-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           ===========================
                             --<> ETHERLORDS II <>--
                                  Starter Guide
                               ===================

**NOTICE**

This is the final version of this guide. The game is quite old and to tell
you all frankly, i don't play it anymore and that is why i will not have
any new things to show. But to all readers, if you have any ideas, tips,
suggestions about this game, send it to me, it will be very
much appreciated. If you do send anything to me, i'll see to it that it you'll
be credited here and your submission posted. Thanks a lot.

Created By: JumboLiLiT
Date Created: Nov. 14, 2003
E-mail: [email protected]
Version 1.0

Disclaimer:
This Faq/Guide was completely written by myself, JumboLiLiT. This was made
mainly for personal use only. You are free to post this guide as long as
no changes and modifications are applied to it.

Version History:

Version 0.5 --- Initial Release.
Version 1.0 (Mar/04)  --- Deck Submission update. Received a deck submission
                          from djsgdhsgd.

______________________________________________________________________________
                          []--------------------------[]
                                Table of Contents

                            I. Introduction
                            II. Class Descriptions
                            III. Hero Skills
                            IV. Specializations
                            V.  Artifacts
                             VI. Tips
                            VII. Card Combos
                            VIII. Credits


______________________________________________________________________________
====================
I. Introduction
====================

Wow, this is my first Faq. I just hope you can find something useful here to b
a better Etherlords II player. I remember I was just surfing for some
walkthroughs on Heroes of Myt & Magic when I ran into a review on Etherlords.
I read it and thought i'll give it a try. Yes! just what i've been looking for,
a turn-based strategy game that has plenty of depth and variety. I've played
HOMM and Disciples II but this one offers something new yet familiar even to
the most jaded TBS gamer. I've been playing this for sometime now yet i'm still
not finished with the campaign. I've just started the second part which is on
the Chaots and Kinets. (Chalk it up to too much Ragna..)

I must warn you first, that this guide was made especially for the newbies in
the game. I'll try to explain as much stuff as i can to help the novices. But
i also made a card combo section that shows some decks that may interest some
players.I'm planning on updating it the most and hopingfor some of your own
responses and ideas. Just email me, and i will make sure that your combo will
be shown here. Well, that's all and i hope you may find this guide worth
reading.
Thanks.


=======================
II. Class Descriptions
=======================

                        "Choose your own Poison."

------------------------<><> Vitals : The Green <><>---------------------------

Ahh.. the Vitals. That peaceful, nature-loving race. I guess it's obvious that
this clan's theme is mostly about Mother Nature. Their creatures are pretty
diverse and their enchantments are quite powerful. Vitals have very few spells
that do direct damage to enemies. You must improvise on the execution of its
other spells to compromise this especially when your enemy has lots of tough
walls and critters just won't cut it. Mostly these types of spells has a
"thorns" feel to it. It's either you must sacrifice a monster or life or some-
thing like that. The trick is you should think ahead of your spells and
estimate your chances.

------------------------<><> Kinets : The Blue <><>----------------------------

The Kinets sure do emit that kind of mysterious aura when I play them. They
seem to be from some outer planes or seem to be of an unknown type of beings.
Are they Angels? Well anyway, Kinets own really good sorcery spells and some
powerful critters to match. Their sorcery spells can dish out interesting
attacks and with the right combinations you sure can make your opponent go
nuts thinking about your next move.

------------------------<><> Chaots : The Red <><>-----------------------------

Destroy!Destroy! Hehehe, this seems to be the "feel" of this race. They are
kinda like the bad guys in this game. Their monsters looks like they have been
ripped off an RPG game: Rats, Bats, Orcs..etc. They're offensive yet at the
same time defensive as seen on the variety of their walls. They sure can finish
you off with their powerful sorceries: Comet, thunderstorm, lightning.. They're
hard to beat even if they don't summon anything.

