Nimbul strategy or required level

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 3:36 pm

Hi, I cleared the Nashkel mines with ending in all level 2 characters. I tried to fight Nimbul and had to reload many times. Eventually I succeeded having to raise dead on 4 party members.

She must have a high AC because her mirror images lasted a long time. I had Dynaheir working away at the images with magic missile scrolls, but she died. My pc fighter1thief2 was using a bow so to not draw agro by melee. Minsc was using a two handed sword. Jaheira was using a sling. I should have used club because I forgot about the boots of avoidance. Imoen used a bow, though as with Jaheira I should have used shortsword. My pc and jaheira survived and had to take 8 million years to pick up all the equipment haha.

Jaheira buffed with remove fear and bless. I might have backstabbed is one idea.

Any other ideas? Should I have leveled up higher? Like I say I killed her and raised dead so I am through now but just curious what other people do. My difficulty slider is one to the left.

Note: I did a search on 'Nimbul' in GB and didn't hit anything surprisingly.

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 4:18 pm

There's a lot of content you can 'emtpy the exp of' before you reach that place, so perhaps yeah. But I have done it with lower level characters too. If I recall correctly, an easy method I used a lot in the past was to take this fight in bits. He summons a lot of minions, which clog up the small cave he's in.

So, while he's busy casting, quickly move your entire party to the upper side-cave, next to the puddle of water. By the time he's done casting, you've moved out of his FOV and only a couple of minions will be following you. Kill them, then slowly kill more of them by entering into their FOV and luring them up. At some point Nimbul will see you, at which point you can focus the majority of your forces on him, with fewer distractions.

Alternatively, you can try fleeing to the lower side-cave instead, where the treasure is. The advantage is a tighter bottleneck at the start of the cave, reducing the amount of enemies you'll have to face at the same time, but you're also a lot closer to Nimbul's FOV, so you can't move around much without him seeing you (he might actually often decide to come in as well because it takes a little longer to get your entire party positioned there).

Depending on your party make-up, one side-cave might suit you better than the other. The upper one has a wide entrance that's easier to hold if you have a few tanks. The lower one may be more dangerous, but it has some nooks and crannies where you might be able to quickly hide a thief. You can decide to split up your party in both, but it will be harder to manage the battle on two fronts.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 5:40 pm

You've musunderstood Tricky, he's talking about Numbul, the assassin who you meet in Nashjel after the mines, not Mulahey.

How you managed to rescue Dynaheir, clear the mine but still be only 2nd level baffles me, how on earth did you accomplish that?

First once you know about him, like many others the first time I met him he wiped me out, mainly due to carelessness on my part, so thereafter you know he's there. With foreknowledge one thing to do is to wait for the patrolling Amnish guards to be nearby before confronting him. First thing Minsc should do is go berserk, that way horror won't affect him.

The biggest problem you had was being far too low level at that point; I'm still trying to figure out how that was possible. I can only assume you went at it like a bull at a gate, ignoring everything between you and Dynaheir then Nashkel mines. If you'd explored every area you went through, the area beyond Candlekeep (did you find the +1 ring and the Ogre with the belts?),

At the Friendly Arm in (did you find the hidden ring outside the walls and complete the quest to find the flamedance ring?)

Beregost (did you get Algernon's cloak, if so first thing to do with Nimbul is use the cloak on him), choosing the right dialogue options when entering Feldpost's Inn nets you 950XP alone. Did you complete the quest the dwarf in the Friendly Arm Inn gave you? Did you accept Garrick's offer of a job?

In the area below Beregost the first thing you should have run into was two half ogres, one had a note, did you read it and tell the intended recipient in Beregost? Did you find the Hobgoblin with a magical pair of boots?

In the next area south did you have a fight with a rogue Flaming Fist guard?

In Nashkel did you find the hidden armour? Did you get the mini quest to find Joseph (and did you find him and return the ring?). Did you meet the assassin in the Nashkel Inn?

After picking up Minsc and heading for the Gnoll Stroghaold you would have had to pass through at least two areas, encountering Xvarts, Ogres, half Ogres a polar bear plus others.

Lots of Gnolls in the stronghold, did you find the manual in a cave outside the stronghold, and you did get the gauntlets of dexterity right?

Then the mines themselves, did you return the dagger?

I suspect the answer to a lot of the above question is no, they have to be no otherwise you'd have been at least 2nd level by the time you found Dynaheir. If the answer to most of them is yes, then I'm completely baffled, and can only assume there's something wrong with your game and you aren't getting anything like the full xp you should be getting.

Tricky · Post by **Tricky** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 5:43 pm

It's been so long that it seems I got my wires crossed. Thanks for correcting me, Galraen.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 5:46 pm

It's usually others that are correcting me! LOL

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 5:48 pm

PS You shouldn't have raised Khalid, him dieing is the only way to get rid of the useless excuse for an elf!

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 7:41 pm

Khalid is a pretty buff archer because he levels faster and can put more than 2 stars/bow, I think. He has good stats and I find him comic relief in his voice comments haha. I use minsc with the gauntlets of dex and my pc as tanks as they both have 18 (91+) strength.

