The Stormreach Fresco advice

[sunkenfaith]

Ok, any advice on breaking the crystals after Zircon bolts? I have a hireling (Fighter lvl 5) but doing physical damage to the crystal is waaaaayyy too long. I end up getting overwhelmed by the 2 guard dogs that spawn out consistantly.

I am a cleric btw if this helps.

[Lithic]

Sonic damage seems to be more effective, so maybe use a thundering rapier, scimitar, falcion, or kukri. Theres a DM hint that some spells are very effective, but if that refers to sonic attack spells (of which there are none available until you are about twice the level of the quest), then its a red herring clue.

I havent tried any spells there save searing light and soundburst (i was lvl 7 FVS at the time), and that didn't do much. Best bet is probably 6 characters all chipping away at the xtals, taking out dogs as they come.

[Angelus_dead]

I am a cleric btw if this helps.
You're level 5, doing it on Normal... or solo... it should be easy for a cleric.

1. Walk to the crystal
2. Pull out a big weapon, such as Ember Greataxe or +2 Greatsword or +1 Quarterstaff or whatever you've got.
3. Cast Divine Favor
3b. Optionally cast Bull's Strength
4. Hit the crystal with this weapon
5. If a dog comes up to you, hit the dog with the weapon
6. If the crystal isn't dead, go back to 4

The dogs are weak, so a level 5 cleric should be able to kill literally 30+ of those dogs before they wear you down.

Mega Bonus Hint
Don't look to a hireling for real DPS. Hirelings don't like to attack very much so their damage is low, and I suspect that they're often a net loss, because having one in the party increases the starting hp of all the enemies.

[THAC0]

Mega Bonus Hint
Don't look to a hireling for real DPS. Hirelings don't like to attack very much so their damage is low, and I suspect that they're often a net loss, because having one in the party increases the starting hp of all the enemies.

This I did not know. Thanks for that little tidbit of knowledge...

[Vormaerin]

Melee hirelings are mainly there to distract the foes and absorb damage. They used to be a net gain in damage before Dungeon Scaling, but as A_D said they may not be now.

[sunkenfaith]

wow, thanks for the advice - I never knew that having hirelings could be scale their hp.

[Kaldais]

force and sonic does double/triple damage.

[Junts]

sonic and force do additional damage