Mind Devourer- Royal Pain in the Butt (minor spoilers)

Magus · Post by **Magus** » Sun Jun 30, 2002 6:36 am

Is it just me, or was that fight really, really, incredibly difficult?! I thought it was bad when the half-orc before it killed me 2-3 times, but the Mind Devourer kicked my butt, thouroughly and repeatedly. My PC was a finesse-style level 3 fighter/level 1 rogue, 14 STR and 17 DEX, and my henchman was Tomi Undergallows. In its first human form, I was already completely outmatched, having to frantically gobble healing potions just to stay alive. But in its final form...I could hardly scratch it, because the best +1 weapon I had at the time was a dagger. Looking back on it, I should have picked the +1 halberd up off the ground and used it, but that would have totally gone against my PC's weapon training anyway (dual-wielding short swords). Anyway, did anyone else find this battle insidiously hard (especially those that tackled this quest first)? I can't even imagine what I would have done if I my PC wasn't a fighter-type...

Wooly · Post by **Wooly** » Sun Jun 30, 2002 7:27 am

Actually, as a mage it was very easy. I had that Half Orc follower, a Summoned Boar, a familiar and me casting spells.

--Wooly

Biljac · Post by **Biljac** » Sun Jun 30, 2002 7:48 am

Level 3 paladin/2 fighter had no problem with him. In fact first time (reset) I let him pop into all 4 of the other guards just so I could see if he could tackle them

Hmm, could have been 4/2 before I did this. I killed all the yard trash in Chapter 1 before taking on the main bosses. Oh and Tomi is my pallies lil bud

Hehe I get him killed just so I can listen to his litaney about dying

THE JAKER · Post by **THE JAKER** » Sun Jun 30, 2002 8:34 am

I found the actual last series of battles in the prison pit just boring and long...keep drinking potions and its fine solo- the half orc guy was really the tough part IMO

Everclearules20 · Post by **Everclearules20** » Sun Jun 30, 2002 10:38 am

The first time i faced him, with a ranger dual wielding, but i didnt know wearing medium armor and up lowered his attack rating, it was hard. Then i used a plain fighter, and it ended in about 1 minute, (i used knockdown against his first form, and he never even hit me, then i just used power attack against his second form). Then i used a mage, with the Cleric henchman, dire boar, and the Pixie familiar, and it was even easier.

Nygma · Post by **Nygma** » Sun Jun 30, 2002 12:12 pm

I did that quest first and ended up facing the Intellect Devourer as a 4th level monk.

Pain. Anguish. Utter frustration. Lots of potions.

I am now a 15th level monk and have Belial, Lord of Fire, on my list of Monsters Ignominiously Defeated. So far that fight was by far the hardest. My monk hardly dealt out any damage then, either with a kama or fists, and the devourer absorbed most of what he put out.

Tomi did some nice damage from afar with his bow sneak attacks, but no matter how often I tried positioning the battle just near enough so he could shoot, the I.D. still always ended up going for him and killing him. That battle, after umpteen reloads, took me about half an hour. "miss...miss...miss...2 damage...miss..."

So don't get discouraged by all these "there was a monster down in that prison?" responses. For some of us, that was a nightmare battle

Magus · Post by **Magus** » Sun Jun 30, 2002 3:25 pm

@Nygma: Yes, that pretty much sums up my experience... *PC takes a beating and does diddly while Tomi pelts the monster's exposed back*

@Everclearules20: Power Attack would have been *really* helpful. Unfortunately I didn't have that at the time, nor did I plan on getting it. That might soon change however...

@rest: By any chance, did those of you who breezed through it tackle the devourer second or third, and consequently were higher level and had better equipment? Because my level 3 fighter/level 1 rogue with a knife didn't quite cut it...

Volcane666 · Post by **Volcane666** » Sun Jun 30, 2002 4:28 pm

Just completed that as my first quest with an elf fighter3/wizard1 (actually it was fighter2/wizard1 before the battle began) and have Mr Thundergallows as a henchman. No familiar's or summoned creatures (don't have the right spells yet)

Wasn't too difficult - took 3 attempts.

And the half orc guy before him was no problem, but I had consumed a bottle of bull's strength prior.

Just about to enter Beggar's Nest for my second mission....

