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FAQ/Walkthrough
>>==<<==>>==<<==>>==<<==>>==<<==>>==<<==>>==<<==>>==<<==>>==<<==>>==
For Microsoft X-BOX
Version Final
By Chris Zawada
User: antseezee
E-mail: antseezee@epix.net
Created: 01/09/04
Last Update: 01/27/05
Copyright 2005 Chris Zawada
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Author's Note
----------------------------
I'd just like to say that this is my first official Walkthrough ever, so please
bear with me. I'll do my best to guide you on one of my favorite RPGs to grace
the X-BOX in quite some time. Hopefully you'll be able to find a secret item
that was lost to your knowledge, or yearn on a secret rune spell that only the
elite know. Either way, have fun, that's the bottom line. Be warned that
spoilers are present everywhere in the FAQ, so it's your own fault if you read
any further.
Contributing/Feedback
----------------------------
If you have any contributions, feedback, or strategies you'd like to have added
to the guide, contact me via e-mail or on GameFAQs. I'll be more than content
to add your segment of information, and will also provide credit. If you have
any questions you'd like added to the Common Questions section, ask. I simply
don't have the time to sit around thinking of questions. Provide me with what
you want to know!
Updates
----------------------------
=01/27/05= v Final
Added the following sections/details:
- Robbing the Arx Bank (thanks to SINISTER XIII)
- Secret Rune inside Goblin King's Safe (thanks to SINISTER XIII)
This is the last update for the guide. Adding some secrets I missed thanks to
contributor submissions. There are other variations in the main quest that I
did not add, as it may cause more confusion than necessary. Regardless, most of
the necessary elements of the game are included.
=01/28/04= *NEW VERSION* v1.2
Fixed a huge formatting problem in all of my FAQs, nothing major. Also added a
few tips, walkthrough additions, and hints thanks to Brian Watson (check the
credits section).
=01/26/04= *NEW VERSION* v1.1
Made a few grammar corrections. Fixed up two parts of the walkthrough that were
partially incorrect (dragon eggs, security room in temple). Also fixed up a few
formatting problems.
=01/17/04= v1.0
Completed the walkthrough, and all the sections in the guide. I'm still missing
a few hidden spells in the game, but I'm sure they'll be discovered. I'll be
uploading the guide today. Feel free to make any suggestions, or additions and
your name will be credited.
=01/09/04= v1.0
Started the basic layout of the FAQ. Also integrating the traditional
walkthrough step-by-step. Aiming for an early February release.
============================
- Table of Contents -
============================
1) Introduction
2) Game Basics
> Controls
> Inventory/Interaction
3) Walkthrough
> The Escape
> Arx
> The Trolls Quest
> The Temple
> Krahoz and Zohark
> The Ultimate Weapon
> Time to die, Akbaa
4) Side Quests
5) Items
> Weapons
> Armor
> Accessories
6) Magic
> Runes
> Spells
> Scrolls
7) Secrets
> Tips, Hints, Hidden
> Lord Inut's Potion, Hero Ring, etc...
> Robbing Arx Bank
8) Races/Enemies/NPCs
9) Common Questions
10) Copyright/Distribution/Reproduction Guidelines
11) Proper Credits
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============================
- 1) Introduction -
============================
Arx Fatalis is yet another stunning single player RPG to hit the Microsoft
X-BOX and PC systems in the past two years. Originally developed by Arkane
Studios, and published by Dreamcatcher Interactive, one would question the
ethics behind purchasing such a game. However, Arx Fatalis is more than an
altered Morrowind, or blasting adventure like Diablo. It combines the necessary
elements of a vast RPG with the interaction we look forward to with the actual
environments. While most gamers would compare it to Elder Scrolls III:
Morrowind, Arx Fatalis contains more of the closed-in dungeon environments with
plenty to discover. Using your wits, you must figure out ways to solve puzzles
while facing the difficulty of everyday combat.
Here's a brief excerpt from the official instruction manual (credit to
Dreamweaver):
-------------------------
<->Tales of an Old Man<->
-------------------------
The children, eyes glittering and bubbling with anticipation, drew closer to
the couch where sat an old, gray-haired man in dirty clothing. While some of
hte children were mumbling and giggling at the sight of the trembling old man,
all grew silent as, in a harsh voice, he began to tell his tale.
"Well, children...," the old man paused, coughing. "Our world was not always as
you know it today. A long time ago, according to legend, everyone lived in the
fortress, aboveground. Over their heads, there was what they called a blue sky,
where smoke, which went by the name of clouds, floated."
The excited murmurs of the children forced the man to pause in his story.
"You'd better believe me! High above, we had a radiant sun, which warmed us
with its magical rays. Wheat grew, without the help of magic, needing only the
earth and the sun. Of course, there were also goblins, trolls, dragons and
demons, but we lived so far away from one another that we rarely crossed paths.
What truly shook our civilization was when the sun suddenly disappeared. In a
mere few hours, it was gone. Night fell, for all of eternity. Since that
dratted day, the cold hand of death rules the earth's surface. All living
things either died, froze to the surface, or retreated to the very heart of the
same mother earth, as our people did in the past. An ancient dwarves mine
became the only hope for these many refugees. The dark age had begun..."
Throughout the old man's tale, the children kept letting out cries of amazement
and surprise. Again, he paused, this time to allow the children to assimilate
what he had said, then he continued.
"Since this dratted day, the only ones daring enough to climb to the surface,
in search of other refugees, are the members of the Travellers' Guild. Below,
where we are, each race has taken over a section of the mine. Today, magic is
all we have to feed ourselves. Without it, we could not have survived until
now. Several levels below us are the goblins and rat-men, who have managed to
survive by either stealing from us, or eating what we throw away. Everyone has
finally found his place in this world.
Lunshire the Fair is a good and just king, who protects us from the demons
lying in ambush at our fortress doors. You're happy with your lives because you
grew up here and don't know of anything else. Listen to my tale, and imagine
how wonderful life would be in a world with no limits, no tunnels, and no
caves. A world where blinding light shines forth from a radiant sun, and not
from some miserable wavering torches or because of magic spells!"
As if replying to a command, the torches begin to flicker violently, and their
flames suddenly shoot up to the ceiling. The scared children huddle together
and raise their eyes to this strange sky.
"There is a way to bring an end to all this suffering," cried out the old man,
"A mighty God, one who has the power to end the misery of our existence by
bringing back the Sun..." He sighed, and his voice died away. "But this is
another story. I'm tired now. Leave me alone, you brats..." the old man coughed
violently.
----------------------------
Basically, all the races of the world use to live happily ever after on the
surface of the Earth. It was an expansive place, full of beautiful sights, and
things that could be taken in like sweetening views. Then one day, the sun
vanished away forcing all of the living creatures to retreat underground, where
it was warmer. Unfortunately, the sun never rose again, and from this day on,
the races continued to thrive for their own survival UNDERGROUND. This is where
the story takes place, so expect a lot of tight navigating.
_____________________
##### GAME INFO #####
//////////|\\\\\\\\\\
Players: 1
Developer: DreamCatcher Interactive
Released: 2003
Rarity: fairly rare
Special Features: n/a
Cover Art on cartridge:
- Shows man standing in a tunnel lit in the background with light
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============================
- 2) Game Basics -
============================
In the simplest fashion, Arx Fatalis is your basic single player RPG
(role-playing game). You take place of a sole person who goes on a perilous
adventure which somehow affects a storyline. Most RPGs feature battles with
enemies, constant discovery in various levels, and most of all a key plot to
follow. However, Arx Fatalis is fairly unique as it combines certain elements
of interaction that one would not find in another game. Thus, you'll be forced
to eat when starvation comes in, toss objects on panels to affect another
event, and even "spell" spells literally in a real-time fashion.
______________
/Game Controls/
----------------------------
Left Joystick - moves Am Shaegar
Right Joystick - looks around
Up Control Pad - drops item
Down Control Pad - closes quick-inventory
Left/Right Control Pad - selects items in quick-inventory
A - interaction
B - draws weapon (combat mode)
Y - precast a spell
X - draws hands (magic mode)
Start - main menu
Back - opens inventory/spellbook/journal log/character development
X + control pad directions - spells a rune out, press X again to cast
L trigger - jumps
R trigger - charges swing/attacks
Right Joystick Button - crawl (click once)
Left Joystick Button - crouches (hold)
Black/White Buttons - can be assigned via the inventory menu as shortcut
keys
Interface
----------------------------
The Arx Fatalis interface is simple, yet refreshing to a certain aspect. Most
elementary principles of the games are captured to great length. However, since
this is a role-playing game, characters often have specified amounts of health,
magic abilities, and what you can do. The interface notifies you of pretty much
your entire status.
[1] Health Gauge: - red meter in lower left corner that displays current HP
- when it reaches 0, game over
- turns green when poisoned
- regenerates at a specific rate based on your stats
[2] Mana Gauge: - blue meter below health gauge that displays current MP
- regenerates at a specific rate based on your stats
[3] Stealth Status: - white/black meter that displays how visible you are
- determines how noisy you are
[4] Power Gem: - shows the amount of power in your physical attack
- shines a gleaming white when you're fully charged
- only pops up during combat mode
[5] Precast Spells: - shows amount of spells memorized in your list (max 5)
[6] Equipment Status: - located in lower left corner above HP bar
- shows the durability of all equipment on character
- green = mint/good, yellow = average, red = damaged
[7] Inventory Ring: - pops up a horizontal bar when control pad is selected
- let's you navigate one-by-one through inventory
- also used to combine certain items
[8] Active Spells: - located in upper right corner
- displays all current spells and auras casted on you
[9] Torch: - located in mid-left side of view
- appears on when you have a torch equipped (increases lighting)
[10] Crosshair: - used for interaction/attacking/talking/selecting
- located in center of screen
[11] Description of Object: - pops up when you select an item
- usually occurs when reading books/papers/letters
[12] Map: - located in upper right corner
- displays zoomed in view of where you are on the current level
_____________________
/Special Interactions/
----------------------------
+++ +++
<<< Search a body, chest, or barrel >>>
+++ +++
Press A on any body, chest, barrel, or random storage device. An image will pop
up showing the inventory in the object you selected, and your current
inventory. Select items from the inventory of the storage device, and press A
to swatch them over to your own inventory. Many items you find in Arx Fatalis
will come through checking chests and bodies - so get use to it.
+++ +++
<<< Steal from Someone >>>
+++ +++
Once you get 50 stealth points (skill category) in the game, you can start to
pickpocket people. To do so, sneak behind them (preferably in dark/hidden
settings), and a purse will appear on the bottom of the screen. Then, press the
BACK button on the controller, and you can snatch things out of their inventory
into yours. Stealth is a key to this manuever, but you also don't have to deal
with attacking or killing the person.
+++ +++
<<< Buy/Sell Objects >>>
+++ +++
To purchase items and things of the sorty, walk up to a chest and press A.
You'll enter a special Buy/Sell mode in which items are automatically traded
for gold pieces. If you want to buy something, put your cursor over the
seller's inventory, and a price will appear at the bottom of the screen. It
will appear green (if you can afford it), or red (if you cannot). You may also
place the cursor over your own inventory. If you do so, items of your own
property will get prices from the sellers (at a much lower value though).
Simply press A in either manner, and the item will be exchanged with gold
coins. You cannot steal items out of a chest, unless you sneak in, pick the
lock, and take them without anyone noticing.
+++ +++
<<< Traps and Secret Passages >>>
+++ +++
Throughout the caves, you'll find many traps, secret passages, and hidden
buttons. By increasing your "Intuition" skill, it enables you to see traps
(object turns a reddish tint), hidden panels (they appear a shallow gray), and
various passageways. Traps can be defused with special kits, scrolls, or
spells.
+++ +++
<<< Pick a Lock >>>
+++ +++
When you come across a locked door in the game, you have a few options of
getting past them. One involves attempting to find the correct key, and then
using it on it. Or, you can be the thrifty person, and simply pick the lock. In
order to pick a lock, you need a toolkit (an item), and a high "Technical"
skill to make it past complex locks. Nearly all locks in the game can be
picked, it's just a matter of having tool kits and extremely high Technical
skills.
