Untamed Banana Slug

Isn't it canonical that Rhakkus was killed post-GF2?

I'm just describing a rather neat little bug in the game. Regarding the volcanic vents area in the Northern Isles, when the portcullis slams shut behind you, you can just *pass through it* and avoid the nightmarish gauntlet of volcanic vents dealing out 60+ fire damage.

You're entering a zone containing volcanic vents and ferocious cat people who you just annihilated with extreme prejudice. As flame and ash spews out all around you, you double back and find yourself in a zone of relative safety. You look behind you to discover that you have just passed through... the incorporeal door.

LOL! That's actually a good exploit you have there, especially if you want to steal a merchant's goods with impunity.

Just a very minor correction:

 

"Skarp (kill) - Rat Tail Band (2% Armor, 6% Poison Resistance, +5% To Hit), Gold Necklace, Chainmail Vest - W"

 

Skarp doesn't drop the Rat Tail Band and Gold Necklace. In fact, nobody drops a gold necklace. However, the Drunken Militia (nephil) he is with does. So if you suggest that Skarp's friends buzz off, you miss out on the Rat Tail Band.

I find that having a lantern activated is even better, as it allows me to distinguish items on the ground.

No. What I mean is that on Torment, if your resistances/armour are under a certain value (about 30%), you receive NO damage reduction whatsoever. Ergo. There is a 'threshold' resistance percentage value you must possess in order to receive any damage reduction, and even if you are above this threshold value, the damage reduction is far less than what is depicted on your stat sheet.

For example: My slith has a fire resistance of 30%. On Torment, I receive *no* damage reduction when blasted with a fire bolt. On Normal, I receive 30% damage reduction from a firebolt.

If my Slith has 55% fire resistance, on Torment I receive a damage reduction far less than 55% (somewhere around 15-20%). On Normal, I receive a damage reduction of 55%.

This is what leads me to believe that Torment mode makes an 'invisible' deduction from your resistances when determining damage reduction that you receive from any enemy strike.

If you doubt me, then simply start up the game as a human with Divine Warrior trait (armour 20%, or something close to that) and let yourself get whacked a few times by the undead, both on Torment and Normal difficulty. I'm willing to bet you will not receive any damage reduction on Torment, but will have a 20% damage reduction on Normal.

I'm aware of the current hypothesis on how damage reduction works, and it makes perfect sense. But, it doesn't explain why my slith with an armour and fire resistance of approximately 35% fire resist/armour NEVER receives damage reduction on Torment, whereas that same slith receives the correct percentage reduction in normal. I'm assuming that there is some sort of invisible deduction to your PCs' resistances on Torment, similar to what occurs in Diablo 2 when you progress to Nightmare/Hell difficulty.

By the way, isn't it amazing that every time I try to give this game another chance, I'm able to find something about it that pisses me off 10 minutes into gameplay? You'd think I would have learnt by now.

It's not just that. Based on the incomplete and misleading information, you may make decisions regarding character creation that are downright detrimental. It would be like a world class fighter being told that the karate tournament he is participating in allows punches, so he spends most of his training time increasing his upper body strength. Except when the tournament comes around, oops, they tie his hands behind his back. Added to this, buff up all of his opponents with steroids and cybernetic arms, and he's in for the curb stomping of his life.

Because when my stat screen says 30% fire resistance, I expect 30% fire resistance. Buffing the enemies (or improving their AI) is one thing, but handicapping your character in such a cheap fashion as well, and not even having the decency to tell you about it, is just ridiculous. Jeff must be some sort of masochist, I can almost imagine what he was thinking when he rationalised this nonsense.

"Hmm, OK, so I've made it that Torment difficult doubles the hitpoints and damage output of all enemies, meaning that any players will be hacking away at boss characters for 20 minutes. What else can I do to piss players off?"

"I know, I'll automatically deduct resistance from the PC, so that they can flagrantly waste skill points on resistance boosting stats and not receive any noticable effect in return. Even better, I won't mention this anywhere in the documentation, so they'll need to play the game on both normal and torment to discover my little stunt. Tehehe, brilliance."

I just made a rather shocking realization. Torment doesn't just increase your enemy's damage and hit points, it reduces your resistances as well. What the hell, that's hardly fair! Pumping up the strength of the enemy is one thing, but shamelessly nerfing your character is another. If I needed any further justification as to why Avernum 5 is a cheap pile of garbage, I just got it.

Well done! Damn, those are some pretty high resistances, especially for acid. Perhaps a Slith isn't so bad after all.

 

How did you manage the first portion of the game, when you had so little spell energy?

Well, obviously! But how long can you spam a 25 EP spell for? Randomizer had 655 EP, which equates to about 26 arcane blows (when you don't take magical efficiency into consideration).

Also, you don't get arcane blow (and the required mage skill) until rather late in the game.

Strangely enough, mages don't have access to a highly damaging, relatively low cost single target spell like Smite.

So the best damage dealer is... a priest? That is what Microsoft Excel suggests, with Smite doling out more damage than Pole and Bow for the same skill point investment. Its nice to know that my suspicion is supported by experience, and that such a character is viable.

The difference in base damage is minor. I'm not doubting your results, it's just very surprising that repel spirit is doing less damage than smite, given that few undead have decent disruption damage resistance.

Maybe the documentation is wrong?

By the way, was spell energy a problem for this character, or did you have it in abundance?

"At this point I do almost 300 damage with smite, 200 damage with repel spirit, and 200 damage with divine fire."

 

But they all have the same damage multiplier.

My favourite characters would include:

 

Alwan - The dude has nerves of steel.

 

Akhari Blaze - A highly competent trusted lieutenant is a nice change.

What do you mean by 'best' and 'worst'?

I think it's sort of obvious that Avernum 6 will likely revolve around open conflict over resources in Avernum. Not only was this a touchy issue in Avernum 5, it's inevitable that people are going to have to eventually fight over the finite amount of space and resources in the underworld.

 

It just raises the question: Who would the Empire support if Avernum was attacked? Obviously the Vahnatai are out, but Dorikas (if he lives) might not want to support traitors to the Empire either. He'd probably just sit back and enjoy the show. On the other hand, the Vahnatai don't exactly have a rosy history with the Empire, so allowing them to gain more power might not be a good idea.

I preferred the original version, to be honest.

As a warrior (on Torment), I was able to shake off the damage that the worms inflicted, and focused all of my energy on the spawner. Each worm did about 20 physical damage, and 40 acid damage. As you can imagine, you need decent acid resistance, Randomizer made a great suggestion the Jade band. I usually equip the Jade Band for most of the game, until I can obtain the Forbidden Band. Also equip the Shaped Armour you get in Stoneworks and attack a Runed Amethyst. It's the best armour you'll get for a while.

 

It's important that you don't fall into the trap of not using the augmentation crystals, because those little additions they offer to resistances all add up.

Isn't there a friendly rat around Fort Muck?

The sorceress, because I can't fathom how anyone can complete the game on Torment difficultly with any other class. You can pump Mental Magic to such high levels that you can charm eyebeasts, and purchase a few levels of shaping skills at a reasonable skill point cost. And the lightning aura/essence lances spells are awesome, I love the artillery like sound they make.

 

My close second favourite is the Warrior. Being at the vanguard of your creation army when you take the battle to the enemy is just awesome.

I loaded up my warrior who has made it to Dera South Shore, and he has two cryoa, one vlish, and a war trall. I haven't played any further, it should be interesting to see how he holds out.