Dragon Wars FAQ/Walkthrough(Apple II) version 1.0.1 by schultw.andrez@sbcglobal.net Should be valid for PC and Apple (emulator) versions. Please do not reproduce without my consent. Although this FAQ is copyright 2000-2008 Andrew Schultz, Dragon Wars is copyright 1988 by Interplay. This FAQ is not associated with Interplay in any way. Its eventual goal is to contain hints and interesting/relevant information on every phase, but right now I have attempted to fill holes missed by Wyvern's very strong original walkthrough(see credits) and provide a different sort of format. Also since ten years after, it's much easier to produce maps, etc., I figured why not try it? (postscript: Gulp. Five years after THAT, I finally figured a way to streamline it all. Then I wrote maps about 2 1/2 years later. Wow.) I have maps on GameFAQs for Dragon Wars now and they are a bit tidier than on my old webpage, which I'll keep because I am pleased with how it went. See below. **** AD SPACE **** Dragon Wars maps and stuff: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762/dragonwars/main.htm GameFAQs link for this(if you got it off another site:) http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/game/564812.html ======================================== OUTLINE 1. INTRODUCTION 2. USEFUL TRICKS WITH CONTROLS 3. CHARACTER INFO 3-1. ALL CHARACTERS 3-2. NON PLAYER CHARACTERS 3-3. SKILLS: USEFUL 3-4. SKILLS: NON-USEFUL 3-5. SPELLS: USEFUL, NON, AND UNAVAILABLE 3-5-1. LOW MAGIC 3-5-2. HIGH MAGIC 3-5-3. SUN MAGIC 3-5-4. DRUID MAGIC 3-5-5. MISC MAGIC 3-5-6. COMPARISONS 3-5-7. WHERE TO FIND THEM 4. ROUGH GUIDES TO BIG AREAS 4-1. PURGATORY 4-2. MAGAN UNDERWORLD 4-3. DILMUN 4-4. NISIR 5. WALKTHROUGH OUTLINE: BARE ESSENTIALS 5-1. ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL STEPS 5-2. NOT REALLY SPOILERS 6. WALKTHROUGH DETAILS 6-1. CREATING YOUR PLAYERS 6-2. PURGATORY: GETTING ULRIK 6-3. SLAVE MINES DETOUR(NOT RECOMMENDED) 6-4. PURGATORY, CLEANING UP 6-5. SLAVE CAMP 6-6. UNDERWORLD INTRO AND PHOEBUS 6-7. TARS RUINS UNDERGROUND 6-8. TARS RUINS 6-9. SLAVE ESTATE 6-10. MISCELLANY ON THE ISLE OF THE SUN 6-10a. LANSK(DETOUR) 6-11. PHOEBAN DUNGEON 6-12. QUAG AND MUD TOAD, FIRST TRIP 6-13. NECROPOLIS, FIRST TRIP 6-13a. LANSK UNDERGROUND 6-14. BUILDING YOUR PARTY UP 6-15. BRIDGE OF EXILES LOOP 6-16. KINGSHOME DUNGEON 6-17. KINGSHOME 6-18. SIEGE CAMP 6-19. BYZANTIUM DUNGEON 6-20. BYZANTIUM 6-21. THE BIG FIGHT WITH UGLY 6-22. FREEPORT 6-23. DRAGON VALLEY, FIRST TRIP 6-24. LANAC'TOOR'S LABORATORY 6-25. RUSTIC, GAME PRESERVES(DETOUR) 6-26. RUSTIC, THE BRIDGE 6-27. RUSTIC, MAGIC COLLEGE(RECOMMENDED DETOUR) 6-28. SUNKEN RUINS(AND BELOW) 6-29. DWARF CLAN HALL: GETTING THE SWORD 6-30. REVISITING DRAGON VALLEY(RECOMMENDED DETOUR) 6-31. SALVATION 6-31a. OLD DOCK AND PILGRIM DOCK 6-32. THE NISIR 6-33. THE ENDGAME 6-34. ABOUT MONEY AND ITEMS 7. IMPORTANT UNIQUE ITEMS 8. PARAGRAPH INFO: WHAT'S WHERE, AND FAKES 9. MONSTER LIST 10. MISCELLANY 10-1. DID YOU NOTICE? 10-2. SPELL LIST BY LOCATION 10-3. IMPORTANT ITEM LIST BY LOCATION 11. CHEATING 11-1. BEFORE THE FACT(APPLE EMULATOR) 11-2. THE IRKALLA LOOPHOLE 12. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PLATFORMS 13. VERSIONS 14. CREDITS ======================================== 1. INTRODUCTION Dragon Wars is an entertaining old school game that is in the spirit of Bard's Tale. It's got humor, multiple story lines, and a demanding system of player attribute distribution. The object of the game is to find Namtar and defeat him and overthrow his army to restore peace to Dilmun, where magic is banned. Your party starts in a beaten down city with no seeming way to escape--but then you can find several. Like Bard's Tale, you have a 3-d perspective, several spell classes, and magic items critical to winning the game. Unlike Bard's Tale, there is no linear progression. And the key element that makes the game so complex is the Magan Underworld. From it you can pop up in several locations in Dilmun, often on isles you can't easily access otherwise. Dragon Wars has an interesting combat system where you have "stun" and "hit" damage--and often you get stunned before you lose your hit points, which saves you the trouble of resurrection. It also is based not on classes but on how you distribute your skill points. A lot of recharges are free, too, if you know the right place, and it's putting together a stream of actions, or navigating the map correctly, that lets you come in to critical fights completely recharged. Sometimes this requires the nuisance of saving before a tough fight at a fixed location where your enemies vary and fleeing until you get good opponents. Money ultimately doesn't matter in this game, and there are only so many special items to go around. Confusingly, it's not at all easy to find every spell out there(and I think I've searched all the squares.) But you generally have enough to find. Levels aren't as important as items or spells. There's also a possibility that you may drop an item you really needed or that was really good, or even one you need to win the game--you have to experiment with them a bit. Dragon Wars also has a paragraph book, as did Wasteland. There's some fantastic misdirection in there. Some paragraphs are obviously jokes, and others are a bit more subtle. With the Apple, it saved memory and made for copy protection. With the PC, you can see how the story unfolds. In this walkthrough I use some notation such as 1W, 2N, 3E or 4S. (1 square west, 2 squares north, 3 squares east and 4 squares south.) I'm going to refer to my map at GameFAQs quite a bit in this walkthrough. See the top link for where they are located. If you play the PC version, I recommend using DOSBox for this game(http://dosbox.sourceforge.net)--then you can have it in a separate window while you have a guide/images in others. 2. USEFUL TRICKS WITH CONTROLS The first thing you will want to do when you start up the game is to hit ctrl-s to kill the sound. It gets tedious after a while and even slows down the combat you need to plow through for experience. You need to hit ctrl-s every time after you run DRAGON.COM. Also on the original screen, you can push 5 and then S to get the best graphics. Push escape to refresh a location. Useful if you leave a shop to equip an item and want to return, or you are at a recharging pool and want to cast a spell and still refill. Or if you're at a location where you can often get an easy lucrative fight. You can splash into the water to make a fuller map of where you are. Also, you can find enclosed areas that seem unmappable to test for secret walls. Some places have cycling maps, too, which can cut a critical area--move a few squares and the automap will have different boundaries. Get used to typing in certain key combos. I tried to get macros to work with DosBox but I couldn't. ALT-F1 sets a macro, F1 unsets it. This could be useful when you want to bandage your party or just wait around. If you could get it to work. I like the ideas of macros. 3. CHARACTER INFO 3-1. ALL CHARACTERS Note: when you have level x, you need 50(x)(x+1) points to advance to the next level, up to level 12. After that the limit is 6600. The gory math: Lvl x(from x-1)|running total ------------------+------------- 2 |100 |100 3 |300 |400 4 |600 |1000 5 |1000 |2000 6 |1500 |3500 7 |2100 |5600 8 |2800 |8400 9 |3600 |12000 10|4500 |16500 11|5500 |22000 12|6600 |28600 13|6600 |35200 14|6600 |41800 X |6600 |6600X-50600 3-2. NON PLAYER CHARACTERS There are four non-player characters in the game, and you have only three slots. I stuck with Louie, Ulrik, and Valar, the first three. Even though Halifax is the best when he starts out, he is tough to find in Freeport, and he may be found so late in the game that you want to stick with the original three. I think there's a bug here--dismissing a character when he's dead and going back to where he was will resurrect him but with his beginning stats. NPC Name Location ST DX IN SP HE -------------+---------------------+--------------+ Ulrik |Tavern in Purgatory |20 17 8 14 15| Louie |Slave Camp, SE |14 16 16 16 15| Valar |Phoeban tavern, NE |21 18 14 14 23| Halifax |Freeport tavern |11 14 18 16 19| NOTE: if Phoebus is destroyed or Freeport is evacuated, you won't be able to find Valar or Halifax. You can also keep NPCs when you restart a game. 3-3. SKILLS: USEFUL Bandage is essential. You'll want to keep your bandage up with your fighters' hit points and ahead of your mages'. For instance with a bandage skill of 6 and a fighter's hit points of 18 you can give him 16/18. This is pretty good, as stun decreases at twice the rate of hit points, but you may wind up getting killed before you get stunned. And getting killed is a real hassle. You don't have to keep bandage=maximum HP-10, but keeping it close is pretty good. I found I didn't need a second bandager in my party because I just avoided getting killed. How did I avoid getting killed? Bandaging at and before every big fight. Note you can also stand on a recharge square and cast heal spells to make up the hit points bandaging doesn't cover. This can't be done all the time, but if you combine this with quick transport, you can show up at most tough fights near maximum healing. Bureaucracy is helpful one place and necessary in another critical place. Only one person needs it. Climb allows some great shortcuts. It also allows you into some crevasses that let you find spells you couldn't get otherwise. While not 100% critical to solving a game, it's still interesting. Lockpick is definitely useful. You only need 1 to get through the game, 2 gets you some great armor, 3 is good to get an additional spell, and 4 helps you get by a door that defies you--but you may not notice the secret door next to it. Low Magic is useful for all your characters. You never know when you might need a heal-fest, and in one critical fight, Disarm works quite well. And it's nice to have an also-ran burn off spell points. Druid, Sun and High magic are all pretty necessary, in that order. Druid Magic has a critical spell for a puzzle. Sun Magic has some important spells. High Magic has some less important ones. Arcane Lore is needed to use the well in the underworld and also to use the transportation nexii in the Quag, King's Isle, and Mystic Wood. Sword skill is pretty nice at first, but by the end you should have enough of an attack skill that it shouldn't matter. Tracking lets you see some side parts of the game. And it helps you move quicklu over some parts. But it's not critical. Cave, Forest, Mountain and Town Lore: add some description, but nothing too drastic. If you have an extra odd point to waste, use it on these. Well, Ulrik comes with Cave. So just the last three. It's useful to space these skills out among characters so nobody has too many. Not just to keep a balanced party but also to make controls easier. You could apparently create macros in the PC version and useful ones are u6sa1[esc]u6sa2[esc]u6sa3[esc]...which bandages your whole party. You don't need the extra keystroke [b] if you only have one ability. Similarly only low magic users can cast mage fire more easily. And you have a designated lock picker or climber. 3-4. SKILLS: NON-USEFUL Fistfighting, Axe, Mace, Flail, Two-handers, Bows, Crossbows, Thrown Weapons: all useless. Defense is more important than attack once you get good. Pickpocket: never used it. Swim, while it helps you in Purgatory, is superseded by Bandage. Hiding: useful one place but the fight isn't tough anyway. 3-5. SPELLS: USEFUL, NON, AND UNAVAILABLE Some spells are better than others. Others would be great/useless even if I could locate them. I'll try to run them all down. I'm also not aware if some spells are cumulative or not. I always assume any two of the same spell aren't. 3-5-1. LOW MAGIC = Charm: rather nice, but it may not quite cure enough. And Lesser Heal gives more points on average. + Disarm: handy against adventurer types and against the pirates. + Lesser Heal: a good efficient spell to heal characters in combat. As critical as Mage Fire early on. = Luck: nice defensive spell, so if you can cast a lot of Mage Fires then it could enable you. + Mage Fire: critical magic spell to start with. Great for all users. You can really dump on melee types by blasting them from 30' as they advance, especially in Purgatory. + Mage Light: critical to survive in the underground. 3-5-2. HIGH MAGIC + Big Chill: 4-24 points on everyone. Best against a pair of groups. - Cowardice: make foes run. BIG DEAL...they run anyway if you get better, and the ones you want to run never do. - Dazzle: again weak foes, so what? + Elvar's Fire: 2-12 points on a group at 30'. Great against Rats to build experience, or when you know enemies have few hit points. + Fire Light: doubly as potent as Mage Fire, point for point. Same range. One of the first High Magic spells you'll find. + Ice Chill: about as potent as Mage Fire, but a wider range(50') and you can choose the # of points. + Mystic Might: helps make a character strong. Useful against Namtar. + Poog's Vortex: 4-24 points on a 20' group. Great against tougher opponents. + Reveal Glamour: I'm not sure which combats it's useful in, but you can use it twice outside combat. - Sala's Swift: improves dexterity. But Zak's Speed is more efficient. There are better + Vorn's Guard: great wide range AC spell to use against Namtar at the end. + Healing: 1-6 points for 3 SP. As efficient as Lesser Heal. But an extra spell point cam mean one less spell in a tough combat. I stick with low magic. + Group Heal: 1-6 on the whole party for 6 SP. This is great if you've been breathed on. + Cloak Arcane: never seems to last long enough, but gives a bit of extra protection. If you cast it while on a recharge pool, it can be very helpful indeed. = Sense Traps: sparingly useful in the wild, although if you hit a trap you can restart from the save and cast this spell. But most of the time you can just bandage instead. (high magic hall of shame) - Air Summon - Earth Summon - Water Summon - Fire Summon [because computer generated nonplayer characters always suck.] 3-5-3. SUN MAGIC = Armor of Light: never really used this much. I usually use spells to sock enemies before they get me. + Battle Power: probably useful against Namtar in the final battle. ? Column of Fire: never used it. Never found it. Never cared. = Exorcism: weird spell. Seems to work only on one monster at times. Didn't work on Lanac'Toor's skeletons at all. Great in theory, though. = Holy Aim: not bad but I never really used it. ++ Inferno: mega useful spell. Note that 9 spell points give you 9-36 damage, i.e. better than Fire Storm at under half the cost = Mithra's Bless: okay against attacking monsters that stun for silly damage. + Rage of Mithras: 1-6/point is still better than Mage Fire. It's good against foes at a range and not much less powerful than Sun Stroke. Annoying to have cast on you. ++ Sun Stroke: 1-8/point at 20' is double Mage Fire's, but remember the range is cramped. ? Wrath of Mithras: this'd be a great spell if I could find it. But I can't. Like rage, annoying to have cast on you. = Fire Storm: by the time you get this you'll probably have a better spell in Inferno. 