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Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2018 15:25:31 GMT
Congrats!
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Post by Paradoom on Jan 22, 2018 21:34:37 GMT
I´ve just finished watching your heroic deed. UNBELIEAVABLE! Big congrats for your success!
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Post by Methes on Jan 22, 2018 21:41:58 GMT
Congratuations! Awesome work!
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Post by AuBricker on Jan 23, 2018 1:40:57 GMT
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Post by johannhowitzer on Jan 23, 2018 3:16:40 GMT
Thanks, everyone!
Already thinking of ways I can make it faster. Going to take a shot at skipping most of the Hell Forge, that would be 20-30 minutes.
Also, I don't know why I'm using orbs for the Balors. I'm fully fire immune for those kills, and they're not immune to level 6. Max IGMS plus Barrage would mean a fast, consistent kill. Or Evard too, I forget if they take damage from that.
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Post by Torin on Jan 23, 2018 7:08:17 GMT
Thanks, everyone! Already thinking of ways I can make it faster. Going to take a shot at skipping most of the Hell Forge, that would be 20-30 minutes. Also, I don't know why I'm using orbs for the Balors. I'm fully fire immune for those kills, and they're not immune to level 6. Max IGMS plus Barrage would mean a fast, consistent kill. Or Evard too, I forget if they take damage from that. I always had the feeling that the bridge takes longer than the first map and was surprised you did it the other way. When soloing the immo, I usually clear the first map and sneak in GS past all monsters on the bridge and only killing the 3-4 next to the end. Then killing the immo and log-out log-in to despawn the bridge for getting the tag.
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Post by johannhowitzer on Jan 23, 2018 18:44:54 GMT
Because on the first map, I can despawn immediately with a setup, and I won't despawn the boss in the process. But I think if I pay very close attention to my speedrun timer, I can set up a despawn right after the Immortal dies.
Another idea I had at work today; one of the problems in the run on Sunday was Razhid enemies not dying consistently enough to Sunburst. Looked at my specialization and if I can manage to remove Planar Binding from that area, I can go in there without Necromancy barred, add Eyebite to the build, and use it on single skeletons that make their save.
EDIT: Okay, the only time I need a summon decoy in Razhid is at the start to get past the bridge blockade, and I can use Pixie and Shelgarn for that. In the process of checking summon alignments (which matters since good aligned summons attract attention better), I also noticed Mordenkainen's Sword has some magical damage. I might try using that at Hel, can't remember whether they took magical damage from weapons. I know they don't take negative.
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Post by johannhowitzer on Jan 24, 2018 19:37:52 GMT
Saved the Twitch video as a highlight, here you go. The original video from the stream will be automatically deleted by Twitch soon, whoever posted the amulet on the wiki, you'll want to replace the video link on that page with this one. www.twitch.tv/videos/221941246Toying with the idea of Energy Draining some goblins north of town before grabbing Razhid, for the same reason as Grehnaxas. He resisted way more grapples than usual during the run. The issue here is that normally for the Razhid kill, Necromancy is a barred school. I need to be able to respec again later to boost Wail's chances for the Zerya killcount, so I need to bar something with ESF. Conjuration must be specced so I can Gate from town if the grabs fail. Evocation is the school of Bigby spells. That leaves Illusion, which I currently have GSF in the pre-reinc build. I can put ESF Illusion at level 24, which loses one point of DC at Zerya killcount in exchange for an easier Razhid grab. As Zerya took longer than expected to respawn, this may be a good trade. I may also consider moving some of the Zerya kills upstairs to floor 1, both to spare some Timestop cooldown time, and to avoid having to kill more Sekines. In fact, the upper floor is filled mostly with Kaitos, which have by far the lowest Fortitude of anything in that temple. Sekines have 31, Taros 30, Yukios 28, then Kaito Okami have 22 if male, 20 if female. I'll have to look at spawn composition on floor 1, the reason I haven't paid much attention to it is because the spawns downstairs are bigger and closer together. If it's only Kaitos, I may not even need Timestop, just Wail from range and GV.
