Sryth Wiki
Register
Advertisement

This guide aims to take a character from the start of the game to the point of having all skills & powers and most of the important items in the game. It's basically a power-leveling guide, and as such is oriented to both the new player and the "hardcore" character creator.

It also includes a "road map" of sorts aimed at quickly getting all Skills and Powers that can be obtained without embarking on a long chain of adventures, thereby leaving you free to explore.

An effort has been made to explain or link each game concept the first time it's used. You may also want to check the Improved Documentation, which aims to explain the game comprehensively but without spoilers.

Footnotes are abundantly used to hide some details and explanations from the main text so it's easier to read.

Warnings[]

  • This guide is FULL of spoilers from this point onward. Read it at your own risk.
  • This guide is written for AG players. Although some advice will be of use to non-AG players too, there is a specific Non-AG Startup page.
  • It's strongly recommended to try the game first without help so that you don't miss out on the fun of discovering things for yourself. After that you can do it "better" (or at least quicker) with a second character. If you wish to do this, make sure you don't claim the lifetime Upgrade bonus and "Adventurer's Pack" with your first character.[1]
  • Quests are mentioned, but not explained. You're expected to look for the details on the quest page. In case some quest is not linked, you can search for it in the Quest List or on the relevant location page.
  • This guide does not cover all adventures, and in fact skips as many of them as possible for the sake of brevity. See the Quest List for a list of all quests.
  • The advice in this guide is ultimately a matter of personal opinion. It's streamlined for readability and efficiency, but there are many ways to successfully play through the game without "missing out" on much or any of the rewards available. Also, check the Game Updates for changes that could have made these strategies and approaches invalid and/or sub-optimal.
  • The guide suggests saving your game at a few key points, but for the most part it's assumed that you will SAVE and REST as appropriate. Same for the selling/unloading of loot as it accumulates.

General playing tips[]

  • In a mechanical way of thinking, this game is all about 3 resources[2] : Gold, Experience (from now on, XP) and Adventurers Tokens (from now on, AT). There is an almost infinite amount of gold and XP in the game, only limited by your availability of time to dedicate to Grinding. However, there is a hard limit on how many AT you can get without donating. All AT sources are listed on the AT page.
  • Getting more gold is (relatively) quick and easy, so provided you do your replay quests, it shouldn't be a worry. Spend it liberally, but reserve something like 10,000 - 25,000 gold tokens just in case (some quests may require significant quantities of gold).[3]
  • You will (always) need more XP. Fully training your character (level up to Legendary (100) in all Skills and Powers) is a grueling task, only fit for heavy grinders.[4]
  • XP comes in two "types": General and Specific. You can use General Experience to level up any Skill or Power, and also for a few other minor uses. The only use of Specific Experience is to level up the Skill or Power it's associated with. Whenever you have enough Specific XP to upgrade a skill or power, do it at once [5]
  • There is also a third type of Experience reward: experience to All Skills and Powers (AS&P). This reward gives Specific Experience to all the skills and powers in the game. XP to skills and powers which you don't possess is now stored, so you don't have to worry about missing out on anything if you get a large AS&P XP reward early in the game.[6]
  • One of the powers of the Quickstone is to give your character a bonus of 10% of the XP earned. This includes General as well as Specific, so the more Skills and Powers you have, the bigger the Quickstone bonus for an AS&P XP award.[7]
  • This is optional, but useful: save your General XP (around 20,000 to 50,000 general XP should be enough) to buy big things (there are several items that require significant amounts of General XP to "level up"), and as a reserve to be able to level up a needed skill or power if the need arises [8][9]
  • Whenever you gain some ATs, spend them well at Tallys's. You can always get them back by paying a small amount of gold. Don't hesitate to change equipment as often as needed. This will considerably ease your progress through the starting/middle part of the game.
  • Combat is more complex than it seems at first. While basic enemy difficulty will be related to your MR and SP, as you progress through the game MR becomes less important than SP and NvR. This is also highly dependent on several circumstances (number of enemies to fight in a row, magic resistance, special attacks and so on) so you should learn well your combat tricks. Many (apparently) difficult combats can be won with the correct strategy.
  • In non-lethal combat to subdue, you cannot use many kinds of magic, but several will still work. Try using entanglement, for example.
  • In combat, if you see "Your magic has failed due to an anti-magic aura around your foe", don't give up on using magic immediately. You do not lose the NV point and the aura may only work infrequently - especially at the low levels when you first encounter this. If your foe "resists", that is worse for you, as you lose the NV point, but note that they probably will not resist all kinds of magic.
  • Remember to always be fully loaded with 3 Blessings of Protection (See the item page for tips on using them)
  • Take advantage to the ability of making certain items Non-Droppable so you don't accidentally sell them. As a safety measure, consider doing this on principle for all items of Magical quality.

Real world time constraints[]

  • You should buy your quickstone before your character has logged 90 days of play, to avoid losing accumulated XP bonus. In practice, you'll probably buy it much earlier.
  • Due to long timers, it will take you at least 42 real-word days to get an extremely desirable item, and 40 to get another one if you don't buy a Quickstone (you can get them more or less at the same time). To get these desirable and long-time achievements as soon as possible, you should start early and play at least a short session every day, instead of long sessions from time to time (although there's nothing against the latter, it just takes longer).

Specific tips for the early game[]

Subscription and characters
  • Once you've registered for the game, become AG as soon as possible (there are bonuses if you upgrade the day you register for the game).
  • A common strategy is to create several characters and play all of them more or less at the same time. One of them (the best equipped, the most played) is the "main", while the others are "secondaries".[10]
Gold/XP
  • Ignore most advice about gold and XP, above: you need to spend your gold and XP carefully and spend it well. This may include refraining from using Blessings of Protection at the start (death has no penalty).
  • At low levels, quests are better sources of gold and XP than grinding.[11][12]
  • Start saving General XP from the start and up to 16,000 XP to make acquiring Powers easier.
  • If you follow this guide, you shouldn't need to spend general XP on skills or powers very often, if at all, but it can make your life easier to raise a fighting power to 20 early in the game (takes 400-500 XP).
  • You can buy a mount for 5,000-6,000 gold for a +1 to MR, SP, and NV each.[13]
  • Simple guide for selling:
    • For maximum gold returns, sell everything in The River Guild Emporiums which can be found in Mirgspil, Trithik, Graldok (after Daggerspire) and Tryndmoor, storing things when you aren't satisfied with what you can get for them. The caveat is that you may have to wait a day or more before you get desirable offers. You can get 80% of the item values there, up to 1800 gold. You will get much lower offers most of the time and will have to travel between the cities to find the best one each day you intend to sell something. Go for the options listed below if you don't want to deal with the variable prices.
    • Items valued at 850 gold or less (most things) go to Grutlang's Trading Post in Mirgspil.
    • Items valued at 850-1550 go to Copper Hilt Lodge's Trading Post. Store them at your dwelling until you've unlocked it
    • Items valued at 1550 or more go to Gryphook's in Tryndmoor.[14]
Quests
  • At low levels, MR will determine which quests you're ready for. Your MR might even be higher than your SP. About MR/SP 80, this will change, and you will need more SP than MR much of the time.[15]
  • The key to more MR/SP is items. Early on you'll be changing your equipment frequently - even randomly-dropped loot will be sometimes better than what you're wearing. We'll assume you're paying attention and equipping better items when possible! [16]
  • Remember to change your equipment to suit your needs [17]
  • Don't rush: some quests are just too hard at the start. Don't be afraid to give up on a difficult quest (quit without saving). You can come back to it later.
  • Some adventures offer multiple possible item rewards; it's usually worth the effort to make sure you have the best one.
  • Check Kingdom of Tysa for the full expanded map of all in-game locations and how to reach them.
Misc
  • Buying a quickstone will make your life a lot easier. To decide when to buy it, you must weigh the benefits from a quicker combat resolution (less time spent fighting), more gold from best quality items (less time grinding), and auto-resting against better Tallys equipment due to the extra ATs available.
  • Battle Markers are not a very important resource overall, though they can sometimes be used in place of gold or gambled in raffles. However, it's to your advantage to accumulate as many as 200 of them early in the game (see Varkyn's Ring of Motley Wonder)
  • When you get "common" Aldvarian Artifacts, don't exchange them at the Westgard Library right away. Store 12 of them in your Dwelling to get a very good discount at the Hawklor's Plume Merchant.

