Welcome to A Bard's Tale and congratulations on your recent purchase.

For anyone who hasn't explored the main menu, mouse over and select the option for 'The Original Bard's Tale Trilogy', which opens an additional three classic dungeon trawling games.

This walk-through will detail and highlight certain pertinent information about the game, in order to help players maximize their play-through's and prevent people from missing,...miss-able items.

What makes a Bard?

Changing the Difficulty settings between Easy, Normal, and Hard will change the available pool of starting stat points that the player has to build up from.

Easy = +8 in all stats

Normal = +6 in all stats

Difficult = +4 in all stats

Essentially, easy just means the Bard is never really weak and can become overpowered much earlier.

Normal is relatively normal. Some combat may be challenging if you aren't leveled up high enough.

Difficult means that the character is going to have to make some choices between developing strengths and weaknesses, i.e. combat strength over building dexterity or rhythm.

Objectively, the goal is to raise all stats to a minimum of +17 since the strongest charms grant a +3 bonus to their associated character stat granting the player the maximum of +20.

The goal for the first third of the game is to raise Luck to +17 first, then Charisma to +17 after which the player can raise whatever stats they wish to focus on. It could be argued that either Constitution or Rhythm should be maximized for player benefits, i.e. more points into Constitution earlier grants a deeper health pool.

Personally, I choose to maximize at least Luck first because I want the highest loot drop rates from the earliest point in the game to maximize monetary gains over everything else in order to afford the various treasure maps that unlock hidden locations. These are all purchased items, which is also why I focus on maximizing Charisma after Luck because shop prices drop significantly with maximized Charisma.

As for stat selection, I would recommend heavily investing in luck for the early game, I start with +10 Constitution, +10 Luck, and +10 Charisma. This ensures that the Bard can take damage, find a decent amount of loot, and will have lower price availability earlier on for purchasing the treasure map at the Houton store. Substituting Strength for Charisma and then building up Charisma is also acceptable, since we won't be purchasing the maps until we have well over 3K saved up, which is what becoming exceedingly Lucky is for.

As for perks or feats, I like to start with Treasure Hunter since that is what gives the Bard the most benefits early on. Taking the others isn't recommended at all, because everything besides critical strike will be immediately useless and there is a lot of time to build up to the rest.

The overhead camera is kind of toxic, but you get used to it and there is a special glitch advantage that the player is given that will be discussed later on.

Basic Controls

WASD movement

W = Forward
S = Backpedal
A/D = Turn left, right respectively

X = Map setting, push multiple times for different overlay settings

Camera movement (I do believe these are inverted?)

Q= Pan Right
E= Pan Left

Z / Mouse Wheel Forward = Zoom In
C / Mouse Wheel Backward = Zoom Out

Access Panels

1= Offhand / Specialized Equipment
2 = Melee Weapons
3 = Lute Spells - Use Directional keys to further advance menu options
4 = Rune Stone Menu (Be Careful to not accidentally cast) - Use WAD to select rune stone cost and increase the effectiveness of each rune stone.

Combat

Left Click Mouse = Attack
Double Left Click (Against normal Cows) = Cow Tipping Action
Space = Block
Hold Space = Parry (After appropriate skill has been purchased)

Fists - Almost useless, except for smashing barrels

Longsword (and later shield) - Starting equipment for hacking and slashing through enemies

Longbow - Allows for ranged shooty looty action.
Note on the Longbow - one is given for free during Chapter 3 for helping Farmer Finn remove some "Scarecrows" from his field. So, don't buy one and just hold out for that mission. It's a good source of XP and a free item.

Also, the Bow and Arrow weapons can not only be used to shoot enemies off the screen, they automatically target enemies and due to the games "off-screen enemy movement" mechanic, the enemies targeted off screen move at a significantly reduced rate. What this means is that the Bard can stand in one location, shoot enemies off screen who begin to very slowly move frame by frame towards the Bard and all the Bard has to do is run backwards to keep them from ever reaching him. it is highly suggested to utilize this tactic later on, while it can be very boring, the tactic saves a lot of hack and slash combat and helps keep from becoming surrounded by enemies.

Flail - A very strong but hard to use weapon, one is found in a chest near the end of Chapter 5, which is why I highly recommend waiting to purchase both the weapon and the appropriate skill to wield the weapon. It cannot be blocked and therefore is good for crowds of enemies, but it has a very slow wind up so learning to attack before you've been surrounded is a good thing to practice. Also, the Bard wields the Flail in combination with the Shield, so utilize the shield parry attack to stun enemies that have surrounded you, then wind up with the flail.

2-Handed Sword (A.k.a. the Scottish Claymore) - Also a ludicrously strong weapon type, but also one that lacks in defense. Wait to purchase this weapon skill until passing across the Frozen River, as this weapon type is found in a treasure chest at the end of Chapter 7, much like the Flail was. This weapon is weak until the appropriate counter skill has been unlocked at which point it deals damage while countering opponents.

Dirk - The off-hand weapon replacement for the shield, again stronger than just wielding the Long Sword alone, but also defensively weaken. The Bard gains attack speed using the Dirk. I'm still unsure of where one can be found in a treasure chest, but I suspect its found near the end of the 3rd or 4th part or in other words, near the end of the game.

Special Weapons - I won't spoil the secret but there is at least one specialized item which doubles as both a weapon and an instrument.

This leaves one off hand slot unoccupied, and I have yet to find out what it is.

Runestones

Caleigh - Summon the princess you've been trying to rescue
1 Adderstone - Full Health
2 Adderstone - Full Health & Defensive Buff
3 Adderstone - Full Health, Defensive Buff & Temporary Invincibility

Herne
1 Adderstone- Snare enemies for a very short period of time
2 Adderstone - Snare enemies for a short time, and poison enemies in Area of Effect (AoE)
3 Adderstone - Snare enemies, poison, deal damage (the damage dealt usually kills enemies, so it's best to use on incoming crowds or when surrounded)

Lugh
1 Adderstone - Circle of weapons appears around the Bard, dealing damage to enemies who get too close
2 Adderstone - Circle of weapons appears, arrows shoot out in orbital directions
3 Adderstone - Circle of weapons appears, arrows shoot out, spears rain from the sky

Manaan (I have yet to unlock this runestone, so I'm unsure of the effects.

Starting Song

Rat - Used in Taverns and around fair maidens to make them squeal and offer money for taking it away.

Upgrade: Vorpal Rat - Launches itself at enemies.
Found in Chapter 4: Highland Park inside log chest.

