Laikos

Uh, sorry to do necromancy on a dead thread... But how in gods name do you drop Melanchion? I played through on hard and literally explored every square inch of Avernum... all knowledge brews made... and Gladwell wasn't a big problem with invul potions on my tank in hard mode. Melanchion, on the other hand, 1 shots my party. Any tips or at least a text blurb from if you kill him? (spoiler tag of course).

I'm trying to optimize switching between a +str to creations belt and a +int belt. I'm playing through on hard with a lifecrafter focused on summons. Does the +str to creations belt take effect during the summoning, or is it an active buff only while I wear it? Knowing that will help me choose which to wear when. Thanks =). P.S. is this game long? 80 areas seems like a quick breeze through compared to the epic Avernum 6

I currently have a singing rapier (10-20 +1 blademaster +2 quick action) and nephil warblade (10-20 +1 Str/dex -10% fatigue) on my dual wielder. Not sure if I should up to the blessed broadsword (12-36 no stats)

Argh, sorry. I listed "wizard" instead of priest, haha, it must have been very late when I posted. I'm upping my endurance to 10 as was suggested, but I'm really really unhappy with my dual wielder. I'm up to the tower of the magi and have killed the laughing demon and am generally operating in the eastern cavern (not sure what % completion I'm at). I've dumped all knowledge elixirs to my dual wielder since he's gimped from the tool use points. Just the same, right now he's hitting with 1-2 flurries (haste) for only about 20-60 total damage per flurry... whereas my polearm user is hitting for 50-90 sometimes twice, with a second combat round from haste (!!!!). I almost feel my dual wielder is weaker than the summoned pets. What am I doing wrong? Repost of stats: Warrior (pike): Lizard 7 Strength, 4 Dex, 9 Endurance 7 Pole, 10 Quick Action 5 Hardiness 2 Defense 4 Parry, 7 Blademaster, 1 Riposte (mainly from items) Warrior (dual wield): Kitten Gimped from taking tool to 11 5 Str/Dex and 8 End 7 Melee 10 Quick Action 2 Hardiness 4 Quick Strike, 2 Blademaster, 1 Anatomy, 3 Gymnatics, 3 Dual wield.... (Use mercuric leather BP? is the STR loss net positive?) P.S. I'm hoarding every resist item I get with a character completely full on alt gear... will that pay off late game for specific encounters or should I dump the gear for cash?

Okay, running into some snags. Either hard is a seriously difficult endeavor or my build is wrong. I'm using choke points and retreat pulling... pre buffing before a serious fight and using debuffs liberally. Haven't been using wands much. I've cleared all of the central cave and am now pushing east to the great portal. Warrior (pike): Lizard 7 Strength, 4 Dex, 6 Endurance 7 Pole, 10 Quick Action 5 Hardiness 2 Defense 4 Parry, 7 Blademaster, 1 Riposte (mainly from items) Warrior (dual wield): Kitten Gimped from taking tool to 11 5 Str, Dex, and End 7 Melee 8 Quick Action 2 Hardiness 2 Quick Strike, 2 Blademaster, 1 Anatomy, 3 Gymnatics, 3 Dual wield Pure Mage Pure Wizard I'm really not sure how far to take quick action with my pikeman before shifting back to melee... and also I'm unsure when to upgrade base stats for both the melee characters. The dual wielder feels like he's hitting enough but once again I'm not sure how far to push with quick action or strike as opposed to base stats or another category I haven't unlocked. Some fights are taking me 6 reloads before I come out on top, and some are just plain impossible for me (the lizard ambush in the north cave remote area or the demon south of the great portal) Any suggestions on how to develop my melee from here?

Sorry... last question. When training is it best to hold off til as late as possible in the game to get the free skill points, or do I just grab when I can. P.S. Wow all 8K+ posts in this thread... Thank you for your kindness.

Thanks a ton to both of you... it's good to see a game with such a hardcore following doesn't also go with the "go elsewhere and research, noob" knee jerk reaction =). So riposte isn't a huge deal? I looked at the ability to redirect an attack back to the attacker as pretty godly.

I'm new to Avernum coming over from Avadon. One large complaint of mine in Avadon was the rather simplistic character progression... and whooo boy this is not a problem here! I'm intending to do a hard playthrough for my first go at this with a Tank/dps/priest/mage combo. It is my plan to have the tank use a shield and fast track to the parry and riposte lines. Dps I haven't decided on an archer or a melee dual wielder --any suggestions? I couldn't really keep agro on the tank in Avadon and I'm worried the same will happen here and my poor rogue will break. Priest and mage will be pure. So... Main questions: Is the xp penalty for using the non human races a major issue? Do you suggest that I MUST use <x> race with <y> class or is it not much of a big deal? What positive perks are unusually helpful for each of my classes long term? What negative perks do you typically use for character archetypes? I see that training can get me through most of the utility based checks in the game like nature and arcane lore, but should I have a certain amount to begin with to serve me early on? How far would you go into defensive style skills with the dual wielding dps character? Thanks again, I'm quite new and reading through the posts but it'd a bit too much information for me to parse right now. Any tips greatly appreciated.

I'm fascinated by the retro feel and strategy of Avadon, and I admit it is my first Spiderweb game. I was brought to it from iPad but I see most people liked other series more for less linearity in characters and storyline. That being said... what do you suggest I go to next? And if you say something like "Geneforge," should I start from the beginning or do a more recent title due to improvements?

I'm a bit confused, I thought taking my 3 potential characters up to level 4 on lockpicking gave me a better bonus than one with level 4... but the dragon's chest remained at 7 picks and 3 picks. Are the dragon's chests special or is +4 your best total skill for lockpicking?