The concept is to play solo, minimal STR/DEX in human form, and this is the first time I kick in EE.
Core diff., except when leveling up.

--------

So, I got to start this "enchanced" version. Not impressed for the first look.

- no option menu on the main title menu. Yes, I want to immediately lower the sound.
- no immediate effect when you alter the sound. Long ago if you changed the sound in the sound menu, you immediately heared the change. The background music got changed, or a sample ping/speech was played. Nothing here. It's not en excuse the original didn't do this either, this is supposed to be enchanced from that.
- no explanation on what's The Dark Pit
- the intro sux. The tower looks a papercut, and this is not Book of Demons. The whole video plays too fast, lacks the original's ominous terror.

- the CON-bonus of werewolf-form is taken away. That's not Enchanced, that's Nerfed.
- obviously won't play human if I don't have to, but do I read right the racial bonuses still do not apply? What's so Enchanced on this then?
- also, no two custom portraits. I always did 2 portraits: one to symbol my character, and one daring picture for the character sheet for times I get bored, or something. Again, this is not Enchanement, but a Nerf.
- the language option... Is a piece of crap to be honest. Switching back to english.
- you can not fast-roll the stats to minimum/maximum. Sure, the sum-box is nice, but why give with one hand and take away by the other?

Character creation issues:
- so, still no spears in BG1? I thought EE did better.
- why does Darksteel Shield not work for druids? It'd be so obvious a choice. Assuming it lets you equip it while transformed.
- STR-requirements will definitely be a b*tch but at least armor is not an issue. I wonder if I'll be able to find some glitch-coded ones I can still equip though.
- obvsiouly can't grab Anomen's shield either. Bugger.
- with that crappy STR, my choice of weapon at the start will be... Daggers.

QUESTION: How do weapons apply to werewolf form? What Weapon Style shall I use? Shields told to carry their bonuses, but what else? Is werewolf from considered unarmed? Does it change if I equip a weapon? Onehanded? What if I use a twohanded weapon? Also, what type of dmg will I cause?

- The interface of shops (inns, medics) is a piece of garbage. The switch tab is too far, and you can't move the shopping window to the center, or whatever. Lazy.

A minor plus: Candlekeep on the chapter-text looks better.

Why can't I excess my journal? That's BS.
Especialy that you cann ot enlarge the dialogue box. Ah, you can. Not in a way likein the original, and nowhere EE tells you about this. Phenomenal.

The Prot.From Evil of Firebead got extended? Or just werewolf form is faster. Also, seems you CAN talk in werewolf form. Good.

Zooming when switching is fancy. Too bad it is the same time slow, thus impractical.

Woah, just checked, and there's not a single non-metalic medium/large shield? That's lame. Especialy considering EE.

Wasn't 5 potion per stack the limit? Oh, maybe 10.

Smashed the Ogre With Belts in 3 hits. Impressive.

Sure, the video of FAI is grandiose. Too bad nothing grandiose happens there, so I like the original better.

PROGRESSION:
- bought a helmet (in Ch2 changed to of Infravision for funky feeling - btw, 120 ft shouldn't mean enemies highlighted in the Fogof War?)) and buckler
- received the +1 dagger quest reward (if this counts) -> Dagger of Venom
- not sure why Gorion now drops a belt. Changed that to of Piercing anyway
- has Ring of Protection +1 + in Ch2 bought Claw of Kazgaroth (the -Con is irrelevant, and the -save vs deat effects what?
- in chapter 2 bought Shield Amulet

Clicking 30 times on Firebead can be done in Beregost too, and you don't even have to click continuously on him. Convenient.

Neera is a ... Well, it looks she is ok, if she'd appear in/could be carried ove to BG2, she'd probably be ableto compete with Edwin. This way? Not a chance.
Also, the Semaj quest was for a reason ooptional. And for a reason you could lure the mage to the guards at the FAI. Here doing this group of 3, mage supported party, is Bad Design.

WHAT THE #&@! The Jovial Juggler's barkeeper no longer trades in wares? WHY? He was one of the best shopkeeper in the game, for he traded VERYTHING. Enchanced my arse!

Autopause When Character Dies still doesn't work when that character is the protagonist.

If there is a Story Mode, why can't you switch to that difficulty at any time?

I managed to get lucky against Silke, and with clvl2 Neera's party shall be not impossible either with some luck (that magic missle hurts, and who knows what other spell it has, I just got lucky hitting it twice in a row, interrupting it whatever it tried to do actualy).
At clvl 3 even did the spiders with a neat trick, passing the entrance in-and-out, preventing the beasts from attacking. Sure, it's not honourable, but neither realy cheating, so that's true neutral for you.

What to spend profifiencies on?
Well, if I counted right, I have 11 slots to spend 9 points. Darts are definitely gone, they offer nothing.
Weapon Styles seem to remain active while transformed, so twohanded style and even onehanded style are options. Dualwield would be foolish.
Werewolf attacks are slashing damage, good for BG1, not for BG2 where blunt dmg is needed.
Dunno if weapon abilities stay in effect during tranformation or not, but if yes, that'd be very good.
Either way, as my stats sux (I wanned that way), and +3 quarterstaffs are as good as it gets for BG1, and will need blunt damage, I'll spend my point now there. If weapon abilities remain useful though, I think I'll go for spears this time. We'll see.

High Hedge has a potion bag. That's cool.

Remember the Flaming Fist on the road S of Beregost? Now there are 3, just to mess you up. Werewolf Form shredded past through them (barely), but c'mon!

Chapter 2:

So, I enter Nashkel. The original video here shown a fortress, presenting this danger is serious, and they do a real effort to push it back.
In EE though it is not so. What we see is a church. I hate religious propaganda in my games, and I hate people brainwashed by religion to just give up any actual effort, throw up their hand, and wait for the "inevitable".
EE realy is inferior.

Huh, some Rasaad.
Well, the guy look ok for his quest on paper. No idea what if played. Monk is definitely an ... interresting choice for party member. Might be valid.
EDIT: ok, so the guy has arabic accent, meaning it is islam-representation. Though he was a sun-monk. Ruined.
But you know what? I wish to see his face when brought to the Umar Temple Ruins and find the bones. And when entering the temple of Amaunator, and actualy murdering his god. That'd be so c00l.

Ah, didn't forget to get to Hull and his cow. The fact you can see the enemy HP is convenient.

Now you can pick up gems/stuff even if your inventory is full, if it is stackable, and have some in your inventory already. That's good.

