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Need help with Dragon's Eye!

I am currently on the second level of Dragon's Eye, and am located at the lower left hand corner of the map. I approach a room where there is a pyramid, guarded by trolls and Talonite shaman priests. Every time I enter that room, the priests cast HOLD on my characters, and I cannot defeat them all without my characters dying quickly. Any help is appreciated!

Comments

  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    That is one of the toughest fight of the game IMO.

    You need to use the corridor on your favor as a choke point.

    But to build an strategy I'll need to know about your party. Classes and levels minimal.
  • Yulaw9460Yulaw9460 Member Posts: 634
    edited November 2018
    Deleted.
    Post edited by Yulaw9460 on
  • JoenSoJoenSo Member Posts: 910
    Yes, that chokepoint is essential, I think. I've won that fight by casting Web and Grease into the chokepoint and have a wall of summons (Animate dead) between the trolls and my party. And then weaken them with any missile weapons and mass-damage spells I have available. Damn trolls and their regeneration though...

    You don't have access to Cloudkill at that point in the game, right?
  • Yulaw9460Yulaw9460 Member Posts: 634
    edited November 2018
    Deleted.
    Post edited by Yulaw9460 on
  • SirBatinceSirBatince Member Posts: 882
    Use Lysan's cloak or a Potion of Freedom on somebody and make all the priests target said somebody
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  • FirecrowFirecrow Member Posts: 94
    edited March 2018
    Enter to next level can be good place for tanking. There is a bottleneck in the "spiral", which trolls can only pass in single file, but your chars can easy focus damage with missile or two-handed weapons. With some luck and Fox Boots you can clear whole level without rest or spellslots spending, even solo on HoF difficulty. Spiders stucks in spiral, and trolls with beetles can't pass. Usually you need to kill only one or two trolls, which managed to pass before one of Sword Spiders block the way for others. After that you can kill many enemies with help of missile weapons without danger.
    Post edited by Firecrow on
  • DazarloDazarlo Member Posts: 6
    My favourite approach to this particular battle is to have a stealthed character identify line of sight for a Druid to cast Thorn Spray (can’t remember if this is the exact name of the spell but it’s similar) at the entrance to the narrow pathway. I then have my Undead Hunter stand just above the outer limit of the spell and soak up the Hold Person spells whilst the remainder of the party use missile weapons and/or spells to take out the priests and then the trolls. The priests have difficulty concentrating for their Hold Person spells whilst receiving spell damage and the spell will even kill some (or all) of them if they stand within its area of effect for too long. Knocking out a couple of trolls at a time is good use of the flasks but you can also have a bow-wielding character use the acid/fire arrows to kill the trolls as they drop unconscious. The Undead Hunter may need healing during the battle but if you give them the best gear beforehand they can have a decent armour class by that stage in any case.
  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    That fight still takes me a few tries usually. I agree, utilize the chokepoint and load up on crowd control.
  • NeveroddoreveNNeveroddoreveN Member Posts: 193
    Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you guys, life has been a hassle over on my end. But I want to thank everyone who took the time to respond to my IWD blight! I am so appreciative of your advice, and I just wanted to thank you for your help!
  • theonlypeejtheonlypeej Member Posts: 44
    You'll find that most of us really love these games! No such thing as a stupid question... and you'll find out there is more than one way to skin a cat!
  • NeveroddoreveNNeveroddoreveN Member Posts: 193
    Hey guys! More trouble with Dragon's Eye! I am about to fight Yxunomei, I have walked into the room with the small girl who in turn becomes the final boss of this dungeon (I think). I have buffed up my characters with Haste, Defensive Harmony, and Recitation. I tried to back out of the room and start with long range damage spells, but when I leave the room, a few Yuan-Ti Mages appear from the rear. Can anyone provide any suggestions on how to handle this battle? Thanks so much!
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    I still need to know your which classes are in your party.
  • sibakruomsibakruom Member Posts: 28
    Same strategy as before, really: choke point and immobilizing spells.

    Leave the bulk of your party outside Yxunomei's room, preferably near the mages' spawn points, then send a lone character to trigger the fight. Immediately bring this character back toward the rest of the party which should make the mages spawn. Get a few free shots on the mages if you can then retreat further toward the northern rooms. Here the corridor between the first and second room is an ideal choke point, so unleash your Webs and Entangles. Then clear everything with area of effect damage spells and ranged attacks.

