JADE EMPIRE SPECIAL EDITION
FAQ/WALKTHROUGH
v1.10 2007-06-12
Copyright 2007 Barry Scott "PapaGamer" Will
A premium version of this guide is available:
http://www.papagamer.com/
The premium version includes many high-quality screenshots, maps of every
major area and more.
VERSION NOTE
--------------
The Special Edition of Jade Empire for the PC differs only slightly from the
original Xbox version of JE. By-and-large, all information in this FAQ is
applicable to both the Xbox and PC versions of Jade Empire. Where something
applies specifically to one or the other version, it will be pointed out.
Common Abbreviations
----------------------
Here are some common abbreviations used in this FAQ:
JE: Jade Empire
SE: Special Edition (the PC version of Jade Empire)
OP: Open Palm, the "good" alignment
CF: Closed Fist, the "evil" alignment
IMPORTANT NOTE
----------------
This guide contains a walkthrough only for the Open Palm (i.e. "good") path.
See:
http://www.papagamer.com/content/view/68/1/
for a further explanation.
*SPOILER WARNING*
This guide contains plot spoilers. You have been warned.
==JADE EMPIRE================================================================
CONTACT INFORMATION
============================================================Special Edition==
To contact me about the guide, send email to:
barry@papagamer.com
Please include "Jade Empire FAQ" in your subject line so I don't auto-discard
the message. Also, please read the FAQ carefully prior to asking for help on
any part of the game. If you send me additional suggestions or hints for the
game and I find them useful, you will be acknowledged in the Credits.
If you found this guide useful and would like to contribute a small token for
my efforts, you may send money through PayPal by using the Donate link found
on my Web site:
http://www.papagamer.com/
Thank you, and enjoy the guide!
==JADE EMPIRE================================================================
TABLE OF CONTENTS
============================================================Special Edition==
Gameplay...................................1.00
Controls................................1.01
Game Menus..............................1.02
Difficulty..............................1.03
Combat.....................................2.00
The Basics..............................2.01
Martial.................................2.02
Support.................................2.03
Weapon..................................2.04
Magic...................................2.05
Transformation..........................2.06
Special Styles..........................2.07
Harmonic Combos.........................2.08
Characters.................................3.00
Stats...................................3.01
Player Characters.......................3.02
Followers...............................3.03
Open Palm vs. Closed Fist...............3.04
Enemies.................................3.05
Chapter 1...............................5.10
Wherein you get schooled
A Master's Teachings....................5.11
The Search for Dawn Star................5.12
The Burning Town........................5.13
Chapter 2...............................5.20
Wherein you have a lot of dam trouble
Picking Up the Pieces...................5.21
The Great Dam...........................5.22
Find a New Flyer........................5.23
The Sickened Forest.....................5.24
Cleaning Up the Town....................5.25
Chapter 3...............................5.30
Wherein you discover grave injustice
Silk Fox................................5.31
The Executioners........................5.32
The Inquisitors.........................5.33
Necropolis..............................5.34
Lotus Assassin Fortress.................5.35
Chapter 4...............................5.40
Wherein you crash a royal party
The Height of Power.....................5.41
Chapter 5...............................5.50
Wherein you get your fill of spirits
The Land of Spirits.....................5.51
Chapter 6...............................5.60
Wherein you kiss and tell
Chapter 7...............................5.70
Wherein you perform the schooling
As the Fates Allow......................5.80
Marvelous Dragonfly Missions............5.90
Lord Lao's Furnace...................5.91
Missions.............................5.92
Upgrades.............................5.93
The game has a detailed manual, and it is installed, as a PDF file, in your
main installation folder. You can access the manual by clicking the
Advanced... button on the game launch menu and then clicking Documentation. A
copy of the Xbox game manual is available online at replacementdocs.com. The
information in this section of the guide is designed to supplement the
information in the manual.
Jade Empire SE supports both keyboard/mouse and gamepads as controllers. The
default controls are listed here, along with the Xbox controls for the
original version. Gamepad defaults are based on a generic, 10-button, dual-
analog controller like this:
D = D-pad
LA/RA = Left and Right analog sticks
LT/RT = Left and Right triggers (small shoulder buttons)
LS/RS = Left and Right (large) shoulder buttons
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| ACTION | KB/MOUSE | PC GAMEPAD | XBOX |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Move | W, A, S, D | Left analog stick |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Move Camera | Mouse | Right analog stick |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Evade | Double-tap Move or Block + Move* | Block + Move|
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Quick Attack | Left Mouse button | Button 1 | A button |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Block | SPACE or Mouse 3 | Button 2 | B button |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Power Attack | Right Mouse button | Button 3 | X button |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Area Attack | Quick Attack + Power Attack |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Focus Mode | F key | Button 4 | Y button |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Change Target | TAB/Q/Mouse wheel | Left/Right triggers |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Free Target Mode | T | Both LT&RT at the same time |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Chi Strike | E | Left Shoulder | Black |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Chi Heal+ | Left SHIFT | Right Shoulder | White |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Combat Pause | P | Button 9 | Select |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Game Menu | ESC | Button 10 | Start |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Switch Styles^ | 0 - 9 | D-pad |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Toggle Walk/Run | Left CONTROL | Control speed with analog stick |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Quick Save | F5 | N/A |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Quick Load | F9 | N/A |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Screenshot | Print Screen | N/A |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Henchman Menu | H | N/A |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Inventory Menu | I | N/A |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
| Journal Menu | J | N/A |
+-------------------+--------------------+--------------------+-------------+
*Players of the PC version can select whether to use Double-Tap or Block+Move
or both to Evade. See the Options Menu section above.
+Chi Heal is a press-and-hold control--as long as you hold the key/button,
you'll continue to heal yourself (until you reach full health or run out of
Chi).
^To change the mappings of styles to keys, press and hold a style key (0-9 or
D-pad) until the style selection screen opens, then select a style and press
Quick Attack. You can also remap styles through the Styles tab on the game
menu.
When not in combat (exploration mode), the following buttons change their use:
* Quick Attack: Use/Talk/Open
* Block: Forward roll
* Power Attack: Toggle mini-map (closed, small, large)
When using the game menu, the following buttons change their use:
* Move: Change highlighted item
* Quick Attack: Select highlighted item
* Block: Cancel/Back
* Targeting: Change tabs on the menu
(Of course, you can use the mouse to point-and-click your way through the
menus as well.)
During the flying mini-game, the following buttons change their use:
* Move: Move flyer
* Quick Attack: Fire weapon
* Power Attack: Activate upgrade (requires Chi)
* Targeting: Cycle through available upgrades
GAME MENUS [1.02]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Many of the various options in the Options Menus are self-explanatory; or, are
covered in the game manual. However, there are some that require further
explanation. To open the game menu while playing, press ESC (keyboard) or
START (Xbox) or the equivalent button on your PC gamepad. Along the top of the
game menu are nine tabs. Use the target controls (see Controls above) or the
mouse to switch tabs. The tabs, from left to right, are:
Character
-----------
The character screen shows your current alignment on a vertical graph next to
your character portrait. To the right are your primary and secondary
abilities. Above the ability scores is your current level progression showing
how many experience points you have now and how many are needed to reach the
next level.
When it is time to level up, open this tab and select or click your character
portrait. You'll be able to add 3 points to your primary abilities and must
use them all to complete the level-up process. When you click DONE, you'll
automatically go to the Styles tab and be able to spend points to upgrade your
Styles. You do not have to spend any Style Points to complete the level-up
process.
Along the bottom of the Character screen you can click buttons allowing you to
see your Conversation Skills, Techniques (and, on the Techniques screen, you
can switch to your Flyer to see available upgrades for the Marvelous
Dragonfly) and some game Statistics (enemies killed, favorite style...that
sort of thing).
Styles
--------
This screen lists all your Styles. At the top center of the screen are the
number of Style points you currently have to spend. Select a Style and click
Level Up to buy upgrades for the style. More information about each style and
its upgrades is covered in the Combat section of this guide.
You can also REMAP the quick-select keys for the styles on this screen. For
players using a gamepad, it's probably easier to use the press-and-hold the D-
pad method of changing style mappings.
Followers
-----------
This screen shows all the followers who have joined you thus far. Portraits
that show just a silhouette or question mark are slots for followers you have
not yet met. Portraits that are grayed-out are followers who have joined you;
but, are currently unavailable.
To change your current traveling companion, simply select the portrait of the
follower you want to join you and press Quick Attack or click with the mouse.
You cannot change companions during combat; however, you can freely change
companions at any other time.
To switch a follower between Attack and Support modes, select the follower's
portrait and then click the Attack or Support button along the bottom of the
screen. Some followers only have one mode (Attack or Support).
Dragon Amulet
---------------
This screen becomes active after you obtain the Dragon Amulet in Chapter 1. On
the left side of the screen are all Essence Gems that you are carrying. Click
(or select-and-press-Quick-Attack...you get the picture) a gem to place it in
the Dragon Amulet and receive the benefit of the gem. You must have a free
slot in the Amulet to place a gem. If the Amulet is full, click a gem
currently in the Amulet (identified with an Amulet icon to the left of the
gem's name) to remove that gem from the amulet.
At the beginning of the game, you may only have three gems in the Amulet at
one time. At the conclusion of Chapter 2, you receive an additional piece of
the Amulet and can place up to five gems in the Amulet. In Chapter 3, as you
finish up the Lotus Assassin quest, you get a third piece of the Amulet and
can place up to seven gems in it at one time.
Click the STATS button at the bottom of the screen for full details of all
your primary and secondary abilities and conversation skills. Click the
REORDER button to order all your Essence Gems in descending order based on
their power.
Journal
---------
This screen shows all your quests and the various stages of each quest. Along
the bottom you can change the lists of quests by clicking the Filter button.
By default, you are viewing all active quests. You can switch to active main
quests, active sub-quests and completed quests. You can also review the last
100-or-so lines of dialog, including quest rewards, by clicking the DIALOG
button. Click the PLOT ITEMS button to review the plot items in your
inventory.
Map, Load Game & Save Game
----------------------------
The next three screens are pretty self-explanatory. The Map screen shows the
map of the current area, including important points of interest. Click the
LEGEND button to see what the symbols mean.
Load Game and Save Game allow you to do just that. Save games are numbered.
Click the REORDER button on either screen to re-order the list in ascending or
descending order. The default ordering is descending order, which places your
most recent save at the top of the list.
Options
---------
The Options screen allows you to set game options in five areas: Audio, Video,
Difficulty, Feedback and Control. This is also where you'll find the QUIT GAME
command, which takes you back to the main menu.
AUDIO OPTIONS
Set the volume in four areas: sound effects, music, movie (pre-rendered cut
scenes) and voice. You can also turn Reverb on and off. The defaults should be
fine for most people.
If you click the CONFIGURE button on the game launch menu, you can use the
Jade Empire Configuration Utility to disable sound altogether. You probably
don't want to do that unless you're having a lot of trouble with your sound
card.
VIDEO OPTIONS
Here's where you tweak your display to get the game running smoothly. Set the
Aspect Ratio to Widescreen if you are using one, or leave it at Normal if you
have a typical 4:3 display. If you use an LCD monitor, be sure you set the
resolution and refresh rate to match your monitor's native resolution. For
example, a 19" LCD might have a native resolution of 1440x900 at 60Hz.
Soft Shadows cause shadows cast on the ground to have blurred edges so they
look more natural. There's a problem with ATI cards where turning Soft Shadows
ON causes shadows to virtually disappear. In any case, Soft Shadows is a
resource hog, so it's probably best to leave it OFF if you're having framerate
problems.
Anti-Aliasing smoothes the edges of diagonal lines. It greatly improves the
look of the game, but does use a lot of resources. By default, players with
ATI cards cannot turn on Anti-Aliasing. There are two ways around this:
1) Use the ATI Catalyst Control Center to force Anti-Aliasing on for all
games. If you play a lot of games concurrently on your system, this may not be
the best solution.
2) Find JadeEmpire.ini in your main program folder and open it in a text
editor. Find AllowAtiFSAA and set it equal to 1. The option will then appear
on your Video Options screen.
IMPORTANT: If you have an ATI card, do not try to use Soft Shadows and AA at
the same time. You'll get trash on your screen.
Bloom Lighting creates more realistic lighting effects. Frame Buffer Effects
are full-screen particle effects. Note that Bloom Lighting doesn't work unless
you also have Frame Buffer Effects on. Focus Trails cause blurred movement
whenever you are in Focus Mode; e.g. your weapon/fists will leave trails as
you swing. Finally, you can adjust the Brightness of the screen.
By default, JE on the PC is locked to a maximum of 30 frames per second (fps).
Since the graphics are not that advanced, this is a lot slower than many PCs
can actually run the game. Find the JadeEmpire.ini file in your main program
folder and open it in a text editor. Find ClampFPS and set it equal to 0. Your
game will probably run at much higher framerates.
Additional video options are available using the CONFIGURE button on the game
launch menu. This opens the Jade Empire Configuration Utility. On the Video
options tab of this program, you can set all the options you can set in the
game (except for Brightness).
Under Aspect Ratio, you can switch between Normal (4:3) and two Widescreen
modes (16:9 and 16:10). Select the one that properly matches your monitor. For
example, 1280x720 (or 720p) is 16:9, while 1440x900 is 16:10. At the bottom of
the list of options are the ability to disable the Intro Movies (i.e. the
company logos that play each time the game starts) and All Movies (i.e. all
the pre-rendered cutscenes in the game). If you've already played the game
once or twice, you may want to disable the movies so you don't have to ESC out
of them.
DIFFICULTY
Set the difficulty for Combat (Student, Master, Grand Master or Jade Master)
and the flying mini-game (Student, Master or Grand Master). More information
about game Difficulty is given below.
FEEDBACK
Turn Controller Vibration (rumble) on or off. This will only have an effect if
your controller has the rumble feature.
Jade Empire has three different types of dialog scenes:
1) Interactive dialog where your character speaks to an NPC,
2) Cut scenes, which are non-interactive scenes rendered in real-time with the
game engine; and,
3) Movies, which are pre-rendered, non-interactive scenes.
You can turn subtitles on for all three types of scenes, just dialog and cut
scenes (No Movies), interactive Dialog Only or None. Regardless of your
choice, Tho Fan (or Old Tongue) dialog and instructional/descriptive dialog
will always be shown.
The Show Gore setting only affects normal gameplay and cut scenes. Pre-
rendered movies will show whatever gore was put into the movie.
CONTROL
Click the KEYBOARD or CONTROLLER buttons to configure the keys or buttons for
various actions. Of the other options, the most important is Evade Method.
This controls how you perform evade or roll maneuvers during combat. Keyboard
users want to set this to Double Tap or Both. Controller users should set this
to Block Button. Experiment with both settings to see what works best for you.
Student
---------
This difficulty level is for those players that want to enjoy the story and
character interaction and not be bothered by combat. You do more and take less
damage at this level; everything but boss-level enemies should go down in two
or three hits. Enemies rarely use good tactics against you and fights consist
of short sessions of button-mashing. If you find yourself dying a lot at
Student difficulty, you should consider playing a different game.
Seriously.
Damage done by PC: 200%
Damage done to PC: 60%
Master
--------
The "normal" difficulty should prove challenging for most players--especially
when you are surrounded by five or more enemies. (Which happens regularly.)
Still, even at this difficulty level, most fights come down to button-mashing.
Enemies will be slightly smarter; however, you can keep them at bay with area
attacks and then deal with most enemies easily by holding a block and then
quick-attacking when they charge up a power attack. Long, drawn-out battles
may give you problems as you start to run out of Chi or Focus. Using a
follower that replenishes these stats is helpful.
Damage done by PC: 100%
Damage done to PC: 100%
Grand Master
--------------
Grand Master is for those players that are more interested in the combat than
in the story or conversations. If you're looking for a beat-'em-up more than
an RPG, this is the difficulty level for you. You'll need to use smart tactics
in battle, have dexterous fingers on the controls and quick reaction times.
Battles against multiple opponents will be gut-wrenching affairs that
frequently cause you to break out in a cold sweat.
You'll probably die. A lot. Save often, advance carefully and fight nastily.
Using long-reach weapons (such as the staff) or ranged combat (such as magic
styles) will aid you greatly. You'll want to rely more on Transformation
styles at this difficulty level, to avoid the often nasty effects your enemies
can hit you with.
Damage done by PC: 60%
Damage done to PC: 150%
Jade Master
-------------
Special Edition only
Jade Master is an extra difficulty level added to the Special Edition version
for the PC. It is a New Game+ mode that is only unlocked once you have
completed the game once (on any difficulty setting). Everything is reset
except for your character's stats, styles and learned Techniques. (When you
learn those same Techniques again, the effects will stack.) Enemies are
considerably stronger and more difficult to defeat. Orbs appear with less
frequency--even when using Harmonic Combos. Jade Master is a new way to
experience the game; however, it's still the same game with the same plot and
characters.
You select Jade Master at the character selection screen when starting a new
game. If you have already completed the game at least once, a Master button
appears on the character select screen. Click the button to access a list of
characters with which you have finished the game. Select one of these
characters to begin a Jade Master game.
THE BASICS [2.01]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You'll get a pretty complete introduction to fighting during the brief
tutorial session at the beginning of the game. Combat in Jade Empire is a
simple rock-paper-scissors approach:
* Blocks beat Quick Attacks
* Quick Attacks beat Power Attacks
* Power Attacks beat Blocks
You can use Area Attacks to clear out any surrounding foes that are not
holding blocks. Area Attacks do no damage; but they do knock back nearby
targets and give you some breathing room.
Quick Attacks can be strung together in "combos" of three attacks. Each attack
in the string has a different animation, different range and different damage
(usually increasing). You can switch styles within a combo (if you're fast
enough with your fingers) and string together even longer combos. For example,
you can use Thousand Cuts to quickly interrupt your target's Power Attack,
then switch to White Demon for a powerful finishing blow.
All combat in JE takes place in pre-determined "arenas" marked by invisible &
visible walls. For example, early in the game you have to fight several waves
of bandits on a beach. You are constrained by the water, cliffs and invisible
walls blocking the exits from the beach. You cannot leave a combat arena until
you have defeated all enemies.
Most fights come down to simple button mashing. If you get surrounded, use an
Area Attack or Evade out of the group of enemies. Once you manage to separate
one foe from the rest, target that enemy and then jump in and Quick Attack. As
soon as the target holds up a Block, either use a Power attack or jump over
the target (Evade Forward) and hit the target from behind.
If you're being attacked from range by magic, use Evade to avoid the "bullets"
or hold up a Block. Either reply with Magic of your own, or jump in and start
pummeling the caster. If you get hit with a negative effect, such as poisoned
or slowed, switch to a Transformation style, which is immune to the effect.
Combat in JE can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. While you can--
especially at Student and Master difficulty--just mash the Quick Attack button
while jumping around (Evade) the arena, you can give yourself more options.
You will have a lot of styles to play with, so play with them. Try changing
styles mid-stream for some variety. Experiment with harmonic combos (covered a
little later in this guide). Or, take the easy way out (Jade Golem) and just
have fun with the story and don't worry about the combat. It's all up to you.
Style Upgrades
----------------
When you level up, you gain a certain number of Style Points you can spend to
upgrade your styles. Each style has three upgrades and each upgrade has five
ranks. The number of Style Points required to increase ranks are 1 for the
first rank, 2 for the second rank, 4 for the third rank, 6 for the fourth rank
and 10 for the fifth rank. Thus, to increase one upgrade to the fifth rank
requires 23 Style Points.
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Upgrade | Rank 1 | Rank 2 | Rank 3 | Rank 4 | Rank 5 | Styles* |
|------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-----------------|
| Damage | +25% | +50% | +75% | +100% | +125% | Martial, Magic, |
| Increase | | | | | | Weapon, Trans |
|............|........|........|........|........|........|.................|
| Increases the damage of all attacks |
|------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-----------------|
| Chi Strike | +50% | +100% | +150% | +200% | +250% | Martial, Weapon,|
| Damage Inc | | | | | | Support, Trans |
|............|........|........|........|........|........|.................|
| Increases the amount of Chi Damage added when in Chi Strike mode |
|------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-----------------|
| Quick Atk | +5% | +10% | +15% | +20% | +25% | Martial, Weapon,|
| Speed Inc | | | | | | Support |
|............|........|........|........|........|........|.................|
| Increases the speed of all Quick Attacks |
|------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-----------------|
| Lower Chi | -5% | -10% | -15% | -20% | -25% | Magic |
| Cost | | | | | | |
|............|........|........|........|........|........|.................|
| Reduces the amount of Chi required to use Magic attacks |
|------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-----------------|
| Duration | +100% | +200% | +300% | +400% | +500% | Support, Magic |
| Increase | | | | | | |
|............|........|........|........|........|........|.................|
| Increases the duration of timed effects (such as Petrified, Slowed, etc.) |
|------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-----------------|
| Chi Cost | -10% | -20% | -30% | -40% | -50% | Transformation |
| Reduction | | | | | | |
|............|........|........|........|........|........|.................|
| Reduces the amount of Chi required to stay in the Transformation form |
|------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-----------------|
| Focus Cost | -20% | -40% | -60% | -80% | -100% | Weapon |
| Reduction**| | | | | | |
|............|........|........|........|........|........|.................|
| Reduces the amount of Focus required to use Weapon attacks |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
* For purposes of upgrades, Spirit Thief is treated as a Support style
(upgrade Chi Strike Damage, Quick Attack Speed and Duration). However, the
Duration increases for Spirit Thief are smaller than for other styles. See the
description of the style for the actual Duration increases.
** Mirabelle, the gun you can receive as a reward in Chapter 3, receives less
of a Reduction in Focus cost as you upgrade it. See the description of the
style for the actual reduction in Focus Cost. The 100% reduction should not be
construed as meaning fully upgraded weapon attacks cost no Focus. The 100%
reduction is from the base of 5 points per strike; however, only the two most
basic weapon styles (Fortune's Favorite and Golden Star) consume only 5 points
of Focus. See the Weapon Style descriptions for more information.
MARTIAL [2.02]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Damage, range and speed figures are on a scale of 1 to 5 and are in relation
to other Martial styles.
Leaping Tiger turns your character into Wolverine. Long claws spring out of
your hands whenever you enter combat mode. Quick attacks are two short jabs
with the claws followed by a flip-kick that is the longest-reaching Martial
Quick Attack in the game. The Power Attack is a huge leap and covers a bit of
distance. It is the default style for "Magic" characters (Scholar Ling and
Monk Zeng).
Legendary Strike
------------------
* Damage: 3
* Speed: 3
* Range: 3
* Obtained: Starting style; or, buy from Zin Bu or Spear Catches Leaf in
Southern Forest
Despite its name, Legendary "Strike" mostly uses kicks. It has a good balance
of power and speed and is the default style for "Balanced" characters (Wu the
Lotus Blossom and Lu the Prodigy).
Thousand Cuts relies on speed--getting multiple, low-damage attacks in on the
target. The Power Attack is actually several punches, rather than a single
blow as with other styles. This is a true button-masher's style as your entire
strategy is centered around pounding the Quick Attack button as fast as
possible. It is the default style for "Fast" characters (Furious Ming and
Radiant Jen Zi).
White Demon
-------------
* Damage: 5
* Speed: 1
* Range: 2
* Obtained: Starting style; or, buy from Zin Bu
White Demon is the most powerful of the starting styles. It's slow, but does a
lot of damage per blow. It's intended for characters with higher health, as
you'll have to stand in and trade blows with your opponents. It's the default
style for "Strong" characters (Tiger Shen).
Iron Palm
-----------
* SE, exclusive of Viper
* Damage: 4
* Speed: 2
* Range: 5
* Obtained: Complete the quest for three Iron Palm scrolls
Iron Palm is a style for Open Palm players added to the PC version of JE. It
is gained after you find three Iron Palm scrolls. The scrolls are found or
received:
1) In a chest in the Spirit Cave in Chapter 1;
2) From Fuyao after freeing her from the slaver in Chapter 2 (even if you goad
her into killing the slave buyer, which is a CF action, you still get the Iron
Palm scroll--go figure);
3) Defeat Kai Lan the Serpent in the Arena
Iron Palm is a strong style similar to White Demon; but a bit faster. It's
main claim to fame is a rushing Power Attack that covers a fair bit of
distance; but, doesn't do a lot of damage. Gao the Lesser will sometimes use
this on you in your bout in Chapter 1. It's not really enough to recommend the
style--especially as, by the time you gain it, you're not using Martial styles
much at all.
Viper
-------
* SE, exclusive of Iron Palm
* Damage: 2
* Speed: 4
* Range: 4
* Obtained: Complete the quest for three Viper scrolls
Viper is a style for Closed Fist players added to the PC version of JE. It is
gained after you find three Viper scrolls. The scrolls are found or received:
1) In a chest in Gao's cavern in the Swamp Cave in Chapter 1;
2) From the slaver after selling Fuyao and Yifong to him in Chapter 2 (even
though you can earn CF points by goading Fuyao into killing the slave buyer,
you don't get the Viper scroll unless you sell her--which, when you think
about it, isn't even the most CF action--go figure);
3) Defeat Grand Inquisitor Jia in the Lotus Assassin fortress
Viper is a fast, low-damage style similar to Thousand Cuts. It's main benefit
is a poison effect, similar to the Toad Demon Transformation style, as well as
the fastest Power Attack in the game (making it useful for finishing Harmonic
Combos). It's an especially effective style; but, you get it kind of late in
the game and it does require a very distasteful action: selling the women into
slavery. That alone may prevent many players from gaining the style. (You can,
of course, always "cheat" it in with mods. See Way of the Modder at the end of
this guide.)
SUPPORT [2.03]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support styles are used primarily to start Harmonic Combos or get out of a
tight spot. Quick Attacks in a Support style do no damage on their own--though
you can use Chi Strikes to give a little punch to your...punches. The Power
Attack and/or Area Attack of all Support styles will slow or immobilize your
enemies in some fashion. Ghosts, demons and golems are immune to Support
styles.
The Power Attack of Heavenly Wave slows your target. Not hugely useful; but,
you may need it a few times during the early game. Don't spend a lot of points
upgrading it--there are better styles available.
Storm Dragon
--------------
* Obtained: Buy from Merchant Cheung in Tien's Landing (only if you close the
dam) or from Spear Catches Leaf in Southern Forest
Storm Dragon is almost a cheat. The Area Attack shocks and immobilizes
multiple targets at once, allowing you to easily complete a Harmonic Combo on
the nearest foe. You can acquire this style fairly early in the game (if you
have the silver). It is extremely useful for crowd control.
Paralyzing Palm
-----------------
* Obtained: Complete the Black Leopard School quest in the Open Palm manner
(i.e. kill Master Smiling Hawk)
Probably the most useful Support style in the game and a strong argument to at
least take the Open Palm path through the Black Leopard school. The style does
just what it suggests: a Power Attack paralyzes your target. Boo yah!
Hidden Fist
-------------
* Obtained: Complete the Black Leopard School quest in the Closed Fist manner
(i.e. kill Master Radiant)
The style obtained instead of Paralyzing Palm is good, but not as good. It's
primary benefit is the ability to affect multiple enemies at once through the
Area Attack. The Power Attack and Area Attack both disorient your enemies,
which is good, but not as good as paralyzing them--you'll still have to chase
them down as they stumble about. In one way, it may actually make your foes
more difficult to hit.
WEAPON [2.04]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Damage, range and speed figures are on a scale of 1 to 5 and are in relation
to other Weapon styles. The base Focus cost of Weapon styles is five (5)
points of Focus per strike. This can be reduced down to zero (0) by purchasing
ranks in Focus Cost Reduction. However, only two Weapon styles (Fortune's
Favorite and Golden Star) actually cost only 5 Focus per strike. The other
Weapon styles cost more Focus and the *additional* Focus cost is *not* reduced
by Focus Cost Reduction.
EXAMPLE
Dragon Sword costs +5 Focus points per strike for a total of 10 points (5 base
+5 for the upgrade). If you purchase all five ranks of Focus Cost Reduction,
the 5 base points will be eliminated and you will only "pay" the 5 additional
points per strike for having the upgrade.
Fortune's Favorite
--------------------
* Damage: 2
* Speed: 3
* Range: 3
* Additional Focus Cost: 0
* Obtained: From Master Gujin in Two Rivers at the beginning of the game
The long sword, as a beginning weapon style, is stronger than the staff; but,
has much less reach. If you're starting with a lot of Focus (i.e. a "Fast"
character); then, this would be your preferred fighting method over the
starting Martial style (Thousand Cuts). All other characters may prefer the
long reach of the staff for crowd control rather than the little bit of extra
damage from the sword--especially since it's useless against ghosts. Later in
the game, you can acquire a more powerful sword; but, by that time, you will
probably have other, better options.
Dragon Sword
--------------
* Damage: 3
* Additional Focus Cost: +5
* Obtained: From the blacksmith in Imperial City's Merchant's Square
This is an upgrade of your long sword that adds 25% more damage to your
attacks. It replaces your current sword (all your purchased skill ranks
transfer over) *or* adds the single sword style.
Demon Sword
-------------
* Damage: 4
* Additional Focus Cost: +7
* Obtained: From a pile of bones in the Spirit Realm (Chapter 5)
* Special Edition only
This is an upgrade of your long sword that adds 50% more damage to your
attacks (compared to Fortune's Favorite). It replaces your current sword (all
your purchased skill ranks transfer over) *or* adds the single sword style.
When you first enter the Spirit Realm at the beginning of Chapter 5,
immediately turn around and head towards a cannon in the open field. Near the
cannon is a pile of bones; you'll find the sword in there.
Golden Star/Tien's Justice
----------------------------
* Damage: 1
* Speed: 2
* Range: 5
* Additional Focus Cost: 0
* Obtained: From Master Gujin in Two Rivers at the beginning of the game
* Owners of the Limited Edition version of the game on Xbox receive Tien's
Justice, all other players receive Golden Star
Staffs are slow and don't do a lot of damage, but they have a long reach.
Unfortunately, the best overall strategy in JE is to kill the bad guys as
quickly as possible. You just can't do that with a staff. The only time a
staff might be useful is when your enemies are using staffs, and then all you
really need to do is switch to a Magic style and pelt them from range.
Flawless
----------
* Damage: 2
* Additional Focus Cost: +5
* Obtained: From the blacksmith in Imperial City's Merchant's Square
This is an upgrade of your staff that adds 25% more damage to your attacks. It
replaces your current staff style (all purchased skill ranks transfer over)
*or* adds the staff style.
Demon Staff
-------------
* Damage: 3
* Additional Focus Cost: +7
* Obtained: From a pile of bones near the Unfinished Tomb in the Necropolis
* Special Edition only
This is an upgrade of your staff that adds 50% more damage to your attacks
(compared to Golden Star). It replaces your current staff style (all purchased
skill ranks transfer over) *or* adds the staff style.
Tang's Vengeance
------------------
* Damage: 5
* Speed: 2
* Range: 2
* Additional Focus Cost: +5
* Obtained: From Black Whirlwind after you defeat the Ravager in the Imperial
Arena
After finishing the Arena side quest, you are gifted with Black Whirlwind's
double axes. They're powerful, though a little on the slow side and without a
lot of reach.
Eyes of the Dragon
--------------------
* Damage: 4
* Speed: 4
* Range: 3
* Additional Focus Cost: +5
* Obtained: Defeat Crimson Khana in the Arena without using poison; but, do
not warn her in advance
Crimson Tears
---------------
* Damage: 4
* Speed: 4
* Range: 3
* Additional Focus Cost: +5
* Obtained: Defeat Crimson Khana in the Arena without using poison and warn
her in advance
You'll learn one of these two styles from Crimson Khana after defeating her in
the Arena (assuming you don't poison her). The lure of warning her ahead of
time and getting Crimson Tears is that it does 25% more damage than Eyes of
the Dragon. Both offer quite a bit more damage than a single sword and a
faster rate of attack than Black Whirlwind's double axes. Overall, outside of
Mirabelle, these are the best Weapon styles in the game (though the Demon
Sword or Demon Staff probably come close for players of the PC version of the
game).
Mirabelle
-----------
* Damage: 20
* Speed: -10
* Range: 20
* Obtained: From Sir Roderick in Chapter 3 as a reward for beating him
Mirabelle can seriously unbalance the game. In addition to range equal to
Magic styles, it does huge amounts of damage--at Student difficulty, a single
Power Attack will take out most common enemies. As compensation for its power,
it is horrendously slow and pigs out on Focus. (20x as much Focus for a
"Quick" Attack, 30x as much Focus for a Power Attack. No, those are not
typos.) While you can buy Focus Cost Reduction upgrades for Mirabelle, they
are less than other Weapon styles. The cumulative Focus Cost Reductions for
Mirabelle are:
If you've got the Focus to support it (and carry Sky along to recharge your
Focus during combat), you can blast your way through most of the game. Try
using it on the golems in the Lotus Assassin Fortress...Fun stuff.
