                             DUNGEON MASTER II

                          The Legend of Skullkeep



GENERAL HINTS AND TIPS FOR YOU INEXPERIENCED PLAYERS

Gaining experience in combat, without fighting!

A quick and painless way of gaining experience without fighting is by simply
practising. Stand directly in front of a large tree, or a closed door, and give
darts, daggers and arrows to the current leader to throw. Don't worry about
losing any of the weapons as they just hit the tree and fall on the floor in
front of you. Keep picking them up and throwing them until you think you've
gained enough experience. You don't get as much ninja experience as in real
combat, but it makes a significant difference to the party members that stay in
the rear and don't fight very often. Spellcasting works much the same way, but
it takes much longer since it requires mana. When it looks like a skill won't
rise any more, go out and slay some monsters before you try again. Your be
pleasantly surprised at the results.


Making money

Unfortunately there is no known way to cheat for cash (sorry folks!) but
these are the best normal methods at gaining a quick buck. In the third area
outside, collect fairy cushions and sell them. In the fourth area, collect axes
from the Axe men and sell them in the weapons shop in the first area, not in the
nearby town. in the fifth area, the magic shop pays extremely well for many
magical items. Purchase the Kalan Gauntlet here, then take it to the weapons
shop in the fourth area, you'll be able to sell it for a large profit. You will
also find a well hidden chest full of gems beneath the ancient temple. Once
your party enters the keep, money will no longer be an object, sice the keep is
full of valuable gems and items.


Magic Armour

Some armours can increase certain abilities if properly worn. Although
they aren't necessary to complete the quest, they do help an awful lot. Here
for your playing pleasure is some of the best examples: The tech helm increases
wisdom, fire poyeyn increases strength, and the cloak of night increases your
dexterity. Almost all of the more expensive shields cast spells, and some
increase magic and fire resistance. Although some are very obvious, others are
not. Keep an eye on your stats when wearing a new piece of armour, you may
discover many more.


Magic Weapons

The Numen staff is far the best weapon in the game, since you can
recharge it as many times as you so desire in the Vexirk cauldron in the keep.
the staff of NETA and the Emerald Orb are also very valuable since they can
transfer Mana directly into healing without bothering with potions. They also
raise the wielder's Mana a fair bit. The Excsymyr ranks top among melee weapons
due to its high speed double attacks, and considerable damage.


COMPLETE LIST OF SPELLS AND POTIONS

Refer to the manual to find out which symbols are described here.


Nine Priest Spells

The Party Shield Spell is YA IR.
The Shield Spell is YA IR DAIN.
The Aura of Strength spell is OH EW KU.
The Aura of dexterity spell is YA IR DAIN.
The aura of Vitality spell is OH EW NETA.
The Fire Shield spell is FUL BRO NETA.
The Darkness spell is DES IR SAR.
The porter Minion spell is ZO EW ROS.
The Reflector spell is ZO BRO ROS.
The Guard Minion spell is ZO EW NETA.


Nine Potion spells

Only the Priests can create potions.
The Stamina potion is YA.
The Shield potion is YA BRO.
The Wisdom potion is YA BRO DAIN.
The Vitality potion is YA BRO NETA.
The Health potion is VI.
The Cure Poison potion is VI BRO.
The Dexterity potion is OH BRO ROS.
The Strength potion is FUL BRO KU.
The Mana potion is ZOBRO RA.


Fourteen wizard Spells

The Magic Marker spell is YA EW.
The Poison Cloud spell is OH VEN.
The Invisibility spell is OH EW SAR.
The push spell is OH KATH KU.
The Pull spell is OH KATH ROS.
The Lightning Bolt spell is OH KATH RA.
The Accelerate Party spell is OH IR ROS.
The Daylight spell is OH IR RA.
The Firelight spell is FUL.
The Fireball spell is FUL IR.
The Poison Foe spell is DES VEN.
The Harm Non Material spell is DES EW.
The Open Door spell is ZO.
The Attack Minion spell is ZO EW KU.



THE SOLUTION

OUTSIDE THE KEEP


Solving the first area with the Sun key

So you've chosen your elite team of professionals. Now climb up the
ladder into the room above you, there are many things to help you in your quest.

Go to the door that doesn't require a key and enter that room.

When you pick up and read the scroll which is laying on the altar it
will reveal that this room is used for the resurrection of fallen Champions.If
one of your team happens to die then pick up his/her/its bones and place them on
the altar in this room to bring them back to the living. Now collect the
torches which hang on the wall and head back into the other room.

Pick up the torches in this room, the gold coin and the bota which lie
on the table. Open the chest on the floor and pickup the two potions. Now move
the table back and pick up the painting behind it. You will find hidden behind
the painting a bag containing several food items, a Magic Map, that when
activated will show you an overhead view of the current area, a money box to
organise coins and gems in, and a solid key in which to open the locked door.

