This was a place I’d attempted a couple of times in the past while I was grinding in the town of Sandsobar. I kept getting killed so I’d stay away for a while and keep grinding the little spot I found in town. That grind was, however, getting rather boring after many dozens of loops, and it was time to press forward in the cavern below.
Perhaps one of the more annoying things about Cavern Below Sandsobar is you can’t just get to it without entering into combat. The entrance to the cavern itself is right inside the slums. When you walk on a certain tile you are asked if you wish to help someone. If you choose no, then you can’t move any further. If you choose yes you enter into combat.
It’s not that the combat is hard or anything of the sort. There just tend to be a lot of creatures like rats to take out. It’s almost like this encounter is just meant to weaken you a little bit before allowing you to go down below into the cavern itself.
Once inside, since you are now underground you need to cast a light spell to see. There is a sign warning you of lots of rats in the area. There are also a few doors and different directions to take once you get out of the loot room you start in.
I always find it quite wise to take note of where you are on the map. One of the worst things is having some insane encounter or find while out exploring and not being able to find your way out again. I would be taking my trips back above ground and back to the inn to save, sell the loads of gear I’d be getting, and do some training as well.
Down below there seems to be some hints of a master thief. I’d sometimes run into what looked like to be a thief, but it turns out that after I give them some money for training they just vanish. While it would take a couple of attempts over time, I’d find the real one and he would give me some training to increase my thievery skills.
I ended up checking out an inch of this cavern. This game, like the first one, appears to give you rather cryptic hints about future things. Since this is my first time playing this, I have no idea what this is about. It, however, seems like a quest to me. I just have no idea where Castle Hillstone is.
This would not be my only hint of a quest either. I’d end up finding a couple of them while down in this cavern. Perhaps at some point, I’ll end up finding out what the meaning behind a few of these is. For now, it was time to move on and further explore things.
In one of my many combat encounters, I ended up getting some rather insane loot. I’ll admit I was not paying much attention to the fight at the time. However, when you notice 12k gold per character and a +5-item drop. That sure gets your attention.
I have attempted to upgrade a couple of different character's equipment with the armor drop. I however keep getting told wrong alignment. It appears I have looted some kind of magic item of sorts. Like many things in this game, I took to the guidebook that comes along with the game, but I did not find any answers I was seeking.
As such I did the next best things. I ended up taking the item to one of the shows in town. It turns out it’s not something of magic. It however requires someone to have a neutral alignment to wear it. While I do have two neutral characters. One of them is the wrong class and the other one has plate gear already provides the same amount of armor protection. Seems like a shame to end up selling an item like this. That is just how it is sometimes.
It is half tempting to run back to the first town and make another character. I then can leave one of my characters behind for the moment and have a new character join my group so I can give him the item. I however don’t quite know if I want to have an alt-holding items. I don’t think I’ll be playing any more than just a group's worth.
One thing I started putting more focus on while down in the cavern is working on what I consider to be my opening move. For instance, my cleric has many spells I wish I could cast on the first turn. He, however, can only cast one per turn. After much internal debate and testing out, I decided I rather like it when he casts weaken first.
Weaken is a spell that reduces the damage output of anything it lands on by 50% while that creature is still weakened. The nice thing is it has an area of effect impact. If any creature is listed on the screen and not as a plus in line to join the fight, they have a chance of becoming affected by the spell.
The only downside is creatures can resist it. They can and most often do overcome it. They can even overcome it in the same turn I cast the spell in. At the very least the spell can be cast again when more enemies are in range or if I feel enough of them have overcome it.
Final Thoughts
After a couple of deaths and lots of trips back to town, I ended up exploring the entire Cavern Below Sandsobar. I gained some levels but did not end up looting anything worthwhile that I could use for myself. I’m also getting a little bored of the area and it feels like the time to press forwards to go elsewhere.
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Screenshots were taken and content was written by @Enjar about Might And Magic II.
I can imagine a game like this, but with more modern graphics or more fluid pixel art. Could we achieve that? It would be very interesting.