Synergy

Quote: Originally written by Silb Aran: is there a means of significantly reducing acid damage (other than dying )? Yes, at least by level 3 of Cure, your priest can cure acid. I just cured acid that the Boneborer spewed on my fighter. It might work with less than level 3, but you can attain level 3 in the Eastern Gallery.

So you don't think the light-snuffing magic of the first Spiral Crypt was adding much to the psych-out of the experience? You can achieve a lot of effect with lighting. But this all goes to show how some of us are more visually, aesthetically, or atmospherically-oriented than others, and how plot is everything to some, while others want character development or ease of use. One thing that is simply true: people who don't care about about the visuals (graphics, animations, lighting effects, elevations) will never be upset by better visuals, where those of us who find it very enhancing of the gaming experience might be pretty disappointed by a lack of them. One solution might be that normally your party would be assumed to be carrying torches, and there is a circle of lit area around you as you move in dark places, but in some circumstances, magic might snuff it out or diminish it, and only a powerful enough light spell could counter that effect, but not a torch.

Facing a living or undead incarnation of our final foe would have been more satisfying for more of us, I think. You wouldn't believe how basic and boring the original final conflict was in the first beta I saw. I, and no doubt, other testers asked for more elements and foes in the final fight and we got a few more, at the least. I would have liked to have seen some kind of serious ambush though. That final series of fights in A3 seemed worthy of someone so powerful and powerfully protected. In A4 it's surprisingly meek, the nasty V-Lord notwithstanding. I also just realized there are no animated cutscenes in A4 at all, just text and pictures at the start and end. All this kind of reminds me of how Civilization 3 was after Civ 2. Civ 3 had a whole new engine and many improved elements, but it was only halfway there and had some bad flaws, and it has taken another game afterwards to apparently really put some polish on it and get it right. (Civ 4) That's kind of how I think A4 has turned out—a lot of improvements and changes with a new engine which hopefully will be much better polished in A5—and it better reinclude elevation or I will vote with my feet. I personally enjoy fewer bugs and blobs and critters to fight, and more intelligent adversaries like the bandits and mages. It's more satisfying bantering with and then dispatching a human adversary than going on "another bug hunt". The lack of dervishes or true soldiers in this game to fight was a little disappointing. I always enjoy dispatching some smug 'n' snotty Empire Dervish.

I would have rather faced her as an Hwraithe, I suppose. I have no idea what the "rules" for crystal souls are supposed to be, so I went with the premise.

Once you have magic in a game, pretty much anything you think up is "possible" in any way you want it to be. Why dissect it as if it were science? I find it rather intuitively silly and not much in line with previous Averna that a crystal soul can move itself around in the first place. But I can't argue about whether or not it should be possible.

I feel the removal of the need for light was a mistake unlike some of the other streamlining in A4. The creepiness of being in a dark cave or having your light snuff out is good atmospheric effect. A4 has less creep-out factor and atmosphere because of no truly dark places.More convenient? Yeah. Better gaming experience? I don't think so.

Has anyone who's been through the Eastern Gallery found anything else to do with the lonely gremlin left over from A1's gremlin grove other than to find an excuse to do him the favor of killing him and taking his loot? EDIT: (Getting my Averna straight)

Yeah, you got me there, the lair was a very uninspired design aesthetically. I seem to recall saying, "That's it?" after the first time I went in, and I even somehow missed picking up that shroud my first game too. Wasn't Athron's Lair the place we faced those nasty living statues in a previous Avernum?

We are amused. The second I posted my reply, both mine and yours appeared in sequence together. Split-second timing. Seems to be catching 'round here lately.

Did you enjoy the demo? -Buy it. Did you not enjoy the demo? -Don't buy it. Can we close this topic now?

TM, you missed something integral in Erika's Ruins south of the final showdown areas.

Quote: Originally written by *i: You need to kill the Metris Undead first that way he believes you to be worthy of the task. What's inside is pretty disappointing to say the least. Are you kidding? What is inside is something you will use the entire rest of the game. I was wondering in retrospect if the Mertis undead figured into acquiring that key. I typically took care of the undead early on, so didn't link it to Sleater's offering of the key, but it makes sense since he is the one with the secret to fighting the undead in the first place.

