Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor: Prima's Official Strategy Guide

I was having trouble with Pool of Radiance because there is SO much to do and everything is so spread out. I like to do all the quests and see and experience as much as possible. I got the book for the maps, so I could make sure I got to everything in the game. The book is incredibly useful for that - it has extremely detailed maps and tells you about every single creature/quest/item there is to find and experience in each section of the game.It also does a pretty good job of describing the characters/skills/traits/etc... but I'm not much of a min-maxer, I just like to play the game. I give it five stars because it did exactly what I wanted it to do - gave me a map and some direction for playing.

I am a fan to Prima's strategy guides. They are indepth and thorough. Some of the games that are out now are huge, and sometimes you need some help. Look no further. Prima has you covered.

This truly is one of the better guides I've seen in a long time. With Prima being the larget producer of such books, I generally approach these manuals with more than a little wariness, since the experience is generally hit-and-miss, but I have to say that the Prima guide for Pool of Radiance efficiently and effectively covers all the bases that a good guide should.The centerpiece of the guide is the walkthrough for the game, which is fairly well written. Of course, considering the fact that this is a Dungeons and Dragons game that they were writing a guide for, they probably didn't have much trouble ahead of them (random encounters are rare, and the guide itself is written like a book and paper adventure key). The maps they provide are well rendered and easy to follow in most cases, and the occasional side tips that they offer are helpful, for the most part.One thing that I would have liked to see is a little more focus on character creation and subjective advice from the book's editors. As is so often the case with these sorts of guides, the sections on gameplay are little more than reprints of the game documentation. A greater number of sample characters, some expanded elaboration on character design, or another fully illustrated sample party or two would have been a welcome aid. The point of these guides, after all, is to allow the player to more completely experience the game, and it seems as though a lot of potentially useful material in that regard has been cast off.On the whole, however, the guide is still exceptional, with complete coverage of every location or encounter in the game and, if not exceptional, a respectable amount of character creation advice and explanation on elements of the gameplay rules.

This is a great companion to Pool of Radiance Ruins of Myth Drannor or the Collector's Edition version. The guide is organized very well by chapter and has exactly what POR fans need for getting started: an outline of each character class, the strengths and weaknesses of same, benefits and drawbacks of multiclass characters and suggestions for a good party. It doesn't lean too far subjectively on what the authors think players should use, giving the player the required information, giving a helpful nudge here and there giving the player plenty of options on assembling a good party of adventurers. Those new to POR will find the book helpful on reommendations if one isn't certain which party members to create. It provides a nicely done walkthrough for getting through the game and emphasizes saving before doing anything dangerous, ensuring the completion of an area before continuing, etc. and warning the player of "spoilers" in the story in case he or she doesn't want to spoil any surprise(s) the game has to offer. I would have liked to see a "level requirement", players given a recommended character level(s) before entering a new area, though.From a design point of view, the book is done nicely with graphic depictions of the NPCs you'll encounter, screen shots of character creation screens and some pertinent areas, and thoroughly outlined maps for the dungeons and mazes you'll explore. I would have liked this strategy guide designed in full color; it would make the dungeon maps much easier on the eyes and pleasing to look at, but the price would have been much higher. The black and white photos are sufficient and give you the information needed to navigate and satisfy. The only problems I've encountered are with errors; there aren't that many and can be corrected by pen but a couple are errors are more significant. An area where you make one decision, you get one item and if you make a different decision, you get a different item; instead the book says both items can be found in the area which can become confusing. this should have been corrected and I had to turn to another source to find the solution. Aside from minor complaints, this guide is very helpful for the Pool of Radiance fan adventuring in Myth Drannor.