Down, Down, Down By the River: Let's Play Baldur's Gate 3

[Timrod]

Summary

: Welcome back to Baldur’s Gate 3! It’s finally time to move on to Act 2.

: The game gives us a warning about finishing sidequests, even though all of the time-sensitive sidequests would have cut off when we first entered the mountain pass.

: There is one sidequest I didn’t do, it’s a very minor one involving a blue jay who wants you to kill the eagles on top of the monastery so he can have their nest. I’ll put that in bonus content.

: There are three different scenes that happen when going into Act 2 depending on what you did. If you do the scene in the astral prism, you get a forced (and therefore free) long rest.

: However, this means we lose the buff from doing the monastery puzzle. If instead you ignore the astral prism, or blow up the creche after getting the mace, you go right into Act 2.

: There’s also a third, different one if you ignored the creche altogether and went into Act 2 from the underdark.

: The first scene is Lae’zel throwing a fit because we didn’t bring her into the creche and also didn’t touch the zaith’isk - I intentionally didn’t touch it on this run.

: We’ll ignore this because it’s a recap.

: (I feel the presence of toxic yaoi…)

: This scene is a little different because we never actually met Voss on this run.

: “Tl’a’Vlaakith - has our queen sent a knight to slay me with his own blade?”

: “Such informality, child. Does Jhe’stil Kith’rak not command your respect?”

: “Your blade speaks for you, kith’rak. You’ve come for blood.”

: “Child of Gith. I’ve not come to kill you, I’ve come to aid you.”

: Wasn’t this guy a murderous psychopath the last time we saw him?

: “Don’t trust him.”

: I have a new rule going forward: any gith gibberish isn’t getting transcribed because it’s a pain in the ass, and it doesn’t mean anything anyway.

: “My blade rests. Mother Gith compels you to listen.”

1. Fine. We’ll hear what you have to say before we gut you.
2. Nod to Lae’zel. She should take the lead.
3. Go on then. Speak.
4. Your queen hunts us. Why in the hells should we listen to you?

: “Speak. My ear is yours.”

: “I know you carry the Astral Prism, Lae’zel. Within it lies the seed of Vlaakith’s demise. And I intend to help you bring it to fruition.”

: “Vlaakith’s demise? I should run you through for suggesting it.”

1. Are you talking about the person inside? Do you know who that is?
2. What are you asking of us, Voss?
3. You must be either a fool or a hero to work against your own queen.
4. I’m not giving you the Astral Prism, if that’s what you’re wanting.

: “Are you talking about the person inside? Do you know who that is?”

: “If they have not said, they must have good reason. And I won’t be the one to betray them. But the one inside’s chosen you as an ally, protects you with their power.”

: “That very power will be the end of Vlaakith’s tyranny. The Prism’s tenant must be let loose. I’ve sought their freedom for aeons. When the Prism went missing, I feared the worst.”

: “Instead, you’ve granted the opportunity I’ve so long awaited. All that remains is the key that unchains them - and I’ve found someone who I believe can provide it.”

: This entire plot line doesn’t make a lot of sense when you learn who has the “key”. It’s unclear why they have it (or how) and the game never explains it.

: “Bring the Prism to Baldur’s Gate. I’ll be waiting in a taproom called Sharess’ Caress. That is where we decide the fate of my people. Lae’zel - together we will break our chains, and be Vlaakith’s slaves no longer.”

: What’s kind of funny about this is that Sharess’s Caress is a brothel.

: “I am no slave. The Undying Queen is my freedom. It is she who will purify me, and she who will ascend me.”

: “Lies, Lae’zel - every last one. There is no purification, no ascension.”

: “The zaith’isk does not purify - it extracts memory and kills the infected. Nor does the lich queen glorify the ascended. She feeds on most all of them to grow her power and pursue godhood.”

: “Madness. You flood me with this.. this heresy.”

: “I… I will hear no more of it.”

1. What do you want to do, Lae’zel? I have your back."
2. Vlaakith’s led you astray. I believe him, and so should you.
3. Kill him. This is your chance to earn Vlaakith’s redemption.

: This scene is where we pick what ending Lae’zel gets. There are four party members who work like this: Lae’zel, Gale, Shadowheart, and Astarion. Everyone else only really has one route.

: I would put up a vote, but I already know people are going to pick Voss’s route (which is Lae’zel’s good ending). The Vlaakith route also isn’t particularly interesting - the only thing it changes is a cutscene at the end.

: “Vlaakith’s led you astray. I believe him, and so should you.”

: “I served Vlaakith the whole of my life. Learned her words, fought her battles, yet she names me (traitor). Your words carry truth. I will meet you in Baldur’s Gate. Do not make me regret it.”

: “Lae’zel. I see (gibberish) in you - Sister in Freedom. Together, we will be our people’s light. Take this. It is a qua’nith - a psionic detector.”

: “The queen’s warriors hunt you. The qua’nith will sound out when you come near their portals. Hear its cry, and prepare for battle - or slip away.”

: There are two gith ambushes: one in Act 2, and one in Act 3. They happen regardless, even if you never met Vlaakith or entered the creche.

: “I should go. Vlaakith’s gaze pierces the seas and skies. She believes me loyal - and I can’t afford her mistrust. Keep the Astral Prism close. Let no one take it from you. Slay any who try.”

: “Now - to Baldur’s Gate. I’ll be waiting, Lae’zel.”

: There’s an optional scene with Lae’zel after this where she mostly just repeats stuff she’s already said. I’ll post this part , though.

: “Ascension is a young githyanki’s greatest honor. Long ago, the ghaik enslaved my people. They dominated our minds and bred us for war, until great Mother Gith took a hammer to our bonds.”

