ICEWIND DALE 2 WALKTHROUGH - V 1.0 +------------+ +--Contents--+ +------------+ Legal Stuff Version history About this walkthrough General hints section - Character Creation - General hints - Combat advice - Magic spells Walkthrough - Prologue - Chapter one - Chapter two - Chapter three - Chapter four - Chapter five - Chapter six Special Thanks +---------------+ +--Legal Stuff--+ +---------------+ This walkthrough is copyright 2002 by Michael Berg. It may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any other web site outside of www.spieletips.de and www.gamefaqs.com. It may not be distributed electronically outside the GameFAQs web site. +-------------------+ +--Version history--+ +-------------------+ 0.3 - This is the very first version of this walkthrough. Only the walkthrough of the prologue and the first two chapters are online. 0.7 - I have worked a lot for the walkthrough. Now it goes until the end of Dragon's Eye. Since I wanted to post only Chapter 3 and 4 at first the general section will not be updated/created this time. But this will come in one of the next updates, I promise. 0.8 - There was some critic about this walkthrough. Well, of course it is not perfect! It was never meant to be! But I think everybody will be very happy about this update. There are no longer long, long text blocks. I have made many little chapters with headlines of the text blocks. So now if you are looking for a special hint you will find the solution of the problem easily (I hope so, if not, please contact me and tell me what is the problem). The walkthrough now goes to the end of Chapter five. 1.0 - Finally! The translation of the walkthrough is finished! Now the complete walkthrough is online. I also added the "General Hints" section. Many user of the GameFAQs.com forum did send me tips I simply had to copy and paste. Of course, some of them I adapted slightly but I did not change the content! And finally: Since I have quoted so many posts I have added a "Special thanks" section to thank for the support they gave to me. I hope you will find my walkthrough useful. Again I say: Contact me if you do not understand a thing. Or if there is something wrong. There will be an update in the next time in which I will fix some bugs of this walkthrough. Preview: As I said: The next update will fix some bugs. I have received some mails already but I was not able to answer all of them so far. But I promise: Every mail will be answered (if there is no virus in it, of course ;-) ). Please contact me if you have any suggestions for this walkthrough (Michael.Berg@fh-hof.de). +--------------------------+ +--About this walkthrough--+ +--------------------------+ I have written this walkthrough for www.spieletips.de initially. The original version is in German and has many screenshots. I am working much with maps and waypoints. On www.gamefaqs.com this is not possible. I may only use text and I didn't want to draw maps with ASCII. This is no real fun. So I translated the walkthrough and re-wrote some parts so it works well with gamefaqs.com. The final version of this walkthrough will contain a walkthrough for all the six chapters and the prologue, some common hints and some hints for the character choosing. It will not contain a list of all items (DSimpson did that well anyway) and there will be no list of all the spells (this is explained in the manual and I'm not a big fan of magic in these games, I mostly use fighters and some basic spells like burning hands, fireball, lightning bolt, haste, improved haste, etc. And of course all kinds of healing spells. I'm sure somebody will write a very detailled walkthrough some day but until that day this has to be sufficient. My walkthrough is meant for frustrated players who are struck at a certain place and who want to know what to do next ;-) . +---------------------------+ +---GENERAL HINTS SECTION---+ +---------------------------+ I am not that good in writing general hints. So I posted several messages into the forum. Many people answered. Here I quote what they said: -------------------------- Character Creation -------------------------- StGabriel: ---------- Duergar are pretty bad, most other races are worth taking if you can see how their abilities will help you out. That includes all of the higher ECL races. 3rd edition requires more planning. Have a good idea of what your character will be, what feats he or she will take, and when they will be taken. Feats have to be timed. Sometimes you get in a position where you can't have all of the prereqs for a feat you really need/want when you get a feat, so plan ahead. Make sure that your casters will have high enough stats to cast their full range of spells, this can also require planning. All in all a character is much more than his or her class and race. One thing to help you plan out your character is knowing that your characters will probably make it to level 16-18 or so in their first run through the game. If you have extra ECL characters, they will be a respective number of levels lower. Having someone that can cast instant damage (i.e. a wizard/sorceror) is very useful. So is having someone who can heal afflictions and damage. You will also want someone able to sneak around and unlock traps. Apart from that, take what you want. Combat-heavy characters are very nice to have but certainly aren't 100% necessary. A common and useful character design is giving 4 fighter levels to a character. This allows weapon specialization. You do not have to be a fighter type to be useful in combat. Taking only 4 levels as a fighter can give a nice bit of attack bonus, 3 feats, and specialization. It is usually best to only take a lot of levels or a spell caster or very few. If you take very few, then you will get a lot of useful buffs (mirror image mainly), that will supplement your other class. If you take a lot then you will get a wide range of very nice spells and will have powerful spells when you need them. If you take half and half or so, you will sacrifice a lot of power. Yes, you can be level 30, but in the single player game, as mentioned, you will probably only make it to the high teens sir xazm: --------- a simple party consists of 1 warrior, 1 rogue, 1 healer, 1 mage, and 2 of anything else. while some classes are more powerful than others, you can easily beat the game using that simple party structure. dogbert whisperwind: -------------------- On character creation, do not skimp on wisdom, even for fighters. Enemy priests have a nasty habit of dire- charming/confusing/greater-commanding your tanks. Having a wisdom of 12 is a must, imho, for tanks. Since fighters have so many feats to spread around, put some of those feats into things like iron will (+2 to will saves), Discipline (+1 to will, +2 to concentration), Bull-headed (+1 on will saves, +2 to intimidation). For a munchkin tank, take a half orc fighter and remove all points from int and cha and dump them all to str, con and dex, with the rest into wisdom. Dual to a barbarian at fighter level 4 to get weapon specialisation. ------------------- General Hints ------------------- sir xazm: --------- talk to everyone. do all the quests. save often. pay attention to the tips on the load/save screens. kill more, die less. two handed weapons do more damage than weapon/shield or two weapon fighting. the only exception is if you have a high dex character with weapon finess, usually a rogue. Armor class in 3rd edition dnd rules is dumb (not that it was anywhere near brilliant in previous versions). don't be suprised if your fighter wearing 300 lbs of metal has lower ac than your high dex rogue wearing a few trinkets. attacks are maxed at 5. keep this in mind when using items or buffs that supposedly increase your # of attacks. it's generally a good idea to max a character's best stat. healers max wis, wizards max int, sorcs max cha, rogues max dex, warriors max str or con, etc. Kthulu: ------- Well, it's pretty much common knowledge, but doing the Battle Square thing is way worth it, if for nothing else than the mace of disruption. That thing makes some battles way easy. Also, when doing the Battle Square, you can hide the rest of your party in the hallway and they can help you out in the middle of the contest (healing, buff spells, summons etc...) ------------------- Combat advice ------------------- sir xazm: --------- if you know a big battle is coming, buff as much as you can. buff long duration spells first, then short duration. buff super long duration spells after each time you rest. if you want to play very safe, keep summoned pets in front of your lead character always and move around the map slowly; as soon as you see a mob, it will attack your pet instead of your party. a lot of fights are tough in this game, and you may have to change your tactics to beat some of them. if you lose a battle, learn from your mistakes and try something new after you load. if your fire spells didn't do anything, load up some lightning spells. if dmg spells didn't do the job, try crowd control spells. if you can't heal fast enough, keep santuaries handy. if blunt weapons aren't doing much damage, try using slashing weapons. it's a good idea to keep the best + weapons you find. some mobs in the game can only be hit by higher + weapons, such as the iron golems that aren't hurt by anything less than a +3 weapon. it's also a good idea to keep a variety of weapon damage types. some mobs resist slashing more than blunt, or resist blunt and slashing but not piercing. StGabriel: ---------- Combat in IWD2 is different than a lot of Infinity Engine games. More often then not, the majority of the fights you fight in an area are large fights, that will severely tax your team. It is common to have to rest after a lot of your fights and stretching your team to fight several fights per rest period is challenging. Because of this, it is very important that you scout out your fights. Use wilderness lore and use your characters with high hide/move silently to scout ahead. You want to know what your enemy is, and you want to have a plan for destroying them. You can't always know this, but you should always know everything you can. Pick where and how you will fight. You might move several of your characters in hidden to take out a crucial enemy (usually a spellcaster). You might want to set up your summonable creatures. You will ALWAYS want to be buffed. Always. The first person spotted by the enemy will be the one that the enemy is most interested in. Do NOT expect to be able to drag only one enemy like you could in Baldur's Gate. Expect them to be smart and to all come to the aid of their ally. You want the first person spotted not to be in trouble when a ton of enemies charge him. You can try and make your summonables take these attacks. You can have that character run away. You can have that character ready to take any and all comers. There are several good tanks. One is simply fighter type with lots of hps and maybe a decent ac. Creatures tend to hit a lot no matter your ac, so the hps are more important than anything. Another is to have a caster that can buff himself up defensively. Good buffs (that aren't too high level) for this are mirror image, blur, stoneskin, and to a lesser extent mage armor and cat's grace. Mirror image is VERY good. You should include the usage of spells in your plan. Do you want to lure your enemies into a skull trap or delayed blast fireball? Will you pelt the casters with magic missiles? An interesting tactic can be the following: have your tank be a rogue or a monk with a high reflex save. Try to keep others out of the thick of things, then have your casters bombard the middle of the battle with area effect spells. The evasion skill will allow the rogue/monk to avoid most of the spells entirely, while the enemy will all be concentrated in a small area and will all be taking damage. Finally you might want to have a character concentrating on crowd control via charm spells, hold spells, chromatic orb, and other such spells. It can tremendously useful to have something nasty on the enemies side of the battle suddenly become completely immobilized. I said to buff always, so what should you