NW2
- STORM OF ZEHIR
RPG
by Atari
A
Guide by Lu
------------------------
The
Product:
Though
a devoted fan of the Neverwinter series, Storm of Zehir was a huge
disappointment to me. The previous
extension to NW2, Mask of the Betrayer, was a complete, exciting game: there was a plot, there was a smooth
progression to an end, there was interaction with the other members of the
party. SoZ has departed from this
winning formula and the feeble main quest, if you can call it that, gets buried
under a mountain of boring, senseless tasks.
In
this series I came to hate the word "*miss*" in combat - where
everyone misses time and again a close enemy while getting whacked. Presumably this was to prolong play time; and
now, to prolong it further, the enemy runs away from you just as it is about to
die.
In
SoZ you are going to hate even more the words "Loading area...". The game gets interrupted time and again
every time you move into a location.
Each takes forever to load and it really becomes dreadfully tedious.
Amongst
other annoying things, I got lumbered with recipe books which could not be put
away in a magic bag nor dropped - even though I had no intention of crafting
anything. They are forced on you without
giving you a choice.
What
a pity. I do hope this is the last of
the "open ended" type of game in the series!
General
tips:
First,
this is only a guide because you can do things in any way you like; you must
take your own decisions. This is only
the way I did it, I hope it helps.
Because
you cannot survive the boredom of this game without high scores in the skills
Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Spot and Survival, I replayed Mask of the
Betrayer making sure I allocated sufficient points to these skills. I then exported the character and used it
when starting SoZ.
Try
and get the feat Leadership as soon as you can so that your party can consist
of six people.
When
talking to NPCs in the game try always Diplomacy (if you are able and your
leader is not Evil), trying to say the decent thing at all times. Don't miss any opportunities to ask for work
or a task.
When
I say "save a game" I mean keep it and don't overwrite it because it
is a crucial point and you might need to come back to it if things don't work
out.
Finally,
I've played this game twice and things don't always happen as I describe
them. Apart from the main quest, there
will be countless other tasks which you can carry out in any order you like -
since most of them consist of finding something or killing somebody there is no
need for me to describe them all.
The
Guide
---------
SAMARACH
As
soon as the game begins you have to create a party of four; make sure you have
a Cleric who memorizes Darkness and as many healing spells as you can
manage. Go down below when you are
ready.
At
the Beach, talk to Volo, save a game, search the debris, collect the two shiny
objects. There will be three attacks, just wait doing nothing in between while
Volo fails spectacularly to pacify the Batiri.
Finally you get arrested for landing illegally in Samarach. If you have done all you need to do here,
talk to the patrol and you will find yourself in...
Samargol
--------
After
the talk, go to your left, listen to the ravings of the Doomsayer and enter
Leira's Trick. Talk to the Innkeeper and
have a rest. Before you leave, in the
room to the right of the exit door there is a Party Armoire where you might
like to leave items you aren't sure about.
Once
outside, go around to your left and you'll find a Bounty Hunter who will give
you a handy bag to collect animal parts [if later you want to sell them to him,
indicate so, open the bag and drag the parts to his blank inventory page].
There
are a couple of characters you could recruit near here. [A word about this: later on an elf will insist on joining you,
so bear this in mind. The best thing to
do is to recruit everyone you meet and Talk to them to send them to the nearest
There
is a Merchant with whom you can trade and behind him you will find SaSani and a
group of people. Approach them and
listen, then talk to her: you get your
fist job. Before you leave, talk to all
the people in her group.
If
you've finished exploring around here, go out the way you came into town and
head S for the...
Shipwreck
---------
[An
important piece of advice before we go any further: unless you particularly want to, don't fight
the creatures you will see roaming around nor get involved in getting animal
parts for bounties. This will prolong
the game forever and bore you to death.
The only exceptions to this is that at times you will be asked to tangle
with certain creatures and that you should attack every single Batiri group you
meet (mostly at night). Sometimes they
carry cargo (particularly near the Shipwreck) and they always carry gold, so it
is worth the trouble.]
