Path: alcyone!uuwest!goonsquad.spies.com!netline-fddi.jpl.nasa.gov!nntp-server.caltech.edu!ferrari.mst6.lanl.gov!newshost.lanl.gov!ncar!gatech!newsjunkie.ans.net!news0.cybernetics.net!cybernetics.net!alight From: alight@cybernetics.net (A. Light) Newsgroups: alt.games.omega,rec.games.roguelike.misc Subject: Spoilers Message-ID: <3n2rdp$gfk@news0.cybernetics.net> Date: 19 Apr 1995 11:16:09 GMT Organization: Cybernetx, Inc. Lines: 1353 NNTP-Posting-Host: server0.cybernetics.net Since there have been fairly frequent requests lately for this sort of thing, and although this is a little old, I don't know of anyone writing spoilers for the current version, so I'll post this. It should be noted that this is for an older version, and therefore is not accurate for current versions -- nonetheless, a lot has stayed the same, so you may find it useful. Distribute freely and all that. Alan -------- SPOILERS ALERT! SPOILERS ALERT! SPOILERS ALERT! OMEGA SPOILERS FILE *** ** ** ***** *** ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *** * **** * * * * * * ** * * *** * * ***** *** * * Well, it doesn't match the Nethack Spoilers opening, but it will have to do. Imagine a nice fanfare and all. Maybe a marching band or two. Omega Spoilers, Version 1.10, last updated 3 May 1994. CONTENTS:\\ Table of Contents: Contents -- This section. Introduction -- The next section, gives a brief introduction to the game. Map -- A map of the Omegan countryside. Wishing -- How to wish and what to wish for. Artifacts -- The special objects in the game. Advancement -- How to advance within the Guilds. Guilds -- Other stuff about the Guilds. Dungeons -- Lists the important level for different dungeons, and what to do at each. Robbery -- How rob people, houses, the castle, and so forth. *Scams -- How to criminally exploit known bugs in versions prior to .75. Spells -- A list of the spells and what they are used for. Other than Artifacts, only real list, as these are the most important things in the game. Stones -- How to use stones (in villages) to increase stats. Misc -- Miscellaneous Information that is helpful. Library -- Information about Rampart Public, including four full documents. *Challenge -- About the Adept's Challenge. Strategy -- One suggested strategy of Fronk Taylor's. Final Notes -- Final Notes (of course), credits and so forth. The two entries with an asterisk should be avoided by those who want to leave a few things unknown. Each entry title is in all capitals and is followed by a colon and two slashes to make a search easier. See below for example. INTRODUCTION:\\ The OMEGA SPOILERS FILE is brought to you by that same group of fine people who brought you the WCST Nethack Spoilers. With one big difference. alight, who edited this file, is far more random than water, so you could find anything anywhere. On the other hand, this file is short enough you might just be able to sit down and read it. This is a reference manual for Omega. It is meant as a guide and is by no means exhaustive. Repeat, THIS IS ONLY A GUIDE, and is NOT EXHAUSTIVE. Furthermore, it isn't even necessarily correct. Omega is a game in the tradition of rogue and the other dungeon games, but Omega has far more features than the other games of this type, a far greater reliance on magic rather than hacking and slashing, several dungeons and other settings, a superior (if hard to learn at first) inventory, and all sorts of bugs that its competitors can only dream about. To begin the game, choose to play yourself and then lie outrageously on all the questions. No stats should be less than 18. It can of course be challenging to create a weaker character. Also remember that the game is much easier if you can copy save files. If it weren't for this, we'd never have figured out all this information. Not even using wizard mode. Even if you start off well in this game, there are a lot of stupid deaths, like walking in the direction 'y', and then when the confirm comes to walk into a pit of lava or such... Please note that some of this information may not be applicable to all versions of omega. I have tried to root out the information that is only applicable to the local version at Wheaton College (where Paul Waterman fixed many of the bugs), but some of that information may have slipped through. Please note that I have only begun to explore version .75 (the last official release), so much information is lacking about it. As a final note, these spoilers are incomplete enough that if you read them, you should still have plenty of other obscure stuff to learn in the game. However, hopefully they will be helpful for a new or experienced player. MAP:\\ With a little editing, this map will fit on one 66 line page. This is a map of the Omegan Countryside: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +^^^^^%^^^^^^^^^^^^^---^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^((((((------^^^^^^^^^~~^^ ++^^~^^v^^^---------------((((((((((((((((((--------^^^^^^~~~~~^ +++^^~^^v^^------------(((((((((((((((((((((((((------^^^~~~~|~^ ++++^^~^^v^------((((((((((((((^^^((((((((((------------^^^~v~~^ ++++^~^^v^^----------((((((((((^5^((((((((-------.......b~~^~~~^ ++++^^~a^^--------------(((((((^(^(((((---------.------~~^^^^^^^ +++----~.......-----------((((((((((-----------.------~~--^^^^^^ ++++--~--------.......------((((((((((((------.-------~^^^^^^^^^ +++++++---------------.......(((((((((-------.--------~~--^^^^^^ +++++++----------------------......-.........--------~~-----^^^^ +++++++++--------------((((((((((((c(((((((------^^3~~------^^^^ ++++++++++++---------------(((((((.(((((((------^^^~~-------^^^^ ++++++++++-------((((((((((((((((.(((((((((((((^^^-~~-------^^^^ +++++++----------------(((((((((.(((((((((---^^^----~~------^^^^ ++++++++++++--------------((((.(((((((((--^^^-----~~---^^^^^^^^ ++++++++++++++++--------------.--------^^^^^------~~---^^^^^^^^^ +++++++++++++++++++----------.------^^^^---------~~---^^^^^^^^^^ ++++++++++++++++++++++++----.---v^^^^^^^^-((((--~~----------^^^^ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++O--^^^v^^^((((((((((((~~---^^^^^^^^^^ +++++++++++++-------------.----^^^v^(((((((((((((~~(----^^^^^^^^ ++++++++++---------------.-^^^^^^(((((((((((((((~~((--------^^^^ ++++++++++++++++++++++...-^*^^^^(((((((((((((((~~((((((-----^^^^ ++++++++++++++++++-...-----^^^-(((((((((((((((~~(((((((((---^^^^ +++++++++++++-----.------^^^^((((((((((((((((~~(((((((((----^^^^ ++++++++++-------.-----^^^^--((((((((((((((~~~(((((((((-----^^^^ ++++++++++++++++.------^^^-------(((((((((~~(((((((((((((---^^^^ +++++++++++++++.------^^^---((((((((((((((~~(((((((--------^^^^^ +++++++++++++++.-----^^^(((((((((((((((~~~~(((((((-------^^^^^^^ +++++++++++++--.------vvv(((((((((((~~~~(((((((((-------^^^"^^^^ +++++++++++++++.-----^1^-------((~~~~((((((((((((((--^^^^^""^^^^ +++++++++++++++.------^^^-----((~~~((((((((((((((((-^^^"""""^^^^ ++++++++++-----.----^^^------(((((~~(((((((((---^^^^""""""""^^^^ ++++++++-------.----^^^-(((((((((((~((((((((((((--^"""""""^^^^^^ ++++++---------.-----^^^(((((((((((~~((((((((((--^^^""""""""$^^^ +++++++++++++++.----^^-(((((((((((~~((((((((((--^^^"""""""""^^^^ +++++++++++++++.-----^^^^((((((((~~(((((((((-------""""""""^^^^^ ++++++++++++---.----^^^(((((((~~~~(((((((-----^^""""""""""""^^^^ +++++++++++++++.---^^^-(((~~~~~(((((((------^^^"""""""""""""^^^^ +++++++++++++++.---^^^^~~~~(((((----------^^^"""""""""""""""^^^^ ++++++++++d....-...