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CASTLE, LEVEL 1
There's more than one purpose I have in mind for the first level of the Castle. One is to acquire the Crystal Sword, which I'll need in order to get past a key point in the game.
The other is a few item upgrades for my party members, as follows:
Guardian Statues
Note that the castle itself is in the northwest corner of the city. It's easy enough to get there by going almost straight north from the Adventurer's Guild till you get as far north as you can, then go as far west as you can, and then turn south a little to approach the castle. In this instance, I get on the north road by going straight north from Roscoe's.
The gate to the Castle itself is on its east side. At the northwest corner of the Castle is a guardian statue that becomes a Stone Giant, which I kill.
At the northeast and southeast corners of the castle are guardian statues that each become a Stone Golem. I kill them, but each of them manages to get in a blow on one of my front-line characters before going down.
Just in front of the Castle gate itself is a guardian statue that becomes a Grey Dragon. In this instance it starts off at 20' distance. So I have Ariel play Lucklaran with the hope of defending against its fiery breath, but it managed to strike with that breath weapon first. Cassandra however goes into Hiding, and then backstabs the Dragon for a Critical Hit the round after. Now I enter the Castle itself.
Guard Room
First, I go east until I hit the wall, and then north until I get a set fight against random monsters at 6N 10E.
I continue north and east until I win a set fight against a Golem at 10N 13E.
From there I go E E E E and S. I hit an anti-magic square, so all my light and other long-lasting spells get snuffed out.
I continue S and W, where I encounter warriors in 'green robes'. It's a fight against two groups of three Berserkers. I take them out in melee combat. The game very conspicuously notes that they left Robes behind, and I get six Green Warrior Robes in my inventory. Any character can use them, but they only provide a 2 point bonus to AC. The real purpose is to drop a conspicuous hint about a very large-scale fight that is available on the third level.
I back track until I come back out the door that the Golem had been guarding.
Jabberwock
Now I go north two squares and defeat the Golem waiting just outside the door.
I go east through the door, and continue E E E E N N E E and E. I rotate south, and then use Trap Zap to knock out traps in the next three squares heading south. I go south one more square, rotate west and cast another Trap Zap, go to the northwest corner of the room, rotate south and then cast Trap Zap again to clear the way of traps.
I make my way to the southwest corner of the room, and go east two squares across a dark square. I am now forced to fight the Jabberwock at 2N 21E. It hits me with its shocking-damage breath weapon, but everyone survives and my warriors cut it down.
Crystal Sword
From there, I go S S W and W. I find the Crystal Sword, which I have Lord Stygar equip. It will be his weapon for quite some time, and indeed it will be needed to make progress at a crucial point.
I continue east until I hit the wall. I have Mordred cast Phase Door to open the wall. I go through and loop around to the stairs at 0N 0E so as to leave the Castle for the moment.
I sell off my loot at Garth's, including all those Green Warrior Robes, re-energize at Roscoe's, and come back to the Castle. My priority for the next while is more grinding on this level, with a view towards getting a few items I want.
Shield Staff
Now I show a new grind cycle. I go east and then north to do the fight against random monsters at 6N 10E.
After that, I go north and west to fight the Golems guarding the doors at 8N 6E and 10N 6E. On the other side of the latter door will be a series of small rooms with set encounters against random monsters.
Once I'm done, I can leave the Castle and come back in to reset the fights. If need be I can recharge my Spell Points at nearby Roscoe's, or sell off loot if I'm getting close to 40 items in my inventory, before coming back in to repeat the cycle.
I get a Shield Staff after a fight during the first time I complete the cycle. I have Gallard equip it. It won't do as much damage as other weapons, but that hardly matters for a Hunter that relies on Critical Hits. And indeed, the 2 point improvement in AC commends itself very well for a Hunter who also can't use some of the higher-end armors and shields like Fighters and Paladins can.
Fin's Flute
I repeat the grind cycle. Note that I'm definitely more willing to use spells, either when I'm faced with a lot of monsters or when I'm faced with a group of distant monsters like enemy spellcasters or Blue Dragons. Mind Blades is the spell of choice when I want to damage multiple groups, whereas Flame Column or Ice Storm comes into play if it's a single group that I want to wipe out.
A fight during the cycle yields a Fin's Flute, which remains unidentified. I have it identified at Garth's after I finish the cycle, and have Ariel equip it. It serves as her instrument for pretty much the rest of the game, and now gives her a 2 point improvement to Armor Class as well. Her durability as a front-line character is now enhanced.
20th Level
I do the grind a couple more times. I thereafter go to the Review Board to level up Lord Stygar, Zarathos, Gallard, Ariel and Cassandra. Zarathos now has six attacks per round.
1st Elf Cloak
I repeat the grind cycle multiple times. I get an Elf Cloak during one of the cycles, a miscellaneous item that improves AC by 3 points and can be worn by anyone besides a Paladin or a Warrior. I have Gallard wear it.
