~B
--A random Crusaders of the Dark Savant FAQ--
Written by: Ravashack
v. 1.94
Mandatory Copyright information:
This file is copyright 2000 by Ravashack, a.k.a. Leo Wang in the non-internet
world. If you want to use any of the information here in any form, feel free
to contact me at asianfro@hotmail.com to get my permission--that way I can
keep better track of who's using it and who isn't. If I don't reply back,
then I'm busy at the moment and that the answer to whatever your request is
is no--never assume that I will automatically answer yes. Usage of this
document without my permission violates copyright laws, no matter what you say.
For an interesting essay on copyright myths by Brad Templeton, take a look at
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
and read to your heart's content.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A little "getting to know you" stuff and Contact Info:
This here is a FAQ for the game Crusaders of the Dark Savant. It can also be
used for people playing Wizardry Gold, which is the same thing with more bugs.
^_^ It is the first FAQ I have ever made, so feel free to point out the
mistakes, screw-ups, and suggestions that I'm sure will be in here to me at
asianfro@hotmail.com. This email address will ALWAYS be in use unless I update
this FAQ stating that I have closed this email. I have problems answering
email when it is not a normal working weekday however. (You do the math...)
If you wish to chat with me, I'm on ICQ as Orlandu. Of course, I'm not just
going to *give* out my UIN just like that--I want to know who you are before
I let you add me, which means I'll want an email or two from you to check that
you aren't the malicious type; I'm getting too much spam to be trusting
anymore. If you wish to avoid that hassle, I am also (occasionally) on the
Galaxynet IRC server as "Rava" or "Ravashack" on weekdays--just login to
www.galaxynet.org with a browser or use mIRC to connect to a Galaxynet server.
Minor updates such as spelling errors, typos, site additions, etc. will be
habitually done at http://www.gamefaqs.com. Major updates (such as adding a
new section or changing the format of the document) will be done to all the
sites that have this FAQ...or at least the administrator of the site or whoever
it is that manages the FAQs will be notifed of the update.
Emails asking about cheat codes, editors or about games I have not written a
FAQ about will go under the Block Sender list and be ignored for the rest of
time. If you need to look up something like that, just use a search engine
like www.google.com and type in your query.
Just so you know, an actual walkthrough of this game *requires* maps. The game
is just too big to do it effectively without them. Because of that, I cannot
enclose a full length walkthrough until I solve my map problem--otherwise I
would. It is currently in the works however.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The big appreciative 'Thank You' goes to
Llevram, who decided to help me out on this little venture by looking over my
pre-born FAQ and suggesting a lot of things--too many to thank him individually
on each section he suggested. His site is at:
http://www.softwarespecialties.com/
If you really have to cheat and aren't stingy about it, at least take a look at
the programs he's written for Wizardry 7, even though Wiz7Edit must be bought.
Excellent interface, and the Item Viewer Wiz7Item(a separate program) is more
accurate than the in-game methods! Llevram's always there to help you with
problems if you need him.
The folks on the Software Specialties board for the surprises that pop up
about the game every few days and so. You know who you are. Thanks for
putting up with me ever since I joined.
Sir-Tech Canada, for trying to get Wizardry 8 done even though they are having
difficulties. I know you guys will find a way...
D.W. Bradley, for being the brains behind the game. He's working with a
different company on a game similar in view to Dark Savant. If you liked
Crusaders of the Dark Savant, you'll probably like his upcoming game as it
seems similar. Try visiting http://www.heuristicpark.com. (Unfortunately
it is quite buggy...)
DSimpson a.k.a. ManyMoose, a GameFAQs FAQ writer, for unconsciously planting
the idea in my head that I should try writing a FAQ a year or so ago. The
lengths of his FAQs should only show that there is a wealth of information
inside.
Some of my friends at Panumbra, who reminded me of the existence of this game
with a few off-topic posts on the webboard.
Anyone who I've actually helped at the game for listening to me, and anyone
who I've missed. :)
Anyone who sent in a question not covered here. I appreciate the feedback
guys. :)
The folks at various game sites for being interested in my FAQ--especially
the ones that put it up.
GameFAQs and CJayC, just for being there (and posting this up).
Dallas on the GameFAQs message boards, for taking the time to review this
FAQ and give pointers about it.
Bernice Carter, a nice 40-something year old lady who wishes to point out that
not all avid gamers are young male "whippersnappers."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you want to doublecheck where this FAQ should be, go to
http://www.gamefaqs.com
and look. If you want to alert me to someone who may be ripping off my FAQ,
feel free to drop me a line--I will appreciate it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents:
1. Character Creation
* Male Vs. Female
* Races
* Classes
* Skill Selection
2. Party Creation
* The 'Super' Party
* The 'Quick and Easy' Party
* The 'Dual Class' Party
* The 'Blender' Party
* The 'Vanilla' Party
3. Picking Spells
* General Spellcasting
* Learning spells from books
* Commonly used spells
4. Survival 101
* Status Ailments
* Killing NPCs
* Inventory Management
5. Playing the Game
* Questionnaire Walkthrough
6. Version updates
* Sources
* Future Plans
7. Spoilers
* Items
* Gameplay
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Male vs. Female--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What's the difference? Females, when they start out, get a -2 in Strength, +1
in Personality, and a +1 in Karma compared to the base statistics given in the
manual. Males start out with the base statistics given in the manual.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Males-
Perks:
* Classes based on strength are easier to get for males.
* Males can wear the Cameo Locket
Flaws:
* See benefits of Females
* Cameo Locket is only attainable by importing a party from Bane of the Cosmic
Forge or saved game editing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Females-
Perks:
* Classes based on Personality will require 1 less point to get for females,
unless it has a strength requirement as well.
* Females can use certain items like Stud-Cuir Bras and Jazeraint Skirts.
(Sorry, no cross-dressers in the game.) Some of these items are the best for
the particular class the female may end up in.
* Females can become Valkyries, which are Lords with less experience point
requirements and no guaranteed starting Diplomacy.
Flaws:
* See benefits of Males
* Diamond Ring, one of the better female-only items, must be imported from Bane
or edited into the saved game.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Overall-
Use Male characters only if you are importing a game from Bane of the Cosmic
Forge, if you are rolling up a Fighter-type character or a Psionic, or you
cheat.
Use Female characters whenever you are rolling up a spellcaster and all other
situations that don't apply to male characters--you don't lose anything out of
it, and it gives you the option to class change into a Valkyrie later.
A chart of how many points the race needs to achieve a class
Sample Chart:
_____________________________________________________________________
| | | | |
| Class Name | STR | INT | PIE | VIT | DEX | SPE | PER | F? | Total |
|____________|_________________________________________|______|_______|
| | | | |
| Fighter | 3 | | | | | | | N | 3 |
|____________|_________________________________________|______|_______|
Explanations:
STR = Points towards Strength needed.
INT = Points towards Intelligence needed.
PIE = Points towards Piety needed.
VIT = Points towards Vitality needed.
DEX = Points towards Dexterity needed.
SPE = Points towards Speed needed.
PER = Points towards Personality needed.
F? = Should I use a Female for the class?
Y = Yes, it will lower the amount of points needed.
- = Doesn't matter
N = No, it won't help you in the points.
(Note: Any class with Y will have point distribution altered to reflect stat
changes for female characters)
Total = Total amount of points needed for the class.
Convenient Starting Professions
* A profession(s) which the race excels at naturally OR
A non-basic (not Fighter, Mage, Priest, or Thief) profession that can be
achieved with a below average amount of points out of all the races OR
A basic profession achievable within 2 points or less
Perks:
* Higher resistance to sleep spells.
* Combat-types can take advantage of a Race-specific weapon (Elven Bow).
* Decent spell point recharge rate.
Flaws:
* Strength- and Vitality-based classes harder to get in the beginning.
* Race has slightly lower hit points than normal
Suggestions:
* When picking an Elf, pick female unless you fully intend to make it a
fighting character
* Go for a spellcasting class
Perks:
* Character always start with Gossamer Gown (U), Gossamer Gown (L), Faerie
Stick, Faerie Dust(5), and Lt. Heal(3) regardless of class.
* Lower AC than other races
* Magic Resistance (i.e. to spells like Lifesteal or Make Wounds)
* Spell points return at a very quick rate.
* Natural spellcaster
* Race specific helmet (Faerie Cap)
* Race & class specific weapon (Cane of Corpus for the Faerie Ninja)
Flaws:
* Cannot use most weapons and armor
* Consistency of starting equipment prevents Faerie characters from using
sometimes irreplaceable equipment such as the Poet's Lute.
* Low carrying capacity
* Tends to have low amounts of hit points
* Mage
* Priest -- Most extended weapons available for Faeries are Priest/Bishop.
* Thief
* Alchemist
* Bard -- A pointless choice after playing as you do not get the Poet's Lute.
* Samurai -- A semi-useless choice as you cannot wear most decent armor.
Perks:
* Breathe Acid
* Acid resistance
* Mental Resistance
Flaws:
* Breathing Acid takes out a large percentage of stamina, regardless
of your level.
* Damage of Breath is based on amount of stamina used
Perks:
* Starting kit is very advanced compared to other characters
* Gain levels quickly compared to most classes
* May use a majority of weapons and the strongest armor available
* Greater than normal amount of hit points
Flaws:
* No spells
* Heavy armor weighs a LOT.
* Lessened skill points for Academia
Perks:
* Learns the Theological spells the fastest
* Healer
* Starts with healing potions
* Starts with a ranged weapon if not Faerie
* Automatically has the Diplomat skill
* Increased skill points for Academia
Flaws:
* Few attacking spells
* Poor armor selection
* Lessened skill points for weapon
Perks:
* Gets a LARGE boost in Skulduggery every level for a good while
* Class specific weapon (Thieves Dagger) that is cursed, allowing use as
a secondary weapon for thieves that change professions.
* Learns Ninjutsu
* Learns Legerdemain
* Learns Skulduggery
* Increased skill points to Physical
Flaws:
* No spells
* Class specific weapon is weak compared to other class specific weapons
* Becomes outdated after mid-game as other classes get better kit
* Poor armor selection
* Limited weapon selection
Perks:
* Learns Thamaturgical spells
* Learns Ninjutsu
* Can play musical instruments
* Learns Skulduggery
* Learns Legerdemain
* Starts with a Poet's Lute (unless character is a Faerie)
* Increased skill points to Physical
Flaws:
* Must be a female character to use the best protection available to the class
* Limited weapon selection
Perks:
* Learns Theosophical spells the fastest
* Class-specific accessory (PK Crystal)
* Starts with Shadow Cloak (unless character is a Faerie)
* Limited Healing capabilities (Heal Wounds, Lifesteal)
* Increased skill points to Academia
Flaws:
* Many monsters resist Mental attacks more often than other attacks, making
most of the spells available to the Psionic useless.
* Shadow Cloak useless if no Thief, Ninja, or Bard in party
Perks:
* Learns Alchemical spells the fastest
* Cannot be silenced
* Starts with Cherry Bomb (unless starting character is a Faerie)
* Class specific accessory (Medicine Bag)
* Increased skill points to Academia
* Limited Healing capabilities (Heal Wounds)
Flaws:
* Class specific accessory...stinks and is only found near the end of the
game.
Perks:
* Learns Theological spells
* Class-specific weapon (Maenad's Lance)
* May use a majority of weapons and the strongest armor available
* Anything a Lord can do, a Valkyrie can do better
* Healer
* Greater than normal amount of hit points
* Valkyries require less experience to gain a level
Flaws:
* Available to only female characters
* Heavy armor weighs a LOT.
Perks:
* Learns both Theological and Thaumaturgical spells
* Learns Diplomacy
* Can wear better armor than the Priest
* Healer
* Greatly increased skill points to Academia
Flaws:
* Spell progression is SLOW as research must be divided in half.
Perks:
* Learns Theological spells
* Learns Diplomacy
* May use a majority of weapons and the strongest armor available
* Starts with very good equipment
* Greater than normal amount of hit points
* Increased skill points to Weapon
Flaws:
* Very expensive class to attain
* Very expensive experience requirements
* Most things a Lord can do, a Valkyrie can do better
* Heavy armor weighs a LOT.
* Valkyries have smaller experience requirements.
Perks:
* Learns Kirijutsu
* Learns Alchemical spells
* Cannot be silenced
* Learns Ninjutsu
* Learns Hands and Feet
* AC benefits from Ninjutsu
* Learns Skulduggery
* Learns Legerdemain
* Limited Healing capabilities (Heal Wounds)
* Weapons Ninjas can use are useful
* Class specific weapons, armor, and accessory (Sai, Nunchuku, Ninjato,
Ninja Cowl, Ninja Garb(U), Ninja Garb(L), Tabi Boots, Blackbelt of 5
Flowers)
Flaws:
* Expensive class to attain
* Very expensive experience requirements
* Slightly decreased skill points to Academia
* Usage as a 'Jack of all Trades' creates difficulties mid-game
* Semi-limited weapon selection
* May only equip Ninja Cowl, Ninja Garb(U) & (L), Tabi Boots, and race
specific items for armor
Swimming: Everyone needs to have at least a 10 in swimming before attempting
to enter the water to practice. There are three places to practice without
wasting too much time: New City (using the fountain in the Starter Dungeon or
the one at Father Rulae), the Ra-sep-re-tep pool in the Starter Dungeon (using
the fountain in the same area) and Munkharama (at the Polar Munk Society...
bring healing though...). Get your swimming to at least a 20 using these three
places--the Lost Temple has a fountain that is in the water, but you need to
have at least a 20 swimming to reach it. Once you do, you can practice until
you have a 100 in it.
Climbing: In the beginning of the game, you won't need this. However, once
you get to the mountains in Guardia you're going to need at least a 30 in
climbing skill. Don't say I didn't warn you...Levitate can temporarily boost
your climbing skill when attempting to climb by the way.
Scouting: If this is your first time through, you need scouting. Without it,
you won't be able to pass several areas, as you won't know to search an area.
On second and subsequent times through the game however, it is safe to skip
this if you remember where everything is.
Skulduggery: When starting, don't settle for less than at least a 5 or 6 in
Skulduggery on a character that is going to be your lockpicker. At least,
start with that amount before you try to disarm a chest. Chests are HARD to
disarm. You will be Quit/No Save-Restoring very often--having an actual
Thief in the party instead of a Bard, Ninja, or Ranger substitute can
eliminate this problem after a couple level ups, as they gain a nice bonus
to Skulduggery every level up to a certain point.
Mapping: You need a minimum of 10 in Mapping to map walls, a minimum of 30 to
map 1x1 rooms, and a minimum of 60 to map stairs and pits. Some teleporters
aren't mapped, as far as I can tell; only the ones that use pits are. In some
areas of the game, the inability to map will leave you stuck or moving at a
snail's crawl if you do not know the area, especially in the darkened areas
where the only thing you CAN map are the walls.
Theosophy/Theology/Thaumaturgy/Alchemy: Essential for anyone that learns
them. Until it reaches 95-100, if you don't put points into this, you're
potentially missing out on a spell that might help you in game.
Artifacts: Having a high Artifacts skill lets you assay items to find out what
they are without casting Identify. Don't worry about putting points into it
however; you automatically gain points every time you successfully use
(not equip and throw) a wand in battle as an item. This, however, doesn't
eliminate the need for Identify unless you already know what an item does.
Ninjutsu: Monks and Ninjas gain an AC bonus from this, in addition to
anything else that other Ninjutsu practitioners get. They should build this
up all the time by practicing hiding instead of putting precious skill
points into it. Anyone else with this simply gains a nice ability to hide
and do a backstab or surprise attack.
Legerdemain: The 5 Fingered Discount is a nice thing to have, but you won't
pilfer much. The chance of getting caught is quite high as well, even with a
level 100 Legerdemain, so save before trying. If the character's inventory
slots are full only gold will be taken, which keeps this skill from being
totally useless; most shopkeepers have horrible items in their inventory--you
wouldn't want to steal them if your life depended on it. Legerdemain is best
when the pickpocket using it is rather high level, is decent at it (has at least
a 30 so in Legerdemain), and pickpocketing someone worthwhile like Belcanzor for
his items or Dame Ke-Li for her Ankhs. Be especially careful pickpocketing
wandering NPCs. Some like Capt. Boerigard have very nice weapons and such, but
they may attack you if they catch you pickpocketing them, which is a bad thing.
Kirijutsu: This skill gives you a chance to get a Critical Hit that instantly
kills a monster. Very nice to have, but try not to get the person with it
confused!
Mind Control: A personal skill that you can get in Dionysceus; it reduces
the effectiveness of psionics and other mental spells. A minor side effect
is that you will never fall asleep in the poppy field with even 1 point in
this skill.
Power Strike: I don't know about you, but I LIKE hitting for more damage. :)
Diplomacy: Diplomacy is kind of a unused skill in the game--most of the time.