6-36 at 60" may take out some bad guys in the distance but maybe you should just wait for them to advance or use Rage of Mithras. + Charger: perfect to cast over a recharge pool. On a valuable magic item. = Disarm Trap: useful in the Magic College for a puzzle. = Guidance: tells the direction you face, but you can usually tell that from the automap, i.e. just by moving a square. Even when you get spun around, you can gauge your surroundings most of the time. But the compass that appears on the screen is cool! - Radiance: but Mage Light works as well. - Summon Salamander: enemies are just as dumb for you as they are for Namtar. + Heal: double Lesser Heal and useful if you have damage chipped away at you + Major Heal: as useful as High Magic's Group Heal, but not as powerful--for the same spell points. ? Sun Light: Sun Magic's response to High Magic's "heal" if it existed 3-5-4. DRUID MAGIC - Brambles: as useless for you as against you. Because the tougher monsters aren't affected. + Death Curse: good local damage spell. Not as efficient as Mage Fire but greater magnitude. + Fire Blast: a pretty good range/group spell. = Insect Plague: maybe cool against Namtar. - Scare: doesn't seem to work against opponents where you need it. +=? Whirl Wind: might be useful in some tricky melee fights, including the one with Namtar. The only problem? Blow Horn and Magic Ring in the Phoeban Dungeon are the only items that can cast them. Can't find a scroll for it. ++ Create Wall is necessary for one part of the game. ++ Soften Stone helps you with a very important side quest. + Cure All is a wonderfully efficient heal spell. = Greater Healing is less efficient than Lesser Heal or Heal. (and now, in the "fun to collect I guess" department:) - Beast Call - Invoke Spirit - Wood Spirit 3-5-5. MISC MAGIC + Kill Ray is useful to add to a druid's repertoire or even to an otherwise incapable fighter's. ? Prison--never found it. + Zak's Speed is great against Namtar in the final bit. A fighter again could use this. 3-5-6. COMPARISONS single heal spells L-Lesser Heal 1-4/2 1.25 /sp H-Healing 1-6/3 1.17 /sp S-Sun Light 1-6/3 1.17 /sp S-Heal 2-8/4 1.25 /sp < "best buy" D-Greater Heal 1-6/4 .875/sp multi heal spells(all worthwhile if >1 player is damaged) H-Group Heal 1-6/6 1.17 / sp S-Major Heal 1-4/6 .83 / sp D-Cure All 1-8/6 1.50 / sp < "best buy" So have your druid cast cure all and sun magician/high cast the individual ones. Although circumstances may warrant several heal spells at once. single offensive spells (*=can calibrate) L-Mage Fire 1-8/2 30' 2.25/sp H-Fire Light 1-8/1 30' 4.5/sp * H-Ice Chill 1-4/1 50' 2.5/sp * S-Sun Strok 1-8/1 20' 4.5/sp * S-Rage of Mithras 1-6/1 70' 3.5/sp * D-Death Curse 3-18/6 40' 3.5/sp M-Kill Ray 10-80/15 50' 3/sp Obviously range reduces some of these spells' effectiveness, but you also have to take an opponent's hit points--and if they need to be wiped out immediately--into account. I rarely use ice chill but Rage of Mithras is great for long range stuff. People above low magic should avoid Mage Fire. multi offensive spells (*=can calibrate) H-Elvar's Fire 2-12/6 30' 1.17/sp H-Poog's Vortex 4-24/11 20' 1.27/sp H-Big Chill 4-24/15 30' 0.93/sp (mult group) S-Exorcism 6-36/5 50' 3.60/sp (only undead) S-Wrath of Mithras 1-4 /1 90' 2.5/sp * S-Fire Storm 6-36/20 60' 1.05/sp (mult group) S-Inferno 1-4 /1 40' 2.5/sp (mult group) D-Fire Blast 4-24/12 30' 1.17/sp Fire Blast is as efficient as Elvar's Fire but doubly strong. So look at how strong your opposing monsters are. Poog's Vortex is a bit more efficient, too, but a shorter range. Big Chill is great against multiple groups, as is Fire Storm--but Inferno is clearly best of all. It beats Elvar and Poog even against a single group, assuming you have a Sun Magic skill of 3. That's worth building up levels for. 3-5-7. WHERE TO FIND THEM This is divided into spell types. Prices are in parentheses. I strongly believe the spells that I have not found do not exist. I've searched disk images for their hex equivalents and found nothing. **************************LOW MAGIC********************** Combat: CHARM: magic shop(free), Forlorn treasure trove DISARM: magic shop(free), Mystalvision, strongbox in 2nd bridge LUCK: magic shop(free), Forlorn treasure trove MAGE FIRE: magic shop(free), Forlorn treasure trove Heal: LESSER HEAL: magic shop(free), Forlorn treasure trove Miscellaneous: MAGE LIGHT: magic shop(free), Forlorn treasure trove *************************HIGH MAGIC********************** Combat: FIRE LIGHT: magic college, Tars Ruins Underground POOG'S VORTEX: west Phoebus, magic college BIG CHILL: NE Byzan Dungeon, magic college, Nergal MYSTIC MIGHT: Dwarf Clan Hall, Freeport(1K) COWARDICE: NE Dragon Valley, Freeport(1K) SALA'S SWIFT: NE Dragon Valley, Freeport(1K) ELVAR'S FIRE: SW Tars Ruins, magic college ICE CHILL: magic college, strongbox in 2nd bridge DAZZLE: NE Byzan Dungeon REVEAL GLAMOUR: Freeport(1K), Mud Toad Treasure VORN'S GUARD: NE Dragon Valley, Freeport(1K) Heal: HEALING: slave camp GROUP HEAL: magic college Miscellaneous: AIR SUMMON: Tars Ruins, Sunken Ruins EARTH SUMMON: Old Dock, Sunken Ruins WATER SUMMON: Mud Toad Treasure, Sunken Ruins FIRE SUMMON: magic college SENSE TRAPS: slave camp CLOAK ARCANE: slave camp ************************SUN MAGIC***************** Combat: SUN STROKE: Lanac'toor's Lab, west Phoebus, slave camp, Tars Ruins Underground RAGE OF MITHRAS: Dwarf Clan Hall, Mud Toad Tavern FIRE STORM: Lanac'toor's Lab HOLY AIM: Mud Toad Tavern, Mystalvision(Phoeban dungeon) COLUMN OF FIRE: SE Game preserve EXORCISM: SW Tars Ruins WRATH OF MITHRAS: ???? INFERNO: Nergal BATTLE POWER: SE Game preserve MITHRA'S BLESS: W. Phoebus LIGHT FLASH: ???? ARMOR OF LIGHT: Mud Toad Tavern, Mystalvision Heal: SUN LIGHT: ???? HEAL: Valar starts with it MAJOR HEAL: Mud Toad Tavern, Mystalvision Miscellaneous: CHARGER: Order of the Sword(Freeport) DISARM TRAP: Mystalvision(Phoeban dungeon) GUIDANCE: SW Tars Ruins RADIANCE: Strongbox in 2nd bridge SUMMON SALAMANDER: Mud Toad Tavern ***********************DRUID MAGIC**************** Combat: CREATE WALL: W Phoebus, Lansk Underground(100) WOOD SPIRIT: Mystic Wood/Zaton, Mystalvision(Phoeban dungeon), Lansk Underground(100) CURE ALL: Mystic Wood/Zaton, Lansk Underground(100) DEATH CURSE: Mystic Wood, Phoebus, Tars Ruins Underground FIRE BLAST: Mystic Wood INSECT PLAGUE: Mystic Wood, Nergal SCARE: Mystic Wood, Nergal, Slave Camp BRAMBLES: Mystic Wood/Zaton Heal: GREATER HEAL: Mystic Wood/Zaton, Slave Camp Miscellaneous: INVOKE SPIRIT: Mystic Wood/Zaton BEAST CALL: Mystic Wood/Zaton ************************MISC MAGIC**************** Combat: ZAK'S SPEED: Dwarf Clan Hall, Lanac'toor's Lab KILL RAY: Lanac'toor's Lab PRISON: ???? 4. ROUGH GUIDES TO BIG AREAS 4-1. PURGATORY Remember, the southeast corner has a pool that regenerates spell points. Go back to it instead of using dragon stones. Humbaba is in the very northeast, a secret door is in the northwest, and Clopin Trouillefou(don't say you're a tramp when he asks) is in the southwest, 5N5E of the SW corner. Irkalla's in the west, an arena(with citizenship papers) is in the north, and a secret door to the outer wall is in the east. The big guard encounter south of where you start is good to gauge how strong your party is, but avoid it at first. Hit it, then the arena. A magic shop is in the west, and you can get scrolls for free and sell them at the black market(west of the arena.) The bar with Louie is SE of that, you can escape at Paragraph 5 on the east edge, or even on the east edge of the outside wall, and there's a wall around Purgatory with a secret door to the outside world(SW corner) and back to the inside(SE corner.) Guards patrol there too. The underworld entry is in a building south of the magic shop. There's a healer in the NE but you should really bandage yourself. The slave market is SW of the black market and there are Jail guards between the two locations, good for cash fights. 4-2. MAGAN UNDERWORLD Probably a bit easier to navigate than the overworld because there aren't so many narrow passages. Once you learn where the stairs up are(you can't see them from a distance, although Lansk is in a building, and Purgatory is on a bridge) it will be easy to travel. I'd recommend learning where the Mystic Wood, with its transportation nexus, is. You can go from Purgatory and the spell regeneration down to the underworld and up to the mystic wood. Take the transportation nexus to the Quag, and you're pretty much fully charged for all fights. I use a heuristic to remember what's where, relating things horizontally to the Apsu Waters where you enter the underworld from Purgatory. --Tars Ruins is east, around a lake, kitty corner to two pools. --Mystic Wood is 2 north, closer if you go west. --Lansk is north, and the pool to recharge is north and a bit west. --Irkalla's is east of Lansk. --Salvation is south of Tars Ruins. --3W and south is the chest with the slicer --4W and south, Dwarf Clan Hall --2S and w/e, a treasure. But you may want to leave it and its dragon stones for the final fight with Namtar. Run from all fights. The only non-random one is the one guarding the treasure--it'll say 8 goblins and probably won't be goblins. Oh, and bandage after running into the Malign Fairies. You can scroll horizontally when you travel, but you can't scroll vertically even if the automap indicates you can. If there were a path through the river or chasm, you could(i.e. from some points you can go north and see your original point, but you can never get there.) I've actually found having part of the automap filled in helps because I can tell where I went when I traveled. But I also have some handy maps sent to GameFAQs. 4-3. DILMUN The auto-map is not particularly helpful here, nor does it need to be. However, it can provide you with an idea of where the isles are in relation to each other. The only tricky place may be the Quag where, if you want to get to Mud Toad, you should go north from exiting the third bridge, then east to the water, then south to avoid the Murk Trees. When you see the city, enter from the south(the only way.) You'll have to fight a Murk Tree or two, but it's better than running into them all over the swamp. The Magan Underworld is a good way to travel after getting magic recharged, and it can jump you over the third bridge to the quag by way of the nexus in the Mystic Wood. You can also get to King's Isle that way, which is particularly nice if you've wiped out Phoebus. Remember when you enter a location that guard encounters in Dilmun regenerate. This is fun in the bridge of exiles(the goblins to the east give lucrative experience) but can be painful enough to get you stuck in other places. 4-4. NISIR The Nisir is very large and confusing--there are teleport traps all over the place! One way to get around them is to use a bunch of soften stone spells. However, you can often, with the auto-map, determine when you hit a teleport. Often when you go one square and turn around, you'll be back where you started. Turn around right when you're on that square, and go in the original direction, and you may be able to progress as normal. I sacrificed a lot of Soften Stone spells so you don't have to. See my map on GameFAQs. Fortunately you can run from all fights. Mystalvision is here, as is Buck Ironhead. Mystalvision is guarded by hit point draining squares(use bandage just before you meet him.) Ironhead is guarded by hoards of armies. With Soften Stone, it's actually easier to reach the heart of the Nisir and Namtar than to reach his lieutenants. But I'll mark them out here. MYSTALVISION: Go up from where you start and bust through two walls with soften stone. Go to the west. When the spinner shows a door to your right, go forward. Turn right and then turn right at the next intersection. You're going east now--take the door north at the second T and follow the rooms to a corridor where you'll be drained of hit points. You can bandage any time with no penalty. Mystalvision's not too bad if you have healing spells--casts a weak Inferno on you. Just have heal spells and dragon teeth ready. BUCK IRONHEAD: Instead of taking the door, go south. You'll hit a spinner at the intersection. Futz with the arrows and when a door is in front, go forward until you hit a wall. Turn right and run into the next wall. 1W 1S 1E 1S 1E. Easier said than done--a lot of fights around here. Wait for favorable ones with few enemies before attacking. 5. WALKTHROUGH OUTLINE: BARE ESSENTIALS 5-1. ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL STEPS In Dragon Wars, there are many puzzles. Few are *absolutely* essential to the game, but some give you powerful items that may help improve your party more quickly than a lot of fighting could. So first I will list the very minimum of actions you need to complete: 1. Get the golden boots from the Mud Toad. This is done with the use of "Create Wall"(at the source of the Mud Toad's leak) which you can buy in Lansk Underground. After casting the spell, visit the temple. For solution 3A, you don't need to do anything special, but for 3B, buy an ankh at Mud Toad. 2. You'll also need to defeat Ugly and his crew to get to Freeport and get Soften Stone(it's necessary to find Namtar's army), and the best way to do this is to give everyone in your front line "disarm" spells and use them on the four Scurvy Seadogs every other turn(attacking the front line with the other half of the time) while your back three cast wide-range spells like Inferno or Sun Stroke. If one of your back three has a healing wand and low dexterity, that is also useful. Since the monsters tend to stun for large damage, a little bit of healing will completely undo the damage. 3A. In Salvation, jump across the large chasm using the golden boots, and after going forward you will fall into Nisir. Find Namtar and fight his army(it's possible to defeat them solo if your characters are good enough and lucky enough!) Then take Namtar to the pit(killing him 5 times on the way) and destroy him("use" his corpse) The four encounters occur in the following places: three times at the field of battle, once just south and east of the regeneration pool where you are teleported after the battle, and finally when you reach the pit. 3B. If you can't beat the monsters in 3A then you'll have to go to Lansk Underground and use the Ankh on the dragon past the secret passage. Then defeat Ugly and his pirates in the smugglers' cove, go to Dragon Valley, find the Dragon Queen, and use the gem. Jump over the pit before as in 3A but when "Namtar's Army lies ahead of you" simply use the Dragon Gem. See 3A for beating Namtar from there. Note that if you use the Irkalla cheat(11-2) or you've been through the game already, you just need to get the boots. Some armor might be nice, but if you've used the Irkalla cheat enough, you can blast through wherever you need to go with spells. Problem is, you may need to use the Irkalla Cheat about 30 times. I had 90 Sun Magic and 100 strength and 40+ dexterity and 35 health when I finished(exact # of times on the PC: 27. It was easier on the Apple IIRC.) 5-2. NOT REALLY SPOILERS However, you will probably want to solve other puzzles to pick up important extra-strong armor/weapons, because it takes too long to build your characters up. Here's an approximate list from the very best armor/weapons down. A. The Sword of Freedom. 1. Get the mushrooms from the Mystic Wood. Give them to Nergal behind the secret door in Necropolis. 2. Get the golden boots from the Mud Toad(see above) and jump across the water in Irkalla's Realm. She'll be released. 3. Get Soften Stone from Freeport(via a fight or magic shop) and cast it on the statues in the Dwarf Clan Hall. 4. Get Roba's Skull from the Sunken Ruins. Return to the Isle of Woe and you have the Sword of Freedom. 5. Stop by the northern part of Purgatory and use the Freedom Sword--+3 of each attribute to all party members before the big fights in Nisir! (Note: no repeat bonus on restarting game.) B. The Trident 1. This is in the Sunken Ruins with some nice armor. There is a very nasty fight, though. C. Dragon's teeth 1. Southwest part of Dragon Valley. These have a range of sixty feet and do tons of damage, and you can pick up more than one. And you can sell them. D. Dragon Queen's Friendship 1. While not properly a quest, this allows you to beat Namtar's army without having to fight. Thus you only have to deal with Namtar--not the easiest proposition as it is! Buy the Ankh from Mud Toad. 2. Give the Ankh to the Dragon under Lansk--there's a secret door in the east side of the middle structure. You will get a dragon gem in return. 3. Show the gem to the Dragon Queen. She'll pledge to help you in battle. Use it when Namtar's army attacks you. A list of where to get a bunch of spells is below: AA. Spells at the Magic College and Lanac'Toor's 1. Stone Arms are in Tars Ruins behind a sacred door 2. Stone Head is in the Snake Pit 3. Stone Legs are in Freeport guarded by Order of the Sword(tough fight) 4. Stone Trunk is in Necropolis, center of the first room you come in 5. Lanac'Toor's statue is in the center of Mud Toad. The first four items assemble into it, allowing you to descend. Use Soften Stone(you'll probably need to get to Freeport first) to find many other spells including Lanac'Toor's spectacles. 6. The College of Magic is east of the Scorpions' Bridge. Use the Enkidu Totem(see below) or just fight it out if you've got good weapons(save first). In the southwest corner, use the spectacles, cast an ice spell, cast reveal glamour and a fire spell, cast cloak arcane, fight the philistine(you'll need a bit of luck here, too) and cast disarm trap. For the last room, just past Utnapishtim by and if you do attack him, run and exit the room. Choose the Soul Bowl and use it in the Mystic Wood for some Druid spells. BB. Spells in Lansk Underground 1. The seedy shop which "is not open" sells Create Wall, which is necessary to complete the game(closes the gap at Mud Toad and gets you Golden Boots.) Cure All is also a useful spell. These are the biggest ones. 6. WALKTHROUGH DETAILS 6-1. CREATING YOUR PLAYERS This may not be the very best way to go through the game, and it involves maybe a little dishonesty, but it's still roughly the way I did it, and it will get you through the game quickly enough. The first order of business is to make your own characters. The game wastes a few skills, and because skill points are at a premium as you get better, you'll want to get rid of the useless stuff. Here are my choices, two fighters and two mages, based on the NPCs picked up along the way: str|dex|int|spi|hea|skills ---------+---+---+---+---+--------------------------- Biff 18| 20| 10| 10| 14| low magic, climb Clive 17| 20| 10| 10| 14| low magic, lockpick Darby 12| 16| 16| 18| 12| low magic, bureaucracy Elfy 12| 16| 14| 18| 12| low magic, bandage, arcane You'll notice 1) Biff and Clive have 8 points left over, Darby and Edgar 4 and 2) nobody has extended magic powers. I put in the minimums I'd like here, and I have a general track for how to improve the characters. Some people may want to give the fighters sword skills while others may want to inflate their dexterity or strength. Others may want to give someone bandaging skill somewhere down the line. Health also seems like a good choice, but remember that you want to keep your fighters' health close to your maximum bandaging skill. This puts them at less risk of death from a hit, if it's easy to heal them fully before combat. Darby will probably want to improve his high magic, while Elfy probably won't need/want to for his druid magic, which doesn't come into play and which doesn't have too many level based spells--although Druid Magic is necessary to win the game. You'll want to get their strong magic in pretty soon, but given how good Valar is with Sun Magic, you don't need to worry about that. In fact, you won't find Sun Magic scrolls for a while, so they're a bit of a waste at the beginning. Don't wait too long, though. You pile up levels quickly at the start, but then it gets tougher. Don't feel you have to spend points right away. Sometimes you may want to wait to spend a health point until you've improved your bandager's skill. Remember fighters' hit points should be no more than 1 or 2 away from that skill + 10--preferably equal. By the end of the game I try to get them to 20. But I think dexterity may be the most important attribute, because near the end, you just need to connect and get a hit with a powerful weapon, or better yet, avoid being hit. Later in the game you'll pick up Ulrik, Louie and Valar. Louie and Ulrik count as fighters, but be sure to get them low magic skills, too. Other lores aren't important--ancient allows you to resurrect characters and use the transportation nexii. You'll want to get the NPC's as soon as possible so they can share the experience and a big boost in the underworld. Valar's a pretty critical character. You will eventually want to improve his Sun Magic to 3, so his Inferno is effective, and if you want to build up levels quickly you'll want his Dexterity to be at least 20. Don't worry too much about his total power. And he already has enough hit points to last you a while. A few other wrinkles: let a fighter get 3 low magic skill somewhere along the way. That'll allow him to cast a nice long mage light spell, and he'll also be able to wear a protective mage ring from later in the game. Also, your fighter with lockpick may want to get his skill to 2. There's an item late in the game that requires it. That's all the planning you'll need. Now for the start of the game. There are a few things to do first: get spells, pick up Ulrik, and get scale armor for everyone. 