Tharkane's guide to The Dwarven Trader Part 3

[The Fellowship of DarkMatters 2]

Bravemart!

 

21st - 30th level

 

If you haven't been running in a Silver game already (if you're doing single player), let me take this opportunity to strongly recommend leaving Bronze SP behind for Silver SP. In a single player game, I rarely stay in Bronze past level 6, the time of your second skill pick. The reason why: I level up too fast for Bronze. By the time I'm running between Silver Creek and Porto Vallum, all of the bad guys are grays. Boring!

 

How do you take your Bronze character and start a Silver game with them, you ask? Simple: export your character. You do not have to complete Bronze in order to start a Silver game. After you export, exit to the Sacred start up menu, choose Ancaria Campaign, then Import instead of new. Highlight your character, select the Silver difficulty from the drop-down menu, and you are are on your way.

 

If you decide to do this, you will of course start the game all over again. Don't despair - rejoice!

Mid-game Strategy - Bravemart

 

You should find yourself in mid-game: after you get around to rescuing Wilbur, you head north towards Crow's Rock Castle (DeMordrey's digs), following your main quest pointer. Along the way you should pass through Florentina, and Faerie's Crossing. Here is where I am going to suggest something revolutionary to you: take a detour to Braverock Castle before you complete the next step in the main quest at Crow's Rock Castle!

 

If you check your world map, you'll notice that the road running through Florentina goes east to west, crossing over a river in the eastern direction. That is where you want to go. Cross the bridge and keep heading east. Turn north once you hit the junction, then bear northeast, skirting around Bravesbury. This will send you straight to Braverock castle, where Bravemart awaits.

 

The road from Bravesbury dead-ends into the path to Braverock. Turn east - which will be to your right - and let it lead you into the castle complex. It's a big place. I suggest scouting around until you find the Braverock portal. When you find it (there's a Combo Master and Merchant loitering around near it), activate it. You'll need that for convenient return trips.

 

In the lower western portion of Braverock, there is a large merchant plaza. Look for the Merchant down there. Standing right next to him is Henno the Trader. He has a quest "?" above his head. Do his quest, which entails running some goods out to Wakko in the extreme eastern end of Braverock, across a bridge. Once you successfully complete the mission, return to Henno in the plaza! Speak to him, and you'll be rewarded with the grand opening of Bravemart, the Trader's dream. Henno becomes a Merchant, who just happens to be standing right next to another Merchant.

 

Note: After you cross the bridge east of Florentina, your foes change from Orcs and Goblins to Sakkara Priests, Evil Mages, and Thieves and Bandits. The Priests and Mages will throw spells at you (ice shards, lightning bolts, and sometimes fireballs), so be prepared for a change of pace. No big deal: they're wimps. You can handle 'em.

How Bravemart Works

Very important: the stock of a given Merchant changes every time you access the stock of another Merchant. In Porto Vallum, you ran between the two merchants in town to achieve this. At Bravemart, you simply stand between the two Merchants, and switch back and forth. This keeps their stock of items continually refreshed, with new choices every time. You will be very, very pleased with the Trading skill at this point. Its true value is revealed when you access Bravemart.

 

After you have upgraded your equipment, you can use the portal to head back to Porto Vallum, or simply head towards DeMordrey from Braverock. Up to you. Myself, I like going for a little holiday down in the Khorad-Nur desert, just to try out the new gear and see how effective it is at obliterating enemies. After I gain a level and recover the gold I just spent at Bravemart, I head up to visit DeMordrey and get on with things.

 

30th level skill pick: Armor.

 

Kill DeMordrey's Dragon!

 

If you're feeling froggy, kill the Baron's pet dragon after you visit the Baron himself. You get to the dragon by going through the gated path located behind the Baron's stables, on the way to his mansion on top of the hill. It will lead you into a complex full of DeMordrey's warriors. Wipe them all out for the experience. Be sneaky and have Greed running most of the time while you're in there!

 

The complex is cross-shaped. If you head straight through the 4-way intersection from the entrance foyer, you will enter the room which contains the portal that will take you to the dragon. There are two mages in the room next to the portal: you activate it by killing them. Before you step through the portal, take heed: this dragon is not a wimp, like D'Cay. He's tougher.