Rage of Mages (PC) Walkthrough May, 2015 Version 1.1 Written by: kuniqs Email: kuniqs@interia.pl Use this subject: Rage of Mages 1 gamefaqs If you see any mistakes, or have anything that you want to add, please email me. This FAQ may be posted on any site so long as NOTHING IS CHANGED and you EMAIL ME telling me that you are posting it. You may not charge for, or in any way profit from this FAQ. Thanks to Dan for pointing out few mistakes I made in version 1.0 of this FAQ. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Table of Contents: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To navigate quickly, double click the code, press CTRL-C, then CTRL-F, CTRL-V and ENTER! 1. [AAAAA] Author's ramblings 2. [BBBBB] Difficulty setting - what does this button do? 3. [CCCCC] Choose your fighter 4. [DDDDD] Party development guide 5. [EEEEE] Warrior skills 6. [FFFFF] Mage skills 7. [GGGGG] Training cost table 8. [HHHHH] Combat analysis 9. [IIIII] Weapon shopping guide 10. [JJJJJ] Armor shopping guide 11. [KKKKK] Auxiliary equipment 12. [LLLLL] Spell guide 13. [MMMMM] Know thy enemy 14. [NNNNN] NPC Statistics 15. [OOOOO] Mission impossible 16. [PPPPP] Combat 17. [RRRRR] Frequently used hotkeys 18. [SSSSS] Tips & tricks 19. [UUUUU] Cheats ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. [AAAAA] Author's ramblings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rage of Mages (ROM for short), also known in Russia as Allods, was Nival Entertainment's first game. It's not great, but overall the game is better than just the sum of its parts. The campaign is pretty fun, with many skippable missions you can do if you're low on gold or experience. The pseudo 3D engine can be confusing at times, but not as bad as in sequel. One thing that puts ROM apart from other RPGs is an intriguing background - a land of separated islands, created by an cataclysm outside anyone's control. It reminds me much of the Earthsea books. If you think about it, it mirrors the society and economy of post-communism Russia, too. The russkies at Nival always had a knack at making games that played with convention. ROM 1 and 2 bring the RTS flavor to the genre. Evil Islands made sneaking and backstabbing a necessary tactic along with almost always being outgunned (if you can be outgunned in a fantasy world). Etherlords was the finest adaptation of M:TG on computer IMO. Although ROM is very flawed, I like it very much. It was the first game I ever played on PC and during that time it blew my mind. The biggest problem is that your success depends too much on properly equipping your PCs. Since your funds are limited, there's plenty of space for error. Enough of my sperging. This is the only in-depth walkthrough of this game as far as I know. Enjoy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. [BBBBB] Difficulty setting - what does this button do? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ EASY Standard difficulty. NORMAL Enemies have about 2x much more HP than in easy mode. HARD Enemies have about 2x much more HP than in easy mode AND they have flat bonus to attack and defense, about +50. There's no quest, quest reward, monster placement etc. difference - just tougher battles. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. [CCCCC] Choose your fighter ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DANATH gets lots of blade, some axe and little shooting training as a secondary character. He's the best choice because there's already a blade-focused adventurer recruited early in the game. NAIRA gets lots of shooting, some blade and little axe training. She's great as a character you recruit later, not so good as a PC because you'll get Fergard first when playing Naira. RENIESTA is trained in water magic. She's best recruited very early in the game (you only get to do that if you pick a male hero at the beginning) since she's trained in healing while Fergard is not. That's good since your mages will work as healers full-time in the beginning. FERGARD is the fire specialist. Not much to say. Choose Danath (the male fighter) with shooting. You'll get Reniesta as a good healer early, Naira as another shooter and Fergard with good combat training and spells. Why shooting skill? Check out the skill section. Party members you meet (first to last) Your choice Danath Reniesta Naira Fergard Naira Fergard Danath Naira Fergard Reniesta Naira Danath Reniesta Fergard Danath Naira Analysis: You always meet a mage as first non-PC party member, and always a warrior as the second. You meet new party members based on your gender, first two are always the opposite gender than yours. Warriors get mithril armor first time, adamantine armor second time. Mages get starting equipment and spells at first, elemental protection enchanted gear and high-end spells (fire for Fergard, water for Reniesta). Party members' skills, during both times you meet them: Danath 1st: 39 Blades, 23 Axes. 2nd: 66 Blades, 42 Axes, 7 Shooting. Naira 1st: 24 Blades, 38 Shooting. 2nd: 43 Blades, 8 Axes, 65 Shooting. Fergard 1st: 10 Fire. Basic spells. 2nd: 60 Fire, 40 Water, 29 Air, 16 Earth, 33 Astral. All spells except: Fire Sacrifice, Poison Cloud, Acid Stream, Prismatic Spray, Stone curse, Meteor Storm, Raise Spirit. Reniesta 1st: 10 Water. Basic spells. 2nd: 17 Fire, 59 Water, 41 Air, 17 Earth, 26 Astral. All spells except: Fire Ball, Wall of Fire, Fire Sacrifice, Prismatic Spray, Meteor Storm, Raise Spirit, Teleport. Other permanent members you will meet (order from earliest to latest): Brian: 25 Blades, 3 Axes, 1 Shooting. Rood Glaen: 70 Fire, 46 Water, 15 Air, 82 Earth, 63 Astral. All spells except: Fire Sacrifice, Poison Cloud, Protection from Air, Lightning, Prismatic Spray, Invisibility, Raise Spirit. Skrakan: All mage skills >90. All spells. There is also the spoiler: the magician you pick up first will betray you very late in the game. Reniesta makes a better choice for that, because her late training in water and air is less useful than Fergard's fire training. She also comes with a very expensive dress, which you can sell at the beginning of the game for easy 2000 gold. Her water training makes her perfect for a dedicated healer, so you won't have to spend money on her spells. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. [DDDDD] Party development guide ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pick Danath with archery. Knight development: - Dedicate one of them as a tank. Buy him the best armor available, prioritizing +absorption enchantments. - Don't buy much armour (unless it has big skill enchantment) for others. Use what you find. Don't buy them more than fully enchanted adamantine plate. - Rebrand Brian as an archer - buy enough training at first to make him Danath's equal. It will cost around 60 thousand, but it's worth it. - Buy a crossbow with stone curse enchantment for your best shot, steel ones sell for ~100k. For others buy crossbows with big raw damage enchantment. You will find a mithril crossbow with stone curse during your travels. - Buy 1 level of shooting training every mission for everyone until the costs go to hundreds of thousands. - Always prioritize shooting training. It's hard to increase in field, while training magic is easy. - Look for attack/skill/absorption enchantment on jewelry. Mage development: - Keep their starting equipment. I didn't buy a single piece of cloth for them for the whole game. - Don't use staffs too much. Use mages for healing mainly. Use stronger spells (fireball, firewall etc) when situation calls for it. - Use stone curse or prismatic spray staffs in late game. You'll find both types during your journeys - the ones in shop are just too damn expensive. - Buy fireball for Reniesta, get the firewall book for her in one of the missions. - Fergard and Rood Glaen don't need any spells except stone curse. Their starting gear is hard to beat. - Buy gear with elemental resistance or, if you're extra paranoid, gear with absorption. It's better to train earth magic and cast Shield IMO. - Buy 1 level of water magic for Reniesta. - Buy 1 level of every magic for Fergard. - Rood Glaen doesn't need training, except maybe air. - Skrakan can't be customized in town so don't bother with him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. [EEEEE] Warrior skills ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ATTACK is your accuracy. Rule of a thumb, having ~20 more attack than your enemy's defense is good enough. Attack is much more important than damage because a 15 point difference in attack/defense both ways makes a huge difference whenever your hits connect or not. The accuracy enchantments are also cheaper than damage ones. ABSORPTION is directly subtracted from damage. (That is not always true - 4th level monsters CHEAT). ~20 is a very good score, ~30 is recommended late game value. DEFENSE is your anti-accuracy. Not as useful as absorption, since your enemies always have more attack than defense you can buy. Defense, however, is more useful than absorption if you fight ogres and trolls. Those two types of monster deal so much damage absorption doesn't help much. DAMAGE is the possible damage range you deal in melee (or magic). The base damage of the weapon doesn't scale with weapon skill. WEAPON SKILL is your ability with a weapon. You get 3 points of accuracy for 1 skill point and 1 point of damage for every 5 skill points. So, 20 level in clubs gives you +60 accuracy and +4 damage. It works this way for every weapon category. SWORDS are the best melee, hands down. What matters is that they're the fastest weapons, and most accurate. So even though axes deal more damage, they are very slow and inaccurate so you will score less hits. The great thing about swords is that you can choose between two handed swords for best damage, short swords for incredible attack bonus (+50 for meteoric ones!) and long swords for the best of both worlds. No other weapon category is so versatile. Those weapons' high accuracy makes them best for killing tough, high defense monsters like trolls, ogres and turtles. AXES have this annoying gimmick of having variable attack speed depending on weapon weight. The high-grade metal axes are very slow if you're curious. The maximum damage difference you will face between axes and swords is 15 points, a drop in the bucket in the late game. Not recommended. BLUDGEON weapons are the worst, really. They are around 2x cheaper than other weapons, but there are no meteoric or crystal bludgeon weapons in the game! Avoid. PIKE weapons have pretty much the same damage rating as one handed swords, except that pikes trade attack bonus for defense bonus (+12 for meteoric halberd) and are less versatile. There are no two-handed pikes, making this weapon category perfect for a tank with a shield. SHOOTING weapons are very versatile in the battlefield, since your warriors don't have to chase enemy archers, have to rely on the horrible path finding AI in melee, and can shoot down enemy mages without hacking through their bodyguards first. Stat-wise the best crossbows still deal less damage than melee weapons (but not bludgeon weapons, duh) and act (almost) as slow as axes. Ranged weapons also have hefty accuracy bonuses - more for bows, less for crossbows. Stone curse enchanted crossbows are wonderful. Bows have less range than crossbows - 4 for short bows, 5 for long bows and 6 for crossbows. That means you can attack archer-type enemies without retaliation if you use terrain. Ranged fighters don't have to go in melee, which means one man less for your mages to keep alive. Having trained crossbowmen is also recommended if you plan on dragon hunting without the terribly expensive spells mages need for that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. [FFFFF] Mage skills ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FIRE is the best damage-dealing school. Wall of fire and fireball train fire skill easily. WATER contains healing spell, making water worth training for everyone. Poison cloud trains water fast. AIR is the least useful IMO. The light spell doesn't work, and many dangerous monsters are very resistant to air. Prismatic spray trains air quickly. EARTH has the best tactical spells. Stone wall, stone curse and meteor storm are too good to pass. Stone curse (spell, not staff) trains earth like crazy. ASTRAL is much undeveloped; 4 spells, of which maybe 2 are actually useful and only in circumstances. Teleport trains astral at acceptable speed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7. [GGGGG] Training cost table ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You pay 200 gold for increasing a 0 level skill, and the price increases by 10% every time. YOUR SKILL | PRICE FOR INCREASING | COST TO GET HERE FROM LEVEL 0 0 | 200 | 220 1 | 220 | 484 2 | 242 | 798 3 | 266 | 1 171 4 | 292 | 1 610 5 | 322 | 2 125 6 | 354 | 2 728 7 | 389 | 3 429 8 | 428 | 4 244 9 | 471 | 5 187 10 | 518 | 6 276 11 | 570 | 7 532 12 | 627 | 8 975 13 | 690 | 10 632 14 | 759 | 12 531 15 | 835 | 14 703 16 | 918 | 17 185 17 | 1 010 | 20 015 18 | 1 111 | 23 240 19 | 1 223 | 26 909 20 | 1 345 | 31 081 21 | 1 480 | 35 817 22 | 1 628 | 41 189 23 | 1 790 | 47 278 24 | 1 969 | 54 173 25 | 2 166 | 61 974 26 | 2 383 | 70 793 27 | 2 621 | 80 757 28 | 2 884 | 92 005 29 | 3 172 | 104 696 30 | 3 489 | 119 004 31 | 3 838 | 135 128 32 | 4 222 | 153 286 33 | 4 645 | 173 724 34 | 5 109 | 196 717 35 | 5 620 | 222 571 36 | 6 182 | 251 629 37 | 6 800 | 284 273 38 | 7 480 | 320 929 39 | 8 228 | 362 074 40 | 9 051 | 408 238 41 | 9 957 | 460 015 42 | 10 952 | 518 064 43 | 12 048 | 583 123 44 | 13 252 | 656 014 45 | 14 578 | 737 651 46 | 16 035 | 829 056 47 | 17 639 | 931 365 48 | 19 403 | 1 045 845 49 | 21 343 | 1 173 908 50 | 23 478 | 1 317 125 51 | 25 825 | 1 477 246 52 | 28 408 | 1 656 220 53 | 31 249 | 1 856 217 54 | 34 374 | 2 079 650 55 | 37 811 | 2 329 208 56 | 41 593 | 2 607 881 57 | 45 752 | 2 918 997 58 | 50 327 | 3 266 257 59 | 55 360 | 3 653 779 60 | 60 896 | 4 086 143 61 | 66 985 | 4 568 442 62 | 73 684 | 5 106 339 63 | 81 053 | 5 706 132 64 | 89 158 | 6 374 819 65 | 98 074 | 7 120 182 66 | 107 881 | 7 950 870 67 | 118 669 | 8 876 494 68 | 130 536 | 9 907 734 69 | 143 590 | 11 056 457 70 | 157 949 | 12 335 847 71 | 173 744 | 13 760 550 72 | 191 118 | 15 346 836 73 | 210 230 | 17 112 774 74 | 231 253 | 19 078 430 75 | 254 379 | 21 266 090 76 | 279 816 | 23 700 498 77 | 307 798 | 26 409 126 78 | 338 578 | 29 422 475 79 | 372 436 | 32 774 403 80 | 409 680 | 36 502 491 81 | 450 648 | 40 648 453 82 | 495 712 | 45 258 583 83 | 545 284 | 50 384 254 84 | 599 812 | 56 082 473 85 | 659 793 | 62 416 494 86 | 725 773 | 69 456 493 87 | 798 350 | 77 280 328 88 | 878 185 | 85 974 365 89 | 966 004 | 95 634 407 90 | 1 062 604 | 106 366 712 91 | 1 168 864 | 118 289 135 92 | 1 285 751 | 131 532 375 93 | 1 414 326 | 146 241 372 94 | 1 555 759 | 162 576 844 95 | 1 711 335 | 180 716 998 96 | 1 882 468 | 200 859 413 97 | 2 070 715 | 223 223 142 98 | 2 277 787 | 248 051 022 99 | 2 505 565 | 275 612 246 100 | 2 756 122 | 306 205 206 MAXIMUM SKILL LEVEL is 100. Nothing can boost it higher. Items that add skill levels will be capped. