Kobold Cave - Pool of Radiance

This guide will help you navigate the Kobold Cave in Pool of Radiance.

Kobold Cave Map

Area Note

You’ll receive two quests for the Kobold Cave: one from the silver dragon in the Dragon Cave in the Wilderness, and one from the Council Clerk in the Civilized District of New Phlan.

1 – Pool of Water

A character (usually the one you have highlighted) will fall into a pool of water here. The game will say that some “items” were lost in the rescue of the character, but it’s actually money that you’ll lose. So plan ahead and let your poorest character lead the way.

2 – Mine Tailings

Here you can find a pile of “mine tailings” (journal entry 42).

3 – Kobold

A kobold here will approach you waving a white flag and offer to pay you for a truce. If you “agree,” the kobold will lead you directly to the wyvern at #14. If you “refuse” or “kill it,” the kobold will cause the ceiling to collapse on you (for minor damage), and then a bunch of kobolds will attack.

4 – Princess Fatima

You’ll meet Princess Fatima here, and she’ll tell you how she came to be captured by the kobolds (journal entry 16). If you want, you can let her join your party; otherwise, you can kill her or leave her on her own. There aren’t any quests associated with Fatima, and she’ll leave once you exit the cave, so the choice is yours.

5 – Fatima’s Cell

6 – Barracks

Here you’ll find a map on the wall (journal entry 28). It shows how to reach the Nomad Camp from the Kobold Cave.

7 – Throne

When you approach the throne, you’ll be attacked by three waves of creatures.

Wave 1: Four trolls and a mess of kobolds.

Wave 2: Five wild boars and a mess of kobolds.

Wave 3: Two envoys, two trolls, two wild boars, and a few kobolds. The envoys will drop two-handed swords +2.

Between the first two waves your party will be hit by a ballista for minor damage. You might want to try continuing the battle a few rounds after the second wave, to drink potions and cast healing spells (if you try that after the first wave, the trolls might pop back up).

This is a difficult set of battles. Don’t try it until you have at least two “fireball” spells at your disposal, and then save at least one “fireball” for each of the first two waves. If you’re using a slowdown program to play the game, you might want to instead run the game normally for these battles, just so they don’t take 20 minutes or more to complete (especially since the game tends to crash in the middle of them, and you might have to attempt them multiple times).

The kobold king will flee after the third wave. You’ll find him at #9.

8 – King’s Quarters

Just in case you didn’t see enough of them at the throne, you’ll face more trolls, wild boars and kobolds here.

9 – King’s Body

When you arrive here, you’ll find that the kobold king fell into his own spiked pit and died.

10 – Brass Bottle

If you “look” here, you’ll find a brass bottle jammed into a crack in the wall. This is the “silver bottle” the dragon in the Dragon Cave might have asked you to find. When you pull the bottle out, an efreeti will appear and ask if you’re a vampire. If you tell the truth and say “no,” then the efreeti will become upset and tell you to only call him when a vampire is near. If you lie or attack the efreeti, then you’ll fight him and earn a little experience. The efreeti bottle can be used later in the game (when you visit the graveyard), so it’s best not to kill the efreeti.

11 – Treasure

The treasure isn’t all that exciting (50,000 copper pieces being the main attraction), but you’ll earn close to 7000 total experience for finding it.

12 – Kobold Battle

13 – Spike Trap

14 – Wyvern

The wyvern is tough, but it’s all by itself, and you should be able to kill it quickly. It won’t drop any treasure when it dies.

15 – Treasure

Here you’ll find some money and jewels, plus a military fork +1 and a short sword +1.

16 – Old, Crippled Kobold

The kobold will ask you for some water. If you “give it water,” it will tell you a tale (journal entry 20). If you “threaten” it or “attack” it, then it will disappear.