Elysion(NES) FAQ/Walkthrough
version 1.2.2 by
[email protected](anti spam spoonerism)
Please do not reproduce this FAQ for profit without my prior consent. If you
write a polite e-mail to me referring to me(and this FAQ) by name, then I will
probably say OK. But if I ignore you that means no--and I am bad about
answering e-mail. Sorry.
I've written maps and sent them to GameFAQs to accompany this guide. Using
them will make things a lot easier, especially when I say something like "mill
around and loot a bunch." There are probably a few treasures missing, so let
me know if I forget to point something out. Just be sure they're not mimics
first :).
Thanks to odino and Da Hui for their respective guides, and to Pluvius for his
hints to Da Hui. I read it all on the NES Completion Project Board and, after
a three month break, their posts combined helped encourage me to take a look
at the game--and step back and see how I could look into the details.
Thanks to Tenshigami for translating the game from the Japanese and to
Romhacking.net for hosting the patch.
================================
OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. CONTROLS
2-1. HOW YOU MOVE
2-2. ITEM MANIPULATION
2-3. HOW ENEMIES MOVE
3. STATISTICS
3-1. EXPERIENCE
3-2. ENEMIES
3-3. ITEMS AND WEIGHTS
3-4. SPELLS(WITH GENERAL USE)
4. WALKTHROUGH
4-1. STARTING OUT
4-2. QUICK PATH TO THE HERO RING
4-3. THE CASTLE DUNGEON, REVISITED
4-4. JUMPING AHEAD: SCROLL 8
4-5. DON'T SEE THE KING YET!
4-6. SEE THE KING, SEE THE WORLD
4-7. SCROLL 3
4-8. HOW TO GAMBLE AND WHAT TO BUY
4-9. CHILLIN' IN THE NORTH
4-10. TURNING THE BLUE BLACK KNIGHT BLACK AND BLUE
4-11. A WORD ON INVENTORY JUGGLING
4-12. GAINING YOUR (FAIRY) WINGS
4-13. GO EAST, YOUNG [RACE]
4-14. NOW GO EAST-ER. HOP TO IT!
4-15. SEE THE FOREST FOR THE BREEZE
4-15-1. THE SAGE
4-15-2. SCROLL 4
4-15-3. SCROLL 5
4-16. UNICORNUCOPIA
4-17. SCROLL 7, BECAUSE IT'S STILL NOT OUT OF ORDER TO COUNT OUT OF ORDER
4-18. SCROLL 6, OR A 150% GAIN ON PAPER
4-18-1. HOW MUCH IS THAT FAIRY IN THE WINDOW
4-19. SCROLL 9, BACK TO THE FOREST
4-19-1. DID YOU GET SCROLL 8?
4-20. LOOTING THE BAD GUYS, ONE LAST TIME
4-21. SCROLL 10 AND THE FINAL JEWEL
4-22. HOLY S-WORD, IT'S THE HOLY SWORD!
4-23. "WHAT?! I'M ONLY WORTH 300 EXPERIENCE?!"
4-24. OH FINALLY, A PRINCESS TO RESCUE!
4-25. THE CASTLE MAZE
4-26. BYE BYE BAAL
4-27. WHO GETS WHAT ENDING
4-28. BIG PICTURE CLASS DIFFERENCES
5. CHEATS
5-1. FIXED
5-2. VARIANT
6. VERSIONS/CREDITS
================================
1. INTRODUCTION
Elysion is a pretty good, if potentially bland, RPG, some garish background
colors notwithstanding. In this turn-based overhead-view RPG(an unusual
combination, but it works,) you play as a hero of one of four different races-
-differentiated by favorite weapon, magic ability and strength--who needs to
find ten scrolls and a holy sword and defeat the enemy Baal. You have the
usual initial quest, then inns open up around the world and you can travel
over a cross-shaped continent and into dungeons to seek out scrolls. You also
need three special jewels to resolve your Holy Sword's power. There's nothing
shocking about the plot, and you don't have much humor, either. Some of the
monsters are goofy looking and never give names, but then the weapons and
place names are uninspired. But the mechanics are all there.
The four different classes are clearly different yet each has its own way to
forge forward quickly. Minos use swords and can hack through everything to the
point that you don't need the full-strength Holy Sword to win. Their magic is
adequate. Aylex are primarily magic users, which allows them to duck and cast
spells. Their strength is so weak that they cannot use the best non-God armor
til late in the game. More specifically, around the point you find a God
shield and armor. Dionea can make use of bows, but they aren't much stronger
than Aylex. Vikram are like Minos but have more spell casting and less punch
with weapons. There's no wrong choice, and each class gives a different ending
as well as a different strategy.
And Elysion is worth playing again. You can often duck monsters in places you
aren't supposed to be yet to get a quick jump, and there's a Dark Knight who
can wipe you out quickly but gives lumps of experience. The mazes are not too
terrible, although by the end I wished a few of the dungeons with scrolls were
tougher, and you even learn where to go to solve quests that give you a level.
I even encountered a problem with my Aylex after playing with my Minos. The
solution didn't quite sit right with me--it's counterintuitive and only
vaguely hinted at, I realized once I saw what was happening. That's about it,
though. I guess an NES can only fit in so much with the ROM available, and the
graphics and big mazes it put in were much better than text.
Some of the later player-levels are a pain to get through even if you find a
convenient experience mill, and some of the dungeons are pitifully small, but
once you learn to duck around and map things out, it's a really nice game.
Whether you play it through yourself or use this guide in conjunction with my
maps.
2. CONTROLS
2-1. HOW YOU MOVE
You can move in any one of the four directions. You cannot move diagonally.
Monsters don't move unless you do. So you can work a way around them by
thinking. You are faster than they are, so as long as you are not in a narrow
alley, it's possible to walk by them. They move semi-randomly, too, with some
moving towards you more often than others. They are also slow to change
direction. Some fly through walls, and they can all walk through each other.
You can walk through and around half-flowers, and you have to be right up
against people to talk, or chests to open them. The action menu is pretty self
explanatory. You can also get enemies to move by running into a wall, and if
you are paralyzed, you must try to move to break out of it.
If an enemy or trapped chest hits you up, the music changes along with your
status.
STATUS shows your hit points, attack mode, etc.
MAGIC lets you cast a spell.
EQUIP lets you equip a weapon/armor/shield or use a Magic or Heal. Use
[select] to remove or drop instead.
READ I'm not sure...read a scroll in your possession?
LOOK describes what's in front of you, also not very useful
DRINK drinks from a fountain. Most heal or restore MP, but some damage HP or
MP.
OPEN opens a chest if it is right next to you. If that doesn't work, run into
the chest and try again. It can also open a door if you have the right key
equipped.
TALK is like OPEN but it just talks to people. There are no sub-dialog
commands.
If you are SICK, you cannot attack enemies until the music changes back.
If you are POISONED, you may lose 10 or 20 hit points, but you cannot die from
it.
IF you are OLD, your attacking ability is cut in half.
2-2. ITEM MANIPULATION
You can get infinite shots for your crossbow by equipping another item and
equipping back--provided you do not ever run out of shots before pulling this
stunt. Actually, unequipping is enough, as is trying to equip something too
heavy. The key is to leave the game scene and come back later. Of course, you
can also sell a regular crossbow and buy it back.
2-3. HOW ENEMIES MOVE
Enemies mostly move pretty randomly. Some can move diagonally and some can't.
Some can move through walls, and wizards can jump around if you get close. But
nobody moves unless you do. However, if you line up with them vertically or
horizontally, they get the hint. If you make a blocked move, they will move
with you. This is helpful if you are sick or old or, late in the game,
recharging hit points, and you want to remove the condition--run away from
them, run into a wall, and repeat.
It's also good to run into walls when trying to bait monsters. In arena-like
settings such as the first sage dungeon in the dark forest, it is easy to goad
them and win fights. If your armor is good enough, you can just run into them
and strike at them at your leisure, speeding up your emulator.
2-4. OFF SCREEN TRICKS AND SUCH
The biggest trick to use is what I call the pause trick. When you fire off a
spark spell, you can push (B) again to get to the spell menu right away.
Usually enemies get to move in a bit, but this way they can't.
The second-biggest is the off screen trick. If you enter a dungeon and return
immediately, the enemies are wiped off. Similarly, if you walk so an enemy is
off-screen, it disappears. Then you can try to come back and make it through
again. This is handy when an enemy is blocking a narrow passage.
