***********************************************************************
*                                                                     *
*             The Complete Nightcaster Guide  Version 1.0             *
*                                                                     *
*                            by                                       *
*                                                                     *
*                        Slothrop37                                   *
*                                                                     *
***********************************************************************

*********************************
Version 1.0 completed May 7, 2002
Writer: Slothrop37
Email:  [email protected]
**********************************


*********************************Copyright Notice**********************

I\'m not a big fan of intellectual property so you may distribute this 
FAQ in anyway you see fit as long as you stick by two simple rules.  Do 
not change ANY of the content.  If there is a problem contact me at 
[email protected].  I\'ll fix it and submit the latest revision.  
Two, leave my name on it.  I wrote it.  That simple.  All content is 
copyright of the original author who goes by the GameFAQs handle, 
Slothrop37.

*************************EndCopyrightNotice****************************




Table of Contents

1.     Introduction
2.     Controls and Gameplay Mechanics
3.     General Gameplay Hints and Tips
4.     Bestiary - Who to Fight and How to Kill Them
5.     Spells and Runes - Where to Find Them and What They Do
            A.  Fire Magic
            B.  Water Magic
            C.  Light Magic
            D.  Dark Magic
            E.  Runes
6.     Walkthrough
7.     Acknowledgements



***********************************************************************               
Section 1 - Introduction
***********************************************************************

Nightcaster is an action/adventure game in which you play as the mage 
Arran.  At a young age  you find an orb which tells you of a plan to 
destroy the world and, as usual, you are the one who can stop it.  
Magical spells form the bulk of your arsenal as you fight creatures on 
your way to stop the Nightcaster who has plunged the world into 
darkness.





***********************************************************************                   
Section 2 - Controls and Gameplay Mechanics
***********************************************************************


Left Thumbstick  --   Move Arran and turn pages when spellbook is open
Right Thumbstick --   Move Orb
Left Trigger     --   Cycle through four readied spells
Right Trigger    --   Cast active spell
Clear Button     --   Hold and move left thumbstick to look around
Black Button     --   Center Camera
Y Button         --   View Map
B Button         --   Turn active Rune on and off
X Button         --   Return Orb to Staff
A Button         --   Swing Staff
Start Button     --   Open/Close Spellbook


There are four school of magic in the world of Nightcaster.  Light 
(yellow), dark (purple), water (blue), and fire (red).  Your character, 
Arran, will have a different amount of power in each of the four 
schools.  You can see how powerful you are by opening your spellbook 
(Start Button) and viewing how many bubbles have been filled up in each 
school.  The more bubbles the more powerful magic you can cast.  As you 
proceed through the game you will come across mana balls that you can 
apply to whichever school you want to balance out Arran\'s magic or 
specialize in a particular school.  When you get a mana ball the 
spellbook will automatically open.  Use the left thumbstick to move the 
orb to the school you want to increase and hit the A button.  Each mana 
ball will fill in one-half of a total ball in the spellbook.

On the main screen the school of your active spell will have it\'s 
appropriate number of bubbles over in the lower left hand part of the 
screen.  As long as these bubbles are at least partially filled you can 
cast your active spell.  They will regenerate rapidly so long as you 
are not casting a spell.  Also, when you kill some enemies green orbs 
will float in the air which you can absorb by standing over them.  This 
also regenerates your mana bubbles.

Right below the mana bubbles is your health indicator.  At full health 
it will be completely filled with red.  As you take hits it will start 
to empty.  When it empties completely you are dead.  You can fill this 
health back up by absorbing red orbs from some dead enemies, stepping 
into change magic school rings or, once you get the Light Rune (Chapter 
III), you can activate it.  There is also another trick that is covered 
in Section 3 for recovering health. 

As you go through the game you will come upon many scrolls that 
contains spells.  There is no need for spell management in this game as 
the spells will automatically be placed in your spellbook and are 
available from then on.

You can have four spells (out of a possible 48) readied at any one 
time.  These are shown in the lower right hand corner of your screen.  
The active spell, the one you will cast if you pull the right trigger, 
is shown at the very bottom and is in a bigger circle than the rest.  
In order to change your readied spells, open your spellbook (Start 
button), use the left trigger to cycle until the spell you want to 
change is highlighted and then press the A button or pull the right 
trigger.

You can make certain spells more powerful than other spells by aligning 
Arran with that school.  In order to align Arran with a particular 
school fight the change school circle associated with that type of 
magic (it will glow with the appropriate color and will also appear on 
the map as a circle of the appropriate color).  See Section 3 for hints 
on which spells you\'ll want to use the most often.

Finally, in order to save the game to record your progress you\'ll need 
to find a mushroom ring.  There are several on every level and each one 
can only be used ONCE so use them cautiously.









***********************************************************************
Section 3 -- General Gameplay Hints and Tips
***********************************************************************

--  In the early stages of the game, before you receive the Light Rune, 
you will be worried about your health.  Sometimes it just seems like 
dead enemies aren\'t leaving the floating red orbs.  A trick to fully 
restore health is to save at a mushroom ring and then reload the game.  
Your health will be fully restored.  However, it\'s usually easier just 
to find a change magic school circle which will fully restore your 
health.

--  Not enough good things can be said about the spell \"Scarring 
Light\".  Generally you can attack your enemies well before they get in 
range of you.  Once it\'s powered up to level 2 you can attack two 
enemies at once from a distance.  A great technique when facing a lot 
of tough enemies to fire off a couple \"Scarring Light\" blasts, retreat 
and repeat until you defeat them all.

--  Sometimes, however, you can\'t attack at a distance either because 
you\'ve been ambushed or you need to quickly take out a spawner.  In 
these cases I would recommend a glyph spell.  They basically shroud 
your character in a circle of protective magic (no, not like the Ward 
spells) because anything that tries to attack within the glyph is 
killed.  Just make sure there are no enemies of the same color as the 
glyph or they will come through and kill you no problem.  This is 
especially good for enemies that like to charge you such as wolves, 
lizards and goblin riders.

--  And for those super tough enemies that you don\'t want to attack you 
at all, use Glacial Might.  It freezes your opponent, well most 
opponents, in place and you can just repeatedly hit them until they 
die.

-- With those three spells I think you can make it through 75% of the 
game.  Those are the three that I always keep on hand and I cycle the 
fourth one as the case requires.  Keep below in Section 4 for all the 
in-depth strategy on how to beat an enemy.

-- Later in the game you can break through the barricades that appear 
if you use a level 3 spell of the opposite color on them.  For 
instance, if a fire barrier appears use Level 3 Winter\'s Fury on it and 
a hole should appear.  This can help you get out of some sticky 
situations.  This does not work on the metal gate barriers as far as I 
can tell.

-- Finding 100% of the spells gets you a bonus which makes the end of 
the game easier (see end of Chapter XI).  Killing 100% of the enemies 
gets you nothing.  Use this information to determine whether fighting 
everything is really necessary for you.



***********************************************************************
Section 4 -- Bestiary or Who to Fight and How to Kill Them
***********************************************************************

I\'m going to try to do this section in roughly the order that you run 
into the monsters, but some may be slightly out of order.  I tried to 
use obvious descriptions so you would know which enemy you are 
encountering.  Obviously enemies encountered near the end of the game 
will be at the bottom of the list.


Mushrooms (all colors) -- The first thing you encounter, two red ones 
as you cross the bridge in Chapter 1.  These guys have a crown of 
little fingers at the top of their head and if they can hit you you\'ll 
become poisoned.  Nearly any spell of a differing color will kill these 
guys.

Lizards (all colors) -- Lizards that crawl on the ground and try to 
attack you with their hind legs.  Nearly any spell of a differing color 
will kill these guys.

Spawners --  Spawners come in four varieties.  Green Jello molds that 
shoot things out the top, little bushes, rockpiles, and what looks like 
the stump of a tree with a hole in it.  I find the most effective spell 
early on against spawners is \"Sky Fall\" you can take them out while 
your are running toward it.  Later on the glyph spells work well 
because you can stand beside it and take both it and its spawn out.

Wolves (all colors)  -- They\'re wolves.  They attack.  \"Scarring Light\" 
or a Glyph works well.

Goblins (fire) -- They look like little red elves and they shoot fire 
at you.  Glacial Might works well to cool them down, although Scarring 
Light will take them out before they ever get in firing range.

Goblins in Barrels (fire)  -- An upgrade to your standard goblin he 
uses a barrel as protection.  Same method as goblins takes them down.

Goblin Warrior Riders (all colors) -- These guys ride two legged 
monsters and will ride up and attack.  Hence a glyph works well, 
although Scarring Light can kill them before they ever get there.

Goblin Mage Riders (all colors) --  A bit tricky than their warrior 
cohorts they guys will cast magic at you based on their school 
association.  I like to kill them with Scarring Light, well outside 
their attack range.  If they get too close hit them with a glyph.

Zombies (dark) -- They dig themselves out of the ground and stumble 
toward you Night of the Living Dead style.  They are extremely weak and 
one Scarring Light blast should eliminate them.

