Secret of Evermore Hints/Tips/Semi-Walkthrough

Comments and additions to Erik Oliver, <oliver@dolphin.upenn.edu>. Also, I want to mention that there are some notes and additions which I did not include, they mostly were locations of various "special" items which are not necessary to complete the game. They were omitted in the interest of keeping the Walkthrough short and to the point of getting players through the game. Just about every major question I've seen asked on USENET is answered except for the pesky Mosquito in Gothica...

Version: 11/28/95

General

The Dog

Even though you can not have a second human player, the dog and the human have different abilities, especially as the dog changes form in the different worlds of Evermore. If you are stuck try using the dog and the buttons. Also, the dog only powers up it's bark once, e.g. when you arrive in Antiqua from Prehistoria your dog attack will be at the level it was at in the previous world.

Spells

As a whole the spells are not that essential to winning the game. I used the special Call Beads even less. Key spells are Heal, Barrier, and Cure. Additionally, Revealer and Levitate play pivotal rolls throughout the various worlds of Evermore, however, their level is irrelevant as far as I can tell.

It has been suggested that you pick one or two offensive spells early on, and use them throughout the game by building them up. This makes some sense, but is also problematic since for example there are basically three fireball spells: Flash, Fireball, and Firepower. Each successively more powerful. Level 1 of Firepower is equivalent to about level 2 or 3 of Fireball in my estimation. See the problem? Overall, the spells just were not very important to winning the game and generally didn't help with bosses -- except as a defense.

Weapons

Unlike Secret of Mana (SOM), you need not worry about getting every weapon to the maximum level. This is because when you get to a new world, you will get a new weapon not a power-up. So, when you leave Prehistoria and get to Antiqua for example the new sword completely completely replaces the old sword and the level of the old sword is irrelevant.

Special Items

The "special" items like the Jaguar Ring and the like are evidently all simultaneously equipped.

Trade Goods

Trade goods are relevant only twice in the game, in Antiqua and Gothica. Trading will get you some important items but it is not really a way to make money or very much fun either.

Alchemy Ingredients

The dog is always right. It is just a matter of finding where it is really pointing to.

The following section has some specific hints for points I found tricky, there are spoilers.

Prehistoria

This is the initial area of the game, start off by just building up. I found the "flamingo" birds to the East of Fire Eye's village to be a good place to do that since several birds will re-appear after you kill the initial bunch.

1. Bugamuck and Strongheart
   • Get the Jaguar Ring. (Two "screens" East of Fire Eye's Village by falling through the first "sinkhole" in the quicksand field.) This ring is used throughout the game to run.
   • Take your time through the "bug" maze, there is only one path it is just a matter of finding it, you need not leave to get through.
   • Defeat the boss. Some people find it easier to take off the arms before attacking the heart.
   • Get the acid rain spell on your way back to the village. (Off to the East on the path.)
   • After getting spells from Strong Heart, South and West of the village, head off to the North.
2. Levitate Spell
   • Due North, will eventually get you to a Mammoth graveyard. You will have a "mini-boss" encounter here. I found using hard-ball and flash helpfull but not essential to beating these guys.
   • When you can go further North, you will get to a large area. There are two important areas within this large scrolling "screen":
     • The cave where you will fight some raptors to get a useful item.
     • The "blow-vents"/volcano area. Use the axe to clear off BOTH blow vents to lift you onto the volcano. Take the West vent to the ledge with the raptor. Take the West exit and then the vent UP on the ledge with the spider. You will be given the levitate formula.
   • Now you will have to head off to the West towards the "marsh" maze. This maze is actually not very tricky and eventually you will get to the snake boss.
   • Let the dog handle the "flames" the snake spits and use your POWERED up SPEAR to defeat the snake. You'll now get a mud pepper to cast levitate.
3. Taming the Volcano
   • Go back to the first screen North of the village. There is a pea shaped rock here. Levitate it. Go in.
   • You will get mud-peppers AS you need them. Some tricky points, make sure to PUSH boulders off ledges to clear the way. Also, explore the "maze" of caverns carefully there is a spell hidden in there for you off to the side in a reasonably obvious place.
   • After you defeat the "silver" dino, you will get the final mudpepper you need to get into the Sewer Maze.
   • The sewer maze is easier when you realize you can run against the current.
     • Firstly, use the West entrance to find the room with the switch plate.
     • Then use the East enterance to go due North into the boss area.
   • After beating the boss, you will be launched into Antiqua.

