Author: csc79137@tree.egr.uh.edu
RANMA0005@AOL.COM
Date: December 14, 1998
Now here's what I have to say about Gauntlet Legends.......WHY DOES IT
COST SO MUCH TO PLAY?! I always hated the ticking life meter, but I know
it's as much a part of the game as anything else.
So here's what I gotta say about it. If you haven't read
anything about the game, it's basically played like the old Gauntlet
arcade games. If you haven't played the old Gauntlet games, then you not
only missed out, but you also missed out on the basics of the game.
I. Intro
II. Level descriptions
III. Items
IV. Turbo Attacks
V. Strategies
VI. Special Levels
I. Intro
There are 4 classes of characters to start, Warrior(Close Combat),
Valkarie(Female Warrior with decent magic), Archer(Fast, Distance
attacker), Wizard(Powerful magic). There are also 4 hidden classes. They
are obtained when your saved character reaches Level 10. Warrior can
access the Minotaur, Wizard the Jackal, Archer the Tigress, Valkyrie the
Raveness. To choose the hidden character, you press the turbo button before
choosing your character. Note: If you have a lv 10 Wizard, then you can only
access the Jackal. You cannot access any other of the secret character
counterparts until you reach lv 10 with it's corresponding class.
You can either fight hand to hand with the monsters or from a
distance(every character shoots projectiles from their weapons). You
must collect keys to open chests and gates that can't be destroyed.
Potions are used to cast magic effects, you can also shoot the magic
potions to cast a smaller magic effect. Pressing Attack + Magic will
throw a magic bottle of a long distance magic effect. Pressing Turbo +
Magic will produce a Magic Shield around your character. Distance of
throwing magic is dependant on your strength, damage inflicted by magic
depends on your magic.
One big difference is that this game is 3-D, the angle is still over
head view, but now it includes a panning angle depending on where the party
is moving. You also have an extra button, the turbo button. It can be used
for running faster, ie. running past traps or escaping mobs. It can also be
used for your Turbo Attack(Press Turbo + Attack at the same time to activate)
Your turbo bar(little green and yellow bar) is located near the top of
your character box. There are 3 lvls to your turbo attacks. Lvl 1 is a
stronger close range attack, lvl 2 is an attack that will clear enemies
surrounding you, and lvl 3 is a long rage attack. Characters are saved by
the machine, if you level and die, the machine will save your character and
his/her level. Gold is also saved on each character. Don't bother buying
keys and potions if you think you might die, the keys are left behind, and
the potions are purged if you don't continue.
You might be better off playing either with one or two players,
otherwise go ahead and pump in two credits per player to start. The
early going is rough. If you play with all four players, beware of
traps. It is very easy to push each other into traps. The monsters in
the game are produced by monster generators. You must destroy the
generator in order to stop the flow of monsters. The object of every
stage is to find the rune stones, and the exit. There are 4 worlds to
explore, the Mountain Kingdom, the Forest, the Castle Stronghold, and
the Pyramid. Each realm has 3 runes hidden within them. Plus each has
a boss. Defeat the boss in order to advance to another realm. You can
choose which order realms you want to explore.
II. Level Descriptions
The Mountain Realm is the easiest of the 4 realms, it's boss is the
Dragon. The treasure room is found in the Caves(4th level I think). Behind
the breakable wall with the rock monster and the chest with Death. You
will find that this realm gives you the most food. You should be able to
survive very well here. Gold is decent, but not the best. Watch out for
rock monsters, beginners have a hard time with them. Watch out for bombers
and archers because you need to take as little damage as possible. Basic
strategy on the boss is hit and run. Watch for his head to move, if it
moves toward your direction, run. He shoots 2 types of fireballs, an
arcing fireball that has a wide range when it hits, and a direct hit
fireball that does a lot of damage if it hits. If he's close to dying he
starts throwing more than one direct fireball per shoot. There are rocks
to hide behind, but they can be destroyed. You wanna try to stay on
either sides and practice hitting and running. Buy Gold invulnerability,
three way shot, and rapid fire if you can. If you're high leveled enough,
you can save the Super Shot from the level before(Kill everything in the
level before taking the Super Shot, then exit.), then buy 3-way shot, rapid
fire, and reflective shield. The Super Shot will stun(gives you time to get
the food next to the Dragon.) The reflective shield bounces the regular
fireballs, but not the area affect fireballs. If you manage to avoid the
traps and take as little damage as possible, you should on average have,
1200hp for solo, 1000hp for 2 player, 850hp for 3 players, and 700hp for 4
players. This is the realm you should start from no matter what.
