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The Lonely Celt


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THE LONELY CELT — Introduction

 

I've been long wondering how a game as a Celt singleton will fare. I know it's got to be significantly harder than a Roman singleton who can operate more casually as a tank. A Celt has many more skills to consider developing with all the additional magic options. The Roman only has Tool Use to consider with three fewer spell sets. The solo Celt has to consider whether to try to keep up with Rune Reading and Faery Lore along with five magic circles and fighting abilities.

 

This will not be easy, of that I am certain. In fact, this oddly parallels my Infiltrator in G4, but with less potent offensive magic at her disposal. If the Roman tank is a Servile, the Celt mage/warrior is an Infiltrator, a much wimpier one. I am not a glutton for punishment. This game will be on Normal Difficulty. It's not meant to be a test of absolute endurance and possibility.

 

I'm going to post a simple, mostly text-only description of how it goes. Advice is certainly welcome, as I am less familiar with all the considerations and implications here than I was with my Infiltrator in G4. I know what I am going to attempt with my build strategy, but I don't know how it will turn out with actual available skill points. We shall see.

 

For starters, I really want to use Edana as the base character for my PC, because she starts with two Barter, and that's one more Barter than I can get by training. There is this weird thing that happens if you select a PC and delete the others though. It stays in its spot number, even if it is the only one. Little things like this can be darned annoying, as you keep trying to do things with PC 1 when it's really number 3. So, to get around this, I made a PC 1 and PC 3, then switched PC 3 to be PC 1, deleted PC 3, and—voila—PC 3 is now PC 1, the one and only.

 

I like looking at a female more than some armor-bound brute, so, I fashion Lydia, a redheaded Celt, into my PC.

 

Lydia.jpg

 

I gave her Strong Back and Druid Mastery as traits for 15% penalty. Both help with encumbrance, which is important. Strong Back also means fewer trips in and out of dungeons, of which there will be discouragingly too many as it is.

 

So, my initial SP allocation is as follows:

 

start.jpg

 

I give her 2 Luck also. She begins with the most useful spells in all circles I want for free:

 

Mild Healing, Purge Venom

Battle Rage, Shielding, Lance of Fire, Quicksilver Feet (had to buy this one)

Call Aid, Serpent's Fang, Serpent's Coils

Create Light, Piercing Sight, Pass Portal

Disrupt Spirit, Sever Seal

 

My strategy: to make her adept in all five magics as well as able to hold her own in melee, and to wear the toughest armor possible. I want her to be able to make Energy Elixirs, which requires Herbcraft of 8 ultimately. We'll see if there are enough skill points to make all this possible. Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence will be the expensive killers. Rune Reading will suffer and may have to be largely foregone as a means to score spells.

 

I will train her in as much as reasonable or possible before investing SP into those skills. The first thing I do is use money to give Lydia 4 Woodscraft, all she can train. That will be the best she gets in that department, unless I am mistaken. I will work her Battle Circle up to acquire Darts of Ice soonest as well. I am going to utilize an optimizing reputation strategy to get both rewards eventually.

 

Comments, advice, pointing out my glaring omissions all welcomed.

 

NEXT: The Game Is Afoot!

 

-S-

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Everybody else starts off with 50 or so. The difference really is significant, as I have found out with Kilbright.

 

I was able to start off with 3 in every spell section, some herbcraft, 1 in melee and slings, luck, fairy lore, and some small investment in to my physical stats. Can't remember what right now. I think I was able to raise everything up to two.

 

So far, I have found running backwards for three spaces and summoning a wee beastie is sound practice for combat. Wee beastie than goes and eats a few goblins, while I brain them with my sling.

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I was going to recraft my PC out of Gordon for the extra SP, but looking at the specific starting values, here is what I found:

 

Bruce starts with 54 free SP and 3 Woodscraft

Gordon starts with 64 free SP and no special skill

Edana starts with 59 free SP and 2 Barter

Patrick starts with 60 free SP and no special skill

 

That's only 5 difference in points between Gordon and Edana. Edana will wind up with one more in Barter than Gordon after he buys one level. That's a 25% shift in how much I will get for all my loot. I think I'll stick with my Edana-based PC, but mostly because I'm already a ways along with her. Gordon is a good start too, perhaps best. Better Barter might not really be necessary at all in the long run. But I can see it helping me afford more spells, potions, and training sooner, and all this is also important. So, I'll stick with this build.

