0
Warrior and Amazon FAQ
For Darkstone Windows95/98
Revision 2 September 4, 1999
Brought to you by Leviathan - lev|athan@hempseed.com
THE WARRIOR
The finest warriors are born in the heart of Ardyl's forests. From their
earliest years, they have to become tough and develop absolute physical
strength to be able to confront the dangers lurking in their region. As
children, they learnt to survive in the most hostile of environments, to
overwhelm wild beasts with their bare hands and, above all, to fight the
goblins and skeletons, which abound in their land. They have also put their
many expeditions to the various villages to good use by acquiring the
mastery of swordsmanship. They usually end up as mercenaries or masters of
arms. These warriors are now the strongest men alive. Their powerful, yet
agile muscular frame makes them formidable opponents in direct combat. Their
strength fills the lords with dread and few dare challenge them in single
combat. They stalk their enemies with the patience of a hunting cat, and can
swoop down on them with the speed of a hawk. They do have once weakness,
however: they dislike magic because they consider it a demeaning means of
combat. They prefer by far the incisive cut and hard steel of the sword to
the use of spells.
THE AMAZON
Amazons are fierce horsewomen who live in the region of Ardyl. They are
entrusted at a young age to a Mother and soon become formidable warriors,
showing no fear of either physical strength or magic powers. They learn as a
group to compensate for their lack of physical strength through their agility
and flexibility. Guided by their Mother, they must continually undergo a
serious of stern trials with the aim of strengthening their spirit and making
them a match for any warrior. The worst of these "character-building" trials
involves them venturing into the goblins' den and bringing back the skull of
their leader. The Amazons gain the upper hand in direct combat thanks to
their agility and the way in which they can anticipate their opponent's
blows. Their enemies describe it as being involved in a relentless dance of
death. Similarly to the warriors, the Amazons have mastered the use of the
sword, demonstrating impressive accuracy. It is, indeed, very rare for them
to use magic.
Starting Stats for Warriors and Amazons: STR 20
VIT 15
DEX 10
MAG 5
Maximum Stats for Warrior and Amazons: STR Unlimited
VIT 150
DEX 100
MAG 50
(Note: With Elixirs, you can boost your stats past these levels)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Warriors and Amazons (according to Darkstone)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Warrior/Amazon class is the melee class in Darkstone. It's intended
towards those who prefer the sword over magic.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is there a difference between the Warrior and the Amazon?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Only their sex and that they look different. The official descriptions talk
about the differences between Amazons and their "male counterparts", but I
can assure that their skills and abilities are exactly the same.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why play as the Warrior/Amazon?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This class has many things going for them. They start off with everything
they'll need: Good Melee skills. With the Wizard + Priest classes, your
character isn't effective until you've learned all your spells up to level 6
through 8. In fact, you might not even have all the spells in the game until
you're level 30-40.
Also, they have the best Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality combination in the
game. Alone, these stats don't mean much. Monks have high Vitality, but
they get smacked around a lot because of their low Dexterity. Thiefs have
high Dexterity, but when they get hit, they take a lot of damage because they
have few HP. Warriors and Amazons can take many hits, and they can dodge
many hits also. Additionally, the STR + DEX combination determines how much
you hit for and how frequently you'll hit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to play the Warrior/Amazon
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
For starters, bind the Beserker spell and the Concentration skill to a
hotkey. When you play as a Warrior/Amazon, you must keep Concentration
and - usually - Beserker on at all times. At lower levels, Beserker isn't
that helpful because it sucks up a large chunk of mana and doesn't last very
long. However, once you start playing in the Expert and Master modes, you'll
want to keep it on at all times. At level 1, they both wear out quick, but
as you progress in levels, they last much longer and their effects are
greater.
So, now that you've got Beserker and Concentration on, what do you do next?
Simple, it's time to find some monsters to slay! The best way to do this is
to go up to a door and let the beasts come out one by one. You can try
taking on multiple foes, but I would not recommend it. Be sure to heal in
between fights. Make sure you keep "Auto attack" on at all times. That
way, your character will swing his weapon as many times as he can until he
kill the monster. In "Manual attack", your character will just swing once
when you click on a monster (which means you'll do about 2-3x as much
clicking, not fun).
