Walkthrough for Gothic II

The game:

I thought Gothic was one of the best RPGs I had ever played, so Gothic 2 came as the answer to a prayer. Having enjoyed the first product so much I feared the second would be "improved" beyond recognition. Not so. To my joy (and to everyone else's who has played Gothic) this is simply more of the same, of which we cannot get enough.

The same realistic world, the same excellent graphics and simple interface, the same sort of logical and interesting plot... only bigger. And you get to play the whole thing in three slightly different ways. At the price of the game, you get tremendous value for your money: hours and hours of superb entertainment. One can hardly hope that there will be a Gothic III.

This would be just too good to be true.

General tips:

I will assume you will have read the manual cover to cover and will know all about the game before you even start. Even though the manual takes you through the start (the "spoiler") I would like to give you more details.

I will pick you up at the Tower's door when you are loaded down with everything you took, including the kitchen sink, and with your Heavy Branch already equipped (TAB for inventory, put the cursor on the weapon with the correct arrow key, press CTRL).

Before we go on, the general rule is that you will talk to everyone you meet with a name label; and when I say "talk" to someone, I mean use every line. If you need to say or not to say something specific to anyone, I'll let you know.

I will take it for granted that you will look carefully about you and pick up anything you can and that you will also take whatever people/animals carry after you've killed them. Examine item new to you to find out what it is.

At all times, explore to your heart's content. There are many caves around which contain all manner of interesting and dangerous things.

Combat is the most difficult part of the game. The beasts just love to get behind you and gnaw the seat of your pants while you while are fighting for your life against one of their number. You have to try and get your back against a wall, a tree, whatever - or, with a bit of luck, find a narrow doorway.

Short-range, I found that pressing CTRL and alternatively left arrow and right arrow I did quite a lot of damage while preventing the nasties getting quite so much at me. Preferably, though, try and shoot them from a distance, backing away when they come too close.

Learning points are hard to come by and pretty vital. Don't waste them. You need to use up 5 for skinning animals and 5 for lockpicking. The rest should be distributed between strength, dexterity and mana. As to weapons, try to stick to learning two-handed swords and crossbows as far as you can.

There are oodles of side-quests designed to give you gold and experience, but since it would take for ever to write them all up I will only mention the necessary ones. The rest is up to you.

As you are aware, you can join three different groups of people; this solution is for a citizen/paladin since it will be the easiest way to complete the game the first time around. You can later play it again and join another group and see what happens.

Finally, it will be make your life easier towards the end of the game if you hang on to the following items when you find them: 5 lab water bottles, 3 swampweed, 1 holy water vial.

Well, here we go.

CHAPTER I

The Path

Leaving the Tower, follow the road towards the city and, without deviating too much from the path, take all you can find - keep your eyes peeled. You are going to need a lot of gold and that means selling surplus items. Ignore the sheep.

The first thing that happens is that you get attacked by a goblin. It should be easy to kill. As the manual says, he is defending a cave - save your game, turn to your left to the waterfalls and go down towards them, then right. You'll find a little complex of caverns and a few goblins and goods (when you kill the goblins, search their bodies: CTRL, then CTRL to get what they are carrying singly.

If there are multiple items, ALT will let you get them all at once). If you find you can't cope with this fight yet, reload and come back later.

You'll next be attacked by a wolf along the road, get the meat on it. Carry on and you will come to a goblin encampment, fight them all and search for items. If you go through the rocky arch behind the camp you'll find more items.

Carry on along the path and you'll come to a Bandit. You could give him a wide berth or you could save your game and have a go. First talk to him and say "Later". He will attack you. Once you've knocked him down, rob him and examine what you have.

Now, if you are fit (you could always go and rest at the Tower), go up the stairs and dispatch the other two bandits (robbing them - remember their weapons roll away from them). In a chest, you will find a bow and arrows which will be handy. Examine all you have and read the message, equip the bow.

From here on, if you want to use the bow to fight you'll have to press 2; 1 will ready whatever other hand weapon you have.

Continue along the path and you'll come to a statue. Don't rob it. Donating 100 gp at these statues gets you permanent mana or hit points. The problem is cash, of course, and at first you have to conserve it.

Further on you will find Canthar sitting on a bench at a T-junction (there is a scroll by the cart nearby). Talk to him but don't take the paper. Instead, trade with him and turn everything you don't need into gold pieces. Go along the path in front of him and when you spy a man surrounded by sheep to your right, go talk to him.

Use all the lines - if you killed the bandits you get experience points. He gives you a hint as to how to get into the city. Go to Lobart up the road and to the left; talk to him and don't commit yourself at first, ask for work and agree to pick the turnips, they are on a field to your right. Go pick them all up and take them to Lobart, then buy the togs he offers at a discount.

Go into the house, find the chest in the bedroom, get the clothes (and nothing else). Bring up your inventory with TAB, put the cursor on them and press CTRL. You'll wear the clothes. Now go to Hilda and give her the turnips. If you want to earn more experience points agree to fetch her the pan. Run to Canthar, trade and buy the pan, take it back to Hilda.

Ask her for food and she will give it to you.

Now you can get back to the path to the City. If it's getting dark, use a bed in Lobart's barn to sleep. At the start of the new day, get to the City.

How to become a Citizen

At the gates of the town you will be challenged by the guards - say you have to go to the Smithy. Once inside, talk to Lothar and get all the info he has. When he goes, you will see in front of you two shops, one to the left and one to the right. First, talk to Rupert at the stand on your left. Get all the info, and trade if you have things for sale.

Now go to the shop on the right and talk to Bosper. You want to be his apprentice. He'll tell you about Bartok. Get all his info and learn to skin animals (you should have some learning points to spend by now, you'll need 5 in this instance).

Leave the shop and go across to the other one and talk to Matteo. Keep talking to him till he tells you about Gritta. Agree to help. Don't buy the armour until you are sure you have the cash to spare; you are going to need a lot of gold for other things right now.

Leave the shop and talk to Regis. On, talk to Thorben: he asks you to get a blessing from two priests. Don't mention Gritta. Go on towards the Smithy and Pablo will speak to you - pretend everything is fine. When he goes, you will see Harad the smith ahead of you. I would advise you not to talk to him for the moment.

Turn to your left and head towards the Harbour. In the first house to the left there is a moneylender. Continue towards the Harbour. At the last buildings, you will see the Red Lantern on your left (don't do anything about it yet) and on your right you will see the Pegleg tavern.

Here Moe will try to bully you; refuse to give him gold, fight him, rob him while he is out and when he comes to, question him. Inside the tavern, Kardif will give you info for gold.

Outside the tavern turn right and find Brahim sitting on a bench outside his hut. Buy the two maps from him. It will be worthwhile visiting him later on. Continue right and talk to Garvell. Further on there is a Warehouse, don't bother to go in yet.

Now turn around and follow the edge of the harbour and talk to Jack and to Lares, but don't follow him to the farm (you do this only if you want to become a Mercenary). When you've done, go back to the Smithy.

Face it and turn to your right and you will see an archway to your left and a house to the right. Go into the house and talk to Gritta; be firm with her and threaten to sell her stuff. She will give you the money she owes Matteo. Leave the house and enter the archway. A door on your left: pop in and talk to Constantino. Say you want to join another master and he will raise no objection.

Leave and come out of the archway.

To the left there is a tavern you needn't enter yet and to the right you will see the Temple. Talk to Vatras and ask for a blessing, then answer the truth to all his questions. You get the blessing. You needn't give a donation, save your gold.

Turn your back on Vatras and go to your right past the tavern. You'll come to some free beer and Bartok (don't talk to him yet). Ply with beer the guy on his right while getting his info. It is probably nearly night time by now, so just turn to your right and along here to the Hotel. In, talk to Hanna and ask for a room. Go upstairs, find a free bed and sleep till morning.

When you go out of the hotel, turn right and go towards the gate. Canthar will make you an improper proposition - there are several possibilities here. The man is a positive pest; if you ignore him or agree to what he says but go instead to Andre (up the stairs near here and to the left) and have him arrested, he's going to give you grief. I have a feeling it doesn't really matter what you do.

At any rate, by the gate, talk to Daron and get his blessing, i.e., pay up. Don't ask about the Monastery since you only do that if you want to become a magician.

Now turn around and go find Bartok. Talk to him (don't learn anything from him) and ask him to take you hunting; you'll have to pay for the privilege. Follow him out of the city gates but save your game. He will kill the beasties as he goes along and you will get the experience: watch his health bar, though, and help him (preferably with a bow) without hurting him.

With a bit of luck he will kill six wolves, which you must skin. At some point he will ask you if you want to continue. If he is fit, carry on helping him as before - if his health bar is looking dodgy, vote for going back to town. After all, you have your six skins - if you have only five, you'll find another wolf on the other side of the path to the city.

Once inside, go to Thorben and ask for his approval, then go to Matteo and give him his gold, asking for his help. Finally, go to Bosper and talk about wolf skins. Say you want to become his apprentice. You are in. Continue talking to him to get all the information.

Right, before we go any further, there are a couple of things we have to do. First of all, make sure you have at least 15 learning points to use. If you don't, either go out of the city and find small creatures to kill or start doing jobs for people to get gold + experience.

For instance:

Alwin (the fellow with all the sheep) wants you to stop Fellan making a racket. He lives around the corner, get tough with him, knock him out and rob him, wait till he comes around and threaten to beat him again if he doesn't leave off. Then go to Alwin for your reward.

Alrik (behind the warehouse) wants his sword back. (You can fight him first to get 50 g by beating him but don't rob him while he is out). Go to Jora in the Marketplace and buy the sword back (take it to Alrik afterwards).

Jora has been robbed and wants his money back. Talk to Rengaru (standing by Canthar) and he will run off. Follow him and talk to him. After you get the purse you can either have him arrested or take pity on him. I have a feeling being kind to him and other malefactors has to do with joining the Thieves' Guild, a locked door to which is to be found at the Hotel before the stairs.

Have him arrested and return the gold to Jora.

Go to Regis, get behind him and go around the back of the shop to the left. Keep going past Carl the smith and, in the last house, you will meet Ignaz. He wants you to test out a spell. Agree. What I did was to go to the tavern next to the Temple and was lucky enough to find Coragon the landlord on his own (if not, wait till he is). Save. TAB, put the cursor on the spell, press CTRL.

You will notice a number 4 appears on the spell icon. OK, knock Coragon down and, while he is out (you can rob him) press the number 4 key and CTRL + arrow up to cast the spell on him. Wait for him to come to and trade with him. He should not remember a thing. Go back to Ignaz for some experience. Don't waste your learning points on him just yet.

