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================================
KNIGHTS OF LEGEND
FAQ/WALKTHROUGH
January 13, 2006
Version 1.0
By: Ian Kelley
Email:
[email protected]
=================================
This Document is Copyright 2003, 2004 by Ian Kelley. All Rights Reserved. It is
protected by US and International Copyright Law. It is for private and personal
use only, and cannot be reprinted in or reproduced in part or in entirety
without the express written consent of the author. This document is intended to
be free and may not be used for any sort of commercial venture, be that selling
it, giving it away as a promotion, or making otherwise making available for
profit. It may not be used or distributed by any website, organization, or
individual, nor may it be used as a refererence or altered by anyone (such as
strategy guide authors/publishers or magazine staff) without express permission
of the author.
===============================================================================
IMPORTANT NOTES:
===============================================================================
HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE:
======================
This document is formatted to look right with a fixed-width font, and looks
best in around a 9 point font in an 79-column window.
This guide is divided into two sections--an FAQ, under which all the pertinent
data regarding the game's system and so forth is covered, and a walkthrough as
a step-by-step guide through the actual game itself.
EMAIL/CONTACT POLICY:
=====================
I get a ton of email about the various guides I write, and I don't have the
time or the inclination to answer it all. I actually do not answer the majority
of the email I get regarding my FAQs, because most of them are not worth
respondingt to. If you are writing me an email and want me to respond, keep the
following things in mind:
* I have a very low tolerance threshold for stupid questions. If you need
to ask a question, make sure the answer isn't already in this FAQ. The
"Find" option of your text editor is your best friend.
* Put the name of the game you're asking the question for in the subject line
at least, and at least in the body of the text! I write a lot of FAQs and
it'll help if I know what game you're talking about. Plus it will greatly
increase the chance of my reading your email and not accidentally deleting
it as spam. (Viva la 21st Century Internet and the spam flood it spawned...)
* I'm not going to be anal about it, but try and keep a decent semblance of
grammar and punctuation. Also refrain from using AOL-netspeak; use "you"
instead of "u" and the like. It's only two keystrokes difference, come on
HOSTING THIS FAQ:
=================
If you want to host this FAQ on your site, your site must be either A)
GameFAQs.com or B) a Knights of Legend-specific site. If you are B) email me
first to ask so I know. If you have just a general-purpose game FAQ repository
site that leeches off GameFAQs, do not even bother to email me to ask for
permission to host this FAQ as the answer is no. I explicitly deny the use of
this FAQ to the FAQ thieves at cheatcc.com, Cheatcc.com may not use this guide
in any way, shape or form. If you find this, or any of my other guides, at
cheatcc.com, it does not belong there, and the webmaster has stolen it. Email
their upstream providers at Yahoo and complain, as they never pay any attention
to complaints themselves.
===============================================================================
=
CONTENTS
===============================================================================
=
SECTION A: INTRODUCTION
A.01 WHAT IS KNIGHTS OF LEGEND?
A.02 KNIGHTS OF LEGEND VERSIONS
A.03 FAN EXPANSIONS?
SECTION B: CHARACTER CLASSES AND BUILDING A PARTY
B.01 STATISTICS
B.02 CLASSES
B.03 CLASS ANALYSIS
B.03a HUMANS
B.03b ELVES
B.03c DWARVES
B.03d KELDERHEIT
B.04 BUILDING THE PERFECT PARTY
SECTION C: GAMEPLAY
C.01 THE TOWN
C.02 TALKING TO TOWNSPEOPLE
C.03 THE ARENA
SECTION D: COMBAT
D.01 THE ROUND
D.02 PLANNING PHASE
D.02a PREDICTING ENEMY MOVES
D.02b ACTION ICONS
D.02c MOVEMENT ICONS
D.02d ARMED ATTACKS
D.02e ATTACK TARGETING
D.02f DEFENSE TYPES
D.02e UNARMED ATTACKS
D.02f FINAL COMMANDS
D.03 ACTION PHASE
D.03a ATTACKING AND DEFENDING
D.03b FATIGUE AND WOUNDS
D.03c NUTRITION
D.03d MAGIC
D.04 COMBAT STRATEGY
D.04a TYPES OF ATTACKS
D.04b MISSILE WEAPONS
D.04c MAGIC
D.04e ARMOR
D.04f WEAPONS
D.05 THE "AMBUSH" STRATEGY
SECTION E: MAGIC
E.01 BASIC SPELLCASTING RULES
E.02 SPELL EFFECTS
E.03 STORE-BOUGHT SPELLS
E.04 MAGIC ORDERS
E.05 CUSTOMIZING SPELLS
E.06 GUIDELINES FOR MAGIC STRATEGY
SECTION F: MONSTERS
F.01 MONSTER STATS
F.02 MONSTER ARMOR
F.03 ENCOUNTER MESSSAGES
F.04 ENEMY DESCRIPTIONS
F.04a HUMAN CLASS
F.04b ELEMENTAL CLASS
F.04c GIANT CLASS
F.04d LEGENDARY CLASS
F.04e UNDEAD CLASS
SECTION G: QUESTS
G.01 THE QUEST SYSTEM
G.02 QUEST THREAD SYNOPSIS
G.03 THE QUESTS
G.03a BURGLARY AT STEPHANIE'S (Ruffians)
G.03b THE KNIGHTS' STANDARD (Bandits)
G.03c THE WITCH'S QUILL (Ghouls)
G.03d BRETTLE'S TRUTH SWORD Goblins
G.03e THE FINAL BATTLE (Cyclopes)
G.03f THE KELDER'S CROWN (Binderaks)
G.03g NOBJOR THE PIRATE (Hobgoblins)
G.03h MUGGING THE MUGGERS (Thugs)
G.03i OUTING THE SPY (Muck Things)
G.03j CHASING RUMORS (Great Orcs)
G.03k GETTING THE DEATH BLADE (Mist Giants)
G.03l YARDLEY'S FOLLY (Walbars)
G.03m CONTROLLING THE SERPENT (Skeletons)
G.03n THE MEANING OF RHORDING (Ogres)
G.03o DECODING THE MAP (Sylphs)
G.03p INTHOS THE MAGE (Stone Ogres)
G.03q SEARCHING FOR OIL (Brigands)
G.03r ALCHEMIST'S TOOLS (Orcs)
G.03s TREASURE HUNT (Minotaurs)
G.03t TROLL HUNTING (Trolls)
G.03u BRYOR (Ettins)
G.03v CUDDLY DJINN (Djinn)
G.03w THE RING OF SHADES (Cliff Trolls)
G.03x SHELLERNOON'S WARD (Sledges)
SECTION F: TOWN AMENITIES
F.01 BRETTLE
F.02 THIMBLEWALD
F.03 HTRON
F.05 POITLE LOCK
F.06 OLANTHEN
F.07 AMAZON VILLAGE
F.08 KLVAR WOODS
F.09 FALLEN KEEP
F.10 KAZHAD
F.11 HALFWAY HOUSE
F.12 BRETTLE CROSSROADS
SECTION G: EQUIPMENT
G.01 STANDARD EQUIPMENT
G.02 UNUSUAL EQUIPMENT
G.03 QUEST EQUIPMENT
SECTION H: CHEATING
H.01 ITEM DUPLICATION
H.02 HEX EDITING
H.03 SAVE FILE SETUP
H.04 EDITING YOUR MONEY, ADVENTURE POINTS, ETC
H.05 EDITING YOUR STATS
H.06 EDITING NAMES OF ITEMS/EQUIPMENT/SPELLS
H.07 EDITING WEAPON SKILLS
H.08 HACKING ITEMS
H.09 "SECRET" ITEM CODES
H.10 EDITING SPELLS
H.11 EDITING QUEST STATUS
THANKS
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
===============================================================================
SECTION A: INTRODUCTION
===============================================================================
A.01 WHAT IS KNIGHTS OF LEGEND?
===============================
Knights of Legend is a little-known RPG that was released by Origin Systems in
late 1989. The idea behind the game was to make a very realistic, multi-part
RPG. The first installment was to cover the land of Ashtalarea, and future
expansions were planned for other lands called Salynn, Bamidor, Tsadith, and
Astrikan. (according to the manual) However, Knights of Legend didn't do so
well, and the future expansions were never released. If the reviews I read were
any indication, people didn't really warm up to the system and thought it was
too complicated. It's a shame, because once you get past the learning curve,
Knights is a really great game. Even to this day, over 15 years later, I have
yet to see an RPG combat system that comes even close to the level of depth and
detail in Knights of Legend.
So why bother with a Knights of Legend FAQ now? Partially because it's one of
my all-time favorite games, but also because despite how good the game is,
there really isn't much in the way of information about it out there. I was
able to find one very old FAQ floating around out there that was written about
the time the game was released, but it was somewhat limited in scope and
inaccurate in a few parts too. Hopefully this FAQ will generate interest in the
game so that people will give it a whirl; it's one of the best games ever made
in my opinion.
In terms of where to find the game...eBay is probably your best bet. (I've seen
it there a couple of times in the recent past, usually the Apple II version
though) You might be able to find it at abandonware sites, but you really need
the manual--and more importantly, the map--to play the game effectively, so
you'll be better off finding a real copy, if you can.
A.02 KNIGHTS OF LEGEND VERSIONS
===============================
There are two versions of Knights of Legend; one for the Apple II, and one for
DOS. I've played both versions; the Apple II version I played to death during
high school, and the DOS version I found more recently at a garage sale. The
two versions are virtually identical, but this FAQ is primarily based on the
DOS version, as that's the one I was playing as I wrote it, and information on
the Apple II version is mostly based on memory.
In terms of which version to play, there are advantages and disadvantages to
each. The DOS version has substantially better graphics, (the portraits,
character icons nad paperdolls especially are a lot nicer than the Apple
version) but there are gameplay elements in the Apple version that are missing
from the DOS version. Here's a quick overview of the non-graphical differences
I've noticed:
The DOS version can be installed to the hard drive, whereas the Apple version
requires extensive disk swapping.
Missile weapons act more realistically in the Apple version; your arrows and
bolts can hit any character in line with your target. In the DOS version, when
you fire an arrow, it will always hit the square you target.
In the Apple II version, characters will only be frozen in terror when
attempting melee attacks on "terrible" enemies; missile attacks and spells are
not penalized. In the DOS version, ANY non-movement action can result in a
character being frozen in terror when facing "terrible" enemies.
Fewer enemy types in the DOS version are "terrible" than in the Apple II
version.
In the Apple II version, spell customization is broken; when you go to
customize a spell the screen freezes up with weird graphic artifacts and you
have to restart. Or it could just be that I was extremely unlucky (I thought my
disk was bad, so I exchanged it at the store but the new disks did the same
thing)
In terms of which version is "better," when pressed for a choice I'd say the
DOS version because you don't need to disk-swap and spell customization works.
If you could get spell customization to work in the Apple version and didn't
mind the disk swapping and worse graphics, then it would probably be the better
choice. Overall though the differences are very minor.
A.03 FAN EXPANSIONS?
====================
As far as I know, no fan expansions for Knights of Legend ever exist. However,
if anyone more code-oriented than I knew how to reverse-engineer the KOL system
and would be willing to work on a fan expansion, drop me a mail and I'd be
happy to help however I could, and lend what knowledge I've gleaned from the
hex-editing I've done on the game so far. I've pretty much completely decoded
how the save game file works and have made some progress toward figuring out
where the monster data is stored (in the Apple II version only, I've come up
empty trying to hack the DOS version) but don't know how town text, store data,
or map data is stored, or any of the graphical data. If anyone is willing to
help on a KOL fan expansion, this is the kind of data I'd need to know.
===============================================================================
SECTION B: CHARACTER CLASSES AND BUILDING A PARTY
===============================================================================
There are a lot of different character classes in Knights of Legend, all of
whom play very differently. On the surface, the only difference between
character classes is their statistics and starting Weapon Skills, but in
Knights of Legend, where statistics are more or less static, that makes a huge
difference in the long run. While this is covered in the manual, here's a brief
overview of the seven Primary and three Secondary Statistics, and what they
affect.
B.01 STATISTICS
===============
STRENGTH:
Strength determines several things; it gives you combat bonuses to hit and to
damage your enemies. Most importantly, though, it affects how much weight a
character can carry on his or her person and not get fatigued.
QUICKNESS:
Quickness affects how soon a character will move in a combat round. A faster
character will act earlier in a combat round than a slower character, though
this is affected in great part by the type of action being performed.
SIZE:
Size is a unique attribute in that it's the only one where a high value is not
necessarily better than a low one. Very large characters can take more
punishment and deal stunning blows to enemies more often, and can take High
Shots at tall enemies that shorter characters could not. However their armor
weighs a whole lot more, which is a downside.
HEALTH:
Health's primary function is to determine fatigue regeneration rate. It says in
the manual that it also staves off disease, but I've never seen a character get
sick. It figures into two of the secondary statistics, so is extra important in
that sense.
FORESIGHT:
Foresight affects how late in a character decides his or her actions when
picking what to do in a Combat Round. The higher the Foresight, the later in
the round the character picks--and the better the chance to see what enemies
with lower Foresight have already decided to do.
CHARISMA:
Charisma--well...I don't know what it does. It doesn't seem to affect anyone's
reactions, nor does it do anything like change prices in stores. It may be a
useless attribute.
INTELLECT:
Intellect affects the chance for a character to interpret an enemy's "body
language" and decipher what action they are going to take in a combat round. It
also affects spellcasting and the ability to join mage's guilds.
BALANCE:
Balance is the average of a character's Strength and Intellect. Certain
creatures in the game are "terrible" and can strike fear into the hearts of the
toughest adventurers, causing them to freeze in terror when attempting to do
anything but run away. Characters with high Balance values have a better chance
to muster up the courage to fight these creatures.
ENDURANCE:
Endurance is the average of a character's Strength and Health. It affects the
amount of Stamina that a character has, and the ability to resist wounds. It's
a very important attribute for all classes, as Fatigue is critical in this game.
BODY:
Body, or Body Points, are the average of a character's Size and Health. They
directly affect how much damage a character can take before getting knocked out
or having an arm or leg disabled.
B.02 CLASSES
============
The following is a list of all the classes in the game and their average
starting attributes. Note that they differ substantially from the manual, which
is mostly flat out wrong. I got these values by rolling up 12 characters of
each class and taking the average, so these numbers are obviously not absolute.
They should, however, give you a better ballpark estimate of what each class is
like than the manual does. The Weapon Skills are listed as Offensive/Defensive
skills (or just Offensive in the case of Missile Weapons)
HUMAN MALE CLASSES:
STR QUI SIZ HEA FOR CHA INT BAL END BOD GOLD WEAPON SKILLS
Barbarian: 90 60 70 70 66 60 60 75 80 70 1500 *Greatsword 10/5
Halberd 5/5
Ranger: 75 70 66 66 70 100 70 72 70 66 1500 *Broadsword 10/7
Long Bow 10
Warrion: 68 60 66 88 60 62 68 68 78 77 1500 *Battle Axe 12/10
Squire: 70 70 70 78 70 70 78 74 74 74 2000 *Broadsword 12/5
Self Bow 5
Darkguard: 72 70 70 75 70 55 80 76 73 72 2000 *Mace 12/5
Lt Crossbow 5
Watchman: 75 66 68 75 66 72 70 72 75 71 1500 *Battle Axe 10/7
Long Bow 7
Plainsman: 54 88 63 65 63 70 88 71 59 64 1500 *Long Bow 12
Longsword 5/0
Hunter: 54 82 64 68 80 75 74 64 61 66 1500 *Self Bow 10
Long Spear 7/5
Regular: 69 69 70 68 68 94 69 69 68 69 3000 *Long Spear 10/5
Battle Axe 10/10
Highwayman: 82 62 70 82 62 62 68 75 82 76 1500 *War Hammer 12/7
Longsword 5/0
Pirate: 70 70 68 75 62 75 75 72 72 71 3000 *Scimitar 12/7
Self Bow 7/0
Rogue: 54 83 68 62 75 63 76 65 58 65 3000 *Longsword 10/10
HUMAN FEMALE CLASSES:
STR QUI SIZ HEA FOR CHA INT BAL END BOD GOLD WEAPON SKILLS
Tigress: 69 78 64 65 63 75 75 72 67 64 1500 *Halberd 12/10
Longsword 7/5
Amazon: 75 63 67 68 68 75 75 75 71 67 1500 *Broadsword 10/10
Self Bow 10
Huntress: 54 85 67 63 74 75 76 65 58 65 1500 *Long Bow 12
Short Spear 7/7
Plainswoman: 54 88 61 62 61 75 75 64 58 61 1500 *Long Bow 10
Long Sword 12/7
ELF CLASSES:
STR QUI SIZ HEA FOR CHA INT BAL END BOD GOLD WEAPON SKILLS
BREKLAND:
Male: 61 87 61 55 61 69 80 70 58 58 1500 *Longsword 12/5
Female: 56 89 60 54 75 70 69 62 55 57 1500 *Long Bow 12
KLVAR:
Male: 70 74 62 62 68 68 75 72 66 62 1500 *Longsword 12/5
Female: 63 74 62 61 74 66 76 69 62 61 1500 *Long Bow 12
MELOD:
Male: 61 80 58 62 62 101 83 72 61 60 1500 *Long Sword 12/5
Female: 63 80 56 63 76 75 68 65 63 59 1500 *Long Bow 12
PYAR:
Male: 54 77 70 63 62 76 95 74 58 66 1000 *Elf Bow 15
Female: 47 75 61 60 75 76 88 67 53 60 1000 *Elf Bow 15
THISM:
Male: 55 94 61 55 60 63 82 68 55 58 1500 *Long Sword 12/5
Female: 47 94 58 62 75 63 68 57 54 60 1500 *Long Bow 12
USIP:
Male: 54 80 55 60 70 83 87 70 57 57 200 *Elf Bow 25
Female: 48 74 53 61 75 82 89 68 54 57 200 *Elf Bow 25
DWARF CLASSES:
STR QUI SIZ HEA FOR CHA INT BAL END BOD GOLD WEAPON SKILLS
Tunneler/
Digger: 88 54 48 89 54 62 70 79 88 68 3000 *Short Spear: 12/7
Ratguard/
Spiderguard: 74 80 54 68 62 69 69 71 71 61 1500 *Battle Axe 12/7
Trollbane/
Orcbane: 69 69 52 75 75 76 69 69 72 63 1500 *War Hammer 12/7
Militia/
Levy: 68 60 51 81 67 75 76 72 74 66 1500 *Battle Axe 5/5
Lt Crossbow 10
KELDEN CLASSES:
STR QUI SIZ HEA FOR CHA INT BAL END BOD GOLD WEAPON SKILLS
Cliff Guard: 83 60 77 70 68 61 75 79 76 73 1250 *Greatsword 10/10
Rock Ranger: 68 69 79 83 62 62 76 72 75 81 1250 *Longbow 12
Far Seeker: 76 63 84 77 68 62 73 74 76 80 1250 *Greatsword 5/5
Longbow 5
B.03 CLASS ANALYSIS
===================
The following is a detailed analysis of each class and how they fare up against
the others, with both advantages and disadvantages to taking each one, plus
some of my own commentary as to how useful I find them. These are not be-all-
end-all evaluations, as just about any party makeup will work, but hopefully
will help you decide what kind of a party to make.
B.03a HUMANS
------------
There's so much variety among Human character classes that it's hard to sum
them up easily. Some are good front-line, heavy warriors, some are better as
scouts, some are better as light warriors or archers. The only thing that
Humans are rarely good at is magic. (Though Plainsmen can be a match for any
other class in the game in that arena) Humans tend to be pretty large (though
not as giant as Kelden) so they're generally best with medium to light armor,
though this too varies. Unlike Elves, there are separate classes for male and
female Humans. And, it's unfortunate to say, the women got the short end of the
stick. Among the four female classes, two are geared toward melee and two for
archery, but there are better classes for both roles amongs the ranks of human
men. Humans will never be booted out of any establishment or house in the game
due to their race, though they may be ejected due to their class. Human classes
are very versatile overall.
KRAG BARBARIAN:
The Krag Barbarian is one of the better Human classes; a very solid warrior
geared toward front-line melee fighting. Their Strength is better than any
other class in the game, and their Endurance and Balance values are generally
quite good. They can afford to wear heavier armor than most other Human classes,
and they have great starting weapon skills; since you can get a magic
Greatsword and Halberd, that adds to the bonus. The downside to Barbarians is
that they're slow and stupid, so they rarely ever forsee enemy attacks, and
they also make lousy archers. They also have less Body points than you'd hope
for a front-line warrior. Also, the Barbarians are not welcome in several
places in Thimblewald. The guard station and pub don't matter much, but getting
booted out of the Thimblewald Abbey hurts quite literally; there are lots of
quests given in the Thimblewald vicinity, and not having access to easy healing
is a real downer.
DREZIN RANGER:
Drezin Rangers are a versatile and very well-rounded character class. They can
be used as either an archer or a melee fighter with little problem. Their
Charisma is higher than practically any other character class. (Though Charisma
is of little use in KOL in general...) Because of their high strength and
smaller size than other Humans, they can afford to wear slightly heavier armor,
though not to the same extent of a Highwayman or Barbarian. Also, since Rangers
are welcome everywhere in the game, they make good party leaders. The downside
of Rangers is that they don't really excel anywhere; their Body points are a
little low for a melee fighter and their quickness, foresight and intellect are
a little low for an archer. Still, they're a solid, all-around character class.
KRELL WARRION:
Staying power is the name of the game with the Krell Warrion. The only classes
that can take more punishment than a Warrion are Kelden. But since Kelden are
huge and Warrions are (comparitively) small, Warrions can afford to wear much
heavier armor. Also, since Warrions only start with one weapon skill, you have
a lot of leeway as to what weapons you want to give them. Plus, their one
starting skill is at a much higher level than that of most other character
classes. The downside of Warrions? They suck at everything else. They're slow
and have crappy foresight, and all the their other stats are mediocre at best.
With a lot of work and effort, you can turn a Warrion into an able fighter
(melee only, they're not great as archers) but they start at a disadvantage.
However, Warrions are welcome everywhere, so they make an acceptable party
leader.
HOBEAN SQUIRE:
Despite the fact that their name makes them sound like a half-baked character
(who wants a squire instead of a Knight?) the Hobean Squires are one of the
best classes in the game. They're the only class that doesn't have a single
stat that averages below 70. They're good at pretty much everything--melee,
archery, magic--a Squire can be effective in any of these roles. (Though their
high Health makes them better at melee overall) There aren't a lot of downsides
to being a Squire, except that they start out with Self Bow Skill, and the Self
Bow is a crappy weapon; it's a shame to have to waste points in them. Also,
they don't have the strength to back up their Size so heavy armor is more or
less out for Squires; medium armor like ring or scale is your best bet. The
prisoner in the Hobean keep is the only character in the game that won't speak
to Squires, so they also make a decent party leader.
DARK GUARD:
In terms of their stats, the Dark Guard are probably the most well-balanced
class in the entire game. Their only bad stat is Charisma, which is pretty much
useless anyway. They've got decent enough Strength and Health to wear heavy
armor, and they're one of the few Human classes that can be outstanding mages.
Their average Balance is also better than any other Human class. They also
start with Mace skill, which means that if you kill a Binderak early on you can
use their Spiny Maces, which make fantastic weapons. There is a downside to
being a Dark Guard, though--a really big one. As former minions of the evil
Pildar, the people of Ashtalarea HATE the Dark Guard. The Dark Guard get kicked
out of more places than any other race or class in the entire game; more than
half of the shopkeepers in Shellernoon will refuse to do business with a Dark
Guard outright, and numerous other houses and shops across the land in other
cities will too. What especially hurts is that the Dark Guard will get kicked
out of two trainers, severely limiting their choice of weapons. Not to mention
the fact they start with skill in a crappy weapon (Light Crossbow) as well.
They're a fun character class to play, but dealing with the prejudice of
Ashtalareans can be a real pain.
SHELLERNOON WATCHMAN:
The Shellernoon Watchmen are a lot like the Drezin Rangers, except that they
trade off the Rangers' speed and Foresight (and Charisma, but who cares about
that anyway) for extra Health. This means that they don't make as good archers
as Rangers, but are still pretty good all-rounders. They're slightly taller
than Rangers, but can still afford to wear heavy armor as their extra Health
will make up for it in their increased Endurance. The downside for the Watchmen
is that they're somewhat slow and have mediocre foresight so they rarely strike
first or can predict their enemies' moves. Another problem with the Watchmen is
their main starting weapon is the Battle Axe, which you can only train up to a
skill level of 30. Still, they're a solid class, and they're not unwelcome
anywhere in-game so can make a decent party leader too.
LINTLE PLAINSMAN:
Lintle Plainsmen are pure archers and/or mages. They have fantastic speed which
allows them to run from nasties well, and their Intellect allows them to forsee
enemies' moves quite frequently (though their Foresight is a little on the low
side) and makes them excellent mages qualified to enter any of the magic orders.
Their comparitively high starting skill in Longbow makes it even better. They
also won't get ejected from any house in the game. The downside to Plainsmen is
that archery and magic is basically all they can do. They absolutely suck at
close-quarters combat; if you put them into a melee combat situation they'll
get knocked out really quickly, as they neither have the strength to do much
damage or wear heavy armor, or the health and size to have any lasting power.
They can make good scouts, but the fact of the matter is that Elves do a better
job. If you must have a human male as an archer/scout, the Plainsman is a good
choice. I'd pass, though, as I like to have my scouts and archers female.
(though that's mostly just for party diversity reasons)
OLANTHEN HUNTER:
Olanthen Hunters are a whole lot like Lintle Plainsmen. They're pretty much
pure archers, though if you must put them into a melee situation they'll
survive a better than a Plainsman would because of their increased Health.
They're fast which makes them good scouts, but what's really the Hunter's main
advantage is their incredible Foresight, which is better than any other
character class in the game. They've got a decent Intellect to back that up too,
so you'll "forecast" enemies' actions with Hunters more than just about any
other class in the game. While a minor advantage, the Hunters won't get kicked
out of any places in the game. The downside to Hunters is that like Plainsmen,
they also suck in melee combat, plus their starting weapon, the Self Bow, is a
lousy weapon. Their Foresight is a real boon, but that by itself doesn't make
it worth having a Hunter in your party, unless you're shooting for an all-male
party, in which case the Hunter is a good candidate for your Scout.
BRETTLE REGULAR:
The main advantage to the Brettle Regular is their starting Gold, which ties
for the highest amount of any character in the game. They also have high
Charisma, decent starting weapon skills and none of their stats are
particularly low either. That's about all you can say for the Regulars though.
They're pretty much mediocre at everything. They don't make great melee
fighters, and they don't make great archers either. Not to mention that, but
they'll also get booted out of the Bakery in Olanthen and Zachary Bladeshure's
house in Htron. The Bakery is no big deal, but Zachary Bladeshure is one of the
best trainers in the game. Plus, the Regulars have to waste a skill on Battle
Axe, which can't get any higher than 30 unless you cheat. I advise passing on
this class, unless you're looking for a challenge.
DUKE'S HIGHWAYMAN:
Big, strong, and tough; that about sums up the Duke's Highwayman. The
Highwaymen are actually one of the best character classes in the game, and an
ideal candidate for party leader, as they don't get booted out of any places in
the game. Highwaymen are similar to Barbarians; they're geared toward being
front-line melee fighters. They're slightly weaker than Barbarians, but have
better Health and Body Points instead, and are also slightly faster. Their
Foresight is lousy, but their Intellect is decent, meaning that they'll get
forecasts more often than a Barbarian would. The main downside to being a
Highwayman is that their starting weapon skills are not really ideal for the
class. The Warhammer is indeed the best of the one-handed weapons, but
Highwaymen really shine with big heavy two-handers, and Longsword skill is
really out of place. They also are totally ineffective as archers and/or mages
so they're limited as well. To get the most potential out of a Highwayman,
you'll have to choose another weapon type and train it from scratch. Still, the
Highwayman is an excellent character.
HTRON PIRATE:
The Htron Pirate is actually quite a solid character choice. They're a very
well-rounded character that can do well as both a melee fighter and and an
archer, or even a mage. They also have a high starting Gold level, which means
you can deck out a Pirate in decent equipment at the very start of the game. If
you use the Pirate as a melee fighter (which is probably better) then he's best
suited for one-handed weapons with medium armor; they're not strong enough to
wield heavy weapons or armor. Still, they can hold their own quite well, and
while their starting weapon, the Scimitar, isn't particularly powerful, you can
build your Scimitar level higher than any other weapon in the game. The
downside to being a Pirate is that as they're jacks-of-all trades, they're
masters of none, much like the Rangers and Watchmen. In fact, they'll probably
be slightly less effective in combat than either of those professions as
they're slightly weaker. Their Foresight is also pretty poor, meaning that they
won't forsee attacks very well. And, like some other characters, they start
with Self Bow skill, which is kind of a waste. Pirates will also be booted out
of the Thimblewald Armorer, though this probably isn't too big of a deal, as
you can equip your Pirate at many other places.
POITLE ROGUE:
Rogues are best used as archers or low-level mages; their Quickness, Foresight
and Intellect are all quite good, which suits archers well. They also start out
with quite a lot of gold. That's about it that's good for Rogues though; in my
opinion they're the worst Human class in the game. They're potentially good
archers, but start out with jack squat in the way of archery skill, and are
next to useless in melee combat; they don't have enough strength to wear
anything but the lightest armor, and their Health is even worse than Plainsmen.
They can make a decent scout, but not nearly as well as a Hunter or Plainsman.
(to say nothing of Elves) They also get kicked out of the Fishmonger in Poitle
and the Wailing Peacock Inn (the good one) in Htron; though the former is no
big deal the latter is a pain. There's really no reason to make your character
a Rogue unless you're looking for a challenge or want to have your party a
typical "RPG archetype" one. (But as there are no treasure chests to pick or
traps to disarm, the archetypal RPG rogue is pretty much out of place in this
game) I suggest you pass on this class.
GHOR TIGRESS:
The Ghor Tigress is one of the more balanced classes in the game. In fact,
their starting weapon skills are better than any other class in the game,
making the Tigress the deadliest character class in terms of their starting
stats. Tigresses can make both good archers and passable mages as well. Overall
Tigresses are best as melee fighters, and they can use any type of armor,
though they're probably best with medium armor due to their Strength and Health
values. The down side of Tigresses is that while they're excellent warriors,
the fact of the matter is that there are human male classes that are better at
it. A Tigress can do great damage and is nimble and quick, but they just don't
have the stamina and staying power to truly excel. Still, they make excellent
light fighters, so are worth a look.
TEGAL AMAZON:
The Amazons are, pound-for-pound, the best melee fighter amongst human women.
They're a little on the slow side, but they've got great strength, good health
and foresight, and excellent Intellect, making them a very well-rounded
character class overall. They're about on par with a Watchman, Ranger, or
Pirate in terms of overall skill. If you want your party leader to be female,
the Amazon is the class that you should probably go with. Amazons don't have
much in the way of disadvantages, except that their Body Points are a little
low for a melee fighter, and they are another class that wastes their skill
points with Self Bow skill. And, like the Tigress, there are male classes that
are potentially better at melee than Amazons.
OLANTHEN HUNTRESS:
The Olanthen Huntress is very much like their male counterpart, the Olanthen
Hunter; in fact the two classes are practically identical. Huntresses are very
slightly faster and smarter than Hunters, but their Health, Endurance, and Body
points are inferior. While a Huntress' Foresight is still good, it they don't
enjoy the exceptional level of the Hunters. Overall, the Huntress is geared to
be an archer or scout. Like the Hunter, the Huntress is not a good melee
fighter at all, and should shy away from that profession. Her Health is also
pretty mediocre, and her strength is low, so putting anything other than the
lightest armor on her is a mistake. If given a choice between the two
professions, I would say that the Huntress is slightly superior; the speed and
Intellect bonus is worth the Foresight tradeoff, but more importantly, she
starts with Long Bow skill instead of Self Bow skill. If you want a human
archer/scout, the Huntress is probably your best bet.
LINTLE PLAINSWOMAN:
Plainswomen are a lot like Plainsmen. They're geared primarly to be archers,
with very high Quickness, and good Intellect to forecast enemies' moves. They
also can make passable mages as well if you choose to go that route. They also
have much better starting melee capabilities than Plainsmen, with a much higher
Long Sword skill level; they have a much better defense once they've run out of
arrows. The downside to Plainswomen is that compared to their male counterpart,
they suck. They've got lower Health, Foresight, and MUCH lower Intellect, and
all three of their secondary statistics are inferior to Plainsmen, markedly so
in the case of Balance. There's really no reason to be a Plainswoman instead of
a Plainsman unless you want a really gender-balanced party. Still, they're not
THAT much inferior, and they make pretty good archers and scouts overall. With
a little work, you won't notice that much of a difference between the two.
B.03b ELVES
-----------
Elves are geared toward being archers, scouts, and mages. They are the fastest
race in the game, and have exceptional Intellect, so they have a lot of leeway
in terms of magic orders they can join. Certain Elf races come with skill in
the Elf Bow, the most powerful missile weapon in the game. (while Heavy
Crossbows can do more damage, the fact that you have to reload them after every
shot negates any advantage they would have) They have generally strong
Foresight as well so can predict enemy moves with reasonable regularity. Elves
make terrible melee warriors though. Their speed is such that they're excellent
in getting in the first hit, but it rarely takes one hit to kill enemies, and
very few Elves have the strength to make using a melee weapon worthwhile. The
healthiest elf profession is at about the same level as the sickliest human (to
say nothing of Dwarves or Kelden) so they tend to have very poor Body Points.
Unlike Humans, Elven females do not get the short end of the stick, but are
generally superior to their male counterparts. While they generally have lower
Strength and Health than male Elves, they all have better Foresight, which is
more important in an archer. Not to mention the fact that most Male Elf races
start out with no missile weapon skills at all. Overall, Elves are ideal scouts
and archers.
BREKLAND:
Like other Elf classes, the Breklands are most geared toward archery. They are
the second-fastest Elf class in general, and their Strength is at about the
midpoint amongst Elves. Brekland Males also make good mages as they have a very
high Intellect. (Brekland Females don't share this trait) Conversely, Brekland
Females are better archers as they have substantially better Foresight.
