MissSea

I have to say I adored the nods Jeff put in to all the previous games. I know others griped about the nostalgia, but it made me feel ... well, like I was back home. It's like revisiting your home town years after you've moved away, and found many things that haven't changed. Plus, I got to exploit the heck out of the information I remembered from A4. Hidden passages, backdoor routes all made for fun gameplay! MissSea

Incidentally, I found this area prior to getting the quest and defeated the undead henchmen. Then, when I got the quest and found him again, it was just him to beat. So sad for Veress'yss! MissSea

I've found that killing blue, or NPC, characters can bite you in the butt later on, but even if I haven't gotten a quest, I kill stuff left and right and manage to collect the reward. Case in point, the Darkside Loyalists. I wiped out that group (even though they were blue) early on after discovering the Abyss. Call it retribution for my personal hell of A5. However, the quest for them didn't come until Melanchion's realm much later in the game. My rule of thumb is if it has a name, it's probably got something important to say to you! MissSea

Have you been watching out for those little brown rectangles on the walls? Those are hidden switches that open up stuff. Use the key 'u' to highlight usable items on the screen. Also, it pays to collect those lanterns you see lying about the floor. I have each of my party collect a different type of lantern and use them frequently. Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish between the unhighlighted characters and back walls (especially blue backgrounds, for some reason) -- the lanterns help. MissSea

So I was ransacking the Castle Treasury and found the Crystal Mirror. I looked it up on the forums and found the only mention of it in Synergizer's Items List. Does this have a purpose? Could someone tell me what quest it belongs to? I don't wish to do any of Gladwell's quests, nor have I chosen to do the Sack Tenevra quest. Thanks! MissSea

Happy to report that even though I didn't have the Fort Monastery quest in my list, I was still able to sneak in and complete it. Also, I was able to go back to Levitt and get a pat on the back for my troubles. Re: Same issue, different circumstances, I completed two of the required quests from Melanchion -- can I still go and slaughter the Scourge? I did the Darkside Loyalists and the Bargha quests. Thanks! MissSea

Thanks for the good advice on completing the quest. Problem is, the quest is missing from my list now. I went to see Levitt after completing the two of the three (second level) quests: Fort Draco and Tenevra. After that, Levitt said there's something more important planned for me, and I got to see King Starrus. I still want to get into Fort Monastery. Can I still do this, or will the NPCs not let me in because I don't have the quest in my log? Thanks! MissSea

So, I see there was a bug about talking to Levitt after completing two out of three second tier quests and getting the other quest removed from your list, as you're now working for King Starrus. However, I'm a completionist, and I want to help Fort Monastery. I saw this issue was supposed to be fixed in the newest update (according to Jeff in December of '09) -- but I bought the game less than a month ago. Is there something I'm missing? Can I still help Fort Monastery? On another side note, the reason I didn't do the Monastery quest is that I recall from A4 there were secret passages along the west side of the cavern up from Grindstone. Are they still there? If so, how far do I have to venture to get those secret passages? Thanks in advance! MissSea

Many thanks, GIFTCockroach ... I always forget to go back and check the job board after I've finished all the quests from the first go-around. Am currently visiting all the cities again to make certain I haven't missed anything! MissSea

So I used the "showmeall" cheat and when I was in the Memorial Grounds in one of the tombs, I found a random red dot. I've searched everywhere -- but I cannot find how to get to the guy. Of course, as soon as I post this, I will either find the hidden switch or someone will show me how to get to the guy and the answer will be obvious. Until then ... the dot is located west of one of the chambers when you're in the lower level. It's north of the Portal Keep and in the southwest corner of the Memorial Grounds. Many thanks! MissSea

