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Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Tales of the Sword Coast | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | |
Ice Island | Balduran's Isle | Durlag's Tower - Above Ground | Durlag's Tower - Level 1 | Durlag's Tower - Level 2 | Durlag's Tower - Level 3 | Durlag's Tower - Level 4 | Cult of the Demon | |
ICE ISLAND
Shandalar
Now I arrive in the village of Ulgoth's Beard. I do my first expansion quest by going into the center of the village, and speaking with a wizard named Shandalar. He magically teleports me to an island of ice in order to retrieve a magical cloak for him.
The video concludes with me killing a Polar Bear for xp before entering the dungeon of the ice island.
Andris
Now I venture into the Ice Island, and then kill a couple of Winter Wolves.
The next fight is against a trio of Mages named Andris, Marcellus, and Beyn. In vanilla BG1 it was enough to cast Dispel Magic on them from outside of the 'fog of war', hit them with a Fireball or two, and then retreat so as to let them come to you one at a time. This doesn't work very well in SCS1. For one thing, their protections will start up AFTER the dialogue has completed. Secondly, their protections will often include a Minor Globe of Invulnerability afterwards, which negates Dispel Magic or Remove Magic.
My strategy was to position myself so that I had a clear view down the hallway. Avastrian and Imoen begin their Stinking Cloud-Web combo. But before it actually affects the room, Kivan strides in and takes a free arrow shot at Andris to start things. If the timing and saving throws work out, the Stinking Cloud and Web will hit right afterwards, and prevent them from putting up their protections. Imoen then casts Remove Magic to bring down any protections that may still have gone up, and then follows up with Greater Malison to make their succumbing to the Cloud or Web more likely. After that Imoen and Avastrian begin the Fireball bombardment.
This plan suffices to doom both Beyn and Marcellus, and indeed the Fireballs suffice to kill both of them without their ever getting any spells off against me. This often does the same to Andris, but not always. And in this playthrough he actually managed to break out and Dimension Door towards the party. But luckily his Confusion spell only affected Yeslick, so the party was able to kill him close up.
The loot includes an Adventurer's Robe, a Traveller's Robe, a Wand of Fear, and some spell scrolls.
Garan
Now I continue along the tunnels to the south, and kill a Polar Bear along the way. The tunnels eventually turn north and then a little east. In a large room will be another Mage named Garan, who will summon four Ankhegs to help him. Again he starts off with a number of protections, including a Minor Globe of Invulnerability to nullify any Dispel or Remove Magic.
The method is the same. I time both Web and Stinking Cloud to hit the instant the dialogue between Jaheira and Garan ends. Garan ends up rendered helpless. Jaheira regroups with the party, and I am able to cut down the two Ankhegs that made it out of my crowd-control zone. After that I shoot down the helpless Garan at a distance. The video concludes with me killing the remaining two Ankhegs.
Cuchol
At the end of the room is a tunnel that leads a little north and west. At the other end of the hallway is an Elven mage named Cuchol. But first things first. Imoen drinks a Potion of Invisibility, and then disarms a trap in the tunnel leading to Cuchol.
Here I try a different approach. Imoen is already invisible and ready to fire with Bolts of Biting. Kivan switches over to Arrows of Biting and goes into stealth. They then position themselves very close to Cuchol. The rest of the party goes through the tunnel to start the dialogue and then the battle. Kivan and Imoen immediately take aim at Cuchol before his protections have a chance to go up, and at least one of them succeeds in poisoning Cuchol. This makes the battle a good deal easier. He leaves behind a Wand of Paralyzation.
Tellan
Imoen starts off by drinking a Potion of Perception. Now I continue north, and follow the tunnel all the way back to the central room. Imoen disarms a trap just before the central room.
A little to the east is another tunnel that leads north from the central room. Imoen disarms another trap at its start. The party follows this tunnel to its length, with Imoen continuing to disarm traps along the way.
At some point, the tunnel leads a good length westward, and turns for a stretch to the south. At the end of the south stretch will be a Gnome Illusionist named Tellan. Unlike other Mages here, Tellan will instead start of with Shadow Door, and then try to build up protections and summons from there. My approach was to cast Haste, and try to rush him before he can cast Shadow Door. It worked here. In the event that he does manage to get off the Shadow Door, I had Imoen casting Remove Magic as a backup plan so that the party can continue to stay on top of him. He leaves behind a Dagger +1, Darts +1, and a Robe of the Evil Archmagi.
Dezkiel
Now I continue westwards, and then south a little, and kill a few Winter Wolves.
There will be stairs at the northwest corner of this dungeon. The Unfinished Business mod adds a rather large series of caves. I explore these fully, killing many Winter Wolves along the way.
Towards the southeast corner will be a couple of Polar Bears, and another mage named Dezkiel. Dezkiel will have the usual buffs, including a Minor Globe of Invulnerability. Sometimes, as this video shows, you can simply win this kind of fight the hard way by wearing away the protections before killing the mage as long as you can survive the spell assaults.
Dezkiel leaves behind Shandalar's Cloak, which I pick up. I then take the stairs out, and get teleported back to Ulgoth's Bear. I get 500xp for giving Shandalar his cloak.
Next up is Balduran's Isle.
