First run through.

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Why You do realise that fire/acid is required to finish off the Trolls. They can be brought to near-dead stage otherwise through melee bashing. Then have Minsc shoot one fire arrow into the Troll. Nalia is an awful shot.

@HB
You never were one to refuse a fight anyways

 

Trolls can be a real pain. If a party mage has acess to 6 level spells, it's easier.

For me, I just hacked them with melee weapons, had Nalia/party mage Melf minute meteors memorised and gave her a clear shot, just like Shrikant did with fire arrows.

 

@ HB - just because it takes me 30 seconds to describe what we did, it doesn't mean it took the same time to work it all out ! Hours is more like it !
@ Shrikant - yes, I realised that early on, but you have to hit the troll (even when down) with the fire arrow, and then the troll gets a saving throw to avoid the fire damage. Melf's Acid arrow, or Flame Arrow, do their work whatever.
To continue then :
On resting, there was another dream of Irenicus and his offers of powers. I have to say, we aren't doing badly on our own. On waking, Jaheira was having another dream about Khalid. A bit different this one. Khalid seemed content at Doraln and Jaheira together (?) Maybe I read it wrong, but that was the view I got.
This is certainly a new type of NPC interaction.
Anyway, back to the castle, and the roof. Killed some more yuan-ti, but nothing else up here, so back to the kitchens. Now we went upstairs, and here Nalia was useful on our route. We headed north. Lots of locked doors we can't pick, so we must need a key. Eventually found the yuan-ti mage and a troll - a couple of summoned animals took care of the mage. The troll split in 2, so took a bit more work. From here (with a key) we eventually found Gliacas, who has a new master. Or rather, had, because he's dead. Hard fight though.
We found Nalia's mother. There's an attitude problem for you. Nalia actually thanked Doraln for not killing her! We now found the room with the golems. After getting kicked a few times, we gave up trying to get the weapons, and settled for the flail head. Down to the cellars then (Nalia prefers that name)
In the cellars, we came across some more trolls, so they were rapidly dispatched. On opening the next door, all hell let loose, thanks to the umber hulks. We'll let Yoshimo handle this one. (party AI off)
After some wandering around, Yoshimo found the area for the dog stew (the bones gave it away), and, on the 2nd attempt, got the hulks in, and got out himself. In the next room, we met Torgal ,the talking troll (and friends). They are dead, so won't talk any more. Nalia's father is also dead.
Back outside, Nalia asked to join permamently, which is fine. Jaheira would like to go to Tethyr. That's fine with me, but I want to see if we can get Imoen back first. We then opened the drawbridge again to leave, and Roenall sent us away.
SPOILER MAY BE NEEDED
I have 3 flail heads (acid, cold, fire). Where is the handle for the flail.
We will be resting here before we go anywhere else.

 

Ow darn! Hope you have a save game before you did the last bit of the castle (the reward bit). You should go to the forge and there you can forge the flail together, but AFAIK you can't do this after you have ended the quest by gettingthe reward. Maybe a tip for the golems, you COULD attack them before they activate by taking a weapon out of the niche. And the biggest golem can't get through the door so with him you could just run away. You need +3 weapons to hurt it if you decide to kill it. Just some tips.

 

*SPOILER WARNING*

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As for The Flail, I really hope you have a save before you killed Torgal. Or alteast while still in the castle. Thats because you get extra XP for forging the flail while the castle is still under attack. Remember where you met that guy who told you about the dog stew. There seems to be a door you have missed. That will take you to the forge where all you need are the three flail heads.

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Golems are mindless constructs. You can moon them, shooch them, do whatever you want. They will only activate when you do the one thing required to trigger them or to defend self. Get it

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And nothing beats resting in the open wilderness. The Castle is still being repaired so try its lawns

 

Well. you don't need a handle, you already got the parts, but you can't go inside now, even from the secret entrance, which is a pity. :-(

You don't get much experience for assembling the flail, but you get the experience, regardless. The only way you don't is if you are a Fighter, and you are not.

 

He has all 3 flail heads, He didn't miss any door

About the trouble with those golems, you can send a cleric with sanctuary go in and loot all the item, they don't mind a bit

 

There is also a possibility to assemble the flail and THEN go bashing glolems, one at a time.

 

Thanks for the tips, all.
Fortunately I had a save game from before we left the castle, so now have a very nice flail - but currently nobody with weapon slot to use it (but see later).
Well, we now have 16000 gp - not yet enough to pay Gaelan Bayle, so its time to pick a quest, either Trademeet or the Umar hills. 50/50 shot, so I actually threw a d20 to see, Umar it is!
When we got to Umar, we heard the speeches, then talked to the villagers, then the mayor. We have agreed to see if the ogres are responsible, and to go to the rangers house.
Heading north, we met Daar, who is hopelessly in love. He is also a bit of a wimp. Anyway, we said we would try to help. Then we went into the house, and met the cowled wizard. Not very interested in helping the locals, is he? However, we might get some information if we find him some mimic blood.
Back ouside, we met Kaatje, who told us about the shadowy wolves, and then we headed north. Madulf was quite friendly, and asked us to make a deal for him. Back to the mayor. Struck a deal, got some XP for it, and now Doraln has * in flails. Now its time for Marella's house. Came across some shadows and 2 shadow fiends on our way to finding it, but we got there. Inside, we found a journal, map, and some signs of a fight. I may be wrong, but Marella looks dead to me. Time to report back to the mayor, and then move on to the next map area.

