Shadow Sorcerer Clue Book A COMPLETE SOLVE =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Introduction Shadow Sorcerer is a graphic action/strategy game. It features a unique command structure, allowing you to control four heroes in a real time environment. You can have the computer control some or all of the heroes for you, and you can give them default actions to take (such as attack, flee, etc.). Winning and Losing Success in the game is judged in three ways: by the number of monsters you defeat, the obstacles you overcome, and by the number of refugees you have kept alive by the end of the game. The refugees are the crucial factor: you can never let them get into trouble, because their survival provides you the lion's share of the experience points at the end of the game. If the number of refugees ever goes below 100, you automatically lose. As the Heroes of the Lance, you must: - Scout ahead to find temporary safe havens for the refugees. - Keep them supplied with food. - Keep them moving in the right direction - Defeat or avoid any obstacles in your path. - Fight off or escape the draconians, who will soon follow you in hot pursuit. - Locate the fabled land of Thorbardin, in the hopes that the refugees will find a new home there. How to do that is what this Clue DOX is all about. Travelling the Wilderness The initial map of the Wilderness doesn't show anything except the location of the mountains and the next hex south of you. As you explore, more and more of the map will become visible. There are two types of mountains: passable and impassable. Impassable mountains have one large peak; passable mountains have two smaller peaks. The presence of a passable mountain can be a tip-off about the location of something special there: food for the refugees, or a specific encounter. At the bottom of the map, you can find Thorbardin by looking for the passable mountain along the bottom row. The game allows you to click on any visible hex and have you characters move there in the straightest path. This makes some movement relatively hands-free. For instance, once you've found the key ring which shows you where the keys are, you can click on one of the shown hexes (even if the intervening hexes are still gray) and your party will explore the unknown hexes as they move to the target hex. They'll only stop their movement if you give them another order (by clicking on a different hex), or if they have an encounter of some kind. Don't take the refugees over mountains or through the marsh. It will slow them down too much. It's best if you can keep them on the roads, but that, of course, isn't always possible. Some specific encounters are marked with symbols on the map: buildings, campfires, or shops. They're there to remind you of where things are, but you might want to make additional notes yourself. The Wilderness Map The Wilderness map (in PCX format, under the filenames WILDMAP1.PCX, WILDMAP2.PCX, and WILDMAP3.PCX, all overlapping for greater detail) shows you specific locaitons detailed throughout this doc. The numbering system is by row of hexes and the number of the hex as counted from the leftmost column in that row. The top row of hexes (the one which is completely filled by impassible mountains) is row zero. You begin the game in row one. Scanning the Wilderness You can scan ahead of you without actually entering a hex by doubleclicking the right mouse button on a hex. You will see the tactical view of the hex, complete with monsters and treasures which may be present. Click once on the right mouse button to return to the wilderness view. The distance you can scan depends on your elevation: you can see further from mountains than from hills. You can see the farthest from the Tower (hex 2-8). The Passage of Time Time is of great concern in Shadow Sorcerer. The draconians will be on the march looking for their escaped slaves, and they don't stop for much (see "Time and the Draconians" later in this file). Time in the Wilderness Time passes no matter where you are in the wilderness map. Each hex travelled takes a varying length of time, depending on the terrain: road travel is fastest, followed by plains, rivers, hills, forests, marshes, and finally mountains. You party of heroes can travel day and night. The refugees however, travel only in the daytime. From 8:00 PM to 8:00 AM they camp. This means you'll rapidly leave them behind if you aren't careful. Use the night-times to explore dungeons. This way, when you come out of the dungeon to find that it's dawn already, you will still be near the refugees. Time in the Tactical Display In the tactical display, you may notice that time doesn't appear to change. This is because we assume you are too busy to stop and calculate the passage of time (your characters don't have watches, remember). When you leave the tactical display for the wilderness map, time will abruptly adjust itself to the current time. This includes any time you spent memorizing spells. You will notice this effect the most when you enter a dungeon. When you leave the dungeon, you will suddenly find out how much time you spent underground! You should explore dungeons at night, when your refugees (and hopefully the draconians) aren't moving. Time and the Draconians The Draconian army breaks out of Pax Tharkas to the north after 48 hours of game time. This gives you a couple days to begin to learn your way around. For every half hour you spend in tactical mode, the draconians get one turn of movement. This means they could be killing the refugees when you take time to explore, memorize spells, and heal. Draconians move at night as well as by day, but each half-hour after 8:00 PM each group of Draconians has a 25% chance of camping. Once camped, they remain so until morning. Use this time wisely! It may be the only thing that keeps you ahead of the draconians. Exploring dungeons is best reserved for evening and night time for this reason. Time and Magic When you memorize spells in tactical mode it takes time. You will see just how much time because at the top of the spell list is a copy of the clock. The time line will show you how long it is taking you to memorize a spell. This time is not taken off the main clock until you exit the tactical mode into the wilderness mode, however. The only spell which lasts longer than one combat is resist fire. The spell lasts 70 minutes. This means that you can enter the tactical display, cast resist fire on everyone int he party, and then exit the tactical display (uses 30 minutes), move one hex in the wilderness (uses 30 minutes) and enter the tactical display again to do combat (the spell has 10 minutes left, and will wear off when you leave the tactical display again). This is a recommended tactic if you plan on fighting Ember, the red dragon (seldom a wise move). It is also a atactic to use against the lich Fitstandantilus, since he casts fireball