The Walker Playbook

This is intended as a guide for playing The Legend of the Red Dragon. This is guide is intended as a walkthrough in which I, Walker, will describe how I play in pretty much every situation. Note that no guide can account for every possibility, and so the ability to improvise is key. I will not give detailed lists of the statistics that build up the game, though I will reference them. All objective information can be found at the Nuklear Wiki. Also, this walkthrough will assume that you are playing as a male character. This is because I have never played as a female character, but the differences are fairly small.

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In LoRD, there are two critical phases that you play. The first is the journey from level 1 to level 12. The second is killing the dragon once you reach level 12. The goal of the game is to be the first player to kill the dragon five times. You should play with this in mind and pace yourself accordingly.

The biggest thing to keep in mind for the long term is your skills. Skills are crucial in getting player kills to advance through the levels, but even if you're not very efficient, you should still have skills to get most of the kills you need for timely progress. The critical thing is to have enough skills in the right areas for killing the dragon. That said, skills are also very valuable for PKs.

The milestone mystical skill plateaus are 12 for LS, 16 for shatter (extremely useful for player kills), 28 for LS+Shatter (which allows you to really take down heavy PKs), 32 for double shatter (for PKs) or LS+MH (for the dragon), and 36 for MH+Shatter (only use this one for player kills when you get surprised for more than half your hit points). If you only have T skills for offense (as on the first two dragon runs), then most kills will take 2-3 Ts.

With average luck in skill events, the following skill sets are possible and should be your goal:

Dragon One: 12M 5T

Dragon Two: 12M 20T

Dragon Three: 20M 25T

Dragon Four: 32M 25T

Dragon Five: 36M 35T

The toughest of these to reach is 12M/20T for dragon 2. The last two rounds I reached level 12 on the second run with 12M/18T and 13M/17T. Do not bother attempting to acquire death knight skills.

Acquiring skills:

Thief:

-If you are a thief, then whenever you gget a skill event then you can trade a gem for a skill point. Always do this. Skill points are crucial for slaying the dragon in a timely manner. Whenever you are a thief, never ever spend all your gems on potions. The possibility of a skill event is far and away more valuable than the gaurentee of a stat booster. When you end your day and log off, note that half of your gems will be taken by whoever kills you. Sometimes it rounds down and other times it rounds up. So never log off with only one gem, because you might lose it. Log off with 2 gems if you have an even number or 3 gems if you have an odd number. And if you get an early skill event and spend your gem, use jennie foxy if you have high spirits. Spending high spirits on a gem may feel like a waste, and there is a high chance you won't get to use it, but again, just the possibility of the skill point is worth more than any other jennie code can give you. If you only have 1 or 0 gems on hand, try to finish off forest creatures with pinches to increase the chance of getting a gem (you can only get gems from forest creatures if the finishing blow is either a powermove or a skill use). Also, if you die online, you don't lose any gems.

Mage:

-There isn't really anything you can do to increase your chance of passing mystical events. If you get the event, you can either knock or bang on the door. Both choices have a 75% chance of success. You will then be asked to try to guess a number between 1 and 100 in six guesses. There is no way to achieve greater than a 63% chance on this game. And the most obvious guessing pattern, the binary search is one of the ways to get 63%. Just make sure your first guess isn't any lower than 32 or higher than 69 and no subsequent guesses are less than successively 16, 8, 4, and 2 away from 1, 100, or a previous guess and your strategy will have a 63% chance of success. Of course, if you can find any bias in the RNG you can make your chance greater than 63%, but I have found no evidence that the RNG produces anything other than a uniform distrubution.

When to be a thief or mage:

- As you see above, the chance of succeeeding in a thief skill event is ~100% if you play it correctly (ie. always have a gem on hand). Meanwhile, the chance of succeeding in a mage skill event is 75% * 63% = 47.25%! Since skill events occur with equal frequency for all professions, this makes thieving skills faster to acquire via events. Hence, it's best to spend as much time as possible in the forest as a thief, and have as many of your level ups as possible while as a mage. Additionally, while you are a thief, you get the benefits of being able to rob the bank and an extra T skill use per day (you get an extra skill use per day as a mage, too, but it's less valuable). Robbing the bank is most useful on levels 6-9.