If you have 15 learning points, talk to Carl and use 10 on strength - this will make fighting a lot easier. Next go to Thorben and spend 5 lp on picking locks.

Joining the Militia

I think that before we go to the upper part of town it would be a good idea to join the Militia. You need to go to the Marketplace and up the stairs.

Speak to Andre and ask about paladins, join the Militia. Ask for a weapon and you will be told to find Peck, ask also for an assignment. At the end, don't put on your uniform yet. Talk to everyone around, particulary Mortis. Now go to the Red Lantern and go upstairs to find Peck. Talk to him and persuade him to go back. Go to the Warehouse and upstairs. Talk to the guard and kill him.

Search his body for a key and open a couple of chests on this floor, you'll find the package.

Back to Andre, talk to him about Peck but don't say you found him at the Red Lantern. Hand over the package of weed and ask for your next assignment. You can now go to the armoury where you will find Peck, talk to him and get a sword; talk to Mortis again.

Now go to town to the Pegleg tavern and pay Kardif to tell you about the weed. Go to Meldor, who stands in front of the moneylender's house and talk to him.

Go to the Red Lantern, go in, talk to Bromor and hire Nadjia. Follow her upstairs and ask about the weed. She'll tell you to talk to Borka. You can also have "fun" if you want. Afterwards go to Borka and talk to him but don't mention Nadjia. Buy some weed from him and then report to Andre.

Get your final assignment from him, for which you will have to go to Lobart and fight the nasties in the fields in front of him and to his right. Make sure you kill them all and then go talk to Lobart. Go back to Andre to report. I hope you have had all the info he could give.

Right, now you can don your uniform and go to the upper part of town, if you remember, up the stairs by the S gates. Have a look around here and talk to people, but you need to speak to Lord Hagen at the big building with the banner on the top. Get all the information he has and before you know it, it's...

CHAPTER 2

Finish talking to Hagen. You can now leave these quarters and go to the E gates of the city, at the Marketplace. As you come out, talk to Mika and give him 10 gp. We have a little bit of unfinished business, so go left to the Lighthouse. You will be attacked by bandits and, if you can't cope, lead them to the City Guards by the gate, who will deal with them.

Back to the Lighthouse and go inside - if there are any more bandits in there, you know what to do. Go all the way upstairs and get the goods you'll find there and then leave the Lighthouse. In your forays around you might see some blood stains. Don't follow them all the way to the cave because there is a very nasty shadowbeast there.

Go back into town, talk to Jack and to Garvell for more experience points. You can buy a new map, too. Before you venture forth, now is the time to sell your surplus goods, buy what you need (make sure you have plenty of arrows) and to use your learning points in any way you like.

Learning dexterity from Lares would be a good move (10 lp); you also need to learn the bow, crossbow, one-handed and two-handed weapons, plus you require oodles of strength. So I'll leave you to take the decision. Press B and see how many experience points you need for the next level: if not many, it might be worth your while to go out and pick some more fights.

When you are as ready as you are ever going to be, go out of the E gates. By the way, if it is getting dark, sleep at the Hotel. Never get caught in the dark outside the city if you can help it.

The Way to the Pass

Look at your map: you need to go to the S centre of the map, where there is a lake. Keep checking your map so that you don't get lost. Things are going to get pretty tough along the way so save often and don't rush into situations. Use your bow and fight from a distance whenever you can, backing away if necessary.

Now would also be a good moment to equip all your magic scrolls, remembering which number is which. For instance, if Light is in slot 4 and Fireball is in slot 5, you don't want to press the wrong number when you are up to your neck in trouble.

On the march along the way, check out the scene of a fight where there is a cart. There are lots of items here. Up some stairs there is a farm (look at the map) where Akil is talking to some people. Talk to Kati and she will ask you for help. Pick on one of the two mercenaries making very sure you don't hurt anyone else - the other people will tackle the other guy.

At the end, talk to Akil and refuse any reward. Talk to Randolph.

Down the stairs and on to the Tavern, go in and talk to Rukhar. Bet on someone else (Randolph). Talk to the landlord and hire a room for a week. Go up and sleep till midnight. Come down and, if Rukhar is outside, open the chest, take the gin and put in a bottle of water (if you don't have one there are three in the unlocked room upstairs).

Now go to sleep till morning, go back to Randolph and give him some money so that he can challenge Rukhar. Go to the tavern but leave them to it for now.

Continue past the tavern and, at the crossroads, follow the sign to "The Pass" and later the one to "The Prison Colony". In front of the entrance to the valley, by the lake, you will meet Gaan. Talk to him. Then talk to the guards and go through the door. Take the path to the left and go through the cave and several rats and, at the other side, go over the bridge and again through the cave.

The Colony Revisited

Save as soon as you are through. I hope you are ready for this. Those who played Gothic will recognize where they are and feel entirely at home. Those of you didn't need to go left and follow the path downwards under the wooden bridge. Soon you'll witness a terrible sight. Onwards, you will meet Jergan, talk to him.

Go down the path and to the left so that you are below Jergan. Swim to the long sandbank and kill the lurkers. Walk to the other end of this strip of sand, killing any others, and jump into the river; follow it to the right, keeping a watchful eye on lurkers - if they start swimming towards you, get to land to kill them.

You should swim under two wooden bridges and, after the second one, look for a bit of flat land on your right. Climb out and, if you move forward, you should see in the distance, in front of you, a broken siege machine against the Castle's walls. Run to it dodging the orcs and climb onto the wooden beam that reaches the top of the wall. The orcs won't follow you.

At the end of the beam you'll have to ALT + arrow up a couple of times to clamber inside.

Start talking to everybody and exploring around, reading books, picking up the odd stray item, etc. You know what to do. Your main tasks here, apart from meeting Garond, is to find your old mates. You will find Milten in one of the buildings, speak to him. (Upstairs in this building you will find a rune for getting back here, get it.) Be sure you speak to Parcival and Oric.

When you speak to Garond ask him to free Gorn and pay up. If you don't have the money you'll have to go around opening chests and selling surplus items to Tandor or Engor. To open the locked chests save first to a file called Chests, try CTRL + arrow left or arrow right till they open and write down the correct combination. Then reload and do it for real.

Go to Gerold at the other end of the castle and talk to him. Go in and free Gorn (use the switch by his door), you'll agree to meet at Milten's. Go there and wait for him, then talk to them both.

When you've done everything you could here, go back to the broken siege machine. Study the map Garond gave you and note the position of the mines. Save your game here and don't overwrite it because sometimes there is a bug that does not allow you to see the mines marked on the map once you are on your way.

If you can't remember where they are when you are miles away you'll have to save there and reload this game.

To the Mines

Scramble down the beam as before and, dodging the orcs run straight on and into the river. Go right and swim to a low bridge. Here you will have to land to the right and follow the path and, with the minimum of diversions, get to a crossroads. Examine your map and take the middle road. Along here, on your left you will see some wooden walls.

Enter the mine and you'll find everyone dead, also some minecrawlers. Fight them from narrow doorways and don't let them get behind you. Explore the mines and you will find Silvestro in the last cave. Get his belongings and read his note. Thank goodness, Diego is OK, even if we don't know where he is.

Leave: you can turn left and follow the path to the Tower. Just get right to the top avoiding side rooms and get the rune and the scrolls. The skeleton goblins are a minor bother. Go back to the mine and this time follow the path towards the left till you come to some snappers and the other mine. Talk to everyone; find out about Diego from Jergan. Fajeth will ask you to kill all the snappers.

Don't argue and do so. Some are in front of the mine, some above. When you've killed them all go to Fajeth.

To find Diego, look at your map. Between the big tower and the castle you will see a horseshoe-shaped structure. Take the path to it and you will find Diego in there. Talk to him. Make for the river and the next mine.

This time follow the river all the way north (dodging orcs and killing lurkers) till you come to a waterfall. Actually, you can go under this waterfall to find a lurker and some items. If you don't want to go in, turn to your right and get out of the river, you will see the mine tower in front of you. Go in and talk to Grimes. To follow Marcos, go back to the river and cross the wooden bridge.

You will meet a variety of challenges on the way but you will eventually come to a derelict building with lots of rats. Behind it, in a cave, you will find Marcos. Talk to him.

Equip the rune for getting back to the Castle, cast the spell and go report to Gerond.

Get back to the Pass. As you go through, it will be...

CHAPTER 3

When you get to the gate you will meet a seeker; crowd him and kill him. Outside the gate you will see the two knights dead. Collect what they are carrying, particularly the rune. Further on you meet Lester, who gives you another rune and requests that you visit Xardas. Do so and talk to him.

Head to town avoiding the seekers like the plague. When you get into the upper quarters, talk to Fernando and to Hagen. Report and ask to join their order. Go back down the stairs and talk to Diego. Agree to help him - let's get that out of the way. Use the rune to get back to the pass, go into the newworld. If you have one of those potions which make run like the wind, use it now.

Run to your right dodging orcs till you get to the pond, the satchel is on the left side of it. Grab it and run back to the pass. Use the rune to get to the harbour town and give Diego his money. He will ask you to take a letter to Gerbrandt in the upper quarter. Do so and then come back to Diego for experience points. Go to see Bosper and unload your surplus.

Go to Lares and ask for news, he'll tell you about Bennet. Go to Andre and ask to see Bennet; go to his right, talk to the gaoler and then use the switch by the door to two prisoners. Talk to Bennet. Leave him locked up.

Go to Hagen and speak to him about Bennet. When you have all the info, go upstairs and confront Cornelius. Keep talking to him till you say "I don't believe you". Ask him what he wants and cough up the money. Go to Hagen and show him the proof. He frees Bennet and allows you to become a paladin. Talk to Albretch to get a fine rune.

Back to town, visit Vatras at the temple (he gives you a message to carry) then head for the harbour, talk to Pablo, buy a very old map from Brahim, talk to Andr? and finally Canther. Pay what he wants for a bit of peace.

The Eye of Innos

Leave town by the E gate and, avoiding seekers, go to the tavern to see about the contest. Talk to everyone involved. If it's getting late, sleep at the tavern. Go out and look at your map: the monastery is the reddish building around the centre of the map. Get there. Before you arrive, on your left, you will see Isgaroth, give him Vatras's message.

Continue and, at the bridge, you will meet Jorgen. Talk to him.

Cross the bridge and speak to Milten, who will give you the key to the monastery. In, don't go into the church yet, go everywhere and talk to everyone and get all the info. To help Babo, buy his papers from Igarz and give them to him.

Enter the church and tall to the three guys. Out, talk to Jorgen and jump into the water. You need to get under the rocky arch and swim to the NE.

