Help for the Lost

I recently finished SitS. I like the game, it has its own charm.
I collected a lot of tips and informations from the discussion board and would like to share this with others.
That's the reason for this guide.

This guide contains different spoilers ! The safest part is the part about the party.

The Party

It is possible to create a whole group of characters at the start of the game. However, this prevents certain endings of the game. Refrain from it. Almost all of the companions in the game are better than your own avatars.

In Lumen Forten you can find Vilhelm and Catalina. Your first two companions.
In Lumen Targ you can collect Viorica at night at the cemetery.

My tip would be to go straight to Corem (in the very south), Lebez (just west) or Orf's Bridge (north of Lumen Targ) and fill up your group there with companions. Then you explore the area around Lumen Targ and work your way forward.

Beginning Characters, a selection:

• Vilhelm is a ranged character with woodwise and the option to become a caster.
  
• Catalina is a fighter. But she's a filler you can go for a better fighter soon as possible.
  
• Viorica (Lumen Targ, at night on the cemetery) is also a ranged character with good intelligence, so it's possible to make her a caster, too.
  
• Filip a mercenary in Lebez Inn. A swordmage with good occult stat. buff/heal mage.
  
• Notol, also in the lebez inn, is a warrior with tendencies towards buffer /dps fighter.
  
• Mikulas in Orf's Bridge is a solid choice for a frontline fighter and tank.

A number of characters can be found in the south in Corem. The best tank is probably Serafim, but you can only hire it with Nobility 5.
A useful substitute for Serafim is Liliana, next to Daciana as a swordsman in Corem Inn. And in the brothel you can find Margareta (DPS / light healer) and Stela (pure archer).

In Rumin Consil you can find the best magicians in the game: Silviu, Dragos and Istav.

Building the party

1. Tank - best armor, high strength (for dmg and hp), recommended skills: shield master, spearhead (just 1 lvl for aggro), seismic swing, burst of life.
2. DPS - good armor, high strength (dmg and hp), and some points in dexterity (attack speed) and perception (to hit chance).
Recommended skills:
Mace: reckless offense, slayer, seismic swing/ warcry/ staggering trust or
Whip: shield bash, mind crack, assassin or
Sword: shield bash, assassin, warcry/poison weapon with herbology aptitude.
3. DPS / Archer - good armor, more dexterity and perception than strength, recommended skills: Archer: reckless offense (for bonus dmg and dodge) and split missile, pin shot/strafe or
Alchemist: reckless offense, explosive trap, fuming unguent (good but buggy :-( ), criplling ooze, stink trap.
Some Points in Occult and Blood Coccon can be helpful.
4. Buff / Healer - high occult, a little dexterity, spells: blood cocoon, shimmering scales.
5. Caster - high occult and intelligence (depending on spells), recommended spells (occult based): blood cocoon, amplify, (intelligence based) festering ooze and possibly nauseate.

It may be helpful not to spend skill points immediately and to save for higher-level skills.

Every character should have an aptitude skill and increase it to level 5 as quickly as possible.

• For the main character, I recommend philosophy. This gives you the opportunity to use the imp jars to steal attribute points from companions that you don't need / like. But you should wait until the skill is 5 in order to be able to use it for full effect. You can also use it to talk to an important NPC.
  
• With harbinger you use summon horns, important in combat.
  
• With nobility you use enchanting crests and you get more information from nobles.
  
• With Linguistics you can use the Lumen forten invocation book. Very helpful. Should also be brought to 5 quickly.
  Also important to talk to the natives.
  
• I haven't used woodwise and herbology much either. Potions can be very helpful, so I would prefer herbology here.
  woodwise had little influence in the game for me.

Gametips

common tips

• Use parasitic orb in the flower circles
  
• Transformation spells take you into tree hollows and holes
  
• Buy wood protection boots from clothing retailers in Corem
  
• keep an inquistion mask if you find one
  
• create Bone Marrow with the linguistic book and "davi bones" / "davi bone". It's the best cure in the game.
  
• the linguistic book spell "grafitus [target]" refills Ammo Packs on ground.

magic items and good stuff

• There is a vendor for good and expensive armor in Orf's Bridge Consil.
  
