Darkside of Xeen Party and Character development

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Darkside of Xeen

Darkside of Xeen, Might and Magic V, is a continuation adventure that follows Clouds of Xeen. It is possible to explore Clouds and Darkside simultaneously or fully complete the Clouds storyline before ever setting foot in Darkside. Some dungeons and towers located on the Cloud-side are only accessible after finding the Keys on the Darkside.

Go alone and prosper.

Grim Reaper

Darkside of Xeen vs Cloud-side

This information and guide content is for Darkside only. If you are starting a new party, refer to the Cloud-side Party Guide for tips to grow your strength. If you have already completed most of the Cloud-side content and you are looking for the Keys to Southern Sphinx, Darkstone Tower, Dragon Tower, or Dungeon of Death you will find that info here.

Grow your Strength

As with Might and Magic 1, 2, 3, and 4. It is necessary to grow your party strength in order to confront the many foes you will face. If your party is coming from the Cloud-side you are likely strong enough to walk through some of the first few areas but fret not, you will find difficult foes and challenging puzzle before too long.

Forts, Nests, and the like

Once you start exploring the Surface maps of Xeen you will find Outposts, Shrines, Nests, etc for various Foes. Destroying these nodes will get you some Gold, XP and Gear drops.

Expand for a list of locations and rewards
F-1  10,0   Gargoyles Lair
D-3 3,7 Ogre Fort
D-3 9,8 Ogre Fort
D-1 0,12 Giant's Lair
C-1 9,11 Giant's Lair
B-2 13,10 Barbarian Camp
B-2 0,2 Barbarian Camp
A-2 7,2 Barbarian Archer's Camp

Release the Genies

You will find18 Lamps scattered around the Darkside. Freeing the genies will reward Gold, Gems, and XP.

Expand for a list of locations and rewards
        D-3  7,2    Genie's Lamp
D-2 0,15 Genie's Lamp
C-2 2,6 Genie's Lamp
C-2 6,11 Genie's Lamp
C-2 3,15 Genie's Lamp
B-2 12,2 Genie's Lamp
B-2 13,9 Genie's Lamp
Skyroad F-2 1,12 Genie's Lamp
Skyroad F-1 3,3 Genie's Lamp
Skyroad E-2 8,3 Genie's Lamp
Skyroad E-2 12,8 Genie's Lamp
Skyroad E-2 3,8 Genie's Lamp
Skyroad E-2 8,12 Genie's Lamp
Skyroad E-1 12,1 Genie's Lamp
Skyroad C-3 7,0 Genie's Lamp
Skyroad B-2 5,14 Genie's Lamp
Skyroad B-1 5,7 Genie's Lamp
Skyroad A-2 12,14 Genie's Lamp

Unlock Castle Kalindra

In order to access all levels of Castle Kalindra, it is necessary to find Energy Disks and turn them in to Ellinger. There are 25 disks hidden around. Castle Kalinda’s various levels have NPCs, Gear, Gold, and XP to be found. The first 5 disks will unlock Level 1, the second 5 disks will unlock the Dungeon, the third 5 disks will unlock Level 2, the fourth 5 disks will unlock level 3. There are 5 extra disks.

Expand for a list of locations of the Energy Disks
C-4                1,7   Energy Disk x2
D-1 10,5 Energy Disk x2
D-3 11,5 Energy Disk x2
Castleview 29,13 Energy Disk x3
Western Tower L1 6,8 Energy Disk x1
Western Tower L1 8,8 Energy Disk x1
Northern Tower L4 3,8 Energy Disk x1
Northern Tower L4 11,8 Energy Disk x1
Southern Tower L3 5,5 Energy Disk x1
Southern Tower L3 9,5 Energy Disk x1
Eastern Tower L3 11,8 Energy Disk x1
Eastern Tower L3 7,4 Energy Disk x1
Temple of Bark L5 0,18 Energy Disk x1
Temple of Bark L5 31,17 Energy Disk x1
Castle Kalindra L2 0,15 Energy Disk x1
Castle Kalindra L2 2,15 Energy Disk x1
Castle Kalindra L2 4,15 Energy Disk x1
Castle Kalindra L2 8,15 Energy Disk x1
Castle Kalindra L2 0,12 Energy Disk x1
Castle Kalindra L2 0,10 Energy Disk x1
Gearing Up

Gearing up

There are 3 main ways to acquire gear in Darkside of Xeen. Merchants will sell you gear but you will find better gear as you progress. You can find gear by defeating foes that have an item loot table. You can find gear by opening chests and searching where items are hidden. There are many chests and loot nodes on the Darkside but listed below are the highest level nodes, many of them containing multiple items.

