Process
In order to beat the game, you must defeat the evil wizard Werdna in combat, and retrieve the amulet he stole. Werdna resides on the tenth floor, the lowest level of the dungeon maze. Aside from gaining enough experience to reach class levels that actually permit you to survive the trip to the tenth floor and subsequently the final battle that takes place there, there is very little else that you actually have to do. There are, however, a few items that you should collect, relatively early on, in order to access deeper levels of the dungeon more easily.
- You must locate and obtain the Bronze and Silver keys on the first floor. These open locked doors that are found on the second floor. (In the NES version, there is an additional Gold key that you must collect on the second floor in order to open a door on the first floor.)
- There are two statues located on the second floor. However, only one statue is required in order to access a door found on the fourth floor. The other is not needed.
- You must engage in a particular fight and succeed in order to access the path that leads to the Blue Ribbon. This item will authorize you to use the second elevator that leads to much deeper levels of the dungeon without the need to go from staircase to staircase.
The castle
When you begin the game, you start inside the castle, with no party formed. From here, you can visit the following places, each of which are described below:
- Gilgamesh's Tavern
- Adventurer's Inn
- Temple of Cant
- Boltac's Trading Post
- Edge of Town
Gilgamesh's Tavern
All of the options available here pertain to examining your characters, and constructing your party. The following options are available to you here:
- ADD: Allows you to select characters from your available roster to include in your party, which may not contain more than six members. As soon as you choose one member who is Good or Evil, characters belonging to the opposing alignment will no longer be available for selection, as they will not cooperate together.
- #INSPECT: On a computer, you must press the number of the character you would like to inspect. Choosing this option lets you examine your character in detail, viewing all of his or her stats and equipment.
- REMOVE: By choosing this option, you can select one member of your party to leave, freeing up a spot on your team for someone else.
- DIVY GOLD: If you have traded gold among some of your party members, this option will pool all of the gold in your party, and then evenly distribute that amount among all of the characters.
- LEAVE: Exit the tavern and return to the Castle.
When constructing a party, it is generally recommended that you include at least two fighter-type classes (Fighter, Samurai, Lord), one thief for disarming traps on treasure chests, and two to three spell casters with at least one Mage and one Priest.
Adventurer's Inn
If your character is low on health or magic, or on the verge of reaching the next level for their class, they should spend a night at the Inn. Once you enter the Inn, each character is dealt with individually. You choose which character will stay the night, and in what kind of room.
Choosing what kind of room to stay in is important. Rooms that are more expensive allow characters to heal faster. The longer it takes for you to recover from your wounds, the more a character will age. Age doesn't impact your character too much until they go beyond 50 years of age, at which point they are less inclined to adventure and think more about retirement.
Staying at an Inn is not the only way to restore health, but it is the only way to restore magic. Fortunately, only one night's stay is enough to restore all of the spell casting ability of even the most powerful spell caster. (Most players take advantage of this fact, and prefer to allow only spell casters to sleep in Stables for one night. This enables Priests to cast healing spells on damaged party members and spare them the process of aging at the Inn.)
The following table illustrates your room selection choices:
| Room | HP restored per stay | Cost per stay |
|---|---|---|
| Stables | 0 | free |
| Barracks | 1 | 10 |
| Double Occupancy | 3 | 50 |
| Private | 7 | 200 |
| Royal Suite | 10 | 500 |
Note that if one character does not have enough money to afford a particular room, but the entire party does, you can elect to POOL GOLD from the party and give it to one character. If you choose any room other than the Stables, you will remain in that room until either the character is fully healed, or you run out of money. While you stay, your health and the cost will be displayed. You can end the process early if you wish (on computers, press the Space Bar).
Leveling Up
If you stay at the Inn after having accumulated enough experience points to attain the next level, you will be informed of the achievement. At that time, several things will take place:
- Some or all of your stats may change. Generally, they will increase, but it's possible for them to decrease as well. Stat changes are chosen entirely at random and have nothing to do with your character's performance. It is only through these stat changes that some of the more difficult-to-reach elite classes become available to you.
- Your health will increase. It will increase by at least one hit point, but if your vitality is high, and you belong to a class with good hit point potential (like a Fighter or Priest), it will generally increase by more than one point.
- Spell casters may learn new spells. The likelihood of this is also somewhat random, although the chances to learn certain spells increase with each level. Two characters of the same class will not necessarily learn the same spells at the same rate.
You may only increase one level per stay. If you feel your character is due to increase by more than one level, you should continue to stay at the Inn until no more levels are gained. When a character is not due for a level increase, staying at the Inn will inform you of how many more experience points are needed to reach the next level.