Hello, fellow Havenite! I’m sure that you’ll be surprised to learn that we of the royal family don’t spend our days sipping tea out of porcelain cups and talking about ways to spend tax money. No, we also have responsibilities, and one of those is to protect the citizens from threats that can come crawling out of the deepest caves. Yes, I’m talking about monsters.

As you may know, I am a skilled monster hunter myself. Many beasts have found their end at the end of my blade – or those of my stalwart companions if I was incapacitated. Yes, it happens now and then, when a prince of Haven can fall in battle. Fortunately, members of the royal family – and their closest hunting companions – are protected against blows that would cause them to leave this realm.

Most citizens are not, however. And while we are skilled, we can’t be everywhere. Also, after hearing of the adventures of one of my younger siblings, I have decided to write this guide. In this book, you will find some elementary tips on how to engage in combat, followed by detailed instructions on how some of the greatest threats in the distant land of Sacramentum were defeated using these tips.

This is Sutter’s sister, Delia. While my brother likes to focus on the strategic elements of the battles, I prefer the statistics! So I’ll add in notes about numbers as they become relevant.

You’ve probably seen this book around, and while it does have some useful tips, it’s hardly a comprehensive guide. So here are some basic tips for those who are looking to get into the business of slaying monsters.

First of all, evasion augments. Evasion is a fancy way of saying “dodging,” and these augmentations you can place on your armor will help you do just that. You can purchase them to enhance either your physical evasion or your magical evasion. If you know what types of attacks your enemies use, emphasize that – otherwise, use both, just to be on the safe side. Most low-level beasts don’t have the ability to use magic, so sticking with physical evasion is always a safe bet. And, of course, make sure you obtain armor and equipment that has plenty of augmentation slots. Sure, the armor made by other nations may look appealing, but eventually, you’ll come to realize that Havenite goods are superior because of the presence of these slots.

In addition to using augments on your armor, consider recruiting some Vol to aid your party. With the proper training, Vol adventurers can learn how to evade physical and magical attacks – and they can extend this ability to others standing close to them. They also can learn spells to enhance others evasion abilities. These spells are short-lived, but can be a life-saver if timed correctly.

Delia’s notes – Take note that evasion maxes out at 80%. So if you rely on the Vol’s spells to get to that limit, your equipment and proximity to your Vol allies only need to bring it up to 30%. Still, those Vol spells are short-lived, so the higher you can get your evasion abilities, the better. The best – and easiest – way to get toward this goal is to make sure each of your party members has three tiers in the “support” tree. That alone will give each of your characters 15% evasion. If you train your Vol characters with two levels of Tower of Might, then you can add 10% to those numbers – and Vol’s abilities stack! If you have two Vol in your party, that gives 20% to all allies within range. Any augments you can add to your armor will make this value even higher.

The second basic way to avoid getting hit is a tactic called “kiting.” You know what a kite is, right? It’s a toy that children play with, where they put a lightweight object into the sky and pull it along with a string. You can do a similar thing with your opponent. Stay back and fire at it with a ranged weapon, like a wand or a bow. As your enemy gets closer, simply move away, firing at the same time. If you and your fellow hunters all do this together, it goes really well. Keep spread out so your foe doesn’t know which to pursue, and concentrate your fire on one enemy at a time. They will fall quickly under your onslaught.

Delia’s notes – While kiting, remember the range limitation of Tower of Might. If your characters get too spread out they won’t get the benefits of this Vol ability.

Another thing to consider is the speed of your attacks. If you can hit your opponents before they can hit you, that’s ideal. After all, your opponents can’t hurt you if you have killed them before they can strike! So consider using abilities and spells – and even equipment – to increase your speed. The Speed spell lasts for quite some time, and if your support character has access to Battle Frenzy, that works well, too!

Delia’s notes – Speed maxes out at 65% bonus so anything that would push it higher than this is wasted. I actually would have mentioned haste before evasion, since items that grant haste are usually available earlier to adventurers than evasion. Most daggers will give your characters 10% bonus to speed, and Haste – a tier 3 Support ability – also gives you 10% bonus. Pushing your characters to the fourth level of the Support category also adds an additional 10% bonus. So an adventurer with a dagger, Haste and at level 4 in Support has a 30% bonus to haste, even before you factor in spells and augments. Given that Battle Frenzy grants a 40% bonus to haste, you would hardly need anything else at that point to maximize your attack speed!

