How to handle mephits and fire elementals?

[PNellesen]

Hey all,

Pretty new player here, with a Level 6 Cleric. I've been trying to get through "Lair of Summoning" and cannot for the life of me figure out how to take out the Air/Cold/Fire Mephits or Elementals (I don't have a problem with Earth elementals). I've got Fire/Cold Resists and PfE going, and I can SURVIVE just fine for quite a while, but I can't seem to find a way to knock them out. My Nicked Mace just doesn't seem to do the job before they can reheal, and I don't have any cold/hot offensive spells or weapons. Any hints or advice (besides "quit playing, noob!") appreciated.

[Hobgoblin]

hirelings or a party work quite well. searing light maxed empowered can work, but drains your sp quickly

hope that helps

hob

[mechgouki]

Hey all,

Pretty new player here, with a Level 6 Cleric. I've been trying to get through "Lair of Summoning" and cannot for the life of me figure out how to take out the Air/Cold/Fire Mephits or Elementals (I don't have a problem with Earth elementals). I've got Fire/Cold Resists and PfE going, and I can SURVIVE just fine for quite a while, but I can't seem to find a way to knock them out. My Nicked Mace just doesn't seem to do the job before they can reheal, and I don't have any cold/hot offensive spells or weapons. Any hints or advice (besides "quit playing, noob!") appreciated.

You can use Dismissal on them both, but you won't get that till later, at least lv 7. Even so, it won't always work. When I tried to solo that, I had to use Resist, buff with Divine Favor, elemental weapons etc on the mephits.

The boss fire elemental in Lair of Summoning can use Dispel, which makes your buffs go bye bye. Try to equip a Robe of Winter (ml 4 20 fire resist robe) before you fight him. I managed to solo him with my Fighter but not my cleric on elite, because he dispelled all my buffs, while I was fighting summoned mephits.

Oh, btw, for Air Mephits, always equip Blindness Ward Goggles, and for Ice Mephits, always cast Nightshield.

[Fedora]

I guess you just need to get your damage potential up. Aside from getting a better weapon, higher strength, clickies or potions that increase damage/strength, you might try hiring a lvl 6 fighter/barabarian and casting fire resist on him. Let him help you deal out damage.

[chubbs99]

As I'm sure you've come to learn, There is no way this can be considered a level 6 quest. It is only really doable at level with the perfect party makeup. Most people I know would rather just skip it and wait till much later on in the game to run it for favor.

The easiest way to drop Fire Elementals/Mephets is with Cold Damage (duh? ), and Frost Mephets are weak against Fire Damage. As a cleric though, Your likely not going to have anything able to take advantage of the double elemental damage. So your best bet is to get a party of Arcane casters and "Freeze Hell." or try and find yourself a balanced party to go in there with. Just make sure everyone is doing cold damage and you'll still get through it fairly easily. You may also want a Evasion character with high dex. My Monk's first life I went in there at around level 8 and was taking very little damage even on hard. I also saved the party from completely wiping a few times since I could run them back to the shrine.

[PNellesen]

Ok, so it's not just me then

Yeah, think I'll skip this one for now unless I can get a better party, but the description said "Suitable for Solo/Party" so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Thanks for the replies.

[Eladiun]

Hey all,

Pretty new player here, with a Level 6 Cleric. I've been trying to get through "Lair of Summoning" and cannot for the life of me figure out how to take out the Air/Cold/Fire Mephits or Elementals (I don't have a problem with Earth elementals). I've got Fire/Cold Resists and PfE going, and I can SURVIVE just fine for quite a while, but I can't seem to find a way to knock them out. My Nicked Mace just doesn't seem to do the job before they can reheal, and I don't have any cold/hot offensive spells or weapons. Any hints or advice (besides "quit playing, noob!") appreciated.

A balance party. A solid arcane caster can really tear through the mephits and elys. Also, weapons that do the appropriate damage type, cold for fire, etc. can help a great deal.

[QuantumFX]

For Mephits: Generally speaking, Ice weapons are your top pick. However, any weapon that affects True Neutral opponents is enough. In higher level dungeons I find that killing the fire mephits last is more beneficial as they spam cast burning hands which dispels the obscuring mist B.S. that other mephits spam cast.

