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Avernum 4 FAQ
Version 1.02
By Matt P
Email: Elementalizard@aol.com
Avernum 4 and all names are copyright Spiderweb software, 2005, 2006. Avernum
4 is shareware from Spiderweb softare. It cost $25 to register, though you
can play the ~15% game for free.
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Table of Contents
1. Character Creation and Development
-Statistics discussion
-Special skills
-Resistances
-Character Traits
2. Hints & Tactics
-Items to hold on to
-Spell discussion
3. Walkthrough
4. Construction Places
5. Teachers and trainers
6. Spell book locations
7. Notable item list
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1. CHARACTER CREATION AND DEVELOPMENT:
Character type: I always choose custom. It's not a bad idea to go for a
preset class if this is your first time playing the game, but custom classes
are almost always superior, as you have much better control over your skills.
The most important thing to your character are his/her stats/skills, which are
discussed next.
It is worth noting that preset character classes get a few more skill points
than custom characters, but they are usually more spread around. Due to the
nature of the trainers in this game, spreading points around is frequently not
a good idea. Hence these bonus points aren't always useful, and are often
detrimental to a character's maximal development.
Of course, you can beat the game with pretty much any character set, so it's
not really worth worrying about that much.
Statistics Discussion
++++BASIC STATS++++
> Strength (initial cost- 6). Strength influences your damage, some of your
resistances, and the amount you can carry. Every point in strength adds 9
to your weight allowance. Increase your strength when you need to increase
your carrying capacity, as the other bonuses are harder to notice. This
skill influences other special skills, so be sure to increase it
occasionally. The bonus to damage really isn't that big a deal.
> Dexterity (initial cost- 6). Dexterity influences your attack position
(when you attack compared to when your enemies attack), your to hit%, your
dodging ability, and a few other things. It is an excellent skill to
increase, and it also affects several special skills.
> Intelligence (initial cost- 6). Intelligence influences your spell
strength, your mental resistance, and your available spell points. Fighters
can mostly ignore this, as aside from the bonus to mental resistance, it
doesn't give them much of a bonus. The bonus to mental resistance is pretty
low, anyway.
> Endurance (initial cost- 5). Increases your HP and some of your
resistances. This is a skill that's nice to have, but is fairly costly.
Give your fighters ~2 added points each, and keep your priests/mages at 0 or
1 added points. At the beginning of the game, it adds maybe 1 or 2 HP per
level. Increase it near the end of the game where the extra HP comes in
handy, especially when stacked with some of the permanent spells.
++++WEAPON STATS++++
> Melee Weapons (initial cost- 4). Determines melee weapon damage and to
hit%, other than pole weapons. Any weapon that uses only 1 hand is
officially a melee weapon. These items usually aren't too strong, but have
great bonuses.
> Pole Weapons (initial cost- 4). Determines pole weapon damage and to hit%.
Pole weapons are much stronger than melee weapons, but you can't use a
shield. Sliths get bonuses to this skill.
> Bows (initial cost- 2). Determines damage done/to hit% by bows. Allows you
to strike from a distance. A nice skill that everyone should add points to
(from a trainer though- DON'T add points if you're a mage/priest
beforehand). Bows are pretty powerful in Avernum 4, especially near the end
game, as bows are very difficult to block with parry. A dedicated bow user
is not a bad idea.
> Thrown Weapons (initial cost- 2). Determines damage/to hit% done by thrown
weapons. Thrown weapons are much more limited than bows, but much stronger.
However, you have to have a good collection to use this regularly. I tend
to stick with bows.
> Quick Action (initial cost- 1). Gives you a small chance to attack twice,
and increases your attack order. A nice, cheap skill- at about level 5-6,
you'll get lots of double attacks.
++++MAGIC STATS++++
> Mage Spells (initial cost- 5). Determines the level of mage spells you can
cast, as well as their strength. Mages should get this up to level 17
(without item bonuses, but with natural mage bonuses, if you're not going to
be dependent on a specific item set).
> Priest Spells (initial cost- 4). Determines the level of priest spells you
can cast, as well as their strength. Priests should get this up to level 17
(with or without bonuses- note that a few items provide bonuses to priest
spells and enable casting of high level spells while equipped).
> Arcane Lore (initial cost- 1). Determines your ability to read spells. No
more than 20 is needed for the whole game, maybe less.
> Spellcraft (initial cost- 3). Provides a bonus to all spells. Once you've
enabled magery, improve this till they both cost the same. It's a nice
ability for mages/priests only.
++++MISCELLANEOUS STATS & LORES++++
> Hardiness (initial cost- 1). Increases resistances and decreases damage
taken by attacks.
> Defense (initial cost- 2). Increases dodging ability, or your ability to be
missed by melee attacks. Also opens up parry, which is a potent skill in
A4.
> Tool Use (initial cost- 1). Determines ability to unlock doors, disarm
traps, and fiddle with things in general. 15 points maximum is all that's
needed, though that's a lot of skill points. Add this skill to your mage
only. The spell unlock adds to your tool use, giving you a huge bonus, only
if they have some tool use.
> Nature Lore (initial cost- 1). This determines your chance of passifying
monsters (kill them afterwards, if you like), and of finding caches. If you
want to use the best bow in the game, get this up to 25. Otherwise, max it
out at about 18-20. Aim for ~12 around Fort Dranlon, ~14 around the TotM,
~15 around the slith lands. I always stockpile a few skill points so that
if I encounter a cache and can't get the goodie inside, I add a point or two
to nature lore and grab it.
> First Aid (initial cost- 1). Influence the health you get returned to you
when you've killed something. Interestingly, this skill only kicks in when
you've killed something (maybe only killing something for xp, at that).
It's a great skill that can return a nice bit of HP and SP for fights.
It'll keep you moving through the enemies.
> Luck (initial cost- 4). Provides a bonus to many things, most notably
resistances. I'm not sure what else it does, really, but it's worth
investing in occasionally.
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++++Special skills++++
Once you've gotten established in your game, you'll notice a few special
skills become available with a bit of playing. In order to train in them, you
have to meet the following requirements (these notes are from the spiderweb
message boards). Sometimes it's a bit confusing as to when a skill is ready,
since you may have earned points in the skill through other means. To this
end I have stated how many points a skill should cost before you can activate
the special skill. For example, say you have a slith and are trying to get
blademaster. The slith gets automatic bonuses to pole weapons, and these
bonuses can lead to over-investment into a specific skill, which is bad. If
you want blademaster and have a character with bonuses to these skills, these
notes should help you decide where you want to place your skill points.
It is worth noting that some skills are slightly redundant (Spellcraft ->
Magery, Bows -> Sharpshooter), but that putting points in a new special skill
is often cheaper.
Another point worth noting is that skill bonuses received from items,
blessings, and character traits DO NOT add points towards the skill set
requirement, but skill bonuses from trainers do go towards skill set
requirement. For instance, one gets a bonus to endurance as a reward for a
few quests. However, this bonus does not count towards the resistance /
magical efficiency requirements. However, the bonuses also don't increase the
skill cost, so it's not all bad.
KEY:
> Special skill name: Requirement 1 (the point cost per point of requirement 1
when requirement 1 is met) + requirement 2 (the point cost per point of
requirement 2 when requirement 2 is met), the initial point cost of special
skill name per point. Description.
THE SPECIAL SKILLS
> Parry: 6 Dex (cost is 8) + 6 Def (starts to cost 5), skill points per point
= 3. Gives a chance to completely ignore an enemy's attack. About 5%
chance per point. Very easy to acquire, and very potent. Late game enemies
have lots of skill points in this skill making engaging them in melee
attacks a dangerous proposition. Also gives some chance of avoiding magic
(a small chance) and missile attacks (even smaller chance).
> Quick Strike: 6 Dex (cost is 8)+ 6 Melee/pole (starts to cost 7 pts), skill
points per point = 3. Gives a chance to add an extra AP point per turn, and
makes you act faster in combat. A bit less than 5% chance per point. A
good skill, one you should buy some points in for everyone. Don't try to
train in it for everyone, though.
> Gymnastics: 6 Str (cost is 8) + 8 Dex (cost is 9), skill points per point =
4. Increases your dodging ability and makes you act faster in combat. Can
make you very hard to hit.
> Magery: 8 Int (cost is 9) + 6 Priest/Mage Spells (cost is 6/7). Initial
cost is 4. Increases the bonus to your spells. Pretty much equivalent to
spellcraft, though a bit more expensive.
> Blademaster: 6 Melee (starts to cost 7 pts) + 6 Pole (starts to cost 7 pts)
+ 6 Str (cost is 8). Initial cost is 5. Increases your damage and to hit %
for melee and pole weapons. Very powerful.
> Riposte: 6 Blade (starts to cost 8) + 8 Parry (starts to cost 7). Initial
cost per point is 5. Gives you a chance to strike an enemy on a successful
parry. About 5% chance per point. Very difficult to train, but there are
items that augment this skill.
> Anatomy: 6 Int (cost is 8) + 8 Melee/Pole (cost is 8), initial cost per
point is 4. Increases the damage you do with weapons against humanoid
enemies. Humanoids are among the most abundant enemy. Priests are the most
likely to be able to train in this skill, since they actually need the
intelligence.
> Lethal Blow: 8 Anatomy (cost is 8) + 8 Blademaster (cost is 9). Gives a
chance to hit an enemy hard if its level is much lower than yours. I'm not
sure how damaging this skill really is, though. It's nearly impossible to
get your skill high enough to train it, though, especially given the low
return of intelligence for fighters. Don't bother. Skill cost is 4 per
point.
> Sharpshooter: 6 Dex (cost is 8) + 8 Bows/Thrown (cost is 6), initial cost is
4. Adds to damage done by bows. Very potent. Any bow-focused user should
strive to access this skill.
> Magical Efficiency: 8 Magery (cost is 8) + 8 End (cost is 8). Initial cost
is 4. Gives a small chance of conserving some SP when casting a spell. Not
good enough to try to get to the point where you can train in it as the
return isn't the best. However, there are several points to be obtained in
this skill, so be sure to get them as it sure doesn't hurt.
> Resistance: 8 Dex (cost is 9) + 8 End (cost is 8) + 8 Hard (cost is 5).
Initial cost is 6 per skill point. Gives a chance to decrease the damage
taken from spells (fire, cold, energy only). Not really worth getting to
the point where you can train in it).
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Resistance bonuses. Resistances diminish the amount of damage taken from a
specific attack. Most resistances are increased by increasing stats, and the
points per point of resistance, armor, and luck are also shown.
Luck / point Armor / point Resistance / pt
Armor +1 +1
Fire +2/Hard +1 +1/2 +4
Cold +2/Hard +1 +1/2 +4
Energy +2/Hard +1 +1/2 +4
Stun +5/Str +3
Mental +3/Int +1
Poison +5/End +3
Acid +5/End +3
Discussion
Armor provides a decent bonus to fire, cold, and energy resistance. This
means that it is often better to equip a suit of armor that gives more armor
than a suit that gives less armor but a few bonus resistances. For instance,
the Ruby breastplate gives 22 armor, and +8 to fire resistance. However, the
blessed breastplate gives 34 armor, but no specified resistance bonus (other
than to stun). However, it actually provides 6 more points of resistance to
cold and energy and only two less points to fire due to the bonus (34-22 = 12,
12/2 = 6) from the armor.
Luck provides a huge bonus to resistances. Thus the clover boots (+3 luck),
provide a lot of resistance to the character that wears them.
The resistance skill gives a decent bonus to your resistance, but it's not
enough to actually try to get the skill over. If it gave a bonus to mental
resistance, it might actually be worth it. Resistance requires a sizable
investment of skill points, and you're best off just buying a few points from
a trainer and leaving it at that.
Mental resistance is by far the rarest resistance. Having a high mental
resistance is also very helpful, as control foes and terror are popular spells
cast by bosses. Value items with high mental resistance bonuses higher than
items with bonuses to other resistances. For instance, a +15 Mental
resistance ring is better than a +15 acid resistance ring.
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Character Trait Discussion
General overview: Traits provide bonuses beyond what one normally receives
from the skill set. Some traits are very much worth having, like natural
mage, pure spirit, and elite warrior. Others are a bit more nebulous, and
it's unclear what those traits actually do. Characters can only have two
traits, so choose wisely. Races can be considered to be an additional trait,
and provide substantial bonuses as well.
Positive traits (experience penalty)
+ Good Constitution (-8%) Provides a hidden bonus to endurance (resulting in
poison and acid resistance), and decreases damage taken from some attacks.
+ Nimble Fingers (-8%) Provides a bonus to tool use and to first aid. These
bonuses increase with time.
+ Thick Skin (-8%) Provides a hidden bonus to hardiness, reducing damage
taken. It's unclear how large just yet.
+ Strong Will (-10%) Provides a hidden bonus to mental resistance. It is
unclear how large this bonus is.
+ Deadeye (-10%) Provides a bonus to sharpshooter that grows with your level.
If you want a pure archer, this is the trait to take.
+ Fast on Feet (-12%) Provides a bonus to AP about 50% of the time, and adds
to your attack order. Very useful.
+ Pure Spirit (-15%) Provides a bonus to priest spells (+2) and magical
efficiency (+2). Both skills grow with your level, and I had about +6 to
priest spells and +7 to magical efficiency from this trait by level 30.
Priests will appreciate having this trait.
+ Natural Mage (-15%) Provides a bonus to mage spells that grows with level,
and a one-time bonus to magical efficiency. Also increases the amount of
armor you can wear before hurting your casting ability to -20% to hit (as
opposed to the usual value of -5% to hit). Mages need this trait. My mage
had a bonus of +6 to mage spells by level 32 through this trait.
