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CHAPTER 1 | CHAPTER 2 | CHAPTER 3 | CHAPTER 4 | CHAPTER 5 | CHAPTER 6 | CHAPTER 7 | CHAPTER 8 | CHAPTER 9 | CHAPTER 10 | |
DEMON MAZE
Yakman
Now I descend to the Demon Maze level of Watcher's Keep. As soon as I arrive, I notice an Elven Madman who refers to himself as Yakman. I follow him through the south portal.
Once on the other side, Anomen casts Heal to restore his sanity. Everybody in the party gets 5,000xp. The Elf, whose real name is Tamorlin, thanks me and leaves.
Lying in the middle of the floor will be Bard's Gloves. The good party won't have any use for them. The evil party gives the Gloves to Cespenar, along with 10,000gp, a Diamond, an Emerald, a Rogue Stone, a Ruby, and a Sapphire, to create the Wondrous Gloves (+1 armor class, +1 THAC0, bonus 2nd and 3rd and 4th level spells). Jan has the Use Any Items high-level ability, so he's able to wear these gloves for the rest of the game.
The pile to the right has a diamond, the Scepter of Radiance (which is a quest item), and the Madman's Journal, which describes how to make it through the Demon Maze.
The party returns to the first room in the demon maze.
Purifier
As per the Journal, my next step is east. I come upon three Cornugons trying to gang up on a Balor. I jump in to take out the Cornugons first, and then the Balor, for the xp.
The large stone in the middle can yield a magic sword, but only to a Lawful Good character. So I have Keldorn click on it to get the Purifier +4 (+4 Bastard Sword, +20% magic resistance, +4 damage vs. chaotic evil). The upgrade for this is to give Cespenar the Purifier, 5,000gp, and the Eye of Tyr, to create the Purifier +5 (+5 Bastard Sword, +30% magic resistance, Dispel Magic 2/day, Mass Cure 1/day, +5 damage vs. chaotic evil).
This may be an idea for those who want a Paladin to wield a holy sword plus a shield. But it demands that I pass up on upgrading Carsomyr with the Eye of Tyr. This is an inferior set up in my opinion. The greater magic resistance of Carsomyr, the ability to land more critical hits, the ability to dispel magic on striking the target, are just too good to pass up. Also, I want +6 weapons when I face Melissan during the climax of Ascension.
Tahazzar
I continue south, as per the directions from the journal. I now run into a horde of Tanar'ri led by a Balor named Tahazzar. The good party has no choice but to fight them, and without any pre-buffs to boot. This fight can be dangerous because there are several Glabrezu here who will hit the party repeatedly with Unholy Blight spells if given the opportunity.
Now, the first round ... Jaheira puts up an Iron Skins. Avastrian creates a Simulacrum. Keldorn hits the demons with a Dispel Magic. Anomen casts Remove Fear to make sure everyone can function despite the demons' fear aura. Sarevok buffs himself with Hardiness. Imoen casts Project Image.
Imoen's Image then immediately goes to work with a Time Stop. The Image starts off by unleashing the Spell Trigger of Chain Lightning + Chaos + Greater Malison. The Image then unleashes a Dragon's Breath spell. The point of this is not so much for the damage, but to blow back the demons, especially the Glabrezu. The Image then caps things by summoning a Planetar. This proves effective, as the Planetar quickly kills Tahazzar with a vorpal strike.
Once the Time Stop ends Jaheira begins to summon an Elemental Prince. The Simulacrum begins to use its spammed Time Stop scrolls, and thus eliminates any demons that are still within view. Once any within view are killed, the Simulacrum then strategically places itself to hold up the Glabrezu who have been blown backwards. Between this sequence and the Time Stop sequence initiated by Imoen's Image, the Glabrezu were unable to focus their Unholy Blight spells on the party as a whole.
After this it becomes a mop up. Tahazzar leaves behind his heart, and a Scepter Gem.
*Evil* The evil party falls in with Tahazzar's request to kill a Baatezu named Kar'ashur and bring back his heart. More on this later.
Kar'ashur
I continue south, as per the Journal's directions. First, I run into a room that's like a dead-magic zone. No spells can be cast or be maintained. I'm also facing a Pit Fiend, a few Cornugons, and a Velithuu (a Devil with electrical powers). This can be challenging because my party members have to make multiple saving throws to avoid becoming afraid since I can't cast Remove Fear. There's also a trap in front of each portal. I have the party stand still, and let Imoen disarm the trap immediately in front of the party. After that I simply have to tough it out. Imoen disarms the rest of the traps afterwards.
