Arrowbridge I - Quest for the Orb FAQ ===================== CONTENTS ===================== 01. INTRODUCTION 02. CHARACTER CLASSES 03. LEVELS/EXPERIENCE 04. EQUIPMENT 05. EQUIPMENT LOCATIONS 06. MAGIC ITEMS 07. TOWNS/SITES 08. MONSTERS 09. TERRAIN 10. BANKS 11. CASTLES 12. GAMBLING 13. POTIONS/HEALING 14. INNS 15. TAVERNS 16. ATTACKING 17. SPELLS 18. ARRANGING GEAR 19. LOOKING 20. GEMS 21. ENVIRONMENT 22. ARMIES 23. CASTLE DEFENSE 24. ASSASSINS/HENCHMEN 25. DRAGON LAIRS 26. QUESTS 27. FRIGATE/SEXTANT 28. COORDINATES 29. LANDMARKS 30. OXLEY 31. WALKTHROUGH - STARTING UP 32. WALKTHROUGH - MAMMON 33. WALKTHROUGH - BELLAIL 34. WALKTHROUGH - GERYON 35. WALKTHROUGH - MOLOCH 36. WALKTHROUGH - TIAMAT 37. CREDITS ===================== INTRODUCTION ===================== Arrowbridge is a BBS door game, distributed by Red Axe Software. The game is freeware and can be played locally or through a BBS. As of this posting the game can be downloaded here: http://www.redaxe.com/abr2.htm The majority of this document was compiled from archived posts by Scott Adams on FidoNet. I have cleaned up the information and posted it for posterity's sake. I also added walkthroughs for each of the dungeons, based on my own maps. The main goal of Arrowbridge is to seek and find the Orb. The path to this goal is basically linear. Once you reach level 8, each level there after requires you to defeat a specific dungeon to advance further. The final dungeon, which you can enter at level 15, contains the orb. See the Quests section for more information. ======================= CHARACTER CLASSES ======================= There are four classes each with their own advantages and disadvantages. You should experiment with each. Perosnally I have completed the game with the Ranger, Wizard and thief in that order. I find the ranger to be the overall best class. I could not get a decent Knight made. But that doesn't mean its not possible. Class : KNIGHT Moves Per Day : standard Special Abilities - Strength - A Knight is the strongest character class. A Knight will inflict more damage per hit in combat, have a higher maximum health point count, and will be able to carry more equipment than other classes of similar level and will defend more effectively. Powerblow - A Knight will be able to use a special ability called the Powerblow once every (20-level) combat rounds. When an enemy is struck with a Powerblow, double damage will be inflicted. Army Command - A Knight will receive a 15% bonus on the strength of any army that they command. Comments: The strength advantage is nice. But I could actually do more damage at times with the ranger. The powerblow is nice but it will not allow use every time. At the highest level (16) you can only use it every 4th turn. So if your hurt and you need the powerblow it could be risky using it. The army factor is also nice but if you have a large enough army numbers don't mean much if your outnumbered. He does good damage with hand to hand combat. His range attacks aren't as effective as the others. Class : THIEF Moves Per Day : (1+level/20) times that of other classes Special Abilities - Concealment - Thieves will not be visible to other players when travelling in the wilderness unless accompanied by an army. Perception - Thieves will be able to use their acute sense of perception to detect most secret passages automatically in dungeons. Agility - Thieves can avoid projectiles with greater ease and are typically very difficult to strike. A thief can also travel far greater distances in a single day. Thieves begin combat rounds at greater distances from the enemy and will often have extra combat rounds. Backstab - The first attack of a thief will incur in excess of double the usual damage due to the backstab ability. Steal - Thieves can steal gold from castle treasuries. The amount they are capable of stealing is (level^2)*20 but if funds are insufficient or if the guards are particularly alert then they will be caught. Comments: The thief can move alot more than the other classes. This can give you a edge over some other players. The perception is a definite plus. The steal is good if you need cash in a hurry but it is dangerous. If you are caught you lose it all (the cash you stole) and get a night in jail (can play tomorrow). You should always use the formula to steal. Never go above it and you will likely not get jailed. Class : WIZARD Moves Per Day : standard Special Abilities - Magic - Wizards are masters of magic and can cast many powerful spells. A high level wizard is a very powerful adversary! The ability to heal makes a wizard difficult to defeat. Comments: The magic is very good if you are high level. At the start though you are very weak. They are no warriors so keep in mind in combat encounters. Class : RANGER Moves Per Day : standard Special Abilities - Non-offensive magic - Rangers have mastered some of the non-offensive spells to assist them in their adventures. Comments: This is the best to play if you wish a cross between a wizard, thief and warrior. It has all 3 rolled into one class. In selecting a class you should determine what goal you wish. Many players have more than one character. This is so they can experiment or help out their other characters. For example a thief can map dungeons better and give the player information for his other characters. If you wish to just kill then the knight or ranger is your selection. If you wish to have a very powerful high level character later the wizard is your choice. If you need money for your other characters, try the thief. The ranger is the best overall for multi-purpose. Don't be discouraged if you go through many characters. It will take some time to get used to it all. The wizard is weak at start but around level 10 becomes very powerful. He can raise the dead (free army) and has powerful magic for both defense and offense. ======================= LEVELS/EXPERIENCE ======================= Experience is accumulated by killing monsters that threaten thee or through army battles. Thy level will be promoted automatically when thy experience is sufficient. However, once level eight is reached, further advancement will only be granted after completion of a special mission. The following table shows the experience required for all character classes. * ---------------------------- Level Experience * ---------------------------- 1 0 2 10 3 60 4 140 5 290 6 550 7 1020 8 1860 9 3360 10 6040 11 10840 12 19440 13 34840 14 62390 15 111710 16 200000 * ---------------------------- ===================== EQUIPMENT ===================== Encumberance: This is important in the game. A character can only carry so much on his person. Each item has a weight that adds to your total equipment weight. Be careful when you buy items like potions. Too many potions can add up and give you 110% encumberance easilly (for example). This means you walk VERY slowly and it takes 2 turns instead of 1 turn per move for normal terrain. Weight Table (Order of ascension) Weapon