Penumbra
From HGWiki
Penumbra, also known as Illithids or "thids", is a legendary area intended for parties of levels 55 to 60. Increases in player power have somewhat reduced the necessary levels to do this area.
Contents |
Introduction
This is the last of three runs that are 'required' to begin your adventure in the Hells, the Abyss and all other locations accessed through The Workshop.
The other two runs are Ssithraks for the tag and Master Translation Rod item, and Dustbone to obtain the Mindstill (the tag is not a requirement although if you are a melee character or an Arcane Archer you will most likely want the tag so you can use the weapons that drop there).
- Immortal characters will Fugue, Demi-Gods will revive after a timer.
- Penumbra is a no teleport zone.
Requirements
Before you can even begin this run you require the Ssithrak Tag, Master Translation Rod (Obtained from the Ssithrak Boss, not consumed on use) and Mentari Mind Still (Obtained from the chest in Dustbone's loot, consumed on use).
Main immunes for this run are Sonic and Negative, Death Immune, Magical is also helpful, at least 25%. For rooms with 'active' psi-orbs as much Positive as possible is also a good idea.
Other immunes that are needed are Mind Blank or specific Stun Immune, immunity to Mordenkainen's Disjunction and Fire for one room.
If you have casters in your party who intend to use Electrical spells it is highly recommended that you try to cover Electrical immune also.
General Notes
You will find various creatures here that you have to defeat including Illithids of various types, Intelect Renders, Annihilators, Gith Thralls, Grimlock Thralls, and Shrills.
Annihilator if hit with Electrical damage will 'charge up' and release and Electrical attack at one person for a massive amount of Electrical damage, plenty enough to one hit kill anyone without enough Electrical immune.
Shrills are summoned by Illithid Ectocloners and are best dealt with by Magical Damage, Disintegrate or Drowning. They Mord on hit and are the only source of Mord in the entire run. Ectocloners should be killed as soon as possible as they will continue summoning Shrills until they are dead. This can quickly overcome an inexperienced party and give no experience points.
Other Illithids can cause varying effects such as throwing you into the air making you take a hefty amount of damage when you fall to the ground (levitation prevents the damage), lowering your armor class, stunning you, instant death attacks and more.
Levitation or high discipline (above 70) can help prevent damage from being thrown and there are items such as Psiforger's Boots that will prevent you from being thrown altogether.
Death Immunity will take care of some of the instant death attacks. Note that failing a save will still result in your character being flatfooted and you will need to perform actions to avoid this.
Mind Blank or specific Stun Immune prevents the stun effect as will 20 levels of Monk or Pale Master.
Spawn Structure
Spawns are not dynamic in that the numbers and types of creatures do not scale with player group size. Paragon type creatures do not spawn in this area. Spawns also do not change and will always contain the exact same creatures.
Transit
Transit with mobs alive No.
Areas
The Illithid areas can be reached through Vashyk's Ruin. Touch the pedestal with a Mentari Mind Still in your inventory and a dialog allows you to teleport to Axis Erundia.
Axis Erundia
Again, touch the pedestal with the Mindstill in the inventory also on this map. It gets consumed. Then use the Master Translation Rod (not consumed) from the boss loot of the Ssithrak run and a teleporter shows up.
Mid-ring Bore
This area contains thralls of both types, thrall masters, intellect renders and one Annihilator near the exit. It will give you a good idea of whether you are capable of progressing whilst not throwing the more unpleasant Illithids at you.
Geode Colony
The city of the Ilithids. From here you can enter the different houses to collect some key-like devices called Rods. The houses do not have to be accessed in any specific order but the one listed below is the usual path travelled. All types of Illithid and their pets lurk in this area.
Thrall Housing
To activate the teleporter to the boss area, two persons must use the control devices on both sides of the map at the same time. The teleporter leads into rooms in the middle of the map, where a miniboss "The Thrall Master" drops a rod, it has one heal that can be blocked with a well timed Death of Magic or successful pick pocket attempt. The Locked chest in this area contains a Biorejuvenator and requires an opener with appropriate skills to access.
Physicists' Hall
Again teleporters...In the last room is the "Fieldmaster" with a rod, it has one heal that can be blocked with a well timed Death of Magic or successful pick pocket attempt. He is protected by a field, to disable it the generators must be destroyed in sequence one by one. The sensors in this room can also be destroyed but do not have a significant effect so can be left while you focus on the field generators in order.
Halls of Solitude
Touch pedestals to open doors, at the far end right and left in the round rooms a cerebremancer drops a key for next door. There are many cerebremancers here and this can hard because they have a instakill attack vs. will, if you fail this you will die as there is no absolute immunity to this effect. You will need to click on the two pedestals in the locked rooms to open the doors to the boss area, the keys are dropped by illithids in the rooms. In the last room is the Master Prescient (he's a tiny Illithid) with a rod, it has one heal that can be blocked with a well timed Death of Magic or successful pick pocket attempt. He's not so tricky. One of the set drops in this house can be the Rune of Return (in a container in the last room on the right hand side as you enter) saving you from using Teleportation Gems, especially useful in Oinos and the Abyss. There is a Biorejuvenator in the boss area in an unlocked container.
Biological Enclave
Many Biokineticists and Ectocloners. In the boss room are six tubes that spawn Cloned Hellspawn Golems, bash the tubes fast. This house contains one of the most useful items for all but undead Shifter characters the Bountiful Beaker of Healing enabling you to dispense with frequent trips to the shops to purchase more heal potions prior to further LL adventures. Whilst the boss in this area is not too tricky it is in a room with six tubes that repeatedly produce Hellspawn Golems until destroyed, there are several tactics to completing this room but if you are intent on destroying all the tubes it will take a while as they have a prodigious amount of hit points. It has one heal that can be blocked with a well timed Death of Magic or successful pick pocket attempt, however it also heals when new golems are produced by the tubes so attempting to block its actual heal may be tricky. As the golems do not give xp there is no advantage in prolonging this fight.
Overmind Complex
To enter the Complex, place the four Rods (you did pick them all up didn't you?) at the four pedestals in the city. They get consumed and after a short animation sequence the portal opens.
Inside, 2 pedestals at either side of the map must be touched at the same time to open a teleporter to...The Surrogate (yes, that is the big boss). The Surrogate is protected by a magic field. To destroy the field, first the two Sensor Arrays must be destroyed, then the Psi-orbs. The Psi-orbs do positive damage, a lot, oh and they hang high, ranged weapons or loot breaking spells are needed, it has one heal that can be blocked with a well timed Death of Magic or successful pick pocket attempt.
After killing The surrogate (congrats on the tag) the Warpgate near the entrance teleports to a treasure room. The Hellstone can be found here along with the Slave Waystone several set items including useful Stone of Succor and a couple of random URs.
Strategy and Tactics
Electrical Damage, Cold Damage and Acid damage work very well on this run. Anihilators can be Crumbled or lacking this use Fire damage on them, using Electrical can be unwise as it charges them up and then then discharge all of this energy on one target.
Death Magic, petrification and Drowning work very well on most enemies. Hence Pale Masters, Clerics, Druids, Shifters and Wizards can be very useful in the run. Gith thralls are immune to death magic so it is also worth having a few Weirds in memory to kill them although Disintegrate also works.