6-2. PURGATORY: GETTING ULRIK It's most efficient to try to get Ulrik off the bat. For that, go 3N, 1W, 2N, 2E, 3N, 5E and 5N from the start. There'll be a fight with 4 drunks in this NE-ish area of Purgatory. It's low-risk, because they just stun you and don't take any hit points. A worst case scenario may mean you lose a few times but still get some levels into the deal. Then you can improve your leaders' dexterity so they get better attack/defense. But if you find you're having troubles, you can go to the arena, which is where you want to go anyway if you have Ulrik. You probably haven't covered enough of Purgatory to have the automap filled in, so it shouldn't be hard to retrace your steps and see where you went north after you started. Go up that passage. Get some leather and broadswords and return to the tavern to get Ulrik. Again, the arena is 1W and straight north of where you start, so if you want to get items from there first, no problem. You can probably get by the fights to get there without having any weapons. A lot of the random ones do stun damage, and there's only one of them. But Ulrik has some items, which are nice. Before entering the arena, discard all your weapons for good. Even Ulrik's. Because when you walk in, the computer offers you 15-(total # of items in your inventory) weapons. If you don't have any, you can pick up 15 battle axes(the most expensive ones.) Then walk forward a couple of squares. Six gladiators will appear at 50 feet. Run away--no damage done. You'll get kicked out of the arena, minus all your money. Only you don't have any--oops. The weapons shop is just around the corner--west, north, west and 1N at the branch. Then go west and enter the door to the north. Sell your battleaxes for 525 gold. Buy two scale armors. Let anyone equip them. You could've done this with 4 people, of course--but with Ulrik you have just enough to get 2 scale armors at once. Now return to the gladiator fight. You'll get only 13 items this time, but you can run from the gladiators and buy another scale. And another. And another. Now everyone has good armor to start! The next time in, get 4 broadswords and 6 battle axes and sell 5 of the axes once you leave. Now that you're equipped and have some cash, don't go back to the arena for a while. Your next object is to go to the west edge to get a bunch of spell scrolls. Four south of the entrance to the arena, head west all the way. You'll want Ulrik to get low magic as his first improvement, which may take a bit of time, but it's worth it. He'll need 600+1000+1500=3100 experience. But you'll be surprised how quickly the experience comes once you have good armor and good spells. The first thing you need to know about building yourself up in Purgatory is that magic is rechargeable. In the southeast corner, there's a pool that recharges your spell points. You can generally head to the south wall and go east. But there are a few false very-south walls. If you wind up at the place where guards rush at you to prevent your escape, you're close but need to go west, south and east. There'll be a pool that says "you feel strangely energized." Do this after and before each big fight. 6-3. SLAVE MINES DETOUR(NOT RECOMMENDED) You can sell yourself at the slave market for an interesting side adventure. This is easy if you know where everything is. Otherwise, you have a lot of rooms to search through. There aren't too many random monsters here--mostly spiders, which you can take out with Mage Fire. They are very rare. From your cell, take the passage east. You'll reach a T. Go off to the east-- there'll be a big room with a bunch of rocks. Get the rocks and go back to the T. Go north, west and south along the passages. At the end there's a door 1W and 1N. Get the tin cup in that room. Then go back north, east and south but take the door to the east. Go south and use the tin cup to get water. Go north and west and north. In the northwest corner, a man needs water. Use the cup. You'll get laces. Now go back along the east corridor but south behind the door and then east. There's a handle in the NE corner. You can now make a crude hammer by using any of the three items. Use the hammer and you're no longer chained. Return back to the corridors and go east now to the garbage area to get all your items back. Be sure to equip them as you're about to break out. Then go back west and south and west--past the tin cup room. Fight the guards. Go south into the room and east through the next door. One more fight--the cruel slave boss will probably run away. You will arrive on the surface of Forlorn once you win the fight and take the stairs up. Note that if you improve your characters heinously and try to whip through this with chains, it is possible. But you can exit with your chains still on and your items all gone! I'm not sure if you can go back to the slave market and/or recover everything. A weird inconsistency is how you find, in Lansk, that Mog left his stuff to you when he died. And you can enter the mines again and repeat this mess. 6-4. PURGATORY, CLEANING UP Stuff to do: Defeat the Humbaba. He is in the very northeast. Scale armor and your regular items and a ton of magic(possibly some heal spells too) should do him in. Then you can go to the SW and head 5N5E of it. N 2E 3N E 2N 2E S to be precise. That gets you 1000 gold. You don't need to visit the thieves first, but if you do, don't describe yourself as a thief/tramp/beggar. Defeat the guards in the arena. While this is not immediately possible, and it is ultimately not necessary, you may wish to check to make sure you've improved enough. Once you have 5 players with low magic ability, just cast mage fire when the enemie are 30" away. You get two free rounds of sure hits. Defeat the guards in the SE. Again, a sort of check to make sure you're good enough. It gets you a good chunk of gold and experience. It also lets you exit a different way than to the underworld. If you wish to reset the monsters that appear, you can head down to the Underworld and come back up again. The strategy for winning these big fights is not to advance immediately, but rather to cast Mage Fire at the enemies that have to advance to attack you. Do so mercilessly. It may even be a good idea to cast a spell instead of attack, because you have the recharging pool so near. One small twist: for the gladiators in the arena, just sit and wait for a turn--or cast a few spells in the hope that they advance before your magic users get their turn. Gladiators advance twenty feet, so if you advance, too, you have one less turn than you'd expect to blast them. Going to the recharge pool and back is not too difficult once you learn, and it's the only way to get good early on. I find that improving Ulrik to get low magic isn't necessary to bust through the guards, if your equipment is good enough. And once you do, go through the gate and follow a passage west. There'll be a small kink north and then south, but when the passage curves significantly north, there's a secret door in the SW tower. Push west to get through it and you'll be outside. Leave Purgatory and go west and south. 6-5. SLAVE CAMP The new location is the slave camp. Enter and they'll seem hostile to you, so don't move, but use Bureaucracy to calm everyone's fears. If you get in a combat, run. (NOTE: there are a few other ways to get into the camp so the slaves trust you, but you need bureaucracy later in the game, so I just don't worry about the other ways. At the Paragraph 5 place, use dexterity with a fully healed party and you'll be dropped off in Dilmun but with some damage. Or you can, after beating the guards, head northeast-ish and note a crack in the wall where you can go swim to your freedom. You can actually cheat horrendously here--bandaging people while you're in the water--but fact is, you don't need to, if your party was fully healed. Just head all the way south and you'll be dropped off SE of the slave camp. The slaves will trust you then.) In the slave camp, your objectives are: 1. Calm the slaves and convince them you're their friend(or the place will be deserted except for a treasure chest) 2. Get Louie in the SE building/tavern 3. Explore other buildings to learn more lore 4. Learn about the pool SE of the slave camp that re-charges your hit and spell points 5. Find and take the treasures in and behind the central building The central building has a locked chest in the indentation behind it. It's the only non-2x2 one. You'll get your first scrolls. Hold onto the Scare if you don't have a Druid yet. Have your high magic person get the spells: healing, cloak arcane and sense traps. All three of these are useful--cloak arcane gives extra AC protection. You might as well cast it after you touch every recharge pool, although it's great before a big fight. Also, give the Chain Mail to a fighter--a step up from the scale. Take everything else and you can go back to Purgatory and sell it if you'd like. Then go to the south of the building. The person doesn't seem to want to let you in, but use a skill-knowledge-magic and he will be friendlier. This gets you another Chain Mail and a Fire Light spell and some Dragon Stones too. The Ruby Dagger is useful for your mages, and though you may already have citizen papers(you don't need a second copy,) the war axe and flail could be handy. Take everything else for selling later if you wish. Even the Dragon Stones--there shouldn't be a need to use any yet. Note with all this reshuffling, Louie should be able to get a Scale and a broadsword, which is not a bad start for him. On the right of this building, you have a man who is sick. Use bandage or a healing spell on him. You can sell Sun Stroke unless you want another Sun Magician, and Druids can use greater healing. But first a word about navigating the slave camp. Later in the game, you'll have errands to run outside. You'll need to go through it to get to the pool and then come back up north. Or alternatively you can sit at the campfire(3E, 5S of entering from the north) although you'll need to cast protective spells before getting there. It may be best to enter it from the side when you go to recharge, because then you can turn down and walk that way. It's fewer steps, and you won't need to turn and shuffle. Back in Purgatory you can sell everything off. In fact you can even if you're bold look for the arms cache on the south shore just east of it. Another chain mail and more stuff to sell. Re-enter Purgatory from the west, go south to the shore, and go east-ish until the passage turns drastically north. Go through the gate, and there are your friends the guards again. You've met before. Do the magic business on them again--note Louie gives you another attack here. Then go sell the new stuff you found--all but one item(and save one of the Scales that you discarded for Chain.) That one, you'll use soon enough. 6-6. UNDERWORLD INTRO AND PHOEBUS Now you are ready to pick up Valar, which means your first official trip to the underworld. It'll be a brief one. The entrance to the underworld is south and east of the magic shop, with a 4x4 room and a random encounter, a group of bandits, and some fanatics before you reach Irkalla's statue and the underworld. Be sure to save here. Offer Irkalla the item you didn't sell. She should be pleased. If not, retry, either by quitting and restarting or by hoarding scrolls at the magic shop. Then enter the underworld(Apsu Waters.) Cast mage light after saying you don't want to take the stairs. You'll want to flee from all encounters at this point, which shouldn't be too hard. You also won't be spending much time here. One thing you do want to do in the underworld, though, is to find the recharge pool. From below Purgatory, 1E, 8N(to the wall,) 5W and 2N will get you there. At the pool, cast healing spells and Cloak Arcane and even Sense Traps, if you'd like, to make your party as strong as possible. From the pool, hit escape to recharge and go on about your way. 3S 3E 5S and east. The stair to the mystic wood is 2N of the entry and way off to the east or west--it doesn't matter as the Magan Underworld is 32x32 and cycles vertically and horizontally. Use the automap to figure out where to go and don't be scared to follow--or come back to--paths you were on. Now exit the mystic wood to the north. Go along the shoreline NE and eventually you'll see a city. Some goblins will whine about their brothers, which you jumped over by using the underworld. Ironically, this monster bunch doesn't regenerate. Its brothers do. You need to beat these guys to get into Phoebus. Throw all your magic at them. At the third intersection, before the T with the wall, go 6E then 5N and you'll be by the Icarian Triumph Tavern. Enter it to pick up Valar, who will be very useful. He's "only" level 2, but that just means he'll get some levels a bit quicker. One problem with Valar is that he has no armor. But you may be able to fix that up right away. Save the game and go west from the tavern. There will be some dirty rats--cast Cloak Arcane if you lost protection and the use all the offensive magic you've got on them. Then save, heal up, and go one more square west. The wolves will be guarding a door. Hit them with spells--don't bother to advance--and continue to do so until they die. Behind the wolves, you have a room with a locked chest. Lockpick it until it opens. Give a fighter the Magic Plate and take the Mage Cloth and Fire Spear to sell. It's better to have straight-up armor. Mages get good weapons later, and besides, when they're in the front ranks, they'll mostly be healing. Now that everyone in your front line has at least chain mail, you should be confident about survival in the first areas above ground. Nevertheless, there's still one more fun thing to do in the underworld. You can return to under Purgatory via the Mystic Wood(SW along the shoreline, go west, use climb skill at the well.) This is a good home base. Your first trick will be to get 5 skill points for everyone. Go 1E and up all the way. Now go east along the north edge of things and you'll reach another building. Go through the door at the top. It should say "worshippers of Irkalla are welcome in her realm." Go 2E and 2N here. That's not a misprint. The empty space next to the water gives you a bonus of five skill points. This should be about enough to get your one spellcaster some druid magic. Fighters maybe can count it as down payment to more dexterity and an attack/defense bonus, except Ulrik and Louie, who may need the points for Low Magic status. Spellcasters(High/Sun) can use it to increase spell levels to 3. Now go up to Purgatory, get the spells you need, and make Louie and Ulrik high magic users. In some fights you may need to scrap for magic/healing points where you can get them, and often you may just need someone who can cast Mage Light, and having everyone able to do the little stuff helps. At the bridge under Purgatory, go 1W and south until you can enter the cave. Do so. That gets you a paragraph. Now there is some fire to the south. There's a nice weapon in here. You can start on the west side and zigzag north and south through the flames, or you can just take my advice and go into the northmost of the flames and go south- -you will find a treasure chest with a very nice item, the Slicer, in it. It gives attack and armor bonuses. I like to give it to the guy with the magic plate--that way you will have one superstar who can keep going on when his friends are down for the count. 