OK,
at the wreck, press Z to see the cargo so that you can pick it up. There are four pieces of evidence you need
(let the Cleric examine them): the hull,
a corpse, the rigging and, at the end of the ship and round the hills, a broken
spear.
If
you look at the map you will spot a
When
you've done, leave, head for town and talk to SaSani at the Bazaar. Talk to Volo.
Go once more to the Shipwreck.
Outside town you might spot a Charm Peddlar (blue circle around his
feet). Talk to him and you will realize
he's selling rubbish, but that gets rid of him.
You will see other NPCs marked in blue and I'll leave it to you to
interact with them or not.
Go
past the Shipwreck and you will see the...
-----------------------
After
a fight you will get into a conversation with the pitiful creatures and you can
choose to let them go or kill them. It
is up to you. If you kill them, search
their belongings for the key to the cage.
Talk to Lastri and free her.
Follow her to town and talk to SaSani, then go to the
In
town, check with Lastri and talk once more to SaSani, who will give you your
orders. You are to go to the Lumber
Camp. Save a game.
Leave
town and look at your map to see where it is located. First of all, follow the road N and, without
entering the town of
As
you advance in the direction of the Camp, don't be afraid to explore
around: only don't enter any caves,
ruins, etc., since you might be sent to them later and it would spoil
things. You will also find lots of
cargo; keep trading with Tanuir to make room for more.
Lumber
Camp
-----------
Once
inside, talk to Dall and to the rest of the available people. Talk to Dall again and he will tell you about
the dinos and about his problems. His
problems can only be resolved at night, so if it is daytime go outside and find
yourself some dinos. At night, go to the
right of the camp, near where the guys are chopping a tree and talk to the
ghost (you fight it first). Find the
tomb W of here (press Z to spot it) and get the remains, then go to Dall and
explain. Hand him the dino claws and he
will send you outside to kill the Sickly dino (you can't miss it!) and get the
part he needs. Return to Dall with it.
Leave
and proceed to explore the whole map very thoroughly, interacting with
everything you find. Click on Taurin and
enter the common room in the
[In
every town, talk to the Innkeeper asking about rumours, see if there is anybody
wanting something in the common room and also visit the local shrine to be
healed or to trade.]
In
Torich, Essien wants you to clear the Salt Mine just SE of town, so do just
that (keep the Greataxe of Flame, you'll need it later) and come back to
him.
You
can visit Nimbre; I couldn't make out quite what this was all about. Talk to the Samarachan Captain and then to
the Loremaster. In his house there is a
chest and a false wall to a hidden room.
In
Rassatan, Redfeyer wants you to fetch him something from the
When
you have explored all the map, return to Samargol and talk to SaSani.
Talk
to Vadinya and she will send you to
Don't
go back to SaSani yet; speak instead to Volo and tell him about your
discoveries (always do this, you get some nice Feats) and ask him about
work. If you have found a corollax egg
in your travels (just S of the Lumber Camp, other side of the lake), Vadinya
will give you the parrot in trade - if not, you'll have to go to the Black
Market but either way you have to speak to her, ask her about tasks. If you traded the egg for the parrot, give it
to Volo and ask for more work.
When
you go outside you will see that the Black Market has appeared on the map; if not,
find it yourself to the SE of town down a little gully. Talk to Zhiir, get the bottle of wine (take
it to Tanuir for your reward) and you will find that if you want to get on his
list of special clients you'll have to go to...
Tempest
Fury
------------
Inside,
talk to the sylph and start exploring.
Note the blue Arcane Nexus on the left wall at the entrance. As you come into the first door on your left
you will see a locked door which needs three keys, so get searching and
fighting. Examine the contents of the
three chests you'll find. Save. One option is to wear the Empty Ring for
now. When you have the three keys, open
the door, empty the chest and rush outside - go into your inventory and use the
ring on the Djinn to capture it. You can
now summon him if you want to by wearing and using the ring.
Back
to the Black Market. Speak to Zhiir and
trade with him. If you didn't find the
corollax egg to trade for the parrot speak to Xirrol, trade with him, ask about
the prisoners and decide to set them free.
After the fight, you'll find that Xirrol was carrying a snake you can
trade for the parrot. Free the
prisoners; the one left behind is a potential recruit.
