Games Microsoft XBOX BALDUR S GATE-DARK ALLIANCE User Manual
™
BAlDUR’s GATe
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 2
GETTING STARTED 4
CONTROLLER LAYOUT 5
WELCOME TO THE REALMS 6
HOW TO START THE GAME/MAIN MENU DESCRIPTION 7
HEROES OF BALDUR'S GATE 8
OPTIONS MENU 9
CONTROLLING YOUR CHARACTER 11
CHARACTER STATISTICS SCREEN 17
COMBAT 22
SHOPKEEPERS 24
SPELLS AND FEATS 26
MONSTERS 33
CREDITS 36
:
DARK AlliAnce
™
BlAcK Isle STUDios
- 1 -
BAlDUR’s GATe
™
:
DARK AlliAnce
™
BlAcK Isle STUDios
- 3 -
CONTROLLER LAYOUT
BAlDUR’s GATe
™
:
DARK AlliAnce
™
BlAcK Isle STUDios
- 2 -
GETTING STARTED
USING THE XBOX VIDEO GAME SYSTEM
1. Set up your Xbox video game system by following the instructions
in the Xbox Instruction Manual.
2. Press the power button and the status indicator light will light up.
3. Press the eject button and the disc tray will open.
4. Place the Baldur's Gate™ : Dark Alliance™ disc on the disc tray
with the label facing up and close the disc tray.
5. Follow on-screen instructions and refer to this manual for more
information about playing Baldur's Gate : Dark Alliance.
AVOIDING DAMAGE TO DISCS OR
THE DISC DRIVE
To avoid damage to discs or the disc drive:
• Insert only Xbox-compatible discs into the disc drive.
• Never use oddly shaped discs, such as star-shaped or heart-shaped discs.
• Do not leave a disc in the Xbox console for extended periods when
not in use.
• Do not move the Xbox console while the power is on and a disc is
inserted.
• Do not apply labels, stickers, or other foreign objects to discs.
USING THE XBOX CONTROLLER
1. Connect the Xbox Controller to any controller port on the front of
the Xbox console. For multiple players, connect additional
controllers to available controller ports.
2. Insert any expansion devices (for example, Xbox Memory Units)
into controller expansion slots as appropriate.
3. Follow on-screen instructions and refer to this manual for more
information about using the Xbox Controller to play Baldur's Gate:
Dark Alliance.
White button
Automap toggle
Left trigger
Drink Rejuvenation Potion
Directional pad
Up/Down:
Toggle Spells and Feats List Up/Down
Left/Right:
Toggle between melee and missile
weapons
BACK button
Inventory/Level Up
START button
Pause
Left thumbstick
Moves character in proper direction
Black button
Block/Parry
Right trigger
Drink Health Potion
A button
Attack
B button
Use Feat or Cast Spell
Y button
Jump
X button
Use/Pick up
Right thumbstick
Rotate Camera
BAlDUR’s GATe
™
:
DARK AlliAnce
™
BlAcK Isle STUDios
- 5 -
Eldrith gathered all of the Bladed Crescent who remained, all who had
sworn to serve her, and she ordered her broken company to attack the
walls of her city... she swore she would take it from the Dukes and put
them to the sword. It would be justice, she said.
Eldrith’s attack was like the charge of a maddened animal. It was
suicide.
The Bladed Crescent were slain almost to the man, and they were
driven from the city, hounded by the remaining troops of Baldur’s Gate.
They pursued Eldrith for leagues, all the way to the Marsh of
Chelimber. As the last of her soldiers floundered and died within the
marsh, the soldiers closed upon her. She was no longer recognizable —
blood caked her armor, her helmet, barely able to put one foot in front
of the other —she was dying, but even in death, she still struggled
onwards, fueled by her vengeance.
Fearing her skills with the sword, the soldiers band did not approach
within arm's reach of her —instead, they felled her from a distance
with crossbow bolts. It was a cowardly execution, one without honor.
