Final Battle - need your help - spoilers

mement0

So as title says, I am at the final battle in the Realm of Bhaal.

Actually I have reached the second phase, but I also have the save before the start of the first phase if that is important.

Group is the following:
Protagonist - Archer - lvl 25
Minsc - lvl 24
Sarevok - lvl 28
Imoen - lvl 23/7
Neera - lvl 23
Aerie - lvl 19/16

What I noticed so far from trial and error:

I can not hit Melissan with +3 arrows, but I can take down fast several summons, like the beholder.

I use improve haste on Minsc and Sarevok and on Protagonist.

Writing this post actually helped me realise that my mages are too busy with her summons, maybe I should use some of my own, besides the Fallen Planetar of course.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you.

Vyrulisse

I never had very good tactics in that battle. I was reduced to running my entire party away a lot. As soon as you can move, just book it to the top of the area and let the summons funnel to you.

Jarrakul

Hm. You're a little lower level than I usually am at that point, but that shouldn't really make much difference.

So, you need +4 weapons to hit the boss. If your archer is using the Shortbow of Gesen or the Firetooth crossbow, you can unload them and have them shoot their default ammo. That'll hurt the boss. If not, your archer is gonna have to stick to taking down summons.

Personally, I'd focus Minsc and Seravok (and maybe your archer, depending on the above) on dropping the boss. I think she uses spell protections (how many times have I fought her and I'm not sure of this? embarrassing), so have the mages fire off Breach asap. Tanking her or the summons with a buffed mage (Imoen's probably your best bet) is generally pretty helpful, although beware of level drain on some of the summons. Improved Haste on the warriors is definitely the way to go as far as offensive buffs go, but keep in mind that the second stage is not the last one. Don't be afraid to use the scrolls and potions you've probably stockpiled, but do keep in mind that you're not gonna be able to rest before the end of the game. Summons are also a good idea, especially Mordenkainen's Sword, but you'll want to save a few for the third stage, imo.

That's all I can really think of, I'm afraid. Good luck!

mement0

Vyrulisse said:

I never had very good tactics in that battle. I was reduced to running my entire party away a lot. As soon as you can move, just book it to the top of the area and let the summons funnel to you.

Tomorrow I will try this just to see if I can get better positioning.

Jarrakul said:

Hm. You're a little lower level than I usually am at that point, but that shouldn't really make much difference.

So, you need +4 weapons to hit the boss. If your archer is using the Shortbow of Gesen or the Firetooth crossbow, you can unload them and have them shoot their default ammo. That'll hurt the boss. If not, your archer is gonna have to stick to taking down summons.

Personally, I'd focus Minsc and Seravok (and maybe your archer, depending on the above) on dropping the boss. I think she uses spell protections (how many times have I fought her and I'm not sure of this? embarrassing), so have the mages fire off Breach asap. Tanking her or the summons with a buffed mage (Imoen's probably your best bet) is generally pretty helpful, although beware of level drain on some of the summons. Improved Haste on the warriors is definitely the way to go as far as offensive buffs go, but keep in mind that the second stage is not the last one. Don't be afraid to use the scrolls and potions you've probably stockpiled, but do keep in mind that you're not gonna be able to rest before the end of the game. Summons are also a good idea, especially Mordenkainen's Sword, but you'll want to save a few for the third stage, imo.

That's all I can really think of, I'm afraid. Good luck!

I had no idea I could hit her with a +4 weapon. I thought I needed +4 arrows. I use the +4 mana bow but I also have the +5 Firetooth in inventory and I am maxed in both. For some reason I believe the mana bow +4 can not hit her, but the Firetooth got her to badly injured state with no strategy at all.

For the no rest part I was thinking maybe a wish spell to give me back all casted spells. I believe I have 2 of those memorised just in case.

Thank you both of you. Will try more within the week and hopefully it will be over.
Got to finish this and focus on another rts during holiday break. (Planescape Torment and Icewind Dale are waiting.)

wubble

You can load up a sequencer with 3x lower resistance and throw some horrid wiltings at her. That works against just about anything

JLee

If it helps, here's how I usually approach this sequence.

I'd have the casters load up on project images. Keep one for each stage per caster and cast right after the battle starts. Have them cast improved hastes, ruby rays, and breaches. Focus on taking down melissan's defenses.

Go after melissan only with the fighters. Don't bother with the summons. When she dies, they die.

Planetars are great here for a lot of reasons, not the least of which being their healing spells.

