Starting Zanzarah - Any Tips?

Hello:

I'm just about to read the manual and install the game. Does anyone have any tips for someone who doesn't play that many RPG's?

Jean

Hi Jean,

I really don't consider zanzarah a true RPG. The closest thing I would compare it to would be Pokemon.

In the very beginning of the game you can choose from 3 fairies: water, stone and nature. I would recommend you get the stone fairy. Water fairies are very weak and even when they level up to the mid teens they only have around 40 hit points. Nature fairies are very common in the area you are in so it will be easy to capture one. The stone fairy that I started with is still my best fighter in the sense he dishes out the most damage. Take advantage of the free trainer. Besides raising your fairies level, you will make some money too. If you are not sure what do go back and talk to Rafi and he will give you some hints. He is the first one you talk to when you arrive from London.

The games only uses one save slot. It continually over writes itself so what I do is at the start of each session is back up the save just as a precaution. Just today I realized the game automatically saves itself when you enter a new area. I used a cheat to beat a super tough battle as I just wanted to see what was beyond. I entered a new area and then when I reloaded as I did want to do the battle legit I found that I was in the new area.

Thanks for the tips, Zanthia. I'm going to load it up this afternoon. How did you back up your saved games?

Jean

HI jean,

The save is just one file. I have been just doing copy and paste in to the same directory. it will say copy of file name then next time it will be copy 2 of file name and so forth.

Hi Zanthia.

I didn't realise the "saving" in Zanzarah was silly "one slot" style

Are you saying, then, that every time you save and want to "keep" that save, you have to quit the game and do the copy/paste routine via Win.Explorer ??

Well, hmmm. I lasted a few hours and decided this game isn't for me. I did manage to figure out how to do a fairy fight, but as soon as I killed it another one popped up and I got killed. I tried several times. Those things just move too fast for me.

It's too frustrating, and frustration isn't the reason to play a game. Sigh.

On to Jazz and Faust!

Jean

Hi Jean,

I am sorry to hear you are giving up so quickly on Zanzarah. I was hoping there would be another player so we can help each other out as there is no walkthrough.

You can escape from a battle once it starts. If oyu are fighting a fairy that is more than level 3 in the beginning it will be too tough for you. YOU can easily train to level 8 or 9 with the free trainer.

Enjoy J&F. It was fun but kind of short.

Mad, If you want to have frequents backups than yes you would have to quit the game each time you wanted a permanent save at the point at where you were in the game. The file is very small so space is not an issue. At first I did not realize it had this type of saves as there are 6 slots but what it means is that you can have 6 differnt games going on at the same time. for a saveaholic, this is the worst type of save scheme. Diablo 1 and 2 does the same thing.

HI Mad,

I was able to revert back to an older save by using the backups I created.

The saves are found in the directory called C:\ Zanzarah/saves.

The name of the saves are _000#.dat. For example if you use the first slot it will be _0000.dat.

To make a backup of the save just copy and paste into the same directory. The backup will be called copy of _0000.dat. If you do this again after playing somes more it will now be called copy(2) of _0000.dat. You always want to make the copy from the actual save.

If oyu need to replace your current save with an older one for some reason , first back up the current save. Next copy the copy into another directory such as the root directory of zanzarah- C:\Zanzaah. Next rename it so it called _0000.dat. Now you need to copy the renamed filed into the save directory. It will ask you if you want to replace the existing file. Say

Hello everybody!Just to let you know that the official Zanzarah forum is back again on line, in german and english:
http://www.zanzarah.de/phpBB/index.php
I hope you enjoy the game as much as I and my daughter did! <img border="0" alt="[kiss]" title="" src="graemlins/kiss.gif" />

I am really an adventure game player, but I have to say I have really enjoyed the graphics - seems a lot like Darkened Skye- but the fighting is very quick once you progress in the game. Training was easy and I'm glad I spent the time there to make my little stone fella happy (love the sounds he makes when he wins)but I'm now at a point where I can't hardly see the fairy I'm fighting much less win. I'm trying to enter the new city, and I'm fighting a stone guy, but it does say he's level 5, and I can't get past him. I guess I could go back and train some more - is there a limit to the levels that are increased by just training?
I picked up a very good fairy around the area where I first entered, but I also made the mistake of picking up a water fairy, and an even more hopeless fairy from the fairy garden that just screams when it goes into combat. Is there a way to let them go?

HI Nickie,

You can train as much as you want. After level 8 or so it just takes too long to go up with the free trainer. If you want to change your party you have to go back to london in order to do it. You can change the order of the 5 fairies at any time.

I'm going to reload this weekend and give it another try! One question I have is, when you are training, do you just stay there in that mode?

In the beginning there is someone to train with. Once you are at that spot, how long do you stay there and how do you get out? Also, when you are in a real fight with fairy, kill it and have another one pop up, do you keep fighting or get out?

Jean

Thanks Zanthia! But if I go back to London then I would also lose the stone fairy (my main fairy), right? Maybe I will just start over, and desist picking up every fairy I see! They seemed a lot tougher when I was fighting them, to being so wimpy when they are on my side.
Jean, when you are training, you are there until someone wins, and then you are taken right back to where you were when you said you wanted to train. If you want to continue training, you have to ask the trainer again. When you first start training, the fairy you are against runs around giggling and doesn't attack until you activate.I don't think you can leave until either you or the opponent/s have won/lost.

Nickie: You do not lose any fairies by going back to London. There is no need to restart unless you want to start with a different fairy. You should always capture any fairy you do not currently have as long as you have the globes.

Nickie and Jean: When you train, the fairy(s) that you train against do not attack you. I have never tried to leave a training session. The first trainer is free and the second one cost 60 but you get a ton more experience.

There are 2 main types of real battles.

The first one is the random fairy battle. These are against a single fairy. IN these battles you can flee by flying into the bright white light. This is usually in the center but later on in the game you mayy have to fly around before you find it but it will be there.

The second type I will call boss battles for lack of a better word. These are NOT random as it starts by talking to someone. You will encounter these battles in various ways. For example a person blocking a path. Make it a practice to always save before talking to anyone. Some of these battles once you talk to the person you will automatically enter and some you can decline the battle. These battles are against 2 or more fairies. You cannot flee from these battles.

Zanthia, is there a way to give mana to the fairy when you are in the middle of a battle? I know pressing the enter key doesn't do anything.

Nickie,

There is no way to give a fairy any mana or health during a battle. Don't forget that only the fairies actually in the battle get the experience even if they are in just for a second.. When you level up you will regain all your hi tpoints and a few mana. Soon you will fina place that you can refill your mana compaletely for free and there will be a rune that takes you directly to it. Too bad there is no place that refills your health.

Good advice, thanks. I tend to rely too much on my main fairy. One more question - I really don't understand the levels. For instance, my main fairy shows to be at a higher level than the one I am facing at the next town, but when they go into battle, and they're face to face,both hitting direct hits,the other fairy just wallops us. Is this because that lower level fairy has better spells?

Hi Nickie,

YOu need to check out the table of how effective one type of fairy is against another. There are 12 types of fairies. Nature may be good against one type but bad agaist another. That is what you are seeing. YOu can access this table by pressing F1 and using the arrow keys to change the screen.

THe two that I mentioned are both stone fairies, and even though my level is higher, the other stone fairy seemed much stronger. But it's a moot point now, I got past that as I played into the wee hours of the night. I picked up a few more fairies and a real nice item from the enchanted forest, and am now just wandering around trying to see what else I can get into, nothing so far. I've probably missed something, so I'll retrace my steps. I don't have enough money to get the rune, so guess I'll find some more battles. Have you gone a lot farther, Zanthia?

Nickie: I am quite a bit further than you. I jusst finished the arena boss battle which is the first one I had to cheat to get by. I didn't have any good fairies that were good against the fairies in that battle. waater was good but the ones i had even when leveled up were so weak they had no chance to survive and the other good fairies I had not caught any yet.

Jean: Good luck. It is a fun game!

I went through my first training session, and that turned out fine. I'll do it again to get more experience.

When are you supposed to fire? It looked to me like sometimes I was able to fire when the crosshairs were red, and sometimes when it was gray. I really couldn't tell.

Jean

Jean, I think when it turns red you have powered up the spell (held the button down longer)and it does more damage than when you just fire right away (gray).

