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THE RITUAL
This part of the game involves quite a bit of jumping back and forth across various parts of the Severed Hand, so it warrants its own section.
Tears of Suffering
Here I simply head back down to the first level, and get the Tears of Suffering from Jerro Stoh. I now have all the items I need for the Ritual.
Yquog
Now I make for the Cleric's Tower, the entrance to which is on the east side of the fourth level. I buff up, but I also bring the Male Dead Body, Dead Female Body, Dead Child's Body, and the Dead Cat, out of the Bag of Holding and into Stygar's inventory.
I then go up to the first floor of the tower. None other than Yquog is there to greet me. I get an xp bonus for flustering him with the dead bodies I've collected. He and his Barghest Whelps attack me. I spit out the usual spells, Power Word: Blind, Slow, Tremor, Executioner's Eyes, and then start hacking them down. Lady Elanna helps matters along with a Chain Lightning or two.
Avatar of Iyachtu Xvim
I have Stygar begin the ritual, only for Iyachtu Xvim to show up and make an offer that requires me to kill 10 innocents. I naturally turn him down, and then his avatar shows up for battle.
Yes, this fight is also jacked up for Tactics as well. The avatar will begin by summoning two Cornugons, two Glabrezu, and several Lemures. Given the opportunity, he will also blanket the small space you're in with Fiery Clouds. He'll also layer himself up with spell protections like Improved Invisibility. Even high-level parties can find themselves unable to keep up.
As it turns out this is one of the fights that I save a Scroll of Protection from Magic for. Now first of all, I buff up to the max, including Barkskin for almost all of my front-line warriors, as well as Mass Haste and Holy Aura.
Once combat begins Lady Elanna begins right away with Executioner's Eyes. Alliria finds a spot right in the thick of it and casts Tremor in order to knock the fiends down. Tithian zaps the avatar with the Scroll. This means that the avatar can neither cast protections on himself, nor unleash Fiery Clouds. This doesn't render him helpless though.
He'll still have is powerful physical attacks, plus he'll play another card. He'll summon two Liches. This was the reason I was left Stygar where he was. He switches over to his Club of Disruption, and is already in position to quickly take out one Lich. He then quickly disrupts and kills off the other Lich as well, who was close by just to the right. Keep in mind that the Liches can also cast Wail of the Banshee. If you're having trouble with this, you may want to have Death Ward cast on everybody before hand. I found it unnecessary during this playthrough, since Stygar was able to quickly remove the Liches from the fight with his Club.
Lady Elanna and Tithian take extra precautions for this intense fight, casting both Improved Invisibility and Fire Shield on themselves. The warriors meantime hack down the fiends one by one.
Once they're all gone I go all out for Iyachtu now that he's by himself. My Executioner's Eyes has worn off so Lady Elanna casts it again. When you bring him to near death he may play his last card, which is to reinvigorate himself somewhat, and summon two Slayers that resemble the Slayer form from BG2. Now the thing is, the Slayers are also subject to disruption. Take them out as quickly as you can, and then finish Iyachtu off.
It didn't occur this time around, maybe because I killed him off too quickly before it could happen.
He'll leave behind:
Scimitar of Souls +3 – Dispel Magic on target (Will save), Energy Drain (-2 to attack bonus, -2 to damage, -10 maximum hit points, Fortitude save against Energy Drain allowed at a -2 penalty). This will be Alliria's main melee weapon for the rest of the game.
When you complete the Ritual any Paladins in your party will also get another +1 to Wisdom. The two bonuses from the Ritual and the victory over of the Lost Followers, plus the Ring of the Wise, will bring Markus' wisdom to 16.
The Ritual of Ilmater
Now I complete the ritual. With the latest release of Tactics, I get:
Holy Greataxe of Justice (+5 Greataxe, +2d6 damage vs. evil creatures, Blindness on target unless Fortitude saving throw is made) – This will be Markus' two-handed weapon for the rest of the game.
Globe of Essence
Now I head back to the northeast corner of the second floor. There's a few Half-Goblins, a few Slayer Knights, and a couple of Orog Priests. I win this fight routinely by getting the jump with a few well-placed offensive spells, and then throwing in Executioner's Eyes once they close in.
I then hack the Globe of Essence apart for an xp bonus.
I then decide to mop up here, killing the Red Wizards, as well as Dracien and Precious. I start by casting Dispel Magic on the Red Wizards at a distance so that I can bring down their pre-cast protections. This makes killing them easier. Once I start a fight with them, Dracien and Precious will soon show. This fight will not be difficult at this point.
Dracien leaves behind a Flaming Greatsword +2 (+2d6 fire damage), Boots of Speed, and a Dragon Belt. Vese Nejj will leave behind the Phantom Staff (+5 Quarterstaff, reach of 15 feet). I already got one previously during my battle against the avatar of Iyachtu Xvim, but if you didn't get one previously, it will definitely be dropped by Vese Nejj. The Phantom Staff becomes Lady Elanna's staff for the rest of the game.
Glabrezu Guards
Now that the Globe is destroyed I go down to the first level, and kill the now vulnerable Glabrezu Guard. It's simply a matter of wearing out his Mirror Images and then hacking him down.
I then speak to Jerro Stoh again and get another xp bonus for freeing the slaves.
I continue up to the third level and show an area that I haven't previously been to, the Throne room on the north side of the level. I disarm the traps leading up to the door first. There were two Glabrezu Guards here as well, and would have been invincible helpers to Isair and Madae had I not performed the Ritual and destroyed the Globe of Essence. But they're gone now.
Purifying the Pool
Now I simply head over to the pool and place the Holy Water of Corellon Larethain into it. Isair and Madae will no longer be able to use the pool during the final battle.
I will soon explore the rest of the Cleric's Tower.