MAGIC [2.05]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Magic styles are the only ranged combat option in Jade Empire (with the
exception of Mirabelle, as noted above). If you're the type who likes to sit
back and snipe your enemies, you'll want to boost your Chi and use Magic. You
can have up to three Magic styles if you're willing to pay for one. However,
only one or two are really needed. Magic cannot be used on demons or golems.
Magic styles are very useful against ghosts--especially since they're immune
to Weapon and Support styles.
All Magic styles consume ten (10) points of Chi for each Quick Attack and 30
points of Chi for Power Attacks and Area Attacks. The effective range for all
Magic styles is roughly 20 meters. Damage and figures are on a scale of 1 to 5
and are in relation to other Magic styles.
Dire Flame
------------
* Damage: 3
* Obtained: One of the choices from the blue spirit in the Spirit Cave during
Chapter 1; or, buy from Kia Jong in the Lotus Assassin fortress
Dire Flame's Area Attack is probably the slowest in the game. It takes forever
to get going; thus, it isn't reasonable to use it for crowd control or
harmonic combos. Otherwise, this is a good style with fast Quick Attacks and
at least one creature (ogres) that are vulnerable to fire.
Ice Shard
-----------
* Damage: 2
* Obtained: One of the choices from the blue spirit in the Spirit Cave during
Chapter 1; or, buy from Acolyte Trainer Guang in the Lotus Assassin fortress
Overall, Ice Shard is the weakest magic style in the game. Its Quick Attacks
do the same amount of damage as Dire Flame; but, the Power Attack does *no*
damage. It's primary benefit for early game is the Area Attack is considerably
faster than Dire Flame. Of course, once you get either Tempest or Stone
Immortal, you'll probably never use your starting Magic style again.
Stone Immortal
----------------
* Damage: 5
* Obtained: Learn from Mistress Vo in Tien's Landing if you are following the
path of the Open Palm ("An Ancient Game" side quest)
* Special: Open Palm players receive a +30% bonus to damage; Closed Fist
players receive a -30% penalty to damage.
If you're a Magic-using fiend, Stone Immortal is a good argument to follow the
Way of the Open Palm. It does more damage per Quick Attack than any other
Magic style and it's Power Attack is hugely damaging--and it Petrifies your
target, which starts a harmonic combo. On top of that, it is just about the
only style in the entire game that does serious damage with its Area Attack.
You'll see Stone Immortal from the wrong side whenever you face an elephant
demon, and you gain great respect for its power when it is used against you.
Tempest
---------
* Damage: 4
* Obtained: Learn from Jian the Iron Fist in Tien's Landing if you are
following the path of the Closed Fist ("An Ancient Game" side quest)
* Special: Closed Fist players receive a +30% bonus to damage; Open Palm
players receive a -30% penalty to damage.
Tempest is a good Magic style with a faster Power Attack than any of the other
styles. That alone recommends it to players that like to use Harmonic Combos.
Still, Storm Dragon is a better style to use for Harmonic Combos and Stone
Immortal does more damage. However, if you're playing strictly Closed Fist,
this is the Magic style for you.
TRANSFORMATION [2.06]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Transformation styles offer some benefits. For one, while in demon, golem or
ghost form, you are immune to the same types of attacks that form is immune
to. For example, while in demon form, you are immune to Magic and Support
styles. Transformation forms are also immune to many negative effects, such as
Slow and Poison. If you get hit with a negative effect, you can shift form and
get rid of the effects. Also, Jade Golem is (especially at lower Difficulty
levels) the best combat style in the game.
As a trade off, the Transformation forms are generally slow and they can't
dodge attacks. If you're used to jumping around in combat a lot, you may have
difficulty adjusting to a form. They can also suck your Chi fairly quickly--
the more powerful the form, the faster it drains your Chi. You can offset this
somewhat by purchasing ranks in Chi Cost Reduction; but, if you intend to use
Transformation styles a lot, you'll need to focus on increasing your Spirit
and Chi abilities.
Toad Demon
------------
* Obtained: when you defeat your first toad demon in the Swamp Cave in Chapter
1
The primary benefit of the Toad Demon is its Power Attack, which is a leaping
charge that covers quite a bit of ground and hits multiple enemies--poisoning
them as a bonus. Primarily, you'll use this form to get rid of negative
effects, not to actually fight.
Horse Demon
-------------
* Obtained: when you defeat your first horse demon in the Fox Heaven in
Chapter 2
Horse demons are somewhat unique among combat styles--their Quick Attack and
Power Attack are the same as Dire Flame; however, because it is their
"natural" attack, it works on any foe--including other demons and golems.
Combine that with the demon form's immunity to certain effects and you have a
pretty potent package. At the cost of a lot of Chi of course. Also, the horse
demon is not that great in crowds; it works better against three or fewer
opponents.
Rhino Demon
-------------
* Special Edition pre-orders only
* Obtained: at the end of the tutorial fight against Jing Woo
The Rhino Demon transformation form is a bonus offered only to persons who
pre-ordered the Special Edition through GameStop/EBGames (as well as certain
other selected retail outlets). However, you can easily add this to your own
game, as the "bonus" consists of a single file. Instructions are in Way of the
Modder near the end of this guide.
Rhino demons are strong and slow and not all that useful unless you're
fighting a group of Magic-using foes.
Jade Golem
------------
* Obtained: when you defeat your first jade golem in the Lotus Assassin
Fortress in Chapter 3
Way overpowered. That's the only way to describe Jade Golem. If you're not
into the whole combat thing, you'll love this style as every fight is reduced
to a few Power Attacks and done. If you are trying to make fighting more
interesting, avoid this style like the plague. Not only are you dishing out
immense amounts of damage, you are also immune to magic, martial and support
styles. The only things that can hurt you are demons, other golems or enemies
with weapons.
In other words: not much. As a balance to the damage, Jade Golems are very
slow. This is not a problem as you are immune to the only ranged attacks in
the game, so enemies generally have to come to you.
Red Minister
--------------
* Obtained: when you defeat your first red minister in the Spirit Realm in
Chapter 5
Red Ministers are ghosts with a great benefit: attacks drain both Health and
Chi from the target and transfer it to you. As a downside, the attacks are not
that powerful.
SPECIAL STYLES [2.07]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Drunken Master
----------------
Drunken Master is an extremely powerful martial style--roughly twice as
damaging as White Demon, but it does have limitations. In order to use Drunken
Master, you must have Henpecked Hou as your companion. He only has Support
mode; while you're in combat, he drops wine bottles. Pick up a bottle and you
go into Drunken Master style for a limited time. The time remaining appears in
the lower left of the screen above your style selection keys. To gain more
time, pick up another bottle.
Drunken Master is somewhat difficult to control and the Power Attack takes a
while to execute. On the other hand, the unpredictable nature of the style
makes it difficult for enemies to hit you. Drunken Master is very good for
large crowds during Chapter 2 (use it on the cannibals right after learning
it); however, it can't be upgraded, so it loses its appeal as the game
advances.
Spirit Thief
--------------
Hui the Brave teaches you Spirit Thief near the beginning of Chapter 2. This
style is sort of like a Support Style; its primary purpose is stealing Chi
from your enemies in order to replenish your supply. If you're a heavy magic
user or like to stay in demon/golem form, this can be a useful style. However,
even with Chi strikes enabled, it doesn't do much damage, so you're reduced to
leaping around the arena, avoiding attacks while desperately trying to re-fill
your Chi meter so you can launch more magic attacks or transform once again.
In the long run, if you're heavily dependent on Chi, take Dawn Star with you
and keep her in Support mode.
Spirit Thief is upgraded like a Support style (Chi Damage Increase, Quick
Attack Speed Increase and Duration Increase); however, the increase in
duration for Spirit Thief effects are much shorter than for other styles. The
cumulative Duration Increases for Spirit Thief are:
Improvised Weapons
--------------------
In various places--especially taverns and the like--you'll destroy tables and
scatter food as you fight. You can grab table legs or large hams to use as
weapons. These weapons are quite powerful; but, they last only a short time.
You can reset your time limit by grabbing another improvised weapon. They are,
in short, very similar to Drunken Master, but only useable in select areas.
Harmonic combos are special finishing or killing attacks that not only
completely destroy your target; but also assure you of getting a specific type
of power-up.
To begin a harmonic combo, you must use a Magic or Support style attack that
partially or fully immobilizes your target. This will either be the Power
Attack or Area Attack. If you successfully begin a harmonic combo, a green,
segmented circle surrounds your target's feet and begins counting down. Before
the circle disappears completely, you must switch to a Martial style and
execute a Power Attack on the target. Depending on what style you used to
begin the combo, you are assured of receiving a specific type of power-up. (In
Jade Master mode the chance of receiving a harmonic combo power-up is only
50%.)
The different styles that can begin harmonic combos are:
* Heavenly Wave (Support): Power attack slows target, produces Health Orb
* Paralyzing Palm (Support): Power attack paralyzes target
* Hidden Fist (Support): Area attack disorients targets, produces Chi Orb
* Storm Dragon (Support): Area attack shocks targets, produces Focus Orb
* Ice Shard (Magic): Power attack freezes target, produces Focus Orb
* Dire Flame (Magic): Area attack immolates targets, produces Health Orb
* Stone Immortal (Magic): Power attack petrifies target
* Tempest (Magic): Power attack immobilizes target, produces Focus Orb
All characters are defined by a set of nine stats. These stats are broken down
into three primary abilities, three secondary abilities based directly on the
primary stats and three conversation skills, which are derived from an average
of two of the primary stats.
For most of your gameplay experience, the only three stats of concern are the
three secondary abilities: Health, Chi and Focus. These are the stats you will
use on a consistent basis, especially for combat. The conversation skills show
up once-in-a-while in conversations and are generally not necessary to
complete the game.
When you level up, you can only add points to the three primary abilities:
Body, Spirit and Mind. Think of these as Health, Chi and Focus and add points
where you need them most.
Health
--------
A simple concept: when you lose all your health, you reload from your last
save point. Health is equal to 100 points plus your Body stat multiplied by 10
plus any bonuses or penalties from Techniques or Essence Gems.
There are two ways to look at Health: 1) You need more of it so you can
survive longer against the bad guys; or, 2) If your Chi and/or Focus are high
enough you can deal with the bad guys before they deal with you, so Health
isn't all that important.
In the long run, view 2 is more useful. Pump up Chi and Focus and you'll be
able to quickly handle any problems that arise. However, don't completely
neglect your Health--there are still tough fights where you'll need to
withstand some punishment in order to emerge the victor.
Chi
-----
Chi is a representation of the strength of your inner spirit. It is, quite
possibly, the most important stat in the game. Here's what Chi can do for you:
* Power Transformation and Magic styles
* Add damage to Martial, Weapon and Support style attacks
* Heal you in the midst of combat
Chi is equal to your Spirit multiplied by 10 and added to 100 plus any bonuses
or penalties from Techniques and Essence Gems. Considering the overall
usefulness of Chi, it should probably be your main focus--unless you just like
a pure beat-'em-up and stick with a Martial or Weapon style.
Focus
-------
Focus has two important functions:
* Powers Weapon styles
* Allows you to slow down time (Focus Mode) in combat, so you can more easily
defeat your enemies
Unless you really, really want to use Mirabelle (the Outlander's gun from
Chapter 3) a lot, or like to use Focus Mode a lot (and it's kind of
overrated), then you don't really need much Focus. For weapons other than
Mirabelle, buy all the ranks of Focus Cost Reduction and you don't need a lot
of Focus to use the weapons. Of course, if you prefer to use Focus mode *and*
a Weapon, you'll need a lot of Focus.
PLAYER CHARACTERS [3.02]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To begin the game, you get your choice of one of seven playable characters.
While each character is set up differently, you can customize the character's
stats, combat styles and name; you cannot customize the character's
appearance. So, choose your character based on your gender preference and who
you think looks the best.
Customizing Your Character
----------------------------
Characters are described by their stats and their combat styles. There are no
classes, per se, in Jade Empire. As you level up, you earn points that you can
put into the three primary stats for your character, as well as points you can
use to increase the power and effectiveness of your combat styles.
At the beginning of the game, each character's primary stats are set at 2 and
you can customize these by adding to them from a pool of 4 points. Each
character also begins with one martial style from the following: Legendary
Strike, Thousand Cuts, White Demon or Leaping Tiger. All characters also begin
with the Heavenly Wave support style. You may choose to accept the character's
default stats and martial style. Whether you customize stats and styles or
accept the default, you have the choice of giving your character a unique name
(including one randomly chosen by the game).
The seven characters and their default stats and martial style:
Females
* Wu the Lotus Blossom: Body 3, Spirit 4, Mind 3, Legendary Strike
* Radiant Jen Zi: Body 2, Spirit 3, Mind 5, Thousand Cuts
* Scholar Ling: Body 2, Spirit 5, Mind 3, Leaping Tiger
Males
* Furious Ming: Body 3, Spirit 2, Mind 5, Thousand Cuts
* Tiger Shen: Body 5, Spirit 2, Mind 3, White Demon
* Lu the Prodigy: Body 4, Spirit 3, Mind 3, Legendary Strike
* Monk Zeng: Body 3, Spirit 5, Mind 2, Leaping Tiger
(NOTE: Monk Zeng is only available on the Xbox in the Limited Edition of Jade
Empire. He is available in the SE version on PC.)
Since all characters can be customized, the only choice you need to make is
which character you want to look at for the next 20+ hours.
Leveling Up
-------------
As you play, your character accumulates experience. You get experience for
completing quests, killing enemies and reading books and scrollstands. Gain
enough experience and you level up. Leveling up is a simple process. You get
three points to add to your primary abilities (Body, Spirit & Mind) and a
variable number of points to spend on advancing your styles.
To level up, you must spend all three points on your primary abilities. You do
not need to spend any points on your styles; you can save Style Points for
later use to buy more advanced upgrades for the styles. The Combat section of
this guide lists the available upgrades for each style.
The XP needed is the cumulative experience needed to advance to each level.
Thus, when you gain 700 XP, you advance to level 2 and you have to gain 1300
more XP (2000 - 700 = 1300) to get to level 3. By default, there are no XP
totals for levels above 32; however, playing the game normally will result in
gaining only 22 to 25 levels. You can change the amount of XP needed, as well
as the number of allowable levels and the number of style points earned. See
Way of the Modder near the end of this guide.
During the course of the game, you pick up a number of followers or
companions. At any time you can only have one follower with you; however, you
can switch followers out very quickly and easily. Simply go to the Followers
tab on your game menu screen and select the follower you want. Except for
certain limited areas and while in combat, the new follower instantly replaces
your current follower.
You have no direct control over your followers' actions, nor can you choose
your companions' level-up options. The only thing you can do is change your
companions from Attack to Support tactics and back again (where applicable).
Go to the Followers tab of your game menu screen, select the follower and then
click Attack or Support at the bottom of the screen.
In Attack mode, your follower attacks any enemies on screen. All followers
with Attack ability can damage spirits with their attacks. In Support mode,
your follower does not attack any enemies. Instead, your follower stays on the
fringes of the battle and lends some type of aid, which is listed below in
their descriptions.
You will find there are two things about followers in Attack mode:
1) They are all essentially equivalent.
2) They are all essentially useless.
Followers are much more useful in Support mode, which means you should choose
your traveling companion based on your Support needs. You do not need to
regularly travel around with a follower in order to advance the follower's
plot (including romance). Talk to each follower on a regular basis (you can do
this at your home camp in each chapter). A good rule of thumb is to talk to
each follower each time you level up or each time you complete a main story
quest.
Dawn Star
-----------
* Female, romance option for male PCs
* Attack: Long sword
* Support: regenerate Chi
Dawn Star's magical sensitivity gives her added insight into
the world around her. In battle she cuts swiftly with her
long sword.
Dawn Star is your first follower, gained almost at the very beginning of the
game. She is also, perhaps, the single most useful follower in the game. She
is the only regular follower that can regenerate Chi in Support tactics; and a
ready supply of Chi is very useful. Chi fuels Transformation and Magic styles,
Chi strikes in Martial and Support styles and allows you to heal yourself
during battle. If you run out of Chi in the middle of battle, you're in big
trouble unless you concentrate on Martial and Weapon styles (or waste time
using Spirit Thief).
Male players that flirt with and are otherwise nice to Dawn Star will get a
romantic cutscene near the end of the game. It is possible for male players to
woo both Dawn Star and Silk Fox.
Sagacious Zu
--------------
* Male, no romance
* Attack: Staff
* Support: increases damage of weapon styles
Sagacious Zu's mysterious past belies great experience and skill.
His staff is a valuable asset in battle.
You meet Sagacious Zu in the swamp while pursuing Gao the Lesser at the end of
Chapter 1. He's a plot-important NPC and a good Support character if you're
focusing on weapon attacks. Since weapon attacks are useless against spirits
(i.e. roughly 40% of the enemies you face in the game), his value as a regular
follower is somewhat in doubt. You'll want to chat regularly with Zu and Dawn
Star, as they fill in some important facts and give you different conversation
options during the final battle. (It doesn't change the ending of the game in
any way; but, it does flesh out the primary villain a bit.)
The Black Whirlwind
---------------------
* Male, no romance
* Attack: Dual axes
* Support: None
The Black Whirlwind is a warrior of exceptional girth and
immeasurable brutality. In combat, his axes gleefully plow
through enemies, not stopping until the red mists fade.
As a follower with no Support mode, BW is slightly less desirable than other
followers. He does have a part to play in the Arena side quest in Chapter 3;
however, he shows up whether you have him as you companion or not. Open Palm
players will find themselves somewhat distressed by his lack of any "good"
conversations. (That's "good" as in the opposite of evil. The conversations
themselves are quite humorous--nearly the equal of HK-47 from KotOR.)
Sky
-----
* Male, romance option for female and male PCs
* Attack: Dual Sabers
* Support: regenerate Focus
Sky is a dashing rogue and a skilled thief with a tongue as
sharp as the twin sabers he uses in combat.
Sky's Support mode is great for any player--especially weapon users. A steady
stream of Focus allows extended use of Focus Mode, which works well in any
combat situation. If you're sympathetic to his tale, you can get a romantic
cutscene with him in Chapter 6.
Henpecked Hou is a master bun maker and a former fighting
champion. He refuses to fight these days out of respect for
his beloved wife.
Pick up Hou's wine jugs to activate Drunken Master style.
This style does much more damage than other Martial styles,
but it is only available for a short time once activated.
Picking up more jugs extends the duration of Drunken Master
style.
You rescue Hou from Pilgrim's Rest Inn in Chapter 2. After you free him, he
teaches you Drunken Master and is available as a companion. For more details
on Drunken Master, see its description under Special styles in the Combat
section of this guide.
Silk Fox
----------
* Female, romance option for male and female PCs
* Attack: Long sword
* Support: increases damage of martial styles
Silk Fox is as enigmatic as she is beautiful. When her long
sword is not flashing from foe to foe, she lends her skill
to you.
You meet Silk Fox at the beginning of Chapter 2; however, she does not join
your party until the beginning of Chapter 3. She is the last "regular"
follower to join up. (Abbot Song and Death's Hand are the only followers still
to come.) Her Support tactic is pretty good if you use Martial styles a lot;
this is useful for fights against ghosts when Martial and Magic attacks are
about all you have going for you.
Both male and female PCs can flirt with Silk Fox and get a romantic cutscene
in Chapter 6. Male PCs can have a relationship with both Dawn Star and Silk
Fox.
Chai Ka/Ya Zhen
-----------------
* Demon, no romance
* Attack: Demon form
* Support: regenerate Health
A guardian demon bound in the body of a child, Chai Ka
will fight alongside you with his great strength or
channel his power through you.
A hideous demon using Wild Flower's body as an anchor,
Ya Zhen tears through enemies with his claws and tongue.
You fight Chai Ka on the way to the dam in Chapter 2. After the fight, he
joins you, though he normally travels in the body of the girl, Wild Flower.
Later, as you talk to Wild Flower, Ya Zhen begins to manifest himself. At the
beginning of Chapter 4, the conflict between these two comes to a head and you
have to choose which demon you will support. You then take control of that
demon for a fight against the other demon. Once you emerge victorious, only
the demon you chose is available to you.
Obviously, siding with Chai Ka earns Open Palm points and letting Ya Zhen
loose earns Closed Fist points. The demons are functionally identical, with
strong attacks and a good support mode. If you never talk to Wild Flower, Ya
Zhen will never manifest and you'll be left with a question mark (?) in the
last row of your Followers screen (second ? from the left).
Death's Hand
--------------
* Bound spirit, no romance
* Attack: Dual swords
* Support: none
The body and spirit of the tortured Prince Kin are yours to
command. Just as he did for both Sun Hai and Sun Li, Death's
Hand serves you with ruthless efficiency and brutal strength.
At the end of Chapter 6 you fight Death's Hand; when you defeat him, Sun Li
appears and revives his brother. You use your Spirit Monk powers to take
control of Sun Kin and separate him from the armor. You, the player, then take
control of Sun Kin for a fight against Death's Hand. When you emerge
victorious, you, the player character, have the option of freeing Sun Kin's
spirit (Open Palm) or binding Death's Hand to your service (Closed Fist).
If you bind Death's Hand to you, four of your companions object (Silk Fox,
Dawn Star, Sky and Hou) and you have to bind them to you as well. (Unless you
have been consistently following the Closed Fist path and pursued a romance.
In that case, your romantic interest goes along with your actions. *NOTE* If
you're a closed fist male and have pursued both Silk Fox and Dawn Star, Dawn
Star reverts to Open Palm at this point and you have to bind her. Silk Fox
remains loyal to you.) Death's Hand is a good fighter; however, he appears so
late in the game that he's of little practical use. There's no reason to keep
him around if you're Open Palm; and, even Closed Fist players would only bind
him for the "evil" points.
Death's Hand fills the third (from the left) question mark (?) on the bottom
row of your Followers screen. If you release Sun Kin's spirit after the fight
in Chapter 6, you will leave that ? unfilled for the remainder of the game.
Kang the Mad
--------------
* Male, no romance
* Attack: None
* Support: operates Marvelous Dragonfly
The aptly named Kang the Mad is the brilliant inventor of the
Marvelous Dragonfly. While he won't join in on a fight, he
offers perilous adventures of his own.
Kang is one of two special followers. He does not actually join you on your
adventures; rather, he is the inventor and pilot of the Marvelous Dragonfly--
the airship you obtain in Chapter 2. Talk to him--either by visiting him at
your home base or selecting him on the follower menu screen--to travel around
the Empire and to open up a set of flying mini-games. Kang's mini-games also
open up Lord Lao's Furnace, one of the side-quests in Chapter 3.
Zin Bu
--------
* Male, no romance
* Attack: None
* Support: merchant
Zin Bu the Magic Abacus is a celestial bureaucrat who seeks
to shift over to sales. Check back often; his magical store
occasionally restocks itself to help you on your journey.
Zin Bu is one of two special followers. He does not actually join you on your
adventures; rather, he is a celestial accountant who operates a store for your
convenience. While there are many merchants scattered throughout the Empire,
Bu is always with you and always ready to purchase your excess inventory. He
also offers various Essence Gems, combat styles, Techniques and plot items for
sale. Of course, he charges more and pays less for this convenience. His
inventory changes as you increase in level, so visit him on a regular basis.
You can access his store by opening the Followers menu screen and selecting
Zin Bu. He joins you during the Sickened Forest quest in Chapter 2; you meet
him near the beginning of the Fox Spirit heaven.
Abbot Song
------------
* Male, spirit, no romance
* Attack: Monk spade
* Support: Recovers your Chi, Focus and Health
The abbot of the doomed Spirit Monks, Abbot Song serves the
Water Dragon, even in death. His hope for redemption lies
with you.
Abbot Song is your lone choice for a companion in Chapter 5, the Spirit Lands.
This is not a bad thing since he has the best Support tactic of any follower.
There's no reason to rely on his weapon when he can be constantly replenishing
all your secondary abilities.
OPEN PALM vs. CLOSED FIST [3.04]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bioware has included an alignment system in Jade Empire. Your character can
follow the way of the Open Palm or the Closed Fist. A lot of the official
literature and even in-game discussions talk about how Open Palm isn't really
"good" and Closed Fist isn't really "evil".
Well, to be Open Palm, you have to be selfless, compassionate and humble. To
rack up Closed Fist points, you have to be selfish, rude and arrogant. You can
decide whether or not that's two sides of the same coin or parallel paths or
whatever. Most people describe that as "good" and "evil".
In terms of gameplay, there's really not much difference between the two. And,
they are essentially negated by your final decision, which, by itself,
determines which of the two outcomes you receive. Thus, you can play the
entire game as Closed Fist and still get the Open Palm ending.
Yeah, just like KotOR.
Your alignment is largely determined by conversation choices. The choices
between the two paths are pretty obvious. The biggest surprises will be not
that you thought you were getting points toward one path and got points to the
other; but, that you got no points at all. In many situations, a response that
seems to be one side will, instead, be neutral. In fact, if your preference is
for staying neutral, you can do that for most of the game.
There are a few side-quests that are available only to dedicated practitioners
of one particular path. There are also some side-quests that, while available
to all, can only be resolved in a way that awards points toward a particular
path. For the most part, this can bite Closed Fist followers in the rear, as
they go looking to shake someone down and are only able to do something nice
and get Open Palm points. Points are awarded on a sliding scale, so if you're
CF and do something CF, you'll only get a small number of points; but, if you
do something OP, you'll get a lot of points. The reverse is true for OP
devotees.
This guide for Jade Empire *only* describes the Open Palm actions. You may
read my philosophy for this at:
http://www.papagamer.com/content/view/68/1/
If you're interested in playing the bad guy, you can still use this guide as a
general reference and play quests in the obvious "evil" manner.
This is a basic rundown of the foes you will face in Jade Empire and any
special properties of each. Bosses are covered individually in the
walkthrough, these are just the generic foes you encounter throughout the
game.
Humans
--------
You will encounter many, many human opponents in various groups: bandits,
mercenaries, pirates, Lotus Assassins, Imperial Guards and more. Humans have
no special resistances and the styles they use are as varied as your own.
You'll need a good repertoire of various styles so you can adapt to whatever
situation presents itself. Human opponents are the ones most likely to gang up
on you (and there are some huge gangs you will face). Support styles are most
useful for these large groups, especially Storm Dragon, which has the ability
to immobilize all enemies in range with its Area Attack.
One special type of human opponent is the zombie. You'll face zombies several
times in Necropolis in Chapter 3. Zombies don't have any special resistances;
but, they do have a Power Attack that causes Disease. Disease acts like poison
in that is slowly drains your Health while in effect.
Spirits
---------
One of the key plot points of the game is the inability for the dead to go to
their final resting place. This means you will fight a lot of restless spirits
throughout the game. Spirits are immune to Weapon and Support styles, so
you'll have to use a Martial or Magic style against them. Magic generally
works better, unless you have a particularly strong Martial style (i.e. White
Demon or Iron Palm).
Some of the spirits are Lost Spirits, which have a rather nasty Quick Attack
that is a homing missile (of sorts). Lost Spirits have black robes and white
masks and their homing missile is distinguished by its yellowish-green color.
When you see those things coming at you, hold up a block. The Lost Spirits'
Power Attack can be dodged and if you tie them up with quick Martial attacks
(such as Thousand Cuts), you can keep them from hitting you with their Quick
Attack.
A spirit that, fortunately, does not show up frequently is the red minister.
Red ministers can be identified by their flowing red robes and imperial-style
headgear. Their attacks drain both Health and Chi and transfer it to
themselves; so, they can damage you while restoring themselves. You have to
get up in a red minister's face and tie it up with fast Martial attacks to
have any hope of defeating one.
Players of the Special Edition of Jade Empire will also encounter ghost lords.
These strong spirits don't have any special attack; however, they can take off
a lot of Health with their attacks and Martial styles are less effective
against them. Ghost lords float high above the ground and any low-level
attacks will miss them completely. That means you'll want to use Magic against
these spirits since you are more likely to hit. On the plus side, ghost lords
do not themselves use any ranged attack, so you can simply stay out of their
reach and snipe them.
Demons
--------
Demons come in a variety of forms, each with its own unique attacks. As a
general rule, demons are immune to Magic and Support styles, so you'll have to
use a Weapon or Martial style against them.
* Rat Demon
Rat demons--other than their natural immunities--offer very little challenge.
You'll only meet them a few times during the game.
* Toad Demon
The toad demon is the fastest demon and has a large leap that covers quite a
bit of ground. In addition it can poison you (slowly sucks your Health while
in effect) with just its Quick Attack. Since you can't use Magic against a
demon, you'll have to close with it and take your lumps. Use your strongest
style with Chi Strikes to defeat these demons handily.
* Horse Demon
The horse demon is a fiery creature of hell that uses the equivalent of Dire
Flame. It shoots our fiery balls and large explosions and the only way to take
one on is to close up and tie it up with fast Martial or Weapon attacks.
* Elephant Demon
The elephant demon is the strongest--and slowest--of the demons. The proper
way to fight an elephant demon is from behind. Jump over it and hit it. When
it turns, repeat the jump-and-hit tactic. If you see it raise it's leg, jump
backward to avoid the earthquake effect. You might consider using Chi Strikes
to whittle down its massive Health more quickly.
* Rhino Demon (SE only)
In the Special Edition of Jade Empire you will occasionally encounter rhino
demons. The rhino is strong and has a charging attack. Your best bet is to
simply tie it up with fast Martial or Weapon attacks and evade at the end of
your combo of Quick Attacks.
Golems
--------
There are two types of golems in Jade Empire: clay and jade. The jade golems
are the biggest and strongest; but, both are affected by the same tactics.
Golems are immune to Martial, Magic and Support styles, thus, you have to rely
on Weapons or a Transformation style. The best way to fight golems is with a
Weapon with Chi Strikes. Stay behind the golem and hit it a few times, then
jump over it when it turns. If there are a small group of golems, you may have
to evade around the arena a bit until they separate.
Alternately, with clay golems, you can use a staff (if you have a strong staff
style), since you can outreach them. You can't outreach a jade golem, so stay
behind those.
The number of save games you may have is only limited by your free disc space.
Each save takes up roughly 4-5MB. Don't rely on the Auto Saves, nor should you
keep overwriting your Quick Save. You should, at the least, Quick Save after
every battle and make a new save game when you clear any area or complete any
quest.
* Explore thoroughly
Veterans of PC RPGs--especially those produced by Bioware--know there are many
treasures scattered about the game world. JE is no different; you'll find
casks and urns and piles of bones with silver, Essence Gems and even the
occasional Technique or plot item. Make sure you explore out to the edges of
all the maps to get all the loot you can.
* Use Jade Golem for easy fights
At Student difficulty, a single power attack from the Jade Golem
Transformation style is enough to take out most enemies. Even bosses
(including the final boss) become simple fights. At Master difficulty, Jade
Golem still rules the day. At Grand Master and Jade Master difficulties, Jade
Golem is effective, but the Chi cost becomes unbearable since your enemies can
withstand more blows from the construct's enormous axes. For simple fights,
pump your Chi and get Jade Golem as soon as possible after entering Chapter 3
(i.e. invade the Lotus Assassin fortress before doing all the side quests).
* Chat up your followers
All your followers have interesting stories. Some of their stories will change
future dialog choices within the main quests. Three are available for a little
romantic cut scene near the end of the game. (Not all at once, though.) Each
time you finish a main quest, return to base camp and talk to everyone.
* Save style points when you level up
Don't think you have to use every point upgrading your styles when you level
up. In fact, you don't have to use any points. The styles you get in the early
game are probably not the styles you will use most in the later game; so, why
waste points on styles you won't use? Go through the list of styles in this
guide and decide what you will use most and save points to use on those styles
when you get them. Don't save all your points! You will need to upgrade some
of your starting styles at least a little bit in order to keep those styles
useful while you're waiting to obtain better styles.
* Choose style upgrades carefully
The most effective style upgrades are:
- Martial: damage and speed
- Support: duration
- Weapon: damage and Focus cost reduction
- Magic: damage and lower Chi cost
- Transformation: damage and Chi cost reduction
Spend your style points on the more useful upgrades before buying ranks in
less useful upgrades.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS [4.10]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. What romance options are there? How do I complete a romance?
A. Here's the quick rundown:
Male players can romance Silk Fox or Dawn Star or both Silk Fox and Dawn Star
or Sky. If you try to romance one (or both) of the ladies and Sky, the romance
with the woman (women) will take precedence.
Female players can romance Sky or Silk Fox. If you try to romance both Sky and
Silk Fox, the romance with Sky takes precedence.
To complete the romance plot, just be nice or sympathetic to the object of
your interest. The conversation options are easy enough to pick.
Q. The camera is pointing at the floor and I can't move it! Help!
A. This is a common bug in the PC version of Jade Empire. Quicksave/Quickload
(default F5/F9) to fix the problem.
