When I first came here, my first few builds couldn't do any.
As time got on and concepts changedand getting to know mechanics, I can safely say my "mains" could solo every boss, each build I levelled could at least solo one boss.
_________________
Xalibossk, Body Tamer & Terror Of The Underdark
Khuul-Khuum -Icy Heart Award 2014- Joint 2nd Best Developed 2014! Ordained Of Her Grace
Joined: 15 Dec 2009 Location: The Sky Above The Rain.
Some bosses are impossible with sneaks. But mostly what Fade said - once you know the strategy, it's cake.
_________________ Mercadier - *sleeps six feet under the warm sands of Khem* Alex - Life is adventure or nothing! Eddie - Sex, drugs and rock'n... more sex. ========= Obsidian (inactive)
Yeah, sneaks are outrageous to impossible unless you have a particular build about it. I could never do any boss on my spy-sneaks. At best, I could hope to not be a liability for my party. :}
Ahsra is a pure Monk, and can do Darkness thanks to New Moon shenanigans. She can do Majesty too, although she still dies on it fairly often. Everything else has ended in disaster for her.
Yeah, sneaks are outrageous to impossible unless you have a particular build about it. I could never do any boss on my spy-sneaks. At best, I could hope to not be a liability for my party. :}
Ahsra is a pure Monk, and can do Darkness thanks to New Moon shenanigans. She can do Majesty too, although she still dies on it fairly often. Everything else has ended in disaster for her.
If you want to learn.. perhaps it just requires a little creativity.
You gotta understand that I'm a build hipster. I never have great gear. I take max ranks, skill focus, and epic skill focus in Bluff type nonsense. Everything has a higher-than-necessary CR with the way that I play, and yeah, I'm sure I could find creative ways to whittle down bosses... but I don't have that kind of time, and I'm usually too broke to fund those kind of adventures. It's really just not worth the level of time investment to me.
I'm just happy that I can punk Darkness for another mystery yellow item!
Joined: 15 Dec 2009 Location: The Sky Above The Rain.
LetumLux wrote:
I'm just happy that I can punk Darkness for another mystery yellow item!
Hell yeah. Yellow items rules!
I actually do plan to build my equipment purely of yellow items, for the sheer joy of uniqueness they present. "You have a trueforged longsword? Well I have the Bileater!"
_________________ Mercadier - *sleeps six feet under the warm sands of Khem* Alex - Life is adventure or nothing! Eddie - Sex, drugs and rock'n... more sex. ========= Obsidian (inactive)
I'm calling BS on anybody who claims he can pwn every single epic boss. Maybe the most common ones. But I'd like to hear from someone who can pwn The Labyrinth on his own.
I'm calling BS on anybody who claims he can pwn every single epic boss. Maybe the most common ones. But I'd like to hear from someone who can pwn The Labyrinth on his own.
The "boss" of the Labyrinth itself is not very hard. The garbage leading up to it is best ignored, however... The question is, is it worth it? Eh, not really. (Neither is Phane, which is not hard, but I don't feel like spending 20 minutes spitting acid at him.)
My first sneak couldn't solo very many bosses, they just don't go for it. Sneak_2.0 however could by adding weapon-master and relying on criticals.
_________________ Rashad the Azure, Zakharan Merchant-lord Most Fair and Master of the Desert Wind Loremaster Tukson Devers, Oghmanyte Wrestler of Knowledge and Child of the Passive Voice
(No tells for Rashad while I'm playing other characters please.)
Joined: 02 Jun 2015 Location: Georgia, United States.
The point of killing a boss on the mechanical side, has to be harder. Because just killing something easy for a 5% loot roll for a item very powerful doesn't quite make sense.
The point of killing a boss on the mechanical side, has to be harder. Because just killing something easy for a 5% loot roll for a item very powerful doesn't quite make sense.
Yeah but I struggle to think of a way to make a boss 'hard' in this game without doing WoW 'get behind the pillar' bullshit. Either you bloat their hp and make it a slog, boost their damage and make it a crap shoot where they might just crit 3x in one round and you die (which isn't hard just dumb) or, well, I don't know.
Someone smarter then me solve this problem to make bosses harder but not random without 'get behind the pillar' bullshit or 'physically needs 2 pc's to beat because 2 levers at opposite ends of the room have to be pulled' or something.
