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.

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.

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.

Picking 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 moves such as dodging, parrying, 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.

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.