Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness

Introduction
Quest for Glory IV:Shadows of Darkness is the fourth game in the series. It's a version often remember for being plagued with bugs and glitches, and like most of the Sierra games based on an SCI engine timing issues can make it difficult to play for modern computers. patches have been developed by the games fan community however, to deal with these issues.

The games interface is a variation on the point and click interface perhaps best known for the King's Quest series, with actions allowed for looking at, using, and talking to objects in the game environment as well as using and combining inventory objects. Quest for Glory IV also expands the interface to allow multiple actions to be performed on an individual object by selecting one from a list of choices, and rather than having conversation being a scripted action which takes place when one character talks to another, each character has a large number of topics which you can ask them about. This leads to quite a lot of dialogue being included, even for an adventure game. Some of the exchanges by the inhabitants of the inn are also ad-libbed on top of the game's script.

A good number of the puzzles in the game are "knowledge-based." In other words, solving a puzzle isn't neccessarily using the right item from inventory or even being able to fight a monster or use an ability with enough skill. Being able to complete a puzzle may be a matter of getting enough information from a particular character, or relating some of the things you hear from different people and are able to verify for yourself. In addition to asking people questions your character has the options to tell them things when you click the mouth icon on yourself, which can allow you to let them know things you've found out or things you've done, which can lead to a solution to a puzzle or give you more information or clues. Gaining information and using it becomes analagous to using items from your inventory.

The game has elements of the usual adventure game with solving puzzles with some of the above methods, it has RPG elements since you can get into random fights with monsters as you wander around the valley and enter into some guaranteed "boss" type fights. And completing some puzzles involves building up a skill to a certain level. Your skills increase the more you practice them. Killing enemies to build experience isn't particularly helpful by itself, it's only by performing actions such as dodging and using your weapon that your character grows any stronger. Hence, practicing throwing and your other skills outside of battle can be more effective than fighting a large number of battles.

You have two or three gauges of health depending upon your character class. All character classes have Health Points and Stamina. Your health points determine how much damage you can take, and are decreased when you suffer damage in battle or gameplay situations. Losing all your health points kills you and ends the game. Your stamina determines how many actions you can perform, every time you perform an action it consumes a little bit of stamina. Performing actions which require stamina drains it and if you run out of stamina doing strenuous activity like running will lower your health. Some actions in battle can not be performed without sufficient stamina as well. Wizards also have mana points, which determine how many spells can be cast, each one draining a set amount of mana. If you are poisoned your health will drop steadily until it wears off or you cure yourself, and you also need to rest and get meals at the inn or eat rations to keep your character from starving or dying of exhaustion.

Your abilities and the ways you solve puzzles will vary with your character class. Fighters generally have to rely on brute force, and using strength and fighting monsters to clear their way through things. Thieves will rely on picking locks and breaking into places, using stealth to avoid notice, or disarming traps. Magic Users will want to use spells from a distance generally and find some creative application of magic to get through a situation. Paladins share traits in common with Fighters and Magic Users, and will generally take an approach more similar to Fighters, but they also get more helpful abilities at their disposal and have the ability to participate in more sidequests.

The game also uses a time-sensitive system where the game transitions between different hours of the day and night. You can rest for an hour at a time to recover some health, stamina, and mana, and you can go sleep for the night at a few select locations to restore all your stats. Certain events also take place on specific days, and some characters have different conversation trees for the first few days on which you talk to them. Certain characters and events are only accessible during the day or night.

General Advice
If you're finding some of the puzzles or battles too difficult, you can adjust the skills slider in the menu all the way down, and some of the puzzles can be skipped by clicking the question mark repeatedly when they bring up their own screen, but this will skip all points for that puzzle.

Surviving in Mordavia
The two essentials of survival to start with are resting and eating. Staying at the inn of Mordavia is only a handful of Kopeks for the week, so you can pay the innkeeper at the start of the week to be guaranteed a place to sleep and able to eat some meals whenever you sit down at the table. The town gates lock at nighttime and the door to the inn is locked at sunset, although you can still get in from sunset to midnight. If you find yourself locked out of the inn because it's later than midnight you can try to climb your way up or levitate into your window at the inn. If you find yourself locked out of the town because it's nighttime you can also try to climb or levitate over the gates.

