











                                 The Unofficial

                                    RAGNAROK

                          Frequently Asked Questions
                             and Spoilers document,
                                  version 2.0.

























         Originally compiled by Jack Angert <jangert@pen.k12.va.us>,
             published Wednesday, the 18th of January 1995.
       Additions, corrections, and new lay-out by Boudewijn Wayers
       <kroisos@win.tue.nl>, published Monday, the 13th of February
                                  1995.





                                Contents

Contents  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
     About this document  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
     Contributors to this document  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
     The Ragnarok ftp site  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
     Two FAQ to the author of the game  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The World of Ragnarok . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
How to Use Ragnarok . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Survival Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Player Characteristics  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
Character Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     Changing Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     Class Abilities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     Class comparisons  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
Movement  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
     Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
     Amulets  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
     Armor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
     Wands  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
     Potions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
     Rings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
     Scrolls  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
     Tools  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
     Weapons  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
Races of the Northern Lands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
     Various monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19
     Nuisances to exterminate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
     Summoning monsters to your aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
     Polymorphing into a monster  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20
























RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                 2





                              Introduction

About this document

Well, it's finally here... the unofficial (but only one I know of) Ragnarok
FAQ and Spoilers document. Originally compiled by Jack Angert, I edited the
entire document in WordPerfect 6.0 and scanned the net for even more
spoilers and tips to add. The most important change to version 1.01 of this
document however is that I did not leave the tips in the same random order,
but sorted them by topic. For this, I used the same structure as in the
official Ragnarok manual, that is distributed in Word format in the
original distribution, and in WordPerfect 6.0 and ASCII format on the ftp
site mentioned below.

Many sections of this FAQ document are either non-existent or very short,
because some things are not or not often discussed on the net. Note that
some of the tips are still in the question-and-answer format, but most
others are just straight tips. Also note that a lot of things are already
in the official manual, and have not been replicated in this document. You
should read the official manual first, before consulting this document.
Since this document has the same structure as the manual, this should be
quite easy to do.

If there is anything that you would like to see added or corrected, e-mail
me at kroisos@win.tue.nl or post it to the rec.games.roguelike.misc
newsgroup (e-mail is more reliable, since I might miss postings). By the
way, please put "Ragnarok" in your subject line when you post an article,
as there is no rec.games.roguelike.ragarok yet, and we are just "borrowing"
the newsgroup until a new one is possibly started.

Contributors to this document

One of the shorter sections mentioned above is the "contributors" section.
Jack basically ripped everything straight out of posts and e-mail to him,
but forgot to record the names of the ones who posted or mailed the tip.
So, if you think to yourself "Hey, didn't I write something like that?",
please let me know and I'll add you to the list below.

Jack Angert <jangert@pen.k12.va.us>   *
Sven Birke <operator@zeus.chemie.uni-dortmund.de>
Thomas Boyd <tfboyd@ucdavis.edu>, <ez048001@peseta.ucdavis.edu>   * **
Mark Andrew Bradburn <m-bradbu@nimr.mrc.ac.uk>
Jeffrey A. Goodson <jeffqyzt@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu>
Heiko Herold <hman@marina.dei.unipd.it>   *
Scott G. Leyh <sleyh@apollo3.com>
Di Michelson <di@picard.tamu.edu>
Michael Smith <michael.789719795@pacifier> 
Ritvaliisa Snellman <rlsnell@phoenix.oulu.fi> 
Richard W. <departed@netcom.com>   *
Boudewijn Wayers <kroisos@win.tue.nl>   *

*    Major contributor to this document.
**   Ragnarok's author: contact him if you have any ideas for improvement,
     or if you have bug reports.



RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                 3





The Ragnarok ftp site

You can get the game at the following location:

ftp site:     ftp.win.tue.nl,
directory:    /pub/games/ragnarok.

If you ftp to this site (or any other site), please be considerate and try
to limit the time you are connected. If possible, don't ftp in business
hours during local time (note that the site is located in Eindhoven, the
Netherlands).

