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CHAPTER 1 | CHAPTER 2 | CHAPTER 3 | CHAPTER 4 | CHAPTER 5 | CHAPTER 6 | CHAPTER 7 | CHAPTER 8 | CHAPTER 9 | CHAPTER 10 | |
BODHI
Jaheira Kidnapped
I take the opportunity to sell off my loot at the Copper Coronet (which I don't show), and then change Keldorn's setup a little bit. I have him equip the Sunray and the Holy Buckler of Amaunator together for an undead-specific expedition.
Now the party heads over to the Graveyard District. I have a brief dialogue with Bodhi. She kidnaps Jaheira, and then sends some Vampires against me. It's easily won after a double shot of Sunray.
*NOTE* If you're in a romantic relationship, remember to always pick up your lover's equipment. If you don't, it will disappear if enough days go by.
Now I make my way towards the new entrance to the crypt, as the old one is now blocked up. It is towards the northwest corner. Note that I go along the west side to avoid triggering the Wellyn's Bear quest. I then go towards the stairs on the north side. At the top will be a walkway that runs east-west. I have each character go west one at a time, and always hugging the south side of the walkway, until they reach the entrance to the crypts. The reason for this is to avoid triggering another quest before I'm ready to do it.
Eric Vanstraaten
I enter the catacombs, and kill the first few Vampires easily enough in physical combat. A Paladin named Eric Vanstraaten soon joins me.
Drizzt Joins
The party heads down the hallway to the left and then west. They then turn north. Drizzt and his friends will be locked in battle with a few Vampires. One thing to keep in mind is that there's plenty more Vampires at the end of the hallway leading east. As much as possible I want to avoid bringing those Vampires into this battle. One group at a time. As such, I take care to make sure I engage in up close combat with the Vampires on the west side of the room while avoiding giving chase to any of them towards the east side of the room. Azuredge would have came in handy should any of them have gone over to the east side.
Once that's done Avastrian uses an Elven Holy Water to corrupt the pool in the room, and thus weaken Bodhi. Note that it was possible to upgrade the Daystar under the Item Upgrade Mod, which would also have required 2 Star Sapphires, 4 Scrolls of Protection from Undead, 2 Vials of Elven Holy Water, and 15,000gp to create the Daystar +4 (+8 vs. evil creatures, double damage vs. undead, Protection from Evil while equipped, Sunray 2/day). But Bodhi is a pretty tough fight in SCS, so I prefer to use the Holy Waters to weaken her.
Arkanis Gath
Now Imoen uses Incendiary Cloud on the Vampires to the east, and then goes invisible with her Staff. Some of the Vampires are killed outright, others come west to attack me and get killed, and others come near me but go into hiding. Keldorn reveals the latter with True Seeing, enabling me to finish them off.
Now I rush to the room to the east. Where there's a few more Vampires who will be in combat with Shadow Thieves led by Arkanis Gath. This is the reason I took the route that I did. If I went straight to the large room after Eric Vanstraaten joined, the Shadow Thieves would have been in trouble. But after having gone a loop to the west, and taken out the large group of Vampires northwest of the table, there are fewer Vampires when the Shadow Thieves arrive.
Note also how Imoen renders Tanova vulnerable with a Remove Magic spell. The comparison between Dispel Magic and Remove Magic is situational. Keldorn's Dispel Magic is stronger, but must be used upon enemies at a distance if you wish to avoid bringing down your own buffs and enchantments. Remove Magic is more suitable if you want to bring down the buffs of enemies who are locked in up close combat with your own party members, while allowing your own buffs to remain in place.
Hareishan, Meredrath, and Tanova must all be killed permanently before the stairs leading down will open. Avastrian takes some Wooden Stakes, and then stakes the three coffins to the southwest.
Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise
The stairs down to the next level are within view. But first I want to head down the tunnel just a little south of the stairs. At the other end is a Vampire Guard who can cast arcane spells. Avastrian uses Spell Immunity: Abjuration beforehand. This allows Keldorn to bring down the Guard's protections with a Dispel Magic.
There will be many Vampiric Mists in the large room to the east. The room itself is filled with spike traps that can cause a lot of damage. Avastrian, however, will enjoy immunity to them while his Stoneskin is in place. He teases forward and leads the Mists back to the party.
The pool in the middle will have Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise (+1 THAC0, +2 damage). These will be Avastrian's gloves for the rest of the game.
Now the party heads back down the stairs. Imoen races ahead, and racks up some xp for disarming the traps ahead of Arkanis Gath.
