Dragon Skulle
A solution by Leandro Ferreras
This is a simple guide to Dragonskulle, the last game of the "Pendragon Adventure Series". First, I will make a general description of it, and of the different hazards you must face; then I will suggest you the shortest way to reach the end.
1. THE STORY
"After escaping from the haunted galleon Blackwyche, Sir Arthur Pendragon arrives at the Island of the Skull. He's looking for the Crystal Skull of Souls, an evil entity whose powers are a tremendous danger to mankind..." Briefly, your mission is to find and destroy a floating skull that's hidden in the heart of the caves, inside the island. Before doing this, you must solve a couple of puzzles, destroy several enemies and (the hardest part) find your way through the maze.
2. THE ROOMS
The maze is formed by more than 100 rooms. However, there are only ten sorts of room.
2.1. Empty rooms: There's no problem with this sort of room.
2.2. Rooms with a jumping eye: Every time the eye hits you, you lose energy. You can't avoid it. Don't try to shoot it or jump it. The best you can do is walking non-stop to cross the room.
2.3. Rooms full of toxic gas: If you enter these rooms unprepared, you lose a lot of energy (more than a life sometimes). We will talk about these rooms later.
2.4. Rooms with colour drops falling from the roof. There are three sorts: black, red and shinning drops. You must avoid the black and red drops. We will talk about the shinning drops later.
2.5. Rooms with a cross in the ground: these crosses are tombs. If you dig them, you will see some of these two things: you will lose energy, or win an extra life. There are two kinds of tombs: good tombs and evil tombs. Of course, you can't distinct them until you dig them, so you must try, and then remember where are the good tombs, and where the evil ones.
2.6. Rooms with two jumping eyes that shoot you. You must jump at the right moment to avoid the rays. It's a little hard at the beginning, but it's just a question of practice. You can't kill the eyes.
2.7. Corridors: These are long rooms, full of enemies. You must explore them completely, because there can be more than four exits in these rooms. There are two sorts of exit: paths (these exits lead down) and huge shinning skulls. If you touch a shinning skull, it goes up and discovers a door leading up. You don't lose energy by touching these skulls.
2.8. Rooms with a dragon: You must shoot the dragon. If you hit it ten times, it dies and you can cross the bridge.
2.9. Rooms with a bridge blocked by a skull: You must kill the monsters at the other side of the river, and kill or avoid the bees and the jumping skulls at your side. When you destroy all of the monsters (ten in the first of these rooms, fifteen in the second and twenty in the third) the skull before the bridge disappears, so you can cross it and enter the door. It can be hard, and bored, because the monsters disappear sometimes for long periods of time, and you must wait them, losing energy with the bee and the skull... Anyway, it's just a question of practice too. If you learn to pass these rooms, you are a serious candidate for finishing Dragonskulle!
2.10. The final room: We will talk about it later. We just begin to play.
3. THE ICONS
In order to do some determinate actions on this game, you must use the icons at the upper side of the screen. By pressing any key, you move the hand to the next icon. When the hand is pointing the icon you want to use, then press fire. Thus you can do the action represented by the icon, just pressing fire, until you move the hand. And now, these are the famous icons:
3.1. THE SHOVEL: Use it to dig the tombs (see 2.5) and to find the cloak. You have to get the shovel at the beginning of the game.
3.2. THE CLOAK: This is necessary when you want to cross a toxic room. Our hero will shine for a little while, and we can cross the room without losing energy. You should activate it in the previous room, so you don't lose energy at all. Once you used it, the cloak losses its power and you can't use it again until you find a room with drops (see 2.4) and stand there until a shinning drop falls on your head. Then you will hear a happy music, and you can use the cloak again (just once more: you must "reload" the cloak every time you "spend" it).
3.3. PAUSE: To stop the game, of course.
3.4. THE STONE: This icon allows you to throw magic stones to your enemies. This is the only weapon you have during the game, and the only one you need. You have endless stones, and can use them since the beginning.
3.5. THE JUMP: It allows you to jump. You need to do this in the rooms of the two eyes that shoot you (see 2.6)
4. HOW TO FINISH DRAGONSKULLE
Now you know almost everything about the game, and can try to finish it on your own. I suggest you to draw a map, because there are so many rooms, and so little differences between them that you will stray if you don't take some care. Besides, you need to know where are the toxic rooms, the good tombs and the magic drops for your cloak.
But, if you want to finish the game now, these is the result of my personal experience:
Press fire and start. You are on a beach, standing by your boat. The entrance to the caves is a huge skull with rays in its mouth. If you try to pass, you lose energy. Go left and touch one of the starfishes in the ground. The rays at the mouth of the skull will disappear, and you can enter the caves. Go east three times, then north. You will see the shovel between two black monsters. Shoot the shovel using a stone. Now you got it! Back to the starting point, and dig the ground to the left of the boat, between a starfish and a stone, exactly where you started the game. Try until you find the cloak. Now you are ready to begin the real job.
In order to be short, I will use the following instructions:
- E: East (or, if you like: Right)
- W: West (or Left)
- S: South (or Down)
- N: North (or Up)
Well, here we go: you are at the starting point, with the shovel and the cloak. Back to enter the caves. Go N (don't use the shovel: it's an evil tomb), N. You are in a corridor. Find the skull to the right, then N, E (use the cloak), E. If you want, go E and use the shovel to get an extra life, then return W. N, kill the green dragon, N, kill the ten green monsters so you can cross the bridge, N. Well done! You have finished the first section.
W ("reload" the cloak with the magic drop), E, N. You are in a corridor. Find the skull to the right, then N, W, N (get an extra life), E, S, S. You are again in the corridor. Go left, then S, E, E, E (use the cloak), E, S, E, S. Corridor- the exit is to the right. S, S, E (recover your cloak), E, E, N (evil tomb, don't use the shovel), N (kill the red dragon), N (kill the fifteen purple monsters), N. You have finished the second section.
You are in a corridor. Go left and find a skull door, then N, N, W (use the cloak), W (still using the cloak), N, Kill the purple dragon, N, kill the twenty blue monsters, N. End of third section. Prepare for the last!
N. You are in a corridor. Go left and find a path to the south. S (reload your cloak), N. Go left and enter the next skull door (N). W (use the cloak), W, N, E, E, N, E (reload the cloak), W, W, N, E, N, N, E, N, N (get an extra life), S, E (use the cloak), E, N, N, kill the blue dragon, N.
You are now in the final room. You will see a distant island, and a skull floating in the air. The skull will shoot you, so you must avoid the rays and try to shoot it. When a ray hits you, you lose a lot of energy (sometimes a life), but it isn't too hard really because every time you hit the skull, it gives you an extra life. If you hit the skull five times, it will explode and you will see the end.
* * *
Some final remarks:
- The game gives you an extra life every 10000 points
- If you kill a dragon and leave the room before it disappears, it will appear again when you back to enter. You can do this to make extra points (Every dead dragon gives you 1000 points).
- You will need some patience at certain moments of the game. Reloading the cloak with the magic drops and killing the
- Good luck!