6-7. TARS RUINS UNDERGROUND Go back to the bridge, and to the east(around a lake) you'll have stairs up to the Tars Ruins Underground. Take them. You may not complete this all in one go, but you can get a start. You may wish to have Valar cast guidance before getting on with it all, because there are a few spinners. Tars Ruins Underground is not a big dungeon, but it is a tough one. First note that you seem to be trapped here--but there is a secret door to get you out, to the north. West 1, south, and there is a weird item here--stone arms. You'll need these for another quest. N, 3E, N of the stairs up(2E of where you can climb back down) you have a secret door to the west. It has a healing potion and some dragon stones. But the big fight(which you can skip for now if it seems too tough) would be the five adventurers and the wizard. I recommend just casting Mage Fire at the adventurers until they get close--well, still do it for everyone except the guy with the slicer--and then casting Mage Fire at the wizard. If you don't have the spell points, retreat, come back and recharge. You get 3500 gold and a Death Curse(druid) spell for this when you do. It's behind a secret door in the room. 6-8. TARS RUINS Tars Ruins is next. You might want to recharge before checking it out. You can just run around and clear everything there, and you should be able to do so now. Just be sure to be healed, as some monsters can do serious damage. But if you want to focus on the important bits, then you will want to keep to the east. There's a trap in the NE, too, which will activate if you didn't come up from underground, along with a very tough Guardian Snake that guards the a nice weapon, the Firesword. You'll also encounter your first shield--a Large Shield--in this trove. Give it to your leader. There are also some very good scrolls in the SW. One contains Elvar's Fire, a critical wide-range high magic spell. There's also air summon, guidance and exorcism. Valar doesn't know exorcism yet, so give him that. If you want to get the most of Tars I recommend going along the east shore and then the south. This will also help you to map it out, as the more places you look, the better you'll see what needs to be filled in. Use the automap extensively to see where to go next. There are some tracks here--they lead you past the trap and to the stone slab you need to use strength on to get back down the pit to Tars Ruins Underground. Oh, and run from all Spitting Lizards. The experience from monsters here isn't great, so just move on. 6-9. SLAVE ESTATE This is a light interlude where you will probably find the monsters very easy. You can pretty much walk in and whip all the goblins lying around. But there are a few twists. First of all you will want to go to the northeast part. There's some treasure there. In the northeast, a Ruby Dagger is nice for you to give to a mage. Then you can go south one room and west a bit. You'll find a squeaky board. Use strength to get under it. There's some good treasure there. You can also bust down the secret door to the west. There's a snake behind. In the SW of this room, you can get a mirror. There's also a wimpy treasure(hand axe and $100) but it's not necessary. Now in the SW room of the Estate, you see the "master." It's not Mog, though. It's a demon that's taken his place. If you fight the demon, it will breathe at your party until you advance. Then it will attack. It's rather tough, though. I recommend you use the mirror from a square away. That will do the trick. There's not too much loot to be had but you'll pick a few AC points up here and some cash. It nicely develops a good side story about Mog, who may have put you in the slave mines, hiring the demon apprentice that turned people to stone and made better artwork than he did. And it's still pretty unobtrusive. 6-10. MISCELLANY ON THE ISLE OF THE SUN Now you are totally ready to cross from Forlorn, the first isle(which you've cleared out,) to the Isle of the Sun. You've been over here before, but you submarined via the underworld. I recommend recharging spell points at the slave camp and then going to fight the guards before the bridge location. Hit them with all your spells. You can always re-re-charge at the Slave Camp. Crossing the bridge is tough. First locate the arms cache on the south bank, east side. Equip the shield and the helm. You have your citizenship papers, but the guards will demand a fee. Now you don't want to pay them, but you should also realize this combat can kill a party member. Save before and hit these guards with all you have. Once you've beaten the guards, you can hold "escape" over the bridge and you will eventually get a fight with 1-19 rats. You can cast Elvar's Fire on them. This can get some quick experience. You can then recharge, beat the bridge guards, and cast more spells. Usually I don't cast Elvar's Fire on <10 rats. Note that when you get a high enough level the rats will run away. So this doesn't last forever, or at least until you get Valar the Inferno spell and 20+ dexterity. Then he'll zap them before they run away. And you don't have to go back too often to recharge...because 2 point Infernos work pretty well. On the other side there are six goblins at 30'. Take them out with mage fires from your first four guys and then fight hand-to-hand. Assuming you have your backbenchers' spell points in place, it's time to take a trip to Phoebus and clean up the rest of the mess here. First thing to do is turn west at the spot where you turned east last time for the magic plate. At the door go north and a few squares west. Beat up the five thieves. They're guarding some scroll treasure. You may have to try a few times to open it. Your high magic person gets Poog's Vortex. Your druid gets Create Wall(the best of these--useful in Mud Toad) and Scare(which he has already,) and your sun magic person gets the Mithras Bless. Now you can go to the northwest corner. A bunch of soldiers are guarding a small room. Guess what? Treasure behind it. You may have some Stosstrupen in the way before this--they are annoying but only stun you for a ton of damage. It may take a few times, and if that doesn't work, just go around another way. Two of that handy new Poog's Vortex spells may be overkill--one should be enough. Behind all this you have plate mail and a magic shield. The second is as good as a large shield for defense, but it doesn't take from your attack. Be sure not to give too many heavy items to one character or his attack points will be seriously negative. In other words, give the plate and magic shield to the same guy. Phoebus is a pretty easy city to walk around in--enemies only stun you, except for Mystalvision at the very top, whom we will deal with later. The last thing to do here is to take the bridge to the north. This is a good place to use Dragon Stones you've built up. Cross the bridge and don't pay the toll--fight #1. Heal up. Enter the building across the bridge. Enter it again. Three more pikemen. You should be able to win with brute force. Heal everyone before entering the next door--there's a pit you can't avoid. Then through another door, you have magic items. Equip them before you come back. A big fight is ahead. The Gem Helm and Gauntlets should be a nice armor boost. Ulrik should get the Axe of Kalah. Louie might as well get the Holy Mace-- better attack and protection. Recharge your spellcasters. Because you'll have people waiting for you as you get out. Use all the Poog's Vortex you want on the front guards(I got three.) Cast death scare and sun stroke on the rear guards, and you should do okay. Use a few Dragon Stones before you leave and pick up a few others--you'll probably have to leave a few behind. In fact, since you have the dragon stones right now, if you want another fight...go to the southern building and poke around. Guards may randomly wake up. You can also try to open the chest. It'll fail. A bunch of blocking guards will challenge you. You should have the dexterity to attack first. Then, another attack like by the treasure room. If you ever want to improve lockpick skill to 3 and come back here, you can see what's in the treasure chest. But I don't think overall it's worth it. --Ice Chill --Disarm Trap --Radiance(Sun magic, not available anywhere else, fun but not practical to win the game) --Runed Flail(nice weapon, but takes too long to get the lockpick skill) 6-10a. LANSK In fact, if you really want a nice mace-type weapon(but you already have one,) go north to Lansk. You'll have to re-encounter the Pikemen on the way back. But in Lansk, there's a treasure in the inner circle, west side--a druids' mace. It gives one more attack and AC point than the holy mace. Problem is, fights are annoying. In one, a civil servant at 150' dodges until you get to 10'. Then he calls for help. He's worth 1 experience point...distributed. Adventurers and their mage(rage of Mithras) are also tough to fight, and citizens just run away. Fights are positioned at the N/S/W/E of the inner circle. To "solve" Lansk, which you don't strictly need to, note there are an inner and outer circle. In the SW of the outer circle there's the governor. He gives you papers. Go around to the northwest and the Department of Lubrication. Use the papers--they'll be stamped. Now go to the SE of the inner circle. The Visitor's Information Bureau will ask you for the papers. Use them and get a Governor's Pass. This allows you to cross the bridge right. But you should really use the nexus instead--it's much quicker. (End detour) Now head back to the Mystic Wood. Get the Mushrooms which you will need later. They are 1 south of the top, 3 west of the east edge--enter from the north, go 1 down, and turn left and go forward. Get the druid spells along the western shore. Flee from all fights. There's no risk of getting killed, but the fights can be annoying. There are a lot of spellcasters and monsters that stun for nasty damage. Along the west shore there's a tough fight with 3 water spirits. It's a good one, though. Recharge in the underworld if you want to be sure. Use Poog's Vortex with abandon. It will get you: --Plate Mail --Gauntlets --Great Bow South of that along the shore, there is another chest. You can get insect plague for your druid as well as fire blast. You can't do much more here other than to find the transportation nexus. Here's how to get it in the future. If you entered from the north, go west one and down all the way. If you entered from the Magan Underworld(as you did here,) go east 3 and down all the way. 6-11. PHOEBAN DUNGEON Well...one more trip to the Magan Underworld. Sell your loot in Purgatory. Dragon stones included--anything that doesn't add to your armor class or that you can't read for a spell, sell it. You're going to pick up some good armor, here. Go east about seven squares east from the Apsu Waters(stairs down from Purgatory) and all the way south. You'll see a small narrow bridge. Cross it. Some fairies will want to drain your life force. No problem. Bandage everyone once you're done. Cross the stairs on the other side. 3N 1W and save for the fight just north. Should be a stosstrupen defending the outcropping. Hit him with everything you have. The pilgrims with him will run away. Behind you'll get a spiked mace, dragon plate, dragon helm and dragon eyes. Which are nice. You can't carry them all, but save ten or so for special occasions. Dragon eyes restore 40 spell points, handy in very tough battles. A few are ahead. The mage staff is nice too--give it to a mage for now(slot #5) and he'll hit whatever he attacks in case someone ahead goes down. You may want to increase your Sun Magic to 3 or so before this. It helps in a fight with Mystalvision. If not now, definitely before the Necropolis. Now go to Phoebus via the Mystic Wood or wherever. Go up all the way, beat the Stosstrupen, circle around and beat the guards, and go into the courtyard where Mystalvision will beat you pretty easily. This kicks you to the Phoeban dungeon. You really should have the armor and weapons to be able to bull through the enemies--although you should also have the spells(Poog's Vortex.( Your first two players have enchanted plate, and to be safe you may want to give them a helm, gauntlets, shield, etc. You may lose your other guys quickly(or you can have them run,) which is cause for alarm, but the remaining two can take down anyone. Past the first old jailor there's a secret door on the south wall. Ignore it for now and go north and turn west. Explore that area--in the northwest, use the word HALIFAX to get to the cache. The magic ring raises someone's armor class, and the magic quiver will be great for later. Then it's on to the fight with Mystalvision. West of the big pit, you want to turn up. Have all your spell points ready. Blast the old jailors with Poog's Vortex and Death Curse so that you can advance and cast sun stroke on Mystal. Once he dies(well, not really,) you get some cool treasure: Major Heal, Holy Aim, and Disarm Trap for Valar. Your Druid gets Wood Spirit--eh well. Go back to the jailor's and go through the south wall(west side.) Follow the passage. Use climb at the cave-in. Follow that passage. Take the stairs up. You could also have left by going in the pit and not letting the dwarf feed the dragon. But that sort of blows up all of Phoebus. Once you climb the stairs, you'll be kicked out and given a warning which means nothing in practical terms. There'll be an Ominous Fellow to the east. Too fast to hit, he runs away. Go to the tavern. Berengaria's off to Mud Toad? Eh well. Let's go there next. 6-12. QUAG AND MUD TOAD, FIRST TRIP Go to the Mystic Wood. Recharge if necessary and take the nexus to Quag. Follow my instructions or you will fight a few more Murk Trees than you want to. These guys are potentially deadly. 2 south, 2 east, 4 south, save game. 1 east to fight murk trees. Use whatever heal you need to get by them. Enter Mud Toad and skirt the east wall. Eventually you'll reach a souvenir shop. Buy an ankh. One square east, go north and use the climb skill. Save here--it gets tricky. Go along the wall and in the southeast corner you'll find a fight. It's a toughie--use Elvar's Fire and then Poog's Vortex from your high magic person, Fire Blast from your druid, and Sunstroke from your Sun Magic type. Stay back and let your non-magic people use Mage Fire. Save your big guns for the group of 8 militiamen--they are quite nasty and can outright kill you. Behind them you'll find a good chunk of treasure. Lucky Boots give an armor point. There's also Reveal Glamour and Air Summon. Now you can go to the tavern. Berengaria is one square east of the barkeep. He has: --Rage of Mithras --Holy Aim --Major Heal --Summon Salamander --Armor of Light(already have) From here it's on to the northwest. There'll be the bottom of a statue in a big room. Use the stone arms on it. That frees up an inventory space. Go 2N 1W. Face west and cast create wall. It'll kill the threat of the mud oozing in. Go north and east and hook around the wall. But save before you get to the turn going back west. There's a combat before you find the priests in the extreme NW. Your work here is done. There's one more detail: after leaving the main gates, exit to the west edge of the map. That way the Murk Trees that blocked your way in won't be there when you leave. Now, if you want to get the Enkidu Totem(avoids a rough fight,) you can go back to the mystic wood and, at the left side of the isle(4E of the nexus,) use the golden boots to jump over it. Use any weapon on the right side. Recharge in the underworld. Although here it might be a nice idea to get HP and bandaging up a bit--17 or 18. Not critical though. Next up: the necropolis. 6-13. NECROPOLIS, FIRST TRIP From the nexus point on the quag you will want to go 2S and save--3E is a fight with murk trees. Behind is Smuggler's Cove. At the door, use Bureaucracy and offer 50 gold. Go through the door on the south. You'll use Ugly's services to get a spell that will later help crush him and his henchmen. You can exit from Necropolis to Dilmun, but there's nowhere to go except to see where the isle is in relation to others. Take the door--but be healed--and advance on the guardian. You can either take him out with spells from 20 feet or move in and clobber him from ten. The second is as sure in the long run and doesn't require any regeneration, so I recommend it. In the center of this room is treasure: --stone trunk(to use in Mud Toad) --Black Helm(+3 armor class) --Magic Chain(same AC as chain, better attack) --Dead Bolt Now there's another guardian at the other door. Take it out as patiently. Then go east along the top wall until it goes south. Save and go a square back west to a planned combat. Here you may have to wait for the right one to pop up--goblins are very weak and a good choice of opponent. If you still have dragon eyes from Salvation, you could do worse than use them here. Just be sure to win if you do--bring ALL your spells. 2 ghouls are also inherently beatable. Run from any random combats--you're safe enough, although spitting snakes may cause you damage. West of the planned fight is another one--head up through the secret door after healing, and run at the stone demon. When you get to it, it will disappear. Follow the passage. Heal up before the end and stock up spell points. Make sure everyone has a dragon's eye. Cast Cloak Arcane before you heal. There's a big fight ahead. Wipe out the wraith with Death Curse and Mage Fire. Hit the goblins with Poog's Vortex twice. Use Sun Stroke on the ghouls. Hit the ghouls hand to hand and move Death Curse to them, too. Don't be scared to use up your spell points. You should mow everyone down before the skeletons get there. Then use mage fire on the skeletons along with Death Curse, Sun Stroke etc. Use the mushrooms on Nergal. He'll ask for someone to serve you. Pick anybody--won't matter. Only now do you get treasure from Nergal: --Silver key(important item) --Inferno(the big one!