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Dragon's Eye - Level 1 | Dragon's Eye - Level 2 | Dragon's Eye - Level 3 | Dragon's Eye - Level 4 | Dragon's Eye - Level 5 |
DRAGON'S EYE – LEVEL 1
*NOTE* - Before I actually begin with my course during Chapter 2, please be reminded that Orrick's inventory will change once Chapter 2 starts. More spell scrolls will be available, and the special items available for sale will change to:
To Dragon's Eye
Now I head over to Dragon's Eye to mark the start of Chapter 2. I immediately have to fight a few Ice Trolls. Ice Trolls are the exception in that they're the only Trolls in this game that you don't have to apply acid or fire to in order to kill them permanently. They'll go down for good simply after taking enough damage.
Note also that I now set up a separate savegame for 'Dragon's Eye'. The reason is that there's a container that I want to cherry pick. It's the large snake statue in the northeast corner. It will have a few other items, but will also set one of the following when I first enter:
As you may have gathered by now, my hope is that by the end of the game, everybody in the party will have their own amulet, their own 2 rings, their own belts, their own boots, etc. The benefits provided by the rings here seem pretty minor, and Lanatir will definitely find a better robe. The Boots of the Fox becomes my easy choice, more so because available magic boots will be rare. Fortunately, I managed to get it set on my first try, so I simply reload my quicksave (which happened after I killed a few Lizardmen).
Bombardier Beetles and Wraith Spiders
The party now makes their way towards the southwest portion of the first level. A new foe appears, Bombardier Beetles. They can be dangerous, since they can unleash an acid cloud that can both score significant damage and stun their targets unless a saving throw is made. Don't be eager to rush them, let them come to you. And indeed, I let the first couple come to me and then rest up.
After I've rested up, a couple of Wraith Spiders show up. They can cause disease with their attacks, and require +1 or better weapons to hit them. However, they first show up where there are two narrow tunnels leading to the southwest corner, and they can't reach me through one of the tunnels. My Paladin therefore marches forward and starts to take down the Wraith Spiders one by one. However, a few more Bombardier Beetles are brought into view, and they make as though to approach me through the other tunnel. I therefore have everyone besides Genevieve retreat. The other feature of Skull Trap is that it works similar to Delayed Blast Fireball. You can plant it in a certain spot if you know monsters will make their way there. The narrow tunnel is the perfect spot to place the Skull Trap as the Beetles begin to approach. And indeed, it kills at least two of them outright, making the rest much easier for the party.
Genevieve, meanwhile, has killed the first Wraith Spiders, and is going to work on the second. The Black Thorn puts himself beyond the Spiders' view, goes into hiding, circles around, and then backstabs the Wraith Spider.
Erevain's Fate
Now the party starts to explore the caverns eastwards. First up are Phase Spiders that can cause poisoning and can teleport around. I want to kill them as quickly as possible to prevent poisoning, so I have Lanatir target each one with Magic Missiles. Don't worry, the Missiles will follow them wherever they teleport.
More to the south will be a couple of Wraith Spiders and a Sword Spider. Sword Spiders can be dangerous, even for mid-level parties, because they can attack rapidly and cause damage with each attack. Genevieve has her hands full with the Sword Spider, while the other party members go to work on the Wraith Spiders. Here is a demonstration of the benefits of the Alicorn's Lance spell. It cannot be resisted by a saving throw, and thus it will always impose a -2 armor class penalty on its target. Cassandra casts it on the Sword Spider to give Genevieve an edge with it in her battle.
The nearby corpse is that of Erevain, an Elven traveller who was staying at an Inn at Easthaven (I didn't show this in the videos). He is quite dead, and his corpse can be looted for Acid Arrows, Fire Arrows, and Erevain's Broad Sword +2 (+2 save vs. wands, +10% acid resistance). This makes for a fine interim weapon for Genevieve.
Lizard Men
Now I go through the northern portions of this level, fighting Lizard Men. Very often they can fall to brute force, although I do have Halagrim cast Hold Person when they're numerous, or have the Black Thorn and Derrick open fire on any Shamans that come within sight.
Lizard Man King
Just up ahead towards the northeast corner are the Lizard Man King and his many minions. It is easy to get overwhelmed during this fight, so I have a specific strategy in mind. I keep everybody back, and send Genevieve ahead to get the King's attention. She runs back, and just as she rejoins the party, it is time for crowd-control. Lanatir casts Web, and Cassandra casts Entangle. Their next follow-ups are Stinking Cloud and Spike Growth. Between these 4 spells, the whole horde is held in place. Lanatir then devastates them with a well-placed Skull Trap. Halagrim casts Silence 10' Radius at the Shaman. The Black Thorn and Derrick open fire, with the King being the first priority. The party wins the battle without taking a scratch.
One of the Lizard Men leaves behind Spinesheath (+1 dagger, +5 to THAC0). The snake statue will have 8 Star Diopside gems, some gold, some antidotes, a scroll of Detect Evil, a scroll of Summon Monster I, a scroll of Fireball (Lanatir now scribes this into his spell book), and the previously set Boots of the Fox (+40% movement speed, +1 armor class). This will now be Cassandra's boots for the rest of the game.
Now the thing is, don't rest too often. Or avoid it completely if you can. If you take too long, you may not be able to rescue some captives on the next level.
Now that all of the Lizard Men have been cleared out of this level, the party heads south, and gets an xp reward for freeing the captive villagers.
They now make their way to the second level.
