Post by bluewolfknight on Feb 15, 2018 4:05:24 GMT
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Table of Contents
A Few Important Terms...
Create Your Character
The Adventure Begins
Dungeons and Combat
Game Menus and Interfaces
Buying and Selling
Your Pet
Connecting Through Facebook
Hiring a Party (Hiring Help)
Good Things to Know
Character Attributes
Skills and Spells
Weapons and Armor
Gold, Gems, and Potions
Shrines, Fountains, and More
Retirement
TUTORIAL
A Few Important Terms--Before You Begin
Despite its rich details and intricate game features, FATE: The Cursed King is an easy and intuitive game to learn. This tutorial uses a few game terms to convey how to play. Most game commands require input through your computer’s mouse. When the manual mentions “click” or “left-click” it refers to quickly pressing the button in the upper left corner of your mouse. The term “right click” means to quickly press the button in the upper right corner of your mouse.
You can also enter most mouse click commands by pressing select keys on your keyboard. These key letters or function buttons are called “hotkeys”.
Start Your Game
To begin a new game, left-click your mouse on the “New Game” command on the FATE: The Cursed King title screen. You can create as many new games as you like, and switch between them at will.
Options
If you’re experiencing graphic display issues, or want to improve game performance, left-click your mouse on the “Options” command to reconfigure your game. These configurations may help improve your gameplay experience, depending on your computer’s performance and installed components. You can also change the volume of the game’s sound effects and music, and adjust monitor brightness. When you’re finished, left-click your mouse on the “Done” command to save your Options settings.
Create your Character
Find a Challenge That Matches Your Gameplay Ability
Once you choose "New Game" you'll be able to select your level of difficulty. "Page," "Adventurer," "Hero," and "Legend" are listed in order of increasing difficulty. At these four levels, character death has a price but is not permanent. "Hardcore" is for the seasoned hero. Everything is more challenging – tougher monsters, harder levels, and death is permanent.
Choose a Race
On the next screen, select your character's race. There are unique benefits to each race.
Human: Start with 9 extra points in the magic character stat, and 5 extra skill points in: staff, attack magic, defense magic, charm magic, and spell casting. They also start with 15 bonus mana.
Half Orc: Start with 15 extra points in the strength and stamina character stats. Additionally, 5 extra skill points assigned in: axe, club, polearm, hammer, and shield skills.
Shadow Elf: Start with 11 extra points in magic, and 15 extra points in the dexterity character stat. Additionally, 5 extra skill points assigned in: bow and crossbow, spear, dual wield, and sword skills. Shadow elves also have an extra 5% movement speed.
Cogger: Start with 8 extra points in the magic character stat. They have a 5% strength, and armor bonus and -5% damage taken bonus and 5% damage reflected. They also have 5 extra points for critical strike.
Imp: Start with 11 extra points in magic. Imps also have 5 extra skill points in: attack magic, charm magic, spell casting, critical strike, and spear.
Choose a Gender and Appearance
You can now modify your character's gender and appearance. There are no penalties or advantages in choosing a male or female character. The gender option allows you to configure your character in a way that most appeals to you.
To change the character’s appearance, left‐click your mouse on the arrows in the upper right corner of the screen relating to hair and facial features. If you don't have any preference you can click "Random Features" and the game will supply an appearance for your character. You can repeatedly click on the "Random Features" command to review other face and hair options until you find one that appeals to you. When your character's appearance looks right, click the "Accept" command to move on to the next screen.
Enter a Name
After choosing an appearance, enter your character's name or left‐click your mouse on the "Random Name" command and the game will supply a name for you. You can keep clicking on the "Random Name" command to review other choices, or tap the backspace key to edit a random name.
Choose Your Pet
Your pet is a loyal companion that will explore and fight with you. Choose between a dog, cat, boar, fox, drone, phoenix, and strider. Left‐click on the arrows to cycle through the different pets available. There are no strategic advantages to having one animal or the other. After choosing a pet type, enter your pet's name or left‐click on the "Random Name" option to let the game supply one for you. Once your pet has a name, click the "Accept" command to move on to the next screen.
Any Regrets?
If you have any last-minute changes, left‐click your mouse button on the "Back" command to review previous character configuration screens. If not, click "Accept" to start the game.
The Adventure Begins
Enter the city of Ekbatan
Once character configuration is complete, the story begins! The narrator will recite the story of your hero, and how the city of Ekbatan came to suffer a terrible curse. Left‐click the "Continue" button to reveal more of your story, or to skip through the story faster. At the end, click "Continue" one last time to start your journey in FATE: The Cursed King.
Tips and Help
When you first enter the city of Ekbatan you'll see a helpful game tip. These tips will appear whenever you enter Ekbatan or a new dungeon level. You can turn off these hints by left‐clicking your mouse button on the checkbox next to the "Display Tips" option, but
it's a good idea to review these suggestions until you're completely familiar with the game. If you disable tips, you can re‐enable them from the Options menu at any time.
Left‐click on the "Done" command to clear the tip and you'll see your character and pet at the middle of the screen. You'll also see a red box with a white cross and a "View Help" option. Left‐click on the red box to view an explanation of the icons and meters on your game display. You can review your Help Menu commands by pressing "H" on your keyboard at any time. Left‐click your mouse button on the "Close Help" option at the top of the screen to close your Help Menu.
Sub-Menu Buttons and Quick Item Slots
At the bottom of the screen you'll see eight sub‐menu icons and six quick item slots. Three of your quick item slots hold health potions that you can use to recover life points lost while fighting monsters in the dungeons. To examine the rest of your inventory, left‐click your mouse button on the sub‐menu icon featuring the backpack.
Your Initial Inventory
Your inventory shows what your character has equipped (is currently wearing) and the contents of your character's backpack. All adventurers start the game with a weapon specific to the chosen race, three easily‐accessible health potions, an Identify Scroll, a Town Portal Scroll, and a spell that can be learned immediately. In the lower right corner of the screen you'll see 250 gold coins, which can be used to purchase items. It's not much, but nobody ever said the life of a hero was easy!
A Quick Stroll
Left‐click your mouse button on the white X in the lower left corner of the inventory menu to close your inventory screen. To make your character walk, move your cursor ( hand) to your destination and click. Your character instantly sets off in the direction of your click. As your character moves, the cursor will move in the same direction to make quick movement easier. Alternately, you may hold down the left mouse button and drag it around the screen, and your character will follow it.
At this point, you're well on your way to exploring the realm of Ekbatan. Keep reading to learn about quests, your map, and buying and selling to merchants. Or, you can just start playing and see what happens!
Find a Quest
Before you can enter the dungeons, first talk to Kurosh the Beggar King. You must complete the task he assigns you in order to save Ekbatan. You should also seek out and speak to Xerxes the Librarian. Once you've spoken to these key characters, you may notice other townsfolk will offer quests. Throughout town you'll find characters who have a silver exclamation point (!) hovering over their heads. Place the cursor on the character and left‐click your mouse button to talk with the character. The townsfolk with exclamation points above their heads need your help to complete quests. Press "Accept" or "Decline" to do exactly that. You may decline certain quests and return to them later, but some quests are randomly generated. When you accept a quest, it shows in your Quest Log, which you can view at any time by clicking the Quests icon in the sub-menu buttons (or pressing "Q" on your keyboard).
Your Active Quests menu can hold up to three quests per realm. Select the different quest descriptions to see the reward summary at the bottom of the menu, displaying the amount of gold, experience, fame and any items you could earn by completing each highlighted quest. These amounts change depending on your advancement as a character. After you complete assigned quests, return to the townsfolk with gold exclamation points (!) above their heads to receive your reward for completed quests.
Canceling Quests
Sometimes you'll find an item on a quest that is so perfect you don't want to return it when you complete a quest. If you want to keep a quest item, left‐click your mouse on the "CANCEL" option in the Active Quests menu and you won't have to return the precious treasure, but you won't earn any fame, experience, or other rewards associated with the canceled quest. Also, you may say yes to a quest you later regret accepting. You can cancel a quest for any reason, and it will not adversely affect your character.
Exploring with the AutoMap
Press Tab on your keyboard to activate your AutoMap. This transparent map box appears in the lower left corner of your screen. While in a town, the AutoMap shows people and portals. In the dungeons the AutoMap displays nearby explored chambers. Because the catacombs change with every adventure, AutoMap is an essential tool for finding your way, provided that you know these important map symbols:
A white X: Indicates the location of your character in relation to other landmarks and characters on the AutoMap.
A white diamond: Indicates the location of your pet and any summoned creatures fighting for you.
A green square: Indicates the location of a friendly traveling merchant or one of the local citizens.
A white exclamation point: Indicates the location of citizen who has quests for you to perform.
A yellow exclamation point: Indicates the location of a citizen who has a reward for a quest you have completed.
A hazy blue ball: Indicates the location of a portal into a dungeon.
A red arrow: Indicates the location of a stairway which takes you to a lower level in the dungeon.
A blue arrow: Indicates the location of a stairway which takes you to a higher level in the dungeon.
Entering the Dungeons
Wander around town long enough and you'll spot several glowing, purple rings on the ground. These are portals into each respective area (referred to as "dungeons" for now). To enter each dungeon, you need a quest that takes place within it. Some dungeons are restricted by the story until you have completed other quests, so you may not be able to enter all of them just yet.
Before venturing into the catacombs, left‐click your mouse on your inventory (the backpack sub-menu button) and make sure that you have a trusty weapon in your hand—that's the box on the left side of your character. Bows are held in the left hand. As long as you have a weapon equipped and AutoMap engaged (press the TAB button on your keyboard to turn it on, or click the Map sub‐menu icon), you're ready to take the first step.
Combat
You won't have to venture far before you encounter a beast or two. To fight a foe, move the cursor over the enemy and left‐click your mouse button. Your pet will help you fight until you learn how to take care of yourself. As you progress in levels and explore more of the dungeons, you'll find weapons ideally suited for the two styles of combat in FATE: The Cursed King:
Melee Combat
Melee combat is hand‐to‐hand combat in which you trade blows with one or more enemies in close quarters. Melee combat weapons include axes, swords, clubs, spears, staves, maces, hammers, and polearms. Because you're fighting in front of your opponent, melee combat exposes you to counterblows and damage. If you decide to specialize in melee combat, it's important to find or buy the best armor you can wear. Holding down the Shift key while left‐clicking your mouse on a targeted enemy forces your character to stand in one place and swing your melee weapon, without the character walking around.
Ranged Combat
Ranged combat involves hurling weapons or projectiles at your opponents from a distance. In FATE: The Cursed King, ranged combat weapons consist of bows and crossbows, but you can also engage your foes at a distance while using magical spells. A big advantage that ranged combat has over melee combat is that foes with melee weapons cannot hit you until they close the distance and reach your position. If your pet stands between you and your foe, successful ranged attacks with a bow, a crossbow, or magical spells will wear down your enemy. A primary disadvantage of ranged combat is that bows and crossbows are two‐handed weapons—you cannot carry a protective shield in your left hand while you're in combat. This two‐handed limitation exposes you to more damage when your opponent hits you than if you carry a shield.
NOTE: Sometimes your character will move around to get a better shot at an enemy, or possibly engage an enemy at close range with a bow/crossbow. Holding down the Shift key while left‐clicking your mouse on a targeted enemy forces your character to stand in one place and shoot with their equipped ranged weapon.
Treasure
Most monsters either drop treasure after combat or protect treasure chests containing valuable weapons and armor. One of the best ways to spot treasure is to click on the small "Reveal All Items" magnifying lens above your experience bar or press and hold the Alt key on your keyboard. With Reveal All Items toggled you can quickly spot dropped treasure and separate magical items from the ordinary stuff without sorting through the contents of your crowded inventory. Once your inventory is full, use a Town Portal Scroll to return to the surface and sell the items for a tidy profit. Alternately, you can send your pet to do it for you (see the "Your Pet" section of this file for details).
Magical Items
The names of non‐magical items always appear in white text, but items in your inventory with a purple glow have magical or socketed (capable of being modifed by a gem) properties. Of all the valuables found in the dungeon, items with a purple glow should never be left behind.
Rare Items
Items in your inventory with a teal glow are rare weapons, armor, and jewelry. These valuable artifacts can earn you more money than common magical items in the same class, but that doesn't mean that you won't find better equipment elsewhere in the dungeon.
