The Bard's Tale: Won!

Testing my mettle against Storm Giants

  

My final party makeup for assaulting Mangar looks like this:

Ahab, level 19 Paladin

• Arc's Hammer - For hitting single targets 
• Dragonshield - Main death dealer; heavy group-targeting damage
• Mithril Plate
• Shield Ring
• Wargloves
• Diamond Helm
• Silver Triangle
• Thor Figurine - Summons Thor for battle, though this is seldom used
• Surprisingly good at running away! 

 

 Sunfall, level 19 Bard

• Bardsword does poor damage but gives free songs when outside of combat
• Flame Horn - Easily the most damaging group-targeting weapon in my disposal 
• Pipes of Pan - Lowers AC and provides free magic light 
• Adamantium Shield
• Adamantium Helm 
• Bracers [4]
• Wargloves
• Speedboots - I'm not totally sure what they do, to be honest.
• Twin songs of Traveller's Tune and Lucklaran provide passive AC boosts and magic resistance, respectively.

 

Viila, level 13 Wizard/Sorcerer/Conjuror

• Shield Ring
• Bracers [4]
• Luckshield
• Sorcererstaff - Lowers AC
• Mithril Gloves
• Lorehelm - Lowers AC and gives free Second Sight casts
• Silver Square
• Useful Wizard magic:
• Repel Dead - 16d5 damage to a group of undead monsters
• Dispossess - Cure 'possess' state
• Demon Strike - 32d4 damage to a group of demons
• Beyond Death - 1HP restoration to a dead ally
• Greater Summoning - Summons a greater demon
• Useful Sorcerer magic:
• Mind Fist - 39d4 damage to one monster. Level-based.
• Mind Blade - 10d4 damage to all monsters.
• Second Sight - Passive detection of traps, stairs, and special encounters
• Useful Conjuror magic: Trap Zap, Magic Compass

 

 Scribe, level 13 Wizard/Sorcerer/Magician

• Shield Ring
• Bracers [6]
• Luckshield
• Lorehelm
• Dragonwand - Heavy group-damaging magic. Outdamages any group-targeting spells.
• Conjurstaff - Cuts SP use in half.
• Same Wizard/Sorcerer spells as Viila.
• Useful Magician magic:
• Scry Site - Gives dungeon coordinates
• Mystic Shield - Passive AC boost to party
• Restoration - Heals party 100% and cures poison and insanity
• Deathstrike - Death to one monster with a high success rate

 

Magic Mike, level 12 Wizard/Sorcerer/Conjuror

• Shield Ring
• Luckshield
• Onyx Key
• Sorcererstaff
• Bracers [4]
• Lorehelm
• Kiel's Compass - Limited free casts of Scry Site (locate spell)
• Deathring - Revives dead party members, but leaves them in a 'possess' state
• All of Viila's spells except Greater Summoning

 

Houdini, level 11 Wizard/Sorcerer/Conjuror

• Bracers [6]
• Luckshield
• Sorcerstaff
• Silver Circle
• Shield Ring
• Dragonwand
• All of Viila's spells except Greater Summoning

Savvy players might infer that it could be optimal to switch Viila and Scribe to Conjuror/Magician respectively so that they can learn their final spells and become archmages, but I'm putting that off. For this final campaign, I want high levels, not maximum versatility.

Even this late in the game, I don't have a lot of tactical options. I run as much as possible - it doesn't always work. The only buffs worth using are passive magic boosts and bardsongs; any turn you have to spend in combat is better spent killing some of the threats, and most of the monsters go first most of the time, so you'll bear the brunt of the damage that you're going to take during round 1 anyways, before you even have a chance to use your magic to mitigate it.

I do, however, make a save state at the start, and I need it almost immediately. I win my first fight against cloud giants, and lose Viila, but before I can revive him, I'm immediately ambushed by a pack of spectres who level drain me. And I've just about had it with playing fair with that bullshit.

Truth be told, this isn't my first attempt - I had an earlier go with levels at 17/17/11/11/10/6, and another at 18/18/12/12/11/9. And while I managed to map out the tower and find Mangar, I had been abusing save states so badly that it dawned on me that I was probably meant to grind a few more levels.

