Black Pits 2. Need help beating Gaul and his vampires.

ZeroxSP7

This fight is giving me a buttload of trouble. Here’s my party comp.

1. Human Inquisitor level 17 with Longswords, Axes, 2h swords, and Bastard swords. Currently has Daystar, Azuredge, and Varscona. Also has Gift of Peace and Cloak of Balduran.
2. Human 2h Berserker level 18 (can also use Halberds). Currently has Lilarcor, Duskblade +2, and Cloak of the Sewers.
3. Half elf Fighter/Cleric level 13/14. Currently has Wyvern’s Tail +2.
4. Half elf Fighter/Druid level 13/13. Currently has Gnasher +2, Spear of the Unicorn, and Hands of Takkok.
5. Elf Archer level 17. Currently has Aegar’s Hide and +3 arrows with a Composite Longbow. Is progressing into shortbows as well.
6. Elf Mage level 17. Currently has Crimson Dart +3 but can also use slings.

This party I created in the first Black Pits and imported them. So it’s like a full saga run. Also the first 4 members have full plate.

Usually what I start with is buffing with Haste (regular), Negative Plane Protection on my Inquisitor and Druid, Berserk, and Negative Plane Protection on my Cleric. The vampires turn invisible so my Inquisitor casts True Sight. Then my Archer uses Called Shot. I have my mage cast Emotion: Hopelessness on the vampires to disable them. The biggest problem I end up having is my guys getting Dominated by the vampires and I’m not sure exactly how to counter that since I don’t have too much time to buff. The lich also casts Time Stop and the vampires keep using Shadowstep so the game is constantly stopping. Eventually the lich casts Stinking Cloud and Cloudkill and from there, I’ve already lost control of half my party. So what should I be doing? Where am I going wrong? What can I do differently? Any other tips or strategies I should know?

jmerry

Well, the inquisitor's naturally immune to charm and the berserker's immune while raging. That's two party members covered, assuming you rage first thing. Then elves have their 90% charm resistance, so that's the archer and mage virtually immune; only the fighter/cleric and fighter/druid should be having any problems. Get out that Spear of the Unicorn, and everybody but the fighter/cleric is covered. Try to keep them back at the start, and cast Chaotic Commands on them at the first opportunity. Improved Invisibility or Mass Invisibility from the mage could help as well by preventing the enemy from targeting you, but the enemy vampires include two thieves with 100% Detect Illusion so you can't expect that to last.

Emotion: Hopelessness is useless against the vampires; standard undead immunities protect them from the effects. Spend your level 4 mage slots on something else. And not Confusion; that's also covered by standard undead immunities.

Yigor

Use Azuredge to kill Gaul in 1 hit.

jmerry

Easier said than done. Gaul has four instances of PFMW memorized, plus a chain contingency with one the moment the battle starts. If it goes down, he'll renew it ASAP. You basically need to dispel him when he's just cast something, then immediately attack.

But hey, if you do land that hit, the one-hit kill is very likely. Gaul uses a mage save array, so his death save is relatively weak.
(When not using PFMW, Gaul requires +3 weapons to hit. The other vampires only need +2.)

Yigor

jmerry wrote: »

Easier said than done.

I succeeded several times on various difficulty levels. 😎 Curiously, it was even the easiest fight for my Berserker/Mage on LoB 😹:

https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/87064/solo-black-pits-2-on-lob-difficulty

Yigor wrote: »

Curiously, an easy fight with vampires (Tier II-1). Gaul killed in 1 hit by Azuredge while summoned Planetar exterminated easily all other vampires. ⚔️

Yigor

I tried today with an evil dual-classed fighter/mage, who can't use Azuredge, on Easy difficulty. My summoned Dark Planetar killed Gaul with a Vorpal hit. ⚔️

Yigor

Well, I could also use lvl 9 "Imprisonment" spell on Gaul (demi-lich tactics). The instant kill with no saves if you succeed to cast it. 😎