l / ______ __ l
l/ l / \ l
l ___ l _______ /____\ _____ l
l\ l l l l l l /______\ l l
l \ l__l__ l l l l / \ l l .
Katman (cgalliher@cablespeed.com)
(I REALLY need some new ASCII art...send in yours TODAY!)
Table of Contents:
1. Introduction
1.1 Review of Sacrifice
2. Unit Overview
2.1 Persephone
2.2 James
2.3 Stratos
2.4 Pyro
2.5 Charnel
3. Spell Overview
3.1 Persephone
3.2 James
3.3 Stratos
3.4 Pyro
3.5 Charnel
3.6 Generic
4. Walkthrough (UNDER HEAVY CONSTRUCTION!)
4.1 Persephone Missions
4.2 James Missions
4.3 Stratos Missions
4.4 Pyro Missions
4.5 Charnel Missions
4.6 The Final Battle
5. Hints and Tips
6. Credits/People I Don't Like (PIDL)
7. Other Katman Projects/About the Katman
Version List:
1.0 It's the first version! Dear God, what a GENIUS that Katman is, to
make 1.0 the first version!
1.5 The SECOND version! This one adds everyone's first mission,
officially making it an FAQ/Walkthrough.
1.7 No new walkthrough information - if you want more, ASK FOR IT!!
However, I did add a lot of new creature information by Mike Pureka, who
wrote me a long, nitpicky e-mail...Kudos to Mike Pureka! Yay for
nitpicking! Oh, and remember how in my Cloudkill info I mispelled
absolutely? Of course you don't, but in THIS version, it's spelled
correctly! Kudos to ME!
Hi again! It's Katman, and you might remember me from such stunning
exploits as Katman's Fallout 2 FAQ, Katman's Sanity: Aiken's Artifact
FAQ, and Katman's Azure Dreams GBC FAQ. Well, now I'm going back into my
roots with another PC game FAQ, this one on Interplay's newest
action/RTS game, Sacrifice.
Sacrifice takes place in another universe (?) where a wizard named
Eldred has performed dark experiments to become powerful. He obtains a
familiar (a creature that aids a wizard) named Zyzyx, who leads him into
the Ethereal Realm, where he meets 5 gods - Persephone (Godess of Life),
James (God of Earth), Stratos (God of Weather and Air), Pyro (God of
Fire), and Charnel (God of Death). He is offered service with any of the
five gods, and is allowed to choose which one he performs missions and
tasks for - changing allegiances as he wishes. However, if he does too
many missions and ignores a certain god, that god can refuse to allow
Eldred to join with them anymore.
Later, Eldred learns that a former rival of his, the powerful demon
Marduk, is planning to take over the realm Eldred now inhabits (having
destroyed Eldred's home realm), and Eldred must find a way to gain the
aid of the five gods in defeating Marduk.
All in all, I'd have to say Sacrifice is one of Katman's 5 Best Games of
All Time (The others being Fallout 2, Silhouette Mirage, Master of
Orion, and Azure Dreams). Get it! NOW! Well, that's only if your PC has
the awesome horsepower needed to handle this graphic-intensive game, but
most PCs nowadays can easily take care of it.
Sacrifice is one of only 4 action/RTS games I can think of - the rest
being Myth, Magic Carpet, and Battlezone (the update version, shmuck!).
The awesome blend between the two genres, and the awesome replay value,
make it a worthy addition to any gamer's library.
Graphics: 10/10
This game's graphics are, simply put, the best I've ever seen. They beat
the Playstation2 and Dreamcast single-handedly. The units (while often
disgusting - the Abomination uses its own intestines as a projectile!)
are varied, with no two looking alike. The assorted spells are simply
amazing - one spell has a massive volcano firing lava 20 feet into the
air, AND firing lava rocks around at creatures, AND it lasts for an
incredibly long time, defacing the sky with fire.
Of course, those gamers with slow PCs can expect a slide-show, as the
framerate is reduced to 2 or 3 FPS without at least a 400Mhz Pentium II.
Sound: 10/10
The units all have thier own voices, and some of the things they say are
quite funny. The spells all sound like they should, and each god has
excellent voice acting. I particularly liked Stratos and Charnel.
Excellent sound.
Gameplay: 10/10
This has to win the Game of the Year award from at least a FEW sources.
You are a wizard, and your goal is to defeat your opposing wizard by
desecrating his Altar. If you just kill the enemy, he can be brought
back to life by his god.
To this end, you have an assortment of minions and magic to aid you.
Summoning minions requires the souls of creatures. Obtaining these is
simple - you find some villagers and kill them, then take the souls.
Spells (and minions, to a lesser extent) require Mana, magic energy,
which is replenished quickly by Mana fountains around the battlefield,
as well as certain creatures called Manahoars (think armless, two-legged
puppies with crystals in their heads).
When you defeat an enemy's creature, they lose their soul. You can't
just take it - it is allied with another god. You can convert it, but
this takes quite a while, as it is performed by a slow-moving creature
called a Sac-Doctor. These Sac-Doctors are easily killed, so they must
be protected at all costs, else the creature they were converting will
be resurrected!
All in all, the gameplay strikes the perfect balance of resource
management and combat. People may complain that it gets too hectic -
they're weenies. Ignore them. Yay for hecticness.
Also, you might hear that the closest game to this in terms of gameplay
style is either Magic Carpet or the updated version of Battlezone.
That's also from weenies - this game is all Myth. It's basically Myth in
true 3D, with a crapload of extras, and that's in any way a bad thing.
Replay Value: 10/10
There's quite a few different paths through the single-player campaign,
due to the fact that you take different quests depending on which god
you side with. The god you side with also determines what spells and
creatures you obtain, since each mission grants you a new creature and
spell.
Once you've beaten the single-player game, you're still not done!
Sacrifice features a fully-functional Skirmish mode, for those of us
without an Internet connection on their only fast PC, as well as a full-
fledged Multiplayer mode. There's a simple Deathmatch mode, where the
goal is to be the last man standing, as well as Capture-The-Manalith,
Soul-Gathering, and Highest-Deathcount-Wins modes.
THEN, even when you're done with the 20 or so maps that Sacrifice ships
with, it also comes with Scapex, the program the developers used to make
scenarios for the game! It's great!
The god you side with in Singleplayer determines each unit you get
individually. In Multiplayer, the god you side with determines ALL your
units, unless you've beaten the Singleplayer game at least once, in
which you can use the units and spells you got from whatever path you
chose in Singleplayer. This really helps Sacrifice's replay value!
Also, remember that Melee units can easily beat equally-leveled Ranged
units. Air units, however, will beat any Melee unit, since Melee units
can't reach them. Ranged units can beat equally-leveled Air units.
Certain big Air units, like the Dragon and Silverback, can actually be
hit by Melee units when they're not moving, however this is very rare.
Ranged units need Mana to attack, but this isn't something you should
really worry about, since they'll absorb Mana from any nearby Manahoars
or Manaliths, just like you do.
The ONLY creature that can be used by wizards of all the gods are
Manahoars, little armless teddybears with Mana crystals embedded in
their heads. They're vital for any wizard, since they provide Mana when
one is not standing near a Manalith or Mana Fountain. They have NO
offensive capabilities, and are sorely lacking for defense as well. It's
great to have them around, since they provide Mana for your creatures
with ranged attacks and special abilities as well. However, they can
only draw Mana from Manaliths belonging to you, and NOT Mana Fountains.
The more Manaliths you have, and the more Manahoars you have, the faster
your Mana will recharge. I reccomend making 3 Manahoars at once, since
2's recharge rate is a bit too slow, and 4 is definately overkill. Put
them in Phalanx formation, and order them to guard you. They'll stay out
of the way.
