If you hate Rust Monsters

Well, this is a book containing information specifically for fighting rustmonsters!
I will have a step-by-step strategy for what to do and not do.

To Do:
1- Bring a weapon made of stone, bone, or wood.
2- Wear either clothing, padded, leather, or hide armors.
3- If you wish to wear a helmet, make sure it does not contain metal.
4- If you use a shield, bring a wooden shield.

Not To Do:
1- Bring a metal weapon such as a sword, axe, flail, halberd, etc.
2- Wear Medium or Heavy Armor.
3- Wear a helmet if your not 100% sure its not metal.
4- Bring a metal shield and use it.

Helpful combat hints:
Bring expendable magic items if you have to bring any metal equipment, as they have a chance of surviving rustification.
Bring a potion that improves your Armor Class (AC).
Use expertise if you have it. Rust monsters have poor hit chance.
Wearing a ring is usually fine, as well as an amulet, they don't target them unless you are puny enough to die.

ALWAYS:
Try to keep your AC above 25
Wear a ordinary expendable helmet.

NEVER:
Wear an expensive suit of heavy armor that is non-magical or very important.
Wield an expensive metal weapon.
Wield an expensive metal shield.
Wear an expensive helmet.

I take it you've been munched lately?

Miow suggests:
-Paying attention to your environment, as it may often provide clues to their presence before you actually see them
-Being too sneaky for the rust monsters to spot
-If they do see you and start running towards you, quickly casting a Barrier of Stone or Barrier of Force that they can't chew through (scrolls are good)

Crideas recommends a potion of invis if they spot you. Even if they are running at you, it will hide you, and save your gear.

Scrolls, rings, and wands with invis are also viable options, just make sure they are quickslotted for hasty escape.

Potions of escape are good as well

The buggers can eat bracers as well as armor, weapons and shields

MannyJabrielle wrote:The buggers can eat bracers as well as armor, weapons and shields

In Aenea, and NWN in general I believe.... rust monsters can east ANY gear. Leather Armor, Hide armor, hoods, you name it... they can destroy all of it... cloaks too.

This is something I hate about the way they translated to NWN (much akin to beholder anti-magic).

^ Which is why I am glad that rust monsters don't have pen and paper style abilities to smell metal and go check out where the nommy smell is coming from! Miow can be loooooaded with metallic doohickies and still sneak past.

All fair and well.

But...there is no sign "warning Rust monsters ahead".
I, as not being a veteran player on your world, have a very difficult time in finding balanced encounters that are challenging, give me nice xp, nice treasures and is not too lethal. And often enough, but perhaps that is due to lag, the spawn appears on top of my character. Just like this time.
Thus I find myself without gear and without the means affording a new one, let alone a backup one for the case I might run into rust-monsters...

Well, there's no big blatant signs. But if you pay attention, there are signs where rustmonsters live. Keep an eye in your combat log for various popup messages that you'll get across Aenea (not just for rust monsters, but several places will give you a pop up 'flavor' text).

The ground around this area is covered in a fine red rust

This generally means, stash all your metal, get naked, have your barriers of "x" at the ready and several large damage spells.... if none of the above can be achieved.. run.. run very fast... and back out the way you came in...

RustyDios wrote:The ground around this area is covered in a fine red rust

This generally means, stash all your metal, get naked, have your barriers of "x" at the ready and several large damage spells.... if none of the above can be achieved.. run.. run very fast... and back out the way you came in...

Man, I had a +1 Morningstar (non-custom item, non modified except through Crystals and BoMs) that Phylllic used for about 200 hours of game play. Found it in a goblin cave very early in Phyllick's career, and he used it to take down DracoLiches to Elder Vampires. And then an encounter with a Rust Monster went badly....

As you recommend, Phyllick now strips naked when he thinks they are about, and the hairy angry Dwarf gets his revenge on all the Rust Monsters he can find with his bare fists. It's a matter of principle :-)

Must find bleach.... scrub brain....

MannyJabrielle wrote:Must find bleach.... scrub brain....

Angelica doesn't seem to mind that much. She's always there when Phyllick is about to get down and dirty :-)

Merely proof that contrary to what Dave says, I am not extraordinarily lucky

MannyJabrielle wrote:Merely proof that contrary to what Dave says, I am not extraordinarily lucky

Oh, you are. But every lucky person has that one "thing" that always manages to bite them in the behind...

Well that "thing" better stay far away, or it's gonna get cut off

A random question about rust monsters - can they eat custom items?

evilkittenofdoom wrote:A random question about rust monsters - can they eat custom items?

Oh yes. last i knew they can indeed.

Of course, that may have been altered, because at one point I decided to test if they could eat cursed items... and it didnt work

daveyeisley wrote:Of course, that may have been altered, because at one point I decided to test if they could eat cursed items... and it didnt work

Well, that's not fair...if everything else is fair game, why not the cursed stuff? And that would make the creatures potentially useful, too...

The below document has been pinned on the message board in the Sleeping Dragon Inn recently...whether a practical joke or it's an advice to rival that of a sage is up to the reader to judge...

The Strategical Guide
of
How to Kill
^a Rust Monster _{for Dummies!}

If you encounter a dark cavern with iron grain covering floor and walls, quickly retreat to a safe place and follow below steps on how to kill the monsters hiding in the dark depths!

1] Strip naked.
2] Search the nearby environment for a stick and arm yourself with it!
3] Return to the cavern from whence you retreated earlier...
4] Be alert. Search every nook and cranny of the cavern.
5] Should you uncover any monsters beat it with aforementioned stick until it stops moving!
6] Should the monsters proof to difficult to beat and you find yourself hurt by their claws and teeth, retreat behind a corner and search the floor for fist-sized stones, and throw them at the monsters!
7] By now, you should have killed the monster/s. If not, you are either dead or near death lying naked on the cold ground...
8] If you are victorious. Return to the place where you hide all your valuable gear, get dressed and continue on with your adventure.

9] If your near death or dead already. Pray to whichever god your worship, before you pass out, that Zolaras will allow you to return to the World of the Living and uncover your gear before brigands find it.

--
10] Profit!!

~Left unsigned.