72 réponses à ce sujet

[Reiella]

Use the Lyrium Luke.

[Agni108]

You can side with Branka, and then convince her to destroy the Anvil anyway if your persuasion is high enough and you have a moral aversion to creating golems. Pouring molten lyrium in people's eyes and ear holes, while they scream in agony, and are then trapped inside a metal body for all eternity, is not my cup of tea. This earns you the Pragmatist achievement. After making you the crown, she then destroys the Anvil, and kills herself out of remorse for her wrong doings by jumping into the lava. This was a cool way to end to a horrible situation.

[JaylaClark]

I have to agree with the first poster.

This fight is so unbe****inglievably impossible that I actually, literally, broke my keyboard in frustration.

And when I reload, the goddamned autosave sticks me right in the middle of the battle?

Attack her first with 'frost or fire weapons', by the way?  How?  I have one mage, I couldn't bring Morrigan along in case I needed to pick a bloody lock, and my pre-built tank is sitting at bloody camp as it is because I had to take Oghren with me...

And please don't tell me to switch down a level of difficulty.  With the amount of games I've played I should NOT have to take it down to Easy to beat a boss.

Modifié par JaylaClark, 24 novembre 2009 - 04:30 .

[archonambroseus]

So you rely entirely on autosaves, never save or quicksave, and not only that, but the game deleted the 3 other autosaves that it always keeps on backlog? Ouch, bad luck.



Seriously though, if you're having that much trouble with her, you either need to bring more consumables, build a better party, or just get better at the game. Having killed Branka twice (once on hard with only warriors) and Cairdan once (also on hard, with Wynne), I've really not had any trouble. Just hit the lyrium veins to keep her off them, be smart about your target order, and lay off the ragohol. Poor keyboard.

[judas_kisser]

*edit* sorry double post

Modifié par judas_kisser, 24 novembre 2009 - 05:23 .

[judas_kisser]

use kiting. draw branka away from your partymates and keep running while she tries to hit you. make sure at least one char has ranged weapon so he's hitting branka while you're running around. this is how i won the fight on hard difficulty.

edit: so that's what they call kiting lol

Modifié par judas_kisser, 24 novembre 2009 - 05:33 .

[JaylaClark]

archonambroseus wrote...

So you rely entirely on autosaves, never save or quicksave, and not only that, but the game deleted the 3 other autosaves that it always keeps on backlog? Ouch, bad luck.

Seriously though, if you're having that much trouble with her, you either need to bring more consumables, build a better party, or just get better at the game. Having killed Branka twice (once on hard with only warriors) and Cairdan once (also on hard, with Wynne), I've really not had any trouble. Just hit the lyrium veins to keep her off them, be smart about your target order, and lay off the ragohol. Poor keyboard.

Okay, I'm triple anxious at the moment, even though it was just the support of my keyboard that got smashed, because I just typed for close to ten minutes to reply, but ... here goes, and lemme just start by saying that I do hope that I manage to keep any and all attitude out of this post.  (And that you'd read back how you wrote that and realize that... attitude might be expected.  You DID suggest this was easy for players to do, in a way, and to someone who doesn't consider themselves a horrible player of RPGs at that yet had a hard time.)

I do not rely on autosaves.  However, I do rely on F9 to spare me from the 'Your Journey Ends' scene, and I'd appreciate it if it didn't stick me straight in the middle of a battle when I do so.  I have trouble getting Wynne and Leliana out of harms way when they start in the center.  Thus, my annoyance at that; however, I have a few autosaves to deal with -- plus I think my last manual named save is even before the forced choosing of party.  (Though I really do hate to step back before the Gauntlet that happens just after that.  I managed to survive that with Wynne going down early.  That's probably the issue, actually, Healing Aura doesn't heal HER injuries.)

Consumables ... funny thing about that... I've managed to use every single one that I've found in the game already, at least the basic food groups.  (Injury kits, health poultices, and lyrium potions.  Which IIRC was the problem of the first poster.)  Thing is, I'm following the Prima advice of setting tactics to cause everyone to take one when they need one.  SAD thing is, I've found that it's totally necessary -- Wynne can't keep up in a battle, resurrecting will nearly always cause her mana to go too far down at the worst possible time, and I only just got her healing aura.  (I'm starting to think I should've read a little MORE of the guide -- I think they tell you to make her more defensive than I've done.)  I do have nature salves and such, though, but how well are they going to work?  (Genuinely asking, by the way.)

