E1: Armor and misc. item questions

[Hondero]

I'm playing Exile 1 for the first serious time and it's a lot of fun. There are some things I'm confused about, though, mainly about armor and items:

 

1.) If a piece of armor says [defend: 8], for example, does it work like a weapon? In other words, does that piece of armor block anywhere from 1-8 physical damage whenever the character is hit?

Let's say I add a piece of armor to this character that says [defend: 5] in addition to the armor above. Does this mean the character is now protected from 2-13 physical damage or does the armor system work differently?

 

2.) In the beginning of the game, the Bat Cave dungeon held some Silver Gauntlets. They have no defense value, but their ability is "Protection." Does this mean it offers resistance against fire, magic, and poison? I have noticed that the PC wearing these has sometimes avoided light damage from things like Flame spells. Rings of Protection also have the Protection ability, but also have a Level value (which I think adds defense value like armor in my above question)... do they not offer any magical resistance?

 

3.) One of my PCs has a Silver Ankh, which "Protects from Undead" -- how does this exactly work? I haven't noticed Liches running away from my party or anything like that since I equipped it.

 

4.) I have never really duel-wielded in an Exile game before but have read that in E1 it is especially useful. Any opinions vs. sword/shield and two-handed sword, and should I hold off duel-wielding with my edged-skilled PC until I find two particular swords?

 

Sorry about the question overload and thanks for any help!

[Celtic Minstrel]

Originally Posted By: Hondero

1.) If a piece of armor says [defend: 8], for example, does it work like a weapon? In other words, does that piece of armor block anywhere from 1-8 physical damage whenever the character is hit?
Let's say I add a piece of armor to this character that says [defend: 5] in addition to the armor above. Does this mean the character is now protected from 2-13 physical damage or does the armor system work differently?

I think that's how it works.

Originally Posted By: Hondero

2.) In the beginning of the game, the Bat Cave dungeon held some Silver Gauntlets. They have no defense value, but their ability is "Protection." Does this mean it offers resistance against fire, magic, and poison? I have noticed that the PC wearing these has sometimes avoided light damage from things like Flame spells. Rings of Protection also have the Protection ability, but also have a Level value (which I think adds defense value like armor in my above question)... do they not offer any magical resistance?

Um... maybe? I'm not quite sure how the Protection ability works. Suffice to say the gauntlets are not useless, though.

Originally Posted By: Hondero

3.) One of my PCs has a Silver Ankh, which "Protects from Undead" -- how does this exactly work? I haven't noticed Liches running away from my party or anything like that since I equipped it.

I think you take less damage if an undead attacks you.

Originally Posted By: Hondero

4.) I have never really duel-wielded in an Exile game before but have read that in E1 it is especially useful. Any opinions vs. sword/shield and two-handed sword, and should I hold off duel-wielding with my edged-skilled PC until I find two particular swords?

Wielding two weapons mean that you hit twice instead of once per round, but you get a significant penalty with the second weapon. (This penalty can be avoided in Exile 2 and 3 and BoE, but not in Exile 1.)

I don't think the two weapons need to be the same class. You could probably wield a mace and a dagger or something if you really wanted to. Or a sword and a hammer. Or two hammers, or two swords. Whatever combination you like. (No pole weapons because they take two hands... I assume...)

[Hondero]

Thanks for the quick response.

 

I haven't tried dual-wielding yet but I will probably stick to one class of weapons (so I can pump skill points into a single skill to offset the penalty, hopefully, rather than spreading them around).

[Celtic Minstrel]

Yes, that sounds like a sensible choice.

[Hondero]

Ooooh, you're right! This is a lot of fun. Procyon (my sword user) has Heartfinder and Blessing Blade right now and they're a lot better together than even a Steel Greatsword. I haven't noticed the penalty because the character seems to have enough points in edged weapons... but I'll have to test and see whether dual-wielding penalizes the to-hit chance or the to-hit chance and damage bonus.

 

Looking through the Exile 1 item list, the Holy Mace seems the best bashing weapon (1-7 + 8 damage, undead slayer, one-handed), but is held by Sulfras. I'll have to procure it without getting her mad -- reading some walkthroughs, it seems like she is needed later in the game.

[Omlette]

I'm pretty sure the penalty is only to the to-hit chance - which, as you've noticed, can be drowned out with enough dexterity/edged weapons points.

 

And yeah, you really don't want to annoy Sulfras - although if you've managed to reach her, you're getting pretty powerful.