: “From the day of our birth, young gith have one purpose: to train hard enough to slay a ghaik and take its head. Then we speak the Rite of Ascension, and a red dragon comes to fly us to Vlaakith in Tu’narath, City of Death.”

: “We are honored with an eternal home in the Astral, celebrated for our victory. We are ascended. Or so I believed.”

: We can now progress into Act 2. I should mention that this isn’t a point of no return, so you can go back to anywhere in Act 1 still.

: “Can you feel that? The dark, it’s… hungry. Best watch the shadows.”

: (That one escaped goblin child must have grown up fast.)

: “Are.. are you.. the True Soul?”

: This isn’t Sazza, I’m just re-using portraits.

1. Who wants to know?
2. [BARD] I may or may not be the single greatest True Soul you may or may not have met in your life.
3. I don’t have time for this - begone.
4. No, I kill them. And you’re next.

: “I may or may not be the single greatest True Soul you may or may not have met in your life.”

: (Also I’m going to kill you.)

: “Uh. I’ll take that as a yes. Listen up. Grab a torch, stay outta the dark, and move fast. The shadows have eyes. Go on.”

: Welcome to Act 2’s gimmick - the shadow curse. Anyone who isn’t in at least partial light will start taking damage every turn after a short grace period.

: There are a few options for light sources. The mace from the monastery is one, so Pollux is covered. You can use a torch, which takes up a weapon slot.

: You could also cast the Light spell, which lasts until long rest. Fortunately, we won’t have to deal with this for very long.

: This line marks where the curse starts. What I did was give the ring from the wizard tower to Lyselle and had her cast Light on everyone’s weapon except Astarion’s.

: Not far from the entrance is a spot with a dead ox and a dead tiefling - they’re one of the tieflings who attended the party.

: And just beyond that is a small camp full of goblins that we can see from this vantage point. If you arrived here from the underdark, the goblins aren’t here.

: If you do come in from the underdark, you can still get here by jumping up before going too far and running into a different cutscene trigger.

: The optimal thing to do here is to kill all the goblins immediately, but we’ll talk to them because otherwise you won’t have any idea what to do.

: “Fetch!”

: The hyena runs off into the shadows and dies. I should mention exactly how the curse works: it does damage every turn, and that damage DOUBLES for every turn you’re in it.

: “Heh. Oi! You see that blighter go? Swallowed whole by the shadow curse. Bet he was pure tasty. You’re the True Soul we’re taking to Moonrise, I’m guessing?”

: Any NPCs who die in the curse zone come back as undead.

1. That’s me.
2. I was sent here by another goblin.
3. How do you plan on getting me through this cursed darkness?
4. I thought light was enough to keep the curse at bay.

: “How do you plan on getting me through this cursed darkness?”

: “Don’t worry boss, you’re in good hands. We’ve got a guide. Talk to Kansif inside - he’ll run through it.”

: You can go make him fetch the bone, but that takes up an illithid action and Pollux probably wouldn’t want to use those now that he knows the story behind them.

Kansif: “True Soul. An honor. Did you bring the lyre?”

: We have two lyres. You can get them off Minthara and off Nere.

1. I have a lyre. It used to belong to a drow.
2. Why do you need a lyre, exactly?
3. True Souls don’t answer stupid questions.
4. [BARD] If you want a tune, I know plenty.

: “I have a lyre. It used to belong to a drow. She had an.. unfortunate accident.”

Kansif: “Good, we were told to expect you. Then pluck a tune and our guide will come scuttling.”

: What’s with all of these monsters being able to hear instruments from a suspiciously long distance?

: It’s for mating reasons, probably.

: Pollux can make the performance check, so he plays the lyre. This works even if you don’t make the check.

Kar’niss: “Yes, I hear them, your majesty. Calling us. Their god and their guide, together.”

: Driders only look like this in the D&D canon. They’re a lot softer and more huggable on Hellgondo Continent.

: “Now that’s what I call an abdomen..”

Kansif: “Greetings in the Absolute’s name. You have been charged with - guiding us…”

Kar’niss: New flesh for you, my queen. But, who are they?

: The drider has a magic lantern that protects against the shadow curse. We need to kill him, but that’s easier said than done.

: These are his stats on balanced. On tactician, he gets two new moves. The first gives him +2d6 damage against any enemy with less than 50% HP remaining. This is almost guaranteed to be an instakill.

: The second is a fanfiction version of the Sanctuary spell that he can break at will to do a bunch of psychic damage. So how do we deal with him?

: The easiest way to defeat the drider is, of course, exploding him.

: “I’d better go get some.. erm.. wine! Wine. I’ll be right back.”

: “Oh no.”

: “Hey, you! You there! What were you thinking, setting my statue facing the wrong way?”

: “Lae’zel, are you hearing this?”

: (unintelligible gibberish)

: “Some druid you are! Balsam’s for wounds! Wounds! Not burns! Didn’t they teach you anything in your home grove?”

: “Wait. How are you here?”

: “Doesn’t matter. Do you really think you can date Halsin like this? You can’t even wild shape! Don’t think I didn’t see that attempt of yours.”

: “Umm… look, I really just want to get at my explosives so I can blow this drider up.”

: “What kind of druid uses explosives!? How did you even get named Faithwarden!?”

: “Halsin! Help! The statue’s talking to me!”

: “Oh, that? We had a dozen of them at the grove, and I figured a Faithwarden like you could use one. I’m surprised you didn’t notice earlier.”

: On both of these routes, we’'re going to want to kill the goblins first before we call the drider. You can do it manually by having someone try to play the lyre - you get a special action for it even if you don’t have performance.

: Heh. It never gets old. We could certainly use all those barrels, since they’re pure fire damage and won’t work against the other boss vulnerable to barrels.

