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Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Tales of the Sword Coast | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | |
Baldur's Gate | Thief Warrens | Undercity | |
UNDERCITY
Rahvin
Now the party heads down to the Undercity. They start to make their way westwards. The odd Ghoul or other undead might appear as a distraction. I'll just shoot them down at a distance if they do.
I don't bother exploring the whole Undercity (which is mostly just undead anyway). I have my eyes on the prize. Somewhat to the west will be a group of Iron Throne mercenaries led by Rahvin. Rahvin's group also includes a Mage, a Fighter/Mage, a Druid, a couple of Archers, and an Ogre. Rahvin himself is the greatest danger, as he packs several Arrows of Detonation that can blow the party away in little time at all.
First, Kivan goes into stealth and scouts out their location. Then Imoen starts to unleash spells from just beyond their fog of war. She starts off with Web and then Stinking Cloud spells as crowd-control. Then she casts Greater Malison. This will make them vulnerable to both damaging spells but also more likely to fail their saving throws against either the Web or the Stinking Cloud. Then she caps it off with a Cloudkill spell. Once this set up is in place, Avastrian starts to pelt the mercenaries with multiple blasts from a Wand of Fire. If any of the mercenaries happen to come into view the party will shoot them down with missile fire. Note that Rahvin didn't even get a chance to fire off an Arrow of Detonation.
Tamoko Again
This time Tamoko confronts me again just in front of where the final battle will take place. I could let her walk away, but I prefer to kill her for the xp. Don't underestimate her. She has a very good armor class, and can cast spells like Summon Mountain Bear and Unholy Blight. She can be devastating if you let her be. Yeslick tags her with Doom to make things a little easier. Jaheira plays it safe by getting her with Insect Plague. Tamoko leave behind the Full Plate +1 afterwards.
Sarevok
Now for the final showdown with Sarevok. SCS1 makes this easily the toughest fight of all, and fittingly so. To get an appreciation of what can happen, here's a breakdown of what you can expect.
Temporary Invincibility - Yes, this should be a familiar theme to those of you who have played Ascension or Improved Irenicus. You can't take down Sarevok unless you first kill off Tazok, Diarmid, Angelo, and Semaj. It gets worse. Anytime you bring down one of Sarevok's Acolytes, it gets replaced with a Skeleton Warrior.
Badder than ever - The bad news of course is that Sarevok hits for more damage than ever, and his temporary invincibility gives him free rein to attack with little fear.
Angelo and Semaj - They come with a LOT of pre-buffs, and each with a Minor Globe of Invulnerability that protects them against Remove Magic and Silence 10' Radius. They are, for the time being, untouchable.
Remove Magic - They can use spells like Breach, and Remove, and more than once.
Confusion, Chaos, Emotion - They have more than one instance of these kinds of spells.
There isn't a set script that can be followed. There are certain goals to reach, but how I reach those goals often depends on playing it by ear. But here are guidelines that provide a route to victory.
Pre-buffing - Despite the Remove Magic and other dispelling possibilities, I buff up to the max anyway. It's best to get off to a good and fast start. Note also that I had party members discontinue use of any items that confer the Freedom of Action property. I want everybody Hasted and able to make the best start possible.
Initial Magnet - First, I have Avastrian run forward by himself and get the dialogue over with. He then quickly regroups with the party. Imoen then uses a charge from her Wand of Monster Summoning to position some monsters north of the party. The idea is encourage Sarevok and the Acolytes to converge on the summons within close proximity of each other. Ok, so I start with something of a script. But it soon becomes reacting to the situation as it develops.
Insect Plague - I edge the monsters forward to start things. Once Sarevok shows up, Jaheira aims an Insect Plague at him with the intention of having it spread to either Semaj or Angelo, or both. Sometimes I can only catch one and then try to wing it. In this playthrough I was fortunate to have the Insect Plague spread to both. This takes them out of the battle temporarily. This was the point behind the initial summoning, to hopefully get them to come onwards and close together.
Keep Sarevok Occupied - The idea is to keep Sarevok tied down and unable to attack party members (or most of them), leaving the party free to go to work on the Acolytes. The safer way is to use any Wands of Monster Summoning that I have in order to keep him distracted. Another method is to have a character who is being targeted by Sarevok run around to keep Sarevok on the chase. This is decidedly risky, and the targeted character should be Hasted at the bare minimum.
Tazok and Diarmid first - I won't be able to kill off either Angelo or Semaj. So the best use of the early rounds of combat is spent on killing Tazok and Diarmid, and the Skeleton Warriors that replace them. In this playthrough, the timing was good in the sense that I managed to accomplish this just as the Insect Plague was almost ready to wear off.
Backups - I never go through this fight without getting hit by Breach and/or Remove Magic at least once. Notice how at the start of the video I had Khalid distribute Oils of Speed amongst the quick-item slots of everybody besides Imoen. I also made sure everybody had plenty of Potions of Giant Strength. This was the whole point by my keeping any Oils of Speed and Potions of Giant Strength that I found over the course of the game. If party members get hit with a Remove Magic spell, I can guzzle a Potion and then an Oil in turn in order to keep the party firing on all cylinders throughout the battle.
Confusion and other annoyances - Again, I cannot recall ever going through this fight without getting hit with something like Chaos and such. As long as enough party members make their saving throws, I am willing to tough it. This kind of battle does depend on a few bounces coming my way.
Kill Semaj and Angelo the hard way - I often tout shooting enemy mages protected by Fire Shield at a distance with missile weapons to avoid taking damage. In this instance I do it the hard way, up close and with melee weapons. Sure my party members take damage from the Fire Shield, but time is of the essence in this battle. Melee attacks enhanced by both Haste and Potions of Giant Strength will bring either of them down faster in comparison to missile fire.
Don't Skip out on Potions of Extra Healing - Be generous with using them, to keep your party members on the up and up. This is your last battle anyway. Use every resource you've got left.
Save Sarevok for last - Once the four Acolytes are dead, Sarevok can finally be killed. Even so, exercise prudence. Note how once only Sarevok is left, Avastrian uses his Minor Spell Sequencer of Blur + Mirror Images on himself for that extra edge. I would have had Jaheira cast Defensive Harmony sooner, but she needs to break out of her confused state first.
And once he goes down feel proud of the accomplishment, and for saving the Sword Coast.
*** The End ***
