Might And Magic Vi
A Guide by Lu Richardson
↑ Back to TopForeword
↑ Back to TopThere is a brilliant editor cheat knocking about which will turn your characters into superheroes straight off, and give them also any item or weapon you care to mention. Considering the difficulty of the game, this isn't a bad idea at all. However, a lot of people might prefer to play the regular game and build up their characters gradually, which is much more fun - though very slow and very tough.
You can create your own team or take on the one already prepared for you. It's up to you.
At the start of the game, look at the inventory and read the letter the first chap is carrying. Arrange your items and, if you have a spell book, learn it. You are all set. But, before you start, take heed.
Throughout play, you will have to check the inventory screen to make sure that weapons, armour and other items are not damaged, i. e., red - if so, repair them. Also, sell everything you don't need and arrange items so that you have a maximum of space free. If you are doubtful about some of them, you can keep them in the chests near Sorpigal or anywhere else you will visit often.
Important spells at first are "Cure wounds" and "Disarm traps" (to open chests). Later on, "Walk on water", "Fly", "Town portal" and "Lloyd's beacon" become pretty essential to get around quickly, so learn them as soon as you can.
As to skills, "Bows" is vital. The sooner you can equip bows, the better.
Basically, you have to cover each section of this world completely, visit each town, call at every house, talk to everyone and take on quests for experience and cash. First you stick outdoors and destroy all the baddies, clicking on their dead bodies for gold and items, and then enter various nasty places to carry out your quests when someone asks you to get something from them.
Remember that the more thorough you are, the more you will get out of the game.
When accepting quests, by the way, make sure you remember where you have to return to in order to be sure to get your reward.
In the towns you can recruit up to two peasants to accompany you: at first, people who can keep up the "Wizard Eye" spell and "Identify" all the time are useful. Later, you might need a healer or two; you can find better people as the game advances. Please note that the peasants in the towns change with time.
The first temples/hideouts/castles, etc., you have to visit are fairly simple. Switches you have to press are prominently displayed, secret passages can be revealed on the map by walking close to the walls. Later on, switches are hard to spot and secret doors can only discovered by clicking on just about any likely wall you can think of (don't you hate that?). Still later, you actually have to solve puzzles to get to the really secret places. You must always explore these places very, very carefully; missing an important corridor or switch can make the difference between winning or getting totally stuck.
The eventual objective of the game is to get the six Lords on your side so that you can visit the Oracle and find out what's going on. This is in the nature of running errands for them and some are easy and some well-nigh impossible.
There are other sidelines to the game: for instance, in each segment of the map there is an obelisk - click on all of them to get a message (read top to bottom and left to right) which will direct you to treasure. However, this is not essential.
A word about combat: kill from a distance if the monsters have no long-range weapons but close in if people are chucking arrows or spells at you. Later on, when you are assailed by large numbers of monsters, a well placed spell which hits everybody will clear the air and then you can pick off survivors more comfortably. Bear in mind that you will get enemies behind you, so remember to turn around.
You can do things in any order you like, although it is best to be sent on quests before you explore certain areas. Take all the time you want. Below is the order I followed, and you will notice I did not visit every location at every sector at once, but waited till circumstances allowed me to do so. You might find some places too tough, even going backwards and forwards to heal, so leave them for later. You can always improve your characters by fighting baddies in the open - their camps can be rewarding not only in terms of experience points, but also of cooking pots and chests.
This is a very complex game, and all I can give you is just a guide, to help you a little - not a step by step solution. Even so, it's by no means complete; there is more to find out there, I'm sure. It is so confusing at times, that I might well have got some things wrong, for which I apologise in advance. However, the whole point is that you should discover all the mysteries of the game for yourself, by being frankly nosey and doing your own thing at all times. All I can hope to do with what follows is to aid you here and there. The compass directions, by the way, are only approximate
- I'm sure you will understand how difficult it is to be precise.
For the answer to the High Council Quests, see further down. Below, the description of each township and the places to visit on ordinary quests - and wait till you are asked!
The East Half Of The Map
↑ Back to TopThe beginning...
New Sorpigal
↑ Back to TopLocations: Village, Goblinwatch (SW), Old Temple (NW), Access to Ironfist (W); obelisk in volcano (N, needs "Fly" spell), Gharik's Forge (on an island, E, needs "Walk on water" spell)
Enter the town and turn right to go into the Inn. Speak to the aptly named Andover and give him the letter and you get some cash. If you speak to him again, he will give you a quest. (As an aside, every time you come to this Inn and talk to the inmates you might get different information.)
Visit the Town Hall, where you will get a key and two more quests. Talk to the peasants and get the couple you need most to join. If you don't want to talk to everybody (and, let's face it, you get weary of it after a while, click on people with the right hand button and you'll see what their profession is). It is more important to visit each house (you'll get quests). Try the fountains. Above one of the temples you will find some goblins to kill and strip.
Visit the shops and buy anything useful you can afford. Also the Temples, and don't forget your training for advancement.
In the orchard you will find apple trees - clicking on them will augment your food supplies. Watch out for goblins attacking you here and make sure you don't hurt the peasants. EVER. Here and elsewhere, draw the monsters away from the town to kill them at your leisure. If you should kill a peasant by mistake (easily done), the whole town turns against you.
[One more thing: The above pattern will largely apply to every town and village you visit, so I won't repeat it. Also, outside the towns you will find Temple Baas all over, where you can be cured cheaply - don't use them! Just ignore them. Do, though, call at every Inn, have a drink and tip the bartender.]
