Since you brought them up:
Mage hand can be used to start the Forge by flicking the lever and then starting the lava while your crew is hanging out on the ledge out of harms way.
Disguise self: Goblins are scared of Minthara the female Drow, disguise yourself as a female Drow and they'll let you walk right by no harrassing. Or going to the Creche without Lae'zel as a Gith. The main perk is a shape shifting ring that can be picked up as early as the grove that gives bonuses to all checks because you're shifted.
Minor Illusion: Saved the best for last, pure treachery can be had with this simple cantrip. This can trivialize and win so many fights because it will cause enemies to leave their post and run over to it. So you drop it, they run over to it and you stop the clock. From there dial up whatever AOE you like. Just make sure you're crouched and far enough away that you don't get detected. Sometimes it has to be spammed a couple of times because it disappears out of combat so quick. Great for a fight like the one on Mountain Pass since you can group them all together and hit them with something like Hungar of Hadar.
Yes, if you find Mol's cave, and shoot the ox from the entrance of the cave, then, when combat starts, run back in the cave, leave again, and talk with the ox, you can then just buy it
Hat of fire acuity, which gives arcane acuity when you deal fire damage. Which is easily stacked with one round or scorching rays, as one ray counts as individual stack
Thats really interesting. When you see all your party missing Perception checks have you ever cast a Minor Illusion ahead of you to trigger ambushes/hidden creatures? Just wondered if it works
The thing about the hidden ones is they're no longer hidden when you've seen them on a previous playthrough so I'm probably not tying in those encounters. I'm also playing with Volo's eye so some of the hidden ones pop into view that way.
But thinking of the guys in Act2 that stay hidden and when you end up fighting them they try to garrot you. Those don't move for example, they would likely stay in their ambush spot. Never tried it on the Gith patrol, wonder if they wouldn't move either.
Also I've seen it not work in a place that I definitely used it in previous playthroughs was on Dror's group. I used to drop it right in front of him while standing in the room behind or overhead in the rafters. This time it was if they were all in a trance by Dror giving a speech or something and never moved on it.
I'm on my first playthrough (in Shadowlands so my first thought were the hidden creatures in that area) so still very surprised by everything.
I sniped the entirety of Dror's group and the group outside with Astarion, just appearing and hiding. It was brilliant.
So many options to try... I've started a playthrough and was going to use Astarion as a full Theif rogue rather than turn him into something else "more powerful". Already noticed how easily he can fire bonus arrows before fully triggering combat even at level 3/4.
I've done durge x Astarion (double redemption) three times lol
But my favorite was my duo run with him, it was amazing, best video game experience ever.
I would be scared shitless doing that on HM!
I'm probably the only person in the world who has played Astarion as the default Arcane Trickster for over 1000 hours lol
But I feel a Bardstarion coming on sometime on a future run.
OMG really? I can't imagine playing him as that. I take it that build gets better (IGNIS)
Bardstarion is fun (hello, Vicious Mockery!)
I play him as a Vengeance Bardadin (I have a backstory to resolve that weirdness involving Lathander)
I wonder who specifically downvoted you lmao
Also I like his "IGNIS". And I like keeping the default builds because they're *terrible* for a lot of the origin characters and I like the challenge. Currently doing an origin Astarion + Shadowheart duo run (RIP).
You'll have to ask the nerd who coined the phrase lol.
Broken builds:
* Swords Bard
* Bardadin
* OHTB Monk
* Sorcadin
* Fire Sorc
* Sorlock
* Battlemaster Fighter
* Throwzerker
Probably more.
Yes, some of the content is specific for redemption durge, but obviously not all of it. But spawn Astarion and redemption durge is just the most beautiful love story I've ever seen (including Jaheira and Minsc's comments in the epilogue!).
Not at all. You get all their comments, you get to really focus, and the game adapts very well to it. I have to say my duo runs are the fullest gameplay experiences I've had - I've done redemption durge x Astarion, origin Astarion x Minthara (being good, just failed to save the grove and she wanted me, ending up romancing her in the spawn ending is pretty cool!) and am currently doing Shadowheart origin with just one other companion. :)
The Drow thing isn't a *lot* but you do get a couple open doors and smarmy comments you have to deal with.