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8. [HHHHH] Combat analysis ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ How often will you hit a N def monster when you have M attack? I've made some tests: Batch 1) 130 def, 100 attack, 100 tries, 20 hits - 20% accuracy Batch 2) 120 def, 100 attack, 100 tries, 30 hits - 30% accuracy Batch 3) 100 def, 100 attack, 100 tries, 63 hits - 63% accuracy From my experience, a 50 point difference between attack/defense is sufficient to either make a character impervious to the attack (he will get hit eventually, though), or almost always hit by it. The differences are certainly not linear. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9. [IIIII] Weapon shopping guide ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I AM NOT listing weapon prices or statistics, as there's really not much room to compare - you just buy better weapons when you can afford it. Spears are equal in prices and damage to swords. Axes are the most expensive. Maces are very cheap but they don't make them more advanced than adamantium which is ridiculous. As a rule of a thumb, you should always choose accuracy over damage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. [JJJJJ] Armor shopping guide ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Differences in armor sets. I'm using the best (most expensive) sets for each metal. FOR THOSE IMPATIENT here's my way of buying armor - I always go for most absorption for the lowest price. In the early game, I equip my knights in the cheap bronze plate for 5 absorption. Then I move to enchanted adamantium plate with 20 absorption - the best bargain this side of Plagat. Enchanted meteorite bumps this up by another 10 points for a price that is not TOO ridiculous. Never went for crystal until the very last mission where there's really no other way to blow your load. Unless the armor piece had like +15 to weapon skill, buying crystal in this game makes about as much sense as buying crystal in real life. MATERIAL - bronze, iron, mithril etc. Defense - amount of defense you get from base piece of armor (from fully enchanted one in parentheses). Absorption - amount of absorption you get from base piece of armor (from fully enchanted one in parentheses). Cost - cost of base piece (enchanted piece). (Numbers on right of Cost column list maximum defense/absorption enchantments encountered in shop, along with cost-per-piece of the enchantment). TOTAL - full amount of base defense/absorption you get from the set (also enchanted one). Also lists full cost of set (enchanted one too). TIER DIFF - defense/absorption/cost difference from the previous set (you know what goes here?). NOTES - some of my educated guesses. Mundane sets are always compared to other mundane sets. Enchanted sets are always compared to other enchanted sets. BRONZE Defense Absorption Cost (no enchantments!) Helm 6 1 225 Cuirass 10 2 350 Bracers 4 1 150 Gauntlets 3 0 100 Leggins 6 1 200 TOTAL: 29 5 1025 Notes: 5 absorption for almost nothing. Don't leave home without one! IRON Defense Absorption Cost (no enchantments!) Helm 7 1 450 Cuirass 12 2 700 Bracers 5 1 300 Gauntlets 3 0 200 Leggins 7 1 400 TOTAL: 34 5 2050 TIER DIFF 5 0 1025 Notes: Very little difference from bronze. STEEL Defense Absorption Cost (no enchantments!) Helm 11 1 2 700 Cuirass 18 2 4 200 Bracers 8 1 1 800 Gauntlets 5 0 1 200 Leggins 11 1 2 400 TOTAL: 53 5 12 300 TIER DIFF 19 0 10 250 Notes: Not really worth replacing bronze or iron for this price. MITHRIL Defense Absorption Cost (+2 def/ws | +1 ab -- +???) Helm 17 (19) 1 (2) 14 400 (?) Cuirass 29 (31) 3 (4) 22 400 (?) Bracers 12 (14) 1 (2) 9 600 (?) Gauntlets 8 (10) 0 (1) 6 400 (?) Leggins 17 (19) 1 (2) 12 800 (?) TOTAL: 83 (93) 6 (11) 65 600 (?) TIER DIFF 30 (40) 1 (6) 53 300 (?, probably 2x more) Notes: I never bought mithril 'cause by the time I could afford a whole set, adamantine was already available. 1 point of absorption for ~50k is not worth this early in the game. Enchanted mithril cost around 2x as much, and I found +ABS pieces in shop extremely rarely for some reason. ADAMANTINE Defense Absorption Cost (+5 def/ws | +2 ab -- +41 850) Helm 27 (32) 2 (4) 72 000 (113 850) Cuirass 44 (49) 4 (6) 112 000 (153 850) Bracers 19 (24) 2 (4) 48 000 (89 850) Gauntlets 12 (17) 0 (2) 32 000 (73 850) Leggins 27 (32) 2 (4) 64 000 (105 850) TOTAL: 129 (154) 10 (20) 328 000 (537 250) TIER DIFF 46 (61) 4 (9) 274 700 (?) Notes: Big improvement over mithril. Offers cheapest enchantment cost and great cost/protection ratio, especially the absorption enchanted one. 20 ABS will serve your archers for the end game. METEORITE Defense Absorption Cost (+10 def/ws | +4 ab -- +222 892) Helm 33 (43) 2 (6) 172 800 (395 692) Cuirass 55 (65) 4 (8) 268 800 (491 692) Bracers 24 (34) 2 (6) 115 200 (338 092) Gauntlets 16 (26) 0 (4) 76 800 (299 692) Leggins 33 (43) 2 (6) 153 600 (376 492) TOTAL: 161 (211) 10 (30) 787 200 (1 901 660) TIER DIFF 32 (57) 0 (10) 459 299 (1 364 410) Notes: As you see, +ABS adamantine plate is 2x better than base meteoric one and only a little more pricey. Those +10 ABS points make a difference worth a million, though. CRYSTAL Defense Absorption Cost (+15 def/ws | +5 ab -- +999 337 | +477 621) Helm 36 (51) 2 (7) 360 000 (1 359 337 | 837 621) Cuirass 59 (74) 4 (9) 560 000 (1 559 337 | 1 037 621) Bracers 26 (41) 2 (7) 240 000 (1 239 337 | 717 621) Gauntlets 17 (32) 0 (5) 160 000 (1 159 337 | 637 621) Leggins 36 (51) 2 (7) 320 000 (1 319 337 | 797 621) TOTAL: 174 (249) 10 (35) 1 640 000 (6 636 685 | 4 028 105) TIER DIFF 13 (38) 0 (5) Notes: +13 DEF for million bux? +5 ABS for FOUR MILLION? FIVE MILLION for 25 another DEF points? What have you been SMOKING? The DEF ench. costs 2x more than +ABS for some reason. Seriously, buy an adamantine tower shield. You get defense AND absorption for a fraction of the price. The ONLY benefit I can think of is buying highly enchanted (>10) + skill gauntlets and bracers when training costs go into millions. PRO TIP: Even if you throw your wallet for that defense bonus, you are still worse off than someone in absorption focused meteorite plate. Goblins and orcs will shred you to pieces much faster, and ogres & trolls will STILL hit you more often than not. AFTERWORD. One thing I did not mention is that cheaper alternatives in the same material category (steel helm vs. steel full helm) have negligible difference in defense, but significant cost difference. Unless the character in question is a dedicated melee fighter, or you're swimming in money, buying the best possible armor is wasteful. Gauntlets and bracers are the best candidates for cheaper alternatives. ENCHANTMENT COST is constant for material, not dependent on armor type. If you don't have enough money for fully enchanted sets, then buying the cheapest pieces first (gauntlets, bracers, helm, leggins, cuirass) is of course the most optimal. MAXIMUM DEFENSE POSSIBLE is ~400 (+15 crystal plate and jewelry, +10 meteorite scale mail, meteorite halberd, adamantine tower shield). MAXIMUM ABSORPTION POSSIBLE is 60 (+5 crystal plate, +5 amulet, +5 meteorite chain mail, +2 adamantine tower shield, +5 meteoric halberd, +6 ring). (note: the +5 halberd, +6 ring and +2 shield are special items found only as mission treasure) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11. [KKKKK] Auxiliary equipment ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT has the same possible maximum enchantment like the armor, except jewelry which sometimes can be a bit better. JEWELRY, buying something cheaper than meteorite is a waste. The only exception is gold, which has enchantment potential as good as meteorite but is an order of magnitude cheaper. Crystal ring +5 ABS: 517 621 gold. Meteorite amulet +5 ABS: 501 621 gold. Meteorite chain mail +5 ABS: 518 421 gold. Meteorite scale mail +10 DEF: 357 292 gold. Crystal amulet +15 DEF: 1 079 337 gold. Crystal ring +14 DEF: 785 609 gold. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12. [LLLLL] Spell guide ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SPELL NAME (COST) FIRE: Fire arrow (null) Standard issue, everyone and their mother has one. Fireball (30 000) More damage than fire arrow, and area damage that affects flying creatures. The unique property of fireball is its crazy range, allowing you to snipe mages and archers from behind your lines. Wall of fire (40 000) One purpose - killing trolls and ogres, because as they take 4x space, they take 4x damage from fire wall. Many monsters have little to none resistance to fire, making this spell much more useful than it seems. Protection from fire (50 000) Duh. Expect around 1/2 point of protection for every skill point. It's usually more economic to buy protection from fire scroll than waste 50k gold on a subpar protection unless you're that good. Fire sacrifice (350 000) Weird duck. Your hp and mp are set to 1, and you deal fire damage 2 tiles away from you as high as your hp and mp were before casting. There are better ways to commit suicide. WATER: Healing (null) The warrior's best friend. Water magic is worth developing for this alone. Frozen cloud (10 000) Bogs down friend and foe alike. At high skill levels they move like ants in sugar. Very powerful if you focus on archers. Poison cloud (60 000) In theory, perfect for softening up bands of orcs, goblins and bandits. In practice, lots of monsters have lots of water resistance... Protection from water (50 000) +50 is the maximum protection you can get from spell alone. Acid stream (800 000) Expensive! Just like fire wall, it deals tons of damage against big monsters. Works on flying creatures, but dragons have lots of water res anyway. AIR: Light (null) Reduces enemy sight; does not appear to work. Avoid. Lightning (10 000) Not really worth it, but more worth than lightning staff if you have the skill. Big damage spread. Invisibility (250 000) Very useful for approaching mages while taking as little damage as possible, or skipping fights if you're bored. Invisibility breaks as soon as you attack something. Bumping shoulders prompts monsters to attack, but does NOT trigger him to chase you or break the spell. Exploitable! Protection from air (50 000) Duh. Prismatic spray (1 000 000) Ouch, look at the cost. Chain lightning, if you will - it even deals the same damage as lightning for the same amount of skill. Too bad so many enemies have air resistance. EARTH: Shield (null) Short duration and the need to manually cast it make it more annoying than useful. With high skill level and absorption-boosting clothes you can make a goblinproof mage. Wow. Stone wall (40 000) Block the way to you and kill anyone who gathers behind this wall without any retaliation! Indispensable. If any tile is occupied by anybody, the wall will have a 'hole' there. This can be exploited, for example to create a 1-tile pass in the wall funneling enemy hordes 1 at a time. Stone curse (600 000) ~100 seconds duration at high levels. The game rolls a number between 0 and duration every time you cast it - target is turned for stone for as many seconds as the number rolled. Duration reduced by earth resistance. Protection from earth (50 000) Hey, at least it shortens stone curse's duration. Meteor storm (800 000) There's only 1 purpose for this spell - killing high level dragons. Crossbows are faster, but they cost more than this spell. Deals tons of damage, the spread is too random to kill anything else. ASTRAL: Bless (1500) At 100% effectiveness, it raises your warriors' damage output by half. Haste (8000) Obviously beneficial. Teleport (500 000) A plot spell. No point in buying it, 'cause you get it for free and every mage in the game except your first one has it already. You can arrange fast retreats for your mages with teleport. Raise spirit (1 000 000) Absolutely useless; creates a 1st level spirit. Spell available at the point where 4th level ones are cannon fodder. You could grind astral magic with it, if astral magic was worth grinding. WEIRD SPELLS: Here are spells that are not available for memorization - you can only acquire them from scrolls. Darkness - Freezing cloud + Light in one. Monster version works, I'm not sure about the player one... Curse - Opposite of Bless, obviously; pretty useful for dueling with ogres. Drain life - Heals you for the same amount it damages the enemy; reduced by astral resistance; expensive as hell. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13. [MMMMM] Know thy enemy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ MONSTER NAME: DESCRIPTION (BEST KILLED WITH) Bone snakes: The kind of monster even other monsters bully. (Fire) Squirrel: Your mages will love those. (Poison cloud, acid spray) Bat: First 2 levels will not really attack you. Dangerous in big numbers. Their attack is armor-piercing even though not labeled as such. (Fireball, prismatic spray) Giant Bees: Why have an attack rating if your attacks always connect? (prismatic spray) Giant turtle: Someone once said about the Nazi “Maus” prototype tank "There's no point in fighting it since you can always evade it" or something like that, the same holds true for the giant turtle. (Prismatic spray) Ghost: They're suprisingly durable. Really. (Fire arrow) Goblins: Dangerous if you don't have high absorption. Orcs' annoying kid brothers. (Prismatic spray) Orcs: the meat and bones of your military career. Always pose a challenge. Archers have only 5 range so exploit with if you habe crossbowmen (Fire wall) Ogre: gets stuck in trees easily. Deals tons of damage, but has kinda low defenses. (fire wall, acid stream) Troll: regenerates very quickly. No other magic but fire is effective. (Fire wall) Dragon: There will be dragons. You will never fight 1st level ones in direct combat for some reason, and scarcely any 2nd or 3rd ones. Underused and very easy prey if you know what you're doing. (Meteor storm) Bandits, mages, etc: Better armaments = more trouble for you. Statistics cannot be provided as the game gives none. (They have pretty much no resistance so any mass damage spell will do) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 14. [NNNNN] NPC Statistics ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Listed for easy difficulty. Ordered from lowest level monsters to highest. Fourth level spells are listed in parentheses. BONE SNAKE (Curse) HP 19 31 50 81 DAMAGE 1-5 2-8 3-13 4-20 ATTACK 0 90 180 270 ABSORPTION 0 1 3 5 DEFENSE 30 100 170 240 SIGHT 4 5 5 6 SPEED 18 19 20 21 FIRE RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 WATER RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 AIR RESISTANCE 66 83 92 96 EARTH RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 ASTRAL RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 SQUIRREL (Fire arrow) HP 13 21 33 54 DAMAGE 3-6 5-10 8-15 12-25 ATTACK 40 130 220 310 ABSORPTION 0 1 3 5 DEFENSE 0 70 140 210 SIGHT 8 9 9 10 SPEED 24 25 26 27 FIRE RESISTANCE 30 65 83 91 WATER RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 AIR RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 EARTH RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 ASTRAL RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 BAT (Darkness) HP 9 15 25 40 DAMAGE 1-4 2-6 3-10 4-16 ATTACK 50 140 230 320 ABSORPTION 0 1 3 5 DEFENSE 45 115 185 255 SIGHT 6 7 7 8 SPEED 32 33 34 35 FIRE RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 WATER RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 AIR RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 EARTH RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 ASTRAL RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 GIANT BEES (Invisibility) HP 6 10 17 27 DAMAGE 3-5 5-8 8-13 12-20 ATTACK 30 120 210 300 ABSORPTION 0 1 3 5 DEFENSE 10 80 150 220 SIGHT 6 7 7 8 SPEED 24 25 26 27 FIRE RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 WATER RESISTANCE 50 75 88 94 AIR RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 EARTH RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 ASTRAL RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 GIANT TURTLE (Acid stream) HP 39 63 101 162 DAMAGE 1-12 2-19 3-31 4-49 ATTACK 30 120 210 300 ABSORPTION 4 7 12 18 DEFENSE 80 150 220 290 SIGHT 5 6 6 7 SPEED 8 9 10 11 FIRE RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 WATER RESISTANCE 50 80 90 95 AIR RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 EARTH RESISTANCE 60 75 88 94 ASTRAL RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 SPIRIT (Drain life) HP 33 52 84 135 DAMAGE 1-8 2-13 3-20 4-33 ATTACK 40 130 220 310 ABSORPTION 2 4 7 12 DEFENSE 50 120 190 260 SIGHT 6 7 7 8 SPEED 10 11 12 13 FIRE RESISTANCE 0 0 0 50 WATER RESISTANCE 50 75 88 94 AIR RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 EARTH RESISTANCE 100 100 100 100 ASTRAL RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 GOBLIN PIKEMAN (Haste) HP 26 42 67 108 DAMAGE 4-8 6-13 10-20 16-33 ATTACK 15 105 195 285 ABSORPTION 0 1 3 5 DEFENSE 30 100 170 240 SIGHT 6 7 7 8 SPEED 24 25 26 27 FIRE RESISTANCE 0 30 65 83 WATER RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 AIR RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 EARTH RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 ASTRAL RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 GOBLIN SLINGER (Shield) HP 19 31 50 81 DAMAGE 3-6 5-10 8-15 12-25 ATTACK 20 110 200 290 ABSORPTION 0 1 3 5 DEFENSE 25 95 165 235 SIGHT 6 7 7 8 SPEED 24 25 26 27 FIRE RESISTANCE 50 75 88 94 WATER RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 AIR RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 EARTH RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 ASTRAL RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 ORC WARRIOR (Teleport, very short ranged) HP 52 84 135 216 DAMAGE 8-16 13-26 20-41 33-66 ATTACK 50 140 230 320 ABSORPTION 2 4 7 12 DEFENSE 50 120 190 260 SIGHT 6 7 7 9 SPEED 16 17 18 19 FIRE RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 WATER RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 AIR RESISTANCE 30 65 83 91 EARTH RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 ASTRAL RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 ORC ARCHER (Bless) HP 39 63 101 162 DAMAGE 6-12 10-19 15-31 25-49 ATTACK 55 145 235 325 ABSORPTION 2 4 7 12 DEFENSE 45 115 185 255 SIGHT 6 7 7 8 SPEED 16 17 18 19 FIRE RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 WATER RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 AIR RESISTANCE 30 65 83 91 EARTH RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 ASTRAL RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 OGRE (Haste) HP 132 221 337 540 DAMAGE 20-40 32-64 51-102 82-164 ATTACK 80 170 260 350 ABSORPTION 5 9 14 22 DEFENSE 70 140 210 280 SIGHT 5 6 6 7 SPEED 15 16 17 18 FIRE RESISTANCE 0 0 30 65 WATER RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 AIR RESISTANCE 30 65 83 91 EARTH RESISTANCE 30 65 83 91 ASTRAL RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 BLADE RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 AXE RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 BLUDGEON RESISTANCE 20 20 20 20 PIKE RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 SHOOTING RESISTANCE 20 20 20 20 TROLL (Stone curse) HP 198 316 506 811 DAMAGE 15-30 24-48 38-77 61-123 ATTACK 60 150 240 330 ABSORPTION 10 16 25 39 DEFENSE 100 170 240 310 SIGHT 4 5 5 6 SPEED 8 9 10 11 FIRE RESISTANCE 0 0 30 65 WATER RESISTANCE 0 50 75 88 AIR RESISTANCE 50 75 88 94 EARTH RESISTANCE 66 83 92 96 ASTRAL RESISTANCE 0 0 50 75 BLADE RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 AXE RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 BLUDGEON RESISTANCE 50 50 50 50 PIKE RESISTANCE 30 30 30 30 SHOOTING RESISTANCE 30 30 30 30 DRAGON HP 165 264 422 675 DAMAGE 10-15 16-24 26-38 41-61 ATTACK 100 190 280 370 ABSORPTION 4 7 12 18 DEFENSE 60 130 200 270 SIGHT 10 11 11 12 SPEED 24 25 26 27 FIRE RESISTANCE 60 80 90 95 WATER RESISTANCE 0 20 60 80 AIR RESISTANCE 30 65 83 91 EARTH RESISTANCE 0 20 40 60 ASTRAL RESISTANCE 0 50 75 88 BLADE RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 AXE RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 BLUDGEON RESISTANCE 30 30 30 30 PIKE RESISTANCE 0 0 0 0 SHOOTING RESISTANCE 20 20 20 20 1TH LEVEL SPELLS: Fireball. 2TH LEVEL SPELLS: Fireball, Firewall, Poison Cloud, Drain Life, Curse, Lightning. 3TH LEVEL SPELLS: Fireball, Firewall, Poison Cloud, Drain Life, Curse, Prismatic Spray. 4TH LEVEL SPELLS: Fireball, Firewall, Poison Cloud, Drain Life, Curse, Prismatic Spray, Stone Curse, Darkness. DEMON HP 1320 DAMAGE 82-164 ATTACK 370 ABSORPTION 39 DEFENSE 310 SIGHT 8 SPEED 19 FIRE RES 50 WATER RES 50 AIR RES 50 EARTH RES 100 ASTRAL RES 50 SPELLS: Prismatic spray, Poisonous cloud. Probably every spell in the game. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 15. [OOOOO] Mission impossible ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ABBREVIATIONS N - North S - South W - West E - East C - Center NW, NE, CS etc. - North-West, North-East, Center-South etc. *Mission number: Mission name (star indicates a plot mission) REWARD: How much gold, if any, you get for finishing the mission. MAP: Relative map size TREASURE: Some treasure (its placement), Some other treasure (its placement). MONSTERS: *Monster one (his level) (star means you can't really avoid the fight), Monsters of different kind (their level). DESCRIPTION: My brainfarts. ATTENTION for all - side quests (not branded with *) can be delayed ONCE before they disappear. That is, you can play one more plot mission (the * one) before finishing the current sidequests and not miss anything. 1: (no name) MAP: Small. TREASURE: Bronze two handed sword (SW), Bronze small shield (W), Mage's low hat (S), Iron scale gauntlets (NW). MONSTERS: *Squirrels (1), Ghosts (1), Bees (1). DESCRIPTION: Not much to say. Easiest possible monsters for target practice. Move the witch to NE part of the map, then approach the caravan master. 2: (no name) REWARD: 500. MAP: Medium. TREASURE: Iron cuirass (SW), Mage's robe (NWW), Magic wood club (NNW). MONSTERS: *Squirrels (1), *Bats (1), *Bandits, *Goblins (1), Orcs (1), Ghosts (1), Bees (1). DESCRIPTION: More of the same, but more to explore this time. You have 3 mercenaries to play with; each one of them is a better fighter than you right now. Use the swarm command - press CTRL and click near the enemy - to make your life much easier. Of note is a gang in the center, goblin tribe south from the gang and tribe of orcs in the eastern part of the map - don't engage any one of them without your mercenaries. 3: The Labyrinth REWARD: 700. MAP: Small. TREASURE: 200 gold (W), Iron plate boots (SE), Bronze war hammer + silver ring + 264 gold (C), Mage's cloak (NE). MONSTERS: *Squirrels (1), *Goblins (1), Pike goblin (2). DESCRIPTION: A very poor maze, which makes you wonder how these stupid peasants got lost here. Set your mage chick to 'guard' your knight, so she won't get accidentally in melee. The green goblin in the center might catch you off guard but he's no challenge - strip your mage from her staff and she will instantly heal your knight from his wounds, making this fight impossible to lose. There are 3 peasants. Find them all and the mission is over. *4: The Cure REWARD: 1000. MAP: Small. TREASURE: Iron pike, Mage's low hat, Iron plate helm, Steel dagger (all in a circle around center). MONSTERS: *Squirrels (1), *Goblins (1), Ghosts (1), Bees (1), Bats (1), Ogre (1). DESCRIPTION: Just move forward. A huge group of goblins on the other side of the mountains can give you trouble - watch out for your mage. The ogre is very easy if you just keep your mage in healing mode. 5: Khagadan Outpost REWARD: Swordswomen mercenaries for hire. MAP: Small. TREASURE: Steel bracers (SW), Mage's gloves (W), Iron axe (E). MONSTERS: *Southern Khagadanian soldiers with archers and mage, Northern Khagadanian archers with mage, Goblins (1), Orcs (1), Ogre (1). DESCRIPTION: 3 heavily armed mercenaries make this mission play itself. Not all mercs have to survive, so don't mind if one or two dies. Don't rush your heroes before the mercs - those mages make things ugly very fast. Those mercenaries are really useful later, so I strongly recommend doing this mission. *6: The Treasure REWARD: 5 000 (for selling the treasure). MAP: Medium. TREASURE: Mage's shoes (N), 
                Steel chain mail (CNE), 
                Treasure! (CE), 
                Silver ring (SW).

