About to play DM for first time since 88 - will need advice

[lord soth 75]

Hi all.

One of my greatest memories as a child was playing a pirate copy of Dungeon Master on Atari St.
I think it would have been around 1988 when i was 12 years old.

I have joined this site because i have recently downloaded Dungeon Master onto my laptop,and am going to try to beat the game that i never got around to completing back in 88.

Back in 88 i can vividly remember getting stuck on the game in the deeper levels of the dungeon,and because it was a time before easy access to walkthroughs on the internet,i let the game defeat me,and i moved onto playing games on a NEC PC Engine Turbografix console.

Im beginning my quest to defeat this game tomorrow night,and will probably be requesting help and advice from you seasoned veterans of the game from time to time.

For my first question though.

1.What are the ideal 4 characters to take with me on this adventure?

2.What are the spells that i need to be learning with my magic users during the early stages of the dungeon?

Thanks in advance.
And,im really looking forward to playing this game again.

[Ameena]

Well, first off, hi and welcome to the forum . Don't worry about asking for help or anything - you're far from being the first DM fan to discover this little corner of the Internet two decades after your last play-through of the game . I'm guessing from the username that you're a DragonLance fan?
Now, to answer your questions...

1 - I wouldn't say any characters are "ideal". That is, they're as good as you make them (especially if you reincarnate and so stat the skill-gaining from scratch). Some are better at some stuff than others (eg Stamm starts off with no mana so can't cast spells at first, and Tiggy can probably be one-shotted by some stuff if you're not careful), but basically you could probably do the game with any character/combinatin of characters. You'd probably just find it harder/easier depending on whom you picked. Anyone who lacks in one skill area can just be trained up, if you've the inclination to do so .

2 - As for spells, you find the "recipies" for spells on scrolls as you go - you can cast any spell fom the start, of course, if you know the runes, but if you don't then you can either look it up on the DM Wiki, ask one of us, or wait till you find the scroll in the dungeon somewhere. Fireball is probably the most popular offensive spell, for example, but you don't get the scroll for that till about halfway through the game. Alternatively, you can just experiment by casting random runes and see if you manage to cast anything (rune descriptions/meanings are explained in the manual, available for download in PDF form from the Wiki if you don't still have the original thing sitting around somewhere ). Getting hold of at least one flask and keeping it equipped in your off-hand (shields are basically about a nanometre away from useless ) is good for conjuring up health potions once you know the recipie for that .

Hopefully those answers have been of some use, and if not then I'm sure someone else will be along to provide a bit more info. We seem to be getting quite a few newcomers lately, all replaying the game for the first time since "back in the day". We like to see how people get on, and it's funny to hear stories of stuff like falling down pits, fireballing yourself in the face, running screaming from a mob before being cornered and killing it with your underpants, and so on .
And when you get done with DM, you have hte wonders of CSB to look forward to, yaaaaay .

[lord soth 75]

Well, first off, hi and welcome to the forum . Don't worry about asking for help or anything - you're far from being the first DM fan to discover this little corner of the Internet two decades after your last play-through of the game . I'm guessing from the username that you're a DragonLance fan?

Thanks Ameena.
Yes,I was reading the Dragonlance chronicles around the same time i was playing Dungeon Master in 88.

I was obsessed with Dungeons and dragons related things,and there was a tv show here in the uk at that time called 'Knightmare',which was really good.

I was playing this game,reading Dragonlance,and watching Knightmare an awful lot.

I always vowed to one day defeat this video game,and so here i am!

Im going to begin my Dungeon Master quest tomorrow evening hopefully.

I'll post my adventure experiences on here (Im playing on an emulation of the Atari ST version)

[Jan]

Hello and welcome, Lord Sith... I mean Lord Soth! We're looking forward to reading your story / experience!

I always play with one character only. But in the times when I used four characters I always picked two fighters for the front line and two wizards for the back line. I'm not saying it's good - it just looked "proper" to me.

