Edward Collins

Not sure if story/cultural questions go here, but I am curious. What's the inheritance status of an Owen if her owner fathers her children?

Because I left the lower level (because I couldn't find the egg), it says it's useless. Is there anyway to get another one for the Fort Precipice quest, or is that quest screwed?

I just got the Maximilian murder quest and went to investigate. But there's no evidence whatsoever. Is this one of those pointless you choose whether or not he's guilty despite no evidence quests? From what I've read (and seen) it's a lot like the "In My Time of Need" in Skyrim. You are asked by the Aldermi to find a person who they claim is a traitor. She says she's a loyalist. And there's no way to get any evidence one way or another.

But mages don't get into gunfights. They get into artillery duels. Or (if you're Erika level power) Hamburg level destruction. It's pretty hard to dodge an explosive artillery shell. And even harder if said explosive shell is armed with a proximity shell and shrapnel. Which is what Fireball (or Icy wind, or Lightning Spray or Arcane Blow) is...

What are good targets for Capture Soul in the early game? In Exile 3, you can't capture basilisks (so that's out), the Vahnatai Lord in Ghikra has been replaced with the mayor, Dervishes are named characters, and the Empire Archer in the Slime Pist has been demoted to a normal archer. Are there any replacements for them that are good, especially long-term summons? And is Demonslayer in this game, or is it as MIA as it was in Exile 3 itself?

I have a few problems with the changes made from Exile 3 to Avernum 3 Ruined World. First problem (and one of the biggest most crippling changes), is the nerfing of Capture Soul and Similacrum. In Exile 3, one of my favorite things to do was capture a the Vahnatai Lord in Ghikra, followed by the Empire Dervish in Silvar, and then (eventually) the Empire Archer in the Slime Pits and a basilisk in the area south of Storm Port. No longer does that work. First, Capture Soul is both level based AND spell based, rather than a random chance based on your level. Second, those creatures were changed from generic creatures to named characters (with the exception of the Empire Archer in the Slime Pits- he was just demoted to a normal archer). Third, you also can't capture Basilisks anymore (atleast that's what I've read, and they were nerfed anyway from stoning an enemy to just stunning them). Second, from what I've read, there is now a limit on the number of times you can do the Squiggus-Libra trade route. But that's not as much of a problem, considering you can't refresh the Job Board and the random merchants anymore anyway. Third, stealing is much harder in Avernum 3, since you can't close doors (I had the same problem in Avernum 2). Another way of effective stealing (particularly in instant death areas like Fort Emergence) was to surround my party and what I wanted to steal with webs. That also worked, but that leads into problem number 4. The removal of spells. Granted, most spells were useless, redundant, or just outright not powerful enough. Why bother with Light when you could just cast Long Light for example? But the removal of Major Blessing, and the general reworking of Haste in general- no longer will it definitely increase the number of AP you have, but it seems to be a random chance, is a major blow. Removing Fireball and replacing it with Pool of Fire isn't much better. A fifth problem is that spells can miss. Even with a maxed out intelligence, a maxed out mage (or Priest) level, and maxed out Sword Mage, I still find myself missing about 25% of the time. Don't get me wrong, some of the changes are great. I love the added quests, and having a named character in place of a generic creature adds immersion, but when it kills some of my earlier strategies, it gets a bit irritating.

So basically "My questions aren't answered in the lore." Maybe I should just play the game and not wonder about the actual backstories...

I have a few questions about the lore in the world of Avernum (and the Empire on the surface). I've been replaying this game, and some things have hit me (or in atleast one case, always puzzled me). First, especially in Avit, the Vahnatai mention how Sliths are invaders as well. But the Slith are native to Avernum, aren't they? Why would they be considered invaders, unless the Slith (especially the ones who weren't exiled- ALL the Slith, both peaceful and otherwise, were exiled from their original lands) are just so far away from Vahnatai lands. Second, is there any relationship between Grah-Hoth and the Vahnatai? Or was he summoned by the exiled Slith? Third, there are also a tribe (or maybe something a little smaller) of Vahnatai on the surface. You deal with a quest with them in Avernum 3. What's the story with them? Also, did those Vahnatai (especially if they were exiles) suffer the same disorienting effects that dwarves in Dragon Age suffer from? Rather than having a cave ceiling above them, they see only open sky. Some dwarves (even ones like Oghren) for a few moments (others don't fully get over it), are afraid of "falling" into the sky. I wonder if those surface Vahnatai felt the same way?

that's exactly how I started as well. Crystal Souls wasn't that bad actually, but Escape from the Pit (for me) was really unplayable.