That takes us to my skill strategy. I start out the game as a mage. There are a few reasons for this. Partly this is because failing to get 12M points for the second dragon is a complete disaster. LS is an INCREDIBLY valuable skill for killing the dragon. Unless you get a lucky horse kill, you will not be competitive if you do not have LS for the second dragon. Also, there is no need to rob the bank on your first dragon run. The experience pool takes time to build on the first run, and you will be able to afford Wan's Weapon and Full Body Armour before you will be able to acquire 10 million experience points. The difficulty is that on the first run, you won't be able to kill anybody a level above you. However, as long as you are playing the forest effeciently (more on that later) you will have gear that allows you to kill anybody a level below and many people on the same level (though not always the thieves who have been robbing the banks).

On the first run, try to get to level 9 as quickly as possible. Or as quickly as you can get Full Body Armour, anyway. Then once at 9, switch to being a thief as soon as you find Dark Cloak Tavern or acquire a horse. Since you will spend several days on level 9, this gives the potential for a handful of 47.25% mage skill events to be replaced with 100% thief skill events. If you were lucky enough to acquire 12 M points by the time you reached level 9, then play out the rest of the run as a thief. The extra T points are more valuable for the first two dragons, and you'll have time to acquire mystical skills later for dragons 3-5. If you did not make it to 12M points, then you will have to switch back to being a mage before making a run to 12. This may mean staying on level 9 after having acquired 10 million exp. But if you go to 12 and don't have LS and have limited thieving skills, you are immensly screwed and will be on 12 for a long, long time unless you get a horse kill (and LS makes horse kills twice as likely!).

After the first two dragon runs, there is more flexibility. You want to be a mage as often as possible when leveling up, since acquiring mystical skills through events is slow. However, at the mid levels, bank robberies can speed up your progrssion through the levels. On level 12, it is good to be a thief simply for the extra skill use per day. After beating the dragon, though, you'll want to switch to mage right away (except for after beating the first dragon) as bank robberies are less valuable and you will be leveling up quickly (preferably multiple levels per day) until you reach level 6. You should keep track of how many level ups you will have between where you are and level 12 of your fourth dragon run and make sure the number of level up added to your current number of mystical skills is at least 32. If you have some margin there, it is ok to be a thief for a while.

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A run through of each level:

Now that we've made a rough plan of how will acquire skills long term (adjusting according to how fortunate we are with skill events), it is time to discuss all the day to day stuff. Most of your day will be spent in the forest. Being able to survive the forest and generate income efficiently is perhaps the most important ability in LoRD. Here is a run down of how to play each level along with the minimal equipment and the amount of gold you can expect to earn on a typical day.

Level 1:

minimal equipment- stick/coat (don't have a choice)

typical gold per day- 2000

There are two different kinds of times that you will be on level 1. The first is the day the realm opens and the second is right after you killed the dragon. If you just killed the dragon, you will be in high spirits and so the first thing you should do is jennie lady for 1000 gold and bank it. Also, by the time you kill the first dragon (and all subsequent dragons) you should have at least 16 charm, so go to the inn and grab Violet's backside if she isn't married to get 40 exp. On the first day, wait until later to flirt as you may end up reaching the milestone of 2, 4, or, if you're really lucky, 8 charm. On the first day, flirt when it will put you over 100 exp. And on the first day, do jennie lady first thing for 1000 gold.

After getting the money from lady and exp from Violet, then go to the forest and fight monsters until you have 2900 gold. As with any level, you should fully heal after every fight. With full hp, the only monster that is any threat is Bran the Warrior. Run from Bran if he surprises you. Otherwise attack. You can run if he gets off a strong first attack and youa weak one, but most of the time he goes down easily. Also, pinches are very effective against Bran. Once you reach 2900 gold (or 2866 if you have a high charm rating) sell your coat and buy a leather vest. Never spend money on a dagger or heavy coat. They aren't worth it. Once you have the leather vest, check your exp. If it's at least 100, attack Halder. If not, return to the forest and fight until you have 100 exp and then fight Halder. If you have the option to hear Seth that day (that is you didn't hear him while on level 12 or it's the first day) then hear him when you have 3000 gold in the bank before buying the leather vest (if you get a BD then buy a short sword, too!). After beating Halder, spend all your gems on vitality potions if you're a mage or all but 2-3 if you're a thief and then our fights at level 2. Occasionally there will be tagets in the field that you can kill. Kill them for the exp. Also, make sure to send romantic mail; it is very valuable at this level.

