 Until you acquire
the World Magic Conjuror's Will, villages are the
only place where you can edit your deck(s) as
well as buy and sell cards. Always check if a
village has any good cards that you can afford to
purchase while you're there. A good rule of thumb
early on: If you have more than 40 cards, you
might want to sell some and use the funds to
purchase more powerful cards or cards your deck
may be lacking, as well as more mundane supplies
like food. (For some deck construction tips,
check out the "Building
A (Nearly) Perfect Deck" section.)
Likewise, always check what quest might be
offered in the village, but don't take the first
suicidal mission that comes along - like
destroying the Black Knight. It doesn't hurt you
in any way to at least inquire about a quest, so
don't hesitate to look. What you really want to
find are those quests that involve mana links.
Completing these quests earns you an extra life
for each and every duel you have from here on
out. If at all possible, try to stick to
completing a few quests before you attempt a
duel. After all, putting off a duel as long as
possible gives you a chance to buy and find
better cards as well as build up your lives. You
might find this difficult - and costly - with all
of the creatures that will chase you around the
land, so do your best to avoid them.
Always be on the lookout for places that cards
can be found, such as graveyards, shipwrecks, and
other lairs. Be aware that there is a chance that
such snooping around could cause you some
problems, like having your gold pilfered by
thieves. But the odds of finding something
valuable are too great to pass these areas up. If
you're really worried about the risk, save your
game right before you investigate a site.
When you win a duel, you'll be given the
option to take the ante card or get a clue about
one of the dungeons. Considering how badly you
probably need the money early in the game, you
should take the cards, even if you can't use
them, and then sell some. Once you've built up
quite the treasury, then you can start worrying
about dungeons.
If you get the message that someone has a mana
tap on a village, don't break your neck getting
there. If it's far away, you probably won't make
it before it is conquered by someone else anyway.
Instead, you should head in that general
direction, picking the occasional quest and
finding the occasional duel along the way. You'll
definitely need to have a strong deck and
hopefully a few more lives before you duel the
guardian of the city. Of course, don't take too
long - after all, the fate of Shandalar is on
your shoulders.
Once you've built up your funds as well as
your deck, you'll want to start investigating
dungeons. Get clues from defeated monsters about
the dungeons' whereabouts. Once at the entrance,
make sure you have what it takes to go in. You
only get one shot at it, and if you lose or leave
before getting the treasure cards within, the
whole thing vanishes to another location, and
you'll have to start it over. As you gather
clues, you may want to try and customize your
deck to battle the inhabitants of a particular
dungeon just like you would any other opponent.
In your travels, you'll find that, as a
general rule, prices will be lower in villages
and higher in towers. And naturally you'll find
that spells that match the color of the terrain
are less expensive than those that don't. You
should also avoid buying cards just to buy them.
In most cases, you stand to lose as much as 50
percent by selling cards back. If you want to
save money on food, buy when you see it selling
for 15 gold, even if you don't really need it
yet. Better to pay 15 gold now than 25 gold
later.
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