If
you've finished looting, go to Samargol.
Find the boar just N of town, slaughter it and take the tusks to
Vadinya. Talk to her again and ask about
tasks - this is where you give her the Greataxe of Flame. Ask again and she will send you to the...
Shattered
--------------------
Talk
to the leader and you will be sent S to the
If
you think you've done all you could here, go outside and look at the map. There are still some unexplored sites. Logically, places with generic names such as
"Cave", "Ruins", "Crypt" and so on are just there
for exploration, experience and loot.
Also logically, you'd expect to be sent to named places such as "
When
you have finished, speak to SaSani and listen to the conversation that
ensues. Get yourself to the Lumber
Camp. Talk to everyone and do (or not)
what they ask then go through the Portal.
You
get diverted to a crypt, but after you sort it and exit you will be in the...
Save
a game. Follow the road N to...
Crossroads
Keep
---------------
Move
forward and listen to the conversation then follow SaSani into the Merchant
Headquarters. Speak to SaSani and to the
others here, getting all the info. Note
the Portal. Explore all the rooms: Volo will want your help. Although right now the two priorities are to
trade with other towns and to go to Neverwinter, first it would be a good idea
to explore the Keep.
Step
out of HQ, go left and talk to everyone you meet. In the Keep's Interior, move forward to hear
a conversation and an elf insists on joining you - might as well let her, you
need extra hands. Talk to Khelgar.
Enter
the Tavern and talk to everyone. Ulweth will tell you about the worgs and
leave: when you get around to it, visit
the
Go
to the Adventurer's Guild and talk to Daerred, Maxil, Juan and Candril. If you have the necessary requirements
(change the leader if it helps), they will train you and set you tasks. Take them from the top, if you are able, and
do them when it is convenient.
When
you've done, leave the Keep.
Go
to the W to Highcliff and inquire. Trade
with the town and buy what you need, then build the trade post. Go back to Merchant HQ and talk to SaSani, go
outside and talk to ODell. Set up a
caravan to Highcliff and, if you have the cash, upgrade it. Leave.
You might see your little caravan being attacked by bandits - you can
join the battle and heal whoever is left standing. Or not.
Sometimes you can intercept the attackers and bribe them off. Head N for...
Neverwinter
-----------
You
have to pay to get in. Inside, enter the
Thayan Enclave and talk to people. Akila
will ask you to look out for Arcane Nexus and will also be the first merchant
you interview for Volo. Out.
Go
into the tavern and speak to Sir Nevalle, getting all the info. Talk to the Innkeeper. There is also a Paladin to recruit here, if
you want.
Enter
the
Talk
to Sir Nevalle again for a job before you leave.
Outside
the city, go N to...
Port
Llast
----------
Save
here because you can play this in various ways.
I went to the
Go
out and have a battle. The ship cannot
be boarded but the buccaneers obligingly come out. Once you've beaten everybody talk to
Haeromos. He has two problems. First, the undead.
Go
out and straight E into the Gothaladreum.
Kill all the undead and find Nya in a round building to the NW. Talk to her and persuade her to go home. Out.
For
the next trick you will need six people, so if you don't have six in your party
make sure you do. Look at your map and
go to...
Priory
of the Depths
--------------------
You'll
have to swim, but once you are in look at the shrine. You can leave gold or trade bars, but you'll
be needing those. Go through the door
and read all the placards. Click on the
Statue and answer her questions: these
are Everyone, Drowning, A blue-green..., Seas and oceans. You can now go to through the next door. Pull the levers to the left and right
(killing the elementals, of course), save your game and move *just* into the
next room.
PUZZLE
This
is very tricky and you can't save half-way through. The first thing you do is tell everyone to
stand their ground. Look at the pattern
on the floor. There are semicircles with
a dot inside (on which you will have to stand).
Starting from the left and going clockwise we'll call the outer ones A1,
A2, A3, A4, A5, A6. The inner ones, also
starting from the left and going clockwise, we'll call B1, B2, B3.
Right,
move your leader near A1. Swap over to
the nearest character and have that character immediately issue the order
"Stand your ground" to the leader.