Two FAQ to the author of the game

Question: What do you get for the extra $10 when you register?
Answer: A strategy guide that contains every spoiler fact. Well, okay, I
missed one once, and it is a useful one, but still, it's pretty
complete.

Question: Could you please convert Ragnarok to Macintosh, UNIX, Amiga,
Atari, Timex Sinclair, NeXT, CRAY YMP-1, PET, TRS-80, UniFLEX
Power-Abacus, PDP-11, ...?
Answer: I would love to do conversions, but lack the equipment. I have a
kernel that can easily be transplanted into another set of graphics or
text drivers, but have only limited access to anything but an IBM-PC.
Some people have suggested I use Linux, but I cannot afford to buy it
(I actually do not know how much it costs, but let's just say I am
getting really creative with top ramen right now). I will do these
conversions if interest prevails and if I can obtain the equipment I
need.



























RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                 4





                                   Goals

To get Hela to be reasonable and accept Thokk's soul in return for
Balder's, you should meet her in Niflheim. To get Balder's soul back, wear
the ring of soul keeping, and stand one square away from Hela. Hela is
usually in Niflheim. When the final battle starts, she zooms to Asgard, and
is no longer in the mood to deal for Balder's soul. You must go to Niflheim
first.

As for the ring of soul trapping, there is't anything you can do with the
souls in the ring: it is just for when you get to Thokk, the giant who's
soul you need. The quest involving the ring is normally the first quest you
start, and the last one you finish. You can only hold one soul in the ring
at a time. If you have Thokk in the ring, and you kill anything else while
wearing it... goodbye Thokk. You must take it off immediately after you get
her soul. Then, save the ring with her soul in it for Niflheim, a level you
will not want to visit too early. Any other souls in the ring are useless.
In fact, there is a feature of the game where you can gain energy by
absorbing the souls of the dead, if you are not wearing the ring. So, it is
best only to wear it to harvest Thokk's soul.

To return the godly items to the gods, you must go to Vigrid.

When you arrive at Vigrid, you should be carrying Odin's spear, Freya's
sword, and Heimdall's horn. Then, wander off the right edge of Asgard. The
gods, giants, etc. will be in combat. Give them their items. Stay away from
the unfriendly folks. After giving up the items, just wait around in a safe
corner and you'll be done.





























RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                 5





                         The World of Ragnarok

At the bottom right of the 3rd dungeon level is a giant shop. A scroll of
transport will get you there (and out of there). Make sure you have lots of
money when you go down (maybe kill an ordinary shopkeeper to quickly
accumulate cash).

Beware the ocean. Do not leave the ocean screen to either the North, South,
East, or West: It is very difficult to kill the serpent.

You might find it amusing to go up the stairs into Odin's Hall. Lots of
cool potions, scrolls and other items are there for the taking.

There is one realm that can only be reached through dimension travelling
and several attempts...

Dimension travelling will take you to almost any plane from the Crossroads,
depending on what color you're standing in. Use teleport combined with
locus mastery to move around in the Crossroads.

In the Crossroads, Azare's plane can be reached via the yellow color (I
think). In Azare's plane, there are pools corresponding to different potion
colors (foul, bubbly, etc). Bring your empty flasks to Azare's Plane for
abundant potions of whatever variety. Knowing potion colors can be really
useful if you ever get to Azare's Plane: write them down.

Someone reported that he teleported through a vortex and ended up being
given 450 points of damage by some critter. The vortex is a trap, but easy
to get out of. Step back into it to go home.

If you fall into a pit, if you have no grappling hook, you can still get
out, but it is cumbersome. Keep trying to get out, the grappling hook just
gets you out instantly. You can still use wands and missiles, but you
cannot fight while in a pit.

There are seven powerful items, like the amulet of might, the amulet of
ethereality, the Norse boots, etc., that you do not need to finish your
quests, but which are way cool and super fun. These items are hidden away
neatly in several difficult-to-get-to places. To name a couple places: the
Wasteland, Slaeter's Sea, Chaos. I don't think you can find all seven in a
single game.

