Mah Al Ibara

I'm playing The Conqueror for the first time in ages, and I'm stuck trying to complete Istara's quest to "Go to High Elhovo, taunt the Council, and expose their weakness."

When I speak to Watcher Eibhlin, here are the choices and responses:

1. "I want to know more about the Watchers."

2. "Let's negotiate."

3. "I want to talk about the Trench Towns again."

The first leads to questions about elixir and responsibilities. Saying "You don't seem to do much to rule your land" makes them angry and the conversation ends, but this doesn't provoke Peadar to attack.

"Let's negotiate" leads to the demand to kneel, which is a non-starter. Neither "You are arrogant" nor "I simply can't do that" result in provocation.

Bringing up the Trench Towns again ends to conversation.

I think I either messed something up earlier, or there's some other step I've overlooked. Can anyone help me with this?

Well, I've done this without trouble four times, but this time I can't get the ghosts to appear, and the gate to the south doesn't open. I'm just wandering up and down this hall waiting for the enemy to appear, but nothing happens. I have the quest from Captain Azucena as well as the one from Erud Dastan in Etzalam. Is there some step that I'm missing? 

On 3/6/2023 at 1:31 PM, Randomizer said:

The door you mentioned is opened from the other side. There is another outside door to the east that leads to the route down into the mines.

 

There are other doors in that mine and the game that are only opened from the other side in order to make you go a certain route.

 

Good luck, it gets worse fighting slimes.

So sorry, I thought I had responded to this! Thank you for this! 

The Askama Mines are a pain in the butt, because once you've managed to kill of the four big slimes that are causing the problems, you still have to get past the eternaslimes and fight the slimemaster. The slimemaster is weak, but getting past the eternslimes requires spamming the teleport spell or just slashing and healing, slashing and healing, so by the time you getr to the slimemaster, you're usually down a character or out of energy (at least if you're trying this at level 10 or below).

I'm currently trying it on level 10 in normal mode, and it's brutal. But I realized you can do it in two parts. First time, instead of fighting all 4 big slimes, just kill the first, and then spam the teleport spell to get past the other three and the eternaslimes, conserving energy just enough to get two or three characters past the eternslimes to the slimemaster. Then kill the slimemaster, looted the treasure chest, and leave the area. Go back to a fort, recharge, and return to the Askama Mines. Naturally, everything had respawned, including the slimemaster. But what's different now is that you can ignore the eternaslimes and slimemaster completely, and use all you energy killing the four big slimes. If you have enough characters/energy left after (not likely), you can easily kill the slimemaster and eternslimes just by opening the door that was locked the first time you entered the dungeon. It's unlocked now, so you just open it and there's the slimemaster on the other side, defenseless. After you take him out, the eternaslimes are also easy.

Just an idea! Maybe not a great one! LOL The more logical alternative is to just wait till you're a higher level to do this dungeon.

It worked! I got my support character (who can make a skeleton) up to 52% speed bonus, my magic user up to 46%, and my two fighters up to 25% and 5%. I lost the support character because of an error (I accidentally walked her too close to the enemy), but even so it was an easy fight. Thank you so much for this advice!

Thank you! So speed is the key. I might be able to get one or two of my characters up to that speed. I'll give it a try.

I'm playing on normal mode after playing casual twice. I tried to take on the eye beasts in the underworld and laughed out loud when 3 of my characters were wiped out in the first wave of attacks. I am already at level 20, so I can't change much or add new abilities. (I completely forgot about Bonds of the Fae, and now it's too late to get it now because I used up all my crafting materials and there are few sources of others left in the game at this point.)

Anyway, even using Bonds of the Fae on a skeleton or construct, how does one win this fight if three members are wiped out before one even gets a turn?

I did it! It took a couple of tries, but I managed to avoid just one of the Broodmothers, and I guess that made the difference. One of my characters even had a bit of energy left over when the Naga finally died. That extra bit of quicksilver allowed me to upgrade my last un-upgraded fort. Thank you for the advice!

1 hour ago, Randomizer said:

First it helps if you have potions to replenish energy. 

 

Second is to do the fight in sections where you kill one to three of the nagas and the spawns. That way you get some energy back after each group. You can also go down only one side and sometimes avoid attracting the attention of all of them.

 

Use area attacks to wipe out the spawns quickly.

 

The final fight helps if you can still summon a construct with a scroll or two to stand next to the Ice Warm so it gets attacked instead of your characters. Range attacks work best here.

 

Also slow down/stun the Warm with curses so you attack more than it. It isn't a great chance, but when it works.

