When I grew up I found this awesome game called "Star Trail" from the Realms of Arkania series. It was for DOS and I still play it now and then. It is my favorite game of all time. I've played it so much in fact I created this help document and page for those who want to play. I recommend this game, so try it out, its old but so much fun.

Realms of Arkania - Techniques and Tips From A Veteran

This guide is provided as a tool for new players to the Realms of Arkania series. Veterans can also benefit from the tips. I noticed there wasn’t a lot of guides out there that touched upon what skills to use, what the stats really do, and what spells are truly useful. This isn’t a walkthrough; this is a guide to character building and general tips from a pro who has beaten the game many times. I hope that this guide will be useful for you the player. You can agree or disagree, I'm just trying to help out.

PS: My personal favorite game was Star Trail out of the three.

You can reach me at www.IssaSoft.com.

You may reproduce this document as will as long as you keep my website in it and don’t change anything.

I usually play with the following:  1 or 2 magicians, 2 elves (one with bow, one with sword), 1 jester, 1 or 2 other fighters (warrior, dwarf)

50 General Tips (Yes I know its a lot, but its helpful so read it!)

1) Carry more than one weapon for each person in case they break.

2) Carry a couple pairs of boots (only if you are playing Realms of Arkania 2).

3) There are some magical weapons like the weapons Antherion and Mages wand that have a plus modifier to hit; this is very useful against enemies that are resistant to weapons (like water elemental).

4) Set up guards when sleeping to prevent an ambush or your stuff being stolen.

5) The front most person is your leader, they must have good navigation skills, perception, street knowledge and survival. This will help to disarm traps, find hidden walls or collapsing ceilings, and to avoid falling down cliffs when outside. Make sure they have the right status!

6) The best way to make money is by pick pocketing or selling herbs. Don’t waste your time with acrobatics or instruments.

7) Winter coats are an easy way to increase defense, put them on everybody instead of robes and just ignore the sweating party members when outside. It adds weight but I found the extra defense is worth it.

8) You can revive your guys at the temples by praying but its best to just reload if anybody dies. Try TSA.

9) Use the Inns, they are a cheap way to fully recover your party, especially for magic users.

10) Take advantage of poison, if you can afford it, carry some around and use it on your weapons, even ammo. It can add a lot of damage. Don't bother with fear, why do you want the monsters to run away?

11) Carry around a lot of whirlweed, they stack and heal 10 points each time.

12) Carry around some super magic potions for your mages to easily fill up their astral points when needed.

13) Each member should have its strengths; if you plan ahead you can have a very strong and able party to adventure with. For example, one person to pick locks one person to haggle, one person to cure disease, one person to navigate, etc.

14) If you have a mage make sure you charge their wands!

15) Make sure every person has a sleeping bag; it’ll help prevent colds and heal better during resting.

16) Carry a whetstone with you to sharpen your weapons to prevent them from breaking, and always repair any damaged ones when necessary. In Realms of Arkania 3 using it once with a character and the whole group uses it; in Realms of Arkania 2 you must do it for each character.

17) In battle, send two guys for each enemy, remember, everybody can parry only once per round (except some large monsters), which means the second attack and third or fourth will always hit. This works against you too!

18) When saving, make incremental points. For example, in dungeons, use 3 save points called Dungeon1, Dungeon2, and Dungeon3. Same goes for Outside areas and Town.

19) Some items you definitely should be carrying around are: Shovels (2), rope (if you don’t have a Mage), Torch with Tinderbox. I have found no use for a hammer.

20) A high armor rating decreases damage taken by enemies.

21) There are some jewelry around and rings that can increase magic resistance, always try to use them. Some are totally useless though.

22) You should always play in Advanced mode so you can choose where to put your stats.

23) In Realms of Arkania 2, always have one or two guys searching for food, and have your best herb person searching for herbs.

24) A lot of items in the game are useless, so either just drop them, don’t pick them up, or sell them (a great sell are elixirs). If you don’t know just keep it, you don’t want to get stuck!

25) You can find walkthroughs for the games online, even maps. Try Google.

26) Doing stuff like finding hidden walls, digging dirt to get through a path, gives exp.

27) The first time you encounter monster you get more exp for it. 

28) Use a keychain to hold keys - it saves weight.
29) If you have extra money buy tons of magic potions for your wizards.

31) When you have extra cash, try out every temple and pray. Donate about 10D first though and save just in case. Sometimes you get permanent upgrades.

32) In battles stay away from the line of site from those mages/archers. Keep your weak guys hiding behind your stronger guys.

33) I've noticed the room type doesn't make a different, just get the cheapest room there is.

34) If one of your guys is diseased, heal them IMMEDIATELY! Otherwise it'll increase and they'll die.

35) In autobattle battle, press ESC if its starting to go downhill.

36) Spend all your money if you have at least 100D (you want 100D just in case of quests). You don't need money, so don't try to save it, just spend it on stuff, especially poison and magic potions.

38) Stack items if you can. For example, if two characters have herbs of the same kind, merge them so you save item space

39) Archers are awesome. Although they only do little damage, they can kill enemies from afar without getting hurt. I usually keep two of them. I find this is especially useful for Realms of Arkania 3 where you cannot reach some monsters.

