Swords and Serpents game Faq's Presented by Acclaim Entertainment Inc. For play on the Nintendo Entertainment System 4 player Role Playing game Written by: Amen F. Sterling (a.k.a. Big Ah) Note: This document is no way endorsed nor supported by Acclaim Inc. The clues that are also written in the instruction maual are marked with a " * " in front of the statement. If any of the information is incorrect or false you may reach me at (sterlin@pi.cpmc.columbia.edu) Have fun! Goal: To slay an evil dragon and become heroes. You must venture into his lair where the only escape is confront the foul serpent himself. Your task is hard but fear not. Temples will aid you in your quest. Monks whose faith give them the power to heal have braved the dungeon to help others trapped in this hellish realm. The armory stands ready part with any supplies you need to complete your goal in hopes of being freed from this prison that is the serpents home ... for a price$. The old man. A wise old survivor whose knowledge will save your soul. And the Ruby Warrior. A fallen hero who tried and failed at slaying the beast. He bore the 7 Ruby treasures upon him when he went to battle. These the the strongest weapons and items you can find and you should seek them before the final battle. But if the Ruby Warrior failed ... can you succeed? Creating characters: There is a set of characters already to go when you begin a new game. You also have the option of creating a team of your own. The professions that your newly made characters can pick are warrior, thief, and magician. A warrior can use the best weapons and armor. His job on your team is to kill. His best quality is his Strength. A thief can use certain weapons and items that no one else can use. The thief has a special death blow that kills enemys with one blow. A good thief should have good Agility. A magician is the only profession that can use magic. Magicians can use magic to attack, heal, and solve problems that would be impossible to overcome without magic. Beware that you need at least one magician to win the game. A magician should have a high level of Intelligence because it will affect how many spell points he recieves. Characteristics: I spoke on the three characteristics when I wrote about "creating characters". They are strength, agility and intelligence. Strengh affects damage, the stronger you are the more damage you will do to the enemy. Agility is your speed in movement, a high agility will allow you to draw blood more successfully and dodge enemy onslaughts with ease. Intelligence is a skill I don't quite understand. I know a high intelligence gives you more spell points. But its combat use as defined by the instruction manual is where I lose my way. I think the manual says it helps determine WHEN you strike. So I guess high intelligence brings first strike. Experience points and levels: When you start the game your team is at level 1. You will advance in levels as a group until level 16. This is the highest level a party of adventurers can reach in the game. Even though the passwords save experience levels they do not save experience points. So if you are on level 15 with 6,399 experience points and you take a break. You will begin the saved game at level 15 with 0 experience points. As you gain experience points your attributes, health and spell points will increase. Level 1 = 0 Level 2 = 100 Level 3 = 200 Level 4 = 400 Level 5 = 800 Level 6 = 1,600 Level 7 = 3,200 Level 8 thru 16 = 6,400 experience points When you gain a level your experience points return to 0. Notes on controls: The unique thing about the control of the game is that you can attack the enemy in the head, body, or legs. This is accomplished by pressing: Head = Up+A Body = Left/Right+A, or just "A" Legs = Down+A The instructions say the blow to the head is the most damage but each monster is different so experiment. Environment/Making maps: When you play the game you see 2 screens. The left screen is the dungeon as your adventurers see it and the right screen is the automap. The automap shows your position in a dungeon. It is temporary so it does not save. It can only show 2 levels at a time. If you go from level 1 to 2 to 3 when you step on 3 the 1st level will delete. And it does not show places like the armory, the temples and the magic fountains. You should make your own map with square graph paper. The instruction manual contains room for all your maps and a key to help you make symbols. Instructions on directions: When I started writing I used terms like "Upper right", "Upper left", "Lower right", "Lower left" to describe locations where to search. This is real inefficient and I want to correct the matter. Using North = N, South = S, East = E, West = W alone or in combination, Northeast = NE, Northwest = NW, Southeast = SE, Southwest = SW. I will look through this and make corrections but if I miss anything use this chart: Upper right = NE Up = North Upper left = NW Down = South Lower Right = SE Right = East Lower left = SW Left = West (This is assuming that North is the top of your drawn map because it is the top of the TV screen. East representing right and left representing West. South is down.) Save data by password: The draw back of this game is that each factor of the game has a seperate password. (1 for each character and finallly a game password totaling 5.) The advantage of a system like this is that you can mix different passwords from other games to