Mick of Time

Done. Thanks.

Can I go ahead and take this guy out? I'm currently slogging my way through the Azure Gallery, and have received hints about some vahnatai ahead. Thus, I'm worried about this guy being the object of a future quest or something, as he's not immediately hostile. Is it safe, quest-wise, to go ahead and attack him, or should I hold off?

Make sure that you look for the mote of light that appears around one of the statues when the message that the shade has moved appears. It only appears once per statue, and it's easy to miss. Focus your attacks on that shade for a much quicker victory. I tried to dumbluck my way through this battle, and got really frustrated. Best of luck.

Thanks. It was looking like there wasn't much choice, anyway. Appreciate it.

Didn't see this particular question, so i'll bring it up. Will I get a chance to come back to the Howling Depths after getting through it? I'm starting to suspect that maybe all those interesting side passages are there simply to tempt me away from my run, forcing me to choose between exploration and possible loot and, you know, survival. Can I return later?

Ah, didn't realize that there was more than one. Thanks.

I believe the trigger for his fleeing is the use of the switch which accesses the ambush area. So, yes, he's gone, unfortunately.

Got an expensive tip in Harkin's Landing from Kelda that there is some treasure that is being guarded in the slith lair S of Exodus. Went there, cleared it out and rescued the prisoners. I got some slith spears and stuff, but nothing fantastic. What did I miss?

Thanks. Rather a weird mechanic, but whatever. Maybe it'll make more sense at the proper time. Appreciate the heads-up.

Having found out both Kolata and Kelda and reported both of them to Pefko, this quest still lists as active in my log. Is there something else to it, or is it just a glitch?

Man, that's just mean. Guess I'll be on the lookout for red herrings like this from now on. I hadn't thought to use these tunnels to avoid Hasen's goons, though I didn't seem to have much trouble with him either. Thanks!

Just about to enter the Northern Frontier for the first time. I typically like to have everything behind me cleaned up, as it were, as much as possible before tackling a new area. All encounters done, loot stored/stashed, etc. There's only one thing bugging me. On the dock road, on the E side is a small tunnel complex. There is a visible trapdoor which is blocked by rubble, and a passageway also blocked by rubble. There appears to be no way to get to them. Tried searching for secret doors, liberally using the "u" key, tried going underneath, to no avail. Is this something to which I'll come back later, or just an evil tease? Or am I doing something wrong (generally my default assumption)? Thanks!

^ Typically that's what I do too. The trouble here is that there's no chance to do so before the fight takes place; this is the old engine, where you are taken from the world map to the combat map in the event of a fight. And...buff spells don't work on the world map. I tried out haste at the beginning of the fight, but the multiple Slow spells cast by the aranea instantly cancel it out. Oh, right, they Haste themselves, too. I have to admit, in a very perverse way, I'm enjoying getting my butt handed to me over and over again. This must be what groups of NPCs feel like when max-buffed parties of demigods roll over them throughout the game. Payback - we all know what it is. I like the idea of using up some haste potions on this fight, though. Presumably, you'd be able to carry over the bonus from the large map into the small as long as you drank it right before the combat takes place. That first round makes or breaks the fight, but even so I think I'm gonna have to get lucky, too. Thanks all! Editing to say that, in the initial post, I meant to say "normal", not "easy". I'm not that bad at this, I hope!

Man, these guys are ROUGH. There's an encounter with a group of aranea on the map directly south of Fort Draco (this is A2). It seems to average around 6 of them...and they have kicked the hell out of me every time. I seem to get one round to do my buffs, initial attacks, what have you, and then they start in with multiple slow spells, followed up by smite spells that seem to devastate my party every time (and also seem to have unlimited range...what's up with that?). All of my mass damage spells are ice-based at this point, and they seem to be resistant to that. I've tried hasting my guys during the initial round, but that immediately gets cancelled out by all of the slow spells. So, this begs the question...am I SUPPOSED to be able to beat them now, or do I resign myself to coming back? I hate leaving anything unfinished before going on to the next chapter, but I'm out of ideas. I also swore that I wouldn't cheat or change the difficulty level to make things easier on myself (it's on easy right now). I'm playing with 2 melee fighters, 1 mage, 1 priest. Casters also have basic cross-training in the other magical sphere (level 1 spells only). Help me out!

Thanks, guys. Oddly, based on my experience with other Spiderweb games, I'd been saving the ore and meal anyway. Wine I already knew about, and the rest I haven't seen yet. So, I'm good. Thanks again.

For some reason, I've never sat down and played through Avernum 2. One of the things that always frustrates me is getting to a late point in the game and finding out that I should have been saving some trivial item that I'd been selling all along, and that is now of critical importance. I'm not a big walkthrough user for these types of games, but I did like how in Schrodinger's walkthrough for A4 there was a nice list of stuff to hang onto, whether for later nice selling prices or for quests. Anyone care to put together such a list for this game?

Thanks for the replies, guys. But get this. After cruising around all three towns, yes, in the same day, multiple times, I vaguely remembered someone mentioning that she was a member of the Anama. I went into the temple, intending to ask Ahonar where in the hell she was...and she was sitting right there. Sitting. Not moving. My assumption is that she had been there all along. After being told specifically that she was a wanderer, I find that very misleading. So, I found her, but I really don't like the construction of that particular segment of the game. Any other wandering characters coming up that I need to be on the lookout for?

In Avernum 3, sprcifically. Not sure if there are any in Avernum 1 or 2. I am looking high and low for Meena, who according to another thread can be found in Shayder, Hectar, or Kuper...SOMETIMES. I have been to all of these places multiple times, and have yet to see her, both before and after completing Jed's quest. Finding her is literally the last thing I have to do on this island, and I'm getting frustrated. So, my question: is her presence in a town random for that town every time I enter it? In other words, can I simply exit and reenter a town in the hope of getting her to pop up? Or is she "making the rounds", as it were, spending a certain amount of time in one place before moving on to the next? And finally, what does she look like? I'd hate to think that I've actually seen this chick before, but simply blown past her because she looks just like a guard. Any hints or just overt answers would be appreciated, as I'm ready to move on. By the by, I appreciate that it's not essential to find her, but I'm an anal-retentive completist, and if I don't find her it's just going to bug me. Thanks!

Now we're talking. Thanks guys...I've got a much better handle on this stuff now. 'Preciate it.

Thanks for the tips. Could you be a little more specific about a "reasonable" amount of time? I've always prided myself on taking an unreasonable amount of time to do stuff in RPG's. Sounds like that's going to bite me in the butt this time around. And in regard to your day 180 statement...are we talking game-ending event or just a big hassle event? Thanks!

New to Avernum 3, although I thoroughly enjoyed the previous installments in the series. I gather that there's something of a time limit this time around. Specifically, on certain days, towns are destroyed and things get generally more effed up. A pretty cool feature...but it worries me, as I like to see everything I possibly can and take my time, but don't want to miss stuff. Is there a breakdown somewhere of what happens on what days, what days to watch out for, etc? Hope there is and that someone can point me in the right direction. Thanks!