Vee

I always got a kick out of the super colorful sprites. But the new, improved artwork (especially since I've been slowly working my way through Geneforge 1) is just wonderful. I did not imagine it would be so nice. I think it's even improved since the last entry.

I captured a Hraithe with level 2 at around level 20-21. Didn't check the accuracy report. Having a hraithe is pretty neat. :3 I tried to capture an Efreet, but it was probably too powerful/my spell level too low. Seems like it's possible, though.

I've barged into the Lava Dome and gotten to the hint saying I should smoke a pipe between the eastern pillars. I have a pipe in my inventory and I've been scurrying amongst the pillars on the eastmost side of the map, following that little peninsula to the 3 poles outside of the dome. Nothing's happening. What am I doing incorrectly?

The links in the additional maps topic for the Honeycomb don't seem to be working. On that note, I admit I'm pretty frustrated--I am struggling to find my way back to the Dragon's Gate. I don't remember at all how I first reached it. I want to do the Horror quest before I wrap up the game; I've already opened the gate (I raised it by doing the whole boat thing), but now I'm back at the Honeycomb zone from the Mertis entry and I'm completely bewildered. This is the only time I've not found Harehunter's wonderful maps to be helpful! I'm totally disoriented. Can anyone point the way? Edited: This post by Jerakeen gives excellent instructions on reaching (or returning to) Dragon Gate. http://spiderwebforums.ipbhost.com/index.php?/topic/13357-a6-dragons-gate-forgot-how-to-get-there/#entry163132

I found the difference between a 2 hour fight and a 30 minute or less fight with Redbeard was using every single item I could, using the strongest ones early (once you get to the soul jars portion of the fight), which I had hoarded because I have problems 83. Even using weak wands to get a few damage helps. Stack poison, corruption, and acid on Redbeard and the soul jars. Use status effects. Use your buffing items. Have everyone summon a helper with a wand of summoning, and use these little pokemons to eat damage for you. Spread out the crystals, potions, and wands among your party and keep everyone hasted/frenzied and well-warded. Maximizing your item use means maximizing the utility of your AP, and this is the pivot point at which a really, really hard battle becomes only a matter of time. Granted, I defeated him on Normal--ymmv on higher difficulties, but I imagine items are still essential for victory under those conditions.

The option to have some little crops making food items would have been awesome. It's ultimately not going to have an impact on the mechanical aspects of play, but I agree... Scooping pears out of the dirt :3

So I freed the drake... Oops! I've tried SDF 35 1 0 and pleaselikeme in the cheats. Neither has worked. I've been at least one screen north of HL on each attempt, but there are still hostile townsfolk. Do neither of these cheats work? Edit-- Nevermind. I used the Exodus teleporter and then zapped directly into HL. The townsfolk inside aren't hostile. Hope this helps some other FUTURE LIBERATOR!

Feels good to have actually defeated Redbeard on my first playthrough (albeit on normal, but with only 3 characters). Eventually I just played the last half of the game with Alcander and Khalida. Together with my sorceress, they made a pretty devastating trio. I can see how you wouldn't be able to 100% this game on Torment with a sorceress, though... Yikes. I had a hard time in some optional, solo areas. It looks to me like game 3 will start with a cloistered/vanished Redbeard, possibly with Heart Callan or Heart Protus trying to hold things together and the Council leaning heavily on the Black Fortress. I got what I consider the "best" possible ending (PC concentrating power successfully in Avadon for the purpose of militarily defending the Pact), but it can't possibly be canonical. (How I wish! Being the Keeper in A3 would be AY-MAY-ZING!) The 13 colonies were not all British, actually. Let's not forget the Dutch, whose holdings here were essentially conquered by the British. Also, let's not forget that there was a pretty good French and Spanish population in the New World. Lots of cultural differences, and many stemmed from religion. Massachusetts had blasphemy hangings, and plenty of people fled to Rhode Island and other areas. (At least a couple modern states were formed by colonists splitting away from major colonies--Delaware split from Pennsylvania.) Conditions and culture were by no means identical among the colonies, and they had some serious mutual distrust which shaped the federal government in its iterations.

Ah, thank you Alberich. I tried searching 'Dymas' but got no result. Turned out not to be as difficult as I expected!

Some spoilers (nothing you wouldn't see from the Achievements, though, I suppose). I am on the last stage of Esmee's quest for Dymas. I know you are supposed to be able to save her, but how does this work? Do you beat her down to a certain percentage of health and then...???

The final decision point irked me, because after leaving every decision up to me, at that last moment, Dedrik decided to go all homicidal maniac DESPITE what I said I'd do. Honestly, if there had been an option to side with the Monitor and execute Dedrik, I might have taken it out of sheer pique. (Forget justice!)

It increases damage by a level or a point? Are there already tables out there describing points per level? This is fascinating. (Maybe I should stop pumping int and go to a retrainer. I've got 24 int on my MC sorc... Oops?)

I wish you could actually set up your little farms.

As in, if you DON'T have the quest active but you provoke the guards? I think you can slaughter all of those on the outside, but I didn't try to enter the building after that fight (which was very difficult at my level when I provoked 'em).

Are there any repercussions for reporting your fellow Hands' actions in their sidequests to Hand Callan? (Though I feel like, with only a few exceptions, the moral agency in these quests always falls to the player, but when you try to exercise that will, the choice is yanked away. See Dedrik's quest: I had to slaughter my way into the Kva mercenary compound, and the flavor text made it seem like I'm wading in the blood of non-combatants [even though as far as I can tell, as a Hand of Avadon, I had the right to come in to speak to the Monitor in charge, and yes, they were trying to take advantage of civil war and likely did not have the right to be on those claimed lands]. When I reach the Monitor, I decide on letting them relocate peacefully, and suddenly Dedrik tweaks out and decides EVERYONE MUST DIE in order to conceal our "crime," thereby really committing us to a massacre.)

