~B
BALDUR'S GATE: DARK ALLIANCE WALKTHROUGH
SONY PLAYSTATION 2
WRITTEN BY: kErosion (kErosion@west.net)
VERSION 0.1 12/29/01
COPYRIGHT 2001 BY kErosion
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
INDEX
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1. Introduction
2. Difficulty
2. Walkthrough
3. Version
4. Contact Info
I never intended to write a walkthrough for BG:DA, but before I knew it that's
what I'd done when I went to try to write something to answer a lot of the most
common questions in the forums. Corrections in case typo's or anything that
just sounds weird, additional tips or boss strategies, or any strategies you
feel would be good in here in general would be greatly appreciated. Credit will
be given for anything used in future versions, although this should be pretty
close to complete. :)
Time and time again I have seen posts from people complaining about how easy
the bosses are, and the game in general. Almost every time it has turned out
that the person posting had been playing on the easiest setting. Before you
start to play I highly recommend playing Normal if this is your first time, or
Hard if you're a veteran of Diablo II or Gauntlet style gameplay and want a
challenging, rewarding experience from the game.
Easy was created with little brothers or sisters and controller throwers in
mind, and as such it's very simple. Too simple for just about anyone but the
younger crowd.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
RAT EXTERMINATOR
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The game starts out in the Elfsong Tavern. Order an ale, and listen closely as
the lovely barkeep Alyth while enjoying the ummm scenery as she breaks down the
taverns rat problem to you. When you're ready, hop into the cellar from behind
the bar, and move room to room hacking your way through those rats.
Quick Tip: Careful igniting barrels, dwarf beards are flamable.
Phew! Now that you've gotten your feet wet, and more importantly your blade,
now would be a good time to use Recall in the start menu to go back to the
Elfsong Tavern. It turns out Ethon decided to be a hero and has disappeared into
the sewers. Guess who is elected to go find him. DOH! Do any shopping you may
need, you may want to buy some healing potions for the next section, then when
you have the key from Alyth and you're ready Recall again to get back into the
dungeon.
The next leg of our journey is a rat and kobold infested sewer romp filled with
very essential basics that every new adventurer should know such as lessons in
jumping from box to box, containers exploding in ones face, swinging a weapon
until your arms fall off, and possibly the most important of all, saving as
frequently as humanly possible, preferably BEFORE you run into a pack of 50
spear throwing kobolds. :) Now in the unfortunate event that you run into 50
spear throwing kobolds BEFORE having a chance to save, fear not. Firstly, turn
around immediately and back track a little there should be a save nearby.
Secondly, the best way to approach 50 spear throwing kobolds is a head long rush
into certain doom, assisted by a bag full of heals, so CHAAAARGE! (And you
thought you brought those potions for nothing.)
Quick Tip: Filling your backpack with potions with every trip to town is always
wise decision.
Now that we've made a mess of things, it's time to get dirty. Continue cutting
your way through the sewers, remembering to save at every save point. After
a few rooms you'll be greeted by a little cinematic and a room full of kobolds,
and something bigger...
[BOSS - Bugbear Chieftain]
Now as in any situation, fighting things one at a time is always safer than 10
at once. Sooo.. run in and say hi, then run away run away!!! Hopefully with
about 10 kobolds behind you. Deal with those before trying to take on the
Chieftain. One on One this will be an easy battle, just trade shots with Bugs
till he drops. Be sure to explore the cells to the right of the Chieftains room
to continue.
Quick Tip: Bugbears just HATE IT when you block frequently.
You'll have rewards from Ethon and Alyth waiting for you when you get there, as
well as a couple side-quests from two new patrons in the Elfsong, Osala and
Ipswitch. Ethon will offer to use his connections to look into the new thieves
guild for you in return for rescuing him but he needs time, so it's back to the
sewers for more bashing until he gets something useful.
Quick Tip: A bow makes a great addition to the arsenal of any class...