Electric Spider - Useful for stunning enemies. Deals electric damage, most effective against living creatures.
Given by mysterious Scottish guide during prologue.

Upgrade: Thunder Spider - Significantly stronger and provides better chain stuns.
Found inside the Tree Tower in Chapter 5.

Ranger - Shoots crossbow volley of multiple shots, can melee if attacked at close range.
Given to Bard by Bannafeet for completing main story quest in Chapter 1.

Upgrade: Ranger II - I know I've found it, but again I forgot where.

Crone - Support healer, physical attacks will almost certainly one shot the summon.
I believe this should be in the Rogue's cabin found in the Neverdale Forest in Chapter 2.

Upgrade: Improved Crone - Stronger heals, better survive-ability.
Found in a chest in the anti-magic area beneath Dounby near the entrance/exit to West Dounby. Go into the town basement and run around with the explorer to open some hidden doors where available.

Bodyguard - Uses Shield to ward off attacks and takes enemy Aggro for Bard.
Found inside a chest in the darkened storage rooms in Kirkwall.

Upgraded :Bodyguard II - You guessed it, I've found it but I forgot where.

Light Fairy - Flashes to group stun combatants. Highly effective when used in combination with ES.
Given by Bodb for completing the initial story sequence in Chapter 3:Kirkwall.

Upgrade: Improved Light Fairy - Flashes more frequently and with greater likelihood to stun.
After the arena fight, check the northeastern corridor for the body of a Chosen One.

Mercenary - Summon offensive melee fighter.
Given to the Bard by the mostly useless coward after defeating Fnarf in Chapter 4.

Upgrade: Mercenary II, found in chest which starts the ice floe sequence in the Frozen River.

Explorer - Warns of and disarms traps for the Bard
Found inside the Tree Tower in Chapter 5.

Upgrade: Improved Explorer - Can now unlock hidden doors.
Reward for beating Lugh.

Elemental - Used to melt the ice in the Draugr Cave. Ranged caster type deals fire damage, most effective against undead.
Found in Chapter 6 after sending the undead Viking king to Valhalla.

Defender - Summon large melee tank, more effective than Mercenary or Bodyguard.
Given to Bard after beating Lugh

Upgraded Defender - Found inside a chest located in a hidden room after going through the chicken portal in the crypt level.

Brute - Large, slow, brutish ranged unit that hurls boulders
Found in an off-shoot in the Old City located beneath either side of Dounby.

Lurker - Trow like creature that shoves lightning rods into the ground for crowd damage.
Given to the Bard for completing the quest located in the Chateau in East Dunby (Make sure to check out Catair's house located just west of the Chateau before accepting the quest for a token)

Rogue - Summon a dagger throwing, back flipping rouge
Found in Chapter 9 Fin's Town. The located given to the Bard by the men near the east side of Kirkwall.

Gouger - Summon a demonic bat thing that transfers health from enemies to the Bard.
Located in Chapter 9 Finn's Town, found in the guarded chests alongside Rogue summon spell after aggravating the Vikings.

Enchantress - Given as a gift by a talking skull in the crypt level for lighting torches.

Behemoth - Found in the middle of the room which requires going through the sun portal in the crypt level. There will be a chest in the middle of a room full of shadow creatures.

There may be a few more spells, but I've forgotten what they were or where to find them.

Enter the Bard. Watch some cut scenes. Find yourself in a tavern. Talk to the assortment of bar flies, maybe sing a little song, do a little dance.

Check the backroom, look for underwear in the chest next to the bed. After failing to find underwear and becoming ashamed, abscond quietly down the stairs. Save the game, head to the back of the cavern, unleash your inner Charlie Day by breaking out your rat bashing bat and club the baby rat, afterwards promptly report yourself to PETA.

Run upstairs after getting lit up by Momma Ratte, cool off with your girlfriend and don't get jealous when she tells you 'it's' not big enough.

Notice how your previous rat bashing bat un-equips itself and automatically turns itself into cash money. BEHOLD....THE LOOT SYSTEM.

Go back downstairs, save the game again and receive a piece of candy from the old man lurking in the basement.

Summon your newly befriended piece of candy the Electric Spider (ES) and go introduce ES to the Big Beautiful Rat (BBR) lurking in the back of the cellar. Oooh and aaah at how the ES interacts with the BBR.

Go back upstairs, get talked to by your bar wench. Select the tragedy option, twice. Insert dirty jokes and allude to getting laid, then exit the bar to be met by the candy giving stalker man. Receive your first Runestone, some Gems to power the Runestone and remember to only use the Runestones during dire straits.

In the character creation screen, I recommend investing points into

+10 Vitality
+10 Luck
+10 Charisma

Feat: Treasure Hunter

Here is why

In the beginning, combat is exceedingly easy, there isn't enough money to purchase extra weapons, nor slots for the weapons to occupy unless the player decided to specialize right off the bat. What there is however, is a lot of loot to be gained and a very important treasure map to be purchased at the store.

The +10 Vitality is just for survival, so the Bard can do things like delve into a hidden level and pick up the first real weapon upgrade, which is the Caladbolg.

The +10 Luck is to start out with a decent drop rate, so that farming enemies for XP also yields a decent amount of gold as well, this also adjusts chest loot, so the higher the luck, the more money the chests generate.

The +10 Charisma is to set us up for purchasing the very important treasure map from the Houton General Store, since at +10 Charisma the first map costs 4,000 gold, which is equivalent to slaying and collecting 1,000 wolf skins.

My recommendation for attribute point investiture is this:

+7 Luck -> +17 Luck total = Significantly higher drop rate from all enemies = Faster gold gain

+7 Charisma -> +17 Charisma total = Significantly lower prices = Cheaper and more affordable treasure maps = More gold to be regained from raiding treasure locations

Why raise theses stats so high at such an early point?

Because it is important to maximize these gains at the earliest opportunity to do so and the additional +3 points will be filled with the various tokens found throughout the game.

As for Feats:

Level 3 - Dog Training - Allows Puppy to fight more efficiently in combat
Level 5 - Critical Strike - Allows the Bard to score critical hits
Level 7 - Shield Parry - Allows the Bard to do more than just block hits with your soon to be found shield.

All other feats at this point are essentially useless, unless the player has a very specific play-style in mind, in which the Bard needs to be built around that play-style from the beginning. However, I'm not getting into the different ways of building a specialized Bard, since we're going to be building a utility Bard that uses everything at the exact appropriate time to do so.

Congratulations, your Bards' tale has begun.

