This guide is a collection of strategies for battling Shangalar and the Twisted Rune in Baldur’s Gate II. These tips were provided by GameBanshee users.
Battlefest
I got tired of Shangalar fireballing at me from behind, so I had Yoshimo set 5-6 traps in the little room that you are transported to initially before I sent my party and allies out into the main room to initiate the dialogue. When Shangalar teleports to that room after the dialogue, he lands on the traps and is deceased before any of his buddies even show up. I used Keldorn with Carmosyr on the beholder and the female mage since he dispels effects with each strike. Keldorn used protection from evil to hold off the pit fiend called forth by the mage. She ends up having to fight the pit fiend while Keldorn slashes away at her.
My character with a protection of undead and mace of disruption was able to do in the vampire, although it was a long fight. The vampire was able to save vs. spell on the false dawn, hold undead, and sunrise spells. Maybe a lower resistance spell would have helped here. Minsc and Cernd (casting cause serious wounds) did in the fighter Ravenak. With Shangalar out of the way early, it’s not that difficult a fight, especially if you hem in the vampire with summoned allies. My party was boosted by strength potions, haste, chant and protection from fire on the weaker members.
Submitted By: Paul
Lower Level Characters
First all retreat and cramp behind the door. If more than 1 of Shangalar and company come, the battle becomes real hard.
Use Sunray from Daystar to kill Shangalar….or you can take a big risk and wait for him to cast Simulacrum to get 50000 more exp!! Use Chaotic Commands/Spell immunity/breach to wear him/spell protections out, it is highly recommended that character with highest death saving throws stands in front, if he mazes/hold U, just wait a while, the characters will come back…just do not lure any of his friends out by staying behind the door. Domination works wonders on his summoned Efreeti. After a few spells 5-6, he will move towards u, then you can start meleeing him. After killing him, wait for a few minutes to allow mazed/ held/stoned characters to return.
The rest is easy esp the fighter Ravenak….just lure slowly one at a time.
The beholder is real easy with reflecting shield from bonus merchant. Just walk up to him alone and say Hello.
Vampire Drains 4 level/hit!! Use amulet of power character to lure and attack before the others rush in or use negative plane protection or just summon a few cannon fodder monsters for him to level drain. Ray of Enfeeblement + Greater Maddison works very great on him.
The mage is weak on her own….the Pit Fiend is not. For these two, you can dispel the protection Evil on her and watch them fight. For exp sake, I killed both. 😛 The pit fiend is weak if you have protection Evil on you. Should cast ray of Enfeeblement to make short work of it. The mage cannot do anything if you have Jaheria anti-mage spells casted e.g Insect Plague is a wonder.
NB: Only Potions I use were potions for healing.
Submitted By: Soon Sin Teo
It’s a Team Effort
Cast protection from evil (special ability) and protection Magic (via scroll) on Keldorn and have him attack the Beholder with the Holy Avenger. The beholder falls first. At about this time a Pit fiend is gated in via the female mage. Do not engage the Pit fiend. Instead, Keldorn must engage and eliminate the female mage as soon as possible or this battle gets a little more complicated. When the Female mage is “no more”, have Keldorn clean up the rest..
Have Yo”cheese”mo Hide in Shadows and back stab Ravenak at the beginning This will not kill Ravenak, but its a good start. Keep Yo”cheese”mo between Ravenak and Shangalar. If all goes as planned, the big cheese will get imprisoned, with little damage and will be around near the end of the battle to pick up all the items.
Initially have Minsc invoke his beserker rage and position him near Ravenak and Shangalar. Once Minsc is done with Ranvenak Shangalar will be preoccupied with Minsc via imprisonment spells (note, Minsc can’t be imprisoned due to beserker rage). Since Minsc can’t hit Shangalar, wait till the Pit fiend comes around the corner and “Minsc and Boo together” should finish off the Pit Fiend. Then Minsc can engage any summoned monsters. Minsc absorbs most of the damage in this fight, so be sure to have many potions of extra healing on him.
