AMBERSTAR - Thalion Playguide by Brian Burke Part 1 - Introduction, General Information and Hints _____________ Introduction. Amberstar is a large, colourful and enjoyable RPG. The programmers' objective was to out-Ultima the guys at Origin. Having never played an Ultima game whether they've succeeded or not I don't know. What I can say is that the control system is excellent once you've sussed out that the manual, though seemingly comprehensive, does not provide all the answers to which icon does what. You can't beat a bit of hands-on experience. I understand that folks trying to play off floppies on the Amiga have had a problem but the guy I spoke to at Thalion in Germany seemed to think all was OK now. Playing off a hard drive with only 1 meg you'll need to use Control-D to cut out Workbench loading. The task is to find 13 parts of the Amberstar and join them in a special place to allow the party access to the Fortress of Godsbane and thus smite down the nasties. Piece of cake! The Graphic presentations come in four types of display. The opening scene finds your character in Twinlake Graveyard in an Ultima style scene. Some interior scenes replicate this such as in a house, a Guild or an Inn. Scrolling is a joy throughout. Entering a town or a cellar etc brings up a scene that's a cross between SSI and Dungeon Master. Until a Compass or the Staff of Direction is obtained the only way to tell which is North or South is to use the auto-mapping facility. In Cellars and underground locations the auto-mapping will not work unless a Torch is activated. Leaving a Town, Cave or Tower brings an overhead view reminiscent of Faery Tale. The game map is very large and whether your Party is walking, riding, sailing or flying you will encounter dawn, day, evening and night changes. This is reflected by the amount of map that you can see on screen. Time can be accelerated by use of the "Zzz" icon. The final scenario is the Battle mode. The less active amongst us will be delighted to know that this is not realtime. Actions, such as fight or cast magic spells and movement can be planned on a character by character basis and a single icon press will carry out those instructions. You just sit back and drink your coffee whilst the hapless protagonists slug it out crying such encouragement out as "Hit him, you twit" and so on. _________________ Character Set-Up. Although the game starts with a single character who becomes your alter-ego you do need, in time, to fill all six character slots up with a selected group. The character stats need to be created prior to starting the game proper. Be patient and keep the dice rolling until you are satisfied with the figures. Subsequent promotions will enable such attributes like Strength, Attack and Parry prowess, Read and Use Magic scrolls, Swimming, Pick Locks, Find and Disarm Traps to be increased. ______________________ Movement over the Map. At an early stage it is advisable to buy a horse from the Stables in Twinlake. This means that you only lay out 150 gold for your single character. Subsequent additions to the Party all clamber upon the back of this poor creature without detriment to its performance! If you've two characters when you buy a horse then it's 300 Gold and so on. Having a horse means that Rivers can be crossed without losing Life Points by not having sufficient swimming skills. You'll also not be allowed to enter Lakes or the Sea. To enter Woods and Forests though you must be on foot so will have to park Dobbin in a place where you can find him (her) again. Think I'm joking? - this is a BIG game. Twinlake offers Rafts for sale but two of these are to be found for free. One at the end of a jetty on the western shore line and another in the north west of the map. A Boat, on the other hand, you have to buy at some point. As these cost 5000 Gold it'll be a little time before you acquire one. Whilst this sum of money can be found in Crystal I recommend that you use that to fund other purposes first. Boats can be bought in Crystal or from an extremely remote island in the north west. Later in the game a "Blue Disc" can replace the horse and best of all the ultimate way to travel is via your own tame Eagle - shades of Questron (no gambling in this game though). Finally there's a method known as "The Windgates". These are croquet type hoops that transport the Party, from a central island to the south of Twinlake, to locations that are close to points of interest. Before the Windgates can be used the artefact that enables them must be obtained. There are two of these to be found. _______________________________ Fighting & Character Promotion. As usual sending the baddies to their version of Valhalla is the only way to gain Experience. Entering each relevant Guild gives your character information as to how many points are required to reach the next level. Each promotion costs so have your purse available. Some classes cost more than others. At each promotion you are invited to allocate points to the disciplines I described above. Briefly these should initially be - Warriors - Attack/Parry skills Thief - Pick Locks Paladin - Read and Use Scrolls OR Attack/Parry Wizards - Read and Use Scrolls There are also Monk and Ranger classes which I did not employ but who are available in the game. Misreading the manual I mistakenly thought my Human character could enter a multitude of classes so when I'd acquired 30 experience points I beetled into the Warrior Guild for my extra skill points and to receive my extra Life Points. When I then tried to enter another class and was turned away I was inconsolable. In the event I was well pleased as I set up my Battle formation with a Warrior at either side of the first row