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The Wandering Village and the Fell Wood | Cold Marshes | River Caves |
RIVER CAVES
Duergar Key
As soon as I enter Hook Horrors ambush me front the front and the rear. Their numbers are the only thing they have going for them. So again I start off with party-friendly spells that lessen their ability to hit me (e.g. Chaos, Power Word: Blind), then fire off with party-friendly spells that score damage (e.g. Chain Lightning).
I then go through a small opening to the east and a little to the south. I run into a pack of Ice Trolls but they're easily killed off with my standard method by now. Note how having two-handed weapons can come in handy when you're jam-packed in narrow confines. They can allow other characters to reach over their comrades and still get their targets.
A little further east will be a Shambler and a few Ochre Jellies, except they actually split off and become many Ochre Jellies whenever they're struck. Also, they can only be damaged by fire. I am able to win this through three sources of fire damage, Lady Elanna's use of Melf's Minute Meteors (she casts this as often as she needs to), Alliria's use of Flame Blade, and Tithian's use of his Incendiary Staff. The Shambler will leave behind Lamia's Tongue (+1 returning throwing dagger, +1d6 slashing damage) which becomes an upgrade for Akutagawa.
A dead body holds a Duergar Key that is needed to make progress.
Duergar Stronghold
Now I use the key to open the large gate that was near the initial entrance to the Caves. I keep going along the tunnel and open the door leading to the Duergar Stronghold. If you value completing quests involving the Duergar, save your game regularly, as it is very easy to turn the Duergar hostile against you with a mistep.
Their leader, Barzu, is in the central hallway. He wants me to clear out all of the monsters in the caves for him.
The room north of Barzu, and next door to the Shrine at the west end of the hallway, has several crates. One of them has the Mining Tools that will be needed to make progress. The other has The Silencer (+2 Warhammer, +1d6 magic damage, target silenced for 3 rounds upon being struck unless a Will saving throw is made).
I continue north and east until I find another Duergar named Dragu. A character with a high enough Intelligence (in this case, Tithian) can help him improve his pet project crossbow and receive a copy as a reward. It's the Doom Bolter (+3 to both attack and damage, 2 attacks per round) and an improvement for Tithian.
Then I explore the dungeon at the northeast end of the complex. I find a torture room where a spectre attacks me. Lord Markus uses his Turn Undead ability to force the Spectre to leave willingly. I double-check to make sure the Duergar haven't gone hostile, which they will if I took too long with the Spectre and the Duergar realize that I went into the Dungeon against their wishes.
Now I'm ready to clear the caves of monsters.
Fire Beetles and Hook Horrors
This video shows me clearing the caves of any remaining Fire Beetles and Hook Horrors. I now show a new tactical theme, that of casting any offensive spells while Tithian and Akutagawa as decoys occupy large groups of monsters by themselves. Between his high armor class, Stoneskin, and Mirror Image, Tithian is not in any danger of getting scratched anytime soon. Akutagawa has both a high armor class, as well as Stoneskin cast on himself beforehand courtesy of Lady Elanna, so he has little to fear as well. Elanna in the meantime can blast the monsters that surround Tithian and Akutagawa with spells like Cone of Cold and Fireball, and with abandon. Between their Spell Resistance and Evasion ability, both Akutagawa and Tithian have little to fear from Elanna's spells. The monsters take a real beating from the spells, either killing them outright or softening them up to soon die from physical blows. I often employed this tactic whenever I was approached from both sides by the Hook Horrors. Akutagawa and Tithian would let themselves be surrounded by the larger group, allowing Lord Markus, Stygar, and Allira to go to work on the less numerous group.
I also used this tactic for the Fire Beetles. Akutagawa and Tithian would hold them up at the door, and allow Elanna to hit them hard with her spells.
I report my success to Barzum, who rewards with some gold and gems, as well as a Shield of Fortitude (+2 armor class, +10 hit points) and a Duergar-Forged Axe (+1 Greataxe, keen).
I now use the Mining Tools to clear the way to the next part of the River Caves.
The Beastlord Harshom
At the beginning of the video, I have Stygar change all of his 5th-level spells to multiple instances of Chaotic Commands, for this part of the game. I try to rest first, but then get interrupted by a few Yeti. Once I kill them off, I then succeed in resting up. Now, in addition to my usual daily buffs, Stygar will cast Chaotic Commands on himself, on Lord Markus, on Alliria, and on Lady Elanna. I don't have enough 5th-level spell slots to cover everyone with Chaotic Commands, so I had to make choices. Akutagawa's Black Raven Sash protects him against confusion, while I'm hoping Tithian can resist mental effects with his Spell Resistance.
Now I explore these tunnels, leaving alone the north-central part for the time being. I kill off any Umber Hulks that I find. And indeed my having almost everybody protected by Chaotic Commands beforehand means nobody gets confused by the Hulks.
Once I've killed off the Hulks I prepare to the max, including Mirror Images, Emotion: Hope, and Mass Haste. My next battle is against the Beastlord Harshom, a few Hosttower Mages, a few War Bears, a few Battle Cats, and several Huntsmen. The other reason I have as many party members protected by Chaotic Commands beforehand is that Harshom likes to cast Chaos, which can at best make this battle much longer than it needs to be, and at worst just plain win the fight for Harshom. Also, Insect Plague won't work on enemy mages in Tactics4IWD2.
But now everybody is free to go to work. Stygar starts off with Holy Word in order to delay the enemy and buy time for the other spellcasters. Tithian and Elanna unleash their Slow-Chaos combo in order to lessen the attacks against themselves. Alliria casts Static Discharge.
Akutagawa, unfortunately, gets Dire Charmed. Lord Markus, Stygar, and Tithian go to work on any Bears or Cats that come forward, and then on any Battle Mages that come forward.
Alliria and Lady Elanna then pound the Huntsmen with offensive spells. Alliria will cast Flame Strike on Huntsmen that are tightly clustered together, and then a Spiritual Wrath when at least several foes can be caught in a straight line.
Lady Elanna catches all of them with repeated castings of Fireball. As things develop, Elanna notices that the remaining Huntsmen and Bears are more or less in a straight row. So she positions herself and catches them with a devastating Cone of Cold that finishes them off.
Only Harshom himself and a couple of Hosttower Mages are left, so Elanna uses Animate Dead to keep a summons on top of Harshom. It becomes a mop-up as the warriors are able to bring down the Mages, and then Harshom himself.
Tithian becomes Dire Charmed as well, so Elanna starts rounding up the loot while I wait for the charm-effects to wear off. She finds many Arrows of Piercing (+4 arrows, +1d6 piercing damage) that Alliria will find useful towards the later stages of the game. She also loots Harshom's corpse for:
Harshom will often have a scroll and another weapon as random items. Harshom also leaves behind the key that can open the gate behind him.
The way is now clear to the Black Raven Monastery.