 

It's always fun dealing with Daar as an evil character... no matter what you say. Nothing more pathetic to an evil PC than someone who ain't got no stones.

This is a great thread, Robert - keep it coming!

 

Did you go back to the Golem room and get those items? And has Nalia driven you to dumping her yet

 

Wow, I mean the phrase "now we have 16000 gp".

It's really, really fun to read your story, knowing what'll happen next and seeing that you yourself don't know.

By the way, how do you explore the area ? When it was my very first time, I was going everywhere until all the map looked "open" and there were no black spots. What do you do in this case ?

 

@ Shrikant - no, I totally forgot - I'll see if we can get back in there later. Nalia seems OK so far.
@ Kulyok - I like to head in the direction I'm given, if I get directions, that is (e.g. Madulf is north), failing which, we try to cover the whole map area. (Saying that, we've now left Imnesvale with a lot still unexplored.)

Before seeing the mayor, we stopped at the inn to rest up, then saw him in the morning. From there we saw Madulf again, and he gave us a nice shield. (For information, Doraln, who steps up for melee, is now AC -9 with the shield. It makes life much easier for us if one person is the target for enemies.)
Near to Madulf, we saw a cave, so went in. Hey, free mimic blood ! Back to Jermien, and we got a sword. When the golem turned on him (not much of a juggernaut, was it), we dealt with it, and a happy ending ensued. Time to head for the temple ruins.
When we arrived, we followed Anath to the cave, and found a bit about what we are facing. A shade Lord. We agreed to help , and headed eastward. After lots of shadows, we got to Anath and the light/gem. Underground beckons.
Quite early on, we rescued Mazzy Fentan, who we don't have space for at present. We have also, in that area, found a ritual parchment, some bones (Amauna), part of a journal, and a statue that blasts us when we get his questions wrong, and a gem, which Mazzy says will get us through the doors. Heading south Doraln got ambushed on the bridge by 6 shadows and fiends. It didn't take long to dispatch them. (That flail is quite good, isn't it.)
After the fire room, and more killings, we gave Amauna's bones back. There is a shadow dragon here!
Which we have a wardstone for. We will try to remove it, but if it's too hard, then we can sneak past it.

 

Awww... your first dragon. Do give us the full account of the battle !

 

No, not my first dragon, I had to fight Icasaracht in Heart of Winter. But, to be honest, that was a moderately easy fight (we were all 20th level or better). Here, Yoshimo is our highest level character, at 11. Doraln and Minsc are both level 9!

 

Heh, I remember the same thing happening to me the first time I played the game. The Umar Hills quest was one of the early ones I did, so most of my party was also around level 9-10. Being a beginner to the game I did not know any cheesy tactics, and so spent hours trying to kill the dragon before finally succeeding.

One word of advice: if you're going to attack him this early in the game, use EVERY spell and special ability you have. You'll need them!

 

Well, we continued through the dungeon, including the 'Indiana Jones' floor. Eventually got the complete symbol for the door to the next level.

And got whupped.

10 times.

Now THAT is what a dragon (especially one that level drains you) is supposed to be like. The shadow dragon would kick Icasaracht all over the floor before breakfast.
Unsurprisingly, we gave up.
On our 11th entry, we kept quiet, and went through the other door.
The shade lord was, in comparison, a bit weak. Doraln on melee, the rest on missile. The entire battle couldn't have taken more than 2 minutes.
Marella is, of course, dead
We headed back to the village to tell the mayor, and he gave us some magical armour. Time to rest, ID what we need to, sell what we can't use, and head back to see Gaelan (over 30000 gp)
As soon as we got back to the city, Valen approached us,wants us to go to a meeting in the graveyard at night. Immediately after that, Anomen got a message that his sister is dead, so off to the Govt district.
When we got there, a message from Brus (from Gaelan). Seems everyone wants to speak to us.
We found Anomen's father, and after the speeches, Anomen agreed to go to the magistrate. There we found that nothing can be done. Anomen has agreed to let the matter lie.
It's now morning (hour 7). We will need to rest for 2 sessions to find who wants to meet in the graveyard. But explore first. We rescued Viconia, and got Jan Jansen out of a tight spot (I didn't like the official, and neither did his guard). Then back to the Coronet for 16 hours rest

 

Well, this way it is more realistic.You can always return to the dragon later

Vicoooonia ? Did you take her in the party ? Or Jan Jansen, for that matter ?

 

I dont think he has space for new charecters.
Did you try NPP? Not that its supposed to work. My last party of 2 Kensai's Keldron and Anomen whacked the shade dragon at L11, though they may have been lucky. I didn't get hit by its breath.

Do you have all the buttons switched on in the feedback options? The information you get should help you during the fights.

Have you paid a visit to the Graveyards before? Just because someone would meet you there late at night does not mean you shouldn't be waiting for them

 

@ Kulyok - we did, once the shade lord was dead, go back into the dungeon to see if the dragon was still around. As he was, yes we will be returning to him. At about 20th level.

@ Shrikant - No, we haven't been to the graveyard area before. All areas that we have been to have been listed.

Regarding party members.
The current party is
PC - Doraln (Undead Hunter Paladin)
Minsc
Jaheira
Anomen
Yoshimo
Nalia

I don't intend to change any party members at present. Once we get Imoen back, however, that will change. Either Yoshimo or Nalia will be surplus at that point. Probably Nalia to go.