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Pools of Darkness
Hints and Mini Walkthru
by Matt Haag
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Published in the DIRTY LITTLE HELPER October 1996 with kind permission.
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Table of Contents

Part I: Getting Started
Phlan

Part II: The Sundering
Melvaunt
Taydome's Keep
Dragonhorn Gap
Sulasspryn
Manshoon & Zhentil Keep
Myth Drannor

Part III: The Road to Bane
Thorne & the Dragons
Marcus, the Red Tower & Tanetal
Zhentil Keep, the Drow & Kalistes
Mulmaster, Arcam & Gothmenes

Part IV: Dave's Challenge

Credits
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Part I: Getting Started

Pools of Darkness (or POD for short) is somewhat atypical for a gold box
game. In particular, where the usual AD&D product pretty much leads you by
the nose so you have no trouble staying on track, POD goes in the other
direction, not giving you much help at all in deciding what to do or where
to go next. Sometimes, even when you think you know where to visit, nothing
seems to be happening there (or at least, nothing of much importance).
In addition, there are several set-ups in the game that you need to know
about so you can survive the experiences. A lot of damage gets tossed at
your party, and knowing when it's coming can help your people stay alive.
If you are creating a party from scratch (instead of bringing one over from
Secret of the Silver Blades, which is better than making a new one), you
don't want non-humans unless you plan on bringing them in as thieves or as a
multi-class something/thief. A thief is the only class where non-humans can
max out (unlimited advancement) in; as anything else there is a level
restriction after which the character will no longer gain experience.

My own party consisted of one human paladin, one human cleric (neutral), one
dwarven thief, one human mage, one human ranger/mage and one half-elf
fighter/mage/thief. The paladin was especially important, since having him
in the party let me control the various NPC's who joined us for varying
periods of time.

The other characters were to balance everything out. Since the cleric was
neutral, he could cast both versions of healing spells (i.e. cure light
wounds and cause light wounds, etc.). The ranger/mage started as a mage who
changed class right away so that I would have another fighter in the party,
but still have the spellcasting abilities of a 14th level mage when he
gained enough experience to become a 15th level ranger. The
fighter/mage/thief was for the extra punch of a fireball spell, the
abilities of a fighter and the thief component was so that he would continue
gaining experience after he maxed out in his other classes.

Another important trick in defeating the game is "sharing" equipment. This a
rather simple concept. If one player has Plate Mail +5, why shouldn't all
the other characters? What you need to do is to load your saved game at the
main menu when you have the option of adding and removing characters. Once
this is done, your next step varies based on who has the item. If a fighter
in your party has the item, remove him from the party and when the game asks
if you wish to update this character, say yes.

Next, add the character back into the game. View the character's items and
trade whatever you want other characters to have to the next party member.
Remove the first character, but this time don't update the character. The
game will ask you for a new filename. Hit escape to clear the field. Then
remove the second character (the one with the new armor and stuff) and
update him. Add both members back into the party and repeat the process.

Phlan

The game begins with the heroes on the docks in Phlan. Visit the council and
accept Sasha's mission. Rest and memorize spells before leaving Phlan. As
the party leaves town with Sasha's retinue, Bane appears and causes the sky
to cloud over, destroying the cities and effectively capturing the Moonsea.
Elminster then transports you to Limbo and explains what happened.

Part II: The Sundering

Melvaunt

After that, the party gets teleported near the crater of Melvaunt, on the
Northern edge of the Moonsea. Go East into the crater and join Priam in
investigating the temple of Tyr. Upon entering the public worship area of
the temple, a figure will run upstairs. Pursue the figure. Upstairs you will
run into a Vampire and some of his minions. Defeat them and record what the
journal entry you are given says (this will be important later). If you
explore the top floor you will find four unlit, iron braziers that you can't
seem to light, a belfry and a study where you can rest.

After resting in the study, go back down to the first floor. Go past the
entrance and downstairs to the first basement. This floor is dedicated to
acolytes cells and the temple kitchen. Continue down to the second basement.
This floor is the temple's crypt. Go into the room where two bodies lie on
the floor next to a coffin. A ghost, Brimwulf, will appear and ask if you
will be tested. Agree and pass behind him.

Upon entering the hallway behind the coffin room, you will notice an
indentation in the wall. Walk into it and perform the ritual of purification
correctly. Go to the door. Get the Vessel of Purity with Torm's Symbol on it
from the earth elemental. Then continue on to the room with Ilmater's symbol
on the floor. Defeat the fire elemental there and the Spirit Flame will jump
into the bowl. Continue on and take the Lamp of Vigilance and go back up to
the top floor of the tower.

Light the braziers with the Lamp and then go and ring the bell in the center
of the belfry. Brimwulf and his lover are reunited and you are finished with
the temple. Go back downstairs and make your exit.

Taydome's Keep

Go into the "stockade manned by giants and ogres" directly to the north of
Melvaunt. Upon entering, a group of giants will greet you with steel.
Destroy them and proceed north into the heart of the keep. You will discover
a guard from Phlan who claims to have been with Sasha. He is really Kimarr
in disguise. Refuse his help (but be prepared to defend yourself). After
defeating the giants summoned by Kimarr, go west and then north into a room
where 2 Phlanarian guards are being interrogated by giants. Kill the giants
and rescue the guards.