Building a better party ... alright, I must admit to saying something rude to the screen when reading that.  Just because it's such a nothing statement.  How better?  I have a tank, a ranged rogue, a healing mage and a melee warrior DPS PC with a spare crossbow.  I can't think of how else to set things up... okay, I can think of a few, like maybe taking the crossbow and getting Al in as a spare tank.  But I still need Wynne there, given the lack of staple consumables.)

Target order is a real problem for me, too.  The arena's too small to use Earthquake or Blizzard to contain people without getting friendly-fired.  And I'm not sure if my usual order -- white-to-orange, in order, one at a time, while having Wynne throwing petrify and winter grasp at the boss to keep her off the rest of the party -- is the smart thing.  Attacking Branka straight-up, however, didn't work, seeing she has way too much resistance to get stunned by Riposte or Dirty Fighting.

As I'm thinking about this, I understand it's not impossible... but I'm just getting very tired of constantly feeling like I've done something completely wrong five ranks ago.  And I'm either insanely jealous, insanely annoyed, or both, at anyone who can claim they did this all in one straight shot.  (Or, actually, come to think of it, insanely skeptical.)  Yet the constant retrying of the same levels, over and over again, coupled with the knowledge that I personally am not a horrible gamer -- KotOR still fears me after all these years, to say nothing of Mass Effect (except for the highest difficulty) -- means that this game is definitely a challenge, if not a frustration.  I'd kind of appreciate it if you not talk down to other gamers just because you figured it out quicker than we did.

[Pyrusx]

12 lesser health potions, 4 warriors, nightmare.



Took me something like 8 reloads, but eventually it worked. Taunted with a tank after trying to get far enough away from golems. 3 party members went to take down the golems while the tank ran about and grabbed lyrium and drank a pot whenever needed. Once the golems were down, used an incense of awareness and rock salve and tanked Branka while the other three flanked her. Some poison was used and I got somewhat lucky.



Ended up with 7 lesser healing potions after that battle.



Not sure how well this would work with every party, but with a bit of luck it turned a fight I was beginning to think was impossible (without more supplies) into a surprisingly easy encounter.

[Pyrusx]

Consumables ... funny thing about that... I've managed to use every single one that I've found in the game already,
...
I do have nature salves and such, though, but how well are they going to work?  (Genuinely asking, by the way.)

I think reliance on guides is a problem. It lessens your capacity to determine how to handle the situation yourself. Not every encounter will turn out the same every time, plus, where's the fun in reading ahead on how to beat ever battle?

On my runs so far (1 hard, 1.5 nightmare) I've actually found that setting NPCs to use potions usually means them wasting the potions. Sometimes it's helpful; myself, I prefer to manually use potions since it conserves resources a lot.

Healing Aura isn't a good spell IMO. It's a massive drain on mana (seemed like 40/tick the one run I used it) plus upkeep, etc.

I tend to use incense of awareness and rock/swift salves, but the other resistance potions I don't believe I've ever put to real use.

Building a better party ...

Any party is viable with proper tactics and a bit of perserverance. I don't believe that you need to constrain yourself to a "best" or "recommended" party

Target order is a real problem for me, too.
... 
Attacking Branka straight-up, however, didn't work, seeing she has way too much resistance to get stunned by Riposte or Dirty Fighting.

Target priority should be the same here. Ideally you can have one person taunting/tanking Branka and focusing on not dying while the rest of the party takes down the golems. At very least you shouldn't let her choose any target she wants in your party. I mean, she was even hitting my tanks at level 16-17 for ~60 damage.

As I'm thinking about this, I understand it's not impossible...
...
I'd kind of appreciate it if you not talk down to other gamers just because you figured it out quicker than we did.

The game can be rough. Every encounter is different for everyone. Some breeze through the high dragon while having problems with the wolves. At very least, if you keep trying, you'll eventually get a lucky break and win.

Oh and it's the internet. Everyone talks down to everyone here. <_<

[JaylaClark]

Pyrusx, a bit too much to quote, but I have to say you make good points.  (Especially the last one .)

I'm sure I have a party that can do it -- I just have to decide on which one will work.  (Al might work as a second tank, or Morrigan could be offensive mage by cursing the snot out of Branka while Oghren and Shena -- my PC -- decimate the outer ranks, and of course Wynne keeps us not-dead, as I think should be on her business card .)  But what I need to do is to take that tactic off of all of my characters until any remaining boss fights, and just ressurect as need be until the fight is over, then Healing Aura.  God, if I'd realized that earlier life would be SO much easier... well, when my Dalish Elf Rogue gets on with things I'll know better.

Thanks, and I WILL remember this is the interweb next time .

[SeanMurphy2]

For me it was one of the hardest battles.