+ Elite Warrior (-15%) Provides a bonus to parry and blademaster that grows
with your level. Melee fighters will want this trait. The initial bonus is
+2 to both skills, which grows to about +6 by level 33.
+ Divinely Touched (-30%) Provides bonuses to blademaster, magery, and
sharpshooter which likely grows per level. Makes for a very potent
character, though the experience penalty is prohibitive. The bonuses to
this skill grow very quickly, though.
Negative Traits
- Weak Mind (+5%) Makes the character more vulnerable to mental spells (like
terror, confusion, daze). The opposite of strong will. There are few
mental magic users in this game, so it's not too bad a negative trait,
though when it's bad, it's really bad. Still, this one is worth some
consideration.
- Delicate Skin (+8%) Makes the character more vulnerable to magic attacks
with fire, cold, and others. Essentially the opposite of thick skin. This
one could be grabbed by those who stay out of the fight and attack slowly
(like mages). Counteract this one with a few points in endurance to
increase your survival.
- Sluggish (10%) The opposite of Fast on Feet. Not really worthwhile, as you
need all the AP you can get.
- Brittle Bones (15%) Increases damage done from melee and missile attacks.
Although mages could find this skill to be useful, the AI in this game is
programmed to respond to spells with force, which will result in pain for
your mage. It's not really worth it.
- Frail (20%) Hurts nearly everything- definitely not worth taking, unless
you're trying to do some role-playing.
Races:
= Human: No bonuses, but no experience penalty either. A safe route.
= Nephilim: Provides bonuses to gymnastics, bows, and thrown weapons that
grow with time. Bows and thrown weapons have bonuses of +2 initially, which
grows to about +7 by level 31. Gymnastics has a bonus of +1, which grows to
+4 by level 31. Excellent for archer-type characters.
= Slithzerikai: Provides bonuses to pole weapons that grows with time (2
points at the beginning of the game, +6 by level 30), and a one-time bonus
to fire resistance (+10%). Sliths make excellent warriors and priests.
Given the strength of pole weapons in A4, having a slith will make you
happy.
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2. Hints and Tactics
Adventurer test locations:
JL, BT, E9, GT, GK, and A4, in that order.
Items to hold on to:
1 Shackles
3 Curing Elixirs
1 Mortar and Pestle
3 Fine Leather
1 Towel
1 Pipe
1 Tongs
1 Pliers
1 Hammer
1 Graymold
1 Fine Waveblade
2 Vahnatai Cloaks
20 Bags of Meal
20 Bottles of Wine
4 Bottles of Gremlin Wine
~7 Glowing Basalt
~7 Icy Geode
~7 Swamp Nodules
~15 Chitrach Claws
Construction items
Fine Leather
Fine Steel
Focusing Crystals
Gold Bars (a few)
Emeralds (a few)
Rubies (a few)
Healing Herbs
Spiritual Herbs
Energetic Herbs
Graymold
Mandrake Root
Sticks (a few)
Crystals (a few)
Gold necklace (maybe 1)
Platinum Ring (maybe 1)
Fine waveblade (maybe 1)
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Spells.
Overview: There are two classes of spells- mage and priest. Unlike previous
Avernum games, the bonus you get from learning spells at a higher level is
minimal. Most spells incorporate a factor known as the "spell bonus." The
"spell bonus" is a combination of your spell skill, spellcraft, magery, and
spell level. Thus having a level 2 spell is the same as having a level 1
spell and an extra point in spellcraft. You do not need to buy every level of
spell to make your spells stronger- instead, focus on selected spells and
maximize your return. Save your money instead for trainers and purchase
skills, which will benefit you much more in the long run.
Mage Spells
Firebolt. The staple of the mage's arsenal, firebolt is wonderful. It does
damage to 70-80% of all enemies, and never goes obsolete. Fire creatures
(usually denoted by "fire" or "ruby") and demons are typically immune or very
resistant, whereas undead and most humans are vulnerable to this spell.
Call Beast. Calls a weak monster to fight for you. Myeh, I rarely used
this spell. Firebolt is more damaging directly. It has its rare uses when
fighting bosses, as do all summon spells, but you can get by perfectly well
never summoning a dang thing. Summon spells are much more useful for
singletons, as they can divert attention away from your character.
Acid Spray. The last resort spell. If it's immune to most everything else,
chances are it's vulnerable to acid. This include the Mertis Spiral undead,
pylons, golems, and many others. It's a potent spell, though it takes a while
to do good damage.
Daze. Has a chance to stun some enemies. You're better off using other
spells, in my opinion. Others find it to be much more useful.
Haste. Increases the number of AP the recipient has by 50% (which drops to
25% with time). Makes a tank character go from annoying an enemy to killing
the enemy. Cast this before every major battle, and frequently before the
minor ones as well.
Slow. Slows an enemy down so that it loses every other turn. Very nice to
use on bosses, as few things are immune. You may have to hit them a few times
for it to set in, though.
Icy Rain. An area of effect spell that hits the recipients with ice damage.
It's very useful at the beginning of the game, and often against later fire-
resistant enemy hordes.
Unlock Door. Opens up doors that are locked by improving a character's tool
use. This spell is the reason you want to add tool use to your mage, as tool
use has a huge bonus relative to the strength of this spell!
Augmentation. Increases your HP by 30-60 points for a long period of time.
Nice, and get used to casting it every time you leave town once you have >200
SP. Improving levels in this spell does not have any noticeable effect.
Minor Summon. Summons up a weak ally. I tend not to use summon spells, but
that's just me. Summon spells are much more useful for singletons.
Lightning Spray. If they are strong against fire and strong against melee,
chances are they will be weak against this spell. Use it, and it will do >100
damage nearly every time. Great spell for golems. Hits up to 3 enemies, but
they must be less than 3 spaces away from your main target.
Terror. Scares a monster into either panicking and running, or paralyzing
it. Some find this spell to be great; I don't really use it.
Prismatic Shield. Grants resistance to cold and mental effects. Nice, and
use it before boss fights, or in fights with basilisks.
Dispel Barrier. A necessary spell that removes magic barriers. While many
barriers can be dispelled with piercing crystals, some can't, and besides,
carrying around a bunch of piercing crystals is a pain in the butt. Get this
spell, and get it early.
Summon Aid. Another summon spell. Summon spells are much more useful for
singletons.
Strong Daze. Stuns all enemies around you. May be useful on rare
occasions.
Fireblast. An area of effect fire spell. When groups of enemies are weak
vs. fire, use this and divine fire to clean them out.
Arcane Summon. The strongest of the summon spells, I'm still not a fan.
Summon spells are much more useful for singletons.
Arcane Shield. Provides a potent blessing that includes the blessings of
prismatic shield and adds a few more. Once you get this spell, use it when
you need to guard against bosses or magic users.
Arcane Blow. A potent but very costly spell. This spell will do lots of
magic damage. Usually other spells work just as well, and are much less
costly.
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Priest Spells
Minor heal. The priest's staple, restores a decent bit of health.
Curing. Removes poison and acid from a character. Nice, and makes it
possible to sell off all those curing potions.
War blessing. Blesses characters (adds ~20% to their to hit%, and 4 levels
to damage or so). Cast before every significant fight.
Protection. Shields characters (decreases damage done).
Repel Spirit. One of the most potent spells in the priest's arsenal, this
spell is very useful against undead and a few (key) enemies. I've found that
leveling up this spell (via books or by teachers) has a significant increase.
Smite. A nice priest spell that damages enemies with ice. The cost is
prohibitive, unfortunately. If you want to do damage, use bolt of fire. Use
this one when your priest gets enough SP to cast it comfortably (>150 SP).
Summon shade. Summons a shade. Woot.
Enduring shield. Casts a long-lasting shield on a character. It's nice to
have, but it soon replaced by higher level versions. Improving levels in this
spell does not have any noticeable effect.
Unshackle mind. Removes terror and restores control to your characters.
It's a great spell, except when your priest is the one affected!
Heal. A slightly more potent version of minor heal, use this one in case of
emergencies, otherwise use minor heal.
Mass healing. Heals everyone in the party. Cast this when fighting
characters with mass attack spells (like rain of fire).
Mass curing. Removes acid/poison from your party. Use this when fighting
acid launching beasts or after killing a pylon.
Steelskin. Decreases damage taken. Cast frequently, especially if you
don't have enduring armor yet. Improving levels in this spell does not have
any noticeable effect.
Divine fire. Like fireblast, this is an area of effect spell that does fire
damage. It is a good priest spell.
Control foe. Gives you a chance to control the minds of an enemy. Useful
in rare occasions, I still like killing them first.
Enduring armor. The best permanent spell, this spell increases the HP of
your character (30-60 HP) and shields them as well. Cast it every time you
leave town once you have 200 SP or more. Improving levels in this spell does
not have any noticeable effect.
Return life. Removes the unconscious state of a character. Use it when out
on long treks, as it's quite potent. Just hope that it's not your priest who
is unconscious!
Divine retribution. A potent spell that damages all enemies on screen.
Great and very useful, though very expensive. It's very fun to use.
Divine restoration. Removes nearly all bad effects except unconscious, and
provides a powerful healing. Good for fixing frozen characters, and restores
a lot of health to everyone. Keep this one in mind.
Divine host. Summons a divine shade. Not bad, but costly.
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3. Walkthrough (SPOILERS ABOUND!)
----------------------------- Fort Monastery Region -------------------------
FM-MB-
| |^^
GL-LS^
| |^^
^JW-GF-SS^
^| | |^^
^JL-GS-OS^
^^^^^^^^^^
Fort Monastery (FM)
Main Quests: Find captain Matos, Get Equipment, Find Goblin Passage, Kill
Goblin Leader, Go to Fort Draco
Subquests: Check Fort Draco Route, Metal for Dawdy, Philip's Ring, Find
Missing Shipments, Inspect Scrolls, Translate Scrolls
Jobs: Message to Grindstone, Bat Bits Required, Undead Infestation, Message
to Fort Draco
Notable items: Shielding band
Trainers: Lark and Strout.
Stats: Divine Restoration; Arcane Shield (in a LONG time)
You start in a helpful demo that mainly just discusses the general features
of the game. It's pretty straight-forward.
You start out in a room in the basement. Proceed east, pick up the items,
and continue on. Kill the goblin, then head south for a few potions, followed
by north and talk with the cook. Go up the stairs, and talk with Matos. He
gives you a new quest. Go west and claim the few items that are set aside for
you. Go back and talk with him again. Now he wants you to explore the
basement. Head to the SW of the fort and enter the basement. Clear out the
goblins. If you have enough tool use, you can go ahead and take the items in
the "authorized soldiers only" chest- you'll find a shielding ring among the
loot. Once you've searched the area thoroughly, head back north and talk with
the captain again. He is pleased with you and gives you the next quest, to
kill the goblin leader. You can either go through the basement route, or
through the surface route. Once you've killed the goblin chief, Matos will
open up the "authorized soldiers only" area, allowing you to get the items
within. He then has you go to Fort Draco.
Other quest givers include Oliver (a traveling salesman who wants you to
clear the route to Ft. Draco for a fiery wand), Dawdy (a smith who will buy
your iron bars for a good 20c each), Philips ring (at the inn- Philip wants
you to retrieve a ring. The ring is held by a miner in Grindstone. Doing so
gets you a letter of introduction to his family), Appelo (a saleswoman who
wants you to find three caravans for 100c each), and two quests for Lark-
(Inspect her scrolls, and translate them).
Oliver is the main purveyor of interesting goods in town. You may be
tempted to buy some of his things, but I wouldn't do so just yet. He will
follow you during your adventurers and ends up getting some very nice
inventory, but that hasn't happened yet. Philip and Appelo both have some
good items that may be tempting, but you will shortly find items as good or
better than what they sell, so skip buying from them just yet.
Touch the pillar in the NW part of town. Place any items you want to keep
next to this pillar as well (bags of meal, wine, herbs, etc.). You'll see
what these things do after the demo.
There is also a job board in town. The job board will give you a few more
quests to do for some cash or items.
One job is to deliver a letter to a Grindstone resident (50 c), another is to
kill a bunch of mottled bats for Lark (2 emeralds as a reward), yet another is
to clear an infestation of undead (100 c). Once these are all done, you get a
final quest to deliver a letter to Fort Draco (reward: healing potion & speed
potion).
Both Strout and Lark will train you with spells. Lark has prices that are
approximately the norm. Adding levels to spells doesn't actually have as much
of a benefit as it did in the previous Avernum games. In general, adding
levels increases their duration time, damage done, and strength. These
benefits are nice, but you can save your coins for something else, if you
desire.
Monastery Bridge (MB)
Cache: Healing Herbs
There's not much to do here. Clear out the Nephilim when you're high enough
level to do so. The only thing of note is to the SW of the bridge, where
there is a wagon that Appelo is looking for. I'd suggest killing everything
else to the south first. Once you're ready, kill the nephilim on the bridge
and take their stuff. They usually drop bows, swords, and leather armor.
Lizard Shore (LS)
Cache: 1)Healing Herbs, 2)Spiritual Herbs
There are a few interesting things to do here for now. First, find Destry,
and give her 300 coins for the belt. It's an Apprentice Belt (+1 Mag Eff), a
very nice piece of equipment. You'll find another one shortly, but it doesn't
hurt to have two. Enter her house, and go up the stairs. Pillage her stuff
(some tool use required to remove the trap on her chest), and grab the Yew
bow. This is a better bow than you'll be finding any time soon.
Goblin Lands (GL)
Notable items: Shielding knife.
You can explore this area a bit, and can enter either from the Fort
Monastery basement, or on foot through the ground. Either way works well. Be
sure to explore the basement as you'll find a nice spear hidden by some
spiders. On the ground floor you'll find an altar to the SW. Take the
dagger- it's a shielding knife, which provides armor for the character who
equips it. I usually give it to my mage or priest. Kill the imp that pops up,
then head north to the Goblin chief. Kill him (better than threatening him),
and take his stuff. He drops a chainmail vest, a decent piece of bulky armor.
