Neverwinter Nights 2 Walk - a walkthrough. Current version: 0.45 - January 31st 2007 Written by: Rune Hansen - thunderztorm@hotmail.com If you wish to mail me with corrections/additions, please write nwn2 wt as topic. I may not reply to your mail, but rest assured that I read them all. NOTICE: Work has slowly re-commenced on this walkthrough, but I've lost all savegames and so forth due to a format, so I'm currently re-playing the first two chapters. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [i] - Version History [ii] - Introduction [iii] - Legal Info [iv] - Other good guides [v] - Creating a main character [v-a] - Ability scores [v-b] - Skills [vi] - General Information, hints and tips [vii] - The Walkthrough Tutorial: [0.1] - Tutorial Chapter 1: [1.1] - The attack [1.2] - The swamp, the ruins and the farewell [1.3] - Weeping Willow Inn [1.4] - Swamp Cave [1.5] - Fort Locke [1.6] - Graveyard [1.7] - Bandit Camp [1.8] - A new friend [1.9] - Highcliff [1.10a] - Shandra's Farm and Highcliff Castle Ruins [1.10b] - Lizardfolk Cave [1.11] - Neverwinter [1.12a] - Working for the City Watch [1.12b] - Working for the Thieve's Guild [1.13] - The Skymirror [1.14] - Old Owl Well [1.15] - Bonegnasher Clan [1.16] - Eyegouger Clan [1.17] - Dwarven Scouts [1.18] - The Sea Ghost [1.19] - Githyanki Lair [1.20] - Blacklake, Shandra and the Githyanki [1.21] - Githyanki Base Chapter 2: [2.1] - Introduction [2.2] - A few loose ends [2.3] - Becoming a squire [2.4] - Port Llast [2.5] - Ember [2.6] - Duskwood [2.7] - The trial [2.8] - Aldanon's Manse [2.9] - The Tavorick Estate [2.10] - Crossroad Keep [2.11] - Stronghold part 1 [viii] - Companion listing [ix] - History feats [x] - Easter Eggs/references [xi] - Planned additions to this walkthrough [xii] - Credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [i] - Version History ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.10 (December 26th 2006) - Completed up to part 1.10 of the walkthrough. 0.20 (December 29th 2006) - Finished Chapter 1, added a few things. 0.21 (December 29th 2006) - Released a proof-read version 0.30 (December 30th 2006) - Added parts 2.1 to 2.10 and section iv 0.35 (December 30th 2006) - Added evil path in parts 1.1 to 1.10. 0.40 (January 2nd 2007) - Added some of the thieve's guild missions. 0.41 (January 3rd 2007) - Minor correction in part v-a. 0.42 (January 10th 2007) - Minor additions to part 1.2 0.43 (January 17th 2007) - Minor additions to parts 2.5 and 2.6 0.44 (January 31st 2007) - Many hints from people added. 0.45 (June 29th 2007) - Minor corrections and proof-readings. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ii] - Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This walkthrough is my second walkthrough ever. The first was a walkthrough for the NWN expansion Hordes of the Underdark, a project that was unfortunately never finished. I'm afraid the game lost me in chapter 3, and once I finally decided to complete it, I had lost my old account information at gamefaqs. I am not one for massive amounts of information about the game techniques and rules. While I respect the authors adding such things, my primary focus has always been on seeing all the content available to me in any given game, and thus, my focus will be on the gameplay itself, and not so much the mechanics surrounding it. My hope is to, in time, compile a full list of alignment changes and influence changes, but I must admit it will depend on how important these things are to the game, and to anyone reading this. The initial walkthrough is written while I'm playing through the game for the first and second time, so bear with me if some information is lacking. Eventually It'll be completed. The initial walkthrough will not include quest names and rewards. I may add this later, depending on how much time I have, and how much I enjoy writing this little document. And, of course, how desired that info is. Oh, by the way, I am from Denmark so please, do inform me if some of my English seems confusing or hard to understand, since I may simply have made a bad translation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [iii] - Legal Info ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This document was written by Rune Hansen. Please do not post it, copy it or any other of all those copyright thingies (bear with me here, you all know what it's supposed to say, but legal english and me is not a good match). Either way, if you really, really want to post this somewhere then just mail me (thunderztorm@hotmail.com) and ask - as long as you don't change the document, I'm fine with it. Really. I am. Latest version of this walkthrough is available at www.gamefaqs.com The following sites have my approval to host this walkthrough: www.gamefaqs.com www.cheatcc.com www.cheathappens.com www.supercheats.com www.neoseeker.com www.1up.com www.mycheats.com www.ggmania.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [iv] - Other good guides ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While I admit that I always strive for perfection, I also admit that it's foolish to do the same work twice. There are already some really excellent in-depth FAQs on the web about this game: Crafting Guide by Offkorn. Complete list of all recipes and some other handy information for people enjoying the crafting part of the game: http://db.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/neverwinter_nights_2_crafting.txt Pickpocket Guide by Offkorn. Amazing list of what can be pickpocketed from every NPC in the game: http://db.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/neverwinter_nights_2_pickpocket.txt Stronghold Guide by Paradox Jast aka xInfInIty: http://db.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/neverwinter_nights_2_stronghold.txt =============================================================================== [v] - Creating a main character =============================================================================== I'm currently playing the game with a female Aasimar paladin. I've found that it's insanely hard to stay on a neutral path during the game, like neutral good or neutral evil. Nothing gives "neutral points" so you need to either completely avoid chaotic/lawful choices, or balance them up. Regarding some insane powerbuilds, well, feel free to mail me with any suggestions. Personally, I prefer builds with more than 20 levels, but seeing as that's not possible in NWN2 (yet), I'm still struggling a bit. I've been thinking about redoing my old fighter/mage/arcane archer build, but that one only got truly powerful around level 25. I've also been thinking about a fighter/sorcerer/red dragon disciple build. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [v-a] - Ability scores ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Do note that bonuses do not stack. If you have the Gauntlets of Ironfist that gives +3 STR and then cast Bull's Strenght, you'll only gain +1 STR by the spell since the spell improves your base STR and not the STR you have after item bonuses. Thanks to Nicholas Clarke for clarifying this for me. Strenght (STR) - determines your attack bonus and how hard you hit with melee weapons and how much you can carry. Main stat for all melee classes like fighters, paladins and barbarians. STR bonuses differ from 1H to 2H weapons. The damage bonus for 2H weapon is STR bonus * 1.5, while the attack bonus is the same. If you have STR 24, thats +7 to attack and + 11 damage per hit with a 2H weapon. So, it pays to have your high STR character equipped with a 2H weapon; that plus haste will make short work of just about anything. Dexterity (DEX) - determines your attack bonus with ranged weapons, as well as being the main stat for a multitude of skills, primarily the rogueish ones. With the feat weapon finesse, it also determines your attack bonus with melee weapons. It also determines your base armor class, so even the toughest fighters should have at least a +1 in it (since full plate still allows for +1 dex bonus to AC) Constitution (CON) - Determines partially how many hit points your character has. Basically the CON bonus is added to your class hit points each level, meaning that a wizard with a +1 con would get 1d4+1 hp pr level, while a paladin with +2 would get 1d10+2 pr level. Intelligence (INT) - Main stat for Wizards, INT determines how many spells wizards can cast of each level. It also determines how many skill points all characters get pr level as well as being a primary stat for many skills. Your own character should have at least 14 int due to the amount of skillpoints you need. Wisdom (WIS) - Especially important for clerics, druids and monks. While it for clerics and druids determine the amount of spells you can cast, a high wisdom score gives bonuses to armor class for monks. Charisma (CHA) - Important for paladins and sorcerers, charisma determines a lot of class-specific things for those classes. Seeing as several items boosts your charisma, feel free to leave it very low if you're not a pally or sorc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [v-b] - Skills ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Appraise (INT) - Used every time you trade with a merchant, a high appraise skill gives you better prices for both buying and selling. A high appraise skill also gives you the option of tithing your merchants with a hidden tax at your keep. Note that you can buff your appraise skill by boosting the main stat before talking to a vendor. Bluff (CHA) - Used in loads of conversation options all through the game. Concentration (CON) - Used every time a character gets hit while casting a spell to check if the spell fails. Only important for spellcasters, really. Also this is used every time you cast a spell defensively, which is advisable during combat since it doesnt provoke an attack of opportunity. Craft Alchemy (INT) - Used to determine what sort of potions you can make as well as what items you can get essences from. Not truly important to the main character as you'll get companions better suited for this skill. Craft Armor (INT) - Determines what armors you can make. Not important for your character since you'll get companions better suited for it. On the other hand, if you are a multiclass fighter, you might as well put ranks into it when doing fighter levels, since they have very few class skills. Craft Trap (INT) - Determines what traps you can make. Rather unimportant skill overall. Craft Weapon (INT) - Determines what weapons you can make. Not important for your character since you'll get companions better suited for it. Diplomacy (CHA) - Used in a multitude of conversation options all through the game. Disable Device (INT) - Used to disable or recover traps. Only really needed on locked chests since you wouldn't get all the loot otherwise. Due to the rather open death and resting system, traps on the floor are largely ignored. Heal (WIS) - Used to determine how well you can use a healing kit to remove poisons, diseases and heal hit points. Thanks to the open resting system, this skill is rather useless, especially for a class with remove disease/neutralize poison spells. Hide (DEX) - Used to determine how well you're hiding. To be frank, I haven't used stealth mode in the game thus far, so it's rather useless I'm afraid. Intimidate (CHA) - Used in loads of conversation options all through the game. Listen (WIS) - Used to detect stealthed enemies. You will encounter stealthed enemies more than once in the game, so this skill is more useful than many others. Lore (INT) - Used to identify magic items. If you keep lore maxed, you'll be able to identify most items you get during your travels. A high lore also gives you a few dialogue options here and there. Move Silently (DEX) - Together with hide, the basic skill for stealth mode. As I have yet to use stealth, it feels rather useless to me. Open Lock (DEX) - Determines how difficult locks you can open. If you can't pick the lock, you have to bash it (or use the spell "knock"). Bashing makes items break, however, so picking it is by far the best option. Parry (DEX) - defensive combat mode. If you, like me, believe that offense is the best defense, you won't use parry a lot, if ever. Perform (CHA) - Only useable by bards, and also the single most important skill for bards. Used to determine what kind of songs they can play and how well they work. Search (INT) - Used automatically when you look for traps, or whenever you put your character in "search" mode. Set Trap (DEX) - Used when you set traps. I've never set a trap in the game yet, so can't say if it's truly useful. Sleight of Hand (DEX) - Used to pickpocket people. Seeing that you can get a lot of things by pickpocketing, I'm assuming this skill is much more useful than a lot of the other rogue skills. Spellcraft (INT) - Used to determine what spell the opponent spellcaster is casting. Main skill for wizards and sorcerers, seeing as they need to know how to counter the spells of enemy casters. Spot (WIS) - Used to discover stealthed enemies. See listen. Survival (WIS) - Used for tracking mode, with the right feat. I haven't used that yet, but I guess it could be good to figure out what's ahead of you. Taunt (CHA) - Actively used in combat to weaken the enemy. Might be good to use on certain mobs, but mostly they die too fast for it to work properly. Tumble (DEX) - rogue/monk skill. Used to avoid attacks of opportunity. Every 10 ranks in tumble also gives you +1 base armor class. Use Magic Device (CHA) - Used to let rogues play around with magic items or items with class/race/alignment restrictions. In short, the most important skills in the game, at least from my experience, are Diplomacy/Intimidate/Bluff, lore, the crafting skills and open lock. I would highly suggest that your character keep at least one of the three conversation skills maxed. It doesn't matter all that much which one, really, but diplomacy is usually the "good" route, while intimidate is the "evil" route and bluff the "chaotic" route. The crafting skills can easily be handled by your companions, and Neeshka handles the rogue-skills quite nicely (and she's completely neutral, which means it matters little if your character is good or evil. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [v] - General Information, hints and tips ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Most dialogue has built-in alignment changes. Playing through the game once will never show them all, so I'll add them as I discover them, basically. A lot will be missing until the walkthrough has become an old document, so feel free to mail me if you see any alignment changes I've missed. I usually won't describe loot. Most of it seems randomly generated in any case. As any RPG-player will tell you: SAVE OFTEN, and save in different slots. A general rule of thumb is to save in a new slot every time you enter a new area. I usually just use 3 or 4 slots in a rotation-basis so I have my last 3 or 4 saves ready in case I find out I did something really wrong ;) To issue commands to your party, right-click and hold until you see a tab. Then use the "broadcast command" option. Take some time to get to know these options - you WILL need them. During dialogue, always ask all the questions you can. Information is always a good thing. Remember to talk to your companions once in a while. Some have interesting stories to tell. When I write +1 chaotic or +1 evil that's the alignment change you'll receive for saying/doing said thing. When I write +5 INF, that means you gain 5 influence with the NPC I'm speaking of. Influence is important if you want to hear all the stories your companions have to say. Save your cash. You will need a lot of cash later in the game, so don't spend money unless the gear is a remarkable upgrade. In many cases it's simply better to enchant your current gear, even if it means buying some of the items needed for the enchant. Note that you cant enchant gear that has 3 attributes (ie flaming, cold, acid damage). Also note you can upgrade already enchanted weapons, but it doesnt stack (a +3 upgrade to a +2 is just +3, not +5). Enchanting some of the loot weapons is a good idea, since they have attributes you cant currently make (ie sleep, stun, etc.). Also note that once you invest in enchanting, youll want to stick with that weapon class, so build your character around the weapon you want (or vice versa). The essences and jewels you need to make great equipment are rare, but become more available in the late game. Take a look at the crafting guide from Offkorn for a list of requirements. Finally note that youll have two mages and two priest type companions at the end (end of act 2), so you can make all the items available. The best weapons are holy, and require diamonds and inflict critical wounds. Also the caster has to have craft magic arms & armor feat. So think about your companions; do you want one to be in combat all the time, or do you want them to craft? Sand and Zhjaeve make decent crafters, so be sure to choose the craft magic arms feat for them if desired (the latter is the only companion who can make holy weapons). Keep the items you find that can be sold for a nice round figure like 5000 or 10.000. All merchants have a maximum amount they will buy any given item for and in a lot of cases, a merchant that will buy for a higher amount is not far away. If you have weight problems, buy a magic bag to keep the items in. Since remains after dead enemies take a few seconds to show up, it's rather easy to miss a few here and there, so make sure you get it all throughout the game. Remember you can not only disable traps, you can also recover them. A recovered trap can be sold for cash, or put to use against your enemies by yourself. =============================================================================== [vi] - The walkthrough =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [0.1] - Tutorial ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As most of it is well-explained in the pop-ups, I will only provide a few general suggestions for this part of the game. 1) Take the Harvest Brawl last. That way you'll be level 2 when you encounter the Mossfelds. 