Q. I'm trying to duel Sir Roderick and the floor and walls have all
disappeared! Help!
A. This is another common bug in the PC version of Jade Empire. Turn down all
graphic options and reload your game. You can turn them back up after the
duel.
Q. I'm trying to get to Gao the Greater and I'm stuck in the Marvelous
Dragonfly hangar. The doors at the far end are guarded and they won't open!
A. This is another known bug in both the Xbox and PC versions of the game;
and, it's much rarer. When you first enter the hangar you should have to fight
off a bunch of demons. This is followed by a cutscene of an ogre and some
pirates bursting through those doors, which then get left open. If the ogre
and pirates don't appear, you can try going back to an earlier save; but, if
there's any 100% guaranteed solution, it's not yet known.
Q. What's a Harmonic Combo? How do I complete a Harmonic Combo?
A. Harmonic Combos are covered in the Combat section of this guide.
Q. How do I beat [insert name here]?
A. Full details on how to beat most of the tougher foes (such as The Ravager,
Death's Hand, various Arena matches, etc.) are included in the Walkthrough. In
general, Storm Dragon allows you to keep your enemy (or enemies) immobile so
you can beat on them with impunity. Or, you can rely heavily on Focus mode to
slow your foes and give you more time to land blows. You can also use Jade
Golem a lot once you obtain it—just save Style Points so you can buy lots of
Chi Cost Reduction and boost your Spirit and Chi abilities during the game.
Q. How do I turn Dawn Star to Closed Fist?
A. You have to play a male, concentrate only on Dawn Star as a romantic
partner (i.e. no double-dipping with Silk Fox) and constantly encourage Dawn
to assert herself.
Q. Which is the best character to use?
A. Whichever character you like to look at the most. Each character's ability
scores and starting Martial style can be customized, so there's no real
difference. Even if you accept the defaults, the differences are only minor.
Q. Which is the best starting Martial style?
A. That's different for every player. In general, Thousand Cuts favors button
mashers; Leaping Tiger works best for those players that like to Evade a lot
during combat; Legendary Strike works better for those who play a more patient
game (i.e. Block-Attack-Block, etc.) and White Demon is for those players that
like to wade in and go toe-to-toe with the enemy.
Q. What's the maximum level?
A. The game code has a max level of 32; PC users can easily change this so the
max level is essentially unlimited. Without modding, the average player will
only reach level 22 to 24. You can go higher; but, only by spending hours
camping respawn points in Necropolis and Southern Forest.
Q. Can I run the PC version on Windows Vista? Windows 2000?
A. You can run the PC version on Vista; you'll probably have to run it as an
Administrator. The game is not officially supported on Windows 2000 and won't,
by default, run at all. Some people have developed some hacks that supposedly
make the game run on Win2K. Google for them or search the Bioware JE Self-Help
forum.
This guide contains a walkthrough only for the Open Palm (i.e. "good") path.
See:
http://www.papagamer.com/content/view/68/1/
for a further explanation.
CHAPTER 1 [5.10]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_Wherein a Masters foretells of doom,_
_A rival challenges for station,_
_And the past haunts the present._
Your training nears its completion in the idyllic setting of Two
Rivers. Master Li promises that soon you will know more about how
you came here and where your future will lead. All the while,
strange tales begin to spread of ghosts that will not rest and
shadowy assassins who heed no law.
A Master's Teachings [5.11]
-----------------------------
QUESTS
[] A Master's Teachings
[] The Lions of Two Rivers
[] An Unfortunate Debt
[] Kia Min
[] Iron Palm
[] Legacy of Master Li (undocumented)
[] Villager's Silver (undocumented)
Your adventure begins with--what else?--a tutorial! You have a sparring match
with Jing Woo. Follow the on-screen instructions carefully; you cannot
progress in the match unless you perform specific actions. First, hit Jing Woo
a few times with quick attacks. Second, hold Block and let Jing hit you a few
times. Third, after Jing Woo hits you with a power attack, hold down the Chi
Heal key until you are healed. Fourth, hit Jing with a power attack. Fifth,
use Evade (double-tap Move or Block + Move) a couple of times to avoid Jing's
attacks.
Finally, you are allowed to simply battle Jing Woo straight up. Once he is
defeated (or he defeats you...makes no difference), he sends you on your way
with a message to meet with your sensei, Master Li.
If you pre-ordered Jade Empire SE and got the bonus disc (or used the hack
listed under The Way of the Modder), you get the Rhino Demon Transformation
style at the end of the Jing Woo fight. It's pretty useless right now, since
you don't have enough Chi to use it; but, at least it looks cool. Right?
Go on to Li's house on the east side of the school and chat with your teacher.
You'll be interrupted by a student who informs Master Li that Kia Min has been
injured and bandits are raiding the town of Two Rivers. Time to spring into
action!
Or not. Before traipsing off to fight bad guys, take a few minutes to explore
the school. Start with the large lion statue in the north wing of Master Li's
house. Next to the statue is a chest; inside are four lion figurines: red,
blue and yellow. (Veterans of Bioware games know *exactly* what's coming
next.)
Go to the lion statue and Use it to open a conversation. Choose to approach
the altar. The sphere in the lion's paw glows blue. Place the blue figurine on
the altar; then the red; then the yellow. The statue gives you a word of
advice and dispenses a silver coin.
What can you do with a single silver coin? Well, complete this little side
quest, that's what. Leave Master Li's house and go around the back. You'll
find two students sparring. For a little multi-opponent combat practice, agree
to spar with them. When you're through with them, find the tomb along the
outside wall of the school and deposit your coin into the bowl. You'll get a
lion head token.
Return to the statue in Master Li's house. Use the statue again and place the
token into the lion's mouth. The sphere glows green. Place both the blue and
yellow lion figurines on the altar. The sphere glows orange. Remove the blue
lion and place the red one. The sphere glows purple; replace the yellow lion
with the blue. You get 75XP and the Gaze of the Lion Technique, which provides
Health +2 and Focus +2.
Nice.
(NOTE: You can do this quest later, after you have earned some money. That
way, you can get the lion head token in advance and skip the initial blue-red-
yellow sequence.)
Wander around the school, talking to the students. The big man near the gate
is Smiling Mountain. He can arrange some sparring matches for you if you need
more combat practice. He also sells things; but, you have no money...yet. Make
sure you read all the books and scrollstands in the main schoolyard--there are
four: two on the porch of Master Li's house and two on the porch of the house
opposite Li's. The most important one is the bookstand at the house opposite
Master Li's ("Auspicious Portents"). This is part of a book set that gives you
an additional reward.
Head southeast, away from the school and over a bridge. You'll meet Dawn Star
on the other side, and you gain your first follower. There are both a Spirit
Font and a Focus Shrine nearby if you need to restore any of your abilities.
Spirit Fonts restore your Health and Chi; Focus Shrines restore your Focus.
There's a scrollstand on the same wood porch as the Spirit Font. Be sure to
read it, as it is part of the book set you're trying to complete.
Leave by the gate to enter Two Rivers. After a few steps, you have your first
fight with two bandits. After they are defeated, go north, up a flight of
stairs to Gugin's place. After chatting with you a bit, he offers one of two
weapons: a long sword (Fortune's Favor) or a staff (Gold Star). (If you are
playing the Limited Edition on Xbox, the staff is called Tien's Justice and
has a different appearance.) You do not have to stick with your first choice;
for a little while, Gujin will happily allow you to switch weapons until you
find one you like.
After you are interrupted with news of more bandits, find the scrollstand in
Gujin's house and read it. You should receive the Legacy of Master Li
Technique (Focus +7). If you don't learn the Technique, you missed one or both
of the other two books in the set. Make sure you find them all before
embarking on the next main quest.
Go back toward the stairs, where you get a chance to try out your weapon. More
bandits wait at the bottom of the stairs, intent on attacking a villager.
Attack the bandits around the villager to save the villager's life. This will
earn you more OP points later.
Before heading east to the beach, go south, through an opening in the wall to
find a courtyard with some more bandits. Defeat them; then, open the
Villager's Chest and collect 200 silver pieces. Don't run off and spend them,
you can use them later to get Open Palm points.
Return to the main drag through town and go through the east gate to the
beach. You'll have to fight through two waves of bandits. There's plenty of
room to maneuver, so keep moving and don't let the bandits gang up on you. Use
area attacks if you need to break them apart.
When the second set of bandits is defeated, the captain of the bandit ship
raises three ghosts. Ghosts are a bit tougher than the common bandits you've
faced thus far. For starters, they are immune to weapon and support forms, so
stash your sword or staff and use your fists. They also have the Ice Shard
style and will use it to try and freeze you--not to mention pelting you with
ice pellets. When you see a ghost readying a Power Attack, start dodging.
Afterward, the master of the ship comes down. You're probably thinking you
can't take this guy, what with having fought off a dozen minions and being low
on Health, Chi and Focus. And, you would be right. You can't take this guy;
but, Master Li can and he shows up just in time to lay some smack down on your
behalf and then lecture you some more.
After everything's said and done, scan the beach. There's an old man fussing
around a statue; ignore him for now. You should see Nih Joh, a young man whose
father you (should have) earlier. Reassure him that his father is safe to earn
OP points. There's also a lady who wants to talk to Dawn Star. You have
nothing to do with this conversation; but, it leads to more information about
Dawn Star.
You may also find a nameless villager; though, it is possible he won't show up
until later. You'll be back here on another side quest, so if the villager's
not around now, don't sweat it. When you do find the villager, talk to him
about his debt to Gao the Greater. You'll have to use one of your Conversation
skills (whichever is highest) to convince him to let you pay off his debt (OP
points). This one conversation both begins and ends An Unfortunate Debt side
quest.
From the beach, find the tunnel to the left of the main path back to town.
This shortcut contains two casks full of silver. Return to the school and find
Master Li. You'll have a three-way conversation with Li and Gao the Lesser.
This ends with Gao challenging you to a fight in the ring. You do not have to
accept the fight immediately; take the opportunity to heal yourself at the
Spirit Font and Focus Shrine near the gate to town, if you need it. Then tell
Li you're ready to fight Gao.
Gao can be a fairly tough fight. Your best bet is to hold Block and wait for
him to begin charging a power attack; then quickly hit him with standard
attacks or jump over him (Block + Forward or double-tap Forward). Use your
sword or staff for a longer reach. When he's defeated, he attempts to hit you
with a fireball; but, Li stops it, expels Gao and tells you to come talk to
him in his house.
Before going to Li again, find Kia Min among the students outside the ring.
Talk to her about her injury and she'll recommend you ask Old Ming about
homeopathic medicine. Old Ming is the guy hanging around the statue down at
the beach, so return there and talk to him.
Ming recommends two herbs: red silk grass and bearded tongue grass. Red silk
grass will cost you 50 silver pieces and will accelerate the healing of Kia
Min's injury. Bearded tongue grass costs only 25 silver and will deaden the
pain of Kia Min's injury, but not heal it. Guess which is the OP path and
which is the CF path?
Leave the beach and find merchant Fen Do right inside the gate as you re-enter
the town. Buy some red silk grass off him and go back to the school. Give the
poultice to Kia Min. For additional OP points, lie about the cost of the
grass, saying it was only 25 silver (not 50). For even more OP points, refuse
repayment altogether. Talk to Smiling Mountain to arrange a five-on-one
sparring match.
After winning the match, Smiling Mountain awards you the Alloyed Body
Technique, which is worth Health +5 and Focus +5. Check your journal to make
sure you've cleaned out all the side quests, then go chat with Master Li. You
get some more plot exposition, and find yourself inside a Spirit Cave under
the school.
This is a small, two-room area. In the first room you'll pick up your Dragon
Amulet and immediately fight three ghosts. Loot the room and check your Dragon
Amulet page in the game menu. You should already have one gem to place in the
amulet. (Just select it and click it or press Quick Attack.)
Go through the north gate (use the Amulet to interpret the writing) and you'll
have to fight three more ghosts--one of which is a mini-boss and uses Ice
Shard. Use the rock column in the center of the room to avoid the mini-boss
while you take out the minions; then, deal with the old guy.
After the fight, you'll have a vision of a beautiful blue lady. She offers you
a magic style: Dire Flame or Ice Shard. Ice Shard is a little more useful for
pulling off Harmonic Combos. Dire Flame gives you some small bonuses against a
few types of enemies. Neither is particularly superior to the other, so take
whichever suits your fancy.
After the vision, make sure you loot the room. One of the chests contains your
first Iron Palm scroll ("The Anvil"). Enter the glowing portal and return to
Master Li's house. He's surprised to see you; but, soon, he is distracted by
news Dawn Star appears to have been kidnapped...
The Search for Dawn Star [5.12]
---------------------------------
QUESTS
[] The Search for Dawn Star
[] The Flower of the Fields
[] Viper
You, of course, offer to run straight out and rescue Ms. Star. Enter Two
Rivers and start fighting Gao's hired help. There are some down in the cul-de-
sac where you earlier found a Villager's Chest. Merchant Fen Do has a few
Essence Gems in his inventory, if you're interested; but, there's no
compelling reason to buy anything right now.
When you go up the stairs toward Gujin's place, you'll meet a villager who
tells you he owns the 200 silver you collected from that chest earlier. Return
the money to him. He'll offer to split it with you as a reward. Accept his
generosity for OP point; or, refuse to keep any of his money for maximum OP
points.
Continue toward the town gate to the north. You'll be accosted by two of Gao's
mercenaries. If you want to avoid a 6-on-1 fight, use a Conversation Skill
(Intimidate) to scare them off. If they won't scare, you'll have to take out
six mercs in a very small space.
Good luck.
If it comes to a fight, stay near the gate. Don't allow yourself to be trapped
in the narrow "alley" in front of Gujin's place. Use area attacks to keep them
separated and jump back-and-forth among them to keep them off guard. Dodging
is preferable to blocking as you can get hit from behind even while blocking.
After the fight (or the mercs run away) talk to the gate guard. Once you're
sure you've cleaned out Two Rivers and finished all the quests, leave by the
north gate and enter the swamps.
You will shortly come upon three bandits beating on a merchant. Kill the
bandits and talk to the merchant. He wants you to find his "flower", who has
been kidnapped by bandits. Continue on your way to the next large clearing
where you meet Sagacious Zu. After initially telling you he has no interest in
your problems, he changes his mind when you mention Dawn Star has been
kidnapped.
At this point, he offers to join up. Take him along as you continue clearing
out the swamp. There are two north-bound exits from this clearing. The one to
the right (northeast) will take you to the merchant's wife--and his "flower".
Enjoy the humor and collect your reward; then, continue on to the main merc
camp.
After beating all the bad guys into submission, one of them lets on that Gao
took Dawn Star and ran into the nearby cave. Let the guy go for OP points and
follow Gao into the cave.
After watching a little cut scene, you're in a fight against a couple of
ogres. If you chose Dire Flame earlier (in the Spirit Cave), whip it out here
as ogres are vulnerable to fire. Follow the only path that's open to you and
you'll encounter an ogre and a toad demon locked in battle. Destroy them both
and gain the Toad Demon Transformation style. Transformation is not much use
to you right now as you really don't have the Chi to keep it going for any
length of time; but, you can always play around with it a bit.
Next up is your fight against Gao. You can choose to fight him solo, or with
Dawn Star or Zu. Pick your favorite companion or engage Gao mano-a-mano. You
should have the hang of combat now and Gao is nothing special. If you're
having trouble beating him, dial down the difficulty or switch to your ranged
attack (Dire Flame or Ice Shard) and put Dawn Star into Support mode or switch
to your weapon and put Zu into Support mode.
After the fight with Gao, make sure you tell your companions that you want to
clean out the cave. There are no monsters left to fight, but there is plenty
of treasure. One of the chests in Gao's little hideaway contains the first
scroll of the Viper style ("Eye of the Viper"). You'll need two more such
scrolls to gain the Viper Martial style. Another chest contains the Viper's
Wit Technique (Focus +2, Charm +1).
Leave the cave and discuss the possibility of using the nearby flyer to return
to Two Rivers. Eventually you'll go back to town, initiating your first (and
only required) Marvelous Dragonfly mission. (Though, at this point, you're in
a generic flyer, not the Dragonfly.) This mission is pretty easy, which is a
good thing since you can't avoid it.
Move your flyer around on the screen with the movement controls. Press Quick
Attack to fire your weapon. You have no Upgrades at this time, so that's all
there is to it. Try to collect the red health orbs that are dropped. The
yellow orbs that drop give you a temporary upgrade, such as multiple bullets
and other nice things.
The Burning Town [5.13]
-------------------------
QUESTS
[] The Burning Town
When the mission is complete, you land on the beach and find Two Rivers and
the school in flames. Fight your way through the burning town to the school.
As you enter the school grounds, you'll see Kia Min. Depending on how you
completed the earlier Kia Min quest, you'll either see her defeat a couple of
mercs or be defeated and you'll get additional OP or CF points.
In the main school area, you have to fight two waves of Lotus Assassins; the
second wave features a mini-boss level fighter with the Storm Dragon style.
Beware of his Power Attack, since it can shock you. Use liberal Area Attacks
to keep the other fighters honest and jump around a lot (double-tap Move or
Block + Move).
After all the Assassins are dead, you will depart for Tien's Landing. You can
choose to Attack and play another flyer mini-game; or Evade and just get on
with the story without going through the waves of enemy flyers. Either way,
you end up crash-landing on the outskirts of Tien's Landing...
CHAPTER 2 [5.20]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_Wherein the fall of Dirge is detailed,_
_The woman in black speaks of Death's Hand,_
_And Gao the Greater learns the fate of his son._
Two Rivers is in ruins, and Master Li has been taken captive.
It is clear that this attack was carefully orchestrated and that
shadowy forces have taken an interest in you and those around
you. Leaving your home of twenty years, you set out after Death's
Hand and his Lotus Assassins, intent on discovering the reasons
behind this assault.
Picking Up the Pieces [5.21]
------------------------------
QUESTS
[] Picking Up the Pieces
[] A Woman in Black
[] Hui the Brave
[] Old Mother Kwan
[] The Beaten Baker
[] Matchmaker
[] The Stolen Memento
[] Zhong the Ox Carrier
[] An Ancient Game
[] Trapped
[] The Zither of Discord
[] Iron Chef (undocumented)
So what's in Tien's Landing? - A lot of problems.
It's a big, tough town. Good place to start buildin' a rep.
People here are nuts. That's because they live in a city of turmoil.
Trust me, kid. You're gonna be just what the doctor ordered.
(Philoctetes, _Hercules_ [paraphrased])
After the crash, you'll have a conversation with Zu and Dawn Star. You can
select either to be your companion; however, this decision is not binding. You
can start switching out your companions at will; except when you're in combat.
Before you can start cleaning up Tien's Landing, you'll have to get there. Not
far from the crash site you'll be ambushed by a group of spirits. Remember
Weapon and Support styles are useless, so stick with Magic or Martial (or try
out your fancy new Toad Demon). Following the fight, you'll have another
vision of the blue lady.
Continue on to a covered bridge and a fight against some living people. Along
the way, if you kick over any of the headstones, you'll get more ghosts to
fight. If you're feeling weak, avoid desecrating the gravestones.
Once past the bridge, you'll meet a woman dressed in black. She thinks you're
working with the Lotus Assassins and won't listen to reason until you beat
some into her head. Enjoy kicking her around for a while, after which she
decides to run away. (Or, more accurately, jump away.) Don't worry. She'll be
back. (And you get the Journal entry to prove it.)
Not long after this fight you'll arrive at a fork in the road marked by a
large rock. The road to Tien's Landing is to your right (south). To the left
(west) is a camp with some Imperial soldiers that you can beat up for fun.
But, nothing more you can do here (and you'll be coming back this way again
anyway, so why bother now?)
As you enter Tien's Landing, you'll find whatever follower you left behind (or
both if you're running alone) has moved into an abandoned building on the
western edge of town. This is your new base camp and you can come back here
and chat with your fellows--something that will be important as you will
quickly enlarge the group in this chapter.
Go east over the bridge toward town. You'll meet an older woman, Yifong, and
her young daughter, Fuyao, leaving town. They're running scared and nothing
you say will persuade them to stay in Tien's Landing. Let them go and continue
across the bridge. You'll enter the teahouse yard and have the opportunity to
help a woman deal with some common thugs.
Afterward, she introduces herself as Hui. She and Sagacious Zu go back quite a
ways. In fact, if Zu isn't your traveling companion, he shows up so the three
of you can have a plot-important discourse. Hui fills in some of your back
story and you learn some history of Zu as well. Finally, she teaches you the
Spirit Thief style; then, tells you to come meet her in the teahouse and
enters the building.
Before going in, wander around and loot the various casks outside the
teahouse. In the western part of the teahouse yard you'll meet Seamstress Lan,
who is having boyfriend trouble. Or, more accurately, her boyfriend is having
trouble--he gets his butt whipped by a gang of thugs on a daily basis. Won't
you please help? Somehow?
Well, of course you will. Later. Now, if you check your journal, you'll see
"Picking Up the Pieces" has actually moved to completed and there are two new
main quests: The Great Dam and Find a New Flyer. You'll get to those later, as
well as a third main quest. For now, there's lots to do in Tien's Landing, and
the teahouse is as good a place to start as any other.
Follow Hui into the teahouse and help her fight off a bunch of thugs. This is
one of those places where you can grab table legs or hams and use them as
weapons. Not terribly useful, but fun. After the fracas, Hui tells you more of
your heritage and reveals there are more pieces to your Dragon Amulet. One of
those pieces is under the care of a guardian in the ruins of old Tien's
Landing. To get into those ruins, you'll need to get a key from Minister
Sheng, leader of the town.
Walk around the ground floor until you find Old Mother Kwan. Talk to her to
start up a quest to investigate the transfer of ownership to Three Sheets
Dutong. Go to the bartender, Steeper Yanru. Yanru will fill you in on exactly
why they call the new owner "Three Sheets". Ask him about how much Dutong
drinks and you'll find that seven bowls of wine are just the right amount to
make him talkative.
Follow up about the types of wine the teahouse has available. There are two
types: peasant wine and Imperial Seasoned Spirits. The Imperial stuff is equal
to three bowls of the peasant swill. Well, that's simple enough: twice tell
Yanru to send Imperial wine to Dutong (two orders = six bowls of peasant wine)
and then send one bowl of the cheap stuff. Dutong gets up and starts
staggering around.
Equip Essence Gems to boost your highest Conversation Skill and talk to
Dutong. Ask about the writ he showed Old Mother Kwan. He'll admit it was a
fake; then, his bodyguard arrives with the sobering solution. Talk to him
again and use your highest Conversation skill to get him to admit--while
sober--he's a thief. He'll offer you money to keep quiet. You refuse and he
runs away (OP points). After you get rid of the lush, go tell Old Mother Kwan
she's in charge once again.
Go upstairs. At the top of the stairs is a drunkard named Ru. He's important
later, but has nothing to say to you now. There are two little side quests you
can do now on the upper level of the teahouse.
In one corner is a man talking to an ogre. As you approach, the man, Ping,
asks if you'll help. The ogre is named Zhong and he's actually a farmhand for
Ping. He refuses to return to Ping's farm. Make sure you've still got those
Conversation Skill-boosting gems equipped, then talk to Zhong. For OP points,
convince Zhong everything's OK and he'll return to work for Ping.
Continue on until you see a fat guy with a little cooking set up near the
inner rail. This is an undocumented (i.e. does not appear in your Journal)
side quest. Before beginning, make sure all your vital statistics are full.
Talk to Chai Jin about his food offerings. He'll bet you can't eat three of
his dishes in a row without fainting. You give him 300 silver and, if you pass
the test, he'll return it. For each dish, you have your choice of three
courses--each of which damages a different ability score (Body, Spirit or
Mind). If you've bulked up one attribute, you can safely take two hits to that
score.
Otherwise, spread the pain around. You shouldn't have any problem passing the
test. Chai then offers a bonus round: survive a truly disgusting concoction
that he's just invented. He needs another 300 silver, so fork it over. This
final dish damages all three of your ability scores--if this is a problem,
reload and try this again after you've gained a few levels. (You really
shouldn't have a problem even at the level you're at when you first enter
town.)
Once you survive the last assault, tell the truth about the dish ("It depleted
every aspect of my being"). Chai Jin gives your silver back plus the Bronze
Tongue Essence Gem.
That's all you can do at the Teahouse, so leave and head east to the town's
main square (which isn't exactly square...but you get the idea). As you
approach the center of the area, you'll witness an altercation at a merchant's
stall. Afterward, talk to the merchant, Cheung to pick up The Stolen Memento
quest. (Note: There's no way to complete this quest without gaining OP
points.)
Just to the right of Cheung's stall is a guard trying to cow people into
helping a Lord Yun. Talk to the guard to get The Sickened Forest main quest
added to your journal. At the east end of the town square is Minister Sheng.
Talk to him to get a key to the old town ruins and a lead that flyers are used
extensively by the pirates downriver and Ru the Boatswain may be able to take
you down to the pirate lair.
Go down the path from the southeast corner of the town square. You'll come
down the hill near the boathouse. You'll see two people, Jian the Iron Fist
and Mistress Vo, engaged in a verbal sparring match. Talk to them to pick up
An Ancient Game. You can learn a new Magic style from one of these two
masters; however, they will only consent to train you once you have proven
yourself a true follower of one path or the other.
In short, you must advance at least halfway from neutral toward either Closed
Fist or Open Palm before you can get training. If you're OP, Mistress Vo will
teach you Stone Immortal. If you're CF, Jian will teach you Tempest. If you've
been dedicated to one path, you should be able to get the training before you
leave Tien's Landing. If not, you can come back here during Chapter 3 and pick
up the style.
Continue east toward the entrance to the Beggar's Pier area. You'll behold
Baker Bei being brutalized by buffoons. You have no choice but to step in and
take care of the ruffians. Bei then tells you the sad tale: a female gangster
is setting her lackeys on Bei for some unknown reason. You promise to go talk
to Ai Ling in the boathouse.
Continue into the Beggar's Pier area. Just to your left is a wine merchant,
Jiang. He may accost you now, or later, but his business is dependent upon the
sailors remaining beached. He wants you to destroy the dam controls so the dam
can never be closed. (Everyone else wants you to close the dam to restore
commerce to Tien's Landing.) A little further on is Darting Lynx, an acrobat.
She's the one merchant in town who will actually sell you something right now.
She has a few Essence Gems and Techniques for your perusal.
To the south, by a stranded ship, is Captain Ing. Talk to him to get Trapped
added to your journal. Trapped is the counterpoint to Merchant Jiang's quest:
Ing needs the dam closed so he can set sail once again and make a living. Go
into the northern branch of Beggar's Pier. You'll see two plot characters in
the area (identified by a gold arrow above the head).
One is Scholar Six Heavens. If you're a dedicated OP player, ignore him. He
will only give his quest to a student of the Closed Fist; however, merely
talking to him opens up the quest in your journal and there's no way to get
rid of it if you're an OP player. If you are playing CF, you don't have to be
far along the path to get the quest, so he'll probably open up for you now.
Talk to him to start The Zither of Discord.
A little further on is Tong, a sailor. This is the guy who stole Merchant
Cheung's clay figure. Talk to him and the drunk will hand it back without a
fight, unless you goad him into it; however, he surrenders before you kill
him. Return the clay figure to Cheung, who will give you a discount on
anything in his store--when he receives some stock that is; and, he won't get
any supplies unless the dam is closed. You also get OP points.
Time to finish up with Baker Bei. Before heading off, you'll want to make a
decision. Resolving The Beaten Baker in a CF manner closes off the Matchmaker
quest. Matchmaker provides a minimum of 1000 experience points, so you may
want to take the OP points and finish Beaten Baker in the nicest way possible.
Equip Conversation Skill-boosting Essence Gems and go down the hill to the
boathouse. Tell the guard you're here to talk to Ai Ling and he'll let you in.
Listen to Ai Ling's version of the tale. Convince Ai Ling to talk to Bei and
then agree to bring Bei to meet with her. The game loads up a new scene and
you find Seamstress Lan has tagged along and you're all going to have a heart-
to-heart talk. For OP points and to open Matchmaker, use your Charm (or
Intuition or Intimidation) to convince Ai to leave Bei and Lan alone. She
agrees, and then asks you to help her find a husband. She mentions three
candidates:
* Ru the Boatswain--he's out; the option never even comes up in his
conversations.
* Chumin the Craftsman--he's the easiest. You'll find him near his house in
the southwest part of town (below the teahouse). Convince him to go see Ai
Ling and then convince the two of them that they would make great business
partners. You'll get 1000 XP.
* Yaoru hangs out on the upper level of the teahouse. He's a complete ass and
a mismatch for Ai; however, if you can talk the two of them into it, you get a
little more XP--1020 total.
There's a fourth possibility for Ai's husband:
* Big Tian, who is standing around on the east side of the boathouse. This
will be a very difficult skill check and Intimidation seems to work best. You
get 1060 XP if you can convince the big lummox and Ai to get together.
All-in-all, simply going to Chumin is easier, and nets you plenty of
experience. Either before or after getting a husband for Ai, loot the
boathouse (the gang does not object). You'll find a Boathouse Key that opens
the gate to the upper level with even more loot.
That pretty well takes care of Tien's Landing. You have three main quests to
complete and three main areas to explore: the dam to the west of town, the
forest to the north of town and the pirates' lair downriver. You can visit
these areas in any order and there's no significant difference based on the
order. You pick up one new follower at the dam and two new followers in the
forest and at the pirates' lair.
If you hold off on The Sickened Forest until last, you'll have the easiest
Chapter 2 Final Boss fight. CF Players who hold off on the forest until last
will be able to complete The Zither of Discord without retracing their steps.
Thus, a recommended order is The Great Dam and Find a New Flyer first and
second (in either order) and The Sickened Forest third.
The Great Dam [5.22]
----------------------
QUESTS
[] The Great Dam
[] A Woman in Black
[] The Drowned Orphans
[] Gems in the Quarry
[] Stranded Orphan Girl
[] Trapped
[] The Zither of Discord
[] Silk Fox
[] Hui the Brave
[] Memories (undocumented)
Go out of town the way you came in, past your base camp. If you've finished
either or both of the other two main quests already, the Woman in Black
appears and asks you to meet her in Imperial City. This closes "A Woman in
Black" and opens "Silk Fox" in your Journal.
At the fork in the road, head right (west) to find a small group of Imperial
guards. Defeat the guards, and another guard runs out of hiding and pleads for
you to spare his life. Let him go for OP points. Make sure you loot the small
guard house next to the gate; that's where you'll find the "Silk Strings" for
the Zither of Discord.
Go through the gates into the ruins. Your first encounter is with another
group of Imperial guards. After they have been defeated, search the area
carefully. Specifically, you need to find Dragon Powder, a plot item needed
for a side quest in this area. It should be in an Assassin's Cabinet next to
the south gate.
Go through the south gate and you'll be attacked by a rat demon. This
particular rat demon is more rat than demon and quickly surrenders. It offers
information in exchange for its life. The information isn't necessary to
progress; however, you can earn OP points for letting it live. Search the
nearby area thoroughly. Behind a house in the northwest corner of the area is
a Cameo Portrait.
Continue south to the main area of the ruins; there are some more guards and a
few cannon. Skirt far away from the guards toward the west-most cannon. You'll
find the cannon launcher control lever nearby. Click it once to arm it with
the Dragon Powder you picked up earlier. Click it again to fire the cannon,
taking out the wall and the guards in one easy step.
Enter the building to the west of the area. This is an abandoned orphanage;
and, after killing a rat demon, you'll meet the ghosts of two children: Bin
and Miao. They died in the flood that buried the ruins because the orphan-
master, Kindly Yushan, was not there to let them out of the orphanage. Bin
wants you to find Yushan and get him to help the children's spirits find
peace. Miao wants revenge.
Go back to Tien's Landing to the town square. Along the north side of the
square is Old Wei. Talk to him about the Cameo Portrait. Give him the Cameo
for OP points.
Go to the teahouse and find Kindly Yushan on the upper floor. Convince him to
return with you to the orphanage. You'll automatically be transported back to
the orphanage. Yushan, Bin and Miao will exchange words. For OP points, agree
with Bin and get Yushan to bury the children's bones.
Leave the orphanage and go east, into the area revealed when you fired the
cannons earlier. Kill off the ghosts in the area and find the path to the
Quarry in the northeast corner of the area. Make your way through the quarry
to the final area, killing a few convict ghosts along the way. In the final
room you meet Strangler Jizu. Regardless of the conversation options, this has
to end in violence.
Jizu has the ability to restore himself from one of his followers if you
"kill" him. So, simply stay away from him and concentrate on taking out his
followers. They attack in pairs, and a new one comes out as you kill each one.
