Need tips on how to fight Vampires and Cowled Wizards
So I played BG1 when it came out many years ago. Never knew about BG EE until about 4 months ago when I got it. I played through BG1 over again before getting into BG2. I had started BG2 with an Inquisitor which I liked much but somehow lost my Amulet of Power. I also really wanted to play my Sorcerer so I switched over and am close to catching up to where I was with my Inquisitor (in Chapter 3).
The game really is awesome and definitely exceeds my expectations so I'll probably continue my playthrough with my Inquisitor after, maybe play a Kensai and so on. I'm a noob at BG2, I did know about D&D 2nd edition and still have the monster manual so it helps sometimes when I'm not sure what to use to damage them. Being new to the game, I'm only playing on the normal difficulty (100% mob dmg) and not higher for the moment as I'm learning the new spells and so on.
I just went to buy almost all of the items left I could use off Ribald's store, it's night time and I have to face 3 vampires. If I use spells outside of the shop, Cowled Wizards come after me (I haven't paid the fee and thought I could eventually kill them). My party is around lvl 11-12 average (Keldorn still lvl 10, close to 11) and is as follows:
1-CHARNAME Sorcerer lvl 12
2-Keldorn lvl 10
3-Anomen lvl 11 or 12 I forget
4-Aerie lvl 11 wizard I think
5-Jaheira
6-Yoshimo
I'm still using Keldorn's +2 2h sword for him mostly. Anomen has his starter shield (I bought Shield of Balduran and could use it if needed) and I just did Nalia's quest so I got him Flail of Ages. Jaheira is using Sling of Seeker +1 with the Tower shield +3. Yoshimo is using the short sword +3 and the bow that attacks very fast with all sorts of magic arrows (I have the ring for greater invis and invis potions if I want to backstab). Aerie has a sling +2, Sorcerer Sling +1 but they mostly cast spells all fight long. My Sorcerer is using Amulet of Power and Robe of Vecna at the moment but I could switch the amulet if absolutely needed to counter level drain on Keldorn or Anomen.
My sorcerer has Greater Malison, Confusion and the AOE fear for group crowd control. He has many offensive spells, some defensive ones like Stoneskin, he has haste and chain lightning. He also has Breach. Aerie also has 1 Breach and I memorized 2 Spell Thrusts. She has Hopelessness and Hold Monsters for extra CC (no access to lvl 6 spells yet). I memorized 3 Negative Plane Protection spells in total with Anomen and Aerie or Jaheira I can't remember but I could memorize more if needed (I thought 3 would be enough for 1 encounter to buff my 2 melee).
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So for the Vampires:
They're only 3 on this city encounter. I can kill them without using spells but they normally kill at least Keldorn before I can finish killing them. I could possibly pull it off with spells but I can't handle the Cowled Wizards over it. For some reason, Keldorn still seems to get level drained after a bit and always gets destroyed. Am I missing something or is the spell duration just wearing off mid fight? I have 2-3 restoration spells memorized to restore the levels but I'm not sure if it's worth using during fights if they get level drained on each hit. What are the good spells to control vampires? What type of spell order should I use (Greater Malison followed by Hold Monster? It didn't seem to work). Do I need to put the Amulet of Power on a melee character or can Negative Plane Protection spells do the job during one encounter at the time? I did not go get the Sword that has a special spell vs undead where the Lich is yet (I beat it with my Inquisitor with a lower lvl party but wasn't sure I could pull it off with my current party although I now have Keldorn). I read some people wrote to get scrolls of protection vs Undead but I don't think I should need this for small encounters with vampires. I read that there's a good mace vs undead but I don't have it yet.
For Cowled Wizards:
Even if I cast one buff before finding the vampires and try to fight the Cowled Wizards group alone, I can't seem to beat them. Minor Globe of Invulnerability seems to be the biggest issue I have with them. It blocks almost every spell and I don't have a whole lot of good physical damage dealers. I use Breach and I try to get rid of the Invulnerability Globes with Spell Thrust but it doesn't seem to work. I can damage them and sometimes CC a few of them with fear or confusion but they eventually get a confusion or fear that makes me lose control of half my group and eventually a 2nd spell of the other type makes me lose control of the rest. I try to use Dispell Magic with Keldorn as a last resort since it debuffs my characters as well and hoping it gets rid of the confusion/fear but it doesn't seem to work. I'm really not sure how to handle these. I'll avoid fighting them and just go rest or try to kill the vampires if needed but I think I should be able to kill the first group at lvl 11-12 no?
