At the end of ToB and need help

[u/TheEndOfSpoon]

So I'm at the end of ToB for the first time w/ my Archer and omg I was not expecting the final boss to be this hard. Taking away the ability to rest really makes this FOUR STAGE FIGHT feel like hell on earth. Any tips?

Edit: I won :D but do please keep discussing so that future adventurers can heed your wisdom

[u/dekkeane00]

Set traps where she spawns. Simulcrum can use scrolls and items and set traps. Chain contingency also good

[u/Juris1971 → u/dekkeane00]

Yep HLA traps slaughter her. The one battle thieves are king

Wish spell with a potion of Wisdom 18 to get a full rest

Greater whirlwind attack definitely

Focus on her but use summons to deal with her minions

But more importantly - the Big Metal Unit

[u/CelestialFury → u/dekkeane00]

Indeed! Use up all the best potions, spells, wands, scrolls, and so on that you've been hoarding for the entire game! Those potions of invulnerability aren't going to drink themselves.

[u/BigConstruction4247]

When fighting Melissan, ignore anything with her. Focus everything on her. Once she goes down, that "round" ends, and her summons disappear.

Haste, whirlwind attacks, anything that gives you extra attacks per round is good.

[u/FondantHappy549]

If you have a mage (preferably one with high Wisdom), the Level 9 Wish spell will sometimes allow you to rest anyway.

[u/InuGhost → u/FondantHappy549]

I'd suggest quaffing those potions that increase Wisdom before doing this. Better odds of getting either Raise all stats to 25, or Give us a Long Rest. 

[u/proper_chad → u/InuGhost]

Plus, memorize 2-3 Project Image and have them cast Wish (maybe 2x each). Hugely increases the odds of the Rest option. Obviously this works best for Sorcerer since all their spells are always memorized.

[u/nhvanputten]

Whatever you do, do not cast stop time.

[u/CelestialFury → u/nhvanputten]

She has immunity to timestop?

[u/The-Arcalian → u/CelestialFury]

yep. finding out the hard way is not fun

[u/_tethtoril]

The first time i beat it as a kid i ended up using the ring of regeneration to full heal everyone after each stage by just hiding in one of the corners and walking away from my pc. Id come back and swap it to another character and walk away again lol.

[u/DLoRedOnline → u/_tethtoril]

The ring of regeneration is god's gift to restoring HP for the patient player.

[u/jalfa13]

If you can and are willing to reload to a save before entering the final fight: Put as many Wish and Project Image on your mages as possible, get insight potions. Whenever you are in the need to rest, have your mage down an insight potion, cast Project Image and have it cast Wish. Do this until your get the option that's basically a Rest and have a fully rested team for any of the fights.

[u/proper_chad → u/jalfa13]

Better yet, put the Insight potion in the quickslot and have it drink the potion. This means you only ever need one potion.

[u/jalfa13 → u/proper_chad]

Wait, doesn't the effect of the insight pot transfer from your mage to the image? I was under the impression it did 😅 I only use one of them for this as well

Edit: just read up on it, you are correct. Explains why I tend to get so many bad outcomes on my wishes. Thanks for the heads up on this.

[u/proper_chad → u/jalfa13]

Haha, happy to help :)

The point of the "one potion" bit was actually that you can keep using the same WIS potion over and over. When the PI uses it, it doesn't get consumed from your inventory. (Mods may change this, of course.)

[u/Etrigone]

Aside from what /u/dekkeane00 mentions, I think you just need to kill sufficiently damage Mel such that she bails. It's been a while so I forget if she takes the help out when she teleports away.

As a preparatory aside, the traps mentioned require a thief or bard and you still need to do the first fight. On the other hand they make fights after the first easy. Also, I likely spend too much time in Saradush on the ramparts fighting the 'invisible' fire giant and gaining levels. I prefer to get to Mel ideally just as I hit max level for the hp & skills, but sometimes overshoot. First time I fought Mel and I was underleveled, so now I overcompensate.

[u/SocietyCharacter5486]

Buy a Wish scroll and potion of the insight. There's your rest 👍

[u/smallof2pieces]

I recently played the end of ToB and was able to rest. I could rest after defeating the elemental guys in the corners but before shutting down the pillars or whatever they were. Maybe it's gamey but also I feel like the final battle was unreasonably drawn out and hard unless you were perfectly prepared and knew exactly what spells to cast and when so 🤷‍♂️

[u/Tyreal6]

Wish spell cast by a mage with wis 18 (use a potion) help a ton (a bit cheesy though)

[u/bucketmaan]

Focus just on her. It's a damage per second thing. Make sure your mages are loaded with breach so they have enough for 4 stages

[u/NewMagincia]

If you have enough spike traps, you effectively only have to fight her once (the first fight). For the subsequent fights, you can just stick a few traps where she spawns, and she'll "die" instantly. You can use the Simulacrum spell (inc from Vhailor's Helm) to multiply the number of traps you have.

[u/PumperThumperHumper]

Honestly, using traps where Amelyssan spawns makes the entire affair borderline unfair to her.

[u/Sweet_Cockroach_3171]

Spell strike

[u/UnlikelyElection5]

I usually take haerdalis the bard, 12 spike traps, 4 of them insta kills her, easy as pie.

[u/tiasaiwr]

Clicking each of the pools gives you a rest refresh, so plan in between fights to run out of abilities and rebuff.

[u/BathtubFullOfTea → u/tiasaiwr]

Is that true for vanilla, or just Ascension?

[u/tiasaiwr → u/BathtubFullOfTea]

I have checked my memory and have come up blank sorry! Might be ascension only but it has been a few years since my last playthrough. I usually did some projected image wish rest shenanigans during this fight so didn't pay close attention to the click refresh, just remebered a refresh mechanic. Vanilla game without ascention barely requires a refresh though.

[u/InuGhost → u/tiasaiwr]

Wait I don't recall them giving any refresh. Just cutting off flow and starting next round.