MONSTERS:       *Turtles (1 & 2),
                *3 Orc warriors (2),
                Goblins (1), 
                Orcs (1), 
                2 Goblin slingers (2), 
                Bandits, 
                Ogre (1), 
                Squirrels (1 & 2), 

DESCRIPTION:    A first 'serious' mission, where there's actually a choice
what path you want to take. You should just stick to the road, exploring the
map in a counter-clockwise fashion. The map is pretty big so I'll point out
the nastier monster groups along with any treasure.
    * Goblin slingers w. Green goblin slinger (N, Mage's shoes).
    * Ogre in the mountains (NW).
    * Goblin gang w. Green goblin slinger (SW, Silver ring).
    * Brian attacked by orcs (S) - help him and you keep him for the rest of
the game. There's an red orc there who will certainly kill Brian, so don't
waste time.
    * 3 Orc archers with 1 red orc (E of the knight encounter).
    * Orc band with the last red one (CE) - You'll know it when Brian talks
shit about getting off road.
    * Bandit group (NE) - this one is tricky. First you'll encounter a lone
bandit on the road, which for some reason will trigger a big group of bandits
from the north to go and fight the orc group above. You can either intercept
them on the road or don't fight the orcs and let the both groups settle their
anger issues.
    * 4 Orc archers (CNE, Steel chain mail). Keep an eye on your mage.