 

Good luck. It is doable on torment

Thank you! To get energy potions, I need to dedicate a bunch of forts (I think at least 4?) to knowledge. I opted to maximum Ro reputation points by dedicating 4 forts to the Ro. So energy potions are not an option for me. But maybe the reputation points I gain from the Erudico Crafting pedestal are not worth it? I have tended to end up with Ro rep to spare, even after supporting women's rights in the Low Dhaga. Of the other advice, the one I haven't tried is trying to sneak down one side without being detected by the broodmothers on the other side. Everything else I have done, including using all the scrolls of calling and brute potions I have. Since there's nothing to be done about the energy potions at this point in the game, I will try again sneaking down one side, and if the doesn't work I'll just abandon this quest, though I hate to leave the Coglin girl in such distress.😢

Does anyone have any advice for the Ice Naga battle in Pit of the Ice Wyrm? Those endless waves of Broodmothers and their surprisingly deadly Ice Serpents are (literally) killing me. Even at level 20, the closest I've gotten is to finally start the battle with the Naga with very little energy left, only to be swarmed by the serpents the Naga spawns.

The scarcity of scrolls is this game is maddening. Some of these battles are a seemingly endless slog that is no fun at all. The first time I played the game, I played on Normal, but shamelessly spamming cheat codes. Then I played twice on Casual, which is really casual. Now I'm trying to play the game "straight" on Normal, and it's a huge struggle. Unless there's a strategy I'm missing, I can't see how I can finish this quest.

2 hours ago, Randomizer said:

Clcic on the character ? to see the characters stats. Then look at a tab other than combat. Speed is given in the last group of stats. It will change with buffs and curses in combat.

Oh! Thank you!

8 hours ago, Mechalibur said:

I've been able to compensate for speed penalties on armor without too much trouble. The speed cap is 65 anyway (of which haste contributes 40!), so it's not unreasonable to get to or near the cap even with heavy armor on. My setup for torment was one person in plate armor in the front, and everyone else in light armor or robes.

 

I think that torment multiplies damage taken *after* accounting for armor damage reduction, so even on torment, I've had the frontline character able to completely block weapon attacks with their armor.

Thank you! Is there some way to check your stats on speed etc.?

1 hour ago, Kelandon said:

This is the first Queen's Wish thread that I've clicked on in what must be years. I was not disappointed.

Always happy to be of service.

42 minutes ago, Randomizer said:

True, but the damage is awesome if you are a magic user. You can't always have unicorns and rainbows.

I MUST HAVE UNICORNS AND RAINBOWS!😠🦄🌈

If you're like me, you have been tempted to ask Sayaga in Etzalam to make you a sword that shoots rainbows rather than one that is better in battle. Well, I finally tried it. Long story short: THERE ARE NO RAINBOWS. Here's video proof.

https://diode.zone/w/kRRaC3vP9zqt4EBwCaZWr9

Also, I find that quests like "There are three packs of wolves/a bunch of scorpions/Jaxon Scar" are surprisingly hard at lower levels. Always save before setting out on one of these outdoor quests.

6 hours ago, sails From lamplit havens said:

Might be worth taking a look at your party composition and battle strategies.  It might be the case that making just a few tweaks to how you're approaching it will make the combat much easier.

Thank you. I saw general advice to get all members up to support tier 3 for the 10% haste bonus, and since doing that I've found things have gotten easier. I always use a Low Dhaga fighter, a Kranas support character, and a High Litha magic user. I always find that my Dhagan fighter's health drops precipitously, and it's probably because I'm reluctant to put her in heavy armor. (I worry about the speed penalty.)

6 hours ago, Randomizer said:

The order you do quests and current equipment makes a difference. Don't go alll the way through Low Dhaga, Kranas Woods, or High Litha, but instead rotate between them to get resources to improve forts and shops.

 

The two you mentioned are the harder parts of Low Dhaga because of specific monsters in each one. They come easier if you wait and do other things first.

Yes! Thank you. I found this out through trial and error. The mine quests I find are fairly easy, while any quest where you're up against a hunkered down army of rebels requires a higher level. The typical pattern for me is that by the time I get to the last boss, I am out of energy and can only use basic attacks or whatever scrolls I have left. I go in, and if I find that by the time I'm through the first wave of defenders I'm really low on energy or have already lost a character, I just retreat and put it off till I've gained a couple more levels.

One thing I find amusing/distressing is that the last boss in these forts is usually portrayed as an insecure loser who knows he's going to die, but, if my level isn't high enough, that loser will easily kick my butt.😂

The first time I played QW2, I wasn't interested in fighting, so I spammed the "mothersblessing" and "sutterstraining" cheats. The second and third times, I played in casual mode, and there the only challenging fight is the optional fight in the Dream Refuge. But now I'm playing in normal mode, and I find that I encounter quests that are beyond my current level. Has anyone tried to rank the quests by difficulty, with suggested levels for each quest? I'm at level 14, but I find that, for example, the catacombs part of the Shattered Ruin quest as well as the Fort Cariaris part of the Dhagan Raiders quest remain beyond me. I now wish I had taken notes about difficulty as I played from the beginning, but I honestly didn't think normal mode would be this difficult.

I am on my fourth playthrough and have never encountered this until now. I talked to Trader Shohre in Ssilyn, then went to the Askama Mines and talked to Xandrof.  "You can reach the mines that way," and points to the door to the north. I go through the door, fight the little group of slimes, proceed to the door at the back of the building, and am told the door is locked and I don't have the key. I tried talking to Xandrof again, I tried going back to Ssilyn and talking to Shohre again. The door remains locked. Unfortunately, the save I have prior to trying this is too old, and would require me to do a whole bunch of quests over again. This seems like a bug, and I can't imagine anything I can do to overcome it, so I guess I just have to give up on this quest.

