This is how you massacre a mob of SCS illithids!(with pictures!)

johntyl

High level cleric - able to cast the level 7 spell FIRESTORM.
Get him/her to 100% or more fire resistance (preferably through gear rather than spells/potions which can be dispelled)
Cast Chaotic commands to counter the Illithid's psionic attacks.
Down a potion of speed (or wear Boots of the Cheetah).
Position your party relatively close to the scene of the massacre (otherwise the illithids will simply teleport to the rest of your party).
Get your cleric to cast FIRESTORM at the area where those arseholes are.
Run around and try to avoid being hit.
Enjoy.
Pictures attached for further illustration
P.S. This method can be generally used for any mob, with some exceptions of course. Note that because SCS illithids have really insane Magic Resistance, this spell works particularly well as opposed to the usual Cloudkill/Deathfog aoe spells.

unavailable

I just haste + CC and only save scum about 1/2 of the fights, but your group seems a lot less brutish than any of mine. I'd have people like keldorn, haer, valygar or korgan in the place of jan and aerie.

I could overwhelm most things before the underdark beholders (avengers pnp beholders), who'd be in several packs of gauths, normals and elders. I used firestorm, horrid wilting and potions of invisibilty to soften them, and top level skeletons. The return to the graveyard, suldanesselar and hell weren't easy for me either.

Tresset

Never played SCS in BG2, but I did notice that an Enhanced Bard Song makes it very difficult for them to hurt you. A whole party immune to stun and confusion tends to put a damper on their usual strategy...

jinxed75

I'm surprised they all stayed in the area, and didn't use their Planar Travel to teleport to your party.

johntyl

Tresset said:

Never played SCS in BG2, but I did notice that an Enhanced Bard Song makes it very difficult for them to hurt you. A whole party immune to stun and confusion tends to put a damper on their usual strategy...

Stun, charm and confusion are just their appetizer spells. Their most fatal attacks are the brain devouring ones which can kill any low-intel character in one-hit or 2-3 hits for a high-intel one. Usually one or two illithids are not a problem. A mob of them teleporting to you is almost suicidal.

johntyl

jinxed75 said:

I'm surprised they all stayed in the area, and didn't use their Planar Travel to teleport to your party.

If your party is not too far away, it wouldn't trigger their teleport.

gorgonzola

johntyl said:

Tresset said:

Never played SCS in BG2, but I did notice that an Enhanced Bard Song makes it very difficult for them to hurt you. A whole party immune to stun and confusion tends to put a damper on their usual strategy...

Stun, charm and confusion are just their appetizer spells. Their most fatal attacks are the brain devouring ones which can kill any low-intel character in one-hit or 2-3 hits for a high-intel one. Usually one or two illithids are not a problem. A mob of them teleporting to you is almost suicidal.

True, but they must hit, and if you are stunned this is automatic, with no roll, if you have a good AC and the song bonus of +4 on top they hit a lot less, Mages with not good AC can help themselves with PFMW that for 4 rounds make them unhittable, Stoneskin does not work.
The better thac0 and increased damage from the song help to kill them faster when they show.
Usually with Tactics mod ones, that I suppose are similar, I keep the party together, possibly hasted, and as they show, concentrate all my fire power on one. If someone get hit too much and risk the stat draining death I make him running in circles, if hasted they are not fast enough to hit him.
Having a Planetar helper is really useful, but not really needed.