The spells I use in the early stages of the dungeon are: torch, fireball, eventually poison cloud; health, stamina, anti-poison; and then some "locally" specific spells that I use in specific places only (like

Spoiler

open door

,

Spoiler

anti-ghost

, etc.). Well, these are actually the only spells I use in the dungeon because I don't bother using anything more complicated. A high-level fireball should basically solve most of your troubles.

[Ameena]

Omg Knightmare was so cool! I loved Smirkenoff, he was brilliant .
When I originally played DM on the ATari (aged around six or so ), the thought never occurred that I could play with anything less than four players - I dunno if it occurred to my dad but he never tried it either. Then, after I joined this forum, I saw people's postings about solo runs, duo runs, etc, so I tried the game with each possible number of people and ended up sticking with two as my preferred party size. I found one person runs out of space/mana too quickly and three is just weird. I mean, it seems a bit "off" having that number of people. But with a duo, you get two melée hits when fighting up close, but can still lob spells, have two flasks at the ready for casting, have double the inventory space of a single character, etc.
I agree on Fireballs working most of the time, Jan, however if the uber powerful death knight guy here is gonna be playing the more "authentic" experience, he won't have access to those till he finds the scroll, unless he works out the formula by trial-and-error/deducing rune meanings from the manual .
But yeah, I tend to use Fireball to blast everything (except those that can't be blasted that way...then I use the spell taht works on that type of mob), and the odd incidental Wizard spell to get past certain obstacles. For Priest spells I tend to use health potions and sometimes, these days, stamina potions as well, because I charge around so fast with the numpad (always only used the mouse on Atari!) that it just drains so quickly :O.

[oh_brother]

With regard to character choice, maybe for a first run through (or first run through in 24 years) it would be good to have some specialists, and to resurrect them rather than reincarnate. If you resurrect they keep all their skills and levels. If you reincarnate they start at the very beginning, but will become more powerful as you get further in the game. In general reincarnate is better, and most people here do that, but it will be a less steep learning curve if your characters have some ability to cast spells and swing swords at the start.

So two fighters upfront (maybe Halk, or Stamm) and two magic users in the back. At least one of them with some priest levels, unless you want to do a good bit of training.

As for spells, the essential and most used ones are magic torch

Spoiler

(rune = ful)

, health potion

Spoiler

(rune = vi)

, stamina potion

Spoiler

(rune = ya)

and fireball

Spoiler

(runes = ful ir)

.

If you have not played for a while, and did not have the manual at all, it would be worth reading up on the magic system. Basically the first rune is the power of the spell (Lo is lowest, Mon is highest) and after that you add the rune(s) of the particular spell you want to cast.

[lord soth 75]

As for spells, the essential and most used ones are magic torch

Spoiler

(rune = ful)

, health potion

Spoiler

(rune = vi)

, stamina potion

Spoiler

(rune = ya)

and fireball

Spoiler

(runes = ful ir)

.

If you have not played for a while, and did not have the manual at all, it would be worth reading up on the magic system. Basically the first rune is the power of the spell (Lo is lowest, Mon is highest) and after that you add the rune(s) of the particular spell you want to cast.

Thanks for the spell info.
I'm going to create a party of 4 characters (I dont think i'll be able to complete the game using 2)
Will be starting my quest to conquer the dungeon in an hour or so.I'll log in later on tonight,and let you know how iv gone on,and will probably be bombarding you all with questions.

[beowuuf]

I don't think I can add anything to the good advice you've received, other than to say 'welcome to the forums' and 'good luck!'


Actually, that's not quite true, I can point out in case you miss the scroll that the anti-venom potion is

Spoiler

VI BRO

and might be useful if you quickly get down to the third level, and face certain stony creatures there.

[lord soth 75]

MY Mission to FINALLY beat DM Begin's.
Adventure Log#1

Ok.I just finished my first session on Dungeon Master.

I created a party of 4.
2 Fighters (Staam,and Halk)
1 Magic user (Tiggy)
1 Cleric (Mophus the healer)

Had a few problems getting used to how to move around,because the buttons on my mouse arent working,so im using a combination of mouse and the pad thing on my laptop.

