From: lanzer@mindlink.net (Lanzer) Newsgroups: rec.games.video.arcade Subject: [D&D2] Player's Guide beta version Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 02:43:58 GMT
* Setting the font on Courier definitely helps
Dungeons & Dragons - Shadow Over Mystara Player's Guide Version 1 beta by Derek Liu (Lanzer@mindlink.net) 06-16-1996
I wished to call this guide an FAQ, but knowing how many questions are asked in the newsgroups, I think I'm better off just focusing on the less obvious information instead. Though I feel like making parts of the equipment list complete, so you'll see a definition for the Lightning Rod, etc. :)
This guide points to all that you need to know about the characters, items, mechanics, plus some info about the enemies for average and expert players. Almost all the info are from Gamest magazine, currently published bi-weekly in Japan. Others are from various sources from game buddies to certain posts in Usenet.
Contents: 1) General Information 2) Character Descriptions 3) Player Types 4) Spells 5) Equipment 6) Items and Weapons 7) Enemies 8) Bugs and Features
Chapter 1 - General Information ===============================
Hitting the start button displays the character's equipment. Chapter 5 will further cover this subject.
When a player attacks an enemy, the enemy's life gauge will appear right below or above his or her own life gauge. Boss characters have one common life gauge on the bottom of the playing field, which will not be displayed if the boss' life exceeds three gauges.
Command moves:
- Sliding: Roll joystick from down to front and hit jump - Sliding attack: Roll joystick from down to front and hit attack - Rising attack: Start with joystick at neutral, hit down, up, then immediately press the attack button (Magic User only has the ability to slide)
Moving on to some not as obvious info, all players have a back step achieved by tapping the jump button twice. During which the Fighter, Cleric, Elf, and Dwarf can attack, while the Magic User (Mage) and Thief is invincible until the last frame of the back step. The Thief can interrupt her backstep with a command move. Hitting attack then jump will also executes the backstep.
The Fighter, Elf, (Dwarf?), and Thief has a desperation move done by hitting attack and jump at the same time. Players are invincible when executing this move but will lose health if the moves hits an enemy. A great move it is for avoiding traps, projectiles (arrows, rocks) and meteoroids.
Holding on to the attack button as you hit your enemy will yield your kicking attack. The kicking attack will knock the opponent down. The Mage lacks this move.
Players will automatically hit enemies laying flat on the floor. Enemies will be vulnerable to fire and some sliding or rising attacks as they're hit. To avoid hitting the enemy on the floor, the player can execute a large swing (hit front and attack simultaneously), a sliding attack or a rising attack. Players will also automatically pick up items on the floor even if their lives are at risk. To avoid being vulnerable as you're picking up items, use the slide to pick up items, or use the large swing to avoid picking the items up.
Players with shields can block by holding onto the attack button then hold back. The moment you block a move, hold or tap front and the player will counter with his or her rising attack.
Chests can be picked up if it is not trapped, or right after its been opened. Step behind a chest and hit attack to pick up a chest.
Chapter 2 - Character Descriptions ==================================
Fighter ------- - Sword holder, can hold two short swords with each hand or hold two handed weapons. (Two Handed Sword, Battle Axe)
Cleric ------ - Mace is his only weapon until he acquires the Morning Star. - With the Morning Star, a large swing has tremendous range and the rising attack changes into a spinning swing. - Defensive spell caster. - Can turn undead (by hitting jump and attack simultaneously)
Elf --- - Sword holder, but is only equipped with the short sword at start. - Offensive spell caster. - Has unlimited arrows. - Arrows can be shot five hits in a row (rapid shot). - To execute a rapid shot, hit the item use button twice as: - You have your inventory wheel open with arrows selected. - You're swinging your sword. - You're executing your sliding attack. - You've just landed from a rising attack. - Or hit item use once right after you shot your last (or only) arrow. You have 1/15 of a second to hit the attack button.
Dwarf ----- - Axe holder, can hold a two handed axe. (Battle Axe) - High number of close up hits. - Can swing around during a jump. - The only character with a raid attack. (tab attack button quickly) - Can yield silver or gold pieces by breaking opened chests.
