Legend of Darkness
FAQ/Guide
Version 1.200
By Steve G Blow
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Legend of Darkness, and Dark Ages are registered trademarks of Nexon, inc. The
author of this guide takes no credit in the creation, advertisement, or any
other aspect of the creation of Legend of Darkness. The author has never had,
and does not have any affiliation with Nexon, inc. This guide is written for
non-profit purpouses, and may not be sold, provided as part of a deal, or pub-
lished in a publication. This guide may not be edited, or used as a means of
creating a guide of your own. This guide may be distributed electronically, and
physically, but only intact and only for free. Failure to comply can and will
be pursued to the fullest extents of the law.
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Table of Contents
*****************
Chapter 1 - The Legend of Darkness
Chapter 2 - Classes
Chapter 3 - FAQ
Chapter 4 - Revision History
Approximately 10 years ago Nexon Inc, a Korean company launched a title
known as "The Legend of Darkness." After 2 years, Nexon decided to go
International and ported "The Legend of Darkness" into the American market.
The game took a renaming and became "Dark Ages," a shorter title that was felt
would make more sense to the American Gaming Market.
The game follows the epic struggles presented in Celtic and Gaelic mythoi,
placing the player in the role of an Aisling (a Gaelic word that roughly is
translated into "the Dreamer.") Every aspect of LoD revolves around your own
interactions with others. In this, LoD is a game that not only encourages
player interaction, it also enforces it.
The players may take on a player-driven world of politics, religion, and
even education and profession. There are so many aspects in LoD that are
player-driven, GMs are very very rare, and some believe they may no longer
exist.
Legend of Darkness is very player moderated, and like stated before this
may be the only type of moderation you'll see. The game has a 2D isometric
interface, and is very much hack-and-slash. There are many ways to gain
experience points other than just fighting, but it's much quicker to group up,
and HnS than it is to pray to your deity five times a day or partake in the
(very small number of) non-combat quests.
The Legend of Darkness awaits, can you bring the light of Dion back to the
lands of Temuair and Medina?
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Chapter 2 - Classes
In Legend of Darkness, you will begin a peasant. You have six progression
path choices, these being the Monk, Peasant, Priest, Rogue, Warrior and Wizard
professions. In order to take on any profession other than Peasant you will
need to find yourself a sponsor who will guide you through the sponsor process
at the Temple of Veils. To find the Temple of Veils, you need to go to the
North-East most point of Mileth (where your character's life begins).
* Monk: Powerful and complex, the Monk class has what is arguably the
most difficult progression. You will have access to few weapons,
none of which are "regular" weapons in the respect of the word.
As a Monk you will get the most varied skill set, but are best
suited in a supporting position and will find soloing is very
difficult, albeit not impossible. On a scale of 1 to 6, the Monk
has a difficulty of 5.
* Peasant: Simple and nearly benign, the Peasant class truly has the most
difficult progression path. With access to only basic weapons,
and access to only the shirt or dress as armor, the Peasant has
no hopes of soloing. As a peasant you will have much hardship
ahead of you provided by such factors as the inability to level
your attack skill, and getting only one skill that has next to
no power at all. On a scale of 1 to 6, the Peasant has a diffi-
culty of 6.
* Priest: Supportive, the Priest's role is almost entirely in the back of
the group. Sporting access to a limited selection of attacking
spells, the Priest is capable of keeping their group alive but
will rarely be able to solo. Their greatest assets are their
enchantments and healing spells, and their weakest assets are
their suite of attack spells. On a scale of 1 to 6, the Priest
has a difficulty of 2.
* Rogue: Sneaky, tricky and noteworthy, the Rogue's role is entirely as
a support class. With such abilities as traps, and thrown
weapons, the Rogue is capable of soloing with little or no
problems. However, they have almost nothing in the way of direct
damage and can't take it as well as they can give it. On a scale
of 1 to 6, the Rogue has a difficulty of 1.
