Beginner's Guide
The throne of Meridell is yanked out from under King Skarl by an egotistic advisor - because it's always the advisor. Meanwhile, in a village so faraway that it doesn't seem to feel the effects of Ramtor's corrupt rule, a young warrior decides to take his father's sword and go on an adventure that will bring him to the castle to free Meridell...and bring him to a few more places after that, because in Neopia, lots of places need saving every now and again. At least he gets to bring some friends along!
And that, my friend, is the entire point of NeoQuest II, the sequel to Mr. Insane's mind-boggling creation, NeoQuest. You control up to four characters in a quest to bring down the forces of evil that never get tired of plaguing Neopia. The aim of the game is to win and be recognised for all your valiant efforts, and...okay, I won't spoil it.
I can't give away EVERYTHING now, can I?
Overview and Navigation
NeoQuest II is not under time pressure. When you stop playing and decide to pick up from where you left off, it is automatically saved - but unlike the first NeoQuest, you don't get one active game per pet. You only have one, period. So you can take as long as you want to finish an entire game - although race trophies are awarded to players who can accomplish everything in the least amount of time. These trophies are entirely different from the ones you receive toward the end, regardless of how many eternities you spent wrapping up one run. Unlike the flash game high score tables, this table of fastest wins is never reset.
The only control you will be using is the mouse, because you'll be doing quite a lot of clicking.
Parts of the NeoQuest II Screen
The main area is the map. This shows you where you currently are, with Rohane at the center. Listed at the top are the characters in your party. At first you'll only see Rohane, but as you progress through the game you'll gain more members. This area displays each character's health (or hit points) and how much experience they currently have. You can also click on the 'Skills' link to spend your skill points.
You move around the NeoQuest II world using the yellow and blue arrows. Clicking one of them will move Rohane in that direction and recenter the map on him. From Level 4 onwards, you will gain 1 HP with each step you take until you run into a monster or until you gain back a total of 7 HP.
Below the arrows are two modes of travel. 'Hunting' raises the chances of running into monsters (assuming there are any monsters to be found in your location on the map), and is best if you are trying to gain experience or level up quickly. You cannot avoid meeting monsters entirely, but if you're low on HP and need to make a break for the nearest inn, make sure 'Normal' is selected - that is, in boldface.
You also have the option to view cutscenes. These are the animations displayed at the end of each Chapter. You can only view the ones you have previously unlocked by completing a Chapter. Unfortunately, with Flash sleeping with the Kois, these are currently unavailable.
The 'Options' link takes you to a page that shows you how fast you have completed each difficulty of the game as well as links that will reset the game on a chosen difficulty. The 'Main Page' link returns you to the main page of the game.
Your current location is given next to the map. Clicking on 'Inventory and Party Info' will take you to a page listing all the items you currently have. You can use this page to equip/unequip weapons and armour or heal a member of your party with a healing potion or a resurrection potion. You can also view any artefacts you have collected. If you are near a NPC (non-player character), the option to speak to them will appear below the inventory link.
The amount of gold you currently have is listed on the inventory page, but it is also given on the main map page for easier reference.
Fighting and Experience
Return the slaaaaaaab...
While you hang around in the wilderness a.k.a. far away from good ol' civilisation, you WILL run into a monster. Or two. Or three, or four. Some just hit and hit till they fall over, while others have special abilities up their sleeves, much like your own party members. Monsters attack in groups more frequently when you have a larger party. Kill them, and you get gold and experience points - and if you're lucky, a healing potion or an artefact vital to your quest. You may also receive a weapon or piece of armour if you're playing on Evil or InSaNe.
Scary Kougra, undead Kougra, rotting ball of fur...
Some monsters are more powerful, with more HP and more tricks - and to progress through a chapter, you must defeat them. They're referred to as bosses, and unlike regular monsters they will show up on the map. The rewards are bigger, and you might just find out more about the story behind NQII. If you want to know more about these bosses, a handy guide is on hand for more in-depth information.
Oh, and did we mention that all your enemies will have more HP on Evil and InSaNe mode? Gotta have a challenge and all that.
How does one fight in the world of NQII? Good question.
How to Fight
Battles are turn-based, which means you and your opponents take turns attacking. If you are attacked, you will instantly be taken to a page that will tell you what's going to attack you. Click the Begin the Fight! button to start the battle. When you are presented with more than one monster and you plan to use a single target attack, you must select your first victim by clicking on them. It will then be indicated by the red brackets. Likewise, if you want to use a skill that will help your party (e.g. healing) but can only benefit one character at a time, the character you click will be highlighted by green brackets.
