- Birth of a Hero

Fable 2 Guide - Birth of a Hero

Theresa has stored some items for you in a chest which you'll find useful. Head down the hill through the centre of the gypsy camp and out the other side to your caravan.

You can sleep here to regain health and certain benefits related to the area, but for now, open the chest with A to receive a spade, dog elixir, placebo health potion, light splintered crossbow, rusty longsword and collar of holding. Best of all, you now have the dog from your childhood (it lives a very long time indeed!) as your companion for the rest of the game. Using the inventory in the pause menu, equip the collar of holding to name your dog.

With this done, return up the hill to Theresa by the gate under the bridge you began on. Follow her out of the camp and she'll give you the Bower Lake Tomb Seal. You need to use this to access the first tomb of the game, the Guild Cave. Sprint down the hill towards the lake, stopping to dig up any items your dog finds.

Achievement: The Archaeologist (for digging up an item) – 5g

Run into the water and swim across to the island. Press A by the door to insert the seal and unlock the door. We need to go deep into the tomb to locate the chamber of fate. The secondary goal however is to gain strength, and while the enemies in this area are weak, you can still pick up valuable experience points to unlock new moves and abilities.

Head down the corridor and press A over the hole in the floor to dive spectacularly into the pool of water below. Climb out of the water and move through the archway, pushing A to vault off the rock and onto the level below in the next room. Run diagonally across the centre towards the opening at the other end. About half-way through the room some Giant Beetles emerge. These are best despatched using your crossbow from distance, but even up close they shouldn't prove too taxing. Hold RT once you have defeated them to draw in the experience orbs and move on. Follow the corridor, fighting off any beetles en route until you come to a larger room. Shoot the glowing blue orb in the centre of the room with crossbow bolts until it locks into the notch above the locked door and opens the entrance.

Turn left through the entrance to locate some treasure. Back on the main corridor, keep going through the beetle swarms until you enter the water at the far end. Swim into the centre of the cavern; you can collect two diary entries from separate explorers on the islands on either side, then continue on through the water-filled tunnel. Follow the path as it emerges back into the cavern and across the bridge. Proceed down the corridor. You will eventually come into a high cave with rickety bridges and many beetles. Take each set out from the previous platform using your crossbow and you should avoid taking any damage. Move through the corridors ahead. Step into the golden circle of the farthest room and shoot the glowing orb, then slash at it with your sword when it comes close and turns blue, before shooting it once again to send it up,  and unlocking the door.

This quest is designed to give you a gentle introduction to the game's concepts

Continue through the caverns and over the bridge, then step into the circle of light to boost your strength enormously. Now you can assign strength, skill and will points to various aspects of your hero to boost their stats. See the RPG section of this guide for full details on that element of the game. Having spent as many of the points in each section as possible, use your new Will attack (activated by holding and releasing B) on the glowing pink switch in the corner of the room. Walk up to it and hold A to leave the tomb and appear back on top of the hill overlooking Bower Lake.

You appear amongst hordes of beetles, so try and cast a surround spell using your new Will ability to deal large amounts of damage to multiple enemies. Finish off the rest with X.