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Arkady's on-line guide to playing Vampire
By: Arkady
Part 1
Hello and welcome to Arkady’s on-line guide to playing Vampire:
The Masquerade “Redemption”. This is a series of walkthroughs and strategy
guides to help those of you that are having some difficulty with the game. Our
gracious Webmaster is also adding a brand new section called “Ask Ark” that you
may turn to if these guides don’t clarify upon a point that you need help with.
Just email me and ask me whatever it is you need to know. Please keep questions
about Vampire please. Well, with all of that blather out of the way, let us
begin with the guide.
Prague – You begin the game with seeing a few cut-scenes
explaining Christof’s dilemma. He is fighting a battle against the barbarian
hordes in the Moravian hills when he is unwittingly struck down by an arrow and
blacks out. Low and behold he wakes up in the Prague convent and unto a
beautiful nun named Anezka. A few conversations later, you are awakened to the
sound of a woman’s scream, and your first opportunity to test out the navigation
and battle systems. Just pick up your sword next to your bed, run out there,
slice them heads off, and watch another cutscene. No explanation needed here.
If any of you are stuck at this point because you can’t defeat the two
Szlachtas…
I pity you.
The next cutscene should be of you in bed talking to Anezka.
During the conversation, you get your first of two choices. I have not chosen
the bottom one so I wouldn’t know what the difference between the two are, but I
am pretty sure that you are supposed to pick the first one where you state that
you will kill the demons in the silver mines the next day. So after EVEN MORE
cutscenes, you are on your way. In the room where you first begin there is a
chest, and a cross on the wall opposite your bed. You can stash things in the
chest and save there at the cross. I seriously doubt you have anything to stash
right now, in fact guarantee it. You can save if you want, but once you enter
the silver mines it will autosave. I rarely save myself, I usually depend on
the
autosave. However, with the new patch coming out, you will be able to save
anywhere so this really shouldn’t pose any problems. Go on out and talk to
Anezka if you want to, there is really no point, but hell, why not, right? Once
you leave the convent, you find yourself in Prague during the daytime. There
are
several people you can talk to in town, and in the Tavern you can collect a
Healing Salve if I am not mistaken. Very useful in the fights to come I might
add.
You can travel around town talking to people if you want to
absorb all there is to the game, but it is a really big waste of time if you ask
me. You spend half an hour hearing the same thing over and over when you could
be slaying some baddies. I will from this point not mention idle chatter, I
will
only write down the important conversations. Now, the weapon smith is on the
far
side of town, near the gate leading to the bridge. You can talk to the
blacksmith and he will give you several choices in the conversation regarding an
old gypsy woman down on Golden Lane. Choose as you will, it doesn’t change the
story much I believe. Now, with the 50 gold you have, you can’t really buy
much,
but keep in mind that you will find a better shield than what you can afford
there in the weapon shop. I would instead save that money for later.
You can head on down to the gypsy on Golden Lane if you like. She will most
likely help you out a little bit. You can use the money there if you need to,
because you have a hard fight ahead, and the more help the better. After you
have stocked up with whatever it is you are going to buy, head on out of town by
means of the gate next to the University. If you head down the road, you will
come upon the entrance to the silver mines and Christof will make some stupid
remark about the ghouls not working the mines.
Inside the mines there isn’t much light, so if you are sitting
at
your computer playing at night, turn off the light, you can see things much
better. Now, once inside you go down some paths to little avail until you hear
a
man scream. Then the fun begins. A little ways down you see a man dead on the
wall and there are two items there to pick up. There is also a Szlachta to your
right. Once you have picked up the items, head to the left along a pathway
where
you will meet two more Szlachtas. So this Guide doesn’t take forever and ever,
let’s chop things out that you can figure out on your own and only give you the
good stuff, alright? There are several items here and there if you look. A
good
strategy for the silver mines is if you are surrounded by ghoul rats alone, hit
the little ghoul rats first. They are weak and will most often die with one
hit. If you are surrounded by Szlachtas and ghoul rats, then still hit the
ghoul
rats first, then focus on the Szlachtas. The Szlachtas with bone clubs are
kinda
tough right now so you want to hit and run. Take a swipe and if he misses, back
up a little bit, charge, then hit him again. Or you can just go berserk and
slice away til’ he is dead.
Remember to use your Healing items VERY wisely. I cannot stress this fact
enough! You must always have at least three completely full, if you start to go
below three, you are running a BIG risk. Now, later in the level you will find
the shield, a torch, a rapier, rags, and several other items. I would recommend
equipping yourself with the Rapier, the rags, and the shield. The shield and
rags are added defense and the rapier, even though a little bit weaker than your
broadsword has a LOT more accuracy and you will hit your target much more often.
When you get to the War Ghoul, BE CAREFUL! In my opinion, this
War Ghoul is harder than the level boss in many ways. For one, you can’t use
your holy waters on it, second of all, it’s secondary attack is killer! He
stabs
you with his skewer like arm, lifts you up into the arm and slams you down which
takes a whole mess of life. Be very very careful when you fight the war ghoul,
because you are very far into the second level of the mines and if he kills you,
it is really going to tick you off if you have to start over.
