Magicka: The Other Side of the Coin

**The Other Side of the Coin** lets players experience a completely new take on the Magicka universe. Take the role of Alucart the Vampire and his Necromancers to fight against the forces of good. Your mission is to thwart Vlad’s attempt to unite the humans, the dwarves and the elves.

Like the highly popular Magicka: Vietnam, The Other Side of the Coin features objective based level progression, a new story and brand new playable characters. Along with the main quest, four new challenge levels are included as well as a new playable PVP character, the Necromancer.

The Other Side of the Coin was released June 19th, 2012.

## Features

* Play as Alucart the Vampire and his henchmen, the Necromancers
* One exciting new story challenge set among exciting new elven architecture
* 4 new challenge maps playing as Necromancers: World's End, Volcano Hideout, OSOTC Arena and the Mirror Crystal Cavern Hideout.
* Necromancer introduced to PvP
* New Steam achievements
* Innovative and dynamic spellcasting system with thousands of possible combinations
* Up to four player co-op in all game modes as well as single player option
* Experience the parody and satire of a cliché fantasy world

## Things You Should Know

The Other Side of the Coin DLC is considered a challenge map pack, and therefore is accessible only through the challenges option in the main menu and when hosting in multiplayer, much like the Magicka: Vietnam DLC. In the main story, the player can only play as Alucart the Vampire. Subsequent players who join the game in multiplayer will serve as Necromancers. By default, the host of the multiplayer game will be selected to play Alucart, who will have both Haste () and Revive () immediately available.

There is a very important caveat to playing Alucart which makes The Other Side of the Coin DLC more difficult than the original adventure: As a vampire, you are *immune to arcane*, and you are *weak against life*. This means you cannot heal in anyway whatsoever except through your self-cast active skill, Life Drain. Press TAB on the keyboard in-game to read the detailed description. Essentially, you will charge forward (Also similar to the Space Marine Robe) and if you manage to run into a victim, you will heal yourself by snacking on their neck and draining some of their life. This works on all elves, humans, and even Vlad, so long as they are alive. When playing multiplayer, you may also use Life Drain on your fellow Necromancers, so keep a friend close by in dangerous situations.

Because Life Drain is the active skill on Alucart, he cannot pickup a staff that was dropped by enemies or allies alike. Alucart only has 1080HP, and a life attack deals 180 damage. This implies that the player will most likely have to master elemental shields ( ,  ) in order to prevent damage to their health bar, thus reducing the need to use Life Drain. Some players may use rock shields(  ) or elemental rock shields (  ) for similar defensive purposes, but in these cases Life Drain will not work, as the rock shield covering the player prevents life drain from healing the true health bar underneath. Therefore, remove the rock shield first before using Life Drain.

Necromancers following Alucart do not have a healing problem. They can heal using Arcane, the best combo being normal Arcane Icicles (  ) or self-casting . Necromancers can quickly heal their allies with AoE Arcane Novas ( shift+ ). This also applies on the other challenge arena maps. However, Necromancers are dependent on Alucart's survival; if Alucart dies, they too will instantly die. It is for this reason that Necromancers should preferrably be at the front lines protecting their "master".

As you progress through Elwenhus, you will encounter 11 cyan-coloured Elven Horses. Finding and killing all of the Elven Horses successfully will grant you the "Friendship is Magicka" achievement on Steam (This is a direct reference to MLP:FiM.) A guide to their locations is covered after the walkthrough below.

## Walkthrough

### Attack on Elwenhus

The story begins on top of a mountain under an orange tree at the Elven village of Elwenhus, where Vlad has gathered diplomats from the Human, Elf and Dwarven realm to settle on a peace treaty between the three races, an alliance not attempted since the "Great Petty Quarrel." Alucart, aware of Vlad's location and the impending onslaught of goodness that is about to disrupt the balance between good and evil, takes this opportunity to exact his personal revenge on Vlad by attacking Elwenhus. Alucart storms into town and crashes an outdoor dunka-dunka banquet, decimating civilians and guards on his way through the jousting arena before confronting a Paladin and his guards at the gates in front of the mountain river pass.

Paladins are a new type of enemy in Magicka known for dropping a healing cross sigil on the ground, which grants them invincibility. To make them mortal again:

1. Block him off with a shield () or rock walls of any kind ()
2. Destroy his healing sigil on the ground using a Meteorite ()
3. Alternatively, freezing him with water  and frost  before he even puts his sigil down leaves him open to an instant kill from the player.

As you cross the gate into the mountain pass, walk backwards to check for a sneaky Elven horse before crossing the first bridge. Once you reach the altar lake on the way up and destroy the waves of archers and guards, pay attention to a Magick book hiding in a bush near the 2nd bridge crossing. This is where you can obtain the Nullify spell ().

At the end of the mountain pass are Dwarven guards protecting the final bridge leading into the city centre of Elwenhus. They will blow the bridge up with dynamite before another swarm comes to attack. The solution to this is to ignite the barrel of dynamite to the right of the Dwarves, which will explode and cause the stone pillar to fall over, acting as a substitute bridge.