Magic User ---------- - Staff holder. - The only character with a critical hit. (poisonous needle) - Critical hit appears once every 20+ times his dagger hits. (dagger is his version of the great swing which does little damage normally, but a critical hit can often inflict a whole life bar on a boss) - Offensive spell caster. - The character one need to execute Final Strike. (more on Chapter 5)
Thief ----- - Sword holder. - Can open locked chests without using any keys. - Can execute a mid air jump. - Can execute a wall hop. (when air borne right beside the edge of the screen, hit jump) - Can execute a Back Stab. (Roll from front to down when enemy is facing away from you.) - Can steal from enemies. (dash into enemies and items might appear) - Can locate trapped chests and general arrow traps - Has unlimited slings. (rocks) - Slings can be shot in rapid fire just like the Elf.
Chapter 3 - Player Types ========================
Types ranging from A to J will be assigned to players after they've entered their names. Each type will grant the player a different type of item upon the name is entered. Here are the player types in detail:
Type Item given A Medal B Boots of Speed C Helmet, cap, hat, circlet, depending on character D Ring of Protection E Ring of Fire Resistance F Ring of Spell Turning G Gauntlets of Ogre Power H Anklet (Fighter,Drawf) Brooch (Cleric,Thief) Earring (Elf) Rod of Fire (Magic User) I Bracelet, Rod of Cold (Magic User) J Orb, Necklace (Elf), Rod of Lightning Bolt (Magic User)
To calculate your user type, use the following equation:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 values
a b c d e 0 1 2 3 4 f g h i j 5 6 7 8 9 k l m n o 1 2 3 4 5 <-- Roman Numerals p q r s t . & - ! u v w x y M F ? <-- M = Male, F = Female z
Values owned by each letter/number/symbol is added together, and if there are two digits, the digits will be added together so the result will not exceed 10. (54 means 5+4=9) 5+5=10 is treated as a zero.
In your result, 0 grants you type A, 1 grants type B, etc. For example:
C A P C O M 2+0+0+2+4+2 = 10 = 1 + 0 = 1 (Type B)
Chapter 4 - Spells ==================
Spell casters can cast more powerful spells as players gain more levels, as each spell has its own category in levels:
Elf | Cleric | Magic User --------------------------+-------------------+------------------ Lv 1 Magic Missile | | Magic Missile Lv 2 Invisibility | Bless | | Hold Person | Lv 3 Lightning Bolt | Striking | Lightning Bolt Fire Ball | Continual Light | Fire Ball Lv 4 Ice Storm | Sticks to Snakes | Ice Storm Ploymorph Other | Cure Serious | Wall of Fire Lv 5 Conjure Elemental | Insect Plague | Conjure Elemental | Cure Critical | Cloud Kill Lv 6 | | Projective Image | | Flesh to Stone Lv 7 | Holy Word/ | Reverse Gravity | Earth Quake | Lv 9 | Meteor Storm | Power Word Kill
Striking - Increases damage by 1.5 times. Blessing - Increases hit chances and increases damage by 1.25 times, can be used with Striking. Holy Word - Works only on small sized enemies as the Cleric's only offensive spell.
Spell casters are granted with a number of spells at the very beginning, or when he/she reaches a certain level:
* Final Strike is granted on a party with the Magic User equipped with the Staff of Wizardary. It is executed by hitting all active players' attack, jump, and item select buttons simultaneously. (everyone can just repeatedly slam on all the buttons)
Chapter 5 - Equipment (Inventory displayed on the equipment menu) =====================
Any equipment can be carried by any team members, though some might only prove effective on specific characters. Here are the descriptions of the equipment:
Rings (arm) [breaks] ----- Protection Increases defense Spell Turning Neutralize enemy's spell for a number of times Fire Resistance Excluding dragon's breath and meteor Holy 100% success rate on Turn Undead
Rods (arm) ---- Lightning Bolt Increases damage on lightning related magic attacks Fire Increases damage on fire related magic attacks Cold Increases damage on ice/frost related magic attacks
Decoration ---------- Necklace Increases magic defense Orb Prevents petrification and paralyzation Earring Increases magic power Bracelet Increases attack power slightly Anklet Increases attack power of kicking attacks Brooch ??
