The Dark Eye Advise for noob, going to start Realms of Arkania series.

[Radiane]

Thanks for your answer! So it is rounds, not even hours?

Not sure if I understand the question correctly, but afaik the weapon stays poisoned for all eternity and only loses its poison effect after you land a couple of succesful hits, so no wearing off on its own

Yeah, i got it, but i read somewhere that aggressive mode doesn't bring much better number of successful attacks. I also didn't notice any better attack count. It is strange how in this game melee characters almost always miss... And sometimes my Wizard hits with >30hp in close range with wand.

Can't say anything specific to that, but especially in the beginning it's very hard for low level melee chars to land hits (but archers have it a bit easier in the beginning and generally keep their usefulness throughout the game)

As i can't watch item or weapon stat in-game (only attack stats of character) i can't understand if there is smth like 1d8 +~3 +PLUS n* (* - number from magic)

And in BoD you can't use whetstone, right? Only way to repair weapon is to... break and repair by smith, right?

Yes, this game shows its age there I guess, you basically have to rely on the attack stats and watch the numbers change when equipping the chars with different weapons. Sadly the damage output isn't stated there. I think, though not 100% sure right now, that in the subsequent games the game does show the damage output. The manual should have a more or less comprehensive list of the weapon stats.

No working whetstone in BoD, but even in the successors, I kinda doubt its effectiveness. It's more or less a flavour item.
Yes, either let a smith repair your weapon, or by praying at the temples of Rondra and Ingerimm through divine/magic power.

 

[JanKrapivin]

With what armour and shields have you equipped your melee warriors?

I have read an opinion that: "Leather is pretty much the best armor option in all categories unless you have a high enough skills to offset the penalties.

Robes are functionally same as a shirt. Don't use Extravagant robe, since it doesn't offer any bonus over Simple robe except 4X the weight.

Sheilds are really a toss up. If you really want to use one, consider the Shield to avoid the excess attack penalties (they all can add up quite a bit).

Iron helm has too high of penalties and weight. Either the Leather Cap or the Pot helm are recommended (depending on your characters attack and parry values).

Scale Armor is too penalizing in weight,attack, and parry to offset the good armor value".

original site is lost

What do you think?

 

[Radiane]

Because low level chars don't have that high weapon stats, the penalties from heavy armour can be felt even more severely, like it could take very long in battles until you land a hit on an opponent (otoh you are also more protected from enemy hits...).
Also those amours weigh quite a lot and it can a bit of an hassle to rearrange the inventories when picking up smt new. But when I did play this game for the first times, my chars were also mostly equipped with the heaviest armor possible. Other players did it the same way and the char sprites in-game seem to imply you kinda have to do it that way.

In my more recent playthroughs I usually only equip them with light armor, this way they aren't too encumbered, have more movement points, and the fights are a bit more challenging (and a bit faster). Generally I equip everyone able to with at least leather parts, and the warrior classes with a little bit more, just so they stand out before the other guys

Robes aren't that useful in BoD, but beginning in Startrail they keep your chars from catching too many colds. And the red robes I always just sell and only use the green ones

Leather shields don't have any penalties, and as there is no two weapons fighting in this game, it would feel like some kind of waste if a melee char wouldn't be equipped with one in the non-weapon hand

I don't really think an iron helm is that bad, it gives you 3 armor points for not too much weight in return (and the penalties are appropiate).

Scale armor has the same number of penalties as plate armor, but offers 1 point less protection. But it also weighs less, so it's eventually a matter of preference.

 

[JanKrapivin]

In my more recent playthroughs I usually only equip them with light armor

I guess in winter (only in winter?) you should wear winter robe?

 

[Radiane]

I guess in winter (only in winter?) you should wear winter robe?

The weather influences aren't implemented that great in BoD, at least I never bothered to wear special winter clothes and didn't notice any differences for my party. You can get ill, but it's relatively rare, and I don't think it's primarily because of inadaquate clothing (at least in the cd-version and the gog-version should be based on that).
Startrail incorporates weather effects much better during wandering and getting ill there is much more common.

