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DISCIPLES
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General FAQ
version 1.0
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by Red Phoenix
e-mail: ISeeAll069@yahoo.com
Date: March 9th, 2002
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PREFACE
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I bought this game as part of the First Knight 3-game pack from Strategy First
(i.e., from the bins...). As it turned out, this is a pretty good game. At
the time of this writting, Disciples II has just recently been released. It
seems to have received fairly good reviews. Ironically enough, its predecessor
did not, but the two games are almost identical (the sequel simply has better
graphics and a few minor gameplay tweeks).
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WHO WOULD LIKE THIS GAME?
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This game seems reminiscent of Ogre Battle, a Super Nintendo game of old,minus
the complicated pre-requisite-based class branching and stat management. This
game's combat model is simple, so is its class branching tree, and so is its
strategic/building model. That's part of this game's charm, really. Easy to
get into. Call it "Ogre Battle Lite", if you will.
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GOAL OF THIS FAQ
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The purpose of this FAQ is to help out new players understand the mechanics of
this game. This FAQ is *not* meant to replace actual "trial and error" or
reading the on-line manual.
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CONTENTS
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1) Races
1.1) Advantages
1.2) Disadvantages
1.3) My Preferences
2) Heroes
2.1) Types and My Preferences
2.2) Skills
3) Items
4) Saga Walkthrough (under construction)
4.1) Empire Saga
4.2) Legions of the Damned Saga
4.3) Mountain Clan Saga
4.4) Undead Hoarde Saga
A) Future Updates
B) Future Contributors
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1) RACES
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1.1) Advantages
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+ Empire:
- Only race to have a "healer" class (VERY powerful) [Go for the
healer type that heals all 6 units!]
- Magic: Stat improving spells. Really useful in all situations!
(It's possible to get 90 armor by taking a hero with Natural
Armor (20) + Potion of Permanent Armor Increase (10) + double
Banner of Resistance (40) + Holy Armor spell (20); making you
almost invincible!)
Lvl 4 Summon spell (Earth Elemental) has 50 armor and hits all
for 70 earth damage!
+ Mountain Clan:
- Units have more HPs and do more Damage than normal. (E.g., Fighter
type hero has 225 HPs instead of 150 and does 60 damage instead of
50, Fighter unit has 150 HP instead of 100 and do 30 damage instead
of 25)
- Magic: Stat improving spells. Really useful for those tough battles!
+ Legions of the Damned:
- All hero types are flyers.
- Fast moving heros: all heros have 30 Movement Points! (Scouting
type hero still has 35 Movement Points though...)
(Also, Fighter type hero gains lots of movement points as he levels up)
- Magic: 9 damage spells (2 lvl1, 2 lvl2, 2 lvl3, 2 lvl4, 1 lvl5)!
The Lvl 5 Summon spell has an attack which hits all 6 enemies
for big damage!
- Incubbus mage unit (which has a Petrify all attack!)
+ Undead Hoarde:
- Unique Hero Type: Vampire (Scouting type) Low damage, but hits all 6
enemies and heals 50% of damage that he does.
- Magic: 7 damage spells (2 lvl1, 2 lvl2, 1 lvl3, 1 lvl4, 1 lvl5)!
- Werewolf and Wraith units are immune to weapons!
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1.2) Disadvantages
----------------------
+ Empire:
- Double-sized unit (e.g., Giant) are lvl 2 in the tech tree.
+ Mountain Clan:
- Slow moving heroes (15 movement points, 25 for scouting type hero),
- Low initiative (40 for fighters, 40 for ranged attackers),
- Proud Dwarf (Rod Planting hero) does not fly.
+ Legions of the Damned:
- Magic: Stat decreasing spells. Though useful in overland battles,
curses cannot be cast at units in towns or ruins making them
rather useless since the toughest battles are usually inside
these locations!
+ Undead Hoarde:
- Lots of units do Death damage. Lots of units in the game are immune
do this type of damage more than any other elemental type. (You *will*
be fighting a fair amount of undead [neutral monsters] in the Undead
Hoarde's Saga).
