has anyone ever figured out basic game mechanics? Maybe on some old forum site, but just looking around. Such as how much strength affects weapon damage, how chest loot is calculated, based on area, based on character level, affected by "gold boosting" equipment at all, etc.

I found a copy of the strategy guide here, for those who want to view/dlownload it yourself.



https://archive.org/details/Throne_of_Darkness_Prima_Official_eGuide

Ok I found a copy of the strategy guide so ill post some info I found in it on game mechanics, which I hope are correct.

Hit points are 2x Vitality, Beserker gets 2.5x

Ki points are 2x Ki, Wizard gets 2.5x

Melee/ranged damage bonus is 10% of strength, rounded down. Which means basically going over the amount of strength you need to use your weapons/armor is almost meaningless. 10 points of strength = 1 extra damage.

Charisma discount is 10% of your charisma


Weapon Skill is your base skill + 10% dex. Archer gets +15% bonus in bows/thrown, Ninja gets +15% in thrown, Swordsman +15% in all melee.

Armor class reduces physical damage by 10% of the AC value. If you have 500 AC, each physical attack you take is reduced by 50 points.

Freezing items like pearls on weapons increase both percentage AND curation with boosts. Thus 1 pearl 8% chance to freeze for 1 second, if you boost to 32% with 4 pearls (or combo of gems) it would have 4 seconds of freeze (1x4).

Poison damage stacks, so each hit that gets damage thru will cause poison damage which lasts over time. This makes a multiple boosted poison weapon very useful since poison can't be resisted, and faster more hitting will increase stacks. Poison also damages your armor faster due 10 second lasting effect, taking damage every second and calculating armor damage. Multiple poison stacks will increase damage to equipment fast.


F9-F12 can be hotkeyed to spells. Click on your spell lists and hover over the wanted spell to hotkey. Then hit the hotkey while hovering over the spell and it is assigned to the key, same works with F5-F8 with tactics.

Gold bonus is maxed at 250% and is factored in to the character that deals the death blow causing loot spawn, or opening chests. Have the highest gold boost character opening chests (don't open any until you can get 1 guy with 250% then go back and open old chests). You want to try and get all characters with 250%, starting with your highest death killers with the highest bonus's. Usually by endgame its a casting mage or ninja that wipes out rooms by themselves.

You can drop items in the shrine room for later use, if you start to get full with inventory, such as item components, etc. Use a portal to head back, drop what you dont' want to carry then leave. For the most part with 7 characters, you should have plenty of carry room in your inventory without needing to drop stuff.

Jewels have noted levels of boosts depending on the level of the jewel. usually its Jewel level +1 x 3. Thus a level 10 jewel has 11x3 boosts, or 33 total. It can be a combo of strength or dexterity (in levels of 3) totaling 33. So 33 dex jewel, or a 33 strength jewel, or 30 strength and 3 dex, etc. The highest jewel is a level 17 DEMON MAGATAMA level 17 (which has 54 stat boost.


Cases have vitality. The highest Case is a level 20 DEMON INRO with 36 vitality boost.


Prayer beads are more complex since they factor in resistances and/or Ki boost, KI boosts are more "expensive" in the factor. With resistances the strongest is a level 24 DEMON SHINJYU with 78 total resists, OR 65 Ki, or a combo of the 2.

Talismans give charisma and good boosts. Each enhancement gives either +5 charisma, or +10% gold boost, or a combo of the 2. The highest level 18 DEMON HAMAFUDA gives 15 enchantment, for +75 charisma, +150% gold boost, or a combo of the 2. Of course give your Leader the highest charisma Talisman to help with prices, and everyone with the highest gold boosts that you can find.

As noted, DEMON items are the highest form, usually its Ancient, Noble, then Demon items in terms of strength.

Masks have level +2 x5 boosts in terms of resistances and damage reflection. A level 10 mask has 12x5 boosts. The strongest mask the O-JISHI is level 22, has 24x5 boosts, so can have 120 resists, 120% reflection (probably caps at 100%) or a combination of the 2. Always keep high level damage reflection masks for characters that later will get max elemental resists with gear, then the high level reflection mask will be a benefit.


In the game monster strength, chance for better loot, etc is determined by the area you are in, not your level. Levels 1-6 strength. Level 1 is your starting castle and wilderness. The next castle is level 2, the 3rd level 3, and the last castle level 4. The mountain side is level 5, and the final warlords citadel is level 6.


You get 3 personal quests per game, based on which clan you play. 12 total personal quests for the 4 clans.

Monsters killed have a chance to drop 2 items of loot max, level and items depend on the monster. Some noted monsters that drop components that you might want to farm. HAIRPINS from female casters very very rare maybe a .5% chance to drop. Really have to farm hard to get them. Gold soul shards, female ninjas (with circular blades) and some fallen/evil wizards, a few others. Yama-inu blood (for mana leech armor) from wolf enemies.

do you have mask with 120% reflection and Talisman with 150% extra gold?

nope my highest were a mask with 50% reflection and 110% gold talismans. I don't usually grind the game to do all areas once my party is strong enough I always go right in and beat the boss. I only have my masks with high reflect usually for my ninja, because he has a max resist armor suit anyway and doesn't need resists on the mask, so he had the 50% reflect mask, the others I use the resistance to get their resistances higher. Usually by the time I finish a game my talismans are 90-110% gold boost, which I usually don't need because I have 180% on my helmets but they don't need charisma so gold boost it is.

Its pretty rare to get those "one only" stat talismans or masks, etc. 99.99% its a combo of the properties they can have.

yeah true. I'm not using extra gold upgrade. I have Talisman with 140% extra gold and 2 war fans that gives me 100% extra gold on every character so It's giving me 240%. My whole armor is upgraded with HP bonuses and helmet with 180% magic resistance

yep. who doesn't like gold