CompuServe TEG-9447 MIGHT AND MAGIC II Part 1 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this walkthru is to provide you with information about MIGHT AND MAGIC II, a computer role-playing game from New World Computing. When you play the game, you assume the identity of some of the characters in the game. Characters that you create will be referred to as "player-characters." You can control some characters that are provided with the game; they are called "hirelings." Any game characters that are not under your control may be referred to as "monsters" (regardless of what they actually are). Player-characters begin the game young, impoverished, ignorant, inexperienced, and relatively weak. One major game objective is to improve the stats and conditions of your player-characters. In MMII, you accomplish this by adventuring in the land of Cron, guiding your characters as they fight monsters Press for more !CompuServe TEG-9448 and solve puzzles. There are several sections to this walkthru. I have tried to arrange them in such a way that you could use portions of the walkthru to help you without giving away the whole game. The first three parts of the walkthru contain general information to help you get started and to refer to along the way. Part 4 describes various combat options and strategies, resting, and casting spells. Part 5 describes the outdoor regions and time travel. Towns of Cron, with a short discussion about the features of Cron in the past, are discussed in Part 6. Part 7 is similar, providing general descriptions of the dungeons, caves, caverns, strongholds, and towers in Cron. Part 8, "The Cron Gazetteer," lists exact locations for many of the features discussed in "The Travel Guide" and the "Guide to the Underground." If you are interested in finding these things by yourself, don't read this part. Part 9 describes a procedure I discovered that may allow you to raise a 6th !CompuServe TEG-9450 level party to 50th level in less than two hours of game play. Also, the Interleaves, the coded messages, the translated messages, and a few words of the Preamble are listed here. I am uneasy about including these things, as they might compromise the playability of the game (invincibility quickly becomes boring), but if you use the advice in smaller doses, it may make the game more enjoyable for you. Remember, you were warned! Because I gained much of the information in this walkthru empirically by taking notes as I played, some of it might not match exactly with your findings. For example, a fountain that produces random changes in a character's attributes will probably affect your characters differently than it did mine. Any mistakes in this text are mine alone! If you find any, I would be interested in hearing about them! OBJECT OF THE GAME Cron (where your characters live) is in danger. One of the major causes is the death of Kalohn, the first and last King of Cron, in the early years of the 8th era (a/k/a 9th century, the years 800-899). !CompuServe TEG-9452 Your characters live in the early years of the 9th era. The forces of evil are becoming stronger. Legends, portents, soothsayers, and nightmares indicate that Cron will soon be destroyed. If someone doesn't do something, the world will come to an end. That's where you come in. MAJOR OBJECTIVES If you don't save Cron, no one will. To do this, you will have to change history by helping King Kalohn win his final battle. Once you save King Kalohn's life, he will give you a final quest. The fate of Cron rests solely on your broad shoulders! MINOR OBJECTIVES You need great knowledge, great personal power, and the assistance of powerful artifacts to aid the King. Your exploration of the Land of Cron will bring you power and knowledge and lead you to the artifacts you need. Along the way you should try and accomplish certain tasks. Among these are: !CompuServe TEG-9454 1. Fulfill the lesser quests bestowed on you by the more powerful residents of Cron; increase the strength and wealth of your characters; collect magic items and ancient artifacts. 2. Learn how to travel through time (there are at least two ways to do this). 3. Discover what items King Kalohn needs to win his final battle, collect them, and deliver them to the King (just in time)! Aiding strangers in peril may prove rewarding, perhaps gaining you a friend, a valuable item as a reward, or a willing companion-in-peril. 4. Explore all, overlook nothing, and keep meticulous records! Decipher the messages, solve the mysteries, and destroy evil wherever you find it (unless you yourself are evil, in which case just destroy anything you want!). CREATING CHARACTERS Creating characters is fun, and important as well. Care in the creation of your characters will make your early adventuring more interesting and enjoyable. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9456 ATTRIBUTE SCORES A brand new character is defined by his computer-generated scores in seven attributes, such as strength, speed, IQ, etc. The attribute scores range from 3 to 21. CHARACTER TYPES There are eight professions, or "character types" available to MMII player-characters, depending on the attribute scores of each character. For example, the profession of Knight requires high Strength. In MMII you build a character from the original seven attribute scores, swapping them between attributes until you are satisfied. As you swap attributes, the computer will tell you for which professions the current character is qualified. If no combination of the present scores interests you, just press , and a new set is available. Look for sets of scores with only one less then 10 and at least two above 16 (my personal recommendation). Don't wait for Superman; you can increase a Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9457 character's attributes during the game. Below are some guidelines for distributing attribute scores: 1. Use the highest score for endurance. Endurance helps determine how many hit points a character starts with, and how many are gained as each new level of experience is earned. Poor endurance leads to early deaths (and costly resurrections). 2. Allocate a high score to speed. For low levels characters, a high score in speed can significantly increase armor class, but there is an even better reason to be fast. In many confrontations, the slower party will be wiped out before they can even act. Try to make sure that you are not the slower party! Now allocate the rest of your scores, depending on what type of character you are trying to create. CONSIDERATIONS WHEN CREATING CHARACTERS A party of adventures in MMII is limited to eight characters, with a maximum of Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9459 six player characters. Hirelings may be used to fill out the roster; however, you aren't forced to use eight characters. You may wish to try your luck with only one. Also, if you like, your party could consist entirely of hirelings, although they will have trouble buying and selling things, visiting Murray, and even resting! When you are just starting out, you should try and take as many character types as possible, because most of them have some non-overlapping skills (I feel Ninjas and Barbarians are redundant and almost never use them). As your characters begin to advance, you may decide you can do without certain character types in your party; then, you can substitute other characters. For a low level party, I recommend (in this marching order): Knight, Paladin, Thief, Cleric, Sorcerer, and Archer. My feeling is that the character in position 3 gets hit more often than the one in position 4, although I don't have stats to prove it. With higher-level characters (say above 25th level), I generally use the following party: Paladin, Paladin, Paladin (Sherman), Cleric, Archer, Archer, Sorcerer, and Sorcerer (Mr. Wizard). I find with high-level opponents that a Paladin's ability to throw spells makes Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9461 him more useful than a Knight (although there is a high-level Knight resting in the Middlegate Inn just in case). I don't use a Robber any more. I found a trick that lets me use an Archer to do the Robber's jobs (open doors, disarm traps) safely (see Part 3), and I use the Archer in position 5 to act as a Robber. Stick around for the hints section to see how to do this! CUSTOMIZING YOUR CHARACTERS Once you have finished adjusting attribute scores, you get to choose several more characteristics for your characters: Profession, Race, Sex, Alignment, and Name. During much of the game, none of these characteristics will matter, but there are situations that can make any of these important. For example, there are places where males can't go that females can, where elves are not welcome, and places where evil is not tolerated. Make sure you are prepared for these situations by rolling a wide range of characters and using them occasionally. EQUIPPING YOUR CHARACTERS Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9463 Early in the game, your prime goal should be to increase the armor class of your characters. Buy the best armor you can, and equip the front row first; when you find or buy better armor, let the old armor filter back to the characters in rows 2 and 3. When you get better armor for them, transfer their old armor toward the back of the party (if the other characters can use it). Your party can buy and sell armor and weapons at the local Blacksmith Shop. Blacksmiths (and most other merchants in the game) will not deal with hirelings, so your player-characters will have to buy and sell for them. If one member of your party has the secondary skill of "Merchant," you will get better prices whenever you deal with a blacksmith (or any other merchant). ARMOR Most character classes are limited in the types of armor they can use. Not all character types are allowed to use shields or helmets. Listed below are the types of (non-magical) armor in order of protection (from best to worst), and the character types that can use each type. The character types are shown next to the best armor they can wear; each type can wear any of the armor listed on Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9465 lower lines. A letter after a character type indicates whether that type can use a helmet (H), shield (S), or both (B). Archers, Ninjas, and Sorcerers are not allowed to use either helmets or shields. Plate Armor - Knights (B), Paladins (B) Plate Mail Splint Armor - Clerics (B) Chain Mail - Archer, Robber (S) Ring Mail - Ninja Scale Mail - Barbarian (B) Leather Suit Padded Armor - Sorcerer WEAPONS MIGHT AND MAGIC II recognizes two classes of personal weapons: missile weapons and hand-held weapons. A missile weapon has two parts, a launcher (bow, sling, blowgun) and an expendable missile (arrow, stone, quarrel, dart). You are not Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9467 allowed to throw weapons (e.g., a spear is not a missile weapon). There are two categories of hand-held weapons: one-handed and two-handed weapons. Two-handed weapons generally do more damage than one-handed weapons, but characters equipped with shields can't use two-handed weapons. Classes that can't use shields (Archer, Ninja, Sorcerer) should use the best two-handed weapons they can get. Robbers cannot use two-handed weapons, so they should carry a shield. For the other classes (Knight, Paladin, Cleric, and Barbarian) you have to make a choice between the additional damage done by a two-hand weapon and the additional protection offered by a shield. TOOLS Low-level characters should carry some tools. Often a tool can be substituted for a spell or ability that low-level characters haven't developed yet. For example, a Thief's Pick will enhance your Robber's chances to safely open locks and disarm traps, in effect allowing him to operate as a higher-level Robber. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9468 THE INN Newly created player-characters begin the game in the Middlegate Inn, in Middlegate Town. New characters are almost broke and always need to buy equipment. Fortunately, there is no charge for staying at the Inn. When you select "Go To Town" from the options menu, the guest book from the Middlegate Inn will be displayed. To begin an adventure, you must select a party of characters and leave the Inn. No game time passes when all your characters and hirelings are guests at an Inn. Characters and hirelings leave the Inn with the same status as when they checked in (no changes in equipment, age, or health). If you are unable to help a sick, injured, dead, or eradicated party member, leave that character at any Inn until you are able to help. Saving the game is done by staying at any of the Inns. If your entire active party dies during game play, your party will revert to the status it had the last time you entered an Inn. When you are playing with low-level characters, Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9470 you should save the game often. This may seem like a waste of time, but if you don't do it, you may waste hours redoing parts of the game! KEEPING A "BANKER" Many players (including me) like to create one or more characters strictly to use as "bankers." Bankers are characters that rarely leave the Inn and almost never go on expeditions. Instead, when a party returns from an expedition, portions of the treasure are transferred to the banker for future use. MIGHT AND MAGIC II is published by New World Computing and distributed by Electronic Arts. This walkthru is copyright (c) 1990 by Dan Swanson. All rights reserved. Last page ! CompuServe TEG-9472 MIGHT AND MAGIC II Part 2 OVERALL GAME PLAN While there is no single correct way to play the game, if you are interested in winning, this section will provide you with a general game plan. If you find the play more interesting than the winning (as I do), the game plan isn't important; sooner or later you will have accomplished all the goals anyway, and when you decide to win, you should be ready to do so. STARTING OUT Create good characters, but don't be a fanatic about it since you can improve them later. Equip them as quickly as you can. Make increasing their Armor Class your highest priority. You should stay in Middlegate until you start to feel it's too "small town" for you. !CompuServe TEG-9473 LEARN MAP MAKING! Find the Cartographer and learn Cartography. This will allow you to map the areas you visit. To examine the map, press the "M" key. EARLY QUESTS Once you have reached 3rd or 4th level, perform the mini-quests that Nordon and Nordonna ask you to do for them. This will gain you valuable experience, help you get a useful spell, and provide you with another mini-quest which will make the game easier to play for as long as you wish to play. (For exact details, see Note 1.) BUILDING STRONG MINDS IN STRONG BODIES You should be ready to start exploring more of Cron by this time. Before you venture out, members of your party should be learned in the skills of mountain climbing and path finding (both skills available in Middlegate), and they should also be trained in the skills of Crusader and Navigator (available in Tundara). !CompuServe TEG-9475 LOCAL EXPLORATION Middlegate is in Region C2, which has some interesting features. Thorough exploration of this area should help you obtain another useful spell (or two, if you decide to investigate the cave), and provide you with some information to puzzle over as you continue to play. The first time you leave Middlegate through the town gates, you will be greeted by a being who claims to be your guardian Pegasus. Pay attention to his words because he can provide you with a yearly income of 100,000 gold, if you learn his name and find out where he lives. The skill of Linguist is useful in learning his name (details in Note 2). OTHER TOWNS AND CAVERNS Explore the other towns and the caverns beneath them. Take detailed notes of the things you find, especially the clues scattered here and there. You will find clues that describe the Red, Yellow, and Green Interleaves; make !CompuServe TEG-9477 sure to note these. As you explore Cron you will come upon signs that say things like "Yellow Message 1"; note all these messages, and when you have them all, use the Interleaves to decipher the Red, Yellow, and Green Messages. The Messages will provide you with more information on your actual mission in life (if you decide to accept it): saving Cron. Just as a reference, the locations of the Messages and Interleaves may be found in "The Cron Gazetter" (Part 8). There is no reason to hurry at this point; Cron will last long enough for you to save it. Tour the country, see the sites, earn more experience, and collect more treasure. If you have the Clerical Spell C 2-3 (Nature's Gate) by Nature's Day, good. But if you don't, don't worry because Nature's Day comes once a year. GETTING INTO GEAR Along about 7th or 8th level, you should start paying a little more attention !CompuServe TEG-9478 to Cron's future (if you want). Start visiting the castles, and take on a few of the Quests you are offered. Visit Pinehurst and help Peabody find his lost pet. This gets you access to the "WayBack Machine." Go back to the 8th Era and visit Castle Xabran. Learn where to find spells and hirelings. During one of these visits to Xabran, retrieve the valuable magic items that are stored there (see Note 3). Some time along the way, win a Triple Crown of each color, and purchase a key of each color. Each of your characters should complete a Jurors' Quest (maybe take some hirelings along as well). Although they seem very difficult and dangerous, with a little planning you can accomplish them with level 12 characters. Once your party has completed its Jurors' Quests and won a Black Triple Crown, go to Luxus Palace Royale for an audience with Queen Lamanda. She will reward you and provide you with a new mission. If you have explored enough, you have probably encountered the ranting wild man who loves Cupie Dolls. If you take him a Cupie Doll, you might be surprised as Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9480 he helps you to become a better person. This