    Yxunomei herself can only be hit by weapons that are +2 or better. If anyone in your party can use that Throwing Axe +2 you should have found earlier in the level now is the best time, otherwise there are also plenty of Arrow +2 in that level.
  • Rik_KirtaniyaRik_Kirtaniya Member Posts: 1,742
    Okay, about fighting Yxunomei, the first thing you should do is remove all the traps outside and inside the boss room. The best way is to cast Invisibility on a Thief (or Sanctuary if there is a Cleric/Thief in your party) and make him detect and disarm all the traps. There are several of them outside the gate, and three of them inside and in front of the high platform, and you don't want to trigger them in the middle of combat since they can be quite lethal. Also make sure NOT to open the door with your invisible thief (since opening doors breaks invisibility, but not sanctuary). Also make sure to place your own traps if you have them (do it outside the room as this breaks Invisibility).

    Next thing is striking from stealth. Since neither Yxunomei nor her minions can see through Invisibility, hence being Invisible (either by using Invisibility/ Invisibility 10' radius or Hide in Shadows) is a great offensive as well as defensive option.

    Now the biggest thing to worry about is Yxunomei's Dispel Magic, which she casts as her first move. DO NOT let all your characters be affected by it, or your buffs are all gone and useless. The best way to deal with this is to interrupt her by physical attacks (magical ones are not reliable since she has got 70% Magic Resistance), while she is casting Dispel Magic. Otherwise, you can send in one of your tanks to take the full blow of Dispel Magic (take care that it doesn't hit others) and later re-buff him.

    Now make sure that the character(s) who is engaging Yxunomei in combat has a very low AC (the lower, the better, but at least -10 is good). Also don't rush inside the boss room with all your characters, rather use the gate as a chokepoint, that is, block its sides in such a way (either with your tanks or with the Yuan-Ti's whom you are facing) that she cannot come out of the room. Also, place your weaker characters away from the room gate. Warning: NEVER ENTER INSIDE THE ROOM DURING COMBAT! Just make one of your characters enter to trigger the dialog and run out as fast as possible.

    Your primary focus should be killing Yxunomei as soon as possible. Disable those Yuan-Ti with Horror or other such spells and deal with them LATER. Skull Trap can be used against the Yuan-Ti's, but it won't reliably work on Yxunomei herself due to her 70% MR. DO NOT use Fire, Electricity or Poison-based attacks on her since she is immune to them. Cold attacks also do 50% less damage on her. So the most reliable way is raw physical attacks. Also make sure to hit her with weapons of at least +2 enchantment since she is immune to +1 or lower weapons. In normal mode, she has only 91 hit points, so if 3-4 of your hasted fighters (hasted only if you have successfully interrupted her Dispel Magic) focus on hitting her continuously, she should be dead soon. Don't bother fighting the Yuan-Ti's. Just let your mage deal with the them by casting disabling spells like Horror or Hold Person (or better use "Confusion" if you have a Sorcerer who knows it, or cast by the summoned Nymph from the 4th level Druid spell "Call Woodland Beings") on them, and finish them off later.

    Also be careful that Yxunomei can cast "Cloudkill", so if you hear her muttering "Incertus Pulchra Imperio", don't let her finish the incantation (I mean, interrupt her again), or you are dead. Just dead.

    So these are some general tips for beating Yxunomei. How you exactly execute them depends on your party configuration, though if you have a well-balanced party, you should not face any problems (provided you follow the steps above properly). So here ends my wall of text. Hope this helps you! Good luck! :smiley:

    As a matter of fact, I have beat Yxunomei solo twice, once with a Ranger/Cleric and the second time with a Sorcerer, but those playthroughs used completely different tactics from those mentioned above (except the "interrupting" part). ;)
  • OlvynChuruOlvynChuru Member Posts: 3,079
    Here are my tips:

    The easiest way to beat the three Yuan-ti Mages is to summon six creatures and station them where the mages will spawn. Even weak summoned creatures such as the lizardmen summoned by Summon Monsters II can handle the mages surprisingly well.

