========== A Complete Guide for Blade of Darkness (PC) v 1.0 ========== By: Anton Kibalnik (kvaked@hotmail.com) Copyright 2003 by Kvaked. All rights reserved. - Contents - I. Introduction 1. Version Info 2. The Story 3. Why I Like Blade of Darkness 4. Thanks to... 5. Contact Me 6. Letters from You II. Various Information 1. The Characters 2. The Enemy 3. Info on the Game 4. Combat Tactics 5. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 6. Did you know... 7. The Weapons 8. You Know You've Been Playing BoD Too Much When... III. The Walkthrough 1a. Tabriz (Knight) 1b. Kazel Zalam (Dwarf) 1c. Marakamda (Amazon) 1d. Kashgar (Barbarian) 2. Fortress of Tell Halaf * 3. Mines of Kelbegen * 4. Tombs of Ephyra * 5. Island of Karum 6. Shalatuwar Fortress 7. Fortress of Nemrut * 8. Gorge of Orlok 9. Oasis of Nejeb * 10. Temple of Al Farum * 11. Forge of Xshathra 12. Temple of Ianna 13. Tower of Dal Gurak 14. The Abyss (extra) Note: Levels with a rune have an * beside them. - I. Introduction - ======================================================================= Hey everyone. The guide is done. Yey. I actually have a thing or two to fix here and there, and the weapons section is not quite complete (dwarf crap), but these are minor things that I can't really fix now anyway. There might be a minor update or two later on, but for now consider this thing done. *Wipes sweat off forehead.* I kind of wish I never wasted my time on this thing in the first place. But I get people emailing me everyday thanking me. So I guess it was worth the effort. I did this all for you - my fans. Sorry for the huge delay, but I'm a high school senior with lots of thing to do. Time to get on with the rest of my life... *Dizzy, blind, and flabby, gets up from his own pool of sweat from the chair and leaves the room for the first time in months.* Version Info ----------------------------------- Version 1.0 - Current Version (12-6-03) - Completed the Letters from You, FAQ, and Did you Know... sections. (These will never be finished as I'll probably always be adding to them.) - COMPLETED THE WALKTHROUGH. It's done. Finally. Wohoo. - Proofread the guide and changed a thing or two there. Version .95 (8-6-03) - Finished walkthrough for Temple of Ianna and added to the Fortress of Nemrut walkthrough. - Wrote walkthrough for Tower of Dal Gurak and started on the Abyss. - Loosely started a FAQ, Did you know..., and Letters from You sections. Version .9 (7-15-03) - Finished Weapons section. - Wrote walkthroughs for Oasis of Nejeb, Temple of Al Farum, Forge of Xshathra, and started on Temple of Ianna. - Started the Did you know... section. Version .8 (5-30-03) - Made a second map for Marakamda and completed its walkthrough. - Wrote walkthroughs for Tombs of Ephyra, Island of Karum, Shalatuwar Fortress, Gorge of Orlok, and started on Fortress of Nemrut. - Rewrote small parts of the guide and updated the Weapons section. Version .7 (12-05-02) - Organized the guide. - Added the Version Info, Weapons, and You Know You've Been... sections. - Rewrote Why I Like Bod section and proofread the guide. - Completed walkthroughs for Kashgar, Fortress of Tell Halaf, and Mines of Kelbegen. - Made a map for the beginning of Marakamda and started on its walkthrough. Version .5 (9-29-02) - Completed the first two parts of the guide. - Wrote walkthroughs for Tabriz and Kazel Zalam. The Story ----------------------------------- The Lord created Chaos, and divided it in two parts, the Light and the Darkness. He gave to them life and thought, and so were born the Spirit of Light and the Prince of Darkness. But the Prince held the unspoken desire of supplanting his Father. He learnt in secret the language of Creation and tried to create a new being. But the newborn would not accept the commands of the Prince of Darkness, and growing stronger, took part of his own essence and created terrible monsters and demons. The Lord and the Prince of Light tried to stop it, and they waged a great war. Gradually, the being was weakened and finally defeated, but after this the Father was exhausted, and withdrew into the depths of the Universe. The younger Gods, proud of the victory, completed the creations of their Father, giving shape to the Sun, the Moon and the Earth. However, the Prince of Darkness attempted to corrupt the souls of the fledgling race of man, amidst the confusion of a new war incited by dark creatures of his own creation. The Earth was in a moment of extreme danger, so one of the younger daughters, Ianna, cast a powerful spell that expelled the gods from their dwelling place and kept the Earth closed to them. The Spirit of the Light went to the Sun and from there protected the Earth during the day. Ianna went to the Moon, to protect it during the night. Thus began the cycle of Day and Night, and a new age of balance was born over the Earth. But all of the gods' creations remained, leaving mankind to contend alone against the darksome fiends. The struggle continued for many years, until a young hero emerged to defy the Darkness. He was chosen by Ianna to wield the Sacred Sword, and fought the Evil in its own lair. The Darkness was defeated, but the hero was mortally wounded, and his friends buried him with his Sword in the Temple of Ianna. But all that was long ago... Now, something strange is happening. The signals are clear. Foul creatures are awakening from their dormancy, and spreading terror and destruction... The Darkness has returned, and the end is near. A new hero is needed, a chosen one who will wield the Sword, and destroy the Enemy forever... Bla bla bla. Does this actually mean anything? Probably not. Why I Like Blade of Darkness ----------------------------------- This is the first guide that I have written. This doesn't mean that BoD is my favorite game. I just felt like it wasn't getting as much attention as it should be. Anyway, this is why I decided to write this guide. - Graphics/Engine - The engine of Blade of darkness is simply beautiful. The physics and environment are just incredible. I've never seen a prettier sun shining at while I enjoy the crisp, fresh air. Or I've never been in a gloomier dungeon with such realistic torchlight. The reflections on water are perfectly cast. Shadows are exactly the way they should be. Sometimes, you will find yourself carrying torches for no other reason but to see your own, realistic shadow. The lighting effects in BoD are the best by far that I've ever seen. If you can find a game with light more realistic than this, please let me know. - Gore/Realism - Another great thing that BoD gives is the highly realistic, and naturally sadistic gore. Again, if you can find a game with more realistic gore, please let me know. There is so many ways to kill an enemy. Want to cut of its head and watch blood squirt out of the neck? Then go for a high slash. Or, you can go for the sides and cut off its arm to watch it die in agony. You might end up cutting off the wrist and find it by a trail of blood sometimes 15 meters away! And you can even chop 'em up while there are dead on the ground. Cut of a limb if you wish and use it to beat your next enemy. I know that this is a bit sadistic, but it's fun too! I enjoy a good amount of realism in a game. - Music - Wow. Music in games doesn't get much better than this. The music composed for BoD is incredibly atmospheric. It fits the current situation perfectly. The music is pulsating and exciting when you are in battle. When you are exploring ancient tombs and deserted areas rich, ambient music adds to the already wonderful environment. Some of the melodies are so wonderful, I often listen to them when I'm not in the game. There are about thirty different tunes in Blade of Darkness. - Combat - This is probably the best of Blade of Darkness. Each battle is epic. With each enemy you have to take your time and plan your strategy of attack, because running at them with your sword swinging will simply get your head dismembered. A lot of people were drawn off by the games awkward and difficult way of fighting. They complained about the uneasy controls. Well, I don't think that it is awkward at all. It is very similar to a fighting game: attack when the enemy is not blocking, block when the enemy is attacking. You will need to learn your enemy's tactics and movements, and then find out what their weaknesses are. Blade of Darkness is a combination of fantasy, rpg, fighting, and adventure. Sometimes, I find myself looking for the next enemy just so I can chop it up. I found the combat addictive and difficult at the same time. - Why is BoD not that great of a game then? - From all these great comments it would seem that BoD is one of the best games ever made. But unfortunately, the game is greatly flawed. The major flaw: lack of an involving storyline. The story is so weak you will often get bored. You'll ask yourself, "What am I doing here? Why am I going from place to place killing things?" Aside from that, there are no memorable moments in BoD, nothing to get you excited, nothing to add depth to the gameplay. The levels, although are neat looking, do not have anything interesting in them. Find the key, activate the switch, etc... You will spend most of your time wondering aimlessly killing things or enjoying the beautiful atmosphere. Thanks to... ----------------------------------- John B. Willington: for the You Know You've Been... section. Taximan: for his savefile. Wouldn't have finished the guide without it. Simon Williams: for the great, alternate walkthrough for the Abyss. Codemasters and Rebel Act: For making such a great game. Anyone who emails me: For sharing his wisdom with me. Me: For writing this. You: For reading this. Contact Me ----------------------------------- If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, corrections, anything at all, just email me at kvaked@hotmail.com. I'll be more than happy to receive any information from you. Letters from You ----------------------------------- During the making of my guide, I received some wondrous emails from you guys. Some were informative, some suggestive, and some simply interesting. Some include information that is not in the guide itself. I thought that they would make a great addition to my already perfect guide, :). Anyway, enjoy! Note: Anyone who has a problem with having their email on here just let me know and I'll take it off. These are mostly suggestions so I guessed no one would care. =========== From: Knut Stanley Jacobsen Date: Wednesday, November 06, 2002 4:20 PM To: kvaked@hotmail.com Subject: Your Severance guide I've found a good way to deal with the vampire boss. I played with Tukaram. The queen's sword special vampire attack will drain life from him, so I just fought with that attack until his shield broke. At this time I was at full health and he at about half. Then i switched to the long sword and carved him up from a distance. Paradox =========== From: Jon Waholic Date: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 3:37 PM To: kvaked@hotmail.com Subject: Blade of darkness: easy way to kill vampires I notice in the faq you have trouble handling vampires... As you suggested, using a powerful one-hit blunt special attack to knock out the shield is one way (vampiric shield has only 1500hp). Getting that to work requires some skills though. Second way is to use vampire's teleportation weakness. Vampire frequently teleports when out of range or at low health. It will cross its arms and fade. Use the backward attack (down+left+right) at that moment. When the vampire reappears, it is defenseless, you will get a clean hit. Quickly back dodge out of range and repeat. Know the terrain well. If you backed onto a wall, the vampire will appear beside you. tap foward and run away. Last method is lock on target, throw weapon, unlock target, run and get back weapon. The vampire maybe cautious, but it rarely guards when out of range. It guards before attacking, so it will not hit when you run pass to get your weapon. This method is highly taxing, not really a good one. Vampires never drop the shields even if it is unbroken when you defeat them. The shields just disappear with them. Since you probably beaten the game, the weapon is only dropped by the last vampire. =========== From: Dabiz Euler Gauss Date: Wednesday, February 05, 2003 1:59 PM To: kvaked@hotmail.com Subject: How to kill the vampire fast Hello there! With the barbarian, with the special attack of the "Double Edge". First you have to destroy his shield, use some fast movement once and again and again till you destroy it (maybe you'll need some cure potion), then do the special attack and he will take the three hits and will die (well, he donīt die at this point of the game) Dabiz from Bask Country =========== From: Brett Bordelon Date: Saturday, February 22, 2003 9:29 AM To: kvaked@hotmail.com Subject: blade of darkness lefty sword of ianna! you just throw the sword(it helps if you throw it at something far away), drop a shield, then time it just right so that when the sword hits whatever, you've got the shield in your right hand. it still acts like you've got the sword in your right hand though. =========== From: Lauri Hursti Date: Friday, April 11, 2003 7:04 AM To: kvaked@hotmail.com Subject: Suggestion fo your Bod-walktroug When I was fighting against the Vampire for first time on the Island of Karum I realized that back attack with him is the easiest way to defeat him. At least when he starts to appear behind you. It's easy to perform back attack just when he is disappeareding. After that it is easy to back away and wait for him to do it again. This is only my opinion but the Vampire wasn't tough at all when I used this method. This piece of advice could be useful for someone. Thanks for good walkthrough. It has been a great help! Terveisin L. Hursti from Finnland =========== From: Alex Valero Date: Sunday, May 04, 2003 5:00 PM To: kvaked@hotmail.com Subject: Blade of Darkness FAQ (small correction) Hello. I'm currently playing "Blade of Darkness" (known here in Spain as "Blade: Edge of Darkness") and I check sometimes your FAQ. It is very good. As I'm playing with Zoe, the Amazon, I noticed something about the end of the very first level, when you wrote: Note: I'm pretty sure that I've missed some extra area in this level because there is a closed entrance on the right before the temple lock. I'll have to check it out later. Well, if you didn't check it out yet: to access that secret area, you must drop through the part of the floor which collapses, that is, the place where: There will be a cave with two zombies and a fall to avoid. Well, don't avoid it. There are no spikes, and you won't die. Down there, there is a "Dark Sword" (I don't know the English name, that is the literal translation from the Spanish "Espada Oscura"). By the way, I posted two days ago in a forum (I don't have a web page) a translation of an interview with one of the producers of this game about how they went bankrupt, just in case you are interested: http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/index.php?fn=view_thread&t=220773 Greetings. Danda (alex_valero@hotmail.com) =========== From: Simon Williams Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2003 2:11 PM To: kvaked@hotmail.com Subject: Severance thing... I've just read your 'Severance: Blade of Darkness' walkthrough and I thought it was pretty good. I have one question though: is it possible at all to get Dal Gurak's Sword and Shield once he dies and you go on to the Abyss? I've tried, but the floor collapses. I wonder whether there's any sort of cheat to do this or something. Oh, another thing, I've noticed that the Barbarian's combos work with the Sword of Ianna equipped, even although it's a one-handed sword. Does the Amazon's whirlwind work with it as well? Oh, also I've got a walkthrough for the Abyss level, because you seem to be quite short of time to finish the FAQ, I thought I'd offer my assistance. Email me at Crimsonninja@hotmail.com if you're interested (I'm also working on a 'Secrets' FAQ in case you're interested in that as well). :-) =========== From: Simon Williams Date: Thursday, May 22, 2003 1:39 PM To: kvaked@hotmail.com Subject: Re: Severance thing... + Walkthrough When you defeat Dal Gurak and the cutscene plays, showing him babbling on about meeting your destiny, you enter the Abyss on the hillside. When I tried to go back to the Tower by going up the hill instead of down, the floor collapses and I don't think that even the Amazon can jump it unless there's some sort of hidden platform. The inventory option comes up for them, (it displays 'Dal Gurak's Shield' on the screen, but I can't pick the shield up fast enough) so I figure that there must be a way of getting them. Looks pretty cool in any case... Personally, I think you underrate the Barbarian slightly in the FAQ. His combo at level 12 (Hellwind? Forward + Attack + Forward) is quite powerful, the Rhino Club is one of the most powerful blunt weapons in the game (discarding the stupid dwarf's weapons) and the Shark Sword is excellent. If the Amazon can't wield the Sword of Ianna to her true power, that degrades her in my opinion, but she's still excellent. A list of all of the potions/ health restoration points in the game would be nice, but I'm not sure that anyone could be bothere doing that... Oh, how do you get the cheats to work? When I tried to configure the game files using the codes on www.gameswinners.com, the game went and crashed on me. I had to uninstall/ reinstall, which was kinda sucky. Any suggestions? One more thing, when exactly are you planning to finish the FAQ, since you sound as if you're almost finished. I've got quite a few secrets done, but I'm pretty sure I've not got them all. In the mean time, I'll send you the Abyss walkthrough... copy and paste it onto your word typing/ web configuration programme. P.S. Have you managed to hit the dragon circling around the sky in the Isle of Karum level with an arrow before you get to the boss Vampie? If you do, it must do something... Walkthrough Abyss: You start off at the top of the hill. Don't bother going backwards (though logic tells you may be able to snag Dal Gurak's brilliant armour, weapon and shield) as the cliff will collapse and you won't be able to jump back across. Instead, run down the hill. Watch out - on the loop after the stone bridge, the floor collapses, though you will only really fall foul of this if you are running with your weapon stowed on your back (except if you're the Amazon). Leap over the gap and you'll witness a cut-scene with a knight forcing the other 2 guards to attack while he runs away. Never mind! You'll catch up with him later. For now, fire off Ianna's Sight at both of the knights while keeping your distance. They should easily go down and you shouldn't be hurt. If you haven't saved your game already, now might be a good time to do so. You should now go left, to get to a room with 2 iron statues standing on either side of an altar. If the fact that the iron statues look remarkably like Iron Golems hadn't tipped you off to the fact that your are about to fight 2 Golems, then the fact that on the altar is the enigmatically named 'GOLEM KEY' should. In any case, pick up the 'GOLEM KEY'. The door at the end of the corridor now tries to shut. However, if you stashed your weapon on your back before you picked up the key and keep jumping towards it, you can make it through the door before it shuts. This is probably the better course of action, as you won't be desperate for experience by this point (you should be level 20; if not, then what on earth have you been doing?), as you don't get any stronger beyond level 20. However, if you don't make it, don't worry. Just keep dodging the Golems, put some distance between you and then use Ianna's Sight. Try and hit both Golems at once. After that, go down the right-hand passage. You'll end up in a small chamber with an angry Minotaur. If this wasn't enough, you'll have the company of a Skeleton archer who may spot you and shoot you with poisoned arrows. Ah well, such is life. You might be able to snap off an Ianna's Sight before the Minotaur reaches you, but I wouldn't recommend it. Notice that the Minotaur has a rock attached to s tick for a weapon, giving it added crushing power and an annoyingly long-range. This is one of the monsters you should kill in the first past of the Abyss, as otherwise this will still be here when you come back, along with even more Skeletons. Try and take it out before the Skeleton spots you and use the 'special move' that your best weapon (not the Sword of Ianna) a lot. Keep your distance until it attempts a one-swipe horizontal or vertical cut. Then, when it roars, perform your special move. Switch to the Sword of Ianna when you finish the Minotaur and go and slaughter the Skeletons which are just around the corner. One will start too close to you to use Ianna's Sight so simply defeat it using normal attacks. The Skeleton after that will start quite far away from you, so it can be dispatched quiet easily (if it doesn't fall off the edge of the cliff). The third starts on a gradient and Ianna's Sight doesn't go down slopes, so don't bother. Defeat it conventionally instead. I've not bothered listing what weapons the Skeletons have because you'll have better by the time you've got here (or should have picked up better; if you've not, then you really shouldn't have gotten here!). There's a Skeleton Archer on top of a platform after the third normal Skeleton. As it's above you, then don't bother trying to take it out; there's not much point and you'll get injured in the process. Instead, stash your weapon on your back and jump over the gap onto the platform, where the Skeleton can't shoot you. A pity that the platform's guarded by a Minotaur. Still, never mind. Use the same tactics which you did on the first Minotaur, except that you've got a bit more mobility this time around. But the Minotaur's a bit tougher as well. Which do you prefer? Not that it makes much difference. You shouldn't skimp on this battle either, as there's a vitally important jump which is quite difficult anyway around the corner, and it'll be made even more difficult if you have the pressure of a Minotaur breathing down your neck. Make the jump over the crumbling floor, and then dash over to the platform on the other side of the room. Climb up it and then get out a blunt weapon. A Skeleton archer will be pointing its bow at you when you turn the corner, but if you rush it with your weapon sheath, it'll change to a GREAT MACE and a WALL SHIELD before it can fire off a shot. After that, waste it and go up the passage. Guess who! It's the knight which ran away from you earlier... and he has the audacity to call you a coward. Kill him for his insolence... or for the 'GUARDIAN KEY' he carries. He seems to be injured somewhat, so it shouldn't be too difficult a fight. You should do this quickly, as the fighting will attract the attention of a powerful Minotaur. It'll turn the corner and come right for you. There really is little point in fighting this beast apart from for experience (which we've already established is a bad thing) or self- satisfaction (in which case I won't be able to stop you anyway), so dodge its blows and run away without locking on. Go down the passage it was guarding and wait for part of the floor to crumble. Jump over onto the platform quickly (or it will crumble, leaving you unable to complete the jump. Fortunately, it won't crumble with you standing on it). You're not able to kill the Minotaur with Ianna's Sight, so don't bother trying. Instead, jump onto the only available platform, which takes you back to where you've already been (notice how the Skeleton archer fled at first opportunity). You have to fight yet another Minotaur (last one). However, once again, this isn't a good idea. Simply avoid and jump over the gap which crumbled earlier, backtracking your way. Kill the two Skeletons you come across using Ianna's Sight and then fit the 'GUARDIAN KEY' into the lock to open the door. Go inside. Congratulations! You've defeated one of the most difficult parts of the game and the first part of the Abyss. Ready for part 2? Of course you are! Hop over the holes and go down the stairs. One ajar door you'll be able to get through, one you won't. There isn't really much point in going through the first one, so ignore it and head downstairs. You'll face 2 Skeletons, one normal and one fire. Once you run into the centre of the room (with the star pattern on the floor), turn to your right and fire off an Ianna's Sight at that skeleton. It'll go down quickly. That only leaves the Fire skeleton to deal with. This should be child's play by now, so slaughter it with a blunt object and then proceed left. Jump over the gap to find yourself on a huge platform. There, you'll find a HUGE SHIELD (with 12,500 Resistance) and a 'POWER POTION'. Take whatever attracts your attention, then hop back and go up to the right. You'll meet several Knights, but don't worry: none of them are archers. As they are so defensive, you can slaughter them with Ianna's Sight with little trouble. Investigate the rooms for several treasures, namely a BLOOD SWORD (not worth the trouble), DOOM AXE, GREAT MACE, CRUSH BO and a weapon for the Dwarf (it wasn't very good in any case... COMBAT AXE?). Oh, and the game tries to insult you by presenting you with a BIG SWORD for the Barbarian. You'll probably have got these by now, but the DOOM AXE is worth picking up for the Barbarian if you haven't already. These Knights are your only source of potions, so try to kill them so quickly that they can't drink them. However, for the slow of trigger- finger, there's a 'FULL LIFE POTION' in one of the rooms. This passage ends with one of the ajar dors you couldn't get through earlier. Since you can't get through it now either, do a u-turn and head back to the barred gate where you kill the 2 Skeletons. Use your 'GOLEM KEY' on the door and it opens up. Can you guess what you're going to fight next. It's really quite pathetically easy... a Golem. For an extra point, can you guess which type? Time to find out... Head down the spiral staircase and you'll find yourself on a stone cross with the 'VAMPIRE KEY' on it. No other exit presents itself, so pick up the 'VAMPIRE KEY'. If you haven't guessed that a linear encounter is about to happen, you really should stop playing this game. Not surprisingly, a Fire Golem falls down from above and lands on one side of the crossroad (you're in the middle). This should simply be an matter of easy experience by now. Use Ianna's Sight twice after having backed away and the Golem will fall very easily. The bars will now pull back, revealing another entrance. Go through it. In case you're wondering, it's alright to step in the puddles; nothing negative will happen to you. Don't worry about the next room, though it may have red mist that saps your strength. At best it'll only take a few health off a person who runs through the area, as you should. Continue on down and you'll reach a very long passage. Stash your weapon away and run quickly through this area as you'll have to run quickly though the corridor, else the doors slam shut, trapping you. The view changes while you run through the passage, but keep the 'forward' button pressed and you'll race through the corridor in record time. The shifting back to normal view tells you that you've successfully completed the Gauntlet. Now continue on down the stairs. 3 Skeletons confront you, but not all at once (that was obviously be FAR too hard by now!). Smash them to bits with your club-equivalent and then proceed down. You'll enter another room with red mist, except this time there's the vampire (he just doesn't take a hint - you've killed him twice already!) Here. Except he's stronger this time around, with 9,500 health. Are you scared? Thought not. Smash his shield with a special move and then proceed to hack him to pieces with conventional moves (no elaborate specials else he hits you mid-way through). Alternatively, the safer method is to keep your distance (but don't go too far as if you venture off the white-coloured floor; the 'arena'; then he'll disappear in a puff of smoke. No, not for good, he comes back with all his health restored. And the really harsh thing is that he can venture out of this arena without penalty. Might as well get on with killing him.) and use Ianna's Sight on him. About 3 hits will do. After his health drops below 3,000, he starts to get frantic and teleports behind you constantly. No sweat: simply jump forward, turn as he swings and try to counter-attack before he teleports again. Sometimes, he'll stay where he is and try to advance on you; slaughter him when he does; he needs punishing! After you slaughter him, go onwards down the set of revealed stairs. A Demon seems to think that it can defeat you. Prove it otherwise. Upon its defeat, 2 more Demons teleport in and ask for the same treatment. Give it to them. After continuing on a linear trek, you'll arrive at a huge set of stairs with 4 Skeletons (at once! Oh gosh!) attacking you. Not only do they kill themselves, but they also bunch up together, so circle around them, back away and use Ianna's Sight to slaughter 3 of them at once. The other will be so weakened that it won't put up much of a fight. One hit will do. 2 Chaos Knights form next, but they are levels 12 and 13, one having 1,000 health more than the other (16,000 and 17,000 respectively). They look worrying, but they're not. It's funny: with the Knight, when I used the Sword of Ianna, their 'glowing ball' ranged attack did no damage at all and didn't even interrupt my casting of Ianna's Sight, but with the Barbarian, the attack did do damage. Not much mind - so little, in fact, that it's rather pathetic. At best, the attack did '8' damage and sometimes as little as '2' damage. Whereas my superb Ianna's Sight does over 1,000 damage every time. Maybe it's down to my Defence rating... Anyhow, the Chaos Knights are big and so you'll probably be able to hit both at once. Attack them at range and you'll slaughter them. Just wait until they've fired off their salvo of ranged attacks before countering, else they interrupt you. Oh, and if you time it well enough, their glowing ranged attacks can hit each other or themselves. They also can be blocked. Watch out for their swords; it's not worth the risk to get close. Jump over the gap through the open door and go onto the centre of the platform to discover that it's a lift. Wow... as it stops, a level 20 Chaos Knight forms. The only risk here is falling off the lift. If you keep your distance and keep using Ianna's Sight you'll have no problems. Then get off the lift and go into the adjoining room. Kill them and move on into the Inner Sanctum. Oh, sounds scary. Well, you've only got 2 more enemies in the entire game. Gosh, just when you'd thought you'd killed him (no, it's not the Vampire again), Meskalamdug (or a Demon looking just like him) pops out of nowhere. Didn't I show you before? Yes, you did, but he's a bit of an arrogant demon and has killed a few Orcs before taking you on again, because now he's level 20. Not that it makes much of a difference, you should use the same tactics as in your first battle (keep your distance and use Ianna's Sight). Except, when his blows didn't hurt too much before, they hurt now. Quite a lot. But what are you doing getting that close? After you mortify Meskalamdug, another hidden door reveals itself. Hopefully, you should have hit level 21 (and saved it when you did!) By now and you should have all of your potions intact. If not, then you could have done better, but there's not much point in reloading now... because you're going to face the Lord of Chaos. Go down into the crypts to witness the Lord's speech and then him getting beaten up by a piece of armour. No wait, he's not getting beaten up, he's getting picked up. Sorry, a very bad typo there. You may be a little shocked at the fact that he's got 80,000 health, but he is the Lord of Darkness. He has to be tough! Luckily, you're tougher! Quite apart from winning the 'silliest-looking-big-boss' award, Akaris also has a measly melee attack. So if you have a huge melee weapon with a eviscerating special combo, you should go up, perhaps use your power potion, and then teach him the meaning of pain. You can try and go with Ianna's Sight, and that's probably the safer way, in all honesty, but it takes a boringly long amount of time. Still, if you want to do it, here's how it goes. Keep backing away from him, firing off salvos whenever you can. When he switches position, avoid the pink bolts he shoots at you and then continue the tactic. When he gets below 30,000 health, fire off your own salvos while avoiding his big pink ball that follows you by running behind a pillar. He'll die eventually. For those of us who like a bit of risk, then here's how you kill him. Go up to him and perform your special attack. Immediately after that hits him, dodge backwards several times. His huge swipe will miss (it also works if you dodge right repeatedly if he swings with his left hand or dodge left repeatedly if he swings with his right). Then you repeat the tactic several times, remembering to monitor