Ascension ToB Final Battle *spoilers ahead*
IsabellaGranger
Member Posts: 52
Sooo... Well, I don't even know if I'm posting this in the correct place, but I just NEED to share my feelings about this.
As the title says, I have Ascension mod installed in BG2 EE, and whilst all the duration of the game I enjoyed it very much, the last battle is just... A PAIN ON THE BUTT. GODS, I played the game on Insane difficulty ever since I was in SoA, and though Illasera, Abazigal and Yaga-Shura were certainly tough, it wasn't EVEN CLOSE to this scale of difficulty. I went through Bodhi and Jon Irenicus fairly easy; just a few tactics here and there, and they were done for. Then the pools, which, well, were kiiiind of tough, but then again, I wasn't using all my protection spells, nor being hasted. After happily taking down the remaining monsters, the final battle began. My party consists of:
-My main character, a Stalker (which... I edited a little with EEKeeper to add priest spells given that she has way too much wisdom and didn't want to waste it...), lvl 29
-Sir Anomen, lvl 33, I think
-Jaheira, lvl 17 Druid/lvl 21 as a fighter
-Sarevok, lvl 30
-Imoen, lvl 25
-Neera, lvl 26
Well, as soon as Melissan approached, she took Sarevok with her (Even if he didn't change alignment, it did hurt me that he abandoned me
), and the five (thank GOD Balthazar teamed up with me), began attacking. Last time I tried, I managed to bring Melissan to ''injured'' state, but AGH, I can't do this! I can kill Sarevok fairly easy and quickly, but then, as soon as one of them dies, she appears, and I have to deal with Illasera's friggin' arrows, which keep killing both Imoen and Neera, Abazigal's massive damage blows, Gromnir's high blows as well, while having a Fallen Planetar with Glove of Blades nearly taking care of Yaga-Shura and avoiding Melissan's blows by running away, while Sendai out of sudden, after being still most of the time, decides to stop time and I already wasted spell casting time by using Improved Whirlwind Attack or Critical Strike. At first, it was impossible, now... I manage to kill two or three of them at best, but always having a hard time to bring Abazigal to the ground, who is one of the most problematic ones... I can't deal with this battle, and most of all, makes me feel so frustrated, because up until now, even with this mod, battles were challenging, tough at most, but certainly fun to play, as I knew I would win sooner or later, but this? This just feels like an outrage. With all the pain on my pride, I had to lower the difficulty to Hard, and then it became a little bit more ''easy'', at least not having my party members chunked and dying after four Melissan's blows because of taking around 60 HP damage with each one, but still... I just want to win this. I know I have to take the five down first, but I have the most trouble dealing with Abazigal, since he's so hard to kill. Balthazar managed to kill Illasera on his own, and then the Planetar takes care of Yaga-Shura for a while, casting Insect Plague on him sometimes... But, do you have any advice on this? I have a feeling I should change all my spells, since I have next to no creature to summon beside one Mordekainen's Sword, that Planetar and a Juggernaut Golem... I feel bad for asking advices, it's the first time I have to do it D': But... any help would be welcome. I've been trying to beat this all night long, from around 12 am to now 6 am... I'm just FRUSTRATED. I won't give up, but I can't deal with this, and I don't want to uninstall the mod. It's not even a possibility, I want to beat this now that I installed it and used it during the whole game, but... it feels unfair T_T (Alright, I know I'm the one who installed the mod after all... )
Thanks!
