battle squares in aurils temple

ZFR · 05-07-2003, 02:06 PM

ok im in aurils temple doing the battle squares... 3 questions:

1) my summoned creatures seem to disappear fast... theyre there normally for normal spell duration but soon as battle starts they disappear fast.. they get hit once and just vanish... not by normal death, they simply disappear and no text comes up (so and so has taken x damage)... some only die natural death from the first hit... is this normal?

2) i thought that after completing each level on a rank you get both itwm and xp... but i get either only item or only XP... very rarely do i get both... sometimes 2 items... again is this normal?

3) i dont get xp for killing individual monsters, only sometimes xp at the end of each level... is this normal?

thanks...
ZFR

Micah Foehammer · 05-07-2003, 02:21 PM

some answers:

1) Yes. The summoned monster "cheese" was removed with the patch. I didn't play battle squares BEFORE the patch was released so I can not verify that indeed the summoned monster ploy actually work WITHOUT the patch. As I said, I do know that it does NOT work WITH the patch installed. The monsters are not disappearing because of combat or being hit, but there is a lag before the monsters actually vanish. There are some other tactics that were possible before the patch, but my understanding is that ALL of them were removed with the patch. Battle squares is still doable however, but definitely more frustrating. Remember that you can postpone doing battle squares until the start of chapter four, so you have a chance to buff up your character(s) before tackling it. I went through battle squares with a dwarven fighter in both normal and HOF difficulty. Never used a cleric, mage or rogue. Fighter seemed like the best option!

2) Partly true. You should start getting xp for each rank sometime AFTER the fifth rank is completed, but am not sure exactly when that starts. (This is based on the assumption that you playing on NORMAL difficulty - HoF appears to be different) In addition, you will get xp for completing all 10 ranks! I don't recall EVER getting any xp prior to starting rank six, and occasionally got some xp for completing an individual level with a rank. Items are occassionally obtained at the completion of a level, and also there is one item granted for completing each rank, PLUS there is one item given for completing all 10 ranks.

3)Yes, that is normal. See part 2 above

[ 05-07-2003, 02:27 PM: Message edited by: Micah Foehammer ]

bucmeister · 05-08-2003, 11:36 PM

Summons simply don't work in the battlesquare. You have to do without.

I tried my fighter dwarf and found it impossible to complete. He took way too much damage up close, especially against some of the tougher monsters.

I had better luck with my Druid casting area effect spells, using stunning arrows, and maintaining distance to avoid damage. As a last resort he would shapeshift for melee combat. Still was very hard and had to reload many times. It is very frustrating and becomes boring quickly, going through the buffing spell process, resting, etc.

You will not be able to try the Battlesquares again after you go to Kuldahar. After reading a few posts in this forum I thought you could, but you can't. Even when Nickademus recalls you to the temple for his favor, the Battlesquares no longer work. So get as much as you can before you complete the underground under Black Raven Monastery.

lethoso · 05-10-2003, 03:08 AM

re: q2.

to complete a level you must finish it by killing 3, 4, 5, 6, and finally 7 monsters on that difficulty level. Each time you defeat a set of monsters you should get experience or an item, once you complete a level you get a big item. for battlesquare stategy, there are several other threads floating around about the battlesquare, you may want to look at them...

Micah Foehammer · 05-10-2003, 02:48 PM

bucmeister, that's odd that your dwarf couldn't make it through ... mine did. He ended up using the club of disruption as his primary weapon but traded off occassionally as needed. The rest of the party added as many buffing spells as they could - so that he went in FULLY protected. Stoneskin, protections from electricity, acid, fire/cold and evil, magic resistance, mind blank, elemental barrier, haste and finally improved invisibility. After each level, the cleric would cast heal or the dwarf would drink a couple of spirit essences and any protections that dropped were re-instated, again saving haste and improved invisibility for last.

BTW, you are right about not being able to do battle squares after you get to Kuldahar. It has to be done BEFORE you start chapter four. Sorry if I mislead anyone in earlier posts.

bucmeister · 05-10-2003, 10:54 PM

Micah,

I think the Improved Invisibility spell might have been the difference. I never got that spell until Kuldahar. I did the rest just as you described. The main creatures I had problems with were the Frost Giant, Greater Werewolf, and Rhamoraz. They tore my Dwarf up every time. I also tried my Ranger because he had some spells and two weapon fighting abilities. Same deal. They just damage you so quickly close up you don't have much of a chance.