Before you unlock the door that leads into the unknown make sure you're
ready for combat. There are some glops outside just waiting to rip you in half,
watch out, these globs are nasty pasties.

Insert the key in the door, open the door and head down the corridor.
The globs you come across once outside will give your team some combat
experience. If a team member dies then pick the bones and take them back to the
altar to resurrect them. They will lose all previous possessions and have
weakened health, but the experience they gained up to the point of death will be
retained.

When you have finished with the globs you will find many useful items
lying around. Minor weapons, coins and debris are scattered about. Although
many items are picked up by the globs, they are left behind when they are
killed. In the centre of the opening you will see two landmarks. One a
fountain, the other is a mysterious black and red star pattern on the ground.
The pattern reveals itself much later on in the game, but the fountain can be
used immediately. If you place a bota in the churning water it will come out
filled, plus it also contains a few hidden coins.

Nearby on the ground you will find a staff. Spellcasters who hold it
gain five points to their maximum mana. The staff allows unlimited casting of
weak Magical torch spells. The second spell on the staff has an incantation to
open or close a door from a distance (this will prove very useful). Keep a note
of the symbols they use as they can be duplicated. Every shop has a sign
outside its entrance, this depicts the wares they deal in.

Head towards the dark keep on the horizon. There is a shop that sells
food items furthest from the hall in this area. There are also several tables
as well as a small fountain which is set in the wall. Click on the fountain,
your entire party can drink there without the use of their botas. Buy a compass
from the food shop, this will help you on your journey. The Sun key is on a
table in the food shop furthest west. Take the key to the lock near the door,
drop it in, and then press the switch. Be careful as more creatures await you
outside. So prepare your weapons, take a deep breath and enter the second area.


Solving the second area with the Lightning key

Proceed as far as possible north, past the Lightning door, through an
archway that leads into the Thorn Demon area. You will come across a large
tree, go west and find a path north through another archway which leads into a
foggy area. The Lightning altar lies in the middle of a ring of monoliths, on
it is the Lightning key necessary to go on to the next area.


Solving the third area with the Moon key

Once through the Lightning door keep going east until you run into a
small tree. Follow the path nearby north, then east through an archway into the
swampy domain of the wolves. Don't attack the wolves (unless you need to defend
yourself) because they howl to the rest of their pack for help. More wolves
join the fight and soon enough you will find yourself out numbered and being
torn into itsy bitsy pieces. Proceed east, then north on the left path, then
west a few spaces to a pit. Jump in and receive some damage or use Grayen's
rope, now keep pushing the large boulder until it moves. Take the ladder up and
go west a few spaces, take the bone from the niche. Now go back to the wolves
and throw them the bone to keep them busy while you continue west and south
towards the Moon altar. Collect all the items, then get out of the swamp
quickly. Open the Moon door and continue onto the next area.


Solving the fourth area with the Energy key

Go through the Moon door, keep going south until you get to the teleport
pad. Head east through an archway into the Axe Man Domain. Move swiftly as you
will be harder to hit by thrown axes. Near the middle of this area lies the
Energy altar, just north of it is another archway into a town with three new
shops. Use a magic map to avoid being cornered by the Axe Men, and grab the
keys from the altar. You will find the Energy door is near to the teleport pad,
go through into the next area.


Solving the fifth area and retrieving the last Clan key piece

Proceed through the Energy door and continue west until you see a niche
and an archway nearby. Grab the vorpal blade from the niche and enter the foggy
cemetery. To avoid releasing nasty spirits keep away from the statue and the
tomb in the middle. Go south into the swampy area, whilst at the same time
avoiding the haunted trees. Now head east into the ancient temple.


Moving pits and fire Doors

Once inside the temple locate the button on the right side of the room
with covered pits, press the button to open a hidden alcove. Inside you will
find the fire key. Make your way over the pits on this side of the room, get
the key and prepare to cross the nearby room. Move the pits by casting
Accelerate and activating a magic map to keep an eye on the pits. Go quickly
east and south to the Fire door, open it with the key and enter. If you should
fall into a pit, wait for the gates to reopen and take the stairs back up and
try again. Look out for another hidden button in the large underground room to
find a chest packed full of expensive gems.


Air key

Just past the Fire door is a twisting hallway full of mummies, cast the
Accelerate spell again, then sprint to the Air door. Open it and proceed
through. Inside you will find a bartering table with the last Clan piece.
Place any coin on the table and the key is yours (there's no catch!)