I used cone of cold and shatter to kill the two white golems. Then focused on killing the two yellow golems. Initially I had one fighter on Branka to keep her busy. But it may be more effective to get her to chase him around the cavern so he takes less damage.

At the end I had six people vs Branka and it was still hard. If you are struggling at that stage, have her chase one guy around the cavern whilst everyone hits her with ranged attacks. (as suggested by others)

Also I always overcompensate with potions. I buy multiple stacks of 99 Elfroot, Flasks and Lyrium dust. And some distillation agents to make the better health potion.  If I run out during the dungeon I go out to sell some loot and restock ingredients.

I have not used "force field" but it is supposedly an effective spell for freezing bosses while you take out the other enemies.

Modifié par SeanMurphy2, 24 novembre 2009 - 06:43 .

[mousestalker]

JaylaClark wrote...
Okay, I'm triple anxious at the moment, even though it was just the support of my keyboard that got smashed, because I just typed for close to ten minutes to reply, but ... here goes, and lemme just start by saying that I do hope that I manage to keep any and all attitude out of this post.  (And that you'd read back how you wrote that and realize that... attitude might be expected.  You DID suggest this was easy for players to do, in a way, and to someone who doesn't consider themselves a horrible player of RPGs at that yet had a hard time.)

I do not rely on autosaves.  However, I do rely on F9 to spare me from the 'Your Journey Ends' scene, and I'd appreciate it if it didn't stick me straight in the middle of a battle when I do so.  I have trouble getting Wynne and Leliana out of harms way when they start in the center.  Thus, my annoyance at that; however, I have a few autosaves to deal with -- plus I think my last manual named save is even before the forced choosing of party.  (Though I really do hate to step back before the Gauntlet that happens just after that.  I managed to survive that with Wynne going down early.  That's probably the issue, actually, Healing Aura doesn't heal HER injuries.)

Consumables ... funny thing about that... I've managed to use every single one that I've found in the game already, at least the basic food groups.  (Injury kits, health poultices, and lyrium potions.  Which IIRC was the problem of the first poster.)  Thing is, I'm following the Prima advice of setting tactics to cause everyone to take one when they need one.  SAD thing is, I've found that it's totally necessary -- Wynne can't keep up in a battle, resurrecting will nearly always cause her mana to go too far down at the worst possible time, and I only just got her healing aura.  (I'm starting to think I should've read a little MORE of the guide -- I think they tell you to make her more defensive than I've done.)  I do have nature salves and such, though, but how well are they going to work?  (Genuinely asking, by the way.)

Building a better party ... alright, I must admit to saying something rude to the screen when reading that.  Just because it's such a nothing statement.  How better?  I have a tank, a ranged rogue, a healing mage and a melee warrior DPS PC with a spare crossbow.  I can't think of how else to set things up... okay, I can think of a few, like maybe taking the crossbow and getting Al in as a spare tank.  But I still need Wynne there, given the lack of staple consumables.)

Target order is a real problem for me, too.  The arena's too small to use Earthquake or Blizzard to contain people without getting friendly-fired.  And I'm not sure if my usual order -- white-to-orange, in order, one at a time, while having Wynne throwing petrify and winter grasp at the boss to keep her off the rest of the party -- is the smart thing.  Attacking Branka straight-up, however, didn't work, seeing she has way too much resistance to get stunned by Riposte or Dirty Fighting.

As I'm thinking about this, I understand it's not impossible... but I'm just getting very tired of constantly feeling like I've done something completely wrong five ranks ago.  And I'm either insanely jealous, insanely annoyed, or both, at anyone who can claim they did this all in one straight shot.  (Or, actually, come to think of it, insanely skeptical.)  Yet the constant retrying of the same levels, over and over again, coupled with the knowledge that I personally am not a horrible gamer -- KotOR still fears me after all these years, to say nothing of Mass Effect (except for the highest difficulty) -- means that this game is definitely a challenge, if not a frustration.  I'd kind of appreciate it if you not talk down to other gamers just because you figured it out quicker than we did.

If you don't mind, here's some suggestions with your current party's composition. Oghren is great at dealing damage, but he is not so hot at taking it. Take a long look at his Con + armour and your PC's Con + armour. Swap armour and weapons as needed to create the best tank you can. Your tank needs to be taunting Branka nonstop. He does not need to really do much damage. Lelianna needs to be doing max damage, as does the non tank. It doesn't matter whether ranged or not, it needs to be maxed. Wynne has two jobs. The first is keeping the tank alive. The second is tapping lyrium veins. She does not need to be doing anything to the boss. Because she is tapping the veins, she will not run out of mana for a bit. Revival of fallen companions is therefore in the cards.

