Siege of Crägholdt - peacefull way?

[abaris]

 

 

I considered it - but then you run out of xp "room" before you finish the main quest line and/or White March.  Hmm.  I wonder if WM 2 adds a couple more levels, like WM 1 did.

 

 

To be perfectly honest, I'm not doing it with the main quest in mind, but for the new maps and companions. I played the game to death in the first few months and so, if I'm losing interest before the main quest is finished, I don't consider it a big deal.

[AndreaColombo]

I'm actually surprised there aren't more people who, like me, have the most fun when their party as at the max (i.e. max level, endgame equipment, etc.)

 

When I'm the strongest only for the final battle, it kinda bugs me: I've spent the whole game trying to achieve this level of power and now there's only one fight left to enjoy it? Unfair.

 

That's why I enjoyed Cragholdt so much. I like to play when everything's maxed out, but I don't want to steamroll level-1 enemies who die in one swing.

[philares3]

I got through the bluffs level 11 as a weak player by luring/funneling the enemies one or two at a time. Took a very long time. (Don't know why I did it.)

[Torm51]

 

The point of the area is to provide challenge to ma lvl chars so no, I don't think there is xD

 

I would call these mercs the toughest guys in the whole game. Even at level 11 they gave me trouble like no other group has ever done.

 

Pure Joke compared to Concelhaut himself.  Just beat him on PoTD Trial of Iron (meaning no second chances).

[Oralaina]

I'm actually surprised there aren't more people who, like me, have the most fun when their party as at the max (i.e. max level, endgame equipment, etc.)

 

When I'm the strongest only for the final battle, it kinda bugs me: I've spent the whole game trying to achieve this level of power and now there's only one fight left to enjoy it? Unfair.

 

That's why I enjoyed Cragholdt so much. I like to play when everything's maxed out, but I don't want to steamroll level-1 enemies who die in one swing.

 

Actually, after I've run a few "normal" parties through a game like this, what I really like to do is just set one up on god mode and steamroll everything that gave me trouble earlier - not to mention clearing every map and killing everything IN every map.

 

But that's usually much later.

[lumpkin]

Just play it and enjoy it - don't overthink it. The whole point is to have something for your high level party to fight against since they would wipe the floor with almost anything else in the entire game at this point. Have fun! they'll come up with even crazier stuff for the expansion.

 

My mistake was doing cragholt first before the rest of the expansion at level 12. So i made it through all those guys and then the main white march was less challenging.

Nothing like using Cragholdt's skull as your new pet and bringing him back to help whoop your enemies all through the white march though. He's a badass all right, even nerfed in skull form.

 

 

 

I'm sure the devs put the drunken monk in the beginning of the mercenary section to mess with us - I kept thinking I was getting attacked by something else only to realize he was wrecking my guys while all the rest of the mercenaries piled on. I had to do the cowards way and take him out during conversation choices.

 

[AndreaColombo]

Having Concelhaut's skull as your pet should make everybody poop their pants when they see you. "I've got one of the most powerful archmages in Eora as my private pet so excuse me if I don't find you particularly intimidating, Thaos. I'll hang your head in my keep next to the three dragons I decapitated on my way to you."

[Ineth]

Pure Joke compared to Concelhaut himself.  Just beat him on PoTD Trial of Iron (meaning no second chances).

 

I didn't find Conci difficult to beat at level 14 on hard.

Some of the minion fights in the same area were more difficult imo.

 

I kept my party to the right outside of his chamber. Sent in a tank to go through the conversation and start the fight, then run back out immediately. It worked beautifully: All enemies including Conci huddled together in or behind the doorway, ready to receive non-stop AoE bombardment by my druid and (hasted) mage.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Ineth

[Torm51]

 

Pure Joke compared to Concelhaut himself.  Just beat him on PoTD Trial of Iron (meaning no second chances).

 

I didn't find Conci difficult to beat at level 14 on hard.

Some of the minion fights in the same area were more difficult imo.

 

I kept my party to the right outside of his chamber. Sent in a tank to go through the conversation and start the fight, then run back out immediately. It worked beautifully: All enemies including Conci huddled together in or behind the doorway, ready to receive non-stop AoE bombardment by my druid and (hasted) mage.

 

Playing on Hard is much different then PoTD.  I am unsure if PoTD upscales Cragholdt or if it is always the same but I did it on PoTD.  I did the same as you did.  I am just saying he is more powerful and more difficult then any other enemy in the game.  Even the master below is much easier.

 

TBH They should LOCK those doors behind you.

[Cacophonix]

So , when I get here I want to fight OUTSIDE the room and pull the boss to the doorway..gotcha!

[Flix]

Yes, definitely.  This transformed the fight from impossible to "doable with most of us knocked out by the end."

 

Just be sure to kill all those floating swords and stuff that roam the hallways before going in the room.  They will sneak up behind you and disable your team.

[tinysalamander]

This whole Crägholdt thing was tad more PITA than I expected it to be on Normal. What's player's expected defense values, I wonder.

 

Priests and fire immunities don't mesh quite well %) At least you can still buff.

 

I wished Hope Eternal was some sort of good AoE in that last battle. Or an aura

[philares3]

Send in a victim who runs out, luring them out, is the ticket. But I could not handle all at once (level 12)--I lured one or two at a time, repeated. After they floored the victim I moved a fighter just close enough to catch the eye of one of the enemies, killed that one with my group. Same with the rooms of the apprentices. Steel mages are the hardest.

After that Concelhaut alone was easy--again let him pound the victim, had three fighters and two mages pound on him. 

[Boeroer]

Tactical Meld + Borrowed Instinct + Coordinated Attacks + marking weapon (from 2 pally tanks) gave my 2 ciphers +60 ACC - leaving Concelhaut no chance on PotD. The animated weapons however where the toughest enemies in the game for me. They seem to be immune to most CC afflictions.

Edited October 26, 2015 by Boeroer

[AndreaColombo]

^ Could you YouTube that? Rather interested in the tactic

[LeetMasterAce]

This quest definitely blind-sided me when I attempted it at ~5th level right after Caed Nua.

 

I came back at level 12 on Hard mode and *still* had a very challenging experience, but not a negative one. It was a lot of fun, despite the frustrations, I was usually managed to make it through 2-3 groups at a time before needing to rest and recoup. Most of the other combats up to this point, with exception to the Sky Dragon, were easy enough to rarely require per-day abilities or consumables, so having a super tough section feels like the Emerald Weapon or Omega Weapon of the game (though perhaps not quite *THAT* hard).

 

When you reach Commander Baelorin and ask him to offer you work, he retorts how absurd that would be given how your group just slaughtered so many of his men. Has anybody tried sneaking all the way up to him and *then* asking for work, without having killed a single one of his soldiers?

[SoloGirl]

I did this in PotD solo run with a rogue when I reached level 16. Didn't even try to tackle it earlier. I cleared out the lower part of the camp, so that my exit is clear later, basically the groups by the entrance and by the training grounds. I did not try to enter the cave. Then I sneaked up to the captain (made sure I had my 2 camping supplies and enough crafting materials to make potions of major endurance), and when that fight initiated, I just ran through them, and they got distracted with some undead and forgot about me. So I got into the keep from the top, and opened the switch in the keep. I was able to get the undead in the cave to attack alguls in the workshop, until both groups got thinned out. After that point, I had easy access to the keep and could rest as much as I need to and come back. 

 

So I only had to deal with one monk - the drunk orlan by the entrance. As long as I kept him stunned, he was easy to take out. The other monks come in pairs, and this is why I decided not to try to clear out more of the camp.