Thoughts on Neera's quest in BG:EE

jjstraka34

First time I've really taken a swipe at this. While the new area feels a LITTLE off graphically, I think the whole thing is done seamlessly enough to make it feel like an actual part of the game and not a tack-on. The fight with the red wizards is was a bit of a struggle though, even for a group comprised of level 3 and 4s for the most part. While it's easy enough to silence the wizards, the Thayan bodyguards seem to be immune to sleep and color spray and go straight for Neera, who if you're lucky might have over 12 hp at this point in the game. Definitely took a few reloads and still lost both her and my Cleric, though it's possible this fight is more geared toward a late game encounter. Other's thoughts??

elminster

Yea that final fight is a tough one. Compared to most of the fights in the game anyways.

kiwidoc

I tried it as fairly low levels, can't remember the numbers but as soon as I got the area on my map. Neera died every time, no matter how many buffing spells i used, and how many potions I gave her. So I decided to leave it for later, and forgot about it for way too long! When I finally did it, it was a walk in the park.

I enjoyed the chatty goblin, and thought the conversation with the Wild Mage was excellent. I think it really felt like part of the game, and not something tacked on later.

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Tresset

I love the final battle in her quest. Lots of fun and a good challenge! The reason Neera dies so much is because the barbarians Ekandor brings with him are scripted to go straight for her. I find that the best way to protect her is either keep her moving or, better yet, make her invisible. The absolute most utterly annoying thing about her quest is that Ekandor loves to use up the stoneskin scroll he carries; thus destroying the absolute best treasure from her quest. What a total jerk! Other than that my plan of action is usually pretty straightforward: Buff a little, cast silence on the mages, take out the barbarians, take out the ogre, cast hold person on Ekandor (to make sure he doesn't waste my scroll), and finally let Neera roast Ekandor with some Aganazar's Scorchers to finish him off! (Yes, I always make sure Neera gets the killing blow on Ekandor.)

As a side note the bodyguards will be immune to most disabling effects because they are barbarians and they use their rage.

atcDave

It sure is a tough fight at low level! Like a lot of low level fights though, I find it varies a lot with party make up. Basically, if you have a couple of hard hitting fighters who can take down the barbarians quickly its not a hard fight. But if your party is more "average" for third or fourth level its going to be ugly.

Like Tresset suggested, I usually keep Neera in motion until someone else can drop the thugs.

jjstraka34

I agree with all the strategies above, though I never thought about the invisibility. But yeah, she has to be kept in motion, mirror image helps but she is tough to keep up since she can't take more than a single hit. Since the bodyguards go after her with such fervor, after you silence the mages you can send in your fighters to smash them in short order, since one cast will cover both of them. The bodyguards aren't a threat to most other classes, and if the mages get up they will rip you apart. Thankfully, I believe you still get all your goodies even if Neera dies, though you miss out on some of the dialogue.

TheGreatGodLoki

I had all my guys (excluding Neera) attack the main wizard himself, then let them attack anyone they pleased. All I did was keep Neera in motion. The AI seems to hellbent on killing her they don't (usually) switch focus to your own people.

Lemernis

I recently fought this battle in a vanilla RP-intensive/minimal-metagame/minimal-reload game with the party averaging around level 4 and it took me four tries because CHARNAME died three times. What I experienced was that the barbarians targeted the protagonist, versus Neera. The PC was the only party member that died.

In the fourth and winning reload: Eldoth succeeded in immediately Blinding Ekandor (then used his poison arrows on him). Neera's wand of Horror succeeded with both Ekandor and the other Red Wizard. The Diviner immediately paralyzed the ogre with a wand of paralyzation. Faldorn summoned a dread wolf to tie up one of the barbarians. Coran was able to fend off the other barbarian with a long sword (without any buffing potions) until the barbarian rage for both of them expired. Neera then Enfeebled the barbarian that Coran was meleeing with. And the Diviner and Eldoth both used paralyzation wands on both barbarians. Then it was just a matter of mopping up against the helpless enemies.

kaguana

Another way to keep Neera alive is just to keep her out of the fighting zone, I mean behind the close door, that way sh isn't joining the fight but she stay alive