--group spell for Sun Magic) --Big Chill(almost as good) --Insect Plague --Scare(already have) --Fire Light Drop the mushrooms; they're useless now. Now the only question is--how to get out? Well, there is a door on the east wall that you passed on the way. Take it but--be warned--deadly spiders are there. Save after each square. You don't have to use magic. After 9 spiders you will reach a teleporter that will send you to a random area on Dilmun. Also, note that you now can be confident that you can resurrect a dead person. To do so, kill the second guardian and turn south. Go through the door, 2W, N and W and down the stairs. Follow the passage and use Ancient Lore as Skill/Knowledge at the well. The resurrected person will be stunned; bandage him. Return to the surface and circle to the part with the spiders to teleport out or, if you have the boat, just beat up the Grim Guardians. It's doubly important to save and bandage before facing the Grim Guardians, as sometimes they'll just breathe too much damage on you for you to advance in time. Once this is done you have a little clean-up to do in the underworld. Enter Irkalla's Realm(incidentally, the place above the building below Necropolis with the well inside it--sorry, Soften Stone doesn't work) and there will be a place where the game tells you that you can see an island to the east. Face east and use the golden boots. Use your golden boots. Irkalla will appear. Use the silver key Nergal gave you. You can drop that now. Don't worry about the skull or sword yet. 6-13a. LANSK UNDERGROUND Now you will want to go to Lansk Underground. You probably won't want to fight much as there are monsters that stun for a lot and others that can kill you. Save frequently--i.e. after you complete each task--and always run from fights, then run around them. There are quite a few fight-squares. From the stairs go west 4, north 3, and west 3. This sends you through a secret door. Use unlock to get beyond the next one, and when you meet the dragon(paragraph 126) you should use the ankh you bought in Mud Toad. That gets you a Dragon Gem. Drop the ankh. The other thing to do in Lansk Underground is to get the Cure All spell for your druid. It's a bargain at $100. Go to the shops on the west side--the southernmost one has a shady fellow winking at you. You'll notice that one 2x2 room doesn't have a door. But it as a secret wall--in the NW of this room. The actual vendor is in the NE of the secret room--you already have Wood Spirit and Create Wall, but Cure All may be useful down the road if your party gets a few unexpected hits. As it heals everyone--often keeping recently stunned characters in the first four slots. 6-14. BUILDING YOUR PARTY UP You may not be ready to take on Long John Ugly yet. But he is worth a try. Your high magician can cast Big Chill, and your sun magician can cast Inferno. If you can do all this and it works out, great. You may be able to go through with 6-22 and maybe even 6-23 before coming back, which would make everything easier. I presented the below as the failsafe way to get through this all. One trick which helps a lot is to stand on the bridge and, when rats attack, have your sun magician cast inferno with strength 1. It will kill all rats that did not run away. Once his dexterity is at 20, not many will. You'll probably want to get everyone's up there anyway, so why not do so right now? 6-15. BRIDGE OF EXILES LOOP You'll need a few dragon stones, at least, to make it through all the way here. Because you will have to face groups of goblins as follows: 2-5 goblins 10' 5 goblins 20' 4 guard goblins 90' 6 guard goblins 150' These can be dispatched pretty easily with a well-timed Inferno or Big Chill or two. But you just want to be sure you won't run out of spell points. You'll be kicked to some tough fight locations, so you want to be sure 1) you have a dragon stone for everyone, 2) you pick some up on the treasure vaults on the way if you lose them, and 3) you have enough open space before you start this, because there are other treasures, too. So sell unnecessary stuff in Purgatory, and let's get going. Take the Nexus in the wood to King's Island. Go west along the shore and up and fight the goblins. If you can't win this fight, you shouldn't continue. Build up your characters and improve Valar's Sun Magic and your fighters' Dexterity. On the west part of King's Isle, there's a bridge in the southwest. That is the bridge of exiles. It is guarded by 30 goblins. Attack the front line of 15 and then cast as big an inferno as you can. Inferno is most effective here since there are two groups of goblins. Now the bridge of exiles has nothing of significance, except when you go through the second door, you find it is one-way. The islet on the other side has only one other location, the mad city/Snake Pit. So enter that. There are no fights here, but you have several items to pick up. Then there is a Stone Head on the west shore. It is left of the buiding with the beach ??. In the center you have a building that's a hexagon of seven 2x2 rooms. To get to the secret one in the center, enter at the bottom and go N from the NE square. You'll get the Signet Ring, which you need to get out of here--there's a secret door north of the square you haven't accessed. A chest is there, but you don't really get any useful treasures from it. So go to the building in the northeast and use the ring there. Take the boat to get out of there(behind the NE square in the home, secret door N,) and you'll be deposited on the east shore of King's Isle. But since you haven't gone there yet, you get kidnapped...and sent to Kingshome Dungeon. Wyvern's walkthrough touched on a neat way to get Beast Call(get branches and go to the tree on the south shoreline--be sure to give the branches to your Druid, as you don't actually get an item--then drop the branches,) but that's a relatively useless spell with your party full, and you can get it by completing the Magic College quest anyway. You can come back through here again and you won't get kidnapped(it's only the first time you touch that square.) But you don't really need to. 6-16. KINGSHOME DUNGEON You can pretty easily unlock the doors to the other cells. There's an amusing bit for the one across and just down from you. Two vicious guards lie beyond the door. Use spells ruthlessly to take them out, unless you already have dragon teeth(if you do, the rest is a breeze here.) Then through the next door you have patrolmen, who will actually damage you, and Stosstrupen, whom you know well. Spells are OK here, too, because an armory is ahead. You can usually flee patrolmen to see if they're for real. Down this east corridor there's a locked door to the north. It goes to the surface. Don't take it yet. You only have one chance to loot everything here. Around the bend you'll have two doors--the second is guarded by Patrolmen. It's the Kingshome Armory. Throw all your spells at them(saving first, or, better yet, approaching/fleeing until attacked by just one patrolman.) Great items here: --Black Helm --Gatlin Bow --Mage Ring --Fire Shield seems cool, but it isn't **no Zak's Speed as Wyvern's walkthrough seems to indicate. Oh well. Once you've looted the armory, there's not much else to do. Go up the stairs and to Kingshome. 6-17. KINGSHOME Follow the passage to a small room. Namtar will greet you. Then once you leave, the room will be sealed up. You can exit now and come back later for any treasure. The signet ring you got in the Snake Pit will let you by the guards. But when you're ready to poke around, there's a door north of your room(the locked ones on either side hide nothing.) Follow the left passage from up top to get Pilgrim Garb(helps you sneak into the Nisir, but not worth it. Just use the front way, via the Magan Underworld.) In the east, you can get Magic Chain, Lucky Boots and some other treasures/items. In the first room behind the door, The Rusty Axe is OK if you have nothing better(Axe of Kalah,) There's actually not too much to do here, but with a few nice items you might as well go exploring. 6-18. SIEGE CAMP You can enter the Siege Camp by signing up in Phoebus or by pushing your way through a pile of goblins. It's in the NW part of the western half of the Isle of the King and it's the only way to get to Byzantium. Very little is stopping you from going forward into Byzantium, but there's a nasty combat blocking your way out. This should give you an idea of the good/bad guys if you didn't already guess. You'll want a dragon stone for each mage, since there's a big fight at the end. You aren't forced to kill any good guys, but one thing you may want to do is beat up a few guards along the way. On the east side of the north wall there's a cul de sac that has a Lance Sword and a pair of Silver Gloves, which are very nice(+3AC.) It's almost like a town, and if you'd like you can buy large shields here for those that don't have them. Or you can wait 'til Freeport, where they're desperately cheap. If you're feeling gutsy you can try the fight to leave this place, but you will probably want to save your magic. The Royal Guards cast Mage fire. Even with the healer right around the corner, it's no fun. Speaking of fun, Buck Ironhead is in the building to your left as you enter and pass the front gate. Visit him twice and he boots you to the front, i.e. near Byzantium. 6-19. BYZANTIUM DUNGEON You can't make any progress around beseiged Byzantium--the locked door is impenetrable. So just go 4N1E(there's a room off to the side with a tough hydra fight where you can use strength on the slab and go down, but this is easier.) Cast Mage light and go forward and use strength again. Now you can do things the hard way--enter the door in the SE and fight a bunch of guards, use the secret door in the NE of that room, and take the first door to the north--to get to the armory. It's got magic chain and a magic shield, and some decent spells too. You can see Prince Jordan before you meet Myrolla. Myrolla is in the western corridor. It's best to surrender to her though fighting and running/losing has the same effect. You get thrown in a prison, but all you have to do is run against the door a bunch. Then Jordan asks you if you'll join him. Do so, but before you climb up to the surface, raid the treasure vault in the room to the east. You can also look to the west for some treasure, but it's a bit meager(magic axe) and the fights are tough. There are two ways for treachery in all this. First, you can kill Myrolla and see the treaty Jordan had sent to his father. There's a gloom and doom bit about how even rescuing Dilmun from Namtar means another tyrant will pop up without a strong leader. Second, you can kill Jordan and get a message saying it's up to you to be king. Either way, once you do, you can now open the gates for the Kingshomer army to come in. There's a fight with Pikemen and guards. Leave the courtyard and go to the west. Unlock the gate you couldn't unlock from the outside. You get paragraph 71. Then you get thrown in the Kingshome Dungeon. You can escape, but you can't get the best ending of this sub-quest where you and Jordan destroy the Kingshomer army. On climbing up you're kicked to the Siege Camp, through a secret passage. If you're really mean you can go back and unlock the gates and be a traitor again. The big fight ahead is: 15 mercenaries 10' 15 guards 40' 5 royal guards 60' 2 Kingshomer captains 90' The plan is just to dump Big Chill, Fire Blast(mercenaries) and maximum- strength Inferno on everyone. It pays to have a Sun Magic of 3 or so. That allows you to wipe out the guards a bit more easily. You should be able to gun down the Kingshomer Captains with spells to weaken them as they get close. Be sure to have your front line healed, too. You get about 900 experience for all this. Note that Inferno even on two Kingshomer Captains is worthwhile, versus Sun Stroke. You'll get about 900 experience for this magic massacre. And a commemorative plaque on this location! 6-20. BYZANOPLE The most interesting thing to do here is to get rid of the city treacherously by unlocking the gates from the inside. But there are a lot of things to buy such as a large shield. It's a bit awkward to get to, but you'll be able to move around without getting hit by arrows. The Siege Camp is deserted once the war is decided in either party's favor. 6-21. THE BIG FIGHT WITH UGLY You don't have a lot of stuff you can do against Ugly. Just have everyone healed. If your four front line men have good dexterity, things could work out swimmingly. Have them cast disarm at the Scurvy Seadogs. Have your high magician cast big chill, your druid cast fire blast, and your sun magician cast a 6-point inferno. Repeat the next round. Don't worry if anyone got stunned. You should have all the bad guys up front killed by then. You can then start with Mage Fire, Death Curse and Sun Stroke to wipe out the remaining enemies, Peg Leg Peggy and Long John Ugly. You get a bunch of weird items from this fight but the only ones that are useful are the Jade Eyes. Even so, they are not necessary to complete the game--they just make it so you don't have to cast Soften Stone. The Heavy Plate is great for armor class but horrible for attacks. Treasure: $3000, jade eyes, heavy plate, parrot, hook, old peg leg(the last 3 are wimpy weapons.) 6-22. FREEPORT Nothing really on the outside except some mapping fun. The big fight in the Order of the Sword is best dealt with by using wide range spells--lots of them--and with abandon. Dragon Eyes too. Inferno on the people at 40', but all three big spells(big chill and fire blast) from then on in. Don't forget your low magicians too. You should be able to gun down the guards before they get too close, or at least have them easy to pick off in melee. --stone hand(use at Mud Toad) --soften stone(for Druid) --spell staff(for any magic user--+8 AC is pretty good) --charger(for Valar) Ryan's Armor has large shields for $100 a pop. They are worth it for those who don't have them. Staffs are one-handed weapons in Dragon Wars. The magic selection is also good: Vorn's Guard, Mystic Might, Sala's Swift, Cowardice, Reveal Glamour, Soften Stone. Get the first four for your High Magician. But you should already have the last two. The first three could be useful in the final bit with Namtar. Some of the random monsters here--such as adventurers--are rather nasty. Avoid them. Done? Great. Go back to Smugglers' Cove. Go recharge if you're really conservative. Check out Mud Toad to assemble Lanac'Toor's statue, if you've done the Bridge of Exiles cycle. 6-23. DRAGON VALLEY, FIRST TRIP You'll have a big fight at first. 6-24. LANAC'TOOR'S LABORATORY First of all you need to have found the four pieces of the statue. You should definitely have three of them by now with the fourth being in a tough fight in Freeport. Stone Arms(Tars Ruins) Stone Head(Snake Pit) Stone Trunk(Necropolis) Stone Hand(Freeport) Use them all and stairs down will open. This is a dungeon that may not be too big, but it can be very treacherous. A lot of monsters breathe at you and cause serious nagging damage. Then you have to heal up and run at them again. Dragon Teeth really help here. You also need Soften Stone. The quick way is to go 4S 2W S W 2S and now... E 4S(2 encounters here) 2W S 2W S and cast Soften Stone north OR Cast soften stone south, go south, go west, cast soften stone west. Either will get you to the square room with Lanac'Toor's treasure. +----+ | | |a | | bc| | | +----+ A = dragon shield and some other stuff B = Lanac'Toor's spectacles C = miscellaneous magic scrolls Once you find these scrolls, give your druid Zak's Speed and Kill Ray. Give Valar Fire Storm, though it's not really useful compared to Inferno. 