Introduction

Here you will find the basic concepts for Telestians. Click on the topic you wish to learn more about.

Castles

Castles are scattered across the world. Conquer these as soon as possible to increase you chances for domination!

Viewing castle details

Right click on any castle you own to manage your castle.

Left click on any of your opponent's castles to view its details.

Combat

Combat is settled the old fashioned way- to the death!

starting a battle

Move your unit next to a unit you wish to attack. Next, move the mouse over the unit you want to attack, the mouse icon will change to an attack icon. Right click on the enemy unit to bring up the battle screen

combat advisor

You can seek the advice of your Combat Advisor in determining your likelihood for winning a battle.

When you are next to the unit you want to attack, move your mouse over the enemy unit which will change the mouse icon to change to the attack icon. Next, hold down the CTRL key which will change the mouse icon to an attack question mark icon. Right click on the enemy to bring up your Combat Advisor's advice.

battle screen

The attacking player's units are at the bottom of the Battle Screen. The defending player's units are at the top of the Battle Screen.

If you are attacking a castle, and there are no enemy defenders, you will automatically win the battle and take over the castle.

The battle commences automatically with one vs. one battles. One attacker attacks one defender, each unit's strength (STR) is compared, with the unit with the higher value more likely to win.

If two units with the same STR fight, there is 50/50 chance of one or the other winning. If an attacking unit has a STR of 4, and the defending unit has a STR of 3, then the attacker has slightly more favorable odds of winning the battle. If an attacking unit has a STR of 4, and the defending unit has a STR of 7, then the defending unit has much more favorable odds of winning the battle.

You can speed up the battle by pressing the space bar once.

You can view unit strength and hit points by press the H button. Red text means that unit has a bonus- could be from terrain, castles, magical weapon etc...

combat log

You can open/close the combat log at the bottom of the screen.

The combat log will show each unit's strength and bonuses. This brings you the most insights to understand why one unit killed another.

battle screen icons

You may see the following icons during a battle:

Knife icon

- (ASS) bonus

- Unit was assassinated

Arrow icon

- (MIS) bonus

- Unit was hit before battle started

Healing icon

- (RGN) bonus

- Unit has regenerated all their hit points

Sword (blue) down icon

- Unit's max strength is 4 since on a water tile

Controls - Keyboard

ESC - View settings menu

F5 - Quick save

F9 - Quick load

C - Go to your capitial castle

F - Toggle fortification of active army unit

G - Toggle grid on/off

M - Toggle world map on/off

N - Select next army unit

Q - View quests menu

R - View reports menu

T - Toggle tome (help) on/off

Num Keypad 1-9:Move unit

Arrow Keys :Move map

Ctrl-E - End turn

Ctrl-L - Load game window

Ctrl-S - Save game window

H - Hall of Fame (Main Menu)

Controls - Mouse

Ctrl + Left click on enemy castle - show castle details

Ctrl + Right click on enemy castle - battle odds

Hold mouse wheel down - drag map around

Right click & hold - show tile details

Scroll wheel - zoom in / out

Events

Your Adviser will notify you when an event occurs.

There are five different arrival events that can occur:

1- Hero

2- Great Army

3- Army

4- Merchant

5- Monsters

hero

Heroes are key units in the game. They are the only ones who can search Ruins and complete Quests.

great army

Each faction has a Great Army that can be recruited for GP. These Great Armies are extremely powerful, and have no maintenance cost.

army

Additional armies may approach to be hired instantly for a sum of money.

merchant

Merchants will arrive from time-to-time at your Castles. They will offer magical items for sale. You can decide whether or not to purchase them.

monsters

Telestia is an untamed world, and random monsters still roam the world. Beware when they are spotted! They could raze your castles!

Experience Points

Every unit can gain experience points, which allow them to level up. Every time a unit gains a level, their stats permanently increase.

Heroes can gain up to 5 levels, and armies can gain up to 3 levels. Computer player's units gain levels, and Monster/Neutral units do not.

Checking for level upgrades and stat increases occur at the start of every turn.

