Created and maintained by Sinistral
Last Update : 18/08/08
If you spot any errors or have any further information to add please contact andy@sega8bit.com

 

The Story

These are dark times for the people of Baljinya. Their king and his family have been brutally murdered by an unknown evil, leaving the kingdom of Baljinya without a king, and no rightful heir to claim the kingdom. Civil war threatens to tear the country apart as the elder council fight for control of the kingdom. Amidst this, the evil threatens to resurrect the corrupt inhuman spirit of the long dead Daemon Lord Ra Goan, if they succeed all that is good in the land will be lost, the kingdom will burn and evil will consume the land.

The elders of Baljinya know the only way to settle the argument amongst themselves, and find a king whom is truly worthy of the crown is by setting three challenges, each of unimaginable difficulty. The warrior who is brave enough to undertake this challenge, and save the kingdom of Baljinya will be crowned king.

The Tasks are as follows:

1. He must find the Tree of Marill, and take from it the symbol of the royal family.
2. He must defeat the Goblin of Balala Valley.
3. He must destroy the Statue of Evil.

You are the brave warrior Landau. Your skills are legendary, equipped with your sword and bow, no man can defeat you. You decide to take up the challenge that will take you to the ends of the earth and back again. The risk of death is high, but the reward is eternally yours. No one but you can do this. You are the only hope.

Map of the World

A map with no names can be accessed in Lord of the Sword by pressing the pause button while in a village. Below is that map with names added. Please not routes shown in yellow are secret routes that must be earned in order to appear. If you find this map difficult to use, you can also use the manual map.

Weapons

There is a small arsenal available in Lord of the Sword, here's the lowdown on weapons.

The Bow of Bravery can be yours if you defeat the necromancer of Cram Bog, the townsman of Pharazon will give it to you as a reward. It will enable you to kill enemies that previously took two hits to kill in a single shot.
The Luna Sword can you won by destroying the book of evil, the Wizard of Amon will award it to you after successful completion of this task - this is the best sword in the game, it will enable you to kill enemies which previously took three hits to kill (Cave Zombies) with a single hit..
The Tezamu Sword is gained by defeating Dark Suma (the goblin of Balala Valley) It's appearance is a bit puzzling here, this sword is not as powerful as the Luna Sword, yet it appears much later in the game. I have tested both swords, and gaining the Tezamu Sword seems to be the same as the sword you start with initially. If you accidentally collect this, the game will be much more difficult.
The Foe Slayer Arrow can be found inside the labyrinth at Shagart. It's inclusion is also a bit puzzling. Unlike the Tezamu, it does appear to be more powerful than it's predecessor, but the lateness of it's appearance renders it's inclusion pointless.

 

Bosses and Guardians

Here's a guide to some of the more powerful creatures you will encounter during your adventure across Baljinya.

