General Strategies
Moving Diagonally
You can move diagonally using the Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys. You
need to be able to do this, because some paths are narrow and can't be
traversed with arrow keys alone. Mouse movement will automatically take care
of diagonal movement as needed.
Even when you don't need to move diagonally, it's still a good idea. Here is
why:
- Enemies move diagonally, too. If you only move straight, they will catch up
with you.
- You can avoid clusters of enemies by slipping diagonally through "gaps" in
the pack.
- When you have only a limited amount of time to move after picking up a
time-sensitive spell (such as a freeze-time spell), you will want to cut as
many corners as possible.
Mouse Movement
Mouse click-to-move controls are new to Kroz-style games. Some levels are much
easier to complete with mouse controls, while others, such as sideways levels
and boulder puzzles, are easier to complete with classic keyboard controls.
Experiment and find out which control scheme works best for you.
Bottomless pit navigation, for instance, is much easier to perform with mouse
movement. As long as you don't click directly ON the pit, you'll be safe.
Keep in mind: Navigation-by-mouse does not avoid all potential hazards!
If you are not aware of hazards, the game does not let you "cheat" and move
around invisible obstacles.
There is a maximum range for navigation. If mouse movement does not work,
pick a closer destination.
Confusion mist (the purple cloud that appears on some levels) forces you to
make deliberate movements to adjacent squares.
Tricking Enemies
Enemies move synchronously. Take advantage of this if you don't want to waste
whips, or if you have run out of them. Wait for enemies to move, then run past
them. You will take minimal damage (or none, if you're clever).
Some levels are tailor-made for breakable-wall kills. If a group of enemies
looks intimidating, imagine how you might be able to lead them over to a block
of breakable walls.
Watch out for enemies that are placed in such a fashion that they will steal
inventory items. If an enemy is poised to walk over an item, do one of two
things to save the items:
- Anticipate the enemy's path. Figure out when and where you will travel to
parts of the level, allowing you to maximize the items that you can collect
before they can do the same.
- Get a slow-time or freeze-time spell. Now you can rush past enemies without
fear, provided you are quick.
If boulders are available, figure out how you can use them to your advantage.
You can accidentally destroy important items with boulders if you are not
careful. If you are careful, you can eliminate an entire clan of enemies
just by pushing a single rock.
Climbing and Sideways Levels
The "sideways" levels in Kroz appear to have taken a page from some of the
CGA side-view adventures Apogee was known for in its early days, such as
Pharaoh's Tomb. With two exceptions: you can't jump in Kroz, and you don't
die in one hit in Kroz.
Ropes are the name of the game when it comes to navigating sideways levels.
The following rules apply for movement around the level, with or without a
rope handy:
- Non-rope movement: sideways, downward, or diagonally downward only.
- From-rope movement: any direction.
- To-rope movement: any direction.
- To-drop-rope movement: any direction.
- The player gradually slides down if there is nothing solid underneath,
and if the player is not currently hanging on a rope.
Drop-rope chords (the flashing down-arrows) cause ropes to fall from other
drop-rope chords of the same type in the same level. Note that this doesn't
apply to the chord you just pulled, which means you must select the correct
chord to complete the level (usually the lowest one).
Drop-rope chords limit their drop range based on certain blocking types.
Normally this means walls, but other types like activators and closeable
wall types can also limit the range. You should take care to remove any
obstacles that might limit the drop range before pulling the chord, as the
puzzle solution might hinge on keeping the rope as long as possible.
Teleporting Like a Pro
Teleports can help to get to otherwise inaccessible places. Since teleport
scrolls are rare, use them wisely. They tend to be most useful when you are
trapped.
There are also teleport traps, which may or may not be visible on the floor.
If you touch one, it acts like a teleport scroll, but takes 50 points away.
Some levels don't allow you to teleport ahead. It is rare for the later Kroz
games in the series to allow you to skip complex puzzles by teleporting.
If you have surplus teleports, you might want to use the laws of probability
to make progress at times. For example:
- If a cluster of enemies is bearing down on you, wait until they get very
close, then teleport. Of all the available spots you could teleport to, the
odds are that you will be sent far away from the pack of dangerous foes, since
the enemies have closed off all nearby space.
- If you have traversed a long and tedious path, and you must backtrack, a
teleport will, by definition, nearly always get you closer to your goal,
perhaps significantly closer. This is because you are already at a maximum
distance away from the destination, so you lose nothing by trying to get
closer (either a bit, or a lot).
Keys: Ideal Usage
Each episode has its own "policy" for keys. Some of them will give you plenty
of extras, while others will not give you even one extra key. In general, you
should NEVER waste a key if you can help it--save them all until you really
need them!
The original Kroz behavior for enemies that collect keys was pretty cruel: the
key is permanently lost. If you needed that key, tough luck; the game is over.
