Javier, I think this is a fair point - going by information from earlier books, we might expect that "magic" weapons such as the Jewelled Mace and the Dagger of Vashna would work.
The Helghast is specially named as a "Gnaag Helghast" though - perhaps they are a new breed? :)
In terms of gameplay in the book, however, I think it is not too bad, because if you don't have the Sommerswerd, the book will let you get Paido's sword instead - so there will not be a problem for the player. Moreover, if you are foolish enough to have lost the Sommerswerd on previous adventures, that would be a terrible mistake for the forces of Ishir! :)
-- David Davis
Hi there,
I just played through the Jungle of Horrors and I have, after finishing it, review the sections related to the fight with the Gnaag Helghast (starts in section 60) in the Monastery of the Sword.
Sorry if this has been discussed before but, isn't it strange that you can only fight this Helghast with either the Sommerswerd or Paido's sword? If you chose any other course of action you will be killed by the Helghast (option "If you wish to attack the Helghast with a hand weapon", in section 211)
There are some other magical weapons that can be found in other adventures which are acknowledged as magical in other books and could be used to kill the Helghast. I think this only includes, the Dagger of Vashna, obtained in "The Chasm of Doom" and the the Jewelled Mace (found in section 35 of "Shadow on the Sand"). This does happens in other books, for example, in "The Captives of Kaag" you can combat a Helghast with the Jewelled Mace or the Dagger of Vashna (section 12 -> 330).
It is not unreasonable to think that somebody might *not* have the Sommerswerd and have some other magical weapon [1]. Maybe a footnote should be added to Section 211 in 08tjoh mentioning this?
Regards
Javier
[1] This might happen to somebody even if he started playing in LW#1. If, for example, he started "Castle Death" with the Sommerswerd (and keep other magical weapons in the monastery) and missed section 15 in that book (it's the only possibility of recovering your Special Items after you are thrown to the Labyrinth so you might lose the Sommerswerd here!)