Hints for "Rubacus" =================== This document contains hints for my Blades of Exile scenario, "Rubacus". Next to each question is a series of numbers. Each number refers to a hint in the list at the end of this file. Read the hints in order from left to right -- they will eventually walk you through a full solution to the problem. This file will not answer every possible question in the scenario; it mainly covers some of the trickier points. If there's a question you need answered that isn't covered here, feel free to e-mail me at leonlin@ix.netcom.com. -- Leon Lin Document History ---------------- Version 1.0.0 -- Dec. 30, 1998: First version of hint file Version 1.0.1 -- May 16, 1999: Added more info in hint 59 about dealing with the conveyor belt bug. Questions --------- I've just started the scenario. What do I do? 7 36 74 12 78 I've finished the second mission. Now what? 25 8 How do I get to Rubacus' island? 37 9 38 10 26 75 11 What's with the wizard in the brewery and what is he looking for? 13 71 72 69 2 67 70 39 29 How do I get permission to go to Rubacus' castle? 73 1 40 15 68 28 In Rubacus' castle, what's the combination to his vault? 14 41 27 How do I get into the Inner Chambers? 30 42 66 16 52 4 I'm in the Tower of Nado, and that conveyor belt puzzle is driving me crazy! HELP! 18 43 17 31 3 50 51 53 55 63 65 20 77 59 Who do I tell the Resistance password to? 45 32 19 44 5 What's the combination to get through the gate in the Watery Caverns? 21 33 What the heck does that combination in the Watery Caverns mean? 24 22 46 47 34 49 58 How do I find the 4th storage key? 23 35 48 54 56 57 60 64 61 6 62 Answers ------- 1) Have you done any of the town quests yet? 2) Resurrection balm, knowledge brew, strength, and strong power. 3) The bead doesn't travel straight to the target rune -- at least, not yet. (By the way, if the bead doesn't move when you place it on the conveyor belt, see hint 59.) 4) Be sure to wear the robes before trying to enter the Inner Chambers. 5) That someone would be Tybalt, in the Adventurers' Guild. Say "frop" to him to learn about the secret entrance to Clear Keep. 6) A word of warning: Make sure the gate in the Watery Caverns is open first before setting the switches to 13. 7) The opening text mentions that you're looking for an Adventurers' Guild. 8) A good place to start looking is Rubacus' castle. 9) There's a nice set of docks at the north end of the Brewery. Unfortunately, you don't own any of the boats. 10) There's a Ducal Guard in the Brewery who can take you. You'll probably need some sort of permission to get transport though. 11) If you're stuck finding the other way, read the hints for the question "What's with the wizard in the brewery and what is he looking for?" 12) There is a ring of mountains just southwest of Sandol. The Guild is there. 13) The wizard is trying to figure out what the secret ingredient for the turnip beer is. 14) Have you been everywhere in the Ducal Dungeons? 15) There are four town quests available, in Sandol, Mironville, Barth, and Clear Keep. 16) Check out the chest in the temple. (Beware! It's trapped.) 17) However, conveyor belts can move objects as well as people. 18) The object of the puzzle is to get a glass bead to the rune. 19) Say "frop" to Jean. (She's in the southern part of the village.) 20) Give up? Look at the next hint to find out which buttons to press. 21) It can be hard to see in the dark, but you can find it soon after you enter the caverns. 22) The labels are numbers, but none of them match the combination you found. Perhaps you can derive the combination from those numbers somehow? 23) Have you thoroughly searched the Pit of Terror, under the Watery Caverns? 24) You may have noticed that there are switches scattered around the cavern. Pay attention to their labels. 25) There's a lot of ground to cover. Take note of Number 5's suggestions. 26) You'll need an Island Pass. There are two places to find one. One is at an outdoor encounter at (53, 78) in Central Sharabo. 27) If you want to know how to get into the Inner Chambers, look at the hints for the question, "How do I get into the Inner Chambers?" 28) Once you're done, ask the commander in the Ducal Docks for "permission" and he'll let you through. 