Sac-Doctors appear as a result of the Convert and Desecrate spells. They
are technically creatures, and they belong to whomever cast the spell,
but they refuse to respond to orders. They're the puniest creature in
the game, as 1 hit from anything will kill a Sac-Doctor. Guard your Sac-
Doctors well when they're taking a Red soul to be converted, as if they
are killed while carrying the creature the soul belongs to, the creature
is resurrected and comes back for revenge!
Make SURE to bind the "Use Creature Ability" key to something easily
pressable, like B. This way you don't lose valuable time clicking on it.
ALL of Persephone's creatures will regenerate health naturally over
time, just like Charnel's units. Persephone's forces are mainly suited
for defense, as you'd expect from the Godess of Life. They do well when
Guardianed to a Manalith, especially with higher-level creatures.
The Druid is Persephone's basic Melee creature - you can make them right
from the beginning of any game, as long as you're with Persephone.
They're OK, as far as basic Melee creatures go. They have the special
ability to make a Lifeshield around themselves, but it doesn't really
last that long, and they're very frail without it. Not the best at all.
Not to mention that they look a bit dumb - they're just normal humans
with Zorro masks on :-)
Mike Pureka says that the Druids are also Persephone's faster Melee
unit. By gosh, he's right! Kudos to Mike Pureka!
These are Persephone's basic Ranged creature. They're guys with bows and
arrows, that's it. BOOORING! In their favor, however, is the fact that
they sound like the Marines from Starcraft and that they have a special
ability called Divine Sight. This, when used, sends a ghostly eye out to
find the nearest enemy or neutral creature. This makes it immensely
useful at the beginning of the game, since you can use it to make rush
assaults on enemies that are still building a force, or to scoop up
villagers or zombies for a quick soul or two. Rangers themselves are
average Ranged units - just like other Ranged units, huge groups of them
will work best.
These are Persephone's basic Air creatures. Apparently, they're
Persephone's songbirds, but if it weren't for the manual and their
(funny) quotes, I doubt you'd be able to tell. They fire a green sonic
blast at enemies. It's not very strong, but it does knock the enemies
down for a moment, allowing your other troops to move in for an assault,
or giving you time to retreat. This is especially annoying if you send
your Shrikes against an enemy wizard, since getting knocked down lasts
quite a while with a wizard.
Shrikes can also use the Lifeshield, just like the Druids. They
definately need to, as they really can't take many hits without dying.
Scarabs are really big, pink, purring (yes, PURRING) spiders, pretty
much. They have no attack capability, instead they shoot a healing blast
at friendly creatures (technically, this makes them Ranged creatures, as
they require Mana). The AI for this is extremely intelligent, so a force
with a Scarab or two will last a lot longer than one without. Order them
to GUARD a specific creature if you want them to focus on healing that
creature, which is useful when used on powerful creatures or Heroes that
you must protect in a scenario. Also, when order to GUARD ME they'll
focus healing on you, which is quite useful.
They can also take quite a bit of punishment for a bug, as well, though
since they can't fight back it's not recommended to put them into a dire
situation on purpose.
Trolls are big, stupid Melee attackers, just like you'd expect them to
be. They have hilarious quotes (Troll happy! Troll scared! Troll
confused!), and they're very good in big groups. They don't move very
fast, though one-on-one they can take most other 2-Soul creatures in the
game. Also, they regenerate health about 3 times as fast as any of
Persephone's other creatures.
These are Ranged creatures. They have the funniest quotes in the game,
IMO (I'll call it...an invendibulator! You know, for kids!), but aren't
that great in combat. They use guns, which allow their attacks to
instantly hit the target. This is all well and good, but they have a big
cooldown delay between attacks. Used in big groups, they can be pretty
good, but otherwise they lack any particularly unique qualities.
These are Airborne creatures, and pretty good ones at that. They do
pretty good damage (though they don't use projectile attacks like most
Air creatures), and have the special ability to trap things in a web and
drag them over to them. This can work well when used with enemies that
hide behind others, like Manahoars. If you can get them out of their
protective area, you can cut off an enemy wizard's supply line.
These are disgusting Ranged creatures. They're really hideous, with one
eye situated in the middle of their shoulder, and their method of attack
is even worse - they pull chunks of meat off of themselves and fling
them at the enemy! This can do quite a bit of damage to a bunch of
creatures, since the meat chunks explode on contact. Also, when a Mutant
is killed, it heals all the friendly units nearby quite a bit. This
makes it useful to send a Mutant in with some Melee attackers. Make sure
to grab the souls the Mutant leaves behind, however.
This critter isn't mentioned in the manual. He's a four-legged spider
with his head under his belly. Ents have a special ability called
Protector, which is similar to Druids' and Shrikes' Lifeshield. The
difference is that this also affects all the creatures standing near the
Ent, as well as the Ent itself. They're very powerful Melee fighters,
and have a cool, demonlike voice too. If you send in a group with
Protector activated, they can take out most anything (except Air units)
that stand in thier way. The only problem is that they're very expensive
Soul-wise, and very slow.
Persephone's strongest creature. The Dragon is an Air creature (though
it DOES stand on the ground when it's not doing anything else) with a
rather intresting special ability, called Breath of Life. This, when
used on a friendly Blue Soul, will revive the creature the Soul used to
belong to. The Dragon itself is ridiculously powerful, tearing though 1-
Soul enemies like a hot knife through butter with wing-smacks and bites.
It's VERY expensive soul-wise, and is quite slow (though not as slow as
the Ent), but remains an excellent power unit. Have some Scarabs back it
up, along with an Ent to cast Protector and destroy Ranged units, and
you've got a pretty good SWAT team!
This is probably the best 5-soul creature, BTW, so try to take it in the
Single-player mode, unless you have been banned by Persephone by then...
Mike Pureka adds that the Breath of Life can possibly be the best
creature special ability in the game, due to the fact that it's much
faster than gathering the souls yourself.
-I- add that the above also keeps you out of the line of fire (or smash,
or eat, or such..)
James' units don't naturally heal like Persephone's, but they have a
huge defense power (since most are just rocks anyway!), as well as
useful special abilities.
Troggs are pretty much just cavemen, but they're probably the best basic
Melee attacker out of the 5. This is becase they are immune to magical
damage from enemy wizards, making them useful wizard slayers. They are a
tad slow, but do quite a lot of damage with clubs. Make a bunch, just
like any other basic creature.
James' basic Ranged unit, these have an intresting special ability. This
ability allows them to turn into a boulder - while enemies can see this
boulder, it's invulnerable, making it a great sentry! Earthflings attack
by spitting dirt at enemies. This is pretty effective, since they're
very accurate. Earthflings make great Guardians, due to their high
natural defense.
Gargoyles are James' basic Air unit, and they're pretty good. They
attack by tossing a hail of pebbles at the enemy, which, while a good
attack, doesn't do quite as much damage as other basic Air units. They
don't have a special ability, which sorta limits their usefulness later
in the game. They, like all other basic units, are great in hordes.
A Ranged unit, the Basilisk fires a ray at foes that turns them to stone
for about 5 seconds and does a minor amount of damage. These really
aren't worth the soul cost - they can't take many hits, and do so little
damage it's really not worth it, not to mention that a petrified enemy
takes about half damage from everything! Make 2 Earthflings instead, or
wait until your next level-up.
Mike Pureka - yup, that guy again - says that Basilisks can be good for
'repetrifying' an enemy wizard. No wizard means no spells! No spells
means a longer lifespan for your critters! Yay! Kudos!
