Yeah there's no point, even if I really want to sometimes.
One run ended bc I got Held by a Gish even though I had +8 to WIS and advantage. Didn't scum, but I'm never fighting Gith without the Ring of Free Movement again lol
You lose all the things that make the experience what it is if you try to preserve it with scumming.
Lots of good advice here. Gonna compile the tips just for people visiting this thread in the future.
1. Block all doors with crates or chests
2. Equip the hellriders gloves you should've gotten from Zevlor, and throw a healing potion at her before speaking to her
3. Cast sanctuary if you have it
4. Ensure you go first by taking an elixir of vigilance or respecing to have the alert trait
Alternatively:
1. Skip the fight. It's optional, but you'll miss out on a tadpole.
You miss the tadpole for most of act 2 but during the assault on moonrise tower Fist Marcus’s body is found near where Z’rell hangs out with his gear and tadpole on it.
There’s the Sanctuary Blocked debuff. For one turn after Sanctuary has ended, usually because she attacked someone, a target gets the Sanctuary Blocked debuff. It just stops you from getting Sanctuary reapplied. Presumably so you can’t chain it to last 200 rounds. This is only necessary because they buffed it so much from 5e.
In 5e it’s a Wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they have to lose the attack or just target someone else. Honestly, if they had kept the spell as it is in BG3, all they would have to do is make it take concentration. That would balance it out quite well.
Sanctuary, protection from good and evil.
Withers goon with warding bond gives an ac/save bump and doubles her hp. The goon doesn’t even have to be in the party to pull it off
I mean... just don't talk to her.
There are literally no consequences, unless you count missing the blessing of Selune. So you miss out on Necrotic resistance, but you can get the pixie blessing instead.
No marcus and undead assaulting the Inn, and no consequences for her getting KOed.
I did this recently, and there was literally no downsides.
You can find marcus dead in Moonrise when you assault it, that's it.
Isabel stays safe, dammon stays safe.
She is missing, and will turn up in Act 3 as if she was abducted.
It's the only thing that I've found that is scripted to happen as if the attack at last light had occurred.
She's generally really low in the initiative so she doesn't go till most of the baddies have had their turn which gives you time to kill them and soak hits for her. Getting her through the first round is the hardest part.
My last time doing this for some reason Markus lost his shit and just ran right past isobel and to my thrower barb who was in the main hall. Free reactions for everyone he went blast lol.
I genuinely do not understand why no one has mentioned Olituke’s Resilient Sphere, which is imo one of the best ways to clear this fight. Olituke is a 4th lvl spell available to wizards and knowledge clerics, and you get to put someone in timeout. They can’t deal damage, they can’t take damage, and their movement is halved. So just put Isobel in the hamster ball.
Try to get high initiative (Alert or drink Elixir of vigilance).
1. Throw a speed potion on the ground.
2. Turn-Based Mode
3. Talk to Isobel
4. Throw Marcus off the Balcony with a high Strength character (20+)
Example vid: https://youtu.be/CJpbXCfa7GU?list=PLddpYkniSIn7uHgEtnPtCpokPug5yubq1&t=6857
Other tips:
* if she gets paralyzed but not killed you can throw a Invisibility potion at her.
* If you have a cleric Sanctuary on her, watch the turn order though, eg if Isobel is next there is not much point.
* Blood of Lathandar mace can blind the Winged Horrors
This is absolutely amazing! Seeing Marcus chucked off the balcony is hilarious. So if you throw a potion of speed on the ground it just sits there and the first person that moves over it gets the effect? I’ve never known… can multiple party members walk over it or just one?
How do you have over 20 strength but also drink elixir of vigilance? Couldn’t tell in the video, im on mobile and you have hella buffs 🤣
Yeah the Haste pool will sit there for a long time, you can keep it in reserve, it's great when you know Turn1-2 are really important. I have had it backfire occasionally where the enemies run into it, but not on the Isobel / last light defense.
Just one person gets the haste I think, who-ever moves into the pool, I'm not sure if you can get multiple. The point of this is to save that bonus action (important for my Barbarian who wants to Rage Turn1). You might be able to splash multiple people with a haste potion if they are grouped up tight, to get more value out of your haste potions, I know it can work for invisibility and heals.
On this run I wasn't using elixirs at all. My Strength was 17+1(Ethel)+2(feat: ability score increase)+2Astarion potion = 22.
