Blade of Destiny - some 'hands-on' observations and tips. Sent in by Brian Burke As stated in my review, the Manual is detailed and makes an easy read, except I haven't figured out "Using Objects" to my satisfaction yet. I arrived at an early location in Thorwal dungeon with a Rope in hand only to be asked if I wanted to go back and find a Rope. Maybe my 'climb' rating was too low. The novella in the manual is also an excellent source for hints and tips so once you've read through, return to this section before taking on Character Generation. Whilst there is on screen movement possible via the mouse I found the keyboard arrow keys a much quicker and surer method for moving around. Make sure you equip your team with the weapons appropriate to their skills. No good giving an axe to a swordsman and so on. Same sort of thing is true for in-game situations. The guy at the front, the one on the left of the monitor screen, needs to possess the skills needed for the current scenario. For example having a good tracker in the lead when travelling will discover caves and suchlike to explore that another character may miss. Jumping a chasm when travelling north to Thoss is a risk, better to descend to the river than lose a character who hasn't got Carl Lewis' long jump skills. When fighting opponents for the first time experience points won are very generous. Bite your lip as the next time you fight the points reduce substantially. For example the first Brigand fight gets you 570 pts but subsequent single Brigands are just 57 points apiece. The best I've found so far has been four Dwarves in Upper Orcam Dungeon worth 1600 pts. If you wish to force an encounter with Brigands or Goblins etc then just select sleep mode when travelling. Otherwise set guards. You can reduce weight in your Inventory by 'replenishing stocks' on a journey rather than carry round too much food and waterskins or beer. Characters finding food or herbs gain experience. When Healing potions have been consumed you are left with the Glass bottle or Brass flask. These can be sold or presumably used for mixing Herbs later on. I haven't managed to practice any Pharmacy skills yet. I suspect one needs an Alchemy set or similar. You will find recipes in chests in some Dungeons. When walking round various towns and villages several of the houses are occupied but the ones that aren't give you the option to break in. Don't. At least don't until you save the game and then go round entering all the houses to discover which are of interest and which aren't. Problem is that the party is fined each time they are arrested and thrown in jail. An expensive pastime. You'll go to the bank and find you owe loads of cash. Even in towns where you're not arrested the game knows you've broken in and the fine is totted up at the bank. The only house you need to enter when not invited is in Upper Orcam. The northernmost house situated at the extreme west of the map conceals a two level Dungeon. On the second level lead with a magical character in the northeast section as you can earn 10 Astral Points here when heading south. In the towns are Temples where your donations to the various Gods may or may not result in the granting of a miracle. There doesn't seem to be a relationship between the size of the donation and the likelihood of being blessed with a skill or lifepoint increase. Save your game before going and robbing Taverns and save again when you've a couple of successful forays under your belt, you don't want to be barred from all the pubs in town if you're caught, and you will eventually be caught. Same's true for shops when Pickpocketing or for when a line of conversation with a Shopkeeper goes wrong. Talk to bar staff in Taverns to receive tips on the town or on various NPCs. If looking for a NPC's home this can save you trailing round every house. You will need to buy a few beers to assist this process but it doesn't cost very much. Some NPCs can be found in Taverns. When booking a boat passage in the Harbour take good note of just when the ship is to set sail. The first message tells you when this is. There's a bug in the second message as it always tells your party to come back the next day when you really should be boarding right now. The Abandoned Mine in Prem has random rock falls. Your characters should be individually equipped with at least four Water Bags and Food parcels as it takes time to dig your way out of the rubble. Take a load of Whirlweed herbs to regenerate the 10 hit points that you lose each time. The Abandoned or Tumbledown Inn can be found between Daspota and Otterje. Beware the skull at the east end of the southern corridor on the first level as this teleports some of the party into a room on the second level, not only that but if you then move east from here a magician turns them into stone. If it does happen move west as there is a secret door there. Another problem here is a room in the centre north of the first level eventually creates a vortex which destroys all the party if you step into it. The only way round this is to Teleport past this area when returning from the second level. There are some good spell recipes to be found in the Chests. Some of the chests are protected by poison barbs. Developing the dwarf in lockpick skills is the way