40) Try to keep multiple weapons in case some break. Also, its good for archers in case they get surrounded or run out of bullets.

41) Autobattle can give mixed results. If you lose just reload and try again.

42) Fulminictus is great for the last kill. If you have a good wizard, it will always hit, and it only costs a few mp for a kill because the monster has only a few mp left.

43) Sleeping can restore lost attributes. For example, if you're guys are dirty and lost charisma, sleep for a few days and they'll restore they're stats.

44) When prompted to enter a number, you can enter a large number that will default to the maximum. For example, when casting Ignifaxus, if the maximum is 8, you can click 11 and it'll default to 8, saves time instead of clicking up 7 times when default is 1. Try it and it'll make sense

45) Send in a warrior by themselves if you need to fight a large group, they have tons of armor and can last longer

46) Star trail - girls can keep shirts in lowan. so keep their clothes!

47) Star trail - get water skin before turning wheel in dwarf dungeon

48) Don't run out of food or water!
49) Make sure you use weapons that the character is optimized to use. For example, if the character has good polearm skills, get polearm weapons.

50) If one of your guys is weak, flee from the battle. This will protect them while your other guys finish off the enemies. You can always regroup after the battle.

Stats - Main

Courage = Used for battles, high courage will mean a better fighter and the character will not run away. It will also increase your attack and increase your magic rating. (You want this to be 13 for everybody). Trust me, its worth it for the magic rating.

Wisdom = Used to cast spells the higher it is the better your spells do. Also a high wisdom will increase your magic rating. (You want this to be 13 for magic users.)

Charisma = I have not seen any use for this through the game; I find its best to make this your lowest value and lower it to the lowest possible. It supposedly makes you better when talking to others but I haven’t seen any noticeable affects when it’s not high. (An 8 is just fine).

Intuition = Another useless sill. Make this a low value as well. Players guide says it affects spells however I haven’t noticed. (An 8 is just fine)

Dexterity = Used to cast spell, the higher it is the better your spells do and the better they will hit. (You want this to be 13 for magic users, 8 is fine for fighters)

Agility = Used for battles, the higher it is the better you do in battle and hit. (You want this to be 13 for everybody). It makes them attack better and dodge better.

Strength = Only used to carry items. The higher the more you can carry and more movement points you can potentially have, however, as the game progresses and if you play right, you can do without high numbers for every character. (You want this to be 13 for fighters, 10-13 for others). Find a strength belt for each character and add +5 easily. Strength gives more movement points. If you have magic users this is great because it costs 5 to cast a spell - They can move a few steps then cast.

Note: For fighters, max out your Courage first, then Agility. For magic users, max out your Wisdom first, then Dexterity. Anything left over put it in Strength.

Stats – Attributes

Superstition = Used to raise magic rating and lessens effects of spells. (You want this to be 2 for everybody). This is definitely a attribute you want to decrease every time you level up until its reached its lowest point.

Arachnophobia / Claustrophobia /Avarice / Curiosity / Violent Temper = These really don’t mean much, just keep them around 5 for every character, no higher. If a character has a higher value than 5 it may cause problems, for example, they might want to steal something, or they might get scared in tight corners, or they might attack somebody for no reason, or they might touch something they aren’t suppose too. But I find that the consequences for high values in these stats don’t matter much, and in some cases the game makes one of your characters do something even if its low.

Necrophobia = I find that its good to keep this low, it protects against undead, and there’s plenty of them in the game. (Good to keep 2-4 for every character, 5 is pushing it). If they are afraid they will run away - don't want that do we?

Weapons

Unarmed = Always put a point in this for all characters (except mages they have a pole arm that never breaks, and archers since they should never use a close range weapon). You want to make sure they can fight if you happen to lose your weapon!

Other Weapons = Always put a point in the weapon you want to focus on, edged and swords are best since they do the most damage. Use missiles for bow users. Also, make sure a bow user can fall back on a weapon if they run out of ammo (up to you, if you keep track of ammo you should never have this problem).

Swords = I love swords. So if you cant decide, I'd say this is the average weapon to have. It has good protection and damage.

Use what the character already has! = Ok. If the character already has a 5 in a weapon, but -5 in another, then try to use the weapon type that has a 5. Why waste 10 levels to get the -5 to a 5? For example, dwarves must always use axes.

Note: It’s best to focus each character in on type of weapon, and it depends on the class. Usually pick the best weapon they can yield. For example, for the warrior it’s a Goupillon, so focus on Edged Weapons for a warrior. For mages it’s obvious, use Polearms. Throwing weapons are absolutely useless!

Skills

Climb = You need to be able to climb so get everybody high on this, around 6 is a good time to stop. However, if the person has a lot of weight make this higher. For example, fighters with a lot of weight need to have it higher.

Swim = Every person should have a 6 in swim, otherwise they will drown. The more weight the person will carry the higher this should be, heck, maxing it out can be good to avoid drowning all together. In realms of Arkania 3, you wont be able to escape the water dungeon with items unless you have a high swim.