Taurocks are great Melee troops. There's really not much to say about
them - they hurt when they attack things, and they can take a huge
beating. They don't have any special abilities or anything, so what you
see is what you get. The only notable thing about them is the fact that
as they take damage, they get better defenses, so killing one is a huge
chore. If you find yourself facing a herd of Taurocks, use Explosion, a
Vortick, or some other ability designed to throw something off of a
nearby cliff. This'll instantly kill the Taurock, and you won't have to
go to the trouble of worrying about its defense power.
The Boulderdash is a Ranged unit, and it's pretty darn good for 2 Souls.
The Boulderdash spits out three rocks in a spread attack, so it can hit
more than one critter at once. If you're close to something, all three
rocks will hit it at once, and you'll get a triple-damage hit on it.
This works great against non-moving Manaliths and Guardians.
The Ikarus is a powerful, slow Air unit, and it has a (rather useless)
special ability. It can throw glue on things and slow them down. Whee.
Big deal, it throws so slowly you'll never hit anything anyway. Instead,
use it like a basic Air troop - make a bunch and wreak some havoc.
The mountain lummox is a big critter, something like a bear, that can
throw stuff with its tail. James, Stratos, and Pyro each have their own
version of the lummox, and the Flummox is James' creation. It throws
massive boulders with its tail, and while it hardly ever hits what it's
aiming at (the rocks fly reeeaally slloowwwly), its attack does a huge
radius of splash damage. As you'd expect, if a boulder hits an enemy
instead of just the splash damage, you get a lot more for your money, so
Flummoxes are good with destroying Manaliths, which can't move, and
Guardians, who have been slowed down considerably.
The Jabberocky, is, well, kinda hard to explain. It's like a three-
legged spider with an elephant trunk. The Jabberocky is a Melee unit,
with the special ability to create a miniature earthquake around itself.
That's pretty useful, but it works best as a straight fighter. They're
very expensive, but like any other Melee fighter, it helps to make a
bunch.
Rinoks are Ranged fighters, and they attack by shooting spikes of stone
up through the ground at enemies. If you've ever played Starcraft, and
seen what the Lurkers and Spore Colonies do, well, you have an idea of
what Rinoks do. Rinoks are ridiculously hearty, they suck up damage like
a sponge, and are quite fast for a huge rock creature. They can also
cast the Halo of Earth spell as a special ability, but it works better
for you. Instead, just have them fight normally.
Stratos' units, as you would expect from this god, are primarily
concerned with speed. They're rather frail, so don't expect them to last
long. With Stratos' creatures, you'll want to be focusing on collecting
any dead souls and resummoning creatures during combat instead of
casting spells. In hordes, Stratos' forces can be extremely effective.
Stratos' basic Melee fighters, Frostwolves are, in one word, FAST! They
can blaze around, slicing up foes, with the best of them. Not to mention
the fact that they can use their special ability, Run Away, to move even
FASTER! They can take very little punishment, so be extremely careful
with them. (Also, Frostwolves have a funny Russian accent :-)
Sylphs are Stratos' basic Ranged combatants. They fire a bow at enemies,
and can use their special ability, Stealh, to go invisible until they
attack. This can be extremely useful in setting up ambushes, except that
Sylphs crumble in the fact of a Melee assault. Protect your Sylphs with
a wall of Frostwolves, to avoid getting stuck with Sylph chowder.
They're also cute ("La la la!") :-)
Braniacs are Stratos' basic Air unit. They're OK, as far as Air units
go. Basically, they're the same as Persephone's Shrikes (Brainiacs have
more health and lack a special ability), so use them the same way - get
hordes of them to fly in for an aerial strike. Make sure to back up
Braniacs with Frostwolves, to protect the Braniacs from Ranged
attackers.
The Vortick is a huge Ranged-attack bug, that creates a big vortex of
air to fling creatures around. It doesn't do much damage, but if a
creature is thrown off a cliff it is instantly killed (Wizards are sent
to their Altar) and the soul from it is gone forever. This is useful
when used against hordes of Scythes or Cogs, since they're light and eay
to throw around. The Vortick itself can't take much damage, so be
careful with it.
Squalls are also Ranged fighters, huge flightless birds that fire a wind
blast. This blast shoves foes backwards, so it is good against Melee
troops that could otherwise hurt the Squall. Make sure to hide the
Squall behind a stronger troop, just like you would the Sylph.
Storm Giants are powerful Melee attackers, and they have
an...interesting...special ability, Call Lighting. Call Lighting makes a
big lightning bolt strike the Giant for minor damage. However, it
increases its stats and makes it fling lightining bolts every which way.
This is definately worth the trouble, so use it whenever possible. Storm
Giants have a lot of both health and defense, so they make good
commandos.
Seraphim are Air attackers, and bear a big resemblance to Persephone's
Gremlins. Use them the same way, to reel in Manahoars and such for easy
kills and gibs, since Manahoars are girly little critters. Seraphim can
also stand their own in a fight, since they can scratch an enemy with
sharp claws.
Flurries are actually Stratos' version of James' Flummox - big bear-like
monsters that throw thing with their tails. These throw imploding
crystals, that suck in anything near the blast zone. This can be used to
toss things off of cliffs, just like the Vortick, and they do a goodly
amount of damage on their own right. Flurries are slow, but they can
suck up a huge amount of pain before croaking.
The Yeti is a big bear-like monster with huge claws that acts a lot like
Persephone's Trolls. It's a good Melee attacker, and doesn't have any
special abilities, so it's easy to use, too. It's a great shield for
absorbing missiles, too, due to its high health.
This thing is really wierd, like a crossbreed of a bear, eagle, and
dragon. It is an Air creature that spits frosty breath at foes. When the
breath hits, the foes are frozen into ice cubes for a few moments,
letting the Silverback breathe again and again. The Silverback is
really, really, REALLY big, and can take quite a lot of punishment. Use
it against a big group of low-level creatures, like Cogs, and watch the
Silverback make ice cream :-) Silverbacks are slow, but they can use
their Run Away special ability (the same as the Frostwolves') to move
faster.
Pyro is my personal favorite god, as his units strike the perfect
balance between speed (Flame Minions) and power (Warmongers/Phoenixes),
and his spells are incredibly powerful.
The Cog is Pyro's basic Melee creature, and is extremely similar to
Charnel's Scythe. It has no special ability, but when it is killed it
explodes into a cloud of steam that damages EVERYTHING nearby heavily.
Try to send Cogs in big groups, and when one dies, they'll all explode
in a chain reaction and take out a bunch of enemies. Don't forget to
grab the soul again.
Flame Minions are the basic Ranged creature, and are just about the same
as James' Earthflings. Similar looks and everything, they're even
related in the manual. They have the Run Away special ability, like the
Silverback and Frostwolf, so they can get into or out of a hairy
situation when they need to. Make sure to keep Manahoars nearby to
recharge them from all that shooting and running.
Spitfires are Pyro's basic Air minion. If you've fought Sorcha in the
Single-player mode, you've probably noticed that she summons a horde of
these, and when you're with Pyro you should do the same. They fire a
flame blast that adds up in damage when more Spitfires are attacking at
once. Spitfires can't take much punishment, but the enemy will probably
focus attacks on your Cogs, anyway. 6 or 7 Spitfires combined with a few
Flame Minions and Cogs is just about unstoppable, especially when you
can start adding in stronger units.
These are probably my favorite creature in the game - it seems that the
attack power of a flame blast doubles when a Spitfire attacks with
another, and keeps doubling as the blasts add up. Enough Spitfires will
make you a literally unstoppable force! Forget the Cogs and Flame
Minions!