However, when used it can be really useful, when an NPC is very angry with you
and you need to calm them down (and maybe get friendly again). The fact that
characters with a Personality of 14 can automatically get it, AND the fact that
anyone who successfully "pleases" an NPC automatically gets a one point raise
in the skill regardless of whether they have it or not however makes the skill
kind of a "I'll get it when I need it" skill. Warning: Diplomacy is a useless
skill in the Wizardry Gold version of Wizardry 7. No matter how pleased you
make an NPC, they will never trade with you until you please the NPC by doing
things for them (i.e. doing Barlone a favor will please Mick the Pick and
Ratsputin enough to trade with you).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-"Really depends on your playing style" skills-
Mythology: This lets you successfully ID the monster you're fighting. In
some cases it will be very useful, if you're conserving mana and don't want
to mistake Night Rooks for Vampire Vultures. In most cases however, it is
easy to figure out what the monster is after a round, or even based on where
it is. Putting points into this is really up to your strategy, but it goes
up naturally over time, albeit slowly.
Scribe: If you like to save on mana, you may find a use for this skill.
Personally, I've gone through the game with only one point put into this skill
for Knock-Knock scrolls to be slightly more effective--other than Magic
Screen, Armorplate, Locate Person, and Enchanted Blade scrolls, Knock-Knock
scrolls are the only other ones I actually use and all of them can (or are
supposed to) be used outside of battle. Some nice spells are on scrolls, but
chances are, you're going to sell them for the cash they give you--by the point
you don't need cash anymore, scrolls are already quite useless.
Firearms: I personally don't like 2 of the 5 weapons that use this skill.
Still, you might as well get it. Raising it is up to you however.
|------------------------------Choosing a Party-------------------------------|
_______________________________________________________________________________
Depending on what difficulty you are playing, there are five types of parties
that will be used throughout the game: the 'Super' Party, the 'Quick and Easy'
Party, the 'Dual Class' Party, the 'Blender' Party, and the 'Vanilla' Party.
The Super Party is what everyone wants to end up with at the end of the game,
but it is very hard to use in the beginning. The reason is because the Super
Party is a party with hard to get characters such as a Faerie
Samurai/Monk/Ninja, Elf Lords, or other such hard to get/play classes for
example. Because these guys are hard to get, you don't have a lot of
excess points to distribute for other stats. To top it off, the class
usually has almost double the experience requirements of the easier-to-achieve
classes such as the Fighter. With all these factors thrown together, this
party is not recommended for a purist new to the game--various maps that hint
at what to do are your only clues as to what should be done if you do not wish
to consult outside sources, and with a Super party it will take too long to
level them up; the NPCs will have snatched them away before you get to them,
and the only ways to get your hands on them are buying it for 10,000
gold--which you won't have for a long time--or killing them, which is very
difficult with this kind of party until much much later.
Sample Super Party:
Lizardman Samurai
Faerie Ninja
Elf Lord
Mook Monk
Faerie Bishop
Elf Valkyrie
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--The 'Quick and Easy' Party--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Quick and Easy Party is the exact opposite of the Super Party. This party
is usually made up of characters quickly rolled up, and is usually something
like 2 Fighters, an offensive spellcaster (Mage or a Psionic), a healing
spellcaster like a Priest, a thief, and maybe a miscellaneous character
thrown in for fun. Races are chosen by whether the race can get a class
easier than other races, thereby giving you more points to distribute
elsewhere. Sometimes, the party will be rolled up with higher scores
so that you can distribute the excess points as you see fit. The game will
be easy in the beginning, but after a while you will get the urge to change
profession as experience requirements get higher and higher and your diversity
in what you can do gets lower and lower. Which brings us to...
Sample Quick and Easy Party:
Lizardman Fighter
Human Ranger
Faerie Thief
Rawulf Priest
Faerie/Elf Mage
Mook Psionic
This party is similar to the Quick and Easy Party except for one major
difference: The characters rolled up are customized to be able to switch
professions at will. For example, say you have an Elf who can be a Ranger.
You choose Fighter instead, add points to meet the minimum requirements for a
Ranger, and put any excess points where you want it (usually Vitality in this
case, as you will be hurting for hit points from all the profession changing).
The reasoning for this party is to mainly take advantage of the relatively low
amount of experience needed in the first 5-10 levels to accumulate skills and
spells quickly--a Faery Thief that I converted into a Ninja after hitting
level 7 already had 100 Skulduggery at level 3!
Sample Dual Class Party (Characters rolled with 15 points to distribute):
Elf Fighter -> Converts to Ranger at level 10
Felpurr Fighter -> Converts to Samurai at level 10.
Faerie Thief -> Converts to Ninja when stats meet minimum Ninja requirements
and Skulduggery > 80.
Elf Priest (F) -> Converts to Valkyrie when Theology > 80.
Elf Mage (F)-> Converts to Bard when Thaumaturgy > 80.
Elf Bard (F)-> Converts to Bishop when Mage converts to Bard.
(F) means female.
Assuming that each character gets 15 points to distribute, this is what
would happen normally.
Stats are given in the order of:
Strength, Intelligence, Piety, Vitality, Dexterity, Speed, Personality.
That leaves you with 5 more points to redistribute; in this case we
distribute the excess to Vitality as all the ability scores will be reset
down to the bare minimum after the profession change; might as well get
some extra hit points and stamina out of it.
In this case, there are no excess points to use. You will be relying on
level ups to give you the rest of the stat boost you need. This could
easily be met by level 7 or 8--less if you reload your level ups to get
the bonuses you want.
Elf Priest (F)-
Elf Base stats:
7: -2 for being female, 5 points added(meet Valkyrie requirements)
10:
10: 2 points added(meet Priest requirements)
7: 4 points added(meet Valkyrie requirements)
9: 1 point added(meet Valkyrie requirements)
9: 2 points added(meet Valkyrie requirements)
8: +1 for being female
This leaves you with 1 extra point to distribute. Either Vitality
or Intelligence is a good choice; getting more Academia points to
speed up getting the higher level spells is nice, but so is more
hit points.
Elf Mage (F)-
Elf Base stats:
7: -2 for being female
10: 2 points added(meet Mage requirements)
10:
7:
9: 3 points added(meet Bard requirements)
9:
8: +1 for being female, 3 points added(meet Bard requirements)
You've got 7 points to redistribute. As Mages don't have a hope
to gain a lot of hit points a level, dump them either in Intelligence for
increased amount of Academia points or in Piety for better spell point
gain/level and spell point recovery.
Elf Bard (F)-
Elf Base stats:
7: -2 for being female
10: 5 points added (meet Bishop requirements)
10: 4 points added (almost meet Bishop requirements)
7:
9: 3 points added(meet Bard requirements)
9:
8: +1 for being female, 3 points added(meet Bard requirements)
Again, you have no points to redistribute after that, but like the Faerie
Thief, level ups will take care of the rest of the stat requirements--only
quicker in this case as you only need Piety to go up one.
I think you can see the pattern: If you can afford it, fill out the
requirements of the 2nd class first before distributing the points to other
statistics. If you can't, spread out the requirements somewhat so that it
only requires as few level gains as possible to get there. 15 is the number
I use for a minimum when creating profession changing characters; you might
use a lesser amount or a greater amount, depending on your patience. Whatever
you do, if you want to take the greatest advantage out of changing professions
do so by level 10. This is because it takes the same amount of experience to
get from level 1 to level 10 as it does to get from level 10 to level 11.
I call this the Blender party mainly because it takes a little bit of the
Super Party and a little bit of the Quick and Easy Party and/or the Dual class
party. Basically, there will be a couple characters that may have been chosen
because of the items they start with, and others which were chosen because you
like the class or some other reason. Most people new to the game will
probably end up using something like this, where they have a prize character
that they do not wish to change profession with--especially when the character
gets a 19 or 20 in Intelligence or Personality, which are scores that cannot be
improved by certain items that can be bought, or a 19 or 20 in Vitality, which
cannot go over 18 with items.
Sample Blender Party:
Felpurr Samurai
Lizardman Ninja
Faerie Monk
Faerie Thief -> Converts to Ninja when stats meet minimum Ninja requirements
and Skulduggery > 80.
Elf Priest (F) -> Converts to Valkyrie when Theology > 80.
Hobbit Bard
Called the Vanilla Party for its simpleness, this party NEVER changes classes,
so pick carefully. You'll need at least 1 healer, 1 offensive spellcaster,
and 1 Skulduggery character unless you're looking for a challenge. After
you're familiar with the game, try going through with only a single character!
It *can* be done. This party is usually done as a Quick and Easy party, but
Super parties that don't class change are done too.
Sample Vanilla Party:
(See Sample Quick and Easy Party or Sample Super Party)
|-------------------------------Picking Spells--------------------------------|
_______________________________________________________________________________
Thank you Llevram for much of the information in this section.
All spells that you can cast are cumulative. That means you can cast them
over and over to make them last longer (if they have a duration), reduce the
duration of all status ailments except disease, stoning and death
(in the case of the ailment cures), or increase the effectiveness of the spell
(which only happens with battle-only spells if at all). The six spells you
can cast at any time (Enchanted Blade, Armorplate, Magic Screen, Detect
Secret, Direction, Levitate) are reflected in the globes on top of the game
screen and are cumulative in duration only.
Casting any of the other battle-helping spells (such as Bless, Haste, etc)
outside of battle will have NO EFFECT, even if cast before a fight or some
action that causes damage of some sort, so don't waste your spell points and
stamina. Keep in mind that when casting the six out-of-battle spells
repeatedly that it is best done in front of a fountain so you can restore
yourself. Also keep in mind that the longer the spell has been active, the
weaker it gets, so don't rely on multiple castings casted 3 game days ago to
get you through certain tougher fights.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Learning spells from books--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following spells may be learned from books:
Air Pocket
Anti-Magic
Astral Gate
Fire Shield
Ice Shield
Missile Shield
Bless
Charm
Conjuration
Detect Secret
Direction
Haste
Knock-Knock
Levitate
Identify (*anyone* can learn this from a book!)
Stamina
Wizard's Eye
Armor Shield
Remove Curse
Watchbells
Be warned however; if you do not have a spell already of the same type as the
one you wish to scribe in your book (for example, having Shrill Sound when you
scribe Missile Shield in the case of a mage), you will NOT gain any spell
points in that category until a spell from the same category is "learned" from
a level up. For example, an Alchemist scribes Stamina instead of learning it
the normal way. The Alchemist will NOT gain any water spell points until he
or she learns another water spell by a level up--in this case Cure Paralysis,
Draining Cloud, or Cure Disease.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Commonly used spells--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heal Wounds
Stamina
Dispel Undead
Enchanted Blade
Cure Lesser Condition
Air Pocket
Purify Air
Cure Poison
Cure Paralysis
Silence
Armorplate
Magic Screen
Haste
Mindread (only on your first time through--it tells you what to ask the NPC
sometimes; otherwise it gives you a bit of information you could
have gotten with Lore or just gives Nothing)
Fire Shield/Ice Shield
Lifesteal
Poison Gas/Acid Bomb/Firestorm
Conjuration/Illusion/Create Life
Nuclear Blast/Deadly Air/Word of Death/Mind Flay
Asphyxiation(expert mode only for crowd control and convenience)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Spell-picking Choices--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Note: The required amount of skill points for a group of spells may be off
by one or two points.
Thaumaturgy (Mage spellbook)
Level 1 spells:
Energy Blast
Your (possible) first damaging spell. Nothing special.
Chilling Touch
Your other (possible) first damaging spell. Nothing special.
Terror
Give the opponent the "Afraid" ailment for a short time. I do not advise
using this spell if you are looking for experience. This becomes useless
mid-game if it wasn't useless before already.
Sleep
Gives the opponent the "Asleep" status for a short time. One of the most
useful spells in the game, even if your party already has a Bard with the
Poet's Lute. This becomes useless after mid-game however, as you'll have
ways of dealing with multiple targets.
Armor Shield
Grants an Armor Class bonus to a character. Initially, the meager protection
offered by the spell will not be too helpful. Later on however, it is a very
useful spell to cast while hiding (or after you drank an invisibility potion)
due to its cheap costs and noticeable drop in Armor Class when cast at level
7.
Direction
Shows the direction your party is facing. A useless spell after you get the
Journey Map Kit, as you can easily check which way you are facing by using
the map.
Level 2 spells: (18 Thaumaturgy)
Magic Missile
Damages a limited number of opponents. Useful when you need to deal medium
amounts of damage to a group.
Shrill Sound
Damages an entire group, regardless of the size of the group. Very useful
when you don't want to waste extra spell points to hit everything in a group.
Missile Shield
Deflects any attacks that are projectile attacks (i.e. uses "Throw" or "Shoot"
as a form of attack). Chance of being deflected is related to how high of
a spell level you use to cast the spell, with around a 99% deflection rate for
a level 7 Missile Shield.
Knock-Knock
Opens locked chests and doors. Success rate is related to the power of the
spell and the complexity of the lock. Don't expect to use this spell
successfully midgame and onwards.
Detect Secret
Acts like you have a high amount of scouting skill. Very useful the first
time through the game if you don't want to build up scouting. Very useless
subsequent times. When you need to search, the eye will twinkle; however
if you have a weak Detect Secret, the eye may not pick up on some things.
Watchbells
Wakes up everyone who is asleep. The success rate of the spell depends on
how tired the characters are and how long they've been sleeping. Not very
useful after you get the Mind Control Personal skill--even before then,
the spell doesn't really work too well if you're not already at full
stamina.
Weaken
Makes the opponent do less damage when they attack. Useful I suppose, but
I prefer killing them as quickly as possible. Supposedly this spell also
lowers resistances, which can be very useful, but there's no way to tell for
certain.
Level 3 spells: (37 Thaumaturgy)
Fireball
Once you get this, you'll be avoiding usage of Magic Missile except on
Undead and fire-resistant monsters.
Fire Shield
Reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of all Fire Realm spells and Fire
based attacks. Don't expect it to eliminate spell damage to nothing when
it is coming from something strong, although Fire Crow breath will be
much less painful.
Ice Shield
Reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of all Water Realm spells and
Ice-based attacks. You'll be happy to have this up when something decides
to cast Deep Freeze on you.
Web
Paralyzes one target. Yuck. There are better things out there to learn;
the only monsters you would want to cast this on are incredibly
resistant to it because they are NPCs or the monster equivalent of one.
If you can paralyze an NPC with this, you're WAAAY above the NPC's level.
Whipping Rocks
For a group hitting spell, this isn't that great. A lot of monsters have
enough Earth resistance to make this spell relatively useless--however,
when the damage gets through it is all right.
Stink Bomb
Not a very useful spell. It will hit from 1-3 targets only, which explains
the relatively inexpensive casting cost. However, Shrill Sound and Magic
Missile are better, AND you get them earlier. If you think the added
chance of Nausea is worth it though, go right ahead and get it.
Air Pocket
Deflects Asphyxiation spells and reduces the effectiveness of incoming
Air-based spells that stick around as clouds. It also reduces the
effectiveness of breath weapons like Dragonlizard breath. Don't expect
this spell to have any effects on Whirlwind or Firestorm however.
Blink
Randomly makes you invisible/uninvisible during the round. You will
always become uninvisible to attack. Lasts quite a while too. Don't
bother with this spell if the character knows Ninjitsu though.
Level 4 spells: (54 Thaumaturgy)
Iceball
The Ice equivalent of Fireball, only more expensive. But then, it hurts
more, so that's a fair trade off. With Fireball and Iceball in your
belt, you're probably finished with mass-target spells for a long while
through the game--at least for your mage.
Magic Screen
Reduces the effectiveness of all incoming spells and spell-like attacks.
That includes breath weapons and fireball-like blasts, but not little
laser beams like the ones the T'Rang Tecniks use to attack. Remember:
this can be casted outside of battle.
Conjuration
Summons a monster to help you. They range from the pathetic Vulture at
a level 1 casting to perhaps Fieros and Myxlmynx at level 7 (which are
pretty darn useful). The best out of the three summoning spells if you
want magical damage.
Armormelt
Makes the opponent easier to hit. Think of it as the opposite of
Armor Shield, except it targets everyone.
Crush
Does up to 200 damage to one target. Of course, it misses so much that
it just isn't worth it. That's right, MISSES, not resisted.
Wizard Eye
Gives an overhead view of the area--just like you had a Journey Map kit.
(Surprise...) Skip this spell if I were you, unless you've been
skimping on your Mapping skill or don't know if there is a secret passage
behind a wall.
Spooks
A Terror spell that affects all opponents. I don't recommend it.
Level 5 spells: (72 Thaumaturgy)
Prismic Missile
Causes random status ailments or damage. It is more likely to cause damage
on weaker opponents and more likely to cause status ailments (which rarely
includes "withers and dies") on more powerful ones. Keep in mind that this
won't work on something with 100% or greater Light Resistance, like Man O'
Groves.
Anti-Magic
Tries to prevent a group from casting spells successfully. Not too useful
when you're fighting multiple groups of spellcasters as it is better to
just off them all right off the bat, but insanely useful when fighting one
group of spellcasters if you want to conserve on your mass-target spells.
Levitate
Prevents damage if you fall into a pit, and augments your Climbing skill
when you climb. Levitate won't help you if you jump off a cliff however;
you'll still die. The power level in this case is for duration, not
damage prevented as a level 1 Levitate will protect you from falling into
pits.
Deep Freeze
Learn to love this spell. It is the most consistently damaging spell in
the game--which is why you need Ice Shield when monsters cast it on you!
