Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Ok so let's talk about these basilisks in the Underdark

Maybe it's because i'm still quite new and don't know if there is protection against them AVAILABLE FO EVERY CLASS, but i don't think there is so i wanna ask one question. Are they some kind of troll attempt to piss of the UD playerbase? I mean it's cool that we have them in the game and keep their gaze as it is but please make them much more rare and replace the current basilisk spawns with proper enemies or give a way to protect ourselves?

It is really not fun to get instantly killed by them...

Sorry i had to vent after getting cheaped to the fugue plane... >_>

There is, but people just tend to avoid them. It is not an area that see much grinding, from others than people with a huge fortitude save.

Sneaking and invisibility works well, and allows you to do the quests in that area, easy as pie. But for the time being, do what I do. See it as an area with a high risk, high reward, and don't go there if they get you with their gaze attack.

You can also see it as a place where a group is much more effective than a single drow. And the Illithid Ithic sells Stone to Flesh wands to counter the petrification.

Good luck, and don't feel bad about the dangerous areas. They are there to be enjoyed, as a part of the dangers that lurks in the dark. =)

Empoweredfan.

there are some on the surface as well, just not in a major quest center like the UD...

sneaking and invis works but its not 100% safe

high fort save works just as well if you cant sneak or do invis, just hope you dont roll a 1 or get steadfast if you can spare it then you will never have to worry about it

if you are too low level for the save id practice avoiding them

also they only gaze once, if you have summons you can get them to take the gaze for you and you dont have to worry about it, just make sure you are no where close since it is a cone attack

I was very annoyed when i made the post i had to get it off

I agree hard content is awesome but maybe it could be done differently than just dieing instantly if you fail your fortitude save. Yes solo of course in a group it might be different but then again if basilisks are supposed to be group content then i think this could be done differently. Don't get me wrong though i love the UD so far and i think the devs done an amazing job overall.

On the surface i stumbled into group of enemies that are caster / melee, the caster supporting the melees via buffs etc. I think such AI would be much more fun to play against than the basilisks, even for group content. My Drow isn't that high lvl yet so i havent nearly seen all what the UD has to offer in terms of PvE content but so far all the mob groups don't really work together like the ones i have seen on the surface. Was pretty funny watching casters melt their own allies with Ice storm but yea... maybe this does change in the higher lvl areas though.

But maybe basilisks don't really serve any purpose besides creating "a dangerous UD".

just my 2 cent

The Basilisk area in the UD is pretty much broken in my opinion, nobody really goes there to hunt the things as far as I know.

If it was not for the fact there are two quest items in the place people would just ignore it completely! They are the only reason people go there and when they do go 99% of the time they go through it invisible.

It might be better to change the egg quest to retrieve Basilisk horn quest to make you actually kill one of them to get it, drop the numbers that spawn to a couple and up the number of oozes in the place. You might see more people actually go there to hunt then rather than speeding through unseen.

An undead is immune to their gaze. Palemaster level there just fine .

But if you ask me. Basilisks got too much AC or hp for that risk.

Nachti wrote:An undead is immune to their gaze. Palemaster level there just fine .

But if you ask me. Basilisks got too much AC or hp for that risk.

Steadfast Determination. Farm Basilisks all day. Profit.

Invisibility or Hiding. Quest or skip the area. Profit.

As for Undead being immune to petrification, this is a new to me. What is however important, is that the Pale Master himself is not. I would never risk this, with an ECL+2 class, when there are plenty of areas you can farm while in coma and survive.

TL;DR: gl&hf

Actually I mostly visit the area for the chests.
As previously mentioned it is a grand place to grind for someone with medium damage and high fort save, at the proper levels.

Personally I like the challenge of the level 1 gauntlet trying to evade the basilisk and getting the quest items, not to mention getting back! Alive, preferrably.
But that might be just me.


If we are going to talk unused maps in the UD id mention the fire river map and the vampiric wolf wilderness.
The first map is glorious for a newbie group but not easy alone, lovely scenery in some parts and cleverly done.
The second has a trillion? mesh problems and mostly serve as a backroad to Misty Lake, pity.

@OP
If you have issues with the self preservatory basilisk you are going to love roleplaying in the Gloura's establishment on a busy night.
UD spawn point, 2 traders and a quest giver. Yay.

Welcome btw!

The feeling of danger is nice in my opinion, and it seems it's not really meant for grinding. The quests (egg and plate retrieval) are easy for races with innate invisibility spells (duergar, svirf) or casters but you really need the spells (and decent duration) in order to do it.
More annoying in my opinion is the mushroom/beetle area for level 1-2 chars, that area is terrible. Well level 1-5 something in the UD seems pretty evil to me for most chars, perhaps excluding heavy hitters with decent HP/AC.

Perhaps we should make a compiled UD thread with bugs, suggestions, improvements and balancing issues. Just like http://www.bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=44350

but will they ever be read or getting implemented?

there is a QC thread just for the UD and a lot of things that we talked about improving the UD have actually gotten done over the years, however the problem now is back to the original issue the UD had, need someone who wants to work on it

the QC thread has been quiet for 2 yrs now, i think the only thing that might not have been done is the CR review and adjustment

Nachti wrote:Perhaps we should make a compiled UD thread with bugs, suggestions, improvements and balancing issues. Just like http://www.bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=44350

but will they ever be read or getting implemented?

Well, I'm still around, so nothing stops people from posting on there and bringing things to my attention to be added to the list.

I don't mind them.

Undead are not immune to petrify.

Another trick, I have not used yet, (because my palemaster is a mix of rogue and guild thief as well) but have thought about, is to summon your familiar, cast invisibility on it, then use it to cast stone to flesh on you if you are petrified.

The basilisks are fine ... they just aren't for everybody. Don't forget there's a whole area full of them on the surface guarding one of the most popular dungeons. Just be smart about fighting them. As mentioned a character with Steadfast with chew them up and make off like a bandit! I think the problem arises when people think their PC should be able to do everything. Sorry to say it OP but if you don't have steadfast or great stealth skills (to sneak by, not to fight) then you WILL be petrified. It's only a matter of time before you roll that failure. Pick your enemies ...

A basilisk is a reptilian monster that petrifies living creatures with a mere gaze.

Undead Trait: Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless).

So.. all undeads should be immune to basilisks gaze. Some time ago i told Luna this and he fixed PM Summons. Though recently I saw a Blackguard Skeleton turn to stone.