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The Tinkermage using throwing stars is all the more annoying because the solution would be very simple: give the Tinkermage, who is a ranged-combat specialist anyway, universal access to ALL types of ranged weapons, and maybe throw in a type exclusive to them as well. Their coolness factor would go up approximately 200%. The idea popped into my head 10 minutes after posting: why didn't it pop into Jeff's? Potato - the flip side of Jeff's writing is that usually the text is optional; you can complete the game with minimal attention to the storyline. This sometimes gives the player an illusion of choice without any real choice, as in Avadon one, where whatever choices you make throughout the game, the ending is largely the same regardless.

Alcander may be amusing but I have to say that I'm very underwhelmed with Tinkermage as a class. To take full advantage of the Turret Construction skill set makes the character underpowered-to-useless with melee and ranged attacks, and turrets are only worth constructing against powerful enemies -- in roving trash mob type fights, the Tm with a full turret construction skill tree looks exactly like a mage who's out of spells. He can throw razordisks ineffectually and that's it. Besides which -- the more conventional battle skills the Tm CAN have make them look like a Shadowwalker knock-off: grenade is like Lightning Pot and the other special attacks also seem way too ninja-esque. At the very least, the class should have its own ranged weapon: a razordisk is a shuriken for all intents and purposes, and having to equip it really robs the Tinkermage of whatever identity they might have had. Rather disappointing; I'll doubt I'll use Alcander much or ever play a Tinkermage as my protagonist. A considerable lack of imagination on Jeff's part, here.

PRO: Khalida's "pauses" are intriguing, and almost give a real-world feel to the character, as if she suffers from mild autism or something. I'm sure they'll tie into her solo quest, or into the continuing mystery of the rebel leader (WTF was his name... Kheless, Dheless, Khan...) or some such. Silke's cute. Wouldn't kick her out of bed. The byplay conversations between your party members feel much more in-depth than did their occasional interjections in Avadon 1, which had a certain de rigeur quality to them. ("Nathalie watches in fascination as the older Shaman's character unfolds through discourse with your protagonist.") Here, I can actually picture Khalida and Yannick bickering at each other as they roam from one side of Lynaeus to the other. CONS: At least inside Avadon, the text on the mini-map that shows room functions are all horribly overlapping with each other, and nigh-impossible to read, defeating the purpose of having said text -- to help you learn your way around. 3 or 4 times already I've wandered across the castle looking for Heart Proteus' room and found the other side of his wall, then having to backtrack. Maybe I'll get used to it, but outfitting and equipment-swapping between five characters for upcoming missions felt intuitive: two melee classes, two magic users and whatever your protagonist is. Outfitting six all the time seems overly complex: two melee classes, two magic users, your protag, and... a modification of the Geneforge concept... it's more difficult to place the Tinkermage into the story I play in my head as I play Av2, because he feels as if he's ripped from another world entirely.

There isn't a need to cheat. There is however a need to not get sucked inside A2 like Jonah in the whale. Maxing out right off the bat makes me think, "oh yeah, it's just a game, maybe later" every half hour or so. The first Avadon gave me an RPGing experience I hadn't had since high school -- got home around midnight one night, thought "I'll play Avadon for JUST a few minutes..." and the next time I looked up from the screen there was daylight outside. While I enjoyed that, I can't really afford it these days.

The editor is the same as in Avadon 1. Levelling, money, buffing, instant healing. Just streamlines the game a bit. Is it cheating? Well, is snatching items from out of NPCs eyeshot cheating? Hm, the moral issue...

It's really a matter of not having huge amounts of time to spend playing A2 over the coming weeks. I will of course, but if I'm super-powered from the get-go, it makes the game a bit easier to put down at regular intervals.

Love the opening theme. Very Skyrim.

It's Shift-D and straight up to 30 for me. I'm not sure if this is the best way to enjoy a first playthrough of A2, but nor am I sure if I care.

