Randomizer

Thrac in Fort Saffron needs someone to go through the cells in the southeast corner into the Darkside Loyalist camp and kill the bandits there (2 levels). I don't know if you also need to kill their spy in his fort. The Darkside Loyalists hidden under Erika's ruins are accessible from the Dark Lands by finding the secret trapdoor. There is a glowing rune that needs to be stepped on to reveal the trapdoor.

The reward is a blessed bow in Silvar. There is a second quest for locating his hideout in Mertis.

The trick is that one piece is on the east side of the river. At least one and maybe two are hidden by secret passages. You don't really need to do this except it means one fewer step in reaching Erika.

Jeff took a lot of shortcuts to get Avernum 4 out. The plot is weak, the graphics are swiped from Geneforge, and he got rid of elevations. It comes down to how much you like the game. It does get better after the demo, but if you aren't having fun then wait for Avernum 5. There are some good features like the combat system is better so you don't have wait as an option. There are area spells like in Exile. The skills like first aid are actually worth getting. It's just that the game is incomplete. Most of the problems will be fixed in A5, but I got though the game by running a singleton for fun since Jeff said it wasn't supposed to be possible. I think in A5 he's really going to make that happen.

Blasting party members is just something that fighters have to suffer with when they engage monsters. I always try to save a healing spell for that little problem. Avernum 4 took care of friendly fire. But I still like area effects like fireball for clearing out monsters that are hiding around corners and out of line of sight.

The golems shouldn't be that much of a problem. You must be doing something wrong in killing them. Use lightning spray from hasted mages to blast them to rubble so you can get past the area. I got past as a singleton without shutting it off.

Quote: You don't get yew longbow drops for a long while. Here you can get 4 before reaching Fort Draco. And yew longbows make a huge difference. If you have enough luck the nephil archers in the Nephil Lands drop yew bows. I got by without them.

I'm not sure if there are more. Besides the Easter Egg there may be a few to the other major cities. I remember Jeff mentioning in the Exile Hint book that he listed only the important ones needed for the game. I never looked in the game for additional ones.

The identify spell pays off in the long run when you have lots to identify or want to decide what is worth hauling out of a dungeon. By the middle of the game you no longer want to carry everything since money is no longer tight.

It's a neat item and there are some other items in the area. Mandrake for knowledge brew, etc. It was meant to be a challenge to get as you will find out when you get there.

From the hint book because I couldn't remember: Ent Bel Tor - Formello - there is a secret passage in the southeast to the outside Owa Tah Ful - Angierach - Tower of Magi in dresser as part of a quest There is one more for the last button in the Easter Egg thread. There were more in Exile 2, but I never bothered to see if they were here.

The third test is nearest the Chitrach tunnels entrance east of Fort Dranlon in that small building. Go north along the east edge to the next map section north. When the path reaches a 6 way intersection go northeast. It doesn't take that long to search them all. At least it's easier than the Honeycomb where you have to keep shifting levels.

I had a similar problem when I hit a capital letter. Luckily I got out without having to restore the game.

The key is found in the center of the tower on the lowest level if I remember correctly. I know it was in Exile 2 and somethings carried over. You need the key to get past some obstacle in the archives' entrance area.

Why shoot innocent NPC's? The useful treasure doesn't significantly affect game play and the experience is slight. You can get better equipment earlier on, but it will just encourage Jeff to make them harder to kill in future games. You'll start seeing him make certain ones unkillable after that fiasco with killing the Portal Mage in Fort Avernum.

Recheck the levers. It took me a few tries, but I had the same problem. I'm sure I had to go back and do them all again. One of them is wrong or shifted since you did them.

There are 7 books in the tunnels under Patrick's Tower. You only get a reward for the first 5. Try to return another to see the message you get. I forget where all of them were, but there should be one in the barrier sealed areas south of Lord Bhoralon. There are others in the northern parts of the tunnels near the Memorial Lands. Just clear the tunnels and you will find lots of unique items that will make the effort worth while.

The Exile Mage spells were much better than the equivalent Avernum spells. It took to A4 before area effects spells returned instead of targeting for multiple creatures. So black shades and guardians could only really be hit by weapons. Cloud of blades was a weak area spell that still needed to be targeted on a PC or summoned creature. The strongest Exile mage spell shockwave has no Avernum equivalent except for Divine Retribution for priests. I used to use 4 castings of shockwave to obliterate almost everything on the screen. Mage spells are best at low levels until you can get the high level priest spells. I used to use a bug that wound spell worked against magic resistant monsters like Rakshashas.

He'll be back, but maybe not until A6. Jeff's description of A5 seems to imply that it will be in Avernum and not the Empire. I really wanted that weapon. Too bad it's scripted that he escapes. I kept him terrified for most of the encounter and blocked from running away. Maybe if I filled the hall with summoned creatures I could have messed up the script.

There's treasure in the center using a secret passage.

Leave it this way. There should be some way to discourage random acts of violence for almost no experience and treasure. It might teach people to read the instructions and the part about not kill people until there usefulness is totally over.

Fireblast spellbooks are in Tower Colony and Patrick's Tower. I think learning the spell is either Rone in the Castle or Gladwell in Bargha. It's not that useful for the spell cost.

Watch the map in the lower left corner. The active pylons are in red and the inactive ones are in blue. It will help you with whatever you decide upon.

Why bother with this poll. Jeff's said it's never going to happen. Avernum and Averforge are the future. The best that's going to happen are BoE scenarios.

The only thing Demonslayer helps with is demons. As a two-handed weapon it isn't helpful otherwise. Two separate weapons or a shield is better for most of the game. It isn't needed for Exile games, it is just one more thing to do in the games. Even in the Avernum versions it isn't that useful.