Another big trick is to lure a dark knight to the Lyra Inn, use your magic,
rest there and use your magic again. That will kill him. It costs gold, but
you should have enough.
3. STATISTICS
3-1. EXPERIENCE
See odino's FAQ for the full list. Yeah, it's a cop out. But basically, here
is what you need to advance each level. You don't have to get to level 40, but
it helps.
*you can use the hero ring to get to level 5(1000).
*500 per level up to 11, which gets pretty easy near the end.
*700/800 experience for 12 and 13, which is a bit tougher, but you can whip
the dark knight
*1000 to get to 14-16. A bit more to do, but you are much stronger now.
*1500 for 16-26. You can just kick around in the sage's dungeon in the dark
forest, and if you have good armor you don't even need to drink at the pool
there. Then talk to him and you get 2000 experience, not 1500. You are
probably powerful enough to get up to scroll 9 now with ease. The only big
fight in the middle game is for scroll 9.
*2000 for 27-30. Again, if you have nothing to do with an afternoon, you can
smack skeletons around to get past these. But there are easier ways, discussed
in the walkthrough. You can even put off level building.
*4000 for 31-33. Here you don't want to focus too hard on building up levels.
You get automatic levels for winning quests. Then when you're really good, you
have very powerful monsters you can beat
*6000 for 34-36. At this point don't go deliberately gaining levels. You will
probably have an easier time of it winning fights near the end, once you get
super armor.
*8000 for 37.
*10000 for 38-40.
You get automatic levels for:
--equipping the hero ring(kicks you to level 5)
--talking to the sage
--talking to the lead unicorn
--beating the boss for scroll 9
--talking to the sage in the scroll 10 area
--beating the Dungeon Master in the scroll 10 area
--dying with the Holy Sword the first time
--rescuing the princess on level 2 of the Holy Sword dungeon
3-2. ENEMIES
The monsters listed are for Minos/Viskam first, with the equivalent enemy for
Aylex/Dionea below. Usually you just have a color change, but some of the
knights grow ponytails for the "girl" races.
I don't know anything concrete about attack capabilities but I would assume
they vary linearly with hit points in general.
monster |EXP| HP|
--------------------+---+---+
red-grey slime | 7| 24| castle-1,2, #4, #5
grey-white wisp | 11| 50| castle-1
blue-white wisp | 14| 54| castle-2,3
(red/yellow)
slug (red/yellow) | 8| 38| castle-2
skeleton guard | 35|108| castle-2 by red key chest (sage)
barrier | 0|254| guarding scroll 8, scroll 5
lt blue slug | 10| 44| castle-3,4
goblin skeleton | 15| 56| castle-3,4
red/yellow slime | 9| 42| out(near)
pink/blue smiley | 25| 72| out(near)
(white/pink)
dark knight |VAR|VAR| everywhere til killed for good
grey 2headed | 30|100| out
gold 2headed | 28| 76| out
blue/grey slime | 17| 60| out
whtish wisp | 26| 74| out
pink/blue slime | 22| 68| out,forest
(pink/red)
red/yellow smiley | 28| 94| out??
(yellow/white)
tree thing | 27| 74| forest, unicorns
goblin tree | 29|100| forest, unicorns
fireball | 33|104| forest, #4, #5
green/green wisp | 26| 74| forest, unicorns
lime slime | 25| 70| forest
unicorn | 27|150| forest, unicorns
mimic | 40|110| #4, #5
yellow/white wisp | 42|114| #4, unicorns
chicken | 50|100| mountains
(white UFO)
frog | 50|134| mountains
(green blob)
jellyfish | 58|144| mountains (can take 20 exp)
medusa | 40|112| mountains
octopus | 60|112| mountains
(yellow ufo)
fiery thing | 44|120| mountains
green hackeysack | 60|146| mountains
pink knight | 64|200| #7
white blobby fire | 60|144| #9, east dungeon
(whitebluegrey blob)
horseback | 67|166| #9
(chicken with sword--boss is also a chicken)
running eyeball | 63|150| #9
(weird centipede)
mobile mimic | 68|164| #9, east dungeon
banshee | 82|182| #9, east dungeon, isle above
whitebluepink blob | 80|180| east dungeon, isle above
(whiteredorange)
pink/grey wizard | 70|176| east dungeon
(pharaoh)
big blue knight | 85|210| east dungeon
(girl knight)
yellowy wizard | 84|200| east dungeon
(pharaoh)
blue wiz/mask | 87|210| past east, holy sword
black soldier master|200|500| #10
(bright yellow w/ponytail)
mimic mobile | 85|206| holy sword 1,2,3
you |VAR|VAR| holy sword 1,2,3
big blue knight |130|260| holy sword 1,2,3, castle maze
(grey)
phantom | 93|224| holy sword 1,2,3
blob whitegreypink | 85|200| holy sword 1,2,3 drops JET
(whitebluepink)
boulder |110|250| holy sword 1,2,3 fixed
asterisk grey |100|230| holy sword 2,3
(blue)
wizard bluepink mask|104|234| holy sword 2,3
(pink pharaoh)
dallahan (frosty) |120|270| holy sword 2
(yellow/white)
pink brain |120|230| castle maze
(white/pink)
pulsing asterisk blu|125|250| castle maze
(grey)
greypink mask wizard|120|230| castle maze
(greypink pharaoh)
white knight |135|274| baal's 1,3,5
(redhead swordswoman)
barrier |120|300| baal's 1,2,3,4,5
white/yello acidblob|138|280| baal's 2
(purple/white)
orange/purple knight|140|400| baal's 3
(mini witches)
big wiz |145|330| baal's 4
(big hag)
cane |145|VAR| baal's 4 based on bigwiz HP
yellow fish |150|350| baal's 5
(purple hydra)
bug |150|340| baal's 5
(crab)
bug-half(from bug) |150|340| baal's 5
(crab-half)
Baal(each)whiteyello|190|510| baal's 6
(bluepurple)
Below is a table of monsters that get stronger as your levels do. There are
two--the dark knight and your mirror image. They seem to be equally tough, so
you can use yourself for experience once you get the holy sword.
This table opens up a different possibility of gaining levels than before--
namely if you get the Holy Sword quickly, you can level up against yourself.
You can get the three gems before the scrolls, provided you can duck.
You would of course need to use spells on the variable-experience enemies
early on, but you can see it is pretty worth it. Also note that the hit points
max out after a certain point.
LVL| Minos | Aylex | Dionea| Viskam
---+--------+-------+-------+--------
5 | 88, 200| 68,110| 76,130|76,170
6 |108, 220| 76,120| 88,140|88,190
7 |120, 250| 84,120|104,150|104,210
8 |140, 280| 96,130|116,160|120,230
9 |164, 300|104,140|132,180|136,250
10 |188, 330|112,150|152,190|152,270
11 |208, 350|128,170|176,200|172,290
12 |232, 380|144,180|192,220|192,310
13 |262, 400|164,200|212,240|212,340
14 |288, 430|184,210|236,270|236,370
15 |316, 460|200,220|260,300|260,400
16 |348, 490|220,220|288,320|292,430
17 |380, 520|240,230|316,340|320,460
18 |412, 560|260,240|348,360|352,500
19 |448, 600|276,250|376,380|380,530
20 |480, 630|296,260|408,400|408,560
21 |510, 670|316,270|432,430|436,590
22 |510, 710|336,280|464,450|472,620
23 |510, 750|356,280|496,470|510,650
24 |510, 790|380,300|510,490|510,680
25 |510, 830|400,320|510,510|510,720
26 |510, 870|420,340|510,540|510,750
27 |510, 910|444,370|510,570|510,780
28 |510, 960|468,400|510,600|510,810
29 |510,1000|492,430|510,630|510,830
30 |510,1050|510,450|510,650|510,850
31 |510,1100|510,480|510,680|510,880
32 |510,1150|510,510|510,700|510,920
33 |510,1210|510,540|510,730|510,950
34 |510,1260|510,570|510,760|510,980
35 |510,1320|510,600|510,800|510,1020
36 |510,1380|510,640|510,830|510,1050
37 |510,1440|510,680|510,860|510,1080
38 |510,1500|510,720|510,890|510,1110
39 |510,1570|510,760|510,930|510,1150
40 |510,1650|510,800|510,960|510,1180
3-5. INNS AND ITEMS
The message you get from the innkeeper varies more with your level and how
many scrolls you've found than with where the inn is on the map.