I continue south. A Succubus offers to show me to the end of the maze if I let her kiss me and drain a few levels from me. I prefer to kill her and her Alu-Fiend minions. They all have Charm abilities. This fight is a good deal easier for my party members having the Equalizer, as well as Citadel Helms.
Now I buff up and continue south, and run into a horde of Devils led by a Pit Fiend named Ka'rashur. This battle can be pretty crazy, because the Cornugons can send Lightning Bolts all over the place (you may need Protection from Lightning here, but most of my characters already have it in place). The other Devils can cast plenty of spells too. The Pit Fiend may try a Fire Storm at some point.
My approach to combat is similar. Jaheira summons an Elemental Prince, while Avastrian creates a Simulacrum. This time Anomen leads off with Storm of Vengeance. Imoen casts Project Image, and has the Image go into a Time Stop sequence that consists of two Horrid Wiltings, and a Summon Planetar at the end. After that, I persist with trying to bring them down one at a time, with Imoen helping out with offensive spells whenever she can.
Ka'Rashur leaves behind his Heart and another Scepter Gem.
*Evil* Thieves' Hood
The evil party falls in with Tahazzar's request, and begins to journey south. They likewise have to fight their way through the next two rooms to the south.
Once I get to Kar'ashur, I win the fight in similar fashion. Viconia unleashes a Storm of Vengeance, while Edwin uses a Time Stop sequence that includes two Horrid Wiltings and his triple shot of Skull Traps to weaken the Baatezu. He then summons a Dark Planetar afterwards to help things along. He chips in a Dragon's Breath for good measure. There's the additional tactical point of Jan holding up Kar'ashur by staying next to him while having cast Protection from Magic Weapons on himself.
Asteroth picks up both Kar'ashur's Heart and the Scepter Gem. Remember, going through the north portals is always a reliable way to return to the original compass room. The evil party makes its way back to Tahazzar. Note that I grabbed the opportunity to rest up and buff up in the Pocket Plane first.
Asteroth then gives Tahazaar the Heart, and is rewarded with the Thieves' Hood. I intend to kill the Tanar'ri as well, so I have Jan set as many traps (Spike Traps especially) as he can before starting combat. They won't go off until the Demons' 'circles' turn red instead of blue. Edwin also brings in a Dark Planetar. This allows the party to get the jump before they win using standard spells and tactics. It's all for the xp.
The evil party then returns to the Pocket Plane. Asteroth gives the Thieves' Hood, plus an Antidote, plus a Ring of Invisibility, plus 10,000gp to Cespenar to create an enhanced Thieves' Hood (immunity to backstabs and poison, True Seeing 3/day). This will be Jan's headgear for the rest of the game. Sure, his Detect Illusions ability often got the job done, but it often required him to use that and do nothing else. The Hood provides another option. If Jan needs to get rid of the enemies' illusions and do other things at the same time, the True Seeing ability of the Hood comes in handy. Immunity to backstabs and poison are additional perks as well.
Obelisk
The party continues its way south. The next room has an obelisk in the center. In vanilla BG2 there was a blue Grabezu that summoned Frost Salamanders and a red Glabrezu that summoned Greater Fire Elementals. It used to be a simple matter of rushing them and cutting them down before they brought many summons.
This fight is jacked up considerably in SCS. There will now be three each of the blue and red Glabrezus. They all summon in Frost Salamanders and Greater Fire Elementals. Blue Glabrezus will start off buffed up with Protection from Magic Weapons and Fire Shield: Blue in place. Red Glabrezus will start off buffed up with Protection from Magic Weapons and Fire Shield: Red in place. Both types of Glabrezus will renew their protections given the chance.
First, I inch forward. As soon as I notice them I bring in a few summons of my own: a Planetar, an Elemental Prince, a Simulacrum. Keldorn also brings down the Glabrezus' initial protections with a Dispel Magic placed to catch all of them.
After that it's a matter of giving priority to the Glabrezus themselves, with Keldorn using a carefully placed Dispel Magic whenever some of them renew their buffs. In one instance Imoen used a Remove Magic when the Glabrezu in question was surrounded by party members on the attack, so as to avoid stripping her comrades of their buffs as well.
Of course this means that the Glabrezus still have plenty of time to bring in a LOT of summons. When things start to get packed, Imoen casts Project Image and has the Image go into a Time Stop sequence. The Image aims two Horrid Wiltings at the place where mostly Greater Fire Elementals are packed together. She concludes the sequence by placing a Dragon's Breath over where there are mostly Frost Salamanders packed together. This works to thin out a lot of the crowd. After this it pretty much becomes a mop up.