Once you get into level three, right in the beginning there should be a
stronger
armor, equip it right off. You will soon come upon Ahzra (sp?). Ahzra is
somewhat difficult but nothing to write home to mom about. The good thing about
this boss is that you can finally use the holy water. I wouldn’t recommend
using
the stakes because it is very rare that they work and while you are trying to
stake her, she will be ripping your heart out.
Just clobber her with your sword, throw holy water, and watch your health. She
should fall without too many problems.
Once you have beaten her, remember to check her throne for goodies and cash.
After you beat her you can breath easy because you have cleared the level of
monsters so going out is no problem. And anyhow, once you get to a certain
point, you will find the thing of St. Jude and there will be a shortcut around
there to the first level of the mines.
Once out of the mines, head straight to the town for an unbelievable amount of
cutscenes and other junk. You now have a good amount of money to go get better
equipment if you want to. Well boys and girls, that is it for this installment.
The next installment will be “The Embrace, and the Cappadocians (otherwise known
as “How to kill Mercurio once and for all…without cheating!”)” Catch you later.
Part 2
Welcome to part two of my on-line guide to Vampire. This section is all about
The Embrace. Even though you most likely don’t need any guidance through this
part of the game. I have to make my guides complete. Besides, it gave me a
reason to go around taking screenshots! =] So here it is.
Prague – Let’s begin where we left off. You have just entered the city from
returning from the Silver Mines. My suggestion was to visit the blacksmith who
will praise you, blah blah, but I would really check your equipment. It would
be
wise to stock up much like I am in the screenshot, seeing as how that is pretty
much the best you are gonna get. Studded leather armor, shield, light helm,
gauntlets, and a fine rapier. If there is a better weapon like an exquisite
broadsword, or a fine broadsword, those are even better buys, but what I got
isn’t a bad setup and should protect you from all those evil people.
You have to go visit the Bishop first. He will be waiting to congratulate you
and give you a rod iron cross. His idea of a gift I guess.
Then you are to visit Sister Anezka. You go and greet her, and through the
conversation basically chicken out of telling her how you truly feel and instead
give her the amulet of St. Jude that you found in the mines.
She thanks you and you walk out only to be found out by the Bishop who is
obviously pissed at you. Knowing that your regiment is too far away, he
instructs you to defend the streets of Prague at night. You obey. And day
turns
to night. (Cool pic eh?)
After some nice scenes of Prague at night, you go to kill two Szlachtas in
various places.
After that, make your way back to the convent where there will be three ugly
looking ghouls waiting to eat your gizzard while it is still attached to you. I
think that is what the one says. You quickly dispatch of them, but if you have
problems for some reason, pick the one on the right hand side and work left,
NEVER fight a fight in the middle, that is the easiest way to get surrounded,
and
you are more vulnerable from behind.
Once you kill them, you rush into the convent only to find Anezka, the Bishop,
and another Nun being attacked by two more ghouls and a Szlachta. You make
quick
work of them and after a conversation with Anezka, it cuts to a scene with this
woman with a scarf over her face, and this Roman looking guy with a scar on his
face. They talk about how Christof would make a nice addition to their family,
and you come to find out that this is no ordinary woman! *gasp* She is in
fact,
Ecaterina the wise, leader of the Brujah clan. And her bald headed friend is
Cosmas, a member of the Brujah clan. Cool huh?
It then goes to yet another cutscene of a private conversation you are having
with Sister Anezka. You talk to her about your feelings and how you love her,
and she reciprocates. You then go on to tell her that you want to make sweet
monkey love to her, and she feels the same way, and instead of giving this game
an X rating, Christof leaves into the night, fearing eternal damnation. Isn’t
life ironic?
You are taken by surprise in the alley by Ecaterina and she begins to make you
doubt your faith even more, and even with all the spit and fire you have inside,
she makes quick work of you, and…you guessed it! Embraces you! You scream into
the night as Ecaterina takes you and the screen goes black.
You wake up in a big room with painting here and there, and are accompanied by
Ecaterina and her flunky Cosmas.
A long conversation ensues about how Christof is now eternally damned, a Brujah,
and dead all at the same time. He obviously has a hard time swallowing this
chunk of chicken he has been handed and falls into despair. You then take that
cross the Bishop gave you and chuck it across the floor in frustration.
Prague – We left off with Christof falling into despair over becoming a vampire.
We now resume where we left off with …of course…another cutscene of you talking
to Ecaterina and Cosmas about who you are, what your purpose is, and how things
are going to be. Lay the smack down Ecaterina. You go girl. *ahem* Anyhow,
during the conversation Wilhelm comes in to save your rear end from endless
blather and convinces Ecaterina to let you accompany Wilhelm on his mission to
recover the Nod fragment.
Wilhelm is going to become your best bud for a while so get to know him and how
he plays, because each vampire plays differently up to an extent. Once you
leave
the University, Wilhelm will briefly discuss “the beast” which is basically the
feral side of your new form. The best is basically what overtakes you when you
frenzy. In case you have no idea what to frenzy is, I will explain. When you
frenzy you lose all control over your character and he becomes a beast,
attacking
whomever or whatever he chooses. Your character in frenzy will most often feed
off anything that is nearby, including your other characters. The lowest bar on
your character is the frenzy bar. When you take damage, or when you get
dangerously low on blood, you begin to frenzy, and trust me, it’s not pretty and
can very well screw you over. Be careful not to frenzy, if you DO start to
frenzy, you can use the discipline blood healing and that should reduce it
considerably.
