Fable II Guide: The Crucible

Alright. So if you know me at all, you know that I'm one of the premier Fable II and Fable III players in the world, or at least so far as I know. Collecting literally EVERY item in the game, getting all achievements, and getting some of the highest scores in the world (based on what leaderboards there were for Fable II and every person I've heard about or talked to in the Fable III community) on the crucible, the colosseum, and the wheel of misfortune (Fable III), and more, despite the extremely high number of bugs and glitches in both games (don't worry Fable, I still love you).

But I basically made a guide on the crucible, the level based challenge in Fable II scored based on your fastest time, apart from my Fable II playthrough on youtube (I just did a simple run for optimal viewing pleasure in the playthrough, not metagaming the hell out of it).

Oh, and don't mind the missing round, the basic strategy is the same as in my youtube run (cast some wind and then use a ranged weapon to kill off stragglers). At this point in time it's a little late to bother revising this old guide.


I have tediously compiled many strategies for making it through the Crucible in Fable 2, as well as making my own, sometimes with input, sometimes not, from those other strategies, and found those that work best. This is the fastest and by far the best. Just know that this is intended for those who have beaten the game, have the Knothole Island DLC, and have maxed out skills and a fairly large sum of money. This will get you through all the rounds with perfect round times – but this isn’t for perfect rounds – this is for completing it all in under 300 seconds (results may vary).

First off, before you even go into the Crucible, you must prepare. Just like the first time you went in, have your weapons and potions (or food, though I prefer not to become horrendously fat) set. I suggest right away that you attain the best quality axe you can find (master axe from Knothole Island with four open augment slots works best) and the best quality katana you can find (same thing – master katana from Knothole Island with four open augment slots). You may want for parts to have the Daichi, but those are the only three melee weapons you should require. For a ranged weapon you will not need anything specific. I suggest using the weapon you are most comfortable with. This said the best weapons for this are the Red Dragon, the Rammer, or the best repeater crossbow available (master repeater crossbow, although the best I’ve personally found only has two open augment slots, and is on the mainland). If you don’t have the Knothole Island DLC the best weapons you’ll be able to get only have two open augment slots. These work just as well if you don’t have the other options. If you don’t want to go around switching weapons every round, just use the Red Dragon and the master katana.

If you have all six weapons you’re golden, but any one of these should do fine for either ranged or melee. You should then look for augments, one in particular being extremely helpful. This is the Ghoul augment, and saves you from having to constantly heal, wasting time, or eating, taking away your beautiful figure (and wasting time – stupid D-pad). Other open augment slots should be filled with variations of the Lucky Charm augment, which allows you to do more damage while taking less. Many of these variants are available on Knothole Island. If you don’t have the DLC simply use the default Lucky Charm augment. Try to stay away from any augments that don’t do much for combat or change your weapon’s damage type to flame or electrical. If you don’t have the DLC simply use the Ghoul augment and Lucky Charm augment for each weapon.

Stock up on resurrection phials and java potions (java potions because you can use them more often, though they heal less than straight healing potions). If you have a melee weapon with the Ghoul augment, you may very well not use any potions at all, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry, right?

Lastly, set your options so that you can only see friends if you’re playing on XboxLIVE. You may want not to see anyone at all, but I always like to see if any of my friends are on (it’s a rare sight). After that turn auto join off. The reasons for these two things is that firstly, your auto aim is sometimes messed up with player orbs everywhere, and secondly you don’t want your try for under 300 seconds slowed down by the game pausing; some other player trying to join.