When you are finished in town, walk out and up a hill to the SW to...
Goblinwatch
↑ Back to TopKill all the monsters around and above the fort. Behind it you will find a chest. Go in.
Nothing very difficult here, move around killing nasties and using the map to make sure you cover every inch of the location. Click on everything which looks unusual. Click on bags, barrels and buckets, open chests. In a long room with red panels, click on them to reveal chests. One of them contains the code you are after. At a panel with red blobs, click on D, F, L, B, O, G to open the doors and continue exploring.
When you've done, go back to the town, visit the Town Hall to get your reward and another quest. Sell whatever you don't need and buy whatever you can afford. See if you can get your characters trained. Visit the Temple if you need to. You must donate at least once at each Temple since this makes you more popular. This particular one is the cheapest of the lot, so donate frequently here, perhaps every time you get healed.
Before you go any further, you might like to beef up your characters by exploring the SE and S sections of this map, killing a little, going back to town to recover with the aid of the fountains, and so on, until you've cleared all the monsters and collected all the goodies. Who knows, it might earn promotion for your characters and make them tougher. Equally, you could clear the NE section of the map.
Note that the horseshoes at every Stables in the land can be clicked on the characters to give them skill points; always note where the Stables are in each town.
If you are ready, we'll go over the bridge to the...
Old Temple
↑ Back to TopYou'll have to clear the opposition before you go in, and two chests near the entrance could contain interesting goods. By the way, this applies to just about every building you will have to enter - it will be surrounded by nasties, so kill them off, go get healed, and then come back ready to face anything.
Back to business. Go in. Keep your eyes peeled for goodies laying around. Here you have to find a candelabra in a chest, kill the Spider Queen (click on it to get its heart, quest item, remember?), collect a few cobra eggs for sale and find a little girl who is lost.
Return to the village and visit the people who gave you the quests and get your reward. Do whatever you have to do. Then, using the map, you can cover all the ground you can around New Sorpigal collecting items and killing off any monster still left around; the idea is that the map should reveal everywhere you can visit at the moment.
You will notice that, if you attempt to go over the southern bridge and reach the W limit of the map, as shown on the screen, you are asked if you wish to go to Ironfist. If you can afford it, go to the Stables; if not, keep going past the bridge.
IRONFIST
↑ Back to TopLocations: Town, up the hill the first Castle, Temple of Baa (S), obelisk (SW), Dragoon Caverns (SE), Seer (N), Shadow Guild Hideout (E of Seer), Corlagon Estate (extreme SW), Snergle's Caverns (SE)
First visit the town, both down and up, and talk to everybody. You will get another quest. Then visit the Castle and talk to the inmates. You get more quests and also get lumbered with the young Prince, who will disappear when you next sleep (not to worry; just keep checking the Calendar until it's April, when we have to find him in the Circus E of Blackspire).
It's all very well, you know, but at this stage you are nowhere near able to undertake most of the tasks you have been given. Never mind, let's carry on.
If you enter one of the large, square, wooden platforms you will find yourself in hot water, but there is an obelisk here. Wind your way up and out of here (NE of this place there is a shrine), or step onto the platform when you've had enough.
Visit the Seer to the N. He will tell you what you have to do, and
you might like to consult him whenever you don't know where to go
next.
Pursuing the quests from New Sorpigal, let's go just E of the Seer to...
The Shadow Guild Hideout
↑ Back to TopEnter the first door to the left and look for a switch right close to it. It's square and dun coloured, and not very easy to see. Most switches stick out and have to be pressed in. Look out for more switches in this location.
Anyway, if you go back to the corridor and carry on, you will see a locked door to your left. Continue along, exploring this place. In the chests you will encounter you will find a letter from the Prince of Thieves and also the Guild key, which opens the locked door. Inside, you will find Sharry Carnegie.
OK, you can now do whatever you need to in town. Then, go to...
The Temple of Baa
↑ Back to TopAs you come in, you will see a square block in the centre, with doors all around. Read the notice by any door, but don't touch any of them.
At the four corners of the big square there are caves that can be explored for experience points/various goodies.
But, for the serious business, start by entering the door to the S. You will see two storerooms (locked), and a windy corridor will lead to a statue which hides a key. This key opens one of the storerooms, and the chest inside has a key to a bathhouse. Go to the big square and through the door to the N. Inside, two rooms, both locked - but one will be opened by the latest key. Inside the chest, another key to the other storeroom. In that room, the chest will contain a key to the secret door.
Go to the block in the middle of the big square room and click on the doors in this order: N, E, W and then S. This door will open and inside there is a chest with a key to the last bathhouse. Fight your way there and unlock the door - you will find a key to the treasure room.
You might like to leave at this point and go get yourself in tip-top condition, because you are next going to enter the door to the E of the big square room. As soon as you are in, climb into the troughs left or right, otherwise you get fried by a fire ball. Get up the stairs and into the temple. Leg it to the altar, pick up the gong (can be turned to cash later on) and open the secret door behind the altar. Turn around just inside the corridor and be prepared to fight the zillions of nasties which will come at you.
When you are ready, follow the corridor to the N (click on the torches, one contains a lot of cash). Enter the hidden door to the NW and, in a chest, you'll find the Chimes and the key to the other treasure room. Leave and this time follow the corridor to the S - in the SW you will find another hidden door and, inside, loads and loads of money.