Level 6 spells: (90 Thaumaturgy)
Firestorm
Fun fun fun. Burns the enemy for a small amount for several turns. Very
useful up to mid-game to kill things--after that it's useful to add a bit
of damage here and there to cut battle time down.
Astral Gate
Instantly kills demons. Since it's specialized, getting this is up to you.
You *will* run into demons however.
Zap Undead
Useless. Don't waste your time with this spell--anything undead you find
is either going to be real easy or real resistant to this expensive spell.
Recharge
Very useful when used on items that have the effect of Magicfood when used
and can be used multiple times. Otherwise mildly useful to get back
charges on items like the Amulet of Asphyxiation.
Noxious Fumes
Not very useful. Just a better version of Stink Bomb that hits a group.
However, there is a much better chance of nausea than Stink Bomb.
Asphyxiation
Wipes out lower level critters with ease. You can get this decently fast
with a mage, so try to grab this spell as fast as possible if you're on
hard mode and the 5 groups of critters that ambush you each fight start
to get on your nerves. Becomes useless near the end of the game though.
Level 7 spells: (98 Thaumaturgy)
Nuclear Blast
Can't go wrong with this spell. Just watch your Fire spell points.
Ressurection
You can always quit-reload, and unlike Ressurection, you don't have to wait
forever to get it. However, since it can be used in a fight, it isn't totally
useless. However, if you're the perfectionist type you're probably going
to skip this spell. If you ressurect a character, the character loses 1 point
of Vitality and their life counter increases by 1.
Theology (Priest spellbook)
Level 1 spells:
Heal Wounds
Get it if you like it, get it if you don't.
Make Wounds
An attacking spell which uses spell points better suited for healing?
I sure don't like that. You might, but saving the spell points for healing
will save you some nap time.
Stamina
Get it if you like it, get it if you don't.
Bless
Grants you bonuses to hit. Hey, I'd take that any day. Even later in the
game, this spell is useful.
Charm
Paralyzes an opponent. Out of battle, it makes it easier to make friends
with NPCs. If you have diplomatic problems, this may be useful. Otherwise,
skip for a better spell unless you have no choice.
Level 2 spells: (18 Theology)
Enchanted Blade
Helps with hitting and dealing damage, AND you can cast it out of battle.
Love this spell.
Dispel Undead
Only works on undead, but there's a lot of undead in the game. It works
more often on the skeleton types of undead than the ghost types of undead.
Keep in mind that any of the "Spectral" monsters like Spectral Ravens or
Spectral Moths are considered undead as well. Don't expect it to work too
well on some unique undead monsters, with a very notable exception of the
ones in Witch Mountains.
Cure Lesser Condition
Cures or reduces the duration of the "Irritation," "Sleep," "Afraid,"
"Blind," and "Nausea" ailments. This spell is very useful to cut down on
the time you spend sleeping, and if you run out of Mental spell points it is
no big deal, so there is no need to ration uses of this spell.
Divine Trap
Helps to identify which trap a chest is booby trapped with. You will only
need it if your Skulduggery character has a low amount of Skulduggery, or
if you are unfamiliar with guessing the traps of the game.
Identify
Tells you how much damage (if applicable) the item does and what special
effects it may have. If it has a special power, it won't tell you what it
is, but it will mention the that it has one. Special powers are where when
you equip the item, it asks you if you want to invoke its special power, and
generally are very limited in usage. This is best used as a "what does this
item do" check, where you cast and reload--however, for some things (like
weapon damage for some weapons) it will give the wrong numbers.
Slow
Slows down an enemy group. Useful when fighting enemies stronger than you
so that you can try to go first in subsequent rounds. Much more useful
when combined with Haste to make sure you go first.
Level 3 spells: (37 Theology)
Hold Monsters
Attempts to paralyze a group. Unlike Web or Paralyze, the "Paralyze"
ailment caused by this spell is easily removed by an attack.
Sane Mind
Cures or reduces the duration of the "Insanity" ailment.
Silence
Silences a group of monsters. Don't try it on the Umpani, most Munks,
Gorn Rangers, and other Alchemical spellcasters.
Armorplate
Improves the armor class of each character (although you won't see
any changes in the review screen). The bonus is that it can be casted
outside of battle.
Blades
Does decent damage, especially considering that it's a damaging spell
the Priest has access to. After multiple castings of Armorplate, you'll
want to do *something* with all the spare Earth spell points you have.
Haste
Speeds up your party. Very useful in fights against monsters faster
than you (or higher level).
Cure Paralysis
Cures or reduces the duration of the "Paralyze" ailment. Useful. Get it.
:)
Restfull
Restores everyone's stamina. The amount restored is less than what you
would get back if you casted Stamina on each character, but the convenience
makes this spell useful. Still, if you can, there are better spells to get
than this.
Level 4 spells: (54 Theology)
Conjuration
Summons a monster to help you. They range from the pathetic Vulture at
a level 1 casting to perhaps Fieros and Myxlmynx at level 7 (which are
pretty darn useful). The best out of the three summoning spells if you
want magical damage.
Paralyze
Paralyzes an enemy. Is about as useful as Web is for mages and Alchemists.
Superman
VERY useful. It reduces the amount of stamina you use when you take a
swing at a monster, or whatever form of attack you use.
Cure Poison
Cures or reduces the "Poison" ailment, or reduces the "Badly Poisoned"
ailment to "Poison". Grab this quickly--you won't always have that
Cure Poison potion handy.
Whirlwind
Another attacking spell for the Priest. Unfortunately, most monsters
don't take a whole lot of damage from this, if they get hurt at all.
Level 5 spells: (72 Theology)
Lightning
The only Fire spell for Priests, and it hits in a group to boot.
Grab it as early as possible so that you can have as many spell points
for it as possible unless you already have Fire spell points.
Death
Instantly kills one target. Not too handy as it doesn't work often--the
things it works on are easy to kill anyway in most cases.
Remove Curse
Makes it possible to unequip a cursed item. Quite useful; however, a weak
enough Remove Curse will only allow you to unequip some items and not others,
so make sure you use a level 6 or 7 Remove Curse.
Healthfull
Heals everyone for a small amount of hit points. This spell would be nicer
if it actually healed more damage--a level 1 Healthfull seems to heal around
1-4 damage; you do the math. Still, it's group healing, and that's always
nice.
Purify Air
Eliminates or reduces the duration of any cloud spells casted on your party.
Handy when you get pounded with Poison Gas or Firestorm.
Cure Disease
Cures the "Disease" ailment. If it doesn't go away when you cast it, cast
a stronger Cure Disease. The higher your vitality, the lower the spell level
you will need to cure the disease.
Level 6 spells: (90 Theology)
Cure Stone
Cures the "Stone" ailment. If it doesn't go away when you cast it, cast
a stronger Cure Stone. The higher your vitality, the lower the spell level
you will need to cure the petrification. When cured, the character who
was stoned loses 1 point in Vitality.
Locate Object
Acts like Wizard Eye, only it shows the locations of any chests in the area
(not dropped items).
Lifesteal
Attempts to do a large amount of damage to one enemy and heal you with that
damage. Your spellcaster will never need to cast Heal Wounds on him or
herself again. It works on a *lot* of enemies, but don't expect it to
work on the real nasties like Rexx or Godzylli very often--even at level
7.
Astral Gate
Instantly kills demons. Since it's specialized, getting this is up to you.
You *will* run into demons however.
Recharge
Very useful when used on items that have the effect of Magicfood when used
and can be used multiple times. Otherwise mildly useful to get back
charges on items like the Amulet of Asphyxiation.
Level 7 spells: (98 Theology)
Locate Person
Attempts to find all the NPCs. Level 7 Locate Person tends to find all
of them.
Word of Death
The Priest equivalent of Nuclear Blast. Get it if you need another
source of mass damage.
Ressurection
You can always quit-reload, and unlike Ressurection you don't have to wait
forever to get it. However, since it can be used in a fight, it isn't totally
useless. However, if you're the perfectionist type you're probably going
to skip this spell. If you ressurect a character, the character loses 1 point
of Vitality and their life counter increases by 1.
Death Wish
Tries to instantly kill everything. Better than Death, but still horrible.
Get it if you really like instant-death; otherwise don't bother with it if
you have a choice, unless you really need another 20 Divine spell points or
you're getting this early in the game.
Theosophy (Psionic spellbook)
Level 1 spells:
Mental Attack
Your typical level 1 damage spell. It has the bonus of a large possibility
of inflicting "Insanity" but this bonus is rather useless after mid-game.
Bless
Grants you bonuses to hit. Hey, I'd take that any day. Even later in the
game, this spell is useful.
Charm
Paralyzes an opponent. Out of battle, it makes it easier to make friends
with NPCs. If you have diplomatic problems, this may be useful. Otherwise,
skip for a better spell unless you have no choice.
Sleep
Gives the opponent the "Asleep" status for a short time. One of the most
useful spells in the game, even if your party already has a Bard with the
Poet's Lute. This becomes useless after mid-game however.
Heal Wounds
There really shouldn't be a reason why you didn't pick this as your first
spell. Any healing is nice.
Stamina
Unlike the Priest, get this at your leisure. Still, get it quick, as you'll
need stamina recovery spells and items in the game.
Terror
Attempts to give the "Afraid" ailment to a group. Not very helpful if you're
trying to get experience.
Level 2 spells: (18 Theosophy)
Psionic Fires
The Psionic equivalent of Fireball, only earlier. Quite useful at this point
in the game.
Knock-Knock
Opens locked chests and doors. Success rate is related to the power of the
spell and the complexity of the lock. Don't expect to use this spell
successfully midgame and onwards.
Cure Lesser Condition
Cures or reduces the duration of the ailments "Irritation," "Sleep," "Afraid,"
"Blind," and "Nausea." This spell is not that crucial for the
Psionic--everything can be cured with a little rest or by the Priest if
you have one in your party. In the case of "Nausea," make *sure* it is
"Nausea." "Disease" looks a lot like "Nausea" if you weren't paying attention
whenyou got it. The reason why this spell isn't too useful for the Psionic is
because the Psionic actually needs his/her Mental spell points for spells
like Mental attack.
Divine Trap
Helps to identify which trap a chest is booby trapped with. You will only
need it if your Skulduggery character has a low amount of Skulduggery, or
if you are unfamiliar with guessing the traps of the game.
Detect Secret
Acts like you have a high amount of scouting skill. Very useful the first
time through the game if you don't want to build up scouting. Very useless
subsequent times.
Identify
Tells you how much damage (if applicable) the item does and what special
effects it may have. If it has a special power, it won't tell you what it
is, but it will mention the that it has one. Special powers are where when
you equip the item, it asks you if you want to invoke its special power, and
generally are very limited in usage. This is best used as a "what does this
item do" check, where you cast and reload--however, for some things (like
weapon damage for some weapons) it will give the wrong numbers.
Confusion
Attempts to inflicts the "Insanity" ailment on an enemy group. Insanity
is a nice ailment to have inflicted, but after a while most of the monsters
you want to nail with this are pretty darn resistant to it.
Watchbells
Wakes up everyone who is asleep. The success rate of the spell depends on
how tired the characters are and how long they've been sleeping. Not very
useful after you get the Mind Control Personal skill--even before then,
the spell doesn't really work too well if you're not already at full
stamina.
Shrill Sound
Hurts an entire enemy group, regardless of number. For the Psionic however,
it takes a backseat for Psionic Fires in priority unless you have mass
enemy group problems (i.e. hordes of Rattkin Rogues/Bandits).
Weaken
Makes the opponent do less damage when they attack. Useful I suppose, but
I prefer killing them as quickly as possible. Supposedly this spell also
lowers resistances, which can be very useful, but there's no way to really
tell for certain.
Slow
Slows down an enemy group. Useful when fighting enemies stronger than you
so that you can try to go first in subsequent rounds. Much more useful
when combined with Haste to make sure you go first.
Level 3 spells: (36 Theosophy)
Dazzling Lights
The Psionic version of Prismic Missile, it dispenses status ailments or
just sheer damage. For some odd reason, this spell in my experience tends
to dispense status ailments more than just pure damage--however, the
"withers and dies" effect seems to pop up more often with this. Note:
This spell will not work on enemies with 100% or greater Light Resistance.
Blades
Unlike the Priest, the Psionic already has decent damage dealing spells.
Still, it's useful when you run out of spell points.
Hold Monsters
Attempts to paralyze an enemy group. Unlike the other paralyzing spells,
the paralyze effect from this is very likely to go away from getting
attacked.
Mind Read
Attempts to read an NPC's mind. You will either see a phrase that will
trigger some tidbit of information from the NPC, something you could have
found out by Loring with the NPC, or "Nothing" will flash on the text part
of the screen. Pointless after the first time through the game.
Sane Mind
Cures or reduces the duration of the "Insanity" ailment. Comes in handy
at times, as unlike the monsters your characters seem to be subsceptible to
insanity quite often.
Blink
Randomly makes the character invisible/visible throughout the round. Lasts
for quite a while, but is not a suggested spell if you are using a Monk to
get these spells.
Silence
Attempts to silence a group of monsters. Try to avoid casting this on
Alchemical-casting monsters.
Haste
Speeds up your party. Quite useful in trying to make everyone go first.
Cure Paralysis
Cures or reduces the duration of the "Paralysis" ailment. Especially useful
when the trap goes off in your face and leaves you paralyzed for days.
Level 4 spells: (54 Theosophy)
Armormelt
Makes it easier to hit and damage monsters. Think of it as the opposite
of Armor Shield.
Psionic Blast
A group version of Mental Attack, and just about as useful.
Illusion
Summons monsters to fight for you. Fantasmogoras are at the high end of
things that are summoned by this. The best out of the three summon spells
if you like instant death spellcasters.
Wizard Eye
Gives an overhead view of the area--just like you had a Journey Map kit.
(Surprise...) Skip this spell if I were you, unless you've been
skimping on your Mapping skill or don't know if there is a secret passage
behind a wall.
Spooks
The mass, hit-everything version of Terror. Yay. You're better off picking
Psionic Blast than this.
Paralyze
Paralyzes one enemy. Same thing as Web. You're not going to be using this
successfully when you want to.
Level 5 spells: (72 Theosophy)
Death
Useless, if it weren't for the fact that with the huge amount of Mental
spell points the Psionic has, it actually might work on something after the
umpteenth time. So near useless.
Level 6 spells: (90 Theosophy)
Locate Object
Is a Wizard Eye spell that also shows the locations of chests (but not
dropped items).
Lifesteal
The *only* true spell the Psionic will get at high levels of Theosophy that
is actually quite useful. Take it as soon as you can learn it. The massive
amounts of healing is really nice, and you kill something in the process
(sometimes something nasty like a Vampire Vulture or a Dragorra).
Level 7 spells: (98 Theosophy)
Mind Flay
It's a mass target spell, and it's really nice. Unfortunately it is the
worst out of all the mass target spells because a lot of monsters tend to
resist the type of damage it deals, just like Psionic Blast and Mental
Attack.
Locate Person
Tries to find all the NPCs in the world. A level 7 Locate Person tends
to find all the NPCs.
Ressurection
You can always quit-reload, and unlike Ressurection, you don't have to wait
forever to get it. However, since it can be used in a fight, it isn't totally
useless. However, if you're the perfectionist type you're probably going
to skip this spell. If you ressurect a character, the character loses 1 point
of Vitality and their life counter increases by 1.
Alchemy (Alchemist spellbook)
Level 1 spells:
Acid Splash
Your basic level 1 damage spell. A couple groups of monsters (the vapors in
particular) are pretty much immune to acid, but not a lot are.
Itching Skin
Attempts to inflict the "Irritated" ailment on a group of monsters. Tends to
work on a lot of them (even some boss-like monsters like *S P O T*).
Heal Wounds
Heals one guy. There shouldn't be a reason why you aren't picking this spell
first.
Stamina
Restores stamina. Very useful, so get it in the early stages of the game.
Sleep
Gives the opponent the "Asleep" status for a short time. One of the most
useful spells in the game, even if your party already has a Bard with the
Poet's Lute. This becomes useless after mid-game however.
Charm
Paralyzes an opponent. Out of battle, it makes it easier to make friends
with NPCs. If you have diplomatic problems, this may be useful. Otherwise,
skip for a better spell unless you have no choice.
Poison
Deals damage and attempts to poison the damaged enemy. Much more useful
than Acid Splash in some cases, and less so in others.
Level 2 spells: (18 Alchemy)
Blinding Flash
Attempts to inflict the "Blind" ailment on a group of monsters. Don't
expect this to work on monsters with light resistance like Man' O' Groves.
If Dazzling Lights or Prismic Missile don't work on that monster, this won't
either.
Cure Lesser Condition
Extremely useful for the Alchemist to have--unlike the other spellcasters,
Alchemists got a lot of ailment-happy spells; what do you think happens when
they backfire on their spells? :)
Confusion
Yet another ailment spell--it attempts to inflict the "Insanity" ailment on
a group of monsters. You won't be using this too much after mid-game, as
most monsters seem to shrug off this spell.
Level 3 spells: (36 Alchemy)
Stink Bomb
Yuck. You have better ways of making people sick. Still, you might like
the spell. I don't.