customize any team you want. Quick transportation: A quick way back to a previous level is by using a zoom tube. A zoom tube is a teleporter that opens when you walk into it. Strange messages appear before it activates before it activates. A teleporter is a spot that you walk into and go to a different place. Their is no warning for a teleporter and you can wind up anywhere. Mark them on your map. Weapons: In the dungeon their are weapons that are hidden throughout the dungeon. A weapon's power is determined by two attributes, efficiency and damage. The efficiency rating of the weapon determines speed and accuracy. The range is from 6 to 21, 21 being the highest. The damage class determines how much damage you do to your enemy. The range is from 4 to 16 with 16 being the most damage a weapon can do. A warrior can use almost any weapon you come across. The thief will use some of the same weapons that a warrior uses but has some unique weapons that no one can use except for the thief. The magician can use only the lightest of weapons magic wands and staves. Armor and Armor Class: Armor is judged on a system called "Armor Class". Armor class is measured by a rating system of 1 to 6, 6 being the most powerful defensive item. Your party's "AC" or armor class is determined by all the armor you are wearing. In this adventure you have various types of armor. Helmets, shields, body suits, magic rings of protection and cloaks. A warrior is best suited to helmets, shields, and body armor. Thiefs can use the lighter helmets, shields and body armors but not the heavy stuff. Magicians can use the lightest armor, helmets, magic rings and cloaks. Item locations: Here are some weapons and items that I have found in my journeys. +1 sword and Ruby glasses at level 2. Horseshoe, Gold Key and Mirror shield at level 3. Glow cloak and 400 gold pieces at level 5. Brass key, Ruby shield and Ruby ring in level 6. Ruby helmet, mithril chain armor, 500 gold pieces and Ruby crown. 200 gold pieces in level nine Ruby sword is at level 11. Magic spells: This is a list of the magic spells and their locations Heal: is the first spell you start out with. It restores 6 points of energy to one character. Uses 1 magic point. Flash Fire: is the first offensive spell you have at the start of the game. Releases lightning on the enemy. Uses 1 magic point. Sting: is the first magical spell that you find in the dungeon. It is a stronger version of "Flash fire". It attacks one enemy and requires 2 magic points to use. Search for it in level 1. Shield: is found in the left upper most room of the maze in level 2. Improves the teams armor class (AC) for a short time. Costs only 1 magic point to use. Deadeye: Will give you an advantage in attacking the enemy. Use on 1 character for 1 combat. Uses 1 magic point and is found in level three. Strength: will give you more power to do more damage in combat. Uses 2 magic points. For 1 adventurer in 1 combat. Found on level 4. Death Mist: A poison cloud that suffocates one opponent. It costs two magic points to use and is found on level 4. Passwall: is the reason why you need the magician. The spell will allow you to pass through certain walls that stop you in your quest. Passwall uses 1 point of energy and is found on level 5. Flight: is found on level 5 and can help explore areas that have been booby trapped so you won,t take damage. To cast this spell is 2 points of magic. Major heal: will recover 4-6 points of energy for the whole team. It is found in level 6. It costs 2 magic points. (For some reason their are about 5 different locations for this spell. If you can't find it in "6" try again in level 8.) Thunder: the magic you have been waiting for, it attacks 2 monsters at a time. It is found in level 6 and costs 3 magic points to cast. Stun: is found on level 7. Costs 4 magic points and attacks a maxium of 3 beasts. Viper: the poison of 1,000 snakes. Costs 3 magic points. Phalanx: Attacks 3 enemys and uses 3 magic points. Regenerate: heals one hero completely. Costs 2 magic points. Crystallize: Freezes the enemies ability to fight. Uses 5 magic points. Is located on level 15. Playing tips: These are beginner clues from the instruction manual *Your first goal should be to get better arms and armor, while increasing your experience levels. *It gets harder to go up an experience level as your characters get stronger, so you will have to go deeper into the dungeon, as the monsters on lower levels give you more experience points if you vanquish them. *If faced by too strong a foe, don't be afraid to run. Discretion is a better part of valor. *If you find yourself low on health or spell points, don't hesitate to head for a temple, before its too late. *Magician: Heal Thyself. *Once you make it to level five, you can use the shop and temple there as a base for deeper exploration. *Try to explore a level completely. By looking at the map display, you can get an idea of where secret doors and rooms may be. *If you're totally stuck and 100% sure that there's absolutely no way out, select LAST RESORT from the ATTRIBUTES/INVENTORIES menu. *The most balanced team is a warrior, thief, and two magicians. Of all the clues that are written about the dungeon the most important seem to be about "Victory". I did not finish the game at this point in time but I think that "Victory" is the lowest level of the dungeon and home of the serpent. Don't forget to come back to levels that you have traveled through