[EDIT] Yikes! Don't know how I missed the eastern door this time through. Embarrassing!

Okay, to answer my own question:

On my third play through, I got excellent results. I was able to improve the position of women in the Low Dhaga. The way I did it is to never speak against their treatment of women to a man, and certainly not to a man of authority. But I did tell Low Dhaga women, when asked (or when the opportunity arose), that I would do what I can to improve their situation. After a lot of thought, I reluctantly sent Altynay back to the Low Dhaga. I don't know how much difference that made, but I console myself with the fact that I was later able to improve the situation of all (or most) Low Dhaga women. When asked straight out by Raasa Lawita at Prova Krug, I said Haven always respects the cultures of its vassals. I was worried that saying this would mean the whole thing about women's rights would be left out of the epilogue, but it didn't matter.

The key to changing women's status is to express at least once (to a woman) that you want to, and then focus entirely on keeping your reputation with both the Ro and the Queen very high. When I set foot in Prova Krug for the endgame (playing Casual mode!), I had a reputation of 172 with the Ro and 155 with the Queen. The easiest way to earn points with the Queen is to never antagonize Sutter. Always be supportive and say you will do as he says (even if you hate him and don't intend to do as he says). Weirdly, as someone else noted, nobody back home gets upset if you actually go to Prova Krug to meet the challenge. They only get upset if you tell them you are going. LOL So just lie.

As for the governors, I split the difference. I felt it was important to get Yvette out of there immediately, so I axed her. (←Kranas play on words there.)This of course pissed off Sutter. I think I ended that conversation with something like, "If that's all, I'd like to get back to work." As for Aato, I figured the loss of Queen reputation wasn't worth the benefit of making Lawita governor. I also knew from my first playthrough that making Lawita governor is no guarantee the Low Dhaga won't fight you at Prova Krug. I also thought Captain Azucena in Esker Keep would keep things together. However, according to the epilogue, the Low Dhaga is a complete mess during the rebellion. Maybe I was overly cautious here and could have replaced both governors.

I'm sorry if I gave the impression I was complaining or accusing. I just didn't want to post answers if there was such a rule. Now that I know there isn't, maybe I can start posting some. Here's Chessrook44's solution to the gem board in the Erudico Hall in Etzae, from their playthrough on YouTube. This is all in emoji. I hope it turns out all right!

So are we not posting solutions to the gem boards here? Is that an unwritten rule to encourage people to buy the hint book?

On 9/6/2022 at 9:36 AM, BrainGlucose said:

Thanks for this.  Playing through with my preferred actions - and damn the lack of a possible replacement for Aato! - I ended with 188/116/78, which seems to have worked out about as well as possible: minimal rebellion, no-one willing to stand against me with the Wolf, improved life for women in Low Draga, and the Queen's approval (although I still kinda suspect Delia's hand in that medicine..).  Choosing to go to Prova Krug didn't seem to annoy the home folks anywhere near as much as I expected!  Looking forward to the next.

May I ask what you had to do and not do to improve life for women in the Low Dhaga? I'm on my third play through, failed at that the first two times, and honestly it is now my only goal. At the moment I am in a conversation with Filome in Esker Keep, and I closed the dialog box before responding to her petition because I'm concerned this could be a crucial interaction, beyond the whole reputation thing.

2 hours ago, le retour des marmottes météorologues said:

Exile/Avernum 1-3 definitely have very happy, heroic endings.

 

Uh... wow!  Interesting idea, but based on google, it appears that literally no people have expressed this idea.  I can see the applicability.  But what makes you feel like it's such a targeted metaphor for Afghanistan specifically?

Afghanistan is famously "the graveyard of empires." There's a whole Wikipedia article on the topic. This particular passage could have been written about the Ro:

The difficulty in invading Afghanistan was attributed to the prevalence of fortress-like qalats, the deserts, the mountainous terrain of Afghanistan, its severe winter and its enduring clan loyalties

The emphasis of the High Litha on Haven's "decadence," the extreme oppression of women in the Low Dhaga...I assumed everyone interpreted this the same way I did.

1 hour ago, le retour des marmottes météorologues said:

Really?  This is such a classic and widespread CRPG foible.  Seriously, google any variation of "NPC blocking your path", "NPC get out of my way", "NPC blocking door", "RPG pathfinding failure", "drone jam"... etc.  You'll find tons of games, often really big-name games.  Endless random threads on gamefaqs.  Etc.

 

It's been less common in the last 20-25 years because RPGs aren't all tile-based by default, anymore.  That's the big reason.  Truly not specific to Spiderweb games.

I did not know that. (Or I did a long time ago and forgot it.) Come to think of it, the only tile-based games I've played in the last 25 years are probably all Spiderweb games!