BTW, I think Improved Invisibility is the best spell of them all. A wizard with Improved Invisibility can sneak up and wipe out an entire army and they never even have a chance.

ZFR · 05-11-2003, 12:25 AM

i dont have improved invisibility but zack has

i go outside have him cast improved invisibility and stoneskins on my paladin... possible some fireshield... then come back buff some more and attack... problem i cant buff directly my invisible paldin.. so i have to do this outside before zack does improved invisibility.. so i have to give up haste and others with short duration... the buffs i use is usually barskin, protection from evil and champions strength outside (since these has long duration)... inside before battle i use those with area effects... chant, prayer, recitetion, emotion:courage... sometimes also i use protections from fire cold lightning, elemental barrier.... i so far finished rank 7.. i use club of disruption a lot and also "bastard's son"... there is one thing though... drowned undead and shadows dont seem to save against club of disruption.. doesnt it work against them?

im amazed how you find greater werewolf tough... thyere one of the easier for me... they miss due to concealment and if hit lots is absorbed by stoneskins... my main problem is with giants, also remorhazs and elementals are tough...

btw, there is some sort of bug... when greater Fyer attacks most often he casts emotion despair and then teleports away to the rest of my party and starts attcking them... sometimes a cronungon (sic?) does same thing... is this some bug? why did they correect the monster "cheese" in the patch but didnt correct this??

bucmeister · 05-11-2003, 12:05 PM

ZFR, I didn't know Zack would cast spells for you. Thats a new one for me. I just bought spells from him. Didn't see improved invis though.

As for the greater werewolf, I did think he was the toughest of them all. He moves so quickly, the Web, stone spikes, and thorn spells my wizard and druid cast beforehand don't affect him. He strikes faster than my hasted dwarf. And he still does quite a bit of damage despite, stone skin, ghost armor, bark skin, etc. If I would have had improved invisibility I'm sure I would have had a much easier time.

ZFR · 05-12-2003, 03:07 AM

Just finished rank 10!!! [img]smile.gif[/img]

bucmeister, when you buy scrolls from Zack notice icons on the left.... you can also have him identify your stuff and also heal you.. well, the same icon which is used in temples to heal you, is used in Zack's case to heal you and offer other spells which include fireshields, stoneskin, summon monster, spirit armor and IMPROVED INVISIBILITY....

the three most important stuff in battle squares is club of disruption (for later ranks), stoneskins and improved invisibility...
You can go to Zack, have him heal you and cast stoneskin and imroved invisibility, go finish one level, go back to Zack and so on.... this way you can finish ranks 1 to 10 without resting once... of course, having more buffs can speed things up

both stoneskin and impr invisibility cost 140 in my case also healing cost some more... but thats nothing compared to the money you get from battlesquares

Micah Foehammer · 05-12-2003, 09:20 AM

ZFR,
The teleporting Cornugon and Greater Feyr are NOT bugs. The game is DESIGNED for those monsters to do that. It's supposed to make the battle squares a little more challenging (yeah, like it NEEDS it!). I wasn't aware either that Zack would cast buffs on the party.

Bucmeister,
Yep, improved invisibility makes a HUGE difference. With Improved Invis up, you will be ASTOUNDED at the number of times those monsters miss you "due to concealment". [img]smile.gif[/img] Stoneskin is good too, but the improved invisibility spell REALLY makes a difference. Haste is also great. On HOF mode, you should augment all of the protection spells I listed with Executioner's Eyes and one high level cleric spell (the name escapes me at the moment). Those two should be the last two spells that you cast because they are short duration. With Executioner's eyes up, a dwarven fighter becomes a juggernaut - his hits are almost always crits. BTW, LUCK is also a great spell as it increases the chances of doing a critical hit!

05-07-2003, 02:06 PM	#1
ZFR Legion Symbol Join Date: February 14, 2002 Location: Ireland Age: 39 Posts: 7,367	ok im in aurils temple doing the battle squares... 3 questions: 1) my summoned creatures seem to disappear fast... theyre there normally for normal spell duration but soon as battle starts they disappear fast.. they get hit once and just vanish... not by normal death, they simply disappear and no text comes up (so and so has taken x damage)... some only die natural death from the first hit... is this normal? 2) i thought that after completing each level on a rank you get both itwm and xp... but i get either only item or only XP... very rarely do i get both... sometimes 2 items... again is this normal? 3) i dont get xp for killing individual monsters, only sometimes xp at the end of each level... is this normal? thanks... ZFR __________________ ZFR

