Moving single characters?

[Blurb]

I've never played Avernum until now. I'm really enjoying it.

 

Okay, probably a dumb question, but I can't figure this out. Is there a way to move just one character or must they all move together?

 

Thanks!

[Lilith]

You can move individual characters by entering combat mode. Otherwise, no.

[Earth]

Or getting other chars killed.

[Blurb]

Thanks. Different strategies in play here. I'm used to luring enemies by sending the lead creation to taunt them (in Geneforge games). Now the whole party has to tease and run.

[Alorael at Large]

You can always enter combat mode and send one character ahead to draw attention, but Avernum is much less reliant on careful movement and enemy management. You can usually approach enemies as a party and engage in combat as you find them. Charging blindly ahead isn't a good idea, but you're also much less likely to get swarmed than in Geneforge.

 

—Alorael, who thinks a lot of it is due to the fact that none of your characters are disposable and all of them are heavily loaded with equipment. Anyone too prone to death isn't built right.

[Earth]

not run necessarily, 1. if you get ambushed don't move characters except fighters bit closer to spellcasters and cast haste to scs and then on next round scs casts haste and/or protection and/or blessing to whole group and then on next round you make attackers dead meat, or 2. send fighters to battle with enemies and scs do same things as on 1.

[Blurb]

Originally Posted By: .o)|(o.

You can always enter combat mode and send one character ahead to draw attention, but Avernum is much less reliant on careful movement and enemy management. You can usually approach enemies as a party and engage in combat as you find them. Charging blindly ahead isn't a good idea, but you're also much less likely to get swarmed than in Geneforge.

Micromanagement of swarms in Geneforge can be tedious, but it can also be a masochistic kind of fun depending on how you look at it. Avernum does seem to be more forgiving of the aimless wanderer. There is also somewhat less strategy involved in skill point allocations for Avernum. The skills system is more complex and requires some research, but once you learn how to unlock the desired skill sets there is little question how to proceed as characters level up. I do have a weak character that I created against all good sense, but that's a subject for another thread, I guess.

[Øther]

I noticed that in Avernum 5, there tend to be a lot less large groups of things actively trying to kill you, even though there seem ( to me at least) to be more and a bit stronger mini bosses.

[Alorael at Large]

A4 began to switch from lots of generic enemies to fewer, more powerful enemies, often with unique gimmicks. A5 took that scheme even farther. Later Geneforge games also have a few gimmicky enemies, but there's a much greater tendency towards simple, powerful swarms in areas that just need to be traversed.

 

—Alorael, who isn't sure that he has a real preference between the two. Too many gimmicks stop being interesting and start being just a different kind of grind, while too many super-swarms make basic travel require excessive careful micromanagement. The medium is happy, as is often the case, but both of Jeff's plans work fine in their respective games. (Question: which game introduced the first boss to be fought with tactics other than hit it lots? E3 and Rentar-Ihrno?)

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Highbrow Wordplay for Slarty

(Question: which game introduced the first boss to be fought with tactics other than hit it lots? E3 and Rentar-Ihrno?)

Well, there's Garzahd in E2: turtle until he runs out of spell points, then finish him off with two or three Mindduels.

[Alorael at Large]

There have always been optional clever tactics. Garzahd can be and is probably supposed to be pounded in a straight-up fight with Demonslayer and some arrows of light.

 

—Alorael, who has at least noticed that tactics get a slightly earlier start in A3. You can kill the main crystal of the Golem Spire with a laser and some mirrors rather than engaging in combat.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Highbrow Wordplay for Slarty

There have always been optional clever tactics. Garzahd can be and is probably supposed to be pounded in a straight-up fight with Demonslayer and some arrows of light.

You're thinking of Avernum. In Exile, he has no specific vulnerability to demonslaying weapons, and Solberg specifically tells you that he's weak against mindduelling. (And "hit it lots" won't work very well unless you cover him in antimagic first, since he can fully heal himself.)

[Randomizer]

I'm pretty sure I did Garzahd in Exile 2 once without mindduelling. It was a long fight and you have to hit all his friend first. Mindduelling is faster and provides you with lots of spell energy.

[Blurb]

I've only played Geneforge, so I don't have the other JV gaming repertoire to compare. But I do find no real swarming in A5, which is a refreshing change. In the event of nasty plants, true haste helps, too. (Haste in G5 was barely worth the spell energy.) I think I came into this thinking I would use the same strategies as Geneforge, but I don't need them. I just got into the Northwest Quadrant and haven't had any real trouble. (I'm playing on Easy to enjoy the game the first time; then Normal later). The Golem at the Stone Circle took out my weak character, but the *unconscious* thing (yay!) makes this easily resolved.

 

Other movement that I find interesting:

 

-- No doorway blocking! In A5, they just switch positions! No character gets pummeled while the others scramble to get an attack view or with melee characters just passing turns.

 

-- Rapid party movement through areas. With vast, open terrain, this makes revisiting a remote cave much easier. G5 movement is more lifelike and probably more suited to its gameplay.

 

-- True haste. You can send a player into an exploding floor cave with nasty bats to get a great jacket and he lives to tell the tale. I can't say how much more I like just playing this game than I did G5 because of haste. I did like G5, but for me way too much was nerfed, making the game less fun.

 

-- Healing from afar. The priest doesn't have to basically walk up to a melee character in the line of fire to heal.

 

This is all minutiae to veteran players, but the differences are making gameplay very interesting for an Avernum newb like me.

[Dark.Fenix]

in E2 u face him twice, 1 on the vahnatai lands on the zigurate (if im not mistaken) and 2 on his fortress.

 

1ºtime yes indeed i was lead by the "he is enchanted to the bone with several magic resistent auras and only solberg knows how to kill him" (or something like that) and solberg tells u that he is vulnerable, not weak, in mindduel, so i spamed minduel on him after geting the ring(but think its not necessary)

 

2ºtime, antimagic field and simulacrum (indeed a nice spell) of mung deamon ftw. didnt even know if he was hard to kill. the hard part was to enter the room full of demons with party at 1hp life (antimagic field ftw again).