Kael's Axe
I do another cycle, and get Kael's Axe after one of the fights. Zarathos equips it as a pretty good interim weapon. It has a +2 bonus to hit, and it will also poison its target should the target not die outright after the initial damage, which is considerable.
21st Level
I do a few more grind cycles until everyone has enough xp to advance another level. I leave the Castle thereafter, sell off my excess loot at Garth's, and then head over to the Review Board.
I advance Talia and Mordred to their 12th levels as Wizards, as well as Lord Stygar, Zarathos, Gallard, Ariel and Cassandra to their 21st levels. Lord Stygar can now attack 6 times per round.
13th Level Wizards
More grinding, and I get enough xp for to advance everyone another level.
I advance Lord Stygar, Zarathos, Gallard, Ariel and Cassandra to their 23rd levels. I advance Talia and Mordred to their 13th levels as Wizards.
They also purchase the 7th-tier Wizard spells. One highlight is Demon Strike, which can inflict up to 128 points of damage on an entire group of Demons at a range of 30'. The other highlight is Wizard War, which can inflict 50-200 points of damage on a monster group within 50'.
24th Level
More grinding, and my last run of the usual cycle is enough to advance my Wizards to their next levels, but not the other characters. So I do a few set fights in the main hall of the first level till my warriors get to 1,200,000xp.
I advance Lord Stygar, Zarathos, Gallard, Ariel and Cassandra to their 24th levels. Zarathos can now attack 7 times per round. Talia and Mordred advance to their 14th levels as Wizards.
2nd Elf Cloak
I continue to grind, and get a second Elf Cloak during one of the cycles, although it remains unidentified. *Note* The Rogue being able to Identify Items wasn't a feature that was available in the original games, so I was unaware of it at first ... oh well ...
I have it identified at Garth's after finishing the cycle, and then have Ariel equip it for a 3 point improvement to AC.
25th Level
A few more grinds and I advance Lord Stygar, Zarathos, Gallard, Ariel and Cassandra to their 25th levels at the Review Board. Lord Stygar now has 7 attacks per round. Talia and Mordred advance to their 15th levels as Wizards.
3rd Elf Cloak
The next grind cycle after the level advancement leads to getting a third Elf Cloak after one of the fights. Cassandra equips it for a 3 point improvement to AC.
28th Level
I continue to grind patiently. I have to do the fights in the main hall during the last cycle shown in the video to get enough xp for everyone.
Talia and Mordred advance to their 18th levels as Wizards. Everyone else advances to their 28th levels. Zarathos now also has his maximum 8 attacks per round.
4th Elf Cloak
I continue with the grind cycles, and get a sixth Elf Cloak during one of them. Talia wears it for a 3 point improvement to AC.
29th Level
More grinding means Talia and Mordred advance to their 18th levels as Wizards, while the others advance to their 29th levels. Lord Stygar now also has his maximum 8 attacks per round.
5th Elf Cloak
I resume grinding, and get my fifth and last Elf Cloak during the third grind cycle after the previous level-up. Mordred equips it for a 3 point improvement to AC. I am now ready to make my way to the next level.
Baron's Throne
I start off at 10N 6E after having completed the previous grind cycle. I cast a Locate Traps spell.
I do the set fights against random monsters at 12N 8E and 12N 9E. The recurrent theme in these fights are Wizards who love to summon Skeletons and Zombies to keep my party from advancing to them. It's a simple matter for my front-line warriors to cut down the undead, while Cassandra picks off the Wizards from the shadows one by one.
I continue one square north to 13N 9E, where I find the throne. Only a Bard, in this case Ariel, can sit on it without taking damage so as to safely open the door leading north.
Captain of the Guard
I cast Trap Zap to get rid of the trap down the hallway. I continue two squares north, and get attacked by the Captain of the Guard. He happens to be a Master Ninja, which means he will Critically Hit and instantly kill a character should he happen to make a successful attack roll. Luckily, Zarathos killed him before he even had a chance.
Keep in mind that this fight will respawn whenever you re-enter the level. Phase Door provides an option if you want to reach the north parts of the level without having to risk this fight.
Roscoe's Energy Spa
I go north through the next door. After that, I go E E E S S W W S and S, where I have to fight a set battle against random monsters.
I continue E E S S S E and S through the door. At 15N 14E is an magic-regeneration square, which will quickly replenish Spell Points for Talia and Mordred. It is this particular square that enables grinding cycles in the next level of the Castle whereby Talia and Mordred can let loose with spells without restraints. I can simply come back to this square in between the new grind cycles which I'll describe soon.
Now I N W N N N W W W N N E N N W W W W W W S S E S S W W S S S W W W W W W N N N N N N and N to reach the stairs to the second level of Baron Harkyn's Castle.
