Legend of Grimrock II game guide is a detailed guide around this fantasy game world, which consists of two part - mechanics and plot. The first one describes the elements of character creation and development, as well as the fighting system in the game and using spells. The second part is a solution of a sort, in which the whole plot, from the beginning to the very end, is thoroughly described through a set of maps, along with puzzles and secrets. Legend of Grimrock II is the second part of a game that was created in 2012. It's and independent game from the dungeon crawler genre (adventure games, in which the main focus is on exploring dark dungeons that contain not only precious treasures, but also powerful enemies). The gameplay, just like in the first part, focuses on the adventures of a group of four convicts, which are the main characters of the single player campaign in the game created by Almost Human studio. The second part, beside new gameplay features, introduces a set of actualizations, like for example improved AI, open locations (forests, beaches, swamps), or larger variety of equipment available in the game. What should be mentioned here, is also the introduction of firearms and complex crafting system.
Legend of Grimrock II game guide contains:
& Marcin "Xanas" Baran ()
Move character
Move camera
Rest
Map
Switch equipment
Character sheet
Quick save
Quick load
In this chapter, we will be looking at the interface in Legend of Grimrock II. Every element of the interface has been marked with an appropriate icon and described in a way that every beginner player will have no problems starting the game.
Strictly speaking, the interface is not very complex and generally, it consists of two major elements, which should be described in detail. The first elements is the multifunctional panel in the bottom right corner of the screen, which shows our team, its current condition and equipment set, as well as serves as combat panel. The second elements would be all the interactive elements of the gameplay - that is various objects, enemies or items - that we can directly interact with.
Let's go whole hog.The game, beside the additional mode of playing dungeons designed yourself (about which we will talk a bit later), offers a very complex and challenging single player campaign mode. It's simply a standard story mode, full of adventures and dangers awaiting you on every move. Before you start the game, you have to select three options that will influence your encounters with the Legend of Grimrock II game world a lot.
1. First, you need to select the most basic option, which is the level of difficulty. It influences only the parameters of your enemies, namely their actions speed, amount of damage that they deal and their level of aggressiveness. You can choose between easy, medium and hard. Much like in dozens of other games, every player describes the medium level as the most optimal and balanced. It's perfect for the start. It's important to mention that you cannot change your decision once you start the game.
2. The second decision is whether we want to play with a computer generated random team or to create the whole team by ourselves in a special panel designed for that. The choice depends on the player, but we of course recommend the second, more personalized option, which allows you to have bigger influence on the development of the heroes that you control. What's worth mentioning, there's an option of importing complete schematics of heroes into the game, but only if we've used this particular team for playing in the our own dungeons.
3. The third option - the so called Old School Mode - is connected to a very important element of the gameplay, which is the automatic map uncovering system. After activating this mode, which you cannot later reverse, the locations that we visit will not be saved on our map, which means that we loose a lot of comfort in terms of map orientation. For beginners, this will most certainly mean having troubles when walking through multiple tunnels and mazes of the dungeons designed by the developers. Players who still remember older RPG games will have the opportunity to once again used such techniques as drawing location maps on pieces of paper.
4. Ironman Mode, as this is the name of the next mode that we will talk about, introduces another difficulty to the game, namely that the you can only save the game at special places designed for that (Healing Crystals). To be honest, it is a slightly irritating mode, which doesn't allow one to stop the game until reaching a certain point in the campaign.
5. The last option is reserved only for masochists, as it allows you to use every Healing Crystal only once. If you like hardcore playing, switch "Single-use Crystals" option on.
Our dream team.When choosing the option of creating a team by yourself, right making all the other decisions (like the level of difficulty, etc.), you will see the character creation panel on the screen. The first thing that will certainly draw your attention is that you will control not one, but four different heroes. In Legend of Grimrock II, the world exploration system and battle mechanics are not as obvious as you may think (like for example the TPP mode for managing more than one character). What's interesting, the system is not that complicated, but quite the opposite - it shines with its simplicity. However, this topic will be described later in the guide.
Moving back to the case, it would be good to talk a little about all the elements that create our heroes. Only the character name is a thing obvious enough not to be described here.
Character race is certainly a more serious topic. The developers have prepared five nations that differ from one another not only with the appearance of the avatars (you can choose between several of them in each race), but the bonuses that they obtain at the start and their predispositions for developing in different professions.
Human, according to what developers say, is a totally universal race, which means that this race will fulfill every role that you give and will develop well in any direction. Human's race bonus is 10% faster experience gain.
Insectoid, as the name suggest, is a creature resembling an insect. Insectoids are naturally good with spells, so a player who chooses this class should be aware of that, as he will receive 2 extra points in the Willpower attribute. Moreover, he will obtain 1 extra point in Strength, but will receive -2 Dexterity and -1 Vitality. What's very important, Insectoids also have a very strong passive ability - 50% less chance of being hit.
Lizardman is a race that, because of the 2 extra points in Dexterity (unfortunately also -2 in Willpower) is a perfect candidate for a light warrior - a kind of a partisan, which can specialize in ranged or thrown weapons. Moreover, Lizardman has 25% more resistance to all factors.
Minotaur is a good choice for a heavy warrior - powerful, big and really muscular. This race has 5 extra points in Strength and 4 extra points in Vitality (also -4 Dexterity and -3 Willpower). Moreover, it has 25% higher Food Consumption Rate than other races.
Ratling is the last one from the available races. Their biggest advantage is the resistance to every disease. They also have attribute bonuses and penalties, namely 2 extra points in Dexterity and -4 in Strength. What makes Ratling different from other races is that it obtains extra points in minor statics, which value is influenced by the attributes, but also the character's skills and equipment. Ratling ahs 2 extra points in Evasion (a chance of avoiding physical damage) and +15kg in Max Load.
Classes, just like the topic discussed above, have a lot of influence on how our hero develops in the future, because of the perks and bonuses that they provide. We can choose from among eight classes and every one of them has been designed to suit different game style and fighting strategy.
Alchemist is a class that leans towards making potions and using firearms. This class receives 50 Health (+6 per level) and 50 Energy (+4 per level). Moreover, it also uses two very interesting passive skills, which are the 50% more chance that using a gun will be successful and automatic increase to the number of herbs gathered (the bonus depends on the level and the Alchemy skill of the character).
Barbarian is a profession that is perfect for standing in the middle of a big battle. This class provides as much as 80 Health to the hero (+10 per level) and 30 Energy (+3 per level). Moreover, a Barbarian receives +1 Strength point per level.
Battle Mage is a specialization which focuses practically solely on using spells during battle. Battle Mages have 50 Health (+5 per level) and 50 Energy points (+5 per level). Moreover, choosing this class provides a few very useful bonuses. Firstly, it reduces our armor penalty by 50% and secondly, it allows us to cast spell with bare hands (no need of using wands or such), thirdly, it gives the hero +10 in the Protection statistic (the value of total resistance to physical attacks) and +10 points in resistance to every other kind of damage when using a Staff or an Orb.
Farmer is a class, which we supposed was introduced to the game as a kind of a joke, as it doesn't possess any particular abilities or bonuses that would be helpful during the gameplay. As a Farmer, we receive 30 Health (+5 per level) and 30 Energy points (+5 per level). What's more, there are two important things to be discussed. Firstly, the hero of such class doesn't receive any skills at the beginning of the game (other classes can choose two such abilities), secondly, a Farmer doesn't receive any experience points for killing monsters, but only through eating food in the game. It's quite difficult to state whether that ability is positive or negative.
Fighter is a specialization very similar to Barbarian, described above, which also focuses on fighting close to the opponent. It receives 60 Health (+7 per level) and 30 Energy points (+3 per level). The biggest advantage of this class is the passive ability that reduces the time of preparing to perform a special attack by a half and 25% lower Energy use when using such attack.
Knight another profession suited for fighting in the front line, which however, differs slightly from the classes mentioned earlier. Characters of such class have natural skills in using armors and shields. They receive 60 Health (+7 per level) and 30 Energy points (+3 per level) and also: 1 extra point in the Protection statistic (summary of values that reduce damage), equipment burden reduced by 50% and 50% chance of dodging an attack when using a shield.
Rogue is a class of the assassin type, which is naturally skilled in fighting long range, due to its special passive abilities. It has 45 Health (+5 per level) and 40 Energy points (+5 per level). On each level, this class receives an extra 1% chance of performing a critical hit when using Ranged or Thrown weapons. Moreover, it loses only 25% of the damage as a penalty when using two weapons simultaneously (normally, a hero gets -40%).
Wizard is the last of the available professions, which may seem similar to the class described earlier - the Battle Mage. However, these classes differ from one another with their fighting strategy. Players who choose this class will cast spells at the enemy from a safe distance and when the situation is critical, they will activate their second, warrior nature, just like Battle Mages. It has 35 Health (+3 per level) and 50 Energy points (+7 per level). Moreover, a Wizard also obtains 2 extra points in the Willpower ability, as well as the ability to cast spells without using special weapons (bare hands are enough).
In Legend of Grimrock, we encounter two statistics that are called Secondary Abilities, which undergo fast changes during battles and when using spells. These abilities are Health (the number of hero's hit points - going down to zero means that you die) and Energy (points needed for using spells and special attacks). Their standard values are determined by the character's class and the overall level of experience. They are also influenced by primary abilities like Vitality (Health) and Willpower (Energy).
There are four Primary Abilities in the game, which when distributed wisely at the beginning of the game, will provide us bonuses in minor statistics and the two Secondary Abilities - Health and Energy.
Strength is the first of the abilities, which directly influences the amount of damage that you deal and determines the maximum equipment burden. Moreover, it increases your Resistance to Fire.
Dexterity is responsible for two minor statistics, which are Evasion and Accuracy and also for Resistance to Shock.
Vitality regulates the Health statistic and speeds up the process of its regeneration. It also provides more Resistance to Poison.
Willpower is the last ability, which increases your number of Energy points and adds points in Resistance to Cold.