There are only about a half-dozen of these followers and they are easy to
kill. Just remember not to waste attacks on Jizu and try to stay away from
him--if your target cursor moves to Jizu after killing a follower, be sure to
switch to another follower.
Once all the followers are down, Jizu is actually pretty easy. When he dies,
Shiji the Turnkey appears. Offer to help him for OP points. He disappears and
you don't have to fight him or do anything else. Loot the room for your
rewards.
On your way out you'll encounter the ghost of an orphan girl. She is afraid to
cross the water and wants you to knock down some supports that will cover the
pool with rocks. Agree to do this for OP points--just target and attack a few
of the wood supports.
Return to the ruins and go south, past the orphanage. You'll overhear a
conversation between a Lotus Assassin and a guard. After, you have to fight
the guard. Run down to a bridge, just in time to see the Assassin raise it. Go
to your right and find the crane control. Click it to move the crane over the
bridge control switch and lower the bridge. Continue after the Assassin.
You eventually arrive back in the Dam area on the opposite side of the map
from your crash site. Your first encounter is with a little girl who morphs
into a demon and challenges you. You cannot use Magic or Support styles on
demons, so pull out your weapon or your fists. After you've taken off some of
its health, it speaks, but you can't get out of the fight just yet. Continue
whittling away it's health.
This demon is Chai Ka and he will become your follower. For now, he's just
another obstacle in your way. An obstacle with a very powerful Area Attack
that he likes to use. The best way to beat him is to jump in, hit him a few
times, then jump away. Wait for the Area Attack and repeat. Once you've
"killed" him, he "recognizes" you and fills you in on the story. He also gives
you an Inscrutable Power Source. If you've already completed "Find a New
Flyer" you know what this is for.
Chai Ka is the guardian of a piece of your Dragon Amulet. Unfortunately, it's
been stolen. Chai Ka and his host, Wild Flower, join your group of followers.
You may use them now or send them to base camp in Tien's Landing. Just past
Chai Ka are two golems guarding the entrance to the dam controls. Next to them
is a Spirit Font. Use it and save your game.
Approach the golems and give the password you overheard earlier, "Shao Hua".
Go down and click the Jade Heart that is holding the dam open. Remove the Jade
Heart to close the dam and restore Tien's Landing to its former glory (and
flood Old Tien's Landing again; so, hopefully you finished all the side-quests
in the ruins).
Go back up the stairs, where you have to fight a Lotus Assassin and a few
cronies. When they've been disposed of, use the Spirit Font and save your game
again. Across from the golems is a little gazebo. Enter it and use the lever
to lower a bridge that gives you a shortcut back to Tien's Landing.
If this is your final main quest in Chapter 2, make sure you're ready for a
big fight. As you pass the fork in the road leading to Tien's Landing, you
meet Inquisitor Lim and several lackeys. This is actually a bad place to
encounter Lim and Company. The arena is fairly small and doesn't offer a lot
of room for maneuvering. As with any boss battle, it's best to take out the
easy marks first, all the while moving around continuously to avoid Lim's
attacks. When you defeat Lim, you get the second piece of your amulet and
Chapter 2 is officially over.
If this is the first main quest you finish, you'll meet Silk Fox here and
complete "A Woman in Black" and open "Silk Fox" in your journal. Return to
Tien's Landing. In the teahouse, talk to Hui to officially close her quest.
As you enter town, you'll be met by a messenger from Captain Ing with his
compliments and some silver (a whopping 2300). In the town square, Cheung now
has some inventory to sell and will give you a discount if you completed (or
complete now) his step-n-fetch "The Stolen Memento" quest. (HINT: Complete his
quest and buy the Storm Dragon style. You *need* it. You really do.) Down in
Beggar's Pier, wine merchant Jiang has decamped for greener pastures and
Shipeng has set up shop. All-in-all, the town is hopping. Return to your base
camp and chat with all your followers.
Find a New Flyer [5.23]
-------------------------
QUESTS
[] Find a New Flyer
[] Yifong and Fuyao
[] The Zither of Discord
Before you can get started on this quest, you must talk to Minister Sheng
about flyers. If you haven't done that yet, do so now. He'll tell you some
pirates in the area have flyers. They have a lair downriver and Sheng refers
you to Ru the Boatswain as someone who's crazy enough to take you there. Go
find Ru on the upper level of the teahouse and talk him into taking you
downriver. He'll run off to Beggar's Pier and wait for you.
When you're ready to go downriver, find Ru by one of the docks in Beggar's
Pier and ask him to take you downriver. You'll arrive on a beach and, after a
short walk, you'll watch a cutscene of some young pirates taunting an older
pirate. After the cutscene, walk toward the older pirate and talk to him.
He wants revenge on the fools who just taunted him and wants you to cut the
rope holding up a cannon overhanging the group. If you drop the cannon, you'll
also kill an innocent swabbie, and get high CF points. There are no OP points
for not dropping the cannon and killing the pirates the hard way. Regardless
of the path you choose, talk to the old pirate after to find out Gao the
Greater is running this bunch of pirates in league with the Lotus Assassins.
Continue into the pirate's lair. You'll quickly reach a room where you have to
fend off seven (yes, that's 7) pirates. Once you're done, make sure you read
the scrollstand, "The History of Flight, Vol. 1". Go up the stairs to the
south until you reach a large cavern.
There's a cutscene of a dashing man attempting a rescue and involving you in
the fracas. Help him dispose of the slavers and have a chat with him. This is
Sky, and he'll join your group when you finish clearing the island. For now,
he goes up to a platform to help operate the locking mechanism of the gate
that bars your way.
As soon as your talk with Sky is done, you begin conversing with the woman who
was being held prisoner. This is Yifong, the woman who was fleeing Tien's
Landing with her daughter when you first entered town. She and her daughter,
Fuyao, were both captured by the slavers. She doesn't know where Fuyao is now,
and wants you to find her. Go up the ramp to the gate, wait for Sky to pull
the lever and then open the gate.
There's a nasty, close-quarters fight with a group of four slavers just beyond
the gate. After the fight, use the nearby Spirit Font; then, continue up the
walkway. You'll walk around a large building and witness a cutscene inside
wherein Gao the Greater learns Gao the Lesser is...well, really lesser now.
Both Gao and the man in charge, Inquisitor Lim, leave the building and you get
to enter and dispose of the lackeys.
You'll receive some help from the strange guy in the hat and goggles.
Afterward, talk to him; this is Kang the Mad, the inventor who will operate
your flying machine for the remainder of the game. For the moment, he's going
to cower here while you finish clearing the island.
Go up the ramp on the east side of the building, after Lim and Gao. Head up
the walkway and fight another group of pirates on the platform at the top of
the walkway. When they are defeated, *save your game*! Go into the caves on
the northwest side of the platform. You'll see a group of slavers getting
ready to brand Fuyao before selling her to a fat merchant. You interrupt their
proceedings and have to kill the slavers.
After the slavers are dead, a conversation starts between the buyer, Fuyao and
you. This is an important conversation as it determines which Special Edition
style (Iron Palm or Viper) you will learn--if you learn one at all. Yes, it is
possible to screw this up and get no scroll and, thus, no SE style...
Your first response makes no difference to the outcome. The next set of
responses lead to three different paths:
1) "The girl is not for sale."
You get no chance to back out of this one. As soon as you utter the words,
Yifong shows up and tells the buyer all the slaves are free and the guards are
dead. The buyer takes off, Fuyao and Yifong are reunited and Fuyao gives you
an Iron Palm scroll ("The Forge") as a reward. You also earn OP points.
2) "Gao is not selling these slaves now. I am."
This puts you in a position of selling Fuyao to the buyer. Yifong shows up and
argues with you. You have one chance to back out and take option #1.
Otherwise, you go through with the sale of both women to the buyer and he
gives you a Viper scroll ("Fang of the Viper"). You also get CF points.
3) "Are you strong enough to fight for your freedom, Fuyao?"
From here, you get a couple of chances to change to options #1 or #2. To
continue with option #3, continue goading Fuyao into killing the buyer:
"Take a knife and kill the fat man, Fuyao. Then you go free."
"Prove you are strong. Kill him or be his slave!"
After this, Fuyao stabs the buyer. Your next comment to her doesn't really
matter. Yifong then shows up and demands to know what you've done to her
daughter.
*IMPORTANT!*
Taking the wrong conversation option here gets you bupkus. If you want a
scroll, you must choose:
"Fuyao's a fighter. She's strong. You should be proud."
Yifong is swayed by your reasoning and she and Fuyao go off together; but, not
before Fuyao gives you an Iron Palm scroll ("The Forge"). Yes, even though you
took a CF path, you get the Iron Palm scroll because, ultimately, you helped
Fuyao go free.
If you take the other conversation option, "She has a taste for blood now...",
Fuyao runs off and Yifong yells at you before running after her. Neither one
gives you anything. Lucky you, you get to reload and try again.
Regardless of how you finish option #3, you get CF points.
When you're all done with Yifong and Fuyao, continue upward. At the top-level
platform, you'll have another fight with a bunch of pirates. Leave this
platform via the north exit to enter the Pirate's Workshop. Work your way up
to the actual workshop. As you enter this large room, you'll have a fight with
four demons.
Once the demons are gone, the door on the west side of the building opens and
an ogre and some pirates rush in. Fortunately for you, the area is large and
you can move around a lot. Use Area Attacks to keep the group separated. If
you have the Dire Flame style, use it on the ogre. Whatever you do, try to
avoid being hit by the ogre--it packs a very mean punch.
Once that fight is over, explore the room. There are several scrollstands and
bookstands. Once bookstand is "The History of Flight Vol. 2". A scrollstand
yields the Configuration of the Horse, which will be important later. You
should also find some Marvelous Dragonfly controls. Click them to drop the
Dragonfly from the ceiling and fire its guns at the south wall.
Go through the blasted wall and open the gate beyond. This is Gao's treasure
vault and it's guarded by an elephant demon. If you haven't encountered these
before...well, it can be very nasty. They are strong and have an Area Attack
similar to Stone Immortal--i.e. a little earthquake that leaves you a sitting
duck to be stomped on. The best way to fight an elephant demon is the jump in-
hit a few times-jump out tactic. Loot Gao's treasure vault, then leave by the
west door.
Climb the ramp to Gao's headquarters. If this is the last main quest you're
doing in Chapter 2, you will have to fight both Inquisitor Lim and Gao the
Greater.
Not fun.
It's difficult to say which boss is more...difficult. The best you can do is
try to keep them separated; but, even this is not that useful since both have
Magic (i.e. ranged) attacks. On the plus side, there are no commoners in this
fight, so the two bosses are all you have to worry about. A good companion for
this fight is Dawn Star in Support mode, so you can use your Chi for both
healing and Chi Strikes. When you defeat Lim, you get the second piece of your
amulet and Chapter 2 is officially over.
If you're doing this quest first or second, you face Gao the Greater and three
of his pirates. Still a battle; but, you can take out the pirates pretty
quickly. The arena is fairly large and Area Attacks will keep them separated.
When the battle is done, Sky and Kang show up. Chat with them; then, make sure
you loot the place thoroughly. You should find the "Zither Case" Plot Item for
The Zither of Discord. Read the bookstand, "The History of Flight Vol. 3".
Assuming you read Volumes 1 and 2 lower down, you'll gain the Strength of Wood
technique (Health +2).
Go down to the Marvelous Dragonfly hangar, where you'll find Kang and Sky
waiting. If you're sure you're ready to leave, talk to Kang. If you've already
finished the dam quest, you can give him the Inscrutable Power Source.
Regardless, you receive the Shrieking Fury flyer upgrade and have a chance to
play another flying mini-game. Or, just choose Evade and get back to Tien's
Landing as quickly as possible. Once you've returned to base camp, talk to
everyone. If you had previously finished the dam and talked to Wild Flower
afterward, you may now meet Ya Zhen and the "Other" will now be available as a
follower.
The Sickened Forest [5.24]
----------------------------
QUESTS
[] The Sickened Forest
[] Fox Hunt
[] Cannibals in the Inn
[] The Zither of Discord
[] The Test of the Closed Fist
If you're a CF player, and have finished dealing with the dam and the pirates,
go see Scholar Six Heavens. He needs one more thing, the bridge, to complete
the Zither of Discord, and he thinks you may find it in the Great Southern
Forest.
Indeed.
Go out the north gate of Tien's Landing and you'll have to fight off several
ghosts. At this point you'll begin encountering Lost Spirits. These
particularly nasty apparitions hang back and shoot you with homing missiles
(yes, HOMING missiles) that sap both your Health and Chi.
Good stuff, right?
Whenever you see the black-robed ghosts with white masks, close on them post-
haste and hit them as fast as you can. You need to keep moving around, and if
you see the greenish-yellow missiles headed your way, stop and hold Block to
deflect them. Fortunately, the Power Attack from the Lost Spirits can be
dodged.
When you've finished with the ghosts, Lord Yun approaches and asks your help
in healing the forest. He'll talk about a lot of things; but, the important
thing is you agree to help him if he gives you a wind map to Imperial City.
Once you've hammered out your agreement, head up the stairs to the north.
At the top of the stairs you'll have another fight with a group of ghosts and
Lost Spirits. There's a shrine in the area that, if you stand on its platform,
will activate glowing areas that damage any spirit that touches them. The
ghostly mines last for a little while after activation, so run past the shrine
and keep battling.
When the battle is over, CF players who have advanced The Zither of Discord
far enough can head down the path to the east. At the end is a gazebo with a
Spirit Font and a ghost in red robes waiting out front. (If you haven't been
following The Zither of Discord, you can still use the Spirit Font.) The ghost
is Bladed Thesis and you can finish out the Zither of Discord side quest.
Continue north through the forest. You'll soon come to a bridge and see a man
being attacked by ghosts. Lend a hand and then chat with the man, who is
clearly not quite right in the head. Regardless of how you carry on the
conversation, eventually you dismiss the man and then there's an extended cut
scene. A fox spirit arrives and kills the man and then tries to kill you.
When that's over, continue winding your way upward until you reach another
combat arena with several ghosts and one of the ghostly-mine-laying shrines.
From this area you have the choice to head northwest or northeast. The better
path is northwest, which eventually leads to the Forest Shadow Temple. There
you'll see a giant man kill some ghosts and then, assuming you're one as well,
try to kill you.
Show him the error of his ways and then you'll talk. The large man is Black
Whirlwind, a mercenary in the employ of Lord Yun. You also meet Spear Catches
Leaf, Lord Yun's chief hunter. SCL explains about the fox spirits, the Forest
Shadow and the temple and says you need to get a crystal to activate the
temple and contact the Forest Shadow. SCL points you to the Pilgrim's Rest Inn
as a possible location for the crystal.
Take the stairs north from the temple and follow the path to a large clearing.
Here you will have to fight off four waves of spirits, though none of the
groups are large. When the fighting is finally over, enter Pilgrim's Rest Inn
on the north side of the clearing.
Inside the courtyard of the Inn, fight off three Lost Spirits and then enter
the Inn. There's an extended conversation with the Innkeeper. In order to get
the crystal from him, you need to agree to kill the Forest Shadow; so, [Lie]
that you will do so.
Explore the Inn. In the back you'll meet Henpecked Hou and you should explore
all his conversation options. If you badger him about what's really going on
at the Inn and have good Conversation Skills, you can get a pointer: ask the
Innkeeper about "twisted servants of the Mother". Now, if you do this, you can
get a fight out of the way now and pick up Henpecked Hou as a follower; or,
you can wait until later, when you'll still have the fight.
Regardless, you're going to have to return to the temple with the crystal, so
might as well get that out of the way first. Talk to Spear Catches Leaf about
the ritual needed to open the portal to the Forest Shadow. During the
conversation, SCL tells Black Whirlwind he's working for you now. You can keep
him as a companion now or send him back to base camp. When you're done talking
to SCL, he runs off to inform Lord Yun of developments.
Go to the pedestal at the entrance of the temple and click it to place the
crystal. The pillar lowers and two furnaces are unlocked. You probably
remember passing these furnaces when coming uphill and not being able to do
anything with them. They are down the path a little ways, one further down
than the other. Go to each and click it to activate a light beam from each to
a secondary tower.
Go to each secondary tower--one to the left of the stairs up to the temple,
one to the right. In the right tower, pull the red switch. In the left tower,
pull the blue switch. The pedestal at the temple entrance rises once again;
so, go click it and a portal to Heaven opens up inside the main building. On
your way into Heaven, make sure you read the two scrollstands in the temple
for extra experience.
Enter Heaven (for extra fun dialog, take Black Whirlwind with you). Within a
few steps you'll meet Zin Bu. This is your traveling merchant companion and he
becomes available to you as soon as you finish this conversation. Go up the
stairs to meet some fox spirits. While they are talking with you, some demons
materialize. Help the foxes beat off the demons and continue on your way.
You'll pass two more groups of fox spirits battling demons. The first of those
two groups is battling horse demons and you'll gain that Transformation style
once you kill one.
At the end of your journey is the Forest Shadow and her elephant demon
guardian. There's a long conversation, interrupted by the blue spirit woman
(i.e. the Water Dragon). At the end, you must choose to aid Forest Shadow
against Mother, or kill Forest Shadow. Choose to aid Forest Shadow and she
will offer to teleport you to the entrance of Heaven. If you want some XP from
killing more demons, choose to walk back down. Regardless, return to the Inn
where the residents (if you didn't kill them earlier) will instantly transform
into their normal selves and attack.
There are nine cannibals and their boss in this first wave; fortunately for
you, they are slow and the area is large. This is one instance when you should
concentrate on the boss first. He has a Magic attack (typically Ice Shard) and
the regular cannibals are slow enough that you can keep them at bay with Area
Attacks and focus on their master. When he's down, the rest are pretty easy;
but, then, six more show up and you have to do it all over again.
Once they are all dead, Henpecked Hou runs to thank you for the rescue. Chat
with him a bit and then follow the lines to learn Drunken Master. You'll have
a fight against a ghost. Walk over the wine bottles dropped by Hou and use
Drunken Master to slay the ghost. After, talk to Hou and choose to keep him
with you or send him back to the camp site. Drunken Master can be pretty
helpful against the cannibals, so you might want to keep him.
Go toward the back of the Inn; in the south corner you'll find the wall open
and an entrance to caverns underneath the Inn. Soon after entering the
caverns, you'll witness an exchange between some cannibals and a man who is
slowly turning into one. Kill the cannibals in the same way you dealt with the
first wave upstairs. Then talk to the man and offer to kill him to put him out
of his misery; this happens automatically. There are no OP points for killing
him.
Continue through the caves. The next cavern has a cannibal and a small horde
of rat demons. Blow through them and loot the area thoroughly. The next cavern
has a large group of cannibals across a bridge. After you destroy them, Black
Whirlwind and Henpecked Hou show up and your current follower automatically
takes off to kill cannibals. (If Blackie or Hou are currently traveling with
you, the other shows up.) The two of them accompany you into the fight with
Mother.
From the cavern with the bridge, find the northwest exit and enter Mother's
cavern. Blackie and Hou deal with the mess of cannibals pouring into the
chamber, leaving Mother and a few cannibals for you. Ignore all the beasties
and attack the natural rock pillars around the room. Target them and hit them
with Quick Attacks (don't waste time winding up Power Attacks). Destroy three
pillars and Mother and her brood are toast. You, Blackie and Hou get out just
before the whole thing comes crashing down.
If you followed the OP path and sided with Forest Shadow, she shows up and
gives you an additional reward as well as some more OP points. The area where
you come out of the caves is the first open area north of Lord Yun's campsite.
If you saved The Sickened Forest for last, Inquisitor Lim is waiting for you
in area where you exit the caves. Take out the minions as quickly as you can
and save Lim for a mana-a-mano battle royale for last. When you defeat Lim,
you get the second piece of your amulet and Chapter 2 is officially over.
Go down the stairs and talk to Lord Yun. Regardless of how you handled the
affair, you'll get your wind map and can head back to town. Before leaving,
check out Spear Catches Leaf's wares; if you haven't purchased Storm Dragon
yet, get it now.
Cleaning Up the Town [5.25]
-----------------------------
QUESTS
[] An Ancient Game
By this time, if you've been religiously following an alignment path, you
should be able to get training from either Mistress Vo or Jian the Iron Fist.
Your training consists of beating one of them in a duel; you then learn the
style used against you: Stone Immortal from Mistress Vo (Open Palm players) or
Tempest from Jian (Closed Fist players).
Chat with all your followers. Ask Kang about this other wind map that he has.
This kicks off another flying mini-game that ends with you back where you
started. Kang ends up with a new invention that he will be able to use later.
Check your journal; the only thing open should be "Silk Fox" (and "The Zither
of Discord" if you are an OP player that talked to Scholar Six Heavens; but,
were never able to complete the quest). If anything else is open, go take care
of it now.
Talk to Wild Flower again; unless you saved the dam for last, you should be
able to get the Other (Ya Zhen) to reveal himself, which adds him to your
Followers list. Make sure every other follower's conversation trees are
exhausted. When you're ready to move on, tell Kang to take you to Imperial
City. You can choose to Attack or Evade; see the Marvelous Dragonfly Missions
below for info on this particular mini-game.
CHAPTER 3 [5.30]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_Wherein the Imperial City is revealed,_
_Silk Fox reveals her station,_
_And the Lotus Assassins are infiltrated._
The Marvelous Dragonfly bears you away from Tien's Landing,
toward the Imperial City. The fall of Gao the Greater and
Assassin Lim will have far-reaching consequences, and your
enemy will not let your actions go unanswered. Terrible forces
gather ahead, and as you draw close, they will leave their mark
as surely as you have left yours.
Silk Fox [5.31]
-----------------
QUESTS
[] Silk Fox
[] The Outlander
[] The Imperial Arena
[] Creative Yukong's Bounty
[] Fading Moon's Bounty
[] The Slave Traders
[] The Play's the Thing
As soon as you land, you're met by a familiar figure in an unfamiliar outfit.
Silk Fox is revealed to be Her Royal Highness, Princess Sun Lian, daughter of
Emperor Sun Hai. She chats with you a bit, asking you to meet her later. You
have a total of five replies to her banter. If you always choose the rudest
reply option (which is also always the last option in the list), you'll cause
Silk Fox's five ladies-in-waiting to faint. This will earn you the Loutish
Approval Technique (Health +2) (and also some CF points for one of the
responses).
After she leaves, one of the maids gives you a note specifying the place of
the meeting; as well as an Essence Gem, Imperial Favor (Spirit +3, Charm +1,
Intuition +1, increased chance for getting power-ups from fallen enemies). Now
would be a good time to talk to Kang the Mad so you can get started on the
Lord Lao's Furnace side quest. Since this side quest involves the Marvelous
Dragonfly and spans several conversations with Kang, it is detailed under the
Marvelous Dragonfly Missions section of this guide.
This is also a good time to catch up on everyone's conversation options. It is
especially important--if you want the full story--that you talk to Dawn Star
and Sagacious Zu. Once everyone's chatted out, leave the hangar. On your way
out, you can speak to Bai, the town crier, about what there is to do. Leave
the hangar and go left (east) toward the city gate.
As you pass a bridge, you'll hear a Lotus Assassin shouting out a bad
description of yourself. You can chat with her if you like; but, nothing comes
of it. Continue on to the city gates. Speak to Captain Sen and ask about
bounties. He'll give you two:
* Fading Moon is an arsonist who was last seen escaping into Necropolis.
* Creative Yukong is a con artist. His last victim was Lady Rento, who spends
time watching the bouts in the Imperial Arena.
After speaking to Captain Sen, go west until you find the entrance to the
Imperial Arena. Continue west until you reach the end of the walkway and
you'll find a cask with the Configuration of the Dragon in it. Backtrack to
the Imperial Arena entrance and enter. Go up the stairs and through the double
doors to your left (they open automatically as you approach). Make your way
through all the rooms until you find Lady Rento. Talk to her about Creative
Yukong.
Lady Rento, of course, has a much different story than Captain Sen. You'll be
able to find Yukong later, after meeting with Silk Fox. If you want to get
started on the Arena matches now, keep going until you meet Qui the Promoter.
He'll get you set up with your qualifying matches; full details of the Arena
fights and related quests are under "The Executioners" below.
Leave the Arena and go south, across the bridge, into the Market District and
head east. You'll pass a blacksmith's shop. You can stop here and buy Flawless
or Dragon Sword as well as a Bar of Nickeled Iron. Continue east, over the
bridge, and go south through the large gate to the Golden Way.
Follow the main street around until you hear a person insulting the populace.
As you approach, he begins to insult you. Pick whatever conversation options
you like--there are no OP or CF points in this dialogue. After bantering with
the servant a bit, his master approaches. This man, the Minister of Culture,
has a problem with a foreigner insulting people in the Scholar's Garden. Agree
to help rid the Empire of this buffoon to open The Outlander quest in your
journal.
Continue to the end of the Golden Way and enter the Scholar's Garden. As you
enter, you'll have your meeting with Silk Fox. She is convinced the Lotus
Assassins, under the command of Death's Hand, are building a golem army and
mean to overthrow her father, Emperor Sun Hai. She wants you to help find
evidence of this army to present to the Emperor. In order to gather that
evidence, you need to infiltrate the Lotus Assassin fortress.
To get into the fortress, you'll need to join the Assassins. There are two
ways to do this: either please the Executioners by competing in the Arena; or,
please the Inquisitors by performing some quest for them. You can do either or
both of these quests. You can even do one quest, invade the fortress, then do
the other.
However, before you get started on those jobs, there are several small side
quests that can be performed. After your talk with Silk Fox, she becomes a
Follower and can join you now or wait at home base. Start leaving the Garden
(back to Golden Way) in order to trigger a fight with the two Imperial guards
you met when you landed earlier. Then, head deeper into the Garden.
You'll go through a series of small rooms. Look for a scrollstand that will
teach you the Configuration of the Snake. In the last room before entering the
main Gardens, you'll meet Scholar Dongow. Talk to him and press for
information about the Inquisitors. You'll be told a recruiter will meet you at
a later time near your flyer.
Continue into the Garden. Take either the left-most or center path and follow
it until you reach the Outlander. (The center path has a Spirit Font if you
need replenishment.) The Outlander is Sir Roderick Ponce Von Fontlebottom the
Magnificent Bastard (aka John Cleese) and he's intent on educating the vicious
savages of the Jade Empire in proper manners, combat and modes of dress.
Speak to him and agree to his challenge. You must debate Sir Roderick in front
of five judges. If you impress all five judges within six replies, you win the
debate. For each reply in the debate, you can give one of five types of
answers: Sympathetic, Mocking, Dismissive, Factual and Raging.
Each type of reply will affect one or more of the five judges. If you use an
argument when the judge is unimpressed (not favoring you, or hands down), the
judge will be impressed and put his or her hand up. If the judge currently has
the hand up and is affected by the argument, the hand goes down. Since all
start "unimpressed" (or hands down) and you want them all to end up
"impressed" (or hands up), you need to affect each judge an odd number of
times.
You can do this in as little as three steps (see below). If you want to figure
it out for yourself, here's the cheat sheet:
RESPONSE AFFECTS
Sympathetic: Minister, Zou, Gu
Mocking: Cai, Gu
Dismissive: Zou, Cai
Factual: Heng, Zou
Raging: Minister
Remember, each of the five judges must be affected an odd number of times; so,
if you use Sympathetic followed by Raging, the Minister of Culture will end up
hand down (hand goes up with Sympathetic, then down with Raging).
WARNING! SOLUTION AHEAD!
You can get all five scholars impressed by your wit within three replies (thus
winning and ending the debate). Choose either Sympathetic + Dismissive +
Factual or Mocking + Factual + Raging (any order).
After you've won the debate, Sir Roderick will challenge you to a duel.
(Actually, he'll challenge you to a duel even if you lose the debate; however,
you don't get a reward if that happens. Since you're reading this guide,
there's no way you can lose the debate. Right?) You are transported back to
the area at the beginning of the Garden where you met Silk Fox. Run/jump
toward Roderick very quickly before he gets a chance to unleash his
blunderbuss (Mirabelle) against you. Keep him off balance and keep jumping
behind him to prevent him from shooting you.
You do NOT want to get shot.
When Sir Roderick is defeated, you'll be back in the judging area and he'll
congratulate you on your victory. Assuming you bested him in both the debate
and the duel, he'll offer you a choice of reward. The rewards are:
* "I prefer something useful. Your weapon, for example."
- Mirabelle Weapon style, very powerful, very slow
* "Physical Strength is the quality I am interested in."
- Fitness for the Upright Gentleman Technique (+3 Body)
* "I am interested in improving my mind."
- Duchess of Ulmsbottom's Rules of Engagement Technique (+3 Mind)
* "I am concerned with spiritual matters."
- Manual of Trepanation Technique (+3 Spirit)
* "Have you encountered any interesting gems?"
- Silver Tongue Gem (+6 to all three Conversation skills)
Mirabelle is the best choice here; but, if you don't want to "cheat" with a
super-powerful combat style, one of the stat-increasing Techniques would be
better than a gem with marginal usefulness. Sir Roderick hands over your
reward and decides to go learn more about the wonderful Jade Empire. (You'll
read the rest of his fate after beating the game.)
After receiving your reward from Sir Roderick, talk to the Minister of Culture
for an additional reward. Take the northwest path and find Scholar Kongyu.
Press him for more information about his studies; eventually you'll be able to
ask, "You're Creative Yukong, aren't you?"
He admits the deception and asks for your help escaping the city. Agree to
help him and you'll immediately find yourself at the city gate trying to
distract Captain Sen. You'll have several opportunities to go ahead and turn
in Yukong--stick to the deception to let Yukong get away and earn OP points.
You now have some choices. There are a couple more side quests ("The Play's
the Thing" and "The Slave Traders"); you've also got some stuff to do in
Necropolis ("Fading Moon's Bounty", various Gravedigger quests, "Jinlin");
and, there's Mechanic Hin Goo's flyer quests. How you work these around the
main quests ("The Executioners" and "The Inquisitors") is up to you.
If you finished up Yukong's Bounty at the city gate, the first thing you
should do is return to the hangar. Having talked to Scholar Dongow, you'll
meet the Inquisitor recruiter. A full guide to that quest is below. Talk to
all your Followers. This is an important time to advance the romance plots
with Dawn Star, Silk Fox and Sky. It's also important to work Dawn Star and
Sagacious Zu's stories prior to finishing either "The Executioners" or "The
Inquisitors". Go ahead and play through Hin Goo's three missions while you're
here (covered under Marvelous Dragonfly Missions below).
Before continuing on with the main quest, there are still a couple of small
side quests in the city...
THE SLAVE TRADERS
Go to the market district in the southwest corner of the city core. Find
Prefect Jitong and talk to him about his predicament. He is being pressured to
convict Scholar Songtao of slave trading; however, he believes Songtao is
being framed to cover the tracks of the real criminal, Chandler Ling. Agree to
help resolve the problem.
Go to the Imperial Arena and track down Xi Bao in second room upstairs. Offer
him 500 silver to take you to the slave traders. He'll be insulted and take
off; choose to follow him and you're immediately transported to the Creature
Pens below the Arena, where slaver Cao Zeng is holding court.
Cao Zeng begins by siccing his sycophants on you and you have to take them
down. Once Cao realizes you are a serious force, he attempts to enlist your
aid. Songtao is, indeed, being framed to protect Ling. Refuse and Cao attacks.
Cao is not a hard fight; you'll receive the real slaver documents when you
defeat him. Return to Prefect Jitong with the documents and your OP points.
Songtao, newly freed, goes to the Scholar's Garden and becomes a gem merchant.
THE PLAY'S THE THING
Once you've had your meeting with Silk Fox, a character named Incisive Chorus
shows up on the Golden Way, near the gate to the Market District. Talk to him
about his play that is being performed in a small pagoda near the Scholar's
Garden entrance. Apparently, the producer re-wrote Incisive's epic, and he's
ticked. He wants you to take an available part and perform the play as he
originally wrote it. He gives you a copy of the script. (Bonus humorous
dialogue if your PC is female.)
Head down the Golden Way until you find the pagoda and First-Degree Thespian
Phong. Talk to Phong to get a copy of the revised script. The revisions make
fun of the Lotus Assassins, so they will not be pleased if the new script is
performed. Phong sends you to study your lines, which you should do.
You have six lines. Lines two and four are different. In order to successfully
complete the quest, you must deliver the proper lines, either original or
revised (there are Low CF points for performing the revised play). For the
maximum reward, you should perform the original lines.
Your lines are:
1. "White banners fly."
2. "...Either way, the dusk was slipping into night." (original)
Or
"Tien's decision was made over the mid-day meal..." (revised)
3. "He stood at the edge of a vast plain..."
4. "Heaven's reach is wide..." (original)
Or
"The flower guardians may blossom..." (revised)
5. "He turned to the heavens themselves..."
6. "A shooting star traced the border of our lands."