Pretty much breezed through level 2,Using Halk and Staam to beat down the Mummies and Shriekers with melee weaponry attacks.I keep using the 'Torch' spell rather than using the wooden torches.

Level 3,i instantly remembered as soon as the level began.The huge chamber with different doors,each door leading to a little mini quest.I had a few problems with the 'Time is of the essence' due to my timing.But i got through it eventually.
Battled against wooden club wielding Troll's in a dungeon called 'Creature Cavern',and i kept throwing the clubs they left behind in order to try to improve my ninja skill.
I had Tiggy deal with the 'Rock pile monsters' using Level 2 Fireballs.

I'v found 2 treasure chests which i have filled with food,and i am going to try to take these chests with me all the way through the game (When i originally played it in 88 i seem to recall that my characters were always starving,because i never saved food)

Found a 'Rabbits foot' in one chamber,but im not sure what it does.I assume its a luck charm,and it makes you luckier in combat??

Level 4,and i nearly died of shock when a Ghost attacked my party as they were asleep.Managed to escape from the ghost,but was then attacked by a pair of Purple worms!!

After narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Ghost and the Worms,i finally managed to get to a safe spot and use some healing spells (Staam was poisoned by one of the Purple worm attacks)

Found a small chamber that was packed full of 'Shriekers',and it is here that i saved my game.

My characters at the end of this first session had levelled up.Tiggy had come along quite well and was at 'Adept' level wizard.
Staam and Halk were both Craftsman level fighters.
Poor old Mophus had hardly levelled up at all (Im beginning to wish i had bought another magic user along instead of a cleric)

Looking forward to continuing my journey on saturday night.

[Ameena]

Chests of food are a good idea - later on you get places you can come back to (one in particular seems to have become the main "camp spot" of pretty much everyone who plays the game), so can leave stuff there and not have to backtrack miles to pick it up if you need to.
The rabbit's foot boosts a hidden "Luck" stat, I believe, though I don't know whether this has any kind of noticeable effect on your game. I'm also not sure whether it works from your inventory or whether you have to actually have someone hold it in one hand.
Regarding your characters levelling up...well, you don't need to stick them with what they start out at - have Mophus start casting Fireballs (in fact, have everyone do that - why not? ), put him and Tiggy in the front row to clobber a few Screamers (because most other things may quickly kill them if they've had no practive so far). Remember that levelling in the different skills boosts your stats - for example, I think ninja levels (and/or Wizard?) boosts your Anti-Fire, and Wizzy or Priest boosts your Anti-Magic, Fighter boosts your Strength, and so on. Someone else with a greater interest in stat values can probably fill you in on that stuff better than I can .
So it sounds like you're maybe nearly done with Level 4? Adept Wizard is pretty good for that far, I would say . I agree on using magic rather than physical torches - why waste extra chances at gaining skill levels by using the crappy wooden sticks?
Anyway, sounds like you're dong alright so far - keep at it, adn let us know how you do .

[Jan]

Mophus? You took Mophus? Are you insane? Gott mit uns! If only you knew...

Re Rock Piles: Poison cloud is more effective against the rock piles... I think... well, I've always thought.

Re Rabbit's Foot: according to DM Encyclopaedia, the Rabbit's Foot gives you "+10 Luck (hidden statistic), anywhere in the inventory including inside a chest (in all versions of DM for Atari ST) or excluding inside a chest (other versions)."

So you're in the Screamer chamber on the Worm level right now, right? Well, well, well. I'm looking for the continuation of your adventure.

[lord soth 75]

@ Ameena.
I didn't realise that Clerics could cast wizard spells,and vice versa!! I assumed the spells a character could cast were specific to his/her character class. DOH!!

@ Jan.
Mophus is regarded as a rubbish character is he? I had no idea when picking my 4 adventurers.I didn't look at their starting statistics in any great detail.



Btw-This forum is brilliant.You guys are really helpful.Thanks for all the tips so far.

I'll be back later to give you the details of my saturday night session on this great game.

[Jan]

@ Ameena. I didn't realise that Clerics could cast wizard spells,and vice versa!! I assumed the spells a character could cast were specific to his/her character class. DOH!!