* Warrior: Strong and tough, the Warrior is always the front-line man in
the front of the group. Sporting the greatest access to weapons
and armor, the Warrior can take it, but isn't as capable of giv-
ing it back out. The warrior has the highest number of attack
abilities and uses them all simultaneously which makes it very
possible to deal out hundreds of damage in one hit, however the
enemies also return hundreds of damage in one hit, so the Warrior
may need to depend on his or her priest. On a scale of 1 to 6,
the Warrior has a difficulty of 4.
* Wizard: Intelligent and cunning, the Wizard is the artillery of the group
and can reduce many creatures to little or no hp with a few well-
placed spells. Suffering from the least amount of hitpoints the
Wizard cannot solo simply because of the spells that can be cast
back at him/her, which would be capable of killing them in one
hit. They have the highest amount of powerful spells, and are a
neccessity in most parties. On a scale of 1 to 6, the Wizard has
a difficulty of 3.
As you can see by the preceding list, I have assigned the classes in an
order of difficulty with Rogue being easiest and Peasant being hardest. This
list in no way says that you will experience the same level of difficulty, it
merely expresses the level of difficulty I experienced with said classes.
The professions also have the ability to become promoted classes, similar
to the promotions of Final Fantasy. Those upgrades are from Monk to Druid,
from Priest to Bard, from Rogue to Archer, from Warrior to Gladiator and from
Wizard to Summoner. The Peasant is not considered a true profession therefore
it has no promotion.
There is a little more in-depth below:
Monk
****
Monks have become a common word amongst games these days. Rather than use
the correct term, being "Shaolin Monk," they just use a shortform "Monk." The
Shaolin Monk is the most interesting character class in the game, in its own
right.
You get a myriad of powerful abilities and skills. These range from the
very nice double punch, to the even more powerful round kick, and the always
devistating wraith touch. There's also the Dion abilities, to grant yourself a
temporary invulnerability, even at the lower levels.
What are the disadvatanges of the Monk? Dugons. A lot of the powerful
techniques require a character to teach other characters, "Dugons." There is
two types of Hubae (Students). Free, and Paid. Paid Hubae are (typically) a
for sure thing, but if you pay them before you teach them, you're a fool. But
a paid Hubae usually costs between 500,000 and 3,000,000 gold. You won't be
earning that kind of money in a month, unless you're at least level 40.
Free Hubaes exist, but, they're only really available to those who role-play
as they're typically of the role-playing crowd. They meet in a group called the
"Council of Sabonim," every Friday in the Mileth college area.
You must be of level 11 or higher (and must have attained your White Dugon
at the very least) to teach Hubae. You cannot teach a Dugon you do not yet know
yourself. There are 8 Dugons, and they require a total of 32 Hubae to learn all
of them. The first Dugon is the White Dugon, and the last Dugon is the black
Dugon. You can be taught the Black Dugon, but, more likely, you'll have to
learn the Black Dugon on your own.
Monks are also able to learn styles, although only one style may be learned.
This ranges from the mighty Draco form, to the elusive White Bat form. Each
of the styles has their own special abilities. An example would be the Draco
Form's abilities, Tail Whip (4-way kick), Draco Style (low-level Dion), and
Snort (Cheap Taunt ability). I believe that you can change your style if you
don't like it, but I believe it costs a pretty penny to do so.
Peasant
*******
Basic, simple, and yet, difficult. The peasant is the easiest character to
max out, because it is the only class who begins with max skills. YOu probably
wonder what that means. Well, as a peasant, you cannot improve any of your
skills. For example, a Wizard can raise Assail to 60/60, and a Warrior can
raise Assail to 100/100. (Assail is the attack skill). Your maximum for assail
is effectively 0/-. Yep, you don't even have the option of gaining 1 point of
skill in assail.