Potion of defense only gives me 1 AC, so gladly quaffed one against Greywolf, also used Wand of Magic Missles to make victory safer. Nice addition that the emeralds are now actualy inserted, and the statue is twinkling.

Having 2 containers, I checked if Gem Bag is also accessible. EE in its #&@ way made it available only by recruiting Neera. Well, I dumped her arse after robbing her. She can keep the rest of her stuff.

the Chapter 3 starting EE-video makes no sense. The original shown a calmed village, Nashkel. That was reasonable. This isn't.

Note on memorisation: with 3 times turning to wolf, there's no reason to not just memorise healing spells (slvl2 only has goodberries, pfff). Get hurt, switch form, get healed, switch back. The form is actualy pretty good at low level, so who needs weapon and armor (seems the equipment abilities of weapons do not apply).

Decided to unlock more map. The Shield Amulet served well against Borda.

Well, 2 APR seems to be a lot. Again the ooze-mage released a magic missle (the guy in Beregost consumed my previous wand by starting to panic, but throw a new one), then in one turn made him loose all HP.
In the meanwhile got the CHA-book. The DEX-gloves I assume might help if I'll ever need to fight as human.

Did not forget Raiken.

By the help of a Clarity-porion got the COM-Tome. Manual. Whatever.

Some movies seem missing. like the Gnoll Stronghold, and I think Beregost anno had one too? Where some imp hopped through the creen to a farm.

Gerde's ankegh-quote got lowered from 9 to 4. Weak.

The ring of invisibility got changed from 1/day to 7 charges max? Not a good tradeoff.

Bought stuff in Ulgoth's Beard (I practicaly never went there before fiishing the Cloakwood Forest, but wth). If we consider, the majority of the game does not offer too much new stuff, and with exp cap being in place, there's not much reason to fool around, so I'll get right to the point I think.

The Bandit Camp video is now a static image. How lame.

Twophanded weapon style bonuses do not apply while transformed. Still will check if single weapon bonuses apply like shield style.

Outside at the Bandit Camp I hit the outside boss pretty good, then seemed to stuck, so used the never-used Wand of Heaven. One hit was enough for the last 3 boxes.
Inside the good old Potion of Firebreath still works.

Meh, the Bandit Camp is ruined in EE. They put a Gauntlets of Weapon Expertise, the best gauntlets in the game in the main chest, for free. What's the point now? In the original the whole point of going to the area of the Best Swordsman of the Sword Coast was to fight the guy and take his gauntlet, as the item was the source of his fame - aka. excellent storytelling. Now it is just some pathetic MaReySue crap.

For CWF1 as exp is not in demand, sided with the druids (also because imma druid).
For CWF2 used an anti-poison scroll for the unavoidable poison dmg. And as doing this, said why not do the spider lady. Potion of fireblast still makes life easier there.
For CW3 defeated the byba wyverns for the price of an antidot.

Why are bears so fast in EE?

In CWM1 the miner called for the guards - they never appeared. Enchancement? More like bug here.

Putting a secret door on CWM4 is not enhancement, it only made me cream BUUUUUUUUUUUG, REEEEEFOUUUUUUUUUUUUUND!

Chapter 5:
At 120K+ exp, I can just rush through here. Will only obtain the Tomes, the Antidote, and maybe pass on Nester's dagger, and the angel skin rings, as well as the sphene gem, Nothing exceptional. Minimal time spent.

Let's mention that the path-finding routine is up to the task finaly. Too bad you still can't scroll the screen faster.

Petrin now needs a quest-item instead of a generic Angel Skin Ring. That's reasonable.

Well, I'm theoreticaly DEAD AS F 'cause EE has a GAMEBREAKING BUG, namely the journal stops at Lothander sending me into the diviner, and the quest doesn't make Marek drop his part of the antidote. Genious.
EDIT: Ah, the EE is not eenhanced, but idiot edition. Someone made antidote-potions to look like invisibility-potions, AND made the item-code produce FAKE potions. Ingenious.

Of Protection items now work with everything? How much easier EE was made?
Well, at least you can't wear multiply Of Protection items the same time.

Released, or more like tried to rescue the nymph from Ragefast, who instead shot it with his lightning. Still had the nymph cloak on her cold body.

"Wear this ring, as your father willed" - said Koveras. Nothing suspicious here, NOT EVEN IF YOU ARE WIZARDSLAYER.
The original version had the excuse no kits existiong yet, but EE on the other hand...

The violet potion made me think. Sure, it somehow set my CON to 1 (yes, not even 3, 'cause Claw of Kazgaroth), so my HP is gone. BUT if I consume it in human form, the DEX-sideffect goes away! And during the "rescue the princes" task the protagonist is not attacked, at least not primaly. So it is an option.

Now what I could do, but I don't feel like it, is to get Kiel's Buckler. Sure, it is finaly a magical shield I could use - but not carry further in the adventure. And messing with the dwarven wardens, and all the nonsense of DK3 would be too much effort for it.

There isn't much you can do the elevate the fight saving the dukes aside Iron Skin, and Potion of Haste, but that's enough. Just don't let Sharevok hit you after the battle. I have no idea at this point how to get the upper hand against him.

So, what's left before doing Undercity is get the Tome from DK, and the vs slashing belt (nice that you only have to go straight east for it). Sure, Kiel's Buckler is still an option too.
What to carry over to BG2? Hm...
- the Golden Pantaloons, obviously
- the Helm of Balduran is just too powerful to try anything else
- Longtooth (if applicable)
- obviously armor slot is disabled

As making equipment-consideration, just came to mind that the +4 vs. Giants warhammer also got no enhancement, it is still the most useless item ever, which comes way too late to have any use.
At clvl1-3 you already faced ogres, so who cares on that part, and other giant humanoids were missing from the game. Sure, they fixed the golem type/race, but where can you use this thing then? Sure, there are always the Flesh Golems, no doubt... But any high level area, bosses...?
Yes, there are some things you'd like to use this on. In the ice cave? No. The werewolf island? No. That1s right - you get it AFTER Durlag's Tower WHERE you'd like to use this!
So, instead of putting that Gauntlet in the bandit chest, ruining an area of the game, how about they'd instead give this thing BEFORE going in Durlag's Tower, fixing its usefulness? Oh, right, that'd actualy need some competence...

Snce when is a ghost/spectre not an undead?

What does it mean "Uneffected by effects from Dire Charm"? No, I'm not wearing the related helmet, only Baldurean's.

