Battle Square....Potential spoilers!!

[Serak Moonblade]

Last time i played I decided to omit the Battle Square game. this time i plan to do it. i've reached rank 4 so far. i had some questions regarding this.

1....Does it make a difference who fights within?

2....Is the Battle Square critical to the game?

3....I notice that differnt ranks give different gems and gold. does it give anything else?

4....Are there any quests that need to be done to be able to complete the Battle Square more satisfactorily? I'm not able to free the creatures stuck in the first level Northeast corner. i've opener the door but I think I need to open the room directly beneath them (if i remember from last time). How do I do that?

5....Do the people in the trapped room in the southeast part of the second level have anything to do with the Battle squares? Can they be freed in any way (say by finishing the battle squares)?

Please help me by giving clues alone and don't give away answers.

[ZFR]

Completing battle squares has NO effect whatsoever on any other quests.
It does give somevery very good items as reward.

[Bozos of Bones]

People in the trapped room? You're referring to the Iron Collar Mercenary gang, right? Nope, you can only kill them for items and XP. Not bad loot.
Oh, and I'm not sure you know this, but the battle squares require 250+ battles to complete. Just so you know.
To free the prison you have to kill/banish A***-K******t. Good luck with that!

[Marty4]

Righto with BoB, except thats not the iron collar, thats the... I-something, but not Iron Collar. Iron Collar was our friends from Targos, remember?

[Bozos of Bones]

Aw heck! Yes... this is the talisman... Somehow I always manage to mix those two...

[Ale_beer]

I had read somewhere on the web that its possible to place your party in a certain spot, and they wont get teleported away when you do battle squares thus enabling your whole party to tackle it. Does anyone know about this? I have not been able to find this again.

Defeating the entire battle squares the hard way is very difficult, but also very satisfying when done.

Alan

[ZFR]

Originally posted by Ale_beer: I had read somewhere on the web that its possible to place your party in a certain spot, and they wont get teleported away when you do battle squares thus enabling your whole party to tackle it. Does anyone know about this? I have not been able to find this again.

I believe the patch fixed this.

[Serak Moonblade]

whoa! yes it sure is tough. i just finished a rank just now took me an hour and lots of quicksaves. i don't know which rank since the golem says rank 4 completed but it was the fifth lever. so must be rank 4 assuming that there is upto rank 9 even if there are 10 levers.

but whats the idea of more than 3 squares? last rank had me secure about 6 squares. my party is as follows:

1> (m) dwarf fighter-barbarian
2> (f) human-aasimar paladin
3> (f) human-aasimar cleric
4> (m) human-aasimar monk
5> (m) human-tiefling rogue-wizard
6> (m) drow wizard

so far all but the last rank was obtained by my monk. but the last one (phew!) i had to use my paladin.

how in blue blazes do you bring down the elementals?! i used to reload till an umberhulk or a zombie lord used to come. SHEEEESH! i'm going to be stuck on this for ever this way.

whom do you think i should send in? my paladin uses the winged blight. and my fighter-barbarian is a dual wielding axe fighter. my cleric also was a disaster. her summoned monsters were stomped out in a couple of instants! plus the elementals are immune to slashing, bludgeoning and piercing damage. at least in the beginning so by the time i start to damage it my character is on the verge of dying. the last rank drained me of about 20 healing potions. i hadn't used any since the begining. but my stock is now severely depleted.

AAAARRGHH!!!!!

[Magness]

Serak, a few points. I'll try to stay away from any spoilers.


1. Do you realize that it takes 5 victories to complete each "rank"? You have to play that little game of tic-tac-toe 5 times for each rank and there are 10 ranks. To complete a rank, you have to fill in the board with 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 X's. That's a total of 25 solo battles for each rank, 250 solo battles in total.

Not to scare you away. It just takes a lot of patience and work to finish off the entire Battle Squares.

2. Another FYI ... you only are *required* to complete 1 rank to complete the ice Temple. Finishing all 10 ranks is optional.

3. Yes, elementals are very tough.

4. Here's the strategy I use for battlesquares.

Select your very best warrior. Give this warrior the very best stuff you have. it's a good idea to have him armed with your best slashing, piercing, and blunt weapons you have, so that you have some options against whatever foes you face.

Without knowing the stats of your characters, I'd choose the paladin, for the improved saves and a little extra self healing.

Buff up this character to the MAX. Spare no spells. Stoneskin is a must. Haste is useful as well.

Don't bother with summons. They'll just get teleported in with the rest of your party.

Start the battle. Monster knowledge is useful. Select the best weapon for dealing with the monster you face. Blunt weapons for skeletons, etc.

One mini-spoiler. IIRC, the prize for completing rank 4 or 5 is a club that is **VERY** useful for dealing with those elementals and other monsters to come.

And BTW, you do not have to complete the ranks in order.

[Marty4]

On the issue of summons, you can't summon before the square starts, but you CAN summon after the rest of your party are off screwing around . I beat the squares with a fighter4/cleric, and having 6 greater drowned ones really helped (great strength on them, and even better resistences)

If you have a good warrior/cleric, I'd recomend them over a paladin for summons and the Heal spell, and since they can re-buff themselves. It is your choice what you want to do.