isn't absolutely necessary, but the better your attributes are, the longer you will live. THE ORB By now, you should have some idea of the magic items that you need in order to win the game. In order to get the Orb, you will need to find some ancient items with funny, hi-tech-sounding names, and use them to actually take possession of the Orb (see Note 4). Then, you will encounter a problem that baffles almost everyone who plays the game: How the heck do I get it home? Well, do some brainstorming, check out your hirelings and their capabilities, and don't dismiss any ideas that sound useful (see Note 5). WHAT ELSE DO I NEED? Isn't that enough? No, you're right: it really isn't enough. You need four more magical talismans, and to get them, you have to give up four that you already have. These new talismans can only be found in the various Elemental Planes; so, now you need to learn the spells that let you enter these Planes and continue to Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9482 live. Good Luck! Finally, you have all of the wondrous magic items you need to help the king. So now it's time to.... SAVE THE WORLD Find the King before he gets toasted by the Mega-Dragon, and give him the magic items you worked so hard to collect. For a short time he will be too busy to thank you, but once he defeats MagillaBreath, you can return to current-day Cron, where King Kalohn and Queen Lamanda will greet you as Saviors of the World and Heroes of the Realm, won't they? Sure they will, and the "check's in the mail!" No, you have one more mission to perform. Return to Square Lake, use the secret password to enter the Square Lake Cave, battle your way through the endless corridors, slaughtering countless monsters, until you reach the door guarded by 666 Devil Kings. Don't fight them or you'll lose and have to do it over again! Once you've passed all of these obstacles and reached your destination, you Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9484 will be invited to solve a cryptogram. The encryption scheme used for this puzzle is simple: Each letter in the encoded document represents an unencoded letter in the original, in a 1-to-1 correspondence. You have a time limit, though; the "End of All" is approaching. If you don't solve the puzzle soon, Cron blows up, you'll need to return to the Inn, and try again. The same message will be encoded, but the encryption scheme is changed; the answers you have from your last try aren't valid, so you have to start over. (Depending on your computer, there may be a way to "cheat" here. See Note 6.) Once you have the code, you have to encode something in the same code you just deciphered and then, finally.... You win! QUEST NOTES If you want to figure things out for yourself, don't read these! NOTE 1 Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9486 Nordonna suggests that you use the Portals to visit each town, and while you are in a town, to visit the Temple in that town and make a Donation. Actually the order doesn't matter, but you do need to use the portals. Once you have donated at the fifth Temple, you will find an iron coin. Throwing this iron coin into a specific fountain will allow you to find a Castle Key. The Castle Key will allow you to go into the various castles in Cron without having to kill the Castle Guards every time you drop by. NOTE 2 You can learn Meenu's name in C3. He hangs out at B1 (9,9). The only direction you can approach him from without magic is the north. NOTE 3 The magic items you need to retrieve from Xabran are the Air, Earth, Fire, and Water Discs. You later take these to the respective Elemental Planes, where you Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9487 exchange them for the 4 Talons (again Air, Earth, Fire, and Water). NOTE 4 In order to pick up the Orb from its current resting place in Dawn's Mist Bog Resort, you need to have the A-1 Todilor, J-26 Fluxor, M-27 Radicon, and N-19 Capitor with you. These must be carried by the party member in position 1. NOTE 5 Give the Orb to a hireling and dismiss him. NOTE 6 Computers that run PC-DOS or MS-DOS have a "Pause" or "Hold" button, which, essentially, stops the computer until you press it again. I pressed this button and worked out the cryptogram. The first time I typed in the answer, I made a typo; so, I paused again until I was sure it was right before reentering it. (It was right and extremely anti-climactic.) Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9489 MIGHT AND MAGIC II is published by New World Computing and distributed by Electronic Arts. This walkthru is copyright (c) 1990 by Dan Swanson. All rights reserved. Last page ! CompuServe TEG-9490 MIGHT AND MAGIC II Part 3 IMPROVING YOUR CHARACTERS In order to win MIGHT AND MAGIC II, your characters should be about 35th level; however, it takes lots of combat to raise your characters this high. In order to speed this process up a little, here are some ways of getting experience that involve little or no combat. I call this "free" or "cheap" experience, even though it may be expensive in terms of gold. FREE EXPERIENCE There are two sources of experience that require absolutely no combat: the hermit Mark in C1, and the Gourmet in A3. Mark has lost his keys. He will reward your party with 10,000 experience points !CompuServe TEG-9491 for their return (visiting Mark without his keys may be deadly). The Death Spider in A2 has found Mark's keys. If you answer her riddle correctly, she will give you the keys. If you answer incorrectly, not only will she keep the keys, she will attack you. The Gourmet will discuss food with another gourmet, and after the discussion, awards the other gourmet 100,000 points. In order to become a gourmet, a character must sample all of the meals available in all of the Taverns of Cron. These experience points cost you gold, and eating all of those meals may have unpleasant repercussions in the future; however, the experience points are gained without combat. CHEAP EXPERIENCE The minimal fighting involved in gaining Cheap Experience may be avoided altogether if you're clever. The four Bishops of Battle are imprisoned in the four castles of Cron, and they !CompuServe TEG-9493 will reward your party with experience if you are able to free them. The amount of experience depends on the color of the Bishop you release. You will need colored keys to release these Bishops, and you will have to explore the castles to find each prison. You may have to fight some castle guards to actually get to the prisons, or you may be able to avoid the guards. If you happen to have won a Triple Crown of the same color as the Bishop, he will reward you even more highly. Lord Slayer (Castle HillStone, D4) and Lord Hoardall (Castle Woodhaven, C1) have a number of minor quests they would like your party to perform (the Lords' quests are not minor). These quests require that you either kill a specific type of monster (for Lord Slayer), or that you return with a specific item (Lord Hoardall). They are included as "cheap experience" because you can complete them one at a time as part of your normal activities, without going out of your way. After you have completed one of these quests successfully, the grateful Lord will provide your party with experience. !CompuServe TEG-9496 There are a number of ways to gain experience that allow you to accurately estimate your chances of success before taking any risk. The Battle Arenas: Middlegate, Sandsobar, and Atlantium have battle arenas, where you can arrange to fight for a reward. You will always fight the same number of opponents as you have party members, and you have some influence over the strength of the opponents you will face. Tickets are available in most blacksmiths, and the color of the ticket and the Arena you use it in will determine how tough your opponents will be. The Colosseum in Atlantium provides the most dangerous monsters, but balances the greater risk with greater rewards! Lord Haart's Quest: Lord Haart, who maintains a castle in B2, would like you to visit the past and recover two family heirlooms: Spaz Twit's Phaser, and the Long One's +7 Loincloth. If you know where Spaz and the Long One hang out in their respective centuries, this is a relatively easy quest. The Triple Crowns: If you win a red-ticket combat in each of the three battle arenas, you will win a Red Triple Crown. Winning a Black Triple Crown is !CompuServe TEG-9498 necessary to win the game. When you free a Bishop of Battle, his rewards will be greater if you have won a Triple Crown of his color. The Lords' Quest: When Lord Slayer and Lord Hoardall send you on quests, you may select the Lords' Quest. Lord Slayer wants you to defeat the Envoys of Evil, while Lord Hoardall wants you to collect the three Ancient Swords. These Quests are definitely dangerous, but they will reward you well. The Jurors' Quests: Before you can win the game, each of your characters will need to complete a Jurors' Quest. There are clues to the Jurors' Quests in Atlantium, and you can actually listen to the Jurors on Farview Mountain, in D2. Once your characters have completed their Jurors' Quests and won a Black Triple Crown, visit the Queen in Luxus Palace Royale and she will reward you. DANGEROUS EXPERIENCE The most dangerous outdoor square on the map is E2; however, some of the best treasures and the most experience can be gained by winning fights in E2. Nothing in E2 ever falls under the free, cheap, or limited risk categories of Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9500 experience. If you venture here, you will get at least as much danger as you bargained for! Among the toughest monsters in Cron are the Cuisinarts (B2). While you won't be able to beat them for a long time, once you do beat them, you will gain a lot of experience very quickly. Don't forget to search afterwards: Some of the best treasure in the game turns up here! Perhaps the most dangerous Dungeon is the Dragons' Dominion (D1); there are 100 dragons there, with treasure and experience to match. The Ancient Dragon who rules the Dragons' Dominion guards one of the single best rewards in the game! ENHANCING ATTRIBUTES Your characters are not forever restricted to the attributes you rolled for them when they were created. MMII provides several ways of raising the various attributes. In most of the dungeons, caves, and caverns throughout Cron, there are ways to enhance your attribute scores permanently (unlike a fountain or a potion, whose Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9501 effects vanish shortly). There are generally two ways in each dungeon to change your attributes: an attribute modifier, which trades points in one attribute for points in another; an attribute enhancer, which raises your score in a selected attribute. Usually the description of the attribute-changing device (often a fountain) will contain a clue to the effects of the device, although it may be difficult to decipher the clue until after you have tested the device. For example, a clue that says "Slow but steady wins the race" might indicate that the device will lower your speed but raise your endurance. Many of the devices for changing attributes will not work on all of the races or classes of player-characters. For instance, a device that trades IQ for Personality might not work on Half-Orcs. There is usually an upper limit on the effects of these devices. For instance, there is an Intelligence Enhancer under Atlantium, which will increase your intelligence to a maximum of 50 points. The effects of these devices are only noticed after you rest. Many of them will work on you several times, until your attribute has reached the maximum for that device. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9503 THE CIRCUS Visit the Circus and play some of the Carnival games! Normally all you win is a Cupie Doll, but that Cupie Doll can help you become a better person! Somewhere in Cron is a crazy old coot who loves Cupie Dolls, and gives away rewards that are all out of proportion to his present! Give him a Cupie Doll and follow his directions, and you can start on your way to raising all of your attributes to levels even some deities can't reach! Remember that changes to your attributes are not apparent until after you rest. You can visit the circus as often as you like (until they leave for the year). IMPROVING ATTRIBUTES WITH MAGIC There seems to be no permanent way to raise attribute scores over 100; however, there are a number of magical ways to temporarily raise your attributes. The Greatest Fountain (E2) will raise all your attributes to 200 until you rest or finish one battle, whichever comes first. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9505 There are a number of potions and magic items that can also increase your attributes. Most potions lose effect after one battle or rest. Magic items, on the other hand, affect you as long as you are equipped with them. Many types of arms and armor increase your strength (apparently, there are some versions of the game where this particular function doesn't work). There are weapons that will increase your other attributes. Examples are: Speed (Fast Cutlass), Personality (Holy Cudgel), Intelligence (Genius Staff), Luck (Chance Sword), and Accuracy (True Axe). The greater the magical bonus of these weapons, the higher they will raise your attribute score. Using items, it is possible to raise your attributes to above 200 points, but you should be careful _not_ to go above 254 points; the Rest function doesn't seem to be able to deal with attributes of 255 and up. (On my system, the program locks up and I have to reboot.) There may be some kind of curse associated with using items and magic to raise your attributes. There have been occasions when my characters used an artifact to raise an attribute (usually Intelligence), and when they removed that Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9507 artifact, the attribute was lower than when they started (occasionally dropping to 0!). I have never determined for certain why this happens. It may be helpful to have your Clerics cast C 9-4 (Uncurse Item) on the things your party carries. IMPROVING HIT POINTS In the section on Creating Characters, endurance was mentioned as being the most important attribute. This is because endurance and level determine the number of hit points a character can take. You never have enough hit points, but there are several ways to increase your hit points. Always train at the most expensive Training Center you can afford. The more expensive the place is, the more hit points you will get when you go up a level. The best Training Center is in Atlantium. Many caves, dungeons, and caverns provide ways to increase hit points. This may be done by drinking from a fountain, pulling a lever, or listening to a song. There are two extremely potent ways to increase your hit points. Both are effective only once in the life of a character, and both are very difficult to Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9509 find. In one of the dungeons below a palace, there is a Hit Point Salesman. If you can find him and meet his price, he will raise your hit points to their theoretical maximum. In the Dragons' Dominion, one of the Ancient Dragons guards an artifact that increases hit points by 1000. There are a number of magic fountains that will affect your characters' hit points, but they are not all good. For example, a fountain that sets each character's hit points to 75 is nice for low-level characters, but not so great if your party averages 200 hit points each. Whenever you drink from a magic fountain, be sure and check the status of your players! There is a potion called "MaxHP Potion." One of the Blacksmiths will sell you a 2-use MaxHP Potion; you can sometimes find a 200-use "MaxHP Potion" in treasures. This potion temporarily increases your allowed maximum number of hit points. