Bassilus - I am not amused

[Guest PetrusOctavianus]

What's up with his missile reflection? He has no spell or ability that gives that ability.

 

And why is he immune to Chromatic Orb? I cast it, but nothing happens (no feedback). He's not protected by any Globe.

 

OTOH, even though he's cast Protection against Fire, his spell casting is disrupted by a Fireball, even though he takes no damage.

 

And to add to the insult, Bassilus can only be hit by a Critical in melee. My Kensai with Thac0 11, missed even though rolling 18+3.

 

So who am I supposed to kill him? Can't use missile weapons. Melee weapons have only a 1 to 20 chance of hitting. Fire spells is no use and neither is Chromatic Orb for some reason. Not many options left...

 

I'm a control freak and I hate it when NPCs break the rules...

 

Hmm...did another test battle and this time Chromatic Orb worked and even blinded him. Still, Orb will not neutralize him so if my one and only Hold Person spell doesn't work I don't see how I can possibly kill Bassilus.

I

[Guest Guest]

BTW, found out that Bassilus gets Physical Mirror as part of his buffing. Would have been nice if that fact could be displayed on screen along with the other buffs.

[Guest PetrusOctavianus]

Third try:

Again I try Chromatic Orb. Against the first one Bassilus saves. The second just passes right through him, with no feedback whatsoever. What gives?

[Salk]

I remember fighting against Bassilus with SCSBGT 4.4 and I didn't find it particularly hard but just challenging as it should be.

 

We will see what DavidW can answer to you but I personally have an opinion which I leave here also for DavidW's and others' eyes:

 

We should NOT be given the chance (that you like so much, dear Guest) to see what the buffing is about. Why should we? And at the same time, not all spells should be detectable.

 

I see the graphic or I recognize the school when the magic is being cast? Okay, good for me. Same thing for NPCs. But why should we automatically be said what protections the other has on?

 

The AI should be in this order: 1) Realistic 2) Challenging. Not the opposite.

[Guest PetrusOctavianus]

I remember fighting against Bassilus with SCSBGT 4.4 and I didn't find it particularly hard but just challenging as it should be.

 

Yes, he was easier in version 4, with no Physical Mirror.

 

We will see what DavidW can answer to you but I personally have an opinion which I leave here also for DavidW's and others' eyes:

 

We should NOT be given the chance (that you like so much, dear Guest) to see what the buffing is about. Why should we? And at the same time, not all spells should be detectable.

 

Well, one of the reason I like BG so much is because of the tactical battles. And to make the best tactical decisions I need as much info as possible.

If it was up to me, I'd have even more info, like being shown excactly which area an area effect spell like Fireball hits and individual line-of-sight for each character.

As such the basic combat engine is still inferior to those of the good old Gold Box games.

 

 

I see the graphic or I recognize the school when the magic is being cast? Okay, good for me. Same thing for NPCs. But why should we automatically be said what protections the other has on?

 

The AI should be in this order: 1) Realistic 2) Challenging. Not the opposite.

 

I basically agree, but game-play should never be sacrificed for "realism". It's a game, not a simulation.

 

Anyway, I found the tactic to beat Bassilus.

First cast Doom, which never fails. Then try Orb, Command and Hold Person.

Have the fighters melee, but keep Xzar and Imoen out of the fray. Xzar will cast Magic Missile and Minor Drain and Imoen will use the Wand of Magic Missiles as soon as Bassilus starts casting.

Sooner or later he'll run out of spells and he's not too scary in melee, even though he's almost impossible to hit.

As soon as his Physical Mirror wears off, Kivan will disengage from the melee and start shooting him until he drops.

 

In retrospect I guess I over-reacted a bit, but I was not amused when Kivan got a critical hit with an Arrow of Biting and dropped dead...

[Salk]

I understand your point but Baldur's Gate can't be tactically so advanced.

 

I might suggest you another RGP which is in every aspect inferior to Baldur's Gate but that presents a great tactical challenge (using the 3.5 D&D rules): Temple of Elemental Evil.

 

That one, is the best CRPG I played for what concern character creation and for the battle system.

 

But it's the only part of the game shining. All the rest is rather poor.

[DavidW]

If "Physical Mirror" doesn't display on screen, it's a game engine bug - Bassilus is casting it perfectly standardly. (I agree with Petrus that buffs should be revealed to the player where possible). As far as I can possibly manage, people don't cheat in SCS.

 

As for Chromatic Orb: he hasn't got any special protection, so I assume this is part of the core spell.

 

Glad to see you beat him in the end!