Hints For Getting Started

Exile III: Ruined World (Exile III for short) is a computer fantasy role-playing game. If you've never played a game of this sort before, much of what's going on will be very unfamiliar to you. This section provides an overview of how to do the most important things, so you don't get too swamped with the details. Don't worry - even though Exile III is complicated, once you can get around you will be able to pick up other things very easily. Also, don't worry if you've never played Exile I or II. Experience with those games is not necessary to enjoy Exile III.

Starting the game - In Exile III, you will control a group (or party) of six adventurers (often referred to as PCs, for player characters). You will take these six people on adventurers, kill monsters, collect loot, and try to save the world. Each person has his or her own skills, abilities, and items.

To start the game, you need to get a group of six people. From the starting screen, press Create New Party, and watch the introduction. When you hit the button, you will be at the party creation screen.

Notice you have already been given six characters. You can now, if you wish, drop, recreate, or edit these PCs. For now, don't worry about this. Just hit Done to start the game.

What's going on? - You start in Fort Emergence, a hidden fortress just below the surface of the world. You are Exiles, members of a nation of people who live in caverns far under the Earth, having been banished there by the Empire. The Empire is the only nation on the surface, and recently fought a bloody war with Exile.

The Exiles want to return to the surface, but nothing is known about conditions outside, and fear of the Empire is great. Your job will be to go out, look around, and, in the long run, find a way for the Exiles to return to the surface.

But for now, it is enough of a problem just to get equipped and figure out how to move around in this odd new world.

Moving around and getting stuff - Once you've started the game, you will be in your room in Fort Emergence. You can see yourself in the window in the upper left corner of the screen (the terrain screen). You can move around by pressing the buttons on the keypad, or by moving the mouse cursor into the terrain screen and pressing the mouse button. Move around a bit.

Your characters will start with weapons and armor already equipped (i.e. worn). However, there are more things to be gotten. For example, you'll want to look at that scroll on the table. Click on the button with the hand on it in the lower left corner (or type 'g', for Get). The getting things window will come up. Click on the scroll, and your first character will have it.

You should now see the scroll in the item window at the right side of the screen. To the right of it will be four buttons: 'U' (for Use), 'G' (for Give), 'D' (for Drop), and 'I' (for Item Info). Click on the 'U' button, and you'll read the scroll and get directions for where to go. That was interesting.

Now move next to one of the dressers. Click on the 'D' button by the scroll, to drop it. You'll need to click where to drop the item. Click on the dresser.

It's gone! You just put the scroll in the dresser. Maybe, in addition to the scroll, there's something else in the dresser. You should search it.

To search something, look at it while standing next to it. Stand right under the dresser. Press the Eye button (or type 'l'), and click on the dresser (or press the '8' on the keypad, for 'up'). You search the dresser, and will see a list of everything inside. Get everything, then search the other dresser.

Many things, such as barrels, crates, dressers and chests can be searched for interesting things. If you think something useful is hidden somewhere, be sure to search. Every sort of terrain can have something hidden in it.

The map told you about a storeroom with supplies for you. It's a small room located in the middle of the fort. Find your way there and get all the armor and weapons ... you'll need them.

Readying armor and weapons - Now that you have some armor and weapons. It's time to put on your new gear. The PC screen, listing your party, is to the upper right. One of your character's names will be in italics. This is the active character. This character's inventory is given in the item screen below it. Click on another PC's name. It will become the active character, and that PC's inventory will appear below. You can also type the PC's number to make him/her active, a very useful shortcut.

Go to one of your PCs inventory pages. Click on the name of, say, a suit of armor. The name of that item will now appear in italics. That means youre wearing it! Click it again to take it off.

Suppose one PC has two suits of armor, and you want another PC to be protected. Go to the page of the PC with two suits of armor, and hit the G button by one of them. This gives the item away. A window will come up asking who to give the item to. Click the button by the name of the PC to give the item to.

Shift your new stuff around so that your fighters have the best armor and weapons. There! Youre equipped. Now, you can start meeting the people in the fort around you, or go out and kill something.

Talking to people - To get anywhere in Exile III, you'll need to talk to many, many people. Might as well try this now. Hit 't' and then click on a person to talk to him/her/it. The talking window will appear.