your energy level. After he gets to below 30,000 health, he teleports away and fire pink bolts at you. Dodge them and then, if he fire a massive pink tracking bolt, avoid that (tactic described above). Go up to him and repeat the hacking and slashing, dodging and using special moves. He'll go down pretty quickly. The only thing that'll really hurt you are his pink-tracking balls (which only come into effect when he goes below 30,000 health and are countered by running behind objects so that the bolt collides with that and not you) and the lightning bolt which he shoots out from his armour (he can do this whatever health total he may have and there's no real counter. Just keep dodging and diving to the side; when you get hit, start dodging to the opposite side and never stand still.). When you finally beat him, then you get the final cut-scene, showing him being destroyed and then you replacing the Sword of Ianna. What the hell? "I've just rescued the ultimate sword of goodness from a hidden location which I risked my life to find. I put my life at peril to rescue 4 gems and then went and defeated a servant of a god (oh, and I paid œ4.99 and reloaded several times for the privilege), and then I go and put the sword back?!" Something doesn't give. Still, you can feel all proud, and you get to see the Credits, with a rather amusing drawing of a 'death-chicken' at the end. Just don't expect to feel satisfied with the game's conclusion, that's all. =========== From: stk flores Date: Tuesday, June 03, 2003 11:06 PM To: kvaked@hotmail.com Subject: easy kill on the golem boss in TOMBS OF EPHYRA Greetings my comrade on BoD.. Im EVILEYE from philippines.. im also playing so much BoD lately.. that i sleep 4:00 in the morning.. Anyways heres a hint on how to kill the GOLEM boss the easy way.. Let the GOLEM see you and run back to the place where you see the DWARF LIGHT ARMOR. Position yourself in front of the steel bars, wait for the golem to see you there.. when he sees you.. he will try to attack you but cant go near you.. there you'll have a BIG chance on defeating him the easy way.. use your special attacks on him.. Quite a ***cheap shot*** huh!? hehe.. PS: hey dude can you send me the rune locations on 1. fortress of nemrut 2. oasis of nejeb 3. temple of alfarum Thanks a lot man.. i'll email you when i can find good things on BoD.. }:) =========== From: Jameel Rahman Date: Sunday, November 16, 2003 11:51 PM To: kvaked@hotmail.com Subject: Naginata Hey there Anton, I've been reading your FAQ on Blade of Darkness and have found it really informative and (in spite of what you said about never having written one) well written. I did see, though, that you thought 'naginata' was a made up word. In fact, it is a Japanese weapon of the samurai era, and is pretty much exactly what it looks like in the game, except that most I have seen have narrower blades that more closely reseamble long knives than the cutlass/scimitar blade in the game. Some call it the Japanese glaive; this weapon was commonly used by samurai footsoldiers to attack horseback enemies. In short, the guys who made this game REALLY knew their weaponry! One question that is on my mind right now, and which caused me to seek out a FAQ in the first place: is it a bad idea to ditch the Queen's Sword if I am playing the Amazon? Thanks man, and peace. Jameel Forsyth Rahman jfrahman@hotmail.com INTER ARMA SILENT LEGIS - II. Various Information - ======================================================================= Besides writing the walkthrough, I have decided to add this section. You'll find a lot of useful information that you can't get in a walkthrough. This is helpful if you want to quickly look up something for an enemy or a weapon. Plus, the Combat Tactics section will help with defeating the difficult enemies of Blade of Darkness. The Characters ----------------------------------- One of the best things about Blade of Darkness is that you have four different characters to choose from: the knight, the dwarf, the Amazon, and the barbarian. Each one has different movements and combos. Also, the first level of each character is different, as they start off each from a different path, and the story line changes slightly for each character. That is why the replay value is so high in this game. You will often want to play the game through again right after beating it just to see how you would manage with a different character. I liked all the characters except for the dwarf. I don't really have a favorite character, because sometimes I want to play with Sargon, others I want to play with Tukaram. But if I had to pick one, it would probably be the knight. I think most people like the Barbarian. The Knight Name: Sargon Life: 100 Attack: 1 Defense: 1 Age: 40 Height: 180 cm Weight: 78 kg Specialty: One-handed swords and shields Information (from the game): Men of arms, the success of the King's Knights is based on their organization, their knowledge of the art of war and their superior armaments both in attack and defense. - Description - This was my favorite character. I think that the creators of BoD spent the most time on him. He is the first character that comes up when you start a new game. He has a perfect 100 health, giving him an even 1000 or 3000 later on in the game. He can wear the most amount of armor and use the most amounts of weapons (intended for him). By that I mean he can use most weapons skillfully, even though they he might not have a special attack for them (Light Edge, Orc Sword, Snake Sword, etc.) His starting level has the best storyline of all the characters, and it is my favorite of all the starting levels. Overall, he just seems like the best person to defeat evil with. The other characters don't fit into being a hero as much. I recommend playing with him first. - Shields and Blocking - Sargon is one of the two characters that uses shields regularly because he uses one-handed weapons. The other two characters can also use shields, but they are practically useless since they can't use their weapon at the same time. When I first played with Sargon, I took his shield for granted and barely used it. But the shields are very useful. Whenever you block an enemy's attack with a shield, their weapon will bounce back and you will have time to hit them back. Also, naturally they prevent you from taking damage. Shields, however, don't last forever. In fact, they don't last long at all. There is only a certain amount of damage that can be inflicted upon any shield. Once their hitpoints get to zero, just like you, they break. You will then need to seek out another shield unless you have another one already. (You can carry three.) Be careful: Check your shield before each battle. If it is too weak, you don't want to use it because it will simply break and you will take damage and be stunned for a second, giving the enemy time to hit you again. Different shields will have different hitpoints. You should try to seek out those that are not damaged and have high hitpoints. - Dodging and Jumping - Sargon's dodging and jumping is moderate. He doesn't dodge too far. Therefore, you'll have to depend on his shield more. But it is still useful. You will have to dodge right or left as the enemy is about to attack you. Most of the time this works, even if appears as if you were hit. You can turn it into a right or left dodge attack if you like (simply press 'attack' as you dodge). - Sargon's Attacks and Combos - One of the highlights of Sargon is his combos. He has plenty of them, and they are very good too. Sargon's high and right smash used as a combination work very well if you do them over and over because he will advance forward as he is hitting. Four of his basic combos can be performed by simply executing one of the basic attacks two times in a row. You can view these by pressing F1. Dodge attacks are performed by jumping to a side and attacking at the same time (The arrow forward confused me for a long time and I couldn't do them.). They are not really useful since you can do a more powerful attack after dodging instead. The north cross is an awesome attack because you can do it three times in a row, bludgeoning the enemy. And at the end of the last north cross, you can do the south cross, which is very, very powerful and effective. Just remember to use different combos and not the same one over and over. The Dwarf Name: Naglfar Life: 120 Attack: 2 Defense: 1 Age: 153 Height: 160 cm Weight: 80 kg Specialty: One-handed axes and shields. Information (from the game): For countless generations, the Dwarves have sought the most precious metals and jewels. Their hard but peaceful way of life has made them a strong yet contemplative people. - Description - I didn't like this fellow too much. Up to this point, I have never passed the game with Naglfar. I did come close, but the game was becoming too frustrating at the end. Naglfar is short and fat; therefore he is slow. He can't dodge well. And he runs shaky. Like the Knight, he carries shields, which you should find yourself using a lot. Therefore, they will break often. All of his special moves are just one simple swing. Some of them are exactly the same! He doesn't have any combos except for his direction attacks and a move called cyclone, which is simply a 360 degree swing. Therefore, most of the times you just have to keep swinging and hope that the enemy won't block much. But if you like challenge, and you are tired of the other three characters, I suggest you give him a try. You might like him. But don't play with him until you are somewhat experienced. By the way, did anyone notice that the names of the weapons and special moves of the Dwarf are messed up in the game? - Shields and Blocking - Fortunately, Naglfar uses shields. Otherwise, playing with him would be a drag, and I doubt that anyone would enjoy it. Since he has to come up so close to the enemy in order to hit it, you will go through your shields like paper with him. You will have to constantly block with him, so be sure to switch shields and find new, stronger ones. - Dodging and Jumping - As you might have already guessed, since Naglfar is fat he can't dodge or jump for sh**. He dodges the same or worse as Sargon. So depend more on his shield. As for jumping, make sure you don't do it too early, because he doesn't jump that far. - Naglfar's Attacks and Combos - I was greatly disappointed with Naglfar's attacks. His arms are short, so he can't reach far. You will have to come very close to the enemy to hit it. You won't have any combos, so you'll have to bludgeon your enemy with simple attacks by holding down attack and pressing various direction keys. Cyclone is simply a horizontal 360 degree attack, which doesn't work that well. You will have to depend on his special moves, but they are not that impressive either. Every single one is just one quick, simple stroke. That can have its advantages, however. Some of his special moves are actually exactly the same! The Amazon Name: Zoe Life: 60 Attack: 1 Defense: 0 Age: 19 Height: 170 cm Weight: 58 kg Specialty: Spears Information (from the game): The Adventurers travel the world in search of legendary treasure. They are nimble, resolute, daring, and seasoned warriors. It is not uncommon to encounter them singly or in groups wandering the highways or delving among the ruins of yesteryear. - Description - Because she is the easiest, you will probably enjoy playing with Zoe in the beginning. I did. She is quick. Really quick. She doesn't even need to sheathe her weapon to run faster. Her weapons are long and cool looking. When in combat, she can easily dodge enemy attacks by jumping to the side. Zoe doesn't carry shields (She can still pick them up and use them without the weapon drawn.) But she can block with her weapon for a moment. She also doesn't have many combos, like the Dwarf. She has a one cool attack called whirlwind, which kicks ass, buts gets boring after a while. Zoe is a hit-and-run type of attacker. She will dodge, attack, and then get away before the enemy retaliates. But she might become boring because you'll be using the whirlwind or the weapon's special move over and over again. Otherwise, she is fun. If you are having trouble, play with her. - Shields and Blocking - Zoe does not use shields. There isn't a need for them with her because she dodges so well. However, this does not mean that she cannot block. She can actually use her weapon to block, but just for a moment. Therefore, you will have to block just as the enemy is about to hit you. The resistance on weapons is very high, so they won't break unless the attack is very strong. And weapons don't lose hitpoints like shields do. I didn't block with Zoe that much. I didn't find a need for it. - Dodging and Jumping - When it comes to dodging and jumping, Zoe is by far the best. When you perform a dodge, she actually rolls on the ground going far out of the way. So usually, if you dodge in time, you won't get hit. This is the good thing about Zoe. Her jumping is very good too. Of all the characters, she jumps the farthest. And she doesn't even need to sheathe her weapon. You'll notice just how fast she runs even with her weapon drawn. However, since Zoe is weaker (She is a woman.), she will not climb as fast as the other characters. This is not really a problem except for one part in the game. - Zoe's Attacks and Combos - Zoe will use long, fancy-looking weapons. Therefore, she will have cool looking special attacks that reach far. With these attacks you should have little problems slicing and dicing your enemies. However, she has only one combo - the whirlwind. This attack is awesome. It is very powerful and fast. However, it tends to get boring after a while. The Barbarian Name: Tukaram Life: 80 Attack: 2 Defense: 0 Age: 25 Height: 225 cm Weight: 130 kg Specialty: Two-handed swords and axes. Information (from the game): A proud and independent people, Tukaram's tribe pay no tribute to any power, nor do they recognize any Lord being superior to themselves. They respect only armed force and the ancient wisdom of their shamans. - Description - I think that Tukaram is most people's favorite. And I can see why. He looks awesome with all his muscles and tattoos. His weapons, like the big sword or shark sword, are awesome looking as well. Like the Knight, he has lots of combos. He is very similar to the Knight actually. His speed is very similar, and he uses swords. But, he doesn't have that free hand to carry a shield for blocking. Instead, he can block with his weapon, but just for an instant. Therefore, you will have to time it just right. Tukaram is also powerful in the beginning. He will be able to kill a lot of enemies with just one hit. However, Tukaram has only one blunt weapon, making him have trouble while fighting skeletons and golems. But that's the only flaw that I could find about him. - Shields and Blocking - Just like Zoe, Tukaram does not use shields. And just like Zoe, he can use his weapon to block. But since he cannot dodge nearly as well as Zoe, you will find blocking with him a lot more useful. I suggest that you practice your timing. If you learn how to block well with Tukaram, you'll be unstoppable. - Dodging and Jumping - Tukaram dodges better than Sargon and Naglfar, but still not nearly as good as Zoe does. I recommend using a mix of dodging and blocking, since he performs both quite well. His jumping is pretty good too. He is the mediocre of the characters in terms of jumping and dodging. - Tukaram's Attacks and Combos - Like Sargon, Tukaram has lots of great combos. Since his weapons are bigger, it takes him slightly longer to perform them, but they have further range. Tukaram will have the most amount of combos, particularly because he can use two types of weapons. Anything that's not a sword Tukaram will swing differently. These attacks take longer to perform than his sword attacks but they have their advantages. The Enemy ----------------------------------- The enemies in Blade of Darkness are amazing. Each has different tactics and methods of killing you. Some are stupid and aggressive like the orc. Others, like the knights, are highly defensive and careful. The enemies of BOD are different from most other games because they are all hard. You can't really say which ones are easier or harder except for a few. Their hit points and damage increase as you go along in the game. Each enemy you face will be a challenge, especially when you first start off. The next enemy can cut your head off just as easy as the last one. Also, your foes will often attack in groups, and that makes them that much harder. The weapons you choose to kill your enemies will be important. For example, fleshy enemies like the Minotaur or troll take more damage from sharp, slicing weapons. While armored or tough enemies like skeletons and golems are better dealt with blunt, crushing weapons like a mace or club. For the highly defensive knights you will want to use long weapons that don't require you getting really close to them. I can't really arrange the enemies according to their difficulty, but some are noticeably easy or hard. - Spider - Difficulty: easy Body: fleshy Appearance: over-sized tarantulas First Encounter: first level for the Dwarf and Barbarian, otherwise Mines of Kelbegen Description: These guys shouldn't be a problem unless you're really clumsy. Their only attack is their bite, which is sometimes poisonous but doesn't hurt too much. Since they are low to the ground, you will have to use an attack that would reach them there. Low slice or smash usually does the job. They are always in groups, so be careful not to get surrounded while you're being occupied with one of them. - Critter (Bug) - Difficulty: easy Body: fleshy Appearance: a small, vicious, hairless monkey-like creature with a big head; pig-like First Encounter: First level of the characters; Mines of Kelbegen for the Dwarf Description: I wasn't sure on what to name these things. Their attack is very simple. They simply run up close and then leap forward to take a bite out of you. Like the spiders, they are also small, and you'll have attack low. Circle around them in order to avoid their bite and don't get too close. You'll often find them in groups, in dark, eerie areas snacking on a corpse. - Lich (Zombie) - Difficulty: easy Body: fleshy Appearance: a slow-moving dead dude First Encounter: First level of the Amazon and Barbarian, otherwise Island of Karum Description: Zombies are really slow in moving and attacking. Therefore, they are very easy. You shouldn't have any problems with them. Just run up to them and kick their ass. If you are really slow they will manage to hit you with slow, lazy swings, which will hurt a lot. It will appear to swing their weapons with great effort and clumsiness. Well that's because they are zombies, and they are dead! They will also puke poison on you from a distance. They carry shields but never use them. You can often kill them quickly because their body parts have a tendency to fall off. - Zombie Knight - Difficulty: easy Body: fleshy Appearance: a slow-moving dead knight First Encounter: Tombs of Ephyra Description: They are the same as the zombie in every single way, except for they appearance. They tend to have more hit points and are more fun to kill too. They have armor, but it's rusted or something, so it is much better to use a sharp weapon. It will make all the difference. - Orc - Difficulty: easy/medium Body: fleshy Appearance: ugly, human-like things that don't like strangers; make irritating sounds First Encounter: Fortress of Tell Halaf for the knight, otherwise first level of the character Description: These are the most common enemy in the game. So you'll have plenty of time to figure out some strategy to defeat them. Orcs are programmed to be stupid and aggressive. They will charge at you violently, usually with an overhead smash. Therefore, You want to circle around them as they approach you so they miss you. Then you should attack. Sometimes they will attack in quick, abrupt hits. When they do this, you want to get away because they will kick the crap out of you and you'll never get a chance to hit them. This was my favorite enemy of the game. I think that Codemasters spent a long time on them. It's so fun to chop off their body parts. They can be archers. - Troll - Difficulty: medium/hard Body: fleshy Appearance: A big, dark human like dude First Encounter: Fortress of Tell Halaf for the knight, otherwise first level of the character Description: Wherever you'll find orcs, you should find trolls as well. They are simply a bigger, meaner, nastier version of the orc. If you walk away far, they will taunt and laugh at you. They will usually have more hit points and damage than the orcs. Their weapons are often poisonous. They tend to be more aggressive too. If you observe them, you'll realize that their movements are identical to that of the orc's. You don't want to just go at them with all you got. They will often hit you just before you do. So you have to be more strategic and careful. Get away if necessary and wait for them to attack first with the overhead smash while sidestepping and then attack. - Skeleton - Difficulty: medium Body: armored Appearance: a SKELETON First Encounter: First level of the Amazon and Barbarian, otherwise Tombs of Ephyra Description: If orcs are offensive and knights are defensive then these guys would be somewhere in the middle. Starting with the fourth level, skeletons are going to be very common. Since their tactics are going to be different from any other enemy that you will have faced by that point, they will cause you some trouble at first, partially because they have tough bodies and require blunt weapons. Their swings, although not multiple, reach far. So you don't want to be too close to them. They also have thin bodies, making them harder to hit. Sometimes you would have sworn that you hit them when you really didn't. When you are at medium range, skeletons will perform a triple attack - left, right, and forward. This is how you get them. Stand at medium range and wait for them to do this triple attack. Then step aside and once they have performed the last swing forward, quickly get them from the side. They often attack in pairs or groups. When they are you can let them kill each other by circling around them fast (without locking on) at medium and close range so they hit each other. They can be archers. - Traitor Knight (Knight or Guard) - Difficulty: medium Body: armored Appearance: A KNIGHT, as in a man covered with metal armor First Encounter: Tabriz for the knight, otherwise Fortress of Nemrut Description: Totally opposite of the orcs and trolls. The knight (I'll call them knights for short.) is the only completely human enemy you'll face. They will taunt you from a distance and approach you very slowly and cautiously. They are very defensive. For this they have shields that are always up. Therefore, you don't' want to just go charging at them. Don't get close. Keep your distance. Try to do a special move that has long range while they are still far away, because they will simply block when you're trying to do it and then attack you. You don't want just to keep attacking them without a pause because sooner or later they will block and then kick your ass. They are not as tough as other enemies are when they are in groups because you can kill them off one by one since they approach you slowly. They often carry potions, so don't go too far away once you take away some of their damage. Otherwise, they will quickly drink it before you can stop them and leave you potionless. They can be archers. - Dark Knight - Difficulty: medium/hard Body: armored Appearance: same as the knight but darker and have no face First Encounter: Island of Karum Description: Dark Knights are identical to the traitor knights except for a few things. They are scarier, tougher, more powerful and often equipped with snake swords, which poison you. They are often in groups of two or more. You will have to be smarter and more careful with them. They can be archers. - Ape (Ogre) - Difficulty: hard Body: fleshy Appearance: A big, fat, muscular gorilla First Encounter: Kazel Zalam for the Dwarf, otherwise Mines of Kelbegen Description: These dudes are some mean mofos. They are huge and look very angry. They will have a lot of hit points and the hits from their club or axe will sting a bit. However, because of their size, apes move kind of slow. You will want to be more defensive with them. Circle around them when they are trying to hit you. After they take their swing and miss, quickly attack, preferably with a special attack to drain all those hit points. Get away once you are done before they swing again. Repeat this process as many times as necessary to avoid being chopped up into his next dinner. - Minotaur - Difficulty: hard Body: fleshy Appearance: a giant, muscular, human-like creature with an animal head First Encounter: Island of Karum Description: Minotaurs are very similar to Apes: They are slow, scary, and powerful. So the tactics you will use will be the same: Circle around them and wait for them to attack, then do a special move. Minotaurs usually have more hit points damage than Apes, and their swings are larger. But they are slightly slower and like to growl after some attacks, giving you more time to kill them. Beware of the ones towards the end of the game with a huge rock tied to a stick instead of their usual meat clever. They have huge range and can take away thousands with one hit. Getting hit by every swing of their triple attack when they have the rock for a weapon means death to you. Take your time with these bastards. - Golem - Difficulty: hard Body: armored Appearance: a giant man made of stone, ice, lava, or metal First Encounter: Tombs of Ephyra Description: Golems are big and walk slow (Unless you are far away. They will run then.). But once they are close they don't mess around. They will use their giant arms to punch the hell out of you. They have four attacks: a left punch, a right punch, a double punch with both arms, and an overhead smash that will break you in half. Although they approach you slowly, they attack fast. So the simple tactic of circling them won't work as well. Don't get too close, and jump to the sides once they attack. Their overhead smash takes them a while to perform, so that's a good time to attack them from the side. Be careful though. Since they approach you slowly, use the same tactic as you do for the knights. Start a special move before they are close so they don't attack you. They will also grow rocks from their fist and throw them at you. But they can be easily dodged. Just move around a lot and use a blunt weapon. - Demon - Difficulty: hard Body: fleshy Appearance: an ugly and freaky looking thing with a hook on one hand First Encounter: Marakamda for the Amazon, otherwise Island of Karum Description: When I first saw this thing in the Island of Karum, I thought that it would be the hardest enemy ever from its looks. Fortunately, I was wrong. Demons have everything they need to kick your ass except for one thing: They are weak. Your armor will increase as you keep playing, but their attack won't, much. Therefore, you can take many hits from their hook. However, in everything else demons are successful. They travel by constantly disappearing and reappearing while coming toward you in a zigzag motion. Once they are close they will quickly slice you with the hook attached to their hands. Therefore, you need to start attacking before they come close, because then it will be too late. Once you get a demon to low health, it will stumble back and scream in pain. When they do this, run up to them and keep attacking before they get a chance to retaliate. Oh yeah, they also breathe fire from a distance in short, constant breaths. Although this doesn't hurt too much it will be annoying because your character will keep getting hurt, and will not be able to move, therefore getting hit by the next flame. When they start to do this, sidestep to avoid the fire. This doesn't always work however. They will also not have that much health and are very fleshy. Be sure to use a sharp weapon. - Chaos Knight - Difficulty: hard Body: armored Appearance: a huge knight with a face on the front of his armor First Encounter: Tabriz for the knight, otherwise Temple of Ianna Description: What a nasty mofo. He doesn't have a face in his head, but one in his chest. You will have to use the same tactics as for the golems. Don't get too close and wait for them to attack. Jumping will help a lot. They will also spawn some of energy balls that will lock onto you. You can block these or hide behind something. They won't hurt too badly. It's their big ass sword that you have to worry about. Patience is key with these Giants. - Vampire (Necromancer) - Difficulty: boss Body: fleshy Appearance: a one-eyed freak with no skin First Encounter: Island of Karum Description: Let me guess. You are at the end of the level Island of Karum, and you are really frustrated from loading the game over and over? Yes, the vampire is one nasty son-of-a-bitch. Not only do his attacks drain your energy and give it to him, but also his vampire shield will drain as much of your life away as the damage that you inflict upon it. And you will hit it. And you don't even get any credit for killing him the first time you encounter him. I ain't done yet. If you run off too far, he will disappear and reappear behind you. He attacks really fast, so it is almost impossible to attack him with a special move since they take time to perform. If you want to do this, do it before he comes close. It will be hard to hit him with normal attacks too because he will keep blocking. So you want to pull off a special move on him in the beginning to take out his shield, and unfortunately most of your health with it. Then go at him with constant combos so he doesn't have a chance to hit you. Once he has below 2000 health, he will keep disappearing and reappearing behind you. When he does this, you can either do the back attack (this works really good), or run forward a little bit to avoid getting back stabbed, and then quickly turn around and go at him before he gets a chance to disappear again. You will want to use a power potion. Good luck with this f**ker. - Meskalamdug - Difficulty: boss Body: fleshy Appearance: similar to a demon, only much bigger and nastier First Encounter: Tower of Dal Gurak Description: This nasty son-of-a-bitch is a bigger version of the demon, but much harder. They too breathe fire and look similar, but they are much bigger. Dal Gurak will unleash him upon you when you meet. At close range he will slash at you with his huge arms in big swings. At medium range he will breathe fire at you, You can dodge this if you quickly go to his side. When you are right up next to him, he won't be able to reach you with his arms. However he will, create a circle of fire and push it out in all directions, stopping you from attacking him. Therefore, it's best to face him at medium range and wait for him to start breathing fire. Then run to his side and perform a special move. If you have a crown, which you should when you first meet him, turn it on and his circle of fire won't hurt, but will still prevent you from hitting him, unless you're quick. - Dal Gurak - Difficulty: boss Body: armored Appearance: a man with fancy armor (you will know it's him when you see him) Only Encountered in Tower of Dal Gurak Description: Read the walkthrough - Lord of Darkness (Chaos Child) - Difficulty: boss Body: fleshy Appearance: This the ultimate bad dude. So yeah, he is pretty freaky looking. Only Encountered in the Abyss Description: Read the walkthrough. Info on the Game ----------------------------------- This section is for the ones who are new to Blade of Darkness. In here you'll find some valuable information, but most of this you should have already found out for yourself. - Leveling Up - Your character will level up as he gains more experience by killing enemies. This adds a unique RPG element to the game. As he levels up, his hit points, power, and defense will increase. His health will also be restored. This means that you want to kill as many enemies as possible so you level up more. Don't worry if you miss an enemy here or there. Just don't avoid enemies, unless you are at the end of the game. There are twenty levels. You will reach the twentieth level so long as you don't avoid enemies. After the twentieth level, you can still level up. But you will not become stronger or healthier; your life will simply be restored. Leveling up is one of the most fun things in the game. You will finally be able to use a weapon or a special attack that you have been waiting for for two levels. Plus, you might be on the edge of death and your life will not only be restored, be increased as well. I love leveling up, especially in the beginning. - Runes - There will be six different runes that you will have to find in BoD. They will be well hidden with a symbol of the runes themselves. You will also have to get past a trap to get each one. If you want to acquire the entire power of the Sword of Ianna, defeat the Lord of Darkness, and see the games true ending, you