Generation 15 Tips - The villainy you teach me, I will execute

Finally we get some insight to what the heck Shakespeare is doing in Mabi in the first place! Gone are the nice cutscenes though, but at least you'll be taking a break from that stage dungeon for a while. Your responses to NPCs here WILL affect the title you get at the end so keep that in mind ("the sharer of joy" if you are usually positive, otherwise "the lone wolf"). Also this arc is loosely based on "The Merchant of Venice" but quite a bit has been changed (as usual).

Who you Gonna call? (solo as the mysterious man)
Oh noes, ghosts and wisps. Not much strategy here. Just keep punching to win.

Good thing too since these guys are on a break! :P

I'm on a Boat (solo as Bassanio)
Avast! Pirate scum! At least they aren't skeletons. If you've fought bandits before they behave just like this, otherwise - time to learn how to deal with this AI. :P Most baddies here have stander of some sort so smash-mill as necessary. Your buddy Antonio can take quite a few hits but given he's fighting with a fishing rod (idiot), you'll need to do most of the killing. Since it's an RP - you lose nothing if you fail so don't worry about it too much.

No Longa in Memory (solo as Portia)
Same old monsters here, and given that this lady has one of the best bows in the game AND is an elf you may as well use it. Don't forget you can still counter and windmill even with a bow, and she can hide if you want to sneak past orb and prespawned rooms quickly.

Alby your Price of Love (need two friends)
Your allies are going to be Bassanio and Antonio meaning you as yourself should be stronger than them in this run. Depending on your level there may not be anything new down here, however if you've run all the previous generations then you may be seeing some new opponents (higher tier, all multi aggro) which I'll cover now:

Black Poisonous Spider - as their name suggests, they are poisonous so kill em quick. Windmill is ideal.
Spider Wasp - treat as a stronger version of the Longa beetles.
Beetle Wolf - wolf AI with heavy stander. Smash-mill.
Grendel - bear AI with heavy stander. Smash-mill.
Cobweb Mummy - skeleton ghost AI with different skin. Smash-mill.
Spider Archer/Ranger/Fighter/Soldier - treat as very high HP goblins that only take 50% damage. Some have poison. Fight well and be ready to trans/demi if needed.

Gremlins and Goblins (solo as William)
A potential tough fight here and you have an NPC named Bella to protect/shield you. She actually has more HP than you so use her attacks as a distraction to get in and land a smash but beware of multiaggro as your familiar opponents are all hard-hitting. Like all RPs though you can just try again if you fail.

Ashes of Rabbie (fastest with a friend)
This version of Rabbie will be harder than usual since it is scaled to your level. At "ADV" you'll encounter armored skeletons too who have heavy stander so just like the Verona Dark Skels previously just smash mill them all to death. You will also meet two types of rats - cave rats (multi aggro and spawns in big groups) and giant sewer rats (poisonous) who are best to be windmilled to death quickly, otherwise you'll find yourself dying the death of a thousand bites. Lastly you will also meet skeleton squads. These self-destructing bomb carriers are best dealt with from a-far (like the lost sahagins) but have the passive defenses to counter it, and their explosion will hurt anything nearby potentially creating chain explosions. Ensure mana shield is active regardless when they are about and once again trans/demi if needed. Fortunately there are statues to revive at in here should you die.

Cursed Avon (solo as William)
This RP is easier than the last since you now have a bow and better skills. Remember that if there's a campfire nearby you can also use it to double your damage output with the bow. Lastly you should be proficient in dealing with skeletons by now meaning the poison skelies shouldn't be able to touch you to poison your ass. The exploding skels should also be easy since you have range and the room to use it, and the Skeleton ogres behave pretty much just like regular ogres.

Leave it to Fate (solo)
Nicca and Ethna from Qilla will help you out here and they are almost unkillable so just worry about yourself. The bandits that board the vessel can be pretty tough though (and for some reason I lagged a lot when doing this) so I advise trans/demi off the bat and don't be shy with the god powers. Killing the bandit leader ends the mission.

Scars of the Past (solo as William)
Should be a piece of cake for you with your RP char's uber skills now. You can use thunder to lay waste to anything in your path and probably should charge it up once there is only one measly goblin left in the wave (let the guardsmen handle it), that way you get to blast either the black wizard or black warrior with it as soon as they spawn. Pretty fun mission.

Escape from Belvast (solo)
You have Portia with you now but she's quite fragile so you want to do most of the fighting yourself. You need to evade the big giant guards or auto-fail and the correct path is ironically where the human guards are. These guys have a bit of HP and multi-aggro (pretty much like bandits actually) so you probably should time your mission to enter before trans time (like 4 am), trans/demi up and eliminate the first two groups then trans again for the last part. Don't be shy with your powers - they are there to be used, and don't forget to consume the souls of these innocent dudes while you are at it if you get the chance. A bow can help you snipe-lure them too, and you have a bit of space to use it after the first group.