Brekland Elves can wield heavier weapons and wear heavier armor than some other
Elf classes, but anything heavier than Leather is probably a mistake. The
downside to being a Brekland Elf is that they have the worst Health rating of
any class in the game, and their Body points are quite poor. As such, they're
utterly useless in melee combat, which gives Brekland Males a distinct
disadvantage, seeing as how they only start with Long Sword skill. Brekland
females are decidedly superior; they're faster and they have better Foresight,
so make much better scouts and archers. There are classes that are better in
this arena, but Brekland females will make solid archers nontheless.
KLVAR:
Klvar elves are the only Elf class that can really hold their own in melee.
Though Klvar Elves are slower than the other Elf classes, Klvar males are the
strongest of them, and their Health, while not good in comparison to other
races, is decent as well. Because of their reasonably small size, they can wear
heavier armor as well. Klvar females are better as archers, with their higher
Foresight and Intellect. Plus they start with bows. The downside to Klvar elves
is that they're really a mediocre character class when you get down to it.
While Klvar males can be passable melee fighters as well as archers, they are
really only average at best in either. Klvar females make better archers and
scouts, but there are better classes out there for that job. If you must have a
melee Elf, then go with a Klvar male; otherwise you're probably better off
passing on these classes.
MELOD:
Melod Elves are like most other Elves in that they're geared primarily toward
archery. They have better Health than any of the other Elf classes, which gives
them a little better lasting power. While not the the same extent as a Klvar
Elf, Melod elves can handle heavier armor than most other Elves as well. Melod
males also make excellent mages with their high Intellect scores, but like the
Brekland Elves, Melod females do not share the same affinity for magic. Melod
males also have the highest Charisma of any class in the game, though this
admittedly means little. In terms of archery, Melod males and females are about
on even footing; females have better Foresight so they'll have more chances to
read an enemy's moves, but males have better Intellect to interpret those moves.
The downside to Melods are the same as other Elves; they're terrible at melee
and can't take many hits. Plus Melod males suffer from having an inopportune
starting weapon. Overall, they make decent archers and scouts, but there are
better classes for this.
PYAR:
Pyar Elves are archers like most other Elves, but their real strength is in
spellcasting; they are the best spellcasters in the game, especially Pyar males.
They also have better Health ratings than a lot of Elves, and on average Pyars
have better Balance and Body Point ratings than the other Elf races. Plus, both
males and females start out with the wonderful Elf Bow as a weapon. As such,
they make ideal scouts. Pyar females aren't quite as good spellcasters, and
they're weaker than males, but not by much, and they have better Foresight. The
down side to the Pyar Elves is that they have the lowest Strength rating of all
Elf classes. Pyar males also have the disadvantage of being exceptionally tall
for an elf. While this may not seem like a disadvantage as more hight equals
more Body Points, it means that their armor is going to be a lot heavier, and
since Pyar males excel as mages this poses a problem as spellcasting really
drains stamina. If you do use a Pyar male, I actually suggest you send him into
battle naked, or wearing nothing but a Cloth Aketon. Pyar females have a little
more leeway, so I would lean more toward using a female than a male. Also,
while they make great archers and scouts, pound for pound I think Usip Elves
are better. Having a Pyar Elf AND an Usip Elf is not a bad idea, though....
THISM:
The Thism Elves are the fastest character classes in the game, making them
fantastic archers and scouts. Thism males also have high Intellect, making them
great mages, too. Thism Females aren't great mages, but they have better Health
and Foresight than their male counterparts. Plus they start out with Bows,
making it easier to use them "out of the box." The downside to Thism Elves is
that their Strength and Health (in the case of males) suck, so they make
horrible melee fighters, and the worst Endurance scores of all the classes in
the game. As Thism males start out as being equipped for melee, this makes them
the most vulnerable of all classes in the game when starting out. Their
Strength also prevents them from using any but the lightest of armor. (This
isn't a big deal for Thism women, but men, it is) I wouldn't bother using a
Thism male myself, but a Thism female makes an excellent backup archer or scout,
should something happen to your primary scout.
USIP:
In my opinion, the Usip Elves are the most balanced and well-rounded of the Elf
races. If you only have one Elf in your party, make it an Usip. Usips have high
Quickness statistics (especially men) and come in only second to the Pyars in
terms of innate spellcasting ability. (the females are better in this arena)
What's more, they start with a whopping 25 points of skill in the Elf Bow,
making them potentially quite deadly to start with. As they are the smallest of
the Elf classes, their armor also weighs less than other classes. Overall, I
would say that the Usip female makes the single best scout in the game. She's
not quite as fast as one would like for a scout, but the better Foresight and
Intellect more than make up for this, and the extra punch from the Elf Bow and
magic spells means that she can hold her own in a pinch quite well too. The
down side to an Usip is that like other elves, they're useless in melee combat,
and are almost as weak as the Pyars. Also they start out with a pittance in
terms of funds; your other party members will have to foot the bill for their
initial equipment. Their Endurance and Body Points are also pretty low, but
equipped in nothing but Cloth, they can still expend no Fatigue at all when
sprinting uninjured. Overall the Usips are one of the better classes in the
game, and definitely worth at least a look.
B.03c DWARVES
-------------
Dwarves are primarily geared for up-close-and-personal scrapping in melee.
They're strong and hardy so they have fantastic Endurance and can dish out
nasty damage as well. Also, since Dwarves are so small, they can deal with
heavy armor better than any other race in the game. Dwarves are the only race
that can be completely decked out in full plate armor and a heavy weapon and
not have major Stamina problems. There are several down sides to being a Dwarf,
though. First and foremost is their size; it allows them to wear heavy armor
better than any other class, but you pretty much HAVE to wear heavy armor as
Dwarves will be on the receiving end of mighty blows more than any other race
without it. While their high Health makes up for it somewhat, they are low on
Body points when compared to Humans or Kelden. The short stature of Dwarves
also becomes a liability when you're fighting massive opponents like Giants, as
it's hard for Dwarves to hit anything but the legs of these sorts of creatures.
However, the biggest liability for Dwarves is their speed in battle; Dwarves
cannot Sprint, which means they can only move one space per turn no matter what.
(You could equip them with the Flying Cloak once you get it, but a Dwarf is
MUCH better off wearing the Courage Coat) Another, minor problem with dwarves
is that they get booted out of various establishments more than other races.
Still, the fact that you can arm and armor a Dwarf to the hilt without
suffering major Fatigue penalties make them very effective characters in melee
combat. Having all your melee fighters Dwarves is not recommended (as there are
going to be situations where you're going to need at least one or two melee
guys to sprint) but they can be real assets to your party nonetheless.
Note on Dwarf Classes:
There are two clans of Dwarves, Ghor Dwarves and Mytrone Dwarves. There are
four classes for each clan, each having an equivalent to the other clan. (For
example Ghor Militia has Mytrone Levy as a counterpart) The counterparts are
different in name only; all their stats, starting skills, weapons, etc. are
identical.
GHOR TUNNELER/MYTRONE DIGGER
In my opinion, the Tunnelers and Diggers are the best Dwarf class in the game.
Dwarfs "specialize" more or less in wearing heavy armor, and the Tunnelers and
Diggers do this better than any class in the game. They've got incredible
Strength and Health; the only class with better Strength is the Barbarian, and
nobody has better Health than a Tunneler/Digger. This gives them really high
Endurance. Plus, they're the smallest class in the game, which means their
armor weighs less than any other class. You can deck out a Tunneler/Digger
completely in Plate, give him a Kite Shield or a Greatsword, have him run into
battle using nothing but Berserk attacks, and he'll STILL not lose any Stamina.
While they'll never hit the head of a giant, this makes them incredible close-
combat scrappers. Plus, they start out with a ton of money. The downside of the
Tunneler/Digger is that while they excel in Strength and Stamina, they're not
very good at anything else. Their Quickness and Foresight absolutely suck; in
fact, they've got the worst scores in those two stats than any other class in
the game. Also their starting weapon is kind of crappy too--they're much more
suited for heavier weapons with more of a punch. And since they're so slow,
until you can afford to buy the heavy armor that will soak up all the hits
they'll take, these guys may die a little more quickly than you'd hope. Still,
the Tunnelers and Diggers are great at what they do, and make a valuable
addition to any party.
GHOR RATGUARD/MYTRONE SPIDERGUARD:
Ratguards and Spiderguards are quick little buggers. While most Dwarves are
slow and plodding, these guys are faster than most other classes in the game.
They've also got decent strength too, which makes them a very versatile fighter.
They can weild medium-to-heavy weapons and still smack the enemies before they
get an attack off, which is useful. They don't have the foresight or intellect
to make them good archers, but that's not what Dwarves are for anyway. Their
diminutive size allows them to wear heavy armor with little detriment, but
their lower Stamina compared to other Dwarf classes makes it so that they can't
always afford to run around in full plate and not get winded. They also have
the problem of not having much in the way of Body Points, even for a Dwarf, and
their Foresight is nothing to write home about either, though it's not nearly
as bad as the Tunneler/Digger's. While close combat is the
Ratguard/Spiderguard's forte, a "stick and move" strategy may be the best one
to adopt if you choose to use one. They're a pretty good class though; if you
want a heavily-armored fighter but don't want to sacrifice speed with a
Tunneler or Digger, the Ratguard or Spiderguard may be a good choice.
GHOR TROLLBANE/MYTRONE ORCBANE:
The Ghor Trollbane and Mytrone Orcbane are the most well-rounded Dwarf Classes;
they have generally high stats; none exceptional, but none terrible either.
They're a lot like a very short Hobean Squire in many respects. One major
advantage to the Trollbane and Orcbane is that they have much better Foresight
than the other Dwarf classes, so they'll predict enemy movements more often
than a Tunneler or Spiderguard would. They also start with the best weapon of
all the Dwarf classes. The downside of the Trollbane and Orcbane is that
they're really just an average character class. Like other Dwarves, their small
size allows them to wear heavier armor, but not to the same extent as a
Tunneler, and they don't have the speed of a Ratguard. They're a decent
character class, but if you're going to use a Dwarf, you'll really want one
that can make the most of a Dwarf's specialties, and the Trollbanes and
Orcbanes can't do that. They're not a bad character class by any stretch of the
imagination, but I think you'd be better off with one of the other ones.
GHOR MILITIA/MYTRONE LEVY:
Like the Trollbane/Orcbane, the Militia/Levy is a very balanced Dwarf Class,
though not as across-the-board stat-wise. They are slower, have less Foresight,
and are slightly weaker than the Trollbane/Orcbane, but they have a
substantially better Health rating, which gives them better Endurance and Body
points. Militia and Levy also have better Intellect than any other Dwarf class,
so they foresee enemy moves more often than Tunnelers or Ratguards would, plus
they're the only Dwarf class that really can be decent mages. The downside to
the Levy is that they're less effective in close combat than other Dwarf
classes because of their reduced strength, meaning theat they can't equip as
heavy armor as the others, nor do as much damage. They also start out with the
worst weapon skills of any Dwarf class (Their Battle Axe skill is very low, and
Light Crossbows are useless) Dwarves are not made to be jacks-of-all-trades, so
the Ghor Militia and Mytrone Levy take a back seat to some of the other classes.
Still, they can be worth a look, especially if you're thinking of using more
than one Dwarf in your party.
B.03d KELDERHEIT
----------------
The Kelderheit are a very unique race. There are only three Kelderheit classes,
and each is geared toward a different specialty. The first and most obvious
difference between the Kelderheit and the other races is that they've got wings
and can fly without use of magical items. This can be a huge tactical advantage,
as frequently you'll want to use your Kelderheit to fly over rivers or over
walls to scout out the enemy. The second feature of the Kelderheit is their
huge size. Their size gives the Kelden an edge in several areas; most notably,
it gives them a huge amount of Body points. It takes a ridiculous amount of
punishment to knock out a Kelden, even one in light armor. Kelden can often
take three or four hits that would knock out a Dwarf or Elf outright. Second,
it gives the Kelden three advantages in melee combat. First, since they're so
tall, shorter enemies will almost never hit the Kelderheit in the head or arms.
Second, Kelderheit will deal mighty blows against smaller enemies a lot more
often. Third, Kelderheit can target more areas of the body when facing larger
creatures. However, the Kelderheit's large size has one serious drawback: armor
weight. Because the Kelderheit are so huge, even the lightest armor weighs a
ton and a half, simply because there has to be more of it. This means that
Fatigue is more of a problem for Kelderheit than any other race in the game;
you can't put heavy armor on a Kelden as it'll tire him out after only a couple
of turns of combat. This also puts a damper in the Kelder's flying ability;
flying takes a LOT of energy and even a moderately-armored Kelder's Fatigue
will sink like a stone as soon as he takes to the air. And don't even THINK of
making your Kelden a mage. This means that you're pretty much divided between
making a Kelderheit a lightly-armored scout that flies (reducing their high
Body Point advantage a bit by sacrificing protection) or a more heavily-armored
melee scrapper that doesn't fly much or at all. Either way, you definitely
won't go wrong with including a Kelden in your party, as they can prove very
useful, especially at the early stages of the game.
CLIFF GUARD:
The Cliff Guard is the most melee-oriented Kelder. He doesn't have much in the
way of quickness, and his Health is lower than other Kelden classes, but he
packs one heck of a wallop with his high strength and size. Especially in the
early stages of the game, a Cliff Guard can be an absolute juggernaut, taking
down low-level enemies in only a few hits. (sometimes killing them outright in
a single hit if you're lucky) They also have an extremely high Balance score,
so they have better chances tangling with nasties like Giants and Cliff Trolls,
before you get the Courage Coat. The down side to the Cliff Guard is that he's
not made for flying; he's got lower Body Points than the other Kelderheit so he
pretty much has to wear decent armor to make the most use of his melee affinity.
Cliff Guards are also a little on the slow side, too. However, if you want your
Kelden to be a melee fighter (and when push comes to shove, that's their better
role in my opinion) the Cliff Guard is a prime contender. (though it's somewhat
a tossup as the Far Seeker is very good at melee too)
ROCK RANGER:
The primary focus of the Rock Ranger is lasting power and Health; they have
more Body Points than any other character class in the game. They can take a
lot of punishment and still not die. Their lower Strength and greater Quickness
(not to mention starting weapon) makes them more oriented for archery and
scouting than melee scrapping, though Rock Rangers are perfectly capable in
that area as well with a little work. Because of their lack of Strength,
they're better equipped in light armor. However, while geared for being an
archer/scout, the Rock Ranger is really not ideal in that role. First, his
Foresight is far lower than what one would want in a scout (though his
Intellect is not bad) and his Quickness, while not bad, is not good for an
archer either. With a lot of work, the Rock Ranger can become a capable melee
fighter, but this takes a lot of skill building and with his large Size and low
Strength, he'll never be able to wear the heavier armor one would expect from a
melee warrior. Still, being able to fly is a big bonus for a scout, so a Rock
Ranger may be worth a look at.
FAR SEEKER:
The Far Seeker is like a cross between a Cliff Guard and a Rock Ranger. They're
stronger than a Rock Ranger but weaker than a Cliff Guard, hardier and faster
than a Cliff Guard but slower and less hale than a Rock Ranger. The Far Seeker
can be used as either a melee fighter or a Scout. In some ways he makes a
better scout than the Rock Rangers as the Far Seeker has better Foresight, and
in some ways they make better melee fighters than Cliff Guards because they
have more Body Points. However, I would say the Far Seeker is slightly more
favorable as a melee fighter due to his Strength and Size. The major problem
(and asset) to a Rock Ranger is their size. They're HUGE. This lets them target
Cliff Troll and Giant upper bodies, but it makes their armor weigh a TON.
Because of their lower strength, they can't afford to wear armor as heavy as
the Cliff Guard, though the added Body Points make up for that. They're also
slightly dumber than the other Kelderheit so they have problems interpreting
enemy moves. If you want your Kelden to be a melee character, the Far Seeker is
a pretty good choice. Compared with the Cliff Guard, though, I'd say that the
Cliff Guard makes a slightly better choice; the added strength and armor
capacity plus the greater starting weapon skill provides more of an edge. Still,
the Far Seeker is definitely worth considering for the role as well.
B.04 BUILDING THE PERFECT PARTY
===============================
There are a ton of ways to build good parties in Knights of Legend, but some
will make your life easier than others. First off, it's best to use all six
slots of your party; it's possible to win the game with a smaller party, but a
lot harder. Second, when creating your party, you should keep in mind what
roles each of your party members are going to play. All characters more or less
can fall into one or more of the four roles: Melee fighter, Archer, Scout, and
Mage. An ideal party will be a combination of all of these roles.
MELEE FIGHTERS:
---------------
This is probably the most specialized of the character types, as it's very
difficult, if not impossible to combine being a melee fighter with an Archer,
Scout, or Mage. Your Melee Fighters are going to be your front-line warriors
that deal out and take the most damage against the enemies that are fighting
you. In many ways it's also the most important, as while it would be difficult
to win the game with nothing but melee fighters, it would be next to impossible
to win the game without any at all. Human Males, Kelderheit, and Dwarves make
the best melee fighters, though Tigresses and Amazons make decent fighters too.
Elves generally are poor candidates for melee roles. The most important
statistics for a melee fighter are Strength and Health, as melee fighters need
a lot of strength to wear heavy armor, and health to keep their stamina high.
Quickness is also important, as getting in the first strike in a round can mean
the difference between winning and losing a battle. There's a lot of leeway as
to how you craft your melee fighters; you can make them heavy (but slow)
warriors equipped with really heavy armor and a powerful two-handed weapon,
that deal out tons of damage, or you can make them more defensively-oriented
characters that wield lighter one-handed weapons and a shield, and focus on
getting in the first strike. All melee fighters should wear decent armor;
preferably some sort of metal armor. Classes like Barbarian, Highwayman, Cliff
Guard, and Tunneler/Digger are ideal choices for being heavy melee fighters,
and classes like Ranger, Darkguard, Tigress, and Spiderguard/Ratguard are best
for being light melee fighters.
ARCHERS:
--------
Archers are primarily support classes that shoot arrows at enemies while your
melee fighters are whacking them with close-range weapons. Archers on their own
can kill enemies outright with enough skill as well, and do well with hit-and-
run tactics. (and indeed, have to in the Arena) Elves excel at being archers,
especially Elven females. The most important statistics for Archers are
Foresight, Intellect, and Quickness; Foresight and Intellect to know where to
fire their arrows, and Quickness to escape from enemies should they get too
close. It's generally a good idea to have your archers train in a light melee
weapon as well in case they run out of arrows, focusing on defensive training.
Scimitars are a good choice, I find. (primarily since you can train them up so
high without cheating) Because they'll rarely if ever be within melee range,
light armor like Cloth or Leather is best for your archers. Archers also double
well as Scouts and Mages. Pyar and Usip Elves make the best archers, as they
have Elf Bow skill, which is the most powerful ranged weapon in the game.
Plainsmen and Plainswomen also make excellent archers as well.
SCOUTS:
-------
You'll probably only need one Scout (though it can't hurt to have a backup) but
they're an extremely important role in your game. They're of less use in random
battles (where you'll probably want them to act as just an Archer or Mage) but
are critical in quest battles, where you're facing huge numbers of enemies in
complex setups. There, their primary role is to scout out and find out where
the enemies are, and lure them back to where the bulk of your party is waiting
so that they can cut them to ribbons one at a time. The most important
statistic for your Scouts is Quickness, as being a Scout is a dangerous job and
you may find yourself having to Sprint out of harm's way--fast. Foresight and
Intellect are also very important as well, and should not be neglected. Stat-
wise, in the long run the Thism Female is probably the best cut out to be a
Scout, though my personal preference for a Scout is an Usip Female; her high
Elf Bow stat, combined with her high Intellect, make her an excellent Archer as
well as potential Mage, meaning she can better hold her own and take out
enemies should she get caught between a rock and a hard place. Plainsmen and
Plainswomen also make excellent Scouts.
MAGES:
------
Mages are the only character type that are really optional (my first play
through the game, I didn't use any) but used well, they are extremely powerful
characters. Offensively, they can deal more damage more quickly than any other
form of attack. Defensively, they can heal wounds, boost weapon skill levels,
restore function to incapacitated limbs, and keep your melee fighters in good
condition longer. The most important statistic for a Mage is obviously
Intellect as it affects what order they can join and the potency of spells, but
Health, and to a lesser extent, Strength are also useful (though not necessary)
for a mage as they boost Endurance. Mages can double as Archers (and probably
should) but not as melee fighters, as heavy armor causes a much greater stamina
loss for a Mage. Mages should be clad in Cloth only if you give them any armor
at all. Any class can be an effective mage, but Elves are best at it. Usips and
Pyars generally make the best Mages. (and coincidentally, the best Archers as
well)
In terms of racial and gender makeup of your party, it's really up to you. You
should definitely have a good balance, and at least a few humans, as a lot of
places will refuse service to Dwarves, Kelden, or Elves--some of whom give
critical hints as to the locations of quest entrances, too. (Darkguard should
be considered a "minority" race too even though they're humans, as they're
booted out of more places than any other class) I don't generally use Elven
Males as I don't find them as useful as Elven females, but all other
genders/races have their uses. Kelden are really useful as they're very mobile,
are strong, and can take a beating, but are restricted to light armor; Dwarves
are the opposite, they're slow and can't take much of a beating at all, but can
wear really heavy armor.
Here are a few suggestions for some parties:
Ranger (Leader) Highwayman (Leader) Tigress (Leader)
Usip Female Usip Female Usip Female
Cliff Guard Cliff Guard Barbarian
Pyar Female Thism Female Plainsman
Tunneler Darkguard Ratguard
Plainswoman Pyar Female Thism Female
None of these are "ideal" though, you can do a lot of mixing and matching to
get a party you like.
===============================================================================
SECTION C: GAMEPLAY
===============================================================================
Once you've got your party made, you can start the game proper. Like most RPGs,
Knights of Legend gameplay can be divided into adventuring and combat. This
section goes over the adventuring part of the game.
C.01 THE TOWN
=============
There are six major cities in Ashtalarea, all of which are stocked with
amenities that your characters will want to partake of. You may want to adopt
one as your "home base" or just move your characters to whatever city is
closest at hand. Here's a quick description of each town:
Brettle:
You start in this town. It's an excellent "home base" for your characters at
the beginning of the game. You can buy any weapon in the game but the Elf Bow
here, and Hansard Forger is the only store in the game that sells Clubs and
Quarterstaffs. Ludeman Armorers also stocks every class of head, torso, and leg
armor in the game. The alehouse also doesn't boot out anyone. The trainer here,
however, is not one of the best.
Shellernoon:
This city is located smack in the middle of the map. It's also got a great
variety of stores. The Weapon and Armor shops are both great; the Weapon Shop
sells the least expensive weapons in the game, and the Armor shop sells all
classes of armor, and a few capes too. Location-wise, it makes the best "home
base," but from a practical standpoint it's a little inconvenient. The pub
refuses service to Kelden characters, and everyone hates Darkguard characters,
but more importantly, the only place to sell your treasure is dirt poor, and
won't buy anything worth more than 200 or so gold.
Htron:
Htron is located at the northeast corner of the map. It's located closer to the
Arena than any of the other cities, so you may find yourself staying in the inn
there a lot. It has nothing in the way of armor and very little in the way of
weaponry though. The pub refuses service to Elves, which is a pain. The
trainers there are excellent though, and the city is in close proximity to the
Amazon Village, who has another top-notch trainer as well.
Poitle Lock:
Poitle Lock is located on the west coast of Ashtalarea. It's got several really
good food stores, and a good smith, but is least suited for use as a party base,
because it has no Abbey, which means there's no way to heal up your characters
there. However it is located in close proximity to several quests, and is the
home of the Secret Storm order, one of the better magic orders to join.
Olanthen:
Olanthen is located on the south coast of Ashtalarea. It doesn't have much in
the way of weaponry or armor, but the cobbler here is the place to go to buy
your characters foot armor. Olanthen is not a great place to base your
characters out of because getting into the city is a pain; the entrance is to
the south and you can only get there by circling around to the west side of the
city first. The trainer in Olanthen is the best in the game, but will only
teach very advanced characters. (so advanced that you'll have to hack your
stats to get him to train you)
Thimblewald:
Thimblewald is located at the far northwest area of the map. In terms of
services, it has fewer than just about any of the other towns. It's way out of
the way, has an expensive inn, no trainers, and most importantly, no place
whatsoever to sell the treasure you find, so it makes a pretty lousy home base.
Barbarians also get refused service in both the pub and the Abbey, so if you've
got any in your party, only come here for the quests.
Most of your time in towns will be spent store-hopping; feeding your
undernourished party, selling the loot you've gotten in battle, healing up at
the Abbey, and saving your game at the Inn. While there can be specialty or
hybrid stores, most stores fall into one of the following categories:
ARMORER:
--------
In addition to buying armor here, you can also get armor fitted. When you have
armor fitted, its size and weight is reduced, reducing its Fatigue toll on the
character. Characters can wear armor that is too big for them, but will have to
carry around that extra weight. Characters cannot wear armor that is too small
for them at all. Armor that is too small also cannot be fitted. (Exception:
There are some stores that sell armor that, by default, is too small for
certain characters. Sometimes when you first buy this armor they'll give you
the option to fit it to a larger character. Any armor you're already carrying
can never be fit to larger characters)
WEAPONER:
---------
With the exception of junk stores, you'll probably visit the Weaponer less
often than any other store type, unless they're willing to buy items off you.
(in which case you may go there to sell your loot) The Weaponer is where you
buy new weapons. As weapons never degrade (despite what the manual tells you)
once you've bought a weapon, there's no reason to buy a new one unless you lose
it or decide to switch to a new type. However, some Weaponers will Forge any
magic ingots you get from quests into powerful Custom weapons.
FOOD STORES:
------------
There's a wide variety of food stores; some are bakeries, some are pubs, some
are brewhouses or smokehouses. They all sell food, which your characters can
use to restore lost Nutrition. You'll probably stop off at one of these every
time you visit town. You can eat food that you buy immediately, or buy it "to
go" and select it from your backpack later to eat it. The amount of nutrition
you get depends on the food.
ABBEYS:
-------
The Abbey is where you get your characters healed. You'll visit them a lot as
it's the only way to permanently heal wounds--magical healing is just a quick
fix. The amount it costs to heal you depends on the severity and number of your
wounds--the more hurt you are, the more it costs to heal you.
INNS:
-----
The Inn is the only place in the game you can go to save your game. When a
character checks into an Inn, his/her current status is saved. There are two
types of Inns; safe ones and dangerous ones. Dangerous inns are free, but the
other tenants are sticky-fingered, and when you reload your game, you may get
the message "Something is missing!" That means some of your Gold or more often,
one of your items got stolen. Stolen items are gone forever. Safe inns cost
money to rest in, but you'll never get anything stolen either. My advice: don't
be cheap, stay in the safe inns.
TRAINERS:
---------
Trainers increase your Weapon skills. Each Trainer specializes in four types of
weapons. You'll have to pay a fee to train, and then you pick a weapon to train
in. Once you've picked your weapon, you choose whether or not you want to train
Offensively or Defensively. Finally, you're asked how many Skill Points you
want in that weapon. Each skill point takes 100 Adventure Points, and you can
train up to 5 points at once.
One thing to note about trainers is that they have certain skills in weapons,
too. Every trainer will only be able to bring your skill levels up to a certain
amount before there's nothing more they can teach you. Also, advanced trainers
may require you to have a certain amount of skill with a weapon before they can
teach you.
Trainers will not teach you if by training 5 points in a weapon, you'll exceed
their maximum level. For example, Morag the Merciless will train your Mace
skill up to a level of 60. If you train Mace up to 56, though, he won't train
you any more, because if you bought 5 skill points that would bring you up to
61, one point past his maximum. Since all trainers' maximums are multiples of
five, it's best if you train your weapon skills five points at a time to be
safe.
It's also worth noting that when you train with a weapon, you gain skill in all
weapons of that class. If you should find a special weapon either from a quest
or dropped by an enemy that matches a class you've trained in, you can use your
weapon skill for it too--for example the Truth Sword can be used with a
character that has Greatsword skill. Check out the "Special Weapons" section
for more info in this vein.
Every 2,000 Adventure Points you spend at at a Trainer, you become eligible to
gain a level in the Arena. Until you gain a level at the Arena, you cannot
receive any more training.
JUNK SHOPS:
-----------
Junk shops and Specialty shops sell random garbage that won't do your party any
practical good. For example there's a Ship Chandler that sells pipes and
tobacco in Htron, which you can't do anything with. Most of the time you can
ignore these stores, unless they are willing to buy your stuff, in which case
you can use them to offload your loot. There are, however, a few junk stores
with potentially useful items. For example you can buy a nice sword and helmet
at the Jeweler's in Poitle Lock.
STABLES:
--------
Stables sell you horses. Horses increase your movement rate, and that has two
big advantages in the game. First, your movement rate affects speed on the
overworld; you can move more distance in a day when riding a horse and the
better the horse, the greater amount of distance you can cover in the same time.
Second, and more importantly, horses will allow you to run from battles before
they start. If you're riding a horse, when you get into a random encounter,
instead of going straight into battle, you'll see a text message, the contents
of which depend upon what you've encountered. You'll be asked if you want to
ride away. If you choose "Yes" then there's a chance you'll be able to escape;
you'll always be able to escape from healers or Brettle Regulars (not that
you'd want to) but if you'd be facing a monster there's a chance that you won't
be able to. The better the horse you're riding, the better the chance that
you'll be able to get away.
Note that your party's movement rate is only as good as the slowest member of
your party. If even one of your party members is on foot you get no horse
bonuses at all. If five members of your party are on Heavy Warhorses and the
other is on a Draft Horse, you only get the movement and evasion rates of a
Draft Horse, and so forth.
C.02 TALKING TO TOWNSPEOPLE
===========================
Whether it's just a person's house or a store, you can talk to anyone you meet
to get information. Some people offer no useful information whatsoever, whereas
others will give you quests or other sorts of important clues. You can either
"Listen" (ear Icon) or "Talk." (mouth Icon) Listen allows you to hear rumors,
and Talk allows you to ask about a specific subject. Generally, if any topic is
capitalized in conversation, you can Talk about it and get more information. At
some point you might hear "I heard *** talking about that!" The "***" person
will always be located in the same settlement; go talk to him/her about the
topic and you may get more information. Also, it doesn't hurt to ask around
about topics that may seem to be of general interest. For example, ask around
about Pildar, the main villain of the game; there's at least one quest that
you'll get by asking around about him.
C.03 THE ARENA
==============
The Arena is a special settlement. There's only one thing you can do there;
fight! Anyone who is eligible for gaining a level can fight in the Arena. Arena
fights are one-on-one battles, and the enemy you're up against is determined
randomly from all enemy types. If you win the battle, you go up a level. If you
lose, you don't go up a level, and the monster you fought gets to loot you.
Before one of your characters enter the Arena, you can opt to bet on (or
against) them, up to a maximum of 99 Gold. Each character in your party can
only bet once. If you're low on cash, you can strip your unfortunate comrade of
all their equipment and bet against them, then throw the fight...though there
are better ways to make money.
===============================================================================
SECTION D: COMBAT
===============================================================================
The fighting system of Knights of Legend is where the game really shines. Even
to this day, more than fifteen years after the game was released, I have yet to
see a combat system in another game that even comes close to comparing to its
detail and realism.
D.01 THE ROUND
==============
A KOL round is divided into two phases; a planning phase, and then an action
phase. During the planning phase, you decide the actions of your party members
and the computer selects the enemies' actions. Once you've finished entering
all your characters' combat commands, the action phase goes into effect, and
all the characters and enemies perform their commands.
D.02 PLANNING PHASE
===================
At the beginning of each Planning phase, all of the characters and enemies have
a random number added (or subtracted) to their Foresight score. The order in
which each character or enemy picks their actions for the next round is
determined by the results, the lowest picking first. (In other words, the
characters/enemies with the lowest Foresight usually end up picking their
actions first)
D.02a PREDICTING ENEMY MOVES
----------------------------
If you target an enemy, sometimes you'll see an action listed next to its
status display. If you see this, it shows that your character has foreseen and
interpreted the enemy's "body language" to determine what the enemy will do
next turn. Whether or not you see this depends on both the character's
Foresight and Intellect. You'll only get to see the actions of enemies who have
already had their turn to pick their action, and as the order of who picks
first is determined by Foresight, the higher your Foresight, the better chance
the enemies will act first and you'll get a chance to see what it's planning.
However, even if an enemy DOES pick its action first, that doesn't necessarily
mean that you'll get to see what it picks. That chance depends on your
character's Intellect. A high Foresight gives you the chance to pick your
action later in the planning phase; a high Intellect gives you a better chance
to interpret your enemy's body language. So, a character with high Foresight
will get more chances to interpret enemy actions; a character with high
Intellect will succeed more often in making the interpretation.
Predicting enemy moves is incredibly useful in determining your course of
action the following move. If you're a melee fighter, it can help you decide
the best offense and defense to use against your target. If you're an archer,
predictions will help you know where to aim your arrows the following round to
strike a moving target. For this reason, high Foresight and Intellect are good
things to have on all your characters.
D.02b ACTION ICONS
------------------
Here is a description of all the icons you'll see in battle, and what they're
for.
OK (Thumbs up): Confirms your action.
U-TURN (looping arrow):
Go back a level or undo a choice.
MOVE (Walking man):
Move your character (see movement icons below)
ATTACK (Sword):
Enters melee combat with your weapon (see armed combat icons below)
FIST (Fist):
Enters melee combat with your fists and feet (see unarmed combat icons below)
FIRE (Bow and Arrow):
Fires a missile weapon at the enemy. You only get 20 arrows or bolts per combat.
Select your target and then fire. If you're playing the Apple II version,
there's a chance that any character, be it friend or enemy, that stands between
you and your target will get in the way and take your arrow/bolt. Technically
this is supposed to be possible in the DOS version too, though I've never, ever
seen a missile hit anywhere but the square it was targeted at. Note that you
cannot aim missile weapons at specific parts of the body; however, missiles can
hit any part of the target, regardless of its size and the size of the
character firing.
LOAD (Crossbow with arrow):
Reloads your crossbow. Every time you fire a bolt with your crossbow, you have
to spend a turn cranking it up and reloading it before you can fire it again.
DROP: (Sword with down arrow below it):
Drops whatever you're currently carrying and puts it on the space you're
standing on. Multiple items can stack. Note that if you're flying, you'll drop
the item on the ground and won't be able to pick it up until you land. If you
drop the weapon somewhere you CAN'T land (like on top of a wall or in water)
you'll have to wait until the end of the battle before you can pick it up again.
