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Assault on Valorim: A Walkthrough!


Ess-Eschas

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This is a niche post, to be sure, but perhaps it might help some people down the line!
 

‘Assault on Valorim’ is a curious scenario. It’s famously huge in scope, recreating the entire continent of Valorim to some degree, and a good chunk of its friendly towns.
 

It also has an interesting idea at its core: a new series of plagues is afflicting Valorim, but plagues that are simply too strong to be defeated by a single group of adventurers. The best you can hope for is to slow things down somewhat while people more powerful than you work to get things under control. You can’t really stop these plagues – it’s all you can do just to stall them for a while.
 

And the plagues are causing a lot of damage, damage you’ll encounter during your adventure. The Island of Bigail has been completely wiped out. Towns you’ll be familiar with have been reduced to heaps of rubble, or become ghost towns after being evacuated. It’s a bleak scenario, with its own odd atmosphere.
 

Sadly, the execution is not perfect. There are some nice, creative ideas, but only some of them work successfully –  others can end up more as a source of confusion. There’s also a tendency to hide items in places that are either unmarked, or marked very tangentially. Finding these locations legitimately requires a good dose of luck.
 

Because of this, working through the scenario is much harder than it needs to be. I know that several people have claimed this scenario is impossible, and I’ve tried several times in the past to get through it without much success.
 

However, just for a little fun, I’ve given it another attempt. Over the past few evenings, armed with a text dump and the editor, I’ve finally gone through the scenario from beginning to end. The scenario can indeed be beaten!
 

Since I’ve done this, to save people repeating the work, I thought I might as well put up a little walkthrough on here. That way, players who don’t want to bash their heads against some of the more obtuse parts of this scenario can still play it through and see some of the nicer ideas it contains – and see how the combined powers of Exile, the Empire, the Vahnatai, the Sliths and the Ratbane Clan finally get the plagues under control (it’s not what you might expect!).
 

So, without further ado, here’s a little condensed walkthrough for Assault on Valorim!
 

Spoiler

(As a word of warning, I believe you’re required to have a character able to cast Word of Recall, which can be bought in this scenario).
 

1. Head to Gale and speak to the mayor. He’ll give you a quest to destroy the new slime plague afflicting Krizsan province.
 

2. While you’re in Gale, break in to the library and search the shelves. You’ll find the Orange Key.
 

3. Head to Dellston. This is in the former Valley of the Giants, now known as the Undead Valley. Search the dresser guarded by a vampire in the southeastern part of the town. You’ll find the Red Key.
 

4. Head to Erox, in the far northwest of Valorim. Search the bookshelf in the eastern house. You’ll find the Green Key.
 

5. Head to the outdoor location (x = 223, y = 395). This is a little to the northeast of the Slime Pit. There’s a town hidden here. Open the three doors, fight the doomguard, and enter the control room.
 

6. Pick up the Orb of Thralni and the Purple Key. If you need to, reset the Blackcrag timer – the scenario is set to end after day 150, and there’s a lot of walking that still needs to be done!
 

7. Press the button marked ‘Destroy Slime Plague’. There’s another way to do this, but this is simpler. :)
 

8. Head back to Gale and report your success to the mayor. He’ll reveal the location of the Secret Valorim Base to you.
 

9. Head to the Base. It’s at outdoor location (x = 55, y = 72), close to what was originally the Remote Cave (the home of the Black Halberd). Speak to Bon-Ihrno, and he’ll give you a quest to enlist the help of the Ratbane Clan.
 

10. Go to outdoor location (x = 80, y = 184), which is a little to the south. Go past the guards, and speak to the chief. Then, go to Blackcrag and speak to the Empress. Say ‘help’, and she’ll sign the contract. Then return to the Secret Base and report your success to Bon-Ihrno.
 

11. Now speak to X. He’ll give you a mission to deal with a group of drakes led be an Ice Creature. This is a little to the southeast, at outdoor location (x = 79, y = 227). Once you’ve dealt with the fight, return and report that you’ve done so to X.
 

12. Now speak to Seletine. He’ll give you a mission to recover some metal lumps from the Isle of Bigail. Getting to Bigail is tricky, however, since all the ferries have been stopped, and the nearby islands that would allow flight have gone. So, to get there, go to the Distant Hut northwest of Fort Emergence, and use Ernest’s teleporter to get to Shayder.
 

13. Leave Shayder and, if you want, use the Orb of Thralni to fly around the packs of Ice Creatures protecting the paths to the city. Head northeast, following the road, to the outdoor location (x = 59, y = 259). You’ll find the lumps here. I don’t believe there’s any way off the Isle without using Word of Recall. Return to the Secret Base and report your success to Seletine.
 

