GameBanshee Forums

hiya, my first post.

the guides on the site for killin mages are not complete. THE BEST WAY to take out ANY MAGE IN THE ENITRE GAME (includes ToB) is to have Valygar dual wield Crom Faeyr and Celestial Fury and backstab. I have done this to every possible mage, not 1 has surived (not u cant backstab with crom faeyr, its just used for 25 str) this works well if u cast improved haste on hmi too (gave me 6 attacks per round) to mop up rest after mage dead

dont know how to send for guides so i'l put here...
SoA/ToB NPC Party

Who ever you have I STRONGLY recommend these 3 (keldorn/ Valygar can be dropped for a PC inquistor/ ranger).

Keldorn - dex bracers + cryosmer/ ravanger (decapition with WW OWNS!), nuff said
Jahiera - black blood/ club of detonation + firkrags armour
Valygar - Fury + Crom/ Fail of ages +5 +crom/ Axe of unyeilding + crom

Vonz

Hello, and welcome to GameBanshee forums.

May I just suggest not to call other people's strategies "wrong"? I assume you have read the strategy guides, and in this site, our administrator put good ideas and suggestions there. There's no such thing called "wrong tactics". How about people who doesn't like Valygar, or, like me, doesn't use backstab? Your idea is good, but it doesn't make every other strategy wrong. They are all good, hence they are there.

I mean no offence, but please appreciate other people's opinion and ideas. Thanks.

Well one of the most effective way I know of is to do a spell sequence with pierce magic, Greater Malison and Chromatic orb.....inst kill on MANY mages.... finger of death is also good for this, but I like the power of that first level spell two greater malisons can also be used for a maybe better effect.......

sry wrong words used...

i meant it's one of easest ways, and no1's mentioned it. i dont like backstab realy, or magic, i prefer to hack up (which is near immpossible with no magic BAH)

Don't worry. This site is very friendly, and that's why many keep coming back to post.
Some people think it's too friendly sometimes...

Use whatever is available

@ Apprentice: If a given strategy works it cannot be wrong. I would not enjoy playing this game with the same party and strategies each time. Having Valygar in the party just for mage killing would be boring, besides I don't agree that it is the best way to take out a mage. Also I don't particularly like rangers so I seldom use Minsc or Valygar any longer than I absolutely need to. If I pick up Valygar to enter the Planar Sphere he gets left behind in the first room while the rest of the party goes on.

The challenge for me (whether killing mages, adamantine golems, liches, dragons, etc.) is to think up strategies with whatever resources you party has available to them. In my current game I am heavy with mages and clerics and have had to use Nalia and Jan for the toughest kills. For example, Nalia with the Staff of Rynn+4 and Jan with Short Sword of Mask+4 have been the only ones who can take on Adamantine golems. They have taken out three or four so far by themselves (used lots of Lower Resistance spells on golems first and then lots of buffs plus haste and tensor transformation on Jan and Nalia). Also I had to use Jan to take on Kangaxx all by himself (protection from magic, some traps and Sword of Mask). I would have never thought of these two as adamantine killers but circumstances dictated it after Korgan left the party (only person who could wield the dwarven throwing hammer).

Taking on mages and liches almost always entails different strategies for different party mixes. With the right spells selected and loaded up Jan and Nalia could easily take out most any mage in the game. For that matter so could my berserker/thief with Celestial Fury and beserking engaged. In fact I believe Jan has brought the most xps to the party even though he doesn't have the highest body count. Besides the game guides there must be dozens if not hundreds of different mage killing strategies posted at one time or another on this forum. Try using the 'Search' feature to find and read the old threads, and don't be surprised if someone hasn't already suggested your idea.

Re: Use whatever is available

Originally posted by UncleScratchy
@ Apprentice: If a given strategy works it cannot be wrong. I would not enjoy playing this game with the same party and strategies each time. Having Valygar in the party just for mage killing would be boring, besides I don't agree that it is the best way to take out a mage. <snip>

Well - he already said that he used the wrong words, so it is simply a matter of mis-formulation.
So let's leave it at that ....

The trick is..

The trick (generally applicable, Valygar is not the only who can do it, though his good THAC0 makes him quite effective at it) of backstabbing mages BEFORE they get their spell protections up is a good one. Generally, this is a part of the "speed attack" family of techniques where you clobber some unfortunate creature fast before they can get any spell protections up. Examples are:
- Backstab mages with someone invisible (Kundane is good for this early on)
- Speed attack liches with Azuredge - a bit of luck yields instant death
- Speed attack clerics like Archryssa (Sola with Improved haste + FoA/Everard's took her out in one round before she got her protections up)

The attacks are a bit counterintuitive, because they usually involve leaving most of your party out of the action. Of course tactics mod (especially with spell-50) limits the effectiveness of the technique on mages, as they are pretty much perma-skinned.

I think it goes without saying that Crom Faeyr and Celestial Fury make a lethal combination, but I can't count the number of times that people have said it, anyway.

And don't forget to add: Kensai/Mages are the greatest!!!

me personal, i dont like kensai/mages, look naff (no armor) and i hate mages, i like hack n slash combat more bring on the two weapons and improved haste for 6 attacks marvalous (spelling? lol)

Originally posted by Minerva
Don't worry. This site is very friendly, and that's why many keep coming back to post.
Some people think it's too friendly sometimes...

heck, even most of the time I'm rather nice...and just look at my name...

tactics mod smarter mages and liches are very very rough and nasty...my current favorite method involves a spell trigger...remove magic, improve haste and sunfire cast on self...

the remove magic should remove most of his/her protections, and the sunfire should crispy critter them...but the improved haste allows my sorceress kensai to attack with physical weapons in case it doesn't work...

now if you think crom and fury are good, try improved fury and crom......that combination is purely lethal...

most of the mage killing tactics with tactics mod involve stripping the protection, then wasting them with area effect spells or swords...

malison doen't stack, garazdawi, if you installed the baldurdash patch, and you really should, for the game stability...

uncle, have you tried casting the strength spell, level 2 mage spell on adamantium golems??? If I recall correctly, they are like 24 strength, this is what makes them really tough, casting strenght spell on them will make them str 18, much less dangerous...because str is a white spell, a beneficial spell, used on an enemy, it cannot be saved or resisted...



also, try using the spells that ignore magic resistance....like sunfire, a triple via trigger should weaken them extensively...