 

We'll just have to see how it goes.

 

-S-

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Regarding training -

 

Herbcraft can be bought to 6 I think in Nethergate, after that go spend 50 to find the location of Shaylee the dryad south of Spire of the Ages since she can train you even higher.

 

Tool use can be bought east of the Faery Bazaar and then reward from Kaja and bought under the Celtic Shrine. This helps get the experience reward for trapped boxes.

 

Faerie lore can be bought for 1 level, then use items and train.

 

Tool use, woodscraft, and faerie lore are needed on the route through the Jagged Aerie to avoid damage, but it's hard as a singleton to get enough.

 

I'd push spell circles to gain the spirit and beast spells quickly. Protection provides an absurb reduction in damage early in the game.

 

The best armor that you can get is blessed chain mail in Galag-Trav until the icy chain mail near the end. You can't wear better.

 

Good Luck

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Double posted -

 

You will be able to do most of the Burial Glen before you hit the Crone Cavern. The hard part is those two undead beyond the first portal.

 

I found that you usually get hit so put points to fighting instead of defense.

 

Also after doing the Ruined Hall, make sure you visit the Stone Circle south of the Faerie Bazaar at least twice and after removing the curse go to the Hollow Hills for some more free spells.

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Randomizer said: "Tool use can be bought east of the Faery Bazaar and then reward from Kaja and bought under the Celtic Shrine. This helps get the experience reward for trapped boxes."

 

How's that? Using TU to have the boxes go off, and getting XP if you survive? Why not just get 1 TU to enable trying to use TU to open the box? Why spend more?

 

-S-

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On with the game. The first thing I start with in any SW game is figuring out the best stuff I can steal in the home fort before they ride me out of town on a rail. Nethergate allows four visible thefts before they've had enough of you. I made two now and two after I could visit Chief Cartumnus. I upgraded to a stolen Iron Longsword courtesy of Llyn, who also gives the quest to find and kill five magical beasts. I upgraded to a stolen Iron Largeshield thanks to the Trainer.

 

I explored the confines of the NE Eastern Zone, was sure to collect my Mistletoe and Healing Herbs daily, as much as possible. I focused on Galag-Trav largely before the Goblin Pits. It is amazing that you can get a Blessed Chain Mail at the very beginning of the game. I will be wearing that for darn near the entire game! Destroying the altar on the main level of Galag-Trav was beyond me till later, though. The Spectral Wolf was cleaning my clock early on. The Wyrmskin Helm had to wait a bit too. I stopped after cleaning out the initial chamber of the Fomorians to hit the Goblin Pits. I was able to clean out everything else and rescue little Hiawatha.

 

The Goblin Pits seemed very easy until I hit the Deep Goblin Pits, and then I had to be more careful and calculating again. I was able to clean everything out though. Rune Reading was of course not enough to give me the spells, etc. there. The Crone Cavern was little trouble. The Ruined Hall seemed easy overall. I was able to clean out the entire Burial Glen with the only real trouble being the Nether Beasts at the end. Disrupt Spirit is one spell that feels quite powerful and effective. It’s nearing triple digits in strength typically. I wasn’t able to clean the Fomorians off the bridge quite yet.

 

Levelling up started at an absurdly quick pace, but tapered off by the time I was up to double digits. Here are my stats after the Ruined Hall and getting cursed, just heading off to the Faery Bazaar.

 

end1.jpg

 

Training, I got Woodscraft up to 4, then Herbcraft to 6. I got Darts of Ice, then started bringing the last three Circles up along with a little more Strength and Intelligence. Luck is still at 2. I unwisely gave myself two levels of Faery Lore, not realizing I could buy it near the Faery Bazaar. That was a bit unfortunate, as it didn’t really help me read anything anyway. Not sure what else it affects in encounters. I am at this point just about to start buying more Healing Circle from Elonna by the Goblin Pits. It’s an expensive purchase. My Woodscraft ability sucks. I can’t recognize Energetic Herbs outdoors or half the other nodes.