buff with? You should always have cat's grace, bull's strength and endurance up on as many characters as possible. These spells add nice bonuses and they last for quite a long time. After level 5 or so you will almost never have these wear out on you before you rest. Mage armour should always be casted on those people who don't wear armor. Stoneskin also lasts long enough to use long before combat, so cast it on the characters who will go into the thick of things. Then, right before battle you will put on short duration spells. The most important of these is mirror image. Hopefully you saved a few slots for this after casting the stat increasing buffs. Blur is also great, and blink is if you don't mind the chance that your character's actions will be inneffective. Another crucial spell is haste, which both makes a character much more mobile and gives them a very nice boost to their combat effectiveness. Cleris have a whole line of useful spells too, and most of them are shorter duration. I'll leave you to figure these out on your own. Finally, summon spells are invaluable. They provide both damage and a meat shield for all your characters. Animate dead is almost unfair. Most summon spells are useful. Items that allow you to summon creatures are also very nice. It is best to summon creatures right before combat starts so that you can have them in place to take damage and deal it most effectively. ribald: ------- Have at least 1 Dispel magic memorized ,when one of your pc's is hold\charm... just cast dispel magic on him\her. If you don't have Dispel magic ,cast invisibility on your held\paralized character. If an enemie caster in casting charm\domination equip the pc nearest to the enemie caster with an item that gives immnunity to charm\domination,cuz he probebly is the target. Make sure to have at least one remove fear memorized dualwield is great but a character with high Strength and a 2 handed weapon can deal tons of damage per hit. Scouth,Scouth,Scouth,Scouth,Scouth,Scouth a lot,use a rogue,ranger or any character that can hide,if you know how many enemies is oiuther and when they are and ho many time they will take can reach the other monster in the area to help then you can make most battles real easy.I use my thief to scout half of an area b4 sending my party ,after clering the enemies he scouths again and my party move to kill again,reapet until you clear everything. To prevent hit and run tactics,the programmers add the "hit seeking" ablitie on monster,e.g.:In bg2 you send your thief to backstab an enemie and then you hide the enemies will just stand there waiting but in IWD2 if you you send your thief to backstab an enemie and then you turn invisible and run ,the monster will just move where your rest of your party is. You can use the "hit seeking" in your favor:split your party in 2, move half of your party to one sideof the map and the other half of your party to other side of the map,send your thief to backstb someone then use a potion to turn invisible and the monster track and will find half of your party and when they are attacking your half party use the other half of your party to attack your enemies one their back.You could use summons and make 3 diffirent groups to attack your enemies.This is the "Hammerville Attack",i learn it with the dwarf in the entrence to Underdark. ------------------ Magic spells ------------------ sir xazm: --------- best nukes: MAGIC MISSLE - old reliable. CHROMATIC ORB - best when it stuns. FIREBALL - old reliable #2. LIGHTNING BOLT - not as good as fireball, but great back up when fighting solo enemies or fire resistant mobs. SKULL TRAP - unlimited damage expansion, 30d6 at lvl 30. small area of effect. can be used as a trap or casting at a specific target can also set it off like a fireball. DELAYED BLAST FIREBALL - improved fireball, unlimited damage expansion. can be used as a trap or casting at a specific target can also set it off like a normal fireball. DISINTEGRATE - save or die, take dmg even if save. some players mentioned loot items can also be disintegrated using this spell. FINGER OF DEATH - save or die, take dmg even if save. HORRID WILTING - capped at 25d8, but save vs fortitude (as opposed to reflex for fireballs), which means good vs casters. WAIL OF THE BANSHEE - area effect save or die. can also effect your characters, not including caster. best buffs: BLUR - 20% chance to be missed in combat. decent duration. MIRROR IMAGE - automatically missed 2-8 times in combat. low duration. PROTECTION FROM ARROWS - potency increases with level, capped at lvl 20. long duration. STONESKIN - potency increases with level, capped at lvl 15. good idea to cast on whole party after every resting. long duration. EMOTION HOPE - small area of effect, best when used before combat. decent duration. MASS HASTE - offensive use with extra attacks, and defensive use for extra movement speed. one of the best group buffs in game. short duration. SEVEN EYES - multi-use protection spell. a must have for front line mages. long cast time, best cast before combat. has offensive components, but mostly worthless. decent duration AEGIS - best caster only target buff spell in game. quick casting time. short duration best crowd control: SLEEP - only good at lower levels. COLOR SPRAY - best used at lower levels. SLOW - best used only after casting stun type crowd control spells. CHAOS - one of the best crowd control spells in game. saves vs will at -4, so can completely ruin a huge group of enemy tanks. POWER WORD BLIND - no save allowed. in theory, blinded creatures are supposed to miss 50% of the time. duration lowers as monster levels rise. SYMBOL OF HOPELESSNESS - one of the best crowd control spells in game. shorter duration and doesn't have the save bonus of chaos, but has larger area of effect. saves vs will, so great vs tanks. best other: OTILUKE'S RESILIENT SPHERE - can completely remove an enemy from combat for the duration of the spell. can also be used defensively. MODENKAINEN's SWORD - 4d6+3 dmg, +17 to hit when you first get it, + to hit rises with level, can hit from any distance, is only considered a +3 weapon to determine what can be hit. can cast more spells even if you have mod sword, but will not be swinging during the actual casting. short duration. ANY SUMMON MONSTER - bigger # the better. best unbalanced spells: ANIMATE DEAD - don't get if you have clerics. don't get if you want the game to be a challenge. IMPROVED INVISIBILITY - can walk through and kill anything and absolutely nothing will see you for 99% of the game. don't get if you want the game to be a challenge. notes on normal vs heart of fury: damage spells are awesome in normal, but dramatically drop in usefulness in hof. crowd control spells are nice in normal, but dramatically increase in usefulness in hof. buff spells are nice in normal and a must in hof. otiluke's drops in value in hof as monsters make saves much easier, modenkainen's sword is just as useful in either, and summons are an absolutely 100% must to get through hof. dogbert whisperwind: -------------------- Conversely, use spells that target the will saves of enemy tanks. eg. Hold person, command, greater command, domination, hold monster, emotion despair, emotion fear etc etc. Against enemy spell casters, use spells that target either the fort or reflex. Disintegrate, dolorous decay, finger of death all come to mind as inst-kill spells that target fortitude. ribald: ------- Have at least 1 Dispel magic memorized ,when one of your pc's is hold\charm... just cast dispel magic on him\her. If you don't have Dispel magic ,cast invisibility on your held\paralized character. If an enemie caster in casting charm\domination equip the pc nearest to the enemie caster with an item that gives immnunity to charm\domination,cuz he probebly is the target. Make sure to have at least one remove fear memorized orpheus: -------- Improved invisibility is glitched, I imagine they'll fix it in the patch, don't use it if you're planning to have a fun game. +-----------------+ +---WALKTHROUGH---+ +-----------------+ --------------- PROLOGUE --------------- Targos Harbor ------------- --- A wounded guard After a long trip we finally arrived in Targos. We talked to the captain, then we met Reig Redwaters. He gave me a sword and an armor. His arm was wounded and because of me being a paladin I was able to give him first aid. --- Jorun Tamewater's house A little further to the south we found Jorun Tamewater who told us that his house was a safe place. It was in the southwestern corner of the harbor area. Inside our thief disarmed the treasure chest and broke the lock. --- First healing potions In the northern warehouse we found in a north eastern placed chest two healing potions, in the other chests were several more helpful items. --- The tavern and the goblins in the warehouse Near the northeastern warehouse was Brogan. He asked us to talk to the fighters in the tavern which was in the southern part of the town. There we talked to all the people and then we retured to Brogan. Now it was our job to clear the northeastern warehouse of goblins. Of course we looked in all the chests as well (to find a dead cat, for example). By opening a trapdoor we arrived in a cave system. Our group killed all the goblins. When a message was displayed that all the goblins were dead we left the caverns. If this message does not appear you must run around and look for more goblins - even in the town streets. Now we reported our success to Brogan. --- An old woman and her cat We also visited the old lady in the southernmost house. If we brought her a dead cat (we found in one of the boxes in the warehouse with the caverns) she was able to tell us some interesting storys. Now we left the town's haven quarter. The exit was in the northwest. Targos city ----------- --- Accepting the next job We talked to Ulbrec Dinnsmore in the town hall which was located in the southern eastern part of the map. --- A man talking to ghosts and a strange bottle In the first house we met a man who talked to ghosts. He told us that we should return by night (but when we did so nothing happened). After that we visited the inn (southwest). The owner talked about a ghost and gave a bottle to us. Our mage identified the bottle, after that we talked to the innkeeper again. Then we headed to the town hall to show the bottle to the mayor's wife. We shared the gotten information with the man who talked to ghosts (western house). Our next goal was to talk to the ghost in the inn. So we waited until nightfall and went to the first floor of the inn. We found the ghost in one of the rooms and talked to her, then to the innkeeper who told us to go to the tavern in the harbor district. The owner of the tavern gave us a piece of the ship in which the ghost's husband sank. We showed it to her and asked her for a tear. After that we spoke to the innkeeper again and then to the mayor's wife who bought the bottle. Now we visited the store (next to the town hall) and bought some equipment. Then we left this part of the town in the north. In front of the town -------------------- --- Drunken Niles In the southeastern corner we met drunken Niles and had a serious talk with him. He ran away to report to the soldiers. --- A lession in smashing barrels In front of the round wall we talked to the armsmaster, then our paladin smashed the barrel and gave some instructions to the soldiers. --- The broken catapult In one of the warehouses we have found a warhammer. A character with a high dipolmacy skill was able to persuade Caulder (northwest) to make use of it. --- The broken crane In the house in the southeastern corner we met the leader of the forces. He sent us to the northeastern part of the map, where we talked to Olap, a dwarf. He sent us to Lumbar Grundwall in the town (next to the store on the town map) who told us that the crane was out of order. We talked to Olap again who sent us to his brother standing on the street of the docks. We got a wheel from him which we put into the crane (this works just like a treasure chest: Just put the wheel into it). We reported our success to Olap and returned to the leader of the soldiers. --- 