------------------------<><> Synthets: The Black <><>--------------------------

R2D2 may very well likely pick this race. I don't know, are they cyborgs or
mutants? Androids maybe? Well, whatever they may be, this clan can sure do
whoop ass fairly quickly bec. they have some critters that enables them to
attack right after casting, or "no summoning sickness" in Magic:TG. I think
for them it is usually about speed and power. They have a wide range of
powerful critters, and using them with their sorceries, it can be pretty
sick when it gets going.

______________________________________________________________________________
====================
III. Hero Skills
====================

The following are the different kinds of skills a hero can aquire to help in
battle. In the campaign mode, each level up of the hero entitles you to a skill
of your choice.

Strength.....................increases Life
Learning..................... hero earns more experience
Resources.................... hero can cast a spell more than once per combat
Artificer.................... allows use of artifacts more than once in combat
Concentration................ hero receives additional spells every few
                              combat rounds
Regeneration................. restores hero's health during combat
Luck......................... increases the chance of hero's specialization
                              to work
Suppression.................. decreases the chance an enemy's specialization
                              to work
Channeling................... Postpones ether disturbance for hero and
                              accelerates for enemy


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Hero Skill |                   Skill Upgrade Level                          |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
            |      Level 1        |     Level 2        |     Level 3         |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Strength     |   Life +  10 %      |   Life + 20 %      |   Life + 30 %       |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Learning     | Experience = 25%    | Experience = 50%   |  Experience = 100%  |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resources    | Can cast a spell 2x | Can cast a spell 4x| can cast a spell 7x |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Artificer    | 2 artfcts per cmbat | 4 artfcts per cmbt | 8 artfcts per cmbat |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Concentration| +1 spell evry 4 rnds| +1 spell evry 3 rnd| +1 spell evry 2 rnds|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regeneration | +1 life evry 3 rnds | +1 life evry 3 rnds| +1 life evry 1 rnds |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Luck         |Slightly btter chance| improved chance    | much imprved chance |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Suppression  |Slightly worse chnce |    worse chance    | much worse chance   |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Channeling   |Hero=+1 ; Enemy= 1   | Hero=+2 ; enemy= -2| Hero=+3; Enemy=-3   |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, Im going to include my Top 5 pick for these skills. Here they are:

1. Luck - of course! dishing out your specialty often really helps a lot.
2. Suppression - lower ur enemies' chance of activating his own specialty.
3. Concentration - an extra card every other round helps. 'nuff said.
4. Resources - determines no. of times u can cast the same spell in combat.
5. Artificer - if you have powerful artfcts, then get at least 1 level.

_______________________________________________________________________________
====================
IV. Specializations
====================

Kobold's Cunning - Any Kobold under the hero's control has a chance to deal
                  double damage w/ a successful melee attack.

Orc's Thievery -   Any Orc under the hero's control has a chance to remove one
                  spell from an enemy's hand after a successful melee attack.

Rat's Tenacity -   Every rat summoned by the hero has a chance to regenerate
                  when it's toughness drops to zero.

Stones' Wrath -    Any Wall of Stone under the heor's control has a chance to
                  destroy a blocked creature at the end of combat phase.

Fighter's Guile -  Any Fighter under hero's control has a chance to drain
                  health from enemy hero and pass this health unto its master
                  ( assumes successful melee attack against enemy hero)

Bat's Guile    -   Any Bat under hero's control has a chance to drain health
                  from the enemy hero and pass this health unto its master.
                  (assumes successful melee attack vs. hero)

Cutter's Restlessness - Any cutter under hero's control has a chance to ignore
                       "rest" phase after attacking.

Pteros' Purifying Strike- a successful attack by pteros against an enemy hero
                         or creature results in the target's enchantment
                         being displelled.

Veloses-Twins -    The hero has a chance to summon 2 velos using a single
                  summon spell.

Dazzling Illusion - Each time an enemy creature is blocked by a wall of
                   illusion under the heros' control; there is chance that the
                   blocked creaure will be enchanted w/ the "enfeeblement"

Hornet's Interception - Any hornet under the hero's control has a chance to
                       attack first even if defending against a creature with
                       " First Strike" ability.

