So, I just knocked off Thax on my most recent run through, with a bit more difficulty than I've had previously, due in part to my party make-up (see below) and my low levels (all of us level 9). The strategy I finally used involved immunity to level drain, which my Undead Hunter had, and a ranged weapon: get him angry, stand behind the stairs you come down, and attack at range - all he can do is breath on you, and you're immune. Hide the rest of the party elsewhere in the room; if you need someone to dispel his protections, have them do it from out of his sight. Sadly, I only hit on critical hits, so it was a slow process, but it worked.
Anyway, the potential bug: does Thax count as undead? Cause I was using Azuredge, since my Undead Hunter uses Axes for ranged weapons, and when I hit it would show Thax making a save vs death, as if to avoid the effects of Azuredge. He never failed it, and straight damage eventually killed him, but is this normal?
Also, my party composition: all LG (soon), namely myself, an Undead Hunter, Keldorn, Mazzy, and Anomen. Excellent melee power (all), good ranged (Mazzy), anti-magic (Keldorn) and clerical spells (Anomen). One problem is lack of good offensive magic, hence the trouble with Thax. Tons of fun though!
Thax bug? plus fun party... (semi-spoiler)
He's labeled as an "animal" according to my editor. I'm just guessing it's just his save vs spells and magic resistance coming into play. Didn't see anything that suggests he would be classified as undead.
BTW, Aerie I believe is LG and would give you some mage power and compliment Anomen's cleric spells.
BTW, Aerie I believe is LG and would give you some mage power and compliment Anomen's cleric spells.
Yup, he's gonna be LG soon. I'd forgotten about Aerie, but part of the fun of this party is doing it without a mage. Mazzy has some nifty abilities, although none of them are area spells, and Anomen and I can cast cleric spells. Between that and Keldorn we should be ok. Non-dragon battles have been a breeze so far, so I'm not too worried (yet!). 
More goodie-goodies
Tashia and Kelsey are, IIRC, both good, though I'm not sure if they're Lawful good....Solaufein is CG - all of these could be good arcane adds to your party, and none is too too broken (I guess Valen is Right Out, huh?
With a complete lack of roguery, do you just use detect traps spells and suck up the damage when needed?
Tashia and Kelsey are, IIRC, both good, though I'm not sure if they're Lawful good....Solaufein is CG - all of these could be good arcane adds to your party, and none is too too broken (I guess Valen is Right Out, huh?
With a complete lack of roguery, do you just use detect traps spells and suck up the damage when needed?
I have given up all lesser evils as inadequate to my purpose.
Traps
Re: traps, if solo characters with no trap detection/removal capability can do things just fine (sorcerer comes to mind, but also ranger/cleric) a party of four can certainly deal with the traps. Obviously it helps if you know what's trapped, and what's worth taking the trap damage to open, but with the amount of hitpoints we all have, someone can generally take a hit if needed.
Re: mages, I'm trying to keep this to cleric/melee. Again, I figure that if solo melee/cleric characters can do the game, then so can a party of four of them. And it meant that I couldn't cloudkill Thax, for example, which was good!
Re: traps, if solo characters with no trap detection/removal capability can do things just fine (sorcerer comes to mind, but also ranger/cleric) a party of four can certainly deal with the traps. Obviously it helps if you know what's trapped, and what's worth taking the trap damage to open, but with the amount of hitpoints we all have, someone can generally take a hit if needed.
Re: mages, I'm trying to keep this to cleric/melee. Again, I figure that if solo melee/cleric characters can do the game, then so can a party of four of them. And it meant that I couldn't cloudkill Thax, for example, which was good!
When I fight the shadow dragon with a low level party of six usually someone gets leveldrained. However the level drain goes away when the dragon dies it seems. Is it temporary or is it because you finish a quest?
Archers are dragonslayers. Called shot destroys their thac0 and save vs spells which is very useful. You will easily spook them or even entangle them after two rounds of called shots.
Or the classic called shot and teleport field, super combo imo.
Archers are dragonslayers. Called shot destroys their thac0 and save vs spells which is very useful. You will easily spook them or even entangle them after two rounds of called shots.
Or the classic called shot and teleport field, super combo imo.
You can't handle the truth!