So.
The Goblin Camp. I did what I needed to do there. I got in with a successful persuasion check, so I bypassed the actual festival out front. Of course, after killing all three leaders, I was not welcome there anymore. With Early Access content completed in my first playthrough, I felt I had to tie up some loose ends. I had already been thinking about what the best way would be to handle those 20 or so goblins at the camp. Well, what better way to do that...
than by unleashing a Spectator on them.
I'm sure this exact thing has been done by others. But I felt glorious when the thought first occured to me. So, I took Astarion to the Goblin Camp Rune Circle, stealthed, and surprised those lovely little goblins with a death to tell stories about.
As you expect, a very long combat encounter ensued. As soon as combat started, I fast traveled the rest of my party to the rune circle. Lucky for me, when you spawn there, there is a ladder that leads to some high ground. Perfect for my party while Astarion does what rogues do. I would simply pick off some goblins from afar with the rest of my companions, essentially teaming up with my new Spectator friend, and wait for said friend to be dead or low enough to be finished off.
You know what? It worked. But I did not expect that Spectator to survive as long as it did. It was essentially the last one standing, save a helpless drunk Ogre at 5HP and a pair of Bugbears. The mere fact it survived that long didn't impress me as much. What did impress me was the Spectator's impeccable movement across the battlefield once it was in trouble.
You see, at first, the Spectator remained pretty much in the middle of the battlefield, shooting off rays left and right. But once all of the goblins joined combat, it was clearly outnumbered, and it started taking heavy, heavy damage. And at some point, the Spectator started moving accordingly. It sought high ground, and distance from its enemies. Eventually, it was completely out of range, and started targeting my party, leaving us at a disadvantage since the goblins couldn't reach the Spectator anymore. What started as a wonderful, perfectly winnable fight, turned around in mere seconds. Because it turned out that damned Spectator was actually kind of smart.
Luckily, the Spectator was on death's door, and I had some Magic Missiles ready to go (which is good because my 25% chance of hitting it with a ranged attack would not have cut it). So, I finally disposed of Speccy boy myself.
I don't know if this scenario is really worth retelling like this. But I had a blast. And the game surprised me with its AI in an encounter I set up to progress in a very specific manner. I guess I wanted to share that, simply because throughout all of the constructive criticism (and the less constructive kind), this Early Access game absolutely deserves some praise too. It deserves praise for the kind of moments where a Spectator holds up to what it is, despite being utterly outnumbered and set up by my evil old self.
Great game. 10/10. More Spectators. Perhaps one day, even a Death Tyrant. One can dream. Or have nightmares, I suppose.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading. May Baldur's Gate 3 surprise and impress you too.
Last edited by Soulbasaur; 15/10/20 09:02 AM.
