Fable II - Official Strategy Guide

Important Health Warning About Playing Video Games

Photosensitive Seizures

A very small percentage of people may experience a seizure when exposed to certain visual images, including flashing lights or patterns that may appear in video games. Even people who have no history of seizures or epilepsy may have an undiagnosed condition that can cause these "photosensitive epileptic seizures" while watching video games.

These seizures may have a variety of symptoms, including lightheadedness, altered vision, eye or face twitching, jerking or shaking of arms or legs, disorientation, confusion, or momentary loss of awareness. Seizures may also cause loss of consciousness or convulsions that can lead to injury from falling down or striking nearby objects.

Immediately stop playing and consult a doctor if you experience any of these symptoms. Parents should watch for or ask their children about the above symptoms—children and teenagers are more likely than adults to experience these seizures. The risk of photosensitive epileptic seizures may be reduced by taking the following precautions: Sit farther from the screen; use a smaller screen; play in a well-lit room; and do not play when you are drowsy or fatigued.

If you or any of your relatives have a history of seizures or epilepsy, consult a doctor before playing.

ESRB Game Ratings

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings are designed to provide consumers, especially parents, with concise, impartial guidance about the age-appropriateness and content of computer and video games. This information can help consumers make informed purchase decisions about which games they deem suitable for their children and families.

ESRB ratings have two equal parts:

• Rating Symbols suggest age appropriateness for the game. These symbols appear on the front of virtually every game box available for retail sale or rental in the United States and Canada.
• Content Descriptors indicate elements in a game that may have triggered a particular rating and/or may be of interest or concern. The descriptors appear on the back of the box next to the rating symbol.

For more information, visit www.ESRB.org

Your Hero

You can play as a Hero of either gender in Fable® II, but that decision is only the beginning. Throughout the course of the game, your choices shape you in myriad ways.

Good and Evil

Many problems have both good and evil solutions. Your choices influence you physically: perform noble deeds and you'll be a dashing figure; give in to your evil impulses and your visage becomes the stuff of nightmares. Villagers will react accordingly.

Purity and Corruption

Purity makes Heroes more attractive, while corruption renders them ugly. Purity is determined by more subtle factors than good and evil, such as greed, gluttony, and laziness.

Strength, Skill, and Will

Heroes perfect their abilities in three areas. Strength governs the use of melee weapons. Developing your Skill grants you greater prowess with ranged combat. Will is the ability to cast magic spells. You can specialise in one discipline or combine all three.

Physical Appearance

Many factors affect your appearance. Eat too many pies and you'll become fat. Develop your Strength and you'll bristle with muscles. Focus on Skill and you'll grow taller. If you use magic spells often, glowing Will lines will crisscross your skin.

Customisation

You can also tailor your appearance with a variety of clothing. The stylists and tattoo artists of Albion offer a wide array of hairstyles, facial hair, tattoos, and makeup.

Dyes

There are also dyes available to colour your hair and clothing and make them truly distinctive. To use a dye, press [Start Button] to open the Pause menu. Select Items, then Dyes. Choose a colour, then select the item to be dyed.

A Hero's Best Friend

Humans domesticated the dog millennia ago, recognizing its incredible value as a companion and a protector. Your dog is absolutely loyal and will follow wherever you lead. In addition to companionship, he can perform many useful actions.

Combat

Your dog fights devotedly to protect you in battle. He instinctively leaps upon targets you have knocked to the ground and attacks them, so look for opportunities to set up enemies for your furry friend to finish off.

Healing

Should your loyal friend take damage in combat, heal him by giving him Dog Elixir. Doing so will improve his health and make him happy.

Alerts

When your dog senses something interesting, such as a chest, buried treasure, or an object related to a quest, he will bark. Face him and he will attempt to lead you to it.

Training

Using books you find or purchase, you can train your dog to do tricks, spot increasingly valuable treasures, and cause more damage in combat. If you've acquired a training book, press [Start Button] to open the Pause menu. Select Items, then Books & Documents, and then select the training book you'd like to use.

Interacting With Your Dog

In addition to healing, you can praise or scold your dog, give him treats, and play fetch with him. To interact with your dog, press [B Button] to open the Expression Wheel, select Dog and then select the action you want. Shortcuts to relevant expressions will also appear on [D-pad].

Good and Evil

Your dog is so strongly bonded to you that his physical appearance changes to reflect your moral alignment. If you follow a righteous path, your dog will be noble as well. If you prey on the innocent, he grows fearsome-looking.

Game Screen

Combat

Health Meter: A red meter indicates your health. It depletes as you take damage.

Info Bar: Displays messages and information.

Experience Earned: Icons representing Strength, Skill, Will, and General XP gained.

Spell Meter: Displays available spell slots.

Experience Orbs: Glowing orbs that burst from enemies, representing XP.

Your Hero: The player character.

Interaction

Expression Meter: Shows the effectiveness of your current expression.

Info Bar: Displays messages and information.

Opinion Icon: Indicates how villagers perceive you.

Gift Giver Icon: Appears when a villager has a gift for you.

Child Icon: Represents your child.

Spouse Icon: Represents your spouse.

Context-Sensitive Shortcuts: [D-pad] for various actions.

Look-At Indicator: A reticle indicating what your character is looking at.

Quest Counter: Displays the number of active quests.