The most famous of the level 99 (as they can't attain mastery) peasants is
the beautiful lady Naze. She is a loremistress, as well as a role-player. She
can teach you what you need, if indeed you choose not to choose a path. Take
note that, while peasant does not master, it also does not have a Medenian (or
expansion class) equivalent.
What are the disadvantages of the peasant? Low hitpoints, unless you are
able to balance the stats right. Crappy chances to hit enemies, unless you are
able to balance the stats right. Crappy damaage to enemies, unless you are able
to balance the stats right. See the pattern? Peasants are the only open-ended
class, because, they're the only class that requires *NO* pre-requisites for a
skill here, and a spell there. That's because you don't learn any.
Peasants get a total of 196 attribute points throughout their career, that
they can assign as they please. Assigning attributes to Intelligence and Wisdom
is pointless, unless you figure you will be guiding over to a Priest or Wizard,
in which case, why are you even bothering to consider a peasant class?
Naze makes the suggestion to raise Constitution to 12 (9 attributes), and
then assign the remainder to Strength to raise it to 190 (187 attributes). She
muses, "if you will not be hitting often, you should at least be hitting hard."
Due to how low your attack will be, you will typically have a 1 in 20 chance to
strike an opponent.
Peasants are recommended only for players who have been around the game a
few times, and know what they're doing. Trying to raise a peasant as your first
character is not a very good idea, as it will frustrate you more than anything.
Priest
******
No, not an old man holding a bible. The Priest is the healing class of the
game. Your duty is to keep your group alive, and to protect them with your
magic spells. Your first healing spell will, of course, be "Beag Ioc," or
Lesser Cure. It heals a moderate amount of hitpoints. The best idea is to max
Beag Ioc to 100/100 and use it until level 41. "A strong Beag Ioc beats a weak
Ioc." This is mostly true.
Later on, you will get better spells, and more intricate spells. All in the
name of defense. You DO get some damage spells, yes, but, not alot of damaage
spells, and they don't really do enough damage to save your life in combat. It
is essential to get a Holy Diana as soon as you can at insight 19, however, to
reduce all your spells by 2 lines (a line is approximately 1 second long, so,
if you don't want to wait a second to cast Beag Ioc, you should get a Holy Diana
as soon as you hit level 19.
What is the disadvantages of the Priest? Low hitpoints, you suck in combat,
and if you run out of MP, you're useless until you get more. Until level 19,
you also don't have access to staves, making you a little less useful. Some of
your more powerful techniques are only taught by mundanes (NPCs) in dangerous
zones. For example, you can't learn Deo Searg (Searing Light), unless you are
willing to traverse the Shining Forest, where there are Dragons, and high level
Mantises about.
The best solution to learning, is to find a teacher who role-plays. These
people will know how to best describe things, so that they make sense. They are
usually willing to help you with the more dangerous things as well. Do not
underestimate the powers of a master character. Traversing some areas might be
difficult for you, but a lot of master characters have 10,000 hitpoints, and so
if you need to go somewhere, chances are they can take you there without your
usual demise.
Priests are neccessary in many situations. And not only can the Priest cast
healing spells, but they can also mix the powerful solution known as "Beothaic
Deum." Beothaic Deum is a healing potion, that revives a character who is on
the brink of death. Mind you, the only time you'll go onto the brink of death
is when you are a member of a group, otherwise you instantly die. Another term
for this near-death condition is "skull." Another term for beothaic deum is
"red," or "red potion."
Rogue
*****
Perhaps one of the only classes who are able to solo themselves to level 99.
The Rogue has very crappy fighting ability, but, makes up for their lack of
power with the ingenuity of traps. Laying down a line of traps can easily kill
off even more powerful monsters.
You will start off with only the needle trap. It is weak, no buts about it,
dealing somewhere around 20 damage to a creature. But after that, you will get
much better traps. Take note, that, you can't kill simply by hitting a beast
with a trap, you must hit them in melee first, and then you can lay your traps,
or you can hit them in melee and then run to lure them to your trap line. The
choice is yours.