The Castle Stronghold is the next stage you should go to for
beginners. Lots of money and exp to be earned here. The treasure room is
found on the first level behind the door of the second rock monster. Watch
out for the archers, bombers, and ZAPPERS!(100 hp damage if they run into you)
The boss is the Mighty Chimera. The 3 headed beast shoots fireballs from
each head. Actually the number of fireballs is based on the number of
characters currently playing. Buy the same things as the Dragon if you can.
Hit and run basically also. Advanced players: buy 3-way, rapid fire, and
reflective shield(2 if you can afford it), run all the way to the top right
corner next to the pole. Wail away on the Chimera, sooner or later you should
kill the Eagle Head, continue to hit and run if necessary, but you only get
one shot before you need to start moving.
The Forest Realm is the harder of the 2 "medium" difficulty based
realms. The mobs are just harder to kill for some reason. The big difference
he first 2 realms from the last 2 realms is the amount of food available. The
treasure room is found in the first room. You have to run around a little
bit, but it's worth it, quite a bit of gold in the room. There is a rock
monster behind a gate. Defeat him and then press the trap next to the vine.
If your by yourself, you have to activate the trap, avoid the vine, and then
try to lure the mobs on the other side onto the bridge. Watch for plenty of
rock monsters, acid barrels, and hidden perched archers and bombers. The
boss is the Evil Spider Queen. Oh my lord is she ever fast!!!! Don't bother
buying gold invulnerability for her cause it'll run out fast due to her
lengthy intro. Run around the screen, hitting her along the way. Have PLENTY
of potions to save your butt in case she happens to catch you. Only way I've
seen of being able to solo her is to find the hiding spot towards the bottom
right corner. If you find the right place, the view is close up view, and
all of her attacks miss you. If you miss the place, don't bother wasting
life trying to find it. Start running around the area and turn around to
shoot once. Don't spend too much time for your shot, her acid blast does
full damage even if it nicks you with the fumes. I suggest 3-way, rapid fire,
firewall shield, and gold invul(Buy 2 if you can). Else go for 3-way,
reflective shield, rapid fire, and 9 potions. 1st choice involves beating
the hell out of her before it runs out, then hit and run. 2nd choice involves
an easier time with hit and run.
The Great Pyramid is the hardest of the 4 realms. The mobs are hard,
there aren't as many keys as chests, and even less food. The treasure room
is found in the 3rd stage? The one right before the Genie. You have to run
up the stairs, to the right, arouns to the left, and go up the ramp to the
trap. Go back down and back around to the now open room. The treasure room
is the biggest int he game. LOTS OF MONEY IN HERE!!! Take a specific route
and don't stray! The rooms DO NOT connect! Try to go for the rooms, more
gold and silver coins in them. There is also a potion, boots, and sometimes
food(based on number of players). Watch for zappers, and weird plasma
shooting mobs(50 hp damage). Use lots of magic. The boss is the
Genie. Only chance to defeat him alive is to run to one of the four
steps leading to the bottom. Walk to the middle of the step and fire
away. You will still be hit along the way by minor hurricanes, but that
sure beats getting nailed by the Genie's lazer(which does insane amounts
of damage). Buy reflective shield(2 if possible), 9 potions(trust me, you
MUST buy 9 potions), 3-way and rapid fire. Use the potions to stun the Genie,
then wail away while he is stunned.
