Advice for SCS Improved Bodhi (non-Tactics version)

OrlonKronsteen

Hey, everyone! I'm stuck. SCS Bodhi (non-Tactics) is proving quite the contrarian. I'm in Chapter 6 and I've made it down to the last room in her lair. That's as far as I can get. I'm getting my ass handed to me in that boss fight and I can't think of anything else to try. Not only is Bodhi rag-dolling me, but there are two blokes I've never heard of - Manasseh and Hazarmaveth - who are dropping high-level spells on me like they're going out of style. They have a seemingly endless number of death spells, and wipe out all my summons instantly. Even the pit fiend I send in (with Improved Fiends) is getting squished like bug. I'd love to hear how you hardcore SCS veterans handle that fight.

For some context, I've never installed some of these tougher components before. I usually do a light SCS install. This time, for some crazy reason, I added improved sahaugen, vampires, mind flayers, fiends, etc... so maybe I'm just too green. On the other hand, maybe I'm under-leveled. My characters are level 15. What do you think? I have a killer lineup, with a blackguard, sorcerer, gnome illusionist/thief, Viconia, Korgan, and Imoen, but I still can't get the job done. I thank you in advance for your insights.

A side note: if Bodhi is this tough for my level 15 party, I'm wondering what would have happened if I'd had to fight her in Chapter 3. It seems I was wise to side with the vampires this time.

Borek

scrolls of protection from undead?

OrlonKronsteen

Ah, I guess I should have mentioned that one of my self-imposed rules is that I don't use green scrolls anymore as it feels too easy. Maybe I should rethink that in this case.

OrlonKronsteen

I am still curious about other strategies for winning this fight.

Blackraven

Haven't done that bottle in a long time, but I thought Hazarmaveth and Manasseh were from the Tactics mod actually. I think they'll disappear once you defeat Bodhi.

I never fight all those vamires on their terms, i.e. in that room. My advice would be to use the door and the corridor to your advantage. Maybe you can have the Illusionist/Thief set seven traps first. Then try and lure Bodhi toward you. I think the traps will not kill Bodhi, but they will injure her badly. She has a 1x heal ability iirc so she'll heal herself from the trap damage. Your Sorcerer and/or the Illusionist/Thief will then need PfMW to tank her, allowing your warriors to attack her with missiles or long-range melee weapons.

Borek

Level 15 does seem a little on the low side, but then again i play solo and usually hit up WK before Ch.4, even if i don't finish it completely i'll try and get down to Lums for the Deck + stat boosts...

You tried using Turn Undead from Viconia? If you can disable the caster vamps via TU then it should make spanking Bodhi a lot easier. Team seems to be Evil so probaby rules out using Azure Edge, but should have Imp.Mace of Disruption, but i've not tried Bodhi with the scs improvements myself yet so unsure if she has anything that may prevent it. At that point in the game i've usually grabbed every side quest and got most of the cool items from WK so have so many OP items to choose from it takes something truely special to be remotely challenging. Mind you being like level 40 with 1 character tends to be more effective than having 5-6 level 15-18's, mainly because you can dispel anything and they usually can't touch your defensive spells via their own dispells.

Enuhal

You should have access to at least two sunray spells (one from Viconia, one from the Helm of Brilliance, available from Ribald's new special selection), possibly one more from Daystar. I'd try running into the room hasted/buffed, get Viconia and propably an enraged Korgan with the helm right into the room and use your sunrays. These can soften up and/or kill a number of foes outright, including the new vampires. Remember to use the elven holy water and try to protect your arcane spellcaster's buffs with SI:Abjuration/Spell Shield. If possible, use anti-undead weapons such as iMoD +2 and Azuredge. This version of Bodhi has a devastating spell that looks like ADHW but deals cold damage, so you might want to try protecting yourself against that.

If your sunrays can't get through potential spell defenses, try to have true sight running as you walk in and throw a bunch of secret words, warding whips or whatever else you have access too into the mix - check what prebuffs the vampire mages come with and take them down as soon as possible while your allies keep them distracted before you fire off your sunrays. I'm assuming you have Drizzt and the Knights recruited.

As for Chapter 3, this version of Bodhi is toned-down in her first appearance - while certainly tougher than in the vanilla game, she can be dealt with. However, for the second fight, she won't be holding back. Be prepared for a bit of a surprise if you think you've beaten her.

OrlonKronsteen

Blackraven said:

Haven't done that bottle in a long time, but I thought Hazarmaveth and Manasseh were from the Tactics mod actually. I think they'll disappear once you defeat Bodhi.

You're right: I checked my weiDU log and it refers to the component as a Tactics Remix. What I chose was the 'toned down' version.

