This topic is entirely moot after setting the magic flags properly. Karough will be hit by anything magical (still regenerates like crazy, but this is really just a question of dps).
Then make Demogorgon in BG2:EE vulnerable to +1 weapons as well, what the hell ! Should be killable by solo bard, no?
More "fixes" like this and I will get back to original BG1.
This topic is entirely moot after setting the magic flags properly. Karough will be hit by anything magical (still regenerates like crazy, but this is really just a question of dps).
@Avenger_teambg This is REALLY the wrong direction. Where do we get when the whining starts to affect other topics? Drizzt too hard? Sarevok causes too many reloads? Please, leave such matters clearly not being bugs alone.
This is where modding may enter the playfield. Or maybe add some more silver flagged weapons that can be worn by everyone.
I have to agree. Bg should be a hardcore game. I remember first time I played I completly destroyed my game, because I could not finish the Lothander & Marek quest since I've already stole the book of wisdom and used. So my party just died after ten days. You have learn the hard way. I don't know whether Karoug is different from the orignal BG1 version or not. It seems stronger to me, maybe I am just a worse player than before. I believe he should be like he was in BG1. No stronger, no weaker. There is two weapon in the Island which can hit him and you can get two more outside the Island. It is quite correct. Soloing was and always will be about using glitches. I am sure they will find their way...
The proper direction for enhancing BG and BG2 would be to improve the AI, like implement the "call to arms" system from IWD expansion where you can't lure enemies one by one and fight them separately.
That would make the game harder, but haven't we enough dumbed down sequels of great games already? This is a classic and should be treated with more respect than simply a cash grab.
Karoug in BG:EE is easier than in the original if you know what you are doing. You can lure him on the floor below in a well prepared position and finish him in several rounds.
Count this as another vote to leave the Karoug encounter as it is. I could get behind a cold-iron blunt weapon for clerics, but I see no problem with the encounter's difficulty. I disagree with @Grulo in terms of tone and dismissing other's points of view as wrong or 'WoWish', but I agree with the general point.
1) Soloing is optional 2) Going to the island, and therefore the Karoug encounter is optional 3) I am leaning towards the train of thought that "if you felt that you had the metagame knowledge to solo, then you get what comes to you in terms of added difficulty/restrictions that a solo campaign has." In this gameplay, especially if you solo and/or roleplay, you have to work with what you have (items, abilities, spells, metagame knowledge to amass these required/useful tools before encounters that require them) 4) It's a tough encounter! Really tough! He regenerates wicked fast! I happen to like the difficulty factor personally, solo or not. 5) I don't think it's bad or wrong to request a change in this encounter, I just strongly disagree. Also, that fact the original tone or at least an early tone in this thread was "this encounter is tough enough to justify a change" as opposed to "this encounter is tough with this campaign I've picked for myself, any ideas on how to conquer it?" may have sparked the strong backlash. It doesn't excuse it; I'm just looking at causality. 6) A couple ideas have been floated around on this thread. Minus the hostility (which has been plentiful), this is the grounds of a productive thread- someone brings up a difficult spot, other people suggest from their own knowledge and experience. It's a beautiful thing. 7) @wild You do indeed win this thread!
What is the point of there being silver weapons? Why bother having the werebane dagger there, just remove it too.
This was not just one of the harder battles, it was a unique battle that required some lore (using silver / cold iron to kill GWW)
If you must add a cold iron staff. Everyone can equip a staff.
If I whine hard enough that my level 1 3str, 3dex, 3con monk can't solo the demon knight will you make that easier too? This thread has already demonstrated a way to kill the GWW with any class, and if you somehow couldn't pull it off you could kill the head of the village and move on.
That was a joke. Also about a different encounter so I don't see your point at all. That was actually fairly rude of you.
To clarify further, I was adding to that thread to note the weapons that I was having trouble hitting a different encounter with, as the rest of the people were, that might help fix a bug, if it was one. Then I tried an attempt at humor that you decided to use to attack my position on something completely different.
But it doesn't make sense to have real +2 weapons in the black pits and nerfed +2 weapons in the normal game. And yeah, maybe it was rude, but i just read your note in the other thread, and i found it weird to complain about things on both sides.
This should not be solved nerfing +2 weapons. Rather Karoug should be made immune to +2 weapons, unless they are silver/cold iron weapons. Is this technically feasible?