Antiqua

1. Rejoining the Dog
   • The first thing is that your dog and you are separate. It will turn up in due time, and also look different.
   • Your first task is to cross the desert to the East and North. If you have 10,000 Jewels, you will be able to take a boat instead of having to walk.
   • If you do need to walk, going due North will get you there fastest. It will take several minutes, do not lose faith, there are Oasises to reheal your character as you walk and one of the oasises may have an alchemist that will give you a spell, I couldn't find it. (One tip says it is in an Oasis to the West of Nobilia. Chris Knight .)
   • Inside Nobilia, you will find a vast market. You intially have only 15 minutes, roughly, to shop. Don't worry, you will have ample time after the gladiator boss to search out whatever you need.
   • There is already a definitive list of trade goods.
   • When your 15 minutes runs out, save your game at the Inn. Go East to the main square. Your dog will choose you to fight the gladiator.
   • Once locked in the prison cell before the fight, you will have a chance to find better armor. (I.e. don't waste time trading for armor earlier unless you want to.)
   • Once you've beaten the gladiator, which you should use the spear for. You can trade, especially to get Amulets of Annihilation and cross the desert. Also, it is useful to buy an extra for the return trip.
   • "Hidden" spell: the Atlas spell is found in Nobilia inside the building with the "Wal-Mart" of goods guy. The alchemist is hiding on the East edge of the building near where you enter behind some boxes.
   • After crossing the desert, walk through Crustacia to the West and Select the Dog and Jump across the broken bridge. You can then bring a "elevator" basket back across the East bank and bring your character across.
   • You will find Horace eventually, through a pit, on the West side of the bank (lower left hand side), he will tell you about the Diamond Eyes and you can acquire the Revealer Spell here.
   • The Revealer Spell is essential to this part of the game, much like Levitate was key in Prehistoria.
2. Pyramid
   • Do the pyramid first. You don't have to, but I think, based on the fact that you get the Axe there which is less powerfull than the Spear, that in some sense the programmers wanted you to go there first.
   • Location of the Pyramid: go back to the small pit which you fell into to reach Horace and his camp. Use revealer to find a bridge across, the pyramid is right there.
   • Getting in: The boy will have to stand on a switch to let the dog into the center of the pyramid. The dog will then help open doors for the boy as he navigates the pyramid. You can switch back and forth and any time with Select.
   • The pyramid itself is not that complicated and just wandering around you should find everything you need. Such as the Axe after beating the mini-boss.
   • Once you rejoin your dog, you go up to the roof. There are two switches, position the boy on one, then press Select to position dog on the other. You can then defeat the boss.
3. Hall of Collosia
   • Return to Horace's camp to gain the Escape spell. You will need either this spell or the Wings once inside the hall.
   • This is actually one of the trickier parts of the game, the hall is located North of the ravine just across from where you come out of Horace's camp. Use revealer to reach it.
   • Basically inside this area you will be searching for "face" switches on the floor to step on to open closed/blocked passages and eventually reconfigure the dungeon area so you can get the spear and then finally beat the boss.
   • Inside the hall itself, there are two areas in the main chamber to reach with Revealer, including a save point.
   • Everything is fairly linear, you can first go to the North-West side room, finding a floor switch across a bridge will let you get into the room to the South-East corner of the main chamber.
   • After defeating a mini boss in that newly opened room, the floor plate will open the South-West.
   • Once you go to that area, you will have to cross a crumbling bridge. You can use the running ability of the Jaguar Ring to get across, just keep pressing A quickly and you should get across with ease.
   • Once you open the last floor switches on that side, you can get the last large area of the Hall to the North-East of the main chamber. This is also fairly linear, there are some "secret" doors to floor-plate open, and one Revealer bridge that will lead you to the Spear mini-boss who I actually found easier than the Axe mini-boss.
   • There is an alchemist in the walls off the spear room.
     • Enter the walls off to the West wall towards the South.
     • Head Down, Right, Up into a room.
     • Out to the Left, Up, Right, Down, Left.
     • There is the alchemist in the room below the balcony.
   • Use wings or Escape to get back to the Main Chamber of the Halls, use the spear in the middle of the main chamber to reach the boss.
4. The Dog Boss/Aquamaze
   • Horace will have left the camp, when you try to follow him his robot dummy will "trick" (sic) your character into giving the eyes over. You will fight a mini-boss and be too late to rescue the eyes from his clutches.
   • Before going back to Nobilia, you can now crumble the various rock chunks around on this side of the river and immediately across the bank, this will get you an extra spell. (Use the axe to crumble the walls.)
   • In Nobilia, you will fight the dog statue. He is a bit tricky but once you figure out the timing of his vulnerability to attack it is a piece of cake.
   • Now you will head back towards Horace's camp and walk out North in the gulley under the wooden bridges into the newly opened areas. You will get to an underground teleporter maze. (Note: I don't think it pays to go South at this point and it is not clear that you can do anything in the Pyramid-Cave yet anyhow.)
   • Aquamaze directions:
     • Right
     • Down
     • Teleporter
     • Right
     • Past a teleporter
     • Down
     • Right
     • Up
     • Teleporter
     • Left
     • Past a teleporter
     • Up
     • Right
     • Exit the screen
     • Right
     • Down
     • Exit the screen
     • Teleporter.
     • A pot with a call bead
     • Left to the exit
     • Up and into the boss chamber

