Just some friendly advise to hopefully make your life a little easier: It usually doesn't pay to counterspell everything, especially with high spell slots. If you counter a cantrip with a lvl. 4 spellslot, it is a massive waste of ressources and damage/utility potential. It's usually better to take the little bit of damage (unless you are low on health), restore it later with potions or low-lvl. spell slots and use your high-lvl. spell slots with good spells. Also, to my understanding, counterspell automatically counters everything of lower or even spell lvl., while only requiring an intelligence check for higher spell lvl. than it's own. So it makes sense to use the lowest spell slot lvl. possible to counter a spell (f.e. for anything from cantrip to lvl. 3 a lvl. 3 spell slot is enough to counter it). If you have the ressources or the fight is short, then it's of course an entirely valid strategy to counterspell everything.
18:55 Nothing to worry about, pretty sure Us doesn't consider all the other intellect devourers its family anymore, after all it was locked up to begin with because it's the little kitty dancing to your tune rather than the Absolute's that Chop was talking about.
It’s funny to see that Welonz is steamrolling most fights in the tactician difficulty after 80 episodes, yet still insisting Gale to use a crossbow instead of a cantrip. 😅
Also Aylin: Fights Ketheric alongside only summons while everybody else stands back and regroups. Probably had something to do with that passing out part :).
@@eljoe6281 For real, it's funny to see how many people miss the fact that if she is attacked by Apostle or being Dominated by the totally ignored Mind Flayer then it means no one from the party is attacked by them :)
@45:38 you get trails of invisible and stealthed people because it shows there area where the enemy may investigate to try and find them. Since its their last known area.
Yeah, which makes it kind of funny that Welonz only ever turns characters invisible after moving them, so they're always stood exactly where the enemy last saw them.
Welonz, you can upcast spells, for example even though fireball is level 3, you can cast it with a level 4 slot, same with spirit guardians. They do more damage. So you shouldn't waste higher spell slots on counter spell.
Shadowheart got last hits in both phases of this boss fight with guiding bolt. She and Wellonz are the power couple, I guess. Wellenz worn them down and SH finished them.
There's no fear quite like the sinking realisation that you've just personally angered the God of Death. Funny thing is, the Symbol of the cult is actually a combination of those that represent the Dead Three, the fist is Bane's black hand, the Skull is a part of Bhaal's, and the triangle is on Myrkul's. The true masters of the cult were right in front of us all along.
The decision to regroup and gather your mind and forces when the avatar of Myrkul appeared was clever, great job once again. Just a side note for further use : spellcasters can use scrolls when they're out of spell slots, so hitting fast and hard is always a winning technique in major fights.
If you let Gale use the orb you actually get an alternative ending here with credits etc. Would be cool if you checked it out (either now or maybe in your "all endings" stuff that you usually do)
My promt with tav as a wizard was quite different it pretty much told me to "use the orb now!" and of c. I did thinking that I'm supposed to do it like that with predictable results.
Seeing Myrkul for the first time might be one of the most memorable parts of this game, fantastic intro. Anyway, pretty ballsy to not use any potions or buffs.
First playthrough, playing on tactician this fight was a pain in the ass. And I was full of camp buffs. You did it with almost no buffs and no elixirs, well done.
@@Khornelia I think it just makes sense. You'r illithid powers, ilithid rolls. A mind flayer is an illitid, elder brain is too and etc. These are names given by other races, since these illitids are as alien ad they can be and only communicate in speech for us.
I dont know what other people are doing later on in this game if this boss is considered hard.. pretty much every single fight/gauntlet in act3 gave me more trouble than ketheric.
In regards to Shadowheart's patron goddess -- in an previous part there was a line you didn't notice about how (paraphrasing from memory) "It would break her if she acknowledged who empowered her spells now". The idea is that Selune picked up what Shar discarded: It's Selune who empowers Shadowheart now, not Shar. Many people go for a respec of Shadowheart into the Life or Light domains at around this point.
Act 2 complete! Now forth we go to the next one! That fight was the first to wipe my party the first time I got to it. I had to really plan around everything the second time to pull it off, good job on getting past it!
Congrats on beating Myrkul on your first try on tactician! That is really impressive. Way to go Welonz! Act 3 has a lot to do, should be a lot of fun and interesting to see what you think.
