Hey all,

I was just now wondering if anyone had any tips for clearing Chateaux Irenicus (with improved Illych)? I've done it a few times, but always implamenting a fair amount of cheese. Just wondered if there was a legit way of handling the group. Found a few nifty loopholes, (for instance, the improved otyugh is rendered helpless with the emotion spell, and the Duergar Party Members can be more easily handled with a Power Word: Sleep).

Are there any tips you could give me? Thanks in advance.

Not sure (I've never played this mod, but I really want to), but I don't think "Emotion" or "PW:Sleep" are loopholes or cheesey, are they?

Nope. Not at all, but that is exactly what I'm getting at. I want legit ways of tackling the problems in Chateaux Irenicus. Perhaps "loophole" was the wrong word to use.

I'm just looking for ways to make the encounters more managable. Mages have an advantage, but at the same time are reliant on resting (which in turn spawns more nasties,creating a vicous cylce [img]tongue.gif[/img] ). I'm all for tough encounters, but there must be a way to ease the passage without resorting to bugs and cheese.

*EDIT*

My Sorc just managed to finish the first floor of Chateaux Irenicus (the only real challenge of this dungeon). Dire Charm proved invaluable, especially with Ilych's group. Dire Charming a member of Ilych's gang always resulted in a maiming of the controlled character, which in one way made my job a lot easier. It was really just a matter of charming the right character, and turning that character's attention to a creature that was uncharmable (Neophyte Glaberzu, Golem).

Although this worked for me, I would have to say it's not exactly the most effective way of tackling the problem. It's largely reliant on luck and even should you manage to charm one of the group, chances are still running high that the rest of the group will chase you after dispatching their once-ally.

Oh well - on to the next challenge!

p.s. I'm still interested in any tips to tackling Improved Ilych.

[ 06-19-2007, 03:13 AM: Message edited by: Detherin ]

you pretty tacked that problem I would say. ;) congrats on that

Heh, thanks :). Just wondered how others took on Improved Ilych [img]smile.gif[/img] .

i think dire charm and reloading is pretty much the way from my own limited experience and what i read on here - earlier versions of the mod allowed you to close doors to isolate them and there were spawning thieves with wands that you could loot and use but no longer . . .

if you're not soloing you could go and get yoshimo before you take them on and abuse the dual class / set traps feature . . .

I have Release 23 of Tactics, and I've found a loophole that allows me to still open & close certain doors--as long as I don't Reload. This is actually pretty nice, as it encourages me to play it safe and not lose anybody. I also roleplay the doors: I can only use a door to block Ilyich & Co. if the door swings toward my side as it opens: In other words, the bad guys have to push it open, which only seals the door <u>tighter</u>, because I've roleplayed that I've stuck some spare Short Swords and Axe blades under the door to wedge it shut. (No running away, slamming the door in Ilyich's face for me.) Using doors that swing away from me is also kosher, but only as long as I leave somebody strong (like Minsc) on my side to hold it shut, and there's only 1 bad guy on the other side--and that bad guy is not the Golem.

Roleplaying aside, the biggest example of cheese I've found is in taking out the Greater Otyugh: I discovered that if you have somebody immune to Poison (Imoen or a Cavalier) standing on one of the platforms by the doors, you can position them just right so that they have the range to hit the Otyugh with a 2-handed weapon, but the Otyugh doesn't have the reach to hit back. Of course, now that Carrion Crawlers have been added to the mix, you'd need to have the rest of the team standing by with ranged weapons, but it's still one hella cheesy tactic. Ergo, I never use it.

I do use Stealth and speed to drain the Duergars' spells & abilities: Hide, sneak around a corner to a position where only 1 Duergar can see you, deliberately break Stealth, run away. If it's a Party Member, try to Stealth again the instant you're out of sight--wastes their spell. If it's a Prole, run back to your party, who bash the snot out of him with melee weapons while you just keep runnin', runnin', runnin', like a constipated weiner dog. (Yes, this is pretty damn cheesy--only Golems would be this stupid. But hey, it's only payback for Weimer making them so strong, and giving the ability to locate their prey from all the way over on the other side of the map.)
[ADD]Oh, and you can Backstab the Party Members if you just wait 8 hours.[/ADD]

Ilyich & Company: You'd be a fool to fight them all at once when you can take them on piecemeal.
It's a good idea to "fake-run" Ilyich and Rasputin: Taking them out to play for a while, then putting them back until you're actually ready to kill them.
My preferred battleground is the Prison Cells where you first wake up.

[ 06-20-2007, 11:08 AM: Message edited by: SixOfSpades ]

I've discovered that Duergar Polteriat (sp?) do like to inanely concentrate on the first target they spot and can be handled with ease with additional party members.
I may use this tactic (as they are Beserkers, there could be an rp element to it - though it does stretch the boarders a tad), but it is very uncommon for my not to solo the game nowadays.

I do like to waste Party Member's spells with the aforementioned Stealth tactic, Six, when I play a theif, of course. Seems to me that is exactly what an intelligent theif would do IMO.

(I also noticed your Albuquerque reference ;) ).