Try having the tank grab Branka's aggro and hold it. You will likely need to adjust tactics on that character. Wynne heals the tank as needed and runs from lyrium vein to lyrium vein. If she has spare mana (and she should), use petrify on the golems, not Branka. The other two kill golems, starting with white and working up to yellow. Target one golem at a time. Once all of the lyrium is gone and the golems are down, then the entire party attacks Branka. To do this with your current party, you will need to micro manage heavily. That's not a criticism, btw. I found Oghren added to my headaches when he first joined my party. Later on he can be very valuable.

I strongly suggest that you not give Wynne any more attacks. They draw aggro. Wynne has a solid beginning with healing and you can buff that up quite a bit with regeneration, mass regeneration, mass healing etc. Has she unlocked spirit healer yet? When she does, that's an excellent line for her to specialize in. Each party member should be specialized. Jacks of all trades tend not to do well in the end game. If you find you burn through potions, herbalism is your friend. Wynne can do this for you. The best component prices are found at the mage's quartermaster.

I hope this helps.

Modifié par mousestalker, 24 novembre 2009 - 01:11 .

[specter7237]

Took me a few tries as well, as I was out of Lyrium pots at the time.  Luckily there are a plethora of Lyrium veins scattered across the battlefield.  I found it best take out enemy golems first while saving as many of my own as possible.  You'll need to keep Branka CCed the entire time if youre playing on harder difficulties.  Eventually you will run out of Lyrium no matter what though, and if nothing else seems to work you may be forced to lower the difficulty.

[Lorianno]

Am I the only one who had no trouble with any of the fights in this game with the exception of Flemeth, the High Dragon (The first time I fought it) and Gargax(sp?)?

Does everyone just have a set way to face every battle, and have never thought to switch up tactics, instead of falling on the sword of "Not enough potions I can't win QQ" or "I forgot my healer, now I can't win QQ"

And I have debateably one of the worst parties from what I understand in the forums. A shield master warrior, Alistair, Leliana(who is not DPS in my game, not by a longshot. She is for doors and chests primarily.) and Morrigan as my spirit healer.

Seriously guys. Stop QQing and think of something else to do. If ramming your head against a door didn't work, attempting to ram your head harder is not the plan. Go for the door knob. Or if you absolutely must, unscrew the joints before you ram your head again.

O rite, I need to be constructive. If your current tactics are fail. Where is what you do. Lure Branka and her seven dwarves (lawl golem souls) to Caradin and his golems. Allow them to split the damage and aggro. Don't even bother with the golems, I didn't. I let my allied golems take the brunt of that. Beat branka silly. keep her stunned/knockedown/pinned/frozen what have you. And if by some miracle she DOES reach a lyrium vein. IGNORE THE NEW BRANKAS. Beat the one with the healthbar thats diminished. That's most obviously the real branka.

The only downside to this battle I had, was being forced to take oghren along. And while he may be a beast if you really use him, he came into my fight underequipped and slightly underleveled. No moar QQ, kthx.

*Edit* DON'T EVER SET TACTICS TO TELL YOUR PEOPLE TO USE LYRIUM POTIONS AND POULTICES IF THEY'RE INJURED. THEY SHOULD BE USED RARELY AND ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. WHEN A BATTLE IS DONE DON'T RUSH TO THE NEXT ONE LET YOUR GUYS REGENERATE, ITS NOT TIME CONSUMING AND DOES NOT WASTE ANY CONSUMABLES. SETTING YOUR PEOPLE TO USE CONSUMABLES VIA TACTICS MEANS THEY USE THEM AT ANY POINT IN TIME EVEN IF THEY TAKE 1 DAMAGE FROM SOME RANDOM TRAP THAT THEY COULD HAVE JUST REGENERATED FROM! GAAAH

Modifié par Lorianno, 24 novembre 2009 - 03:39 .

[Star]

While I did go in with a healer, I had a hard time beating Branka. It is frustrating, especially when one starts to think about what one woulda, coulda, shoulda done. One thing that helped me was after knocking over a couple of enemies, I looted them quickly and was able to come up with a couple of potions which helped my party make it through. Though why golems carry potions is beyond me.

[Vansen Elamber]

I think they made health pots scarce in that area on purpose. However there are plenty of things like lifestones, salves to make your characters take less damage, deep mushrooms to help your melee characters regain stamina in combat, use everything you have and I have found doing this sometimes gets you through the battle. Also if you have a mage healer in the party, which you really should, as he or she runs around snuffing out the lyerium veins so Branka can't use them, your mage will heal herself and regain mana off of each vein so that helps as well. As I said use everything you have and PAUSE a lot in battles when you have no pots. There is almost always something you can do if you pause and look for it.

