The Masters of Darkness: walkthrough

The Bronin Vest, Silver Bracers, Korlinium Scabbard, Kagonite Chainmail and Helshezag are the Special Items that you can collect during this adventure.

The Korlinium Scabbard is not an important item while Helshezag is largely irrelevant if you have the Sommerswerd, so the most important items are the three pieces of armor - especially the Silver Bracers and Kagonite Chainmail, since they can be carried over to the Grand Master series.

Walkthrough criteria

The gamebook can be completed in many different ways. This walkthrough is compiled according to the following criteria, in order of importance:

1. assume that several previous adventures have been played, except for some items;
2. collect and use as many items as possible;
3. avoid combat as much as possible, especially the strongest enemies;
4. see as many illustrations as possible.

Getting started

Suggested Magnakai disciplines

1. Weaponmastery with bow, dagger and sword
2. Nexus
3. Divination
4. Curing
5. Psi-screen
6. Psi-surge
7. Huntmastery
8. Pathsmanship
9. Invisibility

If you are not ranked Archmaster, these disciplines take precedence: Weaponmastery, Huntmastery, and Curing, the first two to raise your CS (very important because of tough foes), while the last is needed to acquire some important items.

Suggested equipment

Choose any one weapon:

• Sword
• Warhammer
• Quarterstaff
• Dagger
• Axe

It is highly recommended to take the following items:

• Bow (Weapon)
• Quiver (Special Items), containing six Arrows.
• Lantern: better than the Kalte Firesphere as you need to make room for other special items.

Take all the disposable and consumable backpack items. Leave your Gold Crowns and Lunes.

Useful items from previous gamebooks

• Somerswerd: You can use it to instantly kill Gnaag at the end, but do not use it under any other circumstance once you are in Helgedad. Banedon will even tell you not to use it unless in Gnaag's presence.
• Shield (found in books 2, 4, 5 and 7): CS+2
• Silver Helm (found in book 3): CS+2
• Silver Bow of Duadon: Adds 3 to your score when instructed to fire an arrow.
• Chainmail Waistcoat (found in book 4; special item): +4 EP. Useful only until you get the Bronin Vest, but you might as well bring it as this is the last book that lets you use it.
• Padded Leather Waistcoat: (found in books 3, 6, and 7; special item): +2 EP.
• Dagger of Vashna or Jewelled Mace.

Seasoned adventurers will have, by now, a ton of special items, and you'll be getting even more this adventure, so leave everything you can behind! This is the last book that lets you use the Shield, Padded Leather Waistcoat, and Chainmail Waistcoat.

Walkthrough notes:

1. There are several options that will lead you to instant-death results. These will be pointed out indirectly in italicized text.

2. It is generally extremely tough to complete the adventure due to powerful enemies. Surviving is also tough for most options require you to have improved-by-rank Magnakai disciplines. It is still possible for a freshly-created character to match or even exceed the toughest foe's Combat Skill; however getting there is hard, and that foe also has a very high ENDURANCE score.

3. Takes place 8 years (although you've spent 3 months in Daziarn) after The Dungeons of Torgar.

4. Although you may get the Bronin Vest, it will not be carried over to the Grand Master series. The Kagonite Chainmail can be carried over, along with the Silver Bracers.

5. If you left the Sommerswerd behind in books 9 to 11, you may now re-equip that blade now, but it is advisable not to use it when you reach the Darklands.

Walkthrough

Bracket nodes represents mandatory sections.

Part I: The Intrepid

(1) When you arrive back in Toran, you will lose some Endurance points. Your friends, Rimoah and Banedon will tell you a bit about what happened during your 8 year exile. After that, they will give you some mandatory items including the Korlinium Scabbard, Golden Amulet and of course the Crystal Explosive.

(325) The new improved Huntmastery will warn you of the collision between the ship and the blockade. You have a 70% chance to avoid it.

(71) It really doesn't matter which order of sequence you can take, as they all lead to the next event, which is the encounter with the sea monster Xargath. The Xargath's weakest spot is the ear, so you should use the bow and arrow against it. If you have Mentora-ranked Weaponmastery and the Silver Bow of Duadon, you have a better chance of killing the monster. If you fail, attack it while it's trapped in the ship.

