The third subterranean level below Durlag's Tower is the Labyrinth Level Two dungeon.
This level contains many doors and switches, dozens of traps, quite a few silent traps and some great loot. Be aware that navigating this level without a thief with maxed detect trap skill will consume a lot of healing power. Also be cognizant of the fact that depending on what path you take to explore this level may determine how many Greater Doppelganger forms of Durlag’s family you will encounter.
The Doors[]
- Doors 1-7 & 11 are warded and may be opened with switches.
- Door 1 may also be opened and closed by removing/replacing Fuernebol's wardstone from/to the table on which it is found in Islanne's room.
- Door 3 has two triggers – the silver sparring dummy and Kiel's wardstone. It doesn't matter whether you inventory the stone first or attack the sparring dummy first, but both actions must be undertaken to open the door for the first time. (Note:If the wardstone is in your inventory, turning the designated switch in the switch room will close the door, but it will automatically open back up.)
- Doors 6 & 7 can also be opened by removing Islanne's wardstone from the table on which it is found in Islanne's room. Replacing it will not close the doors.
- Doors 8, 9 & 10 can be picked and are also opened or closed with switches.
- Door 13 can be picked and doesn’t require a switch.
- Door 15 is warded and requires a specific wardstone to open it and exit to the next level of the dungeon.
- Doors 16 & 17 can be opened once they are identified. They aren't locked and the doors will disappear after opening them.
The First Four Rooms[]
(Be cautious when initially exploring the first four rooms as they are bit confusing in regards to the method of opening and closing certain doors)
Statue Room[]
You enter the level into a circular antechamber. Three of the doors are warded shut and require switches to be activated to open them. The only open door leads to the statue room. Entering the statue room and turning the switch on the statue above the doppelganger floor rug opens Door 1 and closes Door 2 (if open). Turning the switch on the statue below the rug opens Door 2 and closes Door 1 (if open).
Practice Room[]
Door 1 leads to the practice room. There are multiple traps in this room so be aware. Attacking the silver sparring dummy on the right is the first trigger necessary to open Door 3. Attacking the red sparring dummy in the middle always opens or closes Door 2. Attacking the gold sparring dummy on the left will open Doors 4 and 5 and close Door 1 (once only). A false Durlag will appear in the passageway behind Door 5. He’ll teleport around the room before casting a Stinking Cloud spell and then shapeshifting into his true form – a greater doppelganger which will cast Mirror Image and Haste, and attack.
Easter egg: You can destroy sparring dummies and loot them like normal containers. You need to either cast Magic resistance spell on them (Druid level5 spell) or attack with a weapon which deals poison damage (it will take a long time because dummies almost always save vs. death). Dummies give 0xp.
Silver sparring dummy: 8 potions of healing, 2 potions of heroism. Gold sparring dummy: Potion of master thievery, 19 arrows+1, 5 acid arrow, 11 arrows of fire, 12 ice arrows, 6 arrows+2. Red sparring dummy: Otiluke's resilient sphere, Defensive harmony, Protection from lightning, Champion's strength.
Islanne's Room[]
Door 2 leads to Islanne's room. Removing Fuernebol's wardstone from the table on the left side of the bed opens or closes Door 1. Removing Kiel's wardstone from the table on the right side of the bed is the second trigger necessary to open Door 3. Removing Islanne's wardstone from the table near the chairs opens Doors 6 and 7 and closes Door 2 (once only). A false Durlag will appear in the passageway behind Door 7 and teleport around the room before casting a Fireball spell and then shapeshifting into his true form – a greater doppelganger which will cast mirror image and haste, and attack.
Tip: It is not necessary to inventory all three of the wardstones. Practice putting each of them in your inventory one at a time, watch what happens, then put them back where each came from. But do not put back Islanne's stone until Durlag has finished teleporting around the room and has cast his spell. Caution - If you accidently put the wrong stone on the wrong table...oops!
Throne Room[]
Opening Door 3 will allow you to enter the throne room. Doors 8 and 9 in this room aren’t warded and are able to be picked by a thief. Door 8 provides access to the torture chamber room and Door 9 provides access to the switch room, which may be useful if you've shut yourself off from a room inadvertently.
Picking up Kiel's Helmet located on the floor in front of the throne will bring forth the final false Durlag for this segment of the dungeon. Durlag will appear in the circular antechamber and teleport through the passageway into the room. He will then begin his lament for Kiel while teleporting around the room. Fuernebol and Islanne will also enter the room at this time from Doors 8 and 9 respectively and Door 3 will close. Once Durlag finishes with his dialogue, all three will cast spells; Durlag and Fuernebol will cast Stinking Cloud and Islanne will cast Cloudkill. They will then immediately shapeshift into their true greater doppelganger forms, cast mirror image and haste, and attack.
(Combat tip) If you want to make the throne room fight easier you should leave everyone except a hasted (or The Paws of the Cheetah-equipped) character in the entrance chamber. Send the speedy character to grab Kiel's Helmet and run back to join the group before Door 3 closes. You can wait for the spells in the throne room to wear off and then attack the silver sparring dummy again to re-open Door 3. By using this method, there's a chance for one or more of the doppelgangers to also take damage from the Cloudkill. If you have access to Animate Dead, you can also leave some skeletons in the throne room before taking Kiel's Helmet. They can withstand the effects of Cloudkill and fight for you. It's possible to kill some of the greater doppelgangers before you re-open Door 3.