Controller

The controller layout for Fable II is as follows:

• Look-At / Target Lock: [Right Analog Stick Click]
• First Person: [Left Bumper]
• Movement: [Left Analog Stick]
• Pause Menu: [Start Button]
• Absorb Experience Orbs / Spell Selector: [X Button]
• Expressions Wheel: [Y Button]
• Ranged Attack: [Right Trigger]
• Magic: [B Button]
• Interact / Sprint / Sheathe Weapon / Roll: [A Button]
• Melee Attack: [Right Bumper]
• Camera / (Click and Hold) View Hero: [Right Analog Stick Click]
• Xbox Guide: [Xbox Button]
• Context-Sensitive Shortcuts: [D-pad]

Combat and Your Health

Albion is a dangerous place, and you will see your fair share of battle throughout your travels. Whether you favour Strength, Skill, Will, or a combination, combat is a deadly business.

Health and Scarring

When combat starts, a red meter appears onscreen to represent your health. As you take damage, the meter depletes. When it is empty, you collapse on the ground. After a moment, you draw on your reserves of Heroic power to knock all enemies back, and rise to rejoin the fight—hopefully with better luck this time, plus a few new scars. Note that any uncollected experience orbs (see next section) that were present when your health reached zero disappear permanently and cannot be collected. These consequences can be avoided if you possess a Resurrection Phial.

Healing

As you take damage in combat, you can restore your health in a number of ways. Healing potions are magical elixirs that instantly restore a large amount of health. Food replenishes health more slowly than a potion. Food can also have various other benefits and penalties. See what Albion's cuisine has to offer! Sleeping in a bed restores health and can also confer additional benefits. For more info, see page XXIV.

Augments

Some weapons have slots for installing augments, magical gems that convey various bonuses. Augment abilities include changing the weapon's damage type, protecting you from damage, draining health from opponents, causing more damage to good or evil enemies, and more. Augments can be found as treasure, or purchased from stone cutters.

Experience, Leveling Up, and Renown

Combat is brutal and terrifying, but for those who survive it, it is also a learning experience. For each opponent you fight, you gain valuable experience (XP) which you can leverage to make yourself an even more powerful Hero.

Experience Orbs

XP appears as glowing orbs that burst from enemies. Absorb XP orbs by holding [X Button]. There are four different kinds of XP, represented by four different colours. Green is general XP, while the other three colours signify the three combat disciplines. If you favour hand-to-hand combat, you'll tend to get more Strength XP (blue), thus allowing you to develop your melee abilities further. If you prefer to use guns and crossbows, you'll receive Skill XP (yellow), allowing for more advanced shooting techniques. Using Will powers earns you Will XP (red), making it possible to learn additional and more powerful spells.

Bonus Experience

The more skillfully you fight, the more XP you gain. Earn extra XP by dispatching foes quickly, using flourishes and headshots, chaining attacks, and pushing enemies off cliffs. You can also gain bonus XP by helping a friend kill an enemy in co-op (see page XXVI).

Leveling Up

Each kind of XP (Strength, Skill, and Will) can be spent on abilities in its corresponding combat discipline, and general XP can be spent on any of the three. Buying new abilities transforms you from a novice into a lethal, battle-hardened warrior.

To level up, press [Start Button] to open the Pause menu. Select Abilities, and then choose the disciplines and abilities you want. You can discard unwanted abilities, regaining a portion of the XP you spent on them.

Renown

While XP is gained by killing enemies in combat, you increase your renown by completing quests. Renown is a measure of your reputation in Albion and it affects the way people treat you. In some cases, a quest may not be offered to you unless you have sufficiently high renown: no one is going to entrust a critical mission to an unproven stranger.

You can find the Bard in pubs and inns. For a fee, he'll sing of your adventures and increase your renown.

You can also earn renown by posing for statues and showing off trophies gained in the course of your quests.

Strength

Develop your Strength to increase your effectiveness in hand-to-hand combat. There are three major ways to develop your Strength: Brutal Styles, Physique, and Toughness.

Brutal Styles

Level One: Blocking

Block melee attacks by holding [X Button]. You redirect the force of the strike back into your opponent, who is knocked back a step. Note that not all attacks can be blocked.

Level Two: Flourishes

Flourishes are melee attacks that deal greater damage and knock most enemies to the ground. To execute a flourish, hold [X Button], point towards an enemy until the controller begins to vibrate, and then release [X Button]. If you're struck while charging a flourish, you will block the attack and lose the flourish, so you must be quick!

Level Three: Chain Attacks

By pressing [X Button] at the right moment, you can chain a series of attacks together, increasing the overall speed and damage of your attacks.

In addition, when reloading ranged weapons, you can listen to the click of the mechanism and tap [Y Button] at exactly the right moment to greatly speed up the process.

Level Four: Counterattacks

When an enemy begins a melee attack against you, tap [X Button] and simultaneously point towards them. A successful counterattack will spin the enemy around; quickly tap [X Button] again to unleash a devastating blow. This attack is powerful enough to kill weaker opponents outright.

Physique

Develop your physique to cause greater damage with melee weapons. The higher your level of physique, the more muscular the Hero's appearance.

Toughness

This represents your overall health. The greater your toughness, the more resilient you are in battle.

Melee Weapons

Katanas: Do the least damage of any sword but have the fastest attack. These are finesse weapons for the master swordfighter.

Longswords: Possess an even balance of damage and speed. They're good all-around weapons.

Cutlasses: Are not as fast as longswords, but cause more damage.

Cleavers: Deal great damage but are slower to swing than other swords. These weapons are all about brute force.

Maces: Are the fastest among the heavier weapons. Though slower than swords, they generally deal greater damage.

Axes: Balance speed and damage admirably, allowing the Hero great flexibility in terms of fighting styles.

Hammers: Are slow to attack but hit incredibly hard. The antithesis of katanas, hammers are for Heroes who prefer to forgo the whirlwind of lesser strikes in favour of causing enormous damage with each blow.

