mikeprichard

Missing from the list: accepting Head Kuanysh's bribe (in a Cestus judgment) grants 1 iron. Also, I think reclaiming Esker Keep gives 5 iron (like Fort Precipice), not 4. Finally, there are a number of typos throughout this topic and the QW2 "atlas of quests and item locations" topic (grammar, NPC names, etc.); correcting them would make searching the topics for information much more reliable, but I understand a massive amount of work has been put into this research already, and it's hugely appreciated even without further refinements. Cheers.

(4 December 2022) I found several more substantive errors in the above list, and have consolidated all issues found to date here, also in line with my post in the "QW2 - Atlas of Quests and Item Locations" forum topic:

Errors in "QW2 - Resources" topic data:
- missing iron (1) optional bribe from Head Kuanysh Cestus judgment
- missing quicksilver (1) optional bribe from Geld Nas assassin Cestus judgment
- missing stone (3) optional reward from Altynay Cestus judgment 
- missing wood (4) / stone (1) / iron (3) / quicksilver (1) reward from killing the Young Heart Tree in Tehrorman
- Gentle Coast / Litha Claim - wood stone (5), quicksilver (2)
- Shattered Ruins - wood (5), stone (5) - fully cleared wood (10), stone (5 10)

Cool, thanks! That would make it significantly more useful.

Not sure this is a good place to ask, but I have a rookie question re: some possibly vague tooltip text: the text for the "Blessing" effect granted by e.g. Haven's Might states "All of your abilities get a bonus to damage." Does this include standard physical/magical weapon attacks, or only actual unique "abilities" (Brutal Blow, Shock, etc.) as implied? I hope/assume the former is the case and standard attacks also benefit from the blessing, but the wording is ambiguous. Cheers!

3/3/1 Ro/Industry/Knowledge is my plan. I don't feel the 4 Ro theft reduction (the rep boost is at 3 Ro, not 4) is worth forgoing the alternatives.

In any case, I think at least 2 Industry (for Mad Flurry) and 1 Knowledge (for Energy Potions) seem almost mandatory - though obviously personal play style is a major factor. So, I guess I'm in line with Dr. Hieronymous above.

Yeah, stone and quicksilver are the two most limited resources by far throughout the entire game; I won't be building any mills or bakeries in order to avoid this sneaky trap myself.

OK, good to confirm - thanks!

On 9/25/2022 at 11:56 PM, Randomizer said:

If you get at least 2 dedicated forts for knowledge and enough apothecaries you can make unlimited energy potions. That helps with having enough energy for some dungeons where you can't leave.

I thought you only needed 1 fort dedicated to knowledge for energy potions, with 2 giving instead/also the brute flask and burning sphere? (This is from your "QW2 - Advice for Playing" topic, but I could be misreading.) If this isn't the case, this will change my plan for a 3/3/1 Ro/Industry/Knowledge dedication balance for the 7 forts.

I think Jeff may be tweaking the text for v102 to clarify Vasilo's location in the Fangs after that certain point in the quest - though I could be misremembering, because he's mentioned on various Steam topics quite a few clarity tweaks to dialogue like this coming up. Of course, that's not relevant right now for v101, but FYI.

1 hour ago, ladyonthemoon said:

Avernum are the very first video games I ever player. I bought them multiple times, for Mac first, then for Windows. I won't play the remastered ones though; I prefer the originals. I don't think games 4 to 6 are corrupted on my pc, but I'll have to try. Anyway, these three are not my favourite because the open world is missing from them, so, if they don't work, oh well, I won't cry.

Although it seems many Spidweb diehards prefer Geneforge, and I love that series too, Avernum is and always has been the GOAT for me. That said, I 200% agree with disliking A4-A6 for their reversion to the weird not-properly-scaled single game map. I assume when Jeff finally does remaster these three after the upcoming remaining Geneforge remasters (and of course QW3), he'll bring them back in line with his otherwise standard open world-vs.-individual location map system. It just gives a much more accurate sense of the scale of the world, and makes exploration/lore more fun and consistent.

Yeah, a dedicated thread would be helpful - there's at least one ongoing topic where others are already sharing their own codes (which I'm sure you saw), so maybe those could be copied over with the users' permission to one clearly labeled place for future reference.

Thanks, Mechalibur - especially to avoid running out of stone for more useful buildings, I'm also planning to forgo the shop discounts and not build many/any mills or bakeries in particular, and to keep my Ro rep as high as reasonably possible. It's just my completionist nerd personality that wants to figure out how things work like this under the hood, but when I finally play I may do some testing myself as you suggest and revisit my post here. I'm probably the only one who cares, but there may be at least one other nut out there.

Ah, of course - manually comparing one report to the previous; makes sense. And if anyone can help me confirm/edit the bolded "???" items in my longer post above, I'd be obliged - I'm assuming the lack of responses simply means people don't know, but any confirmed info could help. One major thing that seems like it could be fairly easily confirmed is whether changes to theft stats imply a change in the chance of theft occurring at all every two days, or in the amount/percentage of the resources that are stolen consistently each period. The manual and tooltips suggest the former, but it seems people are reporting that when they start seeing theft, it's consistent and always in the same amount - and I know the info in the manual and tooltips hasn't always been correct in Spidweb games!

