A2:CS - Questions (Possible Spoilers)

[BloomingLilac]

Hi. I have a few questions:

 

1. Do I need to kill Limoncelli to get a Level 2 Dispel Barrier spell if I've already learned it in Pyrn's Tower, or is there somewhere else I can learn it? I'm trying to finish the Purging the Spiral quest, but I can't do it without a more powerful spell.

 

2. In the Spiral Pit, there's a treasure chest with rocks around it. Is there a switch in the wall that I don't see, or is that chest unreachable?

 

3. I've already been to vahnatai lands. Is it impossible to return so that I can dispel the barriers outside Pyrn's Tower? I think I went to their lands too early in the game because it was a struggle for my party on normal difficulty. My party didn't have many spells at all during that quest, let alone a Dispel Barrier spell. I see some bodies outside the tower that I'd like to loot, if it's not too late.

 

4. In the Vahnatai Fortress, there's a crystal hidden behind a wall that my party can't understand. I have 12 Arcane Lore, 2 Vahnatai Lore, and I think at least 1 Sage Lore. Do I need more VL to read it? It's in the fortress where Gaddika was hiding.

 

I think that's all, but I may add more later. Thanks in advance for any help. :-)

[Randomizer]

1. The only way to get all the spell levels for Dispel Barrier is to kill Limoncelli. The spell book from Pyrn's Tower just gives the extra level so you can do the toughest, level 3, magic barriers and there are others.

 

2. The Spiral Pit treasure chest should be reachable when you have level 3 Move Mountains. There is a winch that opens the way to other boxes.

 

3. There is no way without reseting the boats to get back to outside Pryn's Tower. The two west bodies are reachable using a piercing crystal, but don't have significant loot. The other body that requires level 3 dispel barrier has nothing according to someone that cheated.

 

4. You need 13 Arcane Lore and it has to be only that. There is a chart here that covers what you need for spell books and other arcane lore checks.

[BloomingLilac]

Thanks a million for your help! I'll go ahead and do the Limoncelli quest then. I'm glad to know I can reach the chest in the Spiral Pit eventually. (My priest currently has Level 2 of the MM spell.)

 

At least I'll know what I need for my next playthrough in vahnatai lands.

[BloomingLilac]

I remembered another question: Are there no portal pylons at Fort Remote and Patrick's Tower?

 

I've looked everywhere at FR and didn't see one, but there's a dark area in Patrick's Tower near the laboratory and Patrick's office. (I believe it's south of Patrick's office?)

[Randomizer]

The nearest portal pylons are The Castle and Dharmon.

 

The dark area in Patrick's Tower opens when you get to a certain part in a quest.

[ĐªгŦĦ Єяŋϊε]

I always wondered why Patrick doesn't have his own pylon. It would save a lot of tedious walking if he had one.

[Randomizer]

He has one in the second Avernum Trilogy so maybe the haven't gotten around to installing it.

[Davies]

He has one in the second Avernum Trilogy so maybe the haven't gotten around to installing it.

 

My head canon is that when they asked, he promptly replied 'Over my dead body.'

 

... well ... he got his wish.

[Muscleguy]

Something weird just happened. I had just killed the Efreeti in the north by the lava fields West of the Vahnatai lands. When I told the group to head back East my mage went by herself to where I clicked while the rest of the party stood in place with their legs going. I then clicked next to the rest of the group and the mage jumped back and they all moved one space. 

 

Interesting effect. A legacy of Efreet magic? 

[Randomizer]

I think you hit a rare and probably irreproducible graphics bug. I've seen a few where in combat a foe will do weird movement things, but not that. It occurs when the game doesn't have the character go where it's supposed to move. So you have moving in place instead of moving to where you clicked.

[Ess-Eschas]

Yes, bugs in how the party moves outdoors do seem to occur every so often. I've had it happen naturally to me about once per playthrough of each game, which probably says something about how I move my party around. Actually, I've had this bug happen several times around those same lava fields.

There is a version of this bug that's reproducible, although I think it's slightly different from the one you describe. Next time you're in Avernum, try clicking on an inaccessible area of ground while your party is already walking. Good candidates are spots behind closed secret doors. Note that it has to be ground that your party could stand on if the way to it was not obstructed. The first character in your party will stay fixed where they were at the moment you clicked, but the rest of the party will obediently keep walking to their original destination. They'll also have their masks removed, so you'll be able to see your characters through things like cave walls. When you click again, the party will reunite.

I suppose it's the opposite of what happened to you. I've had that bug happen too, but I can't reproduce it yet. It seems to like narrow tunnels, at least ...

I've always assumed that there's one piece of code governing how the first party member moves, and some slightly different code for all the rest. If these pieces of code behave slightly differently, it might account for some of the confusion that the game is displaying!

Still, as a bug, at least it's nice and harmless!

[Muscleguy]

I have killed Garzad, Rentar appeared and produced the teleporter. I teleported out to just outside her lab. I went back to Avernum and to King Micah and he won't let me tell him I have completed that quest. Erica doesn't want to know. Rentar didn't, the Vahnatai council didn't. What gives? Who do I get the ending from?

[Muscleguy]

BTW it was the last of the major quests. I have returned all three crystal souls, reported got reward. Destroyed the Empire Portal, reported, got the reward. 

 

I even got both phoenix eggs, just in case. I have literally nothing else to do. But I cannot finish. 

[Ess-Eschas]

Hello Muscleguy,

It seems that this is a bug that can happen occasionally. It's something that's appeared on these forums before:

 

http://spiderwebforums.ipbhost.com/topic/24462-quest-to-kill-garzahd/

 

Unfortunately, the solution posted above – replaying the fight – might not work out if you don't have a save handy, and it's extra work!

Since this has popped up a few times, I had a dig into the scripts to see if I could figure out the cause. Unfortunately, the part of the program that registers Garzahd's defeat seems to be hard-coded, so coming up with a fix isn't entirely straightforward. If you're interested, there's one flag that logs Garzahd's death, and another that lets Avernum 'know' that he's dead. Only the first (oddly) is set by actually defeating Garzahd. That other one is hard-coded.

However, I have a suggestion that might work, although it's based on a little guesswork. Try going back to Garzahd's fortress and entering it again (I'm hoping this will still be possible). There's something in the scripts that looks like a sanity check for a situation like yours. With luck, when you enter, you'll get the ending picture and dialogue for the Garzahd major quest. If you don't – let me know what happens. I might be able to use that information to come up with a fix that works!

If all else fails – try the above method first! – I can at least get you the quest reward, although probably not things such as achievements. Hold down 'shift' and press 'd'. A dialogue box will appear. Type the following:

 

sdf 16 11 1

 

Avernum's people will then recognise your feat. Interestingly, there are actually quite a few people who have things to say about this (e. g. Thompson, Solberg, Caffren-Bok etc.). In fact, Limoncelli even has a dialogue option removed if Garzahd is defeated. That's good foresight!

[Muscleguy]

Sorry for taking so long to get back, life changes have interrupted the important things in life such as Avernum 😉 Reentering Garzahd's Fortress did indeed trigger the ending sequence. So thanks a lot. Now I have to go buy something before doing anything else since I have 30,000 GP so maxed out! Oh the problems. . . .