Chart: Mass (weight) Dagger 1 Cudgel 3 Whip 4 Mace 6 Short-Sword 12 Sword 19 Morning Star 30 Battleaxe 31 Two-Handed Sword 50 Armour Cloth 4 Padded Leather 9 Hardened Leather 12 Ring mail 15 Scale mail 22 Chain mail 33 Full Plate 50 Shields Wooden 5 Small 8 Medium 13 Large 20 Dragon 36 God 43 Projectile Weapons Sling 2 Short Bow 5 Long Bow 10 Cross Bow 40 Other Items 1000 gold pieces 1 Torch 2 Healing Potion 8 Gem 1 Each class you play has a certain limit that they can carry, buy and use in combat. Knight Weapon : Two-Handed Sword Projectile : Crossbow Armour : Full Plate Shield : God Thief Weapon : Short-sword Projectile : Crossbow Armour : Ring Mail Shield : Small Wizard Weapon : Mace Projectile : Sling Armour : Hardened Leather Shield : Wooden Ranger Weapon : Two-Handed Sword Projectile : Crossbow Armour : Full Plate Shield : Dragon As you can see the Knight has no equipment limits. The thief can get almost the best sword, moderate armour, best projectile, and a lousy shield. The wizard gets only a mace as its best weapon due to its spells. The wizard is very limited as you can see since it has lousy equipment overall making him prone to die often. The ranger I belive is the best of the 4 in which he can have all but the best shield PLUS he can use offensive spells. Magical items can go beyond these limits like a Mace+2 is possible for the wizard. ===================== EQUIPMENT LOCATIONS ===================== The best equipment is found in certain cities. Item Location Cost (Gold) Two-Handed Sword: Castle of Arrowbridge 15,000 Full plate: Castle of Entruscany 15,000 Crossbow: Town of Oatshire 4,000 God Shield: Castle of Kraete 9,000 Here is some info on other special items of note: Item Location Cost (Gold) Sextant: Zentur-Dur 2,000 Frigates: Rondor/Pryton 40,000 Knights: Oxley 500/ea You will have to seek these places. Be warned they are expensive and you should get the sword, shield, crossbow, then armor in that order. In the long run this will help the best strategy. The crossbow is the most difficult of all to find. ===================== MAGIC ITEMS ===================== Arrowbridge has many magic items in the game. In order to get these items you have to be a certain level (level 5 and up typically). You also have to be approached by a 'old man'. This NPC will ask if you wish to pay for information. If you pay he will give you clues as to what magic items or quests you can go after. Because of this 'old man' you should carry at least 200-500 gold on you at all times in the high levels. The magic item you get will be dependend on your class. Sword +1 - Thief Ring Mail +1 - Thief Small +1 - Thief Mace +1 - Wizard Hardened Leather +1 - Wizard Wooden +1 - Qizard Two-Handed Sword +1 - Knight Full Plate +1 - Knight/Ranger Dragon +1 - Ranger FireSword - Ranger/Knight Ring of Fire - Every class These items will typically increase your protection or damage. ===================== TOWNS/SITES ===================== There are MANY sites in Arrowbridge as you explore. I highly recommend you map your journey through the game. The game uses a sector system. This system is based on A-H (West to East), and A-H sectors (North to South). This gives 8x8 sectors. Each sector is made up of 60 spaces across (0-59). So coordinates of various sites might read F1 H0 or A25 C4. When you explore there are two popular methods of mapping. With the info I give above you can either capture the maps or graph via graph paper. If your communications program has a capture buffer you can orgznize your mapping via this way. If you have TSRs you could also capture the game display (map) on the screen itself (not the entire screen). Then you can bind them all together. This is slightly cumbersome however that you have alot of work to gather them into a jigsaw like puzzle. Graph paper allows you to plot your points faster since the info above is known. You start your point in the center and go from there denoting trees, roads, etc. You can make your own legends. Mapping will ALSO be benefical for dungeons/graveyards. As the dungeons get more difficult they will be EXTREMELY hard to follow since you might be exploring them in a series of days. This is why you should map. Mapping however is NOT required for you to complete the game. I did no mapping myself but that is due to my memory. I can remeber the layout of where I was previously. I did make global rough maps based on where cities were in relation to each other but that was it. Here is a list of the various main sites in the game. Each area is made up of Shires. A shire can then be subdivided up into castles (the main city), cities and towns. The various shires will be harder to play as compared to some others. Here are the sites (in no particular order): Castle of Xandar, Town of Baxton, Entruscany, Town of Woodbury, Castle of Entruscany, Town of Lilton, City of Glissom, Town of Namir, Xandar Mystic, Town of Foxland, Town of Zentor-Dur, Rimwolf Inn, Castle of Arrowbridge, City of Axbury, Castle of Kraete, Castle of Antibredes, Town of Oatshire, Town of Farroe, City of Rondor, City of Pryton, Castle of Philistia, Town of Hexford, Castle of Bartainia, Bartainian Mystic, City of Braid, Mountain Pass, Hillside, Town of Cilandar, Town of Darport, Town of Oxley, and the Wizard's Tower. There might be more sites but those are the main ones. As you can see, what you start out in is the Arrowbridge Shire. This is the easiest of them all. You should stay in AB shire until you are at least level 4 or 5. The next shire you should visit is Philistia (this is to the South of AB shire). The next shires to visit in order of difficulty are: Arrowbridge Shire (Start at) Philistia Shire (South of AB) Kraete Shire (East of Philistia) Xandar Shire (West of AB shire, North of Bartainia Shire) Eastern most area of the mainland) Bartainia Shire (South of Xandar, East of Entruscany Shire, West of Philistia Shire) Antibredes Shire (OFF the mainland, south of Entruscany Shire) Entruscany Shire (Western most area of Mainland) As to what levels you should be at to explore here are my recomendation: Arrowbridge Shire - Levels 1-4 Philistia Shire - Levels 4-6 Kraete Shire - Levels 7-9 Xandar Shire - Levels 10-11 Bartainia Shire - Levels 11-13 Antibredes Shire - Level 13+ Entruscany Shire - Level 13+ This by no means means you HAVE to be that. You should experiment with the monsters to see if you can handle them. Some areas have signs which denote which areas you are entering. So you know which sites are within each shires here is a chart: Arrowbridge Shire: Castle Arrowbridge, Axbury, Baxton, Arrowbridge Graveyard, Mummon Dungeon, Arrowbridge Mystic. Philistia Shire: Castle Philistia, Philistia Graveyard, Braid, Darport, Foxland, Mountain Pass Inn, Hillside Healer, Bellal Dungeon. Kraete Shire: Kraete Castle, Cilandar, 4th Dungeon. Xandar Shire: Xandar Castle, Zentur-bur, Namir, Glissom, Lilton, Xandar Mystic, Xandar Graveyard, Xandar Dungeon. Bartainia Shire: Castle Bartainia, Hexford, Rimwolf