Part 23: Bonus Update 15.5: Level 6 Spells, Outdoor Maps, Men's Shoes

Correct, and mostly correct. The Sands of Time will reset everyone's age to 18, and the Rejuvenate spell will fail if you try to cast it on someone who's already too young. However, if you manage to get someone aged badly enough that their age goes past 255, it wraps back around to 0. There's a cursed item that ages you by 80 years (!) when you put it on, so this is feasible.

Bonus Update 15.5: Level 6 Spells, Outdoor Maps, Men's Shoes

"Um, this isn't a department store."

Whoops. I got a bit carried away there.



This is also the area where we found the Ruby Whistle. That line of secret passages in the far north is a whole row of fountains, all but two of which are poison, one of which raises everyone's Might and one of which raises everyone's spell points. The poison fountains don't actually poison you, so as far as I can tell it's harmless to experiment with them.



Without Lord Kilburn's map, walking into the desert will just make you wander around randomly for a while and waste a bunch of food until you get spat out on safe ground. Don't do this.

The One by Sand is at x10, y5. Just go south from the road and you'll find it and then you'll probably die. Apparently in other versions of the game you fight one huge fuck-off scorpion and a bunch of weaker ones; in the Mac version, it's the other way around. Inadequate betatesting!

Fortunately, it's not necessary to kill all of the Ones (Water, Land, Air and Sand, if you forgot the statue in Sorpigal) to get the reward that's on offer for fighting them, so I'll probably just skip that one. The reward is kind of lame anyway.



There's not much more to say about this area. All the encounters in the Valley that Time Forgot are fixed groups of dinosaurs or other prehistoric/reptilian monsters. It's worthwhile to learn which ones kill you and which ones don't.

But you're not here for the maps: what you really want to know is what new and awesome spells we've learned, right? Well, I already showed off the best ones in the update, but I'll list them anyway. Drewjitsu and Mattybee are up to level 3 spells now, which means that Mattybee finally has Fireball and Lightning Bolt, and Drewjitsu has Cure Paralysis and a bunch of other spells I don't care about.

Level 6 Cleric Spells

1. NAME: Moon Ray
COST: 6 SP + 4 Gems
TYPE: Combat, Outdoors
TARGET: All characters and monsters
DESCRIPTION: Bathes all combatants in a beneficent ray that bestows 3-30 Hit Points on each character and removes 3-30 Hit Points from each monster.
Seriously, why are all the best spells outdoors-only? Ah well. This is one of only two multi-target healing spells in the game, and the fact that it damages all enemies is a nice bonus.

2. NAME: Raise Dead
COST: 6 SP + 4 Gems
TYPE: Anytime
TARGET: 1 character
DESCRIPTION: Brings the character back to life, removing the dead condition. Spell carries a moderate chance of failure and a remote chance of eradicating the character.
Raising the dead is good, but being eradicated sounds bad, huh? Don't worry, a failed resurrection doesn't mean you lose the character permanently like in Wizardry. Reviving an eradicated character is just more inconvenient.

3. NAME: Rejuvenate
COST: 6 SP + 4 Gems
TYPE: Non-combat
TARGET: 1 character
DESCRIPTION: A fountain of youth that trims 1-10 years off a character's age, restoring his/her abilities to the younger level. Spell carries some risk of producing the opposite effect.
This spell isn't really worth faffing about with when by the time you can cast it, your party should be strong enough to just do the Valley that Time Forgot.

4. NAME: Stone to Flesh
COST: 6 SP + 4 Gems
TYPE: Anytime
TARGET: 1 character
DESCRIPTION: Re-animates a character who has been turned to stone, removing the stoned condition.
An important and life-saving spell, as long as your cleric isn't the one who gets turned to stone. In Might & Magic II, paladins can eventually learn Stone to Flesh and Raise Dead, providing a bit of backup if something untoward should happen to your cleric in the middle of a dungeon. In this game, though, you'd better make sure you keep your cleric alive.

5. NAME: Town Portal
COST: 6 SP + 4 Gems
TYPE: Non-combat
TARGET: Entire Party
DESCRIPTION: Opens a temporary portal to any town and moves the Party through the portal to that town.
This is a level 6 spell? I don't get it. A combination of Surface and Fly spells can do everything Town Portal can and more.

Level 6 Sorcerer Spells

1. NAME: Dancing Sword
COST: 6 SP + 4 Gems
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: All monsters
DESCRIPTION: A magical sword that moves with lightning speed, inflicting 1-30 damage points on each monster.
Eh. It can be cast anywhere, hits all enemies, and few monsters resist it, but damage is unimpressive. The Might and Magic II version is much better.

2. NAME: Disintegration
COST: 6 SP + 4 Gems
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 monster
DESCRIPTION: Reduces the monster to a pile of dust, utterly destroying it.
The best attack spell in the game, and arguably the best spell of any kind. Its success rate is 90% or better, and absolutely no monster in the game resists it. This spell is almost essential for many boss fights.

3. NAME: Etherealize
COST: 6 SP + 4 Gems
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: Entire Party
DESCRIPTION: Alters all characters' molecular structure long enough to allow them to move 1 square forward through any special barrier (force field, etc.)
It's like Teleport, only it sucks. It can be used in some areas where Teleport can't, though.

4. NAME: Protection from Magic
COST: 6 SP + 4 Gems
TYPE: Anytime
TARGET: Entire Party
DESCRIPTION: Increases all characters' resistance to magic. Amount of the increase depends on experience level of caster. Spell lasts 1 day.
There are quite a few magic-using enemies, and it can never hurt to protect yourself.

5. NAME: Recharge Item
COST: 6 SP + 4 Gems
TYPE: Non-combat
TARGET: Spell caster
DESCRIPTION: Restores 1-4 charges to any item in caster's back pack that still has 1 magical charge remaining. Some risk that the spell will fail and destroy the item.
I don't use magical items much, so I don't have much need for this spell. It has a high failure rate, so if you're going to use it, use it just after you've visited an Inn and reload if it fails.