Ghoul (dark) -- They look a lot like purple versions of the hulk.  They 
will run at you and swing.  If you attack them they will dive into the 
ground.  A couple hits from any light magic spell should be their end.

Stiltwalkers (all colors) -- With the exception of the encounter at the 
end of Chapter Two these guys are only medium difficulty.  Try to stay 
out of the way of their bombs that they lob.  If there is only one I 
like to use Glacial Might to freeze and not even worry about dodging 
bombs.  In groups of two or more, Scarring Light at a safe distance is 
the best bet.

Wasps (all colors) -- Usually come out of spawners.  Will float in the 
air near you and try to sting you with tail.  If successful you are 
poisoned.  They guys can\'t be attacked with ground spells like Scarring 
Light and mid-air attacks like Glacial Might or Sky Fall only hit 
sometimes.  It\'s best to use a Glyph to destroy these guys.

Spiders  (all colors) -- Descend down from off screen which can make 
their attack the most shocking and potential devastating considering 
that they\'ll poison you if you get bit.  A Glyph is the most effective 
way to deal with these guys.

Dark Worm (dark) -- Giant worms with skull heads that pop out of the 
ground.  They shoot a version of Venom Strike at you.  There attack 
goes far, but Scarring Light goes farther.  You get the idea.

Wraith (dark) -- Mainly encountered on Chapter 4, they look like 
zombies in more rags.  Much like zombies a couple of Scarring Light 
blasts will be their demise.

Brutes -- Come in three varieties.  The purple and blue ones shoot orbs 
into the air that become glyphs on the ground and do damage.  Scarring 
Light is your best bet.  The red ones shoot a series of five to seven 
fireballs in a line across the screen.  It is best to equip Glacial 
Might, charge them, take one blast and hit them with the spell which 
will freeze them and then continue to hit them with Glacial Might to 
kill them.  They\'ll never get a chance to rethaw.

Wraith King (dark and light) -- One tough Beguiler.  He\'ll appear and 
disappear quickly and when he has the chance he\'ll attack you with 
purple lightning that does a substantial amount of damage.  You can 
equip the Fire Rune once you get it, but the first time you meet him 
you won\'t have it.  The best bet is to dispose of the jesters that he 
comes with first (see below) and then take him out with the Glacial 
Might spell.  Try to have the largest field of view possible.  Do not 
have the spell charged up or he won\'t materialize long enough to use 
it.  When he does appear quickly turn and fire the spell at him.  It 
should freeze him.  It takes about a dozen of these strikes to kill 
him.  When you do freeze him don\'t just stand around, he can attack 
with lightning even when frozen.  He\'s one tough opponent.

Jesters -- Come in two flavors.  One is blue/red and one is 
purple/yellow.  These are immune to two types of magic instead of just 
one.  For the blue/red jesters \"Scarring Light\" will work well enough 
and should keep you far away.  For the purple/yellow one I used Glacial 
Might, but you will have to learn to quickly turn and fire in order to 
catch these guys because they disappear just like the Wraith King.

Gorgon -- Quite simple, you can\'t kill them yourself.  See Chapter V 
walkthrough for how to defeat them.

Bale the Dragon (fire) --  There is a more detailed start in Chapter 
VI, but basically you use \"Sky Fall\" on him and avoid his breath by 
moving diagonally.

Red Goblin on Cloud (fire) --  These guys are getting tricky now.  A 
ride goblin rides a cloud that moves fairly rapidly and casts a red 
glyph on the ground when he gets near you.  They move quick enough that 
they are hard to hit.  The method that I eventually employed against 
them was to charge up \"Winter\'s Fury\" to level 3, try to predict the 
flight path and then let loose when he gets close.  \"Winter\'s Fury\" at 
the \"Hail\" level covers a good deal of ground and should kill him with 
one blast.

Walking Ice Man (water) -- Looks like a big ice man.  Perhaps the 
trickiest enemy in the game.  You\'ll find a scroll detailing how to 
kill them.  Basically you need to hit them with your staff using the 
\"A\" button until they fall apart and then strike them with a fire spell 
(\"Sky Fall\" works best).  What makes it even trickier is that sometimes 
that just crumble all on their own, however, hitting them with fire 
spells then is futile.  You have to be the one to knock them apart with 
your staff.

Frost Breath (water) -- These guys pop up out of the ground and have 
the head and body of a giant.  Their only attack is to breath frost at 
you.  Unfortunately for them the \"Sky Fall\" spell goes much farther 
than their breath so they are fairly easy to defeat.

Frost the Dragon (water) -- Use the same technique as Bale the Dragon 
(see above) only this time use \"Sky Fall\" instead of \"Glacial Might\".

Yeti (water) -- Big, hairy giants that come in two sizes, large and 
extra large.  Fortunately, their size is deceiving and they fall easily 
to any non-water spell.

Quint the Frost Giant (water) --  He\'s big, but not so tough.  The boss 
in Chapter IX.  He\'ll try to freeze you with his breath.  Avoid that 
attack and hit his axe with a fire spell when he embeds it in the 
ground.

Shadow the Dragon (dark/light) -- Use the same technique as the others 
dragons.  \"Sky Fall\" is the best spell to attack with.

The Rainbow Dragon (all colors) -- You\'ll use the same technique as the 
other dragons, but you\'ll need to change your spell to be opposite of 
the dragon\'s color.  See Chapter XI for complete details.

Nightcaster -- The complete strategy is in the Chapter XII walkthrough.  
I don\'t want to give anything of the plot away here.






***********************************************************************
Section 5 -- Spells and Runes - Where to Find Them and What They Do
***********************************************************************


********************
A.  Fire Magic
********************

Sky Fall
   Star    - Fires a single fiery projectile (Chapter I) 
   Meteors - Fires a row of five fiery projectiles (Chapter II)
   Comet   - A triangle appears around the caster and meteors fall
             within the circle killing attackers (Chapter X)

Lava
   Vein  - One fiery streak on ground goes toward enemy (Chapter IV)
   Flow  - Two fiery streaks on ground go toward enemies (Chapter VIII)
   Erupt - A large volcano with several smaller offshoots appears
           around the caster (Chapter X)

Fire Glyph
   Burn  - Small fire glyph appears on ground (Start of game)
   Blaze - Medium fire glyph appears on ground (Chapter II)
   Blast - Large fire glyph appears on ground  (Chapter VIII)

Fire Ward
   Wall    - Gate right in front of caster.  Damages enemies if they
                hit it  (Chapter VI)
   Barrier - Gate covering about 180 degrees around caster(Chapter VII)
   Cage    - A cage with an exit at the back appears (Chapter X)

********************
B.  Water Magic
********************

Glacial Might
   Frost   - Single ice shot (Start of game)
   Freeze  - Three in a row ice shot (Chapter III)
   Shatter - Large ice ball appears and shatters doing 360 degrees
                 of damage (Chapter VIII)

Winter\'s Fury
   Ice    - Ice shards appear in front of caster (Chapter II)
   Flurry - Ice shoots out on ground toward enemies (Chapter II)
   Hail   - Columns of ice rain down around caster (Chapter III)

Water Glyph
   Spring - Small water glyph appears on ground (Chapter III)
   Fount  - Medium water glyph appears on ground (Chapter VI)
   Geyser - Large water glyph appears on ground (Chapter VIII)

Ice Ward
     Sentinel --  Ice ball flies quickly around caster protecting him
                  (Chapter III)
     Shield   --  Ice wall appears at caster\'s side (Chapter IV)
     Shell    --  A protective ice shell appears on caster(Chapter X)


********************
C.  Light Magic
********************

Primal Light
   Beam - Single shot of light magic spirals out (Chapter VI)
   Ray  - Five in a row shots of light magic (Chapter VII)
   Nova - Large ball of light with lightning offshoots (Chapter XI)

Thunder
   Strike - Single strike of light magic lightning (Chapter VII)
   Clap   - Multiple strikes of light magic lightning (Chapter VIII)
   Split  - One huge strike of thunder (Chapter X)

Light Glyph 
   Glimmer - Small light glyph appears on ground (Chapter II)
   Glamour - Medium light glyph appears on ground (Chapter III)
   Glare   - Large water glyph appears on ground (Chapter IV)

Scarring Light
   Flicker - One streaks of light magic on ground (Start of game)
   Flash   - Two streaks of light magic on ground  (Chapter IV)
   Flare   - Column of light and multiple streaks around caster  
                 (Chapter V)


********************
D.  Dark Magic
********************

Venom Strike
   Viper    - One snake shoots toward enemy  (Start of game)
   Adders   - Three snakes shoot toward enemy (Chapter VI)
   Serpents - Large snake swirls around caster damaging nearby
              enemies (Chapter VII)

Dark Arc
   Shock - Single strike of dark magic lightning (Chapter II)
   Surge - Multiple strikes of dark magic lightning (Chapter III)
   Bolt  - One large bolt of dark magic (Chapter V)

Dark Glyph
   Hex    - Small dark magic glyph appears on ground (Chapter VI)
   Curse  - Medium dark magic glyph appears on ground (Chapter VIII)
   Blight - Large dark magic glyph appears on ground (Chapter X)

Steel Death
   Blade     - One sword shoots forward at enemy (Chapter III)
   Mortis    - Six halberds appear in front of caster and chop down
               on enemies (Chapter VI)
   Deathblow - Six guillotines fall from the sky encircling the
               caster (Chapter VII)

********************
E. Runes
********************

Light Rune -- Chapter III from Witch of the Yew Tree.  Slowly restores 
health when activated.

