How do you manage early game ? (Hard)

[CoachMac]

Ok i am not talking about the early cave but i am in the first dungeon. And it is crazy hard.

On one place there are 3 "drecht?" and they use clouds which give my whole party nausea... impossible.

Otherwise fights are crazy hard because i dont have any healer nor buffer because early game unless you make a cleric and you dont pick Lann you simply dont have any cleric.

What did i miss ?

On my first game in core i dont recall that it was so difficult even if first main fight was a challenge. So maybe i will switch back to core but would like to know what i am missing first :)

[MjKorz]

Dex-based martials or fighter/mage classes who can serve as the primary tank.

Full arcane casters with a double spell focus in conjuration who cover everything in a thick layer of Grease and Glitterdust everywhere they go.

These two build types make unfair, let alone hard early game a breeze.

The reality of this game is that you cannot "trade" with enemies, you have to either tank them without taking damage or AoE disable/debuff so that they can't dish out their damage.

You make Lann a Cleric for the early Law domain, not due to healing.

As for dretches, simply don't fight in the stinking clouds. Lure out their casts with tank(s), then move out of the clouds and then fight.

[Schlumpsha]

You don't need a Cleric, since Camellia is a Shaman. She can cast Remove Sickness to give your party a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against disease, nausea, and sickened effects. Works against dretch clouds.

[Steffan]

Originally posted by MjKorz:

You make Lann a Cleric for the early Law domain, not due to healing.

Unnecessary. Lann is a great archer. Use cold iron ammunition, do not keep your party close to each other, split in at least two groups. That should work.

Good point about remove sickness @Schlumpsha

[CoachMac]

Yes that is a good point i will look at this.Thank you let me try.

Thing is i was hoping "Hard" would be more challenging than Core (obviously) but still feasible with compagnions.

Anyway we are here to learn :)

[MjKorz]

Originally posted by steffan8:

Unnecessary

Necessary for those, who want early Law domain without the use of mercs and/or without playing a Cleric yourself. Making Lann a Cleric enables a full arcane caster to greaselock the water elemental with true 100% success rate as well as Glitterdust and/or Grease other early game bosses with the same 100% success rate, all on unfair difficulty.

Originally posted by steffan8:

Lann is a great archer

Lol. Lann is wasted as an archer, because he makes the best tank out of all the companions the game gives you:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2953361882

And that's without even fully buffing him or using a dex mutagen instead of str.

[Baldurs_Gate_2]

You can bait them out. Run in with someone, bait their stinking cloud out, run back to your party and kill em with the remaining guys.

[CoachMac]

Problem is i went iceplant because it was best for Camellia and ignored Aura of purity which i believe is the spell you are referring to...

That is what scares me, it makes no sense to pick that spell for her developement except when you dont have another cleric.

or i need to abandon wenduag and pick lann to be emergency cleric...

Quite annoying but....

[Schlumpsha]

Originally posted by CoachMac:

Problem is i went iceplant because it was best for Camellia and ignored Aura of purity which i believe is the spell you are referring to...

I think you are confusing hexes with spells there. Aura of Purity and Ameliorating are both hexes you choose when leveling up. Remove Sickness on the other hand is a 1st level spell in the Shaman's spellbook.

[CoachMac]

I dont have that spell...>????

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2953388994


And something else I have seelah tired after a rest and i remember i had that problem but do not remember how to fix it.

[MjKorz]

You don't need that spell. Simply move out of the cloud and don't fight in it. After you move out of the cloud, the nausea effect disappears in 1d4+1 rounds. Nausea doesn't make you flat-footed so your tank(s) can tank even while nauseated.

[Yannir]

Originally posted by Schlumpsha:

Originally posted by CoachMac:

Problem is i went iceplant because it was best for Camellia and ignored Aura of purity which i believe is the spell you are referring to...

I think you are confusing hexes with spells there. Aura of Purity and Ameliorating are both hexes you choose when leveling up. Remove Sickness on the other hand is a 1st level spell in the Shaman's spellbook.

Remove Sickness is a Cleric/Druid spell. Shamans do not get it. Not even via Spirits.

[CoachMac]

Originally posted by MjKorz:

You don't need that spell. Simply move out of the cloud and don't fight in it. After you move out of the cloud, the nausea effect disappears in 1d4+1 rounds. Nausea doesn't make you flat-footed so your tank(s) can tank even while nauseated.

Thank you, it was right i defeated tem actuially after the first salve of clouds it was much easier.

I was panicked and stubburn :)

[CoachMac]

It is a pure nightmare, Osilla one shot evryone in the team...

Any advise ?

i remmember that fight difficult in core but not to that degree :)

[Steffan]

Originally posted by CoachMac:

It is a pure nightmare, Osilla one shot evryone in the team...

Any advise ?

i remmember that fight difficult in core but not to that degree :)

Ha, my favorite encounter on my first blind run (whcih was on hard). Suffice it to say, I reloaded that fight more than all other reloads from Kingmaker or the whole Pillars of Eternity franchise. I guess like 20 times. The toughest encounter I've had in all of the game (including the optional bosses and the Inevitable Excess DLC; except for the Water Elemental because I never have enough resources to even think about that fight)

You might try real time with pause. Well, you could beat Wendu, remove heavy armor (go light; do that before the fight) and kite Hossila (hit & run) until she summons the quasits. Then kill her with a scroll of magic missile or with a divine zap. The quasits are still problematic but I think you can overpower them eventually. Cold iron arrows do wonders.

That path is significantly easier if you pick Wenduag at first. Because of spoilers.

[Steffan]

Originally posted by MjKorz:

Originally posted by steffan8:

Unnecessary

Necessary for those, who want early Law domain without the use of mercs and/or without playing a Cleric yourself. Making Lann a Cleric enables a full arcane caster to greaselock the water elemental with true 100% success rate as well as Glitterdust and/or Grease other early game bosses with the same 100% success rate, all on unfair difficulty.

Originally posted by steffan8:

Lann is a great archer

Lol. Lann is wasted as an archer, because he makes the best tank out of all the companions the game gives you:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2953361882

And that's without even fully buffing him or using a dex mutagen instead of str.

Unnecessary for hard difficulty. If one day I decide to make an unfair run, I might use some of these ideas. But overoptimization is not my thing. And Unfair is a bit too stressful for me.

What also works for hard is protective luck hex and apply it on Seelah. That works too.

But the OP has progressed a bit too far. The OP can still win, no problems with that.