Air Pocket
Deflects Asphyxiation spells and reduces the effectiveness of incoming
Air-based spells that stick around as clouds. It also reduces the
effectiveness of breath weapons like Dragonlizard breath. Don't expect
this spell to have any effects on Whirlwind or Firestorm however.
Web
You really don't need this spell. What do you prefer, paralyzing one guy
or Blinding the entire group?
Whipping Rocks
Your first group-target damage spell as an Alchemist. The fact that it
doesn't seem to effectively hit most of the group at times can be
overlooked in this case, as you have nothing better as a group damage spell
at this point.
Cure Paralysis
Cures or reduces the duration of the "Paralyze" ailment. Keep it handy.
Level 4 spells: (54 Alchemy)
Fire Bomb
Once you get this, you can stop using Whipping Rocks if you got it. It's
the Alchemist's equivalent of Fireball, and as a Fire spell it hits quite
often. Still, you may pass this up for the Cloud-type spells you get in
this batch of spells.
Acid Bomb
A lasting cloud of Acid damage that lasts around 3-4 turns. Does decent
damage, like Firestorm, only not as much.
Crush
Tries to do up to 200 points of damage to one enemy. I say "tries" because
it misses quite often. That's right, MISSES, not resisted.
Poison Gas
Like Acid Bomb, it is a lasting cloud that sticks around for around 3-4 turns.
However, unlike Acid Bomb, it has a chance of poisoning anyone in the cloud,
and if they are hit multiple times, the poison lasts longer. Enjoy.
Cure Poison
Cures or reduces the duration of the "Poison" ailment. You will need this
as you get hit with nasty things like Vorpal Swords and attacks that poison
you on each hit.
Level 5 spells: (72 Alchemy)
Draining Cloud
Drains the stamina out of the group it is casted on, and lasts for a short
while. Useful when you're trying to tire out the enemy--especially if they
use breath attacks or spells.
Cure Disease
Cures the "Disease" ailment. If it doesn't go away when you cast it, cast
a stronger Cure Disease. The higher your vitality, the lower the spell level
you will need to cure the disease.
Purify Air
Eliminates or reduces the duration of any cloud spells casted on your party.
Handy when you get pounded with Poison Gas or Firestorm.
Deadly Poison
Attempts to make the opponent wither and die; failing that, it attempts
to damage and inflict the "Badly Poisoned" status on the opponent. When
this spell works, it REALLY works. You'll either love this spell or hate
it. Either way, it's much better than Death is.
Create Life
Creates monsters out of nothing. Monsters range from Spectral Moths to
Godzylli and Bloodwyrms. The best summoning spell out of the three if you
want sheer muscle; heck, it's the best period since the Godzylli can last
much longer than the other summoned creatures.
Level 6 Spells: (90 Alchemy)
Toxic Vapors
The cloud version of Stink Bomb. Very useful, and makes sure that at least
even powerful monsters can be incapacitated at times.
Noxious Fumes
Not very useful. Just a better version of Stink Bomb that hits a group.
However, there is a much better chance of nausea than Stink Bomb.
Asphyxiation
Wipes out lower level critters with ease. You can get this decently fast
with a mage, so try to grab this spell as fast as possible if you're on
hard mode and the 5 groups of critters that ambush you each fight start
to get on your nerves. Becomes useless near the end of the game though.
Cure Stone
Cures the "Stone" ailment. If it doesn't go away when you cast it, cast
a stronger Cure Stone. The higher your vitality, the lower the spell level
you will need to cure the petrification. When cured, the character who
was stoned loses 1 point in Vitality.
Level 7 Spells: (98 Alchemy)
Deadly Air
The Alchemist mass target spell. Quite useful. For an air spell, it isn't
resisted very much at all.
Death Cloud
The Alchemist instant-death spell. Not very great though, especially with
that expensive amount of spell points needed.
Ailment: Paralysis
Cure: Cure Paralysis, (resting--long), successful hit in combat (small chance)
Ailment: Poison
Cure: Cure Poison, (resting--short to long and dangerous!)
Ailment: Badly Poisoned (getting hit with Deadly Poison)
Cure: Cure Poison--reduces to Poison
Ailment: Disease
Cure: Cure Disease
Ailment: Stone
Cure: Cure Stone
"Ailment": Death
Cure: Ressurection
For ailments that can be cured by resting, the appropriate spell reduces the
duration of the ailment until it is down to 0 (i.e. the ailment is cured).
For ailments that CANNOT be cured by resting, you must use a set level of the
curative spell to restore the character or the ailment will not go away. This
level is based roughly on the subject's Vitality stat: the higher it is,
the lower your casting level can be.
Generally, it is a good idea not to kill NPCs unless you know you don't need
them--and can deal with the consequences. For example, some people kill
Father Rulae in New City and Brother TShober at Eryn River for experience,
which is fine (although pointless)...until they run into Xen Xheng and get
slaughtered. If you want to kill NPCs, make sure there are no more mobile NPCs
of the same race still alive. Making them angry enough to attack you can
become awkward at the worst times possible until your party is a killing
machine, as most of the mobile NPCs tend to stalk you.
Some pointers:
* Try to keep your inventories organized.
* Move heavy non-essentials to characters with room, not characters with
the highest strength. If you move them to a character with high strength,
chances are that character has the high strength because it is wearing heavy
armor and can't carry anymore. If the character isn't wearing heavy armor
though, go for it.
* Try not to carry more than what you need, for two reasons:
1. You will almost always pick up loot. If you're in front of a battle
generator killing monsters, they will end up dropping loot eventually
unless you're killing something with no loot at all, like the Savant
Androids.
2. When you get an item from dialog, it automatically goes to the first
person with room in their inventory. If no one has room, it REPLACES an
item. You could do this to try to get rid of a key item, but chances are
that you'll lose something valuable instead. So don't have a full
inventory whenever possible.
* Merge items together to save space. When you need to spread the items
around (i.e. you want everyone to have an invisibility potion before a
fixed fight) merge the said item onto an empty inventory space to separate
them.
* If you're not wearing it, chances are you don't need to be lugging it
around if it isn't a key item or a restorative item. Sell what you don't
want, or drop it if you want it around just in case (Thesminster Abbey
in New City is a good place to drop items as it is often used and rather
large). Try not to drop TOO many items however--there is a set amount
of items that can be dropped in each map area.
* Avoid overloading your characters. When their carrying capacity score
changes color from grey, their equipment is heavy enough to affect their
AC, which is bad. Hey, what do you expect after carrying 300 lbs. of stuff?
|------------------------------Playing the Game-------------------------------|
_______________________________________________________________________________
The order of the following locations are a recommended, but not required, order
to get through the game for a brand new party starting just outside of New
City, based on when maps disappear.
-Basic Format-
Name of Area
List of monsters encountered
(fixed) = can only be fought in a fixed encounter (you can't avoid it)
Q: What do I do? I'm in the middle of nowhere!
A: Well first off, equip your items. Then SAVE. Get used to saving, as you
will be doing it constantly. Look around for a road and explore a bit.
Q: What about the forest area? Can't I look there too?
A: Of course you can. In fact, you should. There's a Journey Map kit that
will definitely help you hiding in a chest in the forest if you are
starting a new game. However, you should put that off until after you
have cleared out the Starter Dungeon, which is what you are looking for
on the road. This is because the monsters GUARDING the path to the
chest are very tough, and in your new condition you will most likely
get creamed. Instead, find a path on the road leading to a ladder going
into the ground. That's the starter dungeon.
Q: I imported a saved game from Bane of the Cosmic Forge, but I'm not where
you say I am!
A: If you instead started out in a different area because you imported your
game, I really can't help you too much.
If you started near Dionysceus skip directly to the Dionysceus section of this
FAQ and see if you can get the ?CRYSTAL? map in the Temple of Deadly
Coffers...if you can afford the outrageous fees. You may need to use
Legerdemain on Almagorte to pay your way through. At the very least try to get
the Mind Control skill before going to New City when you run out of cash, so
that you have a much easier time getting back to Dionysceus. Keep in mind that
you're on the same map as a newly created party, but on the other side of the
poppy fields.
If you started near Nyctalinth: go into the city, talk with H'Jenn-Ra, meet
Shritis(who you can say no to if you like the Umpani more, but don't kill
any T'rang NPCs until you can take on Shritis if you do!), and then
exit into New City instead of going back into the Anthracax. Be warned that
most NPCs don't like the T'Rang and will not trade with you, as you are
considered to be their ally (and enemies of their enemies).
If you started near Ukpyr: go in the city, join the Umpani I.U.F., decide
whether or not you actually want to help K'borra T'Rang, and proceed until you
have to deliver a message to Rodan Lewarx. (This is the most profitable way to
start, coincidentally.)
Incomplete Bane of the Cosmic Forge games will start where a new party starts.
Regardless of where you start, you need to get to New City eventually--the
first quarter of the game is linear if you have not played the game before
(and therefore know what the maps say) and unless you started in
Dionysceus, the only map you've got a chance of getting is the ?TEMPLE? map
in Orkogre Castle unless you know exactly what you are doing.
Starter Dungeon
Monsters encountered:
Encountered everywhere:
Mottle Cruds
Bitterbugs
Ravens
Level 1-
(No floor specific monsters)
Level 2-
Stag Weevils
Boring Beetles
Night Rooks(fixed)
Ra-sep-re-tep(fixed)
Q: What's this fountain here?
A: That fountain restores some health, stamina, and mana every time you sip
it. Don't forget that you can sip multiple times if once isn't enough.
To sip, either click on the fountain once and then on the characters
that you want to drink from the fountain, or search and then click on
the characters that you want to drink from it. Don't forget that you
can use the number keys (1-6) if you consider the mouse to be too slow
for this! However, be VERY careful with fountains. Most are beneficial,
but some have nasty effects on you. Save before drinking from any
fountain.
Q: What the heck am I supposed to do here?
A: Build levels. Clean out the entire dungeon. And to get to know the
game better of course. The most important tactic that you will learn
over and over here is to save before entering unexplored rooms and
areas. If you have someone with access to Priest spells, try to get
Dispel Undead if you can--you'll be happy to have it, I will guarantee
that. If something seems confusing, read the manual! It is quite
descriptive in how to do things. If you're using a copied version of
the game and didn't bother to get the manual, look for a copy of
Wizardry Gold--the manual is built in in that version by using the
F1 key, although Wizardry Gold tends to be more buggy than Crusaders
of the Dark Savant.
Despite what people may say about the game being non-linear, the first
part of the game is linear--you just can't handle most of the monsters
in the game at the level you are at. You'll see what I mean after
deciding where to go after New City--anywhere but Orkogre Castle,
Dionysceus(via the poppy fields), and Munkharama is lethal.
New City
Monsters encountered (varies by area of New City):
Q: The Savant Trooper won't let me through! Why?
A: You probably didn't state a place in New City for it to confirm.
Maybe there's an ad for a store in the Starter Dungeon somewhere...
you must have found SOMETHING resembling paper in there.
Q: What should I do here?
A: Think of New City as a bigger version of the Starter Dungeon, except
with stores and healing that you have to pay for, for now. Definitely
save before entering a place, as there are a couple doors that hide very
nasty encounters.
Q: Hey! I can't pick or force some of these doors! How do I get in?
A: If you're referring to the Umpani Detache and the T'Rshieches House,
you'll get in...but from a different place. If you are referring to a
certain always-jammed door near the Marina, buy a Knock-Knock scroll
from Belcanzor and have someone with at least 1 point in scribe use it
on the door...but save first. Either that or use a level 6 Knock-Knock
spell to open the door. Very useful treasure in the chest behind it,
considering how early in the game it is.
Q: What's with the Wand Majestik in the Curio Museum? I stick my hand in
but I can't grab it! All I get is this weird stone when I leave my hand
in there and my leader gets diseased!
A: *Don't* stick your hand in there unless you have a way to cure your
first character of disease. You can use Father Rulae in the Abbey in
the middle of New City, but you have to "donate" all your gold. Better
to wait until later when you can buy Cure Disease potions in Munkharama
or learn the spell yourself, as the Wand isn't going anywhere anyway.
Q: Can I use the boat Sogheim has in the Marina?
A: No, but you'll find a better one.
Q: What the heck do I do at these Devil Faces in the Curio Museum?
A: Read the ?BOAT? Map. Funny, some of those words match the devils...
Q: What is that sign in the Condemned Area?
A: It's a way into Old City. You'll figure out how to get in after you
help Barlone in the Rattkin Ruins' Funhouse with a favor. Maybe
Professor Wunderland was the friend he was speaking of--after all, he IS
a Rattkin, and he IS interested in Old City. Perhaps mentioning the
place Barlone mentioned will help jog his memory.
Q: What's the Book of Fables for? I managed to sneak past the Savant
Android guarding it with my fastest character.
A: It is for figuring out the witches names. Read it when you're in the
Witch Mountains, and especially pay attention to the last parts.
Q: Who's the Gorn Officer that Palukes mentioned?
A: You'll find out. Keep in mind when NPCs mention nouns like Officer or
even a place, there is a possibility that saying those words can open a
flood of useful info.
Q: I found a Black Wafer. What does it do?
A: It's for the Constabulary. Think of ETX as Entrance. Don't use it in
the Forbidden Zone however, unless you WANT to fight Savant Troopers and
Savant Guards.
Q: How *do* I get in the Forbidden Zone?
A: You walk in. :) You mean inside the inside area? Get the Control Card
from the T'Rshieches House...but you'll need to have a chat with
Shiritis before you can get a chance at the chest.
Q: How do I turn on the computers in the Forbidden Zone?
A: Use the Comm-Link Device from the Umpani Detache.
Q: What can I do with the computer? It wants me to login to some server.
A: Nose around Nyctalinth and wake up a few Savant Androids lying around.
Don't forget to nose around the Observation Center there for some other
answers. This is where the information you got in those two places is
used.
Q: How do I open the Security Cell?
A: Whichever server you didn't use (or used but it didn't work) the first
time, use it now.
Q: Nooo! This isn't fair!!! Why isn't the ?LEGEND? map in New City?!?
A: It tends to disappear VERY fast for some odd reason. Consequently,
return the Holy Work to Xen Xheng as soon as possible and go looking for
Xen Xheng after he leaves the dojo. (Locate Person scrolls WILL help).
Ask Xen Xheng about "5 Flowers" and see what he says. Try to get the
?LEGEND? map now while it is early in the game after following the
instructions he gives you. Seeing as Ratsputin seems to come down here
pretty early, I'd say that he's the one that normally takes the ?LEGEND?
map before it switches hands.
Q: How the heck do I get into the Throne Room? I haven't found a key for the
place!
A: You'll have to get into the Ape's room first and flip a switch. I hear
apes like bananas...but if you didn't bring one with you there are some in
the prison.
Q: How do I open the doors in the Prison then? Is there a switch somewhere
to throw?
A: No, you have to get the Prison Keys from Murkatos' Outer Sanctum.
Q: *Glares* OK, and how do I get in the Outer Sanctum?
A: You'll need a Polished Steelplate from below to reflect a beam of light
into the gate. Funny, why does my Detect Secret eye glow when I pass by
that splot of blood in front?
Q: I found these Boney Combs and Brushes. When is it used?
A: Much, MUCH later in the game. Isle of Crypts to be exact. Look for a
hideous Gorn woman there.
Q: Hey! The chest in the Gorn King's room is empty! What gives?
A: It looks like someone beat you to the map that was here. Whenever you
come across an empty chest or a chest that had waxy wrappings in it, that
is where a map was located. If the chest is empty, an NPC beat you to the
map because you were too slow. At this point in the game however, only
Brother TShober can beat you to this chest at your top speed--so don't
talk to Brother TShober before coming here! This map was the ?TEMPLE? map.
Be very careful when you run into NPCs in an area that has a map--when you
see them around, you're probably too late to get the map! Of course, if
you take your time coming here almost anyone could have the map...
Q: That Shadow Guardian is too hard! How do I beat it?
A: Looks like you went way too fast. However, in the area below that you came
from, if you go back to where you fell down a fixed encounter (where you
have to fight some monsters) at a certain spot respawns--you will always
walk into the spot where the encounter is on your way back up. This must
have been put there for people that got stuck here because they were low
level.
You wanted to know how to beat it though: You'll NEED the Air Pocket spell
here. Otherwise, when Asphyxiation pops up (and it will 90% of the time),
you will see most or all of your party die unless you're high level.
Useful spells on the Shadow Guardian in addition to Air Pocket include
Purify Air(because of Poison Gas spells it seems to love), Cure Poison,
Haste, Magic Screen, Armorplate, and Enchanted Blade. The last three
spells (if you have any of them) should be casted out of battle before you
engage the Shadow Guardian. If you can summon help with
Conjuration/Illusion/Create Life, call some up the first turn as well.
With those spells under your belt, the Shadow Guardian shouldn't be too
much of a problem.
Q: Aaack! All the sudden I'm silenced and 20-30 Spectral Ravens fight me!
What do I do?
A: This is an example where saving saves your butt. If you saved before
entering this area, you'll immediately realize that you're too weak for
this section. Come back later when your party can deal with all those
blinking birds without spells, and you'll have a better chance.