A Stairs down B Message C Combat D Trap E Teleport F Smoke G Storm Giants H Possession I Ancient Enemies J Balrogs K Boiling liquid L Archmage M Spectres N Silver engravings O Black Dragons P Spectre Snare Q Mangar

  

Even now, I'm probably underleveled for this tower - some of the random fights still aren't winnable, such as a fight against 8 Greater Demons and 24 Mandar Guards which wiped out my fully healed party before anyone could even do anything. Level drains at the hands of spectres and vampires are unavoidable except through luck. You just have to be lucky enough to reach him without hitting a TPK encounter you can't run from, and with enough levels intact to win.

In my successful run, in which I knew exactly where to go, I had almost twenty encounters, one of which was lethal to a single party member (Viila). I ran away from most, and feel this was lucky, as multiple unsuccessful runs got me pummeled with unrecoverable losses if not outright TPK'd.

Viila gets possessed in the dark and initiates combat

Strange enemies lurk in these cells. No reason to fight them.

Yes, you need to do this!

 

Level-draining Spectres guard Mangar's outer cloister. I got lucky this time.

Hope you remembered the tokens!

A lava-filled passage leads to a dark antechamber.

Riddles in the dark.

Solving the riddle behind Mangar's inner sanctum gets you the Spectre Snare, a wand that can possess monsters, including Mangar. This goes to Magic Mike - I learned the hard way in prior attempts that Mangar has a nasty habit of killing or possessing the Snare holder, so let's not make this any easier for him than necessary!

He summons two Greater Demons and three Vampire Lords for protection.

On round 1, Magic Mike snares Mangar, and we unload everything else we've got on the Greater Demons - Dragonshield, Dragonwand, Flame Horn, Deathstrike, Mind Fist. Group-damaging spells just aren't powerful enough, not even Demon Strike! Vampire Lords can level drain, which sucks, but Greater Demons can wipe out the party.

The results - Viila is level drained and possessed, and Sunfall is killed by a Deathstrike, but the survivors take out the Greater Demons, leaving me the Vampire Lords and whatever undead creatures they can summon.

Round 2 - We unload on the Vampires. Again, Repel Undead is too weak, so we use the Dragonshield, Dragonwand, Deathstrike, and Mind Fist.

Scribe is level drained, and Houdini is killed by a Deathstrike, but the Vampire Lords are dead, leaving me with a lone, harmless ghoul.

On Round 3, Mangar, despite being snared, is still able to cast spells, and Deathstrikes Scribe before Scribe can Deathstrike him!

So I summon Thor, not because I need his powers, but because he will erase Mangar from my summons slot.

You have been deref'd!

Kylearan appears.

Um, couldn't you have done that before I proved I don't need it?

 

Magic Mike teleports us back home where we recover and make our final levels up, which includes putting Scribe, Viila, and Magic Mike on their final spellcasting classes of the archmage path. Skara Brae's city gates are still snowed-in, and Sinister Street still loops infinitely - I guess that doesn't change until the sequel.

 

GAB rating: Average. Better than Maze Master, but worse than Wizardry III.

This is probably the best Wizardry clone yet (I haven't played Alternate Reality and don't plan to), with solid bones and plenty of meat on them. It's also one of the best looking Apple II games yet, making excellent use of its limited palette for both its pseudo-3D perspective graphics and the well-illustrated monster and character portraits, some of which are animated.

However, it never really rises above "adequate" in any regard except its graphics. The dungeons, where you spend the vast majority of your time, are not that interesting, and they're too big and too stuffed with filler, like repetitive spinner mazes that don't go anywhere, but you'll have to fully explore anyway just to find out that there's nothing in them to find. They make Wizardry's worst dungeons look compact and focused by comparison.

Wizardry's greatest strength, its surprisingly deep, tactical combat engine, remains leagues ahead of The Bard's Tale, which adopted very little of it. Wizardry demanded that you take each combat encounter seriously thanks to its quasi-permadeath, but gave you the tools for it, and made almost every spell and ability useful and distinct. Here, you mainly spam group damage and the only tactical consideration is assessing threat priority. Apart from that, success or failure is determined by luck and grinding; more of one offsets the need for the other. Fail, and you just restart and reload - the manual expressly advises this. And to ensure some semblance of challenge, the game keeps spawning endless random encounters at you to interrupt your exploration and drain your resources. It's just numbing!

