The Let's Play Archive

Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga

by Stabbey_the_Clown

Part 65: Fortress of Stone




Chapter 48 – Fortress of Stone



Video: Overview / First Fort
Video: FF Dragon Gameplay
Video: The Greenery
Video: Island 5 Surface and Dungeon
Video: Xanlosch
Video: General Stone

This update took a long time. PLEASE watch the videos. Most of the update is fighting, and it’s hard to get a sense of what it’s really like from screenshots and description alone.



Fortress of Stone


Black Ring Dungeon


Nasty Creatures (And Restless Guard)


Yara’s Current Auras



Music: Fortress of Stone


Video: Overview / First Fort





Excerpt from “The Last of the Dragon Knights”, by Zixzax the Almost-Wise:
“The Dragon Knight emerged from the portal to a scene of vast devastation. Large chunks of the ground had been violently ripped out of Rivellon. They were being used as floating platforms for armies and siege weapons: the infamous Flying Fortresses of Damian.”




I once read about things such as these existing in the age of Maxos. These are cruder and simpler, but they serve the same purpose.




Welcome to the first of the Flying Fortresses. These are GIGANTIC dungeons which have fighting in both human and Dragon form. In Ego Draconis, they were quite different, but I’ll explain that in a separate own update after this one.

The Dragon form is used to take out towers, fliers, and to move from island to island. That’s the easy part, it’s really hard to kill the Dragon. The human form is to take out the ground troops on each island. That’s the hard part, because there are a LOT of fucking enemies, and they are ASSHOLES.

The videos of the dungeons will start with an overview of me flying around to give you a sense of the islands.




To the left of the Dragon’s wing is the entrance portal. Right above the Dragon’s head is the first fortress area. Above that is the second island, attached to the first one. Above it is another island, this one is covered with an Anti-Dragon field which can only be accessed through a teleporter. Top left island has the teleporter to take you inside, top right island has a teleporter to another interior dungeon. Not pictured: a tiny island above which has a portal to Broken Valley.




Introducing the Lightning Tower. These will become more common. They deliver a hefty punch, but have a long recharge time and are slow to track, so get in close and strafe around it with fire breath.

The island it is on is notable for having a chest containing the Scorpion set belt.




Yara headed for the fort-like structure ahead of the entrance portal.




What makes the Flying Fortresses really difficult is the enemies. They all have a lot of HP and do a lot of damage. They also have some really dangerous abilities:

Magic Missile – the homing missiles which are hard to dodge. Most enemies can shoot four at once.
Magic Blast – Several hits which stun-lock you for a second.
Fireball – Has some strong fire damage if it hits you.
Firewall – Even stronger fire damage if you stay in the circle.
Whirlwind – Has a good chance of knocking you down, which is bad.
Rush Attack – It also has a knockdown chance, but this one is worse because enemies tend to surprise you with it from many angles.
Healing – Heals themselves or other enemies. It is very hard to out-damage an active heal on an enemy.
Curse – Lowers your damage and resistances, all very bad things for you. It lasts for a long time and can’t be dispelled.

Rarer, but still seen are these ones:
Battle Rage - Increases the enemy damage - bad news, as they already do quite a lot. Luckily this ability isn't used too often.
Stun Arrows – Stuns you for several seconds, unable to do anything. This is extremely dangerous given how fast damage stacks up in this game. (Armour is fucking worthless.)
Explosive Arrows – They do a lot of damage and have a chance to knock you down.
Fear – Mostly only used by Demon enemies, this strips you of control for several seconds, and you run in a random direction, which may be into a crowd of enemies.

On the bright side, the loot you can find here is top shelf. Enemies are starting to drop epic-quality items. Epic-quality items have 3 attributes, 3 charms slots, and 2 enchantment slots.




I just reached Level 27. I am at 69 strength, so I went 3 Vitality/1 Strength. All future level-ups will be split 2/2 Vitality/Spirit, or maybe 3/1 Vitality/Spirit.

I also purchased some upgrades from Hermosa – I raised the skill cap of Thousand Strikes, Unarmed, Battle Rage, and Life Leech to 13.

Because I level up 4 times this update, I’m saving the image of how my stats and skills change until the end.


Video: FF Dragon Gameplay


The first island clear of Black Ring presence, Yara flew up to the one directly above it.




