Loremistress Jinna tasked you with the destruction of an ancient alchemist named Salasso. She warned you that his power is great and unless his heart is found and destroyed, he is truly immortal.
Spoiler Warning: Spoiler material below this point!
Before you enter this quest be sure you have acquired either the Emerald Claw Nugget (talk to Pok Tranh in the Necropolis) or Silver Flame Nugget (talk to Jakob Izakanos in the Necropolis) so you can perform your first upgrade on it at the ritual altar in the end chamber.
This is a fairly long quest in which your primary goal is to slay Brother Salasso, a Red Named vampire, and obtain his book "The Heretical Path". This is the end of the first part of the Necropolis series, and at the end of the quest you will be able to upgrade your Silver Flame or Emerald Claw trinket.
The dungeon is reasonably straightforward, but rather long and can tend to feel like a maze. A well-equipped group can split up to handle both sides of the map at the same time. The mobs can get pretty thick and even trigger a dungeon alert if you do too much rushing. There is very little to get a well-equipped party or a strong solo character into much trouble.
Starting out, you will need to enter the central room and hit all four switches to unlock the east and west sides of the dungeon. There are three rest shrines – one in the center plus one on each of the far east and west sides. The eastern and western shrines may be guarded by orange named undead.
Each "path" consists of a run through twisted corridors past a room that is sealed by magic. On each path you will find orange named priests as well as a moderate number of undead, including casters. Fight your way to the switch (and keep an eye out for a chest) in each path. The switch unseals the room you passed on the way in. Expect a few more undead in the torch rooms and light each torch.
Once all the torches are lit, return to the central shrine – the entrance to Brother Salasso's den will be open. Armored Wights will constantly re-spawn in this area (enabling conquest) and Brother Salasso will be completely invulnerable until you locate his heart. His heart will be located in one of the many coffins lining the walls of the room. You will know that you are standing in front of the correct coffin when the Dungeon Master announces, "The stones at your feet are worn smooth." Selecting the correct coffin will relay the following message: Blood Coffin says, "Salasso's still-beating heart bursts into flame as the coffin's seal is broken. You reach inside, only to find a pile of cold ashes."
If you're after onslaught or conquest bonuses, the wights in the final area respawn fairly quickly, so you can skip some enemies and kill those a few times instead to get them. Hold off on opening the coffin with his heart, so you don't kill him before you reach your kills goal.
Brother Salasso will teleport short distances during combat and makes good use of Hold person and Dominate spells. Kill him quickly and you should have no issues.
Once Brother Salasso is dead, the barrier blocking access to the altar will drop and you will be able to pick up "The Heretical Path" from the book stand nearby.
Chests: One chest for defeating Brother Salasso. One chest each for slaying the orange named undead at the east and west shrines. Other chests located in each "path", usually near the switches.
BloodBlood: This Docent converts a portion of the wood and metal structure of the Warforged to living flesh. The Warforged will benefit more from positive energy healing such as cure spells and potions (+20 Positive Healing Amplification) but will also be more subject to critical hits (-10% fortification).
Armor Bonus +4Armor Bonus +4: This item surrounds the wearer with an invisible but tangible field of force, granting +4 armor bonus to AC, just as though he were wearing armor.
Sneak Attack Bonus +2Sneak Attack Bonus +2: Provides a +2 to attack bonus and a +3 to damage for any attack that would qualify as a Sneak Attack, even if the wielder is not a Rogue.
Axeblock IIIAxeblock III: Passive: Reduces physical damage taken by 6, except from Bludgeoning or Piercing weapons. (Damage Reduction: 6/Pierce, Bludgeon)
UnbalancingUnbalancing: Anything that melee attacks a character with an Unbalancing item has a chance to be pulled off balance giving them a -2 penalty to their AC.
Story arcs are chains of quests that make up a story line.
Requires access to adventure pack
