BGTutu - SCS: Nashkel Mines Kobolds

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Are kicking my butt. On the third level when you have to cross the bridge with two traps at the beginning and Kobold Commandos firing arrows of fire, I am getting slaughtered endlessly.

F/I - 1/1 - QS+1
Jaheira - Ankheg + Club
kivan - F/M Long Bow
Garrick - Crossbow
Imoen - Shortbow

I try to send Jaheira in to take on the Commandos, while I fight off regular kobolds, and the other three fire away at he Commando. She takes two shots . . . dead. Then I get hit with flaming arrow, dead. Plus, with SCS, there seems to be 3-4 kobold parties with commandos. Anu ideas?

 

Are all the characters first level? If so my advice is to leave the mine, wander the countryside doing a few side quests and killing random monsters, and come back when you are second level. You can start on the map where the mines are with the Prism quest. If you don't have any quests, go back to Nashkel and talk to some folks. You can also pick up Branwyn at the carnival (spoiler below) to add a second cleric.

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Spoiler for Branwyn: She is the statue in the center of the carnival. See Zeke to purchase a scroll to free her. Better yet, purchase one at one of the merchant tents to save a bundle.

 

I went ahead and restarted. With SCS it is a little trickier. I re-rolled my F/I and gave him ** in QS and Short Bows. That will help some. While I was at it I used the NPC1Kit mod and changed a few of the NPCs to have kits. Ajantis, Cavalier, for example. Nothing drastic. I figure I might pick him up early as a tank.

 

Sparky is giving you the right kind of advice. The big problem with the commandos is that even a single hit can do surprisingly large damage. While you could go through the mines slowly, hoping that the commandos will continually miss (and reloading when you don't take them down in time), this would be both frustrating and dull. Basically, you just need to gain a couple of levels. Take Ajantis as your tank, for example. IIRC, he has a constitution of 16, which corresponds to a possible 12 hit points per level. As arrows do d6 damage and fire arrows get an additional d6 fire damage, you could take 12 damage from a single arrow. Clearly, you will have a much better chance of surviving if your party has gained a couple of levels before tackling the mines. Plus levelling up decreases THAC0, so you will hit the kobolds more often.

It shouldn't take too long to get those levels if you make sure you've fully explored a few maps. Some quests are also good for getting easy EXP. If you end up really struggling, then most of the area with the basilisks can be done easily if you have someone memorise Protection from Petrification (which is only a first level spell!).

 

Levels would be good. Last time I played, sans SCS, I played a smaller party and leveled up faster. I didn't need as many bodies with the easier gameplay.

The main thing about starting over was the shortbows for my F/I. Big difference. Ajantis should be cool. I never take a Pally along. I just entered Beregost. I am thinking of trying Finch. I'll probably go with PC, Immy, Ajantis, Finch as the core sand probably pick up Kivan. Not sure on the last spot.

Time to go clear some maps of Gibberlings.

 

One tactic I used is stealth with someone like Kivan, scout ahead to find the kobolts. Then back of until only one of them could be seen, then fire at him with the bow. Since you have been hidden before, I usually got one shoot of, before the kobolt could return fire.

One arrow often kills the kobolt, that way I picked them of, one by one.

 

Finch is a pretty good NPC. There's another Tutu one called Indira, but she's a bit much really. F/M with armour she can cast in.

 

Yeah, I thought Finch was pretty good too. Especially early on. Quite liked Indira too, actually (possibly because of the portrait). I didn't feel the casting in her armour was going too far as I still found her to be quite fragile. Still, it is worth noting, as I can easily imagine someone disagreeing with me there.

Of course. Probably one of the most classic tactics for BG, though it is cheesy as hell. Still, if you do find yourself struggling even after levelling up, you could pull one kobold at a time. Haven't played in quite a while, so I'm not sure, but doesn't SCS have a feature to allow creatures to call for aid? If so, then pulling one won't work as the others will just walk into view when the first spots you.

 

I like Finch so far. She saved my butt before she even joined by healing me when the bounty hunter in the Inn was kicking my butt.

Quite right, can't pull. The call for help really steps up the challenge. Plus, there seems to be more from what I recall. I haven't gone back yet in my new game. Trying to get at least to level 2 before attempting.

 

Sleep spell works wonders on an army of kobolds. If you are lucky to find an exploding potion (or buy from High Hedge) you can make short work of a huge group of kobolds in a blink.

 

Indeed, get some level-ups first. All characters should have had at least a level-up once. My tactic is: have everybody equip their ranged weapons, save before just before approaching the bridge, let te party advance with the thief scouting for traps. When you see a trap, pause, give the thief the command to disarm the trap, advance, when the kobolds come into view, pause, give clerics the command to cast command on the commandos (accidental pun), give mages and bards the command to cast sleep and everyone else pinpoints their missile weapons on the commandos, and when you unpause the battle should be starting at a great advantage to you. When fighting kobold commandos with a low level party, it is important to disable them quickly: the clerics do this with command, giving the fighters the chance to put an arrow through their stomachs (so you should point your fighters to them, as the AI might waste your shots on less dangerous targets) and the arcane casters using sleep (or web, if one of your mages is 3rd level - I often tarry a lot before going into the mines) disable the commandos as well as plain kobolds.

 

With SCS installed you won't get through the mines with a low level party unless you are very experienced. As stated above the best low level spell for disabling groups of enemies has to be Sleep - my solo Mage has knocked out hundreds of weaker enemies that way.

 

The mines are pretty doable in scs with a low level party, just takes some planning. With imoen dualled to mage, xzar and monty it's doable at level one, provided you either buy some sleep scrolls or find some on gibberlings/hobgoblins.
As others have said, sleep is easily the most efficient way of taking out commandos. Sleeping enemies are instant hit, so even a group of mages with slings can easily take down stronger enemies than commandos. Monty should be able to easily take down the solo wandering kobolds with sneak attacks and even kobold commandos who are alone.

It wont be as easy as if you simply wait a few levels, but certainly doable!

 

If you give your tank a large shield and the girdle of piercing, plus the best armour you can find, the kobolds will have great difficulty hitting him/her. I suggest doing this with your F/I, since he/she will have more hps provided you've summoned a familiar. Don't worry if your tank is not proficient with any one handed weapons - just use one anyway and let them soak up the arrows while everyone else attacks from afar.

Using this sort of tactic, it's quite possible to make it though the mines at level one without even resting, although you'll probably need to drink a few potions, and save your good buffs and the potion of speed which Imoen comes with to take out the tough group of kobolds and Mulorhey (sp?).

Spoiler

The girdle of piercing can be found on an ogre in the Northeast part of the area South of the Friendly Arm. You can find some really good armour in Nashkel near the farm to the West, in a little nook. Hold down tab and look around and it should show up.

 

Sleep is your friend here. Get Ajantis, give him some heavy armour and the Girdle of Piercing, as well as a good shield. Find the kobolds, throw a sleep at them, and then send Ajantis straight for any that have stayed standing. Pelt them with all you've got, they should drop.

When I last played I didn't go into the mines until level 3, and found it fairly easy. Those commandos can still hit hard though, particularly if they decide to shoot at a Mage.