-------------

Of COURSE the F-ed up the ending too.
The original cinematic was full of terror, because it speeded up, and you immediately were shown, how insignificant the conflict with Sarevok was, WHICH TREMBLED THE ENTIRE SWORD COATS.
What we get instead is a confusing mess. Sure, I'd say the tunneling the essence part is even an improvement. But the tunnel sequence slows down to a crawl, loosing my interrest. Then it looks like we return to the hollow husk of S in the Temple-floor, which makes things confusing. We don't even get a glimpse of the higher picture until the body (statue as it turns out) crumbles to dust entirely!
So, this is weak.

I also have to question, did the Prot. From Electricity scroll always worked in tandem of the Prot From Electricity boots?
They definitely do now, and this time I easily managed to direct the trap-spawned lightningbolts on Sarevok.

I also got used to playing the Trilogy version (all three original games merged under BG2 engine), where Sarevok has like 285 HP, while here he had ... I don't think he even had 135 HP, more like 100. Pathetic.

The Black Pits 1

--------------------

Well, so much about equipment. Who needs those anyway.
It's sad this thing is so separated, and items can not be transfered over.
Even more sad, that none of the SoD items became to have any lasting effects. Why is there that ~expansion? To waste your time? You definitely don't need the exp...

A final kick in BG1EE: BG1 was created with party i mind exlusively. Beamdog didn't even try to create the solo-environment which exists in BG2 if the player attempts to play that way.

For a moment I've checked SoD, at least the ending of it. Party forced to the protagonist? The game pretends you were playing solo? Not very convincing to make me buy that thing, especialy knowing the behaviour of Beamdog wither way.

TIP: pick up EVERYTHING to sell in the shops.
The shops DO refresh. The quantity changes to its original amount after every fight.
At the start you are given 500$ (pick up stuff in the areana during the fight!)
Diseased gibberlings provide you 500$ (pick up stuff in the areana during the fight!)
You don't get a healer here, but you are allowed to sleep. Also, always check the cells before every entering to the Arena. You might meet with people. This time I got a note (worth 60$) which I'm supposed to give to ... who cares.
The Drunken Party provides 1750$. During this try to "hide" behind the pillars, so not everyone falls on you at once (yes, all fights happen in a small arena, but not all in the same arena). These guys don't drop loot, seems no areana-enemies do. I suggest keep your icomes close to your chest and only buy the best-tier equipment, first maybe that helmet... I mean no restock on quantities. But if you step tier, you unlock more types of items in the shops.

Oh, as we are talking about equipments, my finals in BG1 were:
- Balduearn helm
- Baldueran cloak
- shield amulet for mage fights
- prot. +2 ring
- claw of Kazgaroth
- boots of speed/of lightning
- buckler
- blet vs crushing (ok, slashing, but that version ended up not being used)
- ganulets of weapon excercise

The hobgolins give you 2000$. They cast lightning - try to amouver so the mages eliminate themsleves. If that's done though, they shoot fire, so get the fire prot ring if you have trouble.

NOTE: you CAN re-play the fights to grind more exp (and maybe gold?).

NOTE: during this ... game? game mode? you can wear only 1 ring. The other slot is filled with an unremoveable piece of garbage of plot device.

NOTE: you get a fullheal between fights. Given the nature of the circumstances, Blueberries though cann ot be sold for money, and unnecessary to heal between fights, still have uses though.

The necromancer (don't bother with the skeletons) worth 2250$. Make the necy cast his stinking cloud far away so he doesn't stand in it, so YOU won't stand in it. Btw, nice tactice, Mr. Necromancer.

The ogres worth 2500$. They are pure brutes, but also have a mage. I chose to eliminate the mage first, fortunately at the previous fight levelled up, so slept and cast True Seeing before the fight to remove the mimrror image of it. Tried the summons too, but they are not carried over. But maybe there's time to cast a summoning at the start, and only change form then.
As the ogres' morale is low, you might try to invest into a Wand of Fear if you have trouble.
Also worth noting, that you ARE faster (werewolf form) than the ogres, so you can pack up on Goodberries, and consume them. Sure, it is a time-consuming process, so simulate it with consoled potions.
Also note, that sometimes an ogre leaves the mob - aim at it for a quick kill. The problem here as alway is, you are wastly outnumbered.

Hm, that Wand of Fear comes with 1 charges... Still, if you managed this far GET IT NOW. Let's hope it'll make the archer run, at the very least, and 1-2 more character. IF the mage is not running, HIT IT ASAP. If you do not manage to prevent its Haste (right after it turns invisible), reload.
Then let's hope the healer will just run around aimlessly (trying to heal unharmed panicing people), but when it stops, HIT IT. Youn eed it out of the picture.
Next, eliminate Krancer The Old, he seems to have the best stats.
Possible pre-buffs: physical mirror (yes, it works in EE, or those are not magical arrows, or whatever), true sight, iron skin.
Leave Carlos Nuez last, has terribly low AC. And yes, he's slower than a werewolf, so you can again stack up on Goodberries.
These Sober Adventurers worth 3000$.

At this point you gain 20,000$ just because.

Gauntlets of Crushing seem to work for werewolf form! And even better, the weapon style bonuses from wearing a shield also applies, even if you wear no weapon at all!

The next fight's ankeghs curiously lack ranged attacks, so again, stacking up on goodberries is "free" healing! They worth 4000$. The tactic against them is, to keep moving, and don't let more then 1-2 attack you at once. Beware, their attack is acidious or something, so casting would be a problem.

NOTE on Baeloth: he's obviously NOT the same as the BG1 Baeloth. First, their class differ. Second, Baeloth of TBP is clvl15, which is impossible in BG1. Thus these are either entirely different characters, or TBP comes AFTER BG1. Or there is a never-heared-of drow mage->sorcerer dualclass option - which is again impossible. And when you eliminate the impossible...

Another EE-failure: TBP does not keep track of "momst powerful vanquished".

Next one is a druid starting with web and accompanied by spiders. So get the poison immunity necklace and the free action ring. Also buy a healing potion or something, because you are though faster than the minispiders, but the sword spider is a pain.
This fight nets you 4500$.

Next is a ranged specialized encounter, meaning (almost) all enemies will have arrows. With acidic damage. Buy 2 prot. of acid scroll, and the cloak of displacement with the boots of avoidance, and aim at the archers. The shadows are slower you know, but that shouldn't matter with all this preparation.
They give "only" 5K$, but hey, we survived.

the 9th fight is against an ogre mage, and a bunch of not-mephit portals.
This is NOT about the mage unfortunately, AND the portals can summon such inconveniences like leveldraining monsters, so grab a prot. from undead scroll to start with, and an oil of speed.
Oh, the whole thiing gives you 5500$.

wow)
it sucked so much that you rage-chronicled every way in which it sucks)) all over) it shows. sorry couldn't resist.