+++ +++
<<< Enchanting Objects >>>
+++ +++
This is a fairly complex process that is learned later in the game. To enchant
items, you need an item that can be combined (usually a mashed ingredient, rare
artifact, or something of that type), and a normal item that can be enchanted.
Basically, you drop that weapon or armor on the ground, then from your quick
inventory, select an ingredient. Combine it with the item on the ground by
pressing A, and the item will be ready to be enchanted. All you need to do is
cast the spell "Enchant Object", and make sure it's on the ground when you do
so.
+++ +++
<<< Identification of Objects >>>
+++ +++
Arx Fatalis is very, VERY different when it comes to identifying items. Rather
than simply buying an identify scroll, you must raise a special skill category
called "Object Knowledge." The higher this skill rating is, the more advanced
items you can identify. This is the only way to identify items in the game. So
make sure you pump a ton of points into object knowledge (at least 70).
+++ +++
<<< Repair Weapons and Armor >>>
+++ +++
Most equipment items in the game have durability points. Basically, the more
you use them, the less fit they become for use. Items can break, or not be used
when their durability reaches 0. To prevent this, you can repair certain items
by taking them to the blacksmith. All you have to do is take the item,
highlight it in your inventory, then combine it with the blacksmith (for a fee
of gold of course). You may also repair items yourself by taking them to an
anvil, and combining them with that instead. A higher object knowledge skill
improves your ability to repair items. Most items will lose maximum durability
points if you try to repair them yourself.
+++ +++
<<< Distill Potions >>>
+++ +++
When the going gets tough, many RPG players can call upon the scientifical
powers of potions to cure the most ailing diseases. Potions, while fairly
uncommon in Arx Fatalis, do help you in many different situations. To create or
concoct your own potion, you must first gather an empty bottle. This can be
accomplished by finding, purchasing one, or simply drinking a wine/water
bottle. Once you have an empty flask, use a Mortar & Pestle on a raw ingredient
to grind it down to a simpler form. For example, you can grind down garlic into
garlic powder, then combine it in the empty bottle. Once this is accomplished,
find a distiller, and combine it (press A from the quick inventory). Your
powder-filled flask will turn into a potion. In many cases, the ingredients
determine which type of potion you will get. Also, a high object knowledge
skill benefits you during this process.
+++ +++
<<< Satisfying Hunger >>>
+++ +++
Hunger is a hidden factor when you enter the world of Arx Fatalis. It's
necessary to eat on a regular basis, otherwise you become hungry, and lose
energy as time progresses. You can die of starvation. In order to prevent this,
eat food by selecting a food item out of your inventory, and pressing A to
consume it. It's necessary to cook certain items so that they are not raw. To
cook an item, simply drop it near or on a fire. After a few seconds, the item
will be cooked, and can be picked back into your inventory. Some common items
that must be cooked are uncooked ribs, fish, chicken drumsticks, and raw apple
pies. Also, each food holds a certain "redemption" as to how much more full you
are. Eating a mushroom won't really fill the belly, while consuming a loaf of
bread shall.
+++ +++
<<< Changing Levels >>>
+++ +++
There are many instances in the game where you have to change between levels
and places. To enter the next level, press A when the Stairs (A) icon pops up
on your screen. Basically, you press A, and a brief loading screen will take
place.
+++ +++
<<< Key Ring >>>
+++ +++
The key ring is a special item you can purchase early on in the game that
organizes all keys you collect in the game. You can get your first key ring
from the woman shopkeeper in the city of Arx. Basically, whenever you find a
key, go to your inventory menu (press BACK). Then, select the key, and press
the R trigger. Now, move it to where your key ring is in your inventory, and
press R again. The key will be added to the ring. It's a way for organizing all
your keys into one inventory block. I'd highly recommend you assign a shortcut
to the key ring (black or white button).
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============================
- 3) Walkthrough -
============================
The following is a complete step-by-step walkthrough for Arx Fatalis. Be
prepared to read about S P O I L E R S in both the plot, and for solving the
various quests in the game. I'll also try to briefly explain the plot in a few
sentences in case you're confused of your current status.
Creating your Character
----------------------------
When you first create your player in the world of Arx Fatalis, there are four
key stats, and about 9 key categories that come into mind. You start off with
16 points to spread out for stats, and 18 points to designate for each of the
skills. Based on how you distribute these points, it can greatly affect the
outcome of the game. First of all, setting the points depends on how you want
your character to play the game. A warrior should have more points pumped into
strength and close combat, while a thief may prefer higher dexterity, and an
increased technical skill. Build according to how you enjoy executing your
gameplan.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
^^^^\\\\ STAT CATEGORIES ////^^^^
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
= STRENGTH =
{ Determines the damage bonus on physical attacks
{ Ability to use heavy weapons (mostly two handed)
[ Affects Object Knowledge & Combat Skills
= MENTAL =
{ Determines amount in mana pool, and resistance to magic
[ Affects Ethereal Link, magic power, Technical, Intuition, and Object
Knowledge Skills
= DEXTERITY =
{ Determines precision in combat plus a chance of critical strike
[ Affects Technical, Stealth, Close Combat, and Object Knowledge Skills
= CONSTITUTION =
{ Determines amount in health pool, poison resistance
{ Ability to wear heavy armor
[ Affects Defense skill
- When you first start off, I'd recommend pumping your ST to at least 8. Later
in the game, ST becomes important, so you can pump it later. If you're a
warrior, get at least 14 ST to use most weapons in the game.
- Mental should only be pumped if you're going to be a spellcaster. When I say
spellcaster, I mean purely a mage. Most of its effects have nothing to do with
combat.
- Dexterity should be up to at least 10 near the end of the game. It makes a
huge difference on critical strikes, plus is necessary if you want to be a
thief.
- Constitution increases your HP, so it's best to pump this skill near the
middle of the game. Defense is important to staying alive, even if you don't
use a shield.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
^^^^\\\\ SKILL CATEGORIES ////^^^^
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
= STEALTH =
- Makes your footsteps softer, and allows for better disguise in the dark
- Increases damage from attacking behind the enemy
- If greater than 50 points, allows you to pickpocket people
"Personally, I don't pump any points into stealth unless your sole intent is to
become a thief. If you have no intention on stealing in the game, you're better
off leaving this alone. Pickpocketing is fun, but also makes the game more
challenging."
= TECHNICAL =
- Increases chance of picking complex locks
- Increases chance of disabling complex traps
"Again, technical is a skill that you either love or hate. As a warrior, I
found it entirely useless. However, this is brilliant for anyone who wants to
explore the world of Arx Fatalis in its entirety. With a maxed out stealth
and/or technical, you can be the greatest thief."
= INTUITION =
- Sort of like a sixth sense, let's you see hidden passages/traps
- Better purchase/selling prices with traders
"Probably the most useless skill of them all. Once you acquire the Poxsellis
Helmet in the crypt, all hidden buttons/walls are automatically revealed. Even
with better selling prices, you only receive a 5% bonus for every 10 points
pumped in. Helps early on, worthless in the late game."
= ETHEREAL LINK =
- gives you a presence of hostile enemies
- increases mana regain rate
- shows enemy stats during battle
"This is an average skill that can help, but isn't entirely necessary.
Basically designed for mages or weaker players that want a better way around
the game. Don't pump too many points into this (25 or less)."
= OBJECT KNOWLEDGE =
- allows for better repairs on items, easier creation of potions, and poisoning
- NECESSARY to identify items
"MOST important secondary skill in the game. Get at LEAST 70 points into the
object knowledge skill if you want to complete the game. Object knowledge is
the only known way in Arx Fatalis to identify items. You cannot buy scrolls, or
cast an identification spell. If an item is unidentified, you DO NOT utilize
its benefits. You may need at least 75 points in order to identify the Chicken
Lord Inut's weapons."
= CASTING =
- permits for casting of high level spells
- increases magic resistance
"Great for magic users, and even useful for warriors. Get this skill at least
to 30 points, so you may use spells like HARM and FIREBALL with effectiveness.
Pump it to the high 60-70s as a spellcaster for maximum efficiency. Puts great
bonuses on your spells as well."
= CLOSE COMBAT =
- increases damage for striking or inflicting damage upon an enemy
- only works for close ranged weapons
"Ideal skill for the warrior. Get this up to the 70s if you want to do extreme
physical damage."
= PROJECTILE =
- increases damage for striking or inflicting damage with a ranged weapon
"Useless skill. There are only two different bows in the game, and refilling
arrows is a pesky process. You will never use a bow during the game, trust me."
= DEFENSE =
- allows for better use of a shield
- increases Armor Class (AC) which decreases damage taken
"Prime skill for a warrior as it allows them to take a beating. At least get
this matched with your close combat skill, or just use heavy armor to boost its
rating."
- After you create your character, the game officially begins.
*Arx Fatalis begins with a cutscene briefly showing a man getting shocked,
knocked unconscious, and then dragged off by a goblin. He is eventually tossed
into a cell, and you end up being this poor wretched man. Oh, the drama.*
___________
/The Escape/
----------------------------
=Find a way out of the Goblin prison.=
Once you wake up, look around to get a feel of the sensitivity of the
controller. In case you didn't notice, the right thumbstick is automatically
set to default controls. If you enjoy looking around with inverted controls
(down=up, up=down), go to the Options menu and change them now. Otherwise, look
to the right, and walk up to the bars. Press A to talk to the man.
*Once you start talking to the man, you seem to have lost all memory that
existed in your head. The fellow prisoner asks for you to search for a way out
of your cell.*
Turn around, and head straight back to the other bars opposite of your cell. A
small stone on the ground will be surrounded in a blue aura. Press A to pick it
up, and then press A on the bars to stretch them out. Now you have a way out of
your cell. Head straight through the new opening that awaits you, and look
under the bed on the floor. You should see a white lengthy object that
resembles a bone. Guess what? It's a bone! Press A to pick it up, then navigate
with the control pad (left and right), and press A to equip it once it's
selected.
Now you're armed to the teeth with a bone, literally. Peek around the new
corner, and you'll see a gobling walking back and forth by a table. Hide in the
darkness for a bit, enter combat mode (press B), and then charge up your attack
by holding down the R trigger. Once you have a full swing charged (a gem at the
bottom of the screen will turn bright white), run towards the goblin and swing
at him. Keep attacking him until he dies. Search his corpse by pressing A, and
take whatever you feel needy. Also look around the table, and pick up any
potions, food, or ingredients that you'd like to indulge on. You've just broke
out of prison; you deserve something for your hard work. The fellow prisoner
will start to yell to you to let him out. Walk over to the lever in front of
his cell and switch it on.
*A cutscene will show you and the man conversing. He gives you a name, Am
Shaegar, which means the "one without a name." Serves you right in this case.
He also tells you his name is Kultar. Unfortunately, he has a limping leg and
can't make it far, so he'll stay behind.*
- Follow the tutorial, and crouch down by the trapdoor on the floor. Smash it
with your fists (or hefty bone), and then walk over it to fall to the next
level.
In the new room, search around a bit and you'll find a dead corpse against a
left inlet. Search it, take the Leather Loggings, Aam/Tok runes, and whatever
you can get your hands on. The tutorial mode will pop up to have you test out
the new runes you've discovered. Follow what the game says, and spell out Aam
Tok to form the spell "Ignite."
All spells are initiated by pressing X, and then using the control pad to
represent the runes. So in this case, you would press right (you'll see a quick
flashy image appear), then down right up, and finally press X. You'll be doing
it correctly if you see the flashy image appear after each combo series (refer
to the Spellbook in your menu for more help). If the spell works correctly, you
should ignite a torch closest to you. This is how you cast spells in Arx
Fatalis. If that's too complex, simply go to the game's options menu, and
switch Magic to "Arcade Mode." If you want more descriptions on how to cast
spells, please check out the Magic Section.
