wackypanda

The Humble Bundle download will create a save folder on launch. On Windows the save folder is in Documents\Spiderweb Software\Avadon Saved Games by default.

In that case the rebels would only have the time between when the school was attacked and when the blockade went into effect to set up a self-sustaining operation. Not a lot of time for anything more interesting than moonshine distribution (on a scale of illegality). After some thought, I think the lack of rebels on Greenwood might be justified because as the last isle in the chain, it has no strategic value to the rebels after the school is destroyed. You can see this when what you do with the Greenwood Creator doesn't change your Shaper/rebel standing, but what you do with the Dhonal Creator is a major path choice. Again, having the rebels around to interact with sounds fun, but I'm not sure they have an in-game reason to be there. Player choice in this case ties into the poor writing. Lankan comes across as an idiot while the game is trying to present him as a leader because the root of the conflict between him and Diwaniya, as written, is completely solvable with Diwaniya's solution (together with Norrell's offer to negotiate a lighter sentence for Lankan), and the writing doesn't acknowledge this. (I did point out that the game's ending shows that removing the rogues doesn't get Lankan to submit to Diwaniya, which is consistent with how their conflict was written, but has no bearing on how illogical the conflict is.) This is still true of your solution. I would ask your Lankan the same question: Why should I support the outpost by breaking Shaper law and bringing them research and recruiting for them (which takes much more time, as well), when I can remove the rogues or build up San Ru as Diwaniya wanted and make the island safe for everyone? Also, you pointed out yourself when talking about Barzahl in G2 that he would be more interesting if he was pursuing power for the sake of what he thinks is progress. Therefore, it is entirely possible for Lankan to have sympathetic reasons for wanting a canister as a means to his ends, if the conflict was better written. An interesting point here. Because there aren't any Shapers other than you, the NPCs rightly or wrongly place the blame on you or expect you to fix things. One problem this creates is that Greenwood's narrative of "Shapers aren't responsible and don't care about outsiders" clashes directly with the typical RPG player's overly helpful (if not entirely altruistic) disposition when a game has free saves and no time limit. The best example is the dialogue where the commander is trying to twist your arm to deal with the Creator. You have dialogue options to be utterly indignant that she would dare to tell a Shaper what to do, but at the time, I was wondering: "Why would I say that? Killing rogues is in my job description, and even if it wasn't, I killed worms for like twenty people on my way here, I can make time (and get XP) for something that is actually causing you problems!" If a typical Shaper in fact gets indignant at this sort of thing (and the commander in fact usually needs to manipulate them to get things done), there need to be typical Shapers to show this.

G1: There are hints that the Shapers used to be a lot more callous, such as the Arena, although that was not specific to serviles. If I recall correctly, the toxic waste thing was less about the serviles getting sick and more that the soil wouldn't support crops, and it wasn't a sudden thing - it ties into the Takers' origin story, where they waited for the Shapers and suffered for years until the "take our free" guy sounded off. G3: The game has an overall lack of sympathetic rebels. I've posted this here before, but another round won't hurt. 😛 In G4 and G5, where you get to interact with more rebels, three main points come up, as I see them: 1. The Shapers initially lost a lot of ground due to their arrogance/inflexibility in fighting an organised enemy who could Shape. (This is true because G4 and G5 show the rebels losing ground or stalemated, so they must have gained ground from the Shapers at first.) 2. Shapers didn't care about outsiders, at least from the outsiders' point of view. 3. Creations were oppressed. Since G3 is about the beginning of the rebellion seen in G4-G5, it makes sense to explore these themes (with the benefit of hindsight), and we do see some flawed attempts at them. I agree that a rebel presence on Greenwood might give more choices. The role of Scintle (the abrasive mage in the woods) could be expanded. But the hypothetical rebels can't be doing anything that the Shapers would crack down on, because Other than the Shaping school which drives the majority of its commerce? Then again, it's not necessary for all the islands to give a Shapers/rebels choice. The conflicts on Greenwood Isle are meant to highlight point #2, i.e. how Shapers treat non-Shapers (Burrowing Mold, the blockade, the leader trying to force you to deal with the Creator). I don't think they do it well, but moving on. Regarding Harmony Isle, I would go further and say it's a complete mess. It's not so much that Lankan's goals are bad. It's that the game denies you the logical method of addressing what he claims his goals are. He claims he needs the canister because Shapers (i.e. Diwaniya) have failed to protect his people, but you can never point out that Diwaniya has asked you to get rid of the rogues. Did he have an ulterior motive for wanting the canister specifically? Is he looking for revenge for those of his friends who have already died? Does he think he can do a better job ruling the island than Diwaniya? You will never know, because you can never say that to him. The whole point of canisters is that they are the fastest way to put magical power within reach of ordinary people. Whether that is a good or bad thing is one of the major themes of the series. I suppose the G2 Barzites could have elaborated on this a bit more. I don't think the game's narrative ever said it did. In the pro-Shaper ending I agree that Dhonal's Isle needs a better rebel goal. (In fact the Shapers vs rebels conflict on this island is a complete waste of the rebels' time.) Since it is the main Shaper military presence, it makes sense to explore point #1. For that to work the rebels' plans need to be more creative than "spam spawners". In G2 they were making new, horrifying, fascinating creatures. This should have continued into G3. They don't even have to be animal-type creations like the ones in G2. Biological warfare is the obvious possibility; the servile sickness quest line in G2 shows that Sucia Island tech can be used to study diseases. But it's not even the only possibility. For example, we could have rebels luring Shapers into fields of flammable grass and then ambushing them with hasted pyroroamers. A rebel hideout on Dhonal's Isle would also be a good place for the player to meet intelligent creations, instead of near the end of the game when the player has already chosen a side to support.

