Wellll I've started this puppy and my is it different than the others. I'm in Stumford City having just finished the Beet Haven and Finding the Spy quests. I'm not certain I like the interface and the characters remind me a bit of Simon the Sorcerer 3 - they're blocky and a bit weird looking. I also have this tag along and I'm not certain what he's for. He sure doesn't seem to help much.

Anyway I'm about to train so I can level up again - I think my group is at 4 right now. Finally did figure out how to buy and sell - you wouldn't believe how dumb I felt when all I had to do was double click

Hi Syd

You surely are intrepid !!



Cheers.

Mad

Hi,

This is the hardest one of them all and if you find yourself in trouble....you can always run in the other direction.

They are more aggressive in this game and do go behind you all the time so don't let them surround you.

You can lure just a few at a time but go slowly toward them and then back off as they come toward you.

You also have to find Altars for teleporting because there are no fountains.

I still don’t know if I want to play this game right now but may change my mind…....hmmmm….....maybe.

I think this is definitely the hardest of the M&Ms. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. The key is to make levels as fast as you can. Money will be a little tight at first. A good way to earn a little cash is to fight in the Arena in Thjorgard.

Smiley and Magic, hope you'll join us. You both played this one not long ago, so you can help us out. Everyone is welcome to join!

One thing I didn't like about the game was that it doesn't have Fly or Invisibility. It still has Town Portal & Lloyd's Beacon. Also, you don't have the usual magic classes - earth, fire, water, etc. Most of your spells that used to be under water magic will now be under Elemental. Healing spells are under Spirit.

Syd, your tag-along is Forad Darre, right? He'll be with you for a while. He figures into the later part of the game. He fights, but you can't go into his character or inventory screen.

I usually go with 2 fighters & 2 magic users. I'm thinking maybe this time I'll have 3 fighters & 1 MU. I'm starting the game right now.

Barb

Hi,

Well I installed the game but don't know how much I will feel like playing. Maybe once I get into it and level up I may change my mind.

I was looking for a trainer that works with the 1.3 patch but haven't found one yet. Anyone know where I can find it?

I had trainers that worked before but they don't work with the newest patch.

So where are you all in the game. I just started and am on the first Island that you arrive at. I hate being whimpy. Sigh.

This game was basically released unfinished when 3DO went out of business and it really shows.

However, I found the Might and Magic VI/VII/VIII formula still so strong that I thorougly enjoyed myself from beginning to end (once I got through the tedious early sewer level).

It's hard to beat the character/skill development process in these games.

I'm in the same place I was when I posted - real life ya know Hope to get some playing time in today before I have to clean house for the family fourth of July barbecue later on today.

Hi ray - long time no see

For anyone who is interested and doesn't already know about it, there is a patch (1.3) HERE, which fixes a lot of bugs. They were also working on a patch 1.4, which apparently was intended to bring the game more in line with what the designers intended, but I guess that one never came to pass.

Hi, Ray. You are indeed right that the game was released before the designers were done with it. But of course you would know that.

It's a fun game, nevertheless.

Hi,

Well we made it to level 3 (I think) but have to wait for more money before we can up level again.

I have 2 fighters and 2 magic people.
We decided to find the manuscript yesterday and now can move on to the next town. I HATE LOPPERS so did the sewers first and got that done and over with.

Only 2 people have bow so it was harder and took longer to get through but we made it.

Hi all,

Just a thought I had - when you go to a person to be promoted (say your initiates to be promoted to scholars), he will ask if you have anyone who is eligible to be a scholar. Say yes. He will give you the quest he wants you to do. Then click on the option for each initiate to be a candidate for promotion. After you complete the quest for him & go back, he will promote anyone who is a candidate. It works the same for fighter promotions.

I learned from experience that if you don't click on who is eligible BEFORE doing the quest, you won't get the promotion!

I recommend seeing ALL the jarls right away. You can do a lot of their quests (some are VERY difficult), & you'll get money & experience. You can do those quests in any order.

Barb

Hi,

Thank You Barb for the riminder and I already checked to see if we were eligible but all we got was a no to click on. Maybe we have to be a higher level or do something else first? Don't remember but will keep checking.