Once you enter the main city, you will encounter the first of three High Elven Arch Mages, responsible for guarding the magical barriers protecting the path to Vlad and the diplomats. If you can manage it, one decently charged , before other defenders get in the way, will take care of them. Otherwise, although they are not invincible like Paladins, they do a good job of being annoying as they constantly cast Nullify to cancel your spells and shields, and summon *healing* rain that heals allies and damages you. Occasionally they will cast AoE Water  for knockback effect or AoE Life  to deal damage should you get too close. Make sure you cast a life resistant rock shield () after every nullify and take them out as priority targets. Blow up the barrier afterwards with any method you please.

Head up the stairs and pick up the Blade of Surt on the right if desired. The 2nd Elven Arch Mage is here, speaking in gibberish. Focus her down like the first one and proceed by blowing through the barrier ahead after killing all the guards. This will also be marked as a checkpoint before you reach the 3rd and final Elven Arch Mage, who will have a Paladin and two more Arch Mages backing her up in addition to the guards. Remember to head north to obtain the Time Warp spell book first () before proceeding past the 3rd barrier.

### Finale: Boss Fight against Vlad

Vlad and the diplomats are about to complete the imaginary paperwork to seal the alliance when Alucart finally arrives at the scene, challenging Vlad to a duel. After Alucart blames Vlad for his vampirism and how it has ruined his life and killed his family, Vlad reluctantly agrees to settle the old matter with Alucart through battle.

Vlad is the final boss of The Other Side of the Coin DLC, and is far more difficult to beat than the rest of the story. This boss battle consists of his first form as a physical enemy and a second form as 3 spectral ghosts. In his first form, he is immune to Life (), Frost() and heals with Arcane(). Apart from his regular lunges and sword attacks, he will also cast Conflagaration (), Nullify () and slash you with Life enchanted swords.
Upon defeating the first form, he switches to his second form, which requires you to fight against 3 ghosts of himself that are resistant to all attacks except Life (). They will also introduce lightning (), Frost () and water bombs () while casting Nullify constantly.
Overall, his high mobility, constant use of Nullify, and innate resistances make him a natural challenge even to experienced Magicka players, as it is difficult to deal damage and prevent damage to oneself as Alucart cannot heal without Life Drain. As a result, defeating Vlad requires innovative uses of less common spells and a smarter application of Life .

**Combat tips (1st form):**
1. At the start of the battle, you must decide between surviving through Life Drain, or by casting AT LEAST a fire rock shield () to counter Conflagaration. Do it again every time he casts Nullify; it could buy you the time to dish out your damage.
2. Some of the best attacks to use against Vlad are Fire Bolts (), Steam Rocks (), Meteorite (), and an attack specifically designed for Vlad, Electric Steam Spray (). The latter could get you the range and spread needed to deal anywhere from 280-4200 damage
3. Since Vlad spends a lot of his time running around you in circles, consider surrounding yourself with a lightning cage (shift+). He could take massive damage simply by running through it, with little effort on your part.
4. If you find yourself running low on life, don't be afraid to Life Drain ANYTHING around you, be it the ambassadors, your friends, or even Vlad himself. The more succulent victims around you, the better.

**Combat tips (2nd form):**
1. Be prepared to memorize and spam cast rock shields ad nauseum. Three Vlads means triple Nullify, and you could die really fast. On the bright side, you don't have to waste time trying to thaw or dry yourself as Nullify will be cast very often.
2. Since Life is the only element which hurts Vlad's ghosts significantly enough, bring out the massive healing attacks used in Chapter 10 of the original adventure: Life walls (), Life mines (), Life rocks () and Life Icicles (). All of these attacks will also kill you, however, so make sure you have a life resistance of some kind, be it  or . Time the attacks so you don't get caught by a bad Nullify from Vlad!
3. Running away while dropping life attacks behind you as Vlad chases is an effective way of winning. It is generally better to kite away from them rather than have all three ghosts in your face.
4. If fighting three Vlads is too much for you to handle, consider stalling a bit with Time Warp () before the next Nullify.
5. If you do not want to use life, steam attacks () are still effective. Just make sure it is not combined with anything else or else it'll deal little to no damage.
6. If you want an absolutely risk-free battle, keep up a life rock shield  and spam AoE life (shift+). This is a much slower way of killing the ghosts but will ensure your survival and eventual victory.

Killing Vlad and his 2nd form will get the "Interred with the Vampire" achievement.

Congratulations, you have beaten The Other Side of the Coin DLC. Sadly, just as you think you've defeated Vlad and wind up for the dramatic killing blow, Vlad comes back with an evil plot twist of his own, ending the game.

## Elven Horse Locations

There are a total of 11 Elven Horses scattered across Elwenhus. A visual gallery of their locations is below.

* 1st Elven Horse: south of the guards at the very start of the game.
* 2nd Elven Horse: hiding under pennants after the Dunka-Dunka.
* 3rd Elven Horse: standing near barrels behind the jousting arena.
* 4th Elven Horse: at the top of the map when fighting the 1st Paladin before the mountain pass.
* 5th Elven Horse: THE SNEAKY HORSE. Walk backwards before crossing the 1st bridge at the mountain pass.
* 6th & 7th Elven Horses: standing in a stable on the way up the mountain pass.
* 8th Elven Horse: behind Alucart before entering Elwenhus..
* 9th Elven Horse: Next to a building after picking up the Blade of Surt before the 2nd Arch Mage.
* 10th & 11th Elven Horses: Next to the stairs before the 3rd Arch Mage.

## Gameplay Video

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y\_5bd-Mii8&feature=relmfu

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFmxUTGZTCk&feature=relmfu

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDmItOM5Gh8