When you see a tramp at a bend, get out of the water and talk to him. Go upwards here and across the bridge. Soon you'll come to a faint branch of the path, keep left and follow the trail of dead bodies. Eventually you will see a camp, go and talk to Grimbald and help him with the snappers. Then ask him about the missing novice. He'll tell you about a rocky arch. Look at the map.

You will see a troll cave marked (go in and have a go, if you like), but you need to follow the path to the SW, to the circle of stones. Go through the SW arch and you will meet some tramps who want to kill you. Kill them instead and keep going to the circle of stones. There you will learn that the Eye of Innos has been broken.

Fight all the seekers, find Dragomir's crossbow (he is off a road parallel to the one to the Monastery) and teleport back to the monastery.

Speak to Pyrokar and he will send you to Vatras. Go to town and speak to him. Get a load of everything he has to tell you. While you are here, buy a magic sword from Harad, buy the book the guy from the Library wanted from Zuris at the Marketplace, talk to Lares about Bennet (he suggests you go visit him). Do whatever else you need to do here and teleport to Pyrokar. He will not work with Xardas.

If you have the necessary cash, consecrate your sword at the statue; do this as soon as you can. Give the book to the guy who wanted it at the library and teleport to Xardas. Talk to him twice. The proof you are going to need is in Sekob's farm.

So follow signposts to the Landlord - Sekob's farm is to the N of the big fields you will see on the map. Talk to Sekob and he'll ask you to get the seekers out of his house. Go in and kill all four and retrieve Xardas goods from the chest. Speak to Sekob.

While you are here, and if you don't have the 3 swampweed you need, go and visit Sagitta who lives in a cave N and slightly E of Sekob's farm, near one of those statues you have to purify - you know, you kneel in front of the statue first.

Go to the Landlord's farm and speak to Bennet. Not only he will give you a gift but he can also mend jewelry, which is handy. Get him to repair the setting of the Eye.

Finally, teleport to Pyrokar and give him Xardas' book. Now all you have to do is go to the stone circle again.

If you are short of cash and try to make a detour to the temple to the NE where the path branches, as marked in the very old map, be on the look out for a troll. Actually, there isn't that much treasure. There is a little more in some caverns to the NE of the main temple, but don't even think of going in there.

Anyway, watch what happens at the stone circle. Before you continue, make sure you have at least 5 lab water flasks. If you don't have them you can buy them from Ignaz at the town.

CHAPTER 4

Teleport to the Pass and go into the oldworld, teleport to the Castle. Speak to Garond and then to Oric.

Hosh-Pak is directly S of the castle. Run down the beam of the siege machine: before you actually jump off it, you might try a little exercise. It would appear that the orcs in front of you cannot come up the beam, so you could try to shoot them all dead before you leave the safety of the beam. At any rate, follow the path by the river towards your right.

Kill Hosh-Pak and any other shaman first, then deal with the other orcs. Because they move around a lot I found shooting them easier, even if I caught the odd blow.

Teleport to the Castle and report to Garond, then talk to Oric.

The Dragon Hunt

You need to get to the swamp to the W of the city, but first make sure you are wearing the Eye of Innos. Again, look at your map and get there as fast as you can. Once there, take a few orcs/lizards at a time, don't rush in and, above all, don't get yourself surrounded. The dragon is in the SW corner of the swamp. Talk to him.

When you attack, come right up close to him and don't let him get away from you. Once dead, click on it to collect his heart. Check out the hoard nearby for cash and items. Teleport to the Castle, use the alchemist table to recharge the Eye of Innos and be sure you are wearing it. Report to Garond and talk to Oric. This pattern is repeated for every dragon.

Look at the map: you next have to go to the reddish structure S of the castle, so get to the river as usual and swim S till you get to the low wooden bridge, then follow the path, not rushing and killing every enemy in your way, preferably from a distance. Wear protection against fire and use ice magic against the fire golem.

Once you've done the bit with the dragon, you can clamber to his hoard if you look around for an accessible spot. Again, teleport to the Castle and do as before.

Next go to the river and swim N/NW to the frozen area. Swim to the waterfall as before, climb out to the right, cross the bridge. The dragon is to the SW of this area. Use fire magic against the ice golems. You know the rest.

The last dragon is to the SE, in the Fortress. Swim S past the low bridge and pick up the path on your left before the large waterfall streaming down on your right. Follow the path to the Fortress dispatching enemies as you go. You can try lightning magic on the stone golems.

When you get to the first floor of the Fortress find ways of climbing higher and higher until you find the dragon at the top. You know what to do. Teleport to the Castle, recharge the Eye, report to Garond and do whatever you need to before going to the Pass and to the newworld. As soon as you go through it's...

CHAPTER 5

Teleport to Xardas and talk to Lester. Read the note. Teleport to the Monastery and talk to Pyrokar. He gives you permission to get the book. Leave the church, go down to your cellars to the left. If you found an egg in your travels, talk to Neoras and ask for the potion he is researching. Out, find Talamon and he will let you go through. Pick up the book and use it to read it, plus the note.

Look to your left and you will see in the far wall a bookshelf. To the right of it, a lamp - use it to open the bookshelf. Cast a light spell, go in and be prepared to fight skeletons.

Go generally right and, at the end, when you can see a larger chamber with a door and a pillar, stay this side of the pillar, ignore the skeletons and then run around next to the door to kill the spirit which is generating the skeletons.

Get through to the library and fight the demons. Search their bodies - the Demon Lord has a useful spell on him. With it you can summon demons to help you in a tight spot. Read the books and collect what's on the table. Examine all the items you've just picked up, specially the map.

Now you need to create a rune. If you don't have the holy water, teleport to the town and buy it from Lutero (upper quarters, through archway to the left of the main building). Take the opportunity to talk to Hagen.

Teleport back to the Monastery (avoid Milten just now), go to the library to the left there and use the rune table, use the rune to teleport and get the Paladin's armour (wear it). Go to Pyrokar and, when you explain about the book, say you were lucky. Ask about the Tears of Innos.

Leave and enter the room of consecration, use the statue to reconsecrate your sword and you will have the perfect weapon.

The ship

Now you need to recruit a captain and a crew (your old pals Milten, Lester, Gorn, Diego and Lares). Go outside and talk to Milten, then go inside and talk to Jorgen. Next, talk to Pyrokar - if you want to free Jorgen you'll have to teleport to Xardas' tower and clear it of demons from top to bottom. Go there, recruit Lester who is nearby, kill all the demons and teleport back to Pyrokar.

After you speak to him talk to Jorgen and he'll be off. Teleport to town and go talk to Diego in the upper quarters, recruiting him. If you haven't talked to Hagen before, do so now.

Find Lares and recruit him, too. Leave town by the E gate and make for the Landlord farm. You should meet a chatty orc, kill him and take his goods but don't wear his ring. When you get to the farm enter the main building and go right. There you will find Gorn, recruit him. Teleport back to town.

Turn to the sea and go left following the seawall. Under the arch, to the ship, up the ramp and bully the knights into letting you go on board. As soon as you have done so (you can explore it if you want) go down the ramp again and to your left. In the distance you will see the paladin Girion. Talk to him and persuade him to come along.

Now go talk to Jorgen, who will be sitting by the ramp to the ship. He will tell you to get yourself sorted out before you go on board. Do so: once on the ship, turn left, up the stairs, through the door and through another door. The moment you enter the Captain's cabin it will be...

CHAPTER 6

Turn around and talk to everybody on board before you continue. Give the orc ring to Girion. When you are ready, leave the boat.

Explore the caves killing everyone. At the Troll guarding three rooms, go up the ramp to the left. Kill all the orcs and search the Colonel. You get a key. Go down the ramp and through the arch, open the door to the left. Talk to Pedro but don't kill him. Rather, lead him back to the ship. Once there, question him.

Go back to the place where the colonel was and pull the left torch then the right one. Go through. You will come to a large chamber - this is going to be tough. Be sure you are wearing the Eye of Innos. Go to the right killing everybody and you will as you come around towards the entrance you will meet another dragon. Talk to it and fight it with a bow or crossbow and running around.

At the end, get his heart. Before you go you might like to pick up all the dragon eggs in the middle of the chamber, not that it will do you much good. Go behind the dragon and shoot two switches high up either side of the chasm. Just enter into combat with a bow or crossbow and shoot - you hit them automatically. A bridge will appear. Cross it and go to your right to kill the seeker.

You need to go up both towers either side of the bridge and pull a switch at the top of each. Now continue to a passage with columns and go kill the seekers before you deal with the skeletons. Up the stairs and to your left. Stand in the archway and kill the skeletons and Shadow Lord Archol.

Search him and, before you go through the door to the right, turn right around and open the door in front of you. Use the Alchemist's bench to recharge the Eye of Innos. Look around you. Now continue through the door in the other room.

You'll come through another battle (though there is another handy archway) and then you will come to a round chamber with doors all around. Start with the first on your left and get at the seeker for a key. Go back up, open the next door and pull both switches then go back down and through. In the last room look for switches to push which will bring up another switch in the middle of the room.

Turn that and go up and go to the room with the gears, watching out for Skeleton Mages along the way. Pull the switches again and go to the next door. Go on up and through and press the switches till another comes in the middle, turn it and leave. Every time, look out for Skeleton Mages on the way back.

You have to do this again, this time on the other side. Open the middle door and pull the switches. Go down the first door going down and press the switch in the far wall. Two zombies will appear, fight them and push the two new switches. Another switch will appear in the centre of the room, turn it, go and turn the gears again and go up the last room.

Here you must push the switches in the following order: centre, left, right. Once you turn the new switch, you can go back to the round chamber and push the four switches which will have appeared.

Another will appear. Before you push this last one, get ready. You might like to cast Summon Demon a couple of times before you actually push the switch so they can aid you when you go through; fight all the seekers and, at the other end of the room, talk to the Black Magician, kill him and collect his key.

Search the four side rooms and in one of them you will find a chest with the Eye of Power in it. Take it and go to the door with the glowing eyes. You have to "use" it as you would a statue, so move a bit till you are in the right position. You will kneel and the door will open.

Go either side of the wall and up the stairs. Wearing the Eye of Innos, are you? Talk to the undead dragon. When the fight begins, get right close to him and don't let up, chase him around and kill him. Watch what happens.

You can get back to the dragon and get his Soul if you like, but then start back for the ship. You will meet some of your pals on the way back, talk to them. At the ship you'll have to fight the odd orc. Find the captain (asleep) and talking to him starts the last cut scene. Watch.

This ends the Paladin version of the game. Watch the credits to the end, there is a nice little extra to see.

