In this game, you can form up a party of up to six characters. There are many classes you can choose your character from. The most important statistics in this game is foresight, strength, endurance and body points. Good foresight will allow your characters to foresee the opponents moves and respond to it. Balance represents your character's courage when faced with terrifying creatures. Speed is also not very crucial as speed boot can be found in the game. In this game you will find lots of quests to complete. The main aim is to rescue Seggallion the knight from Pildar. To complete the game, you will need to complete all 24 quests in the game.
General tips and combat
The map is rather big and you will need to explore it thoroughly. Every towns/areas have an entry point, and if you did not position yourself at the right place, you won't be able to get inside there.
When you are creating your party, make sure that you have a good mix of characters from the different races. There are certain location where certain races are not welcome, ie the person there won't talk to a certain race. Make sure you have at least two characters from difference races with charisma above 80 so that you can obtain quests from people of all kind. Have one or more archer with very good foresight. Get at least one kelder as they are the strongest fighter.
As for spell caster, make sure they have at least intelligence of 70 so that they can join magical order. You will need at least two spell caster for those tough battle against giants.
Tips on how to gain money and extra items:
In this game, money is very important, because you need cash to save your party to the inn, buy weapons and armours. And if you lose a combat battle, there is a high chance for you to be robbed. But, there is no option for you to transfer money from one character to another in this game. You can only trade items between characters.
So it is very important to learn how to gain extra money.
To gain extra money is a tedious but rewarding job. You must first create a few dummy characters, preferably Brettle Regular because they start off with 3000 GC. Have them bought as much plate armour as possible. Then, trade the armour to a single one of them, said dummy A. Now, save dummy A to to the disk by going to the inn, do not save the rest of the dummies. At this point, quit the game by pressing ctrl-q when you are outside the inn. Load the game again, this time bring in your own party. Leave an extra room for the dummy, Have him trade all his armours to your party. Do not save the dummy afterwards. After that sell the armours to the armour shop for extra cash. Repeat this as many time as you like until you are satisfied with your money. You should give the dummy the most expensive item possible so that the number of time you need to repeat this is lesser.
With this in mind, you can also give the dummy any useful items you may want to duplicate, eg Truth Sword, courage coat, etc. Make sure you keep at least one copy of these items in your dummy, because you might lost your weapons when you flee from any battle.
Combat:
The combat sequence in this game is extremely long. When in combat, let your archer check through all the opponents action by aiming at all possible enemy. Take note of the oppenents move and their direction of attack. Your archer must have high foresight in order to see their moves. Have your characters respond to the attack using the information you have gathered.
Jump is very effective against attack to the lower part of the body. Duck is very effective against high attack. As for attack to the middle, backup is useful though it sometimes depend on your weapon defensive skill. With higher skill level, you can parry the opponent attack even when you move straight into their blade. To kill opponents fast, attack their chest (berserk) until it is all red, then with another attack to the chest, you can kill them instantly. Attack to the arms will disable their arms so that they cannot fight anymore. Attack to the legs will make them impossible to jump. So, the usual option for attack is : thrust to the area the opponent is moving. Jump, duck if you know that your opponent is attacking in that area. Backup and thrust to the middle if your don't know what your opponent actions are.
When you find the truth sword, you can kill most of the opponent easily. The sword is powerful and light weight. However, you will almost certainly get wounded during the battle because you can't improve your skill for it. However, if you greatsword skill is high, you hit slightly better.
Before your characters found courage coat, you may find your characters frozen in terror when face with creatures like trolls, giants, etc. This is because your characters courage is not high enough and the only way to overcome it is to wear a courage coat.
If you encounter creatures your party cannot due with, don't be afraid to flee the battle. But before you flee from the battle, put your weapon back to your belt first, otherwise you might lost your weapons in the process. However, this does not apply to missile weapons like bow, crossbow, etc. ie you may still have them in hand when you flee.
When your party is on horseback, there is a option for you to attempt to run away. Learn how to recognise which message represent what kinds of creatures. If you think that you can win them, don't run away, whack them for more experience points and items. Also, don't run away from travelling healer, otherwise you will have to pay for healing in town.
