Dungeon 3 Turn 66
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Ricki urges Kamau and Lara to be quiet as she sees the blob oozing up the ladder below. It remains in the corner, so Lara isn’t able to drop the sun sphere on it as planned. Also, the bats seem to be trembling in fear at its approach rather than attacking.
Ricki quickly pulls out here magic lens and uses it on the blob to learn what they’re dealing with. Afterwards, she kind of wishes she could unlearn it.
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FAITHLESS
HP: 15
Atk: 5
Def: 5
Abilities: +3 Atk and Def when in darkness, cannot block holy damage
The Faithless are otherworldly creatures not unique to dungeons, and might appear at any religious site which has been desecrated. They typically seek to desecrate the location further, thereby spawning more of their kind. They are known to hide themselves, but can be forced to appear if their hiding place is reconsecrated in some way. Additionally, they are known to become more active when in darkness, possibly due to the long-held belief that the God of the Sun is the greatest of all gods.
Wait for the Faithless, then
Kamau: Use holy water and attack the Faithless with the longsword
Ricki: Give Lara the leather armor then holy bolt the Faithless
Lara: Attack the Faithless with the dagger
What about the bats, if they all swarm, Kamau is going to die
I didn’t say climb down the ladder. I assumed it was clear to wait for it.
Even then, I think the bats are frozen in complete animalistic terror, they wouldn’t approach Kamau and Lara because it would mean getting closer to the Faithless, too. For Ricki, they’d probably just be too scared to do anything except wait until the Faithless leaves. They’re not minions that attack things despite being afraid.
I think Kamau has to interpose if anyone else goes melee with him.
If Faithless decides to attack Lara remorse will screw us over.
Can you please type out which weapon Kamau uses the holy water on (I’m assuming the longsword) and which target Ricki should holy bolt at (I’m assuming the faithless)?
LSN is usually a kind GM, but it’s best to specify in one’s post, just to be safe.
your mom is a kind gm
?
I think this will work but we have to be prepared to use the holy hand grenade if one of 2 things happen:
1. Kamau’s armor breaks
2. It targets anyone besides kamau.
Another possibility is that bob will RUN from holy damage (unlikely I think, though it may also focus on holy damage dealers).
Grenade should be used FIRST, from a distance. Because if they detonate it at close range, everyone dies.
it’s best we set Lara up to drop the sun sphere, if we don’t use the sphere, we need ricki and Kamau to hit it the next 5 turns.
Ok, someone MUST keep the torch lit. I would pass it to Ricki, since she doesn’t need her hands to attack with the Dawn Mitre. I would advise climbing into the tower for the sunlight, but the possibility of it gaining more HP from skelies still can’t be fully ignored, also the falling damage from the sun sphere – just drop it as soon as it starts to climb the ladder or the ripe, so it can’t be missed
Using the dawn mitre causes the room to light up, so nobody needs to hold a torch when it’s being used.
Is the room not considered magically lit by the sun head already (yes, through walls)? On the other hand, nothing against even more light!
Yes, this is exactly how it is. The sunguy already is providing the light. We were notified about this at one point when we killed one of them and we were told that the room is now in the darkness.
This whole room is being lit by the sunhead, so no need to keep the torch out.
Also, this explains why the blob was “tame”/flat in the chandelier room (sunhead with rusty sword in the same room) and “spiky” in the entrance room. That was the visualization of the 3 extra Def and Attack, I’m guessing.
@LSN: Can the holy water be “split up” between the throwing dagger and the longsword to have them both deal holy damage, but for shorter duration?
calculation:
Option 1 (all fight)
Kamau: 3 base damage + 2 longsword +2 holy damage = no def on the monster left and 2 damage (holy, can’t be blocked anyway)
Ricki: 1 holy ranged damage (dawn mitre) = 3 damage on the monster
Lara= ? base damage + 1 dagger = ? damage on the monster (at least 4, more if Lara hasn’t base attack = 0)
In this set-up, we’d need 3 turns to whittle the monster down (that’s not too bad, if the bats stay out of it, but can really HURT, if they decide we’re non-scary enough to attack while we are fighting the faithless).
We could speed it up by at least one turn, if we use the sphere (5 holy damage), but then again we might not want to be anywhere near it (AREA DAMAGE).
Also the 5 attack of this monster kind of worry me. Kamau can weather it (as long as the tarnished armour holds and none of the bats join the fray). But Ricki would get 2 HP damage (meaning exit, stage left for Kamau), so keeping her in ranged combat is probably best. (No ranged attack ability of the faithless was mentioned, so I’m assuming it’s melee ONLY.)