-- Anyhow, continue onward to the next room. Pick up the torch on the ground,
and equip it to get an extra boost of lighting. Make the first right and you'll
enter a room with an elevator. Walk up near the elevator and a panel in the
wall will become highlighted. Check it out and you'll see that a ROPE is
missing from the mechanism.
>>> (Thanks BWatson) If you want a little shorcut, look in the elevator room
until you see several stones on top of a pressure plate in the corner. Take all
of the stones off of the plate, and then run to the opposite corner of the room
where there's another pressure plate. Put the newly acquired stones on the
other pressure plate, and leave the original one untouched. If performed
correctly, a secret doorway will open up that has the ROPE item, and several
potions as well. This is an excellent shortcut since you don't have to go
wandering off in search of a rope. You can then use this rope on the elevator
mechanism by combining it to activate the device.
Head back to the hall you were just in, and make sure you have the torch
equipped. Walk through the spider web, and you'll encounter your first spider
enemy in the game. Don't forget that you'll be encountering creatures of all
sorts throughout the game, so become handy with entering combat mode and
casting spells quickly.
- Make a left after passing through the spider, and you'll find a few neat
things in this room. Walk up to the smothering fire, and try casting the Ignite
spell. It should catch the fire back on full throttle. Then try tossing a spare
piece of wood in the fire ring. Finally, place any type of food (by dropping it
on the fire) you have near the food to cook it. Any sort of uncooked food that
becomes cooked can now be eaten to satisfy your hunger. Make sure to do this on
a regular basis, you must EAT to survive.
Jump in the nearby stream, and walk downstream until you see some stairs on the
right. Head down and search the dead body on the ground. You'll find your first
scroll in the game. Scrolls are similar to quick versions of runes, except
they're instantaneous, and don't cost mana. Unfortunately, scrolls can only be
used once, so make sure you're using them for the right cause. Follow the
tutorial, and equip the 'Magic Missle' scroll as requested.
Head back out of the stairs, and back to the fireplace room. Go along the left
wall and walk through the spider web. Deal with the 2 spiders in a similar
fashion to the previous one, and search the nearby barrels. MAKE SURE you pick
up the rope inside the barrel as it is a quest-necessary item. Run all the way
back to the elevator room, and combine the rope with the elevator mechanism
(select the rope in your inventory, highlight the mechanism, and press A).
You've just solved your first puzzle ever! You really deserve a cookie, or some
uncooked ribs in this case. Step on the elevator, and press the lever to go up.
Let's Kick some Goblin @$$
----------------------------
Head out to the right side, and make a left at the Y intersection. In here
you'll see a gigantic Goblin Lord who notices your presence. This enemy is a
little bit tougher than your previous foes, but you should prevail. Keep
striking, retreating a bit, and then charge in for the fatal blow. Thankfully,
Kultar will lay a few hits on the Goblin as well to make it an easy kill. Once
the deed is done, search his corpse, and take the Piece of Wood (quest item).
Walk over towards the fireplace, and along the wall is an empty lever base.
Combine the piece of wood with the lever to open the door. Use the lever, and
go upstairs to the next level.
- Now it's time for some munchy Goblin stew. Go to the first right, and you'll
hear 2 Goblins talking to each other. You can do what the game does, by using
"stealth", and tossing an item across the room to catch their attention. Or you
can be like me, and charge in like Rambo. Both of them are two weak Goblins, so
attack them respectively. Once they're dead, take the wooden club off of the
one, and use it as your new weapon. Search the chest across the room for a
gemstone, and then head back out to the hallway. Go straight up past the door
to your right (it leads you back to where you were before). Then, enter along
the right side near the end of the hall.
>> You'll soon discover a guard walking back and forth between some cells. Kill
him and then take any leftover belongings. You'll notice a Goblin prisoner
inside one of the cells. Let him free because it's necessary for his help to
continue the main quest. If you talk with him, there will be a short humorous
cutscene.
*The goblin tells you that his name is Polsius, and he wants to be let out. Of
course, your character wonders why he's on the other side of the bars. Polsius
says he would be very "thankful", and that it would be honorable for him to be
let free. It's not like he can do any harm. If and AFTER you let him go, he'll
tell you to ask for him in the Tavern upstairs.*
After Polsius wanders off, head back out to the 3-way hall. This time, take the
center path up and you'll meet a Goblin Lord armed with a short sword. Make
quick work of him, and then attack the other Goblin nearby. Take the tools on
the table, equip the newly found sword, and head back to the 3-way. Finally,
take the left route, and this is where it starts to get interesting. If you
peek around the corner, you'll notice a Goblin standing guard. Toss something
on the ground as a distraction, and then violently attack the Goblin till he
dies. Whatever you do, DON'T let him run away screaming for help. Cut off his
escape route.
After he's dead, ignore the stairs on the left, and continue straight until you
see a closed door on the left. You'll hear someone sleeping (with an awfully
loud snore). Open the door, and quietly SNEAK in his room (press the right
thumbstick down once to initiate a crawl). Try to sneak past the Goblin Lord to
one of the night stands. Pluck the Goblin Fortress key, and Written
Authorization Papers. If you performed it correctly, you should be able to
sneak in, steal the papers, and get out without him noticing. If he does
recognize you, just kill him, and take the stuff anyway. Now, head back out,
and make a left up the stairs.
>>> (Thanks BWatson) There's actually a hidden room inside the goblin lord's
room with papers. If you look above the small piece of furniture that holds the
authorization papers, there should be a hidden button against the wall. Hit it,
and a doorway next to the lord's bed will open up. Inside you'll find a few
potions, some gold, and a key which opens up another awaiting treasure in the
Goblin Prison area.
- On a side note, you can go up the stairs BEFORE stealing the papers, and
there will be a sleeping goblin. If you can sneak up and successfully kill him
without him asking for help, a quest log will be added to your journal. On the
second floor past the sleeping goblin is a gate sealed by 3 Goblin Lords. If
you talk to them, the one asks for Gem Dealer Papers and Written (Signed)
Authorization in order to pass. This is what the next part of the walkthrough
deals with.
_____________
/What a mess!/
----------------------------
=Investigate the wrecked fortress, and send message to King Lunshire.=
- You'll start out in a gloomy cavern. Head straight and you'll notice a few
dead human guards on the ground. This is a Human Outpost which was attacked by
an outside force. Before you go in to check out what happened, look to your
right in the actual water. Along the right wall (in the stream of water) is a
skeletal corpse. Search the body and you'll find an unidentified ring. Head
back to where the two dead guards are on the ground (before the fortress), and
then make a left along the cavern walls. There should be a destroyed teleport
(crumbled mass of black pillars). If you leap over the broken pillars, there
should be a small red ring on the far side. Pick up this identified ring as
well. They'll come in handy once you have the object knowledge to recognize
them.
Anyway, cross the bridge and start to check out the fortress. Around the back
of the entrance is a wounded guard kneeling against a stone wall. Talk to him,
and he'll tell you to go see the Captain upstairs. Go inside the fortress and
plunder whatever you can get your hands on. In a room with a fireplace in the
center, there are several ingredients and key items including a Mortar &
Pestle, Blacksmith's Hammer, Blacksmith's Club (very useful weapon for now if
you can equip), and an Anvil which can be used to repair your weapons.
Personally, I'd equip the Blacksmith's Club (if you have 14 STR), since it does
tremendous damage and has great range. Head upstairs past the barnyard animals
in the back, and enter the top floor. Talk to the wounded Captain against the
wall.
*This new cutscene will reveal that the Human fortress was actually attacked by
some strange warriors. The Captain thought you were a Mercenary, and introduces
himself to be Ortiern. The foreign attack decimated their entire fortress, and
a recent earthquake blocked the path from the establishment to Arx. The Captain
wants you to go tell the King that Ortiern has been attacked, and needs
reinforcements immediately. Since the path is blocked between the fortress and
city, you must go back to the Goblin Kingdom, and find a way around it. Ortiern
also hands you some Gem Dealer papers which should give you permission through
the Goblin Kingdom.*
After Ortiern is finished babbling, check the chest to the right of him. Inside
you'll find a Logbook which is useful for reading up on what happened (for any
of you history gurus). Anyhow, run all the way back downstairs and outside of
the fortress. This time, head to the far right side of the caverns, and you
should see a golden-lit area with a dog. Open the door and you'll enter the
tavern. Immediately, you should see Polsius, the goblin you freed from before.
Talk to him.
*Polsius will delightfully sign your authorization papers, which will give you
permission to enter the Goblin Kingdom. Make sure you combine them with him.*
Afterwards, you can get a beer from the local tavern madame by giving her 2
gold coins, and I recommend you check the upstairs of the establishment. One of
the doors in the tavern requires that you have a "password." You can't enter
this place yet, so ignore it. Head upstairs and talk to the man sitting by a
table. A short cutscene will briefly sum up the history of the world, and Am
Shaegar pondering who he truly is.
-- Now that you have all of your papers fit and signed (authorization papers
signed & gem dealer license), head all the way back down to the Goblin level.
This time, take the stairs on your right. If any goblins stop you along the
way, show them your papers. This will prove that you're just "another" gem
dealer, and not some escaped human prisoner.
Meet the 3 Goblin Lords standing by the closed door, and show the lead guard
your signed papers. He SHOULD let you through. If nothing happens, show them
again. You'll know you've been accepted if the papers are removed from your
inventory. Head through the doorway, and go downstairs to enter "Goblin"
territory.
- I recommend you explore these caves for a bit as you can find some treasures
if you look in the correct places. First off, take a right, and then a left at
the Y-split. You should start to travel down a narrow passageway. Fight off and
kill the living spiders ahead, and keep moving forward until you reach a dead
end. There should be a pile of 4 skeletal corpses stacked on each other. Check
EACH of the corpses, and make sure you check the 4th one (hidden with only a
head popping out). The unidentified ring is hidden on his body. Next, head back
up the passageway, and take a right at the Y-split.
You should now see a troll and goblin standing by some doorways. The Goblin
refuses to let you enter because the Gem traders are supposedly "on strike."
Cross the bridge, and the trolls will also refuse to let you by. After you
cross the bridge, go left, and proceed down a few steps. You should find some
stairs curled around the back side of the encliffment. Go up the stairs. You're
now in a Gemstone/Spider Cave.
Explore the caves with the help of torches. Once you take a few steps in the
cave, one bat is going to fly out of nowhere and surprise you. Try to avoid
being hit by it, or dodge it at least. Go on to explore the caves, and kill any
creatures you encounter (most of them are small spiders/rats). You can light a
few fires along the way to toast some food to be eaten. There are also
gemstones which cannot be harvested yet, until you get the right equipment.
Eventually, you're going to find some stairs near the right side of the map. Do
NOT go up them yet. Instead, continue farther into the cave until you find a
GIGANTIC Poisonous Spider. I must warn you that this creature is strong, but
the results are rewarding. Use the Hit-N-Run tactic until he dies (takes 4-5
blows from the Blacksmith's Club). Now, enter the place where he was, and
you'll discover an emerald lieing on the ground under some ferns. Pick it up as
it'll become useful to boost your income once you reach the city of Arx.
- Go up the flight of stairs you passed before. You're now officially in the
city of Arx.
__________________________
/The wonderful city of Arx/
----------------------------
=Explore the town. Refill your supplies. Visit the King.=
Walk up to the double wide door, and open it. A guard will welcome you to the
City of Arx as a traveler, and says you should see Carlo the Guards' Captain
immediately.
- First things first though, start off by exploring Arx. It's going to be the
main station of traveling throughout the game. Go towards the right and across
the bridge. There's a Gem Salesman in one of the shanties (who will purchase
gemstones for gold, and sell gems as well). Since the trolls are on strike, any
gemstones will make him happy. There's also a few shops throughout all of Arx
including a woman named Maria. She has a nice little establishment on the right
side of the city opposite of the Gems' Salesman.