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9511 To make use of this potion, your characters should take it immediately after they rest, and then a Paladin or Cleric should cast C 1-6 Power Cure on each party member that used the potion, temporarily raising their hit points. This potion is particularly useful when the party is outdoors, and the Clerics and Paladins can cast C 7-3 (Moon Ray), as the party may actually be able to gain hit points as the combat progresses! THIEVERY I promised you a way to use some other type of character in place of a Robber, so here it is! A Looter's Knife and a Pirate's Crossbow both enhance a character's ability as a thief, and both may be used by classes other than Thieves and Ninjas. Thus, when an Archer is equipped with a Pirate's Crossbow, he may function as a Thief. The higher the magical bonus of the weapon, the better the character will do as a Robber. More importantly, when a character who is equipped with one of these weapons advances a level in a Training Center, his natural ability as a Robber increases Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9513 by one-percent. From now on, each time this character advances, this ability goes up just as if he was born a Robber. A 35th level Archer who started to learn Thievery when he was 7th level would have the natural ability of Thievery 28-percent. If he is equipped with a Pirate's Crossbow +15 and a Looter's Knife +17, his ability will be Thievery 60-percent. He isn't a spectacularly successful Robber, but he's good enough that you can now afford to leave your Robber at home, and replace him with a more powerful character. This process works as well with other character types; I just chose the Archer because that is the character type I prefer. MIGHT AND MAGIC II is published by New World Computing and distributed by Electronic Arts. This walkthru is copyright (c) 1990 by Dan Swanson. All rights reserved. Last page ! CompuServe TEG-9528 MIGHT AND MAGIC II Part 4 Much of your time in Cron is spent adventuring, exp loring new and dangerous places or revisiting familiar, but still dangerous places. This section contains hints that may help you survive some of these dangers. COMBAT AND OPTIONS Most of your interaction with the characters that are part of the game (called "monsters," but this might also include creatures very similar to men) occurs either just before a combat, or during the course of a combat. The display will tell you when you have encountered monsters. The next message (if necessary) will tell you if you surprised the monsters or if they surprised you. If there is surprise, you will have to press the spacebar to continue. If you surprised the monsters or if there is no surprise, you will have to decide Press for more !CompuServe TEG-9656 what you wish to do next. If the monsters surprised you, your only choice is to fight. When your party encounters a monster or monsters, your options are Attack, Bribe, Hide, or Run. HIDE: I have never successfully used the Hide option; it probably works best if you have surprise on your side. RUN: If successful, your party is transported to a safe square somewhere on the current map. If you run from a creature (instead of a random, wandering monster), there will still be monsters in the square you ran from when you return, although they may be different monsters. BRIBE: The art of bribery is extremely valuable in Cron. It may help you avoid encounters that would be fatal otherwise. Vary bribes to suit the types of monsters you encounter. Man-like creatures usually prefer gold; less intelligent animals may be bribed with food; some spellcasting monsters will accept gems. Any frenzied monster (specifically "Crazed Natives") might be considered a !CompuServe TEG-9668 non-intelligent animal; you might try a bribe of 100 units of food (don't fight Crazed Natives unless you have no other option). A group of monsters may accept a bribe in some circumstances and reject it in others. For instance, you can often bribe Castle Guards at a Castle Gate to let you in, but you will have a much harder time trying to bribe the same number of Castle Guards who encounter you in the Castle's Treasury. Bribed monsters go away and take their treasure with them. ATTACK: This means what it says: Engage the monsters in combat to the death! ORDER OF COMBAT The order of combat is determined mostly by the respective speed of the opponents, with modifiers for marching order and surprise. When you face a party with several different types of monster in it, some may go before some of your characters and some afterwards, with some acting in the middle of the sequence. Often when the monsters get to go first, combat is over before you ever get to take a swing. This is why you should concentrate on making your party faster! !CompuServe TEG-9691 The combat options available to characters are Attack, Fight, Shoot, Cast, Block, Run, Exchange, and View. Some of these actions can be taken without ending the character's turn, such as "V" for view (allows you to check the current character status display) and "Q" which checks the Quick Reference display. Other actions produce some effect (or fail) after which it is someone else's turn. Non-violent actions are Block, Exchange, and Run. BLOCK increases a character's Armor Class only until the end of the combat round in which it is used. Block is of little value to a character who goes last! RUN may allow a character to withdraw from combat. The character will not rejoin the party until combat is finished. When unconscious party members are abandoned because other party members choose to run, the enemy slits their throats. Sometimes a character is unable to run successfully, leaving him unable to take any other action until the next round. !CompuServe TEG-9704 EXCHANGE lets a character swap positions with another character in the marching order. This may be done to move a wounded character out of harm's way, move a dead character to the back to let someone else fight, or to allow a character with no missile weapons to use his hand-held weapon instead. USE allows you to try to use the special power of any item your character is equipped with or carrying in his pack. If an item's special power cannot be used in combat, the character gets to select another option. SHOOT allows a character to use his missile weapon against the opponents. Archers can always shoot during any combat round, even if they are engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Other classes can only shoot if they are _not_ engaged in hand-to-hand combat. CAST allows the character to use a combat spell. Any spellcaster can attempt to throw a spell at any time, regardless of his current combat status (in other words, a spellcaster engaged in hand-to-hand combat may still use his spells). ATTACK/FIGHT: These are essentially the same option, except Attack !CompuServe TEG-9706 automatically hits the monster in the front of the enemy party, while Fight allows you to pick your target. Only a character engaged in hand-to-hand combat is allowed to select these options, and the target must also be engaged in hand-to-hand combat. During a fight, some of the monsters may decide to run away. Occasionally, all of the monsters may run away before you kill any of them. If this happens, you will get no experience and no treasure for that fight. It also seems as if monsters can go for reinforcements. Sometimes a message will be displayed reading, "Monster adds Friends," and suddenly, there are twice as many monsters. The S 6-2 spell (Entrapment) prevents monsters from running away from a combat. I don't know if this prevents monsters from "Adding Friends." COMBAT HINTS The "Rule Of Ten": In most cases, only the ten monsters closest to your party are able to hit you in a given combat round. The others can't reach you, even if !CompuServe TEG-9708 you kill the first ten. This may be because they are having trouble climbing over their casualties in order to reach you. This is useful if you face lots of opponents who could potentially beat you, but you get to go first in combat. As long you can kill the front ten monsters in any single round, you will take _no_ damage. While this may seem unrealistic, you will come to appreciate it before very long! There are exceptions to the Rule of Ten, and they are extremely dangerous! Monsters in the back row don't seem to have trouble climbing over their buddies who have self-destructed during their attack (Crazed Natives or Carnage Spirits, for example). With a little bad luck, all 100 members of a party of Mad Peasants might be able to hit you in the same combat round. As you learn what monsters are exceptions to this rule, you will learn to avoid them! Monsters designed specifically for combat (Warbots) also seem to be exceptions to this rule. Some powerful spellcasting monsters (like Wizards) seem to be able to cast spells regardless of any carnage surrounding them. When you are fighting outdoors, one of the most useful spells is C 7-3 (Moon Ray). Moon Ray hurts the enemy and heals your party at the same time. Some magic !CompuServe TEG-9710 items are able to create Moon Rays. Putting these items into the pack of party members who can't use Clerical Spells provides you with insurance in case your Clerics and Paladins go down first! You are often faced with the choice of concentrating your attack on one monster, or spreading your attacks around among all monsters. If there is one monster (or only a few monsters that are clearly more dangerous), you should concentrate on it first. For example, if you encounter a Tyrannosaurus Rex accompanied by ten Kobolds, you should worry about T'Rex first! Characters do not usually die as a direct result of hand-to-hand combat. When a character's hit points reach zero, he falls unconscious, and most opponents will leave the unconscious bodies alone until none of your party is still standing. If you have healing spells, an unconscious character may be able to return to combat the next round. A character with one hit point hits just as hard as a character with 200 hit points, so try and keep everybody in action! There are always some exceptions: Monsters in a frenzy will hit anything, even unconscious bodies, and the Mega-Dragon eradicates a character whenever he hits. The C 7-4 spell (Raise Dead) can be thrown during combat, but C 9-3 (Resurrect) Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9712 can't; so, dead characters may sometimes be returned quickly to combat, while eradicated characters have to wait until a fight is over. If you are facing opponents with area damage spells or breath weapons, try to make sure none of your characters is unconscious when these spells or weapons are used. One point of damage will kill an unconscious character, while 100 or even 1,000 points of physical damage done to a character with one hit point will usually only render him unconscious. SEARCHING FOR TREASURE You can search for treasure immediately after combat is over, but if your party is badly damaged, you should take time to heal before you open the treasure. Most treasures are trapped, and if the trap is sprung, any member of your party who was unconscious is now dead. Most treasures are worth the delay. There is no need to throw a Detect Traps spell on a treasure; it doesn't actually help you disarm the trap, and it wastes spell points. If you leave a square with treasure in it without searching for that treasure, it will be gone when you return. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9714 RESTING About once in 20 rest periods, you will be attacked while you are asleep. There is no way to leave a guard awake, so your party is always surprised if attacked during a rest. Low-level parties are usually wiped out if they are attacked while asleep. Monsters are much more careful around high-level parties; sometimes when they realize who it is that they tripped over, they all run away before you wake up (who says you don't get no respect?). To me, this one situation makes the game worth playing; I've always wanted to be so powerful that people were afraid to wake me up! Spells S 1-1 (Awaken) and C 1-2 (Awaken) are useful if your spellcasters wake up before the rest of your party. There is also a magic item (the Wakeup Horn) which will wake your party. Unfortunately, if the character with the horn is asleep, he can't use it! Spell S 6-? (Shelter) and the Magic Item Instant Keep will both grant your Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9716 party an undisturbed rest period, during which your wounds will heal; however, used spell points don't regenerate during this rest. CASTING SPELLS There are two types of spells: Sorcerer Spells and Clerical Spells. Sorcerers and Archers can cast Sorcerer Spells, and Clerics and Paladins can cast clerical Spells. Spells are often referred to in a type of shorthand, using the letter "S" for sorcerer Spells and "C" for Clerical Spells, followed by numbers indicating spell level and spell number. So, "C 7-4" refers to the seventh level Clerical spell Raise Dead; "S 4-6" refers to the fourth level Sorcerer spell Time Distortion. Each spellcaster always carries a spell book, and all the spells that he knows are listed in the book. When your party is not in combat, you can examine each character's spell book by selecting the character and then pressing "C" as if to throw a spell. Press ESC to abort a spell. To examine a character's spell book in combat, use the "V" command to view that character's record sheet, then use Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9740 "V" again to examine the character's spell book. First level Clerics and Sorcerers start the game knowing some spells. They probably learned these spells during their apprenticeship, which presumably occurred before the start of the game. Whenever a character learns a new spell, it is automatically added to his spell book. There are three ways to learn spells: 1. Each time a spellcaster attains a new spell level, certain spells are taught to him at the Training Center. However, the Training Centers never teach all the spells of a certain level. 2. Some of the spells the Training Centers don't teach may be purchased at the Sorcerers' Guild or Temple in each town. 3. There are some spells that you can't learn in any of the towns. You must find these spells scattered throughout Cron. Many hirelings can throw spells. Some hirelings (notably Mr. Wizard) know all of their own type of spells. They can't teach your characters any spells, but by Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9742 adding them to your party you can benefit from their knowledge. There is a Spell Salesman on the second level of one of the dungeons, who will teach your party every spell that is available to player-characters. SPELL POINTS A spellcaster has an attribute called "Spell Points." Casting spells (usually) requires the use of spell points, and also the use of gems. Some spells don't cost any spell points, others don't cost any gems, but most spells use up both. The number of spell points Sorcerers and Archers have depends on their level and their intelligence, while the number of spell points Clerics or Paladins have depends on their level and their Personality. Any spellcaster who is alive, awake, and has enough gems and spell points can attempt to cast spells at any time, whether he is engaged in hand-to-hand combat or not. Depending on circumstances, the selected spell may fail, or if the selected spell is inappropriate due to spell limitations, the caster may not be allowed to throw that spell at that time. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9743 There are a number of limitations on spells limiting when and where they can be used, and what their effects are. To find out what the limits are for any given spell, read the spell descriptions in the manual. A spell's limits may prevent you from casting that spell at a certain time and place, or they may just cause the spell to fail. For example: Sorcerer spell S 3-4 (Lightning Bolt) can only be cast when your party is in combat; Sorcerer spell S 4-4 (Guard Dog) can only be cast when the party is not in combat; Clerical spell C 7-3 (Moon Ray) only works outdoors. PROBLEMS DURING SPELLCASTING Probably the biggest single problem players have with spells is in the use of spells that will not work on monsters in hand-to-hand combat. Not only doesn't the spell work, but the character who threw the spell not only loses spell points and gems, he also loses the opportunity to do something useful until the next round. Monsters in hand-to-hand combat are very close to at least one member of your party, and the wrong type of spell could hurt party members as well as the monsters. Rather than hurting your party, your spell just doesn't work, and you Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9745 see the message "Spell Failed." The description of these spells in the manual states (following the category TYPE) "Combat, not in hand-to-hand." Examples of this type of spell are: Clerical spell C 3-1 (Cold Ray); Sorcerer spell S 4-3 (Fire Ball). A problem that occasionally irritated me was that I would try to use S 2-1 (Eagle Eye) indoors and S 3-6 (Wizard Eye) outdoors. The effect of these two spells is similar; the "Protect" display area shows a map of the area surrounding your party, but neither spell will function in the wrong environment. There are two Clerical spells for dispelling Undead monsters: C 1-7 (Turn Undead) and C 9-2 (Holy Word). Their effects are similar; if the spells are successful, undead monsters are eradicated. The number of undead monsters dispelled by C 1-7 depends on the level of the character casting the spell; C 9-2 dispels all of the undead monsters in the enemy's party. When using C 1-7, Paladins can apparently turn as many undead as Clerics of the same level. Only one of these spells can be effective in a single encounter. Repeated Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9747 casting of the same spell will fail, as will attempts to use the other spell. Failed spells will cost spell points and gems. OTHER SPELLCASTING PROBLEMS Spell C 6-2 (Rejuvenate): Don't use this spell! It backfires more often than it works. There are safer ways to grow younger (take a cruise to a distant resort, for example). Some monsters are immune to certain spells. For instance, throwing lightning at lightning bugs doesn't achieve much in the way of damaging the bugs, and Frost Dragons aren't too unhappy if you throw a Cold Ray at them. If you encounter a monster who seems immune to the spells you normally use, try using other spells which cause other types of damage. If you can't hurt a Fire Elemental with a Fire Ball, try a Cold Ray! MIGHT AND MAGIC II is published by New World Computing and distributed by Electronic Arts. