Fighting Raedric

[jtbehnke]

I'm stuck on the first battle with Raedric on Normal difficulty.  At the moment, my party consists of my Pale Elf Cipher, Aloth, Eder, Durance, all of us being 4th level, and a Mountain Dwarf Paladin (Goldpact Knights) at 3rd level (I hired him as soon as I had the option to do so at the Black Hound, but he's always one level behind the rest of the party).

 

I'm finding that I easily get swarmed by Raedric's gang, especially since I tried to take out the Archmage in the back and the melee fighters plus Raedric himself bogged them down.  Should I just leave and come back with Kana Rua in tow?  What are other ways I can even the odds without actually changing the difficulty to Easy?

[Boeroer]

Retreat back behind a doorway so that only one enemy can attack you in melee. Cast Chillfog on the ground multiple times, always use Inspiring Radiance with Durance (it stacks with everything), then Combusting Wounds. Use Iconic Projection with Durance and implement + Blast with Aloth to trigger more Combusting Wounds.

 

Level 4 is rather early though. Def. bring Kana Rua. He can use Soft Winds of Death and Ancient Memory to support passively and White Worms as soon as an enemy died in the group in front of the doorway. You can cast it over and over again on the same corpses. Turn off the gib option in the game menu. Gibbed enemies leave no body, which is bad for White Worms but also some other reasons (body parts like Skuldr Ears for example won't drop sometimes).

[jtbehnke]

Thank you for the advice!  I was able to win this time, though it was incredibly close. 

[dreamrider]

where did you enter the throne room from?

 

If you can base the attack out of the bedroom (by entering on that side, or by stealthing across the bottom of the throne room just in front of the closed doors) , almost all of the Raedric crew members become kiteable at the south-leading corridor door in the bedroom, or in the bedroom itself, or even in the area of the throne room just before the bedroom door.

 

What this means is that by choosing how far to lead back the chasing Raedric bodyguards, you can tailor the portion of the boss crew that you have to fight at one time.

Be warned however.  One of the Raedric mages WILL follow all the way into the south corridor, and I think one or two of the champions.

[jtbehnke]

I entered the Throne Room from the Scriptorum, since I sided with Nedmar, since I was trying to avoid killing any more of Raedric's flunkies than necessary.  Other than Raedric's throne room guards and Osyra in the Dungeons, none of the other denizens of the castle were harmed.

[dreamrider]

Yup.  That was my entrance also.

However, the Throne Room / Raedric fight itself can be controlled better if you stealth your guy / party (one at a time if necessary) across the bottom of the throne room to the bedroom and study complex.  That area has no guards, if you keep all the main corridor doors shut.

[jtbehnke]

That's good advice too!  I'll keep it in mind for future playthroughs.  Thank you! 

[Boeroer]

The southern bed chamber has a more narrow doorway which is a lot better if you want to use it as a choke point. For example enemy archmages have to have a clear line of sight in order to cast spells directly onto your backline. The result can be that they either line up in front of the doorway or only attack the "tank(s)" because it's the only char(s) they can see.

[jtbehnke]

I've had a hard time using doors as choke-points, honestly.  I've got too many melee/frontliner types: my Cipher, Eder, Pallegina or Azemar de Telaneir (a Goldpact Knight I made as soon as I reached Gilded Vale, but he's largely been replaced by Pallegina, so I mostly have him doing Stronghold quests), and either Kana Rua or Hiravias.  Sometimes even Aloth joins in the fun with Wizard's Double and Concelhaut's Parasitic Staff.  The only consistent ranged combatants in my party are Durance (with an arquebus) and Sagani when I bring her along.

Edited July 26, 2018 by jtbehnke

[dreamrider]

You know that you have to set your folks up BEHIND the door arch, a little bit? 

So that it's the bad guys who are constrained to come through the door 1 or 2 at a time.

It can be tricky to do, until you get it right the first 1 or 2 times, and have a sense of just how far back to set your tanks and pounders.

If she can, Sagani should be shooting PAST the line of contact, trying to repeatedly interrupt any back row casters.

 

If you set up back at the door exiting the bedroom to the south, or even back at the study door, off that southern corridor, fewer of the bodyguards should pursue that far.

[jtbehnke]

Won't their wizards be able to blast me with impunity at that point?

[Boeroer]

If you have many melees you just form a sack and let one enemy in whom you can attack from nearly all sides.

Using choke points is the best strategy in the early game. Later on a lot of melees who run around, spread out and swarm the backline can be viable as well.

Edited July 29, 2018 by Boeroer

[Kuhlmann]

A tip for the doorway.

 

You can buy the pike with longer reach by the blacksmith in Gilded vale and also the priest who can join your party in Magran´s Fork has a staff with longer reach as well

 

So your tank can stand in the doorway, while the two other melee stands behind him and attacks

[dreamrider]

The wizards often arrive first in a chase.  Shoot them / pound them down first, if there are only 2-3 chasers.

 

Otherwise, wizards need line of sight for attack spells, except for spells they got locked on before you pulled back.  They have a hard time getting that past the choke point.

Pound down the guys in the doorway, possibly while a shooter is trying to interrupt the wizard.  Then immediately go to slaughter the caster.  He can't cast while being pounded.

 

Believe me, it works.  Even with one level 4 (or 5? can't remember) monk.

 

Of course, it goes without saying (I hope) that you update your Save immediately before you reveal yourself near the bedroom door and pull the chasers.  The exact actions you take from that point may be a 'learning experience'...or several successive learning experiences.

Edited July 27, 2018 by dreamrider