You can try casting the simplest spells (like torch, stamina and health potions) with any character - if they have at least two points of mana of course. You either succeed or not; you'll get some experience points and then gain a wizard / priest level and can start trying to cast more difficult spells / spells on higher levels. In this way, you can re-train even the dumbest fighter in a good wizard or priest. Extra:

Spoiler

Note that war crying gives you priest experience so even a character without any mana at the beginning can gain a priest level by war crying and thus gain his/her first mana points.

@ Jan. Mophus is regarded as a rubbish character is he? I had no idea when picking my 4 adventurers.I didn't look at their starting statistics in any great detail.

Actually, it's not about him being a rubbish character. It's about him being a scary character. Just look at him:



No, don't turn your head. Don't close your eyes. Don't hide under the table. Look at him! LOOK AT HIM! Is that a guy you would take with you in a dark, deep, unknown, creepy, scary dungeon? Most of the people on these forums wouldn't even take him for a shopping into a supermarket!

[beowuuf]

Yes, it's more abut his scary grin


Actually, for spellcasters I prefer the less trained and more mana havers such as wuuf, boris or tiggy (though tiggy's low stamina can be annoying). They gain the extra levels to journeyman quickly (each level needs double the XP to reach) and get more stats for it on the way.

Funnily, I take Halk and Stamm as more powerful fighters from the start, even though a lack of mana means it takes them a while to get items to let them spellcast and gain more stats that can be useful - and make their own healing potions and offensive spells. I guess the more powerful attack options on weapons is nice to have!

[Ameena]

Ahh, I didn't realise you hadn't thought that people could train in anything - yeah, all characters can gain levels in all four skills . Those who don't start with mana can acquire it, either by the way that Jan mentioned in his spoiler tags, or by

Spoiler

equipping a staff or wand, the different types of which give you a few mana points (how much depends on the item, eg Teowand, Staff) whilst equipped - once you've cast enough spells to gain a level your mana will go up anyway so you shouldn't need the thing equipped after that

. So all four characters can become uber Wizards or Fighters or anything .

[lord soth 75]

Purple Worms.A Triffid.And the Curse of No Auto Save

Adventure Log#2

Whew! What a roller coaster tonight on DM.

From my save point,i entered the room full of Screamers and chopped them to pieces (I actually feel quite sorry for Screamers),then proceeded onwards through the dungeon.
Discovered a message written into the dungeon wall,something about a prisoner.I then noticed a lone Mummy standing on a pressure plate on the other side of a pit.

The stairwell down to level 5 was guarded by a closed portculis,so i assumed that the mummy had to be removed from the pressure plate.
Threw a screamer slice at the mummies head,and sure enough i heard the noise of the portculis opening in the background.

Discovered it was a trap,and was greeted by an army of Purple worms slithering down the corridoor after me!!
Ran back to the screamer room to heal and rest-Only to discover that the room was packed full of Screamers again!!! So..Im surrounded by angry Screamers fighting me...and outside the room is an army of Purple worms.

A real good battle ensued,and eventually i took out those damn worms,and headed to the stairwell to level 5.

Upon entering Level 5,i was immediately confronted (Literally at the bottom of the stairs) by what looked like a Triffid.Green ugly thing,with tentacles-and BAM!! It took out 3 members of my party with 2 ranged poison attacks.

It then dawned on me that i hadnt saved my game since the end of friday nights session. Gutted.
After years of playing games on modern games consoles,i had forgotten that there was no auto save in Dungeon Master.

So..I had to playthrough the whole Purple Worm battle yet again.

LEVEL 5.
The Triffid's are a pain in the neck.I dont ever recall them hitting as hard as this back on my ol Atari ST back in the day.Decided to defeat them with Tiggy's magic rather than in close range battles because they kept poisoning me.
Entered the 'Treasure Stores' area,and managed to complete all of the different rooms.The area with many pits caused me the most frustration,mainly due to those mini Dragon like monsters that kept appearing and attacking me whilst i was trying to solve the actual puzzle.