Expand for a list of Level 7 Items that can be found
Troll Holes          7,24    2xL7 Items
Temple of Bark L5 16,11 3xL7 Items
Necropolis 1,5 1xL7 Item
Necropolis 2,5 1xL7 Item
Necropolis 12,4 1xL7 Item
Necropolis 14,4 1xL7 Item
Necropolis 12,3 1xL7 Item
Necropolis 14,3 1xL7 Item
Necropolis 10,2 1xL7 Item
Necropolis 14,2 1xL7 Item
Necropolis 14,1 1xL7 Item
Necropolis Sewer 6,10 1xL7 Item
Necropolis Sewer 1,6 5xL7 Item
Necropolis Sewer 1,2 1xL7 Item
Necropolis Sewer 10,1 1xL7 Item
Great Pyramid L1 23,15 5xL7 Item
Dragon Cave 31,10 2xL7 Item
Southern Sphinx L1 5,18 1xL7 Item
Southern Sphinx L1 5,16 1xL7 Item
Southern Sphinx L1 5,14 1xL7 Item
Southern Sphinx L1 2,1 1xL7 Item
Southern Sphinx L1 4,1 1xL7 Item
Southern Sphinx L1 10,1 1xL7 Item
Southern Sphinx L1 12,1 1xL7 Item
Southern Sphinx L3 6,15 10xL7 Item
Dungeon of Death L2 26,13 5xL7 Item
Dungeon of Death L2 30,13 5xL7 Item
Dungeon of Death L2 7,4 5xL7 Item
Dungeon of Death L2 9,4 5xL7 Item
Dungeon of Death L2 11,4 5xL7 Item
Dungeon of Death L2 13,4 5xL7 Item
Dungeon of Death L2 15,4 5xL7 Item
Dragon Tower L4 5,9 3xL7 Item
Dragon Tower L4 9,9 3xL7 Item
Dragon Tower L4 3,8 2xL7 Item
Dragon Tower L4 11,8 2xL7 Item
Dragon Tower L4 7,6 10xL7 Item

Secondary Skills

There are no new Secondary Skills in Darkside as compared to Cloud-side. If your party is already outfit with the skills that you need then you will have little need for the Skill trainers in the Darkside, however, they are listed below in case you need them. If you wan to see details about what each skill is, check the Cloud side page here.

Expand for skill location info
Arms Master
Castle Kalindra L1 at 8,6 for free
Astrologer
Castle Kalindra L2 at 3,6 for free
Body Builder
Sandcaster Sewer at 27,3 for 50,000g
Cartographer
Castleview at 30,23 for 10g
Crusader
Cloud-side only - F-4 at 9,3 for free
Directions Sense
Castleview Sewers at 3,25 for 1000g
Danger Sense
Castle Kalindra L1 at 8,8 for free
Linguist
Sandcaster at 19,30 for 25,000g
Merchant
Sandcaster at 19,27 for 5000g
Mountaineer
B-2 at 13,14 for 5000g
Navigator
Sandcaster at 19,5 for 10,000g
Path Finder
Castleview at 29,27 for 1500g
Prayer Master
A-1 at 6,13 for 10,000g
Prestidigitator
Sandcaster at 19,1 for 1000g
Swimmer
Castleview at 7,19 for 100g
Spot Secret Doors
Troll Hole at 5,12 for 500g
Thievery
Nowhere to train this skill

Temporary Boosts

Temporary boosts expire at 5am every morning, as do the Spell buffs. To get the most out of these day long effects collect them just after 5am. The boost locations are spread around the surface of Xeen. The trick becomes popping around to get a collection of boosts and have enough time left in the day to actually use them.

If you are playing Clouds and Darkside of Xeen at once, you are likely used to bouncing back and forth between worlds and so take a look our the Temporary Boosts on the Cloud-side listed here.

Boost your Fire Resistance
+50  Fire Res   D-4  2,4
+100 Fire Res B-1 14,13
Boost your Cold Resistance
+50  Cold Res   D-4  2,4
+100 Cold Res B-1 14,13
Boost your Electricity Resistance
+50  Elec Res   D-4  2,4
+100 Elec Res B-1 14,13
Boost your Poison Resistance
+50  Pois Res   D-4  2,4
+100 Pois Res B-1 14,13
Boost your Energy Resistance
+50 Ener Res    C-1  1,7
Boost your Magic Resistance
+50 Magi Res    F-2  8,5
Boost your Armor Class (AC)
+50 AC          F-4  14,3
Boost your Level
+3  Level       A-3   8,14
+15 Level C-2 1,8
Boost your MGT
+25  MGT        A-4  9,11
+100 MGT D-1 6,13
Boost your INT
None on the Darkside.
Boost your PER
None on the Darkside.
Boost your END
None on the Darkside.
Boost your SPD
None on the Darkside.
Boost your ACY
None on the Darkside.
Boost your LCK
+100 LCK        B-4   2,2

Permanent Boosts

There are 187 places (Darkside of Xeen) where Stats can be raised permanently. Most of these are found in dungeons and can only be activated once so you will need to decide which character to give it to. This type of perm boosts is listed in the specific dungeon write up where it is found. See the Guide page for this info.