Magic :
Your characters can only join one magic order at one time.
And they cannot quit the order they are in. It is best to learn as many difference kinds of spells from all the difference order before you try to join any order.
Though you can only learn the basic spells if you don't join any order, when you join an order later, you will be able to modify those spells you have already learned but the only thing you cannot change is the race. For example, if you have join the white pearl order, you can only select spells for human and elves, but if you have already learn some spells for dwarf and kelder before joining the order, you will be allowed to modify the spell for dwarf and kelder provided you don't change the race, ie you may also heal a kelder greatly though you are in the white pearl order.
You will be allowed to modify spells only if you have join a certain magic order. To modify the spell, you will need enough experience point to do the modification. The more powerful the spell, the more expensive it will be. When you are in the modify spell menu, use the arrow keys to select and modify the parts of the spell. As for races in which subclass need to be specified, try to learn a spell that is higher in the subclass list, ie at the bottom of the list. If your spell can effect a certain subclass, than all other subclass below it will also be effected. For example, if your spells effect the subclass 'walbar', than it can effect the rest of the subclasses because it is the highest subclass.
Magic Order :
Order Location Races
============================================
White Pearl Brettle Human,Elf
Blue Gem Tegal Forest Kelder,Dwarf
Black Onyx Shellernoon Elemental
Secret Storm Poitle Lock Giant
Red Mist Thimblewald Legendary
Dark Stone Olanthen Undead
Gaining Levels and Skills:
In this game, you might not advance in certain skill level because this game is opened for expansion and there is a option to harbour masters from other scenerio. So, do not be disappointed when you cannot find the appropriate masters to advance your skills.
I have list below a list of all the weapon master I have found and what level they will teach. You can use it to choose the skill you would like to learn. If you intend to carry on with the next scenerio, you may try to pick those better skill like greatsword, great axe, etc. But if you just want to play this scenerio only, you might choose those skills in which you can gain higher skill level. But you have to remember one thing, you may only learn up to four skills. The number of skill point you can have is dependent on your rank. The formula is as follows :
total skill points = 20 * level
where peasant = level 1
serf = level 2
.... etc
So, if you manage to reach level 25 which is Knight - Baronet, you learn up to 25*20 = 500 skill points.
Since most weapon have a offense and defense skill, said 100 skill point each, then you may learn up to two hand weapons and a missile weapon. For the hand weapons, you may choose a one hand weapon followed by a two handed one.
At higher level, you foresight will improved, and will hence hit more often. But in long run, a higher skill level is crucial to your success in the game.
When you train with a weapon master, you can train at most 5 skills level per session and you need the corresponding amount of experience. A raw estimate is about 100 experience points to 1 skill level. You may gain experience by winning battles or completing quests. When you have used up the amount of skill points you can have for your current level, you will be asked to fight in the arena. If you refuse, you will never be promoted to a higher rank. The arena is located somewhere north of Brettle. Just follow the north road, after passing a 3 ways junction, head north for about 2 days and you will see a building by the side of the road. This is the arena, where you will fight a monster randomly chosen. If you lose the battle, you will be kick out of it and you will have to try again. If you win, you will gain a level. So, prepare yourself carefully before entering the arena because you will have to fight the monster alone without the help from the rest of the party. Learn the weak points every kind of creatures and react to it. A Truth Sword is very effective against man sized creatures but if the opponent skill is high, try to use your skill against it.
The masters and their skills :
Fortress of Brettle, Hvrad Myth
Longsword 0 - 30
Broadsword 0 - 30
Short Spear 0 - 30
Battle Axe 0 - 30
Tower at 3-way junction north of Brettle, Fistan Stockhard
Broad Axe 0 - 45
Hand Axe 0 - 45
Hvy Crossbow 0 - 45
Great Axe 0 - 45
Htron, a residence, Zachary Bladeshure
Scimitar 46 - 95
Greatsword 0 - 30
Shortsword 0 - 55
Bastard Swd 0 - 45
Htron, Training Grounds, Mornag the Merciless (kelder not welcomed)
Scimitar 0 - 50
Mace 0 - 60
Lt Crossbow 0 - 55
War Hammer 0 - 50
Tegal Forest, The Portal, Monvin the Elder
Halberd > 45
Morningstar > 55
Flail 0 - ??