Right after that conversation Wilhelm talks to you about your haven. Your haven
is basically your sanctuary, your safe place during the day. You do not
regenerate life or blood while in sanctuary, but while in your sanctuary, you
can
save, advance your character, or stash unnecessary items in the vault.
Once you have explored the Haven thoroughly, leave and go to the blacksmith to
equip Wilhelm properly. When you receive Wilhelm, he has a Halberd, a bow and
some arrows, two scrolls of awaken, and four bottles of vitae. Neither of the
weapons given to you is a wise choice. The halberd has no accuracy and is two
handed therefore restricting you from a shield, which is always an added facet
for defense. I always recommend one handed weapons because defense in VERY
important in Vampire. The Bow and arrow is basically worthless unless you are
the one using it. The other members of your coterie don’t know the difference
between friend and foe and will try to shoot at an enemy you are fighting, and
most often hit YOU in the process. Go to the blacksmith, sell the halberd, bow,
and arrows, and get Wilhelm a one handed weapon of some sorts, a shield, a
helmet
and some armor. If you don’t have the cash for this, sell things you don’t
need,
things you should have picked up in the Silver Mines. It is very important that
you equip Wilhelm properly because you need all the help you can get in the
fight
to come.
Your Coterie members aren’t too smart in a lot of ways, one of these is very
important to remember. Wilhelm himself wastes blood like a drunken vampire and
you very often have to let him use bottles of vitae. Keep in mind that if you
let his supply get too low, he can’t heal, or even worse, he could frenzy and
hurt both you and himself. Keep him well supplied with blood, or suffer the
consequences.
After you leave the blacksmith, exit out the gate leading to the bridge where
Wilhelm will talk to you more about the beast and where you will “officially”
feed for the first time. You don’t get that much, so if you can, feed off the
old man once more before he disappears.
Also, if you don’t seem to get the blood fix you want, don’t worry, once you get
to the Monastery, there are several monks outside and in the first rooms who are
more than willing to supply blood. =] Now, once inside the bowels of the
Monastery and you start fighting Cappadocians, remember that these guys are
smarter and stronger than Szlachtas. It is always a good idea to take things
VERY slowly so you don’t become surrounded by 5 enemies and end up wasting
valuable resources.
I won’t talk much about fighting the Cappadocians except for these VERY
important
tips. Never ever get surrounded, it will inevitably be your death. Always
always always take out the archers first, their accuracy is much higher than the
others and they can easily pick one of your characters off from a good distance.
Remember that if you are good, you can feed off the Cappadocians and the Zombu.
All you need do is cast Awe on them, then feed while the spell is still in
effect. Remember not to waste your vitae. Use your disciplines effectively.
Celerity is always a good discipline, and blood healing is a definite must.
There are several rooms where you must hit switches, but remember not to just
bust into a room and think you are Rambo because in great numbers, the enemies
will make quick work of you. Also, remember that Cappadocians are known for
burying themselves, and even though these guys are just the same as the others,
they can sometimes sneak up on you if you just run past an area.
If for some reason one of your characters enters Torpor like in one of these
screenshots, remember that Wilhelm is carrying two scrolls of Awaken
indefinitely
and you will most likely have picked some more up on the way. Just right click
on the scroll then right click on your fallen member.
The room with the double stairs will be your hardest fight without a doubt. You
have to be VERY careful in this room because it is very easy to get a foot
shoved
up your…. Anyhow, it is wise to not fight the enemies on the stairs, because
Wilhelm has a tendency to attack the same enemy you are, and there is no room
for
him to pass you on the stairs.
Once you defeat the enemies in this room, there is a key to Garinol’s chamber on
the right hand of the picture of death. Here is a close-up of it.
Once you get into Garinol’s chamber, you will pick up his journal where you
first
hear of this “Mercurio”. Remember to take that funky looking skull with you.
It
is in fact the key to Mercurio’s door and I doubt that you will want to double
back to get it. Now, before fighting Mercurio, I would highly recommend using
an
acquired scroll of walk the abyss in front of his chamber so you can save and
power up before you fight him, because he is in fact one of the hardest bosses
you will face.
Once you think you are ready to fight him, take a deep breath, pump yourself,
and
a little prayer wouldn’t hurt. Once inside his chamber and after some talk, the
battle begins. He will start with Beckoning to call a Zombu to help distract
you
from him, he will then cast a Plague Wind and direct it at Wilhelm which will
hurt Wilhelm, A LOT. Now, if you did not kill ALL the enemies in Monastery 3,
THIS could happen. During the fight, several enemies could come from behind you
to jump you, so make SURE that you killed everyone or else you are just signing
your Death Warrant….IN INK! There are several strategies to fighting Mercurio
and it is up to you to figure out which works for you.
The first is to whack him a few times with Christof, then hit tab to switch to
Wilhelm, you will most likely need to Heal yourself, then hit tab, to switch to
Christof and smack him some more, then hit tab again to switch back to Wilhelm,
then smack him some more. The point of this strategy depends solely on the fact
that most often Mercurio will attack the character you are not using, so by
constantly switching between the two, you will make the damage even out and will
let you fight him longer and hopefully defeat him.
