Can anyone help me with BattleSquares in the Ice Temple? I mean, I have my monk doing it, and I'm fairly proud of myself that I got all the way to Rank 5, level 2. However, it keeps pumping out monsters who keep killing me in 5 or 6 hits. Like, I pump my monk up all the way, you know. Haste, Emotion: Hope, Barkskin, Stoneskin, and Bless, yet, they still kill me. My monk is like level 9 or 10, and those stupid frost giants kill me everytime. Help me, please? I know that once I get through level 6 the wonderful Club of Disruption shall be mine and the rest of Battle Squares will be a breeze but I have to get there. A little help would be good, thankies!

Oh, wow.

I had forgotten that you get the Club when you complete it.

Boy, I don't know what to tell you. You might seriously think about dropping the dificulty down for that one battle, then put it back up for the rest of the game.

From "Insane" down to "Easy", the items stay the same; the only time they change is when you activate or deactivate "Heart of Fury".

I'd tell you to load an "Armageddon 2002", but I dinna' think ye'd like that.

Monk is definately not the person you want to play in battle square. The best character (i think) is paladin/fighter. Anyway, you do at least need a fighter to complete the squares.

If this is the first time you encounter the battle square, you might not have the level to play highier ranks (rank 5 and up). You can always returnlater to finish it after you gained some level. The furthest you can get if you still want to return to battle square is the end of chapter four before you take Oswald's ship. If you are impatient, you can export a current member, create a new one and adjust it's level. Later after you've completed the square, you can delete that member and import back your previous one.

If you are so desperate, two items for you to create '00ARMBL2' and '00ARMCH'. This two totally destroy the fun of playing the game, not just battle square, use it at your own risk. (Special thanks to [ejsmith] from Sorcerer's Palace sharing his discovery about the two with the public)

You should have no problem finishing the first 3 ranks using normal tanker character. Monk isn't really useful in battle square as monk offers only one damage type, bludgeoning. If you encounter zombie lord for example, your monk can do nothing but pull the trigger to end battle square. Fighter type is the best because they have a wide range of damage types to choose from, depending on what weapon they use. The best candidate to enter the battle square in my opinion is paladin 3 or 7 / fighter x. Paladin for the immue to fear at level 2, immue to disease at level 3, fiendslayer feat at level 7. Fighter for the weapon sepcialization in several kinds.

Before you start the battle square, rearrange your equipments so that your fighter has every of the best that the band can offer. When playing under HoF mode, choose equipments that reduce damage and increase saving throws. Monsters will hit you on regular basis even if you can push your Armor Class to as high as 40. When choosing your weapons, make sure you can do slashing and bludgeoning damage, melee and range damage. Give the fighter all the healing potions you have. If you have problem getting more healing potions. Venla in the Wondering Village (the next area) sells extra healing potions as much as you can buy. The last thing to do would be, of course, polish your fighter. Cast spells like 'stones skin', 'chaotic command', 'remove fear', 'barskin', 'emotion: hope', 'resist elements', 'improved invisible' (if not playing V2.00), 'cat's grace', 'bull's strenght', etc, depends on what spells you have.

Of all the doors in IWD2, this one is the most famous and important. There are two doors in the battle square, the one at the north wall is the 'north door'. This door offers you strategic advantage as huge enemis cannot pass through this door. That's why range damage is also important playing battle square.

>>[Rob Valentine] has another idea for those who don't fancy arrows
"... just lure them to the door and clobber them with a 2 handed weapon (Ice Lance works well). None of the creatures seem to be able to reach you and you can dispatch them in a couple of hits"
>>My note
Some weapons, two handed weapons like staff, spear, etc, has a longer range then one handed weapons but still consider melee weapons.

The 'Club of Disruption', as battle square rank 6 prize, really helps a lot. High rank battle square will always give you demons and elementals type enemies which you can destroy them by using 'Club of Disruption' if they fail their fortitude saving throw. Open your 'Attack Rolls' feedback via option --> game play --> feedback to see if the enemy you are currently hitting is subject to disruption process. If they are, it will show their fortitude saving throw aganist 'Club of Disruption'. When playing high rank battle square under hof, it is just a fight to see if monsters throw 1 in their fortitude saving. If you want to use range attack with your fighter, take throwing weapons over missile weapons because throwing weapons (like throwing dagger/axe/hammer) use STR modifier in attack roll not DEX in missile weapons. A returning throwing hammer +2 that i've gotten in Wondering village/Underdark (i forgot which) is also a helpful weapon as my fighter already specialized in war hammer. Apart from bludgeoning damage, it deals electrical damage as well. 'Throwing Axe of Shocking Burst', rank 5 prize of battle square, is also useful if you are better with axes then hammers. Weapon choice for [fire mage] are Warhammer +2 with shock, Flaming Star +1, Morning Star of Thorns, Greataxe +4, Club of Disruption (prize), Ice Spear (prize).