Levels

• Level 2 - 20 xp,  +1 str +2 mv
• Level 3 - 40 xp,  +1 hp +2 mv
• Level 4 - 60 xp,  +1 str +4 mv
• Level 5 - 80 xp,  +1 hp +4 mv
• Level 6 - 100 xp, +1 str +6 mv

Gain experience

•  1 xp:  Survive a battle
•  3 xp:  Conquer a castle
•  0 xp:  Kill a unit with less strength
•  5 xp:  Kill a unit with the same strength
• 10 xp:  Kill a unit with greater strength
•  5 xp:  Search a level 1 ruin
• 10 xp:  Search a level 2 ruin
• 15 xp:  Search a level 3 ruin
•  2 xp:  Get blessed
• 30 xp:  Complete a quest

Lochus

A Lochus is defined as more than one army unit in a group.

A Lochus moves and battles together.

When a unit has a Lochus bonus, every unit in the Lochus have their STR increased by that bonus.

Movement

Each army unit has specific amount of movement points (MPs) they can use each turn.

army

When moving an army unit, each terrain square you move to reduces your MPs for that turn. Your army unit can no longer move during a turn when their MP reaches zero, or if they don't have enought MPs to move to an adjacent square.

Certain factions have movement bonuses in certain terrain.

lochus

A Lochus' max movement points (MPs) is limited to the unit within the Lochus with least MP. Additionally, terrain movement bonuses only apply if all units within a Lochus have the same bonus.

fly

Units with the FLY ability move through almost all terrain for only 2 MP. If a flying unit is part of a Lochus, it does not give the flying ability to those units.

Muster Point

After building an army unit, you can send it directly to another castle using a muster point.

A muster point is the castle where newly created army units are automatically sent.

Setting up muster points saves troop movement time and reduces the need to manually move units across the map.

Rules for Muster Points

Only newly created units can be mustered.

Depending on the distance, sending units to another castle may take 1-3 additional turns.

How to Set a Muster Point

• Open a Castle HUD.
• Click the minimap to open a world map view.
• Left-click a castle icon to select it as the active castle.
• Right-click a castle icon to set it as a muster point.
• At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see how many additional turns it will take to send units to the selected castle.

Special Bonuses

Both specific armies and Hero Items can have "special bonuses".

A list of all special bonuses:

GP (Gold pieces)

A relic with a 50GP bonus grants the player with an extra 50GP income each turn.

AMT (Anti-mount)

If you have an AMT3 bonus, your unit gains a +3 STR bonus when battling mounted armies. Mounted armies get no bonus against you.

ASS (Assassin)

SWith an ASS15 bonus, your unit has a bonus 15% chance to automatically kill a unit.

STR (Strength)

Strength is the core attribute of any army. A higher STR means you have a higher chance of killing an enemy unit. An item with a STR2 means that unit has a +2 STR bonus.

CSW (Combat Strength, Water)

With the CSW bonus, your army ignores any water terrain STR penalty. Instead of having a max STR of 4 on water, the army unit keeps its actual STR.

FLY (Flying)

With the FLY bonus, your army has the ability to fly. The fly bonus allows your MP cost on pretty much all tiles to have movement cost of 2. It also allows the army to move on mountains with a movement cost of 6. Additionally, they receive a sight bonus to see over terrain.

HP (Hit Points)

With an HP3 bonus, your army gains a +3 HP bonus.

IMM (Immunity)

An army with the IMM bonus cannot be assassinated.

LCS (Lochus Bonus)

An army with an LCS2 bonus, gives every unit in its Lochus a +2 STR bonus. If multiple armies in a Lochus have an LCS bonus, only the largest LCS bonus is applied.

LIFE (Resurrection)

Only available via the Holy Grail Hero item. If a Hero dies during battle, hero is immediately restored with full hit points. One time use.

MIS (Missile)

An army with a MIS10 bonus gets an extra attack that gives them a 10% to hit at the start of every battle.