A/N: Is it necessary that I add spoiler tags to this post, even if it's on the title? Edit my post, please, in case it is, I don't know if it will suffice, in case someone doesn't read the title right
As the title says, I have Ascension mod installed in BG2 EE, and whilst all the duration of the game I enjoyed it very much, the last battle is just... A PAIN ON THE BUTT. GODS, I played the game on Insane difficulty ever since I was in SoA, and though Illasera, Abazigal and Yaga-Shura were certainly tough, it wasn't EVEN CLOSE to this scale of difficulty. I went through Bodhi and Jon Irenicus fairly easy; just a few tactics here and there, and they were done for. Then the pools, which, well, were kiiiind of tough, but then again, I wasn't using all my protection spells, nor being hasted. After happily taking down the remaining monsters, the final battle began. My party consists of:
-My main character, a Stalker (which... I edited a little with EEKeeper to add priest spells given that she has way too much wisdom and didn't want to waste it...), lvl 29
-Sir Anomen, lvl 33, I think
-Jaheira, lvl 17 Druid/lvl 21 as a fighter
-Sarevok, lvl 30
-Imoen, lvl 25
-Neera, lvl 26
Well, as soon as Melissan approached, she took Sarevok with her (Even if he didn't change alignment, it did hurt me that he abandoned me
), and the five (thank GOD Balthazar teamed up with me), began attacking. Last time I tried, I managed to bring Melissan to ''injured'' state, but AGH, I can't do this! I can kill Sarevok fairly easy and quickly, but then, as soon as one of them dies, she appears, and I have to deal with Illasera's friggin' arrows, which keep killing both Imoen and Neera, Abazigal's massive damage blows, Gromnir's high blows as well, while having a Fallen Planetar with Glove of Blades nearly taking care of Yaga-Shura and avoiding Melissan's blows by running away, while Sendai out of sudden, after being still most of the time, decides to stop time and I already wasted spell casting time by using Improved Whirlwind Attack or Critical Strike. At first, it was impossible, now... I manage to kill two or three of them at best, but always having a hard time to bring Abazigal to the ground, who is one of the most problematic ones... I can't deal with this battle, and most of all, makes me feel so frustrated, because up until now, even with this mod, battles were challenging, tough at most, but certainly fun to play, as I knew I would win sooner or later, but this? This just feels like an outrage. With all the pain on my pride, I had to lower the difficulty to Hard, and then it became a little bit more ''easy'', at least not having my party members chunked and dying after four Melissan's blows because of taking around 60 HP damage with each one, but still... I just want to win this. I know I have to take the five down first, but I have the most trouble dealing with Abazigal, since he's so hard to kill. Balthazar managed to kill Illasera on his own, and then the Planetar takes care of Yaga-Shura for a while, casting Insect Plague on him sometimes... But, do you have any advice on this? I have a feeling I should change all my spells, since I have next to no creature to summon beside one Mordekainen's Sword, that Planetar and a Juggernaut Golem... I feel bad for asking advices, it's the first time I have to do it D': But... any help would be welcome. I've been trying to beat this all night long, from around 12 am to now 6 am... I'm just FRUSTRATED. I won't give up, but I can't deal with this, and I don't want to uninstall the mod. It's not even a possibility, I want to beat this now that I installed it and used it during the whole game, but... it feels unfair T_T (Alright, I know I'm the one who installed the mod after all... )Thanks!
A/N: Is it necessary that I add spoiler tags to this post, even if it's on the title? Edit my post, please, in case it is, I don't know if it will suffice, in case someone doesn't read the title right
3
Comments
Ascension is certainly one of the hardest, if not the hardest battles in the game - and it should be, it's the final confrontation after all. That conveniently also means that you don't need to hold back on anything: use every potion, scroll, wand, etc. you have!
The fight also takes some time to learn. Spend some attempts watching what the enemies are doing, and when. Then, build around that and think how you can handle it. Try to think what enemy needs to die first, and how you can get there. Balance between control elements, defensive play, and offense - sometimes it's best to just rush someone down, other times it's better to make sure you don't die, first.
There are various strategies that can be successful, and it all varies with party and playstyle. Try to find your own way, and see the frustration of repeated defeats as a challenge you can overcome. This is the climax of your epic story, give it the attention and effort it deserves!
- Yaga Shura can be killed easily with Harm. Have Anomen take care of that
- Sendai is only a Lvl20 Mage, and thus can be stripped of her spell protections with Remove Magic reliably. Wait for her to come close, cast RM, and then kill her quickly with one of your fighters
- Jaheira can summon (hopefully) Elemental Princes. Make use of that
- Attack Abazigal with your summons, and use Jaheira too. With Ironskins, Armor of Faith and Hardiness, she should be able to tank him for a while.