Went back up to Level 4 to pick up my 2 Treasure chests that iv filled with food,and noticed that the Screamers in that room had all returned again.
Now,i dont recall this happening when i played DM back in 88.Im assuming that this version i am playing on is bugged or something.

Dragged the 2 chests back down to level 5,and left them at the top of the stairwell down to level 6 (Im hoping to keep these chests all the way through the game)

LEVEL 6.
After what happened next..i am pretty certain that i am playing on some kind of a modified version of DM.I passed through the riddle room,and was immediately confronted by a Beholder....Which killed ALL of my party with a single Fireball attack!!! I remember the Beholders from when i last played this game,and they could never kill with 1 attack (Or is my memory playing tricks on me?)

Luckily i had saved my game before my party died.
So...As it stands right now,my game is saved and im in the Riddle room at the beginning of Level 6.

Hoping to play some more tomorrow afternoon.

[Jan]

Oh, it never occurred to me that the Swamp Slimes might actually be the Triffids! Yuck!

Re The Screamer Room: There's nothing wrong with your game. It's actually a place where the Screamers regenerate so everytime you come back you find some more of them. It's very useful for training + getting food (although not an excellent food of course - I never bother carrying the screamer slices around because they're heavy and have a low... erm... nutritional value ). Note that there exists a convenient short-cut that

Spoiler

leads close to that room from the level below

. You might find similar places in the lower levels as well.

Re the strong Beholders. You wrote you played emulated DM for Atari ST? I've never played an emulated DM, but there was nothing wrong with the strength of Beholders in the original DM when I played it on my ST, so... dunno. Just watch your steps. My heart tells me these weren't the last Beholders you've met in the game.

Go on and keep us informed!

[beowuuf]

For the beholders, you possibly played slower than this run through, and so your characters had more levels. I wouldn't expect a beholder bolt to kill the party, but it is a powerful blast. If you have the teowand I think the anti-magic spell will help/

DM played on RTC is a different matter, those beholders are more powerful

[lord soth 75]

@ Jan.
The version of DM i played back in 1988 was a pirate copy of the original game.This version i am playing now,i downloaded to my laptop..There is multiple versions of DM along with Chao's strikes back and Dungeon Master 2 included in the download.
I think the version im playing is 0.49,or something (I'll check later)

Thanks for the info on the screamer regeneration room.Im considering hanging around this room awhile and using it to train my Magic user and cleric with hand weaponry.


@ beowuuf.
Will armour and shield's protect my fighters from the Beholder's fireballs? I have equipped Staam and Halk in light armour (chain mail esque armour),and they each hold a large shield in their left hand.
I meant to ask about armour and shields yesterday but it slipped my mind.

[beowuuf]

Ah,. yes, this is not an emulated version of the game. It is RTC (Return to Chaos), a clone. The game was made from scratch to be similar to DM/CSB/DM 2, but has differences. One difference being, in the current version, Beholder spells can kill a party - and their spells fire form further away, so in a long corridor you can be shot at before you see them!

In original DM< a bug stopped shields from mattering, while armour does reduce damage a little - being hit by a golem it is noticeable with and without armour, I found.

In Return to Chaso, I beleive armour and hsields have a small effect. However, magic such as the teowand shield, and the spellshield YA IR can make a difference too. The beholder is shooting a lightning bolt, so I think fire protection is less effective, and it is a powerful spell. It is FUL BRO NETA, and might be above your spellcasters at the moment.

