___________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ Icewind Dale (PC) & Heart of Winter (PC) FAQ/Walkthrough ___________________________ ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ July 5, 2001 Version 5.0 Written by: Dan Simpson Email: manymoose@hotmail.com Email Policy: ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ Got an Icewind Dale Question? Email me! For a speedier response, make sure to put "Icewind Dale Questions" as the subject. Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You will find the most up to date version of this FAQ at: http://www.gamefaqs.com/ http://www.gamewinners.com/ http://www.cheatcc.com/ Several of the Heart of Winter designers are working on a new dungeon that will be available for free. There is a patch out for Icewind Dale, which you can find here:* Patch: ftp://ftp.interplay.com/pub/patches/IWDPatch106.exe Readme: ftp://ftp.interplay.com/pub/misc/patch106.txt * If you have Heart of Winter, you do not need the patch! If you have Heart of Winter, there is a FREE downloadable dungeon to try, called Trials of the Luremaster: http://www.fileplanet.com/index.asp?file=62184 There are also some "bonus" portraits available:* ftp://ftp.interplay.com/pub/misc/iwd_ports.zip ftp://ftp.interplay.com/pub/misc/t_port.zip * These are included with Heart of Winter Portraits need to be placed in the \portraits folder in the game directory. This folder needs to be created by you. I quote directly from other people who have sent in information. When I want to comment on their strategies, I use the "Ed. Note", or Editor's Note. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- __________________ What's New in 5.0: ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ Added the walkthrough for the Trials of the Luremaster. (with thanks to David Yeung) For a complete Version History, check out the Final Words Section at the end of the FAQ. Note: In the FAQ I use the abbreviation IWD to stand in for the full title of Icewind Dale, HoW for Heart of Winter, BG to abbreviate Baldur's Gate and BG2 for Baldur's Gate 2. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- x... What's New in Heart of Winter? x... My Party x... Creating a Balanced Party x... General Strategies Frequently Asked Questions x... Gameplay Specific Questions x... Heart of Winter Questions x... General Gaming Questions x... Monster Questions x... Technical Questions x... Other Questions Walkthrough 1... Easthaven 1.1... The Lost Caravan 2... Kuldahar Pass 3... Kuldahar 4... Vale of Shadows 4.1... Kresselack's Tomb 4.2... Post Vale Kuldahar 5... Temple of the Forgotten God 6... Dragon's Eye 7... Severed Hand 8... Dorn's Deep 9... Wyrm's Tooth 10... Lower Dorn's Deep 11... Easthaven (again) Heart of Winter Walkthrough 1... Lonelywood 2... Barbarian Camp 3... Burial Isle 4... Lonelywood Interlude 5... Gloomfrost 6... Sea of Moving Ice 7... Trials of the Luremaster (free downloadable dungeon) Appendices x... Guide to Naming Characters x... Cheats x... Bugs x... Strange Things Final Words... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's New in Heart of Winter? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section is mostly for people who don't own the expansion and wonder whether it is worth a purchase. However, there are some other minute changes that even owners of HoW might not be aware of. (many of these are taken from the manual) Major Additions: * New areas to explore, accessible through Kuldahar. These areas can be played before or after completing the normal game. You can even play in "Expansion Only" mode if you don't even want to complete the normal game. * Now supports 800x600 resolutions, including drop-away side panels (from BG2). * New difficulty mode, Heart of Fury. This is meant for people who think the game is too easy. What it does is pump up enemies stats (and exp too) to the point where they become tanks. Ex: All creatures have x3, +80 hit points. A creature with 20 hit points in regular mode would have 20x3 = 60, 60+80 = 140 hit points. Note: Your summoned monsters get the same bonuses as all the other monsters, making summoning spells even MORE powerful in HoF mode. Note: The amount of EXP you get from monsters goes up with the difficulty. At HARD you get 150% normal, at INSANE you get 200% normal. In HoF you get more than that (I have no exact details on it yet). * Enemies can now "call for help." (they don't ALWAYS do this) What it means is that you can't pick enemies off one by one, they'll yell to their friends. From JE Sawyer: Places where it definitely is used: * The expansion areas. * Most of Dragon's Eye (L1,2,3, and parts of 5) * The Orc Cave * Kuldahar Pass * Parts of Lower Dorn's (Entrance, Artisan's District, Mines, Palace Level 3, the Great Forge, the Broken Temple) Places where I believe it is used: * Temple of the Forgotten God * Upper Dorn's Deep * Parts of Wyrm's Tooth Places where I believe it is not used: * Easthaven * The Vale of Shadows Minor Additions: * Experience Cap allows characters to reach 30th level. * New Portraits * New Character Sounds * New Gem Bags, Scroll Cases and Potion Bags (similar to things found in BG2) * New spells: Druid 1st Level: Cause Light Wounds 1st Level: Sunscorch 2nd Level: Alicorn Lance 2nd Level: Beast Claw 2nd Level: Cause Moderate Wounds 3rd Level: Cloudburst 3rd Level: Mold Touch 3rd Level: Moonblade 3rd Level: Spike Growth 3rd Level: Storm Shell 4th Level: Smashing Wave 4th Level: Star Metal Cudgel 4th Level: Thorn Spray 4th Level: Wall of Moonlight 5th Level: Animal Rage 6th Level: Whirlwind 7th Level: Earthquake 7th Level: Mist of Eldath 7th Level: Stalker Cleric: 1st Level: Cause Light Wounds 2nd Level: Cause Moderate Wounds 3rd Level: Cause Disease 3rd Level: Circle of Bones 3rd Level: Exaltation 3rd Level: Holy Smite 3rd Level: Unholy Blight 4th Level: Blood Rage 4th Level: Cause Serious Wounds 4th Level: Cloud of Pestilence 4th Level: Poison 4th Level: Unfailing Endurance 5th Level: Cause Critical Wounds 5th Level: Greater Command 5th Level: Magic Resistance 5th Level: Shield of Lathander 5th Level: Slay Living 5th Level: Undead Ward 6th Level: Blade Barrier 6th Level: Harm 6th Level: Spiritual Wrath 7th Level: Destruction 7th Level: Greater Shield of Lathander 7th Level: Holy Word 7th Level: Unholy Word Wizard: 2nd Level: Cat's Grace 3rd Level: Lance of Disruption 4th Level: Mordenkainen's Force Missiles 4th Level: Shout 4th Level: Vitriolic Sphere 5th Level: Contact Other Plane 5th Level: Lower Resistance 5th Level: Sunfire 6th Level: Darts of Bone 6th Level: Soul Eater 6th Level: Trollish Fortitude 7th Level: Seven Eyes 7th Level: Suffocate 8th Level: Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting 8th Level: Great Shout 8th Level: Iron Body 8th Level: Power Word: Blind * New Items * New "Hotkey" that highlights all significant items in the area (such as doors, chests and items). Very handy if you can't see where certain levers are... (Use by pressing ALT) * Ability to buy more than one item at a time * Paladins get new abilities: Smite Evil - Column of holy light that does 1d6 + (1d6 / 3 levels) damage to evil enemies. Divine Courage - At 3rd level, immune to fear. (Also immune to disease) Earlier Spell Access (at level 6 instead of 9) * Rangers get new abilities: Tracking - Ranger checks to see what monsters are in the area, and often where the monsters are. +5% chance per level, +5% per point of wisdom. Earlier Spell Access (same) * Druids get new abilities: Druidic Shape Chance - now available at 5th level, gains a new for every other level after that. Some HP healed with the change. Elemental Form - At 11th level, the Druid can transform himself into a Fire Elemental. At 13th, Earth elemental, at 15th a Water elemental. Immunity to Poison - At 9th level. Timeless Body - At 15th level, no longer get tired. * Thieves get new abilities: Sneak Attack - An alternative to backstabbing (must be switched in the options menu). Doesn't require being in shadows, merely that you are behind or to the side of the enemy. The damage is an extra 1d6 for every 4 levels of experience. Critical hits do not double the sneak attack damage. Evasion - At 7th level, thieves can evade effects (such as Fireball, Lightning bolt, etc.), the thief can Save to completely evade the spell (as opposed to Saving and getting half damage). You cannot evade your own effects (such as a Mage/Thief casting fireball right in front of himself). Crippling Strike - At 5th level, thieves learn how to cripple their opponents. Crippling only works WITH the Sneak Attack. A successful cripple causes the victim to suffer a -1 to attack, at 9th level -2 to attack and damage, at 13th level -3 to attack and damage, etc. (every 4 levels another -1 to attack and damage) * Bards get new songs: The Ballad of Three Heroes - Allies gain +1 to hit, damage and Saving. The Tale of Curran Strongheart - 3rd level. Removes fear. Tymora's Melody - 5th level. Allies get +1 luck, +3 saving throws, and +10% to lore and thieving skills. The Song of Kaudies - 7th level. 50% chance to evade sound-based attacks. The Siren's Yearning - 9th level. Chance of enemies becoming Enthralled (unable to move for a minute or so, or until they take dmg). War Chant of Sith - 11th level. Allies get +2 bonus to AC, +10% res. to slashing, piercing, crushing and missile attacks, plus regenerate 2 HP per round. Changes: * Spells have been changes somewhat. Some spells are now Alignment (Good, Evil) specific. Ex: Raise Dead and Cure Critical Wounds cannot be cast by Evil clerics, Resurrection and Heal can only be cast by Good clerics. * Opposition schools have been altered. Your old mages won't lose spells they already know, but they will be unable to learn new spells out of their sphere. From JE Sawyer: Specialist mages now have 1 or 2 barred schools. If your specialist mages from IWD already have spells, they will not be taken away. However, they will be unable to take new spells from the barred schools. Here's how it breaks down: Abjurer: Alteration, Illusion Conjurer: Invocation Diviner: Conjuration/Summoning Enchanter: Invocation Illusionist: Necromancy, Abjuration Invoker: Divination, Conjuration/Summoning Necromancer: Illusion, Enchantment/Charm Transmuter: Necromancy, Abjuration * Ranger/Clerics no longer get the Druid spells from level 1. (You must wait until the Ranger is level 6) Items Removed/Changed: * Many of the random item tables have been changed. I have most of these changes in the IWD walkthrough (where it says "removed in HoW", or "HoW only"). * Mithril Plate +2 is now considered "magical" and thusly cannot be worn with protective rings/cloaks. (If you were wearing it before installing HoW, you'll still have it on... just don't take it off!) * Necromancer's Robe is now AC6 rather than AC8. * Kontik's Ring of Wizardry increases cold damage the wearer takes by 15% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Party: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The party I first beat the game with: Human Fighter Elf Fighter Half-Elf Cleric/Ranger (has access to both Druid and Cleric spells this way, and also gets the "dual wield" which is just an extra attack when a shield is not equipped) Human Bard (useful to identify things, and can cast magic!) Halfling Fighter/Thief (don't bother ever giving points to the Pickpocket skill, it's useless in IWD) Human Conjurer I actually started the game with a Human Thief instead of the Halfling, but switched over later. (You can bring in new characters at any time) Then I just stayed in the area I was at, and leveled my new character up a bit. What monsters was I fighting? Cold Wights! One of my favorite monsters in all of Dragon's Eye. Easy to beat, and decent Exp (1500) as well. Pickpocket is useful especially for the bard who has nothing to do but pickpocket. I pick a few NPC's pockets and got some nice item especially from the archdruid himself (I got 2 rings of free movement; I will never be held by spells or item like wise). (from Mike Gan) The party I played through IWD with the second time: Dwarf Fighter (with proficiencies in Axes and Crossbows) Half-Elf Cleric/Ranger (is actually IMPORTED from my first party, though not from the end of the game, at level 8/8 with a lot of cool items) Halfling Fighter/Thief Elf Fighter/Mage (I'd found a cool weapon my first go through of the game that could only be used by Fighter/Mages so...) And they were all EVIL (except the Cleric/Ranger)! I was really surprised by how many items in IWD couldn't be used by GOOD characters, so I had to have some EVIL characters. And for more role-playing fun, I said all the "jerk" responses in the dialogs. After this maybe I'll go through with a party of Gnomes... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Creating a Balanced Party ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One of the most important decisions that you have to make comes before you ever start the game. What will your party look like? Naturally I would recommend the party I used to beat the game (see My Party above) as it worked well, but I know that that party isn't for everyone. So here we now have a section on creating that balanced party that you can use to smite your enemies! Decision 1: How many characters to have in the party? ------------------------------------------------------ You can have anywhere from 1 to 6 characters in your party. Naturally going through the game with just one character would be extraordinarily difficult. The minimum number of characters that I think would keep the game playable is 4. 