1 - Zone in - Thankfully you aren't ambushed at zone in, so you can take a moment to organize and cast some buffs if you feel the need. My suggestion is to take the lower left door first. This allows you to fight some of the other monsters on the level before dealing with the level draining monsters in the central chamber. 2 - Here you encounter the ghost of the Archivist. Speaking to him only prompts him to complain about the cold. This room does house some good treasure, however. Including the Paladin Bracers, a Wand of Sleep, and lots of ranged ammo. 3 - A Stone Golem will block your advance here. Dispatch him and loot the chests and shelves 4 - A pack of Trolls await you here (Normal, Spectre & Giant) so be sure to have something to finish them off with! After the fight, check around the shelves and chests for several important items. Contained in this room are, the Golem Manual, notes on how to perform the ritual and a book that tells of new monsters and how to defeat them. 5- Be sure to detect traps before looting this room. Also, read the plaque in the middle of the upper wall for some hints. Finally, be sure to loot the bell from this room, as it is needed for the ritual. The loot item here, worthy of mention, is the Case of Plenty. 6 - This room is a long hall with an alter at the back. It connects to #1 (the exit/entrance) and several rooms off to each side. Near the door to #1 and the middle are some Vampire wraths. Either protect against level drain or be ready for restorations. A good tactic is to fight them in the door with 1 or 2 of your party members or pets so they level drain is isolated to as few members as possible. 7 - Time for some more level drain action. Devil & Shadow Fiends are the flavor of choice, try similiar tactics as listed in 6). There are lots of areas to loot but be sure to pick up the Wardstone located here. There is a small chamber just above this large room, be sure to detect traps in there! Even the door to the room is trapped. There is a reason though. Be sure to pickup the Tinder Box, Slippers, and the Quiver of Plenty. 8 - The rooms by 8 contain another Wardstone and some keys, be sure to pick them up. (I believe there was another Wrath in the lower room, so you may wish to wait to do your restores) 9 - Mustard Jelly supreme! You can either stand outside the door and rain arrows in, since the jellies can't get out, or run in and whack them down. Its a simple fight either way. Pickup the Candle from this room and light the fire with the tinderbox. The ghost of the Archivist will come chat with you, drop you some helpful information and you will recieve 4k experience. Also, snag the Wand of Heavens. 10 - There is a Tomb in here with non-aggressive (if you have both Wardstones) golems guarding it. Click on it, then repeat to awake the curator. If you have the slippers (20k experience) on you, he will not be hostile. Click on the tomb a 3rd time and you will remember the passage you will need for the ritual. 11 - Head back to the Alter at the back of room #6. I would suggest healing up, setting up your spells, then resting. The fight to come is not a walk in the park. I buffed and summoned before starting the ritual, its a good idea to prepare for the upcoming fights. Open the alter and put the Candle and Bell in it. The Holy book will already be in it. This act awakens the various statues near by, so I positioned my best melee by the back statues (the casters) before touching the alter. The casters are tough, so its important to not let them get spells off. This first fight isn't too bad if you can interupt spells. After you win the fight, a dialog session begins and you have to perform the ritual. The steps are
G'luck, once you win the gate to level 2 opens. Noteable loot dropped from this fight are - Usuno's Blade +4, Foebane +3, and a Long Bow +3. |
