Saturday, November 25, 2017

Journey to Save the Light: Part Two

This post picks up from where we left off in Part One of our series on Journey to Save the Light, also known as ShadowQuest. If you are just beginning your adventure, check out Part One for some tips on how to begin your journey. The current post will discuss the runes, storyline, and characters of the second half of the journey, beginning after you confront Malaki for the first time in the cairn.

As with the previous post, the discussion is based on playing ShadowQuest at the realm in the Poconos. There may be minor (or possibly even major) differences if you are playing at another realm.



Needless to say, there are some spoilers for the ending, though it shouldn't ruin any major surprises.

After you have seen Malaki for the first time and have begun learning of his plan, the magi must return to Ivan. Ivan is very concerned about the situation. We learn that Malaki was once Ivan's student, so Ivan knows of his power but also his arrogance, and is confident that the magi can defeat Malaki with some help from friends.

Malaki is now a Shadow Lord; he seeks power and wants to plunge the realm into darkness.




The first rune you will need is the Stone Rune. This quest is pretty straightforward and well clued, so it shouldn't give you any trouble. An amusing detail: one of the required items is a building permit, which can be found in the city. You can only obtain the permit during the day, presumably because the office that issues it closes at night.

Next is the Agon Rune. As before, there is nothing obscure about how to complete the quest, but by this point you will help yourself greatly if you are making note of where the crystals are, including their colors and speeds. Whether you write the information down or can keep it in your head, you'll save yourself time and annoyance if you can easily remember where you found the crystals, rather than starting your search from scratch.

The Agon Rune quest also contains an interesting bit of lore. The magi must journey to the swamp to obtain Dragon's Breath from an unknown individual. The quest gives no real clue who this person is, but presumably he or she is very powerful to be able to provide this ingredient. It's fun to speculate on who that might be, but you won't receive a definitive answer.



You now must create the Snowman Rune. We learn from Ivan that the Shadow Lords - of which, as mentioned before, Malaki is one - have the ability to create shadow minions. It appears from what Ivan says that this is a common ability among Shadow Lords, and not something unique to Malaki. These minions (at least when created by Malaki) take the form of a shadowy wolf-like creature. You can combat them by creating a summoned companion of your own. This companion takes the form of a snowman.

Next is the Avalanche Rune. This quest does have some components that must be found in order, so be sure to read your guide carefully.

The last rune you will obtain on your ShadowQuest journey is the Snow Rune.

Over the course of this journey, you will learn that Shadow Lords all fear fire, and also that avalanches and snow can be used against Malaki in particular. It appears that the latter weaknesses come from Malaki's own past as a yeti and are not common to other Shadow Lords, so the same strategy would not necessarily work as well against a different opponent.

Once you have obtained all the runes, you must return to the ShadowQuest Portal for your final confrontation with Malaki.



In speaking to him, you will learn that the Shadow Lords were exiled from Vellara by the King Breakers, and it is Malaki's goal to free his brethren and return them to the world to conquer it. You must fight him to prevent this from happening.

This fight is different than the combat you have previously experienced in MagiQuest. Unlike Charlock or even a tougher opponent like Winterra, Malaki does not use a scripted series of attacks, so there is not a set pattern of guards and counterattacks for the magi to use. Instead, you need to identify what Malaki is doing and respond accordingly. It may take you a few tries to learn to identify his tells for each action he is about to take, but you'll get the hang of it.



There are four attacks Malaki uses:

When you see a trail that looks like twinkling stars or smoke, use the Agon Rune to prevent him from stealing the sky lights - the rune looks like a fireplace.

When you see a green glow on the floor on both sides of Malaki, he is creating a minion and you should use the Snowman Rune.

When you see green light on Malaki, use the Avalanche Rune.

When you see what I can only describe as green smoky grass rising from the floor, you should use the Stone Rune.

The Snow Rune is available but is not used during the battle if you are responding with the correct runes, as there is nothing Malaki does that is countered with Snow.



A couple of important notes: As I mentioned above, Malaki's attacks are randomized. He may repeat attacks, so don't assume that just because he has done something once, you are finished with that rune. He also typically will not do every attack during the course of a single combat session, so don't be surprised if there is an attack listed here that you don't see when you are fighting him. Don't bother trying to memorize the pattern of his attacks, because there isn't one - just focus on which rune counters for which cue.


When you have defeated Malaki (you can take as many tries as necessary before you succeed,) you aren't quite done, so don't breathe a sigh of relief quite yet! You need to quickly use Banish Creature and then Lock Portal to send him away. Once you've done that, you have won the fight against Malaki.


He will be banished from Vellara and sent back into exile. You receive a virtual trophy on the screen, and the thanks and admiration of Ivan and Lumina.


Take pride, brave magi, in knowing you have saved the world of Vellara from peril yet again!

~Annacat

1 comment:

  1. that minnion lore thing kind of comes to play in totem masters if you think of it with the shadow lords using summond minnions and you using the totem as your own

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