Fighting your way through another level of the sewers with lots of levers to
flip leads you to the Catacombs which have been overrun by hundreds of undead.
After a room full of them you comb to a trapped priest who explains the next
quest, yay!
Quick Tip: Blunt weapons do more damage to undead than bladed weapons, bringing
a sturdy mace along to the catacombs can make killing down there a
much quicker experience. Items of disruption are also very useful
against the living dead as disruption causes your critical hits to
instantly disintegrate a skeleton or zombie.
Prepare yourself for a long fight, the train of undead to cut through can seem
nearly endless. You will probably need to make a trip or two to town for heals
before you're done. Also keep an eye out for the medallion Ipswitch wants. The
medallion will be sitting on top of a coffin deep in the back of the catacombs
first level.
After fighting your way through you'll eventually come across the next big
fight at the back of the second level of the catacombs.
[BOSS - Orb of the Undead]
This may be the first potentially difficult fight of the game. The orb animates
a horde of undead then flies around the room until you kill them all. You can
only hurt the orb while it's animating more undead, so as soon as you kill all
the skeletons run to the middle and bash the orb with all you've got. Just keep
killing the undead then bashing the orb and eventually the floating summoning
thingamabobber will explode.
*Warrior Tactic: Taking on all the undeads the Orb of the Undead summons at
once can be potentially deadly. Make sure to stay on the move at all times and
try to pick off undeads that break away from the pack. The pillars around the
room are a good way to break targets up when they bunch up together. Run around
to the back side of a pillar and the undead will scatter running around either
side making it easier to kill 1 or 2 at a time.
Now that you've put an end to the evil orbs summoning for good it may be a good
time to check back in with Ethon back up in the Elfsong. Loot whatever might
be laying around and head back for town.
Quick Tip: You can't Recall during a fight with a boss, because of this you
will have to leave the Orb of the Undeads room to recall back up to
town. You only need to walk back out to around the save point to be
able to use Recall again.
Jherek the Harper will be waiting for you in the Elfsong with an invitation to
join the Harpers. As soon as you accept him on his offer you're given your first
mission as a Harper. On to the Thieves' Guild! Before you go, there is another
new face in the Tavern, Keaira will be in the back corner by the save with a new
side-quest for you. Osala has a reward for you as well while you're in town.
Quick Tip: Rings and Amulets without any stats drop frequently in Act I on
difficulties lower than Extreme. These items as well as the gems
found throughout the game have no uses, they should be sold for some
extra coin at first opportunity. Every bit helps early on.
Once you're done shopping and talking to people in the tavern it's time to head
for the first level of the sewers again, so head out the front door of the
Elfsong, in the lower right, then head down to the lower left section of
Baldur's Gate where there's an entrance to the sewers. You'll enter the sewers
by where you fought the Bugbead Chieftain earlier. Run past the cells where you
rescued Ethon and the wall in the top of the room at the end will open into the
Thieves' Guild.
The first level of the Guild is all combat, so just hack and slash a path
through to the next level. The spices that Keaira is interested can be found on
this level however, down a passage that branches off to the right near the third
save point. If you come across a hall filled with floating eyes, you're going
the right way.
The second level of the Guild is a lot more fun, it's a training grounds for the
Thieves, loaded with traps to dodge, disappearing platforms to jump across, and
numerous monsters towards the end. The most difficult part of the level are the
platforms that disappear after you jump on them. You have more than enough time
before the one under you disappears to spot and jump to the next safe platform,
so just relax when the platforms start blinking. The platforms that are blinking
will fall as soon as you jump so make sure you know where to go before you do.
(HINT: The safe one is the one that isn't blinking.)
*Submitted by Per Forsberg - In 2 player if you kill off one of the players they
can pause the game EXACTLY when you reach a platform to see which platforms are
about to fall and easily make it across the pits. This won't work in single
player due to the menu that pops up over the screen blocking vision.