: But let’s think about this for a minute. He’s in the middle of a death curse that kills anyone not immune to it. The only thing protecting him is that lantern.

: I never thought about that. I just fought him later on.

: And if he doesn’t have the lantern.. he’s dead.

: It’ll take a little more doing than that. This one needs save-reloading and probably a respec, but it’s funny to do.

: The best way to do this would be to respec Karlach into a ranger with the bear companion, buff the bear and have it disarm the drider. Instead, we’ll use Karlach’s ranged disarm.

: Unfortunately, Command doesn’t work on the drider. He’s immune.

: The drider’s AI will pick up his sword, but won’t pick up the lantern. Now all we need to do is escape.

: This is easier said than done. The drider has an insane amount of movespeed, can climb ladders, and can jump.

: Pollux uses his boots of speed, which let him get well away from it. Karlach disengages and runs to the cliff here before jumping down.

: From here, the drider will sit here and take damage every round until he dies. The smart play is to run in one turn before he dies and kill him while he’s in a light source.

: If not, he comes back as a zombie with half HP and across-the-board stat debuffs. This makes him much easier to kill.

: Killing him at this point gets you nothing, because you get the full EXP for killing him upon picking up the lantern.

: The sword he drops is essentially one of the gith longswords except you don’t have to be a gith to benefit from it.

: This is great and all, but it’s way easier if you just let the game do its thing.

: On baby mode, maybe.

: If we’re going to do the “plot” run, we need to not kill the goblins. We SHOULD be able to, but as it turns out there’s a bug.

: What’s SUPPOSED to happen is that the drider comes in, sees everyone dead, and then you get a deception roll against him that Pollux could definitely make.

: The problem is that for some reason, the first two options are broken and exit dialog instead of rolling. According to the patch notes for Patch 8, this wasn’t fixed.

: The canon run will be us exterminating him via disarm, but I’ll show off what happens if you don’t. This route only happens if you meet the goblins at their camp.

: What a poser! He’s got ten legs! Everyone knows driders have eight legs for wrapping gently around you in bed, and two arms for hugging.

: I went to see if there was a mod to fix this, and found something even better.

: Someone actually bothered to do this for a boss that shows up for one scene before you kill him. On the evil route, he actually does show up again, but we won’t see that.

: There is a playable drider mod, but it’s a gooner one that has breasts the size of the base game model’s torso.

: “And you? What are you?”

Kansif: “More faithful of the Absolute. They need a guide to the Tower, same as us.”

Narrator: Your minds connect and you hear a whispered voice. The Absolute? Or just the echoes of his fractured mind, reverberating in the dark?

: “A True Soul. You have more worshippers every day, majesty.”

: The person who voices Kar’niss isn’t a bad VA, but you can tell they had no idea what the fuck they were doing. He changes accents about three times in as many lines.

: One of them is “generic crazy guy”, one is just kinda normal, and the third is somewhere in between.

: (If he didn’t have the fucked-up eye thing going on and got rid of the chitin on his upper half, I’d date him.)

: “Yes. Yes, they’ll do nicely.”

: His eyes aren’t even right! He’s missing one!

1. It’s time to leave. Take me to Moonrise.
2. So you’re the guide? How do you survive out there?
3. I’ll get to Moonrise myself. A few shadows don’t scare me.
4. I need to do something first. You wait here.
5. Attack.

: “Take me to Moonrise.”

: “Very well. Gather the flock. Bless us again, majesty. Shine your light, protect us.”

: “Come. Follow and stay close. Do not leave the light. Do not feed the shadows.”

: The drider leads you pretty much right down the road. I can imagine he’s probably a pain in the ass to follow if you actually do go all the way to Moonrise Towers.

: “Wait… something’s wrong, majesty. Who’s there? Show yourself!”

Harper Branthos: “Harpers, attack! Kill the cultists - and get that lantern!”

: Wait a minute. How are they surviving out here without a light source?

: “Heretics! Villains in the dark!”

Narrator: These Harpers are clearly enemies of the Absolute.. they could be worthwhile allies. But defend the guide, and you may preserve your cover as a True Soul.

: At this point, we get thrown into a fight against the drider and all the goblins at once. We’re in a shitty position, and on tactician, the drider is going to erase anyone he hits.

: On both difficulties, he spams Sanctuary. This stops anything from targeting him for one turn, at which point there’s a one-turn cooldown until he can cast it again. The main difference is that on tactician, he can break his own sanctuary to do an AOE.

: On tactician, he has more HP and an aura that reduces the AC of anything in the same zip code as him by 4. This is why everyone on honor mode blows him up.

: We could do this, or we could blow one superiority point and disarm him to death. Doing the fight this way changes an upcoming scene a little.

Harper Branthos: “You. Don’t move a godsdamned muscle. Talk. Why in the hells would a cultist turn on his own kind?”

1. I’m not one of them. They took me prisoner.
2. I couldn’t bear the atrocities committed in the Absolute’s name.
3. I succumbed to their temptations. You gave me a chance to escape.
4. I’m infected with their parasite, but I’m seeking a cure.

: “Oh, you’ve got us all wrong. We’re going back to the timeline where we disarmed the drider and I ran like a world champion sprinter and stole the lantern.”

Harper Branthos: “Then I must be a welcome sight indeed. Follow me. I know a refuge from the darkness. You can rest there.”

: I should mention that if you have Karlach with you, she can get an inspiration for taking damage from the curse on two rounds in a row. We’re about to become immune to it.

: On the way to our next destination, there’s another field of dead tieflings.

: This is the Last Light Inn, the harper base. A few updates ago, we picked up an item called an Elixir of Vigilance. This is where we’ll need them. You want to make sure you have four of them.