The Tree of Marril AKA Tree Spirit	The tree spirit if found in the Namo forest (despite being told it was in the Ulmo Forest at the start!) He will roll fireballs at you and throw rocks into the air, get as close as you can, duck and slash with the sword. This should take care of the fireballs.
The Necromancer AKA Swamp Spirit	The Necromancer resides at Cram Bog, just West of Ithil. You can defeat him by shooting arrows at him when his chest is exposed. When he covers his chest he will move around, be sure to keep shooting him, your arrows will do no damage but this will keep him away from you. When he stops moving, you must dispose of his sword-bearing minion by using your sword.
The Pirate of Falas	This awful chap has kidnapped the Mayor of Lindon's Daughter for some reason. He's holding her captive on the island of Falas. Fortunately he's pretty straight forward to defeat. If you kneel below the island he can't hit you with his boomerangs. When he moves back, jump up and use your sword on him.
The Baruga AKA Beast of MT Morgus	The Baruga will throw fireballs at you. The best way to defeat him is to get in close with the sword and repeatedly hack at him.
The Elder Castle Guards	Located at the Elder Castle, you will be made to duel with 5 guards before the Elder will tell you how to defeat the statue of evil. Luckily the fights are pretty easy. First is "Ripper", to defeat him simply stand still and use the sword. Second is Stone Hammer, corner him and use the sword. Next is the Golden Guard (not in the manual) Walk towards him, let him jump over you, kneel and then thrust with the sword. Next is the Court Jester. He will throw a projectile at you, jump over it, march towards him and repeatedly use the sword on him. Finally the last guard is called Paradin, to defeat him jump up and hit him on the head with the sword Finally now the Elder will trust you enough to give you the Herbs!
Dark Suma AKA Goblin of Balala Valley	Dark Suma summons floating skulls to attack you, if you stand on the far left of the screen, and attack the skulls coming from the left only, she cannot hit you with these. Destroy all the skulls except one, then simply jump and slash her with your sword. If you destroy all the skulls by accident she will descend on you and use her wand, this is much more difficult.
Ra-Goan	I thought they needed the book of evil (which I destroyed) to bring him back to life? Oh well. The battle with Ra-Goan is quite straightforward. He will shoot you with Fire and Lightening Bolts, to prevent this, fire your bow at him. He will block the arrow with a magical shield, but it allows you to move closer, then use sword attack on his chest.
The Statue of Evil AKA Medusa	The statue is located at MT Morgus, if you try to go there too early on, the statue will be there, but it won't move and you won't be able to kill it. Only by getting the Herb from the Elder Castle will this come alive. Beating it is also straight forward. Corner it and repeatedly use your sword for a quick victory.

 

Tips, Tricks and Enemy Specific combat guides

To succeed in this game, it will be highly advantageous to use every known trick in the book. Here's a few pointers:

 

• There are no power-ups or ways to replenish your health while you are traveling, you will notice your health is slightly replenished by entering a house in one of the villages, to fully replenish you health simply enter and reenter the same house.
  
  
• Combat with the sword is very dangerous, and you are more likely to take damage, always use the bow whenever possible.
  
  
• Use the Terrain to your advantage, some enemies will not be able to reach you if you stand in the correct position.
  
  
• Your Arrow will fall after it impacts or misses an enemy, when it falls it causes the same amount of damage as if it was aimed directly at an enemy.
  
  
• Some screens require you to do very little fighting, watch the patterns of the enemies (especially on the swamp scenes), if you simply walk continuously the enemies will not even touch you.
  
  
• Snakes and Vermin are some of the toughest opponents in the game, because they are so small they are very difficult to hit, and sometimes they are hidden in grass or jump out of trees. Luckily if you see one, just go backwards until it goes off the screen, then walk forward again, and the enemy will have vanished. This tactic also works well for Straw Flies.
  
  
• On the forest levels, tree stumps are very useful to stand on or deflect arrows off.
  
  
• Putera's are very annoying creatures that inhabit most areas of the game, the easiest way to deal with these is by stopping, aiming your bow and releasing the arrow when the attack, another method is to jump just at the right moment when they begin their attack run, this will cause them to attack at a higher level, missing you completely. Be careful of Putera's immediately when entering a new scene, if you stand close to the waypoint sign the enemy will miss you during it's attack.
  
  
• Book thieves can be rather annoying, when you see one coming towards you, try to hit him, if you fail, keep moving forward, he will then fall from the sky behind you, it is important at this point you kneel immediately, turn and thrust with your sword.

 

Order of Completion with Video Demonstration

Lord of the Sword is a very long game. Many people are put off by the lack of save feature, a good player will however, be able to complete the game in under 3 hours. This guide aims to help you keep track of where you need to go, and hopefully will reduce the amount of backtracking you will need to do. Bear in mind however, that his solution only shows one path through the game, it may be possible to perform tasks in a different order.

