A couple of questions from a clueless newbie.

[Dragonqueen]

First, can anyone recommend a level to kill Zud and his witch doctor buddies? Right now my four guys are level 2, about halfway to level 3.

Second, what's a good tactic/spell/ability to use? Who should I take out first?

You can take Zud and his goons down when you're 2nd/3rd level fairly easily, as long as you have a few magic items to aid you (wands, potions, etc) and at least a couple of magic weapons (+1/+2).

You'll want to kill the Witch Doctor and Shaman first, otherwise you'll be hit with Hold Person and Magic Missile spells while you attack Zud.

[Aragorn of Arathorn]

i was lvl 2 when i stumbled on zud and his shaman, and it took me about 5 tries to kill them. what i did the last time was, cast sleep on zud, and get fighters in front of the shaman so they cant cast. take out the shaman with anything u want, but dont touch zud or he'll wake up. then have ur best fighter attack zud (the first hit to a sleeping creature does a lot more damage than normal). hopefully u can take him down without too much trouble. hope this helps.

by the way, does anyone kno wut u get from zud, all i got was some stuff from the shaman?

[Dragonqueen]

Ah, thank you so much, I managed to take out Zud and his lackeys. Then I complained about how stingy they were with the treasure.

[HighLordDave]

The easiest way to take out Zud and his buddies is to get in their faces. My party consisted of a half-orc Barbarian (2), and elf Barbarian (1)/Sorcerer (1), a half-orc cleric (2), and a human thief (2).

I put my barbarian in front of the shaman and the cleric in front of the witch doctor. Under the 3E rules, casting a spell provides the nearest melee opponent(s) with an attack of opportunity, so they won't cast any spells as long as they are engaged in HTH combat. Zud will stand around and use his bow, so you can gang up on him after his buddies are dead.

I then had my sorcerer bombard the other spellcasters with magic missiles until they ran out. Then she went to help the cleric when his HP got low. My rogue spent the entire combat shooting at Zud with his bow and was generally ineffective.

The key is to get the drop on the shaman and witch doctor so you can get someone in their face early before they get a chance to start casting Hold Person and Magic Missile.

@Aragorn: When you're done, you get Deathbane (the elf's staff) and some gold out of the chests behind Zud.