Hi jean,

This is what Stitchaman said when I had problems with firing:

"It seems that you need to hold down the fire button for a few seconds until you here a thump before it can fire. the length of time before you can fire depends upon which fairy and what spell is being used. the stone fairy takes 2-3 seconds."

ALso if you hold it down too long it will backfire on you and cause your fiary damage.

More questions! I've been training my fairy, and have myself up to 11. Several times in the training I've run out of mana. Does that mean that I'm out of it for real, even though it was just training? And how can I find out what my mana level is when I'm not in a fight?

On the first screen you get to when you hit return, under the first line which gives your life points, etc, there is another icon which looks like a little green volcano, but it doesn't say what it is. What is it? Mine now says 0/15.

I accidently gave my fairy the mana I got from the village earlier, so don't have more. Where can I get more?

Sorry for all the questions. This is all new to me.

Jean

Jean:

That 0/15 is indeed the mana indicator. It means you have zero mana left out of a maximum of 15. The amount of mana varies depending upon the spell being used; it is usually 15 or 30.

There are 4 ways that you get mana. (1) When your level increases, you get some back. (2) You can buy mana at some of the shops (3) you get mana in an item bag after defeating other fairies. (4) The scarecrow outside the cottage gives you free mana once you beat the fairy bothering him.

The shop in the fairy garden town does sell mana, but the seller won't sell you anything until you capture the pixie in the store.

You need to leave town and find the cottage, there will be a scarecrow in the garden. The man inside will give you a bag to capture pixies in. Once you get the bag you can go back to town and capture the pixie and then be able to buy mana.

If you are completely out of mana, you'll need to run from the battles along the way.

Stitchman

Thanks for your help, Stichman! I made it to the cottage, got the pixie bag, caught one and bought mana. Along the way I picked up another fairy and I'm training her back in the village.

I bought some spells while I was at the cottage, but when I went to fight I didn't see them in the lower left like I thought I would. As a matter of fact, I don't see them listed anywhere, although the magic dealer took my money, etc. How can I see them, etc.

Also, do we have to do anything different to get a fairy book?

Thanks, everyone, for your patience and help! I'm starting to really enjoy the game.

Jean

Jean,

YOu have to manually give the spell to the fairies. If your fairy has only one circle for offensive spell than you cannot use a 2 circle offensive spell yet.

Hit F5. Click on the 3rd tab which looks like a lighnting bolt. These are your offensive spells. The 4th tab which looks like a cross is the passive spells. When you are on these 2 tabs you can see what level spell your faires are eligible for. Click on the spell and then click on the appropraite spot for the fairy.

When you arrive at Tiralin which is where you should be going now, you will get the fairy book.

Thanks, Zanthia! I'll go back and try this.

Jean

I have 4 fairies and a worgot. Should I hang on to all of them and train them one by one, or do I put them somewhere? I thought we were supposed to take them to London, but when I get there I don't know how to set the fairies down.

I'm on my way now to the Forest Hut. I think there is a little more of the Fairy Forest I can go through, though, on the other side of the cottage. I guess I'll have to go back there after I do the Forest thingee.

Jean

Hi Jean, I am really enjoying this as well. It has taken quite a while for me to feel like I halfway knew what I was doing, but I am absolutely enchanted by the characters and the graphics.
I have a question, and perhaps you or Zanthia has come across this: Since I haven't been able to complete the swamp, I have been exploring the enchanted woods, and I came across a pool of water that has beautiful lights above it, and some music. I waded in it, and it made sounds, but I didn't note any change. I wasn't able to use the conch either. Does anyone know what the pool is for?

Jean: Once you get more than 5 fairies, you need to go to London to change them in your party. Once in London, click the F5 key and in the inventory tab (the one where you have your mana and healing potions), click the tab above the inventory. This will show all your fairies. You can then click one one and place it in your active fairy slots.

Nickie: I know the pond and have not figured out what it does either. I know it does not restore mana ot health. the other possibility is it might cure condition changes, but I have never been there when any was affected.

Stitchman

Thanks Stitchman; it's a beautiful place anyway!

Thanks, Stichman! Nicki, I haven't gotten to the pond yet. I played a bit this morning in the forest and decided I need a little bit more experience before going in. So, I'll wander around and then try again.

Jean

The pond is in the area on the way to a hut, not the pixie hunters hut, but another hut, where the opposite path takes you to Tiralin. There are some great treasures in the area, but some really tough battles. I have been trying to beat these and trying to beat the second fairy master in the swamp, and so far it's them: +8 and me : 0. But my puny little crew is doing better all the time. I get impatient, and should take my lesser fairies back for training. Funny how they forget everything they knew once you capture them.

Sorry if I'm monopolizing the board. I have another question! How in the world do I get to the dwarf tower? I got the key , but I guess that is for later, can't use it - there is just an abyss with whirlpools in the air. I tried jumping on them, but my girl just does a swandive.

nickie, you're not monopolizing the board,

Jean

Nickie:

The Dwarf tower is in the mountains where you seem to be. You will need to follow the mountain paths until you eventually find it. Some of the paths can be confusing without a map, but keep looking and you should find it, it is a tall structure sitting on the cliff. When you get there, be prepared for many battles, there are 3 or 4 dwarves you need to fight to get to the top. I'm pretty sure that the Dwarf Tower Rune is after either the first or second battle, so you'll then be able to warp back for supplies between fights if needed.

The air eddies are like trampolines. You will the Fairy Air card and have an air fairy as your active fairy, but you will not get this card until much later in the game. You might want to keep a note of the items you see that you can't reach yet - golden spheres and pixies in particular.

Jean:
Zanthia can answer your question, you're at the point before I stole the game from her, so I didn't actually play that part.

NIckie: Jean is right in that you are not monopolzing the board. Post as much as you want to.

jean: The rune for Tiralin is found in Dunmore the swamp city. The rune for Dunmore is found in Tiralin. You need to trade 5 crystals to get it.

Thanks everybody, for helping me and making me feel welcome. I am really loving this game, too much really as things I need to do in the real world aren't being done! ("But why do you want dinner when I want to play Zanzarah!")
Looks like I took a wrong turn, Stitchman! I thought I was on the path -doh! It would have been funny for someone to have been watching me try to negotiate the air whirlpools so carefully, thinking I was just not jumping right - AHHHHH. I'll go look again - all I found besides that was the swamp.
Jean, if you don't want to go back to training, since it gets a little monotonous, when I couldn't get past that guy,I was happy to find out that my weak guys could be in the fight for a few seconds, before I replaced them with one of my toughies. When my toughie would win the fight, everyone I used, even if just for a second, would get the experience. I think Zanthia mentioned this a while back, but didn't figure out what she meant til then.

Thanks, everyone. I know where the Swamp City rune is -- I just need a few more crystals.

I'm glad you talked me into trying this again, Zanthia! I love the game!

Jean

the ''super'' fairy combination is Ice, Light, Air, Energy & Psi.
You'll understand why, when you press F1 and choose the fairy effectivenes list, but even if you have all these fairies you might still be beaten if they're low-leveled.

Thanks for the hint, dre! So far I haven't come across any of those, but I'll make sure to get them when I do.

Jean

Thanks, I haven't either. I can't even find the dwarf tower...Can anyone give me a hint on landmarks to look for?

Nickie: If you're still stuck tonight, I'll walk from the cottage to the dwarf tower and write down exactly how it's done

Actually any comibnation of 5 is good as long as you have at least one fairy that is rated as effective against each of the fairy types.

Stitchman: you mean you don't have the path memorized yet to the dwarf tower

Thanks Stitchman, but no, now this has become a personal vedetta - I know I must be overlooking something obvious and I am bad at directions in real life...Besides this gives me the opportunity to go round and round and kill a jillion bad fairies. Um, should I have a rune for the cottage?

Hi nickie:

Yep, there is a rune for the cottage. I have it, but don't remember where I got it.

BTW, I could swear I captured a 6th fairy, but when I go to the fairy book I don't see it anywhere. Does that mean I really don't have it, or is it hidden until I go back to London?

Jean

The fairy book will only list each fairy only once, so if you capture 2 worgots, there will be only one listing for it in the book.

Also, if you have a fairy evolve (this happens at certain levels, the fairy book tells which level they evolve at), the new fairy will be listed and the old one will no longer be there. So, to actually have a completed fairy book, if you evolve a fairy, you would then need to go back and capture the old one again. The same is true if you trade a fairy.