    Pick up the treasure AND recruit Brian to complete the mission.



7:      Man-eating Turtle
REWARD:         3 000.

MAP:            Small.

TREASURE:       Book of bless (NE), 
                Steel scale gauntlets (CW), 
                Wood long bow (N), 
                Silver amulet (NW corner).

MONSTERS:       Squirrels (1 & 2), 
                Turtles (1 & 2), 
                The eponymous turtle (4!).

DESCRIPTION:    To have a chance with the turtle, you have to go to the east
part and recruit an high level ogre (3). Then maneuver him to the NW part of
the map (his path finding sucks) and he should have no problems with the black
beast.
            The black turtle has a nasty ranged attack, so don't try to scum
it with your mage.



*8:         The Sage Khima
MAP:            Medium.

TREASURE:       Adamantium ring (SSE), 
                Bronze tower shield (SSE), 
                Silver amulet (C), 
                Gold amulet (given to you by hermit?).

MONSTERS:       *Goblins (2),
                1 Ogre (1), 
                1 Troll (1), 
                1 Dragon (1).

DESCRIPTION:    Your target is in the NE corner. The shortest way, while
collecting all the treasure, is to go south through a narrow pass, killing an
ogre, small orc tribe, green goblin tribe NW from the orcs, and troll SE from
the orcs. The rest of the path is clear. There's the dragon of course, but
he's neutral.

BONUS:          Don't end your mission yet. Instead, go to the lake where the
dragon is bathing. Place your mage near the tree SW from the dragon and open
fire at him! HE won't fire back. That doesn't apply to the turtles chilling
out at the lake, so be ready for them.
                You get no treasure from this but hey, free exp.



9:      The Volcano
REWARD:         5 000.

MAP:            Small.

TREASURE:       Steel morning star (NE), 
                250 gold (SW), 
                Mage's hat (CW), 
                Steel plate boots (C), 
                Mage's cape (NW).

MONSTERS:       Ogres (1 & one 2), 
                Trash (low level squirrels, bats, ghosts, bone snakes, i.e. 
                not worth mentioning).

DESCRIPTION:    There's no time limit to this mission. Talk to the mage at NW
corner to win.



*10:        The Ogre Lair
MAP:            Medium.

TREASURE:       Metamorph (SW), 
                Gold amulet (SE), 
                Steel two handed sword (NE), 
                Wood shaman staff (NW), 
                Magic pipe (C), 
                Dragon leather helm (C).

MONSTERS:       *3 Ogres (2), 
                *Ogres (1), 
                2 Trolls (2), 
                Trash (snakes, squirrels, goblins, bats).