I managed to get through the first floor with a liberal application of battle frenzy, but so far, the 2nd floor is proving a bit recalcitrant. I get down to the final enemy and run out of time. I've been using the major ally scarab, speed burst scroll, blessing crystal combo. It may just come down to tinkering with the items (but I'm so stingy I hate using them). ETA I actually managed to finish it just in time. For future Sorc-players, here is what I did (lacking, as I do, some AoE damage spells): I came up with a full wand of ice, a wand of calling, blessing crystals, potions of battle, spell burst scrolls, lightning scrolls (bring a better wand--these suck by the time you're likely ready for the trials), and charm scrolls. I also had a scarab of healing and a scarab of summoning, plus an offensive (acid) scarab. (Note: none of the enemies seem immune to any type of damage I could test--excluding the Shaman's energy attack, which I couldn't test.) On floor one, I summoned a major ally and used the a-ability to hide (mainly for the reflection and blade shield). Then I dropped a battle frenzy scroll to pump up my beast and myself, followed by an Arcane Blessing AoE to reduce the damage dealt by the two shaman-type simulacra. I think that the deep woods widow or infernal bat are the best for the tower--not that you really get a choice, but their AoEs (the bat's charges quite frequently) and the spider's chance to land corruption are handy. The lizard is markedly less useful in the Trials, even with its apparently enhanced durability. Chances are that your beasts will automatically desummon before being killed (at least if you use arcane blessing AoE or a blessing crystal). Dropping AoEs like it's going out of style is paramount. Use your offensive items + AoEs to weaken the foes. Most of the simulacra should concentrate on the monster summon, even if you have never added a 2nd rank to the hide skill (I sure haven't). Your MC will still be mobbed and struck with shaman spells, but the hide skill will help deal some damage back to your foes. Just concentrate on murdering as quickly as possible. Expect to drop a haste spell (if you've got the blessing) or another battle frenzy scroll once yours runs out. Time is of the essence. You may need to use your heal self-skill or a low potion here. Luck plays a part: criticals and enemy positioning are important in making sure you are able to dish out enough damage to kill the simulacra before the time limit expires. On floor two, I chugged a potion of battle and again summoned a major ally but did not hide. Your MC may actually avoid ever being struck if you make use of your charm spells and scrolls, as the enemy AI seems to prioritize these traitors over your party (for the most part--and I think that is an oddity, given that as a player, if I can't un-charm my allies, I move my party away until charm expires in order to mitigate damage--maybe this changes in higher difficulties). Enemies on this level do not immediately appear, so you have time to drop a blessing crystal and a speed burst scroll to boost you and your beast. Use the pet to scout out the lower doorway, where you'll find a pack of melee only simulacra. Once all the enemies roll out, charm one from each group and let them cluster. Repeat your offensive item + AoE pattern. A single target ice spell can be very handy to finish off foes weakened by their charmed companions. Make sure to keep at least one enemy from each group charmed. I found charming 2 out of 3 titans to be extremely useful. Don't neglect your ally's special abilities, either. Make sure to use their AoEs if they have 'em, and pray that if you're using the widow, she lands a stack of corruption on the simulacra. As always, try to keep frenzy and/or haste up to make sure your damage per round is sufficient. I was able to eke out a victory in time using this strategy and did not take even a dot of damage.

Does anyone have some tips on beating the Tower of Trials on normal difficulty? I am running a Sorceress who is now at level 23 and I have retraining available. When I last attempted the tower, I believe my MC was around level 18. I ran out of time (not having the ability to summon any help) by chewing through my supply of low level healing potions. It seems like the goal on the first floor is to winch up the gate, but obviously I'm not 100% certain on that. A casual search of the forum only yielded an incidental discussion of the Trials, so here's to hoping others who have completed the Trials remember what they did. On a final note, it seems like playing as a Tinkermage would make at least the first floor fairly easy. It would be nice if everyone could summon 2 pets (through wands, beast call, w/e) like the t-mage.

Is it possible to get any other outcome than her refusing to "advocate for Avadon"?

I totally ate some dirt ham from around base D. I'm proud to say no enhancements resulted from drinking water at the tower. I did find one of the basins later in the corruption which gives you the "sooo refreshing!" option described above, so that's definitely a thing! I did not choose to drink of it. I'm glad other people are apparently as into the food/drink aspect of the game as I am!

That's a relief. I will update this topic if things turn out otherwise... As a warning to future Hands not to flout the 3 rules.

Spoilers for the main quest might follow! So, I've reached the corruption and gone to the border land zone. I entered the tower (where the pact soldiers are) and drank from a basin in there. It said "Nothing happened. As far as you can tell." Or something to that effect. Did I just make a biiiiiig mistake? Or am I being psyched out by Mr. Vogel? 8D

I am playing the Steam version on Vista. I have gone back to Avadon; in the meantime, I've done the last storyline quest in Khemeria and I've done Shima's vengeance quest (which made me feel awful).

I completed Nathalie's quest, horrid corridors and irritating green BBEG and all, and have even had the post-mission conversation with her, but the quest still shows up in my completed quests. Is this a bug, or is there something still left to be done? Thanks!