will have to find these runes. By saying the entire power of the Sword of Ianna I mean its two special attacks. These attacks can launch a powerful arc, allowing you not to have to face your enemies up close. And also, they make defeating Dal Gurak much easier. If you collect all the runes and defeat him, you will have to pass an additional level called the Abyss. At the end you will face off with the Lord of Darkness. Finding the runes will be hard, but thankfully, you have this guide to help you. The following levels contain a rune: Fortress of Tell Halaf, Mines of Kelbegen, Tombs of Ephyra, Fortress of Nemrut, Oasis of Nejeb, and Temple of Al Farum. You can also see which levels they are located in at the table of contents. In the walkthrough, I will give their exact location. If you miss a rune, you will have a chance to get it again after you pass the Temple of Ianna. You will be allowed to go back to any of the six levels where you missed a rune. However, doing so is not so fun. All the levels will now be filled with nasty Demons, Vampires and Chaos Knights. In most cases I recommend to simply run past them since killing them is not required. All the doors will now be open, and all the items and original enemies will be gone from the level. But trust me, it's much better to find the runes the first time. - Poison - Certain enemies will have weapons that will poison you, meaning your life will slowly drain for a minute or so. This is not a big threat unless you are low on health. If you are, you will want to cure yourself with a potion. Travel rations and ghost medallions will also cure poison (look at the items when pressing F1). The rate of how your health depletes when poisoned will depend on how much damage you took from the poisoned weapon. - Special Attacks - Each weapon that is designed for a character will have a special attack. These attacks can only be performed at certain levels. You will often hold on to a weapon until you can use their special attack. Special attacks look fancier, are very powerful and can usually finish the enemy in one hit. If your weapon turns red and the enemy glows red after you hit it, you know that you have performed a special attack. You can see how to do the special attack of any weapon if you press F1. - Special Weapons - Aside from their normal weapons, each character will have special weapons. The Queen's Sword and Sword of Ianna will be special weapons accessible by every character. But besides those two, each character will have their own. These special weapons will be either fire, ice, or poisonous. The weapons themselves are weak and are not intended for normal use. It's their special attack that is profitable. These special attacks will usually be much more interesting and powerful than those of normal weapons will. Therefore, you might want to hang onto a special weapon until you can access its special attack. Plus, you benefit from the ice, fire, or poison damage bonus. - Level Order - Unlike most games, in Blade of Darkness the sequence of levels can be altered. You will often be given the opportunity to play two levels at a time. No matter which one you pick first, you will still have to pass both of them. My recommended sequence is obviously in the order of which I wrote the walkthrough. I always chose the easier levels first to save the harder ones for later when I have leveled up. Also, my choice depended on which weapons I wanted first. The hitpoints of the enemies change depending on when you play the level. You will be given hints on which level you should pass first. For example, after beating Tabriz with the knight, you will be told that it is best to return to Tell Halaf and report what has happened. Combat Tactics ----------------------------------- The most important and difficult thing in the world of Blade of Darkness is the combat. This section will help you with the different tactics you should you do defeat your foes. - Controls - The controls in Blade of Darkness are harder than most games. Therefore, you might want to accustom them to your liking. I myself changed a lot of the controls. This configuration I found the most comfortable: Forwards: w Backwards: s Turn Left: d Turn Right: a Jump: RightButton Attack: LeftButton Block: MiddleButton Throw: q Sneak: LShift Use: e Draw/Sheathe Weapon: CapsLock Cycle Weapons: WheelDown, f Cycle Shields: r Cycle Inventory Objects: WheelUp, c Lock On Enemy: Tab Select: Space You might like the controls the way they are. But I greatly recommend trying them this way just to see if you like it better. All the buttons are close and easily accessible. - Weapon Selection - The weapons you choose to kill your enemy are important. Using sharp or slashing weapons like swords, axes and spears works well against fleshy enemies so they can be cut and sliced. Against armored or tough-materialized foes, you will want to use blunt or smashing weapons like clubs, maces and bos so you can dent and break the enemy. Ok, so you come across a skeleton. Try hitting him with your hooked sword. Now try hitting him with your heavy mace. Even though the heavy mace is weaker, it will hurt more. Why? Because it is a blunt weapon. Read the enemy section to find out which enemies are fleshy or armored. Also, against weaker enemies I found it better to use more powerful weapons that don't necessarily have their special attack accessible. Instead of wasting your time on performing a special move, you can use the raw power of the weapon to kill your foe quickly. When facing a difficult foe, you will want to put away the stronger weapon and use one with a special attack to soak up them hitpoints. Weaker weapons also don't decrease your defense as much. - The Environment - The environment will also play a role on how the battle goes. You will want to avoid fighting enemies in small, tight areas. This is because not only will you have little room to fight, but also the camera angles will not be as good. You will end up getting your ass kicked. You want room to dodge when the enemy attacks. So when you end up in a small area, try to lure your enemy to where there is more room to fight. You might think that this is common sense, but some people don't think about these things. You also will want to avoid dangerous areas to fight. You don't want to fight right next to a fall or a lava pit. Avoiding your enemies' attacks is hard enough; having to avoid dangerous environment at the same time will be even tougher. - Throwing Items or Using the Bow - This is often under estimated. You don't always have to fight your enemy in a melee fashion. You can attack from a distance. When people first get the bow, they will have a desire to use it. But soon you will realize that it doesn't deal enough damage to kill the enemy quickly, and when a troll is charging at you at full speed, this could be a problem. Therefore, you will only want to use it when your enemy can not get access to you to take free shots. In the later parts of the game, the enemies get tougher, and using your bow becomes less useful. It will be more practical to just go next to them and give them a few good swings and cut their head off. However, throwing objects can often work better, especially at the beginning of the game. Try throwing a powerful object, like a weapon that is too powerful to use yet, while the enemy is still trying to approach you. Often, you can kill them. In Tabriz, this works especially well. I must have killed six or more enemies just by throwing the eclipse or death sword at them. Try it. It's fun. - Sneaking - When the enemy can't see you or is sleeping, you can sneak up to them and take a free shot at them. They will usually retaliate fast, so be careful. Also, if an enemy is walking away from you, try running up to them really fast. Of course they will hear you, but in the time that it takes them to turn around and make their usual growl or yell you can quickly hit them. This works well in the Fortress of Tell Halaf. - Running Away - Don't be too na‹ve. If you are getting your ass kicked, get away. You're not being a coward; you're just saving some annoying loading time. Although the enemy will follow you, you might get it to a spot where it can't go. Or you might just gain a lot of distance from it. This will give you time to drink a potion, get the right weapon or shield out, or simply get your thoughts together on how to kill the thing. This also can be helpful if you are facing more than one enemy. Try to lure only one of them to you so you don't have to face them at the same time. - Have Fun! - In any game, your goal is not to defeat the enemy or get to the end. It is to have fun. If you have fun playing a game, then the game did what it was supposed to. Once you are done with killing an ape, cut off his head and carry it over to the next one and throw it at him, just to tell him, "Here's your friend. And you're next." Of course, this will not affect how he will fight you, but it's just plain fun. If you are fighting a bunch of skeletons, lock off of them and run around them in circles so they kill each other. Do whatever makes you happy. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) ----------------------------------- 1. How can you drop the bow? - You can't. Stop asking. 2. Where's the heavy armor for the barbarian/dwarf/amazon? - There isn't any. The barbarian and Amazon only have light armor. The dwarf has light and medium. Only the knight has all three. The armory in the Tower of Dal Gurak contains the strongest armor and weapons for each character, so that's how I know. Did You Know... ----------------------------------- 1. You can walk around with no head? Yes, it's possible. Get one of the life draining weapons like the queen's sword or the blood axe (vampire shield might work). Get really low on health, and just as you take your last hit attack the enemy with a life-restoring attack. If you time it right, you'll get your head (or any other limb) cut off and still be alive. Then you can walk around like the headless horseman. This happened to me on more than one occasion, all accidental. 2. I've been working on this guide since the summer of 2001. Too bad I was lazy the first year and busy the second. 3. You can level up past level 20. However, your health will not increase. Neither will you strength or defense. Your life will simply be restored. I knew this one guy who got up to level 24. There is actually no limit to levels. Well... it might reset after level 99. Why don't you find out... Weapons ----------------------------------- Unlike in most other games, in Blade of Darkness you are not intended to use every weapon because most weapons will not be designed for your character. If you try to use them, your character will do so clumsily. So you must rely on your own weapons if you want to make it through the world of Blade of Darkness. Actually, anything that you can pick up, except for food or drinks, you can use as a weapon. That's one of the best parts of Blade of Darkness. You can also throw anything. You can cut off your enemy's head, then pick it up and beat the next enemy to death with it! This will only work in the beginning of the game though. Later in the game you will get your ass kicked if you keep going around hitting enemies with stools, bones, limbs, etc. I wasn't going to include this section, but I thought that it would be nice to have a section that will tell you where all the weapons are located. Sometimes the information on the location of the weapon will not be sufficient. In this case, you should read the part of the walkthrough that is being referred to. Note: The amount of stars next to the weapon's name indicate its coolness. - Sargon's Weapons - Gladius ** +3 Attack Special Attack: Swing of Pride (L4) First found in TABRIZ. Once you escape the dungeon you'll find it lying by the corpse that the critters were snacking on. Description: (sharp) This is the first weapon for the Knight. And, it is just that, a first weapon. It's weak and has short range. However, you'll be glad that you at least have that when fighting the Knights of Tabriz. Also, it might be a good idea to use it even after you get the mace because it doesn't lower your defense any. Mace *** +15 Attack; -10 Defense Special Attack: Royal Smash (L7) First found in TABRIZ. Near the bridge will be a knight with the Armory Key. Near that knight will be the Armory. Inside the Armory will be the mace. Description: (blunt) The mace will be a big step up from the gladius. Not only is its attack way more powerful then the gladius, it is also a smashing weapon, which works better against knights. Its range is rather short, like all maces, and it takes away a little of your defense. Combat Sword **1/2 +35 Attack; -20 Defense Special attack: Righteous Anger (L8) First found in TABRIZ. Ragnar, the boss, will have it. Description: (sharp) This weapon is another big step up from the previous weapon. Not only as it a lot more powerful, it is also a slashing weapon. Since you'll be fighting mostly orcs and trolls at this time, this weapon will be quite useful. Elf Sword **** +50 Attack; -25 Defense Special attack: The Dream (L9) First found in FORTRESS OF TELL HALAF, behind the table in Duke's Bedroom. Description: (sharp) An awesome weapon for only one reason - its special attack. The Dream is a three-part attack causing over a 1000 damage. That is why you might want to hang onto it for a long time. Heavy Mace *** +70 Attack; -30 Defense Special attack: Lord Kerman's Smash (L10) First found in FORTRESS OF TELL HALAF, next to an orc corpse by the little water stream near the first archer. (Thanks Tahunuva!) You might, however, not want to get it at this location. I recommend getting it later on in Tombs of Ephyra when it's more useful. Description: (blunt) The heavy mace is not only great because it's a blunt weapon, but its special attack is awesome. It is a three-part attack that deals massive damage, especially to them nasty golems and skeletons. Hooked Sword ** +90 Attack; -25 Defense Special attack: Hook Sweep (L11) First found in TOMBS OF EPHYRA. The first skeleton archer will have it. Description: (sharp) Nothing special about this weapon, except that it's the first weapon that deals 3-digit damage, and by that I mean 100. Its special attack is short and simple. Curved Sword **1/2 +120 Attack; -25 Defense Special attack: Soul of Honor (L12) First found in ISLAND OF KARUM, somewhere in the tower. (Read the walkthrough for exact location.) Description: (sharp) The curved sword is quite powerful, and so is its special attack, although it takes some time to perform. Dagese *1/2 +150 Attack; -30 Defense Special attack: Tumblestab (L14) First found in OASIS OF NEJEB, up on one of the balconies near the first giant door. Description: (sharp) One of the more useless weapons in the game. If you go the recommended path while playing, you should not even need this weapon. If you choose to go to the Oasis first, you should get it. Its special attack is just what it's named, a tumblestab. You tumble forward and stab straight ahead. Therefore, it's rather hard to hit anything with it. Scimitar **** +210 Attack; -45 Defense Special attack: Triple Attack (L15) First found in SHALATUWAR FORTRESS. After you defeat the minotaur and the troll with the barbarian shield, go where the troll had come from. Climb up the wall on the left. Up here you'll find a small room with the sword. Description: (sharp) The scimitar will be your new best friend when you get it. Not only is it powerful, its Triple Attack is easily performed while dealing massive damage and covering lots of area. You will be using this weapon for a while. Great Mace ***1/2 +290 Attack; -55 Defense Special attack: High Order Smash (L16) First found in FORTRESS OF NEMRUT, in a small room with the minotaur who was snacking on a corpse. Description: (blunt) Another great weapon in that it's the last blunt weapon for Sargon, and therefore the most powerful. Double Sword **1/2 +380 Attack; -60 Defense Special attack: Wrath of the Gods (L17) First found in FORTRESS OF NEMRUT, in the same room as the double sword, hidden behind a barrel. Description: (sharp) This weapon deals great raw damage, but its special attack takes a while to perform, and it's hard to hit anything with it. Therefore, you might skip over it and use the Scimitar or Sharp Sword instead. Sharp Sword *** +470 Attack; -50 Defense Special attack: Sword of Justice (L18) First found in FORGE OF XSHATHRA. At the second staircase jump over to where the skeleton archers are. Somewhere there will be the sword. Description: (sharp) Powerful. It's special attack is very complicated as you do some fancy stab, tumble over and do another slice through the air. Heavy Sword **** +780 Attack; -80 Defense Special attack: Majestic Sweep (L19) First found in TOWER OF DAL GURAK, in the armory. (You will need a key, which location is explained in the walkthrough.) Description: (sharp) Long, powerful, and massive, the heavy sword spells death to your foes. Don't be surprised when your enemy falls dead after only a couple hits. Fire Sword *1/2 +45 Attack; -25 Defense Special attack: Fire Spiral (L13) First found in FORGE OF XSHATHRA, in the room with the first zombies. Description: (sharp) The weapon is rather useless. The only reason special weapons like this one are even used is for their special attacks. And the fire sword's special attack is not that impressive. It looks nice, but just doesn't deal enough damage. If you take the recommended path, the weapon will be even more useless, as you will have much better weapons at that point. Ice Sword *** +35 Attack; -25 Defense Special attack: Northern Lights (L18) First found in GORGE OF ORLOK. If you stick to the right wall of the labyrinth, you will come to a lit dead end with the sword. Description: (sharp) The ice sword is one of the few special weapons worth keeping. Its famous attack - Northern Lights - consists of four swings dealing a total of 14000 damage. - Naglfar's Weapons - (Much info is unavailable or inaccurate right now for this character as I have not played with him much. But I'm planning to play through the game with him soon.) Club *1/2 +2 Attack Special attack: Nutcracker (L3) First found in KAZEL ZALAM. Many orcs will have this weak weapon. Description: (blunt) The most basic and simple weapon. It is a blunt weapon and it is weaker than the axe, therefore there is no real use for it except when you can access its special attack. Since you get it at an early level of 3, you might want to grab one once you are at that level so you can use it. Axe ** +4 Attack Special attack: Morning Star (L4) First found in YOUR HANDS. You start off with it! Description: (sharp) Although you start off with this weapon, it is not the weakest weapon for the dwarf (club). There's nothing really to say about this weapon, except that you will be using it a lot in the beginning of the game until you get better stuff. Killer Axe (Biting Axe) **1/2 +18 Attack; -10 Defense Special attack: The Chop (L7) First found in FORTRESS OF TELL HALAF? Description: (sharp) A big step up from the axe, this weapon will be your new best friend. Overall a pretty good weapon. Spiked Club *** +45 Attack; -30 Defense Special attack: Beast Crash (L8) First found in KAZEL ZALAM. The ape will have it. Description: (blunt) A pretty powerful weapon for the start of the game, you will be happy to get this guy early on. It's special attack is performed quite quickly, too. Sharp Axe (War Axe) * +55 Attack; -40 Defense Special attack: Slashback (L9) First found in MINES OF KELBEGEN? Description: (sharp) Probably the worst weapon in the entire game. Why? You can't hit jack sh*t with it. Since only a small part of the tip is actual blade, you'll find yourself missing the enemy over and over again. And it is so short too. No range at all. You will feel like you're trying to kiss your enemy you'll be getting so close. It will be like swinging a dildo in their face. War Axe (Sharp Axe) ** +75 Attack; -55 Defense Special attack: Body Chop (L10) First found MINES OF KELBEGEN. Description: (sharp) I don't know much about this weapon at this point. War Hammer **1/2 +95 Attack; -30 Defense Special attack: Bonebreaker (L11) First found in TOMBS OF EPHYRA, in the room with the first zombie knights. Description: (blunt) I don't know much about this weapon at this point. Great Hammer **1/2 +135 Attack; -35 Defense Special attack: Earthquake (L12) First found in ISLAND OF KARUM. Jump down into one of the three holes in the room with the barrels. The hammer will be down there. Description: (blunt) I don't know much about this weapon at this point. Heavy Club *** +175 Attack; -50 Defense Special attack: Brutality (L14) First found in SHALATUWAR FORTRESS. The troll who will order two orcs and then a minotaur to kill you will have it. Description: (blunt) I don't know much about this weapon at this point. Double Mace ** +200 Attack; -60 Defense Special attack: Double Smash (L15) First found in OASIS OF NEJEB, somewhere at the end :). Description: (blunt) I don't know much about this weapon at this point. Biting Axe (Killer Axe) **** +290 Attack; -50 Defense Special attack: Eagle's Eye (L16) First found in FORTRESS OF NEMRUT. Once you get into the inner fortress, look and listen for a breeze in an outside area. Go down to the right of the breeze to find the sword. Description: (sharp) I don't know much about this weapon at this point. Combat Axe **** +480 Attack; -85 Defense Special attack: Liberator (L18) First found in TEMPLE OF AL FARUM. In one of the small buildings by the river, go down the steps all the way. Description: (sharp) This weapon will be a huge step up from the previous weapon. Its raw power and the fact that it is a slashing weapon will be a nice aid. Doom Hammer **** +790 Attack; -160 Defense Special attack: Demolition (L19) First found TOWER OF DAL GURAK, in the armory. (You will need a key, which location is explained in the walkthrough.) Description: (blunt) I don't know much about this weapon at this point. Ice Hammer * +25 Attack; -60 Defense Special attack: Ice Strike (13) First found in GORGE OF ORLOK. Near the end, it will be laying next to a sort of pillar in the large "building." Description: (blunt) Terrible weapon. The only reason anyone would get it is for its special attack, which is horrible - a simple thrust forward. Don't get it. It's only good use is as an ice box. Fire Axe ** +40 Attack; -100 Defense Special attack: Burning Rage (17) First found in FORGE OF XSHATHRA, on the left in the room with the two demons at the end. Description: (sharp) I don't know much about this weapon at this point. Venom Hammer * +50 Attack; -90 Defense Special attack: Snake's Breath (18) First found in TOMBS OF EPHYRA, in a room concealed by a fake wall near the first skeletons. Description: (blunt) Don't know what it's special attack is like. But since you can't access it until level 18 (you would have to carry it around for half the game), why bother? I'm sure it is just some quick simple stroke like all the other attacks. - Zoe's Weapons - (I forgot how Zoe's special attacks are, so that info might be inaccurate.) Bo ** +3 Attack Special attack: Overhead Smash (L3) First found in YOUR HANDS. You start off with it! Description: (blunt) Although it's a simple stick, don't underestimate the bo. Zoe knows how to use her weapons. A few quick strokes and the enemy will be knocked out on the ground before you know it. Nothing special about the special attack. Boathook **1/2 +16 Attack; -5 Defense Special attack: Blinding Slice (L7) First found in MARAKAMDA, near the first troll. It will be in a room locked by the key that the troll will have. Description: (blunt) Much more powerful than the bo, and having a better special attack will make you like this weapon. Spear **1/2 +35 Attack; -10 Defense Special attack: Lightning Cut (L8) First found in MARAKAMDA, near the end by the temple key. Description: (sharp) The first slashing weapon for Zoe. It's quite powerful and has a nice, quick special attack. Naginata **1/2 +50 Attack; -20 Defense Special attack: Killer Strike (L9) First found in FORTRESS OF TELL HALAF, in the second upper room in the outer ring. Description: (sharp) What is a naginata? Must be a made up name for the game. Sounds cool, and it is. Trident **1/2 +75 Attack; -30 Defense Special attack: Sea Smash (L10) First found in FORTRESS OF TELL HALAF, before the rune trap at the end. Description: (sharp) Will you feel like Neptune with this weapon? Not really. It's pretty good though. 'Nuff said. Axe Spear *** +95 Attack; -40 Defense Special attack: (sharp) Spin Slash (L11) First found in TOMBS OF EPHYRA, at the very beginning. You'll have to climb up the wall and into the window. Description: It's 360 degree special attack is what makes this weapon good. Death Bo **1/2 +130 Attack; -35 Defense Special attack: Nightmare (L12) First found in ISLAND OF KARUM, in the inner room opened by an iron key. Description: (blunt) The last blunt weapon for the Amazon, you might want to hang on to this thing for a while. Know nothing about its special attack at this point. Cross-tipped Spear **1/2 +160 Attack; -45 Defense Special attack: Dark Star (L14) First found in SHALATUWAR FORTRESS, in the first cell as you go down the steps. Description: (sharp) I don't know much about this weapon at this point. Sharp Axe *** +215 Attack; -50 Defense Special attack: Tumblekill (L15) First found in FORTRESS OF NEMRUT, by the beginning of the bridge at the end. You'll have to jump onto a windowsill on the right and climb into a window. Description: (sharp) Pretty powerful, and its attack is pretty interesting. Similar to the sharp sword's attack. Crush Bo **** +300 Attack; -60 Defense Special attack: Deadly Mist (L16) First found in GORGE OF ORLOK, by the large closed door at the dead end with the zombies. Description: (sharp) Although a bo, it's actually a slashing weapon. Know nothing about its special attack at this point. Harpoon *** +390 Attack; -70 Defense Special attack: Gut Wrencher (L17) First found in TEMPLE OF AL FARUM, in one of the small rooms of the crypt. Description: (sharp) I don't know much about this weapon at this point. Heavy Naginata *** +490 Attack; -80 Defense Special attack: Spiral Death (L18) First found in FORGE OF XSHATHRA, in the small room with the first minotaur. Description: (sharp) I don't know much about this weapon at this point. Demon Spear **** +760 Attack; -90 Defense Special attack: Way of the Goddess (L19) First found in TOWER OF DAL GURAK, in the armory. (You will need a key, which location is explained in the walkthrough.) Description: (sharp) Powerful. Special attack is good. 'Nuff said. Ice Wand ** +30 Attack; -20 Defense Special attack: Ice Strike (L13) First found in FORTRESS OF NEMRUT, in the area with the unholy medallion, concealed by the snow. Description: (blunt) I don't know much about this weapon at this point. Fire Bo ** +50 Attack; -50 Defense Special attack: Dragon Circle (L15) First found in FORGE OF XSHATHRA. Description: (blunt) I don't know much about this weapon at this point. Steel Feather *1/2 +60 Attack; -50 Defense Special attack: Death's Breath (L18) First found in OASIS OF NEJEB, by a fire at the end. Description: (sharp) Special attack pretty good, but not worth carrying. - Tukaram's Weapons - Chaos Sword **1/2 +5 Attack Special attack: Speed Kill (L5) First found in YOUR HANDS. You start off with it! Description: (sharp) The most powerful of the starting weapons (like all of Tukaram's weapons). The typical two-handed sword. It's good, but you have to wait until level 5 to perform its special attack... Eclipse **1/2 +20 Attack; -5 Defense Special attack: Dark Moon (L7) First found in KASHGAR, at the second boulder. There will be a room on the left with it. Description: (sharp) The eclipse is handled like the axe, so Tukaram will take longer to swing it, but the swings reach farther. Pretty cool weapon, but you'll have the death sword... Forgot about the special attack. Death Sword **1/2 +40 Attack; -10 Defense Special attack: Death Sweep (L8) First found in KASHGAR, in a secret room. You have to jump down the large broken bridge, go right, and into a hole in the wall near the end. Description: (sharp) Basically a stronger chaos sword. Forgot about the special attack. Scythe *** +60 Attack; -15 Defense Special attack: Grim Reaper (L9) First found FORTRESS OF TELL HALAF, in the inner circle. Description: (sharp) Oh yeah, baby. You'll definitely feel like the grim reaper with this baby. I love this weapon, simply because you just go around slaying things as if you were death. It's spinning special attack is also impressive. Long Sword **** +80 Attack; -15 Defense Special attack: Hellswing (L10) First found in TOMBS OF EPHYRA, by the hole in the top room of the building with the spiral staircase. Description: (sharp) Tukaram's weapons just keep getting better. The long sword is just that, long. It has great range, power, and its special attack is fast and easy to perform. Slaying Sword ** +100 Attack; -40 Defense Special attack: Bloodlust (L11) First found in ISLAND OF KARUM, by the large fire in a room accessible only from above. Description: (sharp) Nothing special about this weapon, except that it looks like an extended cleaver. It looks cool, just like all of Tukaram's weapons. Double Edge ***1/2 +140 Attack; -60 Defense Special attack: Blind Rage (L12) First found in ISLAND OF KARUM, in the room from which the minotaur comes. Description: (sharp) What a weapon... It's huge. I'm surprised the enemies don't run away when they see you with this. It's special attack is incredible, Tukaram spins around three times killing anything dumb enough to get close. Flat Sword *** +180 Attack; -65 Defense Special attack: Destroyer (L14) First found in SHALATUWAR FORTRESS, in the hidden room with the mural. Description: (sharp) I think that this was the last weapon I found in the game. Never noticed that window... Anyway, this weapon is pretty cool. Forgot about the special attack. Big Sword ** +220 Attack; -70 Defense Special attack: Hellthrust (L15) First found in OASIS OF NEJEB, in the center of the pool with the first golem. Description: (sharp) You should know this weapon simply from the cover of the game. Two blades wielded together by a strip of wood through the middle. However, there's nothing too cool about the weapon, except its looks. Special attack is a simple thrust forward, not that effective. Rhino Club **** +300 Attack; -80 Defense Special attack: Spike of Evil (L16) First found in TEMPLE OF AL FARUM, in an outside area above the sacred water. Description: (blunt) A log with a huge spike in it. Also the only blunt weapon for the barbarian. So hold onto it. Doom Axe **** +500 Attack; -120 Defense Special attack: Overkill (L18) First found in GORGE OF ORLOK, in the room with the ape in the labyrinth. Description: (sharp) The doom axe brings doom. It deals massive damage, and its three part attack is definitely overkill. Shark Sword **** +800 Attack; -100 Special attack: Chaos Killer (L19) First found TOWER OF DAL GURAK, in the armory. (You will need a key, which location is explained in the walkthrough.) Description: (sharp) The most powerful weapon in the game. 'Nuff said. Ice Axe **1/2 +30 Attack; -10 Defense Special attack: Frostbite (L13) First found in FORTRESS OF NEMRUT, near the end. While you are crossing the bridge, pay attention the large "pillars" by it. One of them is missing the base. Cross over to it and go down the lift. Description: (sharp) One of the few special weapons worth keeping, MAYBE. Its special attack is similar to Northern Lights, four hits dealing massive damage. Great Fire Sword ** +50 Attack; -10 Defense Special attack 1: Firestorm (L13) Special attack 2: Volcano (L18) First found in FORGE OF XSHATHRA, in a semi-secret room. There is a gate locked by the iron key. Once you get the key go back to it and open it. Inside will be a bunch of skeletons as well as a lava pool. Look for a window in a wall. Through it you have to shoot a large switch to open a door. Inside will be sword. (Read walkthrough for better explanation.) Description: (sharp) The only weapon with two special attacks, (except Ianna's sword). Although both are impressive, you will simply have too many great weapons to get this baby. But you could get it, if you like penis. You Know You've Been Playing BoD Too Much When... ----------------------------------- This section was ENTIRELY copied from http://www.geocities.com/phileosophos/bod/toomuch.html. The author of this section is John B. Williston. I thought that this was kind of funny, so I added it to this wonderful guide. Enjoy. You Know You've Been Playing BoD Too Much When... 1. You think about going click, right+left, up+down on people who piss you off. 2. You stop and make very sure that no one is near enough to strike before drinking your coffee. 3. Carrying your keys prevents you from picking up your wallet. 4. You're badly injured but decide to bear with it because reloading the game would take too long. 5. You stand stupidly in front of a locked door waiting for the lock name to appear. 6. You expect even the smallest candle to throw interesting and sharply defined shadows. 