In the Lords of Madness sourcebook, it's suggested that the Mind Flayers come from the distant future, where they ruled the entire Multiverse. An unknown threat/disaster forced their remnants to time travel back to the past. So their "grand design" isn't to reclaim some empire they had in the past, but to create the future they know is inevitable.
You might have noticed, but Gale's Magic Missiles actually synergises extremely well with the Reverberation and Lightning Charge gear you've given him. Every missile counts as a separate hit, so whereas a spell like Fireball would get +1 lightning damage from having a lightning charge, Magic Missiles will get +1 for each missile and give an additional stack for each hit, meaning you get to 5 and get the 1d6 extra damage much faster. Similarly, it adds stacks of Reverberation for each missile whereas something like Fireball would only hit once. If you stack items with Radiant Orb on top of it as well you can spread out Reverberation (to potentially knock foes prone) and Radiant Orbs (to reduce their chance to hit) across a bunch of different enemies and since Magic Missile can't miss the whole setup is extremely reliable. There's a necklace from Blurg (Omeluum's buddy) that adds an additional missile to your Magic Missile casts that adds even more fun to the combo.
The difference between Illithid and Mind Flayer is kinda like the difference between Drow and Dark Elf. I'm not sure if you misunderstood, but that wasn't exactly a God. Just an Avatar, way weaker than the God itself. Still no mean feat.
Two quick things, I think you missed the conversation with Us before you broke them out of the cage, they had some dialogue as to their current thoughts and what happened to them and their feelings on the other intellect devourers/elder brain. Though you can still summon them and ask them questions about this iirc. Love my brain puppy :D Also, not to downplay your achievement in killing the apostle of Myrkul, but it wasn't a god you killed unfortunately, that'd be uh- well pretty much impossible, especially for a group of level 10s. It was an avatar of Myrkul that was using Ketheric as a conduit of this power. Likely because Ketheric was specifically a chosen of his. Permanently killing a god in this setting is extremely hard, Bhaal being dead was a big part of BG1 and BG2, but he came back after a convoluted ritual thing. If pretty much even one person still worships and thinks about a god, dead or not, some part of them is still alive.
as far as I understand myrkul could just sneeze at wellens' party and they would die. especially at level 10. but him directly intervening through an avatar is still a big thing and very rare in this universe. and defeating that a huge feat. not a dnd expert but thats how i understand it
@@emmalight99 For sure, it was a huge achievement, and slapped down Myrkul pretty badly. The dead three are constantly scheming, executing evil plot, and then being slapped down, but they never do quit. I wish AO (the ultimate over-god) or some other good gods would do some of the slapping sometimes.
18:26 Can we please hear Goblinwelonz? 32:00 I was promised a handsome younger man 😭😭 Jason Isaac's voice is 10/10 though. 56:54 ☝🤓 the Absolute symbol is a combination of the Dead Three's symbols: the hand of Bane, the skull of Bhaal, and the triangle of Myrkul.
The symbol of the Absolute isn't just the symbol of Myrkul, it's of each of the Dead Three's symbols combined (hand for Bane, bloody skull for Bhaal, skull in triangle for Myrkul). The Chosen really did a poor job of hiding their connection to the Dead Three (not to mention all the notes that you can pick up that explicitly mention it). It's also worth mentioning that the Apostle of Myrkul isn't Myrkul himself, he just empowered Ketheric as his avatar. 6:30 Illthid and Mind Flayer are just two different terms for the same thing. Omellum is an Illithid/Mind Flayer, just a renegade one. 16:30 Gale's Ray of Frost cantrip is a better ranged attack for him than a crossbow, and it doesn't consume a spell slot. 25:21 Shadowheart is still a cleric, after leaving the Shadowfell the Narrator mentions that her divine magic is coming from another source now.
Yeah, I really had to rack my brain too for that puzzle. At first, it looks like a no-brainer but I had to pick someone's brain to help me with it. I guess I'm all brawn and no brains in the end.