 

-S-

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Quote:
Originally written by Synergy:
Randomizer said: "Tool use can be bought east of the Faery Bazaar and then reward from Kaja and bought under the Celtic Shrine. This helps get the experience reward for trapped boxes."

How's that? Using TU to have the boxes go off, and getting XP if you survive? Why not just get 1 TU to enable trying to use TU to open the box? Why spend more?

-S-
There are three types of trapped boxes. The summoning ones like in Abandoned Mines level 2 are better triggered if you can defeat the monster. The damaging ones in Goblin Pits level 1 and 3 treasuries can kill low health parties. The alarm ones under the Faerie Bazaar will cause hostilities. The boxes when unlocked with tool use give 50 XP adjusted by level.

I don't know whether you can buy enough tool use to get up to the 6-8 level needed for the boxes or if you should just use pass portal and skip the XP.

I found in the singleton game that there are fewer places to get ingredients.

Faerie lore helps in the end learning to use the crystal wands and to get past one place in the Jagged Aerie. There are a few items to help for these places.
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I'm beginning to think that Herbcraft is entirely not necessary for a singleton. There are a fair number of energy potions around. I have yet to run out, and there are more I can buy. I do not have many energy herbs or spiritual herbs to make many potions anyway, due to low Woodscraft. The multiple thousands of gold for Herbcraft could have been used to buy other things sooner, like Health Circle and Faery Lore. In fact, knowing that the Crone sells x many levels of all circles in Hagfen, I'm wondering how that could be capitalized on best to save SP for a singleton. Maybe Spirit and Beast Circles could be left at 1 and 0 until getting there.

 

-S-

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I don't know about the Celtic side, but I found out the hard way for Romans that Hagfen only sells 1 level each of beast and craft circle. I really am missing coils of the serpent.

 

You can hold off on herbcraft if you want. I found that the extra potions help since they need less AP to use than spells during combat. You can buy all 8 levels if you need it later. It also reduces poison and disease effects.

 

The places that I visit regularly are east of Goagh-Nar for healing and spiritual herbs, north of Galag-Trav for mistletoe, southeast of Vanarium for spiritual herbs, and west of the Hollow Hills after showing respect for energtic herbs.

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Hagfen sells only 1 level? And does that mean only if you have zero in a Circle? I forgot about the health benefits of Herbcraft. It probably is affordable, but we'll see how the cash feels by the late game. I'm about 2/3 through right now. Speaking of which...

 

Part Two

 

I sent Lydia on quest to remove her curse soonest, once crossing the Crystal Bridge. I was expecting a nasty fight with the Giant Slugs behind Reptrakos' Lair to get the dragon scale there, but it turned out quite lucky. The slugs happened to come right up to the corner and I only had to fight two at once, at swordpoint. It really did feel like the two acid-resistant pieces of gear I donned helped quite a bit with the bit of acid I got too.

 

I forgot about the +1 Strength boon available at the Temple of Brigantia for quite a while, or I'd have done it almost immediately. I brought Beast Circle and Craft Circle up to 5 and stopped while I ran back and forth between Selkie Fen and Hagfen and also back up to the Goblin Pits to do the two quests for the hags. Finally, I was able to boost Beast and Craft Circles to 8! That felt terrific, because spell circles were creeping along. I was able to get the positive reputation boon as soon as I could get the ring from the ant and help the gryphon, and then kill the goblins on the bridge to the SW zone. That 4x +1 boost was very satisfying and very helpful.

