Ssithrak Dimension
From HGWiki
The Ssithrak Parallel Dimension is a legendary area intended for parties of levels 42 to 47. Many people will do it with higher level characters to get the tag quickly so they can move on high-xp runs such as Illithids (which requires the Ssithrak tag).
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Introduction
- Ssithraks are a race of dragon worshiping lizardfolk who dwell in an underwater dimension.
- Water breathing is required on all but the last map of this run.
- Once through portal resting is only possible through use of the Ring of the Planar Traveler although in most cases you can run back to the The Translation Chamber if you need a free rest.
- Immortal characters will Fugue, Demi-Gods will revive after a timer.
- The Ssithrak dimension is a no port zone although Stones of Succor, etc will allow you to port to your leader. The areas of the run prior to entering the Ssithrak Dimension however are free port zones. Basically anything leading up to and including the Translation Chamber is a free port zone, all maps from the Mustering Grounds onwards are no port zones.
Requirements
You must be immortal to take part in a Ssithrak run.
Some form of Water Breathing is a must for this run. Either from an item, spell, racial benefit or Paragon Feat.
Reccomendations
Electrical immune is a prerequisite for most of the run and Cold is required throughout. The arcane lizards will cast Meteor Swarm, Isaac's Greater Missile Storm, Prismatic Spray, and Great Thunderclap, so immunity to these specific spells is also useful, in addition to general level 6 spells and below. Also because of these spells, Divine, Positive and Magical immunity is handy for the rooms with many arcane lizards all casting at once.
Mord Immune is recommended however if you have players of level 50+ in the group then this tends to become redundant as mord spells cast by the Ssithrak become area mords at this point and a mord ring does not protect you from this.
You will also need Divine immune for the boss fight.
Other immunes that are advantageous if you can fit them into your gear setup are Implosion Immunity, Harm immunity/negative energy and Undeath's Eternal Foe is also very helpful to prevent blindness.
As with most LL Runs I would recommend Pearls to restore yourself on occasion.
General Notes
This run is the first of 3 'required' runs that must be completed if you wish to take your character to the Hells (the other two being Dustbone (required to obtain the Mentari Mindstill from Dustbones chest not the tag) and Thids). If you wish to progress towards hell you need two things from this run.
1. The tag itself as it is required to gain access to the Thids run
2. Master Translation Rod (This is dropped by the boss) as this item will open the way to the Bore after the pedestal has been activated by use of the Metari Mindstill.
Death Magic works very well here, Pale Master's are always a great addition to any Ssithrak Party and due to their innate critical hit immunity can take on the non-caster creatures with impunity.
Use of Electrical damage spells are discouraged for 2 reasons on this run.
1. When cast underwater Electrical spells tend to arc through the water damaging the party
2. Electrical spells don't work very well against Ssithrak.
Most Fire spells are a waste of time as they simply do not work underwater, due to the fact any fire spell you cast simply fizzles underwater rendering it harmless.
Fire damage however is excellent here so Toyshop weapons will do very well. As will any other weapons with fire damage on it. The trick to buffing these with even more Fire damage is to do this prior to entering the underwater areas as the autorecast routine still functions as long as the initial cast was successful. One fire spell that does work underwater is Detonate, always good for a laugh to explode unexpecting Ssithraks.
Sonic damage also does well here.
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.
Areas
The Ssithrak areas can be accessed by the following path Abandoned Farm > Abandoned Temple > Despoiled Lake > Submerged Tunnels > Submerged Crypt > Defiled Temple > The Drowned City > The Translation Chamber. You'll need the Black Sun Symbol to open the door to the Abandoned Temple (drops in the webbed side passage on the way to killing the Shrike Mother) and once inside the temple you will need a rogue or a high level caster pixie to unlock the final door to get to The Drowned City.
Drowned City
This is the first area of the Ssithrak run and contains entrances to The Ruins of the Arcane Academy and the Translation Chamber. Although this area is filled with Ssithraks you do not actually need to be immortal to enter, however I highly recomend you not try this area if you aren't immortal.
This area is a non fugue area for immortals as you have not yet moved into the realm of the Ssithraks.
Two doors block your way here and require touching to activate them and then you need to break the spheres behind the doors with lootbreaking spells or ranged weapons to unlock them.
There are four Ssithraks that will drop Gems on this map which you MUST collect to progress further into the run. They are required to open the portal in the Translation Chamber. They respawn after about 30 minutes if you miss one although it is probably quicker to jump to another server if this is the case.
