This one can be tedious especially with mages doing the blind thing all the time, I usually emphasize killing them first or breaking their concentration, they are the real threat to winning. IMO you'll win or lose based on how long that darkness cloud stays up. They can also use Hadar, which will pretty much wreck your group if it isn't removed quickly.
If you recruit Jaheira, she can cast ice spikes and create a surface on the center, causing the center group to miss a turn initially. You can have Karlach jump over it and position her to help deal with anyone that casts Darkness quickly, have Shadowheart put a guardian up at the base of the stairs, that center group is just going to rush you immediately and this will help take some of them down. I had myself (Wizard) and Wyll cast Fireball to eliminate some of the fodder on the left side, then use it once more on the center group to knock them down a bunch. Between the ice spikes, fireball, and guardian, they should be pretty low and you can finish them off with another AoE. Doing it this way eliminates the fodder mobs that will run at you first and aside from Karlach smashing the mages, you can largely ignore the rest until the center group is dead. I was also able to Misty Step myself out of the way of the Darkness cloud before they put it up. Alternatively, using a debuff like Hadar or anything that makes movement slow down could allow you to focus on knocking out the mages first, then deal with the rest. You could also try to silence them, but they will move out of it. You could blind or debuff them, as well, but I found killing them quickly with Karlach in position to focus on whoever is concentrating worked best.
The remaining fodder mobs, especially mages, can be dangerous, I use Karlach to pick them off then deal with the archers last.
The first time I did this, I was really weak (~lvl5) and it was really difficult, I eventually won but it was luck with initiative and saves. My last run at this was at lvl9 and it was a cakewalk, almost too easy. I did lose once, but I had issues breaking Hadar and got unlucky with damage rolls. You'll find later in the game, dealing with AoE debuffs is going to be a slightly common theme for harder fights, this fight is sorta the first one where it really becomes an issue, so learning to deal with it is important.
I strongly recommend asking Jaheira to join you so you can control her, otherwise she tends to run head first into it and die
Last edited by Shinook; 15/08/23 07:00 PM.
