AD&D: Order of the Griffon FAQ(TurboGrafx 16)
version 1.0.0
by Andrew Schultz schultz.andrew@sbcglobal.net
Please do not reproduce for profit without my consent. You won't be getting
much profit anyway, but that's not the point. This took time and effort, and
I just wanted to save a memory of a great game and the odd solutions any way
I could. Please send me an email referring to me and this guide by name if
you'd like to post it on your site.
================================
OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. CONTROLS
3. STRATEGIES
4. WALKTHROUGH
4-1. RADLEBB(GETTING STARTED)
4-2. CROSS COUNTRY TO KELVIN
4-3. WOLVES' DEN
4-4. OLD VILLAGE
4-5. KORISZEGY CRYPT
4-5-1. NORTH AREA
4-5-2. WEST(RED) AREA
4-5-3. BLUE(EAST) AREA
4-6. KORISZEGY CELLAR
4-7. IRON RING
4-8. HALAV'S TOMB
4-9. KORISZEGY KEEP
4-9-1. LEVEL 1
4-9-2. LEVEL 2
5. SPELL INFO
6. CHEATING
7. VERSIONS
8. CREDITS
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1. INTRODUCTION
OMG it's like Harry Potter's coolest Hogwarts house meets the book 5 title I
mean...
...actually, that would be as big a temporal blunder as Ms Rowling having the
Dursleys give Dudley a PlayStation to throw out a window in 1991. Maybe he
should have been given a TurboGrafx instead. But I don't think Mrs Dursley
would have cottoned to games with MAGIC in them.
The real story is that a few AD&D games(Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure
Bonds, Hillsfar) made it to the PC and even a Nintendo port. The first two
were quite complex and let you control 6 characters in a party, the drawback
being that you had to, tactically, even when fighting 40 goblins. Battle
dimensions were based on your location in the maze(walls etc.) The second was
a one-player RPG. OotG is a mixture of these, and a relatively pleasant one:
4 PC's from a pool of 3 for each of 7 predetermined classes. The learning
curve is much less nasty and there aren't any stopper fights or ones where
enemies pile on. You havefewer spells to learn as well. Or maybe I'm just
happy because I can hack into things.
But...the plot, the plot. Someone's turning people into vampires and it's up
to YOU to stop them! You start off in Radlebb Keep where there is already
evidence of deception. Lord Korrigan sends you on an uber-quest and the OotG
is there to help you put the pieces together. There's a rather large overhead
overworld to complement the towns(3) and dungeons(5+). The items aren't
terribly adventurous(only up to +3 and a few "+3 vs dragons") but the game
progress is straightforward and sensible.
So OotG will take little time and give less frustration than its PC
counterparts, especially if you know which combats to hit--the experience for
finding treasure often outweighs that for winning tough fights. It's a no
frills variation of a series where the frills kind of stunk anyway. And the
controls, while limited, are pretty easy once you get the hang of it. The
graphics are a nice step up too and even a little amusing when you see a few
enemies run through walls during combat. Which is a bit shorter, because with
only 4 players and a maximum of 10 enemies, combat takes a lot less time.
2. CONTROLS
You only really use buttons 1 and 2 in this game. (D/S on the emulator).
Select(space) sends you to camp mode and the run button(enter) generally
verifies you want to do something.
Left/right turns the direction your party faces. Down backs up and up goes
forward.
In combat you can push button 1 to activate the right item and 2 to activate
the left. Mages must have button 1 mapped to the book(cast/memorize spell)
and Clerics to the ankh. You can change items by clicking on an equipped item
and dragging another one from the 24-item pool--even in combat. Fighters can
have two items, handy for attacking as you please.
Camp is organized as follows:
Bottom row=choose among players
Middle row=look at inventory, or go to rest/music toggle/save game. Push 1 to
drop an item, 2 to equip it.
Top row=your player's items. Push button 1 to send it to the inventory.
If you have heal spells and decide to rest, your cleric goes from player 4 to
1 as each one maximizes hit points. There's no penalty for resting multiple
times in a row, though an ambush is more likely. Fortunately ambushes are
generally easy fights to win.
3. STRATEGIES/POINTERS
First, for your playing comfort,
--Play without the **** music, except to hear it when you enter each new
area. It slows down the start of combat.
--If you must play with music, just melee attack a square you can't see or an
enemy too far away. That stops the music.
--Rest after each tough battle, even if you are just recharging a sleep
spell.
--After a spellcaster gains a level, tack on his new spell. Sounds easy to
remember but it isn't.
--No real need to shuffle spells. The good ones are:
Cure light wounds, Hold person, curse[by default] and cure serious wounds
Sleep, web, fireball
--Try not to block another potential fighter from coming in in combat.
Conversely, you can block enemies from attacking you or a weak player.
--Stand back and shoot against melee monsters. Wait around corners for
spellcasters. Denser terrain favors close fighting.
--Don't bother to buy magic fighting items. Save the money for wands etc. or
rings of protection.
--sleep spell + weak missile weapon=easy kills early on. As things go on
you'll probably want to give your mage/cleric "real" weapons but you can
always re-equip these if there's no other way to do damage.
--I suggest going after enemies quickly with all your spells. They will do
the same to you. Remember, it's no problem to rest up again--maybe an
inconvenience--but you don't have to wait to recharge, really.
--if one of your party gets paralyzed, make sure to draw away enemies from
him. Enemies with nothing else to do will whack your invalid until you bring
along someone active.
--you can probably survive one party member getting charmed--remember the
computer can play STUPID in combat.
--always freeze mages first.