Along the lines of speeding up your abilities, consider slowing your opponents. The Time Warp spell does a great job bringing your opponents to a crawl, and there also are many wands and staves that can slow your opponents as well. Finally, stunning your opponents with attacks like Stunning Shot and spells like Shockwave can keep them from attacking – or moving – at all!

Delia’s notes – Please note that repeated uses of slow are a lot like repeated uses of haste. They won’t make the effects stronger, but they do increase the duration.

Another thing to consider, of course, is the value of dummies. If there is an opponent that is just out of reach, or you just need another target for your foes to engage, use a simple skeleton. Placed correctly, the skeleton can bring your opponents within missile range, which means your archers don’t have to approach. Besides, if your foes are beating up the skeleton, they aren’t attacking your people!

Delia’s notes – If you have an Ahriel character with Mindsteal, this can work as well. Your opponents can be attacking one of their former allies, and this can include spells. I’ve heard of some enemy spellcasters who hit the charmed foe with area of effect spells, which end up affecting their own friends, too! Not only that, by the time the mindsteal effect wears off, the charmed foe will probably be much weaker than he was before the spell took effect. While this doesn’t work on all enemies – such as the undead – it can be extremely effective when used correctly.

There are two more things to keep in mind that are exclusive to our skilled warriors, especially those tied to royalty. They are intelligence-gathering tools that we can use freely. If you happen to be of royal blood, you’ve probably been trained in these techniques yourself, so make liberal use of them!

The first is a spell called “right click.” Any time when you can act, you can “right click” on your foes and your mind will be filled with information about your enemies. Look through this carefully so you can decide what will work and what won’t. That way you won’t waste precious energy on spells and abilities.

The second is called “save and load.” Through mystical means that I don’t understand, we royals can set fixed points in time. If we scout ahead to find more opposition that we had expected – or if a battle goes poorly – we can use the “load” spell to rewind time and try a new tactic. This actually is one of the secrets that we Havenite royalty have used for generations. Many outsiders believe that we have skills that allow us to accomplish our goals on the first attempt. The reality is that we may have tried different strategies or tactics many, many times; we just kept the one that finally succeeded.

I’m sure that you’ll be able to discover other tactics as you venture forth. But for now, let’s look at how these can be used against some of Sacramentum’s most fearsome enemies!

You will likely encounter her early on in your explorations of the Ukat swamps, but you should return after you have gained more skills and better equipment before you try to defeat her. Being undead, you can expect her to be immune to mental, bleeding and poison attacks. She still has some vulnerability to curses and stunning, though.

Before you start the battle, position yourself on the same side of the table as the Ukatish Memory and use Battle Frenzy or Haven’s Might to greatly enhance your abilities. Initiate the conversation with the memory in order to start the battle (note that you cannot harm her until this is done). The first thing you should do is hit her with a “Time Warp” spell so you can get some early attacks in. Also summon some skeletons to either side of her to keep her distracted from harming your party.

Concentrate all of your attacks against her and ignore her minions to the best of your ability. She will often cast spells to increase her own speed and attack power. When she has quite a few “buffs” on her, use the Disruption spell to strip them away. The more she is casting spells to enhance her own abilities, the less she is casting spells against you. Also take note that, as a spell caster, she is generally stronger against magical attacks, but weaker to physical ones. Try to stun her when you can – there is a 50% chance you will succeed – but really focus on Disrupting her, instead. When she dies (again) all of her minions will immediately vanish, so don’t waste your attacks or spells against them.

