Start to RoLS Walkthrough

[RedOblivion]

Hi, adventurers! My name is RedOblivion. I started this amazing game about a month ago and have been loving it. Since then, I’ve been reading the forums about tips and guides and such, but I have not found a guide/walkthrough from start to Ring of lesser Shadow (RoLS) that I like, so I decided to make one myself!

Who this walkthrough is for:

• Those who want to start farming for RoLS as soon as possible on a fresh run

• Those who are okay with using Bonemeal potions

• Those who are NOT playing on a 1-life playthrough (you will die several times following this guide)

• Those who want to gain exp, levels, and gold while farming for RoLS

• Game version: v0.8.10

We will not be doing every quest or exploring at all in this walkthrough, but you are welcome to stray and do things at your own pace if you so wish and then return to the steps in the walkthrough; if you stray from the walkthrough, you increase the time it’ll take to get to RoLS farming. The purpose of this walkthrough is to get geared up and leveled up to farm RoLSs as quickly and self-sustainably as possible. I will consider any and all feedback related to the steps in this walkthrough, so please provide critical feedback if you see room for improvement!

Firstly, what is this Ring of lesser Shadow we want to get so badly?

RoLS.jpg

Source: Palkia Ec; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohVLhuu1fro

RoLS is the best ring in the game. Its Shadow Regeneration ability it grants acts exactly like the Regeneration skill does, but does not stack with itself. Thus, the best Skill build does not include getting Regeneration. Only 2 creatures drop it at a 1/10,000 chance (without Magic Finder): Shadow gargoyle trainers and Shadow gargoyle masters. View the source of my RoLS image for a guide on how and where to find the creatures that drop the ring. Further tips on farming the ring will be provided at the end of this walkthrough.

“But RedOblivion, the early game is REALLY tough without Regeneration!”

Yes, it can be, and I struggled without it, too, initially, but that’s why I decided to make this guide! Follow this guide and you will not need to put any points into Regeneration, and still be able to farm RoLS sustainably and efficiently–quite early, as well! Without further ado, let us begin!

Build your character how you want to play (balanced, crit, defense, etc.), but I advocate for the highest-DPS build written by forum user NatePrawdzik in a reply on the forum post “Character Builds” (source: viewtopic.php?p=45364#p45364). I have my own modifications to NatPrawdzik’s build that I like better. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter as long as you still use the equipment laid out within this guide as the equipment will make RoLS farming self-sustainable, although if you’re unable to complete a certain step within the guide and you’re doing a different build, you may need to grind more levels as the most difficult steps can 100% be completed by the build I am about to lay out by lvs 20 and 23 (I’ve done so 4 times now).

My Stat and Skill build, influenced by NatPrawdzik and modified by me:
Stat Level-up:
Always in + to damage. Literally never take anything else.

Skills (SP = Skill Points)
Lv 4 - Save SP
Lv 5 - 1 SP in Increased Fortitude (IF)
Lv 8 - 1 in Weapon Accuracy
Lv 12 - 1 in Weapon Accuracy (2 so far)
Lv 16 - 1 in Combat Speed
Lv 20 - 1 in IF (2 so far)
Lv 24 - 1 in Fighting style: Dual wield
Lv 28 - Save SP
Lv 30 - 1 in Combat Speed (for the max of 2)
Lv 32 - Save SP
Lv 35 - 1 in IF (3 so far)
Lv 36 - 1 in Fighting style: Dual wield (for the max of 2)
Lv 40 - 1 in Weapon Accuracy (3 so far)
Lv 44 - Save SP
Lv 45 - 1 in Specialization: Dual wield
Lvs 46 and onwards - Weapon Accuracy until you have at least 350% in Attack chance (AC). Then, Quick Learner for the rest of the game. Always look to see when the next IF level requirement is and plan to take it upon reaching that level, having saved an SP if it's between Skill Point levels (every 4 levels, starting at level 4). If you change gear after having taken some Quick Learner skills and your AC drops below 350%, it's not a problem–take another Weapon Accuracy as you get your next SP until 350% again and then resume taking Quick Learner.

350% AC because, as NatePrawdzik says in the aforementioned post, “You need a total of approximately 350% to have a 90% hit rate on the most challenging content, so once you hit that level you can stop taking this.”