PICK UP: (Sword with up arrow above it):
Pick up whatever's currently lying on the ground beneath your character. Note
that your hands must be empty before doing this, or you'll just waste your turn.
If you're standing on a pile of items, you will be prompted for each before you
pick it up.
READY (Sword in scabbard with up arrow):
Pull the weapon currently in your belt out and wield it. Obviously an important
thing to do; you don't want to fight enemies unarmed!
SHEATH (Sword in scabbard with down arrow):
Puts the weapon you're currently holding in your belt. Note this will NOT work
for missile weapons like crossbows or bows. This is a useful command if you're
faced with an overwhelming force and want to run; you won't drop sheathed
weapons when fleeing battle.
SWITCH (Sword and axe with arrow between it):
Trades the weapon in your hand with the weapon in your belt. Note this will
ONLY work with two melee weapons. Since you cannot belt missile weapons, you
can't swap them; if you've got a melee weapon in your belt and are holding a
bow, you'll have to drop the bow one turn and draw your melee weapon the next.
MAGIC (Hand with sparks around it):
Cast a spell from the character's list of known spells. Note that characters
can only cast spells if they're not holding a weapon. You can specify whether
you want the effect to be Positive or Negative (Positive for your friends,
Negative for your enemies, obviously) and pick your target. If you're using a
close-range spell, when the spell actually gets cast, you may also be asked
what part of the target's body you want the spell to affect.
LAND (Kelden with arrows pointing down):
If your character is currently flying, you can use this command to land. Note
that you can't land everywhere that you can fly over. (e.g. no landing in
water)
D.02c MOVEMENT ICONS
--------------------
WALK: (Man walking)
Walking will move your character one space. Walking takes very little if any
stamina (only a character far too heavily armored for his/her own good and/or
severely injured will lose stamina walking) but is the slowest movement type,
and usually takes place later in the round, unless the walking character is
extremely fast.
RUN: (Man running)
This is like walking in that it moves your character one space, but it's a fast
movement so it tends to happen earlier in the round rather than later. It also
takes more stamina to run than to walk. Any characters wearing Speed Boots will
move two spaces Running.
SPRINT: (Man running fast)
This is the fastest ground movement; characters Sprinting will move two spaces
in a round. Movement to the second space will always take place after all other
characters have acted. Sprinting is good for covering longer distances quickly,
but it takes a lot of stamina; only the most lightly armored character will be
able to Sprint without taking a Stamina hit. Any characters wearing Speed Boots
will move four spaces Sprinting.
FLY: (Kelden with wings straight up)
This command will have your character fly one space. After any flying movement,
the character will be airborne and will not be able to do any land-based
actions (like melee attacks) unless they land first. Flying is generally faster
than walking, but has a heavier stamina drain as well.
FLY FASTER: (Kelden with wings slightly down)
Fly Faster is like Sprinting in the air; your character will move two spaces in
a round. It takes a lot of Stamina so is not recommended for heavily armored
characters.
ZOOM: (Kelden with wings almost parallel to the ground):
Zoom is the fastest movement; it's flying, only it moves three spaces in a
round. It also takes an immense amount of stamina; even a lightly armored
Kelden will take huge hits to stamina with it. Smaller races wearing the flying
cloak, however, may be able to do this without taking a stamina hit...
D.02d ARMED ATTACKS
-------------------
Armed attack involves three choices; an attack type, an attack location, and a
defense type.
NONE: (Man shrugging his shoulders)
If you don't want to attack at all (usually to devote all your effort to
defense) pick this option; you won't attack at all the following round.
HACK: (Axe chopping)
This is a powerful overhead swing, using the force of gravity to add power to
the weapon. It's the most powerful of the three standard attack types, and also
takes the least stamina, but is also the slowest.
SLASH: (Sword Slashing)
Slash is a horizontal/diagonal slash with the weapon. It's not quite as
powerful as a Hack attack, and uses a little bit more Stamina, but is
substantially faster.
THRUST: (Sword Stabbing)
Thrusts are a quick, stabbing motion with your weapon. It's the most fatiguing
and least powerful of the three attack modes, but it's also the fastest, which
counts for a lot, as enemies that take a hit before they attack are less likely
to connect.
BERSERK (Berserker with shield):
Berserk is a special attack; unlike the three standard attack types
(Hack/Slash/Thrust) it cannot be targeted (it always targets the chest) and you
cannot choose any defense (you'll automatically use a Standing defense) It's
also more fatiguing and slower than any of other attack types, but it does a
lot more damage, too.
D.02e ATTACK TARGETING
----------------------
HIGH SHOT (Arrow at head):
This attack targets the upper body. Upper Body attacks usually hit the arms,
and can hit the chest as well, but will never hit the legs. If your character
is targeting an enemy substantially larger than his or her height, they may not
get the option to use this type of attack. (The height differential appears to
differ by race--a 3' dwarf can High Shot a Sledge more than 3 times his height,
but a 7' Kelder can't High Shot a Sylph that's a bit less than 2 1/2 times his
height)
BODY SHOT (Arrow at chest):
This attack targets the middle body. Middle Body attacks usually hit the torso,
but they can hit anywhere else on the body as well.
LOW SHOT (Arrow at legs):
This attack targets the lower body. Lower Body attacks usually hit the legs,
and can hit the chest as well, but will never hit the head (and almost never
hit the arms either).
D.02f DEFENSE TYPES
-------------------
Defense types pick the manner in which you attempt to avoid enemy blows. Note
that this is separate from parrying blows; (that's determined by weapon defense
skill) a character using no defense at all can still parry incoming blows.
NONE (Man shrugging):
Use this if you don't want to defend at all. There will be no chance to dodge
blows if you use this, but it doesn't take any stamina either. (You can still
parry though) Use this if your Foresight has shown that you're not going to be
attacked the following round.
STAND (Man Standing):
The manual says that a standing defense is better than no defense at all, but
as far as I can tell, there's really no difference, except that a Standing
defense takes a little Stamina. Unless "but narrowly misses him/her" counts as
dodging text (and it might, I don't know) I've never seen a standing defense
successfully dodge anything. Maybe it gives you a boost to parrying.
BACK UP: (Man backing up)
Attempts to avoid an enemy attack by backing up. Backing up takes more stamina
than a Standing defense, but is much more effective, though not as much so as
Jumping or Ducking.
DODGE: (Man dodging to the side)
Attempts to avoid an enemy attack by dodging to the side. Dodging is very
similar to backing up, and in terms of effectiveness, they don't seem to be too
different. I have noticed that Dodging seems to be slightly more effective than
backing up, though it may just be my imagination.
DUCK:
Ducking is a very effective evasion technique, but it takes a lot of stamina.
Ducking is especially effective against High attacks, but be forewarned there's
actually a minor dodging penalty for using Ducking against Low attacks. (You
can still dodge a low attack by ducking, but it's harder)
JUMP:
Jumping is a lot like Ducking, only it's more tailor-made for avoiding low
attacks. As with Ducking, Jumping gives you a minor defense penalty when used
against a High attack.
PANIC: (character running away with sword dropped)
Panic Defend is the most effective form of attack in the game; your character
will hunker down and cover him/herself up, which allows a very good chance for
dodging or deflecting blows. The downside is that this kind of defense is very
fatiguing, and you can't attack at all when using it. (If you picked an attack
type before, it will automatically switch to "NONE" upon picking PANIC)
D.02e UNARMED ATTACKS
---------------------
Unarmed attacks are allowed an attack type and a defense type, but not an
attack location; they are always aimed at the body. Unarmed attacks are also
extremely ineffective, and, by in large, not worth using at all as offensive
maneuvers; unless your character is ridiculously strong, even the most powerful
unarmed attack will often be absorbed completely by even the lightest armor.
The only advantage of unarmed attacks is that they are extremely fast, and if
they do connect, will still reduce the target's chance of hitting.
PUNCH: (Man punching)
Punches are the fastest and most likely of the unarmed attacks to connect, but
they do absolutely pathetic damage, and will almost undoubtedly be absorbed
completely by the enemy's armor.
BASH: (Man jabbing elbow)
A bash is an elbow/forearm bash at the enemy. It does more damage than a Punch
but is less likely to hit.
KICK: (Man kicking)
A Kick does about the same amount of damage as a Bash, only it uses the legs
rather than the arms as weapons. Overall this is probably the most effective
unarmed attack (which isn't saying much) as it uses your legs instead of arms,
and the only time you'll probably be resorting to unarmed attacks is if your
arms are disabled for whatever reason.
HEADBUTT: (Man doing headbutt)
The Headbutt is the most damaging of the unarmed attacks, but it rarely hits.
If it does connect though, it does almost as much damage as if you were using a
very weak weapon--if you connect, you're more likely to deal an actual wound
with a headbutt than any other unarmed attack.
D.02f FINAL COMMANDS
--------------------
Once you finish inputting commands for your entire party, you'll get three
icons: OK, U-TURN, and FLEE. (Run looks like the "PANIC DEFENSE" icon) OK
starts the round.
U-Turn starts the round completely over again so you can re-make all your
decisions. However, when you do this, all the enemies re-make all their
decisions too, and to keep you from cheating to forecast enemy actions, your
Foresight and Intellect predictions become completely unreliable; quite
frequently they will be flat-out wrong and monsters will do something
completely different than what you predicted they would. Once the action phase
for that round is finished, however, your predictions will go back to normal.
If you choose to Flee, your party will flee the battle. (You'll be asked for
confirmation) If you do choose to run, your party will always escape, but if
they're carrying any melee weapons in their hands there's a chance they'll drop
them. (about 50% chance in the Apple II version, and a much higher chance in
the DOS version) Belted weapons and missile weapons will never be dropped. And,
of course, any items left on the field are gone forever. Since unconscious
characters automatically drop their weapons, you'll lose them if you run,
unless you have another character pick it up. (and belt it, if it's a melee
weapon) Bottom line is that running is a fairly safe thing to do, but make sure
all your weapons are in their sheaths before you flee for the hills. There is
one exception, however, and that is if any of your characters have been knocked
out during the battle. Characters left unconscious on the field of battle when
the party runs will generally be looted clean.
D.03 ACTION PHASE
=================
Once all characters and enemies have made their decisions, the action starts.
Generally, the characters/enemies with the highest Quickness attributes act
first, but this is modified by their armor weight, action choice, and a random
number thrown into the mix. So, for example, a heavily-armored character with a
high Quickness may move after a slower character with lighter armor, and a
slower character that's using a fast action type (like Running or Thrusting)
may move before a faster character using a slower action. (like Walking or
Berserking) Characters that are injured or fatigued also incur Quickness
penalties, so may attack later rather than sooner.
D.03a ATTACKING AND DEFENDING
-----------------------------
When one character targets another with a weapon, the first thing the system
does is check to see whether or not the attack hits. The attacker's chance to
hit is based on his or her Strength value and Offensive weapon skill, and the
defender's chance to avoid is based on his or her Quickness value and Defensive
weapon skill, plus a shield bonus if the character is equipping a shield. (All
of these of course are modified with random numbers) The first thing the system
checks is to see whether the blow is on target; this is the only thing that is
checked for missile attacks, as missile attacks can be neither dodged nor
parried. (Missile attacks also have a greater chance to miss, even with a high
skill) If it is a missile attack, it may be stopped by a tree or a wall en
route to the target. (Melee attacks are never stopped by trees or walls) If the
blow is on target, the next thing the system does is check to see whether the
target successfully dodges the attack. (Dodging being one of the defense types
you pick) If the target does not successfully dodge the attack, then lastly the
game checks to see whether or not the blow is parried, and this is decided
entirely on defensive weapon skill.
There are a whole bunch of modifiers that can be applied to make attacks more
or less likely to hit. The biggest one is wounds and fatigue; a wounded and/or
fatigued character will have less of a chance of hitting and dodging. Also
attack and defense types can modify chances to hit; ducking a High Shot gives
you a defense bonus for example. (and a defense penalty against a Low Shot)
Also, the number of times a character has attacked or defended affects chances.
A character that has been hit before his/her turn will be shaken up and have
less of a chance of landing an attack. You have less of a chance to defend
every time you successfully parry a blow as well; it takes a very high
defensive skill to parry multiple blows in a single round. Also, you have a
better chance of defending against the target you're attacking than other
enemies that may be targeting you during the current round.
If a blow hits, the part of the body hits is random, but is affected by the
type of attack. (high vs. low shot, etc) The damage done depends on the
attacker's strength and weapon type, subtracted by the armor rating of the part
of the body hit. If the armor rating is higher than the damage done, the blow
will "do little damage" and you won't actually be wounded. (However, penalties
for being hit still apply) The actual damge done is subtracted from the body
points alotted to that specific body part; if the body part runs out of body
points, it is incapacitated. If the body part in question is the head or chest,
then the target dies (if it's an enemy) or is knocked out. (if it's a player
character)
If an arm or leg is incapacitated, it has several effects. First, if the victim
hasn't made any action yet during the combat round, his/her action is negated
from the shock of losing the use of a limb. Note that this applies to every
subsequent attack on that limb; if a character gets her left arm incapacitated,
every further hit she takes on her left arm won't reduce its Body points (as
they're already zero) but will still negate her ability to do anything for that
round. If it's an arm that is incapacitated, you won't be able to make any
further two-handed weapon attacks for the duration of combat. If both arms are
incapacitated, you won't be able to make any weapon attacks at all for the
duration of combat. If a leg is incapacitated, it reduces your movement speed
greatly, vastly increases Fatigue cost for movement, and prevents you from
Running or Sprinting. If magically healed, disabled limbs can be restored to
normal function. If you're playing the Apple II version, disabled limbs work
the same for the player as for the enemies; if you're playing the DOS version,
the game cheats, and enemies with both arms disabled can still attack using
their weapons.
D.03b FATIGUE AND WOUNDS
------------------------
These are probably the two biggest things to keep an eye on in combat, as they
greatly affect your proficiency in battle. A fresh warrior, unwounded and
unwinded, is simply a better fighter than one who's been hurt and/or is tired.
In terms of overall battle performance, Fatigue is more a factor than wounds;
an exhausted fighter is less effective than one who's got full Fatigue but has
a wound or two. The more Fatigued your character is, the worse his/her penalty;
a character at 10% Fatigue will be hard-pressed to land or dodge any type of
blow.
Fatigue regenerates a little bit for each character every round, based on their
Endurance and Health scores. This value is reduced depending on the action that
the character takes, plus his or her total encumbrance. (mostly determined by
armor weight) If the Fatigue regeneration value minus the action/encumbrance
value is negative, then the character loses that much fatigue the following
round, plus any penalties for hits and the like. Non-strenuous actions like
walking will almost never reduce fatigue (unless the character is horribly
over-armored or heavily wounded) and may even restore a little bit. Very
lightly-encumbered characters may even restore Fatigue doing strenuous actions
like Sprinting. Resting is the only action that has a "negative" Fatigue
penalty. Casting a spell will ALWAYS result in a fatigue loss, no matter what
the strength of the spell.
In addition to action and encumbrance penalties, there are other things that
will negatively affect your Fatigue during a combat round. First and foremost,
if you take a hit during a combat round, that takes a good chunk of Fatigue
from the shock of the blow. More importantly however, every time you are
wounded your character "bleeds" from the wound, which saps a little bit of your
Fatigue every combat round thereafter, depending on the severity of the wound;
a terrible wound takes more Fatigue than a minor one. Even if a character's
wounds are healed during battle through magic, this "bleeding" penalty still
applies. Since you get bleeding penalties for every wound, a character with
many wounds will see their Fatigue levels drain like water through a sieve. If
you get wounded enough, you may get so that even Resting reduces your fatigue--
at that point, your character is basically out of the battle.
Wounds carry over between battles, but not in a one-to-one fashion; that is, if
you get your arm disabled in one battle, it won't be disabled in the next one.
What the game appears to do is calculate all the Body Point loss you've taken
and divide that evenly amongst all your body parts for the next battle; they'll
all still be functional, but will take less damage to incapacitate than normal.
Bleeding penalties carry over too; a character wounded badly enough will keel
over when hit with a light breeze upon entering a new battle.
One thing that's worth noting is that while characters can be beaten badly to
the point of being worthless in battle, it's impossible for them to actually
die. There comes a point when a character is so badly wounded that the most
minor of wounds will knock them out, but that only detracts a little from your
Health bar in the status screen. Once I practiced by beating up a hapless
character with the rest of my party over and over again, knocking him out over
20 times. There came a point where no matter how many wounds he sustained, his
health bar never depleted any more nor did healing charges increase. True, it
was only taking one hit to knock him out, and walking one step in battle would
reduce his fatigue by 3/4, but he wouldn't die.
D.03c NUTRITION
---------------
It doesn't make that big of a difference, but Nutrition can play a part in your
combat prowess as well. It doesn't really show until your characters have been
suffering for really bad malnutrition for a while, (ie your Nutrition bar is
less than half) but poorly-fed characters do less damage with their blows,
dodge attacks less often, and have their Fatigue drop more quickly. As
wandering healers also fill your Nutrition bars this should rarely be a problem
for you, but it's worth keeping in mind.
D.03d MAGIC
-----------
All in all, magic takes a back seat in Knights of Legend to melee combat,
though it can still be quite useful in its own right. It's actually quite
powerful in that it can essentially be used as a missile weapon with unlimited
ammo that never misses, but it has its drawbacks as well, namely that it drains
Fatigue faster than any other action in the game. For more info on the magic
system in KOL, check out that section of the guide. Note that in order to cast
any spells in combat, your character must either belt or drop any weapon they
may be carrying; both hands must be free to cast spells. (Having one or both
arms disabled or equipping a shield does not affect the ability to use spells
though)
D.04 COMBAT STRATEGY
====================
D.04a TYPES OF ATTACKS
----------------------
What types of attacks you'll want to use will vary depending on what weapon
you're using. Some weapons are just not made for certain attack types; a
Greatsword is a great hacking and slashing weapon, but is too big to stab with
effectively. If your weapon is ineffective with a certain attack type, you
should use another type, as the hit and damage penalty is pretty big otherwise.
Overall, I find the Thrust to be the most useful attack type because it's the
fastest; it may do less damage than a hack or a slash, but if you land a
successful hit on an enemy before it has a chance to attack, it'll be far less
likely to be able to hit back in the same round. However, it's worth noting
that a lot of really good weapons aren't good with Thrusts; in this case I use
Slashes with them if I'm going for speed, and Hacks if I'm not, or if I have
another character Thrusting at the same enemy. The only time I ever use Berserk
attacks is when I know that the character Berserking isn't being targeted;
while the strongest attack type in the game, Berserk attacks are slow, easy to
defend against, and the Berserking character is easier to hit. As for the
unarmed combat options--don't use them, they're a waste. Most won't ever
penetrate the armor anyway; the only time you should use them is if your
character has had their arm(s) disabled and you're ready to let them get KOed
by the enemy.
D.04b MISSILE WEAPONS
---------------------
Bows are incredibly useful in this game, as they cannot be dodged or blocked
and in addition to be able to being able to damage your enemy from afar.
Crossbows are not so useful, as you have to reload them every time you fire,
which is a major detriment in most cases. You should probably have at least 3
members of your party be archers in some form or another. However, you are
pretty much limited to having each character be primarily an archer or
primarily a melee fighter; the two do not mix. The idea of shooting your enemy
then drawing your sword when they get close, while good in theory, is not so
good in practice. It takes two turns to go from being armed with a bow to being
armed with a melee weapon (one turn to drop the bow, another to draw the
weapon) and seeing as you cannot fire at an enemy more than 5 squares away,
this means that more often than you like you'll be caught with your pants down
trying to pull out your sword while the enemy descends upon you. Firing a bow
is also a relatively slow action, so it's important for your archers to have
high Foresight, and preferably high Intellect as well. Except when facing the
slowest enemies with a very fast character, you're usually better off firing
your bow at the space your target is going to move to, rather than the one
they're already standing in. This is because since firing a bow is a slow
action, frequently your enemies will move before you have a chance to get your
shot off. If you target the space you know the enemy will be moving to, you'll
find yourself shooting empty spaces a lot less. Archers should generally be
lightly armored, as they may find themselves having to run or sprint frequently.
Also, flying archers are very useful; you can shoot the enemies but they can't
hit you. (they can still shoot back at you though)
The ideal spot to be when firing missile weapons is in a doorway. When you are
standing in a doorway, you are immune to all incoming missile attacks, as they
will always hit the wall, rather than you. (Note that this works the other way
around too; you cannot shoot a monster standing in a doorway) If there is no
doorway available, then standing on the same square as a tree is the next best
thing; frequently (but not always) enemy missiles will hit the tree rather than
you. If you can shoot at the enemy when they can't shoot back, you've got a big
advantage.
D.04c MAGIC
-----------
It helps to have one or two mages in your party. If you want a combat mage, you
should have him or her buy spells from all the different magic schools in the
game before actually joining one of them. I suggest having your combat mage buy
at least: 1 spell from the White Pearl order (to affect Humans) 4 spells from
the Black Onyx order, (for Legendary creatures), 4 spells from the Secret Storm
order (for Giants) 2 from the Red Mist order (for Elementals) and 2 spells from
the Dark Stone order (for Undead). Don't buy any spells from the Blue Gem order,
as they are useless offensively. The rest is up to you. I find that Secret
Storm and Black Onyx are generally the best orders to join, as there are more
Giant and Legendary monsters than others. As Giants seem to be the most common,
I prefer Black Onyx myself. As a rule of thumb, only buy Body-damaging spells
as they are the only ones that are really effective. Note that as combat
actions go, casting spells is quite speedy; unlike when targeting missile
weapons, you're usually better off targeting your enemy directly, rather than
the space it will move to, as odds are you'll get the spell off early in the
round.
A defensive mage is also very useful, and should have their spells exclusively
from the White Pearl and Blue Gem orders, though this will depend a lot on your
party makeup. (If your party is all Humans, there's no need for any Blue Gem
spells, for example) Since stamina spells, and to a lesser extent, long-range
healing spells aren't very useful, I usually have my defensive mage mod her
spells of that type so that they affect attack/defense ratings.
Modding spells, especially offensively, can make your mage deadly, but use
moderation--don't give in to the temptation to make the nastiest spell you can,
as you'll regret it. For example, a spell that does 4-48 damage to a Cliff
Troll takes about half of my combat mage's Stamina. And it goes without saying
that heavy armor on a mage is generally a bad idea, as that will make the
Stamina loss much worse.
D.04e ARMOR
-----------
Heavier armor is better than light armor at the beginning of the game, when
your characters have low Defensive skill in their weapons, but you may
eventually want to trade in your heavy armor for lighter armor once you get
good with your weapon for the Fatigue bonus. As a rule of thumb, you should
pick out armor based on your character's Size and Strength; if your character
is a melee character and loses any fatigue at all with anything less than a
Berserk attack, your armor is probably too heavy. If your character is an
archer or scout, and loses any fatigue when Sprinting, they're also probably
too heavily armored--in fact, since archers and scouts will rarely if ever get
in close and dirty, cloth or leather is about as high as they'll ever need to
go. The extra protection afforded by heavy armor is good when an enemy's blow
gets through, but once your fatigue bar starts to go down, you'll be far less
likely to land and evade blows, and that can be a problem.
In terms of what armor to wear by race for melee fighters:
Kelden: Scale at the absolute most, and even then that will have to be mixed
with some lighter armor. Ring is probably a more balanced choice.
Elves: Ring is about as high as you want to go for an Elf; they're not strong
enough to go any higher than that. Elves aren't cut out for heavy armor.
Humans: Depends a whole lot on the character class. Barbarians and Highwaymen
can afford to wear heavier stuff like Chain or even Plate. Other higher-
strength Human classes like Rangers or Amazons can sometimes get by with Chain
but are better off with Scale. Weaker classes like Hunters or Rogues are best
off with light stuff like Cloth or Leather.
Dwarves: Whatever you want, really. If you're a Tunneler/Digger, you can
probably even afford to go for full Plate, though mixing some Chain or lighter
is probaly a good idea too. Other Dwarven classes will probably do better with
Scale-class armor.
In terms of deciding what parts of the body should get heavier armor, I prefer
to put the heaviest stuff on the head, as head armor is generally pretty light
and the head doesn't get that many Body Points. The most important decision is
what to use as Body armor, as that covers both the chest and arms. I usually
have the Body armored one "level" below the head; while you want the body armor
nice and protected, Body armor weighs a whole lot, so that needs to be balanced.
For the legs, it actually doesn't matter too terribly much; I usually keep my
characters' legs substantially less protected than the rest of the body; for
example someone wearing Scale on the body would get something like Ring for the
legs. This has two advantages; first, as melee fighters generally don't run
around a lot, the legs don't need as much protection, so it's not worth wasting
armor weight down there. Second, and more importantly, with the legs
substantially less well-armored, it acts as "bait;" when fighting an uninjured
character, enemies generally shoot for the least-armored area--in this case,
that means lots of Low Strikes. Therefore, even if you can't foresee what an
enemy is going to do, you can make an educated guess and have use Jump as your
main defense, as they'll probably aim for the legs. Plus, if an enemy DOES
connect with a low strike, the head can't be hit at all, and the chance of
hitting the arms is greatly reduced as well.
A final note: Never give anybody Fur, Cuirbolli, or Brigandine anything. Fur
weighs more than Cloth but gives the same protection; Cuirbolli and Brigandine
weigh exactly the same as Ring and Chain respectively, but also give less
protection.
D.04f WEAPONS
-------------
There are a ton of different weapons that you can train in in Knights of
Legend; with a skilled wielder, any will be sufficient, but here are a few that
I feel are the most useful:
CLUB:
It sounds silly to waste training points in a weapon as weak and simple as a
Club, but the Giant class of enemies drop ridiculously powerful clubs that do
damage on par with any of the big two-handed weapons in the game. The caveat is
that these Giant clubs are extremely heavy, so you'll need a very strong
character to use them without massive fatigue loss. Some of the Giant Clubs
(notably those dropped by Stone Ogres) are two-handed weapons that don't use
Club skill though.
MACE:
The Mace by itself is not such a great weapon, but the Spiny Mace that
Binderaks carry is one of the most balanced one-handed weapons in the game, and
uses Mace skill.
SCIMITAR:
The Scimitar is an excellent backup weapon for your archers; it doesn't do much
damage but it's light, and can also be trained to higher proficiency levels
than any other weapon in the game without cheating.
WAR MAUL:
Trolls, Djinn, Sylphs, and Minotaurs all drop powerful War Maul-type weapons.
The down side is that these weapons are very heavy, so you'll need a very
strong character to use them effectively.
HALBERD:
Both the Death Blade and the Magic Ingot customized weapons are Halberds (you
get both of them in quests) and are deadly weapons, so Halberd is a very good
skill to consider investing in. Halberds on their own are also very versatile
weapons, and one of the few two-handers that can are effective with Thrusting
attacks.
GREATSWORD:
Greatswords on their own are very powerful weapons, but the Truth Sword you'll
get early in the game is even better, and also uses Greatsword skill. The
downside to Greatsword skill is that you can't train it very high without
cheating.
GREAT AXE:
The best weapon in the game is a Great Axe. However, as it's the reward for
completing the game, you won't be able to use it except until after you finish
the game.
ELF BOW:
Simply the best long-range weapon in the game. To learn Elf Bow without
cheating, you'll have to be a Thism or Usip elf, as the in-game trainer won't
teach any characters from scratch.
Especially with melee weapons, it pays to pick one (or maybe two) weapon types
and stick with it throughout the entire game. At the beginning of the game it
won't make much difference, but when you reach higher levels, enemies' weapons
skills will increase rapidly, and if you've been dividing your skill points
between multiple weapon types, you may find yourself outclassed by enemies
whose skill levels greatly surpass your own.
D.05 THE "AMBUSH" STRATEGY
==========================
In most of the quest descriptions, I mention the "Ambush Strategy." The
Ambush Strategy is the method I find to be the most effective when doing quests,
which invariably pit you against a very large force of enemies. It's effective
because it allows you to kill enemies without taking much damage, and sometimes
with none at all. The basic concept of the strategy is to utilize the layout of
the mission and spring a trap on the enemy by luring them into a spot where
multiple melee fighters can all hit them simultaneously.
To spring an effective ambush, you'll need at least three melee fighters, and
one scout. Your scout should be a very fast but lightly-armored character,
armed with a bow. Elves make especially good scouts, and the female Usip elf is
my personal favorite for this role, as she gets skill in the Elf Bow. You'll
also need to find a one-tile opening to spring your trap on. You'll want to set
it up in the following manner (variations are possible, of course.
S = Scout E
E = Enemy <-----UNEXPLORED TERRITORY
M = Melee Fighter S
A = Archer (Optional) ########### ###########
M M
KNOWN "SAFE" AREA ---> A M A
Your Scout will run into unexplored territory looking for enemies, then lure
them into into the opening, where all three of your melee fighters will be able
to attack it. Note that to start with, the central melee fighter is not
parallel with the left and right melee fighter; this is to allow a space for
your scout to slip behind your melee fighters. (If your scout is wearing the
Flying cloak or for some weird reason you're using a Kelden scout, you don't
have to do this; you can just have them fly over the ranks of your melee
fighters) Note that you'll have to keep some distance between the scout and the
enemy you're luring to pull this off effectively. Once your scout is safely
behind your melee fighters, move your central melee fighter up like below:
* Spot to attack in E
###########*###########
MMM
A S A
At this point, you're perfectly in position. As there's only one space that the
enemy "E" can move to get to your party, which is where you'll cut it to
ribbons. Have all three of your melee fighters (and your archers, too, if you
really want to add insult to injury) target the spot marked "*" with berserker
attacks. True, there's no enemy at that spot at the moment, but at the next
turn it's pretty much assured to step there, which will give you 3 (or 6) free
attacks on it with it putting up NO defense. (Note that if your melee fighters
are too fast, or your enemy too slow, you may end up attacking thin air the
next turn, but that's not going to be a big deal) If you're lucky, you may kill
the enemy outright without it even getting off a single attack. And even if
you're not, the enemy will be injured and at a disadvantage the next round.
This formation also keeps multiple enemies from getting to you at once.
The following variation is the "concealed ambush formation." It's not as
effective as a straight-up ambush formation, but sometimes it's the best method
to use, either when you don't have a one-tile opening to work with, or for
dealing with certain types of enemies; namely, those that make extensive use of
missile attacks. In the standard ambush formation, missile-happy enemies will
frequently stop chasing your scout and start taking potshots at your party when
they get close.
S
###########|###########
A M \
A M --> Scout runs this way
M
This formation keeps your party out of the enemy's line-of-sight, so that they
can't fire on you. When the enemy does finally get a glimpse of your main force,
it'll be near enough that your melee fighters can close on it and force it into
melee combat. You won't get that free attack that the standard ambush allows,
but it will let you get a one-on-three fight.
This strategy is especially important in some of the later quests, when you're
up against bruisers like Giants and the like. A straight-up fight against
powerful, hardy enemies like that is suicide, no matter how good your party is.
===============================================================================
SECTION E: MAGIC
===============================================================================
Magic takes a back seat to melee combat in Knights of Legend, but is still a
very useful tool; spells can do more damage than any weapon in the game, though
the price for using them is high.
E.01 BASIC SPELLCASTING RULES
-----------------------------
To cast spell in Knights of Legend, first you have to know one. The various
magic schools in Ashtalarea can teach you spells for a price, and you can learn
up to 16 in total. Once you've learned a spell, you can cast it in battle;
however, your hands must be free, though you can equip a shield. Once you
select a target for your spell, you can decide whether the effect will be
positive or negative. (Obviously, there's no reason to positively affect your
enemies, or negatively affect your allies) Casting a spell takes a lot of
Fatigue, and the more powerful a spell is, the more fatigue it takes. As armor
weight increases Fatigue loss, the weight of your armor will also affect the
amount of Fatigue you lose when casting a spell.
E.02 SPELL EFFECTS
------------------
Spells can affect any of a character's primary attributes, (except size) their
Body Points, their Fatigue, and their Offensive or Defensive weapon skills.
However, you can only buy spells that affect Body Points and Fatigue; if you
want a spell to affect anything else, you will have to join a magical order and
create a custom spell to do so. (More on that below) Spells can be either long
range or short range. Long-range spells take more Fatigue to cast than Short-
range spells with the same effect. Spells that affect Strength, Quickness, or
Offensive/Defensive skills also require durations to be specified. Spells with
longer durations also take more fatigue.
Spells that affect Body Points work differently than other kinds of spells.
First, when casting short-range spells that affect Body Points, you also get to
choose what part of the body you want the spell to work on. So, you can target
vulnerable body parts on an enemy, or specifically heal areas of the body on a
party member that needs it. One thing you should keep in mind is that healing
Body Points is a temporary fix, and not as good as "true" healing. First off,
healing Body Points will not stop "blood loss" fatigue accumulation that you
get whenever you're wounded. Second, healing Body Points will not negate combat
penalties you get for fighting while wounded. Lastly, once combat ends, all
your character's "healed" wounds will open again. The only way you can
completely heal wounds is by bringing a character to an Abbey. That said,
combat healing isn't totally a waste of time; it can prevent your characters
from getting knocked out, and restore disabled limbs. Even a wounded character
is better than one taking a dirt nap.
E.03 STORE-BOUGHT SPELLS
------------------------
Store-bought spells in the game are always -nalon-, (Body Points, short range)
-nalyr-, (Body Points, long range) -twelon-, (Fatigue, short range) and -
twelyr- (Fatigue, long range) spells. Every one has a power of 1-12. If you
read the manual you can find out what each spell does by reading the "magic
language" there, but if you lost your manual, each Order will sell spells for
the first four sub-races of whatever races they effect. (with the exception of
White Pearl and Blue Gem, which sell spells for player-character races)
E.04 MAGIC ORDERS
-----------------
There are six Magic Orders in the game. Each specializes in spells that affect
a particular race, or in the case of White Pearl/Blue Gem, two races. For a fee,
you can join an order. You also have to have a high enough Intellect to get the
option to join an order. So long as your Intellect is in the 70s, you will be
able to join any order, except for the Black Onyx order, which requires a
particularly high Intellect to join. The orders are:
Name Location Fee Int Race(s)
---------------------------------------------------------------
White Pearl Magicians Brettle 500 67 Humans, Elves
Blue Gem Illusionists Amazon Village 450 60 Dwarves, Kelderheit
Red Mist Wizards Thimblewald 550 70 Elementals
Secret Storm Sorcerers Poitle Lock 610 67 Giants
Black Onyx Conjurers Shellernoon 450 80 Legendary
Dark Stone Mystics Olanthen 300 67 Undead
The advantage to joining an order is that as a member of an order, you can
customize spells at your order's headquarters. The downside is that once you're
a member of an order, all other magic orders in the game will refuse you entry,
and you won't be able to buy any spells from them. If you want to make heavy
use of magic, it is definitely to your advantage to join an order, as none of
the spells that you can buy direct from stores pack much of a punch; you will
need to do heavy customization to be really effective as a mage.