DESCRIPTION:    DON'T DISTURB THE OGRES. There are 2 of them E and 1 further
E, and unless you're packing mercenaries you won't be able to win with 1 of
them in honest fight. What you need to do is to go west through the bridge
and pick up the “metamorph” with your mage. Now, every level 2 ogre within the
vicinity of your mage is turned into a turtle. Trippy.
            You can of course bait them through the bridge and hide in the
forest.
            Kill those 3 ogres and, sticking to the E part of map, arrive at a
village in NE part. Go W from the place the archer team gathers and wipe out
the ogre nest.
            The magic pipe has a use, but it's more work than it's worth.
You're supposed to bait the northern ogres with it like rats or something.

BONUS:      The NW and NE treasures are trapped - a friggin’ 2 level troll
poofs out of nowhere after you pick them. There are 3 ways to win, if you
don't have mercs:
        - Keep your mage frying the troll while your knight dances around him.
        - Stick your mage in a cramped place, where the troll can't get but is
too stupid to walk away.
        - Do everything else on the map first and then split your group for
the both parts. Pick up the treasure simultaneously and win the mission before
the trolls do anything. Duh.


11:         Down with Orcs
REWARD:         Lancer mercenaries for hire.

MAP:            Small.

TREASURE:       Book: Wall of fire + health & mana potions, 
                Magic wood short bow (NW), 
                Small steel shield + Steel bastard sword (CW), 
                Bronze helm (SW), 
                Iron plate helm (SW), 
                Steel helm (W), 
                Steel full helm (W), 
                Mithril amulet (SSE).

MONSTERS:       *Lots of orcs (mostly 2), 
                *1 Orc warrior (3), 
                Lots of bees (1 & 2).

DESCRIPTION:    A 'salvage' mission. First, trigger 2 red orc archers to the
west of your starting position and while you're wasting them, order the lone
mage to join you - else he'll be slaughtered. After that, prepare yourself for
a suprise red orc attack. Get the fire wall book - you'll need it soon.
            South, you'll be attacked by an army of red orcs - retreat to the
narrow bridge and use it as a chokepoint. Use your mages to heal your
warriors, and cast fire wall to thin the attacking force.
            Even more south, there's another, but optional orc force that's
kind of harder to chew through since you don't have a chokepoint. Kill the
archers with fire wall and use the mounted knight as a bait - nothing bad
happens if he dies.
            To win the mission, you have to heal 2 downed mounted knights and
clean a huge orc force in the northern part of the village. There's a blue orc
with them, nasty bastard. Use your 3 mounted knights as the hastati line, your
knight heroes as the principles line and mages as the triarii line.
            Don't bother healing the clubmen and archers - their combat value
is 0, literally.



*12:        Monk Warriors
REWARD:         New hero.

MAP:            Medium.

TREASURE:       Mithril cuirass (W), 
                Wood short bow (CES), 
                Book of haste (NW), 
                Gold ring (EEN).

MONSTERS:       *Lots of monks, 
                few orcs (2), 
                few ogres (1), 
                Trash.

DESCRIPTION:    At the very beginning, you'll encounter Nadia, your next
Cutter Slade fashion sense hero. After the conversation, 8 crossbowmen will
fall under your control. They're pretty powerful, and will be attacked by
monks very soon so unless you'll act quickly most of them will be wiped out -
form a line and pull back heavily wounded. It's a good place to train changing
game speed with the '-' & '+' keys on the num pad.
                The whole map is pretty boring, aside from an orc island in
the E part. Wipe out the 'monastery' in the NE part to win.





13:         The Lost Sword
MAP:            Small.

TREASURE:       LOTS of iron/steel armor and some weapons (C), 
                Lost sword (C), 
                Strong scroll of protection from fire + some mage clothes
                    (NW corner), 
                Ogre club (N).

MONSTERS:       Lots of ogres (1 and 2),
                Squirrels (2).

DESCRIPTION:    Heal the ogre in the ruined village (STAY AWAY from the
mountains), talk to ogre in northwest, find the club for him (it's in the
center part of the forest, just skim the area with your mouse 'till the
grabbing hand animation plays), then send Nadia (who has the biggest fire
resistance ATM) through the fire traps and bridge. Get close to the loser at
SE to end the mission.

BONUS:          After winning the mission... kill the ogres! Use fire wall
and stay in the woods. Watch out for the dragons, and end the mission as soon
as they find you.







*14:        The King's Tomb (train Reniesta's astral skill to ~10)
MAP:            Medium.

TREASURE:       Adamantium bracers (SSE), 
                Steel war hammer (WWN), 
                Mage's cape (SW), 
                Wood shaman's staff (W, isolated island), 
                Book of teleport (SSW).

MONSTERS:       LOTS of orcs (2 & 3), 
                1 Troll (2), 
                Some ogres (2), 
                Few teams of goblins (2 & 3), 
                Trash.

DESCRIPTION:    First, waste the troll on the road. Then maneuver through
swamp or road towards the SW part of the map. Talk to the mage with a
batty entourage - he gives you the teleport book FOR FREE!. Your mage
(assuming he has good astral skill) can now teleport around the islands and to
the objective. If you haven't trained astral skill beforehand, you have to
teleport around until you build it. I wish you patience.
                Before that, get to the collapsed bridge on the eastern part
of the uppermost island - bait the orcs to the shore and fry them out of their
archers' range with firewall/fireball. Collect the sweet, sweet treasure.
                Approach the grave in SW corner to win.

BONUS:          Don't use the teleport scroll! Buy a teleport scroll in town
(~30 thousand), and sell the book in town. That's around 220 000 profit!
                Keep in mind that you'll have to skip some side quests if you
do this - the ones requiring teleporting of course until you get your second
mage. 






15:         The Hostage
REWARD:         40 000.

MAP:            Small.

TREASURE:       Mithril halberd (N), 
                Dragon scale gauntlets (SE), 
                Adamantium axe (SW), 
                Book of lightning (NW, held by mage).

MONSTERS:       *Squirrels (2 & 3),
                *A gang of ghosts (2 & 3),
                *LOTS of mages.

DESCRIPTION:    Very straightforward one, and very hard if you don't prepare.
I recommend taking some archer mercenaries for this mission. Buying a
protection from air scroll is recommended.
                First, use your teleporting mage to explore the NE part and
flip the switch. Then, brave yourself to the SW part. Give the dragon
gauntlets to one of your most fire resistant warriors. Use fire and air
resistance scrolls if you brought them. Kill the mages (they won't chase you,
so you can kill 1, retreat and heal).
                The last mage will paralyze you so don't go at him alone.
    






*16:        Fortress Kargallas (After this mission mercenary price will go
            through the roof, so it's a good idea to hire some now)
REWARD:         70 000

MAP:            Medium.

TREASURE:       Adamantine chain mail (SSW),
                Water of life (SW),
                Adamantine amulet (W),
                Magic wood shaman staff (C).

MONSTERS:       *Lots of soldiers, archers and few mages, 
                *1 Troll (2),
                1 Ogre (3), 
                Team of orcs and goblins (2+3), 
                Trash.

DESCRIPTION:    Talk to one soldier in town. Then go west and grab the water
of life. Go NW and get your mage close to the dragon with the water in his
inventory. Rest should be straightforward.
                Optionally, kill the lone ogre in the NE part for some fun
with a rescue party. They'll smash through the patrol, but certainly get
killed at the gates. If you have mercenaries with you it's a good idea to
cannon fodder them at the gates.






17:         Merchant's Friends (hire archer team if you don't have any in
            party)
MAP:            Small.

TREASURE:       20 000 gold (C),
                Adamantine ring +1 sight (SW),
                Meteoric ring +1 spirit (NW),
                Mithril axe +1 agility (NE),
                Magic wood large shield +1 body (SE).

MONSTERS:       2 Trolls (2 & 3), 
                2 Ogres (2 & 3), 4 Orc + goblin bands (2 & 3).

DESCRIPTION:    The 'easy' way, if you have teleport spell (or scroll) - kill
the band N of where you start and teleport your mage in the center. Here you
have all the time in the world to wipe out the other 3 bands.
                The 'hard' way - kill all the bands separately and then pull
one of the 'clover' levels to open the center and talk to the peasants inside.
                The levers are not really worth pulling, really. Some open
their respective cloisters, other summon harmful spells against you.





*18:        After the Cloak
REWARD:         120 000.

MAP:            Medium.

TREASURE:       Adamantine amulet (CW), 
                Adamantine plate cuirass (NNE), 
                Book: Poison cloud (SE), 
                Mithril bastard sword (SE).

MONSTERS:       Forest trash, 
                Lots of bandits and mages.

DESCRIPTION:    Follow the peasant south and wipe a small bandit camp (attack
it from the south flank to kill the mage first). From now on, you should go
through a central mountain pass NE. Avoid fights if you can, and rescue
Fergard in the NE corner.
                You can end the mission now, or take some time to wipe out the
bandits.
                Don't bother with the crazy cat-err, turtle, guy - his amulet
is guarded by the meanest bandit group, and if you can take them, you don't
need any stupid turtles.





