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Davaeorn - why no backstab damage?

Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
in Archive (General Discussion)
In the fight against Davaeorn in Cloakwood Mines, I cast invisibility on Imoen and got her to clear the traps, then I moved in a stealthed and buffed Montaron to get behind Davaeorn, but when he performs his backstab *no damage* is shown against him, despite hitting and performing a x3 backstab. I've tried with both a +2 short sword and a +2 quarter staff, but noticed the same thing happening - is he immune to backstabs somehow?

Also - what is the protection spell he has cast on him at the start? I know this makes him immune to normal missiles, but does it protect him against anything else?

One idea I had to deal with him was for Imoen to place a trap by the place where he often Dimension Doors to first (the room on the left).

Any other tips for dealing with Davaeorn? I thought maybe also moving Edwin in under Invisibility, then casting Dispel Magic on him.
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Comments

  • IgnatiusIgnatius Member Posts: 624
    edited January 2013
    In my last playthrough I had Imoen remove the traps and locate the ennemy; then staying out of range, my cleric silenced him (on the 2nd attempt). Ajantis rushed in for melee with bastward sword +1, while my cleric cast dispel magic and removed at least one of his protections. One of his initial buffs is either PfNM or maybe, PfNW; not quite sure why a short sword+2 would not deal backstab damage...
  • valkyvalky Member Posts: 386
    I used an area-dispel roughly where he stands without making him visible to me; a follow-up sleep works wonders thereafter :) Silence might do the trick too...

    Maybe his mirror-image ring kinda prevents the damage? I barely remember, that I also had trouble hitting him at first, until I used the dispel/sleep thingie.

  • AllbrotherAllbrother Member Posts: 262
    potion of magic blocking
  • Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
    Thanks, but does anyone know why backstabs don't seem to do *any* damage against him, even with a +2 weapon?
  • valkyvalky Member Posts: 386
    Have you tried dispel + backstab? Doesn't really make sense, why he is initially immune.
  • Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
    valky said:

    Have you tried dispel + backstab? Doesn't really make sense, why he is initially immune.

    Not yet, it's odd, though as the message log doesn't say anything about him being immune to my damage, it just doesn't show any damage occurring (and hovering over him doesn't show that he has sustained any damage)...
  • EnterHaerDalisEnterHaerDalis Member Posts: 813
    Davaeorn has such an epic voice

    Use Algernon's Cloak on him his commands are awesome lol

    As for the backstab, did you successfully hit him from behind or does it just keep missing? Another good tip is to ground a guy out with electric resistance to stifle the initial and devastating Lightning spell he fires at you after he Shadow Doors. I find guerrilla tactics work best, utilize the boots of speed you just got and any character with stealth to see where he Shadow Doored to and counter him.
  • valkyvalky Member Posts: 386
    That guy is a cheater nonetheless, can fire thru walls, teleport to location not visible to him, using spells he doesn't even have memorized nor does he need casting time.
    So it's 110% legitimate to use the same methods to get rid of him :)
  • ZanathKariashiZanathKariashi Member Posts: 2,869
    edited January 2013
    He may have stoneskin, or one of his mirror images may have soaked it up. A failed backstab due to immunity actually tells you the backstab failed. Yeah, that ring seems to be the culprit. It's only giving you a chance to successfully strike the real him, otherwise you're hitting an image for the backstab.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,675
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  • Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
    EnterHaerDalis said:

    Davaeorn has such an epic voice

    Use Algernon's Cloak on him his commands are awesome lol

    As for the backstab, did you successfully hit him from behind or does it just keep missing?

    I successfully hit him from behind and had a message about "x3 backstab damage" but no damage figure was given nor applied
    EnterHaerDalis said:


    Another good tip is to ground a guy out with electric resistance to stifle the initial and devastating Lightning spell he fires at you after he Shadow Doors. I find guerrilla tactics work best, utilize the boots of speed you just got and any character with stealth to see where he Shadow Doored to and counter him.

    Thanks

  • Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
    ZanathKariashi said:

    He may have stoneskin, or one of his mirror images may have soaked it up.

    He didn't seem to have mirror image up when I backstabbed (no multiple images), he may have had Stoneskin, not sure how to recognise that
    ZanathKariashi said:


    A failed backstab due to immunity actually tells you the backstab failed. Yeah, that ring seems to be the culprit. It's only giving you a chance to successfully strike the real him, otherwise you're hitting an image for the backstab.

    Okay, I'll see if I can maybe to dispel magic, *then* backstab, but once he spots one of my party, he tends to teleport somewhere else...

