Gameplay

Expanding Your Kingdom
What do you know, there was another one of those darn cataclysms. It's up to you to rebuild a kingdom that can stand up to the bad guys.

You'll need to clear out monsters and bandits with heroes and armies, then send pioneers to build cities on arable land and outposts to claim outlying resources.

Expanding your kingdom via pioneers is vital, and should be one of your highest priorities.

Exploring the Land
The landscape is dotted with a random selection of the hundreds of quests in Sorcerer King. Completing them grants you crafting components, lore for researching new spells, new units, magical artifacts, and can even increase or decrease the Doomsday Counter.

If you see something interesting on the map, chances are you should explore it and see what it is. At the very least, you'll probably get a chuckle out of the writing - Chris Bucholz of Cracked.com writes all of our quests, and he's a funny guy.

Exterminating the Monsters
Battles in Sorcerer King are quick and to the point. Nearly every unit in the game has a special ability, from Tandis' sweep attack that hits all adjacent enemies to the Stalker's deadly maul, which hits over and over again until dodged.

Your sovereign can cast spells to help your forces out. A quick heal or weak summoned skeleton might give your armies the edge in the early game, but later on calling down devastating blizzards or walls of living flame can practically win battles by themselves.

Saving the World
The Sorcerer King is trying to destroy the shards. Stop him, or it's the literal end of the world.

Each shard destroyed by the Sorcerer King's forces pushes the Doomsday Counter forward. If it fills up, it's game over.

Complete quests in benevolent ways to lower the Doomsday Counter and delay the Sorcerer King's victory, and defend the shards as best you can to keep the assault at bay.

Facing the Sorcerer King
There is only one way to win in Sorcerer King: You must defeat him in battle. Naturally, it's easier said than done.

First, you must find his two lieutenants. Don't worry, you can't miss the enormous fire and ice demons roaming the landscape. Bringing lots of friends and a full mana bank to any confrontation with the lieutenants is highly recommended.

Once you've bested both lieutenants, you must fight your way to the heart of the Sorcerer King's domain. Even more friends and as much mana as you can possibly scrounge together are a good idea at this point.

Crafting
Crafting is critical in Sorcerer King. Killing monsters and completing quests gives you crafting materials, which you can turn into everything from basic chainmail to epic flaming swords.

Both heroes and regular units can use crafted items. A fully equipped unit can be several times more effective than a bare one.