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 7:55 pm

You've musunderstood Tricky, he's talking about Numbul, the assassin who you meet in Nashjel after the mines, not Mulahey.

How you managed to rescue Dynaheir, clear the mine but still be only 2nd level baffles me, how on earth did you accomplish that?

You get slightly lower xp with less difficulty setting, but maybe not much just 80%. I went almost straight to minsc and then straight to the gnolls. I got the boots of stealth somewhere. I killed the heckler at the Feldpost Inn. Oh and definitely killed noober despite being not much xp

First thing Minsc should do is go berserk, that way horror won't affect him.

Brilliant idea.

The biggest problem you had was being far too low level at that point; I'm still trying to figure out how that was possible. I can only assume you went at it like a bull at a gate, ignoring everything between you and Dynaheir then Nashkel mines. If you'd explored every area you went through, the area beyond Candlekeep (did you find the +1 ring and the Ogre with the belts?),

Got the belts no ring. I did get a ring of infravision and a holy ring somewhere.

At the Friendly Arm in (did you find the hidden ring outside the walls and complete the quest to find the flamedance ring?)

Didn't get the flamedance quest and couldn't find the ring, looked at all of the trees it seemed. I might look at the x/y coordinates later (and the ankheg coordinates too).

Beregost (did you get Algernon's cloak, if so first thing to do with Nimbul is use the cloak on him), choosing the right dialogue options when entering Feldpost's Inn nets you 950XP alone. Did you complete the quest the dwarf in the Friendly Arm Inn gave you? Did you accept Garrick's offer of a job?

I think I did Garrick and I killed the heckler at the Inn. I didn't get Algernon's cloak, but I am leveling Imoen in pickpocket until dualclassing her. She's at 45% right now.

In the area below Beregost the first thing you should have run into was two half ogres, one had a note, did you read it and tell the intended recipient in Beregost? Did you find the Hobgoblin with a magical pair of boots?

Got the boots and the note but didn't find where to take the note. I was going fast because jaheira and khalid were complaining about Neshkhal and I wanted a multi-class divine caster and like I like Khalid for comic relief and for his archery and faster leveling chart.

In the next area south did you have a fight with a rogue Flaming Fist guard?

Oh I thought this was a real Flaming Fist guard and I didn't want a bounty. Probably should have reloaded options but I am making a VERY casual playthrough.

In Nashkel did you find the hidden armour? Did you get the mini quest to find Joseph (and did you find him and return the ring?). Did you meet the assassin in the Nashkel Inn?

Didn't find hidden armor, but I did return the ring and give the dagger.

After picking up Minsc and heading for the Gnoll Stroghaold you would have had to pass through at least two areas, encountering Xvarts, Ogres, half Ogres a polar bear plus others.

I didn't clear the areas because jaheira wanted me to go to neshkel and I figured 'might as well'. I just carved straight to the gnoll stronghold. Killed tons of gnolls and xvarts

Lots of Gnolls in the stronghold, did you find the manual in a cave outside the stronghold, and you did get the gauntlets of dexterity right?

Yes I got the tome of charisma and the gauntlets. I had imoen read the manual because in SToA I will have the ring of human influence.

Then the mines themselves, did you return the dagger?

Yes

I suspect the answer to a lot of the above question is no, they have to be no otherwise you'd have been at least 2nd level by the time you found Dynaheir. If the answer to most of them is yes, then I'm completely baffled, and can only assume there's something wrong with your game and you aren't getting anything like the full xp you should be getting.

I think it is a combination of: not knowing all the quests and not wanting to use a walkthrough, lower difficulty, going straight through. For example I picked up minsc at level 2 whereas a different attempted run I did clear maps and got minsc at level 3. Actually the other playthrough I only split xp by 4 and did Neshkel by just 4 person party. For some reason that party got a nice reload on Nimbul and he became afraid right away and we just wailed on him/her.

Thanks for all the suggestions, help, and consideration!

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 9:05 pm

Well I was so puzzled that, as I had a few hours to spare, I 'rolled' a half-elf fighter/thief, str 18/29, Dx 18, Con 18, res 10s and did a run through up to meeting Nimbul.

I didn't clear every area, for a start I struggled with the Ogres & Half Ogres, but managed to take out those that got in my way. In fact most areas I barely cleared half the map. By the time I got to the Nimbul encounter the party was thus:

Minsc Level 2
Khalid Level 3
Imoen Level 4
Jaheira Level 3/3
Dynaheir Level 2
PC level 2/3

With Nimbul berserked Minsc, had Hajeira cast MM, three from memory then one from the wand of MM, PC and Minsc weighed in Minsc with the +2 Longsword that does an additional 1hp cold damage (scour the Nashkel Mines area if you haven't got it, you'll have to fight a tough opponent so as artist can finish his masterpiece) and PC with +1 Short sword (I was tempted to use Moonblade, but figured you wouldn't be able to do that). He got off one MM before he died and I think if the PC had been level 1/2 it may well have killed him, it would have been close. The bloody Amnish guard just stood and watched, so much for that idea!!