Fire Rune -- Chapter IV in the graveyard after you defeat the Wraith 
King.  Provides some protection from magic.

Water Rune -- Chapter VIII as a reward for reuniting the two brothers 
who are searching for each other.

Dark Rune -- Chapter X as a reward for returning the lost children to 
their mother.



**************************
Chapter I - The Homecoming
**************************

Move forward from the starting point to look at the various books.  All 
the books on this level contain basic gameplay information that was 
covered earlier in this FAQ and also in the game manual so you needn\'t 
read them if you don\'t want.  Cross the bridge and attack the two fire 
creatures.  A barrier appears.  Defeat the two dark creatures and it 
will go away.  Continue up the hill and kill two more dark creatures to 
lower the barriers.  Grab the \"Sky Fall\" spell to the north and then 
head through the teleporter to the east.

On the other side of the teleporter are four fungi of each color.  
Defeat them and a barrier drops allowing you to descend the stairs to 
the four change school circles.  You must step into one of them in 
order to get the barrier to drop.  I would recommend you pick the fire 
school for now as it is the most useful early on, however, the choice 
is yours and doesn\'t really matter in the long run as you\'ll get enough 
mana balls to level out any deficiencies.

Continue forward and save at the mushroom ring.  Take the left branch 
up the hill and destroy the four spawners at top to lower the barrier 
around the teleporter.  Step through the teleporter and get the mana 
ball.  Step back through the teleporter.

Now go back and take the right fork down the hill to meet the farmer 
and hear about the destroyed town.  To the right of the farmer is a 
pumpkin patch with a spawner and the farmer\'s wife along with a scroll 
telling some history.  Straight ahead of the farmer is a scroll with 
more history.  The two roads converge at the bottom the hill by Arran\'s 
house.  Above the house is a scroll telling of Madi\'s love for Arran.

Go across the bridge and down the hill to get another journal entry 
telling how Madi is learning to use the sword.  Continue down the path 
and you\'ll exit the level.  You should have collected two items: mana 
ball and Sky Fall (1st level)  This type of summary will appear at the 
end of every chapter letting you know how many items there were and how 
many kills and you will always have the opportunity to go back and walk 
through the level again.  If you missed something glance back over the 
FAQ to try and find what it was.



******************************
Chapter II - The Road to Perth
******************************

As you start the chapter there is a mushroom ring directly in front of 
you.  In a small cutscene the orb instructs you to go to the Perth 
docks.  However, first head behind the rocks behind the caravan and 
destroy the spawner.  Down the hill to destroy two more spawners and 
across a small bridge.  Take the left branch past the bridge and go up 
a small hill.  Destroy all the dark wolves and the barrier surrounding 
the mushroom ring drops.  You can also find a scroll telling about the 
dark wolves.  Return to the fork and take the right path down the hill.  
Destroy the two spawners at the very bottom and then step through the 
teleporter to get a mana ball.  Step back through the teleporter and 
return all the way back to the start of the level.

This time go straight ahead across the bridge and take out the two 
spawners.  Then talk to the farmer who will tell you that he has lost 
his daughter and asks you to bring her back.  Continue forward and take 
out another spawner to the right of the bridge.  Cross the bridge and 
take out the spawner just on the other side of the gate.  You can talk 
to the archers by the gate who tell you of the Black Rose and a scroll 
that tells of Lochran.  At the far right side of the gate you\'ll find 
the farmer\'s daughter.  Lead her back to her father and he\'ll give you 
\"Winter\'s Fury\" spell.

Go back across the bridge and through the gate and as you proceed down 
the hill you\'ll take out four more spawners.  After the fourth you will 
find a water change school ring which I would recommend converting to 
take out the upcoming goblin riders.  Take out the final spawner to 
lower the barrier and cross the bridge.  Kill dragon riders and find 
mana ball to the right along with a mushroom ring.  Cross the bridge 
and you come to a bridge fork.

Take the left fork first, destroy the spawner by the cottage, read the 
scroll and then up across the bridge above the cottage. Destroy the 
spawner just past the bridge to the right and then move forward to get 
the spell upgrade that increases the \"Fire Glyph\" from \"Burn\" to 
\"Blaze\".  Step in the circle and become a fire mage again.

Return to the bridge fork and go right, destroy the two spawners and 
head to the Beleaguered Guard in the goblin camp.  Kill all his 
oppressors, but make sure he stays alive.  After the battle the barrier 
will drop and he will give you the \"Sky Fall\" upgrade from \"Star\" to 
\"Meteors\".  You\'re gonna need that before this chapter is over.  To the 
far right of the camp is a mushroom ring.  Save.

There are two paths out of the camp.  If you want to get 100% of 
everything you\'ll need to make a full circle and would recommend 
heading down the grassy fork first.  Down the grassy fork you\'ll fight 
some monsters and find a Frightened Villager who doesn\'t give you 
anything but there is another mushroom ring behind her.  Down the road 
you can see a cottage and a church directly across the road from the 
cottage.  The cottage only has a scroll about the Ballad of the Black 
Rose outside it.  Enter the church courtyard and a barrier appears.  
Destroy all the dark creatures with light magic and claim the spell 
\"Dark Arc\".

Continue down the road destroy the spawner and the attacking goblin 
riders to lower the barrier for yet another mushroom ring (next Chapter 
you\'ll be wishing there were this many mushroom rings).  Talk to the 
nearby guard who is searching for Capt. Nolan.  Head up the rocky, 
barren path by that mushroom ring.  Head up the path, destroying 
spawners as you go, ignore the path to the right across the bridges for 
now and just keep heading up.  At top is Capt. Nolan and a circle to 
change to the dark school of magic.  I would not recommend doing this.  
There are few light creatures that attack you coming up.

At this point, if you want 100% kills you should take that fork across 
the bridge killing enemies as you go.  This path will lead you full 
circle back to the Beleaguered Guard at the Goblin Camp.  When you are 
done head back down to the guard who was looking for Capt. Nolan and 
report his demise.  The gates to the town will open.  You should 
proceed inside.

At the top of the stairs in the town is a priest who will give you the 
\"Light Glyph\" spell.  Continue to the left across the bridge and up the 
hill.  A guard will tell you of the battle in the marketplace.  Up the 
hill, past the guard, destroy a spawner.  Take the road down to the 
right to the chapel down in the valley.  There is a spawner that must 
be destroyed on the way there.  At the chapel you will find a scroll, a 
mushroom ring and a light magic change school.  I changed to light 
magic at this point because of the large number of dark creatures you 
will fight throughout the game and because (as noted before) I think 
\"Scarring Light\" is one of the best spells.

Go back out of the valley and continue up the rocky hill killing 
monsters as you go.  Kill the goblin riders at the top of the mountain 
and a mushroom ring will open at the base of the stairs.  I can\'t 
recommend saving here enough.  SAVE!  Continue up the stairs and toward 
the market place.  Although I rarely did it throughout the game I would 
highly recommend setting your orb as far in front of you as possible to 
give yourself the maximum amount of time to kill the goblin riders in 
the marketplace.  Use Scarring Light on everything except the light 
mages.  You\'ll need to use dark magic on them.

Once they are all dead grab the mana ball between the trees and head to 
the left.  A gate will pop up behind you and you\'ll encounter the first 
boss battle.

*******************************
Battle Strategy -- Stiltwalkers
*******************************

Although the stiltwalkers aren\'t really bosses (you\'ll encounter LOTS 
more of them in upcoming chapters, they act as the boss for this level.  
Hopefully, you took my recommendation to join the fire school in 
Chapter I, if not you should still have enough fire magic to use this 
strategy.

Equip \"Sky Fall\" which should be powered up to level 2 (you did save 
the Beleaguered Guard, didn\'t you?).  Basically run around in a circle 
around the fountain with the stiltwalkers following behind, when \"Sky 
Fall\" has charged to level 2 QUICKLY turn around, fire at your pursuers 
and start running again.  If you keep running the balls they fire at 
you should always fall short of the mark.  You never need to see your 
pursuers because Meteors will bounce off the wall and you can guarantee 
hitting them.  Keep repeating the charge, fire, run pattern.  You can 
see which stiltwalkers are left alive by seeing the color of the balls 
that are being flung at you (purple, blue, red and yellow).  The Meteor 
spell (after a dozen or so firings) will take down three of your 
pursuers, but will not work on the fire magic stiltwalker.  When you 
only see red balls being flung at you, on the fly equip the \"Glacial 
Might\" spell and turn around to fire at the last stiltwalker.  This 
should freeze him in place.  Keep firing at \"Glacial Might\" at him and 
he\'ll never have a chance to thaw.  He falls and the barrier finally 
drops.


