Sarevok has an unfair advantage
simAlity
Member Posts: 64
Okay I get that the final boss fight is supposed to be tough but there is tough and then there is WTF?
So I prefer stealth to strength. My first play through I went through all of chapter seven without being detected by the Flaming Fist. I even snuck Eltan out right from under their noses. The downside to the sneaky/stealthy approach though is that I don't get as many XPs and I went into the final fight hideously outgunned.
During what I think of as my 'second' play through (there have been a couple of aborted games) I make a point of doing most everything and enter the final boss fight with a team of four almost maxed out players.
I still prefer stealth to strength though so I go into the final fight with the assassins dagger that I took off of Krystin, the cloak of non-detection, and very high "hide in shadows" and "move silently" ratings. My plan is to hide my party along the back wall, circle Sarevok and plant the assassins dagger between his shoulder blades. However, despite all my stealth he knows exactly where I am and is able to initiate a conversation with me.
I realize that he's uber powerful but isn't that taking things a bit too far?
So I prefer stealth to strength. My first play through I went through all of chapter seven without being detected by the Flaming Fist. I even snuck Eltan out right from under their noses. The downside to the sneaky/stealthy approach though is that I don't get as many XPs and I went into the final fight hideously outgunned.
During what I think of as my 'second' play through (there have been a couple of aborted games) I make a point of doing most everything and enter the final boss fight with a team of four almost maxed out players.
I still prefer stealth to strength though so I go into the final fight with the assassins dagger that I took off of Krystin, the cloak of non-detection, and very high "hide in shadows" and "move silently" ratings. My plan is to hide my party along the back wall, circle Sarevok and plant the assassins dagger between his shoulder blades. However, despite all my stealth he knows exactly where I am and is able to initiate a conversation with me.
I realize that he's uber powerful but isn't that taking things a bit too far?
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Comments
Buy a ring of invisibility in Ulgoth's Beard and all potions of Invisibility in Sorcerous Sundries. With these item's you'll have at least 8 backstab attacks. Gulp a potion of Speed and then a Potion of Power (you may need several of those). Use the Draw Upon Holy Might ability if you have one.
Backstab - kite for a second - use the ring or the invisibility potion - backstab again - repeat. With the Dagger +2 "Longtooth" it can lead to killing Sarevok without much hassle.
And if you think this Sarevok is too tough you wouldn't have liked him in vanilla BG when he had 100% magic resistance and virtually the only damage you could do was with ranged weapons and magic missile (which with the logic of 2nd ed. D&D rules bypassed magic resistance).
Young people today, honestly, don't know how lucky they get it. Back when I were a lad... (Cont. indefinitely)
If its working then how come he always knows exactly where to fire his poison gas and firebombs?
So basically the stealth approach is out.
Seriously, what the heck?
As for the difficulty of the Sarevok battle... yes it is brutal, but the game is designed to be fairly challenging, and it provides all the tools you need to overcome the challenges. In fact there are countless ways to defeat the numerous challenges you face, including the Sarevok battle. It would be unreasonable to expect a single tactic to defeat everything the game throws at you. I don't know your party composition, but if you've gone for a full party of thieves, and totally ignored mages and clerics, then you'd have to expect to be a bit creative about defeating some of the tougher challenges in the game.
It's like in BG2, you will have to develop a reasonable understanding of the magic system to make good progress unless you happen to use Keldorn and/or Inquisitor PC.
Also though this doesn't necessarily work with your stealth strategy (I suppose it could by you using it by attacking when invisible with it) Arrows of Detonation (you can buy these in Sorcerous Sundries) combined with your Poison Weapon ability is an extremely potent combination. Just make sure to not get yourself caught in the blast though. Target Semaj/Angelo with them though because they can't get to be pretty annoying otherwise.
I messed up midway through the battle (after the vanishing act) and probably wouldn't of won anyway but having him disappear like that was very frustrating. I don't want that either. It would be boring. I think it was me, Imoen, Neera and someone else (a cleric but I don't recall which one). I was playing as a Ranger (stalker). Imoen was pure thief. There was no fighter in the group but I had strong weapons and stronger spells and a number of wands. Gorian's Ward was particularly well equiped with the assassins dagger, golden ax, the ice sword, and the fire sword. Their armor was a bit anemic but potions and spells could help with that.
For the record I thought that sneaking up behind him was creative. After all an (almost) maxed out stalker with a VERY high "move silently" and "hide in shadows" numbers who is wearing the cloak of non-detection really OUGHT to be able to sneak behind someone.
I had other ideas as well though. I'm a veritable fountain of ideas. But many weren't feasible because of the advantages granted Sarevok. For example: I considered sending player char in solo and warded up to a fare-thee-well and bringing in the rest as reinforcements. NOPE: You gotta send in the entire team at once. I considered sneaking around the sides and landing various anti-magic spells on them. Nope. He who is not in view cannot be Malaised.
I considered retreat and forcing Sarevok to run after me. Nope. (although at least that's understandable).
I tried to direcharm Tazok and Angelo. Nope. Spell resistance too high.
So I'm not able to be a stalker and I'm not allowed to wear the good armor and I can't out-spell him. If fighters are truly mandatory in the final battle then why aren't there more of them?
Despite that, I really did enjoy the game (particularly towards the end where there were opportunities to be sneaky and stealthy without being evil). This last battle just frustrates me. I am enjoying BG2. I enjoy being able to come up with non-violent (or minimally violent) solutions to various conflicts. It doesn't go as far as I like, but I do realize there are limitations to what the gamemakers can do and that solutions that others consider obvious won't occur to me (and vice versa).
If a tactic doesn't work, you shouldn't get mad, you should try a new tactic!
Boots of Speed + Oils of Speed make your character so fast that he can even outrun Sarevok (who's also hasted). If your character has reliable stealth he should be able to successfully hide when Sarevok's out of sight. You won't even need potions or items, though having a few at hand is recommended for failed stealth attempts.
I rolled with Kagain, Eldoth, and Shar-teel. Eldoth's death in the final battle was funny, i made some mistakes and he got separated from the rest of the party, taken down to ONE HP, surrounded by Savevok, Tazok, and Death Knights. And somehow someway I gulp a potion of invisibility the split second before his moral failed! We kited them away from him and he eventually snapped out of it, but then when he was moving to a safe area he accidentally stepped on a trap and died anyways! lol
Shar-teel died next but I'm not sure how, Sarevok must have critted her. I think I forgot to have her drink a fort potion, that would have helped. I gotta say, Shar-teel with a f3/t9 build is the way to go. MVP of the party. Put 3 pips in short bow, haste and arrows of det and she messed everybody up.
Meanwhile Kagain and Valduran drank what was left of our healing (no cleric the whole game) and after we dealt with the remaining henchies (Tazok must have like 300 hp, he hates dieing!) it was a fully healed Kagain and Valduran vs. a badly wounded Sarevok. A little nerve wracking because charnam ended up doing the tanking and I never know if he has the mega death swing or not. Maybe that's what killed Shar-T? Kagain landed the death blow. Roll credits...
Epilogue: Kagain takes his half share of a considerable amount of gold and magic, moves far into the mountains and starts a hugely successful mining corporation. Imoen, Minsc, Jaheira, Khalid, and Dynaheir all left Valduran right after he befriended Dorn and his rep hit 2. So charnam starts tracking her with hopes of learning more about his powers.
And our story continues...