I know that I had to be very careful with the promotion thing because in the past I did mess up and ended up with two of the same promotions when I wanted my fighters to be different.

Well we are going to clear out the Anskram keep in Strumford next. We have cleared out the bottom part and the draw bridge is down. The top part is next. Have to be careful because of all the traps in here...jeez.

I think the prison one will have to wait until we get stronger first.

The Chasm will have to be way way later because that one is really hard for our level.

Well plenty to do for now by clearing the areas outside of the towns and finding the altars.

I think I'll install the game today and play along. I am in the mood for some Might and Magic and was thinking of M&M 6, which I have never played, but since everyone is playing this one, I'll go with it.

Hi,

Welcome aboard Pokey.

We cleared out Anskram Keep just now and had to use the workaround because I cleared out the bottom first and then the top and the Big Guy didn't show up at the end. You have to go into it from the top level and work your way down to the bottom level to be able to get the Big Boss to show up. You can't leave the Keep in otherwords for it to work.

If anyone does what I did and needs the info on how to fix it then let me know.

We are now level 8...yeah!!

I don't know if you can fix the promotion thing or not if you didn't indicate the ones you want to be promoted at first. If not, you'll just have to go with not getting those people promoted or going back to a save before that. I don't think the fighter promotions are as important as the mage ones. You can't get expert in elemental until your first promotion & can't get master or grandmaster until the second. Unfortunately, the magic quests are MUCH harder than the fighter quests. I'm level 15, & can't get Lich or Mage for my scholar until I can do some real hard quests.

There are 2 essential quests in Anskram - Bjarni in Sturmford wants you to destroy the imp generators, and Sigmund in Drangheim wants you to disable the Anskram defenses. It shouldn't matter which way you go in - for Bjarni's quest, just kill all the imps & make sure the 8 imp generators are destroyed. The big imp should show up once that is done. To disable the defenses, you just have to lower the main drawbridge and open the gate. You can do both of those from the top level, & through a trap door. You should have a key for that but I don't remember who gives it to you.

Hi,

Barb...yes it does matter which way you clear out the imps because I just did that quest. There are 2 doors to get into the place. Once you lower the Drawbridge you have the door at the bottom level to go in and also there is a door if you go up the stairs and to the back you will find another door to go in.

If you clear out the imps out on the bottom level first and at that point you can't go through the big sliding door to the back because I did just that. I then went outside and to the top and went in that way and cleared out the imps in the back and then the big sliding door worked to come back to the front area but the Big Boss didn't show up.

You do have to go into the Keep for the first time at the top level clear out the imps there first then go through the big sliding doors to clear out the imps there and that is when you hear the ding that they are all gone and then the Big Boss comes down his elevator to fight you.

You can reset this dungeon by going into the mini saves and removing anything that is Anskram Keep. Then go back into the game and it will be reset. I am guessing that this should work for any of the Dungeons to reset them.

After a couple false starts, I finally had a good party--two fighters and two initiates. I gave them all bows, which was a great help. Made it to Sturmford with little trouble. I discovered a bug in the ruins where a chest in the lower part keeps being refilled. Took advantage of it for some better armor and gold. I've had several freezes on the loading screen. I have patched the game to 1.3 but didn't use compatibility when I installed in XP.

I've been going around to see all the jarls and getting their quests. I am at level 6 now and ready to do some fighting quests. I did accept a quest to promote one fighter to crusader but now I think I would rather make him a mercenary. Are they better fighters as assassins and gladiators? Do I just ignore the crusader quest since I haven't started it? Haven't had any freezes in a long while. Running away hasn't seemed to work very well the few times I tried. They don't seem to give up chasing.

Hi,

I don't believe that once you pick a candidate for a promotion that you can change it. I am not really sure about this but I did mess up way back where I ended up with both of my fighters as the same thing and I couldn't change it.

Unless you go back to a previous save before you told the promoter as to which candidate you wanted to be crusader I am not sure that you can unpick them.

My 2 fighters right now are crusader and assassin and my 2 magic people are Healer and Scholar.

