Bandit Spy Extraction Quest (All boasts active)

[Shadowfiend]

Jeeeeeez, man. This quest is giving me all kinds of trouble. I think I may have hit a wall of adversity that my level of skill simply can't overcome. I'm just not good enough to do it. I know it's possible, and I HAVE a strategy, but the game expects so much from me.

The biggest problem is that I have to kill every single guard personally. Mercenaries are not allowed to do it. I can take mercenaries with me to soften the guards up-- but if they deal the finishing blow then the 'Guard Massacre' boast is failed and I have to restart the quest. I've discovered an exploit (I'm getting desperate, alright?) that allows me to kill off all the traders and some of the guards before the quest even starts. Once the quest has been taken (and boasts have been made) I go to Bowerstone North but do NOT talk to Tanya. I continue on to Windmill Hill, where the traders and red uniformed guards are waiting (despite the fact that the quest hasn't even started.) I loose a few arrows here and there, wiping the map clean of targets until only Otto remains (I automatically receive the 'All traders have been killed, boast complete' notice as soon as the quest starts later on. Then I go to Gibbet Woods and kill the two guards there. Once I've done this, I go back to Tanya to start the quest.

You would think that would help out a lot... and it does, but it's still so very difficult. The guards are freakin' crossbow wizards. I swear they do backflips, stick their tongues out, fire their crossbows between their legs, and they nail me from across the map. I've taken to actually using my mercenaries as human shields to constantly keep something between me and their laser accurate arrows.
I haven't actually gotten past the first area, but in my test runs I know that once I have Otto I can use him to distract the guards. They always target him over me. Otto is also surprisingly survivable. Even if all his life is diminished and he falls down into his death animation, a Heal Life spell will still save him and he'll get back up. I can't get past the first area though! The guards are such incredible fighters! They expertly slip arrows past my mercenary meat shields. They manage to whirl around with frightening speed DURING SLOW TIME and slash me while I punch at their backs. They often break off fighting mercenaries who they are engaged with and suddenly lock back on to me, usually with an arrow that they whip out super quick gunslinger style and fire it off the hip. All in one fluid impossible to dodge movement, even during Slow Time.

This is the second to last boast quest in the game. The other one is 'Ransom Victim' which requires me to kill a couple of bandits. Admittedly, it includes a Fist Fighter boast, but bandits are always pushovers. I'm not worried about it at all. 'Bandit Spy Extraction' though... it is the hardest thing I've encountered yet with the exception of the Nymph fight during 'Hobbe Cave.'

I don't expect advice. I know no one else is obsessive and crazy enough to attempt these boasts except me. I just needed a place to vent my frustration. Who knows? Maybe someone will be able to offer me some tips. I could sure use them.

 

[DarkONI]

Roll all over the place to escape the arrows and use Slow Time all the time. Not sure it helps though.

 

[Shadowfiend]

Roll all over the place to escape the arrows and use Slow Time all the time. Not sure it helps though.

Battles during Slow Time have much more complicated rules than you might imagine. For one thing, engaging enemies during the effects of Slow Time does not mean your mercenaries or other followers/summons will activate their 'combat mode' and attack enemies. In fact, mercenaries and followers/summons can ONLY engage enemies when not under the effects of Slow Time. Otherwise they will simply stand there doing nothing for the duration of the Slow Time spell. Once they are engaged BEFORE casting Slow Time, however, they will continue to fight enemies like they would normally. Except... you know... slowly. Due to Slow Time.

Rolling back and forth is an excellent way to dodge arrows, but I need to be up close and punching these guards if I want to accomplish my goals. I can't rely on my mercenaries to do the heavy lifting like I did on some previous quests. I've killed a total of seven minions with my bare hands, so it's not like I haven't been fighting, but generally the mercenaries kill the majority of enemies while I keep them healed. It's safer to let them engage enemies so I can avoid getting ganged up on. Since a single hit is all it takes to ruin the entire quest, it's always better to fight conservatively.
Even two guards is too many for me to handle and three guards is just crazy talk. I've been trying to inch up on guards so that I only 'pull' one at a time into fights, but near the end of the first area are three guards tightly clumped together. Pulling them one by one is impossible.

I'm simply going to have to get lucky. It's the only way. I wish some mysterious internet Fable fist fighter guru would suddenly appear and reveal some special technique or strategy that I haven't thought of, but I've also wished for lazer eyes and I'm still waiting on those, so I'm pretty sure it's up to me to make it work on my own. I appreciate the help anyway, man.

 

[SonofRaiden]

isn't no magic a boast?

 

[Arc Caster]

isn't no magic a boast?

No. No it's not.

 

[Daniel Ray]

Well, I agree with Lacky Star here and say that Slow Time is your best bet. Do this quest when you're of a high level (Maybe after you've killed JOB the first time, if you're playing TLC. If you don't have TLC, try playing it before going to the abbey in Hook Coast(*SPOILER* When you fight Maze).).