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Gothic

English Walkthrough 1.0

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Hello.
As I start writing this walkthrough, Gothic has not been released in English. I remember the first
time I saw the game at
the ECTS 2000 and I was really excited, so I trust it is only a matter of time before an English
version is released. To
speed things up, there is an online petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/g4all/petition.html.
In the meantime, I believe many RPG enthousiasts with a level in German similar to mine (that is,
not much) will try
to play it in the original version. This text is intended mostly for them. Therefore, it is very
possible that the actual
names of people, monsters, item etc. change in the translated version.
Anyway, on with the FAQ.

Quick note: this FAQ is complete and open to the public. You may use it on your website as long as
you keep it intact and
that you ask my permission. You must tell me the url where you are going to put it and I will allow
you to post it. Thank
you. You can find contact information at the end of the document.

1. Game system explanation
2. Story
3. Walkthrough
4. General Tips
5. Useful German terms
6. Links
7. Contact info

1. GAME SYSTEM EXPLANATION
===========================
That's for the folks who have troubles with the manual.

1.1 General
-----------
Gothic is played mostly with the keyboard. You move with the ARROWS.
The most important key is the LEFT CONTROL key. The LEFT CONTROL key is often used in combination
with the arrows.
LEFT CONTROL + UP is "use". Use it to interact with your environment. It is also used to
fight (see later).
Pressing the "0" key on the Numeric pad allows you to look around.
Jumping
Pressing ALT allows you to jump. It also helps you to climb stuff. In front of a stiff wall or rock
that's about your size,
you may press ALT + UP ARROW key to climb on it. Pressing ALT + DOWN ARROW key lets you step
backwards.
Walking
Pressing SHIFT while moving lets you walk. You move slower, but most important, you cannot walk off
a cliff and fall.


1.2 Inventory
-------------
TAB calls the inventory mode. Inventory is divided into several categories: weapons, armor,
artefacts, magic, writings,
food, drinks, miscellaneous. You switch from one category to the next using the LEFT and RIGHT ARROW
keys. Bear in mind
that when the inventory is on screen, the game continues ie you can get hit, etc.
In the inventory you may equip weapons, armor and magic spells. A word on each:
If you haven't equipped any weapons, you fight barehanded. It is not very efficient and never
will be in the game :(
You can equip ONE hand-to-hand weapon, and ONE range weapon. To equip a weapon, select it with the
cursor and "use" it
(that's LEFT CONTROL + UP). It you've done it right, the weapon icon will appear in blue,
and a red "1" will be displayed
(or a 2 if it's a ranged weapon). On what these numbers mean, see "combat" later.
Weapons often have a minimum strength requirement, which means that unless you are strong enough,
you cannot use it.
Likewise, bows, crossbows and the like require a certain level of skill.

You may equip one armor in a similar fashion.
You can equip up to 6 spells in the magic section. They will have a number going from 4 to 10.
Alternatively, you can press
a key from 4 to 10 on a spell to select it. Magical Runes sometimes require you have sufficient
magical training.

1.2.1 Taking things from a chest or a body:
When you will find a chest or body or anything containing stuff, if you "use" it, your
inventory will appear on the right and
the content of the container, on the left. You may swap contents by using LEFT CONTROL + the LEFT
(put) and RIGHT (take)
ARROW keys.

1.2.2 Trading:
you will sometimes meet people with which you can trade things.
When this happens, you will see on the left side of the screen their stuff, on the middle six boxes,
and on the right, your
inventory. Use the LEFT CONTROL + RIGHT ARROW key while on the left part on the screen to BUY
something. You will see the
value above. In order to complete the transaction, you must SELL enough of your stuff, by selecting
what you want to give and
using LEFT CONTROL + LEFT ARROW key.

1.3 Fighting
------------
Press SPACE to switch between normal and combat mode. SPACE sends you in the last combat mode you
were in, and this could be
either hand-to-hand, ranged or magic. You can use the NUMBERS to go directly to the mode you want: 1
for hand-to-hand, 2 for
ranged, 4-0 for the appropriate spell, 3 uses the last spell you used.
When you fight, you cannot take items, but you can beat people which does compensate. Using LEFT
CONTROL + UP, LEFT or RIGHT
swings your weapon in the appropriate direction while LEFT CONTROL + DOWN parries. When you parry,
you block all physical
attacks. Beware, because you can only parry for a limited amount of time, afterwards, you are off
guard and very vulnerable.
ALT + LEFT, DOWN and RIGHT lets you side step.
When you get training for your weapon, you can swing it faster and can do some combos.
In ranged fight, use LEFT CONROL + UP to fire and LEFT CONTROL + LEFT or RIGHT to change targets.
Magic spells take time to be cast and in the meantime, if you are wacked, you must start over
again.

1.4 Special actions
-------------------
1.4.1. Picking a lock:
Once you learn how to pick locks, you can try opening those locked chests you will find everywhere.
First, "use" the chest
and then try to find the right combination. For this, press LEFT CONTROL + the LEFT or RIGHT ARROW
key. You must find the
right sequence. An example of combination can be LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT. At each step, if you guess
right, you hear a
reassuring "click". Else, you hear another noise and you must start over again.
Additionnally, there is a fair risk that you
break your pick. The risk decreases with your training.

