Ultima: Runes of Virtue(GameBoy) FAQ version 1.0.0 by Andrew Schultz schultza@earthlink.net Please do not reproduce this FAQ for profit without my prior consent. However, if you write a polite e-mail to me referring to me(and this FAQ) by name, then I will probably say OK. But if I ignore you that means no--and I am bad about answering e-mail. Sorry. **** AD SPACE: **** My home page: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762 ================================ OUTLINE 1. INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVES 1-1. GAME OVERVIEW 1-2. GAME VS. SERIES 2. CONTROLS AND LANDMARKS 2-1. BASICS OF MOVING AND TRICKS 2-2. PUSHING STUFF AROUND 3. POINTS 4. COMBAT 5. OVERLAND AND GETTING STARTED 6. THE DUNGEONS 6-1. HATRED 6-2. DECEIT 6-2-1. ALTERNATE PATH THROUGH DECEIT 6-3. COWARDICE 6-3-1. PLATE MAIL DETOUR 6-4. INJUSTICE 6-5. DISHONOR 6-6. SELFISHNESS 6-7. PRIDE 6-8. ABYSS 7. VERSIONS 8. CREDITS ================================ 1. INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVES 1-1. GAME OVERVIEW Ultima: Runes of Virtue(URV) is a toned down version of a real Ultima game. It has no real story--just dungeon crawling, but slick dungeon crawling. Your object is to enter eight dungeons and find the rune hidden there. After you find the eighth, you win the game. The style is roughly original Zelda--2-d moving around with action fights against enemies, buy stuff you run over--but the dungeons are exactly the same as overground. No separate dungeon rooms. Each area is 16x16, but there's enough variety that you have some interesting puzzles. In fact you chat more in dungeons than above ground, and it feels weird that people you chat to constantly get recycled. As do the animals--which there are more of. For the actual story, I'm reminded of Akalabeth, which started this all off-- 'Go kill a X. Go kill a Y.' The story's that simple. The runes are a side quest from Ultima IV. But the action and combat are much more interesting. The world of Britannia is also simpled down to concentrate on the dungeon crawling. People only have one thing to say, shops consist of areas where you walk over weapons and the prices are displayed, and there are five outside areas total--at 16x16, but with a lot of water surrounding them, too. You sail between them with a boat, but you can't go everywhere first. Along the way you'll find weapons that make your life easier, armor that does the same, and the runes. Which improve your attributes. With many magic items having simple but numerous applications, URV is a pretty good game for puzzles. Nothing's too outstanding, and sometimes the whole ideas of levers changing dungeons rooms radically gets ridiculous, but even on replay you can find good ways to minimize the damage you're hit with. There are three levels of play, but the main difference seems to be how quickly your health/magic get drained as you fight. Nothing qualitative in puzzles, etc. And the game's rather convenient--when you die, you're kicked to where/how you started the room you're in. So you can make mistakes and try again without returning from the home base. The only big mistake is not having the supplies you need. 1-2. GAME VS. SERIES URV rehashes a central theme of Ultima IV(U4,) namely, that eight runes have been lost, and it's up to you to find them. It also takes into account a set of virtues which interact with statistics. While U4 put all runes above ground and had you talk to a bunch of people, URV gave you some puzzles. The dungeon names are also different, as is the geography. Let's look at all this. URV name U4 name Rune URV order Principles Deceit Deceit Honesty 2 T Hatred Despise Compassion 1 L Cowardice Destard Valor 3 C Injustice Wrong Justice 4 T+L Selfishness Covetous Sacrifice 5 L+C Dishonor Shame Honor 6 T+C Pride Hythloth Spirituality 7 T+L+C Abyss Abyss Humility 8 [0] Hmm, URV comes off as a bit less poetic. Towns are also absent in URV, but the three castles(Lycaeum/Empath Abbey/Serpents' Hold) are still there, as is the Stygian Abyss. Chuckles the jester is around, as is Lord British. Other notes-- Deceit moves from the Isle of Verity(E) to the mainland, Cowardice and Selfishness from the mainland to the Isle of Verity. Injustice goes to an island but is still near Empath Abbey, Dishonor similarly stays near Serpents Hold, and Pride and the Abyss are both still on Avatar Isle. Items are a big part of your improvement, too, and so is finding a rune. You get attributes depending on which rune you rescue. If a rune has the truth principle, you gain intelligence--and a maximum star. For love, you get dexterity. For courage, you get strength and an extra heart. The stats-page attributes increase by 3, but that's just numbers. 2. CONTROLS AND LANDMARKS 2-1. BASICS OF MOVING AND TRICKS The controls are pretty intuitive and fortunately there are breaks that can make things much easier. You have two slots for weapons or items to use, which can be activated with the A or B button. To look at your inventory, hit return. Then move the cursor with the arrows and push A or B to ready an item. Push return to get back to regular play. Another important use of controls is the ankh, which all characters start out with. Push return, left, and either A or B to return to Lord British's. This recharges all your health. This is very nice after you've completed a dungeon, too, and it means you'll never get stuck. It does, however, wipe keys from your inventory. You can also pause the game by looking in your inventory, although this hides the game map. You can have up to 32 items. Once you are full, the game won't let you pick up the item you walk over. The solution to having useless items is just to chuck them. I generally go with a bow, the special game items, and 40-60 between food and potions in my inventory. The game also won't let you gather more than one heart, star or ankh key(used on the corresponding doors.) That could make some puzzles too easy. Or you could avoid certain puzzles. You can reset an area by visiting two different areas before returning to it. This is handy if it has treasure or if you just goofed. Dungeons have several items as treasure you should be aware of. Standard treasure(actually, it's not in a chest, so you could call it 'outside the box') consists of hearts, which give you a health point back, stars, which give magic back, and coins. Sometimes you'll find gems(+$05) or even potions or food, which restore all of your magic and health respectively. Chests are a bit different; many have nothing. Some aren't really chests, but mimics, although they still may leave something. Secret doors/false walls in dungeons don't look quite like the other tiles. If you see a monster or treasure in some place you can't get, look for secret doors. Then look for pressure plates or teleportals. 2-2. PUSHING STUFF AROUND Generally you can activate certain levers, pressure plates, etc. just by stepping on them. You can push boulders around one square at a time. Levers can toggle if a gate is open, as can plates. But they can do so more. Some plates change the entire makeup of a room; half the wall squares will vanish. Other times a key will pop up in a corner. Mushrooms work similarly but are a one-shot deal. Some of this sort of item does more harm than good, so be warned. There are two types of web--white and black. You can shoot the white but not the black webs. Kill the white with any weapon, but you need a wand to kill the black. You can also travel on ships. They work on established routes, and there's a boring wait as they move around, but you can never maroon a ship-- one's always at either end of the route. 