--how many HP an enemy has left can determine who you let kill it. I.e. if
you have a cleric with a +1 mace and a fighter with a +3 sword attacking a
bat with 1 HP and a thoul with 7, obviously the fighter should hit the thoul.
Also there is no run-away penalty so feel free to position yourself--also
there seems to be no hit-from-behind bonus.
--if an opponent's head is out of view, try to hit his legs. Also not that
how the box moves from your head to his is how the computer sees your missile
going. An annoyance is that you're blocked by the left but not the right. But
in general it doesn't hurt to try angles. You can always undo where you
position someone, and you can always cancel with [return] anyway--and you
don't even lose your spell.
uX u
uX u
m mX
m mX
For emulation, here are tips:
--if you save a state outdoors, get in a random fight and reload, you'll
still get in the same fight after moving the same distance. Just save the
game and restart/reset the emulator and you can move on.
--combat is particularly tricky. The randomseeds predefine hit rolls, etc.
Sometimes this is cool--you know if you'll hit or what damage you do, and it
may help you avoid leaving a monster with 1 HP--but other times it can
dictate the enemies will kill you right away. NEVER save a combat save-slot
over your actual game. If you need to, shuffle back and forth before re-
entering combat.
--rest ambushes are the same way. Save before each rest. Reload the save
state and shuffle back&forth once, then twice, etc. if you are caught resting
the first time.
4. WALKTHROUGH
You can see the order to do stuff in the outline. Don't worry about building
characters up on the side, as if you hit the right fights it'll happen
naturally. The "wrong" ones are winnable but slow you down. The right ones
are winnable, but it may be more a case of getting enemies in the right
alignment so you can bash them quickly.
Also, the more you build up, the tougher random outside combats are. Be sure
you've planned the next place you want to go before going outside.
4-1. RADLEBB(GETTING STARTED)
I'm going to go with Carl Batchelor's "Send in the Tanks" party that he
recommends. Given that you can continually leave and return to fight rats,
bats etc. in the building NE of the armory, you don't need to worry about
experience--it'll eventually come. Nice items pop up at a regular pace too
and soon you'll be selling them to get the REALLY good stuff.
Fighter: Keir
Dwarf: Tor
Cleric: Kerwin
Elf: Larissa
You can skip ahead to read about how/where to get the very best in armor etc.
as well--in the cheating section.
But if you want to play it honest, buy everyone slings and shields at the
armory. Ready everything there--removing your cleric's and mage's weapons. It
is pretty much south of where you exit. On the east side, the north bit,
you'll find a very winnable fight with four veterans. Mow them down with
slings or, even better, a sleep spell and slings. The one sword you get is a
short sword, but I sold it for 787, which seems to be a bug. Sell it and save
up for better magical goodies later.
Next you'll face a warrior and two goblins in the door(pick it) and you will
get some really nice treasure and even more gold. You can find a veteran and
a warrior east of Lord Korrigan, the Order of the Griffon two doors north of
the armory, and some rats in the kitchen(door E/N of Korrigan.) The toughest
fight is outside the mansion, go south and there is a door to the east facing
north. It's a tough fight against a vicar and some undeads, which your cleric
swhould turn.
All this should get you close to a level for Kerwin. If you want to tip the
balance, there is a room NE of him where you will meet 3 rats and a bat. You
can fight them continually for 38 experience and 85 gold, as long as you keep
leaving Radlebb and returning. This may be a bit tedious but given how you
can mow them down from afar with slings(one hit and they're done,) it is not
really too bad if you're close to a needed amount of gold. Real random
outdoor combat may be even more annoying, and it doesn't always guarantee
gold.
For a change of pace go to the NW part and there is a 2x3 room. Face east in
the SE and you will be teleported to a new area--follow the passage and when
you go 2N, turn west for a fight. 4 orcs get you some experience. 1W 1N and
you run into a thoul and 2 orcs. If you're having trouble, nuke them with a
sleep spell. You've rescued a prisoner, yay!
The final place you can go is just south of the NW corner. There's a big
fight there--2 robbers and 2 apprentices. Blast them with a sleep and you'll
get lots of experience and gold.
4-2. CROSS COUNTRY TO KELVIN
Now you can muck around a bit or take your first trip cross country. It'll be
a hike. You'll need to save your game(NOT just save states, as the random
seed that generates encounters seems to be based on game time) and push east.
You'll want to go down a bit from Radlebb and should have a few bumps where
you need to go down or up. For each up, try to go down--keep an even keel,
then when things open to the NE go that way. Follow the path and there will
be two bridges to cross to get to Kelvin.
If you see a town before then, that's Specularum. You'll want to skip that
for now and go upwards.
In Kelvin, go east to an intersection and north and east. Go through the door
and--wow! Treasure! 1031 experience, +3 sword, +3 leather, +2 shield. You
have a pleasant dilemma here--keep the +3 leather as armor until you get
something better, or sell it for weapons right away. Another dilemma is
whether to give all the good stuff to one guy or split it up. I say make a
super-warrior out of Kier. Give him the +3 leather too to put his AC at 0.
One advantage of the +3 leather is that it doesn't restrict your movement--
this matters less once you gain levels, but early on it's a huge boon.
East then south gets you more goodies in the now-defunct Order of the Griffon
hall. 359 exp + a +1 mace(Kerwin, when he doesn't use his sling) and a potion
of heal and staff of extended healing.
Now I'd just sell the magic spell stuff. You can, if you want, hang around
the bar trying to steal a bit of gold, but you may need to save/restart or
muck with save states a lot. You can progressively steal more and more gold
pieces--if you get caught, just mix up what you do.
