Nimbul, simply because the plot timing is so well crafted: You're exhausted and battered, looking forward to a good nights kip, all your defences are down after a tough job well done when suddenly out of nowhere your whole day goes pear-shaped.
@dunbar after Tarnesh, Karlat, Neira, and you still expect safety near an inn?
Really, if Larze shocks you, you might be an idiot.
I was surprised.
I was shocked by larze cause I though he was just going to be a regular ogre, and then he one-shooting my mages like a boss. He's actually a hard fight with a low-level party.
@DreadKhan "A hit, a veritable hit!". Fair point but I was young then and had yet to develop an aura of world-weary cynicism (followed by whatever the emoticon is for a wry smile).
Well, Larze's indeed compotent at whacking, and his sheer damage is totally unexpected, but really, by Larze you should be noting a pattern, in which inns and towns arent all that safe.
It always struck as amazing that they could get into candlekeep in the first place. A feat given the strict admission rules. The existing magical defences make it unlikely that such individuals were able to teleport inside, or bribed their way in. It means both of them must have had access to rare books to offer as tickets. Did they steal them? Did Sarevok give them the books? Someone else? Unlikely, but If so, why them and not someone better? Were they a couple of scholars gone bad? Religious fanatics? Given their obvious lack of skill, how did they work up the courage? I would really like to know their back story.
It always struck as amazing that they could get into candlekeep in the first place. A feat given the strict admission rules. The existing magical defences make it unlikely that such individuals were able to teleport inside, or bribed their way in. It means both of them must have had access to rare books to offer as tickets. Did they steal them? Did Sarevok give them the books? Someone else? Unlikely, but If so, why them and not someone better? Were they a couple of scholars gone bad? Religious fanatics? Given their obvious lack of skill, how did they work up the courage? I would really like to know their back story.
Yea, I figured they would get some more love than one vote;) they make an interesting story, and are probably may second or third choice.
There is a party of ogre-mages in a building just south of the Iron Throne. They were hired by Sarevok, and they are a difficult fight to be sure.
Ah, yes.
@Lateralus has a very good point, @meagloth. The Ogre Magi explicitly state that they're seeking a specific bounty (10,000 gp!) for [Charname] offered by "the son of Murder", so they're definitely assassins, not random goons.
It always struck as amazing that they could get into candlekeep in the first place. A feat given the strict admission rules.
I think the lore is that Shank & Carbos have got in as newly-hired stablehands. (Obviously Candlekeep's own staff are exempt from the normal admission rules, because otherwise they'd never be able to hire any staff.)
Tarnesh and Nimbul. I can't even decide. Both are terrible when you don't metagame. A shame games don't throw these kinds of challenges at you, your party being battered and looking for a safe haven, then getting jumped by competent enemies... I remember the first time I got to the Friendly Arm. I couldn't remember the "friends" name, and I really believed Tarnesh when he said he was it. Needless to say what followed. That's why I chose him.
The amazons, by the way, are really easy to miss. I didn't find out they even existed for years. Same for the Ogre Mages and the guys in Gullykin.
Amazons! Similar to Nimbul you have just come away from a hard fight and they throw the most challenging battle you've had yet. The completely missable nature of it too I missed them during my first 2 playthroughs and I make a beeline for nashkal just to smash them with whatever team i've gathered. They are the first 'group' you usually fight rather than 6 on 1 making you think tactically.
Arguably this is the fight that challenges whether the player is competent with the combat.
Nimbul has the popularity factor, Tarnesh may kill more but we hate him too much to have him win a poll.. even if that poll is about how much he kills us.
Even today Tarnesh kills me the most. (normal gaming) And the first encounter is ~90% deadly for a new player. Like the kiss from Shoal, it is a hard wall that you have to hit to love the game.
Nimbul is cool, but the fact that (for me at least) he for some reason decides to run at my party and hack them up with a throwing axe like some kind of savage instead of using the Short Sword +1 he has on his body (not to mention that, being coded as a mage-thief, he can backstab) made my respect for him drop just that much.
I despise Tarnesh with a passion.
Edit: I don't know why, but the fact that Larze doesn't even get a mention made me laugh.
Tarnesh is one of my favorite chump deaths in a video game. It really drives home the fact that this game IS old school Dungeons & Dragons, and it's isn't messing around. Everybody I've met who has even minimal experience with Baldur's Gate has an opinion about the encounter with the mean (series of explicatives) outside of The Friendly Arm Inn.
I don't so much remember the loot from the Amazons as the number of times they kicked my ass in my first playthrough. Not only was I clueless about how to mitigate the barrage of cc they throw your way, you run into them just after stumbling battered and bruised out of the Nashkel Mines.
In fact that entire stretch of the game is brutal. The encounter with Mulahey is bruising enough for a beginner... You emerge triumphant, only to get owned by the Amazons... After the nth reload, you make it back to Nashkel to safety and collect your reward... only to get greeted by Nimbul.
Comments
Really, if Larze shocks you, you might be an idiot.
I was surprised.
@Lateralus has a very good point, @meagloth. The Ogre Magi explicitly state that they're seeking a specific bounty (10,000 gp!) for [Charname] offered by "the son of Murder", so they're definitely assassins, not random goons.
And what's with Neira being listed as an assassin here? I thought she was a wild mage!
(Just kidding, I know who Neira is)
I remember the first time I got to the Friendly Arm. I couldn't remember the "friends" name, and I really believed Tarnesh when he said he was it. Needless to say what followed. That's why I chose him.
The amazons, by the way, are really easy to miss. I didn't find out they even existed for years. Same for the Ogre Mages and the guys in Gullykin.
Oh, and do we need spoiler tags in this forum?
Arguably this is the fight that challenges whether the player is competent with the combat.
And the first encounter is ~90% deadly for a new player.
Like the kiss from Shoal, it is a hard wall that you have to hit to love the game.
Nimbul is hard but Silke is the same,..
Nimbul is cool, but the fact that (for me at least) he for some reason decides to run at my party and hack them up with a throwing axe like some kind of savage instead of using the Short Sword +1 he has on his body (not to mention that, being coded as a mage-thief, he can backstab) made my respect for him drop just that much.
I despise Tarnesh with a passion.
Edit: I don't know why, but the fact that Larze doesn't even get a mention made me laugh.
In fact that entire stretch of the game is brutal. The encounter with Mulahey is bruising enough for a beginner... You emerge triumphant, only to get owned by the Amazons... After the nth reload, you make it back to Nashkel to safety and collect your reward... only to get greeted by Nimbul.