After the death of the stiltwalkers, continue on a very straightforward 
path through the cheering townspeople and down to the ship, which, 
unfortunately sails away with your friends, but without you.  On the 
way there you should find the upgrade to \"Winter Fury\" to \"Flurry\".  
You should have found nine items:  3 mana balls, Winter\'s Fury (1st and 
2nd levels), Fire Glyph (2nd level), Sky Fall (2nd level), Dark Arc 
(1st level), Light Glyph (1st level)



*********************************
Chapter III - The Forest Fortress
*********************************

This chapter is long and has several paths that loop back on itself.  I 
am going to describe the way I did it and the way that guarantees 
finding all the items in the chapter.  This is not by any means the 
only way to successfully complete the chapter.  You are free to strike 
out on your own.

Cross the bridge from the docks to find a mushroom ring under the tree.  
Continue down the path killing enemies and one spawner.  You\'ll come to 
a fork in the road with a dying dwarf.  Take the left fork and continue 
up the hill killing monsters and spawners as you go.  About halfway up 
the hill, on the right, is a mushroom ring guarded by a dark worm.  At 
the top is a plateau with several fire creatures and some dark worms.  
I would recommend using Scarring Light to quickly eliminate as many as 
possible.  It is necessary to kill all the monsters before they kill 
the man at the far end of the plateau.  When the battle is over, if he 
survives he will give you the \"Freeze\" powerup to Glacial Might and 
there is a mana ball up here.  Continue back to where the dying dwarf 
was.

On a small hill behind him is the powerup to \"Dark Arc\" called \"Surge\".  
Continuing down the right fork you come to another fork by the wagon 
with a scroll about the Witches of the Green.  In the long run this 
will form a giant loop that is connected in the middle by a teleporter.  
However, I recommend going down the right path.

Continue down that right path around a 180� turn until you come to 
another fork in the road.  There are several spawners here disguised as 
piles of rocks so be careful.  Take the right fork here down to a dying 
soldier who asks you to save the town.  To kill the monsters in the 
town I would recommend equipping \"Scarring Light\" running up the hill, 
firing off a couple of rounds and retreating to a safe distance.  
Repeat this technique until they are all dead.  When monsters are dead 
a dark magic circle will open.  I would not recommend using it, in 
fact, I stayed as a light mage for the rest of the game past Chapter 
II.  You can take this advice or not, but there really aren\'t enough 
light enemies to justify being a dark mage.  You\'ll also find a 
mushroom ring at the far end of town.

Return back to the last fork where the rock spawners were and continue 
up the hill.  A little ways up, off to the right by a building, before 
you get to the barrier is a mushroom ring.  This mushroom ring is 
surrounded by tons of enemies so I would recommend using it after you 
have defeated them all.  Return back to where the goblins in barrels 
were, kill them to lower the barrier and continue up the hill.

At the top of the hill you will come to a Witch of the Green who is 
being besieged by enemies.  Defeat them all and she will give you the 
Ice Ward spell.  There is a light magic school circle here which I 
would recommend if you aren\'t already a light mage and a teleporter.  
The witch will instruct you to find her sister.  Step through the 
teleporter and you\'re on your way to doing that.

You\'ll find a scroll telling of the Book of the Tree and you\'ll exit 
the little nook to the main path.  For those wanting to skip some vital 
stuff and get off the level as fast as possible head right into the 
fortress and skip down to the section on the fortress in this chapter.  
You\'re missing a lot of good, vital stuff though so I wouldn\'t 
recommend it.

For the completist, head left on the main path to the gate and find the 
dying soldier.  Head through the gate and kill all the nearby enemies 
to open a mushroom ring to the right.  Continue around on this right 
path and you\'ll come to a barrier.  Defeat the two spawners to lower 
the barrier and receive the spell \"Steel Death\".  Continue forward and 
destroy another spawner and nearby enemies and open the fire magic 
school circle.  Continue forward and return to the main path.  Take a 
right and you\'ll run into an ice brute and two spawners.  Destroy them 
and continue south on the main path.

To the right is a scroll and another path, but for now stay on the man 
path and you\'ll run into the Hunted Man who asks about Stonehaven.  
Continue on the main path up the hill and you\'ll come to the wagon from 
earlier.  Congratulations, you\'ve walked around in a circle.  Return 
back past the Hunted Man to the path by the scroll below that you just 
past and head up it.

Destroy the first spawner, head up again, destroy the second spawner 
which lowers the barrier to the powerup \"Winter\'s Fury\" to \"Hail\" 
level.  The orb will congratulate you on reaching a level 3 spell.  
Proceed forward and destroy both spawners including the one hiding 
behind the blue circle to open the water magic school circle.  Then 
kill the goblin riders to open the barrier to the much needed mushroom 
ring.

Then it\'s two dead dark worms to open the barrier to the mana ball and 
forward to defeat the enemies attacking the Witch of the Green.  After 
defeating the enemies the Witch gives you the Light Rune, a healing 
rune, which will make the bulk of the game much, MUCH easier than it 
has been up to this point.

Return to the main path and head north to where you teleported into 
this section at.  Here you\'ll find the fortress of Stonehaven.

Clear off the right landing that doesn\'t lead anywhere and then head 
over to the left landing.  On the left landing head to the left and up 
the stairs to destroy the goblins in barrels and open the mushroom 
ring.  Back down the stairs and head north across the stone bridge.  
Here a guard warns you that the fortress is under attack in case you 
hadn\'t noticed that.  Head down the stairs to the right and you\'ll come 
to a three way split (straight, left, right).  Take the right path up 
the stairs around the landing and down the first set of stairs.  To the 
left is a mushroom ring and to the right is a scroll with a will.  Down 
the second set of stairs and to the right down another set of stairs is 
a barrier.  Clear out a horde of monsters and the sealed area opens to 
reveal a mana ball.

Back up the stairs to the main landing and head right to find another 
long set of stairs down [for the completist you\'ll need to clear out 
the north side of the fortress (the path to the left at the three way 
split) before heading down these stairs].

Down the stairs, clear off the landing, and down another set of stairs, 
clear another landing and find the \"Glamour\" powerup to the \"Light 
Glyph\".  Then down and down again fighting enemies and spawners as you 
go to find a large courtyard with a two rows of columns in front of it.  
You\'ll find a spawner at each side of the courtyard and a mushroom ring 
on the right side.  Proceed forward past all the columns.  At the end 
of columns, on the left, is a guard who gives you the \"Water Glyph\".  
Head toward the gate and exit the level.

You should have found 12 items:  4 mana balls, Glacial Might (2nd 
level), Dark Arc (2nd level), Ice Ward (1st level), Steel Death (1st 
level), Winter\'s Fury (3rd level), Light Rune, Light Glyph (2nd level), 
Water Glyph (1st level).


****************************
Chapter IV - The Buried City
****************************

Mushroom ring in front of you.  Head into town, kill three goblin mage 
riders, read scroll and the spirit tells you how he lost the scroll to 
start the fountain.  Forget looking for his scroll, hit the fountain 
with any water spell to open the gate.  Head through the gate and 
destroy the spawner in front of you to stop the flood of beetles.  Note 
the closed gate in front of you.  Return back to the opened gate and 
take the stairs up the west side.  Destroy the creatures to open a 
barrier and get a mana ball.

Head to the east of the gate and destroy a spawner around the corner to 
open the way to the mushroom ring.  Continue to head east up the hill, 
a barrier appears behind you.  Kill the mummy and dark worm thus 
lowering the barrier.  Behind barrier find powerup to \"Light Glyph\" to 
\"Glare\" and a light magic school circle.  Hit the statue the light 
magic and this opens the formerly closed gate.

Head down through the now opened gate and head around the corner to the 
left to destroy both beetle spawners.  An Impatient Messenger will tell 
you that all the fountains must be lit for the gate to open.  Return 
back east, past the scroll about the Gorgons and down into the canyon.  
At the bottom of the canyon destroy a plethora of zombies, mummies, 
beetles and a spawner to open a mushroom ring, a dark magic school 
circle and to find the \"Ice Ward\" powerup to \"Shield\".  To the far west 
you\'ll see the glow of a mana ball.  Head toward it and a barrier pops 
up.  Defeat the spawner and zombies, claim the mana ball, and head back 
up to the town.

Head north through the town and a Frightened Spirit will tell you that 
Gorgons have invaded the Cathedral.  Continue north to a T in the road.  
To the right is a mushroom ring where you\'ll probably want to save 
right now and a closed gate.  Head left past the Wizard who tells you 
of a powerful rune in the graveyard and you\'ll reach another T.