Lyra Inn(10 to rest) (by castle)
small sword +1, needles, leather armor, heal, magic, leather shield
small sword, small mace, small staff, small bow, small rod
Basically what you'd expect from an inn right by the castle, where you start.
A nice weapon for anyone starting out and a slight upgrade over the armor at
the very start of the game. Don't buy the heal/magic potion. It's cheaper to
rest and/or just use what you find in treasure chests.
Hork Inn(30 to rest) (north coast)
small sword+1, needles, leather shield, leather shield +1
leather armor, clothes +2, rope, cat's eye, magic, heal
Another inn where it's good to rest especially if you run the gauntlet in the
nearby dungeon early on.
Mar Inn(30 to rest) (dark forest)
small sword+1, feather sword
leather+1
leather+1
cat's eye, rope, speed ring, needles, heal+2, magic+2
A good place to buy slightly improved armor and weapons if you can't find them
elsewhere. Buy the cat's eye too. You can use this place to recharge your
magic as you go fighting in the forest, too.
Celeste Inn(40 to rest) (dark forest)
weapon: small [mace, staff, bow, rod] +1
armor: leather +1, leather +2
shield: leather +1, wood
amulet, heal+2, magic+2, needles
There may be some nice magic items better than what you had, and if you can
afford an amulet, get it. This is a nice place to go before visiting scroll 9
area. Sadly, the amulet won't do you much good here.
Merlin Inn(40 to rest) (east coast)
small weapons, heal+2, magic+2
leather shield+1, leather armor, needles, rope, eye
Again more basic stuff here and it is not worth the trek here early on for
items. However you may need to rest taking out the dungeon nearby
Mineo Inn(30 to rest) (desert, SW)
swords: feather +1, battle
ring mail+1, ring mail+2
shield
rope, cat's eye, needles
speed ring, heal+2, magic+2, amulet
Lots of good stuff here if you can get past a few enemies. The key is to duck.
Once you've bought the best here(with cash from finding scrolls) the early
part of the game is a lot easier.
Mikado Inn(50 to rest) (desert, NW)
feather+1 [mace,staff,bow,rod]
ring+2, chain
shield, shield+1
battle sword
cat's eye, rope, heal+5, magic+5, jet
The jet potion is a nice convenience here though you probably don't
desperately need it. You are probably better off casting heals or using
separate magic/heal potions as needed. The items are a bit better than the
Mineo Inn, but by the time you get here, you'll probably have found better
protective items. But the feather+1's are worth a look.
Annin Inn(40 to rest) (desert, N)
feather+1 [mace,staff,bow,rod]
ring mail +2, shield
scroll 6
heal+2,heal+5,magic+2,magic+5
Strictly speaking you don't need all the scrolls to complete the game, but
they help you get the heal ring. So you need to drop by here.
Keego Inn(300 to rest) (desert, N)
war mace, miracle bow, holy rod, elf mace, faerie sword
plate suit, tower shield
heal+10, magic+10
fairy cage
weapons that don't work: gold mace, glass bow, diamond staff, silver rod
A rip off any way you slice it, this out of the way inn lets you solve the
fairy subquest if you have extra gold. This subquest gives you an extra item
that is sort of neat but just takes up a slot in your inventory. Still, if you
want to cheat up your gold and not explicitly cheat up items, you can make the
trek here to make things feel more like an adventure. Oh, all the items are
10x as expensive as they should be.
Pete Inn(100 to stay)
faerie sword, feather+1 special weapons
plate mail+1, breast plate+
large+1
heal+10,magic+10
rope, cat's eye, needles, speed ring, amulet
This inn has everything, but you don't need everything. The large+1 is nice,
but there's a tower shield SW. The amulet is nice if you don't have it yet,
though.
3-3. ITEMS AND WEIGHTS
See odino's FAQ for the details here. The basic idea is:
Everyone can use a sword. It may not be quite as damaging per weight as their
class-specific weapon, except in the case of Dionea and their crossbow, which
has range. You can get some pretty good swords early.
Minos: Mace
Aylex: Staff
Dionea: Bow
Viskam: Rod
You can carry a lot of items pretty easily, but you may not be able to equip
them all. It's ok to haul around one item without equipping it. The higher
your level, the more total weight you can equip. You can equip one weapon,
shield and armor, but you can equip just about anything else to use it, too.
You should only have 2 of each of shields, armor and weapons--and that only if
you are nearing maximum weight.
3-4. SPELLS(WITH GENERAL USE)
Spell effectiveness is irrespective of class.
Heal heals (11 + level) hit points. It is probably the most efficient use of
spell points. The extra damage you do when healed is much greater than a few
sparks.
The value for spark jumps at level 28/29. Before that it is 8 + (level / 6).
After it is 40+.
Other offensive spells are not as efficient as spark. You are better off using
it along with the pause trick. So don't bother with them. Magic items in
general do cooler things.
The only other spell that is worth mentioning is sleep. It can be useful at
times, but unfortunately it doesn't work against the really good monsters. It
does, however, work very well on you. Most of the others without quantifiable
damage suffer from a sort of Sod's Law. It'd be really neat if it worked at
all on the tough monsters, but it only works on the ones you could've beaten
anyway. See odino's guide for etails.
A few words on spark--it's great to use on the dark knight, or with a few
potions to make a tough fight easier. You can also use it with a few other
monsters around to pick up additional experience. Remember it only has half
the screen's range when suckering monsters in, and the damage displayed is
only for the last monster it touches--it may affect some monsters differently
than others. You can pretty much guarantee, though, that if X sparks kill a
monster once, they will always kill a monster.
4. WALKTHROUGH
For the most part the walkthroughs for different races are not appreciably
different. However, when one race would be better served by getting item X or
using combat strategy Y, I will note that.
Minos is probably the best to start with. You can hack your way through the
game. But it doesn't give the super cheeriest ending. For the other races, you
can just use a bit more magic and have more replenishing potions, and you have
to balance that off the levels you get. Fortunately you can pick up levels
pretty easily at many places in the walkthrough, though it can take time, and
some quests level you up immediately.
Here are a few platitudes that helped me concentrate on getting through the
game quickly.
Defense wins early battles but you need offense to win the game. (Take that,
Vince Lombardi!)
Never buy what you will find in a treasure chest.
Enemies are dumb and easy to avoid. Find treasure or inns in tough places and
buy it.
The dark knight is actually your friend, until you kill him off for good.
Find easy monsters to beat and beat them up.
Find where level advancing events are, and use them to get the biggest bonus.
Different classes have different easy ways to kill him. Find and use them.
Looking in a mirror helps you build yourself up near the end.
You don't have to get to level 40 to get to the game. An item boost is worth a
few levels.
4-1. STARTING OUT
Choose your race. Minos and Viskam get one background, while Aylex and Dionea
get another, with brighter colors. I found Minos to be the most
straightforward and practical choice, so that is the main one I will push in
this walkthrough, but you may find others work well, too. The right
combination of magic and fighting can pay big dividends at any stage. But you
should be able to get through the game with brute force--one or the other.
The castle is just above, so enter there. The first thing to do is talk to the
king. Don't mess around outside. You're not strong enough yet. He will give
you a mission. Talk to the queen(left of him) and the princess(right of him)
if you want, then walk outside. The door that was guarded before is now open.
You can go in there.
There is an anteroom before you enter the dungeon. You get clothes, a leather
shield, a small sword and a heal potion if you go in there. Be sure to equip
them before entering the dungeon proper.
4-2. QUICK PATH TO THE HERO RING
The castle dungeon is probably the most complex dungeon in the game. There are
bigger ones, and there are ones with tougher monsters, but this has the most
twists and turns. Many other dungeons often rely on you finding one teleport
trick, and many outside areas actually have very few branches. You probably
want to pick up all the treasure in your way, as you might find a neat item,
but don't go out of your way. You'll have enough gold to start you.
The trick to a quick start is to find the hero ring, which gets you up to
level 5 when you equip it. This means, possibly, 900 free experience if you
learn how to sneak around. Sneaking around will be useful later when you need
to walk into an advanced dungeon, get a valuable item, and walk out, so let's
get the feel of it. The key to all this is that you are much faster than your
enemies, and the noncombat movement is turn-based. Enemies don't move until
you do. So failing once or twice and restarting is a lot more interesting than
repeated slime bashing.
Speaking of slimes, they and wisps are the only really tough monsters on the
first level. It's possible to build yourself up to level 2 fighting slimes
exclusively. You don't have to, but it gives you more margin for error later.