300 arrows This time he ordered us to talk to Isherwood at the western wall. He needed 300 arrows urgently. So we went to the store in the town where we got these arrows for free. But we had to put some persuading skill in it. After talking again to Isherwood we reported to the leader. --- Talking to Koluhm He sent us to Koluhm, the man who spoke to ghosts. Once we did that (he is in the house in the southwest of the town map) we spoke to leader Shawford - again. --- The lazy soldiers in the tavern This time we had to go to the tavern in the docking district. By using some pretty nice threattenings we were able to persuade the lazy soldiers to return to their posts. --- Targos under attack! Back to Shawford. Suddenly the goblins attacked! We left the building and moved into battle. The first guy to be killed was the goblin mage. Then we cared about the minions. When we proceeded we soon met Vghotan, one of the goblin's leaders. After his death a new wave of goblins broke the wall in the northeast section. We ran there and bet the green creatures (quicksave!). Now the most powerful goblin force invaded at the northern gate. We had to take out the leader Caballus at first, then the goblin soldiers. --- Preparations for a new mission After that hard fight we talked to Shawford who had returned to his house. Then we visited the store to buy supplies and weapons. Then we had a talk with Ulbrec in the town hall. After a long rest we left town through the shattered gate... ------------------ CHAPTER ONE ------------------ Shaengarne Ford --------------- --- A warm welcome Here we met the ork's leader - Torak. He sent some of his best warriors after us who caused big problems for our still unexperienced fighters. Bows were helpful while the fighters tried to break through the wall of barrels. They retreated sometimes to recover. BUG WARNING: If Torak does not disappear DON'T TALK TO HIM! This might cause an endless cut scene and there is no way to shorten it. Just kill him. --- Dareth Sprijngsong We arrived at another wall of barrels. An ork fired an arrow at a barrel and we ran away because the barrel exploded several seconds later. Luckily some of the orks were killed in the explosion. We executed the survivors and finally met Dareth Sprijngsong in the north. He asked us to kill all the orks in this area, especially these at his house which was in the east. Then Dareth cleared the path near the entrance of the map. A little north of Dareth's prison we destroyed a wooden plank. --- Dareth's wife We explored the new path and found Dareth's wife in the very western part of the map. She told us about the ork's camp in the east and opened the path for us. --- Avoiding the ambush Our party went northeast and killed all the orks. Then we went back to the western area and destroyed a second wooden plank a little east of the women's former hideout. The exit was in the north, but before we left we took a rest. Shaengarne Ford - Torak's camp ------------------------------ --- Unexpected support On the next map a hard battle took place. Luckily a strong female warrior was by our side. She ordered us to fight a special troll and to bring her the sword he stole from her. --- Sneaking into Torak's camp Right after that we met Kaitlin who asked us to save her village. In order to do this we had to open the gate. So we went east to Torak's camp. Torak was a coward. If we attacked him he would slay all the villagers. So our thief sneaked into his camp (using shadow ability) and moved the wheel that was next to the big gate. He used the shadow ability once more and left the camp. --- Freeing the villagers Then we entered the northwestern camp and killed all the enemies. After that we destroyed the barrels that were placed around the villagers' prison. --- Infiltrating Torak's camp Now we entered Torak's camp once more and killed all his followers. We took the key Torak had with him and entered the cave in the north. Shaengarne Ford - The troll caverns ----------------------------------- --- Finding the sword - a hard battle Inside we hacked through the masses of monsters. Our strongest weapons granted success. But finally we reached the southeastern room. Here the troll lived. The first thing we did after the dialogue was running away! Outside the cave we used some preparation spells and entered again. We were lucky - all of the troll's followers were shattered around the cave. The troll itself was a very mighty opponent. His attacks were devastating. Our mage used his most powerful spells to kill him. Once he was lying on the floor he cast a fire spell to kill him (you can use burning oil as well). After this terribly hard battle we searched the troll's room and found the sword the warrior outside wanted to have. We returned it to her. Shaengarne Ford - Torak's camp ------------------------------ --- Proceding... With everything being done we went to the locked gate. Using Torak's key we were able to open it. We left the area. Shaengarne Ford - The path to the river --------------------------------------- Soon we met some rat-looking humans, a big battle started which we were able to survive because of bless and our strong fighters. We didn't find too much in this area, except of a huge spider's web. The exit was in the west. Shaengarne Ford - The dam ------------------------- --- Destroying the dam and fixing the bridge In the next area our group was surprised by enemies, we destroyed the nearby wooden pillar and hacked through the map until we found another pillar. We destroyed it as well and took the wood. We used it to repair the bridge in the west. Shaengarne Ford - The bridge ---------------------------- --- Defending the bridge Finally we arrived at the bridge! But the enemies were about to destroy it! Nevertheless we had to proceed carefully because there were many enemies in this area. When we approached the bridge we met a mage called Xuki who had many powerful spells. One of our characters walked next to her and she cast all her spells on him. After she had cast the most powerful ones the othere came to her and killed her. After every enemy was dead a message appeared. But the bridge was destroyed nevertheless. We collected all the treasure and left the area in the west. Targos ------ --- The next mission We talked to Ulbrec Dinsmore in the town hall. Then we bought several spells at his wife's shop (haste is a very useful spell). In the store we bought some new armor and weapons, some shields as well. We stocked up our arrows. Right after a relaxing night in the inn we left town again, prepared for new adventures. Horde Fortress - In front of the gates -------------------------------------- --- Ennelia We talked to Ennelia about everything possible and offered a strong healing potion to her. --- The first two drums After that we approached the valley carefully. Our heroes destroyed the drum which was located north of the eastern side of the bridge. The bow experts went to the northeast and shot the next drum which was placed on the other side of the valley. The bridge west of that point had three traps on it. Our thief was able to disarm them. --- The northeastern and northwestern camps Now we went to the small village in the east and killed every monster there. The leader had a key. Finally we went to the east. There was a third drum and another orc camp. There was a lot of treasure to collect in this area. --- Using the key We went to the very southeast and opened the gate. After a small battle we entered the cave. Horde Fortress - The cave (1) ----------------------------- --- Three hard fights We granted us a relaxing rest. Then we explored the southern room where we were expected by hordes of goblins. The heroes searched the camp very carefully and found loads of nice items. The next room was full of orcs. They were no real problem, but there were the mages as well. They were tough opponents because it was difficult to reach them. The most difficult room was that in the very southwest. We fled to the cavern's entrance to be able to leave it as soon as the characters got too much problems. This battle lasted a while. --- The password We went to the tiny room in the middle of the map. Pondmuk, a goblin, lived there. He knew about the secret password for the door near the entrance but he only wanted to tell us if we brought him some spiders. We found them in the western room. We also got the spider's queen for the goblin and he told us the password. --- Invading: Two options - 1: Invading from the back But we didn't use the door at all. It seemed better to go to the northwest and use the back entrance to the camp. Once we were inside (near the door) we immediately destroyed the drum in the west. Then we killed all the monsters. --- Invading: Two options - 2: Using the password We used the password at the door near the entrance and had to fight throuth the hords of orks. We had to destroy the drum in the northwest immediately. --- Strong monster Ypuog In the southwest a very powerful monster called Ypuog lived. Once we killed it it left some leggings which we put into the inventory. After that we left the map in the northeast. Horde Fortress - The cave (2) ----------------------------- --- Getting the first stone: Two options - 1: Give the leggings to the leader In the next area we went west. After a while we met a goblin's leader whom we offered the leggings we found before. --- Getting the first stone: Two options - 2: Kill them all We went to the leader of the goblins and talked to him. He got angry so we had to fight him and his minions. After the fight we took the stone the leader had lost. --- Two drums, a horde of monsters and the second stone We returned to the entrance and went northwest this time. On our way to the stairway we met several monsters and found two drums. We eventually found a second stone. We were able to kill the monsters in the cage by using arrows. This took long but they had no real chance. --- Leaving the cave The stairs were in the north of the cave. In order to leave the cave we needed the two stones we found on the map. Otherwise a terrible trap might have sprung that killed some of us. Horde Fortress - Inside the fortress walls ------------------------------------------ Finally we were inside the castle walls. Hordes of monsters attacked, so we were forced to retreat to the cavern in order to recover sometimes. After some time all the monsters perished and we entered the castle. Horde Fortress - Inside the fortress ------------------------------------ --- Opening the door In the first room several battles took place. After we killed the old ork we took the key he lost and unlocked the door. --- Confronting the leader of the fortress Then we moved to the center of the map and confronted the leader of the castle. Once we defeated him we explored all the rooms in order to find more items. --- Saving Braston In the southern eastern room Braston was imprisoned, we escorted him outside. Then we went through the main entrance to the big area in front of the castle. We talked to Ennelia near the exit and left. Targos city ----------- --- Reporting to Ulbrec Dinnsmore It was a long trip, but it finally seemed to have come to a good end. Exhausted we told Ulbrec Dinnsomore what we had achieved. But he had no mercy and got the next mission for us. Before we went to the airship (north of the town hall) we bought some equipment and spells and slept in the inn. Then we visited Oswald and told him that we really intended to fly away. ----------------- CHAPTER TWO ----------------- Western Pass ------------ --- Fight against the beetles Right after we killed all the beetles inside the airship we talked to Oswald and took the book which was on the table. In it was detailled written what he wanted to have. We left the ship, took some planks and went north where we destroyed the beetles' lair. We took all the potions that were inside the lair. There may be thrym extract as well. --- Strange traders, dead traders Further in the north we met several traders. At first we traded with them but then I talked to him about his evil aura. He transformed into a werewolf, a tough opponent. Our reward were many gold coins