***

("Mercenary" version)

I gave a "quickie" solution for the Paladin version of the game; the Mercenary version will have more detail, though some parts are exactly the same. However, the rules for survival still apply: in combat, hit from a distance. If you must fight hand to hand, get the first blow in and don't let up. When the nasties are chucking spells at you, run at them at a slant and hit them quickly.

Ah, yes, and don't get caught in the dark outside the town or safe buildings if you can help it.

Remember that learning points are hard to get so don't waste them. You need more as a Mercenary than as a Paladin; look out for potions/herbs/rings/amulets which give you more strength/dexterity/mana and concentrate on weapon skills. You will probably end up with a two-handed sword and a crossbow, which are the most powerful weapons in the game, so aim for those skills.

Also it is worth remembering that learning costs more points in some places than in others. The cheapest is the Castle in the Old World.

If you have plenty of cash, using the Statues of Innos you'll find all over the place will improve your statistics permanently. Later on in the game you can buy a map with their locations.

Pick up all the bits of ore you come across; you'll also need a black pearl and sulphur. Just hang on to these things.

As ever, I give the most logical sequence of events, but you can do them as and when you can. I couldn't possibly tell you EVERYTHING you could do, so feel free to explore around and do your own thing.

CHAPTER 1

After you've talked to Xardas and Chapter 1 begins, talk to him again then start searching. You will see a huge gate to the left of Xardas. Go to the fireplace in the other room, stand close to the right hand side of it and "use" the practically invisible switch - the gate will open and you will be able to access the items inside.

The Path

After you've searched around and got everything, step outside the tower. Advance to the waterfalls on your left, kill the goblin and search on the left of the waterfalls to find some items. Then enter the caves under the path and explore them until you come into the valley. Go down the ramp and find the camp site - talk to Lester and persuade him to go to Xardas.

You can search around here and find another cave. When you've finished, go up the ramp and leave the caves; follow the path again. When you come to the Bandit at the foot of the stairs, keep choosing the second line (e.i., neither "follow him" nor "leave"). Eventually you will tell him you are a convict and he will get on your side. Bribe him to tell you who is after you.

When you've done talking to him, leave and don't go up the stairs yet.

Follow along the path and when you get to the Statue of Innos turn to the right and behind it and go find Maleth amongst the sheep. Talk to him till you get all the info. Go back to the Bandit and talk to him. He will make himself scarce. Go on up and fight the two bandits upstairs and return to Maleth for your reward.

Talk to Lobart and say you are for the peasants. Carry on talking and get the job of picking the turnips. Go to the field to the right and pick them all and give them to Lobart. Buy some clothes from him at a discount (don't forget to pay). Go in the house and into the bedroom, open the chest and take the clothes only (wear them). Then go to Hilda and give her the turnips.

She will feed you every day. You can also do another job for her: buying her a pan. Just follow the path out of the farm till you get to Canthar and do so, taking it back to Hilda. You can also sell all your surplus to Canthar if you need cash.

Get back to the path and on to...

The City

Although you don't have to become a citizen to be a Mercenary it doesn't hurt to collect a whole lot of experience points by doing so.

At the gates of the town you will be challenged by the guards - say you have to go to the smithy. Once inside, talk to Lothar and get all the info he has. When he goes, you will see in front of you two shops, one to the left and one to the right. First, talk to Rupert at the stand on your left. Get all the info, and trade if you have things for sale.

Leave the shop and talk to Regis. Go and talk to Bosper about the bow. On, talk to Thorben: he asks you to get a blessing from two priests. Don't mention Gritta. Go on towards the smithy and Pablo will speak to you - pretend everything is fine. You will see Harad the smith ahead of you. Talk to him and try to get his support. He wants an orc weapon.

Turn to your left and head towards the Harbour. In the first house to the left there is a moneylender. Continue towards the Harbour. At the last buildings, you will see the Red Lantern on your left (don't do anything about it) and on your right you will see the Pegleg tavern.

Here Moe will try to bully you; refuse to give him gold, fight him, rob him while he is out and when he comes to, question him. Inside the tavern, Kardif will give you info for gold. You will notice Nagur sitting at a table, but you won't get much out of him.

Outside the tavern turn right and find Brahim sitting on a bench outside his hut. Buy the two maps from him. It will be worthwhile visiting him every new chapter. Continue right and talk to Garvell. Further on there is a Warehouse, don't go in yet.

Now turn around and follow the edge of the harbour and talk to Jack and to Lares, but don't follow him to the farm.

Go back to the warehouse and follow the path to the right of it to find Alrik. Talk to him (he wants his sword back) and fight him. After you knock him down wait for him to recover (don't rob him) and talk to him again.

Follow the other path behind you till you come to Alwin (the fellow with all the sheep), who wants you to stop Fellan making a racket. He lives just around the corner here; get tough with him, knock him out and rob him, wait till he comes around and threaten to beat him again if he doesn't leave off. Then go to Alwin for your reward.

Go back to the smithy. Face it and turn to your right and you will see an archway to your left and a house to your right. Go into the house and talk to Gritta; be firm with her and threaten to sell her stuff. She will give you the money she owes Matteo. Leave the house and enter the archway. A door on your left: pop in and talk to Constantino.

Say you want to join another master and he will raise no objection. Leave and come out of the archway.

Turn your back on Vatras and go to your right past the tavern. You'll come to some free beer and Bartok (don't talk to him yet). Ply with beer the guy on his right (Rangar) while getting his info. Don't bother with Ulf. It is probably nearly nighttime by now, so just turn to your right and along here to the Hotel. In, talk to Hanna and ask for a room.

Go upstairs, find a free bed and sleep till morning. When you go out of the hotel, turn right and go towards the gate. Talk to Daron (the fellow in the red frock) and get his blessing, i.e., pay up. Don't ask about the Monastery since you only do that if you want to become a magician.

Now turn around and go find Bartok. Talk to him and ask him to take you hunting; you'll have to pay for the privilege. Follow him out of the city gates but save your game. He will kill the beasties as he goes along and you will get the experience: watch his health bar, though, and help him (preferably with a bow) without hurting him.

With a bit of luck you will kill between you six wolves, which you must skin. At some point he will ask you if you want to continue. If he is fit, save your game and carry on helping him as before - if his health bar is looking dodgy, vote for going back to town. He must not die.

And after all, you have your six skins - if you have only five, you'll find another wolf on the other side of the path to the city. You might like to try your luck here, though: instead of following Bartok to town, carry on into the woods but you'll probably have to negotiate a shadowbeast to deal with the Orc and get his weapon.

Back in town, go to Thorben and ask for his approval, then go to Matteo and give him his gold, asking for his help. If you have the orc weapon, hand it to Harad. Finally, go to Bosper and talk about the skins. Say you want to become his apprentice. You are in. Continue talking to him to get all the information.

Remember Alrik wants his sword back? Go to Jora in the Marketplace and buy the sword (take it to Alrik afterwards).

We are going to join the Guild of Thieves for a bit of fun and apparently there are two ways of doing this: if you are kind to Rengaru and the other thief you'll meet later on you'll get an invitation, but this doesn't work because some bug or other prevents you from involving a third party, namely Nagur. So we'll do it another way.

Have Rengaru arrested by going up the stairs and talking to Andre (don't get involved with him otherwise). Give the gold back to Jora.

Go to Regis, get behind him and go around the back of the shop to the left. Keep going past Carl the smith and, in the last house, you will meet Ignaz. He wants you to test out a spell. Agree. What I did was to go to the tavern next to the Temple and was lucky enough to find Coragon the landlord on his own (if not, wait until he is). Save. TAB, put the cursor on the spell, press CTRL.

If you have 15 learning points, talk to Carl and use 10 on strength - this will make fighting a lot easier. Next go to Thorben and spend 5 lp on picking locks. Buy all the picklocks he has.

Go to the N gate and talk to all the tradesmen, particularly Sarah and Hakon. The latter will tell you about the bandits, so question him and then go find Pablo for more info. Don't let on to him you are the fellow on the poster.

Jobs outside town

Leave through the N gate and outside talk to Mika. Pay what he asks. (A point to remember here is that, if you go to the right of the gate into the woods and go E all the way you will find a cave with a shadowbeast in it. You'll need to know this later.)

For now, turn left and follow the path to the Lighthouse. You'll have to kill a few scavengers and also the bandits. If things get tough, lead the nasties to Mika and he'll deal with them. Search the Lighthouse, going all the way to the top.

Note that behind the Lighthouse a trail of blood leads to a cave with a shadowbeast in it. Remember this but don't go there just now.

Get back to the town gate and continue along the path till you come to some stairs. Go up and turn left, following the path and looking out for a cave on the rockface. Go inside and fight the bandits, collecting everything you can lay your hands on. One of the items you'll find will be a light fish. Go into your inventory and use it. You will get a stinking note. Read it.

Leave the cave and follow the path to the right. When you get to Akil's farm talk to Kati who will ask you to help. Save and attack one of the mercenaries, being careful not to hurt anyone else. When it's over talk to the farmer and ask for nothing. Next, talk to Randolph and find out about the Tavern.

Go back down the stairs and go to the Tavern. Go in and talk to Rukhar. Bet on someone else (Randolph). Talk to the landlord and hire a room for a week. Go up and sleep till midnight. Come down and, if Rukhar is outside, open the chest, take the gin and put in a bottle of water (if you don't have one there are three in the unlocked room upstairs).

Now go to sleep till morning, go back to Randolph and give him some money so that he can challenge Rukhar. Don't forget to go to the Tavern two days later for your reward.

For now, trot to town and talk to Jack so that he can go back to his Lighthouse. Don't bother to talk to Garvell till you have some info on the paladins later on. Go to Halvor, the fishmonger at the other end of the waterfront, and confront him with the stinking note. It's prison for him. Go to Andre and report Halvor. Tell Hakon about the bandits.

[At this point you might like to save a special game so that if you want to try your hand at being a magician or a paladin, you won't have to do all you have done so far all over again.]

Continuing with the Mercenary version, enter the warehouse, kill the guard, get his key, open the chests. You will find some swampweed - keep that.

Amble to the Pegleg tavern and Kardif will give you some information for free.

Go to where Halvor was, go behind his stand by his house and you will meet Attile. Talk to him and kill him, collecting the key he is carrying.

If you go on behind him you'll meet Edda. Talk to her and you will find out you can sleep at her house and that she has been robbed of a statue of Innos. Should you find such a statue on your travels and return it to her you'll get some experience points.

Go back and follow the waterfront to the other end, past the warehouse, and jump into the water. Swim to the right and you will see the entrance to...

