| "Butterscotch. King Reginald has sent the three princes royal to guard this land, and warn him if evil threatens to master it. Between them, the princes hold the secret of this land's Portal Gem. Convert these princes to your side, and they will surely reveal it to you. If any Prince either dies, or escapes to his father's side, then the secret of the Portal Gem will be lost to us, and we will never reach the sunlit kingdom of the heroes." |
| — The Mentor, level briefing |
Interception, located in Butterscotch, is the 19th (counting each multiple-choice level as only one, and not counting bonus levels) and penultimate level of the Dungeon Keeper 2 campaign. In this level, the goal is to capture all three Princes and convert them to your side in the Torture Chamber. If even one dies, or escapes, the realm is lost.
If one of the princes is hurt by an attack, he will alert his brothers, which triggers them to rout the level immediately.
Breakdown[]
| "Interception"- Butterscotch |
|---|
| Primary Goal |
| Proselytize the three Princes to your cause |
| Ancillary Goal(s) |
| Keep them from getting away, lest you lose the gem
The Princes must not be allowed to perish before conversion, lest you lose the gem |
| Red Keeper (Human) | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creature Limit | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Starting Gold | 17250 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Starting Forces | 4 Imps | ||||||||||||||||||
May Attract
| |||||||||||||||||||
May Create or Summon
| |||||||||||||||||||
Rooms
| |||||||||||||||||||
Spells
| |||||||||||||||||||
Traps & Doors
| |||||||||||||||||||
Strategy[]
This level requires much preparation from a player to be done properly. Enemies are abundant, and they will swarm the player's dungeon once its outer walls (those with gold tiles) are breached. Luckily, the player is secure from attacks as long as he keeps his already developed dungeon closed. His area is surrounded by lava from three and by solid rock from one side, which makes it almost impossible for the hero forces to break in as they lack a crossway over the lava. Furthermore, once the player's gold deposits are depleted, he can still use Create Gold spell to replenish reserves needed to pay creatures.
Right to the southwest, a neutral arena with a level ten Black Knight can be found. It should be claimed, so the player can use it to train his creatures up to level eight. A wise player should invest as much time as possible to prepare for combat. The lava lake around his base is occupied by Fairies and once the player digs to the outside, those Fairies, accompanied by some Giants, will directly head to the player's Dungeon Heart. While level four creatures may be able to fend them off with a slice of player spells support, level one creatures are totally lost here.
All surrounding lava lakes feature at least four Magical Items in total that increase creature level. They shouldn't be used all at once, but be kept in storage for quickly training up reinforcing creatures. However, if the player has an already prepared force of level eight creatures, two items can be consumed to spiral them up to level ten and make them more deadly in ambushing attacks (combat situations with single guards must proceed fast, so the patrolling prince's won't be caught in combat too). To the northwestern bank, right behind the lava lake, lies a "Reveal Map" item. It should be claimed and used to overwatch this level carefully. It should be kept in mind that the princes will rout altogether once only one of them gets attacked by any of the player's bloodthirsty beasts.
So micromanagement will serve the player well here. Carefully claiming the connecting paths when patrols are absent will enable the player to cast Turncoat or Thunderbolt to assassinate the patrol groups one after another when they return. Sometimes it is advised to simply drop a few creatures to kill a bunch of guards directly. When all prince's entourage has been wiped out, they should be left alone until the player has claimed most of the hero base. Thus, he can mount a sudden attack on all three princes at whatever spot he desires. It is important to assault them when they are in distance to any of the hero gates, so that none of them has room to escape. Two of them will have crossed patrol routes, while the third one is in the center of a huge room with no hero gate in range. This is the best moment for ambushing them. Now they just need to be imprisoned and thrown into the Torture Chamber. At this point, the level is as good as being finished.
