Solo Question

monsterman14 · Post by **monsterman14** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 6:53 pm

Im playing as a fighter/thief and trying to solo SOA and TOB for the first time. ive decided that before i do some other things that are very difficult

Spoiler

dragons

im going to need celestial fury... but i can't seem to kill all of the guys in there, and the mage casts true sight so i cant backstab... does anyone have any suggestions.. i am a level 12 thief and 10 fighter dual wielding the blade of roses and the sword of flame

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:10 pm

First of all, the sword isn't an all powerful godly weapon and will not make the game any easier. I'd describe it as an "okay" weapon. Also, keep in mind that you can only use it if you're a paladin or have the "Use Any Item" ability.

Spoiler:

Spoiler

There's a group in one of the inns at Waukeen's Promenade. A pretty rude bunch. If you slay them, the mage will have a cloak of non detection. The non detection effect (also available from another item and in spell (or scroll form) prevents you from being found by those spells.

As for your weapon choice, it's really not the best. You want weapons with high multipliers in your main hand. Usuno's Blade +4 or Short Sword of Backstabbing.

If you don't care about back stabbing, I'd at least use Belm +2 and/or Kundane +2 for more attacks speed.

monsterman14 · Post by **monsterman14** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 8:43 pm

thank you but i think you have the weapon i want confused.. im trying to get the katana in the guarded compound... your advice was nonetheless good

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 1:24 am

Sorry about that. I misread.

The advice however still stands.

The effect of Non-Detection will prevent you from being discovered when under the effects of stealth.

Bigby's Nose · Post by **Bigby's Nose** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 2:50 am

Crenshinibon: Don't underestimate how big a lifesaver the Celestial Fury's stun ability can be. I can't vouch for its usefulness as a backstabbing weapon because I've never used it for backstabbing. But I'd definitely rate CF as one of the top melee weapons against most enemies with a lot of HP, even in ToB, because of its stun ability. Now, it may seem that the probability of stunning an opponent is not great. But if you take into account the fact that you may have to make lots of strikes against high-HP monsters before they go down, you'll realize that your chances of stunning them are much better than what you may think. I can vouch for this through personal experience. CF uncommonly stuns low or medium HP monsters (who can be tough to beat regardless) but it stuns creatures such as fire giants, adamantine golems, and even demons fairly regularly. Also, that "5% chance of 20 extra points of electrical damage" occurs more frequently than it sounds when fighting high-HP monsters.

kmonster · Post by **kmonster** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 5:33 am

10/12 are quite low levels for doing this battle, even with a party. There are enough easier sidequests to reach fighter level 11 or even 13-14 before.

monsterman14 · Post by **monsterman14** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 10:13 am

yeah k monster i realised that too, so i went and got daystar and did nalias keep... which i was amazed when i was made lord of it also, considering i already run the thieves guild, then i came back with two rings of invisibility and 3 potions

mage went down in one shot i believe it was 98 damage

no more true seeing

used my first ring and killed the dude with the sword after a bit of fighting, then picked it up and decimated the others... i had never played a f/t before and im really enjoying it

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 10:35 am

Bigby's Nose: I'm not underestimating it at all. It's a good weapon early on, but as oponents' savingthrows become higher, it looses its' usefulness. When I play, I usually find myself at Watcher's Keep at around level ten or eleven, at which point I have a nice +4 weapon available to me and find the CF's use quickly dwindling as I progress through the levels.

Also, for low THAC0 characters, a high bonus is a must. Thus, when the original poster mentioned backstabing, I thought to use weapons with a high bonus as that's a definite number when multiplied. That's not mentioning that elemental damage tends to go through spells like stoneskin, so it's especially useful against casters.

I personally find the rings of invisibility to be a waste as actually, Stealth is better! You can use them as a backup, for when you get caught in a tight spot, but after you get an item that gives you haste, you shouldn't need invisibility at all.

monsterman14 · Post by **monsterman14** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 12:48 pm

yeah back up is exactly what i use them for...

im delayign watchers keep because i dont know how well i can handle all those statues at once

now that im moving on, i really want shadow scale armor but i think i will practice my dragon killing skills on firkragg first. do you all know what i should do to beat him? are dragons immune to backstab? and lastly, whats better to duel with the dragon slaying sword, CF or Daystar

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 2:37 pm

Although Firkraag grants more experience than the SHadow Dragon, the first time I played, the latter gave me more grief.

Yes, dragons are immune to backstab.

As for swords, with the Dragonslayer, assuming you don't have five attacks per round, I'd actually use Belm +2 or Kundane +2 as it'll give you more attacks per round, thus hitting more often.

As dragons tend to cast stoneskin, I generally use, as stated before, elemental weapons, such as the weapon mentioned in my previous post or something like the Flail of Ages.

Then again, you may actually want to use Dragon Scale Shield +2, a Ring of Fire Resistance along with the Potion of Fire Resistance. That combination will give you 115% fire resistance, so that Firkraag's breath will actually heal you. It'd pretty damaging, especially at early levels, so there's that. Then, you're probably better off wearing some heavy armor like fill plate mail anyway, as your stealth is useless in this fight. This will give you better AC, thus making it harder for the dragon to hit you.

CigSmokingNerd · Post by **CigSmokingNerd** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 3:12 pm

Crenshinibon wrote:As for swords, with the Dragonslayer, assuming you don't have five attacks per round, I'd actually use Belm +2 or Kundane +2 as it'll give you more attacks per round, thus hitting more often.

[...]

As dragons tend to cast stoneskin, I generally use, as stated before, elemental weapons, such as the weapon mentioned in my previous post or something like the Flail of Ages.

Ah yes, my kind of thoughts, exactly. When facing fierce, inexorable opponents (dragons, among other select few particularly deadly enemies, top this category) with an exceeding number of HP, the combo that is Belm + Flail of Ages usually works wonders due to its high damage/fast attack speed. It's not a bad choice when facing buffed mages, either. For reasons suggested by Crenshinibon above, your Flail of Ages may work well against stoneskined opponents. When/if you decide to embark upon quests of a decidely more epic nature in ToB, upgrade the FoA, and you will see what I mean, hehe.

-CSN