Powerlearn all skills[]

Short guide with fewer spoilers to help you get all skills quickly and cheaply: only what to do, not how to do it. (Refer to the expanded section further down for full tips and spoilers.)

Powerlearn all powers[]

Short guide with fewer spoilers to help you get all powers quickly and cheaply: only what to do, no how to do it. (Refer to the expanded section further down for full tips and spoilers.)

Powers and Skills Walkthrough[]

Purist strategy tips

"Purist" players try not to do any adventure that gives AS&P XP until they have all skills and powers (though this is never 100% possible). Doing AS&P quests early no longer affects gameplay in a meaningful way, but it's still a good idea to get most things quickly in order to use them during quests.[20] Here we take a semi-purist approach, waiting until all but the "outlying" skills and powers are in place (Horsemanship, Weaponry: Lances, Weaponry: Troll-Bont, Shadow Magic), then doing some AS&P quests for their AT and item rewards. See Appendix 3 for the purist strategy.

Another "purist" concern is the question of how much general XP to put into leveling up skills and powers.[21] We recommend raising Necromancy to 20 at the beginning of the game (474 XP at a 25% bonus) and using small amounts of general XP to "top off" skills to the next mastery level as needed. Otherwise, we apply the purist approach during the first part of your journey to help you get the first ~16K General XP that you need to learn all powers quickly. After that, we only recommend keeping a reserve for certain items and quests.[22]

Attack powers and weaponry subskills

In this guide we've used Necromancy as the default attack power, because you can get it early, it can't be resisted, and it's useful for several low-level quests. There are also some quests that offer rewards specifically to Necromancy. That said, you can focus on whatever attack power you want (Elementalism, Gating, and Illusion are other non-resistible options, and much more useful as non-combat powers, too).

Likewise, we use Weaponry: Slashing as the default weaponry subskill because all the best weapons in the early stages of the game are swords and there are some special quest rewards for Weaponry: Slashing. However, there are several equivalent options for the best free weapon in the game, plus one unique and powerful staff and Unarmed Combat, so if you prefer a different weapon, you can adjust the guide accordingly.


Character Creation[]

  • As of July 2020, AG bonus items available before your 2nd adventure make it possible to roll lower stats than before while quickly getting 19 or 20 stats all around. (You might later change your special equipment and lose the bonuses, this just saves you some hours of rolling). How much you need depends on the skill pair, so if you have 19 Might you'll need 20 Agility or vice versa for the best unarmed combat bonus. The max (rolled) stats thereby needed at the start assuming these upgrades to all the 30% experience bonuses are: Might 18/19, Agility 18/19, Body 16 or 17, Mind 17 or 18, Spirit 17/18, Aura 19/20, Luck 18/19. This advice should override the following general advice.
  • Try to get your stats as high as possible. The XP Bonus of your characters (derived from their stats) is very important in the long run. The numbers in this guide assume you were able to get at least a 25% bonus across the board.[23]
  • Don't settle for less than the maximum Melee Rating (MR) and Stamina Points (SP), which is 32 MR/36 SP after bonuses from your Stats. Contrary to near-perfect stats, this is relatively easy to get.
  • Pick Arcana, Diplomacy, Thievery, and Unarmed Combat as your starting skills.[24] We put 10 points in Thievery, 8 in Arcana, and 1 in each of the other two, but you can distribute the points however suits you.[25]
  • Pick Restoration or Necromancy as your starting power.[26]
  • Attack your first adventure and head to Hawklor. [27]
Detour - your first daily duty.

In order to later access a really powerful item, SAVE, travel to Southern Tysa and find the Crimson-Helmed Rider. Refuse to fight him and just roll the dice. Quit the game, or try your hand at the 'parting gift' - it doesn't matter if you quit or die before saving, as long as you see the number on the back of his hand. Do this every day as your first Sryth task. The primary purpose for this (at this point in the game) is to gain access to the town of Moonpath, by visiting him once a day for seven consecutive days (if you miss a day, you'll start over from 1).

Once you've unlocked Moonpath, you can stop your daily visits to the CHR. Check there for the instructions on The Cave of the Ice Troll, whose final reward will be the Glittering Ice Shield. Since you will need at least 42 real-world days to obtain it (7 days for the CHR and 36 runs of the Cave of the Ice Troll, the first of which can be done on Day 7 of CHR), you're better off starting early.

Part 1: Beefing Up[]

The goal of Part 1 is to help you learn the core skills and put together a solid set of equipment that will prepare you for the quests that are the next step above "beginner" quests.

We invite you to complete other low-level quests and events as you go. Where there are specific quests you should not do yet for reasons other than difficulty, we'll try to warn you.

Here's an overview of what you can expect to gain in Part 1:[28]

Section MR SP NvR ATs Skills Powers
Character creation 32 36 12 0 4 1
Scavenger Hunt 52 52 12 8 6 1
Welcome to Trithik 53 58 12 9 8 1
More Skills 53 58 12 9 10 1
Home Sweet Hawklor 67 89 17 41 10 1
Greater Talinus 73 92 17 49 10 1
A Big Day in Durnsig 81 104 17 49 10 1
More Items 81 111 17 49 10 1


Scavenger Hunt

You start with 128 General XP, 2000 Gold and 0 ATs. As initially equipped, you will have about MR 34 and SP 42.[29]

You begin in Hawklor, so go to the small windowless building with a blue door and collect all the bonuses available. In total, you should be able to get a bonus for upgrading the character to AG (2,048 General XP, 2,000 gold and 8 ATs), a "special" XP bonus (another 3,072 General XP) and the Dragonclaw Amulet.

