/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ / \ \ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ \ / \ \ / \ / ___ __ / \ / \ | \ / \ \ / \ / | | __ __ __ \__ __ __ __ / \ / \ | | | | |\ | | _ |_ | | |\ | \ | |_ | _ |_ \ / \ / |___/ |__| | \| |__| |__ |__| | \| \__/ | |__ |__| |__ / \ / \ \ / \ / / \ / \ "B E S T o f t h e B E S T" \ / \ / / \ / \ by Nubedad \ / / / / / \ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ \ \ / \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ |------------------------------------------------------------------| | version 1.0 - September 15, 2002 | | Copyright to me, all rights reserved. | | If you want to use this guide on your website please just ask. | | If you make any money from it, give me a cut. | |------------------------------------------------------------------| I have written this 'guide' to hopefully add to the body of knowledge about Dungeon Siege. It is a great game that I have enjoyed playing, and even more enjoyed "figuring out" _some_ of it's secrets. Hopefully you will get something out of this too. Everyone is looking for better weapons, armor, spells, etc. There are multiplayer games on ZoneMatch where you can trade for better items. You can even find Dungeon Siege items FOR-SALE on Ebay! Wouldn't you like to know what is the BEST ? Well, read on and you will learn the "best of the best". This is not a comprehensive list - in fact only a small percentage of items are covered here. Why bother with anything else when you can have the best ?! Some will wonder, where in the game can these items be found? I don't want to spoil all the fun though, so you'll have to figure that out for yourself. However, once you find something you can check it against this list and when it matches, you'll know your long search is over and anything else you find can just be left behind or sold/traded. I am "NubeDad" for 2 reasons. One is I have a new child. The other is I am new to RPG's. When you have a child you start spending a lot of time at home, so I decided to revisit an old childhood hobby: RPG's. I think the last game I played all the way through was Ultima 3 in the 80's. So, that's my excuse, in case I have made a mistake or broken any "etiquette" rules with this list. One final caveat - - M A J O R S P O I L E R S B E L O W ! ! ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ Enjoy. C O N T E N T S : --------------------------------------- Section 0 - Introduction & Contents Section 1 - Best Items (weapons, armor, etc.) Section 2 - Best Modifiers (prefixes & suffixes) Section 3 - Experience & Levels Section 4 - Health & Mana Section 5 - Inventory Section 6 - Hacking a.k.a Cheating Section 7 - Multiplayer World - Town Stones - Displacers - Levels for HUB Section 8 - Chicken Level Section 9 - Contact ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ { Section 1 - BEST ITEMS } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These are the best "legally achievable" BASE items in the entire game (version 1.0 - I will check v1.1 in near future to see if any better were added.) Note you do not need a hacked up 'mod' such as the "Samurai set" ! [ see, for example - http://www.dungeonsiegecenter.com/downloads/modsindex.phtml ] Great items can be found in the game! Now, often you can find a "magical item" with additional benefits & power. When you add a magical prefix and/or suffix, then you have an even more powerful item. More on magical items in section 2. Again, these are the best BASE items in version 1.0. ---- Best Armor ---------- Battle Plate defense = 659 strength = 77 template = bd_bp_f_g_c_avg variation = o_mag modifier range = 34-47 2 honorable mentions for better chance of magical properties... You would probably look for the first one for an archer and the second one for a mage. Thin Plate defense = 341 strength = 20 template = bd_fp_m_g_o_mag modifier range = 63-87 Compact Brigadine defense = 145 strength = 14 template = bd_ra_br_m_g_o_fin variation = c_mag modifier range = 26-97 Best Boots ---------- Full Plate Greaves defense = 69 strength = 77 template = bo_gr_fp_f_g_c_avg variation = o_mag modifier range = 17-24 Honorable mention for better chance of magical properties... Molten Boots defense = 57 strength = 52 template = bo_un_bo_ro_m_molten modifier range = 5-42 Best Gloves ----------- Full Plate Gauntlets defense = 60 strength = 77 template = gl_ga_fp_f_g_c_avg variation = o_mag modifier range = 17-24 Honorable mention for better chance of magical properties... Chief Gauntlets defense = 55 strength = 71 template = gl_ra_ga_fp_f_g_o_avg variation = o_str modifier range = 15-112 Best Helmet ----------- Sightless Helm defense = 57 strength = 58 template = he_fu_pl_knight_fin_03 modifier range = 12-17 2 honorable mentions for better chance of magical properties... Warlock Hat defense = 8 template = he_un_ca_ro_warlock modifier range = 2-100 Bloody Helm defense = 53 strength = 53 template = he_ra_fu_pl_knight_fin_02 modifier range = 6-87 Best Shield ----------- Savior Shield defense = 104 bonus = 35% chance to Block Melee & Ranged attacks. (You wouldn't be able to tell without knowing where to look, but I think the actual ranged-block value is really only 20%. I think there is a typo in version 1.0 of the program.) strength = 75 template = sh_ra_w_g_o_t_l_avg variation = c_mag modifier range = 14-101 Best Amulets ------------ Gold Sniffer's bonus = +2 Dexterity template = amulet_horseshoe Elder Wood Amulet bonus = Adds 3 Mana per hit template = amulet_keeper All others are made up of