1.4.1. Sneak:
Once you learn how to sneak, you can do so by pressing A. You can sometimes surprise your
opponents.

1.4.3 Acrobatics:
Once you learn acrobatics, you can jump somewhat longer and fall from somewhat higher. I have found
that when falling, if
you press the RIGHT KEY on landing, you take no damage (bug? cheat? well...)

1.5. Info screens
-----------------
Pressing S calls the Status Screen. You can see your level, experience, and various
characteristics.
Pressing L calls the Mission Diary screen. Each time you find something interesting, there will be a
scribbling sound and
something will be written in the Diary. There are several sections: current missions, completed
missions, cancelled missions
and miscellaneous info.

1.6 Experience, levels and training
-----------------------------------
Each time you kill an enemy, or at some key points of the game, you earn experience points. At
certain thresholds, you gain
a new level. Each new level gives you extra maximum life energy and 10 training points.
You can use your training points by talking to some specific people (see list below).
Some will train you for free, some will charge you, and some will do so under certain conditions.
Moreover, to learn some
advanced skills, some skills must be already mastered. I believe it is possible, albeit difficult,
to unlock every possible
skill. Therefore, you must carefully chose in which areas to specialize.
The skills include:

one-handed weapons. Level 1 and 2.
Two-handed weapons (one-handed weapon Lvl 2 necessary).
Bows. Level 1 and 2.
Crossbows.

Lockpicking level 1 and 2.
Pickpockets level 1 and 2.

Acrobatics.
Sneaking.

Magic: circle 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Hunting skills (learn how to get hides, claws, teeth and horns from various animals).

In addition to those, you can work on your Strength, Skill and maximum Mana level.

1.7 Some items in the game
--------------------------
1.7.1 Magic:
To use Magic, you need a scroll or a rune. Each scroll is destroyed after one use. Runes belong to a
circle, so in order to
use them, you must have sufficient training. Depending on your "allegiance" (see
walkthrough) you will get the ability to
learn magic soon or late in the game. No matter who teaches you magic, you can use all of the runes
no matter the school of
magic they belong to (ie if you are a fire mage, you can use ice magic). You will be able to
purchase runes from various
people in the game. So it's OK if you miss a chest with a rune in the game, and it's even
more ok if you don't get one
specific scroll. Except some special spells which are to be used in a scenario (so you can't
miss them) all of the magic
in Gothic is not unique.

1.7.2 Weapons:
Weapons in Gothic deal a certain amount of damage. In Hand-to-hand combat, damage is calculated from
the strength of the
weapon and that of the character, and in range combat, damage is computed from the strength of the
weapon and the skill of
the character. So strength doesn't play a role in ranged combat, nor does skill in hand-to-hand
confrontations.
There is no notion of "magical" weapons in the game, with one notable exception but you
will know then, so just because a
sword has a cool name and because it is unique in the game doesn't mean that the next merchant
you'll see doesn't have a
better sword for sale.

1.7.3 Drinks:
Some potions can raise your permanent levels of life, mana, strength or skill. Be on the lookout for
them!

1.7.4. Artefacts:
You can equip one necklace and two rings. Chose carefully! artefacts generally change your
characteristics (strength,
skill, mana, life, or protection levels).


2. STORY
========
(adapted from the manual)
Many years ago, in a faraway country, there was a land called Myrtana. It was a thriving kingdom.
Year after year, the
granaries were full and the mines gave good copper, iron and Ore. No one wanted or needed. The
priests of the gods had
great power and influence, and the gods were keen to the people. The greatest was Innos, the god of
the Sun and the Law.
He was revered as the first and highest god and his priests were the Fire Mages. The priests of the
god Adanos, who held
the scales between good and evil, were the mages of the circle of water. There were no priests to
serve Beliar, god of the
death, for his might was pure darkness.
The blooming cities were also centers of knowledge where magic, astronomy or geography were
studied.
But joy and peace were soon replaced by want and mistrust. So it happened that the neighboring
empires became jealous and
wanted Myrtanas's treasures for themselves, and none more than Varant. Armies of knights
gathered on the hills of the
Empire and ships made of dark woods were seen on the horizon, raising frightening standards of war.
The armies of Myrtana were summoned to protect what was their homeland.
It was war.

