Magical Diary: Wolf Hall

Magical Diary: Wolf Hall

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Work Smarter, Not Harder — Lazy Sod's Minimum-effort Guide to Exams
By Lunaoh
For when you want to clear the exams with minimum fuss while also having Grabiner seethe over Gary Stu never coming to class after November.
   
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Introduction
The purpose of this guide is to allow players who have already cleared the game to blaze through the exams with minimum effort and time commitment so that they can use the resources spared to hunt for further achievements and story paths and to avoid getting molested by Damien. It is recommended you turn to it only after you've already beaten the game, as experimenting with different potential solutions is a big part of the fun.
The Lazy Sod's Curriculum
These are the only things one needs to successfully pass every exam:
  • Blue Magic 30
  • White Magic 15
  • Smarts 40 (whether as a raw stat or from equipment doesn't matter)
  • Blue Charm ($30 from the shop)
  • The first spell from each school of magic (which the game fortunately forces you to learn)
A true lazy sod may choose to save time by intentionally failing some exams. In fact, the author of this guide generally fails the last two exams on purpose simply because it's less time-consuming than doing them properly.

Before we continue to the guide proper, allow me to introduce you to your new BFFs:
  • Blue Charm: buy it as soon as you have $30 and then act like it's your long-lost conjoined twin. The 50% reduction in MP cost makes Teleport Self that much more viable and your life that much easier. The MP costs given for the exams work under the assumption you're wearing the Blue Charm.
  • Teleport Self (Blue 30, MP cost 20 (10 with the charm): Why mess around with obstacles when you can simply warp past them?
  • Awareness (White 15, MP cost 10): allows you to see a significant chunk of the map around you without moving a muscle a.k.a. makes using Teleport Self considerably easier.
N.B: There are generally less MP-costly ways to beat the exams with the same spell loadout if you're willing to put in more legwork. The solutions here seek to maximise speed.
Exam 1 (September 27)
Before the exam: no preparation is necessary: you're required to learn the cantrips needed to beat the exam during your first week of school. However, you may want to get started on building up your Blue Magic and Smarts.

During the exam: Use Light (Blue 1, MP cost 1) to light up the darkened squares. Once you reach the square with vines, use Inspect (Black 1, MP cost 1) on the floor, then examine the floor to open the door.

Total MP cost: irrelevant, you have more than enough MP to deal with this.
Exam 2 (October 25)
Before the exam:
  • Learn Teleport Self. To hit Blue Magic 30 in time, prioritise Blue Magic lessons and buy and equip the Blue Charm as soon as possible.
  • This bears repeating: buy the Blue Charm!
During the exam: take the rightmost path to walk over to the gas. Use Farsight (Blue 15, MP cost 1) on the gas square farthest from you, then use Teleport Self to warp past the gas.

Total MP cost: 11

N.B: it's actually slightly faster to fail this exam (by walking straight into the gas). Do this if you don't mind the detention, but frankly, this particular exam is short enough that I usually just do it.
Exam 3 (November 20)
Before the exam: learn Awareness (White 15). Get your Smarts up to 25 (40 if you want to be extra lazy.)

During the exam: Cast Awareness. Use Teleport Self to get north past the pits and into the area with the rune circle. Walk to the north and use either Breeze (Red 1, MP cost 1) or True Sight (Blue 10, MP cost 1) to find the illusory wall UNLESS you went the extra lazy route, in which case simply cast Awareness again and Teleport your Self straight onto the stairs.

Total MP cost: ~25, 40 if extra lazy
Exam 4 (December 13)
Before the exam: get your Smarts up to 40.

During the exam: Cast Awareness. Use Teleport Self to go as far south as you can. Cast Awareness again and then Teleport Self as far central south as possible (which brings you before the stairs). You should never even see the Bladen Beast.

Total MP cost: 40
Exam 5 (January 21)
Before the exam: N/A

During the exam: walk over to the Ghost Wolf and cast Communication (White 10, MP cost 5). Use Teleport Self to reach the pedestal and use the information you learnt from the wolf to disable the trap. Grab the medallion and Teleport Self back to the gate. Fix the portal and use it.

Total MP cost: 25
Exam 6 (February 21)
Before the exam: N/A. The more MP the merrier, though.

During the exam: the lack of a fixed layout makes this one harder to cheese, but not impossible. The old Awareness-Teleport Self combo allows you to warp great distances and bypass the gate without hassle. Often, using the combo once or twice to position myself close to the nearest dead end, I find myself standing very close to or right by the chalice.

Total MP cost: 40. Having 50 for a spare Teleport Self is a good idea, however.

N.B: I've never had any problems with the above method, but if you strike out and have less than than 10 MP left and desperately wish to pass for some reason, consider seeking out and negotiating with the frog via Communication (5 MP). There just might be something you can offer em... (Clarification: the frog will accept either a kiss [if you have the Flirty personality trait] or any item on your person. If you played Magical Diary: Horse Hall, you should have access to the mostly useless Legacy Wand, which makes for an ideal trade good [special thanks to Dragonsteps8472 for bringing this up.])
Exam 7 (March 14)
Before the exam: N/A

During the exam: walk east, then turn south. Cast Light on the darkened square, then step in it and cast Awareness, followed by, you guessed it, Teleport Self to get further south past the hazards. Once you reach the cell, cast Silence (Blue 5, MP cost 1) on the gate, then open the gate by examining the left wall. Wait.

