Yxunomei IWD
Welcome to Part VII of my Icewind Dale walkthrough; this part, covering Level 4 and Level 5 of Dragon's Eye, as well as Yxunomei.
Might want to grab a cup of coffee. Herein I cover lore, reactivity, itemization and combat encounter design for the two best dungeons in one of the greatest megadungeons in cRPG history.
Having ploughed our way through mobs of lizard men, trolls and undead (over 250 enemies), we have finally arrived in the lower reaches of the Dragon's Eye megadungeon.
Yuan-ti Monastery & Yuan-ti Stronghold:
Yuan-ti Monastery & Yuan-ti Stronghold:
First, though, we need to talk a bit about what we're dealing with.
It is down in these lower reaches that our heroes face off against one of the more impressive monsters to appear on the Infinity Engine: the Yuan-ti. Primarily serpentine in appearance, though distant descendents of humans, these Chaotic Evil carnivores are cunning, intelligent and highly organized. Yuan-ti not only have their own religion, language and culture, but they have also built cities and nations in far-away tropical jungles such as those in Chult. Yuan-ti are adept at infiltration and stealth; their two secretive orders, Viper Fangs & Coiled Cabal, having infiltrated various levels of human society over the past millennia. Basically, at this point in the time-line (1281 DR), yuan-ti are getting ready to come out of hiding and announce themselves to the Realms.
As per Realmslore, Yuan-ti come in three castes: pureblood, halfbreed and abomination. Purebloods can pass for humans, halfbreeds generally have a human head (which allows for common-speech), and abominations are full-blown serpentine and are only interested in war. Contrary to popular belief, the yellow-skinned, bipedal histachii are not yuan-ti at all: like the lowly lizard men, they are yuan-ti creations. Histachii were captured humans that underwent alchemical transformation, and are now slaves.
IWD does not explictly mention any caste but, going from inference, the robed ones are clearly purebloods; the priest, summoner, ritualist, baptist and torturer are halfbreeds (since they speak common); and the greenscales and big heavily-scaled elites/champions are abominations. Yuan-ti are also represented in IWD2 and Storm of Zehir (and IWD2 also covers the transformation into histachii).
Sseth
In this AD&D 2nd Edition time-line of Realmslore, Sseth is the god of the yuan-ti whose avatar manifests as Priest (25) / Wizard (20) / Fighter (18). Originating in the jungles of Chult, Sseth was a winged yuan-ti abomination of wyrm-like stature who took over leadership of the yuan-ti, built up clerical cults for the purposes of histachii transformation (human enslavement) and forged the great nation of Serpentes - which he ruled for several centuries as god-king. One of Sseth's allies is the goddess, Talona, which explains why the Talonite priests were working with the yuan-ti before we came along and foiled them by ripping them a new asshole.
Stone statue of Sseth, rising out of a pool of poisonous liquid:
Ok, let's get into the area-by-area commentary.
Dragon's Eye Level 4: Yuan-ti Monastery
Eldathyn: Albion
Cloistered beneath the domains of lizard men, trolls and the necromancer, and just above a yuan-ti stronghold, is apparently an order of peace-loving, nature-worshipping Eldathyn. At least, that's what "Exalted Keeper" Albion would have us believe:
Exposing Albion in the above example requires a character with an Intelligence score equal to or greater than 15.
In addition, Paladins can expose him for the yuan-ti pureblood he is:
Either way, we receive 24,000 XP. However, logically, the entire monastery goes on high alert after we have exposed Albion. Plus, we miss out on content and vendored items so it is best to hold off for now.