The game really is awesome and definitely exceeds my expectations so I'll probably continue my playthrough with my Inquisitor after, maybe play a Kensai and so on. I'm a noob at BG2, I did know about D&D 2nd edition and still have the monster manual so it helps sometimes when I'm not sure what to use to damage them. Being new to the game, I'm only playing on the normal difficulty (100% mob dmg) and not higher for the moment as I'm learning the new spells and so on.
I just went to buy almost all of the items left I could use off Ribald's store, it's night time and I have to face 3 vampires. If I use spells outside of the shop, Cowled Wizards come after me (I haven't paid the fee and thought I could eventually kill them). My party is around lvl 11-12 average (Keldorn still lvl 10, close to 11) and is as follows:
1-CHARNAME Sorcerer lvl 12
2-Keldorn lvl 10
3-Anomen lvl 11 or 12 I forget
4-Aerie lvl 11 wizard I think
5-Jaheira
6-Yoshimo
I'm still using Keldorn's +2 2h sword for him mostly. Anomen has his starter shield (I bought Shield of Balduran and could use it if needed) and I just did Nalia's quest so I got him Flail of Ages. Jaheira is using Sling of Seeker +1 with the Tower shield +3. Yoshimo is using the short sword +3 and the bow that attacks very fast with all sorts of magic arrows (I have the ring for greater invis and invis potions if I want to backstab). Aerie has a sling +2, Sorcerer Sling +1 but they mostly cast spells all fight long. My Sorcerer is using Amulet of Power and Robe of Vecna at the moment but I could switch the amulet if absolutely needed to counter level drain on Keldorn or Anomen.
My sorcerer has Greater Malison, Confusion and the AOE fear for group crowd control. He has many offensive spells, some defensive ones like Stoneskin, he has haste and chain lightning. He also has Breach. Aerie also has 1 Breach and I memorized 2 Spell Thrusts. She has Hopelessness and Hold Monsters for extra CC (no access to lvl 6 spells yet). I memorized 3 Negative Plane Protection spells in total with Anomen and Aerie or Jaheira I can't remember but I could memorize more if needed (I thought 3 would be enough for 1 encounter to buff my 2 melee).
---
So for the Vampires:
They're only 3 on this city encounter. I can kill them without using spells but they normally kill at least Keldorn before I can finish killing them. I could possibly pull it off with spells but I can't handle the Cowled Wizards over it. For some reason, Keldorn still seems to get level drained after a bit and always gets destroyed. Am I missing something or is the spell duration just wearing off mid fight? I have 2-3 restoration spells memorized to restore the levels but I'm not sure if it's worth using during fights if they get level drained on each hit. What are the good spells to control vampires? What type of spell order should I use (Greater Malison followed by Hold Monster? It didn't seem to work). Do I need to put the Amulet of Power on a melee character or can Negative Plane Protection spells do the job during one encounter at the time? I did not go get the Sword that has a special spell vs undead where the Lich is yet (I beat it with my Inquisitor with a lower lvl party but wasn't sure I could pull it off with my current party although I now have Keldorn). I read some people wrote to get scrolls of protection vs Undead but I don't think I should need this for small encounters with vampires. I read that there's a good mace vs undead but I don't have it yet.