So overall, I'm a little disappointed. And dreading the sequels. 

The Bard's Tale: Mangar's Tower, part three

 

Welcome to Mangar's penthouse suite! We're not ready yet.

Storm giants near the foyer weed out level 16 wimps. Like us.

 

To prep, we train on floor 4, with a save state at the start in case things go badly. The catacombs might have far easier encounters for more reliable XP, but the monsters in the tower have cool loot.

Of course, fighting them is risky! 

A trifecta of terror

 

Some of the more troublesome monsters are:

• Greater Demons appear in groups, usually hit, and possess party members on touch, but they don't often live long enough to benefit the demon as they also breathe fire for 100+ per party member. Never fight them.
• Red Dragons breathe fire for 100+ damage per party member. Lucklaran helps resist, but it's no guarantee that everyone survives this, especially when they show in packs.
• Titans hit accurately for 60+ points of damage.
• Cloud Giants are like Titans but even more accurate, more damaging, and nothing seems to kill them except Scribe's Deathstrike spell.
• Wizards love to summon more demons. Regular demons, but you don't want those either.
• Master Ninjas will instantly kill anyone they hit. But death is curable with Wizard magic at this point; just expensive.
• Mongos cast Stone, instantly ruining one party member if it works. It's worse than death, because you must leave the dungeon and go to a temple to cure it!
• Beholders cast deadly magic including Deathstrike, an instant kill to a single victim.
• Master Conjurors love spamming group-damaging magic against your party, and tend to tank your own return fire.
• Basilisks inflict Stone on hit. 
• Sorcerers can summon Red Dragons.
• Vampire Lords cast Deathstrike, tank Repel Dead magic, and drain levels on hit. Again, never fight them.

 

And some of the stuff I found includes:

• Arc's Eye - Unlimited casts of Sorcerer Sight. Pointless; the space it takes up isn't worth the meager SP saved by having it.
• Flame Horn - An awesome, reusable bard weapon that does massive group damage. Out-damages Frost Horn and Mind Blade.
• Dag Stone - Unlimited magic light. Not bad, given the prevalence of darkness.
• Troll Ring - Regenerates HP far too slowly to be worth it.
• Ogrewand - Summons an ogre. I don't know why you'd want this.
• Diamond Helm - Nothing fancy; just a minor5 upgrade to the Adamantium Helm, but for paladins only!
• Mage Figurine - Summons a Master Wizard once. Doesn't seem very good; he just cast mysterious spells that did nothing and then got his throat cut by a ninja.
• Spiritdrum - Bard-only item that summons a lesser demon. Worthless.
• Pipes of Pan - AC-lowering bard instrument that also provides free magic light.
• Powerstaff - Mage-only weapon that lightly singes a group of enemies in combat. Worthless.
• Thief Dagger - No idea, because only rogues can use it and mine is benched for this game.
• Conjurstaff - Effectively doubles the SP of whoever equips it. One of the best finds.
• Staff of Lor - No idea. Nobody can use it!
• Deathring -  Possesses a dead party member. Afterwards, the dispossess spell restores them to normal.
• Dragonwand - Group-targeting damage. Outdamages Mind Blade. 

 

Two successful trips with over 100,000 XP gained earns newly-Wizarding Houdini a few catch-up levels, brings Ahab and Sunfall to level 17, and gains Magic Mike, Scribe, and Viila nothing at all, who remain at levels 10-11. It's hard to overstate just how slowly wizards gain levels; Ahab and Sunfall at their current levels have in total over a million XP each, while my wizards would need 900,000XP accumulated just to reach 12, not counting the XP gained in prior spellcasting classes!

To be continued! This is basically over, right?