There is an artifact in Slaeter's Sea, but you have to be able to swim, or
lower the tides. What also works is using Skidbladnir.

If you enchant the blue cube, it will turn into an orange cube. Some time
after that, it will transport you into one of the one-square planes: the
Wasteland. This area will promptly fill with lava. There is something to
get there, but it will be destroyed by the lava. Dump the orange cube once
you are there.

You might step through a trap that ports you to Slaeter's Sea, a place you
might like. You can kill lots of sharks and giant squids with missile fire,
while not coming too close to the shore. A good boomerang works wonders
here, but it might break. Alternatively, find a spot where only one squid


RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                 6





or fish can tackle you at once, and a tenth-level character with a ring of
regeneration can do it in melee combat.























































RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                 7





                          How to Use Ragnarok

You can cheat like crazy with backup save files.

Are you tired of trudging through the forest for hours and going through
the dungeon again and again, just to see if the way you thought of to avoid
an instant death might work?

The save files are called RAG_SAVE.000 and SDATA.000 (for the first saved
game). When you copy them, change the name before the period, not just the
suffix, or they will still be deleted. Alternatively, copy them to another
directory.













































RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                 8





                              Survival Tips

At the beginning, experiment a lot, die a lot, start again a lot. I would
start by rolling up some sages and alchemists just to experiment with their
scrolls and potions recklessly to get a feel for what is available. Play
fast, die young. You can work on good characters later. That is why we
don't have all that rolling up, bonus distribution and haggling with the
shopkeeper crap that some other games have. You can build a new char in,
say, 8.7 seconds.

Take your time and complete all nine forest levels before going downstairs.
The forest is easy, so you may be tempted to move on prematurely. Play
careful in the beginning, but don't bother spending 13 levels or so in the
forest...

The dungeon is pretty good for getting much experience easily without any
cheat: with a wand of displacement and a ring of locus mastery, search for
a (preferably big) room containing a "summon monster" trap, and activate
it: all the monsters are there, but they won't move immediately: check the
type of monsters on the map and kill them if they're wimpy. If not,
teleport out, into a near hallway or escape to a larger distance if they
are too dangerous (return later). You might also kill them one-by-one from
the door.

Use your wands scrolls and potions. There is no sense dying with a fistful
of magic goodies.

In the original version of the game, there was an intended feature, that
was quite annoying. When you got back in the forest, suddenly enormous mobs
would appear and crowd around you. You could kill and kill and kill and
kill and kill and kill and kill and kill, but they kept on coming and
increasing. It was very annoying. This was reported to the author, and he
wrote the following:
     Two people have complained of this to me. (...) This was a stupid
     feature we put in to encourage the user to realize that the end of
     the game was nigh. Also, if you return to a level after a long
     absence, it is overrun by creatures. In lieu of killing all of
     them, you can read a scroll of summoning while confused to make
     them all get summoned "somewhere else" (read: off the level). I am
     changing the swarming monster silliness.
This "feature" will thus probably be changed in a next version.
















RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                 9





                        Player Characteristics

A blessed potion of curing gets rid of just about any bad thing in your
diagnostic column. Try it before asking for a cure for any malady.

Females are immune to nymphs and some other creatures that prey on men.

You can get past 18/99 strength. Just keep trying: it might take a lot of
tries. Supposedly, blessed potions of strength have a better chance to
raise your strength than other means.

Your morality is lowered by attacking non hostile creatures, reading
scrolls of extinction, cannibalism, etc. It is possible to die from
immorality, but you really have to try!











































RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                10





                           Character Classes

Changing Classes

It is possible to change classes: you don't have to remain in the same
class as the one that you started in. You have a chance to change at
mastery of a class (at class level 10).

If you choose not to change classes at level 10, you get another chance
later: at every ten levels. You can change back to a previously abandoned
class.

Class Abilities

Every class gets at least one special ability or skill when it reaches
master level (level 10). These skills include, but are not limited to, the
following:

The viking gets the skill of weapon mastery; an alchemist gets lots of
recipes to create unique potions from ordinary ones.

