Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance/Burning Eye Base

You start at the base of the mountain in a sort of valley. A new enemy makes its appearance immediately: the wolf. Wolves aren't easily knocked backwards, so running behind them or performing a block-strike-block combo are two good fighting options. After the first few wolves you'll reach a save pedestal.

Continue onwards, slowly, to face a few more wolves (individually, and as a group). When facing several wolves at once, try and kill one off before the others reach you. Run away and attack the one that sticks out of the crowd the farthest. As you continue walking down the path you'll pass some pools of water and then reach the second save pedestal. The path continue to the right, but if you follow the pool of water to the left you'll find four more wolves.

Head up the pathway with the stone wall along the cliff edge, and when you come to the turn you'll see two gnolls coming down after you. The white gnolls only have about 50 health on normal (less than a wolf) so they shouldn't be much trouble. They attack very regularly (again, block-strike-block works well) with their weapon or by kicking. At the second turn you'll find another gnoll, and then a more heavily armored one. At the top there will be flags and a pool of water; you'll find four white gnolls here. Kite them down the pathway a short ways and kill them one by one. There are three more white gnolls and a heavy armored one off to the right side of the screen. In the back of the camp (northeast), there are two weapon racks.

Return to the path and head northwest. The trail will start to become littered with snow. A white gnoll will greet you at this transition, followed by another just before the turn. Head up past the second turn (with the little pool of water), and when you reach the clearing at the top prepare to run back down. There are some wolves here that will chase you. If you stand right at the start of the trail, the wolves will have to file in one by one, and if they run to the side of you where the cliff begins (putting the dark blue line between you and the enemy), you can attack them and they won't strike back. Continue northwest until you reach the save pedestal; three wolves will come out from the northeast, so run back if you don't want to take damage.

Up ahead along the ice trail are two wolves and a yeti. This beast has about 80 health on normal, and will just try to pummel you to death (again, block-strike-block for safety); they are clones of the rock ones you faced at Wind's Walk. From afar, they will hurdle boulders of ice at you. At the corner there are two more yetis. Down the zig zag just a bit further lie three; it may look like two but a third is close by. If you see one of those small black rocks in the middle of a path, use it to block a yeti's projectiles while you kill another.

You'll reach a spot where the minimap shows a larger room start to form. You'll see two dark circles, rocks, that line the path on either side with small paths behind each of them. The northern one can get you stuck if you run into the tree, but if you jump around long enough you can get out. There are six yetis in the center of this area. To the northeast is Burning Eye Summit. To the southeast is the optional cave.

First Cave
Head southeast from the Burning Eye Summit entrance to reach the Cave. Right away you'll be greeted by two wolves, and you won't have any cover so do your best to stay their attacks. In the next area that begins to open up, there are six more, but spread out. Try to kill the first three back near the entrance. In the back of this are another four wolves. You'll find three Healing Potions and about 70 Gold. Return to Burning Eye Base when you're finished here.

Head north and enter Burning Eye Summit.

Burning Eye Summit
At the start of the summit are four wolves. To the right is a tree. Put your back against the tree and face southwest while blocking. Wait for a wolf to get into position and attack you, then block-strike-block until all four are dead. Up ahead is the first Burning Eye Summit save pedestal. Northeast of the pedestal is another cave.

Second Cave
The entrance holds a chest containing 17-19 Gold, but don't be fooled, the rest of the area is rigged with traps. To the right is a chest containing a Health Potion and either 73-95 Gold or a bomb. The surrounding barrels (the large ones) are not explosive, but the ones along the left side of the room are. It can be dangerous if a chest detonates all of the barrels at once, so push them out of the way before opening a nearby chest. Take the same precautions with the rest of the chests in the area (they all have a chance to contain either gold or a bomb).

Return to Burning Eye Summit when ready to proceed.

