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The evil party in Cania (spoilers)


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#1 T.G.Maestro

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Posted 25 February 2005 - 03:49 AM

I was wondering if it is only me, or did anyone else find this battle the most difficult encounter in the entire expansion (HotU). I'm talking about the encounter where you have to face Grimgnaw, Balpheron, Kloth, Maugrim and Crimson all at once. To be honest, I was bathing in sweat after I finally managed to bring them down (Protagonist: 10th level Fighter, 24th level Blackguard, Nathyrra: 10th level Mage, 4th level Rogue, 10th level Assassin, Aribeth: 16th level Paladin, 8th level Blackguard). Actually, I had to quicksave the game after each successful kill, and reload from that "safe point" after the other opponents beat me to death again and again... :blink:
Mephistopheles at the end (in his full power) was nothing compared to this battle IMO. Gods, he never even used his Hellball...

So again, is it only me, or is this battle slightly too difficult at that point of the game?
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#2 Archmage Silver

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Posted 25 February 2005 - 04:53 AM

Aye, 'tis difficult for certain characters. My level 10 fighter/ level 22 sorcerer made the battle easier, but with other chars it was more difficult i.e my level 20 paladin/ level 13 cleric had some big troubles with it.

#3 Feanor

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Posted 25 February 2005 - 07:18 AM

I was wondering if it is only me, or did anyone else find this battle the most difficult encounter in the entire expansion (HotU). I'm talking about the encounter where you have to face Grimgnaw, Balpheron, Kloth, Maugrim and Crimson all at once. To be honest, I was bathing in sweat after I finally managed to bring them down (Protagonist: 10th level Fighter, 24th level Blackguard, Nathyrra: 10th level Mage, 4th level Rogue, 10th level Assassin, Aribeth: 16th level Paladin, 8th level Blackguard). Actually, I had to quicksave the game after each successful kill, and reload from that "safe point" after the other opponents beat me to death again and again... :blink:
Mephistopheles at the end (in his full power) was nothing compared to this battle IMO. Gods, he never even used his Hellball...

So again, is it only me, or is this battle slightly too difficult at that point of the game?

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It's difficult because of the NWN style, regarding the impossibility of controlling your henchmen. If you have a character who can use scrolls, cast Time Stop several times and you can hack the whole bunch of them into pieces. If you don't have the Timestop option, you are in trouble.

#4 -BlueNose-

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Posted 25 February 2005 - 07:51 AM

I was wondering if it is only me, or did anyone else find this battle the most difficult encounter in the entire expansion (HotU). I'm talking about the encounter where you have to face Grimgnaw, Balpheron, Kloth, Maugrim and Crimson all at once. To be honest, I was bathing in sweat after I finally managed to bring them down (Protagonist: 10th level Fighter, 24th level Blackguard, Nathyrra: 10th level Mage, 4th level Rogue, 10th level Assassin, Aribeth: 16th level Paladin, 8th level Blackguard). Actually, I had to quicksave the game after each successful kill, and reload from that "safe point" after the other opponents beat me to death again and again... :blink:
Mephistopheles at the end (in his full power) was nothing compared to this battle IMO. Gods, he never even used his Hellball...

So again, is it only me, or is this battle slightly too difficult at that point of the game?

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It’s a very hard battle. There are some tricks that can help you with it.

Have you still got the stone from under the beholder tunnels that negates magic? That stops the spell casters from doing anything effective while you kill Grimgnaw and that Minotaur. Your party has two high level melee fighters and a good backstabber, so should be able to handle them. Afterwards the spell casters are melee fodder for a good fighter.

If you haven’t got that then the spell casters are your highest priority targets. I’d suggest killing Maugrim first, as Belpheron may throw area damage spells that hurt his own side. Equip any spell resistance items, then buff and summon before you enter the area, and be prepared to take the hits as you rush past Grimgnaw. Also distribute some Heal potions to your other characters. In this battle Nathyrra/Deekin probably need to be using melee weapons, as there will be a fighter right on top of them from the start.

For a spell caster PC it’s harder, normally you have room to work with but this time your character is boxed in. Summons and massive buffs on your melee henchmen help, but I also found that using an invisibility potion and running into an open area helped my survival, though not the survival of my henchmen.

Oh, and forget Crimson, she does nothing serious, just let her run around until the others are dead then hunt her down.

Tough yes, but toughest? My vote is for Vix’thra :(

#5 T.G.Maestro

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Posted 25 February 2005 - 08:36 AM

I'd like to correct my stats: my protagonist was level 10 (fighter) and level 14 (Blackguard). Not a 24th level Blackguard as I wrote earlier... :P

Have you still got the stone from under the beholder tunnels that negates magic?

Nope. I haven't been in the Beholder lair.

spell casters are your highest priority targets. I?d suggest killing Maugrim first, as Belpheron may throw area damage spells that hurt his own side

Um, actually, my biggestproblem was Kloth the Minotaur - his attacks inflict damage between 30-50 (without any criticals), and that is enough to rip apart anyone in my party. :glare: My 400 HP won't help that much here.