Artifact Items
Depending on your luck and bravery, you may stumble across a rare item with a yellow glow. These Artifacts are often powerful, one‐of‐a‐kind treasures that command some of the highest prices on the market—especially after a greedy merchant tries to sell one back to you.
Defeat and Choosing Your Fate
Defeat happens to even the best players. Your character falls whenever all of the red (or green if you're poisoned) life points in your meter disappears. In Adventure mode your demise is never final, but you must choose one of four fates before you can return:
1) Be healed to full strength, then continue at the location where you fell, at the cost of some of your earned experience and fame points.
2) Be healed to full strength and pay the smallest amount of gold, at the cost of being randomly teleported to a nearby level of the dungeon. Your new destination can be easier or harder than the location where you fell.
3) Be healed to full strength and transported three levels up from where you fell, at the cost of losing all the gold in your possession. Your gold will stay where you fell … for a short time.
4) If none of this sounds appealing, left‐click your mouse on the "Quit" command in the lower right corner and retire to the main menu. When you restart your game you will begin from the last place you used a dungeon stair or a Town Portal Scroll (you resume at the last instance your game loaded, just like you went back in time).
Game Menus and Interfaces
Your Character's Game Interface
Your game screen features two distinct sections: The large upper area gives you a clear view of your character moving and interacting with characters and creatures in the realm. The interface at the bottom provides important information regarding your character's life points, mana points (magical energy), an experience bar, a stamina bar, quick-access item slots, and total gold. This interface section includes eight important sub‐menu buttons that you use to manage and organize spells, attributes, quests, inventories and more. To access this information, move the cursor over one of the square sub‐menu icons and left‐click your mouse.
Your Pet's Game Interface
In the upper left corner of the screen you'll see a group of five boxes featuring pet information and commands. The red bar indicates your pet's current health status (if it's empty, your pet is probably running around, attempting to flee from battle). You can left‐click on the three smaller boxes to review your pet's attributes and status. Click the name bar with the house icon to order your pet to return to town and sell the goods in their inventory to a town merchant. To feed your pet, click on a fish in your inventory and drag it up to the largest box in your pet's interface. Fish do funny things to pets!
Assigned Spells
When you start to learn spells, they will appear in your spellbook. Once you have learned a spell, a white square called a Spell Slot will appear in the lower right corner of the screen with your newly selected spell icon inside the square. You can cast the selected spell highlighted in the Spell Slot by right‐clicking your mouse button. If you can't remember what a spell does, open up your Spellbook and move your cursor over each spell.
Your Viewing Perspective
Sometimes you might want a closer look at your environment. If your mouse has a wheel, use it to zoom in or out on your character's surroundings. Clicking on the mouse wheel also centers the view of your character on the screen. If you don't have a mouse wheel, you can use the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard to zoom in and out in with the same incremental perspective. Pressing the left and right arrows on your keyboard will temporarily rotate the view around your character, but this overhead view reverts to the default overhead perspective whenever you release an arrow key.
Learning to Run
In your interface, above the experience bar, is a Toggle Run icon. If you left‐click your mouse while the cursor is on the icon or press the "R" key on your keyboard, your character will run instead of walking. You can also hold the CTRL button to run momentarily. Running is an excellent solution to pass quickly through previously explored areas, but if you run too long you'll deplete your yellow stamina bar (it's the one beneath the white experience bar). Once you run out of stamina you won't be able to run again until you drink a stamina potion or your stamina has recovered.
Using Rage Attack
If you hit spacebar or press the fireball icon on the main bar you will draw from stamina and perform a special rage attack that does double damage. If your stamina is too low you will not be able to use this special attack.
Character Stats
To review your character's statistics and attributes, left‐click your mouse on the leftmost sub-menu button or press the "C" key on your keyboard. You use the Character Stats menu to allocate new attribute/skill points after gaining levels or for checking your current fame and experience point totals. The Character Stats menu also shows you how many experience points you need to reach the next level. To close this menu, left‐click your mouse on the X in the lower right corner of the display.
Using Items in Your Inventory
To use a scroll, book, or other item in your inventory, left‐click your mouse on the Inventory icon in the sub-menu area or press the "I" key on your keyboard. Move the cursor over items in your inventory to learn more about them. To equip armor or a weapon, left‐click the item in your inventory box and drag the component up to proper location. Alternately, you can right‐click on the item to instantly equip it. To use a potion or scroll in your inventory, move the cursor over the intended object and right‐click your mouse.
Alternate Sets of Equipment
When in your inventory, you are able to see your currently equipped items. There are equipment slots for your Arms, Feet, Head, Body, Back, Belt, Hands, two Rings, Neck, and Ears. You also have the option of keeping a second set of weapons equipped, which allows you to change from melee to ranged combat easily and quickly during gameplay. To access this second set of items use the “I” or “II” buttons that are found at the uppermost left side of the Inventory interface. You can also use the yin yang button to quickly switch weapons sets on the main menu bar.
Identifying Items
Magical items you find in the dungeon have properties that are, at first, invisible to you. These items are not ‘Identified’ yet. Moving your cursor over these items in your inventory will show that they have not yet been identified.
Items may be identified by using Identify Scrolls or Books of Identify on them. Simply right‐click on the Identify Scroll or Book and your cursor should display a target icon. Next, left‐click on the item you would like to identify, and its properties will be revealed to you.
An Identify spell is also available. However, you will have to continually improve your skill in Charm Magic to identify items with a higher Identification Level.
Opening Your Spellbook
When you begin the game you won't know many spells, but as you advance in experience you'll earn attribute and skill points that can be used to unlock spellcasting knowledge. If you allocate a portion of your attribute points to Magic, you'll be able to use the spells that you find. Known spells are recorded in your spellbook. You can record up to six Attack Magic, six Defense Magic, and six Charm Magic spells in the tome, but there are far more than 18 spells available. As you advance through the dungeon levels and your character grows stronger, you'll need to remove weaker spells from your spellbook and replace the old spells with new, stronger magic. To remove a spell from your spellbook, click on the Spellbook sub-menu icon to open it (or type "B" on the keyboard) then press the CTRL key on your keyboard while you left‐click on the spell you want to permanently erase.
By moving your cursor over the icon of a spell in your spellbook, you will see a display of the many properties of the spell, and requirements for its use. As you improve the magical skill associated with the class of the spell, you will see these properties improve. The default Fireball spell is not terribly powerful, but once you have invested in Attack Magic Skill, it can be formidable.
Reviewing Learned Skills
To open your Skills menu and review your skill levels, left‐click your mouse on the Skills icon on the sub-menu or press the "K" key on your keyboard. Each time you gain a character level or complete a special quest, you'll earn special skill points that will improve your character's weapon or spell‐casting talents. Increased skill points in a weapon class improve your character's chances of dealing more damage when that weapon is equipped. Increased skill points in a magic class increase the potency of all spells within that magic class.
Your Journal
To open your Journal, left‐click your mouse on the Journal icon on the sub‐menu or press the "J" key on your keyboard. Your journal is a complete statistical summary of everything you've done so far in the game, right down to a running tally of monsters defeated and individual steps taken. These statistics are for your information and have no bearing on completing the game.
Active Quests
To review any quests undertaken so far, left‐click the Quests icon on the sub‐menu or press the "Q" key on your keyboard. The Active Quest log contains the names of up to three active quests accepted in the game per realm. You can left‐click your mouse on the name of a quest to review its requirements and rewards.
The Map
Left‐clicking your mouse on the Map icon on the sub-menu or pressing the "M" key on your keyboard will toggle the AutoMap in the lower left corner of the screen. The AutoMap is one of the most important features in the game as it helps you keep your bearings. Because the dungeon levels are never the same between game sessions, the AutoMap is essential for finding your way to the next stairway up or down. It's also important for seeking out characters with quest rewards. When the AutoMap is already open, pressing TAB makes your map zoom out. There are 5 levels of zoom that allow you to see more of your surroundings on the AutoMap. If you want add mystery to your adventure, consider toggling your AutoMap off until you need to consult it.
Other Options
Save and exit your game by left‐clicking on the Save icon on the sub-menu, or by pressing the "Esc" key on your keyboard. Open the Save menu to automatically pause your game while you're away from the keyboard to avoid being attacked by monsters.
Exploring Ekbatan
Interacting with Townsfolk
Talking to game characters in town and wandering merchants in the dungeons is as easy as left-clicking your mouse on the character you wish to speak with. Most folks have the same daily routine, but occasionally someone will hear of your exploits and ask you to complete an important quest. See the section above called "Finding a Quest" for more information about that.
Healing
The city of Ekbatan has a healer. Find her, and she can heal you and your pet to full strength for free, so be sure to visit whenever you head back up.
The Bard
Ekbatan has a bard – a traveling singer and teller of tales. For a fee, bards can be persuaded to sing about your deeds and increase your Fame to the next rank. Since Fame increases also come with Skill Point bonuses, this is a great way to purchase a little extra skill if you are flush with cash. Later in the game, when you find Ranked items that require fame to wield, you may also need to invest in some quick Fame to be able to use these powerful items.
Other Merchants
There are several other merchants to discover in the city of Ekbatan, including but not limited to: an enchanter who enchants magical weapons for a fee; a fortune teller who gives rewards for special rare cards found in the dungeon; a gembreaker and weaponbreaker who will remove gems or remove the weapon; and an identifier who identifies items for a fee.
Buying and Selling
Buying and selling items is easy and intuitive. Talk to a merchant by placing your cursor on the character and left‐clicking your mouse button. The character will ask you if you want to buy or sell goods. To choose "Yes" left‐click on the command and a box containing the merchant's wares will open on the left side of the screen while a box featuring your inventory will open on the right side. To buy an item, move the cursor over the object you want to buy and you'll see the name of the item and a short description. Left‐click on the item, and if you have enough gold and the space to keep it, you can drag it in your own inventory to purchase it. To purchase or sell items quickly, hold the Shift key on your keyboard while left‐clicking on the items that you want to buy.
Highlighted Wares
Items highlighted with a red X cost more than the gold you currently have in your inventory and are therefore unavailable for purchase. Items highlighted in purple are magical, and have 1‐2 magical properties. Items highlighted in teal are rare, and can have up to 8 magical properties. Items highlighted in yellow are Artifacts, and have a special combination of magical properties and damage ratings different from all other weapons. Artifacts are very rare and special items.
A Sales Pitch
Each time your hover your cursor over a merchant's inventory, you'll see the price and name of the item, and combat statistics if the item is weaponry or armor. If the requirement near the bottom of the description is highlighted with a red band, you won't be able to use the item, armor, or weapon when you buy it. This allows you to buy an item in anticipation of being able to use it in a level or two. If the requirement is highlighted in a green band, you can equip and use the item immediately.
Shop and Compare
It's always important to review the complete descriptions for every item before making a purchase. If you're considering upgrading your weapon or armor, compare the attack damage and defense numbers with your equipment currently in use before you spend had-earned gold!
Selling Your Finds
The process for selling items to a merchant is almost identical to buying, except the click and drag procedure is reversed: Left‐click your mouse button on the item that you want to sell and drag it over to the merchant's box. As you click on the item, you'll see the price that the merchant is willing to pay.
All merchants rely on considerable profits to stay in business, so don't be surprised if they try to resell the item to you at a much higher price than what they paid for it.
Identify for Profit
If you want a fair price when selling a magical item, it's important to identify it with a scroll or spell before you make the sale. A merchant will buy unidentified items from you, but only for the same price as a non‐magical item. Selling unidentified wares is a highly unprofitable way to do business as an adventurer.
Changing Inventories
Merchants constantly change their wares (each time you enter the dungeons, in fact). Even if you have nothing to sell or don't think you require additional items, check out the local wares. You might find a valuable surprise or two in stock. Some merchants also modify their inventories to sell you items slightly above or below your character's attribute points. If you see a rare and powerful sword that you can afford but your character needs a few more strength points to wield it, consider buying and leaving the sword in your storage trunk until you gain enough strength points. With so many treasures in the dungeons, some buying opportunities only come along once in a character's lifetime.
Send Your Pet to Market
To sell your pet's inventory, move your cursor over your pet and hold down the Shift key on your keyboard while clicking the left mouse button. It's important to remember that your pet will sell items for the best possible price IF you identify everything in your pet's inventory first.