Your only other options for a place to sleep are Erana's Staff in the center of town or Erana's Garden to the southeast of town. You can also wait out the night or rest for an hour at a time if you're desperate, but it's better to get at least some rest at night to avoid dying of exhaustion. You'll also want to eat to keep up your strength, so you can sit down at the inn to grab a meal and having a good number of rations on hand from the general store is advisable as well.

Surviving in Mordavia in general is often a question of just saving your game often enough and at enough points that you can restore your progress if you hopelessly mess things up. The game includes an automatic save feature that creates an automatically saved game whenever it thinks you're in a dangerous situation such as combat or a place you're likely to be killed. Save often, and restore when you need to. A few actions in the game like failing to save Igor or not speaking to the Domovoi in time may leave you in unwinnable states without you realizing it, so you may need to restore an older game or start over in these cases.

To increase your odds of surviving combat you'll want to have a large number of Healing and Poison Cure potions on hand, which you can obtain for free on a daily basis from Dr. Cranium. Magic Users can also fetch mana-restoring fruit at Erana's garden. If you get poisoned you should drink a poison cure potion or you can simply head to Erana's garden and drink the water there to dispel the status. Thieves and Magic Users may be able to do damage before combat begins by casting spells or throwing daggers from a distance at their target, and you can pursue a hit and run strategy of running away then throwing daggers outside the combat screen or dazzling your opponent then attacking with magic spells.

Combat can take place with a strategy or arcade mode, where you set stats for how aggressive your character should be and their use of special attacks and magic and the computer plays automatically, or you can control your character yourself. The special attacks can be performed by holding down a magic spell to charge it for magic users, and right clicking below the line and on an opponent for thieves. Dodging can be done by left clicking yourself and attacking can be done by left clicking near the enemy or up in the air to dodge and attack a hard to hit opponent. Building up your strength, vitality, and weapon use all help in combat as well as specialized skills like acrobatics, throwing, and magic. Your stamina will also gradually recharge in combat, and some actions can't be performed without enough stamina.

The basic monsters are:

(Daytime) (Day/Night) (Night) (Special Battles)
 * Vorpal bunnies. Small rabbits you won't be able to hit with thrown daggers or magic spells, you'll need to take them out with your sword, you can do a jump slash by clicking above them to hit them more easily.
 * Wyverns. These things can use fire attacks on you from a distance and will poison you with their tails if you get up close. Make sure you have poison cures or can reach Erana's garden if you want to engage them, and retreat if you have to.
 * Necrotaurs. Large creatures which prefer to fight close up. You can keep them at bay if you keep attacking with spells or other special attacks, but they can take and deal out a lot of damage. Run away if you need to and try to rest or heal before fighting them.
 * Badders. A set of three bats which fly around and will posion you if they strike you. Very weak, but can't be damage from a distance very effectively, it's just a matter of timing your strikes to hit them, it may be best to let the computer do these battles automatically.
 * Revenants. These things will actually give you some cash if you search their bodies. They're slow lumbering zombies which are immune to cold spells, hit them with everything you've got at a distance or keep attacking fast and you should take them out.
 * Chernovy. Another creature which carries money on its person, and will cast spells on you from a distance. Whether you want to fight up close or far away yourself likely depends upon your class.
 * Wraiths. Wraiths guard silver rock hordes of treasure during the Mordavian night. You'll want a magical amulet or an aura spell engaged before you try to fight them to avoid their life-draining effects. They'll try to drain your health if you stay near them for too long, so engage them quickly before battle. They'll cast spells on you and are immune to cold, so whether you prefer fighting close up or from a distance will depend upon your class once again.
 * Two necrotaurs. These creatures will guard the castle entrance and you'll be forced to fight both in a row if you try to break your way in as a fighter or paladin. Just make sure you're strong enough and are healed up.
 * Two chernovy. These creatures guard the mad monk's tomb and will start out casting spells at you from a distance. You'll want to move as fast as possible to engage them on both their islands, or alternatively as a wizard you can trade spells with them from a distance and cast reversal to ward off their blows. They may try to fill your world with darkness, so cast a juggling lights spell if so and be prepared to battle them face to face.
 * Fairies. Magic users will have to fight these creatures to gain the heart ritual. You'll need to summon Erana's staff and cast reversal on yourself to block their direct spells, and use the elemental resistance spell to gain additional protection from their area attacks. Frost bite is the only spell you have that will get around their own reversal spell, so use it or engage them close range.
 * The pit monster. A vicious creature in the dark one's cave, some classes may be able to sneak around it or use a few tricks to get what they want from it, but if you're determined to fight it be prepared to deal with some powerful attacks up close and from a distance. Strike fast and furious.

