Albion

Albion
  
WHAT IS ALBION?   
  
Albion is a six character RPG with turn-based combat. You cannot create 
characters - you start with a predefined party of two and the program 
generally controls the addition and subtraction of characters thereafter. 
In the middle and end games you get more (but limited) choices as to the 
party composition. It is a true RPG, however, in terms of having character 
statistics that can be improved by magic or use of items, and a wide range
of items to find, hold and use. The variety of monsters is average. The 
sound is extremely good, the interface is very playable and there are few 
bugs. The graphics are top-down in general and first person in some dungeon
areas - an interesting mix. In combat you move your characters on two rows 
of a 6x5 grid and the monsters can move anywhere on the grid - it is not 
great but quite playable. The storyline is more complex and interesting than
usual but there is plenty for the hack and slasher. This may be the 
commercial RPG of 1996 since its strengths outweigh its weaknesses (after a
moderately slow start) and the competition is not fierce.  
  
TORONTO:   
  
You begin in the Toronto. You pilot a shuttle to the world where the game 
takes place. Click on items to see what is useful. If the menu includes 
"Manipulate" there is something there to do or use. But do read a lot of the
"Examine" boxes for interesting if not useful descriptions. Check your 
initial room - there are some items there. After a while you are asked to 
go to the shuttle. Ignore this until you are ready - there is no 
disadvantage to delay. The best thing to do first is to talk to everyone 
you can. You have a friend named Joe Bernard who has his residence in the
northeast of the building. Go talk to him. He will give you the code (1042)
to enter the service level. This level is in 3D (first person). You will 
find the entrance in the northeastern most corner of the ship.The only 
critical item here is a pistol and some ammo for it. 

OK, now that you there you see a door right in front of you. Walk toward it.
You see the message "Floor plate lights up" in the corner. Now the door 
should open and the road is clear. In the next room there are four floor
structures (or should I say pressure plates?) in each corner of the room. 
Activating them all will open the door. Now you will enter a similar room 
but this one has no floor structures. It has two switches, one on either side
of the door on the walls in the north of the room. Activate both to go 
ahead. The next room has two doors and two floor structures. You cannot open
these doors. But be patient. A robot will arrive shortly that will open the 
doors for you one by one. When you have entered the third of these rooms, 
there is a switch in the western corner. Activate it to be able to pass 
through the door on the east. After a while you will enter a room with a
cabinet on the north wall. Remember this, because you will need it later.
Push the buttons to open the door and when you get to the door with the 
keypad enter the same code that Joe gave you. Now search the room (the COM 
room) carefully. When you find the gun, go back to the service level and 
deposit it in the cabinet. Now go back to the COM room and leave it. You 
leave by passing some security guards. Note that they will search you and 
take the pistol if you have it. Now go back for the gun - leaving the way 
you entered instead of past the guards (which you cannot do originally 
because you pass a one way door). Do search every room you can. You will
also get to Snoopy's room then, which contains some more ammo. Healing 
potions are very useful. Lockpicks can open locked chests that do not 
require special keys - although the documentation does not make this clear 
you can click on a lock without having a pick and use your unlocking skill. 
If you get a message like "this lock cannot be picked" forget it! If you get
"Tom cannot pick this lock" it often means he can pick it - he just needs to
keep trying. There are no locked chests in this area to worry about, 
however.  
 
NARIKIDAANI:  
  
Explore the building you start in (called the House of the South Wind Clan).
It does not pay to be cheap with your rescuers (the game generally prefers 
the "good" approach although any loose item can normally be taken with no 
risk or penalty). There is a mini-dungeon here, but it is recommended not to 
explore it until you have the next party member. The best thing to do now is
to leave the clanhouse and explore. Find the stores and check them out. If 
you have items to sell this is done by going into the same mode as to buy 
items but clicking on your inventory - you do NOT use the offer item command
in the conversation menu in stores - you use that to give items to NPCs 
where this ties in with the storyline. The documentation does not mention 
this! After two game days you automatically are taken to see the local ruler
(she is the boss after all) and get a quest and a new party member called 
Drirr who greatly increases your party strength. 