Treant's Guile - any treant under the hero's control has a chance to drain the
                health from enemy hero and pass this health to its master
                (assumes successful attack against enemy hero)

Snake's Venom - Each time a snake under this hero's control bites an enemy hero
               there is a chance that the enemy hero will be enchanted by the
               "envenoming spell".

Finguses' Vitality - Every fingus summoned by the hero has a chance to regen
                    when its toughness drops to zero.

Halos' Twins - The hero has a chance to summon two halos' using a single spell

Aviaks' Cunning - Any aviak under the hero's control has a chance to deal 2x
                 damage w/ a successful melee attack.

Gibbering's -   Any gibbering under the hero's control has a chance not ot rest
Restlessness    after attacking.

Lamias' Thievery - Any Lamia under the hero's control has a chance not ot rest
                  after attacking.

Winds' Wrath -   Any wall of air under the hero's control has a chance to
                destroy a flying creature at the end of combat phase.

Burn Relief - Hero has a chance to avoid or reduce damage received from the
             "Ether Burn" spell.

Offering to Fire - Every creature under the hero's control has a chance to
                  survive its sacrifice to the "Burnout" spell.

Discrimination - Every creature under the hero's control has a chance to avoid
Lightning        the effect of the "Lightning Storm" spell.

Smoke          - Every combat round, every creature under the hero's control
Resistance       has a chance to avoid the effect of the "smoke" spell for
                one round.

Greater        - The hero has a chance to use the recycling part of "Energize"
Energize          spell more than once per turn.

Quick Repair -   The hero has chance to use the recycling part of
                "Repair Station" spell more than once per turn.

Suffocation  -   Each combat round, every creature under the hero's control
Resistance       to avoid the effect of "Suffocation Gas" spell.

Selective    -   When using the "purify" spell, the hero has a chance to not
Purification     only discard all spells from enemy hand, but also deal
                1 damage for each discarded spell.

Destructive Wipe - When using "Mindwipe" spell, hero has a chance not to only
                  discard all spells but also deal 1 damage for each discarded
                  spell.

Offering to   -  Every creature under this heros' control has a chance to
Ether            survive its sacrifice to the "Spiritual Lock" spell.

Prolonged   -   Each combat round, each "Bless" spell cast by the hero has a
Blessing        chance to act one additional round.

Life Web -     The hero has a chance to double the health gained from
              "Spiritual Web" spell.

Thorn's   -    The hero has a chance to avoid or reduce damage received from
Protection     the "Ether Thorns" Spell.

Discriminating - Every creature under the hero's control has a chance to avoid
Fury             the "Fury of Nature" spell.

Enhanced  -    Every time the "WaterLink" Spell passes its health to hero,
Waterlink      there is a chance that the actual health passed will be equal to
              the sum of the target creature's power & toughness ( rather than
              equal to the toughness only)

Flood Resistance - Each combat round, every creature under the hero's control
                  has a chance to avoid the effect of the "flood" spell for
                  one round.

Discriminating -   Every creature under the hero's control has a chance to
Unsummoning        avoid the effect of the "Greater Unsummoning" spell.

Mind Blast     -   The hero has a chance to cast "Mind Blast" in such a way
Protection         that it will deal damage to enemy hero only.

Suicidal Hunger -  Every time the hero casts "Hunger" spell, there is a chance
                  to prevent any regeneration ability by the target critter.

Expert Artificer - The hero has chance to use the artifact "Free-of-charge"
                  (w/o expending one of its charges)

Iron Skin       -  The hero has a chance to negate any melee damage he
                  received in combat.

Invulnerability - The hero has a chance to negate any non-melee damage he
                 received in combat.

Dexterous Hands - The hero has a chance to draw 1 additional spell at the
                 beginning of his attack phase.

Free Casting    - The hero has a chance to cast a spell w/o paying its ether
                 cost. (For a spell with variable casting cost, only the
                 initial cost is ignored)

Thrifty Casting - The hero has a chance to cast a spell w/o expending its
                 charge.