Slimes give 7 experience and you need 60 for level 2. That makes 9 slimes to
kill. Wisps may also attack you, but you can avoid them. You probably should.
They are stronger. Note the fountain also in the first room. You can stand on
it and push A to regain health two points at a time. You can in fact hit A
until you are fully healed.
To get through level 1, go up to the next room, then up through the narrow
passage and to the stairs. If an enemy is in your way, retreat so he is off
the screen, then come back. This will work in general.
On level 2 there is a narrow corridor to the right. Enemies can be tougher
here, so run back left or climb the stairs twice to wipe out the monsters. At
the end of the corridor, a skeleton is standing in apparent space. It is way
too strong for you and will be for a while. Sucker it to the left, then move
down, right and up around it. A treasure chest should have appeared, just
above where the skeleton was. Open the chest and take the key. Ready the key.
Exit to the right of the chest and follow the corridor. You'll see what seems
to be an orange wall. Open it. It's actually a locked door, and your key
unlocked it. Follow the passage, beating up anyone in your way--or backtrack
to make them disappear. You can probably cast a heal spell if you need to. At
the end of the passage, you'll see a fountain, for HP, and stairs.
The stairs lead to another pair of stairs you should take. Then you go to
level 4. Follow the passage and loop counterclockwise around. Again avoid the
enemies by backtracking, if need be. You'll get to a room with a chest on top.
Exit northwest--the chest contains a trap--and go along the top. There'll be a
break below. Go into that. In the next room there will be two passages below.
Take the right one and follow it to where there will be a chest in a niche.
Open that chest. It is the hero ring! That gets you to level 5. It doesn't
matter if you die now--dying in fact gets you to the throne room quicker. But
there are ways to pile things up quickly.
4-3. THE CASTLE DUNGEON, REVISITED
Retrace to the room with the 3 passages leading left. Take the lower one left,
then go down to the next passage. Take the right branch, which will wind right,
down and left. At the next fork, take the upper right branch, giving you a
stair to level 3. You are in a small area here with a teleport(the hexagonal
thing,) two chests, and a weird white wall. The upper chest has scroll 2. The
lower has a red key, which you don't really need right now. It's useful as
backup, so don't open the chest. You should still keep the red key you have,
though you may wish to drop it later when inventory gets tight. You'll need
the red key near the end of the game, but you can deal with that when you get
there.
If you want to get out, the teleport leads back to the start of the maze. You
can enter it or try for scroll 8 right away, which may give you a money boost
now and save time later.
4-4. JUMPING AHEAD: SCROLL 8
To bash down the white wall quickly, you need needles. But the only way to get
them is to buy them at an inn, and the inns don't open til you've returned the
hero ring, when guards are put outside the castle.
However, there's another way. Hit the white wall with your sword. It may do 1
damage. Keep hitting til it falls, probably about 200 times. With an emulator
you can hold down a speed up key and keep attacking. Take the stairs, follow
the passage to the room, get the scroll in the top center, and return. Not
only does this save time, but it gives you a way to pile up early gold for
resting in inns etc.
You will have to wait til you achieve level 16 to have the king let you back
in the castle if you don't get this now. But if you wait til then, it will be
even easier. You may wish to do some minor looting there, but it is probably
not worth the bother. Cash isn't really necessary, and the items aren't
anything special.
4-5. DON'T SEE THE KING YET!
You may wish to loot the castle dungeon for a while now. The enemies will be a
lot easier to beat up. You can smack down the goblin that guards where the red
key chest -was- with some blast spells, and you can loop around the area to
pick up gold and items to sell. You can probably make a few levels pretty
easily, too, as you find slightly improved items. But first, let's get scroll
1.
From the start, look in the side room for 20 gold, then return to the fountain
room. Take the upper right passage and follow where it leads--right, up, and
back left to where you see a chest in a corner. Grab it. That is scroll 1. Go
up the stairs and now you will want to go left to one room for gold, then back
right and south to another room with gold. The left passage has a lower branch
with a boobytrapped gold coffer. Then there are stairs at the end of things.
You can take them and wander around the scrolling level 3 for a bit, or you
can take the passage right of the fountain to hit a teleport to level 4. There
are a few treasure chests there you can clean up. Now that you're a lot better,
you don't need to be careful about a chest with a trap.
4-6. SEE THE KING, SEE THE WORLD
You could avoid seeing the king while you build yourself up for a bit in the
outside world, but eventually you need to talk to him to visit inns. Before
you talk to him, the castle dungeon is still open, which means you can heal
for free in the dungeon(vs. 10 gold in the inn.) While gold in the wilderness
is scarce, it's not impossible to get to. And if you need more gold, you can
gamble.
So, go see the king. You'll get a title screen and a quest. See the queen, who
gives you $100 for scrolls 1 and 2 and, if you have it, $1000 for scroll 8.
Talk to the princess, who gives you some gold, too($200,) warning you not to
gamble(she is dead wrong!) You may have to talk to her a couple times to get
this, especially if you did not talk to her to start. You can now access inns,
which give you hints if you stop there. You won't really need them too often
if you do things right. You should visit the inn outside the castle and see if
you have any items that can improve you, for starters. Also, you may wish to
gamble a bit. I'll describe the best way to do this later, but for now you can
stay close, crushing enemies as they come by. Avoid the tall pale blue guy.
He's a wimpy color, but one hit from him can do you in.
There's a chest just east of the castle area that should have a good
weapon(feather, 12) to make it easier to kill enemies.
4-7. SCROLL 3
This is just a fetch quest. But you need to be able to manage the terrain.
Scroll 3 is in a chest just north of the Holy Sword cave. When you exit the
castle area, you need to go southeast along the coastline. There'll be a
couple paths up east of a lake, and the nest one will be between two mountain
ranges. Take it and you'll see a cave to the east. It's the Holy Sword cave.
You can't do anything there until you have the three jewels. But there is a
dead end above it with a hidden chest. Wrap NW and clockwise and go south at
the next clearing, and you'll find a chest tucked in there. Open it for scroll
3. Now retrace your steps, talk to the queen, and you have 1000 gold!
4-8. HOW TO GAMBLE AND WHAT TO BUY
We interrupt this fantasy RPG to inject some cold hard calculation into your
adventure. This real-world equation stuff is good for you, son. Heroes need it,
to plan ahead. You can build up money this way if you have enough of a kitty
to start things out. Plus, even if you mess up, you can just reset the game
and try again.
High-low is a game that is ridiculously in your favor, if it is truly random.
Let's assume that if someone draws card X, you still can too, and that the
game is random. If not, your probability of winning is better by a factor of
1/51.
Card 8: p(8) = 1/13. choose either, p(win) = 6/13
Card 7: p(7) = 1/13. choose high, p(win) = 7/13
Card 6: p(6) = 1/13. choose high, p(win) = 8/13
Card 5: p(5) = 1/13. choose high, p(win) = 9/13
Card 4: p(4) = 1/13. choose high, p(win) = 10/13
Card 3: p(3) = 1/13. choose high, p(win) = 11/13
Card 2: p(2) = 1/13. choose high, p(win) = 12/13
Card 9: p(9) = 1/13. choose low, p(win) = 7/13
Card 10: p(10) = 1/13. choose low, p(win) = 8/13
Card J: p(J) = 1/13. choose low, p(win) = 9/13
Card Q: p(Q) = 1/13. choose low, p(win) = 10/13
Card K: p(K) = 1/13. choose low, p(win) = 11/13
Card A: p(A) = 1/13. choose low, p(win) = 12/13
Sum all these probabilities to get 120/169 = win probability = 71%.
Now, since you can redouble your bet(we'll ignore the "same" option as the
probability of winning 4x your money is 4/51 or 4/52, well under 1/4).
expected value per turn(play once) = -100 + (200 * 71%) = $42 per turn
EV(2) = (-100 + (200 * 71%)^2) / 2 = $50.83 per turn, 50% chance of win
EV(3) = (-100 + (142%)^3) / 3 = $62.10 per turn, 35% chance of win
EV(4) = (-100 + (142%)^4) / 4 = $76.68 per turn, 25% chance of win
EV(5) = (-100 + (142%)^5) / 5 = $95.51 per turn
EV(6) = (-100 + (142%)^6) / 6 = $120.04 per turn
Wow! This looks really good! While eventually you'll lose if you keep
redoubling, 1) there are save states to see ahead and 2) you can strike a nice
balance if you cut and run at the right time.
But here is the catch. The game starts to cheat around the 4th turn or so.
