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I doubt it...
Don't forget, like the Ritual (and Eclipse, and many of the other wicked Weimer fights), Improved Faldorn is a side fight - any you don't enjoy, you can skip.
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True.
In the case of Improved Faldorn, though, if you skip that encounter, you miss out on becoming Champion Druid (or whatever it's called). Plus, and please correct me if I'm wrong, the Druid party member who declines to take on Improved Faldorn has no chance of gaining title to the Druid stronghold.
The only saving grace from that situation is that the flow of the game remains uninterrupted. That is to say, if you avoid Improved Faldorn, there are just a few threads in Trademeet that aren't tied up, is all, and the game continues as per usual.
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I haven't yet fought Improved Faldorn, but I look forward to it. I suspect there are things you can do, though - although most of tactics is fairly cheesy (inexhaustible spell casting scripts spring to mind)
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Yeah, I've tried a few things myself. Nothing imaginative. One or two experiments, is all, eg, (possible spoiler...highlight to read):
-hitting pause before the fight starts, then tossing armour, weapons and healing potions to Jeheira in the arena
-having a character outside the arena heal Jeheira with a rod of resurrection while the fight is underway
-I've even tried having my party jump Improved Faldorn when she's still in neutral blue mode before the one-on-one fight starts. This way, I find she can be reduced to "near death." Problem with that is, she also regenerates like an automoton while casting Nature's Beauty again and again and again....
An unpleasant challenge, to say the least.
I also find that when my party jumps Improved Faldorn outside the arena and attacks her en masse, she eventually casts an unreal version of Time Stop or suchlike that goes on perpetually. In order to break out of it I have to reload and start over. Might be a bug, perhaps.
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The really extraordinary thing about the Ritual is the awesome scripting - low level, low stat NPCs with no cheesy no-drop gear give you an incredibly tough fight, along with some cool dialogue
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I like it, too (except for the ending in the glade before the Pontifex battle).
Possible spoiler below.
Highlight to read.
My beef is, the Priestess (or whatever she is), who performs the Ritual is largely wasted as a character at that juncture because she does virtually nothing beyond uttering a few lines before she begins the Ritual. Moreover, no matter what you do at this point, you have to bump her off anyway in order to disrupt the Ritual. So in that regard, confronting her is rather a letdown.
The Pontifex fight that follows is very entertaining, though.
I eventually got the better of him by sequestering my party on one of the staircases to the left of the Keep. I clogged up the stairs with a planetar and some mordys, lured P's minions up there individually and then attacked them with a combination of ranged weapons and whirlwind attacks, upon which the minions fell pretty fast.
After which I was able to focus on P. himself.
As I recall, my mage character eventually reduced P. to "near death" by casting three horrid writings in a chain contingency while the other hasted party members and five summons bashed him into oblivion.
Nothing fancy at all.
I suspect my mage may have nailed P. with a lucky hit, because the speed of his demise was very unexpected.
Still, I enjoyed the battle.
In truth, it sounds much easier here than it actually was.
I needed a lot of reloads to (a) figure out what going on, and (b) work out the necessary strategy. (Ditto for clearing out the ritual skulls, which can be very frustrating. Ironically, despite the reload/cussing factor, the Ritual is still a lot of fun.)
Which is good, because when I play this game, I like to think my party, given enough experience and preparation, should have a reasonable chance to defeat any opponent.
Which is also why attempting a straight-up, no cheese one-on-one with Improved Faldorn annoys me so much, because it appears to be a no-win situation.
To be candid, I really can't see the logic of fighting a second-string opponent in Chapter 3 who possesses powers equal to or even superior to those of Irenicus. Makes no sense to me at all. In that regard, I think Improved Faldorn is just plain wrong. The balance is out of whack.
When you have your own go at Improved Faldorn, please let me know how it turned out, hey?
BTW, I'm no power gamer by any stretch.
Just a BG fan who likes to use core rules with a minimum of cheese.  |