_________________ Whomst've'll'd'mn't I play: Salema Nefahri::A penny for your thots Zrae'a'stra'fryn::That which nightmares are made of Khasir::From the East a storm is coming
Joined: 02 Jun 2015 Location: Georgia, United States.
Darkness is a bit hard to see, actually. You have to collect certain materials to access it. It's really not a hard boss, sadly I'm confused on "why" you can cast Darkness on Darkness and game over. Kind of weird to be named Darkness but not have Darkvision. xD
I'm calling BS on anybody who claims he can pwn every single epic boss. Maybe the most common ones. But I'd like to hear from someone who can pwn The Labyrinth on his own.
Nah- the earth-elemental lookin boss beneath the Green Lake is pretty impossible to solo.
_________________ Whomst've'll'd'mn't I play: Salema Nefahri::A penny for your thots Zrae'a'stra'fryn::That which nightmares are made of Khasir::From the East a storm is coming
I use various characters for different bosses, just some are more efficient than others. My barbarian gets the fire giant king super fast and gets there real fast. PM/Bard gets most and PM/ fighter does as well/ .
_________________ Ciroc Kilgrave: The patriarch of a family of covetors. Mournal the Guardian: A loyal killer for a mad mistress. Kuurg the Vandal: An inspiration to savage glory.
Last edited by Hell-billy on Wed, Jan 06 2016, 13:19 PM, edited 1 time in total.
Darren could probably do anything I bothered with outside a properly working Phane, Rab'ka, and the Labyrinth dude, and Majesty, since he's a full buff Paladin. I just never bothered.
Reinard could do most anything I bothered with simply by buffing the mummy dust or the dragon Knight and keeping it healed, and being a little cagey in how I engaged monsters. Being unafraid to upull aggro due to palemaster Ac helps, let the monster swing at the thing it can't hit so the summon works OK. Did Maxi, FGK, Pirate and loot, ASB, Babylon, and Illithid Domiangus, but never Majesty. Could do Darkness as long as I was quick on the Mordy.
Torin, I only ever did Fire Giant King and ASB (Used to be Icingdeath...!) on the reg with, but he was capable of killing Maximus and Windreaper - Windy was more of a problem getting to the bastard so I never bothered. Maximus was a pain because no crits in the whole area, so I never bothered unless I was feeling spunky. Did Pirate and Loot a few times - Loot's tailor made to be weak to WMs, so no problems there, and the Pirate's not a show stopper unless he crit you. Dominagus was simple and again, never touched beholders with Torin. I don't touch beerholders in general, I don't like the number of saves that get thrown downwind at me. Never bothered with Darkness - no UMD so I can't get rid of the acid sheathe, and Torin doesn't have much +5 loot so no acid immunity. Bablyon I probably could have done pretty easily, but just ever bothered. I really liked the fire giant run, it was long but not boring, I had it memorized, Torin was well geared to e nigh unkillable there with fire and slash resistance, so it was easy.
I basically never bother with Mourn Manor. Too long, and the kids are murderous on purpose. Rabka was added ... Shit, I don't even remember when he was added but I do remember never even trying the thing. I've also never fought Phane and The Legion, though if the Phane doesn't work properly it's an autowin, and if it does work properly you either die if you're solo or he kills himself.
~~~
Speaking as a DM, comments on the +5 bosses... I'l l throw these in spoiler tags because this post is gonna get long, and I respect people who may not want to immeduately know my thoughts.
Fire Giant King:
I consider this the gimme boss, and would never consider buffing it directly, rather just alters, changes, etc. I think he's the easiest +5 on the server and he exists so there's a boss everyone can pretty reasonably solo. For this alone I like that he's a pretty simply 'cast a few spells, walk in' sort of boss with the Queen. All I might change on him is... hell, I don't even know. Alter the spell loadouts on the Queen and King, I think. Less overlap. Keep the double balor summon but remove the double storms of vengeance.
Abominable Snowbeast:
I consider ASB the next step up from FGK. He's still crittable and his spawn room is woefully open to what I would tenuously call abuse if I wasn't otherwise convinced it's set that way on purpose so clever people can kill the mobs so they can solo the ASB. He's quick to get to but hits harder than the fire king, and fights back against the Darkness tactic by having a big whack of sneak attack. I think his environment could stand a little tweaking but otherwise I think he's in an alright spot.