Broadsword > 30
Building along Krell Way near the Hobe, Weapon Master, Nigel Gulliam
Club 0 - 45
Halberd 0 - 45
Great Hammer 0 - 45
Quarterstaff 0 - 45
Shellernoon, Weapon Trainer, Kelmore Stratsmoth
Long Spear 0 - 25
Morningstar 0 - 55
War Maul 0 - 25
Heavy Maul 0 - 45
Olanthen, Rhun Manor, Rhunholland
Longsword > 30
Broadsword > 30
Bastard Swd > 45
Greatsword > 30
Klvar Wood, Klvar Tree House, Tyrolliar Cellana
Self Bow 0 - 55
Elf Bow 15 - 70
Long Bow 12 - 35
Dagger 0 - 60
Weapon and Armor :
Two handed weapons are effective but your characters must be strong enough to wield them. If they are not strong enough, they will get tired very fast thus increasing fatigue. When using one handed weapon, you can equip a shield to increase protection. If you want archer, it is best to let them use elf bow but since the master only train you if your skill is at least 15, it is only possible if you choose characters who have it as their basic skill.
You can buy elf bow from Htron if you need them.
Magic ingot can be forge into a weapon. You will be allow to give it a name. However, changing the name to some common weapons do not make them behave as one. If you name it as 'longsword', it don't look like one or behave as one, since when you see a two handed longsword? So, even if you have longsword skill, there is really not much effect. You may called them Dragon Slayer, Soul Stealer, etc if you want you character to process something special. Use them just like the Truth Sword you have found.
The armour for the your character have to depend on their size, strength and the weapon they used. Smaller size means smaller armour hence lesser weight. Strength determines how much weight your characters can take. And if they are using heavy weapons, they can't fight well if their armour is too heavy.
Quests :
There are 24 quests in this game. You will need to obtain these quests from differece people you find in the game. In order for them to give you the quest, you must talk to them using the right word. You may find clues to these words by talking to other people. When the correct word is used, the person will ask you whether you will like to take on the quest, if you reply 'no', the quest will not be given. As long as at least one person in your party is given a particular quest, the rest of the party can take part in it. So make sure the character that is given the quest is present when you go for a quest. To play it safe, you might want everyone inside your party to be given the quest, you can do this by making them talk to the person who give you the quest.
After obtaining a quest, you need to talk to other people in order to find out the quest location. I have enclosed a map with all the quest locations marked. When your party is ready for the quest, you will have to travel to the quest location. It is best to buy a horse for everyone in the party. Remember that you party movement speed is equal to that of the slowest character. So be sure to find good horse for everyone in the party. You can find stables in many towns, but some stable don't welcome certain races. In that case, try another one in another town. Now, with good horses, you will travel faster and reach the quest location in fewer days.
When you come to a quest location, you will find a long message being displayed on the screen ending with the question " Will you partake ?" Answer yes and you will be entering the quest location. There you will find certain creatures guarding the item you are looking for.
There are two ways to complete the quest. Firstly, you can kill all the monsters in the location and you will automatically exit from the location, you may then get the quest item after the battle. So, be sure to take note of the number of creatures at the start of the quest as that is the number of creatures you will need to kill. Secondly, you may fight your way in and let one of your character get hold of the quest item, then that particular character with the item must run to the exit (the place you enter the location, so make sure you know the way out!). At the exit, you will be asked if you want to flee, answer yes you will exit from the quest. This method has some drawbacks because you will lost all the experiences for killing these creatures. Completing quest offers slightly more experience points than normal encounters. There is one thing you must remember if you attempt to run to the exit, do not attempt to flee the battle before reaching the exit, otherwise the quest is not completed and you have to do it one more time though you can have the quest item.
Also, put your quest item in your backpack after the quest. Otherwise the next time you flee a battle, you might lose the item. Going back without the quest item after completing the quest will not do you any good as you need to go for the quest again.