Move the character very carefully without stepping on any other
semicircle and have him/her stand on A1.
Switch to the leader and tell this character to "Stand your
ground" immediately. I hope you can
understand this because you have to do it several times and very quickly so
that nobody starts running around all over the wrong semicircles.
If
you have managed to get one character immobilized on A1, the next one has to go
on A6 and the next one on B2. Then B1,
A2 and have the leader stand on B3. At
this point all the inner semicircles remain lit and you can use whoever is
standing on them to go on the following:
A3, A4 and A5. This opens the
last door.
Go
through and talk to the prioress. She'll
ask for money, be diplomatic and cough up 6000 smackers. Leave, not forgetting to tell your party to
follow you.
Get
back to Port Llast and talk to Haeromos.
Before you leave, find Nya at one of the stalls and talk to her for
Volo. You can also trade with her.
Outside,
you can trade with the town now, so you know the routine - get rid of what you
don't want, find out what it takes to set up a trading post, buy it and set it
up. While you are buying, click on
Resources and buy 1 ivory, you'll find out why soon.
Go
to your cartel in Neverwinter. You are
told to buy a trading post from Nevalle, so do so. Enter the trading post and talk to the
trader. Set up a caravan between here
and Port Llast and, if you can afford it, with the other towns. Report back to your cartel and ask for work -
you'll be told about Phineas.
Go
outside and talk to him, give him the ivory.
Right, now we are going to go all over the map to each town and set up
trading posts. Let's start in the S
with...
Leilon
------
You
know the routine. Check out the
resources and buy 1 adamantine. Enter
the common room and talk to Finch to find out what he wants, ask the Innkeeper
for rumours. From here on you'll find
Finch in every
------------
Enter
and go to the Gate, talk to Caryl and say you are adventurers, she'll let you
in and tell you to talk to the Mayor (Lazlo Buckman). Do so and see what he wants. For you to find Tarmas and deal with two
dragons, no less. Talk to everyone
else. The Goodwife will give you another
job and you can interview Zinn for Volo.
Leave, go to the...
------------
As
you go in you will speak to two fellows escorting Tarmas out of the cave. Take the NW room and examine the suspicious
barrel. Go on S and you'll find the
shawl. Further S you'll come across
Tarmas who tells you to find the Chieftain's key. Carry on exploring. In the SE corner you'll find a room you
cannot enter because of a magic field, turn N and at the statue of Tyr ask for
a blessing, keep going N. In a room to
the NE with a hulk inside there is a magic jar that can be unlocked for some
guano (?!). The key (or the Chieftain)
is to be found in the large chamber in the S.
Go free Tarmas and get to
Talk
to Lazlo and agree to take on the dragons, go on S and one of them will offer
you a deal - of course, you know better than agree (don't you?) so kill both
dragons and you get a Feat. After a bit,
talk to Lazlo again (you can now go and collect the treasure from the
Move
on and work your way NE up the map to...
Phandalin
---------
No
resources at the moment. Enter the
common room and talk to Danley. He wants
you to go to a mine to the SE which produces cold iron (another resource). Get over there and talk to the two people
you'll meet. Be suspicious and say
you'll look around. Cast the dispel
magic spell and then it will just be a matter of clearing the mine of
nasties. Go back to Danley so that
production can start.
You
are probably running out of trade bars so finish any non-merchant related tasks
you have outstanding and go and collect your earnings at...
Crossroads
Keep (again)
---------------
Talk
to SaSani to get another job. When you
are able, go to the
Collect
your earnings so that you can carry on with your task of setting up trading
posts. Leave.
PUZZLE
Go
to the Adventurer's Guild. Next door
you'll find Jaris, who wants you to do a very difficult job. Enter his house and issue the command
"Stand your ground" to everyone in the party. Get into stealth mode, turn left into the
room and negotiate your way along the crates covered in potions and into the
bedroom. Take everything from the desk
and negotiate your way back. Go along
the corridor and into the next room, click on the Alchemy table. Use the notebook, then the green and purple
vials, remove the silver vials and then the blue ones. That's it.
Go talk to Jaris taking your party with you.