 

I got Key IV in Vanarium right away, Key V from the Selkies while doing the above quests, and just now finally got Key VI a fair bit later after going through Hagfen and the Maze of Thorns (but not yet killing the Widow Queen.) I just now managed to get the Emerald Helm from the 18 Fomorians outside Goagh-Nar. I did the kill Kharto quest for the goblins, then killed them all. I went back and got the +3 SP in the Goblin Pit once I got the Druid's Breacelet to get my Druidism high enough to benefit. Once I got Break Barrier after boosting Craft Circle in Hagfen, I got the Wyrmskin Helm from Galag-Trav and got into the Forgotten Crypt for some more goodies. I only recently went to the Temple of Brigantia, which I should have done much earlier. I did rent one soul from Valley of the Sould so I could get the bracelets from Hagfen. The soul came back to me, so I can use it again. Who knows what it takes to have that happen? Faery Lore? Intelligence?

 

Getting to the final Lost Soul by the Hollow Hills was difficult. Those 9 asps are the hardest battle I've had to fight anywhere yet as a singleton. I am determined to beat Reptrakos before this game is over. I've done all the negative reputation points now except for the GIFTS ones. I'm going to try to do the Circle Warren and under the Temple of Brigantia (that Golden Pelt quest better work right this time) befoere finally entering Goagh-Nar. I've darn near done all else that can be done before it, anyway.

 

By the way, I only just got the Crystal Charm from Hagfen. I didn't have it listed on my list. I have faced and killed many basilisks, mostly by reloading a few times, but it's not hard to beat them at all if I can just survive the opening round. Going in with a haste potion or hasting helps too, because then I get the initiative. I am using Control Beast a lot, and sometimes Mighty Beast, though I am loathe to share or waste my kill XP unless absolutely necessary to get through a battle. My most potent offensive spell is still Darts of Ice, because I can't get Heartshock or Stone Guardian due to low Rune Reading. I have Doom from the Circle, but am still working on getting Spirit Circle up to 8 to use it. When I get it there, look out! I wonder if I will even be able to read Soul Lances in the Aethdoc library? Probably not. I couldn't read Call Hunt in the Maze of Thorns or Wind Warriors under the Faery Bazaar. How the heck did Khoth get Wind Warriors in his singleton game?

 

It has been moderately challenging at points, partly because I am determined to get some tough things done in a certain order to optimize training and gear and reputation. Parts of what I have squeaked through would have been much more brutal on Torment, and would have had to been put off till later...like those darn asps.

 

Here's how the stats are looking at this point, including the normal gear I'm wearing: Emerald Helm, Bladesman's Band (I needed the +1 Armor Use once I got the Helm), Boots of Apollo, and the Druid's Bracelet. I'm wearing Miranda's Locket. I swear it helps me survive when zeroed more often. I could have left my Circles even one level lower with the Emerald Helm, but I intend to use the Helm of Speed a bit later.

 

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There are a few other items to raise intelligence and druidism to help with rune reading. Robe of the Archdruid if you can kill the witches in Hagfen.

 

I didn't try this, but if you got craft elixir from under the Celtic Shrine, then create invulnerability elixirs to give you an edge.

 

Rune reading is the biggest problem. I forget what spells you can get in the Hollow Hills if you rescued Gaitlan (?). If you didn't then you can go back and fight the stone guardians to get into the Crones' Cavern to get him.

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In the Temple of Brigitaine (I never can remember the name), below there is a hidden area on the way to the dangerous portal. Off this hidden library to the south is the Nethergate spell craft or was it create elixir. You trade skill points for being able to make three potions - invulnerability elixir, heroic brew, and I think the last is restoration brew.

 

For a singleton it might make sense since invulnerability helps against the Crone and a few other nasty areas.

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Ah, I seem to have missed that in previous games somehow. Meanwhile, I killed the hags in Hagfen and got the Archdruid Robe. My Rune Reading ability is up to 22 with gear. I need 25 to get Total Healing under Galag-Trav. I'm not sure what I need for Nether Arts Spells. Anyone know? I want Wind Warriors and Call Beast.

 

Druidism, Intelligence, and Faery Lore all count +1 to Rune Reading. A Druid's Bracelet with its Druidism +2 and Faery Lore +2 adds +4 Rune Reading total, while an Intelligence Bracelet only adds +2 Rune Reading.