You'll find yourself repeatedly drawing 2's when the game's card is a 3, or
getting the same card a lot. If you have save states, you can try each of low,
high and same to see which wins--same wins most of the time, leaving me to
wonder how pre-ordained the result is. Still, if you don't get greedy, you'll
do okay.
With a starting kitty of at least $1400 from all the items you found and the
gold from the queen, you should be able to win a few 3-in-a-rows and be pretty
comfortable. The probability you'll lose money before you win with best playis
very low, .65^8 = 3%. In which case you just reset the game. So, in the course
of just wandering around, you can make a few hundred each time you come back.
The goal is to get to $10000 at least. You want to be able to buy a speed ring,
though it is possible to be able to sneak one in the desert area.
4-9. CHILLIN' IN THE NORTH
For the next bit we're going to zigzag around a bit, avoiding monsters. You're
faster than they are. You're going to get some items which will help on the
way. Some of your races won't be able to use their items yet, but that's okay.
If you have an Aylex, beat up blue knights til you're at level 8, because
there's a limit on what you can put in your inventory.
Go north along the shoreline and enter the dungeon there at the north edge.
Head west, then at the T, go west again. Go NW, then at the next T(there's a
circle around the boulder on the way) go west and SW. The Mineo Inn has some
good items. Buy the best armor, shield and sword there(battle, ring +2,
shield.) You may not be able to equip them all just now, but they'll be useful
when you gain a few levels. Equip the armor first, then the shield, if you
can't ready everything at once. Now return and go east. At the end of the
passage you have a speed ring. Take it. It will make you faster. So what if
you get killed here--you got what you wanted.
You aren't strong enough to go into any dungeons, but you can avoid the
enemies enough to get the item you want.
4-10. TURNING THE BLUE BLACK KNIGHT BLACK AND BLUE
Well, you probably want to build yourself up first--go to the south coast,
then NE through the trees when you see the cave to the NW. There's +1 leather
in the top bit of the dead-end here. You can get a +1 leather shield in the
Mar Inn in the cave below.
The light blue knight is daunting, but there are ways to knock him out.
Specifically, if you are good at magic, you can use magic until you yourself
are blue all over(figuratively.) He will never get close, and you can use your
speed to keep your distance. You can have some extra magic potion(s) to
recharge. The cash spent is well worth it, because after all, it is easy to
get back gambling at the inn.
You may wish to skip to sections 12 and 13 before tackling him fully. Those
give you some nice items. But it's possible to beat him with save states
and/or a lot of healing and retreating to an inn. You can also play it safe
and go ahead to 4-15-1 to beat up skeletons in relative safety to gain levels,
then beat the big blue guy.
But the blue guy is a big bopper because he gives you 300 experience. So if
you stumble around beating him up, you can get a level for beating him 2-3
times. If you find a safe way to beat him or if you use save states, then, you
will improve quickly. The risk is that if you die, you're bumped back down to
the minimum experience needed for your current level.
There are two places to look for him: underground, in the Dark Forest dungeon,
and overground. The first has tougher auxiliary monsters and is closer to a
healing inn, and the second has more treacherous terrain. I'd go with the
first, because it will also get you accustomed to the next bit you have to do.
In general there are lots of ways to improve levels quickly enough that you
can automatically heal up without having to use potions, but fighting the blue
guy is quickest. Fighting the fixed trees that disappear and reapper west of
the Inn of Mar is slower but surer. When you get to level ~11 you can probably
just attack him and heal continuously for quick victories. However, once you
get to level 15, he will die and leave a Black Ticket. You are forced to take
it. And you need it for something late in the game, so sadly it will take up
an inventory slot.
Along the way the king may call you back to the castle. It's not critical, but
the item(fairy wings) is nice.
4-11. A WORD ON INVENTORY JUGGLING
You don't have a lot of neat items left, but in general you will want to save
slots for particularly good items. Even if you do not use the items, they are
good to sell. To make the game easier, you will eventually need to buy a fairy
for $10000 and you'll probably eventually get sick of gambling.
The game doesn't let you drop critical items, so you may wish to drop/use/sell
potions or items you don't need any more before getting that next game-
critical item.
4-12. GAINING YOUR (FAIRY) WINGS
Fairy wings are a great item. They let you return home quickly--handy for, say,
going into a dead end in an advanced dungeon, finding an item, and escaping
scot-free with a bunch of monsters surrounding you. Advanced items are really
key to winning quickly because if you accelerate them, you can whomp on
enemies that still supposed to be difficult while they can't damage you. The
only disadvantage is if you get a very strong item too soon, you may not have
the strength to wear it. Combine the fairy wings with some emergency potions
to restore hit points, and if you know where to go, a foray to the right
dungeon can improve you a lot more than several minutes of bashing around in a
dungeon, with a lot less risk.
4-13. GO EAST, YOUNG [RACE]
This part is not necessary but it can help you get a good item. From the
castle, go south along the shoreline then up past the cave. Turn east when you
can. Past the glade, you will see a cave. There is a really cool item in the
center of the first big room you get to. Or there should be. It's random what
it is, but it's very good. Equip it, then leave.
4-14. NOW GO EAST-ER. HOP TO IT!
This might be the most contentious of your item grabs. It's probably best done
with a Minos who can carry the extra weight.
You can go all the way to the east and sneak in an item there. There's a
treasure chest west of the Merlin Inn, though it's blocked by a tree from the
Merlin Inn itself. That chest seems to hold a +1 of whatever class-specific
weapon there is. It's not a game-changer, and it may not even be as good as a
battle sword, but it's nice.
In the final dungeon, you must avoid enemies, but if you take the south stairs
at the fork, then go up, then go up the next stairs to the east and go a bit
south and east. Grab the plate armor and leave. It will be hard for enemies to
damage you.
4-15. SEE THE FOREST FOR THE BREEZE
Okay. So now you can go back to the dark forest on the south coast. Stop off
at the Mar Inn to heal and then go west, past the 3 trees. The path will turn
up. Follow it. You'll see a dungeon. Enter it.
4-15-1. THE SAGE
You can try and kill the skeletons here--they are not too bad. The basic idea
is to enter the east portal as you start, then enter the portal in the NW
corner, visit the sage, and get out.
But before teleporting! The NW portal sends you to a guy who gives you
*another* level. With a healing fountain in the NE of the 2nd room and
Skeletons worth 35 a clip, you can make up a level pretty easily, since levels
are <1000. That means <28 kills in a room crawling with skeletons. Why not
stay and kill more and get another level? If you don't get bored, I recommend
pumping up to 13000 experience. That's when you have a bit of a bump in
experience before the next level--2000 EXP.
You can use this strategy other places. The next jump is from 26 to 27(1500 to
2000) and then 30 to 31(2000 to 4000) and after that, you should be able to
run through the game just begging levels-up.
So with 13000 experience, visit the above mentioned sage and get another level.
Hit the hexagonal teleport and get the chest in the east of the big room. Then
hit the east teleport to get to the next room and clean out the chest to the
north.
Note the fountian in the 2nd room TAKES AWAY 20 hit points, so avoid it. The
monsters are the same either place.
The exit teleport is in the southeast of the first room. You can visit the
sage's room and teleport out that way if you get really lost.
You may wish to go back to the Mar Inn and heal now. Buy needles if you
haven't already. It's time to get 2 scrolls. Also, if you haven't got the
fairy wings yet, you might want to do so.
A shortcut to get back to the castle to get the wings is to un-equip
everything and let monsters kill you. This does not drain experience if the
sage just gave you a level.
4-15-2. SCROLL 4
North-by-northwest of the sage is another cave. It holds a scroll. Go around
the N-shape to the top and follow the passage til it goes down. Go left, then
up, then down at the T. Folow that, and go right at the next T. Bingo! Scroll
4! It is hidden slightly to the left in the dead end, so you may have to run
up and down a bit to find it.
There are other places where you can find good items. It's not terribly worth
going through the maze to find them, as they're low-magic stuff, and the
fights don't build you up too quickly either. I marked the squares that poison
you on the map. So if you see any chest where I didn't mark it, it's probably
a mimic.
4-15-3. SCROLL 5
Go west from the forest til the path turns south. Then it turns SW. Go SE at
the trees. Along the NE bank you have a cave just above a sage. The cave
contains scroll 5. It is not very hard, either. In fact, it is probably even
easier. The tough part has is getting here and finding it.
Go up at the entrance. There's good treasure to the left, then go right and
avoid that chest unless you don't mind poison/old/etc. N-E-N to the corner and
now W and S at the first chance. Another chest! Then follow the south passage,
W, N and use the nettles to break the door down. The chest for the scroll will
appear as you get to the top.