Enter
the Keep Interior and talk to Khelgar 3 times using diplomacy to get him to
agree to the Orphanage. For his tasks,
go into the
We
need to continue creating the last trading posts (don't forget to collect any
resources available).
Conyberry
---------
Do
your trading stuff, then enter the common room and talk to Parr. Find Parrum's Rock and search for the
correspondence, read the letters. Go
back to the
New
Leaf
--------
Same
again only nobody to talk to in the common room. Go on to...
Thundertree
-----------
Same
as New Leaf, also no-one to talk to.
If
you've sorted all the towns, do whatever tasks are pending (to give you an
instance, if you are doing the Improved Camp Routine for Maxil, go to Circle of
the Mere and light the campfire), then travel to...
Crossroads
Keep (yet again)
---------------
Enter
HQ, report to SaSani, Variel and Volo (tell him of your discoveries and the
merchants you have interviewed; he'll want you to interview bandits next). Ask Variel about an upgrade; you'll have to
donate 500 trade bars but you've got plenty.
What you need to upgrade is the portal, so find out what you need for
that. Before you do, though, use the
portal to pop into Samarach and collect the salt resource from Torich. You might also like to pursue the Arcane
Nexus thing if you don't mind coming backwards and forwards.
Go
outside and check with the Caravan Master that everyone is trading with
everyone else. Report to Khelgar and he'll
give you another job; it's of the "Get to Shadow Cult and kill
everybody" variety, so I'll leave you to it - but note that there is an
Arcane Nexus in the N room there, though.
Are you still training with the Adventurer's Guild? Go to them.
When
you walk out, look for bandit bands, parley and bribe them, as per Volo's
instructions. Now that you want them,
you won't find them. However, if you
bribe around 2 or 3 gangs, you'll eventually meet a bandit marked with a blue
circle who will tell you someone is pulling the strings in Neverwinter.
Neverwinter
(again)
-----------
Make
time to nip into Neverwinter to give the resources to Phineas and visit your
cartel - Aster Merris will send you to New Leaf.
Before
you leave, tell Nevalle about the orphanage and about Finch; he asks you to
speak to Lady Janelle, just outside the
New
Leaf (again)
--------
Enter
the common room, talk to Finch and then to the New Leaf Quartermaster. Leave.
Head S and you will be hassled all the way by bandits. At the very fist fight you'll get a serpent
figurine which will guide you to their den.
But not without several boring fights.
Inside the hideout you'll find New Leaf's stolen goods, so tell the
Quartermaster.
Get
5 darksteel from Conyberry, 1 cold iron from Phalandin, 5 adamantine from
Leilon and 1 mithril from Highcliff. Nip
into Neverwinter, hand the resources to Phineas and go to your cartel; you'll
need to go to the tavern in Conyberry.
Go
first to the Keep, speak to everyone and upgrade the portal. Now you don't have to walk everywhere - alas,
it only works one way. Donate a whole
lot of trade bars and ask what you need for the other upgrades; get the
materials and do the upgrades any time you like. Go through the portal to...
Conyberry: The Meeting
----------------------
Enter
the common room, take part in the conversation any way you like and watch what
happens.
Because
if you pursue the main plot Volo will be lost to you as a discovery collector,
you might want to save a special game at this point and try to...
MOP
UP
Start
by going to
I
doubt if anybody is going to send us anywhere else, so let's do the locations
we haven't been to for Volo. All
locations are the usual except, perhaps, the
The
end of the story
--------------------
Go
to SaSani and she'll send you to meet her associates. When you do, you'll discover more of the
plot. When you go back to Sasani you'll
find that there has been a murder. Talk
to everyone and follow her through the portal.
Go to
Go
to a room in the NW to find the SeSehen Almanac, read it, you will need the
info to go through the door to the upper level to the NE. Finally, once in the throne room you get to
kill Zehir's Herald if not Zehir himself.
Go
to the SE door and save here. You can do
whatever you like: I returned to SaSani
in the
I
visited Akila and he had finished his research.
He tells you to go to a ruin in Chult.
Go to the
That's
it. I'm sure you will do a lot better
than I.