Now you’re ready to enter the Crucible. The first round is fairly simple and goes by quickly if you know what you’re doing. Equip your fastest weapon – the master katana is more than powerful enough for these simple beetles, and the added health you get from your Ghoul augment is always nice as opposed to the Daichi which kills them just as fast but gives no health back to you – and your fastest ranged weapon that can take out a beetle in one hit – the Red Dragon does nicely for this round though it takes roughly two hits depending. Set your level one spell to time control, levels two and three to inferno, and levels four and five to vortex. Cast an area time control as you quickly after go into the exact center of the arena. Once you’re there start charging up to a level five vortex. As soon as you see the actual silhouette of the first beetle, let the spell off and immediately start charging another high level spell. Alternate then inferno and vortex spells, using vortex when you have a second to breathe and inferno when you’re put under pressure. Repeat until the round ends. Vortex is a good spell for the large area, because it is powerful and stays active for a while, while inferno and shock are by very quickly, and sometimes don’t affect some of the beetles. Unfortunately, it doesn’t hurt enemies at extreme close range – which is why you have inferno on your levels two and three. These low levels are all you really need to take care of those pesky beetles. These will spells should easily take care of all the beetles in a decent time, but if not, once most of the beetles are dead, use a time control spell to rush at enemies and melee them or pick them off quickly with your ranged weapon. Makes sure that you don’t waste time aiming if you range – just let the game auto aim for you – and make sure you use the aimed time control, to move faster toward an enemy rather than slow time and walk over there. Lastly, always be ahead of the enemies. Be already charging your spell in the center of the arena by the time you see the spawning circles. In fact, start charging your next spell right as the previous one went off.

The second round consists of Hobbes. Any of the three melee weapons work well for this round, though I prefer the Daichi because sometimes the added power is needed. The master axe can take out the hobbes on stilts nicely, but is a bit too slow for me. Also feel free once again to use any of the three suggested ranged weapons, although I would go for the master repeater crossbow, because it has good power, is fast (you won’t need to reload it really), and remember, it has the Ghoul augment. Your spells should be, from level one to five respectively, time control, time control, vortex, inferno, vortex. Go directly from the entrance to the golden trail circle, but before you enter it cast a level two area time control spell. Run right through the circle and stop on the cyan switch, immediately then charging up a level three vortex spell. As soon as you charge it up, let it off and start charging a high level vortex spell (I will be referring to level four and five spells as “high level” – you cast them into the sky rather than pounding the ground to cast them). Cast it as soon as all the Hobbes spawn near you and start charging again. Use the inferno spell when any hobbes are caught up in a vortex or when you begin to get overwhelmed. Step on the switch repeatedly (really just stand on it while casting your spells) to take care of any Hobbes not in your immediate area, but dwell only on your own attacks – this is a side thing that just benefits you more. When nothing is in your immediate area, make haste and hold down the Y button. This will automatically aim your ranged weapon at any Hobbes and then zoom in on them. While zooming in let off a flurry of projectiles. Move around quickly after releasing the Y button to zoom out and repeat should there be other Hobbes. Do not use this unless you can’t kill the hobbes faster another way. This is also by far the best way (the other way is to level one time control teleport to them and melee them) to take out the Hobbes on stilts, as they aren’t affected by area spells – even at close range. Don’t waste any spells other than level one time control on a single target. If you get completely rushed, don’t hesitate to either use an inferno spell (this is better unless you’re going low on health) or go berserk on them with your Daichi (if you’re using another melee weapon with the Ghoul augment this is more often the better option). Just hurry!