  • IgnatiusIgnatius Member Posts: 624
    Oxford_Guy said:


    Okay, I'll see if I can maybe to dispel magic, *then* backstab, but once he spots one of my party, he tends to teleport somewhere else...

    you can dispel from out of sight/range

  • Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
    Ignatius said:

    Oxford_Guy said:


    Okay, I'll see if I can maybe to dispel magic, *then* backstab, but once he spots one of my party, he tends to teleport somewhere else...

    you can dispel from out of sight/range

    Ah, I see - I guess I could use my stealthed Monty or Inivisible Imoen to establish what the edge of Davaeorn's sight range is

  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    If he was immune to backstab you would get 'backstab seems to have failed!' Message and still do normal weapon damage. It seems you backstabbed succesfully but either stoneskin or mirror image absorbed the blow, which is supposed to happen actually. Those spells are very useful for absorbing blows and keeping a mage alive. You might have done a septuble backstab with a critical hit for up to 100 damage, but if mirror image or stoneskin is there they absorb the hit completely. A 1d3 dart or 100+ damage backstab counts as the same, one succesful attack, in regard to stoneskin/mirror image spells.
  • MadhaxMadhax Member Posts: 1,416
    My guess is stoneskin. With all his other buffs it would be tough to see, the only physical difference is that he'd appear grey.

    Offensive dispels might not work since he's a higher level than your party, so my strategy to beat him was a magical hit-and-run with spells and wands. Once his mirror images were mostly down and I could reliably interrupt a spell or two with magic missiles or similar, I sprinted in with hasted fighters to knock off the Stoneskin and took him down. I never bothered with a backstab, it would have been too tricky to set up.
  • Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
    Madhax said:

    My guess is stoneskin. With all his other buffs it would be tough to see, the only physical difference is that he'd appear grey.

    Offensive dispels might not work since he's a higher level than your party, so my strategy to beat him was a magical hit-and-run with spells and wands. Once his mirror images were mostly down and I could reliably interrupt a spell or two with magic missiles or similar, I sprinted in with hasted fighters to knock off the Stoneskin and took him down. I never bothered with a backstab, it would have been too tricky to set up.

    Okay, have tried again, had Imoen disable the traps whilst invisible, then had my cleric (Viconia) cast Silence 15' radius just out of sight range, followed by Edwin casting Dispel Magic. CHARNAME fighter/mage then just moved in for the kill and chopped away with dual longswords, whilst Davaeorn just stood there.
  • Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
    BTW does anyone know what level Davaeorn is meant to be? My main caster (Edwin) was Level 6, I think he only removed some of Davaeorn's preotections.
  • valkyvalky Member Posts: 386
    level 11 and 45 hitpoints
  • Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
    valky said:

    level 11 and 45 hitpoints

    Okay, so Dispel Magic is not likely to be fully effective, Silence 15' Radius did the job, though! :-)

  • smeagolheartsmeagolheart Member Posts: 7,964
    Is Davy even human? At one point I recall reading a bug where he was actually classified as a basilisk or something lol. Not sure if that one ever got fixed
  • Oxford_GuyOxford_Guy Member Posts: 3,729
    smeagolheart said:

    Is Davy even human? At one point I recall reading a bug where he was actually classified as a basilisk or something lol. Not sure if that one ever got fixed

    I think they fixed those type of errors

  • CorvinoCorvino Member Posts: 2,269
    He used to be an Ankheg. Explains why he's so damn tough.
  • valkyvalky Member Posts: 386
    He used to have lots of arrows in his knee, that's why he made or stole a ring to protect him from it.
    Else he is just a troll and cheater and uses shadowkeeper to get unlimited amounts of spells he doesn't even have learned.
  • moopymoopy Member Posts: 938
    @Corvino

    I wish I could play as an Ankheg. TO THE FEATURE REQUESTS!
  • smeagolheartsmeagolheart Member Posts: 7,964
    Actually, he's a were-ankheg
  • SplodSplod Member Posts: 114
    I've found silence to be one of the most useful spells in this game bar none.
  • the_spyderthe_spyder Member Posts: 5,018
    I am betting that you hit one of his Mirror Images. Just a guess on my part.

    @Splod, absolutely Silence is one of the best spells. it totally hampers casters.
  • TJ_HookerTJ_Hooker Member Posts: 2,438
    the_spyder said:

    @Splod, absolutely Silence is one of the best spells. it totally hampers casters.

    Yeah, no kidding. I actually only recently noticed enemies make their save at a whopping -5 penalty, at least according to the description. Does anyone know if it's always been like this, and if so, was it always mentioned it the description?
  • JalilyJalily Member Posts: 4,681
    It was always like that and mentioned in the description.
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