26 replies to this topic

[Yovaneth]

Did anyone else find the Archdemon somewhat easy to kill on core rules? I just laid into him/her with melee (me and Alistair) with Morrigan on fire duty and Wynne as the mobile field hospital. The ballistae proved useful too - well, the one that was on target anyway. I was actually mildly disappointed when I took it down first try.

-Y-

[Jarno Mikkola]

Did anyone else find the Archdemon somewhat easy to kill on core rules? I just laid into him/her with melee (me and Alistair) with Morrigan on fire duty and Wynne as the mobile field hospital. The ballistae proved useful too - well, the one that was on target anyway. I was actually mildly disappointed when I took it down first try.

I actually assume that the ending wasn't meant to be really hard, after all, you have already saved(united) the whole land and so are about to quit...
And yeah, the larger than house dragon stood in the ballista fire for hour on end...
And by the way, I took care of the viviparous lizard without calling the reinforcement at all, the first time I was at it.

[Kulyok]

It's hard without Greater Spirit Balms - too much Spirit damage. Also, during my first several playthroughs I didn't know what to do with the dragon when he retreated. Lately I tried the bow and that ballista in the corner, so it went just fine.

I think Broodmother is more annoying than Archdemon, but overall, Archdemon is about as difficult as most major battles: Wolfhang, Broodmother, High Dragon, Flemeth and Branka. The only difference is that there's a very, very annoying Final Battle sequence in Denerim, so you kind of expect something amazing in the end - but I think Bioware did all right. If Archdemon was more difficult to kill, then players would be disappointed and angry.

[Yovaneth]

Yeah - I had far more trouble with the Broodmother until I stumbled on hit'n'run tactics to chop down the main tentacles. Then she went down (relatively) fast. Flemeth... proved relatively easy once I'd figured out that she didn't move much. Witherfang was also relatively easy; in that case I simply concentrated all four party members on Witherfang and ignored the hangers-on. Branka... yes, she was a b_tch to beat down!

I thought I was going to have serious problems with the High Dragon after numerous reloads but the game itself came to my rescue there. IYR, at the far end of the bridge from the temple there is a stone pillar at the end of either wall, then there is a gap, then another two stone pillars. The dragon came down across the road and between both sets of pillars; once in that position the stupid idiot couldn't free itself, so we just wandered up behind it and beat the sh!t out of its backside (probably literally). We had just the odd tail sweep to contend with but that was it. I took a screenshot of that - must see if I still have it. I'll post it if I have.

-Y-

EDIT: Here we go... Got itself completely trapped in that position.

Edited by Yovaneth, 16 February 2010 - 02:01 PM.

[Archmage Silver]

Heh...

As for the final battle, yep, it was easy. Flemeth and the High Dragon proved much more interesting, although it was simply a matter of spam healing Alistair and throwing around revivals, but on lower levels Flemeth was quite overpowering.

[persocom01]

I think the final battle was easier in the sense the archdemon didn't have most of the immunities other dragons had. You could even inferno him. Otherwise I think it was more interesting than say, flemeth or the high dragon. I mean those just stand there with no minions or anything.

Then again I think it's good policy to keep the final boss easier for the benefit of less hardcore gamers. Leave harder bosses optional like in final fantasy. There's also that revanent ganaxx or something in the game, which was probably inspired by baldur's gate's demi lich kagnaxx. I didn't think it was particularly hard, but considering I put the death hex on him. (the one that lets you do criticals on every hit) among other things, I guess he was harder than the average revanent.

Edited by persocom01, 18 February 2010 - 08:56 PM.

[Yovaneth]

Kangaxx (or Gaxxkang as he is here) was another 'easy kill'. I crowded him into a corner and melee'd Seven Hells out of him. He never got a chance to fire off a single spell.... but he did take quite a while to go down finally.

-Y-

[Cal Jones]

Ser Cauthrian gave me more trouble than any of the others. That woman is a terminator!

[Kulyok]

I enjoy luring her into a room down the corridor and then killing her and her bodyguards. Then we return to the room with archers and kill them all. (Morrigan kills the mage with Mana Clash).