(You get at least 50 AT for subscribing to the AG, if you did so in the first three days since you created your account, you'll also have an additional special bonus pack available (16 AT, 5,000 gold and 4,000 General XP). Only one of your characters can claim these, so make sure you claim them with the character you plan to make your main. We won't take these amounts into account on this guide.)

Before leaving Hawklor, visit the shop of Irzynn the Outfitter and take his sample wares. You can also start The Caves of Westwold to pick up the gear it offers. We'll deal with completing the quest later.

A word about loot: As a general rule, you'll get a good balance of value to encumbrance if you only pick up Common or better armor and Sturdy or better weapons. Consult the Item Selling Guide for more precise info. Also, before you sell anything at a shop, make sure that any items you DON'T want to sell are Non-Droppable. This is a good idea for all unique and/or magic items. At the very least, we strongly suggest checking the item's page on the wiki before selling anything other than generic armor and weapons.

Travel to Durnsig and visit Irzynn's cottage to get Goblindoom and the Adventurer's Ring. Revisit Irzynn's for some valuable information. At the Durnsig Market, buy a Large Backpack, which is the only backpack you will ever need. Also buy the small dwelling (if bargaining fails, you can exit the shop and try again) and store the extra amulets you've already acquired. From now until you get your Residence you can store any items you're not ready to sell at the dwelling.[30]

From Durnsig, travel to Talinus and SAVE. Then visit Thaoni at the Moonshore Crossroads to learn and train Weaponry to Level 2 and Weaponry: Slashing to Level 5.[31][32] WARNING: You have to do all the trainings in one sitting because she leaves after the first time you speak with her.

Before you start getting all the skills, take the ones that are most needed and come back to get the other later. To learn staves you will pay much more per previous skill; might be easier to buy that before getting expensive armour too.For example you only need one weapon specialization; get the other 7 within 200 played days and buy the Quickstone and you will not lose AS&P or bonus experience.

Welcome to Trithik

Now travel to Trithik. There's a lot to be done here.

First, find Criveson's Fur & Fletching among the buildings flanking Blade Square to buy the Archery skill and a Short Bow.[33] You'll have lots of opportunities to use Archery.

Feel free to mix and match the following quests, as the first two can be tedious if luck isn't on your side:

  1. A Cold Winter's Night. This is a very short and easy quest. Necromancy 20 allows you to skip the combats altogether. Abandon (quit without saving) and repeat it if necessary, until you receive Knight's Leggings.[34]
  2. "Have a Random Encounter Here" until you encounter Borimm Locksong. You may have to flee from some random combats or reload your game a few times (avoid going to jail!), but all the important encounters can be had again later. Return to Borimm's hall with him, then revisit him by traveling. Learn Woodsmanship and level it up to 20 (requires 208 general XP).
  3. Lyrelocke Monastery. Afterwards SAVE, then train Weaponry with Brother Kol.[35]
  4. Visit The Griffon's Ledge Alehouse and make A Special Request for Ale (ask for Silvermark for 1 AT). Follow it up with a refreshing drought of Charna Ale and do The River Pirates.[36] You want the Raven's Foot Medallion. Do not sell it.
  5. Complete A Midday Encounter to acquire the Goblin Statuette,which will be worth 2 AT for you later on.
  6. Visit the small, dilapidated building in Eastern Trithik and join The Silver Crest by completing Fullbrak's Farm and The Takabak.


Unloading

Next go to The River Guild trade office in Mirgspil, buy a River Guild Medallion for 3,000 gold and start selling your loot in The River Guild Emporiums. You will have to travel between Mirgspil, Trithik and Tryndmoor to find the best offers for each item type on a given day.[37] Don't forget to make things you don't want to sell Non-Droppable.

From now on, we'll assume that you'll sell or store your items as needed and won't prompt you.

More Skills

Your next stop is Port Hallik for The Silver Crown, after which you can learn Seamanship from The Eye of the Sea. You can also get an extra +4 in Seamanship from repeated visits to the Eye of the Sea.[38] Don't visit Gull Street yet.

Return to Hawklor and SAVE. If you prefer more NV or want another Aura, Mind, or Spirit to make levelling cheaper: Explore Hawklor until you find and fight a hag for the Ring of Souls. It will cover you, at least until you complete a certain goblin tomb. There are barely any wrist items so most players want to replace this with a better ring ASAP, but it's light enough to carry it to equip purely for levelling without losing any significant loot space. This kind of tradeoff happens more often later in the game; don't sell anything that might be useful later, and use your house(s) until items are clearly obsolete. To save frustration, don't be too proud to flee from any unwinnable attacks while exploring, and save often.

Then travel to Bentlimb Wood and explore until you find Toribikk, The Ancient Dhormu and learn Lore. Quit and reload for extra explorations, if you need to.[39]

Congratulations! You have all your core skills except Horsemanship, which comes much later.

Home Sweet Hawklor

When you return to Hawklor, use the generous specific XP rewards from Toribikk to level up the affected skills (it's always a good idea to SAVE before leveling skills and powers). If you started with 8 points in Arcana and a 25% bonus, you'll be able to level up to 30, which will let you identify items in any SAFE place. You'll have a bit less in Lore, and over 30 in Woodsmanship. Go ahead and raise Restoration to 20 now, too.[40] While you're at it, apply the specific XP you've accumulated in Weaponry and Slashing. You'll probably end up around 15 in each.

Head to Mirgspil and clear out The Old Cathedral for 1000 gold. Be sure to get the Dagger Of Nightmares (as Unidentified Dagger with ID 524) and SUBDUE Nespii the Thief so that you don't lock yourself out of So We Meet Again, which you can follow up with. Just hang on to those unidentified items for now; you'll be able to ID them soon.

It's time to come back to Hawklor and complete The Caves of Westwold. This is one of a few early quests that unlock much of the other content in the game. It will get you a fair amount of gold, XP, and maybe even some useful loot. With Goblindoom in hand, you can probably complete the entire adventure without resting.

When you get back to Hawklor, you can USE your Level 30 Arcana to identify the Unidentified Ring, which turns into Spiked Iron Ring. Be sure to apply your specific XP to Weaponry and Slashing if you haven't; you'll need the extra MR soon. While here, go to the stables for free sturdy leather armours and unlock the Blue Moss Cave.

Head to the Stoneback Tavern to encounter Mirew Piperen for 12 AT and The Man With the Painted Face. SAVE, return to the Stoneback and become The Hammertongue Champion. Follow it up by getting Baomar's Treasure for 6 ATs, a lot of gold and random high quality items. You can have around 90 SP by this point, but those items will eventually be replaced so don't worry if you have less.[41]

Complete The Savage Wild, this is another quest which unlocks a fair amount of game content. Take the goblin statuette and the pelts you found to Phak-Rur and explore until you find Timikith's Shop, where you can sell them for a total of 10 ATs. (Avoid the Krogari for now, but any other encounters you have will be fine.)

