|
This level is a PAIN.
Before you even begin look at the maps to try to familiarize yourself
with the locations of the secret passages and the locations of cracked
walls. I chose not to mark the locations of all the Undead, since
the map would have been a solid sheet of pink if I had. Just
assume that you're going to bump into some Undead around every corner
and you'll be fine, because chances are, you're going to. The
other fun thing about the Tower is that it drains your spell points as
you go through it. You'll find lots of potion-making herbs
throughout the level, and I suggest using them to make energy potions.
The
easiest way to do the Tower is to enter from the rear and just make a
beeline through the secret passages and teleporters to reach the lower
level, but doing it that way you'll miss picking up the Rogue's Leather
and learning Summon Aid Lv.3. Assuming you don't mind missing
those things, just use the Orb of Thralni to line yourself up with the
rear of the tower. When you enter you'll be standing right next
to one of the Undead Spawning platforms. These things are
horrible, because they spawn another undead pretty much every
turn. The easiest way to deal with them is to enter into combat
mode as soon as possible and stay that way whenever you aren't actively
using teleporters or going down ladders.
Go
a little south and a little east and you should see a teleporter to
your north. Go through this teleporter and you'll be teleported
across the water to the teleporter to the northeast of the one you
started at. There's a secret passage to the north of this
teleporter, which you want to duck through.
Make
your way north until the passage is blocked by a statue. You can
move diagonally across the chasm and past the statue into another
passage. Follow this passage north and then west until you're
almost in the northwest corner of the Tower. Check out the
southern section of wall here, and you should find another secret
passage which leads to another teleporter.
Going
through this teleporter takes you to a seperate section of the
tower. Ignore the first few teleporters and just make your way to
the southeast corner of the first room, past the barrier to find a
secret passage. Near the northwest corner of the next room is
another secret passage leading to another teleporter. You want to
use this one.
When
you finish teleporting you should be north of the first teleporter you
used, with a small passage to the west. Enter this passage and
look for a secret passage in the northern wall. This takes you
into yet another passage with a trapdoor guarded by some Undead.
Going down this ladder takes you into the Lower Tower of Zkal, which I
will cover after I finish explaing what to do if you want to get the
Rogue's Leather and Summon Aid Lv.3.
If
you want to get the Rogue's Leather and the spell things are a bit more
complicated. I strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself
with the locations of the secret passages, and take note of the
locations of the Undead Spawning Platforms. If you're opting for
this route you'll find quite a few Energy Potions scattered around,
which you're definitely going to need. Go into combat mode right
away, and stay there until you reach the teleporter which leads you to
the seperate section of this level as described above. Once
you've reached that section you should follow the instructions in the
last two paragraphs above.
When
you first enter the Tower from the front immediately head to the
southeast corner of the Tower. Go through the passage leading
west out of the room with the pool and you'll find yourself facing a
Vampire across a chasm.
Once
you've killed the Vampire go through the passage to the north and stand
to the south of the chest. Use Move Mountains to bring down a few
sections of wall, and check the chest near where the Vampire was to get
the Rogue's leather.
Head
out the northern section of the wall you brought down and head towards
the north. There's a Spawner right ahead of you, which you want
to sneak around if possible. Head around the corner until you're
going west, and when you get near where the passage switches around a
corner and starts east again, start checking for secret passages
against the southern wall. You'll need to use Dispel Barrier to
reach a chest in here, with yet more Energy Potions. There's a
cracked section of wall just to the south of the chest, so use Move
Mountains and enter the next passage.
Head
west and then north, going west again as soon as you can, until the
passage dead ends. Head north here until you see two coffins and
a Spawner platform, then head east in the same passage as the
coffins. As soon as you can head north again, watching for a
curtained doorway to the east. When you enter this room approach
the statue in the northeast corner and move it when given the option to
do so. This will raise a portcullis in another section of the
Tower.