I currently have about 45 fairies and will probably not be getting many more. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="tongue.gif" />

I was looking in the wrong area completely! I just figured the sign was there, so it had to be in that area.And I did get the rune, very helpful.
Re what you just mentioned - for some reason I have two Lanas, and I'm not using either one.

I'm glad to hear you found the Tower, nickie. I managed to buy the Swamp City rune.

I tried to fight the fairies on the way to the hut in the forest where you were stuck earlier, and am still not strong/fast enough for them. I did get 2 fairies' levels up one more, again, but I need to learn to move faster.

Thanks, everyone, for your advice!

Jean

Thanks Jean! Glad you got the rune - have you visited the swamp yet? And thanks to every body from me as well - couldn't play the game without your help!

Hi nickie:

No, I haven't gone to the swamp yet. I'm thinking that maybe I should strengthen my fairies some more, since I can't beat the guy on the way to the hut, or Seamus in Tirilin. If I'm not able to in the next day or so I'll head off to the swamp to see what's there.

Have you been there yet?

Jean

Yes, it took me a bit of tro and froing to get more mana and potions. There are a couple fights there where you are against multiple opponents, like the battle with Seamus. You probably know this already : Strength is important in those, but so is realizing which fairy is best for which opponent. Even if you don't feel like looking at the chart, you can tell if your fairy can deal with the other - the game will tell you "ineffective" or "highly effective" or something like that, when you fire at the enemy. The good thing is, if you lose and do it again, the creatures you are up against change, sometimes giving you a better chance.
I am still trying to get past the third shadow guy before I can get in the tower. No matter how they change, they are all tough!

Forgot to ask you Jean -did you figure out how to change your fairies in battle? You just use the page up and page down, in case you didn't.

I did figure out how to move my fairies up and down in battle, but it doesn't matter a heck of a lot since I just realized I have 3 nature fairies!!! I also have a stone guy and a water fairy. My stone guy is at 16, one fairy at 15 and the other at 9. Since I'm not very effective, though, I get squelched a lot!

Jean

So far (after the swamp and to the tower) I don't think there are other kinds of fairies to capture, with the exception of a couple psi ones. When you build up your guys a little, they will change dramatically. I think your stone guy changes at 20, not positive on that. I've been busy building them up, and I think the swamp is easier than the woods.

Thanks for the tip, nickie. Maybe I'll head on over to the swamp tonight, if it's easier than the woods. It wouldn't hurt to try!

Jean

Does anyone know what it means when, for a fairy's passive spells it gives 2 squares, one solid green and the other rainbow colored? What is the rainbow colored one for?

I beat Seamus, finally, in tirilin and have gone to the swamp. I like training with the elf there since it's harder, but you get more points.

How is everyone else doing?

Jean

There are 3 ways for spells to be listed. I'll use nature as an example.

(1) If it has 2 green squares, then you can use a single or double nature passive spell.

(2) If it has one green square, and another color (let's say blue for water), you can then use a single nature passive, or one of the sellers will sell a nature/water combination spell.

(3) The 3rd option is what you described as a rainbow (again I'll use nature/water). This would mean you can use a double nature passive or a nature/water combination. In other words, the rainbow gives you the option of 1 and 2 described above. It is the most versatile. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="tongue.gif" />

Thanks, Stichman! So many details to remember. I just realized that a person can switch between spells by using the middle mouse button. I have a wheel, and when I roll it my fairies show at the top. I don't really have a middle mouse button as mine is one of those optical mice. It says in the book I can configure the hot keys in the options menu, so I may have to do that.

Thanks again!

Jean

It's me again! How do I switch fairies once I have 6 of them? I went to London thinking I have to put them in the chest, but nothing happened. I have a corbot I'd like to use.

Thanks,
Jean

When you are in London, go into the inventory screen. The tab above the inventory items is your fairies. Just drag the one you want on top of the one you want to replace.

You can always look at this screen any time. I always use it to check the hit points and levels of any new fairy I catch. I then look at the fairy book for the new fairy and see if it can evolve.

Evolving fairies makes them much stronger. I just evolved a light fairy and her hit points went from 75 to 150, and the new light fairy can evolve also!

Thanks, it worked! Where do you find the light fairies? So far I haven't come across any.

I'm done for the night. When I get two tired my fairies fly right off the platforms!

Jean

Jean: I belive the light fairy is in the Ruins In the Forest. You get there by going through one of the gates in Tiralin, but you will need the Key from the dwarf which you don't get for a while.

You will get a light fairy after the arena, but you must trade it to continue, so when it happens, there is no point in trying to make it any better.

Aha! I wondered how to get to the Ruins! I've been trying by going through the Forest where the sign says "The Hut". Did you know there are fairies in there that are levels 31 and above? I dove into the light for those. The second time around I avoided them and got two gold spheres.

Have you been through the Catacombs yet?

Jean

Hi Jean, did you try the swamp? I finally got through all the battles in a row ( I had so much trouble with the last shadow elf but the dwarf battles were no problem at the tower, and I'm just wandering around admiring the view. I think the problem with the one battle is he often used dark magic, and I had nothing to combat it.

Hi nickie:

I've been to the village in the swamp, but not actually through the swamp yet. I fought two elves but haven't found the third. The leader says I'm not worth fighting until I beat them all.

Theres a prickly bush blocking my way into the swamp, so I guess I need a fairy to dissolve it. I can't go in the water, can I?

I have a lot more to do, I see!

Jean

Jean, from the town there are two ramps into the swamp. The one is blocked by the bush, but the other one isn't. I guess you knew that though, if you were fighting shadow elves.The other bad one is right around there- you might have to cross water.Not a problem, if you are not in there too long. If it looks like something you could ordinarily jump across, you can probably make it. If you don't guess right and start sinking, and your jump key doesn't help, you can just use your runes to go somewhere else and not drown.

Congratulations for finishing the game, Stitchman. How long did it take you?

I'm still wandering around in the swamp, nickie. I killed the third shadow elf, but haven't fought the big guy yet. I'm looking for the nature card, which I read is somewhere there.

There are so many fairies to fight that I finally went back to the Fairy Garden and spent long enough training that I was able to buy 5 manas, 5 big potions, 5 medium and 5 small. I figure now I can go back to the swamp and not have to keep coming out to get more mana and health points.

How are you doing?

Jean

Hi Jean, Yes - I had to go back and forth a lot in the Swamp until I got my guys levels up. Right now I'm at the tournament at the big tree (been through the tower,mountains, and part of the realm of clouds). I don't know if you already know this, but if you look at the map, it will show an exclamation mark where you need to go to make the story continue.

It took about 45 hours to finish, a lot of that time was spent building up fairies for specific battles.

Jean: You need to find an island in the swamp that has a Stonehenge like structure on it. After the battle you will find the Fairy card of nature letting you get past those special bushes as long as your lead fairy is a nature one.

The island can be hard to find because you cannot see it from very far away.

Thanks for the tip about the map, nickie. I didn't notice the exclamation mark, so will have to look tonight when I get home. The Realm of the Clouds sounds interesting.

stitchman, thanks for pointing out that the stones aren't that easy to see. I wasn't sure if I was wandering in the wrong direction or not.

Jean

Oops, another question. Should I collect all the fairies I see? I already have 2 corbot's and don't need more, but it keeps asking me if I want to capture them. On the other hand, if I capture them does that mean they won't show up at that particular tree again? In the swamp, every time I go back, no matter how many times I've defeated them, they show up at the same spot.

Jean

I guess Stitchman would have a more definative answer, but I would think you would not - for one thing there is a limited amount of globes,unless you have a ton of money, and at most you would only want to collect one of a type. What I am not sure of is whether you have to collect fairies you don't think you will ever use.Hope not. But no, if you catch the fairy, another one can appear in its spot. I've found that when your guys get tough, and you've been through the same area several times, few fairies will show themselves. Now I have a question. Do you have to have what is in the little box in the mountain area that the dwarf "gives" you after you show him that you have the ancient dwarf tools? It's a real pain to keep making attempts, and if I don't have to have it, I would really like to forget about it.

When you start a battle,, it will say above the fairies head if you do not have the fairy yet. You can try to get all the fairies, but it would be extremely difficult since you can only get some by trading with other fairy collectors you meet. Also, some of your fairies evolve, meaning you no longer have the original and would need to capture another one. I finished with 50 fairies.