Next, travel to Tallys's Trading Post, near Trithik. Use your ATs to buy a shield, or the best you can afford.[42] With your first Tallys item in your inventory, you can visit Tallys' small cottage. Start The Missing Hilt so you can do everything in Tarkhald Crypt at once, later on.

Go back to Hawklor, return to the tavern again and mingle in the common room. First you'll have to complete The Lone Rider. SAVE, then mingle again to do Gralgarak's Tomb. It shouldn't give you much trouble, and the loot is excellent (especially the Emerald Bracelet). You should also get enough specific XP to further raise Weaponry and Slashing to 20+, very likely 25 in both.

Finally, start A Blizzard in the Hills and explore until you find the Icy Cave, where you can collect 4 AT and a valuable longsword. If you run out of explorations or lose a villager in the meantime, just quit and reload.

Greater Talinus

Travel to Talinus. You can do the following in any order, these are just the quests that we suggest you be sure to complete at this stage.

  1. With Talinus as a convenient base, you can complete The Ghost Ship and collect 4 ATs.
  2. You can also get 4 ATs from A Fireside Encounter, depending on the path you choose. (We'll assume you choose a path that gives them to you.)
  3. Complete Sleepless Night to get the Darkwood Ring.
  4. Do some Eavesdropping or just explore Talinus for "Larksong Way" to start Lothren. Once you've accessed Kyul-Thanor, The Missing Standing Stone Jewel to find the Ring Of Dark Valour. You may as well complete the other Kyul-Thanor quests while you're at it; there's no reason to return to Shadowedge later.
A Big Day in Durnsig

Go back to Durnsig. If you haven't already, you might want to take this opportunity to unload anything you're not using at your residence. If there's stuff that you want to sell but is currently being bought for too little money in the Emporiums, you can collect it again later.

It's time for A Haunting in Durnsig. It's fairly easy, but longer than most of the quests you've done so far. You'll get lots of good combat XP, and you'll have a list of items to choose from at the end. Do your homework before you decide what item to take. In general the best items are:

For this guide, we'll go with the Dragonwing Breastplate.

Next you can do The Seven Knight Statues, which shouldn't give you much trouble as long as you rest and save often. You can leave most of the items you get in your dwelling, but you'll want Cape Of The Griffon. The specific experience acquired here should allow you to train Weaponry and Weaponry: Slashing to 30+ (we reached over 35 in each).

More Items

Return to Hawklor to do The Giants - Part I - A Solemn Decree. You want to get the Wooden Master's Ring and the Ring Of Battle Spirit.

Before you leave the Hart Hills, be sure to visit Kolnia to buy the Rusty Longsword from the peddler. Put it somewhere safe!

Part 2: Bigger Things[]

The goal of Part 2 is to guide you through getting most of your remaining powers and skills, which involves some of the longer low-level adventures. You will be traveling a lot more between adventures than in Part 1.


Section MR SP NvR ATs Skills Powers
Thievery in Tryndmoor 83 111 17 49 10 1
Meet Thane Pyrond 83 111 17 49 10 1
The Grey Circle 83 111 17 49 10 7
More Powers 83 111 20 49 10 10
The Creyn Blade +2 111 20 49 10 10
Weaponry Subskills 83 111 20 39 15 10
ATs, Please 83 111 20 52 10 10
Next Steps 89 110 20 52 15 10


Thievery in Tryndmoor

If you chose Necromancy, take a quick detour to Westmere for the quest Books and Bandits at Zumryn's Battlegrounds. The specific XP reward that will get you from Necromancy 20 to 30+, which may be helpful as you have a lot of undead ahead of you.

Your main objective in Tryndmoor is to meet The Man in the Leather Hat. He WILL beat you, so be sure to REST afterwards!

Doing The Dragon Statue will boost your Thievery, which is one of the most commonly checked skills. You'll have to do Across a Crowded Room first to unlock it. Once you access the sewers, pause to level up your Weaponry and Slashing, if you haven't yet. You should be at or near 40 (you will definitely be by the end of the quest).

Don't rush through the quest objectives as soon as you get to the sewers. Take out the skeletons for combat XP (you won't use the keys), then wander around and have random encounters until your Thievery reward for disarming traps drops to 2, resting in the SAFE spot as needed. Apply your specific XP to Thievery before you finish the quest, and if you don't get it to 30, top it off with general XP so you don't miss out on the extra Thievery reward for opening the gates. If any of the required fights give you trouble, just try again. The MRs are somewhat random. The additional specific XP reward at the end of the quest should get you past Thievery 40.


Meet Thane Pyrond

Do The Thane's Tournament of Arms. Save, then negotiate to get 2500 gold from Bryniver for the Gold Cup Of Zaafyl (it doesn't have a further use).[43][44]

It's time for The Secret of Stoneback Hill, which will unlock more powers and give you access to lots of other quests.[45] Be sure to go in with lots of space for loot, and be sure to come out with (at the very least) the Tattered Scroll, the Elixir Of The Torrent, the Black Steel Axe, and the Massive Leather Tome.

After the adventure, SAVE and apply the Elixir of the Torrent to an ability of your choice. You may want to check the XP Bonus article again. (Do not read the Tattered Scroll until you have all 10 basic powers.) You can also apply the specific XP on your skills, but hold off a bit on powers. Pay a visit to Trynd Keep to access your new residence. Store your Dragonwing Breastplate there before you do The Beast of Ironfang.

As your last act in Trithik for now, start The Hunt for the Phantom Assassin. You probably won't complete it right away (there seems to be a limit on how often you can find an assassin), but you can certainly take the first one out now. You should continue to work on it as you move between the next few tasks.


The Grey Circle

Unless you've spent a lot of general XP for some reason, you should already have the 15,872 XP that you need to buy powers from the Grey Circle. If you come up short, do a few filler quests or more of Hunt for the Phantom Assassin.

Travel to Talinus and join the Grey Circle, then buy six powers of your choice [46] (except Elementalism). You can also take advantage of the 10% experience bonus to apply your specific XP to Restoration. You should level up powers at the Grey Circle for as long as you can (though Necromancy and Shadow Magic are not available).


More Powers

In Graldok, do Daggerspire, which will reward you with Elementalism, Kozuron's Hood, the Ring Of Mystic Ability, access to the Graldok Bazaar and the last river guild emporium.[47]

Next, you're off to Stormfield to do The Murk and A Journey Into the Murk for your last two powers (check the quest pages for details on how to get them). We suggest Amulet Of Storms as your reward from the Murk.

That's it! Your only remaining power is Shadow Magic, which will come much later. Reward yourself by reading the Tattered Scroll for +3 NV.


Optional objective - The Creyn Blade

The Creyn Blade is a powerful weapon, with a higher MR than Goblindoom and an extra +10 vs undead. However, it can be painfully hard to get at this level. If luck is against you and you get tired of replaying, you can safely leave it for later.

Travel to Axepath Cemetery, find the SAFE location and SAVE. Start The Last Trek Out while you're there. Then make your way through Axepath, returning to the entrance to rest and save often. Axepath is a scaled scenario, which means your MR doesn't matter, only your SP. You can do most of the optional combats if you want (great combat XP for leveling Weaponry or Necromancy), but don't visit the overgrown hill yet.