Thanks for the advice, all. I've tried these tactics and more, to no avail. Korgan can get a Sunray off, and with a lucky die roll I'll kill one of the companion vampires, but the others keep coming. I've tried spells and debuffing but Bodhi casts some horrible bat plague (it looks like an insect plague) which prevents me from spell casting. I suppose I could try Spell Immunity (conjuration - assuming that's what the ability is), but it wouldn't stop her from then tearing my mages apart once pfmw wears off, and she's not shy about targeting them. Traps did nothing... Turning undead has no effect. Bodhi is immune to the MoD... when I can get a Sunray off near her it does trivial damage... Holy Water does trivial damage... Dumping it in the fountain may help (slow their regeneration?) - if only I could survive long enough to tell.

Ah, just a tough fight and at my skill level I probably need a couple more character levels. Time Stop would sure come in handy. I'm sure glad I chose the toned down version of that component. I will say that my awe of this mod just continues to increase. While I'm having a PITA of a time in this fight, the design is incredible and it's fun to admire, even if I may need to do a vanilla play-through on story mode next for therapeutic reasons.

As an aside, @Borek I tip my hat to you for being able to get down to level 4 WK by Chapter 4. I waited until after the Underdark to take on the Chromatic Demon on level 2 and it was tough then. I'm amazed at some of the feats you guys pull off.

Borek

yeah you'll not touch Bodhi with turn undead, i was hoping that Vic may be able to affect the casters, but guess not.

As for WK then to be honest i find it easier solo as there's only 1 character to protect from nasty disabling/killing effects and if that character is a Mage you get so much XP it's really high level with a load of powerful spells and HLA's to throw about. Chromatic Demon is probably the toughest fight though for a solo due to the regen, i had to time the fight to begin when it had just switched to it's Cold form then dropped Wand of Fire aganazer's scorchers every round whilst swinging with stoneskin and Prot.Magic Weapons, even then it'd eat through the stoneskins and usually change form before dying in a close fight lol.

My current install has scs with improved monsters/encounters, but i haven't played it for a bit, last time out i got completely shredded by the Lich under the Graveyard district as part of Edwins quest, i was so used to it being an easy kill w/o the improved Liches module lol. Every time it's Prot.Magic weapons and Mirror image dropped it would insta-cast them both again, lol...i'm just glad i didn't turn on high level enemies have HLA's component

OrlonKronsteen

Ah, yes, that graveyard lich. It's a conundrum for SCS mortals like myself: you try to get Edwin as fast as you can because he's the best mage, but then if you end up in the graveyard you're forced to fight a lich you can't beat. I actually stopped taking Edwin for that very reason (well, along with some role-playing reasons, too).

Borek

OrlonKronsteen said:

Ah, yes, that graveyard lich. It's a conundrum for SCS mortals like myself: you try to get Edwin as fast as you can because he's the best mage, but then if you end up in the graveyard you're forced to fight a lich you can't beat. I actually stopped taking Edwin for that very reason (well, along with some role-playing reasons, too).

Yah, i think i could do the lich if i had prepared properly and levelled up via the spell-learning abuse, but at the time i hadn't finished cleaning out the merchants and forgot about the improved Liches being installed, so mistakenly assumed i could finish the quest EZ-PZ. I wasn't far in, so probably easier to just restart and change my quest order...

It's going to be horrific trying to get Staff of the Magi though, i might have to spec Axes, unlock UAI (usually play Evil) so i can use Azure Edge and try and blap Shandie via a lucky ranged attack at the start...otherwise it's going to require a hell of a lot of Project images to blanket the entire room in skull traps, not that i am above doing that, lol, it just takes quite a while to set it up

OrlonKronsteen

I may try that myself. I haven't done that fight with SCS yet. Part of my problem with SCS is there's so much of the game I still haven't played with it. In my limited experience I've tried to save the Planar Sphere, Planar Prison, dragons, Shade Lord, etc. until Chapter 6 for strategic reasons, i.e. I've read in these forums about how hard those encounters are and how the no-reloaders often defer them. Then what happens is restartitis hits me by the time I get to the shark city or the Underdark. This is the first time in awhile that I've actually made it through the Underdark without wanting to go back to BG1 and roll a new character.

Balrog99

Ctrl-Y

Works every time!

semiticgoddess

Holy water on the pool to impose Slow on Bodhi. Use Lower Resistance on Bodhi and direct ALL of your attention to dealing damage to Bodhi, with Sunray to clear the field. Manasseh and Hazzerbazzer are dangerous, but their defenses are much stronger than Bodhi's and it's not realistic to bring them down before Bodhi. They vanish when Bodhi dies.

Arthas

semiticgod said:

Holy water on the pool to impose Slow on Bodhi. Use Lower Resistance on Bodhi and direct ALL of your attention to dealing damage to Bodhi, with Sunray to clear the field. Manasseh and Hazzerbazzer are dangerous, but their defenses are much stronger than Bodhi's and it's not realistic to bring them down before Bodhi. They vanish when Bodhi dies.

unless you are a true child of bhaal and want to prove them a point and actually trash the two first, then go for the main boss.

Bonus points if you are Solo.

More bonus points if you kill them in slayer form.

More bonus points if you actually kill them in ravager form.