For successfully giving all six lines, your reward is 1000 silver and 1000 XP.
If you performed the revised script, Lotus Assassins drag Phong off for
subversion and you'll receive CF points. If you later talk to Incisive Chorus,
he reluctantly gives you another 500 silver and you'll get another 500 XP. On
the other hand, if you perform the original play, Incisive Chorus will give
you 1500 silver and you'll get 1000 XP. (No OP points, though.)
The Executioners [5.32]
-------------------------
QUESTS
[] The Executioners
[] The Imperial Arena
[] Bronzed Opportunity
[] The Gambler's Favor
[] Soldier's Offer
Winning the favor of the Executioners requires that you win through at least
the Silver round of the Arena. Of course, for the money and experience, you'll
want to work your way through the entire Arena and all its sub-quests. The
first time you enter the upstairs tavern after your meeting with Silk Fox,
you'll be approached by the recruiter for the Executioners. He'll tell you the
Lotus Assassins are watching you and lay out the requirement: win the Silver
Round.
That's easy enough. Along the way you'll have some minor quests to work on,
all part of becoming Grand Champion of the Arena. If you have yet to talk to
Qui the Promoter, do so and tell him you want to fight in the Arena. He'll put
you through a series of qualifying rounds to make sure you're up to snuff.
What follows lays out the pattern for fighting in the Arena, so be sure to
follow it:
1. Make sure you have full Health, Chi and Focus (there's a Focus Shrine
upstairs, outside the tavern, and a Spirit Font downstairs).
2. Save your game.
3. Talk to Qui and ask for your next fight.
4. Win the fight, after which you'll be fully healed.
5. Talk to the other fighters and NPCs in the tavern.
6. Start over at step #1.
A few points about the Arena fights:
* If you win through all the fights without suffering a loss, you receive The
Perfected Warrior Technique (Health +15, Focus +15). You can lose a fight and
then fight it again and win; but, that doesn't count as a perfect record. So,
save your game before every fight and just reload if you lose the fight.
* You cannot have your companion in the Arena with you during fights, so
you'll have to adjust your combat tactics appropriately.
QUALIFYING
------------
Your first fight is against an ogre. Use Dire Flame (if you have it) or a fast
style that allows you to get in, hit a few times and get out. The second fight
is against four students; they should be easy. Your third qualifying match
requires you to destroy a statue within 30 seconds. This should not be a
problem if you have any high-damage styles. If you're stuck with Thousand
Cuts, use Chi Strikes. Don't use Power Attacks; they're too slow. Finally,
you'll face Hapless Han, who is even more hapless than his name suggests.
You can run through the Qualifying Round at any time; however, you cannot
begin the Bronze Round matches until you've met with Silk Fox and talked to
the Lotus Executioner Recruiter in the front room of the tavern.
BRONZE ROUND
--------------
The first Bronze fight is against five cannibals: four normal cannibals and
one leader. Like the fights at Pilgrim's Rest, take out the leader first; the
slower cannibals are easy to deal with once the leader is out.
Your second challenge is not a fight; but, a test of endurance. Dragon statues
surround roughly two-thirds of the arena; they will fire the equivalent of
Dire Flame and Ice Shard Power Attacks (thus either freezing you or blowing
you off your feet if you're hit). The center of the ring has a spike trap. You
must survive for 50 seconds. Use your Evade move to circle the ring and keep
going. You will take some hits, so boost your Health before entering the ring.
After the endurance test, you'll have to face a toad demon. Unless you've
already picked up Mirabelle, you can't use any ranged attacks (Magic is
ineffective), so you'll likely take some damage. Try to stay behind it to
avoid being poisoned.
Finally, it's time for your fight against Crimson Khana. Before you fight her,
Lucky Cho wants to talk to you. Go deeper into the tavern until you find Cho.
Crimson Khana is a problem for the Guild; he wants to assure your victory over
her by poisoning her beforehand. Refuse his offer and go talk to Khana; by
warning her the Guild is trying to get her, you'll get a better Weapon style
after defeating her in your match (you also get some OP points).
Once Khana has been warned, start your match through Qui. Khana is a pretty
average mini-boss. Her dual-sabers are quick and powerful; so, sniping from
range is a good option, or, use the Block-Quick Attack method. You can also
use Storm Dragon or Paralyzing Palm (if you've finished Black Leopard School)
against her. Once the fight is over, talk to her again to learn Crimson Tears
(or Eyes of the Dragon if you did not warn her ahead of time). Next to
Mirabelle, Crimson Tears is the best Weapon style in the game.
SILVER ROUND
--------------
This is the last round of battles you must complete in order to gain the
approval of the Executioners and get your Lotus Assassin seal. Before you
begin, locate Gambler Daoshen in the second room of the tavern. Daoshen wants
to expand his gambling enterprise, but needs permission to do so from the
Guild. He'll give you 500 silver to pay the Guild; go to Lucky Cho's room in
the tavern and talk to Sweet Poison Lyn (who is also a merchant with a few
gems and the Thousand Cuts style). Pay Lyn the application fee and return to
Daoshen with the good news. You can also gamble with Daoshen if you like,
though the game is rather boring and the stakes are very low.
Your first match in the Silver Round is against an elephant demon. Jump over
it and strike it from behind. If you see it raising its foot, jump out of the
way quickly as it's about to unleash the equivalent of a Stone Immortal Area
Attack on you and it's not pleasant.
Following the demon is a fight against four stooges, two of whom are using
poisoned weapons. The other two are using the Viper style, which means they
can poison you with their Power Attacks. You can actually die in this fight,
so you'll have to win or reload. Use standard group tactics against them:
break them up with Area Attacks and concentrate on taking down one while
holding the rest at bay.
The next fight is against three clay golems. Golems are powerful, but slow.
Like clay pigeons, clay golems make excellent targets for practicing with
Mirabelle. If you don't have that style, you'll want to use a different Weapon
style and make quick hit-and-dodge attacks. (Golems are immune to Support and
Magic styles, so don't waste your time.)
Next up is division champion Iron Soldier. If you went along with the
poisoning of Crimson Khana earlier, Soldier will ask to meet you prior to your
fight. This kicks off the Soldier's Offer side quest, which is, essentially,
only available to Closed Fist players (since you had to poison Khana). In your
match, Soldier favors Leaping Tiger, which is fast and has good range. Keep
moving and hitting him with Quick Attacks; he moves too fast for you to use a
Power Attack. If you need some breathing room, use an Area Attack. You can
also snipe him from range with Magic.
As soon as the fight with Iron Soldier is finished, the Lotus Executioner
Recruiter approaches and asks that you join the Lotus Assassins. Accept (you
can Lie about it) and get the seal you need to get into the Fortress.
GOLD ROUND
------------
You have some decisions to make. The next round of fights is very difficult.
It can be made easier with a couple of styles, namely Paralyzing Palm and Jade
Golem. To get Paralyzing Palm, you must complete the Black Leopard School
quest (see Necropolis below) in the Open Palm manner. Jade Golem is received
during the invasion of the Lotus Assassin Fortress. Since your main plot
purpose for fighting in the Arena is finished, you may wish to go off and do
these other quests before coming back and finishing the Arena. The final few
fights will be much easier if you do that.
Your first fight is against a woman who has mastered Phoenix Unity. Whatever
that is. Get in there and kick her rear.
OH! *That's* what Phoenix Unity means...
Man, are you in trouble. Instead of one chick, you've got to fight off six,
and they aren't pushovers. Three will be using Viper (*very* fast Power
Attacks that poison you) and three will be using double swords. Your best bet
is to spam Storm Dragon Area Attacks to keep them honest and (hopefully)
paralyzed with the Shocked effect. If you can get one separated from her
clones, you can take her out fairly quickly with a strong Weapon or Martial
style. When the group begins to close on you again, hit them with Storm
Dragon.
(You did buy Storm Dragon in Tien's Landing, didn't you? If not, maybe you
should fly back there and get it.)
Next up are the brothers Sung. Sung Sui is a magic user (Dire Flame) who pulls
out a long spear if you close up on him; Sung Bo uses Monkey Paw, a powerful
and fast Martial attack; and, Sung Bu uses swords. Use Area Attacks to break
them up; then, concentrate on Sui as he is the most dangerous (he can attack
from range while the other two have you tied up). Once he's down, go after Bo-
-he's the guy with glowing hands and hopping around like a chimp. His Monkey
Paw style is very strong and very fast, so you will want to deal with him from
range (staff or Magic style) rather than try to close up on him.
BONUS: PC users can use a simple mod that gives them Monkey Paw style. It
pwns. It really does. See "Way of the Modder" near the end of this guide.
You can save Sung Bu for last and take him out in whatever way suits you. The
final fight before facing The Ravager is a doozy: eight opponents in a row
with a ten-second delay before each enters the ring. In other words, you have
a total of ten seconds to deal with a foe before the next one is there with
you. Spend too much time dealing with any individual enemy and you could get
swarmed. The foes are (in order):
* Ogre
* Hapless Han
* Toad Demon
* Iron Soldier
* Elephant Demon
* Sung Bo (Monkey Paw)
* Sung Bu (Swords)
* Sung Sui (Dire Flame/Spear)
This is the round in which Jade Golem Transformation style (from completing
the Lotus Assassin Fortress) can come in handy. Each enemy only needs two or
three Power Attacks and you'll be immune to some of the nastier effects of
your enemies (such as the toad demon's poison). If you haven't got Jade Golem,
you'll need to pick your most power attack and stick with it. Something really
strong, like White Demon or Crimson Tears in conjunction with Storm Dragon or
Paralyzing Palm can help you make short work of most foes.
The elephant demon will be your first tough test as there's almost no way to
take them down quickly in a conventional manner. Your best tactic with the
demon is quick flips over its head, a couple strikes at its back and repeat.
You'll have to jump away when it gets ready to stomp its foot, otherwise
you'll be thrown to the ground and stunned for a moment. You've already fought
the three Sung brothers together, so you should be able to handle them as they
come out staggered. If at any point in the fight you get really low on Chi,
consider switching to Spirit Thief and stealing some back.
That's it, you're ready for the final fight against The Ravager! Or, that's
what you think, anyway. The Ravager is, arguably, the single toughest enemy in
the entire game. Yes, he's even tougher than the final boss. He's *fast*,
*strong*, immune to Spirit Thief (no Chi for you!) and Magic styles, and, oh
yeah, he Heals himself.
Good luck.
The easiest way to defeat The Ravager is with Jade Golem. Just wade in and
smash him. If you don't have Jade Golem, you *can* use Storm Dragon to shock
him and keep him from hitting you. Shock him, smack him a couple of times
(Weapon or Martial), shock him again. Keep at it until he goes down. If you
have neither Jade Golem nor Storm Dragon...may the Celestial Bureaucracy smile
upon you. You're in deep, deep trouble. You'll have to whittle away his Health
until his Chi runs out and he can't Heal any longer.
Finally! The Ravager has been defeated and you are Grand Champion of the
Arena!
But, wait, what's this? Kai Lan, the Serpent, is challenging you. Black
Whirlwind shows up and begs for the opportunity to face Kai himself. What do
you do? Blackie is strong and has a lot of Health; his double axes do a lot of
damage and use no Focus. However, Whirlwind is not very versatile. He can't
use Focus mode, can't switch styles and has very little Chi to heal himself.
Overall, it's probably better that you face the Serpent and let Black
Whirlwind watch.
The Serpent switches freely between Ice Shard, Viper and a single sword style.
When he's using Ice Shard, hold block until he begins a Power Attack; then,
dodge out of the way and hit him. If he switches to Viper, stay out of the way
(don't want to be poisoned) and hit him from range (staff, Magic or
Mirabelle). When he pulls out the sword, you can deal with him in a more
traditional manner.
Once you've shaved off half Kai Lan's Health, he summons two horse demons.
You've faced these guys before--they aren't fun, but they are manageable. This
is where your versatility is much more helpful than Black Whirlwind's
dependence on his axes. When you've destroyed the two demons, you have to
fight Kai Lan again--and his Health has been completely restored. It's the
same set of tactics as before; just wear him down and, eventually, you'll win
your battle--and the war, as Sweet Poison Lyn approaches and tells you the
Guild is pulling out of the Arena.
Sweet!
The Inquisitors [5.33]
------------------------
QUESTS
[] The Inquisitors
After you've met with Scholar Dongow in the Scholar's Garden, a Lotus
Inquisitor Recruiter will approach the next time you visit home base. He wants
you to take care of a certain problem involving your old friend from Tien's
Landing, Minister Sheng. Sheng is in Imperial City to present a report to
Minister Fang. The Lotus Assassins do not want Fang to see that report. During
the course of the conversation, you are presented with four options:
1) Kill Fang: earns CF points and will not earn the Lotus Inquisitor Seal.
2) Kill Sheng: earns CF points and will not earn the Lotus Inquisitor Seal.
3) Discredit Sheng: Henpecked Hou suggests substituting rotten turtle eggs for
Sheng's honor gift that he presents to Fang. This will so insult Fang that he
will never look at Sheng's report. This is the Closed Fist solution to the
quest.
4) Discredit Fang: no suggestion is made other than to inquire about Fang at
the Imperial Arena tavern. This is the Open Palm solution to the quest.
Go to the Imperial Arena and go to the third room of the tavern. Minister Fang
is the guy out in the center area and he's inaccessible. Find Gentle Breezes
over in the corner and talk to her about Fang. You'll have to use your best
Conversation Skill to get her help in ruining Fang; or, better yet, bribe her
with 900 silver (and get her started on a new life).
Gentle Breezes steals Fang's seal ring and gives it to you. You can now get
past the guards and talk to Fang yourself. Demand his resignation on the basis
you can discredit him by publicizing his peccadilloes. He'll agree and give
you the letter of resignation. Return to home base, where the Recruiter meets
you and congratulates you on a job well done.
That's it! Easy, wasn't it?
Necropolis [5.34]
-------------------
[] Necropolis
[] Fading Moon's Bounty
[] Aishi the Mournful Blade
[] Black Leopard School
[] Jinlin
[] The First Gravedigger
[] A Vengeful Ghost
[] A Mournful Ghost
[] A Fearful Ghost
[] The Scientist
[] The Tanners Fong
You can get started on these quests at any time; it is better to start them
early since you'll have to return to the city proper a few times. You may want
to enter the Necropolis as early as right after your meeting with Silk Fox.
Necropolis is laid out as a meandering set of paths that pass through several
arenas. In each arena you'll run into from one to three lost spirits. These
spirits respawn regularly until after you've finished the Lotus Assassin
Fortress quest. This can be frustrating, since you'll have to go in and out of
the area to complete everything. You may want to take that into account when
going through the quests in Necropolis.
The entrance to Necropolis is near the gate between the Market District and
Golden Way. A guard standing outside will advise against entering; but, won't
stop you if you choose to go in. The first time you enter Necropolis, at the
first T-intersection you come to, you'll have to fight three ghosts.
Afterward, you'll talk to the gravedigger. He wants your help in dealing with
some dead people who won't stay dead. Agree to help him to kick off the first
set of gravedigger quests: A Mournful Ghost, A Fearful Ghost and A Vengeful
Ghost.
From the T-intersection, going right (south) takes you to the gravedigger's
house. Heading left (north) takes you around a bend to your first arena.
There's one lost spirit in this arena. There are three exits from this arena:
southwest (back to the Necropolis entrance), south and northeast. Take the
northeast exit and bear to right (east). You'll come to another arena, this
one with up to three lost spirits.
On the southwest side of this arena is a tomb entrance. Go down in to meet Wen
Zhi, The Scientist. He is trying to save his daughter by giving her a liver
transplant. He's trying to find a preserved liver in one of the corpses in the
graveyard. If you offer to find a liver for him, he'll refer you to a noble
named Ji Xin who was preserved in a special way that may have kept his organs
vital. On the downside, Ji Xin has risen from his grave and attacks anyone who
tries to enter his tomb.
Yeah. Didn't guess that one in advance.
You do have another option; you can convince Wen to sacrifice his own liver
for his child. To pull this off, you'll have to return to the Arena and find
Dr. An (a blind female who also sells Gems and Techniques) in the same room as
Qui the Promoter. Return to Wen Zhi with Dr. An and she'll perform the
surgery. Wen dies, but his daughter lives and you can visit her and Dr. An in
the Arena. However, getting Ji Xin's liver is the better option.
Leave Wen and go south. You'll enter a clearing with a couple of ghosts. Don't
worry, these two don't put up a fight. Ignore them for now and go up the
stairs on the east side of the clearing. You'll enter a courtyard in front of
a tomb. Search the right (south) side of the courtyard for the Demon Staff
(Special Edition only). Approach the tomb and you'll meet Fading Moon, the
arsonist. (Provided you discussed bounties with Captain Sen. If you didn't
pick up this quest in advance, Fading Moon won't be here.) You can't do
anything other than kill Fading Moon, so get to it. As befits her modus
operandi, she's a Dire Flame practitioner.
Once Fading Moon has set, return to the clearing with the two ghosts. The
female spirit is Miss Chan (A Mournful Ghost). She thinks Gravedigger Shen has
taken her son from her and wants you to get him back. The male spirit is
Merchant Bai (A Fearful Ghost). He was terrorized in life by a couple of
bullies, and those two are now buried nearby. He can't rest as long as their
spirits are roaming around. Promise you'll deal with the thugs.
Go southwest from the clearing into another arena. On the southeast side of
this arena is the Tomb of the Masses. Go down into the tomb and defeat the two
spirits. Return to Merchant Bai for your reward, which is a cow bezoar (an
ingredient for Lord Lao's Furnace). Go back through the arena near the Tomb of
the Masses and exit to the northwest. Right outside you'll run into Master Ren
(A Vengeful Ghost). He is a bit put out because his wife poisoned him. He
wants you to track her down and bring her to him so he can explain to her--at
length--how mad he is.
Continue northwest past Master Ren to the first arena you entered. After
killing the lost spirit, exit to the southwest and follow the path south to
Gravedigger Shen's house. Shen is on the front porch; as you approach, he'll
beg you to kill the evil spirit in his back yard. Go through the house and
kill the ghost; then, return to Shen. Congratulations! You just helped Shen
deal with a pesky mother-in-law. Is there any more Open Palm action?
Once Shen has rewarded you for getting rid of his relative, you can ask him
about the troublesome spirits. You can get the reward for A Fearful Ghost and
you can get some information about Miss Chan's son. (Note: you can't convince
Miss Chan her son is also dead without first talking to Gravedigger Shen.)
Leave Necropolis and head for the Imperial Gate. As you enter the city core,
you'll meet Jinlin, who requests your help in raiding a tomb. Agree to help;
you'll pick this up next time you're in Necropolis. (Note: Jinlin doesn't
appear until you've been through a fair amount of Necropolis at least once.)
Go to the Imperial Gate and talk to Captain Sen; collect on Fading Moon's
bounty. Provided you have also finished Creative Yukong's bounty, you'll meet
an old man as you leave the area. He lets you know of another villain, with a
high price on her head, who is hiding out at the Black Leopard school. The
criminal is Aishi, known as the Mournful Blade, and the old man encourages you
to hear her tale before killing her.
Find the Black Leopard School entrance in the southwest corner of the city
core, near the market district. Enter the school and have it out with a number
of the students. When they are defeated, First Brother talks with you and
explains the rules of joining the school. Since this ultimately leads to a new
combat style, say "Yes".
To be considered worthy of joining the school, you must defeat the top six
students (First Brother through Sixth Brother) in reverse order. Before
embarking on this quest, find Aishi, the Mournful Blade, in the northeast
corner of the courtyard. Talk to her and ask to hear her tale. She wants
revenge on Captain Sen and wants your help in gaining it.
Agree to help and you'll automatically be transported to the Imperial Gate
where Aishi will kill Sen. You will then have to kill her in a duel; and, even
though she wants to die with honor, she's not going easily. You'll want to
fight her from range (Magic or your shiny new Demon Staff) in order to stay
away from her twin blades. After it's all over, talk to the old man again for
your final reward.
Return to the Black Leopard School to embark on that quest. You'll find Sixth
Brother on the north side of the schoolyard; talk to him and end by choosing
to fight. NOTE: your companion cannot aid you in the fights against the Black
Leopard Brothers. After Sixth Brother has been demoted, enter the school. To
your right is Master Smiling Hawk's room (locked) and the dining room. To your
left is a row of three rooms. The first room is Master Radiant's room
(locked), next is Fifth Brother's room and the last is Fourth Brother's room.
Enter Fifth Brother's room and challenge him to a fight. After, enter the
school again and challenge Fourth Brother to a fight.
After you defeat Fourth Brother, Third Brother offers to take you to meet
Master Smiling Hawk. Chat with the "evil" master of the school. He wants to
rid the school of the "good" master, Master Radiant; however, Radiant stays
locked up in his room. To draw him out, he wants you to kill First Brother.
Refuse Master Smiling Hawk's offer. Leave Smiling Hawk and find Third Brother
in the cafeteria. Challenge him to a fight. After he is defeated, First
Brother takes you to meet Master Radiant. Obviously, Radiant wants to rid the
school of Smiling Hawk and his lackeys. Go back to Smiling Hawk's room and
challenge him.
There are two stages to this fight. Once you get Smiling Hawk's health low,
he'll suck the life from Third Brother, healing himself. Hawk uses Hidden Fist
style to disorient you, so make sure you get out of the way whenever it looks
like he's winding up for a Power Attack or Area Attack. Otherwise, this is a
fairly typical mini-boss level fight.
When you are done, another student approaches and tells you Master Radiant
wishes to see you. Go talk to Master Radiant again to receive the Paralyzing
Palm style and Heaven's Blessing Gem. Talk to First Brother to get the Endless
Wind technique and Gem of Inner Genius. You are now officially a member of the
Black Leopard School and can return here any time you like to spar with
students.
Leave the school and head west toward the far end of the Market District. At
the western edge of the area, on the north side of the street (next to the
river) is a small hut with a woman standing near the door. This is Mistress
Ren, the Vengeful Ghost's wife. Talk to her to get her side of the story. (It
wasn't poison, it was some bad fish.) Agree to help her convince her husband
of the accident and you'll automatically be transported back to Master Ren in
Necropolis.
Talk to the two of them and convince Ren his wife did not kill him on purpose.
Once they have reconciled, go southeast into the arena with the Tomb of the
Masses. Defeat the lost spirits, then exit northeast into the clearing with
Miss Chan. Go to the north corner of the clearing and examine the gravestones.
Talk to Miss Chan and tell her that her son is dead. Tell her you can point
out his gravestone. Return to the gravestones and select Chan Tuo. Miss Chan
will thank you and sink into the ground.
Leave the clearing to the north, into the arena with the entrance to The
Scientist's "lab". Kill the lost spirits and leave to the north. As you
approach the next arena, look to your right (east) to see the entrance to Ji
Xin's tomb (it was formerly locked). Equip your best Conversation skill-
boosting Gems and enter the tomb. You'll see Ji Xin kill some graverobbers,
then he'll threaten you. Offer him a chance at redemption and, if your skills
are high enough, you can convince him to give up his liver for the dying girl.
(Note: if you kill Ji Xin and take his liver, it will be corrupted and will
not save the girl's life. If that happens, you can offer up one of your own
livers as a substitute. If you take this course, you can later receive the
Theories of Medicine Technique from Wen Zhi.)
Return to Wen Zhi with the preserved liver and the girl will be healed. (You
can meet Wen Zhi and his daughter later outside the blacksmith's shop in the
Market District.) Once they have left, Ji Xin appears and thanks you for
helping him redeem himself. Head back toward Ji Xin's tomb and keep going
north past it. You'll arrive at the Tomb of the Dignified Collector.
As you approach, Jinlin will appear and open the door for you. You'll have to
fight your way through two sets of zombies and ghosts. The ghosts you're
familiar with; zombies--despite being undead--are not immune to anything, so
you can use Weapon and Support styles against them. At the far end is a door
leading to the inner tomb. Make sure your Chi and Health are maxed out (and
Focus if you like to fight in Focus mode) before entering the inner tomb.
Inside you'll have to fight the Insane Emperor (a red minister ghost), a ghost
lord and two lost spirits. (In the Xbox version, it's three lost spirits and
no ghost lord.) The red minister can suck your Health and Chi, so it's best to
get rid of him first. You'll need to move around a lot to avoid the shots from
the lost spirits. When they are all defeated, restore your stats as much as
possible (there's a Focus Shrine in the inner tomb)--you've got to fight your
way back out of the tomb.
Once you make it back outside, Jinlin shows you the urn she was there to
collect and you'll learn the Configuration of the Tiger (for use in Lord Lao's
Furnace). Go south and bear west, through the arena with a single lost spirit,
eventually making your way back to Gravedigger Shen. Collect your rewards for
A Vengeful Ghost and A Mournful Ghost. Now that you've finished Shen's first
set of quests, he'll ask you to deal with another risen spirit that actually
moved back in with its son (and the son is demanding a refund). This opens The
Tanners Fong quest.
Since you're here, near the entrance to Necropolis, head back to the city
core. As you leave Golden Way, turn left (west) and, just over the bridge,
you'll find the elder and younger Fongs in their hut on the north side of the
street. Talk to elder Fong to be launched into a re-creation of the "I'm not
quite dead yet!" bit from _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_. Use your best
Conversation skill to get the two Fongs to make up. Return to Gravedigger Shen
for your reward.
You've pretty much cleaned up Necropolis, so it's time to invade the Lotus
Assassin Fortress. If you haven't obtained your seal yet, go back and finish
either the Executioner's or Inquisitor's quest. In Necropolis, head for the
clearing where you met Miss Chan and Merchant Bai. Take the narrow path to the
northeast and follow it around until you reach a pagoda.
QUESTS
[] The Emperor and the Assassins
[] Infiltrate the Lotus Assassin Fortress
[] Create a Spirit Shard
[] Kill Master Shin
As you approach the pagoda, you'll see a cutscene of Zu sneaking in. This will
be followed by an interruption as whomever you are currently romancing will
want to talk turkey before you throw your life away amongst the Assassins.
Tread carefully here; this is where you set up the final romantic cutscene
near the end of the game. If you're a male and are trying to woo both Dawn
Star and Silk Fox, you will need both Intuition and Charm to keep one (or
both) of them from rejecting you.
Of course, you can also be harsh here and end all chances at getting a little
smooch later. Your choice.
Once you've got the lovey-dovey stuff out of the way, enter the pagoda and
click the sign to open the tomb door and enter the Fortress. You'll be met by
the Watcher who leads you to the Induction Room. There's a Focus shrine up on
the top balcony if you need nourishment; then, head down the stairs and into a
confrontation with some bozos who won't even consent to fight you as a group.
Instead, they designate one individual to "teach you a lesson". School the
little twerp yourself and watch them all run away.
This altercation is followed by a conversation with Zu, who, despite walking
around and talking with you out in the open, is apparently invisible to the
Assassins. After watching him skulk away, explore the Induction room. On the
east side of the room is Merchant Kia Jong. Tell him you knew a Kia Min; turns
out Kia Min was this guy's niece. If you say she was well the last you saw her
and properly describe her (hair tied in little knots), Kia Jong will give you
a discount in his store. He sells the Dire Flame style, among other things.
At the far end of the Induction Room is Master Gang. He will be your boss
while you're here, so be nice to him. After he finishes with you, heal up at
the nearby Spirit Font and save your game. Go down the stairs after Gang. When
you reach the Lower Chamber, turn to your left (west) and find the Keeper of
the Archive in one of the alcoves. There are several XP-producing bookstands
around her; one of these contains the Configuration of the Rabbit.
Find Master Gang and talk to him. To prove yourself (and, hopefully, get rid
of you) he assigns you the task of taking out some ghosts near the Soul
Extractor Room. Go across the little bridge behind Master Gang and turn left
(west) and go through the door. Inside this room are a bunch of clay golems
(inactive) and four ghosts (very active). Disperse the spirits and return to
Master Gang.
He congratulates you and assigns you some new tasks. First, he wants you to
obtain a spirit shard for one of the new jade golems that are being built. He
also wants you to dispose of Master Shin in such a way that blame will not be
placed on himself. Before setting out on those quests, go to the east end of
the Chamber and talk to Acolyte Trainer Guang. She'll offer to spar with you
to see how much training you need.
Answer? Not much. After putting Guang in her place, Gang makes you the new
Acolyte Trainer and you can purchase Gems and Techniques from Guang. Go back
to the room where you fought the ghosts and go through the southern door to
the Soul Extractor Room (after a cutscene with Sagacious Zu).
The Soul Extractor Room is a large elevator with an acolyte guard. Use the
elevator control near the northern door and select the Abandoned deep-level
mine. Go down the mine shaft (the open door is to the west) until you meet the
spirit of Zeng Sai. He's a bit tougher than your average ghost, but not by
much. When he's dispersed, Zu shows up again and gives you more details of
your situation. Go to the end of the shaft and raid Zeng's coffin for the
essence you need for the spirit shard.
As soon as you loot the coffin, you'll be taken back to the Soul Extractor and
the new spirit shard will be made. The acolyte in the room will recognize
something is wrong and object; so, you'll have to deal with that situation.
When it's all done, you'll have the corrupted spirit shard you need and you'll
still be on the deep mine level. Use the elevator control to go to the prison
level. The prison opens to the east, as you enter, the guard will challenge
you. Demand the release of the prisoners. He refuses.
How typical. After he's defeated, open the prison doors and send the prisoners
on their way. (If you wish to go to the near-surface mine level, you can
collect a little bit of loot.) Return to the main level and leave the Soul
Extractor Room. In the adjacent room you'll meet the ruffians who waylaid you
earlier. Now they will all seek to take you down a peg. Teach them the error
of their ways; then, return to the Lower Chamber.
Near the door to the Inner Chamber are four of Master Shin's acolytes. You'll
want to remove them to make future tasks easier. Challenge Attendant Kitan and
dispose of her. Return and challenge Attendant Kai Feng. After he's defeated,
when you return to the Lower Chamber, four of Shin's lackeys will attack you.
They may be four in number; but, they are weak in strength.
Go to the east side of the Lower Chamber and enter the Golem Press Room. After
the cutscenes, go up to the control platform and ask questions about the
workings of the press. Specifically ask about accidents. Return to Master Gang
and suggest Master Shin should be killed somewhere and the body dumped in the
Golem Press Room so it looks like he had an industrial accident. (The Lotus
Assassins don't follow OSHA rules.)
Gang will then fill out the plan. You must clear the Induction Room, waylay
the next shipment of slaves coming through Necropolis and then kill Master
Shin in the Induction Room. Go to the Induction Room and find the two Mold
Masters along the west side of the room. Ask them what might damage the golem
press. They suggest an excess amount of Phoenix Oil would mess things up.
They'll also tell you Merchant Kia Jong supplies the Phoenix Oil.
Go across the room to Kia Jong and ask for Phoenix Oil. He'll give you a clay
pot containing some. Then ask him to leave the room. You'll either need high
Conversation Skills or 1,000 silver to persuade him to leave. Return to the
Golem Press Room and tell the attendant on duty to leave. He'll refuse. You
can either use a Conversation Skill to convince him to go; or, go to Master
Gang and get orders for the attendant. Once the attendant is gone, click the
Golem Press controls (not the Crane Operation controls) and choose to insert
the Phoenix Oil.
The machine will malfunction and three clay golems will animate along the main
path. Golems are very tough opponents. They are immune to Martial, Support and
Magic styles, so you're going to have to rely on Weapons or a Transformation
style. A good Weapon style with Chi damage added will usually take care of the
golems pretty quickly. The key is to keep moving so the golems, which are
slow, don't land any blows. They are *very* hard hitters and you won't be able
to withstand many of their attacks.
Run back to the Induction Room and tell the Mold Masters the machine is
broken. They'll run off to the Market District to find a blacksmith. Now,
there's just one set of Assassins in the Induction room. There's an acolyte in
the southeast corner (near the stairs) with two buddies. The acolyte will try
to summon a demon, but just set his cronies on fire. Defeat them and the
wannabe sorcerer will take off. The Induction Room is now empty.
Head up to the surface and leave the pagoda until you run into the Lotus
Assassins with the slave shipment. Demand the release of the slaves or Lie
that you're taking over; regardless, you'll have to kill the two Assassins.
You can then let the slaves go free. Go back down into the Fortress and head
for the Lower Chamber.
As you approach the stairs, Master Shin appears and the fight is on. Master
Shin is a fairly typical mini-boss and has the Viper (i.e. poison) Martial
Style and the Tempest Magic style. During the fight he'll animate the two clay
golems that are near the Spirit Font. Ignore them and keep after Shin until
he's down; then, you can take on the clay golems more easily.
As soon as Master Shin and his pets have been defeated, you are transported to
the Golem Press Room and a long cutscene where the accident is staged and
Master Gang expresses his approval. As you leave the Press Room, you have
another long conversation with Zu. If you took his plot dialogue far enough
before he left the group, he'll reveal an important secret.