modifiers below. Best chance of magical properties comes with either of these: template = amulet_common variation = g_o_mag modifier range = 150-500 template = amulet_ra_common variation = s_o_fin modifier range = 150-500 Best Rings ---------- Lloyd's Ring bonus = +3 Armor template = ring_lloyd Signet Ring of the Utraean Protectors bonus = +3 Armor template = ring_utraean All others are made up of modifiers below. Best chance of magical properties comes with either of these: template = ring_common variation = g_o_mag modifier range = 150-500 template = ring_ra_common variation = g_o_fin modifier range = 150-500 Best Spell-Book --------------- Spell Book bonus = +1 Intelligence template = book_glb_magic_Tas All others are made up of modifiers below. Best chance of magical properties comes with: Spell Book (Rusted?) intelligence = 70 template = book_glb_magic_27 pcontent_level = 240 modifier range = 1-24 Best Spells ----------- Which spells are the best is debatable and depends on whether you like to see things burned, zapped, blown up, etc. Also, spell preference may depend on fighting style and terrain -- do you creep up and pick off enemies 1 by 1, or rush in and take them on en-mass? Therefore, the highest level spells are listed, plus a few lower ones I think are notable. Keep in mind that Combat Magic is better for - guess what - combat. On the other hand, Nature Magic is better for protection, healing, and increased abilities, but fortunately there are also a couple of good NM spells for fighting. ===> Combat Magic <=== ------------ Tremor "Calls forth a violent earthquake, shaking apart Enemies caught within."; damage = 370-502 up to 411-557 damage radius = 10 range = 12 reload delay = 1 mana = 1250 up to 1389 required level = 108 template = spell_tremor Meteor Storm "Calls forth (4) Meteors from the sky and smashes them into the target area." damage = 313-425 up to 367-497 damage radius = 7 range = 15 reload delay = 5 mana = 1849 up to 2174 required level = 102 velocity = 20 template = spell_meteor_storm Dragon Fire "Invokes a searing gout of Flame to rake the Enemy." damage = 302-409 up to 348-470 per second range = 8 duration = 1 reload delay = 1 mana = 192 up to 221 required level = 104 template = spell_dragon_fire Bombard "Catapults several exploding balls of fire towards the Enemy." damage = 191-260 up to 225-305 damage radius = 2 range = 13 reload delay = 1 mana = 163 up to 192 required level = 100 template = spell_bombard Cyclone Of Fire "Calls forth a massive cyclone of fire from the sky that incinerates Enemies caught in its path." (...a personal favorite...) damage = 399-540 up to 530-715 per second range = 12 duration = 20 reload delay = 3 mana = 335 up to 445 required level = 90 template = spell_fire_cyclone Summon Fire Elemental "Summons a Fire Elemental to guard the Caster." damage = 206-252 health = 3780-4032 range = 10 duration = 240 mana = 1589 up to 1694 required level = 105 template = spell_summon_fire_elemental Fireshot Armor "Adds 15-23 to Armor and blasts a Fireshot back at attacking Enemies." damage = 62-68 up to 90-99 range = 8 duration = 147 up to 210 mana = 504 up to 744 required level = 63 template = spell_fireshot_armor ===> Nature Magic <=== ------------ Killing Fist "Strikes the Target with a titanic force of pure will." damage = 436-483 up to 513-567 range = 13 reload delay = 1 mana = 269 up to 317 required level = 102 velocity = 20 template = spell_killing_fist Chain Lighting "Arcs a powerful bolt of lightning through up to four Enemies at once." (...a much lower level spell, but fairly useful in my opinion...) damage = 154-190 up to 210-257 range = 10 (1st enemy) jump radius = 15 | falls off by 0.5 for each jump, I think. reload delay = 1 mana = 80 up to 109 required level = 60 template = spell_chain_lightning Summon Rock Beast "Summons a Rock Beast to guard the Caster." damage = 396-484 up to 427-521 health = 3074 up to 3280 range = 10 duration = 120 mana = 1801 up to 1920 required_level = 105 template = spell_summon_rock_beast Shock Armor "Envelops the Target in a cloak of electricity, adding (12-30) to Armor and causing electrical damage to attackers." damage = 39-44 up to 100-111 range = 8 duration = 120 up to 257 mana = 157 up to 395 required level = 34 template = spell_shock_armor Stone Skin "Surrounds the Party with a shell of magical energy, adding 13-63 to Armor." range = 8 duration = 180 up to 619 mana = 194 up to 750 required level = 28 template = spell_stone_skin Shared Pain "Reflects 50% of damage back to the attacker." range = 14 duration = 30 up to 42 mana = 351 up to 489 required level = 50 template = spell_shared_pain Merik's Windfall "Greatly enhances the capabilities of the entire Party, adding 3-4 to Strength, 5-6 to Dexterity and 4-5 to Intelligence." range = 10 radius = 20 duration = 100 to 120 mana = 1235 up to 1583 required level = 70 template = spell_meriks_windfall Major Heal "Restores up to __ Health to a single Party Member." range = 12 mana = depends required level = 32 template = spell_major_heal Nurture "Heals the entire Party by 37-86 Health per second." range = 14 duration = 10 mana = 639 up to 1523 required level = 46 template = spell_nurture Harmony "Combines the resonant power of Life and Mana, balanced between all Party Members." range = 15 duration = 80 up to 95 mana = 749 up to 980 required level = 80 template = spell_harmony Full Resurrect "Grants the power to raise the dead and restore them to full Health. Mana cost dependent on power of the Target." range = 5 required level = 40 template = spell_full_resurrect Best Melee Weapons ------------------ Leg Cleaver damage = 246-738 strength = 64 template = sd_ra_g_o_st_2h_avg variation = c_mag modifier range = 98-112 Axe of Kill Kill Carnage (spelling error with double word?) damage = 342-421 range = 0.5 reload delay = 0.3 strength = 78 template = ax_carnage modifier range = 1-100 Serrated Sword - *2 handed* damage = 306-414 strength = 73 template = sd_un_big_2h_d_serrated modifier range = 31-77 Dragon Wing Sword - *1 handed* damage = 247-334 strength = 74 template = sd_un_g_1h_wing modifier range = 47-81 Wound Mallet damage = 292-412 range = 0.5 strength = 50 template = hm_ra_g_c_2h1m_fin variation = c_mag modifier range = 1-370 Wing Staff damage = 223-335 bonus = 10% Chance to Block Melee Attack intelligence = 70 template = st_un_b_wing modifier range = 38-67 Best Ranged Weapons ------------------- Long Crossbow damage = 214-262 range = 15 velocity = 75 reload delay = 0.7 strength = 31 dexterity = 63 template = cw_g_c_l_p_avg variation = o_mag modifier range = 53-73 Long Backed Bow damage = 280-328 range = 13 velocity = 14.0 reload delay = 0.3 strength = 30 dexterity = 59 template = bw_g_c_c_l_4_avg variation = o_mag modifier range = 49-67 Chicken Gun (Not my choice for best - velocity too slow.) damage = 200-350 range = 10 velocity = 5 reload delay = 0.5 strength = 25 dexterity = 25 template = chicken_gun modifier range = n/a ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ { Section 2 - BEST ITEM MODIFIERS } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As mentioned in section 1, you have a BASE item, and then with luck (or hacking) there will be items with magical benefits, a.k.a prefixes and suffixes, a.k.a modifiers - added on to an item. These are either more expensive to buy, or rarer to find. When you kill a mini-boss, they drop a couple of cool items. If you go back and replay the scene, you might find the item is slightly different. This is part of the fun. Do not confuse "modifiers" with "enchantments". Modifiers add benefits to a base item with prefixes or suffixes. Enchantments are magical qualities held within the BASE item. This is why the fairly 'low level' spell book above is the best - because the base item has an enchantment of +1 intelligence. All other spell books are merely combinations of modifiers listed below. You can read elsewhere how to hack into the game and cheat, and add whatever modifiers you want in almost any combination. Minako and Jericho wrote a nice guide on this called "dungeon_siege_item_editing.txt". [ http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/game/27336.html ] Or, see section 7. However, most people feel a more "pure" way to play, is to get the items legitimately through playing the game. If you do so, the enhancements are added via some "rules" the game uses to assign them. Here is my understanding of the rules... (1) Each modifier has a certain "power" assigned to it. The higher the power, the better the enhancement. The power levels were assigned by the game designer(s), so, there is a factor of personal opinion. YOU might prefer a lower powered modifier more than a higher one, especially with the "combos". It depends on what weaknesses your character has, among other things. I am not going to bother listing the power level for each modifier below. Suffice it to say they are all high - - in the range of >70 up to the highest - "ofattainment" - at 208. You can find a detailed list at: [ http://www.dsnetguide.com/items/modifiers-prefixes.php ] [ http://www.dsnetguide.com/items/modifiers-suffixes.php ] (2) Each base item has a predetermined modifier/power range - min & max, and this controls the power level of enhancements that might be assigned to the item. (3) Finally, certain modifiers are assigned only to certain base items. For example, an enhancement related to magic or intelligence might only be "allowed" to be assigned to a spell book, rings or amulet. Another example might be an enhancement to melee damage - obviously this will only be assigned to a melee weapon. Therefore, when an item pops out of a chest, or when you kill the mini-boss, the game somewhat randomly assignes the magical enhamcements, a.k.a modifiers, a.k.a. prefixes & suffixes, according to the above rules. I believe you can break these rules if you hack & cheat. I may have this all wrong because I am making some educated guesses. If it's wrong then all I've done is confuse the issue by sounding like I know it all, when in fact I don't. At this point I'll play the "Nubedad" card one more time. Also, Nivisec wrote probably THE definitive guide on this at: [ http://ds.nivisec.com/tutorials.php ] Here are the best modifiers: ================================================================== --------- | STATS | --------- [ofcolossus] Adds 11 to Strength [oftheeffortless] Adds 11 to Dexterity [ofomniscience] Adds 11 to Intelligence ------------------------------------------------------------------ Combos related to strength... [majestic] Adds 3 to Strength, 2 Health Stolen Per Hit, +5% Chance to Block Magic Attacks, +4% Chance to Hit Enemy with a Melee Weapon, +7% Chance to Hit Enemy with a Ranged Weapon [immense] Adds 3 to Strength, Adds 5 to Melee Skill, Adds 7 to 16 Piercing Damage, and Magic Damage Reduced by 5% [offortitude] Adds 3 to Strength, Adds 1 to Dexterity, Adds 1 to Intelligence [unfathomable] Adds 2 to Strength, 1 Health Stolen Per Hit, +5% Chance to Dodge Melee Attack, 3% of Damage Reflected to Enemy, and Adds 2 to Intelligence [ofprivilege] Adds 2 to