-- I highly recommend you purchase the Pickaxe off of Maria as it can be used
greatly in the future. It costs about 150 gold (or slightly different based on
your Intuition rating), and you should roughly have above 100 gold at this
point in the game. Remember those gemstones from before that were too hard to
break off? Well, you can use the trusty pickaxe to knock them off, and then
sell them to the Gem Salesman! The pickaxe is also used for knocking down
unstable walls, which are seen at certain points in the game.
>>> (Thanks BWatson) You can actually save your gold for now and NOT purchase
the pickaxe from Maria. When you start the trolls' quest, and you have access
to their mines, explore them for a bit. There are several pickaxes on the
ground which can be picked up free of charge. Not only does this save you gold,
but you can then put that gold towards much needed armor/weapons.
Once you're done exploring the right side of the city, there should be a small
girl named Shany walking around. Talk to her along the way since she'll play an
important part in the future. Now, head back to where the starting door to the
city is, and go to the left side. Look for a building with a red/blue insignia
above it showing swords/shields. This is where Carlo the Captain is. Talk to
him for your request to the King, and he'll tell you to go to the Main Palace.
Follow his directions and go to the castle (large structure with a moat for an
entrance). Once you're inside, go straight ahead, enter the throne room, and
proceed to walk to the King.
*After telling King Lunshire of the terrible deed that occurred at Ortiern, he
wants you to send a message to the King of Trolls. It will take much time to
dig a clear path to the destroyed fortress (since the earthquake blocked it),
and Lunshire feels that the trolls may be able to help. You soon learn that the
trolls are mining experts, which would help clear the path quicker. They also
have friendly relations with the Human Kingdom, and would most likely help with
the scenario. Thus, Lunshire wants you to take a written message to Pog, King
of Trolls. Of course, his only reward is that of gold, and this furiates you.
You'd rather know who you are than have some measly gold! Insolent fool.
Anyhow, time to do some adventuring.*
***King Lunshire rewards you with 500 gold coins to assist on your journey. He
also gives you the written note to King Pog of the Trolls.***
- Before leaving town to head back to where the trolls were, check out some of
the local shops, and the actual castle. In the castle, you can find a Quest
Item Goblin's Cook Book on the far left end in a store room near the kitchen.
There's also a library with one of the Sister Snakes (part woman/part snake)
that has several books on the history of Arx. For any of the cutscene lovers of
the game, there's an observatory in the upper-right corner of the castle that
shows a brief scene of what the actual planet earth looks like frozen over.
Also, look for a barracks with sleeping soldiers. Blow out one of the nearby
torches, and look on one of the tabels for a Plated Helmet. The helmet offers
decent Armor stats, magic protection, and has decent selling value if you're
not interested.*
--> Once you're finished in the castle, make sure you visit Miguel the
Blacksmith in the southern part of town. He actually sells several different
armors, weapons, and a few new items you haven't seen. Consider buying a bow if
you want to start a ranged character, and/or some upper body armor to cover
your hairy chest. You must be prepared for the utmost situations! Also, you can
have him repair any damaged weapons by selecing them from the inventory ring,
and combining the items with him. Just make sure you have a hefty bag of gold
ready to waste.
After you're done dilly dallying throughout the city, head back in the starting
entrance that got you there. Run back the same way through the spider cave and
back to where the 2 Trolls, and Goblin Gate was.
__________________
/The Troll's Quest/
----------------------------
=Ask the trolls for help. Rescue their idol to gain their assistance.=
First things first, walk up to the giant Troll standing by two bright torches.
Show him the message from the King, and he should let you in. Next, take the
left route and start to look for gemstones hanging on the walls. If you see
one, walk up to it, highlight the Pick in your inventory, and combine it (press
A on the gemstone) to harvest a gemstone. Congratulations, you're becoming rich
due to the Trolls' lazy strike! Don't wander off too far. Head back to the
center balcony right before entering the mines, and you should see a fireplace
lit. Talk to the troll wearing the fancy necklaces.
*King Pog reads the message of King Lunshire, and is willing to help, but
currently has a problem. Pog and the Trolls will only help you if you're
willing to get their stolen idol back. Apparently, a few days ago, an idol
adored by the Trolls was stolen. Since then, they've stopped working since they
believe the Goblins stole it, plus the Goblins cheat them out on gemstone sales
by only leavin a small commission. Thus, you have clever goblins who reap in
profit based on the Trolls' hard work. So, in exchange for clearing the tunnel,
you must first find this stolen idol.*
Once Pog is finished blathering, go outside the mine and talk to the only
Goblin standing next to the fireplace. Izak the Foreman will tell you he has
heard "rumors" of goblins who have stolen the Trolls' idol. He tells you to
follow him. Do so, speak to him again when he stops at the entrance to the
Goblin Kingdom.
*The Foreman and the Goblin Gatekeeper will have a quick discussion to let you
in. You must search for the idol somewhere in Goblin territory.*
Start off by walking straight and then taking a left. Take the first left you
see down the hallway, and you should see 2 rats. Kill them both, then pick up
the shovel stashed vertically in the corner. You can now dig for artifacts!
Anyway, head back out, and continue down the hall you were previously on. You
should come to a wide open room with two stairwells up to the King's room, and
a side off entry to the other parts of the Goblin Kingdom. Start off by taking
the side off path, and go straight into the Goblins' Barracks. Several soldiers
will moan and groan about a human in their territory. Keep going through the
rooms until you see a lone Goblin standing in his room on the left. Speak with
him.
- You'll soon find out that this lone Goblin was actually a leading candidate
to be king of the Goblins. Unfortunately, his opponent cheated during the
election and somehow won. Now, all he does as King is eats pies. When you're
finished talking, wait until this Goblin leaves his room. Once nobody is in the
room (or is looking in the hallway), look under his pillow for a secret key.
You will need THIS key to open a chest to find the idol. Just make sure he's
not in the room when you pluck the key, otherwise you'll be discovered and
attacked. After you snatch the key, head back to the main room.
Next, go up the stairs and you'll notice that the King's entryway is locked.
The Goblin King wants no visitors, he only wants pie! Go past this double
doorway all the way up to his room in the far corner. You should see a bed, and
a tall chest drawer in the two respective corners. Walk up to the bed, and
crouch (press the right thumbstick once). Pick up the paper under the bed, and
it will have 4 numbers on it. The PASSWORD to the secret chest in the King's
Throne is:
5599
Next, take a set of tools out (you should have some by now), and unlock the
chest drawer. There should be an unidentified leather armor located inside.
Very useful later on. There will also be another note which says to NOT feed
the Goblin King wine, otherwise he'll have "excrement" problems. Hehe, I think
we know where this is going.
-- Leave his room, and follow the cook who keeps walking back and forth
delivering pies to the King. Once you're inside the kitchen room (there are
lots of ingredients spread about), wait until Anut the Cook leaves. Walk up to
the yellow COOKIE DOUGH on the table, and select a bottle of wine in your
inventory. Combine it with the cookie dough, and it should turn a light pink.
Hehe, watch and learn. The Cook will come back to make another pie. Only this
time, the pie is tainted with something that will give the King digestional
problems. Follow the cook, wait till the King eats the pie, then he'll run out
of his room to his toilet in his bedroom! This is seriously getting humorous.
When he leaves the throne room doors open, run in, and look for 4 numbers
posted on a wall with a lever.
>> Input "5599" in that order in each of the number slots. Then, hit the lever.
Inside, open the chest to read a note about some 'Brotherhood' threatening them
to pay up with gemstones. This has something to do with the plot.<<
Go to the king's bedroom where you'll find him squatting on his toilet in
digestional contusions. Speak with him to ask if you can visit the Reservation
to see if you can find this stolen idol.
*The Goblin King will tell you that he has nothing to hide, and that you can
look in the Reservation Room for this stolen idol. He'll scream to this guards
to let you through.*
>>> (Thanks BWatson) If you want to, you can actually steal all of the goblins'
treasure located in the guarded room on the left. This door is close to the
throne room, and is always guarded by a goblin lord. If you want, you can
attack and kill all of the goblins. Alotar actually has a key which opens up
this loot room. You can find some pretty interesting stuff inside. The only
problem is that all goblins treat you as a hostile (except the 3 who ask for
your papers at the gate). It also causes a plot twist as there's no way to gain
the trolls' idol back. Don't save your game, just try this out if you want a
little plot twist in the storyline.
>>> (Thanks SINISTER XIII) Once you're inside the Goblin King's safe, look for
a lever. Hit it, and it will open up a secret passageway that leads outside his
treasure room. This passageway leads to a treasure, and also a RUNE high above
the room below.
Now, head back near the Goblin Gate, and there should be a Goblin Lord guarding
a door that's locked. This time, he'll let you through. Once you go in, close
the door, and blow out the torches with water. The Goblin tells you not to
steal anything, or else...but I prefer to differ. If you close the door, he
won't be able to see you steal any of the items inside the "vault." So feel
free to steal the shields, pant leggings, and the final challenge - the Idol
chest!
- I must warn you, don't bother trying to unlock the chest with a set of tools.
First off, use the Disarm Trap scroll (which should've been retrieved when you
unlocked the King Goblin's Chest Drawer in his bedroom) on the chest. This will
take the trap off of it (it should change from red to a neutral color). Next,
use the key you stole from under the Quartermaster Goblin's pillow to open the
chest. Now you have the trolls' idol. This is probably one of the first true
puzzles you've completed in the game.
*After the idol is taken, Atok the Quartermaster will suddenly barge in
unexpectedly. He becomes enraged to find out that you've discovered the Trolls'
Idol since he was the one who stole it in the first place. Apparently, ever
since his loss to Alotar (king of the Goblins) in the election, he came up with
a hideous plan to blackmail Alotar for the theft. He knew that the
"Brotherhood" was expecting gemstones from the goblins, and with the trolls not
working, there was no gemstone supply to come into their hands. He figured that
Alotar would be killed, and he would become the new King. Unfortunately, you've
spoiled his plan, and he's going to finish you.*
<->This battle is extremely easy if you space yourself away from Atok. Start
off by rotating like fighters moving around a boxing ring. Retreat backwards
against the wall, but keep charging and swinging at him. Repeat the strategy
until he falls over. He's not very strong, and his only weapon is a normal
Sabre, so don't worry about it. For now though, you can try out the sabre as
your new weapon (unless you have something else to fancy). Search his corpse
for a little metal key, and use it on the door (it'll be locked). You may also
want to check out the dead Goblin Lord right outside for some free items (Atok
killed him on the way in).
Now that you have the idol, use the lever by the goblin gate, and run back over
the bridge into the mines. Show Pog the Trolls Idol, and he'll thank you in a
calm fashion. He'll also meet his part of the agreement, and commands the
Trolls to clear the rocks blocking the path to the fortress.
***The path to the fortress is now open.***
Tell the King of your news
----------------------------
Now, head back to the usual spider cave that leads to the city of Arx. Before
you can enter the stairs to the cave, a strange voice will speak to you. Don't
worry, you're not going to be ambushed by a ravaging monkey. Go all the way
back to the city of Arx, and do your usual duties. I HIGHLY recommend you sell
any armor, extra weapons, or accessories you've found thus far. You might not
be able to get a lot of gold for them (if you're intuition is low), but you can
use a hefty amount of gold at the moment. It'd be best if you picked up a KEY
RING from Maria's shop (or the woman with the building on the right side). Once
you're finished, head over to Lunshire's Castle, and enter the throne room.
*A brief cutscene will reveal the King discussing between his advisors about
some mysterious person named Akbaa. Apparently, the recent attacks may have
something to do with this identity. He tells them to find out more information
on what truly is going on.*
Walk up to the King to initiate yet another cutscene.
