in your opinion what is the hardest monster you've had to beat in iwd

[sibel4000]

hi

i thuoght it might be interesting to find out what was the hardest monster or enermy you ever had to beat.

plz post somthing back

bye

[Floyd_theBarber]

I'm guessing that there has been a few of these threads over the years, but I've never posted in one so here goes.
For me, I'm having a bugger of a time at a battle in the second area of Dragon's Eye I, against 4 Talonite priests and a slew of trolls. All of the priests cast 'Hold' and the trolls just slay my bound party. I can't seem to take out 4 priests before they cast their 'Holds' even with some fireballs, mass missles, an entangle, a couple holds of my own, and a prayer for good measure. I've read of some adventurer's held captive in these tunnels though; I believe I'll search for them.

[Lord Tansheron]

I guess the title has indeed to go to the end boss. And not only because of himself being quite the beef, but mainly because of that damn annoying traps arround him! This can turn out to be REALLY ugly if you're not careful.

Since none of the IWD battles are all too challenging, I think the mix of a hard hitting, high-HP boss together with the nasty traps is the most difficult battle in the game.

[Mr.Waesel]

the idol.

[Erenor]

That crazy half-naked snake/woman Yxunomei was always my nemesis. Later in the game you have better equipment and more practice, so the battles are easier overall. Though, the guy at the end throws a 100% effective Dispel Magic at your party, so buffing up for him is a lot harder. Potions are needed here, because they are faster than most spells.

[Thomas77]

I think the toughest monster I had to fight would have to be the Dragon in HoW (can't remember his name as I haven't played the game for close to a year). I had to save and reload at least 10-15 times before I was able to even kill the Dragon, only to be then wiped out by POSSIBLE SPOILER it's essence trapped in the jewel afterwards. END SPOILER For whatever reason, Yxunomei wasn't that difficult to me. I defeated her after only a few reloads, but I have seen other posts stating the difficult time others had in killing her. And one other area that was rather frustrating to me was the Isle of the Dead (I believe that was the name of it). Drowned Dead are insanely difficult to kill, especially when they are hasted!

[Kipi]

I have to agree with Thomas77, the Dragon in HoW was quite hard to fight against. It took about 17-20 times before I managed to kill it w/o losing any characters. It has been a while since so I can't actually remember anymore why it was so hard, but I remember that it was.

[Thomas77]

Yeah, one of my problems in fighting the Dragon was my own fault though. I had about three of my brawlers who all had over 18/00 strength. However, I would cast "Strength of One" on my whole party which moves everybody to 18/00. So my weaker party member's were made stronger, but my stronger party member's were also made weaker. I did that for about the first 10 times before I realized that I was actually cursing my main tanks!

[Philos]

I hated the Spectral Guards in the keep of Trials of the Luremaster. They had lots of hps, a pretty good AC, and multiple attacks per/round. A deadly combination especially since they attacked at an ability that seemed like a 15th or 16th level fighter (seemed like they never missed). My party would have been shredded if I hadn't done the old block the door with the tanks tactic. My Cleric would have to just about use every healing spell whenever a fought a group of them. Really cleaned out a lot of my healing potions too.

[zmeii]

The dragon in HoW can be killed very easily - just be shure your tanks are more than 100% cold resistent. Thus when the dragon spits ice, it actually heals them. Do not engage in close battle when the dragon stops ice attacks and starts with jaw and claws.
As the toughest monster - Yxunomei on the first place, eventhough if you can farcast a few stinking clowds + cloud kill, magic missile work (even the spell resistanse). The biggest problem is the lack of magic weapons at this moment - I had to punch her only with the Spinesheath (I think that was the dagger).
On the second place - Poquelin (the last guy) and his two golem guards. I summoned as many high lvl creatures, my rogue worked on the traps.

[keeB]

Yxnomei has been the hardest for me thus far, but with a little cheese.. i.e killing everything else, leaving the place, resting, and fighting only her. My main problem, was that I had a lvl8/9 druid, cleric, fighter, and thief. so nothing really to take and absorb that damage.

After that fight, all of Severed Hand & towers was a breeeeeeeeeeze. Now in Dorn's Deep.. 2nd level, Nothing really standing in the way. Fire Elementals kick so much ass in IWD in comparison to BG2.

[Ravager]

I agree with KeeB. Yxunomei (sp?) is definitely the toughest. If you haven't cleared out her allies from earlier rooms ,all those doors open apart from one door behind you which shuts and is difficult/impossible to open. Then you have to deal with a demonic enemy who has high resistances and AC and does major damage to your characters. Add to that a lack of good healing in the game beyond potions of Normal Healing (8Hp heal each).

Even the final boss can be easier.

[Luis Antonio]

*spoilers*

Yxunomei? I guess she's not hard, you just need to prepare and bring her tactically to your trap (NEVER FIGHT HER OPENLY, its a tactical suicide). I think the last boss is way harder (for my gaming style). You have not many tactical options, and the floor is trapped (as I recall it). Also, buffing doesnt really matter much against the last boss, and he has true sight, what Yxunomei doesnt have, so you may always drink up an invisibility potion and heal your character while she chases the rest of the party.

[Axis420]

The farthest i ever got was just past Yxunomei, I found that if u kill all her guards with cloudkill and web then retreat come back and tank her. It wasn't that hard, but what really pissed me off was the lack of tresure in her throne room....

-Axis420

P.S. random spawns of undead piss me off too

[Aerich]

Spectral guards are nasty pieces of work. They're too tough to turn, come in bunches, have big HP, and hit hard. I had to reload the lower level of Castle Maladurek four times to deal with them. They aren't the toughest individual monsters, but they do make up some of the toughest fights.

Special mention goes to tarnished sentries and wailing virgins. Tarnished sentries would win hands down if it weren't for the spell made for those encounters, Protection from Normal Missiles.

**spoilers**
I've never really had a problem with Yxunomei. With a ring of free action, go in and talk to her with one character while the other party members cast Web and Entangle in the doorway. Run out immediately after dialogue finishes and cast Stinking Cloud, Spike Growth, and Skull Trap in the doorway. Have some weak summons in between the doorway and your party. Use the party to take out the yuan-ti mages while your mage tosses fireball and other goodies into the doorway. Often Yx gets stuck behind her grunts when they get trapped. Have your best archer fire at her non-stop, and have a haste spell ready to cast in case she engages with your fighters.

The key to fighting the dragon and B is summons. One tank has to draw interest for long enough to allow spellcasters to summon, then retreat behind the summons until the nasty switches focus. There are really only two things that make the boss fights difficult besides the bosses' HP and spell resistance; the quality of their allies (sahuagin spellcasters/fighters and iron golems/cornugons respectively) and the cut-scene pieces that prevent setting up tactical formations and traps.

Edit: oh yeah, the universal dispel and unremovable dispel traps at the end of the game are a PITA too.