6-25. RUSTIC, GAME PRESERVES(DETOUR) This isn't a critical part of the game, but it's interesting to see the small side story lines. It's 4W1S of your boat. You can try several things here. First, this is a good place to build up experience quickly once you have dragon teeth. You can hack away at monsters 40' away. You just have to watch your hit points occasionally. Sit in one place and hit escape. Fights are worth ~200 a pop. Sub-strategies: --Wood spirit, spiders, elementals: advance to get to where you can hit the elementals. The wood spirits just cast brambles. --Wood spirit, bush wizard: hack down the bush wizard. If an elemental is at 90' and a lot of monsters at 10', flee. Spiders seem to run, so you can get by them, but wood spirits can block annoyingly. If you get snared, use strength to break free. Old Jack is the only person with an event here. You can follow the tracks just east of the ford and kill a stag in combat to talk to him, or you can visit his hut. In any case, using Bureaucracy gets you thrown out of the forest. Using the signet ring gets you paragraph 74. You can also try to flee, which gets you a fight. Either of the last two options(assuming you win an easy fight) wins you a magic bow. 6-26. RUSTIC, THE BRIDGE If you have the Enkidu Totem, use it when the scorpions say you cannot pass. Otherwise there will be a big fight. You'll need dragon teeth to ensure you'll win--otherwise you'll need a lot of heal spells. Behind the scorpions you have evil spirits and then bridge wolves. To the south are cave bears/bears and then wild dogs. Cave bears/bears and bridge wolves(don't regenerate) to the north hide some treasure. There's a magic shield along with some gold up there, so it's worth it. You can keep going back and forth for experience here--there are worse ways. 6-27. RUSTIC, MAGIC COLLEGE(RECOMMENDED DETOUR) East of the bridge is a barren land with just one structure. Enter it and go 2 west. You'll need to use the spectacles to get in. Once you do, a door will appear. You will have a few challenges. There's no way to back out except to fail, but you may want to save before the 4th challenge which is a bit random(Apple doesn't let you in some places here.) The best way to succeed-- have the freedom sword or some dragon teeth. In the first room, cast a 1-point ice chill by the fire--if you have big chill, it's ok to chuck the spell points there. In the second room, have your high magician cast reveal glamour and then a 1- point fire light(or mage fire from a fighter.) In the third room, Cloak Arcane works well. Just 1 point again. In the fourth room, you may get unlucky. But you should be able to beat the Philistine soon enough. In the fifth room, cast disarm trap(sun magic.) Now check your inventory to make sure you have 3-4 free spots. You won't have time to sift through your inventory after you get the treasure. Walk forward through the door and west at the wall. Choose the Soul Bowl. Fire Summon, Group Heal(both high magic) and the Soul Bowl are the big items from here. Everything else is high magic you've already gotten. Now you want to return to the Mystic Wood and use the Soul Bowl on the stone that commemorates Zaton. It's 1 north of the bottom edge and marked with a stone on the automap, 4 squares in from the shore. You get (among the unique spells) Beast Call, Invoke Spirit and Brambles, which aren't really that useful, but it's nice to have the complete set and not too inconvenient. 6-28. SUNKEN RUINS(AND BELOW) Have you seen Irkalla yet? If not, go to her realm and use the silver key on her. See 6-13. If you want some very nice treasure, get your lockpick skill up to 2. The treasure is even worth coming back for. This is a pretty straightforward area if everyone has Dragon Swords, which they should. Zigzag up to the door--there's one forced combat, so try to get it against just 1 or 2 enemies. They generally appear at 20' so that shouldn't be a problem. There will be a couple more such instances. Save before, although if you have the dragon sword, the monsters' need to advance can make things pretty easy. Now from the door, go north and take the secret door east. You can't open the lock to the east. I wasted a few levels trying once. Take the spiral and at the end there's another secret door south. In this area you have another fight or two, and there's another secret door--on the east side of the remaining square. There's some worthless treasure in the SW. Use the water potion you got from Irkalla on the Isle of Woe in her realm in the Underworld. That'll allow you to go below. First, in the sunken ruins, you have a chance for some good treasure. Turn so you are facing a door in the distance. Go through it and the next door in that room. Use lockpick on the chest. Now throw all your wide-range spells at the bad guys that pop up. If you have dragon teeth, you should only need to cast these once. But either way, it's worth it. The Dragon Plate is very good, and the Dragon Sword is almost as good as the teeth. 2S1W of the stairs, there's a secret door to the north. The chest holds earth, water and air summon as well as some dragon stones. There's also a spinner here, and it is by the really important treasure. Fortunately you can tell which direction the spinner is facing. If it's into a wide open room past a short corridor, then it is north, which is the way you want. If you have 2 walls on the left and 1 on the right, it is south. Either other way gets you back to the stairs. 6-29. DWARF CLAN HALL: GETTING THE SWORD You will want to be magically recharged before starting this. You can enter from the Magan Underworld, through the fire, or you can enter on King's Isle via the Transportation Nexus. To do so, you'll need to fight one batch of goblins and then look for the ruins amidst the rocks There's not much you have to do here other than use the Jade Eyes at the statue. Then it's easy to go down. Either way you enter, it's necessary to have Soften Stone, which comes in handy to link two areas together. Use it at the wall north of the crystal wall blocking the forge from the rest of the hall and the wall just west of these, i.e. at 1 and 2 below: | | + + | 2 +1+ C +-+ | | But the main thing to do is to go north from the crystal wall. Take the door a square east and cast soften stone. You are entitled to all their treasures- -if you'd gone snooping and stealing, you'd have had to fight Automatons for the right. All the treasures are located in the north corridor. The first is to the west of the branch you just took, through a room. It has a Dragon Helm, nice for AC. Now if you circle east, north and west in the corridor, there's a secret door at the end. This room holds a spell staff, useful for a magic user. The next room has a dragon horn, which I didn't find useful, but there's some cash there, too. The other thing to do is to go to the forge area. Use the Skull of Roba--the master smith is a few steps east of the stairs--and go down the stairs. Bandage everyone if they're low on health and go north to Irkalla's Realm. Jump to the Isle of Woe, and at the top part, you'll get the Sword of Freedom. It's even better than Dragon Teeth for attack/armor class value, but it doesn't have the range. Let your leader equip it for now. By the way, if you go to the south corridor before turning the dwarves back from stone, there's a gorgon to fight. It's very nasty. But it's gone if you wake the dwarves. 6-30. REVISITING DRAGON VALLEY(RECOMMENDED DETOUR) The second time through Dragon Valley, you'll have quite a few fights to plow through, but most importantly, you'll need to make sure you have the Dragon Gem, which will help you greatly with a final battle. On top of visiting the Dragon Queen, you should still have two treasure troves to visit. One is in the northeast. It has a few spells you could have bought in Freeport, so it is not such a big deal. But the treasure trove in the west, northwest of the first one, is rather good. In any case, don't mess around. Save after each fixed combat. Here you will run into a lot of set combats, and you will want to try to avoid as many as possible. Run away and come back to see if a combat square really does exist. And have about six dragon stones--or better yet, a few dragon eyes--handy. Certain monster clumps pop up frequently, and here is how I deal with them. 25 fangers+cockatrice+dragon warrior: attack the cockatrice with Dragon Teeth. Poog's Vortex, Fire Blast and Inferno on the fangers. After the cockatrice dies, take out any remaining fangers and then the dragon warrior. 3 dragon warriors + ? dragon warriors: keep fleeing and returning until you only have to face 1 dragon warrior. Then proceed as above, using melee on the closest enemy. dragon warrior + 5 mages + 1 mage: this is rather easy. If your dexterity is high enough, you can chop up the dragon warrior and then the mages will fall even though it's annoying how they cast Brambles. They can't actually damage you, but they can freeze you long enough for other monsters to. Other monsters: attack any cockatrice you see immediately. Save mages for last and chip away at other monsters, with spells if necessary. One pattern I have that seems to work is N 4E 2N E 2N W 3N W N 2W 2S 2W S W S W (combat before next move, so heal etc.) 2S and W for the treasure. This treasure contains dragon eyes along with a dragon helm, so you can come back here to pick up dragon eyes to recharge spell points after a tough battle. If you're economical, you can clear the whole valley of fixed fights. The dragon queen is 2N E N E 2N W 2N E 2N from here, and there aren't too many fights along the way. Use the dragon gem and she now knows you for later. The combat ahead is hopeless unless you've used the Irkalla loophole(see 11-2) extensively. You will want to have everyone with 25+ endurance and Druid Heal All spells, so you can advance, heal, advance, heal etc. Good idea to be loaded with Dragon Eyes too. After meeting the Dragon Queen you can go 2S 2E N E 2N E N 4E for a few scrolls. 6-31. SALVATION Remember to bandage yourself after going past the fairies by the rock crevasse. Then climb up the stairs. You've probably gone behind the rock north and west of the entrance from the Underworld, so we'll just run through. There are no fixed combats on the way, so if you encounter anyone, run. There's one problem with walking through--Rock Men can appear at 10' and they can kill you even if you're well bunkered. Also, it's possible to fall into a hole by mistake, which kicks you back to the finger of rock where you ascended to Nisir. So do save once you reach Salvation. Here's the path to the clearing you need to see next: 6N W 2N W 2N 3E 2S 3E 2N 4E 4S 2E 2N. You should have "paragraph 97" now. Use the freedom sword. Everyone will get each statistic, except health, improved by 3(Note: replaying the game does not get an additional bonus.) It's up to you now if you want to improve dexterity by one more to get that extra attack/defense bonus. To get through the game most quickly, you probably don't need it. Note a small bug here: the game doesn't register your gap in magic power until you try to improve your guys. It might be worth it to return to the Magan Underworld and recharge right now, actually. You want to be as prepared as possible for the Nisir. You may want to look at section 6-30a if you want to try to improve a little more, or to get through one more tough fight to prove yourself. Exit to the north for that. If however you want to get to the nisir, go 3N 2E from the start. Have anyone use intelligence. Then use climbing. Use the golden boots to jump across the chasm. 6-31a. OLD DOCK AND PILGRIM DOCK The Pilgrim Dock is on the same island as Salvation. It has two big fights in the building: Guards 1N 2W of the entry, guarding the entry from Old Dock, if you took your pilgrim garbs off too soon(or if you're just wandering around.) Also there are guards behind the locked door to the south. If you run from/lose either fight, you are thrown into a jail to the south. Fortunately there's a secret door to the west. Take it to get back to Salvation. As for the fights, if you want to win them, I'd throw all my spells at the bad guys, even using the freedom sword if you have it. Only the bottom of the two is really worth it, and it regenerates after you leave the area. You need a lockpick of 3 to get to the east of the three cells. A prisoner in that cell tells you of the secret passage to the west. Not really worth it, but then you can always go back to that one bridge and get the Radiance spell to help you see a bit more. 6-32. THE NISIR Plowing through the Nisir is not too bad when you know where to go. Here's how to get to Namtar and win the game post-haste. Go straight north from where you started, into a wall. Cast soften stone, go forward, and cast soften stone again. (The exit is N 2E 2S of where you started. It leads 1N1W of the recharging pool.) Now go west after casting a mage light spell. At the intersection you have a spinner. When you see a door to your right, go forward. You're still going west. At the T, go south two and through the door. Go through a few rooms and you'll be at the swamp in the heart of the mountain from one of the paragraphs. The exit is to the southwest. Save the game in this final bit, just in case you hit a mine that takes some hit points away. Go three up and left and cast soften stone. Then go forward to the wall and follow the spiral. Walk to just before the encounter and, before you use the dragon gem, cast cloak arcane for some extra protection. Be sure to have the Freedom Sword equipped, too. I would even go so far as to create a backup save game(copy data1 data1.bak) in case things go wrong as you fight Namtar, or you can't win the last big fight. Once you use the gem, there's a small narrative. The Dragon Queen blasts the enemy army, including Namtar. But then Namtar, resurrected from the Dragon Queen blasting him, will attack. This begins the endgame. 6-33. THE ENDGAME The first fight with Namtar seems straightforward. But you'll need to use a lot of heal spells, because he is surprisingly resilient. Lots of hit points. And if anyone gets killed in combat, you'll have to start completely over. On offense, you will want your miscellaneous guy to cast Zak's Speed(allows mighty blows to be more effective,) your druid(who may be your miscellaneous too) to cast Death Curse or Kill Ray if/when you're in range, your sun magician to cast Sun Stroke, and your high magician to cast Mystic Might. Other good spells include Insect Plague(druid) and Vorn's Guard(high.) Check the spells section for more to use against Namtar. Later you can use the multi-heal spells, too. Have those dragon eyes/stones ready for your spellcasters, and don't wait until the spells run out. And if/when Namtar gets to 20', switch your one player's dragon tooth for a freedom sword. This makes him a much better fighter close in. The second fight is similar to the first. It may be exactly the same Namtar, actually. So use the same strategy, although you can't prepare beforehand. But it's the third fight that's very tricky. Namtar breathes at you. You'll need to cast heal spells, and each magician should have one. You're in particular danger if you ended a fight and someone had few hit points. Because they could get killed. First round, you might even just want to have all mages cast heal spells. Druid: cure all(the best) High: group heal Sun: major heal Don't be shy about casting two of these at once. Or about recharging a few times in battle. Offensive spells might be a bad idea, but your best bet is to throw in supporting spells from your High Magician. Cast Zak's Speed out of the gate, and hit everyone with Mystic Might when you can. If you get really fed up, use a Dragon Eye and cast a couple Kill Rays. You should be even more vigilant about not bottoming out spell points. Sneak in a dragon stone/eye when you can. When in doubt, "risk" healing a player or two to above his maximum. Multi-heals are more efficient--in terms and hit point/spell point ratio--if just 2 or 3 players get benefits from them. With Namtar killed you can pick up his corpse again. You're sent to 1N1W of the pool where you recharged in the underworld. Great deal! Recharge immediately. But beware. 2S of this is a big fight with 30 goblins. Hit them with every offensive spell you have, right away. They are much tougher than normal goblins. Namtar will come charging but you can do serious damage before he gets close. Pick up the dead body when you're done. Again, the preparatory spells are useful. You can go all out here within the spell points you have, because the recharge pool is just behind you. And you'll want to use it. (By the way, all underworld exits are on lockdown in this endgame. No cheating or waiting til later. You'll need your party to be good.) From there you need to go to the pit. (If you're short on Dragon Stones, you might be able to go 2S of the entry and east and win a quick fight. It has dragon stones, which are better to recharge yourself with at the start of the final battle. Because you have all the time in the world.) But cast Cloak Arcane on the pool for good luck before you run off. The malign fairies will take your life force--bandage immediately. Then head south. Namtar will come to life for the final battle. He'll be far away and will keep trying to run unsuccessfully. Advance to 20' away. Now start casting spells on your players--mystic might, Zak's Speed, and then let Namtar have it. Insect Plague, Kill Ray, Sun Stroke, Fire Light...all maximum points. Use whatever Dragon Eyes you have left. This is the final combat, so why not? He has about 1000 hit points to start. When he's dead, use the Dead Body. 6-34. ABOUT MONEY AND ITEMS Once you've piled up a good chunk of cash you may wonder what all you can buy. While you're just finding items, getting ALL the dragon stones you see is a waste of money and inventory space. You will find enough. Use them before and during big fights. Actually, I found I really didn't need anything to buy throughout the game once I knew where the treasure troves were. But now's as good a time as any to mention that, although most monsters don't give gold, you can pile up all the gold you want pretty easily by fighting guards in Purgatory, if you ever get too broke. You can even pick up scrolls and sell them, but that is too small scale. Later on you'll be able to beat the heck out of the guards at various bridges, which helps a good deal. Generally, a monster must do more than stun to give gold. Later on you may want to buy dragon stones for critical battles. Also, with regard to items, don't worry if you might throw away a good one--by the end there are some vastly better ones. The Dragon's Teeth can even be sold for a pile of money. The only items really to keep would be Dragon Eyes, because they recharge better than Dragon Stones and are limited. But don't be a mizer with them. As for the best your party can do, here's what I got by what I found: ARMOR: 2 dragon plates (-3 AT +14 AC) 5 heavy plate (-6 AT +12 AC)(find 1 in Cove, buy 4 in Freeport) One of these can be replaced by 1 magic plate (-2AT +10 AC) SHIELDS: 2 dragon shields(+5 AC) 3 magic shields(+3 AC) (buy large shields at Freeport) (-2 AT/+3 AC) HELMS: 3 dragon helms(+ 4AC) 2 Black helms(+3 AC) 1 gem helm(+2 AC) 1 helm(+1 AC) WEAPONS: 2 spell staffs(+5 AT/+8 AC) 1 mage staff(+10 AT) 1 Freedom Sword(+15 AT) 3-6 Dragon Teeth(to replace staffs, +8 AT/+2 AC) BOOTS: 1 golden boots(+2 AC) 2 lucky boots(+1 AC) GLOVES: 1 silver gloves(+3 AC) 3 gauntlets(+2 AC) RINGS: Mage Ring(+1 AT/+4 AC, need 3 low magic) Magic Ring(+1 AT/+2 AC) 7. IMPORTANT UNIQUE ITEMS Combat-relevant items: The Slicer early on is nice. It's among the fires in the south underworld. The Firesword, in Tars Ruins, guarded by the snake, it nice. Soften Stone is bought in Freeport. The Freedom Sword is worth the side quests. ITEM ITEMS NEEDED TO GET IT WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH IT WHERE YOU GET IT (OR SPELLS) Dragon Gem Ankh Dragon Queen's Friendship (Secret door in Lansk Undercity) Enkidu Totem Golden Boots Show at Scorpion Bridge (Island in Mystic Wood) Golden Boots Create Wall Jump over Chasms/water (Mud Toad) (Wood, Salvation, Irkalla's) Lanac'Toor's Stone Trunk See College of Magic spectacles Stone Arms (the Entrance) (Lanac'Toor's Stone Head lab) Stone Legs Soften Stone Mushrooms (none) Show to Nergal(Necropolis) Mystic Wood Signet Ring (none) Leave Pit, enter Kingshome Snake Pit Silver Key Mushrooms Free Irkalla Nergal(Necropolis) Skull of Roba Water Potion Show at DwarfClanHallForge Sunken Ruins(under) Soul Bowl Solve College/Magic Use @ Zaton in Mystic Wood College of Magic Stone Arms Build Lanac'Toor Tars Ruins Stone Head Build Lanac'Toor Snake Pit Stone Legs Build Lanac'Toor Freeport Stone Trunk Build Lanac'Toor Necropolis Sword of Freedom Roba's Skull +3 stats in Salvation Dwarf Clan Hall-> Soften Stone Great weapon too! Irkalla's Realm Golden Boots Water Potion Silver Key Get under Sunken Ruins (Isle of Woe/Irkalla) All told, though, it's fun to solve all the puzzles, much more fun than mindless fighting to improve, so why not do so? 8. PARAGRAPH INFO: WHAT'S WHERE, AND FAKES [Dragon Wars has a separate paragraph book you read clues from--a favorite "copy protection" from the late 80's. It puts in some fake ones to mis-guide you--or entertain you, if you've completed the game.] Currently I am going by Wyvern's walkthrough and my own recollections or observations. There are some missing that I remember, so I have ignored those. I've also put asterisk boundaries before and after the fakes so that they stand out. #1 is inside the slave estate--a room with four statues. #2 is an obvious fake. There's no Vampire Lord in the game. #3 is at Irkalla's statue, in Purgatory. #4 is when you step in the arena. #5 is by the outer east wall of Purgatory. #6 is in the room in the northwest corner of the Mystic Wood. #7 is a fake, I'm pretty sure. But it's a nice discouragement from one way out of Purgatory, for those who "read ahead." #8 is if you say you are one of the thieves. #9 is at the statue directly east of #10, where you have a 3x3 opening with a statue you can see. #10 is when you discover the small building on the west edge of Purgatory. #11 is also a clear fake and a funny one. #12 is when you enter the Guard Bridge between Forlorn and the Isle of the Sun. #13 is when you stand on the actual bridge on the first Guard Bridge. #14 appears when you start the game. #15 is at Kingshome, if you have the signet ring and use it at the entrance when the guards try to kick you out. #16 is if you have escaped Purgatory by swimming. It is your introduction to the Slave Camp. #17 is the temple of the Mud Toad, before you plug the leak. #18 is if you (mistakenly) killed the people in the slave camp when they mistrusted you(walked from Purgatory.) #19 is if you use healing powers in the central building(right room) in the slave camp. #20 is in Mud Toad, by the statue you need to rebuild in the NW. #21 is a fake, a slight misdirection from the actual Kingshome/Byzantium war. #22 is in the NW of the NW slave camp hut. #23 is in the town square in Tars Ruins. It fills you in on what the murals are about. #24 is what happens after you win in Smugglers Cove. That name for the ship must be a dodge. #25 is the machine that welcomes you to Phoebus at the first intersection. #26 is at the entry to Phoebus. #27 is after you use the Golden Boots to jump to the Sword of Freedom's isle and approach the Sword. #28 is if you make it to the commanders' quarters in Phoebus. If you don't join up, you get charged $350--or get sent anyway. #29 is at the entry to Mud Toad. #30 is the miscellaneous items shop in Mud Toad. #31 is another fake. Ship travel is always instantaneous in Dragon Wars. I've traveled a lot and never gotten caught. #32 is in the SE corner of the towers in Mud Toad. There's a nasty combat right after. #33 is on entry to beseiged Byzanople. #34 is 2N/W of #33. #35 is if you get to the south railing on the inner circle part of Lansk. #36 is a fake, I believe. A slight wrong trail in the actual war. #37 is 3N1E of the entry to Byzanople. #38 is when you cast Soften Stone on the dwarves from paragraph 119. #39 is the entrance to the Smugglers' Cove. #40 looks like a fake, although it could be somewhere in the Nisir. #41 is if you give money to Ugly. #42 is real. You need to exit your cell, E to the wall, 3N and E through a secret door, then S. The crown is not useful, but it rounds out part of the story. (Thanks to Hobbit/unnatural20 for the find here! I thought was a fake.) nothing in Kingshome or the Snake Pit. #43 is if you sail to Necropolis. It doesn't tell you he strands you there. #44 is pretty clearly a fake. You don't use paint to save Mud Toad. #45 is if you sail to Freeport. #46 is if you sail to the Eastern Isles. #47 is the east side of the Quag Bridge. #48 is the bridge to the east part of Rustic, to Lanac'Toor's college. #49 is when you get the rocks, handle and laces together in the Mines. You still need to use the crude hammer. #50 is when you go through the door in the Exiles Bridge. It's a one way door. #51 is in Freeport, when you enter. #52 is north of the island with the sword in it, in Freeport. #53 is after you get captured and thrown in a cell under Kingshome. This is someone in another cell. It only seems like a fake--it's funny enough. #54 is an amusing fake, on the other hand. It's just the statue you can't put together. #55 is just before Namtar's tower, at a chasm you must use the golden boots to jump over. #56 is in Freeport, the SE corner, "Tars city council." #57 is in Freeport, the NW corner, "Freeport city council." #58 is just after you agree to sell yourself into slavery. #59 is if you approach the Siege Camp from south and accept the "invitation" to join the army. #60 is the 3x3 room where you see a dying man in the mines. #61 is when you use the battered cup(with water) on the man in the mines. #62 is when you beat up the final guard before exiting the mines. #63 is the campfire in the clearing of the slave camp, but the east shore. #64 is when you enter Lansk. #65 is Kingshome dungeon, when you leave the cell block. #66 is the temple of the sun in a clean culdesac in Phoebus. #67 is the slave market just west of the arena/black market. #68 is from the building in the west edge of the slave camp. #69 is if you use the attribute dexterity around paragraph #5. You're dumped SE of Purgatory. Be sure to have healed yourself before doing this. It helps to have 14+ health for everyone, too. #70 is the entry to the Mystic Wood. #71 is if you sneak under Byzanople, kill the Prince or Princess, and unlock the gates from the inside. #72 is the small shrine on the small island in the lake in the Mystic Wood. #73 is a fake??--Enkidu never appears. #74 is in the game preserve, if you use the signet ring when Jack is around. #75 is in the mad city, when you enter. #76 is in the mad city, in a house on the south. #77 is in Purgatory, 4N4E of the SW corner. If you accept, you're sent back to the beginning. #78 is in the mad city, when you go to the west coast. #79 is when you use the Soul Bowl at the marker commemorating Zaton. #80 is behind a secret door in the mad city past the bridge of Exiles. #81 is in the northwest room of the central building in the mad city and hints about how to open the passage to the Dwarf Clann Hall. #82 is when you enter Pilgrim's Dock from the island. #83 is if you unlock the prison door next to where you would get stashed. #84 is when you look at the statue on Pilgrim's Dock. #85 is sailing from Old Dock to Pilgrim's Dock. #86 is if you accept the commission to fight in the Kingshomer army from #28. #87 is if you enter the Siege Camp from the south. #88 is in the NW of the north-center slave camp hut. #89 is when you stop the dwarf from feeding the dragon in #104. #90 is an the building just NW of the exit(south) of the Siege Camp. Buck Ironhead gets mad at you, but if you come back here, you're kicked to the "front"(north exit of Siege Camp.) #91 is where bandits made their meal in the royal preserve. ?? #92 is if you follow the tracks of the stag in the royal preserve. ?? #93 is when you give Nergal mushrooms. In the game, he puts the head right back on. But it's a funny repellent to cheaters. #94 is in Purgatory, south of Irkalla's statue. You need town lore to get it. #95 is if you sell yourself at the slave market. #96 is if you get past snares and visit Old Jack in the royal preserve. #97 is in the 3x3 clearing in northern Salvation. #98 is once you climb to the top of Salvation, from the Magan Underworld. #99 is in the south center area of the Slave Estate. #100 is two squares ahead of the stairs down to the Magan Underworld, in Salvation #101 is after your fight with Mystalvision above Phoebus. #102 is in the NW part of the jail cells in the Phoeban Dungeon. #103 is when you enter the SW room in the Slave Estate. #104 is in the center of the pit north of the Phoeban Dungeon's jail area. #105 is when you enter the 2nd-NE room in the Slave Estate. #106 is in the Phoeban Dungeon. You release the Druid off west of the dragon pit by using bandage skill or casting a heal spell. #107 is when you find the diary in Lanac'Toor's Laboratory. It's just east of the stairs. #108 is after you meet Myrolla and either 1)say no and lose the fight or 2)say yes and get imprisoned. She has come to release you. #109 is after Prince Jordan asks you to join him and he agrees. #110 is after you climb up from the Byzantium dungeon. #111 is in the crypt to the side of the Byzanople dungeon, in the NE corner. #112 is a fake, too. There's no volcano by Dragon Valley, and it's on an island, not a desert. #113 is after you seal up the hole in the Mud Toad city and you visit the clerics. #114 is when you first find Nergal in Necropolis, in the secret area. #115 is after you beat the monsters Nergal sends at you. #116 is a fake. There's no blind juggler in Purgatory and no way to tunnel out of it. #117 is at the statue in the center of the slave estate's inside garden. #118 is west of the door to #119. Along with the "click" if you steal the treasure behind it, it's a warning. #119 is when you enter the room north of the 4-way intersection/crystal wall in the Dwarf Clan Hall. #120 is when you use the dragon gem in front of the Dragon Queen. #121 is when you enter Lansk Underground from the underworld. #122 is Lansk Underground's NW statue. #123 is Lansk Underground's NE statue. #124 is Lansk Underground's SW statue. #125 is Lansk Underground's SE statue. #126 is the NW part of the secret central room in Lansk Underground. #127 is a cave you can take stairs up to from the Underworld. It's 1 west and south of the Apsu waters. #128 happens when you use Arcane Lore beneath the Necropolis, by the well of souls. #129 can't be right because there IS no Dilmun Underground. Besides, there's no paragraph that could follow up #129. #130 Kingshome, as you enter the castle proper. #131 Kingshome, after you ascend the stairs and enter the small room. #132 is a "sequel" to #2, but there's no NPC named Aradrax, and there's STILL no Vampire Lord. #133 is a fake. The king is mad, and there are no trolls in the game. #134 is when you visit the Dragon Queen. #135 is a fake. Namtar couldn't have read Poe. Besides, he disappears in #131 after he talks to you. #136 is a clever fake. It's subtle, so I had to read it a couple of times. #137 is after you use the golden boots to jump to Irkalla's Isle of Woe #138 occurs on the Isle of Woe after you free Irkalla and give the Skull of Roba to the master dwarf smithy. #139 is a fake. There's no airship in Dragon Wars. #140 is a fake, as Dragon Wars doesn't keep track of time. So how can it describe a sunrise? #141 is once you solve the Magic College's first puzzle. The next paragraphs are in order there. #142 is after you solve the second. #143 is in the next room, after solving the third puzzle. #144 is after you defeat the Philistine. #145 is after you disarm the trap in the same room where you got #144. #146 is when you successfully avoid Utnapishtim. #147 should be when you enter Dragon Valley, but I never saw it there. I think it's there in the Apple version, though. There's no point in it being a fake. To see a copy of the paragraphs in text format, check out the Dragon Wars documentation at project64.org. To see a copy in pdf, go to www.the-underdogs.org and search for Dragon Wars. 9. MONSTER LIST This list has some incompletions and inaccuracies, but it gets the important ones. LEDGER EXP = Experience ? = does the monster stun on attack? Y/N. X indicates he doesn't attack you. DIST = distance the monster usually appears from OTHER = other features. $: leaves behind gold with experience 1: only one appears in combat(2, 3 etc. indicate how many that may appear) BR: breathes +: summons other monsters RUN: runs when you approach BL: blocks your attacks, unless you have high dexterity and strike first F: in fixed combats only, which reload when you leave the area !: special combats that do not reload when you leave the area S: casts spell This monster list was created by cheating my characters up and then frequently bashing one monster and fleeing. I did some math as well(i.e. Snake=20 exp, snake+spider=50 exp ->spider = 30exp, assume divisible by 10 unless equal to 1) though, and there shouldn't be any errors. Many places have semi-random encounters that hide treasure. Often fleeing from less favorable ones will allow you to win them. You can usually flee and bandage later. BRIDGE(1) NORTH OF PURGATORY NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Bridge Guard | 320|Y| 10'|1-2,+,F Rats! | 70|Y| 10'|2-19 Summary: rats appear much more frequently if you jump off the bridge a lot or hit escape on the bridge. The bridge guards are very tough, and you might have to pay them the toll the first few times you cross. Perhaps you are better off teleporting around Dilmun using the Nexus network and moving about the underworld anyway. BRIDGE(2) TO LANSK NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Pikeman | 200|Y| |+F3 Guard | |N| | Summary: no random encounters. You'll fight a few guards if you can't open the chest or if you find the treasure in back in the north building. Three pikemen attack in the north building or at the bridge if you don't pay. There is also a guard/pikeman/guard combo after you raid the north building or fail to unlock the chest in the south. BRIDGE(3) TO QUAG NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Pikeman | 120|Y| |F10 Guard | 120| | |F5[Block/summon a lot] Murk Tree | 120|Y| 30'| Summary: no random encounters. The Murk Tree on the east side is a taste of things to come, but a bit easier, since it does not start 10' away, and you can slip past the main(and tough) encounter, 10 pikemen + 5 guards, with the proper documentation. However, it's a good way to build experience if you don't have the papers and do have the spell power/equipment. Each may summon up to 3 more of its own type. If you enter from the east, you encounter the Murk Tree. BRIDGE OF EXILES Summary: No encounters on the Bridge of Exiles. BYZANOPLE NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Hydra | 500|X| |1,!,B Guards Pikemen Royal Guards Summary: The Hydra is the only fixed encounter you'll find entering from below, although you can be hit by arrows or open the city up to the siege. If you are treacherous and kill the Prince or Princess, you can unlock the gates, but the citizens will make a last-ditch attempt to stop you. BYZAN DUNGEON NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER ----------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Zombie | 130| | 10'|5,F Prince Jordan | Throneroom Guard| Princess Myrolla| Summary: Myrolla and Throneroom Guards attack you if you decline her offer. Jordan and guards attack if you don't accept proposals. Zombies are almost everywhere in the crypt to the west. No random encounters. There are four encounters in a 2x2 room before you surrender to Myrolla. Patrolmen and Royal Guards(??) DILMUN NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Goblin | |Y| |F6, !7 Guard Goblin | |Y| | Guard | | | | Murk Tree | 150|Y| 10'|1-2 Summary: no random encounters. There are waves of Goblin/Guard Goblin encounters on King's Isle. Guards guard the bridge from Forlorn to the Isle of the Sun. Goblins are on the other side. There's a one-time goblin combat before Phoebus. DRAGON VALLEY NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Dragon Warrior| 300| | |1-3 Fanger | 150| | |25 Mage | 130| | | Cockatrice | 510|X| | Dragon Queen | | | | Summary: I haven't