The Guild of Thieves

Before you go in turn right around. If you were to swim in that direction you'd get to an island to the left of a sunken ship (nothing in it). It's patrolled by some nasty lizards but there is an interesting cave with lots of treasure. One of the chests can only be opened with a key. This belongs to the leader of the Guild of Thieves and you'd have to kill her to get it. Don't!

Enter the Guild and go first to the left, fight some rats and get to a room with a chest. The combination is RRLLR. Inside you'll find some peoples' belongings which you must return to them for experience. Save. Carry on exploring till you come upon Jesper. Talk to him and ask him to take you to his leader. Talk to Cassia, get all the info and join the guild.

She will tell you to prove yourself by getting a ring from Constantino (under the arch by the smithy). At the Guild, you must learn how to pickpocket and how to sneak. Talk to Jesper (now or next time) and ask about the locked door in the sewers and he will give you the key to it; inside there is a chest with very interesting items. The combination is RRRLRRRLRLRLRRLLLRRL.

If you get it open and tell Jesper, you get experience points. Talk to Ramirez in a room nearby.

Leave, go to the Hotel and sleep till midnight. Go to Constantino's house (save) and, before you enter it, get into sneak mode (press the X key). Go to the chest and open it (LRRLR), get the ring, sneak out of the house and go and sleep in the Hotel. In the morning, give the ring to Cassia. She gives you the key to the Hotel (up the stairs from this room) and gives you another job.

You have to collect 6 Blood Chalices. Talk to Jesper and Ramirez again, just in case.

There is no point in even trying to get the chalices right now. And don't be tempted to pick pockets till you have enough dexterity (at least 30)... always save before you try. Purses are not worth the trouble but keys are.

It's about time we went to join the Mercenaries. Go out of the N gate and walk to the Tavern; look for the post which points to the Landowner.

How to be a Mercenary

Follow the path to the Landowner's farm; first you might like to follow the path to your left till you reach Dragomir (fighting some scavengers on the way). Talk to him; he is missing something and later he will teach you the crossbow skill. Go back to the path to the Landowner's, follow it and you will bump into Buster. He will challenge you. Knock him out and, when he comes to, talk to him again.

Be friendly and get all the information he has to give.

Continue along the path and you will come to Fester. Talk to him and offer to help him because you want to join. Follow him to the cave and help kill all the beasties. Talk to Fester again and he won't want to know you. Fight him and knock him out. Leave him and follow the path again.

When you reach Sentenza, be polite and pay up. Go into the farm and you will see the smithy on your left. Talk to Wolf on your right and say you want to join. If you talk any further you will find out that he can teach the bow and also that he is looking for a job. Don't help him with this.

Turn to the smithy and go through the door to the tavern. Talk to Jarvis and get all the info. Out, talk to Cipher (he is looking for his swampweed, so give him the package you found at the warehouse) and then to Torlof, at the door of the farmhouse. Ask about duelling and say you want to join. Talk to Rod and Raoul, they are both rude to you so teach them good manners.

Wait till they draw their weapon before you attack and don't rob them when they are out. Talk to them when they wake up. Enter the tavern again and go towards Sylvio, who gives you a warning. Bullco will tell you to clear off and you won't, of course. Fight him and don't rob him. Talk to Jarvis again - you have his vote. Talk to Thekla.

Talk to her again and she will give you some stew (boosts your strength). Ask for some more and she will tell you to get her some herbs from Sagitta. We'll do that later. By the way, if it gets late you can sleep at the barn.

Go into the house and the two guards will challenge you; just say you want to join. Go in and to the right, talk to Lee. At the end he will send you to Torlof. Go to him and say you want to be put to the test. When he's done talking you can choose one of two tasks - try dealing with the militia.

Just go to Bengar (follow the path S and turn right at the rock) and talk to him, then kill the militia. On the way back to Torlof you might want to take a detour to the other side of the path S and go round the cliffs till you see a path rising to the Tower. Go on up and at the bridge you will be challenged.

Say Dexter and go over the bridge, straight on and left into the tower where a fellow is hammering away. Talk to Dexter and leave peacefully. As you go back to the bridge, note the mines on your left but don't enter them yet. Just leave without treading on anyone's toes and get back to Torlof.

Having talked to him, he will send you to Lee, who will send you to Onar across the way in the other room. Talk to Wasili and then to Onar. Say Lee sent you and talk about your pay - accept 50 gp. Back to Lee. You are in. For the first assignment you have to see Lord Hagen (at long last!) but speak to Khaled before you go and sort your weapons out.

The Mercenary Trail

Torlof will welcome you into the mercenaries as you come out of the house. If you go to your left you will see Cord, who will train you when you have enough experience with weapons.

Along the road to the Tavern Raoul will tell you you cannot kill a black troll. Say "no problem" and move on.

At the Tavern the contest should be over (or sleep there until it is), talk to the participants.

In to town, get to the upper quarters. You'll be challenged all the way to Lord Hagen, keep saying you have a message from Lee. Talk to Hagen and, when the 2nd Chapter begins, go on talking to him.

CHAPTER 2

Leave and come close to Fernando to get a job. Go to Vatras and he'll give you another job - well worth doing straightaway since you can get a ring of dexterity when you report back. Report to Bosper and give him your skins. You can now go to Garvell since you have all the information he wanted.

When you've finished in town go to the Tavern and run Vatras errand. Head for the Monastery and you will find your man when you are almost there, in an open air temple to your left. Once you've handed over the message get back to Vatras and choose the dexterity ring.

Back to the Tavern and this time find the signpost to the Pass. Follow the path, over the bridge and right towards the waterfalls. Talk to Gaan. Before you cross the bridge to the gate, go around the lake to the other side and find the beast Gaan wants killed; talk to him when you've done and then go to the Gate.

The guards will speak to you, open the door and go through, look for an opening to your left, go through the tunnel killing rats and at, the other side, cross the bridge. You will come to the passage through the old mine and out to...

The Old Colony

Save as soon as you are through. Those who played Gothic will recognize where they are and feel entirely at home. Those of you didn't need to go left. It will be night and you can't do anything about it; if you have a Light spell, cast it and if not, use a torch. Go up the ramp and across the wooden bridge, kill the beasts and grab a rune on the barrels which will allow you to teleport here.

Go under the bridge and on. Soon you'll witness a terrible sight. Onwards, to your right you will find a Paladin being chewed up by a Dragon Snapper. Kill the snapper and collect what the Paladin is carrying, principally his Light rune. Go on down the path and you will meet Jergan, talk to him.

Just down the path and to the left, where the fence is broken, swim to the long sandbank and kill the lurkers. Turn left and walk right to the other end of this strip of sand, killing any others and collecting Swampweed (you need 3), then jump into the river; swim on keeping a watchful eye on lurkers - if they start nibbling at your toes, get to land to kill them.

You should swim under two wooden bridges and, after the second one, look for a bit of flat land on your right. Climb out and, if you move forward, you should see in the distance, right in front of you, a broken siege machine against the Castle's walls. Run to it dodging the orcs and climb onto the wooden beam that reaches the top of the wall. The orcs won't follow you.

At the end of the beam you'll have to ALT + arrow up a couple of times to clamber inside.

Start talking to everybody and exploring around, reading books, picking up the odd stray item, etc. You know what to do. But first sleep till morning. Save. Find the open doorway with a guard in front, walk in and right to the end, turn left, up the ramp, open the door and use a bed. Sometimes you get attacked if you do this because you are a mercenary and these are the knights' quarters.

Worth trying, though, it usually works; but be careful where you go in the Castle.

Your main task here, apart from meeting Garond, is to find your old mates. You will find Milten in one of the buildings, speak to him. (Upstairs in this building you will find a rune for getting back here, get it.)

Be sure you speak to Percival and Oric. When you speak to Garond ask him to free Gorn and pay up. Go to Gerold at the other end of the castle and talk to him. Go in and free Gorn (use the switch by his door), he'll give you some armour and you'll agree to meet at Milten's. Go there and wait for him, then talk to them both.

As I said before, you can get trained cheaply here if you have the experience points.

When you've done everything you could, go back to the broken siege machine. Study the map Garond gave you and note the position of the mines. Save your game here and don't overwrite it because sometimes there is a bug that does not allow you to see the mines marked on the map once you are on your way.

If you can't remember where they are when you are miles away you'll have to save there and reload this game.

To the Mines

Scramble down the wooden beam as before and, dodging the orcs, run straight on and into the river. Go right and swim to a low bridge. Here you will have to land to the right and follow the path (note the tents on a cliff to your right) and, with the minimum of diversions, get to a crossroads. Examine your map and take the middle road. Along here, on your left you will see some wooden walls.

Leave: as you come out you can skirt the rock in front of you going right and then follow the path to the Tower. Clear the tower of nasties and get right to the top where there is a rune which will allow you to get back here. One floor down there is a bed on which you can rest.

Go back towards the first mine and this time follow the path towards your left till you come to some snappers and the other mine. Talk to everyone; find out about Diego from Jergan. Fajeth will ask you to kill all the snappers. Don't argue and do so. Some are in front of the mine, some above. Usually another one appears near the lake. When you've killed them all go to Fajeth.

This time swim along the river all the way north (dodging orcs and killing lurkers) till you come to a waterfall. Actually, you can go under this waterfall to find a lurker and some items. If you don't want to go in, turn to your right and get out of the river, you will see the mine tower in front of you. Go in and talk to Grimes.

To follow Marcos, go back to the river and cross the two wooden bridges. You will meet a variety of challenges on the way but you will eventually come to a derelict red-roofed building with lots of rats. Behind it, in a cave, you will find Marcos. Talk to him.

Equip the rune for getting back to the Castle, cast the spell and go report to Gerond.

Get back to the Pass. As you go through, it will be...

CHAPTER 3

When you get to the gate you will meet a seeker; after he has spoken, crowd him and kill him. Outside the gate you will see the two knights dead. Collect what they are carrying, particularly the rune. Further on you meet Lester, who gives you another rune and requests that you visit Xardas. Do so and talk to him. When you've finished, head for town.

The path will be strewn with Seekers and the best policy is to walk with your crossbow/bow at the ready because their labels will appear on the screen and you can creep up on them and shoot them before they can cause you any harm. Inevitably, some will get at you; it doesn't matter, just try to kill them quickly.

Once in town go to Hagen and talk to him. Leave and talk to Fernando. Go down the stairs and talk to Diego. Agree to help him - let's get that out of the way. Use the rune to get back to the Pass, go into the Old World. If you have one of those potions which make run like the wind, use it now. Run to your right dodging orcs till you get to the pond, the satchel is on the left side of it.

Grab it and run back to the pass (or teleport to it). If you don't have such a potion you will have to fight the orcs one at a time. Once in the New World, use the rune to get to the Harbour Town and give Diego his money. He will ask you to take a letter to Gerbrandt in the upper quarters. Do so and then come back to Diego for experience points.

