Umber. Hulks. Hands down. Those guys are so tedious to put out of their misery!
Until you get to lvl11 and get that sweet, juicy Death Spell that insta-kills whole groups of them, no save. Was that in IWD? At least now it will be...
Frost Giants, Xunomai, Isarecht. But generally ALL of them...
Interesting about the Frost Giants... they could hardly ever hit me on HoF. I was playing 6 dwarves and was wondering if the game gave short races bonuses fighting giantkin, because they were pushovers.
Except, the Fire Giants weren't. So I don't know what's going on there...
The Tarnished Sentries are tough for sure, but that's mostly because they're flanked by a ton of Fire Salamanders whose fire (and magic in general) they're immune to.
It's the BRONZE Sentries I dread more. There's only 4 of them, but if they all focus 1 character, then that character dies. Stoneskin? Delays the inevitable! Mirror Image? Same! Your AC will be worthles: use physical resistances... and you're still hoarding magic arrows, aren't you? If not, get up close... or bring summons, and hope to get each sentry 1 at a time.
And yes, they do come after a lich fight. A sadly easy lich who makes all the BG Liches seem strong, mainly because he forgot he could be immune to up to 5th level magic,only took immunity to nonmagical weapons, and doesn't have the most deadly spellbook (no timestop.)
I never found Yx all that hard. You can lure her away from her Yuanti and into a double webbing. If that fails, her necromancer/cleric gave us just the weapon we need to potentially stun her. Even a great demon can't stop you if you land a stun. No, she's not immune. I'm not upset.
Wailing Virgins and those Drowned Dead for sure. Unless you have that white dove mace that disrupts undead, Burial Isle is really nightmarish.
Yx is hard, sure, but she is a boss type and she is supposed to be challenging. Those undead in the Burial Isle are all around the place and they...just...don't end.
And yes, they do come after a lich fight. A sadly easy lich who makes all the BG Liches seem strong, mainly because he forgot he could be immune to up to 5th level magic,only took immunity to nonmagical weapons, and doesn't have the most deadly spellbook (no timestop.)
Terikan was meant to be a weak lich. Norlinor (that's what I think the ghost is called) tells you that Terikan didn't do many of the rituals that make most liches really powerful.
He regenerates though, and if you don't know exactly what to do, you might have to drop him a couple times. I enjoyed the fight in vanilla, though I lost some folks. I don't remember the sentries being too rough though. Funny how different parties have different difficulties!
I'm thinking of making a mod that turns all creatures in the game into bombardier beetles. Spectral guards become undead bombardier beetles, Yxunomei becomes a demonic bombardier beetle, etc. Anyone interested? *crickets chirping* Hello?
I'm thinking of making a mod that turns all creatures in the game into bombardier beetles. Spectral guards become undead bombardier beetles, Yxunomei becomes a demonic bombardier beetle, etc. Anyone interested? *crickets chirping* Hello?
Based on the observations in this thread, I conclude that nearly all enemies were annoying. I attribute this to 2E's combat system and the prevalence of save-or-die/-suck effects. Further research will be needed to determine why subjects keep playing the game.
First of all, Icewind Dale didn't have a whole lot of enemies with save-or-die abilities. Yes, it did have some, but not a lot. Mebdinga (wailing virgin leader) and The Idol are pretty much the only enemies with such abilities.
Beholders had Deathray for which there is no protective items afaik, they also LOOOVED to F2S mages/clerics so that you couldn't cast S2F without scrolls, esp when they appeared out of thin air behind you >.<
Also not necessarily save or die, and maybe I was having terrible luck, but a lot of boss fights chained full party confuse, then holds, then mass undead summons to the face. Nothing more depressing than watching 1HD skeletons rip apart a level 16 warrior because he cant swing his mace that instant kills them
Based on the observations in this thread, I conclude that nearly all enemies were annoying. I attribute this to 2E's combat system and the prevalence of save-or-die/-suck effects. Further research will be needed to determine why subjects keep playing the game.
