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Shadowkey FAQ

What are The Elder Scrolls Travels games?
The Elder Scrolls Travels mobile games include Stormhold and Dawnstar for J2ME/BREW on mobile phones, and most recently Shadowkey for the N-Gage™ game deck.

What perspective do I play the game in?
Shadowkey is played in the first-person perspective as is typical of Elder Scrolls games.

What is Shadowkey rated?
The USA rating for Shadowkey is "T" for Teen (blood & violence) by the ESRB.

Can I play Shadowkey with my friends?
Shadowkey can be played in multiplayer mode via Bluetooth® wireless technology. You can share quests and adventures with 2-4 players in cooperative multiplayer.

How far is the gap between the "big-versions" like Morrowind and the N-Gage™ game deck version?
Shadowkey was originally conceived as being similar to The Elder Scrolls: Arena, but the capabilities of the N-Gage™ game deck encouraged increasing the scope of the design. The feel of the game is now closer to Daggerfall in terms of sprite characters, but the character models are closer to Morrowind than they are to Arena. Story depth is somewhere between the two. Presentation is different, of course. You really cannot have dozens of lines of dialogue on a mobile device screen without being tedious. However, Shadowkey includes as much Elder Scrolls as it's possible to fit on this new generation device.

Is the difficulty degree set as high as the older Titles of Elder Scrolls?
We made a design decision to have the initial adventuring environment a bit less difficult, to help ease players into the game, particularly those not familiar with The Elder Scrolls. However, as the game progresses, players face the challenges and difficulties expected by fans of the series.

Is one able to travel through the world freely or are there any restrictions?
Most of the world can be explored at any time, although that means a player can find himself in over his head if he is not careful. Some areas are altered by the results of quests, so while a player can go there at any time, what the player finds there depends on quests completed or ignored. While adventuring, players will also want to gather the Shadowkeys that unlock game content. In each main dungeon there is a Shadowkey. Shadowkeys are obtained via quests or defeating bosses. Once a player has retrieved a dungeon's Shadowkey, that may unlock additional dungeon areas, open bonus spells or treasures.

What is the setting for Shadowkey?
Shadowkey is set along the High Rock, Hammerfell, and Skyrim borders, as they existed in the time of The Elder Scrolls Arena. It is set in the time of the Bend'r- mahk War, 3E 397.

How many magic-spells, opponents and weapons will there be?
Shadowkey has over 25 magic spells, more than 60 opponents, and over 100 weapons and items.

How many of the Elder Scrolls character classes and races are there in the game?
There are nine character classes and eight character races.

How many levels of game play are there?
There are 20 large levels to the game ranging from simpler wilderness levels to dense and complex city and hideout levels.

How long will it take a normal player to beat the game?
We conservatively estimate it will take an RPG player approximately thirty hours to play from beginning to end.

Is it mostly hack-and-slash or is there a lot of story and character interaction?
There are better than 50 quests to complete, each of which requires interaction with NPCs. One main story line runs through the game, and there are sideline situations and characters scattered throughout the adventure.

Are these fully rendered 3D characters, objects and animations, or a work-around like the J2ME titles Stormhold and Dawnstar?
The N-Gage™ game deck is extremely powerful. The J2ME titles were designed around phones with limited gaming capabilities added on. Shadowkey has 3D models - rendered by a 3D engine highly optimized for the N-Gage™ game deck. Shadowkey is much closer to a console quality game in scope, art, and sound than to the J2ME titles.

How does dialog work?
In Shadowkey, the NPC speaks, and the player receives one or two responses with which to carry on the conversation.

The previews and early reviews talked a lot about the Arena features for Shadowkey. Where are they?
The Arena architecture was still being tested at the time Shadowkey had to be released. Therefore the design was reworked to include a good portion of the bonus material in the game behind the Shadow Gates.

I have searched Broken Wing up and down and cannot find a quest item. Where is the cameo for the woman outside Broken Wing?
The cameo for the woman outside Broken Wing is outside Broken Wing. Look carefully along the hills.

I cannot find the items Clerk Skye needs. Where are they?
The items needed by Clerk Skye are dropped by certain monsters in her dungeon.

There is a door in Delfran's Hideout I cannot open. How do I open it?
One door requires a Shadowkey, which is found near Delfran. Shadowkeys open several bonus areas and treasures in the game, and are found in the same areas as the doors they open. You do not need the Shadowkeys to win, but it helps.

Another door requires you to get a letter for one of the sergeants in the hideout. If you do he will give you the key.

I have looked all over Ghast's Pass for Earthtear Cavens and cannot find it. Help!
Earthear is a gash in the rocks found in the wilderness area outside Azra's Crossing. Using the map mode can help you find it.

I keep falling to my doom in Fearfrost Caverns. What can I do?
The tactic of hit-and-run, so effective in the first few levels, can kill you in Fearfrost. Hit opponents at range, and when fighting on a bridge use healings to survive a toe-to-toe bashdown.

I am looking for the Scrolls of Dawn and Dusk, but cannot find them.
The scrolls of dawn and dusk can be found in scroll cases (or on the guardian of scroll cases). Search the shelves you see in the dungeon.

How many Starteeth are there?
****Spoiler Alert
The second character that tells you their number is correct. Skelos has been deceived and his number is off by a couple. Listen to the second opinion to get the info you need.

When is the next Shadowkey coming out?
See this post on the forums.