Hordes of the Underdark Walkthrough Guide
Hordes of the Underdark is a D&D 3rd Edition cRPG developed by BioWare for Neverwinter Nights 1. HotU can hold its own against most NWN modules of epic, sweeping scope. It's also got the big budget feel to it which no modules have, not even Aielund Saga or Swordflight. I'm referring to the writing; the VOs and OST; the innovations of the reaper relic, demonic grappling hand, puzzle ring and sensei's amulet; environmental dmg; the design of its dungeons (teleporting, secret doors, puzzles); and the fact that it separately pays homage to Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment over the course of its three epic acts.
HotU is the second and final expansion for BioWare's Neverwinter Nights, introducing epic rules with a campaign level range of 15-30. Hordes has 100 areas and 71 journal entries for quest-tracking purposes.
HotU was a great finale to the Infinity and Aurora era.
Hordes of the Underdark Walkthrough Index
- NWN Best Builds
- NWN Best Spells
- Hordes of the Underdark Item Code List
- Hordes of the Underdark Crafting
- Part I: Undermountain 1
- Part II: Undermountain 2 & 3
- Part III: Lith My'athar, Shaori's Fell & Isle of the Maker
- Part IV: Zorvak'Mur & Cavern of the Eye Tyrants
- Part V: Drearings Deep, Battle for Lith My'athar & Valsharess
- Part VI: City of Lost Souls & Wastes of Cania
- Part VII: Mephistopheles
Hordes of the Underdark Starting Level
Newly created characters start at fifteenth level and can either be auto-leveled or built manually by the player, level by level. This makes Hordes an attractive campaign for those who like to experiment with various characters without having to plod through the low levels, first.
One advantage of importing is that gold carries over, but paltry gold bonuses from low level modules don't factor as concerns in epic campaigns like Hordes. Your imported gear also gets stolen as part of the plot, and, while you can get it back later on, by that time you'll have much better stuff, so you'll probably just sell it off for gold.
Loot the Yawning Portal Inn's armory for all kinds of gear. I took the +2 Longbow and other build-relevant gear as can be seen below.
As you can see on the Quickbar, I already have a decent bag of tricks. My active or "clicky" feats are Seeker Arrow, Imbue Arrow and Hail of Arrows. My most-used clicky will be Rapid Shot. Relevant passive feats are, first of all, Point Blank Shot and also include the usual Dodge, Mobility and Spring Attack along with Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization and Improved Critical, all obviously for Longbow. (I will describe the clicky feats as I use them).
Note also on the left of the quickbar I have Stand Your Ground, Follow and Attack Nearest hot-keyed. I recommend everyone do this, it makes controlling your Henchman much easier and faster. Oh, by the way. The plot: Drow are ravaging the Inn and Waterdeep - kill the Drow!
One advantage of importing is that gold carries over, but paltry gold bonuses from low level modules don't factor as concerns in epic campaigns like Hordes. Your imported gear also gets stolen as part of the plot, and, while you can get it back later on, by that time you'll have much better stuff, so you'll probably just sell it off for gold.
As you can see on the Quickbar, I already have a decent bag of tricks. My active or "clicky" feats are Seeker Arrow, Imbue Arrow and Hail of Arrows. My most-used clicky will be Rapid Shot. Relevant passive feats are, first of all, Point Blank Shot and also include the usual Dodge, Mobility and Spring Attack along with Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization and Improved Critical, all obviously for Longbow. (I will describe the clicky feats as I use them).
Note also on the left of the quickbar I have Stand Your Ground, Follow and Attack Nearest hot-keyed. I recommend everyone do this, it makes controlling your Henchman much easier and faster. Oh, by the way. The plot: Drow are ravaging the Inn and Waterdeep - kill the Drow!
Hordes of the Underdark Chapter 1: Descent into Undermountain
We start off in our room at the Yawning Portal Inn. Slay the drow thief, loot the corpse and then speak to Tamsil. Note that you can often Esc-key out of dialogues in order to skip them entirely. Your journal auto-updates, letting you know what to do. You can also hit the Esc-key to skip cutscenes.
Next, raid the armory of all the gear and then head downstairs to the common room.
Yawning Portal Inn
Here are the NWN Henchmen from the NWN OC. We don't need to talk to them or do anything here. Go downstairs again.