Yes, that box by the dwarf was an incredible pain, it took me about a dozen tries to get it (but once you get it you can then warp away without having to make the jumps back). The item you get is needed to activate the elevator in the dwarf town which leads to the fire caves. You MUST capture a fairy there called Pix so you can trade it for a key in the Shadow Realm

Good hunting <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="tongue.gif" />

oh...heck! I can see it taking me a lot longer than that. At least on the bouncy air spirals you get a lot of leeway. I know what I will be doing for the next several days!
Two more questions: Is there a benefit from collecting more fairies?
And did you ever find out what that enchanted pond does for you?
Jean, I think the swamp took quite a while to finish, but at least you knew where the fairy was going to appear, and what sort of fairy it is probably going to be.I think you need to bear left, otherwise you are just making a gigantic circle.When the scene changes and you see the owl and another bad guy, you will know you are in the right place, and it shouldn't take you long to get there.Hope you're still having fun, and wish more people would take a chance and play this one. I play for several hours without realizing the time is flying by! And I just love it, except for the part I am now at.

Nickie: You want a variety of fairies since they are good/bad against different types of fairies (F1 has a chart showing which are good/bad against each other). I eventually had at least one fairy of each type.

I never did figure out what the pond did, but it sure is pretty

Thanks Stitchman! I'm pretty much just collecting one of a kind, unless they are particularly hard to defeat, and just wanted to make sure I didn't need to go back for any.
I sure do wonder what that pond does! I know at first it just made noise when I walked in, and now when I go in it covers me with color, but other than that ???

Well, I haven't made it out of the swamp yet! I thought I had defeated the General shadow elf, but he just went back for more fairies, and they are tougher than me, so I'm back to training!

My corbot is only one level away from evolving, and I really want to see how one evolves.

That pond sounds interesting! Good luck.

Jean

Did it evolve? I didn't use one of those. My stone fairy has changed twice, and he is ever so cute in close up at the battles, beating his chest. Guess I'm easily amused because I laugh every time!

If you want to level up quickly, use a golden carrot. Whatever fairy you give it to will then only need 1 point to go up a level. They're expensive, but you should have gotten a few in chests. I rarely used them and had 10 left over when I finished the game

Where does it show what evolves and what doesn't, or what level they have to be? I see the chart where there are a few creatures that can be evolved with the stones. Is there a more comprehensive chart in the manual (which I don't have)? And Stitchman or Zanthia, how about writing a review? This game got so little press, and people don't know what they're missing. I would think some adventure lovers might want to try this one, don't you?

It would be nice if there was a comprehensive chart for all the fairies so we'd know ahead of time what type of fairy to get. I have one, for example, that doesn't evolve.

If you click on F3 it will show the fairies you have and tell you at which level they evolve.

Jean

Jean: A chart would have been nice, especially when deciding which fairies to developed, but alas, there is none.

Nickie: I'm not very good at writing reviews; I'll just stick to my puzzle creating duties for the puzzle forum.

Thanks Jean! I have plenty of time to fool around with it, because I am stuck at a huge fight beyond the locked gate in the forest.

Jean,

In a game like this you want to try and get as many fairies as possible. Once you have the fairy the fairy books tells you if they evolve and at what level. If you are looking for a list of all the fiaries and if they evolve you could make one yourself via the cheat codes that allow you to get a fairy. ( if you do just restore right away without changing areas so you don't keep them unless you wanted to)But that type of info I would never expect to be included in the game. Now the fairy effectiveness table in the F1 is essential info.

Maybe once the game comes out in the US in december, someone will make a comprehensive walkthorugh for the game.

Nickie: me write a review--you have got to be kidding. Why don't you write one now. You certainly have played enough to get a good feel for the game. And then you can always amend if needed when you are finished.

Zanthia: What levels were your fairies when you fought the whole crew for the fire card? Not sure I will get past this in my lifetime.

I got my little stone guy evolved! Now maybe I'll take another chance with that leader of the Shadow Elves in the swamp.

Does anyone know what advantage there is to using the Moulding Spell to name a fairy? I bought it, and used it (named my stone guy Gandalf), but don't see that it does any different.

Jean

Jean, we never used the moulding spell. I was under the impression that it serves no purpose other than to personalize the fairies by giving it a name of your choosing.

Oh, well, I guess it was a waste of fairy coins! I'll let you know if, at any point, the name helps.

Jean

I don't remember what level I was to get the fire card, but there were a couple of spots in the game where I spent many hours building up fairies for a single battle. It's a pain and can get boring, but you could always cheat to get past a battle - I did it once to get past the arena battle which had up to 5 fairies attacking you at the same time.

Hi Stitchman. At some point I may ask you for the cheat codes, but I'm not quite there yet! But, I'm still stuck in the swamp with that general shadow elf. This last time I tried to fight him he had ice fairies, of all things. I don't have anything yet that is effective against them.

I think I'll go back to Tiralin and wander around in the catacombs for a while.

Jean

Jean, unless they are all ice fairies, your stone guy will be ok against it. Once he evolved the second time, he was pretty tough. When I had trouble with a battle like that, I did it a few times in a row, so the fairies would change and give me a better chance. The problem for me now is this is the first battle where the fairies don't reshuffle, and they all attack at once. I haven't cheated yet, but it is tempting. It is getting more and more difficult to find fairies to fight to build up, just wandering around. But I haven't been in the catacombs - is that different from the ruined city? How do I get there?

Thanks, nickie! I never thought of doing in a few times in a row so the fairies would change. I'll try that tomorrow.

To get to the catacombs you have to get the key first from a fairy that is inside the section to the left of the front doors when you come into tirilin. That's where Seamus is, if you haven't fought him, yet. Once you fight him there is another fairy master inside to fight. After you beat him he'll give you the key to the catacombs. The door is in the section to the right of the front door you come in, and is locked until you approach it with the key.

I've only been in the first part of the catacombs as there is a dark fairy there blocking my way further. Plus, I think you need another key.

BTW, did you know you can make money from the two elves at the bar in the city of Endeva? Keep clicking on them and they'll give you coins to make you go away. You don't have to leave once they give you something -- just keep clicking to get more coins. I've gotten up to 300 from them at a time, although usually it's too boring to click that long. That's how I'm getting my extra fairy coins to train with the fairy in the Swamp City. That way you don't have to wander around looking for fairies to fight to build yours up.

I haven't gone to the Ruined City yet. Maybe I'll try that first before going back to the swamp, to have something different to do.


Jean

I've completed the game almost a month ago, but I still don't know what's behind the locked door in Tiralin where a goblin uses to hang out.
Any tips???

Dre: There is a door in Trilian that is blocked and you need to fight a creature, but he does not disappear once beaten. You need to get the key from the dwarf (opens many gets) and then all you need to do is walk around the guy blocking the door, it will lead to the Ruins where you can get more pixies, a light fairy and the fairy card for Psi (and some very tough battles with nature fairies). As you found out, you can complete the game without ever going into this area.

Hi Stichman. Where is the dwarf? I went back down to the catacombs today and beat the Sentry fairy, but there was no dwarf down there, so I guess he's somewhere else.

I captured a Chaos fairy today, and I'm trying to train him. It's kind of hard because he is ineffective against nature. He does get his points though, if I train hiim along with another of my fairies.

Jean

Huh, I don't remember fighting anybody in that section after Seamus. Were they just wandering around, or were they in a building? I may have, too many battles to remember, but I don't think I got a key, except for the mana guy's basement (Or is that the catacombs?) No, you said it was on the other side, right? I went through the door to the ruins. Guess I have completely missed that part of the game. Well good. I switched out two fairies, and need to build them up. And I didn't know that about the gold! Nice bug. There's also a gold cheat. If you want to know it, just email me.

Nickie- the money in the tavern is not a bug.

Jean: I would never have had the patience to stay at the tavern and click on those guys on the table to get 300 coins. At least for me, half the time i never even got a coin. I don't think I ever stay around to get more than 20 coins or so. besides I rather fight and get coins and experience.

Jean, the dwarf I'm talking about is Quinlan who you eventually rescue in the factory. He will then give you a key (I think you need to talk to him in his house after the rescue). The key opens a gate in Tirilan, a gate behind the hut in the forest, and a gate beyond the Great tree.

Quinlan and a factory? AAGGHGHH!!! Maybe I'll try going out the back door to trilin and see what happens.

I've been back to the swamp twice today and still can't defeat that elf. My latest plan is to get a bunch of garlic atomizers and scare all the fairies away on my way there, so that I have all my mana and health points.

