TorGal BG2
TorGal is a Baldur's Gate enemy in BioWare's cRPG of 2000, Baldur's Gate 2. Backed up by his minions, TorGal is found in the ancestral chamber located in the basement of the de'Arnise Keep. TorGal must be defeated in order to satisfy Nalia's quest.
As a troll, TorGal is immune to Sleep, Paralysis, Stun, Charm and Panic. As a magical troll, he is immune to Non-magical weapons and inflicts on-hit Slow or 1-point ability score drain: Strength (stacks) on failed save vs. Death. TorGal has standard troll-rate regen as well as innate true seeing and 30 in cold, electricity and magic resistance BG2. Oddly though, fire or acid is NOT required in order to utterly vanquish him.
TorGal's Stats
◦ Vanilla TorGal stats: Level 6/1/1, Strength 20, THAC0 5, AC -6, 140 HPs.
TorGal's claws inflict 17-27 dmg per hit (average 22) at a rate of 3 ApR.
TorGal is backed up by two giant trolls. Upon catching sight of the party, they rage hard and attack in melee. The trolls can be immobilized with Web and/or worn down with Cloudkill. However, like most stubborn tanks, they are best dealt with by the party's warrior BG2 who would (ideally) be decked out in Full Plate Mail BG2 and wielding Flail of Ages, Stonefire, Gnasher or Celestial Fury on-hand, and Belm or Shield of Harmony off-hand.
Most parties are going to be of low level and consist of Nalia, Aerie, Minsc, Jaheira and Yoshimo. Let's ignore Charname and just roll with those five companions at their lowest level, with their default spells, and with the gear looted only from Chateau Irenicus, Circus and upper reaches of the Keep. In addition, we won't wield the Flail of Ages or quaff any potions. So, how can we beat the encounter?
How to Kill TorGal
Yoshimo -- a 10th level Bounty Hunter BG2 -- sets 4x Snares in the doorway chokepoint that separates the party from the trolls. He Hides in Shadows and approaches TorGal, who true-sees him. Yoshimo runs back to the doorway as the troll-mob gives chase. Then, TorGal gets hammered by the snares as he tries to crash his way through the doorway (collectively, the snares can inflict up to 40 dmg, and also inflict Slow status on the victim). This is a nice way to kick things off but TorGal still has 100 HPs, and is regenerating.
Minsc -- a 7th level Ranger BG2 -- moves into the doorway, blocking it. Preparing to stand and deliver, he wields Sarevok's Sword of Chaos +2 (SW2H16, 1d10 +2) at 3 ApR (Hasted by Nalia), and wears Mail of the Dead +2 (CHAN03, AC 3). Those items may sound great but they are just shit from the Chateau. He also wears the Helm of Balduran, Ring of Protection +1 and Girdle of Piercing.
Jaheira (Fighter 7, Druid 8) has cast Flame Blade on herself and then Doom on TorGal as he flails about angrily in the doorway while Nalia casts Improved Invisibility on Minsc as he and Jaheira whale away on TorGal, hoping to land some hits (they should land some, but they'll also take the odd heavy hit due to their subpar ACs).
Nalia (Thief 4, Mage 9) and Aerie (Cleric 7, Mage 7) each have 3x Melf's Acid Arrow. They empty them on TorGal from behind Minsc and Jaheira for some stacking, over-time acid damage. Nalia and Aerie also have Flame Arrow and Slow (reduces TorGal's attack rate and regen rate), which makes all the difference. Yoshimo can pepper the trolls with fire or acid arrows, too.
To speed things up, Nalia's 2x Cloudkill can be cast through the doorway and into the troll-chamber; the AoE positioned such that it blankets the trolls but not Minsc and Jaheira. If Nalia gets lucky, TorGal can be insta-killed by Cloudkill; otherwise, the damage-over-time is going to be solid, regardless.
Overall, it is the combo of snares, buffs, debuffs, elemental spells, elemental arrows and melee damage that gets the job done.
Conclusion: The fledgling party took on TorGal at their lowest level and came out on top while only having access to early-game gear and default spells. TorGal isn't easy to beat under such limitations: unless we get lucky, everyone needs to be pulling their weight for the encounter's duration.
TorGal Tactics Mods
SCS TorGal & Tactics TorGal
Both SCS and Tactics markedly increase the difficulty of the TorGal encounter. Most notably, by granting TorGal activated Barbarian rage, physical damage resistance BG2 and yuan-ti Mage BG2 backup as well as enhanced spirit troll and spectral troll backup.
Thus, parties should be of higher level when attempting to take TorGal out. For example, access to Sunfire, MMM and Improved Haste is advised. Non-giant trolls also have a translucency effect applied to them which makes them harder to see as well as blink in and out of view (disengages targeting).
TorGal's level in both mods has been increased from 6/1/1 to 15/1/1 (thus, Cloudkill insta-kill is out).
Due to increased damage reduction and +HPs, Tactics TorGal is much more of a supertanker than SCS TorGal. In order to lay the smackdown on Tactics TorGal, we want a supremely hard hitter and supertanker with ApR out the ass, warded with Chaotic Commands vs. Panic from Cloak of Fear. Otherwise, Tactics TorGal is the ultimate turd that just won't flush: 250 HP regenerator with 66 physical resistance. On top of that, the 2x yuan-ti mages pose a big threat and the umber hulk elder and spirit trolls can cause major issues as well.
Yuan-ti Mages
Tactics yuan-ti mages cast PfMW for defense and MMM for offense. Make no mistake, unnerfed MMM stings hard. After that, they start pumping out Confusion, Chaos, Skull Trap, Lightning Bolt, Domination and Hold Person; whereas the SCS variant fires a pre-buff contingency consisting of Shield, Fire Shield and Minor Globe of Invulnerability followed up by PfMW, MMM, Flesh to Stone, Chaos, Slow, Animate Dead, Emotion, Spider Spawn, Minor Sequencer: Magic Missile / Chromatic Orb etc. In addition, their contigencies and repertoire vary somewhat with each reload. The only constant is that yuan-ti mages are as annoying as hell.
Enhanced Spirit Trolls & Spectral Trolls
Both Tactics and SCS enhanced spirit trolls inflict on-hit, stacking save vs. Death or 1-point ability score drain: Strength interspersed with castings of Unholy Blight, Greater Command and Flame Strike. Note that ability score drain aka stat drain can bypass HP pools, killing our party members (cf. Archer BG2 and Haer'Dalis BG2). As with the undead spectral troll, they are immune to non-magical weapons and have 66% Damage Resistance BG2.
Unlike vanilla and Tactics TorGal, SCS TorGal must be vanquished as a conventional troll (fire or acid). In addition, since SCS requires the fixpack to be installed, poison no longer vanquishes TorGal. On the other hand, the completed Flail of Ages (troll-bane) is not wieldable on Tactics TorGal because the final flail head is looted from TorGal's corpse.
Finally, only Tactics TorGal can be looted for his claw:
TorGal's Claw +3
This putrid claw was found on the corpse of TorGal, the leader of the trolls that invaded D'Arnisse Keep. TorGal was a powerful troll and this claw retains the abilities it had when you faced him in combat. Its length allows it to be used as a dagger but its rancid smell would discourage all but the most dedicated.
- Combat Ability: Each hit either lowers the target's strength by 3 for 60 seconds or slows the target for 10 seconds. A save versus poison at -4 negates either effect.
- THAC0: +3 bonus
- Damage: 2D6 +3
- Damage type: piercing
- Weight: 1
- Speed Factor: 1
- Proficiency Type: Dagger
- Type: 1-handed
- Unusable By: Cleric
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.