The Ranged Tickferno is similar to the Vortick of Stratos, except that
this shoots a heat ray at enemies. The heat ray pretty much obliterates
all the Mana of whatever creature it hits as well as doing a goodly sum
of damage, making the Tickferno great for fighting wizards or other
Ranged creatures. The heat ray takes awhile to charge, so make sure to
keep Tickfernos in groups of 2 or 3 where each can shoot while the other
charges.
Firefists are mutated versions of Persephone's Trolls. They are good
Melee fighters, but have no special ability. The only unique thing about
them is that as they get weaker, their attacks get stronger. This is a
bit dangerous to play around with, as 2 souls is a bit expensive for
something you'll be sending into a suicide mission. Backed up by Cogs, a
Firefist can easily take out a group of Druids and Rangers or such.
The Ranged Pyromaniacs are alternate forms of Persephone's Gnomes, and
work about the same way, with one notable exception: Their attack sets
enemies on fire, similarly to the Rings of Fire spell. This does hordes
of damage against single enemies, so try to keep Pyromaniacs around for
when your opponent starts bringing out the 5-soul creatures.
Pyrodactyls are Air units and are very similar to Spitfires. They don't
attack at a range, however, instead they swoop down to claw the enemy.
They have a special ability that allows them to dump oil on foes, and
this makes the next fire-based attack that hits the oily enemy to set
them on fire, like the Pyromaniac's attack. Also, oily enemies are
blind, meaning they lose their current orders and are rendered useless
until the oil wears off (it takes quite awhile), making Pyrodactyls
useful against big, strong 5-soul creatures.
Bombards are Pyro's version of the mountain lummox, and these throw
bombs at enemies. The bombs knock enemies around, and are great for
throwing things off of cliffs. Bombards can take a lot of punishment,
like the Flurries of Stratos and the Flummoxes of James, however since
they're Ranged units you'll want to keep them behind Melee units, in
order to get the most out of their attack.
Warmongers are very strange, like a clown with tentacled legs and a
machine gun. They (and I SWEAR I'm not making this up) PRANCE around the
battlefield, it's quite humorous really. They sound (and act) like
commandoes, and they're Ranged units due to the gun. They do quite a bit
of damage, but it's disappointing when you use just one Warmonger, so
make a bunch, or don't bother. They can use their Firewalk special
ability to teleport around, making them good for setting up ambushes.
Pheonixes are Air units, and look nothing like you'd expect a Phoenix
to. They are huge insects with spinning pink feathers surrounding them,
and fire a heat ray similar to the Tickferno's, but a LOT stronger. This
makes them deadly single-enemy fighters, which is useful when you need
someone to hassle an enemy wizard as you desecrate his Altar. As you'd
expect for a 5-soul creature, Phoenixes can soak up plenty of damage, so
feel free to send them on the front lines.
Charnel's units are made for hit-and-run attacks, which never were my
cup of tea, so to speak. If you want to play a long, dragged-out game,
then Charnel's your man...er...god, as hit units usually do poisonous
damage that lingers over time. All but the Netherfiend regenerate health
when they attack, making them very resistant to dying (again).
Scythes are skulls with spinning blades on their heads, and regenerate
health as they attack (as do most of Charnel's other units). This makes
them the longest-lasting basic Melee unit out of the 5, as they just
don't seem to die! Like any other basic unit, and like I've constantly
said, use them in hordes for best results.
Fallen are dead versions of James' Earthflings, and are Ranged units
which attack by spitting bugs at enemies. Fallen can play dead,
essentialy the same thing as Earthflings turning into rocks. This lets
them heal themselves, and also allows them to set up ambushes, as you'll
see in some of the Single-player missions.
These are Charnel's basic Air units, and make great practice dummies in
the Tutorial missions :-) They attack by vaccuming up blood from
enemies, and drain life and Mana with each attack (giving it to
themselves!) making them good in swarms against wizards. Then again,
wouldn't you EXPECT swarms of Locusts to be useful?
Necryls are Ranged units that fire a poisonous bile at enemies. This
slows the foes (hey, that rhymes!), as well as constantly doing damage
over a short period of time. Necryls are wimpy, and will fall after 3 or
4 hits from most anything, so keep them in the back line away from
combat. Poisoning enemies is good for drawing out a fight while you
summon in reinforcements or use spells to damage foes.
The Blight is a big, icky rotting vulture. It's an Air unit, as you'd
expect, and does quite a bit of damage per hit. Of course, since it's
rotting away to begin with, it can't take too many hits, but if you're
careful with them that shouldn't matter that much. It regains health
when attacking, like most of Charnel's critters, and it has the
Blightmites special ability. This heavily slows down an enemy, and last
for a loooong time, so make good use of it.
Netherfiends are strong Melee troops, and they can become even stronger
by eating blue souls using their special ability. Personally, I think
this is a waste of a soul, since an eaten one NEVER comes back, even if
the hungry Netherfiend is killed! Other than their appetite,
Netherfiends aren't really that special, aside from a marked lack of
health that can get them killed real fast.
The Ranged Deadeyes are undead versions of Persephone's Gnomes, and thus
they work in much the same way. These shoot poisonous needles that,
well, poison things. This poison does damage initially, and also throws
off Ranged units' aim. This is very effective, and if that weren't
enough the poison also stops the target from being healed for a time!
These guys are great, use them whenever possible.
Abominations are Ranged units with a rather icky method of combat. They
reach into their stomachs and throw their own intestines at the enemies!
These globs will explode when they hit something, and shower the area
with splash damage as well. These guys have crummy aim, and the globs
can seriously harm your own creatures, so they're best used in pairs or
such, in order to avoid killing your own units.
The Styx is yet another Ranged unit. It throws bombs. LASER bombs (you
need to see it to understand it...). The bombs it throws do a goodly
amount of splash damage, making them useful in groups, as they don't
seem to overly harm your own creatures.
They also have cool voice samples. "I WANT YOUR ENERGYYYYY!!!!!"
While I DID say that the Styx eats souls, I was wrong. That happens to
me often (being wrong)... Instead of eating them, the Soul Rend ability
causes a huge EXPLOSION OF DOOM!! FIRE! DEATH! KILLLLLL!!!
Er, OK... Anyway, this EXPLOSION OF DOOM will most likely kill anything
within, er... 3 or 4 Manaliths range, more if there is a 2, 3, 4, or 5
Soul bunch. Careful with 4 or 5 Soul bunches, since this will usually
kill your Styx as well as anything nearby.
Kudos to, you guessed it, Mike Pureka for bringing my error to my
attention.
Hellmouths are Air units, and incredibly powerful ones at that. They
shoot some sort of brown glop out of their mouths, and this does
incredible damage for about 5 seconds to any one enemy. They can eat
souls, just like the Styx and Netherfiend, but you see the most
improvement here, making them the best gourmet cantidates. These guys
are great, use them whenever possible.
These guys have cool voice samples too. "NO MORTAL FORCE MAY HINDER ME!"
Each god grants their wizard a new spell each level, except at level 1,
when the wizard starts with Heal, Speed Up, and that god's basic Attack
spell, and level 8, when the wizard is awarded the 2 strongest Attack
and Effect spells for that god.
Spells cost Mana. It's that simple. I'm not going to list the Mana
costs, as they're simply not important. You'll regenerate mana so fast
that it doesn't really matter how much a spell costs.
The Structure spells are all the same for each god.
Persephone's magic focuses on more non-lethal abilities (well, except
possibly for Meanstalks, which impales enemies messily!), so it works
well in dire defensive situations.
Wrath is Persephone's basic Attack spell, and it's really nothing
special. You create a glowing light bullet, and throw it at an enemy. It
homes in on foes, and it goes through obstactles, something no other
basic spell does. Like all the basic spells, it works great for
defeating enemy Sac-Doctors.