Resistance is another topic, slightly different than abilities. It consists of four values that are supposed to reduce damage taken when attacked by various elements or other factors.
Resistance to Fire reduces the damage connected to fire, heat and steam (the Strength ability increases the number of points in this statistic).
Resistance to Shock reduces damage connected to lightning (this value is influenced by Dexterity).
Resistance to Poison reduces damage cause by poisoned attacks (increased by Willpower).
Resistance to Cold reduces damage connected to cold and frost (also increased by Willpower).
There are six more statistics in this category, which are influenced by various factors like Primary Abilities, or equipment.
Protection is the defensive potential of a hero, which reduces the final physical damage dealt to you (summary of the whole armor and all the defensive elements of your equipment).
Evasion is a chance for dodging an enemy attack (the damage is then zero). It is influenced by Dexterity and also your equipment.
Damage is a summary of all the physical damage that we deal to an enemy when performing an attack. Its value is influenced by your skills, abilities and of course your equipment. It doesn't apply to Wizards and Battle Mages (no statistic).
Accuracy is your chance for hitting a target, which is increased by equipment elements and Dexterity. It also doesn't apply to Wizards and Mages (no statistic).
Critical is your chance for hitting a target critically when using a weapon, described in percentage. Just like the two above abilities, it doesn't apply to Wizards and Mages.
Max Load is the maximum load that a hero can carry - when exceeded by only one character, it will cause the whole team to be slowed down (yellow mark) or even prevent it from moving (red mark).
Every member of the team, can choose two Traits in the character creation panel. Such Traits will influence their further development. The decision is final and it cannot be changed once the game has been begun. What's important, not all Traits are available for all the classes.
Aggressive adds 4 points in Damage.
Aura adds 20 points in Energy
Agile adds two points in Dexterity.
Cold-blooded increases Resistance to Cold by 25 points.
Chitin Armor adds 10 points in Protection (only for Insectoid).
Daemon Ancestor increases Resistance to Fire by 25 points.
Endurance increases Maximum Load by 25kg and reduces Food Consumption Rate by 25%.
Endure Elements increases Resistance to all factors by 25% (only for Lizardman).
Evasive adds 5 points in Evasion.
Fast Learner increases the speed of gaining experience by 10% (only for Human; it is also a natural skill of this races, which means that you can get +20% experience).
Fast Metabolism increases Health Regeneration Rate by 30% and increases Food Consumption Rate by 20%. Moreover, Healing Potions restore twice as much Health (only for Lizardman).
Head Hunter adds 1 point in Strength for each Skull carried in the equipment bag (only for Minotaur).
Healthy adds 2 points in Vitality.
Martial Training increases Accuracy by 7 points when using melee weapons.
Muscular adds 2 points in Strength.
Mutation gives an extra point in a random attribute, after every level promotion (only for Ratling).
Natural Armor adds 5 points in Protection.
Poison Immunity makes the character completely immune to Poison (only for Lizardman).
Poison Resistant increases Resistance to Poison by 25 points.
Quick reduces the cooldown for all actions by 10% (only for Insectoid).
Rage increases Strength by 10 points when the hero is below 20% Health (only for Minotaur).
Skilled gives an extra point that you can distribute during character creation process (only for Human).
Strong Mind adds 2 points in Willpower.
Tough adds 20 points in Health.
The last category consists of sixteen skills that can be developed by the heroes. Every one of them has five levels. Symbols in each box represent the level of a given skill and reaching maximum level will give us an additional bonus. At the beginning, we can distribute only two points and then a next one with every higher level of experience.
Alchemy allows you to create potions of better and better quality, for making which you will need herbs and a mortar. On level four of Alchemy, the potions you make have stronger healing and energy restoring effects and on level five, creating a bomb gives you three of them every time.
Athletics increases your Health by 20 points per skill level. On level three, your Maximum Load also increases by 15kg.
Concentration increases your Energy by 20 points per skill level. On level three, regeneration rate when resting increases by 25%.
Light Weapons increases damage dealt using Light Weapons by 20% per skill level. On level three, you can use two weapons simultaneously, as long as one of them is a Dagger, and on level five - any weapon that we choose.
Heavy Weapons increases damage dealt with Heavy Weapons by 20% per skill level. On level five, you're able to wield a Two-handed Weapon in one hand.
Missile Weapons increases damage dealt with Missile Weapons by 20% per skill level. On level four, ranged attacks ignore 20 points of enemy armor value.
Throwing Increases damage dealt with Thrown Weapons by 20% per skill level. On level five, it allows you to throw two weapons (from both hands) in one attack.
Firearms increases the range of attack by one field and reduces the chance of misfiring. On level five, the possibility of misfiring is zero.
Accuracy increases the ability of the same name by 10 points. On level two, it allows you to perform physical attacks (using melee weapons) from the second line of the team.
Critical increases the chance of performing a critical attack when using melee, ranged and thrown weapons by 3% per skill level. On level three, the hero can also backstab the enemy using a Dagger, which will deal triple damage. On level five, he can do that using any Light Weapon.
Armor increases the Protection value of every Armor part used by 5% per skill level. On level two, the hero can wear Light Armor without any speed penalties and on level four - Heavy Armor analogically.
Dodge adds three points in Evasion per skill level. On level three, the cooldown between actions is reduced by 10%.
Fire Magic increases damage dealt by spells that use Fire by 20% per skill level. On level five, Resistance to Fire is increased by 50 points.
Air Magic increases damage dealt by spells that use Shock by 20% per skill level. On level five, Resistance to Shock is increased by 50 points.
Earth Magic increases damage dealt by spells that use Poison by 20% per skill level. On level five, Resistance to Poison is increased by 50 points.
Water Magic increases damage dealt by spells that use Cold by 20% per skill level. On level five, Resistance to Cold is increased by 50 points.
Whoops...1. Plan wisely. The beginning of the game is preceded by the character creation process, which is a very important element that will determine the effectiveness of our team in the future. You should definitely spend some more time to rethink and organize your team, instead of choosing to play with a random group. Creating your own dream team from a scratch, using the tips from this guide and your own vision, will not only grant you effectiveness but also pleasure from the connection with heroes designed yourself.
2. Don't run before you can walk. You should not only be careful during battles, but also at the very beginning of the game, when choosing the level of difficulty and additional modes. When starting Legend of Grimrock II campaign for the first time, it is best to select medium difficulty level and try to not check modes that for example prevent us from saving the game any time we want. If however, someone has already played the first Legend of Grimrock - feel free to do so.
3. Be observant. All the locations visited by you during the gameplay abound with all kinds of hidden treasures and secrets. When wandering through the maps, it is good to look around and check places that seem like there could be something in them - side passages, bushes or places difficult to notice. Finding all the secrets is not necessary for finishing the game, but maxed out statistics will bring you a lot of satisfaction.
4. Get used to digging. At the first stage of the gameplay, we will surely find a shovel hidden in some chest, which is a very important tool for discovering secrets. Using it in an appropriate place may bring us a box of treasures, if we're lucky. In order not to waste too much time on digging through the entire map, it is best to use our solution.
5. Think logically. All the puzzles and seemingly difficult mechanisms designed by the developers are based strictly on laws of logic. Instead of going crazy and running from one point on the map to another, try to stop for a while and think about the possible ways of solving the situation. It will often turn out that some item that we carry in our equipment is the key to solving the puzzle. Maybe, a sculpture which seems to reach for something with its arms is waiting for us to put a sword there? Of course, if you have troubles dealing with some puzzles, you can always search for solution in the appropriate chapter of our guide.
6. Don't rush. When fighting a more challenging enemy or a group of few opponents, the worst thing that you can do is to recklessly rush forward and attack whoever is closer. During the battle, always remember to use a strategy. Mobility is a very important factor - you will never win by standing in one place and letting the enemy hit you.
7. Focus on your heroes' strong features. If we've followed the instructions from rule number one, we should now have a diversified and well-organized company of heroes. The chapter on team creation was written for a purpose and should studied thoroughly so that we could use all the good features of our heroes well. Let the warriors fight and take hits, have the archers shooting and mages casting spells. Engineers should focus on using their skills for supporting the rest of the team in various ways.
8. Look for weak spots. Before confronting an enemy face to face, it is good to first study his fighting style and look for weak spots. You can find a complete list of enemies that you can encounter in the game in another chapter. Most of the relationships is very logical and based on laws of nature. Notice that for example a mummy's body is all covered in bandages, therefore Fire should work quite well here.
9. Use the game mechanics to your advantage. As it has been already mentioned a lot of times, the whole game world consists of hexagons, on which our team can move. You can easily adapt to the battle system in this game and try to make advantage of it. When you will be dodging, moving around the battlefield, it will make your enemies have to run after you and move from one hexagon to another to be able to attack (diagonal attacks are impossible). It just so happens that most frequently we are the ones setting the pace of the fight so circling the enemy and attacking from the side or from the back should become a habit of yours.
10. Don't be a mule. When collecting all the items that you find in the game, you may quickly come to notice that no more objects will fit into your inventory and the team will be unable to move. In order to not have to worry about the current state of your inventory, just don't take everything you see with you. If we for example find an item that is weaker from the one that we are using right now, than what's the point of keeping it? You cannot sell it, that's for sure, as in this game, there are no shops or money.