Lara – again – is the wildcard. We don’t know how many HP or base Def she has (I’m thinking unless she has some negative status going on like Ricki’s malnourished, she should at least have 1 base Def) and with the leather armour, she should have 1 more (so 2+). But unless she got a base defense of 4, she’s going to take damage from the faithless, too, if it attacks her. (might be as much as 3 damage per round, if she has a base Def of 1 and the leather armour bumps that up to 2…)
So it will be very risky to put her in melee with the blob, but if we don’t risk that, the fight will go on even longer…
Option 2 (Kamau keeps other safe)
Kamau interposing – no damage (but can give longsword and holy water to Lara)
Ricki: 1 holy ranged damage (dawn mitre) = 1 damage on the monster
Lara= ? base damage + 2 longsword +2 holy damage = ? damage on the monster (at least 3 – holy damage from both girls – more if Lara has a base attack of 3 or more, because they need to break through the 5 def of the faithless first.)
That would mean as many as 5 rounds of combat (3 damage each), and if the monster has some kind of regenerative ability, it would take even longer, because from round 6 onwards the holy water will have worn off.
Here, throwing the sphere would cut down the fighting time by nearly 2 rounds (5 damage vs. 3 damage per turn), but again, I don’t think our heroes should be anywhere near when it goes off, even if they aren’t unholy creatures.
It’s not explicitly mentioned – and I doubt that a torch would deal holy damage, iirc. the mittens would help protect against torches and that means heat damage – but could it be possible that the torch deals some kind of damage ignoring the def, too, maybe (because it emits light)?
Or it just prevent the faithless from gaining the +3 Attack and +3 Def, if no other light source is around.
Hrm, probably best not to risk the torch (it can go out if one uses it as weapon), without need.
Nope. The torch does fire damage. We learnt that i dungeon #2 when we fought a drunk that was holding a torch, and Kamau was wearing kitchen gloves that gave him resistance to fire.
I’ve run the math, the sun sphere is wholly unnecessary. Assuming our drow compatriot has at least 1 base attack, we can wipe it out in 3 turns using only holy water.
However, it does not appear able to use the rope. It may be beneficial to go for the ghoul in order to get its sword and shield, along with whatever may lie in the chest.
Hm. The dungeon will probably end when we kill that thing, so we won’t be able to loot that chest afterwards. But on the other hand, we can’t let it get past the room we’re in.
Kamau:Attempt to break the ladder to prevent the Faithless from reaching the belfry.
I think the dungeon probably won’t end automatically – one evidence is the advent of the venom bats. Even so, Kamau is LOW on health. If using the Sun sphere can preserve it, then I would advise using it.
We will become the sole target of a the bats, kamau won’t survive 3 turns.
Team: wait until the faithless goes up the ladder, we can’t risk attack from the Bats. Then;
ATTACK!
Kamau: use holy water and attack Faithless
Ricki: holy beam
Lara: attack with dagger after donning leather armor
What about Lara first throwing the clapper and afterwards using the dagger?Better see at Night’s post below.
That sounds like the best strategy.
Also: Ricki, let the party know what you just learned.
Right! Kamau knows many things, he may recall something. Also, if Lara has something to do with the cult, she may know a thing as well about anti-holy creatures.
Wild idea:
Kamau: use rope to move to room with Grey Skeleton? and chest and interpose.
LaraCroft: use rope to move to room with Grey Skeleton? and chest, take holy water from Kamau, and attack skeleton with dagger + holy water application. (So we can kill it faster)
Ricki: use rope to move to room with Grey Skeleton? and chest. Cut the rope as part of movement so Faithless can’t climb it. Peak to the room bellow and blast creature with light. While keeping hand on fancy hat so it doesn’t fall off 😉
concerns:
-Ricki has 1 light damage per turn (to bad holy water has to be used on a weapon. Holy Mitre is an accesory). That’s 15 turns of combat. No way that will be allowed.
-Can it use background scenery (wall) to climb floors?
-Can it jump?
-Potentially having to fight both grey dude and Boss. tbh that is my main concern.
-If it decides to move around, climb ladder and jump down to us we should be able to run away by jumping down and away (question how exactly fancy movements within same room work)
-I would prefer Kamau to attack grey dude, but i worry about his remorse (and worst case scenario we NEED him to tank Faithless). While Lara should be at Max HP, unless there is something we need to know about her Cigs, and isn’t in danger of being removed from combat due to random attack. Kamau kinda is.
-There can be argument made for attacking Skele with our holy hand granade to quickly dispatch him and not have to worry about extra while facing a Boss, but it seems like a waste and we can always do it next turn. Not like Kamau and Lara will have anything to do with the Boss if this plan goes well.
Alternativelly we have to make SunSpheres fight the Faithless. With it’s Def and Att fighting it in melee is near suicidal. It would also take to long 🙁
I think we should NOT try to break either the ladder NOR cut the rope. Depending on how the fight goes (bats scared and staying out of it or swarming the less scary creatures = US!) we might need a “second way” around, so we can outmaneuver the faithless.
we can drop one floor down even without rope.
Discussion… Is it possible to lure it up to the top, closer to the bells? We could lure it to the top, then all jump on the dangling rope to ring the bell again. It’s possible that re-consecrating ring of the bell does serious damage to it. We could then slide down the rope so as not ot be on the same level as the blob
Might be better than slogging it out, killing it here, only to die to now-emboldened bats.