- Magic: Stat decreasing spells. Though useful in overland battles,
curses cannot be cast at units in towns or ruins making them
rather useless since the toughest battles are usually inside
these locations!
- Banshee (Rod Planting hero) does not fly.
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1.3) My Preferences
-----------------------
In order of preference, I would say that the best is the Empire, followed
closely by the Legions of the Damned. The Mountain Clan is ok. The weakest
is definately the Undead Hoarde (in terms of playing the game's Saga mode
anyway...).
1) Empire
Probably the easiest of the Sagas, due to the fact that they are the only
race that has access to Healing type units. These units are *so* powerful
that you can have one hero walk finish an entire mission without ever have
stopped in a city to heal! Also, their Paladin lvl 3 fighter type unit is
really powerful because of their natural 30 armor! (Add the Holy Armor
spell and 2 Banners of Resistance to get 90 armor!)
2) Legions of the Damned
Their heroes are the fastest in the game. They also have cool units like
the lvl 3 demon that slashes all 6 targets and the Incubbus that Petrifies
all 6 units for one entire turn.
3) Mountain Clan
Their heroes are by far the strongest. A little slow on the initiative
side, but that should not matter too much.
4) Undead Hoarde
Their units are not very good. They have no special bonuses. Only their
Wraith units are *really* good; but then again, they have low HPs so one
wizard-type unit can wipe an entire group. Most of their units do Death
type damage, making them useless against other undead. To add insult to
injury, their Saga is one of the toughests (pitting them against
overwhelming odds)!
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2) HEROES
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---------------------------------
2.1) Types and My Preferences
---------------------------------
For Saga mode play, in order of preference, the Warrior Lord is definately the
best. The Mage Lord and the Guildmaster are also fairly good classes to play,
but they have much more use in Quest mode or Multiplayer mode.
1) Warrior Lord
Probably the best class in Saga campaign mode. Since the majority of the
battles will take place between you and Neutral monsters (whom, incidentally
give much more EXP than fighting other factions, as well as giving cool
items), the 15% regeneration daily ability will come in handy since running
back to the nearest town or wasting mana to cast healing spells is not always
an option. Also, you know that you can camp safetly in front of a neutral
monster without fear of retribution.
Also the Warrior Lord gives his/her heroes access to the abilities Weapon
Master and Natural Armor when they reach high levels. Both are very good.
2) Guildmaster
An ok class in Saga campaign mode, but much more useful in multiplayer/quest
mode. The 3 new Thief hero abilites are of little use:
-Assasinate : Instantly kills the weakest unit in a party. Not really that
useful, since A) its success rate is fairly low and B) you
don't get any EXP for killing that unit. Personally, I
prefer the "Poison Neutral Units Trick" (see below) to
assassination.
-Steal Spells: Not as useful as it sounds in Saga mode. You simply have a
shortage of mana in Sage mode. Even if you successfully
steal a spell in Saga mode, you probably won't have the right
colored mana to cast it! (This ability can only be used when
the Thief hero enters an enemy city.)
-Steal Gold : I've never tried this one, so I don't know how much you can
steal and what are the success rates. But anyway, I suppose
that any amount of free gold is good gold. (This ability can
only be used when the Thief hero enters an enemy city.)
The Guildmaster his/her heroes access to the abilities Precision and
Incorruptible. Neither of the two are particularly interesting in Saga mode.
All heroes have 75% chance to hit. An extra 20% of 75% (yes, it's 20% of 75%,
not 75% + 20%!) won't be *that* useful. Incorruptible isn't too useful
against computer controlled opponents because they simply do not use Thief
heroes effectively (and that's a good thing!).
3) Mage Lord
An ok class in Saga campaign mode, but much more useful in multiplayer/quest
mode. The lack of available mana in Sage mode make this class' abilities
almost useless. "Research cost halved" is very nice, but research cost is not
the prohibitive part of spell use: it's the casting part that becomes quickly
expensive, especially when you can cast the same spell twice in a day! Mana
is simply not abundant enough in Saga mode.
Of the two high level hero abilities that the Mage Lord gives, Swift is, by
far the best. An extra +50% Initiative is absolutely riddiculously powerful!
