Welcome to Part XIV of my Icewind Dale walkthrough; this part covering the Great Forge cRPG dungeon and Maiden Ilmadia.
Acquiring Ilmadia's unicorn badge is pretty straightforward so this post will be a short read. There are no tricks, no traps and only a few dialogues. All we need to do is crash through the mines and then crash through the Great Forge in order to face off against the elven maiden.
The lead-up mines are a doddle for 10th level parties: there are only nine fire salamanders to slay. Nine! I mean, come on, are you for real? There were 23 in the entry-zone of Durdel Anatha!
Anyway, the salamanders are overseeing the deep gnome slaves as usual.
Guello
Guello is a deep gnome ruby priest from the secret camp under Durdel Anatha. He has been captured by umber hulks and enslaved by the fire salamander king, Shikata. Naturally, he requests that we free him.
There is an inconsistency afoot in that Beorn, another priest of the deep gnome camp, says Guello was captured by Seth, Marketh's halfling enforcer (citation).
Shikata, Salamander King
Anyway, Shikata the salamander king is found just to the north of Guello, overlooking the mines and guarding the entrance to Marketh's palace. His faction of fire salamanders are allied with Ilmadia.
See my Paladin's response? I like those kinds of responses. They keep me awake while reading the dialogue.
Anyway, we rip Shitkicka a new asshole and return to Guello, who is now free:
THE GREAT FORGE
Visually, the Great Forge is one of the most striking examples of area design on the Infinity Engine. Streams of lava cascade from cauldrons and there are huge vats of fire and water which are actually portals to the elemental planes - the source of the forge's power in the days of Dorn. Looking like a massive viking warship, a fire giant longboat is docked on the shore of a lake of lava, preparing for its assault on the drow city of Rilauven. It's epic stuff, and we have now delved to the depths of the Dale, having already adventured across its length and breadth.
All this zone needed was something like the Conan-esque track that plays in the Marching Mountains of ToB.
There are six rogue fire salamanders, eleven elementals and a nine-strong fire giant force led by Ilmadia Bariel, elven lieutenant of Poquelin. The party is confronted by a fire giant upon entry:
All this zone needed was something like the Conan-esque track that plays in the Marching Mountains of ToB.
There are six rogue fire salamanders, eleven elementals and a nine-strong fire giant force led by Ilmadia Bariel, elven lieutenant of Poquelin. The party is confronted by a fire giant upon entry:
Responding provocatively results in the forge going on high alert: Ilmadia and her hulks turn hostile and we miss out on dialogue with Ilmadia completely. Not recommended.
At this point we can freely explore the forge and take out some sundry trash that is separate from the Ilmadian forces. This includes a faction of salamanders who have broken off from Shitkicka and Ilmadia as well as water, fire and earth elementals. In order to avoid being mobbed by such tanky foes, terrain-based tactics can be employed by virtue of height-mapping and overpass placement.
Ilmadia
Maiden Ilmadia is found in one of the ramshackle buildings overlooking the longboat and lava-lake. She is a fierce elven maiden who rules the Great Forge and her fire giants with an iron fist.
Ilmadia is currently engaged in dismantling the Great Forge in order to repurpose its metal towards the construction of an immense longboat which she intends to have her fire giants row down lava rapids and propel into a cavern wall, spilling lava down into the city of Rilauven and annihilating its drow, who, with the notable exception of Malavon and his faction, refused to ally with Poquelin.
Note the gender-flavor:
Not a bad idea, that. This is imaginative writing, too. A pity we couldn't have been part of such epicness.
A traitor to the Tel'Quessir, Ilmadia stole Seldarine artifacts from the Severed Hand [pic & pic] and also took two tomes: one on unicorns [pic] and the other on artifact enchanting [pic] (we learned that from Custhantos in Part II of the Severed Hand). With knowledge gained from the tomes, access to Saablic Tan's Red Wizard formula, and assistance from Malavon, Ilmadia intends to create black unicorns from native ones lured into capture by virtue of her virginity.
Not a bad idea, either. Ilmadia seems to have everything in order. It's a pity that we've come along to spoil it all, isn't it.
Pleased with our enthusiasm for her strategies, and also impressed by our slaying of Marketh and Malavon (if, indeed, we did so before encountering her), Ilmadia goes on:
How do we get to respond after all that, though?
And how does Ilmadia respond to either of those?
Weak. Flat. Low-energy writing to precipitate a battle. Thus, we're better off interrupting her halfway through with something like:
Ah, that's better.
The following race-based flavor remark also elicits the same response...
... a response that results in aggro. We now face off against Ilmadia and nine fire giants. The full force of her hulks zone in on us from afar, and that is good combat encounter design. No matter where we run to, they follow - hot on our heels and mad as hell.
Ilmadia is a fast, accurate and hard hitter. Her Haste + Storm Giant Strength insta-buff sort of helps with that, and against supertanker AC of -19 [pic] she lands hits 60% of the time at ApR 4½ for up to 28 damage per hit (56 max crit). In fact, only Belhifet contends with Ilmadia's output of physical-based damage dealing. How about the fire giants, though? Answer: 5% to-hit chance, max 25 dmg, ApR 1. In other words, pathetic. But there are nine of them [pic] so that somewhat makes up for their individual feebleness relative to our tanking prowess.
Of course, Ilmadia and her hulks are outgunned by parties consisting of six 10th level heroes. We have access to arcane spells, divine spells and all the buffs, debuffs, immobilizers and direct damage that such an expansive repertoire brings to the table. What does she have? Nothing but the mundane. What I mean is, perhaps Ilmadia should have been a Fighter/Mage or something? Then, she could at least have access to Mirror Image and Stoneskin.
Black Swan Armor
Ilmadia's Alamion wield is not particularly impressive, but she also drops the beautiful Black Swan armor which she stole from the Hand:
(AC 1, Cha +1, rainbow resistances).
Argent Shield
As well as the stalwart Argent Shield, also stolen from the Hand:
(3-point AC bonus & MR +25%).
Longbow +4: Hammer
In addition, two receptacles flanking Ilmadia hold items drawn from random pools. We have a 20% chance of netting what is, at least power-wise, the preeminent ranged weapon on the Infinity Engine:
• Long Bow +4: Hammer. Bow, THAC0 +5, piercing dmg +4, sets ApR to 4 and stacks with other ApR sources. cf. ApR write-up.
Static Two Handed Sword +4
We don't let that lazy-ass, generic lore description fool us:
• Static Two Handed Sword +4: Hammering. Great Sword, THAC0 +4, 1D10 +4 slashing, 25% on-hit MR-bypassing, no-save Stun, 50% +2d3 electrical.
The above is a step up from Hammering +1 and +2 not just in enchantment and +electrical, but also in its probability of inflicting Stun (+5%). It is supremely badass.
Also randomly itemized in the same pool as the Hammering +4 is the best +ApR melee weapon: Long Sword of Action +4. Large Sword, THAC0 +4, 1d8 +4 slashing, ApR +1, AC +1, 15% slashing resistance (lazy-ass, generic lore description).
Netting even just one of these weapons would be cause for celebration, for ApR and the hammering property are King in Icewind Dale.
Of course, we also net our fourth badge (225,000 XP).
Experience points: 183,500 kXP + 225,000 qXP = 408,500 total XP (4,840,796)
Killcount: 27 (1526)
Next up: Malavon Icewind Dale.
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