(217) To get the Bronin Vest and Silver Bracers, you must have Curing, as the discipline delays the Captain's collapse. The next event is the ship's fight vs. the Drakkar warship.

(100) Your first fight will be a Drakkar Marine 1. You can evade it but you will face another marine 2 that you must fight. If you eliminate the first Marine, you will have to fight the Drakkar Sergeant but should you evade the Sergeant, you will also face the second Drakkar Marine. If you do not have Divination, eliminate the Sergeant.

(290/253/334) This is your first unescapable dodge-or-killed scenario. If you have Huntmastery and the Lore-circle of Spirit, the instant-death result is removed.

(309) After taking the helm of the ship you're trying to avoid the collision between the two vessels. You can add a maximum of 6 to your score (also a reason to play in epic) to maximize your chances. Both outcomes lead to the eventual evacuation and abandoning of the Intrepid.

Note: To get the Kagonite Chainmail, you must score 9 or less to obtain scenario A (making a high rank actually detrimental in this situation).

a) If the ship rams into the vessel, you can eliminate the Drakkar marine officer with a shot to the head, but you must have Divination to do so. After that, fight a group of marines and investigate the bodies to get the prized Kagonite Chainmail.

b) If the ship avoids ramming into the vessel, you can extinguish the fire on the canvas or risk getting hit by a boom. You also need to fight a Drakkar Marine.

Nonetheless, you also need to kill a Drakkar Sailor once you jump off from the ship.

(243) Hide from the sailors on the deck. You will notice that the captain is attempting to sink the Intrepid to the bottom of the ocean. Eliminate the Drakkar captain with an arrow, then use a hand weapon on the Drakkar Gunners before destroying the vessels. Everything fades to black.

Part II: Argazad

(125) You are lying on the wreckage of the destroyed vessel. Principalin-ranked Huntmastery allows you to avoid the Giaks and the sea scavengers. Otherwise, you will have to deter the scavengers with Animal Control or fight them and then have Tutelary-level Invisibility to avoid the Giaks. After that, you should eliminate the Egorgh creature to have a proper night's sleep in the cave.

(196) Scaling the wall is more straightforward. Avoid the Giak sentries if possible, but eliminate them if you are required to.

(191) Principalin-level Huntmastery will allow you to see the driver and Giaks from afar, giving you ample time to hide. Otherwise, you must risk hiding from the driver's view to avoid combat. If you manage to hide, your next task is to ambush the Drakkar riding to Argazad at first light of day. Fire an arrow to eliminate him and then collect the loot, if required. You may take the Kika if you need to.

(200) You have finally arrived at Argazad at sunset. You will encounter the Death Knight sergeant who will ask you something. You can use either improved Invisibility or Psi-surge, or bribe him with Kika or Medals.

(17/167/202) Either option works, but if you head to the harbor, do not use your Crystal Explosive or invert the tube.

(216) In the building, you will encounter a Darklord by the name of Kraagenskul. He will launch a psychic attack on you. If you are higher-ranked you have a better chance to deflect the attack.

(286) There are three ways to defeat Kraagenskul:

a) Using the Dagger of Vashna will avoid the Crypt Spawn but Kraagenskul's stats are a high 45:48. The Dagger gives you a bonus of +7 to your combat skill. If you have played the entire series from book 1 and you're ranked Archmaster, you have a maximum combat ratio of +8 before the use of potions (based on the by-the-book rules).

b) If your total combat skill with bonus is not enough to match Kraagenskul's, you can risk using the Sommerswerd. To eliminate Kraagenskul without the death consequence, you must eliminate the Crypt Spawn (stats of 30:36) within 3 rounds, stop him from using the communicator with a score of 6 or more (Lore-circle of Fire and Solaris improves your score by 3), and then finally defeat Kraagenskul hand to hand (stats of 30:29), during which you must fight three rounds without the Sommerswerd. This is likely the hardest option.

c) If you have neither weapon or choose not to use them, you will have to first fight the Crypt Spawn (stats of 30:36), and then wrest the Helshezag from Kraagenskul (success on a roll of 6 or more, plus 1 for every Magnakai discipline you have). In this scenario Kraagenskul's stats are 35:38, and you receive a +7 combat skill bonus from the Helshezag. This is probably the easiest option.