~~~~~-((((((((((-----^^^^""""""""""""""""^^^^ ++++++++++++++~~~~~.e==-------------^^^^""""""""""""""""^^^^^^^^ ++++++++++++=====~==~======----^^^^^^^^^"""""""""""""""""""^^^^^ +++++++++++=====~====~====---------------f""""""""""""""^^^^^^^^ +++++++++++++++~====~====-^^-------^^^^^^"""""""""""""""""""^^^^ +++++++++++++++====~====-^^------^^^"""""""""2"""""""""""---^^^^ +++++++++++++=====~4~===---^-----^^"""""""""""---^^^^-------^^^^ ++++++++++=======~==~====---------^^"""""""""--^^-----------^^^^ +++++++++++++===~====~====--^--------""""""---^^-)))-^^-----^^^^ ++++++++++++===~======~===---^^^^------------^^~)))))--^^---^^^^ +++++++++++++++======~======-----^^^------^----)~)))))--^^^-^^^^ +++++++++++++++=====~===^=======--~~~^^^-^---))))~))))))----^^^^ ++++++++++++++=====~=============~~=~~~~^^))))))))~))))))))-^^^^ +++++++++++++++===~=~~~~~~=====~~~~====^^^^)))))))~)))))))^^^^^^ ++++&++++++++++==~========~~~~~~==~~~~===^^^)))))))~))))))))^^^^ +++++=+++++++===~=~=========~===~~===~~~~~~^^)))))))~)))))^^^^^^ ++++++=++++++++~===~===^===~===~=====~====^^^^)))))))~))))))^^^^ +++++++=+++++++====~~=====~===^=======~====^^)))))))))~)))))^^^+ ++++++++=+========~==~===~===^!^=======~===^^^))+++)))~)))^^^^++ +++++++++=++=====~====~=~~====^=======~=~=^^^)))+6+))~)))^^^^+++ ++++++++++++====~======~==~++++======~===~==^^))+++))~^^^^^+++++ ++++++++++++++++========~++++++++===~====~^^^^^^^+^^^~^^++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Usual: O The City of Rampart o A town (symbol used in game) X A temple (symbol used in game) . Well maintained road + Sea of Chaos (deadly to lawful characters) ^ Mountain ~ water (river) ( forest ) forest = swamp - plains " steppes of time (a.k.a. The Waste of Time ;-) v secret mountain pass Will have to search for these passes on the map (using the 's' command). Similarly, some other features will have to be searched for. The Unusual: Using Amulet of the Planes: * The Goblin Caves -- Rampart is closest % The Archmage's Castle -- Thaumaris is closest | Star Peak -- Star View is closest & Island of the Eater of Magic -- Temple of the Hidden Moon is closest. ! Hellwell Volcano -- Temple of the Hidden Moon is closest. $ Dragon's Lair -- Skorch is closest, but you have to walk across a BIG desert. It may be better to walk from Rampart. 1 Temple of Odin -- Temple of the Noose 2 Temple of Set -- Temple of the Black Hand 3 Temple of Athena -- The Parthenon 4 Temple of Hecate -- Temple of the Hidden Moon 5 Temple of Druidism -- Woodhenge 6 Temple of Destiny -- Temple of Destiny a The Village of Thaumaris b The Village of Star View The towns are shown as the symbol c The Village of Woodmere "o" in the game. The letters on this d The Village of Stormwatch map are only for identification. e The Village of Whorfen Similarly, the temples are designated f The Village of Skorch "X" but have been numbered here. WISHING:\\ You can wish with a spell of wishing, a wish from a good fairy, a scroll of wishing, or casting ritual magic in a Shrine to High Magic. Unlike the 'M' and 'm' commands, Wishing requires the full word to be typed out, with the first letter capitolized and the rest lower case. You can NOT use a shortened form. If it is not exactly right the first time, you do NOT get a second chance. In fact, you do not get anything at all. NOTE: This is NOT correct for version .75. There are several things that can no longer be wished for, including Mana and the various stats. See also the LIBRARY section, the document of high magic. Research at the "Library" reveals that these are the things you can wish for: *Mana -- Ten times current maximum mana Health -- Ten times current maximum hitpoints Wealth -- Ten thousand gold pieces Knowledge -- Learn spell or makes spell easier to cast *Strength Constitution Dexterity Agility Intelligence Power -- Each randomly adds between one and five to corresponding stat Death -- Pretty simple, die by a death wish Location -- Works like Amulet of the Planes Balance, Law, and Chaos -- quick way to make yourself neutral, lawful, chaotic Skill -- Gain an Experience Level Summoning -- Just like the summoning spell. Cannot choose whom to summon. Destruction -- Lightning comes down and kills everything, self included Acquisition -- Can come in handy. Spell works as well in regular play. The spell or the wish can come in handy during the Adept's Challenge. * Wishes marked with an asterisk can not be wished for in version .75. To gain a stat other than intelligence, visit the gymnasium. To gain intelligence, visit the library. I think you can still wish for Power. Acquisition and a few objects: In regular play there is no choice as to what you get from Acquisition. In Wiz mode, a prompt asks what you want with these choices: !?][}{)/=%\ A blessed scroll of acquisition will give these choices in regular play. The key is as follows: ! Potions -- normal stuff. ? Scrolls -- normal stuff ] Armour -- You can get some good stuff here. #15 & #16 are good for sure. [ Shield -- #8 -- shield of deflection. Monsters miss you a whole lot } Cloaks -- Cloak of Negimunity, easy to get elsewhere, keeps mana from being drained. Cloak of Displacement causes monsters to miss you a lot. Cloak of sharpness is also quite nice. Cloak of invisibility is ok but really not that helpful. True sight is also ok but the ring is better. Cloaks can be torn or disintegrated easily. Never wear a cloak into rubble or a hedge. { Boots -- Normal stuff, Levitation is real nice for walking on water, but boots of Levitation are pretty common. Seven League boots are REAL nice for use in the countryside. Almost a necessity. Walk anywhere in the countryside, no time taken. Searching, however, does take time. Quite difficult to starve while wearing these. Boots of Heroism are fairly common but still worthwhile since they add to fighting ability and speed. ) Weapons -- Easy to get a +10 Victrix. Don't use scythe of death, it will kill you on the backswing even if you throw it. However, get a whole bunch, enchant and bless a whole load up to +21 (Quite a few will explode, but if you have at least sixty or so, it's worth it) See the section on scams to find out why this is useful. Defenders (if you are lawful?) are quite nice. Most of these are available in the Dragon's Lair (which is probably more worthwhile than wishing unless you just happen to get a scroll of acquisition). Firestars cast a firebolt spell on whatever you attack (only if it is chaotic?) in addition to their normal damage. / Staffs & Wands -- There may be other references in this file to the staff of summoning. In our local version, Paul created a new bug while getting rid of the old one. Apparently a blessed scroll of summoning is supposed to allow you a choice of what to summon, but the old bug did not allow any choice. While correcting this bug, Paul accidentally caused the staff of summoning to do the same thing. Please note that references to this choice of summoning are of little use to you. As of version .75, there is still no choice of summoning -- not even with a blessed scroll. Dispelling and enchantment are good, but like the other useful staffs, there are spells that work as well or better. The staff of enchantment requires a day to recharge. Summoning is definitely the most important staff in the game. They are not too difficult to find. = Rings -- fire resistance proves helpful at times. Protection, strength, and poison resistance are also nice. Gaze immunity is nice but you need it so rarely there is no point in bothering. True sight is very handy. Some rings are better if enchanted -- i.e., protection and strength. % Food -- only get it from a wish if you're about to starve. Actually if you are about to die of poison (or disease?) lembas can be quite handy. I haven't figured out exactly what imunotabs do. The other two types of tablets are very useful, but it's been so long I forget which does what, but I do remember that one gives temporary strength (or was it Hit Points) and another increases Mana. \ Other stuff -- this includes gold bars, emeralds, magic key, thieve's pick, and bucket of salt water. All in all not worth it. (Of course, always remember to carry some salt water around trifids.) Unfortunately, you cannot get artifacts this way except in wizard mode, though there is a random chance of getting an artifact when there is no choice as to the acquisition. Speaking of artifacts: Please note that the Key of Kolwynia and the Amulet of the Planes are extremely helpful to winning the game. ARTIFACTS:\\ Amulet of the Plains: Obtained from the Demon Emperor at Hellwell Volcano, this amulet, when activated, requires 100 Mana and will list all the cities and temples and ask which one to go to. VERY HELPFUL, may be most important object in the game. The Juggernaut of Karnak: Can only be used once. When activated, this will clear out ALL obstacles in a given direction. It will ask the direction. Orbs of Mastery and of the four elements: Must have all five before anything can be done with them. Once all are acquired (from the Masters of all four elements and of the void, all found on the Astral Plane, which can be reached with the help of the oracle -- pickpocketing is useful) activate the Orb of Mastery. The correct response to the question given is 'm' for mix. This will give you double all your stats. Depending on the bugs in your version, you may be able to summon the masters over and over again, doubling your stats each time using the same method. If you do so, be careful because you may wrap your stats. When you wrap your stats, you'll probably find that you lack the strength to carry much of anything at all. Amulet of Yendor: Does nothing. Symbol of your deity (high priest only): Heals you Symbol of your former deity (former high priest only): Brings godsfire Symbol of a deity whose high priest you have pickpocketed: Worth a lot of money and will become your symbol if you become high priest. Does nothing if activated. Kolwynia, the Key that was lost: Know all spells. Doubles Power. Can get several times by pickpocketing Archmage (must have good dexterity). Each time it is used, will make spells easier to cast. Since the spell of wishing can only be used once after learning it, use it before you learn it again, so that you can have more wishes. You MUST IDENTIFY this artifact EACH TIME before you activate it. Otherwise you will be killed in a Mana storm. Sceptre of High Magic: At Archmages castle, talk to Archmage after pickpocketing him. Wield Sceptre as weapon before sitting on throne. Will give you +3 Strength first. After leaving Castle and returning to Rampart, can do whole thing over. Each time you will get +3 to the next statistic in line. Don't know what happens after +3 Power. Activating sceptre (once a day only) takes you to the archmages throneroom. Crystal Ball: May work only once or like a lot of objects, need to be regenerated 24 hrs before reuse. Object and Monster detection. New York Subway Map: Does nothing as far as we know; you activate the item and . . . nothing seems to happen. It could however do something obscure. Potion of Life: Doubles Hit Points Potion of Death: Kills you Justiciar's Badge: Well, it's helpful for becoming shadowlord. We don't know if it does anything else. Demon Emperor's Regalia: Ditto except that its for becoming commandant. ADVANCEMENT:\\ Advancement within Guilds is dependent on the amount of experience gained _since_you_joined_that_guild_, not overall experience. But for the final honour as leader of a guild, the player must complete some quest _and_ have a higher total experience level than whoever the last player who became leader of that guild was. Here I treat only the objects of the final quest. Objects required for advancement in different guilds: Religions: Bring back the symbol of another religion as required by your deity or order. If Set, Odin's, and vice versa. If Athena, Hecate's, and vice versa. If Druids, any. If Destiny, Destiny's. Castle: Five quests, including: 1) Becoming famous enough to gain entrance to the castle (gain a few levels), 2) Getting the head of the Goblin King. 3) Getting a Holy Defender (estoc) from the Great Wyrm on level twenty of the sewers. 4) Getting dragon scale armour, which it may be necessary to kill a dragon to do (whatever you do, don't kill the dragon lord or you won't be able to go to his lair and loot it repeatedly. Besides, The Dragon Lord's Armour won't do anyway), 5) Getting the Orb of Mastery (you will be allowed to keep this one, the others will be taken from you). Palladins: Return the Star Gem (from the lowest level of the Astral Plane) to the Law Bringer. Thieve's Guild: Get the Justiciar's badge. Collegium Magii: Bring back the Heart of the Eater of Magic. He lives on an island (see map). Do NOT use Energy Drain. Use clairvoyance to find him (and/or Monster detection) and use disrupt to kill him and his friends. Mercenary's Guild: Bring back the Demon Emperor's Regalia from HellWell Volcano. He also has the amulet of the planes. Once again, do NOT use energy drain (on the Demon Emporer). The lesser demons and monsters here are of no importance -- seek out the Emporer and kill him, to get the Regalia and the Amulet of the Plains. The Amulet of the Plains is one of the most useful objects in the game. Sorceror's Guild: The LawBringer's Crown from the LawBringer on Star Peak. GUILDS:\\ Miscellaneous about guilds: Gladiators -- the arena: Join and 1) Make more money than non-registered gladiators, 2) Kill the champion and obtain his +10 Victrix, and 3) Get credit to work out at the gym. Order of the Paladins, Mercenary's Guild, and Gladiator's Guild are all mutually exclusive. To counter this, a player can be thrown out of a Guild. A Palladin can do something unlawful, like robbing the safe in the castle at any hour other than 11-12 P.M. (even if he is the Duke of Rampart and owns the castle) but he should never never get caught stealing or he will be thrown out of the guild and never allowed to return. It goes on his permanent record (self-knowledge/oracle mirror as "Washout"). Gladiators, after becoming arena champion, simply leave before the fight is over (use shadowform or disintegrate spells) to be expelled. The Amulet of the planes may also have the same effect. Mercs -- As far as we know, you cannot get kicked out. If you play a system where you want to become the head of every guild and get on the high scoreboard everywhere (as some players do) then you should plan on making this the last guild you enter. Thieve's Guild -- A must. Allows you to determine the identity of objects, and gets you good prices for many objects you wish to sell. Must be at least mildly unlawful when you join, but does not require a consistent alignment afterwards. Must search many closed doors to find the den, but the door will not be locked. Must visit at night, as there are no thieves around during the day. General guidlines: Starting out as a paladin is usually easiest. However, if you do plan on switching, you may need to start out as a gladiator to avoid screwing up the high scoreboard (there was a bug but it may be fixed now). Remember, only the Paladin's Guild and the Sorceror's Guild require a consistent alliance. Your alignment will be checked each time you return to home base. The sorcerors will even attack you if you return there while lawful. You can however join the Thieve's guild and remain a Paladin by switching alliances briefly. The thieves' only check you the first time. To be safe, visit the mirror before each trip to the order. In return for your lawfulness you get: a blessed spear +1 when you sign up, each time you visit you get a free meal, full healing of wounds, a new horse (if you lost your old one), and some nice stuff if you happen to gain a level. The Gladiators give out free tickets to the gym, nice but not that great, lousy equipment for starters, a fair amount of money, and the blessed victrix at the top. Not too bad. The mercs give some decent equipment and great money but still nothing special. Overall the Order of the Paladin's is probably the best, especially if you wish to play a lawful character. The Thieve's Guild is helpful, even essential, regardless of your alliance. DUNGEONS:\\ (and so forth) The target level is the level at which the