Level 2:

minimal equipment- stick/leather vest (you can play level 2 with less, but you presumably bought the leather to beat Halder) typical gold per day- 4000

If you spend an entire day on this level then something went very wrong. Usually, you will spend your last few forest fights on this level on the day you kill the dragon. Assuming that you sent romantic mail both before and after killing the dragon, you should start the next day with at least 350 exp, and quite possibly 400 exp if you play after your lay requests were accepted. As such, you should be able to start playing level 3 immediately on your second day (grabbing Violet's backside for 80 exp if necessary). Sometimes you will want to play level 2 to get enough money for a short sword or bribe to kill a level 3 player. If no level 3 player is availabel to kill, however, you should go to level 3 at first opportunity.

As for the forest itself, you can kill everything 100% of the time if you have a stick and leather vest, which you will since you bought it to fight Halder.

Level 3:

minimal equipment- stick/leather vest

typical gold per day- 12,000

Again, this is a level in which you can kill everything with ease. Once in a while winged demon of death will get off a good powermove, but you can counter that with a skill if need be. And again, you shouldn't spend an entire day here. Play level 3 long enough to get the money for a weapon and bribe to get a kill and go to level 4.

Level 4:

minimal equipment- stick/leather vest (short sword is very nice, though)

typical gold per day- 25,000

This is when you start having to be wary of certain forest monsters. You can play level 4 with a stick and leather, but mud man and huge black bear become tricky. It's worth buying a short sword just to make these creatures a more certain kill. Typically, your second day after killing the dragon (the day you killed it being the first) will be spent more on level 4 than any other level. If you are able to achieve 4,000 exp on the same day you make level 4, it is worth trying to attain level 5 with a short sword and leather vest, but you will probably be stopped by Olodrin. If you start the day on level 4, and over 10k in the money in the bank then wait until you can get iron armour to fight Olodrin. Often times, you'll want iron armour to get the PK to get over 4k exp anyway.

Level 5:

minimal equipment- short sword/leather vest (likely will need iron armour to beat Olodrin, though)

typical gold per day- 60,000

This is a much better level for gaining gold than level 4 and still relatively safe. If you are wearing a leather vest and haven't bought many (like 15 or so) potions in defense, then avoid Silent Death. Bald Medusa occasionally gives problems as well. If you have iron armour, then you can kill anything, but be ready to use skills or run from Silent Death if it gets off a power move.

Once you aquire iron armour and 10k exp, you can fight Sandtiger and try to go to 6. If you have the cash, it's worth buying a long sword or huge axe to attack Sandtiger (you might have already bought this for a PK) since he can be a tricky master sometimes.

Level 6:

minimal equipment- short sword/iron armour

typical gold per day- 110,000

This is the first level that you may spend multiple days on, sometimes as many as three full days to get the experience and equipment to leave. Resist the temtation to buy 100k or 150k gear. Once in a while it can there is a possible kill that will make it worth it, but most of the time, it's better to save up for 200k gear even if it means delaying a kill by a day. Whether you get the armour of death first or the power axe first depends on situation. If exp is scarce, you may need to go for the power axe to bring down a good kill. A power axe combined with shatter will even allow you to make 6 to 8 kills. More often, though the armour of death is the better purchase, as it allows you to play level 7 and 8 and gives a better chance to beat Atsuko when the time comes. Although your main thought at level 6 is getting to level 8, 40k exp is also a nice milestone to hit as it lets you go to level 7 for a kill or to gather gold more quickly once you have armour of death.

As for the level itself, all the creatures besides black soul and belar are pretty soft if you have iron armour. If you also have about +20 defense or so, Belar and Black Soul are go down fairly easily as well. Always be on gaurd and ready to use T skills or run against those two. If you have armour of death, you can race through the forest and rarely even take a hit.

