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CHAPTER 1 | CHAPTER 2 | CHAPTER 3 | CHAPTER 4 | CHAPTER 5 | CHAPTER 6 | CHAPTER 7 | CHAPTER 8 | CHAPTER 9 | CHAPTER 10 | |
Brynnlaw | Spellhold | Asylum Dungeon - Level 1 | Asylum Dungeon - Level 2 | Asylum Dungeon - Level 3 | Asylum Tests | Escape from Spellhold | City of Caverns | |
ASYLUM DUNGEON - LEVEL 2
Crystal of Kurtulmak
Now I take the exit to the next level that's towards the southeast corner. I then go through the first door I see. I then search for a secret door that's a little to my left.
On the other side will be a lot of Kobolds, including Witch Doctors and Shamans. These critters are definitely tougher in SCS, and given time can definitely burn their way through protections like Stoneskin and Mirror Image. Imoen thus finds it expedient to cast the odd Skull Trap when she can nail a large enough crowd with it.
The party makes its way further south, where they find a very large magenta crystal. It summons a few more Kobolds, as well as a weakened avatar of their deity, Kurtulmak. It becomes a matter of chopping them down, although Anomen at one point does have to cast Remove Fear. The party ends up with a shard of the crystal in its inventory. One of the Kobolds also leaves behind a Wooden Stake.
Tome of Summoning
The party back tracks, and makes it way to a small room with a tome in the middle. Clicking on it twice will cause a monster to appear, with each successive monster being tougher than the last. It will be a Kobold Captain the first time around, which will be easy enough to kill. The second monster will be a Sword Spider, which by itself can still be overwhelmed in combat.
The third monster will be an Umber Hulk, which can use powerful physical attacks but can also cause Confusion for single characters with its gaze. By itself it can still be overwhelmed.
The fourth monster will be a Mind Flayer, which can be dangerous with its stun cone power. However, I don't want to rest and expend my Chaotic Commands spell just yet. So I reload until it does something else by turning invisible. Keldorn reveals it with his True Seeing ability. The party is thus able to cut it down.
I move most of the party to a safe distance for the last monster, a Beholder. A Beholder can shoot rays at multiple party members. The rays powers include Slowness, Cause Serious Wounds, Lightning, Fear, instant Death, and Petrification. I have Avastrian equip Balduran's Shield, and click twice on the tome to summon the Beholder. He's able to cut it down a fair bit. SCS improves Beholders in that they're now given a Telekinesis power that lets them take away either Balduran's Shield or the Cloak of Mirroring once they figure out their powers aren't working. Once the Beholder steals the items, the rest of the party brings up the cavalry to finish off the Beholder.
Clicking on the tome twice more yields a reward, spell scrolls for Simulacrum and Cacofiend, as well as the Ring of Free Action (Free Action on wearer). I have Anomen wear this ring, and it's a perfectly logical setup. I rely on Anomen to cast Remove Paralysis on his comrades when they have been paralyzed by monsters who have paralyzation abilities (e.g. Demons, Clerics who can cast Hold Person). He won't be able to do this, however, if he himself gets paralyzed by those same abilities. It thus makes perfect sense to immunize Anomen from paralyzation, so that he is free to cast the needed Remove Paralysis spell.
Umber Hulks in the Asylum
The party continues in a southeast direction. On the other side of the door will be a few Gibberlings that are easily killed. Containers will have Bullets +1, Bullets +2, and a spell scroll for Simulacrum.
The party continues southwest. But instead of opening the door, they continue in a northwesterly direction. I want to get some Umber Hulks out of the way. This can be a pretty tough fight. A single Umber Hulk is easy enough to kill. Several Umber Hulks, meaning several Confusion gazes during a given combat round, makes things rather more perilous. I also don't have Death Spell either. So I have Anomen cast Chaotic Commands on Avastrian. Avastrian in turn protects himself with both Stoneskin and Mirror Image. He then goes on by himself. Two doors close shut and lock, isolating him from the rest of the party. He casts Slow on the trio of Hulks that are on his side of the door. This allows him to kill of all his Hulks by himself.
Meanwhile, Imoen uses her thief skills to open the other door. Jaheira, Anomen, Keldorn, and Minsc march in to kill the other Umber Hulks, although they're often affected by the confusion gazes. Imoen unlocks the other door, allowing Avastrian to join in after he's killed his trio.
Asylum Library
The party back tracks south and then goes through the door to the left. To the southwest will be a few Skeleton Warriors, and a couple of Shadow Fiends. This fight remains winnable through straight physical combat. The nearby containers hold magical ammunition, as well as a Cleric's Staff +3 which Imoen equips.
The door to the north leads to the library. The containers also have plenty of magical ammunition, as well as spell scrolls for Ray of Enfeeblement, Finger of Death, and Power Word: Stun.
I had Imoen enscribe Ray of Enfeeblement and Finger of Death. The latter can be a useful spell, especially after its target has had its saving throws lowered. I have Avastrian enscribe Power Word: Stun. There's a certain reason for this. Imoen will at some point wear the Robes of Vecna, which will lower her casting times by -4. Thus she'll often concentrate on spells that have a longer casting time, but end up coming out much faster once she dons the Robes. On that account it also makes sense for Avastrian to concentrate on spells that have a low casting time even without wearing the Robes. It is thus logical for Avastrian to make use of the Power Word spells, which have a casting time of only 1.
Hand of Dace Sontan
Jaheira casts Protection from Fire on Avastrian, in case he needs to cast Fireball over himself. He heads over to the room to the far west while the Chaotic Commands spell is still in effect.
In the room will be a vampire named Dace Sontan. He'll summon a LOT of Giant Rats. Sontan will frequently turn invisible, or enter into a gaseous state, either of which gives him the opportunity to regenerate. It is thus imperative to get rid of the Giant Rats first. Avastrian takes care of the north group, while the rest of the party takes care of the south group at a distance.
After that Avastrian and Minsc stay on top of Dace and wear him down until he's killed. Avastrian then stakes the Vampire in his coffin, and gets the Hand of Dace Sontan in his inventory.
The party then leaves this level of the Dungeon through the way where they fought the Umber Hulks. They then head towards the southwest corner of the first level of the Dungeon. At the end of the hallway will be a Salamander, a Frost Salamander, and a Yuan-ti Mage. Jaheira aims an Insect Plague at one of the Salamanders, and it spreads to the Mage. The party then takes out the Salamanders. As for the Yuan-ti Mage, I don't want to damage myself on his Fire Shield so I switch over to missile weapons and hit him at a distance.
Imoen searches nearby containers, and then escribes a scroll of Delayed Blast Fireball and a scroll of Project Image. The latter spell is especially useful as it can allow Imoen to basically get a whole second spellbook worth of spells for free during particularly prolonged or intense fights.
The party approaches the large statue head. The Hand of Dace Sontan opens the way to the third level.