Anomen prepares for battle by casting blade barrier and negative plane protection. He alone should be able to reduce the vampire to shredded cheese. The vampire is the second character to fall. Anomen then should move out of the engagement area reload on defensive spells particularly sanctuary. This “Super Field Medic” can then help the rest of the party in a defensive manner. At some point, if your lucky, Anomen will get imprisoned. That’s Ok. He will be around at the end of the battle unscathed.
Nalia was along for the ride. Just have her cast protection spells and hope that Shangalar chooses to engage her. This should preoccupy Shangalar for a while.
My main character was a Fighter/Mage. Using spell capability cast improved invisibility. Move the main character to the top of the stairs and start casting. From there, assist your team by keeping Shangalar busy. Mostly with Fire Elementals (via the staff of Elementals) or summoned monsters, like the Nisharuu. The Nisharoo is nice, by this time the Nisharuu is working his wonders on Shangalar.
Eventually, everyone converges on Shangalar and he is pretty easy to overcome with Keldorn, Minsc and Anomen.
I went through 5 potions of extra healing, and still had enough “time in the meter” for my defensive spells to move on and finish off, 2 of the Liches on the Kangaxx ring quest. Most of my party was at least 10-12 levels. No one died…
Submitted By: Mike
Barrage of Spells and a Good Beating
I went to the Twisted Rune early in chapter 2 and was chewed up and spit out. So I waited until I was through the Underdark and some of my characters hit the XP cap. My party included Minsc, Jahiera, Imoen, Aerie, Nalia, and my ranger.
Before I entered the Twisted Rune, I cast a host of protection spells (Stoneskin, Ironskin, Defensive Harmony, Protection from Evil, Globe of Invulnerability, etc.) on the party members as well has Haste. I set up an ambush in the small room you start off in and sent my main character just far enough into the larger room to see Shangalar. Then I retreated into the small room.
The second I saw Shangalar, I launched a barrage of Breach and Dispel Magic spells at him. I posted my ranger by the door with the Mace of Disruption +2, the Celestial Fury katana, the Cloak of Spell Turning. The beholder spotted the ranger and began launching its eye weapons at him. If you have the Shield of Balduraan or the Cloak of Spell Turning, the beholder will effectively destroy himself. Meanwhile, I had Minsc and Jahiera start beating the hell out of Shangalar while my mages pelted him with Melf’s Acid Arrows, Magic Missiles, and spells to counter Shangalar’s magic. As long as you can disrupt his spell casting, he’s half the threat he is if you leave him unmolested. We eventually killed both Shangalar and his Mislead double.
After Shangalar and the beholder were destroyed, I set out to kill the others one by one. Using Invisibility spells and potions, I scouted out the larger room and when I located one of the bad guys, backed off enough to get him out of the fog of war, then dropped one or more of the following spells immediately around him: Death Fog, Cloudkill, Incendiary Cloud, Delayed Blast Fireball. It turns out that individually they are pretty easy to kill if everyone works as a team and you are patient.
Submitted By: High Lord Dave
Preparation with a Quick Save and Reload
You’ll need:
- Yoshimo
- 4-6 Delayed Blast Fireball Spells
- 3-4 Project Image Spell
- 3 Farsight or Wizard Eye
Enter Twisted Rune room. Cast Far Sight on the large round area at 3 o’clock, 7 and 10 o’clock, or use Wizard Eye.
Save.
Trigger dialog with lich by having a character walk in. Note positions of where the mages, vampire and beholder appear.
Reload.
Cast Far Sight at the same positions as before. Have Yoshimo plant 6 traps where the lich jumps in. Cast Project Image. Plant as many Delayed Blast Fireballs as you can in each location where the beholder, mages, and vampire jump in. Remember, a projected image does not use up your real character’s memorized spells, and does not trigger dialog.
After all this, send in a real character to init dialog as before. Don’t even bother with any spell or combat protection. Lich will make standard threatening noises, jump in, and die from traps. Beholder will fry nicely. Mages and vampire will be crisped instantly even before they have a chance to cast a single spell protection.
