I HABE BEAT IMPROVED MAE`VAR!!!!:)

[Desuma Malevois]

Cerek, I recently finished the Improved Mae'var with just 3 people - my swashbuckler, Nalia, and Aerie. Everyone was around 11th or 12th level. I tried laying down traps beforehand but it didn't seem to help much; the assassins go hostile once ypu enter the area and they heal themselves back up by the time you get to them.

What worked for me was to bring plenty of Extra-healing and Invisibility potions along. One of Mae'var's big weaknesses is that he has no True Sight ability. We entered the area invisibly, spread out, and waited for most of Mae'var's spell protections to wear off before we attacked. If one of us got too far down in hit points we would drink an Invisibility Potion before healing ourselves up with Extra-healing Potions. By using lots of spells and in general just focussing on one enemy at a time we eventually wore them down.

FWIW, I also like an idea I read on this forum where someone lead all the assassins into the cell area and then shut the door on them.

[Rataxes]

Teonora had no means of detecting these Assassins, she knew that they would most certainly gulp down their own invisibility potions if she ever revealed herself - And once an enemy Assassin of this sort goes invisible, all is usually lost. Setting up traps? Not enough time. Going up against them all face to face? Suicide.

She quickly discovered that, though they could not see her, the Assassins still blindly followed her light footsteps. Teonora quickly turned this unnatural advantage against them, by luring them all into the Prison cell she had previously acquired the one and only key for. Clamping heavily, she lead them deeper and deeper into the cell, and then suddenly all became silent. Five seconds later, the Assassins heard a door slam shut behind them.

She had disposed of the devious assassins, they were trapped behind thick metal bars and had nothing but their poorly crafted bows to aid Mae'Var in his battle.

http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/cg...c;f=2;t=019476 5th Post If you want the full story on how a solo lvl 12 Thief beat this encounter on Insane.

[ 01-10-2003, 10:39 AM: Message edited by: Rataxes ]

[OLAF TRYGGRYSON]

Cerek- no I'm not on the Mod. I made the post in error previously I did'nt read The improved part of the title, sorry. My tactic works for the unmodifiyed version. My bad....

[Cerek the Barbaric]

No Problem OLAF! I made the same mistake when Xen posted the thread explaining how he beat the Improved Ilyich in Chateau Irenicus. He was describing all the planning, strategy and ultimate banzai tactics he used. I came along and said "Geez, what's the big deal. One Stinking Cloud followed by one Fireball took care of them for me". That's when I learned about these things called Weimer Mods. The Tactics Mod makes several of the fights MUCH TOUGHER than the original version.

I also certainly meant no offense towards you or your post and I apologize if it was taken that way. But when I read you had defeated them with 3 Fireballs, I started wondering if I had done something wrong.

If you are playing BGII for the first time, I wouldn't recommend the Weimer Mods because of the sheer difficulty of some encounters. But by the time you play through the game once, you might want to download them for the extra challenge.

Just in case you're interested, they can be found here ---> Weimer Mods

[OLAF TRYGGRYSON]

Originally posted by Cerek the Barbaric: No Problem OLAF! I made the same mistake when Xen posted the thread explaining how he beat the Improved Ilyich in Chateau Irenicus. He was describing all the planning, strategy and ultimate banzai tactics he used. I came along and said "Geez, what's the big deal. One Stinking Cloud followed by one Fireball took care of them for me". That's when I learned about these things called Weimer Mods. The Tactics Mod makes several of the fights MUCH TOUGHER than the original version. I also certainly meant no offense towards you or your post and I apologize if it was taken that way. But when I read you had defeated them with 3 Fireballs, I started wondering if I had done something wrong. If you are playing BGII for the first time, I wouldn't recommend the Weimer Mods because of the sheer difficulty of some encounters. But by the time you play through the game once, you might want to download them for the extra challenge. Just in case you're interested, they can be found here ---> Weimer Mods

Thanks Cerek, No offense taken at all. I was wondering why everyone was having such a tough time. Thanks for the Mod info. I played through about 2 years ago.Just getting back into it again. When I start a new game I'll try your suggestion concerning the Weimar Mods..