Now save every single time you completed a single square. If you are not satisfy with the monster that the next square gives you, you can always load the game. Well, this is a computer game after all and the designers don't limit our saves, so however 'cheesy' it is, it is still valid.

Sometime those teleport-able monster will teleport to where the rest of your members are. This isn't a bad thing as now you can outnumber the monster. However, take extra care to make double sure that the ice golem champion is somewhere near this room the moment you kill the monster. If not, you kill wouldn't count. You can also choose the teleportion on purpose if you feel that the monster is to hard to handle single handedly. Summons several minions in the battle square room before you start and place them at a corner where they cannot see the coming monster. When you encounter a teleportable monster, send one summon to attack it. Upon making a sucessful hit, the summon will be teleported to the resting room with the others and so as the monster who choose to chase this summon.

Wow! That's a lot of information to assimiliate, but I sure do appreciate it. And my monk can do slashing damage. I got the Sure Striking Sword from that guy Arlo in Shangearne (sp?) River, so that's taken care of. And my monk's AC is just as hig, if not higher then my paladin and fighter. The only problem is her hit points, which are like, a bit less then the average fighter or paladin.

However, this is great info, and I thank you for it! *hugs and kisses*

I have to agree with teekc, the paladin is the way to go. He has some healing spells, smiting ability, and the extra hit points you need to complete six or seven squares.

Don't forget the protection from evil in the prep either, but that north doorway is the key. Everytime I saw a Remorhaz or Frost Giant I was stoked because I knew it was an easy kill with my two handed weapon, and I couldn't be touched. The extra damage it deals is crucial, at least I found.

I was level 11 by the time I completed it and even with the magic club it ain't no walk in the park. Most Demons and Elementals will only fail their save on a roll of a 1! So be prepared to reload...good luck.

A Monk is most certainly up to the Battlesquares challenge.

Between my Cleric and Rogue/Wizard, there are three more preparatory spells you should be adding on for good measure; Champion's Strength, Cat's Grace, and Armor (armor bonus which doesn't negate the Wisdom bonus to A.C.)

A Monk is most certainly up to the Battlesquares challenge. Up to it maybe, but certainly not the best.

Different enemy comes with different weakness. Your challenger needs different kinds of damage/weapon to deal with different situation. A fighter is better in doing this kind of job.
At highier level, the squares will release fiends or demons that panic or disease. A paladin will have no problem dealing with that.

i started the square using a monk until i met zombie lord and the drown undead. These two has really high resistance to bludgeoning damage. That is when i realized that a fighter/paladin equiped with several kinds of damage abilities is the best dealing the squares.

I believe in a previous post, someone said that his Monk carries around the Sure Striking Sword around for such occassions as Drownded Dead and such.

My Monk has been doing precisely the same.

My Monk has been doing precisely the same. Yes, but can your monk be as good as a fighter with same level wielding the same sword?

As far as i have tried the game it seemes that i high lvl sorcerer seems up to the chalenge. my sorcerer was lvl 12 when i got there first, and i found that if you cast some skull traps and summons a monster then most of the creatures would have recieved so much damage that they only need a few magic missiles. i have also tried to use a fighter but he got beaten by a frost giant. my sorcerer however just used chromatic orb then he was DOOMED.

Chromatic Orb has Doom listed in it's effect?

Edit: :doh:

[ January 27, 2003, 16:45: Message edited by: Faragon ]

No. Sorcerers and other mage classes are TERRIBLE for the battle square. At rank 5 (7 squares required) for the later ranks (4 and above), you won't have enough spells to last the match, especially in HoF mode, where you need several high level spells to kill just one creature. Summoned monsters will disappear in the battle square after a short while (FAR shorter than their duration), and you will not have anyone to tank for you after a few seconds.

[ January 27, 2003, 18:15: Message edited by: The Abyss ]

As far as I could work out the duration of summons depends on whether or not the Golem spots them ;)

If they're in the wrong place and you don't block his line of sight you'll find them lasting very short (in the room), and normal length in that little cubby-hole he places the rest of the party in if they interfere.

Well, if you used a sorcerer in the battle square, the golem will definately see your summons, unless you encounter one of those EXTREMELY annoying teleporting monsters, who have the ability to cause you to load a previous save because the tutrle speed golem doesn't reach the room fast enough to see your party memebers kill it.

I dont know if anyone else has discovered this wonderful exploit, but i found that it worked wonders for me. Ever get bored and fed up with attacking constantly with the same person and finding that the enemy can resist all of your attacks and is ripping you to peices? Heres how to fix it.

Get your main spell caster to walk up to the VERY far north eastern (upper righthand) corner. Get your archer to walk up beneath him. Open the northen door and send your 3 remaining members there, include your cleric. Send your attacking unit to the south western (bottom lefthand) corner. The ice golem should be in the centre, and not visible (in the shadow).

