A6 - Tenevra and Melanchion

[Groovejet]

Is there a way to do the mission where you have to tell the vahnatai to get out of their colony without making them hostile? If not, then what quests should I do before killing them?

 

I've done their quest about the followers of Renthar-Ihrno and the talking crystal, which the giants had stolen.

[Acky]

You can't make them leave peacefully, so you'll have to fight them.

 

You only need to complete two of Melanchion's missions to get the endgame, if you want Avernum to stay in power. If you support Avernum, I would do only the Slith and the Darkside Loyalist missions.

[Groovejet]

How good is the last reward of Melanchion? I have already done three of the four missions and the Lethal Blow + 2 reward was quite good.

[Acky]

I wouldn't know. I only ever did two. Since you've already done three though, your ending has been decided, so you may as well do the other one.

[Randomizer]

Rewards:

 

QUEST 4 - Invulnerable Elixir (2), Knowledge Brew (2), BASIN - Riposte +1

 

QUEST 3 - Radiant Soulblade (8% Armor, 16-48dmg, +2 Lethal Blow, +2 Quick Action, +3 Parry), BASIN - Lethal Blow +1

[Dantius]

Originally Posted By: Master Ackrovan

I wouldn't know. I only ever did two. Since you've already done three though, your ending has been decided, so you may as well do the other one.

Can't you just kill Melanchion and eliminate him from the endgame? You can do that with Gladwell- you can complete his quests and kill him at Erika's tower.

[Øther]

You can, it is just very difficult and annoying. Also, With the exception of Melanchion's first three rewards, most of the rewards you pick up around the end don't seem (relatively) as good. Since Jeff probably doesn't want to keep pumping out more and more weapons and armor that are better then the last, he gives out a bunch of levels of he most powerful spells. That doesn't sound all that bad, but if you build your party right, then you will already be powerful enough that turning level 5 of arcane blow into level 6 really doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

[So Much Killing]

Originally Posted By: Master Ackrovan

You only need to complete two of Melanchion's missions to get the endgame, if you want Avernum to stay in power. If you support Avernum, I would do only the Slith and the Darkside Loyalist missions.

This brings up something I didn't think about: what happens if you don't do these two missions? I, too, did them first, but is the ending different if you don't kill the loyalists and the scourge?

[So Much Killing]

Originally Posted By: Øther

You can, it is just very difficult and annoying. Also, With the exception of Melanchion's first three rewards, most of the rewards you pick up around the end don't seem (relatively) as good. Since Jeff probably doesn't want to keep pumping out more and more weapons and armor that are better then the last, he gives out a bunch of levels of he most powerful spells. That doesn't sound all that bad, but if you build your party right, then you will already be powerful enough that turning level 5 of arcane blow into level 6 really doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

I think this is a problem with the endgame in general. Most of the rewards just don't make a difference. You can either do Melanchion's missions and then steal his stuff (and, possibly, kill him), or you can steal his stuff after the two necessary missions. But nothing you get really makes a difference because there is nothing left to do at that point. The final battle at the portal is no problem -- I've done it three or four times with a non-optimal party and never gotten in any serious trouble. So it just doesn't matter what the rewards are, you're done with the game. I really wish there was something else, so that you needed something specific to finish the story (the way you want it to end) and had to make some choices to get it (the consequences of which you were aware of in advance). I don't know what that would be, but Jeff might want to spend some time thinking about it for his next game. Collecting items, cash, abilities, and xp just don't matter at the end. It's got to be something else. IMHO.

[Debo]

Those rewards are good for something if you turn around and use them to kill Melanchion after

 

Or Gladwell, I guess.

 

There's something satisfying about the idea of getting the Radiant Soulblade from Melanchion and then trying mightily to plant it in his forehead.

[Randomizer]

Jeff wants people to be able to finish the game. So he made it that just do two and then you can quit.

 

Jeff did make the final portal battle harder after some testers just stood there and hit the space bar ignoring the fight as too easy.

[So Much Killing]

It wasn't a bad battle, and it got chaotic at times, but there was just never any threat that I was going to lose. I think it would have been more satisfying if you had to actually go somewhere new and complete a bigger mission without returning for R&R. Some of the earlier games had a bit more of that at the end.

[Debo]

Has anyone else noticed that Melanchion's followers attack HIM instead of YOU if you pick a fight with him?

 

At least, they attack him for the first 5 seconds of the battle, before he splatters them all over the walls.

 

And invulnerable potions are the most fun thing ever, I love seeing messages like "Guy took 86 damage from fire (2718 resisted"

[Earth]

Yea Inv. Potions/Elixirs are nice (and needed in many battles) but their effect tends to run out on bad time and not be that effective against some spells (Gladwell's fireball dropped my PriestMage's health from full to around 10-20 and then he did his Aura-spell so results were dead char and Inv.Elixir was still effecting and Ward of Elements too and what makes things worse is that Gladwell died after that).

[So Much Killing]

Originally Posted By: Debo

And invulnerable potions are the most fun thing ever, I love seeing messages like "Guy took 86 damage from fire (2718 resisted"

Even more fun is the adrenaline rush/curing elixir exploit. You can pound on the big jerk for half an hour before he ever gets a turn. If he lives that long.

[Øther]

I've never heard of that one. Does the curing potion/elixir take away fatigue?

[So Much Killing]

Originally Posted By: Øther

I've never heard of that one. Does the curing potion/elixir take away fatigue?

Yes. So you rush, then cure and you have extra AP. When you get below 10 AP, you rush and cure again. It's like the neverending spanking. Until you run out of elixir. Which shouldn't be for a while because you can get fifty or sixty curing elixirs by that point in the game.

Oh, don't go above 30 AP or bad things happen.

I didn't figure this out, BTW. Someone else posted about it: the Random guy, or Slarty, or Lilith, or someone.