Well, I won't deny where I come, or what I found, but you can't say I'm not fair. I gave credit where I found some improvements. Sure, I did not find many...

Like in the next TBP battle I'd needed to know what hit me. Because something stunned me. And that's not good. Obviously. Turns out, in EE you can't get anywhere what harming conditions (debuffs) effect you. And the symbols on the character icons are so tiny (due to the resolution).

I really liked TBP until now, this is but a hugh setback :(

BEWARE! This piece of garbage is bugged!
Let's say you consume some potion in TBP. Then you do stuff, then reload right after the point you quaffed your potion. Result? You neither have the potions or the effects!

Well, at last, I have your tips.
We have several problems with this team, starting with the need of serious buffing (time consuming preparation which you cann ot save on a file).
First, there is a pesky unit with eletcric hammer. I though she is the medic, but not. Well, that hammer's hits HURT, so buy a potion of vs electricty and crushing. As this is a strong mob, also do Oil of Speed. It's convenient all these potions last for so ingame hours...
Second, there are two mages. The one appeared on my left is insignificant, the one on the riught, which has stoneskins is a major problem with several KO-spells (he's the one stunning and such). It also has Haste for its team. This was too much for me, so decided to quaff 2 times the anti-magic potion to get immunity from magic (was this not setting your MR to 50?), and the ring Victor. It sure deserves its name. Shoot the mage with it, then eliminate the cleric, then the electirc-hammer unit. During this the beam will likely eliminate the ... ranged thief? Not sure what that unit did. If you have time, kick the other mage's butt on principle.
The last, yet unmentioned unit has some katana with poison damage as extra. Just on principle I hope you bought the Boots of Haste, and used the goodberries-strategy.
You get 40,000$ now. I'm not sure this is a one-time stepping tier money, bonus, or reward for the fight, which otherwise I've not seen any.
Oh, around here you can buy the +2 cprotection cloak, and that's as awesome as it sounds.

Hm, now I suspect, there are infinite items, and items with quantities in the shop.
But then there are items too that disappear from the shop when you buy them, but reapper after a fight... Maybe any fight, maybe a fight which is a "next fight", dunno.

The next fight is in Tier 3, meaning all equipments are unlocked.
Seems all items which disappear then reapper at shop are replaced when you step tier. This is relevant either if you run a party, or for the Victor ring, which you by design can have two, and you definitely should.
Items with quantity seems to be NOT re-quantified.
The fight itself is against 2 trolls and 2 fissure slimes, all seemingly with serious AC somehow. The initial problem aside the demand of fire damage is the slimes' ranged ability to slow you. The anti-poison amulet you still should have in place. Because you want to avoid being slowed, you need the free action ring for this, so you cann ot just oil of speed from the beggining (the effect isn't even turned off until you have the ring, it simply terminated if you have the ring, which sounds like a BUG).
The point is, get iron skin and prot from fire running, then blast some explosive potions. Also buy the fire control ring, so you can use finishing moves on individuals.

The 12th fight sounds the most problematic, as it'll involve Clay Golems. The Shambling Mound sounds not that hugh problem, as werewolf paws do slashing damage.
For there are FIVE Clay golems, unlike my source says, and all need ENCHANTED blunt weapon, and of course enchanted CLUBS are missing here, because Beamdog in their infinite wisdom did NOT enchance the game on this department, our only option is quarterstaves. Fortunately no ranged damage incoming here, so we can put down the buckler.
As these are CLAY golems, they'll be hasted (unless programmed otherwise), and believe me, I've tested, you'll be sorrounded anyway, so no running around, and trying fire damage (Victor ring counts as magic though, and they have 100% MR).
Get 2 +10 AC vs crushing potions, I say. Also just noticed, didn't have any belt! Well, the 20 STR belt IS expensive, but justm ight worth the investment.
You get 10K$ for your troubles.

The next fight is easy by comparsion.
Now onlike the guide I've found (my source) claims, the Ice Salamanders ARE immun to cold damage, so don't try that. Still get 2 scroll of prot from ice though, because YOU are clearly not immun. Also buy the Ring of Regeneration, as you no longer need the Goodberries Strategy anymore it combined with Boots of Speed. Of course starting with an oil of speed to eliminate the ice salamander medic is a good idea, but aside that, no surprise here.
The fight worth 12,000$.

Why does it allow me to equip buckler when I'm holding a twohanded staff?

I had trouble with the next until decided to just use my Victor-rings mostly to just eliminate the fire elementals. Turns out, the giant does SLASHING damage, so screw me for not understanding what hit me.
The solution is the old boots of speed + ring of regeneration + running around.
Also, if you have anything to help with save vs death, wear that.
UPDATE: well, this didn't work, seems we need some continuous source of damage, as the giant seems to have some kind of regeneration. Now I'm trying to shop-recharge Victor rings (they refill them to 50 charges!).
Yes, this did the trick finaly. Oh, the 2 scroll of prot. from fire scroll is still in demand. and to add possible extra damage fastening the process, or just to be on the safe side, you actualy might want an oil of speed (when all the elementals perished), and whatever amount of healing potion you can carry, so you can run in doing melee, though it might be the case that the giant only does the ground-shaking thing of it when you do go melee. Still, it's an option, and nothing much else might help (dunno if it'd worth grabbing the vs slashing belt). Maybe the gargoyle boots can be an idea too.

lol I've read just a bit of your ramblings and some of them are just false. like 'the other way round false'
+1 rings most certainly don't work 'with everything' in EE (I assume everything is magical armor and such)
OTOH pathfinding sucks as ever
I wonder if we played the same EE or yours is some different kind of EE lol

Well, my character wears no armor, but I thought the other slots prevent of protection stuff to be worn too. I might be wrong on this one though.

---------------

so, let's check what happens before fighting Baeloth:
- you get 7,000$ for the fire fight
- the myconid gives you a free potion of power
- I think you can ask for a discount at the illithid
- you can make the raksasha having an idea 'cause of changing the rules... Whatever this implies, can come in the coming battle
- you can conspire with the heavy armor durgar to have revenge on the betrayer-durgar, who confesses its crime this time straight
- you can make peace between the quarrelying durgar couple by delivering a message.

Unfortunately it seems the beholder is not convincable.