Weapons depicted: Hammer, Axe, Katana, Mace, Longsword, Cleaver, Cutlass.

Skill

Heroes who focus on Skill gain access to fantastic abilities when using crossbows and guns. There are three major ways to develop your Skill: Dexterous Styles, Accuracy, and Speed.

Dexterous Styles

Level One: Rolling

Tap [A Button] while pushing in any direction to roll out of the way of an incoming attack.

Level Two: Aimed Ranged Attack

Unskilled Heroes fire from the hip, which is only somewhat effective. To aim more precisely using the weapon's sights, press and hold [Right Trigger], then release to fire. You can still fire from the hip by tapping [Right Trigger].

Level Three: Zoom

Press and hold [Right Trigger] to zoom in on your target, and then release to fire. The more you zoom in, the more powerful the shot.

Level Four: Sub-targeting

While holding [Right Trigger] to aim, hold [Right Bumper] to bring up the sub-targeting crosshair. Use [Left Analog Stick] to target specific parts of your enemy for different effects: shoot a weapon out of an enemy's hand, shoot a fleeing enemy in the backside to temporarily cripple him, or aim for the groin to knock your foe to the ground. Release [Right Trigger] to fire.

Accuracy

Improve this ability to increase the damage you do with all guns and crossbows.

Speed

Speed affects how quickly you reload, and also how fast you attack in melee.

Ranged Weapons

Pistols: Are short-range firearms that are held and fired with one hand. Pistols can be drawn and fired quickly but have low stopping power.

Blunderbusses: Are short-barrelled weapons that cause massive damage at close range, and can even hit multiple enemies. Their effectiveness drops dramatically as range increases.

Rifles: Are slower to fire than pistols but have greater range and damage.

Crossbows: Once dominated ranged combat, though their sun is setting with the advent of firearms. Still, these reliable weapons should not be underestimated: crossbows represent a good balance of speed, range, and power. Light crossbows can be operated quickly but cause less damage than heavy crossbows, which take longer to reload. Clever inventors have also produced repeating crossbows that can fire multiple bolts without needing to be reloaded.

Pistols and rifles are classified into three types:

• Flintlocks: Basic one-shot weapons that must be manually reloaded after each firing.
• Turret pistols and rifles: Have multiple barrels, each with its own chamber, allowing the shooter to fire several rounds before reloading. Firing the weapon empty causes you to reload each chamber automatically. If you stop firing before the gun is empty, after a few moments you will automatically begin reloading the empty chambers and continue until all are loaded, or until you resume firing.
• Clockwork firearms: Use sophisticated, semiautomatic firing mechanisms in which ammunition is fed into the chamber by a magazine. Rounds can be fired as fast as the gunner can pull the trigger, and only when the weapon is empty is a new magazine required.

Weapons depicted: Blunderbuss, Clockwork Rifle, Crossbow, Turret Rifle, Flintlock Pistol.

Will

Those who possess Heroic blood can learn to focus their Will to cast powerful magic spells. There are eight spells, each with five levels. Each level of a spell has more powerful effects than the last. Also, the more XP you spend on Will abilities, the more powerful your low-level spells become, and the faster your high-level spells charge.

Will Powers

• Chaos: Confuses enemies, causing them to stop fighting and behave erratically. They may even attack their allies.
• Force Push: Blasts your enemies with invisible force and hurls them into walls or over drops.
• Inferno: Scorches your opponents with magical flames.
• Raise Dead: Creates spectral allies who fight alongside you.
• Shock: Stuns your enemies and blasts them with lightning.
• Blades: Creates magical swords to impale your opponents.
• Time Control: Slows the world around you, or increases your own speed. You can also instantly teleport to an enemy and, at higher levels, knock them down.
• Vortex: Creates a powerful windstorm that lifts everything that isn't nailed down and hurls the debris around, damaging enemies. It is possible for Vortex to pick up enemies and slam them into their allies, causing damage to both.

The Spell Meter

The Spell Meter consists of five slots, one for each spell level. The slots must be filled sequentially: to place a level two spell in slot two, you must have a level one spell in slot one.

Assigning Spells

To assign spells to slots, hold [X Button]. The Spell Selector appears onscreen and remains for as long as you continue to hold [X Button]. To switch between spell levels, press up or down on [D-pad]. To assign a spell of a given level, press left or right on [D-pad] to scroll through available spells of that level. You can also assign the selected spell to the current level and all higher levels at which you have purchased it by pressing [A Button]. Once you have spells assigned as you wish, release [X Button].

You can also assign spells from the Pause menu. Press [Start Button] to open the Pause menu, select Abilities, and then select Spell Selector.

Casting

To cast a spell, press and hold [B Button]. The Spell Meter appears, displaying your assigned spells, and begins to fill. When the spell you wish to cast is full, release [B Button]. Note that while your casting cannot be interrupted, you are vulnerable while charging up the Spell Meter, so cast your high-level spells wisely.

Targeted and Surround Spells

Each spell can be cast in two modes: targeted or surround. Targeted spells have a strong effect on a single target, while surround spells are less potent but affect multiple enemies. For example, in targeted mode, Inferno launches a fireball at a single enemy to cause massive fire damage. In surround mode, Inferno surrounds the Hero with flames. It causes less damage but can harm more enemies.

Getting Around Albion

The Glowing Trail

When you have an important objective, you are magically directed to it by a glowing trail of light on the ground. It will fade over time if you do not wish to follow the trail and instead set out to explore on your own. You can turn down the brightness of the glowing trail, or turn it off entirely, in the Pause menu (see page XXIX).