"That's the Absolute's symbol on his head" (Myrkul's avatar) Actuallyyyy, that's not the Absolute's symbol, that's Myrkul's symbol, but they look so similar because the Absolute's symbol is a combination of the symbols of the Dead Three. Ever since Early Access people have been speculating why the Absolute's symbol looks like the Dead Three's smushed together, well now we know. AFAIK nobody was able to guess it correctly during Early Access
😅 I mean in the end it kinda worked out :-D But there were some nailbiting choices of the irrational variety by Wellens :-D "We need to kill Ketheric asap!" *teleports gale to the necromites*. or never upcasting the heals and using all spellslots to counter spells that do 5 damage. But hey, in the end it's entertaining either way :-) Not everyone studies all effects for half an hour before the fight. So it's cool! That being said, that was the messiest shitshow I've ever seen 😄
@@Llanovanya85 Upcasting heals is generally not worth it either. The scaling is just terrible. Healing magic in general is trash compared to potions and the best use for those spells is picking downed people up with a bonus action or triggering bless/blade ward effects from items.
Just FYI, you didn't kill a god per se, but an avatar of it. A fucking incredible feat, but Myrkul is very much well on his plane of choice. Gods aren't allowed to interfere up to certain degrees directly in the mortal plane as to not incur the wrath of Ao, the Overgod, Myrkul did transform Ketheric into a huge monster though, but it is clearer that the Apostle is just Ketheric if you manage to convince him to just deliver himself into Myrkul without the first stage of the fight, because the Apostle will still have Ayllin's immortality if she is not let out of her soul cage
1:04:42 -- You couldn't help Wellenz up because Gale has no actions remaining, not because Bone Chill doesn't allow you to. It said it right there in the cursor tooltip. That's what happens when you overanalyze stuff 😉
Wellonz: “My loot!” I don’t think you understand the gravity of the situation-
The way she stretched out her hand the same moment 💀
Watching the first part of the fight of someone who doesn't know there's a second phase is something else. I love it.
Just some friendly advise to hopefully make your life a little easier: It usually doesn't pay to counterspell everything, especially with high spell slots. If you counter a cantrip with a lvl. 4 spellslot, it is a massive waste of ressources and damage/utility potential. It's usually better to take the little bit of damage (unless you are low on health), restore it later with potions or low-lvl. spell slots and use your high-lvl. spell slots with good spells. Also, to my understanding, counterspell automatically counters everything of lower or even spell lvl., while only requiring an intelligence check for higher spell lvl. than it's own. So it makes sense to use the lowest spell slot lvl. possible to counter a spell (f.e. for anything from cantrip to lvl. 3 a lvl. 3 spell slot is enough to counter it). If you have the ressources or the fight is short, then it's of course an entirely valid strategy to counterspell everything.
I did this too at first, my logic was that I if counterspell everything - why not? then the rest of battle gale would throw potions...
18:55 Nothing to worry about, pretty sure Us doesn't consider all the other intellect devourers its family anymore, after all it was locked up to begin with because it's the little kitty dancing to your tune rather than the Absolute's that Chop was talking about.
seeing aylin climbing up and down is the funniest thing ever, lady u got wings!
Welonz did put in work. She took like 1/3 of his health in a single turn, she's unironically your heaviest hitter by a long margin
That wasn't a god you killed, just his apostle.
It’s funny to see that Welonz is steamrolling most fights in the tactician difficulty after 80 episodes, yet still insisting Gale to use a crossbow instead of a cantrip. 😅
I don't know if monks are just ridiculously OP or if Wellens' build is just really good, but it's all her
The first NPC returning 80 episodes later hahahh
We are heeere. Here.
Aylin: "Together we have crushed him"
Also Aylin: Goes after puny devourers and passes out for near half the battle.
Himbo
Also Aylin: Fights Ketheric alongside only summons while everybody else stands back and regroups. Probably had something to do with that passing out part :).
Idk she also spent a lot of time face tanking the apostle while whacking it till she fell over lol
That's because it's Tactician. On 'balanced' she focuses immediately on Ketheric and does a bit of damage, on 'explorer' she destroys him in 2 turns.
@@eljoe6281 For real, it's funny to see how many people miss the fact that if she is attacked by Apostle or being Dominated by the totally ignored Mind Flayer then it means no one from the party is attacked by them :)
@45:38 you get trails of invisible and stealthed people because it shows there area where the enemy may investigate to try and find them. Since its their last known area.