At the armory you can buy an axe+2, 4 sling+1, and maybe even another
shield+2 for Tor. If you've got some dough left over or want to steal some
from the pub(after a couple times it gets very tough,) you can get a +2 mace
for Kerwin, although right now you don't need him on offense so much. I'd
just sell the +1 mace and start saving up for really good armor.
Then take the trip back west. You get levels automatically so don't worry
about a guild hall or anything like that, but instead of going back to
Radlebb, go to the Wolves' Den, which is north after the first clearing when
you go west. There'll be bushes shaped as follows:
* *
* *
Go up from here and you will enter the wolves' den, which is where your first
quest unravels.
4-3. WOLVES' DEN
Go north and you can just attack the wolf guards for some quick experience--
they can be shot down. Then to the north are 2 veterans and 2 wolves--again
they can probably be shot down though your fighters may have to clinch.
You'll see a note. It's just part of the plot--the guy you killed would've
been fed to the vampire at Korizgevy Keep anyway. Go east and south to a big
room where you get some gold and experience. Go north and take the east
branch then go north. Not attacking allows two extra wolves in. 121
experience+65 gold. Then you can search--the moon/ring emblem is another
clue. They really start to overdo it a bit later. And you don't even get any
cheap experience out of it!
Now the detour east gets a fight with three wolves--there's some treasure
here, but it can be skipped.
Back to where you were and 3N 3W gets another fight with 2 wolves, a veteran
and a warrior. A clue here too--you need a staff. Go north and folow that
passage. There's an aside to the north that leads to a secret area with a
bunch of rats and carrion crawlers--not a hard fight(mages use slings and
sleep) and you get some goodies. 90 exp points for the fight, 60+110 gold for
the treasure.
Go to the east and at the opening, head south. This is a tough fight so
heal/rest up first. You will get a +1 short sword and +1 chain mail at the
end of this(very handy) and then go north, but west when there are walls. You
can now enter the door in the NE. Climb down.
You can also return to Radlebb to clear out your inventory if you want(sell
the +1 short sword) and come back if you want to take full advantage of the
good treasure immediately below.
4-4. OLD VILLAGE
One note: there are a lot of doors where you can ry to pick the lock or bust
them down. They all lead to walls on the other side and damage you on this
side.
Go 2S 3E and N into the armor shop. Search for +1 chain mail and 330XP to go
with it. You can start giving your cleric and mage the cast-off magic armor
now. The scroll of Magic Missile is 2E. Scribe the scroll(unready weapon,
ready scroll, re-ready weapon) and now you have the nasty Magic Missile
spell--yay!--though sleep is more generally useful at these lower levels My
cleric tipped level 4 here, which gave him a level 2 spell. I had him
memorize "hold person" which cleans up sleep very nicely.
You can head W/S for an easy encounter(rats/bats) and you can fall in a NE
pit for another small fight which has a bugbear. But it's a SE door that
leads you to the next interesting part. You can drink the root beer in the SE
for a fight(2 carrion crawler, 5 rats/bats,) or you can just searh the doors
to the west--the top leads to treasure and a fight, the bottom to two fights,
and the middle continues where you need to go. Don't go through the rusty
door; that can kill a character by suffocation once you're inside.
For the top door, wait when the skeleton talks. Though it's easy enough to
turn undead either way. The treasure gives more experience than the fight.
For the bottom, the second room holds a few skeletons, carrion crawlers and
bats. Not much worth taking here, but easy enough experience.
The first door north in the middle leads to skeletons(turn them) and it gets
you a lot of experience and gold(500) and some random magic treasure, so I
advise going there. Now at the 4-way intersection head west all the way, then
north, to a big fight. You'll fight a wereboar, a seer and some veterans.
This is for the key to the dragon temple. Hack down the seer--or shoot him
down--then the wereboar. The veterans should be easy. A key should appear
beneath your compass after the fight. It is the key to the dragon temple door
and will disappear once you unlock it.
But don't go there yet--there's clean-up to do. The second door down has some
nice treasure guarded by skeletons, zombies and a ghoul(turn 'em) and you can
scribe the charm scroll for your mage, too. In the room below bugbears and
carrion crawlers will be crowded in--cast sleep. This is a tough fight but it
will help you get more experience, gold, etc. and personal experience in
combat--here is where I got Keir to L4 and Larissa to L3, too.
Now go back to the start and 2S E S you'll open the door with the dragon key.
Go west and follow that path. At the inscription, take the door south(W 2S E
S) and continue--eventually you'll run into skeletons, zombies and rats. No
oh my necessary--just turn undead. Before going into the 2x2 room after you
continue, cast a bunch of heals so everyone has 12+ hit points, or you will
need to pay for a resurrect spell later. You need to take the staff three
times before the staff icon appears on your screen. Now go back to the Order
of the Griffon in Radlebb(north of the armor shop.) If you want, you can buy
something cool in Specularum, like a Ring of Protection or two. I don't
recommend any other items--except maybe a fireball wand you can use a couple
times and sell back to make fights very easy--as you will find what you need
in the course of adventuring.
4-5. KORISZEGY CRYPT
The path to Koriszegy Crypt is simple enough. You need to follow it as it
turns W and then NW and you may have a few encounters along the way, but they
shouldn't trip you up too much.
You need the Staff of Life to get anywhere here. It opens up the north door.
Then you need to touch the staff in the red pool(changes it to red) to get
behind the red door(on the west) and then the blue pool(changes it to blue)
to get behind the blue door(on the east). The staff icon on your screen will
change accordingly. The areas get more complex as you travel them, and you
will want to think of the stairs as teleports instead of ways to get to the
next level up. The maze here really wraps around itself and it's a good thing
for you that Magic Engine has a relatively small windowed view. I have some
maps you can keep in one window while Magic Engine is in the other.