Gambling
Life might be a gamble, but the high‐stakes gamblers in town are certainly easier on your life points than fighting in the dungeon. If you're willing to part with some gold, you can take a chance on buying the magical arms and armor in their inventories, but you won't know what you've bought until you pay for it. Click your mouse on these characters to review their inventory, but making the right selection is up to you (and a gamble, of course). Until you click on an item and pay for it, there's no telling if you found a deal or paid dearly for a shiny piece of rubbish.
Your Pet
Before you begin your journey, you must choose a companion to accompany you. Select a pet from seven different animals--there is no difference in strength between pets, so pick the pet you like the best.
Go Fish
To feed your pet a fish, left‐click your mouse on a fish in your inventory and drag the fish to the largest pet icon in the upper left corner of the screen. Then, left‐click your mouse a second time. You can also feed your pet a fish by placing the cursor over the fish in your inventory and right‐clicking on a fish. Usually, your pet transformations are temporary, but some rare fish will permanently transform your pet into a specific creature until you feed it another fish. Remember--a dogfish will always transform your pet back into the creature it was, just in case!
Flight in Fights
Pets are loyal and will not abandon characters in the face of overwhelming odds, but they will flee if their health bar whittles down to nothing. If this happens, use a heal spell or health potion to restore your pet's health and courage in battle. Your pet will gradually heal over time, so they will eventually return to fighting form, but a healing potion is always the quickest way to get them back into the fray.
Pet Attributes
To review your pet's status, left‐click on the Pet Stats icon in the upper left corner or press the "T" key on your keyboard. Unlike your character, pet attribute points are automatically allocated among the strength, dexterity, vitality and magic attributes without your input.
Pet Inventory
Your pet also has an inventory for storing extra items, armor, and weapons. You can manually transfer these items by left‐clicking your mouse on the chest icons that represent your inventory and your pet's inventory (or press "I" and "P" on your keyboard) and clicking and dragging each item into your pet's inventory. Alternatively, you can hold down the Shift key while left‐clicking your mouse on an item to automatically put the item in your pet's inventory (if your pet has the space available for it). Similar to your inventory, your pet’s inventory can be automatically sorted by using the “sort" icon at the bottom of the inventory screen.
Your pet can also fetch items in the dungeon by holding Shift while left‐clicking on them. Doing so will cause your pet to run over pick up the item.
How to Sell a Pet's Inventory
To sell all of the items in your pet's inventory, hold down the Shift key while left‐clicking your mouse button over a merchant. Keep in mind that you won't get the best price on items that you left unidentified in your pet's inventory. You can also send your pet out of the dungeon alone to sell your goods by left‐clicking your mouse button on the small bar beneath your pet's feeding icon, but you'll need to adventure alone until your faithful companion returns. Remember, the deeper you are within the dungeon, the longer it will take for your pet to return!
Connecting through Facebook
(THIS OPTIONS HAS BEEN REMOVED BY WILDTANGENT AND IS NO LONGER WORKING)
Brand new to FATE: The Cursed King is the introduction of Facebook connectivity. Players can share heroes with friends, earn achievements, trade special items and see character statistics. (To use this feature, you will need an existing Facebook account.)
Connecting
When you first start the game, click the "Online" button available from the FATE: The Cursed King title menu. On the next screen, click the blue "Connect with Facebook" button in order to open a web browser window. Once signed in to Facebook, you will be prompted to accept the FATE Facebook application. Accept the application and then click on the "Link to FATE" button to receive a keycode. Write down that keycode and return to your game. Enter the keycode into the box labeled "Game ID" and click the "Connect" button in the bottom right. (You can also use the copy/paste option to enter the code.) You should now see a message saying that you've successfully connected. If you have trouble connecting, be sure your anti-virus program and firewall are temporarily disabled. Once connected, it's a good idea to check the "auto-connect" box so your heroes are automatically shared with your friends.
Sharing Heroes
In order to share your heroes with friends, you must check the box next to each hero in the online menu. You can share up to five of your characters! Need help defeating a swarm of angry monsters? You could hire a few standard rogues, or you could hire your friends' characters and take advantage of their armor and skills! Friends who have also accepted the Facebook application can allow you to play with a clone of their characters. Characters are controlled by the built-in A.I., so you don't have to manage three different characters at once. Also, your actions while using your friends' character won't affect their gold, fame, or level. Visit Absalta, the recruiter in Ekbatan, to hire allies. You can also recruit randomly generated allies. If the first three don't look that great, you can ask Absalta for different options.
Trading Items
From the title menu, click "Online" to access the Facebook menu. Make sure you are connected, then visit Calel of the Caravan exchange in Ekbatan. Simply drag items to his panel in order to add them to your caravan. If you want them back later, you'll have to pay a transfer fee to cover the cost of storage. Back on the Facebook app, your caravan has been updated. Gift items to your friends by paying a transfer fee based on the value of each item. Special weapons, pieces of armor, and relics might just give you the boost you need in battle! If you no longer need an item, don't worry--when your caravan is full only the most recent items show up.
View Your Achievements
From the title menu, click "Online" to access the Facebook menu. See the achievements you've earned in game and compare your rank to your friends. If you visit Horzaz, the Curator in Ekbatan, he will regale you with the latest accomplishments of your friends.
Hiring a Party (Hiring Help)
Forming a Party
A "party" in this case refers to a group of characters and their pets. FATE: The Cursed King allows you to play with computer-controlled characters that help your hero...for a price. To hire allies, visit Absalta, the recruiter, in the city of Ekbatan.
Your Hired Allies
You may hire up to three allies, but you must have the experience to command them. You may hire 1 ally at level 10, 2 at level 20, and 3 at level 30. Absalta will, of course, ask for a reasonable fee. Since these allies are controlled by your computer, they will "play" in one of three ways:
Passive Mode: The character will never attack, but will follow the group and cast healing spells.
Defensive Mode: The character will attack only when provoked (when attacked, or your hero is in trouble).
Aggressive Mode: The character will always attack.
Skill Points and Healing
Each member of your party has a set of attributes close to your own level. They also come with a spellbook, and are capable of casting spells or (except in passive mode) melee attacks. You can attribute skill points when a character levels up in the same manner as your own hero. Click on the character's icon to the left of the screen for the options to attribute skill points and add spells to his or her spellbook.
To assign spells to an ally, open their profile and select their inventory. Drag a spell scroll into that character's inventory, and then right-click on the scroll. This will allow the character to learn and use the spell.
To heal allies, select their icon on the left side of the screen. Next, drag a potion from your own inventory onto their icon, just as you would when feeding a pet.
Note: You must equip allies who are not your friends' characters with weapons and armor. Once these allies are dismissed, their equipped items will disappear with them!
Dismissing Party Members
When you no longer need help, dismiss your allies by clicking on their character icons. This will open the stat panel, at the bottom of which you will see a "Dismiss" button. Click "Dismiss" and your agreement has been fulfilled! Remember, once removed, all of your ally's equipment disappears.
Reviving Allies
If your allies collapse from taking too much damage, they don't flee like your pet. Instead, they collapse where they stand. When they recover on their own, over time, they will catch up with you wherever you are. You can help them recover faster by using potions, spells and special relics.
Good Things to Know
Fishing
Finding or buying a fishing pole is one of the best investments you can make in the game. While you might find a fish or two in a treasure stash, you cannot find additional fish to feed your pet until you have a fishing pole. Fishing is one of the fastest and easiest ways to increase your pet's food supply—and you might hook a valuable treasure while angling!
Find a Fishing Hole
Once you have a fishing pole, you can fish wherever you spot a cloud of fireflies. These elusive fishing holes are found both in town and in the dungeon, although you won't find the best fish until you descend deep into the earth.
How to Fish
To fish, stand near the hovering fireflies and move your cursor over the swarm. Left‐click your mouse on the "Go Fishing" command and cast your fishing pole (you do not have to equip the pole in your right hand—just keep it in your inventory). Move the cursor over the "Set Hook!" command but don't click on the command until you see the gold exclamation point (!) above your character's head. Timing is important when setting the hook, but there will be instances where the fish gets away—don't worry about it. You can keep casting over a group of fireflies until you have enough fish or treasure, provided you don't mind waiting for long periods in-between. If you think your fishing area is fished out, choose the "Stop Fishing" command to move along.
Your Storage Trunk
Your storage trunk is a large chest with more than twice the capacity of your inventory. It's the perfect spot to keep gems, armor, and socketed weapons that you found but cannot use until your character attains higher attribute points. Your storage trunk is located in the center of town, right where you started the game.
It's important to review the contents of your trunk to make sure those valuable gems, items, and weapons you stowed away have not outlived their usefulness. If you find something old in your stash, sell it and use the storage space for your newest treasures.
Town Portals
Town Portal Scrolls and Books of Town Portals are the quickest and easiest way to leave the dungeon and return to town. Instead of climbing up through the entire dungeon, a Town Portal transports you, your pet, and any summoned creatures straight into town. Your Town Portal will remain in town even if you save and exit your game, but once you return to the dungeon, the portal on the surface disappears. As a precaution, always keep an extra Town Portal Scroll in your inventory.
Developing Your Character
Your character grows in fame, fortune, talent, and experience as you explore the darkness that lies below Ekbatan. Knowing how to develop your newfound skills and resources will either make your adventure easier or exceptionally challenging.
Experience Points and Leveling Up
As you defeat monsters and complete quests, the white experience bar at the center of the sub-menu display will slowly creep to the right. Once the bar is completely full, a red box with a white cross will appear in the lower‐left of the screen. This icon and a message tell you that your character has attained a new level in experience and skill. Left‐click on the white cross to open your Character Stat menu and your Skill menu. While both panels are up, the game will pause, so don’t worry about being attacked while you do this. Every time you gain a character level you earn points to spend on your attributes and skills. How you spend these points is important: the most successful characters are those who specialize in key areas, matching their attribute and skill points to focus on certain strengths. For example, if you want to specialize in fighting, add extra attribute points to your character's strength, dexterity, and a melee weapon skill. If you want to specialize in spell casting, allocate most of your attribute points to magic, and use your skill points in a magic skill discipline (Attack, Defense, or Charm magic). There's nothing wrong with creating a well‐rounded adventurer with a wide range of attributes and skills, but you'll spend more time building the levels for these characters than specialized characters with points in a few key areas.
Make a Plan and Stick to It
It's important to make a plan for your character's development and stick to it, because attribute points cannot be changed once used. If you're wondering how many points your character needs to advance to the next level, move the cursor over the experience point bar. The number on the left indicates how many experience points you have and the number on the right shows how many you need to progress to the next level. You should have an idea of how you want to spend future attribute points long before your character's experience point bar is at the limit.
Character Attributes
Your character has four key attributes that help define their best traits and their weaknesses. Skilled players know exactly what these attributes do and create characters whose skills match their best attributes. Here is what each attribute does:
Strength
Strength influences the amount of damage inflicted upon a foe. The higher your strength points, the more damage you'll dish out in combat and the bigger handheld weapons you can use. Some armor and advanced weapons including swords, axes, maces, and hammers require higher strength points to work well.
Dexterity
Dexterity increases the chance that you will strike foes and also dodge their attacks. Some armor and advanced weapons like bows and polearms require increased dexterity points to be effective in the hands of an advanced adventurer.
Vitality
Vitality increases your life points and improves your stamina for running. Increasing your vitality will give you more life points as you progress in character levels, making you a formidable opponent against groups of monsters.
Magic
Magic affects the number of mana points (magical energy) and spells you have available to cast. Some magical items like hats, staves, and other weapons require you to have a specific number of magic points before you can use them.
NOTE: Some magical armor, weapons, and items add special bonuses to your character's attributes. These applied bonuses appear in green highlighted boxes on your Character Stats menu. If you move the cursor over the green highlighted box you can see the exact point values applied by your character's bonus. It's important to compare these bonuses when removing magical items or equipping a different magical item on your character.
Skills and Spells
Unlike roleplaying games that limit your character to the restrictions of certain classes or professions, you have the freedom to choose the skills you want to develop for your unique character. Whether your hero wields a sword and casts spells wearing plate armor, or relies on weapons in both hands and plenty of charm magic, your character's specialization is strictly up to you. As your hero advances and completes special quests, you'll earn skill points that you can allocate to specific talents. You can open your character's Skills menu by left‐clicking the cursor on the skills icon or by pressing "K" on your keyboard.
Sword Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you wield a sword.
Club and Mace Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you use a club or mace.
Hammer Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you swing a hammer.
Axe Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you wield an axe.
Spear Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you jab with a spear.
Staff Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you swing a staff.