Inn, Farroe, Bartainia Graveyard, Bartainia Mystic, Geryon Dungeon. Antibredes Shire: Antibredes Castle, Pryton, Antibredes Dungeon. Entruscany Shire: Entruscany Castle, Oatshire, Rondor, Woodbury, Entruscany Mystic, Ent. Graveyard, and Ent. Dungeon. Special: Oxley is its own shire, Wizard's tower is special and Citadel of Asmodeus is in Entruscany technically. ===================== MONSTERS ===================== There are many monsters in this game. Some are simply wimps while others are real pains. This doesn't cover all monsters just some. o Black Orc: This is a real bad monster that is more annoying than dangerous. If you are weak or damaged you should run when you encounter these. They have a tendency to be in numbers from 1-4 (they used to be in numbers from 1-12 ALWAYS). They can fire their slings and hit you in numbers. Once you get high enough however they will be wimps. o Kobald, Skeleton: These also come in numbers usually but not as tough as the orcs. Wizards be advised skeletons are undead (hint). o Goblin: These carry sometimes heavy bow weapons and do more damage than orcs occasionally. o Wolf: The thing to note about wolves are they run fast. They will, once wounded, run so be in a position you can fire several times before they leave the screen. o Cloudspider, Phase spider, Python/Giant Spider: They poison you. o Golem/Gnomes: Semi powerful with their rocks that can do moderate damage so be careful. They sometimes come on even low levels. o Death Head/curators: They are slightly high in Hit points and thus take longer to kill. During this time they may do damage to you. So if you encounter them and are hurt you might just be do better avoidng them. o Gorgon: These tend to be tough and do heavy damage. o Gargoyle: These tend to come in groups from 4-6. They do MASSIVE damage so you should be at least level 7+ to attack them and have plenty of potions. They give nice experience (45 I belive per). These tend to be in Entruscany and occasionally in Xandar. o Barbed Devil/Bearded Devil: These are slightly tougher than the gargolyes and do heavy damage. o Will-O-Wisp: If you are equiped good you should have no problem with these but they are cheap heavy experience kills. o Margoyle: These come typically one per encounter and gives about 76 experience per. o Dragons: These are tough but they can flee fast so be alert. The weakest is probably the cloud dragon which is typically in their lairs. The others have strong flame attacks and can do 40-60 damage easilly. Experiement is the best way to find out which monsters to attack and others to avoid at times. ===================== TERRAIN ===================== There are a few things you should know about terrain. Open Country - the fastest terrain to cross over. Road - this allows quick and easy travel also. You should travel the roads then occasionally explore the forests on sub trips. You should use the roads as a landmark for your exploration. Path - some forests and mountains have hidden paths. These might lead to the Wizard's cabin, a inn, a mystic healer, a graveyard or a dungeon. So not everything you see is on the road. You HAVE to explore in order to find many hidden sites and such. Forest - The forest gives you limited sight for exploration so you might wish to explore the edges first and map them. Mountains - this terrain will slow you down and takes you two of your tuens per move compared to the 1 in open country. You should keep this in mind when exploring and you are low in turns. Especially if someone is after you. Ocean - Once you are high enough for the ocean (level 8+) you will likely go sailing. You should be careful of the light blue #s. These are reefs and destroy frigates. What happens? If you have a frigate with 100k of gold you will lose ALL of it except 1k and then be adrift on a raft. You will not die but just be highly annoyed. River - this is a lighter color of blue and you will hopefully be able to tell the difference between ocean and river and reefs. Reefs are usually one or two squares in the middle of a ocean area. You should explore the rivers for your mapping as well. These will ocasionally lead you to hidden areas hidden by land (due to mountains/hills). Swamp - Swamps will not harm your ship as you will simply disembark onto it. It does however take 2 turns per move in it. Graveyard - this is a graveyard full of treasure and danger. Before you go onto the dungeons you should explore the graveyards. Be warned however they change EACH time you enter them. So no two times will they be the same. There are around 15 different dungeon types. Here is a hint-in Entruscany there is a graveyard where there is a HIDDEN wall you walk through. This is the only graveyard where a hidden wall exists. Keep this in mind graveyards do NOT (except for the above) have hidden walls so don't waste your time exploring the walls). Bridge - Some bridges will be submerged in snow or water during some weather. So keep this in mind if you plan on going across bridges. You will be stuck until it clears. Lava - This is a Red #. Don't be scared. You will not die if you walk on it. As a matter of fact to complete one quest you MUST seek a lava field. Volcano - You can only see them and not enter the purple square where it is. Island - some islands are empty while others will have sites so you should explore all you find. Dungeon - this is a tougher graveyard. The monsters and treasure is a lot higher in quantity and quality. Here you will have to kill the bad guy before you can leave. Some dungeons can give you easilly 100k in gold and treasure. The dungeons do NOT change each time you enter them. Fountain- these are occasinally found while travelling or in underground areas (dungeons). They can either heal or poison you so be careful. A rule of thumb is if you are only 1 or 2 points below your max hit points don't drink. Thouse found outside in the wilderness can give you Gems so its worth the risk! Door - some doors will be locked (the last dungeon is an example) in which case you need to find the keys (in that dungeon itself hidden). Coffin - some coffins you find in graveyards/dungones will either reward you with gold or treasure or a monster. When the monster or in the case of the dragon when awoke he will be RIGHT next to you so be careful. Treasure Chamber/Vault - this is the big find it will reward you with great amounts of booty. Armoury - The white A's will give you weapons. Some will even give you swords and two-handed swords free! Armor and minor items as well. Golden doors: These are in dungeons. If you see a yellow * it is the golden doors. Once you pass those doors the big dungeon bad guy is behind the door. Therefore you should be ready to fight and not be wounded. Secret Passage - Dungones have these. They look just like walls but if you go up to them and hit in that direction you MIGHT walk through them. If you are a thief you can see them as a BLACK wall square. The high dungeons (3rd and up) have them in quanties