Gothica

1. Reaching the Queen
   • Try checking the well before leaving the screen, Dennis Gaunt , reported finding that an Oglin popped out of the well and later appeared in one of the mazes in this world and presented a Wizard's Coin.
   • The Aura spell is also reported to be in this area by Cyrus Colborn, <1007@mgs.com>, just near the castle door up from the well.
   • Go West and then North into the village. The village is large but linear. To the East and Up, there are the regular shops. To the West and North is a market. If you managed to save an Golden Jackel and Jeweled Scabard from Nobilia you can get a nice item in the market here.
   • Your immediate goal is to get into the show where your poodle-ized dog will eventually get dressed up like a pig and end up winning the pig race so you can get dinner with the fake-robot Queen.
2. Reuniting the Dog and the Boy
   • After starting the dinner with the queen, you will switch to the dog automatically and have to navigate the poodle maze to escape from the clutches of the chef.
   • Directions: Left, Up, Left, Up to the wall. Left, and up a vent. Left, Up, Right, and take the vent. Right, Up, Right, Down, Right, Down, Right, vent. There is a vent hidden behind the bookcase, take it. Left, Down, Right Down, Right, Up, Right, Up, Right, vent. Right and to the exit. Down and into the vent. Up, Right, Up, Left, Down, Left, Down, the vent into the banquet.
   • There is also an old woman hidden in the maze who will give you a key that will later on let you get some nice stuff, if you want the key, find it for yourself and then return to the beginning and follow the path, or just look for the hidden vent which is really the important step of the directions.
3. Dungeon
   • After being thrown into the dungeon, defeat all the caged prisoners and then enter the sewer maze. Running is still possible but difficult here.
   • There is an alchemy spell in the sewer maze and an exit. When you exit you will be given an assignment to go to the old castle and lower the drawbridge so the Queen can attack the people who stayed behind.
4. Chessboard "Maze"
   • Go out to the chessboard by walking down from the queen's chamber, into the banquet hall, out to the East, and then all the way across to the East. till you finally exit out to the outside.
   • If you have the key, you can get lots of items around here. When you have all you want, give the key to the alchemist in the room to get a new spell.
   • The chessboard maze is not really a maze in any sense. After a few quick dead ends, you will be at the center and fight a mini-boss and then go down into the center. You will see the energy core you will need later.
5. Forest
   • The forest is tricky.
   • Greebles: I don't have reliable directions for it but I do have one key piece of information: on the opening screen of the forest there is a Greeble in a tree. It is a small animal you can not affect but who is present on only some screens. Correct paths to the mini-boss have greebles.
   • The first mini boss is basically fighting "yourself". You then navigate the other half of the forest. And fight a second mini-boss, a dragon, who is easy.
   • Alchemist in the woods: Go East at the very first T-intersection to a dead end where you will find an alchemist. (Bill Pringle )
6. Entering the Old Castle
   • You then come to the sewer maze -- less sewage -- in the old castle. Since you don't yet have the Axe, you can't knock down the barricades so you must navigate all the way to the dungeon.
   • Once in the dungeon, you will find several cells, open them, and the last one, on the lower right, has a teleporter to a symmetrical city to the one on the other side of the chessboard.
   • Walk into the center of the palace gates all the way and defeat the boss -- challenging -- to get into the palace.
   • You will meet the real queen, Camillia, and Tinker.
7. Defeating the Bad Queen
   • Go via the dungeon to the sewer, and then out directly to the North from the old-city sewer exit. (You must use the axe to go here.)
   • Tinker's brother is up in the sky. You will have to fight a dragon -- challenging -- to get him to talk to you, the dragon will then fly you to fight the queen.
   • The queen is easy to fight since it is the puppets that defend the boss, just concentrate your damage on the boss itself and you will defeat the robot queen after it dies.
8. Rocket to Omnitopia
   • Everyone who has migrated to the new city will now start talking about a second secret passage in the chessboard. Ignore them for now, this is for later.
   • Go back to Tinker and he will give you the glider to go get equipment to rocket you to Omnitopia. (You can do this by going directly to the East, across the chessboard, and into the old palace.
   • Go up to tinker's lab and you will be sent ot find some items for the rocket:
     • Wheel/guage: Land at Fire Eye's village, go back through Bugamuck and the bug maze. Defeat the new bug boss -- same as before but more difficult. Then also go back to where you found the levitate spell, instead of landing in the molten lava you will find a pot with the item you need.
     • Diamond eyes: Land at Nobilia, get a spell, then land a Crustacia. Go across the bridge/elevator, and to the pyramid, there is a cave on the South side of that screen, you can go in and take a teleporter to an area. Use levitate to move a stone onto one switch. Position the boy on one and then SELECT to the dog onto the other. You can now go straight through the middle gate. Keep re-entering the teleporter you come out of to defeat Tiny.
   • Return to Tinker and rocket to Omnitopia.