: If you don’t, you can go back to the duergar base and the stonemason will most likely have one for sale. This is why I left him alive.

Harper Elifer: “You there! Step forward and keep your hands off your weapons!”

Harper Branthos: “Easy! He helped us out in the shadows.”

Harper Elifer: “Jaheira!”

: If you’ve played Baldur’s Gate or Baldur’s Gate 2, you know who Jaheira is. The developers revealed she was in the game before release.

1. Just this once, I wish people would simply say hello.
2. Jaheira, is it? I’m Pollux, and I assure you none of this is necessary.
3. You have to the count of five to let me go.
4. [BARD] How uncouth. Legends led me to expect better of the noble Jaheira.

: “How uncouth. Legends led me to expect better of the noble Jaheira.”

: “It seems tales of my clemency have been greatly exaggerated.”

1. At least give me a chance to earn your trust.
2. So it would seem. Did you hear that I saved your soldiers?
3. I heard you were strong - smart. Seems I heard wrong.
4. [BARD] If you let me go, I’ll happily amend the tales. Add a ‘hates strangers’ footnote.

: “If you let me go, I’ll happily amend the tales. Add a ‘hates strangers’ footnote.”

: “You have not experienced my hatred, stranger. Not yet, at least.”

: “This is why we’re here, you see. It is a curious creature that hides all manner of secrets. But if there’s one thing that we know-”

: “It’s that it knows its own kind. You should never have come here, True Soul.”

: There’s a dialog choice here, but it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is whether you saved the grove or not. If you didn’t, you get a major hint as to the permafuck.

: “Stop!”

: “What are you doing? He’s the one who saved us!”

: “He’s the one who protected the Emerald Grove?”

: “Yup. Didn’t leave a goblin standing. Not so bad to hang around with, either. Saved two of my friends - one from a harpy, and one from a mad druid with a snake. Didn’t make a fuss of our thieving, either.”

: “I’d pretty much trust him with my life.”

: If Mol is dead (meaning you sided against the grove, I’m not sure if the killable children mod works), you instead have a cult spy walk up and do the same thing.

: The main difference is the cult spy immediately tells you what his plot is, and you know to expect it.

: “A True Soul with a mind of his own.. how is that possible?”

1. Because of this artifact.
2. I work in mysterious ways.
3. You’ll just have to take my word for it.

: “What in the hells is that thing?”

: “It’s a long story. Hatsune Miku is inside and she can control mind flayer parasites.”

: “Congratulations. You’ve earned the benefit of the doubt. Hear me, Harpers! All clear, at ease!”

: “I’ll not pretend to understand what that artifact is, but I’m old and wise enough to recognize a sliver of hope when it crawls out of the dark. Tell me - why have you come here?”

1. To destroy the Absolute in its lair: Moonrise Towers.
2. I just want a cure for the parasite in my head. Moonrise Towers is my only lead.
3. I’m here on holiday.
4. My intentions are my own.

: “I’m going to destroy the Absolute and exterminate the cultists. We have half a ton of explosives in a box.”

: “Then you’ve found an ally in me, for that is precisely why I am here. There’s food in the inn over there. Beds too if you require rest. Aloe oil in the cupboard in case the vines gave you a rash.”

: “Settle in, then join me for a drink. You may just be the godsend we’ve been praying for.”

: Before we do anything, I need to explain why we’re not going to stick to this route. On this route, the Harpers take the moonlantern before we can get to it.

: To get it back, we need to talk to an NPC on the second floor of the inn. We don’t want to do that yet, not without being prepared.

: Let’s go back to the HARD-core Tactics route.

: This time, I show off the proper technique - Pollux and Karlach lose the drider, and then Pollux runs in at the last minute to deliver the killing blow.

: There are some potions in a locked chest in this tower near where the goblins were. You may have noticed the party has no light sources out. We’ll get to that in a minute.

: That chest sure looks tempting.

: Oh, come on. That’s an obvious trap. Any mimic could see that coming.

: Of course it’s a trap. He’s even got the enemy hiding in the bush highlighted.

: The game doesn’t expect you to be able to see these, but you can - and this lets us get free experience by means of the game’s only (unintentional) real-time shooting gallery.

: If you shoot one of the vine monsters from the tower while stealthed, their AI screws up. This is because most areas of Act 2 give you total concealment, which gives you a stealth bonus so large that they can’t detect you.

: With this, a nasty ambush becomes a free fight.

: If you do get ambushed, it’s a pretty annoying fight due to the surprise round and the exploding vine monsters.

Narrator: The lantern gives off a chilly glow, protecting all in its vicinity from the surrounding shadows.

: This scene plays when you pick up the moonlantern for the first time, provided you’re not in combat when it happens. If this happens, you can drop it and pick it back up or send it to someone else’s bag.

Narrator: You notice a tiny pixie trapped within. These fey creatures are famous for their trickery - sometimes playful, sometimes malicious.

: “Hey! Listen!”

: Lyselle, fireball.

: “I mean, um..”

: “Oh please, oh golly, me-oh-my, you must release me or I’ll die! This lantern only lights the way when I am hurting night and day!”

1. Who are you?
2. What’s this mechanism at the base of the lantern?
3. [BARD] Legends tell of the Fey trapping people - not the other way around. Why are you in here?
4. Release the pixie.
5. Ignore the pixie. You’ll be needing this lamp.

: “Legends tell of the Fey trapping people - not the other way around. Why are you in here?”

: “My pixie dust is bright as day; my injuries can light the way.”

: “Can you not do that?”

: “No.”

: “FINALLY! Been trapped in that coffin with no one but a mad drider and my own farts for company.”