Sages get to use their styluses. They can use it to write scrolls. Woodsmen
get the terraforming ability (this allows them to change the terrain) at
mastery of their craft, as well as taming and fletching. Terraforming is
esoteric, but once in a while it can be very handy indeed.

Next to a new spell, the conjurer gets fennling when he reaches tenth
level. Blacksmiths can finally get good use out of their equipment. They
need an anvil, tongs, and some ingot on hand, and a means to produce fire
(a wand of fire or heat vision). If they don't have these they "don't have
the tools of the trade". They can make a runesword.

Class comparisons

A level ten blacksmith with a runesword and mithril mail, should be pretty
strong. The viking has the advantage of having lots of hit points in the
beginning, which can be useful for beginners. Playing a conjurer or
alchemist as starting class is discouraged for beginners, since they have
few hit points and are thus quite difficult to play. The woodsman lies
somewhere in between, but you should be prepared to use your missile
weapons a lot.

However, most people consider the sage to be the best class. Writing almost
any scroll is extremely useful. Play a sage, at least until you can write
scrolls, then switch if you like. Note that this means that you have to
play quite carefully in the beginning, since you won't have many hit points
and your fighting abilities won't be much to talk of.

If you play a sage, at level 10 make yourself ready to kick butt by writing
a bunch of extinction and blessing scrolls (and the odd scroll of alliance
to pacify irate rangers). Bless your armor, weapons, and some rings of
agility, and extinct the most annoying creatures. Be certain to have means
to deal with rangers when you start extincting creatures: they don't like
you using them. Offensive wands or scrolls of alliance are a necessity.



RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                11





Change this routine the moment you get a wand of wishing: write a scroll of
blessing and one of recharging. Bless the latter. Do a blessed recharge on
the wand of wishing. Wish for a blessed scroll of enchantment. Don't bless
your weapons, armor, or rings any more - one enchantment (with luck 14) is
usually anything from 7 to 30 blessings. Instead, enchant your ocarina,
etc.: you will need to enchant these eventually.



















































RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                12





                                   Movement

When you eat a knilb or nymph, you will pick up "intrinsic teleporting",
which is impossible to get rid of, but which is by no means worse than a
bit irritating. Once you get hold of a ring of locus mastery, it actually
helps a lot.

Next to eating a knilb of nymph, which gets you the teleporting
"intrinsically", you can get it "temporarily" by wearing a ring of
relocation. Supposedly, intrinsic teleporting is the only incurable
condition in the game besides being just plain dead.














































RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                13





                                   Items

Items are marked with the following letters: "b" (blessed), "c" (cursed),
and "n" (normal).

You can get rid of a hexed item (armor, weapon, etc.) by simply giving it
to a "loyal Norseman" NPC. This even works if you are wearing it!

A list of what items become when you enchant them - here's a start.
     Ocarina - Glass Ocarina: when glass, does quick dimension travel from
         most places. You would need music ability, supposedly.
     Grey Cube - Orange Cube: supposedly transports you to the Wasteland.
     Anvil - Platinum Anvil: the dwarves want the platinum anvil in
         exchange for an arm for Balder.

The potions, scrolls, rings, and wands that start out identified have
descriptions associated with them as well. This may be important if you are
in Azare's Plane and want to dip for potions of strength, for example.

Food

Food is really almost never a problem, some people say. Just don't rest to
regain hit points. A ring of regeneration is good, or potions of curing.
Other people however invariably keep complaining about a lack of food. The
author has said that a next version of the game will have more food in it.

The orange powder has a 20% chance of giving you night vision. Orange
powder is a carrot extract.

Only eat green or black mushrooms. Green mushrooms add to your maximum hit
points, black mushrooms do some damage, but give you temporary heat vision.
Handy for blacksmiths. Unfortunately, it cannot be made permanent (psionic
blast, however, is a sort of permanent intrinsic wand power). Note that it
is quite hard to find enough diamond needles to make it worthwhile, though,
unless you clear out Grynr.

