Bhima

So, I'm looking to get into Spidweb's popular Geneforge series, but have not been captured by the series yet, after trying Geneforge 5. I'm curious if any fellow Avernum fans who have had success with Geneforge might offer up some suggestions and tips? I found the character design (an lack of party) quite different and didn't adapt too quickly. Thoughts? Cheers to Avernum 6!

So, as much as I love canned music packaged with video games, I almost always turn off both sound effects and background music. I'm guessing I'm not alone. Nonetheless, I'm wondering what others like to listen to? My present favorite is actually classical music: Mahler Symphonies. I find the suitably eerie for the cavernous setting of Avernum, and long enough to match the game-play that I tend to sit down for. Cheers!

So, I was going to post along those lines, but perhaps I'll just continue the thread here instead. I haven't found much content on these forums about character "sharing/profiling". That is, I'm surprised not to find a "post your party here" type of post, so that others might get some examples of what other parties there are. In the game, Spidweb includes a sample party, which I immediately delete, and there is a lot of discussion about what strategies for party design are, everything from torment singleton to four EW/DT nephil archers! I don't want to post something inappropriate by perhaps listing my group out, so I won't, but I was curious. I have found, when I go back thinking I'm going to make my party "oh so much better", that I end up with an only slightly modified version of what I had. Thoughts?

So, just completed A5, for what it's worth. For the first time, a big congratulations to Spidweb for creating a game where there are multiple, exclusive plots and the game cannot be finished with all of them "under the belt". Now I've got to restart, choose a new party configuration, and check out all of those other plots! I've loved all of the past Spidweb games, but when they were done, I was done with that game. With A5, I believe there is a game where I can play at least a few times over. Cheers to all the folks who helped me along the way, as well.

Is there something I should have done to access the area behind the warrior in Thalants? As usual, it's BUGGING me not to have explored back there. I'm fairly confident that if I sit opposite him in the room and prick him with arrows, he'll move, but then so will the rest of the dang settlement–against me.

So uh, I think I know the answer to this one, but well, I never accepted Gladwells Gass, so will I never get into the shadow-key rooms? Silly sad me. I didn't like the sound of "geas" when I first heard it, but maybe I should have taken it! Anyway I can "fake" those silly doors into opening? I don't think I'll be achieving 90 tool use any time soon.

So, this is going to be a digression. How do I get to the soultaker pit? It doesn't seem to be a simple secret door from the honeycomb area in the Azure Gallery (I've killed the shade and it's lackeys in the honeycomb), and so I guessed that it was a mission from an NPC. However, I'm almost to what seems like the end, having done all but the Nasty Nashazzar tribute mission in Melanchion's lands, and have exposed the bottom corner of the world map (what I presume is Dorikas' Digs). I don't really want to end the game quite yet (*whine*), and I'm REALLY going to need some level-ups before I can even think about beating Nasty Nash, much less Dorikas. I also would like to clear out Gladwell's keep, and I heard you could access it from the Soultaker area.

So, back to Nashazzar... Am I CRAZY for attempting this battle at my fighter level 26 and spellcasters at level 28? I've lost track of how many times I've reloaded (more than 20) trying different strategies, trying different luck (most of the time I'm killed after the second blast from "Nasty Nash". The furthest I've seemed to get is about the third blast from him. I start off with four slow spells on this cat, which gives me one extra round to buff (I've already started with all buffs). I use my fighter to beat on him. I've tried to go after the imps, but even if the spirit casts its blessing, it doesn't seem to rebuff Nash's next blast, which inevitably blows at least my strong priest out of the water. Normally, I'm all for some major challenge, requiring some strategy, but I can't seem to get around being blasted to the Hell Nash Came From each round. My latest guess is that I'm going to need to buy a LOT of invulnerability elixirs and come back. My DT/EW fighter is Level 26, and my DT/NM or DT/PS spell casters are level 28. Help?

So, back to the secret areas under Thalants, if I don't want to hack the game or cheat, are those secret areas intended to be accessed through normal game-play? I've explored every tunnel adjacent to the Thalants area that I could find, checking for secret switches, and have explored every room under Thalants checking for switches, and have only exposed the secret area at the south end.