Head left and destroy the two dark riders and spider to lower the 
barrier to the fire altar.  Collect the mana ball here and light the 
fire altar with fire magic.  Then take the right fork at the last T to 
enter the graveyard.

***************************************
Boss Strategy - Wraith King and Jesters
***************************************

In the graveyard you\'ll find the Wraith King and two jesters.  One 
jester is dressed in blue and red, the other in purple and yellow.  The 
Wraith King is also dressed in purple and yellow.

First take out the red and blue jester using about a half dozen blows 
from the spell \"Scarring Light\".  Next equip Glacial Might and stand 
near the T in the road.  The Wraith King and jester should materialize 
near you occasionally, fire a couple of quick bolts freezing them and 
then run and hide.  When needs be run out of attack range and equip the 
Light Rune to restore your health because the Wraith King\'s lightning 
attack can be deadly.  Repeat the process and eventually the King and 
jester will freeze and shatter.  Claim the Fire Rune in the graveyard.

Head back to the original T and through the now open gate destroying 
the spawner to the immediate right as you go.  Head left and the Hero 
will tell you that to defeat the Gorgons they must be reunited.  
Continue left and across the bridge to the first landing where you\'ll 
find the \"Lava Spell\" and dark magic fountain.  Hit it with dark magic 
of course and head up to the top landing where you\'ll find the school 
of blue magic after defeating a spawner.

Now go all the way back to where the Impatient Messenger stood before 
the closed gate.  It is now open.  Proceed through and up the hill to 
destroy the spawner and lower the barrier for the mushroom ring.  To 
the left is a Lost Leader who encourages you to get your butt to the 
cathedral.  Destroy the spawner and pick up the \"Flash\" powerup to 
\"Scarring Light\" and go on.

*****************************
Boss Strategy Pt. 2 - Totems
*****************************

The totems are quite easy.  Charge the \"Dark Arc\" up to \"Surge\", run 
forward, strike, run back.  Try to dodge the light magic from the 
yellow bird.  After about two hits the totem will break apart.  Just 
keep using Surge magic on the three individuals until they disappear.  
Repeat the process for the other totem.  Again, if you run low on 
health just stand out of range and use the Light Rune.

Proceed up the steps to exit the level.  You should have collected 8 
items:  3 mana balls, Light Glyph (3rd level), Ice Ward (2nd Level), 
Fire Rune, Lava (1st level), Scarring Light (2nd level).



***********************************
Chapter V - The Abandoned Cathedral
***********************************

There is a mushroom ring directly to your right.  You may want to save 
it later because it\'s gonna be awhile before you see another one.  
Immediately as you move forward down the north path (the only path) 
walls spring up trapping you between them and a horde of zombies and a 
spider attacks.  Kill them to lower the barrier.

Continue to move down the path using the same technique, kill monsters, 
lower barrier.  At the end of the path are two totems.  Use the same 
strategy from the end of the last chapter to dispatch these guys.  Now 
would be a good time to go back and save.

Once in the cathedral you hear some soldiers say that the only way to 
kill a Gorgon is with another Gorgon.  The goal of the level is to lead 
both Gorgons to this center chamber.  You can do either side first, but 
I did the right side first so that\'s how we\'ll proceed here.

Head down the stairs.  It\'s best to have the Light Glyph spell fully 
charged because you get ambushed by a large group of dark magic 
enemies.  Now run down the second flight of stairs, past the Gorgon for 
now, and down the third flight of stairs, deal with the monsters, 
continue forward and a barrier will spring up trapping you in with a 
Wraith King and a jester.

Deal with them using Glacial Might and Scarring Light.  You can hide 
from there attacks if you press yourself against the barrier in the far 
left or far right corner.  You will be just out of their attack range 
and you can use the Light Rune to heal any damage.  Once they are dead 
head down to the open tomb and acquire the \"Bolt\" powerup to the Dark 
Arc and save at the mushroom ring.

On your way back up change your orb to dark magic (i.e. select a dark 
magic spell as your active spell) and get the Gorgon\'s attention by 
running (quickly) in front of her.  Try to stay just in front of her 
vision cone, this way she will follow you without throwing tridents at 
you.  Once you have her in the center chamber, change to light magic 
and run up the stairs.  Dispatch the baddies and get the attention of 
the light Gorgon in the same manner as before.  Again try to stay just 
in front of her vision cone and lead her back to the center chamber.  
Then sit back and watch the fireworks as they turn each other to stone.

DO NOT exit the level yet.  Head back up the stairs where the light 
Gorgon was and then up the next flight of stairs.  Kill the enemies and 
head around the corner where you\'ll face another totem pole.  Dispatch 
it and continue to the open tomb where you\'ll powerup \"Scarring Light\" 
to \"Flare\" and find another mushroom ring to save.  Return to the 
Gorgon sisters who are now statues in the center chamber and step 
toward the light/dark essences to exit the level.

You should have found 2 items:  Dark Arc (3rd level) and Scarring Light 
(3rd level)

There is now a cutscene in which time passes and Arran begins to age.  
And with age comes a goatee.


*****************************
Chapter VI - Stonehaven Ruins
*****************************


Mushroom ring right in front of you which you\'ll want to use because 
you\'ve got a fight coming up.  As you step forward the Orb tells you 
that you\'re even more powerful now which you can confirm by noticing 
the levels in your spell book have risen slightly.  Nice to know the 
goatee wasn\'t the only benefit of aging.

Move forward and Bale the dragon appears.

*******************************
Boss Strategy - Bale the Dragon
*******************************

This is an easy fight.  The Wraith King was much harder.  Equip all 
your ice spells although Glacial Might is the only one you\'ll probably 
use.  Run back and forth at the back of the large rectangular arena 
waiting for your magic to charge.  When it does run diagonally forward 
and when you\'re within range fire and retreat running diagonally.  Go 
to the back of the arena.  Recharge you energy and repeat.  If Bale 
does do damage just stay at the back or the arena running back and 
forth while the Light Rune heals you.  In order to get hit even less, 
you should always change course right AFTER Bale adjusts himself to 
your movement.  Hence when you see him shift to stay pointed at you, 
that\'s the moment to change course.  He shouldn\'t hardly get a shot off 
if you do this repeatedly.  As you hit him more and more, ice will 
begin to form on him and after about twenty hits he will die.


*********************************
Chapter VI - Revenge at Fallstown
*********************************

The chapter stays the same, but the name changes.  The strategies 
however, are pretty much the same as they\'ve always been.  This chapter 
is the EXACT SAME layout as Chapter III - The Forest Fortress except 
that it\'s in reverse order (and I thought Halo was the only game that 
employed this technique).  Hopefully you\'ll be familiar with the layout 
by now so navigation should be a little easier.

Go forward and take out the spawner immediately in front of you and the 
one to the left along with killing everything that moves to open the 
mushroom ring.  Head around to the left side of the stairs and destroy 
the other spawner and then up the four flights of stairs taking out 
enemies on each landing.  At the top of the stairs take a left and then 
another left to go down and destroy the spawner.  Back up the stairs to 
the main floor and take a right to clear the north side of monsters.  
When you reach the four-way intersection this time an ice walls will 
appear at all the exits and you\'ll need to defeat two stiltwalkers and 
a couple goblin riders to lower them.  Continue to the other side of 
the fortress, up the stairs, across the landing, down the stairs 
clearing out all the enemies to lower the barrier on a mushroom ring 
and mana ball.

Now head back to the bridge that leads out of the fortress.  At the end 
of the bridge you\'ll see a blue glow.  As you approach a barrier 
appears and you are attacked.  Obliterate them and claim the \"Fount\" 
powerup for the Water Glyph.  Up the small stairs and two the right, 
take out the spawner at the bottom of the stairs and then up the long 
stairs to fight a mushroom ring and a scroll at top.

Back down the stairs and head out of the fortress, if you want all the 
kills don\'t forget to clear the other landing that doesn\'t go anywhere 
where you\'ll find a scroll that alludes to Madi.  Leave the fortress 
for good and get on the main path.  Off to the left is still the small 
nook with the statue and a spawner, but unfortunately the teleporter 
has been destroyed.  So head down the main path.  When you approach the 
gate a fire brute will appear.  These guys are easy.  Just hit him 
repeatedly with Glacial Might and he won\'t even get a shot off.  Exit 
through the gate.

Directly in front of you you\'ll see a barrier spring up around a mana 
ball.  Kill the enemies and claim the mana ball and then head around on 
the circular path to the right.  As you continue around, just as you 
get to the barren area, several barriers will spring up along with two 
purple brutes and a fire brute.  Dispatch them all to claim the Fire 
Ward spell and continue on.

Over the crest of the hill it\'s death to a group of dark worms to open 
up a mana ball and then a little ways more to reopen the fire magic 
school circle.  Continuing forward a barrier pops up that can be 
lowered by taking out the enemies and a spawner of light wolves.  
Continuing around is a spawner of yellow fungi and a little ways north 
a spawner of dark wolves whose defeat opens a mushroom gate which you 
should definitely use by this point.  You\'ve now come full circle back 
to the gate so head south and east down the main path.