A bit unusual, but you get used to it fast.The exploration and battle system, generally the mechanics of Legend of Grimrock II is not very typical or intuitive. At the beginning of the game, without any form of tutorial, we are thrown into the strange world finding ourselves on an island. The game has been designed in the FPP fashion, which means that we will be exploring the reality created by the developers from the perspective of our heroes' eyes. During the gameplay, we will take control over four characters, differing from each other with their Race, Class, Skills and Traits, who however make one integrity. To explain this fact better, it should be mentioned that all the locations that we will visit are divided into hexagons. This system makes us think about a well-known game called Heroes and it's a good comparison, but there are two major differences. Firstly, the fields are not marked on the ground in any way and their borders are totally conventional. Secondly, the gameplay (exploration as well as battle) doesn't base on turns. We won't see any dice rolls or deep and long thoughts over what the next move should be. All the elements of the world function in real time and live their own life without paying attention to our actions. Whether we are standing or running in a given moment, doesn't make any difference. The enemies always keep patrolling their territory and day is slowly turning into night. The essential fact that we need to understand is that all our characters are always on the same field and move together as an integral being, which means they cannot separate or face different directions. The control system may cause you a bit of trouble at the start. The basic configuration (WSAD) allows you to move the group in various directions and Q and E are responsible for turning the heroes. Running forwards is performed quite fluently, but there's no such freedom of movement like in other RPG games, when it comes to other actions. The moment in which we move from one field onto another can be quite easily noticed and besides, most of the complex actions that we will want to perform - especially in the first few minutes of playing - will fail completely. Inability to turn into a narrow tunnel or to place yourself on a good position is nothing unusual. You will get used to it.
There are plenty of interactive elements in the game.The division into hexagons, described above, was not designed without a particular reason, as it influences a lot of important elements of the gameplay, connected to both exploration and battle. To not get lost in a lot of information, let's fist look at one element. To interact with a given object, like for example a switch or a stone plate, we have to stand in the same hexagon in which the object is located or in the one next to it. What's the difference? If we want to switch on a mechanism, we can stand on a stone plate, which will unlock a passage for us, but in the case when the plate has to be switched on all the time, we need to put some object onto the plate. We can drag for example a branch from our equipment and place it directly under our feet, or throw it from some distance by pointing the right place. No element of the game is located outside a hexagon - all actions base on fields, just like in chess.
You can throw items from distance, but you have to be near an object to pick it up.When picking up items, our options are limited. To be able to reach an object with our mouse, we have to stand in the hexagon in which it's located, right next to it or try to approach the object from a particular side or angle, when situation requires it (placing yourself at the right angle towards the object is often required to for example be able to pull a lever). After picking up, items will appear in a cartoon-like design and we will be able to move them across the screen freely. We will have no troubles placing an object in a given place, as this part was described above, but we still have to talk about our equipment.
Standard and battle equipment.All our equipment is contained in two windows - standard and battle equipment. Every hero has a different inventory panel, which consists of 20 slots used for storing various items that we're not using at the time and a window that symbolizes the hero's body, where you can find slots for armor, boots, gloves, capes, jewelry (necklaces and rings) and most importantly - weapons. The last category also can be visible on a panel in the bottom right corner, which you use for fighting using the weapon you're currently equipped with. Of course every hero has two arms, which means that he can wield two weapons at the same time. However, if we do not possess the ability of fighting with for example two swords simultaneously, than, despite holding them in both hands, we won't be able to use them together. Analogically, a Two-handed Axe will take both the available weapon slots and we won't be able to wield any more weapons. The developers, keeping in mind the dynamics of the battle system and the need for changing strategy sometimes, have introduced a second gear option. You can switch between gears using the tabs marked "I" and "II". When looking at the interface, we may be surprised by some other elements that hasn't been mentioned in the chapters before, namely the XP bar and hunger bar. The three other tabs contain only current information about our Abilities, Skills and Traits, so theirs is no point in talking about them too much.
XP bar, as you can presume, indicates the number of experience points necessary for the hero to advance onto higher level and to be able to develop his Skills. All the classes (except for Farmer, who gains xp when eating food), obtain experience points from killing enemies.
Hunger bar shows the current status of a hero when it comes to food. Normally it's green. When the character starts to get a little hungry, it turns yellow, which however doesn't yet result in any penalties. When the bar turns red, health and energy regeneration will be stopped. To fill up the bar, you just have to eat the food you find (click RMB on it when it's in the equipment of one of the heroes). Minotaur race has naturally increased Food Consumption Rate, which makes him have to eat more food than his companions. Fortunately, this negative factor can be neutralized by properly selected additional abilities.
Under the slots in the equipment, you can also see a small information about the load. When exceeding the value of a given hero's Maximum Load even by a bit causes the whole team to have reduced movement speed and when the character is overloaded, the whole team is immobilized. Maximal Load can be increased by appropriate abilities and traits.
It's definitely better to keep mobile than to stand in one place all the time.At last, we come to a slightly more complex and difficult to understand at the beginning part, which is the battle itself. During the gameplay, we will encounter various types of weapons which we will use to defeat our opponents. As usual, we will see swords, axes and maces, but also bows, knives and rocks (the last two types are classified as Throwing Weapons). Moreover, after some time, we will be able to witness the power of Firearms. There's also a very interesting system of spells, but we will be talking about it in a separate chapter, here focusing on things that are common for all the types. All the attacks are performed by clicking RMB on a battle slot in which we see the desired weapon (if the slot is empty, the hero will use his fists). Between every action that the hero can perform, there's a time that he needs to wait, called cooldown. It usually lasts for just a couple of seconds, but it can be made even shorter when choosing appropriate class and abilities. Of course, when one of our heroes performs an action, this doesn't mean that the rest of the team has to wait as well (we can attack instantly). Unfortunately, not every attack will be successful. There's always some chance of missing the target, when hitting directly or using ranged weapons (the chance depends on the statistics of a hero, mainly on Accuracy). Moreover, enemies themselves also have their special abilities and tricks, thanks to which they can also dodge our attacks.
At least we don't receive damage all at once.So how are things with taking damage? As we already know, our heroes are always located in the same hexagon, but it hasn't yet been told that placing them within the hexagon has influence on the gameplay. The heroes always stand in two lines that together form a square. Such formation means that the question which hero receives damage depends on the type of attack that our enemy performs and from which side he attacks. If the attack comes from the front, one of the heroes standing in the front line will be hurt (or both of them, if the enemy performs a double strike or a burst). Diagonal attacks are physically not possible to perform. The situation is different when it comes to spells, as they always hurt all the team members (a Fireball for example, deals damage to everyone, according to their Resistances). What's interesting, it's fairly easy to end your own life when casting such a spell directly at a wall that we stand in front of. The placement of particular heroes in the formation is not fixed and we can change it easily by dragging the panels in the corner of the screen.
Not much of a spell casting possibility.The creators of the game prepared for you a, rather interesting, magic system. Honestly though, comparing it to the other games magic systems, this is rather poorly developed one. It has only nine basic spells and only couple of combinations, which you can learn. How does it look in practice? On the very beginning a hero won't be able to use any spell. You can click on the runes, with a right mouse button on the blue palm icon, but it won't result with casting a spell. To learn a spell you will have to find, while exploring the world, a special scroll. Having it in your equipment and then, repeating written there sequence will enable you an abiding ability of spell casting (go to the runes window, press a spell with your left mouse button and then click on the question mark). After that, you can get rid of the scroll, it won't be of any use anymore and it will only take your inventory space. Of course, having a particular scroll may not be enough if you don't have a particular, practical skill. Depending on which element connects with a spell, this is the one you will have to upgrade (at least to the first level) in order to use it. For example, a fireball needs a point added to the Fire Magic. Things complicate a bit while talking about complex spell combinations, to which you will have to use specials scrolls, as you'll as the special magic abilities (from one to two at once, sometimes also the concentration ability will be necessary). A bit of an effort will pay off though; a powerful lightning, meteors or ice spikes will be the spells which you will surely be in fond of. In order to cast them, simply click the left mouse button on the particular runes whilst keeping their connection line and then, activate the sequence. Fortunately, the game creators thought about the white mages, who don't need to depend on a staff in the early game, before finding any scroll. They have actually enabled them a basic spell. So if you had, for example, invested in the air magic from the start, you will be able to use its rune, which in this case stands for using a lightning shock (the right column, the first row). In the end it is worth mentioning, that some of the enemies - nature elementals, to be more precise - can heal themselves using our spells. For example, a fire elemental will be tougher after casting a fireball on him.
Savepoint!Generally speaking, you can save the game anytime and anywhere you want. Just pause the game and choose the option of saving it, or simply use the key shortcut. The Creators had also prepared another saving system in a form of Healing Crystals. Those are special crystals, independent from the difficulty level or a modifier that had been chosen. They can be found in different locations and enable the player to save the progress of the game, whilst healing and replenishing the energy bars of the party at the same time. They can also resurrect the fallen members. After using them, they are temporarily disabled and will be able to reuse after twenty four hours. This stands for the standard type of play, which does not prevent the player from using it more than once (so called Single-use Crystals). And while speaking of the health regeneration, it is worth mentioning that described here saving points are not the only way of replenishing the vitality of the players party. If the player has an alchemist in his team, or simply has an eye on the surroundings, it will provide with having some special potions, which will help the player in fights. And if there is a moment of repose, you can rest (by default R key). It will refill all of the party bars, but it will also change the in-game time.
As it has been mentioned before a lot of times, in the chapter on character creation, our team will consist of four members, so it would be good to pay attention to organizing it well. The basic thing, which is certainly very important in other RPG games as well, is the variety of options and the fact that heroes complement each other. Creating a team in which everyone will be good at the same things, may bring good results only short term, until a moment when the heroes will come to face opponents with resistances to various weapons, strategies or magic, or that can easily defeat a particular type of character.
As you will see in the solution, the human race has not been included at all. It is directly connected to the destination of this chapter, which is to show and described the variety and differences between team members. Unfortunately, humans in this game are an "optimal" race that is supposed to be able to develop in any direction, but for this particular reason - in my opinion - totally useless. A better thing to do would be to focus on different strong traits of various team members, at the same time trying to minimalize their weak spots than to start the game with a bunch of mediocre fighters
Below, you can find a specially prepared "dream team", consisting of characters very different from each other and able to cooperate effectively.
Warrior - the main power source of the team.What would a team without a proper warrior be? The first necessary member of the group will be certainly a muscular guy, who not only knows how to deal damage, but also is able to take some hits (a so called offtank).