Be sure to save one last time when you reach the archway with the trap, then play through the final section. You will get the Creyn Blade the first time the random gold drop at the end is over 250, so if that doesn't happen, quit and try again. Once you have it, find a place to save immediately. DO NOT try to do the Hall of Seven Ghouls.

Strategy tips:

  • Raise Arcana to 50 so you can learn the Aldvarian 'word of destruction' to make the final combat easier.
  • Equip your high-NV gear (Kozuron's Hood, Ring of Mystic Ability, Amulet of Storms, etc) for this quest only, maybe even just for the last part of it (see next suggestion).
  • In the last section, attack the 9+ foes and use Necromancy against the 11+ foes. You can't recover between combats, but if you're taking a lot of damage, try using Restoration during the 9+ fights.
  • Consider using a Kepbekk Elixir before combat when you can't use Restoration (you will recover it if you quit without saving, and the reward is worth it).


Weaponry Subskills

Take your shiny ATs to Trithik, where some poking around in Blade Square will get you into the Adventurer Collective. You should have enough gold on hand to join the AC and learn Weaponry: Staves (35,000 total) now. You'll definitely have enough once you finish Hunt for the Phantom Assassin. Learn the location of Copper Hilt Lodge before leaving.

With Weaponry: Staves out of the way, visit Thofyra's Training Yard in Talinus to learn the rest of the Weaponry subskills for 256 XP and 100 gold each (Weaponry: Bashing, Weaponry: Hacking, Weaponry: Stabbing, and Weaponry: Polearms).

ATs, Please

First, go to Durnsig and SAVE at your dwelling before venturing into Tarkhald Crypt. You can complete both Lord Tarkhald and The Missing Hilt, which are worth 4 ATs each. It's a good idea to leave and save at key points. Before you leave Tarkhald Crypt for good, you can also get the Thin Crystal Ring.

Then join the Copper Hilt Lodge Guild Hall, rest after losing the fight with the Lodge Master and complete A Simple Enough Task for 5 ATs (-10 for joining and +15 for the task). Leave the rest of the quests there for later.[48]

Go to warfoot for a quick 10AT

Next Steps

If you haven't yet, be sure to complete Hunt for the Phantom Assassin to get Ring Of Long Shadows, which can replace your Ring Of Battle Spirit. Chances are you have enough specific XP to raise Weaponry and Weaponry: Slashing to 50+, or you can get it with just a few side quests.

If you want to collect all the interesting items in the game, you need to do Exploring Gull Street in Port Hallik now, while you still can. There is a check that you need to fail, which adds double your Diplomacy and only requires 50 to pass. It is immediately followed by Captain Greenfen.

You can also complete A Dragon's Lair in Talinus for the Owl Wing Belt (look for ID 578 on the unidentified belt) and a Pouch Of Emeralds. Slay the dragon (it might take a few tries, especially when trying to get the belt at the same time) for some really good combat XP. Take the pouch of emeralds to Thane Pyrond in Trynd Keep and bargain with him for 1500 gold.

Part 3: The Plot Thickens[]

The goal of Part 3 is to help you get those last few pesky skills/powers. This will lead you significantly farther along some of the major plot lines in the game. You're ready for this part in terms of MR, but you're about to encounter a lot of skill/power checks at level 30-50 or even higher. It's a good idea to take a look at the checks in each adventure (especially the Proving Grounds!) before you start, in case you need to raise something.


Section MR SP NvR ATs Skills Powers
A Little Bit More 101 118 18 76 15 10
Unlocking Saarngard - - - 86 15 10
Saarngard Skills - - - 86 17 10
Runeskin - - - 102 17 10
Further Upgrades - - - 102 17 10
Next to Last - - - 126 18 10
Finale - - - 135 18 11


A Little Bit More

To raise your MR a few more points, go to the Goblinclaw Inn for Into the Cellar (Goblinclaw). Then take a seat in the common room, where you can have your first encounter with The Creepy Old Man before you do Lift the Box. Keep the Assassin's Bracelet and return the box empty for 8 ATs, or return both for 16 ATs to speed up better equipment.[49]

Next, clear out Mezaryl's Cellar for 8 more ATs. You should now have enough to upgrade your shield to around 82 ATs.

Raising skills and powers to the required levels for becoming useful in some of the adventures below can take a toll on your General XP pool. AS&P XP is stored however, so you can lessen the load by receiving a lot of it without jeopardising your rewards. It's therefore a good idea to complete A Blizzard in the Hills for 3,840 AS&P XP, the Cane-Shaped Pendant and 8 ATs. Raise Restoration to 30 first and SAVE after returning each villager so you can reload as needed.

You should now have more than enough to raise skills to level 50 and powers to level 40, Weaponry and Weaponry: Slashing should be at 60+ with a 25 XP training bonus. As you apply your specific XP rewards from these and the next few quests, hold 512 XP in reserve on a Weaponry subskill of your choice. It'll come in handy very soon.

As of October 2022 the 2 quests in the following paragraph appear to be currently unavailable. This may be temporary or permanent so continue to check for them but don't let them hold you up if they're not around.

Once you have 10 skills or powers at Level 50, save and log out. In Trithik at the gates look for the formal (if not found try the next day) Quest:Dreams and Whispers and follow up with Quest:Simple Choices the next day for a ton of customized stat points. It may take more time to get to the required levels to unlock the quest, so is not included in the stat chart here. Keep in mind the stat table in this guide and item choices are only a guideline, as how much you need depends more on your play style as you progress. Do you only max out MR, and only need max 50 NV? What about long quests and hard boss specials, do you need more SP?

With your expert Diplomacy skill, clear out Deadman's Dark and The Missing Miners for the Amulet Of Quietus which will improve on your Dragonclaw Amulet by 4 SP and 2 NV. If you don't want to spend General XP on raising Lore to the required level of 60, start going up levels on Daidrur's Mark, do a few more AS&P Quests or just store it until you've dealt with Runeskin.

Finally, buy a Mount from Garsmyn the Horse Trader for 5,000 gold and travel to receive an instant +1 bonus to MR, SP and NV each. You'll get one for free eventually, but the stat boosts aren't that expensive and may be helpful in the meantime.


Unlocking Saarngard

We'll turn our sights now to Saarngard Isle, where you will get two of your four remaining skills/powers. There are two extra adventures that you have to do before you can complete the series of quests that takes you to Saarngard.

First, do Proving Grounds I. Use the wiki page and stay alert, since any losses will hurt your final AT and XP rewards, but you should be fine. Once you have your final reward, do Orth's Treasure Map for -10 ATs and a stat boost of your choice, we'll go with +3 to MR for this guide. Then if possible upgrade your shield at Tallys'

Make sure you have at least 4 ATs left over, so you can start Solundor's Grand Ring of Illusion at the Dragonhill Fields. Complete ONLY the first three stages of the contest (beware: unlike the Proving Grounds, you aren't automatically healed between stages here). This is the second requirement for Saarngard. You may do his short sidequest but it's not required; you'll lose access to the sidequest if you complete the whole tournament first.

