Archon II: Adept

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Archon II: Adept on the Commodore 64
Archon II: Adept on the Commodore 64

Archon II: Adept is the sequel to the computer game Archon available for numerous platforms in 1984 developed by Jon Freeman, Paul Reiche III and Anne Westfall and distributed by Electronic Arts (and Ariolasoft in Europe). It was not based around a chess motif, as the original was, but maintained the concept of "good vs. evil," one on one combat, magic and power points.

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[edit] Gameplay

Much like its predecessor, Adept is a struggle between two opposing sides that takes place on a game board, complete with playing pieces, but when two pieces of opposing sides end up on the same square they enter a battle screen for a fast-paced duel to the death.

The main playing area is a rectangle with four roughly concentric bands, each corresponding to the four elements of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. Each player starts with controlling four wizards called "Adepts" that can cast spells or move about the playing field. One player is "Order," and the other "Chaos." At the four corners of the playing field are the familiar power points, though they move to a different element each turn. There are two additional power points along the vertical center of the field, in non-elemental areas called "voids." Players take turns which involve either moving a summoned monster (see below), moving an adept (which could result in attacking another adept or monster, or just simply changing location), or using an adept to cast a spell.

[edit] Monsters

There are two types of monsters, summonable by an Adept: elementals and demons. Monsters can be summoned by an adept and must be placed in the element occupied by the summoning adept. A monster can move freely within an element (though it may not pass a foe) or move to a different element.

[edit] Elementals

The selection of available elementals depends on the summoning side.

Order Chaos
Earth Giant - hurls rocks at opponent Behemoth - punches opponents
Water Kraken - missile attack Siren - "sings" to drain opponent's life, but is immobile during attack
Air Thunderbird - shoots very fast "thunderbolts" Ifrit - very fast missile attack
Fire Salamander - spits fire Firebird - similar to Archon's Phoenix

[edit] Demons

The same demon selection is available to both Order and Chaos.

  • Juggernaut - Uses itself as a missile to attack opponent.
  • Wraith - Attacks by forming a draining cloud around itself and any hits to the opponent add life to the wraith. Invisible except when attacking (or playing against computer opponent).
  • Gorgon - Shoots a gaze attack which reduces the speed of the opponent, cumulatively. Once it cannot move, it dies.
  • Chimera - Each attack cycles through three weapons: missile attack fireball, missile attack poison gas, and a melee-like stinger.

[edit] Wizards/Adepts

Both Order and Chaos Adepts are very fast at moving and attacking. An Adept has the ability to cast a ball of fire/magic at the opponent. While the projectile does almost the maximum damage to the opponent and the adept's magic recharges quickly, as an added feature the player has the ability to control the direction of the ball while in flight by holding down the fire button (unfortunately, this also stops the player from moving, a la the Siren's attack). A skilled player could slow the ball's speed, then let go of the fire button to move their player to dodge an incoming attack and then re-engage the magic ball and send it toward their attacker.

[edit] Battles

Battles take place as in Archon, but with the element on which they occur affecting the playfield:

  • Earth - Rocky barriers that cannot be shot nor moved through.
  • Air - Tornado looking objects slow player movement and deflect shots in random directions.
  • Water - Patches of water slow down shots and movement. Water elementals move faster in water.
  • Fire - Patches of fire cause damage to monsters. Fire elementals are immune to this damage.
  • Void - No barriers or special features.

[edit] Spells

Spellcasting costs magic points in varying amounts, depending on the spell (e.g., summoning a demon requires more magic than summoning an elemental).

  • Summon - Summons a demon or elemental.
  • Heal - Heals a portion of a given monster or adept's damage.
  • Weaken - Weakens a monster (not usable on adepts).
  • Imprison - Prevents a monster from moving (not usable on adepts).
  • Release - Releases a monster from imprisonment.
  • Banish - Completely removes a monster from the board (not usable on adepts).
  • Apocalypse - Begins a battle that decides the outcome of the game. The battle is waged between two adepts and the number of summoned monsters, remaining magic and remaining adepts on a side determines that side's performance.

[edit] Winning

The game is won by one of four ways:

  • Occupying all six power points.
  • Winning the Apocalypse.
  • Having the opponent run out of magic or otherwise being unable to take a turn (for example, by running out of pieces).
  • When playing against the computer, it has the option of conceding the game to its human opponent. This typically only happens when the computer lacks the energy to summon new pieces for several turns and is down to a single Adept.

[edit] External links

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