This should not be solved nerfing +2 weapons. Rather Karoug should be made immune to +2 weapons, unless they are silver/cold iron weapons. Is this technically feasible?
Interesting question. But considering that +2 enchantment should be superior to +1 and the silver weapons are +1 as far as I remember, it wouldn't be logical.
So as not to double post, here is a solution to the problem that might make both sides happy. Make only silver or cold iron, however it is working now hurt the GWW on Core or higher difficulty. Make all magic weapons of a certain degree hurt him on normal or below.
The encounter in the black pits is suppose to be hit by + 2 weapons.
The Greater Wolfwere is suppose to be hit by silver or cold iron weapons, as per the original intent of the game.
Complain? About the black pits? I wasn't complaining in the thread about the black pits, I was adding my own experience and the weapons I used to help solve a problem if there was one. I normally don't even care if there are bugs because I can just work around them, so I won't make the mistake of reporting one or adding to the list of weapons that might not be working properly again.
Complain? About the GWW encounter? I guess you could call it that, but I mainly wanted to know if nerfing encounters as they were intended in vanilla was going to be the way things were going to continue to go with Overhaul in BG1:EE and then BG2:EE but you have more or less answered that question for me by your attitude to my concern.
If this is the direction BG:EE is going to move in, which it appears to be from the "fix", and your response, I regret my purchases, and the purchases I got friends to buy for when multiplayer is fixed. Oh, btw, feel free to go through my other posts which you seem to like to do, you won't find one of me demanding a refund or going nuts over how badly multiplayer is working. You WILL posts find stating that Overhaul needs more time and the game is good, if I had known Overhaul was spending energy working on nerfing intended challenges from vanilla instead of fixing the multiplayer promise they made I wouldn't have been so nice, nor would I have continued to convince my friends to buy it claiming that it would be fixed in the future.
@erg originally Karoug was immune only to normal weapons (despite there is a silver weapon option). In BGEE he is also immune to +1 weapons. Probably it is possible to make him resist all normal/magic except silver. The BG2 system is quite flexible. I just don't know if the original intention was this, or they really just didn't implement magic weapons correctly in BG1. I mostly used to mod BG2, so i don't know what is new in BG2 regarding weapon resistance. Maybe @Balquo knows.
[edit] i take this back, his human form is immune to non-magic weapons, his wolf form is immune to non-silver.
Interesting question. But considering that +2 enchantment should be superior to +1 and the silver weapons are +1 as far as I remember, it wouldn't be logical.
The +2 was just an example. I mean that "enchantment bonus" and "siver/cold iron property" should be handled separately if it is possible.
@moopy no one ever said that nerfing is a purpose. Quite the contrary, the goal is to keep the game as much the old way as possible, except when it is about 1. fixing bugs 2. trying to keep new content working and playable 3. trying to port back engine differences coming from the switch to bg2.
@erg originally Karoug was immune only to normal weapons (despite there is a silver weapon option). In BGEE he is also immune to +1 weapons. Probably it is possible to make him resist all normal/magic except silver. The BG2 system is quite flexible. I just don't know if the original intention was this, or they really just didn't implement magic weapons correctly in BG1. I mostly used to mod BG2, so i don't know what is new in BG2 regarding weapon resistance. Maybe @Balquo knows.
I cannot be sure about the intentions of the original developers, but lore wise it makes sense that Karoug should be affected only by silver/cold iron weapons irrespectively of their enchantment bonus.
It is not possible to make him hurt by both silver and cold iron while resisting everything else. (At least not without engine changes).
By the way, some flesh golem, many werewolves, mendas, etc had the same immunity. Even wraithform, which was not active in bg1 uses the very same opcode+parameters.
[edit] same mistake here, i looked at the human form.
@moopy while you are there, check if staf02 does the same If i'm right, then the staff of striking and staf02 (quarterstaff +1) behaves exactly the same way. BG1 had no magic level, just 'magical', 'silver','cold iron'.
