How do I beat Gorlim with a mage?

[dhegler]

I can't confuse him, sleep him, and he resists everything, but fire.

He has mana bolts and water bolts, both of which I have no protection/resist possibilities and he just wails on me. I have +18 speed, all main spellbooks, plus the resistance book.

I hate to think I can't beat him, bu two shots from his spells takes me from 350 hp to 100. He casts too fast and my fire bolts don't do damage quick enough.

[dhegler]

Ran around, got a few hits of fire bolts, trying to get him to melee, got in a few more fire bolts, phase doored, healed, repeat. That sucked. Is there any defense to take down someone who has water bolts and mana bolts? That was ridiculous. I must be missing something... #1 - is there any resistance or protection for those attacks? #2 - is there a strategy other than the one I used that does well against them?

I got a magical iron crown and long sword, no ego, no artifacts for that battle...

[Hariolor]

a powerful bow with fire-branded ammo will be your best bet

failing that, try using fire bolts, if you've got the mana

make sure you haste yourself before the battle,

[edit]water cannot be resisted (thanks, MD)[/edit]

not much you can do about mana bolts, either

[Marble Dice]

There is no resistance for water bolts, water balls, mana bolts, or mana storms. They are very damaging, the water spells stun and will also confuse if you lack rConf. They are some of the most dangerous spells in the game, you just have to heal if you get low enough that they could kill you with 1 more cast.

Damage output just isn't a mage's strong point. You get a bit of a break when you find Raal's, but essentially every spell has low damage/mana, low damage/turn, or both. Use a branded ranged weapon/ammo or (once you get enough str/dex) a branded melee weapon to more effectively exploit resistance holes.

[Marble Dice]

Double post but I checked the source to be sure, from project_p() in spells1.c:

/* Water -- stun/confuse */

case GF_WATER:
{
        if (blind) msg_print("You are hit by something!");
        if (!p_ptr->state.resist_sound)
                (void)inc_timed(TMD_STUN, randint1(40), TRUE);
        else
                wieldeds_notice_flag(1, TR1_RES_SOUND);

        if (!p_ptr->state.resist_confu)
                (void)inc_timed(TMD_CONFUSED, randint1(5) + 5, TRUE);
        else
                wieldeds_notice_flag(1, TR1_RES_CONFU);

        take_hit(dam, killer);
        break;
}

So rSound prevents the stun, rConf prevents the confusion, but there's no resistance to the damage from water spells.

[dhegler]

That's what I was afraid of... I have a few branded pebbles/Ancient Multi-Hued Dragons are just as annoying. There I am, running around an enormous dragon, hitting him with branded pebbles and magic missiles... Now that my strength is high enough, I should upgrade to a crossbow eventually...

[fizzix]

there are some other ways to use mages. I haven't played a mage in forever, so these may not be so useful anymore.

Shockwave will daze an opponent. It doesn't work terribly well for higher level uniques though. Gorlim is about halfway up the unique chain. It's a fairly cheap spell and sometimes you can get several hits in after dazing someone.

Chaos Strike is unresistable damage, and usually a pretty good bet. It costs a decent amount though.

I've killed uniques entirely with the rift spell before. Every time they come in line of sight I rift them away. It's painfully slow, but it works. These are 'mage' approaches

However, since bows are so overpowered, I would just use them.

[Zikke]

It may sound crazy, but consider melee'ing some highly magic-resistant monsters, even as a mage. That is how I ultimately beat Morgoth and Sauron.

Ring of Fire would help in this instance. Is there anything in the code that reduces the chance of the monster casting a ranged attack if you're within melee distance?

[tummychow]

What? How can you melee with a mage?
Wow... that's pretty surprising. Did you at least wear them down with magic first?

[zaimoni]

It may sound crazy, but consider melee'ing some highly magic-resistant monsters, even as a mage. That is how I ultimately beat Morgoth and Sauron.

Ring of Fire would help in this instance. Is there anything in the code that reduces the chance of the monster casting a ranged attack if you're within melee distance?

Not directly.

If a monster fails to move (which never happens in melee distance), it gets a second chance to cast a spell.

[Hariolor]

So rSound prevents the stun, rConf prevents the confusion, but there's no resistance to the damage from water spells.

yikes - I had never realized this. Glad it hasn't been an issue for me thus far

[Nightmarjoo]

I'd just reccomend not fighting someone you can't kill with ease until you have:
more hp
an overpowered bow
staff of magi to restore mana (and can recharge the staff)
or all of the above.

Chaos strike sometimes confuses uniques I've found, I dunno who it works on and who it doesn't though. Can't go wrong with just magic missiling him with phase door!

[ramela]

The best way for a Mage to deal with Gorlim is to *not fight him at all*.


That is, until you have Rift, Mana Storm, +30 speed, 700+ HP or something else that makes him a piece of cake.

Walk the path of the least resistance.