There are a lot of side quests here including getting the lightning scroll(a
wicked spell,) and it's well worth going through them all.
4-5-1. NORTH AREA
Go north and in the first 3x2 room there's a halfling to the east. Grab him
and don't let him go for some advice. Go north and if you face east you will
have a combat with rats, carrion crawlers(can do damage but are easy to hit,
so shoot them from afar) and magic bats.
Now I would advise going 2E 3N E N E for a big fight. Here you will want to
save before the fight and throw everything you have at the undeads. You get
1000xp and some nice treasure if you do. +1 shield, +1 sword. You'll probably
need the Hold Person spell and maybe both sleeps too. Shoot at the enemy
until they get close and then nail them with spells so they are less likely
to regain mobility. It's a good gauge of your party's power and how you can
handle combats.
You can push the button under the table here for a fight with a vicar and
some undeads. You get a +1 mace and +1 axe out of it, and $400+400exp. You'll
get sick of +1 maces by the end of the game, but until then this is a good
fight. Just turn the undeads and whomp on the vicar. 2W 3N W and you'll be in
a room with a desk. Open the desk to get a Web spell(very handy--your mage
should be level 3.) Have your mage memorize Web and then rest. W N and you
will be in the pool room. Dip the staff in and exit as you came.
4-5-2. WEST(RED) AREA
Back in the main area, the west door with red mist coming from behind it will
be open now. Take it and go straight forward for a nice fight with good
treasure--turn the skeletons. Now E 5S and you want to open the door because
there will be a HUGE fight with undeads you can simply turn for experience
and treasure. You may need to turn them a couple of times, but that will be
well before they can reach you for any damage.
Now there is another side quest not critical to the game, but it helps
improve your party. Go 2S and exit all the way W. Follow the passage up the
stairs(green on my map.) E 2S and east all the way, resting before the second
door. Don't sit--that kills a player--but attack.
For this fight cast Hold Person on the Myrmidon--you can cast it on the
werebats, but it won't work since they're not people. A couple sleep spells
should take out a lot of bats, though. Be sure to swat the werebats first.
Bring your mage into the fray so he can cast web on any monster that is
particularly pesky--including the Myrmidon if he resists or overcomes your
spells before you chop him(unconscious) up. You should dedicate one fighter
to conscious werebats and one to the Myrmidon and use slings on the sleeping
bats.
In this fight I got an axe+2, plat mail+1, scroll of lightning(VERY nice for
when your mage goes L5--it is worth keeping in your inventory,) +1
shield(sold for cash as everyone has +1 by now) 1400 exp and 1000 gold coins.
I gave the +1 plate to my Cleric as having his movement restricted was not a
problem. The mage will be using Web, where you need to be next to the lucky
recipient, and fighters may need to be able to run ahead to tackle reticent
mages waiting in the background to blast you.
Back down the stairs and at the intersection, you can go south to get to the
pool area. 2E 2N 2E and you can go up and left--make sure you're fully
charged here--and you will fight a seer, magician, and two gargoyles. It's
probably a good idea to get the hang of gargoyle fights before the long
stretch of them after you enter the pool, so let's break this one down.
1. "hold person" or "sleep" doesn't work on gargoyles--only "web"
2. It's important to zap the magician/seer first, and sleep can get them
3. Once the mages are unconscious, slings can take them out
4. Gargoyles arrive so slowly that you should shoot them down instead of
running to them--they can do massive damage
5. Keep in a line so your mage can run at a gargoyle and imprison one--the
one with more hit points if possible.
6. If the enemies are behind a barrier, try to make it so your mage can pop
out and hit both of their mages with a sleep spell. Getting charmed is a
major concern against mages, especially when gargoyles can extend the fight.
If you win this fight, you get the extremely powerful fireball scroll in the
room at the end of the hall. Your mage can't use it now, but it's worth
holding it in your inventory until he's level 5.
But moving on you will need to go back east and N E 3N E 3N 4W S to teleport,
then east to the pool. Dip the staff in and rest and go E to hit a teleport.
Now you will have several fights with 2 gargoyles and the formula is simple
though the execution might be tricky.
1. shoot the gargoyles as they run at you--lower HP first
2. blast the higher-HP one with web
3. have your fighters hit the conscious one and switch to melee weapons to
route the web-trapped one.
After the second teleport, N 3W(fight when face S) S 3W(nothing in the room
S) 3N(fight) 2N E N(fight) 3N and you'll be near some stairs that can take
you back down. 2E 2N 2W D.
E 2S 2W 3S 5E 2S E and you are back in the main area. You can now enter the
blue door to the right.
4-5-3. BLUE(EAST) AREA
Immediately you have a choice of three ways to go. East is nothing. North you
have a small teleport puzzle after you follow the path to the stairs. It has
one cool fight, too, so you might as well poke around.
2E 4N and there is a fight with 6 bugbears. If you are lucky you'll be in a
wide open space, but if not, you should be able to take out two bugbears per
sleep spell. That is good enough. Hold Person should work decently, too, and
web can also bear fruit. On winning you get a +1 mace and a displacer cloak--
the second being a great item to move a fighter towards a spellcaster, and
you can still sell it after a few uses for lots of gold. You can go back down
the stairs right now or you can go all the way west. Note if you go back east
you seem to be stuck! What you need to do is face west and push down. This is
the first example of a directional teleport, which will become much more
prominent in later areas.
If you go south and try to take the gold, you find it is illusory and will
fight racer snakes. Giant crabs are in the NE--shoot them down. Neither of
these gives much experience or treasure, though. So, back down the stairs and
retrace your steps to the start.