Explore the town, my advice go talk to the puppy next to the Houton Well and be nice to the puppy, we don't club puppies; only baby seals, rats, druids, chickens, wolves, undead farm animals and a horse that really deserved it. Now PETA has nothing to complain about.

Continue exploring, it is suggested to visit the house directly across the pond from the tavern and break the barrels outside the house. This makes the grumpy ole Town Cooper come out and yell at the whippersnapper smashing up his lawn barrels. Choose the tragedy option and get an offer for some incentive, incentives always peak the interest of a Bard, so choose the comedy option next. This lets the Bard engage in a barrel smashing quest for the Cooper. Thus, creating the basic supply and demand function of Bardic economics. (Hint: This quest is renewable, so every time it's completed, the Bard can come back and receive another 500 Silver Piece (SP) reward, so make sure to check back frequently. Arguably, it may be one of the fastest ways to generate some early game income if the player is so inclined to smash enough barrels)

Make sure to avoid walking near any crotchety old men, there is one that walks around the pond near a tree between the tavern and Ogan's mothers' house, he yields 200 XP that is better collected later.

Head back to the Tavern, and investigate the house to the immediate east. The player will meet Ogan's mother whose got a busty larder, overflowing with dairy that needs raiding and she'll ask you to pass the message on to Ogan to come back home and raid the pantry like a good boy.

Exit the house, shake the chills out and check out the one immediately behind Ogan's mothers', which is further east. In this house is an old man who will give you a quest that unlocks a secret location and the first sword upgrade. He's a grumpy old man who gives the Bard an opportunity, so be nice to him and he'll reward the Bard with a quest.

Don't raid the treasure chests in town, until the end of the chapter when the Bard's Luck has been leveled up to +17 to maximize the treasure gains.

P.S. Killing 20 chickens to make a 20 piece McNugget will spawn a super demon chicken...you know if you are into that kind of thing...

After speaking with the old man who will ask the Bard to hunt the Bugbear, a secret level will open; if if the Bard chose to be nice, a mound with an entrance will open in the south east corner of Houton. Visit the houses to the immediate west of the Cairn and speak to the crotchety old man who sounds remarkably similar to the Bugbear...hmmmm.

Enter the Cairn, proceed down the foyer and stop at the first little node bubble. The "Bugbear" will jump out of shadowy holes in the side of the cave, so either run through and eat the damage or try to run in and run out really quick before getting damaged, attempting to block some of the hits will work as well. After surviving the first set of swipes, save in case the Bard dies and turn to the tunnel West of the save location.

Carefully observe the holes in the ground, these holes are hiding spikes and will stab the Bard for damage if the player walks over them. Take the right side of the tunnel and hug the wall, the "Bugbear" will jump out on the left side, hopefully missing the bard, but in all likelihood the spikes will stab the Bard. After crossing the pit, jaunt down to the end of the corridor and there will be a door on the right side of the far back wall, this door opens into a room with a single chest and the Caladbolg, which is much harder and longer than the "sword" gifted to us by last nights bed-warmer.

Now go back the way the Bard came and exit the cave. Don't worry we'll be coming back later, as previously stated, opening chests is not suggested since the Bard wants to open those after feeling nice and +17 Lucky.

After exiting the Bugbear Cairn, head immediately east and take the town exit into the Fairyhaunt Woods to search for Bannafeet.

Save and proceed. Next the player will meet a hunter who actually has something important to say about getting a bow to hunt in the woods. The player can either choose to spend money on an over priced bow, or play their cards right and receive a free bow later on, which simply requires back tracking to the forest to complete the hidden side quest that the hunter has to offer. The Bard should opt for the free bow, because why would a Bard buy something they can just get for free later on down the road by promising to marry a farmers daughter?

This area marks the start of the combat driven maps, so make sure to farm all the wolves in the map, leave and then come back to gain a level up and to only advance the story quest after rinsing and repeating this cycle. What this does is use the early game mission complete experience reward (XP) to boost the players XP bar, the player then farms for combat XP until they level up, at which point they advance the next segment of the story or complete a side mission to boost the bar, then go back and farm for combat XP. Rinse and repeat.

This process of leveling becomes incredibly tedious but will pay off the further along the Bard goes since the player will effectively outpace the natural difficulty changes so the game will only get easier instead of more difficult. There will also become points where it is no longer viable to turn in a quest, go out and level, then turn a quest in. At these points, the Bard will have out-leveled the current situation which is when the player should complete and turn in all their quests and continue advancing the story.

This area also marks the appearance of the first outdoor treasure chests, which appear as relatively obvious stumps that can be interacted with. Wait on opening these until the player is feeling nice and +17 Lucky, in order to maximize on the possible wealth gain.

Also, if the Bard has the dog and a bow, more like once the Bard gets the bow, keep an eye and ear out for the puppy since it will run over to patches of grass and bark. This can trigger a bird to fly out of the grass, which gives the player an incredibly quick attempt to load and aim the bow at the bird in order to shoot it out of the air. If done properly, the bird will be shot out of the air, land on the ground as a loot-able item, the puppy will run over to the bird who will pick it up off the ground and bring it back to the Bard, just like a good puppy should. However, the player needs to run away from the puppy and back to talk with the hunter, make sure to keep the hunter between you and the puppy. This will complete the hunters side quest, giving the player a unique collectible that adds to player stat values, as well as unlocking a hidden map on the Over-world.

My suggestion would be to kill all the wolves and level up, head back to town and go find the crotchety old man near the tavern who wants to have a rudeness fight, speak to him once and select the rude option then bump into him two more times and continue to be rude then be nice on the fourth or fifth try for 200 xp. Afterwards, go back and murdilate the wolves in the forest until leveling up, finally go and talk to Bannafeet, choose the tragedy option 2x, to get a small side quest to go investigate the Town Well.

This yields another 200 XP boost, after investigating, go back to the forest and keep clubbing wolves until the Bard level's up yet again, then finish the conversation with Bannafeet. Now, the player is more or less done with this area unless they opted for the free bow; which they should have, in which case comment to Bannafeet, the Wolves and/or Hunter, in a Terminator-esque voice that you'll be back.

The Bard should now be level 4 with close to maximized +17 luck.

Much like the previous set of woods, there are trees in this map.

Instead of a wolf-infested woods, these woods have been overrun by the Kunal Trow.

