Skip to content

Most Difficult Non Storyline Fight

ZaramMaldovarZaramMaldovar Member Posts: 2,309
in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)
In your opinion, what is the most difficult Non Main Quest Fight in the Entire Series?

Comments

  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,317
    Demogorgon.
  • SpungiSpungi Member Posts: 219
    The fight just before demogorgon... Urgh!
  • ZaramMaldovarZaramMaldovar Member Posts: 2,309
    All Three of those fights are hard, but I've been able to do them without cheating, I've never been able to beat Demogorgon without cheating.
  • ZaramMaldovarZaramMaldovar Member Posts: 2,309
    I mean Demogorgon is Immune to Time Stop, that's a real pain.
  • Abi_DalzimAbi_Dalzim Member Posts: 1,428
    I've only really bothered fighting Demogorgon once, but I surprisingly had no trouble with it. I feel like the last group of Final Seal guards are tougher just by virtue of their numbers. Action economy and all that. Plus a Beholder and insects, which I hate.
  • JumboWheat01JumboWheat01 Member Posts: 1,028
    Those rats in Candlekeep. /silly

    In more seriousness, any bear before you happen to get a couple levels in Baldur's Gate. Scary, scary creatures.
  • ZaramMaldovarZaramMaldovar Member Posts: 2,309
    @JumboWheat01 In my first playthroughs the wolves were a close second of a threat, not because they hit harder, but because they were much faster.

    I kept thinking to myself, I've defeated Dragons and Demons, why is fighting Wolves and Bears so hard?
  • ZaramMaldovarZaramMaldovar Member Posts: 2,309
    edited July 2016
    @Abi_Dalzim @elminster @Spungi

    I have summoned you three back to this board to inform you that within the last 23 months (I want to say 6 months ago, but I honestly forgot about this board until somebody posted on it today) I have now defeated Demogorgon without cheating. It was hard, but I pulled it off.

    Next Stop: DEFEATING DEMOGORGON ON CORE RULES!
  • DeeDee Member Posts: 10,447
    I actually didn't have any problems with Demogorgon at all. Twisted Rune, on the other hand....
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,212
    First city ambush on LoB/Insane + SCS and the whole shebang. Barely got my people together, hardly any gear. Thieves backstab-oneshotting people, Mage going all dispelly and popping a Melf cap in me... Not fun at low levels. Very hard to deal with if you don't want to either A) waste all your money B) build a party specifically around that fight or C) run away.

    I find early/mid game the most challenging in general, once I have everything I could want and people are leveled and decked out, it's not that big of a deal to go up against things like Demogorgon and the likes.
  • Abi_DalzimAbi_Dalzim Member Posts: 1,428
    Dee said:

    I actually didn't have any problems with Demogorgon at all. Twisted Rune, on the other hand....

    I solve that by never challenging them before Chapter Six. By that point, there's not much left that can challenge me.
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    The disguised drow in front of sendai's enclave - these bastards use high level abilities, backstabs , umber hulks and beholders !
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    The very first bear I encounter. EVERY. SINGLE. PLAYTHROUGH.
  • ZaramMaldovarZaramMaldovar Member Posts: 2,309
    @Dee To be honest, I've never even TRIED to fight the Twisted Rune, I've seen other people do it and I'm too scared to try.
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    I find the twisted runes difficulty can be made reasonable by playing very defensively. Making them come to you, summons, hit and run tactics work amazingly. Just make sure you are prepared for a lich to teleport right to you.
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    I think that the hardest fights are the ones where you can't buff properly because they're either at the very beginning of a dungeon or after a tough encounter when you've already used everything you have.
  • KuronaKurona Member Posts: 881
    The entrance of Beholder City. Even if you decide to use the Shield of Cheese, it's a party-required area so all your guys are spawn just in front of a pack of beholders. And there's an Elder Orb too, just to make sure to ruin your day.
  • ZaramMaldovarZaramMaldovar Member Posts: 2,309
    It's nice to see this thread getting some real traffic, more posts have been made today than their ever were two years ago. Thanks for making my day
  • sluckerssluckers Member Posts: 280
    That freekin' wraith lord in the Watcher's Keep maze. I hate that guy.
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    All SCS mage fights. Yeah, I'm lame, I know.
  • JouniJouni Member Posts: 50
    The game doesn't have any truly difficult fights, unless you use mods or harder difficulty settings.

    Many fights require different tactics, however. Some of them may become difficult, if the party is too optimized for a certain fighting style, and the style doesn't work in that battle. Parties that depend on heavy buffing are particularly vulnerable to unexpected situations.
  • Abi_DalzimAbi_Dalzim Member Posts: 1,428
    Kurona said:

    The entrance of Beholder City. Even if you decide to use the Shield of Cheese, it's a party-required area so all your guys are spawn just in front of a pack of beholders. And there's an Elder Orb too, just to make sure to ruin your day.