White Gnoll Camp
North of the save pedestal you'll find two pink flags. Ahead are four white gnolls. When you get to the next set of flags, you'll run into an armored white gnoll and one of those golden rock throwers you met in Wind's Walk. When the gnoll charges you, just block until the rock thrower destroys it with ice. Remember that you can't block these projectiles, so run to the side whenever it's about to throw a rock at you. You should level up (level 8) from killing this golden troll if you're playing as Kromlech.

Continue on to the next set of pink flags. The area will open up and you'll see lots of chests, explosive barrels, and some enemies. Kite the enemies back and kill the two armored gnolls and the white gnoll before going after the golden troll. Another set of the same enemies lie farther into the room. After clearing out the enemies, you should start picking up items from the armor racks. Recall if you need to.

Past the next two pink flags are two white gnolls and an armored gnoll. You'll reach a four way intersection with a save pedestal at the center.

To the west is a long path with three white gnolls, then two pairs of wolves before you reach Burning Summit West.

Burning Eye Summit West
When you appear here, you'll be greeted by two armored gnolls, two white gnolls, and a save pedestal. The pathway splits here. To the east there will be another split in the trail: further east are two armored gnolls and a white gnoll; beyond is a white gnoll, a spiked club troll, and a dead end. To the north (at the last fork) are two white gnolls, an armored gnoll, and a golden troll. The trail then turns west, and then forks northward and southward towards the entrance. If you go north you'll face a deer horned troll, three white gnolls, and an armored gnoll. The trail then loops around to the west, but you'll get there a different way.

Back near the entrance (the westward trail) you'll find two armored gnolls, two white gnolls, and a spiked club troll. West of that is another split (go west more) to find two white gnolls, an armored gnoll, and a spiked club troll; then down the path you'll see two white gnolls, two armored gnolls, and a golden troll. Beyond (west, around the zig zag) are five white gnolls, two armored gnolls, and a deer horned troll. If you go west from here you'll reach a dead end. North of here are four white gnolls an armored gnoll, a golden troll, and a dead end. Go back slightly to the fork that heads east and follow it towards an armored gnoll, a golden troll, and two white gnolls. Next you'll run into four white gnolls, two armored gnolls, a golden troll, and a deer horned troll at the dead end to the west. Head east at this latest fork to face a golden troll, seven white gnolls, two armored gnolls, and a deer horned troll (you should reach level 9 here if you're playing as Kromlech on normal).

You're now at the other side of the area, and all paths have been cleared. As a reward, you have reached a save pedestal! The path forks once more. On the east side is a yeti, on the west is an armored gnoll. Kill both, then go west to face a pair of white gnolls, then another pair of white gnolls, an armored gnoll, and a golden troll. Continue west at the fork (to the dead end) to clear the white gnoll, armored gnoll, and golden troll. Head back to the save pedestal and go along the eastern path to fight a pair of yetis. When an eastern path appears, ignore it and head north to kill the two yetis, then head back to that last path. Follow it slowly, because you're going to have to kill eight yetis. However, afterwards you'll find another save pedestal and the first Ice Cave.

First Ice Cave
You'll find three yetis at the entrance. Head to the back of the cave, kill the last yeti, and search the dwarf's remains. An item will appear nearby, so search the ground for Flint: "You have found a slab of flint for lighting the Signal Tower." You'll find out more about the Flint soon. Return to Burning Eye Summit West. Follow the trail back west, then south all the way to Burning Eye Summit.

Back at Burning Eye Summit, head back to the intersection and then eastward to find two white gnolls and an armored gnoll, followed by a duplicate force. You'll then run into an armored gnoll and three white gnolls prior to reaching the entrance to Burning Eye Summit East.