Take his treasure and report back to the captain for your reward.
Swampy Shore (SS)
Cache: Spirit herbs
Notable items: Chilling band.
There's not much here, but Sinderbrand will want your help killing a
hellhound provided you have enough strength/a high enough level (average level
8 or so). Once you're there, follow him down, and join him in killing the
hellhound. Doing so gets you a nice chilling band ring.
Goblin Fens (GF)
Cache: Healing herbs X 2, Lovely crystal
Notable items: Blessed Bauble.
There's not much to do here, just clear out the goblins and bats wandering
around. The majority of what's going on is down below, so explore that
region by taking the stairs in this are, or by taking the stairs in the
regions north and then heading south. Most important is the region to the
west, where there is a group of undead. Kill them all, and their leader, too.
This fulfills a job. Search his tomb for a blessed bauble.
Ogre Swamp (OS)
Cache: Energetic herbs,
Notable items: Swamp pants
There is a nasty ogre (Kog) here who makes you pay for trespassing on his
land. Kill him and take his stuff. To the S are some swamp pants, which are
nicer than anything else you'll find anytime soon.
Grindstone (GS)
Subquests: Kill Ogre, Clear Barriers
Cache: Beautiful Crystal
Notable items: Girdle of strength
This is the only significant settlement nearby Fort Monastery. There are
three people of note here. Grimes is the mercenary captain and gives you the
"kill ogre" quest, for which you receive 100c. Jenn is the woman in charge,
and she gives you the "Clear barriers" quest. She also sells flawed, lovely,
and beautiful crystals (which you should ignore), and a piercing and wisdom
crystal (buy both). Wisdom crystals give 2 skill points when used, which is
invaluable in the long run. You will need the piercing crystal to complete
her quest (and you'll find enough goodies to make purchasing it worthwhile).
There is a nice room to explore immediately west of Jenn. In it you find
several good items to steal, but close the door first. Head to the basement
and so long as you have a decent tool use skill, disarm the traps and claim
the items they have hidden here. There are some very tough traps in the SE
part of this area (max 10 is necessary for the pink traps- these guard some
piercing crystals). Stanos is the last person worth talking to here. If you
have accepted Philip's quest, you can get him to give you the ring back.
Doing so gets you a letter of introduction to Philip's family (and a
subsequent quest).
When ready, head through the mines, killing the rats, and reach the barrier.
Use the piercing crystal to destroy the barrier, then go down the mines. The
static shade is vulnerable mostly to weapons, the decaying shade is strong
against fire, and the crystal shade is vulnerable mostly to magic. Take them
all out, then grab all of the crystals and touch all the large formation for
even more crystals. Grab the two piercing crystals the crystal shade drops as
these are quite handy. Tell Jenn to receive your reward, an excellent girdle
of strength.
Giant Lands (JL)
Notable Items: Woven Golden Chain.
Only one thing really to do here. The cave to the SE isn't of interest to
do yet, but the cave surrounded by rock pillars is. Go down, and prepare for
a battle. Talk with the shade, and you'll be tested. There are 6 of these
test throughout all of Avernum, and they have excellent rewards. This one is
pretty easy, just beat up the shade. It's vulnerable to pretty much
everything, including repel spirit.
Giant Warrens (JW)
Very little to do here. Kill some rats for fun. Check out the NE cave for
a body and an iron spear. Ready the dead bodies papers to get a name, Terella
Venia. This is important for a quest that you'll come to past the demo.
-----------------------------Path to Fort Draco------------------------------
MB-NL-NF^
^| = |^^
^LS-N2-FD^
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^SS-N3-ND-
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^^^^^^^
Nephil Lands (NL)
Subquests: Kill Khrosth
Cache: Energetic Herbs
Mrrah is the leader here, and he will talk with you. It turns out some
nephilim have blocked off the main route to Fort Draco. He wants you to take
them out, and he gives you a key to help with this. Doing so gets you an iron
spear. Their leader is Khrosth, a nephilim. Head south from the camp and
take note of the wagon for Appelo's quest. Then go to the east.
North of Fort Draco (NF)
Head south and use the key Mrrah gave you to go down the stairs.
Nephil Lands 2 (N2)
Notable items: Apprentice Belt
In the caverns beneath the main level you'll find a number of static bats.
Stay back so they don't swarm you. Head to the SW and with adequate nature
lore, the fire lizards won't attack. You can still kill them at your leisure.
Grab their treasure (some crystals and a wisdom crystal). The south stairs
will take you near the nephil temple, the north stairs will take you close to
the head nephilim. I'd suggest taking out the temple priests first, as they
can help out the chief. Head up the south stairs when you're ready.
There are several nephilim around here, be sure to kill them all. I would
suggest first heading to the north gates so that you have a short way to get
back to Fort Monastery if you so desire. Clear out all the nephilim there,
they are much easier when attacked from the south side. When you're ready,
head east and take out Khrosth. He's not too hard, a few good hits will bring
him down. He has an iron short sword, which isn't too bad for melee weapon
users. His supplies have the second apprentice belt, as well. Give it to
your priest, if you like. You can continue to explore here, there's another
staircase (to a few minor items, which are still good this early in the game).
Lizard Shore (LS)
Notable Items: Coated Cloak
You're now on the east side of this zone. There are several lizards around
here. Kill them all and search their nests. One of the lizards is a "gazer
beast" who will curse you when he attacks. Be sure to kill it. Head up the
stairs. Prepare to be swarmed by bats as you head to the SE. Many bats
attack, including some tough giant cave bats. Kill them all and continue to
explore. You'll find a coated cloak amongst the decent items nearby.
Swampy Shore (SS)
Cache: Piercing Crystal
A few more lizards are located here. Kill them all and grab the cache.
Nephil Lands 3 (N3)
Notable items: Stability Bauble
Some neat stuff here, as you continue to rampage through the nephil clans.
Hrrar Blackfur, a nephil leader, drops a stability bauble on death. You'll
find some fine leather here as well as a number of minor goods. Fine leather
is a useful item that will aid you in the construction of some of your goods.
Save it up. The final wagon Appelo is looking for is in the SE section of
this map.
Near Fort Draco (ND)
You are stopped prior to entry by Menta, a guard. Just be honest, and
you'll have no problems. When ready, head north to Fort Draco (I'd recommend
getting to town ASAP then finish exploring the area). Otherwise, there's not
much here. The cave wolves here do drop fine leather, though. The seeds for
a job you're looking for are down the nearby tunnel.
Fort Draco (FR)
Main Quests: Fort Draco Mines, Go to Formello
Subquests: Vahnatai Crystal, Hunt Tolliver, Pick up metal, Annoying
Hellhound
Jobs: Hunting the Gazer Beast, Message to Formello, Find the Seeds, Wanted:
Graymold, Hunting the worm queen
Notable items: Shield Ring, Swamp boots.
Stats: Smite+1.
Go speak with Commander Anford immediately to complete the last main quest
you've been given from Fort Monastery (upon return to Fort Monastery, anyway).
You get a new quest, and can now set this up as your base of operations. The
new quest is to explore the mines to the north. Do so, return, and he will
send you to Formello, and open the armory (allowing access to some swamp
boots).
Mabile the sage will give you a quest to find the source of a vahnatai
crystal. You'll solve this quest as you do Commander Anford's main quest
(shield ring reward). Bagli is an agent of the crown and asks you to hunt
Tolliver, a criminal (300c). Ess-Eschas is the slith smith for the fort. He
gives you a quest to pick up metal from the caves to the north (iron bracers).
Potionmaster Hrank has you kill a hellhound that inhabited his prime herb
collecting locality. He gives you a reward for killing it, a book which
improves your skill with smite.
There's a job board here, with jobs like hunting the gazer beast (200c),
message to formello (100c), find the seeds (bar of fine steel), wanted:
graymold (healing curing, speed potions), and hunting the worm queen (300c?).
Do them all for some nice bonuses.
Tannik sells some random low level items and is also the object of a Fort
Monastery job. Ess-Eschas has some likewise low level items. Potionmaster
Hrank will turn your herbs to potions for free.
There's a pillar here too. Be sure to touch it and drop your junk around
it.
The best way to take out Tolliver is to take the SE stairs down from here,
go south, then east, then south again (clear the spiders to the east, first).
Confront Tolliver, kill him, and take his stuff (namely a null wand and fine
leather helm).
Slime Tunnels (ST)
Cache: Silver necklace
There are worms galore here. They will drop crystals, emeralds, and many
other nice minor items. Grab what you want, you will eventually want to go
down to the next level. But first talk with Febber, to the west. Febber is
hunting the worms, and for a bit of money, will disclose the location of a
wand for you. It's not so bad (the terror wand is worth the money). Head
south and take one of the sets of stairs. Head north, kill all the worms and
collecting the crystals. Eventually you'll reach a large open chamber.
Explore the wall to the south and grab the wand from the trash pit. There's
an ooze crawler to the NW which drops a ruby, and is guarding a dead body.
The worm queen is to the north, and is the main boss of the area. It doesn't
attack you directly, but breeds more worms. Kill it fast to prevent it form
swarming you.
Slime Tunnels (S2)
More worms for you to kill here. Stay back to keep from being swarmed. Not
much of note here, though there is a bridge that will be completed once
Formello is taken care of.
---------------------------------Fort Draco and environs----------------------
^NF-HM
^|
^FD-DR-NW
^|
ND-DF
Draco-Formello Road (DF)
There are bats here, as well as some lava worms guarding a dead body. Take
the North route to the basement to disarm Tolliver's traps, and take the SE
route to kill the hellhound for Hrank. There's some nice ingredients down
here, too.
Draco Farmlands (DR)
Trainers: Ayrie, Hamer
There are two trainers here who can help you by improving your spells. I'd
suggest getting unshackle mind at least from Hamer. Hamer also has the most
accessible graymold nearby. You'll be caught stealing, but that doesn't
matter. Just don't steal any more in this area, and people will still like
you.
North of Fort Draco (NF)
Cache: Bronze Bracers
Damien is located here, and is the object of a job (his seed are two maps
south). Tresha is also located here, and has the fine steel bars Ess-Eschas
is looking for. Be sure to grab (steal) the other bars located nearby.
Haunted Mines (HM)
Cache: Iron Helmet
Notable items: Crystal Symbol.
Your first major dungeon. You can go immediately north, and you'll see a
wispy shade. It will accompany you, blessing and shielding you randomly.
It's a good acquaintance. You'll have to wrap around this level. The shade
parts from you half way through, going down a set of stairs. Make it all the
way, full circle around. Go past the wheel for the door, and check out the
two cabinets. One has a piece of crystal for Mabile. When ready, head down
the mine. There are several ways down, but a few require tool use. If you go
down the way the shade disappears down, you'll have the most access to things.
If you go down south, you'll find a tomb guarded by a bunch of undead, but
will get some nice items, including an invulnerability potion. Head east when
ready. You'll fight a nasty shade that's been building the skeletons. Kill
it and it will drop a crystal symbol (good for magic users). Head south, and
get marked by the crystal. Explore a bit more, use a piercing crystal for a
knowledge brew, mandrake root, and other nice items. The helpful shade
disappears at this point. Go back to town to continue things along.
--------------------------------Formello and environs----------------------
Mi-BT-MT{
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DR-NW-N4-NE{
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DF-N4-4M-e4{
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SW-S4-SE{
^^^|^^^^^
EG
Northwest of Formello (NW)
Subquests: Gremlin wine
Head straight to Formello to make your life a bit easier. Come back here in
a bit. There's not too much to do here, as the area to the west is locked
till you can do something with Giscard. There are some bats to the west, and
some storehouses here have rats, so search around. Atria, the object of a
job, is located here.
Once you get Giscard's quest, go here and open the door. Inside is a
gremlin, Hreezba. Talk to Hreezba, and it tells you that it wants Giscard's
gremlin wine. There's a fair bit in Giscard's main house, as well as some in
the nearby storage area. Grab 4 bottles, and give them to it. It leaves
happily.
Near Formello (N4)
Subquests: Giscard's gremlin
Notable items: Ruby breastplate
Enter Formello through here, then come back. To the west are some patrol
men that actually turn out to be evil and attack you. They are part of a
grand conspiracy against Avernum, and you'll see individuals like them again.
Kill them and take their stuff. You can't do anything about Giscard right
yet, though you can explore his house. If you go up the ladder you can access
his items and treasure, including an excellent piece of armor, the ruby
breastplate.
Once you've found the letter to Giscard, come back here and talk with him.
He gives you a quest to clear out his storage area of golems. Head north to
the area you couldn't enter previously. Doing this gets you an emerald, ruby,
and piercing crystal.
Formello (4M)
Main Quests: See the mayor, See Genevieve, Explore Motrax Caves, Go to the
castle
Subquests: Fetching Leather, Info for Oliver, Motrax Tablets, Prove yourself
to Abbess Haehn
Jobs: Rat hunt, Message to Farm, Inn clearing, Hunt Spliceworms, Hunt
Hrickis, Message to Silvar
Notable items: Shield of Warmth, Blessed Vambraces, Magestone band.
Trainers: Sage Alice, Sage Townshend,
Stats: Curing +1
This is your first big city! Yay! However, like nearly all big cities in
Avernum, it's pretty screwed up. Go talk with the mayor. She tells you to go
see Genevieve. Do so and return. The mayor tells you to explore Motrax's
caves. Once you've done this, the shade moves in and things close up. She
lowers the barrier for you, at least.
