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Lonelywood | Towers of Castle Maluradek | Watchknights' Crypt | Keep of Castle Maluradek | Dungeons of Castle Maluradek | Jackalwere Caves | The Final Battle |
JACKALWERE CAVES
Rikasha
The party doesn't head north right away. Instead, Derrick casts Invisibility on the Black Thorn, and then disarms a whole series of traps along the tunnel leading north and then east. He then backstabs and kills the Jackalwere Shaman that was guarding the way.
The party continues eastwards, fighting a few Jackal Warriors (who have a power that involves putting a single character to sleep unless a saving throw is made) and Phase Spiders along the way. Note that I neither go south nor through any cave entrances just yet. There's a reason for this.
I keep going east, and then run into several Shambling Mounds. Shambling Mounds can Entangle characters, have damage resistance to slashing and piercing weapons, and are immune to crushing and electrical damage. But as long as you can put enough muscle behind those slashing and piercing attacks, you should be fine.
Now the party heads southwest a little, and runs into an old Jackalwere named Rikasha. I recommend coming here first. The reason is that you cannot rest anywhere else in the Jackalwere caves, but you can rest here if you choose the right dialogue option with Rikasha. This will give you the chances to catch your breathe you need to progress through these caves.
Portal Instructions
I start to back track, only a few more Jackal Warriors have apparently followed me, so I kill them and rest again.
Now the party heads back westwards, and down the southern way where Jackal Warriors first came out to attack me. I cast Mirror Images and Haste. The reason for this is that there are a couple of Summoners who will summon Glabrezu demons non-stop if you let them. The first priority is to take them out as quickly as possible. I then kill the rest of the Jackals and the Bats.
There will be a tunnel that winds west of where the Summoners were. The tunnel has 2 containers, one of which has rather cryptic explanations for how to activate the portal.
Heaven Cave
I know it's a pain in the butt, but it is ultimately worth it to always go back to Rikasha after each major fight and rest up. On the way there, almost near the entrance to this part of the caves, there's a closet that has Hell's Bane (Broadsword, +4 vs. demons and devils, +20% fire resistance).
Your ultimate objective is to activate the portal. The portal requires the acquisition of certain gemstones that act as keys. But as one of the lines in the portal instructions imply, you have to change those gems somehow.
After I rest up, I come back and look for a cave entrance, which is a little south and east of where I found Hell's Bane. I go up, and then west a little. There's a chest, from which I obtain a Flawed Skydrop gem.
I go west a little more, and a Minotaur is obviously leading me on into some kind of ambush. I follow him west and north a little. I stop just as soon as I notice a cave opening. That's my queue to start with crowd-control spells. This is partially successful, as some of the Minotaur Elders are caught, while other Minotaur Elders and a Minotaur Lord manage to break through. This effectively divides the forces, allowing my warriors to chop down the Minotaur Lord and the few Elders that managed to get through. Lanatir devastates the Elders caught in the crowd-control with an Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting from his Bracers of Icelandic Pearl. Derrick chips in with a Shroud of Flame, which is safe to use on enemies caught in crowd-control. Another wave of Minotaur Elders comes up from behind. Lanatir takes advantage of the situation with a well-placed Cone of Cold, which softens them up for my warriors. The Minotaur Lord leaves behind a Ring of Free Action, the Axe of the Minotaur Lord (+4 two-handed axe, 25% stun on targets), and a Displacer Cloak (+4 armor class vs. missile weapons, +2 to saving throws vs. death and breath weapons). Derrick will wear the first Displacer Cloak I find.
Once that battle is finished, I take the tunnel all the way to the south edge of the Heaven Cave, and then west. Here I find the Chest of Seasons. I place the Flawed Skydrop Gem in the Chest of Seasons, and it disappears with a wisp of magic.
Now I go back to where I fought the Minotaurs. Derrick casts the Shield spell on himself, and continues even further westwards. He finds 2 Stone Nuisances guarding an altar. Stone Nuisances can cast Magic Missiles without limit, and can only be damaged by magical blunt weapons. The point of Derrick leading in with the Shield spell in effect was to absorb the first 2 castings of Magic Missiles. Genevieve, switching over to Three White Doves, and Halagrim charge in and take out the Nuisances.
Note that you can click just below the Altar, and it will indicate a symbol representing Heaven. The Altar now holds a Flawless Star Sapphire Gem, which is one of the 5 keys needed to open the portal. The goal should now be obvious, find the rest of the Flawed Gems, which will be in other caves on this level. Bring the Flawed Gems to the Chest of Seasons, and then obtain the Flawless Gems from their respective Altars in order to obtain all 5 keys needed to open the portal.
Note also that Stone Nuisances will come back to life after several rounds, so you should not go near any Altar unless and until you're ready to get a Flawless Gem from it.
Day Cave
First, I rest up near Rikasha. I then head towards the entrance to the Day Cave, at the southwest corner of the area. I prepare to the max, including have Derrick cast Shield on himself and temporarily making him the 2nd character in the party.
