Susan

I know it's months later but I'm another casual gamer like Achire upthread and wanted to offer my take. With Avadon, I played through to the final battle with Redbeard once (as a Shaman), flailed around uselessly, and then came here and started poking around for hints. At which point I realized I'd missed a fair number of sidequests and goodies, so I took a couple of weeks off and then restarted as a Shadowwalker. I played on normal; when I got to the final fight last night I was braced to see if I had the patience for it after reading posts here. But I think it took an hour from start (entering the room) to end? Which wasn't as bad as I expected. I realize it's different if you're on hard or torment, but for other casual folk looking for tips: I had Nathalie in one room with a lot of speed & health potions. In other room I started with the two shadowwalkers, then gradually moved everyone else & pets toward that room so Redbeard would follow. I was scared he'd go after Nathalie instead so I may have been overly cautious there, but it was much easier once everyone was in there-- terrified folks would just race into a corner so they were still in range to cure, and arrows/razordisks would reach everywhere so I didn't use APs to move much. I used a lot of group heal & recup crystals, and did resurrect a couple times when I was careless. But with everyone in one room, I could get both souljars there down to low health, then pick them both off with razordisks and hammer Redbeard for a few turns. I don't think anyone has mentioned this so for other casual-types: IME your hits on souljars increase. If your first hit is just 10-20, don't panic and think it's hopeless. Nathalie's first firebolt might just be 25, but the fourth would be for 100. It also helps to chip away at Redbeard when there are still 1 or even 2 souljars; if I'd only hit him when all 4 were gone, I'm sure it would have taken all night. It IS still a grind, and I like some of the ideas here about making it more strategic or getting a boost if you sided with Miranda, but for anyone intimidated after reading this thread: if you managed Zepherine, you can definitely kill Redbeard.