Building up your Skills
All classes should learn how to use the exercise machine in the Adventurer's Guild and use it as much as possible each day to build up their Strength. Strength can also be increseased by most activities involving physical exhertion or consuming stamina, including running.

Attributes such as Vitality can be increased by taking damage and engaging in combat, Intelligence can be increased by casting spells and solving puzzles, Communication is increased by talking to people, and Agility is increased by most any thief related action or dodging. Luck is increased by most random events including combat.

Fighters and Paladins will learn how to climb in this game, and will need to go to the Adventurer's Guild to learn the basics, and use the rope and grapnel there when they're starting out. The easiest way to practice the Climbing skill is to simply click the hand icon on any of the trees in the forest which allow themselves to be climbed, you'll consume a little stamina and by rapidly clicking them you can build up your climbing stat.

The best way to build your Throwing skill is to pick up a large number of rocks just by clicking the hand icon on the ground and then throwing them at nothing in particular.

Pick locks can be tricky to practice since you may only build up the skill when you're able to repeatedly try picking a lock and failing. Your options include doing everything in the thieves guild, and breaking into the Burgomeister's window and jail cell/desk until they're a piece of cake.

Stealth is hard to build up, but going to the character menu and choosing to sneak will gradually increase it.

Acrobatics can be built by selecting the acrobatics icon and clicking it on nowhere in particular in the forest to practice a brief acrobatics move.

Combat based skills such as Dodge, Parry, and Weapon Use can be increased by going into combat and doing those moves repeatedly. Weapon Use can be increased more easily by blunting your sword on the castle gates if you have one.

Magic Users can increase Magic just by casting any spell and can level up any spell by casting it repeatedly. The only spells which are really worth levelling up at all are the combat based spells which do damage, namely zap, flame dart, force bolt, lightning ball, and frost bite. The protection type spells which give you a certain status may also be worth levelling up so they last for a longer duration, and take note that the ritual of release and glide spells serve only a single purpose and disappear after this game.

Honor is important for Paladins and their abilities and a convenient measure of your moral scale for everyone else. Honor can be increased by doing simple honorable things like helping people, completing major tasks, or even fighting monsters. It can be decreased by stealing from people, winning a puzzle in a "cheap" way, or irrevocably set to zero for something truly dishonorable like murder. One easy way to increase honor is to keep offering flowers to the Rusalka.

For a more detailed list of spells and abilities, see the main Quest for Glory page.

Walkthrough
All character classes will begin the game after being mysteriously transported away from your friends in Tarna, landing in a strange room in the cave of the Dark One. You'll have nothing more than the clothes on your back. Thieves will need to seek a new set of tools and daggers, Fighters will need to acquire more weapons and equipment, although Magic Users and Paladins will still have all their usual abilities at their disposal.

The room will start out dark and get lighter. Magic Users can light the place up with juggling lights, but what you basically need to do is search each of the corpses to acquire a dagger, some flint, and some money left on the corpses. You'll be able to to take a torch from the central altar, and light it by creating a spark with the flint and dagger. The magically inclined can just use a simple flame dart spell to show off. Once you have some illumination you'll be able to force your way out of the door to the north, and arrive in a room with another large altar. Thieves will see a mark advising them on how to leave, Magic Users will find a cloth, and Fighters/Paladins will gain a rusty sword and shield and have to do battle with some badders. Try to avoid being poisoned, and if you are you'll want to move quickly from then on.

The next room will have you crossing a dangerous pit with only a rope bridge. Thieves can use their agility to walk it as a tightrope, Fighters can rely on strength to cross underneath the bridge by holding on, and magic users will have to hold up the cloth they grabbed earlier as a sail and fly across with the Levitate spell. From there it's just a dash to the exit, although you'll see a tentacled monster reaching up from below. You'll end up outside of the Dark One's cave and watch the mouth of the cave shut behind you. A young woman named Katrina will greet you with puzzlement and ask how you arrived here, then run away. You'll notice it's just turning to daylight.

Nearby is an arch with seven symbols inscribed in it, mouth, bone, blood, breath, senses, heart, and essence, with a golden six tentacled starfish at the base of the arch. Take the starfish, although you can come back for it later. Head down the path and you'll end up slipping down the slime to find yourself in front of a rock column with a Squid Stone on the top of it. Depending upon your class you can either cast Trigger on the stone, Levitate to the top, or use a rope and grapnel to pull yourself up if you want to come back later.