When these things happen, do you get an in-game message re: the theft chance/amount increase? Just wondering how you knew. And I do realize at some point I need to just play the game myself, lol - just waiting for 1.02.

Thanks as always, Mechalibur - would you be able to share (or could I determine myself through the game files) a list, along with the resulting theft chance/amount increase values? Again, if it's possible to search the game location/dialogue files for specific text, that would help fill in a couple of the missing items I'm looking for.

I suspect there will be quite a few things we'll never know for sure about the exact resource mechanics per my edited post above, but it may be possible to confirm one point: are there any "actions" you can take during/related to quests etc. under my item 2c) above that would increase your theft chance? I'm thinking particularly of the "Reducing the risk of theft" section of nlambert's "Queen's Wish 2 index [Spoilers]" topic. E.g. it's noted there that letting Dastan go during an audience will reduce the theft risk (I assume only in the Gentle Coast) by an unspecified amount, but will not letting him go have the opposite effect? Moreover, are there other actions separate from the choices in that list that would directly increase theft rates? If theft chance modifiers are somehow searchable in the game files this could be a relatively easy check, but if not, it may be another thing that's impossible to confirm.

Scanning through this topic again and trying to tie the info together, it seems that if one's interested primarily in a munchinky min-max-ish run and not too bothered by the ending text re: mom's opinion (and also doesn't care about having a "Haven loyalist" code to use in QW3), Queen ("Q") values can largely be ignored in favor of Ro ("R") values, yes? Of course, there are certainly going to be Ro-friendly moral choices I'm not likely to make, and I know I'm simplifying here, but it seems broadly accurate.

I counted up the resources available throughout the game from Randomizer's list, and compared them against the requirements to build all 10 structures in all 7 forts (just to compare - I know building all 70 isn't possible), and after quicksilver, stone is in fact the second most limiting resource by a fairly wide margin, with iron then wood being distant 3rd and 4th. I think Randomizer mentioned in one of his big topics that iron is 2nd, but that's probably a holdover from QW1 when I think that was the case. Of course, if you choose not to build too many structures that use a lot of stone (and there are several), you may not notice, but there it is.

On 8/31/2022 at 5:44 PM, dgomez said:

on Prova Krug, it was funny when the druidess I killed there appeared in the ending as though she lived. A bug maybe?

Hope you don't mind that I mentioned this to Jeff on Steam, since I know he's working to fix potentially more serious bugs/plot holes for version 1.0.2 and beyond, and he generally doesn't read the forums here - https://steamcommunity.com/app/1947750/discussions/0/3427823723510153332

If you really think this was a bug and have more info to share with him there, please feel free! (He doesn't see how this could have happened without more info.) If not, no worries of course.

Also, this is probably obvious from context, but would you please add the "Qs" to the end of the following in the list?

"I ordered that the Ro be utterly crushed." +6
"I ordered that the Ro be reclaimed, but slowly and cautiously." +1
"I gave no orders to attack." -12
Approved Yvette +3
Approved Abelin -4
Approved Aato +3
Approved Lawita -4

I can already tell this guide is going to be essential to my min-max-ish playthrough. Great work, again.

Thanks, folks - sounds like Spectral Armor isn't great if it's only a temporary HP buff, and now through the magic of word-searching I've found the clearer description ("creates shield that absorbs damage up to its duration"); the description "ability to improve armor" in part of the post above led me to think of more permanent crafting/equipment upgrades instead. Also, I'd already thought the theft reduction - assuming -10% worldwide, which Randomizer hasn't contradicted - wouldn't be worth it, given you're passing up other slick benefits from a different dedication. Still, I'm editing my post in the Resources topic to account for this potential benny.

This hasn't changed my personal plan to dedicate 3 to Ro (because Aid to Peace isn't worth it), 3 to Industry (because the Mad Flurry upgrade with 2 is apparently important, while the Knowledge benefits at 2 don't strike me as great), and 1 to Knowledge (because Energy Potions).

I'm planning my eventual munchkin/min-max-lite playthrough, and am interested in others' thoughts/info on the rewards for dedicating forts in certain ways. My initial thinking for a good balance is 1 to Knowledge (for Energy Potions), 3 to Industry (for more speed, accuracy, improved Mad Flurry, and "Spectral Armor"), and 3 to Ro (for "Resolve to Ro", and secondarily for the "opinion" boost). A few specific questions, in addition to any general feedback others' may want to share on their preferences:

1) What exactly are the benefits of the "Spectral Armor" equipment upgrades, and do people think they're worth it?
2) What exactly are the benefits of the "Respect to Ro" "opinion" boost? Is it only the flat +8 modifier to Ro reputation mentioned in another topic, or does it also offer other unique benefits?
3) Re: "Aid to Peace", the top post here notes "-!0% theft reduction". I assume this is 10%, but either way, could Randomizer please edit the post to correct? Also, it notes "...to all Forts", but I thought theft rates/amounts were calculated on a region- and/or world-wide basis (see e.g. the description for barracks/guard towers/fort upgrades that indicate they reduce theft "in this region") rather than on the basis of each of the seven separate forts?