You can now more easily do the mini-dungeon either before or after the 
quest. Before the quest might be better because you can use the ammo that 
you find there. You will be trapped by a cavein until you find a pickaxe. 
You will need this object in various dungeons - get used to clicking on 
walls to see if an object can be used on them when you run out of other 
things to do or are suspicious. You will probably need to use your pistol - 
save ammo since there isn't much but don't be too cheap - after a while you
will be more powerful and can get by without it. Click on treasure piles to 
check them out - one of them (and only one, alas) has more ammo. There is 
also a clock - click on it after you get it to make it permanently visible 
in the screen - it is very useful. Don't forget to give Drirr something 
better to wear and fight with whenever you go search for the murderer or 
when you start to do the mini-dungeon. For example, give him the Iskai armor
by stealing it. Stealing goes as follows: walk up to the bar and just before
you reach it, click the right mouse button. You should be able to reach much
further than you normally can. Keep in mind that this routine may take some 
time to get used to. And a good sword (are you also looking at the expensive
Iskai lance?) is not a bad idea either.  
  
If you cannot find the first dungeon, ask the cattle breeder just outside. 
He will tell you. Check the map carefully or you may miss the dungeon once
you are there. Walk onto it to enter. Before entering buy some torches to 
help you find goodies (the torches are very cheap) and a Music Crystal in 
the general store to give to an entity you find right near the object you 
are looking for (an Iskai Dagger). You do not have to give the Music Crystal
to the entity. You can also buy it just now and use it on the next island. 
See below.  Keep in mind that exploring this dungeon can be very useful.
This dungeon is actually pretty straightforward, so I will only mention a
few things. Note that outdoors or in dungeons monster pieces may be left 
after battle and they are usually sellable. This dungeon has two types of 
stationary plants that take the evolutionary niche of dungeon traps. Big 
mouths in the floor can be deadly but will close for a while if given 
chunks of meat that you get killing Krondirs (the big beasts). In town you 
may have been offered fruit to feed to the other type of guardian plant but
it is cheaper just to turn the lights out - this puts them to sleep. Use 
Drirr (your local guide) as party leader - he sees better in the dark. 
Explore the entire dungeon for experience and loot (and fun for some). The 
entity will then tell you how to increase your attributes after you promised
him the music crystal. This is critically important - you REALLY need this 
boost. But be patient - do it after you finish the quest and get a new 
member so she can share in the benefit, or wait (a LONG time) until you 
have all six final party members. You get three attributes up one at a 
time - to get the third up you need to pickaxe a wall. You have to make a 
path of light. What you do is walk from one glowing rainbow toadstool shaped
like a triangle to another in the room where your footprints glow - this 
opens a wall. To finish the quest go see Frill, the old Iskai in the council
house. He tells you to go see Bradir in the Former Guild in the northwest of 
town. Bradir will fight you but is not a challenge. After the problem is 
solved, you may think that it is a pity you could not keep that beautiful 
little Iskai Dagger. Well, you can. Although the leader took it away, go 
back to the Former Guild and talk again to Bradir. When you end the 
conversation, he will give you 100 gold and the dagger. I recommend that you
give it to Sira (put it on her tail), because she can do with the extra 
strength.  
  
You can now ship out. DO NOT!!! The trip is one way until late in the game 
(that is what the stone outdoors that is shaped like an eye is for but it is
useless to you now). Don't leave the island until you have the following:  

1) Sira is level 12 and has Frost Avalanche (at maximum is best but it is 
   essential to have it).  
2) Sira and Rainer's Long Range attacks are at maximum (assuming you prefer
   them to attack long range. You probably do for Sira as she is better at
   this then Close Range).  
3) Tom and Drirr's Close Range attacks are at maximum (if you prefer them 
   to attack close range. Again, you may want this too as the Close Range 
   weapons are more powerful, and Tom is better at it).  
4) Drirr has the Iskai Armor (steal it) and the Iskai Lance (unless you 
   prefer lighter weapons or armor).  
5) Sira and Drirr each have the Iskai Metal Helmet.  
6) Sira has lots of seeds (200+). (Find them outdoors or buy them in the 
   Mages Guild (southwest)).  

Note: This is merely a recommendation but the seeds and Frost Avalanche 
seem all but essential.  
  
Kill the enemies and sell their parts, as I said before to get lots of
money. Spells do far more damage and the  frost spells last much longer 
after fully learned.  

