This smaller area guide will cover the underground location, the Whispering Depths. While it isn’t nearly as large or important as other spots (it’s possible to never even see it in a play through), The Whispering Depths does have a unique boss encounter and a couple important items for side quests. Additionally, it is one of the ways that players can access the Underdark, and there is some pretty sweet loot to be grabbed too.
Finding the Whispering Depths
There are two ways to enter the Whispering Depths, both of which are in the Blighted Village (1). The more direct route is by going through the well in the middle of town (2). This requires your character to pass an investigation check, but takes you directly down.
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The other path is through the blacksmith’s house; inside, you’ll find a hole covered by a spiderweb. After breaking the web and jumping down (1), you’ll be in an abandoned forge. Along the north wall of the forge, there is a wall that you can break to enter the Whispering Depths (2), but someone in your party will have to pass a perception check to notice the wall.
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Whispering Depths Overview
This area is essentially made up of three distinct spots: the cave study in the southwest, the forge in the southeast, and the boss area to the northwest. In between the three is a small group of enemies that need to be defeated to make exploration safer. Each area has its own items that you will not want to miss, and in the case of the forge and boss, tips to help you acquire them.
Cave Study
Most players will likely come to this location first, as it is close to the well’s entrance. When you come down the well, head down the passage and hang a left (1). This is the study of some weirdo that liked spiders (you can read the diary on the desk). There are some miscellaneous items to grab around the room, but the two main containers you won’t want to miss are on either side of the desk (2). On the left side is a heavy chest that contains the Spiderstep Boots, and on the right is a wicker chest that has four spell scrolls.
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The Spiderstep Boots give you a significant advantage while fighting in the depths, because they allow the wearer to traverse web bridges without getting stuck or alerting phase spiders. The scrolls you find will also help, there’s a Scroll of Web, Scroll of Darkvision, Scroll of Feather Fall, and a Scroll of Mirror Image. You can use these scrolls while you fight the spiders, but hold onto the Scroll of Feather Fall, because it’ll be your ticket into the Underdark after the boss.
Phase Spider Battle
When you come back out the path you entered from, there will be a cragged wall that you can scale. At the top, you will see why the Spiderstep Boots are handy; there are web bridges above the area that help for maneuvering. You will also notice two phase spiders and two ettercaps below you, wandering around the paths (1). We found that giving the boots to the party’s rogue and having them sneak across the bridges to the eastern side of the chamber was the most effective (2). From there, they can volley ranged attacks on the enemies while they fight the main group.
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Try to start the fight with a strong first round and take out one of the phase spiders — they’re the more deadly foes. If they teleport on the web bridge behind you, attack the bridge to make them fall for some damage. After defeating them, you will want to loot the ‘Apprentice’s Pack’ by a skeleton that is towards the center of where the paths converge. It will start the quest, Search the Cellar (you might have already started it by exploring behind the hidden bookcase in the Blighted Village).
The Forge
From the center of the depths, there are two ways to go to the forge; both are through ‘cracked walls’ on the eastern side of the map. You might have seen one when sending your rogue across the spider bridges for the fight. The opening is by those webbed bridges, up some stone steps.
The other is entrance is more to the north. You’ll see a cracked wall after your party crosses a web bridge over a river. This cracked wall (by the river) requires a perception check, while the one (closer to the well entrance) does not. Have your characters attack the wall to bring it down, opening a way into the forge.
Be careful when approaching the northeast corner of the forge. You will see a ladder to a landing above; the problem is there’s a bomb trap (perception check) next to the ladder that will blow up and render the ladder useless. If the ladder does explode (either from your characters not noticing it, or failing to disarm it), then you can stack crates to make steps up to the landing(1). The Steelforged Shortsword and Infernal Iron in the chest are worth the hassle, although the chest’s lock will have to be picked. Be sure to open the chest next to the base of the ladder and grab ‘Highcliff’s Blueprints’; they will start the quest ‘Finish the Masterwork Weapon‘(2).
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You will want to search every crate in the forge because there are a plethora of useful items, like thieves’ tools, to be snatched up. Also, head up the stairs in the forge and pull the lever by the shabby doors, unlocking them. This way, you can easily and quickly come back to the forge when you finish the master work weapon quest.
The Boss Area
The final area is the most difficult, and you might want to hold off on tackling it until you are a higher level (level 5). There are quite a few nuances to fighting the boss, but be aware that there is a strategy of knocking the boss into a chasm that makes it very easy (at the cost of the boss’s loot).
When the boss and enemies have been dealt with, explore the far western path and that will unlock the fast travel point for the Whispering Depths. If you took the time to progress the quest, ‘Search the Cellar’, then you will find a key quest item by the central chasm, The Dark Amethyst (1). If you’re feeling brave (and leveled enough), you can use your Scroll of Feather Fall that you found earlier to jump into the central green chasm and safely descend to the Underdark (2).
Kelson is a spud head from out west. He is most happy when holding a milky tea with too much honey and playing a sprawling role playing game or reading a fantasy novel. His video game tastes vary but his main genres are looter shooters, RPGs, and real time strategy games.