19:         The New Catapult
MAP:            Medium.

TREASURE:       Mage's shoes +3 speed (NW), 
                Weak potions (CS), 
                Two handed meteoric axe (S, worn by bandit), 
                Mage's cape + 23 HP (S), 
                Adamantium morning star + 5-20 Earth damage (W), 
                Adamantium plate boots (CE).

MONSTERS:       3 blue orcs, 
                Tribe of red goblins, 
                1 Troll (3), 
                1 Ogre (3), 
                Many bandits, 
                Trailer trash.

DESCRIPTION:    W of you is a secluded area with 2 orcs and good treasure. E
leads to the least guarded (aside from a solitary orc) path to bandit area.
Path straight S and a little W leads through ogre and goblin lands and into
the bandits' left flank.
                Find the catapult in the center of the bandit village (don't
destroy it by accident) to win. One bandit wields a meteoric 2H axe, keep an
eye on him.






*20:        The Bandit Camp
MAP:            Small.

TREASURE:       Magic wood staff - prismatic spray x 3 rays (C), 
                Adamantium ring + 2 mind (CNE), 
                Adamantium plate helm + 20 earth res (NW, need teleport), 
                Mithril crossbow w. stone curse (NE).

MONSTERS:       Trailer trash,
                Archer bandits, 
                A nasty team of mages, 
                Few gobbos, 
                1 Ogre (3).

DESCRIPTION:    A very wonky, and annoying, mission. Here's the place the
flaws of the game's pseudo 3d engine are visible - lots of slow terrain and
bumps make a very confusing experience. What you're supposed to do is go the
south route and either ambush the bandits or just skip them. You can take them
head on, but the terrain makes it a pain.
                To ease your future battle, place somebody on high ground and
use fireball's gigantic range to wipe out as many archers as you can. Don't
charge the ogre - he will be healed by the mages. Better to wait for him.
                The worst part is the mage team in the center - around 4 of
them. Put fire & air resistances on your warriors and storm their position.
The archers surrounding them are peanuts compared to them bastards.
                Talk to the lone, non-hostile bandit in the very E to win.







21:         The Traitor Mage
REWARD:         350 000.

MAP:            Small.

TREASURE:       Adamantium pike +5 defense (C),
                Meteoric scale gauntlets +3 absorb (CE),
                Adamantium full helm + Adamantium two handed sword (NW, held
                    by mage),
                Mage's dress +35 hp (NW),
                Meteoric amulet +35 protection from astral (SW, needs
                    teleport).

MONSTERS:       Pack of ogres (3),
                2 teams of orcs (2 & 3),
                1 team of goblins (3),
                Some turtles,
                2 trolls (3),
                1 high-level mage.

DESCRIPTION:    Fast, satisfying mission with tons of loot. The western path
is a little easier. Kill the mage to win.







*22:        Brian's Vow
MAP:            Medium.

TREASURE:       3 level troll gold drop (NW), 
                Adamantine two handed axe + 10-40 fire damage (W), 
                Book of invisibility (on mage, CS), 
                Meteoric two handed axe (on bandit, CS), 
                Meteoric ring (on a ghost, on isolated sand island; EES),
                Meteoric ring +4 speed (SW, needs teleport).

MONSTERS:       Few red goblins & 1 black goblin warrior (4), 
                Few blue orcs, 
                2 Ogres (3), 
                1 Troll (2, got lost here or something...), 
                Few bats (3), 
                Many, many high-level bandits along with high-level mages
                    (yikes!).

DESCRIPTION:    The "way it's meant to be played" - take the road east,
fighting mage-less pockets of bandits along the way. Don't go through the
first bridge - the one with the tower. Instead, move further south to a
haunted cemetery - literally haunted. Watch out.
                The bridge here is trapped with poison cloud, so either cast
water resistance or teleport your mages - your knights will survive the trip.
                Your target hangs around the tavern, he's very tough and
strong but has no defenses, so a stone curse weapon will make short work from
him.
                The mages here, and their gorillas, are a nightmare. Here's
my plan:
                    - put air resistance on everyone
                    - bait the crowd and retreat to the bridge
                    - clog the bridge with stone wall
                    - fireball the mages and heal your meat shields at the
                        same time
                    - put firewalls/poison clouds whenever you can
                    - have fun






23:         Dragon's Clan (You better get the stone curse spell/staff for
            this, or archer mercs)
REWARD:         700 000.

MAP:            Medium.

TREASURE:       Meteoric two handed sword + 15-25 water damage (W), 
                Lamp (C), 
                Mage gloves + 12 Earth skill (CN), 
                Meteoric scale mail + 40 HP (SE), 
                Mage's hat + 2 sight (SW).

MONSTERS:       Trailer trash, 
                3 Dragons (1, 2 & 3), 
                Few goblins (4), 
                LOTS of black orcs (4). 
                1 Troll (4).

DESCRIPTION:    Don't worry - the beginning dragon couldn't threaten a rabbit.
                The first part is the best argument for why desert levels in
ROM are a bad idea. The shortest path - south to soldier (and his sword), east
to dying peasant (heal him, duh, for 10 000 gold, don't bother if he dies on
the way) and a lamp, north to lever (you'll get trapped! Needs teleport!),
somewhat NE to the soldier's master, E to the mage. After the mage moves his
ass, fry the troll with firewalls. He's too lazy to move his ass, so don't
bother him with fair fight.
                Teleport in, kick the weak orc and pull the lever west from
him. You can wait with uncorking the way 'cause there's a whole army of rabid
orcs waiting for you there. Anyway, keep in mind the pass where the wall was
makes for a perfect bottleneck. Keep your mages healing full-time, casting
stone wall and sometimes fire wall - those orcs are resistant to everything
except fire.
                There's an green dragon E from the pass - pretty easy at this
point.
                Keep exploring the mountains, baiting the orcs back to the
mountain pass bottleneck whenever you can.
                At the very end, a meaty bastard waits for you. Cast every
elemental protection spell you can on your toughest warrior and use him as
bait. Keep one mage healing full-time, the other casting stone curse at the
dragon.






*24:        Precious Scroll (mercenaries recommended)
MAP:            Medium.

TRREASURE:      Adamantium axe (CS, N), 
                Crystal plate helm + 2 sight (CW), 
                Meteoric halberd + 5 absorption (NE), 
                Meteoric amulet +5 Absorption (E), 
                ~40 duration stone curse staff (W, on a mage).

MONSTERS:       Lots of trash,
                2 teams of black orcs and goblins, 
                1 solitary high-level mage, 
                LOTS of bats (4), 
                2 Ogres (4), 
                5 high level mages + ONE OF YOUR HERO MAGES.

DESCRIPTION:    Before you go, hire magic resistant mercs. The swordswomen and
mounted swordsmen are great, and the price is reasonable.
                Keep moving NW 'till you find a group of mages on sand. Before
talking to them, take away Reniesta's whole equipment - there's an obvious
spoiler for that. You'll lose control of her anyway.
                Either go straight east and fight a horde of bats, or walk
around them north. Kill the mage. Return to the circle of mages and prepare
for a fight.
                Here's where things get sticky. Your 3 main fighters will
almost certainly get stun locked before killing anyone. Having another team of
mercs flanking the mages is a great idea. If not, you'll have to fireball
those bastards from afar and hope your bubbas will still be alive at the end.








25:         Dragon's Tooth
REWARD:         1 500 000 (although not listed on map).

MAP:            Small.

TREASURE:       Crystal plate boots + 5 speed       (CN),
                Crystal two-handed axe              (NE),
                Magic wood long bow + 30-50 Water damage    (NE),
                Crystal ring + 13 Defense           (NW),
                Magic wood staff - prismatic spray 13-40    (S).

MONSTERS:       Orcs and goblins of full color spectrum, 
                Trolls (3 & 4), 
                1 Dragon (4).

DESCRIPTION:    Go straight west to get a free team of archers. Kill
everything hostile to trigger the dragon. Kill it, then talk to the mage with
your main character.






*26:        Road to the Tower
REWARD:         New hero (Rood Glaen) and new permanent merc
                (Skrakan himself).

MAP:            Whoa!

TREASURE:       Crystal amulet + 60 HP (W, on a troll), 
                Dragon leather helm + 1 sight & Crystal plate cuirass
                    + 3 Absorb (CN, on ogre), 
                Crystal two handed axe + stone curse ~20 duration (CN),
                Book: prismatic spray (C, needs teleport),
                Crystal plate cuiras +5 absorption (NE).

MONSTERS:       Lots of ogres (4),
                Lots of trolls (3 & 4),
                Lots of goblins (4),
                Some orcs (4),
                Some dragons (4 & 2).

