The next battle, albeit an optional one, is the four Iron Golems guarding the Black Raven's Tomb. If this battle is tough enough for vanilla IWD2 it has gotten even worse for Tactics. The key here is to put in some extra preparation by way of pre-buffs. In addition to the usual preparations, I also do the following:
1) Iron Golems take damage only from +3 or better weapons. So Markus switches over to Stormbreaker, and Stygar switches over to his Club of Disruption.
2) Elanna casts Mordenkainen's Sword. She'll be a key contributor since the sword acts as a +3 weapon.
3) Alliria casts Barkskin not only her herself, but also on Markus (once from her memorized spells) and on Stygar (once from her Oakshield). Markus and Stygar will be the key sources of damage against the Golems, so it pays to maximize their protection. Keep in mind that Barkskin will stack with other sources of generic armor class like an Amulet of Natural Armor or the Brazen Bands.
4) Lady Elanna casts Stoneskin on Lord Markus and Akutagawa as well, so that everyone has damage reduction. Improved Invisibility may be an idea, and I've sometimes done it before, though not in this video. Keep in mind it has less duration than other buffs.
5) Alliria casts Decastave, which changes her weapon to a one-handed staff type weapon that is of sufficient enchantment to penetrate the Golems' damage resistance, and also inflict extra damage against constructs.
6) Elanna then caps it all off with Mass Haste in order to maximize damage output against the Golems.
Now to it. I don't spread out my damage between all the Golems. I have my warriors gang up on a single Golem so that they go down as quickly as possible one at a time.
The Tomb itself holds:
Shackles of Roa – A +1 flail that has a 33% chance of adding +2 strength to its wielder for a time.
Bracers of Defense +4 – A good armor source for Akutagawa, without losing the Wisdom bonus to armor class.
Duergar Hammer and Anvil
I don't show it in this video, but I took the opportunity to talk to Sersa upstairs and rest up.
The next battle is against the Duergar that I met previously. They'll come at me from both sides. For the north side, Alliria starts off with her newly acquired Sunbeam spell which will blind the Archers. This leaves Lord Markus and Stygar free to go to work on the warriors on the north side.
For the south side they have to come up a narrow pathway, so this represents the ideal bottleneck for crowd-control. Lady Elanna starts off with Web. Tithian does a triple sequence of Acid Fog, then Cloudkill, then Stinking Cloud. Alliria, after having cast Sunbeam on the north side, now chips in with Spike Stones and Spike Growth. This is a lot of damage per round in the crowd-control zone, and it wreaks havoc on the southern forces. Akutagawa stands guard at the top of the narrow path for any Duergar that can make it out.
The south end will have a lot of lingering damage each round, so Elanna focuses her offensive efforts to the north with Acid Storms over top the Archers. This, combined with Alliria's Sunbeam, finishes off the Archers quite quickly.
At some point it becomes a mop up, with Alliria, Tithian, and Elanna (with her Mordenkainen's Sword) finishing off any southern enemies still caught in the southern zone while Akutagawa waits for any who happen to make it out.
Once its' all over there's a considerable amount of loot to be had. The more notable ones included:
Ring of Fire Resistance – +3 fire resistance
Valorfoe – +2 Warhammer, 1d10+2 damage, 33% chance of causing fear unless Will saving throw is made.
Skirling Skull – +1 Flail, 25% chance of dispel magic on target unless Will saving throw is made, 33% chance of deafening target unless Fortitude saving throw is made.
Hell Bolter – Crossbow, +4 to attack bonus, +4 to damage, 3 attacks per round. This can be looted from Dragus' body as part of the Ease of Use mod. This will be Tithian's crossbow for the rest of the game.
Black Urchin – +2 medium shield. Each hit on the bearer has a 25% chance of causing Poison to the attacker. This becomes Alliria's main shield for the rest of the game whenever she enters melee combat. She herself will usually have blows against her cushioned by Stoneskin, so in effect the Black Urchin shield makes physical attacks against her decidedly risky. Note that the Oakshield plays its part since its Barkskin power can still be used as part of the secondary weapon set, even while Alliria is actually using Black Urchin as part of her primary weapon set.
Malavon Despana
When I first enter the Underdark it's kind of like a merchant/trading bonanza. Lots of merchants to sell your items to, and plenty worth checking out yourself.