7. You wonder how to unleash the combo for your butter knife. 8. You figure only women know how to tuck and roll out of harm's way. 9. Water seems far too translucent and just doesn't ripple realistically. 10. You beat on any portion of a wall whose color doesn't exactly match the rest. 11. You name your firstborn son Sargon. 12. You are incapable of side-stepping unless an enemy is nearby. 13. You believe you understand Zoroastrian teachings but don't really care. 14. You always try to keep your enemies clumped together and off balance. 15. You expect a thrown object to reappear magically in your hand. 16. You destroy anything wooden by sheer force of habit. 17. You think about what a cool looking weapon someone's head would make. 18. You wonder how to unleash your special abilities. 19. You do your best to fight your enemies through iron bars, wooden pillars, walls or other circumstances such that they cannot fight back. 20. When someone crosses their arms your immediate reaction is either to jump forward or strike backward. 21. Life's sound track seems dull and uninteresting. 22. Your Unreal Tournament game is off because you keep triggering alternate fire when jumping. 23. You expect yellow or red trails behind your limbs when performing neat moves. 24. You name your only daughter Zoe. 25. Fear of what might happen prevents you from picking up your keys. 26. You expect a 20% improvement in your vertical leap if you stow what you're carrying. 27. You expect arrows or blades to sally forth from any hole in a wall. 28. You don't even bother trying to stop yourself when sliding down a slope. 29. Anything but weapons, shields, food, bottles, keys and jewelry is useful only for throwing. 30. You know how to pronounce 'Xshathra' properly. 31. Hovering above and behind yourself seems perfectly reasonable. 32. You expect to lose control of your body to a cut-scene at any moment. 33. Snow just doesn't crunch realistically enough. 34. You try to use or shoot any nearby protrusions you see. 35. You figure a full life potion can fix anything. 36. The bigger someone is, the less they scare you. 37. You know you understand Zoroastrian teachings and still don't really care. 38. The sound of electricity arcing causes you to spin about wildly looking for protrusions to shoot. 39. You expect to "absorb" books in a very literal sense. 40. Names like "Ahura Mazda" and "Angra Manyu" [sic] seem perfectly natural. 41. Carrying five enormous weapons, three shields, two quivers, eight bottles and a number of other miscellaneous items seems a bit too limiting. 42. Carrying all that gear seems perfectly reasonable. 43. You name your stockiest son Nagflar. 44. You try to find every opportunity to unleash a combo attack. 45. You immediately pocket any gems you find. 46. You think you can do anything because your stamina bar isn't showing. 47. None of the "textures" in your neighborhood look right. 48. You eat only meat, bread and cheese. 49. You drink only red or glowing liquids and expect miraculous things from both. 50. You expect to glow when using jewelry. 51. You religiously avoid or jump over any discolorations on the ground. 52. You name your most difficult son Tukaram. 53. You forget what your front side looks like. 54. Your natural reaction to spiders (and small, jumpy, teething children) is click+down. 55. Enormous pools of deadly lava or acid are just part of a good day's work. 56. When someone comes at you with a huge meat cleaver, you're not worried. 57. When the ground starts shaking, an earthquake is the farthest thing from your mind. 58. You run immediately toward any levers you see and pull them. 59. You figure you can always retrieve important books later if you miss them the first time. 60. You look over every precipice for ledges. 61. Using ranged attacks seems appropriate for the final bosses in a melee-oriented game. 62. Getting shot with arrows concerns you only because they could be poisoned or might disrupt what you're doing. 63. You look around for an empty bottle when confronted with holy water. 64. What excites you most about a woman is her agility. 65. You carry a torch just to watch the shadows its light casts. 66. When someone just stands and stares at you, your first reaction is to throw a sword at them. 67. You are extremely careful when walking near graveyards. 68. You wonder if you are Ianna's chosen one. 69. The sound of stones rolling sets you to immediate flight. 70. You try to pull yourself up onto any surface lower than two feet above your head. 71. You live with the constant fear that enormous, heavily-armored knights carrying full-length shields and nine-foot swords may suddenly appear. 72. You always look to the high ground for archers when entering an unfamiliar area. 73. You always wait for your enemy to make the first move. 74. You jump into any open sewer without giving it a second thought. 75. You become convinced that you are Ianna's chosen one. 76. You keep looking for the Sword of Ianna around your church. 77. You grant statues a very wide berth. 78. You aren't a programmer by trade but find the Python language fascinating nevertheless. 79. You expect a magic weapon to be of little use and probably not worth carrying. 80. You consider whether a slashing or smashing weapon would be most effective. 81. You start overlooking opportunities for combo attacks in order to prolong combat. 82. You're sure that the solution to all of life's problems somehow involves a very large sword. 83. You expect confrontations to take place in very narrow, confined spaces. 84. What excites you most about a man is his ability to take damage. 85. You stop trying to keep your enemies clumped up and off balance for more of a challenge. 86. None of the architecture near your home seems remotely interesting. 87. You are very cautious around caskets. 88. The undead hold no fear for you and are only an annoyance. 89. Improving your shield usage is one of life's most basic priorities. 90. You expect to be able to side-step just about any attack. 91. An island just isn't an island without a dragon circling it. 92. You understand the background story. 93. You stop fighting your enemies through iron bars, pillars and walls because it's too easy. 94. You wonder whether you are the King or merely a miserable thief, skulking in the shadows. 95. Your to-do list includes items such as "Retrieve the white opal", "Defeat Dal Gurak" and "Banish the chaos child from the Abyss". 96. What you fear more than anything else in the world can be summed up in two words: vampire shields. 97. You consider the final cut-scene entirely satisfying. 98.You could have written Blade of Darkness II in the time you've spent waiting for games to load. 99. You consider the Gladiator mod the most important invention of this century. 100. Your soul seems like a fair price for better multi-player support. 101. You interpret saving your game as a sign of weakness. 102. When a pesky child runs from you, your natural reaction is to slice him open to get at the blue gem. 103. A knife covered in blood just seems wrong somehow. 104. You think goblins look like big, pink chickens. 105. You consider learning Spanish just to be able to understand the developers' comments. 106. You spend time assembling lists of indicators that you've been playing BOD too much. 107. You know exactly where every screenshot was taken. 108. You actually discuss the pros and cons of major and minor combos. 109. You're ready, waiting and actually anxious for The Chaos Child's inevitable return. 110. You think goblins taste like chicken. - III. The Walkthrough - ======================================================================= Since the game play changes depending on which character you choose to play with, I was not sure on how I should organize the walkthrough. I've decided to include every character's first level and then a complete walkthrough FOR THE KNIGHT since he is the most important character in my opinion. But I will also include information for the other characters as I go along. It won't be as detailed as the knight's is, but still useful. I will mention the locations of weapons of all the characters. And if a certain enemy requires a totally different strategy to defeat him with a different character, I might mention it as well. I might change the way my walkthrough is later. But for now, it's going to be this way. I will put in CAPS important items and weapons so they are easier to spot incase you have missed something and don't want to take an hour to find it. Note: If you are NOT playing with the knight, then ignore all information I give about which weapons you should be using and use the weapons that are best suited for your character. Tabriz (Knight) ----------------------------------- Length: medium Difficulty: easy Introduction: This level will take place in some kind of castle. You will start off trapped in a prison cell, and you will have to find a way out. This is the only level besides the Fortress of Nemrut that you get a good opportunity to fight knights. In this level, you'll have a good opportunity to experiment with a lot of the extras in the game (fighting with bones or stools, throwing objects at enemies, burning crates, etc.) This is probably the most realistic level in the game; there's no magic. The fact that you are trying to escape creates a totally different game play. Of all the starting levels, this one is my favorite. - The Escape - All right, so you are in a prison cell. What do you do? Escape, of course! This one doesn't take a genius. Approach the loose brick and activate it. Sargon will break open an entrance. Jump over the gap to avoid taking damage. Then jump down again into the water. Go around the turn and follow the path. Climb over, turn right, and climb over again. Enter the room, you will hear the guard yawn as he sleeps. Don't worry, he won't wake up. Knock him out and then gather the food from the table and barrels. Notice how you have slightly leveled up from killing the knight. Get the DUNGEON KEY. You can open the prison cells and kill that one guy to put him out of his misery if you want. Open the door with the key on the other side of the room. Make sure to get a bone or skull so your damage is 3. Walk to the end of room. I think that those are toilets. Jump over the gap on the right and then down again twice. Follow this path. You will come out of the water and see a group of bugs dining on a dead knight. Kill them all and pick up the gladius and STORE KEY. You can get the torch too. Follow the path, turn right and go up the steps. Open the door with the key. A guard will be behind it. Do your best to kill him and then gather the food in the room. Go down the lift and then up all the steps. Kill the bugs in the hallway and then brake the barrels for food. Climb over the crates, go up the stairs and then outside. Lock on and sneak up to the sleeping guard. Kick his ass and go inside. There will be a guard to your left with the IRON KEY and a comet shield if you climb up. Pick up the food on the table in the left room; then go to the right room. Open the door to the right first with the iron key that you got from the last knight and proceed down the steps. Kill the guard down there quickly so he can't drink the full life potion. Pick up the eclipse. It's not for you and too heavy, but you'll find a use for it. Now go back up and open the other door. There will be a room to your left with food. Once you approach the outside a cut scene will show you that there is a bunch of guards outside. Yes, you will have to kill them all. Prepare yourself first. But before you jump down take out your eclipse and try throwing it at one of the weaker guards. If you are lucky, you will have one less guard to kill. Then you must jump down and kill the other two. Another one will come out once only one guard is left. Do your best. Don't forget to pick up the eclipse each time you throw it. Now go through the door the guard came from, turn left and proceed up the lift. Activate the switch up here to open the gate. Go back down and through the gate. You will be in a rather large area. To the left will be a path blocked by unbreakable boxes. Go into the entrance on the right. Go up the steps on the left and open the gate there. This simply leads back to the previous area. Go back down and into the room on the right. There will be some barrels and crates. On the left wall will be a lit torch. Below it will be one that is not lit on the ground. Pick it up and light. Now carry this sucker back to the boxes outside and light the burnable one. It will catch fire and eventually burn down, allowing you to continue. This is a neat trick, but it is only used once in the entire game. Hop over the box. In this room will be many barrels and crates with food. Go right. There will be steps down to the right leading to the chapel. But you don't have the key yet. So go straight up the steps. Stop here and listen the guards talk about you. Kill them both. One will have a 50 potion and the other the CHAPEL KEY. So go back and open the chapel door. There you will find the death sword - too heavy for you - and a 500 potion. Get the death sword anyway because you can throw it at knights. Go back to where you just killed the two knights and open the door. You'll now be in an outside area. There will be steps leading down to the left, but go straight first. There will be a guard there looking outside. If you try to sneak him, he will hear you. So I recommend throwing the eclipse at him (Save the death sword because it will fall out of the window.) and then finish him off. Activate the lever there to lower the bridge half-way and pick up the food if you need it. Now go back and down those steps. There will be a knight there with the ARMORY KEY. Use it to open the armory door to the right. In there you'll find some shields, a boathook and two 150 potions in the chests. All this stuff is nice but the most important thing in there is the MACE next to the cool fire. Make sure you get it. Go out of the armory and proceed to the right. There, there will be a circular room with a wooden floor. You will notice the bridge, not yet down, to the left. Go to the only open entrance. There, take a right and kill the two guards outside with halberts and a 500 potion. You'll notice how much more powerful the mace is than the gladius. I like throwing the death sword too. Get the potion if you need it in the chest under the roofed area and then go back and proceed up the steps. You will be in another outside area. To the right will be the lever to lower the bridge completely. To the right will be a room with food and a knight. If you choose to lower the bridge first, the knight will come after you. Now the bridge is lowered and you can proceed to the next area of this level. - Across the Bridge - Go back down to the circular area with the wooden floor and cross the bridge. To the left, you'll find a room with toilets and some barrels with food. Ignore the middle path right now and go into the left entrance. There will be a table and a bunch of pots on the wall to the left. Go right and then right again in the next room. Then go down the steps and into the room to the right. You'll see a shadow of a knight, and I suggest you throw the death sword at him. You should be leveling up here to level 4. If you haven't, then you're in bad shape. The crates to the right will be concealing a door with you cannot open until you get the tower key. Go left, around the wall and down the steps. You will see a narrow bridge with two swinging pillars with fire at the tips and a you prize on the on other side - a power potion. You don't have to get it but I suggest that you do because you will be needing it. Save your game before attempting to retrieve it BUT not near those steps. For some reason every time I tried to save there it simply kicked me out of the game and I had to start all the way over. Go back to one of the previous rooms and save there. Now leave this place and go back outside and into the middle path, a cut scene will show you a giant Chaos Knight form a sword and shield. You might be awestricken when you see his 1000 hit points, but you only need to get him below 800. He will then disappear, but don't worry - he will be back. Just take your time with the mace and watch out for that big sword of his. Kill the two knights from the newly opened door. One of them should have a TOWER KEY. Go back to the door concealed with crates in the earlier area and open it with the newly acquired key. There you will find cheese, a full life potion, and most importantly LIGHT KNIGHT ARMOR. This will increase your defense by 10! If you use the gladius so that your defense is 16, the next knights will barely hurt you. Don't forget, if you are at level 4 you can perform the gladius's swing of pride. - The Tower - Go back to outside and into the room the Chaos Knight was protecting. There will be a stairway in the middle. Go up it. Open the door with the key. There will be a 500 potion in the chest. Once you go left, arrows will start to shoot out of the wall. Run by and hope that none of them hit you. On the left there will be a knight and then another arrow trap. Avoid the arrows the best you can. Go up the steps to the left. You'll see Ragnar order two knights to kill you. Kill them, and get the SECOND TOWER KEY. There will be potions in the chests to the left. Open the door there with the key. Keep taking lefts as you kill a knight and gather the potion in the chest. Go up the stairs. You will hear a sound and then see Ragnar run away laughing. Hmmm. Could this be some kind of trap? It is. Take a look on the walls of the hallway. Notice something weird? Pick up an object. It doesn't matter whether it is a weapon or a body part. I personally like to go back to my last slain knight, chop of his head and come back. Anyway, throw anything down the hallway and you will see two huge circular blades come out of the walls. You can now safely run down the hallway. To the left, you'll find a potion in the chest. Notice that there are spikes in the ceiling. Pick up any object in the room and throw it down the hallway. The spikes will come down. Run through while they are coming back up. Save your game here. Proceed into the room. Ragnar will give his speech, and then you'll have to fight him. Don't run too far off after damaging him or he will drink his 500 potion. He will be very fast. I recommend using the mace because he will be too fast for the swing of pride. Also, while still locked on to him, jump away from him as far as you can and then drink your power potion, if you still have it. This way Sargon will drink the potion quickly. Blocking won't help much since his attacks are powerful. Just keep jumping back and then using the south cross attack in combination with other moves. Remember, as long as the power potion is working, your strength will never deplete, so you don't have to rest. Good luck. Once you are done, there will be a 500 potion in the chest. Use the Ragnar key to open the room and read the parchment. Kazel Zalam (Dwarf) ----------------------------------- Length: medium Difficulty: easy Introduction: Kazel Zalam is probably the most basic type of level in Blade of Darkness. Almost the entire level will take place inside a building. You will be fighting orcs and trolls and will come upon a few traps. Nothing really special about this level. - Early Exploration - Watch as Naglfar tumbles down the cliff, then listen to the talking. Pick up your dropped axe and shield. The axe is actually not the weakest weapon for the Dwarf. The club is. So when you find it, pick it up. Anyway, follow the long path. There will be some turns and other stuff, but there will be only one way to go. You will finally come upon an entrance on the left. Go inside. A cutscene will play. There will be a 150 potion next to the pillar on the left. You can go up the steps on either side of the room. The ground will shake a bit as you do. There you will see your first enemy - an orc. Kill him, and the one that follows in the only other entrance. Go around the curve and into a room on the right. There you will find some food in crates and on a shelf on the wall. Proceed to the next room with a big fire to the left. There will be some food behind it. Go through the broken entrance and into the next room. The door to the right will open and an orc will come after you. After you kill him, you can get some food from the room on the left. The forward door will need the rusted key. So go right and kill the orc and then another, tougher one with the RUSTED KEY on the right. There will be food in the big room. Go back to the locked door and open it with the key. - Further Exploration - Proceed forward. There will be food in the room behind the three entrances. Go right and kill the orc on the steps. You will find a locked door on the right. Remember this door because you will be coming back here. Go left, jump over the crack and go up the steps. A cutscene will play. Don't worry; you can't help your fellow dwarves. Go past the fire and then left by the locked door. There will be a fire in the room to the right. You may wish to save your game here. Go left and then right. There will be an orc and your first troll with 100 health and the IRON KEY. But he cant go too far, so kill the orc from a distance and then kill the troll separately. Take your time and don't forget to block. You can through a weapon at him from where he can't go. There will be some food and the STORE KEY on the left. Now take a look at the wall on the right. You will see three triggers. Activate the one on the right first, the left one second, and the middle one last. A door will open. Be careful. There will be a trap there that shoots arrows at you. You will have to run through. There will be spiders that will attack you from the left. Kill them all and then get the 500 potion behind the statue on the right. Go left and pick up the round shield by all the bones. Go back now to the store lock and open it. There will be a room filled with spiders. Kill them all and pick up the 500 potion on the right of the room. You should have leveled up to level 3. Break the crates blocking the entrance on the left. There you find the SPIKED CLUB, which deals 50 damage! But don't get too excited, you can't use it yet. There will be a 150 potion in one of the chests. Go back to the iron lock and open the door. Go left and then pause during the shaking. A crack will form on the ground. Hop over it and go left. There will be a troll there. Go down the lift. Kill the orc in the big area. Go into the right entrance. There will be some food in the crates. Go up the steps and pick up the 150 potion on top of the crate if you need it. Go across the broken floor. You will end up on the other side of the previous area. Jump over the small gap and activate the lever to open the entrance below. You can either go all the way around from where you came, or you can simply jump down and take a little damage. You will enter a dark cave area with a big fall to the left. Follow the path and dispose of the orc and troll. Go further and then up the steps on the right. Kill the orc. There will be the BITING AXE and some food in the room to the left. On the right, you will find your fellow dwarves slain. Don't worry, it would have not mattered whether or not you hurried. Go through the entrance to the right and then kill the two orcs on the next right. You will be back in the cave area. Go across the bridge and jump over the gap. Level up to level 4 by disposing of the orc and troll. Don't let the orc drink the full life potion. If you want, pick up the torch. Go up the steps on the right. Save here if you wish. - The Library - Enter the big room. The door will close behind. That should be a hint that something is really nasty in this room. And indeed there is - an ape with 300 health. You can use the newly enabled Mourning Star of the axe, the raw slicing power of the biting axe, or the now usable spiked club. I used a combination of all. Once you kill him, a door will open and two orcs will ask you to slaughter them. Don't forget to eat some food in the room if you took damage. Leave the room, get the 500 potion on the left, and then go up the steps on the right. Go forward and then right and kill the orc. Enter the next room. There will be a troll with a full life potion and a balcony showing you the room big room where you defeated the ape. Activate the trigger behind the throne in the room. Leave the room through the other entrance and go up the steps on the left. To the left will be a trap - three blades that will pop out when you attempt to go through. How to pass it? Simple. Walk forward until they activate and then jump back. As soon as they leave Run quickly through before they pop out again. Go left. You have finally reached the library. There will be two bookshelves, a 500 potion, and a locked door. Search around and push the fake book. This will reveal the BRONZE KEY, and you can open the door. Slay the two orcs and go right. Climb up the bookshelf and activate the trigger. Then jump over to the other bookshelf and activate the other trigger. A door will open and a new room will be exposed. Jump in and pick up the Chronicles of Ancient Kingdoms. Naglfar will seat down and read the book, ending the level. Note: After this level I recommend that you play Mines of Kelbegen first. It makes more since for Naglfar to go to his people first. Also, it is closer and think that it is better overall. I only recommend doing this with the dwarf. For the rest of the characters I think it's better the other way. Marakamda (Amazon) ----------------------------------- Length: medium/long Difficulty: easy/medium Introduction: Of all the starting levels, this one is probably the hardest. This is mainly because of all the traps in the level. Marakamda is supposed to be an ancient and deserted city, but it's environment is not much different from all the other environments of the game. You will be out side as well as inside. You will have to avoid various traps while solving puzzles by activating water, electricity, etc. It's a nice level. Your first task will be to activate four levers in order to open a gate. To help you, I've made a map of the first part of the level: s = start _____________ f = fall | ____ ____ | o = orc | | |-| | | p = 150 potion | |___|-|___| | a = arrow trap | __ / \ __| | b = blade trap | | | f| | | g = gate ___________| |__|__p|__| |___________ | ___ ___ a ___o__o__ ___ ___ | | | | | | |/ _____p\| | |b| | | | |___|_|___|_| | | |_|___|_|___| | | ___________ | | ___________ | | | | | | | |_____| | | | | | | | |___| |___| |\__o __/|o|___|b|___| | |___________ ___| |o__ ___________| | | | | | /g | |___| |___| | | |___| |___| | | | |-| | | | |___|-|___| | |____ ____| o \__s/ - Opening the Gate - This area is rather simple if you know what it looks like. But I will explain it anyway. This area is in a shape of a cross with five building. All the building except the center one have a corridor in them with two available entrances into each. In each corridor you'll find a switch. You must activate all four switches. This will open the gate where it located on the map and you'll be able to proceed to the next area. Also, there are steps up on each outer building (except the one opposite from the start) which lead to the top of the center building. I recommend that you go along the right side of the cross, activating the switches in each building as you pass them. Anyway, here's the unnecessary walkthrough. Once you start making noise, the orc in the small room opposite of you will come out and attack you. Kill him and proceed along the right wall. When you see the entrance to the first building, go in and activate the trigger there. Go back out the same way and follow along the right wall. There are two orcs patrolling the center building from this side that will probably see you and attack you. Kill them both and proceed around the corner. Go into the next building. Be careful. After pressing the trigger, the blade trap will activate and you have to run through. Wait until the two blade come out simultaneously or almost simultaneously. You can exit either way, just make sure that you don't get lost. Go to the next intersection. Here, two stronger orcs will see you and attack. Go right on the next intersection and go into the next building. Activate the trigger there and proceed against the right wall. Once you're behind the building, you can go up the steps there. There will be a 150 potion there, but there will also be a fall before it. Make sure you are not standing there when the ceiling gives out. Go back down and be careful at the next intersection. There will be an arrow trap there. Go right and activate the last trigger in the next building. This will lower the gate completely. Keep going along the right wall and you'll end up at the start. Before you go to the gate, go up the steps on any of the three outer building. There you'll find an orc with a 500 potion, as well as a 150 potion in the corner. Now go to the gate. - The Labyrinth - When I started to play this area, I realized that the best way to explain how to get through it is to make another map. So here I go, since I'm such a nice guy... Note: Figure not drawn to scale or shape. _____________ _/ ____ ____ \__ o = orc _/ _// |X| \\__ \__ f = food ___/ _/ / w | | w \ \__ \___ a = arrow trap / ___/ /___/ \___\ \___ \__ .. = closed gate / / /f___ ___f\ \l_ \_ l = lever _____ \ \__________\ /___________ \_..\ s = spike trap / _ \ | _____ o __________|f__ | \_ \ w = water | / \ \/ / | ' | ____| \___ \ |X = exit fall | | \____/ ---__________/ ________ | | | \ \______________ / __ ____/ \ \ | | \_____ l_ o | | | | | __| |_/s| \ \\ \\ |_| | | | __/ _____/ \..