Polearm Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you chop with a polearm.
Bow and Crossbow Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you shoot a bow or crossbow.
Critical Strike Skill: Increases your chances of delivering a critical strike or a mortal blow to a foe. A critical strike is a blow that deals the maximum amount of damage.
Spell Casting Skill: Reduces the time it takes to cast spells.
Dual‐Wielding Skill: Increases the speed and damage of the weapon held in your secondary (shield) hand.
Shield Battle Skill: Increases your chance of successfully blocking a blow with your shield.
Attack Magic Skill: Increases the strength and effectiveness of your attack spells.
Defense Magic Skill: Increases the strength and effectiveness of your defense spells.
Charm Magic Skill: Increases the strength and effectiveness of your charm spells.
Assigning your Spells to a Hotkey
If your character uses many spells in combat, you can reduce the time it takes to cast them by assigning or "binding" certain spells to the F1 through F12 keys on your keyboard. To bind spells, left‐click your mouse on the currently selected spell icon (the Spell Slot) in the lower right corner of the screen. This will open a special spell foldout containing spell icons for everything in your spellbook. Move the cursor over each one of the spell icons and press the function key on your keyboard to which you want to assign a particular spell (F1 through F12). Now, you can quickly cast a variety of spells just by pressing F1 through F12.
Replacing Spells
Soon enough, you'll learn potent spells that surpass the powers of the existing spells in your spell foldout. Revise your hotkey configuration using the same method listed above. Players often group their spells according to spell purpose, keeping attack spells in one group of function keys and defensive or healing spells in another keyboard group. This organized approach makes it easier to find the spells you need even after you update your spellbook several times.
Weapons, Armor and Other Essentials
Weapons
Damage Type
With the exception of the bow and crossbow, most weapons are close‐ranged melee weapons. All weapons have damage types, attack damage ranges (not every blow deals the exact same number of damage points), and speed ratings. The type of damage done depends on the weapon: clubs and hammers deliver crushing damage, while axes and swords have slashing damage. Certain armor and monsters in the game receive less damage when facing weapons with specific damage types, so it's important to choose a secondary weapon skill with a different damage type for defeating many foes.
Damage Range
The attack damage range is the amount of life points a weapon can cut from a foe in a single blow, depending on your skill and luck. Depending on the weapon type, your character's strength may increase the usual numbers in a weapon's attack damage range.
The class speed rating indicates how fast you can swing or shoot the weapon in combat. In most cases—although not always—slower speed weapons deliver more damage than lighter and faster weapons. If your character carried an enormous axe that dealt plenty of damage but was almost too heavy to swing, you would want your hero or heroine to have the heaviest armor possible to withstand blows during their slow backswing. That's why it's important to pair the appropriate armor with your character's weapon.
Weapon Speed
Weapon speeds often depend on the size and complexity of the weapon. The type of damage caused by each weapon can have advantages and disadvantages against certain monsters. For example, piercing weapons don't do well against bony skeletons, but the crushing damage of the club and mace class can be devastating. Here's a brief outline of weapon classes, typical speed ranges, and damage types:
Axe Class: Slow to fast speed, slashing damage.
Club & Mace Class: Slow speed, crushing damage.
Crossbow & Bow Class: Slow (crossbow) to fast speed (bow), piercing damage.
Hammer Class: Slowest to slow speed, crushing damage.
Polearm Class: Slow speed, piercing damage.
Spear Class: Normal speed, piercing damage.
Staff Class: Slow speed, crushing damage.
Sword Class: Normal to fastest speed, slashing damage.
Dual Wielding
One‐handed weapons can be used in tandem. Instead of wearing a shield, your character may place another one‐handed weapon in their left hand. The attacks performed with this off‐handed weapon happen slightly faster during the second stroke, so that you can improve your rate of damage by using two weapons. Unfortunately, this advantage comes at a penalty – the damage dealt by your right‐hand weapon is reduced slightly, and the left‐handed weapon’s damage is reduced even further. There is good news, however: by improving your Dual Wielding Skill, you can reduce this penalty, and increase the speed of the off‐handed attack. Dual Wielding players with a high skill level become formidable opponents. Dual Wielders have the added advantage of being able to combine different types of damage for different situations, which is useful when you come across monsters with high resistances to a given damage type.
Armor
The higher the armor rating, the better protection your character will have in combat. It's frequently important to match a weapon to a specific type of armor. If you wield a big, slow weapon, protect yourself with extra armor while you're taking enemy blows. While other role‐playing games restrict your character to certain armor depending on their class, in FATE, even spell‐casting specialists can wear heavy chain armor if they choose. Do remember, though, that some armor types bestow special attribute bonuses which favor certain character specialties. So, don't sell or discard every cloth robe you find in the dungeon. Socketed armor is especially valuable because it allows you to customize your protection with gems that enhance your strengths and protect your weaknesses.
Socketed Items
Superior socketed weapons and all magical socketed items are among the most highly prized treasures in the game. If you want to improve your socketed item with a new jewel, or if you find a better gem for your item, find a gem remover in Ekbatan. Some gem removers will preserve the item but take the gems. Others specialize in saving the gems at the cost of the items.
Graded Items
Weapons and armor within the game also come in different grades. Apart from the default grade, you may find Superior, Exceptional, and Flawless items. These grades improve the damage capability or defense of the weapon, but do not increase its requirements in any way. Watch for these very valuable items, as they can provide your character with extra protection or attacking power at an earlier level than usual.
Ranked Items
In addition to graded items, ranked items appear within the dungeon. Elite and Legendary items are far more powerful than their average counterparts, and their requirements are higher as well. These ranked items allow your character to attain power far beyond that of normal weapons or armor. However, ranked items also require Fame to use. Each ranked item has a Fame requirement that must be met before it can be wielded.
Gold, Gems, and Potions
Gold
Gold is the standard currency throughout the realms. While inexperienced adventurers insist that most monsters drop plenty of gold, seasoned explorers find greater wealth by completing local quests. Selling unneeded magical treasure and gems is another dependable way to earn tall stacks of shiny coins.
Jewelry
Your character can wear ordinary and magical rings, amulets, necklaces, and earrings. If you don't need an item, consider giving it to your pet. Ordinary jewelry is used as currency, but some magical items impart special properties that can improve your defense or attack ratings in combat. There are even items that improve your chances of finding more valuable treasure left by monsters!
Gems
Gems come in various shapes and conditions and can bestow magical powers via socketed armor, weapons, and jewelry. A gem in good condition will give a socketed item more power than a flawed gem of the same type. Near the surface you'll find gems with various cracks and imperfections, but deeper in the dungeon you'll find flawless gems that bestow amazing magical properties.
Gems and Socketed Items
Whenever you left‐click on a gem, any socketed items in your inventory or storage will automatically be highlighted. This is to remind you of which items, armor, and weapons can be equipped with gems to improve their performance. Many players keep extra gems in their storage until they find a superior socketed piece of armor or weapon that improves their character's fighting abilities.
Potions
There are a plethora of potions in the dungeon and merchant inventories, but the most common are mana (blue), health (red), stamina (yellow), and antidote (purple). Minor potions are the most affordable but will only improve your condition in small amounts. Major potions give the best dosage but cost a lot of gold. Super versions of these potions are also available, and provide a significant improvement over Major potions. Thankfully, antidotes only come in one practical size.
Healing Charms
Healing charms work just like health potions, but they may be used eight times in succession. This is very handy for tough battles, since you can place them in the quick item slots at the bottom of your screen.
Keys
Locked chests obviously require keys to open. Chests come in three sizes (small, medium, and large), and their keys are sometimes carried by monsters lurking nearby. Also, consider checking in with Winsa in Ekbatan from time to time, as she also comes across keys.
Scrolls
During your travels, you'll find two types of scrolls: Blue Town Portal Scrolls and red Identify Scrolls. Because large scroll collections take up considerable inventory space, most adventurers carry around Books of Identify and Books of Town Portals instead. Note that Charm spells also exist which serve the same purpose, for players more inclined to magic.
Books
Just as there are two kinds of scrolls, there are also two kinds of books: Books of Identify and Books of Town Portals. Purchased new, these tomes contain ten Identify Scrolls or ten Town Portal Scrolls, but each book only requires two inventory or stash squares. Once used, you cannot refill your Book of Identify or Book of Town Portal with unused scrolls—you need to buy or find a new book before you run out. Note that Charm spells also exist which serve the same purpose, for players more inclined to magic.
Shrines, Fountains, and More
Shrines of Learning
Shrines of Learning contain ancient text that can teach you talents to raise attributes. You'll never know what attributes you'll gain or lose at a shrine. To read the text, click on the "Yes" option when you find a Shrine of Learning.
Magic Anvils
With a few special exceptions, magic anvils summon spectral hammers that crash down upon your equipped weapon. Sometimes, this adds sockets or prized enchantments. Spectral hammers are not consistent and any modification should be considered a free and generous gift of fate. If you can’t wait to find a magic anvil, seek out the town enchanter—but be prepared to pay a substantial fee for the service.
Fountains
Depending on the fountain type, you can replenish health, mana, or stamina at a gurgling fountain. You can also make your pet drink from a fountain by holding down the Shift key while left‐clicking the cursor on the fountain.
Fate Statues
Statues of Fate may be found throughout the dungeon. When approaching one, you’ll have an opportunity to pry the gemstones from the statue, potentially receiving valuable gems for your socketed items. However, there is a likely chance that instead, the guardian of the statue will appear and attack you.
Orbs
Throughout the dungeon, you may encounter glowing, mystical orbs. Some will heal and restore mana, while others will harm you. These orbs seem to randomly appear, and nobody really knows why....
Monsters
As you progress through the dungeon you'll encounter tougher beasts, some of whom are enchanted with special powers. These challenging foes may be immune to certain elemental spells and attacks. Although you rarely have time to study a monster's profile in battle, recognizing which weapons work best will make a difficult beast easier to defeat. "Boss" monsters have a glowing red aura and are often associated with a quest. If you encounter a boss monster, be aware that you’re in for a tough battle, but the rewards will be much greater in terms of experience, loot, and fame.
Groups of weaker monsters can be just as overwhelming as a difficult level boss, especially if both are in the same chamber. Using charm spells to summon beasts to your aid can help clear out crowded lairs. You can wait outside the room until your minions take out the weaker creatures, or you can use them as a diversion while you target the deadliest monsters and biggest threats. Just remember that some monsters recognize summoning spells and intentionally attack you first.
Ranked Monsters
Similar to items, monsters also appear as ranked monsters later in the game. These Elite and Legendary versions of monsters are considerably more powerful than their garden variety counterparts, and can be exceptionally difficult to defeat.
Retirement
Once you have defeated T'Kala and freed the city of Ekbatan, return to King Kurosh to receive your reward. It is at this stage that you may choose to hang up your hero mantle and retire that character. Note that retirement is not a requirement, but there are unique advantages to doing so.
Retirement will forever take your character out of play. You will still be able to view them on the continue screen, but they will no longer be available for adventuring. However, when you retire, you are given an opportunity to play as your character’s descendent, and begin a whole new game.
Descendents receive unique advantages. To begin with, they immediately gain a level at the start of their new game. Also, descendents gain extra fame based upon their lineage. The more times you retire the more starting fame is granted to your descendent. This is important, because it allows your descendent to use Elite and Legendary items sooner in the game.
In addition, when you retire, you can pass down a valued family heirloom to your descendent. Any magical properties on this item are improved automatically by 25% when they are handed down. Weapons and armor also increase in grade by one level, until they become Flawless. Wise players will pass down weapons, armor, or jewelry with lower requirements so that their descendents can use them sooner.
When you create your descendent, you will also have the opportunity to select a new difficulty level. If you’re ready for a greater challenge, choose the Hero or Legend levels to give your new character a more exhaustive workout.
Hardcore Level – A Note on Modifications
Players attempting to select the Hardcore level of difficulty can't use cheats. If players decide to modify the game, we strongly suggest backing up all files before altering them.
In closing...we hope you enjoy FATE: The Cursed King as much as we enjoyed creating it.
Now go, embark on an adventure, and determine your FATE!