 

[jaekl]

In case you run into trouble at the end of the game lacking a map piece like I did, I'll leave this here spoiler for you.

Spoiler

It's tough to find info that isn't vague on these games. I need one more map piece I think, but only 2 are available to get - the wandering merchant and the unicorn. The unicorn said he's gonna go get a map piece for me but that was in the spring. It's autumn now in the second year, I've wandered all over the map and walked back and forth around the lake for weeks and weeks. No merchant, no unicorn. Getting pretty pissed! I loved it a few days ago but now I'm filled with so much rage that there is steam bursting out of my ears!!

If anyone in the future is scouring the internet like I was trying to get one last map piece - the unicorn functions on a hidden timer that uses real world time. So, you can wander around for months and months in game running down the time limit, but maybe that only takes a couple of hours in real time and the unicorn won't respect that. Sit your ass in a temple and leave the game on overnight, only a few days will pass in game, then the unicorn will spawn at the lake. Fuck unicorns, next unicorn I see in a video game is kill on sight!!

EDIT: also the date that the time runs out is "last week of peraine, year 17"

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

Can't really remember much, the only one I played is BoD back in the late 90ies. I didn't find it bad, on the contrary. Yes, it's definitely not user friendly. Creating a useful party was a real pain as the system seems to be irredeemably against you and it usually takes hours to get all the characters you want. Fights are a chore and wandering with frequent rests is sluggish. Yet I played through it with my own party and it felt great. I used a walkthrough back then and some helps. Never found that damn Tatzelwurm (no clue how that thing was called in english) though. The overall experience was really cool I thought. Afterwards I wanted to continue playing with my party in ST but never got into this one. I find that strange as everybody seems to agree that ST is the pinnacle of the series. Anyway, it somehow felt more on rail than BoD and I lost interest relatively soon. Maybe I should go back to it one day... have both games boxed here and my savegames should still be around somewhere... I'd never play these horrible remakes myself, that's for sure. They look abominable to me.

 

[JanKrapivin]

Startrail incorporates weather effects much better during wandering and getting ill there is much more common.

One more question. In DOSbox (from GOG) the only way to refill water is while camping in the wild? I have found myself with characters in deep thirst, when i was not camping for a rather long time. I have tried to eat in Inns and drink in Taverns, to buy new waterskins in shops - no help.

 

[Radiane]

Startrail incorporates weather effects much better during wandering and getting ill there is much more common.

One more question. In DOSbox (from GOG) the only way to refill water is while camping in the wild? I have found myself with characters in deep thirst, when i was not camping for a rather long time. I have tried to eat in Inns and drink in Taverns, to buy new waterskins in shops - no help.

Eating and drinking in the city didn't eliminate hunger and thirst? This sounds strange, also buying new waterskins in shops, they should normally come full with water.
And yes, sending one char to go hunting while camping should be indeed the way to refill all whaterskins (and quench any thirst in the party at the same time).

Edit: In BoD, if a char has no water (or food) left in his inventory but another char in the party has, they won't share automatically, so the player has to manually let that one char drink/eat from another char's supply. Maybe this has smt to do with the problem..?

 

[JanKrapivin]

Eating and drinking in the city didn't eliminate hunger and thirst?

Yes, indeed, it eliminated hunger and thirst. And hunger is normally eliminated by foodpacks, the problem is in water and thirst. It appears after some time, even if i, as i said, have been to tavern/inn or bought new waterskins. Didn't have this problem until Prem, where i got by boat (so no camping). I had camping today just only to refill water. I hope they wont get thirst again very shortly, hope its not some kind of a bug.

 

[JanKrapivin]

UPD. It wasn't a bug. I just didn't pay necessary attention to the fact that in Mysterious cave in Prem, when you are hit by rocks - you loose time in days.

BTW, Huge amount of XP there was a bug or feature?

And last (i hope) question, is there a time limit in original BoD? Some say you have exactly 2.5 years.

UPD Last last question. Is there a level cap in BoD?