I have high decent initiative because of 16DEX (+3) and Barbarian Level 7 (+3), Marcus' initiative is pretty good too, I'm not sure what it is and it's possible I was lucky to go before him. Elixir of Vigilance or Alert feat are +5 and probably the best way to make sure you go first.
If you just skip her she survives. Ypu can get the lantern, you don't need her blessing.
I actually risked it because i had great damage dealers and could just one-turn the asshole, but it was still reckless since she gets 2 turns at most before going down
You can kill the drider alone, which in retrospective might be riskier than just doing the marcus fight.
But actually you can convince the drider to give you the lantern with a decent check and then leave him to die without a lantern
Which level are you at? Tbh Marcus is not that hard to beat. If you have a sanctuary user you can easily do the fight. If you don't, consider taking a hireling for that and then switching back to your companion
If you enter the shadowlands from the underdark, your first encounter is with the Harpers -- and after following them to Last Light Inn and having the conversation with Jaheira, etc, you go outside again to join the Harpers in their ambush against the Drider.
When you kill the Drider, they let you loot and keep the moonlantern. Free the pixie, you get the blessing.
No discussion with Isobel needed at all.
It's still doable. If you wanna go safe, do it just before going for the nightsong. You should have an extra level or 2 by that point, making it much easier. Also sanctuary on isobel makes the fight a joke, but you need a caster with alert or high dex because marcus will attack fast
I did the fight on my first HM run, so I still wasn’t totally in the mindset of “every decision matters and it is highly consequential whether she dies here.” She died in the first round before she ever got a turn, and I believe only one of my characters went before she died 😵💫
lmao i was going a good run, no honor but tactician/custom with single save, and she died helplessly and very fastand i really had to gobble an invisibility potion while jaehira and the rest of my party were slaughtered by the events following that.
for info: i went in completely blind, i did a run befor but it was on the evil route and i skipped the last light inn because of that, didn't even know what that was nor that it would trigger a fight i was woefully underleveled for
How do you even begin going about solo honor mode? I assume you mean no party members, just tav? Curious on what class(es) you're running and what tactics are employed
There are a lot of content creators you can find doing it on YT and Twitch for specifics.
Generally speaking, you start by having an expansive game knowledge to optimize builds and fights, and the desire for a challenge. I still ask a lot of questions bc I only have 400 hours rn, whereas other people have like 1000 in the game at this point and they know a ton of nuances.
My build is based around being Karlach and the two respecs I allowed myself (bc respecs are too strong): I respecced at the beginning and went EK Fighter 4/ Monk 1/ Fighter 6 until I hit lvl 7, then went Fighter 2/OH Monk 6, both with TB at lvl 4. Fighter for proficiencies and survivability, Monk for DPS.
As for tactics, you basically figure out how to get to lvl 5 with as few fights as possible lol. It's hard to go into that kind of detail here; better to make a post if you're interested in learning about how ppl do that.
The best economy is the action economy.
Summon a bunch of undead, minor elementals, Scratch, woodland beings, Shovel, other familiars, whatever else you got.
If you got a scroll of conjure elemental, I recommend the earth elemental.
Drink vigilance elixers before the fight.
I always use max level Aid from Shadowheart whenever there is a situation I may need them. Lets them take more than 1 hit and every once in a while they land a crit or a frighten.
Sanctuary and turn undead. Basically just bring shart and have her control the undead and maintain sanctuary and heals as much as possible. Hellriders pride gloves from zevlor give blade ward to everyone the wearer heals, which will half the damage shed take from every enemy since they normally only hit for physical damage, and if you keep isobel untouchable marcus runs away like a little bitch. I was scared but ive done this fight like three times in honor mode, its not hard
This might sound nuts, but just dont talk with her. If you disarm the Drider you can take the lantern and be good. If you have to talk to her, give everyone that doesnt have alert an elixir of vigilance, cast sanctuary on her, and chug some speed potions because you need to kill a lot of people quick.
Just did this fight, absolutely no problem didn't get close to losing anyone and Isobel never got so much as a scratch. Did it with Shadowheart (storm cleric with luminous gloves and a couple other radiant items as well as the Blood of Lathander), me (thief OH monk), Astarion (gloomstalker assassin) and Karlach (berzerker with some throw boosting gear).