Show Genevieve the scrolls you've been lugging around from Fort Monastery,
and she tells you to go to the Tower of the Magi. Ahrens is the leather worker
and will help you if you give him 3 fine leathers (he provides you with a
blessed belt, some gauntlets, and a fine leather helmet). You can give him
more fine leathers for other items (see the craftsmen guide below), but you're
best off saving your fine leather till you can get some superior items. You
meet Oliver again here, and again he wants you to help him move along (iron
breastplate as a reward). His inventory is a bit better this time, though
(the yew longbow is better than anything you'll find anytime soon). Sage
Alice wants you to retrieve some tablets for her. You'll do this as you
explore Motrax's cave, and will be rewarded with a Magestone band (nice ring
for mages/priests). Abbess Haehn wants you to go on a quest to prove
yourself. Do so for the cheapest priest spells in the game. Right above her
temple on the second floor is a room with a spellbook of curing. Go ahead and
read it. Check out the Mayor's stairway to enter the town treasury. With ~14
tool use, you can open up everything there to grab some nice armor and a lot
of gold.
Sage Alice and Abbess Haehn both teach you spells, though you must complete
a quest for the Abbess before she will help you. She has the best prices for
spells in the game. Sage Townshend will also train you, which is something
that few people do. Training will increase your ability with a skill up to
two times, unless you've already added skill points to the skill. You can
always train a skill even if you have gained points in it through some other
means, just so long as you haven't added points to the skill.
Several jobs are available. Rat hunt will have you looking in storage rooms
for rats (they respawn, so keep looking in the same place when you find one,
250c), Message to farm (she's on the second floor, 30c and some fruit), Inn
clearing (kill a zombie for some gremlin wine), Hunt spliceworms (Gold bar, 2
fine steel), Hunt Hrickis (NE of Formello, shield of warmth), Message to
Silvar (Ruby).
South of Formello (S4)
Cache: Fine steel
Notable items: Shining Silver Band
Not much to do here, you can be abused by Goodwife Donna, and can kill her
basement rats if you want (no reward, but counts towards job bounty). If
you're ready to fight some lizards and other nasties, use the small pathway
down in the SE of this map area. You'll immediately find some lizards, kill
them. Search nearby for a cache. Continue west to fight some spiders, and to
get a few nice items, including a shining silver band, which provides cold
resistance.
Southwest of Formello (SW)
Subquest: Herbs for Forrest
Forrest wants 3 sets of healing herbs, and gives you 2 healing elixirs in
exchange (an excellent trade). His storage room occasionally has a scavenging
rat in it. Otherwise, that's it.
North of Formello (N4)
Notable items: Woven silk chain
Newman is a tailor with a few interesting items, namely the woven silk robe.
I'd skip it, as you'll find some on your own. There's another storeroom to
the south with scavenging rats. Check out the gatehouse to the north, and go
up the stairs. Investigate the room to the SW, and you'll find 6 cave slimes.
Blast them with icy rain, and they'll drop a woven silk chain, a decent
necklace (+1% to all resistances). There are a few areas around here and to
the NE that have "You hear a strange scratching sound" appear as you walk on
them. Move immediately or get ready for a fight. Worms usually pop up
shortly when this warning is given, unless you get off their territory.
Northeast of Formello (NE)
Notable items: Grounded Cloak
Stats: Haste +1
Herbmaster Tori is helpful and will make potions from your ingredients. She
mainly makes energetic potions, which are among the most useful. To NE you'll
find Hrickis, a necromancer. Kill his skeletons, then go up the stairs to his
home. Prepare yourself for a battle as you head south. A few nice spells
help, including haste on your fighters. Kill Hrickis early, as he enjoys
summoning lots of nasty things to fight you. Kill his pylon even earlier, as
it will terrify you. He drops a grounded cloak on death, and you can read his
spell book to improve your haste spell.
East of Formello (e4)
Cache: Speed potion
There's a bit more to do here. Talk to Donaldson about wine if you'd like.
Head to the stone circle. Prepare yourself (bless, shield, haste if you
like), then touch the central crystal. You'll be attacked by 4 groups of
shades. Kill them all. This allows you to buy spells from Abbess Haehn at
dirt cheap.
Southeast of Formello (SE)
Cache: Spiritual Herbs, Healing Herbs
Notable items: Swampwalker Leather
Swampwalker Hurking is the only person here. He's not that friendly, but
will sell you some items, including a ratskin shawl and some graymold. Buy the
graymold at the least for the job for Fort Draco. When you're ready, head
down a nearby set of stairs (probably to the south of Formello). From the
west section of this basement, you'll find an old mining encampment with some
nice crystals, including a piercing crystal. Continue east, and before
entering the center island, prepare for a fight. You'll be attacked by groups
of lizards, so stay in fight mode. The last enemy you face is a spitting
lizard. On death, it drops swampwalker leather. Several of the lizards here
dropped fine leather, which you can use to fulfill Ahren's quest. Head up
from the south first to claim some crystals from a searing slime, then head up
the east steps, go through the lizards, and be done with this mini dungeon.
Formello Mines (Mi)
Cache: Gold bar
Notable items: Thick wool tunic
Goodwife Hortense sells some items from the mines here, and will also pay
you when you remove the spliceworms. She doesn't have anything useful, sadly.
Search this area, and loop around to the north. Kill the spliceworms and take
the stairs down to the mine. Kill some more spliceworms, and the lava worms.
Grab the tunic off the dead mage, and go back to Hortense to report on your
success. Clean out the mines to the south (you have to disarm a trap) for
some nice crystals and metal bars.
Barren Tunnels (BT)
Notable items: Stunning blade, Armor Ring
Dazed enemies abound here. These enemies have been taken over by some
sinister force. You'll find some nice stuff on their bodies, including slith
spears on the bodies of sliths. Also, Testing cave #2 is located here, though
I would not attempt it until you have learned Prismatic Shield. For
successful completion of this test, you get an armor band. In order to pass
this test you will have to take a fair bit of damage while not dying. The
shade casts a frost spell every turn or so, which does damage to everyone in
its line of sight. This quest is best accomplished after you have mass
healing. The next test is near Cotra/Dranlon. You can get a stunning blade
by going to Motrax caves, and looping around back west. Take the stairs down
and kill all the thorny fungi. There's a dead body with this nice little
weapon here.
Motrax Caves (MT)
Cache: Fiery wand.
Notable items: Treated carapace, wyrmskin helmet, blessed silk tunic.
Stats: Icy Rain +1
This area is the main quest region for Formello. Be sure you have bought
all the mage spells you want first, before finishing this area. There's a
crystal to the NE, and you will have to return to it once you've cleared out
Motrax's tunnel. Clear out the ground floor level, then head to the basement.
There's a number of enemies here, including some slimes. Near where ol'
Motrax used to sleep, you'll find a treated carapace shield. It's a better
shield than most you'll find. Head to the west first, as the east has the
final boss. There are many lizards in the west corridor, as well as some bats
and other nasties. You can get some help for this section by going to the
north and activating the west-most golem. It will help you a fair bit, though
not endlessly. Head south and take out the drakespawn and eventually the
young drake. Kill it for a wyrmskin helmet, a better helmet than 90% of what
you'll find in the next few hours of playing. Check out the jar next to it
for the Motrax tablets. Next head to the east corridor. You have to take out
4 thorny fungi, so be prepared. Once you clear these fungi, head to the east
room. There are 4 basins here that you can drink from. Drink from the west-
most and east-most basins for some decent effects which will aid you in the
battle to come. Head south. A vahnatai confronts you. Kill it (it can be
tough, so use some of those wands you've saved up, and give your fighters some
curing potions. Destroy its pylons first, as they heal him when he's hurt).
It drops a blue crystal shard and a blessed silk tunic (this tunic is good for
mages). Check out its loot for a spell book of icy rain, and two vahnatai
cloaks (keep these for a later quest). Head back up to the crystal, and
you'll get a very important item. Return to town, and the shade has moved in.
This closes many things, preventing you from getting some items.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
END OF DEMO: BUY THE GAME! $25 FOR 50-100 HOURS OF GAME PLAY!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------Eastern Gallery--------------------------
S2-BC-SW S4
| | |
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RT-SC^DR-NR-E6-E5-BR-DV-E1{
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^EZ-E7-WC-CT-GW-NS-E2{
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^^RI^^^^E4-WS-SV-AV{
^^^^^^^^^^^|^^^^^^^^
Eastern Gallery (EG)
You leave from Formello to arrive in the big caves. You're greeted by
several bandits. If you enter the nearby deserted farmhouse, you'll be
attacked by several bandits. Not much else is here.
Fort Duvno (DV)
Subquests: Sacks of Meal, Bottles of Wine, Kill Bandit Hanvar, Kill Raider
Kelda,
Jobs: Message- Fort Avernum, Clean the Farm, Dranlon Delivery, Bandit Caches
Notable items: Polar fur cloak, Archer's band
Trainers: Walner
Stats: Enduring Shield +1
I'd recommend heading to Fort Avernum first, as you can get a potent ability
there. Maybe hit the pylon first here, then go to Fort Avernum. The pylon is
to the west.
Several subquests are available in Fort Duvno. Kisenwether wants 20 bags of
meal (3 energy potions), then he wants 20 bottles of wine (3 scrolls in
exchange). Commander Johnson gives you a series of quests to kill bandits.
The first one he wants dead is bandit Hanvar. He's in the bandit ruins (BR).
Killing him gets you some plate vambraces, which are pretty crappy. Next is
to kill Raider Kelda. This will get you a steel shield. Again, whoop-de-doo.
Finally, he wants you to take out Bragg. Doing so gets you a steel
breastplate.
Jobs available include getting a message to Fort Avernum (100c), cleaning a
farm of slimes (reward: archer's band), delivery of 8 chitrach claws to
Mairwen (200c), and determining the locations of 3 bandit caches (iron
breastplate).
There is a bandit mage on the second floor of the building, from the NW.
She is crazy and becomes hostile. When she dies, she drops a polar fur cloak.
Walner will train you in the two lores, which is nice. He also has a spell
book of enduring shield upstairs. He will make potions for you as well. Siri
has some nice items for sale, but you'll find much better ones on your own.
Fort Avernum (AV)
Notable items: Blessed gauntlets
Trainers: Captain Nathan
Stats: Prismatic Shield +1
This fort is the home of one of the great conveniences available to you as
adventurers. Talk with Ayrie, and she will give you access. Captain Nathan
is just indoors. Give talk with him, and he tells you what's around. He will
also train you for a bit of money. Go down, and talk with Vidrain. He
informs you on how the portal works. Now you can use it to go anyplace you'd
like. I'd go back to each of the towns you visited and gather any items you
placed near the pillars. Drop them off in the main room of the teleporter so
that you can get them whenever you want them.
There's a barrier here that can only be dispelled by the spell, dispel
barrier. Behind is a cabinet with some blessed gauntlets, for what it's
worth.
Eastern gallery (E1)
Subquests: Mysterious fort.
There is a bandit cache in the northern caves hugging the wall. This area
is home to William, a farmer. William sells some minor items, including a
woven silver chain (+1 resist all), and he gives you a quest to investigate
Fort Avernum. This quest is mainly designed to get you to go to the fort and
use the teleporter, so it doesn't give you a reward. You can check out his
basement for a wand and some scrolls, but that's about it for this area.
Eastern gallery (E2)
Subquests: Torvald's lizard
Cache: Energetic Herbs.
Notable items: Blessed gauntlets, ivory band
Torvald and his farm are the main attractions here. Talk with Torvald, and
he tells you that one of his lizards is evil and mutated. Kill it for 200c.
You can steal his stuff in the room just to the north. One of the items is a
pair of blessed gauntlets, which are better than some bracers, but without the
to hit% penalty. There are two stairs to the north of Torvald's place. The
northern stairs take you to a batch of lizards, including a lizard matriarch.
She is guarding an ivory band ring in her nest (+15% mental resistance, the
rarest resistance). The southern stairs take you to another bandit cache.
Eastern gallery (E3)
Cache: Armor elixir
Notable items: Viperskin boots
The farm that is a job ("Clean the Farm") for Fort Duvno is located here.
Gaseous goos inhabit the farm, and they cast a mass poison spell at the
beginning of their turn. Kill them in one turn from far away to avoid this
effect. Go down to the basement in the farm. Continue to kill these
obnoxious goos. Eventually you'll find the "quivering breeder" who is the
cause of the slime infestation. Kill it quickly (magic works well), as it
will start to breed more slimes every turn. Check out the nearby nest for a
pair of viperskin boots. The pit down to the north leads to a bandit cache
with some nice minor items.
North of Silvar (NS)
Notable items: Blessed belt
If you enter the east building, prepare for a fight with some thugs. Kill
them, and take their stuff. Head down the stairs, and kill the burning fungi.
You can continue south, though the enemies become progressively tougher. If
you enter the west room from here, you have to fight a nasty familiar, but can
get a number of good items, including some steel things. You can head down
the cave near the map's center, and you'll find a gremlin. Gremlins are
tough, and this one enjoys confusing your fighters. Kill it if you want
(either talk to it 3-4 times, or head east), and take its stuff. Its items
include a blessed belt.
Silvar (SV)
Subquests: Hunting Hosharr, Shade Experiment, Search the island
Jobs: Chitrach Claws, Message: Fort Avernum, Cotra Bandit Bounty, Kill the
Goo, Message: Mertis, Dranlon Bandit Bounty.
Notable items: Shield of Warmth, Blessed silk tunic, Clarity Talisman
Trainers: Captain Call
A lot of interesting things are happening in Silvar. For one, there's a
shade here, and its presence keeps a few merchants closed. These merchants
include Captain Call, who is trains you in several skills, but only if the
shade isn't in Silvar. Once you kill the shade, he is one of the best
trainers in the game. There is a shield of warmth in the storerooms to the
west, as well as other minor goodies. A blessed silk tunic is in a building
next to the inn.
