The Legend of Sword and Fairy 98

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Overview

Sword and Fairy is a single-player Chinese role-playing game from Softstar, and the first game in the series. Its theme is fate, and it draws its subject matter from both wuxia and xianxia.

The original came out for DOS in 1995, followed by Windows 95 and 98 versions. The Windows 95 release fixed some of the DOS version's bugs, lowered the difficulty and brought in video cutscenes; the 98 edition builds on it in Simplified Chinese and fixes further bugs.

Compared with DOS, the 98 edition reworks a number of scenes, adds an animated opening and ending and several animated scenes, simplifies some of the mazes, adds descriptions for items, lowers the levels at which spells are learned and the health of enemies, and adds new items.

Controls guide

Exploring

Key	Action
`Arrows`	Walk
`Enter`/`Space`	Talk, search the spot in front of you, open chests
`Esc`	Game menu: status, magic, items, system
`E`	Use an item
`W`	Equip
`F`	Magic menu
`S`	Party status
`Q`	Quit game prompt

Menus

Key	Action
`Arrows`	Move the cursor
`Enter`	Choose
`Esc`	Back out
`Page Up`/`Page Down`	Page through items or spells
`Home`/`End`	Jump to the first or last entry
`Left`/`Right`	Previous or next member on the status screen

Battle

Key	Action
`Arrows`	Pick a command or a target
`Enter`	Confirm
`Esc`	Take back the previous member's order
`A`	Auto battle on or off
`R`	Repeat last round's orders for the whole party
`F`	Whole party casts its strongest attack spell
`D`	Defend
`E`	Use an item
`W`	Throw an item
`Q`	Flee
`S`	Status

Cheatsheet

Battle menu

攻击 Attack: Strike one enemy
仙术 Magic: Cast a spell, costs MP
合击 Cooperative: Combined attack by the whole party
其他 Other: 自动 Auto, 物品 Item (使用 Use or 投掷 Throw), 防御 Defend, 逃跑 Flee, 状态 Status

Game menu

状态 Status: Each member's stats and equipment
仙术 Magic: Cast healing and support spells outside battle
物品 Items: 使用 Use or 装备 Equip
系统 System: 存档 Save, 读档 Load, 音乐 Music, 音效 Sound, 结束 Quit

Stats

体力 HP / 真气 MP: Health and spell points
武术: Attack power
灵力: Magic power
防御: Defense
身法: Speed
吉运: Luck; raises the chance of fleeing

Tips

F is a fast way through ordinary fights: each member casts the strongest damaging spell they have MP for, skipping one-MP ultimate moves, and simply attacks if there is none.
R replays everyone's previous orders in one key press, which makes grinding the same group of enemies much quicker than choosing commands each round.
Cooperative attacks are paid for with HP instead of MP, taken from every member able to join in. They never knock anyone below 1 HP, but heal afterwards.
A member who is asleep, confused, silenced, paralyzed or near death can't join a cooperative attack, and it needs at least two healthy members.
Auto battle stays on until you press A again, so switch it off before a boss fight where you need healing or items.

Secrets

Rattan Armor (藤甲) in Yuhang

Right at the start, before you ever leave Yuhang, walk into the trees in the market by the dock, near the smithy, and search around carefully. A suit of Rattan Armor is hidden there, a solid early upgrade over the clothes Li Xiaoyao starts in.

A Marching Pill from Brother Zhang Si

When the boat drops you on Xianling Island, talk to the boatman Zhang Si a couple of times. Worried about you, he hands over a Marching Pill (行军丹), a healing pill.

Miao Saber (苗刀) in the Water Moon Palace

Inside the Water Moon Palace on Xianling Island, find the chest beside the Guanyin statue. The first search gives Guanyin talismans, but keep pressing Enter on the empty-looking chest and a Miao Saber turns up, a strong weapon for that early point.

Qingfeng Sword (青锋剑) from the Yangzhou sword grinder

Keep the rusty sword Aunt Li packs for you. In Yangzhou, the grinder in the house to the right of the wine shop offers to sharpen it. Pay him 2,500 coins instead of taking the free job, then come back after the female thief is caught and before you leave town, and he hands you a Qingfeng Sword. The free job only gives a plain iron sword.

Hidden corridor in the Liu mansion

In the capital, the Liu family mansion has a staircase in the top-left of the main hall. Stop halfway up between the ground floor and the upper floor and walk right: an invisible corridor runs behind the wall. Search along it to find Immortal's Tea (神仙茶).

Lotus-leaf room in Yinlong Cave

At the bottom of Yinlong Cave (隐龙窟), the snake demon's lair, step across the lotus leaves on the water to reach a small hidden room. It holds a Golden Silkworm King (金蚕王), which raises a character by one level, and a Stealth Gu (隐蛊). The lotus path was added in the Windows versions, so it is not in the DOS game.

Stealing Trial Fruit in the Demon Locking Tower

On the lower floors of the Demon Locking Tower on Mount Shu, one monster keeps calling copies of itself into the fight. Use Li Xiaoyao's Flying Dragon Cloud Hand (飞龙探云手) steal skill on them for Trial Fruit (试炼果), which permanently raises a stat. Kill the copies but leave one alive so it keeps calling more for you to rob.

Dustless Sword (无尘剑) behind a false wall

At the bottom of the Trial Cave (试炼窟), in Nüwa's ruins, look for a secret passage in the south-east corner of the tomb. Head north through it; at the upper left a wall can be walked through. Behind it lies a Reed Raft (芦苇漂). Carry it down to the river, float across, and the Dustless Sword, Li Xiaoyao's strongest blade, waits on the far side. There is only one in the game.