Thanks as always for any info and tips!

(EDIT: I'm trying to clean up this and my earlier posts in this topic through text strikethroughs in my above posts and edits in this post, as I think they clutter the forum with certain incorrect assumptions from my side, and I can't delete my posts. Apologies to the moderators if my approach here isn't appropriate.)

I think I've been making this much more complicated than it is and taking things in a wrong direction. I also incorrectly assumed and was concerned that resource losses due to theft would now accumulate over time, rather than only being part of the one-off calculation against your resource inventory each 2-day period similar to QW1 - Mechalibur has shown that it's still the same as QW1 in this respect, so no need to worry on that account. (https://steamcommunity.com/app/1947750/discussions/0/3314107765690352597/#c3427823723507969545) That said, it seems the mechanics are still fairly similar to QW1 (with the major exception that resources are immediately and permanently spent on/invested in structures, rather than being regularly accumulated or expenses being regularly deducted every 2 days), but I'd appreciate any fixes/additions to my below current educated guesswork, especially for the "???" points/values in items 2) and 3). Cheers!
------------------------------
1) Your resource inventory as reported every 2 days is the total of all resources you've so far collected from any source, with all known available sources listed in Randomizer's top post in this topic, less the total of all initial costs for buildings you've so far constructed in all forts. Note that unlike QW1, removing a building after initially constructing it will not remove its associated cost, so once you initially build something, you've irrevocably committed those resources.

2) Any resource theft as reported every 2 days is counted as an offset against your resource inventory. If theft occurs, it will deduct from your total resource inventory for that period. The amount deducted begins with a "base" amount of 20???% at the start of the game on Normal(???) game difficulty up to 30% on Torment game difficulty, and is then affected by the following factors:

a) building barracks and guard towers and upgrading forts, which reduce the theft amount in that region (barracks: -5%, guard towers: -5%, upgrade fort: -5%)
b) gaining "Aid to Peace" by dedicating four forts to the Ro, which reduces the theft amount in all regions(???) (-10%)
c) taking certain actions/completing certain quests, which either reduce or increase the theft amount in that region(???) [actions to reduce thefts are listed in the "Queen's Wish 2 index" topic, while actions to increase thefts include appointing bad governors, supporting women in the Low Dhaga, and burning groves in the Kranas Woods] (???%)
d) your reputation with the Ro, which either reduces or (???) increases the theft amount in that region(???) (???%)
e) reclaiming the second fort in a region, which increases the theft amount in that region(???) (+20%)

3) You'll suffer penalties for the next 2-day period if amounts stolen for any particular resource are greater than your available inventory of that resource for any 2-day period. Each single unit of any resource in "deficit" for the period results in a 2% penalty to your ???, up to a 20% maximum penalty.

NOTE: Especially as removing a building after initially constructing it will not remove its associated cost, while quicksilver (until the late game) followed by stone (toward the late game) are in limited supply, you must be extremely careful when planning your fort purchases from the beginning to avoid a situation later in the game where you have an insufficient "cushion" against thefts and are unable to build/maintain all desired structures.
------------------------------

Thanks, Mechalibur; that's helpful. The piece I still don't get is the period of "income" for resources against which the theft is calculated - again, I'd thought once you initially collect the resources, they're yours, and there's no hidden ongoing accumulation of stuff, but clearly that's wrong.

(cleanup of incorrect/misleading assumptions - sorry for all my posts spamming this topic; I'll just summarize in my 9/1/2022 post further below)

Oh shoot, so ongoing shop maintenance really is a thing... I'm a bit confused now as to the specific mechanics. The instructions note:

"If theft reduces the resources coming in below the amount you have already spent, you will get penalties in combat." Still not sure how this exactly works in practice, considering I initially thought there were no resources "coming in" on an ongoing basis - I'd thought it was very simply "you get X resources, you spend Y resources". Real examples of how the system works, including sample timeframes/amounts for calculating the use of resources, would be great.

(cleanup of incorrect/misleading assumptions - sorry for all my posts spamming this topic; I'll just summarize in my post 9/1/2022 further below)

Right, my concern is there really now might be a clock ticking in the background - the longer you play without getting to the next fort and using available resources to build all the buildings you want, the less you'll have available throughout the entire playthrough to do so considering the drip-drip of theft over time. I don't expect it will be too punishing for a thorough player, but it still seems it could be kind of a bummer for those like me who don't want any "time pressure".

And silly question - if the game won't let you build with resources you don't have, and theft won't ever take you below 0, how exactly do you go into deficit (and rack up penalties) in the first place? I know it happened to me in the demo since I was starting to play by QW1 rules, but now I don't know how.

(cleanup of incorrect/misleading assumptions - sorry for all my posts spamming this topic; I'll just summarize in my 9/1/2022 post further below)