Randomizer

Most of the anvil ingredients to improve items aren't worth it. Save golden crystals and steel spines since they always help. Blessing crystals are okay for the beginning half of the game to increase damage although you could also used a runed ruby or amethyst for fire or acid bonus damage. I usually sell off most of the others since cold isn't that helpful. For heavy spell users save madness gems, rotgroth fangs, and glaahk eyes for mental focus charms. It really depends upon what you use when playing. Most of the time you don't need gemstones since most players don't use icy crystals. If you don't plan to use it later than sell it since you can buy most of them later on in the game.

The new beta doesn't use the preference file to find the location of the saved games. It does save games to the correct location.

Fort Raevinn is always a pain because if you go outside to chase down the wingbolts, then you get swarmed with no support from within the fort. If you stay back too much, then they run outside and get killed. Matala as a single unsupported character is hard because you get cursed in melee and missle attacks do very little damage. I thought that you would get more parry rather than quick action to reduce damage. Slarty did a parry thread and it seem somewhat useful to reduce damage.

When you first reach the upper city through the smuggler's tunnel, you go along the north edge to another tunnel entrance to go back down. Avoid attacking anyone, especially the shade in the upper city. It's okay to attack some people in the lower city unless they are prisoners. There is a wheel to open a gate in the second tunnel that takes you back to the east side of the river for the return trip if you need it. That one requires a certain combined party strength. The Castle will eventually clear the city gates so you can freely enter the city without being attacked.

Thanks for fixing the unexpected quit message when quitting the game for older Macs.

I played letting Monarch go once and Greta is a little upset, but is more concerned about the Shaper research notes. I just finished the parasitic shade in Sandros Mine. Used up my healing pods and spores the first time so I had to redo so I'd have some for crossing the Secured Crossroads. Having less endurance is making a difference with healing, but I can kill most things with one blow with the higher strength.

You need some missle skills since there are several boss monsters that slow you in melee like Monarch. Also when you cross the Fens you want to destroy exploding creations at a distance and let their friends collect the collateral damage. Icy crystals can work well on wingbolts when you only face a few, but otherwise they aren't much use by the time you hit Burwood. Stock up on torrent gems for Burwood.

Never get into melee with Monarch. Always use missle attacks. If he begs for his life he near the end, but with you slowed that really didn't help. I don't think it makes much difference to the Rebels, but I never tried it and then visited the Shapers to see what they thought. You may have to replay it.

Edit - Beaten by Thuryl while writing. Jeff really likes to hide levers. 1) The Sealed Catacombs requires the Black Key to unlock the door in Monarch's Realm. Go to Northforge Citadel in the southwest corner is a lever hidden behind a pillar. This opens the door to a power spire that controls the electrified field near the Geneforge. Behind the field in a blue jar is the key. 2a) Frostwood - the door is controlled by a hidden lever behind the nearby pillar 2b) Quessa-Uss has some rooms that can't be entered such as the one northeast of the dueling ground, the stairs to the upper level and the doors in the southeast corner that are on the map edge. The doors in the lab with the Unbound can only be accessed between seeing the drakons after learning what is in the lab and before the next meeting with the drakons. 2c) Then locked rooms in the northwest corner of the Breeding pit are opened by levers near them (the west one is partailly hidden by a power spire). The southeast room lever is along the north wall of the room Synergy\'s help for Breeding Pit . 2d) Matala's Workshop has a door that only unlocks after you defeat Matala. Within that area is another door whose lever is hidden by a pillar near it. There is also a hidden room in the Boiling Mudpits that is opened by a lever behind a pillar in the northernmost passage near the electric fiedl.

Finally finished Chapter 1 and really hated the Dumping Pit. Used up way to many icy crystals on the spinecores. Finally got a thahdskin tunic in Sinkhole Bridge of all places. Level 14, health 148, skill points 5 Strength 6 (+2), dexterity 7 (+2), intelligence 2, endurance 8 Melee 3, missle 2, parry 3, quick action 4 Leadership 6, mechanics 8, luck 1 (+1) wearing - coated cloak, thahdskin tunic, girdle of nimbleness, steel broadsword, shielding band, shaped boots, swamp pants, shaped gloves, steel shield, stability bauble. Lower endurance means that I have to go back to heal more often, but that should be better in chapter 2.