E.05 CUSTOMIZING SPELLS
-----------------------
Once you've joined an Order, you can customize your magic spells at their
headquarters. You can customize any aspect of a spell, from what attribute it
affects, to the damage it does. to its duration. The only thing that you are
limited in changing is the race that the spell affects. While you can change
the sub-race of a spell no matter what Order you're in, you can only change the
primary race of a spell to the race(s) that your Order specializes in. In other
words, if you're a member of the Secret Storm order you could change a spell
that affected Binderaks (a Legendary creature) and make it affect Sledges
(another Legendary creature) instead, but you wouldn't be able to change that
spell to affect Humans, as Secret Storm specializes in Giant spells.
Customizing spells costs both Gold and Adventure Points. The amount that it
costs varies depending on the strength of the spell. The type of target also
affects the cost of the spell; sub-races are "ranked," and spells that affect
lower-ranked sub-races cost fewer Gold and Adventure Points than higher-ranking
sub-races. Note that the ranking of sub-races has nothing to do with how tough
they are; for example, a Salamander is higher ranked than a Sylph, though
Sylphs are much, much nastier enemies.
Elementals
1)Golems 2)Sylphs 3)Djinn 4)Salamanders
GIANTS:
1)Goblins 2)Orcs 3)Hobgoblins 4)Great Orcs
5)Trolls 6)Cliff Trolls 7)Hill Giants 8)Ettins
9)Ogres 10)Stone Ogres 11)Cyclopes 12)Mist Giants
LEGENDARY CREATURES:
1)Minotaurs 2)Muck Things 3)Lizarions 4)Bloms
5)Binderaks 6)Sledges 7)Mist Grubs 8)Walbars
UNDEAD:
1)Gremlins 2)Ghouls 3)Zombies 4)Skeletons
E.06 GUIDELINES FOR MAGIC STRATEGY
----------------------------------
1) WAIT TO JOIN AN ORDER
Don't join an order until all 16 of your spell slots are full. You should have
your prospective mages buy spells from multiple Mage Orders before committing
themselves to one Order, as once you've done so, you can't buy any more spells
from the competition. Just how many spells you buy from rival orders will
depend on what kind of mage you want your character to be.
2) SPECIALIZE YOUR MAGES AS "OFFENSIVE" OR "DEFENSIVE"
It's best to divide your mages into "offensive" magic and "defensive" magic.
Your "defensive" mage will want to specialize in spells that affect player-
character races. This character should probably join the White Pearl or Blue
Gem orders after buying spells that affect all races that are in your party.
They'll primarily focus on healing and buffing your characters, though they can
double as offensive mages against humans. (Assuming you have some humans in
your party) If the racial makeup of your party is limited you may want to throw
a few enemy-race spells in the mix--for example, if you have only Elves and
Humans in your party, you won't need to buy spells that affect Kelden and
Dwarves, and can use those slots for something else.
Before joining an order, offensive Mages should buy spells from all Orders in
the game except for the Blue Gem. (as you never have to fight Dwarves or
Kelden) They should probably buy one or two spells at most from the White Pearl
order (to affect Human enemies) and split the rest amongst the Red Mist, Secret
Storm, Black Onyx, and Dark Stone orders. You'll probably want the greatest
chunk of spells to go to Secret Storm order spells and the fewest from the Red
Mist, as Giants are very common and Elementals are very rare. Once you've got a
good balance, you should pick any of the orders except the White Pearl or Blue
Gem and join. Secret Storm is probably the best as there are more Giants than
any other race and you may want to change a spell later, but any will really do.
Black Onyx is another idea, as it's located in Shellernoon, which is smack in
the center of the map and a decent "home base" for your party.
4) WEAR VERY LITTLE ARMOR
Your spellcasters should only wear the lightest armor humanly possible. For
this reason they won't work well as melee characters--or at least, not until
you get very, very good defensively with a weapon. I usually give my
spellcasters Cloth Aketons and Cloth Hoods, and nothing else except for a
buckler. A "pure" mage is of limited use, so you should have your mage
characters double as archers of some sort.
5) LONG-RANGE VS. SHORT-RANGE DAMAGE MAGIC
Defensive spellcasting is best focused on short-ranged magic, though a few
long-range spells won't hurt. Offensively, Short-range spellcasting is
extremely dangerous, but also extremely powerful. If you have a mage with a
custom spell to do lots of damage, you can pretty much score guaranteed kills
with a single casting by targeting the head. The downside is that if you do
this, you're a sitting duck as you can't put up ANY defense. Long-range
spellcasting is not nearly as effective (as frequently you'll hit the limbs or
completely undamaged areas) but much safer. Long-range offensive is also more
versatile as you can hit enemies from afar.
There is a way to make a deadly but reasonably safe short-range spellcaster,
and that is to give him/her the Flying Cloak. If you're flying, you can cast
short-range damage magic and target the body part of your choice, but can't be
hit with melee attacks. The down side of course is that casting spells while
flying is VERY fatiguing, and in many quests, you won't have the option of
flying. Overall, I prefer ranged spellcasting for its safety and versatility,
but it will depend on your own playing style.
6) USE MODERATION WHEN CUSTOMIZING SPELLS
Though it may be tempting, don't always customize your spells to do really high
amounts of damage. While the prospect of one-hit-killing a Cliff Troll is a
tantalizing one, the Fatigue loss for casting a powerful spell can be monstrous.
It is possible to make a spell that's so powerful it will knock out your mage
instantly by casting it. There's also the matter of Gold and Adventure Points;
creating super-powerful spells can be VERY expensive, especially in the
Adventure Points arena. Unless you want your mage to be perpetually at a low
level (since Adventure Points spent in spells don't go toward your leveling up)
don't go overboard in the customizing. Similarly, make sure that the spells
that you make are going to be useful in the long term. Don't waste your
Adventure Points creating a spell that affects really rare creatures you'll
almost never see outside of a quest.
===============================================================================
SECTION F: MONSTERS
===============================================================================
F.01 MONSTER STATS
------------------
The following is a list of the average stats of each monster in the game. I
ripped these directly from the game code using a hex editor. Monsters don't
have a Charisma stat (They only have 6 stats, and I had to guess which
corresponded to which, though based on play experience, I'm pretty sure,
especially with regards to Size) The Missile column indicates what kind of
missile weapon, if any, the monster uses. If it uses a Boulder-type weapon I've
listed the damage as well. (Note that some monsters may "Fire a missile" even
if they use Boulder-type weapons--the damage is the same though)
HUMANS:
STR QUI FOR SIZ END INT MISSILE
BRIGANDS: 80 64 58 6'7" 83 64 Self Bow
BANDITS: 70 67 60 5'5" 83 62 Lt Crossbow
THUGS: 86 64 62 7'3" 83 66 Hvy Crossbow
RUFFIANS: 83 77 70 6'0" 77 86 Self Bow
ELEMENTALS:
STR QUI FOR SIZ END INT MISSILE
GOLEMS: 167 50 80 13'0" 153 0 None
SYLPHS: 153 50 83 16'6" 80 0 None
DJINNS: 106 80 100 18'6" 143 0 None
SALAMANDERS: 126 64 90 10'0" 80 0 None
GIANTS:
STR QUI FOR SIZ END INT MISSILE
GOBLINS: 64 55 64 4'3" 73 100 Self Bow
ORCS: 75 64 64 5'1" 75 83 Self Bow
HOBGOBLINS: 83 75 69 6'0" 90 66 Self Bow
GREAT ORCS: 91 83 69 7'0" 97 50 Lt Crossbow
TROLLS: 124 64 51 12'0" 106 72 Boulder (70/1-10)
CLIFF TROLLS: 146 57 57 17'0" 120 73 Boulder (90/3-30)
HILL GIANTS: 120 57 34 14'0" 166 58 Boulder (80/2-24)
ETTINS: 120 71 64 15'0" 147 66 Boulder (80/2-24)
OGRES: 123 56 44 12'6" 100 50 Boulder (80/2-24)
STONE OGRES: 126 80 86 14'0" 120 54 Boulder (80/3-24 or 5-26)
CYCLOPES: 147 63 44 13'0" 100 44 Boulder (80/2-16)
MIST GIANTS: 120 73 66 17'0" 153 80 Boulder (80/3-36)
LEGENDARY CREATURES:
STR QUI FOR SIZ END INT MISSILE
MINOTAURS: 140 64 77 11'0" 100 66 Hvy Crossbow
MUCK THINGS: 80 47 100 7'8" 66 0 None
LIZARIONS: 93 86 80 5'2" 80 66 Lt Crossbow
BLOMS: 106 54 30 13'0" 54 40 None
BINDERAKS: 86 80 47 6'0" 73 40 None
SLEDGES: 100 66 34 10'0" 66 34 None
MIST GRUBS: 126 100 93 10'0" 40 0 None
WALBARS: 113 73 90 10'0" 70 83 None
UNDEAD:
STR QUI FOR SIZ END INT MISSILE
GREMLINS: 47 100 60 2'8" 50 100 Self Bow
GHOULS: 84 86 80 6'0" 71 66 Self Bow
ZOMBIES: 63 64 66 6'2" 64 0 None
SKELETONS: 73 57 73 6'4" 85 0 Self Bow
F.02 MONSTER ARMOR
------------------
The following is a list of the stats of the various types of "special" armor
that monsters wear--for example the defense value of a Muck Thing's "Muck" and
a Golem's "Earth." You can't actually get any of these items (without cheating)
so I didn't bother to list their encumbrances, though they exist. I got these
values by direct ripping them from the game code too using a hex editor.
Name Prot: H/T/L
------------------------------------------
Hide* 4-7/4-7/4-7
Skin 1-3/***/1-3
Binderak Hide 1-3/1-3/1-3
Ettin/Sledge Hide 2-4/2-4/2-4
Lizarion Hide 1-6/***/1-6
Walbar Hide 2-7/2-7/2-7
Cliff Troll Hide 5-7/5-7/5-7
Stone Ogre Hide 4-9/***/4-9
Mist Giant Hide ***/5-11/***
Earth 1-6/2-7/3-8
Water 3-8/4-9/5-10
Air 1-3/2-4/3-5
Fire 5-8/6-9/7-10
Muck 2-8/2-8/2-8
Binderak Spines 3-13/***/***
Mist Grub Scales 2-8/3-9/4-10
Sledge Skull 2-16/***/***
Platemail ***/***/4-14
Fur Vest ***/2-12/***
Furs ***/2-16/***
Lizarion Breastplate ***/7-17/***
*This "Hide" is when "Hide" appears on any creature or body part not listed as
a special type of hide. For example Mist Giant Hide is tougher on the torso,
but "standard" hide on the legs and head.
F.03 ENCOUNTER MESSSAGES
------------------------
The following is a list of the messages you'll get on horseback when you run
into a random encounter. The messages are pre-set, and indicate what you'll be
encountering if you don't run. I've organized the encounters by race, with a
separate section for "Other," non-combat encounters. Note that many of the
messages are phrased only slightly differently, deliberately to trick you. For
example, the Ghoul and Skeleton encounters sound a lot like the Healer
encounter.
HUMANS:
Brigands: The trees around you are covered in moss. "Perfect cover!" you say to
yourself.
Bandits: A cloaked figure can seen on the far hillock. As you ride up it waves
a hand in greeting.
Thugs: A smoldering campfire is an ominous sight in this remote place. You
approach, cautiously.
Ruffians: You think you hear a voice so you pull to a stop. Standing in the
saddle you look around.
ELEMENTALS:
Golems: The earth around you is rough and broken. The grass is torn up as if
dug by huge hands.
Sylphs: The water looks so calm as you stare across it. Suddenly, the surface
begins to boil.
Djinn: The wind seems to have picked up and you have to squint to make out the
path.
Salamanders: You come upon a cottage which is engulfed in flames. Yet, the
trees around it are untouched.
GIANTS:
Goblins: A high-pitched scream echoes through the vale. You hear a rustling in
the bushes nearby.
Orcs: The clang of metal echoes over the far ridge. Suddenly, you spy the glint
of steel.
Hobgoblins: A peculiar row of poles dances left and right on a hill to the east.
The poles grow ever taller.
Great Orcs: A battle cry pierces the air. Stillness follows. You scan the
horizon but see nothing.
Trolls: The hairs on your neck stand and you get the feeling you're being
watched by unseen eyes.
Cliff Trolls: You halt for a moment and listen carefully. On the breeze you
hear a faint, deep growl.
Hill Giant: A large boulder tumbles down the path you're on. It narrowly misses,
but another soon follows.
Ettins: Low, grumbling voices can be heard off in the distance. It sounds like
Walruses arguing.
Ogres: The snap of splintering wood draws you to a halt. Listening, you hear a
low mumbling.
Stone Ogres: The crack of stone on stone is followed by simian laughter. The
gibbering grows louder.
Cyclopes: You feel the ground tremble and see dust rising in the distance. A
hoarse yell is heard.
Mist Giants: A loud chopping sound is accompanied by a deep voice singing in a
tongue unknown to you.
LEGENDARY CREATURES:
Minotaurs: An extremely pungent smell assaults your nose. Suddenly, you hear a
strange noise.
Muck Things: The stench of the bog attacks your senses. The slime around you
begins to bubble up.
Lizarions: The thick underbrush makes traveling slow. You see the tall grass
moving in the distance.
Bloms: The splintering of wood causes you to pull up. In the distance, a tree
falls to the ground.
Binderaks: You notice the spiders are awfully large in this area. Suddenly, a
form bolts towards you.
Sledges: A gentle breeze cools your brow, yet in the distance a tree whips
wildly back and forth.
Mist Grubs: A terrible cry echoes through the vale. It is soon followed by an
even more horrifying silence.
Walbars: Heavy footfalls shake the ground, and the clang of steel against chain
is heard.
UNDEAD:
Gremlin: You ride through the scene of a recent battle. Around you the dead and
dying moan.
Ghouls: You ride upon the scene of a great battle. The fallen lie moaning on
the field around you.
Zombies: Suddenly, clouds cover the sky and a sick laughter begins. You can't
tell its origin.
Skeletons: You approach the scene of an an ancient battle. Bodies of the fallen
lie rotting in the sun.
OTHER:
Brettle Regulars: You feel the thunder of hooves and see dust rising in the
distance. The noise grows louder.
Monks: Off in the distance you can see smoke twirling in the air. You begin to
smell incense.
Healer: You come upon the scene of a tremendous battle. Bodies of the fallen
lie about the field.
F.04 ENEMY DESCRIPTIONS
-----------------------
The following is a list of general descriptions of what to expect when facing
any particular enemy. They are guidelines and not the be-all-end-all of what
you'll need to expect. The main variance factor when fighting enemies is their
level. As your party's level increases, the enemies' level will scale
accordingly. The enemy's general stats will not raise with level, but their
weapon skills definitely will. This means that higher-level enemies will avoid
your attacks with greater frequency, land their own with better accuracy, and
deal critical hits more often. For this reason, an enemy that might not have
been a big deal to a low-or-mid level party might become deadly to a high-level
party.
F.04a HUMAN CLASS
-----------------
Brigands:
Brigands are the easiest of the human enemies you'll deal with. Their stats are
thoroughly average, and their equipment tends to be very sorry indeed. They
only wear leather armor (though it usually covers their whole body, and they
often have bucklers as well) and wield the weakest of weapons, like shortswords,
maces, and the occasional short spear or battle axe. They do like to fire
missile weapons a lot, so you have to be careful in that respect, but in all
others, they're very easy opponents. Unless you're facing a full dozen or so
brigands in a random encounter situation, you should be able to deal with them
without too much trouble.
Bandits:
Brigands are easier to kill than Bandits, but not by much. Bandits are very
similar to Brigands, actually; they also only wear leather armor and frequently
sport bucklers, plus like to use missile weapons as well. However, in terms of
staying power they're not as tough; two clean hits with even a relatively weak
weapon is enough to send them down for the count, and a good hit with a strong
weapon will kill them outright. However, they're better armed than Brigands,
and tend to be more skilled at landing and parrying blows, so they're slightly
more dangerous. Still, these guys are among the weakest enemies in the game,
and should be easy fodder for even beginning parties.
Thugs:
Thugs are relatively weak opponents; they're only slightly tougher than
Brigands in their equipment and stats. They generally only wield maces,
longswords, or broadaxes, and only wear leather, though frequently this is
mixed with cuirbolli armor as well. Like Brigands, they like to use missile
weapons, though slightly less so, which is good, because their missiles pack a
real punch! Being lightly armored, they don't get fatigued easily, but that's
about their only advantage. Even low-level characters should have no problems
dealing with Thugs, unless their levels are really high.
Ruffians:
Ruffians are the toughest of the human opponents you'll come across. They're
not particularly skilled and nowhere as tough as some of the non-human enemies,
but they're usually well-armored (usually a mixture of chain and ring) and
frequently carry powerful weapons like halberds, so they're tougher to take
down than other humans and hit harder as well. They also like sniping at your
party and will frequently run out of melee range to do so, which can be
irritating. Still, even with these advantages, a few well-placed hits will take
them out with no problem, unless they're really high-level, in which case they
can potentially be a force to be reckoned with.
F.04b ELEMENTAL CLASS
---------------------
Elementals are the rarest type of enemy you'll encounter in the game; you can
play the game from start to finish without ever coming across an Elemental in a
random encounter. There are four types of Elementals, one for each element. One
thing that's notable about Elementals is that they cannot be killed by running
out of fatigue; they can lose fatigue and take the combat ability hit that
comes with it, but even at 0 fatigue they won't die. So the only way to take
out an Elemental is by reducing its Head or Chest points to 0. Also this makes
fatigue-damaging spells less useful against them. Elementals are all protected
by their individual element, but the protection is not uniform across their
bodies; their heads are less well protected than their torsos, which are in
turn less well protected than their legs.
Golems:
Stat-wise, Golems are the toughest of the Elementals; they've got a higher
Strength than any other monster in the game, and their Size and Endurance gives
them hefty Body Points. They wield Stone Clubs, of which there are several
varieties; the weakest version does the same damage as a War Maul, but the
strong versions are bruiser weapons that can do ridiculous amounts of damage.
However, Golems aren't generally all that skilled with their weapons, and
they're pretty slow; you tend to get glancing blows rather than clean hits when
a Golem connects. However, if you do get a clean hit, look out; Golems with the
nastier Stone Clubs can knock out a Kelden in heavy armor in one hit. They
don't wear any armor but are protected by "Earth," which is pretty poor
protection. (About leather-armor class) Overall, Golems are pretty dangerous
enemies, and should be avoided by low-level or poorly armored parties.
Sylphs:
Sylphs are extremely large, powerful, and rare enemies. They're so huge that
not even a Kelden will be able to take High Shots at them. They always wield
Sea Hammers, and have no armor, being protected by "water." (which can absorb
damage from weak and medium attacks pretty well) They take a lot of hits to
kill and have crazy high Strength, but their Quickness is not particularly good.
Like all Elementals, Sylphs cannot die from Fatigue loss, though their combat
effectiveness can be reduced by lack of Fatigue. Sylphs also cannot use missile
weapons. One thing that's important to note about Sylphs is that like Golems,
there are actually multiple types of Sea Hammers that they use. Their damage
values are the same, too. However, Sylphs are generally much more skilled with
their weapons, so a high-level Sylph can disable any body part protected by
anything less than Plate in two hits at most. They're the most dangerous of the
Elementals, and should be approached with caution, even by the strongest
parties.
Djinn:
Djinn are probably the rarest enemy in the game. They're large, have a decent
amount of hit points, and are relatively powerful, but not uncommonly so.
They're not quite as tough as Golems, but substantially tougher than
Salamanders. They wield Wind Maces, (which are reasonably powerful, though not
exceptionally so) Wind Hammers, (which hit harder than maces) and Wind Swords,
(which are very nasty weapons) and are protected by "Air," which is paper-thin
armor. The main thing that makes Djinn unusual is their speed; their Quickness
is much higher than most creatures of their size. All-in-all, they're at about
the mid-point in terms of difficulty in the Elemental family; they should not
be attacked by low-level parties, but mid-to-high level parties should not have
too much trouble with them.
Salamanders:
Coming across a Salamander is a rarity; they're one of the more uncommon
creatures in the game. They're also overall the weakest of the Elemental
monsters. They wield Fire Staffs and are protected not by armor but by "Fire,"
which is the toughest of the Elemental armors. Fire Staffs are reasonably
powerful weapons, but not as much as some of the monster clubs that Giants
equip. Salamanders are also human-sized and not particularly Healthy, so they
don't have that many Body Points and only take a few well-placed hits to kill,
and their Fatigue drops faster than other Elementals. (Of course, like other
Elementals, they can't die from Fatigue loss) There are definitely tougher
creatures out there than Salamanders, but there are easier creatures as well--
they're a low-to-mid-range enemy overall.
F.04c GIANT CLASS
-----------------
The Giants are by far the most common class of enemy you'll come across, mostly
because there are so many different types of them. There's also a lot of
variety in the Giant class, running the gambit from the very weak Goblins to
the incredibly powerful Cliff Trolls. Giants can generally be divided into two
classes; "small" giants and "large" giants, though there are "hybrids." (like
Trolls and Great Orcs) "Small" giants are generally human-sized, and balanced
in their attributes. They also have a great amount of variety in their weaponry
and armor. "Large" giants tend to be rather slow, stupid, and have poor
foresight, but incredibly strong and hardy. They are usually lightly armored
and wield heavy, brutally damaging Giant Clubs, and throwing boulders. Large
Giants are usually more deadly than small ones, but small ones are usually
better fighters.
Goblins:
Goblins are the weakest of the Giant class; they're clad only in cuirbolli or
leather, wield weak weapons like Scimitars and Broadaxes, and don't have much
in the way of staying power. They're fairly easy enemies to deal with,
regardless of your party's level; the only potential threat from Goblins is
that they like to use missile weapons, so could damage your party before they
have a chance to get close. All in all though, they're one of the easier
enemies in the game to kill, and even low-level parties should have little
trouble with them.
Orcs:
Orcs are well-balanced enemies. They're often difficult to kill because of
their skill and equipment. Orcs most often are equipped in ringmail-class armor,
though sometimes mixed with leather. (most often on the legs) They always use
mid-to-high-power one-handed weapons like broadswords and battleaxes, and are
most often equipped with bucklers as well. They're strong enough to equip this
stuff, so trying to make them fatigued due to armor is not likely. Orcs LOVE
using missile weapons and frequently run out of range of your close-fighters,
so are often difficult to close distance for melee. This more than anything
makes them difficult to fight sometimes. Once you do get them in close quarters,
their armor allows them to take quite a beating before they die sometimes. For
a high-level party Orcs are usually not much of a threat, but will give a
starting-level party a run for its money.
Hobgoblins:
Hobgoblins are a lot like Orcs in that they are very well-balanced enemies.
They tend to wear slightly heavier armor than Orcs (mostly a mixture of Ring,
Scale, and Cuirbolli) and use nastier weapons (mostly Bastard Swords and
Halberds, though sometimes with only Short Spears) and also frequently sport
shields. While they can and frequently do use missile weapons, they tend to
favor melee combat. Hobgoblins tend to be pretty skilled with their weapons, so
they can be tough to defeat. However, their Body Points are nothing spectacular,
and they tend to be a little too well-armored for their own good, and can
suffer Fatigue problems from extended combat. They're not the hardest enemies
in the game, but not the easiest either.
Great Orcs:
Great Orcs are nasty enemies. They're not quite as tough as the real bruisers
of the Giant class, but they're not to be taken lightly, especially in numbers.
They're strong and powerful, usually wielding powerful two-handed weapons like
Great Hammers, Great Axes, Greatswords, or Long Spears. They're also equipped
with scale mail-class armor, very hardy, and extremely quick, so they're not
easy to kill either. They can often take quite a few hits before going down.
Great Orcs rarely use missile weapons, but every once in a while you will find
an individual Great Orc that insists on using them, and their missiles are
every bit as deadly as their melee attacks. Gang up on them one at a time or
you will have a very hard time fighting them. And if you get into a random
battle and are greatly outnumbered, it may be a better idea just to run.
Trolls:
Trolls are extremely tough, hardy, and powerful creatures. They don't wear any
armor, and are protected only by their thick hide, but are very tough customers.
They have an absolute ton of Body Points, and wield powerful weapons like Mauls
and Great Axes, so deal really nasty damage--a high-level Troll can take out a
human, dwarf or elf in one well-placed hit, and even a Kelden with a lucky shot.
They occasionally use missile weapons that are almost as powerful as their
melee ones. When fighting Trolls, it's best to do as much damage from a
distance as possible, and, if you have to close in, gang up on them with
multiple melee fighters as once. They're not the toughest of the Giant class,
but are not to be trifled with.
Cliff Trolls:
While not the most expensive in terms of spell-brewing, Cliff Trolls are
probably the toughest enemy of the Giant Class, and perhaps the entire game too.
They're one of the few enemies that's so big that not even a Kelden can take a
High Shot at them, and they have a very high Health too, giving them an absurd
amount of Body Points. It'll take numerous good hits with even the deadliest
weapons to take down a Cliff Troll, and literally dozens of hits with lighter
ones. Cliff Trolls are also extremely powerful; they wield Giant Clubs and
brutal Troll Mauls, and do enough damage that with a good clean hit, they can
knock out any character in one blow. They're also fear-inducing, so without a
Courage Coat you're at a severe disadvantage. The only real downside to a Cliff
Troll is that their speed is only average, and their Foresight is not so great.
Still, they make tough opponents regardless of the circumstances, and low-level
parties should steer clear of them at all costs.
Hill Giants:
While not the toughest of the Giant bunch, Hill Giants can be pretty fearsome
enemies. They tend to be much better armored than other Giants, sporting plate
mail on the legs! (Though it's not as good protection as the plate you can buy
in shops) Their weapons are nasty too--Hill Giants can be found carrying
special Wooden Clubs that do more damage than any weapon in the game. This
means which means that you can't take many (if any) hits from a Hill Giant
without getting knocked out. However, they're slow, and their Foresight is
horrible, so they're not too tough in that respects. Like other Giants, they're
big so have lots of Body Points, and thus take a good number of hits to kill.
Plus, their boulders do nasty damage. Overall, Hill Giants are at about the
mid-point of the "bruiser giant" class--they're substantially tougher than
Ogres, but not as threatening as a Cliff Troll or Mist Giant.
Ettins:
Ettins are mid-range in the Giant class in terms of difficulty. Like other big
giants, they wield big Giant Clubs, but they tend to stick to the nastier ones-
-the more powerful Stone and Iron clubs, so they can be dangerous if they hit
you; like many other Giants, you can't take too many hits from an Ettin before
getting knocked out. However, even high-level Ettins aren't terribly skilled
with their weapons, so they're not as dangerous as many other Giants. They are
taller than most other Giants (only Kelden can target their heads) but their
hide is very poor protection so they don't take an excessive number of hits to
kill. As Giants go, Ettins have better Quickness and Foresight than most.
Overall, Ettins are about the same level of difficulty as Hill Giants--maybe
ever so slightly tougher, but not by much.
Ogres:
Ogres are big, powerful, and stupid. Ogres share a lot of characteristics with
many of the "big" giants; they are rather slow, and their Foresight is bad.
However, they have fantastic constitutions (Stamina-killing an Ogre is a rarity
indeed) and can take a whole lot of hits before going down, though not as much
as, say, a Stone Troll. Ogres are generally clad only in furs, but those furs
are deceptively strong armor. In melee, they can be real brutes, wielding
powerful Wooden and Stone clubs, which can deal really nasty damage; not many
characters can take more than one or two hits from an Ogre, and they deal
stunning blows with annoying frequency. Unlike many of the other "big" Giants,
Ogres just love using missile weapons; they throw boulders all over the place,
but fortunately they're not as damaging as they could be. Overall, I'd say that
Ogres rank slightly below Trolls on the difficulty level.
Stone Ogres:
Stone Ogres are very similar to "regular" Ogres in their traits, and their
equipment is almost identical (wearing "super-furs", though Stone Ogres wield
the more powerful clubs with greater frequency) and they both love to throw
boulders at your party. The main difference between Ogres and Stone Ogres is
their skill. Stone Ogres are significantly better than regular Ogres at
fighting, and deal terrible, grievous, and knockout wounds much more often; not
even a Kelden can stand for long against a Stone Ogre, and the fact that they
throw boulders with abandon makes them even more dangerous. Their speed and
Foresight is also top class. Stone Ogres can take a lot of punishment, but it's
easier to fatigue them than it is regular Ogres; however, like an Elemental-
class enemy, you can't fatigue-kill a Stone Ogre. Still, a heavily-fatigued
Stone Ogre can't hit the broad side of a barn, so once they're fatigued you'll
have a good advantage. Straight-up, they're tougher than most other giants, and
one of the more difficult enemies in the game; low-level parties should avoid
them. High-level parties shouldn't have too much trouble, so long as they're
careful and not outnumbered.
Cyclopes:
The Cyclopes are one of the "terrible" Giant enemies. They can be tough to
fight without the Courage Coat as your characters may be frozen in fear, but
they'll be frozen less often than with, say, Cliff Trolls. The only real
advantage for a Cyclops is its immense strength; it's greater than any of the
other Giants, and wielding heavy weapons like wooden and bone clubs, they can
do very nasty damage if they connect. However, they're slow as molasses, their
Foresight is absolutely pathetic--it's very easy to forecast their moves--and
their staying power is not so great. Their furs absorb a lot of damage, but
they can only take slightly more damage than a human-sized enemy, especially so
if you target their head, which is extremely vulnerable. This is probably
because they're only slightly bigger than human-sized; only Dwarves and Elves
will be restricted from targeting their upper body. All in all, the Cyclops can
be dangerous with their brute strength, but otherwise, are not terribly
difficult for an experienced party. In numbers, however, you're better off not
dealing with them.
Mist Giants:
Mist Giants are among some of the toughest enemies in the game. They're huge,
enough so that not even a Kelden can take a High Shot at them, they're hardy,
and more than anything else, they deal tremendous damage with their blows. They
wield special Great Axes, which can take just about any light-or-medium armored
character out with a single hit, and bring a heavily-armored character to
within an inch of his or her life. Their boulders are even more brutal, and are
the most damaging enemy missile in the game. The only advantage that you have
over them is that they're not armored at all, only using their hide as defense.
(However, their torso hide is actually pretty thick) This fortunately means
that with a powerful enough weapon, you can kill a Mist Giant with just a few
well-placed hits. Three formidable melee fighters working in concert can take
down a Mist Giant in one or two rounds. If you get into a random battle with
Mist Giants, and there are more than, say, 4 or 5 of them, run. When Mist
Giants gang up on you, even the toughest parties won't stand much of a chance.
F.04d LEGENDARY CLASS
---------------------
There's not a whole lot you can say about the Legendary class as a whole, as it
really is a miscellaneous category of enemies, containing everything that
doesn't fall into the other classes. There are a lot of different types of
Legendary creatures, but with the exception of Walbars, they tend to be pretty
rare. (Though not as much so as the Elementals) Most Legendary creatures are
human-sized, and wear/wield specialized equipment. Some of them can be pretty
challenging (Minotaurs and Sledges) but most are only of average difficulty,
and you rarely encounter large groups of Legendary creatures. Since they're a
relative rarity, and they can give you some good rewards for defeating them,
it's usually to your advantage to fight Legendary creatures when you do
encounter them.
Minotaurs:
Minotaurs are the "weakest" of the Legendary class, but they're actually pretty
tough. They're slow, only have average weapon skill, and don't wear armor at
all, (instead, they are protected by their thick hide, which doesn't absorb
much) but they pack one heck of a punch when they do connect! They usually
wield bruiser weapons like Greatswords and Mauls, and even their missile
weapons do heavy damage. They can often take out Dwarves, Elves, and weaker
Humans out in one hit (providing they're not wearing heavy armor) and even
Kelderheit can't take more than a couple of Minotaur blows without getting
knocked out. Rule of thumb when fighting Minotaurs--don't get hit. Take them
out at range whenever possible, or gang up on them with multiple melee guys at
once.
Muck Things:
Among the Legendary class, the Muck Things are probably the easiest to deal
with. They don't have any armor (though their "Muck" can absorb light blows)
and don't use missile weapons either. They are reasonably skilled at melee
combat though, and their Muck Branches are pretty nasty weapons, though they
could be a lot worse. The one thing that's trickiest about fighting Muck Things
is that their Foresight is ridiculously high, (though they're non-intelligent,
so they'll never predict your moves) so it's often quite difficult to predict
their moves. All in all though Muck things are not really worth worrying about,
unless you're already wounded or weak.
Lizarions:
Lizarions are very well-balanced enemies. They've got good Strength and
excellent Quickness, and their Foresight is also very high. Their missiles are
pretty strong and they wield high-end one-handed weapons like Broadswords and
Short Spears. Their greatest advantage is their high defense though; their
Breastplates are platemail-class armor, and they often sport shields as well.
However, Lizarions don't have that much in the way of lasting power. If you aim
at their head or legs you can disable them very quickly, leaving them impotent
in battle. Overall they're about on par with Orcs in terms of difficulty.
Bloms:
Bloms are pretty easy enemies to defeat overall. They rarely travel in large
groups, and aren't heavily armored. (using only their hide) They wield Blom
Hammers, which are like Great Hammers, only lighter and doing slightly less
damage. For this reason, they don't hit particularly hard, (at least compared
to some of the tougher enemies) and their Foresight is very low, so it's easy
to predict their moves. They also don't appear to use missile weapons. (at
least, I've never seen them use missiles) The one thing to the Blom's credit is
that they can take a lot of punishment before dying, about the same amount as
some of the mid-level Giant class, like Ogres. Still, they're not terribly
tough, and even a low-level party might want to take a shot at fighting them,
so long as there aren't too many.
