Learning how to be effective in battles is the biggest challenge you'll face in Throne of Bhaal. This section of the guide primarily focuses on ensuring that you know all of the important combat tactics and spell-casting techniques and the capabilities of your opponents, in addition to explaining some of the less intuitive elements of the game.

Combat and Spell-casting Tips

As you'd expect from a game about battling demigods, giants, and dragons, some of the battles in Throne of Bhaal are incredibly difficult, especially at higher skill levels. Even though combat is more challenging in the expansion pack than in any previous Baldur's Gate game engine, most battles are manageable if you've prepared defensive spells in advance and have at least rudimentary knowledge of the capabilities of your opponents. The walk-through section of this guide contains specific instructions for overcoming each encounter, but this section contains some general combat and spellcasting tips.

The Importance of Sequencers and Contingencies

Sequencers and contingencies are your most effective tools for quickly dispatching dangerous opponents and defending your spellcasters. Sequencers and contingencies can't be interrupted, and they occur almost instantaneously, letting you get in decisive early attacks and automatically erect defenses when threatened.

Contingencies generally work best as defensive tools, although a chain contingency can also be a deadly offensive weapon. All your mages should have a contingency active whenever possible. A good spell to use as a basic contingency is stoneskin, set to activate when your mage is down to 50 percent of his hit points, since it ensures that you instantly acquire a defense capable of absorbing enough additional blows to let that character escape or mount a counterattack. Chain contingencies can help mages establish a very effective defense by combining spells such as stoneskin, mislead, improved mantle, spell turning, and spell deflection. If you anticipate fighting strong melee opponents, you can combine stoneskin, mislead, and improved mantle to mount a defense that will buy you a lot of time. If you expect to be engaging in a dual with another mage, you can substitute improved mantle for spell turning or deflection. Chain contingency can also be an effective offensive spell, since you can automatically set off three devastating spells of Abi-Dalzim's horrid wilting or a combination of Bigby's clenched fist, disintegrate, chain lightning, or finger of death. The main problem with trying to use a chain contingency as an offensive weapon is that it's too easy to waste it by setting it off accidentally against a weak opponent, since you can't directly trigger it.

Spell triggers, spell sequencers, and minor sequencers are your best weapons for taking out enemy spellcasters, so you should have them all active whenever possible. Minor sequencer only lets you prepare up to second-level spells, but two sequenced magic missile spells are capable of meting out decent damage to an unprepared spellcaster. In fact, even though you can group higher-level spells in a spell sequencer, three magic missiles are frequently the most effective spells to group. Often, you can take out a formidable mage almost instantly by having two party members launch spell-sequenced magic missiles before the enemy mage can raise any defenses. Lightning bolt is another good spell to use in either a spell sequencer or spell trigger, although the latter spell can also link three of the more powerful chain lightning spells together.

Sneak attack. A group of sequenced magic missiles can be extremely effective at eliminating enemy mages before they can raise defenses.

Another use of a spell trigger is to devastate the defenses of an enemy mage or creature that is strongly resistant to magic. If you want to make a monster more susceptible to spells, use a spell trigger to instantly cast three lower resistance spells. Enemy mages will immediately be made vulnerable by a trigger that launches pierce shield, breach, and power word silence. Use contingencies and sequencers constantly and, when you don't have any remaining, don't hesitate to retreat back to your pocket plane to rest and restore them.

Battling Mages

Mages and spellcasting monsters remain your most deadly opponents. If you can't take down their defenses quickly, they can often reduce your party to shambles relatively quickly. Always ensure that your party can cast pierce magic or shield, breach, and true sight to dispel the defenses that make mages invulnerable to your fighters. Since wands of spellstriking grant you the ability to cast breach and pierce magic, acquire them whenever possible and put them to good use. Make sure you can adequately defend your key party members from the offensive spells frequently cast by enemy mages and monsters; the following information will help you.

For every defensive spell, there is at least one counterspell. Defenses will usually be set by triggers or contingencies which prevents them from being disrupted, so always make sure you can cast an appropriate counterspell. The following charts set out the defensive and offensive spells that mages and spellcasting monsters frequently rely upon and the appropriate counterspell or spells to use in response.

Defensive Spell	Used By	Counterspells
Absolute immunity	Infrequently used by high-level mages	Breach
Globe of invulnerability	Commonly used by mages	Spellstrike, ruby ray of reversal, pierce shield, Kelben's warding whip, pierce magic, dispel magic
Improved mantle	Commonly used by high-level mages	Breach
Improved invisibility	Infrequently used by mages and creatures	True sight, detect invisibility, invisibility purge, glitterdust
Invisibility	Infrequently used by mages, wraiths, and certain high-level monsters; commonly used by thieves and assassins	True sight, detect invisibility, detect illusion, invisibility purge, glitterdust
Mantle	Commonly used by high-level mages	Breach
Minor globe of invulnerability	Very infrequently used by mages	Spellstrike, ruby ray of reversal, pierce shield, Kelben's warding whip, pierce magic, secret word, dispel magic, spell thrust
Minor spell deflection	Very infrequently used by mages	Spellstrike, ruby ray of reversal, pierce shield, Kelben's warding whip, pierce magic, spell thrust
Minor spell turning	Infrequently used by very high-level mages	Spellstrike, ruby ray of reversal, pierce shield, Kelben's warding whip, pierce magic, secret word, spell thrust
Mislead, project image	Commonly used by all mages	True sight, dispel magic
Non-detection	Commonly used by thieves and assassins when combined with invisibility	True sight, detect illusion
Protection from energy, magic energy, elements, magic weapons, or other "protection from" spells	Commonly used by mages and creatures	Breach
Reflected image, mirror image	Commonly used by mages	True sight, detect illusion, dispel magic
Shadow door	Commonly used by mages	True sight, invisibility purge
Simulacrum	Infrequently used by very high-level mages	True sight
Spell deflection	Infrequently used by very high-level mages	Spellstrike, ruby ray of reversal, pierce shield, Kelben's warding whip, pierce magic, secret word
Spell immunity	Infrequently used by very high-level mages	Spellstrike, ruby ray of reversal, pierce shield, Kelben's warding whip, pierce magic, secret word, spell thrust
Spell shield	Infrequently used by very high-level mages	Spellstrike, ruby ray of reversal, pierce shield, Kelben's warding whip, secret word
Spell trap	Used by liches and infrequently used by very high-level mages	Spellstrike, ruby ray of reversal, pierce shield
Spell turning	Infrequently used by very high-level mages	Spellstrike, ruby ray of reversal, pierce shield, Khelben's warding whip, pierce magic, secret word
Stoneskin	Commonly used by mages	Breach

Offensive Spell	Used By	Counterspells
Imprisonment	Used by liches and infrequently used by very high-level mages	Spell trap, spell turning, a berserker's enrage ability If a party member has been imprisoned, use freedom
Maze	Used by liches and infrequently used by very high-level mages	Spell trap, spell turning, a berserker's enrage ability If a party member has been mazed, use freedom.
Cloudkill, incendiary cloud, stinking cloud, death fog	Infrequently used by mages	Zone of sweet air
Charm, domination, command, confusion, psionic blasts from mind flayers	Frequently used by monsters and mages	Chaotic commands
Haste, fire shields	Commonly used by monsters and mages (you can't dispel natural fire shields like the ones generated by flaming skulls)	Dispel magic, remove magic

 

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