spells. Using the Tactical Display Encounters In addition to the specific encounters discussed later in this book, you will have random encounters. Encounters can be a number of things: discussions with interesting people, combat situations, or discoveries of interesting items. If you have discovered items, pick them up, but watch your encumbrance limit! Here and there you will find bows, swords and quivers of arrows. Note that your characters do not come equipped with arrows readied, but in the first few hexes after you start the game you have the opportunity to pick up some. By using items you can see how they affect you. Examine your View Character Window before and after using an item like the bracers, a quiver, or a sword. You'll immediately see the effects an item has on your character. Note: There are no "evil" or "chaotic" items in Shadow Sorcerer, so you're safe in trying things on. When you encounter a lone figure, prudence dictates that you wait to see if he has something to say. If he starts hitting you, he's obviously hostile. Most encounters will be obviously hostile, and you can fight or run as you like. Changeable Terrain Some types of terrain can be changed, as you've no doubt discovered. Fireball spells are quite decimating: they destroy small plants and reduce trees to stumps. You can remove some impassable plants (the one that resembles a fern) with a fireball. In addition, there is one rock which reduces to rubble (the pointed gray rock with the green moss on it) when hit with a fireball. One terrain type which is passable but not changeable is the stalagmite. Each of these terrain features is found in various dungeons. Combat Combat is fast and furious, even that the slow setting. All of your characters come with pre-set combat options which they will follow when you turn on their "auto-combat" command. Review these settings immediately, however, because you may not want your characters to do some things, especially flee in the midst of combat. One preferred setting is to turn off all combat actions for the magic users and clerics, and leave combat on for the fighters. This way, you can hit F5 to get both fighters going, and then choose for yourself when to cast the spells. Although it may look like you're hitting or being hit every moment of the combat, you're actually doing a lot of swinging and only some hitting. The same goes for ranged attacks and spell casting. You'll see a lot of motion for only one or two attacks. Don't worry, though, because the monsters do the same thing. Automatic Combat Settings Auto combat settings are there to make it easier to control your characters in combat. Basically, you are telling them to engage in melee, fire missiles, cast spells, or run under certain conditions. Those conditions are: - Melee : close in on the nearest foe and attack. Characters have some ability to find their way around objects, but occasionally they'll need your help: tell them to move to a specific tile which is in the direct line of sight from a monster, then place them back in auto-combat. - Ranged: fire missiles again anyone more than two squares away. Within two squares, the character will either stand still or engage in melee (if the combat option is also active). - Cast: cast offensive spells again anyone more than two squares away. Magic users will never cast their fireball spells in auto combat. This is a self-defense measure which, after some reflection, will make sense. If it still doesn't make sense, cast a fireball on the square next to you and examine your hit points. - Flee: run off the tactical map i you have less than 1/4 of your hit points remaining. If you give a character a move order, it toggles auto combat off. This is so you can pull the character out of particular combat actions if you feel the need to do so. An example: if Sturm starts attacking a webbed foe while a non-webbed fe is attacking Goldmoon, you can tell Sturm to walk over to Goldmoon, then turn his auto-combat back on. He will attack the active foe, leaving the webbed foe for later. If you give the party move order, it toggles everyone's auto-combat off. This allows you to pull out of a fight if it seems overwhelming. It is a recommended tactic if Ember ever catches you and you're not prepared. Auto combat toggles on automatically if any character gets hit for damage. This may be because of a spell or melee. Note that a fireball exploding nearby will toggle everyone int he area of effect into auto combat mode. So if a dragon casts a fireball at you, and you want to run, party Move will toggle auto combat off. In effect, you're telling your characters, "I know you want to kill it, but not now!" Tasselhoff can yell at his opponents, which causes them to attack him. This is a special feature of the Kender race, and is useful for saving spellcasters and clerics from attack if they have nowhere to run. Having anyone else yell during combat has no effect (except possibly to aid your psyche). Tips for Exploring Dungeons There are a few things which can make dungeon exploration go a little faster. - Mouse Keyboard Use : Use the F1-F4 keys liberally, especially when you want to cast spells in combat. For instance, if Raistlin is the top left character, hit F1 followed immediately by S and you're in the cast spells menu and the game is frozen! Use the mouse when you want to walk your active character around but not the party. You can click and hold the left mouse button around, and the character will continuously adjust his/her path as different squares are highlighted. Experiment some and you will soon develop your own shortcuts. - Regroup Command : You only have to get one of your characters through a door in order to regroup everyone into the next room. This does not work, however, if you haven't killed all the foes in the room you're in! The command also works if you're outdoors and want to return to the wilderness mode, but simply hitting zero of the right mouse button is faster. Encounters Specific Encounters Throughout the game there are some specific encounters which will help you with information about the game or with special items you will want to use later. IN addition to being presented here, the special items are also listed later in the doc for your reference. In this section, all specific encounters will refer to a numbered hex on the wilderness map (wildmap1.pcx and wildmap2.pcx, the two halves of the map). The numbers refer to the row and the number of hexes in that row counted from the left. For example, 4-16 means the fourth row from the top, the 16th hex counting from the left. The encounters are presented here in alphabetical order: =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= List of Encounters =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Row Hex# Encounter =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1 2 Bee Cave 1 12 Beginning Hex 2 8 Secret