Once you're through the pits there's just once more stretch filled with monsters
and a couple more minor traps, when you're through an old friend greets you at
the entrance to the bottom level of the Guild.
[BOSS - Karne]
Karne is one of my favorite fights with a new character, he is probably the most
balanced boss in the game before all the expensive feats are available to your
character. He comes at you throwing knives from a distance, then if they're all
being blocked he will run at you with his sword drawn and attack at close range
for a little bit. If he's still hitting nothing but shield he will throw a smoke
bomb and disappear then reappear behind you, before throwing knives again. Karne
is one of the few things in the game that actually knows how to use a shield,
when he's swinging his sword at you he will deflect your shots between his
swings. You can time shots to hit right when he starts swinging, and get your
shield up before his sword hits, but it's difficult to do and a lot safer to
block until he throws his smoke bomb then hit 2 or 3 times before he disappears
and repeat until he's dead. As long as you block constantly through this fight
and you should be fine, but letting a few shots slip through, especially on
harder difficulties can get you killed fast. At 2/3 life Karne begins to attack
almost twice as fast when he's in close, and at 1/3 life he will begin to throw
two knives at a time until he dies. By that point you should have his pattern
memorized and finishing the job shouldn't prove to be difficult.
Oh yeah, Karne has been known to throw a dagger for one last cheap shot after
being killed from time to time. He almost got me while I've gone to loot once
or twice. ;)
The third level of the thieves guild has little pits scattered around it with
eyes that pop out that can kill you instantly if they look in your direction.
Just watch the eyes closely and run by them when their back is turned to you to
run by or flip a switch. The closer you are to the eye the easier it is to stay
out of its gaze. With a little persistance you'll make it through and enter
Xantam's Throne Room.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
THE THRONE ROOM
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
You've made it through the sewers, survived the traps of the Thieves' Guild,
and taken your revenge on Karne with a vengeance. There's just one thing left
to do.
[BOSS - Xantam]
The big bad is tucked away inside a throne room deep under ground. Don't ask me
what a giant floating eye thingy needs with a throne room, he's got one any way.
Xantam likes to float around slinging Magic Missiles, Ball Lightning, and trails
of fire that can do some pretty decent damage for this part of the game. Xantam
is so gifted in the ways of magic that he's completely forgotten to put any
thought towards physical activities and is blessed with the bite of a rabbit as
well. Just walk up and waste this guy with the biggest axe you can find, he
doesn't bite hard at all. :)
So this is it? This is your big reward? No sooner than you take out an entire
guild, and even slay a beholder single handedly you're expected to hop through
some portal that could go anywhere just to track down some dwarf that probably
got drunk and forgot to check in??!
Well so much for going back to the Elfsong and celebrating with Aryth. This
could be a LOOOONG day.
You come out of the portal in Wind's Walk, a gnoll infested pass through the
foothills of the Sunset Mountains. Just hack your way over anything that moves
and you'll soon find yourself in a Dwarven Mining Camp that serves as the town
for Act II.
Quick Tip: Gnolls are infamous for being host to heavy infestations of lice and
other unsavory critters. It's highly recommended extreme care be
taken searching the bodies of the freshly slain lest the unwary
adventurer become host themselves. In the unfortunate circumstance
of infestation a balm made from the common root Hollow's Wort ground
to a paste mixed with goats milk and applied to the infected areas
may help stop spreading.
The Mining Camp isn't quite as nice as the Elfsong Tavern, the town consists of
Branoch the shopkeeper in the middle of the camp, and Torrgeir of the Bruenor
Clan a little further to the lower right. There is also a save point placed
conveniently next to Branoch so that you won't have to cut through the Wind's
Walk again. There is a LOT of better gear than you should be using for sale
here and you may want to take a moment to go shopping, when you're ready heading
to the lower right will cause Torrgeir to talk to you who will tell you of the
plight of the Bruenor Clan and tell you what must be done when you offer to
help. String your bows and ready a blade, the next step of the journey will be
taking you up the slope of Mount Burning Eye. (Found at the lower right corner.)