Strength, 1 Health Stolen Per Hit [oftheforgiven] Adds 2 to Strength, Adds 3 Health Per Hit, Adds 1 to 4 Piercing Damage, and Adds 2 to Max Damage [ofaspiration] Adds 2 to Strength, Adds 33 to Health, Adds 71 to Mana [ofemphasis] Adds 2 to Strength, Adds 1 to Intelligence, Adds 163 to Health and 6% of Damage Reflected to Enemy [admired] Adds 1 to Strength, Adds 3 Health Per Hit, 4 Mana Stolen Per Hit, Piercing Damage Reduced by 16%, and 10% of Damage Reflected to Enemy ------------------------------------------------------------------ Combos related to dexterity... [sacred] Adds 6 to Dexterity, Adds 2 to Melee Skill, Ranged Damage Reduced by 12%, and 3% of Damage Reflected to Enemy [utmost] Adds 2 to Strength, Adds 3 to Dexterity, Adds 1 to Intelligence, and Adds 50 to Armor [respected] Adds 1 to Strength, Adds 2 to Dexterity, Melee Damage Reduced by 9%, and 3% of Damage Reflected to Enemy [ofcourage] Adds 1 to Strength, Adds 2 to Dexterity, Adds 1 to Intelligence [ofrisk] Adds 2 to Dexterity, +3% Chance to Inflict a Piercing Hit, and Adds 1 to Min Damage ------------------------------------------------------------------ Combos related to intelligence... [praised] Adds 4 to Intelligence, Adds 3 Health Per Hit, Adds 223 to Mana, and Adds 1 to Ranged Skill [distinguished] Adds 4 to Intelligence, Adds 79 to Mana, Adds 1 to Nature Magic Min Damage, and Adds 2 to 6 Combat Magic Damage [valued] Adds 3 to Intelligence, Adds 47 to Health, 1 Mana Stolen Per Hit, and +7% Chance to Hit Enemy with a Ranged Weapon [supreme] Adds 2 to Intelligence, +6% Chance to Hit Enemy with a Melee Weapon, Adds 3 to 5 Lightning Damage, and Adds 2 to Strength [ofthebanished] Adds 2 to Intelligence, Adds 17 to Mana, Adds 22 to Health [ofpatience] Adds 2 to Intelligence, Adds 46 to Mana, Adds 1 to Max Combat Magic Damage [ofvalor] Adds 1 to Strength, Adds 29 to Health, Adds 2 to Intelligence [ofconfidence] Adds 2 Health Per Hit, 5% of Damage Reflected to Enemy, and Adds 2 to Intelligence [ofcontempt] Adds 2 to Intelligence, 1 Mana Stolen Per Hit, and 1 Health Stolen Per Hit [ofsecrecy] Adds 2 to Intelligence, +8% Chance to Hit Enemy with a Melee Weapon, and Adds 22 to Health ================================================================== ---------- | SKILLS | ---------- [eradicating] Adds 10 to Melee Skill [propelling] Adds 11 to Ranged Skill [refined] Adds 9 to Nature Magic Skill [warring] Adds 9 to Combat Magic Skill ================================================================== ------------------------- | HEALTH, MANA, DEFENSE | ------------------------- [ofthelion] Adds 529 to Health [ofperjury] 6 Health Stolen Per Hit [ofbounty] Adds 11 Health Per Hit [elevated] Adds 163 to Health, +7 to armor, +11% chance to dodge ranged attacks and +3% chance to hit with melee weapon. [ofinvigoration] Adds 541 to Mana [oftheslayer] 16 Mana Stolen Per Hit [ofdawn] Adds 17 Mana Per Hit [praised] Adds 223 to Mana, Adds 4 to Intelligence, Adds 3 Health Per Hit, and Adds 1 to Ranged Skill [hulking] Adds 150 to Armor [tenacious] Piercing Damage Reduced by 20% [ofvindication] 18% of Damage Reflected to Enemy ================================================================== --------- | MELEE | --------- [offangs] Adds 35 to 82 Piercing Damage, MELEE [ofthedestructive] Adds 120 to Max Damage, MELEE [ofpestilence] Adds 85 to Maximum Damage, MELEE [ofagony] Adds 84 to 140 Damage, MELEE [offire] Adds 65 to 133 Fire Damage, MELEE [ofthezapped] Adds 105 to 124 Lightning Damage, MELEE [ofwinter] +15% Chance to Freeze and Adds 29 to 50 Cold Damage, MELEE [offrostbite] +10% Chance to Freeze and Adds 47 to 82 Cold Damage, MELEE [ofice] +5% Chance to Freeze and Adds 56 to 99 Cold Damage, MELEE [ofintent] +12% Chance to Inflict a Piercing Hit, MELEE [ofexcellence] +20% Chance to Hit Enemy with a Melee Weapon [defiant] Melee Damage Reduced by 20% [wiley] +15% Chance to Dodge Melee Attack [uncompromising] +16% Chance to Block Melee Attack ================================================================== ---------- | RANGED | ---------- [ofvelocity] Adds 30 to 70 Piercing Damage, RANGED [oftheeagle] Adds 67 to Max Damage, RANGED [ofepidemic] Adds 60 to Maximum Damage, RANGED [ofattainment] Adds 15 to 218 Damage, RANGED [oftranscendence] Adds 45 to 104 Damage, RANGED [ofignition] Adds 46 to 93 Fire Damage, RANGED [oflightning] Adds 74 to 87 Lightning Damage, RANGED [ofhail] +7% Chance to Freeze and Adds 18 to 32 Cold Damage, RANGED [ofblizzards] +5% Chance to Freeze and Adds 31 to 51 Cold Damage, RANGED [ofglaciers] +3% Chance to Freeze and Adds 45 to 76 Cold Damage, RANGED [ofpremeditation] +12% Chance to Inflict a Piercing Hit, RANGED [ofremoteness] +20% Chance to Hit Enemy with a Ranged Weapon [impeding] Ranged Damage Reduced by 20% [recoiling] +15% Chance to Dodge Ranged Attack [cunning] +20% Chance to Block Ranged Attack ================================================================== --------- | MAGIC | --------- [merciless] Magic Damage Reduced by 25% [unwavering] +15% Chance to Block Magic Attacks [ofmagnitude] Adds 25 to Max Nature Magic Damage [ofzeal] Adds 23 to 70 Nature Magic Damage [ofhostility] Adds 25 to Max Combat Magic Damage [ofantagonism] Adds 23 to 70 Combat Magic Damage There is a typo in the description that shows up in the game, for antagonism. It says "Nature" but it actually increases "Combat" magic damage. ================================================================== ---------------- | MISC. COMBOS | ---------------- [unsurpassed] 6 Mana Stolen Per Hit, Adds 3 to Combat Magic Skill, Adds 