Apologies if this isn't appropriate/pertinent, but I felt I must say it ... Thank you, thank you, thank you for the stunning Avernum 6. It has surpassed my every expectation and restored my belief in good things in the world. After being lured to Spiderweb from Big Fish Games, I was certainly ... concerned after playing A5. Playing an agent of Empire, hated and reviled by all, put a bad taste in my mouth after having so much fun romping about as an adventurer. I knew I would be back to get A6, but was certainly hesitant as to what to expect from the game's feel. You have not disappointed ... at all. I'm currently hip-deep in the mire that is the Abyss, and have loved every second. This game consumes me as no other could -- in fact, as I waited for A6 to be ported to Windows, I found myself as frantic as a skribbane addict, looking for substitutes to fill the void. I found RPGs on my iPhone (love The Quest, which apparently loves you too, as there are multiple links to Avernum from Istara's posts at Catacomber.com). But as soon as I saw A6 was available for my humble PC, I was back. The time away has been hard, but I'm grateful for the triumphant return. Again, many thanks -- though my child may curse all things Avernum as she comes to understand what keeps her mother from attending to her daily needs, though we sit at the computer together and she giggles at the battle scenes. MissSea P.S. Not to beat a dead horse, but to all who reassured me I would love A6, you are SO RIGHT!!

Had to log on to reply to this one ... ADORE this art, Josefo! It's so aligned with mainstream comic art, and updating the older Avernum games with these portraits might help Jeff market to the Xbox generation. Would love to see more! MissSea

Lilith, on the contrary, IMO, I believe Jeff was making MAJOR statements re: the endings. How soldiers/do-gooders/believers pour their hearts and souls into their belief systems, only to have them thrown under the bus when the leaders need a scapegoat or quick fix, perhaps? Incidentally, I'd love to sit down with Jeff and pick his brain about his thoughts on current/past goings-on in the world. I'll have to stalk him at some sci-fi convention. We can compare notes on our daughters ...

You would think if the crystals were so important, they would be all over that like flies on ... well ... you know.

So offing the folks of Highground and the giants doesn't make the Vahnatai happy? I mean, isn't two out three better than none out of three?

Student of Trinity, that's pretty much what I've done -- stayed out of it. And Mordea's absolutely right: At some point, you have to make a choice. I've left most of the Azure Gallery unfinished because at some point, I have to piss someone off. Awful as it sounds, I really don't mind offing the giants. Perhaps it's some sort of discrimination on my part, but I wasn't a fan of them in A4. I really despise the folks in Highground, but I understand their position. I want to help the good folks of Muck, but the Vahnatai wouldn't appreciate it. I refuse to off everyone (though that might be interesting at some point to replay). This is like high school all over again! Alienate one group, they may be the person you need to beg for notes or borrow last week's quiz answers. Tick off another group, be prepared to spend a lot of Fridays and Saturdays alone.

Turtle's right. I didn't join, I had just arrived in the town. I learned early on to "keep your options open" when playing these games. No, the depression comes from the bait-and-switch the town pulled on me. I went back, fully intending on wreaking havoc, but the priest guy seemed so pathetic, I caved. I also am trying to do as Turtle mentioned: be ethical (hence, the caving). Follow the empress's example. Though she's on my list, too. From the dialogue with General Redmark, she doesn't sound like a spring chicken. She couldn't have thought, "Hey, I'm nearing my sixties/seventies/eighties. I don't have an heir! Let's save everyone a WHOLE lot of trouble and pick one out!" Royals ... Many thanks for the character editor advice, by the by. I was tempted to max everything out, but thought better and decided to just pump my spellcast and endurance a bit.

I definitely heeded Solberg's advice about the sentinels. I didn't venture into the NE because I "accidentally" triggered them when I went to kill Moref and got pwn'd by them before I could run. Henceforth, I stay away from that area (I can always come back later). The games are really great in letting you know, "Hey! You shouldn't be here! Back the heck up!" No, when I wrote this message, I had just entered the Sentinel Workshop. I didn't figure out the ranged vs. close attack strategy, so after the fiery and crystal sentinels destroyed me, I was getting frustrated. I'm currently in Anama, beating up on the chitrachs -- again, it's not hard. Just like I expect. I'm following a walkthrough, and I'm pretty sure what I'm to expect in just a bit, which really depresses me. I've thought, "Maybe I'm frustrated because this is hard." But in reality, though the workshop sentinels were difficult, the strategy I figured out eventually got me past them. You all are so right: the games aren't hard, if you figure out the strategy to defeat the current monster at hand. No, what I've figured out is, as an Empire soldier, I'm hated and reviled NO MATTER WHAT. I hate that feeling. Especially now that I'm in Anama. So, knowing beforehand that the job I'm about to do won't win me any fans, really chafes.

