I'm a level 31 mage, and I'm having a hell of a time trying to defeat Josephine after the elven burial grounds. My skills are:

- Hell Spikes 3
- Telekenesis 2
- Meteorstrike 5
- Freeze 5
- Bless 1
- Restoration 4
- Aura of Guarding 1
- Spellshield 1
- Summon Vermin 1
- Summon Skeleton 3
- Master Summoner 2
- Lockpick 4
- Pickpocket 1
- Evade Trap 2
- Wisdom 5
- Aura of Command 1
- Identify 4
- Alchemy 4
- Curse 2
- Enchant Weapon 2
- Boomerang 1

First, I killed all the dwarves. I managed to save the game while standing behind the ladder, with Josephine on the other side, so I can stand there and plan/prepare indefinitely. I can also walk towards the back of the room (south) without aggroing her. I've tried many different strategies, but always some combination of:

1. Cast aura of guarding and spellshield on self
2. Summon skeletons, cast aura of guarding and spellshield on skeletons
3. Curse Josephine several times, then use hell spikes on her until she summons deathknight
4. Cast aura of command on deathknight
5. Down restoration potions as needed
6. Repeat

The longest this has gone on for is 5-10 min, and the lowest I've gotten her health so far is about half. I keep trying to freeze her after casting curse on her but it doesn't do anything, and she barely ever lets down her shield. While it's up I can hardly damage her (if at all), and my own shield only blocks maybe one of her hell spikes.

Should I go grind a few more levels before attempting this fight?

Standard suggestion is to try Deadly Gift level 5 with Death scorpions on her.

Yes - scorpions do work. It's the technique I've usually used and it is easiest.

However, if you wish to combat Josephine using mage skills have you tried Polymorph? There is also Energy Cage which should contain and neutralise her for a period. Years ago I managed to beat Josephine using Freeze and Hell Spikes.

Hope you find a way that suits you.

Not as easy but if you have Flash Attack to get right up on her and Poison Weapon, that gets the job done, too.
However, if you try this, you should have a very good sword.

Since I don't have any of the suggested skills (Deadly Gift, Polymorph, Energy Cage, Flash Attack or Poison Weapon) it sounds like I will need to do a lot more grinding before I can fight her.

I'm really getting sick of this game. It really sucks that by the time you encounter this boss there is no feasible way for certain builds to defeat her. Sounds like it's time to use a save editor.

Before you do that, how about having a look in the shops for spell books that you can buy? Polymorph often appears as one you can purchase. It is a very effective spell.

Also, you don't need very many additional levels before you can use scorpions - 2 skill choices in Deadly Gift does the trick if I remember correctly.

Thanks, I will. I really hate to cheat, although I can justify it if I reallocate some points I never used (like Boomerang).

Lol - I amended as you posted - thought I was perhaps being bossy! :)

No you weren't, but I am not very easily offended :)

As for scorpions, I've found hundreds of the things but never picked them up since I didn't have the skill to use them. Now that I have the skill I can't find the traps anywhere grrrr...

You can buy them from the shady dealer in the market place. Also the shop where you have to gain reputation to get the key to the garden sometimes stocks them.

You're at a level where you can easily defeat the lich in the cave to the right of Rivertown. You get a Polymorph there (along with a pretty good sword) and just one seems to be enough. I've never tried it on Josephine but you get hilarious results eventually if you use it on...Moriendor, I think...when you're in the Dwarven Hall mines.

You're in Rivertown. You're at Geoff, the blacksmith's hardware store. Go right and you'll see Tangalf (I think that's his name) standing there. He's the one who approached you to sell you blackmarket goods when you first got to Rivertown, i.e., the shady dealer. He nearly always has lockpicks and scorpion traps.

If you keep going right, you'll bump into the edge of the world. Go down past the empty house almost to the plateaus. A little way back in you'll be attacked by thugs and a dog...well, they call it a wolf. The wolf is very close to the lich cave. Maybe you don't recognize it as a cave, didn't think about that. It's the big pile of rocks.

I can think of 2 caves hidden in the rocks along the LH side of the map in the Dark Forest. To get to one of them you follow the flowers. I seem to recall butterflies too. Your character will comment on the lovely smell of the flowers. The other is harder to spot so hug the rocks and use your mouse to find the entrance.

There are several caves/rock piles with entrances throughout the game and DD rewards explorers.

With respect to buying skill books, new ones will come in the 2 shops that stock them in the marketplace, so its worth checking back every now and then to see what is new.

Well, before I heard back from irondog I ended up in the sewers beneath Verdistis looking for some girl's cat, which I ran into while looking for scorpion traps. This is one of the things I love most about this game: there's so much content that it's incredibly easy to get distracted. On the other hand, I still haven't found the cat because I got so sick of the combat by the time I was half way through that I just turned off the computer.

Anyways, when you said Rivertown I thought you meant the poor section, where the plague happened. The merchants area is just called "Merchants Area" as far as I can tell, even though on the teleporter map it's called "Ars Magicana."