DRAGON WARS

by Interplay, IBM version 9/18/90 Dragon Wars from Interplay is a fun game! It is a large computer fantasy game of similar scale as Magic Candle and the Ultima series . Nice graphics, ease of play, good documentation all play their parts in making this an enjoyable game. Of particular delight to me, given the games I have been playing of late, was the fact that Dragon Wars is bug free! Frankly I admire a game company that takes the time to give their market a quality product and Interplay has certainly done so with Dragon Wars! Installing the game is a simple process. I played on a PC 386 clone with VGA and harddisk. After making a directory for the game, I just copied the files and ran a quick install to set the game for my graphic capabilities. That done, you fire up the game. The game provides pre-built characters but also supports characters from Bard's Tale I, II, and III. Since I had saved characters from a Bard's Tale game, I decided to use them to play Dragon Wars. Word of advise on using Bard's Tale characters: first examine the pre-built characters that come with Dragon Wars and write down their stats and skills, create characters from your Bard's Tale game and do the same. Compare the two sets of characters closely paying particular attention to Magic skill/knowledge. There are five types of magic in Dragon Wars: Low, High, Sun, Druid and Misc. Ideally you will want your party to have knowledge of low, high, sun and druid magic types or as many as possible. Choose which ever character group has the best representation of knowledge in magic. AUTOMAPPING: Dragon Wars includes an automapping feature which can be viewed by pressing "?". While this is intended to remove the need of the players to map the game areas on graph paper and is wonderfully useful, I still mapped the game out on paper. The deficiency of automaps is that you can take no notes on them, nor mark spots that have a particular importance. While it was time consuming for me to draw out the maps it was time well spent. I advise you to do the same. If nothing else, the automap feature will ensure that your drawn maps are accurate. NOTES ON THIS FILE: Except for the beginning of the game, where you go and when is completely up to you. My notes are arranged after discussion of PURGATORY and the MAGAN UNDERWORLD in alphabetical order and ending with SALVATION and DEPTHS OF NISIR which are the end game areas. The notes listed in alphabetical order are by NO means a recommendation of when you should do what. It is merely an effort on my part to make this file easier for you to use. SAVING YOUR GAME: Dragon Wars has a simple and fast save feature. To protect yourself, though, you should exit the game from time to time and copy the file data1 to another . These files are HUGE being close to 300K in size but potentially worth their weight in gold! PURGATORY - start game Upon starting the game, you find your characters in the city of Purgatory with absolutely no equipment, money or clothes. Fortunately this sad condition is easily remedied. In the middle of the north end of Purgatory there is an arena anxious for new victims for their gladiators. "Fight gladiators barefisted and barebottomed" you think.... not to worry, the arena will offer to equip your characters. They offer a range of low end equipment, leather armor, maces, swords and all of it free for the fighting. You're going to lose the fight, I might as well tell you that now, but in most cases you are not going to die so while you'll get thrown out of the arena a little worse for the wear, you will have equipment. Now that your characters have basic equipment, its time to explore your new prison, I mean home. There are such lovely things to do in Purgatory. You can sell yourself as a slave in the slave market, join the thieves guild, listen for rumors in the tavern and even ask for a volunteer! Seriously, do ask for a volunteer in the tavern which is in the north-east portion of the city. You'll pick up a volunteer named Ulrik who has skills in Cave Lore and Axes. He's not a great character, but he's nice to have along. Don't join the thieves' guild which is located in the south- west portion of the city. Here you should stoutly maintain your honor. Doing so will give you a mini-quest to defeat the Humbaba monster in the north-east corner of the city. When you do defeat the Humbaba, return to the guild and you will be given 1000 gold pieces for your efforts! The slave market is one way out of Purgatory but there are others and there is nothing of great importance to find there. There is a magic shop in the west side of Purgatory. For any characters who have Low Magic, this is a great place to pick up the spells for that magic and they are FREE. Along the north wall is the Black Market, a good place to buy some better equipment with the 1000 gold you obtained from the thieves. Probably the best use of your money at this stage is in better armor. BLACK MARKET OF PURGATORY: Hand Axe 60g Bow 60g Small Pick 50g Long Bow 90g Pick 60g Crossbow 60g Battle Axe 70g Arrow <20> 50g Flail 40g Bolt<20> 60g Mace 40g Javelin 40g Dagger 30g Short Sword 50g Cloth 25g Broadsword 60g Leather 50g Greatsword 80g Brigadine 80g Scale 250g Dragon Stone 250g restores 20 magic There is a secret passage in the northwest corner of the city that will gain you access to the outer wall. There are many encounters in this wall area with guards which can generate additional cash slowly. In the southeast corner of the outer wall there is a gap in the stones leading to the waters below. Try using SWIM if you decide to use this exit from Purgatory, but I recommend using the Magan Underworld instead. You can also exit Purgatory in the the southwest corner of the outer wall. Again, I suggest the Magan Underworld as the best choice. SKILLS, POWER REGENERATION and INVENTORY in DRAGON WARS: Logic might dictate that this paragraph belongs before actually getting into the game itself. I choose to include it after basic notes about Purgatory because