Battle Strategies & Tactics

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Are you having problems with a particular encounter....or did you just do your own version of "BUTTKICKING FOR GOOOOOOOODNESSS" and you just have to tell us about it?

That's what this thread is for. How you defeated a difficult group or monster, or a particularly nasty spell combination you dreamed up.

So ask your questions or sing your praises. And let us revel in your glory with you.

Since I hope this thread will be fairly popular, it might be a good idea to list which encounter your discussing at the beginning of your post. I'll re-post the tactics I used to FINALLY beat Improved Ilyich as an example of how your post should look.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Encounter - Improved Ilyich & Friends
The Good Guys - Kensai (female), Jaheira, Minsc, and Imoen.

I hid my kensai and Jaheira in the series of corridors to the left of the library, then sent Imoen and Minsc ahead to cast a Lightning Bolt on the demon and use Arrows of Biting on Zhivago (cleric) to nullify his summoning of a Fallen Diva. Well, that tactic never worked because Zhivago always managed to summon the Fallen Dive. Finally I left Minsc with the others and just sent Imoen ahead by herself.

I approached close enough to target the room with a Fireball, but NOT close enough to actually "reveal" any of the enemies on the screen. As soon as she cast Fireball, I had her "Haste"ly run back and join the others in the corridors....then waited for the bad guys to show up.

I gave Jaheira a Potion of Invisibility and stationed her next to the door. As luck would have it, Ilyich was the first one through the door. Jaheira quickly slammed the door shut and everybody attacked. Imoend fired Melf's Magic Arrows and Magic Missiles while the rest of the party just pounded on him. We killed him quickly enough to recover 2 of his 3 Potions of Extra Healing (which we were in desparate need of by now). I grabbed the rest of his equipment, then backtracked away from the library towards the room with all the "specimans" in it. Down that hallway and up through the next one into the "Sewage Room" where I had killed the Neo-Otyugh.

I was planning to attack the group from behind....expecting them to still be grouped around the closed door in the library. However, the Glabrezu had decided to "circle around" also and we met each other in the Sewage Room. Since he was by himself - and I now had some weapons that would hit him - we managed to take him out too. The group was too weak to face the rest of the party by this time, because I had used all of damage spells from Imoen and Jaheira was out of Healing spells too. So we took a chance and Rested in the Sewage Room to regain our spells. A random Shadow Thief "popped in" after our rest and we managed to kill him while suffering only minimal damage ourselves. Then we headed into the library to take on the rest of Ilyich's henchmen.

Sure enough, ALL of the others were still grouped by the closed door. I had to try a few different strategies here too, but finally won by sending Imoen up far enough for Rasputin to see her. I then sent the entire party back down the way they came and waited for him in the Sewage Room. With 4-on-1 odds, he was pretty easy to kill. Same thing with the Jailkeeper Golem. That just left Zhivago (cleric) and Karamazov (Wizard Slayer).

This time, I tried a different strategy. Imoen had found a scroll of Dire Charm in the "Lady's Bedroom" (past the dryads). Since I knew I couldn't prevent Zhivago from summoning the Deva, I used the Dire Charm on Karamazov. I then had her attack Zhivago and the Deva came to Zhivago's aid...completely ignoring my group. As soon as Kasamarov was killed, I retreated back to the Sewage Room one last time. I positioned the party in front of a side corridor so I could run in and shut the door behind me if the Deva followed me..but it never did. So I simply waited until the Summons duration wore off and went back into the library again. Zhivago was all alone now and had used his major spells to kill his former comrade. One more "mass attack" put him out of our misery for good.

[rhapsody407]

Rhapsody defeates Ilyich & pals



At first the dryads thought that they had been abandoned. rhapsody, the theif had stolen the portal key and left for the exit...but he returned with a companion besides that of Minsc...Yoshimo! (i had already killed everything up to the exit, so everyone had about 1 extra level, then i went back for Ilyich). I stationed Minsc and Boo at the end of the long corridor, in the corner closest to the library. Rhapsody and Yoshi both hid in shadows, yoshi went right behind Ilyich, rhapsody was stationed in the corner closest to his room. Imoen was standing by, just out of sight of Ilyic h and pals.