Keen Sighted is absolutely worthless: an extra +1 Scouting Range *really*
doesn't make any difference whatsoever. Although I suppose that it was
meant to be useful, since you can cast spells *anywhere* that you can see
(i.e., where there is no black "fog of war").
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2.2) Skills
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Every level that your hero gains, also awards the hero a new skill on top of
the extra Hit Points and extra Damage. This new skill must be selected at the
very beginning of the next turn. Note that if you gain multiple levels in the
turn (which is almost impossible, short of cheating), you will get to select
multiple skills at the beginning of the next turn. Final note: you cannot
select the same skill twice (except for Leadership, the first one is offered at
lvl 3 and the second one is offered at lvl 5).
A star (*) denotes the skills that I prefer.
lvl 2: Toughness
Banner Bearer *
Artifact Lore
Arcane Knowledge
lvl 3: (Same as above)
Weapon Master * (Warrior-Lord only)
Keen-Sighted (Mage-Lord only)
Precision * (Guildmaster only)
Leadership *
[Hero also gains 5 Movement Points.]
lvl 4: (Same as above)
Pathfinding
Might *
lvl 5: (Same as above)
Leadership *
Regeneration *
[Hero also gains 5 Movement Points; 10 if the hero is a Scout-type.]
lvl 6: (Same as above)
Natural Armor * (Warrior-Lord Only)
Swift * (Mage-Lord only)
lvl 7: (Same as above)
lvl 8: (Same as above)
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3) ITEMS
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-- Artifacts --
Requires the hero skill Artifact Lore to equip. Artifacts affect only the
leader equipped with the item. The first artifacts are weak because the first
Banners duplicate their effect (except on an entire party instead of just the
leader), but the later artifacts are pretty powerful in their own right.
Finding them is a problem though...
Rune Blade : +10% to Damage
Unholy Chalice : +15% to Damage
Sanguine Sword : +20% to Damage
Bethrezen's Claw: +50% to Damage, +50 to Initiative [WOW!]
Runestone : +10 to Armor
Holy Chalice : +15 to Armor
Horn of Courage : +30 to Armor
Dragon Shield : +50 to Armor [WOW!]
-- Banners --
Requires the hero skill Banner Bearer to equip. Banners are probably the best
of all the "equip"able items since they affect an entire party. For best
results, try to obtain 2 Banners of Resistance for 40 Armor! (E.g., This can
be done in the Empire Saga.) This will give you the upper hand against
opponents that evenly match you.
Banner of Strength : +10% to each units' Damage
Banner of Protection: +10 to each units' Armor
Banner of Battle : +10% to each units' Chance to Hit
Banner of Speed : +10% to each units' Initiative
Banner of Might : +20% to each units' Damage
Banner of Resistance: +20 to each units' Armor
Banner of War : +20% to each units' Chance to Hit
Banner of Celerity : +20% to each units' Initiative
-- Tomes --
Requires the hero skill Arcane Knowledge to equip. Probably the weakest of
the "equip"able items since the elemental toms only protects the leader
against one elemental attack.
Tome of Fire : protects Leader against first Fire attack in battle
Tome of Earth : protects Leader against first Fire attack in battle
Tome of Air : protects Leader against first Fire attack in battle
Tome of Water : protects Leader against first Fire attack in battle
Tome of Elven Lore : no movement penalty in Forests
Tome of Seven Winds: no movement penalty on Water
-- Potions -- (Under construction)
Please take note that stat increasing potions can only be used on a
given character once per day. Thus, you cannot use a potion of +10% damage
10 times to get a 100% bonus, *but* you *can* use a potion of +10%, +15% and
+30% on the same character! (These bonuses would be cummulative with any
other existing bonuses, including - but not limited to - spells and artifacts.)