main object of that "dungeon" dwell. For example, it is the Demon Emperor in Hellwell Volcano. The game does not allow you to warp directly to these levels, so a guide is also given for which level you can warp to. How to get to target level at various dungeons: Dungeon: Target Level: Warp to: Star Peak 1 ------ Island of the Eater of Magic 1 ------ Dragon's Lair 1 ------ Sewers 18 17 Hellwell Volcano 20 19 Goblin Caves 10 9 The Archmage's Castle Throne Room 15, stairs to 16, go through Magic Portal (looks like down stairs) The Astral Plane 6 Don't, need objects from each level. However, all but the Star Gem can be obtained through summoning. If you want to skip the elementals, warp to 5. ROBBERY:\\ Klaxon alarms: be very careful. No matter where they are, they always get all the Guards after you. This is especially bad in Rampart, as there is no way to make peace with the Guards after a first offense, and sometimes even if it is a first offense. If it happens in a town, (i.e., not Rampart) just leave and come back. Shadowform and Teleport are useful here. Jail: If thrown in jail, a breakout can be arranged with the help of shadowform, teleport, or disintegration spells (disintegrate the walls). A garage door opener (the grey box with a red button) will also work, but as they only work once, do not re-enter the cell. The door will slam shut again. There is a rumour that sufficiently chaotic characters may get off with the help of mob lawyers. (This has been verified.) How to rob the castle: Shadowform is nice to simply walk through the walls. I am not sure if disintegration will work on the castle, but if so, the wall can be disintegrated and then passed through to get to the water. The water can be crossed if you are breathing (powered combat or scout suits do this, as well as a potion and a spell), on horseback, levitating, or if fire is used to evaporate the water. While in the moat, start searching. One of the blocks will be a secret door. Enter and keep on searching all the way to a vault door. There will be traps along the passageway. When the vault is reached, do *not* try to open it unless it is 11-12 P.M., in which case it will have been opened for you. Once opened, search everything well. Should be message that vault is open. *Every* space will have a Klaxon trap. Lots of goodies here. How to rob the bank: Go to bank, O)pen account, enter password, Deposit some money, e(X)it. Go back, enter P)assword, but enter it wrong. When told to hit space bar, hit anything BUT spacebar. Will then recieve probably greater than 1000, less than 4000 gold pieces (usually around 3000). WARNING: This bank cannot be used for the rest of the game. It is nice to leave some money in if you can swing it, so that passing robbers won't be able to get your savings. It is generally not advisable to rob houses until the character is a somewhat high level. However, many players will find house robbing somewhat boring by the time they have reached a fairly high level. SCAMS:\\ WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! *********************BEGINNING*OF MASSIVE*SPOILERS*********************** ********AND WE DO MEAN MASSIVE******** NOTE: THESE SCAMS WILL NOT WORK IN VERSION .75 (Alas!) The first scam will not work unless the code is changed so that a particular monster can be summoned, or if you want to just randomly summon monsters until Death happens to come along. The staff of summoning is a local thing. There are two major scams in omega. The first is to gain experience -- The character Death was meant to only appear at the Adept's Challenge, but it happens that Death can be summoned with a staff of summoning. For a strong character, especially one using sanctuary for defence and disrupt, energy drain, or hellfire for offence, Death is rather easy to kill. If you do not have the ability to cast sanctuary, you can always summon death next to a barrier such as water, and then cross over before commencing the magic attack. Make sure there is no way for Death to get around though. Every time Death is killed, he is stronger when he returns to life (the next turn -- no waiting in Omega, it's a first class game). This means that more and more experience is gained each time you kill Death. It is not at all difficult to gain 150 or more levels of experience with each summon of Death. Because you can't really make Death go away permanently when you're finished with him, fight him in a town rather than Rampart. This is because whereas in Rampart the configurations for the individual games are saved, the towns are reconfigured every time the player re-enters them. This means that after you leave and come back, Death is no longer there to give you problems. On our local game, we regularly have players at an experience level in excess of 10,000. Now this takes a lot of time to beat, because Death has to be re-summoned so often, and is generally not worth it if it can be avoided. But keep in mind that each time Death dies, he leaves behind a Scythe of Death. Be careful never to use a Scythe of Death, because it will kill you on the backswing even if you throw it. Every time. However, collect enough Scythes of Death, and enchant them to about +21, and they sell at a very high price. Which brings us to the second scam: NOTE: This scam will work on versions prior to .75, but not in v. .75. The two-handed weapon scam: The Scythe of Death is the best to get, but any two-handed weapon will do. This scam gets enormous amounts of wealth (easily 2 or 3 million gold) fairly quickly. Basically you can keep doubling the amount of two-handed weapons you have. Do this in town so you can 'M' to the pawn shop to sell them. After getting a large amount, use the enchant spell to enchant them to around +21 (or even higher if you wish, but there is a higher chance of exploding the higher one goes). Don't worry if there is an explosion, because only one of the weapons will actually explode -- the others will be in perfect shape. The thing to be aware of is if the explosions are wearing down your hit points. Hopefully this bug hasn't been fixed ;-) It may have been in the latest version ;-( Anyway: Wield your two-handed weapon. It should take up slots a and b. Save the game. Restore the game. Go into your inventory and use `p' to put the weapon in slot a into your pack. If the weapon still remains in slot b as well, then the scam is working. Go to slot b. t)ake the other weapon, that is, the one you just put into your pack, back out of your pack. You may have to fiddle around with it a bit here, but you should be able to get one into the 'up in the air' slot, and then combine them using 'e' so that you now are wielding *2* two-handed weapons. Save game again. Repeat process indefinitely. The number of weapons will double each time. Enchant and sell for big bucks. With the big bucks, you can buy that condo and get most of your spells down to needing only one mana. Then you can buy all sorts of neat armour and weapons. If you can't get the scythes yet, some axes and swords are also two-handed, and work just as well. In some very old versions of the game, there is a well-known bug known as the scroll/potion-on-finger cheat. By putting a scroll or potion in one of the slots reserved for rings, you will get the effect without losing the potion or scroll. The same on removing it. I will let you figure out what scrolls and potions are most useful. *************************END*OF*MASSIVE*SPOILERS************************ WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! SPELLS:\\ This should be pretty complete. Spells are essential to omega. Some are very powerful. When casting a spell (with the 'm' command), you do not have to spell out the whole thing -- you need only type enough letters to differentiate the spell you wish to cast from the other spells you know. Hence, if your only spell is disintegration, you need only type 