- Try to dispel Melissans Blade Barrier with your Mages as good and fast as you can
- Spell Immunity:Abjuration should protect your Mages from Illaseras Arrows of Dispelling
- If that all shouldn't work, you can always go on and mine the battlefield with Skull Traps before the final battle starts
You obviously botched it by not getting Sarevok to change his alignment. Also, you went for a lame Stalker as your PC. This makes things more complicated than necessary, but it should still be doable.
- Yaga-Shura can be Mazed. It seems to lock him away for an extremely long time so you can deal with the casters first.
- Use your PC's Focus ability (that you got from the pools) then have either Imoen or Neera cast Time Stop. You now have three characters: yourself, Balthazar and your mage that can act freely. Do NOT do this if Melissan appears because she will focus your immobilized characters.
- Abazigal is by far the biggest threat in this fight. The sooner you get rid of him, the easier your life gets.
- I usually kill Illasera first because she's completely vulnerable when Time Stopped and her arrows have really annoying effects like Miscast Magic.
- Chain Contingency -> Horrid Wilting x3 on Enemy Sighted is a good way to soften them up before the fight gets going.
- Use Incendiary Cloud. It probably won't do much damage but the AI doesn't move outside of it so hopefully it can interrupt their spells.
- Balthazar's AI is horrible and will constantly break your commands to go hit other targets. You have to keep redirecting him towards the target you want him to attack.
- IIRC, Melissan will join the fight after three of the Five have fallen. This is why I recommend Mazing Yaga rather than just killing him. This way you can kill Illasera, Gromnir and Abazigal before having to deal with her. ok, let me correct myself: if you have a fighter PC then you can kill both Gromnir and Illasera within one use of Time Stop since Balthazar can kill Illasera by himself. I've even managed to kill Abazigal before Melissan spawned.
Imoen can finish Illasera at the start of the battle. Put Belm or Kundane to left hand. Prebuff her with mislead, improved haste, and black blade of disaster (preferably from a scroll). As the battle starts, have her cast time stop quickly, (have her equip casting time items) then rush to Illasera's back and backstab her repeatedly. With mislead, every attack is a backstab, in time stop, every hit is a hit. Soon Illasera will croak. In the mean time, have Balthazar, hopefully immune to time stop thanks to lunar stance, kick the crap out of another baddie. YOU can join in the fun with focus ability, three powerful hitters will wreck havoc in one timestop. If Imoen has another time stop cast it her before one ends.
If you have a protection from magic scroll use it on Sendai it will neutralise her so you can leave her last. Otherwise she should be killed fast, too much of a nuisance.
Neera should cast time stop and improved alacrity and empty her offensive spell book, but do so from a project image before it gets disrupted. To preserve her spells. Use up all your time stops before Big M comes up. Good protection is essential, have her spell turning/stoneskin/mirror image/pro from fire/improved inv. AND protect those buffs with spell immunity:abjuation and a spell shield. Or she can be killed very easily.
Anomen and Jaheira should summon good fodders like deva or elemental princes, keep everyone healthy with greater restorations or use of rod of ressurection, and if he buffs well enough (holy power+draw upon holy might+armor of faith+chaotic commands+reflex shield equipped) and can avoid a remove magic, melee with improved haste.
Your main should have hardiness at all rounds, and defender of easthaven and stay clear of M and activate focus ability when she goes 'gracie' as she can pull a time stop and finish you off in melee. Do not engage Mel directly until all of the five are gone. Have her tackle summons. Once five are gone, bombard Mel with spellstrikes, pierce shields and breaches, and once you get an opportunity to strike, wail on with GWWs. You can lower her resistance and try greater malison and other debuffs like Insect Plagues. She has a nasty way of cleansing herself though, keep spell striking wands targeted at her and melee when you can.
If you are on insane difficulty she will have even more tricks once five is gone, I have no idea how to beat that, just beat her on core.
It'd be interesting to redeem Irenicus, but... nah, personally, I'd stick with my faithful companions xD
I'm not he also