Maximus:
Next step up in difficulty. I've seen people die to the Wights you have to pummel through to get his bones, and the Wraiths do petrifying touches. Those alone make the fight rougher than the previous two. Maximus himself is the first boss people probably see that can cast Greater Ruin. He's also the boss that no one ever sees cast it because he spawns in the same place all the time. I'd like to see that changed, so he spawns randomly, or farther away from the phylactery so that he gets his cat off. Otherwise, change it so he's more immediately melee dangerous. Maxi crits like a motherfucker though, goddamn. I wouldn't want to make him too hard, because I consider the trio of FGK/ASB/Maxi the low end +5 bosses everyone should have a good shot at handling.
Bidoc the Black:
I think Bidoc needs a massive overhaul, both in difficulty and style. Where ASB's spawns are a unique bit that rewards clever dealing, Bidoc's spawns often stand their while their boss dies. I would like to see this adjusted for encounter difficulty reasons. I would like to see the coffin moved, and a larger variety of traps placed leading up to it so you can't equip the correct immunity ring and walk through it. I would like a spawn at the coffin itself. Bidoc himself should be changed a bit - I would like to see him with a few buffs or abilities that the AI will auto-spawn him in with, such as a Doom aura or a damaging aura, or a cast of Harm (self) to give him some longevity once the coffin breaks. I also think he should be given some extra movement speed, Barbarian style. I think it would be cool if bidoc's gimmick was having low damage normal attacks, but giving his weapon a great horking chunk of Massive Criticals. Keep his longsword, unkeen it, so it's 19-20.
Dominagus:
RIP, bring back ilithids. If you do, this dude's only revamp needs to be his AI needs to keep giving you the mindblast in melee. I he stops mindblasting, he's basically a random mob. If he mindblasts, he fucks you up. All I got to say.
Beholder Majesty:
I wouldn't touch this boss. I'd put Majesty up there for "I see more people die to this than any other boss on the server". Spoiler: If you're doing Beholder Majesty and I'm online, and I'm not eventing, I'm totally watching you fight it because there's so many ways for this fight to go wrong it's hilarious. I wouldn't make the mobs more aggressive in this case either - I put it up there with ASB. The Majesty alone is powerful enough to fuck people up who aren't doing a couple very specific (but non-exploity) things to where I feel pretty comfortably leaving it like it is.
Windreaper:
Windy's a relic of a bygone age. The poor guy is due for a big overhaul, IMO. The dungeon to get to him is harder than the man himself. Either it's time for Windy to go away and make room for some crazy demon dude, or windy himself needs an overhaul. I'd rather keep windy, because I like that our server has a Dragon boss in it, and him being corrupted by the Abyss is a good reason for him to keep coming back time after time. Changes I'd make: I'd give him a big whack more HP. Not Phane level, but respectable. I'd move his spawn so you have to fight his demons with him and can't lure them away. I'd give him a lightning damage aura, but remove the Dragon Fear - one of these will actually potentially do things. I'd also make his claws do lightning damage. I would also give him Blackguard levels and give him Smite Good and the like, emulating the Fiendish/Corrupted Template he should have by now. A +5 Boss that does Divine Might/Shield/Smites is something we don't have on the server, and would be neat to see Windy transform into, imo.
The Pirate And The Loot:
Ruce made these specifically (IIRC...) so non-UMD weaponmasters and high physical damagers would have something they could crush, back in an old world when mages and clericzillas were kingly. Obviously UMDers can do it too.... The loot is set up in such a way that it rewards crits. The real boss here is the Loot, of course... the Pirate's just it's buddy with the gimmick palemaster death touch and the Dev Crit Scimitar. I like this boss and am not sure what I'd do to change it, if I was going to. I think it's in a good spot, personally. The fight has a nice gimmick, the monsters work well together, it's thematic for the area, the whole encoutner gets a nice nod from me.