25 to Armor, Piercing Damage Reduced by 13%, and Adds 3 to Max Combat Magic Damage [unparalleled] +8% Chance to Block Melee Attack, +13% Chance to Block Magic Attacks, and Melee Damage Reduced by 11% [spectacular] 2 Health Stolen Per Hit, 5 Mana Stolen Per Hit, Adds 2 to Melee Skill, Adds 3 to Combat Magic Skill, Ranged Damage Reduced by 8% [celebrated] Adds 4 to Nature Magic Skill, Adds 4 to Ranged Skill, Adds 23 to Armor, and +2% Chance to Block Melee Attack [treasured] Adds 6 Mana Per Hit, Adds 1 to Melee Skill, Adds 28 to Armor, +2% Chance to Block Melee Attack, and +5% Chance to Dodge Melee Attack ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ { Section 3 - EXPERIENCE & LEVELS } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To be the "best of the best" you need to achieve high levels, preferably in all skills & stats. Having a "well-rounded" character is very difficult to achieve as you will see below. How the levels work is probably explained better in other guides, such as in Tom Church's very thorough FAQ/walk-through. But here is my 2 cents on how your character levels up. First I will define terms: SKILLS = melee, ranged, combat magic, nature magic STATS = strength, dexterity, intelligence UBER = overall character level or XP (does anyone know what "uber" literally means ? - it looks German?) XP = experience LEVEL = self explanatory When you attack an enemy and do damage, this adds to your XP in whichever skill you are using. If you hit with a melee weapon, your melee XP goes up. Ranged weapons add to ranged XP, and magic adds XP to whichever form you are casting, nature or combat. Casting "non-combat" spells also *does* add to your magic XP - each spell has a formula for how much XP it adds. SKILL levels start at level 0. As XP in each skill increases, the level increases along with it. The game uses something of a log scale so that it is increasingly harder to get to each succeeding level. In the later levels, above ~80, each level requires about 1.2 times more XP than the previous. Here is the full table: Level XP Level XP Level XP ----- ------ ----- -------- ----- ------------ 0 0 1 70 51 11263782 101 126731805919 2 650 52 13066188 102 155243764829 3 1450 53 15156978 103 190170914494 4 2350 54 17582294 104 232956672834 5 3350 55 20395661 105 285369226800 6 4650 56 23659167 106 349574605408 7 6650 57 27444833 107 428226194203 8 9450 58 31836207 108 524574390477 9 12950 59 36930200 109 642600930913 10 17100 60 42839232 110 787183442946 11 22000 61 49780637 111 964297020188 12 27800 62 58283859 112 1181261152309 13 34300 63 68700306 113 1447042214156 14 41300 64 81460453 114 1772624014920 15 49191 65 97091634 115 2171461720855 16 58327 66 116239830 116 2660037910626 17 68882 67 139696370 117 3258543743095 18 81054 68 168430631 118 3991713387870 19 95071 69 203630102 119 4889846202719 20 111190 70 246749453 120 5990058900910 21 129706 71 299570658 121 7337819456193 22 150954 72 364276635 122 8988826136414 23 175317 73 443541456 123 11011309319686 24 203567 74 540640862 124 13488851219194 25 236338 75 659587634 125 16523840046091 26 274352 76 805297430 126 20241701359039 27 318449 77 983791930 127 24796081467402 28 369600 78 1202447693 128 30375197100145 29 428936 79 1470301002 129 37209613750256 30 497766 80 1798421306 130 45581774146643 31 577609 81 2200368678 131 55837670632215 32 670226 82 2692754209 132 68401143827042 33 777662 83 3295926485 133 83791398490705 34 902288 84 4034812522 134 102644460453692 35 1046855 85 4939947918 135 125739461358351 36 1214551 86 6048738778 136 154030837466559 37 1409080 87 7407007581 137 188687773199113 38 1634732 88 9070886865 138 231142519471492 39 1896489 89 11109138988 139 283149583655156 40 2200128 90 13605997839 140 346858237280144 41 2552348 91 16664649931 141 424901337970755 42 2960924 92 20411498744 142 520504136316754 43 3434872 93 25001388540 143 637617564290602 44 3984651 94 30624003540 144 781081513558566 45 4622395 95 37511706915 145 956824851411821 46 5362179 96 45949143550 146 1172110440282060 47 6220327 97 56285003427 147 1435835286648100 48 7215779 98 68946431776 148 1758898223446500 49 8370504 99 84456681504 149 2154650321024540 50 9709985 100 103456737421 150 2639446640557650 You have to waste a bunch of baddies to get to level 150 ! "In-between" levels, you can view your progress accurate to 2 decimal places by rolling the pointer over the weapon/spell icon. Or you can view the bar within the inventory screen. As your skill increases, among other things you get a better chance to hit (melee), higher accuracy (ranged), or more powerful spells (magics). Now, how STATS work is more complicated. STATS start at XP=0, but level 10. UBER level and XP both start at 0. As your skills increase in XP, you are also adding the same amount of XP to your uber XP. (Side point: skill *levels* do NOT have anything to do with uber *level*.) The uber-XP is the sum of the 4 skills' XP's. Then, to determine your uber LEVEL, you look up the uber-XP in the same table of levels above. Your uber level is the amount of "points" you have to divide up between the 3 stats. As your uber-level creeps up, the uber-level points are divided up among the 3 stats depending on which skill you are using. This is how & why the stats' levels also creep up. The uber-level points are divided up as follows: Melee Ranged C-Magic N-Magic ----- ------ ------- ------- Strength 64% 25% 13% 9% Dexterity 27% 62% 17% 18% Intelligence 9% 13% 70% 73% Let's say you start the game and only use your knife for the first few minutes. You kill a