Level 7:

minimal equipment- huge axe/armour of death

typical gold per day- 230,000

You don't typically spend a whole lot of time on this level outside of the first dragon run when you're leveling up as quickly as possible until level 9. But sometimes you need extra gold to get a power axe more quickly or get stopped by Atsuko Sensei. With armour of death, this level is fairly easy. Goliath can sometimes be troublesome. And once in a while nighthawk, swiss butcher, or massive dinosaur can get you with powermoves, but not very often.

If you went to level 7 with the power axe/iron armour combo, then level 7 is quite a bit tougher. In this case, fight fallen angel and goblin pigmy. Use T skills on Goliath since he has low hit points and high gold yield. Avoid Swiss Butcher, Night Hawk, and Massive Dinosaur.

Level 8:

minimal equipment- huge axe/armour of death

typical gold per day- 350,000

Level 8 is similar to level 7 given the same equipment, but has higher gold yield. Thus the reason level 7 is usually just a brief stop on the way to 8. Most of the time, you will reach 8 with power axe/ armour of death, but sometimes you can sneak past Atsuko with less than that. With power axe/armour of death, you should always run from King Vidion. King Vidion is the first enemy that is essentially unkillable. Also, run away from Rundorig, if you don't have spare skills to use if it gets off a strong attack. Screaching Witch can once in a while be troublesome, but that's rare. Everything else goes down easily. Once you have full body armour, you won't have any trouble killing rundorig. It's still advisable to run from King Vidion everytime, though, unless you have at least +50 defense from potions.

You are likely to spend a few days at level 8 gathering gold and experience. Level 8 gives the most flexibility for getting kills as you can level up to get kills but can not level down to make kills. Milestones are at 400k, 1m, and 4m exp as those allow the flexibility to move up levels. You shouldn't leave level 8 until you have full body armour or are close to obtaining full body armour after interest, as it is difficult to earn gold on higher levels without full body armour.

Level 9:

minimal equipment: power axe/full body armour

typical gold per day: 500,000

Level 9 is a nice level. On the first dragon run, you will spend several days at 9 making gold and picking up exp by killing level 8 players. On later runs, not much time is spent on this level, since by the time it becomes profitable, that is you have full body armour, you will often have 10m exp and be ready to make a run at level 12.

As for the level itself, avoid earthshaker at all costs. Earthshaker has a brutally powerful attack. Rentakis Pet and Scallion Rap have tough powermoves but are usually pretty easy to kill. If you leveled up early to get a kill and find yourself at level 9 with armour of death, then you need to be much more selective. Hemoglob is always a soft creature. Also, pink elephant and gwendolyn's nightmare are killable with weak gear. Otherwise, tread very carefully.

Level 10:

minimal equipment: hahahahaha

typical gold per day: 300,000

You should only go to level 10 if it's to kill a level 11 or level 9 player who will put you over 10m exp. Sometimes, however, Gandalf will say "you shall not pass!" and force you to play a day at level 10. Such times are unplesant. And this is why you shouldn't try to go to 12 without full body armour- Gandalf will usually beat you down and force you to play level 10 making meager amounts of gold until you finally are able to afford that armour anyway.

If you have full body armour, and you should if you were trying to get to level 12, then you can fight adult gold dragon and tiger of the deep jungle. You can also use T skills on slock and Torak's Son Korak. Run from everything else. Try to stay alive, maybe you'll find a fairy. If you don't have full body armour, then T skills and shatter are your only chance to kill things.

Level 11:

minimal equipment: Able's Sword/Full Body Armour

typical gold per day: 1,000,000

Assuming you have Wan's Weapon, Full Body Armour and skills at your disposal, level 11 can be quite lucrative. And is survivable most of the time (occasionally you'll die to a surprise powermove, but that can happen on many other levels, too). You just need to be very selective about who you fight:

Gath the Barbarian/Purple Monchichi/Evil Hobbit/Dark Elf/Vegetable Creature: These are all lower level creatures that appear. They don't give you much, but you might as well kill them.

Able's Creature: This is the weakest true level 11 creature. You can usually kill this one with regular attacks. So try attacking it. If it powermoves you or gets off a couple strong attacks, use a T to finish it. (About 1/4 to 1/3 of the time you'll be forced to use a T)

Mountain: Low hit points and high attack. Use a T. You'll kill it in one hit most of the time.

