First of all, let me give most hearty props to Andrew for his work on the BG2 PC stat topic, which has inspired me to go ahead and make this topic for the game's bosses which seem to me the most probable choices for ranking. Proper, Andy. Proper.
I'm collecting these notes with the help of - in addition to, obviously, Andrew and his existing work - Monkey, who is providing many invaluable numbers to which I would not otherwise have easy access. Also aiding me is Shadowkeeper, which has provided me with a grossly overlevelled Monk with which I can more easily go toe-to-toe with these bosses and test their badassness, not to mention speed through the game and get to them in the first place. Thanks to the system, my having an uber PC only doesn't throw a wrench in things, either. Woo.
Now, on with the show. The topic - for now - will cover Firkraag, Bodhi, and Jon Irenicus. If people want various other bosses in, ask me and I'll see what I can do. For reference, I will be including party HP averages for various EXP totals. Right now this includes 1 million EXP (my benchmark for Firkraag), 2.5 million EXP (my benchmark for Bodhi), and endgame HP (for Irenicus' forms). Due to popular demand, both of Irenicus' final forms will be included, though I would vote on Suldanessellar Jon in the DL.
1 Million EXP: 78 HP
2.5 Million EXP:
2.95 Million EXP: 95 HP
Firkraag
It is, as they say, your funeral.
Level 23 Red Dragon
Chaotic Evil
STR - 25
DEX - 15
CON - 15
INT - 17
WIS - 3
CHA - 9
HP: 184
AC: -12 (-14 vs. Missiles)
THAC0: -12
Number of Attacks: 3
Physical attack sequence - Three hits of 32.5 damage, 97.5 total. Speed Factor 2.
Physical attack sequence w/ Haste - Four hits of 32.5 damage, 130 total. Speed Factor 2.
Wing Buffet - 18 MT physical damage, knocks opponent unconscious for approximately one round.
-Saving Throws-
P/P/D: 3
R/S/W: 5
P/P: 4
BW: 4
S: 6
-Resistances-
Fire: 100%
Acid: 0%
Cold: 0%
Electricity: 0%
Magic: 65%
Magical Fire: 100%
Magical Cold: 0%
Slashing: 30%
Crushing: 30%
Piercing: 30%
Missile: 30%
- Status Immunities -
Criticals Hits, Charm, Domination, Sleep, Silence, Slow, and all forms of Paralysis/Stun/Knockdown/Knockback. Crucially not immune to Poison, Confusion, Transform, Petrify, and ID.
-Spells-
Red Dragon Breath - 156 magical fire damage, Save vs. Spell for half, or 78 damage. Casting time unknown.
Dragon Fear - Target runs around randomly for enough time for Firkraag to kill it many times over. Casting time unknown, saving throw penalty unknown. Usable once every 3 rounds.
Lower Fire Resistance - Details forthcoming.
Charm Person - The caster controls the creatures action while the spell is in place. Spells breaks if hostile actions are taken against the creature. Target receives a +3 bonus to saving throw. Casting Time 1, duration of 5 rounds.
Melf's Acid Arrow - Deals 4 points of acid damage, plus an additional 4 for the next three rounds. Casting Time 2.
Greater Malison - Target suffers a -4 penalty on all saving throws. Casting Time 4, duration of 2 rounds/level.
Hold Person - Renders a humanoid creature unable to take any actions. Casting Time 3, duration of 1 turn.
Haste - Gains a -2 bonus to initiative and an extra attack per round. Is fatigued when the spell ends. Casting Time 1, duration of 3 rounds + 1 round/level.
Remove Magic - Has a 50% chance of removing magical effects. Increases by 5% for each level higher the caster is and decreases by 10% for each level higher the target is. Firkraag is Level 23, while the average PC at this time is Level 12, giving Remove Magic a 100% hit rate. Cannot target Firkraag or his allies. Casting Time 3.
Stoneskin - Protects the caster from 1 physical attack per 2 caster levels. Casting Time 1 round, duration of 12 hours.
Heal - Fully heals HP and cures status. Casting Time 1 round. Usable below 50% HP.
-Comments-
First, some notes on his AI/spells. Firkraag starts off friendly in-game, and the first thing he does once he goes hostile, either through conversation or being attacked, is cast Stoneskin. When it casts, the following three spells also are cast simultaneously: Remove Magic, Dragon Fear and Lower Fire Resistance. I have not seen him cast any of these outside of what must be some sort of Spell Sequencer, but he can cast them again. I've seen the whole group of them used twice in one battle, so far. Heal and Haste also have at least two uses per battle. Further testing will occur. His other spells can be used numerous times, probably more often than he would ever need in the DL. Red Dragon Breath is certainly unlimited.
