Swords of Xeen

                A quick hint or two from Sue

I've been playing Swords of Xeen since January and restarted it
twice because I am finding it much harder than the previous Might
and Magic games. I'm planning to review it next issue and provide
some better hints but in the mean time, here are some things I have
found.

There are 3 towns, not counting Greyhaven where you start. The
pyramid which you use to travel to Havec from Greyhaven collapses
after a little while which seems a real pain if you haven't done
everything you wanted there. It seems to be time related, not due
to the number of trips you've made through it.  Never fear, you can
get back there later when you get to the north of Havec.  There is
a cloud area there and if you step onto the clouds without using
levitation, you'll plummet through into Greyhaven!


Your characters will start at a low level (9) and I found them slow
to advance. They are still only on level 13 after 6 weeks play.
This makes battles tough, especially against monsters such as
giants and gargoyles, not to mention those dratted armadillos!
Okay, I WILL mention them! Havec is divided into two areas by a
mountain range (where is that mountaineering skill when you need
it?! But I digress ...). A pass leads through the mountains from B8
to C8. You can't use magic in it because it's been cursed by a dead
knight and those armadillos give you a nasty whack with their
tails. I went into the pass from the south and lured an armadillo
out, then headed southeast to the lake which I had already cleared
of monsters. All my characters could swim so I stayed in the water
and used ranged spells, using up all the spell points, resting and
doing the whole thing again. Two goes like that bumped off each
armadillo. I then went into the pass backwards (!) so that when I
met the other armadillo that lived at the north end, I could flee
out of the pass. I then lured him out and dumped him at the far
northeast corner where he wouldn't get in my way until I was ready
to deal with him. I hope one day I'll be strong enough to do so!
                              - o -