LOCATION: The evil wizard's castle is located to the west of the final shrine. You should walk left over the bridges, up the sandy strip to the forest, then follow that forestation as it arcs around a lake. Once you follow it through to the other side, you'll see the castle just to your southwest, isolated on a sandy peninsula. Keep following the narrow bit of forest until you come around and see a sandy path overhead, which leads to the castle.
The valley leading to Hargon's Castle is filled with all sorts of nasties that also happen to reward you with a bundle of experience points if you can beat them. This is clearly the best place in the game to boost up your character stats, but doing so is downright dangerous.
Some of the worst monsters you can encounter are the Blizzards, which possess a spell that can instantly kill unfortunate party members. It's a cheap move and it seems to work best on the hero, though don't be surprised if it occasionally takes out the prince or princess. These creatures are best assaulted with a robust selection of fire-based spells in the first turn. Then you can clean up in the second round with physical attacks (particularly if, like me, you have the prince equipped with the Falcon Sword and its two strikes per turn).
Don't make the mistake of letting your guard down for any of the other monsters, either. The giants have large life meters and their strikes definitely do a lot of damage. The gold batboon monsters can put you to sleep with their sweet breath, and they also breathe scorching flames that can quickly do a lot of damage. Some fierce physical attacks are your best bet against them. Meanwhile, the bullwong uses the lethal Explodet spell, which can hit everyone in your party for around 50 points worth of damage. He also has a huge life meter, and spells attempting to nullify his magic almost never work. The solution? Try putting him to sleep.
With these strategies in hand, you'll hopefully be able to make it safely to the castle. If you run into bad luck (at this stage in the game, any encounter that goes awry could easily mean the death of you), you'll return to the shrine with half of your gold for a free revival. Then you can try again. One way or another, you should eventually make it to the castle in one piece to begin your final assault.
Inside the castle, you'll find what looks like the castle town of Midenhall, where you began the game. You can stay at the inn to refill your health if you like. Once you've done so, use the Charm of Rubiss to make the illusion melt away. You're now in a dungeon surrounded by swamp, with flames moving about the area.
Begin by walking north toward the throne, where two purple monsters stand. Cast the spell of Stepguard, then walk onto the candy-striped floor behind. Head to the left side, face the gray wall, and use the Jailer's Key. This will open a door you didn't even realize was there, and allow you into a hallway behind it. You'll need to cast Stepguard again, then head to the door to the right. Use the golden key to open it, then step into the area beyond. You'll see a gray tile at the center of more of those electrified floors. Walk up to the tile (you'll want to use Stepguard magic yet again) and when you've arrived, use the Eye of Malroth.
Before I continue, I should make a note. Before reaching Hargon, you'll have to face three guardians. When you defeat them, they'll stay gone for good until you save and power off the system. The implications of this are obvious: don't attempt anything until you've leveled up sufficiently. Once that's done, just take down one boss at a time and keep pressing onward. It may take a few trips through the castle, but the Repel spell should make them quick. In almost no time at all, you should eat through the guardians and find yourself locked in battle with Hargon.
Of course, you'll need to find your way there, first. When you appear in the new area, you'll see a grated area to the right. There's an entryway on its left side, which you should enter to reveal a staircase to your right. Climb that flight of stairs to the next floor.
You'll appear in a small room, with a path leading north. Follow it into the next room and follow that path as it winds around to another grated area to the lower left. Enter that space to find more pathway that winds to the upper left and a staircase leading to the next floor. Climb it to the next floor.
You're now in another small enclosed room, with grating to the right. Pass through to the grating to find a path that winds its way around more grating. Follow it and enter more grating to find a staircase that leads up to the next floor. Before you walk to the right, make sure that your party members are buffed up and ready for battle. Once they are, go ahead and walk right and a monster known as Atlas will attack you.
This is an encounter you can't run from, so hit him with everything you've got. He can attack twice per round, so you have to make the most of each attack you manage to land. Mostly, he seems to just go down the list of people in your party. You should let your hero attack with physical blows while the others keep his health up and cast spells to improve your defense or weaken your foe. Offensive fire spells don't damage the giant at all. When you've defeated Atlas, climb the stairs to the next floor.
You'll appear on a new floor with four grated areas. From the head of this staircase, walk left until you're almost at the edge of the building, then look up to the grated area just above you. Walk up so you're standing by its side, heal everyone in your party, then walk right into the grating. This will trigger a boss battle with a monster called Bazuzu.
Bazuzu looks like the batboon monsters that you've fought outside of Hargon's Castle, only he's purple. He may try to put you to sleep, he may cast firebane, or he may cast Defeat spells. Either way, physical attacks are again your best offense. Hit him with everything you've got and he should go down fairly quickly. Go ahead and climb the stairs just to the right.
You now appear within an enclosed chamber. Walk to the right into the grated area and you'll see another grated area just to the right. When you enter it, you'll see a staircase just ahead. Heal your party members yet again, then walk toward the right. A few steps before the stairs, another boss monster will attack. This one's name is Zarlox.
Zarlox is an obnoxious sort of monster. He has strong fire magic that he will use to drain your health, and if you attack him fiercely, he'll eventually cast a healall spell to refill his life, just before you have him defeated. By then, you're probably all but dead yourself. The trick is to get his health low, then go all out on the last turn or so and destroy him before he has a chance to recover. When you defeat him, go ahead and climb that staircase to the castle's final floor.
From the head of this staircase, make sure you cast the Stepguard spell before you walk left along the colored floor toward a room at the center of this floor. There, Hargon waits. When you talk to him, it will trigger a battle with the infamous wizard.
Hargon is much like Zarlox, but with an added wrinkle: he can put you to sleep and quite frequently will. When he's not using his scented breath, he'll cast a Sleep spell. The effect is the same, but generally you'll have at least one healer who doesn't drop into slumber. Make sure to keep your health as high as possible while the hero just keeps striking with physical attacks. Hargon will heal all his health two or three times, but eventually you'll survive the onslaught of sleep and explodet magic long enough to take him out of commission.
When you defeat Hargon, you might think your quest is over. However, it's not. Immediately heal everyone in your party. When you try to exit the chamber, "Hargon the Great" will summon a "sorcerer of the Shadowtime," who happens to be none other than Malroth.
Malroth looks like a dragon and, we can assume, is missing an eyeball. The sprite doesn't make this apparent but--oh, you want strategies on how to beat him? Just do what you've been doing against the likes of scrubs like Hargon and Zarlox. One thing you want to avoid is passing out because of all the damage Malroth can inflict on your party. For example, I came to him in pretty good shape, but he immediately rendered the hero unconscious and I had to watch as Malroth just slaughtered my party. If you avoid this fate--and from what I can tell, it's all about luck--you'll be disgusted to find that Malroth also is capable of nullifying any damage you've done to him in a single turn. Worse, he breathes flames that will quickly make short work of everyone's life meter. This is a tough battle, but you should be able to win if you persevere.
Once you defeat Malroth, of course, you'll see the end of the game. I'm not going to spoil it for you. After such a long trek, you deserve to enjoy it!
NEXT: Conclusion