Final fight:
- buy 2 of every protectioon of element X scroll (fire, cold, acid, plus the 100% electricity res. poption)
- buy a megaton of +50% MR potion (minimum 5, the more the better)
- buy an oil of speed
- drink the potion of power
- buy 2-3 aganzanar's scrocher potion (whataver its name - potion of firebreath)
- have at least one The Victor ring
consume all of the above, while casting:
- iron skin
- true sight
then do this:
- attack the duregar, starting with potion of firebreath, then melee, then switch between potion of firebreath, The Victor, and pure melee attacks
- when done, concentrate on Baeloth, he annoyed me with his magic. The raksashe only shoots irrelevant spells (lightning, and acidic damage) Baeloth has all kinds of protections, so hit him with The Victor, and melee.You can try to hit with the ring the raksasha too, crossfire works. Baeloth will be laying down with Near Death, so when that happens finish off the raksasha with The Victor.
- watch out to keep your MR high, because Baeloth likes to put Lower Resist on you

For any reason, the beholder never shown up.

Baeloth has 34464 gold on his corps. like that'd be useful.

If you wait around despite the hurrying, The Mad duregar will attack you, then I'm convinced an infinite supply of duregars will arrive in its wake. So head first the genie, and BG2, or something!

BG2:EE

Oh, for F sake. First, importing from TBP is tedious. You have to copy the character-folder AND the portraits-folder to the BG2 directory to make it work. I have no idea why you can't import characters the same way you can import from savegames, or why can't you import TBP-savegames. Oh, I know: that'd've require effort.
You must know, I'll console-import the Golden Pantaloons if they are not there.
Second: importing a character from BG1 is IMPOSSIBLE. The problem here is, the voice-sets of BG1 are not available.
Crap, there are right from the getgo less voice-sets for BG2 then BG1! AND they are ot the same voice-sets! Maybe you could copy over the voice-sets too?
You can also not see the character-file names, so if you exported at BG1 AND TBP, you are pretty screwed.

Oh, and remember the fuss of LGBTQSJW of Siege of Dragonspear? Well, that was a PRETENCE as it turns out. Check how many male and female voice-sets you get in BG2. Riiight, more male than female - and both still are less than what you get in BG1/TBP1!
Just fok off, game.

The intro is pretty much the exact same thing, but I felt, the whole thing is somehow more blurry. I thought it's nothing, but hunted down the EE and original intro, played both, and YES, it IS MORE BLURRY.

But just to say something nice, it is a real shame you can't import from TBP easily, as that thing is actualy good for what it worth, AND would feel the timeskip very well.

My first instinct was to zoom in on the screen. Well, OBVIOUSLY you can't until you're done with the initial conversation.
Talking about the initial conversation, remember how self-explanatory it is? Well, Beamdog thinks we are stupid, and skip over everything, so BEFORE YOU EVEN SAY A SENTENCE YOU GET ALL THE INFORMATION YOU GET FORM THE CONVERSATION WITH IMOEN ABRIDGED! How stupid this can be?!?

Why did the characters start spellcasting?
Why did I level up?
How do I have 600K exp?
Why is the interface in the option menus so different?

Hm, so if I don't wear stuff, and have the single weapon style, in werewolf form I get the style-bonuses? Good. Sad, that also wearing a shield (buckler) instantly overrides this. And twohanded weapon style still don't work shapeshifted.

Can't equip shield in form in BG2EE? WHY for F sake?! The same people made this as that. Should work the same blasted way! This is a new low.

Did you notice I haven't even started playing?

Oh, note this: even if you imported to TBP from BG1, you will not have the Golden Pantaloons here.

Note: I have no idea how the transition works in EE (Erronious Error Edition?), but according to exp-min/maxes, TBP2 will be tried between BG2EE and ToBEE. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Great. Just great. Can't initiate conversation IN BG2EE in werewolf form. There's no sense in this.

Ammo counts as "weapon" too...

The fucked up the bhaalspawn abilities too.
True Neutral supposed to get 2* cure light wounds, 1*horror, 1*slow poison, 2*draw upon holy might.
What EE gives instead is 2*cure light wounds, 1*horror, 1*slow poison, 2*vampiric touch,

Well, some mephits got regeneration. Because you know what everyone was begging since the down of time? To spend more time in the tutorial area. NOT.

Ah, now slashing damage effects Clay Golems? Good for me.
Will still keep some Strength of One memorized in case I wanna change weapon. I realy just should have started with 4 STR, and have 5 by now for convenience.

Hm, you can just drop the Portal Key now whenever you want? Fine for me...

The implementation of Ler is... is showing Beamdog thinks, the players are stupid, and has to be directly told what was told indirectly during the cutscene between Imoen, Irenicus and the Cowled Wizards. That character is simply bad writing, a repeated exposition, and in a dumbed down way.

As TBP2 has a starting exp limit (same as SoA original had), I'll mostly rush through SoA, and not do all sidequests. I might regret it, but that's what saves are for. Most quests are not act-restricted anyway.

Uhm, why did my quarterstaff fall off me now?

Hm, you can sell from inside containers. Welcomed!

Let me plan on the equipment a bit.
helm: of charm protection (sold in shop), of defense (Guarded Compound, or The Sphere)
gloves: gauntlets of crushing, and until then maybe I can find some lower quality stuff. I think this is actualy better if you can use it than the Gauntlets of Extraordinary Specialisation
cloak: the Cloak of Sewers will have to pass for a while. Later cahnges depend on how BG2EE handles of protection items
boots: of Haste in EE doesn't give extra attack, so whatever works, likely the vs lightning one.
belt: the vs crushing will serve for a while, but a STR-version would be needed on switch. Inertial Barrier of course if the final stage.
necklace: amulet of power would work fine to protect against leveldrain, aside that, amulets don't provide that much protection, maybe some MR, but that's it
ring: Kangaxx for one obviously. if of protection items work, then I'll go for the +3 one obviously, otherwise it doesn't really matter, right?
shield: well, seems BG2EE actualy widened my access here! I might even pick up a companion (Neera) for a while! options: shield of furious khal, Shield of the Lost. Ok, this isn't that much, but still!
weapon: out of patience now, but obviously my choices are limited, and need to find out if it worth bothering at all, aka. any of the abilities work while shapeshifted.

Woah, in "EE" Belmin does not attack halfelves! That must be a bug.

Why is Windspear Hills on the map while I've not even left Wakeen's Promenade?

Question: why does the time pass while it is a cutscene (start of Chapter 2)?

Wait a minute! I CAN sell goodberries here! That means I can just console in money!!! Yipeee!