'd'. However, if you also have dispell or disrupt, you would have to type 'disi'. The numbers shown in parentheses is the amount of mana needed for the spell. This number is halved each time you relearn the spell, unless you relearn the spell from the Key of Kolwynia or from a guild, deity, or other group. If a spell is relearned this way, it has no effect whatsoever on the game. Many of the spells are directional or need to have a target given. The same code that is used to e(x)amine a square is used for targeting a spell. monster detection (03) Detect monsters in area. object detection (03) Detect objects in area. clairvoyance (10) See an area remotely. fear (10) Put fear into an enemy. identification (10) Identify objects. magic missile (10) Minor combat spell. return (10) When in a dungeon, cast this on lower level to return to first level, and cast it on the first level to return to the lowest level scored. Join the explorer's club to get this spell. self knowledge (10) Find out about yourself. alertness (15) Not sure what this really does. Resist sleep??? apportation (15) Pick up objects remotely. haste (15) Speed yourself up. healing (15) Restores hit points. invisibility (15) Make yourself invisible. sleep (15) Put enemies to sleep? accuracy (20) Might increase to-hit. breathing (20) Breath underwater or in a cloud of gas. curing (20) Cures poisoning and sickness. firebolt (20) A bolt of fire (of course). Use on enemies or to clear bushes. Does not kill trifids, so this can be used to distinguish the two, so you can walk into trifids with your salt water, and not run the risk of getting caught in a bush. heroism (20) Makes one unafraid, among other things. regeneration (20) I tested this one, and I _still_ don't know what it does. restoration (20) Same as regeneration. (Haven't a clue). A bug? summoning (20) Summon a monster. No choice of monster. teleport (20) Random teleport of self. true sight (20) See invisible. ball lightning (25) Blast a small area (several squares) with lightning. If you stand too near, it could be electrifying. levitate (25) Feeling down? This will lift you up. blessing (30) Bless objects. disrupt (30) Blast your enemies, third only to energy drain and hellfire. enchantment (30) Enchant objects. Be careful as they might explode. polymorph (30) Can polymorph yourself, but you die. Use on other creatures. disintegrate (40) Kill enemies, or clear out walls and bushes. Can use this to tell bushes from trifids. (Trifids aren't affected, most bushes are). dispelling (40) Make an incorporeal being subject to cold steel. energy drain (40) Drain enemy's hit points, gives you the hit points. Don't use on some monsters, such as the Eater of Magic or the Demon Emperor. Otherwise, one of the most powerful spells. Real fun to use on Death. desecration (50) Desecrate and destroy an altar of a deity. ritual magic (50) Various. Depends on where it is cast. In a room with a blue omega dais, it can take you to the Adept's Challenge. shadow form (50) You become incorporeal. Can walk through walls. However, can still get stuck in rubble or bushes (Can we say buggy?). Can only fight using magic. Be careful around water or lava, as confirm option automatically shuts off when in shadow form. Remember that you can use ^F to abort shadow form. As of version .75, it appears that bushes at least will not stop a player in shadow form. However, trifids will, due to their higher nature. Make sure you have your salt water! the warp (50) Warp to a different dungeon level. sanctification (75) Make an altar to your deity. sanctuary (75) Let your deity protect you from enemies. Must stay in the spot where you cast the spell. One of the best spells, but cannot fight from sanctuary, except by magic. Does not work in temples. hellfire (90) BLAST your enemies, but be sure you blast _some_ monster (not an empty space or wall, etc.) or your deity may become angry at you for wasting magic.. wishing (100) Get a wish. After one use, this spell will be lost. STONES:\\ Raising stats by worshipping stones: I am not personally familiar with this, but several players have reported it. Stones are represented by `8'. Each stone will raise one stat (Constitution, Strength, Intelligence) by up to 10 points (you can reset it and use more than once), but only to a maximum of 30. The steps to using the stone are: 1) Keep on worshipping until 10 points are added to stat. Watch out for side effects, especially: a) "You start to foam at the mouth". This is when you go berzerk. I.e., you will attack any creature in the space beside you. This is not a problem so long as you do not move next to any creature, especially Guardsmen, until you heal. If possible, wait until healed to continue worshipping stone, because of the next effect. b) "A portal opens and a confused monster appears". If this monster is too tough to deal with (which is often, early in the game), you can leave the village and reenter -- village information is reset and the monster will be gone. c) "You develop an advanced case of Leprosy". You become diseased and drop to one hitpoint. Get cured and wait for your hitpoints to return before continuing. d) "You are struck by lightning". A lot of damage. 2) After you gain the maximum you can ("the stone glows cosmic"), if that is less than 30, worship one more time. This will randomly teleport you into the countryside. Depending on conditions, have lots of food or seven-league boots handy. This will reset the stone. 3) Continue steps 1 and 2 until you reach the maximum of 30. The Stones: Lawstone: Constitution. Village of Star View. Chaos stone: Strength. Village of Stormwatch. Opal stone: Intelligence. Village of Whorfen. Sacrifice stone: Power. Village of Skorch. This stone operates differently than the others, in that you lose maximum hitpoints to gain power. Let your hitpoints become 3/4 of original value: Any lesser sacrifice and the gods frown on you, any greater sacrifice is unnecessary and likely fatal. MISC:\\ To become lawful enough for Odin or Athena to accept you, go to hospice and give 1 gold. To become chaotic enough for Set or Hecate to accept you, several things can be done. One is to rob the bank. Rob the bank after you have joined any lawful guilds you want to join. Vorpal Sword gives theft protection. However, theft is not too big of a problem for highlevel characters. Powered Scout Armor and Powered Combat Armor give breathing. These are recommended when using shadowform (because when in shadowform you are not given a warning message when you are about to walk into water, and can easily drown if you do not have BREATHING). Mithril Plate (which you get on the 4th level of the paladins) gives fear immunity. It should only be worn by lawful characters (it apparently increases lawfulness). Demonscale armor apparently increases chaos. It is usually found cursed but can still make excellent armor. Prismatrix Armor gives immunity to electric shock and a number of other things. Demonblades and Desecrators should only be used by chaotic characters. They are however very good weapons, cursed or not. The problem is that these weapons (or at least Demonblade) apparently cause any monster walking next to you to attack you until you are dead. If you are in shadowform, this will be eternity and you will have to exit the game. The only way to unwield a Demonblade is to overenchant it until it explodes. Defenders should only be used by lawful characters. If you join the Sorcerors Guild and return while not be chaotically alligned, they will kill you. Condo: Can buy it for 50,000 gold. Worth it. Can store items and rest for a week to restore stats. Can rent it for one week for ten thou. Buy it. The condo is also useful for getting rid of some bugs, as your character is reset at the end of the week. At Dragon's Lair, search for alarms at entrance to inner room. Probably safer to use shadow form to go through the south or north walls to the dragon's end of the cavern. Then use clairavoyance to see what's there. You can pick up most of it safely. Find and kill the King Wyverns with monster detection and some strong offensive spell like disrupt or hellfire. Don't walk next to the dragons! They will stay asleep as long as you don't go next to them. You can apport the items next to the dragons. You want to have used the key of Kolwynia before going here. Do not kill dragons. If dragons are left in peace, wealth will replenish itself, so future visits are worthwhile. Otherwise forget it. Use `M' command while in Rampart if your character is overloaded (weight) or if obstacles (i.e. angry guards, bushes) prevent easy access to a destination. It will not work if you are stuck (i.e. in a bush or in rubble). 