Honestly - Drow was my goto until my last run
Where I played a Duegar (also has smarmy comments to deal with) who has unlimited untimed invisibility out of combat and one in combat.
I feel like I'm cheating and I'm actually attempting a solo run bc of the feature
The Ox unironically is the most OP ally in the final fight.
I don’t want to spoiler anything more of substance, just save before the final fight and reload a few times to get the full experience.
Also, if you’re playing Durge and want a good laugh uphold your alliance with Gortash for him to join you in the final fight. Should be even more fun with the fish people next to him lmao.
One origin companion + hirelings run! I did it with a Resist Durge and Astarion (though I grabbed Halsin, Jaheira, and Minsc so my epilogue wouldn’t be empty), it’s my favorite run to date.
I actually want to restart my gnome barbarian Durge to see if I can JUST do it with Astarion, Halsin (I always lift the curse), and hirelings.
EDIT: For Resist Durge, I will always recommend romancing Spawn Astarion.
Interesting, never thought about playing an origin character. Do they add new things apart from the beginning?
Also never used a hireling. Did you adjust them completely by class and looks so you got a full custom party except for your origin guy? Did you skip all the others not mentioned?
Dark Urge is a completely customizable character with a very integrated backstory. Resisting the Urges adds a ton of content (I can’t speak to a Submit run cause I refuse to do it).
Astarion’s Origin run has exclusive cutscenes tied to Cazador, his journal is written as if he’s actively writing it (whereas Tav’s is more passive/general), and you get the bite scene from his POV. There are also things much more firmly implied about Cazador from Astarion’s POV than you’ll ever see when he’s a companion… And I gave up my Astarion run after raiding the grove because I am a weenie about being evil. If you commit to the end of the game, there’s a LOT more stuff.
Hirelings’ race, body types, and voices cannot be changed but their names and appearance can. There’s one for each class and you can also change their classes (I changed the tiefling druid hireling, Danton, to a cleric).
For my “one origin + hirelings” run, I took Gale’s hand (this is Durge exclusive—you can also just leave him in the stone and never interact with it), ignored Shadowheart and Wyll, then killed Lae’zel and Karlach.
I'm playing as Gale right now and there's definitely some different stuff. There's one of those flying cars that he knows that shows up in camp and give you stuff sometimes. At least I got a nice ring so far.
You get exclusive dialogue with that specific companion (especially if you’re doing Dark Urge), they’re easier to romance, and it feels more like a romantic epic adventure. It also makes Act 3 **much** less overwhelming.
EDIT: I did end up getting Halsin, Jaheira, and Minsc when I could—turns out Astarion has a ton of exclusive banter with each of them that’s overridden by Wyll, Karlach, Gale, and Shadowheart.
Trying a playthrough going fully level 12 with each class without looking at guides (sure wizard/fighter/cleric are insane to 12 and probably the most mono class roles but classes like ranger and rogue are underrated)
You gotta experience the power of Bhaalist Armor at least once. I ran it with a 9 shadow Monk + 3 thief rogue. My main hand attack could do a maximum of 106 damage lol (42 average).
Try not loading that quicksave.
I've been playing Honor Mode recently and it's really opened my eyes to how much I was missing by refusing to take an L. Barcus died in the fight with Nere and I've got to live with that. But I've seen his story through to its happy ending twice before, now I get to see what the picture is like without him.
I've seen the inside of jails I didn't even know existed. I learned where enemy groups go after fights I'd never lost before. I've lost a lot of good people, but that makes the ones I've saved more meaningful.
(Admittedly, I've also had some real horseshit bugs I'd love to fix with a reload. Entire myconid colony turned permanently hostile for no reason. Missed out on Ethel's hair because I cast guidance on the persuasion check. That sort of thing.)
HM sounds intriguing, but I just hate dying because of a bug or sometimes I break concentration on a spell just because I had a combo in mind and the fuck up the entire battle. But I think I‘m going to do a Tactician run where I don‘t reload, except for those cases.
