Vithal

FredN

....Keeping this moron alive is tedious. He refuses to move away from the damned Greater Elementals that he summons. I have to whack them fast, then heal the idiot up before the next combat begins. And, of course, I can't kill him, tempting though it may be, because this is my good run.
....On the plus side, I hit level 20 and was finally able to put some skill into katanas. Now I can use Celestial Fury and actually have a decent chance of scoring a hit. Wielding Fury and Sword of Mask my THACO is 1/1. Hardly a fighter level THACO, but decent enough for a thief kit. Also jaheira now has Impaler; does a crapton of extra piercing damage. Sweet.
....I think that by the time we get to Suldan-whatsit I might have 3 million experience and grab that ever so nice Assassinate HLA. (drool).

sarevok57

hmm interesting, i have never struggled to keep him alive

although usually i make sure my team is nice and close the time he brings the elementals in, because i believe the behavior of the elementals is that whoever is closest, thats who they attack first, also one of jaheira's best spells is conjure animals ( level 6 ) it summons 2 powerful polar bears who hit as +4 weapons, and they hit hard so if you need a little bit more melee combat power use them

FredN

Right; you have to take them out fast. But Vithal refuses to move, which means they often get at least 1 whack at him, possibly 2, before they go down. So, I end up casting heals on him just to make sure he stays alive long enough to do all 3 portals.

FredN

>one of jaheira's best spells is conjure animals ( level 6 )<
Interesting. I usually go for Fire Elemental since she doesn't have to fight for control, and a lot of enemies don't have the weapons to damage these. Animals plus elementals sounds fairly nasty as a 1-2 punch. Throw in 2 skeletal warriors and we'll have a mean group indeed. We can retire to the sidelines and watch. Popcorn anyone?

sarevok57

FredN wrote: »

>one of jaheira's best spells is conjure animals ( level 6 )<
Interesting. I usually go for Fire Elemental since she doesn't have to fight for control, and a lot of enemies don't have the weapons to damage these. Animals plus elementals sounds fairly nasty as a 1-2 punch. Throw in 2 skeletal warriors and we'll have a mean group indeed. We can retire to the sidelines and watch. Popcorn anyone?

pretty much, the reason why i favor the bears more than the fire elementals is because the bears hit harder and faster, and you get 2 for 1 for 1 spell

acutally i just checked out their damage outputs;

moutain bear; 1d12+6, 3 APR strikes as +3 weapon
fire elemental lesser; 1d8+7, +1d6 fire, 1 APR strikes as +4 weapon
fire elemental medium; 1d8+8, +1d6 fire, 1 APR strikes as +4 weapon
fire elemental greater; 1d8+11, +1d6 fire, 1 APR strikes as +4 weapon

do depending on situation ( whether you need to the +4 or weapon ) or attacking creatures weak to fire, i guess it comes down to preference