The Hall Of Heroes and Champion Selection
As usual in multi-character adventures, it’s a case of that old chestnut about opting for balanced parties, with at least one of each of the four character classes being represented. Magic is very important in Dungeon Master II and it’s useful to have specialist Priests and Wizards, but don’t neglect the beefy Conan-style bruisers because you’ll need some raw muscle power too. If you can get away with having two main spellcasters supported by a third back-up magic user, then you’re quids in. Of course part of the attraction of RPGs is choosing your own unique party, but just for reference (and this is by no means the definitive group) we chose Graen Ozbor (a serious Wizard mana-wise and useful multi-classer), Seri Flamehair (groovy Priest and Wizard combo) and Bane Blade Cleaver (crazy name, crazy guy) to accompany the all-round skills of Torham.

Outside Skullkeep
Your first task is to gather the scattered clan keys which will allow you access to Skullkeep itself. The village and the Sun Key: Although the manual covers this first section pretty comprehensively, there are a couple of tips worth noting. Use the shops to outfit your party with the best equipment you can afford and remember you can trade items for cash, to buy superior weapons and armour. Plan in advance for later hostilities and go well tooled-up. Also stock up on waterskins (bota) so that everyone can replenish their own supply. The Lightning Key: Go north as far as you can, passing the Lightning door until you come to the abode of the Thorn Demons. Take the path west by a large tree, then go north and you’ll find an arch leading into a mist-enshrouded area. In the middle of a mysterious stone circle, you’ll find the Lightning Key nestling upon the altar of Lightning, but be careful of the whirlwinds. The Moon Key: After you’ve opened the Lightning door, head east and pick up a path by a small tree which goes first north and then east, to enter the wolves’ swampy lair. Try not to provoke them, otherwise you’ll end up as a dog’s breakfast! Head east and travel north via the left-hand path and either jump or use a rope to lower yourself into the pit. Push aside the boulder and climb the ladder, then grab the bone and hurl it at the wolves to keep them occupied (no tins of Pedigree Chum here, then!). The Moon altar can be found to the south-west, whereon rests the Moon Key and some other useful items. Grab them quickly and leg it back to the Moon door as fast as your little legs will carry you. The Energy Key: Saunter intrepidly through the Moon door and chug south until you come to a teleport pad. Nearby you’ll find the Energy door, but head east into the axemen’s domain and you’ll discover the Energy altar sitting in the centre of this area. Use your magic map and dodge and weave to evade the axemen’s murderous attentions and take all of the items from the altar. To the north you’ll find three new shops and a whole new feast of consumer opportunities. The Fire Key: Through the Energy door and you should ‘go west young man’ until you find an arch, and a vorpral blade residing in a nearby niche. If ghosts aren’t your thing, avoid the statue and the tomb in the eerie cemetery then go south, slipping past the haunted trees, to ultimately head east towards the ancient temple Once inside the temple, you’ll discover a button on the right-hand side of a pit room that opens an alcove, to reveal the Fire Key. Close at hand is another room with moving pits; so cast ‘Accelerate’ and dash east and then south to get to the Fire door. If you take a tumble, pick yourself up and try again, but look for a secret button in a large subterranean room – this will yield a bucketful of gems. The Air Key and the last clan piece: Run down the hall of Mummies, open the door and get inside, then rip the tapestry from the wall and collect the Air Key, as well as a fury. As the Mummies begin their assault, use the fury to lob a few fireballs and watch as they ‘Burn baby burn!’. Use the Air Key to open the other door in the moving pit room and, casting ‘Accelerate’, make a charge for the Air door. Once inside, a simple coin can be exchanged over the bartering table for the last clan piece. You’re now ready to enter the grim bastion that is Skullkeep itself.

