SevenMass

So I read 1.0.3 has been released, and I thought; "lets install that update right away." After doing so, I launch the game to see everything went alright, and I stumbled upon the first issue: The game music plays in just one ear on my headphone. Very annoying. And I'm pretty sure it isn't my headphone because everything else works just fine, including the other game sounds. It is just the music that plays in the main menu.

After some more thought I came to the conclusion that I need 3 priest, 2 mages, a thief and 2 tanks. And the only solution I could find is this: fighter/thief fighter priest priest/mage priest/mage As far as I have been testing things, this seems to work out very well.

On a side note; All food being disgusting is unrealistic. To someone who was send down from the surface maybe, but those who grew up in Avernum will not see it that way. When they eat a baked mushroom, they will fondly remember the times when their mother used to make baked mushrooms for them. No, they won't think of it as disgusting. That a soldier from the empire, such as in A5 thinks that way is understandable. But the same text description appearing to the soldiers of Avernum such as in A6 is really strange. But then, if the same descriptions appear on food on the surface in A3 (I never played A3) then I guess I shouldn't complain.

In reply to the above post: My character has 0 pt in NL, he did both the chiefs son quest, and the return the scrolls quest and he still pays 500 gold for NL, 550 for the next point. SO that still doesn't address the 300 gold the OP claims.

Oh, You mean he has a second quest? The only quest I know off is that he wants you to retrieve the scrolls the chief's son took with him on his little trip. (can be completed while still in the demo)

Like I said, It was over 1000 gold before the quest, and 700 / 500 after the quest. But still not the 420 and 300 mentioned in the OP. So yes, the quest does lower the cost, I already knew that, but it doesn't address my point.

OK. More insight in the power party. Because The mage-thief is no longer a must, I really should be looking for a more optimal place to put the TU package. I've read in an other thread that mages need more skill points to function well and warriors max with less. This kind of fits my own experience actually, but I didn't thought of it before, I Guess I'm still stuck with the mage-thief in my head somewhere. So the best place to put the TU is on the warrior. So this makes the following party: #1: The front warrior. Nephil Divinely Touched Elite Warrior Uses Sword and shield. Gets the TU package Will get 6 STR, 10 END, TU package, get melee to 9 ranks after trainer, Some QA, finish with whatever gives him 20 battle skills and a few ranks in priest. #2: The battle priest and backup tank. Slithzerikai Divinely Touched Pure Spirit Uses pole weapon Will get 6 STR, 4 INT, 10 END, 9 pole, some QA, invest in Priest, finish with whatever gives him 20 Battle skills #3: The Arcane Archer Divinely Touched Natural Mage Uses bow throwing weapons. Will get 4 DEX 10 END, 6 Bow, 6 Throw, Invest in priest and mage, finish with whatever gives him a few battle disciplines and skills that increases his weapon damage. #4: The Wizard. Pure Spirit Natural Mage Uses bow for physical attacks and sword/shield for their magical bonuses. Will get 6 INT, 10 END, Invest in Mage, priest, spellcraft, mag eff. finish with whatever gives him a few battle disciplines. This still needs to be worked out some more, of course.

HMM This can't be right, I have to pay 700 and 500 for the first pt of AL and NL. (and it goes up for the next two) And before I did his quest it was over 1000. How do you get the 420 and 300?

Yep, you refuse to pay their their toll and tell em to stick it. Then buff up, and fight them. If you can't do that, wait until you are a bit higher level, or just lower the difficulty setting. To get inside Blosk, just talk to the gate guard and tell him you come from the castle etc, etc. They will let you in.

But at what difficulty setting? I'd advice playing at torment mode. And yes, it should get harder once you leave the great cave, or eventually, for that matter. But how much harder, depends on the difficulty setting, of course.

To clarify, the wizard I'd like to play isn't too far removed from the action. Otherwise it can't be a real adventurer. I'm thinking more of something a bit like the Magnificent Bastard but with a bit less "playing with peoples emotions" and a bit more of being "his own most useful piece."