from 2 to 30 walls per dungeon. Thief vision can spot these pretty easy. Stairs Up/down: Dungeons again. Going up and down has no restrictions. ======================= BANKS ======================= Many players don't use the bank wisely. Banks can give you interest and increase your amounts. You should store your gold here so you don't lose it. There is a limit to what you can have so a castle vault is needed at high levels. Not every place you go to has a bank so keep this in mind. You might while taking notes record which town has potions and which have banks. This information will come in hand later when you are in desperate need. I would avoid loans. Once you begin to get loans they can add up over time. ======================= CASTLES ======================= When the game starts (reset) many of the castles are unowned. It is to your benefit to try to capture these. You will need to buy an army. At the start though no one else has an army so even 1 guard will take a castle. The benefits to a castle are: o Taxes: you can charge taxes and then buy a taxman (100 gold) and you can get taxes from anyone in that shire it meets. o Vault: store more gold (but can be stolen from by a thief). o Free Lodging o Free healing! o Cheaper assasins o A fort for your exploration (center) Even if you have one you have something the other players do not. Having more than one can lead to some GREAT army wars but the booty is nice if a person has 500k in their castle! When you win you GAIN that treasury. ALSO you get all the cities in that shire that belong to it. You get free lodging and healing there. For example if you own Arrowbridge castle you own the 2 towns in that shire! Royal Guard: you get 200 guards FREE if you own AB castle but they only stay in AB castle when YOU are there. This is due to you being the Arrowbridge king. ======================= GAMBLING ======================= In earlier versions there was a easy way to gain money. But now its harder. Gambling is risky and should only be done if your not hurting for cash. You still have a 50/50 chance of winning however. ======================= POTIONS/HEALING ======================= Paying a mystic or healer costs unless you own a castle. You should carry a few potions at all times. When you get higher up you should typically carry around 20-75. If you go into dungeons you might carry more. This is also a factor of what character class you are. ======================= INNS ======================= You can pay to sleep in the inn or risk being found in the open. If you are found a player can either kill you or take your possessions so consider this heavilly. ======================= TAVERNS ======================= The most common new player mistake is AVOIDING the taverns. You should ALWAYS visit the barkeep and get a drink. This gives you hints, coordinates to places, and other important info. When you seek the Magic weapon you HAVE to follow with this drinking. Drinking too much however will cuase you to go blind (not seeing where you go) (around 20 drinks or so). You should drink 1-5 per place to learn its secrets. Tipping does well if you pay the basic price you may not get the good hints tipping 200% sometimes gives more info. You will have to experiment on how much to tip the barkeep. The blindness does wear off after awhile. You can also hire people here to do various tasks. ALSO in one tavern a farmer can let you buy a MULE. This is very useful in that it decreases your overall weight (encumberance) by 75% or more. You REALLY need this for high level dungones so you can carry everything out with ease. The mule costs nothing to upkeep either. ======================= ATTACKING ======================= Don't forget you have directions like 1,7,9,3 to fire your weapons as well. You can fire diagonally not just the four basic directions. This helps on fleeing monsters. Many players forget this fact. ======================= SPELLS ======================= You can cast spells during combat and as normal. Some non-combat spells are protection and perception for example. Detect traps are another. These should be kept in mind when playing a wizard. Here are the various spells in the game. A chart will follow as to which class can use which spell. Tag Spell Description A Torchlight Provides illumination in the darkest of places. This takes the place of Torches (which is costly and takes up weight). Needed for underground travel. B Cure Cure thy poison. This spell may have to be cast several times to totally cure thee when thou art severely poisoned. This takes the place of potions. C Detect Traps This spell will permit thee to detect traps when opening treasure chests before they are discovered by accident. Note that there is a 20% chance of failure. D Magic The main offensive spell of the Wizard. This spell Missile is cast as a projectile and will damage thine enemy according to thy level. This spell will never miss thy target. E Turn Dead This spell will cause damage to any undead creature. Note that it is effective only once per encounter. F Strength Added strength will permit thee to inflict more damage and have a greater chance of penetrating thy enemy's defenses during melee combat. Missile combat is unaffected by this spell. G Heal Heal thy wounds. This spell may have to be cast several times in order to fully heal a seriously wounded adventurer. H Protection This will increase thine armour and shielding strength, decreasing the chance of an enemy strike against thee. I Enslave When cast on a Black Orc, the enemy will be transformed into a Rider in thy army. FREE RIDERS! J Perception This will enable the caster to have an increased perceptive ability, resulting in detection of characters in the wilderness and secret passages in the underworld. K Raise Dead When cast in a Graveyard during twilight, this necromantic spell will raise several corpses per casting and add them, as guards, to thine army. FREE ARMY making wizard very powerful. L Lightning Perhaps the most powerful of all combat spells. This spell will project a bolt of lightning causing severe damage to thine enemy. It does, however, drain thy magic points quickly. Non Tag Spell Wizard Ranger Offensive Defensive Combat Combat A Torchlight X X X X B Cure X X X X X C Detect Traps X X X X D Magic Missile X X X E Turn Dead X X X F Strength X X X X G Heal X X X X X H Protection X X I Enslave X X X X J Perception X X X X K Raise Dead X X X L Lightning X X X Tag = This is what is pressed to invoke the spell after the C action. X denotes it applies to that column. Offensive = used in combat, defenseive=used to defend yourself Combat = used during combat non combat=used during non-combat times When your ranger/wizard gains new levels you should ALWAYS view your spell list to see if you gained any new spells. ======================= ARRANGING GEAR ======================= This confuses alot of players. To arm yourself and use the equipment you buy. You have to Arrange them (outside a town). Then