Zanthia, what I do is train with the little elf in Endeva just to get some money. I've found that if I do each of my 5 fairies 3 times I can come up with a nice sum. Then, once I'm tired doing that I go play cards. Right now I need 250 coins because my corbot, who evolves at level 29, is at level 28. I want to get the golden carrot so I can evolve him easier.

Jean

Jean, Quinlin is quite a bit further on in the game. Re the catacombs, I do see a locked door I had forgotten about in Tiralin. But I can't find anyone to fight for a key! Where in the world was the character you fight for it? And sounds like a good plan with the atomizers.

Jean:
There is one tough batle in the swamp, but it can be avoided initially. The man does not block the path you need to use to get the Nature fairy card. We simply avoided going by the man until later in the game when my faires were stronger.

Nickie: The house in Tiralin with the pixie in the cellar should have the catacombs key.

Thanks, Zanthia. I fought what was in the initial area, but didn't use the air spirals. I've been down there twice, but the second time there were no fairies to fight. I guess the key is across the air spirals? I misunderstood Jean, and thought there was someone to fight above ground to get the key.

Nickie: You do not need to cross any air spirals to get the catacomb key.

As you enter Tiralin (not teleport), you will be facing the mayor's house. Go through the archway on the left side. the house you are looking for is in that area.

Stitchman, thanks, but I located the house, it's just that I have no key. I have several other keys, including Quinlin's, but I missed picking up the key earlier.

Hi nickie: Is there another fairy master in that area? If so, you have to fight him, also. I don't remember if he's the one who has the key, though. I've been playing this so long today my mind is all fuzzy.

I finally made it through the swamp, but it was tough. I found the place with the nature card, and wouldn't you know it that @)#($*(# elf was there, too!! I was able to beat him this time. I hope he was the last in that area.

Jean

Hi all.
I wasn't talking about a huge metal door, where a dwarf is standing - I was talking about another door in Tiralin. When you first come to this city & turn right, a goblin comes and asks you to help his people in Duralin. When you defeat the shadow elves and come back to Tiralin - the goblin keeps walking near a low building, which has a lock on it.
What's behind THAT door?
__________________________________________________
PS: is there anyone else except me, who has completed the game?
And if so - have you caught all the pixies?
I caught only 20 of them, but when you capture 10 or 15 the hunter gives you a key to his bacement

Hi dre: I'll have to check on that. The catacombs are in that direction. To get to that door, as you walk in the main entrance, turn right, and then turn left and go down a slight sloping street. If you walk down the stairs in the catacombs you come to another locked door that I don't know how to get in yet. I'll look around and see if there are any more that I'm missing.

Jean

Dre, I think you're talking about the catacombs.And I've found 20 pixies also, and have ignored 2, but I have no idea where the other ones were! I found the key - thanks all - that I had missed earlier. Useful item down there. Got the fire card with my new and improved crew, and now am starting the Shadow Realm. Getting the fire card is one tough battle, because there are six fairies against you at one time, instead of appearing one at a time like the other fights. Congratulations Jean! Now you can get rid of the bushes, and open up other passageways.

Hi nickie: Did you notice that there is a crystal sphere in the pixie hunter's basement? I think we need the air card to get it, though, because there is a big gap to cross.

BTW, do you know what we do with the stones of evolution? I have 2. I suppose it's the same thing as the golden carrot, except that it can only be used when a fairy is right near evolution. I tried dragging it on to some of my fairies but nothing happened.

Jean

Hi Jean, you can only use the evolution stones on certain fairies. There is a chart that shows you the ones that can use them (F1 and click arrow right)- a fire stone will do wonders for your tinefoil. Just a tip- if you get the dwarf tools that are missing, don't use them on a fairy, because you need them to get into a house.
No, I didn't see the sphere, but at the time I didn't have an air fairy or the air card.

Hi nickie: I'll check it out when I get home. I have both the nature and fire stones. I've seen those pictures of the fairies, and they don't look at all like any of the ones I have.

Thanks for your help!

Jean

Dre: I caught 29 of the pixies, one of those little buggers must be hiding from me real well.

Jean: There are 2 crystal spheres in the pixie hunter's basement and you will indeed need the air card to get them (you can always buy crystal spheres for lots of money)

The Tinefoil fairy can be changed into different types of fairies using the evolution stones. I actually transformed 2 of them into fire fairies so I could have them to use before I got to the lava caves. If you look in the fairy book (assuming you caught a Tinefoil) it will say that he can be changed into other faires. I think he can transform into 3 types and of course you would need to do all 3 transformations if you hope to get all the fairies in the game.

The dwarf tools are also required to get the Fire key to use the elevator in the dwarf town to access the lava caves. They don't get used by the dwarfs who request them, so they'll stay in your inventory.

Ahem, they stay in your inventory unless you are silly and use them on the metal fairy to evolve her. But I can't imagine who would do that, cough, cough.

I found the tinefoil fairy near the hut, but it beat me. The second time I came back ready to fight and capture it, there were other fairies there, so I guess I'll just have to keep trying! Anyway, I've gone back to the swamp to play around, and so far have found 2 golden carrots, some money, and a crystal sphere!

Jean

The tinefoil is a tough little guy! But if you can grab it and use the fire stone on it, it is great to have. The catacombs have some great items as well, including two crystal globes, but the creatures there are very tough. Great that you're taking the time to wander the swamps - seems a lot of the game consists of trying to get your guys strong, and then you switch them out and have to do it all over again. I only have two fairies that I had in the early stages, including the first one. Is yours beating his chest yet? Right now I'm leaping and bounding, trying to get bone keys.

I asked over at the zanzarah forum, and was told that the pond in the woods heals a minimal amount of hitpoints of damaged fairies.

Thanks for the info re the pond, nickie. I'll take any help I can get!

I finally got my tinefoil last night and used the fire stone on him. Now I've just got to build him up. Where in the world can I find spells for fire fairies? I haven't come across any yet.

I think I accidently found the tournament tree in the swamp. Is it the one where you keep getting attacked by fairy after fairy, without a chance to use the runes to leave in between them? What an experience that was. I think I lasted through 3 fairies, but the 4th got me.

Where are you now in the game?

Jean

You'll be able to get fire spells once you go to Monaghem. Good for you getting the Tinefoil. Built up he can be quite effective against a bunch of stuff you will encounter.
I don't know if you stumbled onto the tree area - are you still in the swamp? I didn't go there until the tournament, and then that didn't happen, but it may be what happens when you go there before the story line I think I am towards the end - I'm in the Shadow Realm, but haven't yet been able to get past the third bad guy. His fairies have spells that make you move opposite of what you are trying to do (when you press the forward arrow, you move backward). I had almost won, and the fish thing knocked me off the post, such a dirty little trick.

That Shadow Realm sounds tough! What can you do about spells that make you go the opposite way? Is there anything to counteract it?

I'm in the mountains now, and am stuck at a place with another Shadow Elf. I killed several of them, but this one has a lot of stone thingys.

I think I'll go back to the swamp. There is one place that you can get to from there to go into the forest, and I want to find it again. I hope I don't run into that Tournament Tree!

Jean

There's one spell that does counteract it, but I didn't pick it up(I've forgotten now which it is, but probably light, chaos or air, since I don't use those fairies). Once you know it is happening (and I never experienced it up until now) you can just use the opposite keys. Remember you can check your map, because it will show if you are going in the direction of the big tree, which branches from the regular swamp route. I am still stuck in a fight with the shadow elf general...I can sure see someday when I replay this, which fairies I would use, just hate to do it now because it takes so long to build them up.

I know what you mean about building them up! I caught a few that I want to use, but it's going to take forever to get them anywhere near the level of my others. The ones I'm using now are in the 30's, except for one fire fairy. That one is still kind of low.

Jean

What party are you using Jean?

I'll let you know the exact names later when I get home, nickie. I know I have a gremor that's evolved, or whatever the highest is the stone guy can get, one of the little mushroom guys that's evolved(not Arbory, the higher one). a water fairy that's evolved, a tin(whatever) that I used a fire stone on, and another nature fairy that looks like a lizard that has also evolved. Then there are some in London, including a chaos fairy that's at 17.

I don't have too much of a variety yet. I was so excited when I started getting them I didn't really pay that much attention. The funniest looking one, I think, is the blue "Bloop" fairy.

I'll let you know the exact names later.