I think LSN made it quite clear the bell won’t ring again unless the winch is fixed. I wouldn’t bank everything on the possibility that putting everyone’s weight on it will make it ring.
This, and also we got a VERY clear hint that the sound of the bell is “strangely muted” inside the chapel. I think this means no holy damage. The other part of the same note told us that even the bats didn’t wake up due to the sound, but rather, due to the vibrations of the walls. So.. definitely no holy damage from the bell, even if it rings again.
OTOH, on the outside of the chapel, I bet all skeletons were totally wiped out by the bell, not by the blob — considering it reconsecrated the ground that is.. it must have been hard on the skellies as well.
Also, if the blob was scared away due to the ground being reconsecrated — this also totally means that the now consecrated ground won’t allow new skeletons to spawn. Yay!
First, equipment swap. Kamau into leather armor, give solar armor to Lara if she can carry and use it. Kamau can take the sun sphere in exchange. (Edit, clarification: Only have Kamau take the sun sphere if necessary for Lara to carry the armor)
Kamau: Use holy water on longsword and attack Faithless after it exits bat territory.
Ricki: Shoot faithless with hat.
Lara: Attack faithless with dagger (after it exits bat territory) (after Kamau if possible)
This will do six damage a turn to the faithless. (Kamau 3 + 2 + 1 + 2. Ricki 1. Lara 2. -5 def = 6) (Possibly slightly less the last turn, if Kamau hasn’t taken damage, as heroic effort could stop applying. Very unlikely to matter) It’ll die in three turns.
Kamau switches to leather because the dungeon is ending, and a couple more damage doesn’t matter. He has dauntless; he can’t die in three turns of combat taking 1 damage per turn. He also has counterattack, so taking damage has a 20% chance of giving him an extra attack and seven extra damage.
We’re saving the sun sphere because it’s expensive, and now that we’ve used the magic lens, we’re certain that we don’t need it.
I really like this option.
We still don’t know how it will target, so I think it is good to know for sure that Kamau can only take 1 damage a turn (with no risk of armor) and that Lara will have at least +3 defense in case it attacks Ricki for some reason and we lose Kamau to remorse (highly unlikely but not 0%).
I’d prefer that Lara keeps the sphere (if possible) on the off chance we lose Kamau and we need more damage to end the fight faster.
A good point.
If Ricky keeps shooting with the hat, I think she can safely stay at some far spot. Considering the Faithless used the ladder and not the rope, I think Ricky could even stay on top of the room, either on floor or on the rope, and simply shoot down at the monster, and that would pretty much make it sure that the monster won’t be able to target her —- unless it has ranged attack. But if that’s the case, Houston we have a problem.
Right, I forgot about the “heroic effort I” in my calculations. Thanks for the reminder 😀
so I’ve just sorta been along for the ride so far, with base 5 attack and defense, it can’t hurt kamau? but kamau can’t hurt it back without the holy water he’s holding, and he only gets 5 turns of that, we have to hope it never gets a shot at Ricki otherwise Remorse kicks in. not sure if it counts for Lara yet, but since it can’t block holy damage, we have to use the sphere and holy water within the 5 turns holy water’s effect is active for kamau ideally.
Super Ideally, we can kill it in 4 turns. 6-8 holy damage from kamau’s holy water, 3-4 holy damage from Ricki’s hat, and 5 holy damage from Lara dropping the sun sphere close to the blob. if we miss with the sphere, we only need to make sure kamau keeps attacking all 5 turns, as well as keep Ricki safe and firing her hat beam.
Lara: Drop sun sphere on blob as it approaches, either from rope or ladder.
Ricki: Holy bolt on blob from the rope while it’s below.
Kamau: Use holy water with longsword to attack blob once it approaches. Don’t climb down to engage, but try to stay between it and the girls.
Cannot block holy at all? If holy water made the rest of the attack also holy, then this would go quick. Open with ranged fighting, then hope it’s fixated on first melee combatant, as most enemies are. Now, we’d be in trouble if it ignores us and keeps climbing to desecrate the bells again.
EDIT: I support Night’s approach. We should be able to save the sphere and preserve our armour as loot, that was the point of spending the lens rather than just dumping everything we have from the start.
Also, we should note that the info on the Faithless means that it’s not a unique monster. We actually can meet it in the future, so I think the lens were well-spent.
If the blob climbs towards the bells, then — it makes it for us harder to chase & defeat it, but it also means that it will focus less on combat, and that may mean trying to pass by us without attacking. That would be better for us. And what if it desacrates the bell? I think we don’t care as long as there’s light and the thing doesn’t get atk/def bonus. The worst that may happen is that the bell will be ‘dead’ and if the ground at the cementary gets desacrated again, we’ll have no way of reconsecrating it (unless we splat it with holy water, etc).
Oh my. I just probably discovered how we could have done it without rope&bell&all. Facepalm. Of course it would wake up the blob just the same. But still, ringing the bell got Lara down, so good we did that.