 

-E-

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

She'll try to kill you as soon as you take it from its case, which is right behind her. If you want that mace, you'll have to either kill her or run really fast.

 

As for Heartfinder, I recommend organizing your inventory so it comes after the other weapon. When you use weapon poison or cast the Envenom spell, the poison is applied to the first weapon in your list. So if it's second, you can cast Envenom and poison your opponents twice.

[The Mystic]

Originally Posted By: Celtic Minstrel

I don't think the two weapons need to be the same class. You could probably wield a mace and a dagger or something if you really wanted to. Or a sword and a hammer. Or two hammers, or two swords. Whatever combination you like. (No pole weapons because they take two hands... I assume...)

I'm a big fan of dual-wielding. It doesn't matter which two weapons you have, as long as they're both one-handed weapons.

[Hondero]

Originally Posted By: Omlette

And yeah, you really don't want to annoy Sulfras - although if you've managed to reach her, you're getting pretty powerful.

Originally Posted By: The Almighty Doer of Stuff

She'll try to kill you as soon as you take it from its case, which is right behind her. If you want that mace, you'll have to either kill her or run really fast.

Thanks again - I'll try stealing and running first and see how that goes. The inventory trick worked out too... works well with Major Blessing.

Copied from the Gamefaqs guide by Mangoman:
"Sulfras isn't a very nice dragon, but at least he wont try to eat you, like Pyrog. He will say that
he wishes you to retrieve the Onyx Scepter, and the Silver Circlet. Your reward will be passage through his tower
to the east. I think this is another way to 'win' the game. Note that if you kill Sulfras before being given
passage to the east, you will never be able to go there,(i think)"

-- There don't seem to be many walkthroughs out there for E1, but as long as this isn't the only way to win the game, getting rid of Sulfras shouldn't ruin the game (that's if I even can!).

[Micawber]

There are three 'victory conditions' for Exile 1. And there is no exclusivity: you can continue playing after achieving any one of them, so to get the most satisfying outcome you will want to achieve all three. The three things you want to do are to slay Grah-Hoth, to assassinate Emperor Hawthorne, and to find the exit to the surface world.

 

Personally I wouldn't kill Sulfras merely to obtain a weapon. I'd say finding the last exit is a worthwhile quest. I seem to remember blundering around lost in a maze fighting living statues in the absolute darkness and it was all rather fun.

[fractalnavel]

Originally Posted By: Micawber

...I seem to remember blundering around lost in a maze fighting living statues in the absolute darkness and it was all rather fun.

"Blundering" is the word for it. A worthy challenge for a maxed-out party. The lights come on after you're done, and it's surprising how relatively simple the "maze" is.

Logically, this would be the final challenge. Hey, you're on the surface! Do you really want to go back into the caves? This was your personal quest from the start.

But if you want to have Sulfras' weapon - and armor! - for later battles, you could get to the surface first, and come back & grab the stuff on the way back.

From another recent thread - I never tried - can you use the "word of recall" to exit from Sulfras' lair? "Thief-b-gone". Otherwise your battle

Click to reveal..

includes doom guardians (I think?) inside the walls.

Should add "word of recall" to the "weird spells" thread.

[fractalnavel]

Originally Posted By: Hondero

... There don't seem to be many walkthroughs out there for E1 ...

Not a walkthrough, but here is a re-ordering of the scrambled hints from Spiderweb.

[Ishad Nha]

There is no Word of Recall or Recall Crystal to be found in Exile 1. There is not even a Return to Start option in the Editor. This is the only Spiderweb game where it is so tough.

To get Sulfras's stuff you would need to alter a registered copy of the Editor program. That might be legally tricky.

[The Almighty Doer of Stuff]

Or you could kill Sulfras, take the stuff, leave town, and use the unaltered editor to unkill Sulfras, I believe.

[Lilith]

Well, sure, but if you're going to cheat you can just cut out the middle man and give yourself the mace.

[Hondero]

I tried to steal Sulfras's loot and escape, but my party wasn't powerful enough to survive while running... so the only way to get his hoard was (unfortunately) to kill him. I felt kind of guilty, but this is a role-playing game and we are Exile scum, after all. At least he wasn't a friendly dragon like Motrax.

 

I was surprised that the tunnel to the East and the Final Gauntlet was still accessible - I assumed that killing Sulfras would lock off that path of the game.

[Randomizer]

Once that type of area is opened, it stays open. You don't need to ask permission each time.

 

Some places reset when you leave the zone.