While exploration is still largely restricted at this point, we can at least gain access to resting and healing through Sharra the Healer as well as three new spells through Geelo the Librarian: Blur, Flame Arrow and Ice Storm. Once done with that, we can expose the purebloods at our leisure; either with our Paladin/smart cookie (as above) or by anyone else providing we have first taken note of the exotic carpet in the south:
But there is also another way. Neutral-aligned characters with an Intelligence score equal to or greater than 12 may trick Geelo into leaving the library. Then, we must shut the door to the entry chamber and pick the lock to the pureblood's off-limits study. Inside, we find strange texts which we can quiz Albion about:
Waterdeep Adventurers
Blatant force-attack aside, the purebloods can also be made hostile by unlocking the central chamber. Inside, the yuan-ti have dumped the bodies of a party of adventurers hailing from Waterdeep, whom they presumed to be dead. But they weren't. They just pretended to be. After a brief exchange, these adventurers will charge out of the chamber to fight for their freedom. While we forego 24,000 XP (and may lose some kill XP, too) the battle is made more manageable when these allies are involved.
But if we've already cleared the monastery of yuan-ti...
— Either way, the Waterdeep party will watch over us as we rest (there otherwise being no way to rest in this dungeon or the next). Finally, we can slay them with impunity and loot their corpses for a few handy weapons, armors and items.
Overall, it is good that Black Isle put several options on the table in regard to putting the monastery on alert. But what happens once the monastery turns hostile?
High Summoner & High Ritualist
Well, a fierce large-scale battle plays out with the party going up against 50-odd yuan-ti. The pureblood force is a baker's dozen in strength, and there are six elites getting about as well. But they're not really the problem. The real problem is the high summoner and the trolls he keeps summoning along with the fact that most enemy units zero-in on our position no matter where we are in the dungeon. This is good combat encounter design. So, what we want to do is cut down whatever gets in our way as we bee-line to the summoner and two priests.
After that, we can take out the high ritualist and the eight greenscales backing him up (who don't turn hostile until we trigger the ritualist's dialogue).
So much for the monastery. We've wiped out the pureblood caste and put a dent into the army. The key looted from Albion's corpse grants us access to the final dungeon which is teeming with serpentines headed up by the Marilith Tanar'ri, Yxunomei.
Dragon's Eye Level 5: Yuan-ti Stronghold
The yuan-ti stronghold constitutes the fifth, final and deadliest level of the Dragon's Eye megadungeon. We've come a long way. We've decimated the armies of lizardmen, trolls and undead, but now it's time to take it to the yuan-ti army. This is a fitting finale to Dragon's Eye and one of the best dungeons on the Infinity Engine. Also, the battle music is one of Jeremy Soule's best compositions; it's awesome.
Note the yuan-ti architecture: the layout of the dungeon itself is snake-like. We start off at its tail and confront Yxunomei at its head.
There are some grizzly placeable descriptions in the torture chambers, too.
The huge stone statue of the winged Sseth does not have a lore description, though. Sad.
Yuan-ti Traps & Tricks
There are over one dozen proximity traps cunningly placed in the dungeon by yuan-ti tacticians. Infinity Engine traps have both Detection and Removal difficulty ratings, but all traps in this dungeon are either 50/50 or 60/60 (cf. Durlag's Tower). Triggered traps do not disarm; they stubbornly remain a threat until they are dealt with by a thief with solid investment in the skill, Find/Remove Traps.
There are three main types of yuan-ti trap: poison needle, paralysis and confusion. These are DEADLY. Without the likes of antidotes, Neutralize Poison and Dispel Magic (which we may not have), a careless party is in for a world of hurt. I'm not overstating the lethality of these traps. Let's break it down.
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| No antidote? Dead. |
First, allow me to note that save vs. Death or Spell is, generally speaking, 50/50 for 7th level parties. It depends on race, class and equipment. That means we have a 50% chance of resisting the negative status effects inflicted by the following traps; it's touch and go.
- So, why is save vs. Death or poison needle deadly? Because PN inflicts 28 poison damage per round. And that poison does not "wear out": like its infamous cousin, disease, poison eats right through us no matter how deep our hitpoint pool is. As it should do.
- Next, why is save vs. Death or paralysis deadly? Because immobilized combat units are sitting ducks. They also have no AC and that means there is a 95% chance they get hit while immobilized.