The Bard's Tale: Mangar's Tower, part two

 

My party for assaulting Mangar's tower now looks like this:

• Sunfall the bard leads the way with a magic-resisting Lucklaran song. Speed boots are equipped for improved fleeing chances - I want to live, not gain levels - but she also has a frost horn for inflicting group damage when running fails.
• Ahab the paladin fights in the front row with Arc's Hammer, which gives free light spells, but his main damage dealer is a Dragonshield, which does comparable damage to Sunfall's frost horn.
• Viila gets surprisingly low AC for a wizard thanks to magic bracers and an assortment of AC-lowering accessories including a sorcerer's staff, but his main damage dealer will be Mind Blade, along with Repel Dead and Demon Strike for their respective targets. He can summon demons at will too. His Lorehelm gives free clairvoyance spells, a magic broom means dubiously useful free levitation spells, and he also has the useful conjuror spells of Trap Zap, Magic Compass, and teleportation.
• Scribe has the most SP of anyone in the party and can cast any Wizard or Sorcerer spell that Viila can, but also has the old Magician spells of Mystic Shield (passive AC boost for the party), and crucially, Restoration.
• Magic Mike and Houdini are lower-level conjuror-wizards who offer some extra firepower. Kiel's Compass, carried by Magic Mike, gives free locate spells that work in antimagic zones.

 

Floor 3 begins in darkness, and Phase Door & teleport magic don't work! You can teleport back down to floors 1 & 2, and you can teleport directly to the stairs on floor 2, but the only way to progress is by walking.

A Stairs down B Message C Combat D Trap E Mongo F Teleport G Spinner H Keymaster I Magic Mouth J Stairs up

Lurkers 2560 Fire Giants 2560 Berserkers 2560 Azure Monks 2560 Hydras 2560 Green Dragons 2560 Wraiths 2560 Shadows 2560 Ivory Monks 2560 Weretigers 2560 White Dragons 2560 Magicians 2560-2816 Conjurors 2560-2816 Wizards 2560-2816 Sorcerers 2560-2816 Ice Giants 2816 Phantoms 2816 Ogre Lords 2816 Eye Spies 2816 Xorns 2816 Body Snatchers 2816 Fred 2816 Lesser Demons 2816 Ghouls 2816 Evil Eyes 3072 Ghosts 3072 Mimics 3072 Golems 3072 Vampires 3072 Basilisks 3072 Grey Dragons 3072 Master Ninjas 3072 Bone Crushers 3072 Demons 3072 Warrior Elites 3072 War Giants 3072 Mongo 3328

 

A maze of darkness and spinners runs through this level, and I learned the unhappy way that Ahab's light-emitting hammer does expire when used too much. As does Kiel's Compass.

Several solitary "Mongo" enemies await in the many otherwise empty rooms here. They're mostly harmless, but there's always a chance of losing someone to their stoning magic, so I learned to run as much as possible anyway, and unload on them with magic when that fails.

I did some experimentation with the speedboots after finding a second pair. It's hard to know for sure, with probability being non-deterministic by nature, but it seems to me that the greatest determiner of whether running succeeds or not is who leads the party. Running seems to succeed more often when Ahab (who can't even wear the boots) is in the lead than it does when Sunfall is, and even more often when Viila is in the lead. Having a party member wear them seems to also help, even if that party member is not in the lead, but having two members both wear them doesn't seem to make a difference. Perhaps the Rogue could be useful after all? Or perhaps not - unless he succeeds at running 100% of the time, he's going to be utterly wasted in the front position whenever he fails.

Seven evangelistic-flavored clues are hidden here:

• Do not scry, the first is lie.
• The One God's second is surely with. 
• As the One God has said, the third is passion if you have love and life. 
• In all the land, the fourth is and.
• We speak of One God, eternal is he, his fifth is almost certainly be.
• On the many levels, several are ancient but the sixth is forever. 
• The One has said that the first man is blessed and the last is damned. 

It's strange that Mangar would be indoctrinating Aristotelian virtues within his own tower. But then again, maybe Cranford had a theological beef. I'm not really sure what he was thinking.

Hidden within a dark spiraling corridor, an elderly chap sells us a key for lots of otherwise useless money.

It opens Mangar's iron gates, but it's faster just to teleport through the sewers.

 

The magic mouth in the center-south of the map demands Mangar's passphrase for passage forward.

 

...but because we can't have nice things, entering it doesn't get you anywhere. Oh, no. It just makes the staircase up on this floor become visible, and the mouth isn't going to tell you where it is, or even acknowledge that anything happened. I confess that I looked at an online map to find it instead of searching every corner of the map all over again, and I don't feel bad about it.