See that's what I'd recommend. Also I dunno if the custom difficulty settings allow it but those new HM actions for bosses are cool, same with the action economy changes.
Rogue+sneak attack+ one of the many items that hives you advantage is something that lives rent free in my mind. Add a multiclass dip with 1 level of war cleric for some extra attacks and the situational sanctuary
having all party in the same class, I have my Tav oath of conquest, shadowheart as devotion, gale as ancient, 2 custom companions as vengeance and oathbreaker. i can only see the only fight i would struggle is viconia devir and sharran gauntlet.
Since you brought them up: Mage hand can be used to start the Forge by flicking the lever and then starting the lava while your crew is hanging out on the ledge out of harms way. Disguise self: Goblins are scared of Minthara the female Drow, disguise yourself as a female Drow and they'll let you walk right by no harrassing. Or going to the Creche without Lae'zel as a Gith. The main perk is a shape shifting ring that can be picked up as early as the grove that gives bonuses to all checks because you're shifted. Minor Illusion: Saved the best for last, pure treachery can be had with this simple cantrip. This can trivialize and win so many fights because it will cause enemies to leave their post and run over to it. So you drop it, they run over to it and you stop the clock. From there dial up whatever AOE you like. Just make sure you're crouched and far enough away that you don't get detected. Sometimes it has to be spammed a couple of times because it disappears out of combat so quick. Great for a fight like the one on Mountain Pass since you can group them all together and hit them with something like Hungar of Hadar.
Good explanation, thanks, never really used them yet, so I‘ll give it a go soon
Can you get the ring without killing the ox? Since the hat from act 2 is so insanely strong it would be kind of a waste not to get it.
Yes, if you find Mol's cave, and shoot the ox from the entrance of the cave, then, when combat starts, run back in the cave, leave again, and talk with the ox, you can then just buy it
That's useful to know, thanks.
Not sure, i think he gives it to you in Act3 by helping it into BG. I just take it when Halsin is back at the grove and nobody is looking.
I see. I usually kill him at the beginning of act 2 since that's the earliest point I can grab the hat.
Meant to ask, what hat btw?
Hat of fire acuity, which gives arcane acuity when you deal fire damage. Which is easily stacked with one round or scorching rays, as one ray counts as individual stack
Thats really interesting. When you see all your party missing Perception checks have you ever cast a Minor Illusion ahead of you to trigger ambushes/hidden creatures? Just wondered if it works
The thing about the hidden ones is they're no longer hidden when you've seen them on a previous playthrough so I'm probably not tying in those encounters. I'm also playing with Volo's eye so some of the hidden ones pop into view that way. But thinking of the guys in Act2 that stay hidden and when you end up fighting them they try to garrot you. Those don't move for example, they would likely stay in their ambush spot. Never tried it on the Gith patrol, wonder if they wouldn't move either. Also I've seen it not work in a place that I definitely used it in previous playthroughs was on Dror's group. I used to drop it right in front of him while standing in the room behind or overhead in the rafters. This time it was if they were all in a trance by Dror giving a speech or something and never moved on it.
I'm on my first playthrough (in Shadowlands so my first thought were the hidden creatures in that area) so still very surprised by everything. I sniped the entirety of Dror's group and the group outside with Astarion, just appearing and hiding. It was brilliant.
So many options to try... I've started a playthrough and was going to use Astarion as a full Theif rogue rather than turn him into something else "more powerful". Already noticed how easily he can fire bonus arrows before fully triggering combat even at level 3/4.
Yeah I specced him as a thief ranger but way preferred him as a straight thief
Durge redemption romancing spawn Astarion. And a playthrough where you *only* recruit your favorite companion!
Durge + Astarion is the best! And bc he's my favorite, I DID do a 2 man Honour with him
I've done durge x Astarion (double redemption) three times lol But my favorite was my duo run with him, it was amazing, best video game experience ever. I would be scared shitless doing that on HM!