Is the editor something different? I thought going into script files was the editor. Please clarify. Thanks!

@Sade: Precisely! Some parts are MINDNUMBINGLY easy. Drake Pillars? Could have slept through it. Northern Isles? No problem. But the extremely sharp learning curve once you hit those sentinels ... whew! I guess my gripe is that a casual RPGer shouldn't have to know ANYTHING about building a party. Just a bit of strength to carry decent armor, endurance to build your HP and mage/priest skills for healing and major defense later on. @Dikiyoba: I want to support independent gaming. I won't ask for a refund. I'll confess I didn't try the demo for A5, but it wouldn't have helped anyway. The demo ends at the Harston Docks. But I will be a bit more cautious before jumping into A6. Jeff was smart to offer A4 on Big Fish. It's just the sort of involved RPG a casual gamer like me could enjoy. @Student of Trilogy: I think I may take your advice. I've already maxed out my wisdom crystals. Maybe I'll go back into an old save file and tamper a bit with how many knowledge points they give and pump it up. Thanks everyone!

Thanks for the good advice, Randomizer. Maybe I exaggerated a bit when I said I was being taken out with one hit. All of my party is at least level 8 endurance at Tranquility (which isn't even halfway through the game). I know I'm complaining, but nowhere in A4 was there a point when I said, "That's it! I've had it! I'm done!" I'm about two sentinels away from that point now.

Thanks, both of you. I used Synergy's trick (with Earth's advice on major buffing) and got through, no problem.

As I continue this game, I'm feeling a bit like Sisyphus, rolling my boulder up and down that hill. I feel that -- on EASY, mind you -- A5 is simply not for the casual RPGer. I flew through A4, not knowing anything about building my party or training in stats (other than mage or priest skills). In fact, I accidentally made my one of my characters both mage AND priest. But if I'm playing A5 on easy and already jumping into the script to change how many skill points my knowledge crystals kick out, there's a problem. If a player selects level "easy", it should be relatively simple. Having sentinels killing you with one ranged attack isn't easy. This is my second game from Spiderweb, but if A6 is anything like A5, I'm not going to buy it. This was previously discussed in another thread here. Rather than resurrect a dead post, I figured I'd just link. Of note, I just read the update on A6 (November) that states the levels have been ... well ... leveled. That's good to hear. I'll probably try the demo, but I'm especially wary about paying ~$30 for it, as I got A4 from BFG for $6 and loved it, and paid $28 for A5 and am ready to throw my monitor through my window.

It feels like I'm slogging through this ... since I'm a completist, I keep passing these pits I need to explore. Bear with me ... So I found a pit near Harkin's Landing. Right after you leave the rapids, if you head due south and hug the west wall, you'll come upon it. Is there a trick to getting through this stuff? Every time I try to sneak out onto the lava floor, I get scorched by one of those calderas. Is there a trick? Am I approaching an area from the wrong side? I'm thinking no because unless you come from where I am, you're stuck with no boat (and having to go back where you came from). Thanks! MissSea

Hmmm, thanks for the info. Sadly, I already attacked Ruth, so I suppose she won't be offering me another chance later on. I felt so 'involved' in A4, so the reactions in A5 are really disheartening. I'm sure that was the creator intention, but it's still a radical shift from before. I've never been so invested in a game. Normally, I'm a melee hack-and-slash. Must be new motherhood. Makes me all ... soft.