It's a small cave, but packed with lots of Jackals, Jackal Warriors, Greater Jackals, and Jackal Shamans. Being small, there's also no avoiding being in sight of the Stone Nuisances here, but Derrick being temporarily the 2nd character in the party is in position to absorb the first two castings of Magic Missiles. Lanatir immediately casts a Horrid Wilting from his Bracers of Icelandic Pearl, and then follows up with single-target spells, in order to take out the Shamans as soon as possible, since they can cast Dispel Magic. Once the various Jackals close in around me, Lanatir and Derrick use the Chaos-Slow combo so that the warriors can cut them down without any problems. After that, I take out the Stone Nuisances.
The chest itself has a Flawed Fire Agate Gem. I take this, and place it in the Chest of Seasons in the Heaven Cave. I then come back to the Day Cave, and end up having to kill the Stone Nuisances all over again. The Altar now has the Flawless Sunstone Gem. I now have my 2nd key to the Portal.
Earth Cave
Now I rest up by Rikasha again. I then go through the cave entrance at the north side of the area, and enter the Earth Cave.
I then fight a bunch of spiders, which by now is old hat. I then go south a bit, and then get the Flawed Emerald Gem from the chest.
I then put the Gem in the Chest of Seasons in the Heaven Cave. I then return to the Earth Cave. East of the chest is the Altar guarded by the Stone Nuisances. Again, Derrick casts Shield on himself to absorb the first Magic Missiles while Genevieve and Halagrim march in for the kill. The Altar will now have the Flawless Diamond Gem.
Jackals' Laboratory
Now I head south from Rikasha. At some point, a few Jackal Warriors attack from the south. I continue on. A Jackal Warrior or two appear to the east. They are the first showings of a massive group that will soon arrive, so I take the initial appearance as my queue to lay down crowd-control spells. Alliria throws in Insect Plague, to keep their Shamans and Summoner from casting spells. The Black Thorn aims his bow at any that appear to be making it out of the crowd-control zone. If any do succeed in breaking out, Genevieve and Halagrim cut them down.
I continue south a bit and find a crate with some spell scrolls. Most of these spells I've already accounted for. However, I also find a second Stoneskin scroll as well, which Lanatir now scribes. Now both my Mage characters can protect themselves with Stoneskin.
South across the small ford are a few shelves with potions and such. West of the shelves is the door to the Sea Cave.
Sea Cave
As soon I enter here, I will get attacked by a LOT of Fiendish and Infernal Harpies. They also come from 2 directions, so that while I used crowd-control on 1 of those directions, crowd-control becomes more a delaying/stalling tactic. The battle eventually crystallizes into me being surrounded on all sides, and this is when I pull out all of the stops for the situation, Chaos, Slow, Haste, Defensive Harmony, etc.
I don't show it in this video, but if you find yourself with more characters diseased than you have Cure Disease spells for, like I did, Rikasha will offer healing services.
I then go north a little, and then east, and then find the chest that has the Flawed Pearl Gem in it. I then place it in the Chest of Seasons in the Heaven Cave. I then come back to the Sea Cave. Derrick then casts Shield and heads west, and then north up the narrow pathway, in order to absorb the first Magic Missiles from the Stone Nuisances. Genevieve and Halagrim then march in for the kill. The Altar will now have the Flawless Waterstone Gem. Only one more key needs to be found.
Night Cave
Now I rest by Rikasha. I then go to towards the Laboratory, but now veer east towards where the large group of Jackals came from. I then follow a circular pathway, at the end of which I end up having to fight another group of Spiders. There's a chest that will have a Ring of Animal Friendship and some magical darts, while a cabinet will have a Longbow of Marksmanship and some Arrows of Fire. A little south will be the entrance to the Night Cave.
As soon as I enter, I will get attacked by several Dire Bears. Care is needed, as they can easily rip even your warriors apart if they surround you. I set up crowd-control straight west of myself. 1 Dire Bear approaches from the north, so Genevieve and the Black Thorn go after him. 2 Dire Bears approach from the south, so Halagrim sets up position and holds them up as a defensive stalwart, being able to dodge most of their attacks due to his high armor class and taking reduced damage even when there is the odd hit. Lanatir, Cassandra, and Derrick continue to go to work with spells as the occasion warrants. Note again that Cone of Cold is an opportunistic spell. I don't get to use it very often, but when I do it really does the job.
South of where I fought the Dire Bears is a chest that has the Flawed Moonbar Gem. I then place it in the Chest of Seasons in the Heaven Cave. I then come back to the Night Cave. Derrick casts Shield on himself, and then heads a little west and then north. He absorbs the first Magic Missiles once he finds the Altar and the Stone Nuisances. Genevieve and Halagrim rush in for the kill. They then take the Flawless Moonstone Gem from the Altar, and now have all the keys needed for the portal.
The Portal
Now I go to the Portal in the southeast corner. There will 5 symbols pointing outwards from the center of the portal. If you click on each symbol, you'll get words like 'Night' and 'Earth' and such. At the pointed end of each symbol is a receptacle within which you can place the corresponding gem. And the proper placement is of course:
Once the gems are properly placed, the Portal is now open.
Everybody went up a level, so I rested up near Rikasha (not shown in the video). I then prepared to the max, including Haste, for the Final Battle.
