Fist Marcus And Isobel *Spoilers In Act II*

[JacobTheViking]

So. She can be zero'd from full hp to 0 hp very fast. I lost her three times at the Inn before finally managing to take out Marcus. I just want to know, what are some tips for keeping her alive without doing sneaky things before the fight?

[Pyromaiden]

How?

The only enemies that can get to her immediately are Marcus and a single Winged Horror, which are both close enough to your party that whatever threat they pose to Isobel is minimal.

What difficulty are you playing on? I've never had Isobel go down; Marcus is a chump and the Winged Horrors are pathetic.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by JacobTheViking:

Fist Marcus And Isobel *Spoilers In Act II*
So. She can be zero'd from full hp to 0 hp very fast. I lost her three times at the Inn before finally managing to take out Marcus. I just want to know, what are some tips for keeping her alive without doing sneaky things before the fight?

Sanctuary. Heal her. Disable enemies by making them prone. Block enemies from her. It takes rather talent to lose her so quick, unless you actually want that.

Share your character sheets in doubt to check whether something about your characters make them weaker than they are supposed to be. Marcus does not go straight for Isobel in combat unless it is the best target.

[brendan_in_china]

There is a conversation before the fight, and during it it becomes obvious that a fight is coming. Before you reply to Marcus, select your companions and have them position, buff and enter turn-based. It then becomes trivial.

[JacobTheViking]

Originally posted by アンジェル:

Originally posted by JacobTheViking:

Fist Marcus And Isobel *Spoilers In Act II*
So. She can be zero'd from full hp to 0 hp very fast. I lost her three times at the Inn before finally managing to take out Marcus. I just want to know, what are some tips for keeping her alive without doing sneaky things before the fight?

Sanctuary. Heal her. Disable enemies by making them prone. Block enemies from her. It takes rather talent to lose her so quick, unless you actually want that.

Share your character sheets in doubt to check whether something about your characters make them weaker than they are supposed to be. Marcus does not go straight for Isobel in combat unless it is the best target.

Well, my characters are Level 6, is that too low?

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by brendan_in_china:

There is a conversation before the fight, and during it it becomes obvious that a fight is coming. Before you reply to Marcus, select your companions and have them position, buff and enter turn-based. It then becomes trivial.

The conversation you might refer to only occurs under specific circumstances. I imagine the majority of players would not encounter it the first time they play.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by JacobTheViking:

Originally posted by アンジェル:

Sanctuary. Heal her. Disable enemies by making them prone. Block enemies from her. It takes rather talent to lose her so quick, unless you actually want that.

Share your character sheets in doubt to check whether something about your characters make them weaker than they are supposed to be. Marcus does not go straight for Isobel in combat unless it is the best target.

Well, my characters are Level 6, is that too low?

It is not necessarily too low. The composition is important too and how you use them. Hence the character sheets. If e.g. you go with a party full of fighters without any support, the fight can be tricky. You just need one good support to keep Isobel at good health and another to distract Marcus and you are gold with that encounter.

[Draknalor]

Originally posted by JacobTheViking:

Originally posted by アンジェル:

Sanctuary. Heal her. Disable enemies by making them prone. Block enemies from her. It takes rather talent to lose her so quick, unless you actually want that.

Share your character sheets in doubt to check whether something about your characters make them weaker than they are supposed to be. Marcus does not go straight for Isobel in combat unless it is the best target.

Well, my characters are Level 6, is that too low?

I tend to be 6 when i do goblin camp, around 7 when i do the mountain pass/crech and then like 8 when i enter shadowlands.

But there's no way that isobel every dies or even is close to dying unless you have a very bad class set up.

[brendan_in_china]

Really? I'm pretty sure Marcus appears whether you save the grove or not.

I think you might be referring to a Durge run, in which case I wouldn't know.

[JacobTheViking]

Originally posted by アンジェル:

Originally posted by JacobTheViking:

Well, my characters are Level 6, is that too low?

It is not necessarily too low. The composition is important too and how you use them. Hence the character sheets. If e.g. you go with a party full of fighters without any support, the fight can be tricky. You just need one good support to keep Isobel at good health and another to distract Marcus and you are gold with that encounter.