: “Did me a good turn there, didn’t you. What do I owe you?”

1. I need to get through this shadow curse. Can you help?
2. What’s on offer?
3. “Nothing - my help doesn’t come with strings attached.”

: “I need to get through this shadow curse. Can you help?”

: “Here. Give this bell a shake, speak the magic words, and you’ll get what you’ve earned. Protection from the shadow curse - what more could a dingus want?”

: “Works for me - hey, wait a second! You stopped rhyming!”

: We are now immune to the curse. This is actually a requirement to progress unless you are on the evil route. We can go anywhere, but we’re going to the inn to resolve an encounter first.

: …Unfortunately, we only have three elixirs of vigilance. There is a way around it, but we’d need to respec someone. I checked every merchant up to this point, and none had any.

: There are three traders here, and we can only steal from one. This one can give you a free supply pack, which is enough for a long rest on balanced.

: She has a decent staff and some interesting armor, but we don’t really need any of it.

: Dammon is back in this barn on the side, along with the oxen from the druid grove.

: This includes the strange talking ox, which we want to kill now.

: Before we do, I steal this from Dammon. This sword is the second best sword for Astarion up until near the end of the game. It goes in his off hand.

: Astarion then uses it to tear the ox apart. Surprise! It’s a giant blob. If you talk to the ox, you can offer to bring it to the city in Act 3. It’s clearly evil, we’re exterminating it.

: This hat? This hat is the best hat for Lyselle. It’s part of a set that gives you a status effect called Arcane Acuity, which boosts your spell DCs AND attack rolls by 1 for each turn remaining.

: It also drops a ring that gives you +1d4 to all checks while disguised. This is VERY useful for something later on. Don’t sell this.

: “Karlach! I thought you’d be in the city by now. We were ambushed by cultists. Half of us were captured, the other half ran here.”

: “Off the anvil, into the forge. We’ll find them - hopefully.”

: "Before you run off into the belly of the beast, there’s something I need to tell you. Well.. two things. Good news and bad news.

1. Give us the good news.
2. Let’s hear the bad news.
3. Which do you want to hear first, Karlach?

: “Which do you want to hear first, Karlach?”

: “The good news, obviously!”

: “I only need one more piece of infernal iron to craft an insulating chamber that could make it possible for Karlach to-”

: “Touch people?!”

: “Exactly.”

: “Oh my gods. It’s really happening. It’s been so long. We’ve got the iron - let’s do this thing!”

: “Hang on - I think you’ll want to hear the bad news, too.”

: “Yeah, sure, but first - fix me. Please.”

1. Go on, give him the iron. Let’s make this happen.
2. Let Dammon speak. This sounds important.
3. This can wait - we have more important things to handle first.

: We have a piece, and more importantly we have the glitched piece from the stonemason in the duergar base.

: Speaking of the duergar base, I was wrong about one thing. The two guards near the dock actually DO give EXP even if you talk your way past them.

: They were exterminated off screen.

: Dammon hits the iron five times or so and calls it a day.

: “Same as last time. You’ll need to install it yourself. But this should do the trick.”

: “There. So did it.. work?”

: “Only one way to find out.”

: They probably should have put Karlach in her camp clothes for this scene.

: “You feel so nice… I can’t believe it. Thank you, Dammon. Thank you so much.”

: “It’s the least I could do. Before you go - there’s something I need to tell you. That engine of yours - it’s contained for the moment, but it’s just too hot to exist here in the material plane indefinitely.”

: “I know you know that, but the thing is, there’s a cure. I wasn’t making any headway with the mechanics - none at all. The environment here is just too cold to sustain metals like the ones inside you.”

: “You have to return to Avernus - for good - or this thing is going to burn you up from the inside out. And sooner than you think.”

: “The moment I set foot back in Avernus, Zariel will force me back into service. I’m not doing her bidding again. I’d rather die.”

: “I get that. But don’t rule it out. The world might just be better with you in it - even in Avernus. I won’t stop trying to figure out a cure, but.. at this point, I think we all have to face the inevitable.”

1. Thank you, Dammon.
2. We’ll have to make the inevitable evitable, then.

: I’m intentionally hiding certain options because they lead to Karlach’s romance route. Pollux has a boyfriend already.

: “We’ll have to make the inevitable evitable, then.”

: “Thanks, Dammon. Really. You’ve given me more than I could ever repay.”

: We can go through some more fluff dialog to get the ability to hand in the infernal iron Kith gave us three times.

: This gets us a discount version of Raphael’s armor. Karlach takes the helmet and the gloves and I send the armor to Lae’zel in case I ever unbench her again.

: I’m going to skip a lot of stuff and go right to the bullshit part. Here’s what I’d like you to imagine. Let’s pretend we came into the inn after having the harpers help us fight the drider.

: On this route, we are NOT immune to the shadow curse. So what do you do?

: Well, we have to find the moonlantern. This necessitates us going into the inn, and at this point everyone needs to chug an Elixir of Vigilance.

: The problem is that we don’t have enough. There is a merchant who probably has one.. but they’re in Moonrise Towers, where we can’t go.

: The reason we can’t go there is because the area near the tower has a stronger version of the curse that blows out torches and does damage unless you are immune.

: We are now locked into one of the most bullshit fights in the entire game. That is.. unless you know exactly what’s going to happen in advance.

: The lantern is located in this room, and we have to talk to someone to get it. Doing this initiates the fight.

: I had a ton of trouble with this when I played it.

: This is Isobel’s room. As you can see, we have three doors: one on the left, one straight ahead, and the double doors we just came through.

: We need to barricade all three sets of doors. The area outside is a bar, and you can use the chairs to do this.

: Make sure to close the doors as well.