3 could probably be done, but you're pushing it. Four characters allows you to cover all the bases (one fighter, mage, cleric, and thief type characters), with the obvious advantage that they will get more experience per battle, as there are less people to share the experience with. (Whenever you defeat a creature, each character gets the exp that that creature was worth divided by how many characters you have in your party. So if you just beat a 2000 exp monster, and had 4 people, then each person gets 500 exp, but if you have 6 people then they only get 333 experience) That being said, if you are a newcomer to AD&D games, such as Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate, then I would recommend that you go with the full 6 member party. Even if you are pretty good at Baldur's Gate, you may still want to go with the full 6 member party. But if you enjoy a challenge, try 4 (or 3). And if you're suicidal, try just one character. Decision 2: What classes should be in my party? ------------------------------------------------ You need to balance your party in IWD. All melee parties will do pretty poorly in IWD, as they get slaughtered by nasty enemies. Magic heavy parties do poorly as well as you don't have enough standing between you and certain death. As such, careful balance is in order. Let's take a look at the party I used to beat the game: Human Fighter Elf Fighter Half-Elf Cleric/Ranger Human Bard Halfling Fighter/Thief Human Conjurer At level 1 this party has 4 melee fighter types, two thief types (the Bard can only Pick Pockets, but this frees the Fighter/Thief from having to use any skill points on Pickpockets), two mage types (the bard gets spells on level 2), and one Cleric type. The only weakness at the beginning is that the Conjurer only gets 6 HP to start out with. What you need: A thief A cleric And enough Hp's to not get killed in every battle Everything past that is extremely helpful, but not specifically NEEDED. Naturally you get the HP's from Fighters. A thief and a Cleric alone will get killed easily, so add a few Fighters to the mix, and/or multi-class the thief and cleric. Adding in Magic is a really good idea as it supplements your melee power. Therefore my recommended party looks very much like the party I first used, with the six party members. If I were to play with only three characters, this is how I would do it: Cleric/Ranger (I love these) Fighter/Thief Fighter/Mage ERSKINE makes this recommendation about which type of Mage to play: If you make your wizard a specialty Conjurer then you can use all the spells currently in the game! Conjurers in Icewind Dale (IWD) have an opposition school of Divination, but all wizards can learn/cast "lesser divinations" of up to and including 3rd level (maybe 4th, but I don't think so)-- there are no divinations in IWD above second level, so a conjurer can cast all spells in the game and gains the bonus spells for being a specialist-- I do not think IWD uses any of the disadvantages of being a specialist like in AD&D. Alignment Note: There are various items in the game that can only be used by Good or Evil characters, so try to have a mix of alignments. Maybe 2 Good, 2 Neutral and 2 Evil. Also your reputation is based on the Alignment of the character in the first slot, Lawful Good being the best, Chaotic Evil being the worst. The "All-Fighter" Party: ------------------------ This is a "powergamer" type of party, that takes advantage of the Human's Dual Classing. Create a party of six (or how ever many people you want) fighters. While creating each of them, keep in mind what you would like them to dual class over to later. So, when you are creating your Fighter who will dual to Cleric, you need to get not only good Fighter stats, but also good Wisdom. The same would go for your Fighter who will be Thief, needing good Dexterity, Fighter who will be Mage needs good Intelligence, etc. Now when they reach level two, instantly dual class them over to their new class. What this accomplishes is creating better versions of Clerics/Thieves/Mages/etc., at a low cost of experience. (2000 exp for the Fighter level 2) Fighter (stays a fighter) Fighter (stays a fighter) Ranger dualled to Cleric at level 2 Fighter dualled to Thief at level 2 Fighter dualled to Mage at level 2 +1 more character if desired (I'd take a Bard) ERSKINE's party making strategies: ---------------------------------- My thoughts on party composition -- at least two Fighters--- great hit points, great THAC0's, wear almost any armor, 5 levels of weapon specialization, and they usually have the best strength with which to carry your heavy items without being encumbered one Mage --- make it a conjurer (use all the spells, memorize 1 extra spell per spell level) they can use almost all of the wands, and their spells rock at high levels one Druid--- I think their spells are better (like Creeping Doom, Fire seeds, Static Charge), the loss of turning undead is not that much of a problem-- I hate chasing down skeletons and wights that ran away, and they can even use some good armor and shields later in the game (Umber Hulk plate and Rhino Beetle Shields) (Ed. Note: You're almost at the END of the game before you get THOSE items! Though they are quite good) a multi-classed thief--- true thieves in IWD are a little bit lacking, make your thief a thief/mage or a fighter/thief for better effect (you can still reach lvl 14/12 with a thief/mage or 14/11 with a thief/fighter) Your 6th character can be what ever you like--- if you love mages add another one, or try out a Paladin or even a cleric I would avoid Rangers-- they are great in AD&D but they have some limitations in IWD: there are not a lot of animals to charm, only 2 levels of weapon specialization, more xp's to level up and if you want to hide in shadows then you are limited in your choice of armor. Two weapons can be useful, and so can the racial enemy, but I don't think that makes up for their deficiencies. Also, their druid spells are rather weak when you finally get them. Ed. Note: Which is why I like Cleric/Rangers. Complements the Ranger abilities perfectly. Paladins are a better choice--they can lay on hands, better saving throws, cast protection from evil, are immune to disease, and can cure disease, and can cast cleric spells (although the spells are only a minor help late in the game). I haven't played with bards yet so I can only speculate, but there are some cool items that only they can use, and they can cast spells and sing for your party so they could be very helpful--- also I think that there are some places in the game where bards can do things that other classes can't (Talking to the Sea-Elf in Easthaven, the bard can sing to her for extra xp's). When choosing a race for your class stick mostly to elves, half-elves and humans. However, Dwarven fighters can have a 19 constitution and their hit points can really get up there, also dwarves are very resistant to poison, and have some resistance to magic. Elves and Half-Elves have a resistance to sleep and charm related spells (90% for elves and 30% for Half-Elves--if they followed AD&D rules on this) Personally, I have never had much use for gnomes and halflings (big noses and hairy feet, respectively) Note, the resistances are implemented as Saving Throw Bonuses Gnome +5 vs Rod/Staff/Wand and Spells Dwarf +5 vs Paralyze/Poison/Death, Rod/Staff/Wand and Spells Halfling +5 vs Paralyze/Poison/Death, Rod/Staff/Wand and Spells Different classes also have different saving throw bonuses. My 1st party -- Human Male Fighter Half Elven Female Ranger Human Male Fighter Elven Female Mage/Thief Dwarven Female Cleric (just for fun) Elven Male Conjurer this party got the job done, but this is where I learned of some problems with the classes- My new party -- Human Male Fighter Human Male Paladin Dwarven Male Fighter Elven Female Mage/Thief Elven Male Druid Human Female Conjurer Ed. Note: With the Druid above, I'd start with a Fighter, then at level 2 dual over to a Druid. This way, once your Druid hits level 3, then they can wear normal armors and weapons. Souma's Party Making Strategies: -------------------------------- My first time through I played with 6 characters (Human Paladin, Dwarven Fighter/Thief, Human Cleric, Human Ranger, Elven Fighter/Mage and Half-Elf Bard) and had a pretty rough old time as I got to grips with the way the game works. All in all, it wasn't too tough. My second time 4 (Human Fighter, Elf Thief, Half-Elf Druid and Half-Elf Mage) and I had great fun using all those abilities that a fighter heavy party lets rust as they pound through a dungeon (it's a lot different when only 1 party member can use the big missile weapons like longbows and crossbows!). For my third time through, I'm testing what I suspect to be the "ultimate" party. I'll cover them one at a time (there are only 3). I've taken a Halfling Fighter/Thief as my front character. This gives me all the thiefly skills you need from the get go (you do not want to be hit by traps with a small party!) and a sturdy fighter. I also look forward to casting Haste spells on her without fear of her becoming exhausted (due to the halfling/gnome only helmet, Helm of the Trusted Defender). As her max Str is only 17 though, I will be using up Giant Strength Potions as I find them to make her into a killing machine (especially when she backstabs!). Once you reach Kuldahar you can equip her with Plate Armor, a +2 Ring of Protection (from Oswald), the Helm of the Trusted Defender and a shield (magical if you get one) for a total of about -7 AC. That's just awesome and the monsters will have no idea of how to hurt you for a long time (short of a lucky 20 on the hit roll). I've specialized her in Bows and Large Swords and recommend specializing in Axe (so as to take advantage of the Battleaxe +2 Defender and Throwing Axe +2) or Small Swords (to get another weapon you can backstab with) after that. For my second character I've picked a Human Ranger with the intention of dual classing to cleric once I reach level 9 (thus allowing me to reach level 14 and have access to all cleric/druid spells in the game). I picked specialization in Missile Weapons and Mace and have been running around with Slings and Morning Stars. As I leveled I also specialized in Hammers so as to be able to use Conlan's Hammer to the best of her ability. I picked Skeletal Undead as her racial enemy and have been going through them like holes in swiss cheese. With the extra attack that Rangers get with any single-handed weapon and no shield, my Ranger really lays on the hurt in close combat and has been known to kill as much as both the other characters put together. If I can remember it, I'll also be looking forward to using the Charm Animal special ability on as many Winter Wolves as I can (sneak up on them, use the skill and maybe they won't even get to ice breath me). When I dual to Cleric, I will be able to use both Druid and Cleric spells making her an awesome powerhouse of enhancement, healing and attack spells. I've found that I really haven't needed a cleric so far (right up to the end of the Dragon's Eye)... For my third character I've picked a Human Fighter with the intention of dual classing to Mage (Conjurer if I can) once I reach level 9 (thus allowing my to reach level 14 and have access to the highest mage level in the game). I started off with specialisation in crossbow and large swords and then increased that to mastery in both. I find that a mage is not really necessary early in the game, and you should be able to go mage some time around about the Elven Hand. Big hit points, massive strength, lots of attacks, great armor, all the mage spells in the game. That's pretty awesome. Note that with my characters I maximised their Strength, Constitution and Dexterity first and then gave the Fighter/Thief max Charisma, the Ranger>Cleric max Wisdom and the Fighter>Mage max Intelligence. It's very munchkin behaviour, but IWD is a very munchkin game I think. The benefits of this 3 character group should be made clear. Firstly, your characters level up a lot faster, a couple of extra levels at every point in the game makes a substantial difference. Secondly, the fewer characters you have, the easier it is to focus your attacks and reducing the number of monsters that can get to you in hand to hand. Thirdly, you have half the number of characters to spread the best equipment over so each character tends to be better equipped. Fourthly, you can sell off half the magical stuff you'd normally have to keep, allowing you to buy stuff from the stores earlier. Finally, because you have no magic users in the first half of the game, you don't have to rest much (you can't either. Quaff healing potions or get healed by a cleric or rest for weeks to get those hit points back. Lucky you've got heaps of money eh?) The main drawback of this party is in the early game when you have no lore skill to speak of (10-20 lore on the 18 Wisdom ranger is just not enough!) so you spend a fair chunk of money paying other people to identifying things (or use up about 3 +4 Int potions in one go to get 25 Int for 50-60 lore and you still won't identify everything). The fact that you don't have any spells to speak off until you reach the elven hand is actually not as big a deal as I thought it would be (although if you missed pickpocketing for those two rings of free action you would be in deep trouble with clerics that like casting hold person). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- General Strategies ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fighting Battles: ----------------- Let them come to you. When you first see an enemy, your first instinct may be to run over to it and slaughter it. Well don't. Let it come to you, and attack it there. This way if there are 50 more of these creatures, they won't see you and won't attack. You can then pick off each creature one at a time. This is especially useful in dungeons where the enemies may be more difficult. So when you first see an enemy (let's say that it's a Umber Hulk), turn off the AI (it's the left button in the bottom right corner of the screen), and let him come up to you. You should also have your archers/mages hit the enemy with everything they can, but don't move any closer to the enemy! The last thing that you want is to fight TWO Umber Hulks at the same time! Secondly, KEEP YOUR PARTY TOGETHER! This is extremely important in IWD, much more so than in Baldur's Gate. Think of it like the army. Those who broke formation and ran out to meet the enemy were the first to die. So keep your people together in a "turtle" formation. E - Enemy X - Fighter-type A - Ranged-type (Mage & Archer) E X E X A E X A E X The idea is to treat your party as a whole, rather than separate people. Also realize that some monsters (like Yxunomei) require that you hit them with Magic Weapons only. You should never use Magic Arrows on a normal creature; you should save the special arrows for enemies that need them, such as Imbued Wights, Iron Golems, etc. Area spells can take out a lot of enemies without them even knowing that you are there. Suppose for a moment, that you are walking along, and a Giant comes to attack you. You immediately stop, wait for him to come to you and kill him. Well, where there is one Giant there are probably more, so you launch a fireball in the direction that the Giant came from, and immediately hear the screams of dying Giants. Leo Wang has this to add: Take a character with the Hide in Shadows ability or a way to cast Invisibility and scout out the area before doing any area-effect spells. Example of where random fireballing can result in a bad situation: Mother Egenia in the Troll Caves. The only place where scouting with an invisible character won't work is Lower Dorn's Deep (the area immediately after the Wyrm Tooth area, not the other areas of Lower Dorn's Deep), as Tarnished Sentries can see invisible characters apparently. Composite Long Bows can hit monsters outside of your "fog of war" area sometimes. A good place for an example of this in action: The Orc caves in the beginning--let your characters kill the two orcs in the beginning by themselves without moving from the entrance (i.e. everyone's got a ranged attack, so they don't need to move); if the first two characters have Composite Long Bows, they will automatically pick off the third orc in the black area without the orc fighting back. Useful spells and tough Enemies ------------------------------- When fighting 2 or more difficult enemies use the Dire Charm spell (or Domination, or Charm Animal, etc.) to quickly turn the odds in your favor. If you have 2 magic users who can cast charm in the first round of a fight, not only does the enemy lose two characters, you gain them temporarily (so the odds change from 10 enemies vs. 6 of you to 8 enemies and 8 of you). Once they are charmed, pull back your big bruisers from the front lines and replace them by the newly acquired members while continually pelting the remaining enemies with ranged weapons. If any charmed characters survive the encounter, simply force-attack them to get rid of them. Also, the spell Entangle is pretty useful to stop any melee intensive enemy from hitting your party. Once entangled, they can't move and you can get rid of them easily and safely with ranged weapons. The spell Web is also good since a webbed creature can't even attack with a ranged weapon, but the spell can last for several rounds and could eventually web some of your own party members from round to round if they get in the affected area. You can, of course, use Free Action (either by Item or by Spell) to keep your party from being affected by these webs. Monsters summoning and the Elemental Summons, are great spells. Although the early summoned monsters do not do a lot of damage, their primary purpose resides in the cannon fodder that they become. While they keep the enemy busy, you can pick them off one by one with ranged weapons or spells (saving all your potions, and more potent spells for later more powerful enemies). Even the powerful Elementals best usage is to soak up the damage from enemies. Fireballs and those other major area effect spells should be used only to weaken the enemy or for luring them to you and thus, do not memorize a lot of these (memorize others, such as Fire Arrow instead). These major area effect spells, when not cast at the right place, can literally damage your whole party so unless you know exactly where to cast them, don't use them. Keep them instead for when an area is completely filled with a group of weaker enemies to get rid of them quickly and with minimal damage (happens when you quickloads or loads a lot of times in the same map). Jeremy Treanor has this to add: I have a suggestion that wasn't mentioned in your general strategies. It involves using a druid (or cleric? not sure if they get it) and having them cast protection from fire on all the members of your party. This spell lasts long enough that your mage who should know fireball becomes a portable explosive. Basically, have your other characters surrounding the mage as best they can when a group starts to surround you and launch a fireball at your feet. This is especially useful in the aquarium and the areas where you encounter snow and ice trolls. Memorize a lot of Dispel Magic spells. Dispel Magic negates any magic affecting your party (fear, horror, paralysis, entangle, slow, etc...) while it can also be used to dispel the enemy magics that they use (haste, minor globe of invulnerability, protection from normal missiles, etc...). Dispel Magic is an Area Effect Spell, so don't forget that casting dispel magic will negate both magics affecting your party and the enemy so knowing when to cast what spell when is crucial in an important battle. Usually, though, it is preferable to dispel everyone's magics than having one or more of your party members being paralysed, charmed, running in fear, etc... Save a Lot: ----------- There are 3 times when you should definitely save the game. When you win a battle, before you go to sleep, and everywhere else. You never know when you will go to a new area, have your best warrior charmed, and have half your party killed. So save often. Also don't just save over the same slot over and over, use at least 10 slots. This also means you should probably avoid the Quick Save. Well... not avoid, just don't use it exclusively. What I would do is to create an "Archive Save" whenever you enter a new major area. So when you start the Vale of Shadows create a "Vale of Shadows Beginning Save" so if you screw up, you can start over from the start of the Vale. That said, I have heard reports where game performance drags when someone saves in TOO MANY DIFFERENT slots. I'm not sure how many it takes to drag down performance, but I think you'll be safe between 10-15 saves. Scribing Scrolls: ----------------- Since at 18 INT you have only an 85% chance to successfully scribe a spell from a scroll into your spellbook, I would recommend using Potions to temporarily increase your INT to raise your success rate. The Potion of Genius works great, but any potion that raises your INT is good. So, what I usually did was this: I would wait until I had about 4 spells that needed to be scribed, then I would use a potion and learn them all at once. Unless, of course, I got a really really useful spell then I would learn it as soon as I got it. Alternatively you could just SAVE before you scribe any spell. If you fail to learn it, then you can just reload and try again. I don't like this method as much, but it's just as effective. Proficiency Tip: ---------------- Don't have all your characters specialize in the same weapons. That is not only boring, but counterproductive as well. If everyone in your party is specialized in Long Swords, and you find a really cool axe, you are out of luck! There is quite the penalty for using weapons that you aren't familiar with. So I would recommend something like this: Character 1: Long Swords and Great Swords Character 2: Axes and Crossbows Character 3: Halberds and Great Swords and so forth... If you have an Elf, specialize in Large Swords and Bows and if you have a Halfling choose Missile and give them a Sling as they get a +1 THACO Bonus and they can have 19 DEX giving them an extra point of Missile Damage. Souma's Pickpocketing Advice ---------------------------- In Easthaven, the priest Everard has 2 Healing Potions you can pick pocket from him. In Kuldahar, you can pick pocket a number of valuable items. The archdruid Arundel has a Ring of Free Action that you can pick pocket. The mage Orrick has a Ring of Free Action and a Necklace of Metaspell Influence (gives an extra level 2 mage spell!) that can be pickpocketed. Oswald Fiddlebender has a Necklace of Missiles (three or less charges of a 6d6 damage fireball usable by anyone), a Ring of Protection +2, 2 Oils of Fiery Burning and a Firebreath Potion. On a side note, if you kill Oswald Fiddlebender (-4 Reputation and important townsfolk become hostile) you get Boots of Grounding (50% electricity resistance), a Golden Girdle (+3 AC vs slashing), an Oil of Fiery Burning, a Fire Resistance Potion and some loose change. Not too shabby. There may be some places later in the game where you can get things by pick pocketing, but I can't recall them at this time. In any case, the best of the items you can pick pocket is the Ring of Free Action, a brilliant item that I've never found any other way. It allows all sorts of cheeky tactics with Web spells and grants your main fighters immunity from irritating hold person spells (it negates boots of speed however, so it's not smart to combine the two). There are Free Action potions and Free Action spells, but they don't give the 24 hrs a day protection of the ring. In short, it is well worth the cost of investing up to 40% in pick pockets (or taking a bard) so that you can grab these nice items... (Ed. Note: I just took a Bard. Bards rule.) =============================================================================== Frequently Asked Questions =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gameplay Specific Questions: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Easthaven --------- Q: What do I do with the Caravan Contract? Neither Pomab nor Hrothgar seem to care about it. A: Give it to the Fishmonger (he lives between Hrothgar's house and the Tavern) for some experience. Q: What's with that weird Aqua-Elf in the SW corner of Easthaven? A: That "Aqua Elf" is part of a mini-subquest. There's a man a bit further north of her, standing by the lake just mumbling to himself. Talk to him to learn about her, then talk to her about it, and she gives you a broken sword to give to him Kuldahar Pass ------------- Q: How do I get to Kuldahar? A: Head east, cross the bridge, and leave the area to the east. Kuldahar -------- Q: There's this one locked door here that I can't open. How do I open it? A: This door is where you would go to get to the Heart of Winter areas (if you had Heart of Winter installed, that is). Heart of Winter is an expansion pack to Icewind Dale, and can be purchased at a store near you. Q: Where do I find Mirek's Family Heirloom? A: In the Vale of Shadows, on the Yeti Chieftan. It's a necklace. You can find the Yeti Chieftan just south of the Giant Statue in the center of the Vale. Return it to Mirek for some experience (Mirek is the frightened townsperson who first ran from the Yeti, I found him near the Potter's). Vale of Shadows --------------- Q: I'm in the final crypt in the Vale of Shadows. I have the gate key and the sanctum key but neither seems to open the gate that is in the middle of the crypt (the one with the blue pools of skeleton goo.) How do I get this gate open? A: Go through the doors to the left, and search the coffin there to get the Priest's Key. Take that key, and open the doors to the right. Search this coffin to pick up Myrkul's Holy Symbol. Now with the Holy Symbol, you can now open the big double doors. Q: I am at this big GEAR DOOR, and I can't figure out how to open it. Is there a switch that I need to find? A: Yes there is! Just to the south of the door is a triangle with three pillars, check the pillar on the lower right (that is, the one farthest from the door), and on the left side of the pillar is the switch. Switch it to open. Q: OK, I found the switch on the Column, but it says that it is locked? Now what? A: The "key" for the switch is the Black Wolf Talisman, which can be found on a skeleton which can be found by heading almost directly south from the column. This leads to an "L" shaped room, there is a door in the southern end of this room that leads to the room with the skeleton in it. Getting into this room requires the use of the Plain Key, which is found through the Northeast passage in a similar L shaped room. Q: I went through the Crypt in the vale, and found this skeletal knight (Kresselack) who asked me to find and eliminate a Priestess. Where is she? A: You can only do this once you have agreed to kill her. You must go out of the crypt, and back into the vale. Now, on this screen you want to head into the cave in the bottom-middle of the area (just south of the Statue in the center of the area). This is a Yeti cave, rather than a crypt. Go inside, and she'll be there. After killing the frostmaiden priestess go back to the tavern and talk to the barkeeper. He will say that he wants to throw away her items, and if you say the right things he will pass them on to you. I got an ice mantle which is very nice item with +30 to ice/fire resistance. Plus some other stuff as well. (from Mike Gan) Q: So, how do I open Kresselack's coffin? I can't KNOCK it, BASH it, or PICK it! A: Just kill the Priestess and then talk to Kresselack again. Then it will be automatically opened for you. Temple of the Lost God ---------------------- Q: I got to the end of this area, but found nothing. Where is the Gem? A: Not here, someone has beaten you to it. Head back to Arundel for more information. Dragon's Eye ------------ Q: I'm in Dragon's Eye, and there are these weird Peaceful Monks here, and they don't let me go in all these doors. What's their deal? A: If you wander around there enough you'll start picking up clues about them. Go check out their carpet, or the books in their library to learn that they are up to no good. Make sure you're ready for a fight though, these Monks are nasty, and they like to summon more monsters as well. Q: OK, I cleared the Monks area out, so where's the Heartstone Gem? A: It's on a later level in Dragon's Eye. Head to the next level via the passage in the SE of the area. When you find the BOSS, you'll find the Gem. Q: I cannot seem to damage this BOSS (Yxunomei) at all! How do I kill her? A: With magical weapons. I'm not entirely clear on what it requires to kill her since Erevain's Broadsword didn't hurt her, and Conlan's Hammer does. (Both are +2 weapons) To get Conlan's Hammer, once Sheemish has been rescued, go back to Kuldahar, visit the Smithy and talk to Sheemish to get the key to the chest that contains the Hammer. Adonis has some insight on this: [Yxunomei] has to be hit by +3 weapons or better. The +2 arrows hit her because they are launched by +1 bows, total +3. Conlan's hammer hits her because it is capable of hitting anything that requires a magic weapon to hit regardless of it's plus factor. This is why Erevain's broadsword can't hit her; it's only plus 2. Q: I fought the Big Evil Snake Goddess (Yxunomei), but was unable to kill her so I went back to the previous level to rest up. But when I returned, she wasn't where she should be! Where'd she go? A: She can be found in the very NW corner of this area. However, this doesn't happen if you have the latest patch installed. http://www.interplay.com/icewind/ Q: I returned to Kuldahar after Dragon's Eye, but now Arundel is dead. What do I do now? A: What you have seen is the false Arundel on the main floor disappear. Go upstairs to find the real Arundel to get to the next area. Shattered Hand (aka Severed Hand) -------------- Q: Where is the Severed Hand? I can't find it on my map. A: You have to scroll the map down to find the Severed Hand. This can be done either by clicking and dragging the mouse, or by using the arrow buttons in the top right corner. Q: This Elf in the Arboretum has asked for animals, or seeds, where can I get these? A: You don't find these in the Hand, but don't worry, you will bump into these things eventually. You will find the Pure Water in Wyrm's Tooth (near the frozen aquarium) in the frost giant's cave. The animals and seeds can both be found in Lower Dorn's Deep from Nym. Q: In the Shattered Hand, I need to find Larrel... where is he? A: As you go up the tower, it eventually splits into five smaller towers, or fingers. You want to go in the far right tower, up that until you get the option of going to a passage to the left. Go across the skybridge, and over to another tower. Go up the stairs here, up the next stairs and you'll be in the Astrolabe, with Larrel. Q: In the library in the Shattered Hand, are any of these books important? A: As far as I know, only the book on the Mythal has any significance, which you give to Orrick back in Kuldahar. Q: OK... Larrel seems to want me to fix the Astrolabe, how do I do that? A: By giving his companion machinery pieces. The first is found in the War Room, the second on Kaylessa (she'll let you fight for it when you "free" her subordinates on the levels above her), the third is found in the southern tower, in a chest guarded by some Shadow Clerics, the fourth is found several levels below: to get there you have to take the Lift down (the Lift can be found one level below the level where the five towers split off) and then go down the stairs, search the area to find it. Give all four pieces to the Mage there, then when the machine is finished, talk to Larrel and he'll be a bit more forthcoming. Dorn's Deep ----------- Q: In the Dorn's Deep cavern (with all the pretty mushrooms), where do I go? A: Your eventual goal is the main Dwarven Complex, which is in the lower right of the area. Go to the center of the area to the giant statues, and go right from those. Since that leads to the next areas in the game, you'll probably want to explore the other areas first. Q: Also in Dorn's Deep Cavern, I can see another building in the very top right of the map, but I can't find a way to get there. So, how DO you get up that way? A: Go all the way back to the beginning. Now there is a small path that leads all the way to the right, along the side of the wall. It's kinda hard to see at first, but it's there. Along the way there is a cave with some Orog's (but nothing else, really). Go into the building in the Top Right, and talk to Bandoth. You won't ever really get anything of interest out of him, EXCEPT that you can BARTER with him for some really cool spells! (and potions too, but you can get those anywhere) Be careful while talking to him, as he might attack you. (and if you beat him you get neither experience nor any items!) Q: Can I do anything with the bottle of Razorvine Extract? Or were the developers just having fun? A: You can find the Bottle on a corpse in the Ettin's Lair (the big cave in the bottom part of the area), and it calls itself then "Razorvine Extract -- Property of Mourns-for-Trees." If you never played Torment, that won't really make sense to you. The container of Razor-vine extract is part of a mini-quest. If you talk to Bandoth (in the tower in the NE of Upper Dorn's he will ask you to find his apprentice and return the extract. (from ERSKINE) However, you MUST talk to Bandoth before retrieving the Razorvine Extract else this quest is really buggy. (Once he attacked me, and another time he simply didn't bring up the quest) (partially from Scott Werner) Q: In Dorn's Deep, I met an Umber Hulk named Saablik Tan who asked me to retrieve a badge for him. Where do I find it? A: Go right, and south to find an Orog who will talk to you. Kill him and take the badge. Return it to Saablik for experience. Also, you're going to need to gather 6 of these badges. Q: In Dorn's Deep, I found a secret door in a Dwarven Round Table Room, which lead to a big circular trap thing. I've wandered around it with my Thief, but can't disarm the traps. What do I do?? A: This is a puzzle! If you look at the three statues it will show you what you are supposed to do. Anyway, here's the solution. The idea here is to disarm the three rings of the trap. So, moving around the edges, careful not to step on any of the RUNED squares, move to the top right and step on the tile that looks like an ANVIL & HAMMER. You have now unlocked the outer ring. Now move around to the bottom, careful not to touch any of the inner ring tiles, and step on the tile with the TWO CROSSED SWORDS. Finally move around to the upper left and step on the tile with the two INTERLOCKING CIRCLES to disarm the entire trap. Now go back to the conference room, and the Dwarf Statue just to the right of the secret passage will have his Hammer down, click on the hammer, and then go back through the secret passage. There will now be a set of stairs here. Q: I killed the Lich, but he keeps coming back. How do I finally get rid of him? A: You have to get rid of his life force. In the Hall of Heroes, in one of the left crypts you will find Terrikan's Phylactery, this is the essence of the Lich, and is needed to destroy him. Now take this item to Jamoth's crypt, which is the second one from the entrance on the right side. The phylactery will vanish, and so too will the Lich. Q: I found Evayne's Diary (Larrel's Daughter) is there anything that I should do with it? A: Yes, take it to Larrel, and get yourself some Experience! Sure it means going all the way back to the Shattered Hand, but what else were you going to do with it? He doesn't actually TAKE the journal, so just leave it there when you're done. Q: And then how do I get through those big double doors in the Hall of Heroes? A: Go back to the spirit you talked to about Terrikan, and you'll get some experience. (He's moved to the bottom of the stairs) Now check the caldron on the statue to open a small compartment. Check inside for the key to the doors. Q: Is there anywhere to REST in Dorn's Deep? Seems like it won't let me sleep anywhere! A: After the Dwarven Conference Room, you won't be able to rest until you hit the glacier. Which means that you have to do the entire Lich thing restless. You can, actually, rest in the Forge Room (where the Ghost is). There is a chance of monsters here, though. Wyrm's Tooth ------------ Q: I'm now in the Glacier area, where now? A: Go south and you'll find a broken bridge. That is your overall goal for this area, to repair that bridge. Head into that large building (Aquarium, I suppose) and talk to the Ice Salamanders there. They won't attack, and think that you were sent by the BOSS. Whatever. Head down the stairs that are located just to the left of the entrance to find the revolted slaves. Q: In the Aquarium, I keep getting damaged! Who is attacking me? A: In the frozen aquarium you are getting damaged by walking too close to the frost salamanders, if you try to walk around them as much as possible then you will cut down the damage, but occasionally you can't avoid passing close to them. (from ERSKINE) Q: I met a woman named Vera in the western part of this area, who is she, and what's she doing here? A: Vera was instrumental in the slave revolt, and is now hiding out from the Salamanders. Talk to her if you want, then drop down the stairs and tell Garth about her (he's one of the slaves at the far right) for some experience. Q: How do I get the slaves out? Do I have to fight all those Salamanders? A: No, you don't have to fight them, as long as they still think that you are working for the BOSS. Before doing this, be sure to get the Book on Suspension (to fix the bridge with) from Soth (see the next question for more information). Anyway, talk to Gareth, and he'll reveal that they have found a new way out, but that they need a key. Then go back to Kerish (the Salamander leader, located at the far right in the Aquarium) and ask for the key. He'll give it to you if you say that you'll keep the slaves from escaping. Give the key to Gareth and all the slaves will be free, and you get some experience for your trouble. If you go back upstairs after freeing the slaves, you will be attacked. Oh, and if you go back to Vera and talk to her after the slaves are freed, you get more experience. If you want, you can follow the slaves out. It leads to a new area. To get back to the main map, go up and right, to go back to Wyrm's Tooth go down and left, and to go to the next chapter, go down and right (but we still have things to do in this chapter). Q: So, how do I fix that bridge? A: Once you're on the lower level of the Aquarium (it's really a temple, but since it has fish in it, I call it an Aquarium), talk to Soth at the far left. Ask him about the books, and ask for a book on bridges. I suppose that you can only do this after you've SEEN the broken bridge. He'll give you a book on suspension and the like, and you also get some experience. Walk back to the bridge, and when you get near it, it will automatically get repaired, and you get some experience. Q: What do I need to accomplish in this cave? A: Just head west until you run into some Frost Giants. One of them is the BOSS of this area, Joril. Kill him and take his pendant, which is the second part of the six part key. That's all you need to do in this cave, although there are a lot of other cool things in here... such as a lot more Frost Giants! (and their treasures!) There are also some slaves to be freed, and some dragons to be slain (ok, they are only small wyrms, but still, also search where the Wyrms were for a couple of treasures). When you're done with this, leave the cave, and go back to the earlier area (it's reached from the top right of this map), and then take the lower right passage to reach the next chapter. Scott Werner has another method of getting Joril's Badge: I actually managed to talk Joril out of his pendant. My paladin (18 charisma) convinced him that the BOSS was disappointed in him and insinuated if he didn't hand over the pendant to us that he'd be killed (if not by us, then by someone more powerful later on). I received experience for talking him out of the pendant, experience for retrieving the pendant, and experience for later killing him. Q: What do I do with the Barrel of Pure Water that I found when I defeated the follower of Auril? A: Take it to the Arboretum in the Shattered Hand, and give it to its Elven Caretaker, Valestis, of course! You get experience for this. Lower Dorn's Deep (fire Salamander area) ----------------- Q: How do I get into the Watchtower in the SE (lower right) of this area? A: Go across the bridge into the top right of this area, and there will be a gnomish girl named FENGLA, who will give you the key to the watchtower. Now go inside, and kill all the archers here (they all have about 40 Arrows of Piercing so ... beware). When you clear out all the archers, Fengla reappears, thanks you, and you get some experience, as well as the satisfaction in knowing that you have helped some gnomes out. Whee. Q: So what do I do here? A: Go into the door at the very top of the map (it's sorta in the middle, and has a Blue Thing above it) here to get into the Boarded Up City. I would assume that this was a Deep Gnome city before it was taken over by this Umber Hulk horde. We want to go north into the weird Green Building. Once inside, head right and up to find Malavon. Be careful with this one, it's one of the more difficult battles in the game. Once Malavon is gone take the third Emblem (of six). ERSKINE had this to add: In the deep gnome area with the green dome--- on the left side, about 2/3 of the way north there is a building that you can enter and find a corpse-- if you search the corpse it appears to be just a normal long sword he was carrying-- but it is actually "PALE JUSTICE" a sort of "Holy Avenger"-- it just doesn't appear to be magical but it is actually extremely powerful, and you can sell it for a whole 15-30 gp (I guess the merchants are really as dumb as we think). Ed. Note: You don't actually ENTER the building as you would, say to go into a shop. You merely go THROUGH