Fight through the woods and level up once more, after leveling up, go back to town, return to the woods and cleanse the Trow. Proceed to the Houton Jail in where the Bard will be asked to give a password in order to unlock the door. Give them the password which yields 200 XP, then promptly turn around and go back to town, rinse and repeat killing the Trow for yet another level increase. Afterwards, proceed into the jail where there are two Trow to fight and a drunk tank full of delinquents to not kill.

The switch order is 2,1,2,3,1,2 (Be Careful not to double flip the switches because its very easy.)

Releasing the delinquents will yield 200 more XP, continue to serial kill the inhabitants of the Houton Woods until the Bard has received another level up and should now be level 7. After leveling up, return to Houton and speak with the Sheriff at the entrance.

After releasing the contents of the Houton Jail, exit Houton Forest and attempt to quietly leave Houton, the player will be intercepted at the towns exit and tasked with recapturing the previously secure resident of the Houton Jail, whom Bannafeet enlisted the Bard to free.

Exit the town and go to the only available location.

Find yourself along a river side and investigate the area thoroughly, slay the boars for bacon and hides, make sure to check all the map pockets and at the far East end the Bard will find a drunken boat guide. Bully him once to lower the price to a measly 8 silver, bully him thrice and it will cost the Bard 100 later. Opt for paying the 8 for obvious reasons.

Cross the river and find a Kunal Trow infested wood. Watch a short scene and find the Bard finding Ogan, the one whose mother's busty larder needs raiding. Avenge the previously Chosen compatriot after the scene and search his dead body for loot.

Slaying the Kunal Trow can be a bit challenging for those who haven't made significant investments into Strength, but try luring the Trow away from the mage casters and that should help in defeating them. Scour the rest of the area and make sure to investigate the middle opening on this side of the river, directly west of where the player lands. There they will find a Token that yields +1 Strength, clear the rest of the river then head into the bandit's hut.

'Slay' the bandit, search the chests to find a small parrying shield. This will increase the Bard's block effectiveness and, if the player has the Shield Parry Skill, allow the Bard to crowd stun opponents by pressing the space bar. One of the chests, also yields a +1 Rhythm token and the Healer spell is in the final chest.

Exit the hut with your prisoner in tow and head to the western end of the river ("east" when facing the river after exiting the hut). Find the drunken twin Trow and cross the river.

Save the game, then proceed to meet Fnarf. Don't let the bandit give you a hand, if you do he runs away, which will prevent future re-entry into Houton, which the Bard does not want. Slay the Trow, make Fnarf flee, then clear the river of Boars again and return to Houton.

Give back your bandit, and leave the town. Wait to finish the left over side quests for just a little longer, this is because in the next town there is a charm located in a warehouse that yields +10% XP gain, which the Bard desperately needs.

If the player was level 7 by the end of Houton, they should now be level 8 and on the way to 9, if they have not leveled up to 8, farm for the level up before continuing.

Previously I recommended feats and stat allotments, however after this point, it largely becomes players choice.

What I will recommend next is investing something like +5 into Strength, and +5 into Dexterity so the Bard can now more effectively wield his Sword, Shield, soon to be found Bow and later on the Flail.

Recommended Skill Point Investments

+5 Strength or +5 Dexterity
+5 Vitality or +5 Rhythm

(In my game, I split the points between Dexterity, Vitality, and Rhythm. Doing so left me weak after the point of no return, so Strength might be the best choice)

Feats
Level 9 = Flail (Allows for the equipping of the Cranndeburg, found in the 3rd floor of the Forest Tower)
Level 11 = Improved Critical Strike
Level 13 = 2-handed Sword (Purchase weapon from shopkeeper in Kirkwall for 670 silver and upgrade found on the 3rd Floor of the Arena Tower in Chapter 7)

Between Chapters 2 and the beginning of 5, collecting XP can become quite difficult. I would suggest either moving to complete all the available side quests immediately after collecting the free bow and +10% XP Charm found in chapter 3 and saving the full completion for boosting the level ups, or saving the side quests to be completed before proceeding through the point of no return in chapter 5.

Chapter 3 is triggered after entering Kirkwall, the neighboring town located kitty corner from Houton.

Before proceeding with anything else, head to the storage rooms located in the far northeast corner of the map, enter the second door from the top and blindly smash around until you can open a treasure chest. In this chest there should be the Falstone which yields +10% additional XP for the Bard. In the storage room just below this one, there is another chest which yields the next summon, Bodyguard.

Save completing any other side quests until after the Falstone has been collected.

Walk by the people standing near the village wall due east, marked by a brown dot to yield XP and a mid-game map. Now proceed with the main story quest in which case, the Bard can choose to either be nice to Bodb or be mean, either or works. Completing this sequence yields the "next" summon which is the Light Fairy. Complete the Bodb sequences until they ask the player for a magic bell and then leave.

The player should now be located on Finn's Farm which is home to many Large Wolves and can be difficult to defeat, if the players Strength is low. It is recommend to use the Electric Spider summon, it can stun the Wolves when they howl for reinforcements, preventing the reinforcements from arriving. Skirt the farm and follow the water way to the stone circle. Defeat the Wolves around the circle and investigate the dead body of the next Chosen One in the back corner. Doing this yields a new set of armor, now your 'D' has been enhanced.

Head back to the farm and choose to be nice to the farmer, doing so yields a free Longbow in order to complete the quest. Kill the Crows and the "Scarecrows" and then head back to the Farmer.

At this point the player can choose to finish completing the Farmer sequence and keep advancing the story up to Highland Park, or they can choose to go back to Houton and complete the quests involving Ogan's mother, the Bugbear, and the Hunter in Fairyhaunt Wood. Alternatively, continue the cycle of completing a quest, farming for a level up, then completing a quest to boost the gauge and farming for another level up for maximum benefits.

The best choice of all however might be to proceed into Highland Park, advance until finding the body of the next dead Chosen one which should yield an enchanted bow that shoots fire arrows, at which point the player can promptly turn around and return to completing the first phase of side quests before completing Highland Park.

Any order is fine, as long as the latter list of side quests is completed before completing Chapter 5 because that is a point of no return. Also, remember to frequently check in with the barrel cooper in Houton as his rewards do not stack and his reward becomes unavailable after Chapter 5 as well.

If the Player chooses the side quest route...

Also, all of these can be potentially left until after defeating the boss in Chapter 5 since none of them directly involve Kirkwall, but they will become inaccessible after proceeding through to Chapter 6, so beware and choose your completion timing wisely.

Head back to Houton, talk to Ogan's mother, choose the nice option twice and this will yield a token for +1 Luck. To bad Ogan didn't take it with him. (Note, this item is best earned immediately after acquiring the Falstone, since every point of Luck there after counts towards better and more valuable loot, as well as more consistent critical hits in combat.)