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Post by johannhowitzer on Jan 25, 2018 10:21:05 GMT
Some early test results from the Hell Forge.
- From the north end of the map, the Balor, two Glabrezus, and possibly one Marilith are close enough to potentially join in the boss fight. Nothing else wanted to show up.
- Balors take ten Max IGMS to kill, at 11 damage per missile, this is just over 2000 HP. Barrage can help with this, but Barrage is also much better than IGMS against the Marilith. Either way, this only eats up half the duration of the Heart Stone, so it's safe and guaranteed. However, if I want to kill the Marilith, Emp IGMS are better on the Balor to free up 9 slots.
- The Glabrezus can be pulled together and should wind up next to each other, so Evard and Icestorms will wreck them very quickly.
- I know Mariliths don't take much from Evard, and they resist IGMS a bit, dulling the damage. Barrage breaks through the resistance nicely, and Greater Orb of Cold still works. If I Emp IGMS the Balor as mentioned above, I have Emp Orbs for the Marilith.
- There doesn't seem to be sufficient reason to bring a Frostwisp anymore. The beginning of the map is going to get annihilated with Epic Warding and Max Icestorm. At best, the Frostwisp is a way to potentially survive the Hezrou cloud via distraction, but I shouldn't need that if I plan correctly.
Now I just need to know the killcount. Killcount is 21 at most. That means I kill up to the first Marilith, then skip to the end.
Oh, forgot to mention, I have student teaching this morning, then when I get home I may be trying another speedrun.
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Post by johannhowitzer on Jan 25, 2018 17:38:45 GMT
Alright, eating lunch then a speedrun. Should be improved at Zhentarim, Razhid, and Blood Moor, and much shorter Hell Forge map. www.twitch.tv/johannhowitzer
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Post by Torin on Jan 26, 2018 14:25:30 GMT
Is that 10:54:09.8 in the second run? Boahaaa!!
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Post by johannhowitzer on Jan 26, 2018 18:52:02 GMT
Yes, new time as of last night is 10:54. We're under eleven hours now. That's more than what I would have accepted to submit for RPG Limit Break. So now I'm going to enjoy a bit of a break from this speedrun project! I might spend some time tidying up the charts of information I've collected, so I can eventually release it all to the HG players in sufficiently readable format. Also need to focus on my student teaching, and there are some other little things I want to do.
We'll know sometime in February whether Higher Ground will be in RPG Limit Break 2018. They haven't said specifically when in February. I'm going over my submission post just now, I'll post it here when it's done.
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Post by johannhowitzer on Jan 26, 2018 19:35:43 GMT
(Full RPG Limit Break submission post, link to video at the bottom.) Game Name: Neverwinter Nights 1 - Higher Ground: Path of Ascension System: PC Category: Immortal All Bosses Gameplay Estimate: 11 hours, 15 minutes Ending/Bonus Estimate: There is no ending cutscene, the final boss just explodes. Incentives: First Character gender and name, Second Character gender and name, Pixie Familiar name. Length of names is limited by size of the textbox, with a variable width font, so no exact number of letters or numbers, but it's long. I can possibly make some themed outfits and offer a bid war between them, for example a pirate outfit vs a ninja outfit; implementing these during the run wouldn't take long. Pros: This game is built on Dungeons and Dragons rules, so many viewers will be familiar with the mechanics. Despite D&D's famous dice rolls, this is very low-RNG thanks to many exploits. There's a lot of variety; I use the Wizard and Cleric classes, and make use of ninety-eight unique spells (https://pastebin.com/zYTz4Hcd), and the general theme of strategies changes often. This is about as good a representation of D&D in video game form as you will ever see in a speedrun. Fans of the franchise should greatly enjoy seeing how the run abuses the extreme power of these classes. This completion of the game through Immortality, killing all bosses on the way, should not be possible for a solo player. I've been routing this for nearly two years; it was not ready for submission last year, so I waited and looked for ways to improve consistency. There should now be next to zero risk of the run failing to complete, and the time