If I'm not horribly mistaken, this spell's damage potential is just
barely below Fireball's, making it the second-best basic Attack spell.
Notice how, when you die, you essentialy become invincible? Spells and
creature attacks go right through you! That's what this does, without
the messy bit of dying. It's a great protection spell, even if it
doesn't last as long, as, say, Protective Swarm. It's cheap, too, at 500
Mana!
This spell holds a target in place. It's actually quite similar to
Stratos' Freeze spell, except that this doesn't wear off when the target
is attacked. Use it on creatures that tend to be a bit cowardly, like
Manahoars.
This spell causes a pretty rainbow to bounce between up to five of your
creatures, casting the basic Heal spell on each one. This is awesome,
since it costs the same 300 Mana as the basic Heal spell, and works
EXTREMELY quickly. Use it often in huge battles.
As the Rainbow only heals five creatures, make sure that the critters
you wish to cure are extremely close to each other.
Yes, that's right, Rain of Frogs. It does just what you think it does -
summon a horde of ribbity vengance on the disbelievers! DIE, HERETICS!
The frogs slow down the enemies they hit, but be careful, as they will
also go for your creatures too! After about a minute of slowing folk
down, they explode doing a goodly sum of damage to any enemy that
they're touching.
This spell enchants a creature (including yourself) to heal themselves
as well as any creature near it. This works best when cast on yourself
or a tough or unique creature (like Sirocco) as they will last the
longest to spread the healing to as many folk as possible. Healing
doesn't affect enemies.
This is similar to a wall of the Grasping Vines spell, and works about
the same way. Anything it touches can't move for quite a bit of time,
giving you a good chance to attack or retreat. Put a Vinewall in an
enemy's path as they try to retreat for some fun, as well as a horde of
free hits :-)!
This spell converts an enemy to your side PERMANENTLY (well, as far as I
can tell)! It's wonderful, making Persephone a great choice for
Multiplayer. The only problem with this is that it takes about a minute
to trigger after you select a target, but it will go through obstacles
to reach the selected foe.
Focus your efforts with this spell on the enemies 4- or 5-Soul creatures
for best results, as there is no way to avoid the spell's effects
(unless you are knocked out of your casting!)
This causes 4 beanstalks (about 20 feet tall each!) to grow out of the
ground. Any creature that gets nearby ends up IMPALED on a Meanstalk and
flung into the air (if getting impaled didn't gib them to begin with!).
Try to avoid getting your own creatures near this, as it affects you
also. If YOU get impaled on a Meanstalk, get ready to gain some frequent
flyer miles...
Oddly, the Meanstalks are rather docile to have such a painful means of
attack, so if they're busy attacking your enemies, you shouldn't have to
worry too much about them.
My friend Jesse loves this spell, but he has the annoying habit of
casting it too close to himself. Learn to avoid this, and cast it only
when your foes are far away (a difficult task, as the spell doesn't have
a long casting range!). I remember in particular a time when all 4 of
Jesse's Ents were turuned into Ent-ka-bobs on some Meanstalks when he
mistakenly cast it on himself.
James' magic is mostly concerned with area-effect attacks. They're quite
damaging to the terrain, leaving texture scars EVERYWHERE! With James'
spells, you're pretty much aiming for a group of enemies, and you don't
really care what happens to your own guys in the process.
This is simple. You wave your hands and chant. You make a rock. You
fling it at the enemy. Any questions? This is probably the least
convinient basic Attack spell, since unlike Wrath, Insect Swarm, and
others, the Rock is a physical object, meaning it can hit your own
creatures. With flying creatures, you'll likely end up smacking yourself
more times than you can count, so it's best to cast this when you're
alone.
The damage is somewhere between that of Wrath and Lightning Bolt.
A powerful protection spell, Stone Skin pretty much cuts all damage to
you by 3/4 of the original damage! It's great, and lasts for a long
time, and it doesn't take a long time to cast, and it's CHEAP! Follow
the computer players' example, and try to keep this on at all times,
especially when your altar is being desecrated, since it can keep you in
the game long enough to prevent the desecration.
Immensely useful. This spell sends out a burrowing mole to grab the blue
soul of your choice. What the manual doesn't tell you is that the mole
doesn't nesescarily have to burrow through LAND - you can easily get
souls from creatues who were killed over one of those huge pits you see
everywhere. This is great in "Always Gib" games, where any killed
creature yields a blue soul. The mole is FAST, too (as long as you're
standing a good distance away from the targeted soul), so don't worry
about the "soul stealing" that the manual warns about.
This is the first scarring spell you get. It causes the targeted area to
swweelll up like a volcano, then SLAM down, causing a shockwave to
literally RIPPLE the nearby area and leaving a crater. It knocks over
any creature near the shockwave, and enemies near the point of impact
take quite a bit of damage. If an Air unit is near the center of the
spell, they'll take damage too, but otherwise, they're immune to the
effects of this spell. This spell works great when used in a big group
of Cogs or Scythes or such, but be careful, since if you don't move away
from the point of impact, you'll likely get yourself with the shockwave!
If an enemy wizard is casting a spell and is knocked over, the spell
fizzles out and all the Mana involved is wasted. This is a great use for
Erupt, especially with spell-happy foes.
Just like it sounds, this brings up some rocks to orbit your wizard's
head. It makes about 5 or 6 rocks, and each one does approximately the
damage of the Rock spell. The rocks fly off at any enemy that gets
nearby. If no enemy gets close within about two minutes, the rocks
disintegrate and the spell is wasted. I didn't find this spell
especially useful, but it can make a good defense against Air attackers
in certain situations.
James' Rinok can cast this too, although his version is notably less
powerful than this.
This makes a wall of rock spikes that's about 5 Manaliths wide (for lack
of a better measuring unit :-). These actually impale any creatures that
get neaby, including your own. Once again, they don't affect Air units,
so birds and such can easily get by. This is a useful spell for when an
enemy wizard is trying to prevent your desecration of his Altar. Simply
barricade yourself in with a Wall of Spikes!
This is an incredibly damaging spell, not just to the enemies, but to
EVERYTHING nearby! It pulls up rocks from the ground and launches them
at the targeted enemy (or area) for about a minute and a half.
Ironically, the rocks hurt your creatures and you too, and the rocks
that get pulled up always happen to be right where you're standing.
These are very painful to anything they hit, and since the rocks all are
concentrated in one area, this spell is great to use on a Manalith with
a few Guardians. It'll usually seriously damage or kill most of the
Guardians (as well as most of your force too! Use with caution!)
No, I'm not kidding. This summons, yes, a COW to fly through the air and
obliterate the target area. Think of this as a mooing mortar. A really,
really, REALLY powerful mooing mortar. It leaves a huge scar-crater
where it hits, and delivers a TON of splash damage to anything near the
area of impact. While this works great on computer opponents, humans
will probably see the cow flying toward them (it does backflips and such
as it dives!) and perform evasive actions, so try to get an element of
suprise in with this spell. Manalith Guardians can't move, making them
excellent target practice :-)!
Apart from the long time before the cow actually hits the ground, this
is a generally ridiculous (as well as ridiculously powerful!) Attack
spell, and should be put to good use against Manalith Guardians.
Mike Pureka says that Bovine Intervention gibs things, and, as usual,
he's right...
This spell is the ultimate kill-all spell in James' arsenal. It makes a
drill appear and slice open a 5 Manalith by 5 Manalith (approximately,
and once again, I lack a better measuring unit!) area, and that area
becomes a huge pit as the earth there falls away. Anything that is
standing on a Bored area is instantly dumped into the hole. Creatures of
any level are removed from the game, as well as their souls, and wizards
are teleported to their altar. This is really a last-ditch spell, as
EVERYTHING within the area of effect is simply decimated. It can't be
used near a Manalith, and any neutral structures nearby are exempt from
the spell's effect, so the ground they stand on stays where it is. This
makes them a good shelter :-)
The effect of this spell is actually rather similar to what would happen
to a creature tossed off a cliff by a Vortick or such, though this is
quite a bit more far-ranging!