What are the disadvantages of the Rogue? Low hitpoints, low manapoints, and
you have to either take the slow route of a group, or the dangerous route of
traps. You also aren't that good in combat, and your best suited using secrets,
dirks, and whips. That isn't to say the Rogue sucks, no, but, it can be a very
difficult path.
The best solution is to use what is called an "anchor." This is where you
find someone to group with you, even though you will be in different areas. You
will not die instantly (you will go near-death), and you will not share exp as
long as you're not in the same area.
Rogues are very useful as well for their miscellaneous traps, such as stun,
blind, and poison trap. Anyway you put it, the Rogue can be a powerful ally.
If you're expecting an easy path, this is one of them sometimes. This is a bit
of an advanced class, and while it wouldn't be so difficult to raise one as your
first character, it would be a lot easier to play another character classs.
Warrior
*******
What role-playing game would be complete without its Knights? You are at
your best, when wading into melee combat armed with a sword in hand! You are
the mighty Warrior, the defender of the weak, the champion of the downtrodden.
You will start off with access to nothing, save a dirk, and a stick. At
level 2 (3?), you gain access to your first rapier, the Eppee. This is a weak
sword, but, it is better than the dagger or stick. You have access to some,
but not a whole lot of skills. The skills you will use most are Assail, Assault
and other such attack skills related to swinging your weapon. At level 71, you
finally gain access to two-handed swords.
What are the disadvantages of the Warrior? Very little diversity. Most of
your time when grouping will be hitting the space bar. You will need a priest
to hunt as well. While you have a good amount of hitpoints, you're not all that
hard to hit, so your hitpoints won't last too long.
Therefore, it is best to group as the Warrior. That way you don't put your-
self in a compromising situation. If you do intend to hunt, do so with a Priest
or you're basically committing suicide. Also, when you reach the appropriate
level, try to get your hands on a light or a dark belt. Light Belts cost less,
but Dark Belts last longer, and work better some argue.
Warriors are good for beginners, and the easiest to raise. It is suggested
to keep your Strength equal to your level, or even higher, so you will deal
more damage. You might want to invest some points into Con too, but remember to
raise your other attributes to gain your more powerful skills. And don't forget
to upgrade your weapons and armor whenever you can!! The less you get hit the
longer you live, the harder you hit, the longer you live still.
Wizard
******
Arcane gestures, powerful words, and a spark of magic and you destroy your
enemies before you. Your abilities are your best companion, and your best time
is when you are casting a powerful spell. You are the cunning Wizard, using
the arcane to protect yourself, and to protect your allies.
You will start off with no spells, and will not gain access to a spell until
around the 5th level, when you finally have the attributes for one. You can
gain the levels neccessary in Mileth by talking to mUndanes, and asking them
about various topics. For example, ask the Mileth Priestess about honey.
What are the disadvantages of the Wizard? You suck without your magic. You
can't hit anything in combat, and you have the lowest HP in the game. You can't
heal, so once your HP hits 0-ish, you're dead unless a Priest can help you. And
even then, sometimes your priest partner is incompetent.
Stay in the back, and cast spells from the front. If a mob starts moving
toward you, don't stand there, it might look like it's going after the Warrior,
but 9 times out of 10, it'll be going after YOU!
Perhaps the best aspect of the Wizard, is that you can deal the most damage
through your spells. You can deal thousands of damage with one spell (25,000 to
45,000 with one spell!). And also, as a Wizard, you can take up the art of
Necromancy, and create a pet for yourself. Unfortunately, the pet isn't all too
reliable, so be careful with this one.
Q: What is Legend of Darkness?
A: Legend of Darkness is a 2D MOG (Multiplayer Online Game). I don't use the
term massive, because, the game doesn't have a massive population, and when
the game has more than 500 people connected at once, it tends to crash and
lag a lot. Legend of Darkness was also released in North America, under the
title "Dark Ages."