Translation Chamber
As with the Drowned City this area is non fugue for immortals as you have still not arrived at the Ssithraks home dimension.
There is a small contingent of Ssithrak here one of which will drop an important rod needed in conjunction with the four gems you should have collected from the Drowned City.
Once you have killed all the Ssithrak and obtained the Translation Rod you need to deposit the four gems in their recepticals in the main room. Be careful when doing this as it is done via a conversation and clicking the wrong option will electrocute your party. Although this can be amusing to some, since the area is non fugue and people are resting up for the main part of the run so little risk is involved by doing so, some people may not appreciate the funny side of being hit with a high amount of Electrical damage. One other thing to bear in mind is that a death timer initiated outside Ssithrak dimension can still cause an immortal to fugue if you are dead at the point it ends in the Ssithrak dimension.
Once the Gems are placed you can then use the Rod on the crystal above to activate a rather cool sequence of graphics which result in a portal being opened to the Ssithrak dimension.
Note: If the character attempting to use the Rod has not previously completed this run you will need to go to the Sage in town and get him to tell you how to use it or it will not work.
Mustering Grounds
This area is the first map of the Ssithrak Dimension and from here on you can fugue if you are immortal so you will need to work as a group and make sure people who die are resurected promptly.
This is also where you will be thankful you have Electrical immunity as there are Snakes here, called Gesst'wa, who enjoy hitting the party with Electrical kickback damage whenever someone hits them. Death magic easily removes this threat.
One of the Ssithrak on this map will drop a key to the barracks so be sure to collect it.
The only unlocked doorway on this map besides the one you entered by leads to a cave full of snakes. Be sure to only enter this cave if you have Electrical immunes or be prepared to die frequently. The cave is a small map containing a couple of loot spots and is often missed by parties. Clearing the cave is not required to complete the run.
Take care when venturing near the temple as there are a couple of clerics outside that will cast Implosion.
Barracks
Using the key you obtained from the mustering grounds you can open the door to the Barracks.
Once inside you will notice that there are 5 rooms, 2 rooms leading from the left of the one in the middle and 2 leading off to the right.
In each side room is a Ssithrak who will drop a key.
Two of the keys will open doors to small rooms that will contain some loot and nothing else. The other two keys however will open the doors to a 6th smaller room at the top of the map. This room will contain a miniboss who, once killed, will drop two keys. One to a small loot room and the other being the key to the Academy.
On this map you will be introduced to Golems, named S'gob Slia, who will give personal Cold kickback to anyone who hits them. There are also snakes here so if you intend to beat on the golems and snakes you will require both Electrical and Cold immunes.
The majority of the Ssithrak here will be meelee or ranged types but beware of the small final room as you will meet casters here including a ploder.
Academy
Here you will find a similar setup as far as the rooms go to the Barracks.
The main differences here are that the doors in the Academy are all electrical portals that will hit your entire party for a fair amount of Electrical damage so it is customary to warn your group before using them incase some of them need to equip electrical immune rings.
Note: They give Electrical damage whether you have the key or not but clicking on them without the key will just cause kickback and not open the door, once you have opened a barrier they reappear after a time but there will be a transition on the floor to allow exit without having to click on the barrier again.
From this house onwards you will also see an increase in the number of Mages and Cleric types so it is a good idea to make sure you have your mord immune equipped and if you can your implode immunity.
As with the barracks each room will contain a Ssithrak who will drop a key and as with the Barracks two keys will open loot rooms, the other two will open the final room where you can obtain two more keys from yet another Ssithrak, one for a loot room and the other being the key for the Temple.
Temple
Again this map is rather similar to the Barracks and Academy in its layout.
The main difference here is the huge stone dragon statues in the central room and the large gem they are facing.
Here you will face more snakes, golems, Ssithrak archers, meelee, mages and clerics.
This map should be cleared in the same way as the others, however you will find alot more Clerics on this map so beware of implodes. There are alot of them.
This time on reaching the final small room on this map instead of the room spawning on entry you will find that they will spawn a little early. As you approach the second of the two electrically charged doors rather than as you enter the room. Ranged death magic can remove a lot of the threats in the room before they can attempt to melee you.
On clearing this room you will note that the 'keyholder' here drops only one key and a rod.
| secret Spoiler Warning! |
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In the treasure room is a secret chamber in the centre of the floor that contains The Sstadi S'benat, be careful about picking this item up if you have another artifact in your posession!!. |
The key opens the treasure room and the rod is used on the large gem in the central room that the Dragon Statues appear to be guarding. Using the rod (consumed) will activate a rather lengthy graphic sequence that ends in a portal opening. Go through the portal to the final map, Ssssy'is Abode.
