Randomizer

You're early enough in the game to start over and just make a few changes in using skill points. It starts to get boring when you become too powerful too soon.

A randomized maze would be neat depending upon the monsters encountered in it. The Honeycomb was fun (I am probably in the minority on this) because you could retrace your path through a cleared route to Mertis to heal up and sell your loot. Having to start over each time or be prepared to go through it in one go maybe too hard for most players. It might be too much like Exile where you finshed a dungeon in as few trips as possible since the monsters always repopulated.

I used to have fast on feet in the earlier Avernum games because it acted as a free fighter haste. In Exile 3 it was possible to get Major Blessing (group haste and blessing) from the Vahnatai city near the beginning as my only high level spell that I could already use before I got to the Slime quest. In A4 you have to get extra AP items (none before the Great Cave) or use haste potion/spell to get extra attacks. The way to balance out the group haste for the monsters was repeated slow spells if you couldn't take them out quickly. Of course Nodicuas drank haste potions like water when you slowed him so I found that there was no real point in wasting time slowing monsters and just concentrated in killing them before they could take advantage of their extra attacks.

It's the packs of Alien beasts, traps in the city, and the 3 crystal souls that you have to get through to get to the source that is the issue. Once you get past everything the destruction is easy.

That's why you use haste potions and group haste items when you really need them for the big fights. In the earlier games you could group haste and bless in one spell and buzz saw your way through any encounter.

I don't have a game that needs it, but it's a great idea for those with old game files before the last game patch fixed the problem.

I saved a few areas to clear and found that I still got slaughtered when swarmed by those pipsqueak Sholai guarding the docks. An agent has to be careful even with the god-like powers.

Level 10 is pretty much the maximum for the first island. If you know how to maximize your path through the island I think I got to level 11. You might want to start over after reviewing earlier threads. There was a multi-thread discussion on shaper/guardian/agent mostly between Slarty, Student of Trinity, and Delcious Vlish that is helpful. Since there aren't new monsters being repopulated unless you haven't finished the spawners in the mines you might have some trouble. Check to see if there are any quests that can be done on the island. Go through all areas on each island and not just the path from Greenwood Academy to Fort Kentia. Did you go back and kill all the monsters in the Testing Area? The leadership and stealth test monsters can be killed for experience if you haven't done that side. Otherwise go and fight the combat tests. You don't get experience for doing the tests over, but you do get monster kill experience. Deactivated all the mine fields in the mined woods area? Killed the mage that set out the mines? Killed the people hiding in the Refuge? A hard fight but they will attack you if you poke around. Also there are 3 mines to deactivate in that area. The final battle in the Lair of the Creator isn't so hard if you daze and then kill the monsters that aren't dazed first. The spawned monsters don't give any extra experience.

Archers are useful where you can't get into melee. Think of it as a free attack while the monsters run up to die. In the end in R-I's fortress it helped with parties in corridors where only the first character could melee. Mass haste, major blessing, and any other buff spells will increase your attack damage and number of attacks.

A3 is the start of blatant linearity in game play. A4 is even worse in that your path is forced by barriers and sea monsters. I blame the creeping Geneforge influence on Jeff's thinking. When Exile came out you could do any major or minor quest that you thought you handle. Only the Dark Waters part of E2/A2 was linear because of those waterfalls.

Area effect spells can't be parried. The destruction of Vahnatai Lord - priceless.

#1. - You get skill points when you reach a new level by killing things and fulfilling some quests. Exile/Avernum have skill potions/knowledge brews that give you skill points but not in Geneforge. #2. - Some crystals can be used to forge items. See the end of the FAQ and threads on item recipes for hints about what to keep. In GF3, flawed crystals are good for cash. In GF1 they can be forged into items using machines in the mines. Some items sell for a little more when grouped in fours like thread that goes from 1 each to 5 for 4. When in doubt just wait until later about selling items. There is no penalty for hoarding until you really need money. #3. - For a Shaper it pays to concentrate on one or two shaping classes. Fire and magic are the best at the start for offensive creations. There are several threads from about 2 months ago about the different characters and what skills to buy. Being a generalist with keeping everything equal may hurt you in the beginning. There are certain skills that will allow you to do quests and gain experience. Having mechanic at 10 will lets you safely test the trap in Fort Kentia. You can save living tools going through the mines at lower mechanic levels. Having higher leadership gives you more options. The extra saved games may have occurred when you forgot to click on a previous saved game. That causes the next empty slot to be used.

I 'm running through as a Roman with nimble fingers trait, 1 tool use, and ordinary lockpick (+10%) in the Abandon Mine. I haven't recovered any Sylak keys yet in the game. I accidently hit pick lock going past a door and it popped open. I checked later and all the doors have 0% chance of being picked. So I looted the room think why wasted a chance. Has anyone else tried to do this? I just got extremely lucky since this shouldn't be possible.