You can now leave and get yourself to the town to be healed, etc.
Next, you can go to...
The Dragoon's Caverns
↑ Back to TopSame old thing, just explore around. A secret door in a circular chamber to the NE will present you with two switches. Press them to open unseen doors. Later on you will see other switches, but if they are down already (because you pressed these two), you don't need to bother.
However, you will notice on a section of the wall a secret passage, for which you will need to press another switch (sticking out).
To the NW you will find a lift (a small, square wooden platform, just pull the lever).
Eventually, you will come to a row of chests. You might want to save here and experiment a little. One of the chests contains something you want (in this location you get a Harp and also another letter). The other chests send you to unpleasant places.
If you land in the sewers, use any wands you have against the oozes, and click on their burnt up remains for rings and things. You can climb up out of here through some stairs which are hard to see.
Once you have what you came for, leave and take the harp to the town for your reward, then it is time to leave and go to New Sorpigal, to the Town Hall, to collect your reward for returning Sharry and handing in the Shadow Guild letter.
You might as well go to the SE of New Sorpigal, take a ship and try...
MIST
↑ Back to TopLocations: Castle (NW of town), Silver Helms Outpost (SE), obelisk (NE)
As ever, go to the Castle to the NW of here and get your quests, then talk to everybody in town and knock at every door.
A woman in the house to the extreme SW asks you to step on the platform to the N and clear the nasties away. Go there and start fighting your way from island to island. Be on the look out for apple trees and chests. When you reach the last island you will see an obelisk. After you've clicked on it, stand on the platform to get back. The woman for whom you did this quest has nothing to say to you, but I guess it doesn't matter.
Don't forget to visit the Town Hall.
Go to the SE of town and enter the...
Silver Helm Outpost
↑ Back to TopStart exploring to your left. To the NW, Oliver Wendell, locked up in a cell, tells you about a secret door. Indeed, just click on the wall at the end of the corridor to find it.
Following on through here you will come to a room with some nasties (dispatch them) and a switch. Press it, go outside, turn right and hug the wall to the right going up the steps which will appear. When you reach a platform after which no more steps appear, wait till you are raised to the floor level. Continue along here. You will see a mural on the wall - this takes you back, so don't touch it yet. There are two rooms here, and one of them contains Melody Silver, who is the maiden you are supposed to take back to Castle Ironfist in order to become a Crusader. When you've finished here, touch the mural to go back down.
In your travels around this place you should have found a letter (take it to the Town Hall) and the key to Gharik's Forge. Unfortunately, you are probably not yet ready to tackle this place, so let's forget it for a minute. If you are finished, do whatever else you need to do and then travel to Castle Ironfist.
You will find that you cannot enter until you find the Prince. Ah, well, now we are stuck with Melody.
At this point I felt the natural progression was to travel North to...
Bootleg Bay
↑ Back to TopLocations: Mainland, Circus to the E of Camp, obelisk SE west of Hall of the Fire Lord, SE; Town to the centre, NE of town, Fountain of Magic (don't forget to drink from it, it's one of the quests). Islands, Shrine (NW), to the E a pedestal (remember this location), to the S, the Temple of the Sun, NE of that, East Bootleg with the Temple of Tsantsa. E of that, a camp and a poisonous fountain.
When you arrive you land into a cannibal camp. Nice going. Do your best. Towards the E you will see a circus, which is the natural place to look for the Prince but, of course, he ain't there. Still, you can go SE of here to the obelisk and then the...
Hall of the Fire Lord
↑ Back to TopOpen the door to the left, open the chest and also the chest outside and distribute the amber amongst your fellows. Talk to the huge mask on the wall. You've got a job.
Advance and you will fall through a hole. Look carefully down [DELETE] and shoot everybody. Then take a leap [X] so that you land next to the hole to the side of the wall. Go through this.
You have to follow every possible corridor/hole till you cannot go any further. Click on one of the Stone Faces to get back to the beginning and then go down a new hole, and so on.
Basically, you have to open all the doors and you need to find a locked chest. To find the key, you need to get to a very large room with many doors and drop down a double hole, and again, where you will be attacked by an Egyptian looking type called a Defender. Once dead, click on him to get the key. Go back to, or find, the locked chest. Inside you'll find a crystal skull (hang on to it, you'll need it much later).
If you've been everywhere and you've opened all the doors, use a Stone Face to go back to the Fire Lord. Click on the carved mask and talk to him again, choosing "Quest". Well, that's that done.
Leave and get to the town. Do the usual. The guy next to the Temple wants you to go to the...
Temple of Fist
↑ Back to TopKeep left at first and avoid the pile of skulls at the centre. Have a look around and, behind some barrels you will see a white arrow on the floor. Pull the torch and a panel will reveal a switch. Press it then go back up to the entrance and take the right side. You should find a letter; when you get to the altar, click on the crystal to destroy it.
Either this was a very small temple or I missed a secret door somewhere, though I doubt it.
Go back to the town and get your reward from the house inside the Temple enclosure.
You don't need to do the islands right now, though you can pick up peasants who can keep going the "Walk on water" spell; you'll have to come back later anyway.
For now, you could go W to...
Free Haven
↑ Back to TopA lot to do here. The very first thing you should do is to visit the High Council, where all the guys have their thumbs firmly down. You need to get each one of them to give you the thumbs up sign, by fulfilling the quests given to you by the Lords.