and some emeralds. A little to the southeast we found the dead bodys of some traders. In their chest there were some emeralds (there should be also a diamond). --- Captain Yurst In the center of the map was Captain Yurst who was bombed with stones. South of him some spiders existed (spider silk!). We went to the east and confronted the giants. After we had killed them all we returned to Yurst. --- Getting on the glacier, breaking the barrier Now we went to the north. Soon some people blocked our way. Well, we proceeded anyway and met the leader of the town at the glacier. A battle followed. We returned to the south and fought the enemies who came for us. After that we moved on the hill and killed some more foes. Then our strongest warrior passed through the barrier. We left the area in the northeast. The glacier ----------- --- Crystal golems, levers and an amulet After several battles we proceeded to the north. We met a crystal golem which was only weak to blunt weapons (hammers, axes, flails, hands). In the south (middle of the map) we found three levers. We pushed all of them and went back to the entrance. One or two powerful croaching monsters attacked us, we were really lucky that we survived! These monsters may have thrym extract with them as well! From the entrance, we went northeast and found an amulet near the human statues. Now we were able to open all the doors on the glacier. --- Some tough fights We went a little back and chose the first door. Here the queen of these croaching monsters expected us! Our mage threw every spell towards her he had. When she died we fled (there is another powerful enemy right behind the barrier). After a rest we challenged him. --- The imprisoned dwarf, belladonna plant Then we went to the little northeastern room and fought the two religious peolple. Now we went southeast and fought another crystal golem (axes, hammers, flails, ...). Then we killed the croaching monster and freed a dwarf who had a belladonna plant (for the airship). --- Entering the ice temple - first try Now it was time to proceed to the ice temple (northeastern path). The door was locked so we talked to the dwarf (south) and asked him to open the door for us. Important: All your character's HP should be maximum! Inside the temple we met several gargoylelike monsters who told us about their fate. Here we were not able to do anything, so we left. --- Sherincal, entering the ice temple We headed for the main entrance where we met Sherincal, the mysterious foreign person who had talked to the keeper of the goblin fortress. In the battle we found out that she was not too tough at all. In order to repair the stairs our bow specialists shot several arrows at the levers on the top of the stairway. Now we were able to proceed. Ice Temple - the upper floor ---------------------------- --- Exploring the temple, the first high priestress There was not much to do on the first floor. In the central room we killed a high priestress who had a key on her. We explored the whole floor and discovered two secret walls (one in the east and one in the west), but they were not too important at all. --- The prision, Nathaniel and high priestress Lysara We arrived at the prison (eastern section) and had a talk with Nathaniel. We went north and killed the second high priestress (Lysara). She had another key on her which we used to open the cells with the prisoners. But Nathaniel still missed his things. --- Understanding the deis We went back to the room where we fought Lysara and looked at the Deis. I moved it to the east, then I went on the other side of it and turned it to the west. The antimagic-field disappeared. Now I got left of the Deis and turned it to the north, then I got to the right side and turned it to the north again (one whole round). The three huge northern doors opened. In order to open the room in the very center of the map I stood left of the Deis and turned it to the southwest, then I stood right and turned it to the northwest. In the now accessable room we found a collection of spells. --- Informaiton about the imprisoned ghost Two rooms further north (one of the small rooms near the center of the map) we talked to the man about the imprisioned ghost. --- Hidden stairs The northernmost room we explored very carefully because there were many ice trolls inside. In the center of the room some stairs were hidden. Ice temple - The lower floor ---------------------------- --- Exploring the map On the next floor we explored all the rooms at first. There was not too much to discover on the first view. In the room west to the stairs we found a diary with some interesting information in it. --- Nickademus In the central room there was a locked door. Our thief broke the look so we met Nickademus. We walked around a little and he woke up. Now he ansered us a lot of questions. --- The strange ghost room We returned upstairs and "talked" to the picture in one of the eastern rooms and answered: "Lysan". We waited for the effect and went down the stairs. Now we were in a room with a shadow painted on the floor. I tried to open the northern door but it was not possible. Then we discovered a secret wall to the west. We went out of the room. --- A mirror and a lighning Now we went northeast, then a long way to the southeast until we saw a mirror (above the central room). We moved the mirror so the front side showed to the east. Then we entered the central room. There we moved the machine with the lower lever so it showed to the northern exit. We pushed the upper lever so that a lightning was shot. It hit in the room with the shadow. --- The spirit in the ghost room One character moved there and was now able to open the upper door. He entered and talked to the spirit. A whirlwind appeared and the door slammed shut. When the whirlwind disappeared the doors opened again. --- Repairing the machine in the central room If we damaged the machine in the central room (you must hit it with a lightning bolt) we went to the play room in the southeastern corner of the map and pushed the lower left levers until the golem said "Repair mode active" (or something like that. Then one of us used the southernmost lever. --- The play room, a key We went to the southeastern room, the play room. There we moved the three lower levers until the golem said "Battle sequence activated". By using one of the upper levers we could set the difficulty level. Once the game was activated it was the job of our strongest warrior to move on one of the plates. When he did a battle took place. He had to defeat his enemy in 60 seconds. He wan if he managed to win a row of three fields (horizontal, diagonal, vertical). Now we got a key. --- Killing high priestress Oria, the Inner Sanctum We used it at the locked door in the northeastern part of the area, then we confronted Oria, the last high priestress. Short before her death she cast a powerful spell and short after that she appeared again - invulnerable to all of our weapons! We rushed to the game room and played with the three lower levers the "inner sanctum". Now we were able to hurt Oria. Once she died we returned to our usual form of existence. We went to the imprisioned gargoyles in the northern part of the first floor and talked to them. After that we left the ice castle. Back to the ship ---------------- --- Giving the six ingrediences to Oswald I had the six ingrediences for Oswald: - Wooden planks (found just outside the ship - Two diamonds (you should have found some in Chapter two. If you sold them, get them back) - A bottle of thrym extract (there may be one just on the ship, or in the beetle's lair or one of these huge crouching monsters has it - Fresh spider silk (you encountered spiders in the east of the ship) - Belladonna plant (the dwarf on the glacier who was imprisioned by one oh these huge crouching monsters presents it to you) - A sword of your choice (it needs to be ordinary steel, so daggers and big swords should do, just don't try weapons which are very magic) To give these ingrediences to Oswald we simply put them on the table in the ship. If we did right a graphic effect happened. Then we talked to Oswald and moved back to the ice temple. Ice temple revisited -------------------- --- Talk to the picture in the upper level, treasure room Now it was time to test all the possible answers you can give the picture on the wall. Here is a list: - "Death to Kuldahar" - downstairs - "Andora" - the place where the druid was - "Lysan" - the room with the shadow on the floor - "Auril, shower the..." - game room - "In Auril's name..." - treasure room (you find loads of gold pieces there and Nathaniel's ring of ram) - "bedroom" - Nickademus' room - "from the sea" - the room with these gargoyles - "hmmm..." - the airship Especially the treasure room should be interesting. --- The mirror room and Nathaniel's belongings Now only one thing remained to be done. We had to get Nathaniel's things. So we visited the mirror room (southwestern section of the lower area) and shattered both mirrors. A furious battle took place. We had to take out the mages immediately. After we wan the battle we explored the room with the many coffins. Our thief looked around and noticed that one of the upper left coffins could be opened. So she opened it. We went to the central room and moved the heavy machine so it was facing to the southern door. We pushed the other lever so that a flashlight was shot. It hit in the mirror room. Now we were able to open the door to the storeroom (southwesternmost room), where we found Nathaniel's belongings. We got Nathaniel his bag and the ring (from the treasure room; Nathaniel is still in the jail). Now we followed him to the outside where we met some Neverwinter warriors. We left the map. -------------------- CHAPTER THREE -------------------- The Wandering Village --------------------- --- A skeleton with a bad memory After a welcome battle in the new region many wolves came from the cave in the north. Once we killed many of them the wolf's cave seemed to be empty. The skeleton in the south was missing its drinking horn. We moved to the village in the east. --- Nym's dark prophecys and several new missions Nym told us what might happen to us in this chapter of our journey. We had a talk with Suoma in the north of the village, after that we talked to Tahvo and Venla. Jari has a mission for us as well. After buying some supplies and selling unusable things we left the village and left the map in the southeast. The Fell Wood ------------- --- The missing children We met some ice trolls who had to be killed by fire or venom once they lay on the floor. The leader of them was immune to fire so we had to kill him by poison. In a tent in the east was an ork we could talk to. But after the talk Limha appeared. She told us why she kidnapped the children. After that we fought her minion and left the tent. Limha sent four ice trolls after us who were not too difficult to kill. After that we confronted her personally. But that was not easy at all because she cast herself away all the time. But finally, we wan. Fell Wood maze (first visit) ---------------------------- --- White wolf skin for Jari We left the area in the east and lissened to the skeleton's warning. Then we left this area in the northwest. There we met some white wolves. We took their skins with us (for Jari). Now we chose the southwestern exit. We returned to the village. The Wandering Village --------------------- --- Reporting success and accepting new work Jari was happy about the wolves' skins and Venla was happy about the returned children. We talked to Suoma who sent us to Tahvo. From him we got the mission to take care about the skeleton near the village. Our journey took us back to Fell Wood. Fell Wood maze (second visit) ----------------------------- --- Finding the drinking horn This part of the game did cost our party about two hours and you get the solution for free! So here the short version: We took the following exits (from the map with the skelleton in it): Northeast, north, east, east. Now we met a druid. Then we exited southeast, northeast, southeast, northwest, southeast. Here we found the drinking horn we were looking