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CHAPTER 6
Severed Hand
This section won't be so much a level by level coverage, but more a collection of guidelines and item locations, etc. Particularly unique or challenging fights will be covered in more detail towards the end.
Basic Fights
When you arrive at the Severed Hand, many of the fights can be grouped into two broad categories:
1) Where you're swarmed right away as soon as you arrive at a certain point. These won't take much planning, and in fact, because they often involve smaller groups, not that much effort. You may in fact have your pick of ways to win it. One is to take the first round to throw out some party-friendly debilitating spells, like Power Word: Blind, and then go to work. Another is to throw out Mass Domination. What you basically can then do is have everybody, including opponents you have turned to your side, gang up on those monsters who managed to make their saving throws. Once they're dead, have everybody gang up on one of your 'turned to your side' opponents. Repeat the process until everybody's dead.
2) Fights where there's a large group of monsters waiting for you, often on the other side of a door. Examples include the Guard Barracks and the Neo-Orog Priests guarding the Orb. These fights can be reduced to the same kind of formula: Take the initiative with crowd-control and fog spells, then follow up with damaging spells, and let your fighters mop up anybody who makes it through.
3) Slayer Knights of Xvim. These merit a special mention. More so during Tactics, they can dish out horrific damage with their Greatswords, especially on a critical hit. They also enjoy a fair amount of immunities, especially to mind-influencing effects. I don't think Mass Dominate will be effective here, at least not in Tactics.
When they come in smaller groups like pairs, put up an Executioner's Eyes and keep an eye out for when you need to use Heal.
Tactics also has some fights with quite large groups of Slayer Knights. One thing that will be helpful in such fights, and which the Slayer Knights are not immune to, is Tremor. Use it to knock as many down to the ground as possible to buy yourself time. Of course, make sure you have Mass Haste and Executioner's Eyes in place in order to make the most of that time and kill off as many as you can and as quickly as you can.
Items to be Found
First Level
When you fight Zimha and her initial troupe of guards, they'll leave behind various loot, including:
In a chest to the northwest, you'll find:
In a container to the northeast, you'll find:
Second Level
Library to the West - Scroll of Horrid Wilting
Cedrin Zil / after he is killed:
Northwest, near Kav Lathram - Scroll of Power Word: Kill
North, where you kill the Demonic Construct:
Southeast, in the same room as the Half-Dragon, Dracein:
Vese Najj:
Dracein:
Third Level
South Room, guarded by two Slayer Knights of Xvim - Scrolls of Black Blade of Disaster and Iron Body.
Fourth Level
North room:
East Room, vase near Ruinlord Eradru - Winter Ring (+7 cold resistance)
Guard Barracks:
Rikki sells:
Orrick's Tower, Level 1
Northwest Room - Headknocker, +3 club, 33% chance of 1d6 blunt damage, 20% confusion
Orrick's Tower, Level 2
Unstrung Harp - Non-evil Bards only, minimum 13 wisdom, Heal 1/day
North Tower, Level 3
Pustule - Pustule's Flail +3 - 15% chance of Contagion on target, +2 points venom damage for second for 6 seconds unless Fortitude save is made, Cursed
Tyrannar Brutai
I recommend coming here as fast as you can, and then saving a backup game before you enter the portal. There's a specific reason why. You can find enough Holy Symbols of Iyachtu Xvim within the Cleric's tower itself.
This can be a pretty intense fight. What makes this fight particularly dangerous is that Tyrannar can pick himself back up several times with Heal. Going after him first is counter-productive, because the spirits of your past enemies will in the mean time be after their pound of flesh. So, you do have to go after his help first, which can be painful because it leaves him free to go to work with spells like Blasphemy, Symbol of Death, Tremor, Unholy Blight, Hold Person, and his melee attacks with his duel-wielded weapons.
Suffice to say, prepare to the max beforehand, including Mass Haste and Holy Aura. Now your spellcasters, as well your enemies, will all be packed together into a fairly tight space, so you have to place a premium on party friendly spells. My sequence was as follows: First round, Elanna casts Executioner's Eyes, Alliria casts Static Lightning (it will be a long battle), Tithian casts Improved Invisibility on himself (getting attacked by somebody is inevitable). Second round, Elanna casts Improved Invisibility on herself, Tithian casts Slow, and Alliria casts Tremor. Tremor will knock down many of your enemies, and buy you valuable time. Stygar chips in with Power Word: Blind. Elanna then casts Mordenkainen's Sword, and is ready to chip in with damage as well.
Your fighters should probably go after Sherincal first, since she has the largest damage range, especially on a critical hit. Then Guthma, then Gaernat Sharptooth, then Beastlord Harshom, and then the other Ruinlords. Tyrannar won't nearly be as dangerous without his aid. Once he falls, he leaves behind:
Another item you should be on the lookout for is Tymora's Loop, a ring that provides a permanent +3 bonus to luck while worn. The potential benefits of this ring are immense, since it basically improves any dice roll by +3, but not above the maximum. It has a random chance to appear either on Tyrannar's body after you kill him, or in one of the chests in the room behind him. It is well worth it to reload from the backup game and repeat this fight until you get Tymora's Loop.