Nagas tend to be powerful manipulators and specialize in tricks to fool the mind. The Queen Naga, found in Nagafen, is no different. Make sure you clear out all the allies surrounding her – especially those outside the fen itself – before engaging her directly. If you approach from the North, you’ll see that she has four Ukat servants that serve her unquestioningly. You need to take them out first, all while backing slowly up and “kiting” them. Concentrate your attacks against the servants, one at a time, starting with whichever one is closest. Use your skeletons or other summons to keep the others distracted – like many spellcasters, the Queen Naga may waste her time trying to charm or poison your skeletons, and we’re smart enough to know that that won’t work! Once all the Ukat are defeated, focus on the Queen Naga herself. Keep her disoriented by surrounding her with skeletons and try to slow her as often as possible. She has a high resistance to stuns, but the slowing effects of wands will work well. Bleeding attacks, as usual, are an excellent option, too. Keep up the pressure and she will eventually succumb to your onslaught.

It’s always a monster hunter’s dream to take down a dragon, and Ghorsh is no slouch. Keep your party spread out to avoid his breath weapon. Try to keep him slowed and bleeding at all times. He will try to escape from you twice, in order to recover and heal. If you take the time to thoroughly explore the land around the dragon, however, you may find a way to hurt him without any ability to retaliate. Attacking any opponent from across the water is a very valid option. While you hunt him down, be prepared and watchful for his reptilian minions. If you relent and don’t succumb to his pleas for surrender, you too can have a dragon’s head mounted to your wall!

This beast can be found in a cave near the East coast of the Vol lands. The cave is full of lava, but if you stay on the path (and can handle the heat) you won't have to worry about it. Infernal scorpions are known to have a particular burning venom that has a tendency to spread to comrades that are close by. It will do a lot of damage in a short amount of time, so make sure you and your companions are prepared with spells that can remove this. Spells like Haven’s Mercy or Restoring Rain are the best, since they can clear the affliction off multiple people at the same time.

Della’s notes – interestingly enough, there are three of these creatures living in the mines at Mekhlen Quarry. If you can defeat three of them simultaneously, then a single one should pose very little challenge to you.

Like undead, plants can be tricky opponents to face. They don’t have minds, and they don’t suffer from bleeding effects like other creatures. However, they can still be affected by poison. Keep this in mind when deciding what attacks to use against this terrible creature in the diseased portions of the Ahriel forest.

As usual, keep your company hasted and try to slow the bloom with your wands. Surrounding it with skeletons and constructs also is a valid tactic, as quite often the bloom will attempt to poison or mind control your summons instead of you and your friends. If you know the right people, you may be able to get some assistance from the Watchers as well. This monstrosity has a lot of health but if you are tenacious you should eventually be victorious.

Eye tyrants are hideous beasts, known just as much for their cruelty as they are for their magic. Fortunately, Sabyr is like its brethren in terms of its vulnerability. They may be well protected against magic, but physical attacks – especially bleeding – work wonders on their round, floating bodies. Sabyr will attempt to summon dragons to assist it in a battle, but they are merely illusions meant to distract you and will die quickly with some concentrated fire. Make sure to summon allies of your own, between it and the wall, so Sabyr will be distracted. Any time it tries to haste itself, be sure to disrupt it. Be relentless and vigilant, and this eye tyrant will quickly fall.

The only thing more dangerous than a dragon would be a female dragon surrounded by her brood. Fortunately, since Shubael has created her lair in an abandoned ruin, you can lead most of her children into the nearby halls so you can take them on one at a time. Once the children are defeated, you can focus your efforts on the dragon queen herself.

Delia's notes - It is uncertain as to what strategy works against the dragon herself. The journal was found incomplete, with many bloody and torn pages at the back. Somehow it appeared in Haven's fort in central Sacramentum with a note that simply read "stay out of our territory." This is the last indication of what we have to tell us what befell our lost sibling.

If you are capable of tackling trophy-worthy beasts like these, then you would be prepared to take on anything that you and your companions can find. Good luck, and happy hunting!

I tried finishing this game when it initially came out, but failed when it came to the final battle. Since I've been working on achievements, I decided to try again on the hardest difficulty. This guide is a compilation of tips I've found from various locations, with my own additions as to what worked and what didn't. No, I did not finish off Shubael, but since I got the achievement for obtaining six trophies, I didn't really need to at that point. If you'd like to share your own strategies, feel free to do so in the comments!

Hopefully the combat portions of this guide will help for the second game, too. They are similar, from what I understand, so I will try to duplicate my strategy when I play Queen's Wish: The Tormentor. See you then!