"Dark Forest Auras" refers to one of five mutually exclusive abilities that can be obtained by completing the Paladin's Keep battle in the Dark Forest. Once the battle has been completed, the player is given the option of selecting one of the five auras, which are implemented in-game as abilities. This selection is permanent, and cannot be undone.
Auras[]
Aura of Fear – "Your Hero will emanate power that strikes fear into everyone around them."
- All opponents receive an automatic -10 to their combat stats. (Note: "combat stats" refers to H2H, Ranged, Dodge and Parry in this context.)
Aura of Victory – "Your Hero is transformed into a being of such heroic magnitude, either by stature, beauty or wonder, that commoners in their presence can only stare in amazement."
- Your Hero gets +10 to all four combat stats: H2H, Ranged, Dodge and Parry.
Aura of Enchantment
- Your Hero will get a permanent +1 enchantment to any weapon and armor used, above and beyond any current enchantment that such items may already have.
Aura of Health
- Your Hero will become immune to poison and gain a massive +4 boost to Vitality!
Aura of Might – "Your Hero will be regarded in such awe, either due to stature, beauty or mystical wonder, that any being of a lower level won't know whether to back away from your presense or kneel down in praise!"
- Your Hero will receive +8 Strength, +8 Willpower and +4 Intelligence.
Notes[]
- The Aura of Victory is a common choice for most hero classes. The Aura of Fear and the Aura of Victory are mirrors of one another, and are equivalent to each other (except that the Aura of Fear benefits the hero's followers). However, the effects of the Aura of Victory will appear in the hero's stats as shown in the "Attributes" interface, whereas Aura of Victory is not explicitly shown in the list of stats.
- The Aura of Health is useful for Healers because it grants the "Immunity to Poison" ability. This remedies one of the largest weaknesses of the Healer class, which is that poison from enemies will disable the Healer's regeneration and healing spells.
- The Aura of Might is a common choice for the Priestess and Wizard classes, since it is the only option that boosts Intelligence, which is generally the most crucial stat for these classes.
- The Aura of Enchantment is generally considered to be the weakest option. The +1 weapon enchantment is no better than the +8 Strength buff of the Aura of Might for purposes of inflicting damage, while lacking the benefits of carrying capacity associated with Strength. Meanwhile, the benefits of +1 armor enchantment is limited due to the extremely high damage of late game monsters.