you can use them. If you see Hands and you have a sword it means its not arranged. ======================= LOOKING ======================= Pressing L gives info if there are other players in the area, lairs or chambers. You should use L for various areas. On some quests its required in order to find for example the Mulgash monster or the Amulets. This also spends one turn. ======================= GEMS ======================= Gems are NICE items but rare. As a result you should use them only when you need to or are lost. Once it is used it goes away (that gem). It gives you a map of the area in a larger screen than the normal play field map. ======================= ENVIRONMENT ======================= Seasons - The seasons will change as the year progresses. Weather - The weather changes hour by hour. The bridges in the and may be flooded during stormy weather and nastier monsters may appears the weather degenerates. Beware! Time - The time of day will progress as thou move through the game. The time of day depends on the number of moves thou hast made. Make haste to an Inn when twilight strikes as sleeping outdoors gives thy enemies a chance to attack thee. (excerpt from instructions file) ======================= ARMIES ======================= If the AB game you are playing is active with high level characters you will need armies in order to protect yourself and your shires (towns and castles). You can only buy army members in CERTAIN cities so keep this in mind if you need reinforcements. Armies may be purchased from any city (not towns). There are three types of men that can be purchased and the prices vary according to the number available. The equivalent strengths of the type of men are shown below: 1 Guard = 1 Guard 1 Rider = 5 Guards \ 1 Knight = 12 Guards /-Registered only Knight adventurers will automatically receive a +15% bonus on the army strength due to their ability to command armies. The benefits of a army allow protection for your castle and its treasury. A army will also follow you around anywhere you go (unless left at the castle). This allows them to protect you from other adventurers who might find you. The army even goes with you on frigates. ======================= CASTLE DEFENSE ======================= Defending a castle has these benefits: +10% when defending thy castle +10% if thou art sleeping in the castle with thy men If the KING of Arrowbridge is sleeping in a castle then his personal escort of 200 Royal Knights will be on guard and "The Royal Guard is Posted" message will be presented when thou enter the castle. Henchmen: Castles allow you to get assassins alot cheaper and send higher level assassins than what normal towns can produce. Castle Army: You should ALWAYS leave money in your castle in order to support the army in that castle. It takes 1 gold per man in your army in expenses. If you don't have enough to cover your men's expenses your army will start deserting you in groups! ======================== ASSASSINS/HENCHMEN ======================== These are men you can hire to do your dirty deeds. Once hired and given a target they will seek this person out. They will NOT stop until they are dead or the person is. This is one way to annoy and kill players. If you know you can't kill a person yourself sometimes a henchmen can do extra damage for you rather than you chase and kill him. In inter-bbs play a Level 15 henchmen is sent to a bbs for ALL the players to kill or until its killed. ======================== DRAGON LAIRS ======================== These lairs has one sleeping dragon and alot treasure. It is easy to come out with 200k in one go. But it is DANGEROUS. You could wake the dragon and you will have to fight him. If your not powerful you will likely die. The dragon has about 30 Ts (treasure chests) surrounding him. Here is a hint: Stay at least 2 Ts from the dragon at all times. The closer you get (the more greedy) the chances of waking him are greater. For example it might be: TT TTTT TTTTTT TT111TTT TT1D1TTT T111TT TTTT TT I denote how it would look. I would avoid the 1's spaces. I really suggest you only get about 10k then RUN out of there. These lairs are random and if you hit L occasionally in forests or mountains you might find them. Once you leave it will disappear. ======================== QUESTS ======================== Once you get to level 8 quests will become the mainstay of the game. You will have to complete these to go on. Before seeking out a dungeon, you will need to go to the Wizard Tower location and speak to the wizard Merxon. To find the Wizard Tower do the following: * Start at Castle Arrowbridge * Head west on the main road * Take the first south fork, taking the road through the forest * Continue south, take the bridge over the river, and eventually the road will reach an east-west fork. Head east. * You'll enter the mountains, and another fork. Head north. * Follow this road until you're on a section heading east that bends south. Go north into the mountains from the bend. Assuming you're in the right place, there will be a path through the mountains lined by impassible blocks. This leads you to the wizard tower. There are two forms of quests magical and dungeons. The magical quests are searches for magical items: o Amulet of Strength - increases your strength like the spell o Amulet of Protection - like protection spell o Magical Armor - See Magic item section o Magic Shield - See Magic Item section o Magic Weapon - See Magic Item Section o Ring of Fire - See Magic Item Section You will have to be approached by a old man to pay for information on how and where to get these items. Some like the magical armor takes THREE items to be found all over the place to complete. The dungeons are quests to complete and kill the big bad guy in them in order to get to the next level. I'll show what you have to look forward to: Duneon # Bad Guy Shire Reward estimated 1 Mammon Arrowbridge 50K gold, 5k experience 2 Bellail Philistia 100k gold, 4k experience 3 Geryon Bartainia 110k gold, 6k experience 4 Moloch Kraete 250K gold 5 Tiamat Antibredes 200k gold, 10k experience 6 Baalzebul Xandar 410k gold, 8k experience 7 Mephistopheles Entruscany 360k gold, 10k experience 8 Asmodeus Citadel! 