I should have known Beamdog will place their stupid new party-people at inconvenient places. Even more, they did it bugged. According to the wiki, in the Copper Coronet should be some Clara, but the game says it is Hexxat herself.

Remember all the inclusivity-bragging? Well, I am offended by Beamdog not including gay-romance! Only lesbian, bisexual, and yet another heterosexual romance option is present. Beamdog is clearly just hiding their conservative agenda by these fake additions, while they do not accept male-on-male relations Checkmate, Beamdog!!
Oh, and don't forget, while the protagonist can have a romance being any race, their option for romance with which race still stays limited! You had romance of humans and elves (dark elves are still elves too), and the new romance options only add what, Twilight-Vampires? Seriously? They added a new orc companion. Why can't your romance THAT? Also still no love to the shorties. Your significant other must be TALL. Why? I think Bemdog shows its racism here. Or size-izm. Whatever, it's definitely opressive.

Now, what to say about Hexxat... I have no idea how many of the bugs the wiki lists still there. But I know those fights look advance very fast, so it better doesn't have too much time-limit, or the hiring get very limited.
Her quests feels also overwritten, and by motivation she's just a firendly version of Bodhi, signing lack of creativity and bad fanfiction.
The point of letting her join, is not her story, or character, but an early-placed bag of holding. Then take away the clock, and let her entrapped yet again XD

Done with the Copper Coronet, went back to the Graveyard to clear up what I can there, those things being time-sensitive and all. Question arised: what's enhanced about re-locating some NPCs, namely the orphan girl?
They also made Uncle Lester hastened, practicaly guaranteeing you failing here. What's enhanched stripping players from options? (Btw, I've cheated Beamdog from their victory over the player here by summoning 2 bears.)

I tried to continue, stumbled into the harper-quest. Well, at least that'll be out of the way.
Unfortunately BD decided we need another useless tutorial-NPC and placed in (Un)Helpful Man.

EE removed the "everyone can have a familiar" bug. That's ok.

Started the Sir Sarles quest (don't need the fake illithium, not being able to use the mace), which mostly cleared the quests of Amn outside the Bridge District for me, as far as my interrest goes. This mainly mean visited MaeVar's guild to start that rolling, picked up quests here-and-there, kicked raksasha and troll arse in the Sewers (bought somewhere a Wand of Heavens, so no trouble).
The whole running-around net me these items:
- bracers of AC 4
- helmet of charm protection (in case end in a situation this is preferable over of Balduran)
- ring of +1 protection
- cloak of the sewers
- boots vs lightning
- 19 STR belt
- staff of Arundel (seems the bonuse remain in all forms if you manage to equip it - DEX-requirement, potion solves that, does not fall off when expires)

Seems EE fixed the loss of charge when you upgrade the Horn of Valhalla.

I wonder if the fixed the Cloak of Sewers. It mustard jelly form was not immun to magic.
UPDATE: well, yes and no. The MR works fine now, the problem is, items get disapbled on you, and when the cloak's duration ends, you return to human form EVEN IF you switched to another form.

Hm. The Kidnappers (Silver Pantaloon) do not run in EE. They turn hostile.

For some reason Habib throws in EE TWO scimitars instad of one. Or you have to target him before he runs away. Bad design either way.

Hmpf. No DUHM, no knock spell, no warrior potions, no rage boost... A lot of doors remain unlocked for the moment :(
Still, with MaeVar out of the way I can impress myself with infinite money, and join the vampires. Thieves don't drain level ya know.

During Bodhi#1 EE created a BUG. EE re-inserted Arkanish Gath, an overpowered assasinin the game, while originaly he was just an Eric The Understudy.
The 2nd task wasn't too easy either, mostly because freeing Viconia got in the way, and stuff. 2 Poiton of Firebreath took care of the situation though. Good to know, even Shadow Doored character will get hit by the rays.

Decided to check Neera's quest. Both her areas are wild magic, so pack healing potions. Not that you need many, the first area can be pőassed only meeting a group of kobolds, which can be blasted by the trap they are standing on (use a figurine to distract them until you walk over it).
Neera is only needed to join to unlock the gate of their camp, then she can be dumpőed right the same moment.

BUG: if you suffer a Wild Surge (and yes, you'll get a wild surge for special abilities too, which ANOTHER BUG) of turning into a wolf, you can then shapeshift. This gives you back the "turn to human" option, but if you do so, you'll still be unable to talk!

Turned out the "Shield of Fyrus Khal" has false info on the wiki, and cann ot be used by druids amongst other things.
The Protection +2 wooden horse amulet is an ok catch still. Won't bother with the cats, that's a waste of resources, and real life.

To get to the Temple Ruins, you have to get BOTH the letter and the journal in Mazzy's Cottage, and you can't use the bed for this.

BUG: I've put a Wand of Magic Missile in the bottomless-coffin-bag, and is just disappeared

BUG: I found a spot att he sewer-wizard where instead of climbing down back to the sewer, I ended up at the Bridge District.

The Planar Prison offers a great deal of useful gadgets, thus I went there. Well... Seems EE placed Haer at the arrival place, pretty much ensuring he gets killed in the heat of fire. Literaly, because my startegy here with a puny character is, to use a Potion of Firebreath to get rid of the snake-mages.
Also, EE in its idiocity placed a bunch of umber hulk and minotaur at the 2nd group. Just to F you up? I don't get these moronic decisions.
Fortunately Greater Werewolf Form beats umberl hulks, especialy separated. But it's really a shame they didn't place 6 random Demogorgon here... Too!
The Warden was a nuisance too with its spells, but then what's 1 being against a row of summoned ones?

Btw, did I tell you about the BUG, where when entering the Planar Prison my character got exchanged for Neera? I have no idea either.

I just realised how unfairly SoA handled druids, stripping them from like half the maximum exp being useful. No idea why this hatred towards druids. Still, this means I can easily go and fight for the leadership right now!
ALong that I COULD finish the Bridge Murders quest, thuough there's no reward there aside someexp. The slavers guild quest would net some long awaited rpeutation, but then again, I could, maybe should just buy those points, infinite money and all.
Can an evil shapeshiter wear Human Flesh armor? Nah, I don't think they oversighted that. Likely I won't even be able to wear the mech-armor (pantaloons).
Finishing Sir Sarles would be good, but I simply lack the STR, thanks to all the misshaps in EE. Well, who needs that CHA-bonus anyway.
The Unseeing Eye could net me a Gauntlets of Dexterity in case I ever wanna fight un-transformed- why would I want to though.
Kangaxx again has the problem of a lot of things (adequate weapon, MR%, imprisonment), so I think that'll have to wait until Slayer Form. Unless of course if I give myself some Protection from Magic scroll, os maybe prot. from undead would work too?
And of course there are some nitbits in Umar, the whole of Trademeet as mentioned, and the thief guild.