3. POINTS Point total score is useless, but it's fun to watch it go up. The main events that get you points are: 10000 for finding a rune 1000 for entering a new area 50 for getting a gem 10 for getting a star, heart or coin Experience for monsters(note that you don't get experience if monsters kill each other or themselves) Ball 20 Bat 10 Boulder 30?? Cyclops 0 Dragon 0, 50 or 100 Eep Eep N/A Ghost 20 Gremlin 40 Mage 30 aka Count Chocula Python 250 <- not sure why Reaper 50 Rat 40 Seahorse 20 Serpent 30 Skeleton 20 Spider 30 Squid 30 Tiger 0 Troll 30 Wisp 70 4. COMBAT Combat is contiguous with dungeon crawling, and often you may just want to plow through monsters to get through it all. General principles of combat include 1) THE MOST IMPORTANT BIT. Try to fight in narrow corridors so monsters can only attack you from one side. Never be ashamed to retreat to a doorway nr behind it to shoot monsters more easily. 2) if monsters don't flash when you hit them, they're invincible. Go around them. 3) you often need to time a shot to take out monsters 4) close range monsters can often nail you if you don't appear to be touching. URV keeps track of *two* squares on the grid that you're on: where you're from and where you're going. It does so for the monsters, too, and if anything overlaps you could be in trouble even though it doesn't look like it. 5) pan pipes freeze enemies, and where you can't pick them off easily, this is a good way to do things 6) different weapons do work better on different enemies. 7) getting monsters with range weapons to fire at you and hit each other when you duck is fun 8) teleporting via an arrow onto a monster crushes it. Enemies aren't affected by teleportals but you are. Also note monsters can't touch teleportals, so these act like walls 9) if a monster is behind a wall, you can move to the side to goad it over 10) if you're in a secret wall, you can usually slaughter monsters on the regular floor 11) you can usually win without magic, but it's slower 12) later on, stocking up on potion allows you to use the pipes, which allows you to wipe out opponents quickly 13) hold the fire button down and turn to shoot without moving 14) for some monsters, it's important to pay attention to where they are between two squares. If a monster has just moved from one square, he can't turn back before the next, as you can. This allows you to plan ahead slightly. Certain monsters require certain techniques to defeat them. Here is a run-down of monsters, with experience totals, and the strategies you use to defeat them. URV has some interesting twists as many monsters that aren't particularly powerful in other Ultimas or RPG's in general have a good deal of clout here. Monsters also aren't affected by lava, and trolls and pythons get stronger in later dungeons. Monsters also occasionally leave a coin or heart behind. Also, you can't shoot Chuckles the jester or any townspeople regardless of if they block your way or not. Balls: probably not their real name, these are little balls that explode on impact, sending shards of fire in eight directions. They often appear in clumps, causing a chain reaction. Their explosion radius is three squares, but if you go 2E1S of an exploding ball you'll be safe too. Bats: these move around very quickly and don't damage you much. I don't bother with them unless they're blocking a corridor. They'll drive you catty if you try to kill the ones that appear overground. Boulders: most of these are invincible, but you can shoot some of them, and you're faster than they are. They move slowly and are very nasty. It's best to try to run behind them, but you can't move onto a square where a boulder is part-touching. Boulders test your patience and often change their paths after you pick up some treasure--after you do, they can plow over that square. They cannot go through doors. You can obliterate a boulder by teleporting onto it, but if you shoot one down, it appears at the last square where it landed on the grid. If a boulder touches you, it leaves you inoperative a bit, so that can lead to you getting nicked several times. Cyclops: these don't appear until the end, and they're very hard. Vulnerable only to the magic sword, these slow monsters track you down ruthlessly and take away a few hearts' worth of damage. The best strategy with cyclops is to note when they are about to align themselves with you. Strike with the sword when they are halfway from one square to another, then do so again. Two hits take them out. Many late rooms have a passel of cyclops, and you must use the pipes to freeze them. Dragons: three-wide monsters that shoot fireballs but are surprisingly easy. They usually guard something. Just flail away at their heads with a sword. Often you'll have to take damage from a dragon. Eep Eeps: these can't actually harm you, but you'll want to harm them. They bounce around in dungeons and just block everything in their way, transferring them to the screen that says "Eep? Eep eep!" This definitely breaks one's concentration. Often they block where you want to go, and if you are in a narrow corridor and they bounce back and forth, you can't move into the square they just vacated. You have to wait 'til they go two squares away. You do have to touch some eep eeps, though, to open secret passages. Ghosts: these go through walls, where you can't hit them. Often they'll bounce back and forth inside the walls, too. When a ghost hits you from inside a wall, move a square away from it. The ghost may change direction. Try to avoid areas next to walls with these. But they don't damange you too much, so if you have some more tangible monsters to fight, they take priority. Gremlins: these steal your food and then whiz away. The best solution is to use the pipes on them right away. A few magic points cost much less than a plate of food. Killing a gremlin nets 5 gems, so it's even a decent trade-off given a potion(~4-9 magic points, 3 for pipes) costs 10. Mages: these guys have pointy cloaks and try to use the fire and duck strategies that work so well for you. The difference? They're too slow and so are their shots. Sometimes they even duck while forgetting to fire. But they can damage you at close range. Pythons: these are the most valuable monsters experience wise in the game. Not sure why. They do have a nasty habit of not quite aligning with you vertically/horizontally and running at you. They'll be one square away from it, so their strategy is to corner you. They're a bit slow, though, so often you can nip in and fire quickly as they start to move to the next square. Some pythons can cause a lot of damage later on. Reapers: very impressive looking monsters, but in fact it's fun and not too hard to fake them out. A reaper will always fire when it can. But it can only have one shot on the playing field at a time. So if you're in a long corridor, running at a reaper, step out of the way of the missile and fire with impunity. Be sure to keep 2-3 squares away so you can duck when it fires next. Then go back where you were and keep firing. What's really cool is that you can usually outrun reapers' shots. Rats: the most annoying monsters in the game. I mean, RATS should never be hard, right? But they are rather quick, and when they hide behind doors, you need to be careful WHEN you open the door--usually just after the rats turn away. That gives time to set up and fire. Seahorses: these calm monsters won't attack unless you attack them. And they're damaging when they do. Two to three hearts a pop. Serpents: these shoot fireballs, which are easy to duck. They also duck-and- shoot like you, but you can anticipate where they'll be and knock them off. Plus they can't come on land. They're usually easy picking and can often knock out enemies running at you. Skeletons: they generally move slowly and in a pattern. Those that don't have axes, just get them in a