you need to have a rudimentary understanding of how the game works to appreciate/understand the advise I will give here. Dragon Wars is a skill based system which means that any time your characters advance a level you have to decide from three menu pages where you're going to put your "two cents worth". The documentation that comes with the game advises that you spread the knowledge/skills around among your characters. This is good advise. There are so many options, there is no way within this game that you can make one character completely skilled so DON'T TRY. Decide which character will specialize in what skills. You might want to make one concentrate on Lore and another on the thiefly skills . Get all the skills covered one way or another, but spread the "workload" over all your characters. Perhaps my only great complaint with Dragon Wars concerns the skill based system. When a character advances a level you only get 2 points to apply to the skills/attributes. It is very difficult to know how to spend these 2 points wisely. Many skills and attributes cost 2 points to increase 1 point. Obtaining a new magic knowledge costs 10 points! To give you an example of the significant cost that reflects, my characters at end game were around 14th level and they did not begin the game at 1st level . That represents a lot of level advancements in which I could make no improvements on characters I wished or needed to obtain a new magic knowledge. To cast spells you have to have magic power. Every time you cast a spell some magic power is drained. There are two ways to regenerate magic power. One is the use of Dragon Stones or Eyes and the other is to find a magic pool that restores energy. Dragon Stones restore 20 points of power and Dragon Eyes restore 30 points. Magic pools restore all magic points and have the added advantage of being free! Dragon Stones can be purchased in many locations throughout Dragon Wars for 250 gold. Dragon Eyes can only be found as treasure. Magic pools are far and few between, but fortunately there are a few in some excellent locations that you can take full advantage of during the game. There is a magic pool in PURGATORY in the south-east corner . Make good use of this pool to restore your magician's power and allow you to heal your characters as you explore this city. Inventory is the other area where I experienced frustration with Dragon Wars. Your characters can only carry so much which in and of itself is acceptable. The problem arises when you run out of space. Dragon Wars does not provide any means of storing items in a location for use later. To further complicate matters some treasure chests that you find will disappear after you have opened them so if you were unable to take all the treasure, it will not be there when you return. This is not true of ALL treasure chests, but being true at all can cause problems. Some treasures are unique and needed to solve the game. It is not always clear which items are important and which are not. Some locations have numerous treasures available and your characters are soon out of space. I managed to avoid problem related to inventory in my own game, but it is worth noting so that you manage your own character's inventory with care. You will find lots of weapons in this game. Examination of an item tells you what strength or dexterity or skill is needed to use it. Examination does not tell you the kind of damage the weapon is capable of inflicting. To get a rough idea of the power of a weapon, look at its value on the SELL menu. The more valuable an item is the better it is. Some weapons/items have spells on them. Some of these are worth keeping in your inventory, but in general don't carry around a lot of items for which you have no real use. Sell them for the money. Now back to the game! STILL IN PURGATORY: Paragraph notes to be found in Purgatory: 14, 5, 9, 10, 67, 3, 94, 77 MAGAN UNDERWORLD: There is on the west side of the city an entrance to the Magan Underworld. The Magan Underworld represents one of the largest single areas in the game excluding the above ground world. Its a wonderful place and accessable to many of the other locations in Dragon Wars. The Magan Underworld is a very important place within the game. There is so much to be found here that it is difficult to know where to begin telling you of its wonders. Since this area "wraps" upon itself, it is almost impossible to tell you where you will find what in this area. If we use your point of entrance from Purgatory into the Magan Underworld for reference, we can get a general sense of direction. To the north of your point of entrance you will find two buildings. The smaller of the two contains stairs that will lead you to the Lansk Undercity . The larger building of the two, while located here, is only accessable from Necropolis and contains the only means of resurrecting your characters within the game. Also to the north is a small river and lake. On the southern side of the lake there is a magic pool that restores magic power. This particular pool provided me with endless use so its handy to know exactly where it is located. In the center of the lake there is a small island called the ISLE OF WOE. You will not be able to reach this island until later in the game, when you get the Golden Boots from Mud Toad's Priests, but it is a very important location. There is a doorway that leads by of the larger of the two buildings to the area where you can see the location of the ISLE OF WOE. This are is bounded by water and pits. IMPORTANT: The first pit area to the west of the water in this area is safe to walk upon. Doing so will result in 5 points that can be spent upon character skill/attribute development. Don't miss this!! You cannot fall into the pits in THIS area so check around until you locate this square. 5 points is too much to pass by. To the west of point of entry there are stairs leading up to the MYSTIC WOODS. To avoid any confusion the means of returning to the Magan Underworld from the Mystic Woods is to use the ability CLIMB. I didn't realize this when I was first playing the game and it caused me to restore the game to an earlier point. You can avoid my difficulty. 