I found this from the old 2nd edition Adventure "Feast of Goblyns""
Wolfwere, Greater
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any/Forest FREQUENCY: Very Rare ORGANIZATION: Solitary ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any (espically night) DIET: Carnivore INTELLIGENCE: Exceptional (15-16) TREASURE: 20%, U, (B) ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil NO. APPEARING: 1-4 ARMOR CLASS: 2 MOVEMENT: 18 HIT DICE: 8+2 THAC0: 11 NO. OF ATTACKS: 1, 2, or 3 DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2d8, 1d6/1d6/2d6 or 2d6/weapon+6 (see below) SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below MAGIC RESISTANCE: 50% SIZE: M-L (4-9') MORALE: Champion (15) XP VALUE: 8000
Greater wolfweres are a bane to all who live. They are able to assume three shapes at will, taking only a single round to alter forms. Their natural shape is that of a giant dire wolf standing a full 5' to 6' tall at the shoulder. They can also assume a half-wolf/half-human form. In this state they are 8'-9' tall with massive long arms equipped with talon like nails. Finally, they may assume the form of any humanoid of either sex which is between 4' and 9' in height. Greater wolfweres speak common, as well as the language of forest animals.
Combat: Greater wolfweres often employ the same strategies used by typical wolfweres when hunting. They will change into a humanoid of opposite sex to that of their victim. Then, using their charisma and singing ability, they will get close to their victim and sing their special song. Anyone failing a save versus spells will be overcome with lethargy. The effects of this are the same as those for a slow spell and last for 1d6+4 rounds. In dire wolf form, they will bite with their savage jaws, inflicting 2d8 points of damage with each successful attack. In demi-wolf form, they can strike with each of their clawed hands (causing 1d6 points of damage each) and also bite for 2d6 points. In lieu of their claw attacks, greater wolfweres in this form may employ weapons (gaining a bonus of +6 on their damage rolls). In humanoid form, they are forced to fight with weapons only and are assumed to have a strength of 18/00 (+6 to damage). Greater wolfweres have infravision with a 120' range, and in all forms except human, their eyes glow red in the dark. Greater wolfweres have all the abilities of a first level bard and can climb walls (55%), detect noise (25%), pick pockets (15%), and read languages (10%). Some exceptional individuals may be of greater level. As a rule, 1 in 10 creatures will be of level 2-5 (1d4+1) and 1 in 20 will be of level 6-11 (1d6+5). Iron weapons (or those of a +1 enchantment) are required to harm a greater wolfwere. However, unless the blow is instantly fatal, the wound will quickly repair itself as the wolfwere is able to regenerate all of its lost hit points at the end of any given round. It is important to note, however, that severed limbs and such are not regenerated in this fashion. Greater wolfweres are somewhat more resistant to wolfsbane than their lesser cousins and can stand the presence of that herb if they make a saving throw versus poison. If they fail, they must avoid it at all costs. The howl of a greater wolfwere can summon 4d6 wolves or 2d6 dire wolves to its aid, if such creatures are in the area. These wolves will fight most loyally on behalf of the greater wolfwere with a +2 moral bonus.
TL;DR: Original PnP Greater Wolfweres CAN be hit by +1 or better weapons. However, if i am reading this correctly, they regenerate ALL the HPs they lose at the end of the round. The only way to kill them is to do it in one single round. So let's say you get them to 1 hp (near death) but miss any attacks after that. After a couple seconds, he should be unharmed.
I think you are right on that, but neither a +1 staff or +3 staff will hurt him. Twinkle, +3 scimitar will not hit him either.
I thought +3's would hit him but it had been a while and I'm probably remembering the bastard sword that is +3 vs shapeshifters.
From this test in vanilla though it looks like no magical weapons could hit him. So I think adding a cold iron or silver (whichever one it is) staff would be a better solution than changing the encounter.
I've beaten Karoug various ways in original BG1+TotSC, but I haven't yet reached him in BG:EE, so I'm speaking without the benefit of current experience.
However, having just read all of this, it seems to me that there's a consensus emerging which appears (just about) acceptable to all participants: leave the regen rate alone, keep Karoug vulnerable to silver/cold iron but immune to other physical weapons, and introduce a silver/cold iron blunt weapon.
I suggest that it ought to be a pretty good blunt weapon, since for some (quite plausible) party combinations there'll not be much else they can use against Karoug. One candidate would be that the Quarterstaff +3 sold in Ulgoth's Beard is silver. Another credible possibility is that the Warhammer +1, +4 vs. Giantkin is cold iron, or maybe Ashideena +2 is silver (which is actually quite role-sensible for an electrically-enhanced weapon). Or (as I would prefer) to avoid any interference with original BG1 items, make the Stupefier Mace +1 cold iron.
Mmm... tempers seem to be running pretty high on this one, but this was always a difficult battle, even with a "normal" party.