'M' is like the 'm' command in that you do not have to type the entire name of the destination, only enough to differentiate from the other locations that are known. Each of the small towns will have a shop where maps of the surrounding area are sold, and several towns sell horses. After paying merchant, take a bag of grain lying around the stable and offer it to a horse to befriend it. To mount a horse you will need to t)alk to it first. Gymnasium is nice to increase stats, at the rate of 1 point per stat selected for $2000. Stat to be improved is selected by workout type selected. The two catches seem to be that it is random (~50%) chance of getting increased stat and it will only raise stats a certain amount (either 12 points max by this means, or up to 30. Not sure which). Stones can also be used to increase certain stats. See section. Backdoor to Wiz mode: This mode will not let you score. It is very helpful to find out about the game. To get into Wiz mode, go to the upper lefthand corner of Rampart which should look something like this: ###### #@.... #.#### #.#|## Where @ is the player. Use the command z (Bash) and the direction 'y' (or 7). Might be the direction 'b' (or 1) in some versions. You may also get an option to try out Wiz mode during a freak storm in the countryside. But it's been a while, so don't take it as gospel truth. ctrl-w maps the level in dungeons (though clairvoyance is easier to use) and ctrl-x allows a wish. Some actions gain experience in large doses. Among these is pouring salt on trifids (walk into trifids while a bucket of salt water is in inventory), going to the cat house, and bashing or desecrating [bashing may gain more and you don't have to be as high of a level to use it effectively] non-aligned altars (must be aligned yourself). As for the trifids -- do not combine your buckets of salt water into one slot, or they will all be used at once. You may keep the salt water in your pack, but once again, do not combine them. LIBRARY:\\ At Rampart Public Library. Research costs 1000 Au. (I have now been informed that cost depends on Intelligence level, and is only 50 Au at a level of 3 -- I am not sure how this is better than starting with a higher level and not having to make up ground, except that with option e, advanced research, you can gain intelligence, and at the lower cost you may be able to go further for less cost.) You will have 5 choices. Below are the complete documents you would see if you were to make choices a-d. Peruse a scroll: -------- a: Omegan Theology You unfurl an ancient, yellowing scroll... Theogony of Omega, being an explication of the Ways of the Gods of Omega. Know ye, O ignorant ones, that Omega is the battleground of the mighty forces of Law and Chaos. Powerful are the Champions and Avatars of the two great forces, but most powerful of all are the Gods who, it is rumored, have been summoned from other planes to represent the two forces. On the side of Law: Odin, God of Vengeance -- followers of Odin vow to eradicate the taint of chaos wherever it may be found. Odin rewards his faithful with the power to strike strong blows against the Legions of Chaos. Athena, Goddess of Justice -- devotees of Athena, while prepared to fight the forces of chaos, choose a more intellectual approach to the battle, marshalling the more subtle powers of magic in their striving. On the side of Chaos: Set, God of Destruction -- worshippers of Set will follow any path to destroy and corrupt Law and its minions. Set teaches his followers powers equally as potent as those of Odin. Hecate, Goddess of Illusion -- Hecate matches Athena's wisdom with deception, and matches Athena's defensive powers with destructive abilities. Followers of any of these deities must be careful to keep to the true path -- the wrath of a God is fearsome.... It is also said the Gods are jealous -- honoring another deity, even of the same alignment, is an extremely bad idea. On the other hand, any act against a God of the opposite alignment would be looked on kindly by your patron deity. It should be noted that there are still other Gods of Omega. The Druids think themselves beyond the struggles of Law and Chaos and attempt to maintain a Balance between the two -- they are despised by all the aligned Gods. The ArchDruid is said to command powers greater than any other cleric. The mysterious Lords of Destiny are said to preside over the struggles of Law and Chaos as a referee rules a bout. Their powers are said to be extremely subtle and pervasive, and while no one has ever seen this power displayed, the self-appointed clerics of these mysterious beings claim great abilities. Certain it is that the aligned Gods have never acted against the followers of the Lords of Destiny, though whether this is because of their power, or because they offer no threat, is unknown. -------- b: Guide to Rampart You unroll a slick four-color document... Welcome to Rampart! A guidebook of the Rampart Tourist Association. Rampart is the sole city in this area of LOCUS, a bastion which the wild forces of both Law and Chaos cannot breach. Within the town there is a truce between the followers of Law and Chaos which is hardly ever broken. The visitor to Rampart will enjoy a wide range of divertissements, from shopping at Rampart's diverse assortment of shops, to attending games at the Rampart Coliseum, to a relaxing picnic at the Botanical Gardens. Distinguished visitors may apply for an audience with the Duke, who is said to be the greatest courtier on LOCUS. Others spend their nights (and days) gambling at the Rampart Casino. The traveller who intends a longer stay in Rampart should check out the various guilds, societies, and clubs which protect and employ almost all the citizenry. The Commandant of the Mercenary Guild is always hiring, just for example. Many travellers are attracted to the Collegium Magii -- scholarships are available to the qualified. A few cautions should be offered to the unwary. Rampart's sewer system is dangerous, and while there is ABSOLUTELY NO TRUTH to the rumors of treasure-filled dungeons and caverns beneath the city, many disappearances each year are attributed to unauthorized excursions beneath the city. For the larcenous-minded, be warned that Rampart's City Guard is uncorruptible. It is just a matter of time, promises Morgon the Justiciar, until the secret hideout of the Thieves' Guild is uncovered.... But these warnings are surely unnecessary for the vast majority of our visitors who will be perfectly safe if they act with reasonable caution.... -------- c: High Magick This scroll is written in a strange magical script... Being un Explication et Tretys on ye Powers of Hy Magick. It ys whysper'd among the dark mages of Kulthar and also ye Gnomes of Zrenheim that Hy Magick is unattainable. But I know the truth! Hy Magick ys hard to come bye, tis true, but ye mightie and ye fortunat may even discover ye secrets thereof with carful application of their talents. It ys known that many have had the oppportunitie to invoke ye Hy Magick but have failed du to ignorance, or fear. For knoe ye this: If Hy Magick be not invoked with exactitude, it will not manifest, so ye mages, ye prentices, ye thaumaturges, ye seers: Hearken! And learn ye the proper words of invocation. Make sure the word is spoken precislie as I put it herein. 