 

A Stairs down B Message C Combat D Trap E Ghouls F Wraiths G Spinner H Teleport I Wind J Lesser Demons K Vampire Lord L Mercenaries M Vampires O Spectres P Sleeping Dragons Q Thor R Switch S Chute up

Mercenaries 220 Wraiths 2560 Magicians 2816 Conjurors 2816 Wizards 2816 Sorcerers 2816 Ice Giants 2816 Phantoms 2816 Ogre Lords 2816 Eye Spies 2816 Xorns 2816 Body Snatchers 2816 Fred 2816 Lesser Demons 2816 Ghouls 2816 Evil Eyes 3072 Ghosts 3072 Mimics 3072 Golems 3072 Vampires 3072 Basilisks 3072 Grey Dragons 3072 Master Ninjas 3072 Bone Crushers 3072 Demons 3072 Warrior Elites 3072 War Giants 3072 Mongos 3328 Maze Dwellers 3328 Mind Shadows 3328 Bandersnatches 3328 Master Magicians 3328 Master Conjurors 3328 Master Sorcerers 3328 Master Wizards 3328 Titans 3328 Spectres 3328 Mandar Guards 3328 Gimps 3328 Beholders 3584 Vampire Lords 3584 Greater Demons 4096 Cloud Giants 4736 Red Dragons ?

 

I just love the fact that I'll have to go through level 3 again every time I need to return to level 4 for whatever reason. Actually, I hate it. So instead I just make a save at the start and reload as necessary - my goal is to map out the dungeon, not make level gains.

And I reload quite a bit. The monsters are getting nasty. Giant stacks of heavy hitters pound my front row into pudding. Red dragons, though rare, tend to one-shot half my party before I get a chance to do anything. Usually I can run, and usually I can handle whatever I can't run from, and the monsters are dropping some strange and interesting treasures. But it only takes one bad encounter to ruin my day.

Titans are bad news. Two dozen backup gimps make it worse.

Answer this riddle and you can summon him like a Pokemon.

A relay of teleporters takes us to the northeast corner of the map right near "something special," and it is indeed special.

Every wall on the map has turned into a door. And most of the doors have turned into walls. Given that there had been a lot more walls than doors, I can basically just finish exploring the level lawnmower-style, though this takes several tries with the deadliness of the encounters here.

Crap. Crap. Crap!

 

The way up is in the southwest corner, accessible by levitate spell.

 

To be continued! 

The Bard's Tale: Mangar's Tower, part one

 

At last, Mangar's Tower! We have to go through the Scarlet Bard's wine cellar and sewers to get here, but that's okay, teleportation makes the trip quick.

A Stairs down B Message C Combat D Mercenaries E Teleport F Trap G Dwarves H Maze Masters I Magic Mouth J Spinner K Evil Eyes L Master Magicians M Ghosts N Samurai

Dwarves 80 Mercenaries 220 Samurai 1024 Seekers 2304 Dwarf Kings 2304 Samurai Lords 2304 Magicians 2304-2560 Conjurors 2304-2560 Wizards 2304-2560 Sorcerers 2304-2560 Lurkers 2560 Fire Giants 2560 Berserkers 2560 Azure Monks 2560 Hydras 2560 Green Dragons 2560 Wraiths 2560 Shadows 2560 Ivory Monks 2560 Weretigers 2560 White Dragons 2560 Ice Giants 2816 Phantoms 2816 Ogre Lords 2816 Eye Spies 2816 Xorns 2816 Body Snatchers 2816 Fred 2816 Lesser Demons 2816 Ghouls 2816 Evil Eyes 3072 Ghosts 3072 Master Magicians 3328 Maze Masters 3584

 

Teleport / phase door works here. I might not be able to magic myself everywhere in the tower, but I can always leave.

We also get our first taste of demons - lesser demons, who inflict aging on hit and are heavily damaged by the Wizard class's demon-targeting magic. Repel Undead doesn't work on all of the monsters that you might expect; Phantoms and Body Snatchers seem to be immune, even though the latter look like zombies. But overall, the random monsters are easy, and so are the fixed encounters. At first.