Imoen walked into view just as yoshimo backstabbed Ilyich and casted web. (had to reset twice for the following to occur correctly) Yoshimo saved vs. the webs and turned the corner, immediately falling into shadows. The web held all the forces behind Ilyich, leaving only him, a fighter, and an archer to be contended with immediately. They came around the corner, and stopped (Minsc was out of sight, hiding behind the wall), i positioned rhapsody and yoshi in front of and behind the archer (both invisible). Yoshi backstabbed it first, and the archer turned around, letting its back face Rhapsody, who backstabbed it again (i love this). the archer died, and both retreat towards the library, minsc get's ready for his, and stands in between the two shelves. As soon as yoshi and rhapsody turn the corner, they fade into the shadows... (meanwhile, Imoen is caught in her own webs, as are the rest of the people).

When Ilyich turns the corner, he see's minsc, who opens fire on Ilyich, however, rhapsody and Yoshimo are both next to Ilyich, but invisible. As Ilyich walks by Yoshimo, he steps behind him and backtabs him for the second time. He engages Ilyich long enough for rhapsody to sneak behind, and backstab Ilyich for a third and final time. Imoen escapes her web, casts fireball and retreats. Four on one against the last fighter in the library...made easy work of him. The mage and archers were disposed of with much the same tactics (the mage only took 1 backstab).

[Alson]

Great idea, Cerek! [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]
My turn? Lesseeee....

Encounter - Improved Beholders And The Like

The Evil Guys - Anti Paladin/Mage (AP Inactive), Valen, Anomen, Jan, Edwin

Settings - Beholder Hive, Underdark. Level 13 party. No uber items. Insane difficlty level.

Self Resrictions - No Cloak of Mirroring, Shield of Balduran and Scroll of Protection from Magic.

Despair was in sight. Mephisto & Co. were no match for these might denizens of the Underdark - the Beholders kin. Mephisto, as arrogant as always, assumed that his skills were not matched throught the entire Sword Coast, and dared invading the very lair of the beast while being so unexperienced. The assumption proved false.

The Beholders easily countered every move Mephisto pulled from his sleeve.
Sending summons was useless - the Beholders death spelled them like there's no tomorrow. The Fighters stood no chance against the mighty Rays, each doing ~34 damage. The Mages couldn't even finish half of their incantations without being hit by those dreaded Anti Magic Rays.

Just when all hope seems to come to an end, Mephisto's 17 INT proved useful.
A flashback of days long ago - when he was young and innocent, before the lust for power took over him. Back then, he was working with two friend on a grand project - the BG2 Spell Reference. Suddenly, it all became so simple, so obvious, almost... asinine!
Spell Shield! Of course! Spell Shield counters Anti Magic Rays! Oh yes, i still have it! Soul or soulless, the essence of murder is there!
Immediately, Mephisto browsed through his Scroll Case until he found a Spell Shield scroll. He read it out loud, extraverting his confidence that now, it's over. When he'll be finish with it, there will be not a single multi-eyes creature breathing in that damn Hive. Surrounded by the Spell Shield, Mephisto quickly casted Spell Immunity : Necromancy to counter their Rays, and Spell Immunity : Enchantment to counter their various Charm spells. Magically barricated and armed with the Wands of Fireball and Cloudkill, Mephisto ran to the corridor, wreaking havoc and destroying anyone who stood in his way.
Even the Hive Mother and the Elder Orbs were hapless against his Arcane Mastery.

The End. [img]smile.gif[/img]


[ 01-03-2003, 03:50 PM: Message edited by: Alson ]

[Rataxes]

Improved Mae'Var

Settings: Insane Difficulty, Teonora, Chaotic Neutral Lvl 12 Female Swashbuckler, equipped with Aeger's Hide, Cloak of the Sewers, Celestial Fury and Belm

Teonora used one of her precious invisibility potions upon approaching the cellar in which Mae'Var and his chief goons resided. She calmly stood and observed the guardians Mae'Var so cowardly had surrounded himself with:

Four deadly Assassins, a fully armored Warrior Priest, and Mae'Var's personal Imp.

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.

With no time to lose, she was determined to take out the priest first and then deal with the Imp, and finally have Mae'Var begging for mercy before she slit his throat.