'Death' is said by some to be a blessing, and it may be had from ye offices of Hy Magick as I put it. Many practicers of the Recondite Arts might wish for 'Power', but this ys truelie not as great an office as one myte desyre, being of strong but ephemeral effect. 'Skill', howbeit, ys a very fortunat benefice of Hy Magick. Let not ye greed for material possessions best ye, for 'Wealth' does not signifie so much as some other choyces. The ones who walk the Way of the Druid may have occasion to request 'Balance' of ye Hy Magick, while other clarical seekers may desire 'Law' or 'Chaos'. Truelie, 'Knowledge' is a great thing to gayn of the Hy Magick. Those poor ones who are afflicted myte well wish for 'Health'. Travellers culd find theyr destinations with 'Location'. Shuld a certain ytem of power be beyond thy grasp, 'Acquisition' mought well gayn yt for thee. Those seekers who learn from ye studie ye beast supernal could wish for 'Summoning'. Onlie True Adepts may wish for 'Destruction', it ys sayed. It ys mine hope that this list may be of servis to other seekers after Wysdom. -- Octariis Otharian, Mage of Klosternon. Cycle of the Eft, Year of the Slug, Day of the Dolphin. -------- d: Odd Uncatalogued Document You find a strange document, obviously misfiled under the heading 'acrylic fungus painting technique' [Librarian's note. This odd item just won't go away. Every time we lend it out, it just appears back in the stacks.... Even burning it didn't work....] The Adepts' Manifesto. ``Mastery of the World can only be achieved by the Master of the Self. For one who has total Self-Control, all things are possible.'' [Obvious hyperbole -- Librarian] ``The apex of High Magic is a triviality for a true Adept.'' [Surely, this is exaggeration -- Librarian] ``An Adept makes his own Destiny, and Destiny caters to the whims of an Adept.'' [Oh, come now, be serious. -- Librarian] ``Only Self-Improvement can lead to Adepthood. Those who have not raised their personal attributes to the highest values will be inevitably destroyed in their quest for Adepthood.'' [Say what? -- Librarian] ``The Challenge of Adepthood is maintained by the Lords of Destiny.'' [Nonsense! -- Librarian] ``An Adept-Aspirant must be prepared to go beyond the trivial powers of Magic, even spurning the tawdry attractions of Artifacts, if the Aspirant would achieve Adepthood.'' [Me, I'll take the Artifacts... -- Librarian] ``The final test of an Adept is Mastery of that Void which lies both within and without the Self.'' [Zen Gobbledygook. -- Librarian] ``Only an Adept can become a Total Winner.'' [What the heck is a Total Winner? -- Librarian] -------- e: Attempt Advanced Research You may get a message something like this: You find advice in an ancient tome: Tullimore Dew is a panacea. They say that the autoteller program is buggy. Some junk may be worth a fortune if identified. If you get the message: You feel more knowledgeable! It means that you have gained intelligence. CHALLENGE:\\ The Adept's Challenge is the final challenge in the game. No experience may be gained after the Challenge is completed. The Oracle will give you the needed information when the time comes. WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! ****************MAJOR*SPOILERS**************** The Challenge takes place at the Temple of Destiny. This Temple is surrounded by the Sea of Chaos (a lawful character won't be able to go more than one space through this Sea, but that is all that is needed). Before going to the Challenge, try to have the spell of wishing (remember it can only be used once) so that by wishing for 'Location' you can return to Rampart easily. Try also to have either Acquisition or Summoning (This is not necessary, but helpful. It does not matter what the object is, you will simply need an object. If you kill Death, you can use one of his scythes. Other monsters randomly summoned will also often bring objects with them). When you enter the portal at the Temple of Destiny, you will be stripped of all objects (and you won't get them back), so no need to take any more than what you'll need to kill the militant priests so you can get to the portal. (Or, if you are perfectly neutral, they won't attack you.) Once in the portal, you will find an odd screen -- be careful not to fall off into the void, or you will starve while falling down a bottomless pit. If you want to take care of it now, you can use summon or acquisition now to get an object. Throw it off into the void. There will be 4 spaces that look odd -- each represents one of the four elements -- fire, earth, water, and air. Each is a test. Walk into each, and when asked to confirm, answer 'y'. You will not get a second chance. You must go headfirst into each. They will each in turn disappear. When all four are finished, Death will appear. Kill Death a great number of times, and when you are done with Him, throw an object into the void if you have not already done so (there will be plenty of scythes lying about), and follow yourself. After jumping into the void, you will find yourself in the Temple of Destiny again. As you won't have any objects like seven league boots, it would be difficult to get back to Rampart alive, as the Temple of Destiny is far away. Use the wishing spell, wish for Location, and return to Rampart. Go to your condo and retire. End of Game. Also as an option: As an adept you can safely use the Scythe of Death -- there are also some other weird things, including one report that you can use ^X to make wishes or that you can swim in the Sea of Chaos. ****************MAJOR*SPOILER**************** WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! STRATEGY:\\ Franklin "Fronk" Taylor's Suggested Stategy: Now that you know the basics, here is a suggested pattern for beginning the game and planning your strategy. Remember to save and backup saves after any major achievements such as getting useful spells, gaining levels, gaining major objects. Save more often if you are in shadow form mode since you have no "confirm" protection from drowning or abysses. The following is just one of many possible and successful strategies. 1) Worship Athena: go to the hospice and become lawful, then immediately worship her. 2) Immediately join the Paladins and the Collegium. Save. Then get your random spell research. Keep trying until you get something good. If you get a good enough spell, you will go up several levels. 3) Rob the bank. Join the sorcerors' guild (you are now chaotic). Go around town looking for: thieve's guild, gym, tavern, alchemist, pawn shop, explorer's club, healer, fast food, etc. Afterwards you can save a lot of time by using M to go to these places. 4) Fight in the arena (without joining) until you beat the goblin. After this you should try to wait and see how strong you are. 5) Search out the trifid maze. Visit the oracle. Use it for self-knowledge frequently. 6) Visit the castle and be sent on a quest. 