Go 2S 4E N 2E 2S 4W 2S 2W S W 2S E to climb to a very confusing maze with
lots of teleports and--at the end--lots of treasure. There's another couple
of levels after this, but they are comparatively less tricky. Refer to my map
for the way through, or note what to do here.
W 4N 2E and you can detour up to fight a patrol if you face north. 2E N E and
detour E S 2E S to fight rats(not recommended) and 2N 2W 2N. W and face N
leads to undeads and a gargoyle. You will have to go east to the next
intersection here to fight some bad guys(unless--UNLESS you go east, face
south and back up--they're just skeletons), but once you do, it's a clear
walk to treasure. 6N and (detour 4W 2N W for an unnecessarily tough
(were)rat/bat fight which I'd avoid, even if you can sleep 'em up, but in the
interests of completion...) 2E 2N 2E 2S (2E 2N E gets you loot--+1 short
sword, 100 gold--might as well) 2S 2E 4S 2E 5S 3E S 2E 3U W 4N(back up to
avoid a fight with 2 gargoyles and some undeads at 3N) E(loot! +2 axe--well,
you have one but it's good money) W N W N(turn east and back up to avoid 3
gargoyles) 2W N(back up to avoid some rats) N 3E N 2E N(face S and back up to
avoid a big fight of 1-of-each where you can turn a lot undead and web/hold
the gargoyle/bugbear and sleep the rest) and there's a +2 dart as treasure
beyond that! Again, worth selling. N W to the stairs.
2N 3E 2N W to the next stairs. 2W 4S 2W 2S W S and you'll hit a looping
teleport that allows you past the door to your left. 5W S 2W 2N 3W 5S 3W S
teleports you. 4N to a statue of the vampire. Placing the staff in his left
hand allows a fighbt where you can dispel everyone for a whopping 30xp, and
you can repeat that as long as you like. The only downside being you have to
heal the damage the statue did to you. Then step into the middle of the room
and follow the passage to the next and final level. (This all is much tougher
if you have to map it from scratch, although at least you don't run into a
bunch of fights.)
Incidentally it's possible to retrace your steps to the entry and be left
without a way back in, thus making the game unwinnable.
But should you actually want to win the game, there are several fights. First
7 orcs in the first big room. Exitm S E 2S and there are some ticky tack
fights 2W and in each direction, with no treasure:
N=9 goblins
W=4 hobgoblins
S=7 orcs
NO-TREASURE FIGHTS: Or you probably want to go all the way E, N 2E and there
are orcs/dire wolves to the north. Sleep is worth it though dire wolves
resist a bit--web again can knock off one of them. S E N and free the dwarf
to slaughter 4 orcs.
Or to get down to business, head E after exiting the room, S and all the way
E. The death gem! Guarded by undeads! Which would be lots halloweenier if you
didn't have your cleric. A monster also drops a key and you now have the
death gem and a key to get out. 2W and REST AND SAVE before 2S. The white
dragon ahead is tough.
The white dragon may try to charm members of your party, and he breaks free
from web spells. Try to keep him out of sight until he gets near. Now might
be a good time to use the displacer cloak--at the very least you should
unequip your mage's armor to hit him with web. In fact, you can gambit and
unequip EVERYONE so that after your mage traps him, everyone is sure to get a
shot in. He doesn't attack physically much.
The loot: +2 chain, +3 shield, +1 sword(+3 undead) and potion of
invulnerability--the last two great for money. The exit is to the east, and
you should be able to walk back to Radlebb comfortably. Visit the Order of
the Griffon after selling your magic stuff(save a +1 mace and +1 sword for
your nonfighters--and the scrolls for your mage, later) and you will be
informed of your next quest--the cellar of the keep.
4-6. KORISZEGY CELLAR
Koriszegy Cellar is to the NE of Radlebb Keep. It's a shorter path here than
to the Wolves' Den. The cellar is in the east, and the keep is in the west.
You can't enter here until you've been in the crypt. I'd recommend buying 3
Rings of Protection before entering here, just to get that much more of an AC
boost. The fights are a bit more rugged. You can even try your hand at
fighting some in Specularum--there are some good planned fights that will
increase your experience--but you shouldn't need fireball/lightning here,
yet. Once you enter, you get locked inside, and you'll need to win a few
fights to get out, but you can do it.
To get here, head north from Radlebb and go east and there's a clearing in
the north. The cellar is on the east side.
E 3N and go east to fight undeads for the key you need to leave--get the
bottle and break the key to trip the alarm. To win you probably won't need to
do anything except have your cleric turn undead. In any case don't run at
your enemies.
Go east to fight some giant crabs, then east again for more treasure. Or
better--skip around them N E past a door S. The wand of lightning gets the
experience of a tough fight. Go east and north to fight three thouls. Thouls
can be tricky since they regenerate--but that's moot if you sleep/web/etc
them. For this you get a +2 sword, wand of cold and scroll of invisibility
after. Your mage can use all thhree of those.
Now you've hit most of the lucrative fights so I will just show you where the
othes are with little comment. You eventually have to go straight north, but
there's also a fight N W N to a room, then W and N before the door. S W and N
in the big room--all the way N. A fight E(cleric and skeletons--web the
cleric and it's over, get a +1 mace as lamas all have those--best experience
value) and 2 ambushes 2W(orc/bugbear, tough) and 3W N. Oh, if you go all the
way west you get in a fight with vermin. To the north is a pantry with a
potion of fire resistance. East and north you can get ambushed by Goblins if
that is your idea of a fun time.
