Delicious Vlish

Glass cannons, paper tigers, whatever you wish to call them, as much as it was true for the Agent in Geneforge, it is also true for the spellcasters in AVIV. Do not waste a point. Those five points you spent raising endurance could cost you big time later, when you could have raised Spellcraft or Magery. And didn't because you spent those points on Endurance. And yes, it's a big deal.

My latest party design is different. Up front, human female. Priestess. With Natural Warrior trait. There is one spell... One spell that you want to cast when you are surrounded by enemies. I can't say what it is, but needless to say, this spell is best cast from the center of a mob. So I created a character designed to be a monster chew toy. Lots of defense, priest skills, defensive skills, and the bonuses from the warrior trait. She can really take a beating. Monsters really do not like her. (Monsters tend to beeline for spellcasters now) One day, she will be my religious suicide bomber. Run in to a mob and cast that spell. And then every monster on screen that manages to survive will be drawn to her like flies to honey. The survivors are going to be super pissed. I am going to give her just enough melee skill and dexterity to get Quick Strike. I'll buy a couple of levels of this to make sure that she always goes first. I want monsters focused on her. Up second, a Nephil. Archer and thief. Bow user. Sniper. Pretty straight forward here. His job will be to make the monsters gathered around the priestess look like pincushions and to open stuff. A Slith. Lancer. Exclusive use of spears of both types. For up close pigsticking and long distance puncturing with javelins. He will have enough strength to carry his missiles, will be lightly armored to allow for more missile payload, and a vast majority of his skill points will wind up in the Sharpshooter skill and dexterity. His specialty will be death. Plain and simple. Long distance damage. Mage slayer. His sole purpose will be to achieve the highest damage possible with thrown weapons. And in the last slot, a mage priest. Glass cannon. All offensive geared. Nothing but spell energy and skills. Walking death. Portable nuclear device. The Vapouriser. No strength, no dex, no endurance, nothing but skills that contribute to damage, and lots of it. After the first character runs in to battle and casts that spell, and the missile launchers do their work, this person is clean up. POOF. Enemies all go bye bye. At least, that is how it should work. I hope.

I can think of at least one fight that you must run from in order to complete a quest. I have beat the game twice so far. There are optional fights involving artifacts... And one of these fights involves a whole lot of HARD hitting enemies. Nuts, I really want to discuss strategy. And I don't think I can with out violating the NDA. Oh I hate this.

Yeah, that is a good piece of advice. RUN LIGHT. Being encumbered is positively lethal. There are some fights that you simply must run from. Fast on Feet is good to have, because you don't need to outrun the monsters, just your fellow party members. Always, always make sure that your priest can run the fastest is the most sound piece of advice that I can offer. Death can be quite sudden and swift. There are, well, with out giving away what, things that will chew you up and spit you out. There are enemies that will lay the smack down on you. And when your front line goes, if your mages and such are encumbered with wands and reagents and such, they WILL die. Jeff really did a good job at making tactics important. Some times, it's better to send one character forward to wake up a foe or two and lead them back to a waiting ambush. The alternative is stumbling in to a massive battle you are not prepared for and say, walking in to a mob of 20 or 30 giants all of whom are bored and looking for somebody to crush with rocks. Not only is AVIV epic in size and scope, but some of the battles in game are absolutely astounding in scale. Running shoes are required.

I like blowing stuff up. I chug through potions like there is no tomorrow, and let loose with all the really fun fireworks. I can incinerate a huge mob in a single round usually. I can make 400 energy disapear in no time at all and all I have to show for it are piles of charred remains and a few items here and there.

You know, that is a really good point about spell casters running out of energy and fighters being able to continue to hack it out. It really caused me to sit down and rethink some of my approach. That is exactly my problem. Spell cost is staggering, and I have never burned through energy potions like I do now. Making 4 spellcasters isn't the right solution either as I have discovered, because after one very very long and particularly grueling dungeon crawl, and I went in there with at least 50 energy potions, I found my self out of energy and up chocolate creek with out a popcicle stick. Not a fun place to be. Four dedicated casters that could not conjure up some summons or blow the enemy to smithereens didn't last long. I don't recall this ever happening to any of my Agents.

I wont say which enemies, but there are some enemies that connected regularly with my tank. 181% armor score, probably at least 80% hostile effect resistance, and gymnastics. And he got chewed up and spit out. All I could say was, "OUCH!" There are a few things that hit really hard. And magic doesn't do much to them either. It becomes a grueling slugfest.

All you people that skimp out on tool use are in for a rude awakening very very soon. I can not say more, but Jeff doesn't like you folks and wants to hurt you. He told me so in an email. Your days are numbered.