Head into the Bugbear Cairn, check out both sides of the Cairn and keep an eye out for the remaining treasure chests.

Activate the chest at the far back of the cave and fight the Bugbear. Win the fight, take the loot then leave and return to the old man who gave you the quest for more XP.

Head into Fairyhaunt Wood, roam around with the bow equipped and wait for the dog to growl then bark at a patch of grass, the spawn frequency of the birds seems to be related to the Bard's Luck. I.e. higher Luck means a Grouse should spawn sooner than later. Quickly shoot the Grouse with your Bow then run back to the hunter without allowing the dog to give you the Grouse. Talk to the Hunter which opens up his secret hunting location.

If you've smashed a lot of barrels try talking to the Cooper for some SP. This quest can be repeated, which may make farming the reward significantly worthwhile.

If you haven't purchased the map from the Houton General Store, now is also a good time to do so. Beware, this will cause the Store Owner to leave, however it isn't really an issue since he has nothing else that we really want or need.

Leave Houton, head to the hunters secret location which is a greener than average tree located at the Northwestern corner of Houton.

Enter the map and search the grounds for treasure stumps, in the stump located kitty corner to the entrance of the map is another token that has an additional yield. (I forgot what).

Pat yourself on the back for completing the missable quests and events.

I do not suggest searching the location given by purchasing the map just yet, since the Bard is still too weak and will take 75+ damage from the spike traps located at the entrance. At this point in the game, the spike trap is effectively a one-shot kill for the Bard. We will do this during the middle of Chapter 5 after discovering the Explorer spell, so that the Explorer can 'disarm' the traps for us. This area is also home to many undead animals which have an excess of health and are difficult to kill without a bow enchanted with fire damage.

Head back to Kirkwall.

Either kill the horse and take the bell if you haven't, head to the Bodb's and open Highland Park, or if the park is opened proceed straight to the park.

Stride into the park, talk to the Trow, kill the ambushers and continue through the door they opened.

Find a scared man under a tree whose willing to dive "head" first into the magical barriers for you.

Take out your trusty dusty Grouse huntin' Longbow and shoot the Trow flinging sh!t at you. (If you're having trouble with getting hit, summon the Bodyguard)

Continue through the barricades, find the Vorpal Rat summon inside a chest, and an upgraded Longbow that shoots Fire Arrows on the dead body of the next Chosen One. The purpose of the Vorpal rat is to act as an additional projectile during this level.

Continue through the map, don't be alarmed at finding two-handed swords in the treasure chests, you can't use them. Finish fighting through the level until you take out Fnarf and pry the loot lute off his sun-warmed corpse.

Leave and be given the Mercenary spell by the coward.

Wrap up the level and return to the Bobd's.

Receive your next quest and say good bye to the cheeky little Hamlet.

Take a minute to stop and assess the situation, defeating the boss at the end of this chapter marks the first point of no return, so every objective the Bard wishes to complete, should be completed before moving through the point of no return.

Make sure to go back and wrap up any side quests that you haven't completed, if you've followed the guide, the only thing left should be raiding the area unlocked by purchasing the treasure map and purchasing the rest of the treasure maps.

If you haven't: returned to Ogan's mom to deliver the news, cleared the Bugbear Cairn, brought a Grouse to the Hunter in Fairyhaunt Woods, or spoken the the Cooper in Houton then do so now.

After defeating the boss found in the middle of this chapter, the entire island will become overrun by Druids and the Undead. It will be possible to return to Houton and Fins Town, but Kirkwall will be destroyed and left in ruin.

Don't worry about the area given to the Bard by the men on the east side of Kirkwall, this area will remain free and clear for the Bard to explore at the appropriate time to do so.

Aside from completing the Tree Tower level and returning to the aforementioned location, the only thing remaining to do, should be to raid the treasure location given by purchasing the hidden map in Houton, if you have not done so yet, now or shortly hereafter would be the time to do so.

Make sure to take stock of anything that could be considered miss-able before moving on.

A lot of the Giant Wolves surround the tower, so I recommend standing at the entrance where the Bard spawns in and taking them out using the long-ranged glitch with the bow. Meaning, the Bard just stands in one location and fires at whatever target he chooses until they're all dead since they can't howl for back up when they're off screen and this prevents being swarmed by up to 10 wolves at once.

After doing so, enter the Tree Tower, there is no secret to doing so just enter the map, fight your way to the tower entrance then press F to interact and open the map.

Enter the tree and once again pull out your trusty dusty bow to shoot into the vague distance. This time the enemies will be new and location specific, these are some kind of vegetative tree monsters which drop seeds that if not collected fast enough, spawn more enemies. This is an excellent place for level farming. In the long run, allowing the seeds to spawn enemies is worth more in terms of XP than the 3 silver pieces that picking up the seeds yields. (Make use of their respawning ability by allowing seeds to spawn, especially in the locations with 4-5 tree enemies. They stop spawning after the player defeats Herne and the player cannot re-enter the Tree Tower after defeating the boss.)

Take the right or eastern most passage at the initial fork and head to the end to find the upgraded Electric Spider spell in a chest. Head back and take the opposite fork this time, don't worry about the middle path since it reconnects with the western passage creating a loop.

Exploring the rest of the map will shortly yield a treasure chest in which the Explorer spell is located, at which point the Bard can continue, or promptly turn around to head back to the secret treasure location unlocked by purchasing the map in Houton, which is located just behind the Tree Tower location on the Over-world map. If the player opts for this route, be warned that the enemies found in the secret location are exceedingly hard to kill at this point without sniping them with the fire longbow since they are undead.

If the player chooses to continue, there are 3 floors and the boss roof in total to the Tree Tower level, in the middle of the 3rd floor is a fork, take the path to the left to find an upgraded Flail inside a treasure chest. There is also a token to be found at the very beginning of the 3rd floor, again it is found at the end of the left fork. This is the last item of interest before the Bard should turn around and return to the Over-world to wrap up any unfinished business or to raid the hidden treasure map. Proceeding further will pass you beyond the point of no return and permanent changes will occur. This is also an excellent time to turn around and farm for level ups since the tree monsters yield large amounts of XP, especially if allowed to re-spawn.

After firmly deciding that everything that can be wrapped up has been, proceed to the top floor and defeat the boss.