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9749 This walkthru is copyright (c) 1990 by Dan Swanson. All rights reserved. Last page ! CompuServe TEG-9750 MIGHT AND MAGIC II Part 5 A TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO THE REGIONS OF CRON The land of Cron contains many dangers, but it also has many natural attractions. The wise traveler should always be prepared for danger, from flora, fauna, and natural elements, but shou ld not let caution deter him from noting the many wonders of Cron. In this travelogue, you will find general descr iptions o f the 20 regions of Cron. For more detailed descriptions of the caves, caverns, dungeons, and towers of Cron, you should consult the Guide to the Cron Underground (Part 7). Exact locations of the features described in these two works may be found in the Cron Gazetteer (Part 8). REGION A1 Press for more !CompuServe TEG-9751 The town of Tundara is situated in the southeastern corner of this region. Surrounding Tundara are the Ice Plains, which make up half of the area. The other half of A1 is an extension of the Plane of Air into our dimension. Mountains form a natural barrier between the Plane of Air and the rest of Cron. Travel in this region is difficult; even experienced navigators lose their way due to the constant glare from the snow. Novice and seasoned travelers alike are occasionally trapped by natural disasters such as blizzards and avalanches; you should closely monitor the health of your party. In spite of the dangers of traveling in this region, there are also rewards. In the mountains, a careful search will uncover the secret of an ancient clerical spell, and traveling through the extension of the Plane of Air may inspire your clerics to develop another spell to make travel here safer. It is rumored that a passage exists that will take travelers back to the mythical "Time of Air." Another rumor suggests that in a past age, the area around what is now Tundara was ruled by a mighty warrior with an invincible magical weapon. !CompuServe TEG-9753 REGION A2 Almost the entire northern half of this region is covered by the Ice Plains. To the east there is a small group of mountains; it is rumored there are some very powerful monsters in these mountains who may hold the secret of an extremely potent Sorcerer Spell. A close search of the ice has been known to turn up valuable artifacts, perhaps lost ages ago. In the western part of the ice lives the dreaded Death Spider, who holds a key to success in your near future. Anger her not, however: Not only will you lose her valuable treasure, you may also lose your life. Southern A2 is covered with woods and mountains. Hidden in a valley between mountains surrounded by forest, there is rumored to be a stronghold filled with gold, and a magical fountain that makes even the oldest adventurers caper with joy. Somewhere in the region is another fountain, whose effects are contrary to the effects of this one. In the southern mountains, the degenerate descendants of ancient nobles protect their legacy: a magic weapon rumored to have great value. !CompuServe TEG-9755 The forest thins toward the west. The woods in this region are filled with patrols of militia and their allies. These patrols guard the approach to Castle Pinehurst, hold of Lord Peabody. Peabody can be extremely helpful if you have an interest in the history of Cron. REGION A3 This region is mostly ocean to the south, with a small plain surrounded by mountains and forest to the north. There is also a peninsula that extends quite far out into the ocean. Here you will find a number of sea-going monsters, and the peninsula is a favorite roost for flying dragons. A fearless gourmet makes his residence on the peninsula, and will be generous with those who can hold his interest. Near the southern border are the Pearl Islands where the enterprising party can find treasure and possible allies. REGION A4 !CompuServe TEG-9757 Most of this region is ocean. Half of it is the normal ocean of Cron, while the other half is covered by water that has leaked from the other-dimensional Elemental Plane of Water. It is rumored that passage can be made through the leak into the "Time of Water." Separating the normal and Elemental oceans is a mountain range. In the mountains is hidden an ancient Clerical Spell, and travel through the Plane of Water may inspire your clerics to develop a spell to make water travel simpler. Several of the Pearl Islands are in this region, as well as the much larger island where you will find Atlantium. Also, you will find several magical fountains on the Atlantium island; remember that appearances may be deceiving, especially in Cron. Magical transportation spells don't work well in this region, forcing adventurers to travel on foot. REGION B1 !CompuServe TEG-9862 Most of this region is covered with ice, and travel here is difficult, even for the experienced traveler. Beware of blizzards and snow drifts which can cause frostbite and more dangerous damage if ignored. Standing by itself in the middle of the Ice Plains is a single mountain. Myths tell of the evil monsters who use this mountain as a place to hide from pursuit, and a place to prepare for raids on creatures in nearby regions. The monsters described in the myths are cunning and ruthless, and would probably booby-trap their fortress extensively...if they actually existed. Careful exploration of the Ice will reveal an ancient fortress; a favor done for its Lord will repay you well. It is rumored that somewhere on the ice lives a magical creature (while the rumors aren't entirely clear, it is probably not a goose) who will provide your party with gold. In the forest to the northeast, you may encounter a group of lumberjacks who will treat you well if you can gain their respect. Be careful what you eat and drink here. !CompuServe TEG-9863 REGION B2 This region is composed of a variety of terrain types making it an interesting place to explore. In the mountains to the west your party will encounter great danger and even greater treasure. This region is split by a road running from east to west. South of the road is mostly forest, while north of the road is mostly ice plains. Depending on the time of the year, a number of organizations use this area for conventions: North of the road in the east you may disrupt a Merchants' Meeting, while south of the road, you may find OrcCon and the Circus. Visits to the Circus can help you become a better person. There are two secluded clearings in the southern woods. One is of great interest to Archers, while the other provides a quick method of travel. Beware of stuff dripping from the sky, and be careful what you eat! REGION B3 !CompuServe TEG-9865 This area is mostly open land on the shores of a bay. In the bay is the long, wasp-waisted Isle of the Ancients. Rumors indicate that the mountains on this island conceal the hideaways of two ancient, powerful wizards. The north shore is dominated by the mighty Dread Knight and his companion, the Jouster. While the Dread Knight will only compete with Knights, the Jouster will attempt to slaughter anyone who visits the region. The eastern shore is calm and inhabited mostly by Druids. REGION B4 Among the most visited regions of Cron, this area also has some of Cron's most deadly inhabitants. The eastern half is plains bounded by the ocean, a mountain range, and forest, and the natives are extremely hostile to strangers, often seeming crazed. They have been known to capture parties and hold them for ransom, possibly disposing of them if their ransom demands are not met. Successful journeying among the natives may help your clerics learn a powerful spell. !CompuServe TEG-9891 Part of the Isle of the Ancients extends into this region, and in the southwest waters is Murray's Resort Island. Murray's is a place that should be seen by everyone, young and old alike (actually, young and old are the same). There are reports of fabulous riches to be found in the shallow water along the eastern shore. REGION C1 Seen from above (by those with access to a Witch's Broom or a Fly Spell), this region is covered with beautiful green forest. From ground level, the view isn't so beautiful; indeed, it seems as if most of the undead and unholy monsters of Cron use this area for their meetings! Rumor says Corak's soul wanders through the forest, vainly searching for his body. Some say the strongest of Clerical spells is also hidden here. To the west are two magical fountains that can aid a traveler with his spellcasting, and Hungry Devils guarding a potent Sorcerer Spell. !CompuServe TEG-9893 The mad hermit Mark awaits parties in the southwestern corner, rewarding parties that help him while punishing those who won't. REGION C2 This region is home to the town of Sandsobar and is likely to become very familiar to player-characters. Part of a wide, gentle plain surrounded by distant mountains, this is a very pleasant area. There are three magic fountains here, two of which are at least benevolent for characters. In the southwest lives a tribe of Orcs who will attack intruders, but who never leave their protected valley. Here one can also find the Tomb of Corak, which explains why his soul has never found his body. A major landmark is Square Lake and the mountain that rises from it. Your characters have often heard whispers that the final reward for a good lifetime may be found in this mountain. In the southwest is a magical pit which can prove fatal to inexperienced characters. To the east are the ruins of a mighty castle which appears to have !CompuServe TEG-9895 been destroyed within the last 100 years. Clearly, the former residence of a great power now laid low, the ruins of this castle intrigue most visitors, somehow causing them to feel a vague desire to return this castle to its former glory. Few in this modern era have visited the Square Lake Mountain. Fewer still have returned, empty-handed, telling wild tales of invisible forces guarding a majestic entrance; presumably, those who have not returned were able to pass through this entrance. REGION C3 Bounded by mountains to the north and east, the ocean to the west, and the Forbidden Forest to the south, this land is the home to many Druids. Indeed, there are stories concerning the great Druid Stronghold which suggests that it is somewhere in the area. A mountain ridge runs between the open grassland of the Druids and the dark Forbidden Forest. There are myths that suggest that the Druids themselves !CompuServe TEG-9896 created these mountains to prevent an invasion of monsters from the southeast. The mountains are currently inhabited by tribes of hard barbarians, who favor neither the Druids nor the monsters, and challenge anyone trying to pass through. There are rumors of a monster-ridden counterpart to the Druid Stronghold, in the far southeast, where an invasion army is being quartered and trained. The Forbidden Forest is being patrolled by militia from this Fort. From their willingness to accept a bribe, it seems that this army is not yet ready to attack. The ferry to Murray's Resort Island leaves from a dock in this region; such is the power commanded by Murray that a path running directly east from Murray's Dock to the enchanted road seems to be even safer than the road itself. On the north shore of the Druids' grassland, there lives a crazy old coot with an obsession for an exotic munchie. Although he is practically senile, he has a store of useful information, particularly about Nature, his deity for the last 500 years (give or take a few). Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9898 REGION C4 Once a very pleasant area, this region is now choked with a hot, wet forest, and much of the region has become an evil swamp. There is very little to draw a visitor here, and often those who wander into and through the swamp never come back. Walk on water and levitate spells don't seem to work in quicksand! While most of the Temples and religions in Cron hold that it's a long way to hell, your characters can never be closer to hell than they are here! In the early years of the 8th Era, King Kalohn fought the Mega-Dragon in this region, turning it into the dreary place it is today. REGION D1 As you travel further to the east, Cron becomes gradually more mountainous; this region is almost completely surrounded by mountain ranges. However, the largest mountain in the region is not there any longer, having been destroyed by King Kalohn in one of his battles to save Cron. The former mountain is now a Dead Zone, and those who enter the Dead Zone quickly sicken. Even characters who Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9923 only take one step into the zone feel its effects, and those with less hardy constitutions often die immediately. The disease does not provide a painless death! The disease produces blisters that resemble fire burns; blindness and hair loss quickly follow, then death. Anyone who accidentally enters the Dead Zone requires immediate treatment! The forces of Nature are trying to heal this terrible wound to the land, and it is rumored that on certain occasions, the magic of Nature is enough to temporarily offset whatever is causing the disease. It is further rumored that the spell the King used to devastate the mountain may be found somewhere in this region. Because of the mountains, many dragons frequent this region, including the fearsome Dragon Lord, one of the Envoys of Evil. The Dragons have set up their own kingdom -- the Dragons' Dominion -- in the mountains to the north. Only the powerful may enter this kingdom and return alive. Barbarians in the mountains guard an ancient artifact, even though they no longer understand its significance. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9925 There are several peaceful goblin villages in valleys in the southern mountains, ruled by a clown named Bozorc. Bozorc likes to hold captives for ransom, and kill them and whomever brings the ransom. A party that manages to free some of his victims might make some loyal friends. REGION D2 This land is the site of Luxus Palace Royale, home of Queen Lamanda, the reigning monarch of Cron. Luxus, in the northeast corner of this area, is still a magnificent sight, and gives hope that the rest of Cron can be restored to its former glory. Also in this region is the Queen's Orchard, which is guarded by very tough patrols of the Queen's militia. Raiding the Orchard may be a bad idea. An evil Baron, Mandagul, has set up a toll station on the road, and won't let anyone pass without paying. Mount Farview is in the southern portion of this region, and the 12 Jurors Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9927 reside there. Visit them for information for your Jurors' Quests! The valleys in the southern mountains hold danger for the unwary traveler. In the southeast is a portion of the Desert of Desolation. The Desert offers many dangers, not the least of which is being caught unprotected in a sandstorm. REGION D3 While this region looks placid, it is the home of two of the most evil creatures in Cron. Their modus operandi is to imprison powerful creatures, torture them for their secrets, then kill them. More than one resident of Cron would love to see them dead! This area is also inhabited by elusive tribes of natives. Your party will never encounter the average tribesman, but groups of tribal Shamans often gather here. Offer them no mercy, because unless you stop them first, they will paralyze your party and kill all its members! A corner of the Desert of Desolation extends into this region. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9928 REGION D4 This region is almost entirely swamp, and also the location of Lord Slayer's Castle HillStone. The Quagmire of Doom, as the swamp is known, is bounded to the northeast by mountains; on the plain north of the mountain you may find an interesting gathering of monsters. One of the ancient Swords of Nobility is located in this region, guarded by a group who regard it as the icon of their religion. They will not give up their treasure willingly! There is a steady traffic of monsters into the middle of the swamp. Observations show that when these monsters enter the swamp, they look slow, drawn out, and tired. When they leave, they look happy and relaxed. Clever spies have tried to follow these monsters, but none has ever returned. REGION E1 In this region, Cron and an extension of the Elemental Plane of Fire coexist, separated by only a thin mountain range. It is rumored that a group of clerics Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9930 escaping from a volcano may have left a spell somewhere in these barrier mountains, but where and what the spell is the rumors don't stay. Traveling through the extension of the Plane of Fire, an alert cleric may come to an understanding of the dangers of the environment, and fashion a spell to deal with it. The Cron side of the region is extremely mountainous, with active volcanoes and pools of molten lava waiting to trap the unwary traveler. Beware the effects of indigenous magical waters! Nestled in a valley to the southwest is the town of Vulcania, which provides a safe haven for parties that visit this region. A little north of Vulcania is a place that is famous for the quality and quantity of magical gemstones found there. In the farthest corner of this region, intrepid adventures may discover a passage to the "Time of Fire." REGION E2 Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-9932 Virtually all desert, this is the most dangerous region in Cron. In the valleys of the modest mountains to the north live some of Cron's most vicious monsters, guarding some of its most outstanding treasures. Desert travel is extremely difficult, the more so because of the many monsters waiting concealed in the sand. It is rumored that the Crawling Envoy of Evil lives somewhere in this region. There are a number of oases where travelers can safely replenish their food s upply, and somewhere in the desert expanse is a magical fountain often called "The Greatest Fountain." Visitors to other eras will find that this region has always been the most dangerous area in Cron; some suspect that the invading aliens found their first foothold here. In the distant past, a Holy One of incredible charisma lived in this region, surrounded by his disciples. While existing traces of this Holy One have mostly vanished, he is often referred to in legends in terms of an outstanding physical Press for more !CompuServe TEG-9934 characteristic, "The Wide One," or perhaps "The Tall One," or even "The Long One"; each resident of this land tells a different story. REGION E3 This region is mostly desert to the north, changing to plains in the south. Whispered rumors hint that one of the three Envoys of Evil lives in this area, and guards a sacred pool that has the power to help a mortal enhance his attributes to a virtually god-like level. Earthquakes, which rock this area frequently, may have uncovered a secret hideout for many of the villains that roam southeastern Cron. REGION E4 In this land is an extension of the Elemental Plane of Earth into the dimension of Cron, blocked from further encroaching on Cron by a ridge of mountains. Those who lived in the mountains have long since died out, leaving behind a valuable spell. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-10045 Travel in the extension of the Plane of Earth will show your clerics how to protect the party in the "Time of Earth." A passage to the Time of Earth is rumored to exist in this area. The town of Sandsobar sits in the middle of a wide plain in this region. TIME TRAVEL Lord Peabody's "WayBack Machine" can take your party back into Cron's past where you can (hopefully) alter history. The current society of Cron didn't exist until recently, so you should not expect to find that everything in the past has a counterpart in the present, or vice versa. The landscape of Cron hasn't changed too much through the eras (except for Starburst Mountain in D1 and the Quagmire of Doom in C4/D4). You can even find the sites of towns and castles in the earlier eras, although they are either empty or populated by random monsters. In general, the populations of the past eras are more uniform than the Cron of the 900s, and encounters are usually more dangerous. In the past, Cron is (was?) Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-10047 populated by lots of Elementals and their cronies, while men and man-like creatures were the exception. The most important past Era is the 8th Era, as this is when King Kalohn ruled and was deposed. Fortunately for your party and Cron, the WayBack Machine will allow you to intervene in his final battle at just the right time! Another interesting feature of the 8th Era is Mystic Castle Xabran, where all kinds of useful knowledge is gathered. In Castle Xabran, your party can learn where to find each missing spell, where to find hirelings, and you can pick up some of the items you need to complete your quests. Most of the visitors to Xabran are extremely powerful, and they are trying to use the knowledge stored here to increase their powers. It may be wise to avoid other parties. Even though most of the visitors here are dangerous, usually they're here to study and don't really want to fight. If you inadvertently disturb them, try bribery before you attack. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-10049 There is no spell to cast or person to see to go back to the future; however, if you rest occasionally, you will be drawn to your own time during one of the rest periods. There is no way to determine exactly how long you will remain in the past. There is an exception to this. If you dismiss your Hirelings, they will return immediately to the last Inn they stayed at, taking with them everything they are carrying. A neat trick, eh? MIGHT AND MAGIC II is published by New World Computing and distributed by Electronic Arts. This walkthru is copyright (c) 1990 by Dan Swanson. All rights reserved. Last page ! CompuServe T EG-10051 MIGHT AND MAGIC II Part 6 TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO THE TOWNS OF CRON The five towns in modern Cron are Middlegate (1st level party), Atlantium (7th), Tundara (5th), Vulcania (6th), and Sandsobar (5th). All player-characters start the game in Middlegate (the safest town). Your party should probably not leave Middlegate before the party members reach the third or fourth level. There is plenty to keep your interest, even in this safest of towns! The note after each town is to provide you with an indication of how dangerous the town really is. If each of your characters in a party of six is at the experience level noted, your party should win most (but not necessarily all) encounters in that town. All towns share certain general features. These are: !CompuServe TEG-10052 INN: A place to stay in safety. Also, where you should go to save the game at intervals. (Note that while you're safe as a guest at an Inn, you may be attacked in its lobby.) Inns are free. BLACKSMITH: You can buy and sell armor, weapons, and miscellaneous items at the local Smithy. The Smith will also identify items (for player characters only) for a nominal fee. Some Smiths can sell you a colored ticket. This ticket will enable you to compete in one of the Combat Arenas. TAVERN: In a tavern you can provision your party, have a drink, eat a gourmet meal, hear rumors, and sometimes meet hirelings. TOWN GATE: Each town is surrounded by a wall. The only way to leave or enter a town without using some type of magic is through the Town Gate. PORTAL: The portals provide instantaneous travel from one town to another. Most towns have two portals; Middlegate has only one. Portals usually provide two-way transportation: The portal you arrived through can send you back to where you came from. !CompuServe TEG-10057 MAGES GUILD: Sorcerers and Archers who are members of the local Mages Guild may buy spells from the Guild. The mage who can sell you Guild membership can usually be found not too far away from the Guild hall. TEMPLES: The Temple is one of the most important features in any town, especially for low-level adventurers. The Clerics in the Temple will cure you of any afflictions or wounds, remove any curses on your party, restore your alignment, and restore life to dead or eradicated party members (all for a price). If you donate generously at a Temple, the Clerics of that Temple may respond by blessing your party for a day (casting protection spells on your party). TRAINING CENTERS: These train you in your profession, allowing you to advance to the next level -- when you have accumulated enough experience, and providing you can pay! Spellcasters should rest after they go up a level. SKILL SCHOOLS: At these schools you can learn useful secondary skills, such as Cartography (very important), Navigation, Mountain Climbing, and Path-Finding. !CompuServe TEG-10078 LOCKSMITH: Most towns have a Locksmith who would love to sell you a key. Each Locksmith has a unique color for his keys. Having these keys will turn out to be helpful when you are exploring the various castles in Cron. COMBAT ARENA: Some towns have arenas where you can fight opponents (selected by the games master) for experience and gold (if you win). You need a ticket (buy tickets at most Blacksmiths) to fight in a Combat Arena. Any color ticket is valid in any of the Combat Arenas. A ticket and a key purchased in the same town are the same color; this might suggest that there is some relationship between keys and tickets. Whenever you enter a new town, you should seek out these places, as it will become important to know where they are. MIDDLEGATE You can find enough excitement and treasure in Middlegate to keep you satisfied for quite some time. Virtually every building in this town has a resident !CompuServe TEG-10140 monster (or group of monsters), most of whom are unfriendly. The treasures you find in Middlegate contain mostly gold and gems, with only an occasional magic item. In Middlegate, you will find: The Middlegate Inn, where every player-character joins the game. A quiet place, but you might find some excitement in the back room! S. J. Blacksmith, near the Inn. Whenever you shop here, be sure to check out "Today's Specials"; you can occasionally buy +3 weapons. Slaughtered Lamb Tavern, also near the Inn. Rumors heard here could help you complete your first two minor quests, and perhaps help you find some hirelings. One of the meals here will help you avoid a fight and find a magic fountain! Sleepy's Mage Guild on the North side of Town. Sleepy lives on the West Side. Gateway Temple is very close to the Inn. This is a good place, with the lowest prices in Cron. !CompuServe TEG-10142 Turkov's Training, just east of the Temple. Again, the best prices in Cron. The Town Gates are located in the North Wall of town, just west of Sleepy's Mage Guild. Middlegate is on the shore of Square Lake, on a wide wooded region surrounded by mountains. In northwest Middlegate are Edmund's Expeditions, and Track and Trail, where your characters can learn skills useful for outdoor adventuring. At least two members of your party should learn each of these skills. Nearby you will find the shop of "Otto Mapper, Esq." where your characters can learn to make maps (probably the most important secondary skill your party can have). In southern Middlegate live the Wizard Nordon and his sister Nordonna, who will provide you with rewards if you will perform a service for each of them. Perform Nordon's quest again, for additional rewards. Nordonna's quest may help you find your first hirelings. The information she !CompuServe TEG-10143 provides as your reward is very important; if you ignore it, you may handicap your party throughout the rest of the game! West of the Middlegate Inn you will find the Poorman's Portal. The worker at the Portal will send you to Sandsobar for a price. Along the east wall of the town you will find the Travelmoore Travel Agency and the Combat Arena. As soon as your party learns one of the spells that will allow you to cross bodies of water (Walk on Water or Fly), you should visit Murray's Resort. One-way tickets are available at Travelmoore. Be sure you can make a map before going to Murray's or you might get lost on the way home. One of the services offered at Murray's Resort will be useful throughout the game (although young characters should be careful about their ages)! You can buy an Arena ticket at the Blacksmith's. This ticket is a very good investment; it costs only 10 gold pieces but returns 200, and experience points as well. While it is true that there is some risk involved, what investment is !CompuServe TEG-10308 completely risk-free? Like any town, there is some chance of hostile encounters on the streets of Middlegate (these days it's called being mugged). There are also two street corners where you will always encounter hostile monsters. I wonder what they're guarding? I've left out a few things, like the entrance to the cavern under the city (not far from Nordon's), the Brain Detoxification Center, Feldecarb Fountain, the Fountain of Clairvoyance, and Lock and Key, Ltd. You will need to find out about them yourself. SANDSOBAR The Poorman's Portal leads to Sandsobar, the second town you should visit. Many of the buildings here are empty, and most of the streets are fairly safe. When you're exploring, be very careful when you enter long alleys or the Slums! There are lots of undead monsters in Sandsobar, so be sure to bring your Cleric. Many of the monsters you encounter can throw sleep spells; some sort of !CompuServe TEG-10310 protection against sleep might be a good investment before you visit this town. Like Middlegate, Sandsobar has the standard facilities: Hourglass Inn, in northwest Sandsobar. A quiet, no frills, no excitement sort of place. Red Lantern Tavern in the same building as the Inn, facing onto a narrow north/south alleyway. This is a rowdy place. The drinks are standard, and the food is usually okay. The barmaid gives the impression that she really goes for macho men. Rumors might not contain the whole story. Temple Benedictus is across the alley from the Tavern. Whirlwind Mage Guild is on the same alley, south of the Temple. Sheik Training Arena is one block south of the Inn on the same street. Big Al's Accessories is the Blacksmith. His shop is inside the north wall of town. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-10311 There is a combat arena called the Monster Bowl on the east end of the main east/west street in town. There are supply rooms in the corners of the arena. You can expect some mundane encounters in the supply rooms. Portal Dune, near the south wall, provides instant transport to and from Middlegate. Sirocco Portal, along the north wall, supplies transport to and from Tundara. The Town Exit, in the northwest corner of town, leads out to the Plains of Peril. While getting involved in the arguments of other people might get you killed, avoiding a brawl might mean that you miss a clue! Before you can purchase magical spells at the Mage Guild, you will have to find a drunken sorcerer. Search the buildings along the west wall of town. You can pick up a useful third-level sorcerer spell in the building across the way from the Monster Bowl. Press for more !CompuServe TEG-10313 In the southwest corner of town, your characters can learn some useful skills, including picking pockets, gambling, and diplomacy. In the northeast corner of town are what appear to be several private residences. While some are empty, the residents of the others do not take kindly to trespassers. Probably the most interesting place (as well as the most dangerous) in Sandsobar is the Slum, in the southeast corner near Dune Portal. Here, you will find graffiti on the walls, secret passages, people in trouble, and the entrance to the cavern under the town. Kindness to strangers pays off; it might even help you find Star Burst! Fitpro Locksmith, near the Dune Portal, will sell you a yellow key. TUNDARA Tundara is a small town in the middle of the inhospitable Ice Plains. Much of the business conducted here occurs in the "business regions," which are between !CompuServe TEG-10315 the northern and southern walls. The inner town contains most of the facilities a visitor would use on a regular basis. The passage from the town proper to the business regions is concealed along the inner west wall (ignore the keep out sign). The streets of inner Tundara are safe enough to be boring. Most of the buildings are of little interest to explorers, being empty. There are rumors of monsters between the walls and inside the outer wall. In Tundara, you will find: The Tundaran Arms Inn, a normal enough establishment, and very cordial. The Enhancement Center. Lucky Dog Saloon. Even if you're not hungry, you should examine the menu at the Lucky Dog Saloon; you never know when you (or someone you meet) may be interested in munchies! !CompuServe TEG-10316 Thundrax Weaponry, the only smithy who doesn't sell tickets for the various combat arenas. The town exit is in the northwest corner, and leads to the Ice Tundra. The La Porte Portal is located in the Inn, and transports you to and from Sandsobar. The Polar Portal, located inside the Saloon, allows travel to and from Vulcania. You will find both the White Dove Temple and the Mystical Mage Guild in the business region between the northern walls. Nearby are shops to train you in some useful secondary skills. Important quests are not just given to anyone, but are offered to those with experience as a crusader. Getting lost in the wilderness is frustrating and not funny. A merchant can usually find a way to get his party a better deal from the stores in a village. To join the Mage Guild, search the buildings near the Saloon. Your characters can pick up some useful secondary skills in the business region between the Northern walls, at Sarcen's Denial, the International Market, and !CompuServe TEG-10318 Columbus's Sextant. Pay close attention to the promotional spiels you hear in these places; learning one of these skills will help keep you from losing your temper (among other things) as you try to explore in the wilderness. There is an organization called Frozen Monster between the south walls of the town. Frozen Monster employees do not like outsiders poking around. Recently, the residents of Tundara have been vanishing. It is rumored that a snowbeast makes its home inside the outer wall. So far, none of those who went to find and destroy this beast have returned. Darker rumors indicate magic may be useless against the snowbeast. In very bad winters, the residents of Tundara descend into the cavern below the town for warmth and protection. The entrance is near the center of town, well-hidden so outsiders can't find it. For reasons no longer remembered, there is a third walled-off region bordering on the Saloon and Inn. No one can say definitely what's in there, but apparently, those who enter never come back. !CompuServe TEG-10320 The recent disappearance of local residents, especially old Hanna, a citizen of some repute, has made the local constabulary a little jumpy. If you should somehow come into possession of any items that the law might recognize, it might be well to think of some way to conceal them until you can leave town! If you are caught and you are innocent, don't worry too much; justice will (eventually) prevail. Hanna was investigating rumors of a secret passage into the outer wall, somewhere on the east side of town. VULCANIA Vulcania is a harsh and dangerous town, set in a forbidding landscape. It is rumored Vulcania is built inside an active volcano, and there are actually places in town where liquid lava can be found (although none of my characters has ever found these places). Don't come here until your characters learn to win fights without magic, as magic doesn't work in many sections of this town. There is no way to know in advance if magic will work in a given location; either your party or the !CompuServe TEG-10322 monsters you are fighting will have to see a spell fail before you can be sure. There is one advantage to your party in these non-magical areas: Most spell-using monsters will try to cast spells several times before they realize they are in a non-magical area. If you are smart and tough, you can win the engagement before they start to fight back. In Vulcania you will find: Belinthra's Bar, a nice enough place, although those who regularly patronize this establishment are often accosted by riffraff. Occasionally, there are patrons here who can be enticed into accompanying your party. The Training Academy is the second best such academy in Cron. The Vulcanian Transport takes you to and from Tundara; the Vulcanian Export takes you to and from Atlantium. The Hotel Four has adequate facilities, but surly employees. These places are all close together because they are in a fairly safe Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-10347 neighborhood. At the Lava Locksmith, you can buy a red key. The entrance to the cavern under the town is located in an alley near the hotel. Also concealed here is a secret door. The Blackrock Mage Guild is along a major east/west street. The Bestway Blacksmith Shop is along the east wall of town. The Vulcan Temple is near the smithy. Near the Mages Guild is a small building housing a magical scale. If you've noticed that your party seems to be more vulnerable to some spells than others, this scale will help you to figure out why. A bit west of the Mages Guild on the same street, you can find the sorcerer who sells guild memberships. Press for more !CompuServe TEG-10453 There are three shops in town that provide training in secondary skills. The training offered is especially useful for soldiers and fighters. In the Town Square (at the center of town) are four statues that should definitely be on your "must see" list. However, be careful leaving Town Square to the north, as you will be entering the wild section of town. If you dare enter this area, rest assured that no one you meet there will be friendly! ATLANTIUM Atlantium is the richest, most snobbish, and most dangerous town to explore. Along the east and west walls in Atlantium, you will find several statues. The plaques on these statues will provide you with hints about the quests that each character class must complete before the world can be saved. You can find further information in Region D2, at Mt. Farview. In Atlantium, you will find: The Carriage Inn, a high class establishment with friendly employees. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-10455 Drewnhald Ironworks, not far from the Inn. The most powerful artifacts for sale in Cron may be bought here. The Colosseum, the best and most dangerous of the battle arenas, is in the center of town. You will receive a better reward for winning a battle in the Colosseum than in any of the other battle arenas, but you will face more dangerous opponents, as well. The Elusian Temple, the Cabalist Mage Guild (6,4), and the Classic Key Shoppe flank the Colosseum to the west, while Island Training and the Boar's Tongue Tavern flank it to the east. The Beautify Atlantium Portal allows travel to and from Vulcania; the Mystic Portal provides one-way transportation to Middlegate. The entrance to the cavern below Atlantium is in the northwest corner of town. Near the entrance to the cavern you can also find the City Jail. Don't enter this building unless you are prepared to fight your way out! Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-10457 There are three shops here where you can be trained in secondary skills; you can learn the skills of Linguist (learning this skill can help you improve your income by 100,000 gold pieces each year!), Athlete, or you can learn to be a Hero/Heroine (Murray likes heroes). In the southern part of town are two rooming houses, one for Knights and Warriors, while the other is for Sorcerers and Clerics. Many of the rooms are occupied, and most of the residents aren't very friendly toward uninvited guests. In the rooming house for Sorcerers and Clerics, be careful if you encounter a Shaman, especially if you encounter several. If they are teamed with Illusionists, run, don't fight! A 7th level party will _not_ survive the encounter! MIGHT AND MAGIC II is published by New World Computing and distributed by Electronic Arts. This walkthru is copyright (c) 1990 by Dan Swanson. All rights reserved. !CompuServe TEG-9446 MIGHT AND MAGIC II 1 Introduction, Character Tips 2 Starting Out, Quests 3 Character Development 4 Combat, Rest, Spell Casting 5 Region Descripti CompuServe T EG-10460 MIGHT AND MAGIC II Part 7 THE GUIDE TO THE CRONIAN UNDERGROUND Many of the secrets of Cron are concealed in castles, caves, caverns, dungeons, and towers. This guide will tell you a little about these places. There are a few towers, which are also included here, as they don't seem to fit elsewhere. I. CAVERNS UNDER TOWNS: MIDDLEGATE CAVERN Located under Middlegate, this cavern is populated mainly by goblins and orcs. Recovering items they have stolen from Middlegate will earn you thanks and rewards when you return them to their rightful owners. !CompuServe TEG-10461 Make sure you examine the walls and floors; there are secrets revealed here for those who look in the right places. SANDSOBAR CAVERN Under Sandsobar is a dank cave inhabited by rats and thieves and others of their ilk. During encounters it may be wise to remember that not all that you hear is true, and that some thieves have honor. Here you will find one of the extremely few undead who are friendly to those still living; his gift should be guarded for later use. Note the information you discover here: It may be a long time until you use it, but it may save you time and frustration on your Jurors' Quest. TUNDARA CAVERN Located under Tundara, there are four sections to this cavern, along with a magical device that can be used to travel about the cave. Look to the walls for clues; look on the walls for red herrings. Don't play the slots unless you know !CompuServe TEG-10463 the stakes! VULCANIA CAVERN Below Vulcania is a hot, dark cave. Watch your step: The floor may be hot! There are a number of secret passages here. If you endure until the end of each of these paths, you will be rewarded. ATLANTIUM CAVERN This cavern is a maze of dead ends and connecting tunnels. At some of the dead ends you will find statues. Be careful of the statues. some of them will cause you harm, but remember that perseverance builds character. Figuring out the various clues and traps here may enhance a character's IQ. Bring your surfboard when you visit. Information found can help you find loyal companions, and help you in future Quests. II. CASTLES AND DUNGEONS CASTLE HILLSTONE !CompuServe TEG-10465 Castle HillStone is the home of Lord Slayer. Slayer is a fanatic about hunting, and will reward parties that bring him new trophies. Guards circulate freely in the building, and challenge you if you appear at all uneasy. Slayer keeps a zoo of exotic animals for his entertainment. There are currently two prisoners here; free them and they will reward you. Winning a Red Triple Crown will increase his pleasure and your reward. Somewhere in this castle is an ancient totem called a "N-19 Capitor." DUNGEON LEVEL 1 Half-Orcs, Ninjas, and Barbarians are not welcome here, although there are several magic items kept here that will benefit only Ninjas or Barbarians. There are unavoidable traps here; just grin and bear them, then get the guy who trapped you! You may also find a device that enhances IQ but causes a loss in strength, and a magical fountain. It is rumored that there is a portal to a distant location somewhere in this dungeon. !CompuServe TEG-10466 DUNGEON LEVEL 2 Again, Half-orcs, Ninjas, and Barbarians are not welcome, and unavoidable traps are scattered everywhere. You may find a magical fountain, and devices to improve your strength. CASTLE PINEHURST Home of Lord Peabody (the inventor of the WayBack Machine) and Sherman, his pet boy. The Bishop of Yellow Battle (near Battle Creek) is held in this castle. Many creatures roam the halls in this castle, and they are almost all deadly. If you avoid the monsters, watch out for traps, and keep an eye on the date (your date, not my date!). Would you know a B-12 Frammis if you saw one? How about a J-29 Fluxor? DUNGEON LEVEL 1 For some reason, Lord Peabody doesn't want Humans, Knights, or Paladins in his !CompuServe TEG-10491 dungeon. This is unfortunate since there is magic here that only works in their hands. Accuracy is exceeded here, while speed recedes. Beware of traps! Instant travel is offered and may be accepted, if you want! DUNGEON LEVEL 2 Stay away Humans, Knights, and Paladins. There are some nice magic items here, and one of the best rewards in all Cron may be found in the southwest corner. Those who serve evil may chose to serve good, if only for a time. CASTLE WOODHAVEN This castle is the home of Lord Hoardall, who likes to collect things. He has an absolutely fantastic memory and a mystic rapport with his treasures. He will know instantly when you steal something, and he will never forget that you stole it! The Green Bishop resides here unwillingly. Hoardall is sponsoring a convention of clerics and other healers who will try !CompuServe TEG-10493 and solve the problem of the sickness that strikes those who enter the Dead Zone in D1. The opening day of the convention is May 27th, so you may see references to the "M-27 Radicon" in this castle. DUNGEON LEVEL 1 Hoardall dislikes Elves, Robbers, and Clerics, and does his best to keep them out of his dungeons. This is unfortunate for them because there are powerful magical items here to assist Robbers and Clerics. Your party will be repeatedly struck by darts as they wander the halls; these traps are unavoidable. If you rest after these attacks, they should not interfere too much with your explorations. Powerful magic in this dungeon can be used to increase your personality (but don't forget how to lift weights afterward!). DUNGEON LEVEL 2 Travel in this dungeon is difficult; almost all of the doors are secret, and random teleporters are scattered throughout the level. Elves, Robbers, and !CompuServe TEG-10609 Clerics are not welcome here even though there are treasures that will benefit Robbers and Clerics. Alignments can be neutralized here, voluntarily. There are rumors of ways to increase Luck, and trade Treasure for Experience. If you are clever and do a good job of mapping, you may be able to secretly return to the Dragon's Head Fountain with your Elves, so that they, too, may benefit. LUXUS PALACE ROYALE Queen Lamanda, current reigning Sovereign of Cron, maintains this magnificent castle much as it seemed in the reign of her father, King Kalohn. To her, and through her to the citizens of Cron, this mighty fortress represents the hope and dream of saving Cron. The inside isn't as well-maintained as the outside, however. In some rooms, dust covers everything, and the Royal Alchemist is making Fool's Gold to fill Lamanda's coffers. Lamanda is desperate to rescue her father, and restore the rightful order of things. !CompuServe TEG-10611 In order to earn an interview with the Queen, your party must win a Black Triple Crown and have all completed their Jurors' Quests. The Black Bishop, imprisoned here, will also be glad to see the winners of the Black Triple Crown. Corak used to live and work here, and is rumored to have quipped, "An 'A-1 Todilor' is a high-society baby learning to walk!" DUNGEON LEVEL 1 Luxus Dungeon is a prison, filled with permanent spells that prevent magical transportation. Your party should avoid guards, as they will charge you a hefty fine for your unauthorized presence. Dwarves, Sorcerers, and Archers are unwelcome here, and strong magic items for helping Sorcerers and Archers are hidden here. Clever parties may find ways to enhance speed and strength from the features, although endurance may suffer. DUNGEON LEVEL 2 This is an extremely chaotic place with random teleporters all over, and very few walls. There are many wonders, if you can reach them, including ways to gain !CompuServe TEG-10613 additional hit points and speed, change sex and alignment, and increase your existing hit points. In the northwest you may encounter a hit point salesman. His price is steep, but his product is worth it! Don't ignore clues, look to the walls for some shocking information! Again, Dwarves, Archers, and Sorcerers are not wanted here; however, you should sneak them in to visit the Hit Point Salesman -- as long as your money is good, he doesn't care who you are, and you will handicap your characters if they don't take advantage of this! III: TOWERS, CAVES, FORTS, AND MINES Presented in no specific order, here is some information on the other dungeon-like areas in Cron. SARAKIN'S MINE Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-10615 Long noted for the amount of gold it produced, this once well-maintained mine is now collapsing, making it a dangerous place to explore. Recently, stories have circulated about two more foolish adventurers who went looking for easy treasure and never returned. Stories told by others who visited the mine long ago and returned empty-handed suggest the mine is haunted. Some of the story tellers claim there are gold nuggets scattered on the floor of the mine, waiting for someone brave enough to take them. Sarakin was obsessed by the desire to live forever, a goal he might have reached only in death. GEMMAKER CAVE Gemmaker Cave is recessed into the side of an active volcano, surrounded by a lake of molten lava. The Gemmaker himself (the legendary figure who is said to have dug the cave) still resides here, but he is well-hidden and desires to see few visitors. He sometimes rewards those who are ingenious enough to seek him out with a very powerful sorcerer spell. Press for more !CompuServe TEG-10616 Occasionally, gems are formed in the crucible of the volcano, and the magic of the Gemmaker somehow separates them from the lava, and scatters them throughout the cave. He has never seemed to care what happened to these gems. Parties that venture into the cave without some protection against the fiery heat in the rocks will soon regret their actions! CORAK'S CAVERN Corak's body, fittingly, rests in Corak's Cave. The body rests in honor in a crypt, to which only Clerics and Robbers are ever permitted access. Hiding in the cave is Corak's assistant Lloyd, who is willing to teach a party a special sorcerer spell. Lloyd hopes that in return, you will return Corak's soul to his body. While Lloyd is not able to force you to help Corak, he is extending you his trust. !CompuServe TEG-10618 ICE CAVE Located in the middle of the Ice Plains, this is a dangerous place to visit. Spread throughout the passages are traps that rob a party of their spells, and may have less obvious, yet farther reaching affects, for good or ill. There are literally swarms of monsters here, and even a very powerful party risks never leaving this cave alive. There is rumored to be a way to increase Personality stored here, but the rumor adds that only a stag party (a stagette party?) might find it! RIFT CAVERN This cavern may be found on the edge of the Desert of Desolation. Occasionally, fissures open up over this cave, plunging unsuspecting parties into the black depths below. Someone is using this cave as a storehouse of supplies and weapons, and has scattered obscure riddles and bits of information throughout. Often, those that !CompuServe TEG-10620 leave are faster than they were when they entered. Remember that neatness promotes success! DRUIDS' STRONGHOLD The Druids' Stronghold is the home of the four varieties of Druids: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Each has set traps for the unwary in these passages. You will have trouble resting here as the general surroundings are not conducive to peaceful thought. Pay close attention to the walls; often a Druid in a hurry might leave a note that he can return to later. There is an ominous feel in the air here, as if some major blasphemy is waiting to happen, and a sense that you can prevent it. Look for someone who will reward you for this task, because it is hazardous. The reward should be a very useful spell. Exotic plants may lighten your party's load, especially any of your characters who are connected to the sea. There is at least one very powerful monster here whose breed is less common in Cron than it was centuries ago. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-10621 FORBIDDEN FOREST FORT Sort of a companion and counterweight to the Druids' Stronghold, there is an invading army based in this cavern. You will find lots of monsters. Most of them are common soldiers and dangerous only in large numbers; there are large numbers of them here! The MPs are tough; the Sergeants of the Fifth and Seventh Legions are tougher. The officers in GHQ are very much tougher and include an Ancient Dragon. Paladins may find the answer to their Jurors' Quest here. THE DRAGON'S DOMINION This dark, smelly hole is home to at least 100 dragons of all types. Naturally, there are fantastic treasures here for those strong enough to take them! There are many ancient artifacts of great power here -- such as a Titan's Pike (does 1-40 points per round plus whatever the weapon's bonus is) -- many of Press for more !CompuServe TEG-10623 which are unaligned. But the best rewards are not treasures of gold, gems, or magic. There are three ways to gain hit points that are guarded by the Dragons. Two are useful but not spectacular; the third is worth facing any danger to obtain! This great treasure of hit points is guarded by an Ancient Dragon, and will only affect each character once in his lifetime (I think). So, go see what it is! MURRAY'S CAVERN Part of Murray's Resort, Murray's Cavern is not a place for the timid. Part of the cave is used for laboratories, where Murray's researchers seem to be trying to build new types of monsters; the rest is reserved by Murray himself for the offices and vaults required to store his great treasures and run his many businesses. Murray can often be found in his office, if your party can pass his stringent entrance requirements. However, you shouldn't break in on him unless you are !CompuServe TEG-10625 willing to do him a small favor. Note that Murray may be the single most powerful man-like being in Cron, so don't irritate him. You really wouldn't like him when he's angry! DAWN'S BOG MIST RESORT Dawn used to be Murray's honey, but they've drifted apart (a long way apart). Being something of a businesswoman, Dawn saw the vast potential earnings of a resort for monsters, so she started one. While she and Murray don't usually compete for the same customers, Murray would like to close Dawn's Resort just on general principles. There is more to Dawn's than meets the eye. There are a lot of monsters here at any one time, relaxing and enjoying the resort, but that doesn't make them less dangerous. If a party is lucky here, they can increase their luck, and maybe find some irelings. Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-10626 Dawn may not know what is hidden in her resort, but somewhere in it is one of the most fabulous treasures in Cron, one you absolutely must recover to win the game. One problem, though: Once you find it, how can you get it home? THE DARK KEEP AND THE TOWER OF MERCY These twin towers hold two of the most powerful sorcerers of ancient Cron, in stasis. The towers are defended by a magical force that repels all but Sorcerers and Robbers. Once in either of the towers, an exploration party will discover further advances must be made through a dangerous maze-like area, in which battle may be avoided if proper choices are made. There are clues to the proper choices in some of the dungeons and caves. Once the party reaches its goal (a room in which one of the Sorcerers sleeps in stasis), they will have to properly set a combination into two panels to turn off the stasis. Of course, these combinations are hidden somewhere in the land of Cron also. !CompuServe TEG-10628 Setting the proper combinations release the Sorcerers, and the party of Sorcerers and Robbers has just completed their Jurors' Quest. Simple, isn't it? THE SQUARE LAKE CAVE In the middle of Square Lake is a mountainous island into which is set an entrance with the inscription "Chosen Ones Only." A "Chosen One" has received his Black Triple Crown, completed his Jurors' Quest, and has been named as a Chosen One by Queen Lamanda. To prove their mettle, the party of the Chosen One must battle through an interminable string of monsters and venture deeper and deeper into the Square Lake Cave until they reach their goal: a door beyond which they must pass to save Cron. One of the meanest tricks in the game is that the party of the Chosen One is allowed to battle through the endless corridors of the Square Lake Cave and reach their goal before they have achieved all that they must and are told to come back some other time. Perhaps this wasn't meant as a nasty trick, but it !CompuServe TEG-10630 usually takes over an hour to fight all the endless monsters to reach the final goal. Don't bother visiting the Square Lake Cave until after you have rescued King Kalohn; you will be wasting your time. Once you have saved the King, your visit here will be worthwhile. There is one puzzle left to solve, and it's not easy. Before you get here, you might want to get out a dictionary and review the word "cryptogram." MIGHT AND MAGIC II is published by New World Computing and distributed by Electronic Arts. This walkthru is copyright (c) 1990 by Dan Swanson. All rights reserved. Last page ! CompuServe TEG-10633 MIGHT AND MAGIC II Part 8 OUTSIDE LOCATIONS (See Note 1) Ancient Swords: Sword of Honor D4 (14,11); Sword of Nobility D1 (0,8); Sword of Valor A4 (11,2). Artifacts of Power: Corak's Soul C1 (10,15). Castles (and Castle Lords): Castle HillStone (Lord Slayer) D4 (13,1); Castle PineHurst (Lord Peabody) A2 (1,1); Castle Woodhaven (Lord Hoardall) C1 (3,14); Castle Xabran C2 (14,8); Luxus Palace Royale (Queen Lamanda) D2 (14,14). Caves/Caverns/Dungeons/Mines: Corak's Cave C2 (5,11); Dawn's Mist Cavern D4 (3,7); Dragons' Dominion D1 (12,14); Druid's Cave C3 (1,6); Forbidden Forest Fort (Paladins) C3 (15,0); Gemmaker Cave E1 (3,4); Ice Cavern B1 (4,12); !CompuServe TEG-10636 Murray's Cave B4 (2,2); Nomadic Rift Cavern E3 (9,3); Rift Hole D3 (11,8); Rift Hole D3 (13,7); Sarakin's Mine A2 (12,3); Square Lake Cave C2 (10,7). Clerical Spells: 2-3 C3 (1,9); 4-2 A1 (8,8); 5-1 A1 (1,14); 5-3 B4 (8,1); 6-1 E4 (8,8); 6-4 A4 (1,1); 6-5 A4 (8,8); 7-1 E4 (14,1); 8-1 E1 (14,14); 8-2 E1 (8,8); 9-2 C1 (5,5). Dangerous Encounters: Cosmic Sludge B2 (3,6); Horrors! C1 (2,10); The Door to Hell C4 (1,9); The 3 Cuisinarts B2 (1,9); The Jouster B3 (5,11). Envoys of Evil: Dragon Lord D1 (10,12); Queen Beetle E2 (11,6); Serpent King E3 (5,6). Events: LeperCon D4 (7,14); Merchants' Meeting B2 (9,5); OrcCon B2 (14,10). Fountains, Pools, Springs (see Note 2): Exotic Fountain (Health) E1 (1,5); Exotic Fountain (?) E1 (3,10); Fountain of Accuracy C2 (1,13); Fountain of Curses A4 (12,7); Fountain of Death E1 (11,2); Fountain of Healing E4 (1,6); Fountain of Levels C2 (2,1); Fountain of Might B1 (11,14); Fountain of Might B4 (14,9); Fountain of Mystic Strength C1 (1,5); Fountain of Mystic Knowledge C1 !CompuServe TEG-10638 (1,11); Fountain of Poison A3 (1,14); Fountain of Speed A3 (1,13); Fountain of Spells C2 (14,10); Greatest Fountain (Health) E2 (11,9); Murray's Baths B4 (2,3); Murray's Mud Bath B4 (2,4); Murray's Pool B4 (4,2); Pool of Blood A4 (13,13); Pool of Levels A1 (2,3); Pool of Luck E3 (10,12); Pool of Pestilence A2 (1,3); Rancid Pool (Health) A4 (10,10); Wishing Well D1 (13,9). Freebies: Gems near B4 (12,12) and in Gemmaker Cave; Gold in Sarakin's Mine; Mystic Inscription C3 (0,7). Geographic Features: Active Volcano E1 (6,6) and E1 (8,2); Arcane Wilderness D3; Barbaric Hills C3 and C4; Beggar's Grove C1; Corpse Creek C1; Dawn's Mist Bog D4; Dead Zone D1; Desert of Desolation D2, E2, D3,and E3; Druids' Point C3; Falcon Forest B2; Forbidden Forest C3, D3, and D4; Gemmaker Volcano E1 (4,7); Ice Tundra A1, B1, A2, and B2; Inner Limits E3; Isle of the Ancients B3 and B4; Lost Soul's Woods C1; Mt. Farview D2 (7,0); Murray's Island B4; Native's Cove B4; Peaceful Goblin Villages D1; Pearl Islands A3 and A4; Petrified Peninsula A3; Quagmire of Doom C4 and D4; Queen's Orchard D2; Square Lake C2. Hired Help: A3 (8,1); B4 (14,1); D1 (14,1); and D3 (1,14). !CompuServe TEG-10640 Keys: Mark's Keys A2 (2,9). Magical (and Semi-magical) Food and Drink (see Note 2): Magical Fruit (Fast) B2 (1,7); Magical Fruit (Smart) B2 (8,8); Magical Fruit (Stone) B2 (3,9); Magical Fruit (Strong) D2 (1,12); Murray's Juice Bar B4 (4,4); Tree Bark (spells) D3 (3,14). Magical Transportation: Ferry C2 (11,4) and C2 (11,12); Murray's Boat Ride C3 (7,9); Passage Behind the Falls C3 (11,15); Passage to Time of Air A1 (0,15); Passage to Time of Earth E4 (15,0); Passage to Time of Fire E1 (15,15); Passage to Time of Water A1 (0,15); Sinkholes C4, Teleport to Dungeon Woodhaven B2 (4,1); Teleport to Dungeon Hillstone B2 (4,3); Teleport to Dungeon Luxus B2 (6,1); Teleport to Dungeon Pinehurst B2 (6,3); Whirlpools A3. Messages: Green-1 B2 (14,9), Green-2 B3 (12,2), Green-3 B2 (14,5), and Green-4 B3 (12,9); Yellow-1 E3 (7,2), Yellow-2 E4 (2,11), Yellow-3 D3 (13,4), Yellow-4 D4 (12,10), Yellow-5 E4 (7,15), Yellow-6 D4 (14,15), Yellow-7 D3 (5,10), Yellow-8 E3 (0,3), and Yellow-9 D3 (8,2). Monuments: B3 (14,6), B3 (15,4), B3 (15,8), C3 (3,5), C3 (3,7), and C3 (1,8). !CompuServe TEG-10642 People to See (and Monsters, too): Baron Wilfrey (Archers) B2 (11,2); Brutal Bruno (Barbarians) C4 (0,15); Bozorc D1 (14,1); Death Spider A2 (2,9); Fat Toad C4 (14,8); Guardian Pegasus B1 (9,9); Jurors on Mt. Farview D2 (7,0); Lord Haart B1 (5,5); Lumberjacks B1 (15,13); Mandagul D2 (6,8); Mark C1 (1,1); Mr. Wizard D3 (1,14); Raving Mad Man D3 (7,13); Spaz Twit A1 (12,4); The Gourmet A3 (7,7); The Dread Knight (Knights) B3 (5,14); The Long One E2 (5,4); Toothless Old Druid C3 (1,9); Yekop (Sorcerers) B4 (4,10); Ybmug (Sorcerers) B3 (4,4). Places to Go: Bay of Death A3 (12,9); Camp Kill-U E2 (11,14); Castle Ruins C2 (14,8); Circus B2 (14,4); Desert Oases E2 (3,1), E2 (3,7), E2 (4,6), E2 (10,1), E2 (11,14), E2 (14,4), E3 (2,10), E3 (6,8), and E3 (11,6); Dino Ranch E2 (7,12); Farm of Fear D4 (9,11); Fortress Haart B1 (5,5); Magical Monster Pit C2 (4,4); Murray's Gym B4 (4,3); Murray's Resort B4 (3,3); Orc Hideaway C2 (7,3); Sunken Ship A3 (2,2). Sorcerer Spells: 5-2 C1 (1,8); 7-1 A2 (15,11); 9-2 D1 (5,6). Towers: Dark Keep (Sorcerers) B3 (4,4); Tower of Mercy (Sorcerers) B4 (4,10). !CompuServe TEG-10644 Towns: Atlantium A4 (13,10); Middlegate C2 (7,3); Sandsobar E4 (4,10); Tundara A1 (12,3); Vulcania E1 (3,4). Fun things to try: Murray's Massage B4 (3,2). Note 1: Not all the features listed above exist in the present. Some features may only exist on certain days. You might need to be facing a specific direction to see some of these features. If you are at the specified location and can't find anything, face all four directions. If you still don't see anything, explore the squares nearby. Items followed by a character type in parentheses indicate the item is important to the Jurors' Quest for that character type. Note 2: The effects of each fountain/pool/spring and food item were determined empirically (e.g., a character used them and I noted the results.) In some cases, there were no noticeable results. Some of the effects of these magical waters may change with time or the previous actions of characters. Magical water may benefit some characters but harm others. For example, a spring that changes the level of everyone in the party to 18 is a great benefit to second level characters, but a terrible curse for 50th level characters. !CompuServe TEG-10646 IN AND UNDER TOWNS AND CASTLES Middlegate (Town 1) C2 (7,3): Middlegate Inn (7,6); S. J. Blacksmith (4,4); Slaughtered Lamb Tavern (4,6); Sleepy's Mage Guild (7,14); Join Mage Guild (2,12); Gateway Temple (7,7); Turkov's Training (7,10); Town Gates (5,15); Poorman's Portal (Sandsobar/Atlantium) (1,5); Cavern under city (8,0); Lock and Key, Ltd. (2,8); Arena (12,4); Otto Mapper, Esquire (0,15); Edmund's Expeditions (2,12), Track and Trail (2,9); Brain Detoxification (12,11), Travelmoore (8,13); Feldecarb Fountain (15,15); Fountain of Clairvoyance (8,4); Nordon (11,2); Nordonna (1,1). Middlegate Cavern: Stairs (15,8); Dangerous Encounters (5,3), (7,13), (8,1), (11,7), (11,9), (12,3), and (12,13); Free Gold (1,0); Goblets (0,7); Goblins' Lair (2,8); Green Interleave (8,14); Hired Help (0,15); Kobold HQ (1,15). Places to visit: (0,0), (3,6), (3,10), (9,0), (11,8), and (15,2). Atlantium (Town 2) A4 (13,10): Carriage Inn (8,14); Drewnhald Ironworks (6,14); Boar's Tongue Tavern (11,10); Cabalist Mage Guild (6,4); Join Mage Guild (11,7); Elusian Temple (5,7); Island Training (9,4); Town Gates (15,15); Beautify Atlantium (Vulcania) (3,0); The Mystic Portal (Middlegate) (12,0); Cavern under !CompuServe TEG-10649 city (0,15); Classic Key Shoppe (4,10); The Colosseum (7,9); The Olympic Trial (6,3); Odysseus' Tongue (8,3); Hippomenes and Atlanta (10,3); City Jail (3,13); Clerics and Sorcerers Rooming House (13,6); Knights and Warriors Rooming House (2,6); Statues (X=0 or 15, Y=8 to 11). The Depths of Atlantium: Stairs (8,8). Monuments: Statue of Transport (0,14); Statue of Death (3,3); Statue of Draining (5,1); Statue of Enlightenment (Int) (11,15); Statue of Transport (14,5). Places to visit: (1,13), (5,5), (6,13), (9,6), and (15,7). Tundara (Town 3) A1 (12,3): Tundaran Arms Inn (8,11); Thundrax Weaponry (10,10); Lucky Dog Saloon (8,9); Mystical Mage Guild (14,14); Join Mage Guild (9,8); White Dove Temple (11,12); Enhancement Center (11,7); Town Gates (15,11); La Port (Sandsobar) (6,10); Polar Passage Portal (Vulcania) (6,8); Cavern under city (7,6); International Market (5,12); Sarcen's Denial (3,14); Columbus's Sextant (8,14); City Jail (3,5); Passage through Inner Wall (2,7); Passage into Outer Wall (14,7); Barrier Control (15,12); Frozen Monster (X=2 to 13, Y=1 or 3); Nifty Treasure (15,9). Tundara Below: Stairs (14,1); Control Room (10,13). Places to visit: (3,11), !CompuServe TEG-10651 (3,13), (5,4), (7,8), (11,8), and (13,10). Secret Doors: (0,8), (8,6), (12,15), and (15,4). Storage Rooms: (5,12), (12,1), and (12,6). Transporter: (10,2). Vulcania (Town 4) E1 (3,4): Hotel Four (7,2); Bestway Blacksmith (14,8); Belinthra's Bar (5,2); Blackrock Mage Guild (11,6); Join Mage Guild (3,6); Vulcan Temple (13,8); Training Academy (5,3); Town Gates (5,0); Vulcanian Transport (Sandsobar) (6,2); Vulcanian Export Co. (Atlantium) (8,2); Cavern under city (10,0); Lava Locksmith (1,8); Proficiency Expert (15,2); Disembowelments R Us (3,10); Sergeant Pain School (0,2); Scale of Protection (10,6); Element Statue (6,9), (6,11), (8,9), and (8,11); Entrance to Wild Section (7,12). Vulcania Under: Stairs (10,0); Hired Help (1,14). Places to visit: (1,1), (3,6), (5,14), (9,1), (13,6), and (15,15). Song of Endearing (End) (15,14). Sandsobar (Town 5) E4 (4,10): Hourglass Inn (2,10); Big Al's Accessories (7,14); Red Lantern Tavern (5,10); Whirlwind Mage Guild (5,7); Join Mage Guild (1,12); Temple Benedictus (5,11); Sheik Training Arena (2,7); Town Gates (0,14); Sirocco Portal (Tundara) (4,15); Dune Portal (Middlegate) (8,2); Cavern under city (10,0); Fitpro Locksmith (6,3); The Monster Bowl (10,8); The Embassy (2,4); !CompuServe TEG-10653 Sly's Opportunities (1,5); The Sandy Dunes (2,0); The Wizard's Eye (9,11); The Beggar's Gift (8,4); Entrance to the Slums (10,1). Pits of Sandsobar: Stairs (12,7); Friendly Zombie (0,0). Places to visit: (0,11), (4,2), (5,8), and (14,14); Sharp Tooth Den (15,0); Thieves' Guild (2,14); Master Thief Maxwell (13,9); Master Thief Renaldo, Jr. (0,12). Castle HillStone D4 (13,1): Lord Slayer (5,2); Entrances (7,15) and (8,15); Stairs to Dungeon (10,13); Guards (0,2), (0,13), (2,0), (2,15), (13,0), (13,15), (15,2), and (15,13); Hired Help (8,4); Joke of the Day (5,9); N-19 Capitor (3,13); Quest Pharmacy (13,2); Prison (8,6); Red Room (11,2); The Zoo (10,11); Throne Room (5,3). HillStone Dungeon, Level 1: (10,13); Stairs Up (8,15); Stairs Down (5,1); Magic Traps (1,0), (1,1), (1,2), (3,12), (4,5), (5,5), (7,2), (7,3), (8,0), (8,6), (9,2), (9,3), (13,9), (14,4), (15,0), (15,3). Forbidden Locations: No Half-orcs (6,7), (7,5), (9,5), and (10,7); No Barbarians (1,12); No Ninjas (15,12). Places of Interest: Attribute Enhancer (HP) (11,1); Attribute Modifier (Might, Int) (0,0); Golden Fountain of Experience (11,5); Portal to Woodhaven Dungeon Level 1 (15,15). Treasures: Coral Broach (1,14); Crystal Vial (15,14). Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-10655 HillStone Dungeon, Level 2: Stairs from Level 1 (5,1); Stairs Up (0,12); Magic Traps (0,15), (1,13), (1,15), (2,14), (4,13), (5,10), (7,8), (7,13), (11,4), (11,6), (11,10), (12,3), (12,4), (12,13), (14,1), and (15,4). Forbidden Locations: No Half-orcs (10,6); No Barbarians (13,14); No Ninjas (2,0). Places of Interest: Attribute Enhancer (HP) (10,7); Attribute Modifier (Int/End) (3,9); Golden Pit of Experience (9,15); Whirlpool of Machismo (0,8); Portal to Woodhaven Dungeon Level 2 (7,10). Treasure: Lapis Scarab (15,15); Ruby Amulet (4,0). Castle PineHurst (Lord Peabody) A2 (1,1); Lord Peabody (4,3); Entrance (15,7) and (15,8); Stairs to Dungeon (11,2); Cryptic Words (2,8); J26 Fluxor (7,6); Teleporters (2,6) and (14,5); Time Trap (2,7); WayBack Machine (2,5); Yellow Room (13,3). PineHurst Dungeon, Level 1: (11,2); Stairs Up (0,15); Stairs Down (1,2). Magic Trap (4,6), (5,1), (8,11), (14,1), (15,0), (15,9), (15,11), and (15,13). Forbidden Locations: No Humans (0,14), (14,14); No Knights (11,14); No Paladins (6,5). Places of Interest: Attribute Enhancer (Acc) (14,13); Attribute Modifier (Spd/Acc) (2,7); Portal to Luxus Dungeon Level 1 (12,8). Treasures: Ivory Cameo !CompuServe TEG-10657 (11,13); Agate Grail (6,6). PineHurst Dungeon, Level 2: Stairs from Level 1 (1,2); Stairs Up (7,7); Magic Traps (0,3), (1,7), (2,10), (4,6), (4,12), (6,10), (7,9), (9,3), (13,3), and (15,4). Forbidden Locations: No Humans (6,7) and (13,2); No Knights (3,12) and (4,14); No Paladins (14,12), (14,14), and (15,13). People to See: Spell Salesman (2,1). Places of Interest: Attribute Enhancer (Luck) (13,1); Attribute Modifier (Luck/Per) (4,15); Fountain of Good (5,1); Portal to Luxus Dungeon Level 2 (8,6). Treasure: Opal Pendant (14,13); Ruby Tiara (2,13). Castle Woodhaven C1 (3,14); Lord Hoardall (9,11); Entrance (7,0) and (8,0); Stairs to Dungeon (11,9); Guards (0,2), (0,13), (2,0), (2,15), (13,0), (13,15), (15,2), and (15,13); Green Room (10,7); Joke of the Day (9,6); N-19 Capitor (3,13); Quest Pharmacy (13,2); Throne Room (5,3); Treasury around (4,5). Woodhaven Dungeon, Level 1: (11,9); Stairs Up (0,15); Stairs Down (13,13); Magic Traps (1,4), (1,7), (3,14), (4,6), (6,0), (8,10), (9,2), (9,7), (12,9), (13,8), and (15,12). Forbidden Locations: No Elves (0,6), (6,15), (7,13), (8,13), (8,14), and (8,15); No Clerics (3,6); No Robbers (6,3). Places of Interest: Attribute Enhancer (0,7); Attribute Modifier (Might/Pers) (15,0). !CompuServe TEG-10659 Treasure: Onyx Effigy (4,4); Sapphire Pin (7,1). Woodhaven Dungeon, Level 2: Stairs from Level 1 (13,13); Stairs Up (7,15); Forbidden Locations: No Elves (7,14) and (11,4); No Clerics (7,4) and (10,6); No Robbers (6,4). Places of Interest: Attribute Enhancer (12,2); Attribute Modifier (8,6); Experience the Gem-eating Dragon! (4,4); Neutrality Pool (7,8). Random Teleports: (0,1), (0,6), (2,4), (3,2), (4,0), (5,3), (6,6), (8,3), (10,2), and (15,8). Treasure: Amethyst Box (4,6); Pearl Choker (12,2). Luxus Palace Royale D2 (14,14): Queen Lamanda (7,13) and (8,13); Entrance (7,0); Stairs Down (0,0); Joke of the Day (7,10) and (8,10); A-1 Todilor (0,6); Black Room (13,14); Throne (7,12) and (8,12); Corak's Study (7,9) and (7,11); Court Wizard (8,11); Luxus Dungeon, Level 1 (0,0): Stairs Down (11,8); Stairs Up (0,12); Magic Traps: (0,10), (2,0), (8,11), and (10,15). Forbidden Locations: No Dwarves (10,14) and (10,8); No Archers (2,15); No Sorcerers (1,0). Places of Interest: Attribute Enhancer (11,14); Attribute Modifier (5,0); Portal to HillStone Dungeon Level 1 (15,0). Treasure: Amber Skull (0,0); Topaz Shard (0,15). !CompuServe TEG-10661 Luxus Dungeon, Level 2: Stairs from Level 1 (13,5); Stairs Up (10,2); Magic Traps (Random Teleporters) all over! Forbidden Locations: Eraweb Salem (4,7); Fear No Evil (5,10); No Dwarfs (8,10) and (10,1); No Archers (15,14); No Sorcerers (14,13). People to See: Hit Point Salesman (0,15). Places of Interest: Attribute Enhancer (15,0); Attribute Modifier (16,6); Alignments by Appointment (5,11); Feminine Mystique (4,8); Portal to HillStone Dungeon Level 2 (11,1). Treasure: Sun Crown (15,13); Quartz Skull (14,14). Castle Xabran (8th Era) C2 (14,8): Dangerous Encounters (2,8), (3,2), (3,14), and (4,7); Hall of Spells (3,9); Hireling Hall (3,7); Red Interleave (3,4); Yellow Interleave (12,12); Air Disc (15,15); Earth Disc (6,2); Fire Disc (6,14); Water Disc (15,0). DUNGEONS, TOWERS, AND CAVES Corak's Cave C2 (5,11): Entrance (7,13) and (8,13); Dangerous Encounters (7,3) and (8,3). Places of Interest: Cryptic Words (13,0); Sarcophagus Storage (3,8) and (12,8); Zombie Sanctuary (5,13) and (10,13). People to See: Crypt Guardians (7,6) and (8,6); Lloyd (7,11); Corak (8,0); Mysterious Benefactor (13,3). Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-10663 Dark Keep B3 (4,4): Entrance (0,0); Clues for a Safe Passage (1,0), (4,3), (4,6), (6,5), (6,8), (8,6), (8,9), (10,7), (10,10), (11,13), (12,11), and (14,13). Dangerous Encounters (1,4); Stasis Chamber (3,13); Controls (2,10), (4,10). People to See: Evil Wizard Ybmug (3,13). Safe Passage: 1 3 1 1 9 12 A C G I. Access Code: L 23 R 46. Dawn's Mist Bog Resort D4 (3,7): Entrance (7,0), (8,0), and (9,0). Dangerous Encounters: Employees Only (1,14); Lucky Dogs (13,8); Greedy Snitches (7,12) and (9,12); Guardians (11,12). Hired Help (4,11). People to See: Dawn (8,9). Places of Interest: Attribute Enhancer (Luck) (12,7); Cafeteria (14,14) Dog Kennel (14,8); Lounge (1,3); Playroom (1,1); Spa (14,0); Steam Room (14,12); Target Practice (1,11); Weight Room (14,10); Portal to Murray's Cavern (11,3). Treasure: Monster Tome (15,13); Element Orb (10,15). Dragons' Dominion D1 (12,14): Entrance (0,7), (0,8), and (0,9). Dangerous Encounters: Ancient Dragon (15,8) and (15,15); Armored Dragon (7,0); Magic Serpent (15,13); Mixed Dragons (15,5) and (15,11). Free Gold (3,14). Places of Interest: Hit Point Enhancer (0,0), (7,14), and (11,2). Treasures: (3,6), (3,10), (13,6), and (13,10). !CompuServe TEG-10665 Druids' Cavern C3 (15,0): Entrance (1,12): Exit (8,8). Dangerous Encounters: (0,6) and (13,2). Freebies: (4,9), (10,12), (11,14), and (12,2). Magic Traps: (0,8), (0,13), (2,2), (2,15), (5,2), (5,8), (6,5), (8,10), (9,12), (11,8), (11,15), (12,0), (14,7), (15,2), and (15,9). Persons to See: Venerable Druid Master (15,14). Places of Interest: Attribute Enhancer (Str) (1,15); Cryptic Words (1,8), (8,3), and (15,11). Forbidden Forest Fort C3 (15,0): Entrance (7,7). Dangerous Encounters: (2,7) and (2,8). Forbidden Locations: Paladins Only (8,9). People (and Monsters) to See: Frost Dragon (8,7); High Command (15,8); Legion Commanders (14,1) and (14,14); MPs (13,1) and (13,14); Sarge (11,1) and (11,14). Places of Interest: Army Barracks (6,7) and (6,8); General Headquarters (14,5) and (14,10); Infantry (4,6) and (4,9); Legions (3,7) and (3,8); 5th Legion (0,12) and (1,12); 7th Legion (0,3) and (1,3); War Room (13,7) and (13,8). Gemmaker Cave E1 (4,7): Entrance (0,15). Freebies: (0,3), (1,9), (2,13), (4,11), (4,13), (5,4), (6,14), (7,7), (9,8), (9,11), (10,3), (11,6), (11,15), (13,6), (14,0), (14,1), (14,9), (14,12), (15,0), and (15,1). Magic Trap: Squares around (9,8). People to See: Gemmaker (3,3). Places to Visit: (6,10). Cryptic !CompuServe TEG-10668 Words: (5,2), (7,12), (11,2), and (14,7). Ice Cavern B1 (4,12): Entrance (0,7). Dangerous Encounters: (0,8), (15,1), (15,14), (1,1), (1,14), (4,4), (4,11), (7,1), (7,14), (10,4), (10,11), (13,1), and (13,14). Freebies: (0,1), (0,15), (2,1), (3,3), (5,12), (6,15), (8,0), (9,12), (10,3), (12,0), (14,15). Magic Traps: (1,2), (1,13), (4,5), (4,10), (7,2), (7,13), (10,5), (10,10), (13,2), (13,13), (15,7), (15,8). Places of Interest: Attribute Enhancer (Pers) (15,7) and (15,8). Restricted Areas: Females Only (14,7); Males Only (14,8). Murray's Cavern B4 (2,2): Entrance (14,14). Dangerous Encounters: (2,1), (9,8), (10,2), (11,3), (12,3), (12,12), and (13,2). Forbidden Locations: Heroes Only (4,8); Murray Only (3,1); No Hirelings (7,8); No Weaklings (6,8). People to See: Murray (1,8). Places of Interest: Laboratory (9,2), (12,11), and (14,2); Murray's Vault (2,5); Portal to Dawns Mist Bog Resort (0,7). Treasure: Murray's Treasure (6,5). Fun things to try: Murray's Goofy Juice (0,9); Murray's Power Oil (5,15). Cryptic Words: (0,0), (0,12), (1,2), (3,2), (12,7), and (14,1). Rift Cave E3 (9,3): Entrance (13,0) and (15,7); Exit (15,7). Dangerous Encounters: (0,7), (2,7), (4,7), (6,7), (8,7), (10,7), (12,7), and (14,7). Press for more ! CompuServe TEG-10670 Freebies: (0,1), (0,3), (0,5), (0,9), (0,11), (0,13), (0,15), (2,6), (2,8), (4,6), (4,8), (6,6), (6,8), (8,6), (8,8), (10,6), (10,8), (12,6), (12,8), (14,15), and (15,0). Cryptic Words: (2,13), (3,0), (4,4), (6,3), (8,12), (8,15), (12,15), and (14,2). Sarakin's Mine A2 (12,4): Entrance (8,0). Dangerous Encounters: (1,15). Freebies: (0,5), (0,6), (0,7), (0,8), (0,9), (0,15), (1,6), (1,7), (2,9), (2,10), (3,6), (3,7), (3,9), (4,10), (9,2), (10,14), (13,6), (13,9), (13,14), and (15,14). Hired Help (7,2); Magic Traps Around (8,6), (2,6), (6,12), (11,10), and (13,4). People to See: Ghost of Sarakin (8,6); Friends of Sarakin (2,3). Places of Interest: Sarakin's Fountain (Youth) (1,15). Square Lake Cave C2 (10,7): Entrance (0,0). Dangerous Encounters: (15,1), (14,2), (13,3), (12,4), (11,5), (10,6), (9,7), (8,8), (7,9), (6,10), (5,11), (4,12), (3,13), and (2,14); 600 Demon Kings (11,14). Win the Game! (15,0). Tower of Mercy B4 (4,10): Entrance (15,15). Clues for a Safe Passage: (1,2), (3,4), (4,2), (5,3), (5,6), (7,5), (7,8), (9,7), (9,10), (11,9), (11,12), and (14,15). Dangerous Encounters (14,11); Stasis Chamber (12,15); Controls (11,5) and (13,5). People to See: Good Wizard Yekop (12,5). !CompuServe TEG-10672 Safe Passage: 2 2 4 6 6 12 A D F I. Access Code: L 64 R 32 Elemental Plane of Air (Time of Air) A1 (0,15); Elemental Plane of Earth (Time of Earth) E4 (15,0); Elemental Plane of Fire (Time of Fire) E1 (15,15); Elemental Plane of Water (Time of Water) A4 (0,0). Messages: Red-1 Earth (15,8); Red-2 Air (0,7); Red-3 Water (0,8); Red-4 Earth (7,0); Red-5 Fire (6,15); Red-6 Earth (9,6); Red-7 Air (7,15); Red-8 Water (8,0); Red-9 Fire (15,7). People to See: Lord Acwalandar Water (8,8); Lord Gralkor Earth (4,5); Lord Pyrannaste Fire (9,9); Lord Shalwend Air (5,5). Treasure: Air Talon Air (7,7); Earth Talon Earth (8,8); Fire Talon Fire (4,4); Water Talon Water (10,10). MIGHT AND MAGIC II is published by New World Computing and distributed by Electronic Arts. !CompuServe TEG-10673 This walkthru is copyright (c) 1990 by Dan Swanson. All rights reserved. !CompuServe TEG-9446 MIGHT AND MAGIC II 1 Introduction, Character Tips 2 Starting Out, Quests 3 Character Development 4 Combat, Rest, Spell Casting 5 Region Descriptions, Time Travel 6 Town Descriptions 7 Guide to Cron's Underground 8 Complete Location Not CompuServe TEG-10675 MIGHT AND MAGIC II Part 9 EXP RESS TO SUCCESS While I was writing this walkthru, I discovered a way to raise level 6 characters to level 50 in under an h our! Repeated applications can raise the party to 255 (top end maximum!) in several hours. This section will tell you how to d o this for your party. Before you raise your characters to these heights, please consider that it may ruin your enjoyment of the game. In my experience -- and the experience of other gamers with whom I have discussed this -- this game plays best with characters ranging in level from 20th to 40th. These levels allow you to win the battles you need to, but force you to rely on your intelligence and cunning; at levels higher than these, you can just use brute force to deal with any situation which would tend to get rather boring after a while. !CompuServe TEG-10676 Part of the game's response to higher level characters seems to be to increase the number of monsters you meet in each encounter, and this eventually leads to long boring combats; your party can wipe out a monster party consisting of six Iron Wizards, a T. Rex, and 170 Armored Dragons, killing them all without taking any damage. This battle could take upwards of ten minutes, and be followed by similar encounters. While I originally enjoyed being more powerful than almost any monster or combination of monsters, I soon realized that I had compromised the playability of the game. MMII is a fun game that can be played for a long time, and I don't want to spoil it for you with these hints (I have to admit, I felt very clever when I discovered this!). So with that warning, read on if you like. Certainly, you don't have to use what is presented here. PREPARATIONS For this process to work best, you need to make some preparations. You need to find or purchase a Witch's Broom and a Teleport Orb, find the Holy Word spell hidden in square C1, and visit Corak's Cave in C2 to learn Lloyd's Beacon. !CompuServe TEG-10678 Using the Witch's Broom and the Teleport Orb, visit the Greatest Fountain which is located in the desert in E2. Don't try to walk there or you will die; instead, use the Orb to jump directly to the fountain. Cast a Lloyd's Beacon in this square so that you can return here anytime you want. Now, use the Witch's Broom to return to a town and save the game by entering an Inn. THE FIRST GIANT STEP Mr. Wizard is being held captive by a Lich and a Monster Masher in D3. Rescuing him involves defeating the Lich and the Masher, and will provide you with considerable experience (it jumped my characters from 6th level to 13th level). A Lich is an Undead Monster which can be dispelled by the Holy Word spell. Your problems at this point are: 1. Sixth level characters can't throw ninth level spells. 2. Your cleric doesn't have enough spell points. !CompuServe TEG-10680 3. You have to throw the spell before the Lich attacks, or you will be toasted, and the Lich is faster than you (so is the Masher). 4. There is no way that six sixth level characters can overcome a Monster Masher. Dealing with these problems one at a time: 1. In C1 is a fountain that temporarily allows all who drink from it to throw 9th level spells (if they know them). 2. In C1 is a fountain that temporarily provides 200 spell points to everyone who drinks from it. So you use the Broom to fly to C1, and drink from these two fountains. 3. Use Lloyd's Beacon to return to the Greatest Fountain and drink from it. This raises all your attribute scores -- including speed -- to 200, making you faster than the Lich. !CompuServe TEG-10682 4. The Greatest Fountain affects the amount of damage you do in a physical attack by raising your strength to 200 (roughly equivalent to the Hulk), while it increases your chance to hit (accuracy of 200 is impossible to describe). When you fight the Masher you will be amazed! Use the Witch's Broom to fly to D3, then use the Teleport Orb to teleport to (1,14) (don't try to walk there; if you get in a fight, you lose all your enhancements and have to start again). Attack! Let everyone in your party (except the Cleric) smite the Monster Masher. I suspect that four hits (from the Knight, Paladin, Robber, and Archer) will take him out. When it's your cleric's turn, have him cast Holy Word. ZAP! The Lich is gone, Mr. Wizard is free, grateful, and available for hire, and there is an excellent treasure here. When you return home, visit the most expensive Training Center you can afford. (I actually had to make some side trips to obtain enough gold to pay the Training Center in order to find out my entire party was now 13th level.) !CompuServe TEG-10683 The finishing touch on this step is to circle through the Towns of Cron, visiting all of the Temples and Mages Guilds, and learning all the spells you can afford. LATER, GREATER STEPS You can't rescue Mr. Wizard again, but at this point, with a little preparation, you can take out the Cuisinarts! First, you need to learn the Dancing Sword spell. Before you leave town, visit the Temple and make donations (option C) until the clerics bless you for the day. Visit the Greatest Fountain and the Spell Fountains in C1, then use the Broom to go to A2. Use the Teleport Orb (avoid encounters!) to jump to (15,11), where you will find and fight the Mist Warrior, who you should defeat easily. When you win this battle, you learn the Dancing Sword spell. Return home to rest and save the game, because now we're going to chase Big Game! Purchase (or find) 12 units of "MaxHP Potion." Magic users can use the spell S 1-2 (Detect Magic) to see how many units each potion bottle holds. !CompuServe TEG-10685 Visit your Temple and donate until you are blessed. Visit the Greatest Fountain and the Spell Fountains, then use the Broom to take tou eo B2. Have every party member use two units of the MaxHP Potion, and have your Paladin cast C 1-6 (Power Cure) on each party member in turn until he runs out of spell points. If you have two Paladins, they should both throw spells until they run out of points (don't use up your Cleric's spell points yet). At this point, you should have a Blessed Party, each of which can cast 9th level spells, has 200 spell points each (except the Paladins), has attribute scores of 200, and has magically extended his/her natural number of hit points. If your party has two Mountaineers, you can walk north through the mountains (from the road) to (1,9). If not, use the Orb. You will encounter the Cuisinarts. If you choose to fight, you get to go first (even if they surprise you). Characters who can't throw spells should concentrate on the first Cuisinart. Your Archer should probably shoot number 1, although using the Dancing Sword is !CompuServe TEG-10687 a good alternative. If your paladins have enough spell points left, they should throw C 7-3 (Moon Ray), because while it doesn't hurt the Cuisinarts much, it gives your party more hit points (and you will need them shortly!). Your Cleric should also throw Moon Ray. Your Sorcerer should throw S 8-4 (Power Shield), which will cut damage to your party in half. Hopefully, the first Cuisinart is down, but he might still be standing. And now it's their turn! If all three Cuisinarts frenzy, you're toast (again); however, there is a very good chance that some of your party will be awake at the end of the round, and also a good chance that you will all still be alive. If your Cleric is still awake, you can save the day (well, save the second?) by throwing Moon Ray again. Everyone who is still alive is partially cured, and you can start over. If your Paladin(s) or Cleric(s) is able to throw Moon Ray at the start of the second round, you have probably already won the fight, although it may take another round. With 13th level charaotere, this fight won't last more than three rounds, and it will only go three rounds if you win. !CompuServe TEG-10689 You may lose to the Cuisinarts in this fight. If so, come back and try it again. If you try it two or three times, you ought to win one. As soon as you win one fight, rest immediately, then search (don't forget to search!). Once you have the treasure, quickly return to town and save the game. You don't want to lose your new experience and have to do this over again! Once you've saved the game, visit a Training Center to reach the higher levels. If, like me, you want to play with invincible characters, you can do the Cuisinart cycle again. I went through the Cuisinart cycle twice. Actually, at this point, my party was gaining experience points much faster than gold, so I had to stop Training to go out and find treasure to pay for my Training. Regardless of the money problem, my party went from 6th level to 50th level in under an hour! While treasure has been kind of glossed over here, you will be very happy with the treasures the Cuisinarts hide. Things like a Silver Helmet +30, Silver Splint Mail +23, Titan's Pike +25; many of the best treasures in the game can be found here! !CompuServe TEG-10691 Once you reach a level high enough to beat the Cuisinarts on a routine basis, here is a method to advance even more quickly. Beat them once, turn to the west, and take two steps. This puts you into A2. Rest (unless you already did), then press the backup arrow twice to return to the Cuisinarts. Fight, win, search, take two steps west, rest, take two steps east, and start again. Please remember my warning; you may upset the playability of the game by becoming too high a level too quickly. But the method is there, if you want to use it! POWER GOES TO MY HEAD There is a magical weapon called a Shaman Pipe which you can use to assist a party of only Paladins and Archers in throwing 8th and 9th level spells. The special power of the Pipe raises the user's Spell Level (Shaman's Pipe +1 raises the spell level by 2). By using this power, characters normally limited to 7th level spells can throw 9th level spells, if the spells are in their Spell Books. And a visit to the Spell Salesman will allow these characters to put 8th and 9th level spells in the book. !CompuServe TEG-10693 Using an Archer to emulate a Robber, and Shaman's Pipes in the packs of all my party members, I played with a party of four Paladins and four Archers. They started at 50th level (see above), and I was able to defeat every monster in the modern world. Eventually, there was no one and nothing they couldn't defeat in less than three rounds, which got incredibly boring. Using S 9-4 (Enchant Item) and S 7-2 (Duplication), this group was outfitted entirely in Gold Chain +50. The Paladins had Gold Helms and Gold Shields, also +50. The Archers were equipped with Meteor Bows to increase their armor class, and all eight carried Dark Tridents, again raising their Armor Classes. All of these characters had scores of 100 for each attribute (many trips to the Circus), and used magical enhancements to raise some attributes even higher. This was when I discovered that Attributes over 255 might cause problems when the party tried to rest. Maximum armor class turns out to be 255, as does maximum level. I don't know what the maximum number of hit points is, because the game allows my characters to continue to go up in hit points at the Training Centers, even though their levels are pegged (it's too hard to explain; if you really want to know, drop me a message in The Gamers' Forum). !CompuServe TEG-10696 Eventually, there was nothing left to do but fight the Mega-Dragon. We won, although he managed to crunch King Kalohn before the party could engage him. It was an incredibly boring fight, and the treasure was in a Silver Chest. Someone asked if I had enjoyed this, and I had to admit I didn't. I mostly wanted to see what the limits of the game were, and I found out, so I guess there is a little satisfaction there. What else I found out was that the game plays best with characters between 20th and 50th level. I hope I managed to convey that message to you, because this is a fun game if you don't mangle it! I hope that this guide can help users enjoy their game! Heartfelt thanks to BigBad MaMa and Uncle Andy. Their input and encouragement made the writing of this walkthru enjoyable, but I'm awfully glad it's done! MIGHT AND MAGIC II is published by New World Computing and distributed by Electronic Arts. !CompuServe TEG-10697 This walkthru is copyright (c) 1990 by Dan Swanson. All rights reserved. !CompuServe TEG-9446 MIGHT AND MAGIC II 1 Introduction, Character Tips 2 Starting Out, Quests 3 Character Devel