MNT (Mounted)

A unit with the MNT bonus gets a +1 STR bonus against armies that are not:mounted, anti-mount or oversized.

MP (Movement Points)

A unit with a MP4 bonus gets a +4 MP bonus.

MTN (Mountain)

A unit with the MTN bonus can move through mountain terrain.

OSZ (Oversized)

A unit with the OSZ bonus gains a +1 STR against armies that are not:mounted or oversized. Additionally, they receive a slight sight bonus to see over wood and jungle terrains.

RGN (Regeneration)

A unit with the RGN regenerates its hit points after every battle.

WJ (Woods/Jungle)

A unit with a WJ1 gains a +1 sight bonus in WOODS or JUNGLE terrain.

Winning the Game

Victory & Defeat

victory

You win the game by when your enemies no longer own any castles.

defeat

If you lose all your castles, you lose the game!

Introduction

In this section of the tome, you will learn about all the factions of Telestia.

Faction bonuses are Player specific. For example, if you play as the Elves, any army unit you create gets defensive and movement bonuses on WOODS tiles.

Barbarians

Barbarians are a human faction that rule through strength and power. They take what they need by force and have little to no tolerance for negotiations and diplomacy.

Faction Bonus

They place a high value on bravery, therefore Heroes and Allies appear 20% faster than other factions.

Chaos

The Chaos Horde is full of demons and chaotic creatures.

Faction Bonus

They move swiftly and overrun their opponents. As such, on average Chaos armies have higher movement points then armies of other factions.

Dwarves

One of the oldest factions, Dwarves have been in Telestia for as long as anyone remembers. People believe the Dwarves and Elves were the first to inhabit Telestia. Dwarves have a strong constitution, and as such have an additional hit point. Their short legs and stature causes them to move slower than other factions

Faction Penality

Most units only have a sight value of 1.

Faction Bonus

Receive an additional +2 strength when defending in HILLS.

Receive a -2 movement cost when moving through HILLS.

Receive a -2 movement cost for disembarking.

Elves

Another faction that people believe were one of the first to exist on Telestia, Elves are present in Telestia.

Faction Bonus

Elves have increased visibility in WOODS.

They receive an additional +1 strength when defending in WOODS.

They receive a -1 movement cost when moving through WOODS.

Gadiantons

Gadiantons are a human faction of secret thieves and murderers. Gadiantons thrive on secret pacts, and underground plots. They once were a chosen people from GOD, but have since turned to evil ways and live a cursed life.

Faction Bonus

Some units have the "assassination" bonus, giving them a chance to kill an enemy outright, regardless of strength.

They receive an additional +1 strength when defending in HILLS.

Knights

Noble humans, who value morals, virtue and charity make up the Knights faction. They don armor, and fight for just and righteous causes, including liberty and freedom.

Faction Bonus

They receive a +1 strength bonus when attacking castles.

Neutral

Neutral armies consist mostly of wild beasts that have no intelligence to form a civilized faction. This includes very powerful monsters and dragons.

Neutral armies also consist of various weak humans who have been outcasted from their faction and/or lone individuals who do not want to be part of any faction.

Orcs

Organized in a tribal fashion, Orcs are surprisingly efficient at war.

Faction Bonus

In general, Orc units are stronger then other factions, while still having the same upkeep.

Reptilians

Reptilians are humaniod creatures that tend to favor Jungles & Marshes. They suffer less of a penalty when moving through those terrains.

Faction Bonus

They have increased visibility in JUNGLE terrain.

They receive an additional +1 strength when defending in JUNGLES.

They receive a -1 movement cost when moving through JUNGLES.

Undead

Not living, but not dead, the Undead is relentless faction. In general, the units are slower- less movement points.

Faction Bonus

They receive a +1 strength bonus when defending in MARSHES.

Undead receive a -1 movement cost when moving through MARSHES.

Introduction

Castles are core to winning the game. If you lose all your castles, the game is over. If you take over all your enemies castles, you win the game.

You can build armies at your castles, and stronger castles give you more defensive bonuses as well as allow you to build stronger army types.