Binderaks:
Binderaks can be challenging enemies, especially if you're facing a large
number of them. They're very fast and pack a hefty punch with the nasty Spiny
Maces that they wield; two or three clean hits from a Binderak is enough to
knock out most characters. However, they have a couple of weak spots; first,
they cannot use missile weapons at all, so you can take them out at range
fairly easily. Second, despite their power, they don't have much in the way of
lasting power, and they're not well armored (only their head, which is
protected by their Spines, has anything greater than the most rudimentary
prodection) so it doesn't usually take too many hits to kill them. Beware high-
level Binderaks though; their high speed combined with their high weapon skill
make them very deadly enemies.
Sledges:
Sledges are kind of an unusual enemy. They're really rare; you'll amost never
come across them in a random encounter. But what's most odd about Sledges is
that they're a fear-inducing "terrible" enemy like Cliff Trolls or Cyclopes,
but they're really not all that tough, despite what the manual and the
townspeople say. They're only man-sized, (even a Dwarf can target their head)
they only wield War Hammers that are no better than what you can buy out of a
store, and they have no body armor whatsoever, being only protected by their
hide and their thick skulls. (However, their skulls are almost as tough as
platemail, so it takes a heavy hitter to penetrate) They tend to be decent
fighters, though, so they can give you a run for your money. If you're a low
level and don't have the Courage Coat, you're better off not taking them on;
otherwise they shouldn't give you too much trouble.
Mist Grubs:
The Mist Grubs are a lot like Sledges in that they are "terrible" enemies that
induce fear in your characters, but are man-sized and aren't particularly tough.
They're protected by their Scales, which can absorb a fair amount of damage
(more than most other "natural" body armors) but they don't have that many Body
Points so they don't take that many hits to kill. Mist Grubs wield four types
of weapons: Grub Maces, Grub Axes, Grub Clubs and Grub Hammers. Grub Hammers
are very weak, light weapons, on par with Maces. Grub Maces and Axes are
medium-class weapons on par with Broadswords or Battle Axes. Grub Clubs, on the
other hand, are pretty damaging. If you have someone with Club Skill, the Grub
Club makes a fantastic one-handed weapon; it doesn't deal as much damage as
some Giant Clubs but it also doesn't weigh nearly as much, either. Starting
characters without the Courage Coat may have some trouble with Mist Grubs, but
otherwise they're pretty easy to deal with.
Walbars:
Walbars are the "hardest" of the Legendary class in terms of the amount of
money it costs to write spells that work against them, but they're actually not
that tough, overall. They wield very heavy, powerful weapons like Greatswords
and Great Axes, but they don't have much in the way of Body Points so generally
take very few hits to kill. They also never wear much in the way of armor--a
single piece of Cuirbolli-class armor at most, the rest of their body being
protected by their thick hide. There are only two major advantages that Walbars
have; one, that they have excellent Foresight, so it's very rare to predict
their moves, even with a character with high Foresight and Intellect. Second,
Walbars are often quite skilled with their weapons, especially defensively;
they will parry blows with great frequency. However, unless you're fighting
VERY high-level Walbars, this usually isn't much concern. All in all, they're
not too hard to defeat.
F.04e UNDEAD CLASS
------------
Next to the Giants, the Undead are probably the most common type of enemy
you'll come across. Undead are united in the fact that they're generally pretty
easy to kill. Skeletons and Ghouls can be tough for a beginning party, but with
a little experience under your belt, even they are little more than speed bumps
in your journey. Undead tend to use pretty light weapons, and with the
exception of Skeletons, pretty light armor as well. They don't have much in the
way of staying power (again, excepting Skeletons) so they are little challenge
to any party.
Gremlins:
With the exception of Zombies, Gremlins are the easiest of the undead to kill.
They are small and have fewer Body Points than any enemy in the game, so one
well-placed hit with a medium weapon will usually kill them. They only wear
Leather armor, so they don't have much in the way of protection either. Plus,
they only wield the weakest of weapons like hand axes and clubs. However,
Gremlins make extensive use of bows--most gremlins will start out the battle
all firing at you--and their missiles do a substantial amount of damage when
they connect. Their Foresight is pretty good too, so it's hard to predict their
moves. Once you get close to them they die fairly easily, but it can be tough
to get that close without taking a few hits first.
Forest, Hills
Ghouls:
Ghouls are not terribly difficult enemies, but they're not that easy either.
They only wield light weapons like Maces, but are extremely strong, so can do
quite a lot of damage to a lightly-armored character; their arrows in
particular seem to do heavy damage. They usually are only wearing a Cuirbolli
chest, but that can be tough to penetrate for a beginning party. However,
Ghouls don't have much in the way of staying power, so a few good solid hits
will be enough to take them down. In general, you don't need to worry too much
about Ghouls once you've got a few levels under your belt, but they can be a
threat to fresh characters.
Zombies:
While not "officially" the weakest of the undead (in terms of spell costs and
the like) Zombies are generally the easiest undead enemies to kill. They are
fairly weak and use only the lightest weapons like clubs, scimitars, and
longswords; characters equipped with medium armor will frequently absorb all
damage from their blows even if they hit. Armor-wise they're not much better
off; they only wear cloth. Furthermore, Zombies don't use missile attacks. They
don't take many hits to kill, and rarely can parry attacks, but they are fairly
good at avoiding blows. Unless you're greatly outnumbered, Zombies are usually
fairly easy kills.
Plains
Skeletons:
Skeletons are the toughest of the undead to fight; they usually equip heavy
armor, have heavy one-handed weapons, and tend to be quite skilled with the
weapons they wield, plus can take a fair amount of damage before dying. Even
experienced fighters can have trouble dealing with a Skeleton. The one
advantage to fighting a Skeleton is that their Fatigue is terrible, so they
can't fight for very long at all before their fatigue loss makes them easy
targets. Skeletons will sometimes kill themselves through Fatigue loss too.
However, they should not be underestimated, as until they've lost that Fatigue,
they can be difficult opponents.
===============================================================================
SECTION G: QUESTS
===============================================================================
G.01 THE QUEST SYSTEM
---------------------
While you can do nothing but run around in the wilderness bashing monsters and
taking their stuff in Knights of Legend, the real bread and butter of the game
is undertaking the many quests in the game. Quests are special battles. Rather
than taking place on a generic wooded field like random battles, quests take
place in a pre-designed area, which differs from quest to quest. They can take
place in castles, caverns, islands, and even a giant maze in one case. When you
fight a quest battle, you'll always be facing a large force (8 at the absolute
minimum, and more often 12) of enemies, which are placed in pre-set positions.
(though by the time you get to them, they may be elsewhere as they move around)
Your party is also placed in a pre-set position, which can be part of the
challenge; sometimes your party is split up, making strategy more important.
To get a quest, you need to talk to a quest-giver and ask them about the right
topic for them to give it to you. You can learn these topics by hearing rumors
around town, or by completing a quest and getting a hint. When you ask about
the right topic, the quest-giver will give you a long description of what s/he
wants you to do, and you will have the option to accept or refuse the quest. If
you refuse, you can always ask again.
Once you are on a quest, the "quest entrance" will open up on the main map, and
when your party is located at the right spot, you will be given a short text
description and will be asked "Will you Partake?" If you say yes, then the
quest starts proper. Finding the quest entrance is often part of the challenge;
sometimes the quest giver won't tell you exactly where you need to go. In this
case, you'll have to ask around town to find out where you need to be. For
example, hypothetically you may learn that you need to retrieve a Magic Wand
from a band of Trolls, but that's it; in this case you might want to ask around
town about Magic Wands and Trolls to find out where to go. Note that geography
is VERY important when trying to find the entrance of a quest; you'll
definitely need that map that came with your game! If you lost your map, search
Google Images for one; I found a very good, detailed map of Ashtalarea, having
lost my map myself.
There are two ways to complete a quest. First, you can kill all the enemies in
the battle. This is the "standard" (and most profitable) way to complete the
quest. The other way to complete the quest is to find the quest item, which is
always hidden away someplace in the level. A character (with empty hands, of
course) can pick up the item, then run for the exit. When the character with
the quest item reaches the exit, the game will ask "Do you want to flee?" and
if you say "Yes," your party will leave with quest item intact. (ie you won't
drop it like if you used the "flee" option in battle) You don't get any
experience for this though, and once you leave the quest area like this, you
can't return.
Once you've completed the quest, you need to bring the Quest Item (it's also
available to pick up once you kill all enemies) back to the quest giver. Upon
returning to the quest giver, the quest will be complete, you'll get your
reward (either an item or a hint) and your characters will get a medal
signifying they've completed the quest. Whatever you do, DON'T THROW AWAY OR
SELL A QUEST ITEM! If you do, you're screwed; you can never complete that quest,
and by extension, you can never complete the game either. However, if you hack
your save file (see the "cheating" section) you can fix things. Another option
is to create a new party, have them re-do the quest, and hand the quest item to
the first party that dropped it. (Of course then party 2 will never be able to
complete the quest)
One thing to note about quests is that unlike random battles, the enemies in
quests don't scale in difficulty according to your party's level. So, if you're
having particular trouble with an individual quest, you can try it again after
training up your weapon skills and it'll be easier.
G.02 QUEST THREAD SYNOPSIS
--------------------------
The following is a list of all 24 quests in the game. These quests are listed
in the order in which they appear on the "Medals" chart, and not in
"chronological" order. In fact, by cheating you can take the quests in any
order you want just by saying the right keyword to the quest giver. If you want
to play it legitimately, you'll have to take some quests in a certain order, as
quest givers will usually give as a reward a hint to take on a new quest. The
item in parentheses is what your quest medal will look like in the DOS version.
(In the Apple II version, it just looks like a bunch of static, or at least it
did on my disks)
If you're playing it legitimately, there are 5 quest "threads" in the game,
plus two additional stand-alone quests. You can take the "threads" in any order
that you like.
BRETTLE QUESTS THREAD:
----------------------
ORDER: Quests 1, 2, and 3 (in any order) followed by 4.
REWARDS: Truth Sword in Quest 4.
All of the enemies you'll face in this thread are pretty easy, so this is a
good place for beginning parties to start. Quest 1 should probably be the first
one you take on; though its enemies are tougher than those in Quests 2 and 3
respectively, there are fewer and the setup is more conducive to a beginner
party.
HTRON QUESTS THREAD:
--------------------
ORDER: Quests 17, 7, 15, and 19.
REWARDS: Treasure Map in Quest 7, Red Ring in Quest 19
NOTES: The final quest in this thread is very tough, and the second-to-last can
be tough too. (Though it can be easily won with extensive cheap-shotting) The
items you win are pretty useless so this can be saved for an intermediate- to
high-level party.
POITLE LOCK QUESTS THREAD:
--------------------------
ORDER: Quests 13, and then 8.
REWARDS: Courage Coat in Quest 8.
NOTES: This is shortest of the 5 quest threads, and also one of the easiest, as
the enemies you face are either not tough (Thugs in Quest 8) or can be killed
by doing nothing. (Skeletons in quest 13) The Courage Coat is an extremely
valuable item, so this is one of the first quest threads a new party should
undertake.
THIMBLEWALD QUESTS THREAD:
--------------------------
ORDER: Quests 9, 10, 12, 11, 14, and 16.
REWARDS: Death Blade in Quest 11, Speed Boots in Quest 16.
NOTES: Of all the "threads" this will net you the most valuable loot (the Speed
Boots are especially great) but you also have to go up against some extremely
tough enemies--Great Orcs, Ogres, Stone Ogres, and even Mist Giants. For this
reason, it's probably not the first thread a beginning party should tackle.
SHELLERNOON QUESTS THREAD:
--------------------------
ORDER: Quests 21, 22, 23, 24, and 20
REWARDS: Ring of Shades in Quest 24, Great Shield in Quest 20
NOTES: This is the toughest quest thread, as most of the missions have you
going up against "Terrible" monsters. Quests in particular 23 and 24 are both
VERY hard, and pretty much require a buff party wielding the magic artifacts
given in other quests. This is probably the last thread a party should tackle
before attempting the final quest.
STAND-ALONE HTRON QUEST:
------------------------
QUEST: Quest 6
REWARD: Flying Cloak
NOTES: The reward you get for this quest is an invaluable item, and the setup
isn't too hard (none of your enemies use missile weapons) so this is an
excellent quest for a starting party. Do this quest as soon as you can--in fact,
if you're confident, you may want to give it a shot as your very first.
STAND-ALONE OLANTHEN QUEST:
---------------------------
QUEST: Quest 18
REWARD: Magic Ingot (becomes the Custom Halberd)
NOTES: The setup for this quest is pretty tough, but the reward is very good
for a beginning party. I'd suggest tackling it after doing the stand-alone
Htron quest, the Brettle quests, and/or the Poitle Lock quests.
THE FINAL QUEST:
----------------
QUEST: Quest 5
REWARD:
NOTES: As you can't do this quest until all of the other 23 are done, you have
to do this one last.
If you still can't decide for yourself the order you want to take the quests in,
I suggest the following:
1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 13, 8, 18, 17, 7, 15, 19, 9, 10, 12, 11, 14, 16, 21, 22, 23, 24,
20, and finally, 5.
G.03 THE QUESTS
===============
G.03a QUEST 1 (Medallion): BURGLARY AT STEPHANIE'S
Talk to Stephanie of Brettle, and she'll tell you that some Ruffians broke into
her house and stole her Gavel and fled into the Tantowyn. Ask her about the
Gavel and she'll give you the quest to track down the ruffians and get it back.
Ask about Ruffians around town and you'll learn that Jonathan knows more about
them; inquire at his forge, and he'll tell you that the Ruffians fled along the
River Passing. Follow the river and you'll find the quest entrance; it's right
where the river flows into the Great Wood.
This is a good quest for beginning parties as it's pretty easy. Ruffians are
the toughest of the human-type enemies, but you only have to face eight of them,
and the mission setup is such that if you position your party right, you'll
have an overwhelming advantage. Your party will start on a road going north
over a river and into the Ruffian hamlet. The south side of bridge is an ideal
spot to position an ambush; have your scout lead each of the Ruffians
individually to your waiting melee fighters and you'll crush them; the Ruffians
are heavily armored enough so that by the time they reach your ambush, they'll
be so fatigued from chasing your Scout that they probably won't be able to hit
you at all. The only thing you need to be careful of is that the Ruffians don't
ambush you; some aren't right along the road, so if you continue primarily
along the road and don't explore the surrounding areas, your scout might get
ambushed. Still, you should be able to evade the Ruffians with your scout
fairly easily, as they're well-spread out throughout the level. If you want to
go for the Oak Gavel, the quest item, it's located in the last building at the
end of the road. You should be able to kill all of the Ruffians without too
much trouble though.
When you complete the quest, bring the Gavel back to Stephanie; she will give
you the word of the Alderman's Guild, "Kydar," and its letter, "K."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G.03b QUEST 2 (Tiara): THE KNIGHTS' STANDARD
You'll hear from Ryan Ashley, the Bowyer of Brettle, that the Guild of Knights
had their Standard stolen. Go talk to Stephen and ask him about the Standard,
and he'll give you the quest to get it back, telling you that the Bandits that
stole it have their fortress along the road. Go north out of Brettle and turn
west on the Krell Way; keep proceeding until you find the bandit fortress.
The bandit fortress is not terribly hard overall, if you attack it
strategically. You'll enter from the east side, and to get to the keep proper,
you'll have to cross a gatehouse bridge, then proceed up a path to the
northwest so you can enter the fortress from its north entrance. The gatehouse
bridge, being one tile wide, makes an ideal spot for an ambush, and you should
indeed use it as such to take out the 2-3 bandits that are guarding the area.
(Whatever you do, don't send your party single-file through the bridge without
taking care of these bandits, as they'll be able to deal a good chunk of damage,
and the real fight isn't until much later) However, the gatehouse isn't an
ideal spot for a mission-long ambush strategy, as all the other bandits are a
LONG way from it; you could, in theory, keep your party in that area for the
whole mission, but it will take forever to finish that way. Once the bandits
guarding the gatehouse are dead, move your party to the north entrance of the
keep. It's not as good an ambush spot as the gatehouse, but will do nonetheless.
Using your scout, lure the enemies in the courtyard area (there are roughly a
half dozen of them) one at a time back to the keep entrance and cut them to
ribbons with your waiting warriors. After the courtyard is cleared, it becomes
something of a search-and-destroy mission; the remaining bandits are hanging
out in the various buildings inside the the fortress walls. The alleyways in
the southeast quadrant of the keep make a good ambush spot if you want to lure
the bandits somewhere. As attractive as the houses might seem as spots to lure
enemies into, don't, as enemies are generally not dumb enough to follow you
inside. If you want to grab the standard and run, it's in a tiny house in the
extreme southwest corner of the keep.
Once you've got the Standard back, bring it to Stephen, who will take it and
give you the Word of the Guild of Knights, "Aklom," and its letter, "A."
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G.03c QUEST 3 (Goblet): THE WITCH'S QUILL
The Witch Hegissa in Brettle is peeved that the Knights let a bunch of Ghouls
go off with her magic quill. She'll tell you the Ghouls fled to the forest in
the south, and asks you to go get the quill back from them.
The ghoul city is located in the Klvar woods on the west side of the big tree
that Tyrolliar the bow trainer lives in. There are 12 or so ghouls, but they
are very weak and shoddily armored, so this quest is not too hard. Since ghouls
are not very hardy, you can often kill them outright in ambush formation
without them ever getting a single attack out. You'll start north of the bridge
into the city. This bridge is an ideal ambush spot. One ghoul starts on this
bridge, and three more right on the other side, so don't move your party across
this bridge until all of them are dead. Once they are all dead, go ahead and
move your party across and in formation east along the pathway until you get to
the main gatehouse. There's usually a lone ghoul guarding the gatehouse but it
should be easy to take care of. Then you can set your party across in ambush
formation around the end of the gatehouse and send your scout into the city.
There aren't any other really ideal ambush spots in the rest of the level, so
you can spend the remainder of your time here, though it'll take a while. At
the very least, though, you should lure the 3-4 closest ghouls to the gatehouse
into the jaws of your trap before crossing through. The remaining ghouls in the
city are very spread out, all the way into the far corners of the map, so
finding them all can take quite some time. This quest can easily end up one of
those search-around-till-I-find-the-enemy-I-missed missions. The quest item is
located in a house toward the south end of the map; there's an area where there
are two houses right off the road, a one-room one to the north and a two-room
one to the south. The quill is located in the corner of the house to the south.
Once you finish this mission, bring the Quill back to Hegissa. She'll give you
the word of her guild, "Moram," and its letter, "M."
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G.03d QUEST 4 (Gold Bar): BRETTLE'S TRUTH SWORD
You can't get this quest until you've finished Stephanie, Stephen, and
Hegissa's quests, as they give you the passwords you need to get it. (Well, you
can if you know the password in advance, but that's cheating) If you've ever
visited the Mayor of Brettle, you'll note he says he won't talk to you unless
you're known by the Guilds of the city. Now that you've completed the three
quests, you can tell him the password you got from the three guilds, "KAM," and
he'll tell you that Brettle's Sword of Truth was stolen by goblins, who headed
south, and asks you to get it back.
The goblins are hiding out in the plains along the south coast, just south of
the Klvar Wood and north of Lastan's Bay. This is actually a pretty tricky
mission to complete. The mission area consists of a strip of open land to the
south along the coast, with a big mountain to the north; the mountain contains
many narrow tunnels, which is where the goblins are all hiding. The bad news
about this mission is that the tunnels are very poor places to fight, as you
can only proceed through them single-file and will be sitting ducks for the
goblins when you come into their rooms. (Not to mention the fact that it takes
forever to file your entire party in and out of those tunnels) The good news
is that the tunnels are ideal for setting up ambushes; have your entire party
wait at the mouth of the cave and cut the enemy to ribbons when your scout
draws them out. However, as well-suited the mission is for ambushing in theory,
in practice, it's not always so easy. The tunnels are winding and twisty, and
goblins just LOVE to use missile weapons, often making it very difficult to
coax them out of their hidey-holes and into the waiting arms of your ambush.
The best strategy overall is to clean out each of the caves from west to east,
setting up ambushes at the entrance of each tunnel. The cave furthest to the
east is the biggest, with a lot of branching pathways; make sure to explore
each before going further north, as you don't want to get trapped. It's also
the most difficult to draw enemies out of so you'll need patience. At the very
end of this cave are three rooms with doors; when you get to this point, you'll
probably want to move your whole party to this area as it's very difficult to
draw enemies outside of closed rooms. The northernmost room of this area has
the Truth Sword, but it's not in a position where it's easy to grab and run;
there are usually three goblins guarding it. For this reason, you're better off
killing all enemies to win this mission.
When you've gotten back the Truth Sword, bring it back to Benjamin; as your
reward, he'll let you keep it. The Truth Sword is a great weapon; it's a very
light Greatsword that does more damage than your standard Greatsword. It's an
excellent weapon for a Kelder, as they tend to be strong, but overburdened with
armor as-is.
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G.03e QUEST 5 (Silver Chalice): THE FINAL BATTLE
Yes, this is quest #5 of the chart, but the last quest in the game. (Nobody
said the quests were numbered chronologically) Once you've completed all 23 of
the other quests, go talk to Dundle in Khazad and ask him of Seggallion. Dundle
will tell you that you need to rescue Seggallion, but he is not in Pildar's
tower as rumored, but in the Ghor Hills. The quest entrance proper is in the
middle of the Hills and tough to put a bead on a real landmark, but if it helps,
it's directly east of the north edge of the Amazon village.
For the final quest, you're pitted against some tough enemies--Cyclopes.
Cyclopes are "terrible" enemies and require the Courage Coat to fight
effectively. These particular Cyclopes are also very skilled, so you're in for
a tough fight. In this quest, there is no quest item, so the only way to win is
to kill all 12 of them. Being the final quest, it's not surprising that this is
one of the most difficult, though it's not as bad as the Minotaur or Sledge
quests. You start the mission in the northwest corner of the map. Move your
party in formation southeast, until you reach a junction in the road which
leads south and east. The east path leads along the mountains to the north, to
the entrance of a cave complex. The south leads along the river and across a
bridge. If you follow the south path to the end, it ends at a river; if you fly
across this river you can reach a back entrance to the cave complex. The large
field to the southeast of the junction holds about half of the Cyclopes that
you'll have to kill. This is where things get tricky. There's nowhere at all
that will serve as a good ambush spot, so you're going to be forced to do at
least some straight-up fighting. Fortunately, the Cyclopes are somewhat spread
apart, so if you use a scout to pull them toward your party one at a time, you
can fight them one-on-one, though at not the same kind of advantage that a true
ambush affords. Once all of the Cyclopes in the field and bridge area are dead,
move your party up to the cave entrance and send a scout in. The cave entrance
makes a decent ambush spot, but it's a LONG way into the bowels of the cave
proper, so it's somewhat inconvenient as well. A ways into the tunnel you'll
find a small 3x3 chamber with a room off to the west. Once you've had your
scout draw back or kill the Cyclopes before and around this chamber, you may
want to move your party proper here and use this as a staging point for your
future ambushes. Be careful beyond here, as there are a lot of side passageways,
and you could easily get your Scout sandwiched between two Cyclopes if you're
not careful. Keep drawing individual Cyclopes back to your melee fighters and
you'll eventually be able to win. If you're having extra trouble with this
quest, you may want to consider creating an anti-Cyclops spell (beware, it'll
be expensive) and have the mage with it wear the Shade Ring. It will take a
very long time, but as the corridors are tight and they won't be able to see
you, a lone invisible anti-Cyclops mage will eventually be able to kill all the
enemies in this quest.
Once all the Cyclopes are dead, you'll see the ending cutscene where you rescue
Seggallion. (and it becomes painfully obvious there should have been more
expansions that never came out) You'll get his Shackles. Bring them back to
Dundle. He'll give you a Black Ingot in return. The Black Ingot can be forged
into a Great Axe that does more damage than just about anything in the game.
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G.03f QUEST 6 (Silver Ring): THE KELDER'S CROWN
Talk to Biblik the Sage in Htron and ask him of his Sadness. He'll say that
he's lost his Crown and wants it back. Tildon knows where it is; he says that
he thinks it's in a keep on the Tegal River. If you follow the river it's easy
enough to find, but if you want to know the exact location, it's about right
below the "a" in "Tegal River" on the map.
In this quest, you'll be facing Binderaks. Note that there are no stores in the
game that sell spells to deal with Binderaks, so if you want to use magic in
this battle against them, you'll need one of your mages to create a spell to
deal with them, though Binderaks aren't too tough so you probably won't need to.
You won't get much of a chance to get your party into formation before you're
thrown straight into the action here, as there are two Binderaks waiting for
you right nearby. Both Binderaks are on the bridge into the keep though, so you
can set yourself up for an easy 3-melee-fighters-on-1 setup at the end of the
bridge if you're quick enough. In fact, it's generally a good idea to spend
most if not all of the mission at the starting position, waiting at the end of
the bridge, luring the Binderaks to your fighters one by one. Binderaks
themselves are fast and powerful fighters, and can do heavy damage with those
spiny maces; a lucky shot can take out a lightly-armored, weaker character in
one hit. However, they can't use missile attacks so that gives you a huge
advantage over them, and they aren't terribly hardy creatures either. All
except 3 of the Binderaks in this mission are tightly packed into the small
keep so this is a fast-paced mission; you can lure each Binderak individually
to your party fairly quickly. Don't try moving your whole party over the bridge
before the keep is cleared out, or else you'll be swarmed. The remaining three
Binderaks are far outside the keep proper, hanging out in the wooded fields to
the south/southwest. The Kelder Crown can be found in the southwest building in
the keep itself. Note that the loot in this mission sucks, as Binderaks don't
wear armor and you won't get any gold if you sell their maces.
Bring the crown back to Biblik and he'll give you the Flying Cloak. The Flying
Cloak gives non-Kelderheit the ability to fly; it's a great item to equip on
your scout. It's also a great item to equip on Dwarves as it'll give them the
ability to Sprint.
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G.03g QUEST 7 (Magic Wand): NOBJOR THE PIRATE
The Pirates that Sam was talking about in Quest 17 live on the eastern shore of
Feglar's Bay, to the west of the Amazon village. Pegleg Pereau is the pirate
who knows about Nobjor. He'll say that he'll give you the map to Nobjor's
treasure if you find a shipwheel from the Erwenwald for him. The Erwenwald has
four "squares" of thick forest in an "L" formation, and the entrance to the
quest location is on the second "square" furthest from the right.
This quest takes place in a Hobgoblin hamlet, though it's more like a castle
with an outlying house. Naturally the Hobgoblins don't take kindly to your
interference and are hostile. The hamlet is not an easy settlement to attack;
Hobgoblins are wily opponents and the mission layout is not conducive to an
easy victory. When you start out the mission, you're put straight into the
action as your party is positioned just north of a house with two Hobgoblins in
it. It can be tricky to get an advantage against these Hobgoblins as they're
not easily coaxed out of the house; the door is only two spaces wide, so you
can at most move two fighters in at once, which rules out the "overwhelming
force" approach. Plus, the Hobgoblins will shoot at you from the house's window.
Cleaning out the house isn't terribly difficult, but it may be tough to do so
without taking a few injuries. Once the Hobgoblins in the house are taken care
of, move your party over the bridge to the west, where you'll find a large
castle; the remainder of the Hobgoblins are either in or around this building.
The problem with this castle is it's difficult to attack; there are no good
ambush spots and as all of the rooms are closed off by doors, it's tough to
lure the Hobgoblins off. One good thing to try is to put the Flying Cloak on an
archer/scout and have them fly over the wall of the ramparts and take potshots
at the Hobgoblins up there; as you're over a wall you can't be hit by their
missiles but you can hit them. If you're lucky you can take out a few of them
to make it easier for the rest of your party. Also, the one-tile-long hallway
between the gatehouse and the left tower can be used as a makeshift ambush spot.
Aside from that, this mission is more of a straight-up fight; not easy, as
Hobgoblins are well-armored and frequently wield powerful weapons. The Ship
Wheel is located inside a small room on top of the west tower of the castle.
Take the ship wheel back to Pegleg Pereau and he'll give you a Treasure Map and
ask you to show it to Scotty and ask him about it.
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G.03h QUEST 8 (Amulet): MUGGING THE MUGGERS
You have to finish Quest 13 before you can do this quest. Go and talk to
Sedfrey in Poitle Lock about his "Gold" and he'll say that his shipment of gold
from Brettle was ambushed. Ask him about Brettle and he'll say that he's not
worried about the gold, and more his family's coat of arms. He'll ask you to
get the coat of arms back from the thugs that stole the gold and promises to
reward you with a Coat of your own. Ask around about the Coat and you'll learn
that the Deacon knows about it. If you ask the Deacon about the Coat he'll say
that he's heard it was taken in the Tegal forest. The Tegal forest is pretty
big, and far away, but head there nonetheless. The entrance is extremely
difficult to find, as it's smack in the middle of the woods with no clear
landmarks. The best way to find it is to go to the Amazon village in the Tegal
and move to its very left-most edge; the entrance to the quest is directly
south of this edge. If you're still having trouble finding it, it's located in
the dead-center of the forest about halfway between the Amazon village and the
Tegal River.
You'll be up against Thugs this time around. You couldn't ask for a more
perfect layout of the village in this mission; the area is filled with great
ambush spots, and heavily wooded for great cover against enemy arrows. You
start halfway through the western gates; it's best to move your party entirely
to the west side of the gate, while using a scout to run through the village
and lure Thugs back to the entrance, where you can kill them at your leisure.
Most of the quest enemies are either in the main village plaza beyond the gate,
or in the various huts therein. They're actually fairly spread out, so this
mission could be fairly easily completed even without resorting to ambush
tactics. The remaining handful of Thugs that aren't in the main plaza are in
two large halls that are located at the north/northeast and southeast corners
of the map. The north/northwest hall is slightly larger; its entrance at the
north end of the map, roughly dead-center. (Proceed between the two north-south
ponds to get there) It's divided into two sections, each containing a building.
The entrances to both sections are ideal for ambushes, so you'll be at an
advantage against the Thugs therein. The southeast hall is much smaller, and
only contains a lone two-room building, usually guarded by only a single Thug.
The Coat of Arms is also located in this building if you want to grab it and
run. The Thugs themselves are not too terribly difficult; they mostly use one-
handed weapons and Cuirbolli armor. Their armor is slightly too heavy for them
causing them to get fatigued easily, but not enough so that you can count on
them dying from blood loss. Overall they're not too terribly difficult,
especially if you use the terrain to your advantage.
Once the quest is finished, return to Sedfrey, who will reward you with a
"Courage Coat." This Courage Coat is actually one of the most valuable items in
the game, as it negates the need for Balance checks when facing "terrible"
enemies. (In other words, characters wearing the Courage Coat will never be
frozen in terror when fighting) This item you should probably cheat and use the
dupe trick (or if you're really a stickler against that sort of thing, create
multiple parties and do this quest over and over again) and give to most if not
all of your party members, as some of the later Giant-class enemies you face
are next to impossible to get a successful Balance check off, no matter what
your class is. If you're playing the PC version, you'll want to give the
Courage Coat to all your party, except maybe if you want to use the Flying
Cloak on your scout(s). If you're playing the Apple II version, you only need
to have the Coat on your melee fighters, as that version doesn't require
Balance checks for missile weapons.
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G.03i QUEST 9 (Gold Pin): OUTING THE SPY
Lieutenant Trimrose at the Thimbelwald Keep is upset because he thinks there's
a spy amongst his army that has been feeding information to the Barbarians
Thimblewald is fighting. Ask around town about the spy and you'll learn that
Milinya knows who it is. Go to Milinya and ask her about the "Spy." She'll say
she knows who the spy is, but won't tell you unless you get her some Changeling
Oil first. Trabbik knows about Changelings. Ask him about them and you'll learn
they're in Downing Swamp. The quest location is smack in the middle of the
swamp, directly southwest of where the River Downing opens into the swamp.
You'll be facing Muck Things in this quest. Overall, this is one of the easier
missions, as Muck things aren't too terribly hard. They've got powerful Muck
Branches as their weapons (which fetch no price, IE this is a quest with no
loot) and they pack quite a punch if they connect, but they're also relatively
slow, and use no missile weapons. In terms of strategy, you can use an ambush,
but this is one quest where your archers and spellcasters can really shine.
You'll start out on an east-west path, with the main Muck Thing fort across a
wide bridge to the west. Note that from your starting position, there's a lone
Muck Thing in the wilderness to the south; if you're going to kill all enemies
in this quest be sure to take it out before you do anything, otherwise you'll
have to come back and hunt it down later. Once it's dead, cross over the bridge.
There should be only one or two Muck Things on the other side waiting for you,
so dispatch them and move on. The bulk of the Muck Things are located in the
main Muck Thing fort, which is across a narrow bridge over the "moat" to the
north. The bridge entrance is a good place to spring an ambush, but if you use
your archers effectively, you may not need to. The main Muck Thing fort has one
central hallway with windowed rooms along the side. Almost all of the Muck
Things are in these rooms. And, since Muck Things don't fire missiles, you can
just bring your archers in and shoot at them through the windows, without them
being able to do anything back. Even better, if you have a mage that has an
anti-Muck Thing spell, you can do this and not have to worry about ammo. There
are a couple of Muck Things in closed-off side rooms that you may either have
to lure out or deal with using melee characters, however. (And if a Muck Thing
comes out into the hall, which they often do, lure them back to your melee
characters rather than risk your archers. Once the fort is cleared out, there's
a small exit out of the fort heading north; there are usually one or two Muck
Things wandering about out here, but they're easily dealt with. The Flask of
Oil is located in a room in the southwest corner of the main fort. To get there,
you'll have to go through the room to its north.
Bring the flask back to Milinya and she'll tell you that Delmor is the spy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G.03j QUEST 10 (Flag): CHASING RUMORS
You have to complete Quest 9 before you can do this one (unless you cheat).
Tell Lieutenant Primrose in Thimblewald that Delmor is the spy, and he will ask
your help in retrieving an Heirloom stolen by Barbarians. Trebbik will tell you
that the Heirloom was stolen by Pirates. Zebin the Mage knows about Pirates,
and he'll tell you about the Cloak, which Julian knows about. Julian tells you
that the Cloak was actually stolen by Brigands, who fled with it up to the Krag
Mountains. So, now you know where to go. Or actually, you may not, as the
Brigands aren't actually in the Krag Mountains; they're in the Northwald Hills,
which are right next to the Krag Hills. The entrance to the Brigands hideout
proper is located at the northeastern tip of the Northwald Hill range.
