Tempest's Spine
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General Strategies
This quest is a raid encounter, so you can bring a total of twelve
players to this dungeon. We recommend 3 armored tanks (fighters or
paladins), a good rogue, 2 pure clerics, one
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specialist, one
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control expert, and 4 damage machines. A ranger with the proper
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Enemy selections (think Drow and Giant) can do major damage here.
This quest throws a beholder at you--one of DDO's toughest creatures.
Be ready to move with precision when it comes time for that encounter.
It is best to have two of the tanks along with the crowd control
specialist and a damage dealer occupy the drow and thaarak hounds while
the other tank takes the healers and the rest of the damage after the
beholder. One cleric should be ready to deal with all of the nasty
effects of the beholder's many spells. This means Break Enchantment and
restoratives should be memorized and ready to go. The other cleric can
worry about healing the gaping holes the beholder will tear through the
tank. Of course, once the beholder blocks the uses of magic, the fight
changes dramatically.
The fights prior to entering the Spine are mostly optional. You may
have to fight a few creatures to get a safe path to the entrance,
though. Decide ahead of time how much effort you want to put into the
optional battles. The XP payoff is large, but you need the party to be
strong enough for the interior of the Spine.
Spine
Jorasco
Fire Elementals, Fire Giant Champions, Fire Giants, Mephits of Fernia,
Flesh Renders, Fire Reaver, Drow (rangers, assassins, barbarians,
shamans, blackguards, captains, fighter/wizards, guardians, hunters,
necromancers, paladins, priests, prophets, slayers, warriors, wizards),
Drow Scorpions (clerics and wizards, too), Hill Giant Hunter, Thaarak
Hounds, Clay Golem, Beholder
(drow ranger), Vyikkus (drow sorcerer), Sor'jek Incanni (storm giant
summoner)
fire elementals); The Lava Bath (kill 6 fire giant champions);
Wandering Giant (kill all fire giants and mephits of Fernia); Giant
Guardian (slay the fire giant champions and mephits of Fernia in style="font-weight: bold;">Section 2); Guardians of the Spine
(slay 2 flesh renders in Section 2
and 3 more in Section 5);
Ambush on the Bridge (slay the mephits of Fernia and greater fire
elementals in Section 3);
No Rest for the Weary (slay all monsters described in style="font-weight: bold;">Section 4); Giant's Rest (slay the
enemies in Section 6);
Reaver's Crossing (kill the monsters described in style="font-weight: bold;">Section 7); Lake of Fire (kill the
monsters in Section 8); The
Scorched Span (kill the monsters in Section
8); Kill the Ranger A'tchkar; Kill Sorcerer Vyikkus; Obtain
Access to the Rune Hidden in the Flooded Tunnel (see the section on the
Beholder)
1: You enter the area near a pool of fire. Kill 6 greater fire
elementals here for some bonus XP. It can be an easy battle if one of
the clerics or a wizard buffs the party for fire immunity right inside
the dungeon.
Move north to the next pool of fire for some more XP and combat. At any
time you wish to stop the bonus fights and enter the spine, head to the
center of the bottom of the map and proceed to style="font-weight: bold;">Section 8.
4 fire giant champions, 3 greater fire elementals, 2 fire giants, and 3
mephits of Fernia surround the next lake of fire, and they're not
friendly. Only the best enchantments will work on the giant champions,
so crowd control may be difficult if your crowd control specialist is
not a min/max build. Again, fire immunity is a big help.
Now move east toward two smaller fire pits if your raid party wants
more experience through combat.
Section 2: The north pit
hosts a fire giant champion and 3 mephits of Fernia, good for some
bonus XP. The south pit is home to 2 flesh renders.
Your next chance for bonus XP lies southeast, at the far eastern
portion of the middle of the map.
Section 3: You next find
a bridge that spans a couple of fire pools. The bridge is the site of
an ambush. You'll face 3 mephits of Fernia and a greater fire elemental
here for bonus XP.
Move due north to fight one more bonus battle and gain access to a Rest
Shrine.
