Demon Lord vs Judgement Day (Spoilers) Options

[rbeverjr]

I just installed IA at the end of SoA. It's been nice for the most part. Irenicus at the Tree seemed to be Unbreechable - that's not fair. I did kill him with Dragon's Breath, no characters died, and no reload, but still. Irenicus in hell was a nice improvement over the stock game without being totally overboard like Tactics Improved Irenicus. I then went through Saradush and Watcher's Keep (through level 4). I have no major complaints there either. The game has become more challenging. However, when I received Angurvadal and left the Watcher's Keep to face the demon lord (upper right area at Watcher's Keep's exterior), I was VERY disappointed.

This is the cheesiest encounter that I've ever had the misfortune to see. Please spoil me. How do you defeat this crew? Specifically, I am talking about the demon lord and his 2 buddies.

As near as I can tell, the demon lord is immune to high level traps as well as time stop. If you normally do 30 HP damage/strike, you may do 8 - provided that you can strip his protections. A level 30 inquisitor's dispel magic (that'd be level 60 spell power) wasn't keeping things under control - I'm not sure it was working at all! Does everyone always have immunity to abjuration and divination (vs True Seeing)? Both his buddies wield Soul Reavers. I started with a -20 THACO or so and ended up with a +50 THACO or so. Isn't that sweet... I've tried many things and none seemed to work. He seems to have an inexhaustible spell supply. So, I doubt hit and come back later cheese would help. Mord's swords are only distractions. Planetars and elementals are lunch. Of course, dragon's breath is useless. So, what's the solution?

I hope the author tones this encounter down a lot.... If he thinks the weapon you may get some day from this encounter is too powerful - then dump the weapon. As it is, this encounter is STUPIDLY difficult. (Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion and that's mine!)

I have been playing DnD from the first version until the latest. I am also a very experienced BG2 player. I generally/usually avoid using spells and tactics that would not be allowed/couldn't succeed while a human judge was running a DnD 3.5 table. That alone makes the game MUCH, MUCH harder. But for the game's replay value, I like new mods. Unfortunately, some tactical mods go far overboard, such as this encounter and Tactics Improved Irenicus (to name 2). Some people like tactical puzzles, but I play for enjoyment when I'm really too tired to solve some tough puzzles. If I have to reload more than 3 times on Core difficulty to beat and encounter, I consider it too much. Tactics Pontifex is one I had to reload more than 3x to succeed with all my team intact; although, I did luck out and kill him in 2 rounds on Insane once. I say this only to indicate that I am an experienced player to hopefully convince the author that this encounter is a little too difficult for the general player population.

I'm sure there's something my tired brain overlooked. So, please tell me how to defeat these guys. If someone can't help me, then this encounter will receive the ultimate rebuff, CTRL-Y the baddies and leave the treasure on the ground except for the component.

[Sikret]

@Romulas

1- Lavok is not immune to normal weapons.

2- The fact that Demogorgon is MUCH weaker than the other demon lords in the game can be solved by improving him. I am currently working on the "Improved Demogorgon" feature of the mod. However, it doesn't mean that demogorgon should be necessarily the most powerful foe in the game. He won't be! He may still be weaker than the Demon Prince in JD plot but not "much" weaker as he currently is. And, both Demogorgon (even after being improved) and the Demon prince in JD plot will still be certainly weaker than the main personage you will meet in the new "Epic Divine Encounter" feature of the mod. The fact that Helm had imprisoned demogorogn doesn't entail that demogorgon is the toughest evil. There may be for many other reasons that Helm did conflict with Demogorgon but not with others who may be even more powerful than demogorgon.

3- The hack and slash complaint doesn't also seem entirely true to me. One of the IA v4 testers started his game with a mageless party (he only had Jan in the party) and faced too many problems during the game. Having a powerful mage is still a must. However, what I did in IA v4 ensures that mages cannot win the game without cooperation with other classes and I believe that this is a very good and positive change.

[rbeverjr]

However, it doesn't mean that demogorgon should be necessarily the most powerful foe in the game. He won't be! He may still be weaker than the Demon Prince in JD plot but not "much" weaker as he currently is.

In DnD, there is no demon more powerful than Demogorgon, Lord of All Demons.