Return to where you met Roulin, then go north to a fork in the path where a
note suddenly materializes. Go east here, following the tunnel as it turns
south further on. Find Kimarr and his giant guards. Defeat them and clear
the keep of evil.

Dragonhorn Gap

Enter the steading near Dragonhorn gap and you will be confronted by giants.
Talk to them and they will let you pass. Proceed further and some other
giants will ask you who let you in. Your choice here is unimportant except
for purposes of deciding who goes first in the combat that follows.

After killing the giants, go either east or west into the hallways branching
off from the main courtyard where you came in. Go down either hallway until
where you find a set of doors which have signs saying "Private! Keep Out" on
them. Enter one of the rooms, claim the room as your own and beat the
monsters there. You now have a convenient resting place.

Go back into the main courtyard and proceed north. A pitched battle between
giants and ogres is taking place. The best option is to duck so that one
side kills the other before they turn on you. Defeat them and train any
characters you need to in the training hall to the west.

When you are finished clearing the "private" rooms, proceed into the Twisted
Horn, and inn directly across from the training hall. Approach a man that
eyes you and speak to him, then defeat the cloud giants in the room to the
south. If you used a lot of magic during the battle, go back to your save
point and save your game; this will be your last opportunity for a long
time.

Walk in front of the main gate in the second courtyard, which the inn opens
onto. Giants will pull you through the gate for an audience with the Hill
Giant Shaman. They tell you to go to the Northeast corner of the fortress,
but to get there you must go north and west into the northwest corner and
then go more or less due east to the other side. When you enter the Shaman's
room, be prepared for a battle against an overwhelming number of giants.
When you've defeated the giants, pick the lock to the treasure vault to the
north and then proceed to the northeast to enter the Fire Giant's cave.

After entering the cave, go north until you reach a crossroads. Make sure
you are in Area view, as you will spin about in the center of the road in an
effort to make you lose your sense of direction. Proceed east, where the
Fire Giant Mage thanks you for killing the Hill Giant and pays you to leave.

Continue into the cave, into a hallway on the far south of the map. Upon
entering the east bound tunnel, the world will get a little blurry and you
will notice that you can't use your map anymore. You will also notice a
skull on the ground which will disappear. Walk east and keep going until the
skull reappears in the middle of the path, this time with a ring embedded in
it.

Take the ring out of the skull and throw it to destroy it and break the
enchantment. Continue on to the end of the tunnel, and proceed north. When
you can, go to the west, then to the north. Go as far northwest as possible
by taking the long hallway that goes from the northeast end of the cave to
the western part of it. Search for a secret door a couple steps from the
western end.

Go through the door and into the Fire Giant's secret area. Make sure you
rested in the last 'quiet' room before this, as there are several difficult
battles coming up. When you go south, a Fire Knife Assassin approaches you
to talk on the Mage's behalf. Hear him out and agree to join the mage. When
you encounter the mage again, attack her and the retinue in the room with
her (about 15 fire giants in all).

After killing all the enemies, continue through the room to an antechamber
where 2 red dragons and a green dragon are preparing to take off. Defeat
them, rest and exit the fortress through the tunnels on the north end of the
room.

Sulasspryn

Upon entering the cave surmounted with the symbol of the Silver Blades, talk
to a hill giant and have him lead you to Vala. Vala will give you a silver
shield and join your party. Since there are many undead enemies in the cave,
be sure your cleric is of a level so that he can cast Restoration, the
opposite of the vampire's Energy Drain. After Vala joins your party, go to
the east, then proceed south. Upon entering a room with coffins in it,
search them to find the Lindenwood staff, the first item needed to control
the elementals. After taking the staff, a lich, some skeletons and some
wraiths will spring from the coffins and attack you. After defeating the
undead, explore the three doors in the room and rest in one of them.

Exit the room with the coffins and go to the south into a room with oak
roots growing out of all the walls and the ceiling. Search the room and take
the Oakroot staff. Upon taking the staff, five earth elementals will attack.
Kill them and then exit the room. Rest again in the quiet room.

Go north past where you entered the cave and continue on. Up at the top of
the map, fight three hill giants that were fighting over a pretty stone.
This is the Worldstone, which is used with the Oakroot staff. From there go
south into a room across the hall and get the Crucible of Flame from some
fire elementals.

After collecting all the artifacts, proceed to the main chamber in the
center of the map. Be prepared for a tough fight. As soon as you enter,
Vaasans will break through a breach in the wall along with some elementals.
Vala will take the artifacts and seal the breach in the wall by controlling
the elementals. She leaves you to deal with the Vaasan army. Cast fireballs
and destroy the mages first, then work on killing the Vaasan warriors. When
you have defeated them, leave the cave.

Manshoon & Zhentil Keep


Enter Zhentil Keep and go to the south, to the training hall and bribe the
man at the desk if you need to train. After training, go north and rest in
the Purple Plume Tavern. After resting, cross the road by going straight
east and finding a man in the shadows of the building. Say that you are
opposed to Bane, and Mabril introduces himself. He tells you of a halfling,
Traned, who is trapped under Manshoon's temple, and tells you of a way to
get into the building without having to go through the main entrance where
the clerics examine you.

Proceed through the secret door into the southeastern part of the temple. Go
around the courtyard and walk right up to the main (north) gate of the
temple. Kill the guards and enter the gate. You notice a hallway with gates
on both sides lining the walls. Go through the east wall and then proceed
back to the north. Go west, then north again and enter a hallway stretching