for so long. We took the southwestern exit to leave the wood. The Wandering Village --------------------- --- Returning the horn We now returned the horn to Sordirsin, the skeleton. Then we looked into his grave. --- Another mission We told Tahvo about our success, then we talked to Suoma who sent us to Kurttu. This woman asked us to find out something about the disappearence of Kyosti. Fell Wood maze (third visit) ---------------------------- --- Will-o-wisps We talked to the ghost at the entrance. He wanted us to kill three will-o-wisps. Great! Some more exploring in the big, dark forest. At first we returned to the place where we found the drinking horn (northeast, north, east, east, southeast, northeast, southeast, northwest, southeast). After that we chose these exits: Southeast, southeast, northeast, northwest, northwest, northeast, southeast. Here we met the enemies. They were powerful creatures. Once the clerics were not able to heal the fighters any more we had to leave the area and take a rest. The trick in the battle was to attack only one of the will-o-wisps at a time. They cast themselves away all the time but we tried to find out where it went and chased it. After killing all three of them we chose the southeastern exit to return to the starting point. --- Kyosti's fate We had a talk with the ghost and asked about Kyosti. Then we left the forest and examined the northwestern part of the map with the big tent on it. Here we met the restless ghost. We talked to him. Wandering Village ----------------- --- The leaders of the Legion of the Chimera After the talk with Kurttu we spoke to Suoma but we were interrupted by the powerful leaders of the Legion of the Chimera. A fairly easy battle against some undead foes followed. They were best attacked with fire magic (burning hands, fireball). --- Gaining new informaiton (at last) We talked to Suoma again, then we visited all the traders and bought some ropes (IMPORTANT, BUY 5 OF THEM! You will thank me later). After that we left town. Fell Wood maze (final visit) ---------------------------- --- Exiting the forest In the area where the ghost used to be we simply moved to the east (no, not a maze again ;-) ). There we had to fight a horde of treelike beings. Compared to the battle against the will-o-wisps this was very easy. A new exit in the northeast appeared, we finally were able to leave Fell Wood! Cold Marshes ------------ --- A rock puzzle The next area was full of monsters. Near the starting point two hordes of spiders attacked us. In the middle of the map (south) we found some troll caverns, in the east we were attacked by barbarians. A little further to the north we found several stones: / \ / \ / \ 4th row L M R \ / \ / \ / / \ / \ / \ 3rd row L M R \ / \ / \ / / \ / \ / \ 2nd row L M R \ / \ / \ / / \ / \ / \ 1st row L M R \ / \ / \ / While the fighters fought against the incoming monsters our thief moved the blocks: 1M, 2R, 1M, 2M, 3L, 1M, 2M, 3M, 4R. Now the path was free. We left the area. River Caves ----------- --- D-d-d- DRAGON! In this rather small area we met several soldiers. They told me that the cave was inhabited by a huge dragon. They also promised us full support in the battle against this powerful creature. But when we got near the cave they all ran away. But that was no real problem: The dragon looked more powerful than he actually was. Some fireballs and burning hands killed him easily. --- The cowardish soldiers After the battle we had a serious talk with the soldiers. We soon found out that they were agents of the enemy. Suddenly they showed their true form and became undead warriors. These weaklings were no real threat for our group. We entered the caverns. River Caves (upper level) ------------------------- --- Another dragon, getting downstairs It was a surprise to find out that another dragon inhabited them. But luckily he was not stronger than his brother. After the fight we looked around and picked up some interesting things that were lost by unlucky warriors. In order to access the deeper regions of the cave we used one of the five ropes we bought in the Wandering Village (you did so, didn't you?). River Caves (lower level) ------------------------- --- A locked door In the area below many enemies walked around. On the northern wall we were able to move a rock in order to find a locked door. --- Monsters, monsters, monsters everywhere! We first went northeast (watch your step - at a certain point many, many enemies will attack you!), after winning this long and difficult battle we went throuth the last door on the southeastern wall to encounter more monsters. --- Finding the key After a long relaxing rest (you must climb up the rope to rest) we went back some screens. Eventually we found a passageway which led to the southernmost area of the map. Here we encountered many more monsters. Our mage used fireballs against the green slimes (but watch out! You do not have too many fireballs at this stage of the game. Don't waste them on only one or two slimes). In the eastern end of the path we found a key. --- The slave camp - Option 1: Talk to them This key fit to the locked door in the northwestern area of the map. We had a talk to the dwarves but we didn't provoke them because we had other things to do. They offered us a place to rest. In the storeroom we found some mining tools we had to use on the northeastern rocks in order to clear the path. --- The slave camp - Option 2: Kill them all We told the slave traders that slavery was an illegal thing to do. They attacked us, we had to fight through masses of dwarven slavers. Fireballs were had devastating effects on the enemies. In the storeroom we found some mining tools which we used to clear the path in the northeast (If you choose this option you might not have to fight them in Chapter four, but I'm not sure yet). River Caves (final area) ------------------------ --- Big final fight in the caves The next map was relaxing at first. But then we met a group of fighters with there warbears. They had been waiting for us and they have prepared themselves. In the battle we tried to take out the dangerous mages first (if that does not work retreat some meters and you will face only few opponents for a short while. Repeat this tactic). After the battle we picked up the key one of the mages lost and left the area. ------------------ CHAPTER FOUR ------------------ Black Raven Monastery -------------------- --- Accessing the Monastery Before getting over the bridge our thief looked for traps on it and fixed the bridge. We carefully got near the second bridge because the place behind it was full of yetis. Our two fighters blocked the bridge and fought the creatures, the clerics and the mage supported from the behind with arrows and darts. By using the cave we arrived at the entrance of the monestry. We entered. Black Raven Monastery - upper level ----------------------------------- --- A talk to Aruna In the entrance hall a man called Salisam Harbash talked to us. He told us to speak with Aruma Blane and to report immediately back to him after that. Aruma was in the southeastern room. There we had a talk with her who did not grant us passage to the Underdark. We reported to Salisam (in the entrance hall) and he made an offering. --- Aruna's banishing - Option 1: Show letters to her Our thief now broke the door next to Aruma's room. There we found some interesting letters. We showed them to Aruma who left the monestry --- Aruna's banishing - Option 2: Tell her about Salisam's plans We went to Aruna and told her what Salisam was planning to do (perhaps somebody tells me what happenes then - it is the "evil" choice). --- Nonin's missing ring Now we explored the monestry. In the central western room Nonin told us that he was missing his ring. In the southwestern room we were able to rest a bit. The thief broke the door near the entrance and found the thief who had stolen the ring. --- Preparing for the eight chambers After some dialogue with Salisam the stairs to the next floor were accessable. In the cellar we talked to the master of the eight chambers who sent us to Nonin. We got the key to the storeroom from him and our strongest warrior (the barbarian) put all his belongings into a chest. The eight chambers ------------------ After doing so we returned to the cellar. The barbarian told the man that he was prepared to enter the first chamber (after completing a chamber you are able to heal your character). Chamber 1 (Stone): I pushed the golden button and chose a good axe (my favorite weapon). Then I looked at the northwestern wall. The stones did tell me a special message: The bright stones looked like the numbers on dices. They said: I, V, III, II, IV. I pushed the levers in this order to proceed. Chamber 2 (Shadow): I simply had to pass some portals in a special order. After some experiments I found out: The right order was upper left, upper right, lower left, lower right. Chamber 3 (Sorcery): I got a blunt weapon and attacked my enemies. They were not too strong at all so it was possible to fight them without of any tactics. Chamber 4 (Clock): I quickly got an axe and attacked the first monk. Once he was almost dead a countdown started and at the same time a lever was accessable. My job was to push the lever before time ran out. After the first monk was dead I did the seme thing with the other two. Chamber 5 (Sand): A simple room. I just ran clockwise circles in this room and pushed all the levers on my way. Sand beams appeared and the sand monks were hurt. After repeating this strategy several times this room was complete. Chamber 6 (Silk): I chose an axe and hacked the monsters. There were just many, many monsters to kill. Chamber 7 (Battle): Again I took my axe. This time I let my enemy move onto the blue field. Then I knocked him out. When he was unconscious I pushed the right lever. A door opened. I went to the next room and knocked the fresh enemy out on one of the blue fields. Now the other enemy came (he recovered). I sent him on the second field and hacked at him. When both enemies were unconscious I pushed the left lever in the other room. Chamber 8 (Immolation): This was by far the most difficult room. The enemies were rather strong and flames were falling down. If I saw that the floor next to me turned red I ran away. But my job here was to slay the two enemies. Very difficult indeed. We had another rest now and then talked to Salisam, who congratulated us. After that the barbarian fetched his equipment. Then all of us used the second set of stairs in the cellar... The Underdark - The entrance hall --------------------------------- --- The shrine guarded by iron golems We did not lay our hands on the locked shrine which was guarded by the four iron golems. They looked way too powerful. --- Entering the Underdark There was not much to do on this map, we only needed to enter the door in the north. When we did so we IMMEDIATELY moved in as far as possible. So we had the chance of being in the back of our enemies when they started to attack. We took out the mages first. When the second wave arrived the mage sent a warm welcoming fireball to them. The Underdark - Western area ---------------------------- --- Merchants, Missions, Improved Haste On the next map Malavon Despana talked to us. He had a number of new missions for us and he sold some spells (buy IMPROVED HASTE, an enormous important spell!) In the south we met several traders. Especially the dwarf standing on the east side of the camp did offer powerful +3 weapons to us (Hint: Don't make one of the traders angry! They might attack you and after you kill them you won't be able to buy anything from them - there wares will disappear). --- A mind flayer missing his stone In the eastern part of the map we met a mind flayer who missed his blue stone. Now we left the map by the upper eastern exit. The Underdark - Eastern area ---------------------------- --- Malavon Despana's sister Soon we met Ginafae Despana (north). We were able to convince her to return to the camp. --- Finding the mind flayer's stone In the south we found the blue stone the mind flayer was looking for hidden in the mushrooms (use the ALT button). --- An