Madman: Relatively low hit points and moderate attack. Use a T. A strong T will kill it. An average T will let you finish it with a regular attack and a weak T will let you finish it with a pinch.

These three creatures, Able's Creature, Mountain, and Madman will be your main source of income on level 11. Note that these creatures give 150,000-180,000 gold each, so you only need to kill three to earn what you would at level 8. If you can get 7 or 8, which is common, you'll really be making money. And the rest of the monsters:

Gorma the Leper: Second lowest attack to Able's Creature. If you have blood armour, you can consider fighting this one, too (though you'll likely need to use skills). With full body armour, just run.

Sheena the Shapechanger: If you have a spare shatter, you can blow this one away. Otherwise, run.

White Bear of Lore: Pathetic gold yield. Not worth killing. Always Run.

Shogun Warrior: Too many hit points. Not worth trying to kill. Always Run.

Shadowstorm Warrior: You will die most every time you try to fight this one even with skills. Always Run.

One more note, if you fear the "sees you" you can always disappear.

Level 12:

minimal equipment: Whatever you beat Turgon with! (400k/1m is my personal best)

typical gold per day: 4,000,000

Level 12 is where you fight the dragon. It's also the home to some of the scariest monsters you'll ever face. But they're usually avoidable and there is much gold to be made.

With wan's weapon and full body armour, three creatures go down pretty easily: Kal Torak (who is a gaurenteed kill), Humungous Black Wyre, and The Wizard of Darkness. All of these can be killed with even weaker gear, too. Occasionally Humungous Black Wyre will power move you and you'll need to run or use a T skill.

If you have T skills, you can use them against Black Unicorn and Mutated Black Widow for gaurenteed 1 hit kills. This is the safest way to approach mutated black widow, as it will often kill in one hit, making running risky. Run from everything else when you have the minimal equipment.

If you have the crystal shard and magic protection, then more possibilities open up. Suddenly, you can kill black unicorn and black warlock without using skills (really just 1 10m item suffices for this). Also with fewer fights left and if you've already heard Seth, then you can also try for mutated black widow, though a powermove will still kill you in one hit.

If you have the skills and gear to kill the dragon (or be able to if you catch a fairy), then try to avoid using skills in the forest (granted you may need to in order to survive). Also, if you catch a fairy and are properly equipped, you should forfit all remaining forest fights and fight the dragon immediately. The only exception to this is if you are only a few fights away from having enough gold for an upgrade. Once you've caught the fairy, buy the strongest weapon you can, followed by the strongest armour with what you have left, use high spirits on hott if you have them and fight the dragon.

If a fairy would not give you a chance to kill the dragon either because it is your first dragon run and you don't have nira's teeth or 40m gold or you already used your skills up, then you should always ask for a blessing instead. If you get a horse, you might get the DK via a death crystal.

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Upgrading gear:

You are going to be needing to make improvements to your gear as you move through the levels. In the level descriptions, I mentioned various gear goals that you have. For the most part, stronger armour is better for surviving the forest and stronger weapons are more useful for killing players. Because of this, I prefer to upgrade my armour first if possible. Sometimes, though, a weapon upgrade is necessary to get a lucrative kill, and I'll be forced to make due with weaker armour.

When upgrading armour, there is a clear sequence to follow: leather armour -> iron armour -> armour of death -> full body armour -> possible level 12 upgrades

Weapon upgrades on the other hand are a lot more fluid. The first weapon you buy is whatever you can afford when you first need one for a PK. This is usually either a short sword or a long sword. Alternatively, if you get to level 4 very quickly, you may want to buy the short sword for huge black bear and mud man.

On level 6, you will often have to make the choice of which 200k item to buy first. If you can get to 100k exp with a huge axe, then buy the armour of death first as it lets you gather gold faster. If you're stuck having to try a 6 to 8 kill for exp, then buy the power axe and shatter away. You can try to make a run for 8 with power axe and iron armour. You'll still make just as much gold at level 7 and more at level 8 than you would at level 6. If you get a bank double right before making your first purchase on level 6, then buy both, rather than one 400k piece of gear. If you have the armour and get a BD before buying the weapon, then skip to the Able's Sword.