Another strategy is to RUN as soon as the fight begins. He will follow you.
Run
to the door that leads to Monastery 2, and fight him there, then when he is
kicking your butt into the ground, but before he kills either of you, go into
Monastery 2. He can’t follow you and this gives you all the time you need to
heal or refill your blood level or whatever you need to do. This strategy plays
on the fact that all damage done to him will last no matter where you go. You
could take a 5 week vacation to the Bahamas and he would still maintain the
damage you dealt him earlier. This is the strategy that worked for me.
Or, the one that is a sure win, is to mix the two. Switch characters at the
door
leading to Monastery 2. This is the one I used. If you for some reason still
can’t kill Mercurio, email me and I will help you as much as you need.
After he dies, pick up the Nod fragment, check the chest for goodies, then get
your butt out of that horrible place. Once you leave the Monastery, Wilhelm
will
talk to you about the daytime and about letting you go to see Anezka. The
screenshot of Christof talking to Anezka isn’t that good, but that is what it
is. It is just another one of those story-related cutscenes. Somewhat
interesting, so grab some popcorn and have fun. After that, return to the
University, or go to the blacksmith, haven or wherever, but eventually make your
way to the University.
Well well well, so you are back for more eh? Well, you are in for a treat this
time. This guide is about “The Golem & Serena”. No, it’s not a cheap knockoff
of Beauty and the Beast. Anyhow, this should help those of you that are having
some problems with that pesky Golem, because I have received several emails
asking how to smack the living dudu out of him. So for those of you that are
wondering, here it is.
Tony’s Meatball Hutch – OOPS! I mean Prague. Anyhow, we left off having just
kicked the crap out of Mercurio and you eventually going to the University.
Once
you get inside, you are greeted by Ecaterina and Cosmas who have a considerably
long conversation with you about the Jewish population, your enemies, your
supposed allies, and everyone else that comes to mind. At one point she says
that in three days time you will undertake another task, and you should respond
saying three-day’s time might be too late. She tells you to then go kill the
Golem in the Northern Quarter. You happily exit the University. Now, since
some
of you have had problems with this guy, I would recommend checking your
inventory, going to the Haven, advancing if you need to, stashing items, saving,
and all those other preparations. You might want to stop by the blacksmith for
some new toys if you haven’t already. Once you are ready, head to the Northern
Quarter Gate, which should now be unlocked (shown below).
Once you enter you are greeted by some dead bodies laying on the cobblestone
streets with cracked skull, half torn intestines, and every other hideous type
of
death there is. You pass up the bodies and make your way to the square, which
shouldn’t be too hard because there is only way to go. You will soon come upon
a
guy named Mendel who you can talk to, and he will explain what happened with the
Golem, and more importantly, how to defeat him.
I am not sure if my strategy actually works, or if this is just a bunch of poop
that makes me feel good, but Mendel says that the monster’s name Maqqabah, is
one
letter greater than the Jewish word for death, and a scroll is implanted in his
forehead, and if you can smash that one letter, he will die.
Make your way to the square where you will see the Golem smash some wall and
come
towards you.
Now, for the strategy that I think is just a bunch of hocus-pocus. When I fight
him, I always keep my cursor on his head and he dies pretty quickly. I don’t
know if he just dies or this actually works, but it works for me so I am sure it
couldn’t hurt. Now, before you fight him, you will want to cast celerity on
yourself, and you SHOULD have pumped Celerity up more than one already. If you
still have problems with him, use the [tab] switching technique I explained for
Mercurio. He isn’t that hard and should break into a million pieces shortly.
Remember to pick up the Stone Tablet on the floor when he dies. (Shown below)
Take the tablet to Mendel who will have a conversation with you about how the
Golem was not evil, and had no soul. He also says one of the most important
things in the game so pay attention. He says that even Christof can find
redemption!
Anyhow, after the conversation, take the “Shem” as it is now called, to Garinol.
(leader of the Cappadocians in case you forgot) He will be at the Monastery
waiting for you. Exit the Northern Quarter and go to the Judith Bridge Gate,
which will take you to the Monastery.
Once you get there Garinol talks to you about Mercurio and how he thanks you and
wants to join Ecaterina. He talks for a while so take a short nap. Then, the
best thing in the game happens.
You get…SERENA!!! He gives his prized childer to you as a reward. *Drools* I
personally have a thing for Serena so I am going to rant and rave about her
anytime she does something wonderful in the game. Anyhow, now that you have
another character, I would recommend going back to the blacksmith to equip her
properly. Remember that she only has 15 strength and cannot use certain weapons
because of it, but a one handed sword should do just fine.
Once you have her all decked out, you are to go back to your haven. This is
where Christof makes his second mistake. Serena talks to Christof about how she
also had to leave everything she loved behind when she became kindred and offers
him ANY kind of comfort he wants. You know what he does? Like a little wussy
he
says he will wait for Anezka instead. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY!!!!
WHERE IS THE ACTION!?!?? *Ahem* Anyhow, after that small cutscene, you are in
your haven and you can stock up or whatever you want to do.