is also consistent, so I should not be likely to go over estimate. I expect the time to improve a fair bit before the marathon, as well. This run is nearly all action - no cutscenes, just occasional resting, which is ten to thirty seconds every couple bosses. There are some early grinding sessions, but they're usually interesting and even funny; after about the two-hour mark, it becomes a relentless boss rush. The demands on the runner are steep; I can open menus without breaking up action, so a lot of time is spent doing more than one thing. I am in contact with the lead developers of this module (you can see them in the VOD's recorded chat - acaos, funkyswerv, and sabregirl007), and can ask them about doing a dev call at some point in the run. This module has a long, storied history and they've had to hack the game's engine in many ways to make their module's magic work, so I expect it would be a treat if they're up for it. Cons: Death carries steep penalties in this game. If I happen to die, it may mean killing a few enemies to regain some lost experience. In two endgame areas, death can mean being ejected from the area with no way to return, which would normally kill the run. I have several countermeasures - I pick up a couple auto-resurrection items, I have access to a very versatile teleport, and the DMs for this game will be on hand to make sure things go smoothly for the marathon; if the worst somehow happens, they would very likely be able to step in and ensure the run can be completed. Most areas carry no risk of death. This is an online-only game, so there will need to be an ethernet cable connection to the marathon's internet, and if that goes down, it could despawn an item or boss, or other problems. Again, any severe flukes could be dealt with by the DMs. I very much doubt we'll need their help, but it's a safety net you should know about. Installation is very involved. I'll need to install the game and its two expansions, a patch, and two community resource packs. I'll be preparing all of this well in advance, and it's an older game so installing each thing should be quick. As a last resort, I can use my laptop. While Neverwinter Nights and Dungeons and Dragons are well-known, the online "persistent worlds" (player-driven content) are not known to the wider public. Higher Ground may be the best-known, most advanced world out there, but most viewers aren't going to recognize it. This speedrun will need to ride on good commentary and the familiarity of D&D to be entertaining. Given how much is demanded of me by the game, I can't carry the commentary solo here. I've spoken with AlecK47, who I've worked with before for The Lost Vikings and Freedom Planet, and he seems interested in helping out and is well-versed in D&D rules. I'd like to get a second commentator as well, I have a few ideas of who would go well with this setup. Run Video: www.twitch.tv/videos/222606215
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Post by FunkySwerve on Jan 26, 2018 20:16:33 GMT
Hi Johann, as mentioned in chat yesterday we are happy to do a dev call. Funky
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Post by johannhowitzer on Feb 1, 2018 19:32:42 GMT
An aside while we wait to find out whether we're in RPG Limit Break... I've drawn up a build to use that Llolth-Touched book for. Poked around the build forum and wiki to get an idea of what people think is good building practice for the class. 26 Wizard / 13 Cleric / 1 Ranger, Sigil of Mystra artifact to reach CL60 DEX 10, CON 14, INT 18 (26), WIS 14 (18) at creation, all increases in INT Extend and Empower metamagics PSP (2 of these are free) PSF Conj, Illus, Necro, Trans LSF Div (ESF from book) Paragon of Polymathy Great INT 10 (2 of these are free) 63 in Animal Empathy, Concentration, Craft Armor, Craft Weapon, Discipline, Heal, Listen, Lore, Parry, Persuade, Search, Spellcraft (40 points are free), and 60 Tumble. Many of these are from Able Learner. By my count, 1038 skill points by taking Great INT feats as soon as possible; 20 remaining points dumped into Appraise for 10 ranks. Build gets full CL60 for buffs, max Orb/Evard AB, max DC on Weird, Wail, ED, FtS, Disintegrate, nearly max on PWK, gets +1 soak on Premo. Full Listen with C/C at LSF for good conceal break on touch spells. Contingency, Bigby Swarm, Death of Magic, Transmute Barrier, Starfire, and Karsus' Avatar. Plus, I can push myself through Immortal. I guess I'll be in the market for a temporal autocaster. Thoughts?
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