05-07-2003, 02:21 PM	#2
Micah Foehammer Ma'at - Goddess of Truth & Justice Join Date: November 15, 2001 Location: Asheville, NC Posts: 3,253	some answers: 1) Yes. The summoned monster "cheese" was removed with the patch. I didn't play battle squares BEFORE the patch was released so I can not verify that indeed the summoned monster ploy actually work WITHOUT the patch. As I said, I do know that it does NOT work WITH the patch installed. The monsters are not disappearing because of combat or being hit, but there is a lag before the monsters actually vanish. There are some other tactics that were possible before the patch, but my understanding is that ALL of them were removed with the patch. Battle squares is still doable however, but definitely more frustrating. Remember that you can postpone doing battle squares until the start of chapter four, so you have a chance to buff up your character(s) before tackling it. I went through battle squares with a dwarven fighter in both normal and HOF difficulty. Never used a cleric, mage or rogue. Fighter seemed like the best option! 2) Partly true. You should start getting xp for each rank sometime AFTER the fifth rank is completed, but am not sure exactly when that starts. (This is based on the assumption that you playing on NORMAL difficulty - HoF appears to be different) In addition, you will get xp for completing all 10 ranks! I don't recall EVER getting any xp prior to starting rank six, and occasionally got some xp for completing an individual level with a rank. Items are occassionally obtained at the completion of a level, and also there is one item granted for completing each rank, PLUS there is one item given for completing all 10 ranks. 3)Yes, that is normal. See part 2 above [ 05-07-2003, 02:27 PM: Message edited by: Micah Foehammer ] __________________ “Every tavern’s an opportunity, I say.”

05-10-2003, 03:08 AM	#4
lethoso Manshoon Join Date: March 27, 2002 Location: Brisbane, Australia Age: 38 Posts: 248	re: q2. to complete a level you must finish it by killing 3, 4, 5, 6, and finally 7 monsters on that difficulty level. Each time you defeat a set of monsters you should get experience or an item, once you complete a level you get a big item. for battlesquare stategy, there are several other threads floating around about the battlesquare, you may want to look at them... __________________ the three r\'s of microsoft product support: reboot, retry, reinstall

05-10-2003, 02:48 PM	#5
Micah Foehammer Ma'at - Goddess of Truth & Justice Join Date: November 15, 2001 Location: Asheville, NC Posts: 3,253	bucmeister, that's odd that your dwarf couldn't make it through ... mine did. He ended up using the club of disruption as his primary weapon but traded off occassionally as needed. The rest of the party added as many buffing spells as they could - so that he went in FULLY protected. Stoneskin, protections from electricity, acid, fire/cold and evil, magic resistance, mind blank, elemental barrier, haste and finally improved invisibility. After each level, the cleric would cast heal or the dwarf would drink a couple of spirit essences and any protections that dropped were re-instated, again saving haste and improved invisibility for last. BTW, you are right about not being able to do battle squares after you get to Kuldahar. It has to be done BEFORE you start chapter four. Sorry if I mislead anyone in earlier posts. __________________ “Every tavern’s an opportunity, I say.”

05-11-2003, 12:25 AM	#7
ZFR Legion Symbol Join Date: February 14, 2002 Location: Ireland Age: 39 Posts: 7,367	i dont have improved invisibility but zack has i go outside have him cast improved invisibility and stoneskins on my paladin... possible some fireshield... then come back buff some more and attack... problem i cant buff directly my invisible paldin.. so i have to do this outside before zack does improved invisibility.. so i have to give up haste and others with short duration... the buffs i use is usually barskin, protection from evil and champions strength outside (since these has long duration)... inside before battle i use those with area effects... chant, prayer, recitetion, emotion:courage... sometimes also i use protections from fire cold lightning, elemental barrier.... i so far finished rank 7.. i use club of disruption a lot and also "bastard's son"... there is one thing though... drowned undead and shadows dont seem to save against club of disruption.. doesnt it work against them? im amazed how you find greater werewolf tough... thyere one of the easier for me... they miss due to concealment and if hit lots is absorbed by stoneskins... my main problem is with giants, also remorhazs and elementals are tough... btw, there is some sort of bug... when greater Fyer attacks most often he casts emotion despair and then teleports away to the rest of my party and starts attcking them... sometimes a cronungon (sic?) does same thing... is this some bug? why did they correect the monster "cheese" in the patch but didnt correct this?? __________________ ZFR