890k gold, 20k experience Once you complete a dungeon quest you should seek Merxon for your level raise and the next mission. Merxon is the wizard you should see at the point you get 3360 experience. He will allow you to enter the Mammon dungeon. Otherwise you will get this message 'you are not worthy'. BEWARE once you enter a dungeon the doors lock. You can't leave until a) you kill the bad guy or b) die. If you die you will have to still do the dungeon to go up. I suggest you map the dungeons since they have many areas that twist and wind. There are huge mazes in some that will confuse you. Here is a hint before you logoff for the day - note the direction you were heading in a dungeon (espceially a maze). Then the next time you play you can continue. This is by far a common mistake of having players get lose and retracking themselves (wasting days). Here are some more details on the special quests: o Amulet of Strength - Generally the first quest. This one is given by the old man. You will have to basically go to the swamp area south-east of Braid and search (look - hit L or 5) for a few times till it comes up. o Amulet of Protection - Find Woodbury then go due south till you find a single open (non-forested) square. Rest until the time is Sunrise, then use the Look command until you find the amulet. o Ring of Fire (5) - This was a new quest added by the author at the last few versions. This is a battle you must complete on a lone island. You can recharge the ring when you need to in certain places. o Mule - This is in the town of Lilton. You must seek the tavern. Drink a few times till a person offers you the mule! It is nice to have since it saves you alot of encumberance %'s. o Xorn - This quest is a seek and battle quest. In this one you must first get clues from 3 cities. If you can't figure out the pattern then the final location is in Rimwolf Inn (G) But its nice to get all 3 clues. Cilandar/Darport/Foxland/Rimwolf. o Magic Weapon - This one I belive was a battle quest in which you had to battle the Mulgash monster in the swamp of Bartainia. He only comes out during stormy weather so keep this in mind. o Magic Shield - This is a battle quest as well in which you must battle and defeat a Red Dragon in the lava fields of Antibredes (the field surrounding the castle). o Magic Armor - This is the most fun and detailed quest of AB I. In this quest you must complete several parts (including a set amount of gold), and find several items including virgin hair, a ebony Twig. This one might take a few days to complete. Note: in order to reach level 16 you will have to possibly battle Zombre for this but doesn't occur always. ======================== FRIGATE/SEXTANT ======================== In order to reach certain locations you will need to sail onto the oceans or rivers in a frigate. The town of Rondor sells frigate, and is located on the west side of the main continent along a main road. You should eventually be able to find this from just wandering around. Once you have a frigate, you'll want to head to the town of Zentor-Dur and buy the sextant. This allows you to see your latitude/longitude, and thus use the coordinates listed below to find all of the special locations. To find Zentor-Dur, head to the east side of the main continent. Sail around until you are due east of the city of Arrowbridge. Now head south and take the first river entrance to the west. Sail down this river and eventually you'll come to an inlet. On the north-west side there is a mountain town. This is Zentor-Dur. ======================== COORDINATES ======================== Legend : LAT = Latitude (X Axis) coordinates LON = Longitude (Y Axis) coordinates Shire = Which shire the site belongs to/is in. Code : K = Castle T = Town C = City P = Potions here B = Bank here G = Graveyard D = Dungeon M = Mystic Healer I = Inn here S = Special Site Coordinates based on A-H West to East (left to right) Direction (each letter is a sector) with A-H North to south. Each sector is made up of 60 (0-59) spaces. Thus the map is 480x480 spaces. This list is sorted by Shire of difficulty Site LAT LON Shire Code Notes ArrowBridge C41 F5 Arrowbridge KB You start here Axbury D5 E25 Arrowbridge CB Can buy initial armies here Baxton B56 E21 Arrowbridge TP Important for new players Arrowbridge E6 D48 Arrowbridge G 500 exp, 1-2K gold per trip Arrowbridge D15 E42 Arrowbridge M Heals players Mummon Dungeon D32 E46 Arrowbridge D 5k exp, 50k gold reward Philistia F45 D46 Philistia K Forest Castle Phil. Graveyard F29 F17 Philistia G 2-4k Gold,1-2k Exp. per trip City of Braid E46 E30 Philistia CB Near Amulet Quest Darport G4 E30 Philistia TP Tavern can give free army! Foxland D55 D48 Philistia TP Mountain Pass F21 E54 Philistia I Hillside Healer F41 F1 Philistia M Bellail Dungeon E41 E9 Philistia D 100k gold, 4k Exp. Bartainia F23 C27 Bartainia K Cross-like Swamp E27 C46 Bartainia S Mulgash Quest Hexford E40 D13 Bartainia TP Buy Riders Rimwolf Inn E14 C40 Bartainia I Magic Weapon Quest Clue Farroe E38 B55 Bartainia TP Crossbow location Clue Bartainia E6 C20 Bartainia G Bartainia Healer E30 C25 Bartainia M Geryon Dungeon E8 C9 Bartainia D 110k gold, 6K Exp reward Kraete Castle D48 F48 Kraete K Moloch dungeon D25 F48 Kraete D 250k gold reward Cilandar F18 F40 Kraete TP Xorn Quest clue Antibredes F28 A50 Antibredes K Tiamat Dungeon F39 A14 Antibredes D 280K+ gold, 10K exp. reward Pryton F0 A43 Antibredes CPB Buy Frigates Xandar B52 D14 Xandar K Zentor-Dur D32 D36 Xandar TP Sextant located here! Namir D7 D17 Xandar TP Glissom E46 D4 Xandar CB Buy armies here Lilton C29 C42 Xandar T Mule location here (tavern) Xandar Mystic D24 C40 Xandar M Xandar Graveyard D14 C58 Xandar G Baalzebul Dung. D1 D16 Xandar D 8k exp, 410K gold reward Entruscany D38 B27 Entruscany K Full plate (15k) here Oatshire E16 B58 Entruscany TP Crossbows (4K) here Rondor E48 B4 Entruscany CPB Frigates can be bought here Woodbury C53 B59 Entruscany TP Special amulet quest near Entrus. Mystic C52 B36 Entruscany M Armor Quest here Entrus. Grave. D4 B24 Entruscany G 3,400 exp, 8k gold reward Ocean Dungeon B51 B34 Entruscany D 10K exp, 360k gold reward Oxley A24 H40 Oxley TP Knights, TWIG here Asmodeus Citadel H25 A55 Entruscany Citadel 890K gold, 20K Exp reward Wizard's Tower F1 F25 Special Tower Get Missions here Ring Quest A0 A0 Special Special Ring quest can be found here ======================== LANDMARKS ======================== If your not sure of site landmarks this might help you out. I give points (if road) directions from that site which it goes to. This by far is not the complete landmarks that are possible but are used to give a general area for locating. If you need specific information seek the Sextant! Site Landmark/Notes (If any) ArrowBridge Starting location - no need to clarify Axbury On Road can be found by going west from AB Castle then south road that forks down. Road north goes through forest from Axbury, road south leads into Philistia. Baxton NorthWest of AB castle, on road, on shore of North area of the mainland. Could go NW from AB castle quicker. AB Graveyard On road south west of AB castle end of road. AB Mystic SW on forest path from AB graveyard Mumman Dungeon 1st dungeon, 3 spaces left of AB Graveyard then DUE south - Middle of clearing in the forest Philistia Castle In forest (deep), On road - North goes to foxland, East goes to mountains/fork up to AB shire. East of here is the Krate/Philistia Mountains. Phil. Graveyard On shoreline, to find enter Phil/Krate Mountain chain, Deep in hills, on the road that goes south in Mts. City of Braid Near swamps, Port, On river, Near bridge, take road due south of Axbury to find. Town of Darport Port, Due south of Mountain pass inn almost, South of Philistia Forest but