Classic Games Revisited
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands Walkthrough
42. War
Once you have decided which wishes you want to use and when, you can walk out of the city at 1 or ask the genie to take you out (there is no difference). The battles take place on the northeast corner of White Sands. The campfire at 2 is no longer there (even if the developers hadn’t removed it, it would not be accessible, and even if it were accessible, you can’t rest during combat).
42.1. First Wave
If you didn’t ask for the genie’s help, you will be set upon by the first wave of monsters sent ahead by the army of Draj. Your allies are not yet available, so only your party of four will have to contend with three of each of rampagers, black mastyrials, earth elementals, water elementals, and vrocks. All very potent enemies, and 15-to-4 (or 5 if you use a summon) does not put the odds in your favor. If you used the genie’s help, this wave will not appear and you will directly be confronted by Drajian warriors.
If this is your opening battle, go ahead and cast Walls of Fire across the length of the battlefield. Cast the furthest one first. You can’t cast a wall behind another because your vision will be blocked. Note that when your allies turn up, they will walk into the flames too (as will you, probably). Anyone touching the flames will take damage each round, so don’t cast the walls in your immediate vicinity. Leave a little space to maneuver.
If you already know where you want to place the walls, spam the C key while the map is loading. You will be able to cast both walls before anyone spawns, and the enemies will take damage when they appear as well as when they start walking towards you, significantly thinning out their ranks, especially if the second wave is your first battle.
After all creatures are killed, you will have a few seconds to either make a wish or heal up.
42.2. Second Wave
The second wave consists of three groups of Templars, each leading three guards, one psionicist and two Daggorans. Apart from the psionicists themselves, Daggorans can use psionics too. Your allies show up just before them. Although each group promised us warriors (plural), we get only one representative (Jasmine from Gedron, Uskuye from Cedrilte, and a Village Hero) from each. Also, although we extracted vows of help from four allies, only three of them turn up.
If you haven’t done so already, cast Walls of Fire, as they will linger around and hit the next wave too. Repeating myself in case you didn’t read about it in the first wave: cast the furthest firewall first. Needless to say, be careful where you walk while the ground is on fire. It is possible to enter a firewall more than once in one movement and take hits every time! The flames will probably kill several of the forces outright, but their most important function is to disable spellcasting.
42.3. Third Wave
Before the third wave starts, you will have a few seconds to heal up or call upon your genie to make a wish. Use the time wisely. I’ll wish to be healed. Unfortunately, I can’t cast a third firewall to fill up the space between my current two because all wall spells obscure vision. But since I have my spells refreshed, Dubhe will cast Fire Shield on himself. He will renew Haste, but not Blink—his Fire Shield taking hits is good for us, as long as he doesn’t die of course.
If you use the genie to rest, you may need to re-equip all your magical items. Check the Effects screen: buffs coming from gear may have been erased.
The third wave consists of the Army Commander (Kraxis), a dozen elite guards, a couple of psionicists, at least four defilers, and three mastyrials. If Wyrmias was able to (or allowed to) flee Gedron, he would join in too. There could be more troops; I’m not sure if some of the weaker ones (psionicists and defilers) died upon spawning. The elite guards have a lot of HP (around 100). Try disabling spells and/or psionics to hold, stun or paralyze them, hopefully before you are put into combat mode. You shouldn’t need to worry about the spellcasters because of the firewalls.
42.4. Dragon’s Bane
When the battle ends, a cutscene will show you (presumably the party leader) holding up Dragon’s Bane over the dead body of the army commander, declaring victory over Draj. Credits will follow. The entire party gets 20,000xp. Any allies who are alive will cheer and teleport away. The genie will sing your praises and vanish (you cannot make any more wishes if you had any left).
On the ground next to you will be Dragon’s Bane, a +4 heavy long sword (shown as Dragonsbane in the game, possibly due to the limited space). It is an excellent weapon to take into Wake of the Ravager. In fact, you can use the Multiplying Items exploit to end up with a total of eight of these swords, and dual-wield everyone with them because there is no concept of heavy weapons in that game.
The army commander’s body will have a +3 Great Axe (two-handed), and a full suit of metal armor which fetches a lot of ceramics. You do not need to walk across the flames to reach all bodies. Even though during battle the walls obscured our vision, looting from afar is possible now. Actually being able to spot the bodies among the flames is another matter. A little mouse-hunting may be needed.
All the elite guards will drop metal long swords, if you want to pick them up for even more money. The defilers would have dropped a lemon and guava each. One will have dropped a necklace that casts Disintegrate.
Finish all your looting before you leave the area. The map will reload and all bodies will have disappeared when you return. Items left on the ground will remain in place though. The campfire in this region will still not be there.
42.5. Leader of the People
We are not yet done. When you have finished looting, teleport to Teaquetzl (to avoid walking through the flames). The previously surly guard will have calmed down and another villager will inform you that Chahl died in battle.
Go to the war council at 2. They will be gushing with joy at our victory. Ask about Chahl, and they will eventually ask if you are willing to be the new village chief. If you accept, each party member gets 1,000xp. You can chat some more if you like, but you are officially done. You can go around Athas killing monsters for more XP and items if you like, but there are no more quests in the game.
As mentioned before, someone named Alhena is supposed to turn up at the Elvish Caravan campfire, but that has never materialized for me.