Maybe to make it somewhat difficult to get? I mean, it is overpowered... And since I never use Major Haste, I have no clue on the speed, although Major Blessing gives upto 12 Action points to start. Archery is useless, but I do like to have an archer. However, Picking Locks is somewhat useful (it opens rank one locks, which is anything- bashing, lockpicking, or Unlock. Rank 2 are locks held by a barrier, and I prefer Dispel Barrier to Unlock, since, when it comes to it, I've NEVER seen Dispel Barrier fail to unlock a magically locked door. Rank 3 are plot locked doors, doors you need a key.) That's my second fighter. My first, I prefer a dual-wielder.

True (or atleast I haven't seen it there), but you CAN buy skill potions, which are better than Knowledge Brew. I think (but not sure, I'm really just guessing) Weak gives 1 skill point to spend, medium 2, and Strong 3. You also can't buy artifacts or unique weapons there. No Beastslayer Blade, no Demonslayer, no Alien Blade, no Fury Crossbow ect. It caps an magic weapons.

I never had a problem with leveling. In fact, despite my mages (atleast it seems like) kill most everything, it's my dual-wielding fighter that's my highest level. This last playthrough (although at these levels, the line between fighter, thief, and caster gets REALLY blurry- all of them have 150 SP and level 7 priest spells, with Divine Thud- the "classes" are what they were in the beginning of the game), it was Fighter 1- level 50, fighter 2- 45, fighter/thief/archer- 43, primary mage- 46, secondary mage/cleric- 43, primary cleric- 41. The last two aren't that surprising compared to my mage, because the mage/cleric wasn't as powerful as my mage, and my cleric didn't really get to go on the offensive until she got Divine Thud (and/or mage abilities). What is suprising however, is the fact my primary fighter was the highest level. I see 2 flaws with your strategy. First, as I pointed out, you lack tanks and healing, especially in the early game, where you need to have you mages with cover and healing the most. the second problem is what happens when the enemies are spread too far apart for an effective Fireball or Firestorm, or worse, you get into a general melee where you have allies that can and will get in your way (like the roach/spider battle, or the bridge or blockade battle in Monroe- and to make the latter even worse, golems are magic resistant)? Or in non-random encounters (like in towns) when you face just 1 or 2 enemies, and fireball/firestorm isn't cost effective? And a final problem is that is REALLY hard on your spell points. Sure having 6 casters makes the problem a little easier, but still... I guess it's I'm a bit "conservative" when I play. I prefer to have a defensive line between the enemy and my casters.

The Exile/Avernum series are good games. I don't care about graphics, if I can see what's going on, then I don't have a problem with it. Sounds suck, sure, but again, sound does not make a good game. The only problem I have with Exile/Avernum is a lack of character interaction. These games could be on par (atleast for an indie developer) with games like Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age. Notice anything about them? They all have very good storylines (if a bit cliche, sometimes), but they also have great character interaction and development. Exile/Avernum has the former, but none of the latter. If they did, (and depending on how well it's done), there's a good chance that Avernum 3 would vault from a distant 4th to a mid-gap third. I'd doubt no matter what Jeff did, he could rival Baldur's Gate (much less Planescape: Torment), but he could certainly give it a hard fight if there were any character interaction and development.

For Exile 3, you can start as a Slith or a kitty (I can't say their race, much less spell it), which gives a stat bonus. In fact, one of the guides on GameFaqs recommend you create a bunch of Sliths with maxed out Strength (for fighters) or Intelligence (for mages) which boosts your Strength to 22 or your Intelligence to 21 (and if you go for a kitty thief, 21 Dexterity). I tried that, but there seems to be no difference in 22 Strength to 20 Strength (same wight capacity, for example). It also requires you to sacrifice everything, weapon skill, mage skill, priest skill, thieving skills, and the guide recommends you add points with the editor (you COULD atleast try to use the Libras-Squiggus trade route and the random item shop in Storm Port to get Skill Potions and raise your other stats legimately, although the area around the Tower of Vakhos is really dangerous). My point is is there any difference when you use your race to go beyond the max stat level, or is that pointless?

Haste and Bless are made obsolete by Major Blessing, one of the few truly overpowered abilities (in any game). It's cheap (8 SP), gotten early (all you need is a boat from New Cotra), and highly effective (it's Major Haste, Major Blessing, AND a poison effect all in one). Its only problems are it's a level 7 spell (but even with the default party, it only takes a couple of levels to get level 7 spells) and it needs Mage Lore to get (not sure how much, but it's not much) I was really talking about Exile 3, where farming monsters isn't effective. You can easily make more than enough money doing a Squiggus-Libra trade run (I get about 10k gold after I sell off all the Exotic Herbs). The problem with putting mage abilities on all your characters is twofold. First, you have no tanks that can hold the line and protect your casters (because they are all casters) and second, with the focus on mage spells, you miss healing, which you do sometimes need (or atleast I do). I wasn't really asking about party creation, but instead how you fight, what tactics you use in battle.