As Eldrith fell, she cursed Baldur's Gate and all within it. And with her
death, the Dark Alliance was born.
BAlDUR’s GATe
™
:
DARK AlliAnce
™
BlAcK Isle STUDios
- 4 -
INTRODUCTION
Have you not heard of Eldrith the Betrayer, the Traitress of Swords,
Eldrith of the Westering Sun? That she has been forgotten is an...
irony of a sort.
Eldrith was one of the greatest generals of the Sword Coast,
commander of the Company of the Bladed Crescent, sworn sword
and defender of Baldur’s Gate. She served with honor and distinction
in the first and last seasons of the Sundering War, the Stillwater Port
siege, and finally, the campaign against the Black Horde. In all these
battles, she was victorious.
I do not know when pride burrowed into her heart, but it poisoned her.
Eldrith had fought too many battles, achieved too many victories, and
she had come to see the city of Baldur’s Gate as her own.
On the day of the Great Betrayal, Eldrith's company took the field
against the Black Horde and scattered them, even though the orcs and
goblins outnumbered her troops five to one. Still, in the rout, almost
half their forces survived and fled the field. Eldrith was determined to
pursue them. The Dukes of Baldur’s Gate refused. Too many good
soldiers had been lost, the Dukes told her. They— and the people—
wanted no more of blood and death, and they felt the Horde would
not return.
Eldrith was furious. Even though she had lost many men, she felt it
was better to deal a deathblow to the Horde and insure they never
threatened Baldur’s Gate again. And so she defied the Dukes, and led
her soldiers to their deaths.
Far from Baldur's Gate, she cornered the Horde in a narrow defile, but
once their retreat was denied to them, they proved more vicious than
we had anticipated. Eldrith, fearing of losing the field, sent a
messenger back to Baldur’s Gate for reinforcements before the Horde
broke free of her trap. The reinforcements never came, and the Horde
overran Eldrith's weakened troops. Eldrith survived... but many of the
Company of the Bladed Crescent did not.
Eldrith became a creature consumed by fury. Wounded, she returned
to Baldur’s Gate to demand an audience with the Dukes. Instead, she
was met at the gates and told that for her disobedience upon the
battlefield, the walls of Baldur’s Gate would be forever closed to her
and the Bladed Crescent.
BAlDUR’s GATe
™
:
DARK AlliAnce
™
BlAcK Isle STUDios
- 7 -
HOW TO START THE GAME/
MAIN MENU DESCRIPTION
The opening movies can be skipped by pressing the START button or
the A button on the controller.
MAIN MENU
On the opening menu, you will be presented with four options:
Start New Game: Select this option when you are ready to begin
playing. When selected, you will be asked to choose either a oneplayer or two-player game; if you are interested in transferring a
character from another game into your game, jump ahead to
“Transferring Characters from Other Games,”p. 9.
Once you have selected a new game, you have an option to select the
game difficulty: Easy, Normal, or Hard. Play on Easy if you're just
getting your bearings; Hard if you're looking for a challenging
experience.
After selecting the difficulty level, you (and the second player if you
are playing with someone else) will be taken to the Character Selection
screen. Use the directional pad to cycle through your three choices:
the Human Archer, the Dwarven Fighter, and the Elven Sorceress. A
small icon will appear above each character as you cycle through the
choices.
The advantages and disadvantages of each choice are listed under
“Heroes,”on p. 8.
Load Saved Game: This option will allow you to load a previously
saved Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance game from your hard disk.
Options: Select this option if you want to customize your controller’s
configuration, adjust sound options, and other game options.
Credits: Selecting this option will allow you to see the creators and
contributors to Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance.
Press the A button to select an option, and the B button to go back.