 

Khoth said there is a boon given in the Hall of the Lamp if you take a certain direction with the Genie. I'm going to attempt that soonest. I have done that in my last game, but did not notice a boon. Lady Rose gives a boon if you bring her the mine stones. I hadn't noticed that before either. This singleton should be fairly competent by the end...not that she isn't now, but she's not as weighty as you'd expect for a singleton. Soon...

 

-S-

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Part 3 — On Spells, Rune Reading, Faerie Lore, and staring to Kick Butt

 

So, yeah, I just got the Knowledge Charm from the Hall of the Lamp. It raises Rune Reading by 7 total with its +2 Druidism. That's nuts. However, the Knowledge Charm in the game is currently broken. it adds no Rune Reading except the indirect +2 from its +2 Druidism. I have contacted Jeff about this and hopefully, he fixes it.

 

There is quite a bit of Rune-Reading boosting gear by later in the game, so I would have strategized a little differently, had I been more aware of it all ahead of time. Namely, one could get away with very little investment in Faerie Lore at all. I used skill point for three levels of it, and forgot to buy one level first at the Faerie Bazaar. A singleton could readily do without buying any levels at all, I think. My PC has 5 Faerie Lore with the Druid Bracelet. Rune Reading has suddenly ramped up to 27 with all my gear. It should be at 32, if the Knowledge Charm worked. I don't yet know how much I need for the Control Foe spell in Aethdoc—the only available or desired one I have left to get in this game.

 

Ater finishing the Hall of the Lamp, you can add to Rune Reading with these items:

 

Druid Bracelet: +4

Emerald Helm +1

Silken Pantaloons +1

Robe of the Archdruid +3

Rune Shield +2

Knowledge Charm +2 (and will be +7 when it gets fixed)

 

I might be missing something, but I omitted things that will duplicate or offer lesser boosts to Rune Reading, like the Intelligence Bracelet. You can see that +13 to Rune Reading is available right now, or +18 if the Knowledge Charm is fixed. With 24 seeming likely to be the highest Rune Reading required in the game, that means you only need 6 in Rune Reading, and you will get more than that from Intelligence and Druidism alone. My advice as a Celt Singleton is to buy the one level of Faerie Lore from the Faerie Bazaar, and that's it. I don't know if more Faerie Lore is critical for other events, but the Druid Bracelet will add +2 for a minimum of 3. Maybe 4 is desired, which would mean training one level.

 

I went back everywhere I had missed out on spells. With the Emerald Helm, Robe of the Archdruid, and Druid's Bracelet, I am now able to I have all the available spells. Turns out most can be had with 20 Rune Reading, but the worst has been 24 for Call Hunt. I won't have Hero of Old, because I will give the mine stones to the Rose Lady, but I can live without it.

 

My PC is up to 8 on all Spell Circles, except Health, which I left at 5, and is now going to be boosting her Intelligence. Herbcraft is at 8, so I can make Energy Elixirs. I did get the Create Elixir ability, but I’ll try not to use it unless really necessary. Suddenly, I am feeling like my powerful Infiltrator from G4.

 

I took out all the spiders in the world. If I claim my evil prize, I will be hosed, but I should be able to collect it any time I want at this point. I got the sixth key, then mopped up the Circle Warrens easily and the Hall of the Lamp with little trouble. I used four Wind Warriors to take on the Dark Wyrms to get Sylak's Thumpin' Shovel. Those Cave Giants are a bit tedious and annoying, but they die as easily as anything else. With the recent acquisition of missing spells, I can use Heartshock, Ravage Life, and Clouds of Night. I haven’t even used Doom yet. I like the Roman side of the Hall of the Lamp much better. With the Ring of Health and Basic Charm, those acid slimes aren't bad at all, though I still picked them off one at time for the most part. The Genie does indeed boost your first four stats +1 if you command him to serve you. I am at 8/5/5/3 on those now with current gear and I still have a free +2 to each coming from future boons.

 

I successfully finished the Orim quest finally, and cleaned out the Vale of the Sould. I I am noticing that there are one or two awesome spears in the game, but no great swords. The magical swords suck compared to a simple Blessed Longsword. As a singlteon, there is no way I'm going with a two-handed battle axe and giving up my shield. So, unlike every other SW game, there really is no cool sword to go after in Nethergate. Too bad.