Kill the Drow. The first major combat encounter occurs in the common room of the Inn, and here I face off against several Drow and Duergar. But since I have about a dozen allies (including the heroic Henchmen from NWN OC), this fight - while dramatic - is mostly benign, but there is a Drow Priestess who can be killed for a staggering 3,780 experience points, the most Exp for any enemy kill in the entire campaign.
The reason for this, to put it crudely, is that Exp is awarded based on your level relative to the enemy's level, and if the enemy is theoretically supposed to be much more powerful than you but despite that you still manage to beat it, then Exp yield will reflect that. cf. Challenge Rating.
Anyway, suffice it to say this first combat encounter is always won by the allies without any player intervention. And actually, the next encounter down in the Well Room featuring several more drow can play out the same, with Durnan the Innkeep casually slaying them all...
When the fight's over I recruit Deekin, a useful kobold bard companion.
I immediately enter dialogue with him to ensure he levels up as Bard exclusively and not Red Dragon Disciple. Bard Song and higher level spells are far more important than what RDD offers (at least for me, in this run). I remove unneeded items from Deekin's inventory and ensure he only has a crossbow to wield, so that he's never tempted to wade into melee. I also tell him not to help me open locks or disable traps, and to stay in close proximity to me whenever possible.
Talking to White Thesta is recommended here as she gives you a Rod of Resurrection with 20 charges. But unless you really need particular class items from her shop, you shouldn't trade with her because her stuff's expensive. Instead, deal with the Magic Shoppe in Waterdeep.
The reason for this, to put it crudely, is that Exp is awarded based on your level relative to the enemy's level, and if the enemy is theoretically supposed to be much more powerful than you but despite that you still manage to beat it, then Exp yield will reflect that. cf. Challenge Rating.
Anyway, suffice it to say this first combat encounter is always won by the allies without any player intervention. And actually, the next encounter down in the Well Room featuring several more drow can play out the same, with Durnan the Innkeep casually slaying them all...
When the fight's over I recruit Deekin, a useful kobold bard companion.
I immediately enter dialogue with him to ensure he levels up as Bard exclusively and not Red Dragon Disciple. Bard Song and higher level spells are far more important than what RDD offers (at least for me, in this run). I remove unneeded items from Deekin's inventory and ensure he only has a crossbow to wield, so that he's never tempted to wade into melee. I also tell him not to help me open locks or disable traps, and to stay in close proximity to me whenever possible.
Talking to White Thesta is recommended here as she gives you a Rod of Resurrection with 20 charges. But unless you really need particular class items from her shop, you shouldn't trade with her because her stuff's expensive. Instead, deal with the Magic Shoppe in Waterdeep.
Waterdeep
Realmslore has it that Waterdeep, the City of Splendors, is one of the largest cities in Faerûn, but in Hordes it's nothing more than a merchant hub at the start of the campaign and a stage for the final showdown at the end. I've always been able to deal with that, bored as I was with BioWare setting their cRPGs in sprawling cities like Baldur's Gate, Athkatla and Neverwinter. HotU is a refreshing change in that it's almost all about delving dungeons and exploring the Underdark and wastelands.
As I exit the Inn onto the streets of Waterdeep, I meet the first combat encounter that isn't decided by immortal NPCs. There are a few duergar littering a courtyard, so I ask Deekin to cast Haste, Improved Invisibility, and to Sing, then I hit the Rapid Shot clicky (for extra attack rate) and make my bow sing, too. The duergar were mowed down before they could cast much or close in on us, though I did get in two stinging crits of about 40 damage each, and that always helps.
There is a locked house next to the blacksmith. Inside, is a weapon rack holding the Longarm longbow.
All unneeded inventory items are sold off in the Magic Shoppe for 30,000 gold; then I use The Relic of the Reaper (a teleporting device, think Stone of Recall, but better") to "bind" a position within the shop, right under Sobrey's nose, to which I can later return to sell off inventory-clogging loot that BioWare loves to throw around like confetti.
I then head to the blacksmith to buy a Composite Longbow +3, several arrow quivers and a set of entry level armor. Appropriately geared up, the reunited duo head down the well-lift to delve the infamous Undermountain.
Hordes of the Underdark Undermountain Level 1
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| Deekin and I look down upon the entrance to Undermountain |
Remember that you can use the Relic to return to the shop whenever you need to. All you need is a Rogue Stone.