few Krug, and accumulate exactly 70 XP. Here is how the whole picture would look: melee level = 1.00 melee XP = 70.00 ranged level = 0 ranged XP = 0 combat magic level = 0 combat magic XP = 0 nature magic level = 0 nature magic XP = 0 --------------------------------- strength level = 10.64 strength XP = 44.80 ---> (64% of 70) dexterity level = 10.27 dexterity XP = 18.90 ---> (27% of 70) intelligence level = 10.09 intelligence XP = 6.30 ---> ( 9% of 70) --------------------------------- uber level = 1.00 uber XP = 70.00 Why the game also assigns you XP in each of the 3 stats, I don't know - it seems unnecessary. (Think "Nubedad" again.) OK, now suppose you switch to your bow, and get another 70 XP, this time in your ranged skill. While you've achieved level 1 in ranged, you are only (140-70)/(650-70)=0.12069 or ~12% of the way towards uber-level 2. These 0.12 uber level points are split up between the 3 stats according to the %'s above (ranged). For dexterity, the stat most affected, you get 0.12069*0.62 = 0.07483 added to your DEX level. Use the same logic for the other 2 stats. Then finally for stat-XP's, let's take strength for example... (STR-10)=0.67017, so you are ~67% of the way to the next level, or ~67%*(70-0)=46.9119 would be your STR-XP. Anyway, here is the picture after leveling up 1 in ranged... melee level = 1.00 melee XP = 70.00 ranged level = 1.00 ranged XP = 70.00 combat magic level = 0 combat magic XP = 0 nature magic level = 0 nature magic XP = 0 --------------------------------- strength level = 10.67017 strength XP = 46.9119 dexterity level = 10.34483 dexterity XP = 24.1381 intelligence level = 10.10569 intelligence XP = 7.3983 --------------------------------- uber level = 1.12069 uber XP = 140.00 As pointed out in other guides, it is VERY HARD, especially later in the game, to level up your character in all 3 stats ! Credit where it's due - - I will basically 'parrot' here what Tom Church teaches in his guide, with a few more specifics. For example, let's say you achieved level 50 in both melee and ranged, but you haven't yet used any spells. Now, let's suppose you want to start rounding out your character in magic skill and increase your intelligence by exactly 1.00. Here is how that would work... Your uber XP would be 2*9709985=19419970, and uber-level is therefore ~54. If you want to know exactly, it's 54+(19419970-17582294)/(20395661-17582294)= 54.6532. To increase your intelligence level by exactly 1.00, using combat magic spells, you would have to increase your uber-level by 1.00/0.70=1.4286. To achieve this you need to get to uber-level 56.0818. The uber-XP required for this level is 23659167+ 0.0818* (27444833-23659167) =23968834. That's a difference of 4548864 XP you need to accumulate using combat magic. If you start at skill level 0 in combat magic, you would have to almost reach skill level 45 before you would earn that much XP and get the 1.00 point in intelligence. And remember you would be starting with the measly fireshot level 0 spell ! Again, 'Nubedad' had to make some educated guesses on the formulas. I finally wrote an Excel spreadsheet to figure this out - at least the way I think it works. Then after those untold hours, I found almost the exact same thing on the web at: [ http://www.dsnetguide.com/downloads/statcalc.php ] However, really the only reason you need to know this many specifics is so you can hack & cheat. Another way to cheat a bit less blatantly is to use one of the mod's that are out on the Internet. I like Reaper's XP mods, if you lean this way. [ http://www.dsnetguide.com/siegelets/siegelets.php?id=61 ] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ { Section 4 - HEALTH & MANA } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a short section to help explain how health and mana "level up" during the game. Max HEALTH is defined according to the formula: = [ (STR-9) * 29.4 ] + [ (DEX-9) * 9.8 ] + [ (INT-9) * 9.8 ] Max MANA formula: = [ (STR-9) ] + [ (DEX-9) * 4 ] + [ (INT-9) * 25 ] If you remember the %'s above, (for example, melee: 0.64, 0.27, 0.09) then you can calculate that for each 1.00 increase in UBER level (while using melee), your health will increase 18.816+ 2.646+ 0.882 =22.344 [What, so simple ? Come on GPG, you could have atleast used Fourier transforms or something!] Why, you say, is this important ? Well it's really not but I'm on a geek-roll here. Let's say you find two rings, one "of Colossus", and one "of the Lion", and you wanted to keep the better one and sell/trade the other. You would know by the formula that the STR+11 will give you only 323.4 additional health, vs. the 529 from the other ring. (I am ignoring the other benefits of STR such as increase in melee damage.) BTW - does anyone know the formulas for STR/DEX/INT vs. melee/ranged damage? It looks to me like... delta melee damage (min) = delta STR * 2.0625 delta melee damage (max) = delta STR * 2.125 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ { Section 5 - INVENTORY } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This section is written to help you figure out where your stuff is in your inventory. An item's location is defined by one or more of 3 things: (1) equipment slot, (2) inventory location, (3) grid X & Y. For the items you are carrying "on your body", (1) and (2) are shown below, whereas (3) does not apply. equip_slot = inv_location = ------------ -------------- Armor es_chest il_main Helmet es_head " Gloves es_forearms " Boots es_feet " Amulet es_amulet " Spell Book es_spellbook " Rings es_ring_0 " es_ring_1 " es_ring_2 " es_ring_3 " Melee weapon (n/a) il_active_melee_weapon Ranged Weapon (n/a) il_active_ranged_weapon Shield (n/a) il_shield For other items you are carrying "in your pack", the inventory location is always "il_main", except for spells carried inside a spell book. Then a grid location is specified via X & Y. I am not sure if the grid numbers change (for example, depending on screen resolution?). I decoded the grid on my installation as follows: | X | |------------------------ Y | 255 | 287 | 319 | 351 | ============================== As you can see 30 | | | | | it is a grid ------------------------------ 4 squares wide 62 | | | | | and 13 squares ------------------------------ high. Each 94 | | | | | square is ------------------------------ 32 x 32 units 126 | | | | | (pixels?). ------------------------------ 158 | | | | | The location of ------------------------------ large items is 190 | | | | | determined by ------------------------------ specifying 222 | | | | | the grid location ------------------------------ of the upper left 254 | | | | | corner of the ------------------------------ item. 286 | | | | | ------------------------------ For example a 2x3 318 | | | | | crossbow in the ------------------------------ extreme lower 350 | | | *CB | CB | right corner ------------------------------ would be assigned 382 | | | CB | CB | "grid_x = 319" and ------------------------------ "grid_y = 350". 414 | | | CB | CB | ------------------------------ If you use one of the "back-pack" mods, then you just expand the 32x32 grid accordingly. This type of mod is very useful and since it only allows you to carry more, its sort of not cheating, in my opinion. If you're going to get one, might as well get the BEST ! This would be the biggest - - [ http://www.geocities.com/gamers554/ds.htm ] The above does require a screen res of 1024x768. Otherwise you need one of the smaller ones such as: [ http://www.dungeonsiegecenter.com/downloads/mods.phtml?id=138347 ] [ http://www.dsnetguide.com/siegelets/siegelets.php?id=4 ] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ { Section 6 - HACKING } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Using the above info, if you are an unabashed hacker you should now be able to give yourself whatever items you want, with the highest level of magical enhancements possible. You will first need the Tank Viewer and Tank Creater programs available from: [ http://www.game-editing.net/ ] [ http://www.dsnetguide.com/downloads/modtools.php ] ! - ! - ! - ! - ! NOTE - Some published FAQ's/guides instruct that you can edit your single-player files (*.dssave). In my experience this does not work. If you want to do play a hacked character in the single player map, you could play the Kingdom of Ehb campaign from within the multiplayer menus. ! - ! - ! - ! - ! Example - - suppose you want to fight with a devastating crossbow. Just hack into your *.dsparty file and edit the resulting "party.gas" file. Find whatever ranged weapon you have currently, and change it to: gold_value = 9999999; inv_location = il_active_ranged_weapon; modifier_prefix_name = sacred; modifier_suffix_name = oflightning; template_name = cw_g_c_l_p_avg; variation_name = o_mag; You can do this with any of the items and modifiers listed above. Finding it hard to stick to your "pure ethics" of game playing ? VERY tempting isn't it? You can resist though - just pray harder. Of course, you can give yourself lots of gold too. Obviously the first thing to do is edit your overall gold amount. Another trick to "store" even more extra gold is to hack the sell-value of any potions or other small & expendable items you own, to 9999999, and then if you run low on gold you can sell one. Finally, if you know the template name(s) of any unique items you want (such as Town-stones, the Fury's Eye, books, knife, etc.) - you can just place them in an empty spot (grid) in your pack. A note for more dedicated hackers - - if you know where to look you can find the base file that determines how much damage the crossbow does (or defense for armor, etc.) and change these values too. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ { Section 7 - MULTIPLAYER WORLD } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -------------------------- Section 7-a... Town Stones -------------------------- In case you dont feel like getting your 30-50 bucks out of the game, you can hack and just give yourself all the items needed to complete the game. These are the 8 town-stones, plus the final "Ten Stone" you need to complete the last Dungeon. Once you have the 8, the last one is given to you in Hiroth. To put them in your inventory, again, hack the character *.dsparty file, and type in lines such as the example below: [1] { grid_x = ___; grid_y = ___; inv_location = il_main; template_name = ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~; } A L L 9 S T O N E S --------------------------------------- template_name = stone_glb_elldim_01; all of these are size = 1x1 template_name = stone_glb_crystwind_01; template_name = stone_glb_fallraen_01; template_name = stone_glb_meren_01; template_name = stone_glb_lang_01; template_name = stone_glb_quillrabe_01; template_name = stone_glb_hiroth_01; template_name = stone_glb_grescal_01; plus the one you need in the last Dungeon... template_name = tenstone_glb; this one is size = 2x2 ------------------------- Section 7-b... DISPLACERS ------------------------- In multiplayer, after doing it once, I hate having to go back again and find the forward