Total MP cost: 22

N.B: I usually elect to fail this exam by walking straight east and frying myself, simply because it takes that much less time.
The Final Exam (April 29)
Before the exam: sadly, the only real lazy sod way past this one that I know of is intentional failure. Assuming you want to pass, you have everything you need, although you may consider learning Poison (Green Magic 25, Black Magic 30, MP cost 15) if you want to burst out of your lazy sod cocoon to become a beautiful hyper-competent wizard butterfly.

N.B: Everyone in the party needs to have 10 MP left to use the apparatus at the end.

During the exam: as with Exam 6, the layout isn't fixed, but it's always a square-shaped corridor with a secret area at its centre.

Your first goal is to find the section Big Jelly is in. Begin by casting Awareness for an idea of the layout (potentially revealing the secret area right there and then). Move to a corner. When you hit a corner, have yourself or Luke use Track Scent (Green 1, MP cost 1) to find out which creature has been by most recently.
  • If the spell finds nothing, keep moving ahead and try again in the next corner
  • If the spell finds a Hodag, back away and try the corner at the other end of the corridor. Tackling the Hodag is a waste of MP: if it catches you, use Teleport Other (Blue 25, MP cost 8) to yeet it far away from you.
  • If the spell finds a Big Jelly, your target is in the next length of corridor.
Finding and destroying the Big Jelly: the bastard is invisible because of course it is. Each turn of being near it makes you or one of your companions lose MP. When MP loss happens, use True Sight (Blue 10, MP cost 1) to make the monster visible. Have Luke cast Poison on the Big Jelly, after which cast Teleport Other on it (teleporting it as close to the secret entrance as possible, natch).

Endgame: Once the Big Jelly is dealt with, take the orb it was holding. If you used Awareness before and it revealed the secret area, go there now. If Awareness didn't quite reveal it, a second casting from another location or True Sight when standing one square away from the entrance will do the trick. Place the orb in the apparatus and have everyone touch it.

Total MP cost: ~50 if you do everything yourself, ~35 if you let Luke handle Poison. 10 if you coast and let your friends do everything (Donald has True Sight and Teleport Other while Luke has Poison and Track Scent), but is that the kind of lazy sod you want to be?
Conclusion
If you find an error in this guide or know of a more efficient solution to an exam, don't hesitate to contact me. There's still very little info about the nitty-gritty of this game online, and the exact details about the spells especially are likely to be a bit funky.
Changelog
1.0: Initial version posted
1.1: Updated a more expedient (and thus lazier) solution to the final exam
14 Comments
BlueTressym 1 Dec, 2021 @ 4:47pm 
I just did Exam 4: Cast my first teleport Self... Landed next to the Bladen Beast. #OhCrap

Used Teleport Other on the kitty and then legged it! So there's that.
waywardoctagon 26 Apr, 2021 @ 1:04am 
For exam 7: You don't even need teleport! I found a couple of alternate solutions with low blue magic:
1. Burn enough MP that going through the purple field doesn't hurt too much, since the damage is equal to the number of MP you have left, or
2. Fewer turns: cast Long Jump to get through the field--then it only does 1/4 damage. Easier to tank that.
Lunaoh  [author] 30 Jun, 2020 @ 12:53pm 
@Dragonsteps8472 Oh yeah, I should probably update in what can be traded. Thanks for the tip.
Lunaoh  [author] 30 Jun, 2020 @ 12:52pm 
@Dragonsteps8472 No worries: I'd have liked to make the note about the charm more visible, but sadly the formatting options are somewhat limited. Anyway, thanks! Glad to hear it was useful.
Dragonsteps8472 30 Jun, 2020 @ 12:51pm 
Also found that the frog will accept the Legacy Wand in a trade and leave you with all the time to find the chalice.
Dragonsteps8472 30 Jun, 2020 @ 12:41pm 
Ah, my bad. Went straight for the advice on exams. Good job on the guide whole, made my student life a lot easier :cozybethesda:
Lunaoh  [author] 30 Jun, 2020 @ 11:09am 
@Dragonsteps8472 As explained in the curriculum section, the guide assumes you buy the Blue Charm as soon as possible (i.e. before the second exam.) The all the MP costs given assume you're wearing it.
Dragonsteps8472 30 Jun, 2020 @ 11:00am 
Fourth exam total MP Cost appears incorrect. Awareness costs 10 MP and telepot self costs 20, two castings of each would come down to 60MP total, instead of 40.
Lunaoh  [author] 6 May, 2020 @ 6:51am 
@Mr. Money: Professor Potsdam, apparently.
Pchan 6 May, 2020 @ 6:42am 
Bruh who TF said "Fuck it, Final Exam is gonna be a box with an invisible enemy"