Notice the buttons at the bottom of this area. Click on 'Name' and 'Job', and you'll get the basic information that character has to say.

To ask someone about something, click on the word after they say it. If someone says I really hate goblins, click on goblins to ask about it. If the person has something to say, the word will flash, and something else will come up. To see what the person said previously, click on 'Go Back. '

Talk to people in the fort. You'll notice that the guards don't talk to you, but most everything else (including the cat and the lizard) has something to say. Be especially sure to go to the northwest corner of Fort Emergence and see Anaximander, one of the most important characters in the game. Also be sure to see Levy, who can give you things.

Finally, talking to people is how you will buy food and equipment. To see if someone has something to sell, hit the 'Buy' button. If they do, click on the item name to buy it.

Killing Stuff - Now it's time to go out and fight. Might as well get used to combat - you're going to be doing a lot of it!

You can find stuff to kill by either finding a dungeon (there are two easy dungeons northeast of Fort Emergence in Upper Exile - leave Fort Emergence to the south to get to Upper Exile), or wandering around outdoors. When you get attacked, to strike back, simply move into the hostile monster. You'll swing whatever weapon you have in your hand. The text area in the lower right will tell you how your attack went.

When you kill stuff, the dead monsters will often leave behind more items for you to get. Unfortunately, you won't always know what these items are, and you won't be allowed to sell them until you do. There are, fortunately, people in towns who (for a fee) will tell you what they are. One such person is Habecker, in Fort Emergence.

Casting Spells - The other necessary skill for playing Exile III is casting spells: magical incantations which do all sorts of stuff. There are two sorts of spells: mage spells, which tend to do damage and help in combat, and priest spells, which tend to heal and help the party.

The easiest way to cast a spell is to use the Mage Spells or Priest spells menus. To have a PC cast a spell, click on his/her name to make the PC active. The Mage Spells (or Priest Spells) menu will list all available spells. Select the spell to cast it. If it's a spell cast on another character, like Minor Heal, you'll be asked who to cast it on.

You can also cast spells by using the Mage and Priest Spell windows, which you bring up by clicking on the spell casting buttons in the lower left, or by typing 'm' or 'p'. Instructions for using these windows are given in the spell casting chapter. They're a little more complicated to use, but have the advantage of being usable entirely from the keyboard.

There are seven levels of spells, each more draining and powerful than the spells in the level before. You start with characters able to cast most spells up to level 3.

Secret Doors - Some doors (in all sorts of walls and in cave walls as well) are hidden. To search the walls, walk into them. If there is a secret door there, you'll pass through the wall.

Go to the empty bunkroom in the southwest corner of Fort Emergence and try this. You may find some interesting surprises.

If you get stuck - Of course, it's possible that you will still get stuck. Maybe you always get killed, or you can't find any money, or something else. Should this happen, Exile III comes with a character editor, which can heal your characters and give them as much gold and food as they want.

This is only a brief overview, of course. It says nothing about training, or many important things about spellcasting. It will, however, get you moving, and once you're getting around, you should find the rest falls into place very quickly.

So welcome to the wild world of Exile III! And good luck! Who knows? You may actually be able to make a difference!

The Mini Hint Booklet

If you get stuck somewhere early in the game, this section provides a walkthru for Upper Exile and Krizsan. If your problem isn't answered there, look to see if your question is listed after the walkthru, and, if so, look at the number after it. Look for that hint in the list at the end of the section.

Some hints use x-y coordinates. To find out where you are in a dungeon, cast the Level 1 priest spell Location.

Map -

If you get lost, don't forget there are maps available. Flip to the Special page on the Inventory Screen, and use the maps. If you need more help, there is a detailed map on the outdoors in the hint booklet.

Walkthru for Upper Exile and Krizsan Province

Topics covered:

Krizsan Province

What do I do at the Agate Tower? Where is the slime's lair? Once inside, how do I get through the portculli on the lower level? How do I defeat the slimes? How do I destroy a slime pool?

The New Formello Murders

What's the deal with this? Can I solve them?