Check your journal and make sure you've cleaned up everything in the Lotus
Assassin Fortress. Get your stats back to full with the Spirit Font and Focus
Shrine in the Induction Room. Talk to Master Gang to be taken into the Inner
Chamber where you immediately put your corrupted spirit shard into the Jade
Golem and it goes berserk. You have a nasty fight on your hands.
You've got three to four Lotus Assassins and two jade golems to fight. Stay
away from the golems (they're pretty slow) and get rid of the Assassins. Once
they are out of the way, attack the golems from behind, vaulting over (or,
more likely, under) them when they turn. Remember to use a strong Weapon style
with Chi Strikes.
When all have been defeated, you'll be granted the Jade Golem Transformation
style. Hooray! You'll need it. If you've been saving up some style points, now
is the time to beef up Jade Golem's damage and reduce its Chi cost. Loot the
room--there's a treasure chest to one side and a scrollstand opposite. If
you've been diligent in reading the scrollstands and books in the Fortress,
you'll get the Legacy of Death's Hand Technique.
Revive yourself as best as possible and go through the north door for your
showdown with Grand Inquisitor Jia. Jia uses a fairly standard mixture of
Magic, Martial (Viper) and Weapon (dual sabers). However, she's very, very
strong. Your best bet is to break out your shiny new Jade Golem Transformation
and hit her with a few Power Attacks. Failing that, the standard jump-in-hit-
jump-out is pretty effective or you can Storm Dragon her and beat up on her
that way.
Finally, Jia is dead and there is an extended cutscene in which you receive
the final piece of your amulet, say goodbye to Sagacious Zu and run for your
life. When the movie is over, you're back in the Inner Chamber and the place
is falling down. Run for the exit--you'll have several fights with Assassins
and clay golems along the way. You can beef up your Health and Chi with the
Spirit Font in the Induction Room.
When you finally reach the exit, you're funneled to a different exit that
leads to an Unfinished Tomb (outside of which you fought Fading Moon). Fight
your way out of the tomb and through the Necropolis. As you exit into the
Golden Way you'll automatically be transported to base camp and an extended
conversation with your Followers.
Now is the time to clean up any outstanding quests. The pace of the game picks
up quite a bit now. The remaining four chapters will last no longer (and may
be shorter) than Chapter 3. There are precious few side quests and each
chapter will only have one or two main quests. You'll also find it impossible
to travel back to previous locations; so, if you have unfinished business in
Tien's Landing or Imperial City, wrap it up now. When you're ready to bring
it, talk to Silk Fox and tell her you are ready to go to the palace. Choose to
Attack if you want to play the mini-game (and unlock it for future use).
CHAPTER 4 [5.40]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_Wherein the palace keeps its secrets,_
_An Emperor is met in battle,_
_And a Master shows his gratitude._
You infiltrated and destroyed the Lotus Assassin fortress, and
learned that the Emperor had full knowledge of what was held
there. It was a costly endeavor, and the loss of one of your
fellows casts a pall across your coming confrontation in the
palace of the mighty Emperor Sun Hai.
The Height of Power [5.41]
----------------------------
Once you land in the palace, you'll have an extended conversation with your
pals. During this pow-wow, Ya Zhen and Chai Ka will finally come to blows. You
must choose which one you will support; you will then be thrown into the mind
of Wildflower and take control of your chosen demon. You'll have to fight your
counterpart straight up; after the battle has been won, you will have access
only to the demon you supported in the fight.
When you're ready to move on, choose a Follower and head north through the big
doors. There's a fight with several guards and Assassins and more at the top
of the stairs. Through the large doors is one of the circular elevators like
the one in the Lotus Assassin Fortress. The rest of your gang joins you here
and you go up to the throne room level.
Follow the hallway around, taking out a few guards as you go. There's an
entrance to the Tombs of the Emperor's along the way; but, you can't go that
way (yet). Keep going until you've almost reached the throne room. Silk Fox
stops you for a chat and rewards you with the Friends in High Places
Technique. Continue into the throne room.
After a long cutscene with the Emperor and Master Li, you find yourself facing
a seemingly unending stream of Assassins and guards. You have no companion for
this fight (nor the next few fights); so, you'll probably need to whip out
Spirit Thief to replenish your Chi. Go ahead and hotkey it. Use Storm Dragon
liberally to keep all the enemies off you and try to separate one from the
pack and take him out. It's better not to use a Transformation style or Chi
Strikes unless you have heavily upgraded Spirit Thief and can replenish your
Chi rapidly.
Up the ramps you go to another fight against some elite Assassins. These guys
are tougher than the ones on the first level; but, nowhere near as numerous.
Once you finish with them, there are a Focus Shrine and Spirit Font to fully
replenish youself.
*SAVE YOUR GAME!*
Go up the ramp for your final confrontation with Emperor Sun Hai. This guy's a
ghost and has the immunities that conveys, he's also pretty tough, as befits a
final boss. But, he's pretty weak against the Jade Golem. You can bust out
your giant form and whack him down in just a few hits. In fact, it's way too
easy...
CHAPTER 5 [5.50]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_Wherein the Water Dragon intervenes,_
_True history is revealed,_
_And the Spirit Monk legacy is reclaimed._
The defeat of Emperor Sun Hai was supposed to set things right,
but with one careful blow, Master Li left you crumpled on the
floor, a pawn in his carefully plotted revenge. The spirit realm
stretches before you, but a beacon in the distance calls. You
are not yet lost to the living.
The Spirit Lands [5.51]
-------------------------
[] The Spirit Lands
[] Gem of Power
[] The Return to Dirge
Now that your former master has thoroughly pwned you, you "wake up" in the
land of the dead. The Water Dragon calls you to come toward the big column of
light you can see in front of you (due south). Before doing that, turn around
180 degrees (facing due north) and start heading away from the light. Look for
some cannon off to your left. You should find three wrecked cannon in the
field forming a rough triangle. In the middle of the triangle is a pile of
bones. Search it to pick up the Demon Sword. (Special Edition only.)
Now make your way toward the light, fighting ghosts (lost spirits and--SE
only--ghost lords) along the way. These are all small fights (one or two
spirits each); but, there are several and you have no companion and no way to
replenish your stats between battles. Try to stick to Martial attacks without
using up Chi on Chi Strikes.
When you reach the bottom of the stairs where the light is shining, you enter
a long cutscene with the Water Dragon in which you learn more of Sun Li's
treachery. When the conversation is over, the Water Dragon transports you to
the outskirts of Dirge--or, at least, Dirge as it exists here in the Spirit
Lands.
Head up the stairs to your left. You'll have to defeat a horse demon and rat
demon before you can go on up. At the top of the stairs is a wood bridge; at
the end of the bridge you meet Abbot Song and get the true story of what
happened 20 years ago at Dirge. Afterward, accept Abbot Song's offer of aid;
he becomes your only choice as Follower in this Chapter. Immediately put him
in Support mode--he replenishes all your stats!.
At the end of the bridge, immediately turn left and follow the path around to
one of the destroyed fountains. Fight the three spirits (two of which are
Magic users) and then click the fountain to restore it. Go up the stairs to
the doors to the Inner Courtyard. You'll have another meeting with the Water
Dragon and then enter the next area.
At the top of the path is a Spirit Font for healing and the fountain is just
beyond that. At the fountain you'll meet a Minion of Suffering who claims to
have the seal. Abbot Song advises not rushing after the demon immediately;
but, rather, getting a strong gem that is secured nearby.
Following Song's advise, take the west exit and follow the path down to a set
of gates. Just past the gates, turn left into a narrow passage that leads up
to a catwalk where you will find a Focus Shrine and an urn containing a pretty
decent Gem. Go back down and continue west, past another Spirit Font. At the
top of some stairs you'll have to fight a couple of spirits and, then, you'll
see the warded urn containing the Gem of Power.
As you approach, you'll be met by a red minister and a couple of lost spirits.
Defeat them and you'll gain the Red Minister Transformation style. Click the
wards and receive your gem. Open Palm players get The Eye of the Dragon, which
adds +6 to your primary abilities and the chance to emit a shockwave when you
are hit. Closed Fist players get The Eye of the Demon, which also adds +6 to
your primary abilities and gives a chance to drain Health whenever you are
struck.
You can go back to the fountain the way you came, or, head due east across
some wooden stairs and catwalks. At the fountain, go toward the east arch that
leads to the path of demons. You'll have to fight another horse demon/rat
demon pair. After, you may wish to run back to the nearby Spirit Font and heal
up before continuing.
Go up the stairs on the Path of Demons, fighting off demons along the way.
When you reach the top of the stairs you'll have to kill three demons before
you can enter the cave. If you need to, go back down the stairs and use the
Spirit Font before entering the cave.
Advance through the cave, picking off demons. Try to conserve Chi for your
fight against the Minion at the end of the cave. The Minion's main attack is a
shocking projectile, so close up with it and tie it up with fast Martial or
Weapon styles. You can also try Jade Golem on it; but, your golem form is not
immune to the demon's attacks, so you're likely to take a lot of damage before
you can whack it to death.
When the Minion is defeated, take your seal and go back to the fountain. There
will be two more demons at the bottom of the Path of Demons. Restore the
fountain and the gates to the Temple Courtyard will open; so, head on through
once you've replenished all your stats.
You'll travel through the Courtyard, meeting the Water Dragon and losing Abbot
Song along the way. Go up the large flight of stairs at the north end and
enter the Temple--be sure you're at full Health, Chi and Focus before
entering.
*SAVE YOUR GAME!*
As you walk into the Temple, the abomination manifests as three clones of you.
These guys are tough individually, and you've got to face all three. You'll
want to conserve Chi for healing, so stay away from Transformation styles or
Chi strikes. The three clones use Dire Flame, Ice Shard and double sabers. The
Ice Shard foe is the toughest because he can Slow you regardless of how far
away you are; being Slowed is going to cost you a lot of Health.
The clones are not immune to anything, so spam Storm Dragon Area Attacks and
take out the Ice Shard user first. Once he's gone, it's generally easier to
take out the swordsman next. You can keep moving to avoid the fiery missiles
of Dire Flame and then mop up on him. If you're having trouble, dial down the
Difficulty level. Jade Golem won't help you much here because the sword user
can chip away your health quite rapidly.
As soon as the fight is over, the Water Dragon appears and sends you through a
portal to the real world. (If you found out from Sagacious Zu that Sun Li's
child lives, the Water Dragon will reveal the name. As if you hadn't guessed
it a long time ago.) You wake up in the ruined Temple of Dirge, restored to
new life. However, before you can take a few steps, horse demons start coming
through the portal, two at a time. Ignore the demons and target the glowing
object in the portal; when it is destroyed, any demons on this side disappear.
Take some time to explore the Temple. On the north side of the Temple you'll
find two statues: Mah Tsung and Heavenly Gate Guardian. Meditate at these
statues to restore Health and Chi (Mah Tsung) and Focus (Guardian). In between
the statues is a bookstand that will teach you the Mantra of Inspiration.
Explore the bones and piles of decaying bodies to find the first page from the
Tome of Release and Replenishment of the Mind Technique.
Cross the water and head for the southwest corner of the Temple. (Or, as close
to a corner as you can get in a circular room.) Go down a short flight of
stairs and through a door. You'll recognize the well entrance through which
you were secreted away, lo, those many years ago. A chest in this room yields
some Machined Cogs, which you can use a bit later.
Leave the Temple by the southern door and go down the long stairs. At the
bottom, you'll have to fight off three ghosts. As soon as they're defeated,
you'll watch the Marvelous Dragonfly come in for what may charitably be called
a landing.
CHAPTER 6 [5.60]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_Wherein a friend is returned to the living,_
_Dirge is under siege once more,_
_And the fate of Death's Hand is sealed._
Restoring the fountains of Dirge has allowed the Water Dragon
to grant you a second chance at life. Your followers now rush
to be at your side, but Sun Li also moves. He knows the threat
a Spirit Monk poses. Here, at the ruins of Dirge, history will
repeat itself in spectacular fashion.
The Return to Dirge [5.61]
----------------------------
[] The Return to Dirge
[] Silk Fox/Dawn Star
[] Protect Kang/Flight to Dirge
[] Defend Dirge from Sun Li's Troops
[] Daily Reminder
Explore the Courtyard, fighting off some more spirits. Near the stairs, to the
north, is a pile of bones with another page from the Tome of Release. A third
page is found in a pile of bones in the center of the Courtyard. Continue
toward the landing area; but, bypass it, heading toward the bridge to the
south. You'll fight some more ghosts; then, loot the pile of bones near the
stairs to find some Beveled Cogs and a fourth page or the Tome of Release.
Go out to the landing pad. At the campsite, talk to your gang. Sun Li is
marching the army toward you; but, there's always time for a little romantic
tete-e-tete. Whoever you have been wooing will ask that you speak privately
and then wait patiently in front of one of the tents. (If you've been pursuing
both Silk Fox and Dawn Star, Silk Fox will be the one asking for your time.)
Ignore the love of your life and go up on the landing pad. A pile of bones
reveals the final page from the Tome of Release. Return to the Temple (you'll
fight an Imperial Guard Captain spirit as you leave the campsite). In the
entryway, use the two sets of cogs to repair the Meditation Wheels and then
meditate on the Mantra of Inspiration. You'll receive the Communion of the
Dragon Technique (Health +5, Chi +15).
Inside the Temple, perform the Ritual of Release at the statue of Mah Tsung.
This will release the trapped Imperial guard spirits and give you the Turning
Wheel Technique (Focus +7, Chi +7). Return to the campsite and approach your
romantic interest. If you piqued the interests of both Silk Fox and Dawn Star
you must refuse to choose one over the other. If you choose one, both reject
you.
Guess they like each other more than you.
If you didn't complete any romance plot, just click on the entrance to your
tent to continue the plot. As you sleep, Sun Li sends you a dream in which you
have to fight three of your Two Rivers schoolmates. This fight might be a
dream sequence, but it's real enough. (I.e. if you die it's reload time.) You
can use standard group tactics against the three, which, while not living in
the strict sense, are not immune to anything as spirits would be.
When you wake up, you'll have another committee meeting to discuss the army
that's coming up the mountain and through the air. Your contribution is to
suggest blowing up the bridge so the main army can't reach Dirge. Kang agrees
to take care of this; he'll need Dawn Star and Silk Fox to protect him. You
get to pick which lady is the leader of the little party. The only affect this
has is who you are controlling for that battle.
Sky decides to go hide in the Temple and prepare a surprise for any Assassins
that make it through the air. Black Whirlwind and Henpecked Hou volunteer to
guard the Temple Courtyard. Kang then offers to thin down the incoming
airships a bit. It's a good idea to take on this mission to think down the
number of Assassins and guards Black Whirlwind has to fight.
Once all the orders have been issued, you'll embark on the flying mission
(should you choose to accept it). See "Marvelous Dragonfly Missions" below for
details of this scenario. When the airships have been dealt with, Kang, Dawn
Star and Silk Fox take off for Lower Dirge to defend the bridge. At the
beginning of the mission, Dawn Star has a conversation with the ghost of one
of the spirit monks. (If you're playing as Silk Fox, you only get the
information second-hand from Dawn Star since you can't see the spirit.)
The monk tells Dawn Star there are weapon caches hidden around Dirge. If you
get close enough to one, the wards will drop and you'll be able to get
upgraded weapons. To get one for your character (either Dawn Star or Silk
Fox), go down to the fountain platform (it's the same fountain you first
restored in the Spirit Lands).
Go around to the southern side of the fountain and an urn should appear. Open
it to get a weapon upgrade ("Thorn and Shining Carp" for Dawn Star or "Blade
of the Broken Bough" for Silk Fox). Return to the bridge and Kang should
initiate the defense of the bridge sequence. You and your compatriot will be
stuck on the bridge in a side-scrolling fight. As Assassins enter the bridge
and become targets, quickly attack them. Use Chi Strikes to take them down
more quickly. You must keep Kang alive for two minutes in order for him to
blow the bridge.
When it's over, talk to your companion. For giggles, check your journal. Make
sure you look at completed quests as well as active quests; Dawn Star has a
quest called "Capital Aspirations" about her wish to see Imperial City. Silk
Fox has several quests related to your main character. Etc.
Go through the door to the Inner Courtyard, which will trigger the switch to
Black Whirlwind and Henpecked Hou. You control Black Whirlwind and attack an
endless wave of Assassins and guards led by a jade golem. (Again, for kicks,
read Blackie's journal, including completed quests.) You can fight the waves
of humans as long as you wish; you'll get an achievement for each 20 you kill,
up to 100.
* 20 enemies slain - Untold slaughter
* 40 enemies slain - Bringer of pain
* 60 enemies slain - Destroyer of lives
* 80 enemies slain - Ravager of the ages
* 100 enemies slain - Just kill the golem already would you?
There are two things that will make the fight easier (almost too easy). Along
the west side of the Courtyard you'll find a hidden urn that will upgrade your
axes (Maker's Bane and Placid Guiju). Since you start fighting immediately,
you'll have to go into free target mode ('T' on the PC keyboard) and run along
the west side of the Courtyard until the urn appears. Then go back into normal
targeting mode and click the urn. With the upgraded axes and Chi Strike
enabled, the human foes will only take two hits to kill (Master Difficulty).
Along the outskirts of the fight, Hou will be in Support mode, throwing down
his wine bottles. Run over a bottle and all your Health and Chi are restored.
This is in addition to lots of Health and Chi orb drops by the enemies. So, if
you want to lay some smack down for a while, now is your chance. When you tire
of the sport, take out the jade golem. Then, finish whatever humans remain and
run up the stairs to the Temple. Control switches back to your main character.
Enter the Temple and there will be an extended series of cutscenes ending with
you in battle against Death's Hand. Death's Hand relies on his black
broadswords (and they are quite nasty, as you find out if you mod them into
the game for your PC). Still, his swords are all he has, so just stay away
from them. Use Magic or a long reach weapon, such as a staff, to keep him away
from you. Alternately, you can tie him up with fast attacks or use Storm
Dragon to keep him immobile.
When Death's Hand has been killed, Sun Li shows up (or, at least, his
projection does) and resurrects Death's Hand. You then use your spirit monk
powers to separate Sun Kin's soul from Death's Hand's armor. Finally, you find
yourself in control of Sun Kin with the Demon Sword in a fight against Death's
Hand. Sun Kin can't take as much punishment as you; but, it really doesn't
matter if you can't win (unless you're playing Closed Fist and want to be
really evil).
Try to tie up Death's Hand with Quick Attacks and Evade when you see him
charging up a Power Attack. If you make quick, slashing strikes to Death's
Hand's back, and keep moving, you can beat him. Back in control of your main
character again, you can then free Sun Kin's soul, which earns you the Way of
the Open Palm Gem. If Sun Kin loses the fight against Death's Hand, the armor
and Sun Kin both fade into oblivion and you get bupkus.
Sun Li laughs at you (regardless of the outcome) and says he's awaiting you in
the palace. As soon as the fighting is done, a cutscene begins showing you
return to the Courtyard where your Followers await. You exchange a few words,
and then the final chapter officially begins...
CHAPTER 7 [5.70]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_Wherein the cost of war is tallied,_
_A Master is finally confronted,_
_And the fate of an Empire is decided._
You have come far, from borderland school to the ruins of Dirge,
and now the fate of the Empire depends on the decisions before
you. Stung by the loss of Death's Hand and the defeat of his
siege force, Emperor Sun Li readies for your inevitable confron-
tation in the palace.
A Master's Fate [5.71]
------------------------
Chat up your companions and then tell Kang you're ready to go to the Imperial
Palace. There's no mini-game to play this time, you just go straight back to
Princess Lian's "secret" entrance. Choose your companion wisely, once you get
past a certain point in this chapter, you can't change supporters. Go through
the large door and charge up at the Focus Shrine and Spirit Font.
Through the large doors, you'll once again have a heated battle at the foot of
the stairs. This is a fight against about ten Lotus Assassins in very tight
quarters. You'll want to use lots of Area Attacks, especially Storm Dragon, to
keep them off your back. Use of a Weapon style is recommended because it can
hit several enemies around you on each strike. Or, you can break out the Jade
Golem Transformation and whack at them with near impunity.
When all the Assassins are dead, go back and heal up at the Focus Shrine and
Spirit Font in the previous room; then, go up the stairs to the elevator. The
rest of the troupe joins you and you let them off to make their own way to the
palace. You and your chosen companion then go down to the cave where the Water
Dragon's body is imprisoned. Fight off the Assassins in the cave; then, tell
the Water Dragon spirit you will restore order by killing her body.
*NOTE* This is THE CHOICE you make that determines the ending of the game. You
can play the entire game as a Closed Fist player and then choose to kill the
Dragon and end up Open Palm. (And vice versa.) Also, if you choose the Closed
Fist path here, several of your Followers will turn on you and you'll have to
kill them.
After the Water Dragon has returned to the Great Wheel, search the cave
carefully--there's a headstone with a Scintillating Gem of Power in it. Find
your Followers near the exit and talk to them; all but your previously chosen
companion will run off to take out more Assassins. This frees you and your
companion to go face Sun Li in the throne room, which you do automatically.
Go up the ramps to the second level and chat with Sun Li. He summons four
demons made of stone: two elephants and two Minions of Suffering. Not fun. You
get the help of your companion for this fight; and, you may need him or her in
Attack mode to help you deal with this much trouble. Jade Golem is pretty
handy here; even though the demons can damage your golem form, you can dish
out a lot of pain and put them down pretty quickly. Otherwise, a fast Martial
or Weapon style and lots of jumping are called for.
When the fight is over, go up the ramp to face Sun Li again. He'll trap you in
your own mind, against your own doubt. Your doubt is represented by spirit
incarnations of the Sun brothers and Death's Hand. Before the fight commences,
Chai Ka, Black Whirlwind and Henpecked Hou appear and take out three of the
spirits. (Closed Fist players will have killed Hou, so only two Followers show
up and you have to face two spirits.)
These are spirits, immune to Weapon and Support styles, so use standard ghost
tactics on them. Either pelt them with Magic or tie them up with fast Martial
attacks. Another wave of four doubts comes at you. This time, Silk Fox, Dawn
Star and Sky come to take out three of the spirits. (Open Palm players only.
Closed Fist players may find themselves completely lacking in help this time
around. That's what you get for being naughty.)
Take out the final spirit and approach the stone column. Sagacious Zu's spirit
appears and destroys the column. Now it's time for the final fight. (For real
this time.) First, Li seeks to negotiate with you. You can agree to his plan,
and you'll have to keep agreeing through several conversation options (it's
like signing a EULA). If you do go this route, you skip the final fight and go
straight to the "neutral" ending, which is highly unsatisfying. It's better to
kick the Glorious Strategist's glorious behind.
Despite all the buildup, Sun Li isn't that bad of a fight. He can use Focus
mode, thus slowing you down, and he has several styles that can paralyze you,
including Ice Shard and Tempest. However, he's not that tough. You can keep
flipping behind him and hitting him with fast Weapon attacks with Chi Strike,
or simply switch to Jade Golem, which is immune to most of his worst attacks,
and pound him into the ground. At high Difficulty, the fight might last a
while, but at Student and Master Difficulty, you can waste the dude in less
than a minute. The Ravager he's not.
Once Li has found his proper place in the universe, you get either the good or
evil ending, depending on your action with the Water Dragon's body. Special
Edition players then get a special Master Save that can be used for replay the
game in Jade Master mode. (Celestial Bureaucracy help you.) Finally, you read
the fates of your companions...
AS THE FATES ALLOW [5.80]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the final cut scene, assuming you don't choose the "you lose" ending,
you discover the fates of your followers. The various fates are all listed
here so you don't have to play through the game several times to discover them
all.
Dawn Star
-----------
* Open Palm ending: if you romanced Dawn Star alone, the two of you settle
down together; if you did not romance Dawn Star or romanced both Silk Fox and
Dawn Star, she travels the Empire, gaining new, good memories.
* Closed Fist ending: if you did not sway Dawn Star to the CF path, she ends
up dead; if you did sway her and continued the romance, she rules by your
side. If you romanced both Dawn Star and Silk Fox, Dawn Star reverts to Open
Palm at Dirge and ends up dead.
Silk Fox
----------
If Silk Fox survives, she becomes ruler of the Empire--either good or bad
(depending on the ending). If you completed her romance plot (alone or with
Dawn Star), you rule at her side.
Sky
-----
* Open Palm ending: if you wooed Sky, the two of you settle down in Tien's
Landing; otherwise, Sky becomes head of the Guild and turns it into the
Salvation Army.
* Closed Fist ending: Sky only survives if you complete his romance plot and
then serves either as your consort or the new Death's Hand (if you free Sun
Kin in Chapter 6).
Henpecked Hou
---------------
Hou only survives if you complete the game as Open Palm. He and his wife have
several daughters and Hou takes a new job as a deliveryman. He never returns
from his first delivery.
Chai Ka
---------
* Open Palm ending: Chai Ka returns to the heavens; Wild Flower is given the
gift of a new life.
* Closed Fist ending: trapped in the body of Wild Flower, Chai Ka roams the
Empire, increasingly going mad.
Ya Zhen
---------
Ya Zhen continues in your service regardless of the ending. If you finish as
Closed Fist, Zhen eventually moves on to bigger and badder deeds.
Death's Hand
---------------
* Open Palm ending: while it would be unusual for an OP player to finish the
game with Death's Hand, you can do so. After you defeat the main villain,
Death's Hand wanders the Empire, doing good as penance for his evil past.
* Closed Fist ending: Death's Hand becomes more and more evil, eventually
mutating into a horrible demon.
Kang the Mad
--------------
* Kang remembers he is Lord Lao (regardless of ending): Kang has a problem
inventing things when his life is not always in danger, so he starts inventing
weapons for the mobs that chase him.
* Open Palm ending: Kang continues making wacky inventions, eventually seeming
to die in an explosion; however, new inventions continue to appear on the
player's doorstep every year on your birthday.
* Closed Fist ending: Kang makes weapons for the player until, worried he will
be killed when he becomes useless, he stages his own death in a huge
explosion; however, strange machines continue to appear throughout the Empire.
Black Whirlwind and Sir Roderick have fates that are the same regardless of
how you complete the game.
Early in the game you are introduced to the flying mini-game when you use one
of Gao's flyers to fly from the swamp cave back to Two Rivers. You have to
successfully complete that one mini-game; however, in all subsequent use of a
flyer, the mini-game is optional (just choose to Evade). There are two multi-
stage quests built around the flying mini-game: "Lord Lao's Furnace" and "Hin
Goo the Mechanic".
Lord Lao's Furnace develops through conversation with Kang the Mad (your flyer
pilot) and has many steps involved, including finding Configurations and fuel
(for the furnace); these are detailed below.
Hin Goo shows up near your flyer in Imperial City after you've met with Silk
Fox. Talk to him to complete his missions; each complete mission adds flyer
upgrades and other material to Hin Goo's shop.
When you're in a flying mini-game, you have only two stats: Health (red meter)
and Chi (blue meter). If you run out of Health, the mini-game ends
(unsuccessfully) and you have to replay it (or not, if it's optional). Chi is
used to power the upgrades you earn (or buy) throughout the game. The Health
and Chi numbers for the Dragonfly are not the same as those for your
character, and they seem to remain relatively static throughout the game.
Whenever you start a mini-game, you can choose up to three upgrades to equip
on your flyer. (If you have three or fewer upgrades, they will automatically
be equipped.) To switch between upgrades, use the targeting controls. You can
see which upgrade is ready for use and which ones are in standby in the lower
left corner of your screen. Press the Power Attack button to activate an
upgrade.
You can regenerate Chi by destroying enemies or getting a Chi (blue) Orb
power-up from a destroyed enemy. You can regenerate Health by getting a Health
(red) Orb power-up from a destroyed enemy. Occasionally enemies will drop a
yellow Orb power-up. These yellow orbs temporarily upgrade your flyer's
weapons (usually with multiple shots).
Lord Lao's Furnace [5.91]
---------------------------
Lord Lao's Furnace is Kang the Mad's personal quest. Immediately after leaving
the pirate island, you can fly a special mission with Kang where you don't go
anywhere; however, Kang remembers something and makes a new invention. When
you ask him to activate his invention, you wind up in a special slice of
heaven that Kang identifies as Lord Lao's Furnace.
Lord Lao was the artificer for the Celestial Bureaucracy, and the Furnace is a
collection of his inventions. Stationed around the north and east perimeters
of the area are several large machines:
* Clapper Chimney
* Conductor
* Cranking Cauldron
* Water Wheel
* Whirling Cogs
Near each machine is a lever. Each machine is either ON or OFF, indicated by a
flag near the lever. If the flag is up, the machine is on. Pull the lever to
change the state of the machine.
To the west is a small pavilion, outside of which are two statues. The statue
to the left is a tiger and the statue to the right is a dragon. Each statue
has a button on it. Inside the pavilion is a fuel hopper. There are four types
of fuel:
* Bar of nickeled iron
* Cow bezoar
* Vial of sulphurous water
* Eyes of the Void
Using the Furnace requires finding recipes known as "Configurations". These
Configurations specify the type of fuel to place in the hopper, which machines
to turn on and which button to push once the fuel and machines are ready.
Following a Configuration properly results in a new Technique (or, in one
case, an Essence Gem). Each Configuration can only be used once; and, you must
have the Configuration in your Plot Items inventory (just following the
recipes as given in this guide won't work without you having found the
appropriate Configuration). There are six normal Configurations and two
special Configurations that are only received near the end of the quest.
Once you have used three Configurations, Kang finds a new wind map. Fly the
mission with him to advance the plot and receive a new flyer upgrade (Mirage)
and fuel item (vial of sulphurous water). Use three more Configurations and
Kang finds yet one more wind map. Fly that mission and you'll receive two
special Configurations (Goat and Rat), a special type of fuel (Eyes of the
Void) and a new flyer upgrade (Consume Spirit).
Talk to Kang to return to the Furnace. Use either the Goat or Rat
Configuration and the machine breaks. Talk to Kang to return to base and
you'll find out the Kang is Lord Lao--imprisoned in human form for making too
many wild inventions. Thus ends this side quest.
Configurations, their locations, recipes and rewards are:
* Configuration of the Horse: in the Marvelous Dragonfly's hangar on pirate
island; or, in Minister Sheng's room in the Imperial hostel--you can only use
the Configuration once, even if you get both copies. Cow Bezoar, the
Conductor, the Clapper Chimney, the Cranking Cauldron, the Water Wheel, and
the Tiger Button yields: The Song of the Spirit (Spirit +5).
* Configuration of the Dragon: in a cask just west of the entrance to the
Imperial Arena. Vial of Sulfurous Water, the Clanking Cauldron, the Whirling
Cogs, and the Tiger Button yields: A Mountain Within (Body +5).
* Configuration of the Snake: a scrollstand near the entrance of the Scholar's
Garden. Bar of Nickeled Iron, the Clapper Chimney, the Conductor, the Cranking
Cauldron, and the Tiger Button yields: Calm as the Morning Breeze (Mind +5).
* Configuration of the Ox: in an urn on the southern edge of Lord Lao's
Furnace. Vial of Sulfurous Water, the Clapper Chimney, the Water Wheel, and
the Dragon Button yields: Spirit of the Master (Increase magic damage).
* Configuration of the Tiger: the quest reward for helping Jinlin in the
Necropolis. Bar of Nickeled Iron, the Conductor, the Whirling Cogs, and the
Dragon Button yields: The Quieted Mind (Focus +30).
* Configuration of the Rabbit: a scrollstand in the Lotus Assassin Fortress,
in one of the small alcoves in the Lower Chamber, behind the Keeper of the
Archive. Cow Bezoar, the Conductor, The Clapper Chimney, the Whirling Cogs,
and the Dragon Button yields: Heaven's Blessing Gem (Open Palm only, Damage
shield).
* Configuration of the Goat: reward for completing Kang's third and final
mission. You cannot use both this and Configuration of the Rat. Eyes of the
Void, the Conductor, the Water Wheel, the Whirling Cogs, and the Tiger Button
yields: Harmony and Balance (Body +3, Mind +3, Spirit +3).
* Configuration of the Rat: reward for completing Kang's third and final
mission. You cannot use both this and Configuration of the Goat. Eyes of the
Void, the Clapper Chimney, the Cranking Cauldron, the Water Wheel, the
Whirling Cogs, and the Dragon Button yields: Strength of the Bull (Damage
increase).
