SCS Illasera
SCS Illasera is a combat encounter in SCS BG2. SCS Illasera is staged in the Grove of the Ancients of Throne of Bhaal, the third and final part of the Bhaalspawn Saga.
Vanilla Illasera BG2 is a joke encounter; so much so, that one wonders how she could ever be Bhaalspawn BG2.
Well, Illasera is thugged out a bit in Best Mods BG2, but she's still a cakewalk for Best Party BG2.
Note that this party is capable of laying down dozens and dozens and dozens of Skull Traps in order to "prepare for this battle." And these idiots that "ambush" us? Well, they'll walk straight into them. Illasera will be insta-killed before her inane dialogue sequence kicks in:
Oooooh! Tell me. Tell me how much that hurt. I mean, that must have really hurt. Damn!
And the others will just flee the scene:
Combat encounter won.
But let's say we don't do that.
Illasera is an archer whose arrows inflict on-hit miscast magic and erroneous on-hit PfMW-bypassing dispel [1]. Each arrow can inflict 32 dmg per hit or 64 on crits, along with 10 magic damage.
[1] We have dispel magic arrows, too. But guess what: ours don't bypass PfMW.
Illasera is backed up by four Black Reavers: mage, cleric, dual-wielder and neo orog chieftain. Before he can fire his cheesy contingency, the problematic mage can be taken out instantly by three pre-set Skull Traps. Thus, we remove rival arcane spellcasting from the equation before getting underway, which means no ADHW, no Time Stop and no pit fiend. If we don't want to take him out in such a manner (it's cheesy), then all that is required is Ruby Ray of Reversal followed up by "how do we want to kill him?" This party is loaded with RRoR x6.
The all-mage party decides to forego Planetars and Chain Contingency ADHWs; instead employing what I call "Spiderweb Sequencers". Afterall, we're in a forest and we're going up against a ranger-archer, so why not throw some "nature" at her and see how she handles it?
Note that this party is capable of laying down dozens and dozens and dozens of Skull Traps in order to "prepare for this battle." And these idiots that "ambush" us? Well, they'll walk straight into them. Illasera will be insta-killed before her inane dialogue sequence kicks in:
Oooooh! Tell me. Tell me how much that hurt. I mean, that must have really hurt. Damn!
And the others will just flee the scene:
Combat encounter won.
But let's say we don't do that.
Illasera is an archer whose arrows inflict on-hit miscast magic and erroneous on-hit PfMW-bypassing dispel [1]. Each arrow can inflict 32 dmg per hit or 64 on crits, along with 10 magic damage.
[1] We have dispel magic arrows, too. But guess what: ours don't bypass PfMW.
Illasera is backed up by four Black Reavers: mage, cleric, dual-wielder and neo orog chieftain. Before he can fire his cheesy contingency, the problematic mage can be taken out instantly by three pre-set Skull Traps. Thus, we remove rival arcane spellcasting from the equation before getting underway, which means no ADHW, no Time Stop and no pit fiend. If we don't want to take him out in such a manner (it's cheesy), then all that is required is Ruby Ray of Reversal followed up by "how do we want to kill him?" This party is loaded with RRoR x6.
Spiderweb Sequencer
The all-mage party decides to forego Planetars and Chain Contingency ADHWs; instead employing what I call "Spiderweb Sequencers". Afterall, we're in a forest and we're going up against a ranger-archer, so why not throw some "nature" at her and see how she handles it?
• Minor Sequencer x6 = Web x12. What does this mean? It means the aggro is not going to be able to move or act for the duration of the combat encounter. It means Illasera doesn't get to go ethereal, doesn't get to activate Hardiness, and doesn't get to even aim her bow at us, let alone fire it. Instead, she just walks into a dozen stacked spiderwebs, gets immobilized, and then gets killed. How? Keep reading.
• Sequencer x4 = Spider Spawn x12 = max 24 spiders. That is 120 ApR right there. Sword Spiders can crit for 26 dmg, and Illasera does not wear a helm.
A Bhaalspawn... an Ascension/SCS Bhaalspawn that does not wear a helm... an Ascension/SCS Bhaalspawn that gets immobilized by a second circle spell and then torn to shreds by fifth circle spiders. Or taken out by Melf's Minute Meteors (a third circle spell). Or Magic Missiles (a first circle spell).
Super-Dumb.
Thus, this "epic combat encounter" can be overcome with Web, Skull Trap, Minor Sequencer and Spider Spawn; in other words, no spell above fifth circle is needed. You know, there is a reason that each of these spells are highly ranked in Best Spells BG2 -- it's because they're godly.
Next up: SCS Gromnir -- 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 |
I've read your Best Spells writeup, and I was very impressed at the conclusions you came with. Web is not, at face value, an overly impressive spell. But when combined with a freedom effect or spiders, as you illustrate, it's very effective.
ReplyDeletePlease keep writing!
I ran into a nasty bug in the Pocket Plane. Managed to fix it, though, so I hope to cover "the Five", along with the finale at the Throne.
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