The next round also has Hobbes, but this time the arena is much bigger. Equip one of the katanas (master katana or Daichi, master katana helping more if you lost any health last round (which you most likely did)) and the ranged weapon you’re most comfortable with – it’s the Rammer for me this time, though the Red Dragon does a decidedly better job (use the Red Dragon if you can). Your spells, level one to five respectively, should be time control, time control, vortex/raise dead, shock, inferno. Before entering the golden circle cast a level two time control, then a level three raise dead if you have it, then another level two area time control spell if you cast raise dead. Step into the golden circle and immediately run to your left. Use level one aimed time control repeatedly to leapfrog toward the spawning circle, being careful to run instead of teleporting when you would end up with a boulder or explosive barrel in front of you. When you reach the circle charge up to the highest level area spell you are able to before the Hobbes can attack (if you have vortex instead of raise dead, cast that and begin casting a high level spell right after). When they start moving let them have it. Hold Y to check for other Hobbes around, aiming for their head if you chose to use a single shot weapon like the Rammer and pumping them quickly full of lead if you chose either the repeater crossbow or Red Dragon. This most occurs with a hobbe on the other side of the arena. If you see the next spawning circle though start charging your next area spell instead of looking around with your ranged weapon. If you hear the announcers saying “next wave” or “3, 2, 1, Go!”, or even begin to hear them say anything about the next wave, and you don’t see a spawning circle near you, it’s on the other side of the map. Cast a level one area time control to stop time quickly, then a level two area time control, for some more time. Then book it over to the other side with level one aimed time control (running if once again you’d end up in an exploding barrel) to use your spells en masse rather than pick them off slowly with ranged. If a spawning circle does come up near you, charge up a high level spell and eliminate them quickly, then do as I said above. Use at this point (when you get to the other side) only the aimed first level time control to teleport quickly to enemies (if they happen to be coming at you in a big group and you don’t have time to charge a level four or five spell) to melee them all in a berserker rage. If you have time, charge up a high level spell. Sometimes it may be helpful to use aimed time control to teleport near the center of two large groups of Hobbes, so as to get time to charge up a high level area spell and release it as both groups come close enough to deal you damage. Use the vortex (if you have it) to buy you some time if hobbes come close range, shock when there just isn’t quite enough time to use inferno (it not only has the effects of inferno (killing), it stuns the enemies for a short amount of time, providing barricades for you for other enemies, giving you time to charge up another shock or an inferno), and inferno when ever possible, because it affects any enemies in range (shock has a limit) and is more powerful in this circumstance. Oh, and don’t bother shooting the barrels – but do shoot the kamikaze Hobbes before they get close.

The fourth round holds hollow men. A lot of them. Equip for this round a katana – the Daichi might make it a bit easier but the master katana would regain any health you may have lost (use a master katana because you can get easily overwhelmed here. Range with either the Rammer or the Red Dragon (best) – slow reloading isn’t a good thing in this round. Put your first two spell levels to time control, the third level to vortex, and the last two levels to inferno. Before running straight into the circle, cast a one or two level area time control. Then run into the circle. Start charging up your highest level spell, and gauge when the hollow men would get close enough to hit you with their cleavers. Let your five star inferno go so that it affects the hollow men right before they can hit you. Right after this charge up again, to whatever spell it gets to (other than time control) before the next wash of hollow men get to you. Use level one time control to rush at enemies (though I suggest against using this in preference of ranging), level three vortex to buy time if you need it, and level four and five inferno whenever hollow men are close (use level five unless the hollow men could get close enough to hit you before you could charge it). Use mainly will spells in this round. Use level one time control to teleport away from the center if you’re starting to get mauled. At the end, you may want to hold Y to auto aim at any remaining hollow men you missed. There should only be one or two.

Fifth round. Bandits. This is by far the hardest round if you use the strategies in this guide. Your spells from levels one to five should be, respectively, time control, vortex, time control, raise dead, shock. Equip either your master katana or master axe, neither being much different from the other in this round and your favorite fast shooting weapon (either the Red Dragon or master repeater crossbow, with preference to the Red Dragon). Cast a level three time control before you enter the circle, followed closely by a level four raise dead (either area or aimed directly forward) and after a second level three area time control. Quickly vault over the railing on the edge of the platform you are on and run (don’t use aimed time control this time because of the explosive barrels in the way) straight before the spawning circle. Use either a level five shock (if you can charge it up before the bandits run away) or (you’ll need to estimate your time constraints) cast a level two vortex as soon as you get there and then use a level five shock. Don’t worry if they end up running away, simply turn to your right and make your way up to the bridge, eliminating any bandits in between you and the bridge with aimed time control and (if you’re using the master katana) quick and vicious attacks or (if you have the master axe equipped) aimed time control and flourish attacks. Once you make your way to the end of the bridge you will most likely see your undead minions distracting the numerous bandits. Take them out quickly with a flurry of aimed range weapon bullets, taking care to get near the center of the bridge as their numbers go down, maybe switching to melee. Once all the first wave bandits are gone (if the second wave doesn’t start and you don’t see anymore bandits, the last one or two will be at the ends of the bridge, most likely the side you didn’t come up on, fighting your raised dead. Quickly run (or rush with aimed time control) over there and finish them off with ranged because it’ll be quicker) go toward the middle of the bridge, edging as close as you can to the edge of the bridge close to the first spawning circle you saw. Charge up a five star shock and let it off as they spawn – don’t wait though as they’ll run off soon after they spawn. This shock will also take care of most if not all of the bandits spawning on the bridge. Focus though on the bandits below. If the bandits that spawned on the bridge got close and attacked you, you can regain health by whacking away at them with your Ghoul augment enhanced master weapon as the shock stuns them. If you want this free health attack them soon, because the shock will kill them if you don’t melee them to death first. Use level three time control as needed (in area form of course), while you before charging up a high level spell use vortex should there be any enemies close by. Use ranged to take out any bandits your area magic can’t reach. Do not use raise dead a second time (the same goes for every other round) and use level one aimed time control only to take out the last few bandits that may remain after the last round. Unless it is the last round, try to stay near the center of the bridge so as to be able to use shock right away for the next wave. Attack every bandit vigorously and aggressively (get angry!) and this round should go by fast enough, though it may very well be one of your slower round times.