29) If you tell the name of the ingredient to Carter, he'll tell you a juicy secret about Matthews. 30) Read the sign outside the Chambers. 31) You need to put the glass bead on the conveyor belt. 32) Barth is a hotbed of Resistance activity. Try talking to people there. 33) There's an obelisk at (28, 5) you can look at. 34) Flip switches 2, 4, and 32. 35) There's a portcullis you can't go through -- yet. 36) Unfortunately, the Guild is no longer in Sandol. 37) Have you visited the Brewery yet? 38) You can't buy a boat, but you can get someone to transport you on his. 39) Talk to Carter in Barth. He's looking for the ingredient too. 40) After completing the quests, the grateful fellow who assigned it to you will let you know that he's told Rubacus of your deeds. 41) Have you been in the Inner Chambers? 42) You'll need "proper attire". Have you seen anything any of the Ducal Guards might wear? 43) You can't get on the conveyor belt itself. 44) You've already talked to everyone in the Resistance in Barth. You now need to find someone who's worked for Rubacus before. 45) If you just got the password from Number 5, go to hint 32. Otherwise, go to hint 5. 46) The combination can be obtained by adding the values of various switches. 47) If you flip the switches whose values add up to the combination, that might do the trick. 48) The portcullis isn't everything in the Pit that has to do with the storage key. 49) The coordinates for these switches are at (58, 31), (7, 24), and (32, 47). 50) Maybe those buttons have something to do with the belts. 51) The graffiti gives some clues. 52) Simply having the robes in your possession won't get you through. 53) It helps to map this puzzle out on paper. 54) Search one of the cells. 55) The coordinates refer to sections of conveyor belt affected by various buttons. Pressing a button reverses a section of conveyor belt at the coordinates given by the graffiti. 56) One of the cells has a passage leading to a body with a message on it. 57) Where's this Kramer? Try looking in the towns of the province. 58) You can then pull the lever at (42, 54) to open the gate. (Look for a secret passage to the lever!) 59) There's a conveyor belt bug which occurs after you restore a saved game in which objects on a conveyor belt don't move. If you have version 1.0.0 of the scenario, you need to restore an earlier save game to fix the problem. Sorry. (If you don't have an old save file, you can also use the "Leave Town" command in the Character Editor to escape the dungeon. You can re-enter Swampy Mountain and get another ride to Nado from 'D' at Karthag's Leap. Back up your save files in any case.) For later versions, step on the teleporting rune, leave the level, then return. The conveyor belts should then work properly. 60) The town you're looking for is Mironville. 61) If you flip the switches in the Watery Caverns whose values add up to 13, you can get through that portcullis in the Pit of Terror. 62) And another thing: Make sure your characters are strong. When you find the key, you'll find others who aren't willing to part with it... 63) For example, the first button (the one in the leftmost position in the first row), when pressed, reverses the conveyor belt section at coordinates (16, 21). 64) What does the number you got mean? Where else have you seen a number like that used as a combination? 65) Map out the conveyor belt maze using the directions in the graffiti, and figure out which sections are affected by which buttons. 66) Check out all the containers you find on the palace level. 67) Resurrection balm is it. But Canastan doesn't seem to care if you tell him this... 68) You only need to do three. 69) The ingredients are ember flowers. What's made from that? 70) However, someone else cares. 71) He's figured out that the essence of a flower growing on one of the islands in the lake is in the beer. 72) If you have the Flight spell, try exploring the islands in the lake. One of them has a special where you can pick some alchemical ingredients. 73) You'll have to scratch other people's backs before they'll scratch yours. 74) It's pretty close to Sandol, though. 75) One is at an outdoor encounter at (53, 78) in Central Sharabo. 76) There is no number 76. 77) Press 1, 2, and 6. 78) While you're there, don't forget to have a few drinks. You'll learn something important.