- Lastly, why is save vs. Spell or confusion deadly? Because the affected combat unit either runs around like an idiot, stands there doing nothing, gets itself killed or - worst of all - turns on the party. Imagine that AC -12 tank of ours suddenly switching sides to wave their weapon at us? Hate.
You know, there is a reason I have ranked weapons sporting such on-hit effects as all-time greats: it's because such effects are DEADLY.
There is one other trap of interest: the Death Fog Hallway Trap. Limited to one instance, this proximity trap has been set on the floor of a hallway with a door at each end. Once carelessly triggered, both doors slam shut and the sixth circle AoE, Death Fog, is released. Sounds nasty? Not really. Death Fog is pretty tame in that it only doubles the acid damage up to 8 points before plateauing out. Though if the entire party gets trapped inside then the acidic plumes can be difficult to avoid within such restrictive confines. But the doors open up too soon so it's basically just a scare.
This involves fighting room to room and hall to hall. Yuan-ti are tacticians. They don't just charge forth like lizard men, trolls and other comparatively mindless monsters. They remain in their chambers or behind their traps, waiting. Yuan-ti formations are usually spread out, making it less easy to AoE them (Web/Fireball). Archers stand back against the walls, where they cannot be flanked. They switch to melee if we get close and back to ranged if we retreat. If we flee entirely, they slither back against the wall and wait again.
Yuan-ti come in melee, ranged and spellcasting variants. The several types include greenscales, elites, champions and priests as well as uniques such as the baptist, torturer and high archer. With the exception of champions and the single high archer, all yuan-ti yield 1,400 XP, and there are no fewer than 80 defending their stronghold (+20 histachii). Yuan-ti are no joke. They hit accuately, hit hard, hit fast, and are able to soak blows. Champions can hit for 18 dmg and crit for 36, histachii inflict on-hit disease, priests attempt immobilization, and so on.
Adding to the difficulty, many yuan-ti are placed behind the proximity traps referred to above. It all adds up to "nasty".
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| Yuan-ti High Torturer & Baptist |
Remember my supertanker? Well, the yuan-ti high archer has a 10% chance to hit him and Yxunomei herself only 15%. Everything else? 5%. Check out that tanking on the right! Bad ass.
High Torturer
Dialogue is limited. This is not a diplomatic or stealthy infiltration (cf. Serpent Lair Temple) but rather an all-out assault. The high torturer only talks to us because he mistakes us for purebloods:
High Baptist
... and the baptist wants to enslave us through histachii transformation:
Odd Little Girl
In addition, Yxunomei teleports about the zone in the form of a little girl. Her comments are cryptic nonsense and the responses on offer are inane or go unanswered.
The iron doors to Yxunomei's sanctum are guarded by no fewer than ten yuan-ti. Note the trap density in front of the doors (cf. pic & pic).
Yxunomei Icewind Dale: Marilith Tanar'ri
Having slain the yuan-ti forces and picked the place clean of treasure, we can now face off against the Marilith Tanar'ri with some confidence.
Yxunomei is found standing in the center of her sanctum, still in human form. She is flanked by two priests and four elites.
Wow, look at all those options. But most of them are BioWare-ish in that the choices are flavor-only. At least, I could find no examples of reactivity in the threads. Anyway, all but the sixth choice leads to a discussion about the Heartstone Gem. And all discussions on the Heartstone Gem result in hostilities, as with option 6 (which is the short-cut back to the battle, after a reload).
Much of the dialogue is silly; the writing is poor. The thread I have quoted in full is the best one, with no pop culture references or obnoxious attitude present.
Basically, Yxunomei is in possession of the Hearstone Gem and she isn't about to just hand it over, is she. I mean, she's a snake-like, six-armed General of the Blood War. Why is she even bothering to talk to impudent interlopers such as ourselves? It's not like she's got anything interesting to say, anyway. And nor do the protagonists, for that matter. Waste of time.