alchemy laboratory; how to kill Viciscamera Northeast of this place was the laboratory of a mage. We read in the books about how to destroy Viciscamera. Unfortunately the alchemist did not let us experiment with her table. So we had to kill her and all of her terrible experiments. Now we took all the items from the northern table. Our mage who was skilled in Alchemie did use the alchemie table to create the potion. --- Viciscamera's lair Then we moved carefully north. There were many traps which should be disarmed and the party was being surprised by enemies sometimes. Finally we found the Vicisamera and used the potion (of course you can kill it with the sword as well. Then many enemies will appear and you will have a tough battle. Perhaps you will earn more experience points). The Underdark - Western map --------------------------- --- Returning the mind flayer's stone Our group returned to the camp of Malavon Despana on the other map. On the way we met eht mind flayer and returned the blue gem to him. --- Returning to the camp Then we told Malavon about our success. He and all inhabitants of the camp left. We used the savety of the camp for a rest. --- Entering the mind flayer's maze Then we went to the northeastern section of the map. There we met an insulting mind flayer. By insulting him a tough battle started. These mind flayers are not too humorous, are they? We killed everybody and now the entrance to the mind flayers lair was accessable. The mind flayer's maze ---------------------- --- First exploring all the rooms, then the center This was a maze, since we had an automap it was not too confusing at all. Before we entered the maze's center we explored all the surrounding rooms and noticed that we were able to kill iron golems now. Once all the rooms were explored we entered the central room and fought the elder brain and its minions. Since we have killed all the monsters in the rooms around the center the battle was not too difficult. The exit was in the northeastern region (rest before you leave). --- Confronting the iron golems (optional): Being more experienced and having better weapons we were now able to challenge the iron golems in the underdark entrance hall. In the shrine we found several nice magical artefacts. The mind flayer's maze exit --------------------------- --- Meeting Oswald Outside we met Oswald with his airship again! But there was no time for warm welcomes now. Many creatures sieged the airship. We killed all of them and had a long talk with Oswald and his niece (now we finally know who speaks the introducions of each chapter). When we were ready to leave the Underdark forever we told Oswald that we were ready to leave... ------------------ CHAPTER FIVE ------------------ Kuldahar Valley --------------- --- Hiepherus' appearance, a map full of monsters We had another talk with Oswald. Then we were surprised by the undead warrior Hiepherus. An easy battle followed. Now we explored the entire map, the battles were not too tough at all. The only problem was that the enemies used Energy Drain. Occationally a cleric had to cast "Lesser Restauration" on a hero. --- The watchtower The thief broke the lock of the tower in the middle of the map. Inside we met Jermsy and Nathaniel. They could tell us a lot about the situation in town and they opened the gate in the north. The clerics had ran out of "Restauration" spells so drained people were healed for rather cheap 60 gold coins. We were also allowed to rest. But after that we went to Hieperus' hideout immediately. Kuldahar Valley - graveyard --------------------------- --- Touching the statue At first we arrived at a graveyard. More undead monsters were here. We destroyed all of them and touched the statue in the north. The exit was in the northeast. Kuldahar Valley - Hiepherus' hideout ------------------------------------ --- The final fight Inside the cave a big horde of opponents awaited us. Spells with a huge range like fireball worked well here. Hiepherus himself was not easy to kill because he kept on healing himself. Right after the battle we explored the cave and found a secret box (eastern wall) where several good items were hidden in. Hiepherus had some things on him as well. --- Revisiting the guard tower Now we visited Nathaniel and Jermsy again and got some items as a reward. Then we moved to Kuldahar. Kuldahar -------- --- Freeing Kuldahar from all the Yuan-Ti The town was a battlefield. Most villagers have fled already, the houses were left and the doors nailed shut. At first we went through the entire town and slaughtered all the enemies. These snake-like Yuan-Ti monsters were not very tough at all. Most of them were not even able to cast a spell. --- The remaining villagers: The merchants After that we checked all the houses: In the northwest there was a smithery, the inhabitant sold many spells to us (chain lightning was interesting, for example) and he asked us to find his father. This man lived in the house with the little docks (southeast of the smithery) and sold extraordinary good +4 weapons. --- Iselore The next person we met was Iselore in the southern section at the heartstone gem. We talked and were told that the Yuan-Ti invaded the town by a portal. Our next job would be to close this portal. --- Gerbash Last but not least we paid Gerbash a visit in one of the eastern houses. We got a key for the guard tower and brought it to Jermsy on the Kuldahar Valley map. --- Accessing the Yuan-Ti realm Now we took care of our new mission and entered the portal being in the big tree (northern section). The Yuan-Ti's realm ------------------- --- Allies in the realm of the enemies In the south we met some soldiers. We did not lie to them and so they told us much about the Yuan-Ti. --- A cursed statue In the northwest (central part of the map) we found some statues. Because we didn't want to become victims of a bane we didn't touch it. --- A master teaching his pupils A little further to the west a master tought his pupils facts about the cult. We had to fight him and his pupils. Unfortunaely there was a paladin in our party so we were not able to put on the capes to disguise us. We had to fight through the temple. The entrance was in the southwest. Inside the temple ----------------- --- Exploring the western area We found traps everywhere in the temple but most of them meant no harm to us. But of course it was useful to disarm them nevertheless. In the western room (after a long corridor) there was a trap on the floor. Once our thief steped on it the floor started burning. She had to immediately disarm and unlock the lever in order to survive. The next room was a nightmare: It was full of Yuan-Ti. There were a lot of mages as well. We quickly retreated to the corridor and waited for the foes. In the corridor we were able to take them out one after another. Many of the mages carried magical items with them. Now we left the temple for a short while in order to rest. --- Exploring the eastern area Our second visit lead us to the east and then a little to the north. We took one of the left doors to reach a special cult room in which the Yuan-Ti did praise their god. It was full of monsters. We retreated slowly to keep control. In the statue four hearts were hidden. The levers raised and lowered the bridge. --- A treasure chamber We soon reached a room with several marked stones. We pushed them all (except of the easternmost stone) and continued doing so until all stones vanished. Now the door opened and a room with loads of interesting items became accessable. --- Getting the first pillar and killing the leader In the southeast we found a round room with the four poor heartless creatures. They still lived as zombies. Unfortunately we were not able to return their hearts to them. So we used the lever in the room next to it and freed the poor creatures from their suffering. In the round room we found a pillar which should become very important soon. In this region the leader of the clans walked around. Once we killed him a message appeared. The Yuan-Ti's realm ------------------- --- Placing the pillar Now we left the temple and soon found out that the pillar we found fit on one of the bases on the round place where the temple entrance was. --- Looking for more pillars We didn't find any other pillars in the temple but on the outer map there were several. Once we found all of them we put them on the bases. Before we installed the last one we had a rest, then the mage hasted everybody. --- Fighting the guardian Now only the fighters were on the temple entrance area. One of them installed the last pillar. Then the guardian appeared - a huge, VERY huge dragon! The fighters started to attack him. The other characters had no chance because this monster was way too powerful for them. Only when one of the fighters ran low of Hitpoints a healer rushed to him and cast "Heal". --- Escaping the Yuan-Ti's realm! It took a very long time and it was a tough fight against the most powerful enemy our party has engaged until now but we wan it. When we did we ran to the portal as it was closing! Then we passed it and returned to Kuldahar... Kuldahar revisited ------------------ --- Kuldahar's invasion Our group became witnesses to the invasion of Kuldahar. We rushed to Iselore and helped him to fight the masses of enemies that attacked us. More and more of them arrived. We already thought we would not make it but then the attack stopped suddenly. We had won - for now. --- Preparing for Dragon's Eye We had a talk to Iselore and he marked Dragon's Eye on the map. Before we travelled futher we visited the smithery and sold all the stuff we had found on our journey through the temple (perhaps you should make sure that you have about 100.000 - at least 50.000 gold coins money in cash. In one of the sections of Dragon's Eye you will need it. You also should have four ropes. You do? Then leave Kuldahar! Dragon's Eye ------------ --- Disarming traps The path to the entrance was full of traps. Our thief did great work here. Near the entrance was a powerful mage but since she was merely alone she was no match for us. We entered the perhaps most "famous" dungeon of Icewind Dale II! IMPORTANT: If you find agate gems, pick them up. You will need them soon enough. Dragon's Eye - Upper level -------------------------- --- Accessing the wyvern pit We had to fight many enemies from the beginning of this dungeon. But we had already gotten used to it. In the south we found three locked chests. Even the thief was not able to open them! A little further to the east we found the wyvern pit. We needed some rope to get down. Then we fought an ancient wyvern. --- The prison of Dragon's Eye with its torture room Our party marched over the northeastern bridge (you can take one of the ropes from the bridge) and went southwest. Soon we arrived at the torture room. South of it there was a locked door. When we tried to open it prisoners talked to us. They told us that they always heard special torture noises when the door was opened. So we examined the torture bed (I'm sorry I don't know the right word) and found a hidden wheel. We used it and freed all the prisoners. --- Meeting Nheero the first time The man in the western cell was Nheero who gave us some information about this place. He asked us to find his friend Mandal. --- Finding the stairs to level 2 In the north there was a trap: The thief hid in the shadows and passed it. She went north and entered a big room. There she found a lever at the western wall and used it. The trap was disarmed and the other heroes followed. After a big battle we needed the agate gems: There were five pillars. We had to put a gem into each of the pillar in order to lit it. Once we did that at all of the five pillars the big statue moved away and a stairway became accessable. Dragon's eye - Central level ---------------------------- --- Finding Mandal On the second level we simply moved to the east, there we disarmed a trap and moved south. There was Mandal's dead body. --- Mandal's spirit We returned to Nheero (upper level) who now wanted us to look for Mandal's spirit. So we returned to the place where we found Mandal's body. Now there