Oops! Looks like the information they fed you at Thimblewald is faulty; these
aren't Barbarians or Pirates or even Brigands, but Great Orcs that you're
facing! And Great Orcs are a lot tougher than Brigands are. This mission is
tricky, because not only are the enemies you're facing tough, but your party
will be split up. You'll start outside the giant Great Orc fortress by its
north and east entrances. Odd members of your party (1,3,5) will start at the
north entrance, and even members (2,4,6) will start at the east entrance.
Getting your party back together is the trick. The best way to start this quest
depends a whole lot on your party makeup. At least one of the entrances
(preferably the north, as it's closer to most of the Great Orcs) should be
stationed with three melee fighters; this will be your ambush point to take
down the Orcs. (don't try this mission head-on; unless your weapon skills are
VERY high, the Great Orcs will make mincemeat of you) It's best if you do this
quest after you've done Quest 6, as the Flying Cloak will prove invaluable here.
With three of your melee fighters in one position, odds are the other half of
your party will have your scouts, archers, and mages. That half will not last
long against the Great Orcs unless you do a lot of fancy footwork and missile
firing (and those missiles will eventually run out) If you have your Scout
equipped with the Flying Cloak, they can easily fly around the perimeter of the
fortress to rejoin your melee fighters and act as your ambush decoy. The only
other alternative is to sprint through the heavily-guarded fortress to rejoin
your melee fighters. This is possible to do without getting seriously hurt or
maimed, but not easy by any stretch of the imagination. It's even better if ALL
of your lightly-armored characters have Flying Cloaks, as then you can have
them all fly to rejoin your melee guys. Once your party is reunited, you can
use a standard ambush strategy at the fortress entrances, as they're ideal.
Note that even using an ambush, defeating the Great Orcs are not easy, as
they're quite hardy, well armored, and can take a good number of blows before
going down. They rarely use missile weapons though, which is to your advantage.
They're slightly too well armored for their own good, so with some luck and
skill you may entice them into dying of fatigue, but this is tough to do
without giving them a few wounds first. You'll find that Great Orcs are smarter
than a lot of enemies and know when to run, so it can be tricky luring them
into your trap. I find that magic is very useful in this mission. If you've got
a mage of the Secret Storm order, you can craft a spell to do extra damage to
Great Orcs; otherwise you can purchase the Vornalyrmi spell in Poitle Lock,
though it'll take a bunch of Vornalyrmis to take down a Great Orc. The quest
item, a Silk Cloak, is located in the building in the southwest corner of the
fortress. It's usually guarded by a Great Orc.
Bring back the Silk Cloak, and you'll learn it's apparently not the Heirloom
that Primrose was looking for; he gives you nothing. Guess that goes to show
not to always trust rumors. However, he tells you to ask Sergeant Yardley about
his Folly.
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G.03k QUEST 11 (Emerald ring): GETTING THE DEATH BLADE
The Warrior-Soul that Keldinarr tells you about in Quest 12 is Ballastar, in
the Krag Keep. He'll tell you that he wants to get his family's Stone Mallet,
which was stolen by raiders who fled into the woods to the east. In return,
he'll give you his powerful Death Blade. The woods he's talking about are the
Wesswald; the entrance to the quest area is smack in the middle of it.
What Ballastar neglected to tell you is that the "raiders" are actually Mist
Giants, some of the toughest hombres you'll come up against in the game.
Fortunately, however, the layout of the quest is excellent (albeit not perfect)
for an ambush. You start at the west of an entrance to a series of narrow caves,
which all the giants are hanging out in. Set up an ambush at the mouth of the
cave and have your scout lure the giants back there one at a time. With your
entire party concentrating on each Mist Giant individually, you should have a
lot less trouble. Having a spellcaster with an anti-Mist Giant spell is a bonus
too, but it takes an absolutely obscene amount of Adventure Points to make a
Mist Giant-affecting spell (over 4000, enough to raise a character two full
levels) so you may not want to. (or cheat to do so) Your attacks should mostly
be Thrusts to hit the Giants before they can hit you; (and reducing their
chance to counterattack effectively) it's imperative not to get hit, as a
single well-placed blow from a Mist Giant can take out even a heavily-armored,
full-health Kelden. The layout of the cave is relatively simple; there's one,
really long passage from the entrance to the far east end of the cave, which
branches to the north and south at the end. The south end has a large room and
a spiral-shaped corridor; the north end has a whole complex of rooms. Most of
the Mist Giants that aren't in the main corridor are in the north wing of the
cave. One thing that's a pain about this mission is that outside of the
entrance to the cave, there really aren't very many good spots to spring an
ambush, and the cave entrance is a LONG way from some of the Mist Giants, so
this quest takes time. If you're feeling lucky, you can set up an ambush in one
of the rooms deeper in the cave; the one right to the south of the main
intersection could serve as a makeshift spot for ambushing. The quest item is
probably not worth going for, as it's really tough to grab and run, and you'll
need someone with flight capability. To get to it, head into the north section
of the cave, ignoring the side passage to the west and continuing north around
the bend. You'll get to a small room with doors to the west and south; (and
usually about 3 or 4 Mist Giants) to get the mallet go through the west door.
The corridor winds around until you get to a lake; fly over the lake and the
mallet is close by on the other side.
Bring the mallet back to Ballastar, who will give you the Death Blade, a light
and powerful Halberd. He'll also tell you to say the word "Rhording" at the
Fostering.
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G.03l QUEST 12 (Shield): YARDLEY'S FOLLY
Unless you cheat, you need to finish quest 10 to get this quest. (Though this
is one of the easier quests to "stumble upon" as one of the topics you need to
ask about is one you might think of asking even without knowing of this quest)
Ask Yardley in Thimblewald of his Folley and tell him "Primrose" when he asks
who's been spreading such rumors. From there on if you continue the
conversation you'll learn that he needed a Vial from a Kelden. Go to Keldinarr
in town and ask him about the Vial, and he'll give you the quest to get it from
the Walbars. Ask around and you'll learn that Dingbar knows where the Walbars
are; talk to him and he'll tell you that they hang out at the Windy Run. The
entrance to the fortification is at the coast north of Thimblewald. There's a
tiny little "bump" of an inlet on this coast; the fortification is located on
the eastern shore of this "bump."
You start this quest right by the entrance to the bridge leading to the
Walbars' fortification, in the southeast area of the map. The bridge to the
fortification is long and narrow, and not a place where you want to get caught
by Walbars, so make sure you lure the one or two Walbars on the bridge out into
the open before you bring your party across. The fortification itself consists
of a large courtyard with two big multi-room buildings; one to the east and one
to the west. There is also a miniature "keep" structure off to the northwest of
the courtyard. All three of these buildings are filled with Walbars. Compared
to others, this quest isn't too hard because of the layout and the enemies
you're facing. The entrances of all three buildings in the fortification (as
well as the starting bridge) are ideal for springing ambushes, so you've got a
real leg up on the Walbars. That, and the fact that Walbars don't have that
much in the way of Body Points, makes it so that this quest isn't too tough.
The one thing to note, however, is that you probably won't be able to use your
spellcasters against the Walbars. No shop in the game sells spells that will
work against Walbars, so unless you custom-make a spell (which I advise against,
it's not worth the money and Adventure Points since Walbars aren't that tough)
magic will be out for this fight. Still, with decent tactics and the weapon
skill that you should have by now, this quest will probably be no problem. The
quest item, the Blue Vial, is located in the "keep" to the northwest. There's
one room smack in the middle of this building, and that room contains the Vial.
Once you've finished the quest, take the Vial back to Keldinarr. He'll tell you
to seek the warrior-soul and ask him of "Scalfeth."
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G.03m QUEST 13 (Pipe): CONTROLLING THE SERPENT
In Poitle Lock, talk to Orofin, and he'll mention Poitle and the Serpent that's
been attacking barges nearby. Ask about the Serpent and he'll say that Poitle
used a magic wand to control the Serpent, but is now lost in his haunted Caves.
He wants you to get it back for him. Christopher knows about the location of
the cave, ask about it from him. He'll tell you it's located just a little
upriver from the Lock. (The south river) Follow the river and you'll get to the
cave.
In this mission, you'll be facing twelve skeletons. At first glance, this quest
looks like a nightmare. First, the geographic setup is sadistic; you fight
almost exclusively in twisty, long, narrow tunnels that make the caves in the
Truth Sword quest look like a walk in the park. Second, the skeletons are very
tough customers, being skilled, heavily armored (wearing brigandine at the
minimum, and more often chain) opponents that can take a major beating in melee
with even the most powerful weapons and still not die. However, this mission
has the potential of being the easiest of them all, as the skeletons are far
too heavily armored for their own good; they don't have the strength or
endurance to manage the weight of their armor and their fatigue drops with the
lightest motion. Give them just a grazing wound and run away, and the gradual
fatigue loss will kill them quickly. In fact, their burdens are so great that
many of the skeletons are likely to spontaneously die from fatigue loss before
you ever even meet them. I imagine if you just sat at the entrance and waited
long enough, you could finish the mission doing nothing as the skeletons would
all eventually die from fatigue, though that would probably take forever.
To finish this quest in a "normal" way, the cave entrance is a good place for
an ambush, but difficult to lure enemies into. The cave itself consists of one
giant hall in the middle with corridors branching off at the southeast and
southwest corners (the entrance leads into the northwest) that lead to rooms
with skeletons in them. Your best bet is to clean out the enemies in the
entrance corridor (and maybe the hall) using ambushes, then move your whole
party into the hall and set up an ambush there between some of the pillars
you'll find.
The Serpent Wand is located in a house situated on a little island. To get
there you have to fly, meaning that you either need a Kelden or someone with
the flying cloak. To get to the island, take the southeast corridor and turn
north at the opening. Keep going north until you get to a crossroads, then head
west until you get to water. Fly over the water to get to the island. Needless
to say, it's easier to finish this quest by killing all the enemies than
grabbing the wand and running (and the skeletons may all spontaneously die by
the time you tried)
Take the wand back to Orofin, who will tell you to ask Sedfrey about his
"Gold."
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G.03n QUEST 14 (Golden Chalice): THE MEANING OF RHORDING
After finishing Quest 11, head to the Fostering. The Fostering is the child-
rearing house in the Amazon village, southwest of Htron. Go there and mention
"Rhording" to Dunnigan there. He tells you that "Rhording" is a word spoken by
one on a quest, and tells you to go to the Wood of Dreams and bring back proof
of your victory. The Wood of Dreams is actually the Dark Wood, east of Poitle
Lock and south of the Krell Swamp. The entrance to the quest area is at the
north edge of the wood where the forest starts to become thick.
You're facing Ogres in this quest, and you don't get any time to waste, as
right at the beginning of the quest you're assaulted by 3-4 that are right near
your party. It should prove a tough fight, but move your party so that your
melee fighters are concentrated together and your archers, scouts, and mages
are out of range of the Ogres; if any Ogre can get a single character alone, it
works against you. This is the main challenge of the quest, though, as once the
beginning Ogres are out of the way, cleaning up the rest is relatively easy if
you play it right. Once the starting skirmish is over, get your party into
formation and walk west along the path until you get to a bridge--one perfect
for setting up an ambush at. This is actually a pretty good spot to spend the
remainder of the mission, as the rest of the Ogres aren't too terribly far from
the bridge; their village is rather small. Bring your Scout into the village
and draw the Ogres back to your waiting melee fighters one by one. Ogres that
like to throw boulders can be dangerous, but there are plenty of doors in the
village; if you find an Ogre that insists on using ranged attacks, have your
Scout sit in a doorway (when you're standing in a doorway, no missile weapons
can hit you) and wait for the Ogre to tire of throwing boulders before leading
it back to your party. (In addition, you can harass these boulder-happy Ogres
with arrows or spells too) The quest item, a Gold Chalice, can be found in the
first building to the west along the road once you pass over the bridge into
the Ogre village. It's in the far room, and is usually guarded by a single Ogre.
Go back to the Amazon village and talk to Dunnigan there. He'll tell you to say
the word "Inthos" at the Hobe.
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G.03o QUEST 15 (Clover charm): DECODING THE MAP
Bring the map you got in quest 7 to Scotty (located in the Pirate Enclave to
the west of the Tegal wood) and will tell you that he'll decode it for you--for
a price. He wants his Pirate Hat back, which is in Prazen Point. The entrance
to the quest is smack in the middle of the peninsula.
In this quest, you're facing Sylphs. There are only eight of them, so you don't
need to make as many kills as in most other quests. This can actually be a
pretty easy quest if you play it right. The quest area is a series of islands
separated by lake and stream terrain. Some of the streams are small so can be
crossed over on foot. There's no good place for setting up an ambush in this
quest, (and they're too closely packed together for that sort of strategy
anyway) but you shouldn't have to if you play your cards right. Since Sylphs
cannot use missile attacks, you can move your characters to islands they can't
reach and fire arrows at them. However, Sylphs are hardy creatures, so even if
you use all six of your characters' 20 arrows apiece, you're unlikely to be
able to kill them all unless you make extremely lucky shots. For this reason,
you'll want to have someone with the Vonnalyrfe spell. (you can buy this in the
Red Mist guild in Thimblewald) It will take a LOT of Vonnalyrfe castings to
kill a Sylph but it can be done, so if you're patient you can kill all the
sylphs in this quest with a minimal amount of melee contact. In melee the
Sylphs pack a heavy punch if they connect so take care if you do go that route.
While you can't ambush them per se, you can try luring them one at a time to
the island your party is standing on to reduce chances of getting clobbered in
numbers. If you'd like to go for the quest item, it's on the shore north of the
island. Getting to it requires running through a gauntlet of all the Sylphs in
the leve, but if you've got someone that can fly and is lightly armored enough
to stand high-speed flight without severe fatigue loss, it's easy to grab and
run, if you'd like to take that path.
Bring the pirate hat back to Scotty and he'll decode the map for you, telling
you that it says to seek out someone with the initials T.D. and ask them about
the map. This is Tullianna Daverland, who lives in Htron.
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G.03p QUEST 16 (Feather): INTHOS THE MAGE
Once you've completed Quest 14, talk to Lord Stiveson Bonner at the Hobe and
ask him about Inthos. He'll tell you that Inthos was a friend of Seggallion's
and wants you to get his magical staff back for him. Talk to Sir Celegorn at
the front gate about Inthos as well; he'll tell you that he was last seen
running for the Downing Mountains. The entrance to the quest proper is located
in the hills right next to the southwest tip of the Downing mountains.
This time, you'll be up against Stone Ogres. Stone Ogres are pretty tough
brutes that can take and dish out a lot of punishment, but fortunately the
terrain can work to your advantage here. You'll be fighting in a large walled
castle with a wide, sparsely-wooded field to the south and a medium-sized keep
to the north. You start on the outside, on the east side of the outer walls, a
little bit north of the door. There are a lot of Stone Ogres waiting for you on
the other side of the door, but (fortunately in this case) monsters are usually
reluctant to enter doors so you'll be able to get your party into position
without too much trouble. While not ideal, it's best to spring an ambush right
outside of the door with your melee men; this will prevent your archers from
getting involved, but it's the best you can do in the circumstances, and
prevents them from firing at you. Lure the Stone Ogres individually if you can,
and if any of them seem keen to use missile weapons, have your scout/bait wait
in the doorway until they've exhausted their supply of boulders. Once the Stone
Ogres at the entrance are taken care of, about half of the remaining Stone
Ogres will be in the keep, and the remaining half in the southern field. The
keep entrance couldn't be better as an ambush spot, so you can use that for
dealing with the Stone Ogres in there, but the Stone Ogres in the field are
potentially a little more dangerous; it's tough to lure them all the way to the
entrance, and they are wide open so can throw boulders--which Stone Ogres like
to do a lot. What I like to do is have one or two archers with Flying Cloaks
zoom to the southern castle wall and position themselves directly on top of the
wall. There, all incoming boulders will hit the walls, instead of your
characters. While floating over the wall, I have my archers shoot back at the
boulder-throwing Ogres to weaken them a little bit. Once they stop hurling
missiles at you, I have the archers lure the Ogres back to the melee fighters;
(who are already inside and walking toward the keep by this point) while not as
safe as an ambush, they'll be fatigued and wounded, giving you a real edge
against them. Once the Stone Ogres in the field are taken care of, move your
party right to the entrance of the Keep and ambush all the enemies in there.
(If any Stone Ogres in the keep feel like throwing boulders, you can use the
same "flying-over-walls" tactics to get them to use up their missiles before
they come at your melee guys) The Hidden Staff is located in the keep; there
are two rooms in the keep, and the Staff itself is in the north room.
Bring the Staff back to Lord Stiveson Bonner and in addition to his thanks,
he'll give you the Speed Boots. Speed Boots are a very unusual item; they
increase your running speed so that when you Run, you travel two spaces
(instead of one) and when you Sprint you travel four spaces. (instead of two)
They're a very useful item to put on a Dwarf, since Dwarves can't go further
than one space in a round; not only will it give Dwarves the speed boost but
will also give them the ability to Sprint.
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G.03q QUEST 17 (Cat Figurine): SEARCHING FOR OIL
If you ask around about Pildar in Htron, you'll learn that Sam knows something
about him. Ask Sam about Pildar and he'll call him a "Stod." Ask about Stod and
he'll ask you to look for some Parth Oil for him. Yommel knows where to find
Parth Oil--he says it's by Berthand's Bay. The entrance to the quest is right
on the shore, just a little bit east of the peninsula that juts into the bay.
You're up against Brigands in this mission. When you start, you'll be walking
north to the entrance of the main Brigand village. The building to your left
has a few Brigands in it. Be careful when setting up your formation, as the
Brigands may snipe at you from the windows. Take care of the Brigands in that
building, before setting up an ambush at the main entrance to the village. Most
of the Brigands in this quest are in buildings, and they tend to go nuts with
missile fire, so you can take advantage of this fact with your own archers. By
positioning them in the doorway (or if they can fly, on top of the village
walls) they can shoot at the Brigands with abandon and never get hit, as the
Brigand arrows will always hit the door/wall. Inside the village are a bunch of
buildings, all with Brigands in them. To the northeast is a medium-sized keep,
which is well-guarded. Don't bring your whole party close as the Brigands on
the ramparts will fire down at you; lure them out one by one. There's a final
building on the other side of the keep, usually with one or two brigands in it.
If you can lure the Brigands to your party, positioned strategically at either
the entrance to the village or the entrance of the keep, you should have little
trouble, as the Brigands are very lightly armed and armored. The Parth Oil
itself is located in the building beyond the keep. Trying to grab it and run is
easy if you can fly, but otherwise is probably not worth it as you'll have to
run through a gauntlet of large numbers of Brigands.
Bring the Parth oil back to Sam and he'll tell you to ask the Pirates about
"Nobjor."
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G.03r QUEST 18 (Beads): ALCHEMIST'S TOOLS
Talk to Belinda in Olanthen. She's interested in Alchemy, and in particular is
interested in an alchemical instrument, a golden chain. It was stolen by Orcs
though and she asks you to go get it. Denswurth, at the gate, knows where to
find Orcs; they hang out in the pass in the mountains of Lorr. They're fairly
easy to find; they're practically right on top of the Kazhad outpost.
This is not an easy quest. In terms of mission layout, the Orcs have a huge
advantage over you as the small keep they control is perfect for defense. There
are very few spots for effective ambush, and even fewer that are safe to use.
Since Orcs love using missile weapons, "traditional" ambushes often don't work
anyway; when your scout lures an Orc toward your waiting fighters, frequently
when they see you rather than come in range to cross swords, they'll just sit
there taking potshots at your fighters. The starting bridge seems to be a good
ambush spot at first, but using a concealed ambush strategy on the north or
south side of the bridge is better, as it allows you to evade enemy arrows
better. The first few Orcs start on or about the bridge so this is a good place
to start clearing them away.
Once the bridge and surrounding area is clear of Orcs, things start to get
tricky. The keep itself is very well protected. There's only a one-tile path in,
and the courtyard is filled with Orcs so you can't file your melee fighters in
effectively and safely. What's worse, the ramparts have Orcs in them too, who
will rain arrows down on your party should you get too close. The Orcs in the
ramparts are the single most annoying feature of this mission, as they're
completely invulnerable to attack unless you climb up into the ramparts
yourself to deal with them. Of course, to do this, you'll have to go straight
into the keep proper, during which time you'll be a sitting duck to their
arrows, and the one-tile-wide ramparts are a terrible place to fight. For this
reason, there's no easy way to assault this keep. There are two main strategies
you can pursue here. The first, though time-consuming, is to keep your main
forces on the bridge out of the range of the Orcs in the ramparts, and lure
each individual Orc out with your scout. The downside to this strategy is that
you can't ambush well from the bridge and will have to fight the Orcs in a more
straight-up battle. The second strategy is to bring your melee fighters right
up to the one-tile keep entrance and slaughter the Orcs that come through. The
downside to this strategy is that you'll have to soak up the arrows from the
sniper Orcs; you'll want at least one long-range healer to keep your troops
from dying. However, if you've got your Scout with a Flying Cloak, you can
solve the arrow problem; have him or her don the cloak and fly right over the
wall to the rampart before moving your party over the bridge. While you're
hovering over the wall, arrows can't hit you, but that won't stop the Orcs from
shooting at you. Once they've exhausted their arrows, you can bring your party
across and hack them to bits at the keep entrance.
The quest item, the Ruby Choker (Guess Belinda was wrong about it being a
golden chain) is located in the small, southernmost building in the Keep
courtyard. Because of the irritating Orcs in the ramparts, this is one quest
where it's actually substantially easier to grab the quest item and run than
kill all the enemies. (Still, I usually try for the latter, for the
experience.)
Take the Ruby Choker back to Belinda, and she'll give you a Magic Ingot. You
can bring the Ingot to a forge to create a very light, but very damaging,
halberd. You can name the weapon whatever you want.
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G.03s QUEST 19 (Gold Ring): TREASURE HUNT
After completing Quest 15, go to Tullianna in Htron and ask her about your map.
She'll ask you to find the Iron Chest that the map indicates (she made it) in
an area surrounded by water. Kimble Chandler knows where this is; ask him about
the Iron Chest and he'll say it's in Ebbwater. The quest entrance itself is
right off of the north shore of the Ebbwater inlet.
You're up against Minotaurs in this quest, and it couldn't be harder; this is
one of the toughest missions in the game. This area is a large keep with a
north-south and east-west road traveling through it, crossing at a center
courtyard. Your party starts out split up into four groups; characters 1 and 5
on the west side of the keep, 2 and 6 on the east, 3 on the south, and 4 on the
north. And every group but the east has two minotaurs waiting for them right at
the beginning. As minotaurs are very powerful enemies, having your party
divided is an extreme disadvantage, and if you take them on straight-up, you're
liable to have your party severely injured at best by the time you can regroup
them together. Your first order of business here, before you do any fighting at
all, is to get your party regrouped together. The two safest areas to do this
are on the east side of the keep or in the central courtyard, as neither has
any enemies in it. The best way to tackle this is to make extensive use of
Flying Cloaks; it's to your advantage to set it up so that your entire party
can fly. Either way, preparation is the key. How you do this will depend on the
setup of your party, but I suggest to change your starting lineup so that your
two heaviest melee warriors are at positions 2 and 6. This puts them on the
east side of the keep, away from any opposition; if you have to have them
running through a gauntlet of enemies to regroup it's very hard to get them in
position without being severely injured or fatigued or both. Your two lighest-
armored characters should be in positions 1 and 5, ideally both with Flying
Cloaks, as if you have them run past the Minotaurs, they'll just follow you and
you'll have little if any time to prepare your regrouped party to fight them.
Players 3 and 4 should head northeast and southeast respectively, outrunning
the Minotaurs to the east side of the keep, regrouping either there or
proceeding west from there to the courtyard. (I find it's easiest to lose the
Minotaurs to the north and south by running in this direction--if you fly
that's even better) It's ALWAYS best for your characters on the north, south,
and west end of the keep to fly to regroup at least part of the way, as most of
the Minotaurs will ignore flying characters--they won't chase you. Once your
party is regrouped, there are no really good places to set up ambushes, but you
can lure Minotaurs one at a time to your party at least. I find the courtyard
to be the best place for this simply because of its centralized location.
Ideally you can get your party regrouped without anyone getting hurt, so you
can take on the Minotaurs more on your terms. Even still, this can be a tough
mission, as Minotaurs are extremely powerful enemies, that can take out even a
Kelden with a lucky shot. If you want to grab the quest item and run
(understandable in this particular mission) it's located in the northern room
of the building to the northeast of the central courtyard.
Bring the chest back to Tullianna and she'll open it only to find it completely
plundered except for a ring, which she gives to you. The Red Ring she gives you
is worth 1000 gold, but does nothing else.
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G.03t QUEST 20 (Red Shield): TROLL HUNTING
Once you've completed Quest 24, go talk to Denswurth in Olanthen and tell him
that Norgan sent you. He'll ask you to clean out a nest of Trolls some of his
subordinates were too weak to handle. Talk around and you'll learn that
Rhunholland knows where to find Trolls. Ask him about them and he says that
there were some Trolls in a keep on the Missip. The quest location proper is in
the middle of nowhere, so it's hard to give good directions, but it's on the
same east-west level as the northern edge of the eastern Zolod mountains, and
on the same north-south level as the northeast corner of the East Mytrones.
The fortress that the Trolls live in is heavily defended and in a tough spot to
assault, but with good strategy it's not too bad. You'll start this quest in
something of a tight spot--all six of your characters are jammed onto a narrow
bridge, with a Troll waiting for you right on the other side. It's good to have
a melee character in position 1 to deal with it. Once it's dead, be careful, as
the wall in front of you is a rampart with several Trolls on it; if any of them
like using missile weapons, you should have a Scout fly up over the walls and
draw their fire until they're out of arrows. The rampart is in a "U" formation
with the entrance in the center; an ideal spot to place your melee fighters to
take care of the Trolls there. There are a few trolls on the bridge to the
north of here; they may attack your fighters from behind so be prepared. Once
all the Trolls in the "U" parapet area are dead, you can move your party across
the bridge to the north. Right on the other side of the bridge is another long
high wall with three Trolls on it; the only way up here is to fly, so if you
don't have any flight-capable characters you'll have no choice but to grab the
quest item and run here. Whether or not you kill the Trolls up there, move
around the wall (to the east is good, as there's usually a Troll hanging around
outside in that area you can take care of) and head to the north of it. The
final Troll should be inside the building guarding the quest item, a Statuette.
Bring the Statuette back to Denswurth as proof that you killed the Trolls, and
he'll give you a Great Shield, a very light shield that offers better
protection than any other in the game. You can also edit the appearance of the
Great Shield in the Character Options.
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G.03u QUEST 21 (Sapphire Ring): BRYOR
When you talk to Rodrigard the Tollman at the Sheller Bridge, (he's on the
parapet to the left) and ask for gossip, he'll mention "Bryor." Ask him more
about that and he'll tell you to fight some Ettins that are hanging out on
Sheller Ridge, kill them, and bring back one of their wristbands of Dwarven
gold as proof. The entrance to the quest is closer to a city than any other in
the game; it's on the east end of the Ridge, just northeast of the corner of
Shellernoon.
The Ettins in this quest are hanging out in a reasonably-sized castle with four
buildings in it. It's very densely packed with Ettins, so you'll never have to
go far to find an enemy. You'll start off at the north entrance, usually with
two Ettins right near you ready to fight. If either of these Ettins feels like
being a boulder-thrower it could be problematic as you'll have to get near them
before you can kill them (with no cover) and may take some damage before you
can start the fight proper. Assuming you kill the two Ettins, the remainder of
the enemies are either inside the castle or just outside its east or south gate.
There's no really good place to set up an ambush here, but the north entrance
will do in a pinch; this is actually a good place for your party to stay for
the duration of the quest, as going inside the castle will leave them open, and
the quest area is small enough that it's not a huge pain to lure Ettins from
the edges of the map to this exit. The one tricky part of this quest is not
getting your Scout swamped or leading multiple Ettins to your melee fighters at
once; the Ettins hang out in groups and it's often difficult to just lead one
to your trap. Also, a lot of the Ettins are inside the four buildings inside
the castle, and it's always tough to lure enemies outside buildings, though
these Ettins seem to be more willing to chase you out than in other quests. If
any of the Ettins seem set on boulder-throwing, have your Scout sit in a
doorway until it uses up its missiles; Ettin boulders can do a lot of damage.
One thing I've noticed is that when going out the two-tile north exit, the
Ettins seem to prefer to hug the left wall, so position your melee fighters so
that all of them have a good shot at this square. If you want to go for the
Gold Bracer, it can be tough to get, being heavily guarded by Ettins, but it's
in the southwest building inside the castle.
Bring the Bracer back to Rodrigard and he'll congratulate you--turns out he was
watching the whole battle from the tower. He tells you tell Aurin that the sky
looks "Grey."
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G.03v QUEST 22 (Round shield): CUDDLY DJINN
After completing quest 21, talk to Aurin and tell him "Grey" and he'll ask you
to retrieve an object stolen from him in the woods by Djinn (He doesn't he tell
you WHAT the object is, though, Hmm....) Nobody on the Bridge knows about
Djinns, so you'll have to go to Shellernoon to get the information you need.
There, if you listen to Kelmore's gossip, you'll learn that when he was younger,
he was on a mission in the Thanakesh to defeat some Djinns. So, that's where
you're headed. The entrance itself is in the northwestern area of the Thanakesh
hills, right in the middle of the hills. It's directly south of the "arm" of
the Zolod mountains that jut out to the west.
There are only 8 Djinn to face in this quest, but they're pretty tough. They
hang out on what's basically a "Djinn Bridge." The mission area consists of a
gigantic north-south bridge, which at the south end, turns west down a row of
tiny little houses. The Djinn are fairly evenly spaced along this entire
stretch, though there are two or three at the north end of the bridge, near
where your party starts out. There's only one really ideal spot in the mission
for an ambush and that's at the tail end of the mission, though the little
"alcoves" along the main bridge, along with the north bridge entrance, will do
in a pinch. As the Djinn are fairly wide-spread out, this is one mission you
could probably do with just moving your whole party through the area in one big
sweep, though you'd be restricted to using only two melee fighters. Djinn don't
use missile attacks, and their melee attacks are not as powerful as their size
would suggest, (unless they've got Wind Swords) so they're not too hard to deal
with. If you play this mission out in a careful and normal fashion, you really
shouldn't have too much trouble, as missions go it's not too terribly hard. If
for whatever reason you find yourself having trouble here, you could take out
the Djinn with flying archers and/or spellcasters, and they won't be able to
retaliate, but even a low-level party should be able to do this mission without
too much problem. The quest item, a teddy bear (Guess that explains why Aurin
was so reluctant to tell you what he wanted) is in the northern-most house at
the very end of the east-west road lined with buildings.
Return to Aurin with his teddy bear, and he'll tell you to speak to the head
Guardsman at Shellernoon and give his name.
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G.03w QUEST 23 (Medal): THE RING OF SHADES
Once you've completed Quest 22, talk to the Sheller Elite Guards in Shellernoon
and tell them that Aurin sent you. They'll ask you to retrieve the Ring of
Shades from Trolls that have it. Suzy is the only one in town that knows where
to find Trolls--Cliff Trolls! So you've got a tough quest ahead of you. She'll
tell you they can be found on the shores of Lake Sanat. The entrance to the
quest proper is not directly on the shores of Lake Sanat, but on the Westwash a
little bit west of the lake proper.
This is an extremely difficult quest if your party isn't powerful, because
Cliff Trolls are very tough enemies, and what's worse, your party starts split
up at the beginning of the mission. There are two bridges into the Cliff Troll
Village over a river; characters 1, 2, and 3 start at the north bridge and
characters 4, 5, and 6 start at the south bridge. The only way to reunite your
party is either to go straight through the village proper, or for one side to
fly over the center river. The first is basically impossible to do without
getting killed (the village is swarming with Cliff Trolls, which will get in
your way) so you're best off starting off the quest by having one half of your
party fly over the river. The south side of the river is a better place to
position your party (the bridge makes an excellent ambush spot) so organize
your party so your flight-capable characters are in the first three spots.
Because Cliff Trolls can cause characters to freeze in terror, you want as few
Flying Cloaks as possible (anyone who can should wear a Courage Coat) so if you
have any Kelden, put them in the first three ranks as they can fly and wear a
Courage Coat at the same time. You'll want at least one lightly-armored flight-
capable scout to go fly over the walls of the village and draw fire from
boulder-throwing Cliff Trolls before you start luring them to your trap; Cliff
Troll boulders hurt a lot, and you don't want your melee fighters getting
knocked out as you'll need them. An anti-Cliff Troll spell can work wonders in
this mission too, if it's powerful enough. The village itself is extremely
small (basically it's just three small buildings surrounded by a wall) so don't
move your party inside, whatever you do; enemies in there are very tightly
packed together, and even the strongest party can't survive getting swarmed by
Cliff Trolls. The quest item itself is in the central building in the village;
it's comparatively close to the quest entrance, though getting it and running
can be a trick, due to the "population density" inside the walls.
Bring the Ring back to the Shellernoon Guards and they'll take it, and tell you
to tell Norgan that you're from the Silver Knot.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G.03x QUEST 24 (Wreath): SHELLERNOON'S WARD
Once you've finished Quest 23, go talk to Norgan, lord of Shellernoon. Tell him
you're from the Silver Knot and he'll ask you to get Shellernoon's Ward back
from Sledges that took it, and he'll reward you with a magical artifact. Asking
around town about Sledges, you'll learn that Wilbur knows about them; he'll
tell you he escaped some in the Sodden Hills. The entrance to the quest is in
the dead center of the Sodden hills, about parallel with the southern edge of
Pildar's castle to the east.
There's only one word for this quest: sadistic. It's definitely one of the
hardest quests in the game. All your characters are separated from each other
and tossed into the middle of a huge maze, which is filled with Sledges. The
quest item is at the exit of the maze, so you have to wander around with each
of your characters to try to find your way out. Flying is right out in this
mission as it takes place entirely inside. And Sledges are "terrible" enemies
so you'll need all your characters with a Courage Coat. (If you hate cheating
that much, make six different parties and have them all complete quest 8 over
and over again, then trade the Coat you get with each win to each of your
characters) Missile weapons are not much use here either as there isn't a whole
lot of space to run from the Sledges. Below I've created an ASCII map of the
quest, and have a detailed strategy to keep your characters as intact as
possible.