Conquering

When taking over an enemy castle, you may have the options to:

Occupy

Pillage

Raze the castle.

Occupy

If the attacker and castle type are of the same faction, the castle level stays the same. If they are different, the castle loses one level.

Pillage

If the attacker and castle type are of the same faction, the castle loses one level. If they are different, the castle loses two levels.

The attacker earns twice as much gold as he would when occupying the castle.

Raze

There is complete chaos as the castle is burned to the ground. It is no longer available to produce units. The attacker gains no gold. Additionally, units will no longer be able move onto tiles where razed castles are located.

Gold won & loss

The defender loses a relative chunk of their total GP when losing a castle. The attacker receives part of that for winning. Neutral castles have little to no gold, so don't expect much from their coffers.

Conscript

You can conscript armies at your castles. Each castle level lets you conscript more armies:

Level 1 - 2 armies

Level 2 - 3 armies

Level 3 - 4 armies

Defense

When defending, every unit in a castle receives a strength (STR) bonus based on the level of the castle:

Level 1 - Defenders get a +1 STR bonus

Level 2 - Defenders get a +2 STR bonus

Level 3 - Defenders get a +3 STR bonus

Income

Each castle produces gold (GP) each turn. This is your primary income for maintaining all your army expenses.

Level 1 - Base GP produced

Level 2 - 50% increase (from Level 1) in GP produced

Level 3 - 50% increase (from Level 2) in GP produced

Levels

There are 3 levels of castles:

Level 1 - Fort

Level 2 - Fortress

Level 3 - Stronghold

Reconstitute

When you take over a castle that is not of your faction, you can build that faction's armies, but with a penalty. If you wish to convert the castle to your faction, you can reconstitute a castle.

There is no cost to convert your castle back to your faction. You can't build any armies while it's getting reconstituted.

Once your castle is of your faction's type, you'll be able to build armies as normal with no penalties.

Upgrade

You can upgrade your castle to the next level to receive additional defensive STR bonuses.

Each time you upgrade your castle, there is a one-time GP cost and you will not be able produce any armies at that castle while it is getting upgraded.

Introduction

Here you will find a complete list of all the armies in the game.

Action - Fortify

Any unit can fortify. This causes the unit to take up a defensive position in his current location. A fortified unit cannot move.

Starting on the turn after the unit has fortified (one complete turn), the unit get a +1 STR bonus while defending against an attack. This bonus does not apply when defending in castles, as the unit already receives a castle STR bonus (see Castles).

"Fortifying" means the unit is in the process of being fortified, and receives no STR bonus in this state. A grey fortify icon will appear at the bottom of the unit's flagpole.

"Fortified" means the units is fortified, and receives a STR bonus in this state as described above. An orange fortify icon will appear at the bottom of the unit's flagpole.

Armies that are fortified are ignored when pressing the "next" action button.

Introduction

Heroes are powerful, key units.

Heroes are the only units that can search Ruins, complete Quests, and utilize magical weapons.

You can have a total of six Heroes it the game at one time. Four male Heroes, and two female Heroes. Male Heroes are innately stronger than female Heroes.

Arrival

You always start the game with a Hero.

Heroes arrive faster with more activity. The more battles you have, ruins you search, and castles you take over will decrease the time (number of turns) until the next Hero arrives.

If a Hero dies, a new Hero will eventually come.

Hero Items

Each Hero can equip three (3) magical items: - Armor - Weapon - Relic.

Equipping these magical items will make your Hero more powerful.

Magical items can be found by searching Ruins, or killing other Heroes and taking their items.

You will receive the most powerful items in the game by fulfilling quests.

Stats

Male Heroes have 6 STR and 3 HP. Female Heroes, being weaker, have 5 STR and 2 HP. Both have 16 MP.

Dwarf Heroes get a +1 HP bonus, a -4 MP penalty, and a -1 Sight penalty.

Chaos Heroes get a +2 MP bonus.

Experience & Levels

Heroes can gain levels which permanently increase their stats. See "Concepts" for more information on experience points.