Collect all four keys and you open up a new Realm. The new Realm has
2 areas(you don't get to choose where you go first). After the final key is
collected you will get to visit the last shop until the final boss. Buy 9
potions, but try to conserve them for the Underworld IF you already collected
all 12 rune stones. Buy a thunder hammer to help clear out the First Level.
First level is the Desecrated Temple. Basically, there are alot of monsters,
chests, no keys, and no food. Run through this area as fast and careful
as you can, the chests are all pretty much gold only.
The next level is the Alter of Scorne. He does a whole crap load of
damage. He shoots Acid, Lightning, and Fire magic almost exactly like
you do, plus he shoots a lazer blast that does alot of damage. You can
try to make it to the two bottom corners you'll avoid the blasts. But he
also has an earthquake. He smashes his fist into the ground and spouts
lightning through the ground. Try to start running in anticipation,
because it hurts REAL bad. I'm talking about somewhere between 50-150 hp
damage. After defeating him, you get your choice of 4 pieces of armor.
The mask gives Fire Breath, the arm guard give Fire Breath, the other 2 give
acid and lightning amulets I think.
If you haven't gotten all of the runes, then you will be led back
to the 4 original realms where you must find the runes, if you have no clue
where they are don't worry, when you revisit an area you already travelled
and defeated the boss a hot and cold meter will help direct you towards the
missing runes.
If you defeat the first Scorne and have all 12 runes, you will
advance to the Underworld. This is the very last Realm. You must fight your
way through a ton of monsters to fight the 2nd Scorne.
There are a lot of monsters, a WHOLE LOT of monsters, be prepared.
The area also a lot of traps to activate bridges. You have to be a combination
of patient in order to find the correct way to the exit, and savage enough to
clear the monsters before they get you. If you saved those potions, they come
in handy here. There are 3 stone monsters that pop out and attack you. They
are the three parts of the Chimera.
After you pass the Underworld, you go to the Throne of Scorne. The 2nd
Scorne is almost exactly like the 1st Scorne except, he hits alot harder, and
the ground doesn't break away. Stay in the back and you should be okay. Wail
away on him, and try to watch out for the big ray he shoots down(200 HP
DAMAGE!!!!!!). After defeating the Evil Scorne, you are congratulated with
nothing but gold coins.
The ending pretty much bites though. The overseer says congrats go
take a well deserved vacation. Next you see a postcard with Red Warrior
holding up Green Archer on his hand, Yellow Wirazd lounging, and Blue Valkyrie
sunbathing topless. Then you start over without the keys. If you make it to
the Underworld you lose your 4 keys regardless of what happens. You simply
start over obtaining the keys, your character will still be saved so don't
worry about being set back to level 1. If you don't defeat the 1st Scorne,
you keep all 4 keys. Unfortunately, every time you log on you will be
transported to the Church until you make it to the Underworld.
Basically the most challenging aspects of the game are,
lvl'ing(top being a Lvl 99 Legend), and beating all 4 realms, then Scorne(1st
one), and then beat the game by killing the 2nd Scorne. I have a Lvl 99
Wizard myself, if you want to gauge your progress, it took me about 62
credits to reach Lvl 99. I still want to defeat the enitre game(All 4
kingdoms, and both Scornes) on one credit. That would be great, but the
ultimate would be to beat the game on one credit, with a Lvl 1 to start!!!
III. Items
Items encountered in the game:
Food:
Meat(Chicken leg, Steak) = 100 hp
Fruit(Banana, Apple, Pineapple) = 50 hp
Poison(Apple with Crossbones) = -50hp
Weapons:
Thunder Hammer = 3 shots that hits full screen affect
Super Shot = Time limit weapon that clears out all in it's path.
Phoenix Familiar = A giant golden phoenix hangs on your shoulder
shooting fireballs everytime you attack from afar.