Jean

Hi nickie: My 5 active fairies are: Symgot, Nature, level 35; Gremrock, Stone, level 38, Abnobery, Nature, level 31, Tinezard, Fire, level 15 and Oceana, Water, level 35.

Others I have are Rasrow, Chaos, level 19; Blumella, Nature, 28; some Corgots, one of which is 17; Goop, Water, 11; some Stobots and Vesbots, Stone, under 5; Vitrella(sp?) nature.

I think the hardest part for me is deciding who to train!

Jean

Hi Jean, I know exactly what you mean. I have tried three different parties, building up two different fairies and keeping the other three, each time, and I still can't get past the general. Sounds like you have a good party. I wish I had built up a water fairy.Right now I have the stone guy, two nature fairies (V and B), tinezard(fire) and an energy fairy. Have you gone back to London and looked around the house? Really a riot with all the fairies roaming around!

Does anyone know where I can get energy spells?

Nickie,

In the fairy garden there is a dwarf in a cave that you had to use the nature card to get rid of the bush leading to it. He has the energy spells.

Hi nickie: The dwarf Zanthia is talking about also sells a Darbue fairy for 400 gold coins. Apparently he is a male energy fairy, and the description says he is a "contrary". Usually that means the opposite of what you want to do, so maybe one of those is what's making your spells backwards. Under his first spell it says, "No discharge", which probably means once he hits someone they can't fire (I guess). I bought him last night but haven't tried him out yet. I'll let you know what happens.

Jean

Hmmm. I guess I was wrong in what the Darbue does. The other fairies kept shooting at me even after I hit them.

Jean

Thanks Zanthia, I had forgotten about that dwarf. Jean, I think a lot of it probably has to do with its strength, so if its still low in number maybe it can't overcome a tougher fairy. I tried a Darbue and wasn't happy with it, but I used the Violetta(or something like that) which is basically the same thing and it seemed a lot more powerful. Of course the Darbue changes to another form as well.

I spent hours today in the swamp trying to find the back way to the enchanted forest, but couldn't find it! Has anyone here gotten in the back way? If not, where is the key to the gate which is past the hut? I can see pixies running around in there and would like to get them. Well, the good thing is I'm building my fairies up.

Jean

Jean, when you go to Monaghem you'll get the key that will unlock that gate. But there is a real bear of a fight in there! As far as the back way to the swamp, go out Tiralin the back way,not where the fountain is, and there is a sign post there for Dwarf Tower, Swamp and something else. If you try to go to the DT, you'll come to a precipice (sp?) with the air spirals, but if you go around the rocks to the right, there is your passage to the swamps.
And yeehaw - I finally finished the game! I didn't cheat on the fights, but I did use the gold cheat when my party was down and needed money. What a fun game! Thanks so much Stitchman, Zanthia and Jean for all your help and getting me through this.

Congratulations on finishing the game, nickie! How long did it take you? Do you feel strange not playing it? Which one are you going to do next?

I'm glad you warned me of the big fight in there. I think maybe I won't worry about getting in there for now and do something else. I was working on the mountain a few days ago, so I'll go back there.

Jean

Thanks, Jean! Yes, it does feel strange, as it was one of the few games I've played where I would do it at the exclusion of anything else, very compelling and consuming! I felt the same way about Might and Magic 6,7, and 8 too, strange since I would call myself an adventure game player! I don't know exactly how long it took,a lot longer than Stitchman - probably 70 hours. The party I ended up with that worked for me - the stone guy, the Boneria nature fairy, a metal fairy with two dwarf tools metamorphosis,the V energy fairy, and the tinezard. All of them except the energy fairy were at the highest levels.
Think I'll probably do Law and Order now, and then maybe Divine Divinity if I get it, or maybe Robin Hood. I have Morrowind sitting here, but think I'll wait until it's not holiday season to embark on that long of a game. I'll keep checking here though, in case I can help with any questions for you. Loved the game and already miss it!

Congrats Nickie!

Each time you save the game you see the time you have played. Tru it doesn't count reloads but you can see your official time. I saw one review that said the game was about 25 hours. I don't see how that can be unless you cheated for many of the major battles. It takes a lot of time haivng to build up all the different fairies.

Since you haven't played Morrowind yet, you may just want to wait until the expansion pack comes out which has just gone gold.

I may be getting Divine Divinity soon. If so maybe we can play at the same time.

Hi Zanthia, that sounds like fun! I don't see how in the world somebody could finish that game in 25 hours! Like you said, maybe with the cheats, because even if you pick the right fairies, it takes so long to get them ready to be competitive. The battle for the fire card took me forever, and that one fight with the general took quite a while as well.

Congratulations Nickie, now all you need to do is go back and get all the fairies and pixies (just kidding!)

I don't see how anyone can finish it in 25 hours, either. If you do any exploring at all it takes up time. Plus, as nickie said, it takes time to build up the fairies.

I'm in the mountains now, and in the dwarves area. I have to build up a psi fairy, but don't know where to get the spells. I can get some from the swamp, but where are the more advanced ones? Does anyone know?

Keep me posted on what RPG you play next, nickie. I also have Morrowind. Zanthia, what is an expansion pack?

I still have Shivers loaded and should get through that before doing anything else. I usually only like to play one game at a time.

Thanks, everyone, for all your help! Keep coming back to this thread, since it may take me a while yet.

Jean

The official time was around 53 hours - I thought it seemed longer than that. I think it is just chance what you get spell wise. I would repeat it several times, and often I would get a spell that was too advanced for me to use at the time. Be sure and check when your spell abilities change, so that you can use a spell of a different nature, such as the stone guy having two circles of brown, and a rainbow circle, showing that he can use a low level spell from almost all the other disciplines. In my opinion the fire spells worked best. And then some that were supposed to be stronger were real duds. Stitchman! I finished with 32 fairies I think and was short five pixies when I finished. I wouldn't have bothered collecting so many fairies, except there is one guy who won't fight you unless you have thirty! And there were two pixies that I never could figure out how to get them off hills, and didn't see the other three.

I'm already on 63 hours!! Mainly because I'm nosey and have to look everywhere. Also I like to start out anywhere with 10 small, medium, large, mana and herbs, which means I backtrack quite often to get money and mana.

I didn't know the rainbow meant they could use a lesser spell from another type. I'll have to go and check, because I do have some.

I don't know how many fairies I have off hand, and I'll check in the morning. I just captured a couple ice fairies, so now I have to decide if I want to train them. I just hate leaving go of my older ones. <img border="0" alt="" title="" src="graemlins/cry.gif" />

Jean

I know exactly what you mean, Jean! I became very possessive of my little family! But sometimes, they just had to go. I thought the ice bear was cute, but he has so little mana, even when you build him up he can't last long in a fight. And Stitchman got me thinking - I know he was joking, but I do have my save right before the big last fight, so I could turn around and go back and hunt up the rest of the pixies!

Nickie and jean: In RPG's an expansion pack can be installed at any time while you are playing the original game. Typically it adds quests and a new area(s) to explore but these are usually quite hard and are not meant for the beginning or middle of the game. In many games it will allow you to reach a higher level. In Morrowind this is not the case as there is no level cap. Also many expansion packs will add features to the game which applies to the entire game. IN Morrowind, there are 2 new features that will be added. One is the ability to add notes to the map. The other is a better journal. Since neither of you have played Morrowind, you do not know how bad the journal organization was. The journal was a major complaint by most players.

Thanks Zanthia, does the expansion pack come out soon? And can you tell me, are there any other games you find similar to Zanzarah ?

Hi Nickie,

Tribunal-Morrowind expansion pack comes out next week around the same time as Robin Hood.

The only game I know that is similar to Zanzarah is pokemon. If anyone was to ask me how to describe zanzarah, I would have to say it is POkemon with fairies. The unfortunate thing is this comparison may stop a lot of people from playing the game thinking this is a little kids game.

Pokemon??? Hmm, well, I probably won't get that. I thought it had similarities to Darkened Skye, but I've already played that one. I'm getting Divine Divinity anyway, so it will just have to do! Thanks for letting me know about the expansion pack, I'll for sure get that before I start Morrowind.

Well, here I am, stuck in the ice caves!! The dwarf want me to defeat some fairies before he can leave, and I can't find the last one. Does anyone remember if it's in a strange place, like stuck on the ceiling or something?