For Cowled Wizards:
Even if I cast one buff before finding the vampires and try to fight the Cowled Wizards group alone, I can't seem to beat them. Minor Globe of Invulnerability seems to be the biggest issue I have with them. It blocks almost every spell and I don't have a whole lot of good physical damage dealers. I use Breach and I try to get rid of the Invulnerability Globes with Spell Thrust but it doesn't seem to work. I can damage them and sometimes CC a few of them with fear or confusion but they eventually get a confusion or fear that makes me lose control of half my group and eventually a 2nd spell of the other type makes me lose control of the rest. I try to use Dispell Magic with Keldorn as a last resort since it debuffs my characters as well and hoping it gets rid of the confusion/fear but it doesn't seem to work. I'm really not sure how to handle these. I'll avoid fighting them and just go rest or try to kill the vampires if needed but I think I should be able to kill the first group at lvl 11-12 no?
1
Comments
Cowled wizards: Have Jaheira cast Insect Plague. That'll make theses encounters a lot easier
Or if you want to be spoiled please add *spoilers* to the discussion title, also other newbies can read here.
Shields, very useful in the beginning, but at the cost of not dual welding, APR are very important, most of the time you trade few AC for a much lesser damage output. If you want to use them, I often use them very seldom, use one on the character that draws enemy fire, the one that you send mlee just a little sooner, and let the others do the real damage with 2 handers or DWelding.
Jaheira, imo with a sling is wasted, mlee and DW kicks butts. I always give her 2 pips in DW as first proficiences leveling up.
Sorcerer, really powerful, but ONLY if he has a good selection of spells. To have a good sorc you need a very good knowledge of the magic system. For a newbie is almost impossible. Or you copy and paste from one of the sorc spell selection topics here or from other boards.
Vampires + cowled wizards = no good. Only for very experienced players.....
Vampires come only night time, you can have CW spawn any time you like, just casting a spell.
So pay the right to cast spells (and loose the loot, the xp and the fun of fighting the CW) or find a way to fight vampires without spells, or with only the long lasting buff spells that you can cast previously in a house or shop where CW don't spawn.
Vampires need enchanted weapons (for launchers what matter is the bullet or arrow), they are naturally immune to fear and other crowd control spells, they drain level on hit, so stoneskin don't protect you, but PFMW do as their attack is counted as enchanted weapon.
The clerical spell protection from negative plane protects against level drain, but lasts only a short time, check the spell description. Useful only if casted just before the battle and if you know that you can win in few rounds (see what I told of APR before...).
One possible tactic.
At night go into some house just before a vampire spawning point, choose your tank, Jah or Anomen, and equip him with all the items that lower his AC and AoP. Cast the speed spell on the party and every buffing spell that lasts enough, like DUHM and Righteous Magic on the clerics.
Go out and send the protected tank, that has also good healing potions ready, to the spawning point.
As the tank get beated, but not level drained by the vampires try to kill them with enchanted weapons and bullets. As the vampires try to attack one of the unprotected use your speed, the attacked toon will run away and the tank will attack that vampire to draw his attention back on him. With a little care Keldorn and Jaheira or Anomen, the one that is not the tank, can go mlee, but being very careful to run away as soon as they are attacked, before they can be hit.
In this way you should beat the vampires without spawning the CW, also on insane.
For the CW we can talk later, now you have something to start.
Cleric animate dead skeletons can delay vampires a bit as they are immune to level drain and charm. Monster and animal summons get drained by vampires very fast.
Melf's minute meteors spell is reccomended, you can cast it indoors, carry the meteors in your palm to outside and use if needed.
Always concentrate all your attacks on one vampire as they regenerate.
Holy smite and wands of heaven work well on them. Jaheira should use call woodland beings spell, and then both the summoned nymph and she should cast call lightnings on vampires. Vampires have lightning resistance but are not immune so double call lightning still hurts them plenty.
Nearly all enchantment spells are futile against vampires, except greater malison ofcourse.
Against cowled wizards, well you have Keldorn so he should have a true sight active, dispel their protections when needed, when they spawn, run far away and fill the area they spawn with multiple cloudkills, ice storms and cast confusion/chaos until it sticks. Attack dispelled wizards with ranged weapons away from cloudkills and ice storms. Watch them die slowly in agony.
Also the insect spells are very useful, Jaheira should have at least the lowest level one that give 50% casting failure to 1 enemy, if she can cast insect plague is perfect, 100% casting failure to all the wizards.