Wraiths give experience if you eat them.

Don't eat wights. Wight bodies take half your hit points.

Eating anssks gives you sixth sense.

The only intrinsic that you can get from a monster besides sixth sense from
the anssks is cold resistance from ice dragons.

Here is a clue that is missing from the official the strategy guide that
you get when you pay the extra $10 when registering: keep eating urns of
strength (the ones containing a green powder). Eventually, your strength
will go to 19, 20, 21.

Amulets

You can get an amulet of might in one of the Wasteland, Slaeter's Sea, and
five other places.



RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                14





Amulets of quickening turn into Eyes of Sertrud after some time, in case
you were wondering where to get them. You can also find them, by the way.
The Eyes of Sertrud have no powers, but can be exchanged for Mjollnir by
visiting Thor: save 5 and get Mjollnir somewhere in Grynr. To get them, put
the Eyes in pits in the ground in the Halls of Grynr.

According to the manual, the wearer of an amulet of eternal life  "will
never perish". Yes, by being turned into a statue!  You may never die, but
your game ends!

Armor

Identify all helmets you find until you find the dispersion helm. This is
helm protects you from a zardon's psionic attack. Zardons cause massive
psionic damage when you move onto a screen with them.

Scrolls of knowledge give you any random skill, even if you already have
it, unless you are wearing the helm of knowledge. The helm of knowledge
will try to get you a new skill, and will be successful unless you already
have them all.

Wands

If you get a wand of wishing, wish for a +5 mithril mail or a +5 katana.
The bonus is based on your luck: if your luck is 9, wish for a +9 katana.
If you get too greedy with your wishes, you will get reamed. A shower of
meteors is the sign that the wand of wishing gave you something funky.

There is a way to return to human form - the (very rare) wand of
restoration.

The wand of hastening improves speed for monsters only...

Potions

Although experimenting with potion mixing can be deadly, it is often fun,
especially with a low-level character.

You can create the following from mixing potions:
     Geology - change terrain (even on something's or some creature's
         head).
     Music - choose your destination with the glass ocarina, use the wood
         flute to tame monsters.
     Animation - bring your wands and weapons to life to help.
     Heat - radiate searing clouds of deadly heat.
     Switch Dimension - (available via other ways too) give the power of
         dimension travelling (granted for all time by one potion). This
         lets you visit (almost) any plane via the Crossroads. Each plane
         has a color in the Crossroads. Asgard and Limbo are no options,
         however.
     Transformation - a blessed polymorph equivalent to the blessed scroll
         of wonder's polymorph chance.
     Precognition - tells you if something is a blessed or a good item to
         begin with, when you use the skill.
     Diagnosis - you are a walking veterinarian hospital.
     Invulnerability - speaks for itself. Temporary.

RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                15





     Second Life - Phoenix yourself! If you quaff this, you will get an
         extra life (one to a customer).

A blessed potion of curing cures (almost?) all nasty ailments, like
lycanthropy.

You might be tempted to drink your potions of constitution immediately, and
get a greater hit point increase over the course of gaining levels.
Alternatively, you could wait until you can bless them and get a greater
effect on your constitution. The experience needed per level only grows
pretty slowly: maybe roughly double or even less per ten levels. So,
you'll constantly be gaining more levels. I would keep the potions around
until you can bless them.

Potions of experience, when blessed, always raise you a level, until level
24 or so. Then, they just give you extra hit points. Since levels are all
about the same difficulty, you may as well bless them and drink them
immediately. Only on very low levels, say, in the 1-10 range, 9 and 10 do
seem to be harder to get to than the very low ones, so you may want to save
them at least a short while.

You can make a drinking water by standing on water and using an empty
flask. Some alchemist's mixtures need water as an ingredient. Once in a
while you find them, too.