 

[JanKrapivin]

On the road from Felsteyn to Hermits lake i have met a unicorn, talked with it and he had promised me to return with a map piece or smth. I then have tried route back to Felsteyn, Phexcaer, Upper Orcam, basically everywhere, also walked around lake a several times. Drawned several times in a damned swamp. But i haven't met this god damn unicorn again. I gave up and looked to walkthroughs, but they only say that unicorn should return after a week somewhere in this area. I have spent real-life hours and probably months in game but i haven't managed to meet this freakin unicorn again. Am i extremely unlucky, am i doing something wrong or is it a bug..?

 

[moleman]

Ah, the infamous mysterious unicorn...

There's a whole thread concerning the unicorn and its appearance on THE German forum for the old RoA Games:

https://www.crystals-dsa-foren.de/showthread.php?tid=81&page=8

In a proper German Autistic manner some prestigious members of this forum claim to have found out how the unicorn-encounters work by datamining.
It seems that when you first encounter the unicorn a timer starts. How long that timer is may be influenced by your "cycles"-setting in dosbox.
The timer should be approximately 3 to 5 hours real-time.
The unicorn can also only encountered on the way to hermit's lake (?, Einsiedlersee in German).
But if these findings are accurate may be a mystery in itself.

Conclusion:
Just be patient.

 

[jaekl]

On the road from Felsteyn to Hermits lake i have met a unicorn, talked with it and he had promised me to return with a map piece or smth. I then have tried route back to Felsteyn, Phexcaer, Upper Orcam, basically everywhere, also walked around lake a several times. Drawned several times in a damned swamp. But i haven't met this god damn unicorn again. I gave up and looked to walkthroughs, but they only say that unicorn should return after a week somewhere in this area. I have spent real-life hours and probably months in game but i haven't managed to meet this freakin unicorn again. Am i extremely unlucky, am i doing something wrong or is it a bug..?

If you had read that spoiler I left you, all of your recent questions would have been answered

 

[JanKrapivin]

If you had read that spoiler I left you, all of your recent questions would have been answered

Ah, yeah, thank you, the thing is i usually hate spoilers. Just needed to vent.

I feel stupid now, after hours of unicorn searching i have started to look for dark druid Gorah and Dark mage ancient ruins and couldn't find them. I have searched all the territory near Orvil and Thoss for hour (hours?) again with no result. Raged i had to read walkthrough. Couldn't they (NPC) said that i must had go SOUTH (again, through mountains, where i came from)? Please say that i am not alone who had difficulties in finding these locations.

At first a lot of options during camping were fun and kinda realistic (simulative is it called?), but same and same actions and same and same stupid and easy encounters led me to the wish of throwing keyboard on to monitor and i gave up and had read a walkthrough...

My idea of saving... save files in different folder appeared to be very useful, as i loaded the game to a point BEFORE i had started unicorn-hunting.

 

[jaekl]

If you had read that spoiler I left you, all of your recent questions would have been answered

Ah, yeah, thank you, the thing is i usually hate spoilers. Just needed to vent.

I feel stupid now, after hours of unicorn searching i have started to look for dark druid Gorah and Dark mage ancient ruins and couldn't find them. I have searched all the territory near Orvil and Thoss for hour (hours?) again with no result. Raged i had to read walkthrough. Couldn't they (NPC) said that i must have go SOUTH (again, where i came from)? Please say that i am not alone who had difficulties in finding these locations.

At first a lot of options during camping were fun and kinda realistic (simulative is it called?), but same and same actions and same and same stupid and easy encounters led me to the wish of throwing keyboard on to monitor and i gave up and had read a walkthrough...

My idea of saving... save files in different folder appeared to be very useful, as i loaded the game to a point BEFORE i had started unicorn-hunting.

I would read a walkthrough for the second game if I were you, it's like a sierra adventure. TBH I had trouble with figuring out what was going on even with a walkthrough in star trail.

It's a bit harder, because the sim stuff actually works properly so you can get cold and sick but the combat is still pretty easy if you know how to make good characters. I liked it though, even if I got pissed off a lot.