To be continued
By: Arkady
Part 1
Hello and welcome to Arkady’s on-line guide to playing Vampire:
The Masquerade “Redemption”. This is a series of walkthroughs and strategy
guides to help those of you that are having some difficulty with the game. Our
gracious Webmaster is also adding a brand new section called “Ask Ark” that you
may turn to if these guides don’t clarify upon a point that you need help with.
Just email me and ask me whatever it is you need to know. Please keep questions
about Vampire please. Well, with all of that blather out of the way, let us
begin with the guide.
Prague – You begin the game with seeing a few cut-scenes
explaining Christof’s dilemma. He is fighting a battle against the barbarian
hordes in the Moravian hills when he is unwittingly struck down by an arrow and
blacks out. Low and behold he wakes up in the Prague convent and unto a
beautiful nun named Anezka. A few conversations later, you are awakened to the
sound of a woman’s scream, and your first opportunity to test out the navigation
and battle systems. Just pick up your sword next to your bed, run out there,
slice them heads off, and watch another cutscene. No explanation needed here.
If any of you are stuck at this point because you can’t defeat the two
Szlachtas…
I pity you.
The next cutscene should be of you in bed talking to Anezka.
During the conversation, you get your first of two choices. I have not chosen
the bottom one so I wouldn’t know what the difference between the two are, but I
am pretty sure that you are supposed to pick the first one where you state that
you will kill the demons in the silver mines the next day. So after EVEN MORE
cutscenes, you are on your way. In the room where you first begin there is a
chest, and a cross on the wall opposite your bed. You can stash things in the
chest and save there at the cross. I seriously doubt you have anything to stash
right now, in fact guarantee it. You can save if you want, but once you enter
the silver mines it will autosave. I rarely save myself, I usually depend on
the
autosave. However, with the new patch coming out, you will be able to save
anywhere so this really shouldn’t pose any problems. Go on out and talk to
Anezka if you want to, there is really no point, but hell, why not, right? Once
you leave the convent, you find yourself in Prague during the daytime. There
are
several people you can talk to in town, and in the Tavern you can collect a
Healing Salve if I am not mistaken. Very useful in the fights to come I might
add.
You can travel around town talking to people if you want to
absorb all there is to the game, but it is a really big waste of time if you ask
me. You spend half an hour hearing the same thing over and over when you could
be slaying some baddies. I will from this point not mention idle chatter, I
will
only write down the important conversations. Now, the weapon smith is on the
far
side of town, near the gate leading to the bridge. You can talk to the
blacksmith and he will give you several choices in the conversation regarding an
old gypsy woman down on Golden Lane. Choose as you will, it doesn’t change the
story much I believe. Now, with the 50 gold you have, you can’t really buy
much,
but keep in mind that you will find a better shield than what you can afford
there in the weapon shop. I would instead save that money for later.
You can head on down to the gypsy on Golden Lane if you like. She will most
likely help you out a little bit. You can use the money there if you need to,
because you have a hard fight ahead, and the more help the better. After you
have stocked up with whatever it is you are going to buy, head on out of town by
means of the gate next to the University. If you head down the road, you will
come upon the entrance to the silver mines and Christof will make some stupid
remark about the ghouls not working the mines.
Inside the mines there isn’t much light, so if you are sitting
at
your computer playing at night, turn off the light, you can see things much
better. Now, once inside you go down some paths to little avail until you hear
a
man scream. Then the fun begins. A little ways down you see a man dead on the
wall and there are two items there to pick up. There is also a Szlachta to your
right. Once you have picked up the items, head to the left along a pathway
where
you will meet two more Szlachtas. So this Guide doesn’t take forever and ever,
let’s chop things out that you can figure out on your own and only give you the
good stuff, alright? There are several items here and there if you look. A
good
strategy for the silver mines is if you are surrounded by ghoul rats alone, hit
the little ghoul rats first. They are weak and will most often die with one
hit. If you are surrounded by Szlachtas and ghoul rats, then still hit the
ghoul
rats first, then focus on the Szlachtas. The Szlachtas with bone clubs are
kinda
tough right now so you want to hit and run. Take a swipe and if he misses, back
up a little bit, charge, then hit him again. Or you can just go berserk and
slice away til’ he is dead.
Remember to use your Healing items VERY wisely. I cannot stress this fact
enough! You must always have at least three completely full, if you start to go
below three, you are running a BIG risk. Now, later in the level you will find
the shield, a torch, a rapier, rags, and several other items. I would recommend
equipping yourself with the Rapier, the rags, and the shield. The shield and
rags are added defense and the rapier, even though a little bit weaker than your
broadsword has a LOT more accuracy and you will hit your target much more often.
When you get to the War Ghoul, BE CAREFUL! In my opinion, this
War Ghoul is harder than the level boss in many ways. For one, you can’t use
your holy waters on it, second of all, it’s secondary attack is killer! He
stabs
you with his skewer like arm, lifts you up into the arm and slams you down which
takes a whole mess of life. Be very very careful when you fight the war ghoul,
because you are very far into the second level of the mines and if he kills you,
it is really going to tick you off if you have to start over.