Destroy the spawner to the left and the light creatures to lower the 
barrier and then take out the two spawners directly in front of you 
along with various associated evil things to lower the barrier to the 
left and claim another mana ball.  To the right is a group of farm 
people who are starving and up the hill past them back toward the Altar 
of the Witch of the Green is the way you want to go.

Two spawners and two dark worms stand in the way of lowering the first 
barrier.  As before about halfway around is the water magic school 
changer and just past that a mushroom ring which you\'ll want to use 
once you get it to open.  Just past that off to the right is a barrier, 
which, when lowered, gives you the \"Mortis\" powerup to \"Steel Death\".

Unfortunately, at the altar the witch has lost her mind.  Make sure you 
are at full health, equip Light Glyph, run up under her and blast her 
to oblivion.  Then read the scroll and head back to the main trail.  
Head east at the main trail and take out two spawners to open a 
mushroom ring.  Another barrier leads to more dead enemies and about 
halfway up the hill is another spawner hidden behind a tree.

At the top of the hill a barrier necessitates the destruction of two 
more spawners, one by the now destroyed wagon and one a little ways 
down the path to the south.  Continuing down the southern path we come 
to the fork in the road.  The left fork leads past several spawners and 
two barriers to the spell \"Primal Light\" down by the docks.  The right 
fork leads up the hill.  About halfway up, just like last time, is a 
mushroom ring to the right protected by goblins in barrels.  Continue 
up past more monsters, spawners and barriers to the top plateau where 
you\'ll find the dark magic school circle and the \"Adders\" powerup to 
\"Venom Strike\".

Return all the way to the fork with the destroyed caravan and take the 
east path toward town.  More monsters and spawners litter your path as 
you continue around to the fork of the town.  Halfway around, at the 
apex of the turn, hidden back in some trees, guarded by three dark 
worms is a mushroom ring.  Save again.

At the fork to the town, after defeating a couple spawners, an archer 
will tell you that a dragon is attacking the town and you must hurry.  
But we\'re gonna ignore him for now.  Continue west and up the hill.  
You\'ll go past two more spawners and as you come to the T in the road 
you will be totally ambushed.  All three escape routes close and you 
are attacked by three goblin riders, a purple brute and a fire brute.  
Use Light Glyph to dispatch them all.

When the barriers lower, take the right path of the T and destroy two 
spawners, a green one directly in front of you and another rockpile one 
in the far back.  This will open a mushroom ring and the \"Dark Glyph\" 
spell.  Now take the left fork up to the diseased Yew tree with another 
crazy witch that you must defeat.  NOW it\'s time to save the town so 
head back to the fork to town and go down into the valley.

Almost as soon as you step on the path, two barriers will spring up 
trapping you in with a spawner of beetles and a stiltwalker.  Once you 
kill them, you\'ll see a mushroom ring ahead, but you\'ll be ambushed 
before you can get there.  Vanquish all your enemies to gain access.  
Continue forward and a fire brute blocks your access to Fallstown.  
He\'s no match for Glacial Might though and his defeat allows you to 
enter the town.

As you enter town you watch a cut scene in which Lochran dies and turns 
into the fire essence.  Head into the fire essence to exit the level.

You should have gathered 11 items on this level:  5 mana balls, Water 
Glyph (2nd level), Fire Ward (1st level), Steel Death (2nd level), 
Primal Light (1st level), Venom Strike (2nd level), Dark Glyph (1st 
level)



********************************************
Chapter VII - Mountains of Pain \"The Ascent\"
********************************************

There is a mushroom ring directly to your left and a spawner directly 
in front of you that must be dealt with.  Head up the trail, past a 
spawner to a fork.  Take the right fork and defeat the goblins to lower 
the barrier and claim \"Deathblow\" powerup to \"Steel Death\".  Cross the 
bridge to the school of fire magic and claim the mana ball there.  
Cross the other bridge, avoid the ambush, and continue up the main 
trail to another fork.

Take the left fork this time, destroying the two spawners as you go up.  
A fire brute pops up.  Quickly destroy the spawner to the left of him 
and retreat to a safe distance, then attack him and the goblins.  If 
you want, at this point you should take the bridge to the east over to 
another little circular area.  When you cross into the area, barriers 
will block your exit. You have to defeat two spawners, two jesters and 
a Wraith King.  As far as I can tell there is no where you can hide 
from the Wraith\'s King attack.  This battle was EXTREMELY difficult for 
me and I wouldn\'t recommend doing it unless you want 100% on everything 
as there is no reward and it\'s an inordinate amount of trouble.

Either way, when you are done continue on the main path to the north 
where at the next plateau you\'ll find a man warning you of the blue 
dragon and also the light magic change school.  Continue up the hill 
and defeat the red brutes and spawner to lower the barrier to a 
mushroom ring.  Past that is another plateau with a skull head in the 
ground.  There are spawners to the far left and far right.  Defeat all 
the enemies here and a barrier lowers so that you can get the \"Ray\" 
powerup to \"Primal Light\".

Continue up the main path fighting more enemies and spawners.  You\'ll 
reach another plateau with a mushroom ring and mana ball on the right 
and a dark magic change school on the left.  There is also a spawner on 
each side.  Up and up more, the next stop is a plateau with a rundown 
house.  Destroy all the goblin riders to open the paths to the left and 
right.  This will make it easier to fight the Wraith King and his 
cronies as you\'ll have somewhere to run when you need to use the Light 
Rune.  When you finally kill the Wraith King you\'ll find the \"Thunder\" 
spell by one of the houses and a scroll telling how to defeat the ice 
men.

Down the right path is the fire side.  QUICKLY move forward and take 
out the three spawners and the fire brute using the Light or Dark Glyph 
(preferably Light).  The mushroom ring will be opened.  A little ways 
up the hill is a barrier with the \"Serpents\" powerup for \"Venom Strike\" 
inside.  Continue up and you\'ll need to beat two goblin riders and an 
ice man to open the water school of magic.  

NOTE:  To defeat ice men you must strike them with your staff using the 
\"A\" button and then hit the rubble with fire magic.

Further up you\'ll need to defeat two spawners and an ice brute to lower 
the barrier.  At the top of the plateau using \"Scarring Light\" to 
defeat the fire brute and destroy the spawner behind the pillar.  This 
lowers a barrier to a mana ball.  Defeat the ice brute and totem pole 
and a mushroom ring becomes available.  You\'ll be at a fork.  Head down 
the left branch and defeat the ice brutes and ice men to open the 
mushroom ring.  Head back up to the fork and take the north path, 
fighting monsters and spawners along the way.  On your way up you\'ll 
pass by a mushroom ring and further up the \"Barrier\" powerup to \"Fire 
Ward\", both on the right.

You\'ll know you are getting near the top when you encounter another 
Wraith King and two jesters (one red/blue, one yellow/purple).  Defeat 
them and there is a mushroom ring just beyond.  Enter the town and head 
to the west toward a wooden fence that is the exit from this level.

You should have found eight items on this level:  3 mana balls, Steel 
Death (3rd level), Primal Light (2nd level), Thunder (1st level), Venom 
Strike (3rd level), Fire Ward (2nd level).


*******************************
Chapter VII - Ice Fortress Gate
*******************************

This time it\'s not Bale the Dragon, it\'s Frost the Dragon, although the 
technique is identical to Bale.  This time load up all your fire magic 
spells.  Of most use is the \"Sky Fall\" spell.  Charge up run forward 
diagonally, attack, run away.  Use the Light Rune at the back of the 
arena is you need to.  He\'ll start to smoke after a couple attacks and 
about twenty hits later he\'s dead.  If he isn\'t smoking or doesn\'t seem 
to be responding to your attacks by wincing, then you are probably too 
far away when launching \"Sky Fall\".  Get closer.

After his defeat the Orb tells you about the castle and you enter the 
next level.


**********************************
Chapter VIII - The Fortress of Ice
**********************************

There is a mushroom ring in front of you as usual.  Take the only 
available path northward.  You encounter one spawner and a few monsters 
before coming to a bridge where you\'ll encounter a man who is searching 
for his brother.  Across the bridge you come to a T.  Go left up the 
stairs and defeat two spawners and a frost breath.  You will find a 
priest trapped in a block of ice next to the water magic change circle.  
Use \"Sky Fall\" a few times on the block of ice to free him.  In 
gratitude he will give you the \"Flow\" powerup to \"Lava\".  Head across 
the bridge to the west defeating enemies to lower barriers as you go.  
At the end, to the left of the building, you\'ll find a mana ball.  
Return to the T and take the right fork.