First of all, Icewind Dale didn't have a whole lot of enemies with save-or-die abilities. Yes, it did have some, but not a lot. Mebdinga (wailing virgin leader) and The Idol are pretty much the only enemies with such abilities.
Beholders had Deathray for which there is no protective items afaik, they also LOOOVED to F2S mages/clerics so that you couldn't cast S2F without scrolls, esp when they appeared out of thin air behind you >.<
Also not necessarily save or die, and maybe I was having terrible luck, but a lot of boss fights chained full party confuse, then holds, then mass undead summons to the face. Nothing more depressing than watching 1HD skeletons rip apart a level 16 warrior because he cant swing his mace that instant kills them
I was talking about IWD1. Since when were there beholders in IWD1? I remember there being one in IWD2, but I don't remember him having death rays. Maybe the beholders were in Trials of the Luremaster? I haven't played that.
Yeah, there are a few in TotL, though I wouldn't say they're that annoying, unless you're playing no reload and get unlucky. Is there even a priest at Castle Maluradek?
I definitely agree with the Luremaster being very obnoxious in his final fight. I actually straight up cheated in that battle on Heart of Fury, because he could teleport forever with his boosted hitpoints, and his minions would've surely killed me by then. And of course he's just generally annoying as the host of your ordeal there, which I find fun the first time through and more of a chore on subsequent runs.
Thread necro, but I need somewhere to vent my frustration. I may take this back when I get further, but for me the epitome of annoying has to be the Heart of Fury Wailing Virgins. They're the only enemy in the game that has literally made me rage-quit twice, and reload countless times. I'm actually considering dipping my F(13)/C into my meagre stock of Potions of Magic Shielding and Regeneration, and just trying to solo-bash Mebdinga and her crones with Three White Doves. I'm a notorious potion-hoarder, but this might just be the situation for them!
EDIT:
Turns out 30 Cleric levels are enough to wander through the caves and 'splode all the WVs (and Drowned Dead and Barrow Wights!) excepting their boss-lady, who subsequently 'sploded to the TWD. Of course you need some kind of resistance to damage, but those 30 levels also give you 8 copies of Greater Shield of Lathander, which does the trick.
I agree that wailing virgins et al are annoying but any enemy that you don't have to fight doesn't deserve to be on the list. To get to the point in the game where it becomes fun you have to get past the dragon's eye monsters and when you have a low level party it is just sucky until you figure out a good strategy or just restart again for the millionth time. not that I ever do that.....
After playing through the entirety of IWD:EE, it was a bit of a close call, but I think I have to vote for the Spectral Guards. They hit VERY hard, they have large HP pools, and being undead, they're immune to all the usual CC spells like Horror, Hopelessness or Chaos that I use to deal with Fighter-types. Yes, they do have one GLARING weakness in that you can Turn them with a high level Cleric, but that in itself is annoying because they then run around like headless chickens, forcing my melee types to play tag with them while I wait for my ranged characters to cut them down.
A very close second place would have to go to the Wailing Virgins. Usually I send my Cavalier and my Berserker in to deal with them (since they're more or less immune to all the CC the Virgins can throw their way), but their high Magic damage attack was a real pain to have to heal up afterwards.
Bombadier Beetles, Blast Skeletons and Salamanders get a honorary mention, although usually I just have my party switch to Ranged weapons and blast them down from a distance before they can get close enough to deal damage.
I didn't run into Stone Nuisances at all in my IWD:EE playthrough (at least, they didn't spawn on Core Rules difficulty), so I don't know much about them either way.
The Tarnished Sentries are tough for sure, but that's mostly because they're flanked by a ton of Fire Salamanders whose fire (and magic in general) they're immune to.
It's the BRONZE Sentries I dread more. There's only 4 of them, but if they all focus 1 character, then that character dies. Stoneskin? Delays the inevitable! Mirror Image? Same! Your AC will be worthles: use physical resistances... and you're still hoarding magic arrows, aren't you? If not, get up close... or bring summons, and hope to get each sentry 1 at a time.
