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Note: Unlike most Elder Scrolls games, Stormhold only has one large quest for you to complete, with no distractions or sidequests. The quest is time-consuming, challenging, and involves gathering treasures, befriending prisoners, and battling hordes of enemies to level up accordingly to stop the mad Warden. |
Quick WalkthroughEdit
- Explore the tunnels beneath Stormhold to earn experience and collect loot.
- Return to the Dungeon Camp with your treasures in order to befriend your fellow prisoners.
- Speak with Helga to open new areas and progress the story.
- Track down and defeat Warden Varus.
Detailed WalkthroughEdit
IntroductionEdit
When you start a new game, you will be thrown right into the action with the introductory text:
- "Misfortune has landed you in Stormhold prison, run by a reputed lunatic Quintus Varus. You must find the few who can help you, and overcome the challenges of Stormhold until you are strong enough to defeat the evil warden. The overseers will put you to work, and it is clear you are not expected to survive long. Prisoners whisper of overseers and other prisoners gone mad who now try to kill workers clearing the Stormhold ruins. You now have a weapon smuggled to you by friends, and ruins to clear. Start your exploration by using the arrow keys or 2, 4, 6 or 8 buttons to move your character. For additional help, push '7' and select the help option."
At this point, it is recommended you read through the Getting Started section to avoid unwanted frustration from the very beginning. You should also familiarize yourself with the in-game Adventure Menu (press *7*) and read through the provided Help section. A good idea is to save your game right away, simply to get a feeling on how the save and load functions work.
Dungeon LayoutEdit
You will find yourself in the Dungeon Camp, the only safe area in Stormhold. The camp is located in the center of the 36 dungeon maps, and you can freely choose between four directions: north, east, south and west. Each direction contains three dungeons, each with three zones, meaning a maximum of nine maps in each direction. However, only 12 maps are open to exploration at the start of the game. Entrances to new areas will be excavated as you recover treasure from the tunnels. Helga, the prisoner's resident healer, will tell you when a new area has opened; the direction is random, and only three new areas (i.e. one dungeon) will be opened at a time. The ultimate goal is to open the final dungeon in any given direction in order to trigger the endgame boss fight. The maps in Stormhold are pseudo-random; although they will generate consistently across playthroughs, the algorithm responsible varies per device and no accurate walkthroughs can therefore be offered.
Unfortunately, the Dungeon Camp contains no merchants, meaning that you're limited to your starting equipment until you obtain better armor and weapons from the tunnels. Any unneeded loot you find can be traded to Beneca in return for Filled Crystals (which can also be found randomly in the tunnels). Crystals are powerful consumable items, but they can also be traded to Helga for various magical services, detailed on her page. The other four NPCs in camp are Trainers, who will train you if given the correct Gift Items. Alternatively, you can murder one or two trainers in order to threaten the survivors into giving you a few free training sessions, but this will obviously limit your options in the long term.
Confronting the WardenEdit
While camping at higher levels, you may be interrupted by Warden Varus. However, this is not the moment to strike; instead you must wait for the prisoners to excavate the final dungeon in any given direction. With this done, Helga will eventually announce that Varus has discovered the "Storm Crystal" and must be stopped before he reaches it. At this point, he will appear as an enemy in the ninth and final zone in that direction.
As one might expect, Varus is a tough fight. Once you're satisfied with your gear, level and skills, head towards the final confrontation. If in doubt, it would be prudent to save your game before this. Upon his defeat, Varus will drop the Storm Crystal on the ground. Similar to a teleporter, you must walk over it to reach the end screen:
- "Warden Quintus Varus lies at your feet. In your hands the Stormhold crystal, pulsing with the distilled power of the priests of a nearly forgotten religion. The crystal cannot hold the evil of the world, but it just might hold enough to undo the corruption of this camp."
- "Corruption cleared, Varus and his overseers defeated, the innocents in the camp may now go free. Wearily you head to the surface. You first set foot in Stormhold as a prisoner, but you shall emerge as a hero."
- "Congratulations! You have won! You can play a new game, or seek new adventures in The Elder Scrolls Travels: Dawnstar, available now."