SCS Gromnir (Part VIII)

Part VIII of the Sword Coast Stratagems Guide for SCS BG2.

Back to Part VII: SCS Illasera.

SCS Gromnir

SCS Gromnir is a combat encounter in SCS BG2. SCS Gromnir is staged in Gromnir's stronghold in the town of Saradush, Throne of Bhaal.

Gromnir BG2 is all about supertanking and physical-based damage dealing. As such, he doesn't have a hope in hell of standing against one mage, let alone the six in our party.

However, this half-orc Bhaalspawn BG2 is not alone; far from it:

• First, foremost, and of most concern, is that Gromnir is backed up by two mages loyal to his schemes: Karun the Black and one custom Il-Khan Battlemage.
• Second, Halbazzer Drin (a minotaur cleric with a full repertoire and contingencies) and Lashar'ra (a dryad that spams Flesh to Stone) are initially invisibile and flank the party.
• Third, mundanes such as Eler Had, Barena Elkin and one Il-Khan Soldier attack from the sides. Comparatively, this trio constitute naught but mooks, but they are annoying mooks because of their initial positioning.
• Fourth and last, the most useless mook of all: Ramazith the leopard is Gromnir's pet. We don't waste time casting spells at it because it's going to die amidst the epicness. (And yeah, there are mages from Baldur's Gate city named Ramazith and Halbazzer Drin.)

Assuming the party is warded against Gromnir's opening War Cry (counter: Resist Fear) and physical-based damage dealing (PfMW), Karun the Black and the Il-Khan Battlemage are the biggest threats. Why are they the biggest threats? Because they're epic arcane spellcasters. Gromnir is basically ignored even though he's in our face and whaling away on us from the outset. That said, being in the thick it, and standing between us and the two mages, he'll incur indirect damage as the mage-duel progresses. Gromnir is not combat encounter-dictating like his mages are but he's going to take some time to take out due to his supertanking and self-healing. That's nothing our "gates" won't fix -- he may even morale-fail under such a heavy assault -- but that happens towards the end of the battle.

Karun the Black - also a Bhaalspawn - is easily the most troublesome combat unit. We are always focused on him, always, because what he does can change the landscape of the battle in an instant.

Here, he Wishes for Imperviousness in order to grant all of Gromnir's allies Hardiness:

If he does that, be thankful he didn't Wish for a double-length, Improved Alacrity Time Stop. As with Exile Irenicus, the nature of the Wish is randomly drawn from a preset Wishpool.

Unlike the Il-Khan Battlemage, Karun the Black cannot be vaporized at the outset by means of Chain Contingency: Abi Dalzim's Horrid Wilting x3 (of which our party comes pre-loaded with x4 aka ADHW x12). Why? Because Protection From Magic Energy. But he can be taken out with Dragon's Breath which HLA my party does not yet have access to.

Also, don't be fooled if the feedback window reports his death: that is only his Simulacrum (a high-level illusionary decoy).

So...

First, we need to visibilize/de-illusion Karun the Black in order to make him targetable by conventional, non-contingencied/sequenced spells. Jan Jansen's Detect Illusions skill does the trick but True Sight will as well providing that Karun the Black's "previously cast" (initial) contingency does not grant him immunity to the Divination school through Spell Immunity (a contingency's spell selection is semi-random). It's not easy to keep Karun the Black visiblized because he is a highly mobile caster that employs Shadow Door and illusion-based contingencies. That's why we have Jan tailing him at all times, all over him like a cheap suit, with the Detect Illusion modal activated. In order to do that without ending up dead, Jan must be buffed and warded to the heavens.

Usually, Karun the Black is immune to Abjuration, and usually, he is also warded by Spell Shield. We can't do a damn thing to him until that Spell Shield is dispelled; thus, Spellstrike aside, we cast Secret Word or Ruby Ray of Reversal in order to dispel Spell Shield followed up by Ruby Ray of Reversal in order to dispel Spell Immunity: Abjuration.

At that point, Karun the Black is open to ADHWs and other direct damage spells, but he is still immune to physical-based damage. Thus, we fire Breach in order to strip his combat protections.

Now Aerie can whale away on him with the Flail of the Ages, the elemental swarm can move in, and so can our celestials (devas and Planetars).

Is that overkill?

No, we'll likely have a few "gates" getting about that have been taking care of business (Karun the Black isn't the only enemy!); not only that, Karun the Black is still a threat if he manages to fire a contingency, a sequencer, or even a double-length, Improved Alacrity Time Stop through Wish. We can't let him turn the tide with Power Word: Stun, Comet or Dark Planetar, so once he's finally exposed and vulnerable, we need to throw the kitchen sink at him.

Once he's finally been dropped, Gromnir can easily be dealt with by spells and "gates."

Below: The worst thing that can happen. Karun the Black unleashes a double-length Improved Alacrity Time Stop.

In addition to the basics as covered in previous posts (such as Stoneskin, Mirror Image, Spirit Armor, Improved Invisibility and PfMW), our pre-battle defensive buffs are as follows: Resist Fear, Chaotic Commands, Death Ward, Protection From Petrification, Protection From Evil 10' radius, Spell Immunity: Abjuration + Divination. That is the bare minimum. Some of those spells will need to be refired as this highly variable battle progresses; it depends on how things unfold.

• Brute-force method. This encounter can be won easily by means of Sequencer: Skull Trap x3 (x5) along with Chain Contingency: ADHW x3 (x2).

Gromnir is insta-killed and the cutscene with Melissan kicks in; after which, the party can simply Pocket Plane out of the encounter, leaving Karun the Black and the others to their devices.

Below: In the first round, Gromnir incurs massive damage from fifteen instantly-fired Skull Traps and six ADHWs. The encounter is over.

Next up: SCS Yaga-Shura -- Sword Coast Stratagems Guide -- SCS BG2.

SCS Irenicus	SCS Slayer Irenicus	SCS Illasera
SCS Gromnir	SCS Yaga-Shura	SCS Sendai
Baldur's Gate 2 (Index)	Best BG2 Mods	No Reload Run Baldur's Gate