My second attempt on the higher level in Stone's fortress was much, much easier. After loading my latest save and re-killing the last skeleton on the wall, I walked down the ramp so my creature could follow, and then turned left and continued along the wall around the next corner (same direction I went before). The next two opponents I fought together, but they were not terribly difficult, even with a skeleton archer on the wall above me (that I had passed), who I mostly couldn't target and barely came into view (though he didn't seem to have too much trouble getting a few shots off at me). Once I killed the two on the ground I turned to focus on the one on the wall, and moved around a bit until I could see and target him. The creature didn't draw anyone else into the fight... when I walked down the ramp and turned left, it walked or fell off the right side, and then apparently got stuck trying to run through the ramp, only coming around when I went back to look for it.
After finishing off that section of the fortress, I took a quick flight over to another rock (with the entrance to the Inner Passage). I wasn't too far from level 27 when I finished off the opponents in the vicinity of where I entered that fortification, so left to check merchants. In Aleroth I bought a level 9 Static Charge enchantment formula (second try), and a piece of armour with a level 9 Magic Damage aura enchantment (first try). I wasn't expecting anything from the merchant in Dragon Cliff Castle, but I remembered there were a couple things I wanted to sell that I didn't in Aleroth; he had a necklace with a level 10 Static Charge enchantment. In High Hall I got something with Retribution Aura 10, and at the harbour a shield with Increase Mana 10 (I reloaded once at the harbour merchant, but he had nothing but mid level formula).
In the bunker I got a shield with a level 10 Magic Protection enchantment, and a bracelet (+8 Dexterity, +2 Poison Arrow, 2 charm slots, 1 enchantment - Magic Damage Aura 10), both on the first try. I equipped the bracelet, loosing the one I had with +2 Ranger Strength; between putting one skill point in myself and the dexterity damage bonus I came out slightly ahead. I changed my down D-pad direction to Poison Arrow rather than Crystal Skull (it is relatively easy to get to by pausing and hitting a shoulder button).
I returned to the fortress and cleared the rest of that rock, then took the teleporter to the Inner Passage (Poison Arrow came in handy a couple times there). Due to a slight error in tactics, the fight with Xanlosch and Isabelle didn't go quite as well as I would have hoped. I got off a shot after the conversation ended and then headed out and off to the right a bit to get some room; when I turned, Xanlosch was attacking my creature and Isabelle was coming after me, but not terribly close. I fired an explosive arrow at Xanlosch, figuring as long as he didn't react right away, I would be able to follow with a close range Splitting Arrow for Isabelle and then move for another attack. He reacted right away. I don't know what my creature did after that, but it wasn't helping me, and I didn't last long with both of them focusing on me. I reloaded my save in the Inner Passage and left the way I came in; I want to take out the generator to get Xanlosch to summon a couple flying demons, but I have not cleared any of the anti-dragon defenses yet in the fortress or taken out any flying opponents, which I should probably do first.
At that point I figured I should clear up some of the remaining lower level opponents in the fjords, so went and defeated Moor and Alrik, and cleaned out the ultimate creature cave, the bandit hideout and the imp cave.
I went through Bellegar's cave of moral choices first making all good choices, but despite the many stat points I have in reserve I didn't want to give up 3 points for the extra loot that gave (none of it was usable for my character build). After a reload, and trying all evil choices, my good / selfish mix of choices resulted in an empty chest.
I mindread the trader in the Red Hammer goblin cave, bought a couple pieces of jewelry with Damage Aura 9 and Magic Damage Aura 10, and sold off excess loot and 8 diamonds to clean him out of gold. Then after speaking to Svadilfari came back and killed him.
Since I was close to going up a level, I visited most of the merchants, without reloading, and got a piece of jewelry in Aleroth with Magic Damage Aura 9 and some armour from the harbour smith with Magic Damage Aura 10.
Next I headed to Raze's fortress. The first group of opponents brought me up to level 28, meaning I could use the Bow of Orobas. I also went through the armour I had been hanging on to, to replace the mining guild set pieces, and upgraded my gauntlets as well. Most of the replacement pieces were enchanted with level 9 Life Line, as were what they replaced. A set of elder leggings got Life Line and Increased Mana 9, while Amdusias' Helmet got Life Line and Magical Protection 9 (and since it had a +2 Mana Efficiency skill bonus and I already had 5 points into it, I visited my trainer to raise the level cap of the skill).
My damage went from 189-243 (2-5) to 244-382 (112-130), while mana went from 234 to 441. My hit points went up slightly (767 to 776); Ranged Armour Rating went up 2, while Melee and Magic went down 4 and 1, respectively. Vitality went up 5, while Dexterity went down 4; Spirit went from 2 to 23.
After clearing the first rock, I flew over to the one with multiple levels and fortifications on it, leading up to the teleporter to the headquarters. At the first fortification, my creature ran in to attack the closest opponent, and attracted a fair bit of attention. I defeated the first group, then explored the rest of the area, which appeared empty. So while I was standing near the base of one of the anti-dragon ballistas, a magical attack came through the structure; I couldn't target anyone and there were no opponents visible, so I moved a little bit and figured the opponents would be coming around the structure. Instead, I got attacked a couple more times (triggering a Static Charge retaliation) and then Rush Attacked, killing me.
I reloaded, and the next time my creature entered he attracted a bit more attention that the first time. I moved back out of the fortification entrance to avoid some magic missiles, and thought I could finish off the three who followed before needing to heal. I was correct, but no sooner did I finish off the last one than I was Rush Attacked by another.
After reloading again, I visited my necromancer to switch back to a mage head. This time my creature didn't attract as much attention, though I did have to fight several near the entrance (one of whom dropped an epic necklace: +3 Firewall, +9 Intelligence, +6 Indomitable Will). I ran into the same problem with a couple opponents attacking through the ballista base (with my creature casting Magic Missiles at the structure and running up and trying to melee attack). I was expecting that, though, and simply withdrew, and they soon popped into view and could be targeted.
After clearing the next fortification I took out a demon that dropped some epic earrings (+3 Ranger Surprise, +8 Ranged Damage, +6 Heightened Reflexes); too bad the skill bonus wasn't something I'd use.
I ran into a couple 'Fire' archers after that, the first of which really liked using Explosive Arrows (which hurt, BTW). The second preferred using Splitting Arrows, and was much easier to defeat.
Before the top section (with the teleporter to the headquarters), I was almost up to level 29, so headed to Aleroth to check the merchants there and sell off some loot. I bought some replacement earrings, with +2 Poison Arrows (like the ones I was using) and +8 Dexterity (rather than +1 Ranged Damage). I didn't bother checking any other merchants.
After returning to the flying fortress and finishing off the rock I was on (leveling up, and leaving the headquarters for later), I flew over to a couple of the smaller ones, where a demon dropped an epic necklace (+3 Summon Demon, +10 Magic Damage, +6 Indomitable Will). That wasn't useful, but from a nearby chest I got an epic ring (+66 HP, +0.11 HP Regeneration, +71 Mana), which I equipped and changed the enchantments to Static Charge and Magic Damage Aura 9.
This pretty much finished off the ground section of Raze's flying fortress, except for the headquarters. In a quick check there, the opponents were a little tougher than the rest of the fortress (unsurprisingly) and in slightly larger groups, with a few of the rangers using exploding arrows. They were not too tough (though I did have to heal more frequently), but I'm assuming I'll probably have to be a little higher level to do damage fast enough to my namesake that he isn't constantly heading for the regeneration chambers.