This boss can be a bit tricky since he likes to block a lot, which is what the flail is supposed to be used for. I found it easiest to summon the mercenary and the ranger while using the upgraded bow found in chapter 4 to shoot at the boss from a distance. This lets the summons, primarily the Mercenary take the damage, while the Bard stands at a safe distance and preserves HP.

Defeating the boss will yield the next Runestone, which may prove quite useful on the descent.

Exit the level and find yourself being swarmed by robed Druids. This is where the Shield Parry, Flail attack combo tends to work quite well, especially in combination with the newly upgraded Thunder Spider. Put your back against a wall and allow the Druids to surround you, block with the shield and activate the parry which will crowd stun the attackers, then wind-up with the flail and go to town on your would-be assailants. All the while the ES is using it's chain lightning attacks to deal damage and keep the crowd stunned.

Fight your way out of the tree, leave and return to Kirkwall. Go and say good-bye to Bodb then leave Kirkwall and take one last look back to make sure that you're ready to move on.

If you haven't already complete the other side quests or waited to do them now, refer back to the Chapter 3 - Side Quests section for advice on how to complete those. They should theoretically still be available to finish after defeating Herne, but I would do them after clearing the Forest Tower 3rd Floor. After clearing the floor of treasure, just turn around and fight your way back out, it might be a long way to go but the XP gains are worth it.

Head back to the Over-World and enter the Ruins of Dun Ailinne, which are located behind the Forest Tower on the world map.

Enter the ruins, summon the Explorer and make him disarm the available traps.

In this dungeon the player will come across their first undead enemies which can be incredibly strong when encountered this early in the game. Use the upgraded longbow found in chapter 4 and the fire damage will do most of the killing for you. Just keep out of range and make sure to not kill yourself on any traps.

There are two passages that the Bard must complete alone, it may take several attempts but perseverance and persistence are on the Bards side when completing these portions of the map.

After clearing the map of treasure, return to the world map and look for the smaller non-aggressive Trow figure which can be seen wandering around. Step on the Trow and activate a sequence in which the Bard must chase the Trow around and activate the NPC by pressing F during the chase.

Winning the sequence will allow the Bard to buy four more treasure maps, which must be bought one at a time. After purchasing a Map, press F to leave and then rinse and repeat the sequence until all the maps are yours. This is what building Luck and Charisma were for, since purchasing all 4 maps costs something close to 12,000 - 15,000 gold all together, and the treasure found doesn't always justify the cost, so the Bard can be left at a monetary loss after making the purchases.

The first of the purchasable maps, unlocks a second location on the current island known as the Cairn of Calla Dugh or something like that. Raid this map for a special token that yields +10% treasure value, stacking on top of the treasure finder perk that we started the game with.

(It may be worth taking this into consideration even earlier in the game and revising the guide with advice for the players to save opening any treasure chests and to avoid purchasing the rest of the available treasure maps until after this item has been located.)

Turn back now all ye who would enter for now thou hath trod unto the point of No Return.

(There is a point of return, the map is just not the same as when we left it and the fire of ruin will have torched our miss-able objects, while the appropriate NPC's will all have been murdered and thus no longer exist)

The Bard is too cold to draw any weapons, therefore head to the players right and to the Northeast corner of the ice lot.

Find a Trow disguised as a person and I can't full remember why, but the player should be nice instead of mean to the Trow, I think it means that we get a token later on instead of getting stiffed for nothing.

Drink the Trow's drink and find yourself suddenly warmed and able to swing the sword that would have warmed us up anyways.

Nothing keeps you warm in the snow like being soaked in the freshly drawn blood of thine enemy.
(Also, while here make sure to listen for the puppy to bark and growl, there is a lot of buried treasure some of which being Adderstones, which are always, if not the most useful and valuable treasure to be found.)

Leave the Trow behind and proceed through the ice corridor, explore the forks and turning back if the player finds an ice rotunda first, since there is treasure the other way.

After finding a 'dry-docked' ship, return to the rotunda and continue exploring the off-shoots.

Avoid the incredibly obviously scripted ice floe that will continue the level, if the player should find it first. It is literally a ledge of ice that extends out onto a river, avoid walking on this until the player is ready to continue and has found all the treasure going backwards.

Once ready to continue step onto the ice floe and take a ride down the Frozen River Express. Promptly whip out your bow and start the shooting gallery. When the floe finally makes land, it is advisable to continue the shooting gallery, since the enemies won't immediately aggro the Bard while he is still on the ice. (I have had mixed success with this tactic, one time the enemies refused to step on the ice, another time they swarmed me.)

After the ice makes land, make sure to thoroughly explore the area before continuing onto the next floe. Rinse and repeat the experience until the Bard finds themselves facing another obviously scripted event involving a sword sheathed in ice.

The scripture then quoth: "The Bard shall step upon the ice of his own accord, wherefore he shall grasp at the icy hilt, shivering amongst the the frost. With the Strength of thine Scottish heritage, the Bard shall draw forth Mel Gibson's sword and wave it aloft crying FrEEeDUrrMBdBB! At whence the ground shall give way and the Bard shall end this portion of the current chapter of the video game."

Thank a pagan deity you didn't get stabbed by your shiney new sword on the way down, however take a good long look at your sword and make sure not to name it. This is because while it's a good sword and a nice sword, we won't be keeping it.

Enjoy the sword while it lasts and start getting good with the flail or the Claymore I may have suggested purchasing, because the time in-between disposing of the sword and having to use only the flail, while waiting to pick up the 2-handed electric Claymore can be mildly aggravating to say the least. (The Bard will be given a replacement Quick Silver Long Sword, but it's relatively weak compared to the other items in the next chapter)

After getting up, save then head due south and make a choice to either be completely nice or be totally mean to the voice on the other side of the ice. This is because the Bard is left between a choice of tokens, if the Bard is mean the voice on the other side will attempt to leave on their own and die in a trap, leaving their corpse to be looted (I think), or if the Bard is nice they will exit the cave with the Bard, who must keep them alive while exiting after which the Bard will meet up with them much later in Stromness and be given a different token during this encounter.

The choice is yours, now or later. (I forgot what the tokens were when I first looked it up, but I'll try to figure out later on)

After making the choice and interacting with the voice, head back to the central chamber and due West. Making sure to summon the Explorer first so that it can disarm the traps for you.

Find yourself at a fork and go left down the southern path.

Raid the abandoned camp, then head back to the central chamber and interact with the northern door to unlock the next path.