Stratos' spells mostly have to do with air and cold, as you would expect
from the God of Air. The freezing property is common with Stratos'
creatures and spells (it's not really that great...), as is the ability
to attack more than one creature at once, so expect stuff like that
here.
This is simply a basic Attack spell, with the useful twist of being able
to fry any creatures or structures between the lightning and its target
(though this is a rather rare occurence if the enemies are anywhere near
being spread out). To get the greatest effect, aim for the creature in
the back of a group, while at the top of a hill. The lightning will arc
down the hill and zap quite a few members of the enemy group.
A pretty basic protection spell, this is very similar to James' Shield
of Earth. It makes a, well, Air Shield around you for a while, which
reduces damage by quite a bit. It comes in handy on the off chance that
you become the main target for enemies in a heated battle. My only qualm
with this is the pitiful amount of time it lasts. Shield of Earth has a
much longer duration, so it can be cast before combat, while this wears
off in about 2 minutes. Pitiful!
This simply does what it says - freezes the targeted enemy in it's
tracks. This works on ANY enemy, and never 'miises' or such, so you're
gar-un-teed to get an ice cube out of anything you fire this at. If you
shoot it at a wizard casting a spell, the spell fizzles and all the Mana
they were using to casts it fizzles as well, making them a prime target
for Freezing. It's funny to Freeze a wizard who is conjuring a Manalith,
as the 'Lith explodes into a billion little pieces :-)
The problem with Freeze is that the slightest attack made upon a Frozen
creature results in the creature being instantly released from stasis
(though the actual effect lasts a rather pitiful time anyway!). Thus,
you want to get in a strong attack before the effect ends, like a
Silverback blast or such.
Chain Lightning is about the same thing as a Lightning spell, with the
notable distinction of zapping any enemies standing near or next to the
target. This comes in handy when used on a horde of weaker minions, but
is rather ineffective on stronger creatures. Try this on a group of
enemy Manahoars to make a big mess!
This conjures up a tiny tornado that rushes over to a blue Soul, grabs
it, and brings it back over to you. This is great (though much more
expensive than it's James counterpart, the Soul Mole), however it comes
with an even more useful function: As it rushes over to grab the soul,
it blasts any enemies that get too close with Lightning!
This makes it a more effective way to get Souls than the Soul Mole, as
it can defend itself from Soul thieves. Like the Mole, this is one of
the few ways
to grab the souls of creatures that were killed over chasms.
Remember Zelda: Ocarina of Time? Remember how one of the bosses fired a
beam at you? Remember how the beam made a big area of ice that froze you
when you touched it? NO?! Well, that's what this does. Essentially, it's
an area-effect Freeze spell, which makes it great as a combo spell.
Simply freeze the ground around a group of foes, and cast Chain
Lightning to make some havoc! Wheeeee!
Like the Freeze spell, this is cancelled if the foe-sicle is attacked,
as well as thawing after about 10 seconds, so make your move quickly!
The actual frozen area of ice lasts quite a while, so it's a better
choice than Freeze against even single enemies.
OK, if you don't remember Ocarina of Time, than you HAVE to remember
NetStorm! Remember how some of the buildings made a defensive barrier?
Remember how the Thunder version of the barrier shot lightning at folks?
NO?! Well, this is just about the same as that!
A big wall made of floating spheres appears. Any enemy that gets too
close to this wall is zapped with a strong Lightning bolt. It lasts an
abnormally long time, making it good to prevent enemy retreats, though
it can cause friendly fire! Be careful!
This makes an odd void in the sky that absolutely CHARBROILS anything
standing nearby with Lightning! It does a massive amount of damage to a
huge radius of foes, so the only complaint you could possibly have here
is the ridiculous charging time or the fact that the Lightning seems to
hunt out your own creatures for destruction :-)
Stratos' Ultimate spell, Tornado does just what it sounds like - it
makes a tornado. This is a MASSIVE tornado (In scale, think of Pyro's
Volcano spell. If you've never seen that, think Twister, only MORE so!)
that gets anything within about a 6 or 7 Manalith radius and literally
FLINGS them about 5 Manaliths away! You're almost garunteed to get
yourself in this spell, as well as most of your minions, unless you
order your troops into Semicircle formation, have them Guard you, and
you start RUNNING as soon as your spell finishes. This spell actually
does relatively little damage compared to, say, Meanstalks, but the main
purpose of it is to throw folks into chasms, as well as dividing enemy
forces in order to make them easier to beat.
Mike Pureka adds that if you cast Tornado further away from yourself,
you won't catch yourself in it. Duh. Am I stupid or what? ;-)
He adds that if you catch up an enemy wizard in it, you can distract
them for quite a while, making it good for Desecration.
Pyro's spells, as you would expect from the God of Fire, all have to do
with damaging the enemy. Even the Protection spell, Fireform, is more of
a "keep-them-away" spell rather than a "less-damage-to-you" spell, know
what I mean?
This makes a meteor and flings it at the target. That's it. It, unlike
Rock, goes through your own creatures in order to strike the target, and
does minor splash damage. Most any 1-Soul creature will die from Pyro's
basic Attack spell.
A Protection spell in only the strictest definiton of the term. You
become surrounded by fire, and this does a huge amount of damage to
anyone dumb enough to get close to you. Try setting this spell on, and
then running into a group of puny enemies or Manahoars. This is a great
way to 'soften up' enemy forces before a direct assault, but don't
forget that if they kill you, you're just Desecration fodder!
This is sort of like a faster-acting 'Poison' effect. The target is
surrounded by rings of fire which quickly drain away life at about 1/4th
every 10 seconds to a normal foe. This will go on until the target is
dead (for weak minions) or about 1/2 of the life is gone for a stronger
critter. This is effective on things like Ents or Styxes, which, while
strong, can't take too much punishment.
A pretty flashy Attack spell that creates a dragon out of fire. The
dragon then slams into an enemy 3 times before dissipating. If the
target dies, it picks a new target.
I don't know why, but I never found this very useful. It just doesn't do
enough damage to be worthwhile. Cast it at least once to see the awesome
animation, though...
This makes 6 fire spheres appear in a ring formation. They grow, and,
after a few seconds, explode. This flings any nearby creatures up, up,
upppp into the air (and, if you're lucky, off a nearby cliff!). Manalith
Guardians are tossed around like a Chihuaua in a wind tunnel (Good
analogy, huh? Even if I DID spell 'Chihuaua' wrong), and that's just
about worth the price of admission in itself! Add to that the huge
amount of damage it does, and you've got a great often-used spell.
This is similar to Stratos' Cloudkill, except instead of raining
Lightning, we get raining Fireballs. These are *PAINFUL* when used on a
massed force of foes, and produce lots of gibbed enemies (and blue
Souls!). Don't try casting this in a big fight - it takes too long.
The target enemy goes to work wreaking havoc on the nearest creature, be
it friend or foe. Cast this on a Hellmouth or Phoenix or such and watch
the fireworks! It's pretty quick, relatively, to cast, especially when
you consider the time it takes to conjure up the next spell...
This spell makes the ground spell up under the target. After it gets
about 1 Manalith high, it EXPLODES, firing a massive tower of liquid
lave into the sky (which DEFORMS the sky, BTW!) and launching lava rocks
everywhere. This causss carnage - there's no other way to put it.
