Peter Principle

Of the many benefits to wearing the the Avenger's Ring (obtained from Click to reveal.. the Fang Clan leader east of Ft. Dranlon who also has the shards of the Orb of Thralni ), "+2 Levels of Combat Damage" is one of them. What does that mean, exactly?

Originally Posted By: So Much Killing Originally Posted By: Peter Principle Is this the place in the mine that has a small alcove protected by a barrier, behind which is a spell book that adds +2 to your mind shield or cure mental (can't quite remember which)? Yes. That's weird, because I went there before I helped Leonhardt kill the necromancer, and I got everywhere in his hangout, got the spell book and everything. I did have to bump my lockpick up to 12. Is that what the key would have done for me? Let me get around the 12 lockpick requirement?

I just checked, the farmer is Dragan, the guy with the mushrooms hidden in his basement. If you talk to Dragan, there are initially 3 convo options. I don't know exactly what you have to do (I guess get the neph bandit quest, but I was pretty sure I already had it when I talked to him before...my memory could be faulty though) but I just went and talked to him and there was a 4th option. It's something like "I'm hunting the neph bandits." Something tells me that when I go check the goblin corpse I'll find that key. Yep, when I searched the body again I got extra text and now I've got "Key - Abandoned Mine" in my special inventory. Thanks for the tip! Originally Posted By: Øther The necromancer's key opens his house, which is in a mine near where you killed him. You will know when you get to the right mine. Is this the place in the mine that has a small alcove protected by a barrier, behind which is a spell book that adds +2 to your mind shield or cure mental (can't quite remember which)?

I'm trying to do the Nephilim Bandits quest. I've been to the northern mine west of Dharmon and searched the goblin body several times. However, when I try to open the door in the southern mine (also west of Dharmon) I get the "lock too complex, can't pick it" message. My inventory doesn't list any iron key or goblin key or anything like that. I've got the Necromancer key (btw, did that key open anything?), Wilkie's key, Trinket's key, and food depot key. Also, the leather scrolls and turquoise bracelet. Am I missing something? Halp!

Quote: Originally written by Schrodinger: Both items are just flavor. I've gone metal detecting a few times, and have gotten excited about some loud beeps, only to find out it's just a soda can ring or a bent nail. It's probably much the same with your characters. That's awesome. It would almost be disappointing if it did have some purpose. A spoon! Ha!

Quote: Originally written by Ephesos: I suppose it'd be possible to reset sdf flags repeatedly... but yeah, I'm curious as to how Nija here obtained eight Demonslayers. You could basically have as many as you wanted just from editing the game files, couldn't you? Just replace the item characteristics for bronze short swords and cavewood bows with those of your magic item of choice.

Speaking of keeping & hoarding items, I see that in two hidden caches I receieved two items that were seemingly valueless. One was a spoon, and the other was a skull. Are these just joke/flavor prizes? Or do I need to save these for something later?

Can anyone explain what the variables it_level and it_ability affect? And why do some items have an import characteristic, and some don't?

So would the first floor and basement of Ft. Avernum be two different zones?

Quote: Originally written by Dikiyoba: I think you can only have 200 separate items in a zone (grouped items like iron bars count as a single item) before the least valuable stuff starts to disappear. What's a zone?

Quote: Originally written by Nioca: Not that I'm aware of, but I still keep all of my currently unneeded items in a container. In fact, I keep all of my unneeded items in the jar you mentioned. I'm still trying to figure out how a small jar can hold 8 bars of metal, 10 fine leather, and over 60 gemstones. I hope no one breaks in there, because I've got about 60,000 gold worth of magic rings and necklaces in that little chamber pot. Of course, in the room right out side of it, the entire floor is covered with magic swords, spears, bows, plate armor, boots, helmets and gloves. I sometimes envision my characters coming up to that room and it looks like the toy room after my kids get done playing in it: no floor visible and everything scattered in a chaotic mess. And then they've (edit for clarity: my characters, not my kids )got to wade through a ton of priceless, powerful heirlooms and artifacts, kicking aside Blessed Broadswords and Blessed Breasplates and tripping over Runed Helms to get to the other end of the room. It's a pretty funny picture in my head, anyway.