Skullkeep
Stage 1: Mucking about with minions
A fiendish puzzle awaits, as Skullkeep’s doors close behind you. First look at the tech eye but retreat sharpish to avoid the hail of fireballs. Enter the small alcove, face north and press the buttons on your left and right, then rush the gates as they open. You won’t quite make it the first time, so return to the now deactivated tech eye, point south and cast ‘Accelerate’. The best method here is to use the mouse on the button and the cursor keys to retreat backwards as rapidly as possible. Once you’ve cleared the third gate, they all remain open, but you can set guard minions to block the others and buy some extra time. Next, obtain the minion map and stand right on the Tempest square. Use the map, choose X and go back to the stairs. If you select the icon with the minion moving away, it will now bring the sword to you. You’re now ready to tackle the fearsome Dark Vexirks, so use the bell rope to call them, then retreat east, using minions to slow the Vexirks down. Take the Numen staff, which you can then use to defeat the Vexirk king. The Numen staff is the hardest weapon in the entire game, and it can be recharged via the cauldron. It also opens both the outer gate and inner door. To reach the tech eye hall, you’ve got to use the minion map again. Mark the floor switch, stand next to the door and send a minion to drop a coin on the trigger. Then, as it opens, dive through and press the button to keep it open. Select the Ros button on the map to reveal some false walls and use one to get behind the first tech eye and open the plate to neutralise it. Concealed buttons will open the rest, but remember to dodge the fireballs by scampering behind false walls. Repeat the process until you’ve secured the area. You can find your way into the boiler room by getting the large gear and placing it on the device next to the door. You can stock up on extra gears at the magic shop, or, if you’re quick, you can snatch the original gear and go on to each subsequent door.

Stage 2: Hoist by his own petard!
The next phase of your quest begins in the boiler room, but first you should slaughter the minions and get the Earth Key. Place it in the lock and pull the lever and a door will open, but the key will disappear into a pit and plummet two levels down. To retrieve it, pull the lever on the central ladder and go down, heading south. You’ll come to an area full of boulders, so push one into a pit and take another ladder down. Head west and then north to enter the home turf of the dreaded Dru-Tan. Dru-Tan himself is quite hard and a bit tasty, so a spot of guile is required. Run west past the first door and open the next with the lever. Ducking inside, face the spiked wall and wait for big Dru to arrive, then run to the other end, springing the trap. A concealed button will open the second door, so jump through and close it behind you. Dru-Tan will be a goner! Open the door from the outside and use the lever to reset the mechanism. If the trap fails, you’ll have to slug it out with sorcery. You can now get both the Earth and Blood Keys, so go through the Blood door and use the button. Follow the Rockies through the teleport, then head east and kill the enemy minion, allowing the Rockies to stoke the furnace. Then use your own minion to prevent it from being blocked again. A ladder will take you back to the boiler room and you should use the boiler switch, although you’ll need to complete some other tasks before the boiler lights properly. Open the other Earth door and stand on the floor trigger. Now use your scout map to send a minion onto the other side of the pit to block the Zo balls, while leaving the pit open. Your way should now be clear and a ladder will allow you to proceed up and onto the next phase of your mission.

Stage 3: Puzzles, pits and perdition
The easiest way to get the Master Key is to buy a vacuum fuse from the magic shop. However, failing this, you’re in for a bit of fun with a levitating chest, which you can blow away with fireballs. Once you’ve got the fuse, place it in the device next to the west door to open it and then check for illusionary walls once inside. A large gear and the Master Key will open up the lever puzzle room. Retrieve the key and fiddle about with the levers, leaving them in the up position before returning to the pump room. On the way, hack through the barrels and use the Master Key to open the final door. The pump room itself will yield the Iron and Cross Keys but you should then restart the pump, using another vacuum fuse before lowering the ladder. Return to where you found the Master Key and prepare to enter the next level. Loosen up your sword arm, smite your way through the table room and you’ll end up facing the ram puzzle. Cast our old friend the Accelerate spell and, starting at the eastern-most ram, use your niftiest footwork to slide past as it retracts into the wall. The next double-ram requires an even defter touch. Wait until the first ram goes into the wall, then step forward, pausing for just the slightest moment before dashing past the second. You’ve made it, phew! The reflector room’s problems can be approached in a couple of ways, but the simplest is to angle the centre and side reflectors and shoot a fireball north at the target Ð this will get rid of the pits. Go east and you’ll find a ladder going up. However, you’ve also got to deal with the mobile teleport fields, so move all of the reflectors into that room, aligning them south to north and use the reflectors to force the fields east, blocking them in. Be careful not to cut off your exits. The reflector room’s locked door can be atomised by the judicious use of fireballs, but the next door, beyond the teleport fields, requires a bit more cunning. Send a scout minion to the middle of the pits and chuck a coin at it. It should deflect onto the floor trigger, which will then remove the pits and open the door, hey presto! The Master Key will then open the valve room’s door.