But north along the east side you can fight a cleric and skeletons. You know
what to do--immobilise the cleric by any means necessary and wait to turn the
skeletons. Even if you hold him, web him to make sure. Down the way are 4
thouls. Hold-person or sleep them. Sleep may shake out the giant weasel.
Follow the passage to the inscription. West, you have 2 thouls and 3 bugbears
guarding treasure. I found a +2 sword, +1 ring of protection, +2 axe and
scroll of web. The ring is good for AC and you can sell the others. Go east
and it doesn't matter what you say to the vampire. Through the door and S
leads to a challeging fight, though you can skip it. Nail the hero magician
and in general paralyze who you can--thouls first.
Back north and the key gets you east. Rest up for the Nosferatu fight. If you
want to play aggressively, remove armor--the nosferatu drains levels if he
hits you, but if you web him first, game over. Hide behind a wall and turn
undead--the other guys will drop. He is so slow it shouldn't be hard. Since
your mage has a +2 sword, even if you must trap him in a corridor you should
be able to shoot him down quickly. Gee, it's a bit surprising that the guy's
a fake. Well, it allows them to throw one more maze-quest in, I guess. You
can now take the secret passage S W and you'll be kicked out without being
able to go back. Remember to put your armor back on!
I got my cleric to level 5 here. Sadly Curse is a pretty putzy spell, but
it's better than nothing.
If you haven't gone back to Specularum yet, go back to Radlebb for your next
quest first, because you'll be going to Specularum anyway.
At Specularum, just west of the harbor area, go south. The door that was
locked is open now--Stefan Manor. The first east door has a goblin fight and
the second has a pass to see the duke. There are some other doors here that
give fights. You need the key in the SW to find them all, but it's not worth
it. Just go to the west past the guards and south. Duke Stefan gives you your
quest, and now you can enter the Iron Ring forest.
The sage the Duke talked about is in the NW, east of the mill house by the
exit. You can also explore the houses for fights if you want but there's no
treasure, only experience.
4-7. IRON RING
I started losing track of what was where here. While I know how to get
through this, I think I missed some treasures. Fortunately all the encounters
are winnable enough with the right spells. You may have to tough the first
few combats out but once your mage hits level 5, use fireball with impunity.
S 2E 3U 2E and winning gets a ring of regen and +3 spear. Hold the magicians
first, then the myrmidons--this is a general formula. You'll want to sell the
ring but for now give it to Larissa as she probably has the worst HP by far.
It's a nice security measure. Later you may just want two +1 rings of
protection for everyone but you don't quite have the dough yet. You should
also be able to clear the unconscious myrmidons and let the awake ones swing
at you.
S and W of here are a bunch of orcs with magician and myrmidons--"only" 500--
E S of them is a bunch of bugbears and orcs--easy. Might as well clear them
now, come back and go W S W from the orcs etc. More myrmidons and mages and a
+1 bow to replace a +1 sling. You also get a key, which will be very
important later.
Go by where the orcs were and SE and E and N. For a detour for a +3 shield,
at the intersection go 2W 3N(fight/mages) N E(another similar fight) and in
the NE area you can go E for the +3 shield. Beyond that is a fight for the
scroll of confusion.
Now you can retreat to back where you got the key. 4E 3S 4E S 2E N 4E N 2E
S(fight) S 4W(fight) W S 6W 2S 7W 2S 2E(fight) E 2S 3W 2S 2E N 3E N E N 2E
and you can enter a cave. You're close now.
2E 2N 2E 2S 2E and there's nothing to do but be surprised by the mages etc.
who may cast charm on you. Which sucks, but you can nail them back, with
sleep and hold then fireball. You'll have 3 more fights in a row and I
recommend going to the upper bit for even more treasure. E N 3E. Then 2W
3S(fight) 2S and all the way west. S 3W N and here is a good time to use any
wands you may have--the last fight for the princess is tough. Once you beat
them, you automatically are kicked outside. Return to Duke Stefan and get the
staff and your next quest. Visit the old man by the mill if you want for
advice, or you can just go into King Halav's Tomb and do that later.
Also, you'll see a message here afer winning a fight in the SW. It is missing
a few letters but reads in full:
"Captain, keep her well guarded for they are looking for her. Every
precaution must be taken or you will suffer as those who have failed me. I
expect you to live up to your reputation. Don't fail me or I will have to
take care of things myself and I'm sure you won't want that to happen."
4-8. HALAV'S TOMB
Halav's Tomb is in the SE of the harbor area. From Duke Stefan's, 3N 2E S 4E
4S 2W and S to enter. It's another place you need to complete in one sweep
before leaving--no sneaking out mid-quest.
Halav's Tomb is more of a mapping challenge than anything. You have some
teleports to deal with and then, at the end, a large square of directional-
based ambushes. You need several keys to get out alive, in addition to the
Chalice and Shield. I'm sadly unclear on if you need to clear out all
ambushes in the last part of the map or just the one, so I recommend
colearing the first ambush and getting to work on other bits later.
Fortunately there's a general rule of thumb for each area.
4 orcs hold down the first door. Bash them and it. There's a big area here--
go to the SW for an encounter with a wyvern(throw lots of spells at it--it
gets out of web, so save that for the myrmidon) and you'll get a key. A
Caecilia is in the one small room to the north and another to the east.
They've got blurbs describing Halav's items and accomplishments. In the NE
you read about Halav's staff. These fights aren't too bad, but once you want
to get on with it you can exit to the west(there are guards to the east) and
the west area doesn't hold much--4W N at the first door gives one fight, 2W N
at the bottom gets you to 4 bugbears. 2S of that go east, unlock the first
doo9r and encounter some guards. E 9N W and you have your fight for the
second key. The fights to the east in this hallway are rather trivial.