Modifié par Vansen Elamber, 24 novembre 2009 - 03:48 .

[Tumett]

A standard tactic I've employed often, and one that is by no means secret, is to have my mage use Force Field on the hardest or most dangerous target.  This is often a caster, but any con higher than yellow is a potential target.  (I have the game set to pause before entering combat.  I find it easier to pick my force field target and position my party that way.)  Obviously, this only works if you picked up force field somewhere along the way.  (I find it so useful, that every one of my play throughs will have a Mage with Force Field.  It's also useful along with Crushing Prison for a nice side effect.)

In the case of this fight, Branka is kept out of the fight until the very end.  It only takes a bit of attention to keep force field up on her.  After that, the fight is easy.  Take out the golems.  Wait for the force field to wear off.  Use CC (shield bash, pommel, crushing prison,, etc.) to keep her off balance.  She went down in no time (on normal mode).

[Walina]

I was really happy to be able to kill her, she was nut and did terrible things to her people >.>

[ReubenLiew]

Branka was an especially tough fight for me, for the first through runthroughs I kept collecting the lyrium while wailing on Branka, till I realized what I was doing wrong.

I wasn't saving the Golems! Kill all the enemy golems and hope that the 2 golems on your side are still alive, then go ahead and wail on Branka while getting your mage to cone of cold then run off to collect lyrium. The Golems are a serious boost to your fight, since they will constantly toss out attacks that will stun Branka. Once I killed the enemy golems the fight was really really easy after that, although I did still have to use a few pots.

[Lianaar]

I didn't have any healers with me. It wasn't necessary. On normal level, you have to be careful with your health. Once you are locked in you IG know that there is only one way and that is going in. You also know that everyone else died in the traps, so you need to be smart about this. The lyrium crystals are very useful. Waiting at times to rest up, that's useful too. Seeing the corpses helps you see what is the task at hand. Go slowly. Expect traps. And make ambushes on your own. Save on health poultrices, as you might need them. If there are other ways of healing, use that (eg waiting a bit to heal up instead of using a health potion). Check your tactic setting to see if you don't use the health supplies due to that unreasonably.

Also I killed one Branka only and the rest disappeared. I don't know why I picked that given Branka, but it did the trick.

Modifié par Lianaar, 24 novembre 2009 - 05:15 .

[Garagnoir]

I suppose that it has been left up to me to post the obligatory Learn 2 Play post, and so, being that it has to be done and given the fact that I've blasted through this part of the game three times now with not so much as a second try, I will do just that.



L2P!

[ninjafast]

DJ DuBb D wrote...


Anyway, Branca can be killed, with a rogue at least. My party consisted of Morrigan, Shale, Allistair and me (Rogue Archer with Ranger).

How did you pull off this party? I thought the game forces you to take Oghren in you party.

[qroqhet]

Cthy wrote...
best thing to do in future is to stock up on a couple stacks of 99 lyrium dust/elfroot and vial stacks


only costs a few gold and lasts for a long time

elfves sell unlimited elfroot
mages sell unlimited lyrium dust
and camp has vials

least I think that's how it went

For any of you that are running out of healing/lyrium potions, Cthy gave you the answer back on page one. 

Go to the Dalish camp first after Lothering.  Don't do the quest, just talk to the elder and then go visit the craftsman.  Buy 200-500 elfroot for less than half a gold and the health poultice recipe.  Then, go to the dwarf trader in your camp and buy as many flasks (also very cheap) and distillation agents (these can get pricey) as you can.  Then select Morrigan and make yourself a couple hundred healing and lesser healing poultices.  Repeat as needed.

As far as tactics go, there are a few things you can do to win every fight in this game. 
1) Set tactics for everyone in the party except your tank to "attack the target of your main character (or tank)".  This is called "focus fire".  Learn to love it.
2) If number 1 doesn't work then go for the cheap method.  Teach your mage"force field" and teach your tank to taunt.  Have the tank run into the middle and taunt everyone.  Have the mage cast force field on him, and then just run around the area killing bad guys at your leisure.
3) Crushing Prison!  Instant "I win" button in most fights.

There are some other great tactics, but I am hungry so I'll add them later. 

[Fili-romeo]

I thought the Broodmother was bad. Branka is by far the most frustrting part of this game.

[Forumtroll]

Branka? The hardest part of the game is the part just before Fort Drakon. That parts a **** especially if you are high level and the Emissaries know Curse of Mortality. Even more so if the Alphas know Arrow of Slaying.

Modifié par Forumtroll, 26 novembre 2009 - 05:23 .