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Watcher's Keep is a bonus dungeon introduced in the Throne of Bhaal expansion, and is accessible from both of the Baldur's Gate II campaign world maps. The state of your progress in the keep, if any, is carried over from Shadows of Amn TITLE00000 Logo BG2EEShadows of Amn
Classic & Enhanced

This icon indicates content from the Shadows of Amn campaign of both the original and the enhanced editions.
to Throne of Bhaal TITLE00001 Logo BG2EEThrone of Bhaal
Classic & Enhanced

This icon indicates content from the Throne of Bhaal campaign of both the original and the enhanced editions.
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Backstory[]

Watcher's Keep is an ancient fortress, built to be a magical prison for holding creatures of great evil and power. For ages, the keep has been observed and guarded by Helmites, followers of the God Helm. A group of Helmites known as the Knights of the Vigil were told by Helm to ensure that the "Imprisoned One", Demogorgon, must never escape the keep, and many knights sacrificed themselves to strengthen the wards of the old fortress. Eventually, the Knights lost their confidence to tribute themselves to the cause of sealing away the Prince of Demons, and spread messages throughout the lands pleading for help.

Layout overview[]

Entrance[]

Below the towering keep are the Knights of the Vigil, and they will ask for your help in strengthening the wards containing the Imprisoned One. If you agree, you will be taken to the rooftop entrance of Watcher's Keep. In order to replenish the seals, your party must progress downward, level by level, to reach the chamber of the Imprisoned One at the base. You must speak to Brother Pol to collect the Ritual Scroll and the Vigil Stone, without which you cannot enter or leave the Keep. Sister Garlena has adventuring supplies for trade at a sizable discount. On the left side of the keep are staircases with doors leading into each separate level. Before you can access them, you will need to have reached that level and opened the door from the inside. Other than the Knights and the Keep, there is nothing of note in the exterior area.

Within the keep[]

There are six levels in Watcher's Keep:

  1. Altar Level (The Ritual Level)
  2. Elemental Level
  3. Compass Level (Maze Level)
  4. Machine of Lum the Mad
  5. Final Seal
  6. Imprisoned One

Each of the first five levels contain a portal to the next level down, but the requirements to activate each portal varies by floor.

On the Ritual Level, you must perform a ceremony on the altar in the main hall, requiring you gather both the bell and the candle, and have made a note about which page of the holy book you need to read. Placing the bell and candle on the altar alongside the holy book, you must perform the ritual correctly, which will cause the teleporter to the next level to activate. The correct sequence is bell, bell, candle, book, bell.

On the Elemental Level, you need to collect the Air, Slime, Fire and Ice scepters and use them to unlock the cage containing the Chromatic Demon. You must then defeat the Demon and collect the key from his body to access the portal to the next level.

On the Maze Level, you will first need to collect the Scepter of Radiance and navigate your way through the maze of rooms, collecting the three scepter gems along the way to the exit. Once you have the three scepter gems, the Scepter of Radiance will automatically assemble in your bag, with which you can go through the exit portal to the next level.

In the level containing the Machine of Lum the Mad, you'll need to collect the blue, purple and red oil, as well as the flint and tinder in order to gain access to the Crystal Mallet. Using the mallet, you can then break the glass of the machine, which will free the trapped mage Carston and grant you access to the machine's controls, allowing you to perform the necessary actions to activate the portal to the next level. Carston's journal contains the correct sequence, which is: triangle, red, medium.

On the Final Seal level, you will need to collect the Mind, Spirit and Heart key from the three challenges on the level and then defeat all the guardians of the Final Seal in the center of the floor. After all three keys have been inserted into their respective slots and turned, the final portal to the Imprisoned One will materialize.

Once down in the sixth level, the Imprisoned One will talk to you and tell you that the Knights of the Vigil are lying to you and are being deceitful. Whether you believe the demon or not or read the ritual or not is up to you.

During or after finishing the questline, the interior and exterior will remain static, and any loot you leave or place within can be safely retrieved later, even between games. The keep can be accessed in both SoA and ToB, making it a convenient transfer depository and a possible storehouse for the rest of the game series (as long as you have the Vigil Stone in your backpack).

Mod content[]

Mods icon This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.

Sword Coast Stratagems mod can install a component that affects Watcher's Keep:

Make Watchers' Keep accessible between SoA and ToB (BG2, BG2EE, BGT, EET)

In roleplaying terms, the natural time to explore Watchers' Keep is between the end of Shadows of Amn and the start of Throne of Bhaal. Before chapter 4 you're probably too weak; in chapters 6 and 7 of SoA you're in a desperate race against time; in ToB, the way the start works makes it difficult not to take random time off from urgent business to explore Watchers' Keep. Also, the NPC dialog in Watcher's Keep is ToB-only, and won't play if you do it before you start ToB.

This component moves the start location of Throne of Bhaal to Watchers' Keep, so that you're moved there immediately after the end of SoA. You can then explore WK to your heart's content. When you want to start ToB, just leave WK via the world map. You can still return to WK after leaving.

Be warned: you don't have any stable base, or any way to change your party, as long as you're starting at WK. If you find you need either, you'll need to do the first part of ToB. Similarly, although you could start a new game of ToB using this component, this is only a good idea if you're masochistic enough to want to solo Watchers' Keep with a starting-level ToB character!

Gallery[]

  • Seldar’s fan art 1 and 2 in 2017 Infinity Engine Fan-art Contest: Enhanced Edition thread

Appendix[]

External links[]

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