when you aquire the passwall spell. If you have no gold don't worry, you can find all the weapons and items you can purchase for free in combat. Except for that "plus two sword" at the armory on the first floor. All levels are 16*16 square grids. Their are no sections you can't get to somehow. Use flight to get around traps without damage. Armories are on the first, fifth, and tenth levels. Ruby weapons and items are on levels two, six, seven, eleven and the rest you must find. Spells are in every level except for nine and sixteen. If you know where a magic fountain is you can heal your magical energy. Restore the life of the party with the magic you already have, then proceed to a magic fountain to resupply your magic. Their are weapons and items besides the Ruby artifacts hidden within the dungeon levels, seek them out. If you find a pole in the sand, play Horseshoe. Level #1 'Destiny": In level 1 their is an armory in a large room in the middle southern most section of the of the area. The Sting spell is located in the SE side of the level in a small corridor. The temple is located near the center of the level just north of the old man who says "Temples are on the first, fifth and tenth levels. Their is a room in the NW corner that you cannot enter without the passwall spell. When you recieve the "Passwall" spell and pass the through you will find a teleporter to level 6. When you see a message saying "Several men are ahead standing guard." these men guard the staircase to level 2. You should obtain at least level 2 in experience before facing them. The sting spell helps but don't forget to heal your teammates. Save your money for shields and broadswords for your warriors and thieves if you don't find these items. The staircase itself is in a small room in the NE corner of the map. An old man in the SW corner of the dungeon requests the Black Crystal. I think you seek this item on level 12. If you bring this item back to him he will activate a teleporter to send you deeper into the dungeon. Other clues: Your destiny is to slay the dragon ... you must collect the seven ruby treasures. The ways of magic are scattered throughout the maze. The Ruby sword lay in the point of the sword. When the time comes ... prepare for "Victory". Level #2 "Zoom Tube": Alright now. You have defeated the guards of the staircase and level 2 stands to be explored. This is a game that takes patience and a little time so don't get discouraged by having to return to level 1 to heal yourself. The troll monsters (green monsters that pull knives in combat) attack twice in a row. The blue bats are fast and dangerous, attacking one adventurer in your party with everthing they have to kill him. Keep your team alive with healing and look for a weakness when attacking the enemy. The NW side is a maze. Their are only 2 things that are within the labyrinth though. A "shield" spell in the highest room NW corner. On the East side of the maze in the Eastmost room is a +1 sword which raises your armor class as well as your fighting prowess. In the SE corner of the dungeon level is a room with a gold lock that you cannot get though so leave it alone for now. The stairs to level 1 is in the NE corner. Their is a small room near the stairs to the first floor that has no entrance. Return with the "Passwall spell" (Don't bother their was nothing hidden in the room anyway). Down or south of the maze is a teleporter that will take you from the left to the right side of level 2. Left of the locked room is a zoom tube that will bring you back to level 1. The stairs to level 3 are guarded by 4 trolls and are located in the SW corner of the level. Even after you start a saved game you will have to fight the 4 trolls every time you come through level 2. Try to get up to experience level 4 before going to the deeper level 3 of the dungeon. Also by fighting monsters and selling items you don't need try to save up for the +2 sword, you will need it in level 3. Other clues: Ride zoom tubes to travel up many levels at once. For "Victory" you must pass through walls. Beware hidden teleporters. Level #3 "Threshold" The 4 trolls lay dead that tried to keep you from the stairs in level 2. Now our brave warriors stand at the south east end of a long hallway going straight north. In this labyrinth you must watch out for ghosts who drain a quarter of your energy with 1 hit. The magicians are protected by a magic that will cause successful attacts to cause no damage. Attack until the enemy's energy starts to drain then add magic to the offence. The warriors, zombies and spiders are stronger now. Go North then West. An old man will tell you "Locked doors have remote triggers." The 4 triggers are the secret to completing the stage. When you go west you will come to a square room in the center of the level. On the North and South side of the room are 2 doors. Only the Southwest door is unlocked. The other doors will not open until you press these triggers. Walk through the only open door and proceed down. In this section their are 4 small rooms. The Southeast room holds the first trigger. The lowest hallway is a zoom tube back to level 1. The room Northwest of the place where you find the trigger is a room where every step is a battle. At the back of this room is a horseshoe. Now that you have hit the trigger head back to the center room. Go Northwest through the door that has unlocked And head west to the end of room. The Southwest holds the next