Now you can leave, though there is treasure to the left--a side room S, then
at the left edge, S E to a chest(exploding,) or N E.
4-16. UNICORNUCOPIA
You need a few free slots in your inventory for this, and you'll probably want
a few more for the neat items you'll find, so you may wish to use fairy wings
and come back. From the scroll-5 dungeon, go south until you can't, then go
west. There'll be a mini zigzag between-forest passage and you'll wind up by a
lighter forest. There is treasure here, but you can't take it til you've met
the head unicorn.
Follow the first passage to a diagonal T. NE and you have a 4-way branch ahead.
NW then the path curves NE. NW again. You should get to a wall in the north.
There'll be two passages to the left. Take the lower one. You may wish to
fight your way to the next level here, as the unicorn gives you a level-up. He
also allows you to loot the forest on the way out. Be sure to get Leib and the
Horn in the twin chests on the way out first. Take the fairy wings home.
Now your inventory is crowded, but you can sell the horn for 5000 gold(not
that you need THAT, either) then use Leib to free up a spot. Common sense
would dictate you need to go back to the Holy Sword dungeon, but you don't.
Here is how to go back to Holy Sword anyway... Take it. Enter the dungeon.
TALK to the sword icon and then USE Leib.
4-17. SCROLL 7, BECAUSE IT'S STILL NOT OUT OF ORDER TO COUNT OUT OF ORDER
Go northeast along the coast til you see an inn and a dungeon. Enter that
dungeon. You'll emerge in a desert on the other side. It may actually be a
mountain according to the game script. Push west and/or north whenever you can.
West takes priority. Heal here after fighting monsters. They're beatable but
not if you fight too many in a row. Eventually you'll hit a dungeon.
Go N E and at the fork, S. Talk to Yardelmar and heal him. Don't worry that
you don't have medicine. Get Magni and Scroll 7. You can leave now, or you can
go to the arena and beat up a bunch of enemies. That will get a few levels,
but actually it'd be easier to go to the sage's in the forest. I'd advise
getting at least to 32000, or level 31. By that time you can probably heal
yourself as you beat up the knights. They are worth 64 experience and 1 level
is 2000, so that means, beat up 32 of them. Da Hui's FAQ says the fountain
eventually dries up, but you won't need it if you have a few heal potions.
It's almost worth retreating to an inn to buy more--I don't know if that
recharges the fountain.
Here is what to do. Defeat the pink knight. Enter the portal. I went to the
right and kept looking for portals on the bottom and found one pretty quickly
that led to the arena. All others lead to the dungeon entry.
Okay, you can now return to see the king, or you can take a side quest. Be
sure you've got 10000+ gold or the patience to gamble, though.
4-18. SCROLL 6, OR A 150% GAIN ON PAPER
Go back east and muddle through the paths. You will hit the Mikado Inn. It has
Chain and a +1 shield. Buy them. You can buy your class-specific item, too,
for a nice bonus over the battle sword. Do so. It's not a huge upgrade, but
it's nice.
Go back west and take the east path at the first T(the immediate east goes to
a dead end.) There's some treasure there that may be nice. Then go back south
and take the southeast branch at the next opening. At the crossroads, south.
Then pretty much straight east(1 icon up or down to avoid a rock) gets you to
the Annin Inn. Enter it and buy scroll 6 for $400. Just two to go!
4-18-1. HOW MUCH IS THAT FAIRY IN THE WINDOW
This side quest is here for the sake of completeness, but it's not necessary
for the game. In fact your cash is better spent on the very best weapons in
the NE inn in the mountains/desert. Even that is tenuous, as it's not hard to
make your weapon the very best.
The Mikado Inn is on a path to the NE but the really good stuff is back to the
Annin Inn, if you have $10000+. The path is not hard as any dead ends are
quickly retraced upon. But you can just leave for the castle now, if you want.
Head south-southeast til a narrow path opens to the east--you may hit a dead
end if you hook east too soon, so then retrace and go south.
Rough instructions are to go NE/NW etc til you loop around. Head east then
southeast. Go around one boulder(around 2 leads to a treasure loop) then SE
again and follow the path. The Keego Inn is at the end.
Now you can gamble a WHOLE lot to get your very best weapon. You can also buy
the fairy cage.
Once you get to the Keego Inn, buy the fairy. Now take wings home. There are
some great items here but it's not worth saving up for them or gambling to win
them. You can find them other places. Watch out, though. The gold mace, glass
bow, diamond staff and silver rod are useless. War, miracle, holy, and elf
items are the best. Faerie is also pretty good.
4-19. SCROLL 9, BACK TO THE FOREST
Back in the forest, go west, then turn north when you see the 2 red trees.
Turn west when you can. There'll be an inn there, the Celeste Inn. It's good
for resting, but the items are somewhat lame. Except the amulet, which odino
says doubles magic resistance(empirically, it works, though I haven't found
evidence.) You'll also have a cave to the SW. Enter it.
You have a long winding passage here. Go down at the first T, then at the 2nd,
then at the 3rd past the sage. The 4th leads to a dead end with treasure in
the lower chamber of the dead end. This treasure is likely very good. You
don't need to count the T's where you go down--just back up after the dead end.
You can retreat and go north at the next part to take on the boss that will
get you scroll 9. But first, loot the treasure around. There will be 1) better
items or 2) heal/magic +2/+5 which will be worthwhile. There also may be
breast plate in the NW--I found it twice working through each class.
If you have a Dionea, check out a chest on the bottom which may have a holy
bow. That is an awesome weapon. It will win the boss fight easily. I think the
weapon at the bottom(2nd niche from the right) you get depends on the class,
so definitely look there before the big fight.
The bosss is in the northwest of the big area. You'll recognize him--he's a
golden horse in a field of grey ones. You'll want to level up against the
enemies around you. If you can get to level 26(24000 exp,) that is ideal--the
enemies will weaken you, but you should be able to heal yourself enough. They
are worth 60 experience. So it piles up pretty quickly.
Talk to the boss to get the encounter started. He is no pushover. There is
some risk he will hit you for 100 points, so I recommend having a lot of heal
spells in your bag in case that happens. As mentioned above, level 26 is good.
Also, while it's fun to hit the opponents around you with sparks to pick up a
little extra experience, defense is once again what you should focus on. One
interesting trick is to get to almost the next level, then wallop him. Get
scroll 9. Search around a bit more if you want. There are some really good
items in the dead ends that don't show up til you get close to them. You will
probably find better weapons and armor than what you have.
4-19-1. DID YOU GET SCROLL 8?
Just checking. It should be a snap by now. It's behind the wall you couldn't
tackle, before.
4-20. LOOTING THE BAD GUYS, ONE LAST TIME
Push east to the peninsula at the east edge. This means, take a long detour S
then a bit E then N past the forest dungeon. If you got the fairy, you can
stop by, go to where you got scroll 9, go to the NE, and use the fairy on the
water. She will give you an ocarina, which will show you another fairy. Then
follow her to open a chest you couldn't have opened earlier. It gives you a
crystal ball, which is cool but useless.
Otherwise, go east, and a bit north. Enter the eastern dungeon below the town.
Until you get armor or are able to wear it, don't fight anyone here. Go to the
center room and head south, then climb that stair and the stair to the east.
Head east then a bit south and a chest will appear. It holds plate mail +2.
Get it. You may again not be able to equip it, but hang onto it til you do.
Go south, climb up the stair, and go to the NW corner of the small room for a
Large+1 shield. Now retreat to where you got the armor and go to the left. Go
outside, and below the center mountain you have a plate suit. Get it. Drop
what you can't use.
You may still need to whiz by monsters, but this is a good place to save, or
to build up. The sage in the dark forest is great for this, and you can
probably rip the scroll 9 area to shreds by now, too. You can also use the
next area for this, but the inn where you rest after zapping enemies is much
more expensive. So you have to gamble more.
Go back to the 1st floor and take the east passage. Go up the SE stairs in the
2nd room, then N W in the 3rd and take the stairs up to the top. Go to the SE
of this big room and take the stairs down. There are two more stairs--just
follow the passage. Then you are in a room with a teleport. Go to the
southeast to find a War. Then take the teleport and you are in a big room with
stairs that lead out and a passage to the east that leads to a new place.