Damage? OHKO against both defenses. Ouch. Not much more needs to be said.
Firkraag's AC and THAC0 would both be gamebest or massively better than it compared to an endgame party. DL-legal AC shouldn't change much between 1 million EXP and 2.95 million, but THAC0 certainly does. To put it simply, Firkraag is extremely physically evasive and accurate. He also is magically evasive, Magic Resistance in BG2 being not magic defense, but evasion. Furthermore, he reduces all four physical types (into one of which every physical attack in the game falls) by 30%. So he's tanky and immune to fire. The downsides? He's not status-immune, or even all that resistant. His saving throws are equal to that of an endgame Minsc. In addition, his raw HP isn't really all that special. He's a fight you need to prep for in-game a whole hell of a lot, but once you do, if it weren't for his evasion/defense he would go down pretty fast. I see him at about 1.5x PCHP, though some may give him less respect. Regardless, the dragon feels like a Godlike.
Bodhi
I'm sure your reasons for coming are all very important to you. Do spare me the boredom of hearing them.
Level 25 Vampire
Chaotic Evil
STR - 24
DEX - 24
CON - 20
INT - 15
WIS - 15
CHA - 14
HP: 120
AC: -7
THAC0: -2
Number of Attacks: 3
Physical attack sequence - Three hits of 15.5 damage, 46.5 total. Speed Factor 0. Drains 5 levels from target for each hit that connects.
-Saving Throws-
P/P/D: 5
R/S/W: 5
P/P: 5
BW: 5
S: 5
-Resistances-
Fire: 0%
Acid: 0%
Cold: 100%
Electricity: 100%
Magic: 75%
Magical Fire: 0%
Magical Cold: 100%
Slashing: 0%
Crushing: 0%
Piercing: 0%
Missile: 0%
-Comments-
Hmm. Well, Bodhi is certainly simpler than Firkraag. This isn't necessarily a good thing for her, however. Her AC and THAC0 are both lower than his by a fair margin, though she is still quite evasive and decently accurate. She likes that her accuracy doesn't suck, too, as she's only got her basic physical for damage. 2HKO damage, at that. The level-draining property of said physical, however, makes up for its unimpressive damage. See, losing levels in BG2 is quite painful. You lose HP, THAC0, AC if applicable, and spellcasting or other special abilities. If her whole string hits, the PC loses 15 levels, and that's... well, that's somewhere between 75-90% of a PC's levels around when she's fought, which is incredibly cruel. The physical chain's quite fast, as well. Oh, and losing all levels (which four hits would do) equals death.
Defensively, Bodhi seems at first to be quite good. Saves are unimpressive, but it doesn't matter as she is innately immune to all status and ID. She also nulls electricity and cold and has 75% Magic Resistance. Cool. Her HP, though, is terrible. It's two-thirds of what Firkraag has got, for starters. She is also fought a good deal later (though one's own mileage on this point may vary, as it is not completely unreasonable to scale Firkraag to a similar party as one which fights Bodhi). The real nail in the coffin, however, is that you can easily recruit Drizz't to help you fight her. Refer to the BG2 Stat Topic to see how insane he is. Yes, if his physicals all connect, he can take off 80% of her HP in one attack sequence. Ouch.
Despite all this, her speed and magical tankiness, along with her PC-killing level drain abilities, make me think of her as a solid Heavy.
Jon Irenicus
Once my thirst for power was everything. And now I hunger only for revenge. And... I... WILL... HAVE IT!!
Level 30 Mage
Neutral Evil
STR - 13
DEX - 21
CON - 14
INT - 18
WIS - 18
CHA - 17
HP: 96
AC: -5
THAC0: 6
Number of Attacks: 1
Physical attack sequence: Fails. 2.5 damage. Speed Factor unknown.
-Saving Throws-
P/P/D: 8
R/S/W: 3
P/P: 5
BW: 7
S: 4
-Resistances-
Fire: 0% (75%)
Acid: 0% (75%)
Cold: 0% (75%)
Electricity: 0% (75%)
Magic: 0%
Magical Fire: 0% (75%)
Magical Cold: 0% (75%)
Slashing: 0%
Crushing: 0%
Piercing: 0%
Missile: 0%
-Spells-
At the beginning of the battle, Jon's Contingency triggers, immediately casting the following spells.
