Table of Contents
Overview
The Story:
Having saved the world (again), the great Wizard entrusted the care of his home to his eternal assistant and laid down for a much deserved rest. He left strict instructions that he should only be awakened if the world needed his help once more. Long years have passed in peaceful slumber but one morning he is awakened…
How to Play:
In The Elementalist you take on the role of the great Wizard and must save the world using your elemental powers. Solve puzzles, defeat enemies, search out dangerous dungeons and uncover amazing treasures to help on your way!
The focus of the game is on exploration and developing strategies to overcome challenges. Someone described The Elementalist as a mix between Adventure! and a Souls game, which seems like a pretty fair description. Even early in the game enemies can be dangerous until you learn to exploit their weaknesses. As you re-gain your elemental powers and the world opens up you will encounter even more dangerous foes.
Main Game Screen
The world of The Elementalist is full of places to explore, enemies to fight, and secrets to uncover. All of this takes place on the Main Game Screen:
The player takes the role of the Wizard. The color of the Wizard’s robes indicates the currently selected elemental power: red for fire, blue for water, green for earth and gray for air. Not all elemental powers are initially available to the Wizard.
When the wizard or another enemy takes damage or receives healing, a number will float up indicating the relative change in life. Red or gold numbers indicate damage (gold being exceptionally high damage), while green numbers indicate healing.
Many items in the world (Loot!) can be picked up by simply walking over them. Other items can be interacted with either by pressing “Action” (such as NPCs, switches, beds, etc) or by hitting them with specific elemental spells or even items in some cases (e.g. sticks and bombs can both trigger switches).
When the Wizard takes damage the hearts indicating health at the bottom of the screen will be depleted (1/4 of a heart per point of damage). When the Wizard’s health is fully depleted he will teleport back to the last save point with some health returned (unless he has currently equipped a Phoenix Feather in his belt). Health can be regained by resting (at a bed), picking up heart drops from defeated enemies, or using a healing potion.
Casting spells depletes the Wizard’s mana — first level spells cost one point of mana (1/4 of a full mana orb) and second level spells, if available, cost two points of mana (1/2 of a full mana orb). When the Wizard has fully depleted his mana he will be unable to cast any spells until at least some mana is recovered. Mana recovers slowly over time (depending on equipped gear), however picking up mana drops from defeated enemies will immediately restore some mana, as will drinking mana potions.
The main screen also contains a carousel style view of the Wizards currently equipped items with the currently selected item in the center. The currently selected item is the item that will be used if the “Use Item” button is pressed. Phoenix Feathers do not have to be selected in order to be used, they only have to be equipped.
Also present is an indicator of the current amount of gold the wizard has.
Inventory Menu
The inventory menu allows you to select the items you want to have in your belt for quick access and also to use items you don’t have equipped directly. You can also equip different gear (though honestly it auto-equips the best gear so that’s probably a bad choice unless you want to take more damage, move slower, or cast spells less effectively), read snarky descriptions of lots of things and check out your wand gems.
The currently selected element will have a pulsing border and a pop-up will… ahem… pop up if you click on it for further options. For an item you possess you can typically equip the item to your belt if you have available slots, un-equip it from your belt if it is currently equipped, use it directly, or read a description of the item.
Most items need to be used directly, however if you own a Phoenix feather it will be used automatically when equipped. Most items are depleted when “used”, however some can be reclaimed in certain cases if they are not yet spent.
The number of items of any given type that you can hold is dependent on your currently equipped backpack or potion case (for potions). The number of available belt slots is dependent on your currently equipped belt. If you currently have as many of a particular type of item as you can hold the number will be red, otherwise it will be white (except for items that are not depleted by use, for example your teleportation crystal).
The Map
As you progress the world of The Elementalist you will build up a map of the places you have traveled. The Map can be used both indoors and outdoors, though the indoor map only shows the current indoor area. There are areas in which the map will not be able to display anything beyond the current room, in these cases it will be necessary to rely on other navigational tricks.
The Map view shown is centered around the Wizard’s current location and can be zoomed in or out for context. The Wizard’s location is marked with an elemental symbol for the currently selected element. There are UI elements for zooming in and out or you can press the “UI Next” or “UI Previous” controls to zoom in/out quickly.
Enemies
Some enemies in The Elementalist can simply be avoided but there are times when you have to fight! You will need to use your wits, your elements, and possibly a stick to survive!
Enemies each possess their own senses and motivations. Some can be distracted with a piece of meat, others may lose track of you if you can get out of their range of vision, some might ignore you all together. Learning what kinds of behaviors each enemy has will help you avoid being tasted, skewered, or walloped.
Most enemies have one or more weaknesses but many also have resistances as well. By defeating enemies you learn more about them, be sure to check your Bestiary as you go to learn more (through the In-Game Pause Menu). The Bestiary keeps track of how many of each enemy you have defeated, as well as chronicling their weaknesses, resistances, hit-points and danger ratings. You can scroll down to read more of their descriptions or scroll up to highlight the weakness, resistance and danger icons for a description.
Controls
Controls in The Elementalist attempt at working out of the box but can be adjusted to your preference in the Keyboard Bindings and Controller Bindings menus.
A gamepad is recommended, however keyboard and mouse work great and pretty much any other controller should be possible with a bit of configuration. In fact it should technically work to use more than one controller if desired.
Main Menu/Exit: Pause/Unpause the game and open the main menu
Esc on keybard, or Start on Xbox-like gamepads
Moving the wizard: Pretty much self explanatory
W,A,S,D on keyboard or the Left Stick on a gamepad.
Cast Offensive Spell: Fireballs, Iceballs, Lightning, etc!
Shift on keybard, Left mouse button, or Right Trigger on Xbox-like gamepads
Cast Defensive Spell: Bonfires, Waves, Stalagmites, etc!
Ctrl on keyboard, Right mouse button, or Left Trigger on Xbox-like gamepads
Action/Grab: You can interact with some props and NPCs by using the “Action/Grab” button. You can also “grab” ahold of props and (if you are strong enough) move them.
C on keyboard, Left Bumper on Xbox-like gamepads
Use Item: Drink a potion, throw a rock, or set a trap depending on your selected item
F on keyboard, Middle Mouse Button, or Right Bumper on Xbox-like gamepads
Next Item: Select the next item from your equipped items
E on keyboard, Mouse Wheel Down, Right Stick right on dual-stick gamepads
Previous Item: Select the previous item from your equipped items
Q on keyboard, Mouse Wheel Up, Right Stick left on dual-stick gamepads
Show Map: Toggle the Map display, helpful for quickly knowing where you are
V on keyboard, d-pad down on dual-stick gamepads
Show Inventory: Toggle the Inventory display to select your equipped items or gear, use an item directly, or check out your wand gems
R on keyboard, d-pad up on dual-stick gamepads
Toggle Walk: Slow your roll for a few if you hate running everywhere
C on keyboard
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