Dark Messiah of Might and Magic - Walkthrough - Chapter 6

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic - Walkthrough - Chapter 6
This post discusses skills in the Dark Messiah of Might and Magic single player campaign -- PC version, regular edition, HARD Difficulty.
For an index of all our hints and walkthroughs for this game, click here.

Chapter 6 - The Altar of the Skull - +8 Skill Points

In this level there are two types of opponents, both incredibly dangerous in hand to hand combat -- Ghouls and Zombies. Endurance and armor is nice, but having a bit of extra mana to be able to cast Sanctuary is a better safeguard as extra Health is easily brought down by Zombie poison spit, which you can rarely see coming (just keep your distance).
In both cases, look up for rafters or walkways from which you can snipe. Zombies cannot climb or spit up, and if you are patient you can take them down with a bow. Once you have a safe sniping position, you can basically attack with a bow until you get Adrenaline then auto-kill a creature.

In general, zombies have to be burned (e.g., fire spell or Earthfire Sword), Impaled (knocked down and impaled with a weapon, or lured to walk into a spike trap), attacked with a weapon under Adrenaline, or decapitated (for this, a neck or face shot seems to work better than a head shot).
The Block-Leaping Attack is good against Ghouls, but they are still difficult to deal with. Both Ghouls and Zombies can push you back quite a distance with their attacks.
I recommend that after Strength 2 (or Critical Hit 2, whichever route you went for superior weapons), you get Sanctuary and Magic Affinity 1 to comfortably cast it and still have Mana left over for a Heal spell. Magic Affinity 1 lets you use a Wizard Robe for an additional +10 Mana and Armor Class 1.
After Sanctuary, focus on Endurance. You will probably have enough points for Endurance 1, but you may wish to use the Wizard Robe for the +10 Mana instead of the Chainmail (+2 Armor Class). Endurance really comes into its own later when you get a lot more Health.

• Large, fat green jars contain a potion.
• Any rafters or upper platforms generally have a few items. Try to get up there as they make safe sniping platforms against zombies.

Part 1 - Entrance

• In the chamber with the giant stone spider, there is an angled beam. Jump on it (this can take many tries as you typically overshoot and hop off the other side of the beam -- as soon as you're up, crouch to immediately stop your forward momentum) and walk up to the upper platform circling the walls of this room. There is a SoulDrinker.
• If you use Telekinesis to grab the Moonsilk Crystal, you can then see faintly on the ground a Fire Trap in front of the sarcophagus.

Part 2 - Crypt 1 - Maiden's Eye - +1 Skill Points

• Two of the square wall plates can be broken.
• At the entrance to the chamber with the Maiden's Eye, the pillar in front has a chest on its upper platform.
• In the crypt opened by the lever in the room with the Sword of the DragonClaw, there is a chest on top of the pillar of stacked stones. To get up onto the wooden beams, use Rope Arrow on the beam, drop down on the ledge formed by one of the slabs that form the pillar, then climb up. This is also a very good sniping position against the zombies.
• In the room with the tomb of Darius Paperus, use Telekinesis to replace the fallen statue. This moves the wall of coffins aside.

Part 3 - Crypt 2 - Soul of the Crone - +1 Skill Points

To kill the Lich, use a bow on the zombies until you get Adrenaline, then headshot the lich. All the summoned zombies will also die. The lich has Freeze and Lightning spells.

Part 4 - Crypt 3 - Matron's Heart - +1 Skill Points

• The heart is at the bottom of this area, in an open sarcophagus.
• There is an open sarcophagus on a platform approximately to the left of where the bridge is broken.
• There is a chest on the rafters.
• Secret Area - On the bridge, there is a wide stair that goes down two flights onto a landing with a voodoo doll. After the first flight, turn right at the landing and jump down, then turn around to see an urn and a bow.

Part 5 - Altar of the Skull - +2 Skill Points for opening the Altar Room, +3 Skill Points for recovering the Skull