I am in the cemetery and trying to open the hidden dungeon. The dagger disappears each time I try to place it - do the ruins need to be touched in a certain order for everything to work?

I had my dagger disappear the first time too. Probably I dropped it on the other side of the wall. Make sure you know where to put the dagger, so before taking the dagger out from inventory, look for a hand where you are going to place the dagger.

Edit: Yes, the ruins need to be touch in a certain order. Look at wolfie's site for exact information. http://wiz8.web1000.com/RetroMaps.html

[ 10-21-2002, 01:12 AM: Message edited by: el_kalkylus ]

The runes do need to be touched in a certain order... you can tell if you're doing it right, because they glow when properly activated.

At the cemetary retro, its easy to accidently drop the dagger so it falls on the wrong side of the fence: ya might want to check there. Not sure if you leave the area if the runes will still be active.

Oru

Thanks for the help! Yes, there was a pile of daggers on the other side of the wall, but I finally got in. I don't know if it was just luck or something to do with my level (9) but I only faced 5 rats, 1 mummy, and then the ghosts at the exit of the dungeon. On other posts I have read how difficult things were in the dungeons and how much experience there was to had. I am not complaining, just curious as to whether I should wait to do the other dungeons when my level is higher. What do you think?

I've always felt the cemetary was the easiest retro. Frankly, the only one I bother with is the Mtn. Wilderness, for the amulet of nebdar. My guys are usually in the late teen levels when we go there, with a 4 person party.

Oru

Sure you played the whole dungeon? Or did you just leave when you found the exit?

IIRC there's also a Swallower, two Nibblers, some undead head guarding the Cutless of the Damned, a hard slime, ...

And the Undead at the exit can be quite hard. I assume you played 'normal' difficulty?
In expert/ironman, i once had a very close fight (with a level 12 hybrid quartett IIRC)

Yeah, I am playing under the "normal" difficulty setting. I was pretty sure that I walked through the whole thing. I don't remember seeing a Cultless of the Damned, so maybe I will go through it again. I did face a ghost at the end called "Baron of Englund" or something similar. Maybe I will try it again see what I can come up with.
Are things much different under the expert setting? (i.e. more encounters or difficult encounters)? Is the probability of a rare item dropping increased with the difficulty level?
Thanks for your help!

The main differences are:

1. In expert mode, your skills get up more slowly through use.

2. In expert mode, it's more difficult for you to hit monsters (assuming the same skill), but its more easy for monsters to hit you.
Combined with the lower skills from (1), that makes alls fights more dangerous for a long time.

3. It is told that Chances for stronger monsters are a bit higher, and monsters respawn a bit more often. Since i didn't play often at 'normal' (only first half game, and some solos), i don't know if this is true.

I don't think so.