DESCRIPTION:    This map is actually half mountains, so it's not as big as it
seems. It's also straightforward, too - go E constantly (taking the close
north fork at the center) and you win with least fights.
                There is an far N and a S fork from the E path. They're not
really worth it - S one is full of trolls (meanest ones) and the N goes
through an ogre lair (you'll be trapped there, so send your mage to trigger it
and teleport back).
                The fight at the last bridge is very easy compared to others
- just keep an stone wall on it and fry anything beyond with firewall. You can
simply pass it by teleporting around out of enemies' view. Heal the wounded
mage by the tower and you both win and get a much better mage than Reniesta
ever hoped to be.

BONUS:          There's a slim mountain pass north from the ogre lair. It
leads to few black dragons, and a catapult at the very end. The catapult needs
to backtrack all the way to be useful but seriously - if you can handle 4
level dragons you don't need help at that bridge anyway.






27:         The Portal
MAP:            Medium.

TREASURE:       5 armor pieces (N, C on an island, SW, SE, NE),
                Meteoric two handed sword + 25-35 astral damage (N),
                Meteoric ring +25 attack +2 agility (W),
                Adamantium amulet +25 mana +2 mind (N),
            
MONSTERS:       Lots of orcs,
                Lots of ogres,
                A horde of tough bandits,
                2 dragons (3 & 4).

DESCRIPTION:    Ho boy. To get the meteoric sword, you have to find the 5
armor pieces, then get them NE to the statue.
                There's a totem square S. Enter it, and.. a frigging dragon
will advance north from the big lake S, mowing down everything on its path. It
will wipe out the ogres in the center, and certainly get stuck with another
dragon near a bridge. You will have to kill both of them but since they're
preoccupied with each other, it's an easy to drop them with meteor storms.
                To clean the barricades, place your toughest warrior with
protection enchantments to draw enemy fire and act as spotting agent. Then,
blast the crossbowmen and mages with fireballs from afar.
                The axe men in meteor armor are hard to crack. I found that
freezing cloud spell help a lot and, of course, stone curse.
                Revive General Whatshisass (collect 5 pieces of armor, give
them to Rood Glaen and approach the statue) and wipe out EVERYTHING HOSTILE ON
THE MAP to win.








*28:        The Last Battle (Yes, this is the *last* mission. Hire as much
            mercenaries as you can)
MAP:            Large.

TREASURE:       Crystal long sword + 30-80 water damage (S, in woods),
                Adamantium tower shield +2 absorption (EES, in ruined town),
                100 000 gold (C),
                Crystal ring +6 absorption (NW),
                Mage's cape +5 mind (NNE, on a mage).

MONSTERS:       Lots of goblins (4),
                A horde of orcs (4),
                An army of ogres (4),
                3 trolls (4),
                3 dragons (4),
                4 high level mages,
                Turtles, bone snakes, squirrels etc. nothing that poses a
                    challenge now.

DESCRIPTION:    Your goal here is to kill everything that moves, and then kill
the demon. Demon won't appear until you KILL EVERYTHING. Some monsters only
appear after you do something:
                The 100 000 gold coin bag triggers a goblin trap.
                3 trolls appear after you kill an solitary, weaker troll.
                Ghosts appear after you approach the astral sigh around CNW.
                A lot of orcs appear after you kill one orc pleading for
mercy.
                2 dragons appear after you pull the lever in NW corner.

                IF you got ~10 mercenaries, they ought to cut everything
without breaking a sweat. Except trolls, ogres and dragons of course. Going
counter-clockwise, you will fight: bees (north) & squirrels (east), goblins,
trolls, ogres, turtles, mages, bone snakes, ghosts, dragons (NW) & orcs (W). 

                Stay away from the giant faces in northern part, they will
turn your characters to stone... forever.

                The towers in the center hurt a lot, although sometimes they
don't attack you for some reason.

                I suggest leaving the bees alone for last. Before you kill
them with a lone mercenary (or one of your mages), place all your units NW of
the circle in the center of the map. The demon will chase you through the map.
He's not that tough as he looks - having high air and water resistance, along
with mages healing in the back, helps.

                I REALLY recommend having at least 3 full mercenary squads
here.










------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  16.       [PPPPP] Combat
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    TO WIN, fight in wedge formation - your best armored fighter up front who
takes all the attention, his buddies in the back row to shoot/slice
approaching enemies and mages occupied with healing.

    IT IS VERY INNEFECTIVE to have more than one fighter take the blows. Your
mages will certainly focus their attention on only one of them, leaving the
others to die.

    MAGES SHOULD NOT HAVE STAVES, else they will fire at enemies instead of
healing.

    WHILE EXPLORING, set your entire group to 'Defend' your best warrior and
then move that warrior only. The rest will follow, fight and heal on their
own.

    FOR MELEE, form a horizontal or vertical line. Every enemy closing with
the line will be attacked by 2, 3 of your warriors at once.

    FOR CROWDED BATTLES, I formed a chess-pattern formation. I slowed down the
game and set heavily wounded fighters on 'Retreat' - they ran away through the
holes in formation.

    SLOWING DOWN THE GAME (+,- buttons) makes the game much, much less
frustrating.

    FOR SOME REASON  mages cast spells about 2x slower when ordered manually.

    SWARM   is very, very useful. Your warriors will target the closest
enemies without your help. Your staffless mages will stay in place and heal
from longer range for some reason. Always used it.
    
    DEFEND  makes selected units defend the assigned person. Mages with staffs
will automatically heal the defended person when her health is lower than
half. Warriors and mages will follow the defended person and pick fights on
their own. Used it often.
    
    RETREAT     makes selected unit runs in opposite direction of closest
enemies. Change retreat mode with CTRL-W.
    
    HOLD        makes units stand in place. Useful because sometimes your
mages will stand in place like morons and refuse to heal anybody (including
themselves) for some mysterious reason.

    FORCE MOVE  command is necessary when you have open spell book and care
about your nerves.

    CREATING GROUPS I used this for 2 things - dividing mercenaries into
archer/warrior/mage bands, and assigning every hero to a different group so I
could quickly select them later.

    ASSIGNING SPELL SHORTCUTS   makes using fireball, stone wall, stone curse,
bless, haste, firewall and such much less micromanagey.
    
    MERCENARIES     can be used as cannon fodder without long term
consequences. Any mercenaries that die in current mission will be missing in
next mission BUT even if whole squad gets wiped out, the next mission all
missing ones will reappear.
    Mercenaries DO NOT drop anything upon death. Nice try.






------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  17.       [RRRRR] Frequently used hotkeys
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    F2              -       Save.
    F3              -       Load.
    Tab             -       Switch between character sheet and portrait.
    Q               -       Open/close spell book.
    ~               -       Open/close inventory.
    Space           -       Open/close both spell book and inventory.
    +               -       Increase speed.
    -               -       Decrease speed.
    T               -       Stand ground.
    R               -       Retreat.
    D               -       Defend.
    E               -       Select all.
    Alt             -       Force move.
    Ctrl            -       Force swarm.
    Shift + [1..9]  -       Assign selected units to a group.
    1..9            -       Select group.
    Ctrl + [F5..F8] -       Assign spell shortcut.
    F5..F8          -       Cast spell.


    

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  18.       [SSSSS] Tips & tricks
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    * SAVE & LOAD to restock the shop.
    
    * HIDE IN WOODS where big monsters (trolls & ogres) can't follow you. Kill
them without any risk!
    
    * PAY ONLY ONCE for any skill training (you can train more than one skill,
but not more than once each). Training raises your skill level by 1 and sets
your experience amount 1 point before advancement in skill. Your skill level
will rise during mission instantly you use this skill.

    * USE BRIDGES and similar bottlenecks to lure your enemy cast stone wall
right before their noses. Idiots will group by the wall, giving you great
opportunity to blow them apart with mass-damage spells.

    * STONE CURSE can stun lock 3-4 enemies at once if you manually cycle the
casting.




------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  19.       [UUUUU] Cheats
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Press Enter. Type '#Chicken' (notice the uppercase!) and press Enter
again. A message will appear if you done it correctly.
    
    After that press Enter, type one of those codes and press Enter again.

    '#show map'             -   Removes fog of war. Also shows full monster
                                    statistics.
    '#modify self +spells'  -   All spells.
    '#victory'              -   Victory!
    '#create X gold'        -   Adds X gold into your pockets.
    '#modify army +god'     -   God mode.
    '#hide map'             -   Hide map.
    '#killall'              -   Kill all enemy units.
    '#pickup all'           -   Pick up all sacks on the ground.

    Aaand..
    '#create Very Rare Crystal Two Handed Sword'    -   It's a *mundane*
        Crystal Two Handed Sword. Neither great or elvish or antique.