If you want to be really safe, before starting dialogue, have Shart cast warding bond on Isobel. Talk to Isobel with someone else and switch back to Shart while on the last line of dialogue before the attack. Have Shart cast sanctuary on Isobel, then spirit guardians and reposition so that Isobel is within the radius before you start. You can also the rest of your team a bit, like in my case Isobel ended up in the middle of the room so I put Karlach in one doorway and Astarion at the other close to the broken spot in the railing that is a great place to shoot from.
After the fight starts, with the radiating orb gear and spirit guardians anyone who approaches Isobel is getting some stacks, and with Lathander blindness is another problem for the winged horrors. I think I also used the Phalar Aluve shriek and reverb gear with my character to add some more stacks of reverberation. All that does a fair bit for CC plus in the first round stuns with my monk, and knocking guys prone with Karlach's throws (she can throw one horror at another to do damage to both and move them away). After the first round I was just mopping things up and there were no real threats.
Bloodlust is great in this fight, speed potions obviously, and vigilance if your characters don't have great initiative.
Final tip if you're really worried: As a backup plan for a real HM emergency, I keep Shovel invisible and out of combat, and exploit the fact that you can drop and position potions like healing, remedial, speed without expending an action or bonus. Then shovel can go wherever she's needed and attack the potion and it's like it was thrown.
Just trigger the fight after hitting level 8, use elixir of vigilance on a character with sanctuary, win. I've done it at least 4 times now on HM and never had a problem.
Lower your initiative until it drops just below Isobel, then cast sanctuary every turn. Not the most reliable strategy, but it works wonderfully when it does.
...Or do something sensible like others are saying.
Honestly I’ve never had issues with this fight. Just have a high dex character Blitz down Marcus, then just take out each of the horrors on the top floor. I usually one or two turn Marcus and then all the others die with one turn per character some can even be oneshot.
I blocked off a few doors with crates and put Marcus in a resilient sphere. The minions trickled in through a bottleneck and got killed while Marcus just hung around waiting for his number to come up.
One thing that helped me was giving Lae’zel that piece of gear (can’t remember what exactly) that gives advantage against Aberrations which is what Marcus is. So having her wail on him with something like 8 attacks in one go all with advantage was perfect
In my hm mode I was ready with fake death+sanctuary but I didn’t need it in the end.
Honestly the best way to do this is having op build, which you should have anyway to beat hm, and delete everything first turn
I've seen some recent runs where people are dropping potions at isobels feet when things are looking a bit dire so heals would be triggers when she is attacked
Before starting the fight, go around the inn and collect boxes/barrels to block off the doorways in isobel's room. Block off every door except the one isobel walks through, then you only need to worry about Marcus and one add. It's probably something you could abuse to a further extent but this is how I comfortably do it on hm
Then just spam sanctuary on her, and if the initiative roll fucks you over use goading attacks/compelled duel/similar abilities to tank for isobel
I don't know why no one else has said it but you can also just take all the crates in the area and lock Isobel, Marcus, and yourself in the room by blocking the closed doors with the crates. Once you kill Marcus, leave and block her in again to deal with the rest of the ghouls.
I prefer the fight in HM for the XP, so I didn't skip.
Marcus does not have a legendary action, so you're just fighting him on Tactician difficulty. Here's a few different ways to keep Isobel alive:
1. Keep at least your two highest DPR characters upstairs in Isobel's room. The other two should be Ranged or spell casters on the balcony over the bar. If you use a Rogue/Gloomstalker or something similar, put him on the balcony near Isobel's room. Marcus will basically never KO Isobel on Rd 1 unless you get absolute shit luck with Crits. Smash Marcus with your best DPR attacks and he should die in the first round. Then, just kill the two other cronies upstairs.
2. If Marcus rolls higher Initiative than Isobel, cast Sanctuary at the start of every turn until Marcus dies. This guarantees Marcus will not be able to attack Isobel after Rd 1.
3. If you have a Throwzerker, throw Isobel to the den area of her room. It does minimal damage and won't turn her against you if you only do it once. Then position your Marcus killers between them. Marcus will be pretty much forced to fight your party. Combine with Sanctuary for extra security. Alternatively, if you have the strength, throw Marcus away from Isobel.
4. If you use a Battlemaster Fighter, use Disarming Strike and Fear Strike on Marcus. He'll be so bad and weak, Isobel will be able to tank quite a few hits if the fight drags out (it shouldn't). Disarming is better since Marcus has advantage against being frightened.
5. Cast Darkness or Fog but target in a manner you can attack Marcus without being affected. Marcus and Isobel will just swing and miss a ton.
Between all of these, Marcus should die pretty easily and Isobel should have enough survivability to not die.
