"Neverwinter" - Kessell's Retreat Quiz

Answer: Cryshal-Tirith

Upon confronting Kessell towards the end of the dungeon, he will introduce himself. While introducing himself, he identifies himself as the "master of Cryshal-Tirith." Cryshal-Tirith is an Arcane Tower with Power rivaling the famous Ring of Winter. However, unlike the Ring of Winter, the Cryshal-Tirith is imbued with Black Ice properties. What this means is, unlike the Ring of Winter, where people who survive the blast can stick around after the fact to potentially rebuild their ruined territory, if the Cryshal-Tirith were allowed to be repaired and used, it would kill everyone the blast hit. Those the blast didn't hit would be arguably worse off; the Black Ice would corrupt their brains, and much like radiation after a nuclear bomb, it would essentially rot away at their flesh and bones, turning them into Wight soldiers who Kessell would then be able to command.

Answer: Psionic

Akar Kessell does hold control over the Wight soldiers of Icewind Dale. It's easy to understand if this caused you to select the Necromantic option, but there's one key trait that would prove that Kessell is not a Necromancer; he cannot control these Wights with his natural born powers.

The Wights are at his command because Kessell has a vast assortment of minions who contribute their powers towards controlling these Wights at his command. This means that it is not Kessell himself directly controlling them. Kessell himself practices the Psionic arts, and this is made very clear during your fight against him.

He will utilize his Black Ice based Psionic powers to frequently control and stun players who cannot defend themselves from his attacks.

He can blind you, he can throw you a moderate distance, he can lock your body into one place temporarily, and he can drain your character of their willpower and remove a portion of their Action Points. A good character to compare Kessell to would be Cthylar the Illithilich of Castle Never, as Cthylar also practices the Psionic arts.

Answer: Drizzt Do'Urden

Over a century ago, the human, living version of Akar Kessell tried to take over the Icewind Dale with his Cryshal-Tirith Arcane Tower. Drizzt intervened at the last second, by infiltrating the Tower and killing Kessell. Throughout the Icewind Dale campaign, rumors of Kessell's reanimating begin to come to fruition, but a lot of characters in Caer Koenig will dismiss these rumors, given their lack of basis.

However, clearly these rumors ended up being all too true, and it is now up to the player to repeat what Drizzt did so long ago.

Answer: One of the Chests has a chance to yield another key to it, which can be taken and used to essentially receive a third chest

There is a chance, albeit a small one, that a Kessell's Retreat Key can be found inside the second Treasure Chest. If this happens, you can take the key and all the treasure inside it, close the chest, use the newly acquired key to reopen it, and have a brand new assortment of goodies waiting inside. In theory, if one were lucky enough, they could endlessly continue to open, close, and reopen this Chest, being showered with rewards in the process.

For myself, personally, I've had it happen twice to date where I was able to open the chest five times in one sitting. I've been a part of a party where a friend of mine got to open this chest nine times. Unfortunately, there are no world-class caliber goods inside the chest, but there are certainly things worth having here, including but not limited to the Black Ice Beholder artifact, Black Ice Band, Black Ice Belt, and the useful Black Ice Sliver.

Answer: Kessell's Retreat Key

The Kessell's Retreat Key can be crafted, although it's worth debating how worthwhile it is based on the cost of crafting it compared with the potential for making good on the investment. There are items and goods worth having, but for an end game player, there is not going to be anything worth equipping in this chest. That being said, the ceiling for rewards is fairly low.

It will cost three Gold, three Dwarf Gold, three Auril's Tears, and ten Konig Coins to craft this Key.

Answer: Killing Black Ice Golems and causing them to explode near Kessell

Anytime a Black Ice Golem is killed, it will explode and freeze anything it struck. While Kessell will not be frozen by this, he will take moderate damage from a Black Ice Golem explosion. This creates a side task for Guardian Fighters Tanking this fight; if possible, it can be worth walking away from Kessell for awhile to generate Threat against nearby Black Ice Golems, then using the Threat to draw them towards Kessell for a DPS teammate to kill. Just make sure to have your shield up for the explosion, so that the plan does not backfire!

Answer: Zero

Kessell's Retreat and Shores of Tuern are the only dungeons in the entire game that have only one boss, with no mini bosses. This means the dungeon itself is quick to run at the expense of not being able to earn loot or Seals off of mini bosses.

Answer: Curse of Icewind Dale

This Module launched on May 13, 2014. It introduced many new revolutionary things to the game, and is considered to have been the Module which truly gave depth to "Neverwinter." Other than this dungeon, it also introduced the Icewind Dale campaign itself, it introduced Heroic Encounters, it invented Overflow Experience, and for those who wanted to transfer items on one character to another without tediously needing to mail it, this Module also introduced the Shared Account Bank.

Answer: Black Ice

Black Ice drops off of a multitude of enemies in this dungeon. It can also be founded in high quantity in one of the two Treasure Chests located in the end of the dungeon.

Answer: He disappears

Akar Kessell will yell a horrified, pain filled yell before disappearing into thin air. It is not imminently clear if Kessell has been slain for good, or if he will return one day. One thing that is for certain, however, is that the immediate threat has been put out.

Answer: Yes

As an epic dungeon, Kessell's Retreat is by no means easy to go through solo. However, it is definitely doable. The enemies do not come in overwhelming numbers, a good number of them, such as Skeletal Frost Giants, Polar Bear Riders and Black Ice Golems, hit very slowly and can be easily dodged. What's more, the battlefields always offer high maneuverability, and you can use this to position yourself as advantageously as possible. Finally, Akar Kessell himself does not hit very hard and only periodically summons Rimefire Golems to join him the fight, Golems which you can promptly turn against him. The Black Ice Beholders that join Kessell are annoying, but are also not too imposing offensively. The fight is not easy, but it is doable

If you don't want to take my word for it, perhaps proof of me soloing this dungeon will prove it for you:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz3vIaQgFto&feature=youtu.be

Answer: Black Ice Beholders

Much like Tal'Gath, these Beholders will attempt to disrupt you with many control powers. Thankfully, they are nowhere near as bulky or hard hitting as Tal'Gath. However, being two instead of one, contending with them along with Kessell and his Golems can be tricky. Getting dazed by the Shadow Balls Kessell shoots can quickly get you into trouble, allowing the Beholders to strike you with their control powers uninterrupted.

Answer: Black Ice

Rank 5 Black Ice Enchantments will drop frequently throughout the dungeon. Rank 4 Black Ice Enchantments also Drop very commonly inside the Treasure Chests. Finally, Lesser Corrupted Black Ice Enhancements are also semi-regular in these Chests.

Answer: Polar Bear Riders charging at you

While all of these, save for the Polar Bear Riders throwing their spears, are important to monitor, none are more important for close up Fighters to keep track of than Polar Bear Riders charging. It is imperative to elude them as they charge; they will knock you down, regardless of if you had your shield up if applicable, if they hit you.

This is really bad because entering Combat Disadvantage against a big group of enemies could prove to be fatal. Thankfully, you have a reasonable amount of time to dodge this, as the Polar Bear Riders take about three seconds after preparing the attack to begin to charge.

Answer: Interlopers

Shortly after introducing himself, Kessell will command his Black Ice Beholders to slay you, and will refer to you as an interloper. Regardless as to whether or not you came in alone, he will use the plural "interlopers".