3 squares south and 3 squares west of the entrance to the Mystic Woods is the first of two treasures that can be found in the Magan Underworld. TREASURE 1: Rusty Axe a great axe! Speed Wand Bomb <3 quantity> Dragon Stones <10 quantity> To the east of point of entry are stairs leading to Tar's Ruins Underground. This is a relatively small area map that wraps upon itself. There are secret passages that reveal treasures which I will detail later. To re-enter the Magan Underworld, you must again use the ability CLIMB. To the south our point of entry to the Magan Underworld is an area with many fires. Each of these fires causes damage to your characters. There is in the north area of the fires the 2nd treasure to be found in the Magan Underworld. TREASURE 2: Slicer a wonderful weapon! Dragon Stones <10 quantity> Also in the fire are is the entrance to the Dwarf Clan Hall. Early in the game you do not need to access this area. To the east of the fire area is a large pit and an path leading south. This path forms a cross shaped area with an entrance to SALVATION. Along the path you will encounter fairies that will ask if you are willing to sacrifice a life to continue. Replying "yes" will reduce you party to minimun life force. While there is reason to use this path near the end of the game, you need not explore it before hand. Paragraph notes to be found in Magan Underworld: , 137, 138, 127 OTHER AREAS LISTED ALPHABETICALLY: BRIDGE between Isle of the Sun and Forlorn: You need Citizen papers to cross this bridge. BRIDGE between Lansk and Isle of the Sun: Pikemen here will ask to search your packs and if allowed to do so will ask a percentage in gold of what you are carrying to cross the bridge. Refusal to pay results in an encounter with 3 pikemen. This is not a difficult encounter and better than paying the fee. Of note on this bridge is the building containing the Armory. Enter the building once and you just get thrown out. Enter twice and you can fight it out with the guards. If successful you can reach the armory and reap the following: ARMORY: Axe of Kalah str 18 Holy Mace Exorcism spell Gem Helm Gauntlets Archers' Bow dex 18 Boomerang Dragon Stones<10> BRIDGE between Lansk and Quag: See QUAG BRIDGE. BYZAN DUNGEON: Accessable from Byzanople . This small area will be filled with a number of encounters until you reach the northwest area of where you will encounter the Princess. She will ask you to surrender, do so. You will meet Prince Jordan and given freedom to roam the dungeon area until it is time to defeat the forces in the Siege Camp. Do not take the stairs leading up until you have explored the rest of this area. You will find in a room on the northeast a treasure: TREASURE 1: Magic Chain Magic Shield Big Chill Dazzle Long Bolt<20> Dragon Stone<7> On the west side there is a door leading into the ancient crypt. There are many encounters here with zombies. in the furthest southwest corner is a treasure: TREASURE 2: Magic Axe After exploring this area, take the stairs up. Jordan will tell you that it is now time to attack the Siege Camp and you will be moved to an area outside the Siege Camp walls. Paragraph notes for Byzan Dungeon: 108, 110 BYZANOPLE: Located on King's Island, Byzanople is only accessable from the Siege Camp. As you enter this area for the first time, you will be on the outside of the walls and if you get too close will be hit by a lot of arrow fire. Directly north and 1 square to the east of where you enter are stairs leading down. Alternately, there is also an entrance in the southeastern area. Here you will need to move a rock to reveal an opening. Both lead you to the Byzan Dungeon. You will not obtain access to Byzanople proper until after you have completed Byzan Dungeon. In the city there is a healer, an Armorer: ARMORER: Scale 250g Chain 310 Plate 3100 Lr. Shield 1000 Dragon Stone 250 and a Weaponsmith: WEAPONS: War Flail 500g Bow 60g Bladed Flail 1000 Long Bow 90 Mace 50 Crossbow 60 Dagger 30 Bolt<20> 60 Short Sword 50 Arrow<20> 50 Broad Sword 60 Javelin 40 Polearm 90 Barbed Spear 4000 Long Mace 2000 Paragraph notes for Byzanople: 33, 34 DECAYING CITY: See SNAKE PIT DILMUN: Dilmun refers to all the islands above ground, King's Island, Rustic, Isle of the Sun, Forlorn, and Quag, as well as some areas that are not shown on the map in the documentation. See appropriate notes for more information. DRAGON VALLEY: Accessable only from Eastern Isles with the ship from Smuggler's Cove. This is a dangerous place and you need to have the Dragon Gem from the Lansk Dragon before you can complete this entire area. In the south you will find a Dragons Tooth . On the southwest you will find a Dragons Nest: DRAGONS NEST: Dragon Tears Holy Lance Dragon Helm Dragon Shield Dragon Eye restores 30 points magic power In the northeast corner you will find a treasure: TREASURE 1: Sala's Swift Vorn's Guard Cowardice In the northwest are of Dragon Valley there is an encounter with the Queen Dragon. Use the DRAGON GEM to escape death. Paragraph notes for Dragon Valley: 134, 120 DWARF CLAN HALL: The western most part of this area can be reached from the Magan Underworld. In the western portion if the dwarf forge which will be needed to create the Sword of Freedom once you have found Roba's Skull in the Sunken Ruins. After giving the skull to the master dwarf smith, you will be told that the sword will appear on the Isle of Woe which is located in the Magan Underworld. There is a crystal barrier blocking your path to the east. You can by pass this barrier with the use of Soften Stone. The eastern portion of this area is also accessable from King's Island if you have the Jade Eyes . Exploring this area will reveal that the dwarves have been turned to stone. Use of Soften Stone will restore them to normal. There are 3 treasures to be found in the Dwarf Clan home. The treasures