    In the Enhanced Edition, there is an item that lets you summon some great creatures: the Summoner's Staff! You can use this staff to summon six invisible stalkers. I recommend you use as many charges of this staff as you need during the fight. You should also drink as many of your powerful potions as you need. After you beat Yxunomei, the game becomes much easier for a while.

    Yxunomei is dangerous in melee combat, but she can be kited. If you have a character who can use a bow well, have them shoot +2 arrows at Yxunomei.

    Yxunomei can also be stunned. The easiest way to stun her is by summoning Bombardier Beetles with the Giant Insect spell. The stun from Bombardier Beetle acid offers no save and ignores magic resistance (it only has a 20% chance of occurring though).

    @Rik_Kirtaniya Yxunomei doesn't cast Dispel Magic; it's one of the yuan-ti priests behind her that casts Dispel Magic. If you kill that priest before it casts Dispel Magic, you don't have to worry about any of your stuff being dispelled in the fight.
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    One extra tidbit: Yxyunomei is surprisingly vulnerable to Chromatic Orb. You can often get her paralyzed if you can afford to have your mage(s) fill their first level slots with Chromatic Orbs and keep bombarding her with them. They usually won't hurt her much, but she will often fail a save against the paralysis, eventually.
  • NeveroddoreveNNeveroddoreveN Member Posts: 193
    Awesome! Thanks so much, everyone, I appreciate your help!
  • fixer69fixer69 Member Posts: 1
    I recently decided to try this game again because I was so dissatisfied with my previous party's survival (or lack thereof) of the troll battle on level 2 and the Yxonomei battle. As far as the trolls go, I tried some ideas from this forum and figured out something that worked well for me, so I thought I would share it. I'm playing a party that has the Barbarian Gorris, the Cleric/Ranger Baern and the Undead Hunter Cadriel that I think were provided by the game, plus a wild mage, a mage/thief and a druid/fighter that I created. They are all around level 5 right now. After several tries, here's what I came up with: while in the narrow chokepoint, I have my wild mage cast haste, my cleric/ranger cast bless, and my undead hunter and barbarian each take a potion of freedom to resist the hold spells. Then we advance just to the point where we can see the first troll and the cleric who is on the raised platform. Everyone who has them uses missile weapons to kill that cleric, which happens within a few seconds. By that time some more trolls and clerics head our way along the wall, and I have my mage/thief cast grease, which really slows them all down. My wild mage casts the requisite fireball, and my missile weapon users keep shooting the clerics, who are all dead by the time the first troll reaches my front rank. We switch to melee weapons and the battle is pretty simple at from that point. Whenever a troll goes down I have my mage/thief shoot it with a fire arrow to prevent regeneration. I think that's about it! Possibly my druid/fighter got around to casting that thunderstorm spell that does aoe lightning damage, but I can't recall for sure. Hope this helps.
  • DanacmDanacm Member Posts: 951
    Unpopular opinion, but i dont like archer in the long run. In iwdee archer is super strong against most low mobs, but in a non-how but insane without extra xp and dmg run, the 18/00 str warriors with melee weapons were faar more effective. I found that 2 full time fighter+1hybrid (cavalier, fighter/mage, fighter/cleric) and a skald, thief/mage, shaman or druid is far more fitting in iwdee.
  • PokotaPokota Member Posts: 858
    edited October 2020
    in IWD, the best archer is a Fighter with True Grandmastery in bows instead of the ranger Archer kit, since the fighter should also be able to achieve True Grandmastery in another weapon by level cap (though I believe you still basically have to dedicate the character to being a trueclass fighter to do this due to how the pips land). Most of the Archer Kit's bonuses are wasted once you run out of +3 ammunition due to weapon requirements
    Post edited by Pokota on
  • SirBatinceSirBatince Member Posts: 882
    edited November 2020
    Pokota wrote: »
    in IWD, the best archer is a Fighter with True Grandmastery in bows instead of the ranger Archer kit, since the fighter should also be able to achieve True Grandmastery in another weapon by level cap (though I believe you still basically have to dedicate the character to being a trueclass fighter to do this due to how the pips land). Most of the Archer Kit's bonuses are wasted once you run out of +3 ammunition due to weapon requirements

    The main purpose of the Archer kit is the stealth and projectile damage.

    30 damage arrows or bolts at the midgame is no laughing matter
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