 

Martyr's Shield rocks though. Lydia is sporting the following gear now:

 

Helm of Speed: +1 AP

Blessed Sling

Martyr Shield

Blessed Chain Mail

Warrior’s Plaid pants: +2 Hardiness

Blessed (and dipped) Longsword

Giantish Gauntlets (+3 Melee Damage)

Spider Silk Cloak (+1 Dexterity)

Nimble Band: +1 AP

Druid Bracelet: +2 Druidism, +2 Faerie Lore

War Charm: +2 Armor Use (I need it), +2 Hardiness

Boots of Apollo: +1 Strength, +3 Defense

 

+2 AP is working for me quite nicely, I must say. The Ring of Speed from the Ifrit genie does the exact same thing as the Nimble Band, yet is priced oddly very differently. I told Jeff about this a long time back, but he never changed it. Go figure.

 

I have darn near done everything possible before entering Goagh-Nar at this point, so it should be a cakewalk. I suppose when I get branded a killer, I will mop out the Faerie Bazaar, Hollow Hills, and Jagged Aerie and see about getting another level or two out of it, though I am sorry to do any of those. This game is a parallel to my Infiltrator game, in that I am trying to maximize her possible experience and boons.

 

On to Goagh-Nar, the Shadowvalley Fort, and Aethdoc in rapid succession. Then on to Annwyn and the Spire to finish. All money from now on goes into training fighting skills and buying some exlixirs. I should be in very good shape.

 

Anyone else playing Celt singletons right now? How is your game going, and how are you strategizing?

 

-S-

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I think the main difference between our games is that I bought a lot of intelligence fairly early, instead of combat skills, faery lore and whatnot (I was really hurting for spellpoints), which also gave me high rune reading (I finished with 14int, including bonuses from items).

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Khoth, how would you summarize that worked for you? Did you essentially make a glass cannon?

 

So, I'm just starting Aethdoc now. I've been getting a crummy 40 or 50 points out of 200 for finishing quests like Goagh-Nar and the Faerie Bazaar Master's three quests, which I was able to tell him I'd finished one after another without having to budge an inch in front of him. I forgot for a while to tell him about the Vale of the Sould. I'm at Level 26 now. I had to leave a lot of loot behind at Goagh-Nar, but I got all the really tasty trinkets.

 

EDIT: I meant to mention that those Fomorian Crushers are brutal on a singleton. They take many attacks to go down, and they deal a lot of damage in the meantime. Good time for Call Hunt and Coils of the Serepent. Oh, and it's the first time I ever used Simulacrum. I copied a Crusher to deal with other Fomorians and Crushers. Quite effective, I must say.

 

I tend to get bored on these later giant dungeon crawls. I like the earlier ones.

 

-S-

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That's not really a "glass cannon." The vast majority of your protection comes from armor and not skills anyway. So it's really just a "cannon" as opposed to a "cannon with a stick."

 

From my (admittedly meager) testing, a single point of Intelligence adds THREE LEVELS to the power of each spell. That makes a big difference.

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I did pretty much try to make sure most things didn't get close to me, and I was never able to really fight much in melee. By the end of the game, my melee attack did a bit less damage than bolt of fire, so sometimes I'd whack something a couple of times with the Icy Longsword (my favourite weapon when a Roman too, incidentally), as it saved on SP and I could often get two attacks in even when not hasted.

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Quote:
Originally written by Yama:
From my (admittedly meager) testing, a single point of Intelligence adds THREE LEVELS to the power of each spell. That makes a big difference.
Are you sure about this? My first game as Roman druids had high intelligence and I didn't find that it increased the spells that much.
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No, I'm not. As I said, the testing was meager, though it was consistent. I basically tested the duration of War Blessing (which had no variation) before and after raising Intelligence, Druidism, and War Circle different amounts.

 

It's possible, for example, that duration is not affected the same way as damage is. But it makes sense, given that Strength has twice the effect on melee damage that melee skills do. That was pretty clear from testing.