Q: Why are the spells all written with weird names?
A: Contrary to belief, these names aren't weird. They're Gaelic, a dialect
from the history of Ireland and Scottland. For example, the word you see
as Aisling means "Dreamer."
Q: How do I contact a GM (Game Master)?
A: Typically, you don't. Game Masters don't really log onto dark ages much, if
they log on at all. Instead, you want to contact a Guard, or if a Guard is
not overtly able to help you, you want to contact a Ranger. You can find
Guards and Rangers via the who list.
Q: What is the difference between a Guard and a Ranger?
A: The Guard is only able to enforce where he/she is posted as a guard, while
a Ranger has jurisdiction everywhere. In this a Guard is limited to his
province and the Ranger is an organization with higher authority who has
no restrictions but is much more reclusive.
Q: Don't MMOGs and MOGs cause players to kill themselves?
A: In a word, no. Players who have killed themselves over MOGs, and MMOGs have
been known to be victims of psychological disorders. Some of the disorders
have been depressive, and obssessive, as well as anger-based disorders. It
can't be blamed on a game for when such a player commits suicide. Nowhere
in the game will you ever see an NPC or a creature tell you to go and slit
your throat. And if you take the suggestions of other players, you're just
asking for trouble.
Q: How may I contact you?
A: I don't provide a contact point. This is for several reasons. First and
foremost, I receive enough spam as it is thanks to internet search bots.
Second, because I don't want to have 20 people write me the same email
every 2 days to update, replace, change or fix any "errors" in my guide.
I doublecheck my information before I write it, and if I don't write it,
it's because I don't feel that it was neccessary.
Q: Why is this guide so short?
A: The guide is short, because in the past I merely slapped together some
info on Legend of Darkness in the beginning, as there was no other LoD FAQ
posted. Since then I've revisited and revised this guide, which is the
guide you read today.
Q: Who are you in-game?
A: To be honest, I'm noone in game any longer. I've since given up on Legend
of Darkness. The game only provided frustration for me, and the game was
no longer keeping my interests. As a whole, I've given up on MOGs in gen-
eral, simply because they all hold the same aspect. The game becomes like
a job or chore and loses the fun factor. The first dozen levels or so are
fun, but overall the gameplay doesn't change any. End-game is merely the
difference of doing 45,000 damage to a monster or doing 200 damage to a
monster to kill it. I can no longer be bothered to put in three times the
effort for the same outcome.
Q: If you no longer play, why update this guide?
A: Because simply put, the half-assed guide I wrote before is/was flawed, and
needed updating. For the longest time I've wanted to update the guide but
didn't feel the inclination to do so. Now I've decided to touch up on the
guide and give the guide that I *SHOULD* have produced the first time, and
not just a lame attempt to be the first to write an LoD guide.
1.000---------------
-First version of the guide, no changes (obviously).
1.200---------------
-Re-wrote the first chapter to better reflect a summary of the game, rather
than a cheap review or a bad plug.
-Added more questions to the FAQ section, including an update to the
question regarding "who I am" in-game.
-Re-wrote much of the second chapter to give a better scope on just what the
professions are, and perhaps even how to choose a profession.
-Removed Chapter 3, as it was wholely an incomplete and fragmented chapter.
It was unfair to suggest Chapter 3 as a "guide" for Monks, as the chapter
didn't provide any wholely useful information and likewise didn't help the
player.
There is of course, a possibility of another version, which would feature
more in-depths reviews on the classes and their skills, and would give a
"class guide" for all six of the professions. At this time, however, this
guide is released under the principles of WYSIWYG an accronym that stands for
"What you see, is what you get." In this, I make no committments to an
updated version but I would be interested in fully completing the guide at
some point.
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Guide is Copyright(C) 2004 to 2006 of Steve B.