(240) After defeating the Darklord, if you do not have the Sommerswerd or Dagger of Vashna, you must take the Helshezag. Now it's time to escape to Aarnak. Use your bow to eliminate the Death Knight and then attempt to subdue the Zlanbeast.

Part III: Aarnak

(114) If you have Principalin-level Huntmastery you can find the tower where the Slavemaster is in. If not, you can land at one of the locations and then bribe the Giaks to take you to the Slavemaster.

(81) The Slavemaster will tell you how to infiltrate Black City (Helgedad) and the people whom you'd encounter along the way. You will go on board the Stonetaker that is on the passage heading to Helgedad.

(260) There's a door knock. You should open it and you will be addressed by a different name that you should note right now. Accept the invitation to the pit tournament, and if you wish to stake some money, pick the reptilian.

(326) Welcome to Helgedad.

"Perched upon an isle of granite at the centre of a vast, fiery chasm stands the mighty city-fortress, the very core of a cancer that threatens to infect and destroy all that is good in Magnamund. Great walls of black steel encircle it, giving rise to a thousand spiky towers and turrets which harbour the masters and the minions of darkness. Above the city hovers a seething pall of black smoke that keeps it forever in shadow. Fed by the fumes from the volcanic craters of the Naogizaga, this cloud is made all the more noisome by the foul discharges of the Nadziranim laboratories, the weapon furnaces, and the hellish breeding pits at the base of the chasm."

Trivia: The Lake of Blood extinguishes itself 25 years after the events of this adventure.

Part IV: Helgedad

Note: You should not use the Sommerswerd from here on until you face Gnaag at the Tower of The Damned.

(197) Upon arrival, the fastest way is to avoid the tunnel and explore the street. If you have Archmaster-level Huntmastery, it is ideal to have the Lore-circle of Solaris as that gives you a higher chance to avoid fighting the Xaghash. If you do not however, you can choose to face Taktaal's minions or evade but having Mentora-level disciplines of Pathsmanship and Curing in hand.

(48) In order to get into the tower, you need to eliminate the Vladoka. You can eliminate him without combat with a bow and arrow, but your aiming score must be 10 or more. Therefore, if you have maximum bow bonuses including Archmaster-level Huntmastery, you automatically kill the guard. Take the Black Key but not the Black Cube.

(130) As you navigate deeper into the network of tunnels in Helgedad, you eventually reach the entry point of the Imperial sector. The Black Key that you've picked up earlier will allow you entry into the weapon's lab. The rod is a special Zejar-dulaga arrow that you should take. Exit by the door next to the bench. You're still safe provided you did not bring the Black Cube along.

(320) At last you've arrived at the Tower of The Damned. You should state your name, in this case, Cagath (this is why you should open the door while aboard the Stonetaker). When you are asked the reason for being here, tell Taktaal that you wish to defect to serve him. When he turns his back, attack him with the Zejar-dulaga arrow but not the Sommerswerd.

(50) Finally you've encountered your archenemy, Gnaag. First he retreats and summons a Mind Reaper. If you have Lore-circle of Spirit, you have a better chance to weaken it to give you a better combat advantage.

(306) After defeating the Mind Reaper, you can eliminate Gnaag automatically with the Sommerswerd, but you have to fight him if using the Dagger of Vashna or Helshezag. When you have primed the Crystal Explosive and leave the city, you've finally completed the Magnakai series!

Appendices

Enemy roster

Only unavoidable enemies will be shown.

Unavoidable enemies

Enemy	CS	EP	Section	Avoid	Notes
Mind Reaper	30	21	s.102/114	(unavoidable)	Susceptible to all psychic attacks.
Darklord Kraagenskul	45	48	s.75/171/133	(unavoidable)	His stats are 35:38 if you manage to wrest the Helshezag from him (see the walkthrough)
Drakkarim Gunner	21	30	s.292/259/239	(unavoidable)
Drakkarim Sailor	19	24	s.58/194/16	(unavoidable)
Drakkarim Marine Sergeant	26	30	s.248	After two rounds	You can fight either this enemy or the Drakkar Marine below
Drakkar Marine	23	27	s.7	(unavoidable)