The Investigation
----------------------------
*The King says that there have been sacrifical rituals going on around the city
of Arx. They haven't been able to locate who or what is the cause, but King
Lunshire wants you to find out what's going. Also, Falan Orbilanax, a recent
astronomer under the King was murdered by a Ylside warrior. Question people
around the castle to see what they know. You also receive roughly around 800
gold for your traveling troubles, and a key to a Private Am Shaegar Bedroom in
the Private Property of the palace. Now this is what I call luxury!*
First off, from now on, get use to connecting keys to your Key Ring. It's
essential you keep them all organized in one slot in your inventory. To check
out your new room, go up the stairs located inside the Throne room, and your
room should be located in the middle on the left wall. There's a sign
designating its presence. Inside you have 2 storage chests, which are great for
putting non-quest items, books, and artifacts you'll lose later on. After
you're done storing, eating food, or pigging out, head back to the first room
of the castle (right when you enter). Go down the right hallway and keep going
until you see a door designated with a Library Sign.
Enter and talk to Sister Chinkashh. She'll sum you up on what she believes the
evil forces are. Apparently, this Akbaa clan has something to do with the
strange sacrifices going around Arx. Look in the back of the small library
room, and there should be a door. Open it and welcome yourself to the
Alchemist's Lab. Here, you'll find Felnor the Alchemist. Speak to him.
*Felnor brings up a few good points about the Akbaa clan, and how the recent
discoveries may relate to them. There are possibilities that the Ylsides are
warriors under their directions, while most of these statements are just
ponderous guesses. Felnor says that Falan left him with a note the day he died,
but he could never decipher it. He also gives you Orbilanax's room key.*
- Head back out to the Throne Room, and up the stairs to the bedrooms on the
right side. Orbilanax's Bedroom is located in the middle on the right side. Use
the key on it and enter. Walk over the Hanging in his room, and press A to
swish it aside. You'll now see a 3-number combination safe that can only be
opened with the correct sequence. If you want, you can read the note that
Felnor gave you, or use my diligent work in solving the 3-way equation. The
password is:
248
Enter it in that direct order, and the safe should open.
*Am Shaegar will grin delightfully, since he's discovered Falan's private
notebook.*
The Guardian
----------------------------
*A cutscene will show that Am Shaegar has requested that King Lunshire organize
in the Council Room for a meeting to discuss the current situation. Each of the
members read Falan's notes, and Felnor makes some amazing discoveries.
Apparently, Falan witnessed a ritual cult by one of the guards, Erzog, about
this Akbaa god. He also made discoveries that the Akbaa Cult was practicing
their worships nearby, but then he was suddenly murdered by a Ylside warrior.
King Lunshire then calls that the Arx guard Erzog be placed in the cells for
the murder of Falan. The others then start to speak about a mysterious meteor
which is the center of the power of the Cult. Akbaa, god of Destruction, wants
to invade and kill the rest of the remaining races living underground. The only
way to stop him is to destroy a certain meteor rock which is providing power to
his cult.*
*The King then has a piece of this meteor rock brought in and laid on the table
for everyone to witness. Apparently, only a certain guardian sent by the
Equilibrium Dimension (sort of like the good Gods) can destroy this meteor to
finally end the rule of Akbaa. King Lunshire wants you to figure out a way to
find this Guardian, while Carlo and the guards hold off the Ylside attacks.
Since the mysterious 'guardian' can destroy a meteor with a simple touch, the
King gives you a piece so that you can test out if the person truly is a
Guardian. Well, to everyone's surprise, when you touch the Meteor, it becomes
destroyed!*
<->All along, you were a Guardian sent by the Gods. That's why you can't
recollect your memory.<->
*That quest was pretty easy! No wonder why Am Shaegar has been helping
everyone, he's a guardian sent by the heavens. After touching the piece of the
meteor, you're brought into a mental communication state with the Equilibrium
Gods. They tell you that your mission is to destroy the Akbaa clan, and all of
its followers. You agree to do so. Finally, you tell this to the rest of the
Council Members, and get ready to move out.*
Once the long series of cutscenes are over, you'll be outside of the Council
Chambers. Go to your left and then another left down the hallway. Continue
straight until you hit a door. Press the lever to open the portcullis, then
walk into the cell room. Talk to Erzog.
*Erzog tells you to leave mercy on his soul. He doesn't want to die (eh, I
don't blame him). Apparently, Akbaa told him that by performing the sacrificial
rituals, his dead wife would be brought back to life. Am Shaegar then says to
give him one reason to spare his life. Well, he provides one darn good reason.
Erzog tells you the password to enter the secret Akbaa clan hideout, and that's
it at the tanvern near the fortress. Hehe, now we're gonna kick some real
priest butt!*
After you're short discussion with Erzog, return back to the main room of the
castle.
*A brief discussion between the Sister Snakes and the King will pursue.
Apparently, they're arguing over some previous truce, and Lunshire has been
trying his best to resolve the situation. The Sisters want some rebels, but the
King has been trying to find them for over 20 years.*
Once the arguement is finished, leave the castle since the King & Sisters
refuse to tell you of their predicament. Outside, Sister Chinkashh will show
you how portals work. In order to activate a portal, you must cast the spell
"Mega Spacium", which will light up the portal. By lighting up portals across
the underworld, you can transport quickly and efficiently. She will also give
you the MEGA and SPACIUM runes, which will greatly boost your magic abilities.
You should be able to cast 3 additional fire spells.
___________
/The Temple/
----------------------------
=Kill the Akbaa Cult followers, and destroy the meteor inside by touching it.=
Start off by equipping up to leave Arx. This time, go near the right side of
the map, and look for a colorful banner that borders one of the railings.
Follow the stairs upwards, and you'll enter the cave that was cleared by the
trolls. Continue on the pathway and take a right. This will take you to the
fortress. Go around front, and head over to the tavern bar where our good old
friend Polsius hangs out. Talk to Polsius, and he'll reveal that the goblins
were secretly giving humans to the Akbaa Priests in order for sacrifices. In
exchange, it was sort of a peace treaty so the goblins would not be attacked by
the Ylside warriors. He was imprisoned because he told the Goblin King this,
and Alotar did not believe this nonsense. Anyway, back to kicking some
religious booty.
Right when you enter the tavern, look to your right for an inlet. Walk in, and
press A to say the password for the door. It'll be unlocked. Walk by, and go
down the stairs. Start off by going down the small scale of stairs, and look
for a door on the right. Charge up your attack, open the door, and kill the
priest. Try to prevent any of the priests on this level from running for more
help. Otherwise, you're going to have to deal with up to 3 priests at a time,
and it can be a pain for the weaker characters. Check the chest in this room
for an Akbaa rock, and also check any priest bodies on this level for useful
rings, accessories, and potions.
Continue on your usual path checking any doors for fellow priests. If one of
the priests do run away, don't chase him. Instead, let them come towards you
one by one, and fight them in that order. Note that the priests do have the
ability to cast self enchantments, plus ice projectiles, so be careful. If you
see one retreat, be ready to leap to avoid an ice ball. Priests are equipped
with daggers, so they're not too much of a physical threat. Now, keep going
until you reach a room where there are three separate doors spaced out evenly -
sort of like this:
___Security___
/ \
/ \
Extra Meteor
| |
| |
| |
------| |-------
| |
| |
Take the Extra route first, and investigate all rooms/locations. There are a
few priests, but most of them can be handled one at a time (unless you disposed
of them before). You should find a Golem's Heart, several powdery mixtures, and
a still in one room. You might want to experiment with the still by combining
powders into bottles, and then combining the bottles with the still. You can
create an invisibility potion, plus a couple other useful antidotes. Also, make
sure you take a Dispel Field scroll somewhere in the vicinity. Once you've
cleaned out the left side of the Temple, move back to the 3-way, and now enter
the security passage.
- It's protected by a force field, so use the Dispel Force Field scroll, and
cast the spell to rid of it. This next part can be very tricky unless you read
any of the paper notes that were on the corpses of the priests. You must do 3
things in order to turn on the bridge which leads to the Meteor. Follow them
according to their [1], [2], and [3] steps.
=+=
| | ------\
| | | [1] |
| | | |
|=| / |
| \---/ /
G ---- _____
| | |[2]| ____
G |____| |_ | |
| ==[3]|
G ________________==___|
|
Steps to turn off security system:
[1] - Before doing anything, close the door behind you that let you into the
security room. It must be closed for the puzzle to be solved. Head over to the
room in the middle, and you should see 3 numbers posted on the wall. Enter the
following combination:
113
- Then, hit the lever opposite of the numeric slots. This accomplishes one
task.
[2] - Move to where you see the first Golem standing against the wall. If you
get in close enough, you'll notice that he looks at you as you walk around.
Strike him once to lure him after you. When he starts to chase you, he moves
very, VERY slow. Walk down towards where the #2 position is, and you'll see a
pressure switch on the floor, along with a lever nearby. Lure the golem into
the room, hit the switch (it's trapped, you'll take some damage), and make SURE
he stands on the pressure switch.
-- OR --
[2] - Place the Golem Heart you retrieved from before into the empty golem that
does not have a yellow heart in the center. Once the heart is placed in, speak
to him to get him to follow you. Lure him to the pressure plate, and tell him
to stop. This way is much easier, but I always enjoy having a ramparting golem
chase me.
-- OR --
[2] - Simply drop an item on the pressure plate near the switch. This way, you
don't have to deal with pesky golems or nuisances.
[3] - When he walks over the switch, the portcullis will open up (since you hit
the lever along with him stepping on it). Run inside, hit the switch on the
wall. This opens up the door down the narrow hallway on the left side. Run up
there, go through, and close the door BEHIND YOU that you just opened. Now
you'll be able to open the door straight ahead, hit the switch, and this will
enable you to access the Meteor bridge.
***IMPORTANT: Make sure you leave the door to the hallway CLOSED, and the door
you entered that leads into the security room. These doors must be closed for
the puzzle to work as its a part of the trick.***
Argh, it's a trap!
----------------------------
Head back to the 3-way where you've been going for the past 15 minutes. This
time, take the meteor doorway. When you go in, don't kill the priest, but
instead, speak to him.
*A brief cutscene will show you and the priest talking about Akbaa. Apparently,
he thinks your Brother Shaegar (how catchy, heh), and speaks of praying to
Akbaa. The followers are obeying Akbaa's orders because he guarantees them
freedom on the surface of the earth, with a bright and beautiful sun shining.
Of course, this is a bunch of bull crap, and the truth is too blind to believe.
Anyhow, he goes back to praying, leaving you with one instance where you DON'T
have to kill an Akbaa priest.*
Before heading out of this room, go along the left side of the wall up the
stairs. Search for a hidden button about halfway down. Hit it, kill the golem
(or avoid it for now). Search the corpse, and make sure you take the Kaom +
Cosum runes. Run out of this hidden passageway, and go to the opposite part of
the room. Search for another hidden button, and go inside.
***There's an Akbaa rock inside the small chest in the right corner. You will
have to fight a powerful Lich ghost, which may be too strong for your character
at this moment. If so, you can come back later in the game when you're better
prepared.***
Go straight through to the next room, and leap on each of the three gaping
horizontal pillars. Once you're across, run up the stairs and enter the Meteor
room. You'll soon discover that the head priest of the Akbaar Cult was waiting
for you all along. Somehow he knew of your presence. He says a few brief things
denouncing your cause, then summons a Demon to kill you. Note that there's also
a woman laying on a sacrificial table below the meteor. The demon isn't too
strong. Just keep using the retreat tactic, where you strike, move back,
charge, and then strike again. Repeat the process until it's dead. The demon
will sometimes charge at you which means it's going to attack. Hit it at the
last moment right before it hurts you. Once it's dead, free the woman off the
table, and then try to touch the meteor. Apparently, it's too strong and drains
your mana. Hmmm, this is tougher than I thought.
- Since you can't destroy the meteor, you must seek Felnor for advice. Look to
the right of the meteor, and there should be a hanging. Open it, enter the
passage, and then hit the switch for the Emergency Exit. Take this path out,
and head back to Arx via the cave passage from the fortress. Go back to the
castle throne room, and you'll witness a discussion.
*King Lunshire finally decides to fill you in on what's going on. But before
telling you the actual truth, he wants to know if you destroyed the meteor.