are guarded by Automans which are fairly difficult to defeat. TREASURE 1: Dragon Helm Bomb <8> Zak's Speed Spike Flail Mystic Might TREASURE 2: Crush Mace Spell Staff Healing Potion TREASURE 3: Gold <1000> Dragon Horn Rage of Mithras Paragraphs notes for Dwarf Clan Hall: 118, 119, 38 DWARF RUINS: Located in the central area of King's Island there is little here except a statue and a small building. Use the JADE EYES on the statue to open the small building. This will give you access to stairs leading down to the eastern side of the Dwarf Clan Hall. No paragraph notes for Dwarf Ruins. EASTERN ISLES: This small area accessable with the ship from Smuggler's Cove contains the entrances to the Sunken Ruins and Dragon Valley. Paragraph note for Eastern Isle: 46 FORLORN: This are of Dilmun contains Purgatory, Slave Estate, Tars Ruins, the Slave Camp and a treasure. The treasure is located almost due south of the Slave Estate. The southern most section of this land mass has a magical pool which will restore heal and magic to maximum. TREASURE 1: Chain Armor Broad Sword<2> Hand Axe Brigadine<2> Bow Arrow<2 of 20quantity> Mage Fire Charm Luck Lesser Heal Mage Lite Dragon Stone<4> FREEPORT: Accessable only with the pirates ship from Smuggler's Cove. This city features numerous shops. RYAN'S ARMOR: Scale 250g Chain 310 Heavy Plate 4000 Lg. Shield 100 MAGIC INC: Dazzle 1000 Mystic Might 1000 Rev. Glamour 1000 Sala's Swift 1000 Vorn's Guard 1000 Cowardice 1000 Soften Stone 1000 FREEPORT ARMS: Bladed Flail 1000 Hammer 40 Long Mace 200 BEWITCHING POTIONS & ELIXERS: Dragon Stones 250g On the east side of the city you will find the Order of the Sword. An encounter here will allow you access to the following treasure: ORDER OF THE SWORD: Stone Hand Needed in Mud Toad Soften Stone Spell Staff Charger At the Brew Brother's you will find the volunteer Halifax who is a better addition to your group than Louie . In the southwest portion of the city is an island which you can reach using the Golden Boots obtained in Mud Toad. Upon the island is the "freedom sword". Don't you believe it. Cast REVEAL GLAMOUR to show that this is really a trap set by Namtar. Not doing so will kill one of your characters. Paragraph notes for Freeport: 51, 52, 56, 57, 27 GAME PRESERVE: Accessable from Rustic, the Game Preserve is located on the northwest section of Rustic. There are many snare traps set about here which are easily removed with the use of any weapon. On the southwest near the river is the home of the Game Keeper. Use the Signet Ring and he will give you a MAGIC BOW. On the southeast is a treasure: TREASURE 1: Magic Arrow<20> Battle Power Fire Column Paragraph notes for the Games Preserve: 96, 91, 74 ISLE OF THE SUN: This area of Dilmun includes the city of Phoebus and an entrance to the Mystic Woods. Bridges connect this area with Forlorn and the portion of Dilmun that holds the city of Lansk. KINGS ISLAND: This portion of Dilmun contains Kingshome, Byzanople, Siege Camp, Nexus to Mystic Forest, Old Dock, Old Bridge, Ruins and a Decaying City . Encounters on this island are too rough for beginning characters. There is also on this island an Ambush area on the northeast coast which will result in you being thrown into the dungeon under Kingshome . KINGSHOME CASTLE: Accessable from the Kingshome Dungeon and from King's Island . If you came up from the dungeon you will have a peaceful encounter with Namtar in the north central area of the castle. Exiting his room will cause the door to disappear forever. Doors in the north will lead you into the wall area. On the west side is a gallery and a closet full of Pilgrim's Garb . On the east side is a treasure and a library of rare books. TREASURE 1: Polearm Royal Robe Rare Books Boomerang dex 12 Lucky Boots Magic Chain Rusty Axe This treasure chest will disappear when you leave whether you took everything or not. The exit to King's Island is in the center of the south wall. Paragraph notes for Kingshome Castle: 131, 130 KINGSHOME DUNGEON: Accessable by being ambushed in the northeast of King's Island. Not for beginning characters, be prepared to do everything at one time. You will not be able to return here once you leave. You will find your group in a prison cell which is not locked. To the south are guards just waiting to beat you up. If you survive that, to the east is a door that leads to stairs going up. Don't take them until you have continued all the east and north to the last door in the hallway. There are some big encounters here, but this last room contains the King's armory: KINGS ARMORY: Black Helm Zak's Speed FireShield Grey Arrow<20> Gatlin Bow 10 dex Throw Mace Mage Ring low magic 3 needed to use Magic Axe Dragon Stones<20> After collecting this treasure, return to the stairs which will take you up to Kingshome Castle. Paragraph notes for Kingshome Dungeon: 53, 65 LANAC'TOOR'S LABORATORY: Accessable only after restoring Lanac's statue in Mud Toad. You will need the spell SOFTEN STONE to successfully complete this area. The map wraps upon itself both north to south and east to west. To the northeast of your point of entry, through several walls is a large room in which three treasures will be found: TREASURE 1: Healing Potion Battle Wand Battle Power spell Dragon Shield TREASURE 2: Fire Storm Zak's Speed Kill Ray Mage Fire Dazzle Sun Stroke TREASURE 3: Lanac's Spectacles To the northwest of point of entry is an entrance to the Magan Underworld. It is a one way trip. Paragraph note for Lanac's Lab: 107 LANSK: Accessable from Dilmun or the Lansk Undercity , this is a bureaucratic nightmare. The officials here will have you running all over the city to get paper work done. This is easily avoided by making use of EZ Paperwork in the Lansk Undercity. There is one treasure to be found on the west side of the city. TREASURE 1: Druids Mace Cure All spell In the northeast area of the city, you will learn in the Quarter Masters Office the Mog the Slave Owner has left his estate, which is to be found on Forlorn, to you. The