Yeah, which makes it kind of funny that Welonz only ever turns characters invisible after moving them, so they're always stood exactly where the enemy last saw them.
Welonz, you can upcast spells, for example even though fireball is level 3, you can cast it with a level 4 slot, same with spirit guardians. They do more damage. So you shouldn't waste higher spell slots on counter spell.
Shadowheart got last hits in both phases of this boss fight with guiding bolt. She and Wellonz are the power couple, I guess. Wellenz worn them down and SH finished them.
You can summon "US" and ask it questions. It will explain why it still wants to follow you and not the absolute.
There's no fear quite like the sinking realisation that you've just personally angered the God of Death.
Funny thing is, the Symbol of the cult is actually a combination of those that represent the Dead Three, the fist is Bane's black hand, the Skull is a part of Bhaal's, and the triangle is on Myrkul's.
The true masters of the cult were right in front of us all along.
Hopefully, to balance things, Welonz also pissed off Vlaakith, and Shar, and now Mystra... but it's gonna be alright isn't it? 😅
@@favoniu9051 Its like their ticking off a list of ticked off deities.
Quite cute of Wellonz to think this was killing a god :).
The decision to regroup and gather your mind and forces when the avatar of Myrkul appeared was clever, great job once again.
Just a side note for further use : spellcasters can use scrolls when they're out of spell slots, so hitting fast and hard is always a winning technique in major fights.
Fighting Ketheric blind on tactician and getting it on the first time is really impressive. Congrats!!
First and best party member reacquired! Welcome back to the team Us.
"Illithid", "Mind Flayer", & "Ghaik" are three terms for the same thing.
"Don't touch my Wellenz" 😡
What a fight!! Wellenz earning her MC title this fight
If you let Gale use the orb you actually get an alternative ending here with credits etc. Would be cool if you checked it out (either now or maybe in your "all endings" stuff that you usually do)
My promt with tav as a wizard was quite different it pretty much told me to "use the orb now!" and of c. I did thinking that I'm supposed to do it like that with predictable results.
Seeing Myrkul for the first time might be one of the most memorable parts of this game, fantastic intro. Anyway, pretty ballsy to not use any potions or buffs.
First playthrough, playing on tactician this fight was a pain in the ass. And I was full of camp buffs. You did it with almost no buffs and no elixirs, well done.
As far as I know "mind flayer" and "illithid" mean the same thing. I think mind flayer is just the more colloquially used term.
I think "mindflayer" is one particular type of illithid, "intellect devourers" are another, "elder brains" yet another, etc.
@@ArisKatsaris Do you have any sources for that because I've legit never seen intellect devourers etc referred to as illithid themselves.
@@ArisKatsaris the DnD wiki, Forgotten realms, says "Mind flayers, also known as illithids ..."
@@Khornelia I think it just makes sense. You'r illithid powers, ilithid rolls. A mind flayer is an illitid, elder brain is too and etc. These are names given by other races, since these illitids are as alien ad they can be and only communicate in speech for us.
Congratulations on defeating what is probably the hardest fight in the game.
Ha!
I didn't do the "climb tentacle one"
because someone "1v1 me bro"
There is no such a thing for Welonz as a hard fight.
Going in to this fight on Honor Mode had me sweating more than when facing the elevator and platforms in the Gauntlet Of Shar.
I dont know what other people are doing later on in this game if this boss is considered hard.. pretty much every single fight/gauntlet in act3 gave me more trouble than ketheric.
You didn't kill a god, but rather an apostle.
In regards to Shadowheart's patron goddess -- in an previous part there was a line you didn't notice about how (paraphrasing from memory) "It would break her if she acknowledged who empowered her spells now". The idea is that Selune picked up what Shar discarded: It's Selune who empowers Shadowheart now, not Shar.
Many people go for a respec of Shadowheart into the Life or Light domains at around this point.
Yes, please remember to respec Shadowheart
Kind of funny since light isnt one of Selune's official domains.
Act 2 complete! Now forth we go to the next one! That fight was the first to wipe my party the first time I got to it. I had to really plan around everything the second time to pull it off, good job on getting past it!
The reaction to non-D&D players to the sheer SIZE of an Elder Brain always gets me.