You miss out on experience by killing innocents before they give the quest reward. After that you get extra experience and treasure for killing them. Avernum is not like Nethergate where they know what you are doing.

For the Old Golem you are halfway there with the health. You need to add spines to the armor you are using and pile up major healing items for the really bad part. One nasty trick is to pop in and out of the Forsaken Lands Shaper Camp using speed pods/spores and slowly kill a few guards. Retreat and return to loot the items. If you are lucky they will drop restoration potions. I don't know if you are powerful enough to try this. I wasted a day redoing my game. Not being lucky enough to score a thahdskin tunic, I had to replay the game with less mechanics so I could increase strength to compensate. Having dexterity at 7 reduces the successful attacks from most rogue creations. I know it's not a great build method but it got me through the swarms of worms and across the Forsaken Docks with my lower endurance.

No one has step on the one square that will trigger the puzzle box. This probably requires going back to a square from the first part of the game.

Thanks. It was bothering me since everything else that I missed was listed in the walkthrough or other threads.

Also go and turn off poisoning pools by deactivating the energy spiral. This has to be the worst fight in terms of waiting for Matala to drop.

I'm trying it and really miss daze. I want to use a little different build with more emphasis on missle attacks so I can avoid closing to melee. There are too many areas where you get swarmed. I tried the same tactic in Sandros Mine with spray crystals since it gave me time to just fight the parasitic shade.

Guardian Magma has been absent for a while so we don't have his opinion of his favorite class. The main reason to run a servile is the starting stats are slightly better, especially for these strange challenges. A warrior isn't completely useless, just mostly.

I, like Groucho Marx, don't believe in joining any club that will have me. After all if their standards are that low, who else will they let join.

Without the Servile Techs you are forced to go the pure combat route and go down the center of Northern Grosch into Monarch's Realm. While it is possible to go the difficult 20 route, I doubt that you will want to do so since you can't deactivate the other mines. I think that in the case of the Fens where you are allowed to recruit helpers it should be okay to use them, but if you want to do it the really hard way, then go for it. The experience will run out in Burwood a bit later since you will be a level or 2 behind by not doing the mines and traps. I really should try this challenge. I probably would use icy crystals a bit differently than you are. Sandros Mine's parasitic shade is really hard to do alone as a servile. I don't know how long you can go without raising combat skills, although you could put all the points into strength and dexterity now and then in chapter 3 the combat skills will jump quickly.

There are two portals in the Vale of the Sould. The one by the entrance I have been through. There is a second one near the center just past the rooms with the contracts for souls, Every time I try to enter I get pushed back. The FAQ doesn't mention what is on the other side. Has anyone ever made it through and remember where it goes?

Matala's Workshop is below the Western Morass and accessed by a path around the northeast corner. You don't need to go through the gate to get to the path. The Catacomb Lab is below Monarch's Realm at the door to the Black Pit. You need a key from Northforge Citadel.

Finished the game. Way too easy at the end and I was too conservative on using energy draughts. I went into the Spire with 200 and still had almost half when I reached the Nethergate. You don't even need Hero of Old until the Land of Annwn and especially in the Spire so you can avoid healing. Nethergate - where men are Romans and faeries run scared. It gets to be a matter of how much loot can you carry. After the halfway point I increased dexterity and defense so I rarely got hit except by spells. With so much intelligence for spellcasting, I didn't get charmed by control life.

It's a high level spell that needs a certain crystal as a spell component. You fight a spellcaster and try to drain each other of spell points. Not really worth using and the very tedious in practice the one time I used it in Avernum 2.

Then it sounds like the corruption occurred in the downloaded program before you got it. Sorry, but this sounds like a problem for Jeff unless someone else has an idea. The data file for the monster shouldn't have got altered when he made the Intel based version.

Try installing a new copy of the game in a different folder. The preference file will be the same so you don't need to re-register. Then copy the saved game over from the old folder to the new one (count the first saved game as 0 and go down the first column to 9 and the second column starts as 10 if you aren't sure which file it is). It may be a corrupted data file and this might fix the problem.