Quarter Master doesn't know why Mog did this and neither do I! ;) Encounters in this city are nasty for beginning characters if not impossible. They can and should be avoided until later in the game. Paragraph notes for Lansk: 64, 35 LANSK UNDERCITY: Accessable to the Magan Underworld, this place was very useful to me. Encounters here are rough for new and middle characters, but you can do a lot of exploring here if you are careful. There are four shops and a healer in this area that are all useful. The armorer, weapon and healer are all on the east side of this area. EZ paperwork and the Magic shop are on the west. The magic shop is located through a secret passage which is easily found. Exeter's Armor Dr. Death's Weapons Cloth 25g Broadsword 60g Leather 50g Greatsword 80g Brigadine 80g Bow 60g Scale 250g Longbow 90g Chain 310g Crossbow 60g Plate 3100g Arrow<20> 50g Shield 1000g Bolt<20> 60g Large Shield 1000g str 12 Javelin 40g EZ Paperwork Magic Shop Governors Pass 200g Create Wall 100g Kings Ticket 50g Wood Spirit 100g Citizen Papers 100g Cure All 100g Dragon Stones 250g Paperwork: The Governors Pass is needed to cross a bridge between Quag and Lansk. The Kings Ticket is needed to take the ferry. The Citizen Papers are needed to cross the bridge between the Isle of the Sun and Forlorn. On the north of this area is a ferry to Kings Island. Use the Kings Ticket for passage . In the center of this area is a dragon . To access the dragon's area, you must use a secret passage on the east side of the center building. Rumors you will hear elsewhere will hint that the Lansk Dragon conceals a gem. To get the gem you will need to use an anhk which can be purchase in Mud Toad. On the west side of this center building are stairs leading up to the city of Lansk. They go up, but they do NOT come back down. Go this way only if you have saved your game and are certain that you wish to. Paragraph notes for Lansk Undercity: 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126 MAGIC COLLEGE: Located on the island of Rustic. You will need the Spectacles from Lanc'toor's Laboratory located under Mud Toad before you will be able to enter the college. The college consists of a number of tests. In the first room, use any ICE spell. In the second room use REV GLAMOUR and then any FIRE spell. In the third room use CLOKE ARCANE. In the fourth room use no magic, just fight it out with the philistine. In the fifth room use DISARM TRAP. In the sixth room, walk north ignoring the comments in the next room. Utnapishtim will reward you with the choice of the Soul Bowl, the Laugh Staff or the Sing Ring, choose the SOUL BOWL which you will need at Zaton's marker in the Mystic Woods. UTNAPISHTIM: Soul Bowl use at Zaton's Marker in Mystic Woods Poog's Vortex Fire Summon Fire Light Elvars Fire Ice Chill Big Chill Dazzle Group Heal Paragraph notes for Magic College: 141, 142, 143, 144, 145 MUD TOAD: Located on Quag, this city is sinking into the swampy lands upon which it was built. You will probably be making many visits to this city during the course of your game. Almost in the center of the city is a broken statue the parts of which you will find scattered through out other areas in the game. You will need to bring each part back to this location and "use item" to restore the statue. Doing so will reveal a latch that will allow you access to Lanac'toor's Lab . Of other interest in this city is the temple in the northwest corner of the city. Talking to the priests there will indicate that you need to seal up the source of the water ruining the city . After doing so, the priests will give you a pair of Golden Boots which will allow you to access areas that you could not previously . Also of importance here is the shop in the southeastern portion of town: Lantern 10g Ankh 50g Use on Dragon in Lansk Dragon Stone 250 Short Sword 70 Broad Sword 80 Great Sword 100 Bow 60 Arrow<20> 50 Bolt<20> 60 There is a tavern in the northeastern corner of town in which you will meet Berengaria after you have had your confrontation with Mystalvision in Phoebus and have been thrown into and escaped from the Phoeban Dungeon. Berengaria will give you the following spells: Rage of Mithras Holy Aim Armor of Lite Major Heal Summon Salamander Within the city walls which you can access by using climb you will find a treasure beyond an encounter with the city militia. TREASURE 1: Water Summon Reveal Glamour Barbed Flail str 16 Lucky Boots Mountain Sword mountain lore 1 <2handed> Paragraph notes for Mud Toad: 29, 20, 17, 113, 30, 32 MYSTIC FOREST: Located on the west side of the Isle of the Sun near Phoebus. From the Mystic Forest you can gain entry to the Magan Underworld, Kings Island, Quag, as well as the Isle of the Sun. There are a number of interesting and important things to find and do here. In the northwest corner there is a statue of Enkidu at the foot of which you will find a Beast Horn which is powered with a summoning spell. In the northeast side you will locate Mushrooms that will be needed in the Necropolis later On the east side is a shrine on an island. You can try to reach the shrine by swimming but that will result in encounters with some very nasty water creatures. An easier way to access this island is to use the Golden Boots which you can get in Mud Toad . On the island you can get the Totem of Enkidu which you will need to cross Scorpion Bridge. To get the Totem, you must use one of your weapons. I used a Ruby Dagger and cannot say if using any weapon will work. In the southwest corner there is a treasure<1>. In the south area of Mystic Forest there is a marker for Master Zaton. Use the Soul Bowl that you can get after successfully doing the Magic College in this location and you will get treasure 2. TREASURE 1: Death Curse Fire Blast Insect Plague Scare TREASURE 2: Brambles Greater Heal Cure All Invoke Spirit Beast Call Wood Spirit Paragraph notes to be found in Mystic Woods: 70, 6, 72, 79 NECROPOLIS: This island to the northeast of Quag is accessable from Smuggler's Cove. The