Savarius

Basically, it's a matter of hasting yourself and staying out of the range of pylons, taking stairs when you find them. There are some allies you can find in the tunnels which might make things a little easier.

I what I find particularly frustrating with the new spell system is largely the fact that attaining the highest levels of spells in previous Avernum games meant a significant boost in what you could do in the game. Level 3 Haste became a mass haste spell, Level 3 Safe Travel meant walking on lava. Even the upper level of spells like Arcane Shield meant more protection than lower levels. Now it just seems like spells last longer.

Has anyone actually beat that quest? If so, is it worth it?

DP, sorry.

You don't want to go through the city. There's another entrance to the sewers area near the shade itself - take that to enter the Great Cave proper and worry about Almaria later. Why are you playing in the dark? Turn on a light or two - all that screen glare has got to be bad for the eyes.

Thanks for the suggestions. I made it through once I realized I actually had to find a safe route through the defenses, rather than some hidden passage avoiding them altogether. I also completely missed out on the allies available to me until I made a second pass after killing the foozle. Probably could have saved some energy potions if I'd known those guys were there.

Hey all, I've been bashing my head against a wall trying to get past the Spire Fort and the defenses west of Fort Remote. I'm assuming there are secret tunnels I haven't found yet in both locations - those are really the only two places I haven't gotten into yet - cleared most of the Great Cave's quests so far. Any places I should poke my nose into?

Yeah - I see what you mean about items like the transference robe, although I like to have enough APs to cast buffs/heals mid-combat. The "dead-weight" shaper isn't my cup of tea really. How much +INT gear is there in the game? I've found a +2 belt, but wearing that means I can't wear the Creator's Belt. There's a charm you can find in the Benerii-Eo Vat Core that give you +1 to INT (Essence Charm), but I'm drawing blanks on anything else.

Yeah, SoT, the "zookeeper" or "general" shaper is really what I'm going for here. I would have been playing with drayks a lot sooner if I'd known where the first canister was - now that I've got it, things should be a little easier. Any suggestions as to the ultimate gear?

I'm on normal, dragging around Alwan, two vlish, a glaahk, a searing artila and a cryoa. Up till Gull Island I was able to smash through pretty much anything, using Alwan as a meat shield and using ranged creations - I'm in Makers End right now, having met with the shaper in the western tower, staring at a room filled with 5-6 pylons and just about screaming.

I've been playing as a loyalist shaper and pretty much cleaning house up to the end of Dhonal Island. Gull Island is kicking my ass though, and I'm wondering if I've either missed stuff in previous islands that I should be using, need to upgrade my shaping skills, or use spells that I've been ignoring. Any critical items/spells/creations for a mid-late game shaper?

If he had some kind of ranged attack (baton, like the warriors that fight with you on Dhonal Island), then he might be worth it. Maybe if he got better and better damage reduction as he levelled, then it would make sense for him to be pure melee.

Sounds like an exploit to me. Somehow, I don't think you are supposed to get away with stuff like that. Still, it's cool until Jeff fixes it