Tenacious Hands - The hero has a chance to cast a spell w/removing the spell
                 from his hands(usual charge expenditure still occurs)

Raise Dead      - Each combat round, there is a chance that a creature from the
                 graveyard will return to the hero's hand.

Rebirth        - The hero has a chance to return to life after being fatally
                wounded, but with only half of the maximum life value.

Spell Translocation - The hero has a chance to draw one more spell from the
                     spellbook each time he casts any spell.

Physical Resonance -  The hero has a chance to deal 1 damage to every hero and
                     all enemy creatures every time he is damaged by a melee
                     attack.

Magical Resonance  - The hero has a chance to deal 1 damage to the enemy hero
                    and all creatures very time he is damaged by a non-melee
                    attack.

Dragon Skin -  The hero has a chance to negate any damage he received in combat
              (only monsters can obtain this ability)


                 ( WHEW! THAT wAS QUITE A LIST!)

Im also going to include my fave 3. Remember the following are just the
specialties i use myself. Every specialty compliments a particular deck, so
it is really up to you to figure w/c one to use.

1. Rebirth ... Yeah, this has got to be my Numero Uno, it's like having
               a big plus on your HP. Even Diamanda used this specialty. (-:

2. IronSkin ... A chance of negating a melee attack damage is really cool,
                especially when it's crunchtime.

3. Dexterous Hands ... An extra spell can really help you specially in the
                       later part of the game. It may draw a particular
                       spell that you badly need.

_______________________________________________________________________________
================
V. Artifacts
================

There are a few items in the game that you can equip and use during combat.
These items are called "Artifacts" and they have different magical properties
that could help you greatly in battle.

Rod of Lightning______________________________________________________________

      Deals 3 damage to target creature or hero

Rod of Reflection_____________________________________________________________

      All damage received by the enchanted hero is reflected back at the
      enemy hero at the end of combat round

Rod of Ressurection___________________________________________________________

      Return target creature from graveyard to hand

Scroll of Bliss_______________________________________________________________

      Power & Toughness of the enchanted creature increases by 4 until
      end of round

Scroll of Dust________________________________________________________________

      All creatures cannot attack until their next round

Scroll of Maggot______________________________________________________________

      Summon Maggot ( Flying )

Amulet of Ether Defense_______________________________________________________

      Enchanted creature cannot be target by spells or abilities

Amulet of Huntress____________________________________________________________

      Summons the Huntress: First Strike. Rest:Destroy target creature
      with power 4 or higher

Amulet of Purification________________________________________________________

      Removes target enchantment

Amulet of Unity_______________________________________________________________

      Each creature gains +1 power and toughness for every creature of the
      same race currently in play

Ring of Command_______________________________________________________________

      Transfers control of the targeted enemy to owner of Ring of Command

Ring of Destruction___________________________________________________________

      Destroys target creature and nullifies Regen ability. This spell can be
      used during block phase

Ring of Healing_______________________________________________________________

      Gain 7 life

Ring of Paralysis_____________________________________________________________

      Enchanted creature cannot get up. Pay 2 life to release enchanted creat.

Rod of Colossus_______________________________________________________________

      Deals 9 damage to target

Rod of Defense________________________________________________________________

      Toughness of all friendly creatures increases by 3 until end of block
      phase. This ability can be used only during block phase.

Rod of Dominance______________________________________________________________

     Power and toughness of all friendly creatures increases by 1

Rod of Insanity_______________________________________________________________

     Controller of the enchanted creature is dealt 2 damage each round

Rod of Konung_________________________________________________________________

     Summons Konung, a creature with Trample, First Strike, Restless, Berserk
     Regeneration (3); cannot be targeted by spells or abilities.


               And again, what are my Top 3 favorites?

     1. Rod of Konung ........ Yes, eat 'em all alive!
     2. Amulet of Ether Defense ..... Quite useful, specially if enemy likes
                                      casting negative enchantments on you.
                                      Of course you can use disenchant spells
                                      but prevention is better than cure.(-:

     3. Ring of Destruction ......... Send his approaching creature to hell.
                                      Plus, this can be casted during block!

