On the Offensive – Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard

This is a guide for On the Offensive, Chapter 2 of the Lizardfolk campaign in Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard. It includes a detailed walkthrough, a handy map, and a table listing all the points you can earn throughout the mission.

On the Offensive Map

Legend

1. Nexus
2. Troglodyte Surveyors
3. Duergar Mine
4. Lizard War Totem
5. Ettin Village
6. Order of the Flame Nexus
7. Bridge
8. Arctic Minotaur
9. Qabalrin Relic
10. Umber Hulk
11. Val’nath the Necromancer

Exits:

• A: Tunnel. In order to get to this tunnel, enemies will have to pass right by your nexus. That means you’ll probably have the entire underworld to yourself for this chapter.

Description

The Lizardfolk trek high atop a mountain pass and set out to destroy the invaders’ encampment. As open war ensues, Wowen and his scaled companions make a startling discovery.

New Units

• Chameleon Rogue
• Troglodyte Surveyor

Walkthrough

As soon as you start the chapter, a chameleon rogue will come up to you and tell you about a “hideous lair that reeks of death” (#11). And not far from your starting position, you’ll find four troglodyte surveyors (#2) that will join your cause. Between those five units and the shamans and fighters that will arrive with your champion, you’ll find yourself with a pretty decent army at the start of the chapter.

So start building up your nexus, and then head into the underworld. You’ll find numerous minotaurs in the southern part of the underworld, and they’re the easiest enemies to fight in the early stages of the chapter. Later, you should head north and take on the umber hulk (#10) and the necromancer (#11).

As long as you leave a couple units at your nexus (#1), and upgrade the walls of your nexus, then you shouldn’t have to worry too much about attacks from the Order of the Flame. Their units will always cross through the center of the map, attack your nexus for a bit, and then retreat. If you’d like to kill off the attacking army rather than just drive it away, then station some units at the ettin village (#5), and use them to come in behind the enemy when they’re attacking your nexus.

Once you’ve built up your army, both in numbers and in levels, send them at the enemy nexus (#6). If you have your army cross by the lizard war totem (#4) on the way there, then your units should have a fairly significant advantage over the Order of the Flame, and it shouldn’t be very difficult to destroy the nexus.

Once the nexus is down, you’ll be attacked by some Umbragen units, and you’ll receive a new objective: to destroy the bridge at the northern edge of the map (#7). There are two areas of the bridge that you’ll need to target with your units, and once they’ve both been destroyed, the chapter will end.

1 – Nexus

2 – Troglodyte Surveyors

3 – Duergar Mine

The duergar leader here will tell you that the duergar are warring with the ettins (#5), and that one of their exploration parties went into the underworld but hasn’t yet returned. Since the exploration party will be needed for an upcoming battle, the duergar leader will ask you to track it down.

You’ll find the journal of the exploration party at #8. When you take it back to the duergar, they’ll ask you to help in their battle against the ettins, which will take place in two minutes right next to your nexus (#1). Any duergar that survive the battle will join your cause.

Note: You can’t help the duergar and the ettins (#5). If you take a quest from one you won’t be allowed to take the quest from the other.

4 – Lizard War Totem

If you control this place of power, your units will do 25% extra damage.

5 – Ettin Village

On the way to the ettin village (#5), you’ll run into a pair of ettins (#5a). They’ll ask for you to help them defend their village from the Order of the Flame. After the battle, they’ll also ask you to help them in their battle against the duergar (#3), which will take place in two minutes right next to your nexus (#1). Any ettins that survive that final battle will join your cause.

Note: You can’t help the duergar (#3) and the ettins. If you take a quest from one you won’t be allowed to take the quest from the other.

6 – Order of the Flame Nexus

7 – Bridge

8 – Arctic Minotaur

When you kill the arctic minotaur, it will drop a duergar journal. Depending on what you’ve done on the surface, the duergar there (#3) might want the journal.

9 – Qabalrin Relic

The Qabalrin relic is a place of power. If you control it, then it will give nearby units a bonus to their physical damage reduction.

10 – Umber Hulk

When you approach this spot, an umber hulk will rise up out of the water and attack you. The umber hulk probably is supposed to be tough, but every time we’ve fought it, it’s spent way more time moving around than attacking. When the umber hulk dies, it will drop a champion artifact: umber hulk ichor.

11 – Val’nath the Necromancer

Points Chart