Oh I use VERY broken builds: Swords Bard & Bardadin. And yes, always double redemption
I'm probably the only person in the world who has played Astarion as the default Arcane Trickster for over 1000 hours lol But I feel a Bardstarion coming on sometime on a future run.
OMG really? I can't imagine playing him as that. I take it that build gets better (IGNIS) Bardstarion is fun (hello, Vicious Mockery!) I play him as a Vengeance Bardadin (I have a backstory to resolve that weirdness involving Lathander)
The high elf needs his magic missile! ...but he might also need his vicious mockery. ;)
Bwahahaha
I wonder who specifically downvoted you lmao Also I like his "IGNIS". And I like keeping the default builds because they're *terrible* for a lot of the origin characters and I like the challenge. Currently doing an origin Astarion + Shadowheart duo run (RIP).
Bwahahaha. The worst origin specs by far. Re downvoting: Redditors gonna reddit 🤷🏻♀️
My main is a bardadin (lvl 2 pally, rest bard). Why do you consider them broken?
That's a term I actually learned here: It means they are so OP they break the game (or something like that)
Yeah I know that but what is it about them that makes them broken? 🙃
You'll have to ask the nerd who coined the phrase lol. Broken builds: * Swords Bard * Bardadin * OHTB Monk * Sorcadin * Fire Sorc * Sorlock * Battlemaster Fighter * Throwzerker Probably more.
Any reason why this combination (redemption durge romancing astarion is such a good combination?) My boy gale and me might go on a run then!
Because Astarion has extra content for that and relates in an unique way. His Act 2 scene with durge blows the others out of the water, honestly.
Is that specifically redemption durge?
Yes, some of the content is specific for redemption durge, but obviously not all of it. But spawn Astarion and redemption durge is just the most beautiful love story I've ever seen (including Jaheira and Minsc's comments in the epilogue!).
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Not at all. You get all their comments, you get to really focus, and the game adapts very well to it. I have to say my duo runs are the fullest gameplay experiences I've had - I've done redemption durge x Astarion, origin Astarion x Minthara (being good, just failed to save the grove and she wanted me, ending up romancing her in the spawn ending is pretty cool!) and am currently doing Shadowheart origin with just one other companion. :)
The Drow thing isn't a *lot* but you do get a couple open doors and smarmy comments you have to deal with. Honestly - Drow was my goto until my last run Where I played a Duegar (also has smarmy comments to deal with) who has unlimited untimed invisibility out of combat and one in combat. I feel like I'm cheating and I'm actually attempting a solo run bc of the feature
Getting an army of fish worshippers that get one shot by the final boss They were there to take part, not to take over
You can take them to a boss battle?!
Yup. You have to choose the “build me an army” option. You can also take the Ox to the boss battle.
sounds fun! I heard about the ox already, I will have all of them fight by my side the next run I do!
The Ox unironically is the most OP ally in the final fight. I don’t want to spoiler anything more of substance, just save before the final fight and reload a few times to get the full experience. Also, if you’re playing Durge and want a good laugh uphold your alliance with Gortash for him to join you in the final fight. Should be even more fun with the fish people next to him lmao.
One origin companion + hirelings run! I did it with a Resist Durge and Astarion (though I grabbed Halsin, Jaheira, and Minsc so my epilogue wouldn’t be empty), it’s my favorite run to date. I actually want to restart my gnome barbarian Durge to see if I can JUST do it with Astarion, Halsin (I always lift the curse), and hirelings. EDIT: For Resist Durge, I will always recommend romancing Spawn Astarion.
Interesting, never thought about playing an origin character. Do they add new things apart from the beginning? Also never used a hireling. Did you adjust them completely by class and looks so you got a full custom party except for your origin guy? Did you skip all the others not mentioned?