Quick Tip: It almost seems funny but I've seen many people ask where the npc's
in Act II are numerous times. You can spot someone you can talk to
out of the other people in a town by looking for characters standing
in one spot without moving.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
FIND THE MINE KEY
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The leader of the Bruenor Clan, Kolgrim has lead an expedition up the slopes of
Mount Burning Eye to light the signal fire at its peak to call for dwarven
reinforcements to the east. The fires were never lit and the party was never
heard from again. Apparently they took the key you need to enter the dwarven
mines with them as well, so it's time to go fetch.
The goal on the mountain is going to be tracking down three items needed to
light the signal fire at the top of Burning Eye Peak. There are three areas of
Burning Eye Summit, one item needed to light the fire found in each. About half
of the way up the center Burning Eye Summit is a save point with small paths
leading to the upper left that goes to West Burning Eye Summit, and to the
lower right to East Burning Eye Summit. To the upper right of the save is the
path that leads the rest of the way up to the Peak.
The Flint can be found in a cave in West Burning Eye Summit. There is a ton of
experience that can be gathered here, you may want to clear out the entire place
while you're here. If you keep taking left turns as you move your way through
you should be able to clear everything in the zone, and eventually find the cave
with the Flint. Yeti's surround the cave on the outside, when you see them
you're close.
The Torch is found in East Burning Eye Summit. The area is basicly a big gnoll
camp. The body of the dwarf holding the torch is found at the bottom right of
the camp near the corner, by the water.
The Oil Flask is picked up from the central Burning Eye Summit area. If you keep
making your way a little further up the mountain from the save point between the
West and East zones, there is another path that heads off to the upper left.
Follow the path will lead to another cave with Kolgrin himself who has the Oil
Flask.
Once you've obtained the three items, you will need to head up to Burning Eye
Peak to light the signal fire. Once you've done this you will obtain the key
mentioned by Torrgeir previously. Next stop - The Dwarven Mines.
Quick Tip: The balls of lightning on Burning Eye Peak are immune to lightning
damage. There are other monsters throughout the game immune as well,
characters dependent on lightning damage may want to consider picking
up a secondary skill to deal with these, or possibly carry a strong
weapon. I point this out now as one of the key bosses of the game is
immune and you have time to prepare.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
RETAKE THE MINES
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Back in the Mining Camp a quick chat with Torrgeir will start the next quest,
Retaking the Dwarven Mines! This next section will be pretty big, so stock
heavily. When you're ready the sealed gate to the mines is to the lower right
of Torrgeir again, in the rock wall about halfway to the exit to Mount Burning
Eye.
The dwarven mines have been over run by legions of Drow warriors, archers, and
casters with some spiders and ulthork thrown in for good measure. The only
things holding them back was the entrance being shut tight, and apparently the
lift to the second level being dismantled that Torrgeir conveniently didn't
bother to mention. :)
Luckily, they left the gears to repair the lift and fight your way down through
the sea of inkies all on the first level of the mine. It's a good thing too, it
would have been unfair of them to take the parts to fix the lift with them when
they sealed the gates, gotta give those Drow a chance to get back up right?
So time to find some parts. :) As you enter the mines you're greeted by a ton
of rats, fight through these and continue on until you find the second save.
This is sort of the central point of the first level with 3 areas connected to
it you have to move through here to get between.
The first gear needed is off to the right side from the save. Just fight your
way around and you should find it fairly easy down a short passage off to the
back side.
The second gear you need is straight across from the way to the entrance of the
mine. This section is a little bigger than the section the first gear was found
in, just keep an eye out while you kill your way through and it shouldn't be too
difficult to spot again.
The last passage leading off from the save point is the way to the exit, and
the final gear conveniently. Fighting your way down this path you'll come to
a larger room quickly. The gear will be down a small dead-end passage in the
next room after this one.