Continue into the crypt and take the only available path before finding yourself at the feet of a 'dead' viking lord. Make sure to save before interacting and choose whichever dialogue script you'd like. This will activate a super sketchy sequence that has the potential to glitch out and spawn an infinite amount of dead viking Draugr enemies after the sequence has been completed. Have fun trying to fight your way through that mess. (It may not be a glitch, the back northeastern section of the crypt may just spawn an infinite number of undead draugr for the player to defeat, I know from previous experience that a high Strength and Vitality build allowed me to survive and farm for treasure, but during the current play through, I was having a very difficult time keeping up due to low Vitality.)

I think that maybe the best way to complete this sequence is to not allow the dead viking king to rack up his 25 kills, instead attempt to make the deathblow on each of the kings would be kills and proceed through the map with the king in tow. This way the Bard can have backup and fight through to the treasure rooms. Otherwise collecting the treasure may just be too difficult due to the overwhelming nature of the constant undead viking spawns.

Allowing the dead viking king to defeat 25 of the unlimited spawns and this will send him to Valhalla and unlock the Elemental summon which allows for the melting of the iced over paths.

Make sure to stop and raid the blocked eastern path at the crypts entrance crossroads since there is a Kite Shield to be found in the treasure chest in this area. Beware of the frozen Vikings who will unfreeze in the presence of the elemental.

It may actually be better to follow the next piece of advice in reverse order, clear the viking crypt, wait to release our frienemy and instead explore first. Then release our frienemy after having explored what can be reached.

Once the viking crypt is cleared of treasure, head back to the central location go south and melt the ice at the southern path exposing our frienemy and then again take the previously explored western path and at the fork go north instead. This is because our frienemy is the one who will unlock the locked door, allowing the Bard to open a treasure chest which contains another Token. This means being nice actually yields two tokens and not just the one stolen from our frienemies steaming corpse.

Melt the ice, and unlock the door to a treasure room, finish exploring then return to the central path and head east this time, the E in East also standing for the E in Exit in this case. At the fork continue east then take a right instead of the left. Explore, then return to the previously abandoned fork going north this time. Explore this area and turn left after exiting for another treasure room, with a chest on the central pedestal that looks like a giant oven.

Now return and take the only unexplored path which will meet up creating a looping path, go left through the only unexplored channel and fight your way towards the exit. If you chose to be completely mean to the Rock Troll, then the dead body should be lootable, if the Troll didn't run away to die and the player wants the NPC to die, allow enemies to attack the NPC, thus killing it for the Bard. I suppose this means the bard can be nice and get the token in room mentioned above and then let the enemies kill the troll for two tokens as well, but the token earned later is better.

At the exit you'll find the Trow whom we met at the start of the Frozen River. Choose to peacefully give him the sword in which case he'll reward the Bard with an attribute Token and a replacement sword. Choose the Discordant options and you can 'give' the sword to the Trow, in which case the Bard gets to keep their current sword but forgoes the now un-retrievable token. The Bard is given an alternative sword that is an upgraded version of the one they had previously equipped, so the nice option is really the best win-win scenario but its the players call.

Exit the level and end this chapter of The Bard's Tale.

Enter the tower and find yourself in an arena.

Beat the waves of opponents, now is a good time for some of those tier 3 Herne Runestone throws, but make sure to watch the the stone reserve and not waste too many.

After beating the fight, check the northeastern corridor for a dead Chosen One and the upgraded Light Fairy spell.

Fight through the tower, I suggest taking the main paths which have more arena like traps, but unlock sections of the tower for clearing on the way down.

Find yourself at a door guarded by a bunch of female warriors, the Bard should know what to do, if not think carefully the answer should be obvious.

Make your way past the previously locked door and on the 3rd floor, look out for the chest containing the 2-handed electric Claymore. If you haven't already unlocked the feat, farm until you do and find yourself wielding a much better weapon than the Flail or Quick Silver Sword.

Continue through to the boss fight.

Again this boss can be tricky, because he actively uses the effects his runestone later gives the Bard. Use the Herne runestone against him for the first throw, then use the level 3 Caladaugh for a full heal, a buff and temporary invincibility. Hack, slash, and throw runestones to make the Bard invincible until the fight has been won. The Electric Claymore, Thunder Spider, and Light Fairy II are very powerful against this boss.

Feel rewarded with a new runestone, some XP, the upgraded Explorer and the Defender (A.K.A. Knight) spell then head back down the tower.

Don't be alarmed by tower shaking animations or the crashing ceiling. The tower isn't actually falling on you and there is all the time in the world to finish exploring and clear out all the remaining enemies. There may be a hidden chamber for the Explorer to find, whip it out just in case. (I didn't run across it in my current play through, but I feel like the queue didn't activate correctly and that I have found it before, somewhere on the 2nd floor in the trapped areas maybe)

Exiting the tower wraps up this chapter and opens up the passage way to the next.

Too much Ale, not enough Wishkey.

This town acts as a divider and pathway between the starting island and the next island.

It's split into two halves, and it's full of druids.

After entering the city and going through a short cutscene, the Bard will find themselves able to explore East Dounby.

My suggestion is to travel through the whole map and take out all the enemies before first proceeding into the Old City through the open basement between Catairs' house and the Fox Bros. Chateau. If you enter the Chateau before speaking to Catair, promptly turn around and walk west about a block and enter the house that is located directly behind the city jail.

Clear the Old City and find the upgrade for Crone II which is located near the entrance to West Dounby. There is also another chest with the Brute summon located deeper in the labyrinth. Where possible, travel with the Improved Explorer to unlock some hidden walls.

Exit the Old City through the East Dounby entrance, circle through the town and make sure to kill everyone possible then check out the Sheriffs office and his Chosen One tank, which is located in the middle of the southern portion of the loop. In other words it's the only building available on the right hand side when you go straight where the path initially splits. Get the XP, then leave and circle through the city once more.

After clearing the city for the 3rd time, make sure to save, then visit Catairs' house, it's the only entrance available on the northern side of the loop, or the house located immediately behind the Sheriffs office.

The reason for doing this first, is that doing the next step first will break the interaction making the Token unavailable.

I can't remember which interaction option yields the token, but I think that being nice to Catair, yields a Token for the Bard. If not, reload and go be rude instead. Exit then clear the city and go visit the Fox Bros Chateau near the save point, complete their mission and make sure to clear out the city every time you exit a building. Doing this yields a lot of additional XP and should gain the Bard at least one or even two levels.

After everything has been done, the Bard should choose to exit East Dounby to return to Finn's Town before continuing through to West Dounby. This is because there is equipment found in Finn's town that the Bard wants and needs before continuing through Dounby.