One of the frequently touted benefits is the chance to improve a warrior's chances of landing a critical hit, and this was something that I used to do as well. But in retrospect, and from experience after recent playthroughs, this ring is much more effective in the hands of a dedicated damage caster.
Let me put it this way ... For all characters, it will provide certain salient benefits like improved saving throws or improved skill checks.
For a warrior, the luck bonus will effect 3 dice rolls: the attack roll, the weapons' base damage, and the chance to land a critical hit (which is admittedly sweet). And furthermore, the attack will effect only one target.
For a damage caster, it will improve rolls for every damage dice of an offensive spell. Consider that Elanna now combines Tymora's Loop with the Rabbit's Foot for a combined luck bonus of +4. It will significantly increase damage output for offensive spells. It will also improve the number of Mirror Images she gets when she casts that as a defensive spell. Now consider also that the dice rolls of the luck bonus will affect multiple targets instead of one. For me, giving the Sorceress the Tymora's Loop is an easy choice.
Iyachtu Xvim's Avatar
Yes, this fight is also jacked up for Tactics as well. The avatar will begin by summoning two Cornugons, two Glabrezu, and several Lemures. Given the opportunity, he will also blanket the small space you're in with Fiery Clouds. He'll also layer himself up with spell protections like Improved Invisibility. Even high-level parties can find themselves unable to keep up.
As it turns out, this is one of the fights that I save a Scroll of Protection from Magic for. Now first of all, buff up to the max, including Mass Haste, Holy Aura, and Death Ward for everyone. There's a specific reason for this last preparation.
Once combat begins, zap the avatar with the Scroll. This means that he can neither cast protections on himself, nor unleash Fiery Clouds. This doesn't render him helpless though. He'll still have his powerful physical attacks, plus he'll play another card. He'll summon two Liches. Getting to either the avatar or the Liches with the hopes of taking them out early can be difficult, even unlikely, because of the sheer mass of fiends that act as an obstruction in such a tight area. The Liches can also cast Wail of the Banshee, hence the advisability of having everyone protected by Death Ward beforehand.
So, take out the demons and devils first to thin out the crowd and give yourself mobility. Then go for the Liches. Keep in mind that both the fiends and the Liches are subject to disruption, so by all means pull out the Club of Disruption.
Now go all out for Iyachtu now that he's by himself. When you bring him to near death, he'll play his last card. He'll reinvigorate himself somewhat, and summon two Slayers that resemble the Slayer form from BG2. Now the thing is, the Slayers are also subject to disruption. Take them out as quickly as you can, and then finish Iyachtu off. He'll leave behind:
When you complete the Ritual, any Paladins in your party will also get another +1 to Wisdom. The two bonuses from the Ritual and the victory over of the Lost Followers, plus the Ring of the Wise, will bring Markus' wisdom to 16.
You'll also get:
Isair and Madae
*Preparations*
First, take stock of what kind of preparations you'll need. I recommend at least two instances of Holy Aura, one during the first battle in which you drive Isair and Madae from the Throne Room, and the second one for the next battle when you confront them at the Pool of Radiance. Also, memorize enough instances of Death Ward and Spell Resistance to cover every member of your party. The idea is everybody is immune to instant death magic, and will reach the maximum allowed spell resistance of 50 (as Holy Aura will stack with Spell Resistance). I also pull out the last Scroll of Protection from Magic, for Isair. Now buff up as much as you can, including the first instance of Holy Aura and Mass Haste.
The battle comes in two phases. The first phase will be in the Throne Room. It will be much easier if you can bring one of the twins to near death, and thus convince them to leave the Throne Room. Don't use the Scroll of Protection from Magic on Isair just yet. Start off with Executioner's Eyes, and then have your best warriors go straight after Madae. Madae is preferable, since her protections won't be harmful to you in the same way as Isair's Fire Shield. Have the rest of your characters go to work on the rest of the opposition. Once the twins leave, you should probably go after Buvai De'Naly next, since he'll be busy summoning monsters non-stop. If everything gets too numerous, spare a casting each of spells like Wail of the Banshee, Tremor, or Banishment. Once everybody's dead, pick everybody back up with Mass Heal. Cast Holy Aura again to make sure that everybody's Spell Resistance is back up to 50.
Now click on the door to start the second phase, at the Pool of Radiance.
Helping out Isair and Madae will be several Slayer Knights of Xvim, and two Slayers. Start up Executioner's Eyes again. Now is the time to use the Scroll of Protection from Magic on Isair. Like the Avatar of Iyachtu Xvim, Isair will summon two Liches. Alliria also starts off with Tremor in order to knock the Slayer Knights to the ground. Everybody then takes out the Slayer Knights one at a time. Next up are the Liches, and then the Slayers. Note that both the Liches and the Slayers are vulnerable to disruption. Once they're all gone, cut Isair down to size, and the battle will be won.
*THE END*