Stoneskin - Protects the caster from 1 physical attack per 2 caster levels. Duration of 12 hours.
Absolute Immunity - Confers complete invulnerability to weapons of less than +5 enchantment. Duration of 4 rounds.
Spell Shield - Confers protection against the next Dispel-effect spell to target the caster. Only works once, as Spell Shield is consumed in the process. Duration of 60 rounds.
Spell Trap - Creates a magic barrier around the caster that causes any spell to hit it to be absorbed by it, causing the caster to recall a previously cast spell. or example, a wizard shields himself with spell trap and is then hit by a Flame Arrow (3rd level spell). He gets three spell levels back -- he will regain one spell, up to 3rd level in power. The spell trap protects against 30 levels of spells. Spell Trap protects against any level of spell, from 1 to 9. Duration of 18 rounds.
Protection from Energy - Confers upon the target 75% resistance to Fire, Cold, Electricity, Acid, Magical Fire, Magical Cold and magic (not 75% Magic Resistance, but 75% reduction to non-typed magic damage. Duration of 20 rounds.
Fireshield (Red) - Grants 50% Fire/Magical Fire resistance, and deals 6.5 fire damage to opponents that hit the caster within a five foot radius. Duration of 23 rounds.
Fireshield (Blue) - Grants 50% Cold/Magical Cold resistance, and deals 6.5 cold damage to opponents that hit the caster within a five foot radius. Duration of 23 rounds.
Globe of Invulnerability - Protects against spells of 4th level or lower. Duration of 20 rounds.
Mislead - When this spell is cast the wizard is affected with an Improved Invisibility spell and is teleported a few feet away from his original position. Meanwhile an exact image of the caster is created where he used to be with exactly the same hit points as the caster. The image cannot perform any actions at all such as attacking or casting spells. The invisibility can be dispelled by a True Sight spell, a dispel magic or the destruction of the decoy. Taking actions does not reveal the invisible caster. Duration of 20 rounds.
Somewhere between 25% and 50% of his total HP, another Contingency automatically triggers. This one consists of Spell Shield, Absolute Immunity, Mislead and Spell Turning.
Spell Turning - Reflects a total of 12 spell levels back at the caster. This includes spells cast from scrolls and innate spell-like abilities, but excludes the following: area effects that are not centered directly upon the wizard as well as area effects that are stationary such as cloud kill and stinking cloud. This spell will neither protect against dispelling magicks or be affected by them. Duration of 60 rounds.
Now, for his normal spellbook. These he can cast at will.
Melf's Acid Arrow - Deals 4 points of acid damage, plus an additional 4 for the next three rounds. Casting Time 2. 7 uses.
Vocalize - Worthless, as Jon is innately immune to status.
Remove Magic - Has a 50% chance of removing magical effects. Increases by 5% for each level higher the caster is and decreases by 10% for each level higher the target is. Firkraag is Level 30, while the average PC at this time is Level 17-20, giving Remove Magic a 100% hit rate. Casting Time 3. 1 use.
Flame Arrow: 14 piercing damage and 56 fire damage. 70 total. Save vs Spell to halve fire damage (42 total damage). Casting Time 3. 7 uses.
Cone of Cold - 70 MT cold damage in a forty-five degree arc. Save vs Spell for half, or 35 damage. Casting Time 5. 6 uses.
Sunfire - 52.5 MT fire damage in a fifty-foot radius. Save vs Spell for half, or 26 damage. Can hit caster. Casting Time 3. 1 use.
Death Spell - PCs are immune, but instantly kills summoned creatues with no save. Casting Time 6. 8 uses.
Prismatic Spray - Fails, as it is a random status/damage spell with only one use.
Power Word, Stun - Creatures with 1 to 29 hit points are stunned for 10 rounds, those with 30 to 59 are stunned for 5 rounds, those with 60 to 89 are stunned for 2.5 rounds. Characters with higher HP are not affected. Casting Time 1. 3 uses.
Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting - 90 MT non-typed damage. Save vs Spell for half, or 45 damage. Casting Time 8. 2 uses.
Maze - Effective instant death with no save, against a solo PC. Casting Time 3. 3 uses.
Simulacrum - Creates a duplicate Jon of Level 18. It has all the spells and abilities that Irenicus would have at that level, and 58 HP. The simulacrum is fully under the control of the caster. Casting Time 9, duration of 30 rounds. 1 use.