7) Join the thieve's guild, then go pilfer the castle. You don't have to have any spells. Just don't be too heavy going in. You can jump over the moat on the way out. At night sleep at the tavern (25au). Begin making visits to the first couple levels of the Goblin Caves. When you are strong enough for a long journey, go to the Archdruid's shrine and get the experience he gives. When you feel ready, buy a scroll of warp at the scroll shop (or use the spell) and go down in the Goblin Caves and kill the king. Use his ax after you have identified it. Don't stay down there too long; the shamans are a real pain! Keep visiting the caves and the sewers. Don't go too deep in the sewers until you're fairly strong (about 7 or 8 level); anything could be down there. You should make regular trips to the thieve's guild. In this way, continue to gradually accumulate wealth, equipment, and experience. You should keep an eye out for a rod of summoning. You really shouldn't worry about too much else until you get one. Use it to perfect your self, summoning the fairy for money, stats, and skill. Once you have the appropriate spells, summon the Wyrm. [Note: There are two fairies, a good one and a bad one. Only the good fairy will give you a wish, and only if you answer her questions correctly. If you summon a fairy, you can determine which you get by the monster number. The list of creatures you can summon (shown when you summon, if you are given a choice) will have two fairies listed. The good fairy is # 121.] When you have done these things, and not before, you should begin to think about summoning the Demon Emperor. Plan on pickpocketing him and killing him with hellfire or else casting sanctuary and killing him with disrupt, disintegrate, or dispell and some lesser spell. The Holy Hand Grenade which you may have gotten by now works well for this purpose. YOU MUST GET THE AMULET OF THE PLAINS BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE. Now you should be about 10th or 11th level. The fairy can see that you get there if you haven't yet. You should be as far as you can go in every guild without gaining some special object. Now that you have the amulet, it is very easy to gain those special objects. The trick is that they do you no good unless you have more experience than the player who currently holds that title (check the high score board). If you can become Shadowlord do so immediately. If you can become high priest do it next. (this is easier if you have shadowform, monster detection, disrupt, clairvoyance, and apportation. otherwise the militant priests become quite a nuisance--like the Goblin shamans were earlier). Before you go any further, you will need certain spells. Not all of them are musts, but certain combinations are quite helpful. You will need: the warp (or scroll of same), hellfire, disrupt, dispell, disintegrate, healing, curing, and clairvoyance or shadowform to rapidly check levels. In addition you want to have the rod of summoning, the amulet of the plains, and if possible, protection equipment like rings of poison and fire resistance, and a cloak of negimmunity. You should have some type of truesight ability whether a spell, ring, or cloak. This stuff is for your big quest: to reach to Archmage's throneroom. Remember, this is probably the only major quest in the game which does not require you to kill anything. All you have to do is Amulet to Thaumaris, buy a map, walk to the castle, warp down to 15, find stairs to 16, find magic portal to throneroom, pickpocket KEY from Archmage, greet him, get the sceptre from under the throne, identify it, sit on the throne, and use the escalator to go back up! Of course, you should try to do this without dying, being mangled beyond repair, or yielding to robbers any valuables. It is also a good idea to have your pack quite full when you get back to Rampart. Use the Key and you are one happy camper. SAVE ONCE YOU ARE BACK IN RAMPART WITH THE KEY! You now have several quests which you are fully ready to carry out. This is where the game gets really fun. You are not invincible, but you can becoming nearly so by practical application of the appropriate spells. When you are about 20 level you are ready to try the Dragon's Lair. This is the great treasure trove of Omega. After looting the lair several times, you may be well-equipped enough to face the Astral Plain. Unless you need to visit the sorceror's circle level (for the paladins), just summon up anything from here that you want to fight or get something from. When you have completed all of these quests, you may be ready for adept's challenge. The oracle will send you there as she does to the Astral Plain. Be sure to go up at least 200 levels during the challenge. You should then be strong enough to become the head of most guilds. After that, you can repeat any of the above actions, with the Archmage's castle, the Dragon's Lair, and the Astral Plain being the most challenging and worthwhile. At this point your game will probably begin to get boring. This can easily be rememdied! Just switch deities, alliances, and guilds. Many of the better players, make a goal of taking their characters up to the top of the list in every category on the high scoreboard. When you are done with that, please retire your character (do so at your condo which you have probably bought by this time). DON'T keep a high character around just to get back on the score board if it is erased or someone passes you up! This ruins the game for other people. Once the high score becomes a joke, very few people will continue playing. With a game as detailed as omega that would be very unfortunate. Now that that is said and done, you may say that the game is obviously too easy if I can have such a system that takes me through the game so rapidly. Well, you're right, BUT the game is much more complex than I have said. There are also a lot of variations. For instance, I said nothing about the strategies of gaining wealth, equipment, and experience by robbing houses, transforming dead monsters, visiting the sewers repeatedly, or hunting in the countryside. Also, most of the quests which I have glossed over are harder than they appear. For instance, I find the Eater of Magic's Island so hard, that I usually just summon him up. Going there is extremely challenging. Don't let my directions above become a cage. Branch out, try new things with the game. There may be things that we have not even dreamed of yet. FINAL NOTES:\\ The spell of apportation is also extremely useful. It allows you to pick up an object remotely, that is, you don't have to stand on the square the object is on to pick it up. I personally find it much easier to visit the Eater of Magic's Island than to summon him. The problem is in getting there and back. Once there, simply use clairvoyance or monster detection to determine his location, then use disrupt until he is killed. Am not sure about hellfire. It should work for most versions. Several high level monsters should not be drained of energy. If you cast this spell, they may in fact drain YOU of energy, and heal themselves with your energy. Don't forget the command screens in the game. These will let you know much of the information you are looking for, and even have an option to print the screens out to a file, which in turn can be printed out for easier reference. Lastly, you will note that these spoilers are nowhere near as nicely formatted and all as the nethack spoilers also created at Wheaton. That is because Paul is much better at organizing this stuff than I am. Nevertheless, I hope this file is helpful. Just remember that this file is BY NO MEANS complete, and the accuracy of the statements is doubtful. If you don't like this, make a better help file yourself. I'm sure somebody will be grateful if you do so. Otherwise, you can always mail suggestions to me, but I may never get around to doing anything with them. This Omega Spoilers File was created by students at Wheaton College: Alan Light (`92) and Franklin "Fronk" Taylor (`91). Final editing (as bad as it is) provided by alight. We were students at Wheaton College, the same site that produced the famous "Wheaton College Nethack Spoilers" (As well as spoilers for rogue and ultrarogue). We are additionally grateful to Ken Roth (`92) and Paul Waterman for their help in providing information for this file. Any mail should be directed to alight@mercury.interpath.net (For continuity purposes, I was formerly at wheaton.UUCP, wheaton.edu, and rock.concert.net). Alan -- A. Light | Long Live the Great Teutonic Squirrel Uprising! alight@cybernetics.net