A tower shield is in the very southwest of this area, but it's the place to
the east that holds the final small dungeon you really need to tackle, and you
don't want to try too hard to get the strength for all items--you'll find a
god armor/shield later. You can pick up a few levels beating up the wizards,
who are easy marks if you don't get diagonal to them. I would get to level 33,
44000 experience, so you can wear all the armor you found. Enemies are worth
about 100 experience each. You may be able to make do with less, especially if
your Dionea has a bow, but it is stretching it for the mirror combat I mention
later.
4-21. SCROLL 10 AND THE FINAL JEWEL
You can make the next dungeon very easy indeed by buying +10 magics in the
pete inn. It's worth the time to try and gamble. You can either run and heal,
or you can fire off sparks. He has 500 hit points, so at 10 damage per spark,
you will need 400 spell points. Budget accordingly. Of course you can swing at
him the last few times, but watch it--he does lots of damage. With a Minos the
fight should be no problem. You'll have more strength and the best armor. But
with other guys, it is tougher. Even with a level 28 viskam, who can wield
everything.
This last scroll dungeon is a breeze. Take the south path at the T and hold
"down" as you go through the small entrance. Talk to the guy(level up!) and
get scroll #10. Use the black ticket in the NE part of the level(W-N-E) and
you may have to retreat and return to see him, but he will be there. You can
go back to the castle now and get the heal ring, then beat up the enemy, but
it is better to just take him out right away.
Once you knock him out, you get Norn. You'll also get another automatic level.
You've done all you can here, so let's use fairy wings and go back to the
castle.
4-22. HOLY S-WORD, IT'S THE HOLY SWORD!
Talk to the queen, king and princess. She gives you a heal ring which you
should equip. It will give you energy back. Now go to the cave of the Holy
Sword and use Norn. Then look at the altar and it will give you Star. Don't go
down the stairs just yet. Instead, un-equip your armor and go outside. Run
into the first monster you see. It'll slowly drain your HP despite the ring.
When it kills you, re-equip immediately. Be sure to cast a heal spell too so
that it doesn't kill you for real this time.
What does this do? It changes your star from wimpy offense(1) to really
tough(100). There's no clue for this. You just get a level-up when it happens.
You could've waited to do this for later, but it might get you killed for real
and kick you back pretty far, even with the level-up bonus.
The only other thing to do before this is to make sure you have as many
inventory spots as possible open. Random monsters drop jet potions here, which
heal your HP and MP totally. It's useful to have a backup or two. You can use
them pretty liberally. You also need needles. Well, not strictly, but the
barriers will be a bore to break down otherwise. Also, I recommend getting to
level 29. Use the east isle for that--enemies are plentiful and you can handle
them. Spark will be very valuable.
Re-enter the dungeon, then go down the stairs that replaced the altar.
4-23. "WHAT?! I'M ONLY WORTH 300 EXPERIENCE?!"
Note magic is more valuable now since you can heal yourself running into walls
without enemies around. Or you can run into walls while avoiding them to win a
big fight. Detour south before the mirror and go SW til the passage hooks back
west. Then go south, then east. Get the treasure--it is a God Shield. It
weighs less than what you have, which you should drop to keep a jet potion
slot. You won't need gold any more.
You need: Star, speed ring, heal ring, cat's eye, armor, shield, needles,
amulet(optional but nice), 1 key(the latest--others can be dropped. Keep the
red if you have it) and fairy wings. That leaves 8 slots--more than enough.
If you still have the red key, return to the start. If not, go south through 2
rooms to get the red key and retreat. This is a big and repetitive dungeon but
it is not impossible. You can pick enemies off here as your heal ring
recharges you. But the big enemy is yourself, in the mirror. You'll want to
avoid him/you for now. There's another one later that is more lucrative, but
you'll have God Armor by then. So the fight will be easier. Stay as far south
as possible as you walk past the mirror. Then turn south, equip the red key,
and open the door. Walk south to the stairs. You may wish to fight blobs for
jet potions before you ascend--level 2 doesn't seem to have them.
Experience for you, here, depends on class.
Viskam = 850
4-24. OH FINALLY, A PRINCESS TO RESCUE!
You can unequip and drop the Red Key, which you don't need any more. This
frees up an inventory space. You need to beat Dullahan, too, to get a new key.
He's the big dude. Go SW and then follow the path E S. Beat up all comers. Go
past the mirror(duck below) to avoid yourself, and then go south to one room
then west. The god plate is in the bottom-ish area of this big room, 3 of you
above the bottom. Equip it, and now you can beat up everyone except your
mirror image easily. And your image will fall to constant sparks, but there's
a better way.
You can max out your experience with a neat trick. Your image isn't good at
attacking after you hit him, so you can hit and flee, etc., until he is out of
commission. You can get to level 40 this way at up to 1500 experience a pop.
62000 is probably enough, though.
With the heal ring, running into walls heals you, and there are a lot of them
here, so you are safe from enemies--the occasional wizard notwithstanding. He
can't drain you that much if you have an amulet. The tiny enemies do no damage,
but watch for the big knights. You can also run left of the mirror and back
right to destroy the very harmless boulders for 110 exp each. You can even zap
the mirror with enough sparks(80 or so. Use your level up or jet recharges.)
It's only 140 experience, though.
Back in the main area, go east from the SW cloverleaf of rooms, (detour
another doorway east for gold) then south 2 doorways, east all the way and up.
Talk to the princess. That gets you a level. Drop the blue key and take the
silver key from the chest. Go back to the SW of this patchwork of rooms. Go
west along the southernmost bit of the hall to avoid the boulder.
Though you may want to get the God Plate first as you/he can do quite a bit
of damage, and you will need to run away and recharge if he does manage to hit
you. If you put off getting the princess, you need only get 90000 experience.
You don't need all the levels, though. I would recommend a few jet potions
from level 1 and a full complement of magic points--no need for them til the
final room.
From the mirror hall, S to a room, E to another room, S(you have to fight
through the boulder but it won't do much damage) and U.
Another mirror image of you, but it's best you just go to the next room, up a
room, right through the passage(right at the T) and then down twice. Use the
silver key to get out. Again, no way to avoid the boulder as it rolls past.
Step on the portal and you are at the last castle.
4-25. THE CASTLE MAZE
This is not too bad. Go:
L U R U L(to the narrow pass to the left) U(at the t) R U R(past the T) U R D
R U and DL through the courtyard, then U R U and the path winds L U to a 4 way
intersection. R U and then the entrance is UL. Avoid monsters when you can.
You should be able to zigzag around even mages. Don't worry about keeping at
maximum hit points but cast heal if it gets low.
4-26. BYE BYE BAAL
This part is pretty straightforward. Go to the NE--avoid the monsters if you
need to recharge. You can outrun them and come back, and the barrier will
still have the same damage. In fact, they are so slow and aimless you can run
around and come back. Then equip and fire the needles to shoot down the bottom
of the 4 barriers. Enter the portal.
Then in the next room get the NW portal. It is small and easy.
In this room you should use the needle to get to a SE portal. It may disappear
if you have to fight, so go off the screen and back on, and it will reappear.
You can still enter it anyway, but if you want to be sure, there you go. Then
in the next room, recharge and thrash the wizard/staff or hag/staff. This is a
tricky fight and I think it deserves some detailing.
Basically when you kill the wizard/hag it leaves a staff. You get 3 chances to
hit the staff. And if you've used speedup to get through the game, turn it off
now. Because this isn't like other fights--it is in real time. The best way to
see if the staff disappears is to step behind it and hack away. Magic doesn't
work on it either. If you fail to defeat the staff, the wizard/hag reclaims
its hit points.
Now you technically do not need your hero sword for this. Other items work too.
MaxDamage for Minos = 165 + 75(heavy mace)
Aylex: 80 + 50(elf staff)
Dionea: 96 + 45(faerie sword)
Viskam: 118 + 75(holy rod)
Now the HP for the staff = 512 - X, where X = # of hit points beyond 0 that
you dropped the wizard/hag to.
For the Aylex, the maximum is 381, leaving you 3 times to do 381 damage of 390
at best. While your sword usually gives the maximum amount, there is no
assurance of this, and 8/130 of the time it wouldn't kill the enemy anyway.
For a Minos, you can get by with a heavy mace. Or in fact the uncharged Holy
Sword(495 damage possible on the staff.) The Minos will probably need just 2
hits to knock off the staff with a charged holy sword.
The Viskam does not need much to win eventually. But with the holy rod, you
have 193*3=579 total points possible, and it is straightforward.