NOTE: shapchanging disables magiced weapons like Flaming Sword.

Winning the Druid Grove wasn't problematic. Faldorn didn't change into panther, and the challange-battle though had greater regenration than the shadow druid boss went down the same.

BUG: Tiris The Frightened And The Return Of The Tanner didn't happen to me in EE. Yes, I've checked, all necessary quests got ticked.
Well, it happened.. After also done the mantle quest, and was about leaving the town, but changed my mind remembering the wild mages wanned some beer, and when came out, the questor stumbled into me.
No idea what happened to make this happen.

They've changed the Berserker Figurine (Horn of Valhalla). Dunno why, because these figurines never were that strong in the first place. In EE the Berserker is now actualy in berserker state, meaning it chooses target randomly, and that can easily be you. The problem is, this was one of the half-useful figurine with some HP, some DMG, and attack which didn't get resisted much. And you had control over it, what is everything in a tactical game. Loosing the control means loosing the figurine.
So we are left with Kitthix the spider, which is weak, teleports around, has piercing dmg which is half bad, poison which doesn't work half the time, and generaly isn't good of a meatshield.
The efreeti you either get or not, and either is immortal, or pretty squishy, and fire elemnt anyway.
The remainders are even more obscure, like the once-appearing djinni which sucks even more than the efreeti, or the class-specific figurines which you generaly don't have access to.
So this decision is unfortunate, especialy in the light of other things, like why didn't they make the player the monster-equialent of a (greater) werewolf, why the trolls' collapse is still dubious at best, and I could continue on what actualy needed to polish instead of nerfing the player and inserting virtue-signaling.

In the Shadow Thieves Hideout I finaly got use of the Find Traps spell. Those maze-traps are annoying!

Did the Guarded Compound for the elemental resistant helmet.
Well, invisibly passed to the upper floor, and didn't manage to separate the horde up there. Managed to pull out some spells from them, the critical point is where they cast the Chain Lightning, that has problems.
With the running spells expired, I summoned 4 bears and an Earth Elemental on the other side of the hall, and managed to pull the faster warriors to hteir grip. The slower ones turned back, and the catsres were busy casting. Helped the loft with Wand of Heavens (which interrestingly does not trouble shadows by the way).
Then summoned khittix at them while led the remainders closer. The spider was important to suck up a stun spell. Two bears and the elemental started shredding, with the berserker helping out. I kept using that wand.
That wand was an important piece of my equipment providing additional damage (unfortunately Oil of Speed is limited supply and all). I long did not do (or did in seconds) this place,did the ogre/orc and the minotaur always have heavy regeneration? Whatever, I won, so after doing the last piece of the druid grove, I'll move on to grab the +4 gloves.

Oh, sidenote: ruinning in Aran Linvail's room, waiting until the demon is summoned, then running out ASAP shutting the door is still working strategy, makes the place piece of cake.

BUG: I summoned some bears to kick Dream Bhaal's arse, which led to when awaken in Irenicus Lab didn't happen, instead the bears kicked the defeated creature, and the cutseen stuck. Maybe the thing would have ended when the duration would have ended, but who has that kind of patience, not to mention there was no guarantee that it'd happen.

I couldn't bother with the Pirate City, so just went through the front gate.
STRANGE NOTE: the mage, despite me sitting there in ooze-form, 1HKOd me. Probably a bug, especialy as EE brings you back to see the message-log, and there was only a chromatic orb thrown at me, and I made my save (which is pretty irrelevant with 100% MR, but you know, just in case).

NOTE: well, the Clay Golem HERE was not immun to my werewolfform :(

What does a mummy do at the kobolds and their crystal in EE?

Picked a North Boots from the token machine on the basis there will be no more, and almost left without bothering with Bodhi as a prot from undead scroll was running on me but decided nah. Attacked her anyway, and getting to 1 HP triggered her conversation, so all went as intended, I assume.

In the Underdark the myconid field was a bit of trouble, but 2 potions solved it. As they were running, I though, let's deal with the balor quick. I dunno if this is EE's problem, or it always had been, but that thing regenrates at an insane rate, has über stats (can be hit rarely), and repeatedly stuns the entire party.
I was at the point to just kill the dwarves instead, but I though I'm a druid, so in the end chose Slayer Change. And even than it wasn't as smooth as I'd like to.

I've found a weird thing...

Now, you see, there are a couple of potions which prevent Magic Damage. Drink 2. Do the Slayer Change. Notice that the Slayer Form can initiate conversations. Profit.
Take note though that the drow-illusion interferes with shapeshifting, being itself technicaly a shapeshifting... It's complicated, and not even EE handles this well. UPDATE: no, it doesn't. The illusion changes the skin, not the actual form/stats.
UPDATE: well, it might be so as told above, but definitely not when the casting/decasting happens. THEN it is an actual shapeshift, stripping you from the form you are in... Bad stuff.

Also, a bug: when the drow party appears at the bridge going in, I managed to stuck the caster in its position. This resulted in a weird BUG where its trigger started over and over healing it infinitely until I let it move.
Never happened such thinig in the original... Though I didn't try such things either. Still, considering the name, I expected no noticable bugs in EE, but I stumbled them over and over.

And if we are at EE, what was the problem with the original HLA-chart? It was so nice. This on the other hand is lame.

QUESTION: anyone knows what ahppens if I pick an ability of Alignment X (good or neutral), then I turn into evil? Will the ability work?

Oh, and talking about bugs, back against the fight with Irenicus, the allied crazies randomly en-masse turned against me. I used The victor during that battle, but don't realy have a true idea what caused this. Fortunately they all fall dead if Irenicus gets beaten, so passed that part, but I started to worry...

BUG: the fullheal when reloading bug still exists.

BUG: when stepped through the underdark exit (from where Adalon brings), I made back to human form. Evenm ore curious this didn't happen when doing the same after reloading.

The Unlimited Quantity shopping got removed. That feature always bothered me.

Have you seen 7 Slayers at once?

BUG: "You must gather your party before venturing forth."