You can obtain fuel in the following places:
* Bar of nickeled iron: in a cask outside the Teahouse in Tien's Landing,
purchase from Hin Goo (after completing his first mission), purchase from the
blacksmith in Imperial City
* Cow bezoar: in an urn on the southern edge of Lord Lao's Furnace, purchase
from Zin Bu, Open Palm reward for the Merchant Bai (First Gravedigger: A
Fearful Ghost) quest in the Necropolis
* Vial of sulphurous water: purchase form Zin Bu, reward for completing Kang's
second mission
* Eyes of the Void: reward for completing Kang's third mission (Spirit
Journey)
Missions [5.92]
-----------------
All missions except #1 (Returning Home) are optional. For plot-critical
missions, choose Evade to skip the mission or Attack to play through the
level. The only way to unlock a flying mini-game to play from the main menu is
to successfully complete it. Mission XP is the amount of experience you gain
for completing the mission (i.e. not dying); you gain additional XP for all
the enemies you destroy during the mission.
* Mission #1: Returning Home
- Mission XP: 500
- Max # Foes: 33
- Reward: Radiant Aura
This is the only flying mission that is not optional; it serves as the
tutorial for the flying mini-game. The enemies are relatively light and not
very dangerous. You shouldn't have any problems blasting through this mini-
game.
* Mission #2: Leaving the Town
- Mission XP: 400
- Max # Foes: 92
- Reward: none
* Mission #3: Leaving the Workshop
- Mission XP: 1100
- Max # Foes: 41
- Reward: Shrieking Fury
The following three missions are involved in Kang the Mad's personal quest,
Lord Lao's Furnace.
* Mission #4: Kang the Mad's First Mission
- Mission XP: None
- Max # Foes: 30
- Reward: Cloudburst
* Mission #5: Kang the Mad's Second Mission
- Mission XP: None
- Max # Foes: 45
- Reward: Mirage, Vial of Sulfurous Water
Don't be fooled by the small number of enemies, this is a very hard map. The
map is covered with balloons that have barriers strung between them. Running
into one of these barriers is almost certain death, so you have to blow them
up in order to get through. Blowing up the barriers require a lot of shots;
and, there are other balloons and ships weaving around trying to ram you. Use
a shield, such as Radiant Aura, a lot and concentrate fire on the barriers in
front of you. You may want to stay near the center of the screen so enemies
coming from the side don't surprise you.
* Mission #6: Spirit Journey
- Mission XP: None
- Max # Foes: 50
- Reward: Consume Spirit, Eyes of the Void, Configuration of the Goat,
Configuration of the Rat
The enemies on this map are relatively light. The big problem is the boss at
the end of the stage--it's a large ball of energy with five small energy balls
whirling around it. When the outer balls stop, you have a few seconds to get
out of the way or get hit by a beam of light; and, you can't take more than
one or two of those hits. The best strategy for this stage is to finish Hin
Goo's missions first and buy Dragon's Wrath. Use Radiant Aura a bit near the
beginning; but, mostly you want to conserve your Chi. When the boss appears,
unleash Dragon's Wrath to destroy the outer energy balls; then, you can
concentrate on taking out the boss itself.
The following three missions are obtained by talking to Mechanic Hin Goo in
your landing area in Imperial City. If you fail any of Hin Goo's missions and
choose to give up, Hin Goo disappears. He is replaced by a bookstand that
tells you his fate. Therefore, you must successfully complete each mission--
you can Replay it as many times as necessary--in order to advance through this
side quest.
* Mission #7: A Test for Hin Goo
- Mission XP: 1000
- Max # Foes: 162
- Reward: Tremor (in Hin Goo's store)
This mission is notable for the number of suicide pilots that fly at you.
These craft are very difficult to destroy and it only takes one or two hits to
down your flyer. The best place to stay is to one side of the screen, as the
center of the screen will frequently throw you against two suicide craft at
once. Move up and down as necessary to avoid the ramming craft and shoot
everything else. Radiant Aura is a good upgrade to use on this mission,
provided you can destroy enemy ships and build up Chi faster than you get hit,
taking down your shield.
* Mission #8: Escort the Prefect
- Mission XP: 2000
- Max # Foes: 79
- Reward: Reverse Tides (in Hin Goo's store)
This mission can be a bit difficult because the most important objective is to
keep the Prefect's craft in one piece. The Prefect's airship stays mostly in
the center of the screen; fly back-and-forth just in front of it, keeping up a
steady stream of fire. Use an area attack upgrade (such as Cloudburst or
Tremor) to deal with the occasional large group of foes.
* Mission #9: Rescue Mission
- Mission XP: 2500
- Max # Foes: 78
- Reward: Dragon's Wrath, Firestorm (both in Hin Goo's store)
* Mission #10: Battle of Dirge
- Mission XP: 6000
- Max # Foes: 112
- Reward: Spirit's Calling
* Missions #11, #12 & #13: Encounter in the Skies (#1, #2 & #3)
- Mission XP: Variable
- Max # Foes: 90
- Reward: none
Whenever you fly between cities (which means, basically, Imperial City and
Tien's Landing) one of three Dragonfly maps are chosen. The XP gained from
these missions decreases from 1500 to 300 over the course of ten missions.
After the tenth random mission, you no longer earn XP from completing the
mission (you still earn XP from destroying enemy ships).
Upgrades [5.93]
-----------------
You earn upgrades by completing missions or purchasing them from Mechanic Hin
Goo after completing each of his missions.
* Radiant Aura
- Chi cost: 600
- Obtained: After completing the first mission
This shield takes up to 200 points of damage before dissipating. It's very
useful and, if you kill enemies fast enough (thus regenerating Chi) and avoid
enough incoming fire, you can pretty much keep it up for an entire mission.
* Shrieking Fury
- Chi cost: 150
- Obtained: After Mission #3 (Leaving the Workshop)
Selecting this upgrade turns your Power Attack button into a missile launcher.
Each press of Power Attack launches a powerful homing missile that is strong
enough to take out most commons foes. Unfortunately, you can't aim at a
specific target, and each missile consumes a small amount of Chi, so use them
sparingly.
* Cloudburst
- Chi cost: 600
- Obtained: After completing Kang's first mission
Cloudburst is an area-of-effect attack that can take out common enemies and at
least put a hurt on stronger foes.
* Mirage
- Chi cost: 350
- Obtained: After completing Kang's second mission
* Consume Spirit
- Chi cost: 700
- Obtained: After completing Kang's third mission
Consume Spirit is a more powerful Shield than Radiant Aura.
* Tremor
- Chi cost: 600
- Obtained: Buy from Hin Goo (3000) after completing his first mission
* Reverse Tides
- Chi cost: 600
- Obtained: Buy from Hin Goo (3000) after completing his second mission
* Firestorm
- Chi cost: 800
- Obtained: Buy from Hin Goo (3000) after completing his third mission
* Dragon's Wrath
- Chi cost: 900
- Obtained: Buy from Hin Goo (3000) after completing his third mission
This attack uses up almost all your Chi; but, it takes out every enemy on
screen in a single blast. Use it when you are overwhelmed or against very
tough bosses.
There are only five types of items in Jade Empire:
* Power-up Orbs: these orbs, dropped by fallen enemies, instantly recover
Health (red orbs), Chi (blue orbs) or Focus (yellow orbs)
* Techniques: lessons you learn that permanently boost or penalize your
abilities
* Essence Gems: gems used in your Dragon Amulet to boost your abilities or
give you other special powers
* Plot Items: items used for the various quests in the game
* Weapons: gaining a new weapon is the same as gaining or upgrading a Weapon
style.
Weapons are covered under the Combat section above. Techniques, gems and plot
items are listed here. These lists are re-formatted versions of the lists
available on the official Jade Empire Web site.
TECHNIQUES [6.01]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Techniques are lessons you can learn that permanently boost (or penalize) one
or more of your ability scores.
* A Mountain Within: Body +5
Location: Lord Lao's Furnace. (Configuration of the Dragon) - Obtained by
using a Vial of Sulfurous Water, the Clanking Cauldron, the Whirling Cogs, and
the Tiger Button
* Alloyed Body: Health +5, Focus +5
Location: Two Rivers School. Given to you by Smiling Mountain for beating Kia
Min's record
* Balance of Nature: Chi +3, Focus +15
Location: Tien's Landing. Purchased from Darting Lynx
* Belly of Iron: Health +3, Chi -1
Location: Two Rivers School. Purchased from Smiling Mountain
* Boar's Strength: Health +7, Focus -3
Location: Great Forest. Purchased from Spear Catches Leaf
* Bone Splinter: Mind +2, Health +15
Location: Dirge Temple. Obtained after defeating Horse Demons
* Calm as the Morning Breeze: Mind +5
Location: Lord Lao's Furnace. (Configuration of the Snake) - Obtained by using
a Bar of Nickeled Iron, the Clapper Chimney, the Conductor, the Cranking
Cauldron, and the Tiger Button
* Chaotic Strains: Health +5, Chi +5
Location: Great Forest. Obtained after giving Scholar Six Heavens the Zither
Bridge and allowing Bladed Thesis to siphon his soul
* Cleansed Body and Mind: Health +15, Focus +5
Location: Imperial Arena. Purchased from Dr. An
* Clear Mind: Intimidation -1, Focus +10
Location: Imperial Arena. Purchased from Dr. An
* Communion of the Dragon: Health +5, Chi +15
Location: Dirge Temple. Obtained by meditating upon the Mantra of Inspiration
after both sets of cogs are in place
* Communion of the Ocean: Chi +10
Location: Dirge Temple. Obtained by meditating upon the Mantra of Inspiration
after only one set of cogs is in place
* Conditioning of the Body: Health +7, Chi -3
Location: Tien's Landing. Purchased from Darting Lynx
* Craftsman's Litany: Focus +5
Location: Imperial City Market District. Purchased from blacksmith
* Deadened Nerves: Health +10, Chi -3
Location: Lotus Assassin Fortress. Purchased from Acolyte Trainer Guang
* Duchess of Ulmsbottom's Rules of Engagement: Mind +3
Location: Imperial City Scholars' Garden. Obtained after defeating Sir
Roderick in battle and asking for a reward related to the mind
* Eye of Inner Darkness: Chi +15, Focus +5
Location: Lotus Assassin Fortress. Purchased from Acolyte Trainer Guang
* Fitness for the Upright Gentleman: Body +3
Location: Imperial City Scholars' Garden. Obtained after defeating Sir
Roderick in battle and asking for a reward related to strength
* Friends in High Places: Intuition +2, Chi +5
Location: Imperial Palace. Given to you by Silk Fox just before meeting
Emperor Sun Hai for the first time
* Gaze of the Lion: Health +2, Focus +2
Location: Two Rivers School. Obtained for completing the Lion Statue puzzle
* Guardian's Strength: Health +5, Chi +5
Location: Wild Flower's Mental Battlefield. Obtained after defeating Ya Zhen
at the start of Chapter Four
* Harmony and Balance: Body +3, Mind +3, Spirit +3
Location: Lord Lao's Furnace. (Configuration of the Goat) - Obtained by using
the Eyes of the Void, the Conductor, the Water Wheel, the Whirling Cogs, and
the Tiger Button
* Hawk's Elegance: Health -3, Focus +7
Location: Tien's Landing. Purchased from Darting Lynx
* Heart of Gold: Chi +3, Focus -1
Location: Two Rivers School. Purchased from Smiling Mountain
* Heaven Mantra: Chi +10
Location: Imperial Palace Audience Chamber. Found in ceramic urn during
Chapter Seven only
* Hunter's Spirit: Chi +15, Focus +3
Location: Great Forest. Purchased from Spear Catches Leaf
* Legacy of Death's Hand: Chi +10
Location: Lotus Assassin Fortress. Obtained after reading three of the
bookstands and scrollstands within the Fortress: one in the Induction Room,
one near the Archivist and one in the Inner Chamber.
* Legacy of Master Li: Focus +7
Location: Two Rivers. Obtained after reading three of the bookstands and
scrollstands within Two Rivers: one in the main area of the school, one near
where you meet Dawn Star and one in Gujin's home.
* Lessons of the Forge: Health +2
Location: Two Rivers School. Obtained after completing all four of Smiling
Mountain's sparring combinations
* Loutish Approval: Health +2
Location: Imperial City Market District. Given to you after causing all five
of Princess Lian's servants to faint
* Manual of Trepanation: Spirit +3
Location: Imperial City Scholars' Garden. Obtained after defeating Sir
Roderick in battle and asking for a reward related to the spirit
* Mastered Evil: Health +5, Focus +5
Location: Wild Flower's Mental Battlefield. Obtained after defeating Chai Ka
at the start of Chapter Four
* Mind of Steel: Health -1, Focus +3
Location: Two Rivers School. Purchased from Smiling Mountain
* Mother's Touch: Health +5, Chi +5
Location: Pilgrim's Rest Inn. Obtained after defeating the Forest Shadow and
accepting a reward from the cannibals
* Porcelain Skin: Charm +2, Chi -4
Location: Imperial Arena. Purchased from Dr. An
* Predatory Intuition: Intuition +3, Chi -5
Location: Great Forest. Purchased from Spear Catches Leaf
* Replenishment of the Mind: Chi +7, Focus +7
Location: Dirge Temple. Obtained in pile of decaying bodies
* Rote of the Endless Mind: Chi +5, Focus +5
Location: Black Leopard School. Given to you by First Brother Kai after you've
defeated Master Smiling Hawk
* Scales of the Serpent: Intimidation +1, Health +7
Location: Imperial Arena. Found in chest within Kai Lan's private chamber
* Spirit of the Master: Increase magic damage
Location: Lord Lao's Furnace. (Configuration of the Ox) - Obtained by using a
Vial of Sulfurous Water, the Clapper Chimney, the Water Wheel, and the Dragon
Button
* Spiritual Sacrifice: Chi -10
Location: The Necropolis. Obtained after sacrificing part of yourself to save
Wen Zhi's daughter from Ji Xin's tainted liver
* Strength of the Bull: Damage increase
Location: Lord Lao's Furnace. (Configuration of the Rat) - Obtained by using
the Eyes of the Void, the Clapper Chimney, the Cranking Cauldron, the Water
Wheel, the Whirling Cogs, and the Dragon Button
* Strength of Wood: Health +2
Location: Pirate Workshop. Obtained after reading all three volumes of The
History of Flight in the pirate's lair.
* Structured Body: Intimidation +1, Health +3
Location: Two Rivers Spirit Cave. Found in chest
* The Broken Wheel: Health +7, Chi +7
Location: Dirge Temple. Obtained by shredding the souls of the spirits of
Dirge at the Heavenly Gate Guardian statue
* The Path of the Monk: Chi +50
Purchased from Zin Bu the Magical Abacus once you've reached Chapter Six
* The Path of the Scholar: Focus +50
Purchased from Zin Bu the Magical Abacus once you've reached Chapter Six
* The Path of the Warrior: Health +50
Purchased from Zin Bu the Magical Abacus once you've reached Chapter Six
* The Perfected Warrior: Health +15, Focus +15
Location: Imperial Arena. Given to you by Sweet Poison Lyn after defeating Kai
Lan the Serpent if you've never been defeated in the arena
* The Quieted Mind: Focus +30
Location: Lord Lao's Furnace. (Configuration of the Tiger) - Obtained by using
a Bar of Nickeled Iron, the Conductor, the Whirling Cogs, and the Dragon
Button
* The River of Time: Intuition +1, Chi +5
Location: Dam Site. Found in chest
* The Song of the Spirit: Spirit +5
Location: Lord Lao's Furnace. (Configuration of the Horse) - Obtained by using
a Cow Bezoar, the Conductor, the Clapper Chimney, the Cranking Cauldron, the
Water Wheel, and the Tiger Button
* The Turning Wheel: Chi +7, Focus +7
Location: Dirge Temple. Obtained by releasing the spirits of Dirge at the
statue of Mah Tsung
* Theories of Medicine: Intuition +1, Focus +7
Location: Imperial City Market District. Given to you by Wen Zhi outside the
blacksmith shop if you sacrificed part of yourself to free his daughter from
Ji Xin's tainted liver
* Tiger Mantra: Health +5, Focus +5
Purchased from Zin Bu the Magical Abacus once you've reached Chapter Three
* Tracking Eye: Charm -1, Focus +7
Location: Great Forest. Purchased from Spear Catches Leaf
* Vigorous Body: Health +10, Chi -2
Location: Imperial Arena. Purchased from Dr. An
* Viper's Wit: Charm +1, Focus +2
Location: Swamp Cave. Found in chest after defeating Gao the Lesser
* Warrior of the Infinite Spirit: Charm +1, Chi +7
Location: Imperial Palace Audience Chamber. Found in ceramic urn
* Warrior of the Inner Eye: Intuition +1, Focus +7
Location: Black Leopard School. Found in "Master Radiant's Urn" within Master
Radiant's private chamber
* Warrior of the Unyielding Heart: Health +7
Purchased from Zin Bu the Magical Abacus once you've reached Chapter Four
* Window to the Abyss: Chi +10, Focus -3
Location: Lotus Assassin Fortress. Purchased from Acolyte Trainer Guang
ESSENCE GEMS [6.02]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Essence gems can be placed in your Dragon Amulet on its tab in the game menu
screen. Gems provide a constant increase or decrease as long as they are
installed in the amulet. Excess gems can be sold for silver. Gems are
typically found as random treasure in various places throughout the Empire.
* Absolute Dedication
* Special power: More experience from human enemies. No power-ups from human
enemies.
With proper focus on the techniques of your human enemies, you pick up lessons
and moves that help you develop your own style. Your dedication to learning in
combat is so absolute, however, that you have no time or attention to seek
recovery during combat. Only continued study, and not respite in crisis, is
important.
* Aura of Calm Gem: Body +2, Intimidation +2
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Open Palm can use this gem.
Some of the wisest masters and sages radiate such a sense of peace and
understanding that their uncanny calm almost seems threatening. This gem has
been in the possession of such individuals, and their aura of inhuman calm is
channeled through this gem, granting the wielder that same unnerving peace and
strength.
* Aura of Malice Gem: Body +2, Intimidation +2
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Closed Fist can use this gem.
Legends tell of bandits and warlords so evil that their mere presence in a
room could cow people into submission. This gem is part of that legend. It
allows the wielder to project an aura of such malice that a victim is to do
his will.
* Brilliant Gem of Balance: Body +4, Mind +4, Spirit +4
No matter what a person's path in life, fate, destiny, and human desire decide
how far one goes. Whether on a path of peace or of power, the will must exist
in balance with the needs of the body, the mind, and the spirit. When all are
one, then true mastery can be achieved. this gem allows its wielder to balance
the forces within, strengthening the whole.
* Burning Essence: Mind +3, Spirit +3
Burning Essence channels elemental flame to sharpen the mind of its wearer and
to strengthen the ability to channel chi. Unlike similar gems that channel
elemental fire, this Essence Gem burns with all aspects of the flame, both
creative and destructive. It may be used regardless of the wearer's
philosophy.
* Charm Gem: Charm +3
This gem surrounds the user in an aura of vitality that people find
irresistible. This gem is of average quality.
* Charm Gem: Intuition +5
This gem enhances the user's perception and intuition, enabling the wearer to
feel out the lines of fate connecting each thing in the world. This gem is of
superior quality.
* Cyclone Gem
* Special power: Damage Shield
Among the first monks who developed the Tempest style, there was one who began
to question the Closed Fist tenets of his order. Ostracized from his ruthless
order, the monk sought new ways to harness the wind without relying upon
Closed-Fist chaos. By focusing his hatred for his old order into a handful of
small stones, he managed to replicate the power of Tempest in those stones. A
stone of this type surrounds the wearer in swirling winds that whip and tear
at any who harm the stone's wielder.
One of the reasons behind the formation of the Order of the Lotus was the
potential influence of a rising priesthood. The personal magnetism and
radiance of the Priestess Wu Lin made her an object of desire and near-worship
throughout the Empire. In the hands of one with less devotion to the Empire,
these powers of persuasion could have had disastrous effect on the balance of
power in the land. For this reason, members of the Order of the Lotus wore
featureless mask so that their physical blessings would not give them too much
power.
* Flawed Monk Gem: Spirit +1
This gem, while flawed, provides a minor boost to your Spirit.
* Flawed Scholar Gem: Mind +1
This flawed gem provides a minor boost to your Mind.
* Flawed Warrior Gem: Body +1
This flawed gem provides minor bonus to your Body.
* Flawless Monk Gem: Spirit +10
This flawless gem provides a powerful bonus to your Spirit.
* Flawless Scholar Gem: Mind +10
This flawless gem provides a powerful bonus to your Mind.
* Flawless Warrior Gem: Body +10
This flawless gem provides a great bonus to your Body.
* Gem of Black Flame: Mind +3, Spirit +3
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Closed Fist may use this gem.
Fury and rage will render a warrior helpless unless directed and turned to a
purpose. This gem channels infuses the wearer's mind and spirit with the flame
of their anger, burning away weakness until only strength remains.
* Gem of Earth Power: Body +5
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Closed Fist may use this gem.
Tearing winds and the coursing waters test their strength, but the mountains
endure. Wearers of this gem gain some of this strength, their bodies hardened
by its magic.
* Gem of Evil Thought: Mind +2, Intuition +2
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Closed Fist may use this gem.
The evil energies that resonate in this gem speak of its previous owners, dark
and evil men and women driven beyond the boundaries that society imposes on
them. This is a gem of murders and thieves. Their thoughts and skills are
reflected through this gem and passed on to its user.
* Gem of Foresight: Mind +2
* Special power: Evading traps costs no Focus.
This object has been called an Essence Gem by the few who know of its
existence, but none of those who speculate on it have ever truly held it in
their hand. It gives the wielder a flash of insight into the future,
sharpening his mind and allowing him to avoid danger completely, should he
choose to do so.
* Gem of Gentle Mind: Mind +2, Intuition +2
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Open Palm may use this gem.
This gem radiates peace and serenity, reflecting the past owners, who
imprinted fragments of their own thoughts on it. This is a gem of enlightened
scholars and philosophers, men and woman at peace with themselves and their
place in the world. Their tranquility and peace of mind is passed on to those
capable of tapping into the gem's power.
* Gem of Inner Genius: Body -5, Mind +10, Spirit -5
This gem imparts great wisdom and mental abilities to its wearer, but it
teaches a lesson of its own: that great and sudden power is only available at
a great price. The wielder's mental capacity is greatly strengthened, but at
the cost of his or her physical and spiritual abilities.
* Gem of Irresistible Spirit: Spirit +2, Charm +2
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Open Palm can use this gem.
This gem is a tool of inner reflection for the wielder and, unwittingly, those
around him. This gem exposes the inner strength and virtue of the user to all,
awing them with his true nature. Only the most peace with themselves can use
this gem, for others will see their own flaws reflected back at them.
* Gem of Mastery: Body +3, Mind +3, Spirit +3
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Closed Fist can use this
Essence Gem.
The goal of every struggle, no matter what its initial justification, is
dominance. Power over others and over fate will determine the true outcome of
everything. This gem helps focus that mastery of destiny into pure strength
for the wielder's body, mind and spirit.
* Gem of Order: Body +1, Mind +1, Spirit +1
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Open Palm can use this gem.
Knowing one's proper place in the order of creation is a step toward
enlightenment. Accepting one's place and fulfilling one's own purpose leads to
greater resolve.
* Gem of Premonition: Mind +1
* Special power -50% trap evade focus cost
This gem's inner structure does not appear similar to any other Essence Gem,
and there are no records of it ever having been created. Its origin is a
mystery, as is the nature of its power. It appears to give the wielder a
glimmer of the future, enabling its user to move away from coming harm. It
does not remove the danger, but makes danger easier to avoid.
* Gem of Pure Flame: Mind +3, Spirit +3
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Open Palm may use this gem.
Flame can destroy, but it can also purify. Burning with inner fire and zeal,
users of this gem find themselves more focused in battle and better able to
tap their spirit's reserves.
* Gem of Purpose: Body +1, Mind +1, Spirit +1
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Closed Fist may use this gem.
The key to getting what one wants is to first know what it is and what it
takes to get it. This sense of purpose empowers the truly strong. A clarity of
purpose and the willingness to commit everything to see it come to fruition
are hallmarks of one who commands fate.
* Gem of Seductive Power: Spirit +2, Charm +2
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Closed Fist can use this gem.
People of negotiable virtue can often be overwhelming in their advances. No
small thanks for that go to this gem. Nicknamed a Woman's Best Friend, it
gives the user power a courtesan would kill for. All are drawn to the power
and passion of the wielder, doing his or her decadent bidding.
* Gem of Solidarity: Body +2, Mind +2, Spirit +2
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Open Palm can use this gem.
Some realize that to be a productive member of society one must set aside
one's own selfishness and greed. One must band with others of a like mind.
* Gem of Storm's Rage
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Closed Fist may use this gem.
* Special power: Damage Shield.
This gem wraps you in whirling winds that tear at any who attack you. Its
effect is constant while the gem is equipped.
* Gem of Struggle: Body +2, Mind +2, Spirit +2
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Closed Fist may use this gem.
Every worthwhile goal requires hardship and struggle. A victory gained with
ease means nothing. The struggle defines the worth of a goal. A true step on
the path to power demands it. Only one who would seize and command his fate
knows what true struggle is. the lives of those lost along this path to power
aid those who would follow in their footsteps.
* Gem of the Barbarian: Body +2
* Special power: Gain no experience from books
Time and again, the Horselords descended from the plains and laid waste to the
Empire. Each time they were eventually driven back, but their repeated forays
into the Empire began to imprint true culture upon them.
* Gem of the Clumsy Ox: Body +3
* Special power: Cannot evade traps
There is much to be said for strength, but strength often comes at the expense
of agility, and the users of this gem prize strength and stamina over any
attempts at subtlety.
* Gem of the Frail Scholar: Body -3, Mind +1
* Special power +100% experience from books
This gem has passed through the hands of many great scholars and men and women
of learning. Their dedication and experienced has been passed on into this
Essence Gem. The gem expands its wielder's mind, drawing on the scholar's past
experiences, but the wielder will feel the weight of years much more greatly.
* Gem of the Infinite Spirit: Body -5, Mind -5, Spirit +10
A powerful spirit usually takes decades to attain, but this gem offers
ambitious seekers a short cut to that lofty goal. The gem empowers its
wearer's spiritual energy by imbalancing the user's physical and mental
abilities.
* Gem of Thief's Sense: Spirit +1
* Special power: Allows the wielder to detect traps
* Received after defeating the cannibals in Pilgrim's Rest Inn
The past users of this gem did not always live by the law, but they always
lived on the edge. That edge and their fates on either side of it are
imprinted on this gem. The chi channeled through it instills in the wielder an
awareness of his surroundings, detecting things that may cause harm.
* Gem of Unity: Body +3, Mind +3, Spirit +3
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Open Palm can use this gem.
To find true unity, one must set aside one's egotism and know that all are
one. The shared fate of the entire Empire matters, not that of the individual.
The strength and sacrifices of the Empire's greatest heroes empowers those who
would tap the power of this gem.
* Gem of Unyielding Strength: Body +10, Mind -5, Spirit -5
This gem makes its wielder capable of great physical feats that are normally
only possible with years of training. The sudden improvement to the user's
physical abilities disrupts inner balance, however, and so the gem also
siphons essence from its wielder's spiritual and mental capabilities,
weakening those aspects to fuel the wearer's unyielding body.
* Gentle Persuasion: Body +1, Spirit +1, Intimidation +5
The Yung family was well respected in the Imperial City and had a tradition of
dedicating their lives to public service. They served as town guards and city
officials for many generations. They were renowned for their force of
personality, able to get what they wanted from others through reputation and
physical presence. Passed down from father to son through each generation was
an heirloom, a simple gem that was always prominently worn. the gem, Gentle
Persuasion, was eventually gambled away by an unlucky heir, and the fates
conspired to disgrace the family shortly after.
* Good Fortune: Mind +1, Spirit +1, Intuition +5
Master Gambler Wu Pin was the scourge of betting houses across the Empire.
Rumor has it that one would never know he was present until it was too late,
because he would always lose every single game until the very end, when he
would reach into his pocket and finger his lucky gem, which would bolster his
intuition and bring him victory in the final, and most expensive gamble.
* Greater Monk's Gem of Fate: Spirit -5
* Special power: Greatly increased chance of Chi power-ups
One who is content with water every day may never enjoy the taste of wine. Not
every master finds wisdom in caution, and those willing to compromise their
spiritual abilities with this gem often find Chi power-ups.
* Greater Scholar's Gem of Fate: Mind -5
* Special power: Greatly increased chance of Focus power-ups
There are times in which raw mental power is not as important as the ability
to summon reserves of such power when the time is right. This gem enables the
user to trade innate mental ability for a greater chance of Focus power-ups.
* Greater Warrior's Gem of Fate: Body -5
* Special power: Greatly increased chance of Health power-ups
Warriors who revel in the chaos of combat find comfort in this gem's
machinations of fate. The gem feeds on the warrior's physical capabilities,
but it also increases the chances of that warrior getting a second or even a
third, wind during battle.
* Guarding Gem of Stone: Body +5
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Open Palm may use this gem.
The earth cradles those who follow the Way of the Open Palm, lending the
strength and endurance of mountains themselves to users of this gem.
* Heaven's Blessing Gem
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Open Palm may use this gem.
* Special power: Damage Shield.
This gem surrounds you in an aura of wind that damages any who attack you. Its
effect is constant while the gem is equipped.
* Imperial Favor: Spirit +3, Charm +1, Intuition +1
* Special power: Increased chance for getting power-ups from fallen enemies
* Received from Princess Lian after your meeting in Chapter 3
The emperors of the Sun dynasty have long been famed for their magical
aptitude, but they also enjoy the adulation of the people of the Jade Empire.
Imperial Favor was cut by a master gem smith, who worked for weeks to create a
gift that would suitably honor Princess Lian's coming of age.
* Inferior Charm Gem: Charm +2
This gem surrounds the user in an aura of vitality that people find
irresistible. This gem is of inferior quality.
* Inferior Intimidation Gem: Intimidation +2
This gem surrounds the user in an aura of menace that people find
intimidating. This gem is of inferior quality.
* Inferior Intuition Gem: Intuition +2
This gem enhances the user's perception and intuition, enabling the wearer to
feel out the lines of fate connecting each thing in the world. This gem is of
inferior quality.
* Inferior Monk Gem: Spirit +2
This gem, while of inferior quality, provides a small boost to your Spirit.
* Inferior Scholar Gem: Mind +2
This gem is of inferior quality and provides a small boost to your Mind.
* Inferior Warrior Gem: Body +2
This inferior-quality gem provides a small bonus to your Body.
* Intimidation Gem: Intimidation +3
This gem surrounds the user in an aura of menace that people find
intimidating. This gem is of inferior quality.
* Intuition Gem: Intuition +3
This gem enhances the user's perception and intuition, enabling the wearer to
feel out the lines of fate connecting each thing in the world. This gem is of
average quality.
* Iron Skin Gem: Body +3
* Special power: 0% damage from traps
The power of this gem toughens the skin until it as strong as iron. Traps and
other undirected attacks will have no effect at all upon the wielded.
Calculated, cunning strikes from an intelligent opponent will still harm the
user, but the strengthened skin will help absorb damage.
* Lightning Gem: Mind +3
* Special power: 100% chance to evade traps
Named not for its appearance, but for the speed at which its owner acts, this
gem sharpens the mind and senses by orders of magnitude. The wearer becomes
smarter and quicker, more easily anticipating or evading the unexpected.
* Lucky Hand
* Special power: More silver from human enemies
When properly prepared, this gem plucks the silken strands of fate, gently
placing small amounts of local currency in the pockets of the people within a
certain distance of the wielder. Used in more innocent times to subtly bolster
the wealth of the poor, these gems have fallen into misuse, and pickpockets
now use it to pad the pouches of those from whom they steal.
* Monk Gem: Spirit +4
This average-quality gem provides a sizeable boost to your Spirit.
* Monk's Gem of Fate: Spirit -1
* Special power: Increased chance of Chi power-ups
While it may not seem wise for one to sacrifice one's spiritual nature for a
gamble on fate's table, one must certainly see the wisdom in entering a card
game with a stacked deck. This gem rewards those willing to make such a
sacrifice with more spiritual resources when it is needed most.
* Monk's Gem of Forethought: Spirit +2
* Special power: Lesser chance of Chi power-ups
To some, being prepared for any situation is the very essence of wisdom. While
the world rewards those who excel, many warriors find that relying upon these
rewards can lead to laziness and recklessness in battle. Only by bolstering
one's natural spirit can one truly master the art of shaping one's Chi. This
gem strengthens its wielder's spiritual reserves, but it removes the
temptation to rely n te untrustworthy whims of fate.
* Quicksilver Gem: Mind +2
* Special power: 50% chance to evade traps
When they hold this gem up to the moonlight, some claim they can see in the
center of this gem a single drop of quicksilver spinning endlessly.
* Scholar Gem: Mind +4
This average-quality gem provides a sizeable boost to your Mind.
* Scholar's Gem of Fate: Mind -1
* Special power: Increased chance of Focus power-ups
It behooves one who seeks to strengthen one's mind to consider the vagaries of
fate in one's actions. This gem aids in this experiment by tapping its
wielder's mental capacities in return for a greater chance that fate might
restore the user's mental endurance when it is needed most.