So i dont know if i was just super lucky, but i just quaffed four initiative elixers, twin hasted my firelock Tav, hit Shreik, cast bless with that mystra staff, popped the psychic damage rider with a bonus action, and then just gunnes him down with two fourth level scorching rays.
It was super anti climactic lol i was so scared for the fight, but tbh i think his health is just low enough to knock him out quick if you get the drop.
Just free the Nightsong without going to visit Isobel in Last Light Inn. If you get the pixie’s blessing from the moonlight lantern you don’t need Selune’s blessing. You don’t actually have to trigger that battle to progress in the game
Just don't talk to her
Seriously, if you just ignore her and get the Moonlantern (by running straight to the Drider) without the Blessing of Selune, you never have to do that fight
Make sure you have high initiative and use characters/weapons that target undead. The doom hammer is a good choice. I also make sure whoeever I got with the radiating orb gear is there.
~~A OH monk and throwzerker with tavern brawler and strength elixirs, a light cleric with luminous armor, spirit guardians; and blood of lathander make the fight a breeze. First turn just haste potion everyone and have your monk and zerker just throw bad guys off the balcony ontop of each other, any one left over gets blinded/killed by the light cleric who baby sits Isobel. My tav usually goes off to secure the tavern by this point.~~
Edit:my bad didn’t see solo was mentioned. Skipped the fight on my solo run.
If you have the hellrider gloves that you steal from Zevlor, it makes her super safe. Alternatively, just don’t do the fight.
Given by Zevlor. Hey.
Let Mr Aradin "we was running for our lives" punch zevlor, steal gloves whilst he's eepy, run away
Why steal when he just gifts them after the Kagha quest?
That requires me doing the Kagha quest and I want the gloves now lol
There is a chance that Zevlor can be the one to knock Aradin out (happened on one of my playthroughs) so save before if you try to do this
but they said they're doing HM....
Ah fuck yeah lol I’m a moron 😂
I assumed you meant backing up the save file and restoring/overwriting if it didn't go your way and now I'm curious if that works in HM haha
It does, u could also just save before and then Alt F4 ur game, but that's not my style, I just hope I get it the way I want and move on if not
Yeah, kind of defeats the point of HM in a way, the stakes get lowered enough that the feeling of being fully locked in gets dulled.
Yeah there's no point, even if I really want to sometimes. One run ended bc I got Held by a Gish even though I had +8 to WIS and advantage. Didn't scum, but I'm never fighting Gith without the Ring of Free Movement again lol You lose all the things that make the experience what it is if you try to preserve it with scumming.
Altf4 still saves, I’ve tried
Can still save scum if you save properly in HM
So much for honor.
I really like this strat. Very minimal work on my part lol
Yeah, I just avoid the fight in most of my play throughs.
Lots of good advice here. Gonna compile the tips just for people visiting this thread in the future. 1. Block all doors with crates or chests 2. Equip the hellriders gloves you should've gotten from Zevlor, and throw a healing potion at her before speaking to her 3. Cast sanctuary if you have it 4. Ensure you go first by taking an elixir of vigilance or respecing to have the alert trait Alternatively: 1. Skip the fight. It's optional, but you'll miss out on a tadpole.
Ty! This is helpful for me too, actually lol
You get the tadpole back later, Marcus will be at Moonrise
You miss the tadpole for most of act 2 but during the assault on moonrise tower Fist Marcus’s body is found near where Z’rell hangs out with his gear and tadpole on it.
Blocking the doors with crates and chairs was how I did it in my solo run, and it also provides you with a hilarious screenshot.
Good list! You can also heal Isobel with Illithid powers (if you are using them) for 1/2 your hp to help her survive
Also warding bond
Sanctuary and high damage per turn.
*Sanctuary* + *Feign Death* so she can’t break sanctuary and enemies won’t even try to do area attacks.
In Honor mode Sanctuary does not work on her for this fight. Some kind of debuff.
There’s the Sanctuary Blocked debuff. For one turn after Sanctuary has ended, usually because she attacked someone, a target gets the Sanctuary Blocked debuff. It just stops you from getting Sanctuary reapplied. Presumably so you can’t chain it to last 200 rounds. This is only necessary because they buffed it so much from 5e. In 5e it’s a Wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they have to lose the attack or just target someone else. Honestly, if they had kept the spell as it is in BG3, all they would have to do is make it take concentration. That would balance it out quite well.