[Ameena]

Yeah, Beholders are a pain - those Lightning Bolts really hurt on RTC .
Armour and shields don't seem to matter a huge amount - certainly not shields, anyway. I never bother wearing particularly heavy armour as I don't like to play with any party member in the yellow on weight, so I make sure everyone stays in the grey. I have tested helms, though, versus a closing door, and it does make a difference so presumably other armour helps against other stuff. Shields I never bother with - I have everyone keep a flask in their off-hand so they can make their own healing potions.
Level 6 is an arse, mainly because of the Beholders. Get through it, and you shouldn't ever have to come back . As Jan mentioned, the Screamer Room is supposed to respawn like that - it isn't the only place that does so, but it is one of hte more useful since you can close the door, come back later, and kill them all again to get some free food and exp. Screamers are probably the weakest creatures in the game so you shouldn't be in any great danger of immediate death from a group of them - useful for levelling up your back row characters in their Fighter skills to improve their hp and stuff .
If you haven't had your front row characters get in any magic training yet, I would recommend it - magic becomes more useful later in the game, and you're probably likely to be using it more than melée attacks in the deeper levels. Better to be able to lob off four Fireballs in one go than just two, and it also gives your fighters something to do before they actually get a chance to clobber something . Make sure you don't do what I've done on occasion, which is lob a Fireball down the corridor at a monster and then immediately start running toward it, thereby charging into the back of your own Fireball and hitting yourself .
Best weapons I would recommend are those with the

Spoiler

Thrust attack

, as they have high damage for a fast hit. There are

Spoiler

three

such weapons in the game, though

Spoiler

the second two you won't have found yet as you haven't got far enough

.

[lord soth 75]

Skull and bones.Beholder's.And getting lost

Adventure Log#3

Level 6
Damn! I'v hard a hard time tonight on this bloody level.
The posse's of Skeletal warriors haven't posed too many problems,But those freakin Beholders have handed my ass to me.
Time and time again,a fireball would fly out of nowhere and destroy the majority of my adventurers.
Do the Beholders have a regeneration room (like the sscreamers)? They seem to come out of nowhere.

I had huuuge problems at one section where i had to quickly run through a force field,and hit a switch on a locked door.

Found a stairwell that led back up to the room with many pits on Level 5.

Found 2 weird looking swords called Vorpal blades (Haven't used them yet though),also found Magic boxes (Blue) and a few other bits and pieces.

Got completely and utterly lost at one point,and basically wandered around trying to find my way back to the beginning of the level for the best part of 2 hours...unsuccesfully!!

After about 3 hours of complete frustration (Due to being lost,and because of those bloody Beholders) i somehow stumbled into the stairwell that leads down to the 7th level.

Goodbye....and good riddance to Level 6.


@ Ameena.
The fireball thing you warned me about.I did it earlier.Cast a fireball and accidently moved forward and my own fireball hit me!! I also managed to blow my entire party up by accidentaly casting a fireball at point blank into a wall (During a tense battle with 2 Beholders)

[beowuuf]

If you got the two vorpal blades, then all that 'wasted' time waslking around level 6 was by no means in vain. The vorpal blades are the only thing, aside from spells, that can harm immaterial beings like ghosts, and elementals. And don't need mana/charges to do it! And are the only things that can harm a later monster when it is partially manifest. And they give the wielder 4 mana, so your fighters could start learning magic while holding them.

Oh, and RTC has a benefit to make up for the evil beholders = you can hold items in the off hand and still get the bonus!

[zoom]

slightly off topic, I could not resist:

The vorpal blades are the only thing, aside from spells, that can harm immaterial beings

Spoiler

and, of course Chuck Norris

And are the only things that can harm a later monster when it is partially manifest.

Spoiler

all true, but the monsters won´t partially manifest if Chuck Norris is in your party!

And they give the wielder 4 mana, so your fighters could start learning magic while holding them.

Spoiler

that´s dangerous : adding 4 mana to twice infinite mana will likely cause a stack underflow. Better not let Chuck Norris use Vorpal Blades, better use his fists.

Oh, and RTC has a benefit to make up for the evil beholders = you can hold items in the off hand and still get the bonus!

Spoiler

Chuck Norris always gets this bonus, regardless of whether you play RTC or some other DM versions.