Potion of Healing : Heals 50 HPs
Potion of Restoration: Heals 100 HPs
Life Potion : Revives dead unit
Potion of Striking : +20% Chance to Hit for 1 day
Skull Dust Potion : +30% Chance to Hit for 1 day
Giant Blood Potion : +15% Damage for 1 day
Titan's Might Potion : +30% Damage for 1 day
Potion of Protection : +15 Armor for 1 day
Treebark Potion : +30 Armor for 1 day
Potion of Swiftness : +15% Initiative for 1 day
Potion of Celerity : +30% Initiative for 1 day
-- Permanent Stat Increasing Items -- (Under construction)
Please also note the same restriction on permanent stat increasing items. As
mentioned above, you *cannot* use the same permanent stat increasing item on
the same character. This means that you will *not* be able to keep giving
+10% HP potions to the same character to get infinite HPs.
HighFather's Potion : +15% Hit Points
Potion of Fortune (?): +10% Chance to Hit
??? : +10% Damage
??? : +10 Armor
??? : +10% Initiative
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4) SAGA WALKTHROUGHS
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There are four sagas in this game: one for each race. Each saga contains
roughly 4-6 missions. As you progress futher into the missions, they get
longer and longer, as well as tougher and tougher. (The last missions can
take 4+ hours!)
In all sagas, in between each mission, you will be allowed to carry over one
hero and three (3) artifacts, be they weapon/armor, banner, tome, staff,
potion, or any other magical item.
It is strongly suggested that you choose a hero in the first mission and carry
him/her over throughout the entire saga, so that his/her experience levels are
not lost. (Remember that the effects of all permanent stat increasing items
used on the hero will not be lost between missions.) For this reason, you
should take extra care in selecting the carry-over hero's skills.
Moreover, try to choose a hero with lots of hit points and/or that can do lots
of damage. Remember that you normally start missions with lvl 1 units (again),
so you'll have to depend on the hero to level them up, at least for a while.
It is also strongly advised that you do *not* choose to carry over Rod Planting
hero types, as they have only 1 Leadership. Also, remember that removing a
Rod takes 100% of remaining Movement Points, and Planting a Rod also costs 100%
of remaining Movement Points.
----- Starter Tips -----
Do yourself a favor and start by playing the Empire Saga: it's the easiest
because you have the healer-type unit. Try to head down to Patriarch tech
tree (the healer-type that heals all 6 units) as soon as possible. Again,
I hate to sound like a broken record, but this is *very important*! Without
it, you're either going to have to stay inside a town/city/capital or visit
a town/city/capitol's Temple, which costs you a lot of gold for units with
lots of levels.
The last Saga that you should play is the Undead Hoarde's Saga. It is, by far,
the toughest. The missions are really hard, and the get even harder when you
get further!
----- General Tips -----
The first trick that you must learn in Saga mode is the "Poison Neutral Units
Trick". It's absolutely critical for the first couple of missions. Your
heroes are simply not strong enough to handle monsters on their own.
< "Poison Neutral Units Trick" >
Simply bombard your enemy with Thief heroes. Thieves are cheap: only 200
gold a pop. Buy as many thieves as you can early into the mission and walk
around (Thief heroes are immune to terrain movement penalties!) and poison
everything in sight! Each time you poison, the targetted unit loses 10% of
its current HPs. You can repeatedly poison until a unit only has 10% of its
HPs remaining.
I suggest having at least 3-5 Thief heroes for each hero you have wandering
the map. It'll make those tough battles a joke! Note that this trick can
also be used for dealing with opponents too, as well as monsters inside
ruins. This trick is more useful when dealing with Neutral monsters since
they do not regenerate nor heal. Avoid using this trick against towns
unless you really have lots of money spend. Units inside
Towns/Cities/Capitals regenerate HPs daily. Also, Thief heroes have a large
penalty when trying to use their abilities against cities.
One final note, if you manage to capture a new city, you should start using
that city as a new staging point and hire any new Thief heroes in that city
(so that these Thieves are closer to the action).
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4.1) EMPIRE SAGA
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(Under Construction)
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Chapter 4 - Beyond Redemption (Last Mission)
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Objective: Convert 60% of the map to your land
Alliances: Mountain Clan
Enemies : Legions of the Damned
Description: You start near the upper right corner of the map. You must
head left towards the Mountain Clan's capitol, then south to
reach your enemy. Everywhere else is blocked by large
mountain ranges. This large detour will greatly delay you,
giving the already powerful computer opponent to reap even
more gold, mana, and artifacts. Don't be surprised, when
you get near him, that he will start casting damage spells
of all spell levels (yes, including lvl 5 spells) on you!