* Scholar's Gem of Forethought: Mind +2
* Special power: Lesser chance of Focus power-ups
The concepts of mental focus and of distraction are mutually exclusive. Many
believe that one cannot succeed in a mental capacity by always relying on the
subtle whims of fate to fuel one's success. This gem enhances the wearer's
inherent mental abilities while weaning the warrior from reliance on fate's
fickle favor.
* Scintillating Gem of Power: Body +5, Mind +5, Spirit +5
When one is at peace, one can achieve a form of transcendence. The goal of
every true master and every true scholar is to surpass the physical form and
unite one with one's own spirit. In that moment of transcendence, all limits
fall away, and a person can perform at levels never before thought possible.
Never has a man or woman had greater fortune than a lowly farmer named Jun
Bin. His mother gave him an amulet on the day of his birth, and he only
removed it at the end of his life. He never knew misfortune and, indeed, could
not understand it when others tried to explain it to him. He was kind of
distracted, neither loved nor hated. The evils and ills of the world just
never touched him, as if he was always in exactly the right place to avoid
danger and harm. Such goes against the order of the Heavens, though, and the
one time he removed the amulet, the Heavens struck him down.
* Slick Gem
* Special power -10 percent Focus cost for evading traps
The surface of this gem is oddly slick, making it difficult to hold. Prized by
thieves, it makes one move with less resistance, making it much easier to
avoid the unavoidable. It has saved many an inattentive burglar from death.C63
* Spirit Harvest
* Special power: More XP from killing ghosts. No power-ups from killing ghosts
Those who hunt ghosts and wayward spirits often find that the knowledge gained
from defeating ephemeral foes is more useful than the recuperative pockets of
essence that they leave behind.
Protector Lo Wan was an enforcer for an openly secret society that offered
protection to merchants and citizens throughout the Empire. In return for
regular payments, the surprising number of accidents that occured were greatly
reduced. Coincidentally, these accidents often occurred in the presence of
Protector Lo Wan, and he became very persuasive in getting more business for
his organization. As his star rose, so did his tastes. His penchant for gaudy
jewelry eventually led to his acquiring this gem, and, at the time of his
death at the hands of a crowd of angry merchants, some of his skill was
imprinted in it.
* Superior Charm Gem: Charm +5
This gem surrounds the user in an aura of vitality that people find
irresistible. This gem is of superior quality.
* Superior Intimidation Gem: Intimidation +5
This gem surrounds the user in an aura of menace that people find
intimidating. This gem is of superior quality.
* Superior Monk Gem: Spirit +6
This gem is of superior quality and provides an excellent bonus to your
Spirit.
* Superior Scholar Gem: Mind +6
This gem is of superior quality and provides an excellent bonus to your Mind.
* Superior Warrior Gem: Body +6
This gem is of superior quality and provides an excellent bonus to your Body.
* The Bronze Tongue: Charm +4, Intimidation +4, Intuition +4
* Received as a reward for completing the final test of Chef Chai Jin
Often used by magicians and charlatans, this gem gives the wielder persuasive
skills that could make a man sell the shirt off his back for a pittance.
Speaking with ease in any role, the wielder finds the hearts of others
malleable and easily swayed, but particularly skilled individuals can see past
its magic.
* The Closed Fist: Body +10, Spirit +5
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Closed Fist may use this gem.
* Received when you select the Closed Fist solution in Chapter 7
A master of the Closed Fist is a force that changes the face of destiny to
suit his will. Those who seek the ways of power will always remember such
strength of purpose. A fearsome force in body and spirit, this path brooks no
deviation. the slightest weakness in a master of this caliber will be his
downfall. Those who change fate accept no failings.
* The Eye of the Demon: Body +6, Mind +6, Spirit +6
* Special power: Demon Skin: When damaged, the wielder has a 5% chance of
draining a small amount of the attacker's Health. Only followers of the Way of
the Closed Fist may equip this gem.
Rumored to be the eye of a great demon lord who fell from his place in the
Celestial Bureaucracy, this great gem channels its wearer's dark intentions
into an immense inner power, fueling the wielder's dark deeds from within.
* The Eye of the Dragon: Body +6, Mind +6, Spirit +6
* Special power: Celestial Aura: 5% chance a shockwave will knock attackers
down when you are struck. Only followers of the Way of the Open Palm may use
this gem.
The Eye of the Dragon is a gem of heroes and figures of legend. Tales claim
that the gem is, indeed, the eye of a great Dragon of Heaven, long since
burned from living memory. the gem gives its user the power of great warriors
of the past, but it bestows the same obligations with which they lived: to be
a great hero and champion of all people.
* The Golden Tongue: Charm +8, Intimidation +8, Intuition +8
The treacherous advisor to the great Emperor Sun Jin ordered the Order of the
Lotus to construct this gem. The gem gave the advisor nearly unparalleled
manipulative power, but in the end the powerful Emperor's own skills of
persuasion put his ambitious adviser in his place.
* The Hero's Prize: Body +3, Mind +3, Spirit -5
* Received as a reward for beating the Ravager in the Imperial Arena
The first victor of the Imperial Arena was the supremely cunning and vicious
Gao Mahn. Undefeated for 15 years, he earned the lasting favor of the people
and the Emperor himself. In recognition of his deeds he was given this.
* The Jade Tongue: Charm +10, Intimidation +10, Intuition +10
Legends of the fabled Jade Tongue, also known as the tongue of the gods, say
that anyone lucky enough to possess it can control the minds of others.
* The Mournful Soul: Body -5, Mind +3, Spirit +3
The Grandfather River flows through the Empire, taking with it a tale of years
too long for human memory. Sailors of merchant vessels on the river speak of
the ghost of a woman crying out in agony. She has been named the Grandfather's
Daughter. Only once has she come ashore, and legends say she left behind a
single tear in the form of a gem. Every single owner of that gem, as the
legends go, has felt her pain and sorrow throughout his life, his body wracked
by pain but his mind and spirit made sharper by clarity.
* The Open Palm: Mind +5, Spirit +10
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Open Palm may use this gem.
* Received when selecting the Open Palm solution in Chapter 7
In accordance with one's own spirit and the way of the Heavens, the Open Palm
is at peace with nature. This ultimate harmony gives mastery over one's self
and attunement with the flow of fate.
* The Silver Tongue: Charm +6, Intimidation +6, Intuition +6
Many famous and influential members of the Imperial Court have a gem like the
Silver Tongue, which lends power to their lies and bargains in their games of
power and influence. One must use care with the Silver Tongue, however,
because even the most silvered tongue can be plucked from its owner's mouth.
* The Soft Petal: Body +1, Mind +1, Charm +5
In the reign of the Empress Sun Lin, arts flourished, especially dancing and
poetry. The Empress surrounded herself with beautiful young women, masters in
their respective art forms. The most admired, and most talked about was the
dancer called the Divine Rose. When the Empress' life was cut short, Divine
Rose was heartbroken and wept for days, dying from grief shortly thereafter.
Legends say that her tears of grief are what gave power to this gem, imbuing
it both with her grief and her passion.
* The Wanderer's Jewel: Body +3, Mind -5
A musician who traveled the breadth of the Empire was once the owner of this
gem. He carried it with him for years. His fame spread ahead of him, and he
was welcomed in all corners of the Empire. No one knows what became of him,
for Imperial Edict erased his legacy for crimes unknown. Surely, despite his
other obvious strengths, he must have committed some folly that secured his
downfall.
* Thick Skin Gem: Body +1
* Special power: 50% damage from traps
This gem thickens a warrior's skin, strengthening it against damage. This
makes the warrior resistant to sudden damage from an undirected source, but it
will likely not protect as well against an opponent already aiming for vital
areas.
* Ultimate Monk Gem: Spirit +12
* Restriction: Special Edition only
* Found in Necropolis, near the entrance to the Forgotten Tomb
* Ultimate Scholar Gem: Mind +12
* Restriction: Special Edition only
* Found in Pilgrim's Rest Inn in the kitchen area after defeating the
cannibals
* Ultimate Warrior Gem: Body +12
* Restriction: Special Edition only
* Found in the Lotus Assassin fortress during your escape, after killing
everyone in the lower fortress, search the side rooms to the left of the
stairway
* Warrior Gem: Body +4
This average-quality gem provides a good bonus to your Body.
* Warrior's Gem of Fate: Body -1
* Special power: Increased chance of Health power-ups
The wearer of this gem gambles away some of his physical ability for the
chance that fate will favor him in combat. Some warriors prefer a second wind
in combat over a strong opening volley.
* Warrior's Gem of Forethought: Body +2
* Special power: Lesser chance of Health power-ups
A battlefield is chaotic enough without leaving one's successes to chance.
Some warriors prefer to rely upon solid and predictable strengths rather than
the random chance of respite during battle. This gem strengthens the wearer's
inherent physical abilities, taking away the warrior's reliance on fate to
provide assistance.
* Way of the Closed Fist: Body +5, Spirit -5, Intimidation +10
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Closed Fist may use this gem.
The Way of the Closed Fist is the way of violence and personal power. Take the
world in your grasp and make it yours. A closed fist will beat down the walls
of ignorance and lead to enlightenment, even if the Heavens themselves must
shake from the force of it.
* Way of the Open Palm: Body -5, Spirit +5, Intuition +10
* Restriction: Only followers of the Way of the Open Palm may use this gem.
Life brings many challenges, and one must learn to flow and adapt to them, to
yield and be firm at the same time, to take the hardships life brings and turn
them to one's benefit. Though the open, gentle palm, one changes the course of
life gently, and with it, one's destiny.
PLOT ITEMS [6.03]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can view Plot Items in your inventory using the Plot Items button on the
Journal tab of your game menu. You cannot specifically choose to do anything
with these items, they are merely carried around with you until needed by the
game.
* A Bar of Nickeled Iron
This bar is made of iron alloyed with nickel, producing a far stronger metal
referred to by some smiths as "steeled iron" or simply "steel."
One of the "fuel" items needed for Lord Lao's Furnace. You can find one in a
cash near the Teahouse in Tien's Landing, buy one from Mechanic Hin Goo and
from the blacksmith in Imperial City
* A Vial of Sulfurous Water
The yellow-tinged water in this vial has a strong stench, similar to that of a
rotten egg.
One of the "fuel" items needed for Lord Lao's Furnace. You can buy one from
Zin Bu and you receive one as a reward when you complete Kang's third flyer
mission.
* Bearded Tongue Grass Poultice
A medicinal poultice designed to accelerate the healing of wounds. This
poultice is infused with bearded tongue grass, a medicinal herb used to dull
pain. Its medical value is somewhat questionable.
Purchased from Fen Do if performing the Closed Fist solution to the "Kia Min"
quest.
* Beveled Cogs
These cogs are carefully engineered and made of a strange, and likely
valuable, material. The gears still have traces of oil, suggesting that they
were used, but signs of wear are visible.
* Blue Lion Figurine
Carved from simple rock and coated in a blue lacquer, this figurine is a
miniature replica of the lion statue in Master Li's house.
Found in a chest in Master Li's house in Two Rivers School. Part of "The Lions
of Two Rivers" side quest.
* Boathouse Key
From the markings on the head of the key, it looks like it would unlock the
gate leading to the upper office in the Tien's Landing boathouse.
You'll find this key in a chest on the lower level of the boathouse in Tien's
Landing. It opens the gate to the stairs to the upper floor of the boathouse.
* Cameo Portrait
A small portrait of a beautiful young woman, carved into a gemstone in layers
of contrasting colors. An inscription on the back reads, "To my beloved
husband, Wei. Yours forever."
You find this in the second area of the ruins (where you fight the cowardly
rat demon). Return it to Old Wei in Tien's Landing.
* Clay Figure
A small, virtually worthless clay figurine. Despite its lack of material
value, the figurine is exquisite and strangely comforting to gaze upon.
This is the figurine stolen from merchant Cheung as part of "The Stolen
Memento". Retrieve it from Tong the sailor in Beggar's Pier.
* Configuration of the Dragon
Something about this strange poem made it stick in your mind. "Configurations
guided by the tiger burn bright, as the cauldron bubbles in the night. The
cogs whirl their graceful dances, but they grow tired unless they drink of the
water infused."
One of the Configurations used to learn Techniques in Lord Lao's Furnace.
Found in a cask west of the Imperial Arena entrance.
* Configuration of the Goat
A note, probably written to the author as a reminder. "It will likely break
the machine, but with a pair of flawless rubies, and care to leave the
clappers and cauldron out of the process, the tiger might be able to manage a
reconfiguration of the user..."
One of the Configurations used to learn Techniques in Lord Lao's Furnace.
Received as a reward from completing Kang's third flyer mission.
* Configuration of the Horse
You found this strange excerpt from a diary; the pages were torn from the book
but kept together as if they were an important secret. "...in his ravings, my
husband talked of madmen with eyes of metal and of a strange island in the
skies."
One of the Configurations used to learn Techniques in Lord Lao's Furnace.
Found in the Marvelous Dragonfly hangar on pirate island and in Minister
Sheng's room at the Imperial Hostel.
* Configuration of the Ox
This strange schematic has had better days, the paper ragged at the corners.
While the page is filled with doodled diagrams, including one for a device
that seems designed to colorize rice for easy sorting.
One of the Configurations used to learn Techniques in Lord Lao's Furnace.
Found in an urn on the south side of Lord Lao's Furnace.
* Configuration of the Rabbit
You stumbled across an obscure diagram that seems to indicate a configuration
for a machine. A small stone with medical runes surrounding it seems to be a
key component.
One of the Configurations used to learn Techniques in Lord Lao's Furnace.
Learned from a scrollstand near the Archivist in the Lower Chamber of the
Lotus Assassin Fortress.
* Configuration of the Rat
This wrinkled sheet of paper is filled with diagrams doodled in the corners
and along the margins. The majority of the page, however, is taken up by the
following text: "The dual eyes of fire can fuel greatness, but only if all
save the conductor work."
One of the Configurations used to learn Techniques in Lord Lao's Furnace.
Received as a reward from completing Kang's third flyer mission.
* Configuration of the Snake
You found this academic leaflet and kept it. The crux of the argument reads,
"To think that any machine could be designed around the principles of starting
motion with a tiger, of all things, is to dally with utter madness."
One of the Configurations used to learn Techniques in Lord Lao's Furnace.
Learned from a scrollstand near the entrance to the Scholar's Garden.
* Configuration of the Tiger
You found this obscure set of instructions and copied them down on a hunch.
"Iron is made stronger through the alloy, and nickel binds well to make a
sharp blade. It can also be a reactive fuel, but certain configurations must
be preserved.
One of the Configurations used to learn Techniques in Lord Lao's Furnace.
Received as the reward for completing Jinlin's side quest in Chapter 3.
* Cow Bezoar
Used to treat conditions of the blood and circulation, a cow bezoar forms only
in the stomach of very ill cattle. Cow bezoars are extremely rare, but many
seek them for their curative nature.
One of the "fuel" items needed for Lord Lao's Furnace. You can purchase a cow
bezoar from Zin Bu, receive one from Merchant Bai (A Fearful Ghost side quest)
and find on in Lord Lao's Furnace.
* Dirge Fountain Seal
The small seal is made of ancient stone and carved with intricate designs.
Though it appears lifeless, you can sense a powerful energy contained within.
You'll obtain two of these during the main quest of Chapter 5.
* Dragon Powder
A small canister of the volatile black substance called dragon powder. The
Lotus Assassins were clearly using this substance to excavate in the lower
ruins of Tien's landing, but this charge doesn't look sufficient for blasting
anything.
You find this item in an Assassin's Cabinet in the first area of the ruins.
Use it to fire the cannons in the third area of the ruins.
* Edited Script
A script for your scene as Lady Fourteen Flowers in Incisive Chorus' play.
This version of the script has been edited from the original text so that two
of the lines satirize the Lotus Assassins by referring to them as "flower
guardians."
Received from First Thespian Phong prior to performing "The Play's the Thing".
* Eyes of the Void
Kang called these gems the Eyes of the Void. They don't appear to have any
conventional value, but they may produce something extraordinary if used in
Lord Lao's Furnace.
One of the "fuel" items needed for Lord Lao's Furnace. Received as a reward
for completing Kang's third flyer mission.
* Fang's Resignation
This is Judge Fang's letter of resignation from his post as the head of the
Ministry of Harmony. It is stamped with his Imperial signet ring.
Received from Fang if you follow the Open Palm path to completing "The
Inquisitors" main quest in Chapter 3.
* Forged Slaver Documents
Several pages detailing the actions and transactions of the Slave Traders in
the Imperial City. These documents are cleverly doctored to falsely indicate
Scholar Songtao's involvement with the Slave Traders.
Received from the head slaver if you join him in framing Scholoar Sontao in
"The Slavers" side quest in Chapter 3.
* Found Furnace Note
A note found in Lord Lao's Furnace. It suggests that one of the machine's
configurations may be found near the machine. "They can't all be secreted
across the Empire. Who has the time?"
Received from Kang as a hint to the location of a Configuration.
* Golem Spirit Shard
Normally these shards are made from the concentrated spirit of an unfortunate
victim of the Lotus Assassins and are used to power golems. This one is made
from the chaotic spirit of an ancient Horselord. It will corrupt the Jade
Golem for which it is intended.
Received for completing part of the main quest in the Lotus Assassin Fortress.
* Incisive Chorus' Original Script
The original script for your scene as Lady Fourteen Flowers. In this version
of the play, your character explains that the end of the Jade Empire's
expansion occurred because Sagacious Tien listened to the will of the heavens.
Get this script from Incisive Chorus to begin "The Play's the Thing".
* Inscrutable Power Source
It should come as no surprise that you can't figure out how this device
functions, or even what it really does. A complicated collection of gears,
pistons and various projecting apertures befuddle the mind but still speak of
virtually limitless power.
You need this power supply for the Marvelous Dragonfly in Chapter 2. You'll
receive it from Chai Ka after you defeat him on the way to the dam.
* Interpreted Furnace Movement
A note scribbled by Kang after he noticed an odd pattern in the movements of
Lord Lao's Furnace. It suggests that one of the machine's configurations is in
"a fortress of the dark handed ones" within the city.
Received from Kang as a hint to the location of a Configuration.
* Jade Heart
This magical gem provides the means to allow the dam to be opened and closed.
By removing this gem you can ensure that the dam remains open and merchant
Jiang's business continues to thrive.
Taken from the dam controls in Chapter 2.
* Judge Fang's Ring
An imperial signet ring given as a token of office to the Chief Minister of
Harmony, Judge Fang. It is Fang's official seal of office, procured for you by
Gentle Breezes.
Given you by Gentle Breezes while following the Open Palm path to "The
Inquisitors" main quest in Chapter 3.
* Lion Head Token
A small stone token from the grave of the Old Master, acquired after a humble
tribute of silver. Made of simple granite, and thus essentially valueless, the
token is in the shape of a lion's head.
You get this token from the tomb behind Master Li's house when you deposit a
silver coin in the offering bowl. Use it on the lion altar in Li's house as
part of "The Lions of Two Rivers" side quest.
* Lotus Executioner Seal
A stone engraved with a rune that must hold some meaning to the Lotus Assassin
Executioners. The stone is unnaturally heavy, and it feels cold in your hand
no matter how long you hold it.
You'll get this if you win through the Silver level in the Imperial Arena. You
can use it to enter the Lotus Assassin fortress.
* Lotus Inquisitor Seal
A small stone marked with a rune that must hold some meaning to the Lotus
Assassin Inquisitors. The stone feels heavy and warmer than the surrounding
air.
You get this seal from the Recruiter if you complete "The Inquisitors" main
quest in Chapter 3.
* Machined Cogs
These cogs are carefully engineered and made of a strange, and likely
valuable, material. The gears still have traces of oil, suggesting that they
were used, but signs of wear are visible.
* Mantra of Inspiration
An ancient text penned by some of the first Spirit Monks, this book has taught
you how to properly focus upon the Mantra of Inspiration. "Understanding the
totality of being is the only goal worth achieving, and yet it is a goal that
cannot be fulfilled..."
* Note from Princess Lian
A carefully folded piece of paper, given to you by Princess Lian. The note
reads, "Meet me in the pavilion at the entrance to the Scholars' Garden."
You get this from Princess Lian after your meeting at the beginning of Chapter
3.
* Pages from the Tome of Release (1/5)
So many of the pages from this tome are missing that it's impossible to tell
what purpose it served, or what mysteries it held, when it was complete.
* Pages from the Tome of Release (2/5)
From the scattered pages you have recovered, this tome seems to outline some
sort of ritual. While the ritual deals with curses of some sort, it's hard to
make out exactly what effect it might have if performed.
* Pages from the Tome of Release (3/5)
You seem to have roughly half of the missing sections from this ancient book.
From what you can piece together, the Tome of Release details a ritual that
can free spirits bound to a place by a curse or other magic.
* Pages from the Tome of Release (4/5)
You almost have all of the missing sections of the Tome of Release, and except
for a few key elements, you could almost perform the ritual outlined within.
Doing so would clearly free the spirits of the last few Imperial Army soldiers
who haunt Dirge.
* Pages from the Tome of Release (5/5)
Now that you have read the fully assembled Tome of Release, you know how to
perform a ritual that would lift the curse from the spirits of the last few
Imperial Army soldiers who still haunt Dirge.
* Patched Together Note
A note Kang found in pieces in Lord Lao's Furnace. It suggests that one of the
machine's configurations is near "the archivist of the Order."
Received from Kang as a hint to the location of a Configuration.
* Phoenix Oil
A sturdy clay vessel containing a volatile oil that burns at a very high
temperature. The shape of the container allows you to pour the contents into
the mixing controls in the golem press room with relative safety.
Received from Merchant Kia Jong in the Lotus Assassin Fortress as part of the
main quest.
* Preserved Liver
This liver has been preserved by special medical and arcane means. It's so
well preserved that it almost looks alive.
Taken from the body of Ji Xin as part of "The Scientist" side quest in
Necropolis.
* Red Lion Figurine
Lacquered a bright red, this stone figurine is a replica of the lion statue
found in Master Li's house.
Found in a chest in Master Li's house in Two Rivers School. Part of "The Lions
of Two Rivers" side quest.
* Red Silk Grass Poultice
A medicinal poultice designed to accelerate the healing of wounds. This
poultice is infused with extract of red silk grass, a powerful herb that
hastens recovery by binding the wounded flesh together.
Purchased from Fen Do if performing the Closed Fist solution to the "Kia Min"
quest.
* Ruins Key
Given to you by Minister Sheng of Tien's landing, this key unlocks the gate
west of the town that leads to the ruins of the flooded town.
* Scrap Paper Note
A note found near one of the devices in Lord Lao's Furnace. It suggests that
one of the machine's configurations is secreted away in "a dock house
ministry."
Received from Kang as a hint to the location of a Configuration.
* Silk Strings
These strings are carefully woven and made of the finest silk. They look as if
they were made for a musical instrument.
Part of "The Zither of Discord" quest in Chapter 2 (Closed Fist only). You
find these in the Imperial Guardhouse near the entrance to the ruins of old
Tien's Landing.
* Slaver Documents
Several pages detailing the actions and transactions of the slave traders in
the Imperial City. These documents clearly indicate that Chandler Ling is
involved with the slave traders.
The real slaver documents retrieved when following the Open Palm path to "The
Slavers" side quest.
* Temple Crystal
This large gem isn't made of a valuable material, but it was cut in a very
specific way, as if designed for a particular setting. The edges of the
crystal are slightly discolored and smell vaguely of moss.
Obtained from the residents of Pilgrim's Rest Inn after agreeing to kill the
Fox Spirit.
* Transcribed Gear Etchings
A note scribbled by Kang after he translated some of the markings on the
larger gears of Lord Lao's Furnace. It suggests that one of the machine's
configurations is in a chest somewhere in "the place of all dead."
Received from Kang as a hint to the location of a Configuration.
* Transcribed Leaf Note
A note scribbled by Kang that he copied off of a leaf floating around Lord
Lao's Furnace. It suggests that one of the machine's configurations may be
found in a chest in "the cages of animals kept for sport."
Received from Kang as a hint to the location of a Configuration.
* Transcribed Post Carving
A note scribbled by Kang after he translated the carvings on a post near the
controls of Lord Lao's Furnace. It suggests that one of the machine's
configurations is in "a garden of ineffectual intellectuals."
Received from Kang as a hint to the location of a Configuration.
* Turtle Eggs
There are few greater ways to insult a person than a gift of turtle eggs. The
difficulty of their acquisition tells the tale of a person willing to put
forth a serious effort in their desire to say, "I hate you." This group of
eggs is particularly ripe.
Henpecked Hou gives you these and suggests replacing Minister Sheng's honor
gift for Minister Fang with the turtle eggs. This is the Closed Fist solution
to "The Inquisitors" main quest.
* Wind Map
A copy of a wind map that clearly shows the air currents and passages that
lead from Tien's Landing to the Imperial City.
You get this map from Lord Yun after completing "The Sickened Forest" main
quest.
* Winnings Purse
This small satchel is marked to make it identifiable as one of Gambler
Daoshen's winnings purses. It contains the silver he plans to offer to the
Guild in return for permission to increase the limits on his wagers.
Daoshen gives you this when you agree to speak to Sweet Poison Lyn on his
behalf in "Gambler's Favor" in Chapter 3.
* Yellow Lion Figurine
Coated in a yellow lacquer, this lion figurine is a replica of the large
statue in Master Li's house.
Found in a chest in Master Li's house in Two Rivers School. Part of "The Lions
of Two Rivers" side quest.
* Yushan's Head
All that remains of Kindly Yushan. His face now in rigor, it will forever
reflect the terror that Yushan felt when he died at your hands.
If, as part of "The Drowned Orphans", you kill Kindly Yushan in the teahouse,
you take this item back to Bin and Miao in the orphanage.
* Zither Bridge
This small piece of wood is a finely crafted bridge for a musical instrument.
You receive this from Bladed Thesis as part of "The Zither of Discord" side
quest in Chapter 2 (Closed Fist only).
* Zither Case
This box is obviously the main case for a type of musical instrument called a
zither. Designed to be played across a lap or at a table, a zither normally
has strings stretched atop the soundboard and a bridge to hold the strings off
the case.
You'll find this "Zither of Discord" quest item in the boss lair of the
pirate's island.
==JADE EMPIRE========================================================[7.00]==
THE WAY OF THE MODDER
============================================================Special Edition==
Information in this section applies only to the PC version of Jade Empire.
Jade Empire uses a lot of the file formats used in NWN and KotOR and there are
already tools for extracting and messing with the data files in Jade Empire.
Additionally, JE uses the same 'override' folder used by NWN and KotOR to
quickly and easily override game files with new files. In fact, a default
installation of JE Special Edition includes a full override folder, which
indicates all the data files were ported over directly from the Xbox and then
the new files needed for SE are simply stuck in override.
In any case, this is not intended to be a definitive tutorial on modding Jade
Empire. The mod scene for JE is still nascent; however, there is already some
discussion on the official JE forums on Bioware's Web site:
Most of the mods happening right now are text mods--making changes to the 2da
files that control most of the game logic. 2da stands for 2-dimensional array
and is Bioware's space-separated values format for maintaining simple tables.
It is also possible to write your own scripts or modify some of the existing
scripts to effect changes in the game.
Before you get started, you should download a Modder's Pack I put together:
You'll need the free 7-Zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) or the non-free WinRAR
(http://www.winrar.com/) to extract the archive.
All mods to JE are included in the game by placing the modded files into the
/override folder in your main JE program folder. If you are writing custom
scripts, you'll also have to find a way to call those scripts during program
execution.
It should go without saying; but, must be said:
*BACK UP YOUR OVERRIDE FOLDER!*
*DON'T DO ANYTHING UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!*
*MOD AT YOUR OWN RISK!*
(See the disclaimer in the Legal section at the end of this guide.)
To edit 2da files, you'll need a text editor. You can use Notepad, but a good
text editor is probably a better bet. There are two free text editors that can
be recommended:
Crimson Editor:
http://www.crimsoneditor.com/
MetaPad:
http://www.liquidninja.com/metapad/
A non-free, but worth-every-penny, text editor is UltraEdit:
http://www.ultraedit.com/
A 2da (text) file is in the following format:
* A header line defining the 2da format version:
2DA V2.0
* A blank line
* A line of column names; every column but the first is named:
Label Start End IdleVFX GuiVFX GuiRoom IdleAnim
* The rows of data. Each row begins with a row number, starting at 0. Data can
be separated by one or more spaces. A set of four asterisks (****) indicates
NULL or unavailable data:
6 VeryGood 230 255 169 **** aeg7 89
Numbers in the 2da file frequently refer to row numbers in other 2da files.
Links between 2da files are coded into the program itself and are not explicit
in the 2da files; i.e. you'll have to figure out links yourself.
A more complete description of the 2da format is available here:
http://nwn.bioware.com/developers/Bioware_Aurora_2DA_Format.pdf
It is beyond the scope of this guide to teach you how to write and compile
your own scripts. Suffice it to say that scripts in JE are almost identical to
those used in NWN and KotOR, so scripting tutorials for those games will teach
you what you need to know. To compile a script source (.nss) into a script
(.ncs), put the script source, any include files, nwscript.nss and nwnnsscomp
in the same folder. Open a command line interface in that folder (you should
get the Command Line Here Powertoy for Windows XP). On the command line, type
nwnnsscomp -gc name_of_script.nss
Put your script into /override. If you are editing an existing script, it
should work automatically. If you wrote a custom script, you'll have to find a
way to call it during program execution. Doing that is beyond the scope of
this guide.
Unfortunately, all of the script compilers that work for Jade Empire require
either NWN or KotOR (1 or 2) be installed on your PC. There is one compiler
floating around the 'Net that does not have that requirement; however, it
throws numerous syntax errors the other compilers do not.
Here are some simple, yet useful, mods you can make. Most of these mods are
available in a mod pack:
Level Up Faster
-----------------
The file 'levelxp.2da' has the experience point requirements for each level.
It contains XP requirements up to level 32. The row numbers are the levels and
there is one column with the XP required to reach that level. Since every
level gain in JE is simply more stat/skill points to spend, you can add levels
beyond 32 and also lower the number of XP required for each level. This is an
easy way to make a powerhouse character if you're into that sort of thing.
Add Rhino Demon Transformation Style
--------------------------------------
The Rhino Demon style is in the game whether you purchased the special pre-
order or not. All you have to do is edit a single 2da file so the script
granting the style is given you at the appropriate place. (The whole "bonus"
you get from pre-ordering is this one 2da file on a CD. Whoopee.) Open
'ar_town.2da' and look for row 35:
35 after_chapter_screen
You need to change the script (seventh) column (sixth set of asterisks ****)
to
j00_lti_rhino
You'll have to start a new game to get the style.
Add Other Combat Styles
-------------------------
You can edit the script that adds the Rhino Demon Transformation style and add
additional styles to your repertoire at the beginning of the game. See here:
http://www.papagamer.com/files/style_mod.jpg
Find j00_lti_rhino.nss and j00_lti_rhino.ncs in your /override folder and move
them to wherever you're keeping your modded files. Make sure you put a copy of
these original files into a backup folder. Open the .nss file in a text editor
and scroll down toward the bottom of the file. You'll see a line like this:
DelayCommand(3.0, RewardStyle(105));
This is the function that adds combat style #105 (Rhino Demon) to your style
list. All you have to do to add more styles at the beginning of the game is to
duplicate that line and change the numbers. You can find the numbers in
stylesuperlist.2da. Not all styles work, and some styles crash your game. Four
fun styles that are otherwise unavailable and work well are Monkey Paw, single
Saber, Double Hammers and Death's Hand's swords. The numbers for those styles
are 22, 46, 48 and 82. So add these four lines to j00_lti_rhino.nss:
Compile the script and place the new .ncs file into /override. Make sure
you've modified ar_town.2da as instructed in Add Rhino Demon above. Start a
new game and you should get your new styles as soon as you finish the fight
with Jing Woo.
Wield Tien's Justice
----------------------
Open StyleAdvance.2da and find lines 36 and 37, labeled (respectively) as
Staff2 and MonkZheng. Make the last three columns (Weapon, NameOverride and
DescOverride) of line 36 match line 37. When you buy Flawless from the
blacksmith in Imperial City, you'll get Tien's Justice with, as a bonus, the
extra damage of Flawless. The same thing can be done with the Demon Staff,
which is line 92.
There are more complex things you can do; however, they are beyond the scope
of this guide. Refer to the modding discussions on Bioware's and Lucasarts'
Web sites.
==JADE EMPIRE========================================================[8.00]==
VERSION HISTORY AND CREDITS
============================================================Special Edition==
Trademarks and other marks are reserved to their original owners. This guide
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