2) Make sure you win all four of the competitions, especially if you're a class with focus on charisma. Quicksave before starting any of the competitions. 3) Accepting the wager with the Mossfelds will result in a +1 chaotic alignment change, as well as -5 INF with Bevil (but who really cares, he won't be along much longer anyways). Refusing the bet gives you +1 lawful and +5 INF instead. 4) Try to play the tutorial with different background feats, the conversations will be a lot different depending on what background you've chosen. =============================================================================== CHAPTER ONE =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.1] - The Attack ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is where the actual game starts. You're being awakened in your sleep by Bevil and Amie who tells you the town is under attack. Grab your gear in the chest next to your bed, gear up and get your hotkeys sorted, especially that cute Harvest Cup you won since it can cast cure light wounds twice a day. Also enter your foster father's room and grab the amulet and the book. Head downstairs and enter your very first real fight. 3 grey dwarves will break the door and attack you. They shouldn't pose much of a threat. Remember to loot the desk in the room as well as the remains before you exit. Exit the house. You'll be greeted by the town healer, Brother Merring, who will bless you as well as tell you to get to the bridge and assist Georg. Kill any Gray dwarf between you and the bridge and talk to Georg. He'll tell you to rally the militia. Talk to Ward Mossfeld and find out he's too wounded to fight on. Now you have a choice, a choice that will be repeated when you find Wyn Mossfeld as well: GOOD PATH: Go talk to Merring again. He'll give you 4 swamp moss to use on wounded soldiers. It won't heal them, but it will make the pain go away so they can keep fighting. Talk to Ward again and tell him that you've brought some herbs. Heal him up to get your first militiaman as well as +3 Good. Simply use these herbs on the 2 other wounded militiamen you find. EVIL PATH: Slit his throat for +3 evil. You lose the 50xp for rallying him to the militia though. CLASS-NOTE: As a paladin, you don't need the swamp moss at all, just use your lay on hands ability in the dialogue. Cross the bridge, get to Laszlo and help him get rid of his little attackers, then head southeast to Ian Harman who's hiding near a house. Persuade him one way or the other to join the fight as well. 3/5 done. Move further along, and you'll intervene in a mage battle - seems the leader of the attack is a githyanki. Amie will try to help her master, but dies, leaving you with one less companion. Search the area for any remains, attackers or militiamen. The house in the SE corner has Pierson hiding in it. Enter however you can (pick the lock, bash the door, persuade him to open, whichever suits your style). The "lie" dialogue option gives you +1 chaotic. Use the swamp moss Merring gave you (or any innate healing abilities like lay on hands) to help any wounded harbormen you find. Make sure you also enter Tarmas' house and loot it for everything of value. Note that even when you reach 5/5, the surplus militiamen will still net you 50xp each, so make sure you get all 8 rallied up ;) Here's the full list of names of the militiamen: Ward Mossfeld, Wyn Mossfeld, Laszlo, Ian Harman, Pierson, Webb Mossfeld, "militiaman", Pitney Lannon. Near a barn is a dying gray dwarf. By talking with him you'll get a little information as well as a chance for an alignment change. Obviously, telling him that you don't want to hurt him is +1 Good, while threatening to burn him and then slit his throat is +2 Evil. By the time you reach Georg's rallying point, you should be on 5/5 (or even higher, actually). Talk to Georg and watch as more attackers arrive. Focus on the bladelings first, then kill any remaining dwarves. After two waves some will enter the Starling house, and Bevil will beg you to go inside to help. Agree, enter, and get the dogs to help you clear out the place. Talk to the kids. Tell them to "shut the door.." for +3 Good. Exit and help the militia kill the remaining dwarves and bladelings and watch as the cavalry arrives for the next wave. Well, a few elven archers together with your foster father at least. Congratulations, you survived the attack. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.2] - The swamp, the ruins and the farewell. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the cutscene and dialogue with your foster father and Bevil, you'll start out here. In the middle of the swamp, close to the ruins you were told to go to. Follow the road toward the ruins, killing any lizardmen or beetles you meet. You'll notice two ruins here. Ignore the one in the back for now, you won't be able to open it. My gut tells me we'll need to return here later on though. Enter the ruins - you need not pay too much attention to that elf in the cutscene, you'll find out later. Clear the entire place before taking the hallway that leads north. Remember to loot everything. You need cash, and all that crap they got is exactly that - cash. Don't worry, you'll get to sell it all soon. If you're starting to carry too much, offload some of it to Bevil. Once you've cleared the entire area, go north. Clear the rooms to the sides, then proceed north to the last door, defended by two lizardling guards. Rest up if needed, then open the door and watch the cutscene. With a succesful diplomacy check, you'll be able to get them to cooperate. They will leave you alone, and you get 100xp for finding a peaceful solution. It's less than what you would get for killing them all, and you'll miss out on a bit of loot as well, so it's your call. In any case, if you fail both the diplomacy and bluff checks, your only option is to fight. Take down the shaman first, then kill the remaining lizardlings. Make sure you loot everything before you open the chest. Open the chest, grab the shard and select the "let's go" dialogue option to get auto-ported back to your foster father. Ask him everything, and ask to talk to some people before you leave. Most of the named NPCs will help you in some way. Do note that what these people give you is very much dependent on what background you chose. (Thanks to Darren Krommenhock for more details about this). Tarmas - You can get information from him, and buy/sell stuff to him. Sell all the loot you found to get a nice amount of starting cash. He has little of value to sell, however, especially for a fighter, so save the cash for a while. A succesful diplomacy check makes him give you a potion of barkskin as well. Bevil - You'll get a healer's kit +1 as well as any items you gave to Bevil during your raid on the swamp ruins. A succesful diplomacy check also gives you 100g Orlen - gives you a potion of cure moderate wounds. If you chose the farmer background he'll give you an archer's belt. Retta Starling - Gives you a quest to find out what happened to Lorne, Bevil's brother who dissapeared during the war between Neverwinter and Luskan. Georg - In most cases he gives you a light shield +1, but if you've chosen the bully background, he'll just give you some advice, most of it useless. Brother Merring - will heal any wounds you have, but otherwise nothing, unless you are a cleric or possibly monk (more details on this would be appreciated.) Speak with your foster father again when you're ready, then head south to the world map transition to continue your adventure. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.3] - Weeping Willow Inn ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first thing you'll notice here is a dwarf getting bullied by three humans. Obviously the "good" choice is to help him out, so do so by helping him kill the three bullies. Don't feel too bad, they did draw weapons on him after all. Watch the cutscene and enjoy the ale until you get interrupted by some beings that look very much like the ones who attacked West Harbor earlier. Clear the place of those pesky duergar and bladelings. A woman, Gera, will come down and ask for help: "I'll take care of them" gives you +1 good as well as +1 INF with Khelgar. "Let's talk price" gives you +1 chaotic. Refusing, then tell Khelgar "all right, let's go" gives you +1 INF with him. Go upstairs, clear the area of all the evil buggers and save the civilians. Talk to Galen and learn whatever you can about the world. Ask for a reward from him for +1 chaotic. When you enter the room where Zachan is, kill the two bladelings, then talk to him. Tell him: "calm down.." for +1 good. "answer some questions.." for +1 evil. Ask for a reward, and he'll give you 25g. You can try intimidate and diplomacy for more, but all that will give you is +1 evil each. Remember to loot everything (bash the containers if you aren't a rogue, don't worry, no alignment change in it). Once the dust has settled, go back downstairs and talk to the barkeep. You can ask for a reward from him for saving his inn to get 50g. He'll also sell a wide selection of armors and weapons compared to what you've seen before. Finally time to use some of that cash you've gotten. Do note though, that once you reach Fort Locke you will be able to craft gear so it's your choice really. Also note that you'll get a rogue companion at Fort Locke, but her gear is not excactly impressive. Once you've geared yourself (and your new dwarven companion) up, it's time to move on. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.4] - Swamp Cave ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Congratulations. Your first "optional" area. I'd do it in any case though, there's some nice loot to be had as well as xp to be gained. I guess if you really want to optimize it all, you could go to Fort Locke first to grab Neeshka, and then go here. That way you'd be able to unlock all the containers instead of bashing them. I haven't tested it though, so I'm not sure what effect it would have on the Galen encounters. In any case, the loot gained should be minimal since all the important items here won't be destroyed by bashing. When you arrive, you'll see some fighting a little way ahead of you. Seems the merchant Galen is in trouble again. Help him out once more. Once the fight is over, Khelgar and one of the guards will start getting mad at each other. If you choose to stop it, you'll get -1 INF with Khelgar. If you're ready for the fight as well, you'll get +1 INF instead. No alignment change. Continue onwards, killing all the lizardmen you see. Also kill the spiders to the right of the cave entrance. No loot, but they're XP. Enter the cave. There's plenty of traps in here, but none of them are truly dangerous. Kill everything, loot everything, until you reach a door. Behind that door you'll encounter a lizardman chieftain together with a shaman and a warrior. Take out the shaman first, then the warrior, then hammer down the biggie. Remember to loot them all afterwards for a few magic items. Both chests in the back of the room are trapped and locked. Once everything's killed and looted, return outside and go back to the world map transition. We're off to Fort Locke. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.5] - Fort Locke ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon arriving to Fort Locke, move straight out to the big green area, the western edge of the map, basically. Clear out all the wolves there, including the dire wolf and loot the corpse. It's not a quest, but it's XP and loot. Move back to the road, then a bit forward and look to the left. You'll notice a few people standing. My my, seems Galen's guards are rebelling. Go talk to them. The dialogue option "I won't let you.." nets you +1 lawful. Kill them. After the fight, the dialogue option "greed can overcome" nets you +1 good. The dialogue option "Thank you, I accept" gives +1 good as well. If you simply decide to kill them all, that'll give you +1 evil, and you'll of course lose the chance of trading with Galen, ever. On the other hand, Galen drops the rapier Namarra (Neversleep) +1. If you plan to focus on rapiers, it may very well be worth taking the evil hit to get it. It can be upgraded with enchants, and will as such be a pretty useful weapon all through the game. Continue on the road, past the wolves (remember to loot them as well), until you encounter another group of bullies. Seems a few of the Fort Locke soldiers are harrassing an, ehm, well, she's a tiefling. She has a bit of demon blood in her, and because of that, the soldiers are assuming that she's part of that bandit gang that's been causing so many problems lately. If you try to help, they'll decide to kill you as well, to get both your loot as well as the bounty for 3 bandits. Kill them, and talk to the poor lass. The dialogue option "you don't owe me anything.." nets you +1 good. Accept her into your party even though Khelgar will complain a bit. You do need a rogue. Go straight south and whack the wolves down there for some extra XP, then head on into Fort Locke. Time to have a few chats, get some quests, buy/sell and, if applicable, do some crafting. Marshal Cormick - gives you the quest "Safer Travels". Galen - The merchant you by now know so well. Sell any surplus loot to him. Jacoby - Weapon merchant. He also sells loads of crafting molds. Tor Millows - Gives you the quest "Tor's Holy Symbol". Asking for a reward when getting the quest gives you +1 evil. Liza - Gives you the quest "Bandit's Ransom" Vallis Anton - Gives you the quest "Fort Locke Investigation". Asking for a reward here will also net you +1 evil. When getting the quest "Bandit's Ransom", Neeshka will start talking of all the loot there. If you tell her that's not the reason you're going, you'll loose 1 INF with her. If you tell her to mark it so you can go loot the place, you'll get +1 INF instead. As you probably already noticed, you'll need to stay here for a bit, so get to know the place. When you're ready, head north to the world map. You'll have three new options. Bandit Camp (Neeshka showed you where it was), Highcliff and the graveyard. Let's head out to the graveyard first. When you leave, you'll again see a cutscene of an elf watching you. Don't worry about it, you'll find out soon enough. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.6] - The Graveyard ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When leaving for the graveyard, you'll first encounter a group of bandits. Seem they don't really know what they're doing, attacking a group of hardened adventurers. A succesful diplomacy check makes them run away, and gives you 150xp. In the following chat with Khelgar, say "You'll have many more.." to gain +1 INF with him. Remember to loot the chest before proceeding to the graveyard. At the graveyard you'll be greeted by a large group of skeletons and zombies. Kill them all. Once the outside of the graveyard has been cleared, and the three graves has been looted (no alignment change, surprisingly enough), enter the crypt to the west. Inside the crypt, watch out for traps while you kill your way through. Neeshka is along for a reason, y'know. Take the north door first, then the south door and finally the eastern door. When you approach the statue in front of the last door, it will dissapear and let a large group of zombies after you. You should be able to fight them off without too much trouble, but if not, enter the room and use the lever inside. That will prevent the zombies from attacking for a while, blinding them or rebuking them in some way. Remember to loot the sarcophagus. Move outside again, and take the crypt on the eastern side. This one is a lot larger, open any door when you reach it, kill all the skeletons and zombies. When you reach a square room with only one door to the north in it, stay alert. There's a long hallway filled with traps on the other side. Best option will probably be to let Neeshka stealth and enter alone to disable as many of them she can before you enter yourself. There's also plenty of skeletons in the hallway, thankfully they trigger the traps as well, so you shouldn't worry too much about them. Before you proceed, remember to check the doors to the sides. Some are trapped so Neeshka will definetly earn her place in the group in this creepy place. Once you reach the southwest corner, you'll see two doors you can't open, and one door to the south you'll have no problems opening. Prepare for a tough fight before entering though. Inside is a shadow priest who'll raise a few zombies to help him kill you. Take out the priest first, then clean up the undead. Talk to the commander to find out that this fella wasn't working alone and that there's still 3 soldiers down here somewhere. Use the lever to open the two doors you couldn't open before and continue onwards. Take the northern door first, smash your way through the undead and enter the room at the end to find the first soldier, Bruneil. Go back, take the east door. Take the first door to the south after that to find the second soldier, Garret. Clear the room of those ugly undead. Too bad you're a bit late to save the bugger though. Keep moving, watch for the trap at the crossroad. Take the south "arm" and proceed through. Watch for traps in the final room. Seems the last soldier has been kept safe. Move back to the cross and take the east route to get outside, then return to Fort Locke. When you return to Fort Locke with the Commander, Vallis will have a little surprise for you. Seems the fella got a taste for commanding and has started a little coup. During the conversation, tell Vallis: "you got your orders. It is your duty.." for +1 lawful. "if you wanted me to kill him.." for +1 evil. Kill him, and watch the Commander run towards the Fort. Remember to loot the remains. Once you return to the Fort, Commander Tann is in full control and will give you a warm thanks, as well as tell you that there's still a bandit threat. Speak to Cormick again for a little XP bonus, and check the new store at Jacoby before you move out to the bandits. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.7] - Bandit Camp ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Get ready for a big battle. Enter the camp and start slaughtering those bandits like no tomorrow. Once the area is clean of bandits and loot alike, go to the prisoner pen. They'll ask you to get them out of there fast, but while you're talking, you'll be discovered. Kill all the newly arrived bandits and lead the poor hostages outside the camp. They'll tell you to meet them in Fort Locke. Ask for a reward to get +1 evil. Of course they don't thank Neeshka, so in the following conversation, tell her "you have my thanks.." for +1 INF. Return to the camp and enter the house. Whack any bandit you see, check all the rooms. The room in the middle, with a wizard in it, also has Tor's symbol in a chest. Do remember to check for traps all over the place, yet again Neeshka is an important asset to your team. Once you reach the last room you'll notice that the bandit chief doesn't attack you automatically. He's given up, basically. You came to free the prisoners, find Tor's Symbol and stop the bandit threat and he claims you've done all of them already. If you tell him you came to collect the bounty on his head, you won't be able to get him to surrender, you have to fight him and his group. Ask him to "surrender to the soldiers.." for +3 lawful. A good intimidate or diplomacy check persuades him to give himself up to the Fort authorities and become militiamen instead of bandits. After that check, tell him "The Commander of Fort Locke owes me a favor" for +1 good. Remember to loot the containers around him before you leave, he won't mind. Return to Fort Locke and speak with Tor, Liza (if you refuse the reward you'll get +1 good, and if you complain about the size of it, you'll get +1 evil) and Commander Tann. If you made the bandit leader surrender, Tann will tell you that they've already been put to work. If you killed him, he'll just say the bandit threat seems to be over. Sell surplus gear, craft whatever you can/want and say goodbye to Fort Locke and it's surroundings. We're off to Highcliff. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.8] - A new friend ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the way to Highcliff, you'll be stopped by yet another group of duergar and bladelings. This time, however, an elven druid will help you. Seems she's been following you for a while and has now decided to come to your aid. She tells of a hidden route to Highcliff. Agree to have her tag along, and follow her to the glade. When you arrive there something seems wrong though. The animals are supposed to be friendly, but instead they attack. Say "i would prefer to leave here without more bloodshed" for +1 INF with Elanee. Say "If any animal comes my way I'll cut 'em down" for +1 INF with Khelgar. Proceed forward, killing the animals as they attack. When you reach the corpses of 3 wolves, Elanee will ask you to investigate the matter. Agree for a +1 INF with Elanee. Say that you just want to get to Highcliff for +1 INF with Neeshka and -1 INF with Elanee. Continue forward, killing what needs to be killed. Once you spot the huge enraged bear, make sure you clear everything else first. Rest up, check Elanee's spell list and get ready for a fight. Defeat the huge bear, only to learn it was Kaleil, a druid from the Mere. He tells how the Mere had corrupted him with thoughts of shadows and blood. Nothing more to do here but to give Kaleil's corpse a final farewell so head out toward Highcliff - hopefully without any more of Elanee's clever shortcuts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.9] - Highcliff ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you thought things would be smooth sailing from here, think again. Nothing's sailing in or out of Highcliff due to lizardfolk these days. The cutscene will explain better than words I believe. Also, speak to Grishnak to find out more about what's going on in the place. Guess you just found your new quest hub: Highcliff. Enter the actual city. Notice that group of sailors a bit ahead? Move toward them and, obviously, they will start commenting your strange group. Now, here's your first real influence choice. If you start the fight yourself, you gain +2 inf with Khelgar but -1 inf with Elanee. If you try to avoid it, however, you will get +1 INF with Elanee but -1 INF with Khelgar - and since the dwarf can't keep his mouth shut, the poor sailors will die anyways. Head on to the southern end of the town, to Branson Marlek, the city's self-proclaimed best merchant. He does have a couple of nice things, so feel free to browse his goods. Cross the street to Gera and Zachan, the couple you helped back at the Weeping Willow. Seems their son's gone missing in some ruins outside of town. Agree to help them, Neeshka will complain about it. If you tell her it's because you have to help you get -1 INF, but +1 INF with Elanee. If you tell her that you're doing it for the reward, you get +1 INF with Neeshka, but -1 INF with Elanee. Head on up to Par's house. The poor man seems to have unwelcome visitors, so go inside for a wee look. Seems a few sailors have gotten bored and decided to start a new line of business. Take care of them, and loot the place if you wish then return to Par for your reward, a few potions and some XP. Move over to Edario and see what he can make. He's an armorsmith, and will most likely have a few nice upgrades for you and your companions. Now go across the street and have a word with Captain Flinn - he'll send you to the village elder, so head on up there and have a word with him as well. After some friendly chatter, you'll end up with the quest "ship sabotage". Go over to Juni, the lady who was talking to the Elder when you arrived, and have a chat with her to get another quest, "William's fate". Move to the north gate and have a chat with Mozah. Seems you're not the first group of brave adventurers to arrive here. Head out the north gate and move to Shandra's farm. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.10a] - Shandra's Farm and the Highcliff Castle ruins ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you enter the farm area, prepare for a long chat. Start by being truthful, then ask her all the questions you can. After a while, a few lizardfolk will arrive, setting fire to her barn (and her entire harvest), leaving her rather unfriendly toward you. Move out to the ruins. Upon arriving to the ruins, move on forward, get off the road to the right when you can. You'll notice a small camp, and William, the lost husband. Seems the poor man would rather stay lost, and begs you to lie to Juni when you return to Highcliff. If your diplomacy check fails, you won't be able to get him to return on his own. Return to the road, clear the western side until you locate Alex and Andrew, the two lost kids. Seems they ran into a tiny wolf problem, so whack the wolves and talk to the children. Inside the castle ruin, you'll see a lizard, Slaan, fighting a few zombies. Help him out, then talk to him. Seems his tribe is the one attacking the boats and that a group of 'em are now trapped below, with the undead. Tell him you'll help him get his clansmen out of the castle if he will take you to his chief afterwards. He will join your party and assist you all through the coming dungeon. If you simply kill him, you will find a map on him that gives you the location of the lizardfolk lair. Killing him also nets you +3 chaotic. Once inside, start out by clearing every room of zombies until you reach the spot where a cutscene reveals yet another of those shadowpriests you killed one of at Fort Locke. Seems their commander is called Black Garius. Interesting. Of course, they'll spot you, so better be prepared for a fight. This fella is a tad tougher than the priest you hammered back at the Fort, but die he must. Loot his remains as well as the remains of his servants and the chest behind him for Mozah's Backpay as well as the shadow priest journal and a stack of shinies. Return to the main hallway and go eastwards first, clearing the area of any undead still, ehm, standing up. Once you reach the northernmost room (a locked one), you'll find Slaan missing friends. They're not too happy to see you, and not at all when they learn that Slaan has made a deal with you. They're sure you will kill the chieftain. Ignore them and say you're ready to go see the big boss. If you killed Slaan, you'll have to kill these ones as well, then leave the place and head for the lizardfolk cave yourself (continue in 1.10b from here) You'll be auto-ported to the lizardfolk chieftain. Have a few words with him, make your deal. Now we only need to convince the village Elder that this, hmm, arrangement, is the best way to handle this whole matter. You'll get auto-ported back to Highcliff. Talk to Mozah and finish off that quest, then go convince the Elder that your way is the best way, well, the only way. You'll get auto-ported to the harbor. Finish off any loose ends with Zachan and Gera as well as Juni, then talk to the Elder. Enjoy the boat trip - and the cutscenes. If you lie to Mozah or Juni, you'll get +1 chaotic for each time. When Gera gives you the amulet for saving her son, say "is that all?" for +3 evil. When the elder gives you your reward, again say "that's all?" for +3 evil. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.10b] - Lizardfolk Cave ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You won't ever go here unless you kill Slaan instead of letting him help you. Kill your way through the lizardmen until you reach the cave entrance. Enter. When you look at the map, you'll see where the chieftain's room is. We'll take that room last, simply because there's loads of other lizardmen and containers to kill and loot. Clear the place out, then proceed to the bossman's room. Kill the shaman first, then destroy the warriors and finally the boss himself. Remember to loot the little room to the east, that's the treasury after all. Once everything's looted, head out the door in the northwest corner of the chieftain's room, then head back to Highcliff. Hand in the quests (see 1.10a for alignment options) and head out for the glorius city of Neverwinter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.11] - Neverwinter ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, this is the big city of Neverwinter. You'll have a few map pins to tell you of certain points of interest, but it's really your call where to go first. I'd head off to that uncle's tavern, the Sunken Flagon, first though. Enter the tavern and start talking with your uncle. Soon enough, the wizard, Sand, will enter as well. After a long chat, you'll end up with a choice. Either you go to Cormick, join the city guard and enter Blacklake that way, or you find the thieve's guild and work your way into Blacklake with their help. Whichever way you go, consider this inn your base of operations from now on. I suggest you take some time exploring the city first, taking care of a few things before you start working for one of the groups, so let's do a bit of good old-fashioned exploration before deciding which side to work for. Leave the Sunken Flagon, and make a visit to the two outdoor salesmen - an armorer and a weaponsmith. You'll get ambushed by 4 bladelings near the weaponsmith, but I doubt those fellas will cause you any problems by now. You should be a group of well-geared level 7s after all. Head out toward the merchant district by going north around the city watch building. You'll encounter someone Neeshka knows. Seems there's a bounty out on our little tiefling. Deal with Bennon whichever way you want, you will eventually have to kill him and his thugs. Head on out to the merchant district. Guess what? Another group of thugs who want to collect the bounty on Neeshka's horns. Yup, not her head, her horns. Yet again, there's no peaceful solution, so handle it however you see fit, and listen to Neeshka's solution to the problem afterwards. Seems you'll need to take care of that Leldon fella one way or another in any case. Neeshka will inform you that the next step should be to visit Ophala in the Moonstone Mask. Take the first road south though, there's another old Neverwinter character we should meet first. Head down to Deekin's little hideout. If you've played the two expansions to the old Neverwinter Nights, you'd know that Deekin is, well, a kobold with a deep love for adventuring. Especially writing down the tales of all the magnificent things your character did in those two games. While Deekin will tell you a lot of funny things, he's also looking for a real house to set up shop. Let's keep that in mind. You can buy some very special armors from him, armors designed for the prestige classes of NWN2, as well as a few other spiffy things. Move on, past the Moonstone Mask to find Pap's. He's a merchant specializing in crafting materials. Nice to know where he is, especially if you intend to enchant items later on. A bit north past Pap's you'll see a little girl being accused of stealing. Handle this situation however you see fit. You'll need to help the kid if you want to enlist Wolf's help later on (not that he'll help an awful lot, just some random messenger stuff, at least until chapter 2). Return back south and enter the Temple of Tyr. Time to find out whether that crazed dwarf can actually get his wish. Seems the poor fella has a long way to go. Three trials await Khelgar in the future, one of which requires you to gain plenty of influence with him. Check out the NPC list in the appendix for more info about these quests. You can also get a little sidequest in the temple. Enter the left door and talk to Judge Oleff. Seems one of his priests has gone missing in a place called Tomb of the Betrayers. Neeshka will be drooling over the prospect of getting into it. You can convince her not to steal stuff if you tell her that you wouldn't want anyone to rob her crypt once she's dead. That line will also give you +1 INF with her. In any case, head out to that Tomb thingy - if you're a paladin or cleric I bet you already got one finger on your turn undead hotkey. Keep 'em there ;) Enter the tomb, watch out for traps. Go left first, opening the doors as they come. The second room you'll enter is a room with a lever and a block. Notice the marked areas on the floor? Fireballs will come out and hurt you