slaver tactics

i am having trouble defeating the slavers. i can sneak up and take the sorceress down so she can't death sell the party but tha cleric is a pain in the arse. plus entangle no longer works like the old version- folks just move around. what is a good strategy to use to defeat the slavers before all the kids get killed?

 

I am not there yet, but IIRC if you attack like that without talking first you are considered the "evil doer" and will be hunted by the authorities.

Can't you just put death ward or protection from magic on the target character so that the sorcerer can't just instant kill you?

 

Protection from Evil is always useful for things like that, too.

I tend to Charm or Dominate as many of them as possible and use them against each other. The woman has a higher than normal charm resistance though; charm either one of the fighters or the priest.



I should warn however that really weird shit can occur if you do this. I ended up marching back to Verbonbonc with 3 of the 5 slavers in my party, to be told the verbobonc guard had found the slavers murdered bodies and were holding me accountable

Dialog scripting often goes awry when you Charm/Dominate people from beyond that range at which dialog is initiated.

 

There is an option in the opening dialog with the slavers to get right to it, or something like that.

I have everyone focus on the cleric and have my cleric use Holy Smite on as many of the slavers as she can get in her circle and the wizard tries to sicken them.

After that I focus on anyone making a move towards the kids, even try to stick my glaive wielding tank between them and the kids if possible. AoO FTW!

I've lost one kid the last few times, that's not too bad IMHO.

 

I've never managed to avoid having some of the kids killed - if you do manage to save ALL of them is there a different ending to the quest?

 

I never have trouble with children dying because I don't use area of effect spells, and kill the sorceress first. Sirchet is right about there being a dialog option to avoid the instant kill.

 

Pray tell us why no area effect spells.

I'm not sure if I have the skills to survive without at least one stinking cloud, how do you do it?

 

Crafted (+3 Holy Flaming at a minimum) composite bows. I only have one melee character, and he's the one doing the talking. My rogue goes in behind the slavers invisible, so when combat starts, she puts down the sorceress (usually). If she misses with an arrow, the next archer finishes the job. The priest is generally second on the hit list, followed by their archer, then the rogue. My archers (including the rogue) just play the five foot step game with any of the opposing melee types. My melee character is equipped with a Periapt of Wound Closure by the time I hit the slavers (somewhere around 15th-16th level to take full advantage of the XP), so even if they do put him down (which is often), it's not permanent. Their rogue usually bypasses my fighter and wastes time running toward my archers in the back, so he occassionally gets killed before their archer. The only fights I've found so far that I need spells to win are Iuz in the temple (Haste, Prayer, Enlarge Person) and the Nulb ambush (and that's generally only due to low level, one Stinking Cloud usually does the trick). Sometimes I use a Grease spell in the initial fight with Lareth, but not always.

 

I enjoy using grease as a crowd control spell even late in the game.

It's funny to watch a group of ogres sit down instead of attacking.

 

She's not the one who murders the kids in my game, it's the fat rogue who looks a bit like Chris Moyles.

 

I like to bring a lot of friends to the party, I head up to level 4 of the Temple and rest a lot to Dominate a few Ettins and Trolls. The trolls are great fodder, because most will still concentrate on them even while they are down because they are not dead yet. I usually back them up with a few elder elementals from the druid, while the cleric lays out a couple of holy Smites. Also an Enlarge Monk can move across the battle field easily, then can trip the toughest foe, I usually go for the rogue to keep him in check.

 

Interesting... I've never seen that behavior. I'll look for it once I get 7.2 working.

 

Depending on the party composition and your level this battle can be very hard or very easy.
I tackled it with 5 level 13. characters. Glaive Fighter, Longbow Ranger, Elven Cleric, Human Crossbow Bard and Sorcerer. (On 7.1)

Due to high initiative and dexterity ranger, bard, cleric and sorcerer went first.

I cast mind fog with my bard, following with Tasha's hideous laughter on sorceress, which she failed easily, then cleric and ranger killed the priest, and the rest soon followed.

Interestingly, i replayed the battle a few time, wanting to see their potential. Sometimes two characters, the fat rogue and the leader I think, WOULD go backwards and kill two kids, then rejoin the fight.

 

Wow, at level 13?

That chick they worship always seems to make her save with me and it just becomes a wasted spell.

That fat little rouge must have a 99 tumble because he sure is hard to catch and how about that fighter with his umpteen attacks per round?

It's a real good fight, but I am yet to try it at less than level 15, usually 16.

EDIT: I usually run a four player team.

 

Ah, yes four would make it hard. I normally run with six, and everybody has plenty of fighter levels, even the rangers (two of them).