Once you get into level three, right in the beginning there should be a
stronger
armor, equip it right off. You will soon come upon Ahzra (sp?). Ahzra is
somewhat difficult but nothing to write home to mom about. The good thing about
this boss is that you can finally use the holy water. I wouldn’t recommend
using
the stakes because it is very rare that they work and while you are trying to
stake her, she will be ripping your heart out.
Just clobber her with your sword, throw holy water, and watch your health. She
should fall without too many problems.
Once you have beaten her, remember to check her throne for goodies and cash.
After you beat her you can breath easy because you have cleared the level of
monsters so going out is no problem. And anyhow, once you get to a certain
point, you will find the thing of St. Jude and there will be a shortcut around
there to the first level of the mines.
Once out of the mines, head straight to the town for an unbelievable amount of
cutscenes and other junk. You now have a good amount of money to go get better
equipment if you want to. Well boys and girls, that is it for this installment.
The next installment will be “The Embrace, and the Cappadocians (otherwise known
as “How to kill Mercurio once and for all…without cheating!”)” Catch you later.
Part 2
Welcome to part two of my on-line guide to Vampire. This section is all about
The Embrace. Even though you most likely don’t need any guidance through this
part of the game. I have to make my guides complete. Besides, it gave me a
reason to go around taking screenshots! =] So here it is.
Prague – Let’s begin where we left off. You have just entered the city from
returning from the Silver Mines. My suggestion was to visit the blacksmith who
will praise you, blah blah, but I would really check your equipment. It would
be
wise to stock up much like I am in the screenshot, seeing as how that is pretty
much the best you are gonna get. Studded leather armor, shield, light helm,
gauntlets, and a fine rapier. If there is a better weapon like an exquisite
broadsword, or a fine broadsword, those are even better buys, but what I got
isn’t a bad setup and should protect you from all those evil people.
You have to go visit the Bishop first. He will be waiting to congratulate you
and give you a rod iron cross. His idea of a gift I guess.
Then you are to visit Sister Anezka. You go and greet her, and through the
conversation basically chicken out of telling her how you truly feel and instead
give her the amulet of St. Jude that you found in the mines.
She thanks you and you walk out only to be found out by the Bishop who is
obviously pissed at you. Knowing that your regiment is too far away, he
instructs you to defend the streets of Prague at night. You obey. And day
turns
to night. (Cool pic eh?)
After some nice scenes of Prague at night, you go to kill two Szlachtas in
various places.
After that, make your way back to the convent where there will be three ugly
looking ghouls waiting to eat your gizzard while it is still attached to you. I
think that is what the one says. You quickly dispatch of them, but if you have
problems for some reason, pick the one on the right hand side and work left,
NEVER fight a fight in the middle, that is the easiest way to get surrounded,
and
you are more vulnerable from behind.
Once you kill them, you rush into the convent only to find Anezka, the Bishop,
and another Nun being attacked by two more ghouls and a Szlachta. You make
quick
work of them and after a conversation with Anezka, it cuts to a scene with this
woman with a scarf over her face, and this Roman looking guy with a scar on his
face. They talk about how Christof would make a nice addition to their family,
and you come to find out that this is no ordinary woman! *gasp* She is in
fact,
Ecaterina the wise, leader of the Brujah clan. And her bald headed friend is
Cosmas, a member of the Brujah clan. Cool huh?
It then goes to yet another cutscene of a private conversation you are having
with Sister Anezka. You talk to her about your feelings and how you love her,
and she reciprocates. You then go on to tell her that you want to make sweet
monkey love to her, and she feels the same way, and instead of giving this game
an X rating, Christof leaves into the night, fearing eternal damnation. Isn’t
life ironic?
You are taken by surprise in the alley by Ecaterina and she begins to make you
doubt your faith even more, and even with all the spit and fire you have inside,
she makes quick work of you, and…you guessed it! Embraces you! You scream into
the night as Ecaterina takes you and the screen goes black.
You wake up in a big room with painting here and there, and are accompanied by
Ecaterina and her flunky Cosmas.
A long conversation ensues about how Christof is now eternally damned, a Brujah,
and dead all at the same time. He obviously has a hard time swallowing this
chunk of chicken he has been handed and falls into despair. You then take that
cross the Bishop gave you and chuck it across the floor in frustration.
Prague – We left off with Christof falling into despair over becoming a vampire.
We now resume where we left off with …of course…another cutscene of you talking
to Ecaterina and Cosmas about who you are, what your purpose is, and how things
are going to be. Lay the smack down Ecaterina. You go girl. *ahem* Anyhow,
during the conversation Wilhelm comes in to save your rear end from endless
blather and convinces Ecaterina to let you accompany Wilhelm on his mission to
recover the Nod fragment.
Wilhelm is going to become your best bud for a while so get to know him and how
he plays, because each vampire plays differently up to an extent. Once you
leave
the University, Wilhelm will briefly discuss “the beast” which is basically the
feral side of your new form. The best is basically what overtakes you when you
frenzy. In case you have no idea what to frenzy is, I will explain. When you
frenzy you lose all control over your character and he becomes a beast,
attacking
whomever or whatever he chooses. Your character in frenzy will most often feed
off anything that is nearby, including your other characters. The lowest bar on
your character is the frenzy bar. When you take damage, or when you get
dangerously low on blood, you begin to frenzy, and trust me, it’s not pretty and
can very well screw you over. Be careful not to frenzy, if you DO start to
frenzy, you can use the discipline blood healing and that should reduce it
considerably.