\\ \\_____/ | o| __/ __/ \a \\ \________| |____/ __/ \ a\\__________| |______/ \a \__________/ | \_______________/ There is no specific way to pass this area. I'm writing this merely to explain this area; you don't have to follow my path. Go right and kill the orc on the bridge. (Just to tell you, in this maze you can't find the exit by simply taking only rights or only lefts.) Turn left after the bridge. Kill the orc there and stick to the right wall. Pull the lever ahead to open the gate back to the start. Keep going along the right wall. You'll come to an orc by a small "room" on the right. If you keep going straight you'll come to a dead end. So take the left ahead. There will an area with a bridge across some water. There will also be food to the left and right. Go across the bridge and avoid falling when it collapses. Take a right here and pull the lever ahead to open the gate further on. There will be a small crack in the ground at the turn ahead. Avoid it, for two large spikes will come out of the ground there. Take the next right and then another right into a dead end with a window and some food. Leave this "room" and go on. You'll be back at the first bridge. Find your way back to the second bridge and this time jump down into the water. - The Well - After you fall go straight and climb up. Follow the path down the steps; on the right will be a cave. Follow the path for a while until you come to a place with stone "pillars". Watch out for the falls here. Follow the path again to another place with pillars. A zombie will come out of the ground. It might be a good idea to use a slashing weapon like the axe or gladius on these guys as their body parts tend to fall off and they die quicker. The steps on the right will lead to a place with 150 potion and a door back to the beginning. Keep going. Once you get to the well a cutscene will show a weird contraption with electricity. Pick up the 150 potion if you need it and go left. There will be an arrow trap on the left. Go up the steps on the right. On the left, activate a lever. Water will flow down into the well outside and push down a lever. You can see the well in the windows of this area. Keep going. You'll run into two orcs. On the left will be a small loop that leads back to the beginning. Avoid the fire coming out of the walls on the right. There will be a hard troll with the KEY next. Use the newly acquired Overhead Smash of the bo. Open the lock on the right. In there will be the much more powerful BOATHOOK and some food. On the left will be a trigger that will disable electricity outside. GO back out and go straight and then down the steps. Outside, carefully fall down and the small ledge inside the well and grab the key there. Climb back out. If you fall before grabbing the key, find your way back up and get it. If you fall after getting the key, go left. You should try to climb out though to avoid taking damage. Now go back to where you first saw the well and go right. There will be two zombies and the well door, which you can now open. - Beyond the Well - Kill the two zombies and keep going. There will be another zombie there and a bridge over a pool of acid. Run across as it will fall. Keep going, killing three more zombies on the way. Go up the steps on the right. Turn right into the room with the tomb and tug at the small crack (?) in the tomb. A cutscene will show a spirit ecstatically escaping from the tomb, busting open a new entrance, reviving the tombs in the graveyard outside, and then flying off. Pick up the 500 potion here if you need it and go outside through the new entrance. There eight or nine skeletons will resurrect from the tombs in pairs. Use the boathook. You should level up after killing them all. You can now perform the rather useless attack Back Smash. On the right will be a lever that opens up an exit to the beginning area. On the left will be a hole in the wall. Inside will be a lever to open up a new area and the Eclipse, which you can use to throw at enemies. Go back inside, turn right, and go through the new entrance. Go down the steps and kill two zombies there. Follow the path. There will be a cave with two zombies and a fall to avoid. At the two way take a left. Kill the two zombies and follow the steps outside. Keep going for a while until you reach a gate on your left. On the right will be two orcs and two small, empty rooms. Keep going. In the last room you'll find the SPEAR and TEMPLE KEY, protected by an arrow trap. So approach these items from the side, and not from the front. There will also be a 500 potion in the last chest. Go back to the two way earlier and this time go right. Kill the two zombies there and open the door. Save here. Go on. A long, rather unpromising cutscene will show a demon resurrect from a book. Use the spear to kill this bastard. Attack before he gets close, as he is fast. Use the right swing the most for it is fast too. After you kill him, he will go back into the book of Txaulapatok. Read the book to finish the level. Note: I'm pretty sure that I've missed some extra area in this level because there is a closed entrance on the right before the temple lock. I'll have to check it out later. Kashgar (Barbarian) ----------------------------------- Length: medium Difficulty: easy/medium Introduction: Kashgar is just another level that is similar to most of the levels in BoD. It is from this level that I realized that half of this might be based on "true" stories because in the beginning they mention Kara Kum, which is an actual desert in central Asia. A lot of areas to explore in this level and, I will mention them all just so you don't miss anything. - The Outskirts - Follow the path for a long time until you see a bridge. There will be steps to the left leading to the bridge, but I recommend continuing to go through the water and under the bridge. Keep going for a while until you find en entrance to the right. Now you are in a cave area with mini waterfalls. Go into the entrance by the torch and kill the two spiders. Keep going, kill two more spiders, and pick up the full life potion, bow, and quiver near the fire. Go on. You'll see two more spiders; practice with the bow if you want. Climb over the ledge and kill two more spiders. Keep going. You'll find yourself in a cave above two orcs by a fire. Hop down and kill them. You should level up after doing so. Now you can perform the rage attack. Exit the cave and go outside. You'll find yourself at the bridge you saw before. Kill the orc patrolling the bridge and go across. Kill another inside the small building and collect any food that you might need in the crates. Now go back inside the cave and climb back up the wall on the right and activate the switch up there. The door will open. Hop down and go outside. Kill the orc and go inside the building to the right. There will another one in there behind the wall (you can see his shadow from the fire) and some food in the crates. Go back outside and follow the path. There will a place to climb up to the right, but keep going straight and kill the orc there. A wall will block your path so go back, climb up those steps and jump over the broken bridge to the other side. Follow the ledge and go across the bridge to the other side. Keep going. Go into the entrance to the right and kill the orc there. Brake the crates and climb over. There will be an outside area with lots of water and a 150 potion to the left. Leave and go the initial path. Climb over the wall. Instead of jumping down into the hole, jump across to the other side and go down the steps. There you'll find some apples, the bo, and a 500 potion. Pull the lever and go back outside. An orc will greet you. Say "hi" with your sword and keep going. (You can climb up the stuff on the right to go into a room with an extra chaos sword, which you could use to throw.) Kill the orc and climb over the shorter part of the wall but don't jump down yet. Pull out your bow and kill the troll in the distance. You should level up here. Jump down and kill the orc in the room on the right. From here you can go two different ways. I will explain the route that I like to go, but you can take a different course. To the left will be a broken bridge. You can't jump across. Instead jump down and go left to find a power potion. Go back and go the other way past the corpses and get a 500 potion by the waterfall at the end. Then turn around, go back some, and climb up into the entrance to the left. Go up the steps. Some nice music will start to play. Here you'll find the DEATH SWORD by the fire on the left and some food in the barrels. Open the door. - Inner City - From here there will be three available paths: left, right, and a "bridge" straight. To the left will be an empty room with nothing useful. Go right. Two zombies will resurrect from the ground and then four more once those are killed. They are slow and can be easily killed. You can throw the death sword at them if you like, but make sure to pick it back up. Go inside the room and avoid the hole in the floor. In the next room will be the MACE. Pick it up because you can throw it at the skeletons that are to come. Now go back and jump in the hole. There will be some food in the crates. Brake through the crates and go outside. An orc will come at you from the left. There will be barrels with food from where he came. If you keep going this way, you'll end up where you were before. So climb back up to where you killed those zombies and go across the board that's in that area. Here, four zombies will come out one by one. Brake through the wall on right. There will be a 150 potion inside. If you jump down, but DON'T, you'll end up where you were before. Go up the steps outside and kill a total of six zombies. You should level up to level 4 here, which means you can use the almighty death sword. Go into the building. The floor will break. Kill the three spiders there, collect the 500 potion by the crate, and climb back up. Go up the steps. If you need a 150 potion, then turn left and go up the next set of stairs. Otherwise, keep going straight into a room where a zombie will break through the wall to attack you. Go outside. Ignore the entrances to the left. Instead keep going straight and another zombie will break through the wall. Kill him and collect the 150 potion from that room if you need it. Now go into that building I told you to ignore. Dispose of the zombie there and go up the steps. Break through the wall and kill the zombie there. (There won't be much upstairs.) Outside there will be three critters. Kill them all and climb up through the window there. Go up the steps and outside. Push the totem pole to form a bridge across the spikes. Carefully walk across. - Skeleton Area - Inside there will be your first two skeletons. Kill them patiently using the death sword. You'll end up in a big, dark place with a fire and throne in the middle. Go across the room and into the entrance on the left. Kill the zombie there and pick up the RUSTED KEY. Go back out and into the right entrance. Kill the zombie and skeleton there and open the gate with the key. You will above the previous area. Proceed, avoiding the holes in the floor. Activate the trigger there. This will open a new exit out of the room. Jump down and save before going through it. Once you go, the doors will close and the spiked ceiling will start to go down. Quickly activate the four levers to stop this. Go left once outside and get the 500 potion there. Go back. There will be a bridge on the exit to the right. Keep going. A boulder will roll down the hill. Quickly run back and go right. The boulder will brake the bridge. Keep going. Another boulder will come down. Hide in the entrance to the left. There will be a skeleton there as well as an ECLIPSE. Since the eclipse is swung differently by Tukaram then swords, I recommend that you practice with it a little first. However, I don't recommend that you use it in this level. Still, take it with you. Go back out and up the path. You'll come to a place with two zombies and two skeletons. Kill them and go outside. Follow the path. Go into the entrance on the right. Follow the path there and save before going inside. When you go inside the doors will close and about eight skeletons will resurrect one after another. This part is kind of difficult. Use the death sword. Once they are all dead the door will open. Activate the trigger there. A new entrance will open where you were before. On the way back, you'll encounter four zombies. If you had killed everything in the level so far, you should level up after killing them. Don't worry if you didn't. Keep going into the middle of the next area and watch the cutscene. Fortress of Tell Halaf (rune) ----------------------------------- Length: short/medium Difficulty: easy Introduction: This level is rather short and simple. There will be two rings surrounding the inner fortress. You will start off in the outer ring and will have to make you way around and then inside the inner ring. You will meet some aggressive trolls that you'll have to learn how to kill. - Outer Ring - After the cutscene go left. There is no specific way to pass this area, but if you want to clear everything, you must explore both the outside and the inside of this area. As you go, you'll encounter a few easy to kill orcs patrolling the area. Go into the first entrance on your left and up the steps. There will be lots of food to collect in these rooms. Behind the wall will be an orc. Kill him and go outside and across. There will be another orc there waiting for you and also the NAGINATA for the Amazon. Go down and the steps and back outside. Depending on how many orcs you killed earlier, there might be one or two outside waiting for you. At the end, there will be a difficult troll with an orc sword. Take your time and make sure to use powerful moves, not just random swings. You should level up somewhere around here. Go into the entrance on the left at the end and up the steps. Pull the lever there to open the door, there will be two orcs outside. You can actually kill one of them though the door before opening it, but that would be cheating. The door outside on the right is locked for now, so go into the other room. There you'll find the LIGHT EDGE, a very powerful weapon that is best used by the knight. However, it does not have a special attack. Go down the steps, open the door, and go outside. You can pull the lever there to open the gate to the previous area. Now, this area is exactly shaped as the last. Proceed. Kill an orc, and go into the entrance on the left first. Kill the orc on the stairs and then the archer outside. There will be a SPEAR for the Amazon incase you've missed it before. Go inside and down the steps. Outside, kill the troll. He will have twice as many hitpoints as the last, but you should be stronger now, and you have the light edge. Open the gate to the previous area. If you took a lot of damage fighting the last dude, go around and collect any food that you haven't ate already. Then go into the entrance to the left. Go up the steps and save. Open the door. There will be a very tough, aggressive troll there. However, he won't be able to follow you inside, so you can take free shots at him with the bow or by throwing objects at him. Be careful with him, and don't let him get you cornered or drink his 500 potion. After killing him, go into the opposite room and open the door down the steps to the starting area. Then go back up to where the troll came from and open the door there to the inner ring. - Inner Fortress - There is no specific way to pass this area, but this is how I do it. Go straight and then step onto the ledge on the right. Now circle around the building along this ledge. You will come to a bridge with an orc archer. Kill him and open the door to the outer ring. Go back onto the ledge and keep circling. Kill the archer. You will soon come across a balcony on the left into which you can climb. There you will find a dead knight and the DUKE BEDROOM KEY. Open both gates and circle back around to where you first entered. Go down the steps this time. Go right and kill the orc there. Then turn around and start circling around killing orcs. By the second orc, you'll find the SCYTHE for the Barbarian. Keep going and don't go up the steps because you've already been there. After killing the third orc you should level up. Keep going. There will be a broken entrance on the left. Inside, an orc and troll will try to sabotage you. After killing them go up either set of steps there. Kill the two orcs on this level and open the two gates to the outside if you want. Go up either set of steps and kill three orcs up here. Go up to the next level and kill the orc there. Then go outside and kill the troll there. Although he has lots of hitpoints, he is not hard because he uses the mace. Pick up the 150 potion behind the crate and go back in. Open the door to Duke's Bedroom. There will be lots of neat stuff inside but the only thing you need is the ELF SWORD. I recommend that you drop your beloved light edge. You should now be carrying the bow, the mace, the combat sword and the elf sword. Activate the trigger in the corner on the left. Go down the lift, activate the trigger there, and go across. Go down the steps and watch the cutscene. Open the door behind the wall with the newly acquired key and go down the lift. There will be a corridor with water. ***RUNE*** On the left you should see a button on the wall with a rune on it. Press it and the a part of the wall will come down revealing a spiral staircase. Go down and past the waterfall. There will be a TRIDENT there for the Amazon, but if you're Zoe you might not want to pick it up because you don't have any room for it. You will see it again in the next level. Go across the wooden floor and activate the trigger. Watch the cutscene about the rune. On you way back you'll realize that the wooden floor has now been replaced with a deadly trap. I recommend you save before attempting to pass it, but the game often crashed for me for some reason when I saved in this spot. Therefore, you might want to save before you reach the rune. Anyway, back to the trap. There will be two spinning blades going forward out of the walls. There will also be pit with fire on the bottom. This is quite hard to pass. Stand on the left side of the trap, and as soon as the left blade goes back into the wall do a running jump jumping over TWO pits. Then quickly jump again north east to avoid the left blade. By the way, you can fall into the pits; the fire will not hurt much. But it will make it harder to get across safely. Go back up the steps and activate the trigger down the corridor. The door will open and you can now exit this short level. Mines of Kelbegen (rune) ----------------------------------- Length: medium/long Difficulty: medium Introduction: This level has a great atmosphere. The bright sun shining at you, birds flying over head, and the mines themselves are all very nice. As you proceed through the level, take notice to the nice surroundings. The atmosphere really grabs you and takes you into the level. - Outer Mines - Jump over the two gaps. Approach the wall and climb it. A boulder will start to roll down. Quickly run up touching the right wall. A pathetic orc will meet at you on top of the hill. Kill him and proceed. On the left will be a slightly stronger orc. Keep going and jump down. A boulder will come down. It is intended to kill the troll on the right, but I like to kill him myself. Go down and carefully across the rails. There will be some food in the crates to the left. Go right and up the steps. Be careful, there is a fall n front of the orc. Sheathe your weapon and jump across, then kill him. Keep going. Quickly run across the bridge because it will collapse as some boulders fall down. Ahead you'll see an archer on top of a bridge. Don't duel it out with him with your bow, you'll always lose. Just run up under where he is and kill the troll there with the IRON KEY. Ignore the archer for now and open the gate with the iron key. You'll now be in a cave tunnel. You can pick up the pretty torch if you like. Proceed, killing the critters and collecting food from the crates. At the end, brake through the crates to get outside. You might want to save here. Outside, 2 orcs and a troll will ambush you. (You'll see this combination a lot later in the game.) The best way to kill them is one at a time. First, quickly run to the right and kill the orc there. And then you'll have to fight the other two together. Once you kill them, you should level up to level 7, and now the mace's Royal Smash is available to you. Use it on the upcoming enemies. The area that you are in now I'm going to call Area A, just for reference. If you go down the path on the left, you will find an area with three holes for three gems and a lift. Your task now is to find these three gems and return here to activate the lift. So go back to Area A. - Red Gem - Go into the right-most entrance. There will an archer on the bridge (unless you killed him earlier). Brake through the crates and go down the lift. Now jump down and pick up the WAR AXE if you're the dwarf. Go into the only exit out of this area. You will now be inside a cave area, and spiders will try to ambush you. Kill them all and pick up the power potion if you need it. Climb up the wall on the left and proceed. Collect the food in the barrels if you need it. Keep going, down the steps and then over the gap in the bridge. Turn right. There will be another broken bridge, which you can't jump across. Instead, jump onto the ledges on the left and get across that way. Turn left and go up the steps. On the left you'll see the RED GEM. Once you approach it three orcs will ambush you. Use the Royal Smash on them. One time I was able to kill them all with just one swing. Climb up the wall on the right. Get the food in the crates and go into the next room. There will be a part of the wall not matching with the rest. Brake through it and go inside. There will nothing useful here, so go back to where you were and proceed. There will be more food there. Open the door and now you're back to the lift that brought you here. Go up and back to Area A. There, two orcs will attack you. - Blue Gem - Go into the right entrance of the entrance on the right. (That sounds funny.) Yes, there will be food in the barrels. As you go across the rail stop and take a look around at the beautiful scenery. Keep going and watch the cutscene of how the critter swallows the blue gem. You're going to have to find and kill that critter to get the blue gem. Jump down and go left. This area is shaped like a circle with another path in the middle. You are now going around the circle in the clockwise direction. There you'll find a troll with the IRON KEY as well as the critter with the BLUE GEM. Once you kill him, the blue gem will fall out and you can pick it up. Go and kill the orc. Proceed, disposing of critters as you go. When you reach a two way, go right and kill the critter there, and then go back and go the other way. This is to make sure that you kill everything. Kill some more critters and then open the door on the left with the iron key. You might want to save here. Walk across the rail, but be careful of the troll in the next area. I recommend you run past him and up the steps a little bit where you have more room to fight. Proceed. Go across the bridge and open the door. You are back in Area A with two more orcs to kill. - Green Gem - Now go down the last entrance (the left-most). Jump across the falling bridge. Activate the trigger and go down the lift. From here there will be two ways. Go right, unless you are in desperate need of a 500 potion. Kill the orc there and proceed. If the troll on the bridge does not come after you, you must lure him to you because it is too hard to fight him on that thin rail with an archer shooting at you. To do this, either shoot arrows at his ass or run up to him and then quickly run back. Once you kill him, go across the rail, make a you turn and kill the archer, preferably with a melee weapon. Once you're across the rail you'll be in a tunnel with 2 orcs and crates with food. After this you see an unaware orc archer across a broken bridge. Kill him with your bow and jump across. You might want to save before you do. ***RUNE*** Now look down. There will a place to jump down on the left and on the right. Jump down on the left first. Hop down and break through the wall. There will spiders in this cave. You can jump down and kill them, but I like to kill them with my bow from above. Keep going and turn right at the lava. Watch the cutscene of how the door closes and lava begins to pour down. As soon as the cutscene ends, you must run up and start climbing to avoid being burned alive. There will be a HEAVY MACE there for Sargon, but I don't recommend that you pick it up right now because it won't be of much use (plus, you'll get burned). Keep climbing up. At the top watch the cutscene of the rune. Once it's over you can get a full life potion if you need it. However, if you don't really need it I suggest that you simply exit this area. To get it. Jump to the left from the bridge and go around. It will be next to the lava. You'll have to circle back a little bit and then jump to the closest ledge in the middle and then climb back up. Make sure that the level is not high enough that you can't reach a safe ledge before attempting to retrieve the potion. Push the button to open the door and exit the area. You will be back at that bridge where you killed the unaware archer. Jump down the other way now. You'll be in another cave with crates and barrels. Keep going and kill the 3 spiders. Then go right and down the steps. Hop down from ledge to ledge and pick up the GREEN GEM. Three pairs of critters will come out from the dark. Kill them all and then climb up the other way (above the dark areas, NOT where you came from). Go right and collect the food in the barrels/crates. On the right will be an orc and an aggressive troll with the IRON KEY. Proceed and open the door with the key. Outside, look for a 500 potion near the skeleton (unless you've picked it up earlier). Go into the only other entrance and go up the lift. Go forward and up the lift that brought you here. Keep going and hop over the hole in the bridge. You are back in Area A with all three gems. - Exit - Now go down the big path opposite the three places you've just explored. There, place the gems in their respective spots. Now this is a cool part. You'll then step on the lift and be lowered into a dark cave. The large door ahead of you will slowly open, revealing the prodigious ape behind it. Don't worry, he looks tougher then he is. Just use a sharp weapon, not the mace. After killing him, you should level up. The combat sword's special attack is now available to you. Go where the ape came from and jump over the hole in the ground. There will be the SHARP AXE for the dwarf. Jump down into the darkness. You'll be in a large tunnel with a torch in the distance. Go down to where the torch is and stay there once the two boulders come down. Keep going and avoid the hole below. Go to the left of it and jump over the gap. Proceed down the path and then go across the narrow "bridge." Climb up on the right and jump down the hole there. Go down next to the picture on the wall and watch the cutscene. Tombs of Ephyra (rune) ----------------------------------- Length: medium Difficulty: medium Introduction: This is another nice level. It has a nice, quiet atmosphere in the beginning, and then it gets rather gloomy as you enter the tombs and graveyards. You'll encounter a new enemy en mass, the skeleton. It will be difficult at first to fight them, and you'll have to learn their tactics. You'll also encounter two semi-bosses. You will, however, be rewarded with lots of experience. This level, although rather difficult the first time, is made quite well in my opinion. - Getting into the Tombs - Follow the path. Then, you could go into the entrance to the building, or you can choose to be observant and find a back way. Look to the left of the entrance. Do you see anything? Yep, you can climb up all those ledges and into a window. Inside will be some food on a table, the AXE SPEAR for the Amazon, and an unaware archer that you should sneak up to and kill. If you look through the window, you will see some orcs that you can annoy with some arrows. Open the door and kill the orc on the catwalk. Take a moment to notice the beautiful light tune playing. I really love this atmosphere. I recommend you play this part slowly and observe things because it has a nice atmosphere to it. Go on and kill the orc in the room on the left. Go down the steps and kill the orc there as well. There will another orc on the right, as well as a troll down the steps. Use Righteous Anger on him and he should be no problem. He will have the HEAVY MACE. Here you will have to decide which weapons you want to keep. You will be fighting skeletons soon and they will require blunt weapons. The heavy mace is powerful, but does not have its special attack available yet. If you go into the entrance on the right, you will end up where you first started this level. So go back up the steps and go along the wall of the building. Go left and around the corner. Ignore the archer? in the window and jump down. A troll will come out from one of the entrances. Kill him and go into where he came from. There will be an orc. Proceed through the rooms and go up the spiral stairs. Stick to the left wall so you don't miss anything. On the left will be two rooms with an orc. If you approach the door on the opposite side of the room, you'll hear an orc there (unless you killed him already). Kill him through the door. Return to the spiral stairs and proceed. A troll should have came down the steps and attacked you. Go into the room on the left and kill the orc there. If you're Tukaram, then proceed up the steps. In the top room you'll find the LONG SWORD, one of the best weapons in the game. Jump down the hole (from third floor), and then again down the hole in the second floor. Pick up THE WAY OF ARMINA from the table and then the IRON KEY underneath it. Pick any food you need and open the door. Go back down to where you first jumped down and go into the opposite entrance on the left. Inside will be a gang of critters by a fire. Kill them all and collect food from the crates. There will be more food in the crates in the next room. Be careful when you enter the next room: there will be a troll there along with a heavy mace on the ground. Open the door. You are now back outside. Go back up the steps and open the door on the left with the key. - The Tombs - Go forward and into the first entrance on the left. The doors will open and three skeletons will come after you. Depending on what weapons you are carrying, you can either use the mace's royal smash, the combat sword's righteous anger, or the heavy mace to kill these guys, which ever works best for you. The two tombs that the skeletons came from will have breakable back walls. The hidden room on the left will have the VENOM HAMMER for the dwarf and a 1000 potion. Don't ask me if the venom hammer is worth keeping. Its special attack can only be accessed at level 17. That means that you would have to carry it for a third of the game in order to use it, and the hammer itself is weak as hell and takes up room in your inventory. I'm guessing that it is not worth it, so don't even bother. The hidden room on the right will have a ghost medallion - a totally useless item for this level. This is the only ghost medallion I was able to find in the game, and since it can only be used in that level and in that level it's useless, I don't see any point of having it there in the first place. Don't even pick it up because it will take up room in your inventory. If you go into the left room, there will be a bunch of powerful, but broken weapons. After you're done looking at all the useless things go into the entrance on the right. Outside, kill the skeleton archer there. He will have the HOOKED SWORD. However, I'm not sure that you need it right now. So pick it up, and throw it in the area below you. Remember where it lands so you can pick it up later. Make sure that you have elf sword with you. That is the most important thing for now. Now go into the entrance the archer was standing by. In the room on the right will be a skeleton, and another will pop out of the wall behind you. Keep going and up the steps on the left. There will be a broken floor there. Avoid the holes and jump into the second entrance on the right. On the left will be two skeletons guarding the GRAVEYARD KEY and a full life potion. Go back and across the broken floor. Go down the steps on the right, past the crates, and into the hole in the floor. There will be the WAR HAMMER for the dwarf and a power potion. Once you jump down, knight zombies will resurrect from the ground. These guys are very easy to kill because they are so slow. Just make sure not to let them kill each other. You want to kill them all yourself, because they make you level up a lot. After killing them you should level up to level 9. Now you can use the elf sword's The Dream. This attack is simply awesome. Leave this area through the only entrance. Outside, climb into the window on the left. There will be five more zombies to give you points. Go out the left way, and kill five more zombies there. Climb out the window on the left and go straight to the graveyard door. Save here. - The Graveyard - I hope that you're ready for some tough fighting. Open the door with the key and proceed inside. The door closes behind you and skeletons start to come out of the various tombs in pairs. You'll have to kill them one by one. Make sure that you use The Dream; it works best. There will be about six skeletons in all. After you destroy them all collect the mushrooms on the opposite sides of the graveyard and then go into the newly opened entrance. Now did you think that was tough? Well, this is just the beginning. Inside, approach the tomb. A cutscene will show a burning skeleton raise up from the tomb when you try to open it. This guy is not too hard if you are patient. After he does his triple attack, do the dream on him. That's all. The first time I was playing him I thought that this must be the end of the level since he was so difficult to beat. But there is a lot more to go. Last time I fought him that's all I did and I killed him after two attacks in under 30 seconds without taking any damage. Once you kill him, you should have leveled up to level 11. Try to save the shield that he is using as well. Once he is dead, pick up the KING'S SHIELD that he was using. Sargon will read off of it, but its significance is its 1000 hit points. Pick up the fetish in the tomb. ***RUNE*** Before you leave, take a look above the wall next to the tomb. You should see a rune symbol there. Shoot it with an arrow and a new entrance will open. Go down the steps until you reach a dark hallway. As soon as you start going down it, a large burning pillar will swing down from the ceiling. To avoid it you must quickly run into the little places on the sides of the hall. Keep running from place to place proceeding down the hall. At the end, the pillar will stop. Go on and watch the cutscene for the rune. Now go back outside into the graveyard. Notice that there is a newly opened entrance on the left. I, however, like to kill everything so I level up more. So I like to go out the right entrance where I came from. There will be a bunch of skeletons coming out of the ground. With the Lord Kerman's Smash they were a piece of cake. If you went this way, then pick up the hooked sword I asked you to drop there earlier. You should now have the bow, the elf sword, the heavy mace, and the hooked sword. If you are having trouble with this level you might not want to go there. Anyway, whether or not you go there, go into the left entrance and up the steps. Open the gate. There will be more skeletons to kill here. Use Lord Kerman's Smash and you'll be fine. Remember, skeletons are usually better fought with blunt weapons. So don't use the hooked sword. - The Sword - Go left and into the entrance on the left. On the left you'll see the statue of what I guess is Queen Asha. However, four skeletons will come out of the left and right walls. Kill them and go behind the statue. There, place the fetish that you got from the burning skeleton. A door will open near the entrance. Go up the steps there and kill the three skeletons on the balcony there. You should be leveling up somewhere around here. Activate the two levers