Looting Durlag's Tower...

[Martok the Conquerer]

OK, how exactly do I go about looting the tower? The first time through I didn't realize just how much treasure I would find, and ended up bringing very little of it back to the surface with me. I reloaded and started through the tower again with the intent of gathering EVERYTHING I could find. I stopped whenever everyone's inventories got full and returned to the surface, unloaded everything, and then returned below to finish conquering the tower. When I returned to the surface all of my stashed loot was gone. The third time I went through the tower, I stopped after clearing out, but right before exiting, Level 2 (the level below the warders) and returned all the way to Beregost to sell off everything I had collected so that it wouldn't disappear. The problem came in when I returned to the tower. All of the doors in Level 2 had closed themselves, and even though I still have all of the wardstones (including the Level 2 Exit Wardstone), I can't figure out any combination of tricks (twisting gargoyle heads, smacking around sparring dummies, etc.) to get the doors to open in a way that will allow me to get back to the exit. Is this level a one-shot deal, or have I just not figured out the trick to get the doors to open right? If it is a one-shot deal, how did everyone else manage to stash their loot somewhere and it not disappear when they went back to get it later? Thanks in advance to all who reply!

[Dace De'Briago]

There is actually a 'shop' in the top left of the Durlag's tower map area. The guy there lets you sell him gear.

If you walk up there and sell it, then go back into the tower, all should be fine, and you will lose no gear to timeouts

[Martok the Conquerer]

Thanks! I slaughtered that guy the first time thru, but let him live the next couple of times. If I leave Level 2 long enough to run up there and sell my stuff, the question becomes will all of the doors in Level 2 close before I can get back? If they do, is there any series of tricks to reopen them? I guess there's one way to find out...after clearing the tower out a few times, it actually becomes pretty easy to get thru it.

[Flaming Fist Enforcer]

Welcome to IW, Martok! [img]graemlins/happywave.gif[/img]

There's no need to take ALL the stuff you find down there. Take only enchanted items and jewelry that doesn't cost 2 gp. As there's no such thing as bag of holding or gem bag in this game you just have to leave stuff behind. If your party is able to finish Durlag's tower, then you should have more gold than you'll need for the rest of the game. Take only items your chars will use.

[Sir Heinrich Godfrie IV]

Posted by: Martok the Conquerer When I returned to the surface all of my stashed loot was gone.

If you place your loot in one of those chests/barrels on the first floor and NOT directly on the floor out in the open, it should remain there forever.

Atleast that was my experience.

The problem came in when I returned to the tower. All of the doors in Level 2 had closed themselves, and even though I still have all of the wardstones (including the Level 2 Exit Wardstone), I can't figure out any combination of tricks (twisting gargoyle heads, smacking around sparring dummies, etc.) to get the doors to open in a way that will allow me to get back to the exit. Is this level a one-shot deal, or have I just not figured out the trick to get the doors to open right?

I had that same problem once when I left to go sell all my junk.

If my memory serves me well (rarely the case), some (or maybe it's all) of those four initial doors on the third level can be opened through molesting those the dummies and statues.

Then, any of the doors OUTSIDE of the first four, should be either lock-pickable (HIGH lockpicking ability) or forceable (HIGH strength).

If you are unable to do either, due to low ability scores, then you ought to put all those thieving and strength potions to good use.

Doing the above should allow you to open up any of the leverless doors.

It gets a little mind-numbing at times down there in 'Durlag's Basement', but believe me, it will be very rewarding once you are finished! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Midget Gems]

Hi Martok. I for one like to treat Durlag's as a one time, straight through trip. As FF Enforcer says, you don't actually need the gold so looting is a bit of a distraction. As for the doors on Level 2, this subject has come up several times before so a 'search' should tell you what you need to know. I think there is only one item, that triggers a door, that can not be re-used so if you keep trying it is possible to find a way through.

[SixOfSpades]

All items left lying on the ground will decay about about 24 hours. Don't think that you're the ONLY person in the entire Sword Coast who picks stuff up to see if it's worth anything. The exception to this rule is that there are a few items that do not vanish with the passage of time: These items are usually critical to some major quest, or even the Main Plot of the game itself, and would cause no end of trouble if they dissapeared into thin air. To keep items from vanishing, always store them inside a container--any chest, barrel, crate, drawer, bag, table, whatever. They will "keep" forever, although I have heard rumors that items within containers can still disappear if the container is outside a building. I doubt that, however.

The doors in Durlag's -2 will reset after about 8 hours. As you now know from experience, that's a real pain. That's why Chapter 13 of Volothamp's Comeuppance warns you of this effect, and tells you not to go back upstairs to the ground floor and Rest, or you'll get locked out of the rest of the Tower.

Either dash upstairs, stash your loot in the various containers on the ground floor, and head back down, or just pick & choose what you want to carry. There's a lot of nice stuff down there, but don't let your Inner Pack Rat get to the point where you're throwing out all your Arrows to make room for more Lynx Eye Gems. There's also something to be said for the roleplaying habit of only taking things like unique magic items: You couldn't care less about that Bastard Sword+1, or a Laeral's Tear Necklace. Consider leaving stuff like that for the next adventuring party, who will probably be less skilled than you are.

[ 05-10-2003, 08:41 PM: Message edited by: SixOfSpades ]

[Sir Sparhawk]

so tell me this, would it be possible or nearly impossible to make a solo f/m/t or f/t or even f/m and make it all the way thru the tower while picking up the most important items, or would this just be insanely hard?

[SixOfSpades]

Originally posted by Sir Sparhawk: so tell me this, would it be possible or nearly impossible to make a solo f/m/t or f/t or even f/m and make it all the way thru the tower while picking up the most important items, or would this just be insanely hard?

Any "party" that does not contain a Thief with at least 80% Find Traps will find Durlag's "insanely hard." There are also two difficult battles that are completely unavoidable--the first can be made quite easier by using speed & stealth to divide & conquer your enemies, but no such luck with the second. A Solo character would have to be part Mage to stand the slightest chance.

But, yes, there are only a few TRULY worthy items in the Tower--lots of good stuff, but a Solo character could just as easily find items just as good elsewhere.

[Midget Gems]

As Six points out, soloing through Durlag's Tower without a Thief is not something to be recommended. In my solo game I used a Fighter/Mage, which gave me the Fire power needed to win the battles but gave me problems with Healing and Traps. Careful use of Potions and resting in the right places kept me alive, but for traps I had little choice other than to walk through them. To do this requires protection and that's where Mirror Image come in. F/M, F/M/T and Bard can all use this to great effect, Mirror Image and Invisibility are life savers in these situations. So, yes Sir Sparhawk, it can be done but don't expect to have room in your inventory to pick anything up.