05-08-2003, 11:36 PM	#3
bucmeister Elite Waterdeep Guard Join Date: February 16, 2003 Location: Burlington, NC Age: 51 Posts: 34	Summons simply don't work in the battlesquare. You have to do without. I tried my fighter dwarf and found it impossible to complete. He took way too much damage up close, especially against some of the tougher monsters. I had better luck with my Druid casting area effect spells, using stunning arrows, and maintaining distance to avoid damage. As a last resort he would shapeshift for melee combat. Still was very hard and had to reload many times. It is very frustrating and becomes boring quickly, going through the buffing spell process, resting, etc. You will not be able to try the Battlesquares again after you go to Kuldahar. After reading a few posts in this forum I thought you could, but you can't. Even when Nickademus recalls you to the temple for his favor, the Battlesquares no longer work. So get as much as you can before you complete the underground under Black Raven Monastery.

05-10-2003, 10:54 PM	#6
bucmeister Elite Waterdeep Guard Join Date: February 16, 2003 Location: Burlington, NC Age: 51 Posts: 34	Micah, I think the Improved Invisibility spell might have been the difference. I never got that spell until Kuldahar. I did the rest just as you described. The main creatures I had problems with were the Frost Giant, Greater Werewolf, and Rhamoraz. They tore my Dwarf up every time. I also tried my Ranger because he had some spells and two weapon fighting abilities. Same deal. They just damage you so quickly close up you don't have much of a chance. BTW, I think Improved Invisibility is the best spell of them all. A wizard with Improved Invisibility can sneak up and wipe out an entire army and they never even have a chance.

05-11-2003, 12:05 PM	#8
bucmeister Elite Waterdeep Guard Join Date: February 16, 2003 Location: Burlington, NC Age: 51 Posts: 34	ZFR, I didn't know Zack would cast spells for you. Thats a new one for me. I just bought spells from him. Didn't see improved invis though. As for the greater werewolf, I did think he was the toughest of them all. He moves so quickly, the Web, stone spikes, and thorn spells my wizard and druid cast beforehand don't affect him. He strikes faster than my hasted dwarf. And he still does quite a bit of damage despite, stone skin, ghost armor, bark skin, etc. If I would have had improved invisibility I'm sure I would have had a much easier time.

05-12-2003, 03:07 AM	#9
ZFR Legion Symbol Join Date: February 14, 2002 Location: Ireland Age: 39 Posts: 7,367	Just finished rank 10!!! [img]smile.gif[/img] bucmeister, when you buy scrolls from Zack notice icons on the left.... you can also have him identify your stuff and also heal you.. well, the same icon which is used in temples to heal you, is used in Zack's case to heal you and offer other spells which include fireshields, stoneskin, summon monster, spirit armor and IMPROVED INVISIBILITY.... the three most important stuff in battle squares is club of disruption (for later ranks), stoneskins and improved invisibility... You can go to Zack, have him heal you and cast stoneskin and imroved invisibility, go finish one level, go back to Zack and so on.... this way you can finish ranks 1 to 10 without resting once... of course, having more buffs can speed things up both stoneskin and impr invisibility cost 140 in my case also healing cost some more... but thats nothing compared to the money you get from battlesquares __________________ ZFR

05-12-2003, 09:20 AM	#10
Micah Foehammer Ma'at - Goddess of Truth & Justice Join Date: November 15, 2001 Location: Asheville, NC Posts: 3,253	ZFR, The teleporting Cornugon and Greater Feyr are NOT bugs. The game is DESIGNED for those monsters to do that. It's supposed to make the battle squares a little more challenging (yeah, like it NEEDS it!). I wasn't aware either that Zack would cast buffs on the party. Bucmeister, Yep, improved invisibility makes a HUGE difference. With Improved Invis up, you will be ASTOUNDED at the number of times those monsters miss you "due to concealment". [img]smile.gif[/img] Stoneskin is good too, but the improved invisibility spell REALLY makes a difference. Haste is also great. On HOF mode, you should augment all of the protection spells I listed with Executioner's Eyes and one high level cleric spell (the name escapes me at the moment). Those two should be the last two spells that you cast because they are short duration. With Executioner's eyes up, a dwarven fighter becomes a juggernaut - his hits are almost always crits. BTW, LUCK is also a great spell as it increases the chances of doing a critical hit! __________________ “Every tavern’s an opportunity, I say.”

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