there. All this does is open two doors near the statue. I found this part kind of stupid. Go down there and down the steps. There will be dwarf armor on the left, and knight armor on the right. Go into the entrance on the right. The floor will start to move apart. Simply run across. From here there are two ways to go. Either you can shoot the switch behind the gate to open it or you can look for a hole in the right wall. There, you'll find a corridor filled with water and 4 weak skeletons. Although, they only have 15 hp, their weapons sting a bit so be careful. Go out the entrance on the left and you will be where you would have ended up by going through the gate. Save here. Go into the room on the left. Your first golem will break through the wall. He will have an awe-inspiring 4000 hitpoints. Take your time and be patient. Use the heavy mace. Good luck. Once you kill him, the Queen's Sword will be revealed. You will have to pick it up to pass the level. I recommend you drop the heavy mace. Just don't get rid of the elf sword. After you pick it up, the level will end. Island of Karum ----------------------------------- Length: medium/long Difficulty: medium/hard Introduction: The Island of Karum - the destination on marked on the map you found in Tombs of Ephyra. This level is of great importance. It is here where you figure out what your mission is. It is pretty much the first level where you actually have a point in being in. All of the previous levels you've just being wondering aimlessly, presumably trying to figure what's going on. The Island of Karum is itself a difficult, gloomy level. Have you been paying attention to the "isle of the dead" stuff? Well this is that isle, and it's crawling with nothing but the dead. You'll be fighting nothing but zombies, skeletons, and the undead. At least now you are doing it for a reason. - Outer Island - Take a look around. Notice the island and the dragon flying around it. Listen to the music. Proceed. Pick up the 1000 potion by the corpse. You might want to take out the queen's sword and practice performing its special attack. However, almost every single enemy you fight in this level will be a dead one, therefore you will not be able to use this attack to drain life from them. So, this weapon is pretty much useless in this level. But, it will be very helpful later, so make sure you hang on to it. Now go through all of the opening doors on the right. Looks like someone has been expecting you. Kill the two zombies at the two way and go right. Go through the building and kill the zombies out there while watching out for the skeleton archer. Keep going and kill two more zombies in the next area and then one more at the entrance on the right. There will be a 50 potion there. Go up the steps. There will be a locked door on the right. Go left and kill the skeleton outside. Go across the catwalk and kill the skeleton in the next room. Pick up the IRON KEY on the table. Keep going and kill the skeleton there, and then go back to the previous locked door by the steps. Unlock it, but DON'T go through. Instead, go back to the beginning of the island to the two way where you first entered. This time go right (or straight now). Kill the zombie there and watch out for the archer. Go inside. If you go left by the steps, you'll find a full life potion and a crust in one of the crates. Go back and up the steps. Kill the two skeletons up there and jump down to the left. Watch out for the multiple archers. Kill a zombie out here. On the left go into the right entrance and kill the zombie there. There will be food and a 150 potion there. Go back out and into the opposite entrance. There will another zombie there and another 150 potion. Go up the steps and kill two skeletons. Go back down and open the large door outside with the same key. - Inner Island - This next area is quite confusing because it is a bunch of areas that loop into each other. You don't have to necessarily take the path I chose. Kill the knight zombie on the left. There will be two more zombies in this area, one on the left and one on the right. Once they are dead all the doors will open into another room. There will be two skeletons there and the DEATH BO in the middle of the room for the Amazon. Open the only other door here with the lever. There will be two knight zombies there. Go straight and into the entrances there. There will be two zombies, a 1000 potion, some barrels, and three holes in the ground (toilets, maybe). Go through the entrance on the left and jump through the hole in the wall there. There will be two skeletons outside here. If you keep going, you'll find a currently closed gate and a small room with a 1000 potion. Go back to the toilets and go outside. There should be another entrance to the left of this room. Go there. Go up the steps. The entrance on the right is where you opened that locked door and never went through. (I told you to go the other way so you could explore more of the island.) Keep going up and kill two skeletons outside. Go across catwalk and jump down in the next area. There will be the SLAYING SWORD in the middle of the room by the fire for the barbarian. Open the door on the right and retrieve the KNIGHT MEDIUM ARMOR. Go back out and open the other door. There will be a hole in the wall on the left. You are now back to the toilet room. Where could you possibly go now? Well, there's nothing left but down the toilets themselves. So jump down into one of the three holes. Look for the GREAT HAMMER here if you are the dwarf. Leave this room through the only available exit and kill the knight zombie on the right. You'll come to the dungeon door on the left. There will also be a way right and straight. Go straight. To the right of the fire will be an outside area with two zombies and another one in the distance. There will a lever by the lava pool on the right. Press it once, and the flow of lava will stop. Press it a second time and the lava will slowly reside. Wait for it to do so and them jump down. You might want to bring a torch with you (there are some outside). Press the rune button here and follow the opened path. Watch the cutscene here. Don't be confused, there is no rune to be found here. There will be six rune symbols on the walls. By one of them you'll find a power potion. Go back outside. Notice all the torches are lit. To the right of the entrance that you came here through will be a 500 potion by a corpse. Go down this path here. Kill two zombies down the steps. Go right and kill two more zombies down the steps. Go right again and up the steps there. You'll end up in a room with water. About seven or eight zombies will resurrect from this water. Once they are all dead, grab the DUNGEON KEY and leave through the new exit. Activate the lever up the steps. You'll be back outside. To the right you find a 150 potion by one of the corpses. Keep going and open the door there. You might want to save here. Proceed. Four skeletons will break through the wall on the right. Kill them all. There will be nothing interesting in the room they came from. You will be back at the dungeon door. Open it. - The Dungeon and Beyond - There will be two knight zombies here. On the first right, will be a different type of knight - the dark knight. These guys are basically a meaner version of the regular knight. Try to kill him before he drinks his 1000 potion. From where he came you'll find some torture machines and some prison cells. Go back out and go into the second right. Here will be a long flat "staircase" leading up. The first exit will lead to the area where you have been before. At the second exit you will need to open a door. Inside will be a dark knight on the right and left. It is up to you which weapon you choose to kill them. I recommend either the elf sword or the heavy mace (special attacks). After they are dead go right. There will be another dark knight there and a full life potion by the window. Be careful though, there will some archers there. Go up the steps ahead and turn left. There will two dark knights here. Let them attack you first (while blocking of course), and then retaliate once they are stunned. You might want to save here. Jump down the middle of the room. Your first minotaur with the TOWER KEY will come at you. Don't worry, these guys only look tough. Since the minotaur is a living creature, you might want to use the vampire attack on him to gain some life back. But since there are two full life potions in this level, I don't think you'll be needing to do that. Just wait for him to attack, and then attack with a slashing weapon, preferably a special attack to drain all those hitpoints, while he is doing his roar. Once he is dead a door will open and two dark knights will be there. If you're the barbarian, you might want to first go into the room where the minotaur had come from before fighting the knights. In there you'll find the DOUBLE EDGE - a really awesome weapon. If you are not the barbarian, then you can still use the double edge to throw at the knights. Go where the dark knights had come from and up the steps on the left. You will be back to where you were before you jumped down. Open the door here and go back to the large "staircase". If you go up one more level, you will be at the tower. But before I go there, I usually like to go back to the outer island and kill off the new group of skeletons there to level up more. Plus, you could collect any potions that you didn't pick up earlier. If you decide to do this, you must find your way back to this door. Save your game and open the door. Dum dum dum... - The Tower - Pick up the torch, light it, and proceed. There will be a cutscene showing the shadow of someone, or something... This is a dark and confusing area. It's easy to get lost, so pay attention. Take the FIRST right from the door you came from. Take a left there and kill the knight zombie. There will another left ahead with another knight zombie. Ignore the staircase on the left and go to the second left. Kill the knight zombie there and get the power potion ahead if you need it. Go back to the staircase on the left I told you to ignore. This area has two staircases, and its easy to get on the wrong one in the dark. Keep going up and take the first right. On the right will be the CURVED SWORD for Sargon; make sure you get it (sacrifice your hooked sword). You should now have the bow, elf sword, heavy mace, and the curved sword (if you are the knight). Take the second left from here, not up the steps. There will be three knight zombies here and a crust on the table ahead. Go left. There will be a way left and a way straight. Go straight. There will be some food in barrels and a way left. If you go down the steps, you'll end up at the beginning of this area. Go up the steps. You'll come to a lit room with two knight zombies. Activate the lift on the left and go up. Here will be 3 skeletons. There will be a way to go up, and a way to go down. Go down. Kill the skeleton archer on the right and go down the steps. Take the first left. On the right will be some meat inside the barrels. On the left will be a 1000 potion. If you go down the steps, you'll end up where you where before. So go back up to the room with the 3 skeletons and take the way up. You might want to save here. Go on. The doors will close behind you. You will come to a demon. From the looks of this guy I thought that he must be the boss. I was wrong. Use a slashing weapon to kill him, and start attacking before he gets close because he moves fast. He shouldn't be too hard. After killing him, you should level up to level 13. If you didn't, that means you'll have a hard time with this next guy. So make sure that you kill everything from now on. Keep going, up the steps and through a circular room. You'll come to some pictures on the wall and cutscene will play. This one is rather important so you might want to pay attention. Pick up the 1000 potion by the wall if you need it and save. Now go back to the circular room. A cutscene will show you the Vampire - one of the nastiest and hardest enemies in the game. Once you see him, back away from him by jumping (make sure you're locked on) and drink your power potion. Don't go too far though, because he will disappear and reappear behind you. Start attacking before he gets close, as he is fast, very fast. If you need additional help defeating him, refer to The Enemy or Emails sections. Once you get him below 200 hp, a cutscene will show the dragon that has been circling the island all this time come down, pick up the vampire, and fly away. Shalatuwar Fortress ----------------------------------- Length: short/medium Difficulty: medium Introduction: The Shalatuwar Fortress is a basic level in terms of its structure. You'll be outside and as well as inside. It was told that this is the Fortress of the Orcs. This is true, as you'll be fighting many orcs and trolls. They will be fiercer now. Some neat areas in this level as well. The level layout is simple, and you shouldn't get lost. The hard thing about this level is the combat. - Outer Fortress - Your quest is now becoming more challenging, as well as more involving. If you have been paying attention to the cutscenes, you should have realized that your quest now has a goal - to find the four sacred gems and put this evil back in its place. This gems will be in various places, sending you in all sorts of interesting sites. You are now in what I like to call the second part of the game. Well, enough with this chatter and on to the quest! There is food in the crates. You don't need it now, but you will later. Go right to the church, and then right again and outside. A troll will spot you and run away. Follow him and kill the two orcs that attack. Keep going and kill the troll. Use the STORE KEY from him to open the door and collect any food or potions that you might need. You will see a troll and two orc arches in the distance. Here, you need to ignore everything and just run, zigzagging to avoid the arrows. Turn left and keep running; ignore the troll. Run straight and into the entrance ahead and go up the lift on the left there. Run by the wall and kill the archer that is farther away. Then circle back around and kill the other archer across the small bridge. Keep moving while doing all this to avoid being turned into a porcupine. The archers will each have a 50 potion. After you're done slaughtering them, go back down the lift and kill the troll there and then another one that comes down the hill. Once you start up the slope a boulder will come down. Either run back down or hide in one of the spots on the right. Go up the hill and go right. Kill the troll on the left and proceed. Engage the orcs ahead and turn right. Now take a look at the wall on the right. You should notice window by a wooden door giving you a peek into some room. Brake down the door and go inside. This area is easy to miss, and I didn't find it for a long time. So if you found it without my help, feel proud. Inside you will find the FLAT SWORD and LIGHT ARMOR for the barbarian - two very important items. Read the mural on the wall. It will talk of the white and blue gems. You will now know of their locations, and thus the next part of your journey is ascertained. Yet you now have to rescue Lord Kerman. So on with the quest. - Battle Area - Leave the room and proceed. Go up the steps on the right. On the left will be two orc archers. Run up close to them zigzagging so they take out their melee weapons. A troll will come from the right. Slaughter all and proceed into the entrance on the left. Notice the gate on the right. Inside will be some food in the crates to the right. If you keep going that way you'll find the dungeon gate on the left. You can stand there and wait until some enemies come up and fight them through the gate. It's kind of fun, but they can get you too. Go left from around the corner you'll find more barrels with food. The rest of this area will consist of a table, a balcony, and an exit to the right. Go right and past the bones and skulls on the walls. Climb through the window and kill the two orcs in this area. There is food in the barrels on the right. Remember: you can now make good use of the queen's sword here to regain your health. Keep going and up the steps on the right. Here, go right past all the small rooms with various weapons and kill the troll on the left with the IRON KEY and 1000 potion. Go back to the steps and take the other way. Here will be a gap in the floor. You might want to jump to the right of the gap first. If you fall, you'll end up in the previous area, so just find your way back up. There you'll find LIGHT ARMOR for the Amazon. Go back down the steps. There will be two new orcs on your way back. Go back to the closed gate outside mentioned earlier. Open the gate and save your game. Go up the slope. At the top, you'll lose yourself to a cutscene of a troll ordering two orcs to kill you. They are kind of tough, but kill them anyway, just for fun. After they are dead, the troll will get angry and send a minotaur after you. If you have lost lots of health, I recommend that you use the Queen's sword to eat up the minotaur's health. After he is dead, the troll himself will come down to attack you. He is aggressive and is equipped with the HEAVY CLUB for the dwarf, a barbarian shield, and the DUNGEON KEY, making him a hard shell to crack. After the tournament is complete, get the barbarian shield if it stayed intact and proceed to where the troll came from. You should leveling up around here. Activate the lever there to open the way back. But don't leave just yet. Proceed to the left and climb up the crap there. Up here, in a small room to the left, you'll find the SCIMITAR and a power potion. Make sure you get the scimitar if you're Sargon, as it's one of his best weapons. No go back to the dungeon gate. Two orcs will be waiting there for you. Kill them, I guess. - The Dungeon - Open the gate. There will be three orcs there and a troll. I recommend that you lure them out of the dungeon to where it is easier to kill them. Go down the first set of steps. Notice a locked cell gate. Continue down. There is two more orcs to slaughter and empty barrels. Turn left and go past another cell lock. On the left will an orc. A small room with barrels and debris will follow and then another orc. Open the door on the left. A troll will come at you. I recommend killing him. Try not to attract too much attention to yourself here, as there are other enemies here that will come after you if they see you. Another troll will be ahead, as well as an ape with the CELL KEY and a third troll. Depending on how much noise you make, you might not have to fight all of them at once. Open the door at the end of this area. You'll be back at a previous area. Be careful, there is a new troll on the left. If you are the Amazon, go up to the first cell lock mentioned and open it. There you'll find the CROSS-TIPPED SPEAR. Now go to the second cell lock mentioned and open it. Go down the steps there and save. On the right will be three cells. The first one is empty. The second has a 1000 potion. In the third you'll find Lord Kerman. Unfortunately he will be killed right away by a troll with the KEY that will come after you right away. So make sure that your weapon is drawn when you open the last cell. Go down the steps opposite the cells into a weird area. Here there will be two last difficult trolls to kill. Collect their shields if they stayed intact. Open the door and go on. Go up the lift to exit this level. Note: Here you will have a choice of two destinations. I usually go to the Fortress of Nemrut first. But this time I decided to go the other way. I think that the first way is the better way, but it doesn't really make a difference. It also depends on which character you're playing with. I'm playing with Sargon. I'll let you try your own paths so you find the one better for you. Fortress of Nemrut (rune) ----------------------------------- Length: medium/long Difficulty: medium Introduction: Fortress of Nemrut is a great level. It's atmosphere is beautiful. This level should feel a bit colder than others, as there is snow on the ground. It's the only level besides Tabriz that has knights. So it will be a nice change. There's also some neat places in this level, like the palace, with great music. Your goal in this level to get the white opal, one of the four gems that you need to collect the sword of Ianna. - Outer Fortress - Follow the path until you reach a place to climb up on the left. Climb up all the way and kill the knight with the STORE KEY up there. Aahhh, its nice to be fighting good old knights again (or for the first time for the other characters). Before you open the door, kill the knight with a 500 potion in the distance on the right. Go back and open the door with the key. There will be food in barrels by the steps. Go up the steps and kill the knight there and then another on right. Go on and kill the knight on the left. Keep going straight and then turn left by wall. There will be the courtyard door there, inaccessible right now. From here go straight and then right. In this large area will be two knights and a knight archer. Kill them all. Use their own severed limbs here to beat them to death if you wish, since this part is easy. Climb up through the place in the wall here. On the right will be a snoozing guard. Sneak up on the sucker and slit his throat. Well, you can't really do that, so just kill him. By the fire will be the COURTYARD KEY and a trigger behind the wall. Open the door. You'll be back to a previous area. Find your way back to the courtyard door and open it. - The Courtyard - On the right will be two knights. Go straight outside and kill the knight on the left. If you take the first left there will be two archers above spraying arrows at you. Find another knight in this area, kill him, and open the gate there. Go up the steps. On the right will be two knights. One will have a good shield and a 1000 potion. At this point I like to do a running jump over to the archers below that were shooting at you before and kill them. Then you'll have to jump down and go back up the steps. This time go left on top of steps and go down steps there. Kill the knight on the right. Go on. On the left will be a small room with a halbert and some empty barrels. If you go down the steps on the right by the breeze you'll find the KILLER AXE - a great weapon for the dwarf. Keep going. There will be food in barrels in room to the left. Keep going and kill the knight up ahead. On the right will be ways: left and the steps down on the right. Go into the entrance on the left and turn right there. You'll come to a darker area. Jump down and kill the knight there, and then open the door near him. Inside will be a minotaur snacking on a corpse. Kill him and pick up the powerful DOUBLE SWORD there. Before you leave, check behind the barrel near the door. There you'll find the GREAT MACE, which you should also get. Sacrifice the two weapons that are not the scimitar (It's up to you what you want to keep really). Now, I'm not too sure about this next part. I think that there is an already-opened exit from here which leads you back to that two way. You will end up going up the steps. If there is, go that way and this time go left. If there is no other exit except a closed door which leads to an outside corridor type of area, I guess you'll have to go that way. (Email me to let me know if I'm right.) Once you go left at the two way by the steps, turn left. Follow the path and kill two knights on the way. You'll then enter a darker area. Jump over the gap in the floor. Keep going. You'll end up in a room with DWARF AND AMAZON ARMOR and two wooden shields. Leave the room and jump down the catwalk. There will be some food in the barrels. Exit. There will be more food in barrels in the opposite room. Go outside. Now you should be where you would have been if you had taken the closed-door exit. But, I'm not sure. Keep going. Go into the entrance on the left. Kill the 16000 hp minotaur with the COPPER KEY in there. (I level up here to level 16.) Now you can use the great mace attack, which is great on knights. The door will open and you will have two knights to kill. But with your new gear and strength they should fall before your onslaught. This game is too easy. Now back outside, find the copper door, and open it. Go straight. There will be a dark knight (full potion) on the right. Guess these guys became possessed... Continue. There will be two more dark knights ahead; one will have the PALACE KEY. Outside take a right. Go past the palace door for now. You'll come to a window on the right to climb into. Inside will be the SMALL SHIELD, the strongest shield thus far, and a full life potion in a chest. Exit the room, go back to the palace door, and open it. - The Palace - As you enter a rich, beautiful melody will start up. Take a moment to notice the nice setting. Go on. Kill the two dark knights up ahead. Keep going and then up the steps on the left. Kill another dark knight there. ***RUNE*** Now turn around and go back to the steps. From the top you should see a button on the opposite wall above the steps. Shoot it. An entrance will open below. Go in. (Make sure you go a few arrows left.) Grab a torch and light I by the steps. Go back in and continue. Eventually you'll come to a room with a button. Press it. The door ahead will open. But before you run down there, take a look at the ceiling. Notice anything? Yes, very good, they are spikes. Grab an object in the room and toss it down the corridor. The spike ceiling will drop. Run through as they are coming back up. As you get to the door it will quickly shut and three arrows will shoot out of the walls. Hopefully they will all miss you, but if you get hit I'm sure you won't really care. Anyway, you now have to press that button again to open the door. But if you run back there, the trap will reset. So whip out your bow and shoot the switch from here. The door will open, and you will collect a rune. Leave this area and go back up the steps. Go to the other end of the room there. On the left will be a bridge with a dark knight archer. Kill him. Now look where you just came from. Notice an open window to the left? Jump on the windowsill and then into the window. Inside will be a room with the SHARP AXE for the Amazon and a quiver. Climb back out and jump back to the bridge. Prepare for battle (maybe save) and jump down from the bridge. Here ten or eleven skeleton will rise one by one from the ground. Killing them could be some trouble. Use your mace. After they are all dead find the UNHOLY AMULET in this area and pick it up. Go up the lift and continue across the bridge. You'll pass over the area where you first entered the palace. You'll come back outside. There will be two huge pillars to the left and right of the bridge. Take a look at the one on the left. Notice its base is missing? Walk to it using the ledge. Hop down and use the lift there. Grab the torch on the left and light it, as it is dark in here. Go on. As you go you'll come to a room on the left with the double edge. Opposite that room will be a corridor with a blade trap. Throw something down it to deactivate the trap. ON the other end of the corridor will be a room with the great hammer. Keep going. You'll reach a room with a power potion and the ICE AXE for the barbarian. This weapon is pretty cool, but you'll have to sacrifice one of your awesome weapons (barbarian). Leave this area (can use axe as light if you're barbarian) and back up to the bridge outside. Jump down again from the bridge here. You'll have to fight off another group of skeletons. After they're dead, pick up the SACRED AMULET in the area. Find the only exit out of the area. You'll be back where you were before. Go right and open the palace door again. Go back to the bridge and this time go all the way to the other side. You'll be at an entrance to some church. To the left and right will be recesses for the amulets. So go ahead and stick them into their respective spots. The door will open. Go in. A demon will jump through the window above. Just use a fast attack of a slashing weapon and he'll be dead in no time. He will leave the white opal (birr) behind. Pick it up, and end this nice level. Gorge of Orlok ----------------------------------- Length: short Difficulty: medium Description: The Gorge of Orlok is a very short level, probably the shortest in the game (there's Tel Halaf). But the level is beautiful. You'll be fighting all sorts of enemies on snow-covered mountaintops. The Ape, an awesome and rare enemy in the game, is encountered several times here too. - Outside Area - Cross the bridge. Two orcs come out of their dwelling place. Kill them. Inside the cave will be a fire and two travel rations. Go out and go left. Eventually an orc will attack from the left. Kill him and keep going straight. You will come to another orc. An orc archer will be shooting arrows from above. Ignore him and continue. You will come to a tunnel and another orc. Continue. Finally you will be at a large closed door, three zombies, and an orc archer raining down poisoned arrows from above. The CRUSH BO will be laying on the snow for the Amazon. I recommend running around while the archer shoots down arrows for you to collect and shoot back at him from a safe angle. The arrows will come in use. Since this is a dead end, turn around and go back to the place where you could have turned left before. You will encounter an orc on the way. Once you are there, go straight and then up the steps (or slope) on the right at the two-way. Go around and kill the orc. Jump over the gap and kill the orc there as well. You will see an area below with an ape. Feel free to shoot him up with poison arrows. Go up the small ledge on the right. Up there will be the orc archer who was bothering you before as well as a 1000 potion. Go back down and this time jump down. There will be an orc to your right, and another orc with an ape on the left. If you go down the path on the left, you'll be back at that two-way you were earlier. There should be some steps where the orc was. You might want to save before going up. Jump over the falling ground, jump down, and go left. - The Labyrinth and the Aquamarine - Up ahead will be an orc to your right, and an ape to the left. If you go up the slope on the left, you'll end up where you were before. Continue left. Kill three zombies and go on. Go inside the entrance. There will be a troll ahead and then another on the left. Now, this is a labyrinth, and the way to get through almost any labyrinth is to stick to the right or left. Stick to the right wall. You will come to an unnoticeable path on the right; if you see it, ignore it for now. You will then come to a lever; ignore that as well as it only activates a somewhere else. Keep going, and go up the steps ahead. Up here will be the ICE SWORD. Its special attack is amazing, dealing 14000 damage total. Therefore, you might want to hang onto it. I'll leave it up to you. Go back down and continue by the right wall. An ape ahead will break through the wall. Kill him and explore his cave. You will find the DOOM AXE by a fire. This weapon is awesome, dealing a massive 500 damage (for Barbarian though). You've now explored everything you needed to here, so go back to that easy to miss path that I told you to ignore earlier. On the right will be a room with empty crates. In the next area, there will be a pedestal outside on the right. Go up the steps up ahead. A dark knight with a 1000 potion will be in the room ahead (left?). Keep going this way. You'll come to a room with the ORB and an 1000 potion. Make sure to get the orb and go into the next room. Go down the steps in this area and kill the dark knight down there on the right. Outside you'll find the ICE HAMMER. Collect the food in the next room and go back. There will be a fall somewhere on the right. Try to avoid it (you can come back up if you fall) and go back to the first set of steps and to the pedestal mentioned earlier. Place the orb there. This will open four doors to a new room. Go inside and pick up the AUQAMARINE KEY (might want to save here). The four doors will close and new entrance will open. A neat-looking ice golem will emerge from the snow. You should level up to level 15 after killing him if you chose this level first. Go right. There will be an ape ahead. There will be some food inside the cave on the right, but this is the end... Oasis of Nejeb (rune) ----------------------------------- Length: long Difficulty: medium Introduction: This is a huge and complicated level. It has two parts to it. The first is the Oasis itself, where you'll be killing orcs and running back and forth getting keys. The second is a large cave area where you'll be avoiding the falls fighting mostly skeletons. It's a pretty good level, as the level texture is different from others. Also some interesting puzzles to solve and places to explore. Give yourself a pat on the back after you've passed this one. - The Oasis - You'll see an orc in the distance patrolling a small pool. Go ahead and kill him. There will also be an orc on the left and right. All three will have travel