Defend the Heart of Siberys – Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard

This is a guide for Defend the Heart of Siberys, Chapter 7 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.

Defend the Heart of Siberys Map

Legend

1. Nexus
2. Umbragen Nexus
3. Shrines of Siberys
4. Heart of Siberys
5. Order of the Flame Nexus
6. Scorpion Folk
7. Mausoleum
8. Umbragen Artifacts
9. Pyrohydra
10. Beholders
11. Marilith

Exits:

• A: Tunnel.
• B: Tunnel.
• C: Tunnel.

Description

With their city restored, the Lizardfolk advance towards the Heart of Siberys. There, they must defend the great dragonshard from both the Order and Umbragen. The final battle is at hand.

Walkthrough

This chapter is basically a game involving the Heart of Siberys. As the Lizardfolk, your goal is to protect the Heart. Meanwhile, the Umbragen will try to drain the Heart by sending tainted priestesses to underground artifacts (#8), and the Order of the Flame will try to charge the Heart by sending clerics to surface shrines (#3). The bar at the top of the screen will show the status of the Heart. If the bar moves all the way to the left or the right, then you’ll lose the chapter.

Fortunately, the Order of the Flame and the Umbragen will fight each other as well as you, so it’s not as difficult to guard the three artifacts and the three shrines as it might otherwise be. But still, there are a lot of places on the map where you might need to send you army at a moment’s notice, and so the best thing you can do is remove one of the enemy factions as quickly as possible.

The best target for this is the Umbragen. That’s because their artifacts are much farthest away from your nexus (#1) than the shrines. In particular, the Umbragen will typically target the western artifact, and the underground entrance leading to it (Exit B) is located in the northwestern corner of the map, and that’s a long trek from your nexus — not to mention that it’s located right next to the Order of the Flame nexus (#5).

So play defensively for a while, and try to kill some of the bosses in the underworld, such as the nearby scorpion folk (#6) and necromancer (#7), so you can gain experience and gold. The Umbragen and the Order of the Flame will constantly send out units, so upgrading your army shouldn’t be a problem. Then once you’ve gotten your army to at least level 4, head for the Umbragen nexus (#2) and take it out (by attacking and retreating if you need to).

Once the Umbragen faction is history, dealing with the Order of the Flame should be relatively easy. That’s because the three shrines are close to your nexus, and you shouldn’t have any problem sending your army off to defeat any clerics who might decide to start the charging ceremony. Plus, after defeating the Umbragen, your army will probably be at maximum level, and if you use the Umbragen nexus to add monuments and further upgrade your units, then sweeping through the Order of the Flame nexus should be straightforward.

Once both the Umbragen and the Order of the Flame have been destroyed, the chapter (and the campaign) will end.

1 – Nexus

2 – Umbragen Nexus

3 – Shrines of Siberys

4 – Heart of Siberys

5 – Order of the Flame Nexus

6 – Scorpion Folk

The scorpion folk will drop a scorpion stinger when it dies.

7 – Mausoleum

You’ll find the mausoleum guarded by a necromancer and a few skeleton units. The necromancer will drop three rings of necromancy when it dies.

The mausoleum itself will (temporarily) grant you a skeleton fighter each time one of your non-soldier units dies.

8 – Umbragen Artifacts

9 – Pyrohydra

The pyrohydra will drop a sword of cinders when it dies.

10 – Beholders

You’ll find three beholders here, but they won’t drop anything interesting when they die.

11 – Marilith

The marilith won’t drop anything when it dies, but behind it you’ll find a talisman of vitality.

Points Chart