Visit the Ironworks Gaming Website Email the Webmaster Graphics Library Rules and Regulations Help Support Ironworks Forum with a Donation to Keep us Online - We rely totally on Donations from members Donation goal Meter

Ironworks Gaming Radio

Ironworks Gaming Forum

Go Back   Ironworks Gaming Forum > Ironworks Gaming Classics > Icewind Dale | Heart of Winter | Icewind Dale II Forum

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 12-02-2004, 05:06 PM   #1
NobleNick
Quintesson
 

Join Date: February 5, 2002
Location: Huntsville, AL, USA
Age: 63
Posts: 1,045
All,

~

TotLM SPOILERS

~

~

~

Well it has been over a month. I finally got around to another couple hours of IWD. Although I have traversed most of IWD and the expansions more than once, this is a part I have not yet seen. I must be near the end of the TotLM expansion; because things are getting tough...

I am in the castle dungeon, past the point of no return, in with the jackal warriors and such, and just entered the room with Harpies and Infernal Harpies. I was totally unprepared the first time (other than doing the habitual save before entering room). On the second attempt I poured on a few buffs before entering, fired off at least three Entangles, and let the Berserkers loose. (Sigh.) When I return for the third attempt I will have the Mage -AND- Bard StoneSkinned, everyone else buffed to the max, and have more than one Fireball at my disposal. Might have to use Slow and that despised Haste spell. Meanwhile, anyone who has been there, how did you survive?

EDIT: More to the point --> I know I could ginsu these guys if I could just keep my party from panicking. Please remind me of the spells and songs to protect against harpie-induced panic. I had the Bard singing the Strongheart song (immunity to fear); but that is evidently not the right one. Sing the song for Immunity to sound attacks? What are the Cleric spells for this (I know there is at least one very good one)?

~

End of SPOILERS

~

--------------------
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!


[ 12-02-2004, 05:22 PM: Message edited by: NobleNick ]
NobleNick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2004, 05:47 PM   #2
Cyril Darkcloud
Lord Soth
 

Join Date: February 7, 2002
Location: New York
Posts: 1,980
NobleNick it's been a while since I've last played through the xpansions and since I've last posted here, but some things - such as the battle - you just don't forget *lol*

This is a difficult fight and one that is notorious for really slowing down a player's machine. One of the things that made a big difference for me in the battle was to move my group very quickly to a more defensible location rather than fighting the harpies at the entrance. There is a smaller chamber in the cave which is ideal for a couple fighters to hold off the harpies while the spellcasters deal their damage. As I'm not a big fan of using summoned monsters - a matter of playing style - this simple move made a tremendous difference for me.

You'll want to hook your characters up with some charm resistance in addition to any fear resistance. Fire resistance is also helpful against the infernal harpies. I also found that multiple cloud kills and acid fogs worked well here as the harpies have high hit point totals that need to be chopped down.

In case you'd like to see what you're up against here - these are the stats I culled from the game using the Near Infinity Editor. (I posted this on the forums here a long while back but it seems worth digging up and reposting here)

~ SPOILERS ~
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Infernal Harpy
HP: 113
Effective AC: -8
# Attacks: 3

Resist Fire: 100
Resist Magic Fire: 100

Saving Throws:
- Death: 3
- Wands: 5
- Poly: 4
- Breath: 4
- Spell: 6

Innate Spells:
Magic Missile - 1X
Aganazzar's Scorcher - 1X
Flame Arrow - 1X
Dire Charm - 1X

The Fiendish Harpies have similar stats [120hp; AC -4] and identical saving throws. They do not, however, have any special resistances or the innate spells of the infernal harpies.


Those high hit point totals explain why it took forever to drop these things when I ran through this part of TOL!


[ 12-02-2004, 05:52 PM: Message edited by: Cyril Darkcloud ]
__________________
One does not control the Wind.
One enters it, feels its freedom. And moves.
Cyril Darkcloud is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2004, 05:51 PM   #3
Aerich
Lord Ao
 

Join Date: May 27, 2004
Location: Canada
Age: 42
Posts: 2,061
Spoiler answer
*
*
*
*
Song of Kaudies gives 50% resistance to sound attacks. The song was MADE for this encounter.

As for clerical spells, Impervious Sanctity of Mind (lvl 7) should do it. I'm not sure, but Exaltion (lvl 3) might also do it. Your mage should cast Mind Blank (lvl 8), if you possess it.

For good measure, memorize a couple Silence spells. You could go in fully buffed and singing, and cast those silence spells on the harpies right away. Also, a Symbol or two (Hopelessness) works wonders here. It has a quick casting time (3) and can potentially disable half or more of the enemies.

For this fight, I go with disablers and quick-kill spells. If you want to go full-out melee, I think you might even be able to cast the silence spells on yourself (after buffing and hasting outside). I haven't tried this but it would probably work, as long as you could cut them down fast enough, before the spell elapses. Just hope you don't need healing in the meantime (or use potions).