Make sure you return to town when you run out of potions, or your inventory
is full. Before selling off your loot to the blacksmith, MAKE SURE YOU USE
THE REPAIR SKILL. Items found in the dungeon are often at 10% or 20% of
their maximum durability. If you can repair them 100% durability - even
though the max durability will probably go down - you'll still get much
more money from the blacksmith. Do not, however, use the repair skill on
your own weapons/armor. Let the blacksmith do it for you.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skills
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Concentration - Keep this on at all times. This should always be one of the
first thing that you upgrade.
Trade - Gives you x% discount on items, where x = Trade skill level.
Forester - You can use this to scoop up food in the outdoors. Personally, I
prefer the Food spell.
Learning - Makes you level up faster. Always upgrade this.
Master of Arms - Increases your melee abilities. Always upgrade this.
Orientation - Reveals outdoor maps to you. This is a great skill. The other
classes have to scout the outdoor maps to find dungeons and exits, but with a
Warrior/Amazon, just use Orientation and click on where you want to go. Even
when Orientation runs out, your character will still know exactly where to
run to.
Repair - Repairs weapons and armor, while lowering the Maximum Durability.
Use this on loot you intend to sell off.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
What spells will I need?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps the greatest thing about this class is that you only need a few
spells, and you can easily hotkey all of them and have room left over. The
spell that you will use the most is "Beserker". This spell basically doubles
the effectiveness of your character. If the Wizard in town is selling a
copy of Berserker, BUY IT. You can easily get Beserker up to level 4 or so,
and I strongly recommend it.
The other spells you'll need are Healing, Magic Door, and Antidote. You'll
want to hotkey all three of them. Since you have the Healing spell, you
might figure "Hey, I won't be needing healing potions anymore". Wrong! The
Heal spell takes some time to cast, while healing potions are instantaneous.
When you're being attacked by 10 beasts all at once, 1 second makes a huge
difference. Use Healing potions during fights, and use the Heal spell after
fights. The same applies to Antidote.
As for offensive spells... The only one that I find useful is Magic Bomb.
Sometimes when I don't feel like attacking a boss face to face, I'll use the
Magic Bomb to waste him. Generally, your regular attacks will outdamage
offensive spells. By the time you're level 50, your weapon will hit for
about 200 damage, and you can swing the sucker about 3 times a second!
Some other spells that occasionally come in handy: Haste, Invisibility, Food,
Reflections.
In conclusion: Leave the heavy magic for the mages. Your melee skills are
better anyways.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weapon and Armor Guide
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEAPONS - For weapons, I would strongly recommend that you go with either the
1 handed sword + Shield combination, or just use a 2 handed sword. Don't
use anything else, because clubs, maces, lances, scepters, etc. all take a
much longer time to swing. Your dexterity is about average, so using range
weapons such as bows isn't a good idea either. If you decide to go with the
1H Sword+Shield combo, the advantages are that you will swing your sword
slightly faster and your shield will add AC and other attribute points.
With the 2H Sword, you can't gain extra stats from a shield, but you will
have a much better weapon with a slightly longer range. Your character
will block moves automatically either way.
If the Blacksmith ever sells a "Vampire" 1H or 2H Sword, BUY IT. The Vampire
line of weapons is by far the best for Warriors/Amazons. Whenever you hit an
enemy, it will drain 10-20% of their HP. Against the undead, you'll still
hit for regular damage (Unlike Poison and Fire weapons which do 1 damage
against scorpions and Fire Golems respectively), but you won't drain any of
their life (makes sense, since they're dead). I've fought bosses that have
taken 40 hits to kill, and my Amazon just kept swinging her weapon and I was
gaining back more HP than I was losing.
ARMOR - Unlike weapons, feel free to use Thief and Priest armor if they offer
better stats.
There are 5 "looks" your character has.
Cloth Outfit - This is what you start off with. Rags give this look.