Tieflings
Now I go west, as per the Journal's directions. The next room is a wild magic zone, which means spells can either be beneficial beyond the normal parameters of my spells, or have disastrous consequences (e.g. sex change). I avoid casting spells here, since it's too risky.
There will be some hostile Tieflings. It's enough to use combined Greater Whirlwind attacks from multiple party members to bring most of them down in short order. The Mage falls quickly after Keldorn gets her with Carsomyr.
The loot includes four Axes +2, a Dagger +3, and a Cleric's Staff +3.
Cambions and Demonknights
Note that I now return to the Pocket Plane, rest, and then buff up. This is to avoid my buffs going wonky or random on account of the wild magic room. My buffs include Protection from Fire or Protection from Energy for everyone in the party besides Avastrian (who's wearing his Cloak of Mirroring).
I then go further north. A Cambion and several Demonknights soon appear and attack. Combined Greater Whirlwind Attacks from several party members suffice to win in short order.
Demon Wraith
Further north will be a Demon Wraith, aided by several Slave Wraiths that can drain levels. Whether it's Imoen for the good party or Jan for the evil party, the method is the same. Either one casts Time Stop and then uses the time to disarm all the traps and thus clear the path for the rest of the party to reach the Demon Wraith. The reason I had Imoen drink a Potion of Perception beforehand was because a higher Traps skill helps her to find the traps faster.
After that the party goes all out for the Demon Wraith to bring it down. Once it dies the Slave Wraiths will fade away.
There's a bit of loot here as well, with the noteworthy one being the White Dragon Scales. Cespenar can turn them into the White Dragon Scale Armor (armor class -2, +50% cold resistance, multi-class thieves and rangers can wear the armor without restrictions) for 5,000gp. The good party doesn't really have much use for it, since everyone has better armors in mind. Asteroth in the evil party has this as his armor for the rest of the game.
Aesgareth
I continue north and encounter a Cambion named Aesgareth, along with this Tiefling servants, and his two pet Fell Cats.
To make a long story short, Aesgareth wants to play games of chance involving the Deck of Many Things. It is a magical deck of cards which when you draw a card from it can produce any one of a whole range of magical effects, from the very beneficial to the downright disastrous. The stakes you can gamble are your vitality (hit Points), some of your xp, or the magical scepter. The stakes he offers are a Scroll of Wish, a magical scimitar called the Spectral Brand +4, and his Gemstone which happens to be the last piece you need for the scepter.
I earnestly recommend playing for the other stakes first before grabbing for the way out. Yes, you can keep reloading until you win the draw against Aesgareth. Next is to play for and win the Spectral Brand +4. Each character gets 25,000xp for this. Jaheira will still use the Pitchwife, at least until I can get the Spectral Brand upgraded.
I then get 25,000xp each character for winning the Wish Scroll. Obviously a more potent version of Limited Wish. Anytime you cast the spell, you end up having to negotiate what you get out of the wish with a Genie, who for his turn seeks ever to twist your words against you. The higher your wisdom, the better your selection of possible wishes will be. Wisdom of 18 is recommended for anyone who wishes to take advantage of the spell. The best possible option to my mind is the one that lets you regain all your spells and Hit Points as though youve rested. However, even with a Wisdom of 18+ I find it far too random to be worth a 9th level slot.
Third time around, Aesgareth will insist on playing for the way out. The party gets 20,000xp each member. If you win, Aesgareth will battle you for it. If you lose, hell leave it behind once he escapes. Of course you could also attack him for it as well. This battle is certainly winnable, so long as youve prepared beforehand. I have Avastrian cast Spell Immunity: Abjuration on himself. He then positions himself in the thick of it before the battle starts. Once combat starts I lead off with the usual, Storm of Vengeance from Anomen, Insect Plague from Jaheira, a carefully placed Dispel Magic from Keldorn, and a Dragon's Breath from Imoen to knock the enemies off their feet. Imoen then uses a Time Stop sequence that includes two Horrid Wiltings to hurry matters along, with the added benefit that the Storm of Vengeance is also inflicting damage during the Time Stop as well. Aesgareth is soon left behind, and the party cuts him down once his Protection from Magic Weapons wears off. He leaves behind:
The Deck of Many Things
Its time for my party to decide how its going to use the Deck of Many Things. Of course, it helps to know how it works first.
First off, you can use reload to get what you want from the deck. Secondly, only cards marked with an asterisk are considered bad draws by Throne of Bhaal. Thirdly, only some of the cards are available on the first draw. They are:
Now it's time to descend to the level that has the Machine of Lum the Mad.