HP and SP boosts are categorized as permanent because the points are retained after 5am on a new day. The HP boost can be used repeatedly to heal up and also just a bit over get the Silver Bars. SP can also be topped off with repeated use.

Boost your Hit Points (HP)
+50   HP   IF<Max    A-3    3,3
+500 HP IF<Max F-1 13,8
+2500 HP IF<Max A-1 2,13
Boost your Spell Points (SP)
+50   SP  IF<Max     A-3        2,10
+1000 SP IF<Max E-1 2,10
+1800 SP IF<Max Sandcaster 15,16
IF Face South at 12:00 PM

Questing

There are inhabitants of Xeen all over the place that need your assistance. Provide them aid and they will reward you with gold, items, and experience, and sometimes spells.

Retrieve Nadia’s Onyx Necklace
in Castleview
27,19 Talk to Nadia

in Castleview Sewer
21,9 Retrieve the Necklace

Return to Nadia

Rewards:
Key to Ellinger's Tower
100,000xp
Exterminate the Rat Queen
in Castleview Sewer
31,26 Talk to Valio
0,0 Kill Rooka
31,26 Return to Valio

Rewards:
1xL4 Item
25,000xp
Stop Gettlewaith the Gremlin
in Castleview
23,27 Talk to Mayor Snarfblad
29,13 Talk to Gettlewaith
29,13 Defeat Gettlewaith
23,27 Return to Mayor Snarfblad

Rewards:
10,000g
50,000xp
Release Jethro’s brother from jail
in Castleview
22,24 Talk to Jethro
1,20 Free Jasper
22,24 Return to Jethro

Rewards:
6500g
10,000xp
Become a Drawkcab Extraordinaire
in Castleview
16,23 Visit Brother Bob
16,15 Visit Brother Otto
13,15 Visit Brother Pip
13,23 Visit Brother Tinit

in A-4
1,4 Answer "Palindrome"

Rewards:
500,000xp
Bring Monga Melons to Nibbler
in B-4
3,12 Talk to Nibbler

in A-4
8,4 Pick a Monga Melon
14,3 Pick a Monga Melon
3,1 Pick a Monga Melon

in B-4
1,4 Pick a Monga Melon
3,12 Deliver a Monga Melon
3,12 Deliver a Monga Melon

Rewards:
Key to Temple of Bark
20,000xp
Rescue Sheewana the Sprite
Complete Nibbler quest (see above)

in C-4
1,7 Talk to Sharla

in Temple of Bark Level 3
6,12 Free Sheewana

Return to Sharla

Rewards:
2x Energy Disks
40,000g; 200G
250,000xp
Retrieve Vespar’s Emerald Handle
in B-3
7,1 Talk to Vespar
13,5 Retrieve the Handle
7,1 Return to Vespar

Rewards:
Pass to Sandcaster
200,000xp
Find the Key to the Western Tower
in A-3
8,10 Talk to Dreyfus
14,7 Enter Tower from Skyroad
9,8 Collect Key
8,10 Return to Dreyfus

in Western Tower Level 4
4,10 Find Dreyfus in Tower

Rewards:
Key to the Western Tower
10,000g; 200G
500,000xp
Retrieve Sandro’s Heart
in Necropolis
10,8 Talk to Sandro
1,14 Retrieve Sandro's Heart
10,8 Return to Sandro

Rewards:
Key to Dungeon of Death
2,000,000xp
Retrieve the Chalice of Protection
in D-1
1,8 Talk to Bosco

in Northern Tower Level 4
7,4 Retrieve the Chalice

Return to Bosco

Rewards:
Key to Northern Tower
100,000g
1,000,000xp
Retrieve Ector’s Ring
in E-2
3,12 Talk to Ector
11,12 Retrieve the Ring
3,12 Return to Ector

Rewards:
Obsidian Battle Axe
500,000xp
Retrieve Caleb’s Magnifying Glass
in E-3
13,13 Talk to Caleb
10,0 Retrieve the glass

Return to Caleb

Rewards:
50,000g
500,000xp
Retrieve the Jewel of Ages
in F-4
6,7 Talk to Thaddeus

in Sandcaster
30,1 Retrieve Key to the Eastern Tower

in Eastern Tower Level 3
5,11 Retrieve Jewel of the Ages

Return to Thaddeus

Rewards:
Key to Eastern Tower
1,000,000xp
Access to Well that restores natural Age

Attribution

How to obtain a copy of this game:

eBay link PC version (1993)
GOG link – Digital PC version (includes games 1-6)


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