: Why are we barricading this room off?

: Because I sense bad encounter design.

: What you can do here is send someone outside and then barricade the door behind them before talking to Isobel. There’s some fun stuff we can do here, and it’s all thanks to Astra.

: Me?

: The enemy here spawns in. What happened the last time someone tried putting objects down where enemies spawned in?

: They glitched out.

: And that’'s exactly what we can do here. The game wants to spawn the enemy in the middle of the room, but by filling it with garbage, we can potentially glitch him out. It’s not 100%.

: “I didn’t realize I had an audience.”

: “The True Soul who’s going to save us all. I’m Isobel. Pleased to meet you.”

1. Save you? How do you figure that?
2. I may have the parasite of a True Soul, but not the mind of one.
3. Word gets around fast.
4. I know your name, but little else. Care to enlighten me?

: “Word gets around fast.”

: “Small inn. We’ve been waiting - hoping against hope - for someone like you. Free from the Absolute’s influence, yet able to walk among cultists.”

: “We can do that? We’ve just been kill-”

: “Oh yeah, we can do that.”

: “It’s almost too good to be true. But I’d be a poor cleric indeed not to avail of a blessing when I see one. Let me guess: Jaheira’s sent you to beg a protection spell off her favorite cleric.”

: She gives us a weaker moonlantern spell that lets us go anywhere that doesn’t have the “deeper” curse. I’ll skip some of the dialog.

: “While you’re busy in the Towers, I’ll be sure to - wait. Do you hear that? Something’s wrong…”

Flaming Fist Marcus: “Hello, Isobel.”

: Marcus is the cultist spy who will vouch for you if Mol is dead. He doesn’t exist in the game until this cutscene. I looked for him - he’s not in Moonrise, he’s not in the inn anywhere.

: “Marcus - is that you? What’s happened to you?”

Flaming Fist Marcus: “I’ve been blessed. You can be too. Come with me and you can hear it all from Ketheric himself.”

1. What are you?
2. Isobel, do you know this man?
3. I say we follow the winged freak.

: “I don’t know who you are, but I’m going to fucking exterminate you just like I did all your cultist buddies.”

Flaming Fist Marcus: “True Soul. My instructions are clear: take the girl to Ketheric. Alive.”

1. [WISDOM] Probe his thoughts for more information.
2. What does he want with her?
3. Sounds like fun - I’m with you.
4. I’m not like you - I don’t take orders from the Absolute’s cronies.
5. Touch her and I’ll kill you.

: “Fuck yourself.”

Flaming Fist Marcus: “Pathetic. The Absolute sees all, you fool.”

: “The Absolute. Of course. You can’t believe them, Marcus. Ketheric will never give you whatever it is you’ve been promised.”

Flaming Fist Marcus: “He already has. Time to go, Isobel.”

: If you don’t have vigilance up, Marcus gets a surprise round and knocks Isobel out in a single turn. He can miss, but rarely does.

: Fortunately, we don’t need to worry about it. Marcus spawned on the pile of crap, and his pathing AI is now permanently broken.

: Even though he can fly?

: It’s weird, but he can’t actually fly even though he’s got those wings. I probably couldn’t either if I was in a room stacked floor to ceiling with an elaborate barricade.

: The trick is cramming the debris in close enough that there’s no space to stand on the floor. You also need to fill the balcony with crap, because he’ll spawn out there as a failsafe.

: He’ll spend his turns trying to climb over the boxes to reach Isobel, but stop because the game can’t calculate the pathfinding. This turns the fight into a joke. The only risk at this point is that the ghouls kill one of the tieflings.

: One string of crits later, Marcus is lying in a pool of his own blood on top of a stack of wooden crates, with zero spells spent.

: Blocking the room also confuses the ghouls. Normally, they’re supposed to fly in and finish Isobel off if Marcus doesn’t, except they don’t have a route in.

: The party can leap over the barricade and go out to help kill the ghouls. As long as they don’t attack the tieflings, they’re dead with no damage done.

: “Isobel! Are you all right?”

: “I’m fine.”

: “Marcus has been with us since the start - they’ve been tracking us this whole time. And that was no random attack - you were the target, Isobel. They know how important you are.”

: “But they don’t know about you. Ketheric will strike again. We need you to strike first.”

1. Who is Ketheric?
2. Why me?
3. I haven’t agreed to do anything.

: “Who is Ketheric?”

: “General Ketheric Thorm. Remember that name. He’s the leader of the Absolutists. He was a Sharran, once - took to building an army of Dark Justiciars beneath this very village.”

: “Alongside the druids, we made it our business to see him deposed - dead and buried. But he’s returned. Not only does General Ketheric Thorm live again, it seems he is no longer mortal.”

: “We met him on the road here - commanding the army of the Absolute. I put an arrow through his eye myself, only to watch him pluck it out like a splinter. A man does not return from the dead and become impervious to arrows out of nowhere. There is magic at work - strong, arcane, and most likely necromantic.”

: “He healed right in front of me, and chased us into the shadows. We took shelter here, and were considering a full retreat - until you came along. I don’t know why he’s waiting, why he’s not marching his army west as we speak, but as long as he remains, there’s still a chance.”

: “You are that chance. Protected by your artifact, you can infilitrate Moonrise Towers, posing as a True Soul. Discover the cause of that invulnerability. Make him mortal, so we can make him bleed. Good luck.”

: “We’re in more danger than I knew. If something happens to me, everyone in this inn is dead. Like that.”

1. Marcus told me Ketheric wanted you captured - not killed. Why?
2. I won’t let that happen.
3. Then you’d better find a way to stop a second attack.

: “Marcus told me Ketheric wanted you captured - not killed. He also said something along the lines of ‘Fuck, who put all these goddamn barrels here?’. Why?”