Personally, I kind of like the idea of the wizard being someone who survives and thrives, not by being tough, but by being smart. The word wizard comes from wiseart, which contains wise, and the word Mage, comes similarly comes from Magi, which comes from the ancient Persian word for "wise/learned man." So what would be the ultimate awesome for such a guy? It would be that he strategises his way through the word! Staying at a distance, manipulating event so that he never has to fight, and thus doesn't have to be "tough." And for the magical wizard from fantasy fictions and RPG's, this means to me, that he manipulates events with magic as well as strategy. He makes sure he is at the right place, at the right time, and applies the right magical effect or spell so that he wins the day. Like a chess player who advances his goal without losing pieces, the wizard advances without losing HP. Now in a lot of games, Avernum included, this is not always possible. which is a kind of sad, because I like the idea. I mean, that is my vision of what a wizard should be.

No, XP is divided over the conscious characters. So less characters means more xp per conscious character. I personally do press on in most fights if a character becomes unconscious. unless its a really big fight or it happens very early. With some luck, its the highest level character, then the lower level ones can catch up a little.

My first impression so far is that it is far less linear than A4, and A5, already right from the start. Yet it is still pretty clear what you are to do next. In addition, the scripted events appear more natural and less forced than in A5. But I'll reserve final judgement until I finished the game.

OK, so what I gather so far, the best way to make the dedicated warrior, is to start out investing in: # endurance, # strength, # some dexterity, # defense (to unlock parry) and the remainder in # bow and throw. Build those up to the levels you want them at until you get to the trainer in the west great cave, then buy training in the melee skill. Then invest points in the melee skill. About parry. I've read in some other thread that playing the dodging game isn't going to work out in the end. It was the singleton thread I think. Investing in endurance is a big change. In A4 I finished Torment mode with base endurance. Although it meant lots of buffing. So less points available for other things, I'll need to get used to it, but on the on other hand, the prerequisites are lower this time.

I tested this several times and it worked every time, or rater, it didn't work every time... Do the Lord Trinket quest, and take Vanderin along with you. Right before you face Lord Trinket, open the gate back to the Food Depot, then walk into it, lets say, to get a free heal before facing the boss. The moment Vanderin walks into the Food Depot, the game crashes and you'll find yourself in the finder with the familiar "unexpectedly quit" and "report bug, or relaunch" dialog. The crash only happens when Vanderin follows you, and only when he enters the Food Depot. If I dismiss Vanderin before enterering, I can heal up before Trinket and return the same way without issue. If I kill Trinket, and then Vanderin leaves on his own, there is also no problem.

