Uh, What? (Firkraag)
Schneidend
Member Posts: 3,190
Is there some reason why no to-hit rolls seem to be made against Firkraag until after he goes hostile? Every time I attack him I don't get to even damage him until he's good and ready and already flinging spells.
Speaking of spells, why is everything he casts instant speed, exactly? Did he have that before?
Speaking of spells, why is everything he casts instant speed, exactly? Did he have that before?
0
Comments
He's a real bitch, without a Inquisitor to remove stoneskin and haste from him.
Put on your mage: Lower Resist, several Skull Traps
Have your thief lay down snares and traps.
Cast Lower Resist (this will make him angry).
He will come after you; set off your traps, then he will kick the bucket.
Tossed up 5 summons, threw out haste and some buffs and just rushed him... By the time he turned hostile he was almost dead. Not sure why it takes him so long to turn hostile, but the fight suddenly got very easy :P
And, no, @Thraxx, he definitely casts spells faster than normal. He most certainly has Improved Alacrity like a lich (why, I ask you, does anybody have that? It's a stupid, OP ability), and he gets off spells like Haste much more quickly than he should.
Now...you didn't hear this from me but rumor has it that Firkraag's wisdom is only a 3 so if you were able to get hold of Kachiko's Wakizashi then haste/improved haste/whirlwind/greater whirlwind....well, it should be fun to say the least.
I don't know if this is still possible within BG2:EE, but it was in the original BG2.
That is a damn shame. I was kind of hoping to kill him early to maximize my time with my Red Dragon Plate + Dragon Helm + Ring of Fire Resistance + Harbinger greatsword combo. I wasn't even being particularly cheesy. Maxed out fire resistance, haste, go. In vanilla he'd probably be dead.
Forget that, this one time I snuffed him with a chromatic orb. Too easy.
Tbh I'm not even sure if that much lower resistance is even needed.
I'm too much more into BP2 with the EE.
It will be interesting to see how they might have improved his tactics. I look at his script a little last night but it was really late and I was half-asleep.
On a tangential note....I wonder if coming up with some protection from projectile effect that targets spklargr.pro (157) would make you immune to Dispel Magic? *shrug* It is worth investigating, to be certain.
Far be it for me to question personal preference, but if you're opting for cheese or want to cheat and get his items early, then you might as well console-kill him with CTRL+Y, because everything else you're doing pretty much amounts to the same (albeit protracted, and with some fancy mental gymnastics and generalizations auto-spammed on the self to soothe your cheaters' guilt!
Dragons are supposed to be powerful - their name is a part of the franchise itself. What's the fun of dropping a dragon like it was nothing more than a fancy, overgrown kobold? Again, if you want a quick kill, just frag him with CTRL+Y, since it's extremely illogical that a low-level party would be able to (fairly!) kill a mature dragon anyway.
Personally, I enjoy cracking a tough wallnut like old Fire-face. He (and a couple of other 'boss' enemies) is the reason I min-max my CHARNAME, and pick up every item, loot every cupboard, obtain every spell and generally optimize the living f*** out of my party so that I can come back with thousands of gold worth of equipment and hack him to bloody bits!
Those nigh-untouchable, powerful enemies were put there to challenge players and make them strive for power. There's nothing more fulfilling than finally getting the killing blow on a creature you know would've reduced your party to gibs had your items not been potent, your magics almost godlike, and your tactics flawless. I understand the desire to make a quick kill and move on, but you're robbing yourself of genuine fun by resorting to cheese when going up against something like a dragon.
Personally, I play with SCS dragons buffed to 3x HP, and this makes them a real challenge. The general consensus is that the player will have 6 characters in their party, of which at least 3 will be some combination of spellcasters - this translates to a minimum of 3 spells per round (and much, much more if we factor in things like Time Stop, contingenices, triggers, sequences, etc.), so it's only fair the dragon gets a built-in and permanent Alacrity in return, as well as a slew of innate abilities.
I think this is the way they were meant to be, as they *are* among the most formidable foes. It's such an epic feeling going toe-to-toe with something that actually represents a *threat*! The reason they were probably scaled down in the vanilla game is because Bioware didn't want to frustrate new players and keep them from obtaining their shiny Holy Avenger for their pet CHARNAME pala. Regardless, a dragon ought to be an end-game challenge, not something one merely steps over on their way to the treasure room.
I know it's not for everyone, but 3x HP SCS dragons have a certain charm to them.
And I now have a legitimate reason to hoard and save the party's potions! :P
SCS changed the game for me, and made dragon-slaying *dangerous*!
I now actually view them as credible, end-game threats.
Seriously, try it!
http://www.gibberlings3.net/scs/
If the latter, then I'd be interested in hearing what tactics you use to kill them so fast.