Omnitopia

1. Professor Ruffleberg
   • First go through the junkyard area, in the North center, there is a white light it is an "elevator" to the jail level.
   • Go through the Jail level, free the prisoners, two are good combat experience, the third will give you the sword.
   • Go up to the "main level" of Omnitopia.
   • You are in room A1, Ruffleberg is in A4, there are important things littered throughout the area that make it undesireable to simply try and go across to Ruffleberg.
   • You will need to use the "airlocks" and the dog to defeat the laser-sentries outside the passages. Then go back in and defeat the spinning "tops" to make it through a passage.
   • Directions: Clear the path, procedure above, to the Right, into A2. Go down the hole in the center to the store computers, then down from there to the Inn. There is a teleporter to the left. You will be in B2. Clear the path Down and you will be in C2. Go into the round door. Turn on the fans. Take teleporter and clear to the left. Through the down hole. To the right, be carefull walking Down through the heat panels. You will come up in room D1. Right to D2. Right to D3. Go through the hole, deactivate the alarm -- 221 on my system, not clear how/if you should get the code -- and leave ALL the lights OFF. Go up to C3. Right to C4. Take the teleporter and go up and the teleporter into B4. Clear L to B3. Go into the greenhouse, down, and walk up to A3. Finally, clear Right to A4.
   • The security code is reported by some to be controlled by the code announced by the robot near the Inn. There is a robot that will say a sequence of colors, you then match those colors with the color on the alarm code panel to turn the alarm off. (Reported most clearly by: Paul L. McGuirk )
2. Energy Core
   • Go North into the room you were shoved into at the VERY start of the game, there is now a shuttle there, take it to Tinker's landing pad.
   • Go back to the Chessboard, there should be another opening there, pick up the energy core and head back to the station.
3. Final Boss
   • Stock up on Heal and Barrier, I used these two spells to survive the boss with no damage except when Barrier died which required heal.
   • The boss is found by going back through the maze, just go due West to A1 this time.
   • Then down through the Jail level and back to the junkyard level, there is a computer in the South West corner, the computer will let you save and then you will go to the final battle.
   • This is CAKE! Once you win everything is on auto through the end.