5.0 MISCELLANEOUS TIDBITS

5.1 Miscellaneous Items

Grappling Hook, Rope

Alexander von Lünen: A rope is of use for leaving a town by the city wall, entering a cave on top of a mountain, getting yourself out of the pit in the mines and dragging a companion out of the quicksand when travelling through a bog. I believe a grappling hook supports most of these purposes as well. However, all occasions for using a rope include different options which will serve the special purpose more accurately. Leaving the pit with the help of a Stone-Tar potion is guaranteed success better than anything else, leaving the town by a sewer rather than climbing up the wall using a rope, and getting your comrade out of the mud is properly done with a Transformation potion.

Harp, Flute

C. Michel Boucher: To be used in combination with prayers to St.Cecilia, Patron Saint of music, who, among other thing "enhances local reputation greatly if the person has a musical instrument".

Superb Horse, Fast Horse, Average Horse, Pack Horse, Mule

Dennis Ahr: Superb horses increase the travel speed of the party. The best indicator for this is the night/day icon in the upper right corner of the display: it really slows down when the group has superb horses. It will speed up again in mountainous and forested areas or anywhere the going gets tough. I have never found whether the party needs only one superb horse or whether everyone needs one -- anyone know? I am not sure, but I think that the best places to seek out superb horses are in villages (that's where I usually find them) or monasteries.

Alexander von Lünen: With horses, you have the option to make an attempt to outrun boars, wolves and the Wild Hunt. Yet, I haven't figured out (or just can't remember) if this works if only one of your party members owns a horse. Nor did I find out if a fast or a superb horse increases your chance of success proportionally. But I guess your riding skill will affect this as well. Also, when meeting pilgrims, sick people or displaced villagers, you can offer your mules to them for easing their travellings, which increases your virtue. What I can say, is that horses and so on are significant only if your purse grows too heavy }-) I haven't noticed a better traveling speed or anything like that.

C. Michel Boucher: Furthermore, horses appear in towns. They don't seem to affect the price of your lodgings, but they are mentioned if you go to the port at night, as part of an attempt to escape from a city.

Tusk of a boar

Dennis Ahr: I remember it being for good luck and only the leader needed it (one only). My recollection is that it was of only minor importance, but I can't recall what parameter you would check to see its effects. I surely don't remember any of the effects mentioned in the first email on this.

DA's son Carey found another use for tusks which I had also noted when I was playing the game: Well, the only thing I remember the boar's tusk being useful for is using it as a "buffer" to protect your useful items when you're selling loot. Since stores won't buy a boar's tusk, the inventory menu will stop scrolling when it gets to the tusk, and any items above it in the menu won't be sold accidentally. Another good thing to use is clothing if your party is young and hasn't encountered boars.

Clock - ???

Gold Cup - ???

Wolfskin - ???

5.2 Holy Relics

C. Michel Boucher: These are found in evil monasteries, locked in chests. Once in the hands of the group, they are freed and can be returned to a cathedral (not just any church) in a city. The return of these holy relics does not appear to confer any direct benefits on your group in the way of improving individual characteristics, but each donation transfers 30 points or so to improve your local reputation. It would appear that a donation of more than one relic per day does not, however, grant more increases. If a player has more than one relic, he should spread the donations over a few days, or a few cities.

Some holy relics can be used by the group, others cannot. All those with 99q are not useable or saleable, and all weapons (with less than 99q) can be equipped and used as regular weapons. Other than their obvious quality, useable holy relics may or may not have other beneficial properties. Certainly, no items of such quality can be purchased anywhere.

5.3 Unique Locales

C. Michel Boucher: The Devil's Bridge can be found before entering the village of South Nurn. The good witch can be found in a tower SW of Magdeburg. She will evaluate your level of training to determine whether you are capable of taking on the evil that lurks in the darklands. You can return to this place for a quick appraisal.

5.4 Cities of the Empire

Currently being reworked. Coming soon.