This will be our Gear for farming RoLS:
Enhanced green hat
Serpent's hauberk
Irogotu's necklace (or Jewel of Fallhaven. JoF isn't necessary for RoLS farming, but it will be necessary for tougher content until (if) you get Marrowtaint, and once you're wielding 2x Quickstrike daggers with the skill Specialization: Dual wield and you have 1-2 RoLSs)
Blade of the defiler as our main-hand (BotD; until you have at least 1 RoLS and are lv 45+ with the skill Specialization: Dual wield, then buy 2x Quickstrike daggers and equip 2x QSDs for tough fights. BotD + Balanced steel sword for all other content)
Trident dagger as our off-hand (Balanced steel sword once you have 2 points in Fighting style: Dual wield)
2x Villain's ring (replace with RoLSs as you get them)
Troublemaker's gloves
Kid's boots

“But RedOblivion, what about Boots of the Guardian, the recommended boots by NatePrawdzik while using BotD?”

Get them if you wish, but they are not necessary for RoLS farming. You can go barefoot and still be fine with the rest of the gear.

Spoiler tags are used any time quest content is referenced or an image of a map is shown per forum rule compliance. Click any and all spoiler tags at your own risk of seeing quest and map spoilers.

Part 1–Lies, Snakes, and Rats! Oh, my!

Do the beginning village quests as you would normally.
Sell Cloth Shirt
Buy Cooked Meat and Bread
Sell Iron longsword and Wooden club
Buy and equip Hardened iron longsword
Buy and equip Fine green hat

From Arambold in the inn–Might not have needed gold at this time for this hat. If not, get it after Halvor's Rat tail quest

Quest tips:

• Lie to Leta, Oromir's wife, every time that you don't know where he is–he'll give you an item useful for the early game

• Do Halvor's Rat tail quest 1 time and then say “Not good enough for you? I'm tired of dealing with you.” and then “No. No no no … leave me alone.”

• Make sure you’ve given 5 Insect wings to the village priest for the quest “Disallowed substance” and have proceeded with that quest as much as you can within Crossglen

• Make sure you’ve progressed the quest “Search for Andor” until Gruil says to talk to Gaela in Fallhaven

Once you’ve reached level 5 by doing all the quests within Crossglen and killed some rats to reach level 5, you can optionally do this:

Go South of Crossglen, talk to the man outside of the snake cave, do this snake cave quest until you get the Venomous dagger.

• 2 Regular potions of health for first boss, 3-4 for second boss

• Avoid all enemies, save scum if the mode you chose allows for it, otherwise skip this step and do it later with 1-2 Villain’s rings

Route to Snake cave:

Route to Snake Cave.jpg

This step is optional because the main purpose of this step is to get the Venomous dagger at the end of the quest chain, which sells for a nice chunk of gold. You’ll have to slay more puppies for more meat later when it's time to farm some gold and that’s slower than doing this quest and selling the dagger and then being ahead in gold needed later.

With either action you decide to take, time for Part 2!

Andor’s Trail map images source: Andor’s Trail Directory Github: https://andorstrail-directory.github.io/map

[FabledOblivion]

Part 2–Churches, Trees, and … puppy slaying!? Oh, my!

Walk to Fallhaven. Unlock access to the bed in the inn.
Quests to progress/complete in Fallhaven then Crossglen:

Fallhaven Visit 1.jpg

• ”You’re the postman” with the woodcutter’s daughter

• Church catacombs access

• ”Path to the Duleian Road” quest and get to the part where you need to retrieve the woodcutter’s ax

• Then, return to Crossglen and complete the “You’re the postman” quest with the original quest giver

Next route:

Back to Crossglen and then Irogotu's necklace.jpg

• Equip Kid’s ring after completing “You’re the postman.”

• Buy and equip a Lesser shielding necklace from Crossglen’s priest after finishing “You’re the postman”
  • Yes, you're about to replace it, but it's cheap and will help in the upcoming fight

• Have at least 3 Regular healing potions. Buy the difference if you have fewer

• Talk to Jan for his quest to kill the guy in the cave next to Jan for Irogotu’s necklace

• Make your way to the guy needed to kill for this quest, avoiding as many creatures as possible so as to be as healthy as possible for the fight Kill him and go back up and complete the quest with Jan

• Equip Irogotu's necklace

Gear check-in:

• Fine green hat

• Kid's shirt

• Irogotu's necklace

• Hardened iron longsword

• Kid's shield

• Mikhail's ring

• Kid's ring

• Kid's gloves

• Kid's boots

Inventory check-in:

• Any quest items you may have picked up if you strayed from this guide

• Health potions if you didn't have to use them all to get Irogotu's necklace

• All the gold you got from selling literally everything else. Should be decently close to your first Villain's ring

Time to farm meat until you can purchase a Villain's ring. Villain's ring costs 3162. Meat sells for 25 each. (3162 - [your gold+108])/25 (rounded up) = how much meat for your first Villain's ring. Even 1 Villain's ring is a huge power boost, so get it immediately when you can. The 108 is from selling Mikhail's ring.