Head Wear (increases defense) --------- Helmet Fighter and Dwarf's hat, note that if you wear the wrong hat it is useless (exceptions covered in Chapter 8) Magical Hat Magic User's hat Hood Thief's hat Circlet Elf's hat Priests' Hat Cleric's hat Tierra For anyone
Special Items ------------- Medal Trades for items in shops, better items in the shop after the ice stage. Manticore Skin Talk to store keeper and he'll tell you that it prevents you from being hit by Displacer's tail. Displacer Beast Skin Talk to the very next store keeper, he'll make it into a cloak that avoids all projectiles. (arrow,rock) Owl Bear's Egg Thief can steal these to trade for an Egg of Wonder. Dragon's Scale Dropped from the Black Dragon, trade for a Dragon Shield in the next store, while the Thief and Mage will trade for a Displacer Beast Cloak. Eye of the Beholder Trades for Boots of Levitation. Eye of the Displacer Talk to store keeper and he'll tell you that it can guide you through the forest's maze. Dragon's Horn Trades for the Dragon Slayer sword.
Gauntlets of Ogre Power - Subtracts 3 more health points off your opponent upon each hit.
Boots of Levitation - Pressing jump while jumping will let you float mid-air.
Chapter 6 - Items and Weapons =============================
Shield ------ Flame Blocks any flame related magic and attacks (Except on Dragon's fire breaths) Ice Blocks any cold related magic and attacks Dragon Blocks acid breath and Red Dragon's magic Holy (protection from evil) Blocks dark magic, in general, Ezarhorden's and Dark Warrior 2's attacks. Swords and Axes --------------- Two Handed Sword Large range though slow, for fighter only Battle Axe Heavy damage though slow, hits twice for Dwarf Bastard Sword Power equals to a level 4 normal sword Storm Blade Strongest, though leaves enemies invulnerable when hit Flame Blade Leaves enemies partially vulnerable when hit Frost Blade Laves enemies frozen for another swing or other attacks Cursed Sword 2 Becomes Holy Avenger if Cleric picks it up for 8 times Holy Avenger Destroy undead (except bosses) in one hit Cursed Sword 1 Becomes Sword of Legends by swinging for 1 to 50 times Sword of Legends Magical sword, very powerful Dragon Slayer Most powerful sword for fighting Synn
Staffs and Others ----------------- Staff of Element Increases damage on elemental related magic, increases attack damage also Staff of Magical Power Increases magic power, also increases attack damage Staff of Wizardry Increases magic power dramatically, & for final strike Wand of Fireball Shoots 20 shots of fireball before it breaks Wand of Cold Shoots 20 shots of ice waves Wand of Lightning Bolt Shoots 20 shots of lightning bolts War Hammer Cleric's weapon, high power, attack rate, and dizzies Morning Star Cleric's weapon with the best attack range Staff of Snakes Stuns enemies when hit, for Cleric only
Some items ---------- Silver dagger/arrow Contain holy (magical) power, useful for enemies like Gorgoyles.
Chapter 7 - Enemies ===================
Nothing special, just a few notes:
- Skeletons hold no items nor scrolls (old stuff). - Gargoyles are vulnerable to falling pendulum traps, useful for the Cleric. - The War Machine is powered by four Goblins, while it is very vulnerable on the top half, about where the top spear is. Take advantage of that and hit towards the War Machine while another player (if any) kills the four Goblins. - Man Scorpion is very vulnerable to single hit attacks, attack once, wait for one second, and attack again (basically, avoid chaining into your second attack) and it'll keep getting hit. - Harpy is very vulnerable to hammers. So is the Dark Warrior to an extent. - The moment Tellurian is being knocked down, throw burning oil, hit him on the way down, and he'll catch on fire. Repeat process. This works great for the Manticore and Displacer Beast also. - Beholder is easily hit by the Flame Blade, start with the attacker attacking the Beholder outside the edge of the screen as others stay on the opposite corner. When the beholder finally moves in make sure the attacker's shadow is above or below the Beholder's to avoid being hit. Spells can be cast when he's being burnt. All Genie rings and Elemental bottles work anytime. - Kamera is the first victim of the Large Burning Oil, more on that in Chapter 8. - Fire Salamander is easily juggled over and over by the Frost Blade as the attacker positions him/herself just so the blade's frost touches the Salamander who's against the screen. - Desperation moves are the best way to avoid the Red Dragon's claws, dead falls, and claw attacks. While Large Burning Oil does a great deal of damage, while hammers comes next, though positioning is vital for using them. - All the Lightning Bolt rings throughout the game is best used for Ezarhorden. - Nagpa seems to be pretty vulnerable to lightning bolts.
Chapter 8 - Bugs and Features =============================
Well, most or all these neat little tricks are usually so powerful that it makes you wonder if they're originally planned or not, but little does it matter when "it works".