if that block isn't, heh, blocking them. Now, the trick is to order your party to "stand your ground" while Neeshka heads off. Let one pull the lever, then move out. Of course, Neeshka's evasion and the resting system makes the whole puzzle thing rather pointless, so feel free to just run over them without bothering with the lever. Off to the next interesting room - and whaddya know, it's another trap room *gasp*. The room in the SW corner should be taken care of much like the previous room. Broadcast a stand your ground and let Neeska run like hell. Continue past the two doors in the central south section for now - we'll take them later. Let's clear out the eastern side of this place first. Now, the southeastern room is a wee strange. First, you need to lure those shadows inside out. Notice how they get hurt every time they step on a specific part of the floor? Once all the shadows are dead, take over Neeshka, broadcast a stand your ground and run to the trapped chest, avoiding the pressure plates. The northeastern room is another tricky one. You need to keep one member of your party on the pressure plate constantly in order to keep the door open and let Neeshka get to the chest. The remaining rooms, except the two in the central south area, all have some form of undead monsters, so make sure you clear those as well. It's free XP after all. Once everything's cleared, head down to the southern rooms we passed before. Take the southern door first to reach the missing priest. You'll soon learn that a powerful traitor has risen from the dead and has taken control of the tomb. Hmm, seems the undead are rising all over the place these days, wonder if there is a connection, eh? Any case, buff up and head through the door to the north to locate this big traitor-undead-fella. Guess what? It's Fenthich, Lady Aribeth's lover from the original NWN. You remember the man that got hanged for treason, aye? Now, it seems to be a wee buggy here. In my case, Fenthick simply attacked me. Or, well, he ran around like the Duracell bunny rather. Use your ranged weapons and spells if you have such things to your disposal, otherwise this'll be a long fight. Once he's dead, pull the lever to open the door to the outside again, then go fetch the poor priest and lead him safely outside. Since you've already cleared the place, that shouldn't be a problem. Return to Oleff to get your reward. Now off for the Moonstone Mask. Speak with Ophala to learn where Leldon is, and that he's prepared for Neeshka's return with certain magics as well as dogs. Since his home is in this quarter, let's go there right away, there's not much else to do right now anyway. There's two ways of handling Leldon's hideout. The stealth way, or the direct approach. The stealth way lets you enter, sneak in, grab the coin and leave, while the direct approach ends up with you fighting Leldon a bit sooner than the storyline expects. You'll miss out on a tiny bit of story about Neeshka, but you'll get the whole thing over with faster. Again, your choice. Leldon's hideout is right next to the entrance to Blacklake district, so go there, and hop inside. Proceed forward and enter the door to the right. You were told he was prepared for Neeshka, so assume there's a trap wherever one can be placed. These thugs in here are quite strong and hit quite hard, so be prepared for a relatively tough battle if you do the direct approach. Continue through the door to the north. Whack any thugs you encounter, and stay alert about those traps. Continue through the building until you reach the treasure room. Doing the direct approach, you'll fight Leldon here, before you get the magic coin. He'll use a smoke potion to get away when he gets hurt badly enough. After that, feel free to grab all the loot in the "cage", even Leldon's lucky coin. If you did this the stealthy way and you helped the two kids during the chapter you'll soon get a message that Leldon awaits you in the park. Go there. You'll end up fighting him and he'll use the smoke bomb, much like in the direct approach. (Stealth approach info from Alex Karabis) Return to the docks district. It's time to choose a side - to work for the city watch, or to work for Moire and her thugs. Note that working for the watch or the thieves is more than just a moral choice. Working for the thieves is the ONLY way to unlock the shadow thief prestige class, while the Neverwinter Nine class will be open to both paths. Also, the thieves will only automatically net you +1 evil - the rest is dependent on how you solve the tasks given to you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [1.12a] - Working for the City Watch ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Head to the city watch building, go inside, and speak with Cormick. You'll be assigned to duty on the double - seems a merchant has a few problems you need to handle, so better head out. Remember to put on your new shiny cloak. Notice the alley-looking thing just west of the city watch, basically between you and the shop you need to get to? Go there, and have a word with the wolf. Seems he's yet another druid who can't get out of his wildform. He'll eventually tell you that you need to visit the Skymirror. This is part of Elanee's quest line. Once inside the shop, have a little chat with both Reesa and Hagen as well as the four thugs showing up a wee later. Kill all four of them and return to Cormick. Cormick's next job is to head out and get a hold of the person behind these extortions, Caleb, so go have a word with this entrepeneuring thug. Caleb is not exactly a clever thug. Unlike the bandit leader back at Fort Locke, he doesn't realize just who he's up against. So, after a few insults, he'll resort to attacking you. Kill him and his two friends and return to Cormick. The third task is a wee bit larger - make a full sweep through the district, killing any criminal you see, and check up on the watch posts as well. To complete the quest, you need to visit the four City Watch sergeants in the district. Kill any thugs you encounter on your route as well. Hey, it's a few less troops for Moire, right? During your sweep head on around the Sunken Flagon. Seems a few magelings are about to start a little brawl - and we all know how bad it can get when mages go on a rampage, so you better stop them before they really start. You'll end up with a new party member as well, the sorcerer Qara. Feel free to enter the Flagon and have a word or two with her, as well as check out her gear and so forth. Do note that the first two times you leave the Sunken Flagon with her in the group, you will be attacked by academy students who in no way enjoyed that she managed to survive the first "duel" with the two magelings. They will attack no matter what you do. Fortunately, they're fairly weak. You can't do anything special at post number 1, so just move on, killing thugs as they come. At post number 2, the one right beside Sand's shop, you can choose to start accepting bribes, simply say no to it, or threaten to report the sergeant. Needless to say, the last option gives you +lawful. And makes the sergeant and his 3 friends attack you, forcing you to kill off four guards. Handle the situation however you see fit. At post 3, just a wee north from the second one, you'll encounter a group of thugs trying to bribe the guardsmen. Again, handle the situation however you see fit. Just south of post 4, you'll encounter Trent, a fella who enjoys his drinks. Convince him to take his drinking inside for a little XP, then continue to post 4. This sergeant is also corrupted, but you're able to save him. With a few good checks, you'll turn him into a double-agent. How clever! Just north of post 4, you'll see a few people with a wagon. Go investigate. Seems these fellas are carrying their loot from a burglary. How interesting. Handle this situation as you see fit, but do note that taking the loot after killing them will give you +1 chaotic. Once you complete your sweep, return to the city watch to see it set on fire. You'll be informed that Cormick has gone to the merchant district to talk to the commander. I suggest you head on out to meet him there. Before you head out completely, turn south at the exit and notice the little merchant getting bullied by a group of Moire's gang. Sort it out and you'll have one more tradesman to go to. Enter the City Watch building in the merchant district and talk with the commander. Seems her lieutenant, the leader of the docks district got killed during the fire, and she wants YOU to take his place. Your primary assignment will be killing off the smuggling operations, but Cormick would love to root out a few of the turncoats in the city watch as well. Right then - time to put hard to hard and assault those thieves where it hurts them the most. Off to the dock district and into the Back Alley we go! Right before the Back Alley, you'll see a thug trying to extort Wolf, the leader of the thief kids. Again, up to you how to handle it. Upon entering Back Alley, you'll see a few guards taking a bribe. A good diplomacy or intimidate check will give you a peaceful solution, otherwise you will have to kill a few of your own troops. Continue forward, clearing the place of thugs as you go. You'll soon see a rather large group of watchmen and thugs hanging out together, and your party will start wondering how to even the odds a bit. If you have Qara or Neeshka along, you can send off one of them to start a small fire, making the watch go to turn it out and leaving the thugs alone for you to deal with. When the thugs are dead, go deal with the watchmen. Leave none alive. Moving on, you'll see another group of thugs just ahead. This group is bent on stopping the shipment as well. They don't want a war. You can either enlist them as helpers, or use diplomacy to get them out of harm's way. Your call. After one more group of thugs, you'll see the shipment. Guarded by gangmembers and city watchmen alike. No matter what you say, the guards will attack you. If you have Qara along, a well-placed fireball will take care of those traitors. After killing the remainders, a little discussion ensues. Neeshka would prefer to sell off the weapons for our own gain, while Khelgar feels duty-bound. Pick a side, but note that you will lose/gain 1 INF depending on which side you go with. Meaning, siding with Khelgar and handing in all the weapons nets you +1 INF with him while you lose -1 INF with Neeshka. Remember though, you need influence with Khelgar if he is ever to fulfill his dream and become a monk. If you side with Khelgar, you'll get auto-ported to the city watch post in the merchant quarter. Report your progress to your commander and Cormick, and they will have a new assignment for you. Now it's time to hit the destination of the shipment, so head outside, head to the park and enter the warehouse. Move forward, killing off thugs as you go. Once you reach the documents, kill the named guard. Make sure you've cleared out everything before you grab the documents though - otherwise you'll have to walk all the way back to your commander. Upon leaving the warehouse, you'll meet the famed Neverwinter Nine, preparing to assault the warehouse. When you tell them you've already done that, you can send them off to the Sunken Flagon for a little R&R. Hope they drink enough to cover the rather large tab Khelgar has been keeping ;) If you thought the job was done now, think again. Apparently one of the most important informants has had his cover blown, and guess who's going to have to run off to make sure he stays alive. Yep, you. The captain says "make haste" so let's move out immediately. Head out to Fihelis' estate only to find out that you're too late. Thugs have already entered. Brace for combat - clear out the place. All the thugs here are stealthers by the way. Seems the assassins are having a good time. Once it seems all the baddies are dead, head on up to the 2nd floor. Guess we won't be done so easily. Oh, do remember to loot everything, no alignment hit for it. More stealthers hiding out on the 2nd floor. Clear the rooms one by one, kill them all. Once you reach the final room, and the only closed door, prepare for a tough fight. Buff up, get ready, and open the door. Moire herself has arrived to finish off the traitor. Of course, once you arrive, she decides you will be a much better victim and attacks you, no matter what you say. Kill her any way you can, then talk to the poor Fihelis. While the next mission is also for the city watch, it's not inside Neverwinter. With Moire out of the game, Captain Brelaina believes there's surplus to handle some affairs outside of the city walls. It seems an emissary from Waterdeep has gone missing and of course your Cap'n fears the worst. You're to leave for Old Owl Well and find out what has happened to the emissary. First, however, it's time to do some trading. Sell all the loot you've found during your latest missions and make sure your entire party is geared up. We're going to take a brief stop at the Skymirror for Elanee before we head to Old Owl Well by the way, so make sure she's in your party when you leave Neverwinter. (There's apparently some bugs if you arrive to Skymirror without Elanee, so let's do this the safe way, shall we?) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.12b] - Working for the Thieve's Guild. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Even if you decide to work for Moire, you'd still want to pay a visit to the City Watch building, only to get your reward from Cormick. Hey, it's 300g just for going there. Head out to Caleb to get your first mission for the thieve's guild. Seems a merchant is refusing to pay his protection money. Time to show just why he has to pay that cash. Head out to Hagen's shop. Threaten him in whatever way you like, he'll eventually give in and give you the money. When you return to Caleb, however, Hagen and 4 members of the City Watch will arrive, wanting to arrest you. You can either bribe or fightyour way out of it, but Caleb will tell you to go to Moire for more jobs since he needs to lay low for a while. Head on up to Moire's hideout in the north of the district. After a bit of debate, Moire tells you that she wants you to do a sweep of the district. She wants you to "turn" the four City Watch sergeants to her side, and if that's not possible, kill them. Head on out and start the sweep. You'll encounter several groups of thugs on your way, all of which are from rival gangs, so feel free to kill them all. Now, your primary mission is to visit the 4 sergeants, but there's also other things to do, so let's take it all in proper order. Right after leaving Moire's hideout, head straight west. You'll soon see a group of men pushing a wagon. Go have a word with these fellas. Seems that no matter what you say, you'll eventually have to kill them. If you tell them "nothing moves without Moires permission" you'll get +1 lawful. Remember to loot the wagon when they're dead. Head back west to the guardpost right behind you. With a good diplomacy or intimidate check, you'll convince him that taking the bribe is the best way to go. In the southeastern corner, you'll find Reylene. After a rather funny dialogue she'll realize that you're asking for protection money and give you 100g as well as promise to tell other merchants that you're a very dangerous person to cross. Head all the way west, to the docks, then south. You'll see the second guardpost is already being visited, by Luskan thugs. Again, a good diplomacy check makes the sergeant realize where his loyalties are. At least Moire's gold is Neverwinter gold and not Luskan. The thugs will of course get mad and attack, so kill them. Just south of this post is the third one. He's rather easy to convince into taking a little extra coin, so do that. During your sweep head on around the Sunken Flagon. Seems a few magelings are about to start a little brawl. Feel free to handle this however you please. Both mages drop magic items when they die, so if you're going the evil way, I would simply kill 'em. You'll end up with a new party member as well, the sorcerer Qara. Feel free to enter the Flagon and have a word or two with her, as well as check out her gear and so forth. Do note that the first two times you leave the Sunken Flagon with her in the group, you will be attacked by academy students who in no way enjoyed that she managed to survive the first "duel" with the two magelings. They will attack no matter what you do. Fortunately, they're fairly weak. Now, the last post is back behind the Sunken Flagon. Again, good diplomacy makes him accept the bribe, while failing it makes them attack. Bribe them or kill them, handle it how you can. In the corner where Caleb was, you'll find two thugs. They've just killed one of Moire's men, and are looking for more. With a good diplomacy check, you can persuade them to join Moire, otherwise