Bodhi's Final Defeat
Now it's time for the big fight against Bodhi. She'll have a LOT of help, including a lot of Vampires, a lot of Grimward Archers, a couple of Vampire Mages, Artemis Entreri, and Jaheira as a Vampire.
First, I reconfigure Imoen's spells with this battle specifically in mind. I have her memorize two instances of Horrid Wilting, with a view towards including them in a Time Stop sequence. Secondly, I have her change all of her 6th level spells to Protection from Magic Energy. The reason for this is that one of Bodhi's powers is an ability that resembles Horrid Wilting, and inflicts an awful lot of damage.
I rest up, and then make the following preparations:
Meanwhile, Imoen immediately casts Project Image. The marvellous advantage of a Project Image is that it will have all of the memorized spells of the caster, as well as all of the Spell Triggers or Sequencers the caster had at the time of the casting. The Image immediately casts Time Stop. Now, I need to digress a little here. Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting is a great way to start a Time Stop sequence, but a less than optimal way to finish it. The reason is that the Time Stop will wear off before the casting of Horrid Wilting has finished, even with the Robe of Vecna. So, the Image casts a sequence of Horrid Wilting, another Horrid Wilting, and then unleashing Imoen's Spell Trigger of Chain Lightning + Chaos + Greater Malison. This suffices to obliterate most of Bodhi's help outright. And Imoen still has her own spells and Spell Trigger in case they're needed.
Avastrian immediately thereafter summons a Simulacrum through his Vhailor's Helm. The Simulacrum immediately begins using one of its spammed Time Stop scrolls. Meanwhile, the Vampire Mages are still alive but barely. So Keldorn rushes forward and hits them with a Dispel Magic. The timing works out perfectly, as the Simulacrum finishes the casting of Time Stop while the Vampire Mages have no protections. He thus grabs the opportunity to finish them off.
He then uses another spammed Time Stop Scroll. He switches over to the Flail of Ages in order to starting wailing on Bodhi and slowing her down. Bodhi has 'two lives' so to speak, and this sequence has taken away her first one.
Once Bodhi's first life is gone, Anomen and Keldorn rush forward and immediately begin attacking Bodhi. They wear her down, and Anomen eventually manages to land the killing blow on her. Avastrian had been knocked out by one of Bodhi's powers that resembled the Greater Command spell. Also note that I kept Minsc well back, as he had no protection against level-draining, and Bodhi can drain 5 levels with each claw attack.
Once the dust settles, Avastrian loots Artemis Entreri's body for a Leather Armor +3, a Shortsword +2, and a +4 dagger that can drain levels. He also picks up Jaheira's body with the intention of reviving her.
Imoen disarms a trapped chest in the small room to the left. It has some books that are supposed to explain how to reverse Vampirism, but I'll get to reviving Jaheira soon enough anyway.
Avastrian now loots Bodhi's coffin to the northeast for the Cutthroat +4 (+4 Shortsword), and spell scrolls for both Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting and Symbol: Fear.
He then drives a stake into Bodhi's heart to kill her permanently. Everybody in the party gets two xp bonuses of 45,000 and 55,000. Avastrian now also has Bodhi's Black Heart and the Rhynn Lanthorn in his inventory.
*Evil* Bodhi's Final Defeat
With the evil party it is a little different. Jan litters the hallway with traps for any oncoming adversaries. Edwin uses the Project Image exploit to summon a pair of Fallen Planetars. Asteroth runs forward and uses the Holy Water on the large blood pool, and then runs back. The Fallen Planetars will get killed if Bodhi's support isn't taken out. Edwin casts Time Stop in order to unleash a double shot of Horrid Wilting, as well as the triple Skull Trap Spell Sequencer in order to obliterate Bodhi's minions. This leaves Bodhi by herself, who soon finds herself cut down by the two Fallen Planetars.
Asteroth subsequently revives Viconia in the Ruined Temple.
Reviving Jaheira
I intend to revive Jaheira, but I have a digression to take care of. I head towards Trademeet, and get interrupted by a few Rakshasa. Remember, Rakshasa are immune to spells below 8th level. But now Imoen can just blow them away with a Horrid Wilting.
My reason for going to Trademeet is that there's a red tent in the southeast corner. I buy a scroll of Improved Haste from the merchant. The scroll will be used in an item upgrade that's available only in Throne of Bhaal.
I continue onto the Temple Ruins. Avastrian makes his way to an altar of Amaunator, across from the tiles. He places both Jaheira's body and Bodhi's Black Heart in the altar in order to revive Jaheira. He then re-equips Jaheira with everything he had kept in the Bag of Holding.
Now it's time for me to more fully explore the Graveyard District.
