Part III of the Swordflight Walkthrough. Continuing from Part II: Shifting Sands Inn. Swordflight (2008-2022) is a NWN Module for Neverwinter Nights 1 (2002).
Buried Ruins 1 Swordflight
This part of the Swordflight Walkthrough covers Kadath's Camp, Spider Cave and Buried Ruins I.
Post-Bandits, we end up with about 10,000 GP after we sell off all unneeded items. The question then becomes, "What to buy at Kadath's Camp?"
Well, there is some good stuff on offer from the camp's merchant; better than what we have so far found, at least. One thing that attracts me is the Bless Weapon scroll. This Paladin-only spell (which restriction our UMD overcomes) adds 2d6 divine dmg vs. undead to weapons and ammo. It also works on our Panther's fangs and claws (and the natural weapons of our summoned minions, too). On melee weapons, Bless Weapon duration is 2 turns per level of the spellcaster (20 rounds or 2 mins for a first level caster).
Thus, with that +dmg and generous duration in mind, I think Bless Weapon could be key to making the undead-heavy Buried Ruins a bit easier. Anyway, I bought several scrolls. Coupled with the 2nd circle Flame Weapon (1d4 fire +1 fire per caster lvl up to 10th), this could get pretty damaging [recap pic, link]. If so, the survivability of familiars/summons remains our main concern (their AC, HPs and DR). Concealment granted by Improved Invisibility and damage reduction granted by Stoneskin contribute immensely to survivability, but these are both 4th circle spells, and thus won't be available to us until Chapter Two of Swordflight.
It's also best to stock up on potions and healer's kits at this point. Potions of Freedom and antidotes may come in handy. I tend also to buy the three Invisibility potions as they facilitate reliable scouting of the dungeons.
Key point:
It is better to have too many consumables than too little, and then find ourselves deep down in a dungeon, struggling, or even stuck. Spend liberally, buy up big, but keep some cash in reserve.
The Buried Ruins probably constitute the best low level dungeon crawl on the Aurora platform; indeed, probably of any RPG. At least, I can't think of any low level crawls that are its equal. The Buried Ruins consists of four main levels; the spider cave is more of an approach. The spider cave is basically a natural cavern inhabited by - you guessed it! There are many traps (DC 24), surprise spawns (spiders flank or drop down from upper reaches), and hindrances to overcome, such as webs blocking passageways.
Overall, the spider cave is basically a combat zone. There is, however, one item of interest to arcane practioners... it is the Necromantic Manual found on the corpse of Sakos Menar in the northeast quadrant.
There are two instances in which the manual may be of use deeper in the Buried Ruins. I'll cover those when we get to them.
Delving deeper into the ruins: Buried Ruins Level 1.
We can put a wandering ghost to rest here with the Necromantic Manual. If we don't have Spot as a skill then the Helm of Awareness may help to reveal the ghost. This can be bought from Roigo back in Kadath's Camp.
Ok, I made this map as a crutch to my own aging memory... note the gem icons. They are lootable "eyestones". We need to collect 3 reds, 3 blues and 2 yellows. Then, we need to make our way to the statue puzzle and place them correctly into the statues.
Note the other two icons: one of a statuette and another of a mirror. There are several of these ancient artifacts found in the four dungeons of the Buried Ruins. Now, it isn't mandatory to find them, and I've never found them all, but I'll try to this time around (and then add them into my maps).
The blue lines in the map represent secret passageways. We need to detect secret doors in order to access hidden treasure rooms (my fave places in Swordflight). Finally, the thick red line in the center represents a barrier that lowers once the statue puzzle is solved. Once on the other side, it slams shut again and traps us on the other side. In other words, we need to delve deeper into the dungeon in the hope of finding an eventual exit to the surface!
Traps are suddenly in the range of DC 18-28 now. That means we need to buff in order to disarm the craftier ones (a pure Rogue would do ok).