Physical Control = All your fighters (and possible everybody else) should have high values. Helps to prevent fumbles in battle.

Stealth = Good for the lead character in case you need to not make any noise, for example, when following somebody.

Self Control = Useful in combat to prevent your guys from running away, again 6 is good. Make it higher for fighters. I have not noticed a huge difference if its low though.

Hide = Good for the lead character in case the party needs o hide.

Danger Sense / Perception = A must have for the lead person, helps them spot danger; they are both good to have. I give all my character high perception, why, because then they can all help out finding traps and other stuff.

Haggle = Get one person with a very high haggle rating, it will help when buying and selling for discounts. It’s not uncommon to achieve 50% discounts. The person with haggle should have good charisma too.

Streetwise = Good for the lead person when navigating town. Although I haven’t seen much consequences when it’s low.

Track = Use to track guys, can be useful at times, make the lea guy have it.

Orientation = A must have for the lead guy, helps them know where they are going in dungeons. Again, not too many consequences when it’s low. I found in Realms of Arkania 1, low orientation prevents you from using the map correctly.

Herb Lore = Use for the disease person, helps them find herbs and know how to use them. The higher the better.

Survival = Again, use for the lead person, helps your party out, although there are not too many consequences if it’s low.

Tactics = A must have for everybody, makes your guys a better fighter in battle.

Arcane Lore = A must have for magic users, makes your magic users better.

Tongues / Ancient Tongues = Keep one guy with a high value in this so you can read everything. You don't really need to read everything but its fun to be able too.

Alchemy / Read and Write = Use it if you want to make potions, I find this useless but its fun sometimes.

Treat Poison = Use only if you don’t have a mage that can cast cure poison with the cure poison spell. Its very rare to be poisoned, and most of the time its because of a fumble with your own poisoned weapon, so I don't use this.

Treat Disease = Keep one person high on disease, and a backup person (in cse the diseased person is diseased). Druids, Warlocks, and Green Elves are great for this.

Treat Wounds = Very useful to heal your guys, use this or use items, up to you. This is an easy way to heal but remember can only be used every 24 hours, and if you use it you cant treat disease until 24 hours have passed either, so it can be good or bad for you.

Locks = Keep one guy updated on locks, the higher the better, but you only need one guy.

Pickpocket = A must if you want free money, keep one guy upgrading. Don’t use anything else like instrument or cheat or acrobats, pickpocket can get you 10D each time or more.

Note: If I didn’t mention a skill it’s because I found it’s totally useless ad waste of a point. (Yes you can disagree, this is my opinion)

Spells

Domination = Useful for the rare case that your guy is controlled an you want to undo the control.

Illusion = You will need this in the game so get one guy with it. (At least 5)

Somnigravis = Excellent spell to take down any foe! Makes them fall asleep for a little while.

Evil eye = Very cool spell, turns an enemy against the rest for some time, useful in groups. It helps those outnumbered battles greatly.

Confusion = Another cool spell that lets you confuse the enemy into attacking others or a short while.

Skeletraius = Revives a dead enemy to help you, useful if you are outnumbered.

Heptagon = Summons a very strong demon guy to help you (Be careful they can turn against ou!)

Blood and Furor = Summons this lesser demon guy to help you, he’s weak but can help as canon fodder (Be careful, they can turn against you!)

Conjure Elemental = Summons a powerful fire elemental. Again, they turn against you after awhile.

Foramen = Good spell to unlock anything, even when pickpockets wont work.

Transversalis = Lets you teleport just about anywhere, so useful in caves! I find that in Realms of Arkania 3 if you don’t have this you cannot beat the game, as its buggy and you need to go through places. I have also found that if you're MP is low, this spell will never work.

Pure and clear = Cures poison, get one person on this.

Balm of Roond = Good for mages because they can heal with little magic, also useful in battle when hangs get bad. (You need to be right next to the guy to use this spell)

Astral Theft = Lets you steal magic points from other magic users.

Penetrating = Lets you see a radius around you, cool if want to see everything on the map. You can the teleport to the new area.

Camouflage / Eagle Wolf = Lets you turn into something else, useful for when you encounter situations where individuals don’t like members of your party (for example Elves).

Lightning = Get this spell! Blinds any enemy and stops them from acting. Works on every enemy!

Darkness Power = Lets you make a double of yourself to fight. Good in case you're outnumbered.

IronRust = Destroys an enemy’s weapon. Useful against tough knights and such, but remember you won’t get the item if you destroy it after battle!

Fulminictus = Great spell that does great damage, however, every point of damage takes away one Astral Point so can be costly.

Ignifaxus = Simply the best spell in the game, get every magic user on this. Each level you gain makes this more powerful. No weapon or spell can do more damage, 50+ and it wont cost much magic.

Banish Spirits = You will need this once or twice. (No more than 0 in this)

Melt Solid = You may need this in the game so get one person able to use it. (No more than 0 in this)

Note :If I didn’t mention a spell it’s because I found it’s totally useless and waste of a point.

I hope you have found this guide useful.  I love playing this game, even today.  So ask me if you need any help, with any of the 3 games.