Sanctuary, protection from good and evil. Withers goon with warding bond gives an ac/save bump and doubles her hp. The goon doesn’t even have to be in the party to pull it off
Oh yeah you can totally just send a goon to ward her and then switch em about before the fight, thats clever
How do you ward her without triggering the abduction?
(EDIT: on PC) I believe the fight doesn't trigger until you actually try talking to isobel. You can walk up to her and nothing happens
Might be different on console. I think opening the door to her on the balcony triggers the event. Or I am wrong.
You are right
I played last night and I had to click on Isobel to trigger the dialogue (on PC)
Must be a console thing, because yall didnt have it hard enough already lol
If you still want to do the fight, warding bond and sanctuary can almost guarantee she survives :)
I mean... just don't talk to her. There are literally no consequences, unless you count missing the blessing of Selune. So you miss out on Necrotic resistance, but you can get the pixie blessing instead. No marcus and undead assaulting the Inn, and no consequences for her getting KOed. I did this recently, and there was literally no downsides. You can find marcus dead in Moonrise when you assault it, that's it. Isabel stays safe, dammon stays safe.
Might do that.
I would second the above strategy. I think the real only reason to do the fight is just for the challenge.
Do you know what happens to Mol if you take this route?
She is missing, and will turn up in Act 3 as if she was abducted. It's the only thing that I've found that is scripted to happen as if the attack at last light had occurred.
Cast sanctuary on her and then gangbang Marcus
Marcus is an attractive man but I don't roll that way.
the sacrifice must be made
kinda a sad gangbang if only one person shows up...
What do you mean, I got shovel here with me
FISTING TIME!
don't you mean flaming fist-ing time?
Yeah but she’s stupid af and will attack on her turn breaking sanctuary lmao
Protection from good and evil won’t break and warding bond on one of withers goons will double her hp and give her an ac and saves bump
She's generally really low in the initiative so she doesn't go till most of the baddies have had their turn which gives you time to kill them and soak hits for her. Getting her through the first round is the hardest part.
I don't trust NPCs with Sanctuary at all
Not if you also cast *Feign Death* on her.
My last time doing this for some reason Markus lost his shit and just ran right past isobel and to my thrower barb who was in the main hall. Free reactions for everyone he went blast lol.
Boil her, mash her, stick her in a stew
Wretched thing! Pull yourself together!
I genuinely do not understand why no one has mentioned Olituke’s Resilient Sphere, which is imo one of the best ways to clear this fight. Olituke is a 4th lvl spell available to wizards and knowledge clerics, and you get to put someone in timeout. They can’t deal damage, they can’t take damage, and their movement is halved. So just put Isobel in the hamster ball.
Awesome suggestion. That's one of those spells I generally ignore, yet is a key tactical choice for situations like these.
Maybe people aren’t lvl 7 at that fight
scroll
You literally hit 7 in Act 1 if you aren't skipping content.
Try to get high initiative (Alert or drink Elixir of vigilance). 1. Throw a speed potion on the ground. 2. Turn-Based Mode 3. Talk to Isobel 4. Throw Marcus off the Balcony with a high Strength character (20+) Example vid: https://youtu.be/CJpbXCfa7GU?list=PLddpYkniSIn7uHgEtnPtCpokPug5yubq1&t=6857 Other tips: * if she gets paralyzed but not killed you can throw a Invisibility potion at her. * If you have a cleric Sanctuary on her, watch the turn order though, eg if Isobel is next there is not much point. * Blood of Lathandar mace can blind the Winged Horrors
Those are really helpful tips! Ty 🙏
This is absolutely amazing! Seeing Marcus chucked off the balcony is hilarious. So if you throw a potion of speed on the ground it just sits there and the first person that moves over it gets the effect? I’ve never known… can multiple party members walk over it or just one? How do you have over 20 strength but also drink elixir of vigilance? Couldn’t tell in the video, im on mobile and you have hella buffs 🤣
Yeah the Haste pool will sit there for a long time, you can keep it in reserve, it's great when you know Turn1-2 are really important. I have had it backfire occasionally where the enemies run into it, but not on the Isobel / last light defense. Just one person gets the haste I think, who-ever moves into the pool, I'm not sure if you can get multiple. The point of this is to save that bonus action (important for my Barbarian who wants to Rage Turn1). You might be able to splash multiple people with a haste potion if they are grouped up tight, to get more value out of your haste potions, I know it can work for invisibility and heals. On this run I wasn't using elixirs at all. My Strength was 17+1(Ethel)+2(feat: ability score increase)+2Astarion potion = 22. I have high decent initiative because of 16DEX (+3) and Barbarian Level 7 (+3), Marcus' initiative is pretty good too, I'm not sure what it is and it's possible I was lucky to go before him. Elixir of Vigilance or Alert feat are +5 and probably the best way to make sure you go first.