Fast Travel

You can Fast Travel to any map location you've previously visited, as well as to a quest, a sale, a shortage, a job, or your family. This saves you from running all the way to your destination. Note that when you arrive, an appropriate amount of time will have passed: the journey still takes hours or days in the game world (so plan ahead or you may miss that sale!).

To fast travel, press [Start Button] to open the Pause menu, select Quests/Maps, and then select the location or person you wish to travel to.

Sprinting

Press and hold [A Button] to run around Albion. It will get you where you're going faster, but you never know what—or whom—you may stumble upon.

Vaulting

You can vault off or over many obstacles, including low cliffs and fences. When you approach an object or edge that can be vaulted, the [A Button] icon appears. Press [A Button] to perform the vault. If the drop is so great that you would sustain damage, you cannot vault.

Diving

Not all the treasure in Albion is on dry land. If you see a stream of bubbles, there's probably something hidden underwater. Swim to the bubbles and press [A Button] to dive down and find out what's below the surface.

Points of Interest

Demon Doors

Behind each of these magical, sentient doors is a treasure to be found. Each door has its own idiosyncratic requirements for opening.

Gargoyles

These obnoxious statues are just begging to be shot. Destroy enough of them with the Aimed Ranged Attack (see page XII) and you may discover some of their long-lost treasures.

Animated Statues

These curious Old Kingdom relics can reveal secrets if you perform the correct expression for them. Use the wrong one and they'll let you know it!

Statues

If you find a statue base with no statue on it, note its location. You can later commission sculptors to place statues of you around the world. Posing for a statue will also increase your renown.

Digging

Armed with a spade and a little luck, you might stumble onto someone's buried valuables. Remember that your dog can detect buried treasure, and that you can use books to train him to search more effectively.

Flit Switches

These ingenious devices can be struck, shot, and hit with magic to open doors in some dungeons.

Silver Key Chests

These chests are scattered across Albion, and can only be opened with the right number of silver keys. Fortunately, silver keys are found scattered across Albion as well, and the number of silver keys in your possession will not decrease after you've opened a chest.

Interacting with the Locals

Safety Mode

By default, you can't harm villagers. If you want to attack non-combatants, face one, draw a weapon, and press down on [D-pad] when you see the skull icon. Press down on [D-pad] again to turn safety mode back on.

Crime

If a guard catches you committing a crime, he will arrest you. At this point you have three options: pay a fine, perform community service (usually eradicating a local threat), or resist arrest. If you resist arrest, every guard in the region will attack you on sight. If a settlement has no guards, villagers may attack you themselves.

What Is Illegal?

You can do what you want to hostile enemies, but violating a non-combatant's rights is illegal.

• Assault: Attacking with spells.
• Attempted Murder: Attacking with melee or ranged weapons.
• Murder: Killing a villager or guard.
• Drunk and Disorderly Conduct: Committing a crime while drunk.
• Trespassing: Refusing to leave a house when the owner is trying to sleep, or refusing to leave a shop when they're closing.
• Dereliction of Payment and Gross Dereliction of Payment: Result from not paying your pub game debt.
• Public Indecency: Performing a lewd expression while improperly clothed.
• Extortion: Using the Extort expression and failing, or being seen.
• Harassment: Repeatedly using an inappropriate expression on a villager.
• Vandalism: Breaking the doors or windows of a building.
• Resisting Arrest: Will cause guards to attack you.
• Violating Parole: Failing to perform your assigned community service within the time given, or committing another crime during parole.
• Stealing: Searching someone else's property. If someone can see you stealing, an eye icon appears to alert you that you're being watched. If a witness sees you steal, guards will come to arrest you. Whether you're seen or not, stealing pushes your alignment toward evil.

Hero Titles

The citizenry will address you by your title. Your starting title is rather modest, but a town crier can give you a new one, for a price. Certain Heroic actions, noble or otherwise, can unlock titles so they are free.

Trophies

When you finish some quests, you may acquire a trophy as a symbol of your victory. Show your trophies off to people to improve their opinion of you and increase your renown.

Expressions

Villager Opinions

Depending on your choices, your renown, the clothes you wear, your tattoos, and other factors, the people of Albion may love or hate you, think you're funny or scary, or find you attractive or ugly.

Villager Rewards

A villager with a gift icon over their head has an item they'll give you if you change their opinions enough. To earn the gift, you'll need to learn more about the villager.

Face the villager and tap [Right Analog Stick] to look at them. This brings up a meter showing how close you are to getting a gift. Press [Y Button] to view details about the villager, including their likes and dislikes. Use this information to choose the best expression to perform, gift to give, or place to visit.

If you kill villagers with a melee weapon, you may get the item for free. If you don't want to be arrested, it's best do this when no witnesses are around.

The Expression Wheel

Expressions fall into the following categories: Social, Rude, Scary, Flirty, and Fun. To perform an expression, tap [B Button], select a category, choose an expression, and press [A Button]. Be mindful of using certain expressions: some, like Extort, can get you into trouble with the guards.

Extending Expressions

Some expressions can be extended to achieve spectacular results and really impress the populace. To extend an expression using the Expression Wheel, highlight the expression, and then press and hold [A Button]. To extend an expression using [D-pad], press and hold the [D-pad] shortcut. Release at exactly the right moment to wow your audience. But if your timing is poor, you will fail horribly and humiliate yourself.

Followers

Once you learn Follow, you can get people to follow wherever you lead, if they love you or fear you enough. Use Follow to take villagers to their favourite places, or to move your family to a new home (see next page). When you no longer want to be followed, use the Dismiss expression on the follower.

Love and Courtship

Many villagers will develop a romantic interest in you, depending on the way you conduct yourself. When their Love opinion gets high enough, they start flirting with you and will make suggestions as to how you might develop your relationship.