: “Because you filled my bedroom with garbage?”

: “I meant why as to the first part.”

: “Why does a man like him do anything? Power - spite - some kind of twisted, personal morality. I can understand why he’d want me dead. Without me keeping the curse at bay, everyone in this inn - everyone intent on killing him - is dead too.”

: “As for why he’d want to take me alive.. I don’t know. And I don’t want to find out.”

: “Why do you have a bust of Ketheric in your room?”

: “Ummm…”

: There’s not a lot we can do in Act 2 that won’t take up a full update. Act 2 is actually fairly short - most of it is Moonrise Towers, but going there marks the point of no return.

: There are a couple of conversations we can have, some of which get cut off by Marcus arriving, so let’s do those.

: You may have noticed Mol getting kidnapped. Before Marcus shows up, she’s playing chess with Raphael near the stairs.

: If you are playing the hero route, you want to avoid talking to Raphael here if Astarion is in the party, as it can cause him to permanently leave your group.

: “You trapped me. I didn’t even want to take this one.”

: “Calimshan rules, dear. The first piece touched is the first piece moved.”

: “Quickened Silence. Astarion, start stabbing and I’ll tell you when to stop.”

: “That’s garbage. No matter where the knight goes, I’m gonna lose it.”

: “Then make the sacrifice useful. Guard your Mystra, or come for my Cyric.”

: “What’s going on here?”

: “Look who made it! For once I saved your butt out there, didn’t I? We’re square now, chief. Say, do you play lanceboard by any chance? It’s my first time playing.”

Narrator: “The keen gleam in Mol’s eyes reveals the lie. She knows the game well, and wants to win.”

1. Fall back. Protect your queen above everything else.
2. You shouldn’t be playing games with this man. He’s a devil.
3. Sorry, kid. I’ve never played lanceboard.
4. [SLEIGHT OF HAND] ‘Accidentally’ jostle the board Mol’s way.
5. [BARD] Calimshan fell because its nobility got cocky. Put pressure on his king.

: “Calimshan fell because its nobility got cocky. Put pressure on the king. Also, a silence field and critical headshots work wonders.”

: “My, the Theskan Double Counter-Gambit. Vicious. Exactly what I would have done.”

: What a load of shit.

: “How’s that for Calimshan rules?”

: “Brava! Lovely work. I see I was right to make you the offer I did. You will consider it, won’t you?”

: “What a lovely specimen she is. A blushing apple, begging to be plucked.”

: “Please let me smack this creep.”

: “The Theskan move suggestion was inspired. I had no idea you played.”

1. There’s plenty about me you have no idea about.
2. Is this why you’re here? To play games?
3. Bugger off back to Hell, would you?
4. [BARD] A list of my many hidden talents would stretch to Avernus and back.

: “There’s plenty about me you have no idea about.”

: (Like all the explosives we’re saving for you.)

: Can you blow him up here?

: I uh.. I didn’t test it. It’d make the entire inn hostile at a minimum.

: I’ve got a full glass of sparkle juice, we might as well.

: That really is juice, isn’t it?

: Five different types, and a little bit of champagne for fizz. It’s delicious.

: I tested it, and the answer is no. He teleports out if you place a barrel anywhere near him.

: At least that’s realistic. I mean, can you really say you wouldn’t teleport if someone started dropping piles of explosives near you?

: I’d get some bats and tell the team we’re playing boom ball.

: “Well, shit.”

: “Now, let’s talk about you. I sense there’s something you want to ask me.”

: “I do. I have a proposal for you.”

: “A proposal? If you’re hoping to taste my blood, little vampling, think again. It burns hotter than Wyvern Whiskey.”

: “This is serious business, devil. My old - well, a long time ago, someone carved some runes into my back. I’d rather like to know what they say.”

: “Hmmm… oh, such impatience. It’s something very important to your master. But is it a love letter, a warning, or a deed of ownership? I could give you all the gory details.”

: “But of course, you’ll have to do something for me first. Let me think about it and get back to you.”

: “You’ll ‘get back’ to me? This is important, devil. When?”

: “Don’t worry - I’m motivated to help you. Scars often tell such wonderful stories - I think yours might be truly exquisite. I’ll see you soon.”

: This is why we don’t want to do this with Astarion nearby. Raphael’s deal forces you to do one of the final dungeons of this act in a specific way to avoid Astarion having a bitchfit.

: If you miss him here, he’ll try again near the point of no return. We can’t have Astarion there, either. There’s a way to learn what the scars are without Raphael.

: Who wrote this guy? Don’t they know that half of the demons out there won’t shut up once you summon them? They’ll practically beg you to take their forbidden knowledge.

: Like you?

: I was talking about the goetia, but I walked into that one.

: Our third and final trader is this kid, because every RPG needs a shopkeeper who is a kid.

: “Welcome to our humble - wait, are you Karlach? A lot of us were in Avernus. We saw you fighting. You were so good!”

: “Yeah. I guess I was. I mean, you should avoid fighting for devils if you can. But if you can’t, it helps to have a good right hook.”

: “I saw you lay out a maw demon in two hits! Bam, bam! We were all like ‘whoa’. How’d you learn to fight like that?”

: “I had to. Life didn’t pull any punches. It was up to me to learn to take a hit - and deal one back.”

: “I’ve been tossed around a lot too. I want to learn how to fight back, too.”

: “From the look of things, you’ve got your wits about you. A clever mind and a bit of style will take you a long way. Fight with those, and you may find you never need to use your fists at all.”

: Or, failing that, light your enemies on fire.

: “In that case, want to buy a lucky ring I found?”

