Not to be confused with Shandalar.
Shangalar the Black is a powerful lich and a member of the Twisted Rune. If you enter the hideout of his organization, he will greet you in short conversation, before he and several other members of Twisted Rune appear and will be hostile.
| “ | No. I don't suspect that you'll be leaving here today. When you play with powers that are beyond your meager skills, you'll soon find that a price is required. | ” |
— Possible dialogue from Shangalar | ||
Gameplay[]
When a party member moves onto a hidden proximity trigger on the area map, this initiates the appearance of Shangalar in an impassable zone on top of the large conference table in the main room of the hideout.
Shangalar will attempt to initiate dialogue, but only if he can detect a player character in range. Being hidden or invisible, or if under the effects of a Protection From Undead spell will stymie this initiated speech. This can interfere with progressing the plot, as the dialogue sets in motion Shangalar's hostility state and teleport move to another map area.
For a better encounter outcome without any potential bugs or glitches in the scripting, it is advised to have at least one party member able to be detected by the lich so the dialogue can progress properly.
Assuming Shangalar is able to initiate dialogue, an exchange of dialogue will occur with the party member first detected by the lich, which will go something like this:
- Shangalar: Stop. You have power... chained, but it is not of my giving. Do you know where you are?
The party selects a reply, and Shangalar will respond, which can differ depending on the selection.
In the end, the dialogue ends with the lich not accepting any retreat or explanations given by the party - leading to a hostile reaction.
The lich teleports from the center of the great conference table into the antechamber where the party first entered into this place. Several other members of the Twisted Rune also teleport in in different locations on the area map. All will attack any that are detected.
The lich will have an initial preparatory buff chain manifest on itself (unless instantly slain by some kind of trap damage or similar party pre-battle action).
The InfoBox lays out the main scripted spell casting decisions for the lich - note that this creature isn't designed to look for or respond to the party's protections or immunities. Shangalar never attempts to remove/dispel or take down any party protections.
Shangalar has the standard protections afforded to a lich, as noted on the InfoBox. He has no special extra powers or abilities beyond that.
See also[]
Mod content[]
The mod Twisting With the Rune adds dialogue and context to Shangalar and the other Rune members in his company and ties their activities to other events in the game. In fact, Shangalar may utter the following: "Hmm. I suppose the fool Koshi wrote it down. If you destroyed him to get it, you have my thanks. Punishing the fool has been getting boring of late." This refers to Koshi in the Guarded Compound, who will have a special Rogue Stone "key".
Installation of Sword Coast Stratagems revises this creature in several ways, influenced by the player's installed mod components.
Shangalar's experience level is raised to 29, and a random mage specialty kit is assigned (Conjurer, Enchanter, Invoker, or Necromancer). The kit determines the allocated spell script that Shangalar uses, including the content of his Minor Sequencer, Spell Sequencer, and Spell Trigger.
With SCS this lich now has the See the invisible innate power.
Expect a more comprehensive and robust chain of initial buffs when the lich begins combat after his mini-teleport move.
Shangalar will recognize many protections and status effect that are active on characters. and his spell casting scripts are adjusted to take those into account - for instance, he won't waste time or cast certain spells at targets that are immune to specific effects or damage and try a different spell or find a more vulnerable target.
SCS Shangalar is able to use Remove Magic, Breach, and has several spell protection removing options - on higher game difficult settings he has use of two mage HLA's.
With the Spell Revisions mod, Shangalar's arcane magic will be the SR versions.
If you are playing with the Tactics for BG2EE mod and the "Improved Twisted Rune" component, Shangalar's script is different than the SCS script, although still challenging. The Lich's opening contingency battery of buffs is: Stoneskin followed by a Time Stop during which a bunch of self-buffs are applied, making him pretty much invulnerable to all attacks, for several rounds. The creature will cast an assortment of offensive spells at regular intervals, and every four rounds put up a Protection From Magical Weapons and Remove Magic on closest enemies. Several more Time stops are possible, during which a Remove magic and followed two Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting attacks will launch. Several Mordenkainen's Sword creatures are summoned to help. Many other spells are cast during the battle. The Lich, by script, really doesn't run out of any spells, as they are mostly done on timed intervals. This scripting isn't as smart as SCS, but is more complex than the unmodded game by far.
Mod gallery[]
- Portraits from Portraits Portraits Everywhere
External links[]
- Shangalar on the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms.