"Quest for Glory 2" (PC) - Desert and Monsters Quiz

Answer: West

Distances in the desert are measured in "Skareens" (or, in English, "Screens" or screen-lengths). The desert is about ten Skareens wide from north to south, where you will meet impassable mountains. There is also an impassable mountain range about eight Skareens east of the city. However, on the west side, you could go on for a long time. This means you can easily wander too far and get killed trying to return. Or you could run out of water...

In other words, stick to the eastern part of the desert. There really is no benefit for going too far westwards.

Answer: To escape the city guards when you're caught stealing

You'll have to make a few journeys into the desert at some point, to advance the plot. However, unlike "Quest for Glory 1", you won't have to spent a large part of the time in the desert unless you want to.

You can practice combat at the adventurer's hall, which is much safer and easier than fighting desert monsters, but you can't practice magic properly, and you can't make money while practicing. If you're daring (or if you're really good), you can make mountains of money fighting creatures in the desert - more than you could possibly need!

By the way, if you get caught stealing, your game will end immediately.

Answer: Jackalmen attack in groups

Groups of Jackalmen can be difficult to defeat if you're not ready for them. A single Jackalman is easy to defeat, but when you have to go through five of them one-by-one, a battle can turn long and risky. Fortunately, they each carry a nice sum of money, so the reward is proportionally large. Jackalmen also only appear during the night, while Brigands dominate the daytime.

In the new VGA version of the game, Jackalmen are even harder to defeat - they can flank you and attack simultaneously. You'll have to learn to kick them away to keep from being surrounded.

Answer: False

Actually, you don't have to fight the Griffin at all. You can find one of its feathers under a nearby rock, or pick one up from its nest (depends on character class). In fact, if you do attack the Griffin, any feathers you collect from its corpse would be useless, as the potion requires feathers collected using "non-violent" means. The Griffin is the most dangerous monster you can fight in the game, too.

The feather you acquire is one of the ingredients for the preparation of dispel potions. The other ingredient is far more complicated to acquire.

Answer: False

Too bad, but there are only 5 monsters you can normally fight in the desert. In order of difficulty (from weakest to strongest) they are:

1) Brigand
2) Giant Scorpion
3) Jackalmen
4) Ghoul
5) Terrorsaur

You can also attack the Griffin, but that's your choice (and a bad choice!). If you do, the Griffin easily comes in at number 6 as the toughest monster in the game.

Fortunately, if you're a fighter-class character, you can fight other things too: Uhura in the Adventurer's Guild, Rakeesh the Liontaur, a member of E.O.F, and the guards of Raseir. Also, Magic Users and Fighters will both get the chance to fight an Earth Elemental.

Answer: Terrorsaur

The Terrorsaurus is a distant relative of the Saurus and Saurus Rex which you've met in "Quest for Glory 1". It is green, mean, and quite a fighting machine. Terrorsaurii attack mostly by biting, and they bite very hard. They are the toughest opponents you can meet in the desert, and unfortunately there's no reward for killing them other than the skill points you may have won in the process, and/or a sense of accomplishment on your part. The sense of accomplishment will quickly get old though - Terrorsaurii are more common than you might expect.

Oh and, Brigands carry cash, while Scorpions and Ghouls both have bodyparts which are worth money at the local apothecary. However, at some point the apothecary will stop buying these. At that point you'll want to concentrate on killing brigands and jackalmen if you need more cash.

Answer: Magic Earth

You will need to give the tree some water, but it can be regular water. You will then have to spread some very special dirt around its roots. The reward you will get for all of this is yet another ingredient required for creating Dispel Potions. This is not all you need to know to gain the reward - after you find the tree for the first time, make sure you have a chat with Aziza back in the city...

Answer: It can do none of this

The Saurus is rather optional - you can walk out into the desert on foot if you want to. However, the Saurus does have two important effects: It quickens travel a little, and it can instantly take you back to the city gate, avoiding monsters along the way.

Your Saurus is very cowardly. However, in the new VGA remake of the game, you will be able to acquire a fiercer Saurus in the latter part of the game which can actually be ridden into combat!

Answer: Dervish

The whirling dervish sits by an oasis and meditates on the world. He likes to say that "My beard whirls around the tree, while the world whirls around me". How egocentric! Still, he is kind and will share his information with you, although in a suitably enigmatic fashion.

Don't forget to pick up a bit of the dervish's whirling beard. There's someone in the city who'll be very grateful for it.

Answer: Facing North, on the left side

You can use a compass for easy navigation if you've got one. Otherwise, the constellations may be your only bet. Whenever you are no more than five "Screens" south of the city, regardless of east/west position, you will see the constellations of the Saurus and the Hand. If you journey more than five screens southwards, your point of view will change (you will be facing southwards), in which case you will see two other constellations (the Dragon and Scorpion).

Answer: There is no place to sleep in the desert

Actually, unlike "Quest for Glory 1", you have no choice about where to sleep. You could rest an hour anywhere you like, but you can only sleep at the Inn in Shapeir. Resting restores Stamina, mostly, and will also help to restore a bit of health and mana. However, you will need to sleep at least every other night or suffer from exhaustion. Also, you cannot rest if your Stamina is already close to maximum.

Sleeping in this game doesn't have to take place only at night - you can sleep at the inn whenever you feel like it, and it's absolutely free. This helps speed things up during uneventful days. Also remember that sleeping doesn't always replenish your health completely - you may have to sleep an entire day if you were seriously wounded. Of course, it makes much more sense to buy health pills at the Apothecary, assuming you can afford them.

Answer: The beast is locked up in a cage

This beast is one of the reasons you'll need to get a dispel potion made by Harik the Apothecary. Before you use the potion, however, you'll need to pluck some fresh hairs out of the creature's back. But how can you do this without getting bitten? Think compassionately, and you will find the answer.

Answer: False

Travel between cities is done with caravans, and you'll only see a cutscene of traveling with such a caravan to Raseir. While it might have been an interesting challenge to navigate there yourself, it probably would've gotten boring really fast. So the cutscene travel sequence is probably a blessing. The voyage will certainly not be uneventful though!

Answer: False

Purple Worms do not exist in this game. The toughest battle in the game is the Terrorsaur (or the Ghoul, depending on your character class). There is very little reward in fighting monsters in the desert of Raseir - you have no more use for money, and no one in Raseir will buy monster parts from you either. You could keep fighting for two reasons: To pass the time, or to hone your skills.

Answer: There are no special locations outside Raseir

Truly, the desert outside Raseir is a boring wilderness. Do not go out there unless you're looking to practice your skills or "kill time" until nightfall. There are no amenities in Raseir, so make sure you stay healthy and rested for the tough end-game portion.