[Ameena]

Wheee, gratz on finally getting through Level 6 . Yeah, if you got two Vorpal Blades you did good . Note that they will work on material creatures as well as immaterial ones, but you're probably better off using "physical" weapons against the material stuff.
The Beholders were probably respawning somewhere - a lot of critters have spawn points that are triggered by your walking over an invisible trigger elsewhere in the dungeon, just you don't know about it if it's back the way you came (if you never go back) or in a section you never visit. But it's really frustrating to be alking down a long corridor and suddenly this Lightning Bolt hits you from nowhere (Beholders don't use Fireballs) and half your party is dead in one hit from something you never even saw . That is probably my one complaint about RTC - those damn Beholders being so overpowered. I even got completely stuck in one run-through of the game, where they were respawning at a point I needed to get through, but killing them meant I ran out of mana so had to retreat and rest, in order to return and find they'd boody respawned again. In the end I think I gave up on that one .
Still, at least you're done with Level 6 for now - the next couple of levels are a bit nicer, I think . Certainly Level 7 is great, the first time you visit it .

[Jan]

There should be two Beholder (Flying Eye) generators on that level. So, yeah, the more you run around, the more troubles you encounter. Congratulations on finishing that level - and, as Beowuuf said, on finding both Vorpal Blades! But don't rejoice at the news that you've beaten all the Beholders too much.

Re Return to Chaos (RTC): I've always preferred the CSBWin (Chaos Strikes Back for Windows) version (http://dmweb.free.fr/?q=node/851) which is more faithful to the original (Atari) version.

[lord soth 75]

@ beowuuf
Thanks for the info on the Vorpal blades! The only reason i kept them in my inventory was because i wasn't sure what they were,and was about to ask you guys if they were worth keeping hold of.

@ Ameena
Totally agree with you on the Beholder's.They are an absolute pain in the neck.They don't seem to have much in the way of hit points (One or two fireballs seems enough to kill them)..But their ranged attacks are absurdly overpowered.

I'll be playing Level 7 later tonight. 'Tomb of the firestaff' ??

[Jan]

I'll be playing Level 7 later tonight. 'Tomb of the firestaff' ??

Now this is going to be a long, looong night.

[beowuuf]

AS you will found out, level7 will have to wait until later - you will be forced to go to level 8.

Don't get disheartened when you enter it - if you get hit by a fireball, it's not because of a creature firing from long range. It's something else that is more predictable, and can be disabled...

[lord soth 75]

Haunted Colosseum.Rats,Rust Monsters,Jawa's and Thieves.

Adventure Log#4

Level 7 and Level 8
Upon starting tonight's dungeon journey i immediately remembered that THIS is the part of the game where i got stuck all those years back in 1988.
Tomb of Firestaff was locked (Well,i had 1 RA key) but i needed more keys.
The level that i couldn't beat as a child was Level 8 (Big massive colosseum like area filled with Ghost's)

Tonight,i didn't have too many problems.I decided to destroy as many ghosts,mummies,and skeleton warriors as possible before actually bothering to explore the main area.My fighter Staam had his shield stolen by a thief,and i didn't managed to catch him to get it back.
Found a few switches that switched off a Fireball mechanism,and before i knew it...I had discovered a stairwell down to Level 9.

Level 9
Had a few problems with a weird coridoor that kept sending me back to the same place,but i cracked it eventually.
Went up against some strange little wizards (Reminded me of the Jawa's from Star Wars),and Rust Monster's,before jumping out of my skin when faced with a Giant Rat.Encountered another Fireball spewing trap (which i got around by placing wooden shields on the pressure pad's).Discovered a much needed water fountain along with a 2nd RA key.Used the skeleton key to open the endless stair's.Went back up to Firestaff Tomb and used the RA key..Only to discover another locked RA key door!!
Went back to Level 9,I'v found the stairs down to Level 10,but it looks like im going to have to travel all the way back to the Screamer regenerating room on Level 4,because im running kinda low on food.

Skeleton Keys and the stairwell's.Advice/explanation needed
Before i go any further in this adventure,i need some info from you guys on the Skeleton Keys.So far i have discovered a couple,and they seem to be connected to a never ending series of stairwells.Im a bit confused as to what the purpose of this stairwell is....and im concerned that i may have missed skeleton keys whilst i was lost on level 6.I have used the 2 skeleton keys i have found so far on level 8 and level 9.
Are there skeleton keys on every level??

Really enjoying this game.