On your fight screen, you can see how much HP your enemies have, and when their next turn will be. The outcomes of any moves made in the battle are recorded under Messages, such as how much damage a strike has dealt, how effective an ability was, and who got damaged. When it is your turn, you have a plethora of options to choose from. Hitting the red Attack button produces a melee or physical attack. The Flee button is for when you want to run away. You have the choice to do nothing for a while, but why would you do that? All your potions and their functions are also listed under the buttons; to use any of them, click on the name. If you have invested in special skills, they will also appear as choices.
Decisions, decisions...
However, you can only make one choice per turn. Then either another character will come next, or your enemy pits their strategy against yours. Choose your options wisely. If you win, you'll get the opportunity to visit a page where you get to see how much experience points each of your characters will receive, as well as other rewards.
Experience and Skill Points
Wait, what? Experience points? Those are the yellow bars that grow with every successful battle. You score more for beating more difficult opponents, and less for picking on weaker ones - sometimes none at all if your level is totally out of their league. Fill up a character's EXP bar and he or she gains a level. Gaining a level means getting just a little bit stronger, and earning a single skill point - which will be used to invest in your characters' skills. For more information on each character's skill set, and all the specific skills, click here. Each character gets one every time he or she levels up, which means 59 points in total to spend, because the limit is level 60. However, as you progress, you will need more and more EXP to advance to the succeeding levels.
This is the bottom half of your fight screen. It shows you how much HP your party members have left, how close they are to levelling up, and whose turn is coming up. The name of the character who must take their turn is in red. It also tells you how long the battle has lasted so far, if you're interested.
Keep in mind that in the wilderness, you cannot control when and where monsters will sneak up on you. You can flee to evade unwanted carnage - or, you can switch travelling modes on your game screen. Normal is the default setting; every few steps you will encounter a monster or more, but it doesn't happen too often. Hunting is for when you're in a particularly belligerent mood and up for a battle any time, or when you feel like breezing through several levels.
Non-Player Characters
Ya talkin' to me, punk?
Every now and then you will run into other characters scattered around. They usually gather in towns, but some NPCs also like to hang out in the wilderness, dungeons, castles, towers, mazes, etc. However, unlike Mipsy, Talinia and Velm, they can't join your party - and that's why they're called "non-player" characters. You always have the option to speak to anyone you encounter - simply approach them and hit the Talk to [insert name here] link that will appear, and from there, choose the course of conversation. With this you can trade, gain critical information or just have a nice chat about the weather.
Some NPCs have important information (or items) they're more than willing to share with you to further your quest, but others will make you work for your reward. Complete their little quests, or simply listen if they don't ask for anything in return, and you should be a step closer to fame, fortune and a trophy. Meanwhile, other NPCs are fine with buying and selling from you, or letting you crash at their places for a well-needed rest. And speaking of buying, selling and resting...
We hope you enjoy your stay...hee, hee, hee...
Gold, Items and Inns
Whoopee, time to buy that super rare stamp - potion. I meant potion.
Monsters and bosses reward you with gold after you win a battle. You then use it to purchase weapons, armuor, potions, and a stay at an inn. Inns are places where your party can regain full HP. Should you die on Normal or Evil mode, you will be revived at the last location you rested. If you forget to rest up somewhere, it'll be a long walk all the way from where you'll wake up. Warning: On InSaNe you'll lose the game if all your party members die, so staying at inns will not help you.
You can find your equipment from NPCs who are willing to part with their wares for a few handfuls of gold, or...as you have learned before, from boss and monster battles. However, you can't just equip any weapon to any character; they have set roles. For example, Mipsy won't wield any weapon besides a wand. To whom a certain item should go is specified in the inventory. Also, your inventory tells you the statistics of each - the damage (dmg) of a weapon and defence (def) of armour. Some weapons won from battles may have boosts that will help (or hurt) a character's skills so long as it is equipped.
Not a snowball.
Monster battles yield only healing potions, although you can buy more from some NPCs —among other kinds of potions. Haste potions speed up anyone who uses one, decreasing the amount of time waiting between turns. Slow potions are thrown at your opponents in the hopes of keeping them sluggish long enough for you to score victory. Their effects can either stack up with or cancel out effects of abilities that can slow or haste too. Damage potions are bottles of doom that explode and knock HP off them. However, damage and slow potions don't always work; sometimes, a particular boss or monster may resist to some degree, or even resist completely.
The last type of potion is very, very useful and very, very expensive: resurrection potions. You may be able to squeeze past your foes, but sometimes one party member doesn't exactly make it alive. Give them one of these potions, and they'll be up and about again. It will only bring back a fraction of their HP though, so make sure you have some healing potions on hand.
Final Tips
While there is a lot to know about the game of NeoQuest II, you'll soon get the hang of it. Just give it a shot! You'll start out on Normal difficulty with only one party member and only one or two monsters attacking you at a time. By the time you've found Velm, you'll be a pro. Be sure to check out our other NeoQuest II guides—you'll find links to them at the left side of this page. Good luck!
But wait! What am I supposed to do with this?!
