The Shade Lord is the final villain in the Temple Ruins in Shadows of Amn.
| “ | Something is awry... I—I sense fresh souls. Who intrudes upon me? More unlucky adventurers come to swell the ranks of my dark army? | ” |
He can be reached only by going through the entire temple, collecting several relics and finally fighting or sneaking past his allied Shadow Dragon Thaxll'ssillyia.
Facing the Shade Lord[]
When confronted, the Shade Lord will try to claim Gorion's Ward as his next host, assisted by the Shadow Patrick, as well as other shadows that he can call upon to fight for him. There is no choice other than to face the Shade Lord when he is encountered. If Mazzy Fentan is a party companion, there will be additional dialogue and reply options.
Gameplay[]
After dialogue, the Shade Lord, Shadow Patrick, two Shadow creatures and the Shadow Altar spring into hostile action. Note that the Shade Lord has access to innate, arcane and divine spells - and they are not limited by memory and aren't exhausted. The script determines when and what spell to attempt based on conditions and timed intervals.
The Shade Lord will usually attack the nearest opponent with a "Shadow Drain" innate spell attack (SPIN878). A Gaze projectile travels to the target, and it bypasses magic resistance and spell protections. Save vs. Beath negates. Fail and Level drain effect value of 2 experience levels, as well as 1 round of Blindness, which has no saving throw. The Cloak of Mirroring could deflect it if the targeted member has that equipped.
If Mazzy is detected by the Shade Lord, she will be the target of a Symbol, Stun spell. If any spell casting class (mage, priest, bard or druid and sub classes) are detected, then a Silence, 15' Radius will be cast. Also, if any spell casting class is detected a Spellstrike can be launched.
If the Shade lord is hit by crushing damage or its Hit points fall to 25% of maximum a contingency will instantly apply Mirror Image, Spell Turning and Blade Barrier.
This creature can also attempt Chromatic Orb and Finger of Death (wizard) spell casts at detected enemies.
Absent the spell casting, the lord will also engage in melee attacks with its touch attack weapon. it has a 1 ft range with 0 speed, dealing 3d4+9 piercing damage with a THAC0 of 5, including the strength bonus. This "weapon" is treated as having an enchantment of +1 in the original and of +4 in the Enhanced Edition.
Revelations[]
| The following might contain spoilers! |
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After the Shade Lord is defeated, you will find the dying Merella, the town's ranger, near the altar. As explained by Mazzy if you freed her, as well as implied by a werewolf pack leader you likely ran into earlier, the Shade Lord came from a different realm and had to use a corporeal host in order to have a physical presence. He picked Merella as his host, kept Mazzy alive as his next host, killed other living beings (wolves and Mazzy's companions) and reanimated them as shadows. During his confrontation with Gorion's Ward, he claimed that he would use Gorion's Ward as his next host too. If you talk to the dying Merella, she will thank you for freeing her and then die, dropping 4,872  , a Rogue Stone, a King's Tears, and a Cloak of the Stars.
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Bugs[]
Baldur's Gate II:
Shadows of Amn (2000)
This icon indicates content from the original Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn campaign. In the original Shadows of Amn, the Shade Lord is a female, neutral good, aligned creature. The Enhanced Edition fixes this.
Gallery[]
- Portraits from Portraits Portraits Everywhere
Mod Content[]
Installation of the Sword Coast Stratagems Mod, and the Tactical Challenges for BG2 component upgrades the Shade Lord, mostly by giving him additional magical powers (though his hit points are also increased). Unlike most components, this one doesn't make any particular effort to stick with the vanilla game or with anything from source material: like the Wolf of Ulcaster, the Shade Lord has his own unique abilities. The Shade Lord casts all spell types at caster level 20. It's saving throws are adjusted slightly in favor of bonuses, especially save vs spell. The creature has 100% cold resistance and is immune to instant death effects like Slay.
At the beginning of the battle the Shade Lord instantly applies the following protective buffs (can't be interrupted): Protection From Magical Weapons, Spell Turning, and Mirror Image.
A few tics later an SCS only unique innate spell called "Darkling Aura" is force cast over itself, which generates a Level drain effect against any opponents in the area of effect. This Necromancy and Disabling type ability is unaffected by magic resistance, spell protections and has no saving throw. It will drain 1 experience level that has a temporary duration of 1 turn. Negative Plane Protection or equivalent will prevent the effect.
Next, the lord will attempt to cast Black Blade of Disaster, which has a long casting time, and can be potentially interrupted. If the Black Blade is successful, the creature will alternate weapon attacks and spell casting at the closest opponent in melee range.
A Power Word, Blind will be directed at the closest opponent within a few rounds of the battle going on.
If no one closes, it will continue to cast spells including Finger of Death and Chromatic Orb unless the only target it can detect is protected against spells or has the Cloak of Mirroring equipped. Additionally, the lord can continue to apply the "Darkling Aura" about every three rounds.
The creature will most likely cast Blade Barrier at some point in the battle after five rounds, if able and still functioning.