Hardest encounters in RPGs

[Apostle Hand]

share some encounters in rpgs that you found very hard to beat

 

[overly excitable young man]

Last encounter in KotC back at the keep.

 

[Strange Fellow]

Knights of the Chalice 2.

 

[Pentium]

Trying to run F76.

 

[Lilura]

Spoiler

 

[barghwata]

Really? i remember that one was easy since you could aggro alot of enemies and kill them one by one, this one was the real cancer for me

 

[The Jester]

"KAAAAAAAAGAAAAAAAAA"

 

[Ghulgothas]

UnderRail, those damned Pit Bulls in the Water Filtration Plant.

 

[azimovhaas8 (Moth)]

66 Devil Kings end-game encounter in Might & Magic 2: Gates to Another World...

You need 11 000+ HP and buffed levels (255 is maximum in game) with best equipment to even have some chances to beat them up.
[Usual level of end-game party is 30-38 and amount of HP is about 650~ at best]

 

[Pentium]

Worst encounter: to meet someone who plays JA2 in sci-fi mode.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

I don't remember too many particularly hard bosses with a properly leveled up PC, but many a time I did gimp myself badly and ended up unable to defeat even the 4th or 5th hardest boss in a game and had to give up. The expansion to Baldur's Gate II for example. The original's last boss was fine though challenging and I managed to complete it but the expansion totally cockblocked my fun.

 

[NJClaw]

Knights of the Chalice 2.

Come on, don't exaggerate. The very first encounter is doable.

 

[Dorateen]

At the level our party was at, this was a tough battle when we went for Shelach's tablet.

 

[Jason Liang]

Easily the challenge fights from the Rance games.

The two fights from Rance X that are insanely brutal on normal mode no cp - La Hawzel first fight, and Warg.

Even Kayblis is no pushover.

This is a youtube video of the Warg fight, clearly a max CP run and he barely got there.



Another one:

 

[Cryomancer]

The final battle of Shattered Lands. You need to multiclass and min max everything to beat the game

 

[Sranchammer]

I never could get past the mudcrab in Morrowind.

 

[Lilura]

I don't remember too many particularly hard bosses with a properly leveled up PC

Does depends on power progression, yes. Which brings up a more interesting subject than "hardest encounter."

I personally prefer campaigns that start off lethal and maintain a good degree of lethality over their entire course. We still feel power progression but the experience never devolves into cakewalk.

 

[Radiane]

The fights against the beholders in BG2 were a buttery piece of cake with the shield of Balduran. And I don´t consider that a cheesey tactic because the shield is in a very obvious spot and it is kind of makes the impression the designers wanted to iron out their own messed up difficulty scale-involving instant kill traps- by presenting the player such un uber-item. I used to play this section of the game without the shield, but today I just consider that to have been utter idiocy on my part.
I agree on your spoiler part, though.

 

[Lilura]

The fights against the beholders in BG2 were a buttery piece of cake with the shield of Balduran. And I don´t consider that a cheesey tactic because the shield is in a very obvious spot and it is kind of makes the impression the designers wanted to iron out their own messed up difficulty scale-involving instant kill traps- by presenting the player such un uber-item. I used to play this section of the game without the shield, but today I just consider that to have been utter idiocy on my part.

Mmm... maybe you've never heard of Lilura? Those screencaps are from an SCS-based game in which the shield can be taken from the wielder by beholder telekinesis.

Also, items like the shield and Vecna robe were added to the game after it was designed. It was a lolCollektorz bonus CD and patch.

 

[Cryomancer]

I personally prefer campaigns that start off lethal and maintain a good degree of lethality over their entire course. We still feel power progression but the experience never devolves into cakewalk.

This is one aspect which 2e is the BEST edition of D&D and the 2e video game adaptations the best D&D products. You never get enough hp to fell immortal... 3.5e started with the hp bloat, after lv 10 you still get + d4/d6/d8/d10/12 hit points / level and the con mod is extremely generous. When I did a no re roll run of BG2 with a custom party, I had a mage with 42 health at epic levels on ToB. Even Dragons on BG2 rarely goes above 200 hp.

As for beholders and mindflayer being a harsh encounter, I love it. On 5e they are cakewalks. And you have slayer form, animate dead and tons of ways to deal with then.

--------------

Is not exactly a encounter, but Tomb of VARN was the hardest dungeon which i played in any CRPG. Mazes inside Mazes, above Mazes, bellow Mazes, hordes of enemies immune to everything but physical damage, hordes of enemies with ludicrous high AC, nasty traps, confuse ""puzzles""...

 

[Lord_Potato]

The final battle from Bound by Flame.



Until this moment the game is reasonably easy. And then it decides to go full Dark Souls.

 

[HarveyBirdman]

I missed getting the first weapon in Bloodborne so I spent the whole first section karate chopping everything. That was frustrating.

 

[Fowyr]

66 Devil Kings end-game encounter in Might & Magic 2: Gates to Another World...

You need 11 000+ HP and buffed levels (255 is maximum in game) with best equipment to even have some chances to beat them up.
[Usual level of end-game party is 30-38 and amount of HP is about 650~ at best]

But why you attack them? They even bow to you. Speaking of m&m2, defeating cuisinarts without losing anyone was harder. And mega-dragon,fucking mega-dragon.
Also this thread needs Beast of the Thousand Eyes and Mulmaster Beholder Corps.
Iron golems in the Secret of the Silver Blades.
One-on-one battle with a monster in Countdown to Doomsday.

 

[Lilura]

This is one aspect which 2e is the BEST edition of D&D and the 2e video game adaptations the best D&D products. You never get enough hp to fell immortal... 3.5e started with the hp bloat, after lv 10 you still get + d4/d6/d8/d10/12 hit points / level and the con mod is extremely generous.

Why do you think 3.5e started with the HP bloat, and not 3e? 3e still gives warrior HD past 10 whereas AD&D2 does not. 3e introduced dmg sponge feats and retardo builds, not 3.5e. All 3.5e did was go +retardo for munchkins. It was just being faithful to the groundwork laid down by 3e.

I had a mage with 42 health at epic levels on ToB.

Well, Mages and Sorcerers can solo BG2 with minimized Con. Indeed, if it were possible to have 1 HP, Mages and Sorcerers could solo BG2 with 1 HP. This lethality comment of mine isn't just about HPs. With such spells as Mirror Image, Stoneskin and PfMW, there is no physical-based lethality. And if we want arcane immunity, there are abjurations/wards.

As for beholders and mindflayer being a harsh encounter, I love it. On 5e they are cakewalks. And you have slayer form, animate dead and tons of ways to deal with then.

Yes, but as it pertains to their employment in 3e-based computer RPGs, beholders and mindflayers were already cakewalks. If we compare BG2 versions of the above with NWN versions, we laugh at the latter.

But this also taps into combat encounter design for casuals. Swordflight (NWN mod) makes beholders andmindflayers etc. great again. Better than BG2 ones, even.

 

[Mortanius]

Multanser Beholder Corps in Curse of the Azure Bonds has to be up there. 15 beholders and a bunch of priests, dark elf lords and rakshasa.
You could of course trivialize it with Dust of Disappearance but then you wouldn't have it for the final battle against Tyranthraxus...