Congrats on beating Myrkul on your first try on tactician! That is really impressive. Way to go Welonz! Act 3 has a lot to do, should be a lot of fun and interesting to see what you think.
You did it!!! 🎉 ^v^ Well done Welonz!!
In the Lords of Madness sourcebook, it's suggested that the Mind Flayers come from the distant future, where they ruled the entire Multiverse. An unknown threat/disaster forced their remnants to time travel back to the past. So their "grand design" isn't to reclaim some empire they had in the past, but to create the future they know is inevitable.
50:01 Noooo 😂I think we've all done it at some point thoough, part of the crpg experience !
You haven't even combined Step of Wind with triple jump via potion, spell or Lae'zel action. It's wild.
You might have noticed, but Gale's Magic Missiles actually synergises extremely well with the Reverberation and Lightning Charge gear you've given him. Every missile counts as a separate hit, so whereas a spell like Fireball would get +1 lightning damage from having a lightning charge, Magic Missiles will get +1 for each missile and give an additional stack for each hit, meaning you get to 5 and get the 1d6 extra damage much faster. Similarly, it adds stacks of Reverberation for each missile whereas something like Fireball would only hit once. If you stack items with Radiant Orb on top of it as well you can spread out Reverberation (to potentially knock foes prone) and Radiant Orbs (to reduce their chance to hit) across a bunch of different enemies and since Magic Missile can't miss the whole setup is extremely reliable. There's a necklace from Blurg (Omeluum's buddy) that adds an additional missile to your Magic Missile casts that adds even more fun to the combo.
Thank you for another episode!! Been looking forward to this one in particular because of that final scene haha!!
i cant believe you brought that fight back. normally in this game on tac and higher once you fall behind like that its over lol. good work.
I love your playthrough! 😃
Thank you for not ending the clip on a fight-cliffhanger! 🤗
The difference between Illithid and Mind Flayer is kinda like the difference between Drow and Dark Elf.
I'm not sure if you misunderstood, but that wasn't exactly a God. Just an Avatar, way weaker than the God itself. Still no mean feat.
Basically, the former is controlled by a tyrant.
For situations like that bone chill, you can sometimes shove or throw a party member to get them out of range :)
I strongly recommend NOT ignoring Mind Flayer enemies and prioritizing them in any battle ;) Getting stunned and dominated will hurt you :)
32:00 And here we get the reveal of the "young handsome man" himself. The man who looks like he belongs in a Final Fantasy game 😆
I wouldn't say he is bad looking....but young....hell no.
1:24:08 Dame Aylin more like Daaaaamn Aylin 😅
Two quick things, I think you missed the conversation with Us before you broke them out of the cage, they had some dialogue as to their current thoughts and what happened to them and their feelings on the other intellect devourers/elder brain. Though you can still summon them and ask them questions about this iirc. Love my brain puppy :D
Also, not to downplay your achievement in killing the apostle of Myrkul, but it wasn't a god you killed unfortunately, that'd be uh- well pretty much impossible, especially for a group of level 10s. It was an avatar of Myrkul that was using Ketheric as a conduit of this power. Likely because Ketheric was specifically a chosen of his. Permanently killing a god in this setting is extremely hard, Bhaal being dead was a big part of BG1 and BG2, but he came back after a convoluted ritual thing. If pretty much even one person still worships and thinks about a god, dead or not, some part of them is still alive.
as far as I understand myrkul could just sneeze at wellens' party and they would die. especially at level 10. but him directly intervening through an avatar is still a big thing and very rare in this universe. and defeating that a huge feat. not a dnd expert but thats how i understand it
@@emmalight99 For sure, it was a huge achievement, and slapped down Myrkul pretty badly. The dead three are constantly scheming, executing evil plot, and then being slapped down, but they never do quit. I wish AO (the ultimate over-god) or some other good gods would do some of the slapping sometimes.
18:26 Can we please hear Goblinwelonz?
32:00 I was promised a handsome younger man 😭😭 Jason Isaac's voice is 10/10 though.
56:54 ☝🤓 the Absolute symbol is a combination of the Dead Three's symbols: the hand of Bane, the skull of Bhaal, and the triangle of Myrkul.