on the shorline outside the forest. Town of Foxland Near shorline, on Road - (West to Bartainia Shire South road leads Philistia Castle. Located near secret Mountain/hill pass that conects Philistia/AB shires. Go north of Foxland to find the pass and bridge! Mountain Pass Inn On road -East to philistia mts., West road to Philistia Castle/Braid road Hillside Healer In Phil/Kraete Mts. near Tower, SW of Phil. Graveyard Bellail Dungeon in mts, West of Braid, SE of Foxland, penisuala surrounded by river on 3 sides. There are two secret walls in this dungeon only. Bartainia Castle On road -West road to Entruscany shire, East road leads to Hexford. Cross-like Swamp In Deep Bartainia Forest, south east of Rimwolf inn almost. The swamp is in the middle of a open area in the forest. Position yourself in the center. Hexford Port, On road -West to Bartainia Castle, Nort to Glissom Bart. Graveyard South of glissum, In mts. Near rimwolf inn Rimwolf Inn Inn, South of glissom, In Bartainia Mts., when you reach the southern tip of the mts where they meet the forest search the mountain edge. Farroe Middle of Open country, south West of Glissom Can get to by boat or by a small mountain opening in the northern edge of the mountain chain (Bartainia). Bartainia Mystic Almost south of graveyard, in middle of forest, follow a forest path to get there in the Bartainia Forest. Geryon Dungeon In Bartainia Mts. near Rimwolf inn, follow mt. passes Kraete Castle Port, On road -South to Cilandor Moloch Dungeon Isloated, Hills, ISLAND north of Kraete Upper tip Cilandar Port, on Road -West to Phil./Krate Mts, Tower, North to Krate castle. Antibredes Castle On island, on Road, in middle of Lava Fields Road north to Pryton. Tiamat Dungeon On small island in middle of Hill/mountains west of main Antibredes island. City of Pryton Same island as Antibredes Castle, road south to Castle Xandar Castle Port, North of the contient, on road near swamps Near Lilton (Lilton to the SW), Road south leads to fork which goes east (AB Shire), south (Bartainia Shire) Zentor-Dur In hills, isolated, frigate to get there, BRAID river Go NW of Braid, this is near the bridge you cross over near the secret mountain passage near foxland! Namir South of Xandor Dungeon on island in Xandarian River Glissom On road - East road-AB/Xandor shires, West road- Entruscany shire, South-Philistia/Bartainia shire. Lilton Port, open country SW of Xandor Castle. Follow the coastline from Xandar Castle can't miss it. On the western most edge of the mainland. Xandor Mystic On road SE of Lilton, South-west(sorta) of Xandar Castle near Xandar graveyard. Xandar Graveyard In swamp north of Glissom, near road at Xandar mystic Xandar Dungeon On island in Xandarian River. Search the river good. Entruscany Castle Middle of Entruscany Forest, on road - South to Rondor East road leads to Bartainia Shire (Glissom), North of Castle (sorta) is Woodbury. Oatshire Isolated, South of Entruscany Mts. near river, in open land area Rondor Port, On road - 2 way (East from Bartainia shire - North road leads to Entruscany Castle. South of Rondor are the Antibredes island chain. Woodbury In DEEP forest, North of Entruscany castle, DUE East of either Entruscany Mystic or Graveyard (Evil grin) Entruscany Grav. Open country, North west of castle/forest Entrus. Mystic Near Graveyard, North West of castle/Forest Ocean Dungeon Dungeon surrouned by reef on an island. Oxley On an island surrounded by reef, one way in Citadel of Asmodeus On island surrounded by reefs in mts. and hills. Wizard's Tower Deep in philistia/Krate hill pass, Between Graveyard and cilandar locations. North of the hills. =========================== OXLEY =========================== The best armies (Knights) are found in Oxley, so you'll probably want to go there at some point. Oxley is on a island North East of the mainland and Arrobridge Shire. If you have the sextant, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding it in the open ocean using the coordinates. Otherwise, do the following. Position your boat north of Baxton Due north. Then travel due north about 92 spaces. Then go due east. Can't miss the island. You should travel about 180 spaces then slow down. Twenty more spaces to the right and you might hit a reef of the island so slow down. =========================== WALKTHROUGH - STARTING UP =========================== The first thing is selecting your class. You should determine what is your ultimate goal. Do you seek power, money, or to support your other characters? If you seek power all but the thief would be a good choice. The wizard will grow in power as he increases over level 8 or so. If you want money the thief can steal. The wizard is very weak at first but grows in power. Both the wizard and knight will probably die quickly until they get a certain point (5+). The thief will average out over time while the ranger if done well never dies early. This doesn't mean it won't happen but this is my personal experience. Once you select a class you will need to buy equipment. Don't worry you don't have that much gold at this point so don't panic. We will fix this situation in a hurry. Buy armor and a weapon. The peojectile and shield is optional at this point. However, if your the ranger a sling might be good since he specializes in projectile weapons over melee weapons. You should look around AB castle to get used to the menus and various areas. You might save 5 gold to drink in the Tavern. You should look at the rankings in the library to see what your up against. I suggest reading the instructions while your in there as well. The stores of towns and castles change what you can buy so be careful of this per town/castle. Then you should exit the castle. Hit A before you do anything to equip your new possessions. You can only equip weapons, armor, shields and projectiles. The other items like torches and such you can't equip though you can use them. You can go directly exploring the area or treasure seeking. I suggest you travel the road a few rounds to get your bearings. Here is what is in Arrowbridge for your information: * Arrowbridge Castle - crossroad of the two roads. No potions but has a bank. * Axbury City - This city is where you can buy some guards to form your army. To find this go west on the road from the castle. You should get to a point it diverts south. Take the southern road and you will come on this city on the forest edge. Can't buy potions but has a Bank. * Baxton Town - This is a vital town when you start out because here is where you can find potions. They are costly but it will be worth if you are carrying lots of gold. There is no bank here so carry cash to this town. To get to this town head West on the road from the castle and when the road goes up/north head up that road and you will find it on the shoreline. You could also go NW (almost due NW) of the castle as a shortcut. You might go get a potion or two first if you have the cash. Or buy a guard or two to get the AB castle. Once