: “Ha! Nice try, shorty. Keep it up though, and you’ll be scamming with the greats in no time.”

1. ‘Scamming with the greats’? What kind of advice is that?
2. Kid really looks up to you. That’s nice to see.
3. You were too nice to that little runt.
4. Leave.

: “Kid really looks up to you. That’s nice to see.”

: “It is, isn’t it. Hope he makes it out of this mess with his wits in one piece. I’d like to see him set up in a proper home in the city. Every kid deserves that.”

: We can scam the kid out of a key through dialog options. It’s not entirely clear where they got this key from, given that it goes to a building in the death zone.

: He also sells one of the first cloak-slot items in the game. There is a cloak if you buy the digital deluxe edition DLC.. which I did because it comes with the artbook.

: This is where I want to talk about the other trader glitch. It’s a lot more involved than just using the rat trick, but on Patch 8 (where the rat trick doesn’t exist) it makes more sense.

: Stealing from this kid sure would be easier if he didn’t have sixty pairs of eyes on him at all times. We can’t quite pull this off yet because we don’t have a second warp point in Act 2.

: To do this, you need two warp points in the same zone - this means no bringing Act 1 NPCs into Act 2. Once you have that..

: Take your highest strength character and hit “improvised melee weapon”. Go out as far as you can and click to confirm.

: While your character is running full tilt to throw the trader, use the map and warp.

: The merchant will now sit here forever, because the pathfinding code can’t find a way back to their home position.

: The last person with dialog worth seeing is Alfira, who will give us a quest to save her girlfriend. We’ll be doing this next update.

: My plan is to teleport all the Act 1 merchants, rob them, and then go to Moonrise to save Alfira’s girlfriend.

: “Thank goodness, I was worried they’d got you too.”

1. You think a few shadows could beat me?
2. I’m glad you made it too, it’s one hell of a curse.
3. I see some familiar faces, but where’s everyone else?
4. Leave.

: “I see some familiar faces, but where’s everyone else?”

: “You don’t know? Stars above.. we were ambushed out in the darkness - by cultists. We surrendered, but that wasn’t enough for them.”

: There’s another tiefling who will tell you that Zevlor was the one who turned on them and ordered the surrender.

: “They lined us up like dogs. Asharak was with the kids, telling them it was gonna be alright. Maybe that’s why they picked him. Told him to kneel.. they took his eyes first. Then his tongue.”

: “And it didn’t occur to you to just.. kill them?”

: “Rolan, of all people, saved us. He said he stayed in the grove because of you, and I’m damn glad of it. Without him… well, none of us would be here.”

: “Rolan, the apprentice wizard?”

: “Yes. He shielded me and the kids while his brother and sister rushed the cultists. Cal and Lia were dragged away, along with the others. Rolan isn’t.. taking it so well. None of us, to be honest.”

: “How do you do it? How do you keep going?”

1. Just take it one step at a time.
2. I’ll let you know when I figure it out.
3. Danger is my life - I wouldn’t change it for the world.
4. [BARD] When the night is dark, stars shine brightest. So keep on shining. It’s going to be all right.
5. I don’t complain constantly. It’s very annoying.

: “When the night is dark, stars shine brightest. So keep on shining. It’s going to be all right.”

: “Heart’s Requiem, right? The hero survives a war and rebuilds her life - stronger than ever. A tale worth remembering, especially now.”

: “You’ve done so much for us already, but I have to ask - the others might still be out there. If they’re not dead, they’re in Moonrise. And gods have mercy on anyone in that hellspit.”

: “Then I guess I know where we’re exterminating next.”

: Before we go meticulously kill shit in the prison, there’s one more person to talk to.

: Behind Raphael is a cat we can talk to. The cat doesn’t say much and is an asshole, but Pollux gets an inspiration for it.

: “Ah. You.”

1. Hello, Barcus. How are things?
2. Do I know you?
3. Seems you’ve found yourself in another scrape.
4. Are you following me?
5. What happened to the other gnomes you were with?

: “Hello, Barcus. How are things?”

: “How are things? How are things? Well. I’ve been through worse. I’ll soon be off to Moonrise Towers to look for my friend Wulbren. I understand you might be headed in that direction as well.”

1. I have reason to believe the seat of the Absolute is in Moonrise.
2. You understand correctly. But it would be suicide for you to go near the place.
3. Wulbren?
4. How did you make your way through the shadows?

: “You understand correctly. But it would be suicide for you to go near the place.”

: “Still. A friend is a friend. Wulbren won’t last long in a place as dreadful as that.”

1. I’m going to Moonrise Towers too. Why don’t you let me look for him.
2. Even if you get past the shadow curse, you’ll never make it past that many cultists.
3. Do as you wish, but I won’t rescue you a third time.

: “I’m going to Moonrise Towers too. Why don’t you let me look for him.”

: “You wouldn’t even know what he looks like. Then again, my track record is… well. Discouraging.”

1. Then it’s settled. You stay here. I’ll search the Towers.
2. Seems you can handle things yourself.
3. I’ll leave you to consider it.

: “Then it’s settled. You stay here. I’ll search the Towers.”

: “That’s decent of you. Very decent of you indeed. But! I won’t stand idle. I’ve spotted an alchemist’s scales and had already been cooking up a little something that might help against those cultists.”

: “I’ll get to work on the Briliant Retort. You get to work at the Towers. Deal?”

: “What’s that?”

: “You know those grenades you have a bunch of? It’s that.”

: “Okay.”

: I’m going to end the update here. There is one more person we can talk to, but it’s for a different quest and is really long. I’ll do that once we’re ready to do that quest, after we clear out the prison.

: I would do the prison in this update, but I can feel the editor lagging again and I’m not going to risk it.