Go to see Bosper and unload your surplus. Go to Lares and ask for news, he'll tell you about Bennet. Buy some more maps from the cartographer. Go to Andre and ask to see Bennet; go to his right, talk to the gaoler and then use the switch by the door to Bennet. Talk to him. Leave him locked up.

Go to Hagen and speak to him about Bennet. When you have all the info, go upstairs and confront Cornelius. Keep talking to him till you say "I don't believe you". Ask him what he wants and cough up the money. When he runs off you might have a bash at stealing the Blood Chalice in the next room, but save first (and remember to sneak!). Read the book Cornelius gave you.

Go to Hagen and show him the proof. He frees Bennet.

Go to the Hotel and talk to Hanna. Ask how things are and be sympathetic. She'll ask you to get her an old document. Be helpful and give her the treasure map you've just bought, without asking for anything in return.

When you've finished here, go to the Tavern (watching out for Seekers) and buy a rune to get back there. Go to the Landlord; along the way Buster will make a proposition to you; learn how to deal with shadowbeasts, if you like. At the farm, Torlof will ask you to do a couple of jobs. Go in and talk to Lee (he will give you a rune for travelling back here); ask for another job.

First go for the Seekers. Find the path to Dexter's tower. You'll find a Seeker at the start, shoot him. Save and go up. You will see another Seeker just over the bridge. Shoot him and run away before all the bandits come after you.

Now go to Sekob's farm. Ask him for the rent, beat him up, don't be put off and you'll get the money. Don't get involved with anything else here at this point. Since we are around, we might as well go to Sagitta who lives in a cave to the NE of here (there are a couple of shadowbeasts in the woods along the way, to the left) - just follow the rockface till you find her.

Talk to her, learn about the Sun Aloe and get the herbs for Thekla; return to the farm to give them to her and to talk to Torlof.

Teleport to the Harbour Town. Go to the house to the right of Lord Hagen's and find the Judge. Save and talk to him: see if you can pinch his key. Talk to him and offer to put yourself to the test.

If you were able to get his key without problems (i.e., if you had at least 30% dexterity), try and get the following keys: Salandril's (potion shop in upper quarters); Wambo's (upper quarters), his key opens the doors on the city walls (behind the one near Gritta's house you can free Joe and get a nice weapon); Valentino's (listening to Vatras).

OK, teleport to the Tavern and go to the Monastery. At the foot of the bridge talk to Jorgen. Go over the bridge and talk to Milten. He'll give you a key which opens the door and you can walk right across to the chapel. Talk to Pyrokar. Ask him to heal your possession at the end. Serpentes might want to give you a job, but you can refuse it (it really isn't important).

Go to the shop and talk to Gorax. He might want to give you a job but refuse it before you hear it (there is no point). Buy a Sleep scroll.

Go down the stairs and straight across along a short carpeted corridor. Equip the Sleep scroll and at the end of the corridor turn left. Creep behind the guard (Garwig) inside the room and cast Sleep on him. Grab the hammer from the altar and leave. Outside the monastery talk to Jorgen. Turn your back to him and go to the middle of the bridge then turn to your right. Save and jump in the water.

If you get killed you'll have to restore, teleport to the Tavern and walk along the path past Dragomir.

If you survived the jump, you need to swim under the rocky arch to the NE.

When you see a tramp at a bend, get out of the water and talk to him. You could go to the left of the path and find a couple of shadowbeasts. At any rate, go upwards here and across the bridge.

Soon you'll come to a faint branch of the path (this leads to two pyramids with treasure chests on the top and a cave with some treasure, go there if you like); otherwise, keep left and follow the trail of dead bodies. Eventually you will see a camp, save, go and talk to Grimbald and help him with the snappers using your bow/crossbow. Then ask him about the missing novice.

He'll tell you about a rocky arch to the left of the camp as you came into it. Look at the map. You will see a troll cave marked (go in and have a go, if you like, saving first). Outside this cave you will find the Sun Aloe for Sagitta.

Go through the SW arch and you will meet some tramps who want to kill you. Kill them instead and keep going towards the circle of stones. If you follow the rockface to your right you will find a cave which contains a wonderful weapon, but save before you go in. At the circle you will learn that the Eye of Innos has been broken.

Fight all the seekers, get the amulet from the altar, find Dragomir's crossbow around here and teleport back to the Monastery.

Speak to Pyrokar and he will send you to Vatras. Go to town and speak to him; when talking about the representatives, propose Xardas.

Before we do anything else, I think the time has come to sort out the problem of...

The 6 Blood Chalices

If you have the Judge's and Valentino's keys, you are all set. Sleep till midnight and get yourself to the upper quarters. First, find Wambo and say you come from Ramirez; pay up. He will make himself scarce. Save before you attempt each house.

OK, from the top of the stairs, to your right, you'll see Diego's house. Look around to make sure nobody is looking (ignore Diego) and go in; you needn't even sneak. Go up the stairs and open the chest (RRLRRL) to get the chalice. Leave. The house next to Diego's is Valentino's. Again, look around to make sure nobody is watching and sneak in, go up the stairs and use the lamp right in front of you.

This is rather difficult but keep trying. Once you see the lamp turned on its side, sneak down again and a wall will have opened to reveal a chest. Get the chalice. Sneak out. The next house along belongs to the Paladins and we have no business there.

Go instead to the Judge's house. Sometimes he is up late, so if he is awake reload and come back later. Ignore the guard but, once in, sneak up the stairs. Push the shield on the wall behind the armchair and sneak down. Again, a wall will have opened and you can get the chalice from the chest. Sneak out but straighten up next to the guard.

If you didn't get the chalice in the room next to Cornelius's you'll have to walk up the stairs and sneak around till you find it.

Right, now we go to the merchants quarters through the archway. The first house on the left belongs to Lutero and if you were to sneak upstairs you'd find a Note of Debenture which tells you Lutero pawned the chalice with the moneylender.

In the next house along, sneak up the stairs and get the key to the chest between the beds, which is on the mantlepiece. This is extremely difficult while you are sneaking but keep trying. Inside the chest there is a chalice.

This is not necessary but, if you like, sneak into the potion shop, go behind the counter and press the switch and the wall to your left will open. If you have the key, you can open the chest. Nothing very much in it but it's fun.

Finally, go to the moneylender's house, sneak in and open the chest (LRRLR) to get the last chalice.

Go to the Hotel and sleep till morning. Go to Cassia and hand over the chalices, collect your reward. If you talk to Ramirez he'll ask you for a sextant which you will easily find later on.

The Treasure Trove

If you wish to know what is in the locked chest on the island I mentioned before, you could save your game, kill everybody at the Guild, get the small key from Cassia, go and have a look and, since it probably wasn't worth the effort, reload and carry on as if nothing had happened.

However, you might like to get at the other chests without killing anybody so, to find the cave, swim from the sea door to the sewers straight to the island and, when you get there go a little to the right to find a place to land. Follow the rockface to your left and be prepared for lizards. Past a few barrels you will see a heap of large rocks which are different from the natural rockface.

Go round them and you'll see an opening covered with vegetation. Sword/axe at the ready, go in and fight the lizards. Go to the torch on the wall and use it to disable a trap. Now you can go into the last cave, open the chests and pick up other treasure. Teleport back to town.

Right, that's that.

Go to the Judge and give him the hammer - he has another job for you. Teleport to the Landowner and you will find, on the way to the house and near Cord, the very guy the judge wants you to kill. Don't. Speak to him instead and ask what you could do against the judge. He will give you a letter, take it to Lee.

Afterwards, talk to Bennet and he will give you a present (armour). Get him to fix the Eye of Innos, hand it over. If you have the Black Troll skin give it to Raoul. If you have the Sun Aloe, give it to Sagitta.

If you want to pass the time till the amulet is ready there is an old graveyard to the N of the farm (read the tombstones for famous last words). This is rather pointless but you do get experience. Enter the mausoleum and press the two switches on the walls either side of the sarcophagus. It opens, so jump down till you get to a skeleton sitting against the wall. Get the Old Letter and read it.

Save. Move forward and you will see three chambers. Start with the one on your left, kill the Crypt Guard and get his key, open the chest. A Skeleton Mage will appear, it will summon skeletons. Get the Skeleton Mage first, then the skeletons. Do this in all three chambers.

When last one is done all hell breaks loose. The Shadow Lord Inubis will appear. He is carrying some indifferent items. When you've killed everybody you can leave, a little richer, perhaps, but none the wiser. Clamber out of this hole to the graveyard or teleport to the Landlord.

You can also go to sleep in the barn until the next morning but the important thing is not to leave without getting the repaired amulet from Bennet. It's the easiest thing in the world to forget to collect it and find yourself miles away without it when you really need it.

Now go to the Monastery and talk to Pyrokar. He will want proof of Xardas's good faith. Go to Xardas and talk to him. When he moves off, talk to him again. Teleport to the Landlord and go to Sekob's farm. Talk to Sekob and go into his house, kill all four Seekers (there is another one in the bedroom) and open the chest in the main room, getting what's inside. Talk to Sekob again.

Take the book to Pyrokar and he will set out for the Circle.

Go there yourself. At the altar, speak to Vatras and say you've done everything. Get out of the way of the fireworks. After you've waited a while, talk to Vatras again. Xardas will speak to you and then you must talk to Pyrokar. Wear the amulet. Teleport to the Pass of Khorinis and get to the Old World.

CHAPTER 4

Walk to where you found the dead paladin and you'll meet a lot of Dragon Hunters. One of them, Biff, will join forces with you if you ask (he, by the way, is recruitable when you need a crew later on). After you've talked to them teleport to the Castle and start talking to everyone. Angar, particularly, is worth talking to because he is recruitable.

However, there must be a bug because I can never find him again when I try to recruit him. Still, you can but try.

You'll easily figure out how to help various people: with Jan, talk to Garond, vouch for him and talk to Jan again. In the case of Udar, the missing guy is across the river behind a huge tree trunk, but you'll have to fight the orcs to search his dead body.

When you've talked to everyone and done whatever you had to do, climb down the beam of the siege machine, attract the orcs to you but shoot at them from the safety of the beam. For some reason, they cannot climb it and get at you.

If you are short of learning points (and you are going to need 10 pretty soon) you can run to other groups of orcs nearby and run back onto the beam to shoot them at your leisure.

The Killing of the Dragons

When you are ready to move on, look at your map. You are aiming to get to the tower to the SE. Get into the river and swim to the low bridge. At this point you can get out to the right, climb to the tents you will see from the ground, kill Hosh-Pak and retrieve Fero's sword which is laying about near him. (Be sure to tell Oric and Fero, respectively, when you get back to the castle.)