Once you've got the second key go south and east. N E are two spectres--easy
enough to dispell(if they touch you, BTW, double level drain--very bad.) So
2E N E and follow the "straight path"--just go north. You're teleported to a
new area. N W. Teleport again. Now you need to face west and back up til you
can't any more. South, back up, east, back up, north, back up and west and
back up. Another teleport square! 6E 3N E and teleport again. S and now you
get to an area where a teleport sends you through the wall--once I figured
this I mapped it out OK. Also teleports 2 squares from each other send you to
the other square. So...
6E(teleport) 2E(teleport) E(teleport) E(teleport) E S, fight the orcs, S W S
W(teleport) 2W(teleport) W(teleport) 2W(teleport) W S(teleport) S E(teleport)
E N kicks you to a new area.
2S 2W N W 2N W N 2W S W S, fight a patrol, 2S 2E S E, fight a patrol, E S and
another fight, and now you can explore the W area for some cool fights or
just go E 2S 2E 4S 3W N and west into the pit--instead of the 2E you could
have gone SW but that'd be another fight.
W 2N W 3N W and you get a key! E 2S 4W N and you get a fight for the shield.
S 3E S and another fight--these are not toughies, but don't worry, the tough
fights are coming. N E 5N W N(teleport) to the outside part.
Now I am not sure if you need to go through all the fights or specific ones.
So I will label the specific ones and say, if you need to hit all fights,
here they are. As a geneal rule you are in danger of hitting a patrol if you
turn around from a side room and try to exit, but if you shuffle back you're
OK.
N 5W(there may be a patrol waiting so faace E and go back) 2N 3E and some
goblins are arguing. This is an easy fight. You get the gold key. 3W 2S 8E S
E S E 2S 2E 2N and turn. You'll get in a fight with one orc(I think) and get
a crystal key, too, after he trips an alarm and others come. If not you will
need to fight all the patrols--they are labeled on my map and probably less
muddled than any instructions I could give.
But if you got the crystal key, go back to the center loop and S W and 3N 3W
2S and no matter how you respond, the other guys will attack. Kill them and
get the copper key. You can exit now. 2N 3E 3S 3E 2S 3W and rest for the
green dragon--step to the side and ambush him with a web or lightning bolt if
possible. The other monsters may create a problem, but they will be well
ahead of the dragon, and you can cut them down first. Since this fight blocks
the exit, use wands etc. at will.
S 3W 3N(copper key) 2W(silver) S 2W(gold) 2S(crystal) S W and you're out!
Now that you've gotten everything and exited out the rear door, you'll be in
back of Specularum. Go back there and talk to the Duke. He'll tell you Master
Higgins wants to see you. Visit Master Higgins in the south part of town--
you'll need to go N W S first and he is in the SE of the non-harbor area.
It's a locked door you couldn't get into before and won't be able to after.
Some notes on treasure you may have gotten: the girdle of giant strength
doubles the damage from blows. This is a massive boost for your fighters.
With the staff, shield and chalice, you are now able to enter Koriszegy Keep.
First I would recommend buying a couple of Fireball wands as your mage may
need to cast a few spells with abandon. Heck, you have the money for four,
and seeing as how the last quest ends the game, why not go all out? Also, you
probably have money left over to buy everyone a ring of protection +1. You
may equip two, and you might as well--while it only decreases your chance of
being hit by 5%, the relative decrease is MUCH steeper. And besides, what
else can you buy? You found all the awesome items you needed to.
4-9. KORISZEGY KEEP
This is the home stretch. The keep is just to the left of where the cellar
was, NE of Radlebb. There's a tough fight at first worth using the fireball
wand on. You may wish to save it for fights you know you can win, but for
nuking multiple enemies before they reach you, it is a godsend.
4-9-1. LEVEL 1
Many fights improve your characters quickly and I recommend going along the
north wall and opening the tombs. The center has gold and the L/R have
Nosferatus. Let them run at you and web them. Destroy their coffins for lots
of gold and experience. To the left people are arguing over 15000 gold, which
you get when you win the fight.
Along the bottom you have an optional red dragon fight I highly recommend--
for chain +3, shield +2 and bow +1. The white dragons in the SE are very hard
but give a ton of experience. Corner them again if you can and don't line up
your characters or they will cold you.
But the way to progress is in the SE room of the inner sector...from the NE
go 6W and 9D and 2E. S to the room and teleport and push the button. This
turns the doors in the center cold. Exit(one way door,) 2S 8W 6S 2E S and win
the fight and get the key. 2W 3N wE N 3E and now you can go north to beat a
red dragon for big experience and treasure before S all the way, W 2S t othe
next level.
For the cleric fight on the east below the one-way door the big risk is
getting everyone frozen--fireball them TWICE in a row. It's not necessary but
gives tons of experience. If you can push your guys to level 8 before the
final fight, go for it.
4-9-2. LEVEL 2
N W and W leads to a fight with a ton of mages. Otherwise N 3W 4S and to the
west you can see even more folks getting turned to vampires or zombies or
whatever, just for old time's sake! Then go 3W 2S and note there's a barrier
to the south you need to remove. 3E S 2E N E and win that fight. It gets you
a plate+3 and a wand of fireballs. There's a fight 2N of her with undead but
they are small potatoes. At the north end, 3E 3N E and win this fight.
There'll be a lever there. Yes, you want to pull it. It is one of the three
to pull to remove the invisible barrier.