corridor, fire at them with a missile weapon, and retreat. For those with axes, you will want to work out their pattern and fire as they go by and duck. Spiders: these create cobwebs which are hard to clear. The pipes are a great asset against spiders, and the whip seems to work well against them. Killing a spider is a bit of timing and luck as they seem to put up a web on a square before they land on it--and the web they put up gets hit before they do. Squids: relatively easy monsters. Water, no missile attack. Whip or shoot them from afar. Tigers: you'll probably take damage whenever you face a tiger. They're quick and have good endurance. Fortunately there are very few in the game. Trolls: again there's no way to tell if the opponent throws stuff. Trolls are slower than skeletons, so shooting and ducking works easier, but even better, trolls are STOO-PID. If you have several trolls on the other side of a wall, you can just wait, or move back and forth occasionally, to watch them shoot each other until one is left. Trolls also may be invincible, and others may circle in a set pattern, tripping important switches. Wisps: these have nasty missile damage and quick shots but don't stay around long. In a room with wisps I recommend you either keep moving or freeze monsters. Even if there aren't many wisps to freeze, these guys do pop up at random and zap you, so if your health dips to two hearts in a room with wisps, heal immediately. 5. OVERLAND AND GETTING STARTED You have four potential players to start the game. Here's how they stack up: STR INT DEX Mariah 15 - 18 - 15 Iolo 12 - 15 - 18 Dupre 18 - 12 - 12 Shamino 15 - 15 - 15 Assuming that you can buy whatever you want, you can assume Mariah is the best long term. She certainly outdoes Shamino. In fact, Shamino's magic axe, the big draw at the start, means nothing if you go through Deceit. You should be able to use any player to get through the game expediently, and there's no huge diffeence. Previous ultima fans can just go with their favorite. Mariah can cast more magic, handy when you get the lightning wand. Iolo's quickness isn't really that useful. Dupre's extra constitution will come in handy early. And if you want your stars and hearts balanced, go with Shamino. So...Mariah it is, provided you know where to load up on cash. Which I'll get to in a bit. Otherwise Shamino is a nice starter. Harder play makes monsters tougher but doesn't change your starting stats. It can make some of the harder dungeons absolute torture, though. In the beginning you're on Lord British's isle, and you can see him and Chuckles and maybe even buy stuff--or gaze longingly at that bow(60 gold) and armor(25 gold.) DR CAT AND THE CASH COW But a cool thing about all this is that you can get the dough for these items without even going into a dungeon! There's a place where you can keep finding a chest with a gem over and over, and it's relatively expedient. Here goes. Take the boat east from Lord British's isle to Verity Isle. The Lycaeum is right near where you land. Enter it. Flip the lever. Go up the left stairs. Go down the right stairs. Step on the pressure plate. You can now go downstairs. Push the barrel out of the way and go into the teleportal in the northeast corner. Head south when you're in the center cross. Bump against the chest. Take the arrow and go into the teleportal, then back up two flights of stairs, down two flights of stairs, and through the gauntlet again. Note that the game records your current room settings as well as the previous one's, but where you were two locations ago gets reset. This tactic is also useful or detrimental in dungeons, but it's most expedient in the Lycaeum. Also you can get used to how arrows work by zooming around the basement. You'll need 85 gold total to get the best items available right now. Once done, use the ankh to get back. It's quicker than the boat. Visit Gnu Gnu's shop in the east. You can repeat going through the Lycaeum to stock up on potions and food at Dr. Cat's south of the Lycaeum, which you probably won't need for a while. But you can only have 99 gold at any one time, and it's never too early to stock up. Map of Lycaeum basement: XXXXXXXXXXX X X^= arrows, jump you two squares, may be serial S = secret door ~ = water L = lava t = teleportal circle Q/q = heart door/key Z/z = star door/key Y/y = ankh door/key ( = boulder D = door or open gate # = closed gate C = chest(usually closed) c = chest with worthless treasure & = useless furniture(table, plant, fountain, etc.) ! = something important and ambiguous--often scenery you can run into or a nasty trap , = chair, which you can walk through " = pressure plate ` = lever you can flip \ = crate ; = swamp p = potion P = person = = bridge _ = star + = heart $ = coin @ = head - = sign 5 = gem(5 coins) : = tiled floor x = occasional/flippable wall W/w = Big web(need wand of fireballs)/small web R = Rune or, where documented, critical item 6-1. HATRED Big picture map of Hatred: 1 v v 3b << 2d - 2a v | | v | | 4b 2c - 2b v v v v 5b 3a >> 4a >> 5a (axe) (rune) Hatred is the first of the dungeons and the easiest. It does however have a few pitfalls and a decent variety of puzzles. In Hatred you will get acquainted with basic monster types and combat strategies and maybe even pick up some loot as well. You might want to come in with a food item or two, but you know where to get the cash for that. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 1 X(((((X.X(..D..,&X X(....X.X(.(X,..,X X(....D.X(.(X....X X(....X.X(.(X,...X X((((XX.XXC(X&,..X XXXXXX...XXXXXXXDX X......H.........X XDXXXX...XXXXXXXXX X..&.XX.XX&,&X(.(X X,...,X.X....D.h.X X&...&X.X.&.&X(.(X X,...,X.XDXXXXXDXX XXXDXXX.X..,.X(.(X X\&..&X.X.,&,X..(X X....&X.X..,.X...X X&,&,&X.D....D...X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX You don't really have much to do in the first level--a cross shaped corridor with four rooms. The exit to level two is in the southeast, but there's a heart in the northeast behind a rat in case you take a bit of damage. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 2a XXXXXXXXX.......XX XD...>XvX.......XX XXXX.XXXX.......XX XXXX^XXvX..XXX..XX XD.X.XXXXXXX%XXXXX XX.X^XX>XvX...XXXX XX^.<.<><><....HXX XX^X.X^XXXXXDXXXXX XX.X.X.XXXXX.....X XXDXXXDXXXXX...&.X X...X...X.+X.&...X X.""X...D.$X.....X X.".X...X.+XXXDXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Go south to kill the bat--the room to the north is quirky but ultimately useless--don't worry about the arrows to the west yet either. Then go through the door that doesn't look like it's leading anywhere but the wall boundary. This sort of door invariably leads to a new area. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 2b XXX#X#XXXXXXXX?XXX XX.....XXXXXXX...X XX,...,XXXXXXXXX.X XX&:::&X...X...X.X XX.....D.&.D...X.X XXC....X...X...X.X XXXXXDXXXDXXXDXX.X XD.X...X...X...X.X XX.X.&.X...D...D.X XX.X...X...X...X.X XX.XXDXXXXXXXDXX.X XX.X...X...X...X.X XX.X...D...X...D.X XX.X...X...X...X.X XX.XXXXXXDXXXDXX.X XX...............X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In area 2b you have two options: go for the treasure or go on to 2c. For 2c, just follow the hallway and don't open any doors. For the treasure, which isn't really worth it, go west at the first opportunity through a door. Kill the rat, which will probably hit you once, and then go north and west. Sherry will tell you a tiger is behind one door and a woman the other. The heart-key is in the trunk. This is your first exposure to using keys. There are three types of keys: heart, ankh and star. You can only hold one at any one time. They only open doors with similar key pictures on them. Here it's straightforward: two heart doors, but a heart key only opens one of them. If you went to the west a bit you might have seen a blank room below and a woman to the east of it. This makes your choice pretty clear. Go to the right and get a gem and two heart pieces. Exit and you'll get kicked to the left side of the area. You can go left to a small part of 2d and get a coin. Then you can go back right and try again or just go on to 2c. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 2c XXDXXXXXDXXXXXDXXX XX.......XXXX..hXX XXXXX.XXXXX.D...XX XX@~~"~~@XX.X...XX XX@~~"~~@XX.XXXDXX XX@~~"~~@XX.X...XX XXXXXDXXXXX.XX.XXX X.........X.X...DX X.........X...X.XX X.........XX.XX.XX X.........X...X..X X....%....D......X X.........X...XX.X X.........X.X..X.X X.........X.XX.X.X X`........X......X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Area 2c has an stair down. It leads to where you can get a magic axe, but the stairs that ultimately help in your quest are a bit further on. So we'll continue with the path through 2d down to the rune first. The fight when you pick the mushroom is tough, and you'll want to be at full strength for it. It does however net ten gems, and the experience you get maneuvering while fighting several monsters in a wide open space is important. I recommend going left and firing and using the side to pace up and down. Skeletons often try to pin you against the wall, and the reaper can do your dirty work. Keep a safe distance from the reaper, fire, and duck once everything else is gone. Then flip the switch behind. You'll need to go up past some heads that will shoot arrows at you. Just keep running so they don't hit you. Take the left door beyond them. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 2d X......X$.X.D...XX X......XX.X$X...DX X..XX..XX.XXXXXXXX X..XX...".X^....XX X..XX..>X.XX....DX X..XXXXXX^Xv....XX X...DhXXX.XXXXXXXX X...XXXXX^"......X X...XXXXXXXDXvXXXX XXX.XXXXXXX.XXX^XX X@~"~@XX....XvXXXX X@~"~@XX.XXXXXX^XX X@~"~@XX..D.....XX XXX.XXXXXXX.....XX XX.......XX.....XX XXDXXXXXDXXXXXDXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 2d there's another set of 3 heads to run past and then before you get to a reaper, which you can kill by shooting and avoiding, etc., you have stairs down. The reaper gives you health if you defeat it, and by now you should see that reapers are easy enough if you have 1)patience and 2) a corridor you can back out of after you fire at the reapers. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 3b X" XtX XXX X X XXXhZ X X zXXX>X> XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX On level 3b, you'll have a room with a bunch of boulders. You'll want to pull the lever on the right. This turns the X's into boulders. If you mess up, no big deal, just go back up the stairs, by the heads, through the right door, and back. Also note that touching the stairs doesn't kill you; just go right back down. Solution to the boulder puzzle after flipping the lever: Push boulder east. N, E, S, W above Dr. Cat. N, E, push boulder into wall. N, W, S, push boulder S. W onto stairs, back down, push boulder east, push it south, and then east into the hole. Go back right of the lever. Push the boulder east, then south 3 squares, then push it east. Push the top remaining boulder left to the wall and down. Push the right boulder down. Push the remaining boulder east, down, east past the ladder, and down into the final slot. Back to wandering. Hit the lever in the upper left. Take the west teleportal to get a star key. You can loot all the other chests except the one by the corner teleportal. The second-top one reveals an arrow that leads to the next part of the level. The stairs are behind the star door. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 4b X X X X X X X X D X X D Xq X X X X tX& X X XXQXXXXXXXXXXXXDXX X # # X X X ~~~~~ X X X +X ~ ~ X_ X XXXXXX ~ ~ XXXXX X& & X ~" ~ X X X &X ~~~~~ X X X # # < X XXDXXXv XXXXXXXXX X XXXXX `X X X D HX X h X X X X tX X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 4b has a rat to the west. Go north and east into the main room. There's a troll that moves in a square. Don't kill him. He shuts and opens various gates. The NE/SW and the NW/SE pairs flip from open to closed. The troll is tough to dodge but it's best to follow him in the counterclockwise direction to the northeast gate and make sure he's more than two squares away when you're in his line of fire. Get by the rat in the northeast. Fire left from the rat room to the skeleton's room. Time your shots so the skeleton gets hit and be sure to move out of the way of his throwing axe. The heart key is behind him. Now go to the northwest. There's another rat behind the heart key. Take the teleport. The skeleton will take two hearts of health off you so you may need to use your food here. Flip the switch and now the southeast gate will actually lead somewhere. Retrace to the center room and go to the southeast. Step on the arrow and climb down. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 5b X X XXDXXDXXDXXDXXDX X X@ X@ X@ X@ X@ X X X% X% X% X% X% X X XDXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X X X D X XXXXXXX X$ X XXXXX X HXX XXXX X +XX X XXXXX X D D XX X X%%XX X+ X*XXXXX X X% XXXX*X& &X X XXXXXXXXXX*X X X ~@#"" XXDXX X ~@# X X X ~@# D H X XR ~@#"" X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In 5b there are a few rats as a welcoming committee. Then you'll see a few heads, gates, and a river to the left. The plates you step on toggle what's there. SW: river, head SE: river, gate NW: river, gate NE: head, gate--also reveals path east and to the north There's no way to remove everything by just stepping on plates. You'll always have 3 or 1 barriers in the way. But that's not so bad right now. Step on the northeast plate and now you can fight the reapers. Run right to the water and take out the top one first. When it shoots, go up, then come down and whale away. Follow similar procedure for the one below. Now you need to go back east and up the rubble passage you created. There are three side rooms that aren't really relevant, but at the top of the passages, you'll see rooms with a bunch of mushrooms. Grab one mushroom. This toggles whether heads appear. Go back where you were and step on the southwest plate. This will clear the way. If you step on an extra plate, all you have to do is try each individual one. Step on it and if you don't have a path through step on it again and try another plate. The rune of compassion is just beyond. Take it and then take the stairs just beyond. If you're a glutton for punishment and/or useless treasures, then take the stairs down before you enter the combat room in 2c. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 3a X................X X.&.XXX.XX.XXX.H.X X...X...XX...X...X X.XXX.XXXXXX.XXX.X X.X............X.X X.X.X.&&&.&&.X.X.X X...X.&.&..&.X...X X.XXX...%%&&.XXX.X X.XXX.&&%%...XXX.X X...X.&..&.&.X...X X.X.X.&&.&&&.X.X.X X.X............X.X X.XXX.XXXXXX.XXX.X X...X...XX...X...X X.h.XXX.XX.XXX.&.X X................X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In 3a, the room below, you can then go west all the way and south to a stair down. Or you can go to the center, pick mushrooms, and beat up monsters and get treasure. Not worth it in my opinion, but then again neither is the axe. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 4a X.......#.#.XXXXXX X.XXX.XXX.XXXXXXXX X...X.X.#.#.XXXXXX XXX.X.XXX.XXXX\\\X X...X...#.#....C\X X.XXXXXXX.XXXX\\\X X.....X......XXXXX XXXXXhX*****.X$X.X X.X$XXX.*..*.X#X#X X#X#XXX..***.....X X.......**.**X#X#X XXXXX.X....*.X.X.X XXXXX.XX.XXXXX.XXX X.....XX.#$X((..\X X.H..XXX.XXX(....X X....#XX.