Killing Thalantyr's flesh golems on your very first trip to the High Hedge

Tresset

Every time I start a new game, I will contemplate trying to kill Thalantyr's two flesh golems before talking to him to make them neutral. They are, of course, worth a huge amount of XP, so they are a very tempting target. The problem, of course, is that they are incredibly dangerous for a half formed party of level 1-2 adventurers to try to deal with. Killing them after talking to Thalantyr would make him angry and cause you to lose access to what is probably the most useful store until you reach Baldur's Gate city, so it is not likely feasible to save these golems until a later level (unless you don't visit him at all until much later). I usually decide not to kill them at all for most of my runs.

So the question is, how do the rest of you deal with the prospect of killing the golems?

JuliusBorisov

Patience, patience, Dagger +1 from Candlekeep, Kivan, hiding in shadows, kiting, again hiding, more patience.

TheArtisan

The golems deal crushing damage, so a Potion of Absorption on a high-AC fighter can reliably solo them as long as they can survive a critical hit. They are also very, very slow, so having enough +1 ammo will let you kill them without taking an ounce of damage.

Cheapest method? Backstab them. It’s very easy for a thief to outrun them and use the corners of the building to enter stealth and attack them repeatedly.

Tresset

I recently did it with a Shapeshifter druid's werewolf form. Had another party member kite at close range while the druid got hits in every once in a while.

OrlonKronsteen

I used to kill them back in the day (along with Thalantyr) when my characters tended to resemble Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men. I would use hit-and-run tactics or I might distract them with a skeleton or two while fighters hacked away at them. I wasn't nearly sophisticated enough to think about the potion of absorption, and I never tried backstabbing until BG2 as I always tended to put points in traps and locks with my low-level thieves. I don't bother killing them now, since I'd rather have a nearly unlimited store of acid arrows and bolts of biting to buy from during my travels around the coast - not to mention that my temperament has mellowed over twenty years.

ThacoBell

I don't find it too difficult to have magic weapons on 2 or three of my party members by the time I hit High Hedge. I tend to do a loop of the two roads immediately south of Beregost, around to the Drizzt map, and then north to pick up melicamp on to HIgh Hedge. That way I knock out all the Beregost quests in a single loop. By that point, my party is leveled 2-3 and just bumrushing the golems with Khalid tanking works pretty well.

Grond0

I do often kill them for the XP benefit. It doesn't take many +1 missiles to do that playing on core - normally I will collect those by adventuring, but you could buy a handful at Beregost if desired.

Playing on LoB, rather more missiles or an alternative strategy are required and I might well save them up for later. You can do that by drawing them outside the building before you outrun them to get back inside and talk to Thalantyr. That makes them neutral, but you can then kill them at your leisure later on without annoying Thalantyr.

Note that you might actually want to annoy Thalantyr later anyway. Once he's served his purpose as a shopkeeper, you can get some XP by killing him (without losing reputation).

OrlonKronsteen

Poor Thalantyr... little did he know that living in a pissant town would be the least of his worries.

sarevok57

i remember back in the day, you could kill both golems and thalantyr would not get hostile, but ever since patch 2.x or so? the golems are no longer hostile when you first go there and if you do kill them, thalantyr gets hostile no matter what ( at least that is what it seems when i tried it )

so i no longer kill those mindless automatons for their sweetski XP, what a bummer

ThacoBell

sarevok57 wrote: »

i remember back in the day, you could kill both golems and thalantyr would not get hostile, but ever since patch 2.x or so? the golems are no longer hostile when you first go there and if you do kill them, thalantyr gets hostile no matter what ( at least that is what it seems when i tried it )

so i no longer kill those mindless automatons for their sweetski XP, what a bummer

Are you using mods? The Golems are hostile for me and Thalantyr doesn't care that I kill them.

sarevok57

ThacoBell wrote: »

sarevok57 wrote: »

i remember back in the day, you could kill both golems and thalantyr would not get hostile, but ever since patch 2.x or so? the golems are no longer hostile when you first go there and if you do kill them, thalantyr gets hostile no matter what ( at least that is what it seems when i tried it )

so i no longer kill those mindless automatons for their sweetski XP, what a bummer

Are you using mods? The Golems are hostile for me and Thalantyr doesn't care that I kill them.

what version of EE are you playing?

to be fair, haven't played the game in months, but im pretty sure they arent hostile for me anymore, and if i kill the go-lams MR T doesnt appreciate it

ThacoBell

sarevok57 wrote: »

ThacoBell wrote: »

sarevok57 wrote: »

i remember back in the day, you could kill both golems and thalantyr would not get hostile, but ever since patch 2.x or so? the golems are no longer hostile when you first go there and if you do kill them, thalantyr gets hostile no matter what ( at least that is what it seems when i tried it )

so i no longer kill those mindless automatons for their sweetski XP, what a bummer

Are you using mods? The Golems are hostile for me and Thalantyr doesn't care that I kill them.

what version of EE are you playing?

to be fair, haven't played the game in months, but im pretty sure they arent hostile for me anymore, and if i kill the go-lams MR T doesnt appreciate it

I'm on the current patch for PC. Wait, do you talk to Thalantyr before encountering the golems? I've heard someone say that they turn blue after speaking to him. I always beeline for thr golems as soon as I get inside.

sarevok57

it is true that they turn blue when you talk to him, but i always thought they were blue to begin with? hmm... as i said, its been quite a while since i've played bg last so maybe i have no idea what i am talking about

ThacoBell

I didn't even know they could turn blue, as I've always killed them before ever talking to Thalantyr.

Grond0

They're not blue until you talk. Even if they are blue they're safe to kill if they're outside.

Gatekeep3r

Grond0 wrote: »

I do often kill them for the XP benefit. It doesn't take many +1 missiles to do that playing on core - normally I will collect those by adventuring, but you could buy a handful at Beregost if desired.

Playing on LoB, rather more missiles or an alternative strategy are required and I might well save them up for later. You can do that by drawing them outside the building before you outrun them to get back inside and talk to Thalantyr. That makes them neutral, but you can then kill them at your leisure later on without annoying Thalantyr.

Note that you might actually want to annoy Thalantyr later anyway. Once he's served his purpose as a shopkeeper, you can get some XP by killing him (without losing reputation).

And things like that give rise to the term murderhobo.