35) Daggers of Darkness Solution

[champskees]

Daggers of Darkness is one of Luke Sharp’s better books. It has many features common throughout his books (hard to map, many random die rolls), but is definitely well designed. Difficulty is spot on, and there are many different paths to victory here. In short, this book is pretty good. This book can be completed fairly easily with a minimum stats character. Note that my solution takes advantage of the Medallion’s Power. This is the best path I could find (trust me, I tried everything).

Total poison damage (without using Medallion’s power): 7-9

- Take the Potion of Skill.
- Inspect the body first (+2 Poison, 1 Damage).
- Take the one on the right.
- Stand your ground.
- Tell them you are one of Segrek’s Select.
- Ride the grey mare (+2 Stamina).
- Escape into the darkness (+1 Stamina).
- Follow the Way of the Stallion.
- Lie down in the grass & hope no one will see you.
- Carry on along the road (+2 Stamina).
- Run to the left hand side of the road & hide (+2 Stamina).
- Reveal you are one of Segrek’s Select.
- Roll 2D6. Double = 4 Damage & +2 Poison. Repeat three more times. Hit twice = Death.
- (86.6% chance of surviving horse trample, 48.2% chance of no damage)
- Roll D6. 1-2 = 2 Damage. Repeat four more times. Hit three times = Death.
- Take 1 Poison unit.
- (79% chance of surviving in the saddle)
- (68.4% chance of surviving both tests)
- Go west.
- Go north (+3 Stamina).
- Go north.
- Go west.
- Fight Sk 7 St 8 Screecher.
- Go west.
- Take 5 Gold Pieces.
- Go north.
- Use 10 Gold Pieces (-10 Gold, +1 Luck).
- Take Bogomil Medallion. Add note: ‘1000’. Note that the Medallion allows you to auto win 3 fights leaving you with 4 stamina if you would normally die (-1 Skill, -1 Luck & +3 Poison per use).
- Eat food (-1 Food, +4 Stamina).
- Take the left path.
- Go down into the forest.
- Leave it alone & continue your journey (+4 Stamina).
- Take the left hand path (+1 Luck).
- You do not wish to encourage their venality.
- Fight Sk 8 St 9 Troll.
- Fight Sk 9 St 10 Troll (+2 Poison).
- If you used Medallions Power, use your Potion of Skill here & heal to full.
- Go left.
- Turn left into another road.
- Head for the fortress.
- Carry on looking for another way into the stronghold.
- Choose the Dagger.
- You have a medallion.
- Use medallion: 1000-641=359. Go to Para 359.
- You do not have a second medallion.
- Mix 1000 Fathom Seawater with Eye of Newt.
- Add new power: Invulnerable to Sword Strike.
- This was your first choice.
- Mix 1000 Fathom Seawater with Dragon’s Claw.
- Add new power: Storm-bringing.
- This is your second choice.
- You have the Power of Invulnerability to Sword Strike.
- Go to the left.
- You have the Power of Storm-bringing.
- Enter the door marked with the sign of Segrek.
- You have the Power of Invulnerability to Sword Strike.
- Fight Sk 4 St 4 Gremlin.
- Fight Sk 4 St 6 Gremlin.
- Fight Sk 4 St 6 Gremlin (+2 Poison).
- You do not have the Power of Persuasion (4 Damage).
- Do not mark off any more poison (+4 Stamina).
- Put your sword away and walk straight to the throne.
- You have sat upon the Throne of Kazan. Trade between Kazan and the rest of Khul flourishes and the land experiences a new era of peace & prosperity. You are hailed by many as a worthy successor to the great Segrek.

[Garek Torr]

Aaaargh! Champskees, I followed your path and got trampled on both legs by the stallion of the Bogomil!

[Garek Torr]

Then killed by the second Trollish toll collector! This is not a book for a Skill 7 character!

[Garek Torr]

Wait, I have the Medallion of Bogomil, I'm not dead!

[Garek Torr]

A fun book. My first FF, given to me 27 years ago, for my 10th Birthday. A perfect introduction to the series. Good plot. Multiple paths to the finish line, and even a Skill 7 character can win through provided he doesn't roll too badly in the Trial of the Bogomil! Thanks Champskees for all these solutions for nostalgic former adventurers like me coming out of retirement one last time!

[Andyzer00]

How does one do the path to get two Medallions? I've gone over this book and I can't figure it out. Is it even possible?

[kieran]

It's definitely possible as I've done it though I can't remember how exactly. I think after you get the Uruz medallion it is still possible to find the Hulugu one buried in the snow.

[JMISBEST]

A good book in general and Luke Sharp's Best, in my opinion

Also 1 of my favourites in the series due to it being the only Luke Sharp Book that I beat 1st time, even if it was by pure luck, most of which consisted of guessing the best route several times), without 1 or more of cheating, a guide or help, hints and advice from others who had beaten it or memorised a guide or both

[pip]

The tables seem wrong, unless this book pulls shenanigans where having a higher stat is sometimes a handicap. Example: Stamina 14 Skill 12: you have a 68.9% chance with Luck 11, and a 68.7% chance with Luck 12. There are more like this.

[kieran]

Nov 12, 2021 15:28:04 GMT pip said:

The tables seem wrong, unless this book pulls shenanigans where having a higher stat is sometimes a handicap. Example: Stamina 14 Skill 12: you have a 68.9% chance with Luck 11, and a 68.7% chance with Luck 12. There are more like this.

I believe Chamspkees' algorithm "plays" through the book 1000 times for each stat combination and records the amount of successes. So in this case, 12/14/11 succeeded 689 times while 12/14/12, due to the luck of the draw, succeeded only 688 times. If the amount of attempts were increased significantly, the odds would probably be more accurate, but they're still probably fairly reliable as is.

[a moderator]

Yes, things are likely to be skewed by Luke Sharp's fondness for randomised penalties (up to and including death) that don't involve stats.