Cruz is nicer in that keys are only temporarily stolen, meaning you can beat
the thief to capture the key. Then again, Cruz can make your life harder by
having golems and purple worms take the keys, which are harder to destroy.
Powering up That Whip of Yours
Your whip at the start of an episode sucks--it kills all non-hard enemies in
one hit, but destroys breakables with several hits.
Thankfully, Cruz causes damage to breakable walls or trees that your whip
failed to destroy on the first strike. The original Kroz behavior allowed for
the possibility that you could whip the same spot 10 times without destroying
it! This was a bit "too" random for most people.
To reach a 100% breakable-wall kill ratio for first whip swing, you need five
power rings. But you'll get close to this ratio with only three or four
rings. Beyond this point, additional power rings will not yield as much of
an advantage, since the gains you receive against boulders and statues
diminish with each subsequent ring.
Tunnel Hopper
If there are two tunnels on the level, you always transport between the
tunnels. If there are more than two tunnels on the level, you will transport
randomly between every other tunnel on the level.
The exact square chosen by the game for the player's destination is also
random. This can get somewhat frustrating at times, because simply exiting
from the correct tunnel is not enough: you must also exit from the correct
side.
One curious property of tunnels is that it is not possible to exit the same
tunnel entered, while at the same time picking a different square to exit.
If all the other tunnels are blocked, the exit spot for the tunnel will always
be the entrance square, not any other square.
This means that some levels require the player to open the space surrounding
another tunnel, which then allows transport between tunnels, which then
(presumably) lets the player exit from the original tunnel on the other side.
There are only a few levels in the entire series that require this, but it
is absolutely necessary to do so in order to finish these levels.
Enemy Compaction Strategy
A common strategy to use when large volumes of monsters appear on the screen
is to let them "compress" into a blob. In most cases, random level layouts
with lots of enemies will leave little room for you to maneuver without taking
damage. But if you skirt around the perimeter, enemies will gradually start
packing closer together, allowing you to outrun them (as long as you stick to
the edges of the screen). Since enemies are less likely to destroy items on
the edges of the screen, you can normally pick up goodies with minimal damage.
If the exit stairs are in the middle of the screen, though, enemy compaction
does not work to your benefit. You will have to dive straight through them
when it is time to exit the level.
If enemies have completely closed in, a teleport scroll is useful. With the
enemies packed in so tight, the teleport will normally take you to a place far
behind them, since teleports only go to empty spaces.
Zero-sum Strategy
Employ this when deciding if it's worth it to expend whips to get items. There
is a 2/7 probability that an unimproved whip will destroy a breakable wall.
However, if you need only destroy one of three adjacent walls to proceed, the
chance of a whip swing allowing you to progress is 3 times that: 6/7. If the
direction of your progress will net you 1 whip or more for every 1 whip
expended, it's a good direction to go in. Otherwise, it's more sensible to
avoid blocked items.
Whip-versus-gem Strategy
Should you use a whip or just take the damage from enemies? When presented
with this dilemma, take into account the following:
- For narrow corridor of unavoidable enemies: red enemies take only one gem,
making it better to run through them. Green and blue enemies are better when
whipped, since they take more gems in one fell swoop than you would be able
to restock. But if you can restock with a comparable number of gems right
away, it might be worth running through solitary green or blue enemies.
- For clusters of enemies: if there are 4 or more surrounding enemies, it's
usually better to whip them. The damage you take from 4 or more surrounding
enemies can be nasty. In the case of blue enemies, it's downright hideous.
To Cross Lava or Not to Cross
Lava takes ten gems away when walked on, but it does not return unless the
level has spreading lava. This means it is sometimes beneficial to walk
on lava to get treasure or bypass locked doors.
Is it worth it? Consider this:
You lose 1,000 points from lost end-bonus gems if you cross lava, but you
immediately get 250 points for crossing lava. This means that you can't
expect lava to be worth crossing in terms of point value most of the time.
However, if the point value will boost your end-of-game score beyond this
750-point margin, it's often worth it. Provided you don't die on the
journey, of course!
Things that will boost your score:
- Each gem or whip collected will increase your end-of-game score by 110
points.
- Each teleport scroll collected will increase your end-of-game score by
200 points.
- Each key collected, or door bypassed, will increase your end-of-game
score by 10,000 points.
There are implicit advantages to crossing lava in levels where there are
tons of tough enemies. It's probable that 3 blue enemies will take off
a comparable amount of gems as lava, if there are that many of them in
your path. Think about how "torn up" you are likely to get from staying
away from lava!
Worm Running
Only useful in The Underground Empire of Cruz. Sometimes, it's actually
beneficial to let a purple worm swallow you. While swallowed, you can run
down the length of its body to its tail! But don't do this for too long,
because you will be digested. After a while, the rate of digestion picks up,
which inflicts progressively more and more damage. Before you get too hurt,
you should whip your way free of the purple worm.
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