L.B.O (Large Burning Oil) ------------------------- Large Burning Oil hits 4 times on large enemies like the Red Dragon, and it knocks down on smaller opponents and bosses. The cute part is that after the large boss character is knocked down, it is available for the Large Burning Oil to hit multiple times as it stays down. The trick is to position yourself so that all 4 hits of the oil will register on the boss, that's about one character away from the boss horizontally. When done correctly, it takes only a few seconds to beat a fallen boss character with 2 or 3 characters throwing the oil. The fantastic damage is displayed by having the boss killed when its life gauge is still at its fullest, then you slowly watch it drain to zero during the slowdown displaying your victory.
Partial Invincibility (AKA Highlander Mode from Herbert :) --------------------- A character's hat is made for that specific character to wear in order to increase defense, but, if the Magic User wears the Thief's cloak, or if the Thief wears the Magic User's hat, then the character wearing the mixed up hat will not lose health when his or her heal points reaches critical. Oh, let me re-phrase that. The character with the swapped hat will not loose health by most attacks, traps, and magic when his or her life gauge drops down to about a centimeter long. New players can take advantage of this mode to learn about the game without inserting as many credits into the machine.
So what are you mortal to? Quite a number of attacks. Any grab move or bite move from Hellhounds and boss characters, the Dragon's breath, all of Red Dragon and Synn's attacks (except Synn's fireball), the cursed swords, plus chests thrown from your own allies can still harm you, and take note again that before you're partially invincible you still take damage just like you normally would, so fighting mindlessly when partially invincible is not a good idea. By the time you're partially invincible, one mortal attack will just kill you.
To actually be partially invincible, first start as player type C (refer to Chapter 3). Then to drop your own hat for the other player to pick up, simply find another hat somewhere. The best source is from the shadow elves in stage 3. Steal from them, have the Thief take the circlet, then the Mage gets the Thief's cap, and the Thief comes back to pick up the magical hat. The two players are now partially invincible.
Eggs of Wonder -------------- Throw the egg of wonder, and immediately have the elf cast haste on the person throwing the egg. The Owl Bear will appear, but you also have your egg in your inventory. You can repeat process and have 5 or more Owl Bears fighting the Dragon or other bosses.
Avoiding the Curse ------------------ The Sword of Legends require the player to swing for about 20 to 40 times usually, taking damage randomly by each swing in order to break the curse. To avoid losing health, the split second the sword wielder is hurt by the sword, cast Striking, Cure Wounds (rings are fine too), or haste on the wielder. Another way of avoiding the curse is to jump, then hit attack right before the sword wielder lands. This technique is difficult, but still decreases your chances of taking damage from the cursed sword.
Double Critical? ---------------- Moves usually hit only once, especially for large swings and so forth, but in part one you can let a move hit more than once by casting a spell or ring the moment an attack hits the enemy. Say fighting the Red Dragon, we'd have the Fighter take Striking, then as the fighter do a jumping slash, we'd cast spells in a frenzy and have the fighter hit for about 7 to 8 times before he lands.
I've noticed that part 2 seems to have similar properties, but still need to have knowledgeable players to test this out with me. If it does work no problem, players can time a ring or spell just as the Magic User hits with a critical for another hit or more. Just a thought.
Mini Conclusion =============== As the version number states, this is just a test version with lots of info and facts that are missing I bet. Readers (yes, you :) are welcome to e-mail me to add suggestions and corrections. A proper credit section will be in the final version. Oh, a mini guide for the Thief might be appearing soon, though I'm thinking if there's enough good info to make up a guide.
Mini Credits ============ Gamest Mmagazine - Essential Information David Ng \ Larry }-------- D&D2 buddies :) David and larry are the ones who Keith / got me started. Herbert Tin Hoy Hu - Highlander Mode
Derek (Lanzer) Liu Lanzer@mindlink.net 06-16-1996
-- (^_^)Derek Liu, or Lanzer, at lanzer@mindlink.net. Vancouver, Canada! (-.^) (~_^)Full time student, part time street fighter, author of SFLIU too.(@_@) (x_x)** Lanzer Land had moved! To http://www.threewave.com/~lanzer **(-_-) (_ _)Ryoko/Sasami, Tenchi Theme Pack, Joystick/Photoshop Guide & more!(^O^)