 

[JanKrapivin]

I would read a walkthrough for the second game if I were you, it's like a sierra adventure

You have reminded me... After playing Gabriel Knight 1 a few years ago i came up with "a rule of three hours". If i can't proceed after 3 hours of my own trying i have a right to watch a walkthrough. I have broken my rule here unfortunately.

 

[JanKrapivin]

I have beat the game.

Some minor spoilers below

Recently I said that I pity that I used a walktrough at some point. Now I am not. OK… Almost.

With 7 map pieces I was wondering through the global map, trying to be a “complitionist”, and find two other pieces. I spoke with unicorn earlier and was waiting 5 IRL hours to pass, also I was looking for a travelling merchant (yes, I have been to the city, where NPC told me about him). I travelled real-time hours and weeks in game.

Occasionally I found Hygelliks cave and retrieved the Grimring sword. I thought that there must be a new global map point, as Hygellik said that we should go to orcs tribe and challenge them. I have travelled map, most distant cities to find new exit point both via global map and from first person view.

Occasionally again I have found Orcs lair, but there was one door I couldn’t open anyhow. After some time I have looked to the cluebook, it said that there should be a LEVER to open the door. But there was no LEVER in GOG version, I am sure. I thought: well, damn with it. And WENT AWAY, then again I was travelling the global map, trying to meet unicorn, travelling merchant or Orcs WITH NO SUCCESS.

IRL Hours past and I have begun looking other walkthroughs, not an official cluebook. And one of them said that I must have used TRANSVERSALIS spell to teleport myself through the door. Thankfully I read somewhere before that it is a useful spell and had it on -4 on wizard. I returned to the cave, from 20th attempt I have managed to open the door and get orchish war plan document.

OK, I have met the orcs. The battle is going to begin. I anticipate difficult long battle at last.

My warrior kills the opponent with one first blow of a poisoned weapon.

GAME OVER. I am like WTF..?

With this game I went a path from love to hate. At first a large number of skills and spells blew my mind and it was interesting to level up. Then I understood that only a small number of them is useful and put all points on a small set of skills and spells every time.

Vast cities with huge number of shops etc were cool at frist, then I was tired of looking the only useful NPC in town or needed shop.

Large amount of options when camping/sleeping was fun at first, then travelling 100th time from A to B in mountains, and clicking same buttons every 2 minutes were frustrating.

Inventory is meh.

Combat is a joke.

Main quest story is simple and trivial. Almost no interesting NPCs. Information about some locations is very vague or just missed.

Everything what was cool at first turned to be boring, monotonous and frustrating, if not infuriating.

But… I don’t think it is a bad game. Its just not a good game. And I am glad that I didn’t skip it.

 

[moleman]

Congrats on beating the game.

My warrior kills the opponent with one first blow of a poisoned weapon.

GAME OVER. I am like WTF..?

This is actually a bug in the game, since poisons should not be usable for a warrior.
I encountered the unicorn two times in all my playthroughs but never met the travelling merchant.
I really like the game but agree with your critcisms. The plot is basically a gigantic pub crawl in search of map pieces.

In case you intend to play the rest of the series:

Some of the (valid) critcisms you brought up have been adressed in the sequels.
Most towns ins Startrail are only "menu towns" so no wandering around required for searching a shop.
In Startrail the settings for camping are stored, so you don't have to setup everything on each rest.

Concerning story and characters, I would say Startrail is not much better than BoD. Shadows of Riva is the most storyfaggy game of the series, but it ditches the traveling mechanics completely. (Game is takes place in the city of Riva and surroundings).

 

[JanKrapivin]

Congrats on beating the game.

Thanks! About the Orcs lair, have you found the lever there? Is it a bug in the (GOG?) game or wrong information in the official cluebook? Or it is really only can be solved with Transversalis spell (which would be a VERY weird game design decision imho)?

UPD. My bad again probably. One walkthrough says: "There is, in fact, a lever that opens this door, but you must be *facing* the correct direction in the correct square to notice it" (https://www.bigorrin.org/arkania2.htm). Probably an author of the walkthrough who advised Transversalis hadn't find the lever himself : )