-
- Forums
- Chatrooms
- Gallery
- Gameplay Videos
- Upload
- Articles
- Mod Reviews
- Shop SP: Games, Movies, Books
Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Tales of the Sword Coast | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | |
ULCASTER
Now I need to say something about my long-term goals. I won't be going to Baldur's Gate right away. At some point, I plan to kill Drizzt for his equipment (I can justify this from a roleplaying perspective even for a good party). This involves a -10 hit to reputation though. So, I'll want to save some areas where increasing reputation is available for after I kill Drizzt. But I also want to go up a level for some characters (Kivan in particular) before I take on Drizzt. Now my path becomes clear. I will explore those areas that don't have quests that increase reputation. My first choice is Ulcaster.
Flooding the Mines
My next destination is Ulcaster, but first I finish what's left of the Mines. I loot Davaeorn's body for:
Now I go around looting the rest of the chests on this level. At some point I find Stephen, and get him to divulge information before letting him go.
Towards the southeast corner is a room with three chests and a Mustard Jelly. The chests themselves will have gold, a Diamond, a Laeral's Tears necklace, and scrolls of Knock and Melf's Acid Arrow.
The chest closest to the shaft that was behind Davaeorn has a Wand of Fear.
I then take the shaft up, and speak to the Miner next to the plug in order to flood the mines. I get a hefty xp bonus, and a +2 to reputation afterwards. *Evil* The evil party didn't free the miners, but lied and allowed them to drown. They take a -2 hit to reputation for that.
Furret
I stopped off to sell my booty in Beregost. I now head for Ulcaster. Once there, I casually dispose of Kobolds and Skeletons.
Towards the southwest, a Halfling named Furret tries to pawn a "Gem of True Seeing" on me, but it's worthless and doesn't have any magical powers so I refuse.
Wilco
Now I journey towards the center of the area, casually killing off more Kobolds and some Hobgoblins as well. There's another distracted messenger named Wilco who won't offer anything that I already don't know.
I conclude the video by bumping the east edge of the area to reveal Gullykin and the Firewine Bridge on the map.
Icharyd
Ulcaster is definitely revved up in SCS, so much so that players should probably avoid coming here with lower-level parties. Here's the first reason why.
As soon as I step up the narrow trail, I get attacked by the undead wraith called Icharyd, who is definitely enhanced in SCS. He hits hard and often, and has a lot of magic resistance. This was true of him during vanilla BG1. In SCS, once I bring him to 'near death' the first time around, he gets a second wind and is restored to full health. His attacks also now cause extra electrical damage. I pretty much will have needed to accumulate a few Potions of Extra Healing to make outlasting him a realistic possibility, as this video shows. He leaves behind a Flail +1.
Ghost of Ulcaster
Now I go west and then north for a bit. I speak with the Ghost of Ulcaster enough times to get a quest to retrieve his history book for him from the dungeon below.
I find the entrance a little to the north and east. There will be a LOT of monsters, like Kobolds and undead, to the east of the entrance, making this a prime opportunity for Imoen to crank out Fireball. The alcove to the north will have some Kobolds as well, but it's impossible to target it with a Fireball without hitting myself as well, so Avastrian falls back on a Sleep spell before going in to kill them.
Ulcaster Dungeon
A lot of the fights in here are quite routine. I go east, and kill an Ochre Jelly and a Mustard Jelly. Behind the Mustard Jelly will be a Chrysoberyl Gem, a Potion of Mirrored Eyes (which I stash for later), and a cursed scroll.
Then I head towards the northwest corner of the dungeon. A corpse has a Potion of Genius and a Dagger +1.
I continue west, and kill several Dire Wolves and Dread Wolves. A room a little east of where I fought the Wolves has several Huge Spiders, which Avastrian puts to Sleep.
I tread carefully when I reach the south portions of the dungeon. Imoen treads forward carefully, and disarms traps along the way. A corpse near the second trap has 3 each of Arrows of Biting and Arrows of Piercing.
I have Yeslick cast Remove Fear on the party, and then they move towards the southeast corner. I end up killing several Dread Wolves. I am careful to keep towards the south part of the room, to avoid bringing the boss of the dungeon into view. Imoen gets another Wand of Fire for her use.
In vanilla BG1 the boss of this dungeon was a Vampiric Wolf. In SCS it's a unique monster, the Wolf of Ulcaster. The Wolf of Ulcaster can paralyze with its physical attacks, like the Vampiric Wolf. But it also has a fear aura that can passively panic multiple party members (hence the Remove Fear earlier).
First I begin my preparations. Avastrian casts Mirror Image on himself, and then Haste on the party. He then coaxes it forward. Jaheira casts Doom on it, while Imoen adds Blindness, and this helps considerably.
Once I bring it to about half of its hit points, it summons several Dread Wolves and Ghouls. This can turn into a really messy situation. Yeslick, however, makes things much easier with a Holy Smite spell that damages only evil creatures within its area of effect. This softens up the Dread Wolves and Ghouls, thus enabling the party to quickly eliminate them and thus robbing the Wolf of Ulcaster of its support. Once the minions are gone I finish off the Wolf.
Imoen then searches the hallway where the Wolf came from, and disarms a trap. A pile of rubble has a few potions, some magical arrows of various sorts, an Oil of Fiery Burning for Khalid, and a the book that the Ghost of Ulcaster wants.
I bring the book back to the Ghost for 1,000xp.
My next destination is the Firewine Bridge.