you'll have to kill them. In the alley behind the weaponsmith, you'll find a wounded wolf. Seems he's yet another druid who can't get out of his wildform. He'll eventually tell you that you need to visit the Skymirror. This is part of Elanee's quest line. I do believe you need to have Elanee in your party for this by the way. Once the sweep is over, head back to Moire for your reward as well as your next assignment. Your next mission is to burn down the City Watch building in the Docks, and at the same time make sure that nobody gets out alive. So, let's go play a bit with fire. Head out and to the city watch building. You'll see three stacks of very flammable materials in various places around it. Equip the torch Moire gave you and set fire to all three of them. Kill any of the Watch trying to stop you. If you wish, you can enter the building afterwards and help get Cormick out. Return to Moire when the mission is complete. She'll tell you that her boss, Axle, is your new commander, so head out to the Merchant's Quarter. Your next mission is to make sure a delivery of weapons arrive safely at its destination. Seems easy enough. Head straight for the Back Alley. Once you reach the entrance, you'll see a group of smugglers with their cargo. Talk to the smuggling contact and enter the Back Alley. The first thing you'll encounter is two groups of thugs. Take out their casters first, then finish off the regular thugs. Next up is a group of watchmen. It seems a peaceful solution is impossible here so just kill them. In the alley straight west of the watchmen, you'll find a third group of thugs, kill them too, then move on south to find the fourth group. Remember, take out the spellcasters first, their chain lightning can hurt. A bit down the road you'll see a rather large group of city watch people. You can get Qara or Neeshka to make a diversion by setting a fire, then go kill them while they're busy putting out that fire. That would at least be the maximum XP way to do it. If you let Qara do the distraction, and then tell her that next time she's free to use more power, you'll get +1 INF with her. Kill the group of thugs right after the guards, then move on. At the point where the route turns south, take the northern (long) way around the block, there's a group of thugs up there, might as well take them out as well. It's all XP y'know. Make sure you're rested up before the next encounter. You'll come across a group of 5 thugs, telling you that they want the weapons and that they expect you to surrender them. When you refuse, he'll bring in quite a few more thugs. Of course, with Qara along, simply throw a few fireballs their way to get rid of them. Once they're killed, proceed forward, the end is near ;) Talk to the warehouse supervisor to finish up the escort quest. Unfortunately your work is not yet complete. Once inside, you'll get your reward, 2000g. Of course, the watch will arrive. Seems somebody tipped them off about where that shipment was headed. Now, you will need to defend the shipment, but don't worry too much. Simply head out to the four locations one at a time and kill any city watch arriving at it. You won't be timed or anything like that, so the job is actually rather simple. You just need to clear out any city watch in the warehouse. Kill them all. Once you're done, return to Moire and Axle for your reward as well as your next mission. Your next task will be Old Owl Well, so I suggest you go do Skymirror now if you haven't already. After Skymirror, head for Old Owl Well. See those sections for details about how to handle that. Once you're done at OOW, return to this section to see how to handle your next missions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.13] - The Skymirror ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: You can do this area at any point during the chapter, just remember you need Elanee in your party to do it. When you arrive at the Skymirror, Elanee will tell you a bit about it. After the cutscene, move forward. Have a look at the old worn trees. Seems they are the seals she mentioned. They have some rather specific symbols. All four of them represent a spell Elanee can cast, so make her cast the appropriate spell for each tree: 1. A massive bull - Bull's Strenght 2. A leaping panther - Cat's Grace 3. A man's face that looks half wooden and half flesh - Barkskin 4. An owl perched on a high limb - Owl's Wisdom Touch all trees after you cast your spell to make sure it worked. When you touch the fourth tree, you will recieve the "Skymirror Offering". Have a chat with Naevan, a druid of Elanee's circle. Seems he knows even less than you but suspects the King of Shadows is returning. Once the conversation is over, you will get 400xp, and Elanee will say that something is wrong and that we should leave immediately. On your way out, you'll be attacked by water elementals and ghasts - and in the end, just before the exit, a shadow priest and his thugs. Kill them all, and remember to loot the remains. Now either return to Neverwinter or proceed to Old Owl Well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.14] - Old Owl Well ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the way to Old Owl Well, you'll meet up with Grobnar Gnomehands, a gnomish bard. As per tradition with the NWN games, the bard is more annoying and a comic relief than anything else. In any case, he'll be available to your party from now on. When you arrive to Old Owl Well, you'll notice that it looks more like a military camp than anything else. Simmy, the merchant here, has a decent variety of weapons available. Several of them have fire or acid enchants, so that should give you a little hint of what sort of monsters are coming up. Yep, it's troll-time, so make sure you got some fire or acid stuff to kill 'em off with. If you have Qara with you, that won't be a problem, I believe. EVIL ROUTE: Go speak with Karina, Axle's informant in this part of the Neverwinter army. She will give you a paper that makes the rest of the area act like you were employed by the City Watch, so from now on, continue on the good route. GOOD ROUTE: Go speak with Callum, or, Commander Callum to you. He'll tell you a few things and then a band of orcs will attack. Slaughter them, and continue your chat. Seems the emissary has been taken by orcs, and Callums best bet is the Bonegnashers. He'll also tell you that the true leader of the orcs is of the Eyegouger tribe, and that there's an unknown orcslayer out there somewhere as well. Somebody has been killing off orcs without mercy. Seems like a good man to get on your side, so if you run across him, make sure to establish some sort of relationship with him. You got your orders. Rest up, and head out to the Bonegnasher lair. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.15] - Bonegnasher Clan ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Entering this area, the first thing you will encounter is a group of orcs to your left. Kill them, loot, move on northward. Take a left at the crossroad to get to a troll. Time to find out how to kill those buggers. Return to the crossroad and be assaulted by a rather large group of orcs. If you have Qara along, her fireballs will work wonders, as they always do. Continue forward, toward the rockslide. When you arrive at the rockslide, a cutscene will tell you that you need to find a way to remove all those rocks - and another group of orcs will attack you. Move on north, the only way you can go. You'll soon reach a second rockslide, only this one is passable if you have Elanee along. If you haven't brought your druid, you'll have to take the long way around. I'd take the long way anyways, there's critters to kill, loot to get and XP to gain by it. Coming around the corner, you'll see a group of "blue" orcs. Approach them. You'll soon find out that they're waiting for their scout to return. You'll get a few options on how to take this battle, but however you choose it, you will have to fight. I'd simply attack them and get it over with, but your call. Once you've reached the north side of the rockslide, move a bit more to the east to find a cave. Well, a troll cave, so get your fire/acid gear ready and go kick some troll behind. Once all trolls are dead, search the place for a crate with blastglobes. If you have Qara along, she'll tell you what they are and how they're used. Also, make sure you click the ore deposit at the back. It's not useful currently, but it will become so later on. Head out of the cave and back to the first rockslide, the big one. Watch the cutscene and rejoice, the way is open. Take the southern route first, and annihilate all the orcs running around - and yes, there's a lot of 'em. Again, Qara's fireballs are wonderfully powerful. Head up the eastern ramp to find Guyven of the Road. Have a little chat with him. He tells you that the old Ironfist stronghold was around here, and if you wish, he will tell you the story of the Clan, with a few comments from Khelgar if you have him along. Now it's time to have a visit to the actual lair of the Bonegnasher Clan, so move north to the entrance. Kill off the guards and enter the lair. Move northward, clearing the room to your left. At the crossroads, go left. Clear the rooms as they come. Remember the door to the south in the corner. You will soon come to a rather large room with another ore vein - click it. Keep following the "road", clearing rooms as you go, and you'll soon enough notice that you're almost back where you started. Backtrack a bit and clear the last room before moving on eastwards. Just after the path turns north, you'll come to two doors on your right. Seems this is the prison cells, say hello to Pentin the miner. Since the Orcs won't drop a key, you'll have to open it with other means. Pick it, bash it, blow it up, whatever you please. Pentin will thank you and then run back to Old Owl Well. You'll meet this fella later on. For now, let's continue our ruthless slaughtering of the Bonegnasher tribe. When the path turns westwards, there's a room to the north and one to the south. The south one has a few orc casters and a chest in it, and the north one has an Orc Matron. Clear the entire area, then rest up and buff up before proceeding. Continue westward, into another big room, and behold! The chieftain himself! After a wee chat, he will run off and let his guards attack. Once they're dead continue forward. This next room is full of traps, so let Neeskha take the lead and clear it out before proceeding north. Move forward until you see Yaisog Bonegnasher again. This time he will fight. He will surrender when you're about to kill him, but there are a few complications here. If you show him mercy, you will have to meet him again later, at a point where you don't really want him. Any questions will result in a lying answer from him, so he's not much use to you either way. However you handle it, after Yaisog is gone, move a wee farther along the path to find a man. He claims to be the emissary you're looking for, but something just doesn't feel right, Neeshka will be especially suspicious. Turns out he doesn't have the credentials, and don't know the contact in Neverwinter. If you push him a wee too far, he will attack you. Whichever way you do it, you will end up fighting him before you reach Old Owl Well. After leaving the Bonegnasher Clan area, you'll have a random encounter on your way back to Old Owl Well. Some orcs, and Casavir, a paladin. Seems he's the one helping out the Neverwinter forces by slaughtering humans. From now on, you'll be forced to have him in your party until the real emissary has been freed. On the bright side, he knows where the Eyegouger lair is located. Feel free to return to Old Owl Well to sell loot before going there though. Either way, your next point of interest will be the lair of the Eyegougers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.16] - The Eyegouger Clan ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While this place may look a bit confusing, there's really only one way to go. Move past the spiders, one orc group (remember to loot the chest) and another two groups of spiders, then you'll come to a barricade with some orcs behind. Seems you found the first line of defense of the Eyegouger lair. A well-placed fireball takes care of the barricade itself, so it really isn't a big problem. Keep moving forward, wasting the next barricade in the same manner. Take care of the giant blade spider guarding the entrance to the actual lair, and enter. Now, this is one big place so let's make sure we get it all. Move straight north, killing all the orcs there. Go through the door to the north, killing anything inside here as well. Remember to loot everything, we're starting to get some quite nice loot from these orcs. Backtrack a bit, and take the western path, clearing the rooms as they come. Once you reach the northwest corner, go all the way to the west and clear that little room up there. Whaddya know, humans working with orcs. Seems these guys are conducting some rather special experiments. Moving on, head up to the room just north of this little one. You'll find a few wounded orcs in here. If you leave them alive, you'll get +1 good and +1 lawful, but feel free to kill them if you so please. The next room to the north is the stairs down, ignore them for now, we still got half a level to clear out. Move on to the big room just east of the staircase-room. Kill any orc you see then proceed eastwards. Touch the ore in the little hallway farthest to the east, and continue south, killing any orc you encounter, until you reach the southeast corner. Take the rooms to the east first, killing that group of orcs off. They have some quite decent loot. Backtrack, and go to the room just to the right of the very first room we entered. You'll find a few white wolves in there. If you have Elanee along, you'll be able to enlist their aid in combat or to simply let them leave you alone. If your druid is not with you, they will attack. Once this room is handled, return to the stairs down. Level 2 is a bit smaller, and a bit easier to find your way in. Simply follow the path, clearing any room you pass and you'll eventually come across an interrogator. Listen to his little chat, then kill him and his goons. They're packing some quite nice gear, so I suspect you'll soon be in problems carrying it all. My suggestion is to dump the non-magical gear, then the studded leather armors. They weigh a lot and they're not worth THAT much since they're only +1. Keep moving forward. Clear the little room to the left before you enter the big room to the north. In there, Logram Eyegouger awaits. If you didn't kill Yaisog before, he will be here as well, helping his master fight you. Once they're all dead, loot them - and the treasure room to the east, then continue forward, down to level 3. The first thing you'll notice is the corpses. Your companions will have a few reactions, and Qara will mention that it looks like necromancy. Seems somebody are gathering an army. There's plenty of options for gaining influence with Casavir here, simply say they should be buried with proper rites and that you have a responsibility to find out what's going on here. When Neeshka objects say you trust her instincts to gain +1 INF with her as well. Continue forward, taking the turn south whenever you can, clearing out that area. There's another ore vein on the way, make sure you click that one as well. When you reach the room in the southeast corner, be prepared to fight another shadow priest. Once he's dead, talk to Issani and let him leave for Old Owl Well. Once everything's taken care of, return to Old Owl Well to sell all the loot you don't need as well as to talk with Callum again. You'll also notice that Katriona has arrived. We'll get back to her, eventually. Now, if you can carry some more loot, let's head out to those Dwarven scouts we've had on the map for a while. If you're hard pressed, like I was, return to Neverwinter and do some shopping. If you did that, make sure you have Khelgar in your party when you leave for the dwarven scouts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.17] - Dwarven Scouts ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Khelgar has to be in your party in this area. It is, after all, his quest line we're pursuing out here. The first thing you see when you arrive in this area is a dwarf named Khulmar Ironfist. He's not particularly happy about seeing Khelgar. Remember the quests you needed to do in order to let Khelgar become a monk? This sure sounds like one of them. Seems Khelgar isn't exactly popular among the Ironfist Clan any longer. Once the talks are over, move forward, we have bugbears to slaughter. Keep going forward, killing anything in your path, until you reach a dead dwarf. Khelgar will get mad, and bugbears will attack, seems it was an ambush. How clever of them. Kill them all. Keep moving forward, killing the bugbears as they come. You'll eventually find a captured dwarf, another Ironfist. Release him, but be careful what you say to Khelgar afterwards - loosing INF with him is not the best thing right now. Either way, continue forward until you reach an entrance. This is the entrance to the old Ironfist Clanhold. Time for another little dungeon crawl. Enter. The very second you enter, you'll see a big bugbear talking with a few others. They'll notice you and attack, obviously. To the left of the door north, you'll see a "part chest". Open that, and keep the strange part, you'll need it later. Ignore the door going east back at the entrance, it only leads to two completely empty rooms. Move down the hallway, going west. Clear the room to the north, then open the door to the west. Here's that big bloke we met at the entrance, Gruum, together with his brother, Grish. Kill them both. Continue north till you encounter a group of bugbears arguing over some gold. It's your choice if you want to hide and wait it out, leaving only 2 for you, or if you'll just go attack them right away. Keep moving, now eastwards, until you reach a door with a rather special lock. If you have Neeshka along, and you got that strange part with you, all it takes is a little hint from you that "maybe this part.." and she'll figure out the rest. You can gain +1 INF with Khelgar by telling Neeshka that "we are not scavengers" - the same sentence gives you -1 INF with Neeshka though. Proceed through the door and enter Grausch's lair. Kill the lot of them. When you open the chest, you find out that the gloves in it are the legendary Gauntlets of Ironfist. Khelgar will tell you their history, and then say that you should wear them with pride. If you say "You keep them. They belong to an Ironfist" you gain +4 INF with Khelgar. And, since he's completely under your command regarding gear, you'll still be able to wear them yourself. Truly a win/win situation if there ever was one. Agree to return to Khulmar and you'll get auto-ported back outside. Have a chat with Khulmar, then return to Neverwinter to inform your commanding officer that the latest assignment, the rescue of the Waterdeep emissary, has been completed. She'll have a new job for ya.