Wands and crystals used missile attack from G1-G4, but not G5, if I remember correctly. Can't help with the recipe though, sorry.

Also, just delete the contents of the Save(n) folders. People have mentioned problems when they delete the folder.

The build I originally posted doesn't actually work, as you need at least 2 points in Mage or Priest Spells to take the Improved Intelligence trait. Derp. The archer who took the mandatory 2 levels of Arcane Lore could take the trait, but she's also the one who needs it least. Still, the lowest mental resistance I have is 47%. Not too bad. Fun fact: using the obstacle course in Camp Samuels gives you XP once.

My bad. Next stretch goal is up anyway.

Sound design met. Next stretch goal is up.

Cleared some dungeons in the Eastern Gallery for money. Also cleared most of the Spiral Pit, but can't complete the quest to purge it completely because the center is blocked by a level 2 barrier. I also aimed for fights that would get me items which increase weapon skills, mainly the Almaria storeroom infiltrators and Gaddika's fortress. Everyone now has Adrenaline Rush, and all the Cave Lore one can get from Tor. In A2:CS Dark Thoughts gives a slight boost to mental resistance. I've just noticed that enemies have recurring problems with targeting if I completely block off their path to my two archers. I don't find it too cheesy as I can't always set it up with this party, but sometimes I wonder.

I don't think I've ever had the thought "Hm, the sound effects are too good" while playing a game. 😛 That said, I like the sound design we've had so far. I'm not sure why spell sound effects keep getting shuffled with every game though.

Arrived in vahnatai lands, did the three tests, and saw the council of Olgai. Because this party has no particular love for vahnatai and their hand-waving magic nonsense, they returned to Avernum straight after. Not one of my better ideas. Burned through a lot of potions. Still brute-forced my way into enough quests for Magi Clearance. I've never played the original Test of Patience, but this version could be a little bit more difficult so that it deserves the name more. The gate puzzle in the Tomb of Dahris-Bok was harder. I sent my second archer and did a bit of grinding with the hostile constructs until they started having >20% chance to hit. Test of Strength required a few potions and careful positioning, so that melee enemies block each other and enemies like the thorn-shooting fungi don't have you within all of their ranges. After returning to Avernum, most of the potions that were used were spent on fighting the Serpent Cult (when the party was at level 13-15), because once you go into the Snake Pit you can't leave until you've defeated the boss. At least potions are technically renewable. It didn't help that I didn't have Adrenaline Rush. Failing that, Leg Sweep (weakness curse) + Well-Aimed Blow did the most damage. The brigands in Silvar also deserve mention, as their leader uses Bladeshield, which effectively decreases the damage she takes from this party by more than half. My spearman was able to get some hits in by cleaving from the brigand leader's summons, but otherwise my archers had to do most of the work. I also did a few minor quests and bought some training, including bringing Cave Lore up to 7 total. This got me enough graymold to cure the sick nephil village, which unlocks the best trainer for bows. When it comes to getting Magi Clearance, my petty, spiteful method of doing so is to boat around Almaria because they don't deserve my 5 coins. Because you can no longer land directly north of Almaria, this involves landing north of Fort Emerald, using a piercing crystal or Move Mountains to get into Fort Emerald (they won't open the gate if you enter from the north), getting Magi Clearance at the Castle, activating the Castle pylon, and then backtracking and activating the portal at the Tower of Magi. I may come to regret this since this party actually needs piercing crystals. EDIT: And of course you can circle around Gnass to get to the Castle from the north instead of breaking into Fort Emerald. Derp.