After completing the quest, go back to the person who give you the quest, when you step into their house, a message will be displayed telling you that the quest is completed and you might be given rewards or clues in return. At the same time. a medal will be given to you, check your medal to see how many more quest you have to complete. You have to be careful when you enter their house, if you miss the message being displayed, you will never get it back unless you complete the quest another time. The message may contain useful information, so it is wise to save the game before you go to the quest personnel just in case you want to read it again.
The 24 quests :
There is no need to complete the quest in the order being stated, they just happen to come in my mind in that order. If you cannot complete a certain quest, simply skip to the next one and come back to them when you are stronger. Do not be afraid to flee when you find the creatures too tough. Go back to town to customize a spell to counter the creatures if possible and try again.
It is necessary to complete all the quests in the game.
Otherwise, the last quest to save Seggallion will not be given.
1. Find Stephanie in Brettle. Talk to her about 'gavel' and she will give you a quest. She will ask you to retrieve the gavel from the Ruffians that have stolen it and escape into the Tantowyn. Just go out of Brettle and move along the River Passing. At a point where the river just enter the Great Wood which is roughly one day journey from Brettle, you will find the creatures you are seeking. The Ruffians aren't very tough so the fight shouldn't be a problem. When you have find the gavel, return it to Stephanie and she will tell you a code word 'Kydar'. Note down the first letter, you will need it later on.
2. Find Stephen in Brettle. Talk to him about 'standard' and he will give you a quest. The standard of Stephen's guild is stolen by a bunch of bandits and have escaped to the north. Go outside Brettle and follow the road north, at a three ways junction with a broken tower. Turn left into Krell Way, just move along the path and you will find the bandits. The bandits are not very strong but slightly difficult to get hit. If your characters foresight is good, you will have a higher chance to hit them. After finding the standard which is a flag, return it to Stephen. He will tell you another code word 'Aklom', note down the first letter too.
3. Find Hegissa in Brettle. Talk to her about 'knight' and she will give you a quest. This time you will need to find the quill which is stolen. The thieves have entered the Klvar Wood. So, head for the wood which is to the south east of Brettle. Just walk along the Sheller Road for one day, the head south until you are in Klvar Wood. This time you will encounter some ghouls who are guarding the quill. When you return the quill to Hegissa, she will tell you the third code word 'Moram', similarly note down the first letter.
4. Now go to see the mayor of Brettle, Benjamin. Combine the three letters you have found and then tell him. He will ask you to look for the sword of truth which was stolen by the goblins. This time, you'll need to head south to the south coast. At the coastal area wear of Usip Wood, you will find the creatures you are seeking. When you have found the Truth Sword, bring it to the mayor and he will give it to your party as a reward. The Truth Sword is a very powerful weapon and it will help you in the other quest. It can do a demage of 4-32 and it is very light. So using it enable your character to do great demage to his/her oppenents without losing lots of energy. However, there is one drawback of using it. The fact that it is special sword, indicate that there is no place for you to train the skill for using it which means that you will not hit creatures with very high skill level. However it is very effective when used in the arena against most creatures.
5. Find Biblik the Sage in Htron. Talk to him to get the quest. Go to the Tegal River and move along it. At somewhere near the middle of the river, you will find the creatures guarding the crown. Return it to the Sage and you will be rewarded with a flying cloak. Wearing it allow your characters to fly.
6. Talk to Sam in Htron about 'stod' and he will ask you to find parth oil for him. This time you'll need to go all the way to Berthand's Bay in the southern part of Ashtalarea. Walk along the coastal area of the bay and you will find the creatures guarding the quest item. Give the oil to Sam and he will tell you to mention 'Nobjor' to pirates.
7. The pirates lives in a small house to the west of Stone Island. When you reach there, talk to Pegleg about 'Nobjor'. He will ask you to look for his shipwheel. Go to Erwenwald just to the north of the pirates' house. You will find some hobgoblins guarding the shipwheel. In return for the shipwheel, the pirate will give you a map.