you get the castle (assuming you want it) you get FREE HEALING AND LODGING! If you seek treasure seek the Graveyard in every shire. This graveyard is small enough to not get lost in. The AB graveyard yields around 500 experience and 1-2k PER trip in. So its a quick way to gain in both areas. I suggest you go here within your first few days. To find the AB graveyard follow the road that leads south of the AB castle. You will eventually end up at a G this denotes a graveyard. Go over the G and hit L a few times until you are able to find a chamber. Once you leave you can then go and buy more items or bank your cash. If you need to heal fast and can't make it to the AB cities/towns there is a AB mystic. To find this mystic go west from the AB graveyard following the forest path then south you will find it. You will still have to pay for healing however (unless your the king). You can repeat the graveyard as many times as you wish since its not like a dungeon (once in must complete). Keep this cycle up until you are around level 4 or 5 then you might start leaving AB castle. Don't forget to keep drinking to learn of the barkeeps limited secrets and hints. I suggest once you get to this point head south to philistia shire. If you want to take the road south of Axbury this will lead you into the shire. Its a long jaunt but you will get there. Once you get 3360 experience points you will need to seek the Wizard's Tower. I won't say exactly where it is but look in the mountains between Philistia and Kraete shires. You should go there to get permission to enter the Mammon dungeon. Once you get this permission hurry up to AB shire again. If you haven't found the dungeon during your exploration I will tell you where it is. It's in a clearing in the forest below the AB graveyard. Go 3 spaces west of the Graveyard then due south can't miss it. It is in a clearing in the forest. Once you complete this dungeon you will get around 50,000 in gold and 5,000 in experience. This is a fairly simple dungeon with no secret areas. You should have around 30 torches and around 20 potions going in. Depending on if your a wizard or ranger (with the torch spell). Once you complete this dungeon you should go back to the Wizard's tower to get your Raise up to level 9 and your next mission. ====================== WALKTHROUGH - MAMMON ====================== Use the coordinates to find this dungeon. This one is pretty straight-forward. There are no secret passages, so just wander around until you find the golden door. ======================= WALKTHROUGH - BELLAIL ======================= Merxon has the courtesy to warn you that this dungeon has secret passages. At some point in the dungeon there will be a passage (3 squares wide I believe) that leads south and comes to a dead end. The middle square of the south wall is the secret passage leading to the boss. ======================= WALKTHROUGH - GERYON ======================= This dungeon can be a pain to get to. Get a boat, and head to the south side of the main continent. You'll need to find a particular river entrance along the south coast, and head up it until you reach an inlet surrounded by mountains. Use the coordinates to guide you. Once inside, you'll once again be searching for a secret passage. Here is the quickest route to reach it: * Head south in the main coordior, skipping the first passage going west. * Take the second passage going west. This jogs to the south a bit, and then leads to a door in the west wall. Go through it. * This room has a door in the south wall. Go through. * Head west and go through another door. * You'll be in a small room. Continue through the west door. * Now you've entered a long cooridor. Head south for a while until you reach the end. * Take the door to the east just before the end of the cooridor. This takes you into a small room. Continue on through the east door. * This room contains the secret passage leading to the boss. It is along the south wall. Note that there is a good amount of other treasure in this dungeon, so it might be worth doing some additional exploration. ======================= WALKTHROUGH - MOLOCH ======================= This dungeon is located on a small island, and is easily found using the coordinates. Head south-east from Arrowbridge in your frigate and you'll be there shortly. Once inside the dungeon you'll be in a large hall. Head directly south until you run into a fountain on the south wall. Move one square east of this fountain and then south into a secret passage. From here there are three paths you could take. West, east, or south. Jog one square west and take the south path. This leads you into a winding, linear maze that eventually leads to the boss. Note that you will encounter a dead end at one point, but there is a secret passage in the east wall that lets you continue on. ======================= WALKTHROUGH - TIAMAT ======================= The dungeon of Tiamat is located on a small, mountainous island not too far west of the castle Antibredes. Sail towards the coordinates and you should have no problem finding it. This dungeon is once again renowned for its secret passages according to the wizard. And he's not kidding. In this one you'll find secret passages within secret passages, which is the new trick to get you lost. You'll see what I mean shortly. In the first room of the dungeon, there are 3 secret passages along the 8 tile southern wall. Head south into the western-most passage, into a narrow hallway. Continue south until you hit the wall. Jog two tiles east. Now head south until you reach a wall. This wall is a secret passage, so go through it and continue south. After 2 tiles, you'll see a fork splitting south and east. South is a dead end, so go east and immediately turn south (your only option). Once you hit the wall going south, head west. At the next fork, go north and then continue west. As you go west, start testing the northern walls. Eventually you'll find a secret passage. This passage is 3 tiles long going north, and opens into a room to the north. You don't want to go into that room though. In the middle of the secret passage, there is actually another secret passage heading east. This is the correct path, and it takes you into another short, narrow hallway. The eastern-most tile is another secret passage. Once you're in this passage, go north into another secret passage, and north again to enter a small room. In the room, head immediately east to the corner of the room, and go south into a secret passage. Head east to the end of this small hallway. If you go east, you will again be in a 3-tile long secret passage. Instead of going through to the east, stop in the middle and head north. You'll be in a small room, and the golden doorway is at the north end. Step through to battle Tiamat, and the rights to level 13. ===================== CREDITS ===================== Thanks to Scott Adams, the Fidonet Arrowbridge Echo Moderator, who created the majority of this content.