Right after that conversation Wilhelm talks to you about your haven. Your haven
is basically your sanctuary, your safe place during the day. You do not
regenerate life or blood while in sanctuary, but while in your sanctuary, you
can
save, advance your character, or stash unnecessary items in the vault.
Once you have explored the Haven thoroughly, leave and go to the blacksmith to
equip Wilhelm properly. When you receive Wilhelm, he has a Halberd, a bow and
some arrows, two scrolls of awaken, and four bottles of vitae. Neither of the
weapons given to you is a wise choice. The halberd has no accuracy and is two
handed therefore restricting you from a shield, which is always an added facet
for defense. I always recommend one handed weapons because defense in VERY
important in Vampire. The Bow and arrow is basically worthless unless you are
the one using it. The other members of your coterie don’t know the difference
between friend and foe and will try to shoot at an enemy you are fighting, and
most often hit YOU in the process. Go to the blacksmith, sell the halberd, bow,
and arrows, and get Wilhelm a one handed weapon of some sorts, a shield, a
helmet
and some armor. If you don’t have the cash for this, sell things you don’t
need,
things you should have picked up in the Silver Mines. It is very important that
you equip Wilhelm properly because you need all the help you can get in the
fight
to come.
Your Coterie members aren’t too smart in a lot of ways, one of these is very
important to remember. Wilhelm himself wastes blood like a drunken vampire and
you very often have to let him use bottles of vitae. Keep in mind that if you
let his supply get too low, he can’t heal, or even worse, he could frenzy and
hurt both you and himself. Keep him well supplied with blood, or suffer the
consequences.
After you leave the blacksmith, exit out the gate leading to the bridge where
Wilhelm will talk to you more about the beast and where you will “officially”
feed for the first time. You don’t get that much, so if you can, feed off the
old man once more before he disappears.
Also, if you don’t seem to get the blood fix you want, don’t worry, once you get
to the Monastery, there are several monks outside and in the first rooms who are
more than willing to supply blood. =] Now, once inside the bowels of the
Monastery and you start fighting Cappadocians, remember that these guys are
smarter and stronger than Szlachtas. It is always a good idea to take things
VERY slowly so you don’t become surrounded by 5 enemies and end up wasting
valuable resources.
I won’t talk much about fighting the Cappadocians except for these VERY
important
tips. Never ever get surrounded, it will inevitably be your death. Always
always always take out the archers first, their accuracy is much higher than the
others and they can easily pick one of your characters off from a good distance.
Remember that if you are good, you can feed off the Cappadocians and the Zombu.
All you need do is cast Awe on them, then feed while the spell is still in
effect. Remember not to waste your vitae. Use your disciplines effectively.
Celerity is always a good discipline, and blood healing is a definite must.
There are several rooms where you must hit switches, but remember not to just
bust into a room and think you are Rambo because in great numbers, the enemies
will make quick work of you. Also, remember that Cappadocians are known for
burying themselves, and even though these guys are just the same as the others,
they can sometimes sneak up on you if you just run past an area.
If for some reason one of your characters enters Torpor like in one of these
screenshots, remember that Wilhelm is carrying two scrolls of Awaken
indefinitely
and you will most likely have picked some more up on the way. Just right click
on the scroll then right click on your fallen member.
The room with the double stairs will be your hardest fight without a doubt. You
have to be VERY careful in this room because it is very easy to get a foot
shoved
up your…. Anyhow, it is wise to not fight the enemies on the stairs, because
Wilhelm has a tendency to attack the same enemy you are, and there is no room
for
him to pass you on the stairs.
Once you defeat the enemies in this room, there is a key to Garinol’s chamber on
the right hand of the picture of death. Here is a close-up of it.
Once you get into Garinol’s chamber, you will pick up his journal where you
first
hear of this “Mercurio”. Remember to take that funky looking skull with you.
It
is in fact the key to Mercurio’s door and I doubt that you will want to double
back to get it. Now, before fighting Mercurio, I would highly recommend using
an
acquired scroll of walk the abyss in front of his chamber so you can save and
power up before you fight him, because he is in fact one of the hardest bosses
you will face.
Once you think you are ready to fight him, take a deep breath, pump yourself,
and
a little prayer wouldn’t hurt. Once inside his chamber and after some talk, the
battle begins. He will start with Beckoning to call a Zombu to help distract
you
from him, he will then cast a Plague Wind and direct it at Wilhelm which will
hurt Wilhelm, A LOT. Now, if you did not kill ALL the enemies in Monastery 3,
THIS could happen. During the fight, several enemies could come from behind you
to jump you, so make SURE that you killed everyone or else you are just signing
your Death Warrant….IN INK! There are several strategies to fighting Mercurio
and it is up to you to figure out which works for you.
The first is to whack him a few times with Christof, then hit tab to switch to
Wilhelm, you will most likely need to Heal yourself, then hit tab, to switch to
Christof and smack him some more, then hit tab again to switch back to Wilhelm,
then smack him some more. The point of this strategy depends solely on the fact
that most often Mercurio will attack the character you are not using, so by
constantly switching between the two, you will make the damage even out and will
let you fight him longer and hopefully defeat him.