Burning Eye Summit East
At the entrance of the eastern summit, you'll face three wolves right away. Follow the path downwards to face four armored gnolls and two white gnolls. At the base, where the snow has melted, you'll face two white gnolls and a spiked club troll before reaching the second save pedestal. Following the path southeastward will lead you to an armored gnoll, a white gnoll, and a camp with a golden troll, chests, armor racks, barrels, and crates (all contain good equipment). Just south of the camp, near the water, is the remains of a dwarf. Search the body, then walk over to the item glowing in its hand and grab it for a Torch: "You have found a torch for lighting the Signal Tower." Return to the save pedestal and head north into the forest to find 12 wolves scattered about. Return up the path and back to the save pedestal at the intersection in Burning Eye Summit.

To the north of the save pedestal are two armored gnolls, a white gnoll, and a golden troll, then another white gnoll. The path splits with a trail going upwards and a path that goes along the base to the west. Take the western path where you'll need to slay five wolves before you reach the second Ice Cave.

Second Ice Cave
Inside the Ice Cave you'll find a whole bunch of boxes and a man with a yellow exclamation mark above his head. The chests contain 59-65 Gold each. The barrels and crates contain a random amount of gold or a Health Potion. Speak with Kolgrim and you'll notice that he's covered in blood. After offering your assistance and asking for his mine key, you'll find out that the ice dragon on top of Burning Eye Summit froze one of Kolgrim's fellow warriors (who has the key) while they were trying to light the signal fire. Unfortunately, you'll have to light the signal fire to get to the warrior's body. He'll give you his flask, but you'll also need to gather the fuel and tinder from the rest of his colleagues. Kolgrim dies after you finish your conversation, but you can observe his corpse. Remember to pick up the Oil Flask beside Kolgrim before running off. Oil Flask: "You have found an oil flask for fueling the Signal Tower." Your journal will be updated with a new quest: Find Kolgrim's Party. "The members of Kolgrim's party hold the items necessary to light the signal fire. The heat from the fire should be enough to thaw the body of the dwarf who holds the mine key." Return to Burning Eye Summit and then head up the final, northern path where you'll find another save pedestal. Follow the zig zagging pathway up to the top to reach the entrance to Burning Eye Peak.

Burning Eye Peak
As you enter, a large glowing ball will be floating around. It will start to get larger and larger. At its full size, these balls of energy will start to electrocute you if you get close. Use ranged attacks to kill them safely, or head straight in to kill them quickly. It may hurt you, but you can kill it in a few attacks. Perhaps that ball was what killed all of the white gnolls littered about. In any event, there is a save pedestal just up ahead.

Follow the pathway up the mountain and you'll face three energy balls at the first turn. The ground flattens out up ahead, and you'll see more dead white gnolls. A single energy ball awaits you in the southeast corner. Up the steep path will be the final area. You'll face 10 energy balls littered about a long pathway before you reach the signal fire, a large, empty torch with dragon-like fingers grappling its mouth. Three frozen dwarfs are nearby; two lie chilled on the ground, and the final remains in a block of ice just before the torch.

Walk up one of the unblocked stairways and light the signal torch. A cutscene takes place where the torch lights up in a burst of flame. The dwarf unfreezes before falling headfirst onto the stairs. The camera flies off to a distant peak where the ice dragon senses a disturbance with the torch. It lifts off into the sky, but you don't know where it goes. You acquire the Key of Dumathoin: "You have found the key to the mines on the dwarf's thawed remains." Your quest to light the torch has been completed.

Recall to The Mining Camp. Speak with Torrgeir once more to inform him of the dwarves of the expedition. You inform him that all were either killed by a dragon, or by the ogres on the slopes. As you approach the gate for the mines, simply hold the key in your left hand as you approach it. Pushing into the stone door, the key should melt inside and the door should open itself. The quest to return the key is complete. You gain the quest: Retake the Mines: "Retake the mines from the Drow by finding and removing their leader. Return to Torrgeir in the Mining Camp when you are finished."

Walk over to the east side of The Mining Camp and walk up to the door. Interact with it to start a cutscene where the key uses magic to dissolve the stone barring the door. The door opens by itself, and continues to green and blue dust-like magic. Interact with the opening to enter The Mines.