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My game broke coming back from Annwn. My Celt's been kickin' butt for quite a while now and waltzed through Annwn, though I haven't had her face Reptrakos yet, only because I forgot about it. I had to leave tons of stuff behind in Annwn, even though I only went in with two things. I exited through the Nethergate, faced the Roman party of five camping there, killed them, and went to the hut east of the fort to sell my loot.

 

I came back to the Nethergate to pick up some more stuff dropped there, and found the same Roman party of five there all over for me to kill again. And again...and again, as many times as I want to leave and return. And I get a crown every time too.

 

When I returned to Nethergate fort, Cartumnus wouldn't let me finish the quest. He acts like I haven't even been to Annwn yet. This does not break if you don't return to the Nethergate after leaving it. I'm surprised no one else had this happen yet.

 

-S-

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I saw the party of Romans again, but I quit the game for other reasons with a corrupt file. I think you have to get the quest removed first before going back to pick up all that loot. Usually at this point you don't have much that you want to spend money on.

 

Edit - Did you step all the way into the hut to trigger the message? If you did, then send the saved game to Jeff so he can fix the logic branch.

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The End of The Lonely Celt

 

It wasn't sellable loot I had to go back to the Nether Gate for, it was my own stash of gear I had placed there, ready to tackle the Spire next. I simply went back to the save before fighting the Romans and didn't recreate the bug. I have finished this game. The Lonely Celt became very powerful once she got Heartshock, Soul Lance, and Clouds of Night.

 

Reptrakos was a breeze, though I waited very late in the game to take him on. I simply sent out some Wind Warriors, used a Heroes of Old potion, and whacked the big lizard with my sword. He died pretty quickly, and easily. Raven went similarly, right before the Spire, though I just used Charm and summons to dispatch him. I didn't bother fighting in the Faerie Bazaar or Hollow Hills. I could have gotten one more level out of the deal, but there was little reason to bother.

 

Annwn was very easy. I used a lot of Clouds of Night, as the following pictures will testify, to very gratifying effect. I had around 50 Energy Elixirs by Annwn/Spire. I used around 12-16 of them in the Spire (it took four to refill my essence), just a very few in Annwn. There is little need for wands, scrolls, or any other potions besides a couple Invulnerability/Heros of Old. I barely touched those as it was. I think I used about 3-4 total between the two of those, one against Vibinius at the end so I could hang out till his own Invulnerability Elixir wore off.

 

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/synergy67/CloudsofNight.jpg

 

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/synergy67/CloudsofNight2.jpg

 

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/synergy67/CloudsofNight3.jpg

 

My Celt's end stats are below. I bought all useful skills just by the end of the game, mostly because I had to leave so much loot behind in some places as a singleton. I bought up all the Melee, Slings, Defense, Hardiness I could finish off in the Hollow Hills for ungodly sums of cash. There is such a ridiculous amount of powerful, pricey, magical loot to be had in Annwn. This game is rather swimming in magical loot later on. And all the cool weapons are spears and battle axes.

 

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/synergy67/endstats.jpg

 

I ditched the Blessed Chainmail late in the game and went for the +3 Intelligence with the Archdruid robe and +2 with the Intelligence Bracelet. I put on the Runed Helm instead of the Helm of Speed (for more magical boost), and Cordelia's Locket (for battle stat boost) for Reptrakos, Raven, and the Spire. Being more magically and battly powerful was much more useful than the extra protection from the chainmail. Nothing hardly ever got a hit on me anymore anyway. I used the +10% chance to save your life shield at the end. Clouds of Night is insanely lethal in this build. I noticed I had somehow accumulated 2 encumbrance, which is why I thought about using the robe in the first. It was great, as it turned out.

 

The Crone outside the Spire was pitifully easy after all the stories I've heard about her. This was my first Celt game to be completely finished, actually, ever. I did a ton of testing for the Romans, and slowed down for the Celts. I'm still finding bugs, heh.

