Topic: Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island

Didn't see a thread for this. Such an addicting game! Opinions?

This thread reminds me that I have yet to play The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate.

And finish about a half dozen other Rogue clones.

I love Shiren so it is on my list but seriously the past six months plus march has been killing me with new releases. So this will be a BF purchase.

Is this the same a the game released from Amazon Japan. I have that version as well.

It might be the best Shiren game yet. It's certainly the one I would recommend for anyone who isn't sure about the series. It has a fantastic tutorial and the notebook/archives have everything you need to understand the different systems. I wish the custom items from Tower of Fortune made a return, but the Sacred items are an acceptable substitute.

I was going to start a thread on strategies, secrets, and rescues, but we can use this one instead. I hope you don't mind if I hijack it.

If you need a rescue I'll be happy to help. I've finished most of the story dungeons and a few of the post-game dungeons, and I'm at least halfway through quite a few others.

Some basic tips for people new to the series: don't be afraid to use your items! You'll always get more, and you'll learn how they work (or don't work) in different situations and on different monsters. It's better to use something and survive than die with it in your inventory.

Think about how combinations of items might work to your advantage. Knockback staves are great for giving you some breathing room, but using a Knockback and following up with a Switching staff might get you out of trouble completely. Experiment with everything. You might be surprised at what works. If it doesn't work, at least you learned something for next time.

Monsters follow the same rules as Shiren. Rotten food is terrible for you, poisoning you and giving you negative status effects. It will do the same to the monsters: throw it at them and they'll be weak, easy prey. Just hope that you don't miss...

You can use shops to help you identify unidentified items. Check the sale price and use your notebook entries to narrow down the possibilities. It's not a perfect system but it's much better than blindly using them and hoping for the best.

Sanctuary scrolls are incredibly powerful. You can stand in one and take down the toughest monsters without any danger. They don't protect you against ranged attacks, though. I found out the hard way.

Empathetic staves are more powerful the stronger your opponents are. They even work on bosses!

There's so much to learn and I don't want to spoil everything, but I'll happily answer any questions. I've been playing the series for almost 20 years and would love for my experience to help people.

@Harleq Great tips

@mattiasboden glad you found them useful! I'll put up some more eventually, but for now I'd like to talk about one of the highest risk/reward activities: stealing from shops. In some ways, it's the true endgame haha.

Why steal from shops? Maybe the merchant has exactly the item you need but you don't have enough money to pay for it. Perhaps there's more than one perfect item and you don't want to choose between them. Or maybe you're just tired of being an honest wanderer. Whatever your reason, it's usually easy to walk out of a shop with their items. Once you exit the shop without paying, Merchants and Guard Dogs will hunt you down like you're like the rabbits in Watership Down: "All the world will be your enemy, prince with a thousand enemies. And if they catch you, they will kill you. But first, they must catch you."

If you don't want to get caught, you have to have a plan. I wouldn't try stealing unless the shop is one or two rooms away from the stairs. The further you have to run, the more likely you'll get caught and killed. The rest of your plan depends on what you have in your inventory.

My favorite method is to use a combination of a Burrowing staff and Vaulting staff to make a run for the exit. Burrow a tunnel and Vault to the end of it. Eat some Swift grass if you have it and you'll almost certainly be able to make it. You can use a Paralysis staff or Sanctuary scroll to block pursuit. Make your first tunnel before you steal to give yourself extra time and space.

They can't pursue you into water, so a Waterwalk bracelet opens up more options to get away safely.

If you have a straight line to the stairs and an enemy is close, hit them with a Narrow-Escape staff and use a Switching staff on them. It's almost a guaranteed escape.

In previous games, using a Walrus pot on items in stores when you weren't in the store didn't count as stealing. I haven't been able to test this yet, because I've never had one when I got to a shop. I'll report back once I've tested it.

Sell all your items first so you steal the merchant's Gitan as well as his items. If you're going to do the thing, you may as well do it properly.

Got this game physically and digitally, then accidentally got a 2nd physical copy that showed up yesterday. Guess I forgot I ordered at BestBuy when I put my Amazon order in. I'll be returning that one today.

I played a bit of the start. Graphics have certainly improved over the last one. This is definitely the one to play, now. Feels like Tower of Fortune was around foreeeeever

After far more hours clearing dungeons and rescuing other wanderers than I care to admit, I've got a few more tips for making the most out of everything you get in your adventures. I'll keep things as spoiler-free as possible.

Bags of Gitan can be one of your most lethal weapons. The more Gitan in the bag, the more damage they do when thrown. How do you pick one up and use it? Hold down B to step on it, then use the "exchange" command with something in your inventory. Now it's ready to use! This is almost necessary for clearing some of the post-game dungeons, especially Cat-Ching's Divine Will. It's also a good emergency tactic for some early floors when you might not have any other options. It's always a good idea to pick up the first two or three bags you find.

A thrown rock will trigger a trap if it lands on it. Use this to your advantage in a number of ways. Explosive traps destroy just about every enemy. Log traps are as good as knockback staves in a pinch. You can also use rocks to trigger wooden arrow or poison arrow traps repeatedly. If they don't hit you, they'll fall to the ground. Trigger them until they break and you'll build up a decent stash.

Once you have some, shoot arrows down corridors every few steps. It will keep you from being ambushed and give you valuable information about what's ahead. It might also weaken the monster enough so you can kill it without taking damage.

Blank scrolls are the most useful item you can have. Writing in one doesn't take a turn, so it's best to keep it blank until you know exactly what you'll need it for.

The early floors are the best ones to identify grasses and scrolls by using them. It's a good idea to be close to the stairs when you do, in case you get something unexpected like a monster scroll. In the more dangerous floors, it's best to use price ID or an identifier scroll rather than take a chance that might end your run.

If no one rescues you, you can rescue yourself. Aid points can be used on self-rescues, and can give you the edge you need to save a promising run. You don't get additional points for rescuing yourself, but if it's worth it you may as well spend them.