Ninja Masks and Plate Helms

One of the fun aspects of playing Culdcept SAGA is trying to collect the many "parts" bonuses (i.e. clothing accessories) that are awarded to your cepter for meeting some very challenging requirements. There are dozens of these bonuses in the game and many of them fall under the category of what I would consider nearly impossible to get.

Or so I thought. I just unlocked the Ninja Mask (awarded for winning a game without paying a single toll) and the Plate Helm (awarded for winning a match without engaging in any battles) and the way I did it was actually very straightforward. I was playing on the map Zanador, the one you must complete right before reaching the Altar of Darkness stage, and this map is very conducive for avoiding battles. The map features a small square-shaped path in the center and then four additional square-shaped paths, one on each side of the main central ring. The central path has a Castle in two of the corners and although all four outer rings have Forts, there are two East Forts and two West Forts.

So what I did was I immediately headed to the outer loop on the lower portion of the screen, tagged the fort, then headed to the ring on the right-hand side of the screen. Since they're loops and the Castle is right between them serving as a connector, I was able to go back and forth from one loop to the other without having to step foot on the northern half of the map. Similarly, the two AI-controlled cepters both stayed to the two rings on the upper half of the screen. So while they continued to battle one another, I simply kept on looping back and forth, leveling up my land, and buying tons of Symbols.

Things got a bit dicey at the end, as one of the AI-cepters finally started to loop down towards my area right as I had started on my way to the Castle to win the game (I had the necessary 12,000 total magic). At first he landed on an empty square, then he landed on one of my spots that had a moderately high toll. I was certain he was going to challenge me in battle, but I lucked out -- he had no creature cards and had to pay the toll without fighting! I ended up rolling high enough on the next roll to zip to the Castle and win the game.

I collected 1 toll in the entire match, engaged in zero battles, paid zero tolls, and only lost 2 creatures due to the AI-cepters repeated use of the Acid Rain spell (-30 HP to Defensive creatures; this killed my Leshy) and Lunatic Light (swaps ST and HP values; this killed my Wall of Ice).

I'm still really enjoying the game and am certain to unlock another Achievement tonight at the Altar of Darkness. Even if I lose the match, I'm guaranteed to unlock the Achievement for collecting 500 cards, as I currently have 499 right now and will no doubt get at least 5 or 6 cards even if I lose the next match. I also finally got the Ogre Lord Achievement last night for winning a match with all 5 Ogres in play at the end of the game.

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