There are many quests here. Awrmm the nephil bowmaker gives you a quest to
hunt Hosharr, a nephil bandit. Do so for a blessed bow. Ruth is a shipwright
and will give you a quest to investigate an island provided the shade isn't in
Silvar (300c on completion). Otherwise she won't talk about it. Lorena is
the queen of the slums, and she gives you a key to the sewers, which allows
you to see Pea Eye, an individual who is investigating the shade. Go down the
sewers. Pretty much no matter what you do, you'll have to fight a gaseous goo
to get to Pea Eye, but that's OK as it's the object of a job. Talk to Pea Eye
and he has a few ideas on how to investigate the shades. For one, he wants
you to hurt the shade bad enough that it regenerates. This is a bit tough for
a low level adventuring party. First, make sure the shade is in town. Next,
haste, bless, shield, and cast any permanent spells you have. Hit it hard,
especially with repel spirit. Then run away, once it heals itself one time.
Leave Silvar as far as you can, and try not to get anyone else killed on the
way. When the shade has stopped following you, go back to Pea Eye. He tells
you that you can have some of his treasure in Cotra.
There's a pylon here, so be sure to touch it. Also, check out the area that
Bolivar hints to for 30c- search for a dead body. Open the door, and kill all
of the thugs and the cultist. Search their stuff for some info on the
conspiracy, and to grab a wand.
Jobs here include Chitrach Claws (blessed shield), Message: Fort Avernum
(reward: mindshield scroll), Cotra Bandit Bounty (2 emeralds, 2 rubies), Kill
the Goo (50c), Message: Mertis (30c), and Dranlon bandit bounty (Clarity
Talisman- one of the best amulets in the game).
Bandit Ruins (BR)
Cache: Golden Goblet
Notable items: Girdle of Nimbleness, Static band
Stats: Minor Heal +1, Heal +1, Unlock doors +1
A4 pokes a bit of fun at the bandit ruins as this is the area where
adventurers have killed evil doers for the past 40+ years. There are many
bandits here, as to be expected. Take the NE stairs after killing some
lizards, and use a piercing crystal to get to a spell book that improves some
of your healing spells. Make your way west through the bandits, then head to
the SW. There are a few named enemies here, but don't worry about it. Go up
the stairs, and proceed north, killing the bandits (and mage who drops a
static band) along the way. Prepare yourself for a decent battle, then hit
Hanvar and his cronies hard. Two icy rains make short work of the warriors,
and Hanvar can be taken the next turn with some firebolts and melee attacks.
He drops a girdle of nimbleness on death. Read his spell book for
improvements to unlock doors. Grab the bronze key as well, it will make the
next bandit much easier.
Gallery Woods (GW)
Subquests: Bugs in the cellar
Notable items: Blessed boots, a girdle of strength, crystal-woven chitin
armor
If you descend the staircase near the north-center of the map, you'll
encounter several nasty mindreaper spiders. Use bows and magic on these
things or else you'll become charmed. Once killed, spiders burrow out of the
spiders and attack you. At the end you'll find another bandit cache. Hinkle
has a quest for you- kill the bugs in his cellar. This is a very difficult
quest for low level characters, and I wouldn't recommend trying to take it on
just yet. It's very rewarding, however. The chitrachs drop some blessed
boots, a girdle of strength, and a crystal-woven chitin armor.
West Silvar (WS)
Chapelle is here and will make nice equipment out of your fine steel.
Blessed breastplates are excellent for your warriors.
Cotra (CT)
Subquests: Cotra Investigation, Question the prisoner, Eyestalks required
Jobs: Swamp nodules, the bone borer, message: Fort Dranlon, Grob's tools
Trainers: Incantor Cecil
Cotra has been rebuilt since A2, and it's back in business. There's no
plague for this city, which is highly unusual. There are, however, a number
of fruitful quests. Angarahad is the head merchant and wants you to figure
out how bandits have been evading the Cotra guards (iron halberd reward). Be
sure to pillage the merchant storage right above her. Mayor Falko wants you
to question a prisoner he captured, which he thinks knows something about the
plagues (50c, if you report prior to killing the eyebeast). The basement of
the inn has a trapped lizard which may drop some fine leather on death.
Incantor Cecil will train you in spells, but hold off on buying from him just
yet. Instead, get his quest (retrieve an eyebeast stalk) and do it for him to
get much lower prices, and the ability to increase some other skills.
Jerim will sell you a stability bauble for you, which is the only useful
thing in his equipment. You'll still find better with little effort, so I'd
skip it. If you've done Pea Eye's quest, then you can get some nice equipment
(steel breastplate, steel shield, iron halberd) from his old house to the NE.
There's a disruption wand down the stairs to the NE as well. When ready, head
outside the Cotra walls and enter the building to the NW. Go down the stairs,
and you'll find a bunch of brigands. Kill them all (including Quickshank),
and you'll find a notice on who has been letting the brigands in (Yong-Mi).
Go confront her in west Cotra, and kill her. Then report back to Angarahad.
Jobs here include: Swamp nodules (collect 6 in the swamps near Cotra for a
healing and energy elixir), the bone borer (2 emeralds, 1 ruby), message: Fort
Dranlon (200c), Grob's tools (terror wand).
Eastern Gallery (E5)
Cache: Healing Herbs.
Notable items: Nimble chain
Stats: Augmentation +1
Chitrachs roam this area, and you should be able to get a few claws from
them. Grob's axe can be found to the NE, be sure to grab it. There are
several entryways down for you to explore if you wish. In the SE part of the
tunnels below, you'll find several dead bandits guarded by infected chitrachs.
Among their items, you'll find a nimble chain, and a spell book of
augmentation
West Cotra (WC)
Subquests: The island route
Notable items: Pearlescent band
Stats: Heal +1
West Cotra is actually where Cotra's Pylon is located. Go ahead and hit it.
Marshall is a fisherwoman here, and will give you a quest to find a route to a
nearby island (100c). Orbus is a potionmaker here and sells you a knowledge
brew, among other things. He also has a book of heal. There's a nearby dead
body guarded by some cave widows with a jeweled wand (one of the best wands in
the game). The most important thing nearby is the jail to the NW. Go down
the stairs, and prepare for battle. Inside the last cell is an eyebeast. He
actually doesn't know anything about the plagues, but is trying to get free
and eat some adventurers along the way. Tell the mayor about this for 50c.
Go back and kill it and take its potent ring and eyebeast stalk. This ring is
excellent for slith warriors, and good for most everyone else.
Bandit Lands (BL)
Notable Items: Fine Cleaver, Aranea Silk Tunic
Some bandits try to shake you down in this territory. Kill them instead.
Kelda's fortress is here. Head to the north, and use the key you got from the
bandit ruins to make your job much easier. Otherwise head to the west, and
fight your way through 4 fire lizards. It's not too tough of a battle,
especially if you haste your fighters. Proceed on through the goblins and
ogres. If you head east, the path will curve north and take you to the
southwest of Formello map. If you go north, you'll find more goblins and
ogres. One of the ogres drops a fine cleaver, a weak knife with a +1 dex
bonus. Go up the stairs, kill the goblins, and head to the NE. You'll find
an altar guarded by a named goblin shaman. Kill him then touch the altar to
get an aranea silk tunic. Fight the demon that pops up. Head west. Kill the
bandit alchemist. The north of the two basins here gives a good bonus, the
south one does not. Continue west past the worgs and burning fungus, and
you'll see Kelda. Kill her quickly. She doesn't drop much that's good, but
such is life. Take the keys from her box, and leave this area.
Southwest of Formello
Cache: Scroll- control foes
Notable items: Girdle of endurance
River goblins inhabit this area. March on a bit, and you'll find Graytusk,
a nasty ogre who is the target of Boris's quest. On death he drops a girdle
of endurance.
Bandit Lands (B2)
Subquest: Hunting Graytusk
Cache: Girdle of Nimbleness
Notable items: Piercing gauntlets
Some ogres confront you in the south part of this area. Kill them, and take
their stuff. Boris is waiting in the east section of this map. He is a
bounty hunter, and asks for your help killing Graytusk, an ogre. Doing so
gets you a speed potion and invulnerability potion. Head down the nearby
stairs, and kill the fire lizards. You'll find one more bandit cache, only
this one has some very nice piercing gauntlets (+1 anatomy).
Bandit Castle
Notable items: Blessed spear, clover boots
Stats: Daze +1
There are two ways into this castle- the sneaky way, and the full-frontal
assault. The sneaky way continues the path through southwest Formello (where
you fought Graytusk). I prefer the full frontal assault, as it's more
satisfying. You will need Kelda's key for this, though. Move through the
fort, killing everything that moves. Head to the temple and touch the altar.
Kill the undead, and grab the blessed spear. Ossious is a slith who drops a
composite bow (a step up from yew for those characters still with those bows).
Head west and go down the stairs.
Look around a bit. You'll find a room with a daze spell book to the west.
Head up the north set of stairs and you'll find Bragg. He's a bit tough, as
he has a few healing potions. Hit him hard in one round and you'll take him
down. He summons a few bandit allies to attack you from the behind, so watch
your mages. When he dies, he drops some steel items, and has some clover
boots nearby (+3 luck). That's the end of the bandit quests!
Slime Tunnels
Cache: Beautiful crystal
Notable items: Girdle of insight
The bridge should be complete when you return to this locale. There are a
few more worms to kill, and a nest with a girdle of insight (+1 int).
Eastern Gallery (E6)
Cache: Energetic herbs, spiritual herbs, healing herbs, graymold, mandrake
root, chilling band
Notable items: Mercuric leather, serpentskin helmet
Chitrachs galore, again. Fortunately, there's a lot of caches here too.
This region is dominated by a large lake, with an ogre sitting in the middle,
and rimmed by submission fungi (one step up the fungus ladder). The ogre is
the goal of a Fort Dranlon job, so at some point you will want to take him
out. Be careful, Swamplouse is tough. When you attack him, he summons
several fungi to help. On death he drops a mercuric leather, leather with a
penalty to strength but a bonus to AP. He's got some other nice goodies,
including a knowledge crystal, in the nearby jars. Try to pick up any rocks
you find nearby, as they could be swamp nodules. You can get under this level
by going to (NR) and taking the stairs down and heading east. Underneath are
a bunch of chitrachs. Near the center of the area is a "Eggtender chitrach"
which is nastier than most. Kill it and it will drop a serpentskin helmet.
Eastern Gallery (E7)
Cache: Energetic herbs, Spiritual Herbs, Mandrake root, Graymold, healing
herbs, gold necklace
Lots of caches here. Rabid rats guard a nest to the south with a scroll and
other things. Kill them. The building here has a few herbs and a swamp
nodule. Be sure to grab them. There's a body to the north with a letter of
introduction to Giscard. Use this to get to Giscard's house (N4). The north
house has a chest guarded by two plated chitrachs. Kill them to get some nice
items, including a steel breastplate. Head downstairs to continue exploring.
This area has a nastier group of enemies than the tunnels to the north.
Submission fungi team up with plated chitrachs and give ground slowly. Take
it easy, and kill everything that moves. If you head south, you can go to
Reptile island. Head west and you'll end up near to the source of the
chitrachs.
Fort Dranlon (DR)
Subquests: Terella Venia, Fetching Tools, Chitrach hunt
Jobs: Swamp goblin trophies, Hunting Swamplouse, Reach the spires, Hunt
Skunky Joe
Cache: Spiritual herbs, healing herbs
Notable items: Drakeskin bracers
Trainers: Mother Phelps
Stats: First Aid +1, Nature lore +1
The last major city/fort of this region, Fort Dranlon is pretty small.
Nonetheless, there's a fair bit to do. Be sure to go around and touch the
pylon. Ariadne tells you of an artifact that's located in the slith lands.
It's very potent, but guarded by a powerful foe. Be careful.
Mother Phelps wants you to find her friend, Terella Venia. She's at JW, a
corpse. Tell her as much, and you'll get a bonus of +1 to one character's
first aid skill. George wants you to find him a hammer, pincers, tongs, and
some fine steel (drakeskin bracers). Mairwen, the commander, wants you to
find the source of the chitrachs and destroy it. Once you've found it, let
her know and she'll unlock a door with mediocre treasures inside.
Mother Phelps will train you in some priestly spells. Her prices are on par
with other priests. There's a barrier upstairs that will require the spell
dispel barrier in order to get past. Behind is a specter which drops a
spectral robe on death, which has decent resistances, especially to mental
resistance.
There's a job board here as well. The jobs are Swamp goblin trophies
(300c), Hunting Swamplouse (400c), Reach the spires (doing this gives one
person +1 to nature lore), Hunt Skunky Joe (600c).
Near Fort Dranlon (NR)
Subquests: Nasty Chitrach
Cache: Scroll- group heal.
Chitrachs. More chitrachs. You can go down the stairs nearby and kill even
more chitrachs. Most important here is Grint, who is in the SW section of the
underground portion of this map. He gives you the "Nasty Chitrach" quest.
The reddish chitrach is in some tunnels to the east. Do it, and he tells you
to go see Mairwen. Mairwen gives you 250c for your help.
Eastern Gallery (E8)
Cache: Beautiful crystal.
Notable items: Tinker charm, girdle of insight
Stats: Mass heal +1
Some chitrachs pop out of the ground near the road on this map. One drops a
piercing crystal and another drops some razordisks. You can head down the
stairs and to the NW. You'll have to fight several spiders along the way
(prepare for the battle beforehand!), and will end up at a crypt. Kill the
undead, and open the door. Kill the ghost, and pillage this area. You'll
find a girdle of insight, a tinker's charm and a spell book of mass heal.
Eastern Gallery (E9)
Caches: Beautiful crystal, lovely crystal, 3 x flawed crystal.