When you find someone you fancy, try using expressions to woo them. You can also give them a gift: tap [B Button] to open the Expression Wheel, select Social, select Gift, and then select the gift from your inventory. People also like it when you take them to their favourite places. The Follow expression is particularly useful for this.

Love and Family

There's more to life than slaying bandits and completing epic quests. At some point, you may want to settle down, get married, and raise a family.

Sex, Safe and Otherwise

Whether you're married or not, it is possible to have sex with many of the people you meet on your travels, for love or money. Prostitutes are relatively common in the seedier parts of Albion, and it is they who are most vocally discussing a fascinating new invention: the condom. Using this device is the only reliable way to avoid contracting the nasty sexually transmitted diseases that many people carry and, of course, to prevent pregnancy. Condoms are available for sale from certain merchants.

To have sex with a villager, use the Follow expression to lead them to a bed, then press [A Button] to put the bed to good use.

Marriage

Among the many blessings of the union between two people are a renown bonus and a boost to sleeping bonuses (see page XXIV). When a villager falls in love with you, propose by offering them a ring as a gift. Once you're engaged, you must buy a home for your beloved and move into it. See Owning Homes, page XXIV.

Your spouse is dependent upon you for their needs. To set an allowance for your spouse, press [A Button] to Examine Property at the real estate sign in front of your house, and then select Set Budget.

Family

Once you're married, you have the option to raise a family. Female Heroes can become pregnant if they have unprotected sex, as can the wife of a male Hero. Any children you have are dependent upon you financially, just as your spouse is. However, money is not all that matters to your family: they're also going to want to see you periodically. If you go long periods without visiting home, your family will become unhappy with you. If your spouse becomes upset enough, you may find yourself divorced. Your family tends to be happier if they live in a nice, well-furnished house. If they're happy enough, they'll occasionally give you gifts, and you can also receive greater boosts to sleeping bonuses.

Bigamy

It is possible to have multiple spouses and multiple families. However, maintaining separate lives is tricky, and should the families become aware of each other, there will almost certainly be trouble.

Working for a Living

Jobs

Completing quests can be exciting and rewarding in many ways, but it doesn't bring in much money. In order to make money, you'll need to work various jobs. Check your map to see which opportunities are currently available. Bear in mind that jobs come and go, so you have to be quick or someone else may get it first.

• Bartenders: Prepare beverages for people at drinking establishments. Since drinking is a pastime of undying popularity, skilled bartenders are always in demand.
• Woodcutters: Chop firewood used to heat homes and fuel industry.
• Blacksmiths: Forge weapons from metal. The higher your Physique, the more money you can make at this job. Bartenders, woodcutters, and blacksmiths can become increasingly proficient at their jobs, allowing them to earn a lot more money.
• Bounty Hunters: Track and kill dangerous criminals who are beyond the reach of the law.
• Civilian Displacement Agents: Forcibly recruit villagers to be used as labour on various projects. This is an ugly business but a profitable one. If you find the idea of forced labour abhorrent, look for opportunities to liberate the unfortunate villagers who have been captured.
• Assassins: Eliminate targets who pose a threat to, or refuse to cooperate with, the criminal underworld. Assassins thrive when things are at their worst, so if your actions push the world toward darkness, you may find opportunities to kill for profit.

Pub Games

It's not entirely true that jobs are the only way to make money: Pub games are available at most of Albion's taverns.

Spinnerbox

Spin the flit switches and win payouts by matching like symbols in chains of two or more. Some Spinnerbox games contain special bonuses, such as additional switches, free spins, and payout multipliers.

Keystone

Wager on which stones will be removed before the arch collapses, and make special inside bets on each roll of the dice. You can also find games of Jackpot Keystone, where the first roll can win you a huge payout; as well as Bloodstone, in which you bet against the outcome of the dice.

Fortune's Tower

The dealer deals up to eight rows of cards, and after each, you have the option to cash out or press your luck. If you're dealt a vertical pair between rows, you suffer Misfortune and the game ends. There are two ways to avoid Misfortune: by using the Gate card, which is dealt facedown at the start of the game, or by drawing a Hero card. If all the cards in a row are of the same value, you get a bonus multiplier. If you can survive to the eighth row of cards without getting Misfortune or using your Gate card, you win a huge jackpot!

Credit, Winnings, and Debt

To play pub games, borrow gold from the game master. The amount borrowed is your debt, and it will follow you to any other gambling tables in Albion until you pay it off. Be aware that carrying too much debt for too long can get you into trouble!

Gambling on Xbox LIVE Arcade

In addition to playing pub games in Fable II, you can also play them in Xbox LIVE® Arcade. If you have an Xbox LIVE Gold account, you can transfer any gold you win into Fable II, where you can spend it on whatever you wish. You can also win 15 unique items and then use them in Fable II.

Two Ways to Play

You can choose to play as your Fable II Hero, bringing with you all the gold, debt, and ranking you've accumulated in Fable II. Alternatively, you can create a new character, called a Patron. A Patron starts fresh with 500 gold, no debt, and a ranking of one star.

A character in Xbox LIVE Arcade has three attributes. Gold balance is the cash you have, all of which you're free to bet, subject to table limits. Debt is the amount of gold you owe game masters. Points are gained for each coin you wager. As you gain more points, your ranking gradually increases from one to five stars. Higher rankings unlock new variants of games and allow access to tournaments in which you can win rare items. A high ranking also increases your credit limit.

