Are there any spells that can be used to defeat this ugly serpent or is it strictly hack-n-slash-n-heal-n-run?

Very few spells, if any, affect the Naga. Instead, concentrate on putting as many defensive spells on your characters. Good spells to use are: Heroic Might (if you have it, or get potions of it), Bloodlust (also readily available in potion form), Bless (1st level Spirit spell), Haste (2nd level Vine spell), Nimble (1st level Moon spell if you have it; I usually have a Warlock by the time I hit the Naga), etc. Then go to town on her. With these spells, you should hit every time, and for increased damage.

If the Naga has incapacitated one or more of your party members (paralysis, stone), put her to sleep by using Kerielle's Elixir on her, then take some time to heal up your party and go after her again. She'll wake up on the first strike you make against her, but you'll be back in better shape than her.

Good luck!

Sazerac.

If the elixer puts the NAGA to sleep, then you should be able to continue on without killing it. Is this possible? Has anyone done this?

I just casted "silence" on her and so she was no problem at all. Maybe just in easy mode though, don`t know exactly...

Thorny:

I'm not sure if you can slip past her. Logically, I would think so, but the message you get when you use the potion on her is something to the effect of that it will probably not last too long. I have a feeling if you slip past her, go to the fountain room to flip the switch to open the secret door, and return down the long corridor, she'd probably wake up. Then again, maybe not.

*spoiler part*


When you meet Elyssia, she rants at you about having killed her sister Xydusa. If you didn't kill Xydusa, would her rant be the same? It wouldn't be logical. Maybe, since you're supposed to be the sacrifice for Xydusa, she'd attack you in order to incapacitate you to feed you to Xydusa, and you could take her out that way.

Has anyone played through the option of not killing Xydusa? I always offed her to get the XP (at least 2 of my characters would increase a level with the XP you get from her).

Sazerac

I had no problems killing the Naga. Here's what I did - going by advice given elsewhere, I had my leader drink Kerielle's potion, then had Lure cast on him. Apparently, the potion weakens/disrupts the Naga's magical effects on its drinker. Next, I cast Bless, Armorplate, Frenzy, Bloodlust, Haste and Heroic Might on everyone, and charged the Naga. She didn't even get to touch anyone. I think the key spell is Haste. If you haste your entire party, you can whack the Naga in uninterrupted succession without her having any chance of retaliation.

I found the High Priestess and her gang much more difficult to deal with.

Another useful spell/scroll is unbind (vine level 4). Use this to remove paralysis immediately and the characters never seem to get stoned. Haste semmed to make a big difference.

Elyssia (and friends!?) is best dealt with from a distance. I learned Poison Breath (Vine level 5) and readied some mana potions. My strategy was: lob spell, duck out of sight, repeat it possible.

I forgot to add - my lead character who drank Kerielle's Potion got targetted all the time by the Naga because of Lure, and got whacked a few times - BUT he NEVER got paralysed or stoned!

The first time I played it, my (badly chosen) party of 6 was extremely weak at this point, me being new to the game and what not. I had no other defensive spells besides Bless, a couple Bloodlust potions and 1 Heroic Might potion. I quickly decided, after her killing my party several times, that I would run around her.

I did. Ran right past her before she got a shot off, plundered the fountain room, and continued on my merry way. Elyssia was much easier, since I could take her priests off one by one in the long hallways. Killed her, took the mask, and completed the temple without ever killing Xydusa.

To answer Sazerac's question, her speech was NOT the same; she started out friendly, babbling something akin to, "AAh, so you have arrived, I've been waiting, young one..." I didn't wait for it all, but threw several Flamestrikes at her immediately and retreated into the hallway to deal with her Priests.