Might and Magic 4: Clouds of Xeen – any% speedrun walkthrough by Gwernash

• Introduction - This is a basic walkthrough of my (currently) world record speed run of Might and Magic 4: Clouds of Xeen. “Basic walkthrough” means users of this guide will be able to follow the same route that I used, but details about particular speed optimizations have been omitted. If you want to further improve your time and have specific questions, feel free to find me on Discord.

• Glossary - Here are abbreviations needed for understanding the key sequence in the walkthrough:

• U/D: step forward/backward by pressing the up/down arrow
• r/l: turn right/left 90º by pressing the right/left arrow
• R/L: side-step to the right/left by pressing <ctrl>+right/left arrow
• B: press ‘b’ to bash down walls or step forward when in water
• TN: teleport N spaces forward, e.g., T3 or T8
• shoot: press ‘s’ to shoot an arrow
• sp: press the space bar to induce enemy movement, enter a dungeon, etc. Sometimes I will specify this, and sometimes I will just write “enter dungeon”, “get treasure”, etc.
• ChN_LB_set / ret: character N casts Lloyd’s Beacon, to set a beacon or return to one
• Ch1_TP_N: character 1 casts Town Portal to city N (e.g., Ch1_TP_3 = Town Portal to Rivercity)
• rest: rest the party by pressing ‘r’

Also note that all of the above actions can be prepended with a number N to indicate repeating that action. For example, 6U means step forward 6 times.

Finally, in some instances the timing of actions is important. This is because after each action there is a slight delay before the enemies take their turn. This allows for the player to take two actions before enemies can take one. Sometimes this is advantageous, and other times this can kill the run. Thus, I define the following notation:

• <action 1>+<action 2>: this means do multiple actions in immediate succession, such that they occur before enemies can move.
• <action>-: this means perform an action and then wait for enemies to take their turn before continuing. This is important for manipulation of enemy movement.

With all this established, let’s go to the walkthrough!

--- Walkthrough ---

• Vertigo - shoot 4U r 6U l – mirror to “Winterkill”

• Winterkill - l U- 2R 4U – get 3000 gold from bed l 2U l 2U – mirror to “Shangri-la”

• Shangri-la - r 7U – Ch6 drink from well 2U l 7U R – guild membership L 4D 3L 4U – enter guild, Lloyd’s Beacon for Ch3, Lloyd’s Beacon and Teleport for Ch6 Ch6_LB_ret

• Vertigo - 4U r 6U l rest – mirror to “Land Of The Giants”

• Land O’ Giants - r 2D- r 2D l 2D r D r T8 – Ch3 and Ch6 drink from well Ch6_LB_set Ch3_LB_ret

• Vertigo - r 4U r 6U l Ch3_LB_set Mirror to “Dragon Lair”

• Lair O’ Dragons - 2r U – enter cave T7 T8 T8 – get 3 treasures 2l Ch3_LB_ret

• Vertigo - Mirror to “Shangri-la”

• Shangri-la - r T6 l T7 Enter guild, Town Portal for Ch1, Levitate for Ch3, Day of Protection for Ch5 Ch3_LB_ret

• Vertigo - Mirror to “Cave Of Illusion”

• Cave O’ Illusion - l – enter cave Level 1: B l T7 r T9 T4 l T7 l sp Level 2: l T2 l 2B sp Level 3: T9 T3 l B r 2B l B sp Level 4: 3B l T8 sp (get Key to Tower of High Magic) Ch3_LB_ret

• Vertigo - l – mirror to “Tower Of High Magic”

• Tower O’ High Magic - R D l U – enter tower Level 1: U R T4 R U r U sp Level 2: T6 sp Level 3: r T4 r sp Level 4: T6 l 2U l T7 sp (get Key to Darzog’s Tower) Ch6_LB_ret

• Land O’ the Giants - l rest Ch1, Ch3, Ch6 drink from well Ch3_LB_ret

• Vertigo - Mirror to “Darzogs Tower”