The hardest round is followed now up by the easiest round. Equip a master katana and master repeater crossbow. If you don’t have either don’t worry you likely won’t even use either! Put your level one spell to time control, level five to vortex, and every other spell to inferno. Cast a level one area time control right before walking into the golden circle, then run to the middle of the path on your left. In just the right spot a level five spell area should encompass all the balverine spawn points. Try different spots to find just the right one if you can’t get to just the right one right away. Charge up a level five vortex, let it off as soon as it charges (it should be just right before the balverines finish spawning), and start charging up another spell. Use vortex over and over at the same time relative to the enemy spawns and inferno if you miss any with the vortex (if they get closer). If they get close enough to hurt you you could take a whack with your katana or shot with your crossbow to gain back health, but it’s generally preferred to just stick with spells for this round. You may also simply set all your spells to inferno, but this allows for a smaller margin of error as you have to get the timing and your placement just right. If you do get the timing and placement just right every time, all inferno spells might shave off a second or two, but it’s not worth it. Use level one aimed time control also as a last ditch effort, teleporting behind a balverine and hack n’ slashing away if you can’t seem to get a spell off. This is all there really is to this round.

The last round may be quicker, but is still about as difficult to pass quickly as the seventh. Round number eight consists of a troll. This might take a while is what you’d think, but really this takes a matter of thirteen seconds. How you ask? First set your weapons to the Red Dragon and the master katana, just in case you fail killing the troll the first way, and spells to blades, blades, time control, raise dead, shock, from one to five. Before entering the circle in this round, cast a level three time control, a level four raise dead, and another level three time control. Immediately after casting the second time control enter the golden ring. You’ll see the troll rising from the ground in slow motion. As soon as the mini cutscene ends, cast another level three time control and run straight toward the troll. When you get so close as to be touching it, charge up and let off a level five shock. This should kill the troll in one hit. If this fails, for whatever mistake on your part, you will want to back away from the troll. Quickly. Either that or you can have him throw you – whatever works. Strafe around the troll, holding B to activate blades and then aiming at the troll, then letting it off. This targets the unexposed nerve tendrils and then hits them when they become exposed. If you see them exposed, let the game aim automatically at the tendrils and shoot them with your Red Dragon. Do not zoom in as it takes way too long. Eventually the troll will summon hobbes. Do not waste any time on these. Simply continue strafing. If worse comes to worse though, focus everything on the hobbes, if just for a moment. Your undead spirits should hold off the earlier hobbes, but don’t waste a second raise dead – it’ll take too long. Lastly, don’t use another time control. Time needs to pass for nerve tendrils to come exposed, plus the time it takes to cast the spell isn’t worth it. Stick with level one and two blades attacks for this round. This should get you through the last round, with a perfect round time if not a thirteen second one.

And there you have it. The Crucible. Practice it and you could very well get it done in under 300 seconds. Just be happy with under 400 seconds if you don’t though. If you get just under 500 seconds, you did fine, but could just use a bit more practicing. Now doesn’t it feel good to know that you can finish the Crucible in under 300 seconds while the best of others have 600 second times? Hope you like your Chopper.

Now, you could also try to do the whole Crucible just using time control, but I have personally tried it, and though it may sometimes be very good, it is unreliable. The game has more than once kept the clock running at normal speed even in slowed time. Try it yourself if you want.