A Pound of Flesh (fastest with friends)
Exactly the same run through Alby as before (unless you reached next difficulty level), probably a good idea to bring friends to help you clear it. The boss is an old friend who had no chance against you alone so now he should be really screwed. ^_~

Generation 14 Tips - O brawling love, O loving hate

Welcome to the next segment of Shakespeare's story-arc, this time dealing with Romeo and Juliet. It is very similar to the previous generation in that everything is solo, you have to read fast (if you haven't read "Romeo and Juliet" before), there are some nice cut scenes and it's still pretty easy. Here's a quick rundown of the combat parts!

Act I - Can't Choose Your Family
Ironically harder if done on lower levels, you will side with each of the families (you turncoat!) for 1.5 minutes each and have to keep 5 dudes on your side alive through out. Go for any opponents with spotlights first, followed by supporting any friendlies in danger and you should be OK. Enemies re-spawn when all of them are slain so if you can keep one alive a little longer it could help.

Act II - Shakespeare loves Skeletons
Romeo has a mini-sneak mission here but it's nowhere as hard as following Claudius. Just avoid the guards and make your way up the stairs. Later you'll also meet Verona Dark Skeleton soldiers, who are basically normal single-aggro skeletons with passive defenses. Just smash and windmill (they can windmill back) as you see fit. If you need practice just run through Rabbie normal again but by now you should know what you are doing. Used to be a panther mini-boss here too but since it was too difficult (pfft I beat it with my main and my mules) it was removed.

Act III - Stabby Stabby
Epic RP duel takes place between Romeo (you) and Tybalt who outclasses you with more HP and passive defenses. Good test of your skill as a player here and if you are competent should win in one or two tries. Afterwards it is more Verona skelies for you, but this time you have to protect a nurse. They're trying to make you rush into doing the wrong thing but there's an easy counter for it. Trans and Demi then destroy those bones with ease. What's the point of them if you don't use it right?

A bit like zombie farm! :P

Act IV - Gardening with the Undead
Somewhat dangerous mission now, as soon as you enter you will be multi-aggroed by one of the skeletons and a verona ghoul (poisonous, has windmill) or verona ghost (most dangerous) of the set. You need to fend off the attackers but try to leave one of them alive while you harvest herbs or they'll all respawn. Use pets to distract opponents if needed. If a panther shows up you may want to exit the mission as they can be very problematic. If you are far away and have a snake you can easily kill it with poison and patience though. Definitely trans and demi while running this mission regardless. Afterwards you get to meet the 2nd guardian and all you need to do is run away as you are scripted to lose. :P

Act V - Road to Suicide
It's Romeo's turn to harvest herbs but again the damn skeletons are here. Try harvest first if possible before eliminating them. Windmill spam works best. Afterwards he gets an RP duel against Paris, who is a lot like Tybalt. However Paris is very aggressive which makes him easy to catch with counter. Once the lovers are out of the way the 2nd guardian will reappear. He's even easier than the reaper. To evade the majority of the attacks stand behind him or just shoot the slow bastard to death. My mule giant had no problem using basic knuckes on the thing though and seriously just punched him to death and drinking potions everytime he took a hit.

Golvan's De Ja Vu
The first of the extra stories you can do after completing Act V, it sees you running two long and dangerous missions to return a book to a stupid paper cutout - twice! Coill will have things you've already encountered previously along with possibly poisonous snakes and giant versions of opponents you've already faced. The big guys, much like ancient titled critters outside, can take more hits and dish out more damage but they have exactly the same AI as their smaller counterparts so don't freak out. The boss lady is pretty tough and can summon fire sprites (ironic given she's made of paper) so you may want to lure her away with ranged. I highly recommend trans/demi against her too, at least the first time around. If you feel you can take her without either on your second pass, go for it. Lastly, it's usually stupid to drink from the fountains so don't. :P

The stage dungeon segment poses it's own problems. The snowfield spiders multi-aggro and have a bunch of HP but if you lure them one at a time you should be able to neutralize them easily, just like the trolls. Giant Spider can be handled with smash-mill if it's alone but you should save your trans/demi (or plan to use a second one) against the giant troll as he is quite dangerous, and the giant castle golem after him even more so. Shadow spirit will help keep them stuck in place while you cane them so I hope you've been eating the souls of your enemies.

Ascon's Sadness
The second extra mission revolves around an old man's past. This is the first mission where your replies to the NPCs can change a few things but nothing major will be affected so just pick whichever you want.
After getting beat up in Ascon's RP mission you'll eventually find yourself working for the Rich Man of Emain Macha. First run is through Coill with denizens you've already met, as a bonus you can bring a full party and will probably be faster with a few extra hands. The boss is a Giant Ice Sprite who can be very deadly if you let it cast Ice Spear. Take care of its companion sprites then demi/trans up and smash that heavily armored freak. If you brought a team you can just take turns smashing but make sure -you- land the final hit so you can claim the jewelry pouch.

Second job is a solo run through Rundal to capture a kid cyclops. Again, nothing new for you here - just mixed groups of the same old stuff till the boss room. There's an entire cyclops family in there and while you can try just tame the kid cyclops and run, I prefer to make it an oprhan first by luring the others one by one and slaying them with demi/trans. Obviously if you kill the kid or run out of taming bait you'll need to re-run this dungeon. The Rich guy gives you free baits if he doesn't detect you have any in your pack, so just drop what you have and ask him for more before heading for the dungeon.

Might be a cousin in Morrowind.