The Darkness:
Corimar made this, I think? I don't think it was Ruce. I've never fought it - has the distinction of being one of a few bosses that spawns in with Acid Sheathe, which means you dispel it, you be immune, or you eat shit. I choose Option D which is just not doing it, personally. Darkness is a generic spooky wizard boss, sort of similar to the majesty but they spam different spells. Far a sI know it's smart enough to keep casting in melee, and catss fairly effectively. It has a lot of HP (iirc...) as well. This one I'm doing more off memory since I never fought it much. The time it takes to get to it balances out the difficulty of the fight comparitively, so I don't think I'd mess with it overmuch. Plus it spawns that sweet sweet yellow random loot hhnngnhhhh.
Rabka the Bound:
I've got nothing to say on this guy: I've watched people fight him... he seems like a rather boring melee slog, honestly. Too much HP, too much DR, too much regen. I vaguely recall the fight having some sort of mechanic to it, but the fight itself doesn't seem very fun. The theming seems a little weird to be as well: He's supposed to be a bound earth elemental? Is he corrupted, I guess? I don't know much of that whole Elf Lore thing there that went on, even though I was around for it... I don't see people fight it much at all, which tells me it's not fun and it's not worth going to do. That's a problem. However: Changing him specifically, pretty low on my priority list.
The Phane:
I'm super love/hate with the Phane. As a concept, I think it's really cool. I've seen it working 100% at its best, and it's really a neat fight when it does. It's engaging, you move around, you reposition, you aid allies, it's genuinely engaging, without the "get behind the pillar" feel that Airphforce mentioned earlier. Unfortunately... I've seen it work properly exactly once. Every other time it's been flat broken or worked halfway and then not at all or at worst kills itself and the encounter ends, no XP, no gold, no drops. The fact that he drops a guaranteed flawless is a joke, he has far too much HP and regen for what he does, and I'm not sure if the fact that he can be soloed is a testament to how broken he is or how broken the methods used are. Probably a little bit of both. Unfortunately, I don't even know how I'd fix the Phane. without his trademark gimmicky special abilities, there's really no reason for him to be around, and definitely no reason for him to drop a guaranteed flawless. I'd love for this encounter to work properly all the time. Otherwise: I don't think it's possible to do a Phane properly in NWN, and think it should be removed, or replaced with something else. Maybe 5 scythe weaponmasters.
The Legion/The Boneyard/The Labyrinth:
I am told that like its counterpart, the Phane, it's completely busted, along with the dungeon its in. This is the extent of my knowledge about the creature, and if it's busted, it should be fixed or removed. Apparently it worked once upon a time? No clue. That said: I consider these fixes low priority, just like all the +5 monster fixes i suggest: I'd sooner make hunting at all levels fun before we fix the +5 stuff, because that's more important imo.
The Braxat Trophy Tender:
To be polite: I find the Ash Caverns very pretty, but very boring and very poorly balanced. I know very little about this boss, having never fought him, but I never see anyone go there and fight him, which means people either don't know he's there or that he and his place aren't fun. I've heard plenty of complaints about the latter. Ash Cavern monsters are on my hitlist, and the Trophy Tender with them.
Babylon:
I think Babylon holds the distinction of "boss most likely to fuck you up if you don't know she spawns there." Like, you go to Beholders, you know you're in for shit if you spawn the boss. Buy Babylon? You're fucking up Yuan-Ti and suddenly this crazy woman with a spear is casting missile storms and critting you for 100+ and also massive dispels on hit. Babylon will fuck you up. The invincibility gimmick is fun. Tihs is another spawn where I can tell when people ave done it before because they know exactly how far they can walk before they spawn her, so they'll clear her room and then run away while spectral Babylon taunts them and laughs at them mercilessly. I think Babylon is my 2nd place for "kills people" after the Majesty. I think Babylon could use some tweaks, in terms of murder-osity, but I'm in no hurry... and not because it's low priority. ... I'll let the intrepid players guess why that might be. ;D
~~~~
Misc thoughts:
Actand was great, and Ks'say Everlast was a great +5 boss, cool dude, used Throwing axes and was spawned behind a few barricades where his monsters spawned, so you had to cleave through his buddies while he threw axes at you. I loved Actand in general. His counterpart, the Angelic Commander, was much less cool, IMO. Also Ks'say had great lore connecting him to Caraigh, shame aobut that whole plotline being lost.
I miss Icingdeath, though he made no sense thematically. It was cool to fight the Old Great White of the Wastes (whose name was stolen from a book).