Unfortunately, you tell him no because it was stronger than your guardian
powers. Felnor informs you that the only way to prevent the meteor from
draining your energy is to seek out two immunity stones called Krahoz and
Zohark. About 20 years ago, the Sister Snakes let the humans borrow these two
stones to give them magical powers beyond mortal existence. Then, one day, a
large group of rebels stormed the castle and stole Krahoz. Thankfully, the
humans were able to retrieve Zohark, but lost Krahoz to this small group of
warriors. The rebels disappeared, never to be found again. When the time came
to return the stones to the Sister Snakes (who previously owned them), the
humans could only return Zohark. This is why the Snakes and Lunshire were
arguing before.*
Now's your chance to help the King. He wants you to ask the Sister Snakes if
you can have Zohark, and also to discover these rebels so that you can seek out
the other stone, Krahoz. When both stones are equipped, you can successfully
destroy the power of Akbaa, without having your energy drained unlike before.
________________
/Krahoz & Zohark/
----------------------------
=Go deeper into the mines until you discover the Sister Snakes, and ask if you
can borrow Zohark. Find the hidden rebels and retrieve Krahoz.=
-- First off, this quest can be fairly tricky if you don't know where to go.
For now though, don't even think about going back to the Akbaa Temple. Ylside
warriors are there now, and you're certainly too weak to battle with them.
First off though, do your usual re-equip by selling off older items, and
upgrading with new stuff. Also, go check out Felnor's Alchemist Lab behind the
Library in the castle. If you check the chest right by the door, there are
approximately 4 different runes you can gain, including 2 new ones which you
did not have previously. Take them all, sell the other 2, and then go to Maria
to purchase Rhae and Vitae (if you have the 2000 gold yet). Congratulations,
you've just earned one of the most powerful secret spells in the game (HARM -
Rhae + Vitae).
-- Also, you'll discover that the woman who owns the shop (Maria) on the right
side of Arx is standing outside with a doomed look. If you speak with her,
she'll tell you that her daughter, Shany (remember the little brat from
before?), has gone missing. Apparently, no one knows of her whereabouts, and
she was last seen hanging out near the gem dealer's place. If you want, you can
complete this side quest and rescue Shany. For more information, please check
out the Side Quests section (Chapter 4).
Anyhow, back to the quest. Take the spider cave entrance that leads to Arx, and
take it all the way back to the Troll mine. Go past the troll mining entrance,
and cross the bridge. Go to where that one troll use to stand (guarding the
entrance to the mines below). It's now clear. Go down the stairs to begin your
perilous journey. Continue walking forward on the stairs pass the water.
Eventually, you come to a decline, and you'll see a woman walking around. In
case you didn't notice, that woman is actually the one you saved from the
sacrificial table in the Akbaa Temple. Speak to her to reveal a cutscene.
-- Note that right when you enter the stairs to level 4, there's a cave pathway
directly to your right. This part of level 4 relates to the Rescue Shany quest
if you initiated it. Again, you can find out more information in the Side
Quests section.
*The woman calls herself the "mysterious one." Am Shaegar says that he's
looking for an artifact (Krahoz and Zohark) which will help him rid of the
Akbaa Temple. He also speaks of a rebel force that is holding Krahoz.
Thankfully, at the last second, you'll be knocked out by some guards and
dragged away. Dejavu all over again.*
Ow, that hurt!
----------------------------
*You'll now wake up in the rebel camp that King Lunshire spoke of. The woman
you met before was actually Alia, leader of the rebels. She says that you
shouldn't believe everything you hear, and that most likely the King was lying
to manipulate you for his own actions. Eh, it's all for the same cause. Since
Alicia and you have the same goals (defeating the Akbaa Temple), plus you saved
her life, she's willing to make an exchange. You must seek out a legendary
shield of the ancients, and trade it with her for Krahoz. Do this task, and
you'll have 1/2 of the ultimate rhinestone combo!*
First of all, the Shield of the Ancients is actually located in the Crypt,
which is a demonic place located in the city of Arx. You may have noticed it
before. It's usually on the far right side of Arx, and no one is allowed to
enter without Carlo's permission. I'm sure you know what this means! Go to the
bottom of the rebel camp by following the cantations and series of steps. Once
you're near ground level, go to your left and pass the closed metal door.
Follow this wall until you see some guards drinking near a bar. Go straight
through, and enter the hallways. Look for a boulder blocking a wall, with a
blue emblem on the wall, and a guard nearby. Walk up the blue emblem, search
your inventory, and combine the Secret Rebel Dagger Pass with the blue stone.
This opens the door. Never lose this item as it's your only way back into the
camp.
Follow the stone pathway back to the Level 4 stairs, and then head back to Arx.
Once you're there, look for Carlo walking around near the right/center portion
of the city. Talk to him, and he'll give you the Key to the Crypt. Before you
go down though, I recommend you find/purchase some stakes (either from the
rebel camp or Arx), a few antidotes to replenish your status, and be at least
level 4. You're going to face undead creatures inside the crypt, which means
they'll rise after being knocked to the ground (unless they're mummies).
The Creepy Crypt
----------------------------
- After you receive the key from Carlo, go to the far right side of Arx, and
look for a gray enclosed structure. This is the Crypt. It's basically a resting
place for all of the dead citizens of Arx. Heroes, Guardians, and honorable
citizens are buried here to rest in peace. Unfortunately, that won't be lasting
long until you start ripping through their graves.
[[---------------------------------------------------------------------
{{NECESSARY ITEM: Pickaxe
[[---------------------------------------------------------------------
{{HELPFUL ITEMS: (2-3) Wooden Stakes, 33% inventory space available
[[---------------------------------------------------------------------
Put the newly found key into the lock, and enter Crpyt. The first level of the
Crypt is quite simple to get past, but takes some dedicated time. First off,
the first level splits off into several directions. Here are some key locations
to remember:
General's Grave
|
|
Guardian's Key<----Blood Statue
|
|
| Vampire Item
\ | /
\ | /
\ | /
====== ====== Falan's Key/Secret Lever
/ \
/ \
| |
| |
Guardian Room <------- ------Locked Portcullis---^^Lord Inut
|
|
>>Level 2 Stairs
First of all, there are a few items you MUST collect in order to retrieve the
Shield of the Ancients. If you happen to find any items that are labeled "Stone
with a unique carving/shape", keep them at ALL COSTS. These purple stones are
suppose to be used later in the Crypt in order to solve a puzzle to get the
shield. These stones are spread out in the Crypt, and you must search for all
6. I do NOT have them noted on my map because sometimes the locations are on
corpses, on the floor, and so on. Keep an intuitive eye open. Secondly, Pickaxe
all the graves you can find in the Crypt. Many contain weapons, armors, special
accessories, potions, keys, levers, just about the whole shenanigans. Don't
pass them up. I'm only going to point out the key ones. Head northeast down the
stairs and into the room of heroes. Pickaxe the Vampire's Grave and take the
Sacrificial Item (pricks and draws your own blood).
Head back to the main aftway, then head north into the room with a lady holding
a bowl in the middle. Combine the sacrificial item with the bowl, and your
blood will be drawn into the bowl. All 3 surrounding doors will open. Search
the rooms, but make sure you pick up the key in the left room (contains a
Guardian key). Head back to the main room, and southwest into the guardian room
(use the key). Search the left corner of the room for a solid statue holding a
sword. Press A on the sword, and it triggers a switch. Go out of the room, and
move south down to the second level.
The Creepy Crypt - Level 2
----------------------------
This is where the action starts to get a tad creepy. You'll be greeted by a
posted sign that says not to wake the sleepers. There will also be an immense
fog covering most of your vision in the Crypt. You can try casting the spell
Nightvision to negate this effect. For the first time, you're going to face
zombies, which are continually rising creatures. To kill a zombie, keep
attacking them (with magic or physical attacks), until they feign to the ground
like a normal creature. Then, search your inventory for a wooden spike, and
combine it with their body. This will cause them to die forever. If you do not,
they will rise after a designated amount of time.
When you enter the first room, don't hit either lever on the sides of the room.
Both are trapped to revive the zombies on the ground. Instead, search the right
corner for a wall stone, and toss it on the pressure plate. This opens the
Portcullis. Head forward, but do not step on any future pressure plates. They
are traps, which send out two horribly sharp blades that can cut out about
25-45% of your health. Instead, leap over them. You can now start to search the
side doors on the left and right hallways. There are about 3 on each side, with
some doors locked, and some held closed with steel cages. Head down the center
hallway and look for two parallel switches next to each other. Hit them both to
open each of the steel gates on both sides of the room. Search for any keys you
can and use them on locked doors if possible.
The third door in the right hallway contains a secret switch (in the room) that
opens a cavern which leads to Level 5. This can be left open as a shortcut
later in the game. To move onto Level 3, it's going to take some speed. Move to
the center hallway and continue down until you see 2 Hidden Buttons against the
same wall. Hit both of them, RUN north to the center Portcullis and try to make
it in time before both buttons pop out. If can't make it in time, try again.
BOTH buttons must be pressed for the door to open, and they will pop out after
8 seconds or so. You can also try getting a speed scroll, or casting a Speed
spell to give you more time to reach the place. Once you make it through, toss
a stone on the pressure plate to open the next portcullis, and continue to the
next level.
- The next part is going to be fairly tricky, so make sure you're ready to
fight a boss, a few enemies, and get a fire spell ready.
Once you're down the stairs, go left and continue until you run into a large
cathedral room (several stained glass windows). A cutscene will show a mummy
burst through one of the windows. Get your fire spell ready and cast it on him.
Keep using fire spells plus a few strikes from your blade to send him down.
Mummies do NOT have to be staked in order to die; they're simply like any other
foe you meet in the game. After you kill him, turn around, and go up either the
left or right diagonal stairs next to the ones you entered. Go through the
rooms until you're in one of the stained glass upper rooms. Look for a single
lever switch on either side. Hit one of them, then go to the opposite side of
the cathedral and go up those stairs. Each lever opens the door opposite to the
lever you pressed. So for example, if you pressed a lever on the left side, a
portcullis opens on the right side. Follow through the opening, and LEAP over
the lava pit below. You may take some damage if you hit the burning pool.
Toss something on the pressure plate (an empty bottle works) to keep a bridge
open so that you don't have to keep leaping over it. Continue straight forward
and you'll meet the first hard puzzle.
*A cutscene will show a ghost speaking to you. He'll ask you if you've come to
take the Shield of the Ancients, and you say yes. He shall give you the shield
under one condition: you must complete the following riddle. There are six
clans that allow for the sun to rise and dawn. Place the sign stones you
gathered from before onto the pedestal, and the correct order shall open the
door. From there on, you're free to leave. Sounds a tad fishy, eh?*
- You should have 6 different rune stones by now. They're the purple stones
that have unique symbols on them. If you look at the center of the floor,
you'll seen a sundial device with six different pedestals pointing outward. You
must walk to the pedestal, combine one of the stones with it, and eventually,
all 6 will unite to open the door. Here's how you solve it:
------
/ 1 \
/ L [ \
| |
|* I |
\ /
\ V /
------
Basically, you should see small indentations by each of the six parts of the
clock. The dividers look like >< with two symbols showing by each of the six
elements of the clock. The INNERMOST symbol pointing towards you is the one
that you must match up with the pedestal. If you don't understand what I mean,
simply do this:
- Place the "O" circle stone on the 1 Pedestal.
- Place the "O" sun stone with shining lines on the [ pedestal.
- Place the "K" stone on the I pedestal.
- Place the "[" stone on the V pedestal.
- Place the "normal moon" stone on the three-dot pedestal.
- Place the "normal moon with dot" stone on the L pedestal.
Once that's accomplished, you should hear a victory sound, and the door will be
opened. Continue forward, and search the tomb in your left for the Shield of
the Ancients. Take it. Now, jump on top of the tomb, and there should be a
switch hidden behind two slabs of rock leaning against a wall. Hit this switch.