BAlDUR’s GATe
™
:
DARK AlliAnce
™
BlAcK Isle STUDios
- 6 -
WELCOME TO THE REALMS
If this is your first foray into the fantastic world of the F
ORGOTTEN
REALMS®campaign setting, then welcome. Black Isle Studios and
Snowblind Studios are pleased to bring you Baldur’s Gate: Dark
Alliance, the first Dungeons & Dragons
®
game to appear on the
Xbox™ video game system. The challenges in the game are great, but
so are the rewards, and many hours of challenging gameplay await you
and your friends.
If you have played any of the Baldur’s Gate games for the PC (Baldur’s
Gate, Tales of the Sword Coast
™
, Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn™,
and Throne of Bhaal
™
), then you are no stranger to the FORGOTTEN
REALMS. Black Isle Studios and Snowblind Studios bring you another
title set in the F
ORGOTTEN REALMS, a console role-playing experience
you may undertake either alone or with a friend. Baldur’s Gate: Dark
Alliance is an epic that puts the fate of the F
ORGOTTEN
REALMS in your
hands – countless lives depend on you, and it’ll only be through your
blood and perseverance that Baldur’s Gate... and all the Realms... may
be saved.
Welcome to Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance.
BALDUR’S GATE
Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance takes place in the world of Abeir-Toril
(The phrase “Abeir-Toril” means “cradle of life” — the world is most
often known by its shortened name, “Toril”). Your exploits in Dark
Alliance will be centered in Baldur’s Gate, a port city upon the winding
Chionthar River.
Baldur’s Gate is a city recently plagued by a growing evil. Members of
the city watch have been found dead, townsfolk are afraid to leave
their homes, and unsettling rumors of a thieves’guild civil war beneath
the streets runs rampant through the taverns of the city.
Your arrival has placed you in the middle of this cauldron of danger.
A young hero, fresh to Baldur’s Gate and fresh to the world of
adventuring, you’re carrying little else except a blade and a small purse
of coins. You’ve come to the city to seek your fortune.
That is, if the danger that threatens Baldur’s Gate doesn’t claim
you first...
BAlDUR’s GATe
™
:
DARK AlliAnce
™
BlAcK Isle STUDios
- 9 -
specialized metamagic feats and spells available to her as she advances
in level. Unlike the Dwarven Fighter or the Arcane Archer, however,
the Sorceress cannot use weapons that require more than one hand,
such as two-handed swords and two-handed axes.
Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance also supports cooperative play, so you and
a friend may choose different characters.
TRANSFERRING CHARACTERS FROM
OTHER GAMES
If you have a pre-existing character from another Baldur’s Gate: Dark
Alliance game, you don’t need to start a game over with a new
character. You can simply import your current character from another
game. This can be done by either loading your character file from the
hard disk, or, provided you have one an Xbox memory unit. To do this,
you'll need to select “Export Players”from the In-Game Pause Menu,
described on p. 13.
OPTIONS MENU
Move up and down the Options menu by pressing up and down on the
directional pad.
Music
When highlighted, you can press left and right on the directional pad
to adjust the music volume in the game.
SFX
When highlighted, you can press left and right on the directional pad
to adjust the sound effects volume in the game.
Vibration
Certain events within the game will cause the controller to vibrate.
This can be switched on or off, depending on your preference.
Controls
This selection takes you to the Controller Configuration screen, where
you can choose a configuration that best suits your style of game play.
Stereo
This option allows you to choose whether you want stereo sound or
monaural (for single speaker televisions).
BAlDUR’s GATe
™
:
DARK AlliAnce
™
BlAcK Isle STUDios
- 8 -
HEROES OF BALDUR'S GATE
Before you can begin playing Baldur’s Gate:
Dark Alliance, you’ll need to choose which
character you want to play. You’ll be able to
choose from three characters: Vahn, the
Arcane Archer, Kromlech, the Dwarven
Fighter, and Adrianna, the Elven Sorceress.