Before heading up the stairs to the right step around the corner and 
destroy the spawner.  Now head up the stairs.  A large horde of 
monsters meets you at the top.  Defeat them and head west to defeat 
another spawner and an ice man to lower the barrier to the next flight 
of stairs.  Up the stairs and you\'ll find the powerup \"Curse\" for the 
\"Dark Glyph\" and a mushroom ring to the left.  To is the right is the 
light magic circle.  Past the circle is a small landing with a trapped 
adventurer.  Defeat the spawner and you can free him although he 
doesn\'t give you anything in return.

Now up the long flight of stairs by the change circle.  Up another 
small flight of stairs and you\'ll find a bridge.  Halfway across the 
bridge, on the right, is a stairway down to a small walkway.  At the 
end of the walkway is another mana ball.  Take it, return to the 
bridge, and head east.  Down two flights of stairs and you\'ll have to 
defeat a spawner at each of the three corners of the landing to lower 
the barriers on a mushroom ring to the west and a trapped adventurer to 
the east.

Free the trapped adventurer.  It is the brother of the Searching 
Brother.  Lead him all the way back to the bridge at the beginning 
(there is no shortcut) and once reunited they will give you the Water 
Rune.  Return to where you found the trapped brother.  Once back there 
head to the room to the northeast to a room with a mana ball and then 
take the trail which continues north.

The trail winds around and down.  As it bottoms out you can find the 
\"Shatter\" powerup to \"Glacial Might\" at the side of the first building.  
Ahead is the fire magic school circle and up ahead the road forks.  
Take the left fork up the path and at the beginning of the bridge 
you\'ll find the \"Clap\" powerup to \"Thunder\".  Cross the bridge, defeat 
the spawner and to the far side of the building you\'ll find the \"Blast\" 
powerup to the Fire Glyph and a dark magic change circle.  Return back 
to the fork and take the right fork.

Continue straight back to the castle, passing the stairs on the right 
(you\'ve already been up there) and continuing down the stairs in front 
of you.  Around the corner to the right you\'ll find an area where, if 
you defeat a spawner and an ice man, you\'ll obtain the \"Geyser\" powerup 
to \"Water Glyph\".  Head south and down the stairs to defeat the 
monsters and read a scroll.  Then back up the stairs, head west and 
down the path.  Defeat the monsters to lower the barrier to the 
mushroom ring.  A little ways off you\'ll find another guy who is 
trapped in ice asking you to kill him.  If you free him he does 
nothing, if you kill him he sighs happily and still gives you nothing.  
They don\'t get much more useless than that guy.  Regardless continue 
forward and exit the level.

You should have obtained 10 items:  3 mana balls, Lava (2nd level), 
Dark Glyph (2nd level), Water Rune, Glacial Might (3rd level), Thunder 
(2nd level), Fire Glyph (3rd level), Water Glyph (3rd level)


******************************
Chapter IX --  The Throne Room
******************************

This level is basically one big boss battle against Quint the Frost 
Giant.  The Orb gives you a large hint when it states that \"his 
brutality will be his downfall\".

Basically this is just a large circle with Quint at the center.  There 
are several little teeth-like structures that go from the ring in 
towards Quint.  The Frost Giant only has two attacks, his freezing 
breath and a blow from his axe.  Obviously since he is the Frost Giant 
you are going to want to attack him with your fire spells.  I recommend 
\"Sky Fall\", it works quite well.

Much like in the battle with the Stiltwalkers in Chapter II, you\'ll 
spend the bulk of the time running around in a circle.  Quint will 
occasionally breath frost which you can usually stay ahead.  If he does 
hit you, turn on the Light Rune to heal yourself.  Or another method is 
to equip the Water Rune and then you will certainly be fast enough to 
outrun his breath.

When you want him to strike with his axe (which you do want him to do), 
just step onto one of the teeth-like structures.  He will raise his 
axe, swing and get stuck in the ground.  When the axe is stuck in the 
ground fire your \"Sky Fall\" spell at THE AXE, not at him.  Hitting 
Quint does no damage, only hitting the axe causes damage.  If you are 
successful, he will rear back and holler.  Keep up this pattern, run, 
step toward him, he strikes, hit his axe.  If you do this about thirty 
times he dies.  As with the other bosses you shouldn\'t even die once 
during this battle.

You automatically exit the level after his defeat and time passes yet 
again.


*******************************************
Chapter X -- Mountain of Pain \"The Descent\"
*******************************************

Mushroom ring in front of you.  Defeat five goblins in barrels and 
three fire brutes to lower barrier.  The next circular area contains 
two spawners (one on each side) and a fire brute.  Continue east, 
you\'ll need to deal with two spawners, two jesters and a Wraith King.  
This will open a mushroom ring that you should use before exiting town.

Down the hill rush up and kill the fire brute with the Light Glyph and 
then take out the two spawners to lower the barrier on the mana ball.  
Killing the next set of enemies down the hill will lower the barrier 
for another mushroom ring.  Continue down until you come to the Caged 
Soldier.  Hit the lock with Level 3 dark magic and you\'ll free him, 
although he does nothing for you.  Continue down and you\'ll come to the 
school of light magic.

On the next plateau down you\'ll find a mushroom ring and the last 
powerup for the \"Dark Glyph\" (\"Blight\"), but only after you fight a 
hard battle against two fire brutes and two spawners (one of which is 
hidden next to a far column).  Continue east and run past the dark 
magic school circle for now.  You don\'t want to fight the Wraith King 
and four jesters until you\'ve cleared yourself a little breathing room.  
Past the dark magic school find two spawners and then some dark magic 
enemies and two more spawners.  By this point you should have cleared 
out plenty of room to do a snipe and hide attack on the four jesters 
and Wraith King.  So go back and defeat those guys and open the dark 
magic circle and the \"Cage\" powerup for the \"Fire Ward\".  Head down the 
path and make sure you use that mushroom ring.

As you step out into the center, a load screen appears and you enter

**************************
Chapter X -- The Icy Field
**************************

Here you face your third dragon, Shadow.  I\'ll admit Shadow gave me a 
bit of trouble when I first faced him.  But I think the following 
strategy will help you defeat him fairly easily.

First off, the Light Rune is powerless in his presence so now restoring 
health.  Just equip the Fire Rune instead as you are going to need to 
be protected from magic before this fight is over.

You can first attack him using light magic, particularly \"Primal Light\" 
charged up to the second level.  However, as you attack him he changes 
from a dark creature to a light creature so these attacks are only 
effective for a short time.  Once your light magic is no longer 
damaging him (he\'ll stop reacting to your attacks), change over to the 
\"Sky Fall\" spell as fire magic works well against him.  Make sure you 
charge your magic to level 2 however as level 1 damage rarely hurts him 
and level 3 takes too long to charge.  As you continue to attack him 
he\'ll turn more and more white and yellow.  His attacks at this point 
are fairly easy to avoid and mainly consist of a breath attack.  
However, do NOT get too close to him when attacking or he\'ll bite you 
and that takes about half of your health.

After some strikes, he\'ll be about half white and half purple.  This is 
when he begins to rear up and a mana ball comes out of his chest to 
attack you.  When this happens the easiest method to avoid his attack 
his to run about 3/4 of the way back the screen and then run forward.  
This will cause the dark and light glyphs that he casts to mainly fall 
behind you.  As you run up, hit him with \"Sky Fall\", run back, wait for 
the glyphs to shoot out, run forward, attack, repeat.

It takes about fifteen to twenty more attacks once he starts rearing up 
to finish him off, but eventually he\'ll die.  At that point claim the 
mana ball and the that was in his chest and is now on the ground and 
the \"Split\" powerup for \"Thunder\".

After the battle you can find a mushroom ring on the west side path.  
Unfortunately, a glitch in the game has caused the spawners to reappear 
on the path above you.  If you are going for 100% kills you need to 
clear the ENTIRE circular path around the icy field of spawners and 
enemies yet again.  If you are not up for this or don\'t care, continue 
down the main path to the southwest.  If you do, clear them out and 
then continue down the main path to the southwest.

Down at the next plateau you\'ll find a Caged Man and his family.  
Finally, some grateful people.  Use the opposite color magic on the 
door and their freedom earns you the \"Shell\" powerup for the \"Ice 
Ward\".  There is also a mushroom ring where you can save your progress.  
Continue down past more enemies to the next large plateau with a yellow 
skull head and hand.  After killing a large goblin horde you\'ll find a 
trapped woman under the hand.  Free her also and she\'ll ask you to find 
her lost children.

Continue down the main path to the next plateau where some enemies and 
a spawner guard the fire magic circle.  There is also a mushroom ring a 
little down the path from the school.  Down the path farther you\'ll 
come to a fork guarded by two totem poles.  Kill them and continue 
around to the right.  Do NOT cross the bridge.  Head around the corner, 
defeating two spawners, and then coming to another fire brute and 
spawner.  If you are not a water magic mage I would still recommend 
against crossing this bridge.  Just wait a little while, we\'ll be back.

Continue down the main path defeat some goblin riders and other enemies 
to lower the barrier to the water magic change circle and the \"Erupt\" 
powerup for \"Lava\".  I would recommend stepping into the water magic 
circle and becoming a water mage.  Now head back up to the bridge you 
avoided before.