On level 8, you will be faced with the same decision except with full body armour and wan's weapon. I've found that Able's Sword is good enough for the majority of player kills. And so I like to buy full body armour follwed by Able's Sword. If I can't get to 10m exp that quickly, then I'll save up for wan's weapon instead of buying Able's Sword. Able's Sword/Full Body Armour is usually enough to beat Gandalf (though not Turgon) and you can gather 800k gold at level 11 significantly faster than you can gather 600k gold at level 8 or 9, so the cost of the Able's Sword is not a set back. Plus you might get a lucky break on Turgon. If you find yourself on level 8 with 10m exp and no full body armour, then stay at level 8 (unless you have a fairy) as Gandalf rips through armour of death like it's nothing.

If you are on level 11 for multiple days, then buy 4m gear as soon as you can, first the blood armour, and if it comes to it, spear of gold. You want to maximize chances of beating Turgon as getting to level 12 will let you recoup the spent gold quickly.

This sequence of gear purchases is designed to get you to level 12 as quickly as possible. Once you get to level 12, you'll be earning gold faster than ever, and the sequence of upgrades is determined by the skills you have for killing the dragon.

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Killing the dragon:

Dragon number 1: For the first dragon, you will have 12 mystical skills and a handfull of T skills, hopefully at least 5. Since you switch to thief as soon as you can once reaching level 12, this means you are likely to have 2 T uses per day. The best way to kill the first dragon is via horse.

If you get a fairy event in the first couple days at level 12, always ask for a blessing. If you get a horse, then do not enter the forest again. Instead, try gambling at Dark Cloak Tavern and see if you can hit it big (do not play the number guessing game, as it has a lower chance of winning). If not, then just attack the dragon. Every day that you have the horse, simply write romantic mail, pick up player kills if they're available and then immediately search for the dragon (apply hott first if you have high spirits). Put up a light shield and then attack the dragon. Don't bother using T skills as there is no chance to kill the dragon in a conventional manner. But there is around a 14-17% chance, depending on defense and high spirits, that the dragon will throw a death crystal to vaporize your horse and then you will respond by beating it to death. Over half the time, you will kill the dragon within 5 days this way.

Often times, though, you will never find a horse or not early anyway. In this case, just save up for the blood sword. Don't upgrade beyond what you used to beat Turgon with. Instead save the gold for interest and potential bank doubles. Once you are able to, purchase a blood sword and magic protection. You can expect to spend about two weeks at level 12 in this case. You should be able to kill the first dragon by day 30, and if you kill the dragon within 25 days, you'll have a good chance to win.

Dragon 2: With some luck, you will have 12 mystical and 20 thieving skills for dragon number 2. If so, then you will have 5T uses per day, meaning that with a bit of luck you can down the dragon with a crystal shard. In this case, buy the crystal shard as soon as you have 10m gold. Once you have the shard, try to avoid using T skills in the forest. If you reach 10m gold again, then buy magic protection. You should be able to down the dragon with this before you reach 40m gold and buy Nira's Teeth. It is not worth attempting a horse kill for dragon 2, but if a fairy won't help you, you can ask for a blessing and if your horse survives the day in the forest, you might get lucky with one.

If you do not have 20 T points, then you will likely need Nira's Teeth. In this case, do not make any gear purchases until you reach 40m gold and can buy the teeth. The exception to this is if you get a fairy event, then you should try to catch one. If you get it, then buy the crystal shard if you can afford it, followed by the best armour you can get with the remaining gold and fight the dragon. You'll probably win, and if you lose then at least you are better equiped in the forest.

Dragon 3: Here is where you can start getting fast dragon kills. Save up your money until you can buy a crystal shard and then buy it. Repeat for magic protection if you don't kill the dragon within your first couple tries with the shard. If you catch a fairy, then buy the best weapon you can, even if it's just a spear of gold and fight the dragon immediately. If you have at least 6 T uses, you have a good chance of killing it, and a very good chance with 7 uses.

Dragon 4: Ideally, you will have 32 mystical points by this time and hence have the LS-MH combo. I've actually only had this combo for dragon number 4 in one of my three wins. If you catch a fairy, this means that even with just a spear of gold, the dragon kill is extremely likely. More likely you won't get a fairy, in which case you should save for the crystal shard. With LS-MH you should be able to down the beast with the crystal shard before you're able to buy magic protection.