rations. Kill them and go left. There will be a small room on the left with some barrels. Opposite this room is a closed gate. If you keep going this way, you'll find two small rooms with food in barrels. Go back out and into the opposite entrance. On the right will be a room with more food in barrels. Keep going, past the closed gate on the left. There will be water in the next room with steps leading into an entrance on the right. Some music will start up... On the left you will see an unaware archer ahead. Hmmm, kill him. An orc will come up the steps on the left. You should kill him as well, just for fun, and then go down them steps. There will be an archer above ahead, also a troll and then another archer. If you go up the steps opposite the ones you just came down you will get another closed gate. Don't worry - you'll be able to open all these gates soon. Keep going down the steps. Avoid falling into the well on the right. It will not feel good. Instead, continue straight and kill the orc. There will be some barrels by the left wall, and then the golem lock. Go left. There will be two small rooms along the left wall; the second will contain a long sword. You will come to an area with two orcs. Slaughter them both in my name. Afterwards, the rather annoying battle music will cease to be. Up ahead on the right you will be able to climb over the wall at the spot where there is a broken pillar. Jump down. On the right you will see a cutscene of one of your buddies dying in a closed room. This "buddy" will depend on which character you're playing with. For example, with Sargon you see Zoe, and with everyone else I think you see Sargon. This cutscene is a warning. Don't continue this way. Instead go straight. There will be a troll and two archers outside. Another orc will be to the right. Go past the huge hole and into the entrance ahead. Inside will be some barrels and crates with food. Kill the orc around the corner. Keep going and up the steps on the left. Pull the lever there to open the gate. This leads back to the start. Feel free to go back there and gather any food/potions there that you haven't used yet. Go left. On the left will be a troll guarding the atysi gate. Give him a taste of cold steel. If he doesn't like it, kill him. If he does... then he should die quicker. Why am I talking like this? I don't know. Take a look at the pillars on the right. Notice how one is cracked? Well, hit that bitch. It will break, giving access to a 1000 potion there. Keep going; there will be a fall on the left. Open the gate to a new room. In the middle you will see the BIG SWORD. This is a great treat for the barbarian. But don't start swimming in your own drool - you have a golem to kill in here first. He will have the GOLEM KEY. After killing him, explore the area. To the right of the entrance is a small room with a full life potion. There will be two gates leading to previous areas to open. The one further away is best, as it's closer to the golem lock. Find your way back to it and open it. Go down the steps. On the way you will encounter two orcs and a troll, each with a potion, as well as a pile of barrels with food on the right. Keep going. You'll reach a big outside area. In the opposite corner will be an entrance with steps on the right. These will lead to room filled with water and the JARA KEY. Open the gate and keep going. On left 5 or 6 zombies will spawn. Keep going straight (stay in water). You might want to save at this point. Make sure that you have at least 2000hp and go up the steps ahead... Grab the ATYSI KEY. Two orcs above will activate a trap while you idiotically stand there and watch them. Both exits will close and gas will pour out of the walls. Quickly unlock the gate with the jara key and get the hell out of there. You will lose some hp in the process; there is no avoiding this. This is where your buddy died. You should understand that the reason I told you to ignore this area earlier is because you had no jara key, and you would have died. Go up the steps (food in barrels near by). Find your way back to the atysi lock and open it... - The Atysi - You are now in what I like to call the second part of the level... how clever. Anyway, this area is kind of confusing because you can go several paths, and therefore skipping the other route. These paths also loop into each, making it all the more entangling. I will, as always, explain the recommended path (which covers the most area and also the rune) and the alternate path. You can actually take one route, go back and take the second route (with the rune) if you wish to explore everything. I will explain how to do so. Go right and up the steps. Up there will be a troll with a 1000 life potion and two closed gates leading to two other balconies. No go back down and go left this time. Kill the three orcs on your way. One will have a full life potion. You'll be in another large area (that is below the previous balconies) with a giant door. Go right and break the cracked pillar there. Walk along the edge and get the power potion there if you need. I personally barely ever need these things since I never use them (except for a few certain spots). I find them unnecessary, unrealistic, and a bit cheap. Anyway, go back to the large area. Brake through the wall by the crates and go down the steps. You'll be in some cave area with a large fall where you have to walk on a ledge. There will be a skeleton on the right. Go STRAIGHT onto the curving path. Once you come to the edge, jump down (or rather run down) onto a ledge below. There will be a skeleton there as well as a large circular lift (you must stand on the far end of it for it to activate). Once you go up you'll be back at one of the previous balconies. Activate the lever there to open the large door below as well as the two gates in this area. (You could have actually jumped across, diagonally from the other balcony here. But it's kind of hard.) You can now go to the other balcony and get the DAGESE there. I, however, don't recommend getting it unless you are playing this level right after Karum because this weapon is weak and rather useless at this point. (Again, you could have actually jumped to this balcony.) Go back down. You now have a choice to explore more of this level or simply take the more direct route to the end. If you wish to do the latter, go through the large door. (In this case you would have to find the part in my guide where I go here myself.) I choose to explore, and I think that you should too. So, if you're adventurous, go through the broken wall and back to the caves. - The Caves - This time go along the right ledge. Jump over the gap there and continue. You'll come to two skeletons. Then you'll find yourself below (right) a large bridge with arced sides. You will be descending this entire path. On the left will be a raised lift that you can't access, so go right. Jump down to the ledge there. (I find it easier to simply run off the edge.) There will be a skeleton to the right. Keep going and kill another one ahead. Keep going and simply run across the next gap. You'll come to a place with a fire, an eclipse, and a 1000 potion. Grab what you need and prepare to face a skeleton and a minotaur that are coming for you. Kill and keep going. Notice that you have circled around and came even lower below the bridge. You'll come to a lift and a closed gate on the left. Go up the lift. You are now back at that lift you couldn't use before. There's nothing else to do here so go back to that large door you opened by the atysi lock. There will be a SHARP AXE on the right by a (dead) skeleton. Keep going. Ahead will be a place where you can go right or left. It doesn't matter - you end up in the same place. You will be on a "balcony" with three skeleton archers and "hole" in the center. Go around this hole killing the skeletons. From here, you can either go straight for the rune or explore an interesting additional place and then go back to get the rune. If you wish to do the latter read the next section of the guide. - The Six Pillars - There will also be two sets of stairs leading down. Go down either one. The gate will close behind you. Here will be six pillars. One of them will be raised and there will be a light coming out of it and a button underneath to step on. On one wall will be a lem lock and on the opposite a trigger to activate a lift. This lift will lead back to the caves. (You can go back up this way and get the rune if you got here accidentally.) Step on the button below the only raised pillar. Another will rise revealing another button. Keep doing this until all of the pillars have risen (remember the order). The LEM KEY will appear and the pillars will go back down. Grab it and open the door. A golem will be waiting for you there. Once he is dead the pillars will go back up. You must step on the buttons in the backward order on how you stepped on them before. If you forgot, this is it here: 4 3 2 5 6 1 If you make a mistake, the pillars will reset. Once you've stepped on each button and all the pillars have come down, the door where the golem was will open. If you go that way you will miss the rune. Since there is nothing left to do here, take the lift in this area to the caves and find your way back from there to the large door/bridge/balcony. Then skip to the rune section to continue the walkthrough. But if you don't feel like getting the rune (I can't imagine why...) you can go through the door you just spent all this time opening. (The only reason I offered to go down here is to check this place out, but not actually go this way.) Anyway, this door will lead to a circular area with a large pillar in the center and small ledges connected to it. (This is directly below the rune.) You must hop down (run off) each ledge to get to the bottom. You'll be at the minotaur and the fire with DOUBLE MACE. You can now use the last section of the walkthrough for this level (The End) to find your way out of this level. ***RUNE*** On the opposite side of the entrance there will be a rune symbol up high on the wall. Shoot it and a door will be opened. (Do know that if you get this rune you'll skip a part of this level. It is better to get the rune of course.) Go down the steps. The bridge will move to you. Make sure that your bow is equipped with plenty of arrows (these are provided in the center if you don't have them) and go into the center of the room. Step onto the center block. You now have to quickly shoot the four buttons on the walls or the eyes on the walls will shoot you. Don't rush yourself because you actually have plenty of time. Once you do, instead of shooting you the eyes brake down two pillars and the bridge extends to the other side. Watch the cutscene. Since the bridge won't go back you must go down the lift here. (If you fall down there you'll have to jump from ledge to ledge lower and lower. You will then end up in the same place the lift would have lead you.) - The End - You'll be back in the caves. There will be fire nearby and near it will be a 500 potion, a quiver, a naginata, a dead skeleton, and the DOUBLE MACE. A minotaur should have harassed you by now, if he hasn't then you have to go right of the wall and kill him. If you look up here you'll see some stuff up there. This is where you would have come from if you didn't get the rune. Anyway, go left and jump over the gap ahead. Kill the two skeletons ahead. Further on is a bridge and an angry golem coming at you. Don't let him stop you and go across. A large door will be in front of you. It will open once approached, but don't go there yet. There are things to explore. There will be a place to go right and left, go right. Jump over the gap. You'll come to a place to two skeletons and place to jump down. Then leap across a long gap and climb up the wall. Ahead will be three skeletons to kill. You'll come to a fire. Near it will be lying a combat sword, a full life potion, and the STEEL FEATHER. This weapon is pretty good weapon for the Amazon, but if you are playing with her you'll find that you current weapons are better and not worth trading. Keep following the path. Jump over a gap, and then another. You'll find that you have circled around. Save your game and go in the door. The doors will close and four skeletons with curved swords (hard) will attack from two sides. Run forward and away to avoid getting surrounded. Try to keep these guys together so they attack each other and so that your attacks hit more than one skeleton. After they are dead, read the gravestone. This one is kind of important to the storyline so try to keep attention. These are the places you'll be going to next. After you're done reading your old friend, the Necromancer, will be at your back. He should be much easier to kill this time, however. I found the back attack very useful when he disappears and reappears behind you. After you kill him, the level ends. Note: You will now have a choice of two levels. I recommend the Temple of Al Farum. Temple of Al Farum (rune) ----------------------------------- Length: long Difficulty: medium/hard Introduction: The Temple of Al Farum is a very nice level. It has some interesting elements put into it; it's also quite fun and huge - the largest level in the game I believe. You'll be fighting many different enemies and exploring different types of environments. You will also be going back and forth in the same area as you collect various objects, making the level seem even longer. There will be some interesting Tomb Raider type of puzzles to solve, giving this level a unique feel. Unquestionably one of the best levels in the game. - Breaching the Temple - The level starts off with you reading a mural on a wall giving a bit of a background on the area. After you're done reading, drop your torch and go outside. A rich melody will accompany you. Pause to take a look around. Follow the path. Soon, the huge temple will be in your view. You'll come to two orcs with travel rations camping outside the temple. Kill them and continue. You'll see the temple in its entirety now. Two alerted orcs will storm out of the temple to engage you. Continue and kill the one approaching you while avoiding the poisoned arrows of the other one. Then run up the slope (blocking when needed) and quell the archer. Collect any travel rations you might need and continue inside the temple. - Water and Fire - As you enter an orc will engage you from the left and a troll from the right. Kill the orcs first, as you can do so quicker. Run to him so you avoid fighting both at the same time. After they are slain, you'll have a new threat - archers, lots of them. This level is swarming with them, so you're going to have to learn how to dance unless you want to look like a porcupine. This temple is really huge and open, so there is no direct route. You can probably find your way around yourself. This is how I go. I'll go left this time. Run and duck behind the large pillar to avoid the volley of arrows. Run into the entrance ahead. You will see an entrance into a room to the left. An orc will be nearby the exit. GO inside the room and check out the SACRED FIRE. Go outside into the large area ahead. There will be archers above you. Don't duel with them, as you will lose. You'll get a chance to kill them later with your sword. It is fun, however, to shoot up a couple of them from a good angle where they can't get you back. There will be a large building ahead that looks like a library. Therefore, just for the sake of reference, I'll call this building the ancient library so you know what I'm talking about. Notice the two eagle statues (one fallen over) by it and the DOOR ORACLE in the front. Read it. I realize now the best way to walk you through this area is to make a map. Too bad I didn't draw one when playing this. I'll try to do so next time I play the game (with the dwarf). Anyway, the FIRST building you past (with the archers), go back to it and go to the left entrance. Kill the orc there and go inside. To the left will be the room with the SACRED WATER. Hmmm... I wonder what this stuff is for. Anyway, go back out the way you came and stick to the right wall. You will pass a closed door. Remember it as the CLOSED DOOR and continue along the wall, walking around the ancient library. Turn right and go up the steps. There should be a troll up here with a 1000 potion, but they tend to move around in this level, so he might be somewhere else. Up ahead will be the water altar and oracle that you should read. Jump over the gap ahead. To the right will be a long gap (water below). Sheathe your weapon, jump over, and slaughter the orc. Continue along this corridor. I choose this way because it is better to kill the archers first so they don't bother you later. Watch the right wall. It will contain different colored sections that don't match the rest of the wall. Break through them. The first will lead to a small room with a power potion. The second and third will be unbreakable. And the fourth will contain the AMULET, a mysterious object that to this point no one, including me, has been able to figure out a use for. Since you can't use it by itself, it must be used with something, probably as a key. But I have found no such place to stick this sucker in. My guess is that it a simple glitch in the game, as I'm sure that if there was a use for it someone would have found it. Continue left around the corner and kill the unaware archer ahead. The path ends here with a closed gate. So jump back over the river here and go past the debris. There should be two trolls here both with 1000 potions to the left and right. Go left. If you follow along the right wall you'll be going back to where you were. I hope you understand this area. It's not that hard, but I still plan to make a map for this level. There will be an entrance on the left into a building. Inside will be an EMTY BOTTLE to grab. Hmmm... I wonder what this could be used for. Go up the steps, kill the archer there, and go across the catwalk. Get on top of the building and jump down into the hole there. A 500 potion will be lying there, as if a present left just for you. Open the door, but before you go out look through the bars opposite the door. Do you see something there? That's where the last rune is. Go outside, go right, jump over the gap and kill the archer there. You want to get the rune now? Good time as any. ***RUNE*** Jump back over. There will be a small ledge behind the small building you just exited. Save your game if you are pussy. Jump on it, and then straight across the gap in between the two gates. Go into the large room with many pillars. To the right will be a golem. The great mace will be provided for you. You should have it by now, but if you don't pick it up and use it. Once the golem is dead, go to the left wall. Notice a part of the wall different from the rest? Hit it. In this room will be a dish of fire and a room symbol above on the wall. Shoot it. Go down the steps and into the room ahead. The floor will consist of different colored blocks. If you have seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade you should know what to do. If you haven't, I still won't tell you. In fact, I'll ask you to smack yourself really hard for not seeing a great movie such as The Last Crusade. Now, go to your nearest movie rental store, rent the movie, watch it, and then smack yourself again. Once you get across, go into the next room. There you will receive the last rune (if you went in my order). You now will have the full power of the sword. So that's good. Go through the new entrance and open the door. How convenient, you don't have to go over them blocks again. Go up the steps, past the fire, and back outside. You don't have to jump back to that ledge, as you can now open the gates. Go through the right gate. Turn at the corner past the "barrels" and kill the archer ahead. Here will be some torches. Grab one and then walk along the right edge and hop over the gap. Drop to torch here as you are going to finish exploring the rest of this area first. Go left of the two available paths. Follow along the left wall. You'll be back at the "three building area." There will be a room with two colored fires. Go into the second entrance by the gap. Go down the steps. Here will be some barrels and the COMBAT AXE, a highly important weapon for the dwarf. Go back up and the up to the next level. There will be an archer here with a 500 potion on the catwalk to kill. Across the catwalk will be a room with a fire and another 500 potion. There's nothing else here so go back to where you left the torch, pick it up, and follow along the right wall. You'll come to the fire altar/oracle guarded by an orc with a 500 potion. Keep going this way. You'll end up to the left of the ancient library. Go now to the sacred fire and light the torch. Quickly run back to the fire altar and light it with the torch. Now go back to the sacred water and 'use' the empty water bottle in the water to fill it. Go to the water altar an empty the water into there. The closed door is no longer closed, and you can enter the inner temple. - The Palace - Go the no longer closed door. Two dark knights will be there, scouting out the area. One will have a 500 potion. Go inside. There will be a room with pillars. Kill the dark knight there with the PALACE KEY. To the left will be the palace lock. Open it and go through. There will be dark knights here, one from the front and one from the left. If you go left you'll find the crypt lock. So go the other way (opposite last gate). Pass the steps on the right, turn right, and grab the 1000 potion here if you need it. Go back to the steps and go up. You will be on a balcony. There will be a dark knight archer ahead with a 500 potion and another to the right with a 500 potion nearby. Go left where you killed the first archer and open the door there. You are now back outside above where you were. There will be an archer to the right in the distance (don't know how he ended up there). Ignore him and go into the entrance ahead. Ignore the hole in the center of the room and exit through the other entrance. Go straight and back inside. To the right will be some crates. To the left will be an aggressive troll. Kill. Go left. Here will be a combat sword and a boathook. Left is a dead end. Go right. Two dark knights will be ahead, one with a full potion. Keep going. If you go down the steps on left you can open the door to go back outside. Go straight. Turn left and then right. Ahead will be a dark knight, gazing at the landscape. I had no idea the dead had as much appreciation for this scenery as I do. Kill the poor guy. There will a large hole into the sacred water to avoid. There will also be the RHINO CLUB here for the barbarian. Leave this area through the other entrance. Open the door ahead. You'll be back at the balcony. Find your way back to that hole in the center of the room and jump down. Grab the CRYPT KEY. A golem will go after you. Kill. You should be leveling up here to level 18. A cutscene will show you that something opened up in front of the library. Find your way back to the crypt lock and open it. (There could be some archers on the way depending on how many you've slain already.) - The Crypt - Go down the steps there and go around the corner. In this area will be three zombies and some torches. After the zombies are dead, grab a torch and light it. Find the other entrance and go down the steps. Go through the dark here, lighting torches/dishes as you go along. There will be additional torches in random places if your first goes out. Ignore all the zombies you see. Just run past them. They won't be able to catch you. You can kill them later once the place is lit up. Eventually you come to a wide corridor with smaller rooms along the right wall. The third of these rooms will contain the HARPOON for the Amazon. After this room will be an already lit room with a trigger on the left. Press it. The floor starts to open and the walls start to close. WTF? Was this supposed to be some kind of trap? Anyway, you have all the time you need to go down the steps. TO the left will be a room with a large fire and behind it a STAFF by the throne. Now what? You guessed it. Carry this thing all the way back to the place by the ancient library. - The Amber Key - After what seems to be an hour of running you'll be back outside by the library. Stick the staff into the round hole in front of the main door. A beam will shoot out of the staff and open the door. This reminds me of Tomb Raider... You'll be in a large room. Push the sacred stone in the center of the room. Two holes in the ceiling will open allowing light in. The light will reflect a couple of gems and open a door. Two dark knights will storm out. One will have a 1000 potion. Kill them, just for fun. Now notice how the second door didn't open because the gem on that side is missing. So go through the newly opened door and up the steps. There will be two dark knights here each with a 1000 potion. (They tend to fall off sometimes.) You'll be above the previous area. Go across the catwalk and get the green gem in that room. Go back down and place it in the empty eye. The second door will open from the beam of light emitted by the gem. (You might have been able to access this area by simply jumping down from the previous steps.) Go down the steps. You will be in a large room with a large pool of water in the center. Go to the other end of the room. Four skeletons will come one by one out of the burning hole. After they are all dead, the water level will lower. You will be able to jump down into a hole. There, by the door you'll collect the AMBER KEY, Ryazan, which you so deserve. The door will open. This place will be filled with water. GO right. You'll come to a climbable slope on the left. Climb up and then jump over to the other side. Follow the path. You'll come to a place with two golems. After you kill them, the level ends as you walk off. Whew! That was long. But it was also, in my opinion, the last good level in the game. Time to get the last rune... Forge of Xshathra ----------------------------------- Length: medium/long Difficulty: hard Introduction: The Forge of Xshathra is a rather nasty level. Filled with many difficult enemies as well as nasty traps this level is a drag to get through sometimes. These guys really didn't want you to get this last rune. You'll find this level looping into itself, as you will see areas that you've already visited. All of the fire weapons are located in this level. - Welcome to Lava world - As you begin, a rather gloomy melody will start up. It is quite fitting, however, for the level. Take a look around. Nothing but lava, and that creepy face on the wall. Go forward and up the steps into the entrance ahead. From here you can left or right, it doesn't matter. In the next room you'll be greeted by an orc (50 potion) from the right and a troll (150 potion) from the left. In the next room jump down and kill the two orcs there. Open the gate on the right and proceed across the bridge. Kill a troll (150 potion) and the orc that follows. Ignore the ledge and go down the steps. If you are the dwarf or Amazon jump down to the upper place below. There you'll find DWARF MEDIUM ARMOR and the FIRE BO. After you get them jump down, find the elevator and go back up. Avoid getting close to the lava. Jump across the bridge. To the left will be a dark knight (1000 potion) and in the next room a dk archer. Go to the other end of the room, jump over the gap with "jumping lava balls", and press the two triggers there to open the door. You will now be entering the inner forge. - The First Spiral Staircase - Go across the bridge. Kill two zombies while going up the steps. Take the first right. If you go left the floor will collapse under you. You can avoid falling down by going along the left ledge. Get the CROWN there. Afterwards, jump diagonally from the ledge on to the bridge. If you do fall you'll have to fight a burning skeleton and then activate a trigger that will raise some lava. You'll have to run back and get onto the rising platform. Go back to the spiral staircase and go up. Jump over a small gap and keep going. Take the next right and then jump over the broken bridge. In the next room will be three zombies and the FIRE SWORD by some barrels at the end. DON'T get it. It's way too useless at this point in the game (unless you are playing these levels first). Go back to the spiral staircase and go up. Go up the steps on the right and into the next room. The tower lock will be on the opposite side. Two dark knights (one with 1000 potion) will attack from the right. Kill them and then jump down into the area on the right. A dark knight with the TOWER KEY and a minotaur with a huge boulder should attack you. If not, find them in the small room there. Be careful of the minotaur, as the boulder has huge range and power. Try to kill the dark knight first. In the room from which they came will be the HEAVY NAGINATA for the Amazon. After you get the key, climb up and open the gate mentioned earlier, and save. - The Second Spiral Staircase - Cross the bridge. Beware of the skeleton archers to the right. Jump onto the ledge on the right from the bridge, and try not to get shot while doing so or you will die. And that's never fun. Jump again to another bridge. Go on and kill them annoying skeletons on the right. Killing the skeletons might be fun, but the real reason I sent you over here is to get the SHARP SWORD by the barrels. One of them will be unbreakable - ??? (I recommend sacrificing either the double sword or scimitar. But don't listen to me. Do whatever makes you happy.) You can also kill a third skeleton further on the right. Go back to the bridge and open the gate there to get back to the spiral staircase. Go down the steps killing three knight zombies on the way. You can choose your own path here. But this is how I go. Go all the way down. There will be a locked gate at the bridge. Jump down below where there is no lava. Then jump across the lava into the circular room and activate the lever there to open the door nearby. But don't go there yet. Go to the right first. Jump to the ledge. It will be hard avoiding stepping in the lava. Kill the two dark knights there each with a 500 potion and one with the KEY. Keep going. Avoid the fire from the statues on the wall. Turn right and jump over the gap. Keep going. Turn left onto the bridge. Three skeletons will appear where you just were. This is a glitch as the creators don't expect you to come this way. Kill them (the skeletons, not the creators). Go across the bridge and go back down the locked gate and open it. (You don't really need to go here unless you're the barbarian.) Go on. Jump down on the left and kill the two skeletons there. Keep going. Jump over the marked parts of the floor as they will collapse. Turn right. There will be a skeleton ahead. On the right wall you should notice a window. Look through it. You see that big button on the wall? Shoot it. This will open the door below. Continue. Turn right and jump over the lava there to the ledge. Go into the entrance and straight. Turn right. Up ahead will be the GREAT FIRE SWORD for the barbarian. This level has two special attacks, one that you can do early on and one that you can do later. SO you MIGHT want to keep it. But probably not. Be careful. If you drop it you might not be able to pick it back up. Find your way back the spiral staircase. You'll have to kill three skeletons on the way and jump over the now broken bridge. Go up one level and back to fire-shooting statues. Go back to the door you opened before that I told you to ignore. - Things Get Nastier - To the left will be a dark knight (1000 potion) and a torture room with a minotaur with the WEAPONS STORE KEY. (forgot who has key, maybe the knight) You can run away to the left, but I highly discourage this especially if you're playing with the knight. Not only do you lots of exp. points but also you really want that key. If you don't like direct combat with the minotaur you can go inside the torture room and try to get him in a certain spot where it won't be able to fit through the entrance. After they are dead go left up the steps. Up there go down the lift. To the left will be the weapon storage gate. Open it. There will be lots of stuff in there, but the only thing you are interested in the KNIGHT HEAVY ARMOR. If you are playing with the dwarf and haven't got the COMBAT AXE you can get it here as well. Exit and go the other way. Turn left and go the other end of the room ahead. You'll see three rocks in the lava that you can jump on. Simply walk onto the first rock, hop to the second, and run jump OVER the third. A cutscene will play showing two minotaurs lowering some prisoners into the lava. Don't try to save them; they are meant to die and I don't think you can anyway. What you do have to worry about is fighting two minotaurs at once. Thank god they only have axes and not those huge boulders. You can be cheap and let them hit each other, just make sure that you get the last hit or you won't get the exp. points. After killing them you should be near level 19. A new entrance will open near the stack of barrels on the left. Go there and to