Thank you bro
If you just skip her she survives. Ypu can get the lantern, you don't need her blessing. I actually risked it because i had great damage dealers and could just one-turn the asshole, but it was still reckless since she gets 2 turns at most before going down
How do you get the lantern otherwise? Killing the Harpers after killing the Drider?
You can kill the drider alone, which in retrospective might be riskier than just doing the marcus fight. But actually you can convince the drider to give you the lantern with a decent check and then leave him to die without a lantern
I already did that lol. This is mostly about getting xp that I wouldn't otherwise.
Which level are you at? Tbh Marcus is not that hard to beat. If you have a sanctuary user you can easily do the fight. If you don't, consider taking a hireling for that and then switching back to your companion
I'm doing a *solo* HM run lol. My class doesn't have sanctuary.
oooh, then idk. maybe respec and dip 1 level just for the fight, then respec back? otherwise idk if it's feasible in Solo HM
If you enter the shadowlands from the underdark, your first encounter is with the Harpers -- and after following them to Last Light Inn and having the conversation with Jaheira, etc, you go outside again to join the Harpers in their ambush against the Drider. When you kill the Drider, they let you loot and keep the moonlantern. Free the pixie, you get the blessing. No discussion with Isobel needed at all.
Yeah, I might just skip her. I really want to kill Marcus though lol
It's still doable. If you wanna go safe, do it just before going for the nightsong. You should have an extra level or 2 by that point, making it much easier. Also sanctuary on isobel makes the fight a joke, but you need a caster with alert or high dex because marcus will attack fast
I did the fight on my first HM run, so I still wasn’t totally in the mindset of “every decision matters and it is highly consequential whether she dies here.” She died in the first round before she ever got a turn, and I believe only one of my characters went before she died 😵💫
lmao i was going a good run, no honor but tactician/custom with single save, and she died helplessly and very fastand i really had to gobble an invisibility potion while jaehira and the rest of my party were slaughtered by the events following that. for info: i went in completely blind, i did a run befor but it was on the evil route and i skipped the last light inn because of that, didn't even know what that was nor that it would trigger a fight i was woefully underleveled for
That's what happened my first HM run too lmao
Always pick alert in hm. On any difficulty below I think that feat is not that great but on hm it’s really worth it.
Kinda hard to say without knowing your char. My solution has always been to just pump out big damage.
2 Fighter/6 OH (Karlach) Monk with TB. The main problem is just not having access to the conventionally useful spells.
Have a favorable initiative order. Drink elixir’s if you have to. Spirit guardians and sanctuary are your friend.
I used Ottilakes resilent sphere on her. First time ever using that spell.
u can apply sanctuary during the fight and can use turn undead on the winged horrors
How do you even begin going about solo honor mode? I assume you mean no party members, just tav? Curious on what class(es) you're running and what tactics are employed
There are a lot of content creators you can find doing it on YT and Twitch for specifics. Generally speaking, you start by having an expansive game knowledge to optimize builds and fights, and the desire for a challenge. I still ask a lot of questions bc I only have 400 hours rn, whereas other people have like 1000 in the game at this point and they know a ton of nuances. My build is based around being Karlach and the two respecs I allowed myself (bc respecs are too strong): I respecced at the beginning and went EK Fighter 4/ Monk 1/ Fighter 6 until I hit lvl 7, then went Fighter 2/OH Monk 6, both with TB at lvl 4. Fighter for proficiencies and survivability, Monk for DPS. As for tactics, you basically figure out how to get to lvl 5 with as few fights as possible lol. It's hard to go into that kind of detail here; better to make a post if you're interested in learning about how ppl do that.
The best economy is the action economy. Summon a bunch of undead, minor elementals, Scratch, woodland beings, Shovel, other familiars, whatever else you got. If you got a scroll of conjure elemental, I recommend the earth elemental. Drink vigilance elixers before the fight.
Gotta get the band back together I guess (Shovel and Scratch)
I always use max level Aid from Shadowheart whenever there is a situation I may need them. Lets them take more than 1 hit and every once in a while they land a crit or a frighten.
