Monk and Priestess FAQ For Darkstone Windows95/98 Revision 1 August 30, 1999 Brought to you by Leviathan - lev|athan@hempseed.com THE MONK In the past, before the darkness descended, many monasteries were established in the region of Ormar. The prospective monks were sent to these monasteries where they became good men, enjoying the respect of all. The monks spent many years in this place of prayer, learning various combat techniques and spells. Although less accomplished than wizards or warriors in these respective arts, the monks have the advantage of being highly competent in the complementary disciplines of war and magic. Isolated from the rest of the world in their peaceful haven, they have had years to master the use of blunt weapons (i.e. those weapons other than swords). The staff has become their favorite weapon. They have also studied white magic, so that they can use it to help their neighbor and conquer Evil. There are now far fewer monks than there were in the past. Nearly all of the monasteries have fallen under attacks from the wyverns sweeping across the region. Monks now represent good, as well as life and its combat. They are still held in high regard because of both their skills with a staff and their ability to heal wounds. THE PRIESTESS As with the monks, the priestesses have divided their lives between religious devotion and learning the arts of combat and magic. The source of their strength is their faith and they fight in the name of the gods. In a world increasingly threatened every day by the Darkness, they stand out as beacons of Good and Life. During their travels they offer assistance to beggars, and they are quite prepared to take on thieves in direct combat, or use their magic to alleviate the suffering of the sick. Starting Stats for Monk and Priestess: VIT 20 MAG 15 STR 10 DEX 5 Maximum Stats for Monk and Priestess: VIT Unlimited MAG 150 STR 100 DEX 50 (Note: With Elixirs, you can boost your stats past these levels) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- How to play the Monk/Priestess ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Monk/Priestess is best played as a little bit of both a Warrior and a Wizard. Use your melee skills to kill off single beasts, and use magic when things get rough. Be sure to have Prayer on at all times, and Beserker on when you are melee fighting. Wizards are - obviously - better at magic than Monks/Priestess, however, the Monk/Priestess class is much less likely to get killed during magic combat because of their high HP. Use the Death Dome spell when you get jumped by multiple enemies. Use Magic Bomb to waste them when they are behind walls/doors. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Distributing Stat Points ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'd recommend that you put as many points into Magic as you can at earlier levels. Put 2-3 into Magic, 1-2 into Vitality, and the rest into Strength and Dexterity when you level up. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Skills ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Communion - Helps you regain mana stocks more quickly. In my experience, this isn't really all that useful. ie. Don't depend on it for getting your mana back. If you need mana, don't hesitate to use a Mana potion. Learning - Helps you level up quicker. Always upgrade this. Prayer - Gives you +10 AC and a duration of 30 seconds per skill level. At level 10, this will give you 5 minutes of +100AC. Master of Arms - Increases your melee abilities. Exorcism - Removes all curses from it's target. This skill might be broken because once I used it on someone and it instantly killed them. Medicine - Heals your partner. Not too useful. Perception - Lets you detect booby trapped items. The higher skill, the more likely that you will be able to detect it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spells ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Try to learn as many spells as possible when playing your Monk/Priestess. Spellbooks are more important than weapons and armor. Always keep Beserker, Healing, Magic Bomb, Death Dome, and Antidote hot-keyed. Magic Bomb and Death Dome are your best bets when it comes to offensive spells. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapons ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For weapons, you can choose to go with either a one handed weapon and a shield, or a two handed weapon. Two handed weapons are usually better, but one handed weapons swing faster and you can get extra attributes from the shield. Either way will work. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ is copyright 1999 by Shantanu Thakur (aka Leviathan) Some information borrowed from the official Darkstone website