with all four weaker characters on the back row. The Warriors cannot advance beyond the second row of the grid. The enemy come down the screen towards your team and can only be hit by the front men if they are adjacent or directly in front of your characters. Black Wizards are the guys with offensive spells. They can cast spells on any retreating baddies in individual or group mode dependent on the type of spell. White Wizards are the Clerics and Grey Wizards cast defensive spells. ____________________ Healing and Defence. It's as well to cast Anti-Magic spells as soon as you enter battle and follow that up with Armour Protection and Weapon Power in subsequent turns. Healing your folks when they are poisoned, go mad, blinded, stunned or made ill is a pain and expensive. Some of those ailments take your character out of a battle scenario so be warned. Herbs can be bought that offer an "on-line" cure mode. There's a shop in the north west of Illien, the Elf Village that sells - Dolden - use to heal Poisoning. Blueplant - use to cure Madness. Redplant - reverses Ageing. Drelben - cures Paralysis (stun). Packets of Herbs - cure Sickness (disease). Using these is much cheaper than the Temple healers. Potions are also available that do the same job. Again there's a shop in Illien to the south of the Herb shop and the Monks Guild also stock a good many. I can't replicate all the Potion symbols due to the limitations of my keyboard but hopefully you'll recognise which is representative of what from those below - M = Healing 5 potion. This is the preferred one. N = healing D = cure Poisoning 1X1 = replace spell points _ X = Replace Spell Points This is the preferred one < = cure Blindness The same with an additional half a chevron = cure Disease (sickness). P = cure Paralysis (stun) There's also one for "Treat Weapon with Balsam". Go on - get the edge. ____________________________ Weapons and Special Objects. As your Party root and loot their way through dusty crevices and rusty Chests they come across all manner of goodies. Practically everything is worth taking as this is the way to fill your purse with Gold. The bad news is that you are limited by the strength of each character as to just how much weight each can carry. There is an on-screen statistic that will tell you this. The Shops in Illien, Twinlake, Gemstone, Crystal and Snakesign all do reasonable second hand deals so these are the places to bring your Treasures and turn 'em into cash. The Shop in Crystal is run by an enterprising fellow who's open all day, every day. The others have homes to go to and their opening hours can be read outside each shop. Frankly, apart from Torches and empty Flasks you can find most of the armour and weapons as you go. Torches are essential to progress in the Sewers and Cellars. Unless they're lit the Automap facility will not register and you simply can't see. Once an area has been mapped then by all means save your stock and alternate between map and direction arrow mode as you retreat or re-enter a previously mapped level. The weight problem and the sheer number of objects, potions and scrolls you find will have you scuttling through areas more than once. For this reason it's as well to have a manual version of the on-screen map to hand. The fact that an object is "special" will become apparent by virtue of its resale price. In Twinlake and Snakesign are Wise Men who will identify those items. Beware as once identified they won't look at that item again so to quote Terry Wogan "Write it down". Each object costs 250 Gold so best to save outside the shop and restore when you've submitted those objects you want Identifying. I won't claim this list as exhaustive by any means but here are some notes I made - Armour - Object _____________ Attribute ____________ Class Metal Helmet .. Shield 6 Warriors & Paladines Horn Helmet .. 3 + Damage 2 War / Pal / Ranger/ Thief Iron Ring .. 1 All Brooch of Gala.. 1 All Hat .. 1 All Armour of Geb.. 10 + Strength 15 Warrior / Paladine Chainmail .. 8 Warrior / Paladine Banded Mail .. 10 Warrior / Paladine Mithral Mail .. 12 All Girdle of Thieves .. 9 Thief Robe .. 2 All Robe of Nut .. 5 Wizards Robe of Nickademeus .. Wizards Necklace of Bala .. 2 + Damage 2 Thief / Ranger Silver Ring Picklock Skills Dagger Damage 4 All Assassins Blade.. 18 + 10 Speed + 15 Attack - Thief Shortsword .. 8 War / Pal / Ranger / Thief Morning Star .. 14 War / Pal / Ranger Firebasher .. 15 Warrior Icebiter.. 20 War / Pal / Ranger Two Handed Sword.. 20 Warrior / Paladine Simitar .. 25 All except Wizards Sickle of Returning 20 Thief/ Monk / Wiz / Ranger BucklerShield .. 2 + Damage 2 War / Paladine / Ranger Tower Shield .. 12 + Life Points 5 + White Magic + Reincarnation 5 Paladine / W.Wizard Wand of Winds - creates STORM damage - All Globe of Harachte - creates LIGHT 3 spell- All Pipe of Levitation - levitates Party - All Orb of Magic - creates a Magic Sphere x 5 - All Wand of Light - guess! One to avoid even picking up is the "Coat of Moira" - there are two of these and they are cursed. Not only that but they weigh a ton too. A "Remove Curse" spell is the only way to lose them once in your inventory. There are other special objects that you will find on your travels and others that you will be rewarded with in return for completing sub-quests for characters in the game. Once these items are in your Inventory clicking the Action Icon on them will make them fulfil a purpose. Some, like the flute you receive for destroying an evil Dragon and is subsequently used to summon an Eagle, remain as part of your luggage. Whilst others, such as the Compass and Clock, are transported to a grey display window on the right of the screen. ______________________ Character Interaction. You can only learn about your quest(s) from "Talking" to the other characters in the game (They all look like they're exercising on a pogo stick). Some of these will be able to join your party if you have room. It's possible to be ruthless and drop a character, pick up another one, filch all their goodies, then go back and have the other guy join up again. Once a character has been dropped they can be found again in the place that you first met them. Only those characters who speak the same language as the individual you're trying to converse with will get any sense out of them. Otherwise you receive a negative message so be sure your leading character is the appropriate one. From memory I believe the only words present in your on-screen vocabulary at the start are "Hello" and "Key". Either keep a pencil and paper record of these words or develop a good memory as key words are added to this list each time you talk. For example talking to the little girl outside your parents home in Twinlake brings out keywords such as "Felix" (her cat) and so on. For this reason and the fact that some dialogue responses contain keywords required later in the game it is important to take a note of all conversations. Not verbatim but certainly noting keywords and names. The same is true for pictures on the wall of some rooms. _________________________ Saved Game, Life & Death. The bad news about Amberstar is that there is only ONE saved game. Yes, just the one. Mistakes you don't make in this game. It's true to say that you can die once and then be resurrected. Should this fate befall the Party your dead bodies are transported to a helpful Wizard, name of Shandra, who lives in Twinlake. He then tells you that's your lot or that he can only help once more. The trick is to retreat when the odds are against you and to keep at least one character's Life Points up all the time. This should preferably be a Paladin or a White Wizard. Keep the Rod of Resurrection handy once you've found it. Emerging from a Battle licking your wounds you ponder how to regain your health. Resting is the answer, but you must have Rations to consume in order to restore Spell and Life Points. Rations are obtainable from Twinlake - cost 15 gold, Crystal - cost 12, Gemstone - cost 10, Snakesign - cost 10 or Manyeye Cave Village - cost 30 gold. An alternative to spending money on Rations, but effective for Life Points only, is to bathe in the Healing Pools found in the Crypt which is located in Twinlake Cemetery. _________________ Building a Party. There are a number of characters in the game who are willing to help you solve your quest. Frankly you'll get absolutely nowhere without them. Here is a list for your recruitment campaign - Character ____ Class ____ Where Found Drobonir - Warrior - Gemstone Inn Trasric - Black Wizard - Crystal - Jewel Inn Grylan - Paladine - Crystal - unclassified & weak at first Silk - Thief - Twinlake - Dragon Inn Satine - Grey Wizard - Tower of White Wizard Guild Boldina - Thief - Dragon Keep - Castle of Gelinda Melchlor - Monk - Snakesign Village Crag - White Wizard - Tower of White Wizard Guild Sheba - Ranger - Cave of Manyeye village - in her house Spike the Dog - Animal - Twinlake - in the kitchen of your home Shir'kar the cat - Mera's House - garden You certainly need Black Wizard skills. A Thief is essential. Characters with Grey & White Wizard ability are also vital. I'd suggest that the Warrior is your number one recruit. Build your initial Experience points by walking over or sailing under bridges. Make sure the Warrior and Black Wizard are with you. This way you fight single Bridge Trolls on a random basis. Fighting the first Rats in Twinlake Sewers is also good preparation for your characters' first promotions. It's important to get Life Points under your belt to eliminate the frustration of early deaths. ______________ General Hints. It took me ages to realise that, although I could click the mouse button on Clothes and Weapons to take them from the Inventory and place them on the Figure, in order to action say, a torch, I had first to click on the Hand icon in the lower right of the Monitor screen and then on the Inventory item I wanted to action. The game isn't exactly linear BUT it is true to say that some places are easier than others. My explanatory is in the order in which I tackled the game which isn't necessarily the easiest path but I do know and will advise which areas were hard. There were two scenarios where doors closed behind the Party irrevocably. This is no fun when there's only one saved game and it's midnight and you know that it'll take ages and three days to get out in one piece. Not only that but you don't know if you've enough Life Points and equipment to stay the course! The two places are - Pharaoh's Tomb and The Cave under the Whirlpool. This latter area should be left till last as it's quite (British understatement) tough. You will need to leave areas from time to time in order to unload your Inventory. Keeping a note of your characters' Experience Points will enable you to see just when they can gain those vital additional Life Points and Spell Casting & Learning Points. All this takes time. Until you acquire the Map Locator in the Swampstation to facilitate this activity it's a task that you have to live with. When learning scrolls it's best to save the game first as a degree of "SSI type" dice rolling takes place. One time you fail and the next it's OK. Watch the words as the scroll turns to dust whether successful or not. For this reason SAVE between scrolls as well. Read signs and Signposts as these will give you trigger words in your speech Inventory. @~The walkthrough proper will begin next issue.