Keep in mind that once they get promoted that leveling up WILL cost more but then again many of the teacher won’t give you expert or Master or Grandmaster until you get a promotion first. I think this is right unless they mean that you have to reach a 4 for Expert, 7 for Master and 10 for Grandmaster.

Well we are now level (15?) or somewhere around there and have all been promoted for the first time.
We are working for the 2nd promotion.

Has anyone been through the Dungeon of Secrets in Frosgard yet?

What a pain in the behind this place is.
It is timed and I just can’t seem to make it through without setting off any traps.

Is this place really necessary? Can I skip it?

Well moving on to other quests in the meantime while I wait for the answer.

I've already accepted promotion quests to mercenary for both my fighters. I'll just ignore the crusader quest. We did the prison last night, pretty easy. Also a couple of the jarl's quests. Beet Hoven is next after leveling up--should be at about level 10.

Hi,

Well my main fighter is now a Paladin.

When I look at the promotions as you hold down the left mouse button over the skills....I get confused as to which promotion to choose.

It looks to me like you choose from fighter to Crusader to Ranger and last to Paladin but somehow I don't think that is how it works.

I went from Fighter to Crusader to Paladin. Looks like I could skip the Ranger but not sure about that either.

This promotion thing is so confusing that no wonder you can mess up with picking the wrong thing.

Well I now have a Paladin, an Assassin, a Priest and working on getting my last lady to Mage level. I am not sure if I should leave them at Priest and Mage or try for the Druid and Lich?? Who knows?

We are now levels 18-20. Not enough money to keep them even in levels but working on it.

I like the fact that the Paladin can heal because this gives me 3 people that can heal and we need them all in some areas.

I noticed that when you run out of money that the people you hire disappear…hmmm.

I also wonder if they reappear when the town regenerates or do we run out of people to hire. They all help in getting the enemy faster then without them.

Well back to the battle we go.

So....how are the rest of you doing????

The promotion goes from Fighter to Crusader and then you have the choice of Paladin or Ranger:

http://www.flamestryke.com/mm9/flamestrykes_mm9.html

See under Character Development>Promoters.

I finished Beet Hoven and am now working on my promotions for all my characters. I'll have an Assassin and a Gladiator and probably a Mage and a Licht. Need to check out the quests and see which is easier.

Hi,

Well its really nice to finally have Town Portal.

We are now going around and finishing up the quests for the Jarls.

Does anyone know who gives you the bank Orb of Linking quest???

I have all of the Orbs now but the bank doesn't give me the option to install them. Don't remember who gave that quest when I played the last few times. We will keep searching for the person in the meantime.

Thanks Pokey for the info and We are all set with the promotions. Each has their second one and that is as far as they go. Paladin, Assassin, Priest and Mage.

We finished Anskram Keep last night and Dooks Castle today. Had a heck of a time getting the drawbridge down. Finally figured it out. We've been leveling up and working on promotions. My guys are Scholars and Mercenaries now even though one still has a Crusader quest listed. Leveling up is getting really expensive. Am now at level 14.

Hi,

Yes it is expensive and most of the time I am after more money so we can level up. We are now in our level 20 something and never enough money.

Pokey...did you get the Everstrike Bow??? Its pretty cool the way it shoots lightning and works pretty fast to get them down. I love it but the only one that can use it is my Priest. It is in the secret area of the Dook's Castle.

We are now working on cleaning out the Mines and sure am glad that we have Lloyd's Beacon so we can unload the loot and up level whenever possible.

Might and Magic 8 had an area with a lot of chests for gold...sure wish this game did also. NEED GOLD! Well at least the monsters respawn so we can keep getting the loot and experience.

Still haven’t found the person that gives me the Orb of Linking for the Bank Quest but I still have a couple of Jarls left for doing quests for them and maybe one of them gave it.

Hey Barb....you played this game more then once...do you remember who gave the Bank Quest???

Magic, for the Orb quest, did you check Flamestryke's site under secondary quests?

I didn't go after the Everstrike bow because I didn't know if I would have a priest, but now I think I might just to have the bow.

Oops, just checked that and I can't go that route since I have two Scholars.