It's best to lure out undead units one at a time whenever possible, as getting mobbed results in getting a new asshole ripped. None of my guys can get good AC at this point. The panther, while able to inflict considerable damage when buffed with Bless Weapon, cannot sneak attack undead and is as squishy as hell (wow, 13 base HPs!) Also, my shtick of putting the enemy to Sleep isn't going to do Jack against undead. On top of that, skeletal undead, of which the zone is teeming, sport 50% resistance to piercing and slashing! It all adds up to a lot of bitching and moaning at this point. How I miss my 7,000 effortless kills per 15 mins in Diablo II. At the moment, I'm getting about 5 per 15. :P
Of course, I kid. It may be hard for a casual reader to believe, but this is just as fun and immersive as any RPG or Diablo II; it's just so different to what I have recently been playing.
Key point:
Traps are suddenly in the range of DC 18-28 now. That means we need to buff in order to disarm the craftier ones (a pure Rogue would do ok).
It's best to lure out undead units one at a time whenever possible, as getting mobbed results in getting a new asshole ripped. None of my guys can get good AC at this point. The panther, while able to inflict considerable damage when buffed with Bless Weapon, cannot sneak attack undead and is as squishy as hell (wow, 13 base HPs!) Also, my shtick of putting the enemy to Sleep isn't going to do Jack against undead. On top of that, skeletal undead, of which the zone is teeming, sport 50% resistance to piercing and slashing! It all adds up to a lot of bitching and moaning at this point. How I miss my 7,000 effortless kills per 15 mins in Diablo II. At the moment, I'm getting about 5 per 15. :P
Of course, I kid. It may be hard for a casual reader to believe, but this is just as fun and immersive as any RPG or Diablo II; it's just so different to what I have recently been playing.
Key point:
Low level Wizards, Rogues and Bards basically suck when facing off against undead. Panthers, too. But success is still possible in Swordflight with such builds/party compositions.
We're pushing on...
Now, it is worth noting here that we can quaff an Invisibility potion and maintain our Invisibility status when unlocking doors, disarming traps and looting receptacles. This can come in handy if we don't want to face off against undead like this zombie, who is lurking in the southwest:
Key point:
Determined players can employ stealth in order to bypass most - but not all - of the aggro in the Buried Ruins. Missing out on kill XP would not penalize one all that much, as it can be clawed back later.
Deciphering the inscriptions on the rune pillar requires about Lore 20. Too low and we only get a partial readout.
This advice should be observed: make a separate named savegame because once we go through the door there is no turning back: the west wing of the dungeon is sealed off, along with access to Kadath's Camp. If need be, this is a good time to return to the camp in order to resupply the party.
***
Skeletal archers materialize on both sides of the bridge as we cross an abyss to the eastern wing of the dungeon. They are unreachable but for ranged attacks and spells. I simply kept running, unlocked the metal gate while under fire, and proceeded through the gate to arrive at an arena.
A recurring concept in Swordflight is to include powerful beings that we do not necessarily have to fight: troll, Wagu, gladiator and Ramurg, for example. At this point we meet the gladiator:
He waves, greets us and engages in a lengthy, friendly conversation about the ruins and how to proceed. The dialogue is punctuated by voice-over effects which is always cool because it adds character to the NPC without need of a description. I did not recognize the voiceset employed, but I believe they are from stock NWN.
The Necromantic Manual retrieved earlier is put to use here:
Key point:
When confronting a formidable foe or "roadblock NPC", it is sometimes possible to employ ingenuity in order to subdue them or avoid direct hostilities entirely. Look for special dialogue options or back off and scope out the surroundings for possible solutions.
Take me to Part IV: Buried Ruins 2.
I never bothered to make any maps like the one you include here for my own walkthroughs, so they could well be a useful supplement to them. However, if you are basing them on screenshots from the toolset (as appears to be the case) you might want to de-select the "Use Area Lighting" option in the toolset, as they will then be much less dark and easier to see.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip on disabling the area lighting in the toolset; that would indeed make it easier to view the maps, and I then would not need to draw the outlines either (which I had to do for the dark dungeons in IWD). In time, I intend to complete that map (it's missing stuff like the ancient two-bladed sword) and perhaps add other maps.
DeleteI remember the first time going through this dungeon; definitely among the most challenging and suitably atmospheric low level NWN crawls anywhere. The point where you go through the door and can't turn back and realize at some point you will be running low on consumables and spells... I was concerned. A run of the mill NWN adventure I would've just shrugged and hit the rest button.
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