User Guide

R)un away. If you succeed, then the combat is over. If you don't, then the
monsters get a free round of attacks.
H)ide from monsters. Thieves and Ninjas may attempt to hide in the shadows,
making them invisible to the monsters and not subject to attack. Of course, it is
possible for a monster to spot a hidden character and then attack. It is not a fool-
proof way of getting out of trouble! Also, the Thief or Ninja's ability to hide
depends upon a number of factors, such as experience level, abilities, level of the
monsters looking for him/her, and so on.
The Hide option is always available to the Thief or Ninja regardless of their
position in the party. If they are already Hidden, the Ambush option will appear
instead. Since a Thief or Ninja can advance on a monster while Hidden, they may
Ambush from the last rank in the party! Likewise, they may be smashed in that
rank if they are discovered.
A)mbush the monsters. If a Thief or Ninja successfully hides from the monsters,
during the next combat round this option will appear. Using this option, the
character may launch a surprise attack on some monster, increasing the chances
to hit and doing up to two times the normal damage! There is one slight
drawback however. Usually after an Ambush attack, the Thief or Ninja's position
is revealed, and they are subjected to attack, regardless of their placement in the
party. The better the Thief or Ninja, the less chance of becoming exposed after
an Ambush attack.
Should a Thief/Ninja be Hidden and be one of the first three player positions, the
Ambush option will override the normal Fight option. If you prefer to have your
character Fight normally, rather than Ambush, do not select the Hide option.
Additionally, if you want your character to stay Hidden, select the Parry option.
Once exposed after an Ambush attack, the Thief or Ninja may either attempt to
Hide again, thus preventing the monsters from attacking him or her further, or
withdraw back to the normal position in the party. However, because your
character once attempted to attack the monsters, they still hold a nasty grudge!
Once exposed, the character is subject to attack, though no longer able to
Ambush, until hidden again!
Any magic spell cast by a monster that affects the entire party, will affect a Hidden
character.
Note: Even if the character's position is in the first three slots, he or she will not
be subject to attack, unless a monster spots the character! Theoretically, a high
level Thief, alone in the Dungeon, might be able to Hide and stay Hidden even
after an Ambush attack! If this were to happen, the monsters would never know
what hit them, and they would not be able to attack anything!
T)ake Back lets you go back to the start of the Combat option selection in case
you made a mistake.
Once you have made your selections, you will have one last chance to Take Back your
orders. If you press [ENTER] instead, the combat round will start.
A Combat Short-cut
If any character can fight (that is, he or she is equipped with a weapon that has range
enough to strike the monsters), you can press [ENTER] to select the default option,
Fight. If not, the default option is Parry, which is also selected by pressing [ENTER].
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Heart of the Maelstrom