Oh, and forget Crimson, she does nothing serious

Once she starts melee, she never deals under 50 points of damage - and seem to have a most nasty Attack score... :huh:
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#6 -BlueNose-

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Posted 25 February 2005 - 10:07 AM

I'd like to  correct my stats: my protagonist was level 10 (fighter) and level 14 (Blackguard). Not a 24th level Blackguard as I wrote earlier... :P

Have you still got the stone from under the beholder tunnels that negates magic?

Nope. I haven't been in the Beholder lair.

spell casters are your highest priority targets. I?d suggest killing Maugrim first, as Belpheron may throw area damage spells that hurt his own side

Um, actually, my biggestproblem was Kloth the Minotaur - his attacks inflict damage between 30-50 (without any criticals), and that is enough to rip apart anyone in my party. :glare: My 400 HP won't help that much here.


OK, raise your defence as high as you can with Expertise/Improved Expertise so he doesn't hit so often, and try to make sure you have stoneskin on (Gargoyle Boots or Nathyrra buffing). If you can attract his attention to a PC with AC40+ and bit of damage resistance, he won't get many hits before your other characters sneak attack him to death.
Really though, I've never had my characters fight him that often, usually I leave him to my henchmen and summoned creatures while I hunt down the spell casters. Grimgnaw always follows the PC, and I normally find that when I look up from the battle Kloth is dead. In my last playthrough my level 24 Ranger left Deekin, Nathyrra, my animal companion and a summoned Skeleton warrior to deal with him. If I remember, doesn't the Blackguard have Summon Fiend as a class ability or epic feat? That should give you another melee combatant.

Oh, and forget Crimson, she does nothing serious

Once she starts melee, she never deals under 50 points of damage - and seem to have a most nasty Attack score... :huh:


Most of that is sneak attack damage. She's a typical rogue/assassin type, really effective when flanking but horribly vulnerable to an all out attack.

I'll have to see if I still have a save from just before that fight from my previous games, and play through the fight this weekend. I always thought it was tough, but not the worst, but that just might be me.

#7 T.G.Maestro

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Posted 28 February 2005 - 09:58 AM

raise your defence as high as you can with Expertise/Improved Expertise so he doesn't hit so often

I haven't picked those feats. :)

doesn't the Blackguard have Summon Fiend as a class ability or epic feat? That should give you another melee combatant.

At that point I only had Summon Fiend, and that goes down rather quickly against any of these opponents, even the spellcasters. The same goes for Summon Undead.

She's a typical rogue/assassin type, really effective when flanking but horribly vulnerable to an all out attack.

Well, not entirely for me: first, she is under the effects of Improved Invisibility, granting her 50% concealment. And as strange as it may seem, my characters had a moderately hard time hitting her, especially since she keeps running away once she gets hurt. :huh:

Anyway, I already passed this battle -as I said in my first post- I was merely curious about the opinions of others. ;)
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#8 Gothic Rose

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Posted 28 February 2005 - 04:46 PM

I didnt have any problems with that battle. I was playing opposite of you PC-wise, though. Paladin 12/Champion of Torm 12, or something like that. Nathyrra, and Aribeth (paladinic aribeth).

I just charged in, smote the cleric, then the wizard, then mopped up. Geek the mages first, as they say in Shadowrun.
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#9 -Quiet Lurker-

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Posted 28 February 2005 - 05:39 PM

The problem with your party is that there is no source of HP recovery, as Aribeth doesn't seem to be able to cast Clerical spells. Of course since the ONLY cleric in HoTU is gone in the first chapter (Neverwinter Nights was not designed to have fun factor in mind, so balance is out of the question), you need a source of HP recovery.

Since you main character is not a cleric, I'd recommend selling all of your junk inventory and getting your best weapon enchanted with the 'Regeneration' ability as well as the 'True Sight' and 'Haste' if you have the gold (but regenerate is a must). Get one for each character if possible.

The mages aren't much of a threat once you reach epic level since insta-kill spells usually fail and with the exception of Epic Spells (they have only a few of those), they do minimal damage.

Tell your henchmen/henchwomen to stay close to you so you don't get flanked, retreat if you get wounded so you have time to regenerate lost health, and you should emerge "victorious" (or as victorious as playing NWN could get anyway.)

#10 taza

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Posted 04 March 2005 - 10:04 PM

The battle fits in there just fine difficulty-wise.

My first HotU char just cleaved trough them, starting with the spellcasters. Same with Vix'thra and Memphi though...

Ok, maybe it was because I was playing a bard. They're damn uber.

If you can't handle melee, get the sneaker first and then the minotaur - if you can, get rid of the spellcasters. Use lots and lots of Heal potions too.
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#11 -Alex-

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Posted 17 February 2013 - 08:44 PM

I have a level 10 rouge level 11 assassin and level 5 barb.  I had no difficulties killing them.   Anyway what in the world am I suppose to do after I kill them?