Questron (PC)

Questron Part I

(Note: this Solution is based on the Atari version of
Questron. There may
be slight differences from the Apple version)

Here you are, a lowly serf, out to seek fame and fortune by
destroying the
evil Mantor. When the game starts you find yourself wearing only
rawhide for
armor and with no weapons. The first thing to do is get to
Geraldtown and
buy a weapon. Once you get a weapon, wander about and soon you'll
meet with
one of the many Questron monsters. Keep fighting with them and
after each
kill, you'll find gold. Don't go near water as you aren't
equipped to handle
the sea monsters yet.

Keep a close eye on your food supply, because you'll die once
it runs out.
You can replenish your food supply and buy more weapons and
better armor at
Geraldtown or any of the other towns in Questron. Relatively soon
you'll run
low on hit points. Go to the Swamp Cathedral, located north and
slightly
east of Geraldtown. Give a donation to the priest and he'll
increase your
hit points. Unless you've given at least 75 pieces of gold, don't
enter the
box in the corner.

Frequently when you're in Questron, creatures will offer you
hit points,
weapons, armour or valuable information for a price. You don't
need to pay
for the valuable information because this Solution will give you
that. But
do buy anything else from them if you can afford it, because
their prices
are generally cheaper than at the towns (or in the cathedral).

In the towns, you'll often find gambling games. These games
are not tipped
in your favor, so watch out as you can lose all of your gold.
There's no
need to play them if you don't wish to. You'll also find jails
where you can
bribe the guards and speak to the prisoners. You don't need to do
this
because any information they have, you'll get in this Solution.

Soon you should be rich enough to be able to give the priest
75 gold
pieces. He should tell you not to be afraid and you will be
rewarded. Go to
the box in the corner, enter the door, (T)ake , (H)old the (H)oly
water, and
(O)perate, and that will get you 100 hit points. You cannot have
more than
500 hit points, so if you get close to that, don't drink anymore
holy water,
because you'll be wasting it.

Meanwhile, back on Questron, you'll going to need a variety of
weapons to
deal with the variety of monsters you'll be meeting. Some
monsters are
particularly vulnerable to certain weapons. Here's a partial
list: 1.
Strangler Fiend-Morning Star 2. Pit Screamer-Flail 3. Phazor
Spider-Whip
4. Irish Stalker-Rope and Hooks 5. Dirt Weird-Mace 6. Leopard
Yeti-Mace
7. Stone Axe Beak-Morning Star 8. Piercing Pungie-Club

In general, if you keep missing the monster, or the monster is
hit by blows
under 10, you should try a different weapon.

Eventually, you'll want to get over the mountains. You'll need
a Lama, as
horses can't cross mountains. You can buy a Lama in Free Town
(Long 3, Lat
3). (You can also cross the mountains on foot, if you have ropes
and hooks
and you arm yourself with them) After you've built your money
supply up, you
can purchase a raft. It's nearly impossible to get the raft that
is located
above Jail Town, and you wouldn't want it anyway because it's on
the wrong
shore. River Junction (Long 3, Lat 2) and Lake Centre (Long 2,
Lat 3) sell
rafts and once you buy one you can get to the Island Cathedral.

You're probably wondering how to increase some of your
attributes. At the
Swamp cathedral you can increase your dexterity by playing a
rather
primitive arcade game and at the Island Cathedral you can
increase your
intelligence by playing a game similar to Master Mind. You
definitely want
to take advantage of these games, particularly the Master Mind
type game.

Questron Part II

At some point in the game, you'll get a message that Mesron
has called.
Mesron is located in the Castle (Long 2, Lat 4) which is
difficult to find.
Once you enter the Castle grounds, go east, then north and the
figure in
orange is Mesron. He'll raise your rank and give you some powder
to use
against the Castle guards. Don't use the powders against the
guards unless
you absolutely have to because the powders have a much better use
later in
the game.

There are five keys located in the Castle, along with lots of
gold and
other suprises. You will need all the keys. The silver and ruby
keys are on
the west side of the Castle. Go through the entrance in the
southwest
corner. The emerald key is located straight north and the lead
key is
located in the northeast corner. There's one more key, but I'll
let you find
that one. (don't worry, it's not hard to find).

Once you get some of the keys you can enter various rooms. For
500 pieces
of gold, you can see maps of the Land of Evil and Questron.
Unless you are a
skilled sketcher, don't bother with the maps. The Doctor will
want 10 vials
of holy water to increase your strength. Give him the 10 vials
because you
can't get all of the gold from the Castle without the increased
strength.
The Princess will increase your charisma by 20 points for 2,000
gold pieces.