the end of the room. Brake through the barrels there and follow the path killing four zombies on the way. - More Spiral Staircases - You'll come to another spiral staircase. Go up killing three more zombies. At the top will be a broken bridge. If you need a power potion you can fall down below and get one. Then you'll have to jump down another ledge below and come back up. Otherwise, just jump across. Kill the burning skeleton and continue. Follow the path and then go across the bridge with a skeleton. You'll come to yet another spiral staircase (jeez...). Go up and kill the skeleton on top. Go across the bridge on the right and jump over the small gap. Yes! Another spiral staircase. Go down and kill the knight zombie. Follow the path here killing four knight zombies on the way. You'll come to a dark knight with the DUNGEON KEY and then the dungeon itself across a small gap. Open it. - The Dungeon - There will be a room with a dark knight (500 potion). (I leveled up here.) Two more dark knights will come after you from the next room. One will have a full life potion, so keep him from drinking it. Go on. Go outside and across the bridge over the lava. (This doesn't look like a dungeon.) You'll come to a room in which a cutscene will play showing you two demons. They aren't too hard; just use the right attack of the sharp sword over and over. That always works. In this same room the FIRE AXE on the left for the dwarf is located. Go through the new entrance. Step onto the large round platform. It will drop onto the lava and a big showdown with a lava golem will begin. Woohoo. He has only 6000 hp and can be killed with a leg of a dark knight. After you kill him you get the black obsidian stone, the last of the gems. Note: The long quest for the four gems is finally over. Now it is time to collect the sword of Ianna, kill Dal Gurak, and then go into the heart of darkness and kill the Lord of Darkness, the ultimate bad dude. Who is Dal Gurak you ask? Well, that's a good question. I have no idea. Apparently he is very naughty and is in need of some good spanking. Anyway, on with the quest! (Is that stupid?) Temple of Ianna ----------------------------------- Length: short/medium Difficulty: medium Introduction: This is the place. What place you ask? Well, the place where you get the Sword that you have been hearing about the entire game. However, you won't be able to just walk in and get the sword. First, you have to pass a series of traps and donate the gems you've been collecting to gain further access into the temple. Then, it's the good old fighting orcs thing. Then there will be a little more fighting with other enemies, and then the sword. The texture of this level will be new, but nothing too impressive. So let's just go get this sword. - Securing the Gems - Follow the water filled path. You'll come to an outside area with some steps. Go up. Up ahead will be two triggers on the wall. Press them both and two entrances to the same place will open. In the next area will be a (rock?) golem. Guess they can't have this whole place empty. Kill, and a new entrance will open. Go there. To the left will be a small room with a 1000 potion. Go out the opposite entrance. (You can break the face on the wall.) Jump down to the right and shoot the switch behind and above you on the wall. The door to continue will open and the steps in front of you will lower. Although there are torches to the right, you can't burn down those wooden boards in your way, so climb back up and go through the new entrance. Ignore the water and turn left. Go past the pool and into the room ahead. Offer the golden gem. Go back to the water and go into the newly opened entrance on the right. In the next room shoot the skull with the burning eyes, to deactivate the arrow trap. Go up the steps and offer the aquamarine. A new place opens by the water. (There will be a 500 potion to the left of the steps here.) Go back, and go right by the water. Go to the other side of the next room and climb through the window. Jump down (into the water). Go right and follow the long straight path. At the end will be two triggers to press. After you do so, the bridge will start to extend. You must hurry and climb up to the right. Follow the path there and then turn right to the other side. Run back and jump down. Then quickly jump on the bridge before it moves away. You have plenty of time. (You can actually try to climb up to the left, but it's hard.) Offer the white opal and watch the cutscene. Wow. You would think that such a sacred and hidden temple would not be swarming with orcs. But I guess they couldn't have the level filled only with simple traps. - The Last Gem - The wall in front of you will break down. Go there. Here will be a big room with two orcs, each with a 150 potion. In the next area two orcs (one with a 150 potion) and a troll (1000 potion) will come at you. Kill them gracefully. Go right and up the steps. Go into the entrance on the left. There you'll find two orcs (150 potion) and a troll (1000 potion). Kill and continue. Go out the exit and outside. The archers will harass you. You can run under one and out of the range of the other. Climb up into the window to the right and jump down. You'll be back at that switch area. There will be two new orcs here, one with 500 potion and the other with 150 potion. (Wow. Everyone has potions now. Should I even mention them anymore?) You should notice that those wooden boards are broken, and you can get through this time. There, in the water, you'll find a POWER POTION and a BRACELET guarded by a 30000 hp minotaur. Go back to the pillars and climb up the broken one. Two more orcs to kill are here (150 potion). Go right. There will be an archer above. Go into the water. Go right and up the steps. On the left will be two trolls - one with a 1000 potion, and the other with full life potion that you should kill quickly. This is the point of no return, so go ahead and drink up. (Have you realized that you are back in the areas that you were before?) At the other end of this room will be a window. Climb through, quickly, as three archers are there eager to fill you up with arrows. After you jumped down into the water run straight and under the archers. There will be a new entrance there, from which a minotaur with 31000 hp will emerge. Kill him, or run away like wimp you are. In the next area go left. Here will be the last gem's trap. Step on the right button. The door ahead will open. But you can't go through until you've disabled the bolt trap by stepping onto the left button. But that button doesn't stay down. What do you do? Ok, I'll tell you. See that cracked wooden support beside the button? Give it a couple good smacks and it will collapse along with a huge pile of rocks on top of the button. Problem solved. The bolt will now hit the exposed gem instead of you. Go up the steps and offer the last gem. - Acquiring the Sword - Go back to last room. A new entrance is opened on the other side. Go up the ramp ahead and jump over the gap. Jump down into the hole in the floor. Go up steps there. You'll come to a room with three skeletons. Kill them and go left. In the next room will be three elephant statues. Cool. Keep going. Jump down the hole on the right into the water. To the right will be two triggers which will lower the wall so you can climb up. Go across the bridge. A dark knight will engage you. These guys come fully equipped now. He will have a powerful skull shield, a sharp sword, and a 1000 potion. That means that he is powerful, he can take much damage, and can heal himself. So be careful. Up ahead will be another dark knight with the same accessories, but this time a minotaur as well. Take the right ahead and follow the path. Climb up ahead. Then jump down into the water. Follow the path. Climb up again. There will be two skeletons here, staring at you, waiting for you to come down. Kill them. Climb over the wall and continue. There will be a golem ahead. Take your time when killing him. You don't want to lose too much health here. Climb over the last wall. Go left here and save. Here's your final challenge to get the sword - a chaos knight. Use your bracelet (you can use it twice) and power potion if you have to and kick his ass until he disappears. You are at the four fires that you activated before. Go on and take possession of the sword... A long cutscene will play. There are two different cutscenes depending on whether or not you've collected all the runes. If you have, the cutscene is a bit more intense, but nothing special. Anyway, you got the sword, time to kick some ass. Note: At this point you'll be able to go back to any level in which you did not get the rune. These levels will now be swarming with all sorts of nasties - demons, vampires, etc. But all of the doors will now be open. If you have to go back to these levels, I recommend just running past all the enemies and running straight to where the runes are. After getting the rune, you can simple teleport out of the level (they will tell you how). Tower of Dal Gurak ----------------------------------- Length: long Difficulty: hard Introduction: So, you've got the sword. Now it's time to use it. There's this guy - Dal Gurak - and he is bad. So bad that you have to kill him, preferably with the sword you spent 90% of the game trying to acquire. Apparently, Gurak is the guy causing all this ruckus, you know, the orcs and skeletons and stuff like that. So killing him should fix all this. (I guess that's we've being trying to do this entire game.) Doing so, however will not be easy. Getting into the tower itself will be a problem. And once you're in, you will wish you never came there. You'll be fighting lots of difficult enemies in a tough environment. Once you do get to Gurak, you might not have anything left. But you can do it. I believe in you. - Breaching the Tower - First off, check out your new sword. If you've gotten all the runes, it should glow. If it's not glowing, load your last save, finish the Temple of Ianna again so you are at the map, and then go back to all the levels where you didn't get the rune. This is a good time to practice its special attacks. The second, more powerful one is not yet accessible to you, not until level 20. The first is very easy to perform. Simply press attack and then half a second later press down. It will take a moment to charge up and then you'll send a powerful arc straight forward dealing about 5000 damage. Try to do this attack on level ground, as it tends to hit the ground and disappear. It doesn't, however, disappear after hitting an enemy, so try to line your enemies up when performing this attack so you hit more than one enemy. I don't really recommend using this attack against all enemies, as they are quick. Use it on the big and slow minotaurs and golems when they are far away. Also, it's very easy to accidentally trigger the special attack when you don't want to. This will deplete all your energy and you'll end up panting while your enemies are pounding away at you. Plus, the sword is simply not as strong as your other weapons. Anyway, let's play the level. Follow the path. You'll come to two orcs camping out by a fire. A troll will join them when they see you. Kill and continue. You'll come to an edge with lava below. Dk archers will be shooting from the other side. You can go two ways here. I'll tell you the way which allows you to get the most powerful weapon for your character. You'll also be able to go the other way after completing this path. Just go where I tell you. Go right along the edge. Jump across the gap. Then go up and jump down to the right. You'll come to a lava pool. The bridge across is broken, so you'll have to find another way. Pass it. There will be some boulders that you'll be able to use as hopping stones. Once you get to the wall, draw your weapon and climb up. Kill the two dk archers up here. Follow the path. You'll be back outside. Here you can kill those dk archers. The first one will have the AMRORY KEY. You're now above the starting area. Kill a third dk archer ahead. If you want, shoot up the orcs below. Keep going this way. You'll enter a cave with lava below. Five critters will await you at the end. Kill the little pests and go into one of the entrances on the right. Inside will be some empty crates and the HEATER SHIELD, the most powerful shield in the game (8000 strength!). You can open the door here and continue this way, but if you want to explore everything you should do what I do. (If you want to continue this way, then you'll have to find in the walkthrough when I reach this spot.) Go back outside and jump down to the starting area below. There are many good spots to do so, but the best is where you first came outside from the other way. (Am I wording this understandably? Probably not.) Just find a good spot to jump across and do so. Go the way you didn't take in the beginning (left of start) and kill the two orcs there. The door will open and two dark knights (1000 potion each) will come after you. One will have the HEAVY SWORD. This is the most powerful weapon for Sargon, so if you're playing with him make sure you get it. I don't know why this dude had it. It belongs in the armory of this level, just like all of the most powerful weapons. So if you're playing with Sargon, you don't really need to go the other way to get the armory key. Anyway, get the sword and go on up the steps. Kill a dk archer (1000 potion). Once you get to the top save. Go on. The door will close behind you. Are you ready? For what you ask? Well, for the two minotaurs with huge boulders coming after you. Have fun. (Psss. This is a good time to use the sword of Ianna's special attack.) And watch out for the archer. It's probably better to fight them outside. (There will be a 1000 potion by the dead skeleton outside.) You can let them hit each other, just make you sure you're the one to get the last hit in. After they are slain a new door will open and a dark knight (1000 potion) will come down. Go up the stairs and kill the dk archer. I leveled up here. Activate the lever here to open the door and go through. Keep going through another door. It will close behind you. THIS IS WHERE YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN IF YOU KEPT GOING BEFORE WITHOUT JUMPING DOWN. Three new doors will open and you'll have to face three rather difficult orcs and a troll in a small room. This will be kind of hard, but try to enjoy it, as these are the last orcs/trolls in the game. After they are slain, a new door will open. In this room you'll have to face a golem while avoiding the arrows from the two dk archers above. After you kill him, you'll get a small glimpse of Dal Gurak. - The Tower - You've made it inside the tower. Now why would you do that? This place isn't that pretty. Oh well. Up ahead will be a crate with a 150 potion. Take the exit to the right. Two dark knight archers will be waiting there for you. Kill them and go right. (The sharp sword's or the heavy sword's special attacks work well here.) Go into the entrance on the right. Go up the steps. Here will be a crap load of dark knights to fight. Five of them will come from all sides, two from the room on the left (there will be a 1000 potion in there). In the room up ahead will be an archer by some broken steps. You can't get to him, so ignore him and go right. In this room will be one more dark knight to kill. In the next room will be some meat on the table. They eat here? Anyway, run through the next room to avoid the arrows of an archer. In the next room will a minotaur. At the end of the room will be two empty chests and a lift. Go up. In the next room will be a 500 potion under the steps. Now it's gearing up time. Ignore the steps for now and keep going. On the left will be some broken floor. Jump over to the sides using the ledges and open the armory. (If you fall you can go back up.) Now this is probably the single coolest room in the game. Try not to get too excited when you all that's in there. Inside you'll find the most powerful weapon for each character - the HEAVY SWORD (Knight), the DOOM AXE (Dwarf), the DEMON SPEAR (Amazon), and the SHARK SWORD (Barbarian). You'll also find the strongest armor for each character, as well as various other weapons. These are rather useless. But some of them are kind of interesting, like the BLOOD AXE. So you can mess around with those for a bit. Now that you are fully equipped, it's time for action. Leave the armory and go up the previous steps. Go right and then into a dark room. Inside will be two metal golems. You can practice the light sword's special attacks here. Try to line them up so the arcs hit them both. Leave through the new exit, go right and then up the steps. Go into the entrance on the right. Here will be a dark area with the only source of light being three pairs of burning skeletons to kill. At the end, climb up and kill the skeleton there. In the next room the door will close behind you and you'll have to fight six skeletons coming out of the lava holes. This never gets boring... After they are dead the room will light up red. In the north east corner of the room will be a CROWN on top of the pillar. Make sure you get it! It will be a lifesaver. Hop over from pillar to pillar to the other corner to leave the room. Follow the path here past various red lights, up the steps ahead, and into the room ahead. Here you'll have to fight two demons and a fire golem. Leave the room. Jump over the right and go up the steps. Kill the two skeleton archers here and cross the bridge ahead. Jump across the gap and cross another bridge with two more skeletons. In the next room the door will close behind you and this time you'll have to fight six demons in pairs. They are never too hard to kill. Just use quick attacks from your most powerful slashing weapons. Exit. On the left you have to jump to some ledges to get across the lava. (Why is this here?) On the last wooden ledge you can climb up the wall for a 1000 potion. Jump back down. - Getting to Gurak - Continue. There will be a full life potion by the (dead) skeleton. Now as you follow the path here, look around for potions as they are all over the place. There are two 500 potions before the steps and a 1000 potion after the steps on the ledge on the left. There will be a place on the right with four ledges connected to a wooden pillar over some lava. On the back ledge is a full life potion, which you don't need. Up ahead will be a lift (500 potion by it). Save, go up, and forward. A cutscene will play. Dal Gurak will unleash Meskalamdug, a huge, scary-looking mofu, on you. Did you shriek when he came up out of the ground? Well, you should have. This guy doesn't mess around. Use your crown, as he likes to breathe a lot of fire. (You can use the crown twice.) He is best approached at medium range. Wait for him to start breathing fire from side to side, then approach him from the side and kick his ass. Use the special attack of your most powerful weapon to drain all those hitpoints. You can also try sending an arc at him from far away, but I don't know if you'll be able to do it fast enough. (Read the Enemy section to get more fighting tips.) Don't start celebrating after you have slain him, as this is just the first of three hard battles. Save and go up the lift. It will rise for a long time giving you a sense of what's to come. Once you're at the top go forward. Another cutscene will play. This time Gurak will be in a pissy fit. When he said "all evil spirits" I thought that I'm going to face multiples of a new enemy. But instead you'll just have to fight some skeletons in pairs. But these will be hard. They will have vampire shields (life draining) and sharp swords. I just used the right attack over and over. That seemed to work well for me. Once the last skeleton is dead, the battle with Gurak will begin. - The Battle with Dal Gurak - Gurak will now appear in one of the five different spots in the room and will launch either fast, red arcs at you, or green spheres that lock on you. Both can be avoided by dodging or running behind a wall. Your main problem will be trying to hit him, because he will disappear when you come close. Therefore, you must rely on the two special attacks of the Sword of Ianna. This will deplete his shield, which only appears when it is hit. It also changes colors to tell you how far you have to go. When it gets to red you know you're close. If you haven't collected all the runes and don't have access to those attacks, you will have some trouble. Either you can try to quickly run up to him and hit him before he disappears, or use your pitiful bow. Once his shield as depleted, he will stop disappearing. Now you must kick his ass the old fashion way. From a distance, he will launch those arcs at you. At close range, he will attack you quickly, making it hard to hit him. At medium range he will throw his sword as a boomerang at you. This is how you get him. Wait for him to do this. Then, while he is retrieving the sword attack. He will start off with 10000 health, and once he is low on health, he will gain his energy back to 20000. Just don't be too eager to kill him. Walk around him at medium range and observe his tactics. Patience will be key in this fight. I didn't find him that hard actually. After he is dead, one of two possible things will happen. If you haven't collected all the runes, then this will be it, the end. A crappy, dull cutscene will play leaving you completely unsatisfied, like it is supposed to. This is simply an encouragement to play the game through again, this time getting all the runes. If you did collect the runes, then you're in for some more fun. A huge door will appear and open up an entrance and you will enter the Abyss... The Abyss (extra) ----------------------------------- Length: medium/long Difficulty: very hard Introduction: So, you've made it into the Abyss. Why did you do that? I don't want to discourage you but I often stop at this level without finishing the game. This level is nothing but one boss fight after another. It will really get boring and annoying. Although this level has a great, gloomy atmosphere, you'll be too occupied trying to keep your ass alive. Well, come on; let's finish the game... - The Cliffs - Follow the path. (If you try to go back the ground will fall from under you.) There will be lots of minor earthquakes. As you enter a cave, be careful - the ground will fall. Jump over. A cutscene will show a dark knight two others to go after you. But why does he say "common"? Kill the knights. Be careful, all of these guys will be tough now, equipped with the latest trinkets like sharp swords and skull shields. At the two way take a left and go down the steps. You'll come to a pedestal with the GOLEM KEY and two golem statues near it. I am sure you have realized that they will come alive when you pick up the key. That is why I recommend sheathing your weapon before picking up the key. Once you do, they will of course come alive and the door will start to close. The key word here is 'start'. You can quickly turn around and run through before it closes, unless you want to stay here and fight off your new golem friends. Feel free to avoid any enemy you want as experience is no longer a factor. Back at the two way take the other way. Go down the steps. On the right will be a minotaur to kill. Also notice the guardian lock. Continue. Kill a skeleton archer and then another one. Be careful as you enter the cave - a gap will break open. Up ahead is a skeleton, patiently waiting for you on the bridge. Kill him sportsman-like and jump over the gap. Don't hang around too long though as the ground will fall. A minotaur will meet you from the right. Kill or avoid. Go into the narrow path. Go slowly as there's a fall here. Up ahead will be some crackling sounds. Climb up to the left. Go up the slope and kill the skeleton archer ahead. You'll come to the dark knight that ran away from you before. It's funny how he calls you 'coward.' Anyway, kill the bitch (wounded) and take the GUARDIAN KEY from him. I would cut off his leg or something and beat his corpse with it. You know, just for fun. A minotaur will also come along. Give him a nice metal smack and continue. On the right will be a skeleton across the gap. From here you will have to jump down to platform below. Notice that you've been here before and now you're heading back to the guardian gate. Run back to it. There will be a gap to jump as well as a few new skeletons. Open the gate. - The Living Quarters... of the Dead - This next section is quite interesting. On the right will be a small room. Inside will be a bed, a small table, a lamp, and even a toilet. Wow, I've played through the entire game and this is the best sign of housing I've seen. I guess these dead dudes are the only civilized guys in the game. That, or the Lord of Darkness treats his minions well. Anyway. Keep going. Avoid the gaps in the floor. There will be another door on the right, but not open enough to fit through. Too bad. Jump over the gap and go down the steps. The golem gate will be ahead of you. Two skeletons will come after you from each side. One of them will be on fire. Guess they are low on gasoline in hell. (These jokes are getting annoying, aren't they? Well, too bad. I'm writing this. Bitch.) Kill them, but don't open the gate yet. Go up the steps on the right. Jump over the gap. There will be small rooms to the left and right containing various cool, however useless, weapons. One will have the blood axe, another a double mace. Well, now you've done it. Going right into hell is one thing, but once you start snooping around people's personal things you tend to make them mad. Three dark knights will approach you. Snatch their 1000 potions and run! Well... Ok, just kill them. Try not to get blocked in in one of the small rooms as you duel. In the next two rooms will be a crush bo and double mace, and a doom axe, full life potion, and small shield. Keep going. On the left will be a small room with... sinks? Wow, these guys are more civilized than I would expect. Go up the steps. You're now on the other side of the door that wasn't open quite enough. So go back to the gate and this time go left. Jump to the large, fancy platform. Here you will get a much needed POWER POTION and HEATER SHIELD. Aight, now you ready to open the golem gate. So go ahead. - The Vampire's Den - Go down the steps and past the puddles on the left. Keep going and down steps. The VAMPIRE KEY will be laying there for you on the cross-shaped floor. Hmmm. Something is too welcoming here. Sure enough, as soon as you grab it a fire golem will drop down from below. He is easy; the hard part is not falling off. After you kill him two paths will open - the way back and a way to continue. Go up the steps. Then down the steps. The face on the wall will glare at you. Evil. Nothing but pure evil here. Go through the door. Here, go down either set of steps and then down again. Open the door with the vampire lock. Up ahead will be a red room with an arena in the center. Go past it and down the steps at the other end of the room. Run straight through this dark section as three walls tend to open and close here, and you might get squashed. You'll be back at the steps. Ok. That's nice. Don't understand the meaning of that. Anyway, kill the four new skeletons here and go back to the red arena. What!? Not this guy again. We already killed him like two times. Oh well. Maybe this time he will remember. However, this time there's some new stuff. If you step out of the ring, the vampire will disappear and reappear with all his health. So you don't want to do that. Best way to kill this dude is to do a special attack while he is still at a distance to drain them hitpoints. After that, he will start appearing behind you. So use the back attack and he will die. Just don't block, because he will just break your shield in one hit. Not too hard, right? Depending where you deal the final blow, he might leave his shield or axe behind. Both are useless. A new set of steps will lower nearby. (If you want to save, this is the place.) Go down and through the gate. - The Path into Hell - You are now in the very inner abyss. Ahead lies nothing but pure horror. But there's no turning back now. A demon will jump down from below. Kill him. Two more will appear. Kill them too. Are you having fun yet? Well, don't worry. There's more ahead. Go through the large door, if you dare. It will close behind you and now you'll have to fight four skeletons. Why not run around them in circles like a maniac and let them kill each other. Up ahead will be your next challenge - two chaos knights. Kill them too. Your best bet here is Ianna. Launch them arcs like there's no tomorrow, and try to line them up. And simply block when they launch those balls at you - they will love doing that. It will take a while, but at least you won't be dead. DON'T BLOCK. They will just break your shield. And you really need your shield at this point. After they're dead (they will eventually, trust me), the door will open for more fun. Go on. Jump onto the lift ahead. It will lower... for a REALLY long time. I found this part really cool. Elevator to hell, hehe. It WILL stop, and what do you know - another chaos knight to kill, only this guy has 24000 hp. Get the job done. After he is dead, a platform will extend that you will have to jump to. Go on. Run through the dark and take a right. Now here is supposed to be a cutscene and then this big duel with Meskalamdug. However, instead of running forward and then finding him standing behind me like it should be, my character runs around in a circle and then runs off the edge. Ain't that nice. So, I can't continue the guide at this point. And I was so close... Taximan the Savior has sent me a save file for the Abyss! We are saved. Taximan, God bless you. Anyway, Meskalamdug appears behind you. He actually kind of scared me; the guy is just massive. Use the same tactics as before. If you're playing with the dwarf, the light sword (from a distance) works best. After killing him, if you're low on health, this would be the time to drink your potions, because it's time... Look for an extended bridge and continue. You'll come to a massive dragon statue with its open mouth aimed straight at you. Cool. Continue. Eventually you'll come to a declining long corridor, and at the end you should see someone. This is where you SAVE. - Yo, Bad Dude, I've Come for You - Approach the Lord of Darkness. He doesn't look too threatening, does he? Anyway, this cutscene the subtitles are way off from the speech. At the end you get a nice smack in the face, a huge monster body comes up from behind the Lord of Darkness, grabs him, and puts him into itself. You didn't really think you came all this way to fight some old, scrawny, little man? The guy will have massive HP and stunning good looks. Time to fight. Alright, this guys has a number of attacks. Let me explain each. Up close, he will whack you with he two giant paws. They take a lot of damage and have pretty good range. So as soon as you seem him picking up his arm, back away a good distance quickly. At medium range, he will you his most devastating attack - blue laser beams from his eyes. When you see his face turning blue - run. Find cover or anything, just don't stick around because the beam locks onto to you and takes heavy damage. Often there won't be any time to run away, and you'll just have to suck it up. His other medium and long range attack is the red sphere thing. It locks onto you and hurts you. It acts just as Gurak's green spheres, so find cover when you see him turning red. At random times, or if you wonder off too far he will disappear and appear usually somewhere up the declining corridor. From there he will shoot three slow moving... balls that tend to go in your directions. They're easy to dodge, just go behind a pillar or something. Also, often when he disappears a small "meteor shower" falls around you. I'm not sure if it hurts any at all, because I never stuck around to find out. I suggest you do the same. So, how do you beat him? Stay close to him. This way he has less of a tendency to disappear as he will be too busy swinging at you. So get up close and use the same tactic as with Minotaurs and Golems. Wait for him to swing, back away, quickly come back and get him with a special attack, preferably from your most powerful weapon. You don't want to be around forever draining those 70000 hp, do you? He will still occasionally disappear, but it's really no big problem. He will come back. You just have to be patient. It simply takes time. Don't try to hurry and get in more attacks then you should at once and get struck by his paws. If you're heaving trouble up close, or using the dwarf, the light sword is your best bet. Use it from a medium range. But in this case he will tend to disappear more, and it will take longer to kill the bastard. Anyway, kill him, watch the not very impressive cutscene, and end the game. The credits are really the best part of the ending. They have some really cool illustrations. Congratulations. You beat the game. Yey. Not much else to do but to start over with a different character. This guide is done. Back to life.