Stage 4: Toe to toe with Dragoth
Your first problem is to get through the hall of lightning, so time things carefully, charge to the far end and a button will remove the threat. Take the Onyx Key but leave the Skull Key where it is for the moment (one key must remain in the niche at all times) and open the Onyx door. You’re now ready to activate the Zo-link device and if you don’t fancy messing around and want to opt for the brute-force- and-ignorance approach, simply go through the Onyx door, pull all four switches in the Zo-link chamber and fire the Numen staff straight at the central crystal to open the portal. However, if you prefer the more delicate, problem solving method, do the following… Open the Onyx door and you’ll end up by the Zo-link chamber. Lower the ladder, return to the control room and retrieve the Onyx Key. Now swap the Onyx for the Skull Key and go back down to the teleport field room. Climb back up to the Zo-link chamber and you’ll trigger a teleport field which you should then enter. Fireball the nearest deflector to blow apart a table then, pushing the brazier aside, destroy the other table and go through the door. Once you’re in the storage room, shift the deflectors into the Zo-link chamber and put them onto the drain gates. Go to the short hall and push the switch to the portal, then use the switch on the south wall to send a stream of fireballs at the crystal. Repeat with the other fireball switch, then go to the north wall and release lightning bolts with the last switch to open the Zo-link (this won’t work unless you’ve refuelled the burner). Whichever method you chose, you’ve now got to face Dragoth himself, so beef your party up to its full fighting fettle. Accelerate again past the moving platforms and when you reach Dragoth’s lair, set guard minions straightaway, keeping them close to him. Dodge his spell attacks and ignore the attack minions, but don’t be afraid to get in at close quarters; either sizzling him your heftiest fireballs or frying him with the Numen staff. Once Dragoth is no more, the realm is saved and, presumably, everyone lives happily ever after (until Dungeon Master III anyway).

General Hints
To raise your characters’ experience levels, practice as they say, makes perfect. Keep extending the powers of your spellcasters by experimenting with unfamiliar spells and higher power levels while you’re not engaged in combat. If you need fighting experience, find a large but lowly group of monsters and give them a good pasting with your warriors. Ninja skills can be improved similarly and you can even gain some extra experience by throwing things at inanimate objects. To drum up some extra money, sell any fairy cushions you find and the dead axemen’s weapons can be turned in for a tidy profit at the first village. The magic shop offers handsome remuneration for any magic items and you can also buy the Kalan gauntlet here and sell it at the weapons shop to earn some extra lucre. Certain armours can enhance natural abilities; for example, the fire poleyn adds strength, the tech helm increases wisdom and the cloak of night aids dexterity. Shields are also useful because some of them cast spells and increase resistance to magic and fire-based attacks. The rule is to check out your stats before and after wearing a piece of armour or clothing, to see how it affects you. Weapons-wise, the Numen staff is probably the most potent piece of kit in the entire game but the NETA staff and emerald orb are valuable for both mana bonuses and healing. Vorpral weapons are pretty meaty but as far as swords go, the Excsymyr is your top melee cleaver, with both lightning fast attacks and chunky damage on offer. Happy hacking.

Priest Spells

Party Shield: YA IR
Spell Shield: YA IR DAIN
Aura of Strength: OH EW KU
Aura of Dexterity: OH EW ROS
Aura of Vitality: OH EW NETA
Fire Shield: FUL BRO NETA
Darkness: DES IR SAR
Porter Minion: ZO EW ROS
Reflector: ZO BRO ROS
Guard Minion: ZO EW NETA

Potions

Stamina: YA
Shield: YA BRO
Wisdom: YA BRO DAIN
Vitality: YA BRO NETA
Health: VI
Cure Poison: YA BRO
Dexterity: OH BRO ROS
Strength: FUL BRO KU
Mana: ZOBRO RA

Wizard Spells

Magic Marker: YA EW
Poison Cloud: OH VEN
Invisibility: OH EW SAR
Push: OH KATH KU
Pull: OH KATH ROS
Lightning Bolt: Oh KATH RA
Accelerate Party: OH IR ROS
Daylight: OH IR RA
Firelight: FUL
Fireball: FUL IR
Poison Foe: DES VEN
Harm Non-Material Being: DES EW
Open Door: Zo
Attack Minion: ZO EW KU