In Might and Magic 8: Day of the Destroyer, promoting your party members to advanced classes unlocks powerful new skills and abilities, crucial for conquering the game’s challenges. This guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough of each promotion quest, ensuring your heroes reach their full potential.
For each race in the game, there are two variations: a “base” form and an advanced form.
- Dark Elf → Dark Elf Patriarch
- Dragon → Great Wyrm
- Knight → Champion
- Necromancer → Lich
- Minotaur → Minotaur Lord
- Priest → Cleric of the Sun
- Troll → War Troll
- Vampire → Nosferatu
To learn the higher levels of some skills, your party members will have to be promoted to that level. There are no prerequisites for starting these quests; you can complete them as the opportunity arises.
Right-click the skills in your skill page. If a skill appears in YELLOW, that means it can only be learned once you’ve been promoted within that character’s specific race. For example, a mere Knight cannot be a Grandmaster of Repair Item, only Champions can.
This guide provides step-by-step instructions for each character promotion quest.
If you must pick up a quest first in order to complete it, that will be listed as the starting location. HOWEVER, if you don’t need to pick up a quest and can just turn it in when you’re done, then I specify the location to begin looking for the quest item(s).
You do not need to be a certain race or have those races in your party to receive or complete the promotions quests. Regardless, everyone in your party will receive the experience and fame from completing the quests.
Dark Elf → Dark Elf Patriarch
Starting Location: Relburn Jeebes’ house in Alvar
I recommend getting a dragon who can fly before doing this quest. Just for ease’s sake. Relburn Jeebes’ house is the furthest one back in the main city, beside the waterfall.
As an aside, if you want to see colored dots representing friend, foe, dead bodies, and regents on your mini map, cast the Wizard Eye spell.
Relburn Jeebes will tell you that he needs you to find Cauri Blackthorn, who went missing in the Murmurwoods. Head West. You’ll either need to fly up to the hills above Alvar or dodge the ogres blocking the road.
In the Murmurwoods, visit Dantillion’s house and speak to him about the Circle of Stone. He will give you Stone to Flesh scrolls. Cauri was exploring that area when she was turned to stone by the basilisk who roam there (why it is useful to have a flying dragon).
To find Cauri, go first to the circle of stone, then look North-North West. You’ll see an evergreen looking tree with a stone figure at the base. That is Cauri. There are other stone people scattered throughout the area; you can also save them if you want, but it gets you nothing.
Cauri thanks you and goes straight to your Adventurer’s Inn (she will do this even if you have a free spot for her. Rude.). Return to Ravenshore to fetch her and put her in your party somewhere. In general, Cauri is an incredibly useful character to have, I highly recommend having her in your crew in general.
Return with Cauri to Alvar and Relburn Jeebes’ house, and he will promote all Dark Elves who travel with you from then on out to Dark Elf Patriarch.
Pro Tip: Check out the bonus section of the main page guide. There is a way to get Cauri into your party while you’re still Level 1, before you ever even clear the Temple of the Snake.
Dragon → Great Wyrm
Starting Location: Auxiliary Dragon Hunter Camp; Garrote Gorge
West of the main Dragon Hunter Camp in Garrote Gorge, there is a field with Pet Dragons and dragon hunters. On the far side of that field is an auxiliary camp. Home to a handful of dragon hunters with green or blue armor, there will also be a handful or so of purple hunters (the strongest). One of those is Jeric Whistlebone.
Slaughter every single dragon hunter in that Auxiliary Camp and loot the body of Jeric to receive his sword. With his sword in your inventory, go to the dragon caves in Garrote Gorge, follow the path to the RIGHT (if you go left, guards will stop you. If you INSIST on going left, everyone attacks you).
Head to the very very bottom of the dragon cave and speak with Deftclaw Redreaver. So long as all the hunters in the auxiliary camp – and Jeric – are dead, your dragons will be promoted to Great Wyrm.
It is worth noting that you CAN complete this quest and receive the promotion even if you side with the Dragon Hunters in the alliance portion of the main quest. Trainers and quest ends never disappear because of who you chose.
Knight → Champion
Starting Location: Mad Necromancer’s Lair; Shadowspire
The Mad Necromancer’s Lair lies in the northwest portion of the map, surrounded by bone dragons, vampires, and skeletal archers. You will need to first fight your way through the basement of the Lair (which can be very difficult) and recover the spear Ebonest from a chest.
Side note, if you have any Necromancers in your party, search the basement further and take one Lich Jar per Necromancer on your crew.
Once you have the spear, go back to the entrance and this time take the elevator immediately across from the door. Upstairs are more enemies and a single bedroom. Inside is Blazen Stormlance, a knight who was cursed.
He will ask you to find a cure and send you to speak with Dervish Chevron in Ravenshore (his residence is near the inn on the northern side of the river). Dervish will give you a gemstone. Return to the Mad Necromancer’s Lair and give the gem to Blazen.
He will go to your Adventurer’s Inn. Head to Ravenshore and pick him up, putting him in your party. From there, speak to Charles Quixote, the head of the Dragon Hunter faction, in the main citadel of Garrote Gorge.