trigger. The Northwest holds the Deadeye spell. Leave the section and head Southeast. The room is a hallway that leads to the center. Their is no door to the room here. Walk to the southend of the room and walk through it. The old man will appear and tell you to that "Ah ... that was a secret door." Walk North and the final trigger will be pressed. Leave here and head for the Northeast door and final corner. A clue read "To avoid traps in the Northwest stay near the walls." The whole area is layered with booby traps. Go North against the wall until you hit the wall. Turn East and travel until you hit a wall in the middle of the room. Turn South and move down once. Turn East and go in the room. You will hit the magic fountain which restores magic power. South of the fountain is the stairs to level 4. North of the magic fountain passed a secret door is the Gold Key. Take the Gold key back to the 2nd level and open the locked door to find the Ruby glasses. The stairs to level 2 are in the SW corner of the dungeon. Clues found: Locked doors have remote triggers. To avoid the traps in the Northwest, stay near the walls. Ah ... That was a secret door. Level #4 "Secrect square" The monsters are always a threat. But a green skinned zombie and giant serpent monsters are the most deadly. These zombies have strong protection and you should have top energy or retreat .Their is no shame in running from them if you are weak on energy and outnumbered. As the title says the secret of this puzzle is getting to the center of the maze and to do that you must solve the "Secret Square". Don't worry, it's not a cheesy game show it's the center of the level and you must solve yet another puzzle. An old man saying "The 4 locks must be opened with the mark of the "Z". is the information you need to solve half the puzzle. Their are 8 total locks in the level and a "Z" is written 1 line across the top from left to right, one line diagnolly down to the left and the final line across the bottom from left to right. So touch the NW lock first in the NW corner. Under the NW corner lock is a Strength spell. Head East of here to the NE corner to the second lock. In the lower half of the dungeon in the SW the lock is in a corner room through a secret door. The final lock is in the SE corner. West of this lock is a zoom tube to level 1. If you travel above the zoom tube you will find a Deathmist spell in the corner of a room. This area is also guarded by a secret door entrance. After the first 4 locks have been turned in that order, head the middle of the southern end of the map. You will find a hallway you can't enter. Go to the south end and pass through yet another secret door. Go North as far as you can. You will get a message that says "Never do anything right." This is telling not to take the door but the wall opposite the door (The left). You will pass through it and find a path to a door North of you. As you travel you will find a new message "Remember never do anything right." This telling you to travel around the "Secret Square" going left, not right. You will pass 4 more locks and open the final door. In the large room is a magic fountain and the stairs to level 5. Other clues: When you sence "Victory", face North. Use zoom tubes to return to safety. Some locked doors must be open. Thats what you get for doing something right. Level #5 "Haven" Monsters here are tough all around. But this is the fifth level and if you die you start on this level. An armory and temple are here for your aid. This is the first endless level you will encounter but not your last. When I say endless I mean that if you walk left you will find yourself back where you started from. The level is called "Haven" and that is the place you must seek out. It is the key to making your map. The stairs to level 4 are in the center of the level. In order to be successful in this level you need the "Passwall" spell. First work your way down until you exit through a small passage. Turn west and walk by a single room with no door. Turn North and walk until you see a door. Pass through the door and in the center of the room is the "Passwall" spell and a magic fountain. In the two rooms near the fountain lie a glow cloak and 400 gold pieces. Return to the single room and use your new power to find the "Flight" spell. "Haven hides in all directions." Another clue given by the old man. Who is that guy anyway, oh well. What this means is that Haven is the 4 corners of the level. Look for a secret wall in the corner of the level. Any corner it doen't matter but you will need to use magic to actually enter the haven. Buy the "helmets", "wizards wands" and the scale armor. Hit the temple in the SW corner of Haven. A zoom tube leads back to level 1. The room you can't get into without magic hides serpents. The room with stairs to level 6 is the SW corner of the entire 5th level. That whole center square is staircases that also should be corners on your map. Clues found: After sensing Victory walk straight ... walls must be no barrier. Seven turns and the sword will appear. Haven hides in all directions. Beware the endless corridors. Beware, zoom tube in inside. I must apologize. This is my first Faq and it would have been completed if I did not lend the RF switch to a friend to play Final Fantasy 3. (I waisted my writing time on FFVII) I will complete this this faq eventually. If you need any other assisstance e-mail me at "sterlin@pi.cpmc.columbia.edu"