INSIDE THE KEEP

Solving the first stage of puzzles leading to the boiler room

After passing through the entrance to the keep the door closes behind
you. Nearby is the gold lock which opens it, but first you must get through a
series of gates. Take a step up to the tech eye, then take step back to avoid
the incoming fireballs (this happens only once). Enter into the small alcove
with buttons in it, now face north. Press the button on the left, then the
button on the right, now run forward into the gates as they open. Your find
that the third gate is closed, so go back to the harmless tech eye. Face south,
without entering the alcove, and cast Accelerate. Aim the mouse pointer on the
button directly ahead of you and use the keyboard to move faster. Step up to
the button, press it and run backwards as fast as you can. Set the guard
minions in each of the five spaces which lead to the last gate, this will keep
the gates open a little longer than usual. The closing gates may cause some
damage to you, but once your past the third gate they all stay open.


Tempest

Get the minion map from the niche and stand on the space where the
Tempest is lying. Activate the map, select the X and then walk back to the
stairs. Select the icon that shows a minion moving away from the X, and the
minion brings you the sword.


Dark Vexirks

First things first, pull the bell rope to summon a Vexirk to open the
outer gate, be patient as they usually take there time. Don't bother with the
items in the niches or provoking the Vexirks. Head east into the smaller room
and wait for them to wonder out into the main room. Set as many guard minions
as you can before they attack. Avoid the Vexirk king with the Numen staff.
Keep setting minions until all the Vexirks are dead, now grab the staff. The
Numen staff is the only magical item you can recharge in the cauldron. The
staff also opens the outer gate and inner door as long as you walk up to them
with it.


Tech Eyes

To get to the hall with the tech eyes, use the minion map to place an X
on the floor trigger. Stand next to the closed door and send a minion to drop a
coin on it. Once the minion drops an item on the trigger the door opens just
long enough for you to dash in. Press the button on the other side to keep it
open. Press the ROS button on the map to see the false walls. Get behind the
tech eye through one of the false walls and open the plate to remove it. Nearby
you will find a hidden button which will open a wall to another tech eye. Head
back to the long hall and quickly enter through another false wall before a
fireball reaches you. Deactivate the last two eyes the same as the first and
the hall will become safe for you to travel through.


Opening Boiler Room

Get the large gear from the niche, place it on the device next to the
door, now press the button to open it. Grab the gear quickly and go on to the
next door, or buy extra gears from the magic shop near the ancient temple
outside. If you take too long the pits will open up under you so speed is of
the essence. If you fall down the pits, simply walk to the ladder, climb up and
try again.


Solving the second stage of puzzles in the catacombs

Once your inside the boiler room kill all the enemy minions and get the
Earth key from the niche. Put the key in the lock which is located in a nearby
alcove, now step out and pull the lever beside it. A pit will open and drop the
key two levels down. This also unlocks the door beside the entrance, but you
will need the Earth key again to go further. There's two routes to reach the
Earth key, the first is using Grayen's rope (this will cause you a lot of
damage), the second is to walk down. If you decide to walk down pull the lever
near the central ladder to lower it. Proceed downwards and then head south to
an area with bats and boulders. Push a boulder into a pit, and take a one-way
ladder down. Now go west, then north into Dru-Tan's domain.


Dru-tan

Dru-Tan is hard to kill, but no means impossible. The easiest way in
which to dispose of him is to catch him in his own trap. Dodge your way west,
past the locked door with the Rockies in, to the next door with a strange lever
beside it. Open the door and enter, go down the hall two spaces and turn to
face the spiked wall. Wait for Dru-Tan to enter. As soon as he enters quickly
turn around and run to the other end, this will set the trap in motion,
hopefully trapping Dru-Tan with you. Press a concealed button to open the
second gate, it only works once. Exit the trap and close the door behind you.
After he dies open the door again from the outside, go back to the other door
and pull the strange lever to reset the trap. Finally, go back around and get
the Blood key. If the trap should fail, you'll have to kill him the
old-fashioned way, with spells.


Activating Furnace

When you've killed Dru-Tan, get the Earth key and the Blood key. Open
the Blood door and go through. inside you will find a button on the wall which
activates a teleporter. The Rockies will enter through it so follow them.
Proceed east toward the furnace and exterminate the enemy guard minion so that
the Rockies will be able to toss some fuel into the fire. Place your own guard
minion nearby to prevent any enemy minions from blocking the furnace again. Go
back to the boiler room via the ladder. Pull the switch beside the boiler, but
it won't work until you finish more quests.


Crossing the Pit

After opening the second Earth door, you need a scout map to cross the
pit that opens and closes. Stand on the floor trigger and activate the scout
map. Select the minion icon and click on the map which is on the other side of
the pit to send the minion there. The trick is to block the Zo balls with your
minion and leave the pit open, so keep at it. Go up the ladder to begin the
third stage.