Q
########### ######################
# # # # #
# ##### # # ############C####### #
#A# # # # # # # #
# # # # # #B# ### ##### # ###
# # # # # # ####### # # #
# # #1# # # ######## ##### #
# # ### # ####### # # # Q = Sheller Ward, Quest Item
# # # ######## ### # ###
# ########### ### # # 1-6 = Starting locations of
# D a # #######d##### # characters 1-6 respectively
##### ### #####E# # #
# 2# # ### # ######## ##### A-K = Approximate location of the
# ### # ##### # # # # # # Sledges (Sledges not marked
# # # ######## # # ### # # with a letter are generally
####### # # ### # # # # hanging around outside the
# # # # ######## ####### # exit to the maze, near the
# #####F# # # # # # # quest item. Check the
# b # # # ######## # ## # #### fields northeast of the
# # # # # # # # # # exit specifically, as one
# # # ### #G#################### # usually shows up there)
# # # # # # ### # Note these positions are not
# # # ### # # ######c####### ### # exact, and the Sledges move
# # ### # # H # # # ### # around too. The strategy below
# # # ### ###### # # # # # # assumes that each of the Sledges
# #I### # # # # # # # # ####### are close to these points; if
# # #3 # #6# # # ## # # # # they're not, you may have to ad
# # ##### ### # # # # # ####### # lib it a little.
# # # # # ## # # #
# ############# # # # ####### # # a-d = Waypoint locations
# # # #4# # #5# #
# ########### # ### ######## ### #
# K # #
##################################
Your three best melee characters should probably start out in positions 2, 3,
and 6, and your archers (assuming you have three) should be in positions 1, 4,
and 5. Position 1 is best for your scout. Your archer most proficient in melee
should be in position 4 to deal with Sledge H in case it finds its way to your
start position. Upon starting the quest, character 6 will immediately be
attacked by Sledge G, and will have to deal with it one-on-one. While this is
taking place, character 5 should move toward waypoint c and wait there for a
while. Characters 2 and 6 should move toward Waypoint and kill Sledge D. Once
Sledge D is dead, have characters 3 and 1 move toward Waypoint a. Character 1
should get in Sledge A's field of view then lure it the long way toward point a,
firing arrows as you go; that'll have it weakened by the time you get it to
characters 2 and 6. Character 3 will probably also have Sledge F chasing
him/her by the time s/he makes it to waypoint a, so the three melee characters
will want to take care of it too. Once 1,2,3, and 6 are reunited and Sledges A,
D, and F are dead, move the group to Waypoint b. Have Character 1 (assuming
it's your scout) lure both Sledges I and K to your waiting melee fighters. Make
sure there's enough space so that your scout can get by. Once they're both dead,
move your entire party to Waypoint c. By this time you may have had to kill
Sledge H with 4 and/or 5; if not, your melee fighters should take care of it.
At this point, your party is reunited and can move together and eliminate each
remaining Sledge individually. Because of the tightness of the passages, there
is no good spot for ambushes, and you may have to use one of your melee
fighters as your scout. Waypoint d is a good central point to deal with Sledges
B, C, and E. Once they're dead, move your party out of the maze to where the
Sheller Ward lies; the remaining Sledge should be hanging out nearby. Kill it
to end the quest.
Bring the Sheller Ward back to Norgan. He'll give you the Shade Ring and tell
you to seek the Black Dwarf, Dundle. Actually, though, this is a bug; you're
not supposed to seek Dundle, but instead Dunsworth, in Olanthen. The Shade Ring
makes the character wearing it invisible to monsters unless they're right up
close. It's best used on a mage; it can be problematic on archers as they won't
be able to predict where to fire as well, and melee characters need to get
close up to the monsters, which is more difficult when being ignored.
===============================================================================
SECTION F: TOWN AMENITIES
===============================================================================
The following section lists all the stores and amenities available to you in
Knights of Legend, divided by town. Note that this is not a comprehensive list
of everyone that lives in a town; it only lists places where you can get a
service of some sort--lodging, shopping, healing, training, etc.
F.01 BRETTLE
============
Trollsbane Inn:
---------------
Lodging (safe) - 60G
Saint Paul's Abbey
------------------
Healing
Wizard's Tower:
---------------
Join White Pearl Order - 500
Daynalon - 340
Daytwelon - 330
Arnalon - 340
Artwelon - 330
Daynalyr - 440
Daytwelyr - 430
Arnalyr - 440
Artwelyr - 430
Hansard Forger: (Dwarves unwelcome)
---------------
Dagger - 80 Halberd - 280 Flail - 240
Shortsword - 96 Great Axe - 320 Great Hammer - 320
Scimitar - 120 Short Spear - 85 War Maul - 240
Longsword - 128 Long Spear - 185 Self Bow - 320
Broadsword - 160 Club - 40 Lt Crossbow - 240
Bastard Swrd - 320 Quarterstaff - 80 Hvy Crossbow - 320
Greatsword - 400 Mace - 120
Battle Axe - 80 Heavy Maul - 128
Broadaxe - 120 War Hammer - 160
Battle Axe - 200 Morningstar - 200
Weaponer: (Elves unwelcome)
---------
Dagger - 80 Halberd - 280 Great Hammer - 320
Shortsword - 96 Great Axe - 320 War Maul - 240
Scimitar - 120 Short Spear - 85 Self Bow - 320
Longsword - 128 Long Spear - 185
Broadsword - 160 War Hammer - 160
Bastard Swrd - 320 Mace - 120
Greatsword - 400 Heavy Maul - 128
Battle Axe - 80 War Hammer - 160
Broadaxe - 120 Morningstar - 200
Battle Axe - 200 Flail - 240
Ludeman Armorers:
-----------------
Fur Cap - 32 Cuirbolli T - 560 Brigandine L - 750
Fur Shirt - 185 Cuirbolli L - 480 Chain Coif - 200
Fur Pants - 180 Conical Helm - 100 Chain Shirt - 1400
Cloth Hood - 48 Ring Byrnie - 680 Chain Pants - 1200
Cloth Aketon - 330 Ring Pants - 560 Barbut Helm - 250
Cloth Pants - 280 Pot Helm - 150 Platemail T - 1680
Leather Hood - 45 Scale Amine - 840 Platemail L - 1440
Jerkin - 440 Scale Pants - 720 Buckler - 100
Leather Pant - 350 Basinet - 200 Target Shld - 200
Cuirbolli H - 85 Brigandine T - 890 Kite Shield - 300
Bowyer and Fletcher:
-------------------
Long Bow - 400
Holcroft Stables (Dwarves unwelcome)
----------------
Draft Horse
Lgt Warhorse
Med Warhorse
Hvy Warhorse
Fortress of Brettle:
--------------------
Training: 240
Longsword: 0-30
Broadsword: 0-30
Short Spear: 0-30
Battle Axe: 0-30
The Lonely Page Pub:
--------------------
Stale Bread - Poor - 4GP Orc Nose - Poor - 5GP
Ham Steak - Fair - 20GP Frogs Legs - Poor - 3GP
Breaded Fish - Fair - 18GP Jerky - Poor - 1GP
Salt Chicken - Poor - 16GP Turtle Soup - Poor - 10GP
Corn Bread - Poor - 6GP Potato Soup - Fair - 12GP
Beans - Poor - 10GP
Steamed Duck - Fair - 40GP
Minced Beef - Fair - 25GP
Sausage Roll - Poor - 15GP
Pigs Feet - Poor - 5GP
F.02 THIMBLEWALD
================
Saint Hibiscus Abbey: (Barbarians unwelcome)
---------------------
Healing
Stiffnuckles Inn:
-----------------
Lodging (safe) - 120G
Fallerton Stables: (Dwarves unwelcome)
------------------
Draft Horse
Lgt Warhorse
Med Warhorse
Hvy Warhorse
The Wizard's Tower:
-------------------
Join Red Mist Order: 550G
Vonnalyrmu: 540
Vontwelyrmu: 530
Vonnalyrfe: 640
Vontwelyrfe: 640
Vonnalyrti: 740
Vontwelyrti: 730
Miller and Granery: (Dwarves unwelcome)
-------------------
Ground Meal - Fair - 5GP
Mixed Nuts - Poor - 5GP
Grumbling Gut Tavern: (Barbarians unwelcome)
---------------------
Beans - Poor - 10GP Meat Pie - Fair - 20GP
Ham Steak - Fair - 20GP Pigs Feet - Poor - 5GP
Salt Chicken - Poor - 16GP Fresh Bread - Good - 35GP
Sausage Roll - Poor - 15GP
Gin - Poor - 10GP
Rum - Poor - 15GP
Grog - Poor - 4GP
Ale - Poor - 20GP
Potato Soup - Poor - 10GP
Lentil Soup - Poor - 7GP
Armorer and Smith:
------------------
Dagger - 80 Great Axe - 320 Basinet - 200
Shortsword - 96 Short Spear - 85 Brigandine T - 890
Longsword - 128 Mace - 120 Brigandine L - 750
Broadsword - 160 Heavy Maul - 128 Chain Coif - 200
Bastard Swrd - 320 War Hammer - 160 Chain Shirt - 1400
Greatsword - 400 Morningstar - 200 Chain Pants - 1200
Battle Axe - 80 Flail - 240 Barbut Helm - 250
Broadaxe - 120 Great Hammer - 320 Platemail T - 1680
Battle Axe - 200 War Maul - 240 Platemail L - 1440
Halberd - 280 Scale Amine - 840 Kite Shield - 300
F.03 SHELLERNOON
================
The Commhobb Inn (Darkguard unwelcome)
----------------
Lodging (safe) - 65
Stone Inn
---------
Lodging (unsafe) - Free
Free Faith Fellowship
---------------------
Healing
Livery Stable (Darkguard unwelcome)
-------------
Draft Horse
Lgt Warhorse
Med Warhorse
Hvy Warhorse
Weapons Trainer (Darkguard unwelcome)
---------------
Training: 204G
Long Spear
Morningstar
War Maul
Heavy Maul
Wilbur's Mage Things:
---------------------
Iron Pot - 52 Linen Sheet - 24
String - 1 Gold Thread - 2570
Red Candle - 23 Saltpeter - 48
Tin Box - 26 Flash Paper - 245
Salt Cellar - 223 Black Hat - 25
Metal Mirror - 350 Whoopie Cush - 1
Plain Soap - 17
Charcoal - 1
Pottery Vial - 4
Large Tongs - 70
Journeys' End Stores: (Darkguard unwelcome)
---------------------
Black Lotus - 780 Rushlight - 2 Jade Frog - 2500
Musk - 75 Oil Lantern - 65 Red Canary - 450
Narcissus - 25 Canvas Sack - 28 Pint Wine - 4
Ash Wood - 45 Tinderbox - 15 Bag of Coins - 1
Carnelian - 25 Waterskin - 36
Aquamarine - 42 Iron Chain - 35*
Raw Jade - 35 Iron Spikes - 25
Opal Ring - 195 Brass Bowl - 185
Onyx Clasp - 95 Copper Ingot - 250**
Pitch Oil - 35 Blue Paint - 23
*The Iron Chain is a weapon, but is bugged in both the Apple and PC versions.
It'll freeze your game if you try to equip it.
**This may be an "Ingot" but you can't use it to forge weapons.
The Courageous Griffin: (Kelderheit unwelcome)
-----------------------
Beans - Poor - 10GP
Pigs Feet - Poor - 5GP
Minced Beef - Fair - 25GP
Sausage Roll - Poor - 15GP
Griffin Duck - Good - 45GP
Bronk Eggs - Poor - 30GP
Eyren Clams - Good - 30GP
Pork Roast - Great - 45GP
Apples - Poor - 2GP
Sordsmith Ecstrodinar:*
----------------------
Dagger - 60 Great Axe - 260 Lt Crossbow - 180
Shortsword - 76 Short Spear - 55 Hvy Crossbow - 260
Longsword - 92 Long Spear - 130
Broadsword - 120 Mace - 70
Bastard Swrd - 280 Heavy Maul - 94
Greatsword - 300 War Hammer - 100
Hand Axe - 60 Morningstar - 120
Broadaxe - 80 Flail - 180
Battle Axe - 140 Great Hammer - 260
Halberd - 200 War Maul - 160
*As you'll notice, all the items produced by Sordsmith Ecstrodinar are about
25% cheaper than the "standard price," but their quality is still as good as
any other. (despite the game's description of the shop) However if you try to
resell any items that you bought there, you'll only get the discounted price in
return.
Armorer Extraordinaire: (Darkguard unwelcome)
-----------------------
Fur Cap - 32 Leather Pant - 350 Scale Pants - 720 Target Shld - 200
Fur Shirt - 185 Leather Cape - 200 Basinet - 200 Kite Shield - 300
Fur Pants - 180 Leather Helm - 85 Brigandine T - 890
Fur Boots - 33 Cuirbolli T - 560 Brigandine L - 750
Fur Cape - 150 Cuirbolli L - 480 Chain Coif - 200
Cloth Hood - 48 Conical Helm - 100 Chain Shirt - 1400
Cloth Aketon - 330 Ring Byrnie - 680 Chain Pants - 1200
Cloth Pants - 280 Ring Pants - 560 Barbut Helm - 250
Leather Hood - 45 Scale Helm - 150 Platemail T - 1680
Jerkin - 440 Scale Amine - 840 Platemail L - 1440
A Residence:
------------
Join Black Onyx Order: 450 Gold
Varnalyrmu - 540
Vartwelyrmu - 530
Varnalyrfe - 640
Vartwelyrfe - 630
Varnalyrti- 740
Vartwelyrti - 730
Varnalyrmi - 840
Vartwelyrmi - 830
F.04 HTRON
==========
Wailing Peacock Inn: (Rogues unwelcome)
--------------------
Lodging (Safe) - 75G
The Quiet Cove Inn:
-------------------
Lodging (Unsafe) - Free
Saint Vitrius Abbey:
--------------------
Healing
Training Grounds: (Kelderheit unwelcome)
-----------------
Training: 260G
Scimitar: 0-50
Mace
Lt Crossbow
War Hammer
Zachary Bladeshure: (Regulars unwelcome)
-------------------
Training: 280
Scimitar
Greatsword
Shortsword
Bastard Swrd
Yommel Kilandra: (Dwarves unwelcome)
----------------
Sapphire Pin - 55G Brass Goblet - 35G
Oil Lamp - 75G Copper Box - 200G
Earring - 135G Pin - 4G
Leather Belt - 96G Woolen Cape - 85G
Bronze Vial - 50G Gloves - 30G
Silver Bowl - 230G Elf Bow - 750
Red Woolens - 300G Long Bow - 400
Silver Chain - 155G
Pewter Mug - 50G
Bracelet - 550G
The Towne Merchant:
-------------------
Comb - 12G Lamp - 70G Gold Clasp - 350G
Headband - 16G Steel Mirror - 35G Medallion - 250G
Earring - 6G Pin - 68G Medal - 275G
Belt - 24G Cape - 110G Ruby Earring - 420G
Orb - 50G Gold Chain - 2500G Tin Vial - 11G
Choker - 10G Gauntlets - 90G Ivory Box - 290G
Silver Fork - 160G Crown - 4000G Bronze Idol - 1500G
Necklace - 85G Gold Chalice - 3500G Brass Buckle - 65G
Hourglass - 50G Locket - 55G Pewter Cup - 23G
Bracelet - 150G Silver Seal - 350G
Ship Chandler:
--------------
Briar Pipe - 15G
Carved Pipe - 65G
Tobacco - 1G
Tobacco - 2G
Tobacco - 5G
Cigars - 3G
Bronze Tin - 6G
Leather Bag - 6G
Matches - 16G
Pipe Tamper - 1G
Pipe Knife - 1G
Ofter's Alehouse: (Elves unwelcome)
-----------------
Stout Ale - Poor - 5G Turtle Eggs - Poor - 10G
Roast Hen - Poor - 3G Squid Soup - Fair - 10G
Pretzels - Poor - 2G Serpent Soup - Fair - 45G
Ham Steak - Fair - 20G Fresh Crab - Fair - 20G
Octopus - Poor - 10G Oyster Stew - Good - 10G
Shrimp - Poor - 10G Seaweed Stew - Poor - 10G
Tuna - Fair - 25G Kackel Backel - Poor - 15G
Lobster - Good - 50G
Eel - Poor - 15G
Shark Fin - Poor - 25G
F.05 POITLE LOCK:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Lonely Cherub Inn:
------------------
Lodging (Safe) - 57G
Fishouse: (Rogues unwelcome)
---------
Raw Fish - Poor - 2**
Dried Fish - Fair - 5
**The Raw fish is "equippable" and will change you into a "Raw fish" mage.
You'll be treated as a mage for all intents and purposes by characters in the
game (ie get booted out of other mage towers) without any of the advantages, so
don't equip it!
Ma's Stables
------------
Draft Horse
Lgt Warhorse
Med Warhorse
Hvy Warhorse
The Mystic Tower:
-----------------
Join Secret Storm Order: 610G
Kumnalyrmu - 540
Kumtwelyrmu - 530
Kumnalyrfe - 640
Kumtwelyrfe - 630
Kumnalyrti - 740
Kumtwelyrti - 730
Kumnalyrmi - 840
Kumtwelyrmi - 830
The Boorish Widow: (Dwarves unwelcome)
------------------
Poitle Beer - Poor - 5
Poitle Wine - Fair - 25
Ale - Fair - 15
Bitter - Poor - 5
Ham Steak - Poor - 10
Beefsteak - Fair - 15
Tree Gum - Poor - 4
Biscuits - Poor - 5
Orcs Nose - Poor - 5
Pork Roast - Great - 45
Braumeister's Haus:
-------------------
Cask of Ale - Poor - 120
Cognac - Poor - 10
Klvar Brandy - Good - 200
Sweetwine - Fair - 10
Darkbeer - Poor - 5
Schnapps - Poor - 20
Brandy - Fair - 15
Birch Beer - Poor - 5
Smoking House:
--------------
Smoked Fish - Good - 12
Smoked Meat - Good - 12
Beef Jerky - Poor - 4
Salmon Stew - Fair - 20
Smithy:
-------
Dagger - 80 Halberd - 280 War Maul - 240
Shortsword - 96 Great Axe - 320 Lt Crossbow - 240
Scimitar - 120 Short Spear - 85 Hvy Crossbow - 320
Longsword - 128 Long Spear - 185
Broadsword - 160 Mace - 120
Bastard Swrd - 320 Heavy Maul - 128
Greatsword - 400 War Hammer - 160
Battle Axe - 80 Morningstar - 200
Broadaxe - 120 Flail - 240
Battle Axe - 200 Great Hammer - 320
Jeweler:
-------
Gold Earring - 550 Silver Knife - 500 Parade Helm - 2400
Copper Ring - 65 Sapphire - 1500
Topaz Pin - 250 Diamond - 4090
Silver Cup - 480 Diamond - 2780
Emerald - 1000 Opal - 1900
Ruby Ring - 1000 Broach - 1800
Pendant - 3400 Brass Medal - 280
Crystal Cup - 300 Onyx Statue - 2400
Silver Fork - 480 Inlaid Sword - 2400
Silver Spoon - 450 Sword Belt - 750
F.06 OLANTHEN:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Long Days Inn:
--------------
Lodging (Safe) - 60G
The Abbey of Olanthen:
----------------------
Healing
Joolie the Mysticist:
---------------------
Join Dark Stone Order: 300G
Vornalyrmu - 540
Vortwelyrmu - 530
Vornalyrfe - 640
Vortwelyrfe - 630
Vornalyrmuti - 740
Vortwelyrti - 730
Vornalyrmi - 840
Vortwelyrmi - 830
Rhun Manor:
-----------
Training: 350G
Longsword: 45-90
Broadsword: 40-90
Bastard Swrd: 65-105
Greatsword: 40-105
Bophet's Steeds:
----------------
Draft Horse
Lgt Warhorse
Med Warhorse
Hvy Warhorse
Handcrafted Leathers:
---------------------
Cloth Hood - 48 Conical Helm - 100 Wood Hammer - 25
Cloth Aketon - 330 Ring Byrnie - 680 Awl - 12
Cloth Pants - 280 Ring Pants - 560 Leather Seat - 19
Leather Hood - 45 Scale Amine - 840 Canteen - 24
Jerkin - 440 Scale Pants - 720 Wine Skin - 20
Leather Pant - 350 Brigandine T - 890 Paddle - 48
Leather Cape - 200 Brigandine L - 750 Scale Helm - 150
Leather Helm - 85 Kite Shield - 300 Fine Boots - 45
Cuirbolli T - 560 Leather Belt - 45 Shoes - 15
Cuirbolli L - 480 Leather Bag - 12 Gauntlets - 85
Cobbler:
--------
Wooden Clogs - 3 Broad Axe - 105
Sandals - 8 Short Spear - 90
Slippers - 15 Buckler - 91
Work Boots - 35 Great Hammer - 300
Dwarf Boots - 55 War Hammer - 156
Better Boots - 75 Fancy Boots - 850
Riding Boots - 150
Dress Boots - 350
Dagger - 80
Hand Axe - 80
Ne'er Dry Pub:
--------------
Ale - Poor - 10G Haggis - Fair - 4G
Whiskey - Poor - 7G Black Puddin - Poor - 12G
Grog - Poor - 4G Head Cheese - Poor - 5G
Mutton - Fair - 25G
Pheasant - Fair - 50G
Venison - Great - 76G
Roast Boar - Good - 46G
Biscuits - Poor - 5G
Waybread - Great - 40G
Kipper - Poor - 10G
Isobel's Bakery: (Regulars unwelcome)
----------------
Fresh Bread - Poor - 10G Black Bread - Fair - 15G
Grain Cakes - Good - 20G Sausage - Fair - 13G
Fine Cheese - Poor - 3G Butter - Poor - 7G
Apples - Poor - 1G Gold Yummies - Fair - 5G
Fresh Veal - Great - 75G Bran Muffins - Fair - 7G
Goose - Fair - 25G Spice Bread - Fair - 25G
Honey - Poor - 1G Nut Cake - Fair - 16G
Wine - Poor - 25G
Good Beer - Poor - 5G
Aged Ale - Poor - 9G
F.07 AMAZON VILLAGE:
====================
The Portal: (Darkguard unwelcome)
-----------
Training: 300G
Halberd: 70-105
Morningstar: 60-95
Flail: 0-45
Broadsword: 90-125
The Hostel:
-----------
Join Blue Gem Order: 450G
Tynalon: 340
Tytwelon: 330
Kelnalon: 340
Keltwelon: 330
Tynalyr: 440
Tytwelyr: 430
Kelnalyr: 440
Keltwelyr: 430
F.08 KLVAR WOODS:
=================
Klvar Tree House:
-----------------
Training: 400G
Self Bow: 0-55
Elf Bow: 15-75
Long Bow: 10-35
Dagger: 0-60
F.09 FALLEN KEEP:
=================
Frumpin Scalecatcher:
---------------------
Scale - 100
Small Scale - 25
F.10 KAZHAD:
============
Kherrikvaad Smithy:*
-------------------
Battle Axe - 200 Ring Byrnie - 680
Hand Axe - 80
Great Axe - 320
Halberd - 280
Barbut Helm - 250
Platemail T - 1680
Platemail L - 1440
Chain Coif - 200
Chain Shirt - 1400
Chain Pants - 1200
*Note that all armor sold in this store is dwarf-size; as the smithy does not
offer fitting services, it is too small to be worn by other characters.
T'a Kalla Tavern:
-----------------
Klakkra - Fair - 30
Troll Filets - Fair - 50
Mavaldak - Poor - 38
Leg of Ogre - Good - 60
Rat Haunch - Poor - 10
Girak Helbak - Good - 35
Kackel Backel - Poor - 15
F.11 HALFWAY HOUSE:
===================
Halfway House:
--------------
Lodging (Safe): 56G
Weapons Master:
---------------
Training: 210G
Club: 0 - 45
Halberd: 0 - 45
Great Hammer: 0 - 45
Quarterstaff: 0 - 45
F.12 BRETTLE CROSSROADS:
========================
Tower at Threeroads:
--------------------
Training: 240G
Broad Axe: 0 - 45
Hand Axe: 0 - 45
Hvy Crossbow: 0 - 45
Great Axe: 0 - 45
===============================================================================
SECTION G: EQUIPMENT LIST
===============================================================================
The following section lists all the weapons, armor, and other equipment you can
get in the game. (at least that I've found) The first list displays "standard"
equipment that's widely available; the second has unusual equipment you can
only find in specialized stores, in quests, or from monsters.
G.01 STANDARD EQUIPMENT
=======================
WEAPONS:
--------
Name Hands Belt? Type Damage Enc
--------------------------------------------------------
Club One Yes Hack/Slash 1-6 15
Dagger One Yes Hack/Thrust 2-4 20
Shortsword One Yes Hack/Thrust 2-6 20
Hand Axe One Yes Hack/Slash 3-6 25
Quarterstaff One Yes Hack/Slash/Thrust 2-7 25
Scimitar One Yes Hack/Slash 1-8 25
Broad Axe One Yes Hack/Slash 3-9 30
Self Bow Two No Missile 2-13 30
Longsword One Yes Hack/Slash/Thrust 1-8 35
Mace One Yes Hack/Slash/Thrust 4-9 40
Broadsword One Yes Hack/Slash/Thrust 3-10 40
Short Spear One Yes Hack/Slash/Thrust 2-11 40
Battle Axe One Yes Hack/Slash/Thrust 1-12 40
Long Bow Two No Missile 1-20 40
Elf Bow Two No Missile 3-22 40
Heavy Maul One Yes Hack/Slash 2-12 45
War Hammer One Yes Hack/Slash 3-13 50
Lt Crossbow Two No Missile 6-16 50
Long Spear Two Yes Hack/Slash/Thrust 4-13 55
Morningstar Two Yes Hack/Slash 4-14 55
Halberd Two Yes Hack/Slash/Thrust 4-15 60
Bastard Swd Two Yes Hack/Slash 3-17 60
War Maul Two Yes Hack/Slash 3-18 62
Great Hammer Two Yes Hack/Slash 4-19 66
Flail Two Yes Hack/Slash 5-20 70
Hvy Crossbow Two No Missile 8-23 70
Great Axe Two Yes Hack/Slash 2-24 70
Greatsword Two Yes Hack/Slash 3-24 75
ARMOR
Name Prot Enc: H/T/L*
---------------------------------------------------------
Fur 1-6 6/54/36
Cloth 1-6 5/45/30
Leather (Includes Jerkin) 2-7 8/72/48
Cuirbolli (Includes Leather Helm) 3-8 10/90/60
Ring (Includes Conical Helm) 4-9 10/90/60
Scale (Includes Pot Helm) 5-10 12/108/72
Brigandine (Includes Basinet) 6-11 15/135/90
Chain 7-12 15/135/90
Plate (Includes Barbut Helm) 7-17 20/180/120
*The Head/Torso/Legs Encumbrance values here are listed for a character exactly
6'0" in height, or Size of 66. Fitted armor for characters shorter or taller
than this will weigh more or less. For each inch above or below 6' a character
is, their armor weight is raised or lowered by 1%--so armor for a 7'1"
character would be 113% of the "base" weight, and armor for a 5'0" character
would be 88% of the "base" weight.
SHIELDS
Name Prot* Enc:
-----------------------------
Buckler 20% 20
Target Shld 30% 50
Kite Shield 40% 60
*The Protection value for shields is a direct bonus to your defensive roll;
rather than reduce or eliminate damage like armor, shields give you a bonus to
avoid blows altogether.
G.02 UNUSUAL EQUIPMENT
======================
The following is a list of "unusual equipment." Unusual equipment is equipment
that falls outside the scope of the equipment that's covered in the manual. All
of the armor on this list, and a few of the weapons, can be found in
"specialty" shops throughout the land--for example, most of the foot armor is
found in the Cobbler in Olanthen. The remainder of the weapons are found on the
corpses of the various enemies you'll encounter. All "unique" weapons are
categorized under one of the "standard" weapons for the purpose of what weapon
skill is used when wielding them; I've organized them by weapon type here. In
general, It's pretty easy to tell overall; the graphic of the "unique" weapon
on your character's paperdoll will usually be the same as the graphic of the
corresponding "standard" weapon. There are exceptions though--for example some
two-handed Giant Clubs look like Clubs but don't use Club Skill. (or any other
skill that you can train in without cheating)
Rule of thumb--if you're not sure whether or not you're skilled in using an
unusual weapon, equip it, and then look at the "WEAPON" part of the equipment
list. There will be two or three numbers on the last line; the one on the far
left is the damage, and the one on the far right is its weight. If there's a
number in the middle, then you are trained in the use of that weapon. The
number there corresponds to which of the character's skills is used for that
weapon. For example, if "Club" is the second skill on your list of weapon
skills, and you equip a Club-class weapon, you'll see a "2" in the middle.
HEAD ARMOR:
-----------
Fancy Boots: Prt 1-3, Enc: 10
Parade Helm: Prt 5-10, Enc: 10
BODY ARMOR:
-----------
Fur Cape: Prt 1-6, Enc: 18
Leather Cape: Prt 2-7, Enc: 24
HAND ARMOR:
-----------
Gauntlets: Prt 1-3, Enc: 3
FOOT ARMOR:
-----------
Sandals: Prt 1-4, Enc: 4
Wooden Clogs: Prt 1-3, Enc: 5
Fine Boots: Prt 1-3, Enc: 4
Slippers: Prt 1-4, Enc: 3
Fur Boots: Prt 1-6, Enc: 12
Work Boots: Prt 1-6, Enc: 16
Better Boots: Prt 1-6, Enc: 17
Dress Boots: Prt 1-6, Enc: 17
Dwarf Boots: Prt 1-6, Enc: 18
Riding Boots: Prt 1-6, Enc: 18
NECK ARMOR:
-----------
Black Choker (Secret Storm/Black Onyx Orders): Prt 1-3, Enc: 1
Pearl Amulet (White Pearl Order): Prt 1-3, Enc: 1
Red Necklace (Red Mist Order): Prt 1-3, Enc: 1
Stone Amulet (Dark Stone Order): Prt 1-3, Enc: 1
Blue Chain (Blue Gem Order): Prt 1-3, Enc:1
SHIELDS:
--------
Scale: Prt 30%, Enc: 40
Small Scale: Prt 20%, Enc: 20
LONGSWORD-CLASS WEAPONS:
------------------------
Inlaid Sword: 1H, Dmg 4-11, Enc: 35
CLUB-CLASS WEAPONS:
-------------------
Muck Branch: Dmg 3-13, Enc: 45 Dropped by Muck Things
Muck Branch: Dmg 3-13, Enc: 50 Dropped by Muck Things
Muck Branch: Dmg 3-13, Enc: 55 Dropped by Muck Things
Club: Dmg 4-18, Enc: 80 Dropped by Trolls
Bone Club: Dmg 2-20, Enc: 70 Dropped by Cyclopes, Hill Giants, Ogres,
Ettins
Grub Club: Dmg 2-21, Enc: 40 Dropped by Mist Grubs
Wooden Club: Dmg 2-24, Enc: 90 Dropped by Ettins, Ogres, Cyclopes
Stone Club: Dmg 3-18, Enc: 90 Dropped by Golems
Stone Club: Dmg 4-25, Enc: 90 Dropped by Cyclopes
Stone Club: Dmg 4-25, Enc: 100 Dropped by Hill Giants, Ettins, Ogres
Stone Club: Dmg 5-26, Enc: 100 Dropped by Minotaurs
Stone Club: Dmg 3-24, Enc: 100 Dropped by Golems
Stone Club: Dmg 3-30, Enc: 110 Dropped by Golems
Iron Club: Dmg 3-30, Enc: 108 Dropped by Hill Giants, Ogres, Ettins
Wooden Club: Dmg 3-36, Enc: 90 Dropped by Hill Giants
HAND AXE-CLASS WEAPONS:
-----------------------
Grub Axe: Dmg 2-13, Enc: 40 Dropped by Mist Grubs
LONG SPEAR-CLASS WEAPONS:
-------------------------
Long Spear: Dmg 4-22, Enc: 75 Dropped by Trolls
Long Spear: Dmg 4-22, Enc: 90 Dropped by Cliff Trolls
Long Spear: Dmg 5-23, Enc: 90 Dropped by Minotaurs
MACE-CLASS WEAPONS:
-------------------
Grub Mace: Dmg 2-11, Enc: 40 Dropped by Mist Grubs
Spiney Mace: Dmg 2-12, Enc: 35 Dropped by Binderaks
Spiney Mace: Dmg 2-16, Enc: 40 Dropped by Binderaks
Spiney Mace: Dmg 2-20, Enc: 45 Dropped by Binderaks
Spiney Mace: Dmg 2-20, Enc: 50 Dropped by Binderaks
Spiney Mace: Dmg 2-24, Enc: 50 Dropped by Binderaks
WAR HAMMER-CLASS WEAPONS:
-------------------------
War Hammer: Dmg 6-12, Enc: 50 Dropped by Sledges
WAR MAUL-CLASS WEAPONS:
-----------------------
Sea Hammer: Dmg 3-18, Enc: 80 Dropped by Sylphs
Wind Hammer: Dmg 3-24, Enc: 90 Dropped by Djinns
Sea Hammer: Dmg 3-24, Enc: 90 Dropped by Sylphs
Sea Hammer: Dmg 3-30, Enc: 100 Dropped by Sylphs
Maul: Dmg 3-30, Enc: 100 Dropped by Minotaurs, Trolls
Troll Maul: Dmg 5-32, Enc: 120 Dropped by Cliff Trolls
GREAT HAMMER-CLASS WEAPONS:
---------------------------
Blom Hammer: Dmg 4-14, Enc: 50 Dropped by Bloms
Blom Hammer: Dmg 4-18, Enc: 55 Dropped by Bloms
Blom Hammer: Dmg 4-22, Enc: 60 Dropped by Bloms
Blom Hammer: Dmg 4-26, Enc: 65 Dropped by Bloms
HEAVY MAUL-CLASS WEAPONS:
-------------------------
Grub Hammer: Dmg 2-9, Enc: 40 Dropped by Mist Grubs
Heavy Maul: Dmg 5-32, Enc: 110 Dropped by Cyclopes
GREAT AXE-CLASS WEAPONS:
------------------------
Great Axe: Dmg 4-26, Enc: 90 Dropped by Trolls
Great Axe: Dmg 4-26, Enc: 100 Dropped by Cliff Trolls
Great Axe: Dmg 6-28, Enc: 100 Dropped by Mist Giants
MISCELLANEOUS WEAPONS:
----------------------
Large Tongs: Dmg 2-7 Enc: 45
Fire Staff: Dmg 2-12, Enc: 45 Dropped by Salamanders
Fire Staff: Dmg 2-16, Enc: 55 Dropped by Salamanders
Fire Staff: Dmg 2-20, Enc: 65 Dropped by Salamanders
Bone Club Dmg 2-20, Enc: 70 Dropped by Stone Ogres
Stone Club: Dmg 4-25, Enc: 100 Dropped by Stone Ogres
Wood Club: Dmg 2-24, Enc: 90 Dropped by Stone Ogres
Iron Club: Dmg 3-30, Enc: 108 Dropped by Stone Ogres
Wind Mace: Dmg 3-18, Enc: 80 Dropped by Djinns
Wind Sword: Dmg 3-30, Enc: 100 Dropped by Djinns
G.03 QUEST EQUIPMENT
====================
The following is a list of equipment that you'll get from completing various
quests.