There will be a swamp to the west with grasping arms and some will-o-wisps if it's still nighttime. What you'll want to do know is head straight North until you can't go any farther then one screen east to reach the town of Mordavia where you'll get your bearings and conduct a good deal of your business in the game.

Town of Mordavia
The front of the town of Mordavia is two large gates with some scarecrows standing nearby. You'll want to take some corn and search the nearby stump to acquire some more money. Just as a reminder, the gates will be closed all night long so if you need to get in or out after then you'll want to be able to either levitate or climb over. Inside the first screen of the town Erana's Staff watches over the villagers and prevents evil from entering the town walls. You won't be able to do anything with it yet so don't worry about it.

On the west side of town you have the inn, the burgomeister's, and the general store.

The Inn is where you'll want to spend most of your nights and get free meals whenever you sit down provided you've paid your rent. The inn will be locked up from the evening on so you have to knock to get in, and completely closed after midnight. If you need to get in or out after midnight you can levitate or climb out the window. Staying up until midnight will also allow you to meet a creature named the Domovoi, whose help you'll require later on. You can eat meals any time and chat with the townspeople in the evening. They aren't the friendliest bunch, but they're amusing to listen to and the voice actors ad-lib a lot of their lines.

The General Store has goods for sale and rations most importantly, as well as a gossipy shopkeeper who will fill you in on the valley and comment on certain events when they happen. Only thieves will need the shopping bag, only Paladin's will need the small broom, and only Thieves require the oil although it's helpful for all classes. An optional quest also involves reuniting the shopkeeper with her husband and going back and forth between them.

The Burgomeister's Office houses the law enforcement official himself and the jail. The Burgomeister will offer you the key to the Adventurer's Guild if you ask for it and will provide you with information about the valley and the people in it. Thieves may be able to break in through his window and loot some money from his desk, or a sufficiently skilled magic user with Open or any member of another class for that matter.

To the east side of town you have Nikolai's house and Dr. Cranium's.

Nikolai's House will have Nikolai himself wandering during the daytime and it's possible to break in through the window at night, but only advisable after you've helped him. See the Thieves section for more on this.

Dr. Cranium has some essential puzzles to get through. The doorbell is a simple Simon Says game to follow, and once inside you'll want to open up the right door and use the T.R.A.P. to learn how to catch an Antwerp. Give it an Avacado Sandwich and it'll work like a charm. You can also use it to learn about how to deal with a Hexapus for more points. You can then open the left door to use the antwerp in a maze to get a key, and go through the north door to create a keyhole by solving a puzzle and using it to reach Dr. Cranium. The difficulty of all the puzzles can be adjusted by using the Skill slider in the game's menu.

You'll want to see Dr. Cranium at least once a day from when you find him onward. For each of the first five days you talk to him you'll both have new things to say, and you can ask him about poison cure potions and healing potions to have him supply you with both, at the rate of one of each per day. You'll need to fill in a formula from the game's copyright protection to do so, and also to obtain a Rehydration Solution which is essential for beating the game. You'll have the option to get the Rehydration Solution the fourth day after you meet Dr. Cranium.

At the back of town you have two buildings, the Adventurer's Guild and the Monestary, as well as a gravedigger named Igor who usually hangs around. Igor's good for a little conversation and information, but you'll notice that the game automatically saves your progress whenever you reach this screen. Standing too close to the Monestary or trying to gain access is an easy way to be eaten by the Squidish carving standing above the door.

The Monestary will kill you if you get too close, so to get in with your vitals intact you'll want to take the six pointed golden starfish you found earlier, which is actually the sign of the Dark One, and place it upon the Monestary door. Other classes may also be able to climb in and out of the window up above. Inside the Monestary there's a shriveled up Domovoi sitting on the left cabinet. Once you've obtained Dr. Cranium's Rehydration Solution you'll want to use it on the Domovoi to restore it to life. Resting above the fireplace is a Hexapus named Hector. You can either kill it and lose some honor for beating up on a poor defenseless evil beastie, or feed it some garlic to placate it. You can then use on the pole to the right of the fireplace to head into the basement of the Monestary.

