I just wiped out the Twisted Rune!!!(spoilers)

[Northraven]

Well I finally did it...I finally whacked those pesky Twisted Rune guys with zero casualties. Thank god that's over...it took six reloads but it was worth it...that Staff of The Magi is one choice item, and since I did the quest in Chapter 2 I can use the staff's powers (especially Spell Trap) on all those pesky mage encounters lying ahead.

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"I am death come for thee. Surrender and thy passage shall be...swifter"

"Kneel before the cow god!"

[Bruce The Aussie]

you did it in chapter 2! WOW! what level where you at?

[hazard]

Chapter 2 and 0 casualties? Thats most fearsome. What kind of strategy did you use? What levels?

[simonbarsinistar]

Where do you pick up the Twisted Rune Quest??

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Not all chemicals are bad. Without chemicals such as hydrogen and oxygen,
for example, there would be no way to make water, a vital ingredient in
beer.

- Dave Barry

SPOILER!!!!!!!!


If you have a rogue stone, take it to the bridge district.
By the lich which has Kangaxx's bones, there is a locked door. Pick the lock, or use a knock spell, and you will be teleported to a "secret" area. This battle have of won at chapter 2, is very hard to do.

Spoiler on enemies!

1 Lich, 1 Vampire, 1 Elder Orb, 1 Mage, 1 Thief.

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All your base are belong to us! [1diablo] [/1diablo]

[Northraven]

Some people have posted asking me how I did Twisted Rune in Chap2 and the lvls/strategy that I used. First let me say that I beat them on Normal difficulty and that I have not cheated in any way during this game. The party I am using and their lvls (as best I remember) are:

PC Assassin 14th lvl
Korgan 12th lvl
Jahiera 10th lvl fighter/12druid
Anomen 13th lvl
Haer'Daelis 13th lvl (yes I find him useful)
Edwin 12th lvl

Here's the strategy that I used:
Before entering the doorway with the Rogue Stone I buffed up my characters with haste, draw upon holy might, righteous magic, blur, stoneskin, ironskin, mirror image, prot from evil, and bless. Anomen was equipped with the Shield of Balduran. No one in my group had Daystar, the Mace of Disruption, or Azuredge.
Anyway I entered and kept my characters near the far wall of the small antechamber, Jahiera summoned two fire elementals...I had these wait right in the entrance to the adjoining room. I then had Anomen walk into the room alone, which triggered the entrance of Shandalar and his lackeys. As soon as Shandalar had spewed his crap at Anomen I had him run back into the small room and take up posistion. Shandalar teleports into the midst of the party at this point. I had Haer'daelis shoot magic-missle at him and Edwin fire off his minor sequencer which was loaded with magic missles, everyone elso either shot at or melee'd him. This took Shandalar down to injured before his multiple contingincies fired off. Then while Haer'Daelis cast oracle and all the fighters pounded on Shandalars decoy image, Edwin threw a death fog into the next room...about this time Shandalars Time Stop went off...Shandalar and his buddies went crazy casting fear, domination, and wail of the banshee, Most of my party was immune to the fear and domination effects and luckily the wail didn't kill anyone. The time stop ended and Edwin Cast breach to lower all of Shandalar's physical protections then my other characters pounded on him until he went down. By this point the vamp and some fighter named Rayanek had entered the small chamber and the Beholder had killed itself by firing at Anomen who conveniently had the Shield of Balduran. The vamp and fighter went down fairly easy leaving only the female mage...By this time some of her protections had expired and by herself she was no match for my intact, and fairly healthy party.

Anyway that's how it went down...on the five previous attempts that I made the battle was always close. I'd kill a few of the Twisted Rune before losing a character or two and would hit reload. I probably could have won in fewer attempts had I been willing to accept casualties. Before doing the Rune I had completed most of the other main side-quests, including the Slave Lords and both Dragon fights. If anyone wants any more info on how I did this battle just post here and I will reply. It's worth doing in Chap2 so that you can use the Staff of the Magi throughout the bulk of the game.

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"I am death come for thee. Surrender and thy passage shall be...swifter"

"Kneel before the cow god!"

[floyd]

Well thats nice work. I don't really see how death fog would have been effective though. I'm pretty sure all of those guys have heavy magic resistance. Maybe not? And sneaking those magic missles in sounds near impossible.

Anyway, your levels are pretty high for chapter 2, so it isn't as amazing as it sounds at first. I hope your exp cap is off, or ToB is installed, or else you will hit a wall fairly soon...

[Northraven]

I don't know about magic resistance working on Death Fog, but it did 8 damage a round to everyone in the room...not a lot but enough to disrupt some castings and every little bit helps in a fight like that. You can get those magic missles in, it just takes some well-timed pausing just as Shandalar teleports into the midst of your party.

[Nerull]

Best tactic I've seen is to make full use of that first room you arrive in. Pick off the opponents one or two at a time by luring them back to that room. Placing traps right in the doorway works wonders, especially when the lich appears there. Also, after each "gap" in the action, do a quick save. This will stop you from having to do the whole fight over if you mess up later in the fight.


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Death is only the beginning...

[Viking]

I'd just like to add that I also did this quest in Chapter 2, and I was around the same level. I took some casulties, 'cause I'm more of a fighter guy, not using much magic except for Breach, lower resistance etc.

Anyways, I guess I lost about 4 characters...hehe...but I cast raise dead on 'em, so I didn't really care. Gotta hate those damn time stop spells!