12. Vaalgamon challenges and taunts the party here. This begins the extended combat sequence that culminates in the grand finale of the game.
Once the party enters combat, it moves from combat area to combat area until it exits into the plaza of Ascore, exits back out the way it came in, or all the characters die. Only one character need exit from a combat area for the whole party to exit. The party need not kill all of the monsters in an area to exit . In some cases having the fastest party member sprint for the exit is as useful a strategy as killing every monster in order to move on towards the goal.
Use the AIM command to search each combat region and figure out where to go before each battle is joined . This helps the party to decide if it’s better to fight or run in the particular location.
Examine the Final Combat map carefully. The easiest route through the final combats is to exit the first combat area to the east, exit the next three combat areas to the north, and exit the next area to the west.
Once the party is in the upper left combat area the party does not have to confront Vaalgamon. They can take the passageway that exits to the north that goes around the room where Vaalgamon has gathered his forces. When one character exits the combat area to the north, the party has won the game!
19. A strong group of trolls and ettins face the party here.
20. A very weak goblin force is here. The party can ignore them and exit the combat area on the eastern side of the region.
21. When any character exits the combat area from this point, the party has won the game and the grand finale begins.
22. Vaalgamon himself, along with a large group of Zhentil commanders, Kraken mages and shambling mounds await the party here.
This is a very tough battle. The party can avoid the battle by having the fastest character
run through the passageway to the top of the combat map-when one party member reaches this spot the party has won the game! The undead of Ascore kill Vaalgamon and his minions and the grand finale begins.
23. Asmall army of goblins attacks the party here. Use Sleep spells to get large numbers of them at once, and to block off the back row monsters behind rows of their sleeping comrades. Exit the combat area to continue the final combat.
24. Kraken mages and Zhentil commanders are waiting here for the party to enter. Use Hold Person and Charm Person spells to slow them down and cause confusion in the enemy ranks. Exit the combat area to continue the final combat.
25. Shambling mounds and ettins guard this chamber. Focus Fireball spells on the ettins, as they are useless against the shambling mounds. Use the Wand of Defoliation to take out the shambling mounds.
26. Zhentil commanders, Kraken mages and shambling mounds all wait to face the party here.
Synopsis: This is the scene of the grand finale of the game. Ascore covers a much bigger area than any of the other regions of the game. The party should come here only after it has acquired all four of the ancient statuettes.
The once-great city has been taken over by legions of undead, the tortured souls who were its last defenders . Vaalgamon’s forces have cleared a portion ofthe city and built a hastily-erected wall in an attempt to keep the undead away.
The party must get past the wandering undead find a way through the Zhentarim wall, then make its way through the ancient city to the plaza where the statuettes and the Ring of Reversal can be combined to destroy the Zhentarim plan.
Note: Once the party passes through Vaalgamon’s gate they enter a series of extended combats with no opportunity to stop and rest or rememorize spells. Do not pass the gate until the party has completely prepared for the fights that lie ahead. They can return through the gate if these battles prove too difficult.
Rest: The party may rest only in the areas west of Vaalgamon’s gate after the wandering monsters there have been cleared. The area near the mirror maps is safe for resting at all times. They may also rest in the area immediately east of the gate.
Wandering Monsters: Eight groups of Ascorean skeletons inhabit the area outside of Vaalgamon’s stronghold. Eight groups of Ascorean mummies lurk near Vaalgamon’s Gate, acting as guards to prevent his men from coming out. Encounters with these mummies occur if the party passes back and forth near the gate.
Commodore 64 Owners: Some of the monsters and walls in the final combat may be different from those listed due to technical constraints. However, the same strategies should apply.
Objective: To get the statuettes and the Ring of Reversal to Event 21. You do not have to defeat Vaalgamon to win the game. Unless you want to face the toughest battle of the game (22), you can actually bypass the final room where Vaalgamon and his main army are.
Experience: You should already be maxed out and leveled up. If not, finish any incomplete locations to top off and level up as much as you can.
Quests: You do not have to defeat Vaalgamon himself. You only need to get to the northern most exit to the Pedestal where the game will place the Statuettes and the Ring of Reversal for you. Once you reach that area, the ending of the game is automated. The ending is actually one of the better endings for a game of this era.
Leaving: After completing the game, you can still continue playing. There are still wandering monsters and treasure to find. Because of the game’s limited size of this era, the town people don’t behave any differently now that you are their hero, other than they are safe with a muted gratitude. Congratulations!!
The two-year-long War of the Returned Regent freed the Vale from Rensha rule. Finally, in the Year of the Wandering Wyrm, 1317 DR, Nanathlor Greysword defeated Pasuuk and the Renshas’ forces at the battle of Tanglefork and became the ruler of Loudwater. However, some histories marked his reign as commencing four years earlier, circa 1313 DR. In either case, the start of Nanathlor’s reign marked the official founding of Loudwater.
In Tarsakh of the Year of Shadows, 1358 DR, on a number of separate occasions, the residents of farm holdings on the outer edges of Loudwater’s domain heard eerie howling and later discovered corpses near their lands. These were identified as various wicked beings, including two drow and some fish-like humanoid, and all carried bite marks. Nanathlor was notified and he formally reported the news. A search of caves in the Delimbiyr valley showed sign of recent occupation, but no connection to underground. Later that year, in Eleasias, a mysterious healer of the High Wood called Radoc helped victims of an orc raid and escorted them to Loudwater. His odd appearance, taciturn nature, and purchase of supplies with crystals made him the subject of rumor before he departed.
Nanathlor ruled in relative peace for 52 years until Malarite lycanthropes attacked the city after a blood-red moon appeared in the sky over the Vale. Nanathlor himself was on his deathbed but the citizenry, led by a young man named Stedd Rein saved the town when Stedd opened his father’s stock of silvered weapons.[citation needed] Kalahar Twohands, Gauntlet of the western marches, replaced Nanathlor, who didn’t survive to see his city saved. Kalahar oversaw the most turbulent years in Loudwater’s history since the war, including a mass migration of orcs, threats from a bandit army and their illithid allies, dragons and several attacks from the Zhentarim.
Along with Secomber, Loudwater was the only settlement of any size in the area to survive the effects of the Spellplague, though it was much reduced in size and had been almost completely abandoned by the elves. Still, it managed to resist the dangers of the surrounding area. What it struggled to cope with was internal troubles. There was barely enough trade to keep the town afloat and dangerous criminals replaced the small-time thieves guild that had been operating there. Many foundlings discovered on the shores of Highstar Lake came to live and grow up in the town, unknowingly the spawn of some fishlike creature who dwelt beneath the lake’s waters.
By 1491 DR, the northern wizard Telbor Zazrek was the High Lord. Telbor was a corrupt puppet of the Zhentarim who took hefty kickbacks in order to ensure Zhentarim trade goods were the only ones most folk could afford