If you have completed the alliance quests and allied with the Dragon Hunters, Charles Quixote will be in the Merchant House in Ravenshore.
Next, report to Leane Stormlance in Garrote Gorge. She will thank you for saving her father and promote you. DO NOT go to Leane first, as it causes a glitch in the game that will leave it as an unfinished quest no matter what you do.
Necromancer → Lich
Starting Location: Sunken Library; Dagger Wound Island || Mad Necromancer’s Lair; Shadowspire
In the Southeast corner of the Dagger Wound map, across the water (so you’ll need someone with the Water Walk spell or a flying dragon), there is a building called The Sunken Library.
Fight your way to the 4th floor and summon a hidden lift to the attic. In said attic, you will find The Lost Book Of Kiehl in a chest. Take that.
Next, travel to Shadowspire and enter the Mad Necromancer’s Lair (pictured in the section immediately above this one). Fight your way through the basement and recover a single Lich Jar per Necromancer in your party.
Next, head to the main city in Shadowspire. Immediately across from the Inn is Vetrinus Taleshire’s house. Speak with him, and he will promote all Necromancers in your party to Lich PROVIDED you brought the number of jars necessary.
Note: Necromancer to Lich is the only class upgrade that comes with a style change too, as your necromancer will turn into a skeleton from then on out.
Minotaur → Minotaur Lord
Starting Location: Dark Dwarf Compound; Alvar
At the Southwest corner of the main city in Alvar, there is a mine shaft. Enter the Dark Dwarf Compound and fight your way through until you recover the Axe of Balthazar.
Tip: You don’t need to enter the Dark Dwarf bunker portion of the zone. Just stick to the main hallways without going through any doors, and you’ll find it in a chest within a side cave.
Next, head to Ravage Roaming, and – outlined in Part 3 of the Main Quest guide – clear Balthazar’s Lair and drain the water to activate that zone. Once active, speak with Tessalar in Balthazar’s Lair (he lives by Switch E). He will give you the quest to retrieve the axe.
Then head back to Dagger Wound Island (this is probably the most travel-intensive of the promotions quests). Speak with Dadeross in the main trading house, and he will give you a scroll.
Return to Tessalar in Balthazar’s Lair and give him the scroll. All minotaurs in your party will thereafter be promoted to Minotaur Lord.
Priest → Cleric of the Sun
Starting Location: Temple of the Snake; Dagger Wound Island
It is entirely possible to complete this quest accidentally, depending on how thorough you are at the start of the game.
Within the Temple of the Snake, there is an area that is comprised of a network of doors, some leading to other hallways, some leading to alcoves filled with enemies.
If you stick with it and fight your way through, you will eventually come to a large room with a glowing red section on the wall. Click it to expose a book, the Prophecies of the Sun.
Once you have the book, speak with Stephen in the Murmurwoods, and any Cleric in your party will automatically be promoted. Return as needed to promote other clerics in your party.
Troll → War Troll
Starting Location: Main City; Ironsand Desert
Speak with Volog Sandwin in Ironsand Desert and accept the quest to find an Ancient Troll Homeland. Volog is located in the house beside the inn.
Head to the Murmurwoods (You can reach them by going from Ironsand to Alvar, then Alvar to Murmurwoods).
North of the main city in the Murmurwoods is a cave surrounded by basilisk. Enter the cave and clear out every single hostile enemy. It isn’t too hard; the cave is a glorified tomb.
Return to Volog in Ironsand and report that the Ancient Troll Homeland is clear. He will promote any trolls in your party to War Troll.
Honestly, this is a pretty easily done promotion quest.
Vampire → Nosferatu
Starting Location: The Crypt of Korbu; Ravage Roaming || Cyclops Larder; Ironsand Desert.
The Crypt of Korbu is located in the northern portion of Ravage Roaming, between the road to Garrote Gorge and the Ogre Fortress. It is the dirt building surrounded by Wyvern (a cousin to the dragon that has no ability to harm you unless it gets close).
Fight your way down (it isn’t a long dungeon, two rooms, but the entrance can be tough) and click on the giant sarcophagus in the basement. You’ll have to clear quite a bit of space in someone’s inventory to fit it.
Next, head to Shadowspire, and from Shadowspire follow the road northwest to head to the Ironsand Desert.
In Ironsand, as soon as you follow the path out of the mountains, you’ll see cyclops to your right. Kill them and follow the mountains to reach the Cyclops Lair.
Be warned: If a Cyclops gets close enough to do melee damage, your character can be paralyzed. This counts the same as death or unconscious status in the game. There isn’t much difference in appearance once your character is paralyzed, just a widening of the eyes, so check them often.
Within the Cyclops Lair, fight your way down to the basement. In the very back of the basement, in the room with a single large cage, you’ll see treasure chests on either side. One will give you the skeleton of Korbu.
Return to Shadowspire and speak with Lathean. If your back is to the healer’s hut on the southwest side of the city, his house is to the left of the one directly in front of you.
Turn in both the sarcophagus and the skeleton, and you will be promoted.
By following this comprehensive guide, you’ll be well-equipped to complete the promotion quests in Might and Magic 8, unlocking the full potential of your party and conquering the challenges that await. Good luck, adventurer!