Anything within a 4-Manalith radius is dead meat. If there's anything
actually TOUCHING the lava, grab a shovel and a priest - they're NOT
coming back. Only the Phoenix and perhaps a wizard with full health can
survive touching the lava for long. This is truly a last-ditch spell -
put your units in Semicircle formation before casting it, have them
guard you, and FALL BACK after the casting is over, if you want any of
your minions to live through the havoc. Yay for havoc.
Charnel's spells are mainly used for slowing down, poisoning, or
'draining' health from enemies. Charnel mostly has to focus on using his
creatures for direct damage.
This is Charnel's basic Attack spell. It summons up a horde of insects
that run into the targeted enemy, and do a minor amount of damage. This
teensy-weensy amount of damage is given to you as healing. Whoopee. This
really isn't worth the time it takes to click on the icon.
This is similar to Insect Swarm, except here the insects are centered
around you. Anything that gets too close has their health drained and
given to you. Yay for extra health. This is a lot better than Insect
Swarm, AND the shield of insects reduces damage given to you by quite a
bit, and lasts a long time. Definately bind it to a hotkey or such.
This creates a glob of slime to slow the enemy down. This can heavily
annoy faster creatures, and slows down already slow creatures to a
crawl. Not only that, but it also heavily reduces the damage the target
can do, and decreases their defense. Yay for reducing defense. Use this
on tough foes.
This does just what it says it does - when cast on a blue soul (and I
mean a FRIENDLY blue soul - no cheating by gibbing enemies!) it bring
the creature back to life. This is cheap mana-wise and usually saves a
lot more time (well, as long as you used a hotkey to start up the spell)
than resummoning the creature, so it can be useful in a big battle to
bring back your more powerful creatures.
This makes a portal under you, which launches about 7 pink missiles
(demons?) to attack the targeted enemy and anyone nearby. This is
immensely painful when used on weaker creatures, and makes a huge mess
even when used on tougher foes. The only (slight) problems with this bit
of magic is the long casting and charging times, but that can be
overcome with strategy. Use this often.
This makes a big red wall in the targeted area. Anything coming into the
wall has their health and Mana reduced by quite a bit. Lesser Ranged and
Flying creatures often find themselves without ANY Mana to fight with,
and wizards have a biiig problem on their hands if they happen to go in.
It lasts for a long time, too, making it great for stopping an enemy
charge or softening up a tough attacking force.
This opens a rift in the air above the targeted foes, out of which drop
blobs of nasty red goo, doing initial damage heavily poisoning anything
they touch, reducing it's health steadily. Unlike most games, there's no
cure for poison here, making this a great choice for stationary Guardian
creatures (who can't dodge the goo!) This affects your own creatures
too, so be careful!
I think I spelled that right. This is like a heavily charged-up version
of a basic Attack spell. It does massive damage to one targeted
creature, making it good on only tougher foes (anything less is a
waste). For the damage it does, this takes wayyyy too much Mana and has
too long a charging time. Use it as support in battles if you must use
it.
Technically, this spell is closer to a supercharged Rings of Fire - it
does direct damage, plus kills in about 5 seconds, no matter what. Guess
who told me that? That's right - Mike Pureka. Kudos to him.
This summons Death, who's a Manalith tall (bigger than any other
creature in the game!). Death goes on a rampage, slicing enemies into
tiny chunks. One hit from those scythes he has for hands is enough to
kill ANYTHING! After Death finishes ravaging all nearby enemies, he then
turns and attacks YOUR creatures, so watch out! Make sure not to be too
close to Death when he's done! Death refuses to lay a finger on wizards
or structures, however he WILL attack Guardian creatures.
Death leaves after about a minute, which is more than enough to massacre
a horde of enemies, no matter how strong. Do NOT try to use death on any
small forces or such, since he'll decide your own guys are more tasty
than the enemy, and go after you!
Persephone's starting mission places you in control of a small force in
Elysium, Persephone's home plane. Your job is to take your little group
and placidate the Gnomes, who are warring in a region called Pelannon.
To begin with, cap the Mana fountain nearby with a Manalith. Easy
enough, no? Make 2 Manahoars, order them to Guard you, and go along the
dirt road in front of the Manalith you just made. Eventually, you'll
come across a village. There you'll meet a Gnome, who'll join you. What
a pal. Gnomes are good Ranged fighters, especially at the moment when
you can't get anything better.
Follow the path again, fighting off any puny Charnel creatures until you
reach two fighting gnomes. You talk them out of fighting automatically,
and they also join you. Now you're beginning to get a sizable army, and
it'll be even larger if you Convert the red souls from Charnel's puny
minions.
Continue, once again, along the path, until you get to the last village
on the island. Feastus, the rogue Gnome, is there, and he decides to
stop going rougue, so to speak, and rejoin Persephone. There's a minor
fight with more Charnel critters here, but nothing that anything smarter
than a lump of Brie couldn't handle.
Yay, you've won the first mission, possibly the most minor
accomplishment in any game, ever!
James' mission is my favorite of the 5, due to the fact that James is
well, such a nice down-to-EARTH guy, and it's easy :-)
You begin with a little girlie army. Take these pitiful minions and cap
the Mana fountain with a Manalith. Make 2 Manahoars for all your Mana
needs, and move along to the EAST if the Manalith is SOUTH to reach a
village.
Here, you'll meet some villagers who'll tell you about dragons attacking
their village. Easy enough to defend them from anything that comes by...
When you're done there, head to the points of light. Those are the
dragon dens the villagers were telling you about. It's a simple task to
smash up the baby Dragons that attack and crush the dens with an iron
fist.
When you've taken out all the dens, and after a short cinema scene, this
mission's over, and you've won. Dance a dance of victory, and send me
all the money that relatives send you as congratulations, since you KNOW
I am what allowed you to do this.
Stratos has the least combat-intensive mission - you only fight about 3
times the whole time, and otherwiee you're either walking or talking.
Easy enough.
You meet Sara Bella at the start of this mission, and she appears to be
a giant, flying blue beehive with bat wings. Rather strange, if you ask
me. Sara Bella is very annoying, as she will fly in the way of your
camera at all costs to herself, obsuring your vision. Make her stay on
point or something so you can see, or keep the view zoomed in and watch
the framerate slow to a crawl.
Cap the Mana fountain with a Manalith, make 2 Manahoars, etc. etc. If
you read the above missions, you'll note you're pretty much doing the
same thing each time you start out. Whatever...
Now, our job is to go to the points of light and cap the Mana fountains.
The capping of the fountains is actually unnescesscary, since all that's
really happening is Sara Bella examining the ghost haunts that the light
points indicate. The entire Manalith thing is just to occupy ourselves.
You might encounter some Scythes and Locusts on the way to each point,
and maybe a Fallen or two. Don't worry - Sara Bella could take these out
single-handedly, but doesn't need to since you start with a meager troop
selection.
When you've finished looking at each ghost haunt, including the biiiig
temple in the northeast, you win. Get some friends together and stage a
gala ball congratulating yourself on this achievment.
If you finished this mission quickly, Stratos will grant you a boon -
more Mana capacity, or more Speed. I'd take the Speed.
Pyro's missions, as you'd expect from the God of Fire, are pretty much
entirely combat-oriented, and the first one is no exception.
Cap the Mana fountain with a Manalith, summon 2 Manahoars, and take them
and your starting troops down the path. When you reach a bridge, a Druid
there doesn't like the idea of you crossing. Politely chastise him, with
a subtle method such as dismemberment, before he gets the chance to
summon his friends, all their friends, all the extended families of
those friends, and the population of Russia on you.
