Exile can be a rather tricky game to get started in. The foes are many, and the cash is scarce. This is a quick guide for how
to get started in a comfortable way, step by step.
This section is excerpted from the hint book, a repository for all manner of useful Exile information. It gives a lot of secrets away. Don't read this unless you're pretty stuck.
This is not a guide for everything you should do early in the game. It only says where the goodies are, not where all the valuable information is. Don’t be afraid to take a break from looting to talk to people for a bit.
1. OK. You have a fresh party, standing in the middle of Fort Exile. First, go find Tor, in one of the buildings to the south. Ask him about ‘supplies.’ He will give you food, gold, and crude weapons.
2. After Fort Exile, go to Silvar. It’s due west. Once there, buy a bit more food (it’s cheap in Silvar), and a few better weapons.
3. Now for the Silvar freebies. Search the bookshelves in the town hall. You’ll find a scroll of fireball. Then go to the abandoned shop on the west side of town. Kick down the door, and then go through the door in the south wall. Save the game and keep going through the trap until you get past it with no deaths. Search the crate to get a nice weapon. Then go rest at the inn until you’re at full strength. Finally, go through the secret door at the back of the field with the cows. There’s a nice combat there. It’s tricky, but the loot is often good.
4. That cleans all the easy goods out of Silvar. Now find Fort Duvno, north of Fort Exile. Talk to people there. Rest up. It’s time for your first dungeon.
5. The bandit fort is atop the hill a bit west and a little north of Fort Duvno. First, circle the hill to the south. You’ll find a nice weapon. Then enter the bandit fort. There is a third nice weapon in a crate in the blocked off room to the northwest (you’ll have to find a secret door). Kill all the monsters in whatever way you see fit. There are several chests in their lair. Also, there is a goodie hidden in the mage’s bookshelf, and there are two chests in a room to the south, guarded by two spirits. You need to enter the room from the east.
6. Now, after training and exploring, go north. To the northeast you will find an abandoned camp. Search the wall nearby. In a secret cave, you will find a supply cache.
7. Now go to the new Nephilim fort, in the north wall of this huge cavern. Fight lots of goblins and Nephilim. There are two very nice things here. First, search for secret doors in the quarters to the very northwest. You’ll find some nice loot and a bronze key (very useful later). Then search for secret passages in the room with the lizards to the very southeast. In the secret cave, search the body. The ring you find is a nice item, and worth a lot of cash to boot.
There are other treasures hidden here, but those are the big ones.
8. Now, if you feel like, there is one more dungeon in this area - the bat cave. It’s down a passage in the northeast corner of this cavern. There are two good treasures, but you have to fight a lot to get to them. After a lot of dead bats and a secret passage or two, you will find a huge lava pool. Look across the lava. The special you will see is a bunch of gold and a potion of Ambrosia (total healing). Walking around the lava you will find an altar with a bunch of gold worth of gems and a pair of magic gauntlets. It’s a nice haul, but not necessary to win the game.
By this point, you should have a reasonably powerful party with some nice items and some change. It’s time to do some real adventuring.
9. Head north to Formello. Ask the mayor about her ‘necklace.’ The mission she sends you on is the beginning of great things. Go clean out the three level Nephilim fort to the west. Then onward!