Take Your Gold into Fable II

Gold you win in Xbox LIVE Arcade while playing as your Fable II Hero will be available the next time you play Fable II. If you win as a Patron, you can take your gold into Fable II by executing a merge. Merging a Patron with a Hero deletes the Patron and adds all their attributes (gold, debt, ranking) to your Hero. You can only merge a Patron with an adult Hero.

Spending Your Hard-Earned Money

Merchants

In most towns and settlements, merchants hawk their wares, selling everything from weapons and clothing to potions, gift items, and home furnishings.

Sales

Merchants periodically hold sales, sometimes substantially discounting items. When a sale begins, its location is noted on your map. Appropriate items at that store will sell for less. However, the merchant will also pay less to buy these items.

Shortages

When demand outpaces supply, there is a shortage, and prices go up. You are alerted to shortages in the same way as sales, and when one is in effect merchants will charge more for affected items and pay more to acquire them. It is possible to make a fortune by studying the ebb and flow of supply and demand, buying items on sale and then selling them during shortages.

Owning Homes

You can buy any home in the game, so long as it is for sale and you can afford it. A few homes have quests attached to them which you can only access through ownership. There is no limit to the number of homes you can own, and you can choose which is to be your family home (or homes, if you have more than one family). To move your family into a home, use the Follow expression on your spouse and lead them to the new house. Approach the home's real estate sign and press [A Button] to Examine Property, and then select Set as Marital Home.

You can also Examine Property to buy, sell, rent, or furnish a home, and to set a family budget.

Renting

You can rent out any homes you own that your family is not living in. So long as a renter has actually moved into the house, rent is automatically paid to your Hero every few minutes of real-world time—even while you're not playing Fable II. You can raise or lower rents, which makes you more corrupt or pure.

Decorating and Furnishing Your Homes

You can decorate your homes with items purchased at a store, or by mounting trophies from quests (see page XVIII). Improving your family home in this manner increases your family's happiness, whereas upgrading your rental properties makes them more valuable.

Owning Shops

Most shops can be purchased just like homes. When you own a shop, you get a discount on merchandise as well as a share of the profits. As with rents, you can raise or lower prices, with an associated effect on purity and corruption.

Sleeping Bonuses

Sleeping in a home can confer a bonus to your Hero, for example increasing your Strength, health, or speed. Only one bonus can be active at a time. Bonuses are most beneficial when a happy family lives in the home. To sleep, highlight the bed and press [A Button].

Cooperative Play and Xbox LIVE

Local Co-Op

You can play Fable II cooperatively with a friend on the same Xbox 360 console. When you join a Hero in co-op, you use a pre-generated Henchman. While the Hero can perform any action they wish, the Henchman has restrictions, including the inability to interact with merchants or purchase real estate.

To join a Hero as a Henchman, press [Start Button] on a second Xbox 360 controller to display the Henchman Configuration screen.

Henchman Configuration Screen

The Hero selects the share of gold and XP the Henchman receives. The Henchman selects their gender, moral alignment, and weapons.

A Henchman can be associated with an existing Hero, so that any gold, XP, or abilities acquired are transferred to that Hero when the co-op session ends.

To associate your Henchman with a Hero, press [X Button] to select a profile on the Xbox 360 console or memory unit. (If a second profile is already signed in, it is selected automatically.) To choose a Hero Save on that profile, press [Y Button] and select from the Hero Saves available.

If you don't sign in, you can associate your Henchman with a Hero Save on the Hero's profile by pressing [Y Button].

If you play without signing in or selecting a Hero Save, the Henchman is given abilities equal to those of the Hero. All XP and gold are given to the Hero, though the Henchman can spend an independent pool of XP to level up abilities. When the Henchman leaves the session, their progress is lost.

Press [A Button] on both controllers to begin.

Co-Op over Xbox LIVE

Please refer to www.fable2.com or Xbox LIVE for updated information on the availability of this feature.

Orbs

Scattered around Albion are glowing orbs. Each orb represents another human player with an Xbox LIVE Gold account and marks their position in the game. You can set orbs to show all players, Xbox LIVE Friends only, or you can turn orbs off if you wish. To invite a player into your game, highlight an orb and press [A Button], then select Interact. You can also select Gift to transfer items from your own inventory to that player's inventory; Stats to find out more about them; or Kick to remove their orb from your session.

Henchmen in Xbox LIVE Co-op

When you join another player in co-op over Xbox LIVE, you select a Henchman to represent your Hero. This Henchman possesses the same abilities as the associated Hero but none of the inventory: you are given starting weapons equivalent to your Hero's level of power. Your weapons are lost when the session ends, but the gold, experience, and abilities earned as a Henchman are transferred back to your original Hero.

Co-Op Camera

In co-op play, neither player controls the camera: the game will position the camera automatically in order to show both players. In order to keep both players onscreen, movement may be restricted to keep them from moving too far apart.

There are two important commands for camera control in co-op:

• To reorient the camera to your character, press [Y Button]. Either player can do this at any time.
• To instantly teleport the Henchman to the Hero's position, press [Left Trigger]. Only the Henchman can do this.

Game Screen

During co-op play, the game screen is divided in half. The Hero's health and Spell Meter are shown on the left side of the screen, the Henchman's on the right.

The Pause Menu

In co-op play, the Hero can access the Pause menu (see page XXIX) as usual by pressing [Start Button]. The Henchman has access to a modified Pause menu, where they can view and upgrade their abilities, access the Henchman Configuration screen, or quit. If you select Quit, you will see any XP and gold you have earned.

Xbox LIVE Friends List

The Pause menu also allows the Hero to view a list of their Xbox LIVE Friends who are currently playing Fable II. Press [Start Button] to open the Pause menu, select Quests/Maps, and then Xbox LIVE Friends. Select a friend to access the same options you have when interacting with an orb.