The player can complete West Dounby first, since there is no reason not to, it's just faster to back track out of the one place than it is to have to back track through both places.

The obvious other half of Dounby...

After entering the map, the enter-exit circle map route all enemies tactic should be taken as proceeding through East Dounby.

Shortly after entering the map there is a Kirk which takes donations of up to 400 silver pieces (SP) (375 SP if high Charisma), donating this amount yields the same buff as a tier 3 Caleigh runestone as well as unlocking gallery components.

Just after the Kirk is a tavern in which I was rewarded by the bar maiden for "making her uncle hang himself"...(I'm not sure what I did but it couldn't have been good...I think this relates to telling the shopkeeper from back in Houton to go live in the city), there is also a talent show that the Bard can enter, yielding a Token for +2 Dexterity. After the talent show, the Bard will have attracted a lot of Druidic fans who want him to sign autographs in blood, make them sign instead.

Shortly after the Bar, is yet another loop. Where the path splits, going left will yield the next shop and the exit to West Dounby, going right will take the Bard to the Tavern he is looking for. The choice is yours, if you visit the shop the only item the Bard should purchase is the Lochaber Axe, because there is a stronger bow, and a free mace and armor to be picked up in Chapter 9, so purchasing anything else is just a waste of SP.

Exit the shop, clear the map of enemies then head into the Tavern marked on the map to sing some kaoroke and advance the story line. Make sure to summon the Vorpal Rat and frighten the barmaiden.

After advancing the story, exit the tavern, route the map, head back to East Dounby, route that map, then exit East Dounby through the western exit and return to the original starting island to re-visit the one map location that was unlocked back in Kirkwall, but we were unable to successfully visit. (I'm sure it can be navigated at the time of discovery, but at what cost?)

Enter Finn's Town and as per the usual, watch the cut scene.

After the cut scene, whip out your trusty dusty bow and start shooting any and everything until there is no one left to shoot. The Bard might want to find a bit of cover though.

Proceed through the map and enter Finn's Town.

(This next sequence of events must be completed in the order described, or it will and can be ruined.)

Promptly summon the Vorpal Rat and then enter the tavern located on the players immediate left upon entering the town.

Scare the Viking into giving you a token for +3 Charisma, have a drink if you like, talk to the people or try and then leave.

Again head to the players immediate left, save then enter the building whereupon the player shall find themselves meeting the current living Viking King. There is a shop located to the right when entering the building, interact with the shop keeper and purchase the available shield, and Darkthorn Greatbow. These items are stronger or the same as the ones sold in West Dounby and at this point the Bard should have the silver to spare.

Talk to the Viking King then leave the building. Now go to the north eastern corner of the map where the Bard will find the previous residents of Finn's town locked up. Initiate the cut scene, then head south and attack the Vikings guarding the armory.

Ward off the newly aggroed enemies, then enter the armory, choose whichever dialogue option you prefer, it does not change the outcome.

Kill the guards in the armory and raid the chests, find yourself picking up a free set of Armor, a free Granite Mace (which both shops sell, so either purchase is simply a waste of silver), and finally a Token that increases mana regeneration.

Exit the armory, route the town again being very careful to go nowhere near the map entrance. Re-enter the building which housed the Viking King and raid the previously guarded treasure chests. Inside you will find the Rogue and Gouger summon spells. Exit the building and return to the people corral.

Free the residents and speak to the people inside the pen, one person will give you Finn's Lute and another will give you a swift kick in the nuts. Talk to the priest and receive a full blessing.

Now with a mob of your own, return to the town entrance and fight the mini-boss that is the VIking King and his Cohorts. Return to the corral and attempt to interact with the town elder near the entrance.

Exit Finn's Town with Chapter 9 complete and return to West Dounby through East Dounby. Head through the exit of West Dounby to the next island.

(A crazy side note theory that I just came up with, what if clearing this portion of the map in the beginning of the game has an effect on the Draugr cave area since those are undead vikings and the one is there King? I've never tried it, but there could be alternative scenes there maybe...)

After exploring the available side locations unlocked through purchasing the maps given by the small Trow on the world map and finding there associated treasure and tokens, enter Greenland.

Watch a cut scene, try not to cry or go John Wick, then fight a very annoying mini boss and continue exploring.

On one side of Greenland is the entrance/exit to the World Map, on the other is the only available location which heads deeper into the plains. In between are a few treasure stumps and many annoying enemies. Kill them all and try not to develop a migraine.

Explore the second half of the map and make sure to check behind the building that was once Macgrath's mansion.

Head to the map marker and find yourself fighting yet another mini boss, this time the Nuckalevee.

Rescue Macgrath, take him to the graveyard, survive the ambush then head back the the Tavern in West Dounby.

Speak to the person who originally sent you after Macgrath, then come all the way back to the graveyard near Macgrath's Mansion in the back of the second half of the Greenland map, survive yet another ambush, then receive access into Macgrath's Dungeon.

This is place is a pretty convoluted location to try and explore let alone explain; however, I've found the best approach to be using that newly purchased Darkthorn Great Bow to burn away at the undead.

Beware, even though the animation plays and it seems like the damage tick for the burn damage should be counting, it doesn't seem to actually count while enemies are out of frame, therefore in order to effectively burn the enemy, they have to be near enough to the Bard to function normally.

It might be a good idea to do the ole' fashion pen and paper tracking trick, by which I mean writing down which portal symbols the player has passed through in order to get where they are. Make sure to pay attention and to keep the Improved Explorer summoned at all times, because there are multiple hidden doors in this dungeon which hide a Token and some important tune upgrades like the Improved Ranger and Behemoth I do believe.

There is a location in which the player can encounter an undead dance battle, which I believe is located through the Tree portal at the first set of choices.

There is also a location in which the Bard must light torches in order to summon things from the Other Side. Welcome back (insert the name of your puppy) and cry a little.

Make sure to explore thoroughly as having to come back sucks a lot.

I only vaguely remember this location, as it's the last place I made it too before realizing that I had messed too many things up, and having to restart my game something like 3 times.

I've just about made it to this location on my current 4th? play through and will be updating the rest of the guide as I go. Whereas, most of current contents of the guide have been from experience and memory.

This guide is currently a work in progress, but I hope that I shed some light on some of the game subjects and that other players found it helpful.

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Keep an eye out for my other guides across other franchises such as Resident Evil, Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy and various other games like Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II (KOTOR II), Dragon Age: Origins and Sega's ultra horror survival game - Alien: Isolation.

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