Minotaur is an obvious choice here, because of his bonuses (+5 Strength and +4 Vitality) and the fact that he deals way more damage than other races, has a lot of Health and is able to wear heavy gear without movement penalties. Minotaur, as a kind of a side effect, receives a lot of Resistance to Fire and to Poison.
Choosing race for the warrior might be easy, but selecting a good class requires some deeper thoughts. The developers have prepared three specialization in which Minotaur will feel quite good.
Barbarian has the most Health points (80, +10 per level), identical Energy bar (30, +30 per level) and just like every other class mentioned below, 1 extra point in Strength per level (increases damage, Maximum Load and Resistance to Fire). However, this class doesn't provide any particular special benefits that would be useful in the game - It focuses on increasing numbers in attributes and statistics.
Fighter has less Health points (60, +7 per level) and a standard amount of Energy (30, +3 per level), but it has melee weapons special attack cooldown reduced by a half and 25% less Energy cost when performing them.
Knight has the same statistics as Fighter when it comes to Health (60 , +7 per level) and Energy (30, +3 per level). However, this class has a lot of additional benefits, namely: 1 extra point in Protection, 50% weight reduction of the equipment worn and 50% chance of dodging an attack when using a shield. All these skills, especially the last one, oblige him to play the role of a classic tank in the team, whose job is to take all enemy attacks on himself, also using a shield.
All of these classes are somewhere near a warrior and their special traits may be useful during the game, but my suggestion would be to select Barbarian, who turns out to be a very powerful hero because of the high Health number and the +1 point in Strength per level. If our goal is not only to deal a huge amount of damage, but also to for example be able to parry attacks, then, Knight would be the class to choose.
Here, the situation is clear - we go for Strength and Vitality, as focusing on other abilities, which undergo natural reduction because of our class, makes no sense. The first is particularly useful for Minotaur, because when you add it to his natural +1 Strength per level, it really provides a huge amount of damage.
There are a few Traits that suit this type of character most, namely:
Aggressive adds 4 points in Damage.
Endurance increases Maximum Load by 25kg and also reduces the Food Consumption Rate by 25%, which allows you to lower the natural need for food of the race that we've chosen.
Healthy adds 2 points in Vitality.
Martial Training increases Accuracy by 7 points when using melee weapons. Generally, this Trait is a poor choice, because choosing Minotaur race gives us a large Accuracy penalty at the start.
Muscular adds 2 points in Strength.
Natural Armor adds 5 points in Protection.
Tough adds 20 points in Health.
Moreover, there are also two special Traits available only for this race:
Rage increases Strength by 10 when the hero is below 20% of Health. Works well in critical situation and allows one to quickly end the battle.
Head Hunter adds 1 point in Strength for every Skull of a defeated enemy carried in the equipment. Practical and impractical at the same time - these Skulls have to be held somewhere and carried around.
When it comes to choosing Traits, the decision depends on the player, but in this particular build, Aggressive and Tough will work the best (far better than Healthy, as it provides 10 more Health points).
There's not much sense in going crazy with the amount of skills that we want to develop and distributing points everywhere. The best thing to do is to choose two skills that we want to master (achieve level five) and after doing so, consider developing and additional skill.
When choosing either Barbarian of Fighter, the best skills to go for would be:
Athletics, which increases your Health by 20 points. On level three of this skill, your Maximum Load increases by 15kg.
Heavy Weapons, which increases damage dealt when using Heavy Weapons by 20% per skill level. On level five, you can hold Two-handed Weapons in one hand.
Only when choosing the Knight class, you can consider changing Athletics to Armor skill, as the second one focuses more on the Protection statistic and Maximum Load than on Health bar.
Assassin - fierce damage dealer.Another typical element of every team would be an assassin, who can be treated in two ways - as a light warrior, who performs quick an accurate attacks from the front line or a marksman who fights on distance. This build was created using the second approach, but we will also talk a little about the first alternative.
The race that performs the assassin role well is definitely Lizardman. Firstly, it's because of his bonus (+2) in Dexterity, which is responsible for statistics important for us: Accuracy, Dodge and Resistance to Shock. Secondly, most importantly, this race has a marvelous passive skill, which is 25% resistance to all factors. Thanks to that, even without a solid armor or a lot of Health, Lizardman is able to survive in battle with the reduced damage from elements and Poison.
In the case of this particular hero, the thing is very easy. Among all the classes, only one seems to be the proper choice, but if you want to, you can consider other specialization, which has already been mentioned when talking about the warrior.
Rogue is the best and most logical choice, which provides a solid amount of Health (45, +5 per level) and Energy (40, +5 per level) and also gives us two passive skills that directly influence the most important aspects of playing this type of character. The first one is reserved for a marksman, as it makes you receive 1% more chance of performing a critical hit when using Missile or Thrown Weapons per level. The second one works better for light warriors - when using two weapons simultaneously, we lose only 25% of damage dealt (normally it's 40%).
Fighter in some way, this class may also work in this convention, but only as a light warrior, because of the special passive skills, which are: 50% cooldown reduction for all special attacks performed using melee weapons and 25% lower cost of Energy when using these attacks. As for the statistics, Fighter has a bit more health (60, +7 per level), but less Energy (30, +3 per level) than Rogue.
Because of the fact that in this built we try to create a marksman, Rogue is the obvious choice. However, even if we want to create a light warrior, it's advisable to choose this class as well, because of its excellent benefits connected to using two weapons at the same time. The only disadvantage may be the low Protection and Health, but considering the role (marksman), we will be mainly shooting from distance, keeping out of the main battle. In the case of light warriors, a good armor and properly distributed Secondary Abilities (especially Resistances) are necessary.
Our main abilities are Dexterity and Strength. They both influence the statistics desired by us and make us a killer machine - fast, accurate and dealing an awful lot of damage. The only disadvantage here is relatively low Health and Protection, but taking our role into consideration, we will be mainly attacking from distance. In the case of light warriors, a proper armor and well distributed Secondary Abilities (especially Resistances) are necessary.
There are only a few Traits suitable for the assassin type and they are:
Aggressive adds 4 points in Damage.
Agile adds 2 points in Dexterity.
Evasive adds 5 points in Evasion. More useful for light warriors.
Healthy adds 2 points in Vitality. This Trait can be selected to make up for the low basic Health.
Martial Training adds 7 points in Accuracy when using melee weapons. Only for light warriors.
Muscular adds 2 points in Strength.
Tough adds 2 points in Health. It's effect is much more useful than that of Healthy Trait.
Moreover, there are also three special Traits reserved only for Lizardman:
Endure Elements increases all Resistances by 25%. Connected with natural passive skill, we receive 50% more in all Resistances.
Fast Metabolism increases Health Regeneration Rate by 30% and also the Food Consumption Rate by 20%. Moreover, healing potions will have double effect on us. You can consider such an alternative, but increasing the Food Consumption Rate is not a positive effect.
Poison Immunity makes the hero immune to Poison, but it is much better to select Endure Elements instead of that.
In the case of Traits, the choice depends only on the player, but in this built, the best decision will be Endure Elements (great resistance to all types of damage) and Agile, because of bonuses in the most useful statistics.
There's not much sense in going crazy with the amount of skills that we want to develop and distributing points everywhere. The best thing to do is to choose two skills that we want to master (achieve level five) and after doing so, consider developing and additional skill.
As for Rouge specialization - as long as we go for the marksman convention - the following skills will the best choice:
Missile Weapons increases damage dealt when using ranged weapons by 20% per skill level. On level four, ranged attacks ignore 20 points of enemy Protection.
Accuracy gives 10 points in the statistic of the same name. On level two, it allows you to perform physical attacks (using melee weapon) from the second line of the team.
If we however decide to create the light warrior version - no matter if we choose Rogue or Fighter - different skills will be of use to us.
Light Weapons increases damage dealt using Light Weapons by 20% per level. On level three we can fight using two weapons simultaneously - as long as one of the weapons is a Dagger - and on level five, we can use any kind of Light Weapons together.
Critical increases the chance of performing a critical hit when using melee, ranged, thrown weapons and firearms by 3% per level. On level three, you can perform a backstab using a Dagger, which causes triple damage. On level five, the same attack is available using any Light Weapon.
Both skills go together quite well. The first one not only increases your damage, but also allows you to use two weapons at once and the second one is based strictly on dealing critical damage, especially using a backstab attack. There is also another alternative, which is however not so tempting and generally you wouldn't want to take it instead of one of the skills mentioned above. It will work well as a third (additional) skill.
Dodge adds 3 points in Evasion. On level three it reduces the cooldown between actions by 10%.
Mage - master of destruction.The next step is to create a character who will be using magic powers - a typical mage. Such hero will be specializing in using destructive spells drawn from four schools of magic (elements). In this build, we will be creating a strong Battle Mage, who will stand in the first line, right next to the warrior and will attack enemies using the Fire element.
The choice is once again very obvious. Insectoid is a race which is the best for this role, mostly because of its extra points in Willpower (+2). 50% chance of avoiding being wounded and a small bonus in Strength (+1) makes this race the most suitable one for being a Battle Mage, which we will now describe.
There are two classes that match the mage archetype, which besides their common characteristics (fighting using magic) differ from one another with their strategy during battles
Battle Mage is a specialization designed for mages that do not fear direct confrontations and are able to fight in the first line, mainly because of their increased Health (+50, +5 per level), Energy (50, +5 per level) and also solid bonuses in Protection and Resistances. Battle Mage has 50% weight reduction of the armor he wears, 10 extra points in Protection and 10 extra points in all Resistance when using a Staff or an Orb (despite the fact that this class can cast spells with bare hands).
Wizard is a more conservative class, which, because of its lower Resistance and Protection, should stay in the back and support team members with spells. Besides a slightly different (than in the case of Battle Mage) Health bar (35, +3 per level), Energy (50, +7 per level) and an identical bonus (casting spells with bare hands), Wizard also receives 2 extra points in Willpower (it gives this class more Energy and faster regeneration).