Bidoc is cooler than Kraven, if only because a Gnome Vampire is pretty funny. Not sad about that change.
the Desert Beetle Matriarch may as well fuckin' be a +5 boss for how hard it is compared to its spawns holy crap.
Baulg was a Blue Dragon that spawns where the Desert beetle does now. He was entertaining: A really slow moving dragon with a DC 65 Dev Crit. Arcane Archers ate him for lunch, as did anyone that could do decent ranged damage. Hilarious.
_________________ Davion Telemos - Monk of the Four Winds Korthan Isharnos - Dragon Shaman of Thunder Spirit Zamasham
Joined: 22 Jun 2005 Location: In an armchair, stroking a cat
Answered none, because I think that's accurate. Don't even how most of the bosses on that list, though. Anything below the Pirate means shit-all to me.
Answered none, because I think that's accurate. Don't even how most of the bosses on that list, though. Anything below the Pirate means shit-all to me.
Theadric can solo every boss, have to change gear around for certain saves on some bosses like will for the phane, actually, no, that's the only boss he has to change anything for.
Shade solos all but FGK (Don't laugh, Word Of Faith, outsider, do the math. ), Phane, Rabka and I haven't bothered trying Laby with him.
Malachai solos all of them. Not hard either because wizards are amusingly powerful if you play them right.
Sebastien can solo anything he has as a favoured enemy. So babylon, abyss, Bidoc, Maxi, Pirate.
Kard, my thirty monk, could only solo dominagus with eagle claw spam.
Also, good list, Tormak. Agreed on most of it, I would like to hear Rabka a higher place on your list, purely because I see him as little more than a waste of server space. That's just my opinion due to the whole process of getting to him, and fighting him, to be more boring than market gardener job with out RP backing. That's just my two piece on that.
My most enjoyed fight, I think would either be Windy, or perhaps babylon. Both are fun to get to, and fight. (This is with out taking into consideration how tedious it is for me to go and do any of the bosses now due to the shere amount I've killed them all. I had a problem with boss hunting, became an addiction. I joined boss hunters anonymous and now I'm much better thanks to the help of- I'll stop.
Vale Everguard can do pirate, maximus, fgk, vampire, babylon and the Darkness.
Talyne used to be able to do most of those, and then I turned stupid and picked a different animal companion for RP purposes and her PvM ability curled up and died in a corner. Seriously, those companions vary way too much.
Luca can't even -get- to a boss before the adventure costs more than the loot sells for.
I'm here to defend my buddy Rabka the Bound. I like this fight a lot. It's fun to do solo, yet seems to get harder when you add a second character to the mix. Hmm, maybe my warm feelings for this fight are based on the fact that no one 'showed' me the tactics I would need to succeed. The first time Taris and Alec went to Rabka was a hoot where we ended up running away to regroup and think it over. The second time we went I threw every kind of spell at him until I finally figured out his weakness. Once I had him figured out I used to venture there solo pretty regularly and have enjoyed the fight ever single time.
Another fight I used to do quite frequently is the Braxat Trophy Tender. The only draw back to this fight is the time commitment and the hassles of getting there. The area he is in is great, but the area one has to cross to get there is the big discourager and the main reason so few venture there. UD access to 'Ash Caverns - Karst Kulwar' area would do a lot to increase traffic I think.
Alec Grey is an epic wizard. I am pretty sure he could handle most of these fights (though the thought of facing beholders solo makes his skin crawl). However, reconfiguring his spellbook is a pain in the arse. Also, he has acquired too much gold and has become too lazy to go risking it on the off chance of gathering more trinkets (probably monk gloves anyway, knowing him). Having everything he could desire has pretty much killed his motivation to kill bosses.
Masdar generally does FGK, Windreaper, The Pirate Captain and Loot, and The Braxtar Trophy Tender. He was doing Domingus for a while, but he was dying as often as he was winning, so he decided to stop.
Rai'zur has recently began his Boss hunting career. I am happy to report that he has successfully soloed the Snowbeast, the beholder Majesty, FGK, Maxi, and Babylon. His finances always seem to be in a precarious state (drinking problem..), so the possibility of reward outweigh any risks. His ability to do bosses was a concern for a while, so I am quite pleased with how he has turned out.