Stroll back to big room, grab loot, use eye of beholder and walk out with major experience and the S0taff of the Magi.
Submitted By: Andrew Park
Use Some Protection
This strategy makes some assumptions:
- You have a Protection from Magic scroll to use
- You have some protection from level drain (not the spell Neg. Plane Protection)
I mashed my entire party up against the wall up the stairs where you first enter the area. This keeps them out of Shangalar’s vision. I have my chosen character, the one with some kind of protection from level drain and preferably a heavy hitter, use the scroll of protection from magic. In my case, I used my Undead Hunter, but I think Anomen or Viconia (with the Amulet of Power or Mace of Disruption) would work well.
Once protected, charge right in and go to the lower side of the table where the fighter and vampire gate in. Since you are protected from magic, these two are your most serious enemies. Melee those two to death. Make sure Shagalar sees you once he teleports into the smaller room – you want him to come after you. He and the mage will cast some area effect spells which will weaken the other members of the gang.
The Pit Fiend can be a problem, but my Undead Hunter was fine with Protection from Evil. I took it out anyway (wielding Carsomyr) to get the XP. Shangalar and the mage will eventually run out of spells – just wait them out and melee them once the other threats are neutralized.
Boots of speed are a very large help here – they let you stay ahead of the bad guys.
This strategy is perfect for the solo player – you don’t need any help, but you do need to be strong enough to handle some melee action.
Submitted By: Smaug Chow
Two at a Time
Before entering the Twisted Rune area, have your mage memorize several Cloud Kills and at least 2 Death Fogs. Upon entering the Twisted Rune, get one character Hasted (or with Boots of Speed) in front of the round table. When Shagalar starts appearing, you will see some lights in the air, so GET out of that room fast back to the entrance of the level. Shagalar will not come after you neither he will engage in conversation with you.
With your mage, cast 1 Death Fog near Shagalar, but without him seeing your party member. He is totally vulnerable to Death Fog. Dont cast more death fogs, or he will die over the round table, in wich case you will be stuck in the level, cuz you cant pick any itens over it and Shagalar friends wont appear. So, let him be hit by the Death Fog about 10 or 12 times (he loses 8 points each time he is hit, for a maximum of 16 hits).
Now Shagalar is already very weak, so cast a Cloud Kill at his right and at his side (in the places where the Beholder and the Fighter will appear. Do all this without entering the field of vision of Shagalar. Put all your party in the entrance of the level, and from there make your mage cast another Death Fog in the center of the 1st oval room (where Shagalar will appear after you have dialog with him). Now, take a hasted character, enter the field of vision of Shagalar and talk to him, and go back immediately to the entrance of the level, with the rest of the party. Shagalar will appear in the room next to you wich is filled with Death Fog, and will die VERY soon (since he is already weak). The Beholder and the Fighter will reach in you already weakened by the cloud kills, and upon entering the next room they will yet have to deal with a Death Fog, so engage in combat with them (the two are pretty easy) right in the middle of the Death Fog. They will die very easily.
Now you will just have to deal with Layenne and the vampire, which will NOT go after you in the entrance unless they have already seen you or been hit by you (so dont cast the cloud kills that will hit the beholder too much in the north, or you will hit Layenne). Kill these two with the strategies other people already wrote (Protect from Evil, Sunray, etc).
The good thing in this strategy is that you will deal with just one or two enemies at a time. When the beholder and the fighter appear on your screen, Shagalar will be already dead or dying in the middle of the Death Fog, then you fight those two, and have time to heal and prepare before fighting Layenne and the vampire.
