Hello!

If or when you head to the Friendly Arm Inn, you'll meet someone named Tarnesh at the stairs. He's kind of a problem if he manages to get his horror spell off. However, you do have a secret weapon. It's actually not a secret, but I like to call it that.

When you leave Candlekeep you'll get Imoen and she has a wand of magic missiles. When fighting Tarnesh have your PC attack him and have Imoen spam the wand. He'll die so fast that you'll..."Tarnesh" his reputation! Don't use the bow. Most of Imoen's shots will miss, especially if you go there at the very beginning...and because he uses mirror image. You'll also get help from the local guards but he has enough time to kill you before the guards take him out.

Speaking of which...how does plan to escape? He can't slaughter his way through a legion of guards and the owner of the inn, Bentley Mirrorshade, is at the very least a decent spell caster. The note on his body suggests that he planned on collecting a bounty - so this wasn't a suicide mission. I could go on but you probably get the point by now. You've got some serious balls Mr. Tarnesh.

Did I make a mistake? Did I leave something out? What is your strategy for dealing with him? Let me know!

Thank you in advance for replying.

Tarnesh is nasty but not that hard to kill. I buff before fighting him if i can and then force attack him when he comes on sight. That way i have a better chance of hitting him when the conversation is over.

He has 12 HP so it may take a while to kill him with magic wand. However, this maybe a good tactic to make his casting fail.

Also in the news, i kill him while guards are away cos i want the xp for myself.

Another thing that may help with this encounter is the potion of clarity that you can take from Candlekeep Inn. You can at least free one person, if his horror goes off. That's why I like to spread my party at the beginning of this combat.

Remove Fear is the best anti-Tarnesh device.