[ Permanent Stat Increasing Item ]
???
Location: ???
Guarded By: ???
Note: Your opponent will probably have the Dragon Shield *and* the
Bethrezen's Claw artifacts when you meet him! Fortunately enough,
I was playing Easy and the AI was not smart enough to actually equip
those items! (Phew!)
Note: There's actually a *second* Dragon Shield in the lower left corner
of the map (you have to fight really tough giants and dwarves for
it).
Note: It's actually possible to defeat your opponent's Capitol in this
mission if you've played your cards right!
Like all of the Capitol Guardians, the Legions of the Damned's guardian does 250 light
damage (to all units) and has 50 armor (+40 since he is in the
capitol).
Despite these riddiculous stats, you can *still* beat him (immediately
ending the mission in victory).
You will need at least 1 Patriarch (lvl 3 healer unit that heals all
units for 40 HPs).
Make sure before entering the battle to increase all of your units'
armor to 90 (no less!). Use Banners of Resistance, the Holy Armor
spell, potions and/or artifacts! With that much armor, the guardian
will only do 25-30 damage to all your units. Use the Patriarch to
heal each round.
Since the guardian has 900 HPs and 90 armor, it will be a *really*
long battle. Note that (for every battle), if the battle lasts longer
than 30-40 rounds, the battle immediately ends in a draw (with the
attacker retreating). Be sure to immediately reinitiate battle
(battles only waste 50% of your Movement Points) if you cannot kill
the guardian in one sitting to prevent the turn from ending (Capitols
have a high daily Regeneration Rate). You can also use Haste and a
Staff of Travelling to give you back Movement Points if you cannot
kill the guardian in 2 battles.
I used 1 Fighter type hero, 2 Paladins (lvl 3 Fighters), 1 Patriarch
(lvl 3 Healer), and 2 lvl 3 Mages.
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4.2) LEGIONS OF THE DAMNED SAGA
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(Under Construction)
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4.3) MOUNTAIN CLAN SAGA
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(Under Construction)
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4.4) UNDEAD HOARDE SAGA
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(Under Construction)
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Mission 1
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Objective: Defeat Umbolg (Giant unit at center south part of map)
1 Hill Giant (Umbolg)
2 Dwarves
1 Axe Thrower
1 Tenderfoot
Alliances: (None)
Enemies : Mountain Clan
Description: This mission is very tough because you are fighting the
Mountain clan. Their units pretty much outclass yours in
every way.
Neutral Monsters are also riddiculously powerful in this first
mission (Centaurs, Elven Queens, etc.!?!)
[ Permanent Stat Increasing Item ]
Potion of the HighFather (+15% max Hit Points)
Location: Demon Lair (close to Otzwall city)
(1 screen south and 0.5 screen east of starting city)
Guarded By: 1 Demon, 2 Cultists
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Mission 3
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[ Permanent Stat Increasing Item ]
Potion of the HighFather (+15% max Hit Points) (Again!)
Location: Center Southmost part of map (1 screen south and 0.5 screen east
of starting city)
Guarded By: 1 Fire Elemental
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A) FUTURE UPDATES
==============================================================================
I do not feel as though this FAQ should be updated in the future. Though not
complete, this FAQ has already accomplished its goal of helping new players
understand the game mechanics. This alone should be enough to demystify the
game sufficiently so that new players can enjoy playing this game. The rest
of the learning process should be completed with "trial and error" tactics.
Although, if you wish to help me make this FAQ more complete, feel free to do
so. I especially need help with some of the Item names that I am missing, as
well as the details of each mission of each of the Sagas.
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B) FUTURE CONTRIBUTORS
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Should you have any extra insight into this wonderful game or if you feel as
though I have made any serious mistakes, please feel free to e-mail me at
ISeeAll069@yahoo.com. Since this is a rather outdated game, please do not
e-mail me for trivial matters. This includes, but is not limited to: asking
me how I feel about the game, any spelling mistakes that I have made, why you
think this game rocks/sucks.