• Tower O’ Darzog - R- R D- r – enter tower Level 1: U r T2 r sp Level 2: T6 sp (Ch2 +20 speed) l T4 r sp (Ch2 +20 endurance) 2l T6 sp (Ch2 +20 might) 2l sp T4 l D- l D- l T4 sp (Ch2 +20 accuracy) r T4 l sp Level 3: T5 r T2 sp (free Crodo!) 3U- sp Level 4: l T2 r U r T3+sp

• Clouds O’ Xeen - Ch3 cast Levitate U R T6 T9 T6 L – Ch2 get Might Doll 2U L – Ch2 get Speed Doll 3L D – Ch2 get Endurance Doll 3D R – Ch2 get Accuracy Doll T7 – get Cupie Doll r T4 l – enter Xeen’s Castle

• Castle O’ Xeen - Level 1: T5 2L T6 sp Level 2: T4 sp Level 3: r T5 l U sp Level 4: r T4 Ch3_LB_set Ch1_TP_3

• Rivercity - r 2U T9 l T5 – train Ch2, Ch5, Ch6 Ch6_LB_ret

• Land O’ Giants - Ch6 drink from well Ch1_TP_3

• Rivercity - l U – leave Rivercity

• Area C3 / C4 - U T9 – buy Deed to Newcastle Ch1_TP_2

• Nightshadow - l U – leave Nightshadow

• Area D4 - r 2U r 2U – get Yak Stone of Opening D r U r T7+r+sp – enter Ancient Temple of Yak

• Ancient Temple O’ Yak - Ch5 cast Day of Protection T8 r T7 2l sp (get King’s Mega Credit) r T2 l sp (get King’s Mega Credit) r T3 l sp (get King’s Mega Credit) r T2 l sp (get King’s Mega Credit) r T7 sp (get King’s Mega Credit) 2l T4 sp (get King’s Mega Credit) r T9 L U L T9 r T6 l sp (get King’s Mega Credit) 2l T6 sp (get King’s Mega Credit) r Ch1_TP_1

• Vertigo - 4U r 6U l – mirror to “Castle Burlock”

• Area D2 - l U – enter Castle Burlock

• Castle O’ Burlock - 3U attack!!! 3U r 6U l 2U – visit Engineer Ch6_LB_set T3 r U l – visit King’s Advisor twice (get Excavation Permit) Ch1_TP_3

• Rivercity - U – leave Rivercity

• Area C3 / C4 / Newcastle - U T9 – enter Newcastle, get Stone of a Thousand Terrors 2r – leave Newcastle 2r T6 r T5 l U – enter Tomb of a Thousand Terrors

• Tomb O’ 1000 Terrors - 3U T9 l U sp (get King’s Mega Credit) 2l T9 T5 l sp (get King’s Mega Credit) T6 r U sp (get King’s Mega Credit) 2l 3U T9 3B r 2B 9U sp (get King’s Mega Credit) 12D l T3 2l sp (get King’s Mega Credit) 2l T8 sp (get King’s Mega Credit) 2l T3 r T3 L T3 sp (get King’s Mega Credit) Ch6_LB_ret

• Castle O’ Burlock - r – visit Engineer Ch1_TP_3

• Rivercity - U – leave Rivercity

• Area C3 / C4 / Newcastle - U T9 – enter Newcastle, get Golem Stone of Admittance Ch6_LB_ret

• Castle Burlock - visit Engineer Ch1_TP_3

• Rivercity - U – leave Rivercity

• Area C3 / C4 - U T9 – enter Newcastle

• Newcastle - 2U l 5U l U – enter Newcastle Dungeon with password “Laboratory”

• Newcastle Dungeon - U T9 l T5 – give Xeen Slayer Sword to Ch2, and equip it! Ch3_LB_ret

• Castle O’ Xeen - l U l attack!!! U 5sp Enjoy the show