You're not going to be able to get everything on one trip. Get
a key, exit,
go get more holy water and enter the Castle again. In the Atari
version, you
must wait a certain length of time before re-entering the castle
(you'll
know that it's safe because the guards will be in their normal
positions and
not gathered at the door ways). In the Apple version, you can
exit and
immediately re-enter. The Ocean Point cathedral is not far from
the Castle
(Long 4, Lat 4) and you'll find a magic Flute there. It says that
you can
only use the Flute three times, but if you bring it back to the
cathedral it
can be recharged. By the way, you have to have a Lama or ropes
and hooks to
get to the Ocean Point cathedral.

Back at the Castle, once you've gotten the gold key, you can
enter the
King's room. He will Knight you and increase your stamina and
intelligence.
You must steal the King's trumpet, located in a small room just
to the
southeast of the King. After you do this, Mesron will want to see
you again.
Mesron will take your holy water, increase your hit points and
give you some
instructions and help for the rest of the game.

At some point before leaving Questron you should rob all of
the chests in
the Castle, as you'll be needing as much gold as possible.

Take Mesron's advice and increase your intelligence to 60.
After that, go
to Jail town, use the Trumpet to get through the fog and buy a
clipper in
the town above Jail town. Don't try to use the Raft because
you'll drown.
The clipper costs 2380 gold pieces. Get the clipper and sail
straight north.
You will soon reach the Land of Evil.

Questron Part III

The Land of Evil looks very much like Questron, except that
are fewer towns
and no friendly creatures. You can now buy magic items to use in
the
dungeons and food is a little cheaper. You can also buy a trained
eagle,
which is very handy to have as the eagle can take you anywhere
you want to
go. Before you enter the Mountain Catacombs (the first dungeon)
you'll need
a supply of all the spells with the exception of the Magic
Missiles. A good
supply of Fireballs and Armour Enhancers is particularly useful.

You'll need to purchase more than one set of armor and weapons
because the
monsters will sometimes take them. You will definitely need rope
and hooks
also. Before you buy, shop at different towns because the prices
vary
widely. While you're above surface in the Land of Evil, stay away
from the
dragons and whenever an "unknown creature" approaches
attack immediately
because they will attack you.

The Mountain Catacombs are at Long 3, Lat 3. Once you're in
the dungeon,
(X)amine at every step in order to avoid the traps that fill the
dungeon.
There is a compass located on the first level of the dungeon. Use
it. Don't
forget to keep the Armor Enhance spell active at all times. The
monsters on
the first few levels you can usually kill without the use of
spells, but as
you get deeper into the dungeon you'll need to use the Fireballs
more often.
It's a wise idea to explore the first 2 or 3 levels of the
dungeon and then
exit the dungeon and buy more supplies. You can (A)rm with (RO)pe
and Hooks
to climb up the shafts if there's no ladder or rope.

A special clue: if you descend the third rope past the mine on
the second
level to the third level and go down the passages, you'll come to
a passage
that is lined with hit points, gold, and food. If you (X)amine
all of the
caves, you'll find a shaft down to the fourth level.

The traps reset every time you leave a level and the chests
reset every
time you leave the dungeon. The best way to get lots of gold and
hit points
is to remember where all the chests are on the first few levels
and then
keep exiting and re-entering the dungeon.

The Mountain Catacombs have eight levels. You'll find a key to
the second
dungeon on the eighth level. If you use a Wall Pass in the right
place,
it'll lead you straight to the safe with the key.

The Dungeons of Death is the second dungeon (Long 3, Lat 4).
You'll need
more of all the spells than you did for the first dungeon because
the
monsters hit a lot hrder. You'll particularly need Stone Spells
because
often there is more than one monster hitting you at a time. Be
careful of
them though, sometimes they back fire and freeze you instead of
the
monsters. On the first or second level of the Dungeons of Death,
you'll find
a shaft that goes all the way down to the sixth level. You'll
need a Wall
Pass here to descend to the lower levels. The Dungeons of Death
has eight
levels also.

Once you've gotten the key from the Dungeons of Death, you can
enter
Mantor's Mountain, the final dungeon. Hopefully, you've gotten a
trained
eagle by this time because that's the only way you can reach
Mantor's
Mountain (Long 4, Lat 1). Before you enter the dungeon you should
have
20,000+ hit points, some Magic Shields, some Long Bows and Lances
and lots
and lots of spells. There are 17 levels to Mantor's Mountain and
the
monsters hit extremely hard. The long bows are extremely useful
in attacking
monsters before they get to you and the lances are good backups.

Once you enter Mantor's Mountain remember that when you get to
the bottom
(finally) you won't be coming back to the Land of Evil. Also be
careful of
the urns and the hit point chests on the lower level because some
of them
are booby-trapped and will cause you to lose at least a fourth of
your hit
points.

Some of the levels are difficult to descend from; remember to
(X)amine in
every cave and corner. When you finally reach the bottom and open
the safe,
you'll be in Mantor's Castle (or, you can pay one of the monsters
the bribe
that he asks for, and you will be transported instantly to the
castle). I'm
not going to spoil the superlative ending for you, but just
remember two
things: There's a second use for the magic powder and the game's
not over
til it's over.