Important note: If you have Weapon Focus in a weapon, then you should find magical versions of your weapon in a few boss chests, randomly drawn from preset pools consisting of weapons of the same grouping. For example, I have Weapon Focus: Longbow; thus, I should find Ripper (+3, Mighty +4, Imm: Mind-affecting), Taralash (+4, Mighty +4, perma-Haste) or Elven Court Bow (+3, Mighty +3). In my case, Taralash is the best because it confers Haste status when equipped. You can reload until you get a weapon you're happy with, or make do with what you get.
Also, since there are two boss chests on this level, we can net two of the three on offer. Check the map below. One boss chest is where the ogre mage is, the other behind the three guardians.
This sprawling dungeon consists of three separate major sections (north, south, central), and is largely non-linear and explorative in nature. There are mazes, teleports and secret doors that spice up navigation, and also traps to avoid and (simple) puzzles to solve.
Undermountain Level One can be solved in two ways: either by collecting colored rods scattered around that, when inserted into the correct levers, lower corresponding colored pillars blocking the central exit of the Central area, or by blowing open a sealed passage in the North area (ogre mage) with a barrel of alchemist fire found in the South area (nymph). See below map.
I usually solve both exits for extra experience points (+2000 EXP ea).
Deekin's comments are amusing and the OC Henchmen comments aren't bad, either. I even noticed a Spellcraft check related to the environment. Enemies can persistently be found in certain areas (campers), but some types roam around the corridors making nuisances of themselves (ie, drow skirmishers). The drow and duergar are the most interesting generic foes here, using stealth and Darkness spells to tactical effect.
There are many secret doors leading to hidden areas, containing extra encounters and loot, which can be very difficult or take time to spot without at least some investment in the Search skill. The Goggles of Minute Seeing bestow +5 to Search, and are found early. Otherwise, rely on a Henchman like Sharwyn (+9).
The first thing I do here is use the rod to resurrect Sharwyn, the bard Henchman from the OC. I'm not sure why BioWare decided to give the player another Bard so soon when you already have Deekin, but I set Sharwyn to level up as Fighter (since she also specializes in longbow) and give her my old Composite Longbow +2, so now we have three snipers in the party.
Sharwyn is capable of spotting secret doors and picking most locks on this level. For the chests and doors that are beyond her skill, I simply incinerated them with an Imbue Arrow "fireball". You can also cast Knock on locked chests, otherwise you need Power Attack to bash them because some have 40 dmg soak...
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| Pincushioning the Mummy Lord with Sharwyn |
The best way to tackle this dungeon, for most any character build, is to head to the North section first to take out the ogre mage (Olgin) for the Dragon Slippers (nw_it_mboots003) and a "tailored-to-build treasure drop" (in my case, Taralash, a +4 Mighty longbow granting perma-Haste); then hunt down the drow skirmisher for the Cowl of Warding (x0_armhe015) around the same area. Between the slippers and cowl you're bestowed immunity to Knockdown and mind-affecting spells (including fear), and granted modest SR and freedom status. Fear immunity is then worn against the neighboring Mummy Lord whose sarcophagus contains a Greater Amulet of Health (nw_it_mneck037), bestowing immunity to level drain, disease and poison, and granting regeneration.
Equipped with these three items, YOU'RE SET, because you're permanently warding off some of the most annoying and lethal debilitations in the game (keep an eye out for Petrification and Paralysis, though, as there are NO items that ward against them).
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| Push-over dragon due to a permanent ward against fear. |
Apart from the encounters shown in the above screenshots, most of them are small-time skirmish stuff or trashmobs, which are so trivial they just aren't worth relaying. Loot acquired on this level - other than the few items mentioned above - is mostly incremental/temporary or picked up only to be sold off for gold. We must save our gold for CRAFTING our weapon later in the game.
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| Ogre mage Olgin |
Descending to the next level of the dungeon...
| Neverwinter Nights (Index) | 1. Undermountain 1 | 4. Zorvak'Mur | 7. Mephistopheles NWN |
| NWN Best Builds | 2. Undermountain 2 & 3 | 5. Valsharess NWN | HotU Crafting |
| NWN Best Spells | 3. Lith My'athar | 6. City of Lost Souls | HotU Item Code List |
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