5.5 Cathedrals and Universities

C. Michel Boucher: In Universities, you can combine most of the functions of some of the other learning institutions, the Kloster and the Alchemist. The University will allow you to learn about saints or purchase alchemical material (the physician also), and to upgrade your Philosopher's Stone. Furthermore, you can hire the services of a professor to teach the following subjects: Alchemy, Religion, Speak Latin, Read and Write and Healing. The first can also be obtained from an Alchemist, the middle three from a Kloster and the last from a Physician. Note that cities not listed here have neither a Cathedral nor a University.

5.6 Random Tips

As was pointed out by Chris Meadows, clothiers will never sell you anything during the day, but if you go back at night...

Dennis Ahr tossed some random goodness our way:

1. The person using a rope to climb up something should remove all armor and weapons before climbing.
2. If the party is fighting just one strong enemy (raubritter, demon, etc.) he will fight with only one of your party. That means the other three may do battle using their berserk mode thus making short work of the enemy.
3. Once the party has some experience and skill, they may gain money at an accelerated pace by scouring the countryside for castles with evil rulers. Using Roch and Reinold or other saintly combinations, the party can discern whether or not the ruler is a good man or an evil man and then sneak into the castle if he is evil. There are usually bountiful goodies inside.
4. A note on the Wild Hunt. I think someone mentioned some specific saints who would stop the Wild Hunt. In my experience, the saint needed to end the hunt is never the same from one game to the next.
   C. Michel Boucher: The saint even changes within a single game, once you have defeated the hunt with one saint. The hunt will continue to attack you, and the Holzfrau will tell you the name of another saint. I presume it is the name of a saint you do not know at the time.
   Myles Martinez: Actually, it IS possible to already have knowledge of the proper saint to dispel the Hunt on its first attack.
5. Sometimes I think I am repeating myself. Has anyone mentioned that when a character retires, he or she takes 1/5 of the group's wealth?
6. Here is what I know of the dwarf king mine question that Alex posed. On the second level down there are two ladders downward; one leads to the dwarf's treasure and the other leads to the dwarf himself. Take the treasure level first which consists of a couple more levels down before you reach the treasure. This path leads to the area where the gnomes keep multiplying as fast as you can kill them. The best thing to do is to run from them and escape to the next level down. This takes some dexterity and maneuvering since each member of the party must move as an individual. When you have retrieved the dwarf's treasure, return to the second level down from the surface and take the other ladder down to find the dwarf. The obvious thing to do when you meet him is to trade his treasure for returning the mine to the miners.

The following is quoted from the v483.07 README.TXT:

CHARACTERS LEAVING BATTLE by STAIRS or LADDERS

If a character uses a ladder or stairway (a "portal") to change floors, remember that the character is now inaccessible except through the appropriate number key (1 through 5) on the keyboard. Please review pages 35-36 of the manual if you're confused.

Also note that "Multiple Portals" is more flexible than the manual suggests. If all survivors have left the original floor in different directions, the view shifts to the character who departed last. However, we still recommend that you rejoin the party immediately, since various functions (including group mode) may be confused by a party split onto various floors.

UNCERTAIN FATES AND PRISONERS

Sometimes a character will suffer an uncertain fate. A series of "?" symbols appear in the blue character box. Such characters may be dead, may be a prisoner in a nearby city, or may have escaped their fate and be waiting for you at some nearby city inn.

To rescue a prisoner, you must get into the dungeons of the city hall. If forced into a fight, you must kill ALL the guards. Accomplishing this will free your compatriot.

Michael Nemeth contacted us with the following information about how to use a "feature" of the game to cheat.

A few months ago, I very accidentally discovered a way to duplicate any item that you have without the use of an outside editor. I'm usually not one to cheat in games at all, but since thisis the first "cheat" of this type that I have found on my own, without any help, I can't resist using it every great once a while.

You start by going to the Inn in any city. Select "Store an item with the Innkeeper". Put whatever items you want to duplicate in the storage cache.