Fort Emergence

You start in your bedroom in Fort Emergence. You can return here to rest at any time. Get the scroll and read it (by using it). Look in the dressers, and get the stuff. Go talk to Anaximander, who is located at (1,5). He'll tell you to go to the surface, although you can go gain experience in two dungeons in Upper Exile first. These are the Goblin Lair and the Bandit Hideout. There is a map to them in the bookshelf at (10,4).

You can, if you wish, go explore Upper Exile by leaving Fort Emergence to the south. When you're ready, you can go out onto the surface by leaving to the north.

Krizsan Province and the Slimes

Upon reaching the surface, head south to the ocean, and look for the city of Krizsan. Entering and asking around, you can find out about the horrible invasion of slimes that has been tormenting Krizsan Province. Destroying the slimes is not necessary to win the game. However, if you don't destroy them, you must eliminate the cockroaches on the Isle of Bigail to be able to win.

Speak with Mayor Arbuckle, who will give you a mission to go destroy the slimes. Then search town until you find Dawn the sailor. She will tell you of strange lights she has seen on the coast to the west. This is a good place to investigate.

Heading west from Krizsan, you can find the Agate Tower. This is an important, but tricky dungeon. You may wish to adventure elsewhere to gain experience before venturing inside.

Once in, you need to get to Jordan's library, where you will find out the location of the Slime Pit and the main weakness of the slimes. Walk down the entry corridor, and get dropped into the basement. Go through the door at (7,32). You will be in Jordan's inner sanctum. Explore it, kill him, and search the bookshelves around (13,42). You will now know where the Slime Pit is, and have learned that fireballs destroy the pools where slimes are made.

Leave this area through the door at (15,39). Head east, destroying the slime pool with a fireball if you want, head north, and climb the stairs at (23,27). Pull the lever at (19,24) to turn off the corridor traps, and walk out.

Now, if you're feeling strong, you can assault the slime pit, southeast of the town of Colchis, which is east of Krizsan. Exploring Colchis thoroughly, you can find two magical items which can provide protection against the slimes' nastier magical effects.

When ready, enter the Slime Pit. Head west to the pedestal at (32,29). This is the first of many button puzzles you will encounter. There are five stairways down on the first level of the slime pit. The location of each button on the pedestal corresponds to the location of a stairway down. When pressed, the button will open the gate at the base of that stairway. Explore the level, pick a stairway, press the button corresponding to that stairway, and climb down it.

Level 2 consists of five separate sections, each populated with slimes, and each ending in a slime pool. Proceed through each section, destroying the pool at the end with a fireball (in the long hall with statues, search the east wall for secret passages thoroughly). When all the pools are destroyed, the barriers on the other sides of the pools will disappear. Go through, and kill the gigantic Alien Slime. Once dead, the slimes will disappear, and you will have successfully completed this quest.

Go through the secret passage at (24,3), and find the magical rune. Leave the Slime Pit and go to Krizsan to get your reward from the mayor, and the return to Fort Emergence. Speak to Berra the mage (in the southeast section of Fort Emergence) and ask him about 'evidence.' He'll tell you something interesting. Sometime soon, a visit to Erika will be in order.

Then see Anaximander. He'll congratulate you, and tell you to visit the Tower of Magi for magical training. Leave Fort Emergence to the south to enter Upper Exile. Go to the Portal Fortress, to the west. Speak with Seles to get permission, and then enter the portal at (5,42). Find Solberg, and he'll give you spells. Each time you complete a monster mission, go speak to either 'X' or Solberg, and one of them will give you some new, powerful spells.

At this point, everything regarding the slimes is pretty much settled, and it's time to move on. Adventure (and major grossness) awaits you on the Isle of Bigail.

The New Formello Murders

Sometime around now, Anaximander will tell you of a pair of grisly murders that happened in the Upper Exile town of New Formello, and ask you to investigate. Travel there, and speak with Flanagan. Then head north to the Murder Cave. There's an important item there that you need.

Inside the murder cave, go to (6,9) to inspect the bodies. Interesting, but you need to do more. Go through the secret passage at (7,7). Fight your way through the tunnels, and step on the special encounter at (25,2). The key there will be very important later on.