Saarngard Skills

Now visit Thane Pyrond in Trynd Keep, where he has some tasks for you. Since you've done the other two requirements, you can complete this saga and reach Saarngard all at once. (For the record: we substituted Ring Of Disguise for the Darkwood Ring.)

On the island: move about the keep, visit the west camp, then the list field, then attempt to qualify for the joust to learn Weaponry: Lances (if you don't have 512 in a weaponry skill, it will be 1024 general XP). Next, you'll need to do The Outpost. Make sure you have Necromancy 40 for a little hidden reward here.

You will learn Horsemanship as soon as you start Four Days Outside the Hold, but then you have to survive the adventure. You can probably do it with Goblindoom, but it will be easier if you bring the Creyn Blade (which we did). You should be more than strong enough to handle the Xymaulors by now, but they have variable MRs, so if they're too tough the first time, keep trying. The generous specific XP rewards at the end should boost your Woodsmanship and Horsemanship both to 60+, after you've gone to the Small windowless building with a blue door to acquire the stored XP for your newly received skills.

Two down, two to go. Your final skill and power both involve Proving Grounds adventures, so it's best to go in thoroughly prepared.

To that end, you should complete Simple Choices then save somewhere. Next, Quest:Kirylda's Tomb and get the combined Serpent Ring, replacing the worst ring you have. Come back after Runeskin if it's too difficult now.

Runeskin[]

Travel to Dor-Droat to meet Runeskin's Minions. Follow that with An Axe to Grind and The Gallows, then No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.... Technically you can do these in any order, but if you do No Good Deed last, you can go right on to A Helping Hand. It's a good idea to make those Small Black Gems Non-Droppable.

Again, SAVE somewhere (Tryndmoor is closest), then travel to Silverwysp, where you should ask around until Late One Afternoon becomes available.[50] After that, leave and return to Silverwysp (just hit "Travel" and then immediately re-enter) to unlock the rest of the Runeskin saga.

Do First Mission for Millark first. Then you can do An Engine of War, From Above, Barbaric, and A Ragged Band in any order. Once they're out of the way, proceed through the rest of the quests.

This saga offers lots of loot and several special items which you'll probably be using for a long time: The Demonscourge, Runeskin's Ring, your choice of Iakor's Weapons (we'll stick with a sword for the guide), and your choice of Iakor's armour (if you followed the guide with regard to A Haunting in Durnsig and Lift the Box, you should choose Iakor's Crown. If you took the 16 AT instead at Lift the Box, consider the Wristband.) Between those and some excellent loot drops, my SP was 128 by the end. If yours is lower, don't sweat it.

There are also multiple AS&P rewards (1024, combined) and a special XP reward at the end that you can use to boost 1-6 of your skills or powers. You'll get the biggest total bonus if you choose just two instead of spreading it around - see A Dark Chapter Closes and A Prince Uncrowned for details. We chose our favorite powers, Restoration and Necromancy, but there are many other strategic possibilities.[51] By now you should be able to decide which quests work with your stats and which to put of; no point micro-managing you with the goals in the table. Besides, you've been playing long enough that new quests, or at least contests have come out that give stat rewards not included in this guide. Either that or you've paid and got boosts and ATs to use that displace other items.

Further Upgrades

If you don't like having a Demonic alignment, take your Iakor's Weapon to the Cathedral, then Mezaryl in Trithik to trade it for its Shimmering Silver counterpart. Your new weapon so far outclasses the old ones that you can retire Goblindoom and Creyn Blade except for scaled scenarios.

We equipped Runeskin's Ring in place of the Ring of Disguise, though there's not an obvious "best" configuration anymore. You should be in spitting distance of Weaponry and Weaponry: Slashing 65, maybe even there already, but we won't count them yet.

Let's make one more detour before returning to the business of skills and powers. You don't have to do this now, but it can only help. Travel to The Ruined City of Tarn and SAVE at the sheltered hollow. Then enter the city and fix the fountain and dip your new weapon in it for an extra +2 MR and +1 SP.[52][53] If you have any run-ins with Halgiroms or Tarn-Hurn statues, try an attack power or just flee. As able, get Tallys' Silver-banded breastplate for an added boost.

Next to Last

It's time to do Proving grounds, up to PG IV for Weaponry: Troll-Bont, which shouldn't give you any trouble. You'll receive a few interesting items in the course of the adventure, most notably the Sorcerer's Band and Medallion Of Phase Form.[54]

The specific XP from PG IV should lock in Weaponry and Weaponry: Slashing 65 for you, and you can upgrade your shield with the extra ATs. If you've been training powers at the Grey Circle, you should be at or approaching 55 in those.

A brief interlude: Be sure to do The Axe of Bramble now, because Teek's shop closes down part way through PG V. You can also do the follow-up adventure to PG IV, A Chance Encounter.[55]

Finale

On to PG V, at least to the point that you get Shadow Magic. The hardest required combats you might face pre-Shadow Magic are 9+ @ 105. There are a couple of 60+ power checks (Fortification 60 will get you through both of them), but the random checks that result if you don't have one are fairly easy. Be sure to take the route through the Crown Hill in the very first scenario or you'll miss out on some ATs.

In the scenario "The Eye of the Storm" you will receive Shadow Magic and a generous amount of specific XP (enough to get it over level 60 with a 25% training bonus after you've received your stored XP). Congratulations! You have all your skills/powers, freeing you to explore at will.

Now What?

It's probably wise to leave the rest of PG V for later - things are tougher after you get Shadow Magic.

Your options are wide open, but here are some suggestions for next goals:

  • Return to Saarngard Isle for The Joust, which will reward you with the Snake's Head Medallion and a free mount.
  • Go to Tryndmoor and take out that murderer Mossy Green Knight and claim his Higher SP, lighter armour to help with all that looting.
  • Gather enough ATs for a Quickstone, stat boosts various ways like Tarlaro's and Tallys', and possibly a Residence.
  • Once you have all possible skill and power types and Quickstone (or within 200 days that you received XP before you buy it and use it's Blue Door XP bonus) you can do many of the AS&P quests purposely skipped in this guide. They are worth much more now, if you're been following a form of Purist strategy.
  • 7 Goblins for +4 MR and SP.
  • Grind for 150K gold and 200 Battle Markers (or 100K gold and 100 BMs if you're within 120 days of going AG) to get your Varkyn's Ring Of Motley Wonder.

Don't forget to work on getting your Glittering Ice Shield! You don't need to hoard general experience too obsessively, but we suggest keeping 100,000 or so in reserve due to various items, including the Ice Shield, that require experience to maximize. One way help you 'spenders' "save" some of that XP reserve is by only redeeming that Quickstone bonus every 90 playing days. Or at this stage, you could only use general XP to level items, not skills/powers.