Then, turn around, and head to the otherwall that has nothing near it. Look
right, and there should be a hidden button, hit it. Go up the newly opened
stairs for a Morte rune hidden above.
Now's the tough part. Head back the same way you came (past the lava), to the
stairs that lead out of the Cathedral. When you're about to leave, a Lich will
be summoned to attack you. Be weary, this opponent is very powerful and
dangerous. This is the same ghost that let you solve the riddle before. Make
sure you equip the Shield of the Ancients (magic resist % is helpful), since
the Lich can cast up to nearly 6 different spells (slow time, paralyze, summon
undead, lightning projection, harm, mana drain). To defeat him, continually
slice him when he gets close, and keep using ranged magic (fireball). Cast Harm
if you feel confident, and try to get him to close in on you. It may take a few
tries to kill him because of his foolish paralyze spell. Once he's dead, search
his corpse for the "Tempus" rune (very powerful). Now, if you were searching
tombs before in the cathedral, you probably came across one that was too heavy
to open. Remember that hidden switch you hit before? It opens the tomb. The
heavy tomb is the one directly straight behind the altar table in the
cathedral. Check the body for some Mithril Loggings (excellent boots, should be
equipped immediately).
Head out of the Crypt by taking the same route you went.
- Go back to the Rebel Camp by heading down to Level 4, going left, and then
using your secret Dagger pass on the boulder with a blue insignia nearby. Head
up to Alia (in the farthest tent where you first started), and combine her with
the Shield of the Ancients.
*A cutscene reveals that Alia is actually the daughter of King Lunshire. Her
mother (Lunshire's wife), was killed by an unknown person, but she gave birth
to Alia before being kidnapped. The Sister Snakes wanted to take Alia for some
secret reason , and she's been in hiding ever since. Her father does not know
of her existence, and she wants you to keep it that way. She also tells the
guards to let you through their safehold in order to obtain Krahoz.*
Head all the way down the stairs until you reach ground level. There should be
a closed door on your left. Open it and walk through. This time the guards will
not go out of their way to stop you. Keep following straight and around the
bends until you reach an area with two levers. Hit the one to open the
Portcullis, then, go in and check the chest. Inside you'll find Krahoz to be
safely yours. Don't equip it yet.
Leave the rebel camp, but this time, take the rebel door on the right side.
This will automatically take you down to Level 5. If you make an immediate
left, and then another left, you'll reach a portal to Level 5 (which should be
activated for future use). Search the middle part of the mine, and you'll find
an Earth goblin clan who wants you to kill the Water Clan. You can find out
more about the Water/Earth Clan quests, and the rewards involved. Anyhow,
you're going to face several trolls in this area, and they will be hostile
towards you. The only way to prevent this is with Greu's Amulet, which is
obtained in an earlier side-quest in the game. Search the right side of the
mines until you find a stairwell, and go down.
Now that you're on level 6, make a right, and continue forward. There might be
a rat man who pops up along the way to fight. Fend him off, and he'll use a
teleport to leave. Now, make another right when you reach an area with tall
stalagmites, and ladders. Continue in that direction. You'll eventually reach
an area that looks futuristic, with magic devices and barriers. Go left down
this hallway, and press A on the switch to open the barrier.
*You'll ask the Snake woman if you can pass through. She will let you, and
tells you that Queen Snake Zalnashh can be found between the two serpent heads
in the throne room.*
- Walk up to the Queen Snake, and find out if she'll give you Zohark.
*Apparently, the Sister Snakes aren't so willing to just hand over Zohark. You
must pass a test as an initiate to prove your worthiness. If you pass the test,
they shall let you borrow Zohark in order to destroy the common enemy, Akbaa.
Of course, this is no ordinary test. You must pass their riveted Temple of
Illusions which can be one of the most frustrating puzzles in the game. They
will give you a Sacred Orb which opens the barrier to enter the temple.*
- Before you head off the to the Temple of Illusions, leave the throne room and
look left for the Snake's Library. Enter it, then grab the two scrolls on the
top of the bookcase. Make sure you get the Reveal scroll as it's necessary to
pass one challenge in the temple.
Temple of Illusions
----------------------------
The Temple of Illusions is opposite of where the Snake city is. Leave the Snake
establishment, then follow the hall out. However, rather than making a right
back out to level 6, go straight and you'll see a pink barrier blocking a
doorway. Combine the sacred orb the Snake women gave you, and enter the temple.
Pass the first room and go into the second room. Keep removing the hangings
until you find a hidden switch (should be located near the left side of the
wall). Hit it, and it will open a passage behind you. Make sure you remove all
the hangings to see where the passage opens up. Go in the secret passageway,
and you'll meet a dead end with a gray stone wall, locked chest, and a message
telling the weakness of the snake. Strike the gray stone wall with your weapon,
and you'll hear a victory sound. Check the chest, take the golden snake. Head
out of the passageway, then enter the room with the barrier blocking it. There
will be 8 switches on the wall, with none of them seeming to work. Cast the
Reveal scroll you took from the library before, and a hidden switch will pop
up. Hit it, and a wall will open up to let you move on.
Go through the hall, and go right (a portcullis will be blocking your left
doorway). This time, a golden snake will be caged in a steel cage, with a
crystal glove located on the top of the stairwell, and six rooms with switches.
The idea is to hit the 6 switches in order based on a brief picture provided by
the crystal globe. Each room DIFFERS based on the shadow patterns against the
wall. If you want the quick solution to solve it, hit the switches in the
following order based on rooms:
|---| |=======| |---|
| 5 | | Snake | | 2 |
|---| |=======| |---|
|---| |---|
| 1 | | 4 |
|---| |---|
|---| |---|
| 3 | | 6 |
|---| |---|
Once you hit them in the correct order, you'll hear a victory sound. Make sure
you take the golden snake that was enclosed before, and head through the
doorway that previously had a portcullis blocking it. This time, you'll meet a
room that has two signs (one with a short route, and another with a longest
route). Do NOT take the longest route, since it's actually a joke (you'll reach
a dead end with a sign saying it was a joke). Head back out, take the short
route. The next room contains a giant mirror. Kill the invisible man (very
weak, only has a short sword), then search his body for a ring of misery. Look
in the lower left corner for a walk-through wall. Simply walk through it to go
on. There is also a switch on the other side of the mirror, but it's a decoy
button.
The next room has two paths. If you try to walk through one path, you'll get
loop warped to the other side without passing through. To bypass this, turn Am
Shaegar completely around (backwards), and walk through like you normally
would. If you did it correctly, you should be able to walk backwards through
the loop and move to the next area. A sign congratulates you on passing the
test. If you try to walk down the corridor, you'll keep getting warped back to
the beginning. To bypass this, look in the upper left side of the wall for a
hidden eye button. The button is located right around when you turn the corner.
Hit it, and a doorway will open up. Walk through, hit the new hidden button,
and go through to pass the hall. You're now in the trophy room with a giant
bowl sitting in the middle. Combine the 2 Golden Snakes you retrieved from
before, and place them in. Victory will sound, and Zohark will appear in the
middle of the bowl. Pick it up to be interrupted with a brief cutscene from
Akbaa. Afterwards, you'll be warped to the room with the 2 Stone snakes, but
now they're normal Snake Women. You must fight them to the death. They're
fairly weak to physical strikes, so keep attacking, and they shall die. Head
outside, and check the dead snake woman's body. You'll find a note which says
something about a kidnapping. This is a side quest that can be accomplished by
going to the Crystal Caves. Please check out the side quests section.
This meteor is going down!
----------------------------
Now that you have both Krahoz and Zohark, it's time to send Akbaa a giant spicy
meatball. By now, MAKE SURE you have the HARM spell (Rhae + Vitae runes), of
which both can be obtained from the woman shopkeeper in Arx. You're going to
need HARM in order to kill Ylsides, unless you're extremely strong.
- Head all the way to Level 1, and go to the Yellow Tulip Tavern. Enter the
doorway that leads to the Akbaa Temple (with the meteor). Take the usual path
you take that leads to where the meteor is. This time, you're going to face
warriors called Ylsides that have awesome armor and two-handed swords. They are
powerful, fast, and can take 20% of your health down with one blow. Cast HARM
twice (doubles the damage), and then start attacking them. Harm should knock
their health down very fast, and continue to move on until you reach the
meteor. You're going to face about 3-4 Ylsides. Be careful in the one part that
doesn't allow magic. Lure the Ylside out, otherwise, you'll have to fight him
without HARM.
Once you reach the meteor, equip both Krahoz & Zohark, then walk up and press A
on it. The meteor will be destroyed, and you've successfully destroyed Akbaa's
energy channel. Apparently though, that wasn't good enough. You haven't been
called back to the Noden, so something must not be complete. PICK UP the Koltk
powder left behind from the meteor.
- Head back to Arx by taking the emergency exit (right side, hit the switch,
walk out the short way). Then take the cave back to Arx.
*You'll discover a wounded soldier who tells you that the city has been invaded
by the Ylside warriors, and King Lunshire has been imprisoned below. You must
talk to the King to find out what happened.*
Since the city is infested with Ylsides, you can use stealth to get by.
Personally, I use a combination of HARM, stealth, and fighting abilities to get
by. Head to the main gate of the castle. You may have to fight about 2-3
Ylsides, and it will be tough. Once you've reached it, enter inside. One Ylside
will immediately attack you. Make sure you recast HARM twice to ensure of his
death. Go left, down the hall, and press the secret button. Then, go in the
opened pathway, and go left. Hit the switch to open the prison cell, and go
inside.
*You'll be knocked on the head by a Ylside, and nearly killed. However, your
fellow mate, Kultar, saves you realizing that you were Am Shaegar. Apparently,
Kultar joined up with the Ylsides after his escape from the Goblin Prison.
Iserbius has plans to unite with Akbaa in order to bring the Sun back to the
surface of the Earth. He said it was in Iserbius's plans to try and revive the
cold world above. Unfortunately, he doesn't realize that Akbaa has different
intentions. Kultar says that the King is probably upstairs hiding in his guard
room. He also says for you to escape before the other warriors come.*
- Before you jump in the sewers, grab the Ylside leggings and Armor stashed
against the wall. Equip them both, and you'll have a brief conversation with
Iserbius and he communicates through the armor. Jump down the sewers.
*Iserbius orders for all Ylsides to retreat since the Guardian (Am Shaegar) has
escaped. Now Arx is free again. Heh, that was pretty easy.*
____________________
/The Ultimate Weapon/
----------------------------
Go back to the Throne Room, and King Lunshire will thank you greatly. By now,
you're starting to wonder why you haven't been called back to the Noden.
Apparently, Akbaa is not dead yet, but is building up for an incarnation. While
you went out to seek Krahoz & Zohark, Akbaa built up enough energy to form an
incarnation. Basically, he's going to warp himself into Iserbius's body when
the time is right. The only way to kill Akbaa is by creating the ultimate
weapon, and then unleashing it on him once and for all.
- Felnor wants you to search for a book on "how to create the ultimate weapon."
Start out by heading over the Castle Library and asking Sister Chinkashh on
where you can find this book. She ends up telling you that her Sister Snakes'
Library most likely holds the book due to its extreme rarity. Follow her
instructions, and head down to level 6 (via the portal device). Visit the
library and Sister Syllashh will already have the tome prepared. Read the book,
and you'll soon find out that there are several key ingredients to the ultimate
weapon.
- First off, the supposed ultimate weapon must be composed of an indestructible
metal. The only known metal that holds such properties is mithril, and that
happens to be as rare as winning the lottery. That certainly helps our quest.
- Secondly, it must be combined with a rare ingredient that can withstand power
from the mightiest blows. Obviously, this fits the description of the great
Kolkt meteor you destroyed before (and grabbed the leftover powder).
