I am doings nalia's quest and in teh dungeons i have to fight thes 3 umber hulks....i tried everything but they are just too fast and too strong??
anyone know their weakness or a strategy on how to beat them??
please help

<span style="color: lightblue">They have a weakness in the form of dog stew.

But that requires you to have someone with stealth ability or a potion of invisibility (which you probably have, but if you don't): some wands spit out stingy clouds .... Umber hate stingy clouds ...

protect from confusion

divide

conquer

;)

I'd think umbers are immune to that kinda stuff. That would make more sense to me, right?

Umber hulks are not immune to the cloud. They have fewer than 6 hit dice, which means instant death for them (They might get a save, but I've never seen one make it). So, for that matter, does death spell, which is nicer because it doesn't harm party members.
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A favorite trick of mine for some cheesy extra XP is to kill the umber hulks, then go place the dog stew anyway. You still get the XP for doing the quest on top of the XP for killing the beasties :D Far as I know, this works even with Baldurdash installed.

[ 07-14-2003, 01:03 PM: Message edited by: cerandil ]

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I have occasionally seen Umber hulks make their saving throw against a cloudkill. Which is why it is important to launch the cloudkill from the neighboring room and then slam the door. There is always one of the critters outside of the range of the cloud so after most have dropped dead send your strongest character into the room and cloud to get him (it?) to come after you. Cavalier is best of course cause they are immune to cloudkills in the first place.

Ok, how does that dog stew thing work? I thought I had figured it all out, but couldn't seem to do it. Once I placed it in front of the beasties, they just attacked me. Maybe that's the reference to invisibility, but if you are invisible and place it in front of them, what happens? Can you still become visible and bash them?

Well, you will deduce where you should drop the stew, won't you?

Hint, hint: talk to somebody...

The Umber Hulks use a seed to confuse their opponents, which means its not magical. Spell Immunity->Enchantment therefore doesn't work. However I'm not sure about Chaotic Commands and the like ... I never use those kind of protections against them.

Zuvio:
However I'm not sure about Chaotic Commands and the like ... I never use those kind of protections against them.

CC's my staple anti-Umber Hulk spell. I never leave home without it. [img]smile.gif[/img]

-Lem

What do you mean they use a seed? In AD&D Umber Hulks use a gaze.

That "seed" is the umber hulk's innate Confusion ability. Spell Immunity won't block it, but potions and spells that protect against confusion will. (Like potions of clarity and the 5th level priest spell Chaotic Commands)

Stock UP on Chaotic Commands. If your PC isn't a cleric, I suggest you pick up Aerie, Anomen, Jaheira, Viconia, or Cernd, regardless of how much they whine or annoy you. (Maybe this is why all the romancable NPCs are priests?) This spell is useful against any enemy that casts confusion, domination, fear, psionic blast... ;)

If you only have a potion of clarity or one CC memorized, make sure your tank gets it. (Doesn't hurt for your tank to have a low save vs. spells either.)Position him/her right by the door and have all your other party members either switch to ranged weapons or prepare to fire some Area of Effect gas spells like Stinking Cloud or Cloudkill. (Death Fog also does the trick if you've managed to find a scroll.) When your tank cracks the door, the umber hulks will try their best to confuse the hell out of him/her, which of course won't happen because of the Clarity potion or Chaotic Commands. Then have the rest of your party open fire on the critters.

(Be sure to aim your Cloudkills and such at about the middle of the room. Fire too close to the umber hulks and you risk sticking your tank in the middle of the cloud as well. Best to fire in the center of the room, have your tank walk to the edge of the cloud, and laugh triumphantly as the stupid umber hulks waddle to the edge of the cloud in order to attack, being sure to stay right in the area of effect for maximum damage. :D )

There are a few items that protect from confusion - one not-so-subtle way of cleaning house might read something like :
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Minsc + Lilarcor + healing potions + ranged support = dead hulks :D