TRUTH SWORD:
Quest 4 Reward
Greatsword Skill: Dmg 4-32, Enc: 45
Notes:
The Truth Sword is a Greatsword that does more damage and weighs less than an
"ordinary" Greatsword.
CUSTOM AXE:
Quest 5 Reward
Great Axe Skill: Dmg 6-36, Enc: 40
Notes:
The Custom Axe is made from the Black Ingot you receive from Dundle. You will
have to name it when you first have it forged. It does a lot more damage and
weighs much less than a standard Great Axe.
FLYING CLOAK:
Quest 6 Reward
Body Armor: Prt 1-3, Enc: 0
Notes:
The Flying Cloak will grant flight abilities to any non-Kelden character class.
(As Kelden already have the ability to fly, this cloak does nothing for them)
It also grants Dwarves the ability to Sprint. Flying using the Flying Cloak
takes the same amount of Fatigue as a Kelden using his wings.
COURAGE COAT:
Quest 8 Reward
Body Armor: Prt 1-3, Enc: 0
Notes:
Characters wearing the Courage Coat will automatically pass any Balance checks
they make. In practical terms, this means they will never be "frozen in terror"
when facing "terrible" creatures. ("Terrible" creatures being Cliff Trolls,
Ettins, Stone Ogres,
Cyclopes, Sledges, and Mist Grubs)
DEATH BLADE
Quest 11 Reward
Halberd Skill: Dmg 5-27, Enc: 30
Notes:
The Death Blade is a Halberd that does more damage and weighs less than a
standard Halberd. It's very slightly more effective than the Custom Halberd,
but is otherwise indistinguishable from it.
SPEED BOOTS:
Quest 16 Reward
Foot Armor: Prt 1-3, Enc: 0
Notes:
The Speed Boots will double the paces a character moves when moving on the
ground at faster than a walking pace; in other words, 2 spaces for Running, and
4 spaces for Sprinting. Speed Boots will also grant Dwarves the ability to
Sprint. (at the increased rate, of course) Speed Boots do not affect a
character's speed in the air, nor do they affect a character's Quickness value
(ie if they've got low Quickness, they'll act later in a combat round, Speed
Boots or no.)
CUSTOM HALBERD:
Quest 18 Reward
Halberd Skill: Dmg 4-27, Enc: 30
Notes:
The Custom Halberd is made from the Magic Ingot you receive from a quest at a
smithy. It has no "pre-set" name and you will have to name it when you first
have it forged. It does more damage and weighs less than a standard Halberd.
RED RING:
Quest 19 Reward
Ring Armor: Prt 1-3, Enc: 0
Notes:
I'm almost positive this item does nothing. Looking at it in hex, the "magic
effects" spot that gives the Shade Ring, Courage Coat, and Flying Cloak their
special effects is completely blank.
GREAT SHIELD:
Quest 20 Reward
Shield: Prt 50%, Enc: 40
Notes:
The Great Shield is a Kite Shield that weighs less than normal but offers
better protection. You can customize its look in the Character Options when
starting the game. (The look of the Shield is based on character, not the item,
so if you swap it between characters its appearance will change accordingly)
SHADE RING:
Quest 24 Reward
Ring Armor: Prt 1-3, Enc: 0
Notes:
The Shade Ring has the effect of making the character wearing it invisible to
all enemies, though if they're close, there's a chance you'll be seen. This
actually can make fighting monsters tougher, as it becomes difficult to predict
their behavior, so your mileage may vary using it. However, if you want to
finish quests without killing everything, the Shade Ring is great, as it allows
you to slip through the ranks of enemies undetected.
===============================================================================
SECTION H: CHEATING
===============================================================================
There are many ways to cheat in Knights of Legend, and can actually spruce some
life into the game once you've finished it. For example, once I've finished the
game, I like to clear out all the quest flags so that my party can go on all
the quests again, instead of being stuck doing nothing but random encounters
for the rest of the game.
Since they never programmed any expansions, sometimes cheating is practically
necessary to advance your characters past a certain level due to the limited
range of training facilities in Ashtalarea. Most of the cheating involves hex-
editing your file, which is risky. BACK UP YOUR SAVE FILE before you do this!
H.01 ITEM DUPLICATION
=====================
This is the easiest method of cheating, and the only one that I know of that
you can do without a hex editor. It's very simple: when a character goes into
an inn, his or her file gets saved. To duplicate an item, all you need is two
characters, one with the item you want to duplicate. Say you want to duplicate
the Truth Sword, which character A has. Assuming Character A with the Truth
Sword is checked into an inn, check him out, and make sure you have character B
in the party. Give character B the Truth Sword and have her check into an inn.
(DON'T check character A back in!) Now quit the game (CTRL-Q for DOS, you'll
have to reboot on Apple II) and restart. When you load, now both Character A
and Character B will have the Truth Sword.
While this is cheap, I suggest you do this for items like the Courage Coat. If
you don't have the Courage Coat on all your melee characters, the game becomes
just frustrating when you find yourself up against fear-inducing enemies.
H.02 HEX EDITING:
=================
Just for fun, I've done a lot of messing around with the Character save file
with a hex editor (and pretty much had to to get the stats for the magic orders
and high-level trainers) and have been able to figure out how to all sorts of
cool stuff in the file. If you want to try this, make sure to back up your
CHARDATA file first--I take no responsibility if you screw up your characters
without a backup. Also, before delving into hex editing, you are going to want
to have at least a working knowledge of the hexadecimal system, and a
calculator that can convert decimal to hexadecimal, and for some of the more
advanced stuff, to binary as well. The built-in scientific calculator on both
Mac and Windows offer easy conversions between the three to help you. And, of
course, you'll need a hex editor of some sort. I recommend that you set up your
hexadecimal editor so that each line has 16 bytes in it. You'll also really
want a hex editor that displays the ASCII equivalent in your sidebar, as that
will be immensely helpful in finding where one character's data ends and the
next begins.
I'm going to assume for the purposes of this section that you understand the 0-
F hexadecimal system. Please do not email me with questions about it; there are
many resources on the web to learn basic hex.
Also a side note in that while hacking your save file is fun, I recommend
cheating in moderation, as you can potentially ruin the balance of your game,
which reduces its enjoyability. During a normal game, the only time I cheat is
to "cash in" Adventure Points to "train" weapons without trainers (I.e. I hack
my character's Adventure Points to a lower level and raise their weapon skills
accordingly, as if I was training with a real trainer) or to rename armor.
While I'll go over how to do it, I advise against doing more heavy cheating
like hacking your stats really high, hacking your armor weight down to nothing,
or creating uberweapons that kill Cliff Trolls in a single hit.
H.03 SAVE FILE SETUP
====================
The "Chardata" file is set up so that each character takes up 760 bytes of
information. In most hex editors, this makes things easy as in hex, each new
character starts at +00000300 (Ie, character 1 at 0x00000000, 2 at 0x00000300,
3 at 0x00000600, 4 at at 0x00000900, 5 at at 0x00000c00, etc) It's easy to tell
if you have an ASCII converter, as the first letter of your character's name is
also the first byte in their datafile. Throughout this file I'll be using
numbers as if you're editing the first character's data, but if you want to
edit subsequent character's data, just add their amount to it. So, if I say to
edit something at +000001AC, and you want to edit that stat on character number
3, you'd just add 00000600 to it, so that the data you edit is at 000007AC in
the file.
H.04 EDITING YOUR MONEY, ADVENTURE POINTS, ETC
==============================================
GOLD:
Gold is stored in offsets +000002A-000002C and is three bytes long, for a range
of 0 to 16,777,215 gold. It's stored in standard hex.
ADVENTURE POINTS:
Adventure Points are stored in offsets +000000026 and +00000027, for a range of
0 to 65,535 points. They are stored in standard hex.
HEALTH:
Your character's Health is actually stored in terms of how seriously he or she
is wounded. It's located at offset +00001C. The higher this number, the more
seriously the character is wounded. Fees for healing will be 10x the value in
this byte. It's stored in hex.
NUTRITION:
Like Health, a character's nutrition is stored in terms of how hungry they are.
It's located at offset +0000009F. The higher this number, the more
malnutritioned the character is.
LEVEL:
Level is stored in +00000029. It's a one-per-gain thing, where 00 is a Serf and
18 is a Knight-Baronet. Note that pumping your level does nothing but increase
the level of the enemies that will face you--without pumping your weapon skills
as well, you'll be at a severe disadvantage if you try to increase your level
alone.
RACE/CLASS:
Your character's race and class is stored at offset +0000001D:
00:Barbarian 01:Ranger 02:Warrion 03:Squire
04:Darkguard 05:Watchman 06:Plainsman 07:Hunter
08:Regular 09:Highwayman 0A:Pirate 0B:Rogue
0C:Tigress 0D:Amazon 0E:Huntress 0F:Plainswoman
10:Brekland(M) 11:Klvar(M) 12:Melod(M) 13:Pyar(M)
14:Thism(M) 15:Usip(M) 16:Brekland(F) 17:Klvar(F)
18:Melod(F) 19:Pyar(F) 1A:Thism(F) 1B:Usip(F)
1C:Tunneler 1D:Ratguard 1E:Trollbane 1F:Militia
20:Digger 21:Spider Guard 22:Orcbane 23:Levy
24:Cliff Guard 25:Rock Ranger 26:Far Seeker
DATE:
The date that your character is staying in the inn is recorded in +0000007d-
0000007f. +0000007d is the year, (00=1100AD) +0000007e is the day (00=1st) and
+0000007F is the month. (00=January) Note that this value only changes for the
party leader.
H.05 EDITING YOUR STATS
=======================
I really strongly advise against doing this as it can ruin your fun, but here's
how to edit your character's stats. Your character's 8 stats are located at
+0000001D after the start of their data. They are:
1D:Strength 1E:Quickness 1F:Size 20:Endurance
21:Foresight 22:Charisma 23:Intellect
The actual values for the stats in hex are 1.5 times the stat, rounding up. For
example a stat of 79 will actually be recorded as 119, or "77" in hex.
Your character's Weight actually is pre-set by race and gender:
Human/Elven Males: 65*inches/12 - 195 lbs
Human Females, Dwarves: 25*inches/4 -150 lbs
Elven Females, Kelden: 35*inches/6 -210 lbs
This makes Ashtalarea quite the Bizarro World, where women weigh more than men
of the same height, and everyone is either buff beyond all belief or really
really fat. It also means that if you drop your characters' heights low enough,
they'll actually have a negative weight! (A 1'0" human male weighs negative 130
pounds!)
H.06 EDITING NAMES OF ITEMS/EQUIPMENT/SPELLS
============================================
Knights of Legend stores the text for every item you've got directly in your
save file. If you want to, you can change the name of anything to make it more
interesting. If you want to rename your Scale Amine "Dragon Scale" you could do
that, for example, without actually changing the stats of your items at all.
The game stores every item name in an 8-byte string. The first half of the
first byte says how many letters are in the string. The remaining 7 and a half
bytes store the name, anything up to 12 characters long. To actually create the
name, however,
you'll have to write it in binary code. Every 5 bits represents a single letter,
and the remaining 7 and a half bytes are an even 60 bits--12 groups of 5 bits.
The binary code for each letter (plus a code for a space) are below.
00001 00010 00011 00100 00101 00110 00111 01000 01001 01010 01011 01100
A B C D E F G H I J K L
01101 01110 01111 10000 10001 10010 10011 10100 10101 10110 10111 11000
M N O P Q R S T U V W X
11001 11010 00000
Y Z SPACE
So, in the example above, if you wanted "Dragon Scale" you'd first find the
section of the file that has "Scale Amine:"
10011 00011 00001 01100 00101 00000 00001 01101 01001 01110 00101 00000
S C A L E SPACE A M I N E EXTRA*
*The "Extra" can be anything. Since it's not used in the name, you can have any
pattern of 1s and 0s in there and it'll still be a "Scale Amine" since those 5
bits are ignored.
Convert this into hex and you get "9 8C 2C 28 02 D4 B8 A0" Since there are 11
characters (10 letters plus a space) there will be an "B" in front of it, so
the final hex string you'll search for is "B9 8C 2C 28 02 D4 B8." Ignore the
last byte when searching, because that "extra" string can be anything and will
change the last byte accordingly.
Now that you know where your Scale Amine is, you can change it "Dragon Scale."
00100 10010 00001 00111 01111 01110 00000 10011 00011 00001 01100 00101
D R A G O N SPACE S C A L E
Convert this to hex and you get "2 48 27 7B 81 31 85 85." Add a "C" to the
front (because "Dragon Scale" is 12 characters long and replace
"B98C2C2802D4B8**" (where ** indicates the last byte) with "C248277B81318585"
Presto! Your Scale Amine is now Dragon Scale! (though its stats haven't changed
any)
H.07 EDITING WEAPON SKILLS
==========================
This is probably the most "legitimate" way to cheat; seeing as how no
expansions ever came out, there's no way to train your skills higher than
rather low levels for most weapons. Each character can learn skills in up to 4
weapons. Each weapon is indicated by 13 bytes, and the first weapon starts
immediately after the text of what inn the character is staying in. (e.g.
"STIFFNUCKL" for the inn in Thimblewald) This is +0000004A bytes after the
start of the character. The first 9 bytes indicate what weapon the character is
proficient in; the first 8 bytes are the encoded name of the weapon and the
final byte is the actual code of the weapon type. The next 2 bytes indicate the
character's offensive skill with the weapon, and the 2 bytes after that
indicate the defensive skill. Each skill point is actually 10 skill points, so
you multiply it by 10. E.g. a skill of 25 in-game will actually be a skill of
250 in the file. (or in hex, FA)
So, the addresses for each weapon skill are:
+0000004A-00000056 = Weapon Skill 1
+00000057-00000063 = Weapon Skill 2
+00000064-00000070 = Weapon Skill 3
+00000071-0000007D = Weapon Skill 4
Below is a list of the 9 hex values of each weapon.
89 95 86 00 9F 70 00 01 06 | Self Bow
86 3D C7 00 9F 70 00 00 0A | Longbow
72 B0 C0 13 EE 00 00 00 0B | Elf Bow
B6 50 03 93 E7 31 3E E4 12 | Light Crossbow
C4 5B 20 1C 9F 39 89 71 16 | Heavy Crossbow
41 B2 A2 00 CF 22 86 80 34 | Club
46 84 65 00 00 00 00 00 3C | Mace
89 8D 2D 4D 03 20 00 00 54 | Scimitar
C1 06 74 0C 88 09 DE 44 56 | Bastard Sword
A3 C8 A1 A4 EE F9 10 03 57 | Greatsword
62 04 E7 2C 8F 71 84 87 58 | Dagger
A9 A1 F2 A4 EE F9 10 F7 59 | Shortsword
96 3D C7 9D DF 22 68 13 5C | Longsword
A1 49 E1 24 EE F9 10 C0 5D | Broadsword
84 05 C4 00 70 50 00 42 74 | Hand Axe
81 49 E1 20 70 50 00 00 75 | Broad Axe
93 C8 A1 A0 03 82 80 00 76 | Great Axe
A1 06 94 61 40 1C 15 27 7C | Battle Axe
74 05 82 2C 88 00 00 00 7E | Halberd
B9 A1 F2 A0 72 02 86 44 9C | Short Spear
A6 3D C7 04 E0 50 C8 00 9E | Long Spear
A4 14 36 C8 1A 1A B0 00 B4 | Heavy Maul
AB 86 40 40 5A D2 C8 00 B5 | War Hammer
C3 C8 A1 A0 10 16 B4 B2 B6 | Great Hammer
8B 86 40 68 6A C0 00 00 B7 | War Maul
B6 BE 4E 4B 8F 3A 06 40 D6 | Morningstar
53 30 29 60 00 00 00 00 D7 | Flail
C8 D4 32 A1 65 3A 04 C6 DC | Quarterstaff
If for whatever reason you want skill in a "monster weapon" or the like, the
codes for their skills are as follows (of course, you'll never be able to train
the below skills anywhere in the game world):
A3 26 45 04 E8 13 18 00 DE | Fire Staff
97 9E 45 00 D9 51 00 00 36 | Ogre Club
9B A5 C4 03 42 32 80 02 3E | Wind Mace
AB A5 C4 04 EE F9 10 94 5E | Wind Sword
B6 06 47 28 28 F7 1E 60 20 | Large Tongs
So, a Halberd skill of 35/20 would be: 74 05 82 2C 88 00 00 00 7E 01 5E 00 C8.
(015E and 00C8 are 350 and 200 in hexadecimal respectively) This way, if you
want to raise your skill enough so that you can train at the advanced trainers,
you'll know what values to look for. Remember only to edit the last 4 bytes, as
that indicates the skill level. Or, if you decided you trained in the wrong
weapon and want to really cheat, you can replace one weapon skill with another
entirely.
H.08 HACKING ITEMS
==================
Hacking items is the most complicated and difficult thing in the game to hack,
so unless you feel really comfortable with working with both hex and binary,
you may not want to try this. Read through the whole section before you start
diving in there, as messing up a single hex digit can screw your items up
pretty badly.
Your character's items are located at the following offsets within their file:
+0x00000030 = Weapon
+0x000000A0 = Pocket 1
+0x000000B0 = Pocket 2
+0x000000C0 = Pocket 3
+0x000000D0 = Pocket 4
+0x000000E0 = Pocket 5
+0x000000F0 = Pocket 6
+0x00000100 = Head
+0x00000110 = Torso
+0x00000120 = Legs
+0x00000130 = Body
+0x00000140 = Hands
+0x00000150 = Feet
+0x00000160 = Shield
+0x00000170 = Neck
+0x00000180 = Ring
+0x00000190 = Belt
+0x000001a0 = Magic Order
+0x000001b0 = Horse Type
The first 8 bytes are the name of the item encoded. Check the "Editing names of
items/spells" section to find out how the text is encoded. The second set of 8
bytes determine its stats, and this is where most of the nitty-gritty work is
going to be done. Each byte (and in some cases, half of a byte) indicates a
different property of the item, so this is a byte-by-byte analysis of what each
does.
FIRST HALF OF BYTE 1:
This indicates a bonus or penalty to the numeric damage or defense of weapons
and armor:
0:0 1:+1 2:+2 3:+3
4:+4 5:+5 6:+6 7:+7
8:0 9:-1 A:-2 B:-3
C:-4 D:-5 E:-6 F:-7
SECOND HALF OF BYTE 1 + BYTE 2:
The monetary value of the item. This is direct hex conversion.
BYTE 3:
The weight of the item. This is direct hex conversion too.
Note that hacking the weight for armor also changes its size. If you try to
hack a piece of platemail in your backpack so it weighs nothing, that will also
make it so small that nobody can wear it. However, if you hack the weight of
armor that a character is currently wearing, it'll make it too small, but the
character will still be wearing it. As soon as you take it off, though, you'll
never be able to put it back on. Bottom line is that if you want to hack your
armor so that it weighs nothing, do so when your character is wearing it.
BYTE 4:
Quality: This refers to condition, or for food, nutritional value. It's in
direct Hex.
BYTE 5:
Equipment damage/protection + Item Type: This is done in binary conversion.
The damage calculation is as follows: there is a "die roll" and then a bonus is
added onto it. This byte determines what type of die is rolled, and how many
times it's rolled, and whether the weapon is a missile weapon or melee weapon.
The first three bits determine the number of die thrown, the second three bits,
the "sides" of the die, and the last two bits, whether or not it's a wieldable
item (Wield) a piece of armor (Wear) a beltable melee item (Both) or neither.
(Item) From a really anal, technical point of view, the 7th bit indicates
whether or not the item can be worn and the 8th bit indicates whether or not
the item can be wielded as a weapon.
ROLLS BIN DIE BIN TYPE BIN
--------------------------------------
1 000 d3 000 Both 11
2 001 d4 001 Wield 01
3 010 d6 010 Wear 10
4 011 d8 011 Item 00
5 100 d10 100
6 101 d12 101
7 110 d20 110
8 111 d100 111
The final damage the weapon does, or the protection the armor is afforded, is
this calculation, plus the value indicated in the first half of the first byte,
as covered above.
So, a melee weapon that does 3d6 damage would be 010 010 11, or converted into
hex, "4B." If the first half of Byte 1 (see above) was "A" that would be a
penalty of -2, so the weapon would end up doing 3d6-2 damage, or 1-16 damage.
If, for whatever reason, you skew your weapon/armor so that its effectiveness
goes below 0, it loops around to 65535. So, if you gave your character a weapon
that did 1d3-4 damage it would do from 65533-65535 damage. (Needless to say,
this would be an uberweapon)
BYTE 6:
Item Type: Direct Hex. This indicates what type of weapon the item is, if any.
The first half of the byte indicates the class of the item, and the second half
indicates the sub-class. Below is a list of the classes and sub-classes.
0:ARMOR & MISC, AND BOWS
0:Armor/Food/Quest Item 1:Junk 2:Boulder 6:Self Bow
A:Long Bow B:Elf Bow
1:CROSSBOW CLASS
2:Lt Crossbow 6:Hvy Crossbow
2:"OTHER" WEAPON CLASS
0:Large Tongs
3:MACE CLASS
4:Club 6:Ogre Club C: Mace E:Wind Mace
5:SWORD CLASS
4:Scimitar 6:Bastard Swd 7:Greatsword 8:Dagger
9:Shortsword C:Longsword D:Broadsword E:Wind Sword
7:AXE CLASS
4:Hand Axe 5:Broadaxe 6:Great Axe C:Battle Axe
E:Halberd
8:MAGIC ARMOR CLASS
0:Misc 1:Shade Ring 2:Courage Coat 3:Flying Cloak
9:SPEAR CLASS
C:Short Spear E:Long Spear
B:HAMMER CLASS
4:Heavy Maul 5:War Hammer 6:Great Hammer 7:War Maul
D:FLAIL CLASS
6:Morningstar 7:Flail C:Quarterstaff E:Fire Staff
BYTE 7:
Byte 7 can be divided into two parts. The first half indicates the place on the
body the item goes when "equipped":
0 - Head 1 - Torso 2 - Legs 3 - Body
4 - Hands 5 - Feet 6 - Shield 7 - Neck
8 - Ring 9 - Belt A - Food E - Bow(hands)
F - Boulder (used for monsters only)
The second half of the byte indicates the armor's graphic on the body. For
example, "13" would mean "Item is equipped on the Torso, and displays Torso
Graphic 3 when equipped." (Or, "It goes on the chest and looks like a piece of
Cuirbolli") Each body part has its own set of graphics depending on the armor
being equipped. In the case of weapons, the graphic is derived not only from
this number but also the weapon class (obviously, as there are more than 16
graphics of weapons) Also note that for shields, the graphic value is more than
just decoration; it's actually what gives the shield its defensive value.
(0=20%, 1=30%, 2=40%, 3=50%) BEWARE! If you give a value of a nonexistent
graphic (for example, anything over "3" for a shield) the game will freeze when
you try to view your paperdoll. Don't mess with this number unless you really
know what you're doing.
BYTE 8:
Despite my messing with this, I can't figure out what this byte does. I believe
that it's a pointer to indicate the size/weight ratio of armor, but I haven't
been able to pinpoint the effects exactly. I suggest you not mess with this
number; if you want to create, for example, really light plate armor, you're
probably better off buying some light armor like cloth or leather, then change
the graphic, quality, and defense values, rather than messing with this number
and the weight value.
H.09 "SECRET" ITEM CODES
========================
Here are some codes of items that only monsters carry but don't drop, and that
you'll never be able to get otherwise. I ripped these direct from the game code
and make no guarantees as toward their effectiveness or usability--they may
crash your game when equipped on player characters, so be forewarned!
Earth: (Golem Armor)
52 86 54 44 32 A2 1A 00 00 00 10 01 0A 00 00 C0
52 86 54 40 00 00 00 00 10 00 87 00 0A 00 10 C0
52 86 54 41 07 50 C8 47 20 00 2D FF 0A 80 23 42
Water: (Sylph Armor)
5B 86 85 90 00 00 00 00 20 00 0F 00 0A E0 0F 00
5B 86 85 90 00 00 00 00 30 00 32 00 0A E0 1E 00
5B 86 85 90 00 00 00 00 40 00 32 00 0A E0 2F 00
Air: (Djinn Armor)
30 A6 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 00 02 E0 0F 00
30 A6 40 00 00 00 00 00 10 00 48 00 02 E0 1F 00
30 A6 40 00 00 00 00 00 20 00 46 00 02 E0 2F 00
Fire: (Salamander Armor)
43 26 45 00 00 00 00 00 40 00 0A 00 0A E0 0F 00
43 26 45 00 00 00 00 00 50 00 67 00 0A E0 1F 00
43 26 45 00 00 00 00 00 60 00 3C 00 0A E0 2F 00
Head Hide: (Standard)
44 24 85 00 00 13 56 40 30 00 0C FF 06 00 02 40
Body Hide: (Standard)
44 24 85 20 E6 30 90 A0 30 00 6C FF 06 00 12 40
Leg Hide: (Standard)
44 24 85 20 E6 30 90 A0 30 00 48 FF 06 00 22 40
Cliff Troll Hide:
44 24 85 21 0A 1A 1C 41 40 00 0F FF 0A 00 02 40
44 24 85 20 E6 30 90 A0 40 00 6E FF 0A 00 12 41
44 24 85 20 E6 30 90 A0 40 00 48 FF 0A 00 22 40
Hill Giant Plate Leggings:
98 30 34 2B 42 96 12 04 22 BC AA B4 2A 00 28 C8
Ettin Hide:
44 24 85 00 00 13 56 40 10 00 0C FF 0A 00 02 40
44 24 85 20 E6 30 90 A0 10 00 60 FF 0A 00 12 40
44 24 85 20 E6 30 90 A0 10 00 41 FF 0A 00 22 40
Ogre Fur Vest:
83 56 40 B1 67 40 00 00 00 00 64 B4 2A 00 10 C5
Stone Ogre Hide and Furs:
44 24 85 00 00 00 00 00 30 00 0C FF 0A E0 02 00
43 56 53 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 42 FF 2E E0 10 00
44 24 85 00 00 00 00 00 30 00 32 FF 0A E0 22 00
Cyclops Skin and Furs:
49 AD 2E 21 0A 1A 00 B2 00 2D 08 FF 02 00 0F 60
43 56 53 20 E6 30 90 A0 00 1E 6C FF 2A 00 10 4A
Mist Giant Hide:
44 24 85 00 00 00 00 00 30 00 66 FF 26 E0 12 00
Muck: (Muck Thing Armor)
46 D4 6B 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0A FF 26 E0 0F 00
46 D4 6B 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1E FF 26 E0 1F 00
46 D4 6B 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 14 FF 26 E0 2F 00
Lizarion Hide and Breastplate:
44 24 85 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0A E0 02 00
B1 48 A1 9D 20 C0 D0 A4 50 00 7E FF 2A 00 18 40
44 24 85 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0A E0 22 00
Binderak Spines and Hide:
69 C1 2E 2C C0 00 00 00 10 00 0F FF 2A E0 08 00
44 24 85 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 3C FF 0A E0 12 00
44 24 85 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0F FF 0A E0 22 00
Sledge Skull:
59 AE AC 60 00 00 00 00 00 00 19 FF 2E E0 06 00
Mist Grub Scales:
69 8C 2C 2C C0 00 00 00 00 00 0A FF 26 E0 05 00
69 8C 2C 2C C0 00 00 00 20 00 46 FF 26 E0 15 00
69 8C 2C 2C C0 00 00 07 10 00 1E FF 26 E0 25 00
Walbar Hide:
44 24 85 20 C6 43 D0 C2 11 B8 48 FF 0A 00 12 40
44 24 85 21 0A 1A 00 B2 11 5E 30 FF 0A 00 22 40
Ghoul Skin
49 AD 2E 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 E0 0F 00
49 AD 2E 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 E0 2F 00
Troll Boulder:
71 3E AC 21 64 00 00 00 00 00 46 FF 31 02 E0 00
Cliff Troll Boulder:
71 3E AC 21 64 00 00 00 00 00 5A FF 51 02 E0 00
Hill Giant/Ettin/Ogre Boulder:
71 3E AC 21 64 00 00 00 00 00 50 FF 35 02 E0 00
Stone Ogre Boulders:
71 3E AC 21 64 00 00 00 00 00 50 FF 4D 02 EF 00
71 3E AC 21 64 00 00 00 20 00 50 FF 4D 02 FF 00
Cyclops Boulder:
71 3E AC 21 64 00 00 00 00 00 50 00 2D 02 E0 00
Mist Giant Boulder:
71 3E AC 21 64 00 00 00 00 00 50 FF 55 02 FF 00
H.10 EDITING SPELLS
===================
The last 16 sets of 16 bytes in a character's data information are the 16
spells that a character can learn. (If you open it in a hex editor where each
line is divided into 16 bytes, that makes editing things much easier) The first
8 bytes are the spell's name--use the alphabet system above to change it. The
second 8 bytes are what's important; they show the effects of the spell.
The first byte of the second half indicates the race and sub-race that the
spell effects:
10 - Humans 20 - Elves 30 - Dwarves 40 - Kelderheit
51 - Golems 52 - Sylphs 53 - Djinn 54 - Salamanders
61 - Goblins 62 - Orcs 63 - Hobgoblins 64 - Great Orcs
65 - Trolls 66 - Cliff Trolls 67 - Hill Giants 68 - Ettins
69 - Ogres 6A - Stone Ogres 6B - Cyclopes 6C - Mist Giants
70 - Minotaurs 71 - Muck Things 72 - Lizarions 73 - Bloms
74 - Binderaks 75 - Sledges 76 - Mist Grubs 77 - Walbars
81 - Gremlins 82 - Ghouls 83 - Zombies 84 - Skeletons
The fifth byte indicates the stat the spell affects:
0 - None 1 - Strength 2 - Quickness 3 - Foresight
4 - Intellect 5 - Fatigue 6 - Body Points 7 - Off. Skill
8 - Def. Skill
The sixth byte indicates the duration of the spell. If it's 00, it's a till-
the-end-of-combat effect; this goes for Body and Fatigue, and stats like
Intellect and Foresight.
The last two bytes indicate the damage and range, which is where things get
hairy. In fact, you pretty much have to convert the last them into binary to
work with them.
The first byte by itself has the numerical value of the damage plus the range
stored in it. Let's look at a spell that does 4-24 damage at range. The first
byte will be "B4" or in binary, 10110100. It can be broken into four sections:
1 011 010 0
A B C D
Section A says whether or not the spell is ranged or not. If it's ranged, this
will be "1." If it's close range, it'll be "0."
Section B says the number of "die" rolled:
000 - 1 001 - 2 010 - 3 011 - 4
100 - 5 101 - 6 110 - 7 111 - 8
Section C says the number of "sides" of the "die" rolled:
000 - d3 001 - d4 010 - d6 011 - d8
100 - d10 101 - d12
Section D is always 0.
So, if you wanted to make something at short range that did 8d12 damage you'd
combine 0 (short range, section A) 111 (8 "rolls", Section B) and 101 (12-sided
"die", Section C) and 0 (Section D) to get 01111010. Convert this into hex and
you get 7A.
I'm not really sure what the last byte does. I can tell that it differs based
on the race and attribute being affected, but it doesn't seem to DO anything
obvious. Putting random values in this byte doesn't seem to affect the spell
whatsoever.
Overall I'd only suggest you modify spells to change the race. (since once you
join an order, you can't get new spells for other races) If you want a new
spell for free, it's easier to cheat your mage's Adventure Points and Gold up
and then make it at their Order's headquarters.
H.11 EDITING QUEST STATUS
=========================
Quest Status is located in 6 bytes, starting at +000001E2. It's a binary
conversion, but very simple.
There are four status values for each quest:
00 - Not given.
01 - Quest given, quest Map open.
10 - Quest Map cleared.
11 - Returned with Quest Item, quest finished
Each of the 24 quests are located in the following positions within the six
bytes:
4 3 2 1 8 7 6 5 12 11 10 9 16 15 14 13 20 19 18 17 24 23 22 21
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
BYTE 1 BYTE 2 BYTE 3 BYTE 4 BYTE 5 BYTE 6
So, if you want to set a flag on a specific quest, just change the according
binary digits, then convert the whole string back to hex. As the quests are the
meat and potatoes of the game, you probably won't want to set any of these to
"finished," but one thing I like to do is set all the quest values to "not
given" or "Quest Map Open" once I've finished the game, so that I can play the
quests over again. Otherwise the only thing to do once you've finished the game
is bash monsters in random encounters, which eventually loses its charm.
===============================================================================
THANKS
===============================================================================
Thanks to Origin and the authors of the game for making such a classic!
Thanks to that person on Fidonet that wrote that post on how to get Denswurth's
quest back in '90 when I first played the game (I don't remember who you were,
but thanks!)
===============================================================================
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
===============================================================================
(Cause you can't be too safe. More FAQ writers have been ripped off by people
trying to make a quick buck than I like to think about)
This Document is Copyright 2006 by Ian Kelley. All Rights Reserved. It is
protected by US and International Copyright Law. It is for private and personal
use only, and cannot be reprinted in or reproduced in part or in entirety
without the express written consent of the author. This document is intended to
be free and may not be used for any sort of commercial venture, be that selling
it, giving it away as a promotion, or making otherwise making available for
profit. It may not be used or distributed by any website, organization, or
individual, nor may it be used as a reference or altered by anyone (such as
strategy guide authors/publishers or magazine staff) without express permission
of the author.