Quote: Originally written by Nija_Halycron: I store all my un-used items in individual box's in grindstones storage area. Why Grindstone? Seems awfully inconvenient since there's no pylon there. Quote: so far I've got. 200 potions. 100 magical items 300 crystals in piles of ten. 100 odd fine leathers, steal bars etc. 50 odd rubys. 30 knowlage crystals and potions 130 wands. 90 bars of gold and gold items. and all the rest.... I was packratting like that for awhile, too. In fact, that's usually how I play games like this. I always think "I'd better save it for something really important" but when something important does come up, I never remember to use it. El oh el. So now I either sell all those wands I never use or I just say to myself "OK, I don't care what the next combat is, it could be a single warped wolf, but I'm going to drink this potion of invulnerability, go crazy with this null wand and finally get these things out of my inventory!" Heh.

Is there any problem or bug associated with leaving all of the items that I collect and don't want to sell sitting on the ground in one particular spot? So far I've been dropping all the niffty stuff I want to keep ("just in case") at Pylon Grand Central Station, and I've recently started putting the jewelry in the jar that's in the cage area nearby. Is there anything I need to watch out for associated with this type of procedure?

Quote: Originally written by Artequila: What I mean is that GF loads parameters from those files when it starts up. So you aren't just editing one saved game, or one particular occurance of an item -- you're editing every occurance of that item ever. Similarly, it is possible to make the game crash with certain invalid values. So edit a backup. Common sense really. Ah yes, I understand what you mean. Thanks for the help! So, if anyone else is wondering (assuming there's anyone out there who doesn't alreay know), here's how to change the number of skill points you get for using a wisdom xtal. The file that I wanted was av4itemschars.txt. I did a Find for the character string "wisdom", and I found this line: it_name = "Wisdom Crystal"; it_value = 500; it_ability = 223; it_level = 1; it_graphic_coloradj If the numerical value for it_level is changed, the new value of skill points added will be X+1. So if you change the value to 20, it will add 21 skill points to your character.

Quote: Originally written by Nioca: He means to that you should have a back-up, as The Mystic said. Otherwise, you'll have to reinstall the game. I didn't understand the part about it affecting the whole application.

Quote: Originally written by Artequila: And for the love of god, do this on a complete copy of the game folder, as it affects the whole application. I'm not sure I understand this warning. Can you elaborate?

WARNING: This thread contains information about modifying your game files. If you modify your game, it may change in ways you don't expect or want. These modifications are not designed or supported by Spiderweb Software. Use at your own risk. Which Avernum 4 file(s) do I edit to change how many skill points knowledge crystals & potions give? Is there a guide somewhere to changing game parameters through changing script files somewhere?

Quote: 2) The best way to block riposte/parry when you attack is to use area effects spells since they can''t be parried. How about hand to hand attacks? Does a higher skill with one-handed/pole weapons, or higher skill in Blademaster or Gymnastics or whatever reduce the chance of a parry or riposte?

Thanks again for all the help, everyone. Two more questions: 1) Is there a list somewhere that shows the prerequisites for the special skills? 2) What skills do I invest in to reduce the likelihood that an opponent will be able to Parry/Riposte my HTH attacks?

I went back and talked to Kelner. Nothing. I totally had this pegged as one of those "don't be too hasty to judge" moral lesson type of quests where you go back and forth between the wyrm and Kelner negotiating for the poor thing's life and eventually you find a nice home for the wyrm and as a parting gift I get four rings that add +10 to all abilities and skills. Oh well.

The CW seems like a nice guy (and his treasure drop isn't all that great either ; ) ). Has anyone tried not killing the Wyrm and e.g. talking to Kelner about it or looking for the ruined stone tower the wyrm supposedly came from or something like that?

Interesting. Then what's the rasion d'etre for two separate skills? Just curious.

Are spellcraft and magery identical in their effects?

OK, thanks to everyone so far. I like to read opinions like this since it helps me with similar decisions. A few more: +1 to [Mage/Priest] or +1 to Spellcraft? +1 to [Mage/Priest] or +1 Magery? +1 to Spellcraft or +1 to Magery?

OK, here are some other things I've been wondering about. All other things being equal, is it better to have... 1) +1 point in Intelligence or +1 point in magical aptitude for a spell caster? 2) +1% armor or +1% stun resistance for a front line character? 3) +1 Str or +1 Dex if you're looking to improve a bow-shootin' character? for a melee character? 4) +1 to Arcane Knowledge or +1 to Nature Lore? Oh, and if you can explain why you'd choose one over the other, that would be even better. Thanks for your opinions! : )