Comments on builds and equipment: Urist Level 12 Strength 16 (+3) Dexterity 5 Intelligence 5 Endurance 7 (+4) Melee 10 Hardiness 7 Blademaster 7 Parry 3 Dual Wielding (+2) First Aid 2 bought Cave Lore 2 bought Luck (+1) Traits: Strength x3, Endurance x3, Mighty Blows x1, Ambidextrous x1, Fortune x1, Health x1 I'm still not sure I've reached the point where it becomes better for Urist to dual-wield compared to sword and shield or single sword. I have him dual-wielding anyway, with a waveblade for the +5% hit chance and the steel shortsword stolen from Fort Draco. Lokum Level 12 Strength 16 (+4) Dexterity 5 Intelligence 5 Endurance 7 (+3) Pole 9 Hardiness 8 Blademaster 8 Parry 2 First Aid 2 bought Cave Lore 2 bought Magical Efficiency (+2) Luck (+1) Traits: Strength x3, Endurance x3, Mighty Blows x2, Health x1, Fortune x1 Fairly straightforward. I think his damage output may be starting to fall behind, but I haven't been paying very close attention. The crude halberd is his weapon of choice for now, as it has both the 25% chance for bonus damage which spears get, and the cleave damage chance which halberds get. I don't think the spear bonus was intentional. Now the only advantage the steel spear from Fort Draco has is its damage dice. Feb Level 13 Strength 5 (-1) Dexterity 17 (+5) Intelligence 5 Endurance 8 (+1) Bows 10 Sharpshooter 1 Gymnastics 5 (+1) Priest 2 Arcane Lore 2 Tool Use 3 (+2) First Aid 2 bought Cave Lore 1 Luck 5 (+1) Traits: Dexterity x3, Endurance x1, Sure Aim x2, Fortune x1, Nimble Fingers x2, Negotiator Feb is a level ahead of the rest of the party from clearing the Tomb of Dahris-Bok. She has the Mercuric Leather (which can be crafted before even starting Chapter 2) for +1 AP, meaning that Gymnastics only has to succeed once to give her an extra action. If I had started this playthrough on Hard I probably would not have pumped all those lore skills at the beginning . As it is I'm just glad I don't have to think about them. Egdoth Level 12 Strength 5 Dexterity 16 (+3) Intelligence 5 Endurance 7 (+2) Bows 10 Sharpshooter 4 Tool Use 7 (+2) Spellcraft (+1) First Aid 2 bought Cave Lore 1 Luck 5 (+5) Traits: Dexterity x3, Endurance x2, Sure Aim x1, Fortune x1, Nimble Fingers x2, Negotiator As there are only enough ingredients for one Mercuric Leather in Chapter 1, Egdoth is pumping % missile damage and % crit chance (in equipment and skill choices) instead of Gymnastics. Feb is still the main ranged damage dealer. I expect things to even out as the archers' skill trees max out.

Upped the difficulty to Hard. Cleared the Coffin Caves by letting the enemies in the coffin room come to the doorways. Then, when fighting the undead in the back room, I exploited the campsite outside by having one archer flee there when everyone else was KO'ed, then going back in for round two. The issue with stashing food prior to Chapter 2 which I belatedly realized is: you need food to rest at campsites. For health you don't actually need to rest, and this party doesn't need to recover energy, but rest is needed to raise unconscious. Derp. At least there was enough food scattered about Chapter 2 for at least one rest, or that cheese strategy wouldn't have worked at all. First Aid is unfortunately useless in the Tomb of Dahris-Bok, because the one person you send will only have 2 First Aid. At 2 First AId it is possible to "recover" as little as 0 health and 1 energy. I chose the archer with Mercuric Leather and Gymnastics, for the increased evasion and extra actions. (I also wanted Tool Use so that I could do both the combat and trap route in the first corridor a la Geneforge, and the melee fighters don't have any.) Worked reasonably well so long as I positioned myself to avoid getting swarmed. I did have to use all my bandages, a few potions, and a few Fiery Wand shots, but I still have plenty of potions and wands to go around.

Thanks! That would be useful even with a normal party, especially in that one end-game fight (I can't remember which exactly) where the whole party gets nullity. I'm playing without mods for now.