(You can also visit the place above Fajeth's mine, where you killed the snappers for him. There you will meet your old pal Ur-Shak. Talk to him and tell him Hosh-Pak is dead and he will leave. If you were to visit him again where you killed Hosh-Pak and talk to him, you would find out more about Ur- Shak.)

To continue, climb down the cliff and cross the low bridge to the other side, making your way to the tower. If the orcs are too much for you, take to the water; they won't follow you there. However, if you can shoot them from a distance they are easy to kill. If caught in open ground, standing inside the opening of one of those large tents will be helpful.

Just before you start to climb to the tower, after you've meet some fire and ordinary lizards, look to the right almost under the path and you will meet Gestath. Talk to him and learn how to collect dragon blood and scales. Talk to Gorn, too. If you want he will come with you and help you with the nasties on the way to the dragon. It's up to you.

At any rate, climb up and kill all the lizard men, then go over the bridge and start fighting your way up a zigzag path. Expect a couple of stone golems - if you can hit them just before they land their punch they will quickly fall to pieces.

When you get to the top, clear the field. The harpies are best shot. You can explore the first floor of the tower, if you like. In the room with the circular carpet and the harpies, pull a lever near the chest to move the bookshelf. Inside, a Demon and some potions, also a bed to sleep in.

When you have finished go outside and clamber up the pedestal with the two statues and the harpies. Go on up and go through the second floor outside where there is a very visible rusty axe. Kill the harpy, get onto the ledge and turn left - kill the other harpy and go along here. After killing two more lizard men go into the cave and talk to the dragon.

At the end, crowd him and kill him moving around and following him. Collect his heart, blood and scales. Go to the mound of treasure and take everything: you'll find a sextant for Ramirez, too.

Teleport to the Castle and use the Alchemist's Bench to recharge the Eye of Innos. Wear it. This routine must be followed every time you kill a dragon.

Leave the Castle and this time make for the red-roofed building you went to before to find Marcos.

By the entrance to the swamp, in front of the building, you will find two dragon fighters (Rod and Cipher) who will accompany you if you want. At any rate, fight your way in and kill the dragon. Repeat the routine.

When in the Castle talk to Oric and he will point you to the next dragon, namely on the red hill to the S of the Castle. Once more, swim to the low bridge and find your way there. I could not find any dragon fighters around here. On the way up you will meet with Fire Golems which are easily killed: run to them at a slant and hit them quickly.

When you go back to the Castle to recharge the Eye of Innos DO NOT speak to anybody. If you talked to Rethon you will know the last dragon is in the white portion of the map, to the NW.

Swim to the single mine as before and, when you get to the waterfall, you could get out on the left and find a whole lot of dragon fighters in a cave; invite them to come along if you like. Cross the river and then the first bridge, killing any lizardmen you might encounter. Instead of crossing the next bridge, go to your right.

Behind a huge log you will find Sylvio, who is his usual charming self. He'll ask you to kill the Ice Golems. Agree. Turn your back on Sylvio and advance till you see the two golems. Zigzag your way to them till you are right close and let fly with your sword/axe. You should be able to kill them easily. Go back to Sylvio to tell him for experience points.

Go back to the opening where the golems were and go in hugging the left wall. Fight your way to the dragon and do the usual. Behind this hoard there is a dragon egg. Get it.

When you have finished don't teleport to the Castle, rather walk back to the entrance of the cave. Sylvio will be waiting for you and you will have to fight him and kill him. You'll have to fight Bullco, too. When that is done, climb up the ramp to your right. You will meet several snappers and there is a cave nearly at the top, on the right, with a wonderful bow.

Get right to the top, fight the skeletons and find Angar at the camp site. Save your game.

Talk to him and propose you fight together. Run ahead of him and down the cave in front of the sarcophagus. Make straight for the Skeleton Mage and kill it, and then fight the skeletons. When Angar arrives he will leave immediately. Search the Skeleton Mage and pick up the potions and the holy water.

Leave the cave and talk to Angar: give him his amulet. He'll start walking away. Follow him and, if you see trouble ahead, run forward and clear the path for him. The object of the exercise is to get him to the house with the red roof in one piece. Should he die, it's worth the trouble to clear the way before you actually talk to him. Once he is settled down by the camp fire talk to him again.

He will tell you he will go to the Pass and meet you at the other side. I even cleared the way to the Pass but could not find him anywhere again - you might have better luck.

Well, now you can teleport to the Castle, recharge the Eye and report to Garond. Do whatever else you want to do here then teleport to the Pass and go through.

CHAPTER 5

Teleport to Xardas but he is gone. Fight the lizardmen attacking Lester then talk to him; he will give you a letter from Xardas. Read it. Walk to town killing lizardmen and clearing Lobart's farm of Orcs (tell him about it).

Report to Hagen and to Vatras, do whatever else you need to do here and teleport to the Landlord. Talk to Lee and show him the egg. He tells you to talk to Bennet. Do so and he will give you a map to collect more eggs. Sell him the dragon scales.

Talk to Wolf about the minecrawler scales armour if you want, but you'll have to part with 5 lp to learn how to collect the scales. It's not really important.

Now comes the tedious business of collecting eggs and scales, not to mention ore, from all those caves which are not very well represented on the map. Not all the caves contain what you want but the only way to find out is to go there.

Start with the mine opposite Dexter's house. Here you will find eggs, ore (you only need 5 lumps) and minecrawler scales. When you come out turn to your right and follow the ledge to another cave which also contains eggs. I'll leave you to it, you work out the easiest way to get to each group of caves. You need 12 eggs.

When you've done, take the eggs to Bennet and, if you were going to search for them, the scales to Wolf.

Teleport to the Monastery and talk to Pyrokar. Go downstairs to the room opposite the one where you took the hammer. Talamon will challenge you but will let you in. Get the book from the Alchemist's Bench and read the note that came out of it. Face the bookshelf and look at the lamp to its right. Pull it. The bookshelf will open. Go tell Talamon. Come back, cast Light and get into combat mode.

Go down the stairs, kill all the skeletons, find the door, go through, kill everything in your path.

When the dust has settled, get the stuff from the table. Don't look at the map yet but read the dusty book and the Almanac. Leave and talk to Talamon. Talk to Pyrokar (don't let on about Xardas's magic words).

Teleport to the Landowner, save and talk to Bennet. Learn to forge and ask about forging magic weapons. If you've asked all the questions and bought all you needed you should end up with a red hot blade and a hammer and the knowledge to forge the weapon of your choice. If you have such a blade all you have to do is use the anvil and say what you want.

Obviously you'll want the last option, i.e., the two-hander.

When you have what you want go to sleep and collect the armour from Wolf. See how you like it, but you don't really need it.

On Our Way

Having done all that we are ready to look at the map you got from the vault. This allows you to recruit people to be your crew. Talk to Lee and ask him how to get the ship. Recruit him, Gorn, Bennet and Wolf. Talk to Torlof.

Go right now to the Castle by teleporting to the Pass, go to where you usually slept but don't go up the ramp. Go through the door on the ground floor and then through the other door. Talk to the guard and pick his pocket. Go through the door and pull the lever. Teleport to the Pass, go through and teleport to the Landlord to recruit Torlof.

Teleport to the Monastery and recruit Milten. Teleport to Xardas and recruit Lester. Teleport to the harbour town and recruit Diego, Lares and Vatras. Dump everything you don't need on Bosper. Go to the Judge and exert pressure.

Now you are all set to go along the waterfront to the ship. Get on board; you can explore around if you want. Back out, talk to Torlof and give him the map. He will tell you to do whatever you need to do before you set off because there is no coming back. It's up to you.

When you are ready, go on board, turn left, up the ladder, through the door and into the cabin. As you enter it there is a cut scene and it's...

CHAPTER 6

Turn around and go talk to everyone. Get trained if you need to. Leave the ship. Start slaughtering orcs as you come to them - deal with the shamans first. You'll come to a room with a troll guarding some rooms. Go left up some stairs and deal with the orcs there. Search de Orc Colonel and get everything he has. Go back to the troll, kill it and open all the doors starting from the right.

In the last room you will find Pedro, talk to him, be understanding and lead him back to the ship. He'll tell you what you need to know.

Go back to the Colonel's room and pull the torches by the wall, first right then left. As you go through you will see some stairs going up - to your left there is a hidden Seeker, so watch out. Up.

You'll come to a large chamber full of lizardmen guarding dragon eggs. If you keep left you will come to a Seeker straightaway. Keep going left and you will see a dragon; concentrate right now in going right around the chamber killing all the lizardmen. Collect all the eggs. Now deal with the dragon in the usual way.

Go past the dead dragon and shoot two switches high up either side of the chasm. Just enter into combat with a bow or crossbow and shoot - you hit them automatically. A bridge will appear. Cross it and go to your left to kill the Seeker.

You need to go up both towers either side of the bridge and pull a switch at the top of each. Now continue to a passage with columns and go kill the Seekers before you deal with the skeletons. Up the stairs and to your left. Stand in the archway and kill the skeletons and Shadow Lord Archol.

Search him and, before you go through the door to your right, turn right around and open the door in front of you. Use the Alchemist's bench to recharge the Eye of Innos and wear it. Look around you. Pick up everything, read the diary and the recipe. If you have the eggs, the black pearl and the sulphur you can make a potion which will make you strong. Save before you drink it, just in case.

Now continue through the door in the other room. You'll have to go through another battle (though there is another handy archway) and then you will come to a round chamber with doors all around. Looking at the big door in front of you there are three doorways either side of you, the middle ones locked. Let's call the open ones top left, bottom left, top right and bottom right.

Start with the bottom left doorway and get at the seeker (Key Master) to get a key. Go back up, open the left locked door and pull both switches, it doesn't matter in which order. You'll get access to the top left chambers. Go in there and in the last one there are three switches. When you are free to push them, the order is: Centre, Right, Left.

Another switch will appear in the centre of the room, turn it.

Go back to the previously locked door and throw the switches again. You get access to the bottom left chambers. In the last room look for switches to push which will bring up another switch in the middle of the room. Turn that and go up and go to the main room.

You have to do this again, this time on the other side. Open the middle locked door and pull the switches. At the last chamber on the top right, the combination of switches is Centre, Left, Right, you know the rest. Back to the locked room to use the switches and go to the bottom right chambers. At the last room, press the switch in the far wall.

Two zombies will appear, fight them and push the two new switches. Another switch will appear in the centre of the room, turn it.

Now go to the main room and push all four switches on the pedestals and a last pedestal will appear. Turn it and go through.

