Did we miss anything in this section? Is there something we didn't discover? Let us know!

Area Note

It can be difficult to detect the pathways on the mountain, so we've marked them on the map above.

All of the creatures on the mountain are immune to fire damage, and many of them deal fire damage. So plan accordingly.

If Guyven is at Crossroad Keep, then at some point on the mountain you'll receive notice that he'd like to hear about this place.

If you've accepted Ivarr's quest from Crossroad Keep, then near the entrance to Tholapsyx's lair (#6), you should spot a beacon, letting you know that her canyon where the quest can be resolved.


Walkthrough

Your goal in this part of the game is to acquire the Belt of Ironfist. You'll find the belt being worn by the fire giant king (#10). If you talk to the king, then he'll offer to give you the belt if you agree to kill Tholapsyx the red dragon (#6). If you talk to Tholapsyx, then she'll offer to help you kill the fire giants because they've been stealing from her hoard.

That makes it sound like you'll have a choice about who to support on the mountain, but it's not much of a choice. If you side with the dragon or the fire giants, then they'll turn on you after you've done what they wanted, and so chances are that you'll have to kill both groups no matter what. And because assisting one of the groups sometimes means that you'll have to fight two tough battles back-to-back, we'd recommend that you defeat the groups when you first come to them in their respective canyons. For some strategy tips on the battles, read the fire giant king entry (#10) and the red dragon entry (#6).

Once you've acquired the Belt of Ironfist, you'll need to take it back to the Ironfist Stronghold and use it to convince the dwarves to fight with you against the King of Shadows.

Note: After obtaining the belt, the canyon exits (#6, #10) will turn into world exits, allowing you to leave the mountain without making the long trek all the way back to the beginning (#1).


1 - Starting Point

"I see watchtowers in the distance, and giants. This'll be a battle for sure."


2 - Fire Giant Outpost

At this outpost you'll encounter a handful of fire giants, you'll discover five containers with random loot plus a Ring of Sorcerous Power inside, and you'll find another vein of ore. Clicking on the ore will claim it for Crossroad Keep and earn you 50 xp.


3 - Fire Giant Outposts

You'll only find a couple of fire giants and hellhounds at these two outposts.


4 - Fire Giant Outpost

Here you'll find a few fire giants and hellhounds, and if you loot the chests, you'll also pick up the kukri Cutting Star and the katana Divine Fury.


5 - Large Boulders

If you're strong enough to push the boulders, then they'll roll into the fire giant camp below (#8) and kill three of the fire giants there. You'll also receive 50 xp (even if there were no giants left to kill). You can also examine the boulders, but this has never resulted in anything happening for us.


6 - Tholapsyx's Canyon

No matter what Tholapsyx says to you when you first meet her, she'll probably end up attacking you. If you've accepted a quest from Ivarr at Crossroad Keep, then you'll need to kill her anyway. It's possible to recruit the fire giants (#10) to help you in the battle, but they won't actually do very much, and so your best bet is to attack her when you first come to her.

Tholapsyx is a dragon, and she'll hit you with melee attacks and streams of fire. Because of the fire, you should spread your party out. If they're bunched together, or if they're standing in a line, then one burst of fire might hit all of them for massive damage and seriously dent your chances in the battle.

You might also want to buff up your party for the battle. When you first enter Tholapsyx's canyon, you'll have a ways to walk before you actually encounter the dragon, and so you can use that time to cast some useful spells like energy immunity (fire), (greater) stoneskin, and haste.

Once the fighting starts, try to keep your melee characters alive so that they can distract Tholapsyx while your casters hit her with arcane spells. Missile storms seem to work best, and if you can empower them or maximize them, even better. Fire spells, obviously, won't do a lot of damage, but you could also try spells like polar ray or lightning.

After the fighting, you'll discover quite a bit of loot in the dragon's hoard, including the falchion The Waking Dragon and the Shield of the Holy, plus a large assortment of gems, scrolls, and metal ingots. If you accepted Ivarr's quest in Crossroad Keep, then a special chest will appear in the hoard, unless you were doing the redemption quest (for that, doing a good deed is your reward). Paladins will find the Holy Avenger in the chest, clerics will find the Loremaster's Mace, and all characters completing the quest should receive 1000 xp. Finally, on the eastern side of the canyon, you'll stumble upon yet another vein of ore. Like with the others (#2, #8), if you click on it then you'll claim it for Crossroad Keep, and you'll earn 50 xp.


7 - Prisoners

If you release the prisoners, you'll receive 250 xp. One of the prisoners will introduce himself as Lucien, but you won't ever see him again.


8 - Main Fire Giant Camp

This is the "main" fire giant camp, but you won't find much here other than a large group of fire giants and hell hounds. If you loot the bodies and chests in the area, then you'll find some random gems and scrolls, plus a Ring of Nine Lives and Gloves of the Hin Fist +4. One of the giants will also drop a Fire Giant Head but this is a crafting item rather than a quest item. Finally, you can find a vein of ore on the western side of the camp. Clicking on it will claim it for Crossroad Keep and net you 50 xp.


9 - Fire Giant Outpost

At this final outpost, you'll find four fire giants and four chests. If you loot the bodies and chests, you'll find a lot of random loot, plus the scythe The Sowing Fields.


10 - Fire Giant King's Canyon

When you walk up to the fire giant king, he will start a conversation with you. He'll claim that the dwarven king Loudram was a coward who gave away the Belt of Ironfist, but he'll offer to return it to you should you kill the red dragon Tholapsyx (#6). However, the fire giant king is lying; if you kill the dragon then he'll thank you for doing his dirty work for him, and he'll attack you.

The fire giant battle can be difficult. The giants are easier than Tholapsyx, but you'll be facing a dozen of them at once, and that can cause problems. Definitely, you should buff up your party with spells like (greater) stoneskin and haste before dealing with the fire giants, and you should probably try to take down some of the lesser giants and hellhounds before concentrating on the king himself.

After the battle, you'll find some useful equipment in the nearby chests and on the corpses of the giants, including Shadow Legion Armor, a Greater Archer's Belt, Terrance's Fell Axe, a Ring of Major Acid Resistance, and the Belt of Ironfist. You'll need to take the belt back to the Ironfist Stronghold to gain an alliance with the dwarves.

Also in the canyon, in the southeastern corner, you should notice a drow prisoner named Caelryna Seerar. If you talk to her, then you'll learn that she's a merchant who sells "morally objectional" objects. If you invite her to Crossroad Keep anyway, then she'll move into the merchant's shop there, and she'll become a shopkeeper for you.

Note: When we recruited Caelryna, the invitation dialogue mentioned Uncus, so it's possible that you won't be able to add Caelryna unless you already have Uncus.

Another Note: If there's a downside to recruiting Caelryna, we didn't notice it.


Exits:

23. World exit.