To get into the mad monk's desk, Thieves's will want to disarm the trap, Fighters will want to just bash it open and bear the blow and maybe cure themselves of poison later, and Magic Users will want to cast open from a distance. However you get inside, you'll learn some more about each of the Dark One's rituals and where they're hidden. You can use the keg full of dripping blood-like wine to see a dark vision and gain the Blood Ritual. Thieves also have an optional quest in the Monestary, and any class can burn the place to the ground after they've done everything by lighting the evil book or curtains/rugs on fire and escaping, although only Paladins get points for this.

The Adventurer's Guild is the other building in the back of town, and the Burgomeister will give you the key to it if you ask nicely about it. You should read all the books in the library to gain some climbing skills if you're a Fighter/Paladin, improve your casting for Wizards, and learn how to use the exercise machine. Fighters or Paladins can break open the case for a better sword, and all classes except Magic Users can also get a rope and grapnel to make climbing a little easier. You should use the machine as much as possible every day until it says you've done enough for one day, adding some more weights each time. It'll increase your strength each time you do it. You should also sign the logbook as usual and read the past entries to learn about Piotyr and Erana.

Thieves also have a special quest to do in the Adventurer's Guild, but that will be covered in the Thieves Sidequest Section.

Valley of Mordavia
(map coming soon hopefully)

Town of Mordavia Gates

The town of Mordavia is to the NorthWest of the forest, and far north and one screen east of the swamp. If you can't find it keep following the north wall until you see it. You can pick up some corn from the field, get some money from the stump, and Katrina will meet you twice at night in this location. You can talk to her or use the hand icon on her for some options, and she may provide you with potions or a magical spell. The first time she meets you will be just after a few nights if you show up, and after that she may leave a note for you at the inn.

Erana's Garden.

Erana's Garden is only accessible from the south. To reach it you'll need to head three screens south of the town gates, two screen east, then south, east, and north to arrive in the garden. You'll find some change inside the first magical lantern, wizards should cast the fetch spell at least once a day on the tree to gain some mana-restoring fruit, and wizards should also detect, trigger, open, and fetch a spell scroll to learn Protection. Erana's Garden is one of the only safe places to sleep at night, and resting either here or near Erana's staff will give you some strange dreams about Erana being trapped with the Dark One.

The Cemetary.

The cemetary is one screen south, one screen west, then all the way north in relation to Erana's Garden, or two screens south, two screens east, and one screen north from the town gates. There's not a whole lot to do in the cemetary itself, although you can open the right crypt at night to fight a wraith, and Paladins will complete a special quest relating to the Rusalka here. Igor can be found hear during the daytime early on, and on the fifth day he will be stuck under the tombstone. There's also the locked Borgov crypt which you can either break into or wait to receive the key from Igor after saving him.

The Rusalka.

The Rusalka is to the south west corner of the map. You can head four screens south from the town gates, three screens east, and one screen south to reach her. She's the spirit of a drowned women who achieves a bit of undead revenge by drowning any men who stop by. You can give her some flowers to gain some points and win her respect, and Paladins have the chance to rescue her as well.

The Leshy.

The Leshy is one screen south and east of the cemetary, or one screen above Erana's Garden although the passage is blocked by trees. The Leshy plays games on visitors by hiding inside a bush or running away from you until you clear away all the bushes in an area. The first riddle it asks you will be what its name is. If you've read the Hero's Magazine in the Adventurer's Guild you'll be able to tell it it is the Leshy. The next thing the Leshy will tell you is that if you give it save a plant from glue, it will help you with a clue. It's easy to miss this particular puzzle, so you'll want to go to the swamp, and visit the Squid Stone to find the Bonsai Bush stuck behind some rocks. You'll want to blast away the rocks with spells or rocks you picked up yourself, and either fetch the bush or use the rope and grapnel to reach the top ledge and "fish" it up. Make sure you take the bush back to the Leshy and it will advise you to put it in Erana's Garden.

To solve the next riddle you'll need to visit the Rusalka at the lake to the south west to let the Leshy know that the Rusalka lives in the watery brine. After completeing that riddle the Leshy will let you know the password to get past the Bushes in front of Baba Yaga's hut, which you can confirm to visit the hut and answer the next riddle, saying that Baba Yaga lives in a hut of sticks. To complete the next riddle you'll need to finish the quest related to baking Baba Yaga an Elderberry pie, to be able to answer about the Elderberry bush. Finally you'll need to either gain the heart ritual from the wraith guarding it or learn about the faeries seeking Erana's staff as a wizard to answer his last riddle correctly. Then you'll be done and Leshy will have one last surprise for you.