And yes, they do come after a lich fight. A sadly easy lich who makes all the BG Liches seem strong, mainly because he forgot he could be immune to up to 5th level magic,only took immunity to nonmagical weapons, and doesn't have the most deadly spellbook (no timestop.)
I never found Yx all that hard. You can lure her away from her Yuanti and into a double webbing. If that fails, her necromancer/cleric gave us just the weapon we need to potentially stun her. Even a great demon can't stop you if you land a stun. No, she's not immune. I'm not upset.
Force Missiles work wonders against the Bronze Sentries. One casting will usually do enough damage to drop one, since their resistance doesn't include magic.
Yuan-Ti Mages are pretty terrifying to contend with in Level 4 of Dragon's Eye.
Comments
Those guys are so tedious to put out of their misery!
2. Die Umbie die!
3. ???
4. PROFIT!!
Was that in IWD? At least now it will be...
Except, the Fire Giants weren't. So I don't know what's going on there...
Thanks for reminding me about the Fire Giants. They were pretty annoying. And with Ilmadia coming into the fight, it can be a real tough battle...
It's the BRONZE Sentries I dread more. There's only 4 of them, but if they all focus 1 character, then that character dies. Stoneskin? Delays the inevitable! Mirror Image? Same! Your AC will be worthles: use physical resistances... and you're still hoarding magic arrows, aren't you? If not, get up close... or bring summons, and hope to get each sentry 1 at a time.
And yes, they do come after a lich fight. A sadly easy lich who makes all the BG Liches seem strong, mainly because he forgot he could be immune to up to 5th level magic,only took immunity to nonmagical weapons, and doesn't have the most deadly spellbook (no timestop.)
I never found Yx all that hard. You can lure her away from her Yuanti and into a double webbing. If that fails, her necromancer/cleric gave us just the weapon we need to potentially stun her. Even a great demon can't stop you if you land a stun. No, she's not immune. I'm not upset.
Yx is hard, sure, but she is a boss type and she is supposed to be challenging. Those undead in the Burial Isle are all around the place and they...just...don't end.
Do it.
Also not necessarily save or die, and maybe I was having terrible luck, but a lot of boss fights chained full party confuse, then holds, then mass undead summons to the face. Nothing more depressing than watching 1HD skeletons rip apart a level 16 warrior because he cant swing his mace that instant kills them
I definitely agree with the Luremaster being very obnoxious in his final fight. I actually straight up cheated in that battle on Heart of Fury, because he could teleport forever with his boosted hitpoints, and his minions would've surely killed me by then. And of course he's just generally annoying as the host of your ordeal there, which I find fun the first time through and more of a chore on subsequent runs.
EDIT:
Turns out 30 Cleric levels are enough to wander through the caves and 'splode all the WVs (and Drowned Dead and Barrow Wights!) excepting their boss-lady, who subsequently 'sploded to the TWD. Of course you need some kind of resistance to damage, but those 30 levels also give you 8 copies of Greater Shield of Lathander, which does the trick.
A very close second place would have to go to the Wailing Virgins. Usually I send my Cavalier and my Berserker in to deal with them (since they're more or less immune to all the CC the Virgins can throw their way), but their high Magic damage attack was a real pain to have to heal up afterwards.
Bombadier Beetles, Blast Skeletons and Salamanders get a honorary mention, although usually I just have my party switch to Ranged weapons and blast them down from a distance before they can get close enough to deal damage.
I didn't run into Stone Nuisances at all in my IWD:EE playthrough (at least, they didn't spawn on Core Rules difficulty), so I don't know much about them either way.
Force Missiles work wonders against the Bronze Sentries. One casting will usually do enough damage to drop one, since their resistance doesn't include magic.
Yuan-Ti Mages are pretty terrifying to contend with in Level 4 of Dragon's Eye.
Agree.
I love 2nd Edition, but the way 3rd Edition handles SR is way better and more balanced.