Locations: High Council (SE of town), Dragoons' Keep (S), Ethric the Mad Tomb (W); S of here, the obelisk; Rockham's Pride (Inn where you get a nomination from Chadwick) (NW). N of here, Temple of the Moon. Temper's Castle, SE of map.
Start, as ever, with the town itself. Many quests await you here, so explore it by sections and make a note as to where you have to come back afterwards. Ignore the sewers for now.
By the way, later on you will have to find a Stone Cutter and a Carpenter - of course, you will then meet the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker, everyone and anyone you won't need. So, if you see these craftsmen in the actual houses you visit, remember where they are so that you can collect them later.
Identify and remember the derelict Temple, because you'll have to come back to it.
Once you've done the town, head S and SE over the bridges to Castle Temper. Get your marching orders. Again, it will be some time before you are able to fulfil the quest.
Places you could be getting on with are:
Tomb of Ethric the Mad
↑ Back to TopAs you enter, stand on the lift to the left, go through the door and find the skull-shaped switch in a chamber to the NW. You can check the burial niches for gold or items, though the characters will get diseased. However, if you have a healer with you, all might be well.
Next go down and take the right lift up and find the switch in the NE. Once you've pressed both these switches you can take the lift in the center.
In the large central chamber, clicking on a hanging body will give you a fine wand. Look around, search the niches, open the coffins and, when you kill the liches, click on them. One of them will yield the skull you are looking for. Take it to Free Haven and get your reward.
Temple of the Moon
↑ Back to TopHere you will find cobra eggs you can sell as before. You will also meet Medusas which can turn your characters into stone, but you'll find plenty of spells laying around to turn them back to flesh. The idea here is to go straight in from the entrance up to the door in front. Read the message. Now go through the doors to the left and right and find three altars each side. Place the cursor on them to identify them but do not click yet. Once you know where they all are, click on the altars in the order: Life, Accuracy, Might, Endurance, Speed and Luck. This will open the locked door.
Go in and fight your way to the altar. Clicking on the crystal will give you a gem. But the important thing here is to remember where this altar is, i.e., the altar of the Moon, because you might be coming back to it later. If you have the Lloyd's beacon spell, use it here.
Dragoons' Keep
↑ Back to TopYou will have to pull down two levers, one to the SE and one to the SW. Remember that the natural state of levers is "up".
Go N and you will find a door to the NE of the corridor is locked. Keep going N, up some stairs and press the brown switch to go through. Another switch on the wall further on will unlock the doors. Go in and pull the lever in the first room but not the next if it is already down. Go to the room at the top and you get caught in a trap. Keep moving the lever up and down till the door opens. Have a fight and then go to the locked door, which will now be open. Get Mordred from the chest and take it to Phelps in town.
It's a toss up where to go next, but the easiest location is S of Free Haven, over the bridge: so let's get ourselves to the...
Mire Of The Damned
↑ Back to TopLocations: Circus (NE), S of that, Snergle's Iron Mines; W of this, an Inn. To the SW, a pedestal (remember where it is). Castle Darkmoor (NW); immediately N, Dragon's Lair. Shrine SE of town. Centre of the map, through a maze, the obelisk.
Although the nasties here are easy to kill, there are hundreds of them, so you'll spend a lot of time fighting and there is no Temple in town, so you might have to keep going to the Inn, instead.
At the town, pop in and then right out again, taking with you all the undead to where you can destroy them without harming the townspeople. You might have to do this several times. When the coast is clear, start by knocking at all the doors in the ground floor, particularly the Inn (The Haunt), where you'll get a quest from Smythers.
Next, find your way upstairs, where there will be another quest for you. It's a bit confusing, but I'm sure you'll manage.
When you've finished, you might like to try...
Snergle's Iron Mines
↑ Back to TopAs you come in, use the troughs of water either side of the door, since they will replenish points. Go first to the left and you will find, amongst other things, the Cell key. Note that some cabinets have to be clicked on the side to open them. You will also find a letter.
Next go to the right until you get to the cells. Inside one, someone will give you a key to Snergle's Caverns inner room.
OK, what do you say we have a bash at...
Darkmoor Castle
↑ Back to TopNow, you probably won't be ready for this one yet, so you can come back to it later. I only managed it by casting "Lloyd's beacon" and then "Town portal" to go and rest every few steps. It took ages!
There are here those awful Eyes and Liches; they strip you of all your cast spells of protection/torch, so you are left helpless and in total darkness. They even turn you mad! It's a bit of a nightmare. The "Dragon's breath" spell quickly dispatches the Eyes, but, of course it's very expensive in terms of magic points. Since it is very difficult to fight these creatures at close quarters, and half the time you can't see them anyway, wands come in handy.
At any rate, what you have to do here is find a lever next to a sign. You must find a blue cube near the ceiling in a large chamber and click on it (you are in for a real fight) and thus turn it red. Next, you must find a way into the caves to the NW. It's murder there, since there are no end of nasties. However, you must try to get up a ramp and into a large square chamber, again, full of nasties. To the NW of this chamber you must get a mask (memory crystal, needed later on). By clicking on a red cube in the ceiling near here, you get into a secret chamber where you will be able to destroy the Book of Liches, as per you quest.
You will also find the Argameddon spell to learn, and don't forget to click on the dead Eyes, they sometimes carry interesting items.
And now we might as well find out what else we are meant to do, so let's go to New Haven and then NE to the...