I just managed to defeat karoug with a solo monk (urgh). Pretty tough, but I was expecting it to be difficult. The monk was "off the leash" with no XP cap, so I was at level 10. Still, it should still be possible with a level 8 monk.
I did the following:
1. Killed all of Karoug's helpers before engaging him. 2. Quaffed the following potions: Potion of storm giant strength(str), Potion of power(THAC0), Potion of invulnerability(AC), Potion of regeneration (regen) 3. Cast: Draw upon holy might (Str, AC) 4. Had all the good stuff you can get: Ring +2, Cloak of baluran, etc. + the wand of heavens.
I hid in shadows and used the werebane dagger (1 attack per round, because monks can't be hasted = shite).
After hitting him with the dagger i immediately used the wand on heavens on him, then re-engaged with the dagger - rinse and repeat.
It took a few tries, but I eventually got him with a bit of luck. If you miss any attacks then you're essentially back to square one, so thac0 is the most important thing. With luck you'll get a critical, and maybe he'll miss a saving throw or two.
It's doable, but reloading is required.
It's problematic that clerics can't use the sword of Balduran though... perhaps it should be made usable by all. They wouldn't be proficient with it, but at least they would be able to use it.
Potions of Firebreathing are useable by every character, and deal 6D10 damage twice in two rounds in a line, meaning an average of 15 HP over six seconds or so if the Wolfwere saves, and can be layered, getting about 12D10 damage in a line per turn - thereby dealing with any additional enemies while you're at it.
Karoug, and other Greater Wolfweres, regenerate 30 HP per round, but only have 66 HP, two Potions of Firebreathing at worst overcome most of their regeneration, at best kill them outright. With enough potions of firebreathing, even soloers with no Traps, no capacity for multiple attacks per round, or no ability to layer fifty-seven skull traps should be able to take them out.
This is EXACTLY what I was looking for coming to these forums. Even with a party I was hitting him with useless weapons. With the fire breath potion, and a shot from the wand of paralysis, he was down quite quickly. THANK YOU, Pantalion!
Comments
More "fixes" like this and I will get back to original BG1.
Nerfing him would be a shame. @Avenger_teambg
This is REALLY the wrong direction.
Where do we get when the whining starts to affect other topics?
Drizzt too hard?
Sarevok causes too many reloads?
Please, leave such matters clearly not being bugs alone.
This is where modding may enter the playfield.
Or maybe add some more silver flagged weapons that can be worn by everyone.
Will that spell be removed from his spellbook by a patch as well?
That would make the game harder, but haven't we enough dumbed down sequels of great games already? This is a classic and should be treated with more respect than simply a cash grab.
Karoug in BG:EE is easier than in the original if you know what you are doing. You can lure him on the floor below in a well prepared position and finish him in several rounds.
1) Soloing is optional
2) Going to the island, and therefore the Karoug encounter is optional
3) I am leaning towards the train of thought that "if you felt that you had the metagame knowledge to solo, then you get what comes to you in terms of added difficulty/restrictions that a solo campaign has." In this gameplay, especially if you solo and/or roleplay, you have to work with what you have (items, abilities, spells, metagame knowledge to amass these required/useful tools before encounters that require them)
4) It's a tough encounter! Really tough! He regenerates wicked fast! I happen to like the difficulty factor personally, solo or not.
5) I don't think it's bad or wrong to request a change in this encounter, I just strongly disagree.
Also, that fact the original tone or at least an early tone in this thread was "this encounter is tough enough to justify a change" as opposed to "this encounter is tough with this campaign I've picked for myself, any ideas on how to conquer it?" may have sparked the strong backlash. It doesn't excuse it; I'm just looking at causality.
6) A couple ideas have been floated around on this thread. Minus the hostility (which has been plentiful), this is the grounds of a productive thread- someone brings up a difficult spot, other people suggest from their own knowledge and experience. It's a beautiful thing.
7) @wild You do indeed win this thread!
What is the point of there being silver weapons? Why bother having the werebane dagger there, just remove it too.
This was not just one of the harder battles, it was a unique battle that required some lore (using silver / cold iron to kill GWW)
If you must add a cold iron staff. Everyone can equip a staff.
If I whine hard enough that my level 1 3str, 3dex, 3con monk can't solo the demon knight will you make that easier too? This thread has already demonstrated a way to kill the GWW with any class, and if you somehow couldn't pull it off you could kill the head of the village and move on.