Hi all, Avernum is back, and I'm back. I guess I must be a loyal costumer... OK, to the point: At this point, I haven't gotten all that far past the demo area, so I'm not an expert yet, but I want to get this discussion started, and maybe motivate people who already know more to contribute. The goal is quite simple: Get through the game with the most optimal builts for: #1 Getting everything in the game, quests, items, unlocking options and places. (except maybe a very things of low importance if it requires to much of a sacrifice to get them) #2 Get through torment mode with relative ease. #3 Have fun! This one is important, it may cause a player who is mostly a power gamer, to still deviate to inferior strategies (numbers wise) here and there, simply because it is more fun, or less tedious. (I mean, who is going to backtrack all the stashes after having bought training somewhere halfway, the game) I'll start with the party and builds. Tips on what route to best take are also allowed in this thread, with the idea of traveling in an order that will net the most gain with the least difficulty. ----------------------------------------------------------- Since the unlock spell is gone, the tired old mage-thieve can be scrapped from the list. Since the heavy buffing is removed (according to the changes thread), we may actually need to invest in endurance now. I did with my first party, and I haven't regretted it yet. (like I said, only slightly past the demo area) From what I've gathered from various other threads: With Arcane Lore 15 (12 + 3) you can read all the books. With Nature Lore 18 (12 + 6) you can open all the stashes. With Tool Use 15 (12 + 3) you can access 98% of game Trap-wise. And with TU 17 (14 + 3) you can disable all traps. I don't know about locks though. From what I've experienced so far in A6, and from what I know from A4 and A5. I've figured out the following: 4 characters #1: The front warrior. Designed to deal heavy blow and absorb damage. Nephil Divinely Touched Pure Spirit Uses Sword and shield. The priest spells are mainly for light duty and backup. I went with Elite Warrior first, but I decided that maybe I could get more payoff from some extra magical backup. Discuss... #2: The battle priest and backup tank. Slithzerikai Divinely Touched Pure Spirit Uses pole weapon This one goes heavy on priest and on pole. He will be the main priest and a secondary tank. His pole will deal a lot of damage, and with his higher Intelligence he can opt to invest in anatomy and do even more damage to a portion of his opponents. #3: Archer/thrower priest/mage thief. Nephil Divinely Touched Pure Spirit/Natural Mage Uses bow/throwing weapons. This one will get all the TU the party needs, he will invest heavily in ranged attacks, and get light priest or mage abilities as backup or for light buffs, just like the front warrior. I'm not sure yet weather he should go for light priest or light mage abilities. Discuss... #4: The Wizard. Human (Nephil is better, but I like a more varied party) Pure Spirit Natural Mage Uses shield, a sword with non-combat enhancements, and a bow for backup. This one will get a high Intelligence score and a heavy investment in mage and priest skills, as well as spellcraft. I haven't yet figured out what else to get from him, or for him. Discuss... -----------------------------------------------------------

And while he is at it, maybe Jeff could also enable the ability to edit character levels, or just give and take away XP.

I have a G5 1.8 with 1GB ram, And I haven't noticed any problems.

Quote: Originally written by Randomizer: The other gate leads to a closed room in the Three Tunnels Mine claim. I think this is either a bug or an oversight. The secret door automatically closes if you move to far from it, and it can only be opened from the outside. I think Jeff should include a switch on the inside too.

Quote: Originally written by Alorael: Having game difficulties with names describing the target player rather than an absolute difficulty is a great idea. Casual, veteran, hard-core, invincible uber-robot... Quoted to emphasize! As said before "Beginner" and "expert" aren't good names for the difficulty levels either. Someone who prefers to play easy mode does not have to be a beginner, and thus such a name would insult him. But Alorael is spot on here! Alternatively, you could try the complete opposite. And make the level names as insulting as possible, in an exaggerated way. easy:"daddy, can I play?" and torment:"I live in my parents basement and have no life" This may sound strange but it can have a positive effect. Of course, there'll be some people who can't appreciate a bit of dark humor...

I'm comparing it to the A5 surface map made by member #449 And it still doesn't seem quite right...

I think SOUTH OF HARSTON and OUTSIDE OUTPOST + BLACKCRAG OUTPOST are messed up. You might want to double check it.

Quote: Originally written by Guest: If anyone is interested I made a complete map of the surface [14x12 grid of 256x256 pixels]. I do not have time to make one of the subsurface/dungeon layer. Ideally someone could use/tweak this map to make a fully annotated and interactive walkthru/website/helper app. <hint> I can't attach it here apparently and I don't have any bandwidth or time to setup a site to host the map but I can email it to someone here who does... Try: ImageShack

I haven't yet tested magery in A5 myself, but there are 2 things where you could have possibly made a mistake, I'll just mention them: 1# they must be skill levels gotten from actually investing points into them. Skill levels from items won't do, skill levels from traits (pure spirit) won't do, and skill levels from other magical sources, such as some quest rewards or reading books wont work. Skill levels from buying training does work however. The best way to verify you are really counting actual invested skill points is by looking at the cost of raising it an other level. 2# If you have the training window open, and invest the required points into the required skills, the special skill will not become active right away. You must first close the window, then open it again. Doing so makes the investment permanent, and you can't undo it anymore, at least, not without reloading.