Randomizer

Just make sure when you fight them in the early part of the game the shades don't wander off and kill some one in the cities. Some people have found that they can't get quest rewards later on because say the Mayor in Silvar got killed when you fled.

Garzhad was mentioned as being less powerful than even Solberg and Patrick, but he was a better politician. He got Hawthorne to exile the more powerful mages. His claim to power was the defensive magics that protected him until a bunch of adventurers disrupted them.

I'll start with the easier one first, Pyrog's Fort. Starting at Fort Dranlon go by boat along the river directly west and take the first branch north when you reach the big lake. Go north and get off on the west bank. Pass through the Giant Lands through the check point. Turn north and then go east through another check point. You should see the sign for Pyrog's Fort. You can't get in from the front entrance. Go see the Vahnatai Council and they will tell you about a back entrance. So from the front of Pyrog's continue along the route until you reach an Empire outpost. Inside will be two boats that you can use to go west to the back of Pyrog's Fort and the secret way into it. Once inside there is a lever to open the front gate. Lots of fighting so go prepared. The Teleporter Fort requires going and searching Elderan's (?) Tower north of Fort Dranlon and on the west bank in a swamp. You will find information telling you to go to the northern islands (use the second boat) and find the storage facility. Inside are records telling where the Teleportation Fort is and how to get past obstacles. To get to it you have to follow the river west from the northern islands and find a secret passage at one of the beaches.

A4 should have used the Darkside Loyalists as the main villians. The monster plagues should have been the out of control result of hiring allies to disrupt Avernum and separate it into regions that could be taken over piece meal instead of at once. The main plot would have been to identify the Darkside forces and disrupt their plans in each city area. I suggested that a later Avernum game could be in Nethergate style with the Darkside Loyalists trying to take over areas and the Avernum or Emipire agents trying to prevent them. You could have different missions in each area and an emphasis on different types of characters: stealth versus combat.

I haven't seen GF4 yet, but playing a melee guardian is different then the other types. Melee means getting the monsters stunned so you have time to close with them. Since most monsters that will really hurt you have ranged attacks you need to balance it out. Agents and missle guardians have great range attacks. Shapers depend upon their creations. Using battle shaping is the closest to melee guardians. In GF3 the changing of weapons in quick slots is now only 1 AP instead of 3 AP for getting something from the backpack. So switching between melee and missle weapons is easier. It increased the options.

I don't think it maxs out so much as the difference per level isn't that much compared to random variation per level. As you go up in levels you need the higher spells since you are getting more damage.

I don't know about smaller, but I remember it was also going to be exploring a new cave area.

Shaping skills will increase all four stats and start your creation at a higher level than using up essence to raise just one stat by putting everything into intelligence. There are limits so raising a shaping skill past 10 doesn't do as much.

Use the tab key to identify people. Seli moves about so you might miss him. Also you need to have done an earlier quest before he sends you to the Swamp Fort.

There are probably copies of the older versions around, but convincing Jeff to post links probably won't happen. Still it would be nice for an archive for those people who want to know how things used to be.

You have to determine whether the new creation will have higher stats than one that has been around from earlier in the game. Usually if you have raised your shaping level, gotten certain items, and/or more levels with that creation the new creature will be more powerful for the same essence cost. Just save the file before absorbing and see which one is better. Most people seem to be sentimental about older creations.

Since one of the requirements is a variety of different Mac computers and operating systems it depends upon whether you fill a gap. If you have one that no one else has you probably got a better chance of being accepted even without testing experience. The part about not being told no is irritating since you are never certain when Jeff has enough new testers. Waiting for the announcement of the release isn't the best solution.

For those of you that haven't read What's New: Call for Beta testers This should reduce the complaints about those lucky people that got to be in the first round.

It's a scripted death so even curing poison and healing won't keep him alive for long.

I think Jeff wants to keep Avernum 5 in Avernum instead of the Empire. Although some day he should get back to the surface to deal with the Darkside Loyalists. It would be nice to go back to the surface for a real adventure and not fighting plagues.

Use the staircases from inside Patrick's Tower to help orient yourself. You have to use an outside access to get to the demon you want. When you see the area you explored on the map screen then you know that you are near the one you want.

Nethergate is closer in style to Avernum. It is fun since you have two view points and styles of play. The Romans have less access to magic and the Celts have less armor.

If you go through Avernum/Exile 1 there are a few mages mentioned as apprentices to the main group of Erika and Solberg, X and Patrick that formed the first triad. Rone was also from that group but served in the Castle. I think Linda was a later group with the other mages at the Tower of Magi.

I've only played Torment level so I can't tell you the difference in levels. However if you died that many times you might be doing something wrong besides going into areas over your party level. It's real easy to die in Geneforge if you don't pay attention. You can get swarmed by monsters and die quickly. Geneforge allows you to bypass some combat areas and use stealth or diplomacy to get through the game. Check out Strategy Central for a discussion of different character types that are played in Geneforge 3. Most of the advice can be used in earlier games.

For the fighter type characters you need to maximize your damage since you start running into magic resistant monsters. The worst is the rakshasa where you buff your fighter and send him up to slay it. Golems, Empire Wizards, and a few other are almost as bad. Assasination usually needs to get above 10 to give you a good chance against all monsters. I found that defense doesn't matter as much when you face magic casting monsters that always hit, The best defense is to kill them before they can hit you.

Geneforge requires a different way of playing from the Avernum series. Since it has real time elements the monsters are in motion except when you are in fight mode where it goes turn base. Avrnum 3 is fun unless you got have played the Exile series and don't want to see too many of the same places again. It has some new features that aren't in the other games that makes playing it easier.

You have to calculate whether the new creation is more powerful than the one that has levelled up with you. The easiest way is to save the file and then absorb the creation and recreate it. Then you can compare the stats from the two versions. If you've gained enough shaping levels/items/creation levels then it might payoff.

I'd like to hear the Shaper's Council reaction to the servile in armor with baton and sword that's glowing from too many cannisters. Somehow I don't think stealth will get that past the guards.

Mobile turrets would be more fun. Now that might have made Avernum 4 more interesting. No more sitting outside of attack range and blasting them.

In reply to your other question about sanctuary, I found it helpful right after you get it on your return from the Vahnatai lands. It allows you time against the Empire assassins to get your characters hasted and blessed. In the Mertis Spiral at one point I used it to block attacks against my party by having only the characters in the middle use repel spirit while those that could be attacked do nothing so they formed shields that couldn't be attacked. It drops in value in the later parts of the game where mass haste and bless speed up the process. Usually you spend all your time attacking and don't need the defense of sanctuary. For your fighter you can increase his attack power with more assassination but otherwise defense can be replaced by just healing him at the end of the round. Your spell casters max out at 18 for mage and priest spell levels so just raise intelligence and magery. Be sure to have some one with potion making at 20 to make extra energy potions.