Rings

You might find something called "a ring of purity and luck". This ring does
not allow you to behave as badly as you want and still keep your moral
standing high... Actually, it is one of the names for the ring of delusion.
Another known name is the ring of luck, but it might be identified as any
other ring. The ring of delusion pretends to be a real ring so well that it
defies even scrolls of identification. Only the skill of identification
bring these guys to light. Otherwise, you must use deductive reasoning to
figure out that the ring is fake. By the way, a ring of purity and luck is
always delusion.

Use a ring of locus mastery for controlling random teleports.

The ring of protection will locate traps. The percentage chance that it
will find any given trap is listed when it is identified. Every step you
take, every square on the lower map is checked.

Rings of regeneration are cumulative.

Scrolls

The scroll of transport is mega-fun. You can rob from the large bazaar in
the sky, but it is very hard.

Blessed scrolls of cartography will light up all traps on a level too.

You only get one scroll of "switch bodies" per game.

Hold onto a scroll of traveling to get out of jams.


RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                16





Get confused (via a dead bat or a potion of mead) and read a scroll of
blessing. It will bless many of your potions and scrolls at once. Don't use
the newly blessed scrolls until you're sober though! Confused scroll
reading is unpredictable.

A scroll of travelling will get you into the Halls of Grynr; if you read it
while confused, standing on the banks of the River Gioll. The glass ocarina
lists that destination as "elsewhere". Maybe if you finished the Halls
(where the Eyes of Sertrud go), "elsewhere" would be somewhere more
interesting.

Blessed scrolls of identification identify your entire inventory

Scrolls of trap creation are fun: the traps you create are seen by you, but
not by monsters: they will blunder into the traps, looking for you. Be
careful with traps, though. Frost traps can destroy your potions. The same
goes for fire traps versus scrolls. Drop your potions on an already
finished level until you have found the traps, or put them in the red bag.

Confused reading of scrolls if identification masks your identity, i.e.
your character's name is lost.

If you are currently working on attaining the mastery of a class, the
scroll of knowledge gives you (most of) that skill. You may prefer to read
these only when already a master in the class, to get a more esoteric skill
like swimming or telepathy. So if you have a scroll of knowledge, when you
reach level 10, you might consider not to multi-class, but to stay in your
current class. When you multi-class, you'll be an apprentice in another
class, so the scroll of knowledge will once again learn you something you
will learn anyway.

Tools

Buy a grappling hook. You can get out of pits if you just keep trying, but
grappling hooks work every time you throw them. Don't throw them towards a
monster though, or it will bounce. Also, you can use it to cross rubble: a
little known fact.

The black gem raises your hit points if you kill by throwing it at a
monster (and are not wearing the ring of soul trapping).

Like the red bag, disperser helm, and a few other items, the green stone
will be made once and only once per game. If you miss it, you must go back
to old levels and look for it (creatures may pick it up). If you destroy
it, it is gone.

The blue cube slips you backward through time, the grey cube forward.

Weapons

To wield some of the artifact weapons, you need to be very strong. The
amulet of might helps here. There are seven places to find the amulet of
might, the amulet of ethereality, and multiple chunks of godly armor. They
are hard to find, and although you can win without them, it is fun to quest
for them. The first one you may stumble across in Slaeter's Sea... Places
to find these "artifacts": the crypt (green stairs, hidden in the dungeons

RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                17





somewhere: dig around a lot), Slaeter's Sea (dry it up or be able to swim),
the Wasteland (bless a cube so it's orange, drop it once you get there).
Please let me know the names of the other places, how to get there, and
what to do there.

You can find a runesword on the ground once in a while, or you can be a
blacksmith for ten levels and make a runesword yourself. The great thing
about a runesword (besides quite good damage) is that it always hits.

Get the Hela's scythe. She is in the bottom right square of Niflheim. Kill
her: she's easy to kill (compared to, say, a lorkesth). That scythe kicks.
It nails a hel dragon in one, maybe two swipes. Way better than Mjollnir.

Find a boomerang and enchant it way high. You'll find plenty of critters
which can't be hurt by wands: a boomerang might help.










































RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                18





                     Races of the Northern Lands

Various monsters

Ghosts: zap them with wands. Shoot them with projectiles. Alternatively,
erase all files in your Ragnarok directory of the following nature: GHOST.*
and GDATA.*. It is more profitable to kill them and get their goodies
though.