Tower 2 11 Spider Cave 3 5 Village of the Neidar Dwarves 4 16 Food in the woods/Safe Haven 5 13 Fork in Road 6 16 Battlefield 7 15 Eye of Elar 8 5 Outpost Mines (west entrance) 8 6 Outpost Mines (east entrance) 9 2 Fixban 9 19 Shipwreck 10 19 Hobgoblin Pirates 12 6 Food in the Woods/Safe Haven 14 6 Food in the Woods/Safe Haven 15 6 Snow Ruins 15 14 Key Ring Battle 18 18 Hidden City 20 10 Marsh Spires 21 4 Troll Cave 21 13 Marsh Sprites 22 7 Temple of the lizard men 22 14 Marsh Sprites 26 10 Green Dragon 27 16 Ogre's Camp 30 7 Food Cache 33 ? Skullcap Bee Cave (see BEECAVE.PCX for map) Encounter Descriptions Battlefield - The battlefield (6-16) provides some interesting items: a bow and quiver, a sword, and bracers of defense. The Bee Cave - The bee cave (1-2) is a small dungeon. When you find the cave, you will read that you hear a loud buzzing; the giant bees will attack you before you even enter the cave (room 0!) Once you've dispatched them, you'll find a sword lying where a previous hapless adventurer dropped it as he died. The first room underground (room 1) contains more bees, a potion of healing, and a quiver of arrows. Room 2 has a few more bees. Room 3 is filled with bees, which attack immediately! Here you will find the Royal Jelly (make sure you take it) and a pile of food. You can't move the food. Just get the Jelly back to the Neidar Kind and he'll make sure that food gets to your refugees. Beginning Hex - You begin the game in hex 1-12. You can't go north, because that would be back into Pax Tharkas! The Draconian Army - The draconian army has no specific location: they can hit you just about anywhere on the map. The draconians will break out of Pax Tharkas and follow you along the road you first took when you started the game. From there, they'll fan out in search of your tracks. They break out of Pax Tharkas 48 hours after you start the game. The best strategy to use when you see the message "The draconians are upon you!" is to flee, and keep running. Use Party Move to get off the map as quickly as possible. Because the draconians rarely achieve surprise on you, they will usually wait a few seconds before casting a volley of magic missiles on you. This is your chance to get moving and keep moving. You might be tempted to "duke it out". Don't. Each squad of draconians you meet is only a fraction of the number of draconians in your hex, and defeating one group will use most of your spells, leaving you vulnerable to the next attack. Just keep running, and eventually they'll lose track of you, and you'll re- enter the wilderness map in the next adjacent hex. Then get out of there! Ember, the Red Dragon - Ember isn't looking for you specifically, but if he finds you he will do his best to make your day miserable. Ember moves about the map managing his army of draconians, so if you don't get in his way, he probably won't find you. If you do encounter him, beware! He uses his breath weapons and fireball spells, which means you could receive as many as four shots in a row, each doing as much as 66 points of damage! IF you're looking for trouble, cast resist fire on your party first. The Eye of Elar - The Eye of Elar (7-15) is a small tower located along the main road south. It is guarded by some rather wimpy guards. Go there in the afternoon, because when you've reached the inner staircase you'll have to wait until dusk to use the viewing device. You don't want to waste any more time than you have to, after all! The view you'll get is of the southernmost part of the map, and you'll see the location of Skullcap, the entrance to Thorbardin. Fizban - Fizban (9-2) is a strange fellow. He might be a wizard, or he might be a madman. You'll want to speak with him (use the speak icon), though, because he is the only one who can get you through the last door inside Skullcap. When you speak to him, he will throw snowballs at you. This will start your slide down the glacier with Fizban in tow. He won't involve himself in combat, but rest assured that when you'll need him he'll show up in a short cinematic sequence (see Skullcap). He is protected by invisible walls, and will simply laugh at you if you try to harm him. After you slide down the mountain you end up outside the Snow Ruins. Fork in the Road - At the fork (5-13) you will find a bow and quiver left by some previous adventuring party. Going west takes you towards the Outpost Mines, going south takes you on the main road toward the Eye of Elar. Hidden Dwarven City (See DWARFCTY.PCX for map) Encounter descriptions: The Green Dragon - The green dragon (26-10_ guards the road to the southern lands. There are two ways to get past him. You can try to defeat him in order to get the refugees past. He has a most fearsome breath weapon, however, and will be very difficult to defeat. The easier way is to put the ring of protection (which you can find in the Temple of the Lizard Men) in your backpack. So equipped, the green dragon won't attack you at all! Hidden Dwarven City - This cave (18-18) is the beginning of a medium length dungeon. Room 0 is the cave entrance, where some hobgoblins have come home to discover that giant bees have settled in and trapped their brethren further inside. If you approach the cave hex during the night, you will discover the entire band of hobgoblins, whereas if you go there during the daytime, only a guard contingent of two will be present (the rest are out on a hunt.). Room 1 contains a number of giant bees. The bees have set up a hive in this outer chamber, much to the dismay of the inhabitants further in. Room 2 is the base camp of the hobgoblin clan. Ever since the bees moved in to block the cavern behind them, the hobgoblins and sligs have been using this room as their base from which to launch attacks against the dwarves. They hope to find a way out through the dwarven caverns, but so far the dwarves have managed to hold them off. Room 3 is a cavern filled with rubble and stalagmites. In the northwest corner is the beginning of a dwarven stronghold, but first you'll have to fend off the sligs and hobgoblins which are at war with the dwarves. To get into the dwarven stronghold, you can simply walk though the stalagmite at the back the of the cave (since they don't take up the entire space they're located in, you can simply walk through them). There are two dwarven guards who will try to stop you from entering. There's no way to make them friendly. Room 4 is the first passage across the dwarven cisterns, where a huge fresh water lake was built under the hills and mountains ages ago. The dwarves consider this place to be sacred, and they will fight to keep you out. The dwarf soldiers attack you from the nooks along the walkway. Room 5 is the dwarven smithy. Out of sight inside the furnace is a sword. It is magical (+2) but you have to defeat the smith and his apprentices first. Room 6 is the Hall of Audiences. In addition to