Web might be a better spell than Entangle for this, as Web essentially paralyses anything that fails to save - I actually haven't noticed if Web prevents harpy song, but I KNOW it prevents spellcasting.

It might also be helpful for one of your arcane casters to have Courage memorized, and be ready to cast it INSIDE the room. Courage counters fear, as does the clerical spell Remove Fear. I usually manage to disable the harpies' panic attacks early, before more than one or two characters get panicked. I don't know for sure that these fear-removers work against panic. It's worth a shot, and you should have enough spell slots to use these as backup plans. Exaltion might remove the effect as well.

Remember, undead are immune to panic. Do Shadow Monsters count as undead? I can't remember. If they do, you should use those instead of berserkers. Or just use Summon Shadow.

So give it a try, and let us know how it goes.

EDIT: It's been a while since I did this fight - however, I recall using Greater Shield of Lathander (100% spell resistance and full immunity to damage for 3 rounds) and Holy Word (stuns evil with no saving throw, for 1 round if high level, damages and kills if lower level). Plenty of ways to win this fight.

[ 12-02-2004, 06:12 PM: Message edited by: Aerich ]
__________________
Where there is a great deal of free speech, there is always a certain amount of foolish speech. - Winston S. Churchill
Aerich is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-02-2004, 06:22 PM   #4
NobleNick
Quintesson
 

Join Date: February 5, 2002
Location: Huntsville, AL, USA
Age: 63
Posts: 1,045
Cyril Darkcloud! Long time, no see! Great to hear from you; and thanks for the spoiler! (I don't consider it spoiling; I consider it intel.)

Aerich, thanks to you, too. I have two DC Clerics and am sure I have all the spells you mentioned. I will go get the right spell mix, per your suggestions, and be back with the Bard singing Kaudies.

It could be a while; but I'll let you know how it turns out.

--------------------
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!
NobleNick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 12-03-2004, 10:39 AM   #5
Dundee Slaytern
Ironworks Moderator
 

Join Date: June 10, 2001
Location: Pasir Ris, Singapore
Age: 41
Posts: 11,063
Resist Fear: Mage Spell, Level 2

Harpy fears no more.

Just remember to keep some Antidotes handy when they poison your tanks. Cast spells that help boost your Saving Throws. With 2 Clerics... this should not be a problem.

Recitation and Prayer are keepers. Bless is always useful too.
Dundee Slaytern is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2005, 09:58 AM   #6
NobleNick
Quintesson
 

Join Date: February 5, 2002
Location: Huntsville, AL, USA
Age: 63
Posts: 1,045
More TotLM spoilers...

O.K., guys, thanks. I used a little bit of everyone's advice and got through this. I thought it would be easier; but neither of my Mages had Resist Fear in her repertoire. I took a right and went into what I thought was an alcove; but it was a path around a rock. Oops. I had to fight on two fronts instead of one; but I had the Fighter power to pull it off. I had pre-buffed with Protection from Evil, had the Bard and Mage Mirrorer, Blurred and Stoneskinned, added about 7 other buffs; and had the Bard singing the resist fear song while the Mage did Web and Fireballs and the Druid did Entangles and meleed. It made a BIG difference to NOT have Warriors immediately dropping like flies due to fear. The Bard stopped singing long enough to cast 2 Skull traps into a cluster of 7 Harpies; and it was about then that I lost control of the Ranger/Cleric, and he eventually died. I also temporarily lost control of the Fighter/Druid. The Cleric/Fighter resurrected the R/C after the fight, and all was well.

The Mage and the Bard can temporarily be made MUCH tougher than my -17 AC Cleric/Fighter and -15 AC Ranger/Cleric, even after these guy get buffed with Recitation and Prayer, etc.

Onward...

I've been collecting gems to open the portal. I have 5 (shouldn't I have 6?) flawed gems. Now, I know I was told how to fix the flawed gems, but have forgotten what I was told and who told it to me. The friendly werewolf isn't saying anything helpful on the subject, and is no help at all except to let me rest between mistakes. I have placed gems in the empty tables that are typically guarded by the Stone Nuisances, hoping for a state change, but to no avail. I finally went to the old alter in the pond and tried just putting the flawed Moonlight gem in the alter pocket named Night; but it spit the gem right back out (still flawed) and I got a nasty fight out of the deal. So, please spoil me: How do I fix the gems, and do they go where their names hint that they should go (e.g., Moonlight goes with night, etc.)?

--------------------
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!


[ 06-09-2005, 10:13 AM: Message edited by: NobleNick ]
NobleNick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2005, 09:11 AM   #7
Micah Foehammer
Ma'at - Goddess of Truth & Justice
 

Join Date: November 15, 2001
Location: Asheville, NC
Posts: 3,253
Quote:
Originally posted by NobleNick:
More TotLM spoilers...