Dragon 5: Now you do have over 32 mystical skills and 35 thieving skills. This makes for a pretty quick DK. Even with a spear of gold you have a decent shot. How conservative you are on upgrades at this point depends on how the standings look. If somebody else made level 12 before you, then you'll have to just get the spear of gold as soon as you can and take your shot with it, as the round will probably be over before you can get something better. If you are the first to make it to 12 and it looks like nobody else will reach 12 within a few days, then you can save up for the crystal shard for the high probability kill.

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Various Questions:

Do I ask for a blessing or try to catch a fairy?

It depends on your situation. On level 12, the answer depends entirely on the answer to the question "will I be able to kill the dragon with a fairy?" The answer will be yes on all but DK1 unless you've used up skills. If you are a thief, then you should try to catch one, as bank robberies are very valuable. If you're a mage, and there is a tough master or low percentage player kill to face then go for the fairy. Also, if it's early in the day and you don't mind switching to thief later, you can try to catch one and hope to find Dark Cloak Tavern.

I just caught a fairy! Do I cash it right away or wait until the end of my day?

It depends. If you don't plan on leveling up, then cash it right away. If you do plan to level up and are pretty certain of beating your master, then wait until you've leveled up to cash it, as it will be worth more. If you aren't equipped to easily handle you master, then cash the fairy in and upgrade. The last thing you want is for your master to eat the fairy and be stuck on a tougher level with sub-standard equipment. The exception is if you're level 11, then use the fairy to get past Tugon and get to level 12.

If you're a thief and thinking of going for a player kill, then most of the time cashing in and upgrading will do you just as good as the extra life; plus you have better gear for future use! Sometimes, though (usually level 8 or higher), you really just need the first strike to get a shatter off and then can go to 12. In that case save the fairy for the player kill. (and then Gandalf/Turgon if it survives)

How do I guess the number from the old man to get M points?

As I said before, there is no way to get it right more than 63% of the time. Just do a binary search (50, 75 or 25, etc.) It's as good as any. Or if you have a feeling about a certain number just go for it. (Note: If this number is greater than 69 or less than 32 then just start out with 69 or 32 as higher after 69 or lower after 32 gaurentees success.)

Should I gamble with the dwarf?

No. It's a waste of time, and you'll probably lose.

Should I gamble at Dark Cloak Tavern?

Sure. Just don't make a bet that can break you. But the dagger game and the wooden teeth game both have a better than 50% chance of success. Avoid the number game, though.

When do I hear Seth?

Whenever you will have the most money in the bank. If you're going to be upgrading gear, this means right before you upgrade. If not, then once you are done with your forest fights. I usually hear Seth with 2 or 3 forest fights left, actually, when I'm not upgrading as how I play my last few fights could depend on whether or not he gives me even more fights.

Alternatively, if you reach the halfway point to a certain milestone, say you have 20m gold on level 12 then you can hear him right then in hopes of reaching said milestone and upgrading immediately.

Should I get a room at the inn?

It depends. On the first dragon run, no. Simply making other people pay to kill you is not worth the gold cost. On later runs it depends on whether you want to be killed by somebody near your level, in hopes that you can later kill them or somebody who killed them and get more exp or if you'd rather a higher level player removed your experience from the pool. Also, if you have high powered equipment for your level, you might get an SD kill if you stay at the inn, although it's unlikely.

Also, if you have skills left over and enough exp to go up one level then staying at the inn can be advantageous in getting a kill later. I.e. If you are level 6 with a power axe and armour of death 3Ts left and 40k-99k exp, then you could stay in the inn at level 6, and hope that a level 8 player plays so you can later leave the inn, go to level 7 and kill them. Most of the time, a level 5 or level 7 player will kill you first, but the opportunity is worth 2400 gold if you have time to track the stats page.

How should I use jennie?

If you are going to be making multiple player kills from below, the use mystical skills and then use gift and repeat. If you can use a fourth player kill, use sexy. If you're going to fight Gandalf and Turgon, use hott on Gandalf. If you start the day on level 11, use hott on Turgon. If you have a tough player kill or a chance to beat the dragon, again use hott. If you're a thief and run out of gems, use foxy. If you have nothing in particular to spend high spirits on, then use lady if you're level 6 or below and babe if you're level 7 or above.