Leather Outfit - Studded leather armor
Chainmail Outfit - Light Armor
Platemail Outfit - Platemail
Mystic Platemail Outfit - Mystic Platemail
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This FAQ is copyright 1999 by Shantanu Thakur (aka Leviathan)
Some information borrowed from the official Darkstone website
For Darkstone Windows95/98
Revision 2 September 4, 1999
Brought to you by Leviathan - lev|athan@hempseed.com
THE WARRIOR
The finest warriors are born in the heart of Ardyl's forests. From their
earliest years, they have to become tough and develop absolute physical
strength to be able to confront the dangers lurking in their region. As
children, they learnt to survive in the most hostile of environments, to
overwhelm wild beasts with their bare hands and, above all, to fight the
goblins and skeletons, which abound in their land. They have also put their
many expeditions to the various villages to good use by acquiring the
mastery of swordsmanship. They usually end up as mercenaries or masters of
arms. These warriors are now the strongest men alive. Their powerful, yet
agile muscular frame makes them formidable opponents in direct combat. Their
strength fills the lords with dread and few dare challenge them in single
combat. They stalk their enemies with the patience of a hunting cat, and can
swoop down on them with the speed of a hawk. They do have once weakness,
however: they dislike magic because they consider it a demeaning means of
combat. They prefer by far the incisive cut and hard steel of the sword to
the use of spells.
THE AMAZON
Amazons are fierce horsewomen who live in the region of Ardyl. They are
entrusted at a young age to a Mother and soon become formidable warriors,
showing no fear of either physical strength or magic powers. They learn as a
group to compensate for their lack of physical strength through their agility
and flexibility. Guided by their Mother, they must continually undergo a
serious of stern trials with the aim of strengthening their spirit and making
them a match for any warrior. The worst of these "character-building" trials
involves them venturing into the goblins' den and bringing back the skull of
their leader. The Amazons gain the upper hand in direct combat thanks to
their agility and the way in which they can anticipate their opponent's
blows. Their enemies describe it as being involved in a relentless dance of
death. Similarly to the warriors, the Amazons have mastered the use of the
sword, demonstrating impressive accuracy. It is, indeed, very rare for them
to use magic.
Starting Stats for Warriors and Amazons: STR 20
VIT 15
DEX 10
MAG 5
Maximum Stats for Warrior and Amazons: STR Unlimited
VIT 150
DEX 100
MAG 50
(Note: With Elixirs, you can boost your stats past these levels)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Warriors and Amazons (according to Darkstone)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Warrior/Amazon class is the melee class in Darkstone. It's intended
towards those who prefer the sword over magic.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Is there a difference between the Warrior and the Amazon?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Only their sex and that they look different. The official descriptions talk
about the differences between Amazons and their "male counterparts", but I
can assure that their skills and abilities are exactly the same.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why play as the Warrior/Amazon?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This class has many things going for them. They start off with everything
they'll need: Good Melee skills. With the Wizard + Priest classes, your
character isn't effective until you've learned all your spells up to level 6
through 8. In fact, you might not even have all the spells in the game until
you're level 30-40.
Also, they have the best Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality combination in the
game. Alone, these stats don't mean much. Monks have high Vitality, but
they get smacked around a lot because of their low Dexterity. Thiefs have
high Dexterity, but when they get hit, they take a lot of damage because they
have few HP. Warriors and Amazons can take many hits, and they can dodge
many hits also. Additionally, the STR + DEX combination determines how much
you hit for and how frequently you'll hit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to play the Warrior/Amazon
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
For starters, bind the Beserker spell and the Concentration skill to a
hotkey. When you play as a Warrior/Amazon, you must keep Concentration
and - usually - Beserker on at all times. At lower levels, Beserker isn't
that helpful because it sucks up a large chunk of mana and doesn't last very
long. However, once you start playing in the Expert and Master modes, you'll
want to keep it on at all times. At level 1, they both wear out quick, but
as you progress in levels, they last much longer and their effects are
greater.
So, now that you've got Beserker and Concentration on, what do you do next?
Simple, it's time to find some monsters to slay! The best way to do this is
to go up to a door and let the beasts come out one by one. You can try
taking on multiple foes, but I would not recommend it. Be sure to heal in
between fights. Make sure you keep "Auto attack" on at all times. That
way, your character will swing his weapon as many times as he can until he
kill the monster. In "Manual attack", your character will just swing once
when you click on a monster (which means you'll do about 2-3x as much
clicking, not fun).