Solving the third stage of puzzles leading to the pump room

You will find that you need a vacuum fuse to unlock the door where the
Master key is kept. The easiest way is to buy one from the magic shop outside
near the ancient temple. Or you can chase a floating chest around and destroy
it with fireballs to get one. Place the fuse in the device near the door to the
west to unlock it. look for some false walls inside.


Level Puzzle

To open the door to the level puzzle you need the Master key and a large
gear. Once your inside get the Master key from the lock. Go to where the
levers are and pull each one several times. Leave them all in the up position,
and all except the last door to the pump room will stay open. On your way to
the pump room destroy the large barrels and get the items within. Use the
Master key to open the last door, then take it back. Once inside collect the
Iron key, and place another vacuum fuse in the slot. activate the pumps and
lower the ladder. Take the Cross key back to where you got the Master key, and
lower the ladder to stage four.


Solving the fourth stage of puzzles leading to the valve room

The easiest and quickest way in which to deal with all those tables is
to hack through them one by one with weapons.


Rams

This requires speed and timing in rather large quantities. First cast
your Accelerate spell, then carefully watch the movements of the rams. If the
ram is extended on the way in or on the way out then you will get pushed into
the pit. Start off with the ram furthest to the east. Wait until the ram is on
the in-stroke, and when it's almost reached the wall you can rush past. After
the first ram you will encounter two more in a row. Once again watch for the
instroke, step safely in front of the first one, wait a fraction of a second,
then hurry past the second one.


Reflector Room

You have two ways of solving this one, the easy way or the hard way.
The easy way is to angle the centre and one side reflector so you can cast your
own fireball north, to strike the target and remove the pits. You find the
ladder up to the last stage is east of this room. The hard way however requires
you to position the reflectors with levers, so that a fireball bounces all the
way around the room, back to the centre reflector and then into the target.
This requires using a magic map to see all the reflectors. Use the middle lever
to move the centre reflector while the fireball is flying around to change the
angle.


Teleport Fields

When you've solved the reflector room puzzle move each reflector one at
a time into the room with the moving teleport fields. Place them in a straight
line, south to north, with the fields on the other side. Then move
thereflectors east until they are boxed in. Be careful not to block any
passages.


Locked doors

Throw fireballs at the locked gate in the reflector room to open it.
The other door past the teleport fields is not quite so easy. Activate the
scout map, send the scout to the space in the middle of four pits and throw a
coin at it. The coin will bounce off the minion and onto a floor plate,
removing some of the pits and opening the nearby door. Last of all you need the
Master key one final time to open the door to the valve room.


Solving the top levels of the keep and opening the portal to Dragoth

Face the hall with the lightning bolts and cast the Accelerate spell.
activate a map, watch for a pause in the lightning, then move down the hall. On
the other side is a switch to turn off the lightning. Two keys rest in a nearby
niche, but you can only take one at a time. If you take both keys, a suction
trap in the floor holds the party helpless, presumably until Dragoth arrives to
kill you. If you pick up the Skull key first, put it back and click the pointer
directly on the Onyx key. This key must stay in the lock for the Onyx door to
stay open.


Skull Key and Storage Room

Past the Onyx door you will find the Zolink chamber, before that you
must get the Skull key. Lower the ladder near the entrance, then head back to
the control room and get the Onyx key, closing the door. Take this key back to
the niche and take the Skull key. Make sure that you leave one key in the niche
at all times. Go back to the reflector room via the ladder and out to the
teleport field room. Now climb back up the ladder into the Zo-link chamber, the
Skull lock will activate a teleport field. Enter and cast fireballs at the
nearest reflector to destroy a table. Now move the brazier, destroy the table
and open the door.


Reflectors and Zo-link

Once you've opened the storage room move the reflectors out into the
Zo-link chamber and then place them on the drain gates. Pull the switch inside
the short hall to the portal. Now pull one of the switches on the south wall to
release a stream of red hot fireballs that strike the central crystal. Next,
walk around the room and pull the other fireball switch. Finally pull the last
switch on the north side of the chamber to the lightning bolts at the crystal.
If this doesn't do the job you will have to go back all the way down to the
catacombs to refuel the furnace. When all the devices are fully working the
Zo-link will open.


Opening Zo-link

Open the Onyx door, go straight into the Zo-link chamber and pull the
four switches inside. Fire the Numen staff at the central crystal to open the
portal. You don't need to bother with the reflectors or the boiler which lies
far below.


Defeating Dragoth

Cast the Accelerate spell to cross the moving platforms. As soon as
you've reached the area where Dragoth lurks start setting guard minions and try
to keep Dragoth near them. If you must, fry him at point blank range with large
fireballs or the Numen staff to help prevent him from dodging. Keep moving to
avoid his spell attacks and ignore the attack minions he summons against you.


Congratulations Dungeon Master.

You have completed your long and tiring quest.

Now you can rest until called upon again...