The King's Armada sank ship after ship, but suffered great losses. On the land, the first
battles were easily won, but then
both sides altered victories. Despite the many battles won by Myrtana, the Knights of Varant
progressed in the land. The
war, which Myrtana thought would be short, lasted many moons, skirmish after skirmish, battle after
battle. And many,
who wanted to make a name for themselves, earn fortunes at war or just protect their homeland, soon
ended on the
battlefield. By thousands they came, and by thousands they died.
King Rhotbar did not only try to protect the borders of the kindgom, but with his men he fought to
reconquer villages and
counties deep into his country. And what he could not reconquer, he destroyed. The war had already
last more than four
seasons. But his strategic science, that of his generals, and the alliance of army and magic allowed
him, on a fine
spring morning, to stand in front of the doors of the Varant capital. As if they woke up from a
dream, the people of Varant
saw the army camping in front of their city and quickly surrendered.
The doors were opened, the weapons sheathed, and King Rhotbar and his knights rode into town as true
victors. The city was
not plundered, the people not made prisoners. The King executed the leader of Varant, then appointed
a regent and a council,
who were to rule the Empire from now on, and returned to Myrtana. He had won the war, but the price
was high.
Many men, sons, fathers and brothers had gave their life for the Empire. Furthermore, the supplies
were low and winter was
near. In many places there was hunger and distress.
During this winter, weakened by his wounds of war, King Rhotbar died.
His son, Rothbar II, accessed the throne without ceremony. He summoned his priests, his advisors and
his sages. Together,
they developped plans to bring back the Empire to the state of prosperity that his father once
knew.
Although the dreadful winter was over, another danger lurked upon the kingdom. Orcish hordes from
the North crossed the
border and plundered hamlets and manors. The king sent once again his armies to the border.
Countless battles took once
more many lives. It was just a short combat with no clear victor. But King Rhotbar knew that the
Orcs had become strong
enough to wage a war against Myrtana. Still, his own army was weak, diminished and poorly equipped.
In order to craft new
weapons, he needed Ore. The situation was overall bad, and worse in the mining cities. Thieves and
deserters ran galore and
many prisoners had fled from the mines.
The city of Khorinis, one of the main suppliers of Ore, was too important for the King not to act.
It was because, in the
mines of Khorinis, the prisoners extracted a special, rare kind of Ore - Magical Ore.
This Ore, if rightly melted, could make a blade undestructible, with an edge so sharp that no armor
could resist it.
The King called the twelve most powerful Mages of the empire, six from the circle of Water, and six
from the circle of Fire.
He ordered them to create a magical barrier around the mining ciry of Khorinis, in order to prevent
the prisoners from
escaping. A Barrier, which could let living creatures enter, but not escape. Together, the twelve
mages started writing
a magical formula to invoke the barrier. As the formula was completed, with the help of five magical
focuses, which they
laid in a ritual pattern, they united their magical strength and spoke the words of power.
The skies were torn asunder, and in deafening sounds of thunder, it was there. The barrier stood
there as a huge dome over
the land, covering a gigantic area - much bigger as planned. The confused mages soon found out that
they too were trapped
within the barrier. And the prisoners killed the guards, who were trapped with them by the magical
dome.
The mages and the prisoners did not join force, as the mages feared their weapons, and the prisoners
quickly understood
that without the mages, they did not stand a chance of escaping this magical jail.
In the watchtowers gathered the prisoners, and at their head was Gomez, who lead the resistance. The
joy of victory was
soon replaced by concern about food and survival. The prisoner knew that for goods and wares they
depended heavily on the
outside world. The King needed Ore, as well.
So they came up with a plan to satisfy both parties. The King will pay supplies of Ore with food and
other goods, so the
prisoners could survive. But all of the prisoners were not interested in working for the king. One
of them was Lee. He left
the town and many followed him. They founded a new camp, next to another mine, which came to be
known as the New City.
The Water Mages joined his side as well. They were looking for a solution to destroy the barrier.
For their magical
researches, they needed the ore of Lee's mine. Their goal was to use it to find a way out.
The Fire Mages stayed with Gomez in the Old City. The installments paid by the Empire guaranteed the
survival of the
prisoners. Gomez enlisted the strongest of them as his personal guard. Soon he ruled a small empire.
Although all were
prisoners, while some were toiling in the mine, Gomez was asking for more and more in exchange of
the Ore, and soon
good wine, fine food and magical books abounded in his Castle.
After many moons, a man in the colony began to tell others about his visions of freedom. He called
himself Y'Berion, the
Illuminated. His words were deep and persuasive, and he attracted many followers, with which he
retreated in the Swamps
to found his own city. And soon there were rumors of strange powers, magic and summonings that were
even unknown to the
mages. And this city did florish. They lived from the culture of Swampherb, which smell was coveted,
for a smoke of herb
gave the men pleasant dreams. They traded the herb with the Old City and soon they lived still
rather meagerly, but
pleasantly.
The Empire recovered slowly from the wounds of the past. Wheat grew in the fields and new trade
routes were opened. Only
the Barrier reminded of a time of war.
And then came the orcs.
Like a storm rages over the land, they stroke the armies of the king and killed every man who tried
to resist them. So
Rothbar II readied his troops once more for war and every available man was sent to the border.
In these times anyone who commited a crime, no matter small, was sent to the Colony of Khorinis. The
fire of the smithies
burned day and night and the hammers of the artisans were constantly beating.

Another man will be judged guilty today and sent to the mine.
You are this man. Just another prisoner who will work for the rest of his life in the barrier. So
they think anyway...

3. WALKTHROUGH