Once you've collected the gears, keep exploring to find the lift to reassemble.
You will have to slice your way through one more level, littering the mines
knee-deep with the bodies of dark-elves to finally reach the home of the source
of the invaders. The Drow Underworld. It's here, at the back of a large Drow
encampment that you'll find the next boss to put an end to.
[BOSS - Ilivarra]
Ilivarra enjoys teleporting around rooms, offering sacrifices of elf vixens to
Lloth, slinging spells like no tomorrow, and strutting around a room half naked.
Unfortunately half naked isn't very condusive to deflecting sharp weighted
objects, flying projectiles, or deadly spells aimed at ones head and she goes
down easily to an adventurer well stocked on potions.
Once the eye-candy has been put down go open the cells along side the Drow
encampment to get a map needed to continue your quest.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Use Ilivarra's Horn
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Your next goal is a hidden Ice Cave that contains the next portal, so head back
to town, talk to Torrgeir again and restock on supplies, then stand around
completely baffled as where to go and what to do next.
At least until you realize that the map given to you in the Drow Underworld was
actually the map through the Dark Forest found in the upper right of the Mining
Camp and that useless good for nothing idiot of a Harper completely forgot to
tell you. :)
So grab your blade, pick up another bundle of arrows and a pack full of potions
and go play hide and seek in the woods. You're almost there.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The Hidden Ice Cave
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The Ice Cave is probably one of my favorite areas in the games, good hunting,
great food, and great experience to boot. If only this area came with a dancing
elven sorceress, Alyth Elendara from the Elfsong, and Iliyara I might never want
to leave. :) Very linear zone hack your way through to the third level and get
yourself ready for a fight.
[BOSS - Ciraxis]
This rather.. odd.. looking beast looks more impressive than he is. Bring
potions and a warm jacket and just go to work with your particular weapon
of choice.
Remember to loot up, there are chests placed around the room, and make sure to
grab something to eat on your way through the portal. mmmmmmm.. dragon burgers.
- Act III -
Marsh of Chelimber
---------------
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
THE SUNKEN TEMPLE
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I hope you hopped through the portal ready to fight, the games about to turn
into a bad Resident Evil flashback as you're overwhelmed by hordes of undead yet
again. This area is very straight forward again, slash, hack, shred, zap, bash,
burn, bite your way through. Keep going and eventually you'll come to the next
town.
Well.
The next hut as the case may be.
All you get is a lizard this time around, talk to him and he'll open the way for
the next quest as well as sell you some things if you're able to last through
him talking your ear off. :)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
HAIL TO THE KING
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
No beating around the bush this time, get in, kill the king, get out.
You'll have 3 or 4 zones packed full of lizards to fight through until you find
the king, the way through isn't very eventful besides the fact that the lizards
are probably the most challenging critters thus far. Watch out for those fire
throwers.
Kill your way into the keep and probably a level or two depending on how
thorough you are clearing each area and in the back you'll come across..
[BOSS - Sess'sth]
Ok, now I don't know about the other classes, but for the sorceress this guy
just SUCKS to fight. This ugly scaled beastie is fast, hits damn hard, and just
doesn't stop coming at you. On the lower difficulties he isn't too bad, but on
Extreme this fight is brutal. Best of luck, bring LOTS of healing potions if
you plan on getting hit. One more thing to note - At least on Extreme he can
hit you through block.
*Sorceress Tip - The spell Fire Shield won't shred Sesseth, but it can keep him
in a state of almost perpetual stun. I've heard Icy Sphere works well for this
fight, but I can't speak from personal experience. I CAN speak from personal
experience about Fire Shield however. I wasted Sesseth almost without getting
hit once I discovered how badly Fire Shield stuns by laying down some fire,
running behind him and swinging at him with my weapon a couple times, repeat.