 

If I were to play a Celt singleton again, I'd forego Herbcraft entirely and sell nearly all wands and potions except for Energy ones and Heroic/Invulnerability. Early on I used some Strength and Haste potions, but they soon stop being useful. I'd use Random's idea to maximize Beast Circle development. I don't know how to get the negative reward on top of the positive reward. I'm not sure it's possible. After getting the good reward, walking into the bad reward area no longer even triggered a dialog of any kind, like it was deactivated entirely.

 

There was one door in the Spire I couldn't unlock, despite having all keys I know of.

 

Lydia's final gear (she looks curiously masculine here, no?)

 

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b292/synergy67/endgear.jpg

 

This game was on Normal difficulty. I think Torment would have been a lot more bother early on, but still would have been quite successful overall. I used the sword a lot, which is one reason I had so much energy to spare by endgame. I tend to play too conservatively with my resources in all SW games, saving up for a rainy day that never comes.

 

This was a satisfying game that felt like The Insidious Infiltrator Part 2 by the end. If I can stomach more of this game, I'll be trying the Roman tank singleton, like everyone else. laugh

 

-S-

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Congratulations on finishing.

 

I think you underestimate Torment; N:R has difficulty stepped up in general from previous games. The problem in this case is that everything has so much extra HP. Even Clouds of Night won't kill things in one hit, but you WILL sometimes die in one hit, so you will have to rely heavily on summons and charms in addition to direct damage. A Celt has more flexibility than a Roman, but summons and charms on top of magic are expensive, and the game will become a nightmare of SP management.

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Congratulations.

 

The biggest problem isn't spell energy managent in torment as is avoiding damage since the fights take longer. Charms and summons take the pressure off your singleton so you can concentrate on offensive spells. Having enough dexterity to go first really helps in some battles so you aren't swarmed before you get to react outdoors.

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I think a Celt singleton on Torment will be a nasty challenge for someone now that I see how ramped up Torment is. Two goblins can easily kill my Roman singleton on Torment if I'm not careful. I think that's because I focused too much on Roman Training and not enough on Strength at the start. <reload>

 

-S-

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Torment REQUIRES survival tactics. You can't play like in Geneforge or Avernum 4 and just ramp your magic or power up hugely and kill things before they kill you. You NEED some way of staying alive. For Romans that means armor and healing, for Celts it means summons.

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Synergy as a Roman, for the first few levels you need to back up so only one goblin or wolf is in sight and use missle weapons to lure it out from the group. Although if you watch carefully you will see goblins trying to go around and hit you from behind.

 

For Roman singletons without druidism, it's a real grind to keep from being swarmed and knowing when to retreat to keep from using all your money on healing potions. I tried it and gave up when I finished the Abandoned Mines, when you get outdoors there isn't enough room to use that tactic.

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Trainers have annoyed me -- a LOT -- since G2. I have taken to playing spidweb games with one of the following cheats, because my compulsive min-maxing makes the games suck if I can waste so much time thinking about trainers:

 

1) If I use sp on a stat early on that I could later train, when I reach the trainer, give myself credit for it and go shopping with the editor

 

2) Infinite gold, this solves the trainer problem by allowing me to use them as soon as available and also means I don't have to spend forever picking up and selling @#$%@# trinkets... I tend to use this one with singletons, who are unlikely to have anything they can't afford by game's end anyway but have no room to carry stuff.

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These make sense. I was about to try to edit myself four players worth of Barter, except it is a special untrainable skill, so it can't be edited without a hack. I think the infinite gold tactic makes sense. Otherwise it's just purist nitpickery which makes your game five times longer and at least as many times more irritating as a singleton. I'm inclined to use the train option you just mentioned too. Games are meant to be fun, not micromanagement torture.

 

I made an argument some time back that the real rewards in SW games should be looted money you can buy stuff with, and some special gear you can pick up and use, but not sell for money. Carry/Sell is tedious, boring work that is about as useful as having the player have to eat, sleep, get dressed, or go to the bathroom for realism. Realistically, a player couldn't carry remotely enough to make this tactic how you'd get your funding anyway.

 

Trainers really should be more designed to work to further where you are at when you encounter them, or to give special new skills like in the earlier Avernums. I'm going to do the Celt singleton with some leeway in this regard, or I'll never stick it out.

 

-S-

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