Xbox LIVE

Play anyone and everyone, anytime, anywhere on Xbox LIVE. Build your gamer profile. Chat with your friends. Download TV shows, HD movies, game demos, exclusive game content, Arcade games and more at Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Send and receive voice and video messages. Use Xbox LIVE with both Xbox 360® and Windows®. Play, chat, and download on both your PC and your Xbox 360. Xbox LIVE gives you ultimate access to the things you want and the people you know, on both your PC and your TV. Get connected and join the revolution!

Connecting

Before you can use Xbox LIVE, connect your Xbox 360 console to a high-speed Internet connection and sign up to become an Xbox LIVE member. For more information about connecting, and to determine whether Xbox LIVE is available in your region, go to www.xbox.com/live.

Family Settings

These easy and flexible tools enable parents and caregivers to decide which games young game players can access based on the content rating. And now, Xbox LIVE Family Settings and Windows Vista® Parental Controls work better together. Parents can restrict access to mature-rated content. Approve who and how your family interacts with others online with the Xbox LIVE service, and set time limits on how long they can play. For more information, go to www.xbox.com/familysettings.

The Pause Menu

Press [Start Button] during gameplay to pause the game and access the Pause menu, which contains many important items.

Save

Select this option to save your progress, then either continue playing Fable II or quit. This option also allows you to quit without saving.

Quests/Maps

This shows the world of Albion and displays quests, jobs, sales and shortages, and family members. It also allows Fast Travel (see page XVI). People on your Xbox LIVE Friends list also appear on the map, and you can interact with them just as you would in normal play. See Orbs, page XXVI.

Abilities

Here you can see how much experience you've gained and spend it to improve your Hero's combat abilities in Strength, Skill, and Will. You can also configure your spells with the Spell Selector.

Weapons

Weapons are grouped into melee and ranged categories. Highlight a weapon and press [A Button] to equip it.

Clothing

This section lists all the clothing in your possession, categorized by body location. Highlight an item and press [A Button] to equip it.

Items

Select this to access all non-equippable items you're carrying, such as books, food, potions, gifts, and dyes.

Logbook

The Logbook tracks your personality (including alignment and renown), expressions, completed quests, and achievements. It also contains a useful Help section.

Options

Select Options to modify your game, video, and audio settings.

Menu Controls

When viewing a weapon, item, or article of clothing, use [Left Analog Stick] to alternate between the item's picture and its description. Use [D-pad Up/Down] to page up or down in long descriptions.

Credits

Lionhead Studios

• Creative Director: Peter Molyneux
• Executive Producer: Louise Copley
• Senior Management Team: Dene Carter, Simon Carter, Richard Ham, Si Jaques, Ian Lovett, John McCormack, JC Taylor
• Production: Georg Backer, Chris Berry, Will Braham, Bryn Davies, Peter Jones, Gary Simmons, Geoff Smith, Jennifer Stanners, Jeremie Texier, Stuart Whyte
• Design: Mark Llabres Hill, Ben Huskins, John Molloy, Rob Stevens, Paul Wright
• Programming: David Addis, Chris Allsopp, Sherman Archibald, Jon Askew, Martin Bell, Leigh Bird, Stephen Broadley, David Bryson, Barry Cairns, Chris Carr, Francesco Carucci, Patrick Connor, Kaspar Daugaard, Olli Dawson, Daniel J Dobson, Alex Dowdeswell, Mike Ducker, Neil Duffield, Paul Evans, Tak L Fung, Neil Griffiths, Aaron Halstead, Matthew Hanlon, Alan Harding, James Hopkin
• Art: Matt Allsopp, Pete Amachree, Carolyn Bailey, Andy Bass, Damian Buzugbe, Dominic Clubb, Robert Corcoran, James Duncan, Jamie Durrant, Jon Eckersley, Emrah Elmasli, Ian Faichnie, Alberto Gordillo Villafuertes, Richard Hammond, Imkan Hayati, Patrick Martin, Mike McCarthy, Mike Morton, David Oxford, Jorge Sanchez Magdaleno, Adam Sibbick, Mark Smart, Adonis Stevenson, Angus Syme, Ben Troughton, Rob Watkins, Mark Williams
• Animation: Steve Bodle, Andy Brunton, Gary Cureton, Pepe de Lucas, Silvia Di Felice, William du Toit, Daniele Duri, Paul Franklin, Ceri Harrison, Graeme Howard, Nanette Kaulig, Luke Kelly, Chris Knott, Martin Lanzinger, Luis Miguel Herrera Vela, Louise Ridley, Christopher Rivera, Chris Roe, Emilio Serrano Garcia, Gabor Soos, Ross Stanton, Laura Trespioli
• Level Design: Charlton Edwards, Jake Fearnside, Mike Green, Iain Wright, Andrzej Zamoyski
• Scripting: Anish Antony, Mark Backler, Dave Carter, Charles Griffiths, Eduardo Hulshof, Richard Meinertzhagen, Luke Pressley, Milan Prucha, Philip Robinson, Alex Skidmore, Ted Timmins, Mike West
• Music: Russell Shaw
• PR: Cathy Campos, Pete Coward, Sam Van Tilburgh, Woody Hennekam
• Test Leads: Nathan Smethurst, Kiernan Sleep
• Senior Test Contractors: Rob den Dekker, Wayne Marx
• Testers: Kenneth Addeh, Fraz Ahmed, Harrison Baker, Gareth Bourn, Ben Brooks, Lewis Brundish, David Carbine, Andrew Cheyne, Claudio Di Giacomo, Sean Francis, Daniel Gray, Lewis Harvey, Shaun Hogg, James Hopkins, Sion Hughes, Matthew Humphrey, John Lamplugh, Jamie Pendleton, Ross Thoroughgood, Kevin Watt, Michael Woolgar
• Administration: Neena Jetwani, Charlotte Roberts
• Voice: Voice Production by Side U.K. Ltd.
• Voice Actors: Garth - Ron Glass, Hammer - Julia Sawalha, Lucien - Oliver Cotton, Reaver - Stephen Fry, Rose - Gemma Boyle, Theresa - Zoë Wanamaker
• Lionhead Special Thanks: Richard 'Swordmaster' Ryan, Dimitri Mavrikakisas, Andrew David Collins, Rothy the Dog
• External Testers/Partners: Parasol, Volt, Brook Street, Testology, Xen, Massive Multimedia Inc., Panache, Anark