Frozen Highlands
↑ Back to TopLocations: Shadow Guild (SE), Stone Castle and town (E), Stromgard Castle (NE), obelisk just behind this Castle, to the E, White Cap (NW), Icewind Keep (W)
At the moment, just visit the two castles to get your quests, and also the towns. We'll be coming back later.
Next, go E to...
Silver Cove
↑ Back to TopLocations: The Monolith (SW), The Warlord's Fortress (NW), Shrine (N), obelisk (N), E of the shrine, Inn (E of obelisk), Circle of Stones (S of Inn), Silver Helm Stronghold (centre of map).
Again, just visit the castle and the town for now.
At this point, it was April, so I took a quick visit to...
Blackspire
↑ Back to TopLocations: Wolf's Lair (S of town), Temple of Snake (E, centre of lake), Circus (E of town), obelisk (SE), Inn (SW)
You might as well do the town and get some more quests, to be attended to later. Talk to Twillen in the large house to the N and get the figurines from the chest next to it. You have to place them at the pedestals, some of which you have already seen. Make a note of which figurine goes on which pedestal.
First, go E of town to the Circus. Try the smaller tents first, if you want. At the main one, retrieve the Prince.
If you search around the centre of the map you will find a chest guarded by werevolves. Inside, Lord Kilburn's shield.
The High Council Quests
↑ Back to TopI think we have enough quests for now. I will now list the ones for the Castles, do them as soon as you can; the ordinary ones will be listed below under each township and you can do them at your leisure.
Castle Ironfist
↑ Back to TopTake the Prince in to be admitted. Present the shield. Unload Melody to be made Crusaders. To be Heroes, go to Dragon's Lair, just behind Castle Darkmoor (N) in Mire of the Damned. Kill the dragon (there is only the one room), click on it and you will automatically get a claw. Bring it back.
Castle Stone
↑ Back to TopFirst, go to the Shadow Guild, to the SE. Explore around here, pushing against doors, rather than clicking on them, to open them. You will find a revealing letter.
Thus, to get the Prince of Thieves, you must go to Free Haven and enter the sewers. Although there are many entrances, I took the one in the house to the NE. The first grate I came to yielded a key, which opens a locked storeroom with lots of goodies. You have to make your way to the extreme NW, where there is a room with flickering lights. Click on the wall to the W to enter a room. Click on the bed to nab the Prince of Thieves. Elsewhere in the sewers (SW) there is another secret door to a teleporter, but it's not terribly important. Up to you.
The next task is to go to Free Haven, ditch whoever you are carrying in the way of peasants and find a Stone Cutter and a Carpenter. Then just go to derelict Temple of Free Haven, enter and they will automatically go in and get on with it.
When you get back to the castle, ask about your next promotion. You have to go to the Temple of the Sun and find a chalice. This is so easy it's scarcely worth explaining. Just explore around and open chests till you find what you are looking for. When you have the chalice, enter the Temple of Free Haven. (This enables the priests to cure Eradication, so you know where to come back if one of your characters gets rubbed out.) You can now go back to Castle Stone for your reward.
Castle Newton
↑ Back to TopTo get the Hourglass of Time you have to go to Gharik's Forge, on a island to the E of New Sorpigal. You should have found this key at the Silver Helm Outpost near Mist. Enter and follow the ramp downwards - should you fall in the lava pool, a red switch will send you back up.
One word about this place. All doors open with levers (hard to spot) - even a hidden door to the SE opens with a lever on the wall, so keep your eyes peeled.
OK, you'll come to a spot where there is a wooden bridge and also four sets of levers, each on two different levels. The idea is to move the wooden bridge eastwards and to unblock the door to the south of it so you can cross it northwards. Try all levers to see what they do. As soon as you get the bridge over, try again with the levers to see which one opens the blocked door (you will have to keep going back to look, so use Lloyd's beacon if you can). Eventually you will get across. Explore around until, at the end of the corridor, to the extreme SE, you come to a small room with a different sort of floor. Kill the nasty, enter the room and pull the lever. The lift will take you down. Go through the first door but, before you go through the second, brace yourself. All hell is about to break loose. If you can, get ice spells ready. Step in and start blasting. If it's too tough, duck behind the door and sort yourself out. Get back in there! When you've killed everybody, walk across to the other door, go in, find a ramp and go up. At the end of this trek you will find a chest with the Hourglass of Time in it. Take it and go back down. At the end of the lava course, if you are brave enough to follow it, there are some good weapons and stuff to find. If you'd rather not, go back to the wooden bridge and pull the lever this side of it. This opens a secret door to a hidden room on this level (look at the map) with a couple of chests. Take the Hourglass to the Castle.
If you have not yet drunk from the Fountain of Magic at Bootleg, do so now and go to the Castle.
In order to advance further, you will have to go to Corlagon's Estate SW in Ironfist. Nothing very difficult here, just explore around, pressing skull switches, mixing it with the spooks, and find the crystal in a chest to the SE.
Castle Temple
↑ Back to TopIn order to attend to the first quest, you will have to visit Kriegspire briefly (go N from Blackspire), not getting involved just yet, but heading towards the NW. The Devils Outpost is just NW of Castle Kriegspire. Pop in and fight it out (there is only one room), then get the scroll on the floor and take it to the castle.
