Durlags Tower Chess Fight

eainterplay

I just finally successfully finished the chess board fight in durlags tower, but one of my party members died. I'm looking for an exit in order to revive him, but I can't find one. Is there no exit until after the final battle after the chess fight?

Thrasymachus

You'll have to go to the next (bottom) level. Leave the chess room by heading north. Go through the gate. Then head north again (after talking to the ghost of Durlag), talk to the ghost of Durlag's wife, and she will teleport you to the surface. You can return to finish the level later.

ChildofBhaal599

I still never managed to do the chess game. I just spam fireballs to the edge of the screen and kill them all

TJ_Hooker

ChildofBhaal599 said:

I still never managed to do the chess game. I just spam fireballs to the edge of the screen and kill them all

Haha, yeah I think I did the same thing during my last playthrough. I'm kind of skeptical that the game is even working as intended. I seem to remember that I spent a little while trying to carefully play by the rules, and still ended up consistently being struck with lightning bolts. Finally I just gave up and went with a volley of fireballs.

Awong124

ChildofBhaal599 said:

I still never managed to do the chess game. I just spam fireballs to the edge of the screen and kill them all

Yeah, Fireballs and Cloudkills.

sarevok57

I cast protection from fire on my 3 melee'ers and make them drink potions of absorbtion, and then spam fireballs after my melee'ers, I always kill all the enemy chess pieces, MUST HAVE COOL I-tAmS and eXpErIeNcE pOiNtS yEaAaAaAaAaAaAh

Eleutheros

The first time I saw the chess game I was so excited. I thought I could prove my worth like Ron in Philosopher's stone. A couple of tries later it was skull traps and fireballs for the win...

I'm still not sure if that reflects poorly on my character or the game...

artificial_sunlight

if the enemy is ignoring the rules, so do we!

Shin

I always disliked the chess room for that reason. You come in expecting a mental challenge and it turns out to be implemented like an all-out fight.

SCARY_WIZARD

ChildofBhaal599 said:

I still never managed to do the chess game. I just spam fireballs to the edge of the screen and kill them all

Yeeeaaaahhh, I do that, too.
Wands of fire + fireballs + oils = heat death

Just like in Kharazan!

Mathmick

The chess game would have made much more sense if BG used a turn-based combat system, even if only temporarily. As-is it's pretty much a normal open-field combat with a slight gimmick.

Phyrax

When you're really cheesy, you can even just spam the AoE-spells from the edge and never even see an enemy marching up to you...

This might even make sense from a RPG-standpoint: the tower hasn't done anything not to deserve an 'kill now, ask questions later' approach and the booming voice telling (rather, stating) you the rules of the game doesn't bode well for any encounters ahead. Just starting killing everything that isn't even in sight seems like a valid answer.

One might even think to see Durlag in the right-upper quadrant nodding and mumbling 'I thought them well.'...

Calmar

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Mathmick

I thought it was possible to report posts for spam/abuse?

Urd1en

The hint is to keep king alive until the rest of figures are beaten, otherwise king's death leads the fight to the end and unbeaten figures disappear.

I use to stun a king with a wand of paralization.

The fight itself - several malision/glitterdust/slow, couple of silence spells to the center, couple of confusion/chaos spells (do not hesitate to use scrolls)... and fill like in shooting gallery. The only melee concern could be both knights.

elminster

Mathmick said:

I thought it was possible to report posts for spam/abuse?

That was removed.

Quartz

Shin said:

I always disliked the chess room for that reason. You come in expecting a mental challenge and it turns out to be implemented like an all-out fight.

This makes sense to me. Personally I really enjoy the all-out fight, it's just important that you understand that's what it is, rather than umm ... you know ... chess. Which is kind of what it looks like. xD; But yes, I was disappointed the first time but came to enjoy the fight from then on.

KidCarnival

Wait, I'm confused. You mean the room is supposed to work like a chess game in some way, or it's implied to be anything but an all out fight? O.o

To me, it's the "alright, Edwin, time to show off" room. Edwin usually solos it. Improved Invisibility, Web, Greater Malison, then Fireballs and whatyouhave. Everyone else stands around and comments how it looks way less impressive than Edwin claimed.