You know, the fate of the Druidic Grove intrigues me.
The Warrior's Stronghold can be inherited through buerocracy. The theater can be sold (or kept). The thief and mage strongholds are institutes of their own. The cleric/paladin just gets a room in a building anyway, they are not important. Well, least important is the Shaman, which doesn't even deserve a Stornghold - that'd have to be actual work, right, BeamDog? Oh, and stronghold for the ranger was just always absurd in this story.
But the druidic grove is not just a local thing, where you'd reside alone. It's not just an institution that can run itself. But it is a supernatural responsibility, so it's not open for the secular world.
The story of the druidic grove is, that you gain control of it as its leader kicking out the shadow druid leader, then you do some business of the grove just as usual, and your last mission is to find a kid, who will be trained to be your successor through the rite of ascension.
This means the young kid will have to beat you in an areana-battle, like you did to get into your position.
Beating you would be problematic in any sense, but if you remember, you actualy possibly ascend to godhood.
What are the consequences of THAT?

NOTE: even with my limited exploration, I had to fight twice in human form. Once against the vampire under Spellhold you have to cut its hand off, and once more against something required +3 thing to hit. Or maybe I could have won each time just using The Victor or something of similar effect.

NOTE: Beamdog in their eternal meddlingness made Irenicus on the Tree of Life cast a Simlacrum. Not that it does much, but still.
Also: couldn't the Maze spell be just removed? It is the most cheesey, annoying, broken thing in the game. Or better: why couldn't EE fix solo gameplay by MAKING THE GAME NOT DROP GAME OVER WHEN CONTROL IS TAKEN AWAY BY A CONDITION? You know, like in the original BG1? That would have been awesome.

Btw, I've noticed, that the equipped (selected) weapon's non-combat ability, well, at least the extra spell slots from Staff of Arundel, because the immunities from Spear of the Unicorn does not, still work when shapeshifted, but it actualy changes the weapon equipped to paw-damage, which counts as onarmed unarmed attack, and adds the shield's AC and weapon style bonus to you. What is a verry weird mechanic.

Now about the Tears.

Pride as always is simple, especialy as ToB, arriving to Saradush offers infinite exp.
Greed is, even with the fixed Blackrazor, for this character is easy. Btw, I doubt you could leveldrain The Ravager, or Amelyssan anyway. The point is, those +2 saves worth way more.
Fear again is a non-issue. CON has no use for me.
Wrath is an interresting issue. Under normal circumstances, especialy before EE intropduced the No Extra Stat Bug, the evil path was no question. But with a 3 STR character, and no Extra STR Above Everything (wonder if it'd bring above 25), the table is turned, and the good option is the more preferable. Too bad you can't have 25 WIS, at least unless sacrifising your helmet, what you should never do. SoD would have a nice weapon to carry over, but why have the good stuff, when you can just mess without reason, right BeamDog?
So, as always, it falls back on Selfishness. The tirck is, with a shapeshifter, whose prime shape is Slayer especialy considering reputation for ToB doesn't actualy matter, any of the negatives doesn't matter because of the form. So the question is: what is more precious: 10% MR, or 2 AC? My AC at the moment is -19... And yes, the MR adds over the form's.

Btw, I've checked, and aside that turning evil (non-true neutral) not just doesn't strip me from being druid, but neither summoning a deva ;)

PS: I can assure you, The Slayer is NOT immun to Maze, at least not in EE...

------------------

Turns out, you are automaticaly being transfered to ToB, so that's about being a gladiator again.
AND they changed me back to human form. I disaprove.

BUG: the arrival of wassisname interfered me turning slayer, thus I needlessly lost many*2 rep. Seems none tested these things, neither enhanced them...

This is just stupid, and I'm considering it a BUG. The game keeps changing me back to puny human. I wanna be puny GAWD!

Hm, maybe time to check my equipment?

weapon: Staff or Arundel / Blackblood
shield: Shield of the Lost
helmet: Balduran (with several other in store)
gloves: Gauntlets of Crushing
belt: vs crushing, most of the times until now
boots: haste / vs lightning
amulet: of power -> of Seldarine (slayer being immun to leveldrain and stuff)
ring: of gaxx / of protection +2
cloak: of the sewers / of displacement (more frequent nowdays the later, the saves were more precious)

So, Gromnir is down.

This part of the game (ToBEE in general I even assume) realy don't want you in Slayer Form, transforms you back at every occasion, like ending a conversation (plot related), or entering a room. So I have to make magicaly appear those potions over and over, and visit that pesky temple for reputation. Pfff.
Anyway, Slayer kills everything, but in the room of Gromnir prepare just in case with Iron Skin and True Sight. The most problematic opponent is the backstabbing thief - no idea why The Slayer is not immun to such things. The least important is the halbers-unit which is ineffective if you have weapon immunity. The mages are tiresome, but these don't seem to have any Maze (no idea why The Slayer isn't immun to htis either).
Gromnir is fortunately slow to walk, so despite being able to hit you, he'sn't that big of a nuisance.

Kudos for EE, Fire Giants now cause the proper crushing damage instead of slashing thus Roiranach's Horn has the intended usefulness.
Note: still avoid fighting too many giants at once, and handle elites with care. Run away, quaff potions, bleed them out. Enter the complex invisible.

Tip for Forest of Myr, 1st: when you arrive, summon two bear and send them ahead. They'll provide distraction until you change back to salyer when the Master Wraith conversation forces you back to human (run away a bit when the battle starts).

Battle notes: shanbling mounds and magic golems are immun to the slayer, but you can just leave them behind,

Note on reputation: don't forget, that if you run low of it, Watcher's Keep does NOT offer a refill. But Saradush getting destroyed should have not too much effect on you, as the next church is near - still, you don't want a welcoming comitee there, so watch yourself..
Still, I assume visiting Watcher's Keep would be fine now. Though all the assemly-items are very-very deep in there :(
Unfortunately, there's no place else to get an upgrade from. What could work for this character are:
- club of detonation (I doubt though the explosions would activate transformed, or be anything but cosmetic, but you know)
- spectral brand (just a summon, but invincible summon if good, and being a scimitar you can have it)
- staff of the ram (not that it has anything good on it, but let's mention it)
- Ixil's Spike (free action is not good, but whatever)
- dagger of the star (I know, I know)

Hm, worrying about Yaga was futile. Buff up with Iron Skin, Mirror Image, possible elemental resistances, and drink an Oil of Speed. Done.

INTERRESTING NOTE: dunno if it's EE, or the OE has it too, but if you run in the smuggler cave, and manage to click on the shopkeeper before the monks appear, whatever you buy that time, will be replenished. Sure, it's only a couple of potions, but super healing, oil of speed, and 100% crushing+lightning resistance is not a thing to look over.