For your first promotion all you have to do is get a nomination from Chadwick (see above). The next promotion will be harder: you have to go to the Warlord's Fortress in Silver Cove and find a letter. Not all that complicated, just a lot of fighting and the usual business.
Castle Fleise
↑ Back to TopThese quests are fairly easy. You merely have to go to each town and talk about "Price fixing" at every single Stables. It's just a matter of finding them. The obvious ones are in the main towns (though bear in mind there are two in Free Haven, one at the N and one at the S); so, go to Silver Cover, New Sorpigal, Ironfist, Mire of the Damned, Free Haven, White Cap, Blackspire and Kriegspire.
Once you've done that, promotion is easily achieved (if you have a good memory), by first turning up at the Circle of Stones on an equinox (I went on the 21st of June) and clicking on the altar, and later, turning up at the altar of the Moon (see above) at the full moon, 12 o'clock at night (again, click on the altar). Just keep checking the Calendar.
Castle Stromgard
↑ Back to TopThe first thing you have to do is to find the Hermit. No problem. He is in the centre of the Kriegspire map, but you might have to "Fly" up to him. Talk to him and return to the castle.
For promotion, first you will have to find the keys at Icewind Keep. Nothing very difficult here, pull the levers to the NW and NE, either side of the main chamber, then go into it and follow the corridor to the throne room. When you've killed everyone, approach the smaller throne from the back and pull the lever on the armrest. This opens up a passage going to a room with four chests. In one of them, the keys.
Take them to the castle and, for your next promotion, go around to the main towns (Silver Cover, New Sorpigal, Mist, Free Haven, Blackshire and White Cap, I think), find the round towers and click on the keyhole under the switch. Go back to the castle.
OK, that's all your High Council quests done. If you go to Free Haven and look, you will find thumbs up all around save one guy. Before you go back to Castle Ironfist to complain, you might as well do the rest of your quests.
The West Half Of The Map
↑ Back to TopApart from Kriegspire, there is precious little out there - but what there is, is important. Also deadly. The best way to explore this part of the world is using the "Fly" spell (at speed, using the arrow keys and the Shift key - you can always press [INSERT] plus the Shift key to come down quickly, if you want to look at something closely or have a fight; also, while flying, you can press [DELETE] to look downwards and get a better view). After fighting dragons and things, clicking on dead carcasses can be very productive. And, of course, judiciously fighting and running away, so long as you have the patience, will build up your characters no end.
Kriegspire
↑ Back to TopLocations: Agar's Laboratory (NE), Hermit (Centre of map), Castle Kriegspire (NW); Shrine E of Castle; pedestal (extreme NW), Superior Temple of Baa (E), obelisk (NW), Caves of the Dragon Riders (W)
Go around the town talking to everybody and a fellow will ask for a jewelled egg. Nobody else seemed to want anything, which is a bonus.
Agar's Laboratory
↑ Back to TopI'm not quite sure how this location helps, but here we go again. Start pushing switches. Have a good look at the floor before you do; Eyes are about to come out as soon as you press each switch, and they are so eager to get at you that they nearly pop through the floor - you can destroy some of them, even if only a little bit is showing. Though, of course, this could well be a bug and happens only in my particular version of the game. It has happened before!
When you do press the switches turn around quickly to do battle.
All this switch pressing reveals a lift. Get on it and go below to continue exploring. All I found here was a letter. Maybe you'll find something else. I still can't figure what all that was about.
Castle Kriegspire
↑ Back to TopWe are told that this place contains all the surplus nasties. Indeed, you could hold a Monster Sale. You can, if you choose, click on the well at the NE of the village and find yourself in the Castle, up to your neck in minotaurs. Anyway, as soon as you start looking around you will find the jewelled egg; of course, it ain't as easy as that. Don't even think of going home yet.
To the NE there is a Curator (looks like a door) who will heal you at a price.
You will have probably noticed a locked door consisting of bars. Well, you have to get to the centre of the four circular rooms, where a switch on a pillar will open this door. To do this you have to go to the south of the four rooms, up the stairs, and skirt the rooms on a narrow ledge, without falling in, to get to the centre. If you have the cash and you got as fed up as me battling in the darkness, you can go to the large room to the NW, where all the wyrms and goodies are, and find a plaque which, by paying 50,000 bucks, will place you at the very switch. Press it and go to the door with bars, which will then be open.
Enter the chamber by jumping in. Inside, a mask (memory crystal, to you). You need this. You can get out of here by stepping on the puddle.
Caves of the Dragon Riders
↑ Back to TopNothing particular here, mainly practice at fighting and getting experience points. Not to mention superb armour and pretty excellent weapons. Click on everything which bites the dust.
Sweet Water
↑ Back to TopLocations: The Hive (NW), Derelict village (N), obelisk S of this village; pedestal N of the village.
Nothing else much here; the Hive is your very last fight, so you can ignore it for now.
Paradise Valley
↑ Back to TopLocations: Town (W), obelisk (NE of town).
Clear the town of Titans (get close to them and grapple with their kneecaps; they carry good stuff) and knock at every door. Not much to be learned, but the training facilities and the Inn might come in handy.
Hermit'S Isle
↑ Back to TopLocations: Obelisk (W); rejuvenation fountain (E of obelisk), use it only for characters who have actually aged; Island (SW).
Ignore the island for now, you'll be coming back later.