continuing west, this room contains the statue of an aged dwarven king built up out of the water. You can't reach or destroy the statue, but if you speak to it you will be told that Skullcap blocks the entrance to Thorbardin. If Flint is present and speaks to the statue, his armor class will become zero! Room 7 is the living chambers of the dwarves. Only two doors work, the open ones. The rest go to dwarven living quarters, and there is no way to open them. Room 8 is a partially-destroyed cavern. The dwarves and the hobgoblins fought bitterly in this room, which was once part of the dwarven city. The hobgoblins and sligs are afraid to fight the giant bees in room 1, so they are trying to attack the dwarves in this room, which used to be a dwarven common. Kill the dwarves hand to hand, then use your fireball spell to blast the rocks out of the way. If you do it right, you might also kill a couple of hobgoblins as well! The Hobgoblin Pirates- The hobgoblin pirates (10-19) guard a sword+3. It is a difficult battle, and will probably require considerable use of spells. The Key Ring Battle - The battle for the key ring takes place in hex 15-14. Numerous undead creatures guard the ring. You will be set upon immediately! Defeat the creatures, then put the key ring in a character's backpack. When you leave the tactical display for the wilderness mode you'll see the locations of other keys (unless you've already found them already). Don't forget to pick up the key lying on the ground here. The Marsh Sprites - You can find the marshsprites in any of three places: 20-10, 21-13, or 21-14 (the three entrances to the swamp). Once you find them, you won't find them anywhere else. But beware! There are some draconians there to fight first- you must kill the draconians to receive the sprite's message. The sprites tell you that the marsh warden has been taken by the lizard men and must be rescues (see Temple of the Lizard men later in the doc) before the refugees can pass through the swamp safely. Neidar Village - The village of the Neidar Dwarves (3-4) is one of the first places to go. It isn't a dungeon; when you go to the entrance, a menu appears. If you select "Offer to do something for them" you will be given a quest to get the Royal Jelly from the Bee Cave, and when you return it the food you found will be given automatically to the refugees. You can also find the first hint to of where Thorbardin is by selecting that option. The Ogres' Camp - The ogres (27-16) guard the red key. You've stumbled right into their camp, and they surround you. Judicious use of web spells should allow you to fight one or two ogres at a time. When you've defeated them, take the key with you. The Outpost Mines (Aghar Dwarves) (see OUTPOST.PCX for map) The Aghar dwarves (8-6) are a rag-tag group of dwarves who think they're more important than they really are. Still their mines are one of the largest dungeons int he game, and it's quite confusing. If you've gotten lost here, the map OUTPOST.PCX should show why. It doesn't really do you much good to beat up on the Aghar (except psychologically). The idea here is to get the brass rod and leave without wasting too much time. Room OW is the west entrance which leads to hex 8-5 on the wilderness map. Avoid the trolls -- defeating them will only waste your time. Room OE is the east entrance. Room 1 is empty. Room 2 contains a number of trolls which have somehow wandered into the mines and become lost. Room 3 contains a dwarf who has been sent there to work a new vein of ore, but he would much rather follow you around. Room 4 contains the Aghar Royal Ante-Chamber. A dwarf will approach to determine who you are, and invite you to speak to the king through the south door. Approaching the door will allow you to perform a number of options. Although these options resemble the Neidar King's options, they could result in different information being given. Room 5 is the east exit, and contains an abandoned quiver of arrows. Room 6 is a trap. As you enter, you'll see a dwarf leaving through the east exit. If you follow him, you'll end up in room 7. Room 7 is a BAD place to be. You will found yourself surrounded by various species of draconians! Apparently some of the aghar are not as nice as they seem. It if very likely that you will lose one of your party at first, unless you have very quick reflexes. Room 8 is the second room in from the east exit. Room 9 contains a storehouse of food, which is guarded by three knight haunts. It is a fierce battle which you needn't fight. The food isn't fit for the refugees, as you'll find out when you inspect the room. The closed doors can't be opened, but they smell just as bad as the food in the room. Room 10 contains a number of aghar dwarves who don't like your presence. They'll attack you right away. Room 11 contains the statue of a dragon and a number of dwarves. They are the servants of the Aghar Priest, and they're upset that you have disturbed their worship. At the dragon's feet is a brass rod, which you will use later inside Skullcap. Room 12 is a dead end. Secret Tower - The Secret Tower (2-8) is hidden by a secret door. Cast detect invisible to open the door. From the tower you can see further than you could normally. There is no other benefit from using the tower, however. The Shipwreck - Near the coast (9-19) lies a treasure chest, half buried. When you try to examine it, you will set off a trap. If you use the detect traps spell, you won't take any damage from the trap. In either case eight skeletons will materialize and attack you. These are the ghosts of the pirates who never got to use the treasure: a mage scroll of a fireball spell, a silver key, a quiver of arrows, and a Healing Potion. You'll need the key later in Skullcap. Of course, only a mage can use the fireball scroll. Place it on his portrait to prepare the spell. Once prepared, it must be the next spell you cast, but that's okay, because if you haven't found the hobgoblins in hex 10-19 yet, that's a good place to use it. Skullcap (See SKULLCAP.PCX for Map) Skullcap (located somewhere along the bottom of the map -- it's different each game, but always in row 33) is the final dungeon to conquer. Entering Skullcap is not as easy as it sounds. You can only enter the dungeon at 8:00 pm, when the sun illuminates the doorway. Detect invisible and detect magic spells won't work to open this door. Skullcap is a series of rooms, each with it's own unique problems: Room 0 is the outside entrance to the final dungeon. If you detect magic, you will see the door's location, but you can't get in until 8:00 PM. The hex this screen appears in is a safe haven, so if you get the refugees here they'll be safe while you explore the dungeon. Room 1 contains the machinery of the huge jaw gates. Two wights have found a home in the swampy north corner of the room. Room 2 is a tribute to the state of disrepair