The only threat these guys pose is that I might die of old age without using turbo!

A clue in the southwest quadrant

  

A moderately annoying plain of darkness, dotted with lava, antimagic, and traps

 

These minibosses are not to be taken lightly.

Doors, spinners, and antimagic. Fun!

Surprise! 34 spellcasters. We are so dead.

 

On a reload, the Evil Eyes are beaten with a song of Lucklaran playing beforehand. Honestly, this is probably a better exploring song than Traveller's Tune at this point. And with over 17,000XP/character awarded, this is a pretty decent grinding spot, though ghouls in the catacombs are less risky.

The Magic Mouth marks the way up to the next floor

Overall, this is a mostly pointless floor. There's good experience in the spinner room, but apart from that you lose nothing by just teleporting past it.

 

Floor 2: 

A Stairs down B Message C Combat D Trap E Basilisks F Spinner G Hobbits H Silver Circle I Mind Shadow J SP recharge spot K Smoke L Soul Sucker M Bandersnatches N Samurai O Stasis field P Ghouls Q Stairs up

Hobbits 60 Samurai 1024 Lurkers 2560 Fire Giants 2560 Berserkers 2560 Azure Monks 2560 Hydras 2560 Green Dragons 2560 Wraiths 2560 Shadows 2560 Ivory Monks 2560 Weretigers 2560 White Dragons 2560 Magicians 2560-2816 Conjurors 2560-2816 Wizards 2560-2816 Sorcerers 2560-2816 Ice Giants 2816 Phantoms 2816 Ogre Lords 2816 Eye Spies 2816 Xorns 2816 Body Snatchers 2816 Fred 2816 Lesser Demons 2816 Ghouls 2816 Evil Eyes 3072 Ghosts 3072 Mimics 3072 Golems 3072 Vampires 3072 Basilisks 3072 Grey Dragons 3072 Master Ninjas 3072 Bone Crushers 3072 Demons 3072 Warrior Elites 3072 War Giants 3072 Mind Shadow 3328 Bandersnatches 3328 Soul Sucker 3584

Teleport and phase door still work.

A basilisk in the dark kills my summoned demon instead of stoning us!

Ahab picked up a very cool breath weapon!

It's an Interplay reference, but not a tough fight.

 

Another TPK, at the tendrils of a Soul Sucker

Surprise! Stasis field! But you can teleport out of this one.

Some notes:

• Demons are the nastiest creature you can encounter randomly here. They attack in groups and roast your party with group-hitting spells. Getting hit by multiple casts on round 1 is a likely kill or two, and there's nothing you can do to stop this from happening, though a Lucklaran beforehand reduces the odds of this.
• Vampires are less deadly, but a hit from them drains levels. When this happens I don't bother trying to salvage the party; I just keep exploring the map unto death and then reload. 
• Scribe and Viila can summon regular demons now, and they're great. They don't always use their magic spell, but when they do, it outclasses the damage of even Mind Blade. And when they don't, their melee damage is fantastic.
• One clue is found in the northern side of he map: The Spectre Snare can catch a foe and bind him lest his spirit go...
• A Silver Circle is found within a set of dark, concentric rings in the northwest quadrant.
• The southern side of the map is a grid of maze blocks, with regular old stairs going up hidden in one of them. Lava spots and spinners make life interesting/annoying.

 

Some of the loot included useful magic items:

• Speedboots. I think these make running away succeed more often - needs some testing to be sure. But these could possibly be the best item I've found yet.
• Kiel's Compass is usable for unlimited free Locate spells, and it even works in antimagic zones.
• Frost Horn does heavy group-targeting damage, and is reusable, but only by the bard. Unlike the Fire Horn, this is multi-use.
• Dragon Shield also does heavy group-targeting damage.
• The Lorehelm is a helm spellcasters can wear and offers free casts of Sorcerer Sight. Which is modest, but helps save some SP!
• Arc's Hammer does good damage and casts Lesser Revelation, which provides light and reveals secret doors. Again, useful for saving some SP, especially considering how often your light gets extinguished.

 

To be continued! 