You will want to come back anyway--there's a key in the chest there that
will unlock the gate to a Magic-restoring only fountain here; other contents
of the chest includes the nifty Gem of Power, which can, when invoking it's
special power, give a character the Power Strike Personal Skill at the cost
of losing the Gem; you may want to use the Gem as a protective item
instead for a while however--it grants a -2 AC bonus to the wearer which is
a lot right now.
If you want to fight them now though, bring lots of Faerie Dust to put them
to sleep, and ready your Dispel Undead and any bombs that you may have found
or bought. You may want some Cure Lesser Condition potions in case a party
member manages to run away from the fight because of the "Terror" status the
Ravens inflict on you. Cure Paralysis potions are nice too.
Munkharama
Monsters Encountered:
Encountered Everywhere:
Demented Munks
Dark Forest Munks
Mad Warders
Munk Ninjas
Munkharama and Land of Dreams (Land of Dreams-only Monsters marked with an L)-
Gorn Spearmen
Gorn Rangers
Gorn Lancers
Gorn Ashigaru
Umpani Ruffians
Umpani Renegade
Spectral Ravens
Vampire Rooks
Night Rooks
Glow Mothras
Rattkin Leaders
Rattkin Thieves
Rattkin Hunters
T'Rang Wilders
Nightmares L
Dream Weavers L
Nightmares (fixed) L
Dream Weavers (fixed) L
Furies (fixed) L
Lost Temple Level 2-
Gorn Rangers
Gorn Ashigaru
Umpani Ruffians
Umpani Renegade
Umpani Scouts
Spectral Ravens
Spirits
Ghosts
Skeletons
Minoskell
Water Nymphs
Jelly Stingers
Frothing Munks (fixed)
Leper Giants (fixed)
Lord of Dark Forest (fixed)
Crypt-
Skeleton Lords (fixed)
Q: What's the answer to the well's riddle?
A: What's another name for a quarter, a dime, a nickel, or a penny?
Q: What is with that @#@!@ Roulette? I put the beans in, but it always comes
out WHITE WHITE WHITE WHITE!
A: Well, you can avoid it by swimming past it to the Rubber Bear chest; you'll
just miss out on money and experience. If you want to solve it however,
from what I can tell the order the beans are placed in the receptables
depends on which rooms you go first, and in which order you end up placing
the beans. Meaning it's random. :) The listed colors on the roulette
only reflect how many beans you got right, and not which rooms they are
in. (Sorry about that.) Try doing this as a process of elimination:
1. Grab all the beans. Try to have some system where you know which corner
you found a bean. The easiest way is I can think of is to make a chart
on paper with four boxes making up a larger square, kind of like this:
---------
| | |
| | |
---------
| | |
| | |
---------
2. Clear out all the receptacle rooms if you haven't already.
3. SAVE.
4. Now, to mark things, NW, SW, NE, and SE are the four corners and the beans
found in each corner as the lowercase version of the direction. If you use
the grid above though, you can just mark an x in the appropriate corner.
5. Now try this to eliminate:
nw -> NW
sw -> SW
ne -> NE
se -> SE
This places the beans in the receptacle closest to them. After you spin
the roulette, you will have several options.
Option 0: One White
This will never show up. Don't even try to tell me that you can get
this!
Option 1: Two whites.
Pick two of the beans and switch them the next time you try. For
example, if the roulette came out Black Black White White, try
nw -> NW
sw -> SW
ne -> SE
se -> NE
If this worsens things to four whites, then you know the two that you
did NOT switch don't belong where they are and can solve the puzzle by
switching them. If this worsens to three whites, then you know
that one of the beans you switched was right, and you'll have to go
back to the order you had before and pick one of the same beans you
switched the previous time and a bean you didn't switch and see what
happens.
In my case, you would put that the NW and SW don't belong in the NW
and SW receptacles, respectively. If it turns out better, then you've
solved the puzzle. Whichever it is, it can't stay the same.
Option 2: Three whites.
Pick one of the white spots and try out the other beans in there
until you come up with that spot as black as well. Then treat it like
it was two white two black, only you'll know exactly which two beans
need to be switched.
Option 3: Four whites.
Since you've now eliminated four places where beans should be, your
grid is probably marked like this:
---------
|x | x|
| | |
---------
| | |
|x | x|
---------
Try:
nw -> NE
sw -> SE
ne -> NW
se -> SW
If that comes out all white, then you now have more places
eliminated, and your grid probably looks like this:
---------
|x x|x x|
| | |
---------
| | |
|x x|x x|
---------
So try:
nw -> SE
sw -> NE
ne -> SW
se -> NW
and use the process of elimination to figure out where the beans go.
If you still can't solve it there's nothing I can say that will help you.
It's hard to keep track of the beans though, and you may have
switched one pair accidentally.
I have only managed to get BLACK BLACK BLACK BLACK on the first try ONCE.
Usually I end up getting it right by the 3rd or 4th try. As a reward
however you get free cash, experience, and a secret door opens up in the
SE room.
Q: What do I do at the Land of Dreams? The Palace Munk doesn't like my
answers!
A: I hope you remembered to ask Brother Moser about rumors if you've met him
already. Ask him about the other name you saw with "Land of Dreams" on
the front door for answers the Munk will like.
Q: OK, I'm in the Land of Dreams, I stepped through the black door, but now
I can't get out. What do I do?
A: Remember what those Munks you saw were doing? Maybe you can too with the
junk they left behind. You have to go through the entire scenario until
it repeats before the activity will have some effect though.
Q: What's a good item to pick?
A: Totally up to you. The weapons are cursed but really strong (for this
point in the game) and the protective items, although cursed, grant a
regeneration bonus on the wearer(at least two of them do) and REALLY good
protection.
Q: What the heck is Xen Xheng saying?
A: You should have talked to Father Rulae way back in New City and said you
wanted guidance, and followed his directions and the subsequent directions
from Brother TShober. Otherwise, this is a dead end for you.
Q: Is there something special about that middle area in Munkharama with
Phoonzang's statue?
A: Read the ?TEMPLE? map for hints. I hope you have decent swimming (at
least 20) to at least get to the middle area! Hope your Scouting is
decently high, or that you use Detect Secret quite often. If your
swimming isn't up to par, you may have to practice in the Polar Munk
wading pool.
Q: OK, I'm in this big underground dungeon. What do I do here?
A: Locate an exit first. ALWAYS locate an exit if you get dumped into the
middle of nowhere--that way when you're half-dead you have a way out.
When you come out of the place, SAVE, and clear a way back to
Munkharama--Munkharama is going west on the path you will end up on.
After you have a way out that is cleared of fixed encounters (i.e.
encounters that aren't random), go in back in and explore...after you get
healed.
Q: Um...why did I just fall down a pit?
A: Uh oh...I hope you didn't save. This area is annoying. However, it *is*
a good source of XP if you have Asphyxiation and Cure Disease, at least
for your first time through. And you can get out eventually.
See, you're going to be fighting Frothing Munks and a Leper Giant (two if
on Expert mode) here. The Leper Giant is annoying because he's a
giant--they tend to squash you like a bug if they hit you. The annoying
thing about the Frothing Munks though is that they throw up on you--and
you get diseased!
However, the Monks are at least weak against Asphyxiation (or a mass target
damage spell like Nuclear Blast), so if you have that and Cure Disease,
they'll be an easy source of XP for you. Keep in mind that they don't
have a lot of hit points if you try using Nuclear Blast or another similar
spell. A level 2 or 3 one should kill them. The Leper Giant just takes
a bit of perseverance (and lots of luck with status ailment spells).
Q: But I don't have those spells! (See previous question) What can I do about
it?
A: Not much. Don't go there is the only advice I can give--getting diseased
at this point in the game is *very* nasty, and it's not really a necessary
area.
Q: Yikes! That Lord of the Dark Forest is hard! How do I kill him?
A: With persistence. If you are VERY lucky, you can silence him--he's a
monk, unlike the rest of the Munks who are ninjas, so shutting him up is a
very effective way of stopping the nastier spells like Lifesteal. Deal
with anyone he has with him first though. He might be dangerous, but so
is 6 Dark Forest Munks that get a chance to cast stuff on you as well,
leaving you blind, irritated (both literally and figuratively), and
possibly insane, making it near impossible for you to beat the Lord of the
Dark Forest.
If you have Fireball/Iceball or Nuclear Blast by this point (Nuclear Blast
not very likely at this point unless you had a mage that changed
profession to a Bishop), the others shouldn't be too much of a problem if
you are faster. This is why you needed to find the exit first, so that
you can come here in better health. However, if you cannot defeat the
Lord of the Dark Forest at this point, you have no hope of getting the
?CRYPT? map before someone else, as it means that you are too low level to
effectively kill him--by the time you're not, the map will be gone.
Q: What do I do with the Notched Shaft I found?
A: Look for what looks to be like a pressed button and use it there while
facing it. It closes that pit that dropped you into the Frothing Munks
and Leper Giant. Keep in mind that the pressed button is located in the
same region (although not the same passageway) as the pit and ladder.
Q: I can't find the Holy Work!
A: Remember what Brother TShober said about the "golden face."
Q: What is with these waxy wrappings with the Holy Work?
A: The chest also contained the ?CRYPT? map. Looks like someone beat you to
it. Try hunting down some Gorn NPCs or Brother TShober (strangely
enough). They seem to be the first ones with it if you don't get it in
all the games I've played.
Q: Aaah! Those Skeleton Lords are creaming me!! And why am I paralyzed?
A: Oh dear. Yet another example of "Come back later." If you're playing on
expert mode you will NEED either Word of Death on two characters (because
1 level 7 Word of Death OR Nuclear Blast won't send them back to the grave
most of the time) or at least 3 characters with access to Silence or the
Silent Lyre, or (for the power hungry) characters high level enough to
shrug off Death and Fireball spells. Then you have to hope that the
characters with Silence don't get paralyzed. Nuclear Blast tends to not
work as well as Word of Death on undead. There's no way you can take more
than 2 turns of spells from the Skeleton Lords without getting someone
clobbered to death, even with Magic Screen up. If you can, you're
lucky--Death and 6 Fireballs have a nasty effect on my party at this point.
Dionysceus
Encountered Everywhere:
Dane Initiates (level 1 up)
Dane Disciples (level 2 up)
Dane Canons (level 3 up)
Dane Priests (level 4 up)
Dane Apostles (level 5 up)
High Fathers (level 6 up)
First level/Temple of the Initiate-
Cachre Sludges
Glow Moths
Spectral Moths
Bitterbugs
Stag Weevils
Night Rooks
Second level/Temple of Divine Order-
Night Rooks
Vampire Rooks
Stag Weevils
Iguanadons
Skeletons
Venom Weevils
Stag Weevils
Third level/Temple of Eternal Night-
Bantari
Vampire Rooks
Dragonlizards
Fungus Oozes
Minoskells
The Beast (fixed)
Boar Weevils
Venom Weevils
Stag Weevils
Tower Pit Exit-
See Temple of Wanderers and Tower's Top (except any fixed encounters)
Tower's Top-
Luna Mothras
Glow Mothras
*S P A W N* (fixed)
Vampire Vultures
Wraiths
Spirits
Q: I can't make it through the Poppy Field to get here! Are you nuts?
A: Do the Save/Restore method. Save each step ONLY if at most 1 person falls
asleep. You only need to make it through the poppy field once doing this
tedious method. Then turn left at the intersection you will come across
after the field. Now if you started near Dionysceus, you don't have to go
through this. Don't forget to bring Watchbells, Cure Lesser Condition
spells and Cure Lesser Condition potions to stay awake if necessary, and
if you have the Deadman's Hair, equip it on someone (an elf character
preferrably, as elves already have hypnosis resistance and this will boost
it).
Alternately, you can spin your party until they wake up. Spinning counts
as taking a step without actually taking a step, so you can move, spin the
party awake, and repeat. However this is very time consuming.
Q: What is Almagorte talking about?
A: These guys are greedy little misers. What do misers love most?
Q: Aaack! I'm getting clobbered by traps!
A: Buy some Jonga Powder from Almagorte if you can't take the traps. (I can't
unless Dionysceus is the last area for me to tackle before trying to go to
the Dragon Mountains.) On most of the levels there will be an urn like
the one in that little 1x1 arched area you saw right after entering the
Temple of the Initiate. Use some Jonga Powder there. You'll need to buy
Jonga Powder twice from Almagorte. Save a use of Jonga Powder for after
this Tower by the way. You'll need it.
Q: What are these little Golden Idols for?
A: For opening the gate to the next level of course. Each level has one, and
you have to find the altar for it. Have fun looking.
Q: (Pick a level) of the Dane Tower is too hard!
A: Then come back later when you're stronger. However, it is possible on
expert mode for a party created from level one characters to get to the
Temple of Wanderers after clearing out the Starter Dungeon and New City,
so don't worry TOO much if a fight seems too hard.
Q: What do I do on the Temple of Divine Order?
A: Move around. There are little 1x1 alcoves here. Stepping in them moves
the pits around. Try to fudge your way through. Burning powder in the urn
here (in an alcove before entering the Temple) acts as a Levitate so you
don't have to worry about accidentally falling, and turns off a trap that
Silences your characters.
Q: There's a doorway that opens onto darkness. Should I go in?
A: Yes. That's the Temple of Eternal Night. I hope your mapping skills are
adequate. (at least 10 to be able to map walls--30 if you want to see
alcoves) Turn left immediately upon entering the Temple to look for the
urn--don't be afraid to try walking into what seems to be a wall if you
have horrible mapping skills--it might be the alcove with the urn. After
that, explore the Temple at your leisure. There's a fountain on this floor
in the western half of the temple that restores HP, Stamina and Mana, so
have fun looking.
Q: Bah. I hate that purple haze. Any way to turn it off?
A: Yeah, if you went left in the beginning of the Temple like I said to and
looked for the urn. That automatic fight after the haze will go away as
well.
Q: Should I try to learn "the word"?
A: Yes. Do as the Dane ask and then come back here. Meditate on the word and
you'll find that everyone who doesn't fall asleep learns 1 point in the Mind
Control Personal skill. Repeat until everyone has a minimum of 1 point in
the skill. Now you'll never worry about the poppy field again, and as a
bonus you get better resistance to mental stuff.
Q: Where is my money going? It seems to be disappearing!
A: Just so you know, when Tollen Dane comes out to congradulate your rank,
you're also paying fees. The most expensive up at the top is 10,000 gold!
Meaning, if you can't pay up, come back later when you can.
Q: What is with the Temple of Aerial Whimsey?
A: It's a teleporter maze. Happy mapping--those teleporters aren't going to
show up. After a while the places you get sent to will look familiar.
Also, turn on the Direction spell (or look at your Journey Map Kit) as
there is a spinner teleporter as well. There are also two teleporters here
that will send you back to the Temple of Eternal Night, which can be a
blessing or a pain depending on whether you need a couple of drinks at the
fountain or not.
Q: Who's the girl in the vision?
A: That's Vi Domina. Remember the girl from the introduction? (assuming you
watched it) Maybe you should find more about her when you can.
Q: Aack! Treasure Chests are exploding!
A: Sounds like you're in the Temple of Deadly Coffers. You're just going to
have to take the punishment--try to get it so that booby traps that hit you
are only benign ones like Stunner or minorly hurting ones like
Dagger--getting stoned or killed means you reload for sure.
Q: There's a locked gate here in the far right area with the little islands of
chests, but none of the keys from the chests here work! What's in the
chest behind it?
A: You need a key from the first area of the Temple of Deadly Coffers where
the urn in the middle is. The chest behind it contains the ?CRYSTAL? map,
but if you're playing on Expert mode, it's long gone by now unless you
started in the area--Kymas Turan or Ratsputin probably took it first.
Q: Where is everything in the Temple of Wanderers? It just looks like a
bunch of deadends.
A: In this area, you have to see what new areas open up when you step in an
alcove. That means you're going to have to step in *every* alcove and
check your Journey Map Kit to see if new areas opened up, and if your
mapping skill is below 30 here, you're going to be in big trouble. Keep
in mind that when I say alcove, I mean a 1x1 room that only has one way in
and out.
Q: What's the buzzing sensation I'm getting?
A: In this case, it means that you've reset the level to its original
configuration with everything closed.
Q: Where do I put the Idol on this floor? I can't find an altar anywhere!
A: Look in the far NW area of the Temple on this floor. There should be an
alcove you circle around while walking that is opened up by a secret
button on the wall.
Q: What the...I'm getting hit with fireballs! What's going on?
A: You're in a nasty area of the Tower. The area behind the grates to your
east (where the fireballs are coming from) is the Temple of the Magna Dane,
which you will be able to get to after passing the Temple of Wanderers and
paying for your membership as a Lord of Dane. Be warned that going down
this corridor means you will be taking heavy unpreventable (except by luck
and your fire resistances) fire damage and get into a fight with High
Fathers and other Danes after the gate at the very end. The fire damage
goes away after you kill *S P A W N* or talk (and take the Pit challenge)
with the Magna Dane though, as the Magna Dane will have left his Temple.
I've gotten stuck here before though, as the Pit exits here after a bit of
winding and my party just can't take 80-100+ hp fireballs at this point.
Q: What is with this lever? I pull it and it resets?
A: Yeah. It opens (and closes) all the passageways that are opened by
alcoves on the level. So if you walked in here when the fireballs are still
going off and yanked the lever, do it twice. Otherwise you'll be in a world
of hurt as you leave, find the passageway closed, and then have to go back
to the lever to reopen it again.