Completing the riddles is not essential to beating the game, it mainly provides you with some clues and gives you a measure for your progress so far, as well as giving you some extra points. The Leshy will let you know the password to get past Baba Yaga's bush, but so will the gypsies if you wait long enough.

The Castle Gates.

The castle gates are to the northwest of the forest, one screen south, two screens west, and one screen north of the Mordavian Gates. Boris Stovich, Olga's missing husband is the guard there. Katrina will meet you here at night twice after you've met her twice in front of the town gates. You can talk to Boris for information during the day or to reconcile him and his wife, and at night the Fighter or Paladin can break in and get past some Necrotaurs.

The Gypsy Camp.

The gypsy camp is to the absolute northeast of the forest. From Erana's garden if you head one screen east, all the way north, and one screen east then north you will reach it. Initially the gypsies will not trust you and refuse to let you enter their camp, but you'll get points for showing up anyway. Later on after you rescue Gypsy Davy you will be able to come here to have your fortune told or learn more information.

The Swamp.

The swamp is in the south west area of the map. If you south, one screen west, then all the way south you'll reach the swamp. There are two main swamp areas touching the land which having grasping arms, and will-o-wisps at night. You will need to journey through the swamp itself and take a will-o-wisp to gain two of the Dark One's rituals. To the east of the swamp is the Squid Stone rock which houses another puzzle and a nearby trapped bush. You can cross back up to the Dark One's cave by pushing or trigger the stone column, or using the rope and grapnel.

Baba Yaga's Hut.

The entrance to Baba Yaga's place is one screen south, two screens east, and two screens south of Erana's Garden. The trick is that the path is blocked by an enchanted bush. Wizards can just trigger the bush to get rid of it but other classes will need to learn the magic phrase from either the gypsies or the Leshy. What to do with Baba Yaga is covered in her section.

Wraiths.

There are six wraiths in Mordavia, not counting the one which can be found in the Castle of the Boyar, and the one which only Paladins can fight. One wraith can just be found in the cemetary by opening the right crypt at nighttime. One can be found all the way south of the town gates, and another can be found two screens south and one screen east of the town gates. Still another wraith can be found four screens east from the last location, and another wraith is one screen south and two screens west of the gypsies. The last wraith is the most interesting one, and is found all the way south from the cemetary. This particular wraith may have the heart ritual in its burrow for non-wizards, and some Paladin equipment which will allow the Paladin to complete one of his optional quests. In general wraiths drain your life when you so much as stand in their area and you'll get a warning that you feel a cold chill coming on. You should be armed with the aura spell or an amulet, both of which you can get from the gypsies after you save Gypsy Davy. You can click the hand icon on the gray rocky burrow to engage the wraiths in battle, do your best to finish them as fast as possible, and make sure to loot their homes for treasure afterwards.

Other locations:

The Elderberry Bush is necessary for completeing Baba Yaga's quest and can be found four screens south and west of the cemetary. The Faeries show up at night for the wizard sometimes, and are one screen south of Erana's Garden. Anna's Ghost appears at nighttime, two screens south and one screen west of the cemetary. She needs to be saved for Baba Yaga's quest as well, and is covered in that section.

SideQuests
Sidequests are optional puzzles or challenges, usually for extra points if done by the appropriate class, although some of them can be done by everyone. The sidequests which can not be done by everyone include breaking into the castle gates as a Fighter, all the thief's guild puzzles as a Thief, confronting the faeries as a Magic User, and rescuing the Rusalka and restoring the Burgomeister's honor as a Paladin.

Fighter SideQuests

Fighters get extra points for killing each type of monster, including the pit horror inside the Dark One's cave. Fighters can also break into the Castle of the Boyar at nighttime and fight past two Necrotaurs to do so.

Thief SideQuests

Thieves will need to get into the Thief's Guild and solve some puzzles there, as well as rescue the Chief Thief by getting a statue from the monestary. They can also break in to Nikolai's house and the Burgomeisters, break the gypsy out of prison, and they'll need to pick all the locks to get around in the castle.

More to come later.

Magic User SideQuests

The main magic user sidequest involves dealing with the faeries and gaining the heart ritual, which is described in the section for Rescuing Tanya and obtaining the heart ritual. Magic Users can also gain the Hide spell by doing an extra favor for Baba Yaga by bringing her some more Grue Goo or Bone Meal, there's a Protection spell to be found in Erana's Garden by detecting, triggering, opening, and fetching a spell scroll, and Dr. Cranium himself happened to have a spell lying around. Magic Users will definitely want to meet Katrina often enough to learn the Frost Bite spell, which allows them to do a magical area attack and is required to beat the game for that class.