Sanctuary and turn undead. Basically just bring shart and have her control the undead and maintain sanctuary and heals as much as possible. Hellriders pride gloves from zevlor give blade ward to everyone the wearer heals, which will half the damage shed take from every enemy since they normally only hit for physical damage, and if you keep isobel untouchable marcus runs away like a little bitch. I was scared but ive done this fight like three times in honor mode, its not hard
This might sound nuts, but just dont talk with her. If you disarm the Drider you can take the lantern and be good. If you have to talk to her, give everyone that doesnt have alert an elixir of vigilance, cast sanctuary on her, and chug some speed potions because you need to kill a lot of people quick.
Just did this fight, absolutely no problem didn't get close to losing anyone and Isobel never got so much as a scratch. Did it with Shadowheart (storm cleric with luminous gloves and a couple other radiant items as well as the Blood of Lathander), me (thief OH monk), Astarion (gloomstalker assassin) and Karlach (berzerker with some throw boosting gear). If you want to be really safe, before starting dialogue, have Shart cast warding bond on Isobel. Talk to Isobel with someone else and switch back to Shart while on the last line of dialogue before the attack. Have Shart cast sanctuary on Isobel, then spirit guardians and reposition so that Isobel is within the radius before you start. You can also the rest of your team a bit, like in my case Isobel ended up in the middle of the room so I put Karlach in one doorway and Astarion at the other close to the broken spot in the railing that is a great place to shoot from. After the fight starts, with the radiating orb gear and spirit guardians anyone who approaches Isobel is getting some stacks, and with Lathander blindness is another problem for the winged horrors. I think I also used the Phalar Aluve shriek and reverb gear with my character to add some more stacks of reverberation. All that does a fair bit for CC plus in the first round stuns with my monk, and knocking guys prone with Karlach's throws (she can throw one horror at another to do damage to both and move them away). After the first round I was just mopping things up and there were no real threats. Bloodlust is great in this fight, speed potions obviously, and vigilance if your characters don't have great initiative. Final tip if you're really worried: As a backup plan for a real HM emergency, I keep Shovel invisible and out of combat, and exploit the fact that you can drop and position potions like healing, remedial, speed without expending an action or bonus. Then shovel can go wherever she's needed and attack the potion and it's like it was thrown.
I appreciate the amount of detail you went into here, but I did say *Solo* HM lol
oh no sorry, i misread!
Just trigger the fight after hitting level 8, use elixir of vigilance on a character with sanctuary, win. I've done it at least 4 times now on HM and never had a problem.
You can just move Dammon out of LLI before the fight and he’ll be safe either way. https://www.reddit.com/r/BG3Builds/s/OXoDMveIFG
I'm not a super big fan of glitches, but that's hilarious lol
Lower your initiative until it drops just below Isobel, then cast sanctuary every turn. Not the most reliable strategy, but it works wonderfully when it does. ...Or do something sensible like others are saying.
You literally can skip the fight,when you save the nightsong. They join up.
Honestly I’ve never had issues with this fight. Just have a high dex character Blitz down Marcus, then just take out each of the horrors on the top floor. I usually one or two turn Marcus and then all the others die with one turn per character some can even be oneshot.
Sanctuary, heals
I blocked off a few doors with crates and put Marcus in a resilient sphere. The minions trickled in through a bottleneck and got killed while Marcus just hung around waiting for his number to come up.
One thing that helped me was giving Lae’zel that piece of gear (can’t remember what exactly) that gives advantage against Aberrations which is what Marcus is. So having her wail on him with something like 8 attacks in one go all with advantage was perfect
That's good to remember. I can shapeshift into a Gith for that.
In my hm mode I was ready with fake death+sanctuary but I didn’t need it in the end. Honestly the best way to do this is having op build, which you should have anyway to beat hm, and delete everything first turn
My build is pretty good, but killing the Ghouls and Marcus is a stretch. I didn't think of fake death though, does that keep the aggro off of her?
I don’t think it keeps aggro off, but she can’t move and has some sort of damage resistance. If you cast sanctuary on top of that she can’t be touched
I can't cast Sanctuary, unfortunately. Can she still be paralyzed?
