there's an Ogre right next to a camp fire. I need only talk to it twice for it to want me for dessert. It's just one Ogre, so it's an easy enough fight for a party with 2nd to 3rd level characters.
Now I return to Nashkel to sell my booty. My next destination after that is the Fire Leaf Forest.