the castle is in. Spiders have taken over this entrance. The room contains a treasure chest. It's trapped, of course. Opening it yields a healing potion and a magical sword. Room 3 is occupied by five ghosts, and contains a statue of a dragon just like the o ne in the Outpost Mines. If you use the brass rod you got in the Outpost Mines, the dragon will animate and inform you that it will kill Ember. This will slow down the draconain army, allowing more refugees to remain alive when you complete the quest. Behind the dragon's statue is the entrance to room 3a. Room 3a is a secret room accessible if you animate the dragon in Room 3. (there is a longer route you can follow as well, backtracking from room 5). After you defeat the death knights and skeletons, there, you'll find on e f the five vital keys (the brown key) and a set of bracers of defense. There is a door in the west wall of this room which leads to room 5. Room 4 is a maze which is inhabited by ghosts and zombies. A quiver of arrows lies on the floor near the west wall. The best way through this room is to avoid the ghosts. Try to lure the zombies into positions which block the ghosts' movement, then have your cleric turn them. With a little planning and some luck, you won't have to fight more than one or two creatures in this room. Room 5 is the first crystal maze. The maze will reveal itself if you use detect invisible. Wandering about the maze are a number of zombies, which can be readily dispatched by a cleric's turn undead ability. The cleric should, therefore, lead the way through the room. Room 6 is the first parapet, which is guarded by two golems. Room 7 is the second parapet, also guarded by two golems. Room 8 is the second of the crystal mazes. It is guarded by spectres, and is quite confusing if you don't cast detect invisible to reveal the pattern. Spectres are rarely turned by the clerics you have available to you, so wise use of your spells is necessary to clear this room of monsters. Room 9 features a battle with two three-headed hydrae. A well placed fireball spell or two can usually bring the beasts' hit points down to a reasonable level, then your fighters should be able to kill them. There's a door int he west wall leading to room 5. Room 10 is the beginning of the gates. After you negotiate the crystal maze (detect invisible) you'll need two keys to pass. If you don't have the white and yellow keys, a rune will explode and the weapons you are carrying in your hands will crumble into dust! If you don't have the proper keys, swap weapons before going through the door so that your best weapons are in your backpack. That way the lesser weapons you have in your hands will turn to dust, and you can re-equip your good weapons in the next room. Room 11 is the second gate. The zombies will approach you one at a time. Have the cleric turn them to avoid wasting you spells. At the door, if you don't have the red and green keys, a rune will cause your whole party to be reduced to 1 hit point each. There's no way to prevent this except to have the keys. You can, however, make the going a bit easier. Have one of your characters go through alone first. Before regrouping or following, heal everyone in your party using the Options - Heal menu. Then regroup to get to the next room. Room 12 contains the third gate. The two ghosts and the spectre are tough foes, so heed the advice given in room 11. After the battle, remember to heal your party back to full hit points. At this gate, the brown key prevents you from forgetting all your spells and losing your magic items. In addition to the key, you'll have to have Fizban with you. Only he can open the door (the brown key preserves your spells, fizban's key opens the door). If you met Fizban earlier, he will appear here in a short cinematic sequence, allowing you to access the last room. If not you'll be told that he has the last key, and you'll have to go out and find him. This means you'll probably lose the game, because the draconians will be all over you by the time you get back to the beginning of Skullcap. Before you go through this door, however, be sure to cast the resist fire spell on everyone in your party, because the lich will fireball you moments after you enter his room. Room 13 contains the lich Fistandantilus and an assortment of undead creatures . He will immediately "soften you up" with a fireball, so you'd be wise to have the resist fire spell cast on everyone. There are a number of ways to combat the lich and his minions. Here is where using the keyboard commands makes things go easier for you. Use the F# key and the S key to select your cleric to cast a hold person spell, and anticipate the lich's movement when targeting a square. It will only work for a second or two, if at all. Then hit F5 to put your fighters into motion. Now use F# and S to have your mage cast a fireball spell at the lich. An alternate approach is to cast a hurried fireball at the lich while moving your party out of the path of his fireball. Set up your party so that your fighters are in the back rank -- that way, they'll be able to fight the knight haunts, leaving the magic user and cleric free to escape the incoming fireball. After that wind your way around the maze and find a good way to close in on the lich before he can cast another fireball at you where it can do you damage. If you can engage him in hand to hand combat, you should be able to cast spells at him without risking fireballs in return. Once you have defeated everything in this room, go through the east door to finish the game. Snow Ruins - The Snow Ruins (15-6) are the remnants of a house in the mountains. The inhabitants froze to death inside, locked in by an avalanche many years past. They now haunt the house in the form of four spectres. You find nothing else of interest there. Spider Cave - This small cavern (2-11) is just off the main road in the north, and is included as an introduction to combat. The spiders are easy to kill and provide no treasure. Temple of the Lizard Men (see LIZARD.PCX for Map) You have stumbled upon the altar of the Lizard Men (22-7). The priest and his adepts don't like you disturbing their place of sacrifice, and they will try to kill you. The altar is located at the base of a cliff, and there is an opening into the underground chambers. Room 0 is the above ground alter you begin at. Room 1 is the first subterranean chamber. There are a couple guards to slow you down here, but not much else. Room 2 is the first test. Use your fireball spell to break down the plants and rocks which bar your path. You'll find a treasure chest in the center of the room which yields its treasure to you after a trap is set off or averted (it contains a bow, quiver, and the ring of protection). Only the pointed gray rocks with moss on the edges will be destroyed by your fireballs, and the plants with the big leaves don't require