My issue with melee, and this is true in many games, and not specific to AIV... In melee you kill one critter at a time. And this is fine and good if there is only one critter. This is simply not the case most of the time. Which is why magic appeals so much to me in these games. It's why I fell in love with the Agent in Geneforge. When Geneforge first came out, people said the Agent was the weakest class. The Shaper and the Guardian were the top dogs. My first Agent was a failure. So was my second and my third. I built several prototypes, all of them failures because they either focused on melee or shaping to get through the rough spots at the beginning of the game where everybody said the Agent sucked. So I played the Agent like an Agent and I just toughed out the first few levels. And things got better. And then I discovered that the Agent could fire off Searing Orbs that would do well over 200 damage... But only if you built them right. And the glass cannon Agent was born. Perfected in G2. And that is my problem with melee in general now. It's tedious having to kill everything just one or two at a time when I know that if I wanted to, I could obliterate everything and leave a little smoking pile of ashes. Once you do this, you can't undo it. The cat is out of the bag and you can't go back to slugging out big fights one at a time. AIV rocks. I can't wait till I can actually talk about the game in detail.

I'll tell you what got me... The Exploding Townspeople of Silvar. "Oh, hi!" **SPLORCH!** "Oh dear. Hot entrails everywhere." Those folk did a heck of a lot more than just act funny like the AVIV intro claimed. "My tummy hurts."

Hey Alorael, what did you think of the heat seeking explosive razordisks? Jeff really outdid himself didn't he... Talk about over powered. However, getting the tarrasque placentas so that you can buy those razordisks from the vendor was awfully hard.

I am not sure what we can and can not talk about here, but I am glad to see that I am not the only one that feels that melee is **cough** USELESS. As soon as possible the man that engineered the glass cannon agent will inform you how to properly blow stuff up in A4.

Blessed and Hasted summons can help on occasion. Like casting Summon Host. Or Arcane Summon.

I figured it out. G3 needed more cowbell. Or perhaps a talking skull.

I just stopped playing one day in the middle of the game. G3 is lacking something. Can't completely put my finger on what though. It saddens me. This is the first Spiderweb game that I have not been totally spellbound with for months and months, or even a year or longer. And then one day, I thought about what I loved about the very first Spiderweb game I played. Exile III. From a MacUser Shareware CD-ROM. I played the demo till I drove my self nuts. I ordered the game. I played it. I ordered the other Exile games, got the hint books, the whole package. And played them a long, long, long time ago on my ancient Centris 610. What I miss is choice. All the spells, the open ended classes, the real sense of role playing. Avernum is all fine and good... But it's only 4 folk, limited spells, etc etc etc. Geneforge was a novel idea. I loved the game. It was different. I fell in love with Vlish. And when it first came out, people kept talking about how Shapers ruled and how cool the Guardian was... And how much the Agent SUCKED. Which simply wasn't true. What the game lacked in choices and open ended character development, it made up for with philosophical questions and such. G2 was a rehash, and I think I started noticing it then. G3 had some engine tweaks, and then once I pushed those to their extremes, the game fell flat. I really, really miss Exile type games. More spells. More choices. A LARGER party. Oh, and I loved Nethergate simply because it was so darn different. Two games in one!

A proper winter weight kilt and leggings offers far more protection in deep winder than pants. It's like gloves vs mittens. Mittens keep your hands warmer because of the open space and shared warmth. But you are going to want a heavy weight kilt. Highland regiments wore them in the Great Wars and had fewer problems with frostbite then the soldiers wearing woollen troosers. Like anything else in the winter, you must accesorise properly. A good 16 to 22 ounce kilt will trap in several layers of air and develop a thermal pocket... A space of hot air that will actually drive the cold air out. Wear proper hose, along with leggings, and good boots, and you will be much warmer than those wearing bifurcated garmets. An Iverness Cape or a great coat, proper headgear, and layers of warm breathable fabric around your central torso to lock in core body temperature will keep you quite toasty, sweaty even, even in temps well below zero. I am curious about why you felt kilts were a problem in cold weather. One of two things must have happened. The Canadian Armed Forces must be poorly equipped with second rate equipment, which I sincerely doubt... Or there was a lack of proper accesorisation. Scots have been wearing kilts, and great kilts, in extreme cold conditions for centuries and they have proved to be remarkably hardy. I have an 8 yard heavy weight kilt in the Am Freiceadan Dubh Tartan. (Black Watch) It's quite lovely. It's also to damn heavy and hot to wear in the summer. It's good to see others in touch with traditions. Edit. My Black Watch kilt is frequently mistaken for being solid black at a distance. I know exactly what you mean!