Notable items: Blessed short sword, Bonding knife
Stats: Lightning spray +1
Grob's saw is located in the SE section of this map, along with a bunch of
caches. Skunky Joe and his band of goons are near the north center of this
map. Prepare for battle before attacking him, as he's pretty easy if you get
the drop on him. Otherwise, he'll cast a few nasty spells that will rapidly
render you unconscious. Once he's dead, explore his hideout. You'll find
some nice items, including a jeweled wand and a blessed short sword, and a
spell book that improves your lightning spray. You can enter the sublevel of
this area from the area just to the south, Near Fort Dranlon (NR). Head to
the NW and you'll find the third trial. This trial has you fighting an
automaton with magic. Whatever you do, don't hit it with weapons. It'll just
charm you. Hit it with lightning first, then change the magic you hit it with
to suit the hints it gives ("fiery" = firebolt, "blue" = Ice/smite). When it
dies, it lets you get a bonding knife. The east path from the central area
has spiders, the north path has more spiders and a bursting spider which
bursts into 3 more spiders on death. It's guarding a scroll and some
crystals. You can head west to E0.
Eastern Gallery (E0)
Cache: Mandrake root, graymold, energetic herbs, spiritual herbs
Notable items: Silken shield, spectral gloves.
Stats: Minor summon +1, call beast +1
The north area of this level holds the most interest. Make your way through
the tunnels, and kill the sliths. A named slith, Oasss-kss drops some
spectral gloves, which are pretty nice. Spiders (namely Aranea) inhabit the
sublevel. Aranea are pretty easy if you engage them in melee, so hide and let
them run to you. The final spider to the west is a Werlikanen, a nasty one.
It drops a silken shield on death (+1 gymnastics, +1 parry). You'll also find
a set of webs that increase your minor summon and call beast spells. If you
take the north tunnel on this level down to the sublevel, you'll be able to go
to the other side of the water. You can now explore a few of the slith lands,
and may also be able to get a powerful piece of armor (though your level may
be a bit too low right yet.
Eastern Gallery (EZ)
Cache: iron bracers
Notable items: Girdle of endurance, Rat-tail band
More chitrach-popping areas are located here. You will get a girdle of
endurance from one set. The bone borer lives in the SW part of this area. It
drops a rat-tail band on death. If you're in the tunnels under this area,
you're close to the source of the chitrachs. Make your way west, killing the
beasts as you go. Eventually you'll make it to the chitrach queen. It's not
too tough, but if you attack it by melee, you'll be splashed with acid. Stay
back and take it out.
Reptile Islande (RI)
Cache: Iron broadsword, ruby, mica band
Notable items: Drakeskin bracers, wyrmskin helmet.
Stats: Enduring shield +1
You can reach this locale through the tunnels of (E7). Head south, then
east. Kill the burning fungi then kill the searing wyrmkin. Move slowly, as
they can both team up on you and really hurt with their acid spits. Go
upstairs, and you'll find an island full of lizards. If you have sufficient
nature lore, they shouldn't be hostile. Kill them if you want, you can take
them out one at a time. If you have a decent first aid, then this can
actually end up recharging your MP as well. When you're ready, head down the
south pit entrance. Head up, and notice the fissure. As you move along,
searing wyrmkin will pop up out of this fissure. They're not too tough, but
can gang up on you if you're not careful. Be prepared, and kill them all.
Head south, you'll find a breeding ground for the sea creatures. Then you'll
find a drake, Ksoral. Prepare yourself, then attack it. It has too much
goodies to ignore. When it dies, it leaves a pair of drakeskin bracers, and a
wyrmskin helmet. Read its book to improve your enduring shield ability.
Return back to the mainland and tell Marshall and Ruth about your success.
Slith Lands (SL)
Cache: Mandrake root, graymold.
Notable items: Blessed spear, Mercuric leather, woven silk robe, emerald
chestguard
Stats: Repel spirit +1, summon shade +1, unshackle mind +1
Lots of sliths here. Kill them all and take their stuff (blessed spear
included). If you've talked with Ariadne about treasure, she told you about
the north area. Approach it and it'll open up for you, reveal a pathway to a
new dungeon. Note that if you want to enter this way, you can not exit till
later. So be sure this is what you want to do.
When you've decided to come down, head down the stairs to a dark pit.
Undead enemies here include Pit bones, which slow you, and Spiked shamblers,
who reflect melee damage back on you. There are three basins to the SE, the
north one heals you, the middle one poisons you, and the south one casts a
permanent shield on you (use this one!). Pit ghouls and revenants are to the
north, as is a disruption wand, which is pretty nice to have handy here.
Three more basins are here, one refills your energy, one protects you
mentally, and one summons a vengeful shade to fight you. Go ahead and use
them all. Then head back to the center where Nicoduas is located. Hit him
hard, as fast as you can, or he'll summon a demon. If you're less than level
~30, he'll probably summon the demon before you can do anything. Note that he
also has a healing potion that will restore nearly all his health one time.
USE THOSE INVULNERABILITY POTIONS! You've probably been saving them up, this
is an excellent chance to use them. Together they are tough, but you can beat
either set. He will probably charm you once, but that's OK. On death he
drops a mercuric leather. Read his spell book for 3 more spells. Check out
everything, and you'll find some bodies. On them is a woven silk robe, and
the almighty emerald chestguard (with huge resistance bonuses and little
penalty). This armor will last you through the game. Follow the route to get
out, and you end up next to Grindstone. Use the pylon to return to the
action.
Note that you don't have to do the Nicoduas battle. It takes him 4 turns to
summon help, so just run past him and grab the Emerald chestguard. The
dungeon is actually designed so that this is possible. You may miss out on
the spells, but it's by far the easiest route to get this artifact. The
battle with Nicoduas is among the hardest in the game, and easily the hardest
in proportion to your level when you take it on.
Slith Caves (SC)
Cache: Spiritual herbs, healing herbs, energetic herbs.
Notable items: Deadeye cloak
Not much on the north side, but take the tunnel south. Kill the bats if you
want, then head out of the tunnel. There is a large group of sliths here.
Prepare with spells, and kill them all. They have some good drops, including
a deadeye cloak (+1 sharpshooter). Head east to the spires briefly.
Fort Dranlon (DR)
Cache: Gold bar.
You've reached the spires. Woot.
Remote Tunnel (RT)
Nothing here on the surface.
Remote tunnel (Rt)
Not much here on the surface, just a dead body with some crystals.
Typically the last thing I do in this region is grab the emerald chestguard.
At that point, it is possible to grab it (though extremely difficult- I
reloaded 6 times). Once done, head to a new area altogether, to Mertis. West
Silvar will get you there.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mertis, Honeycomb, TotM
WS
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You are warned on entering that there are tough undead here to fight. That
much is true. The undead are very tough. The are two ways of effectively
fighting them. The first is to complete the quest given to you by the local
priest, who wants you to go find some hermit in the Honeycomb. That's the
recommended way. The way I did it my first time was I used acid spray. This
spell alone affects the undead, but you can completely avoid seeking out
Sleater through this method.
Silvar-Mertis Road (SM)
Cache: Scroll-mindshield.
This is the way to Mertis. You'll have to fight an undead along the way.
This undead is here mainly to show you what a pain these things can be. Use
acid spray. Once you've got Sleater's blessing (if you wanted to get it),
return and clear out this area.
Mertis (ME)
Subquests: Clearing the Spiral, Honeycomb bandits, Trimming the Bushes, the
mayor's sash
Jobs: Icy Geodes, Delivery: Tower of the Magi, Cauldron Spawn, Hunting the
Worm
Cache: Shining golden band
Notable items: Armor Ring, woven silk robe
Trainers: Elder Arron
Stats: Smite +1, +1 Blademaster, +1 magery
Mertis is a town that has been plagued by undead since A1. Voorhees is to
the north, give him his letter. The pylon is to the south. Elder Arron will
train you in priestly spell casting. Buy at least mass curing, as it's
cheaper here than anywhere else. Go down his stairs for a spell book of
smite. There's a farmhouse with an armor ring, which you should steal if for
no other reason than to sell it.
As always, there are a number of quests to do in town. Elder Arron gives
you the main quest to destroy the undead. Doing so gets you 500c and a
powerful blessing (warriors gain +1 blademaster, mages/priests gain +1 magery-
I'm not quite sure on the criterion for who gets what). Corrin is in the inn
and wants you to tell her the location of the Honeycomb bandits. Doing so
gets you 3 emeralds, 2 rubies, and a piercing crystal. Maxfield is in the
employ to the TotM, and wants you to hunt down some of his bushes. They're in
a locked building nearby, and you can kill them. Haste, and cast mass curing
every turn (maybe twice, if necessary). Report back and you'll be told to go
talk with Kelner at the TotM. Goodwife Lisa wants you to put her husband to
rest. You'll recognize him as you purge the Spiral. Lisa will give you a
woven silk robe for killing the mayor.
Several jobs await on the job board, including Icy Geodes (like the swamp
nodule quest- do it for 400c), Delivery: Tower of the Magi (Madness, Group
haste, Mass bless scrolls for a reward), Cauldron Spawn (disruption wand
reward), Hunting the Worm (bladeshield chain at TotM). Be sure to grab
Cauldron Spawn before taking on the majority of undead, or else you might be
stuck with an incomplete job.
Honeycomb Surface level
Much better maps can be found at the spiderweb message boards.
+---------+---------+ H = Hermit
| -g f\ d | W = Cerebrous worm
| H h | c \e b | This corresponds to the area:
| i | a | H3-HC
| 5 - 9 7 8| | |
| |W | H2-H1
+-|---|-|-+---|--|--+
| - 1 | Stairs down are numbered, paths
| 4 6 | - through are marked as well,
| | 2 -
| - - to Mertis
|B j | 3 |
+---------+---------+
Honeycomb basement level
+---------+---------+
| |g=f /d |
| | c e/ b | h and i both 1-way.
| | a\ | B is bandits
| 5 - \9 7 8|
| | |
+--|--|-|-+-|------|+
| - 1 |
| 4 6 | |
| | 2 |
| | |
|B j - 3 |
+---------+---------+
It's very easy to get lost here. To get to the hermit, follow one of these
two paths: if you're strong in melee and morally ambivalent, go down 3 and up
5. The longer route is to take stairs 9 to a, then a to d, then d to e, then
Otherwise, just explore the area thoroughly.
Honeycomb (H1)
Cache: Deadeye cloak, beautiful crystal
Notable items: Swamp boots, tribal symbol, flowing silk robe
The SW corner of this map has burning bushes. There are some icy shades
nearby the SW corner who are guarding a piercing crystal, other crystals, and
an icy geode. The NW corner has several cave widows and a static spider
leader. The latter holds an icy geode which it will relinquish on death.
Ravenous lizards are to the west, they are around a body with some swamp
boots. Go down the stairs (1 or 2). Some slimegrubs are in the center of the
map, these spawn searing slimes when killed. An icy geode is nearby. A bit
west, near stairway 2, are a group of nepharim. Killing the nephar spiritist
nets you a tribal symbol, a nice necklace. There's a barrier to the west
which requires dispel barrier to remove. Behind it is a manifold revenant,
which splits to form 4 ghasts on death. The basins here yield a shade (SE),
experience (SW), and a cave demon (W). The coffin holds a flowing silk robe
and a knowledge crystal. If you head down stairs 3, you'll be in an area that
can be easily reached through 1 and 2. The spiders to the west guard another
icy geode. There's a small pathway to the SE that is populated by nephar
archers, submission fungi, and warped wolves. This allows you to get to H2,
though.
Honeycomb (H2)
Cache: Fine steel, icy geode.
Notable items: Blessed shield, magestone band, blessed vambraces
Stats: Terror +1
If you're coming from the sublevel of H1, proceed on, and you'll find some
adventurers! They're not too friendly though, and are mainly here to block
you. I'd kill them, as the bonus is pretty nice. They drop a number of
potions, a blessed shield, and a few scrolls. This also allows you to reach
the hermit easily. Staircase 4 will bring you up to the bandits. Staircase 6
takes you down to a bunch of acid spraying shrubs. Argh. South from here are
a bunch of lava bats (which are really annoying if they catch you unprepared).
They may drop leathers when killed.
If you're on the top level, head to the NW to fight a bunch of worms. An
icicle worm will drop a magestone band when killed.
When you're ready to take on the bandits, come back and prepare with a few
long-term spells, then storm the fort. Hosharr is under the fort, and is
accompanied by a number of bandits. Kill them all. Hosharr can be tough
since he attacks 3-4 time a turn, and has a high to hit%. Still, you should
be able to kill him with minimal losses. Take his steel halberd and blessed
vambraces as a reward. Read the nearby book to see that Hosharr was in
cahoots with the conspiracy, and to get +1 to terror.
Honeycomb (H3)
Cache: Icy geode, emerald
Notable items: Drakeskin shield, infernal shroud.
Stats: Lightning spray +1, Mass healing +1, Summon aid+1
If coming from H2, go up the nearby stairs. Kill the three spraying bushes,
and you'll find Sleater. He'll give you the ability to destroy the undead if
you ask. Come back after you've done it, and he wants your help to explore
Athron's old lair. Go north and down the stairs to reach the lair. Ghessalus
is a drake and is guarding the entrance. Kill it. It drops a drakeskin
shield. Prepare yourself, then head north through the door. A dragon's
familiar waits for you. To beat it, kill the dark blue pylon (ONLY!), and
then hammer away on the demon. It goes down easily. Otherwise, you won't
make any progress against it. It drops an infernal shroud on death, easily
one of the best cloaks in the game. Read the stuff in the boxes to improve
lightning spray, Mass healing, and Summon aid. Go back and tell Sleater of
your success.
