Garrulous Glaahk Xander77 Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Couldn't find an answer for these, and I'll probably have more as I keep playing, so... thread. 1. There are bunch of random books / writing bits that don't seem to correlate to spell increase books (random writings in the Nephilim fort / Aranea cave / the dragon's lair). Are they all just there for verisimilitude / a bit of experience when you destroy them? 2. I just arrived in the Vahanti lands, and they told me I get to skip the trials, due to doing pretty much everything I could do on the way down the rapids (I presume). Which events actually correspond to skipping a trial? Just finishing each optional area? Does this mean I won't be able to access the trial areas and the loot within? 3. Supposing I moved on past the Dread Curse guy - what does the curse do, exactly, and how do you lift it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Lilith Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Couldn't find an answer for these, and I'll probably have more as I keep playing, so... thread. 1. There are bunch of random books / writing bits that don't seem to correlate to spell increase books (random writings in the Nephilim fort / Aranea cave / the dragon's lair). Are they all just there for verisimilitude / a bit of experience when you destroy them? Some of them are just there for flavour. There are a few that give you things other than spells, like the book in one of the Slith forts that gives you a dread curse but also a small permanent bonus to mental resistance. Also, note that some books require an item called the Blessed Athame in order to use them: if the description mentions an unbreakable seal on the book, try coming back after you have the athame. 2. I just arrived in the Vahanti lands, and they told me I get to skip the trials, due to doing pretty much everything I could do on the way down the rapids (I presume). Which events actually correspond to skipping a trial? Just finishing each optional area? Does this mean I won't be able to access the trial areas and the loot within? The trials are the Test of Speed, Test of Strength and Test of Patience. Each one is a smallish dungeon that can be found somewhere in Vahnatai lands. Paying your respects to Dahris-Bok, waking the sleeping Vahnatai in the Coffin Caves and finding the human book in the Ruined River Fort will each reduce the number of tests you're required to complete by one. You can still do them all even if you're not required to. 3. Supposing I moved on past the Dread Curse guy - what does the curse do, exactly, and how do you lift it? It's a small penalty to basically everything your characters do: accuracy, damage, spell effectiveness. There's a priest in the Tower of Magi who will remove it for you in exchange for a bunch of cash and a mandrake root. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrulous Glaahk Xander77 Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 What's the approximate order in which I should tackle different areas when I get back to Avernum? Now that I can go anywhere, pretty much everything seems set on kicking my ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 It depends upon your difficulty level. Also train in spells and rituals while you are at the Tower of Magi. At normal difficulty you could explore the Serpent Cult to the northeast. Otherwise go east and take the passage along the eastern edge to reach Mertis where you can train in rituals at lower costs than the Tower. Then clear the town and head north to the Eastern Gallery and Silvar. Turn in quests and search the town, then go north back to Formello and finish off quests there. As you gain levels and spells you have more places that you can go. Buying a boat in Silvar will allow you to reach Fort Dranlon where training costs are lower for spells and rituals. Going back to the Tower and head west to Almaria and the Castle to see if you can get Magi Clearance. There are lots of easy item quests in the Great Cave as long as you avoid combat with wandering encounters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Slawbug Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 You can immediately visit most of the towns and forts without too much trouble. If you talk to everyone, raid everything, and read job boards, you can get a number of level ups from completing quests that don't require combat. Quest difficulty follows two general rules: enemy type and geography. Quests with easier enemy races will be easier. Most quests involving large numbers of nephils (or rats, bats, goblins, etc.) are fair game right away. Slith quests are a step up. Giants are a step beyond them. For geography, the easiest area is NE Avernum from chapter 1. After that, the quests around the Tower of Magi, Mertis, and Silvar are mostly pretty easy. Then you can expand to the Great Cave (where the Castle is), and the Cotra and Fort Dranlon areas. Next, Slith lands (the watery areas in the middle of the map). Then the giant areas (just west of Fort Draco, not the Northern Waters) and eastern/northern Vahnatai lands. The remaining areas (west of Fort Remote; Northern Waters and beyond; far west Vahnatai lands; Scree Pits and deep Empire lands) all pose their own challenges. Generally, anything related to the 3 major quests (Crystal Souls, Mass Teleporter, and Garzahd) is going to be much harder than other stuff in the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrulous Glaahk Xander77 Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 Some mechanics questions: I switched from Mercurial leather (+10) armor to Runed Plate (+34 armor). My total armor went from 81 to 86. That's... not how I thought it should work. How does it work then? Based on anecdotal data (person with 3 in challenger standing in an open field next to a mage, enemy runs up and hits the mage) Challenger seems to be utterly worthless. Yes / no? How exactly does Riposte work? I know it doesn't actually parry damage, but is it exclusive or overlapping with parry - that is, can I parry a blow AND riposte? Edit - How can I check what effect the Runic blessing / blessing from Gnass altar have? Also, are they temporary or permanent? Edit again - ("Special items" under the journal section, temporary) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Triumph Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Armor doesn't add points of armor, it adds percentages. I don't recall the math specifics, but the interplay of different percentages is why your overall armor percentage went up only 5% (i.e. from 81% to 86%) when you when changed those armors. Riposte gives you a chance to hit back when things hit you. Parry gives you a chance to block when things hit you. For each thing, your chances of doing it improve as your skill increases. You can indeed do both on the same blow. Not sure about your other questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Armor isn't additive, but it is multiplicative. You get 34% less damage than without it compared to the 10% less damage for leather. With several pieces of armor the overall effect isn't as great, but several high percentage armor pieces is better than several low percentage pieces that won't even noticeably change the effect. Challenger has been reported as flawed and might not work at all. Runic and Blessing of the Cave are small increases (about 1 to 2%) and last a long time, but are not permanent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Lilith Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 It might help to imagine armour as a series of layers that each block a percentage of damage and then pass the rest through to the next layer. To give a practical example, if you had two pieces of armour that each gave 50% protection, you'd block 75% of damage, not 100%. Also, the total amount of protection you can have from any form of damage is limited to 90%, no matter how much armour you're wearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Slawbug Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 After lots of testing, I was unable to ever get Challenger to do anything in AEFTP. It's possible Jeff recoded it in the intervening years, but if so, nobody's noticed. You can probably safely ignore that skill unless Spiderweb explicitly says they fixed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrulous Glaahk Xander77 Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 Do critical hit chances affect spells? Do critical hit chances come with equipped weapons? The Ziggurat is weirdly coded. I jumped off the roof, then headed right back in, where everything was fine. I looted whatever I forgot to loot (in the roof with the quickfire specifically), destroyed the altar... Kinda a shame that the fort whatever guys all apparently died, even though I made sure to keep them all alive in the fight and the message at the end kinda implied they were going to bugger off. More reactive AI responses and sweet AI on AI action would have been kinda nice in general. The number of times monsters waltzed right by guards on the world map was a bit annoying. Edit - I swear I went to Pyrn's tower / the "Barrier Tower" on foot at some point. Now that I have Dispell Barrier at level 3, I can't find it anywhere, and I want that sweet loot (probably just a random potion and bronze sword) hidden between the barriers. Or was there a way to get outside the tower from within? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 You pass Pyrn's Tower on the way south along the Dark Waters from Formello to the Vahnatai Lands. However you can't go outside from inside the tower when you use the portal. I don't think there is any loot on that body between the door and the level 3 barriers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrulous Glaahk Xander77 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 You pass Pyrn's Tower on the way south along the Dark Waters from Formello to the Vahnatai Lands. However you can't go outside from inside the tower when you use the portal. I don't think there is any loot on that body between the door and the level 3 barriers. Oh. Well, that's good to know. Thanks. The game kinda starts to break down towards the end. Rentar-something teleports me out of Gazbard's castle after assassinating him, and my dialog options are all like "do you want to help me assassinate Gabzar?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrulous Glaahk Xander77 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 The game kinda starts to break down towards the end. Rentar-something teleports me out of Gazbard's castle after assassinating him, and my dialog options are all like "do you want to help me assassinate Gabzar?" Yup. Rhenta-etc shows up and opens a teleporter that works ingame - but if you actually use the moment it opens, the game doesn't register you killing Gazabar. You're supposed to hang out in his room for another round or two instead for the cutscene to kick in. Weird. You'd think that was the very first flag to set when activating a usable teleport just before the cutscene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrulous Glaahk Xander77 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 Anything of interest to do after the endgame (all three quests done)? New quests or anything? There's a black obelisk south of the castle / east of Patrick's place with a bunch of Vanhantai writing on it. I've got VL3, the lens... pretty much everything, but the writings still don't mean anything to my characters. Just there to frustrate me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Just there to frustrate me? Heh, heh, BWAHAHAHA, sorry I got carried away. There are a few things like that are just for local color. It reminds you that this was once Vahnatai territory. After getting the rewards for all the 3 main quests, it's just a matter of finishing up any missed side quests, seeing where the Orb can take you, and that's about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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