A desk? The only rooms south of the Ogre's throne room are two small holding rooms, that warriors come out of during the battle. I do have the quest, and did when first entered the Wretch Warrens.

In the Wretch Warrens - been everywhere, can't find them. Not in the Ogre's throne room, not in the trophy room-area, not on the lower level that I can see. Where they at?

My first thought was, no, this blonde is much harsher-looking than Nathalie would ever get... but then again, she *could* if she never had the arm healed properly, and if it's not her Jeff has no reason to give this blonde an injured arm...

A showdown with Miranda is inevitable. Nathalie reappearing I'd lay good odds on, and Zetheron will I imagine have a plot-oriented role to play, i.e., appease him or he'll ally with the Tawon against the Pact. Duke Gryfyn will probably be around.

He's in the northern structure of the area where Shigaz takes you to fight the Kellem bandits, isn't he? He isn't appearing when I search the place.

Somewhere in the Beraza woods, "trash and bones near the entrance". Trash is all over the place in the Woods -- where're they at?

Yes, please do.

Really? I don't believe I've ever seen any items that add to the highest skill tree levels. Also, is there a cheat to give you items? I purchased Avenger's Greaves for Shima from the Kellem merchant who's stranded outside the castle and then... I apparently dropped them, somehow, somewhere on the ground. So annoying.

Playing through Avadon for the first time in probably over a year and playing around with cheat codes I didn't have previously, I noticed that it isn't possible to train any of the skills at the top of the tree to level 7 or 8. If you give any one character a 100% focus to either side of the skill tree, ignoring the other side, you only reach skill level 7 on the first two tiers at character level 30, with the third and top tiers left at 6. Yet you still see the "train this skill to level 7 or 8 for a bonus" message. What's the story?

Bah.

Has Jeff put one out there? Or an estimate? "slowly gearing up to it" could mean next week or three months from now. Avadon was easily my favorite Spiderweb game ever; getting a little impatient for the follow-up.

Has there been any news on when the game may be completed?

Originally Posted By: Lilith The game's plot is the same regardless of the main character's class. Unfortunately. By my third playthrough it began to feel rather 2-dimensional that, for instance, Shima and the other Shadowalkers in the game can't acknowledge if you're also a Shadowalker, or it doesn't mean anything to Nathalie if you're also a Kellem Sorceress.

Back to the endgame for the 3rd time. This time I sided with the Wayfarer and the 99% that wanted to overthrow the 1% of Avadon. But I can't get through the fight with Redbeard, even with liberal use of the Shift-D cheat. Can he replenish the Soul Jars forever?

Originally Posted By: Bushwhacker2k Originally Posted By: This * is a veiled reference. You only get the achievement by finishing the quests with the decisions that goes against your party members' wishes, not be refusing to complete the quests. —Alorael, who has no idea how the main menu tracks statistics. He paid no attention and can't help there. If you fought Redbeard and they joined you, you pleased them. Okay, that's the answer I was looking for for the achievement, thanks. In reply to the 2nd portion of the comment, I guess they must have really wanted to me to kill Redbeard (along with 99% of everyone I met in the entire game, this guy must be a genius at antagonizing people) 60+ years of iron-fisted rule will do that...

Originally Posted By: Randomizer It's because you are using it on a scripted character. Scripting overwrites normal effects usually so things like area effects happen with stunned monsters. The Rod of Attraction worked on the scripted characters, but no matter how many times I pulled Neray back she'd eventually escape down the mine anyway. And the game piles undead on you when the Shadow Beast slips away, which makes it nearly impossible to get it back. As Moritz'Kri is scripted to kill the Beast later, I suppose there's no game mechanic that would allow you to kill it in the woods.

If you take the Wayfarer's job to tell the Kellem commander that the other trader is a traitor, Calantha is gone when you return to her camp. Is there something else story-wise that happens there or does she just skip out on your reward?