I'm sick of being attacked by balverines. What can I do?

I HATE BALVERINES.

I liked fighting bands of mercenaries much better. Balverines are fast and strong and they do that thing where they leap straight up and land behind me so I'm swinging at thin air like some kind of fool.

I noticed that they didn't really show up in the game until after I'd made friends with the mercenaries by visiting their new tourist-trap camp. I still encounter bands of mercenaries from time to time, however, so the game hasn't replaced mercenaries with balverines entirely.

So, there are two parts to this question:

• What is the most effective way to fight a band of balverines? Is there a particular combination of spells that scares them off? Or is it firearms or a sword that will make short work of them?
• Is there rhyme or reason to when I'm confronted by balverines and when I'm confronted by mercenaries? If, for example, balverines only show up at night, I will make a point of only traveling through those certain points where you get attacked by stuff during the day. I don't think it's that simple, however.

Solution 1:

They increase in number as you progress through the game, and unfortunately there isn't really any way to stop them. It doesn't really have to do with your decisions, but how far along in the game you are. I have yet to discover any pattern to their arrivals (I have seen them during the day) so I'm not sure there is any way to avoid them unfortunately. Note that they only appear "in Silverpines, Millfields, Mistpeak Valley and Hero of Bowerstone's Tomb".

As far as defeating them, there are a few weapons that provide bonuses against balverines. They are:

• Lunarium Pounder (Hammer): +40% damage after killing 100 wolves or balverines
• Trollblight (Hammer): +80% damage (they count as large enemies) after killing 10 large enemies with a flourish
• Wolfsbane (Sword) (Limited Edition Only): +40% damage after killing 50 enemies with flourishes

I believe they may also count as evil enemies (couldn't find a place that said for sure) so if that is true, any weapon with bonuses against evil enemies will count for them as well.

Other than that, I'm not sure if there is any real 'good' way to beat them overall. It would depend on what skills you have so far, how many there are, what weapons you have, etc. If I remember correctly, by the time I was maxed out on everything, I think balverines were fairly 'easy' (though enemies level with you so it will only ever be so easy).

Solution 2:

A combination of blades and vortex works pretty well when you're surrounded by them. It usually leaves them lying on the ground for a few seconds, allowing you to charge up the spell again. It also works great with sand furies. Using those two spells, I blow Reaver's high score out of the water in the Wheel of Misfortune (in one of the DLCs you can go back and do it over to win prizes, but I forget which one).

Solution 3:

I don't really have a problem with them - Maybe you need to update your weapons?

I use the Bloodstone Bludgeon (Scythe), the Gusket's Musket (rifle) and the spells Vortex and Storm (To shock them for a while) and I never have a problem fighting them. I recommend you use those

Solution 4:

If you walk away from them a ways they eventually stop following you, but they're still in range. This is a good time to attack them, since they won't attack you. I use blades and fireball, and when it's held down long enough it kills them almost instantly. I do this when I'm tired of fighting hoards of them while trying to do more important quests.

Solution 5:

Balverines are weak facing incendiary-based "Magick" and weaponry upgraded with incendiary, "dragon-breath" stopping power. That means all ranged and melee weaponry given Fireball-spell power via augmentation, etc. Facemelter, the Dragonstomper .48, the Ice Maiden, in guns, and Tannar's Glory and Trollblight in melee - among many others...

Balverines are categorized as evil doubtlessly, but the percentage-rooted anti-evil benefit of weaponry (e.g., the Absolver's 30% damage bonus, or Avo's Lamentation's anti-evil bonus) pales in comparison to any weapon raised to deadliness with Fireball spell-based killing potency. If you are a purist of Good regency like my self, simply customize evil weapons like Facemelter according to your own morality by methodically omitting any augments or conditions related to "Left Hand Path" lowness. My Facemelter wastes away ALL opposition (not just Balverines) with only two upgrades - the Fireball upgrade, and the Large Enemy upgrade.

Novelties like Wolfsbane simply cannot compare to the above-outlined kind of weapons.

In terms of pure Magic, in almost all circumstances Fireball and Blades is the best strategy for Balverines. Certain area, proximity-related combat situations might favor combining Shock or Ice Storm with either of the above, but truly, Fireball+Blades is the death-knell of Balverines.