Level 28. I entered at level 26 and a half, so I’m getting a TON of experience.



I replaced my Annihilator helmet with this. I forgot to replace the enchantment on it until after the Flying Fortress was done.




Where the Lightning Tower used to be. I’ll show that chest in a second…




Level 29. Yes, really.






In Ego Draconis, you used to find the entire set of either Hunter/Scorpion/Archmage in one Flying Fortress. DKS spread most of the stuff out, but there are still occasional pieces to be found in a fortress.




A teleporter on the fourth island. I skipped showing any shots of me clearing it out, I don’t have the time or screenshot budget for that.


Music: Black Garden


Video: The Greenery


(Yara) This place… it’s lush and green and humid, not like the hot devastation outside.

This is a short dungeon full of vegetation. It’s got armoured boars, Dragon Elves, but they’re not important.




Indoor trees. Huh. Well, what’s in that chest?




The chest contains buds for the following plants: Black Rose, Fanny Blossom, Holy Basil, Moonshine, and Oak Tears.




What an odd fountain.



Here’s the list of combinations and what they do.

Oak Tears + Black Rose: Bow
Oak Tears + Moonshine: Nothing
Oak Tears + Fanny Blossom: 5k Exp
Oak Tears + Holy Basil: 5 attribute points
Black Rose + Moonshine: 1 skill point
Black Rose + Fanny Blossom: a broom (cannot be looted)
Black Rose + Holy Basil: Axe
Moonshine + Fanny Blossom: Sword
Moonshine + Holy Basil: Hammer

Of those, only the 5 Attribute points and 1 Skill point are worthwhile.



Nearby in a chest are the Plate Leggings Dragon Armour.

It also had a Divine quality Spirit charm (+5 spirit). Divine Quality is the highest quality of charm. In Ego Draconis, it ONLY dropped from bosses, and they didn’t always drop one, making them very rare. They’re much more common in DKS and can be found and bought now, but they’re rare enough that I’ll be saving all of these for my ultimate equipment.


Video: Island 5 Surface and Dungeon


This is the only other island we can reach. It’s actually a smaller island connected to a larger one with ramps. The large one has troops, the smaller one has the teleporter we need to progress.




Level 30.




Life Leech is pretty inconsistent, but when it does work, it can be pretty good. I hit that skeleton for 353 damage, and refilled 72 health instantly. Unfortunately, it’s still not good enough to keep me alive consistently, but I suppose that’s the point.




Music: Black Ring Dungeon




The lava in this short connecting dungeon is safe to touch. The treasure chest, however, is NOT. Save your game, and be prepared to do a backflip. It contains a Dragon Skill book, and…








A nasty fireball will spew from the Dragon Elf skeleton and blast you if you’re standing NEAR the chest. It does a lot of damage. Moving on, there’s a locked-room-enemy-spawn trap and a teleporter leading to the island protected by the Dragon Shield.


Video: Xanlosch


Yara emerged from the teleporter to the last island. The Anti-Dragon bubble shimmered overhead, and the generator for it was directly ahead. However, standing between her and the generator was a Black Ring whose face was scarred like mud long-baked in desert heat.


Mind-read him for your only chance at a set item.




(Xanlosch) Yes! You made it! Welcome, Dragon. I have awaited you! So good of you to come!
And you are?
Damian’s Elite Summoner Extraordinaire Xalosch!
Bless you.
Hahahahaha! Funny! I like that! Well done!
(-3600 XP) Ulthring’s gauntlets are powerful, yes, but uncomfortable! Maybe I should give them to Isabelle.


The creature by the scarred summoner’s side snarled.

Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you to Isabelle! She’s a good little creature, isn’t she? Aren’t you, Isabelle? Yes you are! Come, say hello, Isabelle! Say hello to the Dragon Knight!

The creature growled again.

Oooh, poor thing! She’s so shy in front of strangers! But once she has the taste of blood in her mouth, she’ll take to you like bloodsuckers to a plump girl’s legs.
She’s adorable. Now: let’s finish what business we still have, shall we?
Aah, yes! Yes! I tend to get carried away sometimes. Silly old me! Now: first, a word of warning! Do not take your Dragon form, for my defences will obliterate you. Of course you can always deactivate it, but that just wouldn’t be fair, don’t you agree? So, no cheating, okay? Right! Isabelle… Isabelle… go for those plump Dragon legs!