...................................S..1...2....... ...
.................................................. .....
______________....._______________
|................................................. X|
|................................................. Y|
|................................................. ./
|............G.................................../
|.............................................../
|............................................./
|_F________________________/

X = Spell caster
Y = Archer
G = Ice Golem Champion
F = Attacking person.
S = Healing member/sling or bow
1 = Excess party member 1 (optional range attack)
2 = Excess party member 2 (optional range attack)

get your attacker to flick the switch. The golem will walk to the west (left) and he will stay there. Go about doing battle, but when the monster appears, launch your magic missiles and arrows and bullets at it, as well as your normal attacking. When it is dead, repeat. If your attacker get injured, walk down with your cleric and heal him/her.

An easy way out of the toils of 1 on 1 attacking.

Cheers.

[ January 28, 2003, 08:44: Message edited by: Baezlebub ]

I did all of battlesquares, no problem, with a solo sorcerer- granted twas soloing and was level 14 at the time, but with stoneskin/mirror image/haste/fire shield blue, i just sat back and unleashed a frenzy. I had spells of each damage type to get around immunities and resistances, and could stand face to face against Cornugons, Apoc Boneguards and the like without worries. Basically, you make yourself invincible with spell protections and then wail away with mass damage. Then rest, rinse, and repeat.

But have you tried HoF mode battle squares? One miserable greater werewolf took 4 delayed blast fireballs and 2 meteor swarms from a level 24 sorcerer and STILL did not die. It seems on HoF mode, using fighters are better. Normal mode is possible but HoF?

[ January 28, 2003, 15:27: Message edited by: The Abyss ]

My summoned creatures have lasted just as long in the room as any other place.

The summon lasts just as long, but the Golem has a habit of teleporting them if they interfere, just like another party member would be.

The Golem does not banish or kill them.

As Baezlebub explained, you can fight BS with your whole group. However, unlike him I choose to keep my whole band in BS room.

Here is the link (http://www.sorcerers.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=14;t=000913#000000) to the topic where I explain it.

Now I am playing BS HoF. I always get monsters like Remorhaz, Apocalyptic Boneguard, Elder Earth Elemental. I usually do not last long enough to see if they roll 1 on fortitude save against "the club". So, I tried a different tactic, it works well. :D

If you use cleric and animate the dead spell you can summon 6 or 8 creatures. Then just sit back with a ranged weapon and shoot. Just make sure your creatures don't stand in the centre square or golem zaps them away. But when you bring them in they must be inside the squares or he will take them away when you flip the switch. If your cleric has healing cicle it works well at healing your creatures too. I had two clerics one casted in all his spells then saved my other guys spells for when one the creatures died. Always tried to keep 3-4 creatures in the squares. There is a really good explaination of this stratagey on black isle fourm for icewind dale under battle squares.

Well I tried this with my Sorceress. She did alright, she was hasted, stoneskin, prayer, champion strength, and then I used mirror Image and Mordenkanin's sword... I can kill things and only lose about 1 of my mirror Images, I get to hit them a few times with the sword before they even get close. Also, she can re-buff herself so if anything goes away she can just re-cast them before the next battle. I've beaten up to level 7 like this. She could probably, maybe, even go higher, except that I just was kind of getting tired of doing it over and over again...

The easiest thing to do is keep your healer and wizard outside the battlesquare room. in this way they are not teleported to the rest room. and then as for the frost giant get out of the room and he will be stuck on the door just use a spear or a good ranged weapon and plum him. and when all the protection spells shed off have them casted again by the cleric and wizard. so simple.isnt it.

You can also choose the teleportion on purpose Ok - how do you do *this*? My first time doing battle squares, not one of the monsters teleported, which was fine by me. My second time doing it though...nearly *every single* feyr and demon *did* all the way to rank 9, with the exception of maybe two.

This annoyed the hell out of me, cause until the later levels, the Ice Golem *never* got there in time, so it was almost an "autoloss" of the square for me whenever a monster teleported away.

I just want to know how you *choose* this so I know how *not* to. I assumed that at least with demons, that disrupting their spells might be why they didn't teleport, but if you can choose it maybe not....

The easiest thing to do is keep your healer and wizard outside the battlesquare room. in this way they are not teleported to the rest room.I tried to keep my party out of the battle room, mostly due to the problem with the excessively teleporting feyrs - my reasoning was that if they were closer, it wouldnt take the damned Golem so long to get there...but he teleported them anyway, no matter where I put my people.

to finish this all i had to do is have 1 charactor teleported and fight the monster that came with the rest of my party with the paladin/fighter going 1 to 1 ands the rest of then using ranged to quicken the process.
was cool that was and reload if ever i fail.