Microsoft Game Studios

• Production: Rick Martinez, Danan Davis, Ian Johnson, Shannon Loftis
• Art: Ryan Wilkerson
• Audio: Kristofor Mellroth, Guy Whitmore, Kristen Quebe, Jeffrey Linsenbigler, Jason Shirley, Ken Kato, Peter Comley, Peter Sjoquist, Kyle Fraser
• Business Development: Nancy Figatner
• Design: William Hodge, Josh Atkins, J. Epps
• Development: Todd Heckel, Matt Haigh, Andy Luedke, Anna Koloskova, Justin Appleby, Alan Castellanos Moreno, Andrew Marthaller, Andrew Kertesz, Jason Major
• Legal: Don McGowan
• Localization: Virginia Spencer, Dublin (Declan MacHugh, Jean-Philippe Chassagne, Alan Davis, John O'Sullivan), Korea (Jae Youn Kim, Kyoung Han Yoon, Sang Min Park, Nam Hun Kim), Japan (Yuko Yoshida, Hiroyasu Mimura, Satoru Komiya), Taiwan (Robert Lin, Eva Lin, Andy Liu, Vincent Tsai, Daniel Huang)
• Marketing: Amritz Lay
• Test: Patrick Barker, Jami Johns, Craig Marshall, Jeff MacDermot, Ram Kishore Alavalapati, Jeffrey Kafer, Mohamed Awam Zoweil, Sean Dayé Gubelman, Chun-Kai Wang, Kevin Dodd, Tim Duzmal, Russ Glaeser, Ben Ahroni, Mark Grimm, Natahri Felton, Jimbo Pfeiffer, Greg B. Jones
• User Experience: Whitney Hills, Rich Bryant, Dana Fos, Jeannie Voirin-Gerde, Rick Achberger
• User Research: Tracey Sellar, Eric Schuh, Jun Kim, Daniel V. Gunn
• Web: Mark Diller, Misty Thomas, John Ryan, Kelly Bell
• Microsoft Special Thanks: Autumn Allen, Wolfgang Blum, J.M. Byrd, Troy Heere, Michael Kroon, Craig "Ixanian" Nichols, Mikey Wetzel, Kutta Srinivasan, Mark Neyer, Tony Cox, Greg Hermann, Kurt Loidl, Eric Lee, Dan Price, John Rush, James Stabbert, Trevor Hanks
• Xbox LIVE Productions: Production: Jason Mai, Jason York; Design: John Miller; Development: Jeffrey S. "Dextor" Blazier, Benjamin Ellinger, Eric Fleegal
• Additional Credits: Josh Olson, Christopher Peters, Andrew Slasinski, Art: Stephen Peringer, Anton Bogaty, Shun Endo, Steven Grice, Justin Koh, Rick Kolesar; Test: Tina Chen, Brian Fetty, Robert Lamb; Audio: Mark Yeend, Artur Girsky, Orville Johnson, Stan LePard, Mark Roberts, Phil White; Editorial: Cindy Vanous; User Research: Jerome Hagen
• Third-Party Credits: Panther Modern, LLC, Filter, The Lux Group, Excell Data Corporation, Sakson & Taylor, NW Connection Services, Volt, Rompus Recordings Inc., Soundlab
• Sound design by: Soundelux Design Music Group.

See the in-game credits for a complete list of Fable II team members.

Xbox Customer Support

Technical support is available seven days a week including holidays.

• In the U.S. or Canada, call 1-800-4MY-XBOX.
• TTY users: 1-866-740-XBOX.
• In Mexico, call 001-866-745-83-12.
• TTY users: 001-866-251-26-21.
• In Brazil, call 0800 891 9835.
• In Chile, call 1230-020-6001.
• In Colombia, call 01-800-912-1830.

For more support information, visit the Microsoft Xbox support page on www.xbox.com/support.

For information about Xbox LIVE, visit the Xbox LIVE page on www.xbox.com/live.

Legal Information

Information in this document, including URL and other Internet Web site references, is subject to change without notice. Unless otherwise noted, the example companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places, and events depicted herein are fictitious, and no association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, e-mail address, logo, person, place, or event is intended or should be inferred. Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation.

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Unauthorized copying, reverse engineering, transmission, public performance, rental, pay for play, or circumvention of copy protection is strictly prohibited.

© 2008–2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Fable, Lionhead, the Lionhead Studios logo, the Microsoft Game Studios logo, Windows, Windows Vista, Xbox, Xbox LIVE, the Xbox logos, and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

Developed by Lionhead Studios for Microsoft Corporation.

Fable II uses Havok™. © Copyright 1999–2009 Havok.com Inc. (and its Licensors). All rights reserved. Visit www.havok.com for details.

Uses Bink Video. © Copyright 1997–2009 by RAD Game Tools, Inc.

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