REFERENCE: file:///E:/FATE%204%20The%20Cursed%20King/FATE%20The%20Cursed%20King/HELP/en-US/Help.html
You may not de‐compile, reverse engineer, or disassemble this game except to the extent and for the express purposes authorized by applicable law notwithstanding this limitation. Title, ownership and intellectual property rights, including any patent rights, in and to game shall remain in WildTangent and/or its licensors or suppliers. The game is protected by the copyright laws of the United States and international copyright treaties. You may not modify this game or create derivative works based upon this game. You may not rent, lease, or otherwise receive any compensation for this game, including by bundling this game with other fee‐based products.
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Table of Contents
A Few Important Terms...
Create Your Character
The Adventure Begins
Dungeons and Combat
Game Menus and Interfaces
Buying and Selling
Your Pet
Connecting Through Facebook
Hiring a Party (Hiring Help)
Good Things to Know
Character Attributes
Skills and Spells
Weapons and Armor
Gold, Gems, and Potions
Shrines, Fountains, and More
Retirement
TUTORIAL
A Few Important Terms--Before You Begin
Despite its rich details and intricate game features, FATE: The Cursed King is an easy and intuitive game to learn. This tutorial uses a few game terms to convey how to play. Most game commands require input through your computer’s mouse. When the manual mentions “click” or “left-click” it refers to quickly pressing the button in the upper left corner of your mouse. The term “right click” means to quickly press the button in the upper right corner of your mouse.
You can also enter most mouse click commands by pressing select keys on your keyboard. These key letters or function buttons are called “hotkeys”.
Start Your Game
To begin a new game, left-click your mouse on the “New Game” command on the FATE: The Cursed King title screen. You can create as many new games as you like, and switch between them at will.
Options
If you’re experiencing graphic display issues, or want to improve game performance, left-click your mouse on the “Options” command to reconfigure your game. These configurations may help improve your gameplay experience, depending on your computer’s performance and installed components. You can also change the volume of the game’s sound effects and music, and adjust monitor brightness. When you’re finished, left-click your mouse on the “Done” command to save your Options settings.
Create your Character
Find a Challenge That Matches Your Gameplay Ability
Once you choose "New Game" you'll be able to select your level of difficulty. "Page," "Adventurer," "Hero," and "Legend" are listed in order of increasing difficulty. At these four levels, character death has a price but is not permanent. "Hardcore" is for the seasoned hero. Everything is more challenging – tougher monsters, harder levels, and death is permanent.
Choose a Race
On the next screen, select your character's race. There are unique benefits to each race.
Human: Start with 9 extra points in the magic character stat, and 5 extra skill points in: staff, attack magic, defense magic, charm magic, and spell casting. They also start with 15 bonus mana.
Half Orc: Start with 15 extra points in the strength and stamina character stats. Additionally, 5 extra skill points assigned in: axe, club, polearm, hammer, and shield skills.
Shadow Elf: Start with 11 extra points in magic, and 15 extra points in the dexterity character stat. Additionally, 5 extra skill points assigned in: bow and crossbow, spear, dual wield, and sword skills. Shadow elves also have an extra 5% movement speed.
Cogger: Start with 8 extra points in the magic character stat. They have a 5% strength, and armor bonus and -5% damage taken bonus and 5% damage reflected. They also have 5 extra points for critical strike.
Imp: Start with 11 extra points in magic. Imps also have 5 extra skill points in: attack magic, charm magic, spell casting, critical strike, and spear.
Choose a Gender and Appearance
You can now modify your character's gender and appearance. There are no penalties or advantages in choosing a male or female character. The gender option allows you to configure your character in a way that most appeals to you.
To change the character’s appearance, left‐click your mouse on the arrows in the upper right corner of the screen relating to hair and facial features. If you don't have any preference you can click "Random Features" and the game will supply an appearance for your character. You can repeatedly click on the "Random Features" command to review other face and hair options until you find one that appeals to you. When your character's appearance looks right, click the "Accept" command to move on to the next screen.
Enter a Name
After choosing an appearance, enter your character's name or left‐click your mouse on the "Random Name" command and the game will supply a name for you. You can keep clicking on the "Random Name" command to review other choices, or tap the backspace key to edit a random name.
Choose Your Pet
Your pet is a loyal companion that will explore and fight with you. Choose between a dog, cat, boar, fox, drone, phoenix, and strider. Left‐click on the arrows to cycle through the different pets available. There are no strategic advantages to having one animal or the other. After choosing a pet type, enter your pet's name or left‐click on the "Random Name" option to let the game supply one for you. Once your pet has a name, click the "Accept" command to move on to the next screen.
Any Regrets?
If you have any last-minute changes, left‐click your mouse button on the "Back" command to review previous character configuration screens. If not, click "Accept" to start the game.
The Adventure Begins
Enter the city of Ekbatan
Once character configuration is complete, the story begins! The narrator will recite the story of your hero, and how the city of Ekbatan came to suffer a terrible curse. Left‐click the "Continue" button to reveal more of your story, or to skip through the story faster. At the end, click "Continue" one last time to start your journey in FATE: The Cursed King.
Tips and Help
When you first enter the city of Ekbatan you'll see a helpful game tip. These tips will appear whenever you enter Ekbatan or a new dungeon level. You can turn off these hints by left‐clicking your mouse button on the checkbox next to the "Display Tips" option, but
it's a good idea to review these suggestions until you're completely familiar with the game. If you disable tips, you can re‐enable them from the Options menu at any time.
Left‐click on the "Done" command to clear the tip and you'll see your character and pet at the middle of the screen. You'll also see a red box with a white cross and a "View Help" option. Left‐click on the red box to view an explanation of the icons and meters on your game display. You can review your Help Menu commands by pressing "H" on your keyboard at any time. Left‐click your mouse button on the "Close Help" option at the top of the screen to close your Help Menu.
Sub-Menu Buttons and Quick Item Slots
At the bottom of the screen you'll see eight sub‐menu icons and six quick item slots. Three of your quick item slots hold health potions that you can use to recover life points lost while fighting monsters in the dungeons. To examine the rest of your inventory, left‐click your mouse button on the sub‐menu icon featuring the backpack.
Your Initial Inventory
Your inventory shows what your character has equipped (is currently wearing) and the contents of your character's backpack. All adventurers start the game with a weapon specific to the chosen race, three easily‐accessible health potions, an Identify Scroll, a Town Portal Scroll, and a spell that can be learned immediately. In the lower right corner of the screen you'll see 250 gold coins, which can be used to purchase items. It's not much, but nobody ever said the life of a hero was easy!
A Quick Stroll
Left‐click your mouse button on the white X in the lower left corner of the inventory menu to close your inventory screen. To make your character walk, move your cursor ( hand) to your destination and click. Your character instantly sets off in the direction of your click. As your character moves, the cursor will move in the same direction to make quick movement easier. Alternately, you may hold down the left mouse button and drag it around the screen, and your character will follow it.
At this point, you're well on your way to exploring the realm of Ekbatan. Keep reading to learn about quests, your map, and buying and selling to merchants. Or, you can just start playing and see what happens!
Find a Quest
Before you can enter the dungeons, first talk to Kurosh the Beggar King. You must complete the task he assigns you in order to save Ekbatan. You should also seek out and speak to Xerxes the Librarian. Once you've spoken to these key characters, you may notice other townsfolk will offer quests. Throughout town you'll find characters who have a silver exclamation point (!) hovering over their heads. Place the cursor on the character and left‐click your mouse button to talk with the character. The townsfolk with exclamation points above their heads need your help to complete quests. Press "Accept" or "Decline" to do exactly that. You may decline certain quests and return to them later, but some quests are randomly generated. When you accept a quest, it shows in your Quest Log, which you can view at any time by clicking the Quests icon in the sub-menu buttons (or pressing "Q" on your keyboard).
Your Active Quests menu can hold up to three quests per realm. Select the different quest descriptions to see the reward summary at the bottom of the menu, displaying the amount of gold, experience, fame and any items you could earn by completing each highlighted quest. These amounts change depending on your advancement as a character. After you complete assigned quests, return to the townsfolk with gold exclamation points (!) above their heads to receive your reward for completed quests.
Canceling Quests
Sometimes you'll find an item on a quest that is so perfect you don't want to return it when you complete a quest. If you want to keep a quest item, left‐click your mouse on the "CANCEL" option in the Active Quests menu and you won't have to return the precious treasure, but you won't earn any fame, experience, or other rewards associated with the canceled quest. Also, you may say yes to a quest you later regret accepting. You can cancel a quest for any reason, and it will not adversely affect your character.
Exploring with the AutoMap
Press Tab on your keyboard to activate your AutoMap. This transparent map box appears in the lower left corner of your screen. While in a town, the AutoMap shows people and portals. In the dungeons the AutoMap displays nearby explored chambers. Because the catacombs change with every adventure, AutoMap is an essential tool for finding your way, provided that you know these important map symbols:
A white X: Indicates the location of your character in relation to other landmarks and characters on the AutoMap.
A white diamond: Indicates the location of your pet and any summoned creatures fighting for you.
A green square: Indicates the location of a friendly traveling merchant or one of the local citizens.
A white exclamation point: Indicates the location of citizen who has quests for you to perform.
A yellow exclamation point: Indicates the location of a citizen who has a reward for a quest you have completed.
A hazy blue ball: Indicates the location of a portal into a dungeon.
A red arrow: Indicates the location of a stairway which takes you to a lower level in the dungeon.
A blue arrow: Indicates the location of a stairway which takes you to a higher level in the dungeon.
Entering the Dungeons
Wander around town long enough and you'll spot several glowing, purple rings on the ground. These are portals into each respective area (referred to as "dungeons" for now). To enter each dungeon, you need a quest that takes place within it. Some dungeons are restricted by the story until you have completed other quests, so you may not be able to enter all of them just yet.
Before venturing into the catacombs, left‐click your mouse on your inventory (the backpack sub-menu button) and make sure that you have a trusty weapon in your hand—that's the box on the left side of your character. Bows are held in the left hand. As long as you have a weapon equipped and AutoMap engaged (press the TAB button on your keyboard to turn it on, or click the Map sub‐menu icon), you're ready to take the first step.
Combat
You won't have to venture far before you encounter a beast or two. To fight a foe, move the cursor over the enemy and left‐click your mouse button. Your pet will help you fight until you learn how to take care of yourself. As you progress in levels and explore more of the dungeons, you'll find weapons ideally suited for the two styles of combat in FATE: The Cursed King:
Melee Combat
Melee combat is hand‐to‐hand combat in which you trade blows with one or more enemies in close quarters. Melee combat weapons include axes, swords, clubs, spears, staves, maces, hammers, and polearms. Because you're fighting in front of your opponent, melee combat exposes you to counterblows and damage. If you decide to specialize in melee combat, it's important to find or buy the best armor you can wear. Holding down the Shift key while left‐clicking your mouse on a targeted enemy forces your character to stand in one place and swing your melee weapon, without the character walking around.
Ranged Combat
Ranged combat involves hurling weapons or projectiles at your opponents from a distance. In FATE: The Cursed King, ranged combat weapons consist of bows and crossbows, but you can also engage your foes at a distance while using magical spells. A big advantage that ranged combat has over melee combat is that foes with melee weapons cannot hit you until they close the distance and reach your position. If your pet stands between you and your foe, successful ranged attacks with a bow, a crossbow, or magical spells will wear down your enemy. A primary disadvantage of ranged combat is that bows and crossbows are two‐handed weapons—you cannot carry a protective shield in your left hand while you're in combat. This two‐handed limitation exposes you to more damage when your opponent hits you than if you carry a shield.
NOTE: Sometimes your character will move around to get a better shot at an enemy, or possibly engage an enemy at close range with a bow/crossbow. Holding down the Shift key while left‐clicking your mouse on a targeted enemy forces your character to stand in one place and shoot with their equipped ranged weapon.
Treasure
Most monsters either drop treasure after combat or protect treasure chests containing valuable weapons and armor. One of the best ways to spot treasure is to click on the small "Reveal All Items" magnifying lens above your experience bar or press and hold the Alt key on your keyboard. With Reveal All Items toggled you can quickly spot dropped treasure and separate magical items from the ordinary stuff without sorting through the contents of your crowded inventory. Once your inventory is full, use a Town Portal Scroll to return to the surface and sell the items for a tidy profit. Alternately, you can send your pet to do it for you (see the "Your Pet" section of this file for details).
Magical Items
The names of non‐magical items always appear in white text, but items in your inventory with a purple glow have magical or socketed (capable of being modifed by a gem) properties. Of all the valuables found in the dungeon, items with a purple glow should never be left behind.