Torture Chamber and Teleport Rooms[]
The torture chamber room is filled with many floor traps, leading to the teleport room. Other than that it is of no special significance, besides containing Durlag's Goblet on the floor. However, it does lead to the teleport room which does have some significance. When you enter the teleport room, the second of two silent traps will be triggered. (The first silent trap is located in the passageway between the throne and torture chamber rooms). Two greater doppelgangers will spawn near the back of the torture chamber room. Their forms will be randomly chosen between Durlag, Islanne, Fuernebol, Kiel, or a greater doppelganger. During combat both will shapeshift between different family members, mostly based on damage taken, and when they do they will have all of the spells available to either Islanne or Kiel (at full capacity) each time they shapeshift into their forms.
To move from one side of the teleport room to the other will require a Teleportation Wardstone, which is located in a pot near the dividing point of the room. Once the stone is inventoried the floor sigil will glow. Click on it to teleport to the other side of room. The pot on the other side also contains a teleportation wardstone, in case you were to enter from that side of the room first.
Switch and Trophy Rooms[]
Entering the switch room through Door 9 will reveal eleven switches on the wall that is opposite the throne room. These switches will open and close Doors 1-11. Here is the key to all eleven switches:
Top Row – 1 2 3 4 5
Bottom Row - 6 7 10 11 8 9
Exiting the switch room through Door 10 will lead to a passageway that ends at the trophy room. Like the torture chamber room, this room has no special significance other than being filled with traps. It has two exits, one that follows a short passageway back to the master bedroom (Door 11) and the other that leads to the bridge room (Door 13).
Bridge Room[]
Here’s where it really gets fun. Opening Door 13 will reveal a greater doppelganger standing on a stone bridge impersonating Fuernebol. Entering into the room will reveal two greater doppelgangers on separate bridges impersonating Islanne and a second Fuernebol. Also be aware that entering the room will trigger the second of two silent traps. (The first silent trap is located in the passageway between the throne and switch rooms).
Triggering the silent trap will spawn two greater doppelgangers in the passageway that leads to Kiel’s room. Their forms will again be randomly chosen between Durlag, Islanne, Fuernebol, Kiel, or a greater doppelganger. During combat all five will shapeshift between different family members, mostly based on damage taken, and when they do they will have all of the spells available to either Islanne or Kiel (at full capacity) each time they shapeshift into their forms. Also, the doorway to this passageway is trapped and unless you are able to get a thief over there pronto to disarm it, the doppelgangers will trigger it when they enter the room.
Kiel’s Room[]
Following the passageway from the bridge room will lead to Kiel’s room. There are four Dwarven Doom Guards are standing sentinel. Looting the trapped and locked trunk at the foot of the bed and removing either Kiel's Morning Star and/or his Buckler will turn the guards hostile.
(Combat tips)
If you are having trouble with the guards, try loading up your mage(s) with Chromatic Orb and cast Otiluke's Resilient Sphere on the party member who raids the trunk. The doom guards generally attack the party member who raids the trunk, so once your party member is immunized to the damage, one can defeat the guards one by one by stunning them with chromatic orb and destroying them with magic while they are focused on the immune party member.
An alternative approach would be to bait them all the way to the teleport room and teleport your party to the other side. The guards will not be able to touch you, but still be on the other side, making it easy to take them down one by one with ranged attacks. However, this will only work if:
- you have already cleared the ghast passageway of traps and enemies and altar room of traps.
- you have closed a door behind you (Doors 13 or 10), assuming of course that you came from that direction first, otherwise they'll circle back around the level and attack you.
Yet another approach would be to attack them before they attack you. Mages can simply cast fireballs into the room to soften them up. Or a strategy with less risk involved would be to cast Feeblemind on all of them before attacking. This will make the guards non-aggressive even when you are attacking them, making for an easy kill with no damage to your characters.
The Ghast Passageway[]
When you exit Kiel’s room, you’ll enter an octagonal room with a trapped false stairway and a warded door (Door 15) that leads to labyrinth level 3 of the dungeon. Triggering the false stairs trap will activate a stinking cloud spell and summon three Skeleton Warriors if you fancy a fight.
Continuing on will bring you to the Ghast passageway. It is trapped with active and silent traps. Door 17 is at the end of the passageway and opening it leads to the altar room.
Altar Room[]
This room contains four altar-like containers and a statue that can be looted. Watch for traps. Door 16 is located in this room. Opening it leads to a small chamber which is floor trapped and has a trapped statue that contains the Level 2 Exit Wardstone, along with two more altars of loot on either side.
Exiting the other side of the room leads back to the teleport room.
With the level 2 exit wardstone in your possession, you are now able to open Door 15 and exit to third level of the dungeon.
Treasure[]
References
- ↑ While it leaves behind a curse that depletes morale for 12 hours on heal, the item itself is not cursed and in combination with fear immunity (Kiel's Helmet), the curse has no bite.
Durlag's Tower | |
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