Q: What do I do at the Pit?
A: Talk to Magna Dane to find out. You get to him by taking the stairs down
after going to the top of the tower, not by yanking a lever.
Q: Magna Dane is HARD. Everytime I start the fight, half my party is dead
before I can do anything!
A: Come back later. It is easier when everyone has at least a Dexterity of 16
After the fight, don't forget to search the area for any extra booty.
*hint* *hint*
Q: Ack! The Ring of Demons is killing me when I put it on!
A: *Don't* put it on anyone that doesn't already have a Regen +1 or a Regen +2
item equipped. That being said, if you have a Faerie and got the Faerie
Cap from the chest in the Temple of Deadly Coffers, or the one with the
Chrome Key in the Temple of Wanderers, it is safe to put it on him or
her--the Faerie will just lose the HP regen bonus because it cancels out.
As a note about negative Regen items, the game appears to take the highest
regeneration bonus out of all the items you have, and add the lowest
negative regeneration penalty of the items you have to it, to get an end
result. That means that if you have a Ring of Demons and both Gowns of
Divine Mail on the same character, that character ends up with no
regeneration bonus, NOT a Regen +2 bonus. So that Regen +1 item allows you
to have as many -1 regen items equipped as you want.
Q: How do I open the demon-head gate?
A: What did you chop off the last demon you killed?
Q: But it didn't work! (see last question)
A: Try it from the Magna Dane's chamber. You DID see that secret button
right?
Q: What do I do with what's inside?
A: Whatever you want. You need the Coil for later though.
Q: Why do the Umpani immediately attack me when I enter Ukpyr?
(From Bernice Carter)
A: One of the following might have happened:
* You imported a game and started near Nyctalinth.
* You killed too many Umpani NPCs and didn't bother to rectify the situation
by Trucing with other Umpani NPCs and making them happy.
Either way, find an Umpani NPC (Rossarian in the Arms of Argus at New City
is ideal) and Truce until the NPC is willing to trade with you. If you're
using Wizardry Gold however, you're out of luck due to the bug with
diplomacy (bug being that it just simply doesn't work...at all).
Q: Should I join the Umpani?
A: Definitely--even if you hate them. You can betray them for the T'Rang by
helping K'Borra and lying about his presence near Ukpyr to the Umpani if
you hate the Umpani. Keep in mind that here is a great way to make
money--especially if you need it to pay off the Danes for going up in
their tower. You need at least 8000 gold for an outfitting however or you
won't get the returns on your investment.
Q: What's the Humpawhammer?
A: It's a teleportation device. It will transport you to the Umpani Detache
in New City and is used for your (more profitable) mission.
Q: Should I help K'borra and the T'Rangs?
A: Again, it is totally up to you. You may want to know that I've yet
to get any compensation from K'borra, although it may involve me finding
him again. Supposedly though, you need to talk to Shritis to get your
reward.
Q: Where exactly is information K'borra wants?
A: It's in the Spaceport Authority. If you're going to help K'borra, don't
tell Sgt. Balbrak that you found T'Rangs! After you talk to General Yamo,
you'll be able to go into the Spaceport Authority without problems.
Q: I'm giving K'borra the information he wants, but he's calling me a traitor!
Why?
A: Don't put a space between the + and the rest of the coordinates. The only
space in there should be after the 2nd number and before the 'D'.
Q: I can't get that promotion Lt. Gromo said I'd get, even though I hit the
practice target 3 times!
A: He said to get 3 BULL'S EYEs, not 3 hits. That being said, even though it
is possible to get a BULL'S EYE at 0 Firearms skill (My Valkyrie once got
BULL'S EYE HIT HIT at a Firearms skill of 0), chances are you won't get 3
BULL'S EYEs at a high enough rate until you have a skill of at least 40 in
Firearms. After that it is very possible, but sometimes it takes a while.
(Once I got 3 BULL'S EYEs at 43 Firearms skill, another time it was at
64, and yet another at 53.) You will get a IUFSTFTUFS badge to bring to
the Supply Depot, and then be offered 14250 for a Blunderbuss and Flak
Jacket. No discounts on that unfortunately. If you want the items though,
get them before meeting General Yamo.
Rattkin Ruins
Monsters encountered:
Encountered everywhere-
Rattkin Ronin
Rattkin Leaders
Rattkin Hunters
Rattkin Thieves
Rattkin Bandits
Rattkin Rogues
T'Rang Wisers
T'Rang Watchers
T'Rang Tecniks
T'Rang Keepers
T'Rang Guarders
T'Rang Youngers
Dane Canons
Dane Disciples
Dane Initiates
Puxic Oozes
Fungus Oozes
Crawling Wastes
Fire Crows
Q: How do I get in? The entrance is blocked off!
A: Go back to where the path split into East (to the Ruins) and West (to
Nyctalinth) and explore around. You'll find something interesting (not to
mention the fights). This is an example of why it pays to explore around
no matter where you go.
Q: What do I do after all the Man' O' Grove fights?
A: You see that little square that isn't grass in the middle of all the 1x1
pillars? Use the Bonsai Tree you got from Murkatos' Inner Sanctum on it.
It doesn't matter what you answer when you get asked a question by the
tree.
Q: How exactly did that help me get in?
A: Look around north of the blocked entrance for a tree with a gnarled face.
It should be in an area next to city walls.
Q: Why couldn't I have gone here in the first place?
A: Because if you did go here before using the Bonsai Tree in that Grove, the
tree wouldn't let you up.
Q: I can't get in Ratskells!
A: Steal from a blind rat NPC outside. Check your inventory before and after
you meet him--you might get something stolen along the way! I've had key
items stolen this way before, so remember to save/restore until either
nothing is stolen or an item you don't care about gets stolen.
Q: How do I get in the Funhouse?
A: Ask Blienmeis about "Funhouse". Oh, and have 1000 gold before you do.
Q: What do I do in the Funhouse?
A: You're going to be setting up a lot of things. You NEED a Detect Secret
or a good amount of scouting skill in here--especially after going
downstairs--or you won't be able to find the necessary items needed to set
up the place. You need various items found throughout the Funhouse and a
Feather Weight potion from Birdie's store. Don't forget the Black Pyramid
and the Wooden Dowel from upstairs! After you've set everything up, save,
use the Feather Weight potion (but on the main screen!) and set things off.
Q: What does Barlone want?
A: Give him a time of the next T'Rang ship to leave/come. You should find the
information in the Landing Port (in the form of the T'Rang Logbook) and the
Observation Control Center (in the form of the TX-Coder) in Nyctalinth.
Use the Coder on the Logbook while you're in the full-screen view of your
inventory to read it. You're advised to go to Nyctalinth at this
point--the information Barlone gives you will give you access to the
?DRAGON? map in Old City, but the ?DRAGON? map is one of the maps that
tends to get taken away real fast--hence the need for haste. The ?BOAT?
map in the Funhouse however doesn't go away for a while in comparison to
the ?DRAGON? map but it DOES go away if you dawdle too long.
Q: What's the "another favor" Barlone mentions?
A: Well, if Mick the Pick or Ratsputin is alive, you'll find out when you meet
them and then come back here to Barlone. Otherwise...there's no way to
find out. One of CODS' great mysteries. :) Think of it as an incentive to
get here fast.
Q: Aack! There's MORE? When does this "Funhouse" end?!?
A: Not for a while. Have fun scrambling and trying to piece things out. If
you're REALLY stuck on things, the Walkthrough at GameFAQs written by Tom
Needham will be able to get you through. It is a very good resource for
figuring out how to get through an area, although I disagree with some
things he states. You WILL, however, need to find a Bar & Rope and a
Black Ball and used them in the appropriate areas to get through. You
will also need to make sure you've found a place to use the Wooden Dowel.
You will also find it completely necessary to fall down pits and such to
find everything you need. Hope you have Levitate handy.
Q: What do I do at the target?
A: Throw the Speckled White Ball at it of course. Look for some "cascading
troughs" as the game calls it and jump in to find said ball.
Q: What's with this rack of spears?
A: It guards the ?BOAT? Map. Talk to H'Jenn-Ra T'Rang in Nyctalinth to
figure out the combination, if you haven't talked to him already.
Q: I'm in wilderness after climbing out! Where am I?
A: The Witch Mountains. Have fun looking around. Watch out for Q'ua-tari.
Q: Why are there footprints in the dust?
A: Why? Because someone got here before you and nabbed the ?DRAGON? map!
Q: (continuation of previous question)Does that mean I should turn back then?
A: Not really. There's some useful random loot in here too--especially what
is probably your first Ankh. Most Ankhs can raise either Strength,
Vitality, Dexterity, Piety, or Speed, depending on what type of Ankh it
is. There are other Ankhs that do other things, but most of the ones that
you run across will be the stat-raising kind. If you already knew what to
do to get in however, you can go in here as early as after Orkogre Castle.
Q: Where's H'Jenn-Ra?
A: Come on, it's not THAT hard to walk around and explore! He's in the
Northwest area in the High Chamber though, since you asked.
Q: Should I say yes to Shritis?
A: It depends on if you hate the Umpani or not. Be warned that if you say
yes, Shritis will constantly ask you (not to mention hunt you down) if
you've killed Rodan or not until you kill Rodan and keep his Golden
Medallion to present to Shritis, or until he gets immensely ticked off at
you and attacks you every time he sees you.
If you really want to kill Rodan Lewarx however, he's not *too* hard, for
an NPC--use Missile Shield to stop the bullets he shoots at you most of
the time. It's those irritating Alchemist-type spells he and his
reinforcements may have that will get you. Also, as a word of warning,
they get an increased chance of a critical hit with ALL missile weapons,
including Blunderbusses and Muskets. Of course, if you say no to Shritis
you're going to have to tread lightly every time you see him--he'll be
cranky when he sees you again, but at least he won't be trying to hunt you
down unless you kill T'Rang NPCs (including K'borra).
Q: Should I go back to Nyctalinth after talking to Shritis instead of going
into New City?
A: Yes, unless you got the information from Barlone already--if you did you
should head for Professor Wunderland and the entrance to Old City to get
the ?DRAGON? map quickly before someone steals it.
Q: Why don't these Finger Rods work on the Breeding Grounds door?
A: Because they're for the Tactical Depot. The one for the Breeding Grounds
can be found in the High Chamber on a T'Rang who is cooking gruel.
Q: What is the Mystery Ray for?
A: You will use it on any Savant Androids you may find--especially the
sleeping ones in the T'Rang larder in the High Chamber. Use it as an
item when it prompts you with the Use, Talk, and Leave buttons. You can
*also* use the Mystery Ray to hurt _any_ Savant Androids you run
across--including those nasty Savant Kui'sa-ka near the end of the game
and those Savant Berserkers you wake up.
Q: Is the information that the Savant Berserker spoke and the stuff that
flashed on the computer screen in the Observatain Center important?
A: You betcha. Take a walk into the Forbidden Zone after you're bored of
Nyctalinth. Make sure you have the Comm-Link Device from the Umpani
Detache first though. BTW, if you helping Barlone, I hope you remembered
to look for the TX-Coder in the Observation Center. Otherwise you won't
be able to read the logbook. Told you to build up scouting!
Q: What do I do in the Graveyard? All I see are lots of graves, a building,
and two alcoves with a psycho ghost who steals a jeweled staff before I
can grab it.
A: Well, you HAVE to do three things: You have to grab the Longstem Spade in
the chest in the building here--it's going to be your shovel and you're
going grave robbing! :) You also have to dig out the grave of Notera
Furmi (Not Firm) to get out of here. Lastly, you have to get the
?SERPENT? map from the Tomb of Vilet Kanebe behind the energy barrier,
and that means getting that Crux of Crossing away from the crazy ghost and
equipping the cursed (literally) staff on someone while going through the
barrier--both in and out. That also means that you're going to be in the
graveyard at least twice--you need a little idol called the "Tydnab Emyt"
(Time Bandit backwards with y's for i's) which can only be found in the
middle area of Nyctalinth--if you took out your Journey Map kit and looked
at that big black spot in the middle of the map, you'd find it somewhere
in the middle of that. Unfortunately you have to go through the graveyard
to get there.
Q: Help! I've fallen and can't get up!
A: I take it you dug up Notera Furmi's grave and fell in. Now, before you go
exploring, you have to watch out for gas pockets--some of your characters
will get poisoned from these. When you first bump into one, you should try
to step in every square in the room that had the Gas Pocket--there are more
than one, and they block all the exits. After that, deal with the poison
however you feel like; you stepped in every square so that you don't have
to Cure Poison as many times, saving on mana.
The Gas Pocket Rooms also signify one of the two ways out--the Eastern Gas
Pocket room has a path that leads directly to the middle area of
Nyctalinth, and the Western Gas Pocket room leads to another exit that is
blocked by T'Rang eggs--you need a Thermal Pineapple to get out this way,
and if you have that you should know that one heck of a fight is on your
way out if you choose to go out that way...and you can't avoid it if you
insist on using this route as the way out.
Q: I'm in the middle area now. So where exactly is the Tydnab Emyt?
A: It's beneath a statue of Phoonzang. (What a surprise...) Use the Spade to
dig it up after you deal with the undead waiting in ambush where the statue
is.
Q: So how exactly do I get the Crux of Crossing?
A: Go into either alcove. It doesn't matter if the staff is in it or not, or
even if you already saw the ghost take it. Then just use the Tydnab Emyt
and watch.
Q: Hey! I thought you said the ?SERPENT? map is here! I'm just getting waxy
wrappings again!
A: It is...unless you took too long getting here and an NPC nabbed it.
However, the ?SERPENT? map can usually be gotten even if you take your
time on expert mode--it's not as irritating to get as the ?CRYPT? map or
the ?CRYSTAL? map. Since I can usually get it however, I can't take a
guess as to who took it first.
Q: H'Jenn-Ra is killing my party! How do I deal with him?
A: I guess you had a Pineapple after all. I won't lie to you--if your party
is not faster than H'Jenn-Ra's party, you're screwed unless you're on
easy mode, where there's a chance she'll appear by herself, or you're much
higher level, where most of their stuff has a reduced chance of working on
you. You will need the full gamut of protective and enhancement spells to
kill her otherwise, including Air Pocket but not Fire or Ice Shield unless
she has company. On Expert mode, you need at least 2 characters that can
cast mass target spells like Nuclear Blast or Word of Death to kill off
all the reinforcement T'Rang or the Assassins and Elders will lay waste
to you. Fire spells tend to be more effective on the T'Rang. Good luck!
Note: If you travel from Nyctalinth to Dionysceus, you will run into T'Rangs
ambushing the Helazoid Jan-Ette. Help her if you want the Eagle Eye
skill later and to be on friendly terms with the Helazoid.
Q: What do I do here?
A: Well, if you've returned the Holy Work to Xen Xheng and joined his school
of 5 Flowers, you can start collecting the flowers for one. If you haven't
read the Book of Fables from New City yet, take it out and read it now,
and remind yourself about when the witches meet. This next part doesn't
seem to be hinted anywhere in the game--you have to high-tail it to the
Giant Cave. That means you're going to be looking for a path DOWN, so
you're going to look for a cliff where if you take another step, you fall
into the air. Make a mental note of a place where you can climb up if you
find it first--you will go there later. If you end up near a river, you're
in the wrong direction--you're on the Eryn River right now, which you've
been to before.
Q: So what's up the path that you told me not to go up right now?
A: Well after the Giant Cave, you should climb up and explore. Besides flower
hunting (and always save before trying to pick any flower now!) you are
also looking for the entrance to the Witch Cave, a very high cliff that
doesn't look like it can be climbed (but someone tried before), and 4 250
ft. vines to merge together into 1 big 1000 vine to be used at the cliff.
If you find the cliff first, drop any vines you've found already there to
relieve encumbrance problems--they're very heavy. You need to climb down
into that area before going into the Witch Cave.
Q: And what exactly do I do after that?
A: Why go into the Witch Cave with what you learned of course!
Giant Cave
Monsters Encountered:
*S P O T* (fixed)
Gruengard (fixed)
Bonehead (fixed)
Brunatz (fixed)
Munstachio (fixed)
Boulder Giants
Forest Giants
Frost Giants
Water Nymphs
Red Pirannhas
Glow Mothras
Rock Lizards
Dinkle Wisps
Jelly Stingers
Q: These giants keep killing me! How can I kill them?
A: You kill them like anything else. I don't advise using attacking spells on
them, although cloud-type spells like Poison Gas and Firestorm can help
deal the damage.
Q: *S P O T* is insane! Any pointers on how to stop him?
A: Treat him as a more...dangerous version of the giants you've been killing.
Consequently, anyone that can't dish out (and take) damage should be
hidden away via hide or invisibility potions bombing *S P O T* with
cloud-type spells and boosting spells on your party. Create Life is a
GREAT help here, but not the other two summon spells--*S P O T* can flatten
those silly demons quickly, but the Myxlmynx might be able to take a couple
more hits.
Q: Anything special here?
