Endless Paths of Od Nua Level 15 is an area in Pillars of Eternity, and the fifteenth and last floor of the Endless Paths of Od Nua.
Background[ | ]
Situated over a well of souls created by the confluence of adra veins that then pass on into the heart of the world, this is the deepest level of the Endless Paths, where the construction of the great titan of Od Nua began. Sealed away for two millennia by Od Nua's power, it became the safe domain of one of the most powerful creatures in all of Eora: the adra dragon Sefyra.
Walkthrough[ | ]
- From where you enter, you have to travel north-east to a short set of stairs, then south-east. At this point, there are some glowing portals/vents containing gems. Unless you are moving very stealthily, 3 Xaurip will attack you here.
- Further to the south-east you will battle a Xaurip, a Xaurip Champion, and a Xaurip High Priest. More glowing portals contain loot, mainly gems. Down another set of steps to the south on the west side are 3 Xaurip.
- In an area at the south-west corner are 2 Xaurip Skirmishers, 2 Xaurip Champions, and a Xaurip High Priest. These are of no interest except for their loot.
- Heading towards the center of the area, you will see the feet of the giant statue whose head you found near the top level. Then to the south-east, you will encounter a set of ruined steps. A scripted interaction allows you to climb down these safely if everyone in your party has at least 5 in the Athletics skill, otherwise they will be afflicted by a Twisted Ankle. You can return the same way. The area to the south-west of this point is empty.
- Proceeding to the center of this map, you encounter an Adra Dragon - the Master Below. You can converse with it to learn that she entered as a hatchling, and has absorbed the souls of those who died here since, and is also feeding off the giant statue.
- With Perception 16, you can learn that eventually the Adra in the giant statue will run out, and she will die.
- You can offer to help her leave, by transferring her soul to another vessel. For this purpose, you get The Dragon's Amulet (also referred to as an Adra dragon scale).
- With Resolve 18, ...you tell the dragon she will die if she fights you. She agrees you are strong, and will be an interesting soul once joined to the chorus. This grants a significant amount of XP, and begins the fight with the dragon.
- Otherwise, you will fight a very tough battle with her and some other creatures.
- If you offered to help the dragon, turn back, and see The Master Below for the remainder of this quest.
- If you continue to the south-east before completing the quest, ignoring a warning, you will encounter two Xaurip Champions, and the Adra Dragon will be drawn into the battle, terminating the quest. In this case, your life will be a bit easier if you dispatch the Xaurip first.
- In the northeastern corner is the dragon's hoard, which can be accessed when The Master Below is complete. It contains several pieces of unique equipment and a few thousand copper.
Enemies[ | ]
Loot[ | ]
Notable loot[ | ]
- Little Savior, a unique small shield.
- Minoletta's Grimoire, a unique grimoire.
- Puitènte med Príncipi, a unique scepter.
- Vengiatta Rugia, unique padded armor.
- Wendgär, unique crossbow.
Containers[ | ]
- 1-2x Adra Bán
- 1-2x Ruby
- 1-2x Sapphire
- 1-2x Emerald
- Random potion/scroll (Rand_Potion_Scroll_9_10_100)
Behind the scenes[ | ]
- A chest containing all parts of the Blade of the Endless Paths is found at the base of the stairs, but it disabled in the release version of the game. This was presumably used for testing,
- This area contains developer commentary, however there is no way to trigger it in-game. It describes the process of creating a suitable arena for the dragon battle, how temporary substitutes were used for the dragon and the statue of Od Nua, and that the idea of fighting in knee-deep water was abandoned.
It wasn't easy to find a way to place two giant legs in this scene without obscuring everything else. There wasn't a statue prop when the area was being blocked out, so for a long time it was represented by one of the human NPC models we use for scale, and the statue had these giant bright red shoes.
Apart from that, the bigger concern was obviously to create a suitable arena for the battle with the dragon, and ensure that there wasn't anywhere it couldn't follow you on the map. We didn't have the adra dragon model at the time either, so the part was played by a scaled-up drake. At one point the fight was going to happen in knee-deep water, but in the end it just didn't look as cool as it sounded, and we decided that it was more trouble than it was really worth.