the building, like a tunnel. Also one of the designers (JE Sawyer) has pointed out that since the Pale Justice looks and acts like a normal sword to anyone but a Paladin, that is why it sells so poorly. Q: What's with those weird drawings of EYES on the ground? A: They're traps. Q: In the Boarded Up City, is there anything to do besides going into the large green obvious building? A: There are a couple of barrels with some treasure (I got spells) in about the center of the area, just south of the green building. Beyond that, just some Umber Hulks to go through, and a big green building to go into. Q: What do I do with these Seeds that I found in Malavon's room? A: Take them to the Arboretum in the Severed Hand, of course! Q: What is with this garden-type room? There seems to be a never ending stream of monsters here! A: You have to take out the "screamers" (the stationary mushrooms) in order to stop new monsters from coming in. Q: OK, I've taken out Malavon, now where? A: To take out Ilmadia, of course! From the Boarded City (the area which has Malavon's massive green laboratory), go south through the RIGHT passage to get to the garden. From the garden take the South East (lower right) passage to get to the Mines (you can help the Gnomes here if you want by killing the Salamanders here), then continue all the way to the right to get to the Fire Giant chamber (there are two passages on the right, we want the far right one). Get past the guard, and head south to the lake of lava, then go east to find Ilmadia, an evil Elven wench. (In case you were wondering, she's the elf maid who visited the library in the Severed Hand) Never underestimate women who control Fire Giants should be your motto, so you should make some preparations before talking to her (such as summoning a few Water Elementals, or whatever). Beat her and get the 4th part of the key. Q: Where is Marketh? A: From the Garden, take the passage in the top left. There are some of the absolute COOLEST items in his mansion, but beware Thieves! (The easiest way to get to the garden from the main Salamander cave is to go into the building in the top right -- where FENGLA was) Go upstairs, find Marketh (he's the Thief that insists on talking to you), kill him or agree to spare him, and take his Badge, the 5th part of the key. Q: What do I do with the Drow Ginafae? A: She's being held in Marketh's palace against her will, and should she try to leave, she will be killed. First thing's first, you have to take out Marketh (don't kill him), then talk to her with a Potion of Null Effect (which you should have gotten from Malavon) in your possession to try to help her out. Q: What on earth do I do with a Sack of Potatoes? A: Give it to some Gnomes, of course! From the main cavern of Lower Dorn's Deep (where you came in), take the Lift in the top middle of the screen down to a holding area. A gnome will talk to you, ask if there is anything that you can do to help, then give him the Spuds, it's good for some experience. Plus then you can free the Gnomes, and find their hidden city, which has some interesting shops in it. (such as Nym) Q: Nym sells Squirrels and Birds. Let me guess: these are for the Arboretum in the Severed Hand? A: Yes, they sure are. You get experience for both. Q: Where is the last badge? A: In the temple. From the garden it is the path that leads up and right. Q: I'm getting killed in this temple, what do I do? A: All you need to do to win in here is to take out the Idol. It is located just north of Perdiem. Take it out, and all the undead will die, and the priests will be freed of some form of mind control. Oh, and you get the 6th and final badge from Perdiem. Q: How do I get up these stairs located just north of the Idol? A: You need all 6 of the badge-keys. Just under the stairs are 6 "containers", click on them to place each badge in them, and the stairs will "unlock" allowing you to go up them. I'd rest up (you can do so in the garden) before going up the stairs. Once up there, I'd cast all the preparatory spells you can, then move up and you'll find Poquelin. The 6 badges are: Brother Perdiem's Badge Joril's Badge Krilag's Badge Maiden Ilmadia's Badge Malavon's Badge Marketh's Badge The one that people miss the most is Joril's Badge. To get it, leave Lower Dorn's Deep, and go back to the main Wyrm's Tooth area. Take the southwest passage to get back to the frozen aquarium area. Now to the very southwest of this map is a bridge that leads to a cave. You need to cross this bridge and go into the cave. Joril is in there. (If you can't cross the bridge, then you have to go into the Aquarium, see above for more information) Easthaven Again --------------- Q: Is there anywhere that I can rest up here? A: Yes, the tavern. It's just north of where you appear. Q: So what do I do here? A: First head down to the lake in the bottom left corner of the screen and talk to the townsperson there. He'll tell you to rescue the people from some camp. And he'll give you a nifty new sword. Now go to the east end of the village, and head south across the bridge to find the Camp. Talk to the Priest of Tempus (Everard) there to learn how to get into the tower. Q: The battle with the False Pomab's is impossible! Whenever I beat one of his sentry's they just get back up, and there always seem to be more Pomab's! How do I win? A: Ignore the Sentries as best you can, and concentrate on getting rid of all the False Pomab's. Once they are all gone, the real Pomab will reveal himself. Kill him, and all the Sentries will die with him. The battle with the false Pomab's can be tough--You have to find the real Pomab---Attacking the mirror images (I wish my mirror-image spell worked like that) doesn't do anything, but when you attack the right one one of the other images disappear instead. So find the right one to attack and just wail on his scrawny ass. (from ERSKINE) Q: Where do I go on the level above Pomab, the Crystal won't let me go anywhere! A: Go into the mirror to the left. Q: Any final advice on winning this battle? A: Take out the Golems first, then take out the BOSS. This battle didn't seem as tough as some of the earlier ones (Malavon comes to mind). Misc ---- Q: What do I do with all of these keys? Do I need to keep them for something? What about these other Items I've got? (Myrkul's Holy Symbol, etc.) A: I kept keys only while I was still in the area in which I got the keys, then when I got back to Kuldahar, I sold the keys in the item shop (not the armory). They aren't worth much, but if you discover later that you really DID need them, you can always buy them back. As for the other items, I would suspect that they are useless past the area that you got them in, but as I haven't gotten through the game yet, I can't say for sure. If you want to get rid of them, but want to make sure that they are still around (you can't sell them, by the way), just drop them in a treasure chest somewhere. Q: I gave Valestis (The Elf caretaker in Severed Hand's Arboretum) Seeds, Pure Water, Squirrels, and Birds, but he still says that the Arboretum isn't restored! What else does he need? A: I have no idea. He only asked for three things, seeds, water, and animals. Maybe he wants a way to restore that statue, or maybe... who knows! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heart of Winter Questions ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interplay's Support page: http://www.interplay.com/support/iwdhow/ Q: What happened to the cheats? A: You need to use GETYOURCHEATON:... instead of CHEATERSDOPROSPER:... EX: GETYOURCHEATON:EnableCheatKeys() Q: The shops in Kuldahar aren't selling any new items... what gives? A: This happens if you are using an old IWD save that had already visited these stores. You only get the new items if you are starting a new game, or simply haven't been to those stores yet. Q: If I start an Expansion Only game, can I get back to the regular game? A: No. In Expansion Only games, you are (surprise) limited to the new areas. If you simply wandered in from Kuldahar, you can leave by talking to Hjollder. Q: The expansion is just too easy! A: The expansion is designed for level 9 characters (they would have been better off going for level 11...) and since your characters were probably tough enough to beat Belhifet at the end of IWD... you see the point. Anyway, just boost the difficulty a bit, and that should take care of that. If you really want a challenge, start a new party (full game) and set it to Heart of Fury mode. Then for added fun try going with just ONE character in Heart of Fury mode. You can activate the Heart of Fury mode by running the Config.exe, which you can find in the game directory. (ex: C:\program files\black isle\icewind dale\config.exe) Q: How do I change over to the new "Sneak Attack"? A: Open the Config.exe program, and you'll find it on the second tab, titled "Game." Q: How do I switch Bard Songs? A: Right click the harp icon, then choose your song. Q: Burial Island is really sluggish, what can I do? A: (From JE Sawyer) 1) There are ambient sounds all over the Burial Isle. Lots and lots of them. Try turning off your ambient sounds and see if it makes any difference. 2) You made a team of enemies mad and ran away from them. They're trying to path to you and slowing everything down into mush. I believe the former is more likely than the latter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- General Gaming Questions ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Got any advice on winning [insert tough battle here]? A: Yeah, save and retry. Usually what I'll do first is to save it, then rush the area hacking at everything. When that fails, and it usually does, I begin my planning. Were there magic users? Clerics? What monsters need to be taken out first? Can I clear the area with an Area Effect Spell (Fireball, Icestorm, etc.)? Next I'll try to draw off monsters one by one. It's a lot easier to beat a horde of monsters one at a time, rather than all at once. So I'll move until I spot one monster, make sure it sees me, then slowly lead it back to the waiting party. Make sure the monster follows you, as they have a tendency to just wander back if they lose sight of you. If you can't draw monsters off one by one (i.e. all monsters see you at the same time), you have to start thinking more Tactically. Hit the mages first to prevent them from spellcasting (nothing worse than getting hit by Confusion, or Hold Person, much less a Lightning Bolt) then rush the archers to get them to switch to melee weapons. Try to keep the party together for support, and to prevent flanking. And of course, have your own mages and clerics casting their devastating magics. I usually would have my Conjurer bring up a host of goblins to deal with archers, leaving the tougher enemies for my main party. Finally, if there is a "BOSS", try to deal with it first, as they tend to have the most devastating attacks. Q: I recently played through an area, got some really cool treasures, but then I had to reload to an earlier save, now the when I get the treasures, they are all different! What gives? A: To enhance replay value, most of the better treasures are "randomized." So one time you might get the "Armor of Goodness", the next time you might get "Potion of Not so Goodness." Usually the treasures have the same value, but don't count on it. If you're curious about what Random Items are possible, check out the Walkthrough below. Q: Is Charisma/Reputation important in IWD? A: Not really, no. I think you still get the Charisma Discount at the shops, but it doesn't affect conversations. Reputation exists, but only for the sake of Paladins and Rangers. If your Rep. drops low enough, then the Paladin/Ranger is "fallen" and loses their special abilities. Q: I just stole something right in front of someone's face! Don't they care? A: Ransacking people's homes seems to have fewer consequences in IWD, than it did in BG. No guard ever seems to be called. There are, however, some situations in which an NPC will tell you to leave a door/chest/whatever alone, and they will attack if you ignore that warning. Q: How do I dual-class? Is it worth it? Can I dual more than once? A: Dual classing is reserved only for Human characters, and may not be performed by Bard or Paladins (and you can't dual TO a Bard or a Paladin, either). In order to successfully dual to another class, you must have at least a 15 score in your current classes prime attribute (for a Fighter, that would be STR) and at least a 17 score in the prime attribute of whichever class you want to dual to (so a Mage would be Int of 17). Also, you must be at least level 2 before dual classing. Once you are "dual classed" you are essentially a level 1 of your new class. You are NOT a multi class! So if you were a Fighter, who dualled to Thief, you are now a level 1 Thief, until your Thief level SURPASSES your Fighter level, at which point, your old abilities come back. As to whether it is worth it, is sort of up to personal preference. The advantages are that you end out with a far more powerful character, the disadvantages are that you are very weak while just starting your new class. "Powergamers" will often dual class several of their party members at the same time; such as a Fighter dualling to a Thief, and a Thief dualling to a Mage, while the Mage duals to a Fighter. Finally, no, you can't dual one character more than once. Q: Can my Ranger Dual Wield two swords? A: In a way yes, but not really. If a Ranger is using a one handed weapon, any one handed weapon, without a shield, he will get an extra attack. That's it. No special animations, no cool effects, nothing. Just an extra attack. Q: What was your favorite armor in the game? A: I liked the Mithril Field Plate +2. Sure there is a better armor out there, but, the best feature of the Mithril Plate is that it ISN'T considered magical! Therefore you can wear a Cloak of Protection +2 at the same time to get the best armor class in the game! (Technically there is a better cloak, but it's more rare) Note: With HoW installed the Mithril Field Plate is considered magical. So, the above strategy will only work in HoW if you already had the armor on, and don't remove it. Q: Is there any Elven Chainmail in the game? A: Yes. There is a whole bunch found in the Severed Hand area. If you don't know, then Elven Chainmail can be worn by your Fighter/Mages, Bards, or Fighter/Thieves and they can still cast spells (where applicable) or use thieving skills. Naturally this is a very good item to have! It should be noted that getting ANY Elven Chain is random. So one person might get three sets, while another won't get any. If you don't get one, simply reload the area and try again. Q: I've heard that there is this really cool armor called the Glory of Suffering. How do I get this? A: Yes it is an interesting armor, a Plate Mail +6 (although it drains 25 HP from your max) making it a full 2 AC better than the next best Armor. However, it appears as though the subplot needed to get this armor, as well as several other interesting items, was removed from the game. I thought at one point that it might surface in HoW, but that doesn't seem to be the case. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monster Questions: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: How do I kill trolls? They just keep getting back up! A: Annoying, aren't they? Anyway, to kill a troll, first you have to beat it normally so that it falls down to the ground. It isn't dead yet. Now, your party will still be attacking the troll, but they can't kill it, so pull them back. Now you have to hit the troll with either Fire or Acid. This is easiest to do magically (Burning Hands, Melf's Acid Arrow, Fireball), just be sure not to hit your own party at the same time (Burning Hands and Fireball especially). There are also items such as Burning Oil, and Arrows such as Flame Arrows which also work nicely. Also note that some Trolls seem to get back up even after you've knocked them down AND hit them with Acid/Fire! Then you have to knock them down AGAIN, and then acid/fire them again as well. And even more rare is the case where you manage to kill Trolls without fire or acid, either by repeatedly knocking them down or mere luck. Q: I can't seem to make any headway on these Cryshal Sentries, how do I kill them? A: You can't kill them. You must kill whoever is controlling them to get rid of them. At best you can knock them down, but they will get back up. If you knock them down AND Phase them at the same time they will die, but that isn't the easiest thing to try. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technical Questions: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Can I get IWD to run at any higher resolutions than 640x480? A: Not unless you go out and purchase the expansion pack, Heart of Winter. Then you can change resolutions in the Config menu (which you can access either from the Autorun screen -- when you first put the disc in -- or from the config.exe in the game directory). Q: Can I play IWD in a Window, rather than in Full Screen Mode? A: Yes, just press ALT-ENTER at anytime while playing. Black Isle says that this will be a drag on performance of the game, but it actually seemed FASTER when I did it. There's also an OPTION for this in the "Graphics" options. Q: How can I get rid of this silly "Register Now!" thing without registering? A: You can either register, or if that thought horrifies you, then after three times of ignoring it, it will bring up a little console, type 123 in it, and it will go away forever. (thanks to lauren for that) Q: Can I set HOTKEYS to certain spells, or whatever? A: Sure, just run the IWD Configuration Program located in the Start Menu. (Usually, Start > Programs > Black Isle > Icewind Dale > ) You can also monkey about with some other game options here, such as the Search Nodes (used in pathfinding), Cache size, or AI Speed. What is AI Speed? It literally speeds up the entire game. Monsters, your characters, everything will run faster. I hear that there are weird bugs that happen if you increase this, however. HoW adds quite a few new things to the Config program, including the new difficulty, Heart of Fury, new resolution settings, etc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Questions: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Is Icewind Dale worth getting? Is it better than Diablo II? Or is it just "Baldur's Gate Lite"? A: I was surprised by just how much I liked Icewind Dale. I was somewhat expecting a "BG Lite" type of game, but Icewind Dale is anything but a lightweight. I've only played the first Diablo, and so I can't really comment on whether IWD is a better game. So, yes, Icewind Dale is worth getting. Q: Any cheats for IWD? A: Yes, check out the CHEATS section further down in the FAQ. Also there is a Character Editor from the good people at TeamBG: http://www.teambg.com/ If you want the in-game cheats added to the game, simply download the latest patch located at http://www.interplay.com/icewind/ Q: I have the Official Strategy Guide, and it SAYS that there are cheats, but when I try them, they just plain don't work. What gives? A: The in-game cheats were taken out of the Release version of IWD at the last minute. In order to get these cheats to work, you must first download and install the latest patch (right now, it's 1.06). You can find any and all patches at: http://www.interplay.com/icewind/ Q: What is the Experience Cap in IWD? And is there a way to remove it? A: Yes, it's about 1.8 million exp points. This is usually done to keep the end of the game balanced, otherwise you might win too easily. However, most people only get to about 1 million exp points by the end of the game, so there isn't much purpose to removing the cap. And of course there is a way to remove it. Just check out TeamBG: http://www.teambg.com/ The Experience Cap under Heart of Winter will be 8 MILLION, which is higher than even Baldur's Gate II. With 8 mil. exp. your characters can get to level 30. Q: What's with all the little x's? A: You mean in the version number and contents? At the time, I didn't know if I was even going to release this FAQ, and so the version number (x.1) reflected that. I also thought that I might want to later turn this into a full Walkthrough/Guide, which when completed would naturally be version 1.0, therefore a FAQ-only would have to have a "lesser" version number. Currently the Walkthrough portion isn't finished, but when it is the version number will be 2.0. The contents (x... My Party for example) were done out of whimsy. Q: I have another question .... A: Got other questions? Email me! manymoose@hotmail.com For a speedier response, make sure to put "Icewind Dale Questions" as the subject. =============================================================================== Walkthrough =============================================================================== This walkthrough was written during my third time going through the game. The party I used this time was as follows: Human Male Paladin (to take advantage of the Pale Justice sword) Human Male Fighter dualled to Conjurer at level 3 Human Female Bard (to identify items and cast Magic Missile) Half-Elf Female Cleric/Ranger Human Female Fighter (using Halberds!) Halfling Male Fighter/Thief This party has just about everything you could possibly want. It comes with two Healers (Cleric/Ranger and Paladin) two Mages (Conjurer and Bard) and five melee-ready warriors. Two concerns with this party are the Conjurer getting himself killed in battle, and the amount of multiclassing makes leveling up slower. To address the first concern, I will start out with a fighter, and dual him to Conjurer later. Dualling at level 2 is quicker, but level 3 gives another proficiency point. Location Note: Throughout the walkthrough I use various locations listed in the (x 900 y 400) format. This means that what I am talking about is 900 pixels from the left and 400 from the top. To find your location press the X button on your keyboard. This displays the x,y at the mouse cursor. You can change the location key to anything you want by opening the Icewind Dale Configuration Program in the start menu. Experience Note: To get the amount of experience gained in a quest to display (the default option will say only that you gained experience, not how much was gained), you need to download the 1.06 patch, and follow the instructions in the readme. Also the experiences that I get may not exactly correspond to those you may get. Traps Note: I don't make a specific mention in this walkthrough where each and every trap is. Although this would be very useful, I just don't have the time to research it. However, it is safe to assume that every dungeon is heavily trapped, and requires a thief with Detect Traps ACTIVE (thieves don't automatically detect traps, you must turn that skill on) to find the traps. Items Note: Throughout the walkthrough I list which items you can get at each and every treasure chest, sack, desk, etc. These items come complete with a brief description. These descriptions are just a brief summary of that items abilities. If you want the full description, check out my Item List. (also at GameFAQs) Patch Note: This walkthrough was written using the latest (V1.06) version of the game. There have been three patches released since IWD shipped, so make sure that you have the latest patch. http://www.interplay.com/icewind/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Easthaven (AR 1000) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Only a few things to do in Easthaven before we set off on an adventure. Somewhere along the lines here, you need to drop by Pomab's Emporium (x 3400 y 550) and equip your party with adventuring equipment. You can also buy potions and scrolls in the Temple of Tempus (x 550 y 550). Then there are the following quests to do, after which go talk to Hrothgar. (more on him after the QUESTS) QUEST: Clear the Tavern's Storeroom. (Tavern AR 1006, Storeroom AR 1015) You start the game in the Tavern, and naturally after enduring Hrothgar's little speech, you get control of your characters. The first quest to be done is right here in the Tavern. Talk to the barkeeper, and try to get a drink. She'll tell you that her storeroom was overrun by big bugs, and asks for your help to clear it out. Go down the stairs (x 920 y 300) to find the bugs. These guys aren't so tough, take them out, go back upstairs, talk to her again, and get your reward (5gp, 1200 experience). QUEST: Give the fisherman some Wine. (Pomab's AR 1007, Fisherman's AR 1009) Buy a bottle of Wine from Pomab's (3gp) and take it to the first building you see south of you, on the lake (x 1980 y 1220). Inside you find a drunk fisherman who has no more liquor. Talk to him to get him to ask you for a bottle of Wine, then talk to him again to give it to him. For your trouble you get 1200 exp and 6 gp. Alternatively... It is possible to get the Fisherman in Easthaven to give up drinking. It requires that the character doing the talking have both 16 INT and 15 CHA. (from Souma) QUEST: Solve the Mystery of Jhonen's Aqua Elf Talk to Jhonen (x 1450 y 1030) to find out that he's been plagued by a woman singing a song. Offer to help him. Head to the very southwest corner of the map and talk to the Aqua Elf (x 140 y 2633). Agree to take the sword up to Jhonen. If you talk to her with a Bard, you greet her with a song for 1200 exp, and can memorize her song for an extra 1200 exp. Alternatively she will give you "Elisia's Token of Faith" gems worth 75GP. Go back to Jhonen and tell him nice things about the Elf to get 1200 exp. Return to the Elf and tell her that you have succeeded, and she gives you a further 1200 exp and a Pearl. Jhonen's sword becomes more important later when we return to Easthaven. QUEST: Clear the Wolf out of Apsel's House (Apsel's House AR 1010) Just south and west of Jhonen is Apsel (x 770 y 1818), a scrimshander. His house has been taken over by a wolf, and he wants your help to clear it out. Agree to help him, and enter his house (x 1120 y 1717), you will have to break the door down, or pick it. Kill the wolf, go back out and get your reward: 1200 exp, Apsel's Dagger, 25gp. QUEST: Kill the Goblins and Retrieve Damien's Fish Note: We're coming up on the first RANDOM TREASURES in the game. Normally when you open a chest, you will get the same items every time you open that chest. If the first time through the game you find a Hammer of Unholy Smiting, the next time you will find that. However, some items are random. One time you will find the Hammer, the next it could be the Armor of Unholy Protection. If ever you're unsatisfied with the random item you got, simply reload to a previous save (one that isn't in the same area), and try again. I list the random treasure as RANDOM followed by a list of possible items. Most will only give you ONE item from that list, some however will give you two (or more). At the bridge (x 2700 y 1830) in the south east part of town, Damien will talk to you and complain of goblins. Go south, then east. Goblins will shoot arrows at you from the bottom of the ravine there. Once you get around the ravine, kill the goblins. Search the Goblin Elite's body for Knucklehead Trout Short Bow 12gp Dagger RANDOM ITEM - High Quality Morning Star (any 1 of these) High Quality Dagger Potion of Healing Splint Mail Return the fish to Damien for a reward, 1200 exp. MISC: Search the houses for treasure This isn't really important, since the treasures aren't that great. One house has a winter wolf pelt, but that's about it. MISC: A Minstrel's Tale The first townsperson you talk to with a Bard will give you a moonstone gem if you tell them a tale. MISC: Talk to Erevain (Inn AR 1008) Inside the Inn (x 3215 y 1320), in the first room on the left (x 557 y 230) you will find Erevain, an Elf. He's not really important, but you do bump into him later, though he won't be nearly so alive. If you don't mind the reputation loss (-4), then kill him and take his Broad Sword, a +2 weapon. Very useful this early in the game. (Although everyone in town will attack you if you do this) PLOT: Talk to Hrothgar about the Adventure (Hrothgar's House AR 1004) Once all the above foolishness is out of the way, go into Hrothgar's House (x 2020 y 350), and talk to him. Join up with his expedition, and he'll ask you to look into the missing caravan first. Head out of town via the southeast bridge, then head east. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.1 The Missing Caravan (Exterior AR 1200, Interior AR 1201) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow this path. You will be attacked by wolves. Further down the path you will find the caravan. But what's this? An orc leaving the scene of the crime going into a cave? Follow him into the cave. Immediately inside the cave you will be attacked by some Orcs. The whole cave is crawling with Orcs, Orc Shamans, and Orc Bowmen. Head up to the fork (x 2480 y 960), then go left. This chamber is particularly Orc-infested. Head south into the smaller chamber, and get the treasure at (x 2170 y 1560): Spell - Protection from Petrification (Mage) 2 Gems Go all the way north from here until you get the option to get left or right (x 1170 y 640). To the right are some more Orcs, and to the left are more Orcs and treasure (x 460 y 650): Silver Necklace 22 gp RANDOM ITEM - Fire Dagger (+2 Thac0, 15% chance of 1d4 fire dmg) (any 1 of these) Girdle of Beatification (Bless) Ring of Protection +1 Ring of Lesser Resistance (+2 to save vs. magic) Quiet Boots (+7% Stealth, Rangers and Thieves only) Go back to the fork, and take the Southwest path. Keep going southwest until you get to (x 630 y 1150), at which point go south through some more Orcs to find the BOSS (Ogre). Be sure to check the Ogre's corpse for the Caravan Contract. Get the treasure at the east end of the room here: Spell - Horror (Mage) 21 gp Winter Wolf Pelt Once that's done, leave the cave and go back to Easthaven. QUEST: The Caravan Contract (Fishmonger's House AR 1005) Take this to the Fishmonger (x 2480 y 430), which is the house one left of the Tavern, and one right of Hrothgar's. Give the Contract to the Fishmonger (you have to talk to him about Scrimshaw first) to get some experience (1200 exp). Next, go talk to Hrothgar who has 2400 more experience for you. He also wants you to run a list of supplies to Pomab. Do so. Nothing complicated about this one. You get 1200 experience for giving the list to Pomab. Return to Hrothgar and tell him that you are ready to go. You won't be returning to Easthaven for awhile, but there's a much better town just ahead. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Kuldahar Pass (AR 2000) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the avalanche, a hermit approaches with information. There are goblins all over this area. Although not a threat to any warrior, goblins can be quite deadly to low level mages. There are a number of things to do here, none of which are required. To get to Kuldahar, simply head right, cross the bridge, and leave the area. (x 3825 y 1225) QUEST: Clear out the Mill (Mill AR 2004, 2005, 2006) At the far east of the map, just north of the bridge to Kuldahar is a Mill (x 3260 y 400) that has recently been overrun by goblins. Ignore the goblin outside of it, he's harmless. Go inside the mill. Inside you will be confronted by an Orc named Uligar. Kill him and his cronies. Be sure to search Uligar for some interesting items: Spell - Blur (Mage) Gold Axe RANDOM ITEM - Applebane Dagger +1 (+1 Thac0) (any 1 of these) Stoutward (Small Shield +1) Wand of Trap Detection The Merry Shorthorn (casts Bless once per day, Bards) Glimglam's Cloak (+1 AC, +1 Saving Throws) Go down the stairs. There is a hoard of goblins here to clear out. Then there are three treasures to get (x 300 y 150), (x 375 y 125) and (x 525 y 225): 5 throwing axes 15 gp 3 Gems Once that's done, open the door under the stairs (x 840 y 140) to free a boy, Jermsy. Talk to the lad and he'll be freed. Offer to take him to the village, and you get 2400 experience. Next climb the stairs at the bottom of the area (x 250 y 415), kill the monsters, and leave the Mill satisfied in the knowledge that you made a difference. QUEST: Deal with the Ogre in the Silo (Silo AR 2003) Situated in the dead center of this area is a giant grain silo (x 1730 y 750). Within the silo you will find an Ogre with a headache. There are three ways to deal with this ogre: 1. Talk to him, insult him, and he'll attack you. Kill him. 2. If you have a Druid, or Fighter/Druid they will discover a fix for his headaches. (The Druid MUST be the one who talks to him, though) 3. Talk to him once, then in Kuldahar talk to Arundel about the ogre. Return with the answer. Any of these ways works fine, however you get 1200 experience for the non- violent solutions, and only 270 for killing him. QUEST: Clear out the Goblin Base (Base AR 2001, Cave AR 2002) At the north end of this area (x 1500 y 90) is a passage to the goblin base. Once there, you will be attacked by a lot of goblins. Once they've been dealt with, head north into the cave (x 1166 y 280), and kill the beetles there. You can find some minor treasures in the cave, such as Magic Arrows. Once these quests are done, head east out of the area and into Kuldahar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Kuldahar (AR 2100) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to Kuldahar! This will be your base of operations for most of the game, so get used to it. There are a number of shops here with which to get new items for your party: Orrick's Tower (Spells and things) -- (x 350 y 800) Gerth's Equipment Shoppe (standard items) -- (x 1000 y 1800) Conlan's Smithy (weapons and armor) -- (x 1500 y 400) Temple of Ilmater (healing, scrolls) -- (x 2900 y 700) Evening Shade Inn (rest) -- (x 1150 y 550) Root Cellar Tavern (drinks) -- (x 2030 y 860) Oswald's Skyship (potions) -- (x 3100 y 450) PLOT: Arundel the Archdruid (AR 2112, 2116) The first and most important place to go is, of course, Arundel's house. You can find Arundel's House just south of the first bridge (x 1400 y 2150). Go inside and talk to Arundel to find out what you should be doing. He tells you to go to the Vale of Shadows, there to search for an EVIL force. You can also mention the Ogre from the previous area, if you talk to him again. Getting to the Vale of Shadows is easy. Simply leave the Kuldahar area, and click on the Vale of Shadows. Interestingly, you can leave Kuldahar from any direction, including where you came in from. QUEST: Convince a Townsman that Ilmater is Good Somewhere around Arundel's house (I found the guy on the bridge to the east of his house) (x y ) you will find a townsperson in orange. Talk to this man with a Cleric (not just in your party, have your Cleric do the talking) about Kuldahar, and ask about the Temple. He will bring up Ilmater, talk to him about it, and convince him to worship Ilmater for 1200 exp. (thanks to Nereid for this) Matt Richardson sent me this: I found out that a Paladin can do the same. Also, a Druid can convince the man to worship Nature. I did both in my game, and got two 1200 experience point bonuses, plus the man game me a gem when I championed Nature-worship. I just thought you might want to know! QUEST: Open the Locked Door See that mysterious door that won't open? Well you can't open it. Ever. I only mention it to prevent people from asking about it. QUEST: Beat back the Yeti Invasion At the east end of the city (x 3150 y 1640), Mirek will come running up to you yelling of Yeti. Then right behind him come a gaggle of Yeti. Dispatch the Yeti and talk to Mirek again. Seems that a precious family heirloom of his (a necklace) was stolen by a Yeti Chieftan in the Vale of Shadows. When you return it to him, he gives you 2400 exp, and a magic sling. QUEST: Untangle Eidan's Legacy (Tavern AR 2111, Inn AR 2114, 2115) There's a bit of a controversy over how Aldwin the Halfling came to possess the local Inn. Go into the tavern (x 2030 y 860) and talk to Amelia the barmaid about Aldwin and the Inn. She'll tell you that she thinks Eidan, a previous owner of the Inn, never meant to leave it to him. Go to the Inn (x 1150 y 550) and talk to Aldwin about this. You won't get anywhere. Go upstairs and search the third room's chest (x 300 y 275) to find Eidan's Legacy Ring. Go back downstairs and accuse Aldwin of things. He'll spill the whole sordid story. Now you have two options of what to do, accept cheap rates at the inn for not telling anyone, or getting Aldwin to confess to the town elders. Confession gets you 3225 experience. MISC: Lysan Also in the tavern is the other barmaid, Lysan. You can talk to her, though she won't have anything interesting to say. For now, anyway... MISC: Kresselack and the Bonedancers After helping Mirek, talk to a Townsperson with a Cleric and ask them about The Vale of Shadows and Kresselack to hear about bonedancers and get a Garnet Gem. You can repeat this as often as you like with other Townspersons or even the same one (Bug IMHO). It does not work with a Bard, but I have not tested it with a Paladin or a Druid Once you're done in here, leave Kuldahar and head over to the Vale of Shadows! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Vale of Shadows (AR 3000) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Vale of Shadows is the first major "area" of the game, and consists of numerous small caves and crypts, and one big Tomb. Naturally we need to hit each of the small caves before tackling the big Tomb. The Tomb is covered in the next sub-section as "Kresselack's Tomb." The first crypt can be found by going directly right (x 1830 y 240). Crypt 1: (AR 3401) ------------------ Traps are located all around this crypt, have a thief searching for them at all times. Once entered you will be beset upon by numerous of the lesser undead, skeletons and zombies. The skeleton on the wall in front of you (x 775 y 670) has some treasure: Spell - Luck (Mage) 2 Potions Studded Leather Armor Deeper in to the Crypt is another skeleton on a wall (x y ) with more treasure: Spell - Stinking Cloud (Mage) Short Bow Arrows That's it for the first Crypt, on to the next. Go back left from the first crypt, then head south. At (x 750 y 1300) take the right path, and then go up to find the next crypt (x 1200 y 420). Crypt 2: (AR 3101) ------------------ Again as before be wary of traps. (This is pretty constant, you always have to beware of traps) And again you are attacked by undead, this time there are also Ghouls and Ghasts added into the mix. Search the altar statue at (x 350 y 480) to find some treasure: Gate Key (necessary item!) Spells - Identify (Mage) Remove Fear (Mage) Healing Potion Going right, then up will reveal more undead, and a coffin full of fun fun treasures (x 766 y 155): Spells - Grease (Mage) Strength (Mage) Gold 2 Potions RANDOM ITEM - Huge Long Bow (mightier than the L. Bow, harder to use) (any 1 of these) Flawless Two Handed Sword Halberd of Sparks +1 (15% chance 1d10 electric dmg) Finest Long Sword (+2 Thac0) From the entrance, going left then up leads to still more undead, and a shelf (x 267 y 327) with more treasures: Leather Armor +1 Spell - Cure Light Wounds (Priest) That's it for that Crypt, so leave. Head south, and west until you reach the very bottom left corner of the map. Then go right along the bottom path. There will be a path that splits to the north (x 2575 y 1600), go up it. The path then goes left to an open area with a statue. Continue north to find the third crypt (x 2600 y 450). Crypt 3: (AR 3201) ------------------ Again you are rushed by undead. Just a little to the northwest (x 180 y 580) is a container with treasure: Spells - Find Traps (Priest) Chant (Priest) Go into the east room, to find a shelf (x 780 y 460) with some treasure: 2 Potions Head north, and in the eastern chamber is another coffin (x 850 y 315) full of treasure: (careful, it's trapped) Gold Gold Ring Bastard Sword Spells - Infravision (Mage) Protection from Evil (Mage) Potion of Infravision Chainmail +1 Once that is done, leave this crypt, and go back down to the Statue area. From here, go west, until you see the path that leads down and to the right. Follow that path to a cave (x 2020 y 1360) with a Yeti Chieftan guarding it. Kill that Chieftan and take his treasure: Mirek's Family Heirloom (give to Mirek for some experience!) Yeti Pelt RANDOM ITEM - Short Sword +1 (any 1 of these) War Hammer +1 Short Bow +1 Long Sword +1 Morning Star +1 Enter the cave. Cave: (AR 3001) --------------- We don't need to be here right now, but it's useful. First there are several treasures to pick up, and second clearing out the Yeti now makes life easier later. Remember this cave, you'll have to come back soon. There are four crates of treasure here, all located at about (x 360 y 415): Mace +1 Chainmail 6 Potions Gold Necklace Gold 4 Gems Spells - Glyph of Warding (Priest) Prayer (Priest) Leave the cave, and get back to the southernmost path (from the statue, head right, then south). Go right and into the fourth crypt (x 3380 y 1450). Crypt 4: (AR 3301) ------------------ When you enter here, a skeleton by the name of Therik will accost you. Demand entrance to the crypt and he will attack. He has some interesting items on him: RANDOM ITEM - Flawless Two Handed Axe (+2 Thac0) (1 of these) Finest Halberd (+2 Thac0, +10% slashing resist) Potion of Action Transference (perm. +1 CHA, -1 DEX) Ring of the Warrior (+1 Thac0) Phase Dagger (15% chance enemy is phased) (and 1 of these) High Quality Bastard Sword (+1 Thac0) High Quality Battle Axe (+1 Thac0) High Quality Long Sword (+1 Thac0) Bastard Sword Battle Axe Long Sword Go east across the bridge, through the skeletal mob, and north to the wall. On the wall are numerous cubbies where skeletons have been stuffed. One of these has treasure (x 1540 y 300): Helmet Long Sword Gold Continue east until you reach the stairs, and then go south down the stairs. Go west into the room with the circle of coffins. One of the coffins (x 1900 y 790) is open and has treasure: Spell - Color Spray (Mage) Dagger +1 Gold Potion of Strength Just north of the circle is a skeleton sticking out of the wall with treasure (x 1640 y 585): Gold Spell - Invisibility (Mage) Go south into the next room and search the coffin there as well (x 1800 y 1250): (careful, it's trapped!) Sanctum Key (necessary item!) Gold Broken Armor (no purpose, just sell it) Spell - Chill Touch (Mage) Potion of Insulation That done, leave the crypt, and head north through a shadow ambush to the big crypt, Kresselack's Tomb (x 3250 y 435). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.1 Kresselack's Tomb (AR 3501, 3502, 3503) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You NEED these items: Gate Key Sanctum Key If you do not have these items, you skipped them in the previous crypts (see the above section) and need to go back and get them. Level 1: -------- From where you start, go up the right passage, and open the door. This leads to a large room with a big glowing green pool. Clear out all the skeletons here. There are 4 side passages here, and one major passage to the north. The first passage to the left of where you came in (x 840 y 1360) has nothing down it but monsters and a small box by the coffin with minor treasures. Open the door just north of the first passage (x 900 y 1130), and enter this passage. Clear out the wights and zombies to access the open coffin at (x 440 y 1025). Careful this one is trapped. Open it to get the treasure: Priest's Key (Necessary Item!) 3 Potions Gauntlets of Weapon Skill (+1 Thac0) Now go to the passage just to the right from where you came in (x 1400 y 1515) enter the room, clear out the undead, and get the treasure (x 1600 y 1990): 4 Potions Long Sword +1 Now we have only one side passage left, the only locked door here (except the main doors), which we now have the Priest's Key to open. (x 1600 y 1385) Immediately inside is a treasure (x 1800 y 1375): Ring Potion of Strength Gold Spell - Armor (Mage) Short Bow +1 Continue to the right, clear out the Ghouls, to get to the coffin full of treasure (x 2020 y 1530): Myrkul's Holy Symbol (necessary item!) War Hammer Splint Mail Potion of Genius Spells - Larloch's Minor Drain (Mage) Burning Hands (Mage) That done, we now have the ability to open up those big double doors at the top of the main room. Once opened, an irritating Skeletal Mage named Mytos talks to you. If you ask Mytos to search the tomb, and try to convince him of this non-violent solution you still get attacked, but you get some extra experience (about 3225). Mytos' items: Warhammer +1 Random Gem Trick: You may be able to talk to Mytos again and again, each time gaining 3225 experience. From where we now stand, the passage continues to the north, and there are also two side passages, one to the left, and one to the right. Go up the main passage to the north. There's a really big shadow here (x 1850 y 285) called Myrkul's Sending. Beat him and get some treasure: Ring of Shadows (+15% stealth skill, rangers and thieves only) RANDOM ITEM - Massive Warhammer (1d4+3, -2 Thac0, req. 18 STR) (any 1 of these) Dazer (Club +1, 5% chance to stun) Static Dagger +1 (50% chance of 1d3 electrical dmg) Crooked Flail (+1, 50% chance of 1d4 piercing dmg) Reinforced Large Shield +1 (+10% resist to slashing) Mage Dagger +1 (+1 1st level spell) Go back down, and take the left passage (x 1500 y 620), follow it up, then down to the coffin (x 833 y 685). When you open the coffin, a trap is set off that releases bunches of new skeletons, but you still get treasure: Gold Spell - Haste (Mage) Scroll of Protection from Fire Short Bow +1 Go back, and go right through the last passage (x 1770 y 710). Soon you'll go south to (x 1910 y 1120) where you will find a secret door. Open the secret door to reveal a Mummy. Beat the Mummy, and get the treasure contained in his sarcophagus: Mausoleum Key (Necessary Item!) Potion of Genius Spells - Knock (Mage) Resist Fear (Mage) Mage Robe of Cold Resistance RANDOM ITEM - Finest Light Crossbow (+4 Thac0) (any 1 of these) Giant Halberd (2d8 dmg, -1 Thac0, -2 AC, min 18 STR) Finest Heavy Crossbow (+2 dmg, +4 Thac0 Diseased Halberd +1 (10% chance target is diseased) There is also a small box of treasures just in front of the coffin: Gold Ring Gold Necklace Gold Spells - Aid (Priest) Blindness (Mage) Head right, up, right, and down to get to the doors at (x 2200 y 1330), open them to get to the next level. Level 2: -------- There's only one thing to do at the moment, and that is to open the only door in front of you. You are now in a long hallway leading west. Somewhere along the way, you will trigger a trap. You can't disarm this trap, so don't bother. However, if you hug the wall to the north, you can avoid the trap altogether. (It creates several skeletons to fight you, so it isn't that bad) Anyway, past this hallway is a large chamber filled to bursting with enemies. Skeletons, Skeletal Mages, Imbued Wights, etc. Search the Skeletal Mage for some treasure: Bracers AC 8 Random Gem There is further treasure in the open coffin located right there (x 660 y 840): Wand of Sleep 4 Potions Spells - Cure Moderate Wounds (Priest) Agannazar's Scorcher (Mage) RANDOM ITEM - Massive Warhammer (1d4+3, -2 Thac0, req. 18 STR) (any 1 of these) Dazer (Club +1, 5% chance to stun) Static Dagger +1 (50% chance of 1d3 electrical dmg) Crooked Flail (+1, 50% chance of 1d4 piercing dmg) Reinforced Large Shield +1 (+10% resist to slashing) Mage Dagger +1 (+1 1st level spell) There are four side passages here, two to the north, and another two to the south. We'll start with the northern passage (x 990 y 445), go up the passage to get some treasure: Gold Potion of Regeneration Wand of Armory Spell - Silence 15' Radius (Priest) Morning Star +1 Next we'll hit the passage located just to the right of this one (x 1300 y 700), open the door and go in. There are four containers on the north wall with some very minor treasures in them (mostly just gold). Open the door at (x 1920 y 520) and go through. Head left to get: Plain Key (needed) Spell - Slow Poison (Priest) The southwest passage has only a few monsters in it. So, go in the southeast passage (x 860 y 1333), open the door and go in. There are a number of treasures found in the walls here, but the real attraction is the door in the south (x 1000 y 1820), open it and go through. Go left to find the skeleton at (x 575 y 1725) and get its treasures: Spell - Hold Person (Priest) Black Wolf Charm (Needed for the Lever, +10 Max HP, +1 AC) Go back to the main chamber, and search the rightmost column for a lever (x 925 y 890), use the lever to open the left gear door. Go through the door to get to level 3. Level 3: -------- You are in a very large chamber filled to bursting with undead. Plus there are several new types of undead such as Spectral Knights for you to deal with. From here there is the main passage that continues to the left, and two side passages, one to the north and another to the south. Go up the north passage (x 2300 y 640) first. There's a Mummy up here with some shadows backing it up. There are three treasures to pick up here, one to the left (x 2112 y 400), one in the middle (x 2485 y 350), and one to the right (x 2725 y 530): Spells - Silence 15' (Priest) Cure Moderate Wounds (Priest) Ghoul Touch (Mage) Shocking Grasp (Mage) Gold Gems 5 Potions Helmet Ancient Armor (can sell) Leave this chamber, and go into the southern side passage (x 1600 y 1650). There are Imbued Wights (they cast Magic Missile) and Chosen Zombies here. And again there are three treasures, one to the left (x 1250 y 1667), one in the middle (x 1450 y 1860), and one to the right (x 1760 y 1915): Gold Composite Long Bow Spells - Chant (Priest) Shield (Mage) Cure Light Wounds (Priest) Magic Missile (Mage) Color Spray (Mage) Gems 3 Potion Leave this chamber, go back into the main room, and continue down the left passage. There are lots of enemies here, Spectral Knights, Skeletal Mages, etc. So, you might want to draw some enemies off, kill them, and work your way through them like that. Work your way left to the door, open it, and go through. Here you will find the Skeletal Knight, Kresselack. This is his tomb. Talk to him (you couldn't kill him if you tried), and agree to get rid of the Priestess of Auril for him. You MUST agree to this! Leave the Tomb completely, and get back to the Vale of Shadows. Remember the Cave that we cleared the Yeti out of? Well it's the cave under the giant statue in the middle of the area. Go into it to find Lysan (the barmaid), who is also the Priestess of Auril. Talk to her, and tell her that you are there to kill her. She'll summon more Yeti. Kill her and her Yeti friends: Morning Star +1 After she is dealt with, a Shadow will tell you that he is free. This isn't Kresselack, so return to Kresselack and give him the good news. You will get 13,000 experience for the deed, and he'll tell you that he ISN'T the evil that plagues Kuldahar. How useful. Search his nearby coffin (x 350 y 500) for some treasure: Healing Potion Gold Plate Mail Helmet Kresselack's Sword (Two Handed, +1 Thac0, +10% cold resist) RANDOM ITEM - Fine Long Sword +1 (+2 Thac0) (any 1 of these) Phasing Bastard Sword +1 (15% chance target is phased) Giant Two Handed Sword (+4 dmg, -1 AC & Thac0) Turodahel (Long Sword +2, +1 INT) Cradle of Mielikki (Scimitar +1) Flaming Short Sword +1 (50% chance of 1d3 fire dmg) Return to Kuldahar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.2 Post Vale Kuldahar ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once back in Kuldahar, you will want to get rid of the keys that you gathered in the Vale: Sanctum Key Gate Key Plain Key Priest's Key Myrkul's Holy Symbol Mausoleum Key Most of these can be sold to Gerth's item shop, however Myrkul's Holy Symbol will have to be dropped off somewhere. If you haven't already given Mirek his family heirloom, do that now for 2400 exp and a magic sling. Mirek can usually be found near the Potter's. PLOT: Talk to Arundel Inform Arundel of everything that has transpired for 10,350 experience. He tells you of a Heartstone Gem, which could be used to root out the source of the Evil, and that this can be found in the Temple of the Forgotten God. Agree to go there. QUEST: Get Lysan's Items from the Tavern Since Lysan was an evil priestess of Auril, one wonders what she was doing working as a barmaid in the tavern. Go to the tavern and talk to the barkeep there. Tell him that you had to kill Lysan, and that she was evil. He has her items, so ask for those nicely: Protection from Fire Spells - Cure Critical Wounds (Priest) Cure Serious Wounds (Priest) Mantle of the Coming Storm (+1 AC, +30% cold & fire resist, +1 save para) Once you're done here, leave and go to the Temple of the Forgotten God. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Temple of the Forgotten God (AR 3600, 3601, 3602, 3603) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you're at the temple, go north to find a fleeing Verbeeg (the least of all giants). It would seem as though the temple has been invaded by someone before you got a chance to. At any rate, go inside the temple. Level 1: -------- Once inside, you will quickly find an Acolyte who assumes that you were part of the invading host that already sacked the temple. Nothing you say can change his mind, and he will attack you. Up ahead is a big sitting statue, and two passages, one to the left and one to the right. Take the passage to the LEFT. (x 1030 y 1130) This passage leads south to a series of rooms on the left. There is a treasure chest at (x 480 y 1700): Potion of Stone Form RANDOM ITEM - Long Bow +1 Protector (+2 Thac0, +1 AC) (any 1 of these) Light Crossbow +1 (+3 Thac0, +1 dmg) Long Bow +2 Defender (+3 Thac0, +2 dmg, +2 AC) Short Bow +1 Medium Shield +1 Protection From Fire Scroll Spells - Ghost Armor (Mage) Hold Person (Mage) Flame Arrow (Mage) Web (Mage) The next room also has treasure (x 515 y 1410): RANDOM ITEM - Greater Ring of the Warrior (+1 Thac0, +1 AC, removed in (any 1 of these) HoW) Boots of Many Paths (cast Blur once a day) Ring of Missile Deflection (+10% missile resist) Black Knight (Summons a Black Knight) Amulet of Protection +1 (+1 AC, +1 saving throws) Boots of Moander (immune to Entangle) Studded Necklace w/ Zios Gems (non-magical!) Badge of the Brave (can cast Emotion: Courage once/day) The last side room before the main room has some bookshelves with some potions on them. Go up into the library room here (x 510 y 970) and there are a couple of Acolytes here with a Verbeeg. Oh, and there are a lot of dead Verbeeg already. Interesting. There are 7 different bookshelves arrayed around the room here with: Spells - Skull Trap (Mage) Lots of History Books Go back to the sitting statue, and this time take the other passage (x 1580 y 1000). This passage goes south into a small room. Search the barrels in the corner (x 2390 y 1425) to find some treasure: Potion of Healing (cursed) Head north up the right passage to get to an Acolyte guarding some stairs. Down the stairs is the passage to the next level (x 825 y 450). Level 2: -------- From where we are, you have to go north and east into some nicer looking tunnels. Along this Grand Hallway are rooms on each side, one on the north and one on the south all down it. Each of these four rooms has a treasure chest in it (that could be trapped), the total treasures of all these chests are: Gold 2 Potions RANDOM ITEM - Spiked Long Sword +1 (25% chance of 2d6 piercing dmg, (any 1 of these) removed in HoW) Short Sword of Lesser Phasing (10% phased, +1d2 cold dmg) Studded Leather +1 Shadowed (+15% Stealth, +5% magic res) Studded Leather +1 Reinforced Leather +1 (+35% crushing resist) RANDOM ITEM - Two Handed Sword of Resistance +1 (+5% magic resist, (any 1 of these) removed in HoW) Two Handed Swo