Beregot - Thayan Wizard battle against 4 - Multiplayer Question

Baron

Fighter/Wizard, Cleric, Paladin, and a Rogue playing multiplayer and cannot get past the Thayan Wizard without him casting either Flaming Arrow or Magic Missile at practically level 12 which one-shots anyone including the Paladin with 14 hp.

This is one of the encounters they added to the enhanced version, and I question it's balance of the game as we are all level 1 by this point in the game.

Anyone having problems with this encounter?

Endarire

Regardless of the player count, the Thayan Wizard in Beregost is meant to be killer for low level parties and easy for high level ones. If you can stand losing at least party member, you can beat him at level 1.

When I played in single player, I could pause immediately after his cutscene. I used this to target the Wizard and interrupt his casting. That, or simply good timing, are your best options.

Baron

This strikes me as a terrible design flaw for the enhanced version then. Generally speaking, the game's encounters are laid out in a logical order of progression so you aren't going up against dragons immediately into the game. There's really no warning, and unless you are constantly saving every minute, you could run into this.

Shin

I don't see it as a design flaw, BG (especially BG1) was never a game that started you off with placeholder enemies only there to be killed and grant experience. For most non-fighter characters, the first wolf you run into fresh out of Candlekeep can easily kill you even if you reload 10 times. Early on especially, not all battles are meant to be engaged.

As for the Thayan wizard, it's not like you get ambushed without the possibility of escape - first you have the chance to tell Neera to take a hike and then the wizards more than once give you the chance to keep your nose out of their business and leave Neera to her fate - the way I see it it's good game design that this isn't just an idle threat that four level one-characters can laugh at before charging in.

Essentially, there's no reason at all that the player should expect to win every encounter that faces him.

Dhiro

Shin said:

I don't see it as a design flaw, BG (especially BG1) was never a game that started you off with placeholder enemies only there to be killed and grant experience. For most non-fighter characters, the first wolf you run into fresh out of Candlekeep can easily kill you even if you reload 10 times. Early on especially, not all battles are meant to be engaged.

As for the Thayan wizard, it's not like you get ambushed without the possibility of escape - first you have the chance to tell Neera to take a hike and then the wizards more than once give you the chance to keep your nose out of their business and leave Neera to her fate - the way I see it it's good game design that this isn't just an idle threat that four level one-characters can laugh at before charging in.

Essentially, there's no reason at all that the player should expect to win every encounter that faces him.

Unless my game is horribly bugged, Neera will still drag you into fighting the Thayan Wizard even if you refuse to help her at all, so the only way to avoid the fight would be to stay away from that part of the town.

Personally, I never found the Wizard very challenging even with a low-level party? A disabling spell is usually enough to take care of his fighters and then you just need to focus fire on him.

KidCarnival

The only way to get away without a fight is having Edwin in the party when you first approach Neera. In that case, the Thayans will just leave to look for Ekandor. But that is something most players won't see because it makes no sense; you meet Edwin 2 maps away and unless you intentionally avoid Neera first, you will not have him in the party.
It is a design flaw that the player gets drawn into Neera's battle even you say you want nothing to do with her. The Thayans actually don't care about charname, they just want Neera. Distancing yourself from her, or actively helping the wizards should not turn them hostile. They have no reason to assume you are interfering in their business or that you are on Neera's side.
It's immersion breaking if you tell them twice they can take her, they agree that you just stay out of it, Neera attacks and they turn hostile on you. They are presumably lawful evil, and if they tell you their trouble isn't with you/your party, they should stick to that if you keep your word and stay out of it.