Hopefully you have saved those rods of resurrection. They really come in handy here also.

Good luck!

ifupauline

hehe you have 3 mages? summon planetar and back it up with Aerie, she should use robe of vecna because of quick healing, then use the rest of the party on melissan, breach her and beat her up with whirlwind attack. That should do it all 4 fights. Use ur wild magic slot for wish only. make sure u use improved chaos shield first, sometimes good things happen to you -_- Also before the fight, spend all your money on scrolls and potions so you can save slots. scroll of imprisonment for instance will help you in dealing with the last fight before melissan.

I think beholder is the worst case scenario when you deal with Melissan, and you should definitely get rid of them as soon as you can before they dispel and spell failure all your party. You were just unlucky.

xzar_monty

@mement0: Completely disregard her summons. Concentrate all your firepower on Melissan herself. When you get her down, the summons disappear. The experience you would get from the summons is irrelevant at this point.

Yannir

Using Wish-resting between fights is advisable. A potion of Mind Focusing should last you allthrough the fight. U need 18 wisdom on your caster for it to work. Otherwise the genie will screw you over.

FinneousPJ

You don't need Wish resting, but it sure does make it easier. The most important thing (like some have said) is to just focus your offensive on Melissan. The summons are irrelevant.

lunar

mement0 said:

Vyrulisse said:

I never had very good tactics in that battle. I was reduced to running my entire party away a lot. As soon as you can move, just book it to the top of the area and let the summons funnel to you.

Tomorrow I will try this just to see if I can get better positioning.

Jarrakul said:

Hm. You're a little lower level than I usually am at that point, but that shouldn't really make much difference.

So, you need +4 weapons to hit the boss. If your archer is using the Shortbow of Gesen or the Firetooth crossbow, you can unload them and have them shoot their default ammo. That'll hurt the boss. If not, your archer is gonna have to stick to taking down summons.

Personally, I'd focus Minsc and Seravok (and maybe your archer, depending on the above) on dropping the boss. I think she uses spell protections (how many times have I fought her and I'm not sure of this? embarrassing), so have the mages fire off Breach asap. Tanking her or the summons with a buffed mage (Imoen's probably your best bet) is generally pretty helpful, although beware of level drain on some of the summons. Improved Haste on the warriors is definitely the way to go as far as offensive buffs go, but keep in mind that the second stage is not the last one. Don't be afraid to use the scrolls and potions you've probably stockpiled, but do keep in mind that you're not gonna be able to rest before the end of the game. Summons are also a good idea, especially Mordenkainen's Sword, but you'll want to save a few for the third stage, imo.

That's all I can really think of, I'm afraid. Good luck!

I had no idea I could hit her with a +4 weapon. I thought I needed +4 arrows. I use the +4 mana bow but I also have the +5 Firetooth in inventory and I am maxed in both. For some reason I believe the mana bow +4 can not hit her, but the Firetooth got her to badly injured state with no strategy at all.

For the no rest part I was thinking maybe a wish spell to give me back all casted spells. I believe I have 2 of those memorised just in case.

Thank you both of you. Will try more within the week and hopefully it will be over.
Got to finish this and focus on another rts during holiday break. (Planescape Torment and Icewind Dale are waiting.)

It is the ammo of the bow that counts. Gessen and Firetooth fire their own, magical ammo that count as +4. Mana bow, despite being a +4 bow, fires whatever arrow you equip so is useless.

In the vanilla game Melissan's stoneskin and divine mantle was bugged (or perhaps it was intentional) that breach did not remove them, but a high lvl spell protection removal, such as spellstrike, did. I haven't yet faced her in ee games so I don't know if this has changed.

You can make Imoen gulp a potion of insight for maximum 18 wisdom and try Wish spells to get the 'rest and renew all spells/abilities' option.

Jarrakul

mement0 said:

I had no idea I could hit her with a +4 weapon. I thought I needed +4 arrows. I use the +4 mana bow but I also have the +5 Firetooth in inventory and I am maxed in both. For some reason I believe the mana bow +4 can not hit her, but the Firetooth got her to badly injured state with no strategy at all.

Technically speaking, you do need +4 arrows. The Shortbow of Gesen and Firetooth (and Tansheron's Bow +3, but that's not sufficient here) are special. When not loaded with actual ammo, they shoot special unlimited ammo. This special unlimited ammo, and no other ammo, uses the bonus of the bow to determine what it can deal damage to. Hence, those two weapons are the only primary archer weapons that can hurt the last boss (and a couple other things in the game), and they can only do it when not loaded with real ammo.

