Preparing for undead encounter

[hyikim]

Our party has been so unprepared for just about everything the DM has thrown at us so far. (fighting a swarm w/o AoE, wizard being caught in a wizard duel with 2 damaging spells, ninja not knowing that she needed thieves tools) This is the first quest where we have time to prepare ourselves. We are going into a land where there is known to be undead roaming freely.

What are some items available to a 2nd level party that will help killing undead?
Holy water is available, but it seems quite expensive (25gp for 2d4 damage). The entire party has weapons that deal d8 or d6 damage in both slashing and bludgeoning.

The party consists of:
Elf Cleric (lvl 2) fights with +1 longsword or Heavy mace. Healing and destruction domains. Improved turning feat. it seems he does a lot of the mele fighting as well as the party healer(which seems to be needed more than anything in this party). He is thinking about upgrading from studded leather armor to chain shirt.

Elf Wizard (lvl 2) focuses on conjuration. Most of the time greases the floor under the enemies, but has recently acquired Burning Hands to add some damaging spells beyond magic missile. Enlarge person has proven itself to be useful enlarging the party fighter. he also has Summon Monster I, Wall of smoke, read magic, detect magic, light, benign transposition. He cannot use illusion or enchantment. When stuck and needs to engage in combat, he uses a short bow, long sword, or heavy mace.

Human ninja(lvl 2)
Uses her great hide and move silently skills to gain an advantage whenever possible. unfortunately, her sudden strike is useless against undead. she uses a kama (slashing) and nunchaku (bludgeoning). She is the "rogue" type, but is quite good at falling short when it comes to disarming traps.

Human Fighter(lvl 2)
the classic "tank". she throws herself into the middle of the battle and using her spiked chain she trips everyone she can, and then attacks them when they're down. When the wizard uses enlarge person, she becomes even more useful. her chain's reach becomes 15 feet and basically controls the battlefield. Unfortunately, The chain deals piercing damage, which is... less than desirable against Skeletons and Zombies. She has recently purchased a Heavy Flail and a Ranseur for bludgeoning and slashing damage. We tried to get her some full plate (as a group we have just enough gold) but the DM wants us to get it made new or purchased pre-made but has to be fitted, either of which will take months.

Just wondering if anyone had any good tips or tricks for fighting lower level undead, and any preparations that will help us. Thanks!

[Khantin]

In pathfinder sneak attack can damage undead, and spiked chain does not have reach.

[hyikim]

I guess to clarify, we are using 3.5 rules and any 3.5 materials are valid, with only few exceptions. If its not core, we just need to run it by the DM.

Another thing, we are traveling to this place on horseback, and we will not be able to take our horses into the house that is presumably overrun with undead. in one major thing we need to be able to do is protect the horses for several hours as we clear out the house. it is possible that there is stabling at the house, but we dont know how secure that will be for the horses.

[Diefje]

Be careful with Grease + Burning Hands inside a house. Most houses are pretty flammable. Make sure you ask what it's made of. I don't know if your DM is into that.

Then when you encounter undeads, always try a Turn undead first. You can probably try to funnel them through doorways, so if there's many they either can't get to you, or you get a free AoO. Grease is still good, but be careful with fire spells (though it's generally good vs undead). Your ninja is gonna have a rough time, either try to range attack them or tumble out when poop hits the fan.

For items, holy water is very expensive as you said, but if you have money to spare, it never goes bad so it might come in handy some time (just a couple). Your cleric should invest in some heavier armor. You already invested in different types of weapons. Invest in a cure light wound or lesser vigor wand as soon as you can.

If you have any money leftover, tools! Rope, hooks, crowbars, picks, poles, ladders, chains, if you can imagine a use for it, buy it! Not every situation is best solved by bashing it.

[Herabec]

Undead - especially at low levels, are actually fairly easy to deal with. You have a cleric with Improved Turning - that alone should make fights with undead *soooo* much easier.

Otherwise, against your classic zombies/skeletons and the occasional ghoul, just bash them over the head/slice their heads off. You really don't need any special tactics or preparation with a cleric at your back. Of course, things start changing if your DM starts sending you against things like Shades or Wights...

But I don't think any DM would send such monsters against a second level party.

For your horses, there really isn't anything that a second level party could afford to give them guaranteed protection for a few hours while you go all Van Helsing on the house - the best advice I can give you is, if available, stick them in a barn or other shelter with closing doors and pray the raptors haven't learned how to open them.

Or split the party to keep one person to guard the horses, but that's a less than optimal choice.

[DruchiiConversion]

If you're up against mostly mindless undead, Hide from Undead is a great level 1 spell to keep the horses alive, provided you're also willing to secure them pretty well.