im at the orc fortress, not inside but outside and im having lots of difficuly beating(trying to anyway) the group in front of the entrance. i know i need the key but i get the drum and then im dead. any tips and advice are welcome.

Actually I find that part (cleaning out the outside of the fortress) to be one of the most challenging parts in the game early on. What is a pain about it is the sheer number of foes, and the fact that they have a few casters they are able to hide well behind their melee types (worg riders, orc warriors, and the trolls).

What I suggest doing is to engage them briefly (take a few ranged pot shots), and then run away, almost to the beginning of the map. Let them chase after you and come at you in lesser numbers. And I would hide someone stealthy a little ways before where you're going to make your stand. That guy should then sneak attack any spell casters that show up as they will tend to hang behind the melee forces. Basically you want to thin their numbers and get at their casters.

i dont want to sound stupid but all i have to do to sneak attack is be invisible and attack normally, right?

I loved the few area spells I had by that point for this point. Other than that, I made great use of healing potions. Yes, that part depleted my stock to say the least....

You have to attack from behind to get a sneak attack. The rogue has to be invisible (or hiding in shadows), or else another character has to be in front of the target (this is called the flanking attack). In a flank attack, the rogue doesn't have to be unseen.

<center>Nightowl2</center>

Yep, it's a hard part of the game, esp since most the bridges to the enemy are trapped and the drums make the game so much harder. I do not suggest running away because it will simply mean more reinforcements arriving.

This is wat i did for most of that area.

WEB!!!! (this is one of the most useful spells when dealing with a horde of enemies.)

or ENTANGLE (this is better cos i think by now u should have a pair of boots that negates "entangle"). Send this guy to go assasinate the drummer.

area effect spells to this the line. Then missile the shaman. IT is usually a "shaman" that goes for the drum, make sure he is the first priority.

[ 10-29-2002, 01:07 AM: Message edited by: Guinness ]

what I noticed is that there is only one guy in each camp who beats the drum, and he's usually an orc shaman or a goblin sorcerer -- all the rest just attack you. take him out first and it's like the drum isn't there anymore.

I`m pretty sure you can take out the drums with a crossbow,or Bow and arrow. Then you can worry about the shaman later... or take care of him at the same time. If I remember right,my thief took out a few of the drums that way from a distance.
The rest I just bashed with my swords as I ran by.

Web and entangle really are life savers.

Well basically after the "run away" tactic, I then return and wipe out the little drummer boy ASAP [img]smile.gif[/img]

You're also considered invisible if you do a successful Hide/Move Silently. I belive your 1st attack after that will be a sneak attack, but to be sure strike from behind. Basically you want to hit the caster hard on the first shot and then keep him too busy to cast.

I do think Web would be cool too, combined with the "run away" strategy. If you run past one of the bridges, and have one of your casters waiting there, let him web the bridge as it will be a movement bottleneck.