While the dialogue sucks, the pitched battle against Yxunomei is great. I remember getting butthurt trying to beat this demon back in the day. You know, back when we had to figure things out for ourselves? Those were the days... but what am I talking about? A large potion of my blog is dedicated to spelling things out and putting too finer point on things...
Anyway, the main thing about Mariliths is that they are immune to weapon enchantment levels below 2. That throws a spanner in the works for those who failed to loot the - several - or so +2 weapons up to this point.
Mariliths also sport MR 70% and there is no way to debuff it, so spellcasting is unreliable. They are immune to mind-affecting, too. And poison. And sport 50% resistance to fire and cold.
To open proceedings, Yxunomei drops Cloudkill on herself as a defense mechanism (she is immune to its poison and potential insta-kill). At this point, though, we also cannot be insta-killed by Cloudkill (we are >6th level). Thus, our supertanker can charge in, endure the poison-plumes, and start tanking her ApR 5 like a boss, while the rest of the party deal with the yuan-ti and any undead summoned by Yxunomei.
Two good weapons to wield against Yxunomei would be the Charged Battleaxe +2 and Hammer Flail +2 for their on-hit Stun. Nothing resists on-hit Stun because it is erroneously MR-bypassing and no-save. The two physical-based damage dealers wielding these weapons should be hasted for 4 ApR each, of course. This makes short work of the Marilith.
Other +2 weapons will do the job, too, such as the Messenger of Sseth loaded with +2 arrows (both itemized in the dungeon). Of course, Web does work. With MR checked on a round-by-round basis even 70% isn't going to ward off three or four castings of Web. It is no surprise that the best arcane spell on the Infinity Engine is devastating in this battle, too.
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| A whopping 46,000 XP is awarded for slaying Yxunomei. |
Heartstone Gem Location
Looted from Yxunomei's wrecked frame is the ancient druidic artifact known as the Heartstone Gem.
Finally! We have ploughed through no fewer than seven dungeons and 400 enemies in search of this!
With the glowing gem in hand, the heroic party return to Arundel's abode in Kuldahar, hoping that he will be able to scry for the source of Evil plaguing Kuldahar.
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| Abode of the Archdruid: ground and first floors. Lovely artwork. |
But to our dismay, in our absence, Brother Poquelin (Belhifet) has mortally wounded Arundel and assumed his form:
Having thanked us for taking out Yxunomei, Brother Poquelin teleports away. Upstairs, Arundel beseeches us to seek out Baelnorn Larrel in the ancient elven fortress of the Severed Hand; Larrel being the only loremaster remaining who is capable of scrying with the Heartstone Gem. After that, Arundel becomes fertilizer for the Great Oak that towers over Kuldahar.
No doubt, a well-balanced fertilizer.
This concludes Chapter Two
***
Itemization-wise, the Red Knight's Shield (AC +4)...
... and Messenger of Sseth are most notable.
The Red Knight's Shield is randomly itemized in a "shield pool", and all three of the shields are good. AC-wise, only the Great Shield +3 matches RKS. The Messenger of Sseth is statically itemized; found on the corpse of the yuan-ti high archer. Black Isle stupidly disallowed Grandmastery in bows so this sort of makes up for it. As can an even better +ApR bow, randomly found later.
On the other hand, arcane spell scroll itemization is underwhelming in comparison to what we already have: Ghost Armor, Dimension Door, Icelance and Non-Detection. Icelance does potentially stun the enemy for 1-4 rounds, though.
Oversights. Mother Egenia does not return to the Temple of Ilmater in Kuldahar. She should. Also, we cannot tell the Waterdeep party that the yuan-ti threat has been neutralized. Why are they still standing around stinking corpses? Lastly, with the exception of Sheemish, none of the kidnapped people despawn from Dragon's Eye and return to Kuldahar.
- Experience points: 213,290 kXP + 37,000 qXP = 250,290 total XP (706,245)
- Killcount: 139 (825)
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