This is the only anti-Dragon bubble remaining in all the Flying Fortresses, and it is here only because of Xanlosch.

Your creature can distract Isabelle nicely. Xanlosch is a dangerous foe, though. He uses both Stun and Explosive arrows, which can be trouble – I lost 121 health from a single Explosive Arrow. And if you decide to make things easier by bypassing Xanlosch and taking out the Anti-Dragon generator, then he gets MAD. I’ll show that off in the next update.

However, my Creature with the upgraded head is nicely whittling Xanlosch down, I haven’t even touched him yet.

If Jonelath is your necromancer, his second quest is to retrieve a body part from Isabelle. (His first quest is along those lines as well). So none of the Necromancer quests really offer much benefit.




(Talana) I’m relieved you and your plump little legs survived that maniac’s cabal.

One hit from any weapon will destroy the shield generator and make it safe for Dragons. There’s an animation bug where the thing will appear to vanish, and then appear and disintegrate. There’s nothing else on this island except a second fortress with another teleporter to a small dungeon where General Stone lurks. The teleporter inside General Stone's dungeon deactivates once you start the fight with him, so don’t go in expecting to run away to safety.



The nearby chest had a rank 9 (Fresh) Dragon Elf head, which is very nice – except that I found one a little earlier in the dungeon. It’s a major damage increase compared to the difference between 6 and 7.

Magic Missile



Magic Blast











The Ulthring set is an all-class set consisting of four pieces of armour. Each piece can only be obtained by mind-reading the appropriate Black Ring general. Since there’s no associated weapon, this set is suitable for any class, although it’s probably best for a warrior type.


Video: Stone



Mind-read Stone for another part of the Ulthring set.




(General Stone) Stay away from me, accursed beast! How could you have made it this far?
(-3600 XP) This Cuirass of Ulthring will protect me! His spirit will guide me.
You sound afraid, stooge of Damian.
You dare accuse a Black Ring General of cowardice? I’ll make you swallow those words and I’ll use boiling tar to make certain they go down easily.




This is a hard fight. I’m level 30 and Stone is 28, which means he’ll still do a hefty amount of damage to me. Plus he has a lot of support troops around him. What’s worse, by now slogging through the fortress has drained me of most of my health potions, and this still isn’t the end of this damn place.






You… you have become strong, Dragon…
The Black Ring make for easy pickings.
You may think so, but this is not over yet! Come. Follow me, if you dare!

He dashed off into a teleporter. Yara had no choice but to follow.

Music: Nasty Creatures and Restless Guard






Hahaha! Welcome to my arena!
Nice spot.
Thank you. I’m very proud of it. Tens of thousands have died here in almost as many ways. And you will become one of them. But don’t worry, you may face me again if you can defeat Bascuul, Gryphon, Munin and Hugin!
Go ahead, hide behind an army.
That is exactly what I intend to do. Best of luck. Hehehe!




Yes, after the solid hour-plus of fighting my way through hundreds of Black Ring troops and two boss fights, there is more. Two fights against a pair of mini-bosses and their minions, and then I fight Stone a second time. Sheesh. Round one is a Troll and Imps plus a big Demon and some littler Demons.






Round two is a Beholder and Skeletons plus a creature we haven’t seen before and some ghosts. All four bosses give boss drops, so there’s treasure anyway, and thankfully you can’t fall into the lava because of invisible walls.




Die already.




A spectacle like that deserved a greater audience, but rest assured I was pleasantly entertained.
Enjoy the victory while you can, Dragon Knight. But no matter how well you fight in the Fortresses, continue on your present course and you will meet your doom.



Stone only has a ring on him if you have Igor's quest. If you chose Jonelath, the ring doesn't even exist.












Video: Overview / First Fort
Video: FF Dragon Gameplay
Video: The Greenery
Video: Island 5 Surface and Dungeon
Video: Xanlosch
Video: General Stone

This update took a long time. PLEASE watch the videos. Most of the update is fighting, and it’s hard to get a sense of what it’s really like from screenshots and description alone.




