Skip to content

Sarevok has an unfair advantage

Okay I get that the final boss fight is supposed to be tough but there is tough and then there is WTF?

So I prefer stealth to strength. My first play through I went through all of chapter seven without being detected by the Flaming Fist. I even snuck Eltan out right from under their noses. The downside to the sneaky/stealthy approach though is that I don't get as many XPs and I went into the final fight hideously outgunned.

During what I think of as my 'second' play through (there have been a couple of aborted games) I make a point of doing most everything and enter the final boss fight with a team of four almost maxed out players.

I still prefer stealth to strength though so I go into the final fight with the assassins dagger that I took off of Krystin, the cloak of non-detection, and very high "hide in shadows" and "move silently" ratings. My plan is to hide my party along the back wall, circle Sarevok and plant the assassins dagger between his shoulder blades. However, despite all my stealth he knows exactly where I am and is able to initiate a conversation with me.

I realize that he's uber powerful but isn't that taking things a bit too far?
Blackraven

Comments

  • bob_vengbob_veng Member Posts: 2,308
    edited October 2014
    i agree that it's lame that he initiates dialogue when you're hidden but after that, the stealth works just fine and he doesn't know where you are anymore
    JuliusBorisov
  • simAlitysimAlity Member Posts: 64
    bob_veng said:

    i agree that it's lame that he initiates dialogue when you're hidden but after that, the stealth works just fine and he doesn't know where you are anymore


    If its working then how come he always knows exactly where to fire his poison gas and firebombs?
  • simAlitysimAlity Member Posts: 64
    GKL206 said:

    I don't think it's pushing things too far that you can't start the epic, climactic battle to end the whole game by sneaking up and backstabbing your opponent. You can always use a potion or ring to become invisible once the dialogue which says, in effect, 'the battle has begun' has fired.

    Well it turns out you can't sneak up behind him anyway. He's up against a wall with statues on either side. His magic resistance is so high that he can defeat spells with a saving roll of three. The moment the dialogue stops he has his bully boys on either side as well. And of course the moment you attack you become visible so even if you could "sneak" up behind him you can't kill him.

    So basically the stealth approach is out.
  • simAlitysimAlity Member Posts: 64
    Oh and this is rich...I finally got a confusion spell on him and he DISAPPEARS for the duration of the curse.

    Seriously, what the heck?
  • simplessimples Member Posts: 540
    wand of paralyzation: bam
    elminsterJLee
  • HeindrichHeindrich Member, Moderator Posts: 2,959
    simAlity said:

    Oh and this is rich...I finally got a confusion spell on him and he DISAPPEARS for the duration of the curse.

    Seriously, what the heck?

    You sure he wasn't just out of line of sight? Confusion causes enemies to run around randomly. If you think it's a bug, you can report it, ideally with a save file attached. I am not aware of any such bug personally.

    As for the difficulty of the Sarevok battle... yes it is brutal, but the game is designed to be fairly challenging, and it provides all the tools you need to overcome the challenges. In fact there are countless ways to defeat the numerous challenges you face, including the Sarevok battle. It would be unreasonable to expect a single tactic to defeat everything the game throws at you. I don't know your party composition, but if you've gone for a full party of thieves, and totally ignored mages and clerics, then you'd have to expect to be a bit creative about defeating some of the tougher challenges in the game.

    It's like in BG2, you will have to develop a reasonable understanding of the magic system to make good progress unless you happen to use Keldorn and/or Inquisitor PC.
    SirBaldurBlackraven
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    edited October 2014
    You can beat him with stealth but you are going to need to do something to get him to leave that area.

    Also though this doesn't necessarily work with your stealth strategy (I suppose it could by you using it by attacking when invisible with it) Arrows of Detonation (you can buy these in Sorcerous Sundries) combined with your Poison Weapon ability is an extremely potent combination. Just make sure to not get yourself caught in the blast though. Target Semaj/Angelo with them though because they can't get to be pretty annoying otherwise.
  • simAlitysimAlity Member Posts: 64
    Heindrich said:

    simAlity said:

    Oh and this is rich...I finally got a confusion spell on him and he DISAPPEARS for the duration of the curse.