Amulets:
Fire Amulet= Fire element given to your weapon
Lightning Amulet= Lightning element given
Acid Amulet= Acid element given
Shields:
Fire Wall Shield: Running straight ahead without attacking will project a
wall of fire that kills all in it's path.
Lightning Shield: Same as fire shield except with lightning.
Reflective Shield: Will bounce projectiles away from you if you do not
move.
Enhancments:
Boots of speed: Gives time limit rapid fire and speed of 900+
Reflective Shot: Causes you faraway attack to bounce off walls.
Pojo Egg: Always a hit at parties, fun for all. Let those greedy little
speedy Archers steal this from ya. (Careful, Pojo cannot eat Chicken Legs,
they are poison, I'M NOT KIDDING! 100 HP POISON!!!)
Growth Potion: Turns you into a giant.
Shrinking Potion: Turn all enemies into runts.
Invulnerability: You are glowing silver and cannot be hurt plus STOPS
YOUR HEALTH METER!!!!!
Gold Invulnerability: Same as Regular invulnerability except you are
gold.
Gold: Needed to buy enhancements.
Potions: Needed to cast magic.
Angel Wings: Allows user to float over ground traps, except fire spouts.
Stat Builders:
Speed: Adds to speed 5 per
Strength: Adds to stength 5 per
Magic: Adds to magic 5 per
Armor: Adds to armor 5 per
IV. Turbo Attacks
Wizard/Jackal
Lvl 2: Rock Shower
Lvl 3: Demon Skull(Can be aimed)
Valkyrie/Falconess
Lvl 2: Multi-Bladed Arc
Lvl 3: Sky Lance
Warrior/Minotaur
Lvl 2: Fire Arc
Lvl 3: Plasma Trail
Archer/Tigress
Lvl 2: Double Bow
Lvl 3: BFG(Can be aimed)
V. Strategies
For beginners I suggest going through the quest of Mountain, Castle, Forest,
then Desert; or switching Desert with Forest(Spider Queen NOT fun!). For
more advanced, go Mountain, Desert(Yes, desert), Castle, and Forest.
For solo playing:
Archers: Buy potions, run away from hand-to-hand, fire away from a distance,
build up your BFG(Double Bow sucks big time) to clear out mobs.
You need to avoid hand-to-hand as much as possible simply because
Archers cannot fight well in close quarters. Very fast from far
away.
Warriors: Rush in and kill. Rush in fast, don't let the mobs even get a
chance to think. Buy potions only to get rid of archers and
bombers. Plamsa Trail in order to get rid of heavy mobs to save hp.
Fire Arc is effective if your surrounded. Magic sucks. even maxed.
Valkyrie: Most balanced character there is. Decent magic skills, not as good
as the Archer, but much better than the Warrior. Almost the same
strategy as the Warrior. Rush in, high armor class so she takes
less damage then the others. Fight hand-to-hand most of the time,
but try to stay away to avoid too much arrow and bomb damage. Turbo
attacks are very good keep away and mob killing.
Mage: Buy lots of potions, nothing but potions. Your magic is tops, and
will remain tops. Use potions frequently. Try to keep as many in
your inventory as possible. Hand-to-hand is as worthless as the
Archer. Demon Skull is a very good aiming turbo. Rock Shower is
IMHO the best Lvl 2 Turbo Attack. Stay far away and wail on them.
If your magic skill gets higher, then your far away attacks will be
stronger than the other classes.
VI. Special Levels
Level 10 Gain access to secret character.
Wizard/Jackal, Valkyrie/Falconess, Warrior/Minotaur,
Archer/Tigress
Level 25 Gain personal Familiar.
Wizard->Dragon Familiar, Valkyrie->Eagle Familiar, Warrior->
Dragonfly Familiar(???), Archer->Butterfly Familiar
Level 50 Gain a stronger weapon, do more damage.
Level 75 Gain a stronger Familiar, does more damage.
Level 99 Become a Legend! Not sure if anything really happens though.
Well hope this helps a little bit. =)