If you think ctrl-y is part of the game, we can talk again about removing all magic weapons.
That was a joke. Also about a different encounter so I don't see your point at all. That was actually fairly rude of you.
To clarify further, I was adding to that thread to note the weapons that I was having trouble hitting a different encounter with, as the rest of the people were, that might help fix a bug, if it was one. Then I tried an attempt at humor that you decided to use to attack my position on something completely different.
This should not be solved nerfing +2 weapons. Rather Karoug should be made immune to +2 weapons, unless they are silver/cold iron weapons. Is this technically feasible?
So as not to double post, here is a solution to the problem that might make both sides happy.
Make only silver or cold iron, however it is working now hurt the GWW on Core or higher difficulty.
Make all magic weapons of a certain degree hurt him on normal or below.
@avenger_teambg
The encounter in the black pits is suppose to be hit by + 2 weapons.
The Greater Wolfwere is suppose to be hit by silver or cold iron weapons, as per the original intent of the game.
Complain? About the black pits? I wasn't complaining in the thread about the black pits, I was adding my own experience and the weapons I used to help solve a problem if there was one. I normally don't even care if there are bugs because I can just work around them, so I won't make the mistake of reporting one or adding to the list of weapons that might not be working properly again.
Complain? About the GWW encounter? I guess you could call it that, but I mainly wanted to know if nerfing encounters as they were intended in vanilla was going to be the way things were going to continue to go with Overhaul in BG1:EE and then BG2:EE but you have more or less answered that question for me by your attitude to my concern.
If this is the direction BG:EE is going to move in, which it appears to be from the "fix", and your response, I regret my purchases, and the purchases I got friends to buy for when multiplayer is fixed. Oh, btw, feel free to go through my other posts which you seem to like to do, you won't find one of me demanding a refund or going nuts over how badly multiplayer is working. You WILL posts find stating that Overhaul needs more time and the game is good, if I had known Overhaul was spending energy working on nerfing intended challenges from vanilla instead of fixing the multiplayer promise they made I wouldn't have been so nice, nor would I have continued to convince my friends to buy it claiming that it would be fixed in the future.
Maybe @Balquo knows.
[edit] i take this back, his human form is immune to non-magic weapons, his wolf form is immune to non-silver.
1. fixing bugs
2. trying to keep new content working and playable
3. trying to port back engine differences coming from the switch to bg2.
I cannot be sure about the intentions of the original developers, but lore wise it makes sense that Karoug should be affected only by silver/cold iron weapons irrespectively of their enchantment bonus.
By the way, some flesh golem, many werewolves, mendas, etc had the same immunity.
Even wraithform, which was not active in bg1 uses the very same opcode+parameters.
[edit] same mistake here, i looked at the human form.
I thought in vanilla only silver or +3 weapons could hurt the GWW.
Which would mean with the 2 +3 staves in the game any class could hit him. It also explains the +3 staff that is sold in Ulgoths Beard.
If I'm right then making it so that any magical weapon can hurt the GWW, isn't "keeping the game as much the old way as possible."
Right now in BG:EE the +3 staff of striking isn't hurting the GWW. I'm going to install vanilla and see if it will hurt him there.
If i'm right, then the staff of striking and staf02 (quarterstaff +1) behaves exactly the same way.
BG1 had no magic level, just 'magical', 'silver','cold iron'.
Wolfwere, Greater
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any/Forest
FREQUENCY: Very Rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any (espically night)
DIET: Carnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Exceptional (15-16)
TREASURE: 20%, U, (B)
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
NO. APPEARING: 1-4
ARMOR CLASS: 2
MOVEMENT: 18
HIT DICE: 8+2
THAC0: 11
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1, 2, or 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2d8, 1d6/1d6/2d6 or 2d6/weapon+6 (see below)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 50%
SIZE: M-L (4-9')
MORALE: Champion (15)
XP VALUE: 8000
Greater wolfweres are a bane to all who live. They are able to assume three shapes at will, taking only a single round to alter forms. Their natural shape is that of a giant dire wolf standing a full 5' to 6' tall at the shoulder. They can also assume a half-wolf/half-human form. In this state they are 8'-9' tall with massive long arms equipped with talon like nails. Finally, they may assume the form of any humanoid of either sex which is between 4' and 9' in height.
