Neothelid stats and behaviour

monico

Hi,

I've been attempting solo no-reloads run lately, and noticed that the Neothelid cannot be avoided (he follows you anywhere on the Temple map, whether stealthed or not), unless you keep fleeing from him.

I have been lucky to kill him each time so far, but I don't like to rely on luck.

Problem is: I don't really know what spells/abilities he uses, his attack pattern or how to evade his repetitive summoning ability.

What I know:
- it often burrows underground, which makes it almost impossible to fight him from range ;
- he has a sort of psionic attack, but I have no idea what it does or its counters (I read somewhere that it can charm and/or stun you ? What is the save ? Does it bypass MR ?)
- his attacks are "normal" attacks ? Do they have a special ability (I think he has some kind of poison ability) ? What kind of damage (slashing? crushing?) ?
- his summons look like lesser versions of Mordenkainen's Sword : I think they immune to physical damage ? How often does he summon them ? And does he only summon them in his initial room or does he keep summoning them if he teleports on your location outside the room ?

If anyone has info on the Neothelid stats/script, I'd be really thankful for any input !

ThacoBell

I usually kite around while he's burrowed to avoid the summons, then pile on when it appears. It doesn't have much in the way of actual defenses, so it tends to go down quickly.

Grond0

Its attacks are crushing, so a potion of absorption makes it easy to defend those. It has abilities to charm, hold and stun you. I can't remember off-hand which are non-magical, but at least some are. There's a random element to its script, so the extent to which it stays underground or summons varies. It can summon outside its starting room, as well as inside.

monico

Thanks @Grond0 ! Is there anyway to defend against his stun gear or potion wise ? If not, I’ll just rely on my Dwarven Defender.s awesome saves (hopefully it allows a save vs. spell).

Zaghoul

The Greenstone Amulet reliably protects vs stun, so hopefully you brought that over from BG1. That's what I use anyway, when going up against that sucka.

Grond0

The Greenstone Amulet does protect against all those effects, but only lasts a turn - so you may have to renew the protection if the Neothelid dives underground for too long. Alternatively there are huge numbers of potions that can boost saves (magic shielding, invulnerability, stone form)

monico

Oh yeah, Greenstone Amulet. I keep forgeting it also protects against stun !
Yup, I have it in my bagpack, I’ll make good use of it (I’m heading towards the Temple as we speak)

monico

Hmmm, did not need the greenstone amulet after all. I had negative saves fully buffed (around -8 for spells I think) and it fell too fast for me to check his attacks and abilities anyway.
Oh and apparently some of his spells/abilities can be interrupted.