Mimi, are you from Beauxbaton? Will you go with me to the Yule Ball? Don't worry, traveling long distances becomes much easier a bit later in the game (but not in the demo). Oh, and it is good to start a game with 7-8 Tool Use for one of your characters, and bring it up to level 15 fairly soon into the game. This way, you will be able to get past all the traps you come to and open all the doors and boxes without having to go back later. Sacre Bleu, Mon Dieu, et Finis

Jinx.

Don't worry, Jeff will shortly be releasing his second book, "Avernum Four: The Novel" in a first printing of one copy, so be sure to order yours early.

I predict this question makes top three most asked questions on quests for A4 To enter the lair of Athron, the Departed: Talk to Sleater, who is camped out near the entrance to the lair. Go inside and kill the drake guarding the door. Go back to Sleator and run though dialog with him till he offers you a key to get in. Go back and go in and get ready...

I like the nice lady by Formello who as reward for delivering to her a letter gives you some of the standard stuff. And an apple. I can't help it, but that was just, er, cute.

I don't think these are supposed to be a secret. I mean, if you bought the previous Avernums, you got a working Character Editor. We have cheat codes for A4 instead. Here they are. Are they not listed with the new download version? Hold the shift key down and type 'd', the cheat box comes up. Enter the phrases below and hit return to get the given effect. ouchouchouch – Heals and cures your group. imdrained - Recharge your spell energy. leetbuffz – Gives each of your characters multiple blessings. owmybrains – Cures any character that is frozen or suffering from a mental effect. backtostart – Returns you to Fort Monastery. Very useful if you get stuck. pleaselikeme - Makes all of the areas in the game forget your crimes. If you were hated there, you won’t be anymore. Note that certain crimes (stealing artifacts, killing major characters) won’t be forgotten. iwanttobestronger - Gives you some experience. giveasnack - Gives your main character some cake. showmeall - Make all characters (even ones you can’t see) appear on your automap. dontshowmeall - Stop making all characters appear on your automap.

You know, A4 doesn't really seem to be begging for a walkthrough like previous games to my thinking. The biggest reason for this is that with no more hidden secrets, the challenge of the game is not on unknowns so much as on finding ways to deal with what is known. I found all the quests straightforward enough to solve on my own, the only exception being a quest in which I had missed a body on which was some key information enabling a quest. If you look in things and check out things wherever you go, it should be straightforward. This from a guy who does not hesistate to consult online game FAQs when his patience wears thin on illogically-constructed puzzles and challenges. I don't enjoy wracking my brain just because it can be done. Someone will write a walkthrough sooner or later. I could nearly write one from memory at this point.

Note also that you will get free bonus level ups to your Mage or Priest skills with Natural Mage and Pure Spirit respectively, as well as two free Priest spell levels to begin with for Pure Spirit. These also may not count towards Magery. The same is true for my nephil archer to whom I am trying to make trainable in Sharpshooter. He begins with Sharpshooter (because I gave him Deadeye) and free Dexterity bonuses, so I am at more than 6 Dexterity and 8 Bows with him, but he is still not trainable with Sharpshooter. You may have to pay attention to how many "free" levels of the relevant skill you start with and gain along the way to figure out how many more levels you have to add yourself to get a special skill. It would be nice to somehow see how much added level a PC has in addition to its total for this reason.

Note also that you will get free bonus level ups to your Mage or Priest skills with Natural Mage and Pure Spirit respectively, as well as two free Priest spell levels to begin with for Pure Spirit. These also may not count towards Magery. The same is true for my nephil archer to whom I am trying to make trainable in Sharpshooter. He begins with Sharpshooter (because I gave him Deadeye) and free Dexterity bonuses, so I am at more than 6 Dexterity and 8 Bows with him, but he is still not trainable with Sharpshooter. You may have to pay attention to how many "free" levels of the relevant skill you start with and gain along the way to figure out how many more levels you have to add yourself to get a special skill. It would be nice to somehow see how much added level a PC has in addition to its total for this reason.

Quote: Originally written by midgetdeathtrain: wow! my head was completely misplaced. sorry for posting that spoiler. i wasnt thinking. MidgetDT...Why don't you edit that spoiler out? The longer you leave it there, the more people are going to see it whether they intend to or not. You don't want to be responsible for that kind of wrath directed at you, do you?

The Eastern Gallery is where "Torment" really begins to live up to its name. In fact, I haven't seen a post from anyone who got past it on Torment yet.

The Eastern Gallery is where "Torment" really begins to live up to its name. In fact, I haven't seen a post from anyone who got past it on Torment yet.

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