I think you're playing the basic BG1 version aren't you, the biggest draw back with that for this party is tab doesn't highlight hidden containers, or any containers. It's so long since I played with that engine I'd forgotten about that.

The other difference between our two runs is having the slider one to the left (missed that when I first read your post), with only 80% of the xp my version would have been level 2/2. Put the slider at default setting, the difference in difficulty is minimal but the loss of xp will mount up.

It was an interesting experiment, Id forgotten just how weak the 'canonical' party is, and how much weaker picking them up so quickly made the PC. You should have ignored Jaheira's wining, I did, and once you reach Nashkel and talk to the mayor (or whatever he is) she stops whinging about the mines anyway. You're actually on a much tighter time leash with Minsc when it comes to finding Dynaheir, and he won't just moan if he thinks your taking too long, he'll go berserk and attack you, evil git!

If it's not too late, when you find the emeralds sell them, don't hand them in.

PS Your biggest mistake was killing the heckler in the Feldpost Inn, as I touched on earlier, that cost you 950xp, or 80% thereof.

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 9:21 pm

Do you level up somehow with Imoen and pc? I tried but it was too frustrating. Bears would always instagib me.

Yeah I didn't do prism and just went straight through from the Friendly Arms Inn. I too would like alt tab, but my tutu installation that worked 1 1/2 years ago now doesn't even go to a load screen it just doesn't do anything. I have a thread about that problem, tried various things.

I might try the enhanced edition if they release a patch for all the stuff (ee's on forum mainpage, though I'm sure you know that).

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 9:27 pm

The trick with just the main and Imoen is to equip both with bows, which ever one the bear (or whatever) goes for just runs around leading the bear in circles while the other shoots at it. If the bear switches to the shooter, then the 'lure' starts shooting and the original shooter becomes the 'hare'. Works with a full party too, but more difficult to coordinate, and needs space of course. The danger is the hare moving to far from the original encounter spot and running into more enemies. That happened to me once in the Ogre area, so I started running and shooting, in next to no time I was being chased by half a dozen or more Ogres and half Ogres, needless to say it was reload last save time!

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Sun Dec 02, 2012 9:31 pm

Yeah, but usually the bear gets a hit when you turn a corner. I saw the hand decaying on the load screen many times haha.

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 5:13 pm

@galraen, have you ever had jaheira and khalid leave the party because you haven't gone to Nashkel? I might play through the beginning again.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:26 pm

I can't remember it happening, but then I don't usually have either of them, and not kept Khalid for long, ever, both intentionally and unintentionally. During the run to Nimbul the other day he died at least four times, certainly part of that was me rushing things, but he's absolutely useless, even when he doesn't run away!

If you do start again, don't obsess about that sapphire, there isn't actually that much you can do with the money early in the game, and there's lots of cash available, I've never run into money problems really.

With the party you had, I'd suggest picking up Garrick after Khalid has an accident, he's an additional arcane caster once he gets to third level, isn't bad at identifying things and can pick pockets, and, importantly can use wands. His bard song can be helpful too, this is even more true when using BGT or Tutu (I find the former to be best) and you're using the rogue rebalancing mod.

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 9:19 pm

Last night I ran the enhanced edition. The fullscreen looked great on my monitor which is about the size of the hollow part of a guitar. There were little nice details like the portrait showing what weapon you are using and the colored base of each character having a different color.

Anyhow I ran with a gnome fighter thief. This time I cleared areas along the way to Nashkel and the gnoll fortress. Interestingly I took a different route and there were tons of ogres, ogre berskers, and a polar bear. I also got xp for reading scroll and opening locks.

This time imoen is already dual-classed from level four and thus part of my conclusion is that the route and clearing I did plus perhaps some different spawns. An example of different spawns is that trash monsters like xvarts and jibberlings have tiny packs of 1 or 2, but there are more 100+ xp monsters spawning.

The different route to the gnoll fortress was a big key though. Ogres instead of gnolls. I went through that map with the bridge (not the fortress map) and that map was rich in xp.

I can't remember it happening, but then I don't usually have either of them, and not kept Khalid for long, ever, both intentionally and unintentionally. During the run to Nimbul the other day he died at least four times, certainly part of that was me rushing things, but he's absolutely useless, even when he doesn't run away!

I love Khalids wimpiness haha an unlikely hero. He did run away and into some spawns which wasn't fun. But I am trying to play a canonical party. I hope that enhanced edition goes to SToA, because I have trouble getting tutu to work.

If you do start again, don't obsess about that sapphire, there isn't actually that much you can do with the money early in the game, and there's lots of cash available, I've never run into money problems really.

I found out that either a potion of clarity or a saphire spawns. The potion might be useful somewhere.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:34 am

Have you tried BG Trilogy, which I think is actually better than Tutu?

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 10:17 am

Ah, galraen, I never heard of the BG Trilogy, unless you mean just the regular 3 disks. In that case I played SToA twice + many restarts. Throne of Bhaal I never left the starting city. BG I got up to the BG city, but got too overwhelmed by how much stuff I needed to do in that city.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 12:31 pm

http://www.shsforums.net/files/file/54- ... weidu-115/