The symbol of the Absolute isn't just the symbol of Myrkul, it's of each of the Dead Three's symbols combined (hand for Bane, bloody skull for Bhaal, skull in triangle for Myrkul). The Chosen really did a poor job of hiding their connection to the Dead Three (not to mention all the notes that you can pick up that explicitly mention it).
It's also worth mentioning that the Apostle of Myrkul isn't Myrkul himself, he just empowered Ketheric as his avatar.
6:30 Illthid and Mind Flayer are just two different terms for the same thing. Omellum is an Illithid/Mind Flayer, just a renegade one.
16:30 Gale's Ray of Frost cantrip is a better ranged attack for him than a crossbow, and it doesn't consume a spell slot.
25:21 Shadowheart is still a cleric, after leaving the Shadowfell the Narrator mentions that her divine magic is coming from another source now.
One of the top 3 most difficult fights in the game and double if its your first time doing it. Congrats!
I was not aware of how powerful Monks could be OH MY GOSH?
I have a feeling it's a mod, maybe the WASD one that causes your summons not following. I never encountered this issue.
Funny that Shadowheart gets crits, heals everyone and doesn't miss just when she leaves Shar. Coincidence? I think not >:3
This was a fun watch
Yeah, I really had to rack my brain too for that puzzle. At first, it looks like a no-brainer but I had to pick someone's brain to help me with it. I guess I'm all brawn and no brains in the end.
35:00 moments like this made me dislike the 4 party limit
"That's the Absolute's symbol on his head" (Myrkul's avatar)
Actuallyyyy, that's not the Absolute's symbol, that's Myrkul's symbol, but they look so similar because the Absolute's symbol is a combination of the symbols of the Dead Three.
Ever since Early Access people have been speculating why the Absolute's symbol looks like the Dead Three's smushed together, well now we know.
AFAIK nobody was able to guess it correctly during Early Access
35:00 i hope you go back and check out what happens if you let Gale happening.
I'm not sure why but yesterday I just now realized that Ketheric Thorn Is voice by JK Simmons
I love this part its so cool.
Checkmate
I assumed this bossfight would be a shitshow, i was not dissapointed! xD
😅 I mean in the end it kinda worked out :-D But there were some nailbiting choices of the irrational variety by Wellens :-D "We need to kill Ketheric asap!" *teleports gale to the necromites*. or never upcasting the heals and using all spellslots to counter spells that do 5 damage. But hey, in the end it's entertaining either way :-) Not everyone studies all effects for half an hour before the fight.
So it's cool! That being said, that was the messiest shitshow I've ever seen 😄
@@Llanovanya85 Upcasting heals is generally not worth it either. The scaling is just terrible. Healing magic in general is trash compared to potions and the best use for those spells is picking downed people up with a bonus action or triggering bless/blade ward effects from items.
why are you counterspelling cantrips lol
but. to be fair you won on tactician and faster than me on my first playthrough so...
I think the Monk had more to do with the win than the Wizard.
to be fair lae'zel is a githyanki not a githzerai, they might hate each other a little less then they do mind flayers
Myrkul's intro... chills.. just chills.
This fight kicked my ASS. I had to lower the difficulty just to beat him. I'm a fake gamer 😔
Congrats on killing God! Or well *one* god at least, only two more to go
It was an Apostle of Myrkul not the deity himself
Just FYI, you didn't kill a god per se, but an avatar of it. A fucking incredible feat, but Myrkul is very much well on his plane of choice. Gods aren't allowed to interfere up to certain degrees directly in the mortal plane as to not incur the wrath of Ao, the Overgod, Myrkul did transform Ketheric into a huge monster though, but it is clearer that the Apostle is just Ketheric if you manage to convince him to just deliver himself into Myrkul without the first stage of the fight, because the Apostle will still have Ayllin's immortality if she is not let out of her soul cage
1:11:25 Of course you could have conjured us, as loyal subscribers, we would have helped you. :O
1:04:42 -- You couldn't help Wellenz up because Gale has no actions remaining, not because Bone Chill doesn't allow you to. It said it right there in the cursor tooltip. That's what happens when you overanalyze stuff 😉
1:04:00 - the combat log states that Gale used Help, so what did he do there?
Except he clearly did have an action and used it on help, but it didnt work lol
I will not stand for this US slander :(