Go talk to Queen Sister Zalnashh. She'll tell you that you're going to have to
enchant the blade with the Kolkt Powder AND a dragon's egg. A dragon's egg will
cause great destruction to the element of what the blade is made of. So if you
added the meteor dust to the blade, and a dragon's egg, it would cause great
destruction to anyone who has come in touch with the meteor's energy (aka
Iserbius). From here on, you can branch off into two different directions.
-- Go down into the dwarven mines, and retrieve this mithril cast of a weapon.
- OR -
-- Head to Level 2, enter the ice caves, and seek the ice dragon for a dragon
egg.
If I were you, I'd get the dwarf part done first since it's the most
frustrating. Start off by heading out of the Sisters of Ederneum establishment,
and go towards the Temple of Illusions. But rather than entering it, make a
sharp left, and you should see some stairs down a few winding corners. Take the
stairs.
You're on level 7, home of the dirty rat men. Rat men will not talk with you,
and they are ruthless stealth killers. They're equipped with poison stealth
daggers, and are fairly fast in their actions. However, they're weak to
physical attacks, so make use of your brute force. Start off by going straight.
Most of this level is straightforward with only a few side tracks that lead you
off course. Immediately to your left should be a portal that you should
activate for future use. Continue straight and keep going through a winding
hall that turns you about 90 degrees.
Eventually, you're going to reach a part on the map where the textures shift
over to a dark muddy look. Go in this hall, and you'll see a gigantic worm
start to rumble towards you. The quickest way to kill him is to cast HARM
twice, and then just run really close to him. He doesn't actually swallow you,
but just does annoying attacks. He'll die after several seconds. Go through the
newly opened tunnel, and head left down to Level 8. Go to your right if you
want some free goodies. Level 8 is home of the dwarves, well, before they got
eaten. Hehehe...
Again, take the right path and you'll be lead to a large lava pool. Leap over
the stones, and hobble towards the portal. Activate it for future use. Run all
the way back to where the stairs were, and this time, make a left. Dwarves do
not allow for magic in their area, so you're going to be restricted for now.
Once you're near a locked door, take a left, and you should leap through a
small hole in the wall. As you can see, there's blood everywhere, along with
guts, and things of that sort. Apparently, most of the dwarves have been
murdered by someone, or SOME THING. Walk straight from the hole, and a cutscene
will show a giant rat-like beast leap from the hole you just came.
START TO RUN - the creature is IMMUNE to physical attacks. You also cannot cast
magic, so that's worthless as well. Run straight and then make a left on the
first passage you see. Run down here, and then jump on the platforms across the
lava pool below. Once you're across, run down the winding halls until you reach
a dead end, with a dwarf's body. Search the corpse, take the 2 pieces of dwarf
flesh, power stone, key, and pretty much everything. You may hear a rumbling
occur, as if a cave-in happened. Start walking back the same way you came.
Suddenly, you'll see that scary beast which was chasing you before. There
should be a door a few feet in front of him on your left. Use the key you just
acquired, and run through QUICKLY. Keep going straight (ignore the passage to
the right), until you reach a room with a giant stomper in the middle. Walk
over to the power machine behind it, and combine the powerstone in the empty
socket. Now, climb the ladder, and run to the opposite side where a switch is.
This can be fairly tricky. Wait up there until the beast walks into the room.
Fortunately for you, it cannot reach you. Wait until it's looking at you, and
toss a piece of dwarven flesh under the stomper. Be patient. If the creatures
eats the piece you tossed (but wasn't under the stomper), throw another piece.
When the creature goes under the stomper (because of the flesh lure), hit the
switch, and he'll be stomped. Apparently, he died. Leap down, and then go in
the new passage that's to the left of where you came. You'll reach a dead end
room. Crouch under the right side, and search one of the drawers for a key. Hit
the lever as well. Next, go up the stairs and read the miner's logbook, plus
whatever else you can grab. Run back to the room with the dead creature, and
then go back the hall you came from before. This time, make a left where you
passed the place before. However, before you can reach the locked door at the
end of the hallway, that damn beast is alive again! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE back to
the stomper room. Unfortunately, you don't have any powerstones left. There
should be a switch against the wall between the two hallways. Wait for the
beast to come in range, then hit the switch. A lava pool will open up. He
should fall into it. If it doesn't work, you leap over it, then watch him
follow behind you right into it. Now the bloody beast is dead.
Time to get me some Mithril
----------------------------
If you took your time to read the logbooks, it said that the dwarves had
managed to discover some mithril in the mines. Head back to where the beast
burst out of the wall, and open the locked door (with the key from the
foreman's office). Explore the four side rooms off of the adjacent hall for 3
powerstones, keys, and items. Then, head straight through and use 2 powerstones
for the 2 separate machines placed in the forge. Once they're in, head out, and
go left into the mining area. Head straight through, and go into the MAIN
tunnel area (supported with wooden planks). Keep going straight until you reach
an elevator. Press the lever to go down.
- You should see what looks like wooden scaffolds positioned inside this mining
area. Try to jump onto the one, and take it up to the top of the mining area.
Look for a dwarf's body in one of the dead ends, there should be a powerstone
on his corpse. Then, leap across, and check the other dead end of the scaffold
area. There should be a large silver chunk of metal. Pickaxe it out.
Unfortunately, it's too big to carry in your inventory. Pick it up, but do not
drop it. Carry it all the way down to where a "transporter" or laser device is.
Drop the chunk onto the left side, where the three pronged lasers are aimed.
Then, put a powerstone in, and hit the switch. The chunk of mithril gets warped
to the Foundry.
The Foundry is where you killed the bloody creature. Head back there, and you
should see the chunk near the end of a wooden shaft. Pick it up, and drop it in
the center (under the crusher). Place the new powerstone you have back in, and
then squish it (like you did with the giant creature). It should shatter into
four pieces. Make sure you take the two-handed metal cast (on top of a machine
in the Foundry), or a sabre metal cast (in one of the sleeping quarters). You
need one or the other. Take them all, then run to the forge (before the mining
area). Take the two pieces of mithril, and toss them into the over-like machine
on the right. Press the switch, and a Mithril rectangle bar will be produced.
Grab the bar, then walk over to the machine on the left. Put the cast of which
weapon you (sabre or two-handed sword) on the lower slab of the machine. Walk
up the stairs, and toss the mithril bar in the chimney-like oven up top. Hit
the switch, and the bar will be melt into the shape of the cast. On the other
side of the machine will be your newly created sword. Grab it, as it's
necessary to completing the game.
- You've successfully created a sword out of the indestructible metal -
Mithril. I personally used the two-handed cast since my character was a
warrior. However, you may prefer the sabre cast instead as it's one handed, and
allows for a shield to be equipped. To get out of the enclosed area, go to the
Foundry, then open the locked door (with a key you should've acquired between
the forge and mines). This locked door leads back out to the kitchen, with the
giant hole in the brick wall. Exit out of the front door with your key ring,
and head back to Arx. You may want to sell any items you found along the way.
Keep the extra mithril pieces later since you can combine them with other
molded items.
Let's get some dragon eggs!
----------------------------
Before you head off to the Ice Caves, it's necessary to have at least one
scroll of Levitate. Start off by getting to Level 2, one way or another. I
personally just ran past the human fortress, and went backwards to where the
original starting point is in the game. Once there, go left, and you should
find a door that says "End of Goblin Kingdom." Head out there, and continue
onwards. There's a friendly troll around here named Greu who you can accomplish
a side quest with, but that's in the other section of the guide. Instead, go
right near some stalagmites (you should be on the upper part of the caves). Try
to jump on one of the stalagmites. Look across and you should see what looks
like a cave opening, but there are no stairs or pathways leading to it. Cast
the levitate scroll, and hover across to the other side. If you have trouble
ridding of the Levitate spell, simply save your game, then reload it to rid of
the effect. Once you're on the ground, run up some stairs on the left side of
the cavern. Once you're up top, there should be some stairs about 5-6 feet
positioned away from the edge. It might take some practice, but balance
yourself near the corner, and leap across. You SHOULD make it (took me about
two tries).
Once you're on the stairs, go into the left cave. There should be a body
surrounded in ice. Combine the ice with a torch, or cast a fireball on it to
erode of it. Check the corpse for the "Comunicatum" rune. Then, search the
other bodies in this cavern. Look along the left wall for a solid block of ice.
Again, blast it down with a fireball. Go through, and you've met the legendary
dragon. Check some of the bodies, then speak with him when you're ready.
*The dragon will tell you that he simply isn't going to hand over one of his
young in exchange for saving all the humanity in Arx. It's going to take more
than simple compassion to turn over one of his young. The dragon asks you to
get as much gold as a dragon can have of scales. This is a heck of a lot of
money.*
-- You have 2 choices here, you can:
[1] - Give the dragon 4815 gold coins (the amount of dragon scales one can
have) in exchange for an egg. To do so, quick select your gold bag in your
inventory, then combine it with the dragon.
OR
[2] - Kill the dragon, and then take as many eggs as you want. If you do kill
the dragon, you may also take dragon bones (the only place you can get them in
the game), and roughly around 5,000 gold coins on the dead corpse.
<-> The dragon is not an overwhelmingly tough creature. It has primarily 2
attacks, a physical whip hit, and an ice spell that acts like a wave. It casts
this ice spell, which causes icicles to pop out of the ground in a thumb-like
pattern. Just attack it with fire spells, and keep hitting it with physical
attacks until it dies.
- Personally, I gave the dragon the gold coins instead of killing him. I was
trying to play as the nice guy along my quest, and killing a dragon was like
washing away a piece of history. Of course, I was also broke and screwed. Once
you do get the egg, it's time to make a key decision. You can get 3 different
"near the end of the game" cut scenes. None of them have an effect on the
ending, just what you witness and how the story progresses.
#####################
### Bad Scene: #####
#####################
<->You can go to the Sister Snakes, and have Queen Zalnashh enchant the sword
for you. She casts the spell "Mega Stregum Cosum" (Enchant Object). However, if
you do have the snakes enchant it, you give up the location of where the rebels
are hiding at. If you betray them like this, Alia then becomes the Sister Snake
Queen, and all of the other rebels are slaughtered at the camp. You also get a
very bad cutscene of a guard cursing you when you go to attack the Ylsides'
Bunker. Not a very pretty ending to the game.<->
-- OR --
########################
### Neutral Scene: #####
########################
<->You can enchant the object yourself by gathering the Mega, Stregum, Cosum
runes, and casting the Enchant Object spell. This method can be fairly tricky
though since the Cosum rune can only be found in the Temple of Akbaa in a left
hidden room in the prayer room. You may also attempt to find an Enchant Object
scroll. One can be purchased (about 1600 gold) from the Twin Traders who live
on level 5. Unfortunately, if you killed both goblin clans on level 5, the twin
traders will be raided by a random group of enemies, and their inventory will
be gone. Finally, if all else fails, you can look for an enchant object scroll
on level 6 or level 7 (very hard to find). Thankfully, there are 2 enchant
object scrolls inside the Ylside bunker (go down the stairs, make a right down
the hallway). The 2 scrolls are located in the bedroom before the forgery. They
are in a chest. Once you enchant the sword, and HAVE NOT completed the ghost
murder Crypt quest, you will get a neutral cutscene.<->
*Alia will be reunited with her father, Lunshire. Both of them are glorious to
see each other as it has been so long since their departure (never saw her
father at birth, Lunshire thought his daughter was dead). However, the Sister
Snakes of Ederneum will interrupt the party, and say that Alia is their new
queen. Apparently, King Poxsellis (father of Lunshire) made a pact with the
Sisters that his fourth descendant would become their queen, in exchange for
Krahoz & Zohark (to save the kingdom). They made this treaty. Alia was the
fourth in line, and now it's time for the humans to repay their part of the
treaty. King Lunshire denounces the treaty and tries to have the guards attack
the snakes. Unfortunately, their magic is too powerful, and Alia says that she
will be their kingdom to stop the bloodshed. Alia leaves with the Snakes, and
becomes their Queen.*
-- OR --
#####################
### Good Scene: #####
#####################
<->You must first complete the Ghost Murder quest inside the bottom levels of
t