She hid in the shadows and took a swing at his back. Before either the priest or anyone else in the room could blink, she had gone into the darkness again. With her Oil and Boots of Speed rendering her as quick as lightning, neither the Priest nor the Imp stood any chance against her Hit and Run charges.

She decided to take out Mae'Var face to face and knocked him senseless with her Celestial Fury, it took him several seconds to recover from the blow and by then, Teonora had already eaten away at his Stoneskins. Before he could bring himself to cast them anew, he was again stunned by it. Mae'Var did not beg for mercy when she struck his heart out, he was too busy being petrified.

With only a few token skeletons left on the outside, Teonora decided that it would not be ethically right to simply leave the Assassins there to rot. So she did what she had to, used her bow and stealth to slowly turn every single thief into a pincushion. The thieves never saw a thing, where there had been the sound of a bowstring just a moment ago, there was now nothing but darkness. She had them all screaming in panic before it was over and she laughed manically in the darkness as she put the finishing arrows in each of their throats.

But when she thought all was said and done, a particularly devious Assassin who had been invisible the whole time - just observing the slaughter of his comrades, faded in behind her. Just when he was just about to stab her neck, his target vanished. Teonora had heard the slow steps behind her and used the powers bestowed by her cloak to turn into a rat. The stroke barely put a dent in her unnaturally thick fur, and before the Assassin could fathom what had just happened, she materialized in her true form behind him - Quickly slaughtered him with her two mighty blades.

She left the fight without either scars or scratches - As is the style of a proper Swashbuckler

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

[Gangrell]

Hmmm, actually, all my encounters have been fairly easy (except for that butt-hole Firkragg), and I don't want to waste the roll that this thread is on, so i'm gonna tell you all about a little spell combo i thought up of. I don't know if you all already know this or not, but i came up with this, and it has defended me against every wizard, lich, and beholder i've ever come across. This is how it goes.

Spell Turning- Deflicts all "offensive" spells like disentigrate and fireball. Best choice is Cloak of Mirroring
Spell Trap- Absorbs spells thrown at you, ANY spell. Mostly, i've found this to work against status attack spells like Power Word Stun, and the dreaded Intrapement Spell (which I found out is a favorite spell of elder orb beholders) Best choice is either a scroll or use a charge off of Staff of the Magi which lasts a lot longer (12 hours I think)

Guarded against offensive and statiticly harming spells, this is the best i've come up with as of this far, so enjoy people.

[Dace De'Briago]

*spoiler*

Encounter: Guarded Compound in the Temple District

This was the lamest battle I have ever fought, and suffers from chronic cheese overdose, just be warned.

Anyway, as a L11 Kensai I decided that I wanted to get Celestial Fury and some other little magic trinkets from the lads at the guarded compound. I popped in and told the mages I'd leave. Fools! They believed me.

I went upstairs and was attacked by the mob (sion, koshi, stalman, maferan etc). Feeling a little outnumbered I did a runner... being chased out of the building by an angry Koshi, a Djinn, an ogre beserker and Ketta).

I sprinted across the map to the temple of Lathander with the mob in hot pursuit, then tried to hide behind the resident priest as they attacked (like you do).

To cut a long story short, they had the grace to box the wondering priest in next to me while we fought. Every time my hitpoints got fairly low (quite often) I was able to buy a heal spell from the priest and continue the fight. I managed to kill all of them first time around! (luck [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

Anyway, I think this qualifies as one of the cheesiest tactics ever... can anyone beat it?

[Butterfingers]

Cheese? Tactics? I have both.

One spook spell. A whole bunch of Skull traps, have your mage cast them from scrolls if need be to get enough. Add one dragon.

Cast skull traps behind dragon. Lots of them. Stir well. Make dragon go hostile. Cast Spook and say BOO! to dragon. Watch dragon run away from you into skull trap nest and die instantly. Magic resistance does little, sooner or later he will fail his saves. This method has proven faultless, and, in my battles, has never failed once. Excepting the dragon in a certain Elven city, that takes some different moves.

BTW, something I learned from playing the game with my Stormlord and Viccy, any idea how fast Big Red falls to two gated Pit Fiends?

