Chaos - Hints Sent in by James Judge After playing this game for a couple of days I decided to collect all the names of spells I've come across so, just for your enjoyment here are the names of all the spells to be found in Chaos then after that a few hints about playing the game. The spells are in no particular order, just the way I found them. DISBELIEVE - Use to destroy an illusion. RED DRAGON - A very good spell to cast but quite difficult. GREEN DRAGON - See Red Dragon. GOLDEN DRAGON - This is the best Dragon to summon but it is also the hardest. Don't make it an illusion because as soon as it is summoned other wizards will disbelieve it. LAW 1 - Brings the mystic balance or whatever you want to call it one point up to Lawful. LAW 2 - Same as LAW 1 but more powerful. CHAOS 1 - Same as LAW 1 but works in the opposite way. CHAOS 2 - Same as CHAOS 2 but more powerful. ZOMBIE - The weakest of the undead but useful if you want to harass an enemy - see later. SKELETON - Quite weak but useful if you want to wade into the ranks of the living. WRAITH - Mediocre in power but it can move three spaces so useful for deep penetration of enemies' ranks. SPECTRE - Quite difficult to cast but worth it in the end. GHOST - About as powerful as a SKELETON but can fly. VAMPIRE - The meanest undead and one of the hardest Chaos spells to cast. If you do cast one (don't make it an illusion as wizards will disbelieve it as soon as it appears) it takes a great deal of punishment. Great for attacking large ranks of undead and attacking wizards from a distance. BEAR - Quite useful to begin with but as more powerful spells are cast BEARS are killed quite easily. They can take quite a bit of punishment though. LION - The same as a bear but more useful to start with but not as tough. CROCODILE - Can only move slowly but takes a hell of a lot of damage. GIANT EAGLE - Great for killing off wizards at the start but they can't take being hit. GIANT RAT - Not very useful unless you've just started out or are in dire straits. GIANT BAT - The same as a GIANT EAGLE but less powerful so use quickly. KING COBRA - Get three or four of these together and they can do quite a bit of damage but they can only take one or two hits. GRYPHON - Not much to say about this except it flies and can be ridden. HORSE - OK for getting a wizard somewhere in an uncrowded arena but once the action starts hotting up you'll need a GRYPHON or UNICORN. GOOEY BLOB - Great to cast in the middle of enemies' ranks. Try to cast fairly near the start when there aren't many opposing monsters about. This way it won't be killed off when it's small. MAGIC FIRE - The same as GOOEY BLOB but it can't be killed off. MAGIC WOOD - Try and cast one of these quite near the start. Other wizards will use the trees but they'll have to wait longer for a new spell. Use other wizards' woods as well. SHADOW WOOD - Surround your wizard with a forest and it'll severely hamper any enemies trying to get at your wizard. DWARF - Not a very good spell except to clear GIANT BATS, GIANT RATS and KING COBRAS. ELF - Great to start with to kill monsters from afar. Try and raise them from the dead. HYDRA - A powerful monster that takes a hell of a lot of damage. DIRE WOLF - A good monster to attack slower and weaker monsters. DARK CITADEL - Use near the end if there aren't any MAGIC WOODS to hide in. They may not last long though. MAGIC CASTLE - Same as a DARK CITADEL. WALL - Use if you want to block a monster that can't fly in or stop MAGIC FIRES and GOOEY BLOBS. Also get in a corner and block yourself in if you're surrounded by enemy MAGIC FIRE, GOOEY BLOB or ground based monsters. Block an opposing wizard into a corner with this so he can't move or cast spells unless he's got MAGIC WINGS or a TELEPORT spell. MAGIC BOLT - Save for the end of the game when you may not have many undead creatures and are faced with many or, if it's just the wizards left, use to get rid of the opposition. LIGHTNING - Same as MAGIC BOLT. GIANT - A heavy duty creature that can do some serious damage to the enemy. DARK POWER - Use if you are up against a very powerful wizard. Save to the end if possible so you can surprise a wizard by killing all his troops! JUSTICE - Same as DARK POWER. VENGEANCE - Same as DARK POWER. DECREE - Same as DARK POWER. GORILLA - Quite a tough monster but slow. SHADOW FORM - Cast at the start of the game so you can move quicker. MAGIC SWORD - Use at the start before SHADOW FORM so you can attack better and attack undead. MAGIC DAGGER - Same as MAGIC SWORD. MAGIC ARMOUR - Use if you're being bombarded from all directions. It may save your life. MAGIC SHIELD - Same as MAGIC ARMOUR but less powerful. MAGIC BOW - Same as MAGIC