blasting, but they do block your vision. The ring of protection should be placed in your backpack unless you have already killed the green dragon. Room 3 is the Jarak Sinn barracks. When you enter here you'll discover that you've disturbed a host of lizard men in their quarters. They'll attack you from behind the walls, so the best thing to do is run back out as quickly as possible. Room 4 contains a path to the east door, and a cave opening to the north. You'll have to cross the river at the northeast end to get to the cave opening. There are two groups of three lizard men each in here. Room 5, the sergeants barracks, is guarded by two golems and a number of surprised lizard men. It is worth fighting your way thought, however, because there is a door located on the north wall leading to room 9. You can use it to avoid rooms 6, 7 and 8. Room 6 contains two hydrae and an invisible maze in the swamp. Fortunately, the beasts can't both reach you at the same time: the invisible wall blocks the first one for a few squares, and the plants in the back of the room keep the other at bay. You'll have to use that fireball spell to cut through the underbrush to get to the door, and this will loose the second hydra. Make sure the first one is dead before you let the second one loose! Room 7 is the hall of remembrance, and the spectres coming out of the statues aren't likely to let you forget. Room 8 is overgrown with plants and scrub. On the path you meet three trolls returning from moving a rock (which you'll encounter in room 9). They're in a bad mood, as trolls usually are. There is no reason to explore the rest of the room. Room 9 is divided by a river. The rock in the middle was just rolled into place by the trolls you met in room 8. On the right bank are four Aurak draconians, but of course they're invisible. If you're not paying attention to the monster hit point bars at the bottom of the screen, this room actually looks easy. When you blast the rock out of the way, however, you'll allow the auraks to attack you. Cast the fireball spell just to the south of the rock, and you'll hit one of the Auraks, kill most of them, and destroy the rock! Room 10 has a lot of options: you can follow the maze as you like, or you can blow new openings with your fireball spell. Be careful! In addition to the foes you can see, there are two more invisible Auraks in here. One is most likely to be encountered by the door opposite where you came in. Cast a detect invisible spell before they surprise you. Room 11 is the final chamber of the Jarak Sinn. In here, a group of lizard men are torturing the Marsh Warden. Two of the Jarak Sinnn are priests, as evidenced by their greatly exaggerated hit points. They don't cast spells, however. Their gods are false gods, and they don't get clerical spells. If you kill them, the Marsh Warden will reward you with a scroll which shows you the way through the swamp so that your refugees don't get lost and bogged down. You will also be taken automatically back to the beginning of the dungeon -- above ground, where the altar is. Troll Cave - Inside the troll cave (21-4) you'll find a troll who has found a treasure chest and is trying to find a way to open it. Once you dispatch him, and either spring the trap or disarm it, you'll find the green key (see Skullcap) and a magical sword. Handling the Refugees The refugees are represented by one or more identical icons -- at the beginning of the game you are located in the same hex as they are, so you can't see their icon. You can reveal them by ordering the heroes to move one hex. Each refugee icon represents a number of refugees travelling together. AT the beginning of the game they are all together, but they can divide into smaller groups if they aren't looked after carefully. Refugee Status Check the status of a refugee group before giving them orders to move. You can do this anytime during the game, as long as the heroes occupy the same hex as the group of refugees you're giving orders to. Click on the refugees heading on the Menu Bar, and select Status. This tells you how many refugees are in that group, how much food they have, how many wagons, and who their leader is (if they haven't moved away from the main group). Ordering Them to Move If they have no food, they will almost never follow your orders. The main task facing you is to find food. Locate a cache of food somewhere, then get back to the refugees and order them to move it. Food is the one factor which weighs more heavily then all the rest on their decision to continue. Interaction with the Refugee Council Read carefully the explanations of the refugee leaders and how they interact. Always check which leader you are addressing before you decide how to approach him: - Elistan, the cleric, is a logical man of even temperament, who admires Goldmoon enormously, and with whom Laurana also has a close friendship. He responds best if you plead for loyalty or convince him with logic. He disdains threats or violence. - Briar, a Plainsman like Riverwind and Goldmoon, is a man of plain talk and simple motivation who has fallen under the influence of Locar. You can achieve the best results with Briar if you use logical argument or violence, but this is a risky tactic, because it could also yield the exact opposite result. The safest way to approach Briar is to plead for loyalty. - Locar is himself the third leader, a former priest of the false religion of the Seekers, who works actively against Elistan. Locar will most often do as he is told when threatened. Violence may also work, whereas, logic and pleas for loyalty are seldom effective. - Eben Shatterstone is a friendly and approachable man who played an important part in the escape from Pax Tharkas. His moods are like the wind, and there is no sure way to convince him to follow you. - Brookland is the leader of the Woodfolk, a friend to the Elves, and a solid leader of his people who cannot be pushed into a decision. He responds well to those who can humble themselves and still retain leadership status, so begging is the best way to sway him to action. Violence is a sure way to alienate him. Food The refugees need food. After years of slavery, they don't just want to taken out into the wilderness to starve, and they'll become very contrary if you do. Therefore, you must find them food. You can find food in a number of places, and it is important that you lead the refugees from food supply to food supply. Each cache can supply 800 refugees for two to four days, so you have to keep them moving or they'll begin to starve. More specifically, each refugee eats one unit of food each day, at 8:00 PM. By dividing the total supply of food they have by the number of refugees, you can determine how many days they can go without getting hungry. Locations of Food Caches Amount Present =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The forest at 3-4 4250 