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The party
Karlach Barbarian Giant 12
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Lae'zel Barbarian Berserker 12
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Shadowheart Barbarian Wild Magic 12
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Astarion Barbarian Wildheart 12
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Timeline
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Assessment
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17 August 2026
07 August 2026
August post #2 Karlach Origin #5 Honour Mode #8 part 3 Act2 75%+ done
I cleared the end of Act 1 and most of Act 2 on August 1st & 2nd; I managed to do a small few bits a few other days during August
The party
Karlach Barbarian Giant 9
Throw Returning Pike twice and maybe kick people. Repeat.
Lae'zel Barbarian Berserker 9
Very good at whacking stuff with her Soulbreaker Greatsword.
Shadowheart Barbarian Wild Magic 9
She's just sort of there; solid all-around though.
Astarion Barbarian Wildheart 9
Have barely used any of the powers, he's just a really good archer.
Timeline
1st August 2026 - played for ages; beat Phase Spider, Ethel (took Hag hair and Mayrina) Flind, Tyr paladins, hook horrors, could not find Bulette; Duergar on beach; Myconid king; all of Forge minus Grym; made it to level 6 and went to monastery/Creche; sent Lae into the pod this time and almost lost her, the doctor aggro’d the next room over but not full creche.
2nd August 2026 - cleared creche, moved into Act 2 and did almost all of that; got halfway through Trials and am almost level 9; it’s getting testing not having magic and so on.
5th August 2026 - I googled how to get a scroll of knock in Act 2 and turns out there is a guaranteed one in the Mason’s Guild so I got that and got to the end of the Trials; cleared the Library fight, then the big Shadow Mound to get to level 9; and Yurgir (auto-hostile, no talk because I was in menu at the time? Apparently it’s because I went in the wrong way) but he was easy even with all his servants, and took almost no damage. Stopped again after an hour; will finish next time.
Assessment
Trucking along fine, slightly more amusing than the all-fighter run.
I have 3 or 4 rage charges on everyone left so will probably burn through them before the restoration pod (I will not be long-resting in Act 2). Maybe the Inn fight, Moonrise entrance, Ketheric, lab fight? Then restore pod and fight Myrkul and the gith ambush on way to Act 3, but whatever.
02 August 2026
August post #1 Karlach Origin #5 Honour Mode #8 part 2 Act1 almost-done
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The party
Karlach Barbarian Giant 6
I switched Lae and Karlach around; it made more sense for Karlach to be Gigantic. I also made her Strength 17 and got the Hag's Hair; now I can use Elixir of Colossus.
Lae'zel Barbarian Berserker 6
She was the Giant but now a Berserker; she is an elixir user so am hoping to give her GWM at level 8 and get the Risky Ring.
Shadowheart Barbarian Wild Magic 6
I've found this the least interesting - I guess I'm not raging enough? At least all the effects are benign. She mainly just shoots people.
Astarion Barbarian Wildheart 6
Also somewhat secondary to the Giant and Berserker. Loving the passive effects that everyone can benefit from.
Timeline
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Assessment
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27 July 2026
July post #6 Karlach Origin #5 Honour Mode #8 part 1 Act1 half-finished
25th July I completed Honour mode with Gale and immediately started again as Karlach the Barbarian. She will lead an all-barbarian squad hopefully to the end of the game once again.
The party
Karlach Barbarian Berserker 5
Auto-prone frenzied throw is just amazing, but apparently Giant Barb is the better thrower, may need to re-think the party build later. Have managed to avoid long-resting so far but may do it to gte back rages for the Forge and rest of Underdark; then I long-rest again before/on-way to creche and finish Act 1 with 3 long rests. Then do all of Act 2 with no long rests!
Lae'zel Barbarian Giant 5
I know I always make Lae kickass but then I realised its a facial recognition thing. I see Lae's portait scowling at me and I know she's tough, strong class, while Shadowheart I usually cast in a more supportive role, Astarion sneaky/knifey etc. Helps to just keep them in their lane. It's going OK but migth need to re-jig equipment and roles and stats and everything again later. Also, might need GWM. Much to think about!
Shadowheart Barbarian Wild Magic 5
Seems OK? She is mainly just shooting her crossbow at the moment but have used Wild Magic Rage twice and both times got explosive flumphs which are kind of cool. Apparently all the random effects are beneficial so will have to see.
Astarion Barbarian Wildheart 5
I keep changing the 'Heart' every level since 3 - seems fine so far? Considering a dual-wield build later. Will have to re-spec later maybe.
Draft build plan may not be exact:
Timeline
25th July 2026 - I started and cleared the Nautaloid, then Withers' Temple after getting all 4 people, then the Grove setup, then the Blighted Village, then Ethel meeetup, then Goblin Fort, then various quests inching everything forward so I could get to level 5.
Assessment
It's going OK! Fun and strong, nice to see the two Wild barbarian subclasses haven't tried them yet. Should be fine to crush Act 1 and 2, the plan was to immediately bee-line to Gortash's coronation and crash that but idk. Might need a ton of barrels and bullsh*t to do it that way.
