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Overview
You'll have three goals in the basement: poison the water supply (#2), poison the food supply (#8), and attack Hephernaan (#4). However, whichever one you do first will trigger a big battle where you'll have to take on Hephernaan and his friends, plus several crusaders, plus a pair of stone golems.
We'd recommend starting the fight in Hephernaan's room (#4). That way you'll be right next to Hephernaan and his allies -- the most troublesome enemies in the battle -- which means you should be able to take them out quickly. Hephernaan in particular will flee once you've done about half damage to him. For the regular crusaders and the stone golems, you should be able to use the doorway to the room as a chokepoint and defeat them relatively easily.
In early versions of the game, the big battle would trigger so many crusader reinforcements that you'd have to flee the basement after only completing one of the objectives. But as of version 2.3.67.2, no reinforcements will come, so once you've finished the big battle, you'll be able to explore the basement and complete your objectives in (relative) peace.
1 - Belben
As soon as you exit the lift (Exit A), you'll be spotted by Belben and a few other crusaders, who will attack you no matter what you say. You'll earn about 5000 xp for defeating them, and you'll find
Arrows +1,
Bullets +1, and a
Two-Handed Sword +1 on their corpses.
2 - Water Supply
If you click twice on the large barrel here, then you'll poison the castle's water supply. This will earn every character in your party 4000 xp. However, a water mephit will appear, and it will call for the guards, which might trigger a big battle. In a locked chest next to the barrel, you'll find a
Potion of Absorption, a
Potion of Fortitude, and a
Potion of Freedom.
3 - Daeros
You'll meet the spirit of Daeros Dragonspear here (#3). He'll tell you that he's overheard enough of Hephernaan's plans to know that Hephernaan intends to open a portal to the Nine Hells, and that he needs divine blood -- such as a certain child of Bhaal's -- in order to do it. If you free Daeros, then you'll earn 18,000 xp, and he might tell you about a treasure that he hid in the mosaic just outside Hephernaan's room (#3a):
Daeros's Full Plate +1.
4 - Hephernaan's Room
You'll find Esserin, Hephernaan, and Olvenaun in this room. They're all mages, so you'll need to strike quickly. Hephernaan is the toughest, and he'll flee once you've done enough damage to him, so you should target him first. You'll earn 4000 xp for defeating the other two mages, and you'll find an
Adventurer's Robe, 20
Darts of Wounding, two
Potions of Extra Healing, two
Quarterstaves +1, a
Traveler's Robe, a
Wand of Frost, and a
Wand of Paralyzation on their bodies. You'll also find a
Crown of Lies, a
Robe of Netheril, and scrolls of
Lower Resistance,
Spell Immunity and
Spell Shield in the locked and trapped chests in the room.
5 - Locked Door
You won't be able to open this door.
6 - Locked Gate
You'll encounter two stone golems guarding this gate, but you won't be able to open it.
7 - Barracks
You'll encounter several crusaders in this room. You'll also find 40
Bullets +2, 40
Bullets +3, and 40
Bullets of Ice +1 in a locked and trapped chest.
8 - Food Supply
If you click twice on the bags here, then you'll poison the castle's food supply. This will earn every character in your party 4000 xp. No mephits will appear, but your actions still might lead to a big battle.
Next to the food supply you'll meet the troll Bjarn Littleclub. He'll tell you that he escaped from a cage and has been hiding here eating the castle's food ever since. You can either leave him alone or kill him for 1400 xp.
In the containers in the room, you'll find 40
Bolts +3, 40
Bolts of Ice +1, 40
Bolts of Lightning, five
Elixirs of Health, three
Potions of Clarity, five
Potions of Extra Healing, and a Troll Pen Key. You might need the key when assaulting
Dragonspear Castle in Chapter 11.
Exits
- Lift to the
Warrens.