Because of the fact that we search for a second hero to stand next to the warrior and we also look for a more concrete character, we select Battle Mage. Of course, this configuration will work only if the character created before (the assassin type) is a marksman. If we prefer to have a light warrior in our team, who will attack the enemy using two weapons at once, then Wizard should fill the empty place in the second line. It is not difficult to notice that no armor or additional protection will be then necessary to him, so all the potential of Battle Mage class will be useless. In other words: Either marksman and Battle Mage or light warrior and Wizard.
Our priority here is the Willpower ability, which increases Energy, its Regeneration Rate and also increases Resistance to Cold. This part is relatively clear, but choosing the second ability may be a bit difficult. As Insectoid, we have a slight bonus in Strength, but choosing a profession connected to using magic automatically blocks the Damage statistic, which is responsible for physical damage. Because of that, investing only in Maximum Load and Resistance to Fire doesn't make much sense. A much better idea - especially in the case of Battle Mage, who stands in the first line - will be Vitality, which increases our Health bar.
Only four of all the Traits available are suitable for a mage type character.
Aura adds 20 points in Energy.
Strong Mind adds 2 points in Willpower.
There are also two special Traits available only for Insectoid.
Chitin Armor adds 10 points in Protection.
Quick reduces the cooldown between all the actions by 10%.
In such case, the choice is very easy. Both Traits are of medium use to the mage specialization, so we will focus on Aura and Strong Mind, which influence the amount of Energy, its Regeneration Rate and also Resistance to Cold. On the other side, when choosing a Battle Mage, you can also consider Chitin Armor, which will connect nicely to the natural bonus of this profession (together 20 points in this statistic).
There's not much sense in going crazy with the amount of skills that we want to develop and distributing points everywhere. The best thing to do is to choose two skills that we want to master (achieve level five) and after doing so, consider developing and additional skill.
When talking about Wizard and Battle Mage, the skills to consider would be the following
Concentration increases Energy by 20 points per skill level. On level three, Energy Regeneration Rate when resting increases by 25%.
Fire Magic increases damage connected to Fire Element by 20% per skill level. On level five, Resistance to Fire is increased by 50 points.
Air Magic increases damage connected to Shock Element by 20% per skill level. On level five, Resistance to Shock is increased by 50 points.
Earth Magic increases damage connected to Poison Element by 20% per skill level. On level five, Resistance to Poison is increased by 50 points.
Water Magic increases damage connected to Cold Element by 20% per skill level. On level five, Resistance to Cold is increased by 50 points.
The first one of this skills is a must for a mage type hero, but from the rest of them, you should choose only one and focus on developing it. Limiting our character's specialization to only one type of damage doesn't mean that he becomes useless when fighting some types of enemies. All spells in the game, no matter of the type of damage, deal damage to the enemies, but some spells may do more harm and some less, because of individual resistances of particular units. When choosing such strategy, the spells that belong to our specialization will become stronger with every level and we will receive additional points in the resistance statistic connected to the element. Of course, it doesn't mean that we won't have the opportunity to be more universal and invest in some other element, to increase our chances when fighting certain types of enemies. As a third skill, Battle Mage can choose for example Armor, which increases his protection from physical damage.
Armor increases Protection value of all the armor type pieces of equipment by 5% per skill level. On level two, the hero can wear Light Armor without any movement penalties and on level four, heavy armor analogically.
If we fear, that our Battle Mage won't do well when fighting stronger enemies (because of low Protection), we can develop this skill a bit earlier (introduce it before mastering the two previous ones).
Engineer - a hero for special tasks.The last team member that we propose here is a character which we will call and engineer. It should be a hero specializes in certain fields that would be considered as wasting points in the case of warrior, assassin and mage. A perfect solution would be to create an alchemist who will produce potions for the whole team and equipping him with an ability to properly use Firearms.
As for this moment, we haven't used only one Race - Ratling (not including Human, which was explained at the beginning of this chapter). When creating this type of hero, we will take advantage of its potential. Natural bonus (+2) in Dexterity and Maximum Load increased by 15kg make this race very accurate and able to carry a lot of equipment without risking movement penalties. Moreover, it has 2 extra points in Evasion and is completely immune to Sicknesses.
Only one class available in the game is suitable for the engineer type, which because of its characteristics, influences two the most desirable skills - Firearms and Alchemy.
Alchemist is a specialization, which because of its mediocre Health (50, +6 per level) and Energy value (50, +4 per level) has a big influence on two particular skills - Alchemy (automatically increasing the number of herbs gathered in the equipment - the amount depends on the level of the Alchemy skill) and Firearms (50% chance that the shot will not be a misfire).
To be honest, there's not much to think about. There is however one more class named Farmer (which we haven't used in any of the builds), but it's rather only a joke, as it doesn't really represent any particular skills that would be of use to us. Because of that, Alchemist will be our natural choice.
Our main ability is Dexterity, mainly because it is responsible for the accuracy of our shots. The second important ability is Strength, which will increase the damage dealt and also our Maximum Load. Keeping in mind the convention of this character (the fact that he will carry a lot of things like potions, bombs or firearms), without such bonuses, we will encounter a lot of complications on the way. We should of course remember that our race has a natural penalty in this ability (-4 points), but investing in any other ability will have no influence on the usefulness of the hero in combat. When standing in the second line, Health will be of not much value, just like Energy, which is more important to magic using classes.
There are four Traits that suit the engineer type:
Agile adds 2 points in Dexterity.
Aggressive adds 4 points in Damage.
Muscular adds 2 points in Strength.
There is also one Trait available only for Ratling:
Mutation when advancing onto higher level of experience, random attribute gets +1 points.
In the case of this race, this profession and this style of playing, we don't get much variety of choice. We could try to look for additional Traits, for example choosing those that influence Resistance values - which is not recommended - but the Traits mentioned above will work just fine. Agile will increase the accuracy of our attacks (and avoiding enemy attacks us well) and Mutation gives us a large chance (25%) on getting a bonus in one of the abilities that we try to develop. It is a lottery, but you can always count on some luck. Choosing Aggressive and Muscular might have some sense, when we want to make up for our race's natural penalties, but the first set up seems the most rational.
There's not much sense in going crazy with the amount of skills that we want to develop and distributing points everywhere. The best thing to do is to choose two skills that we want to master (achieve level five) and after doing so, consider developing and additional skill.
In the case of Alchemist class, the following Skills will work best:
Alchemy allows you to create better quality potions, to make which you will need a mortar. On level four, the potions you make have stronger healing or Energy restoring power and on level five, constructing a bomb gives you three such weapons.
Firearms increases the range of your Firearms by one field and also reduces the chance of misfiring. On level five, the chance of misfiring is reduced to zero.
Both of the Skills described above are connected to playing an engineer-type character and to crafting various items for your team members, as well as for yourself. The first one provides a solid amount of healing and Energy restoration to the companions in need and over time, it grants you a very powerful weapon - bombs. The second one focuses only on successfully using Firearms, which are a perfect alternative for traditional swords and arrows. A good idea for the third skill would be Accuracy.
Accuracy increases the statistic of the same name by 10 points per skill level. On level two, it allows the hero to perform physical attacks (direct attacks with melee weapons) from the second line.
Even this hard shell won't protect you.The first enemy that we encounter in the game is a giant tortoise, which is not that strong, despite his thick armor. It uses charge as basic attack, which an easily be avoided. What's interesting, it's as vulnerable to steel and spells as it its to rocks.
A lively little guy.Next, we come to face a goblin, who likes to jump and will want to hurt us with his horseman's pick. You should be very careful when fighting this enemy, as he has an attack which consists in leaping forward and deals a lot of damage. To avoid such tricks, you should keep the opponent on distance and shoot arrows or throw rocks, or you can also try to perform dodges and circle the goblin to attack him from the side (you will gain some time, as diagonal attacks are not possible Ina any situation).
Some bandages and a pile of old bones.The third enemy that we encounter, this time in the dungeons is Mummy. It moves and attacks very slowly, moreover, it's extremely vulnerable to Fire. Mages skilled in using this element will own this fight.
The very first boss.Your first boss will be a bloodthirsty root, and to have even more fun, two of them. Fighting them both at once must be done with a caution and mobility. Never stand on the same square for more than couple of seconds. The roots notoriously grow into the ground and appear right by our side. Never put yourself in a position with a wall behind you, as your enemies will surely cease this opportunity, blocking your ways of escaping. These plants are really prone to a fire. The mages, will have a lot to do here.
Has anyone got a light?In the forest you will surely encounter an ent, after trying to clear the way from the bushes or finding any rare treasures. Prone to fire, and any fire based spells as it is a creature made of wood.
Tough enemy.In the dungeon you may encounter a powerful skeleton in a full armor. He will be using a sword and a shield which will make him a tough opponent. Our basic attacks are of little use for him and as if it wasn't enough, his counter attacks are really powerful. Fortunately he is prone to the air element.
Wild animal.In the forest some badgers can be found. It is not quite clear what those creatures exactly are. A badger comes to mind while thinking of it, but some may be considering him for some kind of a marten or a mutated wolf. They usually appear in pairs or even groups. It is recommendable to use earth element on them.
You thief!One of the first tougher enemies is a rat, or his mutated, humanoid version to be precise. They wield knives which they will throw in your direction. On a close distance they might inundate you with numerous hits. Sometimes, instead of knives, they will be equipped in a pistol
A little rascal.The second boss - as I will call this enemy - will be a small halfling who instead of fighting you by himself, will be running away and summoning turtles. Though not that dangerous, he will throw a lot of projectiles in your direction.
You cannot escape it.Coming to a river or a swamp area you will be encountering a monster conventionally named raptor. It is a hideous beast attacking you from the air, not caring about any terrain obstacles. It is good to keep him at a distance as he is very fast, you could even call that a spamming. His attacks cause a great damage in a very short time.
