Shield Heights
Welcome to the King Arthur and the Knights of Justice Bestiary. Here is where you can learn about the different enemies and bosses that roam the wilds and rule the fortresses of fifth century England. Some of these enemies are wild monsters while others are direct servants of the evil sorceress, Morgana.

The game's manual does not include descriptions or names for these enemies, and with the exception of the bosses, they aren't named in the game, either. So I've made up my own names for them based simply on what they look like and how they behave.

Also note that when enemies are on-screen all "hot switches" are deactivated. This means that you cannot leave the area, you cannot go through doors or climb ladders, and you cannot pick up any items that are lying on the ground. You will either need to kill any on-screen enemies to activate the switches again or outrun them to another part of the screen. Be careful because it's possible to get stuck if an enemy appears where you can't reach it or if invincible enemies appear. You can also only switch control to the other knights in your party if they are fighting an enemy.

Enemies

Dark Knight - These are Morgana's servants that patrol the various roads of fifth century England as well as the fortresses. A very basic enemy that's easy to dispatch.
Mushroom - You'll find these bouncing poisonous mushrooms in a patch in the woods near Camelot Castle. Since they cannot move from the spot they're bouncing in, it's best just to avoid them.
Poison Flower - This solitary flower grows near the Monkshood. Every now and then it lets out a cloud of poisonous pollen. When they appear elsewhere, you should just walk past them since they can't move.
Giant Wasp - Every so often a swarm of these things will come out of a tree. You can simply try to avoid them, but they move quickly.
Red Wisp - Balls of light that come after you in the fortresses and on the overworld. They're only a threat if large numbers of them gang up on you. Either kill them quickly or outrun them.
Poison Cloud - Appears in the fortresses, usually alongside the wisps. If you decide to fight these things instead of outrunning them, hit it once with your sword, then back away, because once you hit it, it releases a cloud of poisonous gas that drains quite a bit of your HP.
Blue Wisp - I have no idea what the difference is between this and the red variety.
Pixie - They look like innocent little fairies, but they make a disturbing buzzing sound, attack you in swarms, and worst of all, release a cloud of nasty poisonous gas. Quite a disgusting creature if you ask me. Look out for them in the glades in the forests.
Crow - It's either a crow or a raven, but whatever it is, it's found in small flocks in the forests. Makes a really weird sound when you attack it.
Blue Knight - These guys first appear in the second fortress, Gruesome Keep. They are slightly stronger than the normal variety of Dark Knight. You'll first see one Blue Knight leading a group of Dark Knights, and eventually there will be entire groups of them.
Killer Tree - It looks like an ordinary tree, until you get close and it suddenly reveals its face and starts running after you. These things like to turn around and show you their butts. I'm not making that up. I have no idea why they were animated to do that unless the developers just had a weird sense of humor. They whip at you with the branches on their tops and shoot leaves at you, but they're easy to outrun.
Swamp Slime - You can find a couple of these things oozing around in the Swamp of Zagar, but they're so easy to avoid, I don't know why they even exist.
Poison Frog - There are a couple of these in the Swamp of Zagar, too. They don't move from the spots where they're sitting, but when you walk past them, they blow a stream of poison at you. Kill them before walking in front of them, or just avoid them.
Zug - This creature can only be found in the Swamp of Zagar and you need a shaving of its horn to save Squire Everett from a deadly poison. Therefore, you don't want to kill it, just get one of its horns. To do this, find a large tree with a face standing alone in the middle of the swamp. Stand at the left side of the tree. The Zug should come charging at you from the left side of the screen. Step away, and it will ram the tree with its horn. A triangular item will appear in front of the tree (it looks kind of like a traffic cone.) If it doesn't work the first time, keep trying until it does.
Fire Elemental - There is a group of these things on a charred-out cliff north of the forest surrounding Castle Vilor. They are guarding the Fire Elemental Key.
Rock Golem - South of the gate to Castle Vilor, you'll find a group of these Rock Golems guarding the Pitch Blend, which is needed by the alchemist, Druas. They turn into a pile of rocks and roll around. They also reform to throw rocks at you. Defeat them to get the Pitch Blend, but be careful because they are a tough enemy that deals quite a bit of damage.
Killer Grass - You can find clumps of this in the forest, but since it can't move from its spot, it's very easy to just walk right past it.
Red Knight - A group of these are holding the Gnome King's son captive just north of the area where the gates to Castle Vilor are located. They also appear elsewhere. They are slightly stronger than the blue variety.
Green Knight - These guys are also helping the Red Knights hold the Gnome Prince hostage, but also appear elsewhere, like in the area with the giant boulder. They are stronger than the blue, red, and dark varieties.
Ogre - This enemy lives inside a huge tree that can be found in the forest near Hadrian's Wall. He carries a big club and he will swing at you with it. He sometimes puts the club down and throws rocks out of the pouch he carries in his other hand. The rocks can ricochet around the room and do a lot of damage, so be careful. When you beat him, he leaves behind a piece of the Staff of Rhiothamus. (Is it just me, or is that ogre wearing a chastity belt? )
Black Knight - The strongest type of warlord. I only know of the existence of one of its kind in the entire game. It is located in the basement that leads to Blackroot Keep and the Dark Citadel. It is directly in front of the staircase that leads to Blackroot Keep. I have no idea why there is only one of them.
Ghost Knight - You'll find these ghostly-white spectres roaming about the catwalks on the Plain of the Dead. They are about equal to the green variety in strength.