Chapter 1 was straightforward. On Normal one can complete most of the quests, including destroying the slith fort and the hidden ogres (I really wanted the boost in mental resistance that the latter quest gives). For the slith fort I skirted around the perimeter to pick off the slith flingers before taking on the boss, and also took advantage of it being such a small dungeon with zone exits on all sides. An interesting detail about initiative that I learned from the ogre fight, which may have been known already. If you turn on "party acts in roster order" and get into a fight where initiative, from first to last, is rear character 1 > rear character 2 > enemy > first character, the turn order is first character > enemy > party, putting you at a disadvantage. I always had "act in roster order" on because I hate the idea of my archers (or casters, in other playthroughs) getting blocked by my front line, but that outdoor fight went better once I'd turned it off. If in a given round no one has taken enough damage for my archers to finish them off, I have my archers spread out their Flawless Shots to ensnare enemies in the rear. That gives you some breathing room. When I hit level 8, I bought First Aid from Fort Draco for everyone. I also bought some Cave Lore from Tor and mined the fungal clearing every time I passed by Formello, then made as many potions as I could before starting Dark Waters. In hindsight, I could have had two of my party invest an extra skill point in their weapon type to bring it to 11, then bought Bows and Thrown Weapons in Formello to bring them to 15 weapon skills for early Adrenaline Rush instead. Halfway through Dark Waters now. Stashed all my food in Fort Draco prior to going down the rapids, but still got one message about losing food. Oh well. Bandages don't get lost, but they're not that useful for healing in battle. For healing post-battle there's standing outside, or the purchased training in First Aid.

Ground effects (the burning/freezing from salamanders and ice puddings) weren't in A:EftP. If it was possible to bring quickfire back that would be hilarious.

Are halberds meant to have 25% crit chance (like spears) in addition to their 40% cleave chance?

No recruitment in the remakes. All of the previously recruitable NPCs have new dialogue when you ask them to join you.

Will try a party of one dual-wielder, one spearman, and two archers, all human. Two or more dual-wielders would be much more effective in the late game, but painful in the early game (even when using single swords without shields). Two archers because there seem to be more dungeons in A2:CS where ranged enemies snipe you. Most of them will have skill points or traits for Luck and Intelligence, because those are the only ways I can think of to raise mental resistance other than items. With traits, the more relevant ones will have already been taken. Otherwise most of the strategies from the A:EftP thread should apply, e.g. buying First Aid, hoarding food etc. Intended end-game builds (not counting trained points): Urist (Dual-wielder) 10 Melee 10 Hardiness 10 Parry 10 Blademaster 8 Quick Action 7 Dual Wielding 8 Lethal Blow Traits: STR x5, END x5, Health x3, Mighty Blows x3, Dual Blade x2, Parry Mastery x2, Fortune x2, INT x2 Lokum (Spearman) 8 Pole 10 Hardiness 10 Parry 10 Blademaster 10 Quick Action 10 Lethal Blow 5 Luck Traits: STR x5, END x5, Health x3, Mighty Blows x3, Backstab x3, Parry Mastery x2, Fortune x2, INT x1 Feb (Archer 1) 10 Bow 10 Sharpshooter 10 Lethal Blow 10 Gymnastics 10 Sniper 2 Priest 2 Arcane Lore (needed for portal ritual) 3 Tool Use 5 Luck 1 Cave Lore Traits: Negotiator x1, Nimble Fingers x2, DEX x5, END x5, Health x3, Sure Aim x3, Fortune x2, INT x3 Egdoth (Archer 2) Weapon skills as above 7 Tool Use 5 Luck 1 Cave Lore Traits as above

No alternate ending, but some of the dialogue in the final area will change. I found the Shaper camp (Poryphra?) even with Alwan and Miranda present to be easier than the Northforge Warrens. Maybe it was because I didn't know where the safe spot was.

Thinking out loud again. Sanctification Ritual scrolls don't cure mental effects. It doesn't seem as if any item does. In my last run I had my non-spellcasters wear their mental effect resistance gear all the time, which got them to >60% mental resistance at the endgame. I don't know if there is enough mental armor for four. Human PCs can conceivably burn traits on INT and Luck to improve mental resistance. How many enemies are immune to physical damage? Weapons that can inflict non-physical damage (to different degrees of usefulness): - Flaming Sword - Frozen Blade - in A2:CS works like the Flaming Sword instead of using INT for to-hit like A:EftP - Bow of Storms - Oozing Sword - Venomous Blade - Ever-Rotting Bow - Jade Halberd If I recall correctly, none of the swords in this list can be dual-wielded with each other. Whoever is the HM lore slave also has to burn 4 skill points to get 2 Arcane Lore for the portal ritual.

Avadon (whole series) The last game you played Freefall (webcomic) Bacon

Not as such. The spellbook for the third level of Dispel Barrier is hidden in Pyrn's tower (a different book from the one that teaches the portal ritual). If you have already read it, you also need to purchase Dispel Barrier from Heustess in Fort Emerald to get it to level 3.

Inspired by Learned Noremac's no-magic run of A:EftP. No coherent strategies for now, just thinking out loud. With no Resistance or Arcane Lore training and no items that cure mental effects, this may be a bit of a non-starter. Has anyone ever observed Sanctification Scrolls curing mental effects, or am I misremembering?

Late contribution: The haakai in Almaria cannot be captured at level 30 with level 3 Capture Soul.