entrance into the large building that is this city is on the northwest. You will experience many encounters with undead here so come prepared. In the middle of the first room you will find a treasure: TREASURE 1: Stone Trunk use on statue in Mud Toad Black Helm Zak's Speed Magic Chain Dead Bolt<20> On the west side of the city are stairs the lead down to the large building in the Magan Underworld that you could not access from there. In this building is the well that will allow you to resurrect dead characters. On the east side of the city you will find a door leading to an area described as being covered with webs. There is an encounter with a giant spider for every square in this room but the reward at the end is a teleporter that will get you off of the island. In the center of the city is a large building. On the south side there is a secret passage leading inside. Following this passage will lead you to an encounter with the god Nergal. Defeat his undead minions and use MUSHROOMS that you obtained from the Mystic Forest to get the following items: FROM NERGAL: Silver Key used to free Irkalla on Isle of Woe Holy Spear Fire Lite Insect Plague Scare Inferno Big Chill Paragraph notes for Necropolis: 114, 115, 93, 12 OLD BRIDGE: Located on King's Island this bridge is a one way route to the Decaying City also known as the Snake Pit. There is nothing of importance on the bridge itself, only the note that the gate, once you pass through, disappears forever. Don't worry about that, there is another exit within the city. Paragraph note for Old Bridge: 50 OLD DOCK: Located on King's Island and accessable from the island and from the ferry in the Lansk Undercity. Passage to Lansk Undercity costs 500g. Wearing Pilgrim's garb will allow you passage to Nisir. In the southwest corner is a statue that can be moved if you have a character strong enough <24>. STATUE TREASURE: Earth Summon Ice Wand IBM PS/2 Dragon Stones<7> This treasure will disappear after you leave the dock. No paragraph notes for Old Dock. PHOEBAN DUNGEON: Accessable only by confronting and loosing to Mystalvision in the north section of Phoebus. This is one of those areas where you need to be prepared to do everything at one time or not at all. There is no way back here once you exit. You will find yourself in a locked cell that your thief character will not be able to unlock. Patience <10 days worth> will result in Berengaria leaving the door unlocked so that you can begin your escape. Exploration of the other prison cells will reveal that the "druid is being tortured". At the location where you see message 102, use the abilility Hiding to get past the guard. You may go either north or south once past the guard. The southern route is through a secret door. Follow the passage until you see the message that you hear voices to the north. Go north through another secret passage. One square further to the west of where you hear the voices is a cave in that you can pass with the climb ability and will lead you to stairs back to Phoebus. Save these for last. Go north and explore the rest of the Phoeban Dungeon. In the northeast section you will find a hunchback trying to feed a prisoner to a dragon. West of that you will find torture chambers and the druid. Use bandage on the druid and he will tell you that the pass word is "HALIFAX". To the north of the druid is another encounter with Mystalvision. Its a toughy and Mystal will slip through your fingers but leave you the following treasure: MYSTALVISION: Armor of Lite Major Heal Disarm Trap Wood Spirit Holy Aim To the northwest of the area where you heard the voices you will find two treasures, one of which requires knowing the password to reach. TREASURE 1: Shovel Mace Dagger<3> Battle Axe Leather Armor Scale Armor Chain Armor TREASURE 2: Blow Horn Whirl Wind spell Magic Ring Whirl Wind spell Magic Quiver* ENDLESS ARROWS & Mage Fire spell Dragon Stones<5> * combine this with the Gatlin Bow and you have a deadly combination! Having searched the rest of this level, it is time to exit back to Phoebus. Paragraph notes for Phoeban Dungeon: 101, 102, 104, 106 PHOEBUS: This city on the west side of the Isle of the Sun is not easy for beginning characters. You may be able to get through some of the encounters to access treasure but there is an big encounter in this city that should not be attempted until later in the game. There is a tavern in the northwest portion of the city where you can find the volunteer Valar. Valar has knowledge of both Low and Sun magic. He's a good addition to your party, but keep him at the back as he is rather weak and vulnerable to attack. On the southeast side of town there are parade grounds. Within the parade grounds is a building. Entering here will get you drafted into the army and removed to the siege camp south of the city of Byzanople. I recommend avoiding this automatic draft until later in the game. There are 3 treasures to be found in Phoebus, two on the west side and one on the north. TREASURE 1: Poog's Vortex Sun Stroke Death Curse Create Wall Mithra's Bless TREASURE 2: Plate Mail Tri-cross Bolt <1 group of 30 bolts> Magic Shield Dragon Stones <7 quantity> TREASURE 3: Mage Cloth <= cloth armor, need low magic 1 to use, has spell Mage Light. sell it> Fire Spear Magic Plate Paragraph notes to be found in Phoebus: 26, 25, 28, 66 PILGRIM DOCK: Located on Nisir, this dock is accessable from the Old Dock on King's Island providing you are wearing Pilgrim's Garb . Passing through the door in the south of this small area results in a nasty encounter which is beyond the ability of beginning characters. Once successfully defeating these monsters, you will find a prisoner and a secret passage that leads you to the mountain Salvation. Paragraph notes for Pilgrim Dock: 82, 84, 83, 98 QUAG: This area of Dilmun includes a Nexus in the north to Mystic Woods, the city of Yellow Mud Toad and Smuggler's Cove. Murk trees live on this area and are dangerous monsters capable of killing party members without much difficulty. Proceed