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Durlag's tower

ExxoExxo Member Posts: 3
in Archive (General Discussion)
Just completed it for the first time. What a great (and sad) story, backed up by superb design and interesting challenge. I'm so happy that BG:EE drew my attention to this game again (have only played the original BG1 back in the days).

Comments

  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    Right? Durlag's Tower is awesome. Best dungeon I've ever played through. It's challenging, interesting, and actually has a plot; a fairly compelling one at that.
  • KazugaKazuga Member Posts: 38
    Hmm i dont have visit the Tower actually. I cant wait, but i thinkmy group is a little weak now, 1-2 lvls more and i think it will be fine. Or is lvl 5-6 for the first level enough?
  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    edited December 2012
    @Kazuga Let's put it this way. In Durlag's Tower, you are going to need a few things:

    1. A thief who has 95% + in Open Locks and Find Traps. At the very lowest, 75% in both and stock up on Potions of Perception. The vendor standing outside the tower actually has 5 Potions of Perception in his store, conveniently.
    2. Competent melee fighters with magical weapons. While a lot of Baldur's Gate 1 is dominated by ranged fighters, melee fighters really shine in Durlag's Tower due to facing a lot of monsters like Skeleton Warriors and Flesh Golems and the like.
    3. Very, very minimum I would ever go in Durlag's Tower is level 5. But I would have to possess a *really* strong party to feel confident doing that. I would go in at level 6 at the least. Most people go at level 7, so there is absolutely no shame in doing that.

    In my most recent playthrough, I had this setup:
    PC Cavalier, Level 6
    Yeslick (Fighter/Cleric), Level 6/6
    Khalid (Fighter), Level 6
    Alora (Thief), Level 7
    Neera (Wild Mage), Level 6
    Quayle (Illusionist/Cleric), Level 5/6
    And it went spectacularly well due to being a very strong party. Furthermore, I had a lot of melee power. My PC has a 18/85 STR, Yeslick has the Big-Fisted Belt (19 STR, 6 INT), and Khalid has the Gauntlets of Ogre Power (18/00).

    Oh, and Alora got some huge buffing in BG:EE. She is now extremely powerful. For those unaware, her Lucky Rabbit Foot got buffed from being a Luck bonus to Luck bonus x2, AC -2 (you heard me), and either +5% or +10% to all her thieving abilities.
  • MadhaxMadhax Member Posts: 1,416
    I made it through with 80 in Find Traps/Pick Locks, and did just fine with the help of the occasional potion. Any more than that in BG1 just gimps your thief, IMO.

    I otherwise agree with @Quartz that level 5 is a minimum, but you shouldn't feel guilty about waiting until you're close or at the level cap before going. There are challenges in Durlag's Tower that would give a weak BG2 party pause. I do intend on taking my next party there at closer to level 4 or 5 to see how hard it is.

    And, to echo @Exxo, I'm very thankful that BGEE gave me reason to finally approach TotSC content. Durlag's Tower is probably the best CRPG dungeon I've ever gotten to play through, the perfect mix of puzzle, combat, and story.
  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    I'm not having a trouble with "gimped thief" because as I said Alora is a disgustingly good thief now ... but with other thieves, I can definitely see your point. I remember taking Montaron through Durlag's and yeah, I had his at I think 75% each (Open Locks and Find Traps) and brought many Potions of Perception that were consumed. Probably a better move than going all the way to 95% as you say, because very few other places will be as much trouble with traps as Durlag's Tower.
  • KazugaKazuga Member Posts: 38
    @Quartz

    Thank you, very helpfull !
  • MadhaxMadhax Member Posts: 1,416
    Quartz said:

    I'm not having a trouble with "gimped thief" because as I said Alora is a disgustingly good thief now ... but with other thieves, I can definitely see your point. I remember taking Montaron through Durlag's and yeah, I had his at I think 75% each (Open Locks and Find Traps) and brought many Potions of Perception that were consumed. Probably a better move than going all the way to 95% as you say, because very few other places will be as much trouble with traps as Durlag's Tower.

    You snuck in the edit while I was writing my post =P

    I haven't tried Alora yet in BGEE, so it seems like you've got the right way to use her. I was using a PC Fighter/Thief, and it made sense to hold off maximizing my open lock and find traps skills in favor of better stealth.
  • QuartzQuartz Member Posts: 3,853
    @Madhax Sorry. I have a bad habit of hitting "Post Comment" and thinking of something to add literally five seconds later. I don't see what you said that contradicted my edit though, so I wouldn't worry about it one bit. Hahaha.

    As for Alora, I just made a thread on her. You could check it out.

    And yes, agreed, with a Fighter/Thief I don't blame you one bit for focusing more on Stealth. I would too.
  • BlackIvoryBlackIvory Member Posts: 75
    Just finished it myself, had a blast! ^^

    Definitely a quality dungeon crawl with toooons of stuff to do. I was though, a little disappointed with the end boss, he was surprisingly easy.
    My party was mostly lvl 7-8 at the end (I'm pretty sure everyone gained 1 lvl throughout the tower)
  • rdarkenrdarken Member Posts: 660
    I am looking forward to it myself. I've never been able to get past the first floor ><
  • bigdogchrisbigdogchris Member Posts: 1,336
    [spoiler=Spoiler]I went in the back way to the room with Greater Wyverns, so I didn't know you had help at the other entrance. They are pretty hard but with enough debuffs you can beat them without the help.[/spoiler]
  • PavolPavol Member Posts: 13
    edited December 2012
    It was really amongst most interested dungeons I played. Don't worry to go there at lower levels. I went there when I had 25000 XPs, because I obviously didn't know where did I get to. It was hard and marvellous, but when I was there why shouldn't I clear another level, I must be surely near the end? Imoen learned how to find traps on the way and in the meantime Minsc had to catch a few surprises :) Good luck
  • paradigmofheavenparadigmofheaven Member Posts: 12
    What I liked the most was the noticeable change in difficulty, my level 5 party was cruising through the game easily but when I got there I had to rethink my strategies and really think before moving forward.

    Overall it was one of the best dungeons in Baldur's Gate.
  • mch202mch202 Member Posts: 1,455
    In my opinion Durlag's Tower is the best dungeon in the series, mainly because of the great and creepy story and the sense of exploration/discovery..
  • PantalionPantalion Member Posts: 2,137
    I found the puzzle centric nature much more akin to the Eye of the Beholder series than the dungeons I'd grown used to in Baldur's Gate, it was a great change of pace.

    Of course I also thought the entire dungeon was testament to the Dwarf's massive ego, but eh.
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