Map
General Notes
Everyone is lying in this game and the game does not help much to hint that someone is lying. If someone says they do not know something then they most likely do and you should either bribe them or charm them with "Nineve". Charm, bribe, charm, bribe, etc. is the key to success in this game.
During single person combat, it is possible to pick another character and click Attack
in order to swap out a heavily wounded character with absolutely no penalty to nobility. It helps having about two characters in each group moving on the map so the damage can be distributed amongst them evenly.
It is best to not form parties at the round table and instead individually manage and form groups from the map and send them in various directions.
Most of the game is a time-trial where you have to brute-force your way till you find the right combination. For example, you can send a party to a destination on the map but they might not be able to make it back in time for the big trial (or battle).
During the second season, there is a red herring triangle formed between "Bath", "Cirenchester" and "Oxford" where the townsfolk and the guard at "Cirenchester" will claim that some bandits were running through the area. Following the leads will end up in a circle around those towns with no bandits to ever be found.
"Nineve"'s magic will penetrate a blocking stance of any knight. She can be used to win single person combat challenges flawlessly. Nevertheless, "Nineve" would have to recharge at "Stonehenge" after a few battles since the magic runs out.
There are random, important and unmarked encounters spread out on the map such that forming many parties and scouting all the towns and villages is well-advised.
Some walkthroughs mention that only specific knights should be used for various tasks. However, this is complete nonsense and any knight will do for all tasks. Quite remarkably so since even "Nineve" will completely obliterate any obstacle in her path due to her magic that cannot be blocked by other knights. In other words, there are no hidden mechanics behind which knight should talk to whom unless the story clearly indicates it.
There is one exception, "Lancelot". By the fourth season, "Lancelot" becomes so powerful that the game labels his combat ability as "invincible". It is a good idea to stash up on potions that increase abilities and use them with "Lancelot". Till the end of the game he will act as the "main character".
The Second Season
A Saxon force is building up in "Colchester" to the east that will eventually lay siege to "London". Defeating them can be done easily by gathering the forces from the north, "Lincoln" and "Lichester" and sending them down to "London" as well as defeating a fell beast for "Palomides" in "Dover". The fight is a no-brainer and even without having to fall back to the walls, victory is very much assured.
The second sequence, after defeating the Saxons from the east, involves "Melehan" who is advancing a massive force from the mountains to the north and will eventually besiege "Camelot" laying waste to all the towns in his path. There is just one single way to boil the egg here since the game is designed for the player to seek out "Lancelot". Without finding "Lancelot", "Melehan"'s troops are just too much even for the combined yet weakened forces in "London".
The secret to finding "Lancelot" lies between "Glastonbury", "Cardiff" and "Caerwent":
Arriving at "Glatstonbury" you will be greeted by "Bors". "Bors", like any other character in the game, is a liar and will either require bribing, charming (with "Nineve") or to be spoken to only by "Baudwin" (a fellow man of the cloth; the tip being handed to the player in "Almesbury", north-west of "Camelot"). Even after "Bors" talks, there is little mention of "Lancelot" except that his last known location is in "Escavalon". Unfortunately "Escavalon" is very large to attempt to reach every single castle but it turns out that "Cardiff" is "Lancelot"'s home castle.
Arriving at "Cardiff", the player will be greeted by an old woman that also lies about not knowing the whereabouts of "Lancelot". Charming her with "Nineve" or bribing her (
gold) will drop a clue about in man in "Caerwent" named "Grud".
As the pattern is forming, upon arriving in "Caerwent", it turns out that "Grud" is also lying. Bribing or charming "Grud" will make him more talkative, saying that "Lancelot" was headed north. Unfortunately, the game provides very little clues at this point and the player must additionally Request
from "Grud" in order to obtain a golden key. Similarly, instead of heading north as "Grud" would imply, the next destination is, in fact, "Cardiff" again.
Entering "Cardiff", the door can now be unlocked and amongst other times, a map can be picked up from the locked room. Using the map will reveal a new castle up north, to the south east of "York", "Morgolon"'s castle where after some fights, "Lancelot" will be freed.
After "Lancelot" is freed, a bunch of knights will appear on the map whose forces can be joined together to defeat "Melehan".
And yet...
It is possible to defeat "Melehan" without even finding "Lancelot". The trick relies on using Fyrd's Stone
(one of the items in "Camelot" up the stairs behind the locked door) repetitively once the fight starts to deal the maximum damage to "Melehan". Using the Flank
option for the knights and the Charge
option for soldiers and with a bit of luck of the roll, "Melehan" has a chance to die off during the fight. The chances are slim and there are lots of reloads ahead for this to work. Nevertheless, opposing heroes can be damaged in battle just like the player heroes and the Fyrd's Stone
makes sure that just one single blow is necessary for "Melehan" to fall.
Completing the second season this way seems to carry no penalty to the game overall since "Lancelot" will happily appear in season three as if he had already been rescued.
Exploits
During season four of the game, it is possible to amass all knights inside churches and cathedrals and just by waiting their faith points can be maxed out. This happens because there is no time limit to the fourth season of the game combined with the fact that any character residing within a church will gain faith points.