~Lords Of Midnight III 


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~RESCUING PRISONERS

Rescuing prisoners should be a high priority in the game. Without the
prisoners of the realms at your side, your quest for the Blood March 
will be your last quest! Rescued prisoners are initially under your 
command but do not owe you allegiance since they have not been 
recruited to join your Alliance.  While their allegiance is to their
home realm, rescued prisoners will be under your command in battle 
against the Wolfheart. Rescued characters are quite important due to 
the fact that they are able to recruit from all the Castles and 
Citadels that carry their realms standard.


~SMART RESCUING

First and Foremost, leave Coreleth of Corelay and Arin Lord Blood in
the Dark Citadel of Maranor until all the prisoners are rescued. If
you rescue the characters early in the game, they will no longer be
able to re-enter the dungeons and rescue characters. Early in the 
game it is best to take direct control of one of the characters and 
lead them through the Dark Citadel. Since the AI will randomly pick
routes through the Dungeon intersection and will many times 
completely miss a prisoner. The dungeon has a main route that can 
easily be identified by it's similarly textured ceiling, floor, 
and walls.  Searching all corridors that branch from the main route 
is the best way to locate prisoners. You need to be methodical in 
your search, as finding prisoners isn't the easiest of tasks. A good
idea might be to draw a dungeon map to aid you in a through search 
of the Dark Citadel.


~RECRUITING SYSTEM

Recruiting works on a point based system, based on the recruiter and
Non-Player Character's (NPC's) personality attributes. There are 64 
personality attributes within the game, 32 good, 32 bad. For every 
attribute that the recruiter and the NPC have in common, such as 
Loyal vs. Loyal, 1 point is added towards the total. For every 
attribute that is in opposite, such as Brave vs. Cowardly, 1 point 
is subtracted from the total. Attributes that have nothing in common
with will be counted as no points. 

The recruiter must have 2 points in his or her favor to bring the 
NPC around to his or her cause. If the prisoner from the NPC's realm
has already been rescued from the Dark Citadel, you will only need 1
point in order to recruit that character. However, if the total 
amounts to 0 points, the NPC will refuse to be recruited. If at the 
end of the point calculation, the total is negative (-1 or lower), 
the NPC will be offended, and will attack the recruiter. If an
NPC you are trying to recruit is being difficult, you may have to 
find another NPC that you are able to recruit. This other recruit 
may be able to recruit the original NPC you wanted. Who you recruit
into your Alliance is a large part of the game's strategy and may 
ultimately determine your success or failure in the game.


~SMART RECRUITING

The smart thing to do is look at the personalities of the recruiter 
and the possible prospect for your cause. Add the points up, 
(remember to factor in the status of the prisoners) and you will 
safely be able to see what the probable outcome of your recruit 
attempt.

Your first selection for recruiting should be the lords of the 
Citadels in the realms surrounding your start position. This will 
gain you an instant flow of troops since Citadels attract troops 
at double the rate of Castles. 


~COMBAT

Intelligent combat is the key to victory in warfare. If your 
character or fellowship's army outmatches that of an enemy NPC and 
your are not skilled in manual combat, then the best strategy is to 
set the game to Time Race On. The computer AI will then go through 
a series of combat routines that will often achieve victory for your
army. Your chances for success are greater if your have a large 
army. Even if victorious, you must expect your army to take 
casualties. If your army is smaller (or if you are skilled in manual
combat) then manual combat is the best strategy. In manual combat 
you control the actions of your character, swinging your sword and 
parrying attacks. Often, manual combat results in your army taking 
less casualties than when you allow the AI to direct your army's 
attacks. Additional factors into your success in combat are 
Artifacts, Castles and Citadels and Character Personalities.

Artifacts can add or subtract bonuses to combat, depending on the
item that is being wielded and who is wielding it.

Castles and Citadels add bonuses to defense while troops occupy 
them. Castles and Citadels either triple or quadruple, 
respectively, the amount of troops garrisoned within them (e.g. 
The Citadel of Beomir has 500 troops within it's walls. If the 
Citadel is attacked the troops will defend as if they were 2,000 
troops).

Character personalities play a part in combat also. A hero on a 
whole is more combat orientated than a warrior. A character that 
has Mighty Warrior as a personality attribute fights with the 
combat strength of 100 troops. However, if a character has Feeble 
Warrior as a personality attribute, they fight with the strength 
of 25 troops. All other characters fight with the strength of 50 
troops in combat.


~SMART COMBAT

Learning manual combat should be one of your first goals. In the 
long run, it will save you troops and make combat easier throughout 
the game. If you outnumber an enemy by 3 to 1, odds are that the AI
will win the battle for you.

When dealing with the defense of Keeps and Boroth the Wolfheart, 
the best tactic is to withdraw all troops garrisoned within a Keep 
before Boroth and his army. Better to retreat and return to fight 
another day than to die in vain against unbeatable enemies.


~PATHS TO POWER AND GLORY

Here are some proven victory strategies


THE DOUBLE PLAY

Have a character with a large amount of troops take over the 
surrounding Castles and Citadels. As time goes on the Castles and 
Citadels that the character has taken over will begin to attract 
troops to your standard. Have another character of your alliance 
follow in your wake, stopping at each Castle and Citadel, recruiting
all the troops garrisoned there. This tactic will steadily increase 
the size of your character's armies. 

CAT AND MOUSE

Boroth the Wolfheart will systematically take over every Castle and 
Citadel within a realm. He will only leave to rage across another 
realm when he has secured his holdings. Once way to keep him 
occupied is to gather a force large enough and follow Boroth the 
Wolfheart through his rampage. As he seizes a Keep and moves on 
towards another, you recapture it. In this way you can keep Boroth 
in one realm while your Alliance travels across the Blood March
recruiting enough troops to remove the blight of Boroth from the 
land.

TAKING THE THRONE

Attacking Boroth the Wolfheart in the Blood March will cost you many 
needless losses since Boroth is returned as a wraith in the Dark 
Citadel and is once again defended by a horde of troops with the 
defense bonus of Citadels. Your best tactic is to march with 
35,000+ troops, all the artifacts, and a Mighty Warrior as your 
Fellowship Leader to the Dark Citadel of Maranor and seize it. 
Once you seize the Dark Citadel, garrison it with Alliance troops. 
Boroth the Wolfheart will then return to reclaim his lost Citadel. 
In the ensuing combat your Alliance army will receive the defense 
bonus for the Dark Citadel of Maranor and should be able to defeat 
Boroth. 


Well that is it ...
Good luck in your quests!
