Hey all,

Recently started playing this, and got very addicted to it (that's good and bad, lol). Anyway, have started 2 or 3 campaigns to just get the lay of the land, and used to the game's mechanics, ect., and have now finally started what I plan to be a real campaign game, and see it through to the end. I've done a little online searching for info, and had a tough time finding a real lot on a few things I'd like to know a little more about; and hope some of you more experienced players might be able to shed a little light on for me.

Firstly, I plan on progressing through this campaign with positive Karma (and perhaps Evil on a second run through next time), and want to ask just basically how long does a campaign last? I know you can just self destruct, and get tossed into the abyss earlier, so I am not referring to that type of ending, but if I were trying for one of the good, or best ending (I understand there are quite a few btw), just how long can I expect to play. I can see it might take quite a while, and the 60 hours or so I have been reading about online, really doesn't seem too realistic, based on my somewhat limited experience just playing through tiny and small shards (while I am not trying to explore 100% by any means, I do like to build my hero(s) and at least hit most/many of the hidden areas/battles that I can beat).

Second, I have read that the Diplomacy is still considered broke by many? I am curious, because I met the Wizard Oinor in the Astral after conquering my second shard, and had a basically positive conversation with him ( My Karma level is at Honest), then saw that he was on my third shard as an opponent. He has contacted me, and talked briefly, which activated the Diplomacy button, allowing the ability to trade, gift, ect. I have read that other people can't even get this to work in their games, and think that may be because their relations with the other Master(s) probably sucks? At anyrate, I am wondering if it really helps to develop a relationship with them, and that making the effort to do so, actually works towards achieving a good/better ending, or even helps get to an end sooner? Would appreciate any advice or insights about this.

Lastly, what's the deal with the Keys of Truth? I understand collecting them, can also lead to an ending? Also, is it revealed to you that a key maybe on the shard you are currently on, or do you just have to be really lucky, and uncover one through exploration? Again, any enlightenment/advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance folks, look forward to any replies or discussion :D

Nobody, huh? :-/

I don't have enough experience with MotBW to answer these categorically, since most of my time has been in Genesis, but...

There is one 'good' ending, which involves the construction of a Talisman.

There is one 'neutral' ending, which is the Keys of Truth.

The rest are all some form of 'evil'.

You'll start receiving clues about the Keys storyline relatively early on; each time you find one it will point to the location of the next.

The Talisman ending is the longest; MotBW's campaign is supposed to unfold more quickly than that of Genesis, so I'm not sure how many turns it will take.


As for the other masters: your relations with them are generally determined by your karma, but specific dialogue events and choices can alter that. It's tough to say anything more without spoiling plot events. The main benefit of good relations is that you have the possibility of forming an alliance with them during shard battles (assuming that there is at least one other competitor to team up against). The result of negative relations is that they will generally be the ones who attack you at various points.

Hey, Thanks Garran, appreciate the reply :). Nooo, don't want to spoil any plot events, like weeding my way through the surprises and twists myself. Mostly just looking for a little adice/guidance in my first "in for the long haul" play-through. I understand that Genesis plays very simarily, so I'm guessing advice/info probably mostly holds true for both. If I may pick your brain just a tad further...

From what I have read, forming an alliance with another master on a shard can be quite costly to sway them (gifts, lands offerred, ect., unless of course your are really powerful, then they may want to align with you), and secondly, I believe, that sooner or later, you have to either break the alliance (very bad karma) or wait for it to expire so you can attack the other master(s) anyway, and the ultimate goal is to win the shard yourself?

And also, if I may...This Talisman sounds very intriguing, lol. Without really spoiling anything, is this a plot line I will eventually run into if I continue along the path of Good?

Thanks again bud! :^)

I'm not sure how MotBW might differ. In Genesis I've generally been able to form an alliance with any master whom I'm friendly with just by asking. I don't normally try to form alliances with masters that I'm bad terms with, but I imagine that a certain amount of bribery might be needed there.

The Talisman plotline will come up once you meet a certain Master who is a good guy, Karma-wise. You'll meet most of the others before he puts in an appearance, though.

Gottcha, thanks again :)

@Garran

The only advantage of being nice to masters is that your allies may 'concede' a shard to you if you are allied and eliminate the others. However my advice to avoid alliances in general - too much work unless it's a master who's friendly to you in astral.

I have had cases where masters have cancelled alliance and declared war once I became weak; I had lost a couple of heroes trying some legendary sites and the master promptly declared war negating all investment in diplomacy.

Also, without getting into spoilers... masters also have their agendas. Friending everyone is neither possible nor will friends always benefit you!

Sounds like real life ;-)