_______________________________________________________________________________
================
VI. TIPS
================

Well, as i have said earlier, this guide was created mainly for newbies. This
section of the guide was made to give some few reminders and tips when playing.

First, in every deck that your going to build, always make a theme. Don't just
mix cards in there thinking that it will be fine. Nope. Powerful cards will
not always guarantee you of victory. Remember to analyze what your strategy
will be and from there start building your deck.

Next, Visualize how the game will progress with your set of cards. You can
have a better vision of the game if you imagine how your deck will fare during
battle. As we all know in this game, there is a whole lot of possible card
attack combinations during combat proper. So what i'm stressing here is
understand every card you have, and how it will go with each other, w/c will
maximize the variety of attacks that you can dish out.

And finally, Timing plays a very important role in combat."Is this the perfect
time to cast my freshwind + mindblast attack, or should i cast it later for
higher damage? What if he discards all my spells?". Well, you can never tell,
that is why it's exciting. You see, Timing for me is included in perfect
execution of plan of attack that follows a certain strategy in your mind. It is
like chess in a way, where you think ahead of the game, of how a move will
affect the next.

_______________________________________________________________________________
=================
VII. Card Combos
=================

As i have said, i am no expert and that is why i can't guarantee you that these
decks will win most of the time. There are a lot of possible combos out there,
and a deck can be created to counter a specific deck. Therefore, a deck may
win against one, but maybe not against another. I remember these are the ones
i personally have used during my newbie days. Remember, it all goes down to your
own style and strategy.


.Critter Assault..__________________

    Ether Harvest/Ether Tap/Strength of Woods/Endurance of Woods/Hornets/
    motherbee/Treants

 Comments:

    Im going for speed and quantity here. Just cast your Ether Harvest and
    then watch your ether pile up, allowing you to blow up spells from your
    hands quickly.

.Creatureless..___________________

    Look for this one in the deck selection in duel mode.

    Comments:

    During my newbie days i thought one can't win if he does'nt have any
    monsters in deck. I was proved wrong by this one. It's style of attack
    is cool, relying mainly on its freshwind + mindblast, and some CoC.

.Spirit Assault..__________________

    1 Life Channel/1 Blast/2 less. disenchant/2 fresh wind/2 fog/1 Cleric
    Spirit/2 wizard spirit/3 warrior spirit/2 unsummon

    Comments:

    Wizards and Warriors kick ass together, not to mention they both have
    lifetap & regen abilities!(that's why i added Life Channel). A fairly
    fast deck to build, just summon them all when you can. Unsummon &
    disenchant provides good backup. I included Blast here if ever enemy
    uses that  pale spelleater.

NOTE: To anyone who wants to share their combos, please feel free to e-mail me.
     Give as much as you want, i will credit you here. Thanks.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MoGiBap's Death Clouds Deck
race - synthets

strong toxin - 4
wall of distortion - 4
mindwipe - 1
clone - 2
depressing gas - 2
data impulse - 3

specialization - destructive wipe
skills:
luck - 3
resources - 3
strength - 1
level - 11

_______________________________________________________________________________
==============
VIII. Credits
==============
Thanks to:
GameFaqs = #1 source of Faqs/Guides
Nival Interactive = 2 thumbs up for this Game.
To everybody in the Message Boards
Kuya = salamat sa datung

Deck Submissions by: MogiBap

This Guide is dedicated to my Ragna addicted dudes: In pRO (Iris):
Paulo = Ninong/danterminator
Rey   = PrieSt AsaGirI/nene romanova
PB    = Kuya Bigboy/chiz_wiz
Ichan = wiz kid/borotski
Jay-R = Santo FaFa
Macky = Artemizh
nosliw= _--@--_
Raffy = p@los
Ron   = MARIKAKAI
Alpine= Laseng

To all my classmates in BSEE III Batch 2001. AND OF COURSE TO YOU !!! (-:

Copyright 2003 Amiel Pineda