Jean

Jean, did you get the one in the water? If you did, I ran into that same thing, and I had to go into tiny corners on top of the rocks to find one. The one I had missed was in the front of the cave (away from the dwarf, but on the same side).It didn't engage until you went way into the corner. Hope that helps.

Thanks, nickie, I'll check that out. I did get one near the waterfall on top of the rocks, and I'm pretty sure I got one near the water at the bottom, also. The funny thing is, it shows the conch shell when I pass by there, but when I click on my conch shell it says it can't be used. So, I must have gotten it. I'll check near the cave opening like you said.

I haven't been able to play much today -- muscle spasms in lower back -- so can't sit too long. Too bad life isn't like computer games, where we can click on a body part and upgrade it with a better one!

Jean

I made it out of the caves, have been to the Dwarf Tower and the City in the Clouds. Plus the place where you fight the 5 metal fairies at once. I've decided I need an Ice fairy so I'm busy building one up to join my other guys. I have her at 20 now.

I have to go back over these posts. I think I remember someone saying not to use the dwarf tools on the metal fairies!

Jean

Jean, if you already found the other dwarf tools when you fought the metal fairies all at once, it is a good idea to use two sets on one of them, because it creates a formidable fairy. The reason I said not to use the tools on one is if you just have the one set, as you need one set of tools in your inventory to open the door to get to the lava caves in Monaghem - no tools and you can't get the door open. I thought once I used the tools, the door would stay open and went ahead and used them on the fairy, but it didn't, and I had to go hunt up another set.

Hi nickie:

Actually, I didn't capture any of the metal fairies, and so haven't had a chance to use the tools. Or am I supposed to use them on a regular fairy?

Anyway, the exclamation point still shows on the map in that area. I've been back and forth several times, and don't see anything to do there. I got the golden sphere by using the floating steps, but there isn't anything else to do that I can see. Unless I'm missing something to use.

I've been wandering around exploding boulders! And, I have the 4 leaf clover so hopefully I can buy spells easier.

Thanks for your help

Jean

Oh, I see. So you haven't been to Monaghem yet, right? You'll have plenty of opportunity there to catch one, and yes, you can only use the tools on a metal fairy. I don't know why the exclamation mark is still showing there, assuming you are talking about the platform that goes to the realm of clouds where you fight the group of metal fairies, unless it is just that way until you do Monaghem with the other metal fairies, and go to the lava caves. There isn't anything else in the area we are talking about to get! There were the three chests and the sphere. I never found the clover - where did you find it?

Hi nickie:

The exclamation point was apparently over the big arena, not the one with the metal fairies. Duh! I don't know why I thought I was already there. I tried to fight them once today, but was defeated (the fairies in the regular arena).

Anyway, I've been to part of the dwarf city, but didn't go to the Dark Caves. I'll save that for a little later.

The cloverleaf was in the locked room at City Hall in Tirilin. I got the key from a dwarf that was just past a boulder I pulverized in the area past the Pixie Cottage and Fairy Gardens. This is the area that has the 3 vertical spheres (or coins) at the top of a dirt hill. There also is an owl at the bottom of the hill. Pulverizing the boulder takes you to a valley in the Mountain area, where you have to spar with the dwarf. Once you win, he gives you the key to City Hall.

I need to train my little guys a bit more before going to the Arena again. Wish me luck!

Jean

Hehe, well see what happens when I rush through bent on conquering. That's why it will be such fun to replay the game. Thanks for telling me! And I have confidence that you'll beat 'em.

I finished the Arena! It took about 4 tries, and bringing in a Water fairy before I could do it. Now I'm training again for the Tournament Tree in the Swamp. I've decided to bring in my Tinerog and am trying to get its level up.

I have the Tinerog and Tinezard. Does anyone remember where to get the blue stone of evolution so I can make a Tineves?

I hated to give Suanne up to the elf that was looking for her. And when I got Segbuzz, the elf in the Swamp gave me a Worgot!!! I really don't need a Worgot.

I can't wait to see what happens next.

Jean

Great Jean! Be sure and take lots of extra mana and strength potions! Sorry, don't remember where I picked up that stone. Hopefully Zanthia or Stitchman will be reading.

Hi Jean,

This is from the german walkthrough translated. Hope it makes some sense to you.

The single evolution stone of the air is on the mountain peak, only the other way must be taken and still about the air eddies.

Thanks nickie and Zanthia. There is one spot on a small, hidden ledge that transports to a peak. I didn't see a stone there, though. Maybe I'll go back and look for it before I go into battle at the tree.

Jean

AAAGGHHHHH!!! I'm driving myself crazy with this game. I was all ready to go into the swamp to the Tournament Tree. But, then I decided, since my perfectly good team of fairies was all in the level 40s, that they all needed to be at least level 50. So, I spent several days doing that. THEN, when I got closer to the Tree I realized that it would be better to have an Ice fairy to fight the Nature ones instead of my Energy one. Of course, I had to build up my Ice fairy (who is already at the 1st evolution). It evolves at 45 and this morning I got to 43.

Do you think I'm obsessed?

Jean

Jean, go do the swamp tree fight! It is really not that difficult compared to several others. The only problem I encountered was that there are several fights, and I had neglected to bring enough potions to power everyone up again. IMHO the toughies are the fight for the fire card (behind the locked gate) and a couple in the shadow realm. Oh, and I had a problem with the last one getting to the dwarf tower, but none of my guys were above a 35 at the time. But as long as you're having fun!!!

Hi nickie:

Thanks for the reassurance! I thought that since the Arena and the fight with the Metal Fairies was so tough, that this one would be worse. Now I feel like I can get to them tonight.

Where is the very last fight? Is that near the Cathedral? I don't want to get there too early. Someone mentioned that they had and then realized there were things they wish they would have done

When did you do the Dark Caves in that elevator thing in the Dwarf City? I want to go there, but not too early.

My only pet peeve about the game is that I haven't found places yet to buy some spells at the highest levels (3 squares or circles). Are there ever places to buy them, or is a person just out of luck? I have a tinrog (or whichever it is) that's a fire one, and other than the Dwarf City I can't find a place to get more advanced spells.

Thanks for your help!

Jean

The elevator thingee in Monaghem goes to the lava caves. I did it fairly late in the game, but mainly because I couldn't get back in the door to get to the elevator ( I had missed the stone to move right in the fairy garden which led to the metal fairies). The shadow realm is beyond the swamp tree, and yes, the last fight is in the cathedral in that area. But it would be very obvious before you get to the cathedral where you were, so you don't just stumble across it - there are a ton of fights first in the caves.
As far as the high level spells, I think it just depends on luck. But you can keep clicking repeat on it until you find one. It doesn't cost much.

Jean,

Which high level spells(light, metal, etc) do you want. I have a listing of what sellers have which level spells.

HI Zanthia:

Maybe you should just provide me with the list you have. I have quite a few fairies of every type (except for metal and light) and they are all 45 and up. Probably I'll try to advance the metal and light ones when I get them. I don't have a Dark fairy, either, but do have Chaos.

nickie, thanks for letting me know where things are. I don't want to finish before I do everything.

Thanks to both of you for your help!

Jean

Hi jean,

According to the list I have all the shops sell level 3 spells except the tiralin catacomb shop. So it is just a matter of luck in getting them.

Thanks, Zanthia! I just finished the Tournament Tree and got the air card.

I have a lot of gold coins right now, so I guess I'll just have to make the rounds and see what I can find. I thought I had clicked enough on the different magic providers, but maybe I didn't.

Anyway, I'm finished for the night. I've been playing hours a day, and now I think I'll rest on it until tomorrow.

Jean

way to go Jean! I bet you won easily. Now what? About clicking on the spellkeepers - I think sometimes I clicked on them as many as ten times. Sometimes nothing at all would come up, and to amuse myself I would keep clicking, and something else would come up - sometimes something worth while.

I'm still plugging away at it! I've been to the factory and have a metal fairy which I've upgraded with the dwarf tools. I have another fairy, but don't know if I want two of them.

BTW, where am I going to run into light fairies? Were they somewhere in the Realm of Clouds and I missed them?

Next is the Enchanted Forest. I hope I find interesting things there!

Jean

You may already know, but you can actually upgrade it twice (using dwarf tools twice). I think I ran into light fairies only around the ruins.

Thanks, nickie! I did upgrade one metal fairy, but not the second I captured. I get tired of evolving one fairy after another. If I only wasn't so obsessed with their levels.