units* The Outpost Mines (8-6) 2400 units The Safe Haven at 12-6 4250 units* The Safe Haven at 14-6 4250 units* The Mountain Cache at 30-7 2000 units * = Only available from one of those locations, after that, no food... Taking the refugees through woods slows them down, but up north that's also where most of the food is. Don't lead them through the woods without knowing where you want them to go. Find the food first, then lead them into the woods. The path by which you can lead them can vary, so pick the best order to keep them comfortably supplied with food, and remember your timetable. Food is also the single most important factor in dealing with the refugee council. If you have found food, go back to the refugees and order them to move to the food, there is no chance of them disobeying you, even if you pick and undesirable manner to approach them (threatening Elista, for instance). They need food, so even if your approach is inappropriate they'll obey until they get the food. Safe Havens Places with food and the hex containing the Skullcap entrance are safe havens: locations where the draconians will not attack the refugees. While at first they might seem like good places to leave the refugees indefinitely, if you leave them for too long the refugees will start wandering around trying to find you again. To make matters worse, the draconians will eventually trail the refugees to the haven, and wait nearby ready to pounce as soon as the refugees begin moving again. As a temporary shelter however, they are quite effective. Character Weapons: Notes and Restrictions Some characters, because of their special abilities or preferred fighting styles, will refuse to swap weapons. Only the characters which are restricted in their weapon use are listed here. All other characters can use any other weapon used in the game. - Tanis - Tanis begins the game with Wyrmslayer, a magical longsword. It is a sword+3, and has added damage and a higher chance to hit when fighting dragons and their ilk. He will trade it if you want him to, and if you are going through Skullcap without the proper keys, you should heed the advice about swapping it for a lesser weapon before going through the gate. - Raistlin - As a mage, he is not allowed to wear armor or use swords. He carries with him the Staff of Magius, which gives him an improved armor class (-3). It also offers him +2 to hit, which is quite respectable for a wooden staff. - Flint Fireforge - Flint uses hand axes, a favored weapon of the dwarves. Axes are heavier, which causes sufficient damage, and they're shorter, making them less unwieldy for shorter races. Flint disdains swords, and won't swap weapons. - Tasselhoff Burrfoot - Tass's hoopack is a specialty of the Kender race, and he can use it for melee or ranged attacks. Therefore he has no reason to swap the weapon for any other. - Sturm Brightblade - Contrary to the picture shown in the manual, Sturm is no longer carrying a shield and longsword. Somewhere since the artist drew that portrait, Sturm picked up a two handed sword and has grown accustomed to its heft. Therefore, he has no hands free for bows or shields. - Goldmoon and Elistan - Neither of the clerics are allowed to use sharp-edged weapons, and that includes bows and arrows. They carry staves in case they ar required to enter into melee. Monsters : How to Deal With Them Draconians - Dealing with the draconian armies is simple: run, and keep running. Since one hex actually contains a number of tactical displays, entering a hex with a draconian icon will result in multiple successive encounters, with no chance to memorize spells inbetween. Thus, while you might win the first battle, the next two or three are bound to take their toll on your party. Keep running, and eventually you'll outrun them. If encountered in small numbers, draconians can be handled with some degree of difficulty. In general, charm spell won't work against them, and hold person and web have varying effects. Aurak - The Aurak are spellcasters, but the only spell that they cast is invisibility on themselves. Once in melee, you will see their spell fizzle off and on, giving away their positions. They cannot be charmed or held, so only web is effective against them. They are eight hit dice monsters, so they are very difficult to defeat. Baaz - Baaz are run of the mill draconians, and they are pretty easy to defeat. They have only two hit dice, but their magic resistance gives them some protection from spells. Bozak - Because of their spellcasting abilities, the Bozak are tough to handle. They throw magic missiles, and each Bozak has three spells. IN a group they will cast a volley of magic missiles to soften you up before they can get you into melee grange. They are 4 hit dice monsters, so they are relatively easy to defeat hand to hand. Outrunning the Bozak may be difficult, because when they cast magic missile at you, your characters will enter auto combat and want to fight. Just keep using Party Move to get them off the map. Kapak - The Kapak are 3 hit dice creatures and they're also magic resistant. Sivak - The Sivak are the most difficult draconians to melee, with 8 hit dice. Their armor gives them an armor class of 0. But the main danger is the 13 dice of damage they do with their magical l weapons! Combined with Aurak, these creatures are a deadly adversary! Web spells work better than hold person spells against the Sivak. Dragons - The only red dragon in Shadow Sorcerer is Ember. You'll notice him moving around in the wilderness managing his army of draconians. Ember is never surprised, so dealing with him is difficult at best. The best way to handle Ember is to stay out of his way until you have freed the brass dragon, which will kill Ember for you. Ember has three breath weapons and two fireball spells each day, and since he can do as much as 66 points of damage, most parties won't survive the second attack. Of course, hold person, charm, an web spells are ineffective. Fireball spells won't hurt Ember, but will hurt the Green dragon. A prayer spell combined with heavy assault by three fighters with heavy hit points and resist fire spell cast on them is about the only way to actually kill Ember. It's much easier to just free the bronze dragon. It can be freed from its prison in Skullcap by the brass rod, which must be stolen from the Aghar dwarves in the Outpost Mines. Bronze dragons are of good alignment. The green dragon guards the road through the marsh. This will be a difficult battle, but a few well-placed fireballs should do it in. Its breath weapon is a cloud of chlorine gas which burns a noticeable pattern into the grass and stones and causes frightful damage. This fight can be safely avoided if you carry (not wear) the ring of protection. After you pass the dragon's hex, you can put the ring on and receive the benefit of a better armor class. Dwarves - Compared to the fiends