    Seriously, what the heck?

    You sure he wasn't just out of line of sight? Confusion causes enemies to run around randomly. If you think it's a bug, you can report it, ideally with a save file attached. I am not aware of any such bug personally.
    Positive! We were in the little area next to his dais. I had to step away for a moment to heal because I was down to my last hit point and I saw him wander off into the shadows next to the wall. I hit the tab key to figure out where he had gotten to but he was nowhere to be found. At all. He eventually reapproached from the other side of the room, no longer confused.

    I messed up midway through the battle (after the vanishing act) and probably wouldn't of won anyway but having him disappear like that was very frustrating.

    It would be unreasonable to expect a single tactic to defeat everything the game throws at you.
    I don't want that either. It would be boring.

    I don't know your party composition, but if you've gone for a full party of thieves, and totally ignored mages and clerics, then you'd have to expect to be a bit creative about defeating some of the tougher challenges in the game.
    I think it was me, Imoen, Neera and someone else (a cleric but I don't recall which one). I was playing as a Ranger (stalker). Imoen was pure thief. There was no fighter in the group but I had strong weapons and stronger spells and a number of wands. Gorian's Ward was particularly well equiped with the assassins dagger, golden ax, the ice sword, and the fire sword. Their armor was a bit anemic but potions and spells could help with that.

    For the record I thought that sneaking up behind him was creative. After all an (almost) maxed out stalker with a VERY high "move silently" and "hide in shadows" numbers who is wearing the cloak of non-detection really OUGHT to be able to sneak behind someone.

    I had other ideas as well though. I'm a veritable fountain of ideas. But many weren't feasible because of the advantages granted Sarevok. For example: I considered sending player char in solo and warded up to a fare-thee-well and bringing in the rest as reinforcements. NOPE: You gotta send in the entire team at once. I considered sneaking around the sides and landing various anti-magic spells on them. Nope. He who is not in view cannot be Malaised.

    I considered retreat and forcing Sarevok to run after me. Nope. (although at least that's understandable).

    I tried to direcharm Tazok and Angelo. Nope. Spell resistance too high.

    So I'm not able to be a stalker and I'm not allowed to wear the good armor and I can't out-spell him. If fighters are truly mandatory in the final battle then why aren't there more of them?

    Despite that, I really did enjoy the game (particularly towards the end where there were opportunities to be sneaky and stealthy without being evil). This last battle just frustrates me.
    It's like in BG2, you will have to develop a reasonable understanding of the magic system to make good progress unless you happen to use Keldorn and/or Inquisitor PC.
    I am enjoying BG2. I enjoy being able to come up with non-violent (or minimally violent) solutions to various conflicts. It doesn't go as far as I like, but I do realize there are limitations to what the gamemakers can do and that solutions that others consider obvious won't occur to me (and vice versa).
  • scriverscriver Member Posts: 2,072
    ...Lack of Fighters? If I counted correctly, 11 out of 28 characters are fighters, part fighter, or another warrior type class. And this is discounting Rasaad, even.
    elminster
  • DreadKhanDreadKhan Member Posts: 3,857
    Not to be rude, but keep in mind people solo this game, with any class. Stalkers are plenty good, but have no armour choices in BG1. BG2 is better about this.