Bosses

Young Dragon - This long-necked dragon sits atop the highest peak of Shield Heights. It is coveting the Pendragon Shield, which you need to prove your worth to the Lady in the Lake. The only real way to beat this boss is to find Breeze's shield in the woods and bring him with you. Collect about 20-30 shield attack orbs on the first screen of Shield Heights by leaving the screen and coming back. When you reach the dragon, Breeze will automatically fight him alone. Dodge the flames by walking back-and-forth and try to stay as far to the left or right as possible. This will cause the dragon to sway his neck all the way to the left or right, exposing his underbelly. When it's exposed, move in and start firing your shield attack rapidly. If you did it right, the dragon will scream and a wound will appear. It doesn't take that many hits to kill him, but sometimes he's stubborn about becoming vulnerable. It shouldn't be too hard to deal with him, but just be careful that you don't get trapped by the flames at the edge of the cliff or bottom of the screen because it will drain your HP meter fast. (On a side note, I love how Breeze beats the dragon, yet somehow this proves Arthur is the one worthy of wielding Excalibur.)

Warlord Spike - Spike is the boss of Tintagel Castle. He is guarding Breeze's Key of Truth, so take Breeze with you and keep him alive. He rides in a mobile tank that can ram you and pin you against the bottom wall. Try not to let that happen as it will drain your HP really quickly. Spike also fires a ball of lightning at you occasionally. He normally moves around slowly, so you can easily get to his side and fire your shield attack at him (as is the case with all Warlord bosses, make sure you aim at him and not his vehicle.) If he gets too close to you, move around to the other side of him and continue your attack, but don't stay in front of him too long because he rams forward a lot faster than he moves to the sides. If you do not have Breeze, you will fight him as Arthur, whose shield attack actually fires much faster, but you will need to go back and get Breeze to collect the Key of Truth since only the knight whom the key belongs to can touch it.

Warlord Bash - Bash is the boss of Gruesome Keep. I have no idea what the hell purpose his vehicle could possibly serve since it's on both rails and a pulley system. I mean, WTF? All it can do is slide back and forth in that room! Anyway, he moves back and forth while occasionally swinging his giant bone club to shoot a bolt of lightning at you. The eyeballs of his machine sometimes squirt out to attack, too, but they can't even go all the way across the room, so it's VERY easy to avoid them. The easiest way to beat this guy is to make sure to leave Gallop behind and use Arthur's shield attack. Using Arthur, I think he's actually much easier than the first two bosses.

Warlord Blinder - Blinder is the boss of Castle Sanguine at the end of Blinder's Way. This guy makes even less sense than Bash. For all intents and purposes, he appears to be roasting himself in a cauldron. Yes, that's right. He's sitting in a giant cauldron suspended over a pit of flames. These warlords are a real strange lot, I'll tell you that. The stupidest thing about it is that if you stay at the very bottom of the screen, his giant swinging axe can't get you...and he has no other attacks! So as long as you leave Wally behind and fight him as Arthur, you can just stand right in front of him and use your shield attack and he can't do a damn thing about it.

Warlord Hammer - Hammer is the boss of Stone Keep, and no, you can't touch this! (Unless you want to take some severe damage.) At least this guy's vehicle makes more sense than the last two, although why these Warlords are just keeping them in a single room of their castles as opposed to being out causing mass mayhem and destruction with them is beyond my understanding. Anyway, he moves around the room in much the same manner as Spike did. He can fire hammers from the back of his tank to the left and right. If you get in front of him, he will clap his hands and shoot a ball of energy at you. The easiest way to beat him is to leave Phil behind and use Arthur. Stand in front of him, fire a shield attack at him, then sidestep his energy ball. If you keep doing this over and over again, Hammer will stay right in that spot and never move. Break it down!