of the wilderness, dwarves pose no difficulties. The Neidar will help you, and even the treacherous Aghar will speak to you unless you enter their temple (in the Outpost Mines) or refuse to talk to their kind,the Highbulp. The dwarves in the Hidden City are xenophobic, and are always hostile to you. They don't cast spells, however, and they don't have very many hit points. In numbers they can wear you down, and beware of the trap in the Outpost Mines. Charm, hold, and web spells are quite effective against dwarves. Giant Wasps - Except in numbers, the bees are little more than a nuisance, and are only found in specific caves. A web spell will keep them held until you're ready to deliver a coup de grace. Hobgoblins - Hobgoblins are a minor menace, and can hurt you only in numbers. In the battle near the coast, they surround you suddenly, which can make things tense. Charm is quite effective against them. Lizard Men - Lizard Men, also known as Jarak Sinn, aren't exceptionally large, but they are very strong and can do quite a bit of damage each time they hit. Keep your spellcasters protected and use hold person spells liberally. They only appear in swamps or along rivers. Ogres - Another nuisance, but when they surprise you at their camp they can be deadly. Since they're larger than man size, charm and hold person spells are ineffective. Sligs - Sligs are distant relatives of hobgoblins, and that means they do more damage when they hit, and have the same immunity to charm and hold person spells. Spiders - Giant spiders are a nuisance, but only pose a threat in numbers. You shouldn't need to cast too many spells to help in the battle, provided you have two fighters up front. Need we remind you that web spells won't do much good here? Trolls - Trolls are difficult to kill, even with magical weapons. The best way to handle them is to engage them in melee until their hit points are virtually zero, then use magic missile (or fireball, if you're extravagant) to finish them off. Otherwise, they'll regenerate so quickly that they'll be virtually impossible to kill. Because of their strength, they can break out of webs quite quickly, and hold person is only marginally more effective. If you encounter a large group of trolls as a random encounter, run. It's not worth the fight. Undead Charm has no effect on the undead. Death Knights - The strength of the evil in these creatures means they can't even be turned, even by the seventh level cleric you have available. Sorry. Web spells are quite useful to entangle their haunted armor. Ghosts - Seventh level clerics can't turn ghosts, but because the spirit of the ghost associates itself so strongly with the corporeal world, hold person spells will affect them for a few seconds. Web spells are useless. Ghouls - Ghouls may be turned, but not dispelled. When turned, they will simply freeze in place. It won't take long for one of your characters to destroy them from there. Hold person has limited effect, but web is a good idea. Lich - Fistanantilus is the only lich in the game, and he's enough. See Skullcap room 13 for ideas of how to kill him. Knight Haunts - These fearsome creatures cannot be turned or dispelled, and hold person has no effect. Use the web spell to immobilize the armor. Skeletons - The least dangerous of the undead, they are easily turned, and almost as easily killed. Use of spells is typically not needed, and even clerics and mages can melee against these creatures without sustaining too much damage. Wights - Wights can be turned. Hold person and web spells slow them down also. Zombies - Treat zombies just like wights. Items Everyone can carry items by placing them in their backpack. All items are measured against your maximum carrying capacity per character. Encumbrance Figures (adjusted for Armor and Weapons) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Character Max Carrying Capacity =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Tanis 50 Rasitlin 30 Caramon 100 Goldmoon 40 Sturm 50 Tass 35 Riverwind 105 Flint 60 Gilthanas 25 Laurana 25 Eben 28 Tika 45 Elistan 15 Brookland 22 Briar 35 Locar 35 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Item Encumbrance Value =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Axe 8 Bow 8 Bracers 8 Brass Rod 8 Chest 150 Key 1 Key Ring 2 Potions 4 Quiver 4 Ring 1 Royal Jelly 8 Scroll 4 Shortsword, dagger 4 Spear 8 Sword, Two-Handed 12 Sword, Longsword 8 Where to Find the Items Weapons Item Encounter/Room Hex Location =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Sword,Vorpal(invisible)...Skullcap Room 4..................33-?? Sword+3...................Hobgoblin Pirates................10-19 Sword+2...................Bee Cave Room 1..................1-2 Sword+2...................Hidden City Room 4...............18-18 Sword+2...................Troll Cave.......................21-4 Sword+1...................Skullcap Room 2..................33-?? Sword+0...................Battlefield......................7-16 Magical Items Item Encounter/Room Hex Location =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Bracers of Defense (AC2)..Battlefield......................7-16 Bracers of Defense (AC2)..Skullcap Room 3a.................33-?? Brass Rod.................Outpost Mines Room 11............8-6 Mage Scroll(fireball).....Shipwreck........................9-19 Ring of Protection........Lizard Men's Temple..............22-7 Healing Potions Item Encounter/Room Hex Location =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Cure Light Wounds........Shipwreck.........................9-19 Cure Light Wounds........Skullcap Room 2...................33-?? Cure Light Wounds........Bee Cave Room 2..................1-2 Other Items Item Encounter/Room Hex Location =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Bow......................Fork in Road......................5-13 Bow......................Battlefield.......................7-16 Bow......................Lizard Man's Temple...............22-7 Bow......................Skullcap Room 3...................33-?? Food for Refugees........See table in food section............. Key, Brown...............Skullcap Room 3a..................33-?? Key,Final................See Fizban Encounter..............9-2 Key,Green................Troll Cave........................21-4 Key,Red..................Ogres' Camp.......................27-16 Key,Silver...............Shipwreck.........................9-19 Key,Yellow...............Key Ring Battle...................15-14 Key Ring.................Key Ring Battle...................15-14 Quiver of Arrows.........Fork in Road......................5-13 Quiver of Arrows.........Lizard Men's Temple...............22-7 Quiver of Arrows.........Outpost Mines Room 5..............8-6 Quiver of Arrows.........Shipwreck.........................9-19 Royal Jelly(Honey Jar)...Bee Cave Room 3...................1-2 End..........