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Finally managed to complete Durlag's Tower, by spamming the chess board and demonknight with summons. Then I go back to Ulgoth's Beard to deliver the Soultaker dagger, and we get attacked by assassins and whatnot. Finally manage to deal with them, again with summons. Rest and heal.

Then I go to the temple, and get attacked again when we step inside the top floor, after killing the guys outside. Haven't even gotten to that Letec chap, which I hear is the toughest fight in the game, as those pesky assassins keep one-shotting us.

Try my usual trick of summons, but it's not fast enough. They're dealing surreal amounts of damage, so guys with 80-96 HP dies in one or two stabs. Tried to go inside alone and invisible, but apparently they still see me and initiate dialogue, so I can't really do much. Managed to fire off a fireball that did some damage, but barely manage to go out the door before they killed me, and once outside they came after me, and it was short work from there before most of us were dead.

Would love some help here. I'm stumped :( Loved Durlag's Tower and the challenges there, but this was tougher.

At the XP cap with
Illusionist/Thief (hiding)
Imoen (locks/traps)
Minsc
Kivan
Dynaheir
Branwen

Is it the original BG1 or BGT/EasyTutu? Any mods you are using?

BG1 easyTutu. I'm using some mods, but nothing that affects combat I think.

UB
BG2 Tweaks (bags of holding, ammo, animation, icons, max hp, etc, but no rule changes other than that IIRC)
widescreen
NPC mod too, but with limited options.

The main problem is the assassins who seem to be hiding on both sides of the door. They complete rape us, even though I summon like hell on all directions. They practically one-shotted Imoen who has 80 HP.

What kind of spells and potions should I be looking to take before the battle?

easuTutu is BG2 engine, that why I asked. If the problem is only on the first attack the enemies do then your best bet is getting in the room with an invisible party. If you don't have enough potions ready, the 2nd level mage spell Invisibility can be cast on others.
When you enter cast an Detect Invisible or Invisibility Purge (the caster remains hidden) and get the jump on them for a change.
If the thieves have and use Invisibility potions, wait before attacking for them to consume that and then cast a second detection spell. If you don't have any tactical mods install that's ought to be enough.

If one of your thieves have invested in Detect Illusions you could use that instead of a spell.

Also I don't remember if there's an autosave before going in the room. If there isn't you could do the whole trick with only one party member going in, to save on potions and spells.

And then.. well I guess you are back in black. :)

YEESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! :))))

Finally made it. Must have started playing just before you posted that advice, so I tried something different, and it thankfully worked in the end. Went in stealthed with my main character (over 100 in both skills). Dialogue was initiated. Then I made sure to step very close to the door before firing off a summoning spell, then ran out. Don't think the summons did anything of note with the two assassins as they go invisible all the time, but they did something with the others.

Then I kept running in and out with the PC. Got out one more summon from the wand, and then fired off a couple of fireballs. In between one assassins ran after me out, which we then managed to take care of. And one of the other chaps got out as well. In the end the last assassin followed me out too, and then it was done. One more fireball and the last two guys fell, including the pesky wizard. Phew!

Then I saved and buffed up for what I had read was a mighty tough fight against Aec Letec.
Detection from evil on two characters, Chant, Protection from Petrification on Minsc (tank). Then we went down.

Fireball spell before two summons from my PC and Dynaheir. Minsc helped out with the wizard girl there, while the others went to work on the cultists. Minsc dodged one maze attack from Aec Letec, but then got hit. I took my sweet time and closely watched the icons to the right, so when he got hit I equpped Kivan with dispelling arrows and hit Minsc. That took care of it. Had to do this about 5-6 times with various people, but we managed to keep them alive. Well, sort of.

When Aec Letec was down to "Injured" and we had finally managed to kill off all the cultists with Fireballs and Minsc, while the summons held Aec Letec, Dynaheir let off a solid stinker - Cloudkill. I had never used that sucker before, so didn't really know what it would do, but I guess I shouldn't have been surprised the wall of summons insta-died. That was a problem..... Tried to get up some new ones, but Minsc almost died right away from a melee (I think) attack by Aec Letec. Soon after he got mazed again, so Kivan got to work.

In between dispelling arrows by Kivan he fired off Arrows of Biting at Aec Letec.

Suddenly I noticed Aec Letec was gone... Wooh, he died! :))))

But also think I had missed to re-focus Kivan and his 'victims' so he had probably fired off arrows of biting at Dynaheir and Minsc too, cause suddenly both died. They gulped healing potions, but it couldn't be helped. It must either have been Kivan's biting arrows, or the cloudkill on them too.

Luckily the bartender had 3 scrolls of Raise Dead, so they're back among the living now.

Very tough fight, but so glad it worked out all right in the end. Actually him on the first try, but to be fair I had read about it beforehand so knew I had to take out the cultists before killing him, so that helped.

Off to Werewolf Island now I guess. Hopefully this will go okay. No idea what meets me there, but I assume the name isn't a coincidence.. ;)

http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac183/Pangaea666/Baldurs%20Gate%201/Baldr005-1.jpg

Think the key was the dispelling arrows. Had 4 dispell magic spells lined up too, but didn't have to use them as Kivan didn't run out of arrows. That would have removed all buffs right away, so the arrows are better to use. Summons are crucial too I think, cause otherwise Aec will probably maze everybody faster than I can dispell them, and he has to be kept busy with *something*

Don't think I have any detect invisible spells or anything of that order. Did try the improved invisibility spell as that was supposed to work despite attacking, but the assassins still got to me. Running in and out in the end did the trick though. Just glad that whole debacle is over :)

Back in Black indeed ;)

Good job on beating the demon. After I read your post I searched few threads on Aec Letec and saw that it was quite common suggestion to use dispell arrows.
I remember trying that on occasion with my archer and changed my mind almost instantly!
But of course with a normal warrior or thief that's something to keep in mind.

Another method to avoid his gaze is to use potion of mirrored eyes that gives immunity on gaze attacks. Also the arrows of biting are simply a glorified name for poisonous arrows so you can stop the recurring damage with an antidote or slow poison spell.

Have fun with the rest of the game :)

Thanks :)

It was sweet to finally overcome that hurdle, and especially Aec Letec afterwards. Tried to find tips on how to deal with the battle upstairs, but everything was about Aec Letec. The dispelling arrows helped though, as 4 or 5 of us got gazed during the fight, Imoen and Minsc twice. 4 Dispel Magic spells would not have been enough. Minsc gulped Mirrored Eyes before the fight, but I think Aec Letec still got through to him. Suppose it may have run out though, but IIRC it's supposed to last a while.

Is there nothing else to do about the gaze attacks (once hit) than dispel magic and dispelling arrows?

There was a poison icon on Dynaheir, that killed her in the end, so that must have been Kivan's work then. Unfortunately Minsc happened to have all my antidotes, and was dead at the time, and the PC didn't get over quickly enough to deal with it with his own Slow Poison ability. Was just glad I beat the guy, and with raise dead scrolls nearby it was not a problem.

They probably felt a bit stiff afterwards, but hey ho! :D

(Have done Werewolf Island too now, and am back in Baldur's Gate to finish chapter 5. It's a wonderfully fun game)