A: Yes. *S P O T* has the Necromantic Helm somewhere in his lair. Look for
it; it's the witching glass mentioned in the Book of Fables. Also, the Red
Rosis is in the underground river. If you can swim four or more steps (and
have a mass target spell) go to the nearest access to the underground river
east of the entrance to the giant caves and swim south to that little
chokepoint of water(where you fight a lot of fishes--hence the need for the
mass target spell)--the Red Rosis should be on that little piece of dry
land right next to you to your west. The alternate (and slower way) is to
take the far eastern entrance to the water and swim to another region of
the caves that will wrap around the bottom area and stick you near the Red
Rosis...after a couple fights.
There's also a chest in the extreme south area...but you'll need either
Stamina Potions or lots of Water mana for Stamina and Restfull to get to it.
Q: Huh? I've never heard of this place!
A: It's actually my name for the area of the Ukpyr Mountains you climb down
into from the tall cliff.
Q: So what exactly is so special about this area that you gave it a made-up
name?
A: You'll find out the names of the four witches here. Remember the witching
hour comment from the Book of Fables? That's right--you need to explore
around at night. If you find the area here that gives your characters the
chill, stay out of the clearing, rest until night, and then go back in with
the Necromantic Helm equipped. Too bad nothing seems to really hint that
the Necromantic Helm is the "witching glass". You can also find the White
Dahlia in this area.
Q: Do I HAVE to pay the witches 1000 gold?
A: Yes. Sorry. That means you need 4000 gold here...not that you're in the
poorhouse at this point in the game anyway.
Q: What exactly is this Elysiad of Divinity?
A: It is for the Final Boss fight. I'll mention which fight it is when you
get there. Basically, stick it on your toughest character--when it is used
it immediately ressurects ALL your characters and restores them to full hit
points, stamina, and Mana even if they weren't resurrected. At the end of
battle it does this AGAIN, making sure that everyone get's the massive
amount of experience points for it (hey, 800,000 so XP per character for
six characters on Expert mode is NICE, although you'll get less on Normal
and Easy.) Best of all, it doesn't add to your "life" number, so it
treats you like you never actually died. It ONLY works for the Final Boss
battle however. Then there's the tiny detail that your character has to be
ALIVE to use it.
Q: Wow! The ?SPHINX? Map! No one beat me to it?
A: I guess having it locked up means there's no way in hell someone can beat
you to it. This is usually one of the last maps I get--because it never
seems to disappear no matter how long I take!
Ukpyr Mountains
Monsters Encountered:
Bantari
Q'ua-tari
Rock Lizards
Vampire Vultures
Fire Crows
Dragon Rooks
Vampire Rooks
Vultures
Wood Dryads
Faerie Witches
Mtn. Thraxes (fixed)
Q: I take it the other two flowers are here?
A: Yep. Save before picking either of them. Don't forget to look for the
entrance to the Sphinx Cave. You'll get here by the way from climbing
down the vine on the tall cliff to the area where the spirits were
partying, and then exploring further, or by exiting Ukpyr to the north
and snooping around all the sidepaths and the main path.
Sphinx Cave:
Monsters Encountered:
Red Pirannhas
Vampire Vultures
Fire Crows
Dragon Rooks
Vampire Rooks
Vultures
Wood Dryads
Faerie Witches
Water Nymphs
Rock Lizards
Q: What do I do here?
A: Read that handy ?SPHINX? map you just got. The Rebus Egge that you got
from attempting to get the Wand Majestik in New City is used here--you DID
assay/identify it eventually to find out what it was to tell it apart from
other stones right? It's the "seed" the map refers to. You're going to
need to swim at most 3 to 4 spaces by the way.
Q: What do I do at the slugs in the floor?
A: Isn't your Detect Secret going off right now?
Isle of Crypts & Mandolian Isles
Monsters Encountered:
Above ground:
Night Rooks
Dragon Rooks
Vampire Vultures
Glow Mothras
Luna Mothras
Red Pirannhas
Below ground:
Ghosts of Gorn (fixed)
Ungorn Daimyo (fixed)
*D O O M* (fixed)
Wraiths
Spirits
Kolidras
Necromani
Fieros
Phantasmagoras
Skeletons
Zombie Skells
Fetid Corpses
Skeleton Lords
Q'ua-tari
Bantari
Dragon Rooks
Fire Crows
Witch's Lights
Q: Um...which island do I go to?
A: Which island has more than a 1x1 pillar?
Q: What exactly is on the islands with 1x1 pillars?
A: You can walk through them to go somewhere special. But you're going to
need something in the Hall of Gorrors before being able to do anything
special with them...and yes, you have to go in the pillars eventually.
Q: I found this picture of the Sphinx on one of the walls. Anything special?
A: Use the Wand Majestik on it. If you're a Greek Mythology buff (or at least
have been paying attention when the Sphinx was talking before!) you'll know
the question she refers to, but you don't have to get the question right.
Q: Waaa! That's a lot of booby traps!
A: Yep. Save often. You're looking for secret buttons and levers. You're
also looking for a gold urn to burn that extra use of Jonga Powder. Aren't
those traps nasty? If you want an (easier) time getting to the urn, after
you get to the area with fountains go east (turn left that is) and hug the
left wall until you get to all the little alcoves, then hug the right wall,
ignoring any alcoves for the moment. You'll only run into a few fixed
encounters for the first half of the way and get smacked by Evilspeak once
or twice along the second half.
Q: What the hell? Why are my characters stoned (or various other nasty
effects) after drinking? I thought fountains were beneficial?
A: Not all of them. SAVE before trying one. Heck, most of them here are
booby traps--I can only think of two fountains on this level that aren't
completely bad.
Q: OK, so I've burned the Jonga Powder and turned off the nasty traps. What
now?
A: Explore of course. There's at least 1 nice treasure chest in here that
you can get no matter what keys you have. The best item you can get in
said chest is a Dragon Kite--a shield for Valkyries, Fighters, and Lords
that reduces their armor class by 4. That's if you have them and need one
however. Otherwise, a Faery Cap if you missed it before (or Chamail items)
is the 2nd best. Most of the other stuff is overshadowed by better loot
elsewhere. Bt the way, search all the Gorn Noblemen you can find, but save
before doing so!
Q: OK, how do I get here?
A: Well, according to the map that came with the game, it's waaay south and a
little west. Maybe you should follow the coast that way until you hit
something unusual... (Minor note: You're looking for fog!)
Q: I found the fog, but when I go through there's just a blank cliff here!
A: Come here at night, then take a peek at the ?SERPENT? map. You're going
to need something from the Dane Tower here you know...
Q: Uh oh. Brombadeg's tough!
A: No kidding. :) Well OK, he's not THAT hard. Silence seems to stop the
"cast enchantment" thing he does, but I'm not going to guarantee it.
Treat him like any other unique monster though and you'll be fine.
Q: Geez--this place is huge! What do I do?
A: Read the ?DRAGON? map for hints of course. And watch out for cave-ins.
Have fun exploring and watch out for the tightwad! (Well, you have to find
the tightwad anyway.)
Q: A cave-in just occured! How do I get out?
A: You will never get completely trapped by a cave-in--all the places that
have cave-ins have an alternate way out, although at least one of those
ways requires you to have lots of swimming if you want to make it back to
the boat.
Q: Where do I use the Key of the Dragon?
A: Remember the gate with the black dragon on it in the Isle of Crypts?
Q: Where does that ladder go?
A: Climb up and find out. It's (relatively) safe.
Q: Hey! What's with the invisible walls?
A: Beats me. You're going to have to figure out the path through them. Good
luck and happy mapping. *evil grin* It's not that hard. Make a saved game
at the ladder and then try to find your way around. If the fights here are
too hard, I suggest you go gain experience elsewhere, gain perhaps 4 or 5
levels, and then come back and see if they are easier for you. The reason
is because by using a FAQ (or the clue book) to get answers, there is the
possibility that you are too low level for the area, and levels are very
important in this game as it affects many things, including your resistances
and whether enemy monsters will resist your attacks or not.
If you're too lazy though, look at John Needham's FAQ at GameFAQs (if the
site you're using for FAQs lacks it) for directions on how to get to Dame
Ke-Li--if you don't have a Credit Card you have to go there first--and then
you probably want to buy some of her fun supply of items as well.
Q: Insert one credit? Where do I get a credit?
A: It's referring to credit cards. Surely the Helazoids you've bumped into
dropped one or two? If not, look around for Dame Ke-Li here--she sells
Credit Cards for 100 gold.
Q: How do I get into the Storage Facility?
A: The Storage Key for the Storage Facility is in the Hall of Preservation.
Q: What about that gazebo with the glowing key? There are invisible walls
around it.
A: You need to get into the Storage Facility first. Then go into an alcove on
your way out (through the other side--there are two exits in the Storage
Facility).
Q: What is the Key of Light used for?
A: Remember those REALLY nice looking weapons in the Hall of Preservation?
Q: So which one should I pick then?
A: Like all choices, it is up to you. The Frontier Phasers and the Cobaltine
Power Glove require Powerpaks for use however. If you've imported your
party from Bane of the Cosmic Forge, you probably have the Diamond Ring
which can open another one. The Light Sword and the Power Glove get
bonuses when fighting against robots like the Battle Droid (but not against
Savant Androids). Be warned that when you use the Diamond Ring to grab
an item, the Ring gets sacrificed for the item.
Q: Anything special I should do with Dame Ke-Li?
A: You mean besides buy all those nice, wonderful things she's selling?
Yeah--give her the Helazoid Pennant you got from Jan-Ette if you helped
Jan-Ette. Other than that, she's the perfect person to have fun using the
Five Fingered Discount. Just don't get caught.
Q: What exactly does that PK Crystal do?
A: -4 AC bonus, Regen +1, Psionic Resistance +50%, usable only by Psionics.
Q: What are the answers to the tests in the Hall of Crusaders?
A: The first one is very obvious if you've been paying attention during the
game! The second one requires help from the ?STAR? Map and the Gaelin
Stone in the Hall of Gorrors. The third one...well, you'll see.
Q: How do I get in the spaceship?
A: Speak the answer to the first test.
Q: What do I do inside?
A: Search the place, like any other group of nosy adventurers would. Don't
stop searching until the game keeps you from searching!
Q: Where can I get more Powerpaks, other than killing lots of Helazoids?
A: Buy those Credit Cards from Dame Ke-Li and use them in a machine in the
Storage Facility--the machine gives out Powerpaks for Credits. If you
really have to make money at this point, you *can* keep getting Powerpaks
and then selling them to Paluke--or anyone other than Dame Ke-li.
Hall of Gorrors (in the Isle of Crypts):
Monsters Encountered:
Ra-sep-re-tep (fixed)
Thing from Hell (fixed)
Horragoth (fixed)
Myxlmynx (fixed)/ Fieros (fixed)
D'Arboleth (fixed)
Wraiths (fixed)
Fiend of 9 Worlds (fixed)
Beast of 1000 Eyes (fixed)
Kolidra
Necromani
Red Pirannhas
Q: Do I have to kill any of these Gorrors?
A: Not really. They're supposed to be challenges, with the exception of the
lonely little Ra-sep-re-tep in the SE area.
Q: You said I needed something in here?
A: Yeah. Whip out the ?CRYPT? map and read it. Then follow the directions.
You'll nab something that needs to be used in the Mandolian Isles.
Q: What do I do with it?
A: Remember seeing an indentation with a similar design on the Isles? Stick
it in that pillar and then go in the other one.
Q: How do I open the gate to the Hall of the Past?
A: Do you have the ?LEGEND? map? It's also called the Gaelin Legend. Funny,
there's a stone in the same area called the Gaelin Stone. I wonder if
there's a connection...maybe you can use the map on the stone somewhere.
Q: These !@#@! chests here hurt! Is there any reason to open them? The loot
I'm getting sucks!
A: Well, yes there is a reason to open them: They will occasionally spew out
the best items, weapons, and armor in the game. You're going to be here
for HOURS finding nice stuff to keep. :) If you REALLY just want to know
what's in there, go to
http://www.softwarespecialties.com/GorrorsRevealed.html.
While you're at it, visit http://www.softwarespecialties.com/ and thank the
guy (Llevram that is) if you did look for his hard work. :)
Q: I want to kill the Gorrors! Can't you suggest anything?
A: Well, let's see...besides always cast Enchanted Blade, Armorplate, and
Magic Screen before the fight (except for Ra-sep-re-tep)...
Ra-sep-re-tep: If you actually need help on him, that's not a good sign. :)
Thing from Hell:
Quick and Dirty Way--Silence him, then Deadly Poison him. He'll go down fast.
Slow and Boring Way--Silence him and whack away. Use Armormelt to speed things
up.
The Demon Horragoth: Get high enough level that Death Cloud and Death Wish have
no effect on you. Then treat him as a monster that does
nothing except a rare Word of Death or two and start
hacking away. Kill his companion(s) first though.
The Spirit D'Arboleth: Watch out for Lifesteal. Otherwise treat him the same
way as Horragoth, minus the Word of Death.
The Fiend of 9 Worlds: Immediately Hide/Drink Invisibility Potion. Pummel
him with as many different gas spells as possible,
i.e. Draining Cloud, Poison Gas, Toxic Vapors,
Firestorm, Acid Bomb. Especially Toxic Vapors. Cast
Create Life for a distraction. Send out either
someone with Reflextion or with Armor Shield and other
protective and hit-improving spells (who can hide again)
to attack/hide once he gets nauseous from the Toxic
Vapors and renew that spell and the non-air based gas
spells with a vengeance. Casting Armormelt, Haste,
(and Missile Shield if you're on expert mode) and casting
Armor Shield on the attacker should help. Keep the Cure
Poison and Heal Wounds prepared.
Beast of 1000 Eyes: He's tough. Very tough. The way I beat him was with a
level 50th so party on easy mode: Everyone casted
beneficial spells the first turn (Especially Fire Shield
and Missile Shield), then hid/turned invisible the next.
If no one is visible, he won't attack (usually). Then,
I casted Create Life to bring out a punching bag for the
Beast and pumped the Beast with all the Cloud-type spells I
had, the same ones as the ones used on the Fiend. After
that, everyone who could hide went in waves of Attack/Hide
whenever it seemed like the Beast was overdue for a coughing
fit or was otherwise distracted by my summoned help, and
refreshed the Cloud spells constantly. Eventually (after 4
hours) he croaked.
Another suggestion I saw on the Software Specialties board
is to equip someone who can't hide with the Necromantic
Helm, Bat Necklace or another Light-resisting item like the
Helazoid Pendant, and have him take all the Dazzling Lights
hits; Dazzling Lights will go straight for the character if
he's the only one visible, but with 100% so Light
resistance + Magic Screen, you should be able to resist it
and shrug it off. This is because if everyone is invisible
and the Beast casts Dazzling Lights at you (because you had
someone visible in the beginning of the round), it is more
likely to hit everyone with the Lights. Trying with an
average level party of around 30th so level is extremely
difficult; once you get your party to around (or over)
100th level however, the Beast stops becoming so
invulnerable.
Q: Um...I need a map. Bad.
A: Sorry, I don't have one for you. You're going to have to do it yourself,
although having a 70+ Mapping skill here REALLY helps.
Q: Gee, thanks for the help.
A: Heheh ^^;;;...well, before you go in, you'll probably want Dispel Undead,
Astral Gate, Fire Shield...basically all the commonly used spells I listed
waaay earlier. If you didn't use them before, you're definitely going to
be using them here eventually. The only exception is probably
Asphyxiation--most things in here aren't affected by it. Bring lots of
Moser's Mojo Tea your first time through, as well as Heavy Heal/Stamina
potions. Don't settle for the weaker stuff by this point.
Q: There's a fountain there that I keep getting teleported away from!
A: You'll need to find the Key of Waters and open a gate elsewhere that opens
into the same room. As long as you avoid the teleporter spot, you'll be
able to drink from the fountain. It restores mana only.
Q: What's with these crystals?
A: Read the ?CRYSTAL? map. It applies to here. You have to hit all eight
crystals, and one of them won't figure into the descriptions on the map.
Just so you know: if you get it wrong, when you step in the pentagram it
will open up a passageway to the left. When you're right it will open up a
passage to the right instead.
Q: Great, I've found the Star map. How exactly do I use it?
A: "Look first at a man, and if thee looks rightly, then soon shall ye come
full circle. Then look beneath him, and if thee looks rightly, then soon
shall thee once again come full circle. Thus may thee divine the puzzle
from the pieces, and from it derive thy solutions." That's the actual
lines in the map that you're interesting in. If you've copied down the
buttons from the 2nd test, great. If you haven't, they're Serpent, Gate,
Wand, Pyramid, Star, Dragon, Cross, Skull, Map. Start at the side with a
Man symbol, look for one of the buttons in that group of symbols (the
Temple Map) and write it down. Move to the next face on the right side of
the stone (in other words, circle the stone counterclockwise) repeating the
same thing but using the top section only. Once you're back on the side
with the Man, do the same thing for the bottom row. The buttons will fall
into place.
Q: Any suggestions on surviving these robots?
A: Liberal use of Magic Screen, Fire Shield, and Ice Shield will dampen the
damage from the cannons. Can't do squat about the lasers other than kill
the darn things as fast as possible, although Missile Shield may deflect
them. The Light Sword and Power Glove will do double damage to these
guys though.
Q: How do I open the tomb?