Other points of interest in this area include Xandros the rogue, a mage-
bandit. Kill him and his clan for some minor goods. Blind skunkworms are
northeast of Xandros, and have a number of crystals nearby. Kill them and
take their stuff to get one more piercing crystal.
Distant Tunnel (DT)
This area can be reached through the sublevel of H3. There is not too much
here, though you can retrieve a wand of flames (quite potent).
Honeycomb (HC)
Cache: Icy geode x 2
Notable items: Inertial Shield, pustulent vambraces
Initially this area is just a quick pathway on your way to Mertis. Once
you're exploring the Honeycomb, this area has the least combative way to reach
Sleater. The cerebrous worm is located in the SW part of the main level of
this area. Go ahead and kill it, though you may not like to do so. It drops
some pustulent vambraces on death. Staircases 8 and 'b' lead to some undead,
and a "sentient bones" who drops an inertial shield on death. Staircase 'a'
has a few slimes.
East of Mertis (EM)
Subquests: Hunt down Crain.
Goodman Thorious lives here, and he's the father of the fellow you helped
long ago. However, he and his family are a bit nuts. Still, talk with him to
get a reward- 300c. He's much more friendly after you give him this letter.
He will sell some (over-priced) items to you, including a woven silk robe, a
blessed short sword, some graymold, and an ivory band. The mold is the only
stuff I considered buying. He will give you another quest, if you'd like.
Your reward for this second quest is an armor ring.
Mertis Spiral (MS)
Notable items: Ruby breastplate, Pustulant vambraces, Polar fur cloak, jinx
blade, warmth ring.
This area is fairly straight-forward. Just move along, killing all the
undead you encounter. Use acid spray frequently, as it does a lot of damage
for low SP, and repel spirit on harder enemies. There's lots of valuable non-
magical stuff here, grab it up as you go along. This good loot includes a
mandrake root. To the NW you'll find a ruby breastplate in a coffin, and a
magic barrier. Dispel the barrier to fight a tougher cauldron monster and get
a wisdom crystal. Near the center of the map is another barrier, this one
leads to another nasty monster guarding a disruption wand. Go down the stairs
to continue this dungeon.
You have a choice- north or south. South leads to the mayor, and I'd take
him out first. The mayor drops some pustulant vambraces on death. This
fulfills the mayor's wife's quest. Head to the NE. You'll need to either use
two piercing crystals or the spell dispel barrier to proceed. Undead abound
in the attached rooms. Go ahead and kill them now, otherwise they'll attack
you shortly. The same is true of the NW. You'll find a lava-fired spear in
one of the coffins nearby, so be on the lookout. There's a barrier to the
south, beyond is an undead guarding a polar fur cloak. In the center of the
map is the cause of the undead. There are several basins around. Not a one
is helpful (all poison or cover you in acid). You'll find the cauldron shade
nearby. It's guarded by two crystal pylons. They can be tough, but take your
time and you'll take it out. It drops a jinx blade and warmth ring on death.
Return to Mertis for your reward.
South-eastern Road (SR)
Cache: Wyrmskin helmet, energetic herbs, mandrake root
Notable items: Thrusting gauntlets.
This is the route to the Tower of the Magi (TotM). There are two routes
south- the west one is the main pathway, the east one is the backroads. The
west one has a merchant who has some decent armor (but not too much), and the
east one has ogres and a cache. You can head down a stairway for the east
route to kill an ogre mage. This is the full on attack path, and is a bit
tougher, though still doable. The ogre mage is to the south, and once
destroyed will drop a set of thrusting gauntlets (+1 blademaster, +1 lethal
blow- very nice).
This is the area you must go to test X's lizard. Go to the NE from the
Tower colony, and you are prompted to place the egg down. Cast shielding,
blessing, and haste spells, and cast an augmentation on the lizard. Your job
is to keep it alive till it kills over naturally. There will be three waves
of chitrachs trying to kill you and the lizard. Once over, the lizard dies on
its own. Nearby is a stairway down which leads to a rod of succor and a few
other minor goodies.
Tower Colony (TC)
Subquests: Route through Almaria, Purge the Tower, Lizard Testing
Jobs: Glowing basalt, Research notes, Message to Camp Samuels, Ogre
discipline
Notable items: $Bladeshield chain$ x2, Girdle of Avoidance, temperate
necklace, radiant belt, girdle of genius, blessed helmet
Trainers: Kelner, X
Stats: Dispel barrier +1, prismatic shield +1, steel skin +1, mass healing
+1, mass curing +1, fireblast +1
This is the remains of the old tower of the magi. There's a fair bit to do
here. Talk to Oliver again to see what he's got for sale. At least buy his
knowledge crystal. The Bladeshield charm is pretty nice, too, so you may want
to go ahead and get that. Tell Kelner you helped Maxfield out for a nice
girdle of avoidance (+2 dex). There's a pylon to the SE so be sure to hit
that as well.
Several quest await you here. Oliver wants a route through Almaria,
sticking with his previous theme of "make sure the path is clear" type quests.
Once you've made it past, return and tell Oliver for a sniper vest. You'll
see him next in Dharmon. X wants you to test his lizard egg, and will sell
you spells in exchange for successfully completing this quest. His prices
aren't that good, but he's the only one who sells prismatic shield for now.
Kelner wants you to do a very important quest, to purge the tower of a big fat
demon. The reward for this quest is one of the best in the game, in my
opinion.
When you're ready, head up to the tower. Go up the eastern stairs first to
grab some research notes. Be on the lookout for more research notes. Then go
up the western stairs. Kill the lizards hanging around, some drop fine
leather. Before heading to the NW, cast protective spells as some nasty
creatures await (worms and similar ilk). Kill them fast, as they're weak but
very damaging. You can kill the automaton if you want, it drops a silver
necklace. The door right in front of the automaton has a bunch of slimes.
Kill them to grab a research notebook. Then head NE, and you'll find another
automaton. Kill it, but don't use melee weapons. Firebolt and repel spirit
both work well on it. It drops a temperate necklace on death. Head south,
and use the control panel once to summon a nasty slime creature (as with all
slimes, use magic). Use the control panel again to face a nasty demon. The
best way to approach this demon is to bless heavily, haste, shield (including
prismatic), then send on tank up next to him, and hammer away with magic
(slow/lightning spray/repel spirit) and missile weapons. You don't really
even need to talk to him, you can just go ahead and attack him right off. He
has a high attack order, so if you attack him first, he loses a turn. He
enjoys summoning, so use area of effect spells to remove his summons. With a
bit of effort, he will go down. Your reward is the spell dispel barrier.
You can do a lot with this spell. Go around and use it throughout the tower
to get a few good spells- prismatic shield, steel skin, mass healing, mass
curing, fireblast. You can also get some items since you have the keys now-
including a radiant belt and a girdle of genius,. All in all, you get a lot.
You can now use this spell up at Fort Dranlon, if you'd like.
There's a job board here with a few good jobs: Glowing basalt (healing,
curing, speed elixirs), Research notes (scrolls- lightning, control foes, acid
shower), Message to Camp Samuels (200c), and Ogre discipline (blessed helmet
reward).
If Sage Carlotta is here, talk to her for a reward- a wand of the inferno.
South-eastern road (S1)
Subquest: Digmaster Grugg
Cache: Glowing basalt
There are fungi here, but fortunately they don't attack. Explore, and
you'll find Komlos, a magical smith. He gives you a quest to hunt down an
ogre by the name of Digmaster Grugg. Do so and he'll do work for you.
The best way to access the sublevel is through the ogre caves just north.
Digmaster Grugg is easily found, and when he dies, he drops a girdle of might
(+2 strength).
South-eastern road (S2)
Cache: Mandrake Root, healing herbs, spiritual herbs, focusing crystal,
Notable items: Spear of the fen, treated leather, static band
Ogres guard the route west. Kill them to and take their stuff. Head NW.
More ogres. Kill them and take their stuff. Go downstairs. More ogres.
Kill them and take their stuff (including a wand of death). Chieftan Ugglug
will charm you if you engage him in melee, so use magic and missile attacks.
He drops a spear of the fen when slain. Other items nearby include a treated
leather, and a static band. You can go south and west from the sublevel here,
both give some decent items.
South-eastern road (S3)
Cache: Piercing crystal, graymold, healing herbs
Notable items: Tinker's gloves
If you enter this region from the main level from the east, a dazed miner
will stop and talk with you, telling you to go to the SW, near the sulfurous
flats. It's up to you if you want to do that just yet. You'll be sent to do
it no matter what when you finally reach the castle, but getting it done and
over with now isn't too bad an idea. You may want to wait till you've reached
Camp Samuel's first, so that you have a base of operations. There are a
number of merchants around, some have good items for sale (Lyun), but most are
best used to sell things. Head south to the sulfurous flats, and you'll find
a few caches.
In the sublevel, some aranea seers are to the south, they guard a body with
some tinker's gloves.
Surface Portal (SP)
Subquests: Portmaster Pirro
Caches: Glowing basalt
Notable items: Shielding knife, grounded cloak.
The surface portal is located here. There's not much that can be done just
yet, but go ahead and look around. There's a shielding knife upstairs and a
grounded cloak near the portal. Portmaster Pirro will talk with you and asks
you to let him know if you find the mages the castle sent to fix the portal.
He opens a box for you as a reward. He also tells you to go see Sage Carlotta
at the TotM.
Sulfurous Flats (SF)
Cache: Glowing basalt x5
Notable items: Ruby necklace
Stats: Haste +1, Slow +1
Fire lizards abound, as do bats. Check out all of the cubbies in the cave
wall, most are populated by hostile creatures, and you'll find a lot of
glowing basalt as a reward. The most important thing here is to the SW. Here
you'll find several vahnatai, and a book which teaches haste and slow spells.
Talk with the vahnatai if you want, they're not that helpful. Head
downstairs.
Summoning platforms and some containers with minor goodies are to the NW.
Work your way around, and you'll find some crystal pylons. Kill them now, one
at a time. Doing so will save you a lot of trouble later (Yes, this level is
a trap). The basins to the SE restore energy, poison you, and heal you, from
left to right. Head to the SE, and you'll find the individual who is causing
most of the problems here. Turn around, haste, bless, and shield, and take
out the creatures nearby. Go slow, and as soon as you cross the glowing green
runes, more creatures attack you. None are all that tough, but they can be
obnoxious. Once you head up the stairs, the vahnatai here become hostile.
Prepare beforehand and rush them. They drop a ruby necklace and some vahnatai
items on death.
Southeastern road (S5)
Cache: Healing herbs, spiritual herbs
Notable items: Woven silk robe, incantor's ring, oozing blade
There's a sublevel here that's ripe for exploring. You find a crypt that's
guarded by a trap and then a golem. Beef up your spells and smash it. The
only difficulty is that the golem can freeze you when it hits. Kill it for a
woven silk robe, and an incantor's ring (among the best rings for mages).
Head immediately west and go up the stairs. Prepare for a battle with some
tough slimes. Magic works best, but try to kill them fast as they can frenzy
themselves. They drop the oozing blade, one of the best weapons in the game.
Great Cave (GC)
Commander Xaba warns you to stay away from Almaria. Everyone's gone crazy
there, so take his advice. You'll get in shortly, though.
Camp Samuels (CS)
Subquests: The lost mages
Jobs: Message: Almaria, Hunt Orchard Fungus
Notable items: Runed jade necklace
Trainers: Shrum
A bit of civilization before dealing with the crazy Almarians. There's a
pylon here, be sure to hit it. Talk with Commander Krizsan and find out
about the situation. Krizsan talks with you about how to enter Almaria. Your
best bet is to talk with Sheehan. Sheehan tells you that there's an old
tunnel that will get you to where you want to be. Finally, Crain (of the
crazy Mertis folk quest) is located here. Kill him if you want. There's a
house nearby with a stairway down. Inside are a group of bandits. Kill them
for a nice jeweled wand. Go down the monster storage area, and you'll face a
steelclad golem who drops a wisdom crystal and fine steel on death (use
lightning spray). The other nearby monsters include a gazer (runed jade
necklace and eyestalks dropped on death), and a pustulent zombie who drops
some leather and an invulnerability brew. It's guarding a cabinet full of
fine lances and a scroll.
Quests available include finding out about the lost mages from Krizsan
(opens a box), and Shrum's quest. Shrum's quest is to go kill an ex-bandit
down south. Do so for one of the best training options in the game. The
quest is a bit morally ambiguous, but that's OK.
Jobs located here include: Message: Almaria (250c), and Hunt Orchard Fungus
(500c, 3 almarian wines).
Great Cave (G1)
Cache: Fine steel, graymold x2, mandrake root
Notable items: Blessed bow, wyrmskin helmet, drakeskin bracers, nimble
sandals, nullity shield
Stats: Terror +1
Aruebis is located to the SE. Go ahead and kill him. This gets you a
blessed bow and a wyrmskin helmet. Some fine leather and some drakeskin
bracers are in the room to the south. Check the stairs down and to the NE to
find a body with some nimble sandals. The most notable thing here is the
shard spiders, which occupy the entire SW portion of this map. They aren't
hostile, but they are very tough if you choose to be hostile. However, you
can simplify your life greatly by killing the aranea stoneseer first. This
removes all the protections on the other nearby spiders and makes them
vulnerable to all attacks. If you don't kill this spider first, then you're
stuck using acid spray to do any damage. The stoneseer drops a nullity shield
on death. You can also investigate the nearby room for a point of terror.
Great Cave (G2)
Plenty of orchard fungi roam this area. Kill them as best you can.
Crenshaw is nearby, and is a producer of wine. He will reward you well for
killing the orchard slimes. Other than that, he mainly fills in the
backstory. Check out the cellars nearby to steal some wine.