 

#	From / To	Action Performed	Video Demo (double click for full-screen)
1	Harfoot to Amon	See Wizard in Amon and obtain the book of evil.
2	Amon to Ulmo Forest (Via Varlin Castle)	Speak to the tree people in Ulmo Forest.
3	Ulmo Forest to Namo Forest (Via Varlin, Amon and Pharazon)	Do battle with the Tree of Marrill.
4	Namo Forest to Ithil (Via Pharazon)	Speak to townsman regarding swamp spirits.
5	Ithil to Cram Bog	Do battle with the Necromancer.
6	Cram Bog to Ithil	Speak to townsman to collect the Bow of Bravery.
7	Ithil to Dwarle (Via Pharazon, Amon and Varlin Castle)	Speak to townsman regarding Mayor of Lindon's Daughter.
8	Dwarle to Lindon	Speak to Mayor of Lindon.
9	Lindon to Falas	Battle with the Pirate of Falas.
10	Falas to Lindon	Speak to Mayor's Daughter, no reward given.
11	Lindon to Dwarle	Speak to Dwarle townsman regarding MT Morgus beast.
12	Dwarle to MT Morgus	Battle against creature of MT Morgus, after this the book will automatically be cast into the mountain lava.
13	MT Morgus to Amon (Via Dwarle and Varlin Castle)	Receive the Luna Sword from the Wizard in Amon.
14	Amon to Elder Castle (Via Varlin, Dwarle, Lindon and Falas)	Duel with the Elder Castle Guards to receive the Herb which destroys the statue of Evil.
15	Elder Castle to Pharzon (Via Falas, Lindon, Varlin and Amon)	Speak to Pharazon townsman regarding route to Balala Ravine.
16	Pharzon to Balala Ravine Labyrinth (route only visible if previous step done first)	Battle Against Dark Suma (Goblin of Balala Valley). Do not take the Tezama Sword after the battle - this is less powerful than the Luna Sword.
17	Balala Ravine Labyrinth to Amon	Speak to Wizard - he will tell you there is only one more task left.
18	Amon to Lindon	Speak to Mayor's Daughter, she will tell you of a passage north of Dwarle leading to the Shagart.
19	Lindon to Shagart	Go North of Dwarle, follow the road and you will find a new path. Follow this to arrive at Shagart from the West, there will now be an open door in Shagart, inside is a labyrinth.
20	Shagart Labyrinth	Battle against the Demon Lord Ra-Goan.
21	Shagart to Varlin Castle (Via Amon)	Enter Varlin Castle to be crowned King of Baljinya.

Notice the slight loose end? What about the Statue of Evil? This can be considered an optional task, if you wish to complete this task you should go to MT Ozgul between steps 14 and 15, If you try to do this last the statue simply won't be there anymore.

 

Alternative Routes

When I asked forum member Grolt about his experience of playing the game this is what he had to say:

• After 10 I went and defeated the 5 bodyguards at Elder Castle.
• After 13 I went to see the statue of evil, but could not fight it, so I had to go back to Amon, talk to the wizard where he told me about the statue, then go back to fight it.

Grolt's route is quite interesting, the only disadvantage I can see is that he wouldn have the standard sword during the Elder Castle Duel, making opponents much more difficult.

Unanswered Questions

• Q) What happens if the book thief is successful? Is it still possible to complete the game?
  A) I'd wager yes, but have still to test this theory. The downside is you will not receive the Luna Sword, but this may also explain the reason for the addition of the Tezamu Sword.
  
  
• Q) How Come Ra-Goan is alive even though I've destroyed the book?
  A) I'm guessing Ra-Goan is only in spirit form and unable to leave Shagart, It's unclear what impact the stolen book would have.
  
  
• Q) How many continues do I have?
  A) Seven.

Files and Resources

Here's a few more resources to help you on your way in Baljinya.

• Manual Download (PDF file)
• Clint Dyer's FAQ - Clint made this guide when he was working on the Sega Hotline, it chooses a different route from our guide, and has a few errors, but it's a good resource.
• TDG's Guide - a good guide with area map.
• Instructions at The Sega Notebook - a HTML version of the manual.