What's the deal with Olivia?

Early in the game, you will not be able to get high spirits from Olivia. You'll notice that she is depicted as being sad. Once she warms up to you, though, asking for a kiss will gaurentee high spirits for the rest of the round. So just get inside her head until she finally says your name. That's the key to knowing when she's warmed up. After that, get inside her head if you're already in high spirits. If not, then ask for a kiss if it's late in the day. If it's early in the day, then think about if there is anything particularlly useful to spen high spirits on and if not then get inside her head as a tower rescue could be quite a bit more valuable.

How should I spend my gems?

If you are below level 12, buy vitality. Sometimes if you have an odd amount of strength, you can buy 1 strength potion to get it to the next even number. Once you reach level 12, buy strength.

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Player Kills:

Getting quality kills to boost your experience is vital to leveling up in an efficient manner. If you can plan ahead and see what stats you are likely to have, you can see what levels are attainable. Wait for somebody with enough exp to get you to your goal level for that day to play and end their day alive. Make sure this player is killable, though. If you know somebody is overpowered then it's best to avoid them. Do not log in while your potential kill is still playing. They might die in the forest leaving you with no kill.

Sometimes you might check the stats page to see a kill you want, but somebody else who can kill them is already playing! If you know that player's tendencies, then it may be the case that you can swoop in and grab the kill from under them while they are in the forest. This has the added advantage that you will then have the time advantage on the player already online and might even be able to kill them too! Of course, you risk the possibility that the player is already in the process of making the kill and then either dies or levels up out of reach of you (or is a same level kill which you can not execute). I've found that sniping a kill is most effective if the online player has been online for 2-3 minutes. This means they probably went to play the forest before attempting the kill and are likely not done yet with the forest.

Whether you go for the kill immediately or wait depends on a number of factors. The biggest of these is how likely you are to get the kill. If the kill is high percentage then take it right away so you don't risk somebody sniping it. For low percentage kills wait until you've done your day in the forest so you don't lose an entire day to being SD killed. Sometimes, especially on the lower levels, you will be upgrading your gear that day in which case you can play the forest until you have enough money to upgrade, then go for the player kill. Often times, getting this player kill means then leveling up and playing the rest of your day at your goal level.

If you plan on getting a ressurect kill at 12:03, then only do so if you are pretty certain that you will get the kill, as you will be forced to attempt the kill first thing.

In red realm, you also have to figure out when other players, particullarly if they are higher level than you, are likely to play so as to avoid having them jump in and kill you as soon as you log on. Also keep in mind other exp that is available when you log in. For example if you're level 5 and there is no level 7-11 players alive then you don't have to worry so much about a level 8 to 11 player hunting you, as they won't be able to get exp if they do.

Lastly, if you play your day quickly enough and then notice somebody come on and take more time to play than you did, you can log back in and have the time advantage on them and be able to kill them rather than them killing you. There is no reason to try logging back in earlier than that, as the other player can simply wait for your time to expire and all you accomplish is wasting both of your time. Also, logging back early carries the risk of triggering the ressurect bug. Most of the time, the other player will kill you first thing, but if they don't then you might as well keep track of time and see if you have a chance to log back in with the advantage.

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That about covers all the strategy and tricks of the trade. Sometimes, you will be granted unique circumstances. Like last round there was a time in which I caught a fairy at level 8 and had three higher level kills available at levels 9, 10, and 11. At finding Dark Cloak Tavern, I switched to thief, even though I knew it could cost me having 32M for dragon 4. I killed the level 9, went to 9 to kill the 10, went to 10 to cash the fairy, buy wan's weapon and kill the 11. It did cost me 32M for dragon 4 but also sped up killing dragon 3 by at least 3 days.

You will need to improvise at times, but following this guide should produce dragon kills in 12 days or less with regularity. Also, getting a simulator to give you odds with player kills, masters, and forest creatures is helpful. I didn't have any for my first two rounds at Nuklear, the first of which I won, but it was certainly handy to have. Perhaps if you ask the mystical one nicely enough, maybe he'll share it with you. Happy dragon hunting!