I've been collecting gems to open the portal. I have 5 (shouldn't I have 6?) flawed gems. Now, I know I was told how to fix the flawed gems, but have forgotten what I was told and who told it to me. The friendly werewolf isn't saying anything helpful on the subject, and is no help at all except to let me rest between mistakes. I have placed gems in the empty tables that are typically guarded by the Stone Nuisances, hoping for a state change, but to no avail. I finally went to the old alter in the pond and tried just putting the flawed Moonlight gem in the alter pocket named Night; but it spit the gem right back out (still flawed) and I got a nasty fight out of the deal. So, please spoil me: How do I fix the gems, and do they go where their names hint that they should go (e.g., Moonlight goes with night, etc.)?

--------------------
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!
I had to check my notes for the complete details, but here goes. Each flawed gem is found in a chest near but not adjacent to one of the altars. Each of these gems needs to be put into the Chest of Seasons (located in area where all of the minotaurs appear). When you put the gem into this chest it will disappear and a flawless gem will then appear in one of the altars. It has been my experience that the stone nuisances WILL respawn when you re-enter each of the five altar areas so there is an optimum way to get thru this section so you traverse the areas in a bare minimum of trips.

It's been a while since I played this, but I think this is the right sequence:

1) Go thru the portal on the extreme north of the upper level (near where the spiders are) - this will drop you into another area with spiders in it. Kill the spiders and loot the chest for the flawed emerald. STOP and go no further as you don't want to fight the baddies near the altar yet.

Take the flawed emerald and go back out. find the entrance to the area with the chest of the four seasons. Take the flawed skydrop gem, kill the minotaurs and head SOUTH to the chest of the four seasons. Put the flawed emerald in the chest. Put the flawed skydrop gem into the chest. Now head NORTH at the junction and go to the Altar of Heaven(NW). Kill the bad guys (minotaurs and stone nuisances). Claim the Flawless Star Saphire from the Altar of Heaven. Leave this area and head back up.

Now enter another portal to the Altar of Day (SW). Kill the jackals and stone nuisances that are here and loot the chest for the flawed fire agate and reclaim the Flawless Sunstone from the chest. Head back to thru the portal and back to the portal to the chest of seasons. Put the flawed fire agate into the chest. Leave back thru the portal.

Head for the portal near the spiders (N) and enter. Go past the chest now and kill the stone nuisances here and reclaim the Flawless Diamond from the Altar of Earth. Leave.

Now head to the eastern part of the upper level near where you fought the bears. Enter the portal here and prepare to fight MORE bears. Head south and loot the chest for flawed moonbar, if possible without alerting the nuisances to the north. Leave and head back to the chest of seasons, put the flawed moonbar into the chest and head BACK to the bear portal and re-enter. Now head NORTH and kill the stone nuisances and reclaim the Flawless Moonstone. exit this area and head to the south east. Find the portal here and enter and THIS is where you fight the harpies!!! Head east on this level, grab the flawed pearl from the chest and exit - again without wakening the stone nuisances if at all possible. Head back to the chest of seasons, put the flawed pearl into the chest, and head BACK to the harpy portal. Go the altar of the Sea and claim your Flawless water star gem.

You should now have five flawless gems: Star Saphire, Sunstone, Moonstone, Diamond, and Waterstar gem.
__________________
“Every tavern’s an opportunity, I say.”

http://www.ironworksforum.com/forum/image.php?type=sigpic&userid=3793&dateline=1187636  783
Micah Foehammer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-14-2005, 04:02 PM   #8
NobleNick
Quintesson
 

Join Date: February 5, 2002
Location: Huntsville, AL, USA
Age: 63
Posts: 1,045
Thank you, Micah!

Oh, goody: If only 5 are needed, then I have all the gems!

Now, since I have (I believe) killed everything hostile in the area at least once, and don't even remember the Minitaurs; could you give me a bit more guidance as to where the 4 seasons chest is?

I can just throw all five gems into it at once, and make yet another round of the area, gleefully abusing stone nuisances and retrieving perfect gems, right?

--------------------
What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party On!!
NobleNick is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
TotLM (spoilers) Stuie Icewind Dale | Heart of Winter | Icewind Dale II Forum 11 02-11-2006 03:27 AM
What's TOTLM? RaisedByApes Icewind Dale | Heart of Winter | Icewind Dale II Forum 2 02-22-2005 03:14 PM
Man, HOW and TotLM are HARD! (minor spoilers inside) Jerry_Seinfeld Icewind Dale | Heart of Winter | Icewind Dale II Forum 9 02-03-2005 02:19 AM
A Script Request ~Chapter 6 Spoilers~ Dundee Slaytern Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn & Throne of Bhaal 3 02-22-2003 04:36 PM
FAQ development and a request to people past the Temple (SPOILERS!) CuriousYellow Wizards & Warriors Archives 0 10-06-2000 02:42 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:52 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
©2024 Ironworks Gaming & ©2024 The Great Escape Studios TM - All Rights Reserved