8. Bring the map to Scotty next door of Pegleg and ask him about 'map'. He will then ask you to look for his pirate hat. Go all the way to Prazen Point and you will encounter some slyphs. Make use of the terrain there to shoot arrows or cast spells at the slyphs when they cannot reach you. In this way, you will kill most of them. Afterall, slyphs are water elements which ones should carefully deal with. Upon retreiving the hat. Scotty will ask you to look for someone with initials T.D.
9. Go to Htron to look for T.D. You should have guess it by now, the person you are looking for is Tulliana Daverland. Ask her about 'map' and she will ask you to find her iron chest. Go to Ebbwater and you will find minotaurs guarding the chest. Minotaurs are creatures that should not be underestimated. They are slow in combat but they do lots of demage when they hit. It is best to throw spells at them before fighting. Truth Sword will help you little because this only make you easier to be hitted unless you can kill the minotaur first before he can hit you. Bring the chest to Tulliana, she will open the chest and give you a red ring.
10. Talk to Belinda in Olanthen. She will ask you to look for a golden necklace. Go to the Mountain of Lorr to the east. You will find orcs guarding the necklace. Belinda will give you a magic ingot as a reward. Use it to make a weapon for your character or sell it for cash.
11. Talk to Orofin in Poitle Lock. He will ask you to find the wand for him. Go outside town and you will find two rivers. Walk along the southern river towards Pauper Valley. After a short journey, you will find skeletons guarding the wand. The skeletons are very easy opponnents, they will collapsed into pieces if they move too much. When you have complete the quest, Orofin will tell you to say 'gold' to Sedfrey.
12 Talk to Sedfrey in Poitle Lock. You will be ask to search for the coat of arms in the heart of the Tegal Forest. At the centre of Tegal Forest, you will find the thugs who have stolen the coat. Return it to Sedfrey and he will reward you with the courage coat.
The courage coat will give you courage to face terrible creatures, without it you can't complete certain quest.
13. Talk to Milinya in Thimberwald. She will ask you to look for the oil of changeling in the downing swamp. The swamp is to the east to the town. The swamp is not very big so there should not be any problems finding the quest location. You will enter some muck things there. They are not very tough though they might look horrible. In return for the oil, Milinya will tell you the name of the spy, Delmor.
14. Find Trimrose at Thimberwald and mention the name of the spy to him. He will ask you to look for a cloak in the Karg Hill. You will find the quest location at Northwald. Return the cloak to Trimrose, and he will tell you to say 'follies' to Yardley. Saying that to Yardley and he will tell you to talk to the Kelder.
15. Talk to the Keldinarr in Thimblewald about 'vial'. He will then ask you to look for it. You can find the quest location at Windy Run. Return the vial to him and he will tell you to say 'scalfeth' to the warrior soul.
16. Talk to Ballaster (the warrior soul) at Krag Keep. He'll ask you to help him find his millet. You can find the quest location at Wesswald. There you'll find mist giants guarding the item. In that place you will need to move along corridor will is only a person width. So you will need to fight with the mist giant one to one. So it is best to put your strongest character at the front followed by archer and spell caster. Here you'll need to have very high weapon skill so that you will avoid being hit by the mist giants. A spell or two that increased the skill level with help a lot. After that very tough battle to recover the millet. Ballaster will give you his deathblade will can do a demage of 5-27. He will also tell you to talk to the Fostering about 'rhording'.
17. The Fostering is at the northern part of the Tegal Forest. Talk to Dunnigen. She will ask you to look for something in the Wood of Dream. Go to The Darkwood south of Krell Swamp. You'll find some orges guarding the quest item. If you have defeated the mist giants, the orges shouldn't be a problem as you will need to use the same tactics here. Returning the golden chalice to Dunnigen and she will tell you to say 'inthos' to the Hobe.
18. Talk to Lord Stiveron in the Hobean Keep. You'll be ask to look for the hidden staff in the Downing Mountains. The quest location is at the southeastern end of the mountains. You will find stone ogres there. The stone ogres are tough in nature, hence the name. You can defeat them with spells or when your skill is high enough. You will get a pair of speed boot when you return the staff to Lord Stiveron. Wearing the boots will allow your character to move faster.