Pile of rocks.In the later game you will be dealing with stone golems, durable for the most of the elemental attacks. They are fully resistant to any ice or water spells. Dangerous in groups as they are very tough and quite big damage.
Creepy.Wandering around the cemetery sooner or later you will be approached by a zombie. They can be called cemetery ghouls, they are very mobile and fast. They have no weak spots unfortunately.
I've never seen that before.A rather peculiar enemy are definitely flying leaves. Their power can be explained with a presence of nature elemental. They can be hurt only with a water connected spells. Stones or swords won't do anything in this situation.
Irritating and disgusting.Swamps are filled with swarms of mosquitos, which are fortunately not much of a danger. Very prone to a fire damage. Kill it with fire!
Ribbit ribbit!The swamps are also friendly for the existence of the toads. They can jump and land right behind you, so be careful. They are prone to air damage.
It surely is a toadstool.Under the swamps poisonous mushrooms await us. These walking fungi apart from the basic attacks can also poison our party members. These enemies will also release a dense smoke which will limit our view.
Be careful with those.The same location has also got some chests around. After opening them they will attack you with their sharp teeth. Not much of a danger, but opening chests may be from now on a bit tense.
Eh, puny enemy.Accompanied by the mushrooms there should be some shrubberies which will cause you no harm whatsoever. They will throw some slime on you which does not give you any disadvantages.
Milimtres.In the late game you will surely come across a very dangerous ice elemental. He uses powerful ice spells against your party. He throws ice projectiles and creates paths with sharp icy spikes. These elementals are also very prone to a fire.
Hate them bugs.Dungeons hide in the darkness lots of hideous monsters. For example flying insects, not really prone to any element for some reason.
Help!To the same family you can definitely add a monstrous spider. As well as the insect, he is not really prone to any of the element.
Good team.Another opponent, similar to the earlier mentioned skeleton, is a skeleton archer. Usually appear in a bigger group. Durable to air, in the contrary to a basic skeleton.
Are you two related?A cousin to the raptor. A thunderbird will not only attack you on a close distance with its wings, but it will also cast powerful spells connected with air and lightning.
Dr. Oetker?Very insistent enemy, a poisonous jelly, which will notoriously poison our party. This poisoning can be of course leveled with a special potion or leveling up our resistance to it.
Big goon.One of the toughest enemies is definitely an enormous ogre. It can deal ridiculous amount of damage or ram our party. Keep it at a long distance.
Different locations, different species.Whilst exploring the mines you may encounter a different species of a spider, of which attacks are poisonous. They're coming out numerously from the cocoons in the shafts. Destroy these cocoons, not to be surprised by any of those, on your way back.
Group Attack.The closed mines are also filled with super effective and irritating amoebas, which use many skills and always attack in groups. They create a very dense smoke to make you immobile, others will grab one of your party member to unable him doing anything. You cannot make any mistake while confronting them. Don't let them surround you as then, it will be nearly impossible to escape. So once again, be mobile.
Egyptian style.Searching the pyramid, you will surely by approached by a snake. They don't differ much from other enemies and there is really not much to describe in their case.
Deadly look.One of the last enemies is a medusa, who apart from a rather impressive bow, has an ability to petrify your party members. The victim can be healed from that curse, with a crystal of life.
Here it comes!After teleporting into a desert, you will be fighting not only the mummies, but also two fire golems, a very powerful creatures with various kinds of attacks. They spit fireballs and create fire waves after punching the ground. At a closer distance they hit with their fists, also causing quite a damage. They have no weak spots. Just fight them until they die and watch out for yourself at the same time.
Right away game throws you on a beach full of shipwrecks. First, you will need to get out of a cage (1). Pick up the stick and destroy the lock to free yourself. Immediately go to your left and head deeply into the island. Enemies that you will encounter will consist of turtles, and water-humanoid monsters. Remember about retrieving the meat from defeated turtles as well as their eggs from the beach. Remember, loot will not appear automatically in your equipment, you need to pick it up by yourself. In order to enter the nearby forest (10) you will need to acquire the stone Horn of Summoning which is located in the cave in the beach (8.1). Then, use it in a circle (9). To get to the dungeons you will need to find a rapier (7.2), which you will have to later put into the hands of a characteristic statue.
Those will be the first dungeons you will encounter. Enemies you will find inside will be mummies - not quite mobile and easy to attack and retreat, so they can't reach you with a counter attack. You may find inside some riddles which will lead you to the horn (3). This, mentioned earlier, item should be used later on in the stone circle on the Shipwreck Beach. Be careful though, because after blowing the horn, some powerful enemies will attack you. Be sure that you have some healing potions close at hand.
This is the second opened, after the Shipwreck Beach, location. It has two unique dungeons, one of which is very complex. Entering it, will be irreversible, so in order to leave it you will have to walk through the whole of it. The smallest one should not take much time to complete, but inside, you will find a key for a grid you will need to pass in order to progress. Inside the forest, a temple is located (3). Inside, you can exchange power gems for the elemental essence. To start the process, put the gems on the table so that they will merge together. Also, you may find two buried chests and some items (1, 2, 6, 7). Enemies you may encounter are mainly worgens (they're dropping meat) and smaller ents. They appear when you are destroying the shrubbery, so be careful with that.
First of the two dungeons you will enter in the Twigroot Forest. To enter it you will need to open the grid gate with a key which is placed in the chest in the forest (3). Don't miss the secret (4) located in the hall behind the chest. After dealing with it, turn to your right and investigate the walls, you should find there a button which opens the adjoining room.
The second dungeon in the forest. Much more complex with many monsters inside of it. You will encounter there mummies, ratlings, skeletons, turtles, worgens and the Leprechaun (8.1). It can happen, that there will be too many of the enemies, so it is recommended to retreat under the Crystal of Life after killing couple of them, and use it if you are low on health. This way you will be able to heal all your party members at once. Watch out for the holes in the ground, there may be some interesting items lying down there, but at the same time, you will be approached by a bunch of enemies at once. Remember to collect every torch from the wall, as the maze is long and no one would like to explore it in a darkness, especially having so many enemies around. There are two power gems located inside the tunnel.
Forgotten River is a location on the east of the Twigroot Forest. It separates the forest from the castle with a river. In order to enter the castle you will have to place four elemental essences (made of four Power Gems each) on the four pedestals. Between these pedestals you can also use your center rune from your spell book, which will teleport you to the Shrine of Balance, there you will be able to create an essence of balance, but you will need it only after exploration of the castle. Teleport will work only after you place the four other essences on the pedestals. Gems, are located everywhere on the island. Forgotten River is no exception, as you can find one of them in its area. This is the first location in which you are able to walk underwater. Be careful though, there are also enemies to be found and your oxygen supply is limited. Through the river you can also get to the adjoining location on the north and south.
Forgotten River has three dungeons named: "The Hub", "The Cache" and the "Shrine of Balance". The first one is a place in which you will be able to unlock four teleports, each to four locations of the island. If you went there just after you've exit the forest, a portal to the beach should be already unlocked. Others you may open while journeying, and to some you will need the keys.
Second one, The Cache, is a storage room filled with ratlings equipped with firearms. After passing these dungeons you should find a golden key lying on the ground, which will open one of the four smaller storage rooms (unless you have more golden keys). Items you will find inside are put there in a special manner. In each of these four rooms you will be able to find equipment that either fits only to one class or it is universal. There are items for the: mage (6), rogue (5), warrior (7) and universal items (a rope and a bracelet) (8), so think it through which door do you want to open.
The last interesting location in the Forgotten River area is the Shrine of Balance. Its function is the same as the function of every other temple. Place there four Power Gems to create an essence. In order to enter inside, stand between the pedestals in front of the Nex Castle and use the center rune from you spell to teleport. This will work only if there is an essence on each of the pedestals.
Keelbreach Bog are swamps located on the south of the Twigroot River. Two types of the enemies can be found there. First one are the big mosquitos, very fast but easy to kill with a fire spell. The second one are the giant toads, tough, with ability to jump on your team and eating its weapon. Especially, the latter can be difficult to kill on the beginning. So remember to fight one of them at a time and to pick up the weapon after defeating them. In the Keelbreach Bog you can also find the Shrine of Earth (2) inside of which you will be able to change your Power Gems into an essence of earth. There are also dungeons in which you may encounter the mimic for the first time. There is also a challenge boss fight. When talking about the Keelbreach Bog you need to remember that this location is divided on two areas which are separated with water. Additionally, to one of the "island" you can get only with a teleport (5.1).
This is a dungeon that you will have to approach from the Keelbreach Bog's swamp side. You may encounter big moving mushrooms, quite durable and letting out smaller equivalents of them (attacking your whole party from a distance, but easy to kill). They are also releasing the cloud of poisonous gas in front of them. Watch out for the one particular chest (1.1), as it is the Mimic (a monster disguising as a chest) who drops a key which you can later use in order to open the chamber with a crystal of life which surely may come handy later on. Further on, there is another chamber (3) which may present quite a challenge. After entering it, the doors behind you will be locked shut until you will defeat every totem (big plants) inside. It is pointless to engaging a fight with any enemy as you will surely be outnumbered and pinned to a corner. Adding to that a poisonous cloud, you will be dead sooner than you will be able to kill them. Be mobile and focus on destroying every totem and then rush to the doors, luring the enemies behind you to a tunnel. Attack them while retreating and help yourself with the crystal of life if necessary. In the big hall you will find a key to the portal and a Power Gem.
Sleet Island is located to the north of the Forgotten River. It is separated on two areas: The first one consist of the grounds surrounding an island (on which there are couple of riddles prepared) and the island itself. In order to get there, wait until night and stand in a particular spot (5). While solving a riddle with a pressure plate (3.1) you can go from a one secret to another, but it is easy to miss it. There is a Temple of Water on the island. Inside, you can exchange four power gems for an essence of water (6). On the island, you can also find a small, underwater dungeon and on the north an entrance into a big pyramid is located. In order to pass it though, you will need to have the Serpent Staff and use its ability by the doors. The Staff can be found in the Herder's Den. It is also recommended to stay under water for some time in order to catch some fish, as in the following locations you may be having some problems with the food.