Paladin SideQuests

Paladins have it easy in a sense since they can go to Erana's staff at nighttime and be advised by the ghost of Piotyr what honorable actions they should take. They will want to reconcile Olga and Boris by talking to both of them enough times and going back and forth between them and telling each what the other had to say until they're back together again. Olga is in the General Store, Boris can be found at the castle gates in the daytime. Paladins will also want to burn the Monestary to the ground once they've done everything inside of it, which leads to a couple amusing situations. Paladin's are also the only class which can save the Rusalka from an undead existence, and the only ones that can restore the Burgomeister's honor by finding the last remnants of the paladin Piotyr.

More to come later.

Rescuing Igor
On the fifth day, Igor will turn up missing and the townspeople will be gathered in the square discussing the situation. They'll have found a gypsy wandering outside town at the same time Igor turned up missing and demand that the gypsy be hanged for Igor's death. The long and the short of it is that if you don't save the gypsy in the next three days or so you'll die as he is hung and curses the town. You can break the gypsy out of prison at night if you have the skills to sneak into the Burgomeisters, but if you're not a thief you'll probably be caught eventually unless you find Igor as well.

Luckily finding Igor is a fairly simple task, he's not in town or at Dr. Cranium's so all that's left to check is the cemetary. You'll hear a low moaning sound coming from underneath a grave. Curiouser and curiouser. If you have enough brute strength you may be able to lift the tombstone by sheer force. Magic Users are actually able to cast open on the stone to lift it out of the way, and Thieves or Fighters may use the rope and pulley to acquire some leverage in lifting the stone. Igor will leave the tomb delighted and hobble back to town. If you talk to him later in town he'll give you a key to the crypt.

Things will settle down around town and after a day or so the gypsy you rescued will show up outside the gates of town and invite you to stay at the gypsy camp sometime. He'll also announce himself a shapeshifter and turn into a wolf. Head to the gypsy camp and you'll talk with Magda the fortuneteller and Gypsy Davy, the man you rescued. Ask her and tell her about everything you've come across, and pay her by giving her money from your purse to have your fortune told. She'll give a fortune which describes yourself and some of the players who have had an influence on your past, present, and future.

You should return to talk to her at least once in each of the following days until she has no more fortunes or information to offer you. You'll need to talk to the gypsies about the Destiny Spell to free Erana's staff, and every time you have your fortune told you'll learn more about some of the characters in the valley who will affect you.

You'll also be treated in a friendlier fashion by the Burgomeister, the innkeeper and the townspeople, and you'll be able to talk to Bella, the innkeeper's wife about the valley and what happened to her family in particular with losing their daughter.

Dealing with Baba Yaga
Sooner or later you're going to have to confront the evil hag. On the night of the third day a jester will show up in town who's totally unable to tell a joke. If you visit him in his room you'll learn he was cursed by Baba Yaga to lose his sense of humor, and you'll can also get a rubber chicken from him. Learning about the curse is neccessary if you plan on invading Baba Yaga's hut.

There are two ways to gain entrance to the area where Baba Yaga lives. Geographically the entrance is south, east, then south of Erana's Garden, however it's blocked by an enchanted bush. Magic Users can simply Trigger the bush, but other classes will need to learn the magic phrase. This can be done by solving the first of the Leshy's riddles and rescuing the bush, or talking to the gypsies enough times.

This will let you get to the area outside Baba Yaga's hut, but it's guarded by a group of magical skulls, including a talking one who should look familiar to you. Yep, he's the one you gave a magical gem to in the first game, and if you can similarly enhance his appearance he'll let you pass. To do this you'll need to help Nikolai and his wife Anna.

Rescuing Tanya
This quest is probably the one which gets most gamers stuck. You need to rescue the Domovoi in the Monestary by getting the Rehydration Fluid from Dr. Cranium, available on the fourth day if you give him the formula and a flask of grue goo. You also need to stay up until midnight at the inn to find the Domovoi sitting in the main hall of the inn. If you talk to him twice, once after you've rescued the Domovoi he'll tell you the story of Tanya and allow you to take the doll from the center cabinet that once belonged to her. The problem is if you don't do this in the first ten days or so you may never get the chance to meet the Domovoi.

