My Vidyadhar solution
Chugmarbalz_Aegorli
Member Posts: 1
CHARNAME is an elven archer with base Dex of 20 (natural 19 and then read the manual), Archer's Eyes, Bracers of Archery, grand mastery in longbows, Bow of the Banshee +2, etc. So THAC0 -5, 7/2 APR before potions or spells.
I figured he could shoot Arrows of Detonation while Viconia and M'Khiin used wands of the heavens, Neera used Fireballs, and Safana and Dorn hurled Potions of Explosion.
Problem was my arrows weren't hitting and the rest of the team couldn't attack quickly enough.
My solution:
I put the team in the corners of the room and put Neera in the Robe of Red Flames with a Batalista's Passport on each hand for a total of 110 fire resistance. I had her stand in the middle of the room to pull Vidyadhar and then I shot Arrows of Detonation *at Neera*.
It still took three tries to get the timing right but I was able to dump a ton of AOE fire damage on Vidyadhar very quickly this way. I got my scimitar +3 and my 10K XP.
I've shot rockets at party members out of desperation before. And I've shot minions in order to hurt a boss many times. This was the first time shooting at one of my own was my battle plan.
PS. I'd tried shooting the crusader patrols but they died too quickly or weren't positioned right.
PPS. I thought with fire resistance of 110 the fire should heal Neera of the physical damage my arrows were causing but it wasn't so. I had to use stone form and a potion of extra healing to keep her alive.
I figured he could shoot Arrows of Detonation while Viconia and M'Khiin used wands of the heavens, Neera used Fireballs, and Safana and Dorn hurled Potions of Explosion.
Problem was my arrows weren't hitting and the rest of the team couldn't attack quickly enough.
My solution:
I put the team in the corners of the room and put Neera in the Robe of Red Flames with a Batalista's Passport on each hand for a total of 110 fire resistance. I had her stand in the middle of the room to pull Vidyadhar and then I shot Arrows of Detonation *at Neera*.
It still took three tries to get the timing right but I was able to dump a ton of AOE fire damage on Vidyadhar very quickly this way. I got my scimitar +3 and my 10K XP.
I've shot rockets at party members out of desperation before. And I've shot minions in order to hurt a boss many times. This was the first time shooting at one of my own was my battle plan.
PS. I'd tried shooting the crusader patrols but they died too quickly or weren't positioned right.
PPS. I thought with fire resistance of 110 the fire should heal Neera of the physical damage my arrows were causing but it wasn't so. I had to use stone form and a potion of extra healing to keep her alive.
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Comments
Arrows of Detonation autohit their target and then deal damage to everyone in range. In BG2EE, they deal no base physical damage and 6d6 fire (save for half). In BGEE, they deal 1d6 base missile damage and 6d6 fire (save for half). Your THAC0 is completely irrelevant when using these arrows.
As a level 9 Archer with grand mastery and a +2 composite longbow, you get +12 physical damage on all your shots. Now that arrow is dealing 1d6+12 missile damage to everything it hits, an average of 15.5. The fire damage is an average of 21 before resistance, halved to 10.5 if a victim saves. And a level 11 mage has a base spell save of 8. Assume archmage robes and a +1 protection item - now Neera saves three quarters of the time for about 13.1 fire damage before resistance. You'd need about 220% fire resistance for the fire healing to negate the physical damage, and you're capped at 127% even if you stack resistance effects like spells and potions. No chance.
If, instead, you had hasted Safana and Dorn and given them vanilla shortbows loaded with exploding arrows, that would be 6 arrows per turn, each dealing 1d6 physical and 6d6 fire (save for half). Boost your target to the maximum 127% fire resistance, and they'll pretty much keep up.
Targeting Vidyadhar directly with the exploding arrows is possible, if you get either expire his PFMW or get lucky on a dispel check. You just need an Enchant Weapon spell to overcome his immunity to weapons below +2 enchantment level.
Your assorted other fire spells? Not helpful. Vidyadhar has the standard rakshasa immunity to level 1-7 spells. No direct attack spells you could possibly have will break through that, and items that emulate spells won't help either. No wands, no necklace of missiles (in 2.6). The various fire potions, though, do work - they count as level 0 effects. So the potions of explosion weren't completely wasted, at least.