For Elementals: Ice weapons. (If you don’t have a nice one, the Risian games are supposed to return SOON™) If you want something really special a Risian imbued Icy Burst, plus some other effect (That damages True Neutral, Heavily fortified foes) weapon of Greater Elemental Bane is pretty slick.

FYI: The elite version of that Fire Elemental seems to have taken levels of beholder as it spam casts dispel magic at a disproportionate level compared to the quest.

[BobbieBealz]

Haven't seen it mentioned, but what we've done in the past when we don't have a full team to do the damage needed to the elementals is as follows:

- Hireling / party wizard or bard with suggestion.

suggest ( charm ) all the mephits, they do decent damage to the fire elemental, at least until the cold protection it casts on itself expires. The fire elemental also does decent damage to the mephits, so we tend to try and only keep one or two charmed at a time and diplo the ( or run around the pillars and hide from) the elemental until the mephits AOE is used on the ele.

OR

From a clerics perspective, pretty sure you'll be stuck needing outside help, UMD scrolls etc, or getting your hands on some decent ranged elemental damage weapons.

YMMV of course.

[DANTEIL]

I recently had a similar question. I was soloing Co6 on my bard and got to the quest with the mephit ambush at the beginning. Incredibly frustrating!!! I had done that series only once before as part of a party that was zerging through everything and so my memory was hazy and I wasn't prepared for the full-on mephit madness at all. I definitely need to get some ice effects on my weapons. Mephits have got to be the most annoying mob in the game, second only to ledge hopping kobold shamans.

[EKKM]

Hey all,

Pretty new player here, with a Level 6 Cleric. I've been trying to get through "Lair of Summoning" and cannot for the life of me figure out how to take out the Air/Cold/Fire Mephits or Elementals (I don't have a problem with Earth elementals). I've got Fire/Cold Resists and PfE going, and I can SURVIVE just fine for quite a while, but I can't seem to find a way to knock them out. My Nicked Mace just doesn't seem to do the job before they can reheal, and I don't have any cold/hot offensive spells or weapons. Any hints or advice (besides "quit playing, noob!") appreciated.

That quest is very difficult to solo on a non-arcane/evasion charater at level. Either find a party or wait until later to run it for favour.

[stormwolf1972]

i solo'd it using one paralyzer and one vorpal weapon.....that combo drops all kinds of enemies...even some lesser red names

[Kriogen]

Get:
- a bigger, better weapon. "Mace" is not a very impressive weapon. Any cleric can atlest use Longsword (granted by that diety enhancement). But a big and heavy 2-hander would be better.
- summon something as distraction. You may also get a hireling for even more distraction
- cast Divine Favor
- drink Haste potion
- ... so buff yourself as a warrior would do
- chop those pesky mephits one at a time.

No idea how they say in english, but from where I come, we say "if you have problems, take a bigger hammer"

[Zenako]

Hey all,

Pretty new player here, with a Level 6 Cleric. I've been trying to get through "Lair of Summoning" and cannot for the life of me figure out how to take out the Air/Cold/Fire Mephits or Elementals (I don't have a problem with Earth elementals). I've got Fire/Cold Resists and PfE going, and I can SURVIVE just fine for quite a while, but I can't seem to find a way to knock them out. My Nicked Mace just doesn't seem to do the job before they can reheal, and I don't have any cold/hot offensive spells or weapons. Any hints or advice (besides "quit playing, noob!") appreciated.

What setting were you on? Casual or Normal? (I hope you were not trying to do it on Hard or Elite first time..)

As a level 6 cleric you have a number of options. Being alone is not one of them. You can summon up a Hellhound using Monster Summons to help you. Hell hound is all but immune to fire damage so it will last for a while and you can buff it up to help as well. Its main purpose is to act as a distraction for the mobs in the game. Wearing the Robe of Winter (if you have one, that is) for its 20 point Fire Resist effect is very useful but not 100% required. (at 7th level your resists jump to 20 points as well, but as mentioned can be dispelled by the Elemental.) You really want to get a weapon with a cold effect on it instead of just the Nicked Mace (a fine low level weapon that works on all things pretty well) since the Fire Critters take Double Damage from Cold.