I finally did save her and it seemed easy on the fourth try. Karlach has Bernard's weapon, that he used at the Arcane Tower. I think the weak link in my party at the time was Astarion, so I switched him out with Wyll.

[insta†.Nefer]

the overlords of wisdom in this thread *sighs*

i found this fight incredible hard to save both her AND jaheira
what i did was close the 2 doors using magic lock, it only last 10 turns tho so you have to go into lap mode afer u cast it and than go into the cutscene otherwise the locks will been gone when the cutscene is over
u gona fight 1 horror and marcus
if you cant kill marcus fast enough i recommend potion of speed so oyu get 2 actions per turn that should pretty much do the trick

[ahsanford]

In turn 1: it's ALL about Marcus -- he should not survive the round

Melee: don't go for homerun GWM big swings: turn GWM off and just make sure you are burning Marcus down. Spend action surges, battlemaster maneuvers, speed potions, whatever.

Casters: don't go AOE -- Magic Missile Marcus. Take. sure. damage.

Clerics / Bards: Spirit Guardians and parking yourself near Isobel is a good call as that is sure damage and does a number on the winged dudes.

Alternate turn 1 protective moves you can try:

Sanctuary is a wise call *if your caster comes shortly after Isobel in the initiative order*. This will protect her until it's her next turn. If you are only 1-2 slots *ahead* of Isobel in the initiative order, the Sanctuary is a waste because she goes all Leeroy Jenkins if she isn't knocked out -- she'll 100% perform actions that end the Sanctuary.

I've never tried Otiluke's Resilient Sphere here, but I suppose she might save the DEX roll and it won't work. That would 100% protect her if it 'takes'. Might be a gamble work taking?

Stay off of the balcony or Jaheira will turn you into a popsicle.

In turns 2-3: Pivot from protecting Isobel (still in jeopardy but way less with Marcus down) to mopping up the rest of the winged dudes with AOE, CC, whatever you normally use with your party. This is also a great time to run to the balcony and throw a big high level bless and help out all the NPCs stay alive. A healing word or sanctuary might keep a side NPC or two alive as well.

- A

[Ironwu]

Originally posted by JacobTheViking:

So. She can be zero'd from full hp to 0 hp very fast. I lost her three times at the Inn before finally managing to take out Marcus. I just want to know, what are some tips for keeping her alive without doing sneaky things before the fight?

It really depends on your party and builds. Not much real advice can be given without that information.

That being said, the easiest way to keep her up is to have characters throw their best healing potions at her feet every so often, as needed. Ideally using your least useful in combat character to do it.

If you have a character that can Bless, be sure to cast it on her as one of the targets. It will help a lot.

In my two runs, I let Isobel tank Marcus while I take out the upstairs Flying Rats. Once they are gone, I deal with Marcus. Be aware that if you kill Marcus first, Isobel will immediately run off to fight the Flying Rats on her own. Not good.

[Adam__86]

Unfortunately this is one of those fights that requires meta knowledge beforehand to plan

[JacobTheViking]

Originally posted by Ironwu:

Originally posted by JacobTheViking:

So. She can be zero'd from full hp to 0 hp very fast. I lost her three times at the Inn before finally managing to take out Marcus. I just want to know, what are some tips for keeping her alive without doing sneaky things before the fight?

It really depends on your party and builds. Not much real advice can be given without that information.

That being said, the easiest way to keep her up is to have characters throw their best healing potions at her feet every so often, as needed. Ideally using your least useful in combat character to do it.

If you have a character that can Bless, be sure to cast it on her as one of the targets. It will help a lot.

In my two runs, I let Isobel tank Marcus while I take out the upstairs Flying Rats. Once they are gone, I deal with Marcus. Be aware that if you kill Marcus first, Isobel will immediately run of to fight the Flying Rats on her own. Not good.

Okay, so Tav is a Storm Sorcerer. Karlach and everyone else is default. The other two party members were Astarion and Shadowheart. Everyone's level 6.

[ahsanford]

Has anyone ever tried the wizard door spell to lock the door from her room to the main balcony overlooking the common area? Might that protect Isobel from running out into melee and getting chopped up (after Marcus is downed)?

- A