JLee

I never used Wish before coming on to these forums and seeing how popular it is. Are all results equally likely? I think I cast it 6-7 times and never got that result. I haven't cast it since. Reloading that many times/burning through that many 9th level spell slots is very immersion breaking for me. Was I just unlucky?

Why not just use PI? You have more 7th level spell slots and you can save your 9th for spells like IA and Planetars. As always, if it works for you then that's all that matters, but I just don't get relying on that strategy.

lunar

JLee said:

I never used Wish before coming on to these forums and seeing how popular it is. Are all results equally likely? I think I cast it 6-7 times and never got that result. I haven't cast it since. Reloading that many times/burning through that many 9th level spell slots is very immersion breaking for me. Was I just unlucky?

Why not just use PI? You have more 7th level spell slots and you can save your 9th for spells like IA and Planetars. As always, if it works for you then that's all that matters, but I just don't get relying on that strategy.

@JLee You need 18 wisdom for the best rest option. You can get a sorc's PI cast all of his 9th spells for it, with 6 or such castings there is a good chance it will come. And if not you can try again with another PI.

Rest option refreshes all of your party's spells and perhaps more importantly, all of the high level abilities such as whirlwind attacks and hardiness, too. These really make or break fighters in the final battle. Sure you can use PI and spell trap shenenigans to preserve or replenish your mage's spells. But refreshing all of your party's trump cards is only viable with Wish spell.

JLee

Thank you @lunar‌ I did have 19 wisdom. Oh well, must have been unlucky. I guess the fact it's an uncommon result makes sense given how powerful an effect that is.

mement0

I just finished the game and I wanted to thank you all one more time. The final fight was excellent, I really enjoyed it.
The entire series was an amazing gaming experience unlike any other.

Jarrakul

Hurray! Yes, I don't think you'll get much argument around here. BG is something special.

wubble

Now replay it with SCS and Ascension!

Djimmy

wubble said:

Now replay it with SCS and Ascension!

Ascension is kinda epic. Try to solo it too.

macu67

The easiest way I found is to put alot of traps in the place where melissana appears each time. It's just too easy. :P

CField17

Djimmy said:

wubble said:

Now replay it with SCS and Ascension!

Ascension is kinda epic. Try to solo it too.

Can u use these mods w Android?

wubble

CField17 said:

Djimmy said:

wubble said:

Now replay it with SCS and Ascension!

Ascension is kinda epic. Try to solo it too.

Can u use these mods w Android?

@CField17‌ dunno @Cuv‌ would be the one to ask for ascension. Not sure about SCS.

macu67 said:

The easiest way I found is to put alot of traps in the place where melissana appears each time. It's just too easy. :P

Traps are too cheesy for me. I prefer hitting things directly.

Cuv

I have no idea, don't have an android - but trying to find out

Cuv

I have been told that you can use mods - but not any that alter the TLK - so that means no to Ascension, sorry

CField17

Ok, thanks

lelag200

Cuv said:

I have been told that you can use mods - but not any that alter the TLK - so that means no to Ascension, sorry

Also SCS and Ascension are not available on PC until they're updated to the latest 2.2 patch, correct?

Arunsun

Cuv said:

I have been told that you can use mods - but not any that alter the TLK - so that means no to Ascension, sorry

CField17 said:

Ok, thanks

Actually you can but it takes some time and a computer. I used this method myself to install SCS along with some other mods. Just follow this step-by-step guide, it worked well enough for me (v1.3.something)
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/43990/how-to-install-mods-on-android
Note that some mods are quite heavy. My modset made the game 5.5GB instead of 2.4GB, which can pretty significant on a mobile/tablet. Among those I installed, SCS was the heaviest (he made up for about 90% of the additionnal weight).


EDIT: It may also slow the game down if your device is not powerful enough.

Ballad

lelag200 said:

Cuv said:

I have been told that you can use mods - but not any that alter the TLK - so that means no to Ascension, sorry

Also SCS and Ascension are not available on PC until they're updated to the latest 2.2 patch, correct?

SCS is compatible with the latest patch, Ascension is not - it hasn't really ever been 100% compatible with BG2:EE.

Now, I know some people have run BG2:EE with Ascension and gotten a smooth experience. Personally, I ran into several issues (crashes, bugs) but managed to play all the way until the final battle, only to discover it is unbeatable due to a bug that causes Melissan to vanish and never come back. So try it with your own risk.