The Dionea is better off with the Faerie Sword at 141 damage, but even that
can take quite a while--with maximum damage at 564 for 4 hits(1 to kill the
wizard, 3 for the staff) you have a 52/141 chance on the final hack.
The wizard doesn't do much damage, but if you have the wrong weapon, it will
drain you eventually. With the right weapons,
Aylex = 180 per = 540 for 3 hits potentially, easy knockout
Dionea = 196 per, again easy knockout
Viskam = 218 per, see above
Step on the portal to get to the next level. Kill the crabs here to get a
silver and pink key. This is trickier than it looks, as they do good damage
and give the key randomly. Make sure nobody is in the corridor below when you
unlock the silver door. There. Run to the top of the room and down if you're
not sure.
For the pink key, I think you need to kill a beetly guy while you still have
the silver key equipped. Go W N E and open the door. Again retreat and enter
til the corridor is reasonably unblocked. Recharge your HP if need be. Double
back a few times if need be to fumigate, so to speak.
In the NE you have two walls to break with needles, so you may need double the
patience. But once you have, equip your item and run at the center guy. Hack
him to shreds and the other two will die. It should be pretty simple. He may
cast sleep at you, but you can use a jet potion to heal/wait it out, and you
can also cast spells while sleeping or use jet potions. I recommend heal over
sparks. There's 3 damage per hit and 512 total hit points. That means 170
spells, or 1360 magic points. That's quite a few jet potions, so you're best
off casting until the tune changes from "sleep" and watching when your hit
points go below 100. A few hacks are all that's needed. Here is where the horn
or crystal ball may come in handy to seal the deal, but you should be able to
spread your spells out.
4-27. WHO GETS WHAT ENDING
Now on winning the fight you get the soulstone. Equip it, and you get a class-
specific item.
The minos gets a golden hoe and spends his time farming and rebuilding the
kingdom.
The aylex gets goddess wings and flies to the clouds to become a goddess,
after a young girl helps her.
The dionea gets the red yarn and marries Yardelmar.
The viskam gets the pendant, is coronated and marries the princess.
4-28. BIG PICTURE CLASS DIFFERENCES
Minos can bash through the game. You can't use the rest-at-the-inn trick so
conveniently due to the low magic. But you can whip middling smaller monsters
much easier, and you can build up strong armor very quickly, even running to
get the plate/plate+2 early on to be virtually invincible, if you know where
it is. Then you can hack through the dark knight. You can even muck up what to
do with the holy sword. Recommended for the first time through the game.
Aylex is the toughest to win with, though it can cast a lot of spells at the
dark knight early on to build experience. It's hard even to get heavy items,
too, much less equip them. So you have to build up more before making a trip
for the bigger armor in the desert.
Dionea is nice due to shortcuts with the bow and being able to recycle arrows.
It has good spellcasting too and that can combine to slaughter dark knights.
Though you have to kill more of them because they are worth less experience.
Viskam start slowly with HP/magic and don't have Dionea's range attack
potential, but they get strong at melee quickly enough to be useful.
5. CHEATS
Some hex values move around, but the important ones remain constant. This
makes for some vagary with enemies, but your stats are fixed.
5-1. FIXED
0x098 = health. 0x04=dying, 0x08=hit, 0x10 = poisoned, 0x20 = old, 0x40 = sick,
0x80=sleep.
0x01, 0x02 don't do anything. You can't freeze this at 0x00 without annoying
delays each time you're hit.
Conditions can last up to 256 moves. 3 moves ~= 1 icon.
0x69c = class 0=minos 1=aylex 2=dionea 3=viskam (background/icon reloads on
screen refresh)
0x69d = level - 1
0x69e = current HP
0x69f = current magic
0x6a0-2 = experience, decimal-ized, low first
i.e. 65 43 21 = 214,365 EXP
levels are automatically adjusted up with this
0x6a5-7 = gold, decimal-ized, low first
Items are stored from 6a8 to 6b9 inclusive by index. You can have a maximum of
18. The game automatically sorts them by (# & 0x7f) if you go to the inventory
screen. The high bit(0x80) is for if the item is equipped. Here is what each
item signifies.
ff = no item
00 = small mace
01 = small +1
02 = feather
03 = feather +1
04 = heavy
05 = war
06 = gold
07 = small bow
08 = small +1
09 = feather
0a = feather +1
0b = long
0c = miracle
0d = glass
0e = small staff
0f = small +1
10 = feather
11 = feather +1
12 = iron
13 = elf
14 = diamond
15 = small
16 = small +1
17 = feather
18 = feather +1
19 = star
1a = holy
1b = silver
1c = small
1d = small +1
1e = feather
1f = feather +1
20 = battle
21 = faerie
22 = crystal
23 = star [sword] [before action described above]
24 = star [sword] [after action]
25 = needle
26 = clothes [armor]
27 = clothes +1
28 = clothes +2
29 = leather
2a = leather +1
2b = leather +2
2c = ring
2d = ring +1
2e = ring +2
2f = chain
30 = chain +1
31 = chain +2
32 = breast plate
33 = breast plate +1
34 = breast plate +(2 should be fixed in translation patch .92)
35 = plate mail
36 = plate mail +1
37 = plate mail +2
38 = plate suit
39 = god plate
3a = leather (shield)
3b = leather +1
3c = wood
3d = wood +1
3e = shield
3f = shield +1
40 = shield +2
41 = large
42 = large +1
43 = tower
44 = god
45 = scroll 1
46 = scroll 2
47 = scroll 3
48 = scroll 4
49 = scroll 5
4a = scroll 6
4b = scroll 7
4c = scroll 8
4d = scroll 9
4e = scroll 10
4f = heal +1
50 = heal +2
51 = heal +5
52 = heal +10
53 = magic +1
54 = magic +2
55 = magic +5
56 = magic +10
57 = jet
58 = hero ring
59 = speed ring
5a = heal ring
5b = gold(for display purposes only)
5c = cat's eye
5d = ocarina
5e = horn
5f = red key
60 = blue key
61 = silver key
62 = pink key
63 = amulet
64 = crystal ball
65 = rope
66 = ingot
67 = gemstone
68 = soulstone
69 = Leib
6a = Magni
6b = Norn
6c = black ticket
6d = fairy
6e = fairy wing
6f = pendant
70 = gold hoe
71 = red yarn
72 = goddess wing
73-7e = nonsense items, so don't add them
5-2. VARIANT
If you wish to leave open an inventory slot without needles, you can use your
cheat GUI to record the values in the Ram. Then hit a wall with your weapon
til you do 1 damage. See what has decreased by 1. Keep doing this til there's
just one byte value. Reset it to 1 and watch the wall crumble. The wall's "hit
points" aren't always in the same place. That's because it may be listed as
monster #1, ..., #8.
54d, 56d, ..., 62d are where enemy damage is stored in general. You can knock
out a lot of tough enemies this way, setting them to 00. Next hit will kill
them. Yes, walls are included as enemies in this definition. These values are
equal to 2* the hit points remaining. So if you freeze them at zero you'll be
unable to win.
End of FAQ Proper
================================
6. VERSIONS/CREDITS
0.5.0: sent to GameFAQs 10/03/2008, halfway done
1.0.0: sent to GameFAQs 10/31/2008, complete for Minos
1.1.0: sent to GameFAQs 11/03/2008, proofread for all four classes
1.2.0: sent to GameFAQs 11/03/2008, with item and monster info
1.2.1: sent to GameFAQs 11/08/2008, with info for both terrains
1.2.2: sent to GameFAQs 11/09/2008, with variable experience added
Thanks to GameFAQs for being, well, THERE.
Thanks to the NES completion project in general, and as mentioned above, odino,
Da Hui, and Pluvius for their particular insights. Thanks to odino and Da Hui
for explicitly letting me use information from their FAQs and odino for ideas
for additional sections to my guide.
Thanks to Tenshigami for translating the game from the Japanese and to
Romhacking.net for hosting translation patches for games like this and
blasting them and others to the world. Also thanks to Tenshigami for taking a
second look at a small typo I found
Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang, current and emeritus. They know who they
are, and you should, too, because they get/got some SERIOUS writing done. Good
people too--bloomer, falsehead, Sashanan, Masters, Retro, Snow Dragon/Brui5ed
Ego, ZoopSoul, War Doc, Brian Sulpher, AdamL, odino, JDog, Lagoona, Da Hui and
others I forgot. OK, even Hydrophant in his current not-yet-banned message
board incarnation. I am not part of his gang, but I want him to be part of
mine.