Actand was great, and Ks'say Everlast was a great +5 boss, cool dude, used Throwing axes and was spawned behind a few barricades where his monsters spawned, so you had to cleave through his buddies while he threw axes at you.
Coooooool. Do I understand it right, that this is no longer in module? WHY?!
Quote:
the Desert Beetle Matriarch may as well fuckin' be a +5 boss for how hard it is compared to its spawns holy crap.
True
_________________ Zendaer Amattis Torgon Crimsonshade Khalid Athanalo CET time zone
Joined: 15 Dec 2009 Location: The Sky Above The Rain.
Luckbringer wrote:
I can solo the goblin chief and sewer ooz. I generally die trying all the rest.
Best answer ever.
_________________ Mercadier - *sleeps six feet under the warm sands of Khem* Alex - Life is adventure or nothing! Eddie - Sex, drugs and rock'n... more sex. ========= Obsidian (inactive)
I killed Marcus Sembianus Aurelius once. Does that count?
For serious - the original, original plot battle with the Phane was actually pretty cool. The scripts were freshly-tested and controlled, it was balanced for all 50 or so people that showed up, it was a hilarious mess and I almost got the damned killing blow on my well-built poorly-played sneak. Then it broke, forever, with the risk of corrupting data files (I presume that part was fixed at least). Alas. Then again if it ever did work again I'd probably never get around to playing it. I severely lack the discipline to succeed at NWN these days.
I've only ever bothered with Babylon, the pirate, and Snowbeast cause they're quick. I'm not a huge fan of NWN's combat, but damn do I loves me some money.
Joined: 26 May 2006 Location: Down Under, calculating your demise with blunt expressions.
Jack used to be able to kill bosses. 56 AB, hitting like a freight train without stooping to using flame weapon spells and a combined total of 12 heal / mass heal spells did wonders.
Then a few cleric spells got toned down... and I never bothered to rebuild him. Too much effort.
I'm sure I could kill some bosses but given most epic loot is kind of bla I have no reason to try, If they ever do a epic loot overhaul and add a bunch of new stuff I might attempt them.
_________________ ================-<Cory ShadowFlame>-================ Risenlord-Shifter(OMG a Non-Dragon Shifter that can hold his own in PvE)
I've been able to solo most Bosses that I can reach with Samantha. It has always taken some time to 'learn' the best strategy, but for a pretty crappy build (definitely not a power build at all) and some good gear she's done well. I have solo'd Domingus, Beholder Majesty, Fire Giant King, Snow Beast, The Trophy Tender, Ka'say, Babylon, The Pirate & The Loot, Rabka and The Phane (both working and not working). Died plenty of times figuring each one out, sought out other characters that could teach her or did some trial and error. It was fun learning them but boring slogging it along all alone after that.
Wind reaper, The Boneyard, Babylon, The Darkness and Bidoc are just to hard to reach alone. I never cared much for Maximus, it was annoying having to collect all that stuff.
The Braxat trophy guy is way too easy to be classified as a boss - as well as how tedious it is to actually get to him. if you don't have decent Str or Dex, you're screwed for trying to even make it to him.
Ash Caverns is really cool, though. A bit long, but cool.
_________________ Aoth Nathandem - Wizard of house Tholaunt and chosen of Ma'at.
Joined: 23 Sep 2012 Location: Western Australia (+8 GMT)
Elwyn can fight FGK, Snowbeast, Pirate, Babylon and Windreaper solo. She could probably do a few more but I'm not game enough to test them out just yet.
Laura can't do shit...
... Okay she can hunt a FGK, but only by using a well placed blade barrier and her Blaspheme as a lure!
_________________ Elwyn Sabel - Laura Jarshall - Mordoc Ebonhand
Nyssa can do Pirate and Chest, Probably FGK (haven't really tried solo), Snowbeast (those damn spectres though!), and... I dunno, maybe more. I have other pc's that can maybe do -most-, but I don't think I have any that can do -all-. I'm getting the distinct impression that a lot of it comes down to strategy and other tricks rather than being buff. In other words, player knowledge, not character knowledge... that is, unless you're a shifter, from what's been said here, they are the only ones claiming to do all of them.
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), Phane, Rabka and I haven't bothered trying Laby with him.