Make sure you return to town when you run out of potions, or your inventory
is full. Before selling off your loot to the blacksmith, MAKE SURE YOU USE
THE REPAIR SKILL. Items found in the dungeon are often at 10% or 20% of
their maximum durability. If you can repair them 100% durability - even
though the max durability will probably go down - you'll still get much
more money from the blacksmith. Do not, however, use the repair skill on
your own weapons/armor. Let the blacksmith do it for you.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skills
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Concentration - Keep this on at all times. This should always be one of the
first thing that you upgrade.
Trade - Gives you x% discount on items, where x = Trade skill level.
Forester - You can use this to scoop up food in the outdoors. Personally, I
prefer the Food spell.
Learning - Makes you level up faster. Always upgrade this.
Master of Arms - Increases your melee abilities. Always upgrade this.
Orientation - Reveals outdoor maps to you. This is a great skill. The other
classes have to scout the outdoor maps to find dungeons and exits, but with a
Warrior/Amazon, just use Orientation and click on where you want to go. Even
when Orientation runs out, your character will still know exactly where to
run to.
Repair - Repairs weapons and armor, while lowering the Maximum Durability.
Use this on loot you intend to sell off.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
What spells will I need?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps the greatest thing about this class is that you only need a few
spells, and you can easily hotkey all of them and have room left over. The
spell that you will use the most is "Beserker". This spell basically doubles
the effectiveness of your character. If the Wizard in town is selling a
copy of Berserker, BUY IT. You can easily get Beserker up to level 4 or so,
and I strongly recommend it.
The other spells you'll need are Healing, Magic Door, and Antidote. You'll
want to hotkey all three of them. Since you have the Healing spell, you
might figure "Hey, I won't be needing healing potions anymore". Wrong! The
Heal spell takes some time to cast, while healing potions are instantaneous.
When you're being attacked by 10 beasts all at once, 1 second makes a huge
difference. Use Healing potions during fights, and use the Heal spell after
fights. The same applies to Antidote.
As for offensive spells... The only one that I find useful is Magic Bomb.
Sometimes when I don't feel like attacking a boss face to face, I'll use the
Magic Bomb to waste him. Generally, your regular attacks will outdamage
offensive spells. By the time you're level 50, your weapon will hit for
about 200 damage, and you can swing the sucker about 3 times a second!
Some other spells that occasionally come in handy: Haste, Invisibility, Food,
Reflections.
In conclusion: Leave the heavy magic for the mages. Your melee skills are
better anyways.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weapon and Armor Guide
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEAPONS - For weapons, I would strongly recommend that you go with either the
1 handed sword + Shield combination, or just use a 2 handed sword. Don't
use anything else, because clubs, maces, lances, scepters, etc. all take a
much longer time to swing. Your dexterity is about average, so using range
weapons such as bows isn't a good idea either. If you decide to go with the
1H Sword+Shield combo, the advantages are that you will swing your sword
slightly faster and your shield will add AC and other attribute points.
With the 2H Sword, you can't gain extra stats from a shield, but you will
have a much better weapon with a slightly longer range. Your character
will block moves automatically either way.
If the Blacksmith ever sells a "Vampire" 1H or 2H Sword, BUY IT. The Vampire
line of weapons is by far the best for Warriors/Amazons. Whenever you hit an
enemy, it will drain 10-20% of their HP. Against the undead, you'll still
hit for regular damage (Unlike Poison and Fire weapons which do 1 damage
against scorpions and Fire Golems respectively), but you won't drain any of
their life (makes sense, since they're dead). I've fought bosses that have
taken 40 hits to kill, and my Amazon just kept swinging her weapon and I was
gaining back more HP than I was losing.
ARMOR - Unlike weapons, feel free to use Thief and Priest armor if they offer
better stats.
There are 5 "looks" your character has.
Cloth Outfit - This is what you start off with. Rags give this look.
Leather Outfit - Studded leather armor
Chainmail Outfit - Light Armor
Platemail Outfit - Platemail
Mystic Platemail Outfit - Mystic Platemail
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This FAQ is copyright 1999 by Shantanu Thakur (aka Leviathan)
Some information borrowed from the official Darkstone website