was walking around the spirit. But we were not able to talk to it - it just thought about its sword. --- Finding the stairway to the lower level Since we had not found a special sword yet we returned to the fork between the stairway to Level 1 and the place where we found the body. There we went south and found another stairway. Before we went further down we disarmed a trap. Dragon's Eye - Lower level -------------------------- --- Finding Mandal's sword We now simply went southwest and found a room with many trapped doors and an iron golem and the sword inside. We took this monster out and picked up the sword (the trapped doors can be disarmed just like any other trap). Dragon's Eye - Upper level ---------------------------- --- Finding the modified mandrake root We took the sword to Mandal's ghost who was grateful. He showed several special places to us. So we returned to the level where we had entered Dragon's Eye and looked for the wyvern pit entrance (southwestern area). We moved down and found the modified mandrake root. Dragon's Eye - Central level ---------------------------- --- Making a special potion We showed the mandrake root to Nheero in the prison and took it into the alchemy lab on level 2 (southwestern area, you will meet Nathaniel on your way). In the lab we soon found a table with a mandrake root in it. We quickly exchanged it with our modified one and watched what happened. The alchemist had returned and used his lab. After some light effects we examined the table and took the newly created potion. We also took the modified mandrake root and exchanged it with the normal one. Now that we have done everything Nheero wanted we brought the potion to him in the prison. Dragon's Eye - Lower level -------------------------- --- Exploring the lower level It was time to explore the lowest area of Dragon's Eye. In the center of the area there was a room completely filled with snakes. When we explored the southwestern passageway carefully we stepped on a trap (I think this is anavoidable). Many green slimes appeared. These bastards were immune to almost everything but some fireballs did help (pay attention that you hit many of them when you cast a fireball). It was helpful that the magican had prepared some of these all the time. --- The strange room Unfortunately we lost our luck soon: We had moved west, then north and again to the west. When we wanted to enter the northernmost room all of us startled and ran away. What should we do? Dragon's Eye - Central level ---------------------------- --- Nheero's advice We talked to Nheero who was now on the second floor in the northwestern corner. He gave us one of his potions. Dragon's Eye - Lower level -------------------------- --- Entering the chamber of fear, lowering the drawbridge Once back in the lowest level and standing before the inaccessable room our thief drank the potion and became a monster. Now she was able to enter the room. In one of the bookshelves she found a secret lever. She left the room. --- Confronting one of the leaders of the Yuan-Ti The next place to go was the central room (with the snake statue). The drawbridge to the south was now lowered. We got over it and had to battle a horde of Efreeti, powerful if appearing in that number. The clerics had a lot of healing stuff to do. Now we entered the southern room and met a little child. But soon we noticed that this child was one of the leaders of the Yuan-Ti. We had to battle him but he fled! --- A secret path to the treasure chamber Once all the enemies were dead we examined the southeastern wall and found a secret passage that lead to the treasure room in the southeast. We opened the door and went north. --- One strange door There was the last door we have not been able to open until now. We asked Nheero about it and he told us about poison being made by using wyvern stingers. Dragon's Eye - Upper level -------------------------- --- Wyvern stingers So now we had to look for these stingers: On the entrance floor I found them near the room with the tree locked chests (they may be at another place as well). We took four of them. Dragon's Eye - Central level ---------------------------- --- Creating Wyvern poison Then we went to the alchemy lab on the second floor. There were three tables but only on the middle one of them we were able to put something onto. So we put the four stingers on it. One of our heroes moved to the room above and pulled one of the two levers (one of them is correct, it changes sometimes). Once we saw some light effects we knew that the alchemy lab was working. After the procedure we examined the table and found four wyvern poison potions. Dragon's Eye - Lower level -------------------------- --- Using the wyvern poison We now walked to the lowest level (that with the inaccessable door) and visited the four water basins in the four corners of the level. We put a wyvern poison potion in each of the water basins. Once all of them were poisoned the door in the ease suddenly opened. We really hoped to be able to leave Dragon's eye now... Dragon's Eye - The time loop room: Day 1 ---------------------------------------- IMPORTANT HINT: If you talk to the ferryman on this map and the option "we payed you double last time" appears then use it! You will save a lot of money! --- Fixing the bridge Here we went to the east, then south, then west. There was a nearby destroyed bridge. In order to fix it we needed four ropes (one may be enough to proceed as well). --- Exploring the area Then we ran to the northwestern area to meet a ferryman. We went to Lord Pyrus but there we only met Ambassador Jasper. He told us what happened. We returned to the Ferryman and went to the fields of slaughter (if they are not availlable yet try other destinations). There we met a giant beholder, a fight was unavoidable. After the battle we entered the new exit. Dragon's eye - The time loop room: Day 2 ---------------------------------------- Suddenly everything was different! It was the same room, but now the buildings were not damaged. The bridge was not broken. In the western area we met the ferryman again. We chose the following destination first: Guard Post. There we talked to everybody. Then we tried Pyro's domain which was unaccessable for now. After that we talked to everybody in Ambassador Jasper's embassy and the amphitheatre. Now we were able to get to Pyro's place and had to watch how he was murdered. Our next destination was Ambassador Jasper's embassy where we had to see how king Lothar destroyed the building. A big battle started and by the time everybody fought everybody. We didn't want to watch that sceene much longer and went to the fields of slaughter to exit. Dragon's Eye - The time loop room: Day 3 ---------------------------------------- --- The proof of Izbelah's innocence We hurried to the ferryman and asked him to bring us to Pyrus. This time we were lucky. He told us several interesting things about this area. The next stop was the guard post. There we had a talk with king Lothar. After that we went to Ambassador Jasper's embassy. Right after the dialogue we went north and talked to a flamewalker. Finally Izbelah asked us to let her escape. Finally we returned to Pyrus. We saw the return of Venomin who convinced Pyrus of Izbelah's innocence. We followed Venomin and lissened to an interesting dialogue between Pyrus and Lothar. --- Lothar's treason Now we went to the amphitheatre and talked to one of the flamewalkers. We agreed to see one of their "interesting" plays. Hours later we saw how Lothar killed Izbelah. Then Venomin passed the amphitheatre. We followed him but he used a teleport spell. Now we went to the ferryman and asked him to bring us to Lothar's citadel. There we listened to a dialogue not meant for our ears and had to find this giant and his followers. Again something has gone wrong. We went to the fields of slaughter and left the area... Dragon's Eye - Time loop room: Day 4 ------------------------------------ This was a short visit: We just went to Lord Pyrus' place to hear the court against Izbelah. Then we talked to Pyrus who did not know anything about a beholder. After that we had a talk with Lothar and Izbelah. Then we went north to the fields of slaughter. HINT: SAVE BEFORE ENTERING! Dragon's Eye - Time loop room: Day 5 ------------------------------------ --- Hurry to kill Izbelah After our arrival (the picture becomes black for a moment) we immediately cast "improved haste" on the group and ran to the west. Then all went south (the path collapses but that is not important. Only one hero has to make it at all) and one person talked to the ferryman. We immediately went to the Embassy. There our fighters hurried to Izbelah and attacked her. We used everything we had because it had to be avoided that she cast her spell under any circumstances! --- Leaving Dragon's Eye Once all the enemies were killed (if you don't manage it to kill Izbelah in time you have to reload) we went to the fields of slaughter and left Dragon's Eye - once and for all! Ice Castle ---------- --- The favor for Nickademus Strange - this was not the place we wanted to go. But soon we met Nickademus who told us to get rid of all the monsters in the castle. That was no problem at all. We systematically explored the floor and killed the enemies. Once all of them perished (a message will be displayed) we talked to Nickademus again and left the castle through the eastern stairway. The Fields of Slaughter ----------------------- --- Another party of heroes When we arrived we ran into another party of heroes. Unfortunately they were on the wrong side so we had to fight them. --- Passing the village - Option 1: Diplomacy A short while after that we met an inhabitant of the town. A character with a high diplomacy skill told him that we were the party the village was waiting for. We were sent to the chief who told us what was happening. We got a key and were able to leave the village through the northeastern door. --- Passing the village - Option 2: Kill everybody The inhabitant of the village we met did not believe that we were the long exspected party. He attacked us and soon everybody of the village fought against us. The village chief lost a key. We were able to free the elven prisoners. Then we left the village through the northeastern door. --- Killing the necromancer We fought until we arrived at a small troup of orks. Our wizard hastened all of us, we went south and met a necromancer who just killed an elven cleric. When we had regained control of ourselves the thief ran to the cleric's dead body and took the vial of holy water. Then she hurried to the east, then to the north until she reached a waterfall. She poured the holy water into it and all the enemies died, the necromancer as well (if the necromancer managed it to kill one of the heroes simply quick-load). All of us had a rest, then we went to the eastern exit. The Fields of Slaughter - Eastern area -------------------------------------- --- The final fight Here another big fight took place. Of course we took out the mages first, then the weak fighters and finally the strong ones (if you don't make it just leave the map in the west to recover). Once all of the foes were dead we collected good items and left the map to the east. A very long and difficult chapter of our journey had finally ended. ----------------- CHAPTER SIX ----------------- Severed Hand Entrance --------------------- Our lies were not accepted by the two monsters in front of the entrance. So we had to fight them. Since there were not too much of them we did not have a difficult time. Severed Hand - First floor ------------------------- --- Talk, talk, talk: New missions Another battle took place. After that we collected all the items and had a talk with the demon a little in the east. Now we explored the area, we went into every room and talked to: - Vashti (NE): She thinks that somebody steals food - Xavier Torsend (N): He gives you a pass for the upper levels - Jerre Stoh (SW): He tells you that the demons are immortal and he tells you about the situation of the slaves - Ysha (W): She gives you plans which must be "corrected". - Xavier Torsend (N): Talk to him