round this problem as Dwarves have a natural resistance to poison. Eating Belmart herbs also can give characters resistance to poison. Leave a character standing on a pressure plate on the first level to keep open a passage on the lower level - not vital but interesting. The Spiders Cavern. Be sure to explore the first level thoroughly, especially the large room straight ahead when you enter. Keep to the sides of the room as there is a pit that drops you to the second level in the middle of the room. Note the letters on the altar. Reversing these letters will extract you from a teleport puzzle encountered on the second level. Don't destroy the Spiders eggs until exploration is complete, and when you do leave the cave via the tunnel or it's game over time as the fumes suffocate the party. The Hermits' Lake. I struggled with this one. En-route from either Upper Orcam or Plexcaer you encounter a Unicorn. Wait around and leave your weapons alone and he'll talk to one of the party. He leaves to get a piece of the map BUT I never could establish contact again. The Hermit isn't around in the winter time. If you talk to him don't chat too much! The party may encounter a Gryphon on the journey, if you're good at riddles then take him on, otherwise wave a white flag. The answer to the riddle is "Wheel". The Tower Ruins south of Thoss. In here fight two brigands to gain a magic bag. Use the bag in here to open up a secret door that leads to another piece of the map. The puzzle here involves bouncing off walls to find routes through to encounters with a priest that result in obtaining the map. There's around 500 ducats in a Chest here also. For those who like a quick path through the game here's a list of the places where pieces of the map can be obtained. You don't need all the map pieces to proceed. The list is in no particular order. 1. Felstyn. 2. Skjal. 3 Ottarje. 4. Angbodirtal - be firm. 5. Vidsand. 6. Varnhome - need to clear Temple on Hjalland 7. Find Swafnild Egilsdotter, the sailor girl in a port. 8. Meet the merchant Kollborn on a coastal road in Spring. 9. Mage ruins south of Thoss - go Clanegh and Thoss first. Prior to visiting these places you'll need to talk to folks in Brendil, Orvil, Guddasuden, Hjalsingor, Breida, Thoss and Phexcaer to name but a few! As described earlier beware that breaking into houses costs you time in major towns and money in all instances. You'll have to pay at the bank. I don't know if there's a penalty re the end game as being a good Thorwelian I always paid my bills. There are other caves to encounter. I don't suppose I've seen the half really. Ones I know about - a small Wolf's cave between Orvil and Otterje, don't be tempted to enter the crevice in the north passage, an Ambush Cave between Orkanger and Felstyn, the Beetles, also known as Scraggas, are tough for low level characters. Finally en-route from Skelellen to Phexcaer is an Orcs' Cave containing the Orc version of the SAS - lots of weapons can be found here so take some Gulmond herbs with you or your party won't be able to carry it all. There's another lever puzzle here to open a door to a room filled with three chests. One of the chests contains information as to where the Orc Army is assembling and when they will be attacking. Time to go get the sword. Once around seven map pieces have been obtained there's enough information to proceed. The game will tell you when this stage has been reached. Travel either south from Phexcaer or north from Skelellen to discover the Castle. If travelling north it's beyond the Temple and from Phexcaer it's just beyond the rock fall. Heading north from Skelellen involves all your party losing various bits of equipment. Be sure to take at least 2/3 food packages and waterskins into the castle as it's a pain to have to come out and then trek back in again. Inside the castle DON'T pick up any gold coins or treasure as your way back outside is then blocked. Just locate the room with Hyggelik, obtain the sword and beat it outside again. There's another lever puzzle on the second level, the entrance to which is in the upper right hand corner of the first level - inspect the debris. The puzzle requires you to split the party three times. Stand a character in front of both of the mirrors/levers and try combinations of lever pulling and stepping through the mirror. Keep checking where each party is by use of the map icon. Ensure that the characters left on their own have light either through magic - Fiat Lux - or via a torch. Once the door is open bring the parties together again as once opened the door stays open. The final battle is located en-route from Phexcaer to Hermits' Lake. Should you arrive early you can camp and the transition to the fight with the Orc Champion is seamless. Before finding the camp ensure that the sword is with your best Warrior as it is this character who will fight. Keep the rest of the party at bay whilst you slay the baddie and watch the final graphics. Your party will gain lots of experience and probably go up a level. You are given the opportunity to save the game ready for the next instalment which is to be called "Star Trail" and will be set in the northern territory. US Gold are very woolly about any release date, "sometime next year", so don't hold your breath.