Fusrodah, Elven Dragon Disciple: last part
It felt like Fusrodah’s journey had come to an end. Truth be told, I didn’t really count that first death as a true game over — it was pure frustration from the crashes (I should have stopped after 2nd crash and do reinstall and google a solution for the technical problem), not the fight itself — but when I quit, I had zero motivation to try again. That was over a month ago.
Then I talked with Borco and I decided write it all down — and that idea stuck. I thought it’d be fun to have a record of the run, something to look back on years from now. Funny enough, I never planned on turning it into a story — which is why I have exactly zero screenshots. (Believe it or not, I didn’t even know how to take screenshots in Steam back then.
) All I had were a few phone pictures I’d posted here and some videos I later pulled stills from to help illustrate bits of the run.
While I was writing it up here, I attempted a few more no reload runs — none successful (furthest I got was to Sendai with Cavalier) — and eventually decided it was time to face that final fight one more time. It was actually this writing that motivated me to try it one more time. This time, I did a clean install of BG2 with fewer mods (no NPC mods or Unfinished Business — I’d left those in from my last party run by accident) and I changed my video settings. Anything to avoid another crash. So last week, I poured myself a beer, cracked my knuckles, and told myself this was it. I was motivated, focused — and hey, I actually knew how to take screenshots now.
Fusrodah went in prepared: Improved Invisibility first, slipping out of sight before Melissan’s True Sight could hit him. The plan was simple: Project Image, summons, Improved Alacrity, then drown her in Skull Traps and Magic Missiles. Let the Project Image get killed, step in as the real Fusrodah, drop a fresh Alacrity, unleash sequencers, triggers, more Skull Traps — and finish her off.
Of course, the Project Image kept getting unsummoned by her True Sight. I’d never used PI before — not solo, not even with a party — so I had no clue what to do. I waited out the True Sight, recast PI… and got it dispelled again before it could finish its combo. But real Fusrodah stepped up and took down her first phase anyway:
Then came the dreaded PI–Wish cycle to get rest spell. I had about 20 tries from spells plus a stack of PI/Simulacrum scrolls as backup. With an 18% chance to hit a rest, it shouldn’t take long — and this time, luck cooperated. After cutting off her first power flow, it was back to the same plan: Improved Invisibility while the summons distracted her long enough to slip away.
Out of curiosity, I tested Spell Immunity: Divination right after casting PI — and to my surprise, it blocked her True Sight. It actually worked:
With the PI finally surviving, the plan fell into place. PI dropped her resistances, flung out Skull Traps and Magic Missiles, then let itself die while the real Fusrodah stepped up to finish the phase:
After that second phase, I still had 18 tries left for Wish to hit a rest — plus nine more from scrolls. Statistically easy, right? Well, when my 18th attempt failed, I started to sweat. Eight more from scrolls — still no luck. With just one last Wish left, I messaged
@Borco to pray for me.
(Completely forgot I still had three main Fusrodah tries left!) And believe it or not — on the 27th try, I finally got that rest. I won’t lie: I shouted a bit.
The third and fourth phases were more of the same. No surprises, same plan — and finally, Melissan fell:
The whole battle took around two hours. Was it fun? Not really. Was it satisfying? In its own stubborn way, yes. Would I ever do it again? Absolutely not. I never want to see Wish, a djinn, or Project Image again for as long as I live. I joked with my kid last week about watching the 1992 Aladdin, but after this fight, that’s officially off the table. (Not that she’d understand the reason — she’s four.
)
I’m still not sure I can honestly say this was a true no-reload run — technically, I did die on my first try, mostly because of the crashing and how angry and distracted it made me. Maybe I would have pulled it off cleanly without the technical mess, maybe not. But the break — and a more stable install — definitely helped. To be honest, there were so many close calls during the run, it was just beginner's luck that I got this far (
Zordral, Kangaxx, 2nd pocket plane challenge and god knows how many other lucky saves)
Seeing Project Image in action for the first time made me glad I didn’t use it throughout the game. It would’ve trivialized many fights I think, especially in big arenas — and completely wiped out the biggest drawback of the Dragon Disciple kit. But for the final fight, it was a lifesaver. Same with Wish — no chance without it. And big thanks to
@Borco for the advice not to rely on Planetars too early in SoA as it would also trivialize a lot of fights.
Playing a Sorcerer — especially a Dragon Disciple — was amazing. Limiting myself by skipping PI, Simulacrum, and Wish until the end, plus the kit’s reduced spell slots, forced me to think about every spell, every scroll, every backup plan and I always had to have bunch of backup scrolls for the boss fights. Honestly, I probably learned more from this run than in 20+ years of playing BG2.
And again, a huge thanks to
@Borco — the pro tips, the moral support, the prayers for that last Wish — none of it went to waste. Fusrodah made it in the end.
I spent some of my best years there.