14. Seletine will give you a new mission to slow down the undead plague. To do this, head to the cave at outdoor location (x = 218, y = 276). This is in a little square of ground in the mountains just to the south of where the Giant’s Forge used to be. It can only be accessed using the Orb of Thralni.
 

15. Head through the secret passage to the south of the entrance, and press the button. To continue, you’ll need to find several unmarked buttons hidden in the walls, each of which will open portcullises. Look at the following locations to open the gates: (7, 37), (11, 35), (6, 42), (11, 26), (19, 31), (14,11) and (19,17).
 

16. You’ll find a portal. Save. This portal will take you to the inner portion of the Cavern, but only if a random number check is passed. Otherwise, it will take you back to the start and close all the gates. So, if the portal returns you to the start, reload and try again. The probability of the portal working is 10%, so you’ll probably need to try about 10 times before the portal works correctly.
 

17. Avoid the southwest – there’s a quickfire trap there – and make your way to the northeastern corner. Defeat the Lich Lord. If you want, search the wall to the west, where there’s a secret passage to some decent treasure. Then, head to the southeastern corner of the Cavern. There’s a portal there to take you back to the start. Return to the Secret Base and report your success to Seletine.
 

18. You’ve reached the final mission! Speak to Solberg, and he’ll give you a mission to recover a magic tome formerly belonging to Rentar-Ihrno. He’ll give you a hint that you might want to start in one of the major cities.
 

19. Head to Krizsan. Don’t enter the town from the north; that portion of the town has been destroyed by the slimes, and has been cordoned off. Instead, enter from the west or the east.
 

20. Go to the inn at the centre of the town. You’re looking for the Strange Wizard, the same one who sells you the location to one of the artifacts in Exile III. As in Exile III, he’s only around on certain days. If he’s not there, go outside, wait a day, and return. After a day or two, he should be there. Speak to him about ‘location’. At a cost of 2500, he’ll tell you to search in Footracer Province.
 

21. However, to conduct that search, you’ll need to get in. Go back to the Secret Base and speak to Bon-Ihrno. Say ‘request’ to him, and he’ll give you his permission. Then, return to Blackcrag (Word of Recall helps here) and speak to the Empress. Say ‘permission’ to her, and you’ll then be allowed to enter Footracer.
 

22. Go to Footracer. Head past the Keep of Tinraya into the mountains beyond. There are several encounters with Vahnatai guards that you can fly past. Head to the town at outdoor location (x = 129, y = 10), which is just before the Great Walls.
 

23. To get through the first floor, head to (25, 35). This will teleport you to the stairway down. Be careful of moving through this town, since there are teleport traps and nasty explosions in various places.
 

24. To escape the ring trap, look at location (4, 6). If you want, there’s a Lifesaver Amulet hidden in a little closet on the northeastern corner of the room you teleport to (but you’ll need to get there from a room on the other side of the corridor).
 

25. Head south to the series of conveyers. Head down, and take the middle path. Then head right. Go to the southwest corner and fight the Vahnatai Lord. You’ll receive a key.
 

26. Head to (15, 50) to be teleported back past the conveyers. Walk out of the room with the conveyers and head west. Open the door with the key and search the western chest. The tome has been moved, and the chest contains a special item telling you where to look. There’s a nice item in the other chest. Step on the special to return to level 1.
 

27. Head to the Slime Pit. As before, you can use the Orb of Thralni to fly past the encounters guarding it.
 

28. Go to the northwest corner. You’ve already destroyed the source of the plague, so there’s no boss battle here. Go through the secret passage in the southern wall and search the chest. You’ll get a special item containing another clue.
 

29. You now need to head to Greendale. This is slightly to the northwest of Gale. Once there, search the statue. You’ll be told to ask Purgatos about ‘tome’. Do so. He’ll tell you to search in Storm Port.
 

30. Go to Storm Port. This is in the southeastern corner of Valorim. The town is still under construction, from the looks of things. Go to (21, 36). You’ll find the tome!
 

31. Now, head back to the secret base and report your success to Solberg. You’ll receive your reward – the Blue Halberd – and win the scenario.
 

There you have it! This walkthrough only covers the bare bones. There are a few other interesting bits and pieces scattered throughout Valorim that you might find on your own. For a few examples, there’s a nice battle at the Great Circle, although there’s no reward for it. The GIFTS have moved into Gukbar’s Pit. The sliths have taken over Castle Troglo. If you hunt around in Shayder, you’ll find the source of the Ice Creatures, although you can’t do anything about it. There are more!
 

The Blue Halberd, by the way, is very useful, but without being too overpowered. It’s a good reward for making it all the way to the end!


 

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