Flooded Dungeon are the dungeon located underwater on the Sleet Island. You should be passing them as soon as you can as your oxygen supply is limited and there are only two spots where you can refill it. Two secrets are located inside. First of them you can find after pushing a button on the wall underwater (2). The latter is a room with couple of safes (3.1). Keys to them are lying underwater. Remember though, a key can be used only once, so reconsider which safe do you want to open. Also, watch out for two zarchtons patrolling the area because without a harpoon, you can't fight underwater. Although these enemies aren't that strong, they can still pin you down to a wall.
Cemetery is a location to the east of the Sleet Island to There are only ghouls wandering around but they are very strong and tough. It is good to attack them and immediately move away, because they tend to hit many times per attack which in result is very harmful. Dig up the graves, but watch out for the potential enemies hidden inside. It can happen that, after entering an area from a dungeon, you will be approached by a bunch of enemies and fighting them all at once may be difficult. In order to enter the bigger part of the Cemetery, you will have to solve a riddle with a gravity stone (2). Inside you will find an entrance into a big, two floored dungeon, at the end of which a boss fight awaits you. Be sure you have some food with yourself as through the three following locations, you won't be finding much of it. Watch out for a mimic (1) and be careful not to miss a power gem which is an award for solving the riddle.
It is the first floor of the Cemetery dungeon and it is pretty big. The floor itself can be divided onto two wings. Firstly, leave the door in front of you (5) and go penetrate the right wing. You will find there a crystal of life and some other, useful stuff e.g. a powerful axe (3.3). Enemies you will be encountering here, are ghouls, skeleton warriors and archers, stone golems and one-eyed wraiths who can paralyze you and fight on a distance. Considering the ability of paralyzing, the last mentioned enemy may be considered as the worst. Although it may prolong the fight, try to dodge every attack. Eventually you will approach a hall with a boss (7). It won't be the only encounter with him, you will meet him again on a lower floor. The boss himself is easy to defeat, but he has an ability of summoning ghouls. It is worthless to engaging yourself in a fight with them, as after defeating the first, another appear. Next passage will be blocked by the ghoul pit (11.1), where about ten enemies await you. The best way would be to draw them one by one. In order to do that, jump down, open a portal to the top and keep luring them on the highest floor. It may take some time, but it will be much easier as well.
The second floor of the cemetery, where your task will be collecting three keys from three different areas. You will encounter there a Halfling who will be throwing fire grenades at you (5.3). Types of enemies won't change until the last floor, although there will be more of them. One key you can find in the laboratory (2.2), another in the sanctuary (4.2), and the last in the mausoleum (5.2). You will also need to prepare yourself before opening the third lock, as earlier mentioned boss appears right there (6). It is the best to attack him right away, because you will be able to hurt him even before the summoning, if you will hit him quickly enough, he won't be able to do anything at all except for countering your attacks. Have some potions with yourself and everything should be just fine. When you are done take a power gem from adjoining room and exit on the surface via portal (1).
Ruins of Desaure is a location you can enter directly from the Sleet Island. In this area you will have to find two iron keys (10.1) (12.3), which will help you get on the lower level. You will encounter some new enemies here, as a green slime, it may poison you, what will stop health regeneration. A ranged-attacking ice elemental and skeletons. There are some ways by which you will be able to enter the Archives, but this level of ruins is needed only for solving a riddle. It is worth jumping down the hole in the room with the skeletons, because you will find yourself in the special area of the Archives. After putting the keys in the right spots, a passage will be opened and you will gain an access to a Power Gem.
Archives are the underground level of Ruins of Desaure. You can get there through a variety of ways, but the location itself is divided on three parts. The upper one is available only by jumping down the whole while fighting with the skeletons for an iron key. The right one opens itself only via riddle with a monster trapped in a corridor. The left one opens after using both iron keys and pulling levers. This part lets you collect some notes and reveals a secret after solving, located there, puzzle (8). Through here, you can also get to the Sewers or to the Lexiconary.
Lexiconary is the lowest level of the Ruins of Desaure. The whole location is basically about scrutinizing every corner in order to find four figurines which will give you an access to a Power Gem. Those artifacts are: Ogre Figurine (4.1), Skeleton Figurine (9.5), Snail Figurine (11.2), Crowern Figurine (5.2). You may accidentally find yourself in a room full of mimics, who will attack you right away. Defeat them and pick up a key lying down on the ground - use it to leave the room. The hardest riddle though, will be the one that rewards you with a Snail Figurine (11.2). You will have to walk on the special paths in the air, having a magical bridge under your feet. Any mistake ends with the fall. There is a line on the map that shows you how to beat it.
Hamlet of Stormbreach is located below the Sewers. Apart from a new type of enemy (ogres) it is rather easy to explore. You can also find there turtles or worgens, which will drop food after they die. Be careful though for the charge attacks can be rather devastating for your party. You can also find here a temple of air (3), available to enter through one of the sewer exits. You can also find here the door to the Crystal Mines (8), but in order to open them, you will have to solve the riddle based on walking through special plates. The most frustrating can be solving the riddle (7.1) in which you have to pull four levers, in order to get to a chest. Sequence for that is: Forward, forward, left, lever, backward, right, forward, left, forward, lever, forward, right, key (for the shortcut in the Sewers), right, right, backward, right, lever, forward, left, backward, right, forward, left, backward, backward, backward, left, left, forward, right, right, backward, right, forward, lever, left, left, forward, right, forward. After this sequence of moves, you should find yourself by the chest. There is also a power gem in this location to pick up. To get it, you will have to solve the puzzle (2.1) with spikes and, again, levers.
Sewers are the undergrounds of the Hamlet of Stormbreach. All you are going to do there is killing a bunch enemies, solving some riddles and encountering two bosses. Be careful while picking up items, because after picking up the shield (6), a familiar leprechaun will appear behind your back, again, throwing grenades at you and won't letting you leave the room until you kill him. Be mobile and dodge his projectiles, also try to be patient, because your opponent will be tougher from second to second. In the sewers there is also another boss, a big rat with a cannon to be precise. After entering the chamber (1.1) the doors behind you will close and he will appear, with couple of smaller rats by his side. The smaller ones don't present much of a problem except for making it difficult to move around. The big one can be killed in one of two ways. The first one: simply stand in a corner and kill the bodyguards first, and the boss later, using the Frost Bombs. The second one: More agile, but it rids you from the experience points. After entering the chamber simply rush for a key in order to leave, then lure the rat outside, after you do that, search for the ladder to the higher floor, climb on it and jump on the top of a rat. He will die, but you won't be getting any experience points. There is also a power gem in this location to pick up. To get it, you will have to solve the puzzle (2.1) with spikes and levers.
Crystal Mine Entrance is the main floor of the mines that you can enter through the Hamlet of Stormbreach. You will encounter spiders and mysterious wrath for the first time. The wraths can blind you for a while. They are rather rare in this location, but the spiders are much more common and they are often respawning. Tanks may be useful, as the spiders may not deal much of a damage, but they can poison your team. In addition you are limited to move, as you may fall to the lower level where even more spiders will approach you. There is a Power Gem around, but you will get to the lower level and then return to the area in front of the entrance. By one of the bridge (9) it is good to use a rope in order to get to a secret on a lower floor which is not marked by any hint. Look around to find some anti-venoms around.
Crystal Mine Core is the second floor of the mines, coming out from Crystal Mine Entrance. You will encounter here some spiders and wraths, which will blind you, but there will be more of the latter this time. In order to start solving this floors riddles, you will have to press a pressure plate (1.3) from the ledge (1.2) which will open you a passage to a key (1.5) which then unlocks a route to another area. Remember to press a button on one of the bars (2.1.) as it unlocks a route to a secret room. Also, whilst solving a riddle with trapdoors (3.2) remember to jump inside, because there is another secret located. The same riddle delivers one more. Press another button (5.1) which moves the wall (5.2) nearby. This level is divided on two areas from which the right one is available only by jumping in the particular holes in the location above (a black and white square).
Crystal Mine Abyss is the third floor of the mines with its entrance coming from the Crystal Mine via rope or falling into any chasm. There is a use for a meteorite (can be found on the Sleet Island (4)). You have to place it on a pedestal (1), and it will reveal a secret, changing the meteorite into Meteor Hammer, a nice equivalent of the Bane (an axe from Wormbound Dungeon (3.3)). This level is divided into two areas, from which the right one needs a key to enter it (3.2), which you can acquire by solving a simple riddle (3.1) with a shock spell. After unlocking the right part, you will be able to find there a power gem. Of course there are hordes of spiders around, but you can always treat yourself with a crystal of life, located on the south edge of the map.
Pyramid of Umas lies to the north of the Sleet Islands. In order to get inside you will need to traverse the swamps located on south. After that, go into the Herder's Den - the undergrounds and find the Serpent Staff, which is a reward for solving a riddle with the magic runes and pressure plates. Having the item, approach the door and use one of the staff's ability. The door will open and you will be able to pass through them. On the first floor you will encounter a big snake with an ability to poison your party. These snakes leave the tails after defeating them, you can feed yourself with them. This level is based on finding two keys (3.7) (7) which open adjoining chambers. To unlock the higher floor you will have to solve a riddle (8). A part of the room is locked (10.1) (11.1) but you will be able to enter it later, whilst being in the Tomb of Rites, via hole. In one of the secrets (6) you will find the Mirror Gauntlets. Take them to unlock the secrets on a higher level.
Sewers are placed under the previously mentioned rooms and you can get there by jumping through the various opened trapdoors in the Pyramid of Umas. There are some items to be retrieved and some secrets to be found (1), (2.2), (3.2) and (4.3). Check every trapdoor before you close them, not to miss any of the secrets. There are some enemies around, of course, like big snakes and levitating medusas, who shoot a bow and are able to turn you into a stone. The latter skill can be avoided as the medusas hiss before doing it. When you hear it, just simply get out of their field of view.