Quote: Originally written by Student of Trinity: Mmm, at least for the Highland regiments in the British army (and their colonial affiliates), dirks and skean dhus (the older way of writing it, doubtless less phonetically accurate) are quite distinct pieces of kit. All officers wear skean dhus, tucked halfway into their left socks, just below the knee. Only colonels also wear dirks, which are much bigger, on their belts. The dirk scabbards do indeed often hold tiny forks and other utensils. The only customary use of the dirk at table is when the colonel ceremonially stabs the haggis, at which point the less civilized members present supply the supposed groans of the wounded beast. The second in command of the haggis party then proffers the napkin on which to clean the dirk, and the haggis is marched back off to the kitchen to be dismembered and served. The haggis party retires to a back room and downs a bottle of Drambuie (between them, thank heavens), quickly enough that they return to platters of haggis that are enhanced by a distinct spin. For the poor oppressed ragged Scot, the Black Knife was whatever sharp pokey object he could tuck away and keep hidden, so that he could defend himself. And yes, there is a big difference between military and actual civilian tradition. Both are valid. Not every Scot was in the service, though many did because it allowed them to wear their clothes and celebrate their culture. A crappy thing to do to a people, hold their culture hostage. Sgain Dhub is just about an old of term that you could get... I am a Dhubglas. Meaning Black and Gray. The spelling that you keep posting is a bastardised version, more typical with products bought from Pakistan, ie, the cheap flimsy knockoffs that mimic the real thing. You are quite correct though, for the most part, with the military tradition. There are however, even older traditions than those. Most so called traditions however, are falsehoods. Highly romanticised crap invented by Holywood or by false oral tradition. Like, hmm, entitlement. With few exceptions, pretty much any person, of any race, can wear whichever tartan they like. But always know the history of it in case you run into the real deal. (Somebody like me that might grill you on what you are wearing and why) This is not a good place to discuss this though. If you would like, stop by here and you will find a wealth of information. And you can find me there. IM me and I will send you my user name. I must warn you though, visiting may turn you in to a full time kilt wearer.

Quote: Originally written by Fissure of Men: Actually, it's only appropriate to pull it out at the table if the meat is very rare. —Alorael, who now wonders if concealed knives are covered by concealed carry laws. It seems at least possible that it's more legal to hide a gun than a knife. That's silly. In all honesty, most dirks came as part of full kit. There was a little fork and an even smaller knife. It was a practical every day sort of thing. Modern dirks, or Black Knives, are ceremonial tokens. Modern dirks are not suitable for table use. The proper term is Sgian Dubh, which literally translated means Black Knife.

Quote: Originally written by Student of Trinity: You've got to admire a culture in which the traditional formal dress includes a secret sock knife. Though in recent times it has been made less secret, to the point of flashy jewelled hilts. But the 'dhu' part originally meant that it was hidden, at least as I was told when I wore one. And there are suspect traditions about not drawing it except to draw blood, blah blah blah. The main reason not to draw it is to avoid slicing your calf. Actually, in polite trusted company or for fancy dress, it is tucked into the sock where people can see. For all other purposes, it is kept hidden, usually tucked away in the reversed pleat or secreted under the outer apron. That's the whole point of the Black Knife. And you are correct. You don't pull it out in a crowd unless you plan to draw blood... It's rude and if you pull it out suddenly, people will assume you are about to attack and act accordingly. That said, it is perfectly acceptable to pull it out at a table for eating purposes and such.

I dare say a kilt offers more protection in that situation then a pair of troosers. Take a normal kilt, 13 to 22 ounce wool. Now, that's roughly 8 to 9 yards of cloth around your middle. That's roughly 24 to 27 feet of thick heavy fabric. There is a reason they call them tanks. There are two aprons, and piles of pleats. Your dangly bits are well wrapped and well protected. There is also (usually) a heavy sporran hanging in front that keeps everything weighted down ever more. It's going to take a lot of effort and a lot of work for a dog to even find their way through all this fabric. Now, pants... Pants are made from light thin fabric. Anywhere from 4 ounce to 12 ounce, usually in a cotton twill. Most are about 8 ounces. A dog's teeth can puncture right through this with no effort what so ever and they can gnaw on your dangly bits. And there is no sporran, no form for groin protection, nothing slowing down the advancing canine that wants to bite your snausage. Frankly, I'd rather take my chances kilted. And as for the black knife, I agree. It works quite well on anything that might be bothering you, dog or idiot human that tries to lift your kilt.

Quote: Originally written by Mortimer: Quote: Originally written by Lt. Sullust: Oh, so you never put pants on your characters? No, commando is when you don't wear any underwear, pants themselves are fine. Correction. Commando is when you don't wear underwear with a kilt. As an actual every day kilt wearer, I felt the need to point this out. I no longer wear pants. At all. Ever. No more chafing and bunching. No more underpants. Ah, freedom. And to stay on topic, I would like to see kilts or male unbifurcated garmets (MUG) as a clothing option in AIV.

Creations can go rogue in G3. There are some critters now that can Dominate. It happens.

My favourite weapon? Why, the Agent of course. A living weapon. The Shaper version of the nuclear bomb.

There is a very simple solution for this. DON'T CHEAT.

Suck it up. Deal with it. You were warned that they were forbidden devices. Now live with the consequences. There are no cheats to help you.