Ssssy'is Abode
You can finally remove your water breathing here and your Electrical immunes as it is no longer needed since there are no Snakes and the area is not underwater, however resting is available on this map with a rest ring only.
Immunes for this map are Cold and Mord until you reach the boss itself. The S'gob's in this area have AoE cold KB so it is advisable for everybody to equip Cold immunity items if possible.
You will find yourself facing two doors leading to either side of a bridge. You can decide with your party how to tackle this bridge either by taking both sides at once or just taking one side. Make this decision carefully as it could require splitting the party into two groups. Not always a good thing as rezzing people who may have died will require fighting your way through all mobs between the groups. Ranged weapons and spells can help to eliminate enemies on the other side without having to move over and spawn more. Circle of Death and Great Thunderclaps are good spells for removing the threat.
Once you tackle the bridge you should be careful not to overspawn. The reason for this is the miniboss that spawns about half way across the bridge.
The Zhedi (Miniboss) spawns surrounded by a globe that makes him invulnerable. To defeat him you must used ranged attacks/spells to destroy a small globe (You can find the globe easily by following the line that goes from it to the globe of invulnerability surrounding the Zhedi). Once this globe is destroyed then the Zhedi becomes vulnerable to attack.
Be warned, the Zhedi if not dealt with quickly can fast reduce your party to a complete shambles. He crits hard and he crits often. He has the old Devastating Critical and you should have any Crit immune (Pale Masters to the front) party members to wall him while the globe is being destroyed.
Once he is dealt with continue on your way across the bridge until you come to the end.
At the end of the bridge there is a platform on which spawns a large number of mobs. Be careful here with any lootbreakers as there are two urns you can loot. After this battle search the ground for a Key (Shaped like an Ioun Stone) that will give you access to the boss fight.
Once you have this proceed to the next platform where you will see a portal. At this point you should rest up and rebuff for the final battle. Just remember to leave at least one person on the map when resting or you may despawn the dragon.
Once you are ready the key holder should activate the portal and go through it first opening the way for the rest of the party to follow. You will face Ssithrak Clerics who will spam Implosions, and S'gob Slia (Golems) here so Cold and Implosion immunes are still needed. Once you have cleared these away you can concentrate on the boss. The great dragon Ssssy'is. Going through under the Death of Magic arcane Epic spell can give you enough time to kill the clerics before they get a chance to implode you.
For fighting the boss I highly recommend Divine immune/resist, at least 50% as she does some nasty Divine Kickback, if you don't have this multi-hit spells such as IGMS, firebrands, etc. can be terminal for the caster . Good luck and enjoy beating up one of the coolest looking dragons in the game.
Once you defeat the boss a portal opens up that will take you back to the beginning of the bridge and you can recharge your rest ring at the pedestal that has now appeared there. Do remember that you need to re-equip your water breathing apparatus before hitting the portal back to the mustering grounds. Run back to the Translation Chamber where you can freely port back to town. Also depending on how long it has been since you originally killed the Ssithraks in the Mustering Grounds you may encounter respawns in this area, if you're not sure send a character in Greater Sanctuary out to test so you don't run into an ambush outside the entrance.
Strategy and Tactics
The Ssithrak Dimension is a no rest zone once you pass through the portal from The Translation Chamber.
However rather than wasting rest rings you can run back to the Translation chamber after each house to rest freely, just be aware that you may get respawn in the Mustering Grounds after a while. Greater Sanctuary makes running back to the T-chamber a whole lot less risky and watch out after you've killed the dragon as its quite likely that by this time the respawn timer will have been met and one person not in Greater Sanctuary can get swarmed by 20+ Ssithraks in short order.
Death Magic, Fire damage and Sonic damage are excellent here. Instakillers such as Assassins and Rangers (with favoured enemy reptillian humanoids) can have a lot of fun here, even more so if there is a bard to drop the fortitude saves of the critters, especially useful to eliminate 'buffed-up' casters without the need to remove their spell shields.
The mages throughout the run spawn with buffs up and will frequently use Time Stop. Moad weapons or Mord spells will come in handy here to make these mages easier to kill. The easiest way to take care of them is to throw out an area mord (make sure you party members aren't in the line of fire) and follow it up with a Wail of the Banshee spell if you have a Mage or Pale Master in the party. Pale Master's can also break through their shields with Deathless Master Touch if you don't want to use loads of spells.