Now
head back to where you had to break down the wall and barrier, and back
through the secret passage. Follow the passage north as much as
possible until you reach the end. There's a pillar here, which
used to be blocked by a portcullis. This pillar teaches Summon
Aid Lv.3 the third time you read it, but the first two times you read
it will drain you.
Once
you have the spell make your way back to the entrance and head
north. Make your way to the northeast corner of the tower.
There's a secret passage here in the western wall, which leads to a
lever controlling another portcullis.
Go
back south until you reach the first passage leading west and
north. Follow this passage through the now unblocked portcullis
and to the south until you come out into a room with some water
seperating two grass covered platforms. There's a secret passage
against the northern wall here, which you want to go through.
Make
your way west towards the northwest corner of the Tower, where you'll
find a secret passage against the southern wall of the corner. Go
through here to reach the teleporter which leads to a seperate section
of the tower and follow the instructions above.
Once
you reach the Lower Tower of Zkal things get a lot less
complicated. This first section of the lower Tower has a lot of
Undead as well, but no Spawners. There's also potion-making
ingredients lying around on the ground.
Check
the map for secret passages, particularly the two off the southeastern
chamber of this section. The southwestern passage leads to a room
with a lot of bodies carrying some pretty nice items, including a War
Charm. The northwestern passage off of this room leads to a
teleporter.
This
teleporter takes you to a room with the teleporter you arrived through
in the center, and one in each corner. Ignore the two western
teleporters. Go through the northeastern teleporter twice, the
southeastern teleporter once and the northeastern teleporter one last
time. This will teleport you yet again.
You've
now arrived in the heart of the Tower. There are two beams in the
passage you have to go through, so I suggest hasting your party and
entering combat mode. Hopefully you'll be through the passage
before the beams turn on.
In
the alcove to the east is a cracked section of wall with two Basilisks
and two mirrors behind it. Take note of the runes on the floor
near the eastern wall and steer clear of them. Place the mirrors
so that the round mirror is against the western wall of the passage
with the two beams, and the straight mirror is lined up with it.
Try to time it so that you can line up the mirrors without the beams
coming on, and have your party clear by the time the beams light
up. I suggest starting with the western beam in the alcove and
moving the straight mirror east one step once the first crystal has
been destroyed. Make your way along until you've destroyed as
many of the beams as possible without stepping on the runes, which
should be all but the easternmost crystal. Now push the straight
mirror until it's right beside the round mirror, which should destroy
one of the two crystals in the main hallway. Now push the
straight mirror all the way down to the far eastern end of the
alcove. Don't worry about stepping on the runes, since you've
destroyed all but that one crystal now. Once it's destroyed
retrieve your round mirror and put it in the alcove for now.
Go
through the passage to the north, and enter the room to the east.
There's 8 Hraithes in here which you'll have to destroy. Once
you've done that head into the room just to the north of the entry to
find some Spawned Fungus.
Now
go get your mirrors and take them into the room just north of where the
Hraithes were. There's more runes in here, which will trigger
more lasers. This one is a bit more tricky, and I don't think
there's anyway to avoid being hit by at least some of the beams while
you destroy as many as possible. Take note of the lever behind
the crystals, and then look at the way the crystals are set up.
There should be a section near the middle that you'll be able to step
through diagonally, so destroy the middle crystals at least, if you
don't want to take the time to destroy as many as you can.
Once
you've reached the lever, pull it and then head through the portcullis
to the west, which should have been raised. You'll find a couple
Demons in here and, up on the platform, Zkal himself. Kill them
all and then use Dispel Barrier to go up onto the platform where Zkal
was standing. There's a book on the bookshelf, and one on Zkal's
desk, both of which teach Spray Acid Lv.3. There's also a lever
in the northwest corner.
Pull
the lever and then make your way back to the entrance of Zkal's
chambers. The portcullis to the west should now be open, so go
through and check out the chests, all of which are trapped. They
contain a variety of nice items, including a Perfect Flower, in case
you still don't have one for the Dryad in Krizsan Province, and the
Ring of Endless Magery. Once you have those items it's time to
make your way out of the Tower of Zkal, and good riddance.
|