Vahn, the Arcane Archer
Arcane Archers are archers known for their
supernatural accuracy with a bow and the
ability to imbue their arrows with magic. A
fusion of skill and innate magical ability has
turned them into fearsome and respected
warriors. A good character for taking down
opponents from a distance, the Arcane Archer
employs a number of magical powers related to
his archery skills, including the ability to
enchant arrows with magical accuracy, create
fire arrows, exploding arrows, and even fire off
several arrows at once.
Kromlech, the Dwarven Fighter
The youngest of the Bruenghor Clan in the
Sunset Mountains, this gruff and opinionated
dwarf is a fearsome warrior – tough, strong,
and devastating in combat when wielding
melee weapons. A good character for hand-tohand combat and sheer toughness, the dwarf
also has access to a number of specialized
fighting feats unavailable to the Arcane Archer
and the Sorceress.
Adrianna, the Elven Sorceress
A strikingly beautiful female elf with exotic
features, the elven sorceress can create magic
the way a poet creates poems, by drawing on
the raw power within themselves... and
unleashing it with devastating effects. The
sorceress has the ability to cast spells, an ability
unavailable to the Dwarven Fighter or the
Arcane Archer, and she has a number of
BAlDUR’s GATe
™
:
DARK AlliAnce
™
BlAcK Isle STUDios
- 11 -
CONTROLLING YOUR CHARACTER
Once in the game world, you’ll need to know the basics of moving
around, attacking, jumping, and casting spells. Provided here is a list of
all the actions your character can perform using the controller:
Moving Around: To move around, move the left thumbstick in the
direction you want your character to walk.
Attacking:To attack a creature with a bow or melee weapon, press the A
button. You cannot attack in towns or other “safe” areas in the game.
Aiming: When you are holding a bow, you can lightly hold down the
A button and you can rotate while standing in place. This allows you
to aim your bow before firing it, and it is useful when combined with
the Targeting Feat (see Spells and Feats, p. 26). To fire the arrow after
aiming, simply push harder on the A button, and the arrow will fire.
Aiming does not allow you to automatically hit an opponent, but it can
make your life much easier.
Jumping: During your travels, your character may need to jump over
certain obstacles in their path. To do this, press the Y button.
Using Spells and Feats: Spells and feats are special abilities your
character will have access to over the course of the game. Some feats
are passive (they are always on) and other spells and feats are active
(they need to be “activated”in order to work). To activate a spell or
feat, press the B button, and your character will use your currently
selected spell or feat (for information on how to change your currentlyarmed feat, see “Selecting Spells and Feats,” below). You cannot use
spells and feats in towns or other “safe”areas in the game, and some
spells and feats require that you have a certain amount of arcane
energy in order to use them (see more about Arcane Energy, p. 16).
Action: The X button allows you to perform almost any other action
other than jumping, casting spells, or attacking. Use this button to
speak to people in the game, open doors, chests, pull levers, pick up
items on the floor, or save your game at save pedestals.
Selecting Spells and Feats: Your character is likely to gain multiple
spells and feats over the course of the game, and you’ll need to choose
different ones for different situations. To change your currentlyselected feats or spells, press up or down on the directional pad to
scroll through your list of feats and spells. (This “L”-shaped list will
appear in the lower left hand corner of the main game screen.)
BAlDUR’s GATe
™
:
DARK AlliAnce
™
BlAcK Isle STUDios
- 10 -
Dialog Text
When this is off, you will not see the text spoken by characters you
speak to in the game (although you will see your own responses).
When Dialog Text is on, a character's speech will be displayed at the
bottom of the screen as they are speaking.
Damage Text
When this is on, you will see the number of hit points of damage you
cause stream off a target when you hit (the number is colored yellow
when you score a critical hit). Damage Text defaults to off.
LOADING AND SAVING
To save, you’ll need to find a safe spot in the game to record your
progress. These save points are indicated on the maps by pedestals
with books on them:
When you reach one of these points, you can save your game by
pressing the action button (X by default).
- 12 -
Loading...