Warlord Lucan - Lucan is the boss of Castle Vilor. Now who couldn't possibly love a Warlord whose vehicle of mass destruction is shaped like a giant kitty? He would be my favorite boss in the game if he wasn't such a puss...er, wuss. The cat's neck extends and retracts, making it possible for him to pin you against the bottom wall. He also spits out a small iron kitty paw complete with claws from his mouth. So the moral of the story is: Just don't stay in front of him for very long. As the vehicle moves around the room, it churns out small fireballs to the left and right, but they don't bounce very far before disappearing. If you left Brick behind and are using Arthur, it is very easy to beat this guy. Just simply get on his left or right side, line yourself up with Lucan himself, and fire your shield attack. The entire vehicle will freeze in place and blow sky high after only a few shots. Thankfully, this cat does not have 9 lives to spare.

Warlord Slasher - Slasher is the boss of the castle located deep within the Cape of Death. He looks like the KOJ answer to the "Man in the Iron Mask". When you enter his room, he's a normal-sized human, but then he suddenly grows really huge and starts leaping all around the room. I don't know about you, but I'm beginning to wonder why these warlords even bother following Morgana's orders. If I could do that, I wouldn't settle for being locked up in a single castle room guarding some stupid key. I'd be out leaping over forests and mountains and such. Anyway, he's easy to beat. As he's bouncing around, avoid contact with him and try to get behind him. Once behind him, fire a couple of shield attacks, then move out of his way. Sometimes, he stops bouncing to fire a shower of daggers from his cape. But he cannot fire behind himself and nor can he fire in the spot directly in front of himself, either. So dodge between the daggers and try to get directly in front of him. Fire a few shots until he starts bouncing again. If you run out of shield attacks, wait until he stops bouncing, then run up to him and hit him with your sword.

Warlord Viper (Form 1) - Viper is the boss of the Dark Citadel. He has two distinct forms. The first form is a giant snake that weaves both vertically and horizontally between the columns that line the perimeter of his chamber. He is pretty easy to beat in this form, but just try to dodge out of his way as much as possible to minimize the damage you take for his next form. The snake is such a huge target, it's not very difficult to get several hits in on it before it leaves the screen.

Warlord Viper (Form 2) - I split this boss into two parts because he has two completely different forms that require two completely different strategies. After the giant snake takes enough damage, some of the columns near the top of the room will explode, and Viper turns into this half-warlord/half-serpent monstrosity. The good news is, he cannot get you when you're out-of-range of his swords (from about halfway down the screen on down) and he has no long-range attacks. The bad news is that he is completely invulnerable to shield attacks. You will have to use your sword to take him out, and it can be very difficult to get hits in on him without getting slashed by his swords. Make sure you use Trunk since his defense is higher than Arthur's and thus can take more hits before he dies. What I do is stand in the middle of the screen and hold X to charge up faster. As Viper passes through the middle of the screen in front of me, I rush in to hit him. As soon as the sword connects (or misses), I immediately turn around and run out-of-range. If Viper starts jerking back-and-forth, or suddenly jerks away from the middle of the screen, or stops moving altogether, abort your attack and get back out-of-range until he's done swinging his sword. ONLY continue with your attack if he's still moving continuously through the middle of the screen as you approach him. It might take you several tries to get into the proper "rhythm" for fighting this boss, but he's not impossible.

Morgana - A huge boss who is a huge pain in the neck to beat. Morgana turns into this giant red monstrosity for the game's final battle. She is only vulnerable to shield attacks. Try to stay underneath the dragon's chin so that when it breathes fire, it will go over you. You'll have to be careful to avoid stepping on those hot coals in the bottom center of the screen, and you also don't want to get too close to the dragon's hands at the edges of the screen. Look for openings in the fire-breathing pattern to dart in and fire some shots, then step back out of the way before she breathes fire on you (which not only drains your HP, but could push you into the hot coals, draining you even faster). Stay under the head as she moves it across the screen, and try firing up at her belly when you get the chance. Sometimes your shots will connect even if the head appears to be in the way. Other times the head will block them. It depends entirely on the exact position the head is in and whether the mouth is open or closed. Sometimes after she breathes fire, she stays paused for a moment with her mouth open. Use that opportunity to dart in and fire off some shots. Occasionally, she might turn her head away from the center of the screen to face the edges. If she does that, you have a great chance to score a lot of hits, but just keep an eye on her head so you can get out of the way when she turns it back around again. I don't know exactly how many shots it takes to kill her, but be patient. And if you get in quite a lot of hits and still have enough hit points left, you can try to finish her off by "ramboing" her (in other words, stand in front and fire like crazy without worrying about taking damage).

BACK TO KNIGHTS OF JUSTICE SHRINE

BACK TO MAIN PAGE

AddThis Social Bookmark Button Dreamhost