SWORD but useful for getting at enemies from afar. PEGASUS - An average mount but it can fly. FAUN - Useful as a Pawn. MAGIC WINGS - Use when you need to move with speed. Cast after a MAGIC BOW and you're very well protected. MUTATION - Cast this on one of your weak monsters to get a more powerful monster or cast on an enemy's monster but WATCH OUT you may find yourself faced with a GOLDEN DRAGON or VAMPIRE! RAISE DEAD - Try and raise a DRAGON for a bloomin' powerful monster or cast it on a mount and you'll be nearly invincible. MANTICORE - It can fly, it's tough and it can shoot, what more do you want in a mount? An undead one of these would go down a treat. ALIEN - A new spell included by Martin Brownlow. A match for even a DRAGON but it can't fire. You can only get these from a MAGIC WOOD. TELEPORT - If you're in a jam, TELEPORT. ORC - An OK monster, useful for attacking weak monster. GOBLIN - It can't hit very hard but can take quite a bit of punishment. OGRE - A monster that can take a great deal of damage. Use to wade into enemies doing quite a bit of damage. UNICORN - Quite hardy and useful for quick journeys. CENTAUR - It can be ridden and also it can shoot but it can't take a lot of damage. WIZARDS Wizards are the weakest point of an army. If he goes, everything goes. To protect him firstly kit him out (if possible) with a magic weapon and SHADOW FORM. Then summon him a mount. This way you'll have, in a way, two lives - your mount's and your own wizard's. A HORSE is OK to begin with but, as the game progresses, you'll end up needing something a bit more hardy. A MANTICORE or PEGASUS or even an undead HORSE is good. Try and keep a powerful monster near your wizard, an OGRE is very good for this 'guard detail' and also a far reaching monster like a DIRE WOLF or LION. This way you'll be able to either kill or distract any attacking monsters while your wizard runs away. SPELLS To start with don't cast many spells that summon creatures as the computer controlled opponents will attack the player en mass, whether he/she be human or computer controlled, who has the most creatures. So the best way to start off is to cast things like weapons and MAGIC WOODS. A MAGIC WOOD is a good idea so while the other wizards are battling it out between each other, you get as many new spells as possible. Don't leave all your spell casting till the end because, in most games, the environment firstly goes one way, Chaotic or Lawful, then, as the game progresses, swings the other way and keeps there. The first sign of the swing is when all the wizards start casting CHAOS/LAW 1 and 2. If there are CHAOS spells being cast, get rid of your LAWFUL spells and visa versa. Save Neutral spells for last because as the game progresses these will become easier and easier to cast so, when it's just you and a couple of monsters and their wizards, you'll still have a store of useful spells up your sleeve. HARASSING ENEMIES Say a BEAR or LION is advancing towards your wizard and all you've got in the area is a ZOMBIE, what do you do? Well, to buy time for your wizard, make sure that the ZOMBIE will always force the enemy to attack it, wasting valuable time. To do this just stand the ZOMBIE directly in between the monster and your wizard then the monster will be severely hampered by the ZOMBIE only being able to move one square instead of two or more. This gives you time to move your wizard or get, from somewhere else in the arena, a more powerful monster. This only works with ground monsters and monsters that move more than one square at a time. STARTER TIPS When you first play this game, make sure you play all eight wizards. This way you'll learn about all the spells and what they do, what they look like and when they're useful. When you're confident about spells start off facing a level one wizard then gradually build that wizard's level up till you can thrash him when he's level eight. Work then on facing about three other wizards all on level four and work your way up till you're playing one wizard against another then thrashing the remaining wizards. Finally face all seven other wizards on level eight. Your first game you'll probably lose but, with experience, you'll come to recognise illusions and the mistakes other wizards make. Playing humans are another matter entirely as they will have totally different strategies from the computer opponents so you'll be a learner whenever you face one! Most of all remember, it is normal to hear 'I think the phrase rhymes with 'Clucking Bell'' (I still don't know what that phrase is (answers on a postcard to the usual Syntax address) quite a few times to start with but persevere! GOOD LUCK ACE HOLE (or who ever you may be).