but you can’t avoid it. As the battle starts move all your characters through the door and have your mages cast “Delayed Blast Fireballs” to eliminate the minions and the pets as quickly as possible while your fighters block the access fighting the bits and the dracolitches that then you can  bombard  with  “Magic  Missiles”.  Use  all  your  offensive  spells  in  this  battle  because  you don’t need them later. When the battle is over continue the combat to heal your characters and cast your protective spells again. SECOND WAVE – This one is against four beholders, two death tyrants and Xoham the elder beholder.  Forget  about  your  offensive  spells  now.  Use  your  most  powerful  character  to  fight Xoham first, if you’re lucky, with the aid of the “Haste” spell, you should kill him in one attack. Scatter all your party and have each one attack a different target. This will prevent the beholders from casting some of their annoying spells but can still destroy you with a single innate spell. The  key  to  win  this  fight  is  to  conclude  it  as  quickly  as  possible,  it’s  imperative  that  all  the characters survive to face the final wave. When the battle is over heal your characters perfectly and cast your last protective spells. THIRD WAVE – Answer “No” to Gothmenes and the third battle begins but this time you’re prevented from casting your spells, even if the ones you used before will remain active. This one is against seven minions of bane, two green dragons, two bits of Moander and Gothmenes himself.  Use  your  fighters  to  quickly  dispose  of  Gothmenes  because  his  melee  attack  is incredibly  powerful  while  you  concentrate  all  the  other  characters  to  weaken  the  minions  of Bane. When Gothmenes dies move your fighter against the green dragons first and the bits of Moander later. Feel free to kill all your other characters against the minions because it’s your only hope. When you remain with your fighters use them to clean the surviving minions and you should prevail. After  this  incredibly  difficult  battle  the  end  sequence  starts.  You’ll  find  yourself  back  to  Phlan. Return to the town hall and enter the library to talk with Elminster. After the speech enter an inn to rest, heal and resurrect your characters. Now reach the dock at 4. Here you can choose: in the “Hold” you can get your old gear back and combine it with what you found in the palace. If  you  choose  the  beautiful  ship  the  game  ends  but  if  you  choose  the  old  ship  you’ll  begin  the challenge. It’s not part of the story and it’s totally optional (and nearly impossible), you must find four bonds then find the exit but it’s a very difficult task. By the way the game is finished now. Congratulations! You’ve finished Pools of Darkness. Walkthrough written by Marco Alessandri E-Mail: paranor@tin.it - September, 17 2001 Credits: These maps are designed with “Dungeon Crafter” v1.4.1 - http://www.dungeoncrafter.com   Very Special Thanks to Claudia Spiga (Questa volta ti risparmio l’imbarazzo…)