GRATOGEL:  
  
The first thing to do here when you arrive is to talk to the king of the 
village. He will tell you he needs an amulet that you need to get for him. 
Then go to the east until you find the next village, and then north, 
following the path. That is where you need to be. If you have saved the 
Music Crystal from Narikidaani, go a little further north and give this to 
the man guarding the oak tree. He will give you a very good weapon in 
return.  
  
When you have the next party member, a Druid named Mellthas, train the spell
named Small Fireball the he has. When it is on full power, go to the pass 
south of the Druid village (called Vanello). It contains a valuable supply 
of bandits (but they run out after a while, ) and it leads to a 
trainer, who only trains Close Range combat and a store. If you want 
to train the party, except Mellthas, who cannot be trained here, then do so,
but this trainer is much more expensive then the Iskai warrior on 
Narikidaani. Another useful thing is to go to the shop there and to buy the
Music Crystal, unless you saved the one from Narikidaani. The Dreamshield is
also excellent. It is the only powerful shield that Sira is able to wear, so
I suggest you consider buying it. And, of course, have a look for seeds 
outside. It is advisable not to enter the dungeon without a rope.  
  
In the dungeon part of Arjano, you will be stopped by fire. Use a bucket of 
water to extinguish them. There is also a place where there are nine grey 
pressure plates close to one another. Walk over the plates so that a + sign
appears (you should not walk over all the plates but they can always be 
reset). Then the passage is clear. In the first party view part of the 
dungeon right near the start there is a secret button nearby on the right 
hand side. Push it. Now you can get through the first gate after you get 
to a switch and use it. After that, in the big room with the three flames, 
step on all the pressure plates. A door in the southwest will open.  
  
On the second level you need to step on a plate that releases moving flames.
Step on it three times first to open the way to a button that will open up 
a passage in the east wall. Then keep on stepping on it until the road is 
clear. When you come to an area with a pit and two locked doors fall through
the pit. There are three gates with Warniaks behind them. Open the gates, 
kill them and get the treasure. If you pull the lever behind one of the 
doors, the wall opens up, and you can look in a chest (guarded by a demon -
a Fear 1). It contains the key to the doors you could not pass.  
  
On the third level, there are more tricky bits. In the large room with the 
big beasts trapped behind the red, transparent walls, only walk over the 
green pressure plates, otherwise they escape, and they are no joke. Of 
course, if you have Frost Avalanche at full power and make sure all party 
members stand on the last row of the grid and have lots of potions, then 
they are no big deal.   
  
On the next level you will find some force fields. There is one in the east
that you will have to walk through. But later on, you will find staffs that
will get rid of them. Only use them on the six in a row you meet at the end
of the level. Talking about staffs, in the room where you get them if you do
not want to fight, go to the exit of the room as quickly as possible and 
pull the lever again.This will trap the enemies. And in the room with the
three levers on the south side, you need to pickaxe some walls. Look 
carefully, or right-click on the walls. If you fall through the pits a 
little bit further, do not worry UNLESS you do NOT have a rope. There is 
some minor treasure down there.  
  
MAINI:  
  
The first thing to do here is to look for your next party member. You can 
choose either of two, but the mage (called Khunag) is recommended by most 
people. It is up to you: somebody good at fighting or a poor fighter with
good offensive spells only (no healing spells). The warrior is a woman 
called Siobhan. But Khunag will help you through parts of the Kenget Kamulos
dungeon you need to go to much later. You will find both possibilities in 
Beloveno, the big city that you start in. Then it is a good idea to explore 
the countryside, and maybe even talk to the members of each town/ village.  
 
When you try to talk to Kontos, the leader of the mountain village Kounos, 
you will be stopped by a guard called Nodd. However, if you steer the 
conversation in the right way, you will not have to fight him. But you 
always can, of course. Then it is wise to explore the dungeon under the 
house.  
  
On the first level you will find a chest with a power amulet in it, but once
you have it, it seems like you cannot go on anymore. But you can! There is 
an illusionary wall close by. If you then get to the point with the three
pressure plates in a row in front of three doors, run over the plates as 
fast as you can, otherwise you will not make it through the doors.  
  