I really like the game engine and would like to see more games using it. Since the engine and graphics are the main time consuming elements in making a new game I would prefer that time was spent making an interesting plot and keeping as much of the existing game unchanged after updating it. As possible alternate settings you could use Arthurian myth times if you take the Welsh version and not that romanticized French one with Lancelot. Norse mythos would also work with the spell system although Jeff would stay out of Alfhiem (elves) and the dwarf areas. Still there are plenty of giants roaming Midgard.

By A4 the children are probably in hiding unless you count the GIFTS babies. In A1 you had a few children like Angharad (?) who grew up in A4 to run the merchants in Cotra. I think A3 in a few towns was the last to have children unless you count some BoA scenarios. Geneforge didn't have many children if I remember it. In GF2 there was one in Medab.

The closest the PC has to freeze is the daze/super daze spells. The next best is to stun them out of fighting. The best is to kill them before they attack so you don't have to think about it, I only remember two golem encounters (Tomb of Kyrann and under Almaria) and off course those pylons that can freeze you. You just have to be careful.

I don't think Jeff will add a teleportation spell because it would allow you to bypass his minefields. He is supposed to make them more interesting in GF4.

To avoid or reduce freezing use cold resistance items like rings. I forget how high your resistance needs to be to have a good chance. For a singleton there are three solutions: improve cold resistance, summon cold resistance shades to protect you, and the always unpopular save and reload.

The tunnel is on the other side of the Salt Marshes. Be sure to return and see Shanti before going through the center door just inside the Secret Tunnel. I forgot to and missed some easy experience points.

I like the old targeting system since you could do it from the keyboard. Some times it didn't work with elevations and adjacent target.

Actually a prequel works better than a sequel. This could be the first Roman scouts sent to map out Shadowvale for the fort. They could be co-opted by one Sidhe faction and spelled so they couldn't reveal that fact. The spell would explain why the weirdness in the area wasn't reported before the fort was built.

The problem is that people will find isolated areas to develope cannisters and geneforges where shapers aren't around to sense them. Drypeak was a failure where a few weak shapers were sent because they couldn't do much harm. If they hadn't come from Sucia Island then they wouldn't have had the knowledge to do the type of damage that resulted.

Ruling by fear is easier. There isn't likely to be the mistake that kindness is a sign of weakness. That's why serviles are punished for showing independent thought. In Japan they used to say that the nail that stands out above the others gets hit by the hammer. Although the Shaper's Council has taken it too far and that has caused the servile rebellion. In GF1 there were some endings where the serviles (Obeyers) were treated better, but usually they were cannonfodder that could be most useful by dying so they didn't contaminate the other serviles. The drayks are by GF3 considered too powerful and dangerous to be allowed to exist. The serviles have pushed their search for power to the point where their creations are more likely to go out of control and damage the world rather than help it. I don't think that certain creations will be allowed to continue in Shaper controlled areas.

Quote: Ooh I know! The ability to play singleton parties again, without level progression stagmenting midway through the game. I've played a singleton in torment through A4 and to get around level progression stagnation you need to do all those irritating little quests. Also skipping around the Great Cave to go after higher level encounters helps to raise your character at the risk of later stagnation. Check some of the old threads and you will see that other people have run singletons even with two disadvantages.

Quote: The reworked Nethergate would use the same engine, just beefed up. Probably Avernum style dialogue (this would take some time). Some new content. Interface and game system improvements. The interface would likely look a lot like Avernum's in the end. A lot of the major encounters would be reworked to be more in the current style (multi-phase encounters with adds and other special abilities). And the game would be rebalanced to make it more challenging at the end (something I have long felt is a major flaw in the game). The update would most likely be $10 for registered users. In addition to the general, overall reworking, there would probably one decently sized dungeon for each side (one for Romans, one for Celts). All of this, is, of course, at least 9 months in the future and subject to drastic change. - Jeff Vogel With Jeff already giving what Nethergate 2 will be like, I wondering what people would like to see if he makes a Nethergate 3? I don't see a need to improve the graphics and change the game engine beyond updating it for the current operating system. The spell system works well enough with the combat system and has some unique features that differentiate it from the other games. So all that would be needed is an intersting plot and some new dungeons to explore. My idea would to have a dispute between Sidhe factions where each side recruits proxies (Romans and Celts) to settle the matter. The players would need to find items in different places in order to prove that they are worthy to represent their side. The endgame would be an actual fight between the player run party versus the party that would have been created by playing the other side. So you would have players fighting a group that would be using the same type of tactics that they would use and have the same levels.