First is the Drow Wizard, Malavon Despana. He'll sell several wands, but also:
Ring of Freedom of Movement – As with the other Infinity Engine games, I always have my Cleric wear this ring. The rationale is simple. I rely on the Cleric to use spells like Remove Paralysis to get his comrades out of paralysis, like from a Hold Person spell. He can't do this however if he himself has been immobilized. This problem, however, is eliminated altogether when he wears the Ring of Freedom of Movement.
Robes of Sorcere (+3 to Charisma, +3 deflection bonus) - This will be Elanna's Robe for the rest of the game. It's better than the Master's Robe because it provides a deflection bonus in addition to a Charisma bonus, saving up her other item slots for other things.
Amulet of Natural Armor +3 (+3 generic bonus to armor class) – An upgrade for Lord Markus, and this allows Tithian to wear an Amulet of Natural Armor +2 now.
Kadresh, the Drow rogue, sells:
Lyre of Progress – Bards only. +3 to Strength.
Swing from the Masts – +1 generic bonus to armor class, +1 Charisma. This will be Tithian's 'helmet' for the interim.
Bruiser Staff +1 (sure striking Quarterstaff, 2 points wounding damage per round for 10 rounds, 25% chance of stunning target for 1/2 round unless a fortitude saving throw is made) – This will be Tithian's long-reach weapon for the rest of the game.
Incendiary Staff +2 – +1d6 fire damage
Shifter's Boots – Blink once a day. I used to have my Monk wear these, but I found I didn't use the Blink ability that often, which by the way, also impairs the wearer's ability to land blows as well. So I opted for the Restless Soles that come with the Light of Selune mod instead.
Ring of Hearty Strength – +1 Strength, +1 Constitution. This will be one of Akutagawa's rings for the balance of the game, and the reason I did a +1 to both Strength and Constitution earlier.
Merchant Bazaar
There are 3 merchants in the southwest corner of the Underdark. One of them is a Derro named Myrvek. He sells several spell scrolls and wands, as well as:
Amulet of Protection (+1 deflection bonus to armor class)
Amulet of Natural Armor (+3 generic bonus to armor class) Except there's a bug here that prevents me from buying it.
Mantle of the Flamewalker – +5 flame resistance, +2 to saving throws. An addition of the Light of Selune Mod. This will be Elanna's cloak for the rest of the game. The +2 bonus to saving throws is always welcome, as is the bonus to fire resistance.
Also present is Wode the Guileful, who sells mostly missile ammunition.
Lastly, you'll find a Dwarf named Heggr, who sells quite an impressive array of weapons and armors (often +2 and +3 versions of standard weapons). Notable ones include:
Makaival's Bane (+2 Light Crossbow)
Tower Shield +1 – I bought this as a good interim shield.
Large Shield +1 – Same thing.
Balance – +3 Axe. This will be Stygar's axe for the balance of the game. It provides an Accuracy option of +6 to attack bonus but with no bonus to damage, or a Power bonus with +6 to damage, but no bonus to attack bonus. I use the Accuracy option, and then Stygar always has his Power Attack feat cranked to five. The Accuracy option ensures that his attack bonus still remains very good, but the Power Attack feat improves his damage output.
Throwing Hammer of Thunder +2 – +1d6 electrical damage. This will be the throwing hammer of Markus for the rest of the game.
Mage Staff +1 – +1 to Intelligence, +1 to magic damage resistance
Goblinsbane – +2 Greataxe. Keen, +2d6 damage vs. Goblins.
Frostbite – +3 Shortsword. +1d6 cold damage, 20% chance of slowing target for 3 rounds unless a Fortitude saving throw is made.
Bhaal's Fire – +3 Longsword that inflicts 1d8 +3 fire damage. 15% chance of stunning targets.
Whisper – +3 leather armor. +5 to Hide and Move Silently.
Mail of Life – +3 Chainmail. +10 hits points, regenerate 1 hit point per turn.
Battle Gauntlets of Gruumsh (+4 Strength, +1 to saving throws, Half-Orcs) – For any one of you who may fancy playing a Half-Orc Barbarian x/Fighter 4, this may be the gloves for you, freeing up your belt slot for something else.
Steam Pools
Now I explore the pools at the east side of the Underdark. The monsters in this area, Shadow Drakes, Myconids, and Sword Spiders, weren't particularly challenging in vanilla IWD2 and aren't much more so in Tactics.
The video concludes with an Illithid named Oinkchack'olp demanding that I return a blue stone to room that he lost.
Now it's time for me to venture into the Drider Caves.
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"I don't think I like your attitude much. You have all the makings of a nasty griffon...which reminds me, you need a bath." -Jan Jansen, Baldur's Gate II