Submitted By: Aces High
Solo Sorcerer
I soloed my sorcerer through Twisted Rune with nothing more than a “Protection from Undead” scroll. I cast protection spells and then cast some skull traps. Three where the Beholder comes in and 2 where the fighter appears worked for me, but the damage is “by level”, so if you’re a lower level, you may need more. I stayed just inside the doorway so the Lich wouldn’t appear as I casted these. I waited a round (so I could cast my next spell faster) and went to see Shangalar. As soon as he finished talking I ran into the back room and cast “Protection from Undead”. His stone skin came up, but no other protections, and I watched as Vaxall and the Fighter died in my Fog of War. I pulled a Tensors Transformation, beat the Lich (and got two hits on that Vampire) then waited til the Transformation wore off. I only had two more targets: The Vampire and the Mage.
It was all hit and run from here on out, but with less hitting. I’d run in, use my Wand of Monster Summoning near the mage (I guess you’d need that, but Staff of Fire or another summoning thing would work as well) and ran back out. The mage would then use her high spells (Time Stop, Meteor Storm, Gate) on my creatures while I waited in back room. Soon I’d go back out and do it again while she’d use more spells. Whenever you feel ready, just go all out against her with a Tensor’s Transformation or creaters or offensive spells and she will die. The Vampire doesn’t even bother you during this time thanks to your scroll (he actually fought the Pit Fiend for me), so you can finish him at the end or if he comes into your room while waiting off the mage.
All in all it shouldn’t be so bad and you can add adapt this to your play style and such. Mainly you can save that “Protection from Magic” scroll for something else (I used one on Kangaxx) as you only need the “Protection from Undead” scroll and some summons. Enjoy.
Submitted By: Clay
Let Your Pets Say Hello
This may be easiest with a Wand of Monster Summoning. Have a party member move to the place where the little line of fire starts and causes Shangalar to appear. When the fire starts, move back into the entrance alcove, out of sight while simultaneously summoning some monsters just outside the alcove. The monsters will attack Shangalar, and he will waste quite a few of his good spells on them. Important! Gnolls won’t be able to harm him, just Orc archers or Ogres. (those are the only three types the wand summons, I think). He’ll cast Mislead, etc., and your pets will just kill his illusions and then go for him again. It takes some patience, but if you’re low level (as my party was) it can save you. Make sure that your pets don’t kill him, though, before you talk to him and he summons his friends, otherwise you’re stuck, and no Staff of the Magi. Then, if you have some traps set up, he’ll go down easy. The beholder can be handled with Balduran’s Shield (gaze reflecting), and if you’re fortunate and wait it out long enough, the demon the mage gates in attacks her, leaving you with only Rejavik (please), and the only real danger now, Shyressa. Good Luck!
Submitted By: Kuronekosama
High Level Spells [ToB]
Three Spells that are Essential:
- Melf’s Minute Meteors
- Energy Blades
- Wish
Granted two of the above are high level abilities, never the less they are worth it.
Melf’s and Blades are crucial spells; they almost always hit, and can do damage even when stoneskins are up! Further they can both damage Golems from a safe distance when you’re weaker. The best part is they have a high rate of fire and momentarily daze an opponent, sending them back a bit with each hit.
Wish is great too, but only with a Wisdom above sixteen. About half the time one of the choices I get is ‘raise all party members attributes to 25 for 4 rounds’. This affects the WHOLE party, and all six stats. Watch THAC0s drop, and hit points soar (At least for fighter types).
When I went against the Twisted Rune it was a piece of cake. Everyone was protected from evil (I am running a party of my main character – a sorceress; Valgyar, and Anomen), improved hasted, chaotic commanded, and death warded. The sorceress had the amulet of power, Anomen had the mace of disruption +2, Valgyar was using the Shield of Balduran, and a protection from undead scroll. Jacked everyone’s stats with Wish, very nice! We waited for Shangalar after triggering him to summon his buddies – chewed him up in seconds with my Energy Blades preventing him from casting, while the fighters tore him up. Then had Valgyar go after the beholder, I went after the Mage (Shapechange is nice too – I shifted to an Iron Golem and pimp slapped her.), while Anomen slaughtered the rest of them.
Honestly, very few people can do jack while being pelted by the Blades, or at lower level, Melf’s. Tremendously useful spells.
Submitted By: Mark A. Miller
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