Dragonsand
↑ Back to TopLocations: Pyramid (NW), Village (SW), pedestal in village, Stone Ring (NE), obelisk (NE), Shrine of Gods (S of obelisk)
To the Pyramid you'll be coming back later. Have a bash at the village, if you like; nobody says anything frightfully interesting, but if you have items to trade, you could get some good stuff. Me, I had plenty to spare. At any rate, the pedestal for the last figurine is in the middle of the village. You should go back to Twillen in Blackspire to get your reward, from the chest. Could be good!
The Stone Ring has to do with the obelisk solution. I've given you the locations of 14 of them already. The 15th is further down. The complete text reads: "In the land of the dragon by far northeast, lies the cache of the captain 'neath the weight of the least. Hid from the ship of the Sun before her functions ceased, lift the stone and you have won; this ruddle's puzzle pieced." You figure it. Knowing what the message is won't help you unless you've actually clicked on each obelisk. Plus, can you be bothered lifting stones for some more stuff when every dragon in sight is trying to do you in? At this stage of the game? Give me a break... But, if you want to know, the stone to lift is the bigger one in the middle, and underneath you will find Dark Containment and a few really useful items - dandy at the beginning of the game, won't make much difference now. Still.
On another tack, the Shrine of Gods gives you a tremendous oomph, but, again, you'll have to dodge a lot of dragons.
Time to attend to...
Other Ordinary Quests
↑ Back to TopIRONFIST
↑ Back to TopSnergle's Caverns
↑ Back to TopFor this you will need a key to be found in the Snergle's Iron Mines, and you are sent here by Smythers at the Haunt in Mire of the Damned. Search the place, as usual, but pay attention to the walls, which can do you good or harm, i.e., you can get a lot of gold or be hurt in a cave-in. In the first large chamber, check out the waterfall and the crystals. In the second, press the large, pink switch. In the third, kill everybody, find Snergle's body by sweeping the mouse around and click on it to retrieve his axe. Take it to Smythers.
BOOTLEG
↑ Back to TopTemple of Tsantsa
↑ Back to TopNothing very difficult, just go around pulling levers and find the Cell key. Eventually you will make it to the centre chamber and, at the back, a corridor will lead you to the cell (make sure the active guy is carrying the key - if another clicks on the door it won't open). Collect Sherell Ivanaveh and take her to Free Haven.
Silver Cove
↑ Back to TopSilver Helm Stronghold
↑ Back to TopIn your battles, be on the lookout for a sorceror who carries an ankh. Start at the W and then go S. To the E of the map, near a corridor marked blue, you will find a ghost. Talk to him. Take the ankh to Fleise, who will send you to Stone. There, you collect a reward.
Monolith
↑ Back to TopTouch EVERYTHING, particularly the monoliths - always, one of them opens the next door; another will close it, so watch what happens. In the final chamber, touch the altar. Clicking on the pool will open the next door and "nice flowers" will let you out. Don't forget to go and get your reward.
Blackspire
↑ Back to TopLair of the Wolf
↑ Back to TopAs you come in, apply your shoulder to the right-hand wall and keep going till you reach the extreme NW. Here a ghost will appear and set you a task. Do exactly as he says, walk to the opposite chamber on the NE and click on the wall nearly at the corresponding end in order to get a pearl. Use it on the altar to open up a door.
Get searching and, in two large rectangular rooms, kill all the wolves and then click on the bodies till you get the black pearl.
Go to the ghost and he will ask you to take the pearl to Castle Ironfist. We'll do that later.
Temple of the Snake
↑ Back to TopTry your best not to kill the peasants, though at the end it's inevitable. As you go along, a dragon will come up from a pit and fight you. If you continue along this corridor and try to get down some stairs you'll find you can't. Drop into the pit instead, press a switch and a secret door will open.
When you get to the altar room just give it all you've got and stop trying to spare the peasants. It's impossible. After you've cleaned out the chest, click on the cage to rescue Emmanuel. Take him to his wife in Blackspire.
And now we must stop mucking around and go for...
The Final Stage
↑ Back to TopGo visit the Seer and he will tell you there is a traitor to show up. So, visit Castle Ironfist, hand in the pearl of purity and make a formal complaint. You get an elegant cloak. Time to visit...
The Superior Temple of Baa
↑ Back to TopThis, as you know, is NE of Kriegspire. Find the podium to the SE of the entrance hall. SW of this there is a chest which you must open. You need two keys, which are carried by the inmates, so kill everybody and click on their bodies. I found one key W of the room with the chest and another in the last dorm to the SE.
The fireplaces here do odd things if you come up to them right close and click on them. Couldn't figure what.
What you read on the podium means you have to hop into a hole and follow the spiral path, then go to the altar room to the SW and click on the faces on the walls, 1 to 4, in that order. Finally, you have to go to a large altar room to the E and find the stone face on the wall. Clicking on this gives each of your characters a whole load of experience points, which is better than a poke in the eye. With a short stick.
Anyway, when you have the two keys go to the chest and open it. In it, a letter proves the odd guy is a traitor.
Take the letter to Castle Ironfist, who promptly sends you on to the High Council. Talk to the obstreperous guy and he takes the huff and disappears, revealing a door which leads you to the Oracle.
Once there, click on the panel by the door, follow the corridor, click on the next panel and some stairs will be revealed. Go down and along and click on the blackness to talk to the Oracle. He requires four memory crystals, and tells you where to find them. I've already explained how to get two, so now let's go to Castle Ironfist. For services rendered to the crown you are allowed to use the royal yatch. Go down to town and to the docks and click on the Queen Catherine. It will take you to Hermit's Isle. Don't waste any time getting into...
