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IRONFIST APPROACH
Khelgar's Trials
I take another detour by speaking with Prior Hlam in the Temple of Tyr, at #3 on the Merchant Quarter map. He explains the three trials that Khelgar will need to pass in order to prove himself worthy of becoming a Monk.
*Note* My party for the Ironfist Approach and Stronghold will be Valeria, Khelgar, Elanee and Grobnar. In part the reason is to get an influence increase with Grobnar. It also presents an opportunity to showcase what Grobnar is capable of, and how that can be integrated with other party members' capabilities during combat (see below for more detail).
Khulmar
I travel to the Ironfist Hold on the World Map, and end up at #1 on the Ironfist Approach map. Nearby will be some Dwarven Scouts led by Khulmar. Valeria and Khelgar speak at length with him. Valeria deliberately chooses the response along the lines of "We are with you" in order to increase her influence with Khelgar.
*Evil* Khulmar
Zarathos brings along Qara and Neeshka instead of Elanee and Grobnar. The three of them alike indulge in rather more selfish dialogues.
Bugbear Ambush
The party configuration that I have now allows for a different style of combat than I've utilized so far. Grobnar always keeps his Inspire Defense inspiration active, which gives all party members at this point a +2 dodge bonus to armor class. Elanee also buffs everyone up with a Barkskin, and a Stoneskin on herself. Once combat starts, Grobnar positions himself and then unleashes his Curse Song to catch as many enemies as possible with its debuffs. The sonic damage is sugar on top. Between all of those buffs and debuffs stacked together, you can pretty much let melee combat run on autopilot as is shown during the first fight of the video where the Bugbears have a very hard time connecting on anyone with their attacks.
At #3 on the map is where I find a Dwarven Scout who has been killed by the Bugbears. I avoid any dialogue response that implies Khelgar was at fault, so as to avoid losing any influence with him. Actually, it's the "You're here now ..." option that increases my influence with him by +1. It turns out that the dead body was bait for a Bugbear ambush. The theme of stacked buffs and debuffs letting combat take care of itself plays out here as well. Grobnar can also protect himself with a Ghostly Visage spell if he gets targeted.
Grobnar's Curse Song also imposes a penalty on saving throws. The Call Lightning Storm spell also has a +4 to saving throw difficulty class. Combine those two together, and you have a recipe for the Bugbears taking a lot of damage from the spell.
The video concludes with another Bugbear fight just a little to the west.
Canaith Mandolin
I continue north, and it's more of the same. The chest at #4 holds a Canaith Mandolin (Cure Serious Wounds (5) 1/day, Dispel Magic (5) 1/day, Summon Creature III 1/day).
Besides the Mandolin itself, I also insist on extracting significant wealth from the chest. In this instance, it was 550+gp and some other sellable items.
Khayar
I move ahead to #5, and rescue a Dwarf named Khayar from getting cooked and eaten by Bugbears. I deliberately choose the response about "being honored" in order to gain influence with Khelgar.
Approaching the Ironfist Clanhold
I fight the rest of the way towards #6, which is the entrance to the Ironfist Clanhold itself. I find a Cold Iron Halberd in a chest along the way.