It takes a long time, but it works.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
WE'RE OFF TO MEET
THE WIZARD.. ERRR
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
So you've wasted the big green guy and are in the Rotten Bog. Congratulations
you're almost there!
Make your way through the bog and eventually you'll reach an area with big giant
mutant armadillo's that pop out of the ground. Fight your way through here,
the temple you're looking for is close. When you come across a save point
you're basicly there, save and head on up. :)
Once you make your way into the temple *coughs* wander around bashing things,
eventually you'll find the slimy green guy that has been selling you your arrows
and potions standing in front of a leaky faucet. Stock up, save, jump on in.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
THE ONYX TOWER
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The lair of Eldritch, the final area of the game. Prepare yourself for a long
fight, the tower is one of the biggest areas in the game. There is no town to
recall to in the Tower, so come prepared. The best equipment in the game is
found in the Tower, and there are containers practically at every corner filled
with potions and arrows so you probably won't be in too much trouble without
a town.
A lot of the things here can hit HARD, remember the block button because you're
going to need it.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
HALL OF REMEMBRANCE
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Eventually you reach the Hall of Remembrance. The hall serves as a place to
save and stock up on supplies as well as get a little background story before
the final battle. Good luck, depending on your class and feats you've chosen
this can be a tough battle.
[BOSS - Eldritch]
Eldritch comes at you throwing her sword around like a boomerang so be ready to
block, a lot. I strongly suggest fighting Eldritch from a distance as her
close range attack is unblockable, because of this you might want to bring a
bow and some arrows along to save yourself on a LOT of heals. Once Eldritch
reaches 2/3 health she will be struck by lightning and grow in size. At 1/3
health she will do this again, growing even bigger, then begins attacking by
throwing her sword into the air and causing multiple blades accompanied by
bolts of lightning to rain down from above. The new attack can be blocked, but
occasionally one of the blasts will land right behind you and is unblockable.
This can be a nasty thing, I've had over 500 health and been killed by one of
these instantly on Extreme.
*Sorceress Tips - Eldritch is immune to all forms of lightning, but any Fire,
Acid, Cold, or physical attack will get the job done. I've found that Acid
Arrow works very well here, overall the damage is low, but the minimum damage
is the highest of all the projectile spells making it consistent. This fight
will be VERY slow due to being restricted to low damaging spells, but Eldritch
will fall with a little persistance. Using a high damage bow and acting like
an Archer may quicken this fight, especially on the lower difficulties.
Submitted by Master Po - Fireball knocks Eldritch back a little with every hit,
if you aim it right you can knock her backwards into the gate with the portal
until her back is to the wall. Once she's backed into gate causing her to grow
after sustaining enough damage will sometimes cause her sword to start hitting
the gate when Eldritch tries to throw it.
*Archer Tips - Archers probably have the easiest time killing Eldritch. Shoot
an arrow or two, switch to your shield and block her sword, shoot another arrow
or two and repeat.
*Warrior Tips - I've yet to play her as a warrior so not a clue.
Oh yeah. One final answer to a very frequently asked question.
Q - I beat Eldritch.. What the hell do I do now? Does the game just end?
There's no ending or what? LAME!
A - Go walk through the portal on the roof. :)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
VERSION HISTORY
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
0.2 - Went through and revised much of the walkthrough adding in some things I
missed, actually covered Act I, included some little tips at various parts
of the walkthrough that new players may find useful, and added some
submitted tips.
0.1 - Rushed through a rough walkthrough just to get something available. Not
much else yet available.
Author of this walkthrough may be reached at kErosion@west.net for questions,
comments, and additions for this document.
Copyright: Please note this Document is (c) Copyright 2001 by author,
David S. Graham, and nothing herein may be reproduced in any
way, shape, or form without authors consent.
This document may be used freely on non-profit websites, as long as it appears
in unedited form and I'm sent an email getting my consent beforehand. Contact
me if you would like to use this for other purposes.