Introduction

The remains of a structure, or natural geographical feature that contains something of interest.

Ruins are found throughout the map, and can only be searched once by a Hero.

When searching Ruins, your Hero may find GP, an enemy monster or even a powerful ally!

Searching

Move your Hero onto a Ruin, and press the "search" button.

If you Hero is a part of a Lochus when searching, he will receive a slight bonus to any battles.

Experience

Your Hero will receive experience points for a successful search of a ruin. See "Concepts" for more information on experience points.

Introduction

Built to be houses of the LORD.

There are only a few Temples in each game, depending on the game map size.

Blessing

When you move your unit(s) onto a Temple, your units will automatically get blessed and received a permanent +1 STR bonus.

Each unit can only be blessed once.

Quests

When you move your Hero to a Temple, you can search it to receive a Quest from the Holy Men of the Temple.

Introduction

Quests are given by Holy Men at Temples.

A quests can only be started and completed by a Hero.

Each Temple offers only one Quest.

Searching

Bring your Hero to the Ruin location and press the "search" button to start the Quest.

Starting

Start a Quest by bringing your Hero to a Temple and pressing the "search" button.

The Holy Men will show you the location of a Ruin where you must recover a holy relic for them.

Status

You can looking the reports menu for a Quests section. This section will show you which quests you have started, and completed, along with the location of the Ruin you must search.

Rewards

After defeating the monsters at the Ruin location, the Holy Men will automatically give you a most powerful magical item that your Hero can equip.

Experience

All Heroes that participated in the Quest battle receive experience points. See "Concepts" for more information on experience points.

Introduction

Terrain plays a major influence in your ability to expand your empire, defend your armies, and view surrounding tiles. Each tile contains one unique terrain.

Each terrain has a certain movement cost that any army unit must use before being able to move onto the terrain tile. If a terrain has a movement cost of 2, then an army unit must have at least 2 movement points available to be able to move into that terrain tile.

Some terrain gives a defending army a strength bonus. For instance, if an army is on a hill terrain tile and another unit attacks it, the army unit on the hill will gain a strength bonus for that battle. Flying units receive no defensive bonuses.

When exploring the map, higher elevated terrain can block your line of sight. For example, if you have an army on a plains tile and there is a hill tile next to you, you won't be able to see pass the hill.

Flying units ignore sight elevation, and every terrain movement cost is 2.

Boreal Woods

Movm:3

Movm:2 [Elves]

Dcsm:0

Dcsm:+1 [Elves]

Biome:snowlands

Boreal Woods- Dense

Name:Dense Boreal Woods

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Elves]

Dcsm:+1

Dcsm:+2 [Elves]

Biome:snowlands

Bridges

Note:* Movement cost is 1 MP from bridge to water. * Movement cost is 2 MP from water to bridge.

Movm:1

Dcsm:0

Biome:all biomes

Cactaceae

Movm:3

Movm:2 [Reptilians]

Dcsm:0

Dcsm:+1 [Reptilians]

Biome:desert

Cactaceae- Dense

Name:Dense Cactaceae

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Reptilians]

Dcsm:+1

Dcsm:+2 [Reptilians]

Biome:desert

Desert

Movm:2

Dcsm:0

Biome:desert

Dunes

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Gadiantons]

Movm:2 [Dwarves]

Dcsm:+1

Dcsm:+2 [Gadiantons]

Dcsm:+3 [Dwarves]

Biome:desert

Fiery Woods

Movm:3

Movm:2 [Elves]

Dcsm:0

Dcsm:+1 [Elves]

Biome:hellscape

Fiery Woods- Dense

Name:Dense Fiery Woods

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Elves]

Dcsm:+1

Dcsm:+2 [Elves]

Biome:hellscape

Hells Teeth

Movm:3

Movm:2 [Reptilians]

Dcsm:0

Dcsm:+1 [Reptilians]

Biome:hellscape

Hells Teeth- Dense

Name:Dense Hells Teeth

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Reptilians]

Dcsm:+1

Dcsm:+2 [Reptilians]