Rare Items
Items in your inventory with a teal glow are rare weapons, armor, and jewelry. These valuable artifacts can earn you more money than common magical items in the same class, but that doesn't mean that you won't find better equipment elsewhere in the dungeon.
Artifact Items
Depending on your luck and bravery, you may stumble across a rare item with a yellow glow. These Artifacts are often powerful, one‐of‐a‐kind treasures that command some of the highest prices on the market—especially after a greedy merchant tries to sell one back to you.
Defeat and Choosing Your Fate
Defeat happens to even the best players. Your character falls whenever all of the red (or green if you're poisoned) life points in your meter disappears. In Adventure mode your demise is never final, but you must choose one of four fates before you can return:
1) Be healed to full strength, then continue at the location where you fell, at the cost of some of your earned experience and fame points.
2) Be healed to full strength and pay the smallest amount of gold, at the cost of being randomly teleported to a nearby level of the dungeon. Your new destination can be easier or harder than the location where you fell.
3) Be healed to full strength and transported three levels up from where you fell, at the cost of losing all the gold in your possession. Your gold will stay where you fell … for a short time.
4) If none of this sounds appealing, left‐click your mouse on the "Quit" command in the lower right corner and retire to the main menu. When you restart your game you will begin from the last place you used a dungeon stair or a Town Portal Scroll (you resume at the last instance your game loaded, just like you went back in time).
Game Menus and Interfaces
Your Character's Game Interface
Your game screen features two distinct sections: The large upper area gives you a clear view of your character moving and interacting with characters and creatures in the realm. The interface at the bottom provides important information regarding your character's life points, mana points (magical energy), an experience bar, a stamina bar, quick-access item slots, and total gold. This interface section includes eight important sub‐menu buttons that you use to manage and organize spells, attributes, quests, inventories and more. To access this information, move the cursor over one of the square sub‐menu icons and left‐click your mouse.
Your Pet's Game Interface
In the upper left corner of the screen you'll see a group of five boxes featuring pet information and commands. The red bar indicates your pet's current health status (if it's empty, your pet is probably running around, attempting to flee from battle). You can left‐click on the three smaller boxes to review your pet's attributes and status. Click the name bar with the house icon to order your pet to return to town and sell the goods in their inventory to a town merchant. To feed your pet, click on a fish in your inventory and drag it up to the largest box in your pet's interface. Fish do funny things to pets!
Assigned Spells
When you start to learn spells, they will appear in your spellbook. Once you have learned a spell, a white square called a Spell Slot will appear in the lower right corner of the screen with your newly selected spell icon inside the square. You can cast the selected spell highlighted in the Spell Slot by right‐clicking your mouse button. If you can't remember what a spell does, open up your Spellbook and move your cursor over each spell.
Your Viewing Perspective
Sometimes you might want a closer look at your environment. If your mouse has a wheel, use it to zoom in or out on your character's surroundings. Clicking on the mouse wheel also centers the view of your character on the screen. If you don't have a mouse wheel, you can use the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard to zoom in and out in with the same incremental perspective. Pressing the left and right arrows on your keyboard will temporarily rotate the view around your character, but this overhead view reverts to the default overhead perspective whenever you release an arrow key.
Learning to Run
In your interface, above the experience bar, is a Toggle Run icon. If you left‐click your mouse while the cursor is on the icon or press the "R" key on your keyboard, your character will run instead of walking. You can also hold the CTRL button to run momentarily. Running is an excellent solution to pass quickly through previously explored areas, but if you run too long you'll deplete your yellow stamina bar (it's the one beneath the white experience bar). Once you run out of stamina you won't be able to run again until you drink a stamina potion or your stamina has recovered.
Using Rage Attack
If you hit spacebar or press the fireball icon on the main bar you will draw from stamina and perform a special rage attack that does double damage. If your stamina is too low you will not be able to use this special attack.
Character Stats
To review your character's statistics and attributes, left‐click your mouse on the leftmost sub-menu button or press the "C" key on your keyboard. You use the Character Stats menu to allocate new attribute/skill points after gaining levels or for checking your current fame and experience point totals. The Character Stats menu also shows you how many experience points you need to reach the next level. To close this menu, left‐click your mouse on the X in the lower right corner of the display.
Using Items in Your Inventory
To use a scroll, book, or other item in your inventory, left‐click your mouse on the Inventory icon in the sub-menu area or press the "I" key on your keyboard. Move the cursor over items in your inventory to learn more about them. To equip armor or a weapon, left‐click the item in your inventory box and drag the component up to proper location. Alternately, you can right‐click on the item to instantly equip it. To use a potion or scroll in your inventory, move the cursor over the intended object and right‐click your mouse.
Alternate Sets of Equipment
When in your inventory, you are able to see your currently equipped items. There are equipment slots for your Arms, Feet, Head, Body, Back, Belt, Hands, two Rings, Neck, and Ears. You also have the option of keeping a second set of weapons equipped, which allows you to change from melee to ranged combat easily and quickly during gameplay. To access this second set of items use the “I” or “II” buttons that are found at the uppermost left side of the Inventory interface. You can also use the yin yang button to quickly switch weapons sets on the main menu bar.
Identifying Items
Magical items you find in the dungeon have properties that are, at first, invisible to you. These items are not ‘Identified’ yet. Moving your cursor over these items in your inventory will show that they have not yet been identified.
Items may be identified by using Identify Scrolls or Books of Identify on them. Simply right‐click on the Identify Scroll or Book and your cursor should display a target icon. Next, left‐click on the item you would like to identify, and its properties will be revealed to you.
An Identify spell is also available. However, you will have to continually improve your skill in Charm Magic to identify items with a higher Identification Level.
Opening Your Spellbook
When you begin the game you won't know many spells, but as you advance in experience you'll earn attribute and skill points that can be used to unlock spellcasting knowledge. If you allocate a portion of your attribute points to Magic, you'll be able to use the spells that you find. Known spells are recorded in your spellbook. You can record up to six Attack Magic, six Defense Magic, and six Charm Magic spells in the tome, but there are far more than 18 spells available. As you advance through the dungeon levels and your character grows stronger, you'll need to remove weaker spells from your spellbook and replace the old spells with new, stronger magic. To remove a spell from your spellbook, click on the Spellbook sub-menu icon to open it (or type "B" on the keyboard) then press the CTRL key on your keyboard while you left‐click on the spell you want to permanently erase.
By moving your cursor over the icon of a spell in your spellbook, you will see a display of the many properties of the spell, and requirements for its use. As you improve the magical skill associated with the class of the spell, you will see these properties improve. The default Fireball spell is not terribly powerful, but once you have invested in Attack Magic Skill, it can be formidable.
Reviewing Learned Skills
To open your Skills menu and review your skill levels, left‐click your mouse on the Skills icon on the sub-menu or press the "K" key on your keyboard. Each time you gain a character level or complete a special quest, you'll earn special skill points that will improve your character's weapon or spell‐casting talents. Increased skill points in a weapon class improve your character's chances of dealing more damage when that weapon is equipped. Increased skill points in a magic class increase the potency of all spells within that magic class.
Your Journal
To open your Journal, left‐click your mouse on the Journal icon on the sub‐menu or press the "J" key on your keyboard. Your journal is a complete statistical summary of everything you've done so far in the game, right down to a running tally of monsters defeated and individual steps taken. These statistics are for your information and have no bearing on completing the game.
Active Quests
To review any quests undertaken so far, left‐click the Quests icon on the sub‐menu or press the "Q" key on your keyboard. The Active Quest log contains the names of up to three active quests accepted in the game per realm. You can left‐click your mouse on the name of a quest to review its requirements and rewards.
The Map
Left‐clicking your mouse on the Map icon on the sub-menu or pressing the "M" key on your keyboard will toggle the AutoMap in the lower left corner of the screen. The AutoMap is one of the most important features in the game as it helps you keep your bearings. Because the dungeon levels are never the same between game sessions, the AutoMap is essential for finding your way to the next stairway up or down. It's also important for seeking out characters with quest rewards. When the AutoMap is already open, pressing TAB makes your map zoom out. There are 5 levels of zoom that allow you to see more of your surroundings on the AutoMap. If you want add mystery to your adventure, consider toggling your AutoMap off until you need to consult it.
Other Options
Save and exit your game by left‐clicking on the Save icon on the sub-menu, or by pressing the "Esc" key on your keyboard. Open the Save menu to automatically pause your game while you're away from the keyboard to avoid being attacked by monsters.
Exploring Ekbatan
Interacting with Townsfolk
Talking to game characters in town and wandering merchants in the dungeons is as easy as left-clicking your mouse on the character you wish to speak with. Most folks have the same daily routine, but occasionally someone will hear of your exploits and ask you to complete an important quest. See the section above called "Finding a Quest" for more information about that.
Healing
The city of Ekbatan has a healer. Find her, and she can heal you and your pet to full strength for free, so be sure to visit whenever you head back up.
The Bard
Ekbatan has a bard – a traveling singer and teller of tales. For a fee, bards can be persuaded to sing about your deeds and increase your Fame to the next rank. Since Fame increases also come with Skill Point bonuses, this is a great way to purchase a little extra skill if you are flush with cash. Later in the game, when you find Ranked items that require fame to wield, you may also need to invest in some quick Fame to be able to use these powerful items.
Other Merchants
There are several other merchants to discover in the city of Ekbatan, including but not limited to: an enchanter who enchants magical weapons for a fee; a fortune teller who gives rewards for special rare cards found in the dungeon; a gembreaker and weaponbreaker who will remove gems or remove the weapon; and an identifier who identifies items for a fee.
Buying and Selling
Buying and selling items is easy and intuitive. Talk to a merchant by placing your cursor on the character and left‐clicking your mouse button. The character will ask you if you want to buy or sell goods. To choose "Yes" left‐click on the command and a box containing the merchant's wares will open on the left side of the screen while a box featuring your inventory will open on the right side. To buy an item, move the cursor over the object you want to buy and you'll see the name of the item and a short description. Left‐click on the item, and if you have enough gold and the space to keep it, you can drag it in your own inventory to purchase it. To purchase or sell items quickly, hold the Shift key on your keyboard while left‐clicking on the items that you want to buy.
Highlighted Wares
Items highlighted with a red X cost more than the gold you currently have in your inventory and are therefore unavailable for purchase. Items highlighted in purple are magical, and have 1‐2 magical properties. Items highlighted in teal are rare, and can have up to 8 magical properties. Items highlighted in yellow are Artifacts, and have a special combination of magical properties and damage ratings different from all other weapons. Artifacts are very rare and special items.
A Sales Pitch
Each time your hover your cursor over a merchant's inventory, you'll see the price and name of the item, and combat statistics if the item is weaponry or armor. If the requirement near the bottom of the description is highlighted with a red band, you won't be able to use the item, armor, or weapon when you buy it. This allows you to buy an item in anticipation of being able to use it in a level or two. If the requirement is highlighted in a green band, you can equip and use the item immediately.
Shop and Compare
It's always important to review the complete descriptions for every item before making a purchase. If you're considering upgrading your weapon or armor, compare the attack damage and defense numbers with your equipment currently in use before you spend had-earned gold!
Selling Your Finds
The process for selling items to a merchant is almost identical to buying, except the click and drag procedure is reversed: Left‐click your mouse button on the item that you want to sell and drag it over to the merchant's box. As you click on the item, you'll see the price that the merchant is willing to pay.
All merchants rely on considerable profits to stay in business, so don't be surprised if they try to resell the item to you at a much higher price than what they paid for it.
Identify for Profit
If you want a fair price when selling a magical item, it's important to identify it with a scroll or spell before you make the sale. A merchant will buy unidentified items from you, but only for the same price as a non‐magical item. Selling unidentified wares is a highly unprofitable way to do business as an adventurer.
Changing Inventories
Merchants constantly change their wares (each time you enter the dungeons, in fact). Even if you have nothing to sell or don't think you require additional items, check out the local wares. You might find a valuable surprise or two in stock. Some merchants also modify their inventories to sell you items slightly above or below your character's attribute points. If you see a rare and powerful sword that you can afford but your character needs a few more strength points to wield it, consider buying and leaving the sword in your storage trunk until you gain enough strength points. With so many treasures in the dungeons, some buying opportunities only come along once in a character's lifetime.
Send Your Pet to Market
To sell your pet's inventory, move your cursor over your pet and hold down the Shift key on your keyboard while clicking the left mouse button. It's important to remember that your pet will sell items for the best possible price IF you identify everything in your pet's inventory first.