with caution. Northest, but not connected to Quag is Necropolis. A bridge also leads to the area of Dilmun that includes Lansk. QUAG BRIDGE: You need the Governor's Pass to cross. The pass is obtainable in either Lansk or Lansk Undercity . Paragraph notes for Quag Bridge: 47 RUINS: See TAR'S RUINS RUSTIC: Accessable with the ship from Smuggler's Cove. This Island to the west of King's Island contains the Game Preserve, Scorpion Bridge and a Strange Building . SALT MINES: If you sell yourself into slavery in Purgatory you end up here. There is nothing of great importance to be found here. You can skip this area entirely with no ill effect upon your game. What you can gain here is experience and eventually freedom. I recommend using the Magan Underworld. When you are brought here all your equipment is removed and you are in chains. Wandering around this area you will find a cup, a pool , a handle, a treasure of rocks and Dragon Stones <9 quantity>. You will find a man to which you give the water. He will give you his shoes. Using the laces you manage to make a hammer with which you can break the chains. Your gear can be found in a pile of rubbage. Thus re- equipped you can challenge the guards and escape. Paragraph notes for Salt Mines: 60, 61, 49 SCORPION BRIDGE: Located on the island of Rustic. Scorpion men will bar your way until you use the ENKIDU TOTEM . Within the bridge building there are several nasty encounters. In the north of this building is a treasure: TREASURE 1: Bones Barbed Flail Magic Shield Gold<1500> Paragraph notes for Scorpion Bridge: 48 SIEGE CAMP: Accessable from King's Island or by being drafted into the army in Phoebus. Don't worry about joining the wrong side, your stay in the Seige camp is temporary. Near the southern entrance to the Siege Camp is a healer. In the north of this area is a Black Market. BLACK MARKET: Bladed Flail 1000g Mace 70 Dagger 30 Short Sword 50 Broad Sword 60 Polearm 90 Bow 60 Long Bow 90 Crossbow 60 Arrow<20> 50 Bolt<20> 60 Chain 310 Shield 1000 Large Shield 1000 There are two treasures to be found in the siege camp, one in the northern and one in the southern section of this area. TREASURE 1: Lance Sword str 12 Silver Gloves TREASURE 2: Silver Arrow Exiting the Siege Camp to the north will allow you to enter Byzanople. After some encounters in Byzanople you will return to the Siege Camp through a secret underground passage. There will be a sizable battle which is definitely too difficult for beginning characters. Paragraph notes for Siege Camp: 87, 59, 90 SLAVE CAMP: Located southwest of Purgatory, use Bureaucracy to gain the escaped slaves trust. There are six small buildings located in the Slave Camp and three treasures, a campfire that will heal all wounds and the volunteer Louie can be found here. Use one of your magic skills when you locate the wizard watching you from his doorway otherwise he will not allow you into his hut to gather one of the treasures. TREASURE 1: Greater Heal Sun Stroke TREASURE 2: Healing Cloak Arcane Sense Traps Scare Leather Armor<2> Brigadine<2> Chain TREASURE 3: Citizen Papers Ruby Dagger str 3 War Axe War Flail Hammer Polearm White Arrow Spear Chain Fire Lite Dragon Stone<5> Paragraph notes for Slave Camp: 88, 63, 68, 19 SLAVE ESTATE: Located on Forlorn. You can learn in Lansk that Mog left this estate to you. There are two buildings on the estate, one large and one small. Surrounding the estate are gardens with numerous statues. Enter the large building through either of the entrances on the EAST side . There are four treasures to be found in the large building: TREASURE 1: Hammer Ruby Dagger str 3 Short sword Dragon Stones<6 quantity> TREASURE 2: Mirror TREASURE 3: Gauntlets Helm Arrow Magic Lamp <20 charges of light spell> Shield Gold <1500> TREASURE 4: Hand axe Gold <100> In the southwest corner of the large building you will find the artisan of the statues you have seen in the gardens. He is really a Gaze Monster. Use the MIRROR to avoid being turned to stone. Paragraph notes for Slave Estate: 1, 105, 99, 103, 117 SMUGGLER'S COVE: Located north of Mud Toad on Quag, this is the pirate hang out of Long John Ugly. On the northeast you wlil find a statue to Irkalla at which you can pray. On the west you will find Long John's hang out. Use Bureaucracy and pay at least 50g to enter. Inside you will find two doors, one to the west and the other to the south. Taking the southern door, Long John will ferry you over to Necropolis, but he will not bring you back . The west door reveals the pirates most precious possession, a ship! The pirates will fight you to the death for this ship and they are a nasty bunch! They can be defeated, but it is not easy. Defeating them gets you not only unlimited use of the ship, but also a treasure. This treasure chest will disappear even if you do not remove all its contents. Take the gold and the Jade Eyes and the plate. TREASURE 1: Gold<3000> Pilgrim Garb Old Peg Leg Hook Parrot Heavy Plate Jade Eyes Paragraph notes for Smuggler's Cove: 39, 3, 41, 43, 24 SNAKE PIT: This city is located on the southwest corner of King's Island and is accessable from the Old Bridge. On the north you will find the King's boathouse. Leave the lad who is guarding this building alone until you locate the secret rooms in the center of the large cluster of buildings in the center of the city. In the wooded area in the north you will find Branches. Use the Branches at the old man in the tree on the south side of this area will get you the BEAST CALL spell . The STONE HEAD needed for the statue in Mud Toad is found on the west shore of this area. There is a large cluster of buildings in the center of the Snake Pit. A secret passage from the room with the jester leads north into the room where you will find two treasures: TREASURE 1: Signet Ring Jewels TREASURE 2: Luck Wand Crush Mace Mega Bolt Grand Sword Magic Bow dex 10 Use the signet ring where the boy guards the boat house and you have access through a secret door to a boat that will take you out