Biome:hellscape

Hills

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Gadiantons]

Movm:2 [Dwarves]

Dcsm:+1

Dcsm:+2 [Gadiantons]

Dcsm:+3 [Dwarves]

Biome:grasslands

Jungle

Movm:3

Movm:2 [Reptilians]

Dcsm:0

Dcsm:+1 [Reptilians]

Biome:grasslands

Jungle- Dense

Name:Dense Jungle

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Reptilians]

Dcsm:+1

Dcsm:+2 [Reptilians]

Biome:grasslands

Lava

Note:* Only flying units and armies with the LAV ability can move on Lava.

Movm:2

Dcsm:0

Biome:hellscape

Magma Mountains

Note:* Only flying units and armies with the MTN ability can move on Magma Mountains.

Movm:8

Dcsm:0

Biome:hellscape

Marsh

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Reptilians]

Movm:2 [Undead]

Dcsm:- 1

Dcsm:0 [Reptilians]

Dcsm:+1 [Undead]

Biome:grasslands

Mountains

Note:* Only flying units and armies with the MTN ability can move on Mountains.

Movm:8

Dcsm:0

Biome:grasslands

Mountain Peak

Note:* Armies cannot move on these tall Mountain Peaks.

Movm:-

Dcsm:-

Biome:all biomes

Mudcracks

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Reptilians]

Movm:2 [Undead]

Dcsm:- 1

Dcsm:0 [Reptilians]

Dcsm:+1 [Undead]

Biome:desert

Pitchstone

Movm:2

Dcsm:0

Biome:hellscape

Plains

Movm:2

Dcsm:0

Biome:grasslands

Roads

Name:Stone Road

Movm:1

Dcsm:0

Biome:all biomes

Sandstone Spires

Note:* Only flying units and armies with the MTN ability can move on Sandstone Spires.

Movm:8

Dcsm:0

Biome:desert

Smoldering Rocks

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Reptilians]

Movm:2 [Undead]

Dcsm:- 1

Dcsm:0 [Reptilians]

Dcsm:+1 [Undead]

Biome:hellscape

Snow

Movm:2

Dcsm:0

Biome:snowlands

Snowcrest Crags

Note:* Only flying units and armies with the MTN ability can move on Snowcrest Crags.

Movm:8

Dcsm:0

Biome:snowlands

Snowmire

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Reptilians]

Movm:2 [Undead]

Dcsm:- 1

Dcsm:0 [Reptilians]

Dcsm:+1 [Undead]

Biome:snowlands

Snow Hills

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Gadiantons]

Movm:2 [Dwarves]

Dcsm:+1

Dcsm:+2 [Gadiantons]

Dcsm:+3 [Dwarves]

Biome:snowlands

Tundra

Movm:3

Movm:2 [Reptilians]

Dcsm:0

Dcsm:+1 [Reptilians]

Biome:snowlands

Tundra- Dense

Name:Dense Tundra

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Reptilians]

Dcsm:+1

Dcsm:+2 [Reptilians]

Biome:snowlands

Volcanoes

Note:* Armies cannot move on Volcanoes.

Movm:-

Dcsm:-

Biome:hellscape

Wilted Woods

Movm:3

Movm:2 [Elves]

Dcsm:0

Dcsm:+1 [Elves]

Biome:desert

Wilted Woods- Dense

Name:Dense Wilted Woods

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Elves]

Dcsm:+1

Dcsm:+2 [Elves]

Biome:desert

Woods

Movm:3

Movm:2 [Elves]

Dcsm:0

Dcsm:+1 [Elves]

Biome:grasslands

Woods- Dense

Name:Dense Woods

Movm:4

Movm:3 [Elves]

Dcsm:+1

Dcsm:+2 [Elves]

Biome:grasslands

Water

Note:* Movement cost is 6 MP from land to water. * Movement cost is 4 MP from land to water [Dwarves]. * All non-flying units to have a maximum strength of 4.

Movm:2

Dcsm:0

Biome:all biomes