Customer Reviews

Asheron's Call Official Strategies & Secrets

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This game companion certainly contains a great deal of useful information, and I would not dispense with my copy for anything. But any AC player should be aware of its shortcomings before purchasing.

First, the book has no index, and that seriously lessens the value the book might have had otherwise. There are very, very many questions that I have had that could have been answered much more quickly if there had only been an index. Because this is an online game, if one is actually playing the game it is rather difficult to take the time to flip through the pages of the book to come up with the answer to a question.

Second, it would have been helpful to have more maps. Maps of regions showing dungeons, life stones, portals, points of interest would all have been of the greatest use.

Third, some guide providing a better idea of how to navigate Negreth would have been especially valuable. A drawing akin to a subway map might have been easily accomplished. As it is, if you have to get from one town to another, especially one that you have not been to before, it can be frustrating and irritating to figure out to get from point A to point B.

Still, the book does contain a great deal of helpful information. I have found the section on monsters and their strengths and weaknesses to be valuable. At one point I realized that I was achieving no damage at all with my fire sword on lime golems, opened the book, and saw that they recommended acid attacks instead. I switched, and went immediately from inflictng 2 or 3 points of damage to inflicting 15-25.

This book was helpful to me as a new player. It is particularly good at spelling out how skills work, exactly how crafting (fletching, cooking, etc) is done, the allegience system, the portal system, and the magic system. It does not tell you exactly how to make a given spell; it tells you how to begin figuring it out for yourself.

It was clearly written with Microsoft's approval; it should be called "Strategies and Hints" rather than "Strategies and Secrets". The authors have been careful not to spoil any surprises. More concrete information about quests and spellcraft as well as specifics on the monster's strengths and weaknesses would have improved the practicality of the book tremendously

There are a number of tables, and a fair amount of text. All of it is written in a way that is easy to follow and not particularly overwhelming.

If you are going to invest in the game, this guide will give you a boost. If you're thinking about giving the game as a gift, this guide will help the new player a lot - but be prepared to hear a little grousing about the lack of "cheats" and walkthroughs.

First of all this book does a thorough job of giving you a complete overview of the WORLD OF DERETH. I found this book to be indispensible for creature weaknesses and strengths.

Second, although the book was a thorough overview it does not cover the "secrets" that is implied in the cover. I understood that it would give me the spells I needed and secrets to the game. The only secrets that I would have not found were the Microsoft Easter Eggs built into the game, this did me no good.

Overall this book does a great job of giving you the portals, lifestones, dungeons, and points of interest needed to the new game player.

I would truely recommend this book to the new player to the world of Dereth but as I am an intermediate player the book serves a medium amount of interest to me but none the less a true necessity for the new player.

This is the manual that should have shipped with the game. It contains comprehensive information about the game and how to play but does not give away true secrets. If you are interested in knowing exactly what the percent chance to hit is given a certain criteria than this book is for you. If you want to know what all the 1st level spells are than there are many online resources that would server you much better.

I would still purchase my copy of the book again, I found the monster list of weaknesses indispensable. It is just that I was hoping for real secrets and strategies.

Definitely a nice addition for general strategy and such. My major concern is that the book is not totally accurate. There is no way the book can be accurate. Turbine can change the game on the fly and just did. Vorous Shreths and Shore Armadillo's are no longer what they were before the change. Likewise, some dungeons and locations have changed. Get the book for a solid description of general strategy and reference, but remember things have an will change.

If you started this game when it was in beta testing this book would be great. At this date you will find more help on any one of the great sites on the web. I read the book and was severely disappointed. I went to 3 different sites, printed less than 25 pages and had a better overall guide to the game. Other reviewers comments were 100% on. No index. The online world changes so quick as to invalidate some info. At the very least an electronic addendum would have been appropriate.

I bought this book when AC first went gold. I had been playing beta since early beta 0. Most of the information i was looking for is incorrect in the book because it is based on the world as it was in Beta 0. Lifestone locations were dramatically altered due to the issues resulting from population masses, they are no long located in the center of town (where the book places them). Town portal locations are mostly backwards (the destination is really the origin) and some are just bad. Dungeon locations are also not so great...download ACExplorer, it's free and it's more useful that this book.

This book spends a lot of time teaching you the same things you would learn if you spent 5 minutes playing the game. There is a couple sections that are a nice reference, but even they are outdated. There are very few maps, and the ones that are in there are outdated. Although there is a section that explains majic and is a good reference for spell components, There is NO SPELL GUIDE, which is one of the reasons why I bought the book. Sure, I could get it online, but I wanted it in hardcopy. I was just a little upset because the word "secrets" DOES NOT IN ANY WAY APPLY TO THIS BOOK, AND USING THE WORD "STRATEGIES" TO DESCRIBE THE BOOK IS REALLY STRETCHING IT. The author seams to want to write an expanded instruction guide. It seams as if he didn't want the book to be a spoiler, even though it was plainly advertised as one.

This book was a great source of information for me when I first started playing. It covers a lot of the basic information about the game, and helps you get off to a good start with your first character. However, the game has changed a lot since the book was published, as Microsoft introduces large updates into the game every month. A second edition of this book would be great.

The book itself is ok, doesn't contain alot of "hints" persay as it's name would lead you to believe, but it does include alot of the basic "how to play" and stat/level experience tables, monster rundowns, etc..

in my opinion it whould have been in the box with Asheron's call, it's far more a manual than a hint book...