Blow up the Manalith here and recap it with your own. Don't bother using
Guardians - it's literally impossible to lose this mission. Follow the
path, slaying Persephone critters along the way, until you reach a
village with the Daven Tree. As you might recall, your job is to BURN
the Daven Tree.
This is the only starting mission that introduces you to one of
Sacrifice's more intriguing aspects - you can switch sides in mid-
mission in most cases. You are given a choice - burn the tree, or side
with Persephone and protect it?
Siding with Persephone results in all of your Pyro creatures turning
against you and getting teleported away. They'll be back, so summon some
more to get ready. Also, the Druids and Rangers here will be on your
side now. Kill your former minions to win.
Staying with Pyro is easier - kill the druids, burn the tree. It's
really that easy.
If you stay with Pyro, make a point of killing all the Peasants here.
Charnel will grant you a boon for such 'art', and you are given the
choice of more Mana capacity or more Damage Resistance. I'd take the
Resistance.
Charnel's missions fall into two categories - "KILL SOMETHING" or
"BANISH SOMEONE". Well, they have fancier descriptions, but it really
just boils down to that.
In this mission, you need 12 Fallen to scare away a Dragon guardian the
Ragman, and you need to keep a big Scythe named Gangrel alive to cut the
Ragman's chains. Who the Ragman is, and why he's so darn important, will
be explained later.
For now, cap the Mana fountain with a Manalith, summon 2 Manahoars, and
move out with your minions. Any puny fiends that attack you will
immediately meet Gangrel's business end, and will from then on cease to
annoy you.
Charnel says that if you need souls to help with your 12 Fallen, to kill
the Zombies. DON'T! Let them live for now! Trust me.
Instead, convert any and all enemy creatures. When you've got them all,
that should be just about enough for the 12th Fallen, so take it to the
Ragman's cave. In a Cinema scene, you DON'T watch the awesome battle in
the cave, and later the Ragman appears unharmed. He thanks you, leaves,
and since you showed mercy to the Zombies Persephone grants you a boon.
Persephone will give you either increased Life capacity, or a faster
regeneration rate when you die. As you'd expect, the regeneration rate
is more useful, so I usually take that.
You win! Call the relatives, we're havin' a hodown!
*Manahoars cannot fight, period. Do NOT send them into ANY combat
situation, period. Do NOT allow them to be targeted by magic, period.
*Most human enemies will not heavily use Guardians, and you shouldn't
either. While they become very strong as Guardians, most creatures won't
stand up to the punishment they'll take due to not being able to avoid
enemy attacks. Also, the creatures' souls are pretty much wasted, as
they can no longer fight for you. Guardian cannot turn the tide of a
battle, but used carefully it CAN improve a winning situation.
*Basic Attack spells will kill Sac-Doctors instantly. Period. This is
great, since killing a Sac-Doctor running away to Convert one of your
creatures will instantly resurrect that creature with half it's max
health and without you having to pay a heavy Mana or Soul cost. For this
reason, it's good to cast Speed Up or such on your own Doctors to
protect them from attackers, though it's not nescesscary to escort them
to a conversion. If you feel they need an escort, order your creatures
to Guard them by right-clicking on them. Set guarding you as a Waypoint
with a shift-right-click on yourself, and they will return to you when
the conversion is over.
During a Desecration, killing ANY of the Desecrating Doctors will stop
the ceremony (but free the creature being sacrificed!) so go out of your
way to protect your Doctors in such a situation.
*Speaking of Desecrations, ANY creature belonging to you can be used as
a Sacrifice, even a Manahoar or such, but a stronger creature will cause
the ceremony to finish faster. When a wizard whose altar is being
desecrated dies, the ceremony finishes, and the more souls a creature
has, the more damage the ceremony does to the enemy.
*If YOUR Altar starts being Desecrated (Heaven forbid!), you are
instantly brought back to life if you are dead, so get to stopping it!
If you die again, you're OVER, so be CAREFUL!
*You can't cast direct Attack spells on your own guys, but physical
spells (like Rock) WILL hit them, so move them out of the way!
*It's better to have many 1-Soul creatures than one 5-Soul one, but 2 5-
Souls can kill at least 10 1-Soul ones, so try to get a good mix in.
*ALWAYS keep the Heal spell at the ready (H Key by default) in case a
Desecration starts and you need to stay alive to stop it.
*NEVER allow an open Mana fountain to STAY open. Stick a Manalith on it,
pronto, if only to distract your enemy for a moment while you can set up
an assault!
*The Flummox, Flurry, and Bombard have attacks that'll hit ANYTHING in
their way, so try to keep your own guys out of the line of fire (The
Flurry can be particularly dangerous, as its attack tends to throw
things off of cliffs!). Other Missile units usually won't hit your own
creatures with attacks.
*I prefer keeping the camera zoomed out as far as possible. Not only
will this improve the framerate on most machines, it gives you the best
possible view of the battlefield.
*Vorticks, Tickfernos, and Scarabs, among other creatures, use a Beam
attack that will hit any ENEMY creature (well, FRIENDLY creature in the
Scarab's case) that gets in the way, but WON'T hit friendly ones (Or
enemies for the Scarab)
This FAQ was made by Katman (cgalliher@cablespeed.com). So says
Nekomata, and Nekomata may always be trusted.
Mike Pureka contributed the largest amount ever to this FAQ, which isn't
that big a milestone since no one else has contributed. I've said it
before and I'll say it again - KUDOS TO MIKE PUREKA! His only fault is
that he attempted to compare the Playstation2 to the Dreamcast, and that
certainly angers Nekomata.
In any case, all my FAQs have now been 'adopted' by some frequent
contributor. For Fallout 2, it was Ari. For Azure Dreams GBC, it was
Steven Lai. For Sanity, it was Ben Harris and Deus Noctis, and here it's
Mike Pureka. Kudos to all of them.
*I don't like Jay Leno, instead I like Letterman. If you want to discuss
their respective qualities, feel free to write me!
*I don't like country music. Some people do - more power to 'em.
*I don't like Fear Effect or it's sequel. They're too hard.
*I don't like Saga Frontier 1, though 2 is actually pretty good.
*I don't like it when people bug me about my opinions of the Sega
Dreamcast. If it's such a crappy system that they gave up producing it,
am I not justified in saying it's crappy?
More later, assuming anyone gets on my nerves again.
Katman is a 14-year old guy living in the vicinity of Spain. If you
don't like the fact that he's 14, well, tough cookies, and don't bother
writing him.
Katman has written FAQs on Azure Dreams GBC, Fallout 2, and Sanity:
Aiken's Artifact. Read them.
Katman is working on FAQs for Persona, Robopon - Sun Version, Metal
Walker, and Dragon Warrior Monsters. Await them with bated breath,
assuming he ever gets around to finishing them.
Katman has a fan club called the Katkateers, which you can join if you
ask nicely.
Katman's favorite games at the moment are Oni, Sacrifice, Silhouette
Mirage (the best game of all time!), and Final Fantasy Tactics. Oh yeah,
Persona 2 is awesome too.
Katman's least favorite games at the moment are Fear Effect, Dune 2000,
and anything involving sports.
Katman has won the FAQ bounty for Sanity: Aiken's Artifact. Congratulate
him.
Speaking of Katman's Sanity FAQ, do you suddenly feel a huge, crushing
need to read it in Croatian? Go to 'www.gamenet.hr' to do so, though
Katman himself can't read Croatian...
This FAQ is copyright Cory Garett Galliher, 2001. All Rights Reserved.
If you post this without asking, you will be shot. Or I'll cast
Intestinal Vaporization on you. If you ask, you will be approved with a
smile. Now how much of a moral dillema is that?
Oh, one last thing... go to 'benjita.terrashare.com/dbzrpg.html'...I
play as Nail, say 'Hi!'
