Are mindflayers incredibly underpowered at high level?

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Even at mid level they aren't very difficul but any fighter with an ac of -15 and a potion of invulnerability can just walk in their and almost never get it by them, but then again theirs a lot of things underpowerd at high level as well as things you'd wonder why they were even included in the first place, like Gibberlings koa-toas and Kobolds, these are level 1-3 characters what are they doing in a game against 7-14 characters?

[ February 23, 2004, 16:56: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

 

Re: the kobolds

I think they're there to shoot your soloing kensai full of fire arrows. Ouch! Definitely not worth 6 or 14 xp.

 

I´ve got to be honest here.
The Illithids are the only monster that I really hate in this game.
I dont know how their instakill ability works, but it sure works just about every time on me.
Wretched creatures

 

Eltan, the Illithid 'Instakill' ability is actually attributed to stat drain.
Dont know if it's in the manual anywhere (been a while since I've read it) but if any stat (STR, WIS, CHAR, INT, CON) of a character is drained to 0, that character instantly dies with no save.

The Mind Flayers melee attack drains INT for a short while, so if a character sustains multiple hits, they're not going to last long.

Hope this clears things up.

 

Mind Flayers are seldom a really big problem, though Illithid (thought that MF and Illithid were the same thing, diffrent name, though they are always tougher to bring down for med) and the Ulltharid can be real troublemakers.

Yesterday I boosted Korgan up with -10 AC, Potion of Clarity & Invurablility, Bless, Defensive Harmony, Barkskin and Berserk and he just barley made it out of the first big fight vs the Ulltharid in the Sewers. The Magic resistance just gives me nightmares..

 

Sending in hasted invisible stalkers also works quite well. You could also bless and chant etc them if you want, I guess.

 

No wonder my min-maxed fighters die fast then.
I mean, wont take many hits to drain 6 or 7 Int


Thanks Thais

 

Aye, they can drain 4 int per hit.

I don't think Mindlflayers and their kin become underpowered as your party reaches higher levels - I think it depends on how prepared you are for them and their mind-assaults.

Enchantments are heavily underrated, and its things like Mindflayers and Darksun Halflings which make them shine.

 

Mindflayers can be dangerous indeed if we are not cautious. There are many good tactics against them. Their hit chances are not high against characters with good Armour Class, but their stunning abilities can mean danger. Summoning strong creatures and protect them (and your warrior characters) is a good tactic for example.

I have never known why the attacks of Mindflayers affect Skeleton Warriors who have no brain at all. Lazy developers/too much work OR some real reason (such as consuming the bones of the skull )?

 

I think it's because they are undead, but how do you kill something thats undead anyway? and even more importantly who's stupid idea was it to call them undead? it sounds ridiculous

Scythe: they drain 5 points.

and asfor their stuning ability any character of any level can get saves good enough to avoid it, Paladins are especially good when it comes to the saving throws department as well at a +2 bonus.

 

How to kill undead? What would happen if undead couldn't be destroyed?! I like the word, however, in the original LoTR book, Tolkien used the word "living dead". By the way, undead is still translated word for word to Hungarian as if it were living dead.
I didn't like Mindflayers too much because they are immune to fire so my Sorcerer couldn't roast them with Dragon's Breath

 

My first time through the game I had nothing but problems with mind flayers and never managed to finish off the Illithid city in the Underdark. I might be able to win a single battle but it generally ended with half my party getting slaughtered.

But subsequent times they've been easier (as, indeed, has almost every fight in the game). Chaotic Commands doesn't give perfect protection from them and has a nasty tendency to wear off at the worst possible time, but it gives you enough of an advantage to turn the tide of battle in your favour.

 

Eh, I went and took all the mind controlling devices I could get from the Mind Flayer dungeon, and I used those to grab me flayers and use them as meat shields

Otherwise I would just hold on to the brine potions, or use ogre berserkers as bait, even though my fighters would end up dieing anyway, I've not gotten in the habbit of using potions correctly in the passed year or two that I've had the game . Too lazy I guess

 

Mordenkainen's Sword is the easiest solution for Mind Flayers. Send a couple of these in against a room full of Mind Flayers, and wait. Easy as goblin pie. If the Mind Flayers have some pets (ie. Umber Hulks) that you don't want your Mordys wastin time attacking, just send your mage up to drop a Death Spell and wipe out the pets. The mage then backs off and waits for the Mordys to do all the work. Simple.

 

The only problem with this is the short duration of the Mordankeinen Swords. To increase their effectiveness, you can make them move faster and attack more times with spells Haste or Improved Haste.

 

Any good tactics for my solo Ranger here? I can't seem to slaughter all of the ****ers in that city of theirs. I know there's a potion of "something" in there that will help, but I would appreciate some more tactics...

 

Well, using the potions on yourself and control circlets on a few of their own is probably your best bet. Take the one that respawns and make him open the doors. Then go back down and charm the other two that´s down there. And then have them move as far in front of you as your line of sight allows you and then use your bow to help them out. With your backup 2-3 should take out quite a few of their own. If they die there´s always one that respawns. DOnt know how many circlets you can get though.

 

I think Daephon was referring to Brine potions. They're guarded by what else? Mindflayers.

You could also use the Greenstone Amulet's ability for temporary protection.

But back to the mindflayers. I think there's only two threats. One is the stun attack, because once you are stunned, all attacks directed at you automatically hit, ie: INT drain. So if you are immune to paralyzation, or have godly saving throws, then this is no danger. The other threat is just the good old strength in numbers. If five of them gang up on your one fighter, someone is bound to roll a critical hit. So they could be hard if you're feeling unlucky.

 

the "clue" is to sell and buy back one staff of monster summoning as these always summon 4-5 creatures per charge. lure the mindflayers to one of the doors and let your party have all your ranged weapons ready. block the doorway with summoned creatures from staff and start killing.

 

Whenever I've tried sending summons against the mind flayers, the summons last about five seconds before getting killed. Unless you're using the Improved Kitthix who can pretty much handle mind flayers and ullithirads (sp?) without too much trouble.

My last time through the game I set snares just out of range of the mind flayers then let them trigger them. Got quite a few of them with that, then ran off, rested, came back and set some more. It's exploiting the game engine just a tad because in real life if you set snares then ran off the mind flayers would follow you and not just stop because you were out of sight.