#.X\.C\\X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 4a presents an interesting challenge. The pressure plate opens all gates. Tigers are in all four directions from the center room, in the far cages. You'll need to push the boulders into their way. Then you can walk to the stairs in the north(first door on the left.) Push the SW boulder down all the way. Push the boulder east of where it was to the west. Go back east until you hit a boulder. Push the boulder north. Push the other east. Go back and push the boulder to the west a square over. Push the next boulder up until it's wedged between the two tigers' cages. Now step on the pressure plate and walk to the north bit. Detour east for some food, then go west and follow the path. A tiger will follow but won't catch you. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 5a X'...#..XX..#...'X X....XX.XX.XX....X X....X..XX..X....X X....X.XXXX.X....X X....X..XX..X....X XXXXXXX+XXCXXXXXXX XX^XXXXHXXvXXXX^XX X...XHXXXXXX_X...X X...X.X....X.X...X X...X.D....D.X...X XXtXXXX....XXXXtXX XXXXX"D....D"XXXXX XXtXX.X....X.XXtXX X%.%X.XX..XX.X%.%X X...X.XXXXXX.X...X X%.%<><><><><>%.%X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Level 5a is a bit confusing, but if you take the west passage from the area with the pushmi-pullyu type Klip/Klop and go down, the arrows will kick you east. The axe is in a chest at the end of the hallway. Then you can take the other way(go east, take arrows west) to find a stair up back to the surface. 6-2. DECEIT You'll need to go through Deceit twice: once for the rune and once for the Wand of Fireballs. Fortunately Deceit is more linear than Hatred, but you do have one very nasty room that teases you with its seeming usefulness. You also have several treasures that vanish when you touch them, to reveal "X" squares that kick you up to the first level. Map of Deceit: (Yes, 2 should be 1b, but I'm too lazy to renumber everything.) 1 5c----5a >> 6a >> 7a v ^ v ^ 2 >> 3a >> 4a v v 3b >> 4b >> 5b >> 6b XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 1 XXXX;;XXX XX XXX XXX;;; X H XX X@;;; X XXXXX ;; X X XX X * ;;; * X X *;; X X ; * X X ;;; * XX XX * ;; XXXX XX * ;; XCXX XXX ;;; DX X * ;;;; XX X * XX *XX X* * X XXX XXX X XXX XXXX XX XXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Not much to see here except some bats that are more trouble than they are worth. Go east and south to go down to level 2. There's also Honest Finn, who always lies. I mean, do you really trust someone who 1) hangs around in a dungeon and 2) tells you to trust him? Note there's not much to see in the treasure chest--starting a theme that things can change on touch in Deceit. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 2 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXOX#X#X#X#XXXXXXX XX X X X X XXXXXXX XX X X X X X XX XX # # # # XXDXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXX X XX X X X X XX D D D X XX X X XXXXX XXXQXXXXXXXXXX X XQ X XXXQXXXXXXXXXX X XX X X XXXXX XX D D D X XX X X X O X XXXXXXXXXXXXXX X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Here in level 2 you just run the gauntlet to the east, and then you'll need to go north for the rune or south for the magic wand. I recommend going south first. Completing this circuit gets you the Wand of Fireballs, a nice magic weapon which you need to win the game anyway. You may want to back from the doors you open so you can fire away at monsters trapped in the doorway as they go to chase you. Going south is a straightforward affair, but if you go north then you'll have some heads to run past after reaching the east edge. After setting off each pressure plate, go one west and stop. Otherwise the arrow from the next head will hit you. Then go down the hole. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 3a XXXX XXXXXXXXXXtX XXX XX$X$X$XX X XX X"X"X"XX X XX XDXDXDX X XX hXX X XX XX XXX X XX XXXXXXXXXXXXXDX XX XX>XXXXX X XX XX XXXXX v X XX XX XXXXX XXXXXX XX XX XX X "^XX XX XXXXX X"" XX XX XXCXXXXDXX + XXXXX X X& XXXXX > X X X D X< X X D XXXXX tX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 3a, go west onto the arrow. Then go north. The exit is to the west, but you can take the center gate above in the passage to the east. The arrow leads to a trap that kicks you to the top. All other treasures vanish or are trapped. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 4a X ( # X X + XXXXXXXXXXXX X X X X X XXXXXXXXX X X X( (X H Xt %X X X X (X X X X X X (XX(XXX XX X X X (X( (X( (X X X X(( X( (X( (X X X X X( (X( (X X X X(( X( (X( (X X X X (X( (X( X X X X XXXX X X X X###XX X X tX X X Xh((( X XXXX X X X X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 4a, push the barrel down all the way. Go west and push the left barrel up and the middle one right. Push the barrel above you two squares north. Walk around it. Take the lower of the two right passages. Run by the slime, which will divide if you try to fight it. Get the mushroom and then the hammer and follow the passage. Push the barrel left and wait to walk through the barrels you pushed around a bit. The rats will be coming up, and they'll be sitting ducks if you sit back and shoot as they come out from the barrels. Note that the gates are open--go east at the gates, face down, and use the hammmer on the barrel below. Now you can walk through to the stairs down. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 5a XX ..".. CX XX ... . X XXDXXXXXXXXXXXX X XX X X XX X XXXXXXXXXXX XX X X XX XXXXXXXXXXXX X XX SSX X XX XSXXXXXXXXXDXX XX X...~~~~... X XX X...h~~... X XX X...~~~~... X XX XXXXXXXXXXXDXX XX *X X * X XD XH D * X XXXXX X * X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In 5a, go east, push a barrel east, go north and then go east in the narrow corridor. Follow it. But wait below the sign along the path and watch one of the trolls to the left kill the other. Also note that there are trolls below. That's a clue there's a less than obvious place to hide. With a bunch of signs ahead you have a heart chest and then a pressure plate traps you. This is not so bad. Go west and then open the door and retreat. The best way to kill the troll is to run into the door and let him hit you once--shoot him, too. He'll back off to the right and you can go down where you can shoot up at him from long range. He just moves back and forth and shoots and is predictable. Now on the right wall there is a secret door. It's level with the lower sign you can see. Go east into it(2 squares) and one south. You're in the door and can attack the trolls in the new small area with impunity. Then you can take the stairs. You can skip 5c below. But I described what goes on there anyway. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 5c X $ X > > >X> vX X$W$X XXX XX XX X X+$_X (w vX XXQXXXDXX X XXX X X XXXXX`XXvX X(((((((X+XX q"X X X X XXvX X(((((((X XX X""X X D>< X X"vX XX XX^ X(X""X X X XXX vXX XSX XXX XXX XD >H> X X DX XX X>X XXX XSX XXX XX S X S X XX XXX XDX XXX XXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 7a has many secret doors. Go east through the first, south, west, south, west, north, west, and north through the secret wall to the pressure plate. Then go back south through two secret doors to get the Wand of Fireballs. There's no way to get out on your own, so just use the ankh, as Sherry will tell you if you exit through the south doors. Oh yeah--all exits from 7a go to the other side of 7a. Room 3b starts with pressure plates that switch where the granite walls blocking you are. A quick way through this is to go up, east, down, east, up, east, etc. Basically plates toggle where the granite walls are. You can zigzag through the east corridor and then the south one. Always make as though you'll walk into a wall. Then, when going north, get by the first pair of plates and then take the east wall. Go up and you'll avoid being trapped near the X and get to the next level. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 4b X* * *X XXXX X * X XXDXX XOXX X ** *D X X X XX X * * X X " X X XX X H* *X XXXXXDX XX XXXXXXX X X X XX X D HX D X X XX X X XXXXDXXXX XX XDXXXDXXX XX XX X X XXX HXX XX X D DhX XX XX XXDXXXXXXXXXXXXDXX X X~ ~;XX XDXX~~~~~~~~~~~;XX X D;;;;;;;;;;;;XX X "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX If you've been to 4b and are on the inside, just go clockwise to get back down to 4b. Room 4b has a small boulder puzzle: west, up, east, push east, push down, east, push down, east, push up. Go east. Then go up and along the passage. Flipping the lever causes the troll, if he can, to turn 90 degrees. When he's at the left edge, flip the lever, and when he's got the door to his left, do it again. Up, left, down(when the troll runs away) and right. Stairs up are ahead. If this is your second time through 4b, go west and south(the first ladder is a fake) until you reach the swamp. Don't pull the lever--trolls will pop up--but slog through the swamp, which only slows you down. Turn north and there's the hole to 5b. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 5b XX D ## X X XX X## #D X XXT X##### #X X XXXXXX### ###XXDXX X T##### # ### X X #### ## ## X X ## # # X X # ## ### ## X X ## ### # X X ### # ### ## # X X ### #XXDXX ##X XDXXXX# #X X ##X X X# #X T XT##X X X#T#X XXXXX X& XXXXXXXXXXhXX X&& D XX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 5b, the fun continues. It's not critical to stay on the paths, but you can suffer damage from not doing so. Magic shards go flying. Exit the room south and go east, south, west, north, west, south, west, north, west, south, west, south, west, south. The corridor east leads to 6b. The #'s mark the safe spots. There are many teleports back to the surface here. Avoid them. They're worse than getting killed and restarting this level. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 6b X X X X X X @ @ # D D X X R X X X X X @ @ XXXXX X X X X XXX#XX XX#XXXX XXXXX X X X # # X X D X X X X XXXDXXX#XXXDXX XX#XX X X X X D D D X X X X X X XX#XXXX#XXX#XXXDXX X X X X X X D D # H X X X X X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In 6b, there is a maze where you need to find a few levers. Fortunately it's very linear, and trial and error should clear this rapidly. North, west, west, north, east in the odd shaped room, hit switch 1. South, west, south, south, hit switch 2. You may have to run by the troll, who has a whip that's very useful at long range, which you'll find when you get one. West, west, switch 3. North, north, north, and you get the rune of honesty. Best of all you get an extra star! And there's an X to take you back to the surface! But it's still easier to use the ankh if you want to move on to the Cowardice dungeon next. 6-2-1. ALTERNATE PATH THROUGH DECEIT You can actually get the wand of fireballs in the 'hopeless' room where Finn says you can find a lot of treasure. But it's about as hard as the actual way. Here's how. 1. Go back to Hatred. Follow the 'main line' path to get the rune. When you get the heart key in the upper right of 4b, retreat all the way to the top. Don't use the ankh. 2. Enter Deceit. Go to level 2. Use the heart key on the south door before going right and seeing Honest Finn. Then go back through the door. 3. Go down to 5c, in the room where Finn says there's lots of treasure to be had. Clear out the monsters. Push three barrels in the first row: X X X X X X XXXXXXX > XX X XX > XXX XX > XXX XX > repeat for next row 4. Use the heart key on the door. There's a lot of backtracking here, but it's neat to be able to get the wand in more than one way. I'm happy to have found this at any rate because I *believed* Honest Finn the first time through--for almost 30 minutes. I thought I was missing something dumb. 6-3. COWARDICE The cavern of Cowardice on Verity Isle features yet another rune, but it also features the magic rope which will be very useful to 1) get great armor and 2) eventually solve the game as various puzzles require it, so you can walk on water. You have one main path through with a small detour, but the puzzles are getting a bit complex. MAP OF COWARDICE 6b | 1>>2>>3>>4>>5>>6a>>7>>8>>9>>10>>11>>12 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 1 XXX X X X X X #XXXX X X X&X X XXXXXXXXXX X XXX X XX X X XX XXDXXX X X h XX X XX X X XX&X XX X X &XXXX XX X XXX XXX X H X X X X XXXX XXXXX XX X X X X XX X X XXX XXX XX X X X X X X XX X X XXX XX XXX XXXXX XXXXXX X&X X& X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 1, there's cheese in the plant to the left, but so what? North, east, south, west at the sign, south branch, north at the sign, down. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 2 X& X X %X X XXXX X X X X X && X X X XX XXXXXX X X X XXX XXXX X X H XX%XX X X XX% %XX*XXX X X XXX XX * +X X X XXXX$X X * X X X X * * X X X$X X X X XXXX XXX X X X X X X+ +X X XC Xh XXXXXXX*X X X * X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 2, a coin(woo) is to the south but go east instead. At the edge, go south. Push the boulder west two squares if you need some health, but otherwise just follow the corridor south, then west. The stairs are right there. All mushrooms in this level produce more ghosts, so don't bother. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 3 X + X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXX X X Xh X D X D X X X X% D X D X X X X XXXXXXXXXXXX X X X +X X X XDXXXXXXXXXX X X X X X + X X X+X X X XXXXX X X X X X X X X X X X X XvvX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XHX X X + X X X#XX XXX X XXXXX X XCXX + X + X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In level 3, the path spirals out and eventually you have a choice between a door south and a hallway east. The door gets you treasure, but gremlins annoy you and steal some of it back anyway. East continues a spiral and then you'll face a bat, a rat and a mage. With the mage, you may want to hide east of him, go north, fire west, and pop back down until you get him. He's pretty stiff, but he does damage if he's close enough to hit you. A wisp is beyond there. The mushroom gets you some healing. so use it before you take the stairs. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 4 XXXX XXXXX* +*X XXX XOX * X XX H * XX X * X X X XX X X * & S XXX X X &O& XXXXX X XX & XXXXXX X XXX *XXX&F&X X XXXX XXX X XXXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXCXCX # OXX XX@ XXXXXXXXX XC ` XXXXXXXXX XX@ XXXXXXO X XXXCXCX # X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In level 4, there's a secret door in the east side of the room you start in. It's the only way out. Push both boulders at the end of the passage to the right and go down. Get the food, which you'll need. Stand at the right of the lever and push it. This makes it easy to avoid the ghosts. Go south and take the hole. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 5 X & C X X ` XX& &X X& &X XX XXX O X X % X X XX& &X X& &X X XX& &X XXYXXXXXXXZXXXXQXX X& & & & & & & X X:::::::::::::: X X& & & & & & & X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X X X X XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX X X XXXXXXXXX XXXXXX%X X X X XXXXXXX XXXXX XX X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX On level 5, go west. You'll pass two mages. After each's fireball hits the other, go back east past them. Repeat the back-and-forth until they're both toast. Follow the passage to the north and bump into Dr. Cat for the ankh key. Go north and touch the chest for the star key. The star door is right of the ankh door. Flip the switch to its north and go east. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 6a XXX XXX_ _X X XX+* *#XX X X H X XXX XXX X X X X XXC* *_XX X X X X XXX XXX X X X#X XS%* * XX X X XXX XXXX *XXX XX XXXXX X XXX XX XXXXX * XXXXXX XXXXX#X* XXXXX_XX X XX X XXXXX XXXXXXXXXX X XX XX XO ~ # X X XCX XXCX~~XX X XX XXXXX~XXX X XXXXXX ~ X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 6a, a bunch of bats will come by to annoy you. Get in the corridor and hack at them. When there are two boulders, push the bottom one north. Push the bottom left boulder down and get the mushroom. It leads to a new room with a special item. The second time through, you can and should go to the upper left and grab all the treasure, which includes food. The black knight behind the boulder can't be dislodged, and you wouldn't want to. The plate releases two wisps. At the bottom of the screen, go right. Use the magic rope, go to the edge, go north, go west and use the rope again. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 6b XXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXDXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X:::: XXXXXXXXXXXX X::: X & & XX X: X& & &XX X "D # " # DX X X& & &XX XDXXXXX & & XX X XXXXXXXXXXXX X~~~~ ~~~~X X +~~~~~~~~ = ~~X X ~~ = ~~~~~ ~X X > ~~ ~_~~ X X~~ ~& = ~~~ X X~~~~~~ ~~ = ~X X~~% = ~_ ~~~~~X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX This room, 6b, holds the magic rope. Run left and out the door--the monsters you sprung will be left behind. There are two hearts to the north, and then you can go south and walk along the water. Eastish, south, westish. Get the mushroom. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 7 XXX XCX XXXX X XXX XXX XQXXXX X X XXX X X XCX XXX ` XXX XXXX X X XXX X@@ @@XX X XXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXX@ # @XXXX XXXXXXXXXZXXXXXXXX XXXX XXX XXOX XXXX XXXX XXX XXXX XX XX XXX XXX X*X*X*X XX XXX * * XX XXX X X XX XXXX XX XX XXX XXXXCXXXX XXXXCXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 7, push the boulder right. Go south into the nook and get the star key(the one on the far left has a mage.) Go north and west and open the door. Run up past the arrows the pressure plate sets off. Now here may be a good place to use the food. You need to get the heart key, but two skeletons are guarding it, and ghosts will follow. Perhaps you can take care of the ghosts separately, but the skeletons with throwing axes are a different matter. Best to bash one, take damage, recharge, and duck and fire at the other. Back west and north you'll find the heart door. Open it, flip the switch beyond, and a passage opens up. Follow it into the hole. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 8 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X& &X& &XXXXXX X , X XXXXXX X ,&, D & XX X , X XXX XX X& &X& &XXX XX XX XXXXXXXXXXXXvXX XX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX XhX& &X& &XX X XX X X % X X XXXX X& &X& &X X XXXX X X X X XXXX X& &X& &X X XXXX X Xv XX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXX& XXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 8, go north, east, and south through an arrow. Fire away once you teleport to take out the rats ASAP--you may want to use food again if you're at one star, as the rats will nail you a bit. South through another arrow. A side room to the north features a mushroom with great tresure, so use it. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 9 X +~ D ~~~X X++~ XXX X ~ ~X X~~~ XhX X~~~=~~~X X X X X X~ ~" X X X X#X X~~~ X X X X X XXXXXXX X X X X X X+ X X X X~~X X X X XO X X X XHX X~~X X X X XXXXXXXXXXX X X X X *X X X XXXXXXDXXXDXSX X X X X X X X X% X% X X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXX X X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 9, you can use the rope to get to the upper left island with coins, but it's not worth it. The down-ladder to the right is a fake so exit through the door instead. Move right to the water's edge then down. The pressure plate makes this trip one-way. The passage spirals. Go south through the door, kill the bats, and get the mushroom. A new door appears. Take it and kill the troll. There's a secret door in the northeast of this room. Use it to push the boulder north. You can drag the troll out of the room and nail it in the corridor. Hole to level 10. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 10 X XXvX^XXX^XXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXXXX XXXX Xv X S >^ tXTX X XXXXX XXXXXXX XXXX X XXX XXX XXXvXXXX X XXXSXXX XXXXXXXX X>X >X X< vXX X XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX X XX>X X< XDXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 10 you must navigate a few teleportals. Go south, west, south, west, north, north, north through the secret wall, east through another, east to the teleportal, and east down the hole. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 11 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X& DD XXXXXXX X XX & & XX&X&XX X &XX XX XX XDXXXX & & XX XX X &XX XXX XXX X + XXXXDXXX@~"~@X X& XXXXDXXX@~"~@X XXXDXXRX X X@~"~@X X& XX X X XXX XXX X XX _ _ XX@"@XX X &XX H XX@"@XX XDXXXX& &XX@"@XX X &XXXXXXXXXX XXX X XXXXXXXXXX XXX X& D XXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 11 run past the first three plates/arrows. But stay on each of the next three plates you touch. A bunch of rooms with rats are ahead. After that is a reaper room. Go south once past the doors, then east and south. You should be able to outrun its shots. The cowardice rune seems to be in the left upper nook in this final enclosure, but in a pointless annoying trick, the first time you touch it, it pops over to the right. Get it there. Whoopee, you get an extra heart! Now take the stairs back out instead of the ankh, because you will want to detour in this area for an item that'll make dungeon life a lot easier. It features use of the wand and the rope, which you need to win the game. 6-3-1. PLATE MAIL DETOUR Go to the Lycaeum and get the gem in the basement until you've got $75 or more. Then note the black web on the isle off Verity Isle. When you're south of the troll you can get west of it, face east, use the bridge and cross. Use the Wand of Fireballs on the green web and then the black web. Take the east dungeon. Zoltan's in the southeast, and he has plate mail for sale. Buying this will make the next few dungeons much easier. 6-4. INJUSTICE Injustice is the first dungeon Lord British recommends that you need a magic item to get to. In the northwest area of the original island, there's another black web to burst to get to the ship behind it. Do so and you'll get a ride to the west. Injustice is the next dungeon to take care of. It's got some complex levels of several rooms and many nasty traps including lava. It's the start of the meat of the game, where you actually have to do some mapping. Note here that the coins you grab will DECREASE your gold by 1. There's lots of lava here, so you will want to buy some food at Dr. Cat's after looting the Lycaeum. In any case, spend your cash, or you'll lose it in the dungeon. There are several routes through Injustice but I will focus on the quickest one I could find. I'll be skipping around rooms a bit and so you may need to as well. Apparently there's a boomerang in Injustice, but I can't find it. BIG MAP OF INJUSTICE >> to 2c ^ 1f---1e---1d >> to 2a 2e>>>>>>>>>>>>3a | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1g---1b---1c 2c---2b---2a 3f---3b---3e | | | | | | | | | | | | 1a 2d 3c---3d XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 1a XXXXXXXXHXXv C X X XXX$ XXXXXX X X XX CXXXXXX X X X D XXX XXX X X X DXX XX X X XX$ XX CX X X XXXX XXXX XX X X X " DXXXXXXX X X XCXX $XX XX X X XXX XX DX X X X Y X X X XZ XXX X X X XX XX $XX X X XXXX_ Y DXXX X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXX X X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 1a, you can get off to a good quick start. You don't have a lot of time to waste, so take the arrow south. If you're lucky you'll land on the skeleton, but if not you can still outrun him to the key. Take the top door and then get the bottom of the two chests to the left for some food. The top is a mimic. Then take the door left of the ankh door to the north. The ankh key is behind it. Use the ankh key and go north. Try to avoid the slimes. You won't have much time before fireworks start exploding. Make it to the exit as quickly as possible. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 1b XXXXXXXXXXXDXXX XX XXXXX X XX X XD XXX XXX XXXX XX$XXXXX XXXX XX X$ XXX DX XXXX X X XXX XXX XXX X$ XXX XXX XXXXXX XX XX XX X XXX XXXX X XD X X XXXX X XX XX XXXX X XX $XX XX X XX XX X X XX XX X X XX X XX XX X+++XXXXDXXX XXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 1b, you will want to head east to 1c. Just follow the south wall east and then go north at the turn, and you'll see the exit. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 1c XXXDXDXDXXXXX XXXX XX X X X XXXX XXv%X LL L XXX XXXXXXXXXXX XXX XD >X >X XXL L+XX XXLLXLLX X XX XX X< X< X LL LXX XX XLLXLLXLLL LLX XX >X >X X L LX XXLLX vXLLX L X XX X<>X XX XX XX X X XXL LLX XX X X XX+L X XX X X XXX X+X XXLLXLLX XXXX XXX XX XXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 1c, you can just go south and take hits from the lava, or you can take the right arrow and the next one. Then take the two left arrows back. Then take the right arrow, the down arrow, and the right arrow. Go down. Go east and then north where you'll need to curve around the lava a bit. Take the right of the two doors. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 1d XXXDXXXX XX+X+ XXX XXX+X B XX XX XXX XX XBBBBX B B +X X " X X; BB XXX X + X XX B B +X XX +XXXX XXX B;XXX XXXXX X XXX XX XXX X hXX XX XX + XXX XXXX +X XD ++ XXXX X& ; XX XX +XX ;X XXX XXXXX; ; X XXXXDXXX; XXX XXX " X ; ;;XX XXX X X ;XXX;B;XX XXXDXDXDXXXXXX+XXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 1d, you want to avoid the slimes--go through the swamp if you have to. You may have to take a hit or two from the slimes to get to the stairs. All the gems here either vanish when you get close or are inaccessible--you can't push the boulder into the swamp. Other rooms: (skip to 2a if you'd like) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 1e XX_+XXX X X XXXXX X_+_+X XX X+_+_X XX XX+_ X X X XXXX! XXX XXXX X XX XX XXX XX XX XXXX XX XD XX XX X XXX XX X X DX XXX XX XXX XXXX XXXX XXXX X XXX XX X XX XX XXX XXX XX XX XX XXXXXXDXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The jewels in the upper left are guarded by an invincible reaper. Forget about it. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 1f X X XXXX X h X X XXX X XXX X XXX XXX_X XXX XXX XX X XXX XX XX X X++X X X X X XX XXXXXXX X X X XX # XXXX X X+XX X XXX DX X XXXXX X" X XX X XXXX XXXXX X X XXX X ,,, X X X XX ,+, X X+X XXXXXX ,,, X X XXXX $L XXX X$ $ $XDX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX You can take a long and winding road to the stairs down here. Lava pops up if you get the SE heart. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 1g XX$$XXXXDXXXXXXXXX XX$$# X XXXXX XXX XXXDXX D XXX DX XX& XXX XX X XX XX # XX XX XX X`XXXXX X XX#XXXXX XX X` XXX XXX XXDXXXX XXXXXXXXX XX XXX XXXXX DX XX XXX XXXX XX XX& XXX X XX XXXSXXXXX X XXX XXXXX XX XXXX+ XXXXXX XX XXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX You can hit the levers to reveal a room, but the only problem is, the two gates the good stuff is behind(NW corner) are never open at once. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 2a XX XX$XXXXX XX X $_+ X X>X +$_ X XX XXX XX XX XXXXXXX X XXXXXXX XXX^ XL XX X XX XXXX LXXXX XX XXXX XXXX XXXXL$XX XXXX XH XX XD XXXXX XXXXXXX XX X XX LLXX XXX C X XXXX XXX XXXv XXXX XXX XXXXXX XX XXXXXX XX XX XX XX X +$_ X XX>X _$+ X XX XXXXXXXX XX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 2a, follow the path east, north, and west. The northwest chamber has legitimate treasure, and stepping on the arrow to get in opens the way out. Then go back past the arrow and, sadly, through some lava. The center room has some slimes to avoid and a mimic. Go east/south/west from there and eventually you'll get to a heart you can take, but you'll be hit with magic. It's a decent enough trade-off. Then you can go south into the enclosed area. Others will trap you, but just go to the east part of this one, back up and return to that corner. You'll be kicked out to where you can go west to room 2b. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 2b X CXXXXXDXXXXX X X+XX XX X X X+XX XXXXX X+ XX X X+XX XXX X X X X XX XX XX XX XXXX X XX XXXXXXXL L L X XX XXXXX+X L L XXX XX X X XL L LXXX DX X X X L L XXXXXX XX X L L L X+XX XXX XXXXXXXXX XX XXX X XX X X XXXXXX X X XXXX X XD X X XX X X XXX XXDXXXXX X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Note that from the middle lava pit, the SW exit leads to 2c, SE to 2d, NE to 2a, and NW to 2e. Get the chest in the NW before exiting for 2e--it'll cost you 3 gold, but there's food behind. In room 2b, you first want to go south to room 2d, where you get a very valuable combat item, then north to room 2e. From 2a, you need to follow the path until you get to the lava and then go south along the east edge. You'll take a few hits, but that's to be expected. Use food if you get too low. Kador the dog will tell you how to get through the room to the south. Follow the corridor to get there. Going from 2d to 2b to 2e, you may want to try out the pipes to get back over the lava so the slimes don't distract you too much. Go west along the south wall of the lava checkerboard and follow the passage. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 2c XXXXXX XX XXXXXXX XXH XXX X LLL LL XX X L L L L XX XX L L LLLL X XX L L L L X XX LLL L L LX XX X X LL L LLLLL X XL L L L L X XL LLL L XX XL L L L L XX X LL L L L XXX XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX X DX XXXXXXXX XXCXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Yes, the lava spells 'Dr. Cat.' Here gremlins steal your food, so I really recommend avoiding this all. There's a chest here with a minus coin but not much else. Stairs lead to the tortuously long way through this dungeon. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 2d XXXXLXXXDXXXXXLXXX XXXLLLLL!LLLLLLLXX XXLL!LL! !!LL!LLXX XLL!! !!!!!!LLX XLL!! !!!!!!!!LLLX XXLL! !!!!!!!LLXXX XXXL! LXXXX XXLL!!!!!!!! LLXXX XXL!!! !! !LLXX XLL!!! !! !LLLX XLL!!! !!!!!!!!LLX XXLL!! !!!!!!LLLX XXLL!!! LLLXX XLLLLL!!!!!! LXXXX XLLXLLLLL!!L!LDRXX XXXXXLXLLLLLLXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 2d, the pattern to get in and out is as follows: 3 south, from the entry(magic will come out and nail you, but don't worry.) 3 west, 3 south, 7 east, next to the lava. 3 south, 3 west, north, 3 west, 3 south, east, south, 5 east, south two squares, east over the lava through the door. If you're low on strength and have no food left, use the ankh to get out. It's worth it. These pipes will freeze your opponents in combat, which gets very useful near the end. Retreat the same way you came in. Avoid the punctuation marks in the map above, in other words. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 2e XXXXXXX+XXXXX*XXXX XXX XX XXX hXX XX _XXX XX X XXXX X X+X X XXXXX X XXX XXXX X XX X X X %XXXXXX X X XXXXXXXXX XX XX XXX XXXXX XXXX X XX *XXXXXXX X XXXX XXXXXXX X XX XXFFFX XX X X "FFFX X * XX XXXXXFFFX X+XXXXXXDXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In room 2e, fire right away when you enter. That takes care of a rat. Then go west and push the boulder that way. At the top you may want to use the pipes again if you can't sneak through the bad guys. At any rate get the hearts and head east to the stairs in the northeast. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Room 3a XvX<$<$<$