Fylseichs: use polymorph wands on them, since anything you change them into
is going to be better, and they don't resist polymorph.

Bears and other forest creatures: they are stupid. You can lose them by
playing "here we go 'round the mulberry bush" with trees. Run to the shop,
pick up a for-sale item and heal while the doors are closed if you need to.

A gorm also can kill you by exploding from your chest (like in the Alien
movies). A blessed potion of curing would takes care of this.

Draugs: they have to be killed and their bodies destroyed: they regenerate
and are difficult to kill.

Nidslacrs can be easily attacked with a wand of death for an exciting
level-gaining experience.

Faleryns: easier than nidslacrs, you can just polymorph a tree in the
forest, and keep killing the resulting endless supply of faleryns. You can
gain dozens of levels if you're patient, sitting around fighting those
tree-things.

Don't try to stone a shopkeeper. The ray will bounced and you might be
petrified. Shopkeepers are wand-reflective, but very mortal. Rashok loves
to kill them if you  get them mad.

Wierd mists: hang out with them (wearing a ring of crystal skin) until you
get a lot of extra fingers and extra eyes. Extra fingers are good for
extra rings, and extra eyes may well come in handy when things start
attacking by ripping out your eyes. Unfortunately, they also inflict
"vertigo": you need one blessed potion of curing for every time your "brain
throbs". When it is cured, your brain will throb again to tell you you are
better. Another thing: it seems impossible to get more than 16 fingers. 16
fingers, plus an amulet and a full set of armor completely fill the Wear
screen, and there are no scrollbars.

The archmage: whenever he "mutters a strange spell" he has completely
eliminated an entire item class from the game. Kill him from afar or
through blind hallways. Extincting him is highly recommended.

Weirs: you might be overcome by greed in the middle of a fight and have to
sit down to count your gold pieces. Weirs cause these greed fits. Drop your
gold when fighting them. Alternatively, put it in the red bag.

The vanisher: a weird death is death by "never having existed". This death
is caused by a creature called a vanisher. It is invisible. It touches you,
you begin to fade, you are gone.


RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                19





A jagredin clears up rubble and plows paths through rock. Handy if you
accidentally read a scroll of wonder. An anti-jagredin actually makes
rubble.

Nuisances to exterminate

Cockatrice (can petrify you), red ooze (eats your weapons), sentinel (if
they can be genocided: they are very strong), pale moss (makes you lose
your memory), sandiff (squirts acid, destroys items), ull (confuses),
ruxicon (rusts your stuff), secitt (multiplies), werewolf (inflicts
lycanthropy), wight (drains levels), zardon (psionic attack), archmage
(destroys items permanently), vanisher (death by never existing), faleryn
(after you have gained lots of levels by slaying them), weir (make you
count your money in the middle of a fight: not funny if carrying 10,000+),
pelgat (strong), weird fume (causes vertiginousness, wait until you have
lots of eyes and fingers).

You might leave archmages alone, as they carry a lot of stuff most of the
time.

Summoning monsters to your aid

Bless a scroll of summoning to summon a "greater being" to help you. If you
don't specify a name, a random one is chosen. Not all of them are to be
trusted, though. Some of them are dangerous, some are really helpful.
Rashok can be safely summoned. Their names are consistent to their
character once you figure them out.

Polymorphing into a monster

Unfortunately, you can't control what a scroll of wonder will do, but you
can also use a potion of transformation.

Nice thing to be: a swordsman. They have a speed of 40 (human=10). They
also have weapons mastery.

Also good is a borgon vile. Lots of hit points. Nice innate power. You can
still wear rings, armor etc. Very deadly.

If you turn into a werewolf involuntarily, a blessed potion of curing
"stops the madness".

It seems that a temporary speed change, when changing bodies, is retained
as permanent (is this a bug?), so you may want to be fast when doing this.













RAGNAROK FAQ AND SPOILERS                                                20
