Dungeon Siege II

It has been a thousand years since the end of First Age of Man, marked with clash of the sword of Zaramoth breaking the shield of Azunai...provoking a cataclysm that engulfed the Land of Ehb. The Second Age of Man seems to repeat history as the the new warlord Valdis, having secured the sword of Zaramoth strikes new terror in a massive campaing across the land. Here our hero and his Elven brother-in-arms joins the latest warpath under Valdis with siege of the Dryad's homeland. The story begins...

Gameplay

Dungeon Siege 2 is a Real-Time Hack-and-Slash Role-Playing Game (RPG) which uses a rotatable third-person perspective camera. The player may control up to 1-6 hero's and pets, although the size of the party is limited by the game difficulty. The first out of 3 levels of difficulty - Mercenary, limits the party to only a maximum of 4 party members. In order to advance in level, the player must first finish the game in each mentioned level difficulty.

The player may create a new hero or use a pre-generated hero. Races available for new heroes are: Human, Elf, Dryad and Half-Giant. Each race has their own unique racial benefits (or disadvantages). Racial distinction does not affect the storyline. Aside from heroes, your party may also acquire the use of pets as party member, which unlike party members may only advance in one particular class and advance by being fed items. There are 10 different pets available for purchase.

Similar to the original Dungeon Siege, the game identifies 4 primary skills: Melee, Ranged (Bow, Crossbow or Thrown Weapons), Combat Magic and Nature Magic. Using specified weapons or magic spells will increase the levels of the mentioned skill, allowing the character to use more powerful weapons, armor, items or spells. Advancing in these skills also allow the character to use additional skill bonuses and Hero Powers. The player may optionally focus on any one or more of the available skills.

Leveling up consists of 2 different aspects: First is the primary skill level, which is automatic, the second is the character level which also allows the player to invest points for Hero Powers, which are also divided in accordance to the primary skills, and advancement in those power are affected by current skill level.

Combat is real-time, but may be paused at any given time. Characters fight in accordance to a designated weapon or magic spell of choice. There is one primary active weapon and 4 available magic slots to choose from in the character page. The player may switch manually between weapons or spells during adventuring or combat. An additional 4 slots in the spellbook allow the use of automatically cast spells.

While adventuring, the party may discover several sub-quests as well as secret rooms or magical items. All information regarding quests and quest items, chants, maps, bestiary of creatures are recorded in the upgraded game journal.