Against vampires, use Yoshimo's traps. Drop some traps around and lure the vampires to them. Start the battle with a backstab, if you can. Give the Amulet of Power to Anomen (temporarily) and he should have no trouble tanking them. Keldorn's weapon has a longer reach, so he should be fine.
All you really need against a few vampires is the Haste spell. Note that the Cowled Wizards only appear if you cast spells outdoors. You can always duck into a nearby store/home/temple and cast your buffs there. The Cowled Wizards also don't care if you cast priest/druid spells outdoors.
Fighting the Cowled Wizards is much more complicated. Just don't cast arcane spells outdoors for now. These people are basically the equivalent of the FBI (you -are- breaking the law) and they're on a completely different level compared to vampires. Also if you kill some of them, more powerful wizards will come after you next.
If you just want to know how spell protections work/how to get rid of them, go here: http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/SpellsReference/SpellProtections.htm.
-Go and pay the cowled wizards. There isn't much to gain from confronting them. You may reassess it when you are a bit more experienced with the game.
-Perform the copper coronet quest and follow-up. After that, check the axes sold by the local guy, one of them should please you. Use it from a distance even if you are not proficient.
-Use your wizard spells in the streets (not all area spells affect the neutral citizens...) and have your priests cast negative plane protection if you have it. If unsure about the area spells then cast beam spells such as aganazzar's scorcher and try to catch several of them with the beam. Everything with fire (flame arrow) or pure magic damage works well. Avoid most disabling spells, vampires usually have poor saving throws but they are immune to many disabling attacks (mental attacks - which means there are other attacks which will work properly
-Use invisibility and backstab under haste effect then retreat, most vampires cannot see through invisibility, use Yoshimo's traps if the situation allows you to do so.
-Vampires can "slowly" regenerate. Concentrate your attacks on the same target to get her down then move to the next etc... this is a rather general tactic against opponents using physical attacks (melee or ranged) but this is even more important with all those regenerating creatures.
Tank with one character (hopefully immune to Level Drain and protected from Charm), throw Azuredge from the back line with a second character like Minsc or Mazzy and Vampires will go down pretty easily. Just try to protect as many people from Charm as you can and keep everyone back who isn't directly involved in the fight. And try not to get spell casting characters level drained, it's especially annoying having to re-memorize all of their spells
That might be because you were using normal ammo. Note that the enchantments on bows, slings, and crossbows don't extend to ammo. You'll still need to use enchanted ammo (arrows, bullets and bolts) to hit magical creatures. Also note that just because ammo is enchanted with a certain property (ie, it does extra lightning/fire/acid/poison/etc damage) doesn't mean it will hit as an enchanted (+1, +2, +3, etc) weapon.
These are things you'll become more familiar with as you play the game.
There are pros and cons to this system. The most obvious con is that you'll need magical ammo (which can be expensive or rare early on) to hit magical creatures. The most important pro is that the THAC0 and damage bonuses from both the launcher and ammo do stack.
But just knowing that she has a great potential, is the only NPC that combine arcane and divine magic, helps in playng her better. Maybe not getting the 400 mlee dmg x round that my Aerie can deal late game, but in an effective and not underused way.
I looked up lists for Sorcerer spells before making him so I had an idea of what main spells to go with. However, when it comes down to Cleric, I honestly am really not that familiar with their spells. I had always used them mostly as healers in BG1 (Jaheira) and that's also the main purpose I've been using them for in BG2 so far with Jaheira/Anomen/Aerie. I'm using a couple of other buffs but I haven't really looked much into their offensive or utility spells yet. Similar with Thief that I mostly use to steal/unlock/find traps and occasionally backstab but I have yet to figure out how to make good use of their traps. I just found out Jaheira can turn into an animal (was she able to do this in BG1 as well?) but I'm not sure if there's really a point in ever using this.
Overall, I still have a lot to learn but I know Mages/Fighters to some extend. I'm certainly not using the other classes to their full potential though. I tend to play the game with melee Tank/damage dealer, Crowd Control/Damage dealer caster, Healing/buffs caster for the most part. BG2 is very different from BG1, it's obvious that I'll have to really learn the strategies and spells properly while in BG1, I could mostly just equip good gear and go smash everything with a strong fighter with a few exceptions.