The Bard's Tale: Kylearan's Dark Tower

 

Next part of the tale - Kylearan's Tower, by way Harkyn's Castle. I swap out Ahab for Magic Mike and put Sunfall in the front row; Ahab's hitting power will be missed, but some extra spellpower will be more than a good tradeoff, and Sunfall's holy shield, magic ring and flute, and beer belly will offer just as much protection to the back row as Ahab's full mithril plate.

 

A Entrance B Message C Combat D Trap E Teleport F Spinner G Riddle H Green Dragons I Silver triangle J Crystal Golem K Stasis chamber L Kylearan

Seekers 2304 Dwarf Kings 2304 Wizards 2304 Sorcerers 2304 Samurai Lords 2304 Magicians 2304-2560 Conjurors 2304-2560 Lurkers 2560 Fire Giants 2560 Berserkers 2560 Azure Monks 2560 Hydras 2560 Green Dragons 2560 Wraiths 2560 Shadows 2560 Ivory Monks 2560 Weretigers 2560 White Dragons 2560 Ice Giants 2816 Phantoms 2816 Ogre lords 2816 Eye Spies 2816 Xorns 2816 Body Snatchers 2816 Fred 2816 Lesser Demons 3072 Crystal Golem 3584

 

Ugh, what a pain to navigate. From the start, the only way into the central area (which I've transposed to the top of the map) is by way of one-way teleporter relays, and there's no teleport spells or phase doors allowed here, so you're stuck! The only way out is through, or a reboot.

And very soon, I am forced to reboot. A magic mouth offers a riddle I can't solve, and not only can I not advance without solving, I can't retreat either.

Mangar? No, no, that's not right.

Another reload wipes out all of my gold and Tarjan's eye. Which is annoying, but not game-ruining; I can just go back to the dungeon and re-fight the Spectre to earn it again, and I have little use for gold now except recharging spellpoints, which is free with turbo emulation.

At least the monsters aren't very difficult. There's a new assortment of them, but the melee-based ones can't touch my front row, the spellcasters die quickly to Mind Blade, and even dragons or unusually lucky mages who live long enough to do damage are quickly killed in retaliation and our wounds healed with Scribe's restoration magic. But all this XP and treasure earned is a waste; I can't leave and bank it until I explore enough to find the way out. And with magic and song being limited resources, this takes a few tries.

Elsewhere in the central area, a diagonally-symmetric complex of doors, I find two poetic clues:

• Made of earth
  Yet without soul
  As living statue
  He is whole
  


• As a guardian
  He must walk...
  The First part of his name
  means rock

Now the answer is obvious. This teleports us to a big, dark rectangular region. Thankfully not a maze, but I explore every square just to be sure, and there is, in fact, a riddle hidden inside.

The included map shows the answer to this one.

I don't realize this yet, but solving the riddle opens up a door in the next area. In a subsequent try I will learn this the hard way; solving it blindly and running into a dead end where there used to be a door.

That next area is a dark maze. Big fun. Three things are hidden within; the exit, a silver triangle (I see where this is going), and a clue: Beware the sting at the tail (south) of the serpent-way.

The exit leads to the Crystal Golem.

It takes a few rounds - Kurisu is the only one wielding the crystal sword capable of killing it, and we suffer a few crystal-studded slaps to the face, but eventually Kurisu lands a lethal blow and we move forward.

 

Two doors - going forward leads to unexplored territory. Going right leads back to the entrance. I go right; we've earned a rest, and a few levels.

On return, I try out my newly acquired spell; Lesser Summoning, which brings a minor demon into this world (it's safe, really!). It's difficult to say if this is better than the best Sorcerer summons or not (Wind Giant and Wind Dragon), but it's cheaper, and the Wizard's summons only get better. Furthermore, these summons, unlike some of the junior class ones, can be cast outside of combat, which I hadn't realized until now.

"Something special" is an inescapable stasis chamber, which the clue in the dark maze vaguely warned of.

A spinner in a 1x1 room with four door exits makes life miserable for a little while.

After re-fighting the golem, going through a long, long twisty corridor, some rooms with spinners, and finding the right alcove to the teleporter forward, Kylearan awaits at the end of one last windy passage.

The prize is an onyx key, and a teleporter back to the entrance.