19. Talk to Rodrigard at the Sheller Bridge. Tell him 'bryor' and he will ask you to find a wristband. Go to the Sheller Ridge and you will find ettins there. After getting the item, Rodrigard will tell you to talk to Aurin about 'grey'.
20. Talk to Aurin (next door to Rodrigard). He will ask to look for something at the Thanakesh Hills. Fight the djinns there to get the quest item. Return it to Aurin and he will tell you to mention his name to the main guard.
21. Tell the Sheller Elite Guard that Aurin sent you. He will ask you to find the shade ring in Westwash. The ring is heavily guarded by cliff trolls. You will need courage coat in order to face them.
Return the ring to the main guard and he will tell you to say 'silver knot' to Norgan.
22. Talk to the Lord of Shellernoon, Norgan. He will ask you to recover the ward from Sodden Hills. The ward is guarded by sledge.
Beware of this area, when you enter the quest location, your party will be split into six groups which mean that your characters must fight their own battle before they can group themselves together again. The sledge main weakness is at their head. But you have to be tall enough to hit the head. Return the ward to Norgan and he will give you the shade ring and tell you to see Dundle.
23. Talk to Denswurth in Olanthen. He will ask you to find the statuette. Go to the Missip Valley south of the Mytrone Hills. You'll find trolls guarding the statuette. The troll are terrible creatures which will make your characters freeze in terror if their courage is not high enough. Make sure you have the courage coat before you come to this place. Return the statuette to Denswurth, and he will give you a great shield. The shield offers a great amount of protection and weighs little and you can change the pattern of the shield with the edit shield option in the openning menu if you want fancy shields.
24. You must complete the above 23 quests before Dundle give you the last quest. You can find him at the Assembly Building in the Olanthen Barrier outside the Mountains of Lorr. Talk to him about 'Seggallion' and he will give you the quest. Go to the Ghor Hills to find the quest location. You will find cyclops guarding the area. The final battle is quite tough and requires the same tactics when you are fighting storm giants. After defeating the cyclops, you will be rewarded with a mini slide show. After rescueing Seggallion, he will give you his shuckles as an evident. Go back to see the black dwarf, and he will reward you with a black ingot which can do a demage of 3-36.
At this stage, you have cleared all the quests in this scenerio, so watch out for the next one.
Do not read this part unless you are desperate !
Tips on hacking the game
I will only touch on the first character. The rest of the characters will simply begin at difference offsets.
This part is illustrated using Norton Utilities, you may want to use other programs to do the same job.
Type in 'path:nu chardata' to start editing the character file. I do not want to spoil the fun by revealing the exact details for the characters attributes, so I will simply touch on how to get the quest from people if you cannot find the right word to say. I careful player should have no problem in finding the right word, so this portion is for those with some difficulty. Between file offsets 482, hex 1E2 to 487, hex 1E7 is 6 bytes containing the status of your quests. The six bytes have a total of 12 hexidecimal digits, so each corresponds to two quests as there are a total of twenty four.
The meaning of the binary code used is as follows :
00 quest not yet given
01 quest given but not yet complete
10 quest complete but medal not yet given
11 medal given to quest
So what they actually do is to combine two of these to form a hexidecimal digit.
Here are the conversion from hexidecimal to binary :
0000 0 1000 8
0001 1 1001 9
0010 2 1010 A
0011 3 1011 B
0100 4 1100 C
0101 5 1101 D
0110 6 1110 E
0111 7 1111 F
The position of the quests in the code correspond to that you see in the medal display. So just locate the appropriate quest and do the changes.
Warnings:
Do not attempt to set the quest to 10, ie completed, because in that case the person who give you the quest won't reward you since you did not return with the quest item. So, at most set it to 01 and go for the quest, completing it will reward you will useful items or clues. If you set them to FFFFFF, then you in fact have completed the game without fighting a single battle, but then you will miss the end game slide show completely. And you won't have all the useful items when the next scenerio is added.