Gambling
Life might be a gamble, but the high‐stakes gamblers in town are certainly easier on your life points than fighting in the dungeon. If you're willing to part with some gold, you can take a chance on buying the magical arms and armor in their inventories, but you won't know what you've bought until you pay for it. Click your mouse on these characters to review their inventory, but making the right selection is up to you (and a gamble, of course). Until you click on an item and pay for it, there's no telling if you found a deal or paid dearly for a shiny piece of rubbish.
Your Pet
Before you begin your journey, you must choose a companion to accompany you. Select a pet from seven different animals--there is no difference in strength between pets, so pick the pet you like the best.
Go Fish
To feed your pet a fish, left‐click your mouse on a fish in your inventory and drag the fish to the largest pet icon in the upper left corner of the screen. Then, left‐click your mouse a second time. You can also feed your pet a fish by placing the cursor over the fish in your inventory and right‐clicking on a fish. Usually, your pet transformations are temporary, but some rare fish will permanently transform your pet into a specific creature until you feed it another fish. Remember--a dogfish will always transform your pet back into the creature it was, just in case!
Flight in Fights
Pets are loyal and will not abandon characters in the face of overwhelming odds, but they will flee if their health bar whittles down to nothing. If this happens, use a heal spell or health potion to restore your pet's health and courage in battle. Your pet will gradually heal over time, so they will eventually return to fighting form, but a healing potion is always the quickest way to get them back into the fray.
Pet Attributes
To review your pet's status, left‐click on the Pet Stats icon in the upper left corner or press the "T" key on your keyboard. Unlike your character, pet attribute points are automatically allocated among the strength, dexterity, vitality and magic attributes without your input.
Pet Inventory
Your pet also has an inventory for storing extra items, armor, and weapons. You can manually transfer these items by left‐clicking your mouse on the chest icons that represent your inventory and your pet's inventory (or press "I" and "P" on your keyboard) and clicking and dragging each item into your pet's inventory. Alternatively, you can hold down the Shift key while left‐clicking your mouse on an item to automatically put the item in your pet's inventory (if your pet has the space available for it). Similar to your inventory, your pet’s inventory can be automatically sorted by using the “sort" icon at the bottom of the inventory screen.
Your pet can also fetch items in the dungeon by holding Shift while left‐clicking on them. Doing so will cause your pet to run over pick up the item.
How to Sell a Pet's Inventory
To sell all of the items in your pet's inventory, hold down the Shift key while left‐clicking your mouse button over a merchant. Keep in mind that you won't get the best price on items that you left unidentified in your pet's inventory. You can also send your pet out of the dungeon alone to sell your goods by left‐clicking your mouse button on the small bar beneath your pet's feeding icon, but you'll need to adventure alone until your faithful companion returns. Remember, the deeper you are within the dungeon, the longer it will take for your pet to return!
Connecting through Facebook
(THIS OPTIONS HAS BEEN REMOVED BY WILDTANGENT AND IS NO LONGER WORKING)
Brand new to FATE: The Cursed King is the introduction of Facebook connectivity. Players can share heroes with friends, earn achievements, trade special items and see character statistics. (To use this feature, you will need an existing Facebook account.)
Connecting
When you first start the game, click the "Online" button available from the FATE: The Cursed King title menu. On the next screen, click the blue "Connect with Facebook" button in order to open a web browser window. Once signed in to Facebook, you will be prompted to accept the FATE Facebook application. Accept the application and then click on the "Link to FATE" button to receive a keycode. Write down that keycode and return to your game. Enter the keycode into the box labeled "Game ID" and click the "Connect" button in the bottom right. (You can also use the copy/paste option to enter the code.) You should now see a message saying that you've successfully connected. If you have trouble connecting, be sure your anti-virus program and firewall are temporarily disabled. Once connected, it's a good idea to check the "auto-connect" box so your heroes are automatically shared with your friends.
Sharing Heroes
In order to share your heroes with friends, you must check the box next to each hero in the online menu. You can share up to five of your characters! Need help defeating a swarm of angry monsters? You could hire a few standard rogues, or you could hire your friends' characters and take advantage of their armor and skills! Friends who have also accepted the Facebook application can allow you to play with a clone of their characters. Characters are controlled by the built-in A.I., so you don't have to manage three different characters at once. Also, your actions while using your friends' character won't affect their gold, fame, or level. Visit Absalta, the recruiter in Ekbatan, to hire allies. You can also recruit randomly generated allies. If the first three don't look that great, you can ask Absalta for different options.
Trading Items
From the title menu, click "Online" to access the Facebook menu. Make sure you are connected, then visit Calel of the Caravan exchange in Ekbatan. Simply drag items to his panel in order to add them to your caravan. If you want them back later, you'll have to pay a transfer fee to cover the cost of storage. Back on the Facebook app, your caravan has been updated. Gift items to your friends by paying a transfer fee based on the value of each item. Special weapons, pieces of armor, and relics might just give you the boost you need in battle! If you no longer need an item, don't worry--when your caravan is full only the most recent items show up.
View Your Achievements
From the title menu, click "Online" to access the Facebook menu. See the achievements you've earned in game and compare your rank to your friends. If you visit Horzaz, the Curator in Ekbatan, he will regale you with the latest accomplishments of your friends.
Hiring a Party (Hiring Help)
Forming a Party
A "party" in this case refers to a group of characters and their pets. FATE: The Cursed King allows you to play with computer-controlled characters that help your hero...for a price. To hire allies, visit Absalta, the recruiter, in the city of Ekbatan.
Your Hired Allies
You may hire up to three allies, but you must have the experience to command them. You may hire 1 ally at level 10, 2 at level 20, and 3 at level 30. Absalta will, of course, ask for a reasonable fee. Since these allies are controlled by your computer, they will "play" in one of three ways:
Passive Mode: The character will never attack, but will follow the group and cast healing spells.
Defensive Mode: The character will attack only when provoked (when attacked, or your hero is in trouble).
Aggressive Mode: The character will always attack.
Skill Points and Healing
Each member of your party has a set of attributes close to your own level. They also come with a spellbook, and are capable of casting spells or (except in passive mode) melee attacks. You can attribute skill points when a character levels up in the same manner as your own hero. Click on the character's icon to the left of the screen for the options to attribute skill points and add spells to his or her spellbook.
To assign spells to an ally, open their profile and select their inventory. Drag a spell scroll into that character's inventory, and then right-click on the scroll. This will allow the character to learn and use the spell.
To heal allies, select their icon on the left side of the screen. Next, drag a potion from your own inventory onto their icon, just as you would when feeding a pet.
Note: You must equip allies who are not your friends' characters with weapons and armor. Once these allies are dismissed, their equipped items will disappear with them!
Dismissing Party Members
When you no longer need help, dismiss your allies by clicking on their character icons. This will open the stat panel, at the bottom of which you will see a "Dismiss" button. Click "Dismiss" and your agreement has been fulfilled! Remember, once removed, all of your ally's equipment disappears.
Reviving Allies
If your allies collapse from taking too much damage, they don't flee like your pet. Instead, they collapse where they stand. When they recover on their own, over time, they will catch up with you wherever you are. You can help them recover faster by using potions, spells and special relics.
Good Things to Know
Fishing
Finding or buying a fishing pole is one of the best investments you can make in the game. While you might find a fish or two in a treasure stash, you cannot find additional fish to feed your pet until you have a fishing pole. Fishing is one of the fastest and easiest ways to increase your pet's food supply—and you might hook a valuable treasure while angling!
Find a Fishing Hole
Once you have a fishing pole, you can fish wherever you spot a cloud of fireflies. These elusive fishing holes are found both in town and in the dungeon, although you won't find the best fish until you descend deep into the earth.
How to Fish
To fish, stand near the hovering fireflies and move your cursor over the swarm. Left‐click your mouse on the "Go Fishing" command and cast your fishing pole (you do not have to equip the pole in your right hand—just keep it in your inventory). Move the cursor over the "Set Hook!" command but don't click on the command until you see the gold exclamation point (!) above your character's head. Timing is important when setting the hook, but there will be instances where the fish gets away—don't worry about it. You can keep casting over a group of fireflies until you have enough fish or treasure, provided you don't mind waiting for long periods in-between. If you think your fishing area is fished out, choose the "Stop Fishing" command to move along.
Your Storage Trunk
Your storage trunk is a large chest with more than twice the capacity of your inventory. It's the perfect spot to keep gems, armor, and socketed weapons that you found but cannot use until your character attains higher attribute points. Your storage trunk is located in the center of town, right where you started the game.
It's important to review the contents of your trunk to make sure those valuable gems, items, and weapons you stowed away have not outlived their usefulness. If you find something old in your stash, sell it and use the storage space for your newest treasures.
Town Portals
Town Portal Scrolls and Books of Town Portals are the quickest and easiest way to leave the dungeon and return to town. Instead of climbing up through the entire dungeon, a Town Portal transports you, your pet, and any summoned creatures straight into town. Your Town Portal will remain in town even if you save and exit your game, but once you return to the dungeon, the portal on the surface disappears. As a precaution, always keep an extra Town Portal Scroll in your inventory.
Developing Your Character
Your character grows in fame, fortune, talent, and experience as you explore the darkness that lies below Ekbatan. Knowing how to develop your newfound skills and resources will either make your adventure easier or exceptionally challenging.
Experience Points and Leveling Up
As you defeat monsters and complete quests, the white experience bar at the center of the sub-menu display will slowly creep to the right. Once the bar is completely full, a red box with a white cross will appear in the lower‐left of the screen. This icon and a message tell you that your character has attained a new level in experience and skill. Left‐click on the white cross to open your Character Stat menu and your Skill menu. While both panels are up, the game will pause, so don’t worry about being attacked while you do this. Every time you gain a character level you earn points to spend on your attributes and skills. How you spend these points is important: the most successful characters are those who specialize in key areas, matching their attribute and skill points to focus on certain strengths. For example, if you want to specialize in fighting, add extra attribute points to your character's strength, dexterity, and a melee weapon skill. If you want to specialize in spell casting, allocate most of your attribute points to magic, and use your skill points in a magic skill discipline (Attack, Defense, or Charm magic). There's nothing wrong with creating a well‐rounded adventurer with a wide range of attributes and skills, but you'll spend more time building the levels for these characters than specialized characters with points in a few key areas.
Make a Plan and Stick to It
It's important to make a plan for your character's development and stick to it, because attribute points cannot be changed once used. If you're wondering how many points your character needs to advance to the next level, move the cursor over the experience point bar. The number on the left indicates how many experience points you have and the number on the right shows how many you need to progress to the next level. You should have an idea of how you want to spend future attribute points long before your character's experience point bar is at the limit.
Character Attributes
Your character has four key attributes that help define their best traits and their weaknesses. Skilled players know exactly what these attributes do and create characters whose skills match their best attributes. Here is what each attribute does:
Strength
Strength influences the amount of damage inflicted upon a foe. The higher your strength points, the more damage you'll dish out in combat and the bigger handheld weapons you can use. Some armor and advanced weapons including swords, axes, maces, and hammers require higher strength points to work well.
Dexterity
Dexterity increases the chance that you will strike foes and also dodge their attacks. Some armor and advanced weapons like bows and polearms require increased dexterity points to be effective in the hands of an advanced adventurer.
Vitality
Vitality increases your life points and improves your stamina for running. Increasing your vitality will give you more life points as you progress in character levels, making you a formidable opponent against groups of monsters.
Magic
Magic affects the number of mana points (magical energy) and spells you have available to cast. Some magical items like hats, staves, and other weapons require you to have a specific number of magic points before you can use them.
NOTE: Some magical armor, weapons, and items add special bonuses to your character's attributes. These applied bonuses appear in green highlighted boxes on your Character Stats menu. If you move the cursor over the green highlighted box you can see the exact point values applied by your character's bonus. It's important to compare these bonuses when removing magical items or equipping a different magical item on your character.
Skills and Spells
Unlike roleplaying games that limit your character to the restrictions of certain classes or professions, you have the freedom to choose the skills you want to develop for your unique character. Whether your hero wields a sword and casts spells wearing plate armor, or relies on weapons in both hands and plenty of charm magic, your character's specialization is strictly up to you. As your hero advances and completes special quests, you'll earn skill points that you can allocate to specific talents. You can open your character's Skills menu by left‐clicking the cursor on the skills icon or by pressing "K" on your keyboard.