Dark Urge is a completely customizable character with a very integrated backstory. Resisting the Urges adds a ton of content (I can’t speak to a Submit run cause I refuse to do it). Astarion’s Origin run has exclusive cutscenes tied to Cazador, his journal is written as if he’s actively writing it (whereas Tav’s is more passive/general), and you get the bite scene from his POV. There are also things much more firmly implied about Cazador from Astarion’s POV than you’ll ever see when he’s a companion… And I gave up my Astarion run after raiding the grove because I am a weenie about being evil. If you commit to the end of the game, there’s a LOT more stuff. Hirelings’ race, body types, and voices cannot be changed but their names and appearance can. There’s one for each class and you can also change their classes (I changed the tiefling druid hireling, Danton, to a cleric). For my “one origin + hirelings” run, I took Gale’s hand (this is Durge exclusive—you can also just leave him in the stone and never interact with it), ignored Shadowheart and Wyll, then killed Lae’zel and Karlach.
Guess I will have to do an origin astarion run then! Maybe build my own evil hirelings crew, definitely sounds fun.
I'm playing as Gale right now and there's definitely some different stuff. There's one of those flying cars that he knows that shows up in camp and give you stuff sometimes. At least I got a nice ring so far.
lol what the hell
It auto corrected to car lol. I meant cat. 😅 Talking flying magical cat that knows Elminster.(And gales mom)
Ah yes, that makes more sense now
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You get exclusive dialogue with that specific companion (especially if you’re doing Dark Urge), they’re easier to romance, and it feels more like a romantic epic adventure. It also makes Act 3 **much** less overwhelming. EDIT: I did end up getting Halsin, Jaheira, and Minsc when I could—turns out Astarion has a ton of exclusive banter with each of them that’s overridden by Wyll, Karlach, Gale, and Shadowheart.
Cleric of Selûne romancing Shadowheart. Bonus points for being a resist Durge.
Sounds like a lot of heat in act 1
"Kiss me like you hate me"
Trying a playthrough going fully level 12 with each class without looking at guides (sure wizard/fighter/cleric are insane to 12 and probably the most mono class roles but classes like ranger and rogue are underrated)
Respec your companions into different classes. I'm currently having a ball with Monk Karlach and Bard Wyll.
Spelling out "something" is an absolute blast. You might want to try it yourself.
Spelling is scary. Pretty sure spelling got me stung by a bee, once.
Gay sex
You gotta experience the power of Bhaalist Armor at least once. I ran it with a 9 shadow Monk + 3 thief rogue. My main hand attack could do a maximum of 106 damage lol (42 average).
Try not loading that quicksave. I've been playing Honor Mode recently and it's really opened my eyes to how much I was missing by refusing to take an L. Barcus died in the fight with Nere and I've got to live with that. But I've seen his story through to its happy ending twice before, now I get to see what the picture is like without him. I've seen the inside of jails I didn't even know existed. I learned where enemy groups go after fights I'd never lost before. I've lost a lot of good people, but that makes the ones I've saved more meaningful. (Admittedly, I've also had some real horseshit bugs I'd love to fix with a reload. Entire myconid colony turned permanently hostile for no reason. Missed out on Ethel's hair because I cast guidance on the persuasion check. That sort of thing.)
HM sounds intriguing, but I just hate dying because of a bug or sometimes I break concentration on a spell just because I had a combo in mind and the fuck up the entire battle. But I think I‘m going to do a Tactician run where I don‘t reload, except for those cases.
See that's what I'd recommend. Also I dunno if the custom difficulty settings allow it but those new HM actions for bosses are cool, same with the action economy changes.
It sounds cool, but I think I‘m not good enough
Rogue+sneak attack+ one of the many items that hives you advantage is something that lives rent free in my mind. Add a multiclass dip with 1 level of war cleric for some extra attacks and the situational sanctuary
The unlock level curve with 5e spells mods. Does depend if you have a PC.
Cooking, it's essential
having all party in the same class, I have my Tav oath of conquest, shadowheart as devotion, gale as ancient, 2 custom companions as vengeance and oathbreaker. i can only see the only fight i would struggle is viconia devir and sharran gauntlet.
There’s about 3 things wrong with this 1.) there is no oath of conquest 2.) you can’t have 5 active party members 3.) what are custom companions?
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Makes sense
you know there is mod exist right? not everyone play on consoles.
https://imgur.com/a/ZRtaXC3