The Quest List will be your friend from here on out. Also watch for game updates that haven't been added to the wiki yet. See Best Items By Type for more tips on where to find items to power you up, and Ways to Alter Your Base Stats for more info on improving MR, SP, NV, and your Ability scores. Use the Sryth Discord server if you want discussion. Invite link https://discord.gg/hE8NPBQY55

Most importantly, have fun!

Appendix[]

Safe Quests[]

These are quests and events not mentioned yet that are safe to complete before you have All Skills and Powers. Many are very low level, while some are tougher than anything in the guide or not good early game quests for other reasons. Use your judgement. There may also be newer quests which have not been added to this list.

Deepwell
Kurthyl Rise
Foxfell Forest
Mirgspil
Trithik
The Withered Hills
Moonwolf's Camp
The Ironshore Hollows
Talinus
Moonshore Crossroads
Trollneck
Hawklor
Durnsig
Marl's Wood
Wintereye Lake
Graldok
Tryndmoor
Meglasmire
  • Meglasmire - One of Thievery, Elementalism, Necromancy, or Telekinesis 70+ required
Crow Hill
Zumryn's Battlegrounds
Saarngard Isle
Your Residence

Purist Strategy[]

Getting those last few Skills and Powers is hard without doing AS&P quests. The only required AS&P quests are The Secret of Stoneback Hill and PG I. It's especially difficult to combine the AS&P purist approach with the specific XP purist approach, but it can be done.

Parts of the guide that you will want to modify if you're taking a strict purist route:

  • Get your Weaponry subskills before The Secret of Stoneback Hill (try some side quests or grinding Axepath for the gold).
  • Skip the guide sections called "A Little Bit More", "Runeskin", and "Further Upgrades".
  • Do enough of PG IV to get Weaponry: Troll-Bont but don't finish it.

The big disadvantage of this approach is that you'll be missing some major MR items. To overcome this problem, try one or more of the following:

  • Do more side quests, grind, or use general XP to improve your Weaponry skills.
  • Specialize in Unarmed Combat, combined with Wyxryn's Master Ring.
  • Use an attack power and your high NV gear where the fights are more difficult than the normal approach.
  • Consider buying some unmatched Plate Armor to increase your SP.

One key to avoiding AS&P quests is gathering more ATs to supplement your Tallys's gear. You can get these ATs without losing AS&P rewards (some are already included in the guide - others are difficult to complete early in the game):

The Purist Equation[]

This was the motivation behind the "purist" approach: If we equate Specific experience to General, from a certain quantity X of AS&P XP, you get

X * (number of skills + number of powers) * 1.1

The 1.1 accounts for the 10% Quickstone bonus to all experience rewards. Thus, every time you receive AS&P XP, you lose (as in "not receive as much")

1.1 * X * (29 - number of skills - number of powers). 

As you start with (number of powers + number of skills) = 6, we can calculate the table of "virtual losses" in "equivalent General XP" for each point of AS&P gained in not-purist way.

Number of Skills + Powers
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
25.3 24.2 23.1 22 20.9 19.8 18.7 17.6 16.5 15.4 14.3 13.2 12.1 11 9.9 8.8 7.7 6.6 5.5 4.4 3.3 2.2 1.1

So for example the minimum unavoidable "loss" of the 128 AS&P XP from Stoneback Hill would be equivalent to 3,228 General XP if played right at the beginning, and to an absolute minimum of 986 General XP if played at the last possible moment after getting all skills and powers otherwise available. Big from a certain point of view, but in light of the required amount of the same "equivalent General XP" (at the best situation of 30% XP Bonus to everything) to reach certain milestones, not so much. In fact, almost negligible in the long run.

Examples
  • From 1 to all 70's: 332,388 for Skills, 774,378 for powers
  • From 1 to all 80's: 1,261,368 for skills, 2,437,578 for powers
  • From 1 to all 90's: 4,055,814 for skills, 5,763,978 for powers
  • From 1 to All Legendary: 11,067,264 for Skills, 12,416,778 for Powers

Still, it's your decision. Some play the purist way for a challenge too.

Footnotes[]