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.18] - The Sea Ghost ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You remember the ship called the Sea Ghost be mentioned in one of the cutscenes you've seen yes? Well, guess what, it's arrived, and Brelaina has learned that there's a spy aboard that ship. Your orders are simple. Go to the ship and stop that spy. Sharpen your blade, somehow I doubt they'll surrender themselves to four members of the city watch arriving at their ship. Head on out to the docks and the Sea Ghost. The ship's in the middle of the dock. Once you approach it, a few Luskans will start getting nosy. No matter what you say, it'll end up with a fight. Once they're dead, another group will arrive, this one led by Ahja the Azure. Defeat him, and he'll tell you that he's not really working for Luskan, but for Black Garius, the leader of the fifth tower. Return to the city watch for your reward as well your next assignment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.19] - The Githyanki Lair ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yet another threat to Neverwinter has been discovered. Githyanki assassins. Well, you've got your orders, so head out to the Githyanki lair to start some trouble. Or, rather, stop some trouble, I guess. Anyhow, enter the lair, clear the south part first, then move north. Once you reach the northern room, a cutscene will show a blade golem entering the portal and attacking the Githyanki. Enter, whack the golem enough, and it will run back through the portal, destroying both itself and the portal in the process. Mission accomplished, return to your commander for your reward. Once you return to the city watch, you'll see that Brelaina has some company. Seems the Neverwinter Nine aren't too happy about Brelaina's interpretation of orders given. No matter, you've finally been given access to the Blacklake district, and a chance of continuing the main quest - the shards. Did you forget about those in all the sidequests? ;) Let's head to the Blacklake district right away, answers await. Head to the entrance, then speak with one of the guards at the gate. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.20] - Blacklake, Shandra and the Githyanki ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your first stop in Blacklake is the old sage you've been wanting to talk to for ages now, Aldanon. You'll have quite a chat with the fellow, a chat that will end up with you finding out that the shards are pieces of a Githyanki silver sword, and that Ammon Jerro was the real expert on that field. Thus, Aldanon informs you that even if Jerro's dead, his secret retreat still exists - Ammon Jerro's Haven. The location should be in the Neverwinter Archives. Aldanon will also give you his own little shard. Go outside again and ask the guard to take you to the Neverwinter Archives. When you arrive at the archive, you'll soon learn that the Githyanki has already arrived. Prepare for battle. Clear the two rooms to the sides, then proceed north. You'll stumble into a caretaker who will tell you how to get access to the information you seek. Let's secure the perimeter before we start playing with the riddles though. Continue north and kill all Githyanki inside. Once they're all dead, locate the corpse of the caretaker, just southeast of the vault. Put on the veil, then run along the edges of the entire room, opening the secret doors (six in all) as well as looting the bookshelves. After all this rushing about, it's time to solve those darn riddles. Let's start in the southwest corner. Remember, we need all four opened. Also, if you open all four in first attempt, you'll get a periapt of wisdom +2. Seeing how these riddles are created, that will be a wee tougher than just reading here though. The riddles are randomly generated, so there's no real telling which one you'll get. During my games, I will try my best to list all possible questions, but I have no real clue as to how many there are so it may or may not take a while. Sometimes your lore skill may help you, at other times one of your companions may help you, but regardless, here we go with the small start of a collection: The southwest pillar is related to the Illefarn Cypher. Simply copy it to paper or in notepad and decode whatever the pillar says. The northwest pillar is related to To Counter The Assumption Of... Question: The author of the tome believes Faerun is the shape of a.. Answer: ring The northeast pillar is related to The Luskan Threat to Neverwinter Question: What does the author recommend Lord Nasher do about the Luskan.. Answer: Build more alliances.. The southeast pillar is related to Death of a Sailorman Question: Who is the Captain of the Crimson Hawk Answer: Lariat Quist Question: What does Trenor consider his "crowning achievement" Answer: Sinking the Luskan Pride Once you've answered all four correctly, the door to the vault is open. Unfortunately, the Githyanki already got inside, so you will have to fight a few to have any real access. When they're dead, you learn that the last living relative of Ammon Jerro is Shandra, "the Highcliff girl with the flammable barn" as Neeshka puts it. auto-port there. Arriving at Shandra's farm, you see the Githyanki have already arrived. Clear out the ones blocking your path, then get inside the house. Clear the Giths while at the same time trying to convince Shandra that you're here to help. Eventually, they'll set fire to her house, making her run outside, and after a few waves of Githyanki, she'll accept to go with you to the Sunken Flagon. Say "let's go immediately" to get auto-ported there. Time to have a little chat with this living clue. After the cutscene, you'll go to bed, and whaddya know, the Githyanki arrives. Fight off the attackers only to find out that Shandra has been kidnapped. Time for that ranger you've seen in the Sunken Flagon to get into play. He's a tracker, and after a bit of struggle, he'll help you track those buggers down. You'll head off immediately, tracking them to the village of Ember. Of course it's an ambush, so get ready for a tough fight. Two waves of Githyanki will attack you. Kill them all, and a woman will tell you that they took Shandra to the mountains. Before you leave Ember, you should talk to Marcus. He's a spooky kid. Qara will mention that she can feel immense power coming from him. Marcus wants Bishop's skinning knife. If you persuade Bishop to hand it over, Marcus will help you out later on. Now, before you head off to the new location on the minimap, make sure you're done with Chapter 1. Skymirror, dwarven scouts and so forth. Once you feel ready, head out to the final location of chapter 1 - The Githyanki Base. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.21] - Githyanki Base ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you arrive to the area, prepare for a rather long battle. You'll stay in combat almost half way through the map, until you once again find Guyven of the Road. He'll tell you a bit about the Illefarn ruins on this mountain, and you will get 250xp once more for simply locating him. Continue forward though, we have more Githyanki blood to spill. I must admit, it does feel good to take the fight to them for once, instead of constantly running away from them. Enter the cave. The first thing that happens when you enter the cave is that you'll be stopped by a Githyanki sword stalker. If you think you've seen him before, it's true. He was the Gith who led the attack on West Harbor, killing Amie, your talented wizard friend in the process. You can have a fairly long chat with him, but eventually he will attack you. Once they're all dead, continue onwards. Around the next corner you'll encounter a succubus fighting the Githyanki. Hmm, what's that all about now.. Moving on, you'll get the explanation. Another familiar face from the cutscenes is here. Now, what may his agenda be, after killing off the nobles in Neverwinter and now suddenly here? The next interesting thing is two succubi playing with that blade golem you met at the Githyanki hideout in Neverwinter earlier on. Seems all the loose ends are coming together in this cave. Still, loads of questions to be answered so let's move on. Nothing more of note happens on this level, so once you reach the door to level 2, rest up and move down. You'll see three succubi teasing a devil. Kill the succubi, then talk with the devil. Seems he wants to be freed and since freeing him is the only way to get past the forcefield thingie ahead of you, you don't really have a choice. Learn his true name, then say the right words and *poof* no more barrier. Loot the room and clear the two side-rooms before continuing forward. Going north, you'll eventually come upon Zaxis. There might be another way, but seeing as I was a paladin, I didn't even consider it, I simply attacked that demon. Once he's dead, the door into Zeeaire's room will open, leaving her and her guards as the only living enemies left. When you're fully buffed up, enter, have a conversation with Zeeaire. A good diplomacy check will make two of the guards leave, but that will also result in a loss of loot, and we can't have that now, can we? ;) Now, Zeeaire is inside a portal system of sorts, and there are two ways of removing it. Either you simply use the interdimensional sphere you got from the devil earlier on, or you destroy the three thingies around her. Either way, it would probably be best to wait with doing this till after the guards have been killed in order to focus your fire in the best way. Once Zeeaire has been defeated, she will tell you that the Githyanki was not the real threat. The King of Shadows is returning, and he will destroy all life and so forth, just like all the other ancient evils, they either wish to enslave all life or destroy all life. Loot everything, then talk to Shandra to return to the Sunken Flagon. A rather long cutscene ensues, in which Shandra joins your party. She will not count as one of the three you can have along, and she's a level 11 fighter to boot. She's rather weak, however, so you'll need some strenght-enhancing items to get her up to par with a true warrior. You will also, in time, get Sand to join your merry band of adventurers. And be accused of butchering the village of Ember, you will too. Of course, that is only a Luskan plot to bring you to Luskan so they can kill you, but there's this small matter of prooving this. While all this sounds fairly horrific, there's light at the end of the tunnel. If you accept to become a squire of a knight of Neverwinter, Lord Nasher, and Luskan, will be forced to have your trial here in Neverwinter instead of in Luskan, greatly increasing your chances of survival. And thus, chapter 1 ends and chapter 2 begins. =============================================================================== CHAPTER TWO =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.1] - Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, you've seen the cutscene, you know you need to visit the City Watch in the Merchant's Square in order to become a squire. But, there are other things to do as well. Blacklake has been opened up again and evildoers are approaching your companions from several sides. Neeshka, Qara and even Khelgar has some loose ends that needs to be tied up, as you'll see once you leave the safety of the Sunken Flagon. The first time you leave the Flagon with Neeshka in your party, she'll be approached by Tasha, who seems to be Leldon's wife. She tells that Leldon plans to do a grand finale, then retire far away from Neverwinter. He intends to rob The Collector's mansion. Now, Neeshka will of course react to this, and even if you're lawful good, you will inevitably end up snooping about in that mansion I suspect. Also, the first time you leave the Docks District with Qara in your party, you will see a cutscene of Johcris and that evil Luskan assassin conjuring up a strange creature - an animus elemental that will attack Qara at a time it sees fit, apparently. In my case, it attacked me when I headed out for Crossroad Keep. If you haven't had Khelgar complete his three trials yet, you'll also need to do this soon, at least if he is to become any monk worth mentioning anywhere. Do note that the choice of "monking" Khelgar or not is one of the toughest choices in the game, really. It depends a lot on how you prefer to use him, and how your preferred party is built. Monks get some nifty special abilities, but whether it's worth it losing the fighter power that is Khelgar, well.. Once you arrive at the City Watch, speak to Captain Brelaine to get your next assignment for the Watch as well. Seems they need a person to go undercover in Blacklake in order to arrest some thieves wanting to buy some needed supplies. And of course, the exploration of the Blacklake District awaits. Do note that you can take the entire 2.2 section in whichever order you want. You can wait till after becoming a squire, and I assume you can wait till after your trial as well, so you're in no way bound to do it in the same order as me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.2] - Exploring Blacklake. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While we can hardly stress the importance of you becoming a squire and thus invulnerable to the Luskan plot enough, there's still time to do a few things here and there. After meeting Tasha outside the Sunken Flagon, head on out to the Merchant's Quarter, enter the City Watch and speak with Captain Brelaine. She'll have a mission for you in Blacklake, and since we're headed there now, you might as well complete it while we're there. Once you reach Blacklake you'll see a painter in front of you. If you talk to him, he'll exclaim that Shandra is the perfect model, and that he has to paint her. Convince Shandra to do so, and pay 500g for the painting afterwards for +2 INF with Shandra. If you have Neeshka along, you'll loose -2 INF with her for all this nonsense ;) Now go check the merchant at the academy square, he has some rather nice items for sale, so it's really worth a look. There's a quest to be gotten at the Temple of Lathander. Seems the priests would like to give good old Brother Merring a little reward for his efforts, and since you might return to West Harbor soon enough, you might as well grab the box they want given to him. Before entering the Collector's home, you'll see four people have a little meeting of sorts. Initiate dialogue and listen to what's going on. Seems even Neverwinter have their Goths. Tell Kyli that you'll find her sister, and you will get a quest, "my sister, the rebel". Let's do that one right away, who knows, it might be another undead menace grabbing a hold of these poor kids. When you enter the crypt, you'll see that the kids are not the only ones who got this idea. They'll explain it's a private party, but suddenly a scream will echo through the crypt. Head on through, and see two other people be trapped by a group of undead. Kill them, then talk to the two people to find out that they had expected the undead would kill you. Seems these guys serve the King of Shadows as well. Kill them all. Loot Lorelei's corpse to get a worn key, and continue into the crypt, plenty more undead to kill, and you haven't found the girl you were looking for yet either. You'll eventually reach a room with a gong in it. It has a door to the south and a hallway going north. Go north through the hallway first. Watch for traps and loot the sarcophagi and the chest, there's some decent loot in there. Now go south, to the final room, buff up before you enter. When you enter, you'll see a few familiar faces, Savannah and Raven. With a good diplomacy check you can persuade Savannah to quit this cult, which makes the others attack you. Kill them, then speak with Savannah and get 400xp for turning her away from the King of Shadows. NOTE: Savannah has to survive this fight for you to get those 400xp. Continue forward, we're not quite done here. Enter the final room, to see the high priest of this place getting ready to finish some bizarre ritual. Have a few words with him, then fight off the lot of 'em. Take down the initiates first, then focus on Arval. Once they're dead, talk to Lisbet, only to have her summon a group of greater shadows on you. Kill those as well, then talk to Lisbet again to learn what was really going on here. If you're friendly to her, she'll follow you out. She'll also tell you that the ritual she just performed has caused all the people you killed down here to rise again as shadows, so get ready to fight your way out. Remember to loot the little room to the south to get Arval's Journal. This journal can be given to Sir Navalle for an XP bonus. A good tip for getting Lisbet out safely is to either give her a stoneskin buff, or to simply order her to "stand your ground" before you enter a room with hostiles. (Remember to tell her to follow you again afterwards tho.) Once outside, talk to Kyli for a reward, a bit of gold and a whooping 2000xp. Now, time to handle Neeshka's little affair. Pick the lock, and enter the home of the Collector. Inside, you'll soon learn that "no resting is allowed", and that the Collector's guards are the "kill first, ask questions later" type. Work your way through the first floor until you meet Vania. Have a word with her, and a succesful diplomacy check makes her help you, she'll give you her key and act as your hostage so the Collector will give you his. Also, check the journal on the table. Seems the poor Collector secretly desires a completely different life. Once up there, it seems he values his collection more than his wife. Give her some money to start afresh, then grab the painting next to the Collector and threaten to destroy it. He'll give you his key as well as tell you that one of the books has the secret to unlocking the vault. Go grab the book about numerology on the shelf. It's an algebra question, leading to the code: 513. Now, the vault needs all in all 3 keys as well as a combination. You have two keys and the combination. Head downstairs again, to the servant's room. Grab the empty bottle from the wash basin and put it into the vase of water to create a full bottle of water. Head back upstairs, and use the bottle on the fireplace. Then grab the ornate silver key. Use all the keys on the door, then enter the combination. Once you enter the vault, Leldon will arrive. Kill him, then loot the vault for anything of value, no alignment change. Even my paladin didn't seem to have problems looting the home of an innocent man. Just one last thing to do in Blacklake, finishing up your job for the City Watch. Enter the empty house just west of the district exit, and talk to one of the undercover watchmen. When the thieves arrive, you'll have to do some fine perform/bluff checks to make them trust you enough to actually hand over the cash. If you keep it neutral, they won't trust you and it will end in a fight. I have a feeling it will end in a fight no matter what you do, but I haven't been able to prove that so far. Return to Captain Brelaine to complete your mission and be informed that she has no more jobs for you to do. With all the loose ends tied up as well as we can, it's time to become a squire.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.3] - Becoming a Squire ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Since you should already be at the City Watch, simply speak to Sir Grayson. After a little lesson in what Knighthood is, you'll be told that in order to become a squire, you need stand vigil for one night, alone in the Solace Glade. Say you're ready for it, and you'll get auto-ported there. Simply follow the cutscenes until you get attacked by a group of Luskan assassins. Don't worry, they're no true match for you. Next morning, you'll be accepted as Sir Grayson's squire, and Lord Nasher will be delighted to tell the Luskan ambassador off. You now have a new assignment: Find proof of your innocence. While you're here, talk to Lord Nasher about that journal you found in the crypt. Since we've already completed the quests and tidbits we can in Neverwinter, let's head out for Port Llast right away. Do note, you're forced to have Sand in your party to leave to Port Llast. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is ;) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.4] - Port Llast ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sand will initiate dialogue when you arrive. If you finish it by saying you're glad to have him along, you'll get +2 INF with him. Head straight to the Garrison and speak with Haeromos. Seems they have a witness who saw you slaughter them all. A good diplomacy check allows you to speak with her. It's Alaina, the same woman who told you where the Gith took Shandra back when you were in Ember. Again, some good diplomacy checks, and Sand's help, makes her a bit uncertain that it was actually you who did it. She tells that it was you, together with a dozen humans. No gnomes, dwarves or tieflings. Seems Sand is of the opinion that the Luskans let her escape so she could tell the world that it was you who did it. If you deny Sand's proposal of using her in court, you'll lose 1 INF with him. You can also get some information about Luskan, Black Garius, Lorne and Torio from Haeromos, but he won't be talking much otherwise, simply because you're still the prime suspect of the slaughter of Ember, so head outside again. There's a few interesting people in Port Llast: Haljal the Weaponsmith and Yask the Armorsmith, both at the Cracked Anvil. Nodoab and Enleva - two gnomes obsessed with Wendersnaven. I'm assuming you'll experience something rather unique if you have Grobnar along. Nya - gives you the quest "Nya's Duty", a quest you'll complete in Ember. Malin - A ranger inside the Alliance Arms, who will tell you that there might be a survivor from Ember hiding out in the Duskwood Grove. She'll also tell you that Duskwood has become a dangerous place as of late though. Elgun - Speak to him after you've spoken to Haljal, Alaina and Malin to uncover his lie. Hint at that he's a witness and the attackers are still alive, and he'll stop spreading his stories. That gives you 500xp. Calindra - Speak with her to find out that her partner, Bradbury, is missing. Both she and him are miners, and the last she heard was that he said he had found a massive deposit inside Duskwood. In the south end of Port Llast, you'll be stopped by a group of guards. A good diplomacy checks makes them give up their intended arrest of you, and nets you 250xp as well. Now with all this taken care of, let's head on out to Ember, the site of the crime. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.5] - Ember ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upon arriving to Ember, your companions will have a few reactions to the massacre. Let's start by doing Nya's quest, and at the same time securing that the villagers won't suddenly rise up and attack. While doing so, you'll come across a corpse who didn't die in the attack. He was poisoned, according to Sand, and he will take a sample to use in court. During your sweep, you'll also find the Quartermaster's Log, another piece of the puzzle. Close to that, you'll find Guyven of the Road. Tell him that he'll always have a place by your fire. You won't regret it later. Once all the villagers have been laid to rest, go check out the well. Sand should have already mentioned he heard something in it. If you helped Marcus back when you were first in Ember, he'll be down here, telling you what really happened. His description fits the description of the Luskan, Lorne, quite nicely. He'll return to the Sunken Flagon. You'll also find a vein of ore down here, as well as a door leading to some caves. Head on through, and you'll encounter some goblins. Seems they've killed an intruder a short while ago, so ask to speak to their chieftain about that fella. The chieftain says that only a ring remains of him, and that the only way you will get it is to clear out some spiders nearby. Agree to this, and continue forward. Locate the spiders, and kill them all. Remember to click the vein of ore in the same cave as the spiders as well. You'll soon encounter a giant spider named Kistrel. It seems the spider wants to tell you something. Remember where it is for now, we'll return to it soon. If you're Drow, it will apparently give you a quest to find some food for it. I haven't checked that myself yet though. Return to Glek, the goblin chieftain, and tell him the spiders are dead. He'll give you a ring very much like the one you found on the assassins that came for you on your night in the Solace Glade. It's a Luskan Assassin ring, another piece of the puzzle. Move through the caves and take the exit to Duskwood. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.6] - Duskwood ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whether you arrive to Duskwood from land or from the underground caves, you'll start out in the same place. Sand will tell you that his magic will be weakened in here - be friendly and respectful to him to get +2 INF. Move on out, and you'll soon encounter Lyssa. Seems this little dryad has been playing a rather large part in this whole setup. She gave Lorne some powder of alteration to help him, and she got her revenge over the villagers as well. She will give you some of that powder, if you get her the glowstone from the goblin caves below. You can object to this, which will give you +3 good and -1 INF with Sand, but in the end you'll have to accept if you want to prove your innocence. If you have a high bluff skill, 2 succesful bluff checks will make her think you're Lorne and she'll give you the powder. If you fail one or both bluff checks, head back to the underground caves and straight for the Glowstone. Grab the stone and kill the goblins attacking you. Don't worry, no alignment shift in that. They're still just goblins after all. Return to the dryad and give her the glowstone. You'll get the alteration powder from her in return. We're not quite done in Duskwood yet though, so return to the underground cave entrance, and head up the cliff, moving southwards. You'll soon encounter a group of dire wolves. Kill them, and move on. Follow the road west, killing off critters as they come. When you reach the cave entrance, you'll meet Jalla and Mirri, two gnomes. These two seem rather odd, and they've got little interest in letting you inside the cave. Say you'll go anyway though, and enter. Kill off any wolves you encounter, and explore the cave. Once you reach the end you'll find Bradbury. Or, what's left of him. Turns out those two cute gnomes are werewolves, and that they won't be able to resist attacking you since you went straight into their lair. Kill them all. One of the little cute wolves has an insect collection. Return to Kistrel, the named spider in the caves and hand it the collection. You'll get some xp as well as a comment saying you sense you'll see this creature again. You will, later on. Head back to Port Llast and hand in your quests with Nya and Calindra, then head to Neverwinter, Blacklake District and Castle Never to start your trial. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.7] - The Trial ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Even with all your evidence, there's still a lot to do. If your character has a high diplomacy skill, you should be quite fine running the show yourself, if not I'd leave the word to Sand. During the trial, you'll see several faces you know, Aliana, Marcus, Nya, Callum and a few others. Once you've proven your innocence, Lord Nasher will send Torio and her Luskan friends out of Neverwinter, but Torio will have one final card to play. It will end with a Luskan champion and yourself (or one of your party) having to combat to the death in the morning. You'll be sent to the Temple of Tyr to prepare a cleansing ritual. Before the ritual starts, Khelgar will arrive, more enraged than ever. He deeply desires to take your place in the fight tomorrow. If you're not a melee class, that would probably the the best choice, but seeing as I'm a paladin, I thanked him for the offer but insisted that I meet Lorne on the battlefield. Once the ritual has started, several members of your party pays you a visit. Sand will arrive, giving you a few potions as well as a hint that Torio seems to be close to breaking. Casavir will arrive, offering to take your place on the battlefield. If you decline, he will give you another potion that will help you. Nevalle will then arrive, telling you it's time - and that Lord Nasher will give you a noble title as well as some land if you succeed. He's been wanting an excuse to remove the Arcane Brotherhood of Luskan from Neverwinter for a while now, and defeating Lorne will do just that. Just before the battle, Grobnar will wish to sing a song for you, but whether he does or not depends on your influence with him. Time to fight. Lorne will enter a barbarian frenzy, making it impossible to actually defeat him until it's over. Thankfully, Sand gave you a potion of invisibility, so use that once he's almost dead, then wait it out and strike the final blow. Once the fight is over, you'll be congratulated by Lord Nasher, who sends you straight to the Sunken Flagon for some rest. You'll see a cutscene of Garius. Now, some time after the trial, you'll meet a group of bounty hunters while travelling the land. A good intimidate check can make them run away, but I wouldn't do that. You need the cash from their gear for other purposes ;) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.8 - Aldanon's Manse ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, after the trial, you can also convert Khelgar into a monk if you so wish. Khelgar will loose all his fighter levels and gain all levels in the monk class instead. His only great weakness is his wisdom modifier, but I'm sure a person of your resources will be able to find a periapt of wisdom as well as some decent monk robes somewhere. Wolf, the kid you helped back in act 1 (if you did help him that is), will have a message for you, from Aldanon the Sage, something about some silver shards. Head over to Aldanon to hear what he has to say. Once you get there, it seems thieves have gone rampant in the poor man's house. Cormick lies in the front yard, struck by a wand, and two thieves are holding the Watch off. With some good diplomacy checks, you can persuade both the thieves to surrender and the Watch to agree to let them go. Once that's done, they'll gladly answer your questions. Hope you brought Neeshka along if you're not a rogue yourself, since it sounds like there's a whole lot of traps inside. Buff up, and enter. Once inside, be ever-careful of traps, otherwise simply kill all the thugs you meet while exploring the place. In one of the rooms just north of the library you'll meet the butler, who's about to be killed. If you save him, that nets you 500xp extra. There are two doors that lead to the basement, but you can only open one of them, the one in the southwest corner. Make sure you clear the first floor before going down though. Once you approach the four "blue" characters in the basement, the leader will tell one of his men to kill the hostages. The more hostages you save, the more XP you get. Once they're all dead, you'll learn that the nobles who've been killed, has been killed because of a shard they have. It now lies with the last surviving noble - and Aldanon