Fortress of Stone


Black Ring Dungeon


Nasty Creatures (And Restless Guard)





In one of the ramps in the arena is a chest.



It contains a mysterious Invoker jewel. Return to Stone’s chamber, and follow the second corridor out. It will pass by a bench with a book on Stone’s ring.





At the end is a chamber which constantly spawns Walking Armour soldiers. There are four more jewels on thingees. Take them and use the machine to shut it down. You’ll want to have the fifth one from Stone’s arena before messing with this, because…



Using four jewels just shuts the machine down, but using FIVE jewels shuts it down AND spawns a treasure chest. And that’s it for Stone’s Flying Fortress.

Next update will probably be the Ego Draconis version, and what happens if you defy Xanlosch’s request for a fair fight. After that, I’ll do the treasure hunt, get Zeppelin parts, and take on the Rivertown Gorge Flying Fortress, followed by a trip to Aleroth.


Yara’s Current Auras / Equipment Updates




Since I levelled up 4 times, I decided to just show the difference with Level 26 Yara and Level 30 Yara.

I had 6 skill points to spend BEFORE the Flying Fortress.


Unarmed


Increased from Rank 9 to rank 11
Damage Bonus: +121% -> +138%


Battle Rage


Increased from Rank 8 to Rank 10 (from rank 10 to rank 12 with bonuses)
Mana Cost: 111 -> 135 ( 135 -> 159)
Duration: 120 (120 -> 180)
Melee Damage Bonus: +90% -> +110% ( +110% -> +130%)
Melee Armour Penalty: -21 -> -15 ( -15 -> -9 )


Thousand Strikes


Increased from Rank 6 to Rank 9
Mana Cost: 178 -> 208
Damage multiplier: 1.3x -> 1.5x
Knockdown Chance: 35% -> 50%


Life Leech


Increased from Rank 5 to Rank 7
Leech Chance: 18% -> 22%
Life Drained: 15% -> 20% of damage done


Death Blow


Increased from Rank 1 to Rank 3

Critical Chance: +3% -> + 6%









Yes! You made it! Welcome, Dragon. I have awaited you! So good of you to come!
You have been waiting for me? Why?
But of course! You are here to play, are you not? Play with one if the Black Ring’s mightiest. Damian’s Elite Summoner Extraordinaire Xalosch!
D.E.S.E.X? You could have tried to form an acronym a bit more neutral, and less neuter.
Hahahahaha! Where’s the fun in that?

The creature by the scarred summoner’s side snarled.

Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you to Isabelle! She’s a good little creature, isn’t she? Aren’t you, Isabelle? Yes you are! Come, say hello, Isabelle! Say hello to the Dragon Knight!

The creature growled again.

Oooh, poor thing! She’s so shy in front of strangers! But once she has the taste of blood in her mouth, she’ll take to you like bloodsuckers to a plump girl’s legs.
I’ve met my share of besotted Black Ring, but with you I reach new heights of madness.
Now, now! Don’t get all nasty. I eat the eyeballs of those who are nasty to me!

I’ll show what happens if you ignore his warning and destroy the Anti-Dragon field first in the next update.






Stay away from me, accursed beast! How could you have made it this far?
What stands in my way, I obliterate.
That much we have in common. Now first I’ll take care of you, then move on to your Battle Tower.

Stay away from me, accursed beast! How could you have made it this far?
The ambition to own your ring is what drove me here.
If I had known people would make such a fuss about a ring, I’d have thrown it in the lava the moment I obtained it! Which – incidentally – is exactly what I’m going to do to you!



You… you have become strong, Dragon…
This is indeed the end for you.
Not just yet. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve! Come. Follow me if you dare!


Reader Participation

This one is freeform. I want to know what you thought of my presentation of the Flying Fortress, and what you think I should do differently for the other Flying Fortresses.

Unless the videos in this update get a shitload of views, I won’t be doing a lot of video work for the rest. I normally record all new content, but for future Flying Fortresses, I won’t be fully recording them, because this update alone was over 90 minutes long worth of video. I'll still record selected sections and interiors.

Right now, my idea is to stick with the format of wide shots of the islands as an overview, and randomly scattered shots throughout, and whenever I level up – which shouldn’t happen all that much from now on, actually. I should only gain about 5 more levels or so in the entire act.