  1. The Lifetime Upgrade bonus for a normal upgrade is 50 AT, they may not be retrievable after a character who has claimed them has been deleted or restarted. The Adventurer's Pack is awarded to accounts that subscribe to Adventurers Guild on the first three days after account creation. It contains 16 AT, 5000 gold and 4,000 General XP, and only one of your characters can claim it. If you take it with a character, the only way to give it to another one is to restart or delete that character
  2. There is a fourth currency, Battle Markers (from now on, BM), which can be useful in some situations but is not central to gameplay.
  3. To learn how to get gold, go to Item Selling Guide. See also Gold.
  4. It's also a long-run objective, since you don't need to advance that far to complete all current content. So far, only a few adventurers have reached this point.
  5. Unless you're deliberately leaving a skill under par - typically a specific combat skill like Weaponry:Stabbing. This allows you to fight less efficiently with certain weapons, which is sometimes useful.
  6. This means 128 AS&P XP is worth 3712 XP (with all current 18 skills and 11 powers).
  7. Stored XP will be counted when you receive new skills/powers and acquire it inside a Windowless Building.
  8. For example, just before an adventure which requires it - a great example is Archery before The Lists of Talwarden.
  9. Some players take this as a self-imposed challenge, increasing their levels with just specific XP (specially after level 70-80, where checks requiring such high levels become less common).
  10. There are several advantages of doing this:
    • You can playtest new adventures with the secondaries before running the main through them, thus maximising your earnings and reducing your mistakes. This is especially important in the Proving Grounds, where each defeat counts.
    • You can benefit of the limited time adventures' rewards (specially, the valuable AT) with the secondaries, thus easing their future adventures once you grow tired of your main and switch to them as new mains.
    • You can play the single-run content several times (and the game is worth it)
  11. Grinding for newbies: Many of the Clearable Dungeons are comparatively easy, but they have a long reset timer. You can handle most of Axepath Cemetery with SP ~80, Necromancy 20 and Restoration 20 (you can leave without doing all of it). With Arcana 50, you can handle the whole thing. Remember to rest and save often. You can come back an hour later (Or less, since the 60-minute timer is only triggered when you enter or if you kill Lord Creyn) for more.
  12. Grinding starts paying off when you can do it quickly. To do that, you need a good SP pool (>100 SP for a start, and the more the better), and a quickstone. A good restoration level helps a lot. For Axepath, Rotbane Sword or Creyn Blade make it much easier. Ditto for the Bone Horde Challenge. For non-scaled scenarios (see the replayable list) better gear improves your return rate. A residence will also shorten your selling trips (it is quite noticeable when you grind a lot).
  13. You may want to wait until you've dealt with other major expenses. You will eventually get a mount for free on Saarngard Isle
  14. But make sure you don't sell something unique that might be useful later. Check the Item Selling Guide and the item's page for more advice. In general, don't sell magic items at all.
  15. As of early 2012, you need to reach MR 200 or so to complete all game content. It's very possible to achieve that without donating beyond the AG subscription, but it will take some time (at least the 40-42 days mentioned previously.)
  16. You can also buy Unmatched Plate armour (the best non-magical pieces) at Gryphook's, but they are really expensive, requiring some major grinding to buy them.
  17. Some tips:
    • If the enemies are 3+ to hit, or it's a scaled scenario, focus on SP and NvR instead of MR.
    • You can also switch to a weapon with a useful power, like the Hale Blade, or with an appropriate bonus against some foes (like the Creyn Blade if you're going to fight scaled undead).
    • Specially quick and easy is the switching of some rings, of which you will be able to carry several spare ones (they have little effect on encumbrance).
  18. The less skills you have when you get it, the cheaper it gets, so the sooner the better. See the AC and Weaponry pages for details. If you plan (or don't mind) to grind so much that 30,000 extra gold won't matter to you, you can safely leave it for the last.
  19. The Tattered Scroll from The Secret of Stoneback Hill gives you a power, or gives you +3 NvR (permanent boost) if used when you have all 10 basic powers. So, you can buy only 5 powers from the Grey Circle if you want to use the Scroll to learn a power, but it's a poor trade-off to lose a permanent NvR bonus for mere XP.
  20. Before the storing of AS&P XP was added, players tended to avoid AS&P quests as much as possible until they had received all skills and powers. See The Purist Equation for an explanation.
  21. One reward for the self-imposed challenge of the purist player is to amass the greatest possible General XP hoard.
  22. When this guide was written, Finger Of Dread, Glittering Ice Shield, The Bowl Of Blood, Phantom Armour, Phantom Weapon, and The Circle of the Wolf all required significant amounts of general XP to complete.
  23. See the XP Bonus article for advice on "perfect" and "near-optimal" combinations of stats.
  24. These are the only skills that are not available in-game except from the Adventurers' Collective for a ruinous price.
  25. The reason for the 10/8/1/1 configuration is a certain very early game reward which requires Thievery 10 to acquire (though it's negligible in the long run) and the fact that it's useful to get Arcana to 30 as quickly as possible to identify items. Many early game Diplomacy checks have no level requirement, but if you're considering Unarmed Combat as your primary fighting skill you might want a 17/1/1/1 distribution instead.
  26. Restoration is better than an attack power because Restoration helps you get through adventures where you can't rest. Also, having it from the start helps you to get all skills as soon as possible. However Necromancy is a very potent attack Power and can otherwise only be obtained through two adventures
  27. It used to be possible to select Startup Scenarios, and it was recommended to choose The Wandering Undead. Hand over the glowing blue stone to get the Stone Skull Amulet and the Necromancy power. Again, this is no longer possible.
  28. Where the numbers come from:
    • In general, this guide will assume that you're trying to maximize MR and SP. The values given are minimums based on the equipment and skill levels stated in the guide. You may have different values based on loot drops, random variations in combat XP, extra quests or encounters, and certain item choices.
    • The AT count will reflect the number of ATs not permanently expended. Some or all of them will be invested in Tallys's gear most of the time.
  29. If your values are different, the GM may have changed the starting equipment. These numbers are with a common Short Sword, three pieces of Padded Armor, and the Jade Battle Amulet.
  30. You can ignore the limit on the number of items; that mechanic is broken.
  31. We recommend these levels because you get a point of MR at Slashing 5 and you'll be able to catch Weaponry up very soon, but in the long run it doesn't matter much.
  32. If you're determined to squeeze out every last drop of XP, or if you're playing a different weapon type, you can train at Thofyra's Training Yard now and visit Thaoni at a higher level (see Moonshore Crossroads for specifics) - but you have to remember to do it!
  33. This will be your bow until you have the gold to spare for one of Zumryn's Grand Ashen Bows.
  34. There are other decent options (see quest for details), but Knights Leggings will serve you the longest, at least for the rest of this guide unless you have a spectacularly lucky loot drop. If you didn't get the leggings and can't go back, though, it's okay because they will eventually be replaced by the Nightsong Greaves.
  35. You don't have to train with Brother Kol now. The best use of XP is to level up from 38 to 40 on each skill, but as with Thaoni you have to REMEMBER to do it when the time comes. You can also learn Weaponry: Bashing from Brother Kol, but all in all you're better off waiting to get it at Thofyra's with the rest of the Weaponry subskills.
  36. Don't be intimidated by Lorgg; his MR drops each round.
  37. You'll get a lot of high quality items shortly and recover the gold easily, but if you prefer to take care of more important expenses first you should go to Grutlang's Trading Post instead and sell any loot you've picked up worth 800 gold or less. Anything worth more than that you should keep for now.
  38. The best use of XP is to wait until Seamanship 47 for your return visits, but once again there is the challenge of remembering.
  39. You may wish to wait to do this if you did not choose Restoration so you don't lose the specific XP for it
  40. If you're feeling really hardcore, you can wait until you've completed Stoneback Hill and have access to the additional 10% experience bonus granted by the Grey Circle, but it's only a difference of about 50 XP, and higher Restoration will make your life easier in the meantime.
  41. You will get a great helm shortly and optionally a fantastic breastplate too, so concentrate on the other slots if you're reloading to get good items.
  42. You will be relying on Tallys's shields to boost your MR until you can get the Glittering Ice Shield, so it's a good idea to upgrade whenever you have ATs to spare (you can always switch to a cheaper one again if you need ATs for something more important).
  43. You only get one chance at an improved price, so if you fail, reload and retry (or reload and wait until you have higher Diplomacy). Optionally, you can settle for 1,200 gold at Gryphook's.
  44. If you have 7,500 gold to spare, you can buy the Hale Blade from Bryniver, but we recommend waiting until you've dealt with some other major expenses.
  45. If you didn't take the Dragonwing Breastplate from A Haunting in Durnsig, you might want to do The Beast of Ironfang first for the Ring Breastplate.
  46. Desirable powers include Gating or Illusion for combat (not resistible), and Fortification or Divination as they are frequently useful in quests. Telekinesis has a couple of unique quests applications. You probably won't want to get Conjuration at all, leave it for the Murk. We repeat, do not take Elementalism.
  47. We're not going to "officially" equip the ring or the hood as part of this guide, but you might want to keep them on hand.
  48. If you're not using the Emporiums, sell loot worth 1500 gold and less in the trading post here, items worth more than that should either be stored or taken to Gryphook's
  49. Unless you took Warlord's Helm from A Haunting in Durnsig, in which case you should return the box AND the bracelet for 16 ATs.
  50. If you want the maximum combat rewards (or just bragging rights), bring your Black Steel Axe and be prepared to replay it many times.
  51. It's possible to get Shadow Magic here, but we advise waiting.
  52. If you're going to do this with an Iakor's Weapon, beware that it will poison the fountain for future use unless you take certain other steps first.
  53. You can also translate the arch (you may have to quit and retry) and activate it for the first time, but that would cause you to lose 768 Shadow Magic XP.
  54. Medallion of Phase Form has a special power which is useful in scaled scenarios.
  55. The Engraved Troll-Bont doesn't have many practical uses, but don't sell it. There is one place in particular where it comes in handy later.
Advertisement