    My usual trick to mitigate that is to cast haste on the whole party, invisibility on everyone, and rush around a corner once I enter. The Elder Orb uses True Sight, but it takes long enough I can get to safety, then send my designated Beholder-smiter out by themselves to take them down.
  • ZaramMaldovarZaramMaldovar Member Posts: 2,309
    @Cahir
    I was going for without SCS, as I'm not competitive enough of a player to touch Hard Difficulty, let alone mods specifically designed to make my game harder. But Thank you for your input, could you elaborate on that? I have never used SCS and I am curious.
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    DJ_Sweatz_2013 said:

    @Cahir
    I was going for without SCS, as I'm not competitive enough of a player to touch Hard Difficulty, let alone mods specifically designed to make my game harder. But Thank you for your input, could you elaborate on that? I have never used SCS and I am curious.

    It's just I'm not that comfortable to remember which spells should I use to dispel specific defenses SCS mages are swarmed with. And they can be pretty devastating very quickly. I like general AI improvements of SCS (I think vanilla needs it), but specific creatures' enhancements prove rather difficult for me. I'm hardly a tactical player and prefer to roleplaying my games, so playing on Hard or Insane is difficult enough for me (but I do feel AI needs enhancements, therefore using SCS general AI improvement).
  • KuronaKurona Member Posts: 881
    Abi_Dalzim said:

    Kurona said:

    The entrance of Beholder City. Even if you decide to use the Shield of Cheese, it's a party-required area so all your guys are spawn just in front of a pack of beholders. And there's an Elder Orb too, just to make sure to ruin your day.

    My usual trick to mitigate that is to cast haste on the whole party, invisibility on everyone, and rush around a corner once I enter. The Elder Orb uses True Sight, but it takes long enough I can get to safety, then send my designated Beholder-smiter out by themselves to take them down.
    Wow, all these years and I was still convinced Elder Orbs could see through invisibility. Must have confused them with Hive Mothers.
  • ZaramMaldovarZaramMaldovar Member Posts: 2,309
    @Cahir
    Do you think I would have a better experience if I used SCS on Normal or Core Rules? I usually play on Normal and I was just curious.
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819
    DJ_Sweatz_2013 said:

    @Cahir
    Do you think I would have a better experience if I used SCS on Normal or Core Rules? I usually play on Normal and I was just curious.

    Well, I played SCS only on Core (I was hesitant to try it out on higher difficulties), so I can't tell you how much the game differs. But IIRC SCS author recommends playing SCS on Core Rules. I think you could try it out, but seeing you are hesitant to set the game too difficult, you should start with general AI improvements and maybe tweaking monsters you usually find too easy to kill. Definitely I'd avoid enhancing beholders, mind flayers and vampires for the first SCS experience. And mages, but hell... tweaked mages is the point of SCS, tbh.
  • recklessheartrecklessheart Member Posts: 692
    My strategy with Demogorgon is admittedly uninspired, but I find that between the 3 spellcasters I bring along, spamming the Energy Disk HLA can ruin him whilst frontliners with Hardiness endure the brunt of the Demon onslaught that goes with him. Swapping your frontliners in and out to allow time for heal spells or multiple superior healing potions does the trick.

    Toughest encounter; toughest encounter. Hm...

    The fights prior to Demogorgon are difficult, that's quite true. I feel like there is a truly scarring encounter somewhere out there that I am forgetting though. The Trolls who nest in the Druid Grove area always surprise me with their nastiness, but I don't think they qualify given the straightforward nature of their strategy. But, like the author of this thread, I only ever play the patched game using Core Rules. SCS never appealed to me.
  • mf2112mf2112 Member, Moderator Posts: 1,919
    If you are playing lawful or good characters the first big demon battle after coming out of the first anti-magic zone in the WK maze level can be tough. The anti-magic effect often lasts an extra round after finishing the conversation with Tahazzar preventing any spell-casting. :(
Sign In or Register to comment.

2025 Overhaul Games, a division of Beamdog. © 2025 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Baldur's Gate, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, Baldur's Gate, Wizards of the Coast and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries, and are used with permission. Hasbro and its logo are trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. and are used with permission. © 1998 BioWare Corp. All Rights Reserved. BioWare, the BioWare Infinity Engine and the BioWare logo are trademarks of Bioware Corp. Black Isle Studios and the Black Isle Studios logo are trademarks of Interplay Entertainment Corp. Atari and the Atari logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.