On the second level it is imperative that you explore all of it, especially
directly south from the exit. You will find something that is needed to 
complete the game. The game itself takes a long time to complete the plot 
for this continent and be allowed to move on, but all of us have found out 
through trial and error that you have to just be patient. You may also buy 
a map that may help you find a cave entrance but you can find it without the
map if you explore. The cave is not absolutely essential but has some nice 
loot. It is the same one whose other entry is blocked by a door you can't 
get through except from inside the cave.   
  
Every morning between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., there is a trainer in the 
village at the house of the leader  (where the dungeon is). He is the only 
trainer that is able to teach you critical hit. However, it costs 950 gold 
per point, so think twice. I found it very useful anyway, especially for 
Drirr and Tom. Sira already has her 5/5 score, so do not bother to train 
her.  
  
The entry to the cave discussed above is from the plateau lower than the 
village, and to the east. I strongly  recommend that you explore it, because
it contains some very nice stuff, including the best sword in the game, 
although it is cursed. But you have to have a rope, otherwise you will not 
be able to get out.  
  
It is also imperative to talk to lots of people on this continent, 
repeatedly in some cases, going back as you learn new things. Some examples 
are: the council members in Beloveno, the barkeeper in the Iskai village in 
the north of the land, and Kariah, the prostitute with her house on the 
market square. The barkeeper will give you the second piece of the vital 
item, after a while.  
  
There are also lots of seeds here. Collect and move on. After the problem 
is solved, you will probably want to go to the Iskai shrine and kill Kontos.
He has a few goodies.  
  
DJI CANTOS:  
  
This mainly goes all by itself. You also get a new party member here, an 
Enlightened One named Harriet. In the southwest of the building, there is a 
woman who sells spell scrolls. If you got Khunag, buy all the spells that he
does not know, as there is no other way to learn them. There is no hurry to
go to the Toronto, despite the fact that Harriet pushes you to do so. The 
first thing to do here is to look for those Flowers of the Goddess you are 
told about. Stand on them for about 15 seconds, and the leader of the party 
will have one of his attributes (which depends on the flower) increased by 
three points. These flowers are for about 15 uses as far as I know, but save
the game before you use them and think which party member needs this little 
boost the most. You will have to wait for 36+ hours until they can be 
used again. If you have visited them all (there are eight in total) it is 
wise to collect the two party members who took a vacation when you left the
last continent, as they are very useful.   
  
UMAJO KENTA 1:  
  
If you have explored this city a bit, you will be told there is a prison 
north of the city. It is useless as far as I know, but if you are anxious, 
by all means go. You can free the prisoner, but it has no use that I am 
aware of. You cannot pick the lock, so you will have to wait until the guard
comes (at 11:00 p.m.) to open it for you. You can follow the guard there (a
long walk!) or find it on your own. First buy the preservative that keeps 
you alive in the desert. Get several. You get them from the man in the 
Equipment Makers Guild.  
  
To get to the Toronto, you will have to talk to some of the people in the 
bar, and in the Miners Guild. Bringing a jewel is recommended. The guide 
will then show you to a cave entrance. The southern exit from the cave 
leads right to the Toronto. The other exit is useless.  
  
TORONTO 2:  
  
Look everywhere for pieces of paper with numbers on them. The code for the 
door is 1001, in case you could not find the piece of paper with it.  
  
Once you are in the 3D part, have Joe wake up the robot so that it is able 
to open the door for you. In the long corridor, stand as far away from the 
switch as possible, so that you can just still manipulate it. Then run as 
fast as you can to the other end, and turn the second one. A little further
on, free all the robots as then the doors open quicker.  
  
A little further on, make sure that the floor pattern on the west side 
matches the one on the east side. You should go to the east one first. Then
turn all the switches as quick as you can. The next door to open has the 
code 4312 in case you cannot be bothered to try all the combinations on the pieces of 
paper, or were not able to find them.  
  
UMAJO KENTA 2: 

Fist thing to do here is to go to the building in the northeast of the 
city. You are now able to pass as the guards let you through. You are told
to look for a man in the cellars under the Equipment Makers Guild. However,
you do not have the key and you need a secret password. He told me the first 
time I went there and had to go back until I had the password. Well, in 
order not to have to make the trip twice, the best thing to do is to go to
the Miner's Guild. Go all the way into the big room. You notice you only 
have access to one mine shaft. Go in there and stand in the niches so that.