Sword Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you wield a sword.
Club and Mace Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you use a club or mace.
Hammer Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you swing a hammer.
Axe Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you wield an axe.
Spear Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you jab with a spear.
Staff Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you swing a staff.
Polearm Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you chop with a polearm.
Bow and Crossbow Skill: Increases your chances of success and damage dealt when you shoot a bow or crossbow.
Critical Strike Skill: Increases your chances of delivering a critical strike or a mortal blow to a foe. A critical strike is a blow that deals the maximum amount of damage.
Spell Casting Skill: Reduces the time it takes to cast spells.
Dual‐Wielding Skill: Increases the speed and damage of the weapon held in your secondary (shield) hand.
Shield Battle Skill: Increases your chance of successfully blocking a blow with your shield.
Attack Magic Skill: Increases the strength and effectiveness of your attack spells.
Defense Magic Skill: Increases the strength and effectiveness of your defense spells.
Charm Magic Skill: Increases the strength and effectiveness of your charm spells.
Assigning your Spells to a Hotkey
If your character uses many spells in combat, you can reduce the time it takes to cast them by assigning or "binding" certain spells to the F1 through F12 keys on your keyboard. To bind spells, left‐click your mouse on the currently selected spell icon (the Spell Slot) in the lower right corner of the screen. This will open a special spell foldout containing spell icons for everything in your spellbook. Move the cursor over each one of the spell icons and press the function key on your keyboard to which you want to assign a particular spell (F1 through F12). Now, you can quickly cast a variety of spells just by pressing F1 through F12.
Replacing Spells
Soon enough, you'll learn potent spells that surpass the powers of the existing spells in your spell foldout. Revise your hotkey configuration using the same method listed above. Players often group their spells according to spell purpose, keeping attack spells in one group of function keys and defensive or healing spells in another keyboard group. This organized approach makes it easier to find the spells you need even after you update your spellbook several times.
Weapons, Armor and Other Essentials
Weapons
Damage Type
With the exception of the bow and crossbow, most weapons are close‐ranged melee weapons. All weapons have damage types, attack damage ranges (not every blow deals the exact same number of damage points), and speed ratings. The type of damage done depends on the weapon: clubs and hammers deliver crushing damage, while axes and swords have slashing damage. Certain armor and monsters in the game receive less damage when facing weapons with specific damage types, so it's important to choose a secondary weapon skill with a different damage type for defeating many foes.
Damage Range
The attack damage range is the amount of life points a weapon can cut from a foe in a single blow, depending on your skill and luck. Depending on the weapon type, your character's strength may increase the usual numbers in a weapon's attack damage range.
The class speed rating indicates how fast you can swing or shoot the weapon in combat. In most cases—although not always—slower speed weapons deliver more damage than lighter and faster weapons. If your character carried an enormous axe that dealt plenty of damage but was almost too heavy to swing, you would want your hero or heroine to have the heaviest armor possible to withstand blows during their slow backswing. That's why it's important to pair the appropriate armor with your character's weapon.
Weapon Speed
Weapon speeds often depend on the size and complexity of the weapon. The type of damage caused by each weapon can have advantages and disadvantages against certain monsters. For example, piercing weapons don't do well against bony skeletons, but the crushing damage of the club and mace class can be devastating. Here's a brief outline of weapon classes, typical speed ranges, and damage types:
Axe Class: Slow to fast speed, slashing damage.
Club & Mace Class: Slow speed, crushing damage.
Crossbow & Bow Class: Slow (crossbow) to fast speed (bow), piercing damage.
Hammer Class: Slowest to slow speed, crushing damage.
Polearm Class: Slow speed, piercing damage.
Spear Class: Normal speed, piercing damage.
Staff Class: Slow speed, crushing damage.
Sword Class: Normal to fastest speed, slashing damage.
Dual Wielding
One‐handed weapons can be used in tandem. Instead of wearing a shield, your character may place another one‐handed weapon in their left hand. The attacks performed with this off‐handed weapon happen slightly faster during the second stroke, so that you can improve your rate of damage by using two weapons. Unfortunately, this advantage comes at a penalty – the damage dealt by your right‐hand weapon is reduced slightly, and the left‐handed weapon’s damage is reduced even further. There is good news, however: by improving your Dual Wielding Skill, you can reduce this penalty, and increase the speed of the off‐handed attack. Dual Wielding players with a high skill level become formidable opponents. Dual Wielders have the added advantage of being able to combine different types of damage for different situations, which is useful when you come across monsters with high resistances to a given damage type.
Armor
The higher the armor rating, the better protection your character will have in combat. It's frequently important to match a weapon to a specific type of armor. If you wield a big, slow weapon, protect yourself with extra armor while you're taking enemy blows. While other role‐playing games restrict your character to certain armor depending on their class, in FATE, even spell‐casting specialists can wear heavy chain armor if they choose. Do remember, though, that some armor types bestow special attribute bonuses which favor certain character specialties. So, don't sell or discard every cloth robe you find in the dungeon. Socketed armor is especially valuable because it allows you to customize your protection with gems that enhance your strengths and protect your weaknesses.
Socketed Items
Superior socketed weapons and all magical socketed items are among the most highly prized treasures in the game. If you want to improve your socketed item with a new jewel, or if you find a better gem for your item, find a gem remover in Ekbatan. Some gem removers will preserve the item but take the gems. Others specialize in saving the gems at the cost of the items.
Graded Items
Weapons and armor within the game also come in different grades. Apart from the default grade, you may find Superior, Exceptional, and Flawless items. These grades improve the damage capability or defense of the weapon, but do not increase its requirements in any way. Watch for these very valuable items, as they can provide your character with extra protection or attacking power at an earlier level than usual.
Ranked Items
In addition to graded items, ranked items appear within the dungeon. Elite and Legendary items are far more powerful than their average counterparts, and their requirements are higher as well. These ranked items allow your character to attain power far beyond that of normal weapons or armor. However, ranked items also require Fame to use. Each ranked item has a Fame requirement that must be met before it can be wielded.
Gold, Gems, and Potions
Gold
Gold is the standard currency throughout the realms. While inexperienced adventurers insist that most monsters drop plenty of gold, seasoned explorers find greater wealth by completing local quests. Selling unneeded magical treasure and gems is another dependable way to earn tall stacks of shiny coins.
Jewelry
Your character can wear ordinary and magical rings, amulets, necklaces, and earrings. If you don't need an item, consider giving it to your pet. Ordinary jewelry is used as currency, but some magical items impart special properties that can improve your defense or attack ratings in combat. There are even items that improve your chances of finding more valuable treasure left by monsters!
Gems
Gems come in various shapes and conditions and can bestow magical powers via socketed armor, weapons, and jewelry. A gem in good condition will give a socketed item more power than a flawed gem of the same type. Near the surface you'll find gems with various cracks and imperfections, but deeper in the dungeon you'll find flawless gems that bestow amazing magical properties.
Gems and Socketed Items
Whenever you left‐click on a gem, any socketed items in your inventory or storage will automatically be highlighted. This is to remind you of which items, armor, and weapons can be equipped with gems to improve their performance. Many players keep extra gems in their storage until they find a superior socketed piece of armor or weapon that improves their character's fighting abilities.
Potions
There are a plethora of potions in the dungeon and merchant inventories, but the most common are mana (blue), health (red), stamina (yellow), and antidote (purple). Minor potions are the most affordable but will only improve your condition in small amounts. Major potions give the best dosage but cost a lot of gold. Super versions of these potions are also available, and provide a significant improvement over Major potions. Thankfully, antidotes only come in one practical size.
Healing Charms
Healing charms work just like health potions, but they may be used eight times in succession. This is very handy for tough battles, since you can place them in the quick item slots at the bottom of your screen.
Keys
Locked chests obviously require keys to open. Chests come in three sizes (small, medium, and large), and their keys are sometimes carried by monsters lurking nearby. Also, consider checking in with Winsa in Ekbatan from time to time, as she also comes across keys.
Scrolls
During your travels, you'll find two types of scrolls: Blue Town Portal Scrolls and red Identify Scrolls. Because large scroll collections take up considerable inventory space, most adventurers carry around Books of Identify and Books of Town Portals instead. Note that Charm spells also exist which serve the same purpose, for players more inclined to magic.
Books
Just as there are two kinds of scrolls, there are also two kinds of books: Books of Identify and Books of Town Portals. Purchased new, these tomes contain ten Identify Scrolls or ten Town Portal Scrolls, but each book only requires two inventory or stash squares. Once used, you cannot refill your Book of Identify or Book of Town Portal with unused scrolls—you need to buy or find a new book before you run out. Note that Charm spells also exist which serve the same purpose, for players more inclined to magic.
Shrines, Fountains, and More
Shrines of Learning
Shrines of Learning contain ancient text that can teach you talents to raise attributes. You'll never know what attributes you'll gain or lose at a shrine. To read the text, click on the "Yes" option when you find a Shrine of Learning.
Magic Anvils
With a few special exceptions, magic anvils summon spectral hammers that crash down upon your equipped weapon. Sometimes, this adds sockets or prized enchantments. Spectral hammers are not consistent and any modification should be considered a free and generous gift of fate. If you can’t wait to find a magic anvil, seek out the town enchanter—but be prepared to pay a substantial fee for the service.
Fountains
Depending on the fountain type, you can replenish health, mana, or stamina at a gurgling fountain. You can also make your pet drink from a fountain by holding down the Shift key while left‐clicking the cursor on the fountain.
Fate Statues
Statues of Fate may be found throughout the dungeon. When approaching one, you’ll have an opportunity to pry the gemstones from the statue, potentially receiving valuable gems for your socketed items. However, there is a likely chance that instead, the guardian of the statue will appear and attack you.
Orbs
Throughout the dungeon, you may encounter glowing, mystical orbs. Some will heal and restore mana, while others will harm you. These orbs seem to randomly appear, and nobody really knows why....
Monsters
As you progress through the dungeon you'll encounter tougher beasts, some of whom are enchanted with special powers. These challenging foes may be immune to certain elemental spells and attacks. Although you rarely have time to study a monster's profile in battle, recognizing which weapons work best will make a difficult beast easier to defeat. "Boss" monsters have a glowing red aura and are often associated with a quest. If you encounter a boss monster, be aware that you’re in for a tough battle, but the rewards will be much greater in terms of experience, loot, and fame.
Groups of weaker monsters can be just as overwhelming as a difficult level boss, especially if both are in the same chamber. Using charm spells to summon beasts to your aid can help clear out crowded lairs. You can wait outside the room until your minions take out the weaker creatures, or you can use them as a diversion while you target the deadliest monsters and biggest threats. Just remember that some monsters recognize summoning spells and intentionally attack you first.
Ranked Monsters
Similar to items, monsters also appear as ranked monsters later in the game. These Elite and Legendary versions of monsters are considerably more powerful than their garden variety counterparts, and can be exceptionally difficult to defeat.
Retirement
Once you have defeated T'Kala and freed the city of Ekbatan, return to King Kurosh to receive your reward. It is at this stage that you may choose to hang up your hero mantle and retire that character. Note that retirement is not a requirement, but there are unique advantages to doing so.
Retirement will forever take your character out of play. You will still be able to view them on the continue screen, but they will no longer be available for adventuring. However, when you retire, you are given an opportunity to play as your character’s descendent, and begin a whole new game.
Descendents receive unique advantages. To begin with, they immediately gain a level at the start of their new game. Also, descendents gain extra fame based upon their lineage. The more times you retire the more starting fame is granted to your descendent. This is important, because it allows your descendent to use Elite and Legendary items sooner in the game.
In addition, when you retire, you can pass down a valued family heirloom to your descendent. Any magical properties on this item are improved automatically by 25% when they are handed down. Weapons and armor also increase in grade by one level, until they become Flawless. Wise players will pass down weapons, armor, or jewelry with lower requirements so that their descendents can use them sooner.
When you create your descendent, you will also have the opportunity to select a new difficulty level. If you’re ready for a greater challenge, choose the Hero or Legend levels to give your new character a more exhaustive workout.
Hardcore Level – A Note on Modifications
Players attempting to select the Hardcore level of difficulty can't use cheats. If players decide to modify the game, we strongly suggest backing up all files before altering them.
In closing...we hope you enjoy FATE: The Cursed King as much as we enjoyed creating it.
Now go, embark on an adventure, and determine your FATE!
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