Section 4: 5 mephits of
Fernia, 2 fire mephits, and a fire reaver block your path to a Rest
Shrine. The battle will be very hard if your raid force loses focus. It
is important to take out that reaver and then one mephit of Fernia at a
time. Magical weapons will be of great use.
After resting, you can head just a little west of the bridge ambush for
more bonus XP.
Section 5: 3 flesh
renders wait for you west of the bridge ambush. Killing these 3 and the
two listed in Section 2 yields
bonus XP.
Now you can head to the southeast corner of the map for another fight.
Section 6: 2 fire giants
and a fire giant champion lie in wait for you here. This is possibly
the easiest encounter you've had so far!
The next set of bonus XP lies in the southwestern corner of the map.
Section 7: If you choose
to seek this encounter involving another fire reaver and
his 5 greater fire elemental friends, you'll want to visit one of the
two Rest
Shrines near the center of the map afterward. It's a very hard fight,
and it will cost the raid party many spell points.
Once you've rested, it's time to enter the spine. Head to the center of
the southernmost portion of the map.
Section 8: The bridge
leading to the interior of the spine is teeming with enemies. You'll
need to overcome a flesh render, 3 greater fire elementals, and 2
mephits of Fernia to clear the path. The confined space of the bridge
works against you with these enemies since they can attack from a
distance. Try to draw them off of the bridge with a scout so that the
party can slay them in the open.
You'll take a lot of damage, so use the Rest Shrine just to the east
before entering the spine.
Section 9: Follow the
mountain path and kill the hordes of drow along the way. Try crowd
control spells on the melee, and kill the casters first. When the trail
forks, take a right. At the next fork, take a left. Here you can fight
a boss, A'tchkar.
A'tchkar: A'tchkar is a
nasty drow ranger surrounded by more of his brethren. Use crowd control
spells to try to reduce the damage the party is taking. Tactics should
be standard to all of your raid force, but the off tanks give you a
chance to divide and conquer if need be. When A'tchkar is defeated,
continue up the path to find the next challenge.
Vyikkus: Vyikkus is a
deadly drow sorcerer with more drow as companions. Your raid force will
be assailed by vicious spells and debilitating status effects. We
recommend a divide and conquer strategy here: send a main group after
Vyikkus while a minor force occupies the underlings.
Your chance to face a beholder comes after killing Vyikkus. If you
think your raid party can handle a beholder, hop through the magical
gate. Otherwise, you'll need to proceed a little farther to trip the
lever that will open a locked gate that lies at the end of the left
path of the first fork you encountered. Regardless of your choice, we
recommend that you take the right path of the second fork first. That
leads to a much-needed Rest Shrine.
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Beholder: If you choose
to face the beholder, our best strategy is to send two tanks with a
crowd control caster and healer after the thaarak hound and the drow.
Try to draw these monsters to one corner of the chamber while the
remainder of the fighting force pulls the beholder to the opposite
corner. The two healers with the main tank facing the beholder will be
busy spamming Cure spells and restoratives. If the beholder enacts the
anti-magic field (which is likely), the fight becomes a race to see
whose hit points run out first. In this case, the fight boils down to
the proficiency of the damage dealers.
If your team survives this battle, activate the rune and jump through
the portal back into the mountain.
Section 10: Back on the
path with the now opened iron gate, you'll group will bump into some
locked doors. This is why we recommend a solid rogue. You must unlock
these doors to proceed to the final battle.
style="font-weight: bold;">Sor'jek Incanni: This is one nasty
caster enemy. Elemental immunities will help some. Break Enchantment
will help with some status spells. But mainly, this is a charge first
and ask questions later kind of fight. Forget landing any status spells
of your own, and many of your arcane damage spells will be resisted.
You must slay Sor'jek quickly with brute force to have a chance. The
longer the fight rages, the lower your chances of survival.
Aftermath: Exit the
dungeon and speak with Cyrese Embree. With the quest complete, you've
joined the ranks of the Elite in Stormreach!
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