KaaZe · Post by **KaaZe** » Sun Jun 30, 2002 5:04 pm

What I did with my cleric was.. I had sketetong warrior fighting him.. ran around to all the guards and persuaded them to bugger off. I think I failed on one of them. Help abit.. but I just buffed my guys with anything that improved their saving role against it. And my skeleton warrior is ofourse immuen to it's spells. Made it pretty easy.

Dolphin · Post by **Dolphin** » Sun Jun 30, 2002 8:27 pm

First of all i ran over the place to tell evrybody to go away while my henchman(Tomi) was comitting suicide against the devourer,he (Tomi) dided just as i told the last guard to go, then i just fought one on one with the thing,after he became a little bug as soon as my hp was low i ran away from him,he stopped chasing me at some point every time, and i could rest(after my rest his hp was as much as i left him with),i did this couple of times,then i picked up hencman from the temple.
My char was barbarian 4th level

Somnus · Post by **Somnus** » Mon Jul 01, 2002 12:07 am

If you can take a few hits, run around the room waking the guards, that will make things easier.

But keep in mind that you can always go up a lvl, and it won't follow you... you can then rest and recharge, and then just go back down and continue the fight.

Alienbob · Post by **Alienbob** » Mon Jul 01, 2002 12:21 am

ive done this battle several times. did this as the first quest every time and didnt have much of a problem. power attack is great against it. potions of bulls strength and barkskin help alot too, you should have at least one of each by now.

Magus · Post by **Magus** » Mon Jul 01, 2002 1:48 am

Hey Alienbob, long time no read. I used my bull's strength on the half-orc, and I think I either forgot I had a barkskin, or never had one (?)

@Dolphin: LOL

I did something like that. First I ran frantically in circles, persuading the guards (keep in mind my persuade skill was 0, for roleplaying reasons, and still is). He must have lost me in the process

I had taken a little damage, so I rested, not wanting to use one of my precious potions. But hit and rest? Not my style. I wasn't that desperate, at least not yet. You have to draw the line somewhere, you know.

For me, that would only be a last resort after many reloads and no success whatsoever. But that's just me.

Here's another thought: what difficulty do you guys play at? I play with the core rules, which perhaps makes the game harder than the designers might have intended. Among other things, this means that your opponents get a free shot at you whenever you use a potion. *Insidious devourer smacks Gilthanas...heroic Gilthanas attempts to gulp a healing potion...evil devourer laughs and sucks his brains out* I've had this problem throughout the game, not just with the devourer. I always end up getting criticalled when I try to down a life-saving potion.

Somnus · Post by **Somnus** » Mon Jul 01, 2002 2:03 am

hmm... I hardly ever use potions... ever. This and the fact that I'm a bit of a pack rat (mainly because I'm afraid I'll drop something important) means that I have way too many potions... and healing kits. Maybe it's your class? Also, I use Tomi as henchman, and since I'm a fighter/decoy, he does most of the dmg with ranged sneak attacks.

Magus · Post by **Magus** » Mon Jul 01, 2002 2:35 am

@Somnus: Hmm...my guy's a fighter-type too. And I have Tomi. Maybe my character really does just suck

On the upside, the game is getting somewhat easier. The second big boss (Beggar's district--won't spoil it) only took 2-3 reloads, and I got the mini-bosses on the first try. I think my problem was my equipment. Like I said, my fighter only uses blades (non-exotic), and at the time my only +1 blade was a dagger. After I finally managed to defeat the devourer, I found a chest in the room with a +1 shortsword. So I went back and refought the battle, but this time I ran and got the shortsword first. That made it considerably easier, though I still had to reload a couple of times.

Jodmos · Post by **Jodmos** » Mon Jul 01, 2002 6:54 am

I had no proplem with killing this beast at the first attempt, I was lvl 4, 2 rouge 2 fighter by this time.
But I had a speacial weapon with me, its 7 foot tall, of green colour, stinks like a dead animal and really kicks ass.
Its name is Dealan Red Tiger, and yes it can speak...somehow.

Pick up this npc and make your adventuring live a litle easyer.
Hes big, hes dumb, hes Boo in green without a hamster ( I still hope the henchmanquest for him is retrieving his kidnapped lizard animal companion or something like that

), and thats why I love this guy.

And a nice side effect is he destroys most locked chests faster the I can pick em.