Fight all the seekers and, at the other end of the room, talk to the Black Magician, kill him and collect his key. Search the four side rooms and in one of them you will find a chest with the Eye of Power in it. Take it and go to the door with the glowing eyes. You have to "use" the door as you would a Statue of Innos, so move a bit till you are in the right position.

You will kneel and the door will open.

Go either side of the wall in front of you and up the stairs. Wearing the Eye of Innos, are you? Talk to the undead dragon. When the fight begins, get right close to him and don't let up, chase him around and kill him. Watch what happens.

You can get back to the dragon and get his Soul if you like, but then start back for the ship. You will meet some of your pals along the way, talk to them. At the ship you'll have to fight the odd orc. Talk to the other members of the crew. Find the captain and talking to him starts the last cut scene. Watch.

This ends the Mercenary version.

***

("Magician" version)

This is probably the most boring of them all; still, let's have a go.

If you look at the walkthrough for the Mercenary version I mention a point in which to save the game to play the other versions. If you do not have such a saved game, just do exactly as for the Mercenary version up to that point.

To avoid repetition I will not explain again the tasks which you also had to do as a mercenary.

To become a Magician the first step is to talk to Ulf and the square where he is drinking free beer. Get all the info. As you can see you are going to need a lot of money so unload all your surplus at the merchants.

Go to the Tavern and then to the Landlord. Be sure you clear the way of nasties. Buster will challenge you and you'll have to fight him, talk to him again when he comes round; he can teach you to fight. Remember you don't want to join the mercenaries.

Along the way, you don't need to get involved with Fester and you can fight or pay Sentenza - up to you. Do talk to Wolf because he is an old friend and can also teach you, and look into Lee (say you go way back) and have a chat with him about Gorn and what he is doing there.

Basically, you want to talk to Wasili in the room opposite (so that you can later exchange the old coins) and talk to Onar. Say you want to buy a sheep from him and he will send you to Pepe. Find him (actually to the SE of the farm) and talk to him. Offer to kill the wolves.

You'll find them behind them in a camp (you can see the torches from where Pepe is), kill the four wolves and talk to Pepe (don't buy the sheep yet). He mentions Bullco, so go to the tavern behind the smithy and talk to him. Pick a fight with him but don't rob him. Talk to Thekla and you'll get the job of going for the herbs to Sagitta.

Before you go back to Pepe you might like to do the Sagitta job and also visit Dexter.

Then go to Pepe and buy a sheep - Betsy is just by his side. Talk to her and she'll follow. Now you have the tedious task of leading the sheep all the way to the Tavern and all the way to the Monastery. You have to keep waiting for her to catch up - never lose sight of her. If you see trouble ahead, tell the sheep to stop and come back for her when the path is clear. Save often and good luck.

How to be a Magician

When you get to the monastery speak to Pedro and say you want to join. At the end of the conversation, open the door and go to Parlan right in front of you.

For now just obey his orders and don't ask questions. Take Betsy to Opolos and talk to him (he wants to take a look at a recipe). Talk to Gorax and buy a Sleep spell from him, you'll need it later. Go to Parlan - ask how to serve the community and for an assignment.

To sweep the chambers talk to all the novices and ask them to help (don't forget there are some in the chapel and one downstairs). Some will and some won't and some will want something done for them. Talk also to all the magicians and ask for assignments.

All of them are self-explanatory; for instance, for Marduk's task just pop into the room next to him and use the Statue of Innos to pray for the paladins. Sergio will thank you. Just go back to each magician when you've completed your task.

Gorax wants you to distribute some sausage (you have to go to the larder downstairs to collect it); be sure you give no-one a double ration. Fourteen sausages for fourteen novices: and don't forget Garwig downstairs. Talk to him. The recipe for Neoras is in the larder but be sure to show it to Opolos first. The fire nettles are to be found at the other end of the bridge, either side.

When you give these to him you'll get a spell to give to Babo, he'll help with the sweeping. Talk to Sergio about Babo and then go to Babo who will then be able to train you.

When you complete your task for Gorax he will give you another job. Talk to Parlan and since you got four novices to work for you he will give you the key to the Library. Go there, read all the books (particularly The Test of Fire) and talk to the guys. Karras will have another job for you.

So now you've got to walk all the way to the Tavern and all the way to Town (just buy the three spells) and back again. Didn't I say it would be boring?

The Test of Fire

When you have finished, talk to Parlan and insist on taking the test of fire. He will send you to Pyrokar. Talk to him and ask for the test. Ask the others, too. This is what you do:

Serpentes: Go downstairs and cast a Sleep potion on Garwig. Get the sacred hammer from the altar. Go to the Tavern and towards the Landowner but turn left along a path. You'll meet Igaraz and Dragomir. Talk to them. Equip the sacred hammer. Continue along the path and follow it all the way to the bridge. As soon as you see it, turn your back on it and go to your right following the rockface.

You should come to a Magic Golem, destroy it with the hammer.

Pyrokar: Go back to the path and this time cross the bridge. Talk to the highwayman and ask if he has seen a novice. Pay him to get the answer and move on. You'll meet Ulf - talk to him and go on (if he follows you, talk to him again), all the way to Grimbald. You can run past him without talking to him but then you have to kill the snappers on your own.

Look for a little bridge and cross it, follow the path into the cave and walk straight on. There is a cave but you can hardly see it for the vegetation growth. Go in and take the path to the right. When you get into the large chamber you'll meet Agon by the chest. He will boast that he has won. Congratulate him. Nevertheless he attacks you - fight him, get everything he has and open the chest.

Get back to the Monastery. Ulf will attack you too along the way, so you'll have to kill him.

Back at the monastery talk to Serpentes then to Pyrokar.

Ulthar: Go to the Library, talk to Hyglas, look at the books, make sure you have the right ingredients for the Fire Arrow spell and use the rune table. Take it to Ulthar.

Afterwards, talk to Pyrokar again. You can even have a wish and help one of the novices (your choice). But the important thing is that you get to see Hagen. Talk to Parlan before you go.

By the way, under the bridge on the road to town from the Tavern there is a cave with a chest in it for which I haven't found the key in all my roamings. These things happen in the best-ordered games.

Well, after you've seen Lord Hagen the pattern is the same as for the Mercenary version. Do the Vatras errand for the dexterity ring, get to the Pass and you know all the rest.

Things change slightly when you head for the Monastery with Lord Hagen's letter, in search of the Eye of Innos. After you've talked to Serpentes talk to all the other magicians. When you talk to Marduk you find out about Bennet.

When you've finished talking to one and all, startle everyone in town by teleporting there. Apart from talking to Lee and Bennet (if you haven't freed him already), you might as well talk to merchants such as Zuris, Canthar, Hakon, Bosper, Matteo: buy their shares. Look at them. Salandril is the guilty party. Buy his shares, tell him to go to the Monastery and when he refuses, beat him up.

Talk to him again. The rest of the shares are in the hands of Orlan at the Tavern, Elena at the Landlord's and Rosi at Sekob's farm; buy them all.

If you approach Fernando in the upper quarters he turns into a Seeker. Beat him up and search his belongings for a book - take it and read it. Wait till he wakes up and tell him he is possessed.

Finish freeing Bennet if you need to.

While you are around here, deal with Bromor at the Red Lantern. Do exactly as with Fernando. Buy the book for Hyglas from Constantino. If you go to Lobart's farm and to the stone ring to the N of his house you'll catch some Seekers possessing Vino - unfortunately he dies. Get his Almanac. You'll find Malek in an open archway near the path to Dexter's tower. Do the usual and get his Almanac.

Take these almanacs to Pyrokar and he'll ask you to take one to Karras. Do so and come back later to find out his conclusions. Pyrokar gives you a magic letter so that you can find out who is being possessed.

The part of the pursuit of Pedro and the Eye of Innos is exactly as in the Mercenary version right up to the point when you are meant to go after the dragons. Be sure you talk to Karras before you travel to the Old World. The stone he is after is behind the Statue of Innos near Xardas' tower.

Take it to Karras; come back two days later and you'll have a nice protection against the hordes of Seekers.

The dragon hunt is just as for the Mercenary version only there could be some minor variations. For instance, your talk with Angar is different. And you don't need to collect the dragon blood and scales.

When you have killed all the dragons and reported to Garond, don't rush off. Look at Pyrokar's magic letter and you will see two more names. You will find Engrom in the cave where you left Marcos, behind the red-roofed house. Go to him and do the usual - if you wait till he wakes up, after you've taken his Almanac, and talk to him he will run off. Leave him to it.

You can now go to the New World. As soon as you are through look at Pyrokar's letter. More names have appeared. Since Brutus is at the Castle, you might as well turn around, go back to the Old World and teleport to the Castle. Down the stairs, out, keep going left. Get his Almanac.

Back to the New World and teleport to Xardas. Talk to Lester and read Xardas's letter and carry on as for the Mercenary version. Before you go to Pyrokar, though, deal with Randolph and Sekob. Pyrokar will tell you there are more Almanacs to get but in fact no more names appear on his letter.

From here on it's exactly as for the Mercenary version save that the instructions in the Almanac are different, but simple enough. Make the rune and talk to Pyrokar about the Aura. Now you can look at the chart and start recruiting. Might as well engage Jorgen as the captain, but first you'll have to clear Xardas's tower.

Recruit the same people as for the Mercenary version. Angar, of course, is nowhere to be seen. To take possession of the ship, just talk to the guards. Board and come off the ship. At the entrance of the harbour you will see Girion. Talk to him and get him to join you.

That's it, just follow the solution to the Mercenary version to get to the end.

***

There are a couple of mysteries I have not been able to solve, such as who has the key for the chest under the bridge, near the Tavern. Why doesn't Nagur correspond to any quest? Who has the spike which allows you to use a winch and open a gate in a cave? Why does Angar go AWOL? Etc., etc. If anyone knows the answers, I'd like to hear them.

Walkthrough forGothic II

The game:

General tips:

CHAPTER I

The Path

How to become a Citizen

Joining the Militia

CHAPTER 2

The Way to the Pass

The Colony Revisited

To the Mines

CHAPTER 3

The Eye of Innos

CHAPTER 4

The Dragon Hunt

CHAPTER 5

The ship

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 1

The Path

The City

Jobs outside town

The Guild of Thieves

How to be a Mercenary

The Mercenary Trail

CHAPTER 2

The Old Colony

To the Mines

CHAPTER 3

The 6 Blood Chalices

The Treasure Trove

CHAPTER 4

The Killing of the Dragons

CHAPTER 5

On Our Way

CHAPTER 6

How to be a Magician

The Test of Fire

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Gothic II

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