displacer to "calibrate it". There are mods you can download to fix this such as: [ http://www.dsnetguide.com/siegelets/siegelets.php?id=84 ] However, with versions >1.1, you can also do this from within your character "party.gas" file !! :) Simply add a section called "QUESTBITS" and include whichever displacers you want turned on. The section goes near the end, just before "SKILLS". Make sure "QUESTBITS" lines up with "SKILLS" (same number of tabs) and be sure to include all sub-sections using tabs & { } . Each displacer (I think) requires 2 sections to turn it on. Not totally sure about this but it works. You might get away with only one or the other, but I haven't felt like spending the time to test this. Let's suppose you want to turn on the first displacer, the one outside of Elddim just before the Crypt. The syntax within your "pary.gas" file would be: [questbits] { [0] { _key = "multiplayer_world"; [_value] { [0] { _key = "2w_teleport_river_forest_path2crypts_active"; _value = "true"; } [1] { _key = "teleport_river_forest_path2crypts_active"; _value = "true"; } } } } You must add additional sections, numbered [2], [3], [4], etc., for each of the remaining "keys": ELDDIM ------ _key = "2w_teleport_river_forest_path2crypts_active"; _key = "teleport_river_forest_path2crypts_active"; _key = "teleport_river_forest_path2mines_active"; _key = "2w_teleport_river_forest_path2mines_active"; CRYSTWIND --------- _key = "2w_teleporter_mine_town_mines2_active"; _key = "teleporter_mine_town_mines2_active"; FALLREAN -------- _key = "teleporter_snow_town_sno_r1_active"; _key = "2w_teleporter_snow_town_sno_r1_active"; _key = "2w_teleporter_snow_town_sf_r2_active"; _key = "teleporter_snow_town_sf_r2_active"; MEREN ----- _key = "2w_teleport_ocean_dark_forest_active"; _key = "teleport_ocean_dark_forest_active"; LANG ---- _key = "2w_teleporter_swamp_town_gi_a_r2_active"; _key = "teleporter_swamp_town_gi_a_r2_active"; _key = "teleporter_swamp_town_of_r1_active"; _key = "2w_teleporter_swamp_town_of_r1_active"; QUILLRABE --------- (none) HIROTH ------ _key = "2w_teleport_castle_town_desert_active"; _key = "teleport_castle_town_desert_active"; GRESCAL ------- (none) !*} !*!*} - - Be careful because many displacers set you down in the midst of a deadly battle. !*} ------------------------------------------ Section 7-c... LEVELS needed for the HUB's ------------------------------------------ You must achieve the levels below to use the HUB transporters (through the basilicus) to move from town to town. Regular Veteran Elite ------- ------- ------- Elddim 1 54 83 Crystwind 5 56 87 Fallrean 9 59 90 Meren 18 64 96 Lang 25 75 99 Quillrabe 42 77 103 Hiroth 46 79 105 Grescal 50 80 106 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ { Section 8 - CHICKEN LEVEL } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Climb to the sky on the sunbaked mesa Give to the moon with the treble stones Place down the eye of the crystal temple Gift of the steel from a virgin hand The final piece within your grasp A leap of faith convenes his trial." There are published guides, such as Michael Wu's, for the chicken level, so I won't repeat all of the instructions here. [ http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/game/27336.html ] However, my small contribution is the following: 3 ITEMS YOU NEED: TEMPLATE: ===================== ====================================== Eye of the Crystal Temple: fury_eye (size 2x2) -------------------------- (The Fury's Eye) Note - You get this item in the Kingdom of Ehd campaign. The above guide advises you to start in Jeriah's Cabin. I'm not sure about this. I don't think you can go "backwards" from there into the Alpine Caverns. Instead, I recommend starting in Glacern and go forwards to the Alpine Caverns. You can skip the mini-dungeon on the right that is on the way. Once in the Alpine Caverns, you need to find 3 or 4 'shrines'. The eye is in the last shrine. They are sort-of hard to find - go through narrow passage-ways on the right as you go through the dungeon. Sometimes it will be "up a ramp" which will be hard to see. You will go "up", and outside of dungeon/cave to each shrine. Use the pressure plates to assemble the bridge to the last shrine. If you grab the eye during the single player campaign, you have to carry the useless thing around for a very long time until you finally finish multi-player! Virgin Blade: dg_g_d_1h_fun (size 1x2) ------------- (The knife your 'nube' character has at the start of the game, level 0.) Piece within your grasp: book_glb_lore_riddle (size 1x2) ------------------------ (The book in the first room of the Hiroth dungeon, in the Utraean Peninsula map. Must collect all eight town-stones to get this.) Or you can download the items here (one of many mod's for these items): [ http://www.dsnetguide.com/siegelets/siegelets.php?id=386 ] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ { Section 9 - CONTACT } ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am interested in what kind of feedback I might receive. I'll give it a try for a while but if I get a lot of BS pouring in, I'll just yank the email account I have set up for this. I very much welcome sincere corrections, additions, other ideas, etc. BS will be ignored and blocked. \ ______________________ =======\ | | ========\ Contact me at | dsbest@charter.net | ========/ |______________________| =======/ / If you're playing a pirated game please go buy the real thing - - to encourage GPG & Microsoft to make more great games like Dungeon Siege ! Thanks for reading.