Anyway, it's time for me to go to the Lava Caves, but I haven't been to the Ruins in the Forest yet, so I went this evening. Those energy fairies are tough!!! I only fought the first one, and barely defeated it. Tomorrow I'll decide if I want to go back there again first or to the Lava Caves.

Decisions, decisions.

Jean

Jean, I'm not sure you realized I meant use the tools twice on one fairy, which evolves it twice. Did you find light fairies as well in the ruins?

Hi nickie:

Here I am getting ready for work, and what am I doing but sneaking 1/2 an hour in for the game!

Yes, I knew you meant to use the tools twice on the same fairy. I'm glad you had mentioned them, because I think I would have overlooked using them.

I'm going back to the Ruins today to find the light fairies. Last night I was too tired to do much.

Thanks for all your help! What are you playing now?

Jean

(singing) This is the post that never ends! It goes on and on my friend!(done singing)

Oh Mac, well, your post was pretty long too on Unleashed, but sorry you couldn't have as much fun as us Jean, I'm just messing around with some old games, waiting for you and Zanthia to start Divine Divinity. I guess from your previous post, you got the Fire card? Not a problem at all with your little tuffies?

Hi nickie:

Yes, I did get the fire card, and the Pfoe fairy to upgrade with the nature stone. I have one more fire stone that I'd like to upgrade Dragwin (I think it's called) when I get it. I do have another tinfol I could do it with, but since I have one with that already I'd rather use something else.

I got to the Ruins this morning, and now I'm trying to figure out how to get the pixie from on top of the tall stone. I used the air eddies to get on mine, but have to figure out how to jump over.

Did you ever get the psi card? That is the only one I have missing.

Jean

Jean: The Psi card is in the ruins protected by some very tough nature fairies.

To get the pixie, look behind one of the pillars and you should find one of those sparkling things. It will activate a bridge between the 2 pillars enabling you to cross over once you use the air eddies to get on top.

I couldn't resist the opportunity to make the 200th post in this subject

Awww, Stitchman beat me to it! I tried to jump across on those stones for hours before I saw the sparkly things. Never claimed to be the sharpest pencil in the pack!

Thanks, Stitchman and nickie!

I got the psi card and 2 light fairies, so the next day is going to be spent evolving them.

Do either of you remember which ones you used towards the end of the game? I like them all! I wish we could do more than 5 at a time.

Jean

I tried out various combinations too, especially after reading of other people's ideas of the "perfect team". However, what worked for me was pretty much different than what worked for others. I finished with the stone fairy, the V nature fairy, the metal fairy evolved twice with the tools, tinezard (tinefoil with firestone)and the V energy fairy (I changed their names, so can't remember the originals). I suspect a lot of their success was due to their spells, as almost all of them had a firespell. Of course I had to go back to London whenever I needed the air fairy for the spirals.

Hi nickie:

How can you give a firespell to another fairy other than a tinefol, dragwen or fire fairy? I have one extra fire stone and I'm trying to figure if I should give it to a tinefol, or wait until I get a dragwen. If I could give it to someone else that would be great!

Jean

You can't use the fire stone on anybody else, but they can use fire spells ( you know, when they have the rainbow circle or square).

Hi nickie:

I didn't realize that! All the way through the game and I found out now. I'll try it tonight when I get home.

So, if a nature fairy has a green circle and a rainbow one, that means it can use one circle of another type spell? Anyway, I'll find out tonight. I know I've tried using, say, a 2 circle of something else on a plain and rainbow and it didn't work. But maybe I did the wrong thing. I've bought a lot of fire spells, but don't have three of them yet.

I'll let you know what happens!

Jean

THat's right, you wouldn't be able to use a two circle spell of a different nature, but if you had the one circle of your own discipline and one rainbow circle, you could use almost any of the other one circle spells. I've forgotten which, but there are a couple that won't work - maybe it is the light and dark.

Almost finished! I've been to the lava caves, finished the catacombs and am now wandering around looking for the other 4 pixies. I'd really like to find them before going for the final battle, which, I understand, is somewhere in the swamp.

I have about 70 fairies now. If I had enough space on my computer I'd save the games and keep trying to find them all afterwards, but I probably won't. Sigh -- I'm going to miss this!

Jean

Jean. The final battle is in the Shadow (Shade) realm, which is a good size area. A German walkthru I used also says that there are 4 pixies in there. I think I only found 3 (I ended up with 29, could never find that elusive 30th one.)

There will be some very tough battles in there, but then again you are probably over-powered by now.

The Shadow realm is in the swamp past the Great tree.

I only saw three pixies in there as well. Did you get the one pixie that was in the clouds? I never could figure out how to get up that hill to get it. Don't worry about finishing before you want to Jean, as it is really plain when you are at the cathedral doors for the last few battles. You have quite a ways to traverse before that point inside the shadow realm. I left it on my partner's computer, since he has such a massive machine he won't even notice that it is on there so I can visit if I want to.

Thanks, Stichman and Nickie. I guess I'll see if I can find the pixies there. The fairies I'm using are all 55 and above, except for the Dragwin I only got in the lava caves and I'm building him up. So I should have enough fire power!

nickie, are you playing Divine Divinity next? I have both that and Robin Hood, along with many others to play.

Jean

Yes, I have Divine Divinity to go next, just waiting on you and Zanthia (and playing the below games). Decided to wait on buying Robin Hood since I bought so many this month (at least that is the current philosophy, don't know what will happen once I see it in the store and NEED it).

I'm back in the swamp now looking for the entrance to the Shadow Realm. I'll do that this evening when I get home!

I don't remember seeing a pixie in the clouds, although I did get one up on a hill in the Mountain World. I don't recall if I used the air spirals or that sparkly thing that produced stone steps. Let me know if there's another one somewhere in that area, or in the Realm of the Clouds.

Jean

There's one in the realm of the clouds, so that might be the one you missed. I didn't see any air spirals or sparkley things around that hill, so never could figure out how to get him.

Hi nickie:

I think I got him, then. I remember one on a hill, and what I did was look for the lowest portion of the hill and keep jumping and moving until I got up there. It wasn't easy!

Jean

Where in the world is the entrance to the Shadow Realm? They said it was beyond the Great Tree. I wandered all around it, and in other places in the swamp, but couldn't find the entrance. I hate the Swamp!!!

Jean

to the left of the house after the great tree, there are islands to jump to. You follow a succession of them, maybe four or so, and with some you may really have to hit the spacebar not to sink. the scene will change, and there is a fence with a gate to the shadow realm.

Thanks, nickie. I found it and am now in the Shadow Realm. I hope I find the rune of return, though, because I'd like to go back and build up more mana points

I think I've fought 2 shadow elves in there (maybe 3). Those guys are tough! I can handle the regular fairy duels easily, though.

Jean

I never did find that rune, so I had a lot of treking back and forth! I also had to replay many times the fight with the Shadow elf general, which was tough for me.

The bad thing about the Elf General was that I fought him once and won. Then I tried jumping on the floating stones and died. When I popped back into the game I had to fight him all over again!!! For some reason that part didn't save.

After I defeated him the second time I made sure to save the game.

Jean

That is one thing about the game I didn't like, the strange saves. even when I would hit save, it would still take me back to the beginning of a sequence.

I got the key to the bone gate. That was a really hard one to get, with those tricky jumps. I haven't gotten the first pixie yet, though. Does anyone remember how they did that? There probably are sparkly things somewhere that make steps, but I haven't been able to find them.

Jean

No, I confess I didn't find anything, so left the little brat where he was.

Finished!! I managed to get all the pixies, too. For the little guy on the high rock in the dark regions, I had to find the sparkly spot to trigger the steps. It was difficult because I had already accessed the area once via air spirals and got something on the other side of the pillar. I think the sparkly spot the first time triggered money. When I went back to it the second time it triggered steps.

I tried to uninstall the game and it's telling me it can't because the uninstall file is corrupt. I'm not sure what to do because I don't want to leave it on my hard drive. Any suggestions?

nickie, what is your "save" file called in the program? I wanted to save my games to a zip disk, and accidently moved them instead and renamed them. That may be why my uninstall won't work. I copied them back to the program but don't know what to call them.

Jean

Congratulations Jean, finishing is always a great accomplishment.

How many hours did you play?

So, is this note finally going to fade away? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="tongue.gif" />

I think 150 or 160 hours. I'm very slow, and very nosy -- I have to see everything.

Yes, this is the end of this thread.

Jean