    If a tactic doesn't work, you shouldn't get mad, you should try a new tactic!
    SCARY_WIZARD[Deleted User]Klorox
  • LateralusLateralus Member Posts: 903
    edited October 2014
    What Bengoshi said. I had a half-orc cleric/thief with the staff of striking. I used a scroll of protection from magic, ran around out in the open with the boots of speed and set off all traps. Killed a few of the more annoying henchmen, their own traps aided me. It took only 2 or three backstabs to kill Sarevok. I got scuffed up a little by some arrows (can't remember I may have totally healed myself between a couple attacks) or something but it was still laughably easy with Frodo's ring.
    JuliusBorisovBlackraven
  • DreadKhanDreadKhan Member Posts: 3,857
    ...you can use the ring of invisibility while under Protection From Magic?? BUG! Unless they changed the descriptions, no casts, good or bad.
    simAlitymeagloth
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    To me Sarevok is actually dealt with most easily using a backstabbing Thief. Even if I run a party with other character classes, I usually cast an Invisibility 10' radius on the party, and take care of Sarevok with my Thief.
    Boots of Speed + Oils of Speed make your character so fast that he can even outrun Sarevok (who's also hasted). If your character has reliable stealth he should be able to successfully hide when Sarevok's out of sight. You won't even need potions or items, though having a few at hand is recommended for failed stealth attempts.
    JuliusBorisovDreadKhanelminster
  • DreadKhanDreadKhan Member Posts: 3,857
    If all else fails, buff str through the roof and use a good sling and +2 bullets. No, really, it works. And not badly. I soloed him with a cleric. Took a few hits, but you will be hitting HARD with 23 or 24 str, with low risk!
    BlackravenJuliusBorisov
  • OlvynChuruOlvynChuru Member Posts: 3,075
    Well of course Sarevok has an unfair advantage. I don't see why he shouldn't; he's the final boss. Generally one important element of a good game is a good difficulty curve. The battle with Sarevok is at the end of the game, so therefore it should be extremely difficult.
    Blackraven
  • LateralusLateralus Member Posts: 903
    Just killed Sarevok and finished a really fun play through with Valduran the Eldritch Knight. It was just normal mode but not a single reload and no resurrections either. If anybody that appears in the sequel dies, the game is lost and you have to start over from the beginning.

    I rolled with Kagain, Eldoth, and Shar-teel. Eldoth's death in the final battle was funny, i made some mistakes and he got separated from the rest of the party, taken down to ONE HP, surrounded by Savevok, Tazok, and Death Knights. And somehow someway I gulp a potion of invisibility the split second before his moral failed! We kited them away from him and he eventually snapped out of it, but then when he was moving to a safe area he accidentally stepped on a trap and died anyways! lol

    Shar-teel died next but I'm not sure how, Sarevok must have critted her. I think I forgot to have her drink a fort potion, that would have helped. I gotta say, Shar-teel with a f3/t9 build is the way to go. MVP of the party. Put 3 pips in short bow, haste and arrows of det and she messed everybody up.

    Meanwhile Kagain and Valduran drank what was left of our healing (no cleric the whole game) and after we dealt with the remaining henchies (Tazok must have like 300 hp, he hates dieing!) it was a fully healed Kagain and Valduran vs. a badly wounded Sarevok. A little nerve wracking because charnam ended up doing the tanking and I never know if he has the mega death swing or not. Maybe that's what killed Shar-T? Kagain landed the death blow. Roll credits...

    Epilogue: Kagain takes his half share of a considerable amount of gold and magic, moves far into the mountains and starts a hugely successful mining corporation. Imoen, Minsc, Jaheira, Khalid, and Dynaheir all left Valduran right after he befriended Dorn and his rep hit 2. So charnam starts tracking her with hopes of learning more about his powers.

    And our story continues...
    BlackravenJuliusBorisovDaven2muswellbrook
  • moody_magemoody_mage Member Posts: 2,054
    He's a final boss. There is no 'unfair' advantage.
    HeindrichCalmar
  • NimranNimran Member Posts: 4,875
    edited October 2014
    Yeh, the player can try different tactics. All enemies do the same thing they've always done. If Sarevok gives you trouble, just watch what he does and plan your next move based on that.
    lunarJuliusBorisov
Sign In or Register to comment.