of this area and left near Kingshome. Paragraph notes for Snake Pit: 75, 76, 80, 81 STRANGE BUILDING: See MAGIC COLLEGE SUNKEN RUINS: Accessable from the Eastern Isles , you need to have accomplished freeing Irkalla from the Isle of Woe prior to fully exploring this area. Irkalla would have given you a breath water potion that will be needed to enter the lower level of this area. The upper level features a locked door that take a skill of lockpick 4 to open and two secret passages. In the center area there is a treasure: TREASURE 1: Driftwood Flotsam Spiked Flail Driftwood Using the breath water potion you can enter the lower area. The map wraps upon itself here and is relatively small in size. In one large room you will fing a clam containing the SKULL OF ROBA. Do not attempt to take the skull from the clam, just take the clam . There is a locker to be found in this area in which is the following: LOCKER: Trident Dragon Plate Dragon Sword The locker is guarded by some pretty nasty creatures, so throw everything you've got at them or be prepared to take a trip through the Necropolis to the well of resurrection. No paragraph notes for the Sunken Ruins. TAR'S RUINS : This area is accessable from Forlorn or from the Tar's Ruins underground. To reveal the entrance to the underground use strength on a rock on the northeast side. On the west side you will find the body of a dead hero: DEAD HERO: Firesword Lg Shield Dragon Stones <6> On the southwest, you will find a cache of scrolls: CACHE: Air Summon Elvar's Fire Exorcism Guidance In the center of the ruins is a 3X3 square building upon whose walls you will see mural. These murals are an important hint on how to deal with the Lansk Dragon. Paragraph notes for Tar's Ruins: 23 TAR'S RUINS : Accessable from the Magan Underworld and from the Ruins on Forlorn. The entrance from the Magan Underworld leaves you in a small enclosed room. To return to MUnderworld, use the ability climb, to explore this area exit through the secret passage to the north. Immediately west of the square just described is another secret room containing STONE ARMS which are needed in Mud Toad. This area wraps north to south, east to west. It doesn't take too much exploration to locate the other two secret passages that contain treasures: TREASURE 1: Healing Potion Dragon Stone<5> TREASURE 2: Gold <2500> Fire Light Death Curse Sun Stroke Gold <1000> No paragraph notes for Tar's Ruins. YELLOW MUD TOAD: See MUD TOAD. END GAME AREAS & STRATEGY: Prior to visiting Salvation it is a good idea to spend some time in the Magan Underworld near the energy pool that restores magic power CHARGEing up magic items with spells upon them. Of particular use are HEALING POTIONS, BATTLE WAND , DRAGON HORN , and the SPEED WAND . You may choose to carry others at this point, but the above will make your life in this end game period much easier. The maximum charges you can boost in any item is 49. It will take some time to charge all the items, but setting up a macro will make this easier and is certainly worth the time and effort. If you have already visited Salvation and taken the treasure that is to be found there, be certain to stock up on DRAGON STONES before entering into the end game period. Clear out of your inventory anything that you do not need so that you can carry more dragon stones. SALVATION: Accessable from Nisir or Magan Underworld. The exit to Nisir is in the north and the stairs to the Magan Underworld are in the southwestern portion of this area. On the west side there is a treasure guarded by a rather nasty group of monsters. TREASURE 1: Mage Staff worth 10,000g Dragon Helm Dragon Plate Spiked Mace Heavy Sword Dragon Eye<28> restores 30 points of magic power On the east side of Salvation is a shrine to the universal god , use the Freedom Sword at this area. Doing so will allow you to cast INFERNO SPELLS using the Freedom Sword. Not far from the stairs to Magan Underworld and treasure 1 is a door. Avoid it. Close to this door is an area where you will get a message about an intelligent man could figure out a way through this wall. Use intelligence then use the ability climb. You will now be in an area where <3 squares south and 2 squares east> you over look a chasm. Use the Golden Boots to jump the chasm. Entering through the doors here, you will begin to explore a large room when you will suddenly find yourself falling into the Depths of Nisir. Paragraph notes for Salvation: 97, 100, 55 DEPTHS OF NISIR: Accessable only from Salvation, this area represents the most complex area to map. The map wraps east to west and north to south and include teleportals and turning floors. Use GUIDANCE to maintain your sense of direction and look at the automap often. Because the map wraps, it is difficult to give precise directions on where you need to go. From your beginning location you need to go 17 squares north and 14 squares east to reach an area that will teleport you to an otherwise unaccessable area where Namtar is hiding out with his army. Using SOFTEN STONE is your best means of getting there. Exploration of the entire area results in lots of encounters which can rapidly drain your supply of Dragon Eyes and Dragon Stones. Use CLOAK ARCANE for added protection against those encounters you cannot avoid. Once you have reached the teleportal that will take you to Namtar, walk south. Before you enter the larger area use the DRAGON GEM. The Queen Dragon will answer and rout Namtar's army and Namtar, well sort of. Namtar will spring back to life and you will fight him over and over again before you finally can pick up his ashes. Once you have you will be teleported to the Magan Underworld near the energy restore pool the location of which you should by now be most familiar. You will have time to restore your energy before Namtar springs to life again. Kill him and head as fast as you can to the cross shaped area surrounded by pits in the extreme south of the Magan Underworld. Namtar will spring to life yet again. Defeat him and use his ashes