A: Look for various places in the tomb that have something written on the
floor and step on them. This will take you all over the map. After you
have stepped in all those marked spaces, the gate will automatically open.
Q: Hey! Is the Astral Dominae gone?
A: No. Just signal Vitalia to come on down and give her the Ring of the
Globe and the Locket of the Tomb.
Q: Huh? Where did I get the Locket from?
A: You *did* remember to go back up to those 1x1 pillars after solving the
?CRYPT? map...right?
Q: What about the Ring?
A: Did you finish the Great Test in City of Sky and completely search the
shuttle?
Q: And while we're baffled, how the heck do we signal Vitalia?
A: You *did* visit the Forbidden Zone in New City after getting that strange
information from the Savant Berserker and the Observation Center in
Nyctalinth and the Comm-Link Device...didn't you?
Q: Why does the Dark Savant keep wiping the floor with my party?
A: You're just unlucky. :( Still, you can use the Elysiad in this fight,
and this fight only. Personally, I didn't really need it. The Mystery
Ray was helpful too, at least on the Kui'sa-ka. Hope you have 100 Mind
Control by the way; they LOVE Psionics.
Q: Why does Vitalia ask me about a spaceship?
A: This decides what endings you can get. Yes means that you have to go to
Phoonzang's shuttle to grab an ending. No means you go back to the
Forbidden Zone for the endings, although I didn't have problems getting an
ending from Phoonzang's shuttle as well by saying no.
Various other possible questions:
Q: What should I bring with me for the ending?
A: I really don't know. Personally, I'm going to see what will transfer into
Wizardry 8 first. You can take a look at what the game might be like at
http://www.wizardry8.com/ and guess for yourself. I'm probably going to
see if I can bring the Umpani stuff (the badges) as they are going to be
in it.
_______________________________________________________________________________
v1.94(3/3/01) Made a few changes to some areas of the FAQ and credited Bernice
Carter.
v1.93(10/20/00)Added Neoseeker to the list of places that can display this FAQ.
v1.92(10/13/00)Added VGMasters to the list of places that can display this FAQ.
Did some minor editing here and there, and added another two
possible questions so that this wouldn't feel like a totally
pointless update. ;)
v1.91(10/2/00) Added Cheat Empire to the list of places that can display this
FAQ. Also did some minor editing, and added a paragraph's worth
of words in the closing paragraph.
v1.9 (8/15/00) Forgot to trim down another section in the beginning. Minor
editing. Expecting to update with a full Walkthrough next
update, but don't hope too much.
v1.8 (8/7/00) Trimmed down some areas and spaced out others as per Dallas'
recommendations, and minor editing. Added a question in Ukpyr.
v1.7 (7/9/00) Fixed some errors thanks to the people who volunteered on the
Software Specialties board. Thanks guys.
v1.6 (7/5/00) Added a new section in Spellcasting. Editing changes. Added
www.rpgclassics.com to the list where this FAQ is displayed.
v1.5 (6/22/00) Added www.the-spoiler.com to the list where this FAQ is
displayed. Very slight editing changes.
v1.4 (6/20/00) Added www.psxcodez.com to the list where this FAQ is displayed.
Very slight editing changes.
v1.3 (6/13/00) Minor editing corrections. Added Spoilers section.
v1.2 (6/8/00) Minor editing corrections. Sources added.
v1.1 (6/7/00) Added Version updates section and two sites to the list where
this FAQ is displayed.
Software Specialties Wizardry 7 board
Crusaders of the Dark Savant Clue Book (comes with Wizardry Gold, although it
has some errors that you don't know about until you play through the game)
My own playing experience
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Future plans. The bottom item is what will most likely come up next. Don't
expect anything on the top to come anytime soon.
* HTML version of the Dark Savant clue book. I won't be copying it, but it
will try to be in a similar format. It will also use the maps below to help
navigate around. Don't expect this in the near future at all, as my HTML is
horrible.
* Monster list, with the type of weapon the monster wields, what spells it
casts, and any special abilities. Don't expect this to occur before
September of 2001, and if any other CRPGs come out within that time, don't
expect it at all. Still, it will get done eventually, although now I don't
know if I'll finish it before Wizardry 8 comes out. However, Llevram has
kindly put together a program that does all this already in the meantime. :)
You should be able to get it at www.softwarespecialties.com. Just scroll down
the left menu and click on the last link there.
* Full color maps saved from the game (and slightly modified in cases like the
Funhouse where the waterslide isn't mapped). Some of these are actually
done, but I don't have time to go through each and every single area and map
everything the way it appears on the Journey Map Kit, AND pass my classes.
I'll get too distracted.
* A spoiler walkthrough. This FAQ is only a semi-spoiler and skips some
things. The walkthrough will try to guide you on the quickest way around
things. I can probably get this done before the Monster List and is next on
my to do list for this FAQ unless someone has a suggestion for an existing
section of the FAQ. This has now been combined with the Full color maps.
* A beginner's section that is designed to explain how some things work
that will not spoil the game in anyway.
* Any minor corrections and suggestions to the FAQ. I'll try to do what I
can, but remember: I'm only human.
This is a (minor) spoiler section.
If you don't like spoilers, ignore this last section. There's a reason why the
spoiler section is LAST--although some of the questions above are semi-spoilish
in nature, this section assumes that you know most of the things in the game.
Besides any spontaneous blurbs I may have, if you've got a question about the
game that I feel is spoilish I will add it here.
As I'm a rather avid item collector, I thought it would be nice to spill some
information just for the heck of it.
Q: Where are all the bard instruments? What do they do?
A: Here are all I know of:
Poet's Lute Sleep Most bards start with it.
Angel's Tongue Bless Buy/steal from Brother T'Shober when you first
meet him.
Chromatic Lyre Itching Skin Land of Dreams.
Lute of Sloth Slow Search the area where you summoned Maa-Gogg the
Man'O'Grove for a chest.
Silent Lyre Silence Dionysceus, in the Book of Immortals chest.
Pipes of Doom Terror Buy/steal from Blienmeis at Ratskells in Rattkin
Ruins when he is in Ratskells.
Cornu of
Demonspawn Astral Gate Kill *S P A W N*
Siren's Wail Confuse Dragon Mountains, in the pirate chest or a
Gorrors chest.
Horn of
Prometheus Fireball Gorrors chest or a certain Hall of Past chest
Lyre of Cakes Healthfull* A certain Hall of Past chest--you choose between
this and the Horn of Prometheus.
* Lyre of Cakes has been proven to not give back your health. People have
theorized that it instead acts like a mass version Cure Lesser Condition.
Q: Where are the items that give me personal skills?
A: Everywhere. Not all skills require items by the way:
Firearms Have a character practice on the firing range; can be given
to all, but each character must practice individually; you
can't have everyone learn the skill after one person uses
it--only the characters practicing will learn the skill.
Snakespeed Get the 5 flowers as Xen Xheng asked and merge them together.
Use a Holy Water to merge with the White Dahlia before merging
the Dahlia with the other 4 merged flowers. Only one person
can get this.
Reflextion Ask Blienmeis about "Reflextion" when he is in Ratskells. He
will offer to sell you a Ring of Reflextion for 12000 gold.
Use the Ring's special ability to give the character using it
Reflextion. Only one character/game can get this.
Power Strike Use the Gem of Power's special ability to give the character
using it Power Strike. The Gem of Power is located in the
secret room in Murkato's Inner Sanctum. Only one
character/game can get this.
Eagle Eye Rescue Jan-Ette from the T'Rang Assassins. Give the Helazoid
Pennant she gives you to Dame Ke-Li at City of Sky for the
Helazoid Pendant. Use the Pendant's special ability to give
the character using it Eagle Eye. Only one character/game can
get this.
Mind Control Kill the Psi-Beast(s) on the Temple of Eternal Night level of
Dionysceus and return to the room the Danes were in on the same
level to meditate. Anyone who doesn't fall asleep gains a
point in the skill.
Q: Can I get the other items in the Hall of Preservation?
A: As far as I know, the answer is no if you didn't import a party from Bane
of the Cosmic Forge. The Diamond Ring you get in Bane of the Cosmic Forge
can open up the doors as well, although like the Key of Light it goes away
when you use it--which means you have to decide whether the item inside
is worth losing a -5 AC accessory that females can use. In my opinion, the
Cobaltine Power Glove, the Light Shield, and the Light Sword are all worth
it, but not the Frontier Phasers.
Q: What do the wandering NPCs sell?
A: This is from what I can remember, so there may be some mistakes:
Lord Galiere and King Ulgar:
Spear
Awl Pike
Spear+2 (rarely or only in the beginning of the game)
Quilt Tunic (sometimes)
Quilt Leggings (sometimes)
Fur Leggings (sometimes)
Cuir Gauntlets (sometimes)
Leather Cuirass (sometimes)
Studded Hauberk (sometimes)
Capt. Boerigard:
Spear+2
Studded Hauberk
Brother TShober:
Random potion (most of the times)
Random potion (sometimes)
Random potion (rarely)
Xen Xheng
Sai (sometimes)
Nunchukas (sometimes)
Ninjato (sometimes)
Shuriken (15)
Bushido Blade (higher levels)
Do-Maru (U)
Do-Maru (L)
Ninja Cowl |
Ninja Garb (U) |--may not have all at once
Ninja Garb (L) |
Tabi Boots |
Tosei-do (U) (higher levels)
Tosei-do (L) (higher levels)
Kymas Turan
Mitre
Brimstone Nuggets
Ju-ju Stones (sometimes)
Dragon's Teeth (sometimes)
Random scroll
Random scroll
Random scroll (sometimes)
Random scroll (rarely)
Random scroll (rarely)
All Umpani NPCs
Powder and Shot (25) (sometimes)
Walriblade (sometimes)
Flak Vest (sometimes)
All T'Rang NPCs
??? (I think nothing, but possibly Shock Rod)
All Rattkin NPCs
Various keys
(Don't remember what else--they die too fast)
Jan-Ette
Credit Card (most of the time)
Powerpak (sometimes)
Any maps the NPCs may have are always displayed first when you go to the
"Buy" screen.
Q: What are some good equipment that I can get?
A: Depends on your point in the game. Here's some treasure troves where you
can get items better than what you should normally be getting if you go
ASAP:
Orkogre Castle: Try to get into the Armory early. (You have to get in
anyway.) Leather and Studded Hauberks may be helpful as well
as the bows and the occasional naginata or halberd.
Eryn River: After meeting Brother TShober, take the first path you see on the
left, and follow it to the first place with water that you see.
Save, and swim north--you'll need 30 swimming however. Follow the
path to the end; the giant battle at the end is a doozy for a weak
party. When you open the chest there though, you will get
a Crusaders's 2H Axe +1, Bracers of Defense, Chain Mail +1 (U),
Chain Mail +1 (L), and a Crusader Helm as well as gold.
Giant Cave: You can get here early by exploring the Eryn River map (The same
map that you meet Brother TShober the first time) and locating
the path that leads to the Witch Mountains area. You should max
out your swimming however. When you enter, crack open the
Journey Map Kit and as west and south as possible (you may have
to explore the entire west area) until you both hit water and
can't go west anymore. Now, if you have some area effect spells
like Fireball handy and lots of Water points for Stamina spells
(or lots Stamina potions), look at the area this way.
You should be facing south, with a wall to your right, part of the
passageway to your left, and water in front of you and to the left
in front of the other part of the passageway. The water should
have walls that are visible from this point. Now, go left until
you're line up with the wall on the left side, so that if you took
two or three steps forward you'd be lined up with the wall. Now
for the first annoying part: Take two steps forward and into
the Glow Mothra fight. Deal with them. (Level 4 Asphyxiation
works wonders here.)
Go back to shore and rest, then get ready to use some spells/items
and head back into the water facing south all the way until you get
to an opening on your left. Go in that watery opening, but before
you go into the more open room after the opening, get some stamina
back and (if you want to, save) walk into the room to fight
Pirannha Sharks, which are tougher Red Pirannhas.
After you've (hopefully) successfully dealt with them, go forward
until you hit the wall (you should be facing east now), turn right,
take a step forward in the water, turn left (facing east again)
and you'll see a treasure chest. Go in and get your Plate Mail +2
(both upper and lower) and some random loot. Reload the loot until
you see some weapon you like--I like the Cat O' 9 Tails, but some
may like the Vulcan Hammer or Sword of Fire.
Nyctalinth: In the underground area, if you explore past the Western Gas
Pocket Area, you will eventually find a path that leads to an
encounter with Cave Thraxes, but starts with some text. After you
fry those bugs, if you go to the northeast corner of the room and
search, you'll find a Broadsword +1 and random loot. Reload until
you get something you like, which may include a Dragon Kite.
Rattkin Funhouse: After you do Barlone a favor, if Ratsputin is still alive you
can run into him and he will demand that you pay dues that
are 20% of your current amount of gold. Pay at least once,
then return to Barlone--he will offer you his treasure trove
and a Displacer Cloak (you better have inventory room before
talking!) for 40,000 gold. The loot is decent and can
include a Dragon Kite (again).
Isle of Crypts: West area after the area with all the fountains contains a
secret button in one of the alcoves. Press it, go in the
passage, deal with the demon fight, and pick the chest open
for a last chance at Chamail items, a Faerie Cap, or a Dragon
Kite without wasting a spot in a Gorrors chest (although you
might get the Dragon Kite again in the Dragon Cave).
Or, if you feel you are strong enough, go to the extreme
southwest area of the map (where the Ugly Gorn Woman corpse
is buried) and enter the alcove with the Gorn Nobleman that is
directly west of her. Save, cast prepartory spells, then
search to fight Ungorn Daimyo and possibly a bunch of Skeleton
Lords. Defeat them for the Hi-Kane-Do (U and L), a Kabuto, a
Bushido Blade, and a Wakizashi +1.
Q: Where can I get the Cane of Corpus?
A: Kill Blienmeis. Easier said than done of course.
Q: Where are some monster generators?
A: Several places.
New City: In the Control Center, stick the Black Wafer instead of the Control
Card in the slot to summon Savant Guards and Troopers.
Orkogre Castle: In the area below the prison; you must step in the square you
fall in to respawn.
Greater Wilds: You will find an area that has a path circling a small area.
Step in the middle of that area to set off an encounter. Step
on the square you had to go through to get in this area to
reset the encounter.
Isle of Crypts: The intersection in front of the fountain. Encounters reset
automatically.
Q: What's the best party to get through the game?
A: Almost anything works, really. If you want to be able to use the most
items in the game, you will need an Elf fighter-type, a Faerie Ninja, (the
following non-Faerie) Samurai, Ranger, Valkyrie, Psionic, Bishop, and one
of the character profession changed from a (non-Faerie) bard. You still
can't use the Medicine Bag, but you're not missing much from it. If you
want to just play for fun, anything can work. If you want to get through
the first areas quickly, you may opt for a simple party of two Fighters, a
Mage, a Priest, a Thief, and a Bard for relative speed through the initial
parts. Heck, even a party of all Ninjas can get through the game. If all
else fails, use the change profession button to get a class that you need
at the moment once you have the minimum stat requirements to change into
the class.
Q: Should I use missile weapons?
A: You can if you want to. A lot of them are pretty nice in damage and
effects. However, the really nice missiles are in limited quantities;
unless you cheat, you may end up finding yourself never using them. If
you are the economic type, you will hate any missile weapons, including
the Musket and Blunderbuss, which must be reloaded every other turn in
order for you to use it effectively. Keep in mind however that missile
weapons are long range, and can target monsters no matter where they are.
Q: Should I put the difficulty on easy? There are some places in the game
where I just want to get past a fight to go on with the game, not spend
extra time gaining levels, but if I do I feel like I'm cheating...
A: If you're just trying to get through the game, there's nothing wrong with
it. Expert mode is there when you think that the game has become too easy;
I wrote this playing on Expert mode, and I can tell you that some fights
that seem easy on Easy are royal pains on Expert. The Magna Dane fight is
a good example.
Q: What are some battle strategies I can use?
A: Well for starters, you can try to keep Enchanted Blade, Armorplate, and
Magic Screen on all the time. Although they will be less effective than if
you had just casted them should you get into a nasty fight, at least you
will be somewhat prepared for it. In-battle spells you may wish to cast
to beef up your characters are Bless, Armor Shield, Haste, and Superman on
someone who will be attacking a lot. Most of the other helping spells
should only be used if the situation calls for it--for example, casting
Ice Shield and Fire Shield when you're up against enemies that can use the
appropriate type of spells or attacks. If you have a bard, take advantage
of his or her instruments and start hammering the enemy away with a status
ailment (or just Blessing everyone constantly with the Angel's Tongue).
Thanks for reading this guide. As I've said before, any comments and such
non-spam and non-flame in nature are appreciated. If you have a question not
answered here, I'll be happy to add it after you ask me. Right now, I'm in
the middle of mapping all of the game and doing the "online Walkthrough" train
of thought to kill two birds with one stone. This is going to take a LOT
longer than I expected, due to the need to do assignments for class and the
relocation (and swapping) of the computer I was using to map the game, so it is
on hiatus for the moment while I get my life organized. I can still answer
questions however as well as update this FAQ if more questions get asked
pertaining to the game (but not technical stuff)