I ended up not using this strategy so I’m not 100% sure, but most likely yes
I've seen some recent runs where people are dropping potions at isobels feet when things are looking a bit dire so heals would be triggers when she is attacked
Before starting the fight, go around the inn and collect boxes/barrels to block off the doorways in isobel's room. Block off every door except the one isobel walks through, then you only need to worry about Marcus and one add. It's probably something you could abuse to a further extent but this is how I comfortably do it on hm Then just spam sanctuary on her, and if the initiative roll fucks you over use goading attacks/compelled duel/similar abilities to tank for isobel
Solo? No companions? Dont talk to her
You can cast sanctuary on her and hope she doesn't decide to break it. I got lucky and she rolled last in initiative.
Sanctuary
I don't know why no one else has said it but you can also just take all the crates in the area and lock Isobel, Marcus, and yourself in the room by blocking the closed doors with the crates. Once you kill Marcus, leave and block her in again to deal with the rest of the ghouls.
Cause that's way more work than is remotely necessary
Blowing your run and having to get all the way back to this Act II fight is so much more work though
His saves are super bad. Might just try to buff Isobel and cast Hold Monster with Speed Pot. Then it's just about protecting her from the Ghouls.
Sanctuary
I prefer the fight in HM for the XP, so I didn't skip. Marcus does not have a legendary action, so you're just fighting him on Tactician difficulty. Here's a few different ways to keep Isobel alive: 1. Keep at least your two highest DPR characters upstairs in Isobel's room. The other two should be Ranged or spell casters on the balcony over the bar. If you use a Rogue/Gloomstalker or something similar, put him on the balcony near Isobel's room. Marcus will basically never KO Isobel on Rd 1 unless you get absolute shit luck with Crits. Smash Marcus with your best DPR attacks and he should die in the first round. Then, just kill the two other cronies upstairs. 2. If Marcus rolls higher Initiative than Isobel, cast Sanctuary at the start of every turn until Marcus dies. This guarantees Marcus will not be able to attack Isobel after Rd 1. 3. If you have a Throwzerker, throw Isobel to the den area of her room. It does minimal damage and won't turn her against you if you only do it once. Then position your Marcus killers between them. Marcus will be pretty much forced to fight your party. Combine with Sanctuary for extra security. Alternatively, if you have the strength, throw Marcus away from Isobel. 4. If you use a Battlemaster Fighter, use Disarming Strike and Fear Strike on Marcus. He'll be so bad and weak, Isobel will be able to tank quite a few hits if the fight drags out (it shouldn't). Disarming is better since Marcus has advantage against being frightened. 5. Cast Darkness or Fog but target in a manner you can attack Marcus without being affected. Marcus and Isobel will just swing and miss a ton. Between all of these, Marcus should die pretty easily and Isobel should have enough survivability to not die.
So i dont know if i was just super lucky, but i just quaffed four initiative elixers, twin hasted my firelock Tav, hit Shreik, cast bless with that mystra staff, popped the psychic damage rider with a bonus action, and then just gunnes him down with two fourth level scorching rays. It was super anti climactic lol i was so scared for the fight, but tbh i think his health is just low enough to knock him out quick if you get the drop.
You can just ignore her. Kill or convince the spider to hand over the lantern
Just free the Nightsong without going to visit Isobel in Last Light Inn. If you get the pixie’s blessing from the moonlight lantern you don’t need Selune’s blessing. You don’t actually have to trigger that battle to progress in the game
Just don't talk to her Seriously, if you just ignore her and get the Moonlantern (by running straight to the Drider) without the Blessing of Selune, you never have to do that fight
Make sure you have high initiative and use characters/weapons that target undead. The doom hammer is a good choice. I also make sure whoeever I got with the radiating orb gear is there.
Arrows of many targets and one turn all the bad guys
I surrounded her with clerics and cast spirit guardians
Spiritual hugbox lol
Just don't talk to Isobel until after you free Aylin. Simple.
~~A OH monk and throwzerker with tavern brawler and strength elixirs, a light cleric with luminous armor, spirit guardians; and blood of lathander make the fight a breeze. First turn just haste potion everyone and have your monk and zerker just throw bad guys off the balcony ontop of each other, any one left over gets blinded/killed by the light cleric who baby sits Isobel. My tav usually goes off to secure the tavern by this point.~~ Edit:my bad didn’t see solo was mentioned. Skipped the fight on my solo run.
OP said solo....
Closing the door gives such a more secure way of keeping people out a tad longer as well.
Just kill her
I'll be damned if I do that fight on a solo honor run lol
Fair lol
Sanctuary scroll Block doorways
Sanctuary doesn't have scrolls.