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Enjoy yourself, OLAF. The "BIG" fights are extremely tough. I've quickly learned to keep one Saved Game called Battle Prep. Whenever I am about to enter combat with one of the new "Improved" bosses....I cast all of my "buff up" spells, drink any necessary potions, and get all my magical protections in place....then SAVE the GAME. That way, ALL of my preparations are SAVED...so I'm ready to RELOAD with the click of a button. {Trust me, you will ReLoad many times until you get used to the new adversaries}.

On a victorious note of my own, I FINALLY beat Improved Mae'var myself just a short while ago. I must give MAJOR credit to Rataxes. I would NEVER have thought to "trap" the assassin inside the cage. If I had tried to sneak up on them, I would have attacked as soon as they started charging me, rather than wait to see if they actually attack themselves.

So I used my assassin - Kelric Val'Caern - to lure them into the cage and shut the door. I then stood there and watch Mae'var cast the remainder of his "protective" spells. The assassin could hardly stand themselves. They could hear me, but couldn't see me. They kept making little, jittery movements trying to get to me. I moved up to stand right behind Mae'var and patiently waited for the Duration of his spells to wear off. I had gone to Waukeen Promenade and "acquired" 4 scrolls of Invisibility. Edwin used these (along with two Improved Invisibilities he had memorized) to make us all Invisible.

After all of his spells went down, I moved Korgan, Jaheira, and Viconia up close to attack Mae'var and the cleric. Korgan attacked Mae'var and Kelric immediately launched a Backstab attack. Jaheira cast Insect Plague while Viconia turned the Undead minions the cleric had summoned. Yoshimor used Arrows of Dispelling and Edwin cast Melf's Minute Meteors. Mae'var died very quickly under this onslaught. The cleric and imp didn't last very long either.

Surprisingly enough, my biggest problems occurred with the trapped assassin...because one of them managed to escape somehow. He would Backstab and then go Invisible again. He managed to kill Korgan and wound Edwin severely enough for the assassins still trapped in the cage to finish him with their bow and arrows. I had Yoshimo, Kelric, and Jaheira work together to attack one assassin at a time. Viconia managed to negate the assassin's Invisibility with her True Seeing. He severely wounded Kelric before dying. I then had Kelric, Yoshimo, and Jaheira attack the remaining assassin while Vicky kept Healing Kelric.

FINALLY managed to kill them all. I even spared the prisoner in the cage. Now Kelric Val'Caern is the newest Guildmaster in my version of the game.

[Baros]

I have to admit that I've chickened off when I got to Mae'var.

I had a few attempts - my previous tactic of setting traps in advance failed miserably as the Assassins gulped down a couple of healing potions which left me in a position that is pretty much impossible... I really wasn't prepared for quite how tough this fight is. Removing the ability to go back upstairs caused a bit of a panic, I have to say!

In the regular game I always thought that the two rune assassins protecting Reijek Hidesman were about the toughest. This is worse since there are so many more of them! A lack of true-sight really hurts - oh, what I've give for the thieve's hood.

It's off to trademeet for my poor level 14 Assassin. Mae'var and MY guild can wait.

[karlosovic]

I read the story of that solo thief in the battle tactics thread, reading it again here I suddenly had a question. what does 'move silently' do as a skill ? was the bit about hearing her footsteps just poetic or what ? Any time Ive been using a thief I wanted to have stealth skills, I upgrade move-silent and hide in shadows equally. should I be bothering with move silently ? what is the difference exactly ?

[Rataxes]

Originally posted by karlosovic: I read the story of that solo thief in the battle tactics thread, reading it again here I suddenly had a question. what does 'move silently' do as a skill ? was the bit about hearing her footsteps just poetic or what ? Any time Ive been using a thief I wanted to have stealth skills, I upgrade move-silent and hide in shadows equally. should I be bothering with move silently ? what is the difference exactly ?

Those cheating bastards are scripted to always be on your tail, no matter if they can see you or not, so I had to make up some "realistic" reason for them just blindly following something they couldn't see. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Move Silently is one of the factors that determine your chance to go invisible, I think you simply add the values for Hide in Shadows and Move Silently and divide the sum by two. It really has nothing to do with your ability to move without making a sound.

[karlosovic]

ah ok, whew, I haven't been wasting valuable thieving points

thanks dude