been able to defeat the Dragon Queen yet, although I have some ideas how to. DWARF CLAN HALL NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Automaton | 500|Y| 30'|!1-3, range attacks Gorgon | 500| | 10'|B Summary: Both of these monsters are very tough to beat and unnecessary. Gorgons breathe a lot of damage. It's best to wait to fight one automaton, but even then, these guys can kill you. Since you can just get the treasures after rescuing the dwarves, why don't you? DWARF RUINS There are no encounters in the dwarf ruins. FREEPORT NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Citizen | 50| | | Guard | 150| Adventurer | 140| Summary: There's a big fight in the Order of the Sword. GAME PRESERVES NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Stag | 5| |100'|Follow tracks to find it Old Jack | 400| | |Flee->leave area Bandit | 160| | |9,! Bandit Leader | 220| | |1,! Bush Wizard | 240| Spider | 180| Hell Hound | 170| Spitting Snake| 160| Elemental | 400| Wood Spirit | 200| Ogre | 180| Summary: the bandit and bandit leaders are together in a fight that yields treasure. Old Jack appears if you get near his house or shoot a stag, but you can avoid fighting him. Fights are tough without dragon teeth, as monsters appear at a range, but lucrative with them. KINGSHOME Summary: You may only pass through with the signet ring if you enter the front way. Namtar appears here, but not as a monster. KINGSHOME DUNGEON NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Patrolman | 140|Y|?10'|1-3 Stosstruper | 150|N|?50'|1?, +F2 Vicious Guard | 150|N| 10'|F2 Summary: Stosstrupen and Patrolmen appear together in random as well as stationed spots(1 stoss, 1-3 patrolmen.) The vicious guards are right outside the row of cells, and there are two stosstrupen at 20' in a 3x3 room. LANAC'TOOR'S LIBRARY NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Skeleton | 170| | 70'| Wraith | 170| | 20'| Spitting Snake| 150| | |B Ghoul | 150| Magic Ghoul | 200| Scorpion Snake| 150| | |B Summary: many encounter squares, but no big encounter. You can flee and come back as much as you'd like until you get a favorable encounter. Most of these monsters breathe or cast spells. Skeletons don't. Ghouls are the easiest of the lot. LANSK NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Adventurer | 140|N| 10'|4 Citizen | 90| | VAR| Civil Servant | 1| |150'|Summons unlimited help at 10' LANSK UNDERGROUND NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Muscular Clown| 270|N| 20'|1-7 Pikeman | 90|Y| 10'|1-4 Wild Woman |?130|N| 10'|7 Midget Maniac | Summary: a lot of the monsters stun you something nasty. Until you've found some magic plate, you will get bounced around a lot. Still, it's worth it to get kicked around just so you find the neat stuff in Lansk. There are no pre- arranged encounters. MAGIC COLLEGE NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Philistine | 600|Y| 10'|F[300 HP] Utnapishtim |????|?| 10'| Summary: you cannot attack Utnapishtim. The Philistine is fixed, in an anti-magic zone. There are no random encounters here. MAGAN UNDERWORLD NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Wraith | 180|X| 20'|1,BR Serpent Man | 120|Y| 20'| Vampire Wolf | 130|Y| 30'| Goblin[1] | 90|Y| 30'|+F Spider | 50|Y| | Skeleton | 120|Y| | Lizard Man | 110| | | Ghoul | 110| | |1 Namtar[4] |2000| | 60'|! 300HP Namtar[5] |2000|Y| VAR|! Goblin[2] | 200|Y| 10'|!30[Only appear with Namtar] Summary: some goblins guard a small treasure horde. There are a lot of random encounters, but no others on fixed squares that I know of. MINES NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- CruelSlaveBoss| 100| | 40'|F2 Snake | 90| | |F Guard | 90| Spider | 1| Summary: You can sell yourself into slavery to revisit this. The cruel slave boss, who chickens out and flees, is at the mine exit, and the other encounters make it awkward for you to get around, with the chains giving -15 to all attacks. There are some random encounters(spiders) and an end fight of 2 guards and 1 boss. Some 3-guard sentries are positioned at strategic areas. MUD TOAD NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Swamp Dog | 150| Crazed Militia| 150| Snap Turtle | 150|Y| 20'| Swamp Rat | 150| Thief | 120| Robber | 150| LoopyCitizen | 120 Summary: the crazed militiamen are in a fixed fight(8 and 3,) and there are many combat squares. Flee from crazed militiamen. They're the toughest of the bunch and deadly. MYSTIC WOOD NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- SerpentSwimmer|?200| | | Water Spirit | 200|N| |1-4 Wild dog | 100| | | Lagooner | 300|N| |4, BIG stun Old Guy | | | | Earth Man | 180| | | Dire Wolf | 220| | | Summary: you can find lagooners(SE) and water spirits(SW, guarding treasure) in fixed combat situations, and there are a few combat squares. But monsters appear from far away, so it is not hard to flee and walk around. NECROPOLIS NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Grim Guardian | 200|X| 30'|1,BR Stone Demon |1500|X 60'|1,BR [1000 HP on Apple, more on PC, flees at 10'] SerpentWarrior| 130|Y| | [140?] Spider | 170| | VAR|1 Giant Snake | 150| SpittingLizard| 150| Wraith | | Goblin | | Ghoul | | Summary: lots of nasty enemies, many of which cast spells or spit. But you can still flee until the right combo pops up. Ghouls and goblins work best. The stone demon is nearly impossible to kill on the PC. You probably need tons of mass-heal spells. NISIR NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Lizard Warrior| 300| | | Enforcer | 300| | | Namtar Guard | 300| | VAR| Lich | 400| | 30'|Spell Young Dragon | 400| | 40'|B, +F9 Buck Ironhead | 600|Y| 10'|! Mystalvision | 700|Y| 10'|! Namtar[1] |1200|Y| 10'|! 1000HP Namtar[2] |1200|N| 60'|! Wind spell Namtar[3] |2000|X| 20'|! 1000HP, breathes Summary: the big battle at the end, with the goblins, is worth 11970 points. I try to flee and return so I can face a Young Dragon or a Lich for a fight, if I need to get by. OLD DOCK Summary: there are no combats in the old dock that I know of. PHOEBAN DUNGEON NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Mystalvision |1000| | | Mystal's Boys | 160| | | Old Jailor | 180| | |!1 Dungeon Patrol| 180| | | Summary: Lots of dungeon patrols, who like to block. Old Jailor and 4 Mystal's Boys may attack you if you try to escape. Mystal has Mystal's Boys as consorts on the Apple(?), Old Jailors on the PC. Mystalvision isn't exactly killed. PHOEBUS NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Stosstruper | 200|N| 20'|1-7 Guard | | | Soldier | Sullen Citizen| Ominous Fellow| Mystalvision | 400| | 60'|! Dirty Rat(?) | Big Wolf(?) Summary: Stosstrupen or soldiers, mostly. Mystalvision, with his 10 stosstruper guards, can be defeated, but you still get thrown in the dungeon. Don't waste your spells trying to kill the stosstrupen. The guards can be pretty nasty, too. The Ominous Fellow appears at 10' after you exit the Phoeban Dungeon, but he is too quick for you to kill. PILGRIM DOCK NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Stosstruper | Guard | 220| | |8 Summary: You will only get combat outside the jail cell if you are not wearing Pilgrim Robes. Inside, there's a recurring one. PURGATORY NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Loon | 40|Y| | Wolf | 80|N| 30'| Humbaba |1000|Y| VAR| King's Guard | 130|Y| 30'|$ +F Pikeman | 90|Y| 30'|$ +F Gladiator | 130|Y| 50'|6 Spider | 80| | | Bandit | 80| | | Fanatic | 80| | | Born Loser | 60| | | Drunk | 90|N| VAR|4F Cannibal | 30| | | Rock spider | 90| | | Yonderboy | 70| | | Giant Spider | 110| | | Wild Hound | 80| | 30'| Unjustly | | | | Accused | 90| | 30'| Soldier | 100| | 30'|$ Jail Keeper | 80| | 30'|F6,$ Robber | 80| | | Big Dog | 80| | | Innocent Man | 80| | | Wild Dog | 100| | 30'| Summary: lots of fights here but the only ones that can really damage you are soldiers, jail keepers, king's guards, pikemen and gladiators--armed people. They're the only ones that give gold, too. SALVATION NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Pilgrim | Stosstruper | Rock Man | Guard | Summary: There's one combat at the spot guarding treasure, but other than that, combats are random. Flee the folks that are blocking the expanse of rock until they're wimpy. SCORPION BRIDGE NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Scorpion | 500|Y|100'|2,! Evil Spirit | 200|X| 20'|1-9,F Bridge Wolf | 160| | 20'|1-2 Wild Dog | 150| | | Bear | 180| | | Cave Bear | 150| | | Inside the bridge there are many encounters--you'll have to get by evil spirits and then bridge wolves to visit Magic College. Bridge Wolves guard the north bit. SIEGE CAMP NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Kingshomer | | | |!2 Captain | | | |2 Guard | 200| | |!15, 1-? Kingshomer | | | | Pikeman | | | | Royal Guard | | | |F Summary: Try to leave to the south, and guards and royal guards will attack you. Guards and Pikemen will randomly battle at 10'. SLAVE CAMP NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Escaped Slave | 70| | 20'|!8-10 Old Gladiator | 100| | 60'|!2 Summary: if you make friends with the slave camp, there will be no fights. If you do not, there is only one fight. It is easy, but you won't get any treasure out of it if you win. The slave camp will be entirely deserted. You won't be able to get weapons and armor except from the hidden cache. And you won't be able to get Louie join you. SLAVE ESTATE NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Goblin | 90|Y| 10'|5-8 Snake | 200|Y| 20'|1,BR Gaze Demon | 400|Y| 30'|1,BR Summary: random encounters are non-existent on the slave estate. Possible competitors have been turned to stone. Lots of goblins make this relatively easy, but beginners may be better off just killing the Gaze Demon by the non- combat method. The snake is in the hidden treasure room behind the secret door. SMUGGLERS' COVE NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Water Spirit | 175|N| 10'|1, F Long John Ugly| | | |1 Peg Leg Peggy | | | |1 Scurvy Seadog | | | |4 Pirate | | | |7 Summary: no random encounters here. The encounter with the last four monsters is pretty fixed. They pop up again if you don't kill them the first time. The water spirit's on the south shore. SNAKE PIT Summary: I did not find any encounters here. SUNKEN RUINS NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- SerpentSwimmer| 180|Y| 50'|1-2 Lagooner | 320|Y|150'|1 Water Turtle | 140|Y| 30'|1-5 Beach Bums | 120|Y| 20'|1-7 Sea Rat | 150|Y| Sea Spider | 150| Sea Snake | Summary: no random encounters, but many fixed ones you can come back for later. Stop off at Dragon Valley first as everything here can be deadly. SUNKEN RUINS(UNDER) NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Bloated Corpse| 300| | 30'|!4 SerpentSwimmer| 150| | | GoblinBeachBum Summary: I couldn't find many random encounters. The bloated corpses guard a chest with great treasure--it's worth using spells on them. But you can probably escape without encounters. TARS RUINS NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Guardian Snake|1200|Y| 10'|1,F Lizard Apes | 90| | | Shadow Spider | 120| | | Spider | 50| | | SpittingLizard| 70| | | Giant Snake | 100| | | Skeleton | 80| | 30'| Goblin | 90| | | Summary: The guardian snake guards some nice treasure, but it's a tough customer. There are also fixed combats, one of them guarding some spells. But the random combats make you work too hard for experience. Purgatory's a better place for that. TARS UNDERGROUND NAME | EXP|?|DIST|OTHER --------------+----+-+----+---------------------------- Lizard Man | 150| | 20'| Ghoul | | | 40'| Guard Goblin | 90| | 20'| Giant Snake | 100| | 20'| Spitting Snake| 90| | | Wraith | 180| | | Cave Wolf | 130| | | Adventurer | 130|Y| 40'|!5 Wizard | 250| | 60'|!S Summary: The adventurers and wizard(one combat) are guarding something. Lots of combats for such a small location. 10. DID YOU NOTICE? If you win the battle in Kingshome and return to Phoebus, you are asked to join the army. You also are left Mog's estate even if you do not sell yourself into slavery. In another odd causality problem, you can enter Purgatory through the secret wall and fight the big fight at the door leading to the main area. Go forward and you'll see a message where you see dangerous guards. Hit a spinner, get in combat, and flee. You may flee through a wall. If you defeat Namtar's army straight-up, there will still be a reference to the dragons helping you at the end of the game. Oops! (Apple) 11. CHEATING 11-1. BEFORE THE FACT(APPLE EMULATOR) With the disk images on asimov, you can pump your characters up pretty quickly. Here's how. Each character's info starts at a certain offset. The character data may jump backwards at hex value xf?00--for instance, if a character's data starts at xf2f0, then the computer reads f2f0-f2ff and then f100 on through. f2f0-f2ff, f100- f4f0-f4ff, f300- f6f0-f6ff, f500- fff0-ffff, 10000- Offset|What it does ------+-------------------------------------------- f0-fd |Name(may be ORed with 0x80--0 means a space) fe-03 |Stats 06-08 |Cur/Max Health(each a 2-bit value) 0a-0c |Cur/Max Stun(each a 2-bit value) 0e-10 |Cur/Max Power(each a 2-bit value) 12-22 |the first skills 23 |not sure (?)--not a skill 24-2c |the rest of the skills You can also inflate NPCs' attributes on the Apple before you get them to join. The byte location listed below is the start of the NPC's name. The disk is in parentheses. Who |Where |ST DX IN SP HE|LV|Where -------+----------+--------------+--+---------- Ulrik |xbeb2(2) |20 17 8 14 15| 3|Purgatory Louie |x74d3(5) |14 16 16 16 15| 2|Slave camp Halifax|x84d0(3) |21 18 14 14 23| 6|Freeport Valar |x3451(6) |11 14 18 16 19| 2|Phoebus Ulrik has cave lore 3, axes 3, and swim. Give him a battle axe early. Louie has pickpocket 2 and hiding 2. Valar has low and sun magic 1. Halifax has Arcane Lore 2, Cave Lore 3, Climb 1, Swim 2, Maces 3. A lot of useless stuff. But his stats are remarkably good. The health is almost too good for the moment--lots of risk of getting killed. There's no real need to drop a party member for him, though. Louie will probably have better dexterity by then. It's tougher to cheat with the PC which seems to use byte encryption or shifting of some sort. 11-2. THE IRKALLA LOOPHOLE Here you just need to start a game, go to the arena, get items, give one to Irkalla, and go below into her realm. Jump into the space that gives you +5 attributes. Then begin again. You'll get the bonus again. You can build up very powerful parties this way. It could allow you to toast the Young Dragons in the final fight preemptively(high dexterity, high Sun Magic for Inferno) or even beat the Dragon Queen or just smack Namtar around very quickly with 80 strength and dexterity. Every venture to the underworld is the equivalent of 2 1/2 levels. It may only take a few minutes once you get the hang of it. Once you have seven characters in your party, you can restart and still have them. Also note that if you are near the end of the game, you don't need to take a lot of side trips to get spells, etc. You just need to follow the minimal walkthrough I've provided. 12. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PLATFORMS There's a patron saint of computers on the 386, and behind him is a treasure trove with a 386. However, on the Apple, the 386 is replaced with an Apple IIgs! If you take Ugly's boat to Necropolis and enter the teleporter zapper, you're kicked back to the entrance on the PC version. However, you go to a random place in Dilmun on the Apple. The boat ghost-sails back to Smugglers' Cove. Young Dragons also seem to have more hit points on the Apple. End of FAQ proper ========================================== 13. VERSIONS 1.0.1: tacked on an observation from Hobbit/unnatural20 about paragraph #42 and touched up other parts. 1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 3/21/2005. Added integrated walkthrough based on a time through the PC version. No intro yet. You can live. So can I. For now. 0.8.0: sent to GameFAQs 4/17/01. added monster statistics, proofread, and put reference to maps 0.1.0: sent to GameFAQs 5/29/2000. Map of small bridge, basic items/walkthroughs/experience/NPC. Didn't want to release such an incomplete FAQ until I'd finished another, which I did(2400 A.D.) 14. CREDITS Thanks, first and specifically, to those who made it possible: Wyvern's (Jeanne Wyvern Harlan-Marriott) FAQ I found at GameFAQs saved me countless hours with tracking down spells and items[I have gone through each square independently of consulting her guide myself] and pointed out, coupled with my findings, some system-dependent differences. Also, project64.c64.org had a list of all paragraphs in its huge documentation section. Apple disk images were at apple.asimov.net. the-underdogs.org had the PC version and the manual and lots of other games I procrastinated playing for the first time by playing this one. Again. Hobbit, for pointing out that paragraph 42 is indeed real. Thanks in general to the following folks: dosbox.sourceforge.net for being the best DOS emulator imaginable Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang, current and emeritus. They know who they are, and you should, too, because they get/got some SERIOUS writing done. Good people too--bloomer, falsehead, Sashanan, Masters, Retro, Snow Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, War Doc, Brian Sulpher, AdamL, odino, JDog and others I forgot. OK, even Hydrophant in his current not-yet-banned message board incarnation. I am not part of his gang, but I want him to be part of mine.