about the slavery, he will leave. After that we took the stairs in the south. Severed Hand - Second floor --------------------------- --- Items you have to find on this floor - Ring of Nourishment (NW room) - Virulent Agent (NW room) - Tainted demon blood (demon in the north has it with him) - Diary of Garuk (N room) --- A woman possessed by elementals Right in the first room (S) we met Roga Thulc who told us about a woman who controled elementals. She was north of the library (NW) but we were not able to talk to her. So we returned to Roga Thulc and he asked us to visit the forth floor and ask a priest about the problem. Later we did so and Ruinlord Eradru (fourth floor, NE) gave a healing potion to us which we broutht to the woman. She soon recovered and we told Roga about our success. --- Correct the plans In the northwest we met Kav Lathram who agreed to correct the plans for Ysha. In his room we found a Ring of Nourishment and a Virulent Agent. We went back to Ysha and gave her the plans. --- The northern section In the north we had to defeat a demon. When he died he lost a bottle of tainted demon blood. Now we tried to talk to the two mages but it was useless. In the northern room we found the diary of Garuk. --- Some strange blue orb Finally we saw a blue orb in the northeastern section of the floor. One of the guards told us about it. --- The demon on the first floor We went downstairs and had a talk with the demon. He also told us that he was immortal. Severed Hand - Third floor -------------------------- --- Items you have to find on this floor - Bonding agent (W) - Iyachtu Xyim holy symbol (S) - Ilmater holy symbol (S) There was nothing more to do on this floor. We explored and defeated enemies. Our thief disarmed some nasty traps (especially in front of the throne room in the north). Severed Hand - Forth floor -------------------------- --- Finding the food thief In the northwest we met Miram the cook. She said that it was not her problem if somebody stole food. So we returned to Vashti (first floor NE) and told her. Then we agreed to wait for the thief to steal food. And really: We found him. When he wanted to escape we followed him to the eastern room and talked to him. He said he was always hungry. He was very happy that we found the ring of Nourishment (found on second floor NW) and took it. Now we returned to Vashti and told her about the success. --- Information about the Severed Hand and the demons In the northeast Hatemaster Drotham lived. We showed the diary of Garuk to him (found in the north of level 2) and he told us everything he knew about the demons. He also knew how to destroy them. --- War Tower: New missions Now we went to the War Tower (northeastern stairway). After some battle we found a key in a chest and opened all the cells. First there was Toral Sorn (eastern cell). He told us about the ritual we had to do in order to destroy the orb on level 2. Then we freed Ormis Dohor (north) who wanted to have a special antidote. Finally we met Puddy Talltale in the left cell. --- War Tower: The bonds of suffering Now we went a stairway up and arrived in the torture room. A battle took place, we found the bonds of suffering in one of the machines. --- First floor: The tears of suffering We got them from Jerre on the first floor (southwestern section). --- Wizard Tower: The tome of Ilmater Now only this book was missing in order to perform the ritual. We went to the Wizard Tower (forth floor, western stairway). Here we saw some strange fog. But when we examined the stairway in the east we got a hint: We were able to proceed if we created a star. So we selected the fogs in this way: North, southeast, northwest, northeast, southwest, north. In the next level we met some servants of Orrick the Gray. On the upper level of the library we found the book of Ilmater in one of the bookshelves (use ALT-key). --- Wizard Tower / War Tower: Helping Puddy Talltale On the uppermost level of the Wizard Tower we met Orrick and told him about Puddy. He agreed to help the poor prisoner. Then we went to the War Tower and had a talk with Puddy. --- Cleric Tower: Performing the Ritual Now we returned to the fourth floor of the Severed Hand and chose the eastern stairway. We found the statue of Ilmater (the second from the left) and chose to perform the ritual. With having the Symbol of Ilmater (third floor of the Severed Hand), the Bonds of Suffering (War tower torture room), the Tears of Suffering (from Jerre on the first floor of the Severed Hand) and the Book of Ilmater (library in the Wizard Tower) we had everything we needed in order to perform the ritual. When we did so Iyachtu Xvim appeared. He was rather angry and when he noticed that he could not convince us of his plans he attacked. A very tough fight, since he is very fast. We hasted all the characters and killed the monsters first to be able to concentrate on Iyachtu. Once he was dead we finished the ritual. Iyachtu Xvim's statue exploded. We took the holy water. --- Cleric Tower: The antidote for Ormis Dohor The next two floors some battles took place. We found four symbols of Iyachtu Xvim altogether. On the third floor of the Severed Hand we had found another one. But in order to use the teleporter we needed six of them. So we fought the guards next to the orb (NE in level 2 of the Severed Hand) and got two more symbols. Now the party was able to use the teleporter in the Cleric Tower. When we arrived a battle took place immediately. One of the enemies had the antidote on him we were looking for. We brought the antidote to Ormis Dohor in the prison block of the War Tower and told Toral Sorn about our success so far. --- The holy water Now we went to level 3 of the Severed Hand and poured the holy water we found after the ritual in the Cleric Tower into the water of the fountain in the northeast and waited what might happen. After doing this we went to Toral Sorn in the War Tower. --- Destroying the orb and the first demon We solved many of the problems in the Severed Hand. But now it was time to destroy the orb on the second floor (northeast). It was easy now. Then we visited the demon on the first floor and killed him. He did not even stand a chance. --- Riki Now everything was done. But Ishar and Madae were still missing. We went to the forth floor of the Severed Hand and met Riki in front of the northwestern stairway (which leads to a dead end). We had a talk. Then he wanted us to poison the guards in the barracks (southeast in level 4). --- Getting rid of the guards: Two options - Poison them We went to level 2 of the Severed Hand. In the southeast there was an alchemy lab. There we asked the owner for permission to use her instruments. Then we put the three ingredients on the table: Tainted demon blood (second floor, demon in the north), Virulent agent (second floor, northwestern room) and the bonding agent (third floor, western room). We waited a little and examined the table again. Now there was the poison bottle. We went to the forth floor and put it into the guard's food in the kitchen (northwest). Now all the guards died and we returned to Riki. --- Getting rid of the guards: Two options - Kill them We just went to the barracks and killed all the guards. Then we returned to Riki. --- The Envoy of the Cabal We had another talk with Riki (northwestern stairway on the forth floor) but he was not able to tell us much more, only, that an envoy of the Caval was being exspected. We wanted to find out more and went to the Officer Tower (southern stairway on the fourth floor). There we went up all the stairs and listened to the talk between Pudu and a potential ally. We interrupted them and killed Pudu. He had a key on him. --- The Final Confrontation WARNING: Once you enter the upper floor of the War Tower there is no return. You will not be able to rest again. So save before you do so! We went to the War Tower and unlocked the door on the upper floor. We arrived at the top of the tower and confronted the envoy of the Cabal. A difficult battle took place. After that we healed everybody (use minor spells, you will need "Heal" and "Mass heal". Then we saved and went down the stairs... ... and arrived at the throne room. Isair and Madae were there as well. After a short dialogue the final battle took place. My strategie for this battle will not be too helpful for you so I asked around in the GameFAQs.com Forum. Here I will post the answers I received: Gideon999: ---------- I used improved invisibility and put all my characters off in the right had corner (killing the two mages as I went). This kept me out of the way of Madae's stunning spells. Then I sent in a bunch of summoned undead to help out the black raven monks. When most of the carnage was over I cast mass haste and renewed a few buffs, charged in and hacked at Isair until they retreated. When they went to the fountain I sent my undead in first and pummled them all with chain lightning from a distance. Soon Madae runs out of symbols of stunning and I went in and finished the job with my hasted fighters. I actually found this battle MUCH easier than some of the others (the yuan-ti guardian and the avatar of bane's leutenant were much harder) wassssssup: ----------- even before i entered the battle i buffed up my party with everything, emotion:hope, improved haste and all, then went down the stairs to start the battle - at the start everyone rushed to the right-hand corner where i'll be temporarily safe from Madae's Blasphemy, then i started casting Animate Dead and Summon Monster IX, when Isair and Madae appeared i unloaded a few Delayed Blast Fireballs while waiting for my cleric to finish casting her summons, then whole party of 11 charged in and focus-fired on Isair, with my Sorcerer all the way at the back once they retreated i motioned my summons to make their way to the room, then i had to watch the cut scene, after which the battle began - i was afraid my summons didn't make it, then i'll be deeply screwed, but hey they appeared timely to keep Isair and Madae busy while i rebuffed my party with Executioner's Eyes etc etc, then i pelted Isair and Madae with Horrid Wilting(s) from afar before sending in my fighters to take them out Harlem: ------- I just killed them in insane mode, and it was surprisingly easy. I used my old tactic from BG, BG2 and throne of TOB. Just use the protection from magic scroll on them (I had two at the time), it will remove all their buff, and prevent them from casting anything (Those scrolls where great for the final match against Irenicus :) ). Just rush Isair with you party (haste helps a lot) and by the count of 10 the battle is over. sunfury: -------- You cast protection from magic *ON* Isidore and Madae? I guess that would prevent all those spells they cast on themselves. Hmmm...never thought of doing that. That would have made the final battle much, much easier. Kudos on the strategy! Evk: ---- I just pounded the snot out of Medae. Mass Haste really gets the job done. DarkTalon: ---------- my party is all evil so Madea's Blasphemy does nothing to me ;) +------------------------+ +---End of walkthrough---+ +------------------------+ +-------------------------+ +---Very Special Thanks---+ +-------------------------+ Very special thanks to the forum users "sir xazm" and "StGabriel" for their support. When I asked for tips for Icewind Dale 2 in the forum they sent loads of them to me. All of them were useful and good, I simply had to copy and paste. Very special thanks to "sir sazm" again for his list of magic spells. It is very useful and I would have gone mad if I had to make this list. Very special thanks to "ribald" and "dogbert whisperwind" from the forum for their tips they posted. Your tips might help a lot of players struck in a battle. +--------------------+ +---Special Thanks---+ +--------------------+ Special thanks to "orpheus" and "Kthulu" from the forum for their general hints they posted. Special thanks to "Gideon999", "wassssssup", "DarkTalon", "Harlem", "sunfury" and "Evk" from the forum for the strategies they sent me for the final bosses. Many players will thank you for this. Well, I hope I did not forget anybody. This is not my intention.