[persocom01]

It's more fun to avoid fighting her the first time and go to prison. (fun prison... o.o)

Ser Cauthrian isn't actually very impressive when you use a 2h warrior build like her. She actually failed the physical resistance check when I tried to knock her down. (so she was sprawled on the floor or disabled half the time you can imagine) When you're a 2h warrior like her, you'll start to think she doesn't hit so hard... not as hard as you do anyway when you do a full stamina final blow on her. My arcane warrior though had a fair amount of trouble. Arcane warriors can use magic to equip armor and weapons but they lack shield wall and indominable, 2 essential warrior skills. (one for sword and shield style and the other for 2h style) I think magic doesn't contribute to physical resistance so they get knocked down pretty often too. And maybe it's just me but I find that they also miss their attacks very often.

Edited by persocom01, 20 February 2010 - 03:53 AM.

[Archmage Silver]

I enjoy luring her into a room down the corridor and then killing her and her bodyguards. Then we return to the room with archers and kill them all. (Morrigan kills the mage with Mana Clash).

Heh, I did this as well. After they went down and I had instructed my companions to wait, I walked back and opened with an Inferno, and followed up with a Tempest. Then I just used Force Field on myself and watched them die...

[Kulyok]

Oh, killing her felt sooo good! Really, I can't hate male villains, even Howe was "meh, okay, he kinda killed my char's family, so let's kill him now". But Cauthrien, Broodmother, Wynne? Pure win.

[Archmage Silver]

Broodmother... ugh. That chapter of the game made me slightly nauseous.

[Cal Jones]

I don't always kill her. I did on the game where I was going for the "I'm kind of a big deal" achievement - in the last game I talked her down and let her live. I don't hate her - she's just a soldier trying to do her job.
Wynne is starting to pee me off, though. Initially I liked her but the more I play, the more she begins to irritate me. This seems to be a common opinion on the Bioware boards.
I have yet to kill her, though.

[persocom01]

Oh, killing her felt sooo good! Really, I can't hate male villains, even Howe was "meh, okay, he kinda killed my char's family, so let's kill him now". But Cauthrien, Broodmother, Wynne? Pure win.

Actually I kind of wanted kill howe in the most painful way possible. Like maybe incinerating him bit by bit starting from his extremeties or something after he told me he made my pc's mother beg him and kiss his shoes in front of my dying father. (try all the conversation options when you are human noble and in one of them he tells you that) Alternatively I'll want to say something like "the last thing you'll see me do is lopping off your head", but sadly the game didn't let me have the last word.

Edited by persocom01, 21 February 2010 - 08:22 AM.

[Kulyok]

Yep, saw that option with Howe. I got the last word, though: I used the persuade check to tell him something like "I don't believe you. They were Couslands" and he grudgingly says something like "I can see it in your eyes. You're a Cousland, too." - that is, he admits that Couslands were better than him, and that the character's father would've been proud of her. I don't remember the exact wording, but there was only one Persuade option there, so.

[Archmage Silver]

Yep, there's definitely no reason to skip Master Coercion, you get some of the best lines by using it.

Edited by Archmage Silver, 21 February 2010 - 04:50 PM.

[Qwinn]

Yep, there's definitely no reason to skip Master Coercion, you get some of the best lines by using it.

Well, there might be, if you're playing a cunning-based rogue. I believe if you have the third tier of coercion plus something like 30 or 40 cunning, you can pass every check in the game. I'm not sure of the exact figure though. It's something I plan to test on my next run through.

Qwinn

[Archmage Silver]

Yep, there's definitely no reason to skip Master Coercion, you get some of the best lines by using it.

Well, there might be, if you're playing a cunning-based rogue. I believe if you have the third tier of coercion plus something like 30 or 40 cunning, you can pass every check in the game. I'm not sure of the exact figure though. It's something I plan to test on my next run through.

Qwinn

Prove it and I'll concede your point.

[Kulyok]

I do not have access to the scripts, but I believe the unofficial guide states that each rank of coercion gives you +25 points in Cunning. Which means that my char(who's got 70 cunning) spent at least two Coercion points for nothing. Um. Then again, I read somewhere that some checks are only available if you have Master Coercion, so maybe it was not in vain.