How do I get the Holy Avenger?

[The Hierophant]

Well, I got it!
Man, I don't want to brag or anything, but I breezed through the battle on my second try (I almost got it on my first, but one of my guys died and I couldn't be bothered resurrecting him). I guess I was anticipating a truly brutal battle and so totally buffed up my party to the baddest, summoning elementals and all sorts of things. So anyway, bad guys are dead, and I have a cool sword.
Cheers for all the help you guys!

[Bozos of Bones]

As long as you keep that quasi-paranoid attitude towards the end, you should be fine.
Congrats on the sword.

[spydar]

Originally posted by The Hierophant: Well, I got it! Man, I don't want to brag or anything, but I breezed through the battle on my second try (I almost got it on my first, but one of my guys died and I couldn't be bothered resurrecting him). I guess I was anticipating a truly brutal battle and so totally buffed up my party to the baddest, summoning elementals and all sorts of things. So anyway, bad guys are dead, and I have a cool sword. Cheers for all the help you guys!

ok what were you doing that I wasn't??? I've been getting my arse thuroughly whipped!!! do these guys have any weaknesses???

[The Hierophant]

Originally posted by spydar: ok what were you doing that I wasn't??? I've been getting my arse thuroughly whipped!!! do these guys have any weaknesses???

OK, my party:
Aasimar Paladin of Helm lvl 10/Fighter lvl 4 (wielding Holy Avenger)
Half-Elf Cleric of Lathander 15 (wielding Mace +4)
Half-Elf Druid 8/Ranger 7 (dual-wielding bastard sword +4 and Longsword +4)
Shield Dwarf Fighter 15 (dual-wielding battle axes +3 and +4)
Wild Elf Sorceress 15 (bow +4)
Lightfoot Halfling Thief 7/Diviner 8 (crossbow +4)

Everyone in my party got buffed up as follows:
Bull's Strength (very important for landing big hits)
Protection from evil (vital for stopping summoned elementals from attacking the party)
Haste (VERY important for getting enemy hitpoints down quickly)
Bless
Prayer
Emotion Rage
Emotion Hope
Defensive Harmony

Now, tactics: My Cleric summonded in 2 Fire elementals and an Air elemental before the fight began. They are hostile at first so the protection from evil is a must, otherwise they would attack my party just as readily as the enemy. They provided additional smashing power and also kept the enemy summoned creatures busy while I took care of the main guys.

Once the sword was summoned and the enemies appeared I ordered my Paladin to quickly snatch up and equip the holy avenger (it'd be a shame to let it go to waste). Next, I ordered every party member to concentrate attacks on one enemy at a time. I started with the lightly armoured enemies: first the Archer, then the two spellcasters. All three were dead within the first 10-15 seconds of the fight due to the speed that the haste spell gave my fighters. I then moved on to the monk, taking him down quickly, then got rid of the human knight.

The last guy (the dwarf) was the hardest as his extreme resistance to damage negated my 'bash-the-shit-out-of-them-all' tactics. So what I did was use each of my fighters as rotating punching bags, taking the (BIG!!) hits from the dwarf while my two spellcasters wailed on him with magic missiles (his weakness is to magic damage). Whenever one of the punching bags was close to death I'd get my Cleric to cast an instant heal spell on him, or simply 'rotate' him to the next available guy. The hairy midget eventually dropped like the rest of them and the world was safe again... but, for how long???

Modify your tactics according to how your party is made up. But it's just a simple case of speed and power. Blitzkrieg the f**kers! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Sagramore]

Originally posted by spydar: ok what were you doing that I wasn't??? I've been getting my arse thuroughly whipped!!! do these guys have any weaknesses??? [/QB]

the medallion item description drops hints about what each characters weaknesses are...IIRC the vamp is weak against piercing, Kaervas is immune to slashing and piercing, the monk has uber good reflexes so missles are no good so use spears/short swords, the archer and Atalaclys are really resilient to the spell Fire Sword and the last mage is whicked resilient to about every type of magic but acid so a few Melf's will take him down

[Magness]

"Do these guys have weaknesses?"


Yep. Read the medallion.

Indeed, if you don't attack their weaknesses, you'll probably keep on getting your arse whupped.

That said, the biggest key to surviving this battle is to kill the spellcasting mage that is just north of your party ASAP. That wizzy can cause major damage on your party and his immediate death is critical to your health.