After reading some of the posts here, it appears I may have chosen the Nalia quest a tad early. Besides the circus tent quest in the promenade, this is the first major expedition I have attempted after leaving Irenicus's dungeon. I did do the harper mini quest for the wizard dude (Xen?), and got decent xp for that..but that is the only other thing I have done. I am working with characters around lvl's 7-9. Party consists of Kensai War, Minsc, Jaheira, Nalia, Ariea (sp?), and the jap dude. I have the flail, but don't have anyone who can really use it yet.

In any event, I have been mowing through most of the trolls and such relatively easily...until those green Hulk thingies in the basement. They "throw" AoE confusion at everyone, and I don't seem to have any spells or buffs available to prevent them from sending most of my party drooling in a corner somewhere. Is Chaotic commnands the only defense for confusion...or is there another effective tactic for battling these dudes?

SPOILER
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Yes, kill the war dogs outside the keep and collect the steaks. Cook them on the stove in the kitchen and make a stew. Have an invisible or stealthed character place the stew in the cavern with the dog bones next to the cells south of the hulks. As soon as you place the stew in the highlighted area, head back to the room with the hulks, as they will come running. Close the doors and voila no more hulks to worry about and lots of EXP!

potion of clarity acts in same way. Or you can look for some stew ingredients for lots of XP . Or you can open the door with an invisible party member and have Nalia cast cloudkill. This spell kills them instantly.

Thanks .