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Question

Is it possible to work out the first and third trials of wits (part of the Temple of Trials - see background for details) without resorting to trial-and-error, or the other method?

Hover for "other method":

The other method is asking the Monitor Bird for a hint

Especially for the third trial, where there are a number of symbols with lines joining them up... I spent a long time looking in my wizarding companion at the various signs available to each familiar. I even got to the point of drawing matrices of possible symbols and then working through the permutations that each familiar had signs for...

After nearly two hours of struggling, I eventually gave up and resorted to the other method, after which I was able to solve the puzzle in under a minute. But the solution seems completely random!

Is it possible to work this puzzle out? Is there a viable explanation for the solution, or is the other method actually the only method?

Background

Hover for details on location of this puzzle in the game:

The Temple of Trials is situated North East of Summerlands South and you go there after freeing Rashaad's daughter, Esther, from brokenheartedness.

There are three trials, of which one is the Trial of Wits.

The trial of wits is made up of three rooms. The second room is easy:

Hover for second room solution:

The second room is simply a picture puzzle - move the blocks to the appropriate place on the underlying picture so it doesn't look like there are any blocks at all.

The first room has a maximum of 24 possible unique combinations, so it can be worked out through brute force if necessary. However, as this is a trial of wits, I assume there must be a way to work out the puzzle without resorting to trial-and-error?

The third room has a maximum of 5,040 possible unique combinations and cannot therefore be worked out through a brute force method in reasonable time.

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  • If you have unlimited attempts, bruteforce.
    – kotekzot
    Commented Mar 23, 2013 at 0:27
  • @kotekzot I've updated the question to include a section on brute-force attempts.
    – m-smith
    Commented Mar 25, 2013 at 13:11

1 Answer 1

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There is no method like you are looking for, the way I see it you have 3 possible options:

  1. Ask for a hint
  2. Brute force
  3. Game Guide

The proper way to do it is to ask for a hint. What is misleading hear is the term "hint". I expect you are like me (and many other gamers) and view anything called "hint" as a short cut, and therefore it spoils your "perfect game" approach (regardless of the fact it has no effect).

I didn't want to take the "hint", so instead I found an on-line guide and looked up the "hint" but not the actual solution. This satisfied me enough - I was able to keep my hint count at zero whilst still feeling happy to have solved the puzzle myself.

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    "The proper way to do it..." Bah! I was afraid that would be the answer! As you say, I'm like you and many other gamers and prefer not to ask for help if there's a chance I can work something out for myself. I was expecting the puzzles to be puzzles! I suppose they are tests of wit; the sensible thing to do in this situation would be to ask for help.
    – m-smith
    Commented May 22, 2013 at 10:38

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