Layene is a female mage and a member of the Twisted Rune. When Gorion's Ward and party accidently enter the Twisted Rune Hideout, they will be greeted by the lich Shangalar. After a brief conversation, he will summon Layene and three other members of the organization to dispose of the intruders.
Gameplay[]
The mage will be invisible when she first spawns into the large circular chamber (normally north of the roundtable). Shortly after, a group of protective spells are instantly cast to include Stoneskin, Improved Mantle and Mirror Image.
If Layene can detect a party member, a spell trigger deploys and three more spells are applied to her, including: Protection From Fire (wizard), Fireshield (Red), and Globe of Invulnerability.
Should any party summoned creatures be seen by her she will force cast a Death Spell to try and banish them. If silenced, she will apply a Vocalize. Most likely a True Sight will also be cast by her in the first few rounds of the battle.
After that, she'll attempt a Time Stop, and then while time is paused, cast a Meteor Swarm on a detected party opponent. A Gate (wizard) spell can also be attempted (she will be scripted to try and get a Protection From Evil (wizard) on herself as well). If the gate works, then a problematic Pit Fiend will move toward and attack the party if any are detected.
Expect a Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting attempt. Another spell trigger can be applied later with Improved Mantle, Spell Turning and Globe of Invulnerability.
And a number of other attack and defense options will continue to be attempted, based on if she's able to cast and not disrupted. Various symbol spells, perhaps a Efreeti will be summoned, a Wail of the Banshee, Sunfire. Disintegrate and other dangerous spells.
Layene is equipped with the Staff of the Magi and receives all of the passive benefits of this item. It can be looted from her corpse if you are victorious.
Mod content[]
This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.
Installation of Sword Coast Stratagems mod revises Layenne. She is a level 25 Conjurer. If the "Smarter Mages" component is installed, she will be a formidable Mage. Her memorized spells are mostly different than the unmodded, and can cast Gate, Time Stop, and Wish. Depending on your game difficulty selection, she has access to mage High-level class ability. If given enough time, she will use:
- 8 separate Summon spells (Monsters/Elementals/Nishruu)
- Improved Alacrity HLA
- Summon Dark Planetar HLA
- Minor Sequencer loaded with double Color Spray
- Spell Sequencer loaded with Minor Spell Deflection, Improved Invisibility and Spider Spawn
- Spell Trigger loaded with Conjure Earth Elemental (wizard), Conjure Air Elemental, and Conjure Fire Elemental (wizard)
Layene will likely be invisible from the outset (due to the Staff of the Magi), and will open up with "previously cast" buffs including Mirror Image, Spell Turning, Stoneskin, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Shield (spell), Protection From Normal Missiles, then a contingency with Spell Immunity: Abjuration, Improved Mantle and Summon Hakeashar.
With the Spell Revisions mod, Layene's arcane magic will be the SR versions.
If playing with the Tactics for BG2EE mod, a different script is employed for spell use. The script is less dangerous in terms of damage dealing offensive spells but does a very good job of simulating Layene's use of the Staff of the Magi. After her considerable opening slew of protections (instantly applied while invisible), she will go through her scripted spell casting.
After each spell cast, she is made invisible again as if she re-equipped the staff after performing an invisibility breaking action. This can be performed at least twenty times during the battle. Note she will be tough to target and may be the final foe still around after all the others have been defeated. With the SR mod also installed, she will be protected with a Dispelling Screen and a Non-Detection. With SR, Non-detection protects against all divination attacks. An Oracle or True Seeing spells for example will not affect her invisibility.
One unusual opening move is her ability to cast a Zone of Sweet Air effect. This will immediately clear any cloud spells from the battlefield. She is also scripted to specifically cast Haste on Revanek.