Meat-farming route and Villain’s ring location:

Meat Run and Villain's Ring.jpg

You can kill the Rabid foxes now (Pokémon-Persian-looking things) for more meat per run, but they'll hit you back, so don't get into a fight with one if you're less than 10 HP. You can assign meat to a Quickslot to keep track of meat w/o opening inventory. To prevent accidental meat usage, put away the Quickslot menu while farming and bring it back up periodically to check your meat progress. I was level 8 when I finished farming up enough meat for my first Villain’s ring.

Andor’s Trail map images source: Andor’s Trail Directory Github: https://andorstrail-directory.github.io/map

[Lam al Adie]

Nice start, but that's quite a lot of very detailed spoilers.
Personal note: I'm going for a permadeath monk-style no potions no food build, so I have to resort to regeneration.
I usually enter the cave of the shadow gargoyle masters/trainers at level 25 everything above 30 is a piece of cake.

And btw I've come to really like the amulet of lifesteal

[Nut]

I didn't read it completely yet, but a first note: the shadow regeneration from the ring does **not** stack.
So you might rethink the need to get a second one.

[Antison]

Lots of missing spoiler tags that must be added

There's very little generic help, so anybody that's reading this, please take it with a grain of salt.

The author of this post is really pushing you in a direction that he prefers which is okay, but again take it with the grain of salt.
For example, I would not use weapon accuracy skill for anything other than the prerequisite skills that require it.

The original author likes dual wielding which is fine but not everybody has to do that.
There are many, many different ways to build a character and play the game.

None of the listed items are required if you choose to grind for the rows.

In my opinion, the best way to grind for that ring is to clear the map and reload. Hit the gargoyle trainers and Masters enough so that the next hit would kill them and then flee. Do that for every monster on the map and then save. One hit kill them. If you don't get the ring then reload your save. Rinse and repeat until you find your ring. Much much, much faster and you don't need to be burning through healing items. And in my opinion, the best part of this approach besides the quickness of it is that you don't overpower yourself by gaining all of that XP

[Nut]

Lots of missing spoiler tags that must be added

I'd say the title "walk through" is a big spoiler tag already. Who ever reads the thread wants to be spoiled.

[Nut]

I have in mind to try this recipe. Until now I always end up going for Taunt skill and the Shadow of the slayer. Taunt is very strong against the mobs later in the game.
But I could try this for a change. As Antison says there are many ways to play the game.

[Antison]

Lots of missing spoiler tags that must be added

I'd say the title "walk through" is a big spoiler tag already. Who ever reads the thread wants to be spoiled.

I disagree. A walkthrough does not imply spoiling

[RedOblivion]

Part 3–Thieves, Betrayal, and … more puppy slaying!? Oh, … well, you get the point

The majority of this part will be progressing and/or completing quests. With your newly-acquired Villain’s ring, let’s progress some quests!

To do:

• Talk to Gandoren within the Crossroads Guardhouse and accept his quest to deliver swords

• Head East 1 map and get the woodcutter's ax; the wolf that stands out from the rest in a pack of a few wolves is the one
  • Use a health potion if you're less than 25 HP before fighting the wolf that has the ax
  • Don't fight anything else besides that wolf as there is no nearby bed to rest in right now.