When you're coming through this area to get to the castle, prepare yourself
for a fight as you approach the SE. Several assassins attack as you walk
through this area. Kill them, then head out to leave this area and continue
on with your quest.
Great Cave (G3)
Cache: Graymold
Not much here on the Camp Samuels side, just a cache and some herbs.
Great Cave (G4)
Here you will find the tunnel down. A guard sees you and freaks out. Kill
her.
Almaria (AL)
Job: Message: the castle.
Nothing to do up top, but underneath is much more complex. Head to the
north, killing the submission fungi along the way. Continue all the way
north, and you'll find Sage Carlotta, the mage in charge of fixing the portal.
Free her and her two comrades. Head on west, and up the stairs. Welcome to
Almaria! Hug the wall and avoid the shade. There's even a job board nearby
(reward- mass bless scroll). Grab the one job, and head to the NW. Avoid
being spotted by the shade and any guards. Head down the stairs, through the
submission fungi, and out of here (to G2).
-------------------------------------The Great Cave--------------------------
By far the biggest section of the game, the Great Cave is very rewarding, but
also frequently difficult.
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| | | | |
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| | | |
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| | | | | | |
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| | | | | | |^^
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| | | | | |^^
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Great Cave (G2)
There's a pylon here, so go ahead and hit it. Stay away from Almaria the
best you can just yet. They're all hostile.
Great Cave (G3)
Notable items: Tinker gloves
The River Inn is located here, and you can find some nice goods upstairs.
You can also stay here for free (effectively recharging you completely).
The Castle (CA)
Main Quests: Vahnatai Sighting, Vahnatai Rescue; Fort Emerald Box, Rentar
Ihrno's Keep, Hunt Down Rentar
Subquests: Shade Essence, Accounts Ledger, The Fissure Post, Fort Saffron,
Shade Artifact, Kill a Shade, Kill the shades, Darkside Loyalists
Jobs: Great cave bandits, Correlea's needs, Abyss report, Ghall-Ihrno's
comfort
Notable items: Blessed boots, bracers, and breastplate, crystalline plate,
putrified gauntlets, Blessed armor band, Magus Vest
Trainers: Rone
Stats: Arcane Summon +1, Divine Retribution +1,
Finally, you've made it. After several hours of goofing around, you now
have a goal in sight. Proceed through the castle, and you'll be told to go
see Houghton. He's to the SSW. After a bit of dialogue, you're given your
next quest- Vahnatai Sighting. This quest has to do with the fortress near
the Sulfurous Flats (SF). If you've been following this walkthough, then
you've already completed it. Otherwise, go there and do it now. Once you've
completed it, you get another quest, and Almaria ceases being hostile
(mostly). This is one of the more interesting quests of the game. Once
you've done the Almaria quest, you're given one final quest from Houghton.
Ghall-Ihrno will now talk with you about the vahnatai and the threat Avernum
faces. Once you've grabbed the box from Fort Emerald, head back, and it's
taken from you before you can get any further. Go upstairs to the observation
chamber (near Correlea) and prepare yourself. Houghton dies pretty much no
matter what. I don't think he can be saved by any means. Anyways, you can
now see the king. Head in to see Starrus. He tells you what happened at Fort
Remote, and gives you the quest to hunt down Rentar. Do so, and you're told
again to Hunt Down Rentar. This time the process is a bit more complex.
Many other quests can be found near here. Rone, the court wizard to the NW
will train you in high level mage spells, and is also right next to the
Castle's pylon. Directly upstairs from Rone is Correlea, his talented
assistant. She gives you a quest to go whack off a portion of a shade and
return it to her. The only option you have is the shade of Dharmon or Blosk.
Blosk is the only reasonable possibility of these two places. Arcane Summon is
your reward. Once you've got the quest to hunt down Rentar, return to
Correlea for a new quest- to retrieve an item that will help destroy the
shades. Do so to get your next quest, to destroy a shade, and to get a book
of divine retribution. Destroy a shade for a book of arcane shield, and the
last quest- to destroy all the shades. For this you get a pair of putrified
gauntlets Next to Rone you'll find Gilda, the castle record keeper. She
gives you a quest to find an old accounts ledger in Almaria. Your reward are
scrolls of madness, mass bless, and mass shield. Levitt is upstairs in the SE
corner of the building. Talk to him to get set on the "Darkside loyalist"
quests, the conspiracy that you've been finding infrequently throughout your
journeys. He gives you a quest to investigate a nearby inn for details.
Return and he unlocks a room for you, getting you some blessed boots, bracers,
and a breastplate. He then wants you to explore Fort Saffron (rather, its
bandit problems). Do so for a blessed broadsword and some stability boots.
Your final quest is to hunt down the Darkside loyalists. Once you've smacked
Dorikas around enough till he flees like a coward, return for two items: a
magus vest and a blessed armor band.
There is a job board here, too. The quests available are Great cave bandits
(1000c), Correlea's needs (rod of battle), and Abyss report (emerald x 3, ruby
x 3). You may be able to Correlea's needs right off, if you have stockpiled a
few nodules/geodes/basalts. Otherwise, you'll find a few more as you roam the
countryside. The two great cave bandits are located moderately close. The
abyss report isn't going to be done for a long time. Ghall-Ihrno's comfort
becomes available once you've rescued him from Almaria. The reward for this
quest is 2 wisdom crystals.
If you can, dispel the barrier off of Starrus' room. This leads to the
castle treasury. Kill the infernal shade and pillage the treasure
(Crystalline plate reward). Consider it your fee for services rendered.
Great Cave (G5)
Cache: Mandrake root, graymold.
Nothing really here, unless you're coming from the slith lands. Then
there's a basilisk and some herbs.
Great Cave (G6)
Three merchants are here, and all have items for sale. Only Cross and
Oswalt have remotely useful items, and only Oswalt buys stuff. Nonetheless,
you can get rid of a lot of those items you've been saving up.
Memorial Lands (ML)
Subquest: Graverobbers!
Notable items: Reflecting shield, blessed broadsword, breastplate, airy
vambraces
Stats: Control Foes +1, Minor summon +1, summon aid +1, +1 Luck
This is nice little area full of graves to rob. You can also get a good
quest here from Elder Caridad to kill a graverobber who is competition. Nikka
is the graverobber, and he can be found in the central part of this map.
Other graves here have some nice items, including a reflecting shield, blessed
broadsword and breastplate, and one grave with two books which improve control
foes, minor summon, and summon aid. When you're ready, head to the central
grave and take out the graverobbers. There's a slith and an archer with
Nikka. When Nikka gets pretty hurt, he'll disappear on you. Go tell Elder
Caridad, and leave for a while. Then check the SE crypt. Nikka has returned.
You can kill him this time. He drops some airy vambraces on death (these are
really nice). Tell Elder Caridad about it, and he's happy enough to bless you
permanently (+1 to luck for everyone).
Great cave (G7)
Cache: Blessed helmet.
There is a huge dungeon and additional area attached to this zone. It's
great fun. This heads up to G8.
Great Cave (G8)
Cache: Mandrake root, graymold, focusing crystal, wisdom crystal
Notable items: Cryos spear.
Bortund is located here. He can make some excellent items. I would
definitely have him make at least one runed helmet for you, for your mage or
priest. He's pretty much insane. He'll charge you 1000c to join his
preferred customer club, so that's an additional fee. You'll find one on your
own, so it's up to you.
If you're coming to this level from the sublevel of G7, there is a crazed
bugmaster to the west. He drops a cryos spear on death (with great bonuses).
Head east to get to the slith lands.
Slith lands (ZL)
Cache: Mandrake root x3
Notable items: Tribal symbol, blessed shield.
You start in the sublevel here. A few sliths are nearby, so kill them. Go
up the stairs and interrupt the ritual. Kill them and take their stuff. Use
the altar and fight a slith avatar for a slith warspear. There are many
sliths in this area, and some are warded against spells. Make your attack
strategy based on their names (fire-warded means don't use firebolt or
fireblast, ice-warded means don't use smite [or lightning-spray, apparently],
etc.).
Slith lands (Z1)
Cache: Graymold x2
From here you can get to a few interesting areas, including the dead body
you may have seen in the eastern gallery.
Slith lands (Z2)
Not much here other than some graymold.
Slith lands (Z3)
Notable items: Woven silk robe, bonded knife, girdle of life, Avenger's ring
Stats: Enduring armor
This is the main map of this area. A slith chief taunts you from behind his
giant slave. I'd recommend first heading to the NW. Some sliths and
hellhounds guard the area, and you'll find some herbs and a knowledge brew for
your efforts. Head to the SE for a bonded knife and woven silk robe (on the
body near the runed lizard). Also nearby are two basins that bless and shield
you (not too impressive, sadly). The other nearby animals drop minor goods.
Finally there's a spell book of enduring armor here. Read it. Head through
the basement for a girdle of life. When you're ready, head to the NE, and
take out the giant. It drops a charmed plate, which is great armor. Continue
and kill the chieftain, who drops the excellent avenger's ring. Minor goods
are all that's left, so grab what you want and return to the great cave.
Great Cave (G9)
Very little here. One merchant sells a blessed broadsword for cheap, but
that's it.
Great Cave (G0)
Cache: Mandrake root x2, graymold x2, wisdom crystal, piercing crystal
Notable items: Spectral boots, crystal woven chitin, crystal symbol
There are some nice herbs on the main level here, but most of the
interesting stuff is below. The SW holds several shades guarding crystals.
Destroy them all. One of them drops some excellent spectral boots. Gather up
the crystals (include an icy geode). To the NE, there's a golem with two
pylons. Kill them all, though it'll take a little while (no spell really does
much damage, and physical attacks against the golem are painful). Once dead,
it drops a crystal woven chitin and a crystal symbol. There's a stolen book in
a nest to the NW.
Great Cave (GZ)
Notable items: Blessed bracers, blessed belt
There are a number of Blosk refugees located here, and they are being lead
by Goodwife Newberry. Talk to her and find out that some thugs have moved in
to the SE. Go to the SE dome and kill Lott. He drops a blessed belt and some
blessed bracers. Tell Newberry about it for, well, nothing.
Almaria (AL)
Subquests: Find Demonslayer.
Jobs: Message: Castle.
Cache: Mandrake root
Notable items: Blessed helmet.
Trainers: Starcap, Abbot Erlanger
Stats: War blessing +1, Protection +1, Repel Spirit, Smite +1, Endurance +1
Come back here when the gates have been forced open. The town is still on
edge, but there's a lot you can do here, still. Starcap is a potent (but
expensive) trainer. His equal can be found in Silvar once the shade there has
been destroyed. Abbot Erlanger is a priest, and will train you in spells. He
is one of the few unaffected by the shade (along with the nephilim).
Underneath his temple is a book that increases your war blessing and
protection skills, and another that increases your repel spirit and smite
skills. Near the barracks is a room you can rob (blessed helmet). Head on
down the stairs near the mayor to explore this region. It's best to clear out
this area prior to taking on the main quest.
Underneath you will find a number of rooms. The room to the SE has two
barriers, with a box with a key. Grab the key. If you head down from near
the commander, you'll find the ledger than Gilda wants. Also, you'll find a
golem in this area. In the north region you'll find a bunch of nasty corrupted
rats. There's a body with a steel halberd near here, and a nice cache.
When you're ready to continue the main storyline, go talk with Mayor Bevan.
Demand the release of the Vahnatai. Prepare yourselves by casting spells, and
then talk with the vahnatai. He tells you that he's been kept here. Tell him
you know an escape route. Now follow the vahnatai and keep it safe. Kill all
of the vigilantes who attack you, and keep the vahnatai alive at all costs.
At the end, you'll be attacked by a vigilante by the name of Grosk One-eye,
and on death he drops a mercuric chain. The vahnatai gets free and will meet
you at the castle.
The only quest-giver of note is Abbot Erlanger who gives you a quest to find
Demonslayer. Doing so gets you a bonus to endurance (yay!)
Great Cave (GY)
Cache: Emerald, glowing basalt
Notable items: Blessed boots, polar fur cloak
The Fissure Post is located here. Enter the building, and talk with the
innkeeper. He tells you who's been making trouble here, a fellow named Stout.
The inn is populated by rich empire citizens, many of whom have never seen an
adventurer in real life. Since these people are so fascinated with
adventurers, show them what being an adventurer is really about. Loot all
their stuff. You'll find some great items, including a lot of nice non-
magical jewelry, a knowledge brew, a wand, a pair of blessed boots, and a
polar fur cloak. Go up the stairs, and talk with Stout (well, do whatever
counts as talking). Kill him, and take his stuff. Search the jar in his room
for a map.
Fort Emerald (FE)
Jobs: Hunt Szorizass, Wyrmkin Tails
Notable items: Blessed boots, Mica flecked chain
Trainers: Tisiana
This fort is pretty dead. There's a job board here, so go ahead and grab
the jobs. Hunt Szorizass (600c) and Wyrmkin Tails (Mica flecked chain as a
reward). Tisiana will train you in archery for extremely costly amounts.
There are some blessed boots upstairs. Eventually go talk with Captain Biden.
He'll lower the barriers for you.
Scree Caves (SC)
Cache: Healing Herbs
Head up north of Fort Emerald. You'll find the box slightly to the west and
to the north, in a small passageway. Magic orbs guard the box. Attack them
with bows, and kill one. This should cause the rest to die as well.
Scree Caves (S1)
Cache: Focusing Crystal
This holds the path from Fort Emerald to Gnass. Several green Wyrmkin are
here, and some should drop the tails you need for Beadle's job.
Scree Caves (S2)
Cache: Fine steel
Notable items: Gazerskin sandals, demonslayer
This is the home of demonslayer. If you've got the ritual from Solberg,
haste, bless, and shield, then take the east stairs. Quickly head clockwise
and you'll find some controls for golems in t