some more dumb questions

[gutplumbr]

Thought I was making some progress, but once again, I'e come up with some questions:
a) how do you climb down ladders? I generally have to jump and heal!
b) do the benefits of cursed weapons (such as the magical staffs)
outweigh the side effects? Is there a way to control or fix the cursed
parts?
c) where is the colanth? I know where it's supposed to be, but neither
it nor the chest (I did find a sword) is in the lake. Was I supposed to
return to Ishad after switching off the bronze dragon? I ran into
a similar problem with Toad Village and had to restart the game. I
tried going back to saved games both before jumping into the lake and
even back before I started the spire. I delivered the letter and have
completed everything up to the lake including getting the special ring
to move the rocks to get the Mavin. I made sure that all I killed in
the pool were the eels - NOT the colanth (unless it was in disguise).
Any thoughts?
As always, thanks for helping out. This board is vastly superior to all the "guide" books!

[Ryanamur]

OK, goind down ladders is tricky: you have a couple ways of doing it.

First, position yourself with your back to the ladder, look slightly down. With the keyboard, walk backwards. As soon as you start falling, walk forward. This will allow your character to grab the ladder.

The second option is to approach the ladder by the side. Once again, look slightly down. Walk forward until you fall. When you start falling, you want to turn your character towards the ladder and start walking again.

The third option (the easiest) is to approach the ladder from the front (like in Shimwiki's Hut). There, all you have to do is to walk towards the ladder looking slightly down. Then, it's the same. You start falling, keep walking, go down ladder.

About the curse weapons, I never use them. But the key would be to make sure that if you use them, you visit the temple to get them unequiped before you get ill effects from them. You could probably re-equip them after (uncurse will probably reset the timer). But then, it will be costly. I wonder if exorcist or any other spell can remove cursed weapons from character. Any idea on that?

For the Colanth (spoiler ahead)
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If I remember correctly, you get access to him after you meet Ephaestus. You take the "elevator" up, jump in the pit, and take the hallway that brings you to the lake (the other brings you to the lava room).

Hrgg, should of read 'til the last line of your post. Did you take on the quest to kill the Colanth from the Wizard's Guild?

Hope this helped, tell us how you make out.



[This message has been edited by Ryanamur (edited 06-16-2001).]

[Xignal]

1) "Fall and splat" is the most common method. Do a search on this forum for "ladder" to see some player's methods.

2) A cursed item remains cursed. If your character has some type of regeneration skill or an amulet they can partially or fully counter the effects of the curse. It's irritating to me, however, to see the constant messages of damage or illness.

3) The colanth will appear once you've accepted the quest inthe Magic Shoppe. In the unpatched version there may be some problems with obtaining the Eye. When you do encounter and defeat him watch carefully when the Eye drops into the water and retrieve it immediately.

Rick