Greater wolfweres speak common, as well as the language of forest animals.
Combat: Greater wolfweres often employ the same strategies used by typical wolfweres when hunting. They will change into a humanoid of opposite sex to that of their victim. Then, using their charisma and singing ability, they will get close to their victim and sing their special song. Anyone failing a save versus spells will be overcome with lethargy. The effects of this are the same as those for a slow spell and last for 1d6+4 rounds.
In dire wolf form, they will bite with their savage jaws, inflicting 2d8 points of damage with each successful attack.
In demi-wolf form, they can strike with each of their clawed hands (causing 1d6 points of damage each) and also bite for 2d6 points. In lieu of their claw attacks, greater wolfweres in this form may employ weapons (gaining a bonus of +6 on their damage rolls).
In humanoid form, they are forced to fight with weapons only and are assumed to have a strength of 18/00 (+6 to damage).
Greater wolfweres have infravision with a 120' range, and in all forms except human, their eyes glow red in the dark.
Greater wolfweres have all the abilities of a first level bard and can climb walls (55%), detect noise (25%), pick pockets (15%), and read languages (10%).
Some exceptional individuals may be of greater level. As a rule, 1 in 10 creatures will be of level 2-5 (1d4+1) and 1 in 20 will be of level 6-11 (1d6+5).
Iron weapons (or those of a +1 enchantment) are required to harm a greater wolfwere. However, unless the blow is instantly fatal, the wound will quickly repair itself as the wolfwere is able to regenerate all of its lost hit points at the end of any given round. It is important to note, however, that severed limbs and such are not regenerated in this fashion.
Greater wolfweres are somewhat more resistant to wolfsbane than their lesser cousins and can stand the presence of that herb if they make a saving throw versus poison. If they fail, they must avoid it at all costs.
The howl of a greater wolfwere can summon 4d6 wolves or 2d6 dire wolves to its aid, if such creatures are in the area. These wolves will fight most loyally on behalf of the greater wolfwere with a +2 moral bonus.
I think you are right on that, but neither a +1 staff or +3 staff will hurt him. Twinkle, +3 scimitar will not hit him either.
I thought +3's would hit him but it had been a while and I'm probably remembering the bastard sword that is +3 vs shapeshifters.
From this test in vanilla though it looks like no magical weapons could hit him. So I think adding a cold iron or silver (whichever one it is) staff would be a better solution than changing the encounter.
However, having just read all of this, it seems to me that there's a consensus emerging which appears (just about) acceptable to all participants: leave the regen rate alone, keep Karoug vulnerable to silver/cold iron but immune to other physical weapons, and introduce a silver/cold iron blunt weapon.
I suggest that it ought to be a pretty good blunt weapon, since for some (quite plausible) party combinations there'll not be much else they can use against Karoug. One candidate would be that the Quarterstaff +3 sold in Ulgoth's Beard is silver. Another credible possibility is that the Warhammer +1, +4 vs. Giantkin is cold iron, or maybe Ashideena +2 is silver (which is actually quite role-sensible for an electrically-enhanced weapon). Or (as I would prefer) to avoid any interference with original BG1 items, make the Stupefier Mace +1 cold iron.
I just managed to defeat karoug with a solo monk (urgh). Pretty tough, but I was expecting it to be difficult. The monk was "off the leash" with no XP cap, so I was at level 10. Still, it should still be possible with a level 8 monk.
I did the following:
1. Killed all of Karoug's helpers before engaging him.
2. Quaffed the following potions: Potion of storm giant strength(str), Potion of power(THAC0), Potion of invulnerability(AC), Potion of regeneration (regen)
3. Cast: Draw upon holy might (Str, AC)
4. Had all the good stuff you can get: Ring +2, Cloak of baluran, etc. + the wand of heavens.
I hid in shadows and used the werebane dagger (1 attack per round, because monks can't be hasted = shite).
After hitting him with the dagger i immediately used the wand on heavens on him, then re-engaged with the dagger - rinse and repeat.
It took a few tries, but I eventually got him with a bit of luck. If you miss any attacks then you're essentially back to square one, so thac0 is the most important thing. With luck you'll get a critical, and maybe he'll miss a saving throw or two.
It's doable, but reloading is required.
It's problematic that clerics can't use the sword of Balduran though... perhaps it should be made usable by all. They wouldn't be proficient with it, but at least they would be able to use it.