Leave the the cache and then select "Store an item with the Innkeeper" again. Retrieve the items you have in storage, and DO NOT LEAVE the storage cache. Instead, hit ALT-L (for load game). At the Load Game menu, select "Return to Game". You will be returned to your game, but instead of appearing in the Storage Cache, you will notice that you are carrying the items you wanted to duplicate. Select "Store an item with the Innkeeper" once again, and the items will also be in the storage cache, ready to be picked up!! This is a way not only to keep your characters in good equipment, but basically have an unlimited source of cash. If you really want to tear through the game, just make one of each 45 quality potion, and duplicate to your hearts content. This can really be used for hard-core cheating if you're into that, but it can also be a way to give yourself that one extra 45-quality Composite bow that you can't find (or duplicate those holy relics, but I think that is a little sacreligious ;-) )

I don't know whether many people know about this, but I figured I would share it, just in case.

After some research, Michael added:

Just to let you know, after a little experimenting, I've found that this duplicating trick only works in version 483.06, but it has worked in every install I've tried. I guess for version 483.07, they found it and fixed it. (In version 7, there is no "Return to Game" option from the Load Game screen.)

5.7 Stupid Things About Darklands

C. Michel Boucher has noted some things that sequel makers should remedy in future incarnations:

1. Characters have no real limit on how much they can carry, even though weight for each object is given.
2. There is never a shortage of any particular good for sale. No matter where you go, you can always buy any number of a particular item for sale. Considering that Germany was not yet the rich nation it later became, it seems unlikely there would be an unending number of all items for sale at any given time.
3. There is no difference in size for various characters (Gretch can wear Gunther's armour and vice versa, an unlikely occurence in real life).
4. There is no need to eat or sleep while on the road. Normally, I would say this has been abstracted for the sake of simplicity, but for a game that actually requires you to decide what your characters do every hour of every day, you would think eating and sleeping might be requirements, rather than simply optional. Also, travelling is continuous, with no stops at night, unless you desire to do so. Your characters will cross Germany from end to end without stopping to rest or eat.
5. Travelling further by water does not cost more. Assuming it costs 3 groschen to go from Vordingbord to Naskskov, and it costs 3 groschen to go from Naskskov to Flensburg, it doesn't cost more than one fare to go from Vordingbord to Naskskov and continue on to Flensburg and even further, all the way to Thorn, if the opportunity arises.
6. Germans are extremely honest people; nothing you carry with you is ever stolen without your knowledge, or being able to fight to keep it.
7. You are never caught unaware, with your pants down and your weapons unready, unless the player has chosen to unequip his characters ahead of time.
8. No one ever bolts from combat, everyone fights to the death, unless the player chooses otherwise. Non-player characters die with their boots (or hooves) on.
9. A player character who has not been attacked will not involve itself in the defense of others, but a non-player character will.
10. Characters on the point of death can still strike with full force.
11. Armour and weapons never degrade as a result of regular combat. Only alchemical attacks cause armour to degrade.
12. Characters can pass things to one another, even though they're rooms apart.
13. The Archbishop of Trier has two capitals, Trier and Koblenz.

5.8 Sample Adventure

C. Michel Boucher: This is the list of the first 40 jobs of a sample game. This is NOT intended to suggest that the events will or should take this specific course. This only serves as a guide to the types of jobs one can expect. This also does not include random events, such as wilderness or town encounters. Also, it should be noted that the game was on the easiest setting but not enhanced by save editors.

MicroProse, MPS Labs, and Darklands are copyright © 1991-1995 MicroProse, Inc.
Microprose and Hasbro Interactive are properties of Infogrames, Inc. © 2001-2002, All rights reserved.
Infogrames, Inc. and Infogrames Interactive are subsidiaries of Infogrames Entertainment S.A

Unless otherwise noted: site content © 1998-2002 Matt Wirkkala;
"New" site design © 2001-2002 Myles Q. Martinez and 2000-2002 Savcho Savchev.
"Darklands Domain" and "Darklands.NET" © 1998-2002 Matt Wirkkala
Darklands FAQ © 1995-2002 C. Michel Boucher, Fred Farzanegan, Dennis Ahr, and Alex von Lünen.

To report inaccuracies or contribute information, contact the webmaster or designer.