• A merchant who can make the best armor out of harvester scales is in the Rumin Consil.
  
• A vendor for wands and summoning horns can be found in Corem
  
• The blacksmith in Corem sells a magical whip.
  
• The merchant in Rumin Consil sells a magical sword and battle ax.
  
• There is also a good wand dealer in Rumin Consil.
  
• The alchemist in Rumin Consil sells elixirs that help against ghosts.
  
• In the Ista Cale Ruins there are bandits (very strong!) With a magical redwood crossbow.

Game Progress

Basics:
You should create several save games. There are some bugs that cause certain quests or events not to start and nothing is more annoying than if this disrupts the progress of the game.
Just create save files like "corem lvl 5" when you're in Corem for the first time, just to be on the safe side.

Plot:
There are basically two main strands:
Nicholai's Quest and the Bloodless Hunters Quest
Of course, they meet somewhere or have an effect on each other.
As in Baldur's Gate, you have to piece together the story yourself by reading letters and scraps of conversation.
I'm just trying to give you some help without giving too much away.

Main quest:
First clues lead you to Emerald Metalis. But even in Corem you can already find references to smugglers.
In Orf's Bridge you can also meet a noticeable strange person.
We meet the smugglers again in Tratis Saltis, from where the track leads to the tower and / or via Rumin Consil to Lev.

Emerald Metalis seems to be on the wrong track at first but following the trail of the natives in the hollowed grove can (doesn't have to) shed additional light on the darkness.

From Lev it goes towards Fulda Mare Lumber Yards and then Ista Cale Consil, where the story finally comes to an end.

Bloodless Hunter Quest:
Vinimus in Lumen Forten tells you to meet his fellow hunters in the Ista Cale Camp (not consil). These are on the hunt for immortal creatures called the bloodless (vampires?). In their view, cruel monsters. You should help to find her hiding place.

Clues and pieces of information lead to the ruins of Ista Cale and Rumin Ruins, to Corem (Hunter Quest) and finally to Lumen Forten and the hiding place of the bloodless.

There you will then make the choice whether you will ally with the bloodless or not. You definitely need enough Philosophy Aptitude for the conversation. Your approach then has an impact on the end.
! Attention, there is a bug that causes the bloodless to disappear after returning from the hunter camp. Be sure to save in Lumen Forten before going into the hiding place the first time. !



Various tips:

• You need linguistics on 3 to talk to the native in Lumen Targ prison.
  
• The raft at Bruul could be bugged, be sure to save beforehand.
  
• The quest with the stolen Spicer Licenses in Orf's Bridge cannot be solved sensibly, kill the guy with the homeless children and get your stuff back.
  
• The Padurii victim can be delivered to the inn keeper in lebez
  
• Getting Erlains body back is hardly possible, the best thing is to sneak in as a cat and steal the letter from his body
  
• The head of the woman from the corem bounty is on the floor in a house in lebez (click on it)
  
• The wood protection boots help against the leeches
  
• The ethereal mist in the ruins is dispelled by torchlight
  
• With Inquistions mask you come to Lev or with the spicer quest from Rumin Consil
  
• The solution to the rune pillar in Ista cale Camp is "Nufri Tenrak"
  
• In the Ista Cale Consil, remember the symbols on the first two lighthouses and enter them in the last tower

[fferreiraaguiar]

Just some more info.

The pink enemy is a crawler. It give 292exp.

Go north of east side bridge along side the huge lake.

[fferreiraaguiar]

I played a solo game. I have this trick for exp farming.

If there is a group of three monster or more, you can aproach one or attack it with a bow and run.

Once you are at safe distance from the other two you kill the monster you attacked.

Save. When you come back there will be the same TRHREE monsters (the one you killed respawned again).

With this you have infinite monsters to kill.

There are a map (if I am not wrong, it is in the middle to left of the global map) where there is this slow moving rose something. It give a lot of exp and it is easy to hit and run and hit again.

[雷蒙專用95]

thanks very much

[Mountain Months]

very helpful, thank you!

[Winston84]

Cool! Might help me actually play this game sometime.