CoM_Solaufein

Or Cloudkill.

ChildofBhaal599 said:

I still never managed to do the chess game. I just spam fireballs to the edge of the screen and kill them all

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The user and all related content has been deleted.

Awong124

KidCarnival said:

Wait, I'm confused. You mean the room is supposed to work like a chess game in some way, or it's implied to be anything but an all out fight? O.o

Your party members get zapped by spells if they step on the wrong squares.

KidCarnival

Awong124 said:

KidCarnival said:

Wait, I'm confused. You mean the room is supposed to work like a chess game in some way, or it's implied to be anything but an all out fight? O.o

Your party members get zapped by spells if they step on the wrong squares.

Oh, well, that's not quite like chess, but I assumed that it just happens automatically (like the ice storm in Black Pits). So, what are the wrong squares?

Awong124

KidCarnival said:

Awong124 said:

KidCarnival said:

Wait, I'm confused. You mean the room is supposed to work like a chess game in some way, or it's implied to be anything but an all out fight? O.o

Your party members get zapped by spells if they step on the wrong squares.

Oh, well, that's not quite like chess, but I assumed that it just happens automatically (like the ice storm in Black Pits). So, what are the wrong squares?

I never bothered to fully understand the mechanics. I just know that each square forward of the pawns are marked to do something if someone steps on it. Those squares are marked blue (like traps) if you CTRL+4.

ChildofBhaal599

wow, I feel a little better about my cheese there seeing the reactions to my post letting me know I am not alone

Madhax

I've never been able to figure out what the "right" squares actually are, and I play chess competitively. So yeah, fireball spam for me. One of the more disappointing fights in the game.

Permidion_Stark

A mod that actually turns it into the chess game we were all anticipating would be fun (I also imagine it would be a huge amount of work).

As it stands it stands I find this one of the most annoying sequences in the game. You're trying to work out which squares you can and can't stand on and the enemy just comes charging at you in a mob.

XerxesV

I always use fireballs, so I don't know, but a friend told me you can just walk around the chess board. Just go single file across the top. I don't know why you'd need to, but maybe give it a try if you want to try some form of strategy.

Ps- anyone rember the chessboard in Sanitarium? You had to maneuver past a shadow version of yourself.

Shin

Permidion_Stark said:

A mod that actually turns it into the chess game we were all anticipating would be fun (I also imagine it would be a huge amount of work).

As it stands it stands I find this one of the most annoying sequences in the game. You're trying to work out which squares you can and can't stand on and the enemy just comes charging at you in a mob.

This would indeed be nice, though I can't currently see any kind of way to implement it short of extending the game code. Even not considering anything like a chess AI or a proper turn-based emulation, simply getting some chess ground rules down would seem very difficult. Presumably that's also why it never ended up more than it is.

Nic_Mercy

Madhax said:

I've never been able to figure out what the "right" squares actually are, and I play chess competitively. So yeah, fireball spam for me. One of the more disappointing fights in the game.

I always thought the "right" squares were based on the position your character started in. If you were in the knight's spot you could move along the squares a knight could move for example. Maybe I am wrong on this though.

Jarrakul

As I recall, it's basically like this: Your characters start arrayed like the non-pawn chess pieces, minus rooks, out from the center. So one character is a king, one a queen, two are knights, and two are bishops, depending on starting position. Look up chess boards online if you're like me and can't remember the specific details of which piece starts where. Characters can move freely, but get zapped if they move onto certain squares. The king gets zapped if he/she moves anywhere. Annoying. The queen never gets zapped. Awesome! The bishops get zapped if they move off the color they started on (diagonal movement actually seems to work 90% of the time). Only mildly concerning. Knights have a chance of getting zapped if they move anywhere, but they won't always get zapped. The chance is pretty high, though, so if you're playing it safe the knights are as immobile as the king. That frustrates me the most, because while I'm no chess player, I know enough to know that knights are all about being able to move in ways that no other piece can.