Time Stop - The flow of time is stopped for all but the caster, giving Jon three rounds of time in which to act freely. Casting Time 9. 2 uses.
Power Word, Kill - Instantly kills a target with current HP below 60. No save. Casting Time 1. 2 uses.
Wail of the Banshee - MT instant death, Save vs Spell to negate. Casting Time 9. 1 use.
Energy Drain - Drains 2 levels from target. No save. Casting Time 3. 1 use.
Spellstrike - Dispels all magical protections surrounding the target. This affects only spells which protect against attacks of a magical nature (i.e. not Stoneskin/Haste). The target's Magic Resistance, if any, does not affect this spell. Casting Time 5. 2 uses.
-Comments-
Irenicus epitomizes the nastiness of a high-level D&D Mage. His Contingency, which more or less has initiative, render him functionally immune to magic for quite a while, and immune to physicals for a short time as well. Certainly long enough for him to get off a Time Stop or two, and either Maze PCs (the ones that can be statused, anyway) or put quite a hurt on bosses with a combination of Horrid Wiltings and Flame Arrows. He's got quite a large skillset, but to tell the truth a lot of it is redundant and some of it is downright useless. In addition, his raw HP is incredibly pathetic and he doesn't have a scrap of usable physical damage. Still, just being so damn hard to kill - which includes innate immunity to ID/status - earns him a Godlike ranking in my book.
Slayer Irenicus
Roar.
Level 20 Frightening Thing
Neutral Evil
STR - 24
DEX - 25
CON - 25
INT - 16
WIS - 9
CHA - 9
HP: 217
AC: -10
THAC0: -12
Number of Attacks: 2
Physical attack sequence - Two hits of 29.5 crushing damage plus 2 cold damage, 63 total. Speed Factor 0.
-Saving Throws-
P/P/D: 2
R/S/W: 2
P/P: 2
BW: 2
S: 2
-Resistances-
Fire: 0%
Acid: 0%
Cold: 0%
Electricity: 0%
Magic: 50%
Magical Fire: 0%
Magical Cold: 0%
Slashing: 0%
Crushing: 0%
Piercing: 0%
Missile: 0%
-Spells-
Slayer's first Contingency contains Spell Shield, Stoneskin, Globe of Invulnerability, Fireshield (Red), and Mislead. See Irenicus' entry for details on these spells.
He also has a Chain Contingency that I've seen kick in around 50% HP. This one consists of Spell Turning, Mislead, and Improved Mantle.
Improved Mantle - Confers complete invulnerability to all weapons except for those of +4 or better enchantment. Duration of 4 rounds.
His regular spellbook shares quite a few entries with the earlier battle's. See Irenicus' entry for details on Vocalize (2 uses), Sunfire (1 use), Spell Turning (2 uses), Prismatic Spray (1 use), Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting (1 use), Maze (1 use), Time Stop (1 use) and Wail of the Banshee (1 use).
Domination - Caster gains complete control over target's actions. Save vs Spell at -2 penalty to negate. Casting Time 5, duration of 8 rounds. 1 use.
Flesh to Stone - Petrifies target. Save vs Spell to negate. Casting Time 6. 1 use.
True Sight - Dispels invisibilty effects of all hostile creatures. Ignores Magic Resistance. Casting Time 8, duration of 1 turn. 2 uses.
Disintegrate - Instant death, Save vs Spell to negate. Casting Time 6. 1 use.
Finger of Death - Instant death, Save vs Spell at -2 to negate. Targets who save take 10 damage. Casting Time 5. 1 use.
Summon Efreeti - Summons an Efreeti. Duh. Casting Time 1 round. 1 use.
Symbol, Stun - MT stun. Save vs Spell at -4 to negate. Casting Time 1 round, duration of 8 rounds. 1 use.
Symbol, Fear - MT fear (enemy runs about like chicken w/ head cut off). Save vs Spell at -4 to negate. Casting Time 1 round, duration of 8 rounds. 1 use.
-Comments-
The final battle, which is really only better than Suldanessellar Jon due to Slayer's support. It seems that way to me, at any rate. Looking at the thing's HP, AC, THAC0, physical damage and 50% M.Evade, it really does seem like a better dueller, but it somehow lacks Jon's disgusting difficulty to kill. Still, it has solid damage of both types, is no slouch at spellcasting of various manners, and, once again, is status/ID immune. Godlike of some sort, unsurprisingly.