Another strategy is to RUN as soon as the fight begins. He will follow you.
Run
to the door that leads to Monastery 2, and fight him there, then when he is
kicking your butt into the ground, but before he kills either of you, go into
Monastery 2. He can’t follow you and this gives you all the time you need to
heal or refill your blood level or whatever you need to do. This strategy plays
on the fact that all damage done to him will last no matter where you go. You
could take a 5 week vacation to the Bahamas and he would still maintain the
damage you dealt him earlier. This is the strategy that worked for me.
Or, the one that is a sure win, is to mix the two. Switch characters at the
door
leading to Monastery 2. This is the one I used. If you for some reason still
can’t kill Mercurio, email me and I will help you as much as you need.
After he dies, pick up the Nod fragment, check the chest for goodies, then get
your butt out of that horrible place. Once you leave the Monastery, Wilhelm
will
talk to you about the daytime and about letting you go to see Anezka. The
screenshot of Christof talking to Anezka isn’t that good, but that is what it
is. It is just another one of those story-related cutscenes. Somewhat
interesting, so grab some popcorn and have fun. After that, return to the
University, or go to the blacksmith, haven or wherever, but eventually make your
way to the University.
Well well well, so you are back for more eh? Well, you are in for a treat this
time. This guide is about “The Golem & Serena”. No, it’s not a cheap knockoff
of Beauty and the Beast. Anyhow, this should help those of you that are having
some problems with that pesky Golem, because I have received several emails
asking how to smack the living dudu out of him. So for those of you that are
wondering, here it is.
Tony’s Meatball Hutch – OOPS! I mean Prague. Anyhow, we left off having just
kicked the crap out of Mercurio and you eventually going to the University.
Once
you get inside, you are greeted by Ecaterina and Cosmas who have a considerably
long conversation with you about the Jewish population, your enemies, your
supposed allies, and everyone else that comes to mind. At one point she says
that in three days time you will undertake another task, and you should respond
saying three-day’s time might be too late. She tells you to then go kill the
Golem in the Northern Quarter. You happily exit the University. Now, since
some
of you have had problems with this guy, I would recommend checking your
inventory, going to the Haven, advancing if you need to, stashing items, saving,
and all those other preparations. You might want to stop by the blacksmith for
some new toys if you haven’t already. Once you are ready, head to the Northern
Quarter Gate, which should now be unlocked (shown below).
Once you enter you are greeted by some dead bodies laying on the cobblestone
streets with cracked skull, half torn intestines, and every other hideous type
of
death there is. You pass up the bodies and make your way to the square, which
shouldn’t be too hard because there is only way to go. You will soon come upon
a
guy named Mendel who you can talk to, and he will explain what happened with the
Golem, and more importantly, how to defeat him.
I am not sure if my strategy actually works, or if this is just a bunch of poop
that makes me feel good, but Mendel says that the monster’s name Maqqabah, is
one
letter greater than the Jewish word for death, and a scroll is implanted in his
forehead, and if you can smash that one letter, he will die.
Make your way to the square where you will see the Golem smash some wall and
come
towards you.
Now, for the strategy that I think is just a bunch of hocus-pocus. When I fight
him, I always keep my cursor on his head and he dies pretty quickly. I don’t
know if he just dies or this actually works, but it works for me so I am sure it
couldn’t hurt. Now, before you fight him, you will want to cast celerity on
yourself, and you SHOULD have pumped Celerity up more than one already. If you
still have problems with him, use the [tab] switching technique I explained for
Mercurio. He isn’t that hard and should break into a million pieces shortly.
Remember to pick up the Stone Tablet on the floor when he dies. (Shown below)
Take the tablet to Mendel who will have a conversation with you about how the
Golem was not evil, and had no soul. He also says one of the most important
things in the game so pay attention. He says that even Christof can find
redemption!
Anyhow, after the conversation, take the “Shem” as it is now called, to Garinol.
(leader of the Cappadocians in case you forgot) He will be at the Monastery
waiting for you. Exit the Northern Quarter and go to the Judith Bridge Gate,
which will take you to the Monastery.
Once you get there Garinol talks to you about Mercurio and how he thanks you and
wants to join Ecaterina. He talks for a while so take a short nap. Then, the
best thing in the game happens.
You get…SERENA!!! He gives his prized childer to you as a reward. *Drools* I
personally have a thing for Serena so I am going to rant and rave about her
anytime she does something wonderful in the game. Anyhow, now that you have
another character, I would recommend going back to the blacksmith to equip her
properly. Remember that she only has 15 strength and cannot use certain weapons
because of it, but a one handed sword should do just fine.
Once you have her all decked out, you are to go back to your haven. This is
where Christof makes his second mistake. Serena talks to Christof about how she
also had to leave everything she loved behind when she became kindred and offers
him ANY kind of comfort he wants. You know what he does? Like a little wussy
he
says he will wait for Anezka instead. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY!!!!
WHERE IS THE ACTION!?!?? *Ahem* Anyhow, after that small cutscene, you are in
your haven and you can stock up or whatever you want to do.
To be continued