The Supreme Temple of Baa
↑ Back to TopActually, this is very easy. Totter along killing people, clicking on altars and crystals. You need to work your way around SE and then W, then N through a room with lots of small rooms either side. Here there are four doors facing one another over a circular pit (don't fall in!) - the switches on the side of the doors open up bridges to each. You have to get across to the opposite side, where the memory crystal is. Once you've got it, the rest is academical. You can get back to your favourite watering hole to rest up.
Next you have to get to Alamos. Go to Silver Cove, cast the "Walk on water" spell, and get to the ship on an island to the N, which will take you to Island South. You will find the last obelisk to the SW of this map.
Alamos
↑ Back to TopNot so easy. Go in and explore. Click on the trees to get bits of a riddle (write them down). You'll find a letter to the SW, see if you can make any sense out of it. You should find the Teleporter key in a chest to the E. A door N of here leads to the teleporter. The castle is huge and extremely complex and it will take you sometime to get around everywhere, up and down and all around, and find all the secret doors and so on, until you get the crystal. The key is in the SW, where you will find a row of cages to the NW of a triangular room. Get a lift up and go above the cages, walking along a narrow path, till you get asked for a password composed of the letters given by the riddle.
Once you have all four crystals, go back to the Oracle and follow the four corridors along to the end and place them in the four altars. Use any of them, the correct one is automatically placed in the right spot.
Go back to the Oracle and it turns out you need a cube to go into the Control Centre. Heave a big sigh and get to the pyramid in Dragonlands, otherwise known as...
Tomb of Varn
↑ Back to TopThis place is enormous, you are constantly attacked by regenerating monsters, the corridors often lead nowhere, you are forever dropping into holes and generally messed about. I am not even going to attempt to guide you here.
Read all the messages on walls and below pictures.
At the beginning, go to the right and fight those Egyptian types. Once of the carries a key. Go into the big entrance hall and straight ahead. The large red doors are firmly shut. Go to your left and through the door; press a switch nearly on the floor and a panel will open and reveal a chest. Take everything inside. The skull is for protection and the key will open the large red doors. To get out of here, follow the red arrow on the floor to the SE of this room and click on the wall to open a secret door. No you can go to the large red doors.
As you go through you will have your work cut out to survive the onslaught. Again, I only managed with "Lloyd's beacon" and "Town portal". Plus I had a couple of Master Healers to cure my lot of everything.
Once you've cleared this room, note the triangular pools. There is also the Well of Varn (a circular water pool). The object of the exercise is not only to find keys but also scrolls with the codes of the Engineer, Navigator, Doctor, Captain, Communications Officer and First Mate. Don't worry if you can't find them all. An important place is the Water Temple in the huge room to the NW, get up the ramp. Once you've done the whole area, come back to the room with the pools.
If you attempt to enter the well, you'll be told the codes have not been entered. Go into the pools, starting by the one to the right of the well and making sure that the guy who is carrying the code scrolls is the active one. You will be asked the Navigator's code, which is "ulus". Move on to the next triangular pool. Soon it will dawn on you that all the codes are the names of the crew of the Enterprise backwards. For instance, the doctor's code is "yoccm", i. e., McCoy backwards. So, if you are missing any of the scrolls, you should be able to it figure out. When you've finished with the pools, click on the well and you'll be asked for the captain's code ("krik") and you will be able to enter. To open the door inside, click on the steps. A bit of a fight and you can open the chest which contains the cube. Get back to the Oracle.
Now he'll let you into the Control Room and all you have to do here, apart from fighting for your life, is to collect the special weapons from the chests. The way to survive here is to go for the Terminators first (the brown spheres), to have a couple of Master Healers with you (no gold to collect, anyhow) and to be ready with the "Lloyd's beacon" and "Town portal" spells, so that you can go to a safe haven to recover and then come back. When you have blaster rifles for all your characters, get back to the Oracle who will tell you about the Hive and a spell only Archibald can give you. And he is made of stone, at that.
Go to Castle Ironfist and talk to the Prince. He wants the Third Eye. If you speak to him again, you'll get a clue. Actually, this item is at the back of the castle, in a well to the NW of it. Just click on the well and you'll get it. Take it to the Prince and he will give you a bell. Go around to the back of the castle, up the ramp and find the Library. As you enter, Archibald turns to flesh automatically and will give you the spell. Now it is time to go to...
The Hive
↑ Back to TopSave. Go in, if you have the guts, and fight it out with a horde of devils. Don't jump down, blast them with spells and let them come to you. If necessary, you can leave. You cannot cast spells everywhere in this complex, so you'll have to find a spot where you can. When you are able, go down all the holes in the ground, explore carefully, press switches. The idea here is to open a rectangular hole in the middle of the chamber which is at present shut. You must open all the available doors. If all the switches you've pressed aren't enough, go around again and keep your eye on the map to see if the hole you want has opened. When it does, drop down it and follow the corridor. You should have easily found a key to open the door you will come to.
After another fight, go W first, then go E through the door and you will eventually come to the reactor. All you characters must now equip the special rifles and blast it. When it blows, a wall will come down and you will have to fight the queen. When she and everyone else is dead, you can relax and watch...
The End
↑ Back to TopAcknowledgement
Annotated by Lu Richardson for the RPG Gamers archive.