BAlDUR's GATe TM: DARK AlliAnce TM CONTENTS INTRODUCTION GETTING STARTED CONTROLLER LAYOUT WELCOME TO THE REALMS HOW TO START THE GAME/MAIN MENU DESCRIPTION HEROES OF BALDUR'S GATE OPTIONS MENU CONTROLLING YOUR CHARACTER CHARACTER STATISTICS SCREEN COMBAT SHOPKEEPERS SPELLS AND FEATS MONSTERS CREDITS 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 17 22 24 26 33 36 BlAcK Isle STUDios -1- BAlDUR's GATe TM: DARK AlliAnce TM BAlDUR's GATe TM: DARK AlliAnce TM GETTING STARTED CONTROLLER LAYOUT 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 GateTM : Dark AllianceTM 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. 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 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. -2- BlAcK Isle STUDios BlAcK Isle STUDios -3- BAlDUR's GATe TM: DARK AlliAnce TM BAlDUR's GATe TM: DARK AlliAnce TM 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. 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. -4- BlAcK Isle STUDios BlAcK Isle STUDios -5- BAlDUR's GATe TM: DARK AlliAnce TM BAlDUR's GATe TM: DARK AlliAnce TM WELCOME TO THE REALMS If this is your first foray into the fantastic world of the FORGOTTEN 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 XboxTM 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 CoastTM, Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of AmnTM, and Throne of BhaalTM), then you are no stranger to the FORGOTTEN REALMS. Black Isle Studios and Snowblind Studios bring you another title set in the FORGOTTEN 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 FORGOTTEN 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. 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 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... -6- BlAcK Isle STUDios BlAcK Isle STUDios -7- BAlDUR's GATe TM: DARK AlliAnce TM BAlDUR's GATe TM: DARK AlliAnce TM 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. 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. 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 -8BlAcK Isle STUDios 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). BlAcK Isle STUDios -9- BAlDUR's GATe TM: DARK AlliAnce TM BAlDUR' ...