has dissapeared, kidnapped and traded off to some unknown fate. Head outside, and do as Shandra says - head straight for Lord Nasher himself. Nasher will order you to head straight for the Tavorick mansion, and will send a squad of guards as well. You got your orders, so head for the mansion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.9] - The Tavorick Estate ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You'll be stopped by two guards once you reach the estate, but once they find out who you are, you'll be let right in. Once inside, talk to Ballard, then Tavorick. Inspect the house. In the southeastern room, you'll find two barrels of very old blastglobes. You remember those from back when we used one to blow up the rockslide at the orcs yeah? You can check upstairs too, but there's nothing worth noting. Talk to Ballard about those blast globes, then order the house locked down. Settle your defenses (it matters little as far as I can tell) and prepare for combat. After a little while, you'll be called downstairs, only to be attacked by a few waves of demons. After a little while a scream will come from upstairs, forcing you to return to Tavorick. He'll then tell of a crypt with only one door. Now why didn't he mention that before.. Head downstairs, where you'll once more be attacked by demons. After some time,the demons retreat. Seems we were all a decoy and the girl he had with him earlier has the shard. Don't worry too much, she's a member of the Nine. Time to head out for the Moonstone Mask in any case, but there's one itsy-bitsy-tiny problem. The exit is a wee bit blocked by a big bad demon. NOTE: If you manage to save Tavorick, you get a little XP bonus. (info from Larry Puccinelli). Either way, buff up. Fully. Then go pay a visit to this Qaggoth-Yeg demon. He will have a little speak, then attack you. Once him and his fellow demons are dead, head out and move straight for the Moonstone Mask. Enter the Mask, go upstairs and clear the area, then proceed through the closed door. Seems you're too late. This warlock will summon two hellhoundish dogs to attack you, then dissapear. Kill the dogs, then return to Lord Nasher. Nasher, and a new person you've seen in cutscenes before, will tell you of the latest news about Black Garius. Seems he's within Neverwinter territory, at the Crossroads Keep. Nasher's orders are simple as always, head out there, kill all the bad guys and save Aldanon the Sage. All in a days work, I believe ;) Prep up, get ready, and head for the Crossroads Keep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.10] - Crossroad Keep ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You'll see a cutscene of Garius preparing the ritual before you arrive at the Keep. Once there, a few of the Neverwinter Wizards will brief you on the situation, suggesting a direct attack would be the best move, seeing as we're a bit short on time. Agree, and attack the few guards outside the keep, then head inside. After a short battle, the doors will be sealed, and the Wizards will tell you of an escape tunnel. Head back out to the world map and to the escape tunnel. Once inside, follow the path forward, smashing beetles as you go. In one of the early rooms, you'll find another ore vein to add to your collection of found veins. Keep going, remember to loot the supply room with the bone spider, and head on into the Keep itself. You'll find Aldanon, who's his own distracted self. Talk to him, and finally tell him to get out and warn Neverwinter. Loot his bookcase for a golem activation manual thingie. Seems that dear Blade Golem is here as well. Keep going, slaughter the Luskans who stand between you and the two arcane brothers. Once the wizards are inside, start looking for Garius. Backtrack a bit and enter the only door here. You'll encounter a group of shadow priests who will inform you that the ritual is designed to unite Garius with the King of Shadows, not to let Garius take over his power. Kill them all and continue down. You'll meet the blade golem here, so kill that one as well. Buff up, head on in, and slaughter the lot. "Talk" to the four lieutenants as well. Once the last man is dead, you'll see a cutscene of Garius exclaiming "what have you done to me?" whereafter he dies. Say "hold on" to Vale, loot all the corpses (Garius has a shard as well), then talk to him again to get ported to Neverwinter. After a few cutscenes in Neverwinter, Zhjaeve will join your party, and Nevalle will tell you to meet him at the Crossroads Keep. Since you've got nothing better to do, head back to the Keep. After a rather long cutscene, you'll now have two massive tasks ahead of you. Cleaning up your shiny new keep, and preparing it for war, as well as preparing yourself for the battle against the King of Shadows himself. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.11] - Stronghold part 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Most of the information in this section is from the Stronghold Guide by Paradox Jast aka xInfInIty. The full version of his excellent guide can be found at: http://db.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/file/neverwinter_nights_2_stronghold.txt You need to know a few things about this whole Keep thing before we start. Time acts in a different way here. Moving from the Courtyard to the Farms or to the Keep passes time for most of the Keep, so if you have people on their way to your Keep and you're waiting for them to be able to continue your work, move around a bit. For Kana and Veedle, time only progresses when you speak with them. You will get 70.000g to help you get started with all the work that needs to be done with your Keep, but once they're gone, you will have to use your own cash. According to Paradox Jast, you need over 700.000 all in all to finish the Keep completely. Now you know why you were told to save your cash earlier on. Also, at certain points, you won't be able to progress time any further at your Keep. This is meant to be a hint to you that you should return to adventuring. With those things out of the way, let's start the giant process of making this junkyard into a true castle. You'll be standing in the Keep Courtyard, having just finished the insanely long cutscene with Navalle and Zhjaeve, so let's check out what's actually here yet. There's a lot of "ruined" buildings, but one structure is already up and running - the inn, of course. Inside, you'll find out that Sal, the old barkeep from the Sunken Flagon has taken the chance and started his own inn right in your new Courtyard. He'll also mention that he wants a dancer, but ignore that for now. Head back outside and up the ramp to be introduced to two of your most important employees. Kana, the leader of your Greycloaks, and Veedle, the man responsible for all the construction work you want to do. Watch their cutscene and talk to Veedle afterwards. He'll tell you what you probably already know: The Keep is in a horrible state. Buildings, the Keep itself, fortifications and even the outlying roads need loads of work, so let's get him started. TO BE CONTINUED. =============================================================================== END OF WALKTHROUGH =============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [vi] - Companion Listing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All companions are sorted by the time they become available to you. Do note you can't choose companions before you arrive to the Sunken Flagon in Neverwinter. The three tutorial companions will be ignored. Khelgar Ironfist, Shield Dwarf, Neutral Good Fighter. This dwarf loves to fight. Actually, he lives for fighting. He's a good strong fighter. You can turn Khelgar into a monk later on, after you've gotten a few other full-plate wearing melee classes. His wisdom isn't too good for a monk, but that can be helped with a periapt of wisdom and stuff like that. STR: 18 DEX: 13 CON: 18 INT: 10 WIS: 10 CHA: 7 Located: Outside the Weeping Willow Inn. Related Quests: Khelgar wants to become a monk, so when you reach Neverwinter, go to the temple of Tyr to learn he has to pass three trials to become a monk. Trial of the Maimed: Complete the Dwarven Scouts area, giving the Gauntlets of Ironfist to Khelgar. Trial of the Even-handed: Gain enough influence with Khelgar, then talk with him. Trial of Justice: After your trial, talk to Hlar again, and Khelgar will have completed that. It's your choice whether to turn him into a monk or not in the end, so do what feels best for your party. Neeshka, Tiefling, Neutral Rogue. Neeshka is the kind of girl who likes easy cash. She's good in combat too, thanks to her dex score - just give her weapon finesse and some two-handed fighting and watch her swing those devastating sneak attacks. STR: 12 DEX: 18 CON: 14 INT: 16 WIS: 8 CHA: 12 Located: Outside Fort Locke. Related Quests: 2 groups of bounty hunters in Neverwinter, one in the docks, the other right when you enter the Merchant Quarter for the first time. After those two, Neeshka will insist on visiting Leldon, the man who's put a bounty on her. Visit Ophala in the Moonstone Mask to learn the location of Leldon's home, then go steal the coin, or simply pay him a visit. In the start of Chapter 2, a woman named Tasha will confront Neeshka the first time you leave the Sunken Flagon with her in your party. She'll tell that Leldon intends to rob The Collector's house as a final grand job, then retire as the best thief of Neverwinter. Neeshka will obviously object to this and insist on paying The Collector a visit herself. Head out to the Blacklake District and enter the Collector's vault. That will make Leldon appear for one last duel. Kill him off. Elanee, Wold Elf, Neutral Good Druid. I've personally hardly used Elanee since I had the choice not to. She's a decent druid, but I've had problems fitting her into a party, really. Note that as long as Elanee is in your party, you can speak with animals. STR: 14 DEX: 16 CON: 11 INT: 13 WIS: 17 CHA: 12 Located: Between Fort Locke and Highcliff. Related Quests: All the events related to the corruption of druids are part of Elanee's quest chain. Kaleil in Maiden's Glade, the wolf in Neverwinter and the entire Skymirror area. Qara, Human, Chaotic Neutral Sorcerer. The pyromaniac. You won't find a more powerful offensive spellcaster for a while - and thanks to Qara's high charisma, she will only become stronger over time. Plus, her sidequest is quite interesting. STR: 10 DEX: 14 CON: 14 INT: 12 WIS: 11 CHA: 18 Located: Outside the Sunken Flagon during act 1. Related Quests: When you encounter Qara, she's about to start a fight with two other mage students, Glina and Hetha. Resolve this and Qara will join your party. The first time you leave the Sunken Flagon with Qara in your party, you'll be attacked by a group of magelings led by Praven. The second time you leave the Flagon with Qara in your party, another group of mages will attack, this time led by Ashni. When you're close to killing him Johcris, Gilna's father will show up, interrupting the fight. In a cutscene later on, you'll see how Johcris makes a deal with Luskans for an assassination of Qara. In the beginning of chapter 2, you'll see another cutscene of the Luskan and Johcris creating a strange creature that will be sent off to attack Qara. Grobnar Gnomehand, Rock Gnome, Chaotic Good Bard. Can't say I've used him in a group yet. He seems to be this game's Deekin really, with odd comments and whatnot. I'm not too fond of bards personally. STR: 10 DEX: 16 CON: 16 INT: 12 WIS: 10 CHA: 18 Located: Between Neverwinter and Old Owl Well. Related Quests: None found so far. Casavir, Human, Lawful Good Paladin. Paladins do have some unique abilities that make them very useful in certain situations. Unfortunately my first char was a paladin, so poor Casavir was surplus really. STR: 16 DEX: 12 CON: 14 INT: 11 WIS: 14 CHA: 18 Located: Encounter after leaving Bonegnasher Clan. Related Quests: None found so far. Bishop, Human, Chaotic Evil Ranger. A master with a bow, Bishop's personality is unfortunately quite the opposite of all the other early NPCs. If you really want a powerful archer though, Bishop's your man. STR: 16 DEX: 18 CON: 15 INT: 11 WIS: 14 CHA: 11 Located: In the Sunken Flagon, he'll auto-join when Shandra gets kidnapped. Related Quests: None found so far. Shandra Jerro, Human, Neutral Good Fighter. Thankfully Shandra is a "free" member, otherwise she would never be along in a party. While her ability scores can be fixed with +STR gear, her focus on short swords is a rather odd choice for a fighter. STR: 13 DEX: 16 CON: 16 INT: 12 WIS: 13 CHA: 12 Located: Shandra's farm at first, but will join you during the cutscene between chapter 1 and 2. She's a "free party member", meaning that she won't count as one of the three you can have along. She will ALWAYS be around, no matter what. Related Quests: None found so far. Sand, Moon Elf, Lawful Neutral Wizard. The second offensive spellcaster you get, Sand is not nearly as powerful as Qara. He is, however, a bit more versatile, and he'll get the more powerful spells earlier due to him being a wizard. STR: 10 DEX: 16 CON: 12 INT: 19 WIS: 12 CHA: 10 Located: Will offer to join you during the cutscene between chapter 1 and 2. Related Quests: None found so far. Zhjaeve, Githzerai, Lawful Neutral Cleric. Your first cleric, Zhjaeve will fill out the healer role quite nicely, if you need such a role to be filled, that is. I haven't played much with her yet, but her ability scores speak for themselves really - she's not so much a fighting cleric as a spellcasting one. STR: 11 DEX: 13 CON: 12 INT: 14 WIS: 20 CHA: 13 Located: Will auto-join your party after you kill Garius. Related Quests: None found so far. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [vii] - History feats ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As a new thing to Neverwinter Nights 2, the game adds "history feats" all through the game. None of them add any specific bonuses to your character, but they do add to the overall roleplaying feel of the game: Harborman - gained from the start, signifying that you're born in West Harbor. Blessed of Waukeen - gained early on, I got it in the tutorial already. I must admit I'm not sure how I got it, but this one actually gives a bonus +1 to all saving throws, and a comment about merchants giving you access to special items during the game. Kalach-Cha - gained just after the attack at the Weeping Willow Inn. This is what the Githyanki call you. You'll later find out what it means exactly, but I don't want to spoil that for ya ;) City Watchman - gained if/when you join the City Watch. Orc Slayer - gained after you kill Logram Eyegouger. The Butcher of Ember - gained in the cutscene between chapter 1 and 2. Squire of Neverwinter - gained when you accept becoming Sir Grayson's squire. Wrongfully Accused - If you're proven innocent for the Ember massacre. Master Orator - if you handle yourself succesfully at the trial, meaning if you do it yourself, and not letting Sand take care of it. Captain of Crossroads Keep - Right after you get your shiny new keep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [viii] - Easter Eggs/References ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- During the attack on West Harbor, inside the Starling house, you'll be helped by three dogs. One of them is called Nasher after Lord Nasher, the leader of Neverwinter. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [iv] - Planned additions to the walkthrough ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While such a project can never truly be called finished, I do have some current plans for what I want to add in this walkthrough: Obviously finishing the actual walkthrough. A full list of companions, where to gain/lose influence with them, and their seperate quest chains. A guide to creating your own character, including powerbuilds and other fun stuff. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [x] - Credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All the game designers for making another great RPG. All the walkthrough-writers at gamefaqs, a site I use regularly. Paradox Jast aka xInfInIty for his excellent Stronghold Guide. Offkorn for the crafting guide and the pickpocket guide. Nicholas Clarke for the facts about ability-enhancing items and spells. Darren Krommenhock for a few details for 1.2, the farewell. Martin Sjölund, Garry Kong, DarkSun and Borkborkbork for info about Kistrel, the intelligent spider in 2.5. borkborkbork for info about the bluff checks at Lyssa in 2.6. Larry Puccinelly for a tidbit of info for 2.9. Alex Karabis for the stealth approach to Leldon's Hideout. Rob Dejournett for a lot of tips/additions all through the walkthrough. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== This Document is Copyright 2006-2007 by Rune Hansen
Amazing Games. Many Cheats. Such Wow.
