Talk:Aec'Letec/@comment-110.22.206.200-20180213160847

I used Otiluke's Resilient Sphere right at the start to imprison him (needed to reload a few times because of magic resistance). I had Dyanheir wear Edvanter's Gift (stolen from Dushai) to keep from being held by Aec before she got the spell off (had to reload a few times because he silenced her first) and so that she can dispell the death gaze from whoever is targetted. He always gets a hold, silence and death gaze off before you can sphere him. That's also why I didn't bother buffing beforehand with anything more than Resist Fear (sometimes a Horror gets thrown in the mix from the enemy, too) and a strength spell for my melee weaklings (Jaheira and Khalid). Going all out on buffs can be a waste when you have to dispell the death gaze anyway. The other five (at least those not immediately held) targetted the mage right from the start and then moved onto the other cultists as soon as she was dead. My team was only good enough to cut down around half of the cultists before the sphere collapsed. I was hoping to kill them all and then buff up for Aec, oops. I pulled Khalid (tankiest) off to occupy Aec and cast defensive harmony with Jaheira and then moved on to casting Call of the Wild twice, after that she'd help out with taking out any cultists left (and dispel death gazes as required). I cast haste with Dyanheir (should have done that right after dispelling the original death gaze if I was any good at the game) and then summon monster II for some extra fodder to hopefully take Aec's attention. Meanwhile Khalid is getting his butt kicked (I'm playing on highest difficulty where everything does double damage) so I soon have to direct him to run away from Aec and around the couple of gnolls I summoned hoping he'll break off. He of course stays glued to Khalid but at least I manage to avoid the death blow somehow. I still have two (!) cultists left to kill so it's looking grim when suddenly one of my two nymphs, that I was allowing to fight with their own AI, lands a hold monster on Aec. Past his magic resistance and saving throws! Hallelujah. I chop down the last cultist and then swarm Aec with melee and cut him down, too. So it's possible with a full party of level 8ish characters without cheese (stair-running or extra resting etc) or wands (or potions or other charged items) but you need a few restarts and a lot of luck. And an eagle eye for those death-gaze messages. GOG original version.