So, HOLY COW that was fun! I completely forgot about all the "slimy tunnels" section until FAR after I've really completed Azure and Thalants sections, and it was a total BREEZE going through the Lake of Trials. I think a testament to the talent and legacy of Spidweb, the Lake of Trials was still SUPER fun and challenging. I can't imagine having done this before doing much more in the Azure. Even on that final test, I had to end the fight before it was over, cast Return Life on my fighter ("The Bludgeon") and resume the killing spree! I suppose if I were to offer advice, which is way beyond my calling, it would be to come back to this area long after the Azure. What a blast.

Am I nuts for approaching this fight with my DT/EW fighter at level 24, and my DT/NM or DT/PS spellcasters at 25, playing Torment? This is a freakish fight, and I already spent one of my three raise dead scrolls after the Hraithe Lord fight, which I don't think should have been that hard.

OK. Thanks! I figured this might have been the case, now I just have to wait until I level up about another 37 times before I can fight Festy. Dang, that's another hard fight, because I can't get out of his room in order to avoid his area attacks.

I'm trying to complete the "Mad Crystal" quest, and I can't remember who I talked to in Thalants about it (I'm thinking Clodeca in the library), but now I can't seem to chat with Epiron-Bok about it. I've gone back to Shanker's tower to address Festante, but he's still nuts as ever, and I don't want to just smash the little crystal. Have I mistakingly spoken with Clodeca instead of Epiron? I hope this isn't a bug.

I'm having difficulty clearing out the "Nice Scuttler Eyes." quest, as, like others, I have completed this area long before taking the job off the board. I've figured out the other lingering job quests, but not this one; any advice?

Well, a lot of the problem is that I've got a steep XP penalty, and my players have little spell energy or skill, and I've simply run out by this part. I'm also playing in Torment, so perhaps I'll have to wimp out and lower the game difficulty for a time. For now, I'm off onto other ventures. Will come back!

Well BATS! I'm pretty low on spell energy, so I'll have to revert to my safe 4.6.2.4/2–the third in order to get back to a place where I will have enough for summons and dazzling. Doh! Thanks for your input you two–maybe I'll come back to this lair a little later...

Dangit–I'm just not the type to whine to the forum about how I can't figure out how to beat a character in the game. But, here I am, after countless reloads from three different save points. Maybe I've bit off more than I can chew with the Fang Clan; I'm in the testing rooms, having cleaned everything but Hssrrotis' room. He's just lurking in that corner, and no strategy I've come up with can beat him. I've tried the all-out attack, where my four players hit him as hard as possible, holding off about two rounds of bats. After he jumps twice, I can't daze enough bats for long enough and I'm consumed quickly. I've tried the sneak-attack, where I instigate a bow fight until he jumps and then retreat to slowly beat down the latest round of bats. That worked, up until the second go-around and the second wave of fire-bats mowed me down. I've also tried the ultra-sneak-attack, where I literally GRIND him out by poisoning him and retreating, beating down rounds of bats as they arrive. It's taking forever, and I don't have enough spell energy or potion to keep curing and healing, and it's too slow for good defensive spells. So, here I am; what am I missing? Should I just exit the test now, never to beat Hssrotis Piercer?

I'm sad. That was definitely one of the things I liked a lot about the E/A 1–3 series. Sure, it saves some time not having to run around casting far sight, or running into walls, but really takes away from the intrigue or curiosity.

So, I have the pommel and blade, but Boutell keeps telling me I don't have everything. In the special item description, it says pommel and blade are the two components. What am I missing?

I think that the entire Exile series, played from start to finish, is possibly the most excellent computerized role-playing game ever. The simplicity of design allows for a wider imaginative involvement, and the storyline is idea. I certainly had to write things down.

My first and entire experience with Spidweb software was the Exile series, which was awesome. I've been coming back to their website since to see what's new in their games. Now I'm playing Geneforge series. It seems like the functionality is lacking. I don't like that many of the functions don't seem to be accessible from the keyboard, which gets a lot of the awkward operation out of the way. Then, it doesn't seem like I can rest at all, which was a fun part of traveling through castles. Also, it doesn't seem like there's a defend function in the fighting mode, which makes it rather difficult to get through some battles. Also, what happened to all of those AWESOME hidden areas in Exile, where I had to test doors, and try to predict where secrets were?