You need to work on keeping a moving and stopping approach. This spreads out the mobs that pursue at various rates of speed and allows you to deal with them more one on one. As you knock down the number of mobs, the fight becomes easier. Personally when alone I prefer to pick off the mephits one by one, they often chase faster than the elemental does, since the elemental spends time tossing spells at you. You can move and avoid some of them if you watch them coming. If your Hell Hound dies, make another (but don't stand still while doing it.) Sometimes it will actually engage the Fire Elemental and keep it busy for a while. This is called fighting Fire with Fire. (kinda like having a charmed troll fight another troll...the fight basically never ends...)

It can be done, does not require any really special gear to do. Just some creative tactics and play to overcome. Also you might find a reasonable ranged weapon with cold effects (Chill Shard comes to mind) and that can help deal damage to the mobs while you are out of range.

[Eladiun]

I recently had a similar question. I was soloing Co6 on my bard and got to the quest with the mephit ambush at the beginning. Incredibly frustrating!!! I had done that series only once before as part of a party that was zerging through everything and so my memory was hazy and I wasn't prepared for the full-on mephit madness at all. I definitely need to get some ice effects on my weapons. Mephits have got to be the most annoying mob in the game, second only to ledge hopping kobold shamans.

That's a party wiper for the unprepared party.

[Zenako]

I recently had a similar question. I was soloing Co6 on my bard and got to the quest with the mephit ambush at the beginning. Incredibly frustrating!!! I had done that series only once before as part of a party that was zerging through everything and so my memory was hazy and I wasn't prepared for the full-on mephit madness at all. I definitely need to get some ice effects on my weapons. Mephits have got to be the most annoying mob in the game, second only to ledge hopping kobold shamans.

Actually a bard should be able to handle that part with relative ease compared to most character classes....Fascinate them and pick them off one by one. Rinse and repeat. Just prep a few resists before hand, along with any suitable bard songs and you should be good to go.

The absolute easiest runs I have had on Co6 have always had a bard along.

[Zenako]

That's a party wiper for the unprepared party.

At least they learn that quickly in the dungeon, since it is the first real fight....

Live and learn to set up CC or pull subsets of the mobs, unless you have the spells, gear and or skills to overcome them all at once.

[DANTEIL]

Actually a bard should be able to handle that part with relative ease compared to most character classes....Fascinate them and pick them off one by one. Rinse and repeat. Just prep a few resists before hand, along with any suitable bard songs and you should be good to go.

The absolute easiest runs I have had on Co6 have always had a bard along.

Your point is well-taken! I should have tried fascinate. I'm still learning how to play a bard, and in parties fascinate seems kind of useless so when I'm soloing I forget that I have that ability, even though I know that it can be powerful if used the right way. Does fascinate require a Concentration check? That is, if I'm surrounded with things beating on me and I'm trying to play my lute-thingie, can they interrupt it?

Makes me want to go back and try that again now

[Zenako]

Your point is well-taken! I should have tried fascinate. I'm still learning how to play a bard, and in parties fascinate seems kind of useless so when I'm soloing I forget that I have that ability, even though I know that it can be powerful if used the right way. Does fascinate require a Concentration check? That is, if I'm surrounded with things beating on me and I'm trying to play my lute-thingie, can they interrupt it?

Makes me want to go back and try that again now

It might, but it is not hard to make when only getting grazed by plink damage. Be sure to keep moving when singing (it hardly slows you down at all) and run in a decreasing radius spiral to pull all the mobs into a tighter cluster before the song ends and triggers. Then deal with any that are still loose and were not in the area of effect. For most bards you should land Fascinate about 95% of the time on anything in the area of effect (it is a Monster WILL save vs your Fascinate SKill +D20 roll).

A bard zerging ahead and leaving a trail of Fascinated mobs behind can render a healbot cleric very bored in many many quests.

[Azuarc]

Regarding the OP, I think your issue is covered by now, but simply put, that fire elemental is just a total beast. The mephits aren't really that bad, but the elemental is practically impossible. On hard, I went in on level 8 (cleric) with a level 9 paladin friend. I burned my entire mana bar healing him while I hid behind a pillar since I couldn't do enough damage to justify standing in his blasts...and then he used up a large chunk of his, including LoH, before we got it down. That's hard...on normal, I was just barely able to solo him on level 8.

I can't say I'm a huge fan of the F2P Kundarak quests. Most of the other ones aren't a ton better, but at least they don't have a ridiculous power spike at the end.