• Go back to Fallhaven now
  • You can now survive in the church catacombs
  • Delve into the catacombs and defeat the creature at the end

• Go back to Bucus and tell him you have the key
  • You now have access to the Thieves’ Guild via the hatch on the far left of Bucus’s home

• Enter the Thieves’ Guild via the hatch and talk to Farrik on the Southern end of this map
  • Say “Maybe I should tell the guards that you are planning to get him out?” so you can have access to the Crossroads bed as a resting place (There is no other way to access this resting bed and you will still have access to the important Thieves’ Guild quests anyway)

• Tell the Captain of the guard in the prison “The thieves are planning an escape for their friend.” and continue the quest until you complete it

• Complete the woodcutter's ax quest

Thieves Guild - Foaming Flask Tavern - Rock Formation.jpg

• Head East until you hit the Duleian Road and follow it south until you reach the Foaming Flask Tavern
  • Deliver the swords per the quest to the Captain and pay the innkeeper the 250 gold to unlock the bed as a resting place

• Follow the Duleian Road North
  • When you see a formation of rocks, walk up to it until you get a text box
    • Leave the text box and continue following the Duleian Road until you reach the Crossroads Guardhouse and tell Gandoren you’ve delivered the swords
  • Rest in the basement of the Crossroads Guardhouse if you need to (after talking to the guard at the bottom)
  • Go up to Minarra at the top of the Guardhouse and get the quest to recover the missing pieces to the valuable painting (and, if you wish, the Loneford illness quest, but we won’t be doing that in this guide)
    • You can’t acquire the pieces to the valuable painting quest just yet; we’ll return to it once you’re more geared up and leveled up
  • Go back downstairs and sell everything in your inventory except health potions
  • Buy and equip Troublemaker's gloves if you can afford it
    • Otherwise, buy it in the next part

After all of that, it’s time to farm some more meat! It will be relatively the same route as the previous meat run, but now you’ll rest at the Crossroad Guardhouse on the “going North” part of the run and rest at your Dad’s on the “going South” part of the run. (3162 - [your gold+157])/25 (rounded up) = how much meat for your next Villain's ring.

Meat Run 2 for Villain's Ring.jpg

Andor’s Trail map images source: Andor’s Trail Directory Github: https://andorstrail-directory.github.io/map

[RedOblivion]

Part 4–Making Cruella de Vil Proud

if you couldn't afford it in the previous part, use excess gold after purchasing your second Villain’s ring to purchase and equip Troublemaker’s gloves, making sure to have sold Kid’s ring and Kid’s gloves (I had 1,200 excess gold from extra things I got as I was playtesting this guide so you should have plenty for these cheap gloves).

Farming more meat. Goal is now Villain’s leather armor. Sell all trash items. (4255 - [your gold+43])/25 (rounded up) = how much meat for your Villain’s leather armor. 43 is from selling Kid’s shirt when you’ve got enough meat.
With 2 Villain’s rings, you can kill in our meat route quite quickly now. Include the 3 Anklebiters that are in the SW of the map where the Crossroads Guardhouse building is located in your meat run and you’ll get Villain’s leather armor gold in no time.

The updated meat run:

Meat Run 3 for Villain's Leather Armor.jpg

Include the bottom of the haunted building that’s past the 3 Rabid foxes that are in a line (2 maps East of Crossglen) until you have 5 Bones. You can keep including it in your run for good exp once you have 5 Bones, but it’ll slow your meat accrual rate and we’ll be getting better exp in a different location in the future here soon enough.

Optional quest:

• Complete Erinith's quest for some exp, but no gold. It doesn't matter what potion(s) you give him, end results are the same:
  700 exp
  • Erinith is the NPC in the map that’s between Crossglen and the map where the Crossroads Guardhouse is

Now you have enough for Villain's leather armor and should be around lv 14. You have a lot of extra gold from selling non-meat items. That's good, we'll need that, and more, soon enough. Make sure to not sell the 5 Bones. Buy them back if you did sell them by accident. Make sure to have at least 15 Regular potions of healing on you. If you included the haunted house during your meat run, you should have at least 15 or close to it. Purchase the difference if not.

Next:

• Go a few maps West of the Crossroads Guardhouse map and kill the creature guarding the bridge

• Continue on and kill Rogorn and his 2 cohorts and return to the Guardhouse, complete the quest, and unlock trading with Minarra

Rogorn and Cohorts.jpg

Buy and equip a Balanced steel sword. Never sell this as it is the best trash-farming off-hand weapon once you have 2 points in Fighting style: Dual wield, and our current best and accessible main-hand weapon (yes, better than Flagstone's Pride). Our next weapon replacement will be our RoLS farmer: Blade of the defiler, around lv 23.

Andor’s Trail map images source: Andor’s Trail Directory Github: https://andorstrail-directory.github.io/map