I\'ll warn you beforehand, when you cross you\'ll face a spawner, two 
jesters and a Wraith King.  This is the fight I recommended avoiding in 
Chapter VII, unless you were a stickler for getting 100%.  Well, we 
don\'t want to avoid it this time cuz it gets us a cool prize.  So equip 
\"Glacial Might\" which is now a powerful spell because we are a water 
mage.  Take out the spawner to the right as quickly as possible and 
then concentrate on avoiding the attacks of the Beguilers and 
destroying them.  I got lucky and one of the jesters dropped health 
when he died which is how I got through this fight.  When you do manage 
to beat them the barriers will drop around the children and the 
mushroom ring.  Definitely save and then lead the children back to 
their mother.  She will give you the Dark Rune which will make you 
invisible so long as you aren\'t moving or casting spells.  This really 
helps to sneak up on tough enemies.

Continue all the way back down the main path to where you left off.  Do 
NOT exit the level yet by stepping toward the wooden barricade by the 
water magic circle.  Instead continue on the main path.  After 
defeating the next group of enemies a mana ball is opened in the rocks 
to the right.  And finally, at the last circle, after defeating another 
Wraith King (how many kings are there anyway?) and two jesters along 
with some zombies you\'ll receive the \"Comet\" powerup for \"Sky Fall\".

Now return to the wooden barricade and exit the level.  You should have 
received 10 items:  three mana balls, Dark Glyph (3rd level), Fire Ward 
(3rd level), Thunder (3rd level), Ice Ward (3rd level), Lava (3rd 
level), Sky Fall (3rd level), Dark Rune.


*******************************
Chapter XI -- The Island of Yew
*******************************

You start off in a large circular area.  In front of you is a mushroom 
ring.  This time you\'ll need to defeat the wolf spawner behind the tree 
before accessing the mushroom ring.  You will now find yourself in a 
large circular area that has three paths leading out of it.  One on the 
right, one on the left and one straight up the center.  They all 
eventually lead to the same place.  The easiest path is probably the 
center path, followed by the one on the right.  The hardest path is the 
left path because initially you have to defeat two beetle spawners that 
spawn creatures of all colors so no matter what type of magic you pick 
there will be some creatures attacking you which aren\'t phased.

Whichever path you pick the journey is fairly the same initially.  You 
go up the path fighting monsters and spawners until you come to the 
fire magic school.  The left and center paths have mushroom rings at 
the top, while the right path does not.  If you want 100% kills then 
you can clear out the other two paths.  Otherwise, use a mushroom ring 
and then cross over the tree branch that has red bars on the sides.

Walk over the tree branch and you\'ll encounter a few more enemies.  The 
path continues down and around a corner where you\'ll find another 
Wraith King and two jesters guarding a mushroom ring.  If you step all 
the way back to the barrier they will disappear which will give you 
time to regenerate your health.  Continue on and up the hill to two 
more spawners where you\'ll find yet another mushroom ring and a mana 
ball by it before crossing another wooden bridge.  On the other side of 
the wooden bridge is the light school of magic.

Up the hill and you\'ll come to a fork with two totem poles.  Take the 
left fork down the hill past the spawners.  There will be another 
mushroom ring halfway down and just past that you\'ll find another mana 
ball by a wolf spawner.  At the end of the path you\'ll find a 
teleporter which takes you to a small island off section.  On this 
island are numerous zombies, a Wraith King and two jesters.  If the 
battle gets too intense step back through the teleporter to give 
yourself a breather and regain your health.  Then step back through the 
teleporter and continue the fight.  When you have defeated all the 
enemies you will fight a dark magic school, the \"Nova\" powerup to 
\"Primal Light\" and a mushroom ring.

At this point, if you\'ve followed this walkthrough to the letter you 
should have collected every spell possible, all 48 of them.  If you 
have, when you collect the \"Nova\" powerup the Orb will tell you that 
because you have mastered every spell you are now a Nature Mage.  Your 
cloak turns a cool green color.  This means that ALL your spells are 
more powerful and ALL resistances are increased.  You can no longer 
align yourself to just one school (since all your spells are powerful) 
by stepping into a change circle, however, the change circle will still 
restore your health.

Step back through the teleporter and go back the way you came to where 
the fork was.  This time take the right path, up the hill defeating 
groups of enemies to lower barriers.  When you come to a fight with two 
dark worms, check to your left and there is a short path that leads up 
to a mushroom ring.  After using the ring continue up the hill.  You\'ll 
know you are near the top when you have to fight two more totem poles, 
a load of zombies, and ice man and a beetle spawner all at once.  This 
is a tough battle.  I recommend using the light and dark glyphs.  
Charging one all the way up to Level 3, running forward as far as 
possible, releasing and then running back to safety.  repeat until 
you\'ve destroyed everything except the spawner and then run up to take 
care of it.

At the top you\'ll find another mana ball and a mushroom ring along with 
a teleporter.  Grab the ball, use the ring and step through the 
teleporter.  That\'s the end of the level.  You should have found 4 
four:  3 mana balls and Primal Light (Level 3).


*********************************
Chapter XI -- The Pinnacle of Yew
*********************************

At the top you meet another dragon.  This is perhaps the toughest boss 
battle of the game, even the Nightcaster isn\'t this tough.  What makes 
the rainbow dragon so tough is the fact that he changes color and hence 
no one type of magic is going to be effective all the time.

My strategy is to equip each of the four spells that have arrows by 
them for longest attack range.  They are Primal Light (light), Venom 
Strike (dark), Glacial Might (ice) and Sky\'s Fall (fire).  You do not 
want to charge these spells up all the way to Level 3 because while 
they do more damage their range is often limited to just around the 
caster.  Level 2 spells usually travel farther forward.

Run around the circle until you come to an open area.  I find that the 
little ice shards, while protecting you from some of the dragon\'s 
spells, generally get in your way when you are trying to run away.  
Regardless, the basic strategy is to set your active spell to be 
opposite of the dragon\'s current color, run up, hit him, and run away.  
Be careful, just like in the last battle he has a vicious bite if you 
get too close.  When you have him about halfway defeated he\'ll rear up 
and start shooting the glyphs at you.  His colors also begin to change 
a little faster.  Try to hit him with the opposite magic still, but as 
long as you don\'t hit him with the same magic you will still do damage.

Mainly try to stay in the open area, running back and forth and 
attacking when you get the chance.  Remember that just like in the last 
battle none of your Runes work so you\'ll need to play conservative to 
hold onto your health.  Upon his defeat you will automatically go to 
the next level.


**********************************
Chapter XII -- The Island Pinnacle
**********************************

After an introductory speech that tells you the origins of the battle 
the final boss battle will begin.  Slightly disappointing is that you 
don\'t actually fight the Nightcaster, but rather your old friend Madi 
who has been possessed by the Nightcaster.

This battle is easy and straightforward.  You will see four little 
balls, one of each color, swirling around Madi.  Those are the essences 
and it\'s your goal to capture them.  In order to do this equip the 
following spells:  Lava (fire), Winter\'s Fury (ice), Primal Light 
(light) and Dark Arc (dark).  You don\'t have to use those four, any 
particularly powerful spell will work, but I find those four to be the 
easiest to use.

Basically you just need to keep unleashing Level 3 magic on Madi while 
running around and avoiding her attacks.  Fortunately, her attacks are 
rarely accurate as long as you are moving so the avoiding part isn\'t 
too hard.  When your spell has charged up to Level 3 just run up to 
her, unleash the spell, and run away.  You will know if you are hitting 
her in two ways:  a floating red orb should appear to restore your 
health and you can hear the Nightcaster roar in pain.  After awhile you 
will capture the associated essence.  You will know this because a 
cutscene will occur telling you about it.  I would recommend 
concentrating on one type of magic until you capture that essence and 
then switching to another type of magic.  You will need to use all four 
types to capture all the essences.

Light magic captures the light essence.  Water magic captures the fire 
essence.  Fire magic captures the water essence and dark magic captures 
the dark essence.  Don\'t worry about the fact that she is aligned to 
dark magic, it will still do damage in this case.

After you have captured all four essences the ending sequence takes 
place.  Congratulations sit back and enjoy the predictably happy 
ending.  You may also want to watch the credits as after some mediocre 
music they have some outtakes of the voiceacting, a few of which are 
funny.

That\'s it.  Hope this helped.


***********************************************************************
Section 7 -- Acknowledgments
***********************************************************************

Me, myself and I for completing the guide.

My girlfriend for providing the hours of entertaining commentary as I 
tried to complete this game.  If ever I was having trouble finishing a 
section she was always there to laugh at my inadequacy.  Thanks 
sweetie.

GameFAQs for hosting this, my first guide and for providing all the 
guides that I\'ve needed to complete so many games.

And you the reader for reading it.  Any suggestions, corrections or 
desired additions can be sent to me at [email protected]

Thanks again.