I suggest you start to familiarize yourself with all of their buffing spells.
Yeah BG1 druids also had animal forms. They're useful for pureclass druids like Faldorn especially at lower levels because the forms have high base strength and Attacks Per Round (the grizzly bear has a default 3 APR IIRC), but Jaheira is a fighter/druid so her forms are only useful for boosting her strength temporarily (so you can carry heavier stuff) and for a little healing (changing forms heals her slightly).
Thief traps are incredibly useful against anything that doesn't engage you directly. Some monsters are immune to them though. Note that Yoshimo's Improved Traps can be thrown, so you can use them tactically. Or you can use them like a Fireball spell if you really want to, though thieves can't use traps while they're visible to the enemy.
Good that you have experience with mages in bg1, in bg2 the things are different as you have access to higher levels and also because the saving throws are much better. You will see yourself that spells with save to negate, like many of the crowd control ones, that was useful in bg1 are often saved in early mid bg2 and in ToB even more. Try to focalize on the ones that have some penalty to the save and to "help" them with other spells that give penalty to the enemies, like doom or greater malison.
Also the battles between mages in bg2 are more about setting protections and debuffing the enemy ones so your spells or your fighters can harm or disable him.
You will learn more playing, every time you have a "magic problem" go to the manual and look if there is a spell that can help you. Is impossible to learn all at once, but also is not required if you don't want to beat the game, heavily modded, on insane.
The link that @Nuin give is REALLY useful, I give you the link at the home page of it
http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/SpellsReference/Main.htm
There you find also information on the clerical spells.
For the traps you scout with an invisible explorer, the thief, the cleric hidden with Sanctuary or other.
then the thief set the traps, no enemy has to be in his sight, and when everything is ready you try to lure the enemy in the traps. There are other uses like setting them in the place where you know that an enemy will spawn, imo is funny to do it a couple of times (I mean in the life, not in a game) but spoil all the fun. And using them in the proper way, setting them in the right place, maybe a narrow passage where the enemy has to go if he want to come to you and kill you, can be a great fun.
But some players never use traps or backstab.
Also in BG2 is possible to go and smash everything with a strong fighter, or some strong ones, there is only to debuff some protections on some enemies, but is still very effective.
Set Snare. Set Snare. Set Snare. Set Special Snare. Set Special Snare. Set Special Snare.
Then cast Cloudkill.
Cowled Wizard patrol appears, eats six snares, and is sat in the middle of the nastiest AOE. Any survivors of 111 average snare damage is either suffering casting failure from the Cloudkill or busily moving out of the cloud, allowing you to easily mop them up with your lowly peons melee fighters.
Enjoy 24 hours of uninterrupted arcane casting.
Vampires?
Assuming you're teetotal and not planning on leaving the city via the gates any time soon, consider stacking up on spells like Holy Might for Anomen and Aerie. A blinded vampire is effectively out of commission for a round, it's party friendly AOE damage, doesn't trigger Cowled Wizard Patrols, and actually hits pretty hard.
And yeah, NPP lasts for five rounds. It's an emergency "Oh no I'm stuck in melee" spell, and you'll probably need multiple castings even for a single encounter. Go with the AoP on Keldorn and again, potentially have Yoshimo chucking Special Snares from around a corner or out of visual range, at his level it's 23 average damage each.
1. All mages cast Melf's Minute Meteor before going outdoors (the meteow always stays till you use them).
2. Activate Auto-Pause when enemy is sighted- this allows you to think what to do next.
3. Always prepare 1 tank to be immune to level-drain and all kinds of mind spells (do it at the earliest opportunity.
4. For beginners, having too many casters in the party can drive you nuts mirco-managing their spells, avoid that unless you really love to flip through those spells (frankly I still hate to think too hard about spells after such a long time).
5. For first few time runners of BG2, "trust the designers" !! They have a pretty linear story/quests thing that lead you to pick up useful stuffs that greatly reduce you party's casualty rate.