26 July 2026
July post #5 Gale Origin Mode do-over Honour Mode part 5 Act3 finished Honour Mode finished for the 7th time
25th July I completed Honour mode with Gale - Orin fight, Gortash fight, skipped Ansur and climbed the brain and did not blow myself up, instead easily defeating the Emperor et al and the brain's lackeys. I gave up my Karsus powers to Mystra and became Professor Dekarios, all companions had their 'good endings' thus.
The party
Gale Evocation Wizard 12
Probably the understated MVP of the whole thing; I usually try not to have my main character be the outright star of the show but Wizard 12 was great, so many options. Most of it was blasting but nice to have so many different flavours of magic and not hurt my allies thanks to Evoker abilities. Managed to get Intelligence 22 and all the Weave gear Marko etc so was undeniable.
Lae'zel Swarmkeeper Ranger 12
With Elixir of Cloud Strength, Sharpshooter and the Titanstring Bow this certainly did a ton of damage, not as much as other builds but was up there. Free action teleport and AC boost was nice, with Raphael's Armour she had 28 AC per round sometimes.
Shadowheart Starry Druid 12
Moonbeam and bonus action Starry breath were my go to at the end of the game. Just keep moving around and doing both every turn.
Astarion Lore Bard 12
This never really became the best at anything but served me well as a support caster etc etc etc. Swords Bard is way better but Lore was fine.
Timeline finale
25th July 2026 - I was in Lower City anyway so killed Orin the usual way - Roaring Thunder arrows knocked all her disciples off the edge then just wore her down.
I went to Wyrm's Rock via the Baislisk Gate as I noted the warp was now disabled - the castle was on lockdown. I killed a bunch of Fists and Banites but retreated from the throne room - no sense wasting time and energy on them, I went up the usual side via Flying and whatnot and fought Gortash and his few surviving minions in the belltower as usual. One new thing I did was had Gale telekinesis Gortash into the bell, which caused him to fall and die to huge damage. Fun!
Finally I made my way to the Morphic Pool narrowly failed to reduce the brain's HP but it was fine; snuck my way to the end and had a ton of buffs via all my allies. I had freed Orpheus as per usual so the Emperor and his dream warriors died pretty quick - Telekinesis is my fave way to kill all 4 dream images. The Emperor gets burts down after and even the dragon didn't last long to all my dudes hasted and firing lightning spells at it. The Mind Flayer Arcanists were next and were gradually wiped then finally the brain itself. It took 2 rounds I think but Gale got the final zap.
Assessment
It was good! Not as great as other playthroughs but fine; nice to play Druid, Ranger and non-Swords Bard to their fullest. Plus Wizard obviously. This was the under-used/never-used classes run.
Once again, Origin Gale had some unique stuff some unique cutscenes but was a mute for most of it. Probably could have killed Ansur but there was no reason to. First time completing the Foundry (but not the Submarine) so that was cool.
Naturally I clicked New Game soon after and started the Karlach all-barbarian run and am now maybe halfway through Act 1, hitting level 5. Will clear the Underdark and Forge next and then off to the creche.
25 July 2026
July post #4 Gale Origin Mode do-over Honour Mode part 4 Act3 half-finished
Almost finished now; did a tiny bit of Act 3 during the week, cleared the Guild mooks out from the squatters mansion at the start. Then on Friday 24th July I got about 8-10 hours done in Act 3; just another handful of hours left to do (Orin, Ansur maybe, Gortash, fin).
The party so far
Gale Evocation Wizard 12
Still good-to-great; I have him decked out in all the best caster gear. I never really bothered with Hold Person or Monster or any spells that allow the enemy to resist but with Arcane Acuity from the hat he's wearing plsu everything else, I am finally casting them a bit more. 'Held' Raphael twice for example which made him much easier than normal, all close-range hits are criticals so it makes for shorter work.
Lae'zel Swarmkeeper Ranger 12
Not the strongest overall tank I've ever ran but it's fun. There's a lot of overlap between Lae, SH and Astarion with Cloud of Daggers, Spike Growth, Wall of Fire and so on; if I'm not shooting, dual-wielding or breathing holy fire on enemies one or more of them are maintaining some sort of concentration spell.
Shadowheart Starry Druid 12
Starry Breath and Moonbeam are just amazing. Not much else to say about her, she just constantly deals radiant damage. Have used the other wildshapes less and less and have never used Starry Archer or Chalice? Idk dragon is just great.
Astarion Lore Bard 12
Not particularly great at anything but he's solid, a good swiss army knife member of the party. Cutting Words and so on are handy for making saves etc.
Timeline so far
24th July 2026 - cleared Rivington minus Ansur and Gortash as usual, then cleared all of the Lower City minus Orin more or less (so, Lorroakan, Fireworks, Sewers, House of Hope, Cazador, Shadowheart's stuff). Did the Steel Foundry for the first time and on Honour Mode; there was hellfire EVERYWHERE but Titan wasn’t too hard. All of that and no long rests (well, plenty of baths in House of Hope). Will take a long rest now and then clear Orin, Gortash (no Steel Watch guarding him!) and then get to the brain.
Assessment
Thinking I'll just hit new game after all this is over and it's a coin toss if I'll do Karlach All-Barbarians or Shadowheart All-Clerics.
This squad complements each other fairly well and are surprisingly durable, must return to a Gale Origin run in the future and retry the all-Wizards line-up.
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