[Gangrell]

I've tried that before, basically he starts to fight them in the beginning, but when you start to attack him, he just ignores them.

[SpongeBobTheDestoyer]

Great idea Cerek!

encounter-Improved Bohdi

party-Alagron(cleric/ranger) Sir Galahad(undead hunter) Nihmeda(Sorceress)
Tanthul(fighter/theif)

We are on a mission to save my beloved Aerie and my new best bud Solafein. Bohdi has abducted them both. Along the way we met up with several groups of adventurers who were eager to join in the battle. Drizzt, The Paladins, and the Shadow Theives all came along. We entered the vampire's lair and sent in Tanthul to scout the area. He proceeds to slit the throat of the evil Valen and reports back. By then the vampires are swarming everywhere. Equipped with the Mace of Disruption, Amulet of Power and Sir Galahad's own immunity to level drain we fear no evil. Yet.
The battle takes us to the vamp's hot tub room where Drizzt and his companions are making short work of a dozen vampires. In the heat of the battle a misfired arrow or spell gone bad strikes one Drizzt's party. He no longer will aid us even after my apologies. After ripping through these fledging vampires of the first level we are ready to enter the darkness of the tomb below.
Arkanis the Shadow Theif scouts ahead despite Tanthul's superior theiving skills. Traps are found and removed. Incantations are being prepared. Prayers are said. We lay are own devious traps in the hall, a very dangerous HLA spike trap amongst others. Nihmeda casts a projection of herself which in turn summons skeletal warriors and an all powerful Planeter. We make our final preperations and use a spell of farsight to see into the room ahead. Bohdi, Solafein, Aerie and a ton of bats which we know to be more vampires from experience all await.
Our best strategy would be to split them up so Tanthul walks secretly along with the Planeter into the room. Upon seeing the group the Planeter begins casting an earthquake spell. Bohdi hisses evil threats. Solafein recites dark poetry and Aerie cannot resist the death clouding her mind. Alagron, Sir Galahad and Nihmeda along with several skeletal warriors are outside weapons in hand when a gigantic blood fanged reveng spider dimensions into are trap. An emense steel ball with sharp spikes plummets into the revenge spider. This along with a couple complex arrow traps end the miserable spiders existance.
Tanthul retreats to the hall while the Planeter finishes his spell and unsheathes his mighty plane sword thingy and goes to word on the vampires. At this time there is a sudden silence throughout the party as a withered, power lusting Solafein teleports into the middle of the hall. Four skeletal warriors surround him. The magic guarding Solafein will not allow any spells or weapons to breach him. This is going to be a waiting game. Projected Images casting summons keep Sola busy. Timestops. Simalcrums. Defense breaching spells. Everything fails. The power of Solafein is undeniably greater than any of us could imagine. Only time will allow us a window of opportunity. Finally Sola is exuasted from battling our minions. A defense has faltered and we can target him with spells. Nihmeda breaks down his defense while Alagron rushes in with the Mace of disruption and Crom Faer. Sir Galahad fires a poisonous Kuo-Tuo bolt and then unleashes Carsomyr. The real battle erupts.
Sola deals out heavy damage to Alagron and Galahad but he definately cannot withstand our blows. Upon nearing his death Sola calls out to the evil god providing him with these uncanny powers. He is completely healed and two fearsome revenge spiders have come to his aid. Being that Alagron is a man of holiness he doesn't like to swear but holy shit. Seeing all of this as it unfolds Tanthul reaches into his pack for the timestop scroll he's been saving. Thank god for the use any item ability. Before long all time in the universe has come to a complete stop. Exept for the most dangerous theif this side of the Misty Mountains. Silently and Stealthily Tanthul begins stabbing and slicing, in the belly of the spiders. In between the armor of Sola. Each hit doing backstab damage thanks to another HLA. This all happen with lightning speed. It looks like a silent whirlwind of blades, Sanchuudoku and the Scarlet Ninja-to. As time begins to initiate itself three monstosities fall to their doom, undead Solafein and his two sickly pets have been vanquished.

Sorry if that's too much to read but I was really getting into it. I have to go now but I think I'll finish Bodhi's death later.