In addition, all classes need to rescue the gypsy Davy and talk to the gypsies to learn about the Destiny Spell and how Erana's staff will allow one life to be sacrificed for another. Magic Users as well will need to learn the Ritual of Release spell from the faeries. Wizards need to the area south of Erana's Garden twice, and at least once after saving Igor. You'll find a magical fountain and staff on your two visits, both of which are illusions made by the faeries. You'll learn that the faeries want you to bring them back Erana's staff, and they'll teach you the spell you need to release it.

Obtaining the Rituals
The Mouth Ritual, in case you're wondering, claimed that it would be left underneath the Dark One's sign but you'll find that it certainly isn't there. This is actually in the possession of the owner of the castle, Katrina, and is how she was able to open the mouth of the Dark One's cave at the beginning to let you out.

The Bone Ritual has to be found inside the Squid Rock, near the slippery path and outside the Dark One's Cave. It needs to be "illuminated by the light of a dead child's soul." It turns out that according to the gypsies the Will-O-Wisps who fly around the swamp at night are the souls of dead children. If you put out some candy which you can get from the general store you can scoop some up in a flask like fireflies. (you can also get free flasks from Dr. Cranium) Use the jar of Will-O-Wisps on the Squid Stone and you'll see some indentations which will let you use the Dark One's sign. Spell out the name of Avoozl, A-v-o-o-z-l, which you can learn from either the Monestary or the gypsies, and you'll unlock the Bone Ritual. Hitting the combination can be tricky, so you can hit the question mark enough times to skip the puzzle and any points, just make sure to click each of the letters until they change color and the sign is for sure pointing at them in turn, and it should open up. Make sure you let the Will-O-Wisps escape back into the swamp before morning or they'll day, and you'll lose some honor for it.

The Blood Ritual can be found inside the Monestary easily enough just by drinking from the keg in the basement. See the section on the town of Mordavia to learn how to get into the Monestary.

The Breath Ritual, according to the diary in the Monestary was left inside the Hangman's tree in a notch, but given that it's not there now the likely culprit was the nearby witch, Baba Yaga. The ritual is fairly simple to obtain once you've completed the main quest. See the section on Dealing with Baba Yaga for more about her quest. If you've completed the main task involving her, you can bring her an extra flask of Bone Meal or Grue Goo and ask for the ritual of the Dark One.

The Senses Ritual is hidden deep within the swamp next to the Mad Monk's tomb, guarded by Chernovy. Magic Users can use the Glide spell from Dr. Cranium to cross over the swamp with ease, Thieves can leap from one tuft of grass to the next with the Acrobatics skill, and Fighters can expect to slog their way through with brute force in getting through the swamp. Paladins may be able to use either the Glide spell or the brute force method. Head south until you reach the tomb, guarded by two Chernovy. Magic users can cast reversal and try engaging the monsters from a distance with spells, but they'll eventually get sick of that and cast a spell of darkness on you. Use juggling lights to dispell it, and you'll have to fight them in close quarters. Any other class can just reach the island where one of the Chernovy is and fight it directly in the usual manner. Once you've reached the tomb use the Dark One's sign on it, and you'll notice a bunch of symbols corresponding to the names of each of the rituals. You can use the question mark sign repeatedly to skip the puzzle and any points, or just enter the combination of the rituals in order, mouth, bone, blood, breath, sense, heart, and essence. As with the Bone Ritual you may need to select a symbol more than once to make sure the sign lands on it. After you're done just head north and exit the swamp for good.

The Heart Ritual can be obtained two ways depending upon your class. Magic Users will need to complete a sidequest with the Faeries. After gaining Erana's staff they will need to head south of Erana's Garden to be frozen in place by the faeries and engage in a magical confrontation with them. Erana's staff will declare you to be its rightful owner, and the faeries will try to attack you. Quickly summon the staff and cast resistance and reversal to block direct attacks and lessen the damage from elemental area affect magic. They'll be using reversal as well, so you'll almost certainly need to use the Frost Bite spell you hopefully learned by talking to Katrina. Take out the faeries and they'll disappear and you'll obtain the heart ritual. Other classes will need to fight a wraith south, west, then south of Erana's garden. You'll want protection from the undead by amulet or spell as usual, and simply hit it with your best attacks, and you'll find the heart ritual in its lair. Paladins may also find an extra bonus or two.

The Essence Ritual needs to be obtained within the Dark One's cave itself and is covered in that section.