"Dungeon Siege 2" (PC) - Run the Gauntlet Quiz

Answer: Dwarf

Unlike the original "Dungeon Siege", Dwarves do not appear anywhere in the sequel. Half-Giants are suitable for Melee Combat, Elves are great at Magic, and Dryads have the advantage as either Nature Mages or Rangers (or both). There are also humans, who can pretty much excel at anything. Of course, due to the way the character system works, the differences between races are largely irrelevant beyond the first few levels - you are free to develop your character in any direction you choose. You can also "multi-class" if you want, combining skills from various disciplines as you see fit.

Answer: Polearms

A predominantly-melee character will probably specialize in one of the three schools, and possibly add some skills from another school for interesting bonuses. Characters with Two-Handed Weapons deal a lot of damage with each strike, but do not strike often. Characters with Dual-Wield can hit rapidly but often lack defensive abilities. Characters with Shields can withstand a lot of punishment but cause little damage. Polearms in Dungeon Siege are not a school of fighting - they are simply a kind of melee weapon that can be used by characters who do not possess any Melee skills.

They don't confer much of an advantage to anyone, although a smart player can still find a way to use them properly in battle.

Answer: Ice Magic

Nature Magic is mostly focused on healing, and also has a wide array of defensive and offensive "buffs" that can be cast on allies to make them stronger. In addition, Nature Magic spells include various types of Ice Magic which can slow or even freeze enemies in their tracks.

There are also a couple of spells that deal direct "non-elemental" magic damage, to which very few enemies are resistant. Still, Nature Mages cannot begin to compete with the destructive power of Combat Mages.

Answer: Survival

The Survival skill belongs to the "Ranged" class, and as a result Rangers are often more resistant to elemental magic damage. Of course, rangers lack protection from physical damage, so it may be important to look for stronger armor or items that reduce Melee/Ranged damage. Also, "Survival" does not protect one from Death Magic or non-elemental magic. "Survival" also allows the character to produce Health potions from bushes found in the wild.

Answer: A tail-less scorpion

Many creatures in "Dungeon Siege 2" resemble mutated or demonized forms of animals from our world. Iraca are gigantic tail-less scorpions found mainly in the Azunite Desert (Act I) as well as the Plain of Tears (Act III). Like all scorpions in the game, they only have four legs (for some strange reason). They are dangerous nonetheless due to their immense size and massive claws, and it can take some time to bring one down because of their heavy armor carapace.

For completionism: Oversized Gnat = "Tharva", Hobbling Vulture = "Blazewing", and Four-eyed Wolf = "Kurgan". And there are many, many more.

Answer: Three

Eva and Sartan both start with levels in Melee, while Lothar has both Melee and Combat Magic skills. However, you can still decide to give them a different weapon or spells to develop them in a completely different direction. Those initial melee class skills will not disappear though, and may make it difficult for the character to excel in his new profession.

Answer: Light Naiad

The Light Naiad is one of the rewards for beating the tenth and final level of the Arena challenge. It is a superb healer, and when it matures its very presence will cause all characters in your party to regenerate health much faster. The game also contains a "Dark Naiad" pet which can be purchased in Act III, but it is somewhat inferior.

Answer: Amber Thread

Reagents can be found in the wild or bought at a store in town. You can then add them to an "enchantable" non-magical item, to add specific magical properties to that item. Careful consideration is required, because each item has a set limit on how many reagents it can be enchanted with, and once enchanted it cannot be undone.

The process of enchanting allows you to create items specifically tailored for a character's needs. Later in the game, when unique items are abundant, the best use for enchantments is to create rings and amulets that increase your "Chance to Find Magic Items" - making it even easier to locate powerful equipment rather than create your own.

The "Amber Thread" provides +9% resistance to Lightning-Magic damage.

Answer: Dragon

All bosses in this game are pretty challenging, and each requires a different tactic to defeat. Talon (the dragon) is the only one that attacks you twice. During the first attack on top of the battlements at Windstone Keep you need to shoot a ballista at the Dragon while it rains fire down on you. Eventually it is struck by a massive bolt through the neck and falls off the side of the castle.

Then later, as you make your way down to the castle dungeons, Talon breaks through the wall and tries to kill you yet again before it dies.

It may be immobile this time, but the narrow corridor where it assaults you means there's no place to maneuver. Keeping all party members alive during this encounter can be exceptionally difficult. Like with most boss encounters in this game, an armored and shielded fighter may be your best and only hope. Fortunately, you can resurrect your dead party members once you're done.

Answer: Chaos' Avatar

The Chaos' Avatar set consists of armor, boots, and combat gloves ("Cestus"). If all three pieces are worn at the same time, the Combat Mage receives a great boost to his Mana, as well as a whopping +20% Combat Magic damage, and +2 to all combat magic skills, not to mention many other great bonuses from the items themselves.

This set favours Combat Mages who make use of all three offensive combat magic realms (Fire, Lightning and Death), but even a mage that specializes in just one field will benefit greatly from its use.

Answer: X Marks the Spot

Razka's Ruins is a ruined amphitheater in the Eastern Greilyn Jungle, right next to the local teleporter. At the center is an elevator that takes you to a locked door marked with "X". This is part of Deru's Treasure Hunt side-quest, and you can only open the door once the quest has begun and only with Deru in your party. This quest leads you on a treasure hunt throughout the entire land, and can only end during Act III.

As a side note, all the answers to this question allude to various other side-quests in the game. There are about forty different side-quests, and each recruitable character has one associated with him/her.

Answer: Vox Mortem

Chants are used to invoke special bonuses. They can only be performed at the various shrines scattered across the land, and the bonuses last for a relatively short time. Vox Mortem doesn't give any bonus, but allows you to speak with dead spirits. There are 18 spirits in various places, and each one you speak with will give you a bunch of items and money, so it's worth pursuing.

There is sadly no reward from speaking with all of them, except for your own satisfaction of course. In addition, "Vox Mortem" is useful for another side-quest that requires conversing with a dead person.

Answer: Manu Ostar

The "Manu Ostar" believe themselves to be a superior race, and that they are the only ones who have any chance to survive an apocalypse which they believe is nigh. Fortunately, they aren't strong enough to stop you from reclaiming the important artifact they stole. Unfortunately, they're dead right - the apocalypse IS coming, and nobody is truly ready!

Answer: Bruno

"Quite, Bruno!"

The two Morden riders are a great comic relief, especially because after you've spent the game being intimidated and assaulted by many warlike Morden all across the land (and properly slaughtering them), you don't really expect to meet any who are so cultured and well-mannered. In fact they don't seem to mean any harm at all. They were charged with incompetence after failing to arrive in time for the battle of Windstone Keep, so the two are now on the run with their pet Klask Bruno. Apparently, Bruno is also intelligent, as he keeps making comments ("Grooowwwwl!") which the two Morden seem not only to understand but also agree with. Hence the running gag: "Quite, Bruno".

Answer: Azunai

This riddle is part of the "Family Hairloom" side-quest. You need to enter a crypt in the Desert of Azunai and answer the riddle correctly to recover a lost sword. Azunai is the defender of mankind, and so he is the first (followed by Xeria, the goddess of war).

However, even if you answer correctly, the creatures guarding the actual sword are very dangerous, so it may be necessary to hold off on performing this quest until you reach a high character level.