Tomb of Rites is the last level above the Pyramids. It is a bit smaller from the previous one, but by jumping through the holes you can get to the lower level (Pyramids map). You can access the closed areas there. You will encounter the same types of enemies as they were on the lower level. There will be simply more of them. Your quest will be finding two Tomb Keys (2.3) and (5.5), which will be needed later, on the upper floor. You can put Mirror Gauntlets here, on one of the sarcophagus. (3.1) to open a passage to the secret with a piece of pie which is the only item that fully replenishes your need for eating.
A small location on the very top of the Pyramids. It is made of one big chamber, and couple of smaller ones, packed with some items. In the main room you can find a big torso with two pins for the keys (1). Both can be found on the lower floor in the Tomb of Rites. After putting the keys in the locks, on the center of the room, a portal will appear. It will lead you to a desert, be careful for the zombies that will come through this portal. Check every room and rest a bit, before you will go through the teleporter.
Barren Desert is a location available only from the point of the Ceremonial Chamber of the Pyramids. Right away after entering the desert, you will see an area filled with zombies. There will be dozens of them, which may cause some problems if your party is on lower levels. Two, huge magma golems will be walking around too. It is best to lure them individually. There is also a relic (2) there, which is a reference to the first Legend of Grimrock game. You can't do anything with it except for digging it out. There are also eleven buried chests and a crystal of life. After coming back to this location (later on) you may find some wolves, they may help you with refilling your food supply.
Castle Next is placed on the east of the Forgotten River. In order to enter it, you will first need to have sixteen power gems, which can be found all around the game. Then you will have to create four essences: of fire, water, earth and air in the special temples (also located in various places). These are the places of some sort, where you will have to put the essences on the pedestals, to make the door open. After entering the room you will find two secret and a compass, which you will need to complete a quest in the Twisted Passage. One of the secrets is especially difficult, you will have to be very swift and agile whilst jumping over the area. After pressing an underwater pressure plate (1.1), you will have only couple of seconds to enter the chamber with a secret (1.2). It would be best to memorize the route, not to encounter a wall. Don't enter the square frontally, but from the left side. Otherwise you may be too slow.
Library is the first room in the Castle. It is not big, but there are also no enemies inside. There are some items here. A riddle in (1) is about opening the crates to the next area. To do it, you will have to repeat the sequence of pulling the levers three times, each time pressing the button at the end of everyone. After doing that, put every lever on its starting position before pulling it again. In this location you can find the notes on that combination. The sequence is:
First: Lever in front down, button.
Second: Right lever down, button.
Third: Both the lever in front and the right lever down, button.
Twisted Passage is the second floor of the Castle Nex. Here, again, you will have to solve a riddle in order to get to the next floor. Simply stand on the squares where there are no invisible portals, teleporting you to the very beginning. To see where they are not, equip the compass you have acquired earlier on in the game (first floor of the Castle (1)). After stepping on each square, the compass will show you were not to turn. You can also use a map, which will show you one of the ways to an end. It may not work every time, as every time you enter, the portals change and it may take a while before they eventually put themselves in order shown on map. There is a crystal of life and a bag with food at the end.
Test Chamber is placed on the third floor of the Castle. Firstly, you will have to open the crates on the north side of the map (1.5). It is rather easy, you only need to know where the first pressure plate is. On the first floor, find the area where you can't go any further because of the crates. Then, take any of your items and drop it behind the crates to make the magical crate disappear. After that, jump to the lower level and put another item on the crate to open the door. You will find a riddle inside. There will be nine plates with portals changing the directions. Pressing each plate causes turning the portal on. You will have to place items on it in a particular way (yellow squares 1-4 and, after releasing a projectile, red 1) which will make the projectile go around through the portals (the map shows the solution). In the end you will have to remove one item (yellow 1) in order to release a beam which will go through the hole, enabling you a further passage. Be careful, so that the beam won't hit you and to stand by the door which this beam opens.
Void is last but one floor of the Castle. You will encounter here more of the enemies such as the slimes, spiders or the suicide fire elementals who appear only after pressing particular buttons. The quest is rather simple. Go on the ladder to the higher floor of levitating catwalks and press a blue button on the wall (1.2). This will cause a little bridge to appear. Go higher through it, on the third floor. Stand in the spot (1.4) and from here, jump down. By doing that, you will gain access to the next button (1.5) which opens a big bridge over your head. It will lead you to the roof of the Castle. To get on the bridge, simply climb to the very top of the ladder. Prepare yourself before going up, heal yourself with a crystal of life, as on the roof, a boss awaits you.
The Dragon fight leads to a one of the two possible endings.Castle Roof is the highest floor of the Castle Nex and it resembles an arena (1). An arena on which you will fight the Island Master who will be mounting a big dragon. The dragon won't be breathing fire, but an ice instead (in a form of a range attack). Having enough of health potions, the dragon should not present much of a problem. He will, from time to time, cover himself with a special shield, summoning some smaller enemies at the same time. If you have explored most of the island, none of them should be anything new. That is, maybe except for a giant medusa, and fire elementals. The first drops a healing stone after her death. The latter will be throwing fireballs at you. There will also be two magma golems, but if you will wait enough amount of time, the dragon himself will come into a fight and he will trample them by coming onto the same square on which they are standing.
This battle is not very difficult, but it requires patience and mobility. Especially that you've collected a lot of Potions of Resurrection before.
A very important thing to know is that you shouldn't approach the boss when he activates the barrier around himself. You will not get through, but you will get hit.
When beginning the fight, hit the Dragon a few times and the boss will activate the barrier, summoning a lot of minions. He won't be moving and will attack you only after you kill them all. Hit him a few times and the barrier will appear once again - and so it goes. However, in later phases, the boss will no longer be that passive. When the last wave of minions appears, you should focus only on finishing the Dragon.
Keep in mind that the barrier stops working when there are a few minions left. Thus, during wave number four, it is good to kill all the Fire Elementals and wait until the boss destroys the Magma Golems himself (a minion ceases to exist when it comes in contact with the boss).
Waves of minions:
1. Ghouls - the Dragon is passive.
2. rats and wolves - the Dragon is passive.
3. Snakes, Alpha Medusa (drops: Crystal Shard of Healing) - the Dragon is passive.
4. Fire Elementals and two Magma Golems - the Dragon is passive.
5. Mosquitos - the Dragon attacks (no barrier).
6. Mimicks - the Dragon attacks (no barrier).
After defeating the boss, you will acquire the last Power Gem and having four of them you may try to get to the second, harder ending in the Castle Nex.
Essence of balance can be created in a temple in front of the castle.Trickster's Lair is a location that unlocks itself after defeating the boss from the Nex castle (Castle Roff) and getting the Essence of Balance (from the shrine of Balance - entrance in front of Castle Nex's gate). Completing these conditions will allow you to enter The Hub and then passing through the open gate into the very last location in the game. Inside, simply put your essence on a pedestal (1), and wait for the Trickster to appear. Defeating him will turn him into the Island Master. This is the part when the real fight starts. The Master will be very mobile and he will clone himself without any limit, so you can find yourself in a situation in which eight Masters will be attacking you. They will often change each other their locations so you won't know anymore, which is the real one. The real boss though, is the only one who has the health bar above his head. He also, usually, take the entire damage on himself.
The battle with the dwarf Trickster is similar to the previous ones (he will continue to throw bombs, use traps). It is quite easy, because Trickster doesn't use any powerful skills and doesn't have much hp.
The real trouble starts after you kill him - he turns into the Island Master, but far stronger than the version on the roof.
The most dangerous of his skills is cloning himself. The clones have little hp, but they use spells same as the original. Moreover, they also use the teleport skill (once every few seconds). You cannot let the boss clone himself too many times and you should try to always keep track of the original.
A good solution here is to use a weapon such as Bane (map: Wormbound Dungeon 3.3) or Scyche, which when used correctly, deal a huge amount of damage. However, you have to wait until the enemy has no barrier (you can recognize the original by the fact that he often reflects damage). You can use weaker attacks to check if the barrier is active and when an attack deals full damage, use the stronger weapon. Try to finish this fight as fast as you can, because the more clones, the harder the battle.
After defeating the boss you will receive the key to the second ending (map: Castle Nex 2), Vizard Virage and Testimony.
Legend of Grimrock II system requirements are quite high. This game guide was created using a PC with Intel DualCore i5-660,4GB RAM,ATi Radeon HD 5850. This configuration is similar to the specification described in the "recommended requirements", which means that the game was running fluently on the highest graphic options possible.
Singleplayer: Yes
Offline cooperation (split screen/hot seat):No
Online cooperation: No
Multiplayer: No
The game guide was created using a PC with the following configuration:
OS:Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor:Intel DualCore i5-660
RAM:4GB RAM
Graphics card:ATi Radeon HD 5850
Graphics card memory:1 GB
On this configuration, the game was running fluently on the highest graphic set up. There was no efficiency falls or fluency problems from no reason.
OS:Windows XP,Windows Vista,Windows 7,Windows 8
Internet connection when playing required:Not required
Internet activation required: No
Controllers: Keyboard and mouse
Achievements:Yes
OS:Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8
Processor:Dual Core 2.33 GHz Intel or 3.0 GHz AMD
RAM:2 GB
Graphics card:Geforce GTX 8800, AMD Radeon 4850 or Intel HD Graphics 5200 or higher with at least 1GB memory and Shader Model 3.0. Minimal resolution is: 1280x720 and 1024x768 pixels
Graphics card memory:1 GB
OS:Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8
Processor:Quad Core 2.66 Ghz Intel or 3.2 GHz AMD
RAM:4 GB
Graphics card:Geforce GTX 660 Ti or AMD Radeon 6850 or higher with at least 1GB memory and Shader Model 3.0. Minimal resolution is: 1280x720 and 1024x768 pixels
Graphics card memory:1 GB
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