The next room N has 3 spectres. Forget it. Go S/W/4N and 3W S and all the way
west. There is the fight for the next lever. Web the swine and hag ASAP and
you should be OK--you may have to wait for caverns to win this. 2E 2N of here
is a nosferatu and a girl escapes the other coffin. You can see she tattled
on you if you go 2S 2E 4N 4W 2S 2W. There's another Nosferatu 2E 2N W 2N.
It's probably worth the experience. But once you're done, go to the barrier.
5W 5N 3W 2S E and win that fight. Hold enemies and don't worry about the
undead--your cleric will turn them.
Heal everyone up and go south of the barrier. Last big fight, use the
fireball wand as much as you want. Just blow everyone and everything up. Use
it on just one person if you have to. You get all sorts of treasure for
winning, but then the game ends.
5. SPELL INFO
I never used Magic Missile much--by the time I found it, sleep was a staple.
Sleep can be used against monsters of up to 30 HP. After L4 your party is not
affected by it. Sleep has a radius of 2 in all directions, except for the
corners of the 5square that creates. If sleep touches an enemy's legs, he is
potentially affected.
Web is a very useful spell. It does leave a sticky mess after you killed the
enemy. Sometimes you can use it as a blockade against dangerous melee
opponents. It's also very useful for your enemy if he uses it on you.
Turn Undead doesn't get experience until the experience is too small to
matter, ie a level 3 cleric can turn skeletons for 5 experience, huzzah.
6. CHEATING
A word about cheating: if you get your party's levels up too much without
improving their weapons, they'll likely get swamped, because the game adjusts
monsters to your experience. Conversely, if you improve only characters'
weapons, the random fights should not be too tough. However, the game is set
up so that you can get some very nice weapons right away and ignore all this.
Also, if you wish to improve levels, beware that just increasing experience
means you only gain a level after each battle.
Save state hacking guide
Note that there are some problems I've had editing my save state while trying
to get into Koriszegy. You may too, so watch out for things going wrong. Have
a backup save state.
Starts at a466/b4a6
0x90/91 = low byte/high byte for gold
0xd4=start of 1st character's stats
Each character takes 58 bytes.
+0x31/2/3 = bytes for experience
Items:
01 = short sword, 02-03-04=+1/+2/+3
05 = axe, 06-07=+1/+2
08 = dagger, 09-0a=+1/+2
0b =staff
0c =staff of healing
0d =staff of striking
0e =mace, 0f-10-11=+1/+2/+3
12 =sword, 13-14-15=+1/+2/+3
16 =spear, 17-18-19=+1/+2/+3
1a =sword +1, vs drain+3
1b =sword +1, vs spells+2
1c =sword +1, vs undead+2
1d =sword +1, vs dragons+3
1e =sling, 1f=+1
20 =dart, 21-22=+1/+2
23 =bow, 24=+1
25-44=invalid
45 =shield, 46-47-48=+1/+2/+3
49 =leather, 4a-4b-4c=+1/+2/+3
4d =chain, 4e-4f-50=+1/+2/+3
51 =plate, 52-53-54=+1/+2/+3
55-57=invalid
58 =displacer cloak
59 =girdle of giant strength
5a =gauntlets of ogre [strength to 18]
5b =boots of speed [speed to 18]
5c =mage spell book [can't be unequipped]
5d =ankh [can't be unequipped]
5e =potion of heal
5f =potion of ext heal
60 =potion of fire res
61 =potion of invul
62 =wand of cold
63 =wand of fireballs
64 =wand of lightning
65 =rod of resurrect
66 =ring of fire resist
67 =ring of prot +1 [armor class +1]
68 =ring of regenerate
69 =scroll of magic missile
6a =scroll of prot from evil
6b =scroll of shield
6c =scroll of sleep
6d =scroll of charm
6e =scroll of invisibility
6f =scroll of web
70 =scroll of dispel magic
71 =scroll of fireball
72 =scroll of lightning
73 =scroll of prot evil 10
74 =scroll of prot n miss
75 =scroll of hold
76 =scroll of confusion
77 =scroll of ice storm
78 =scroll of charm monsters
79 =scroll of dimension door
7a =scroll of curse
7b +=invalid
End of FAQ Proper
================================
7. VERSIONS
0.2.0 sent to GameFAQs 9/25/2006 just to have something there, through the
village.
1.0.0 sent to GameFAQs 9/29/2006, not as fully detailed as I'd like but the
maps are there to cover the paths through. I can still revise what does what
specifically, but this guide can be considered complete if not polished. Hey,
a $20 bounty is at stake.
8. CREDITS
Thanks to the usual GameFAQs gang. They know who they are, and you should,
too, because they get some SERIOUS writing done. Good people too--bloomer,
falsehead, Sashanan, Masters(thanks for the Magic Engine tip,) Retro, Snow
Dragon/Brui5ed Ego, ZoopSoul, War Doc, AdamL and others I forgot. OK, even
Hydrophant in his current not-yet-banned message board incarnation.
Thanks to the Magic Engine folks for such a great emulator.
Thanks to the other TG16 GameFAQs expatriates who made the TG16 a sort of
holy grail to me. It took a while but I finally got around to it. You guys
were/are good writers, too. Maybe if we'd known each other better this FAQ
would've gotten written for earlier. As Holden Caulfield said--or something
like it--"Once you start thinking, you start to miss everybody." That means
even Doodleheimer and definitely you folks. Wherever you are,
honestgamers.com or other places.
Thanks to CJayC for hosting GameFAQs for so long and, in this case, offering
a bounty for the game.
Thanks to Carl Batchelor for his FAQ discussing how to start things and his
disclaimer at the top saying it's OK to use stuff. His "tanks" party worked
great.
