E3: Woes of the magically inept singleton

[Archmage Alex]

I can't unlock most doors, and have no hope of getting through magic barriers.

 

I created another character specifically to knock down the the secret tunnel barrier to get me to Blackcrag, but the stupid barrier refuses to be dented by my piercing crystals.

 

What increases the chances of a crystal working? Do I just need to keep reloading and trying again until that 1 in 12946 chance the dice will roll as I want them?

[Lilith]

Keep reloading. Have fun!

[Randomizer]

In between reloads try using multiple piercing crystals. I don't remember if Exile works like Avernum where multiple uses increase your chances.

 

Now you know why people use mages for singleton games.

[Aoslare]

No, it doesn't.

 

Presumably you joined the Anama, so you have a stockpile of 128 Piercing Crystals. Right?

[Alorael at Large]

This is the point at which you use the editor to make a Magically Apt singleton with high Intelligence and Unlock.

 

—Alorael, who considers that no more cheating than reloading repeatedly. It's also much, much faster.

[Archmage Alex]

I just made a magically apt singleton, raised him to level 5, and gave him tons of knowledge brews to raise his intelligence and mage lore and he got through easily. Now I just kill him and use the editor to revive him when I need to get in somewhere.

 

Apparently level, mage level, or mage lore effects the chances of a piercing crystal working.

[The Mystic]

Never in my wildest dreams would I consider playing as magically inept (though I've had lots of fun with "Cursed at Birth" in the Avernum series). I just train my party to be both mages and priests, buy them all some tough armor, and mow down anything in my way (side note: all without cheating).

 

Edit: fixed a typo.

[Archmage Alex]

It's for the challenge silly.

[The Mystic]

Obviously. But that doesn't mean I've never experimented with different combinations of character traits. Ever try "Magically Apt" with "Magically Inept"? Or "Good Constitution" with "Frail"? Or in the Avernum series, "Fast on Feet" with "Sluggish"?

 

The point I was trying to make earlier was that, because of my playing style, the ability to do magic is an absolute necessity.

[Lilith]

Quote:

Originally written by The Mystic:
Ever try "Magically Apt" with "Magically Inept"?

That one's not actually a useless combination: Magically Apt makes you better with spells, while Magically Inept makes you unable to use magical items.

[The Mystic]

You know, that explains a few things, though most of my experiments were done in BoE. It's too bad there isn't a "Clumsy" disadvantage, or I might've tried coupling it with "Ambidextrous."

 

Maybe I should go back and try E2 or E3 with all disadvantages checked (which I haven't tried yet), or do something I've been meaning to try in the Avernum Series: "Completely Inept" coupled with something powerful like "Natural Mage." (Maybe there should've been an advantage called "Charmed Life"?)

 

edit: changed "BoA" to BoE," since I don't have BoA.

[Dikiyoba]

Originally by The Mystic:

 

Quote:

"Completely Inept" coupled with something powerful like "Natural Mage." (Maybe there should've been an advantage called "Charmed Life"?)

What about divinely touched?

 

Dikiyoba.

[Lilith]

Quote:

Originally written by The Mystic:
Maybe I should go back and try E2 or E3 with all disadvantages checked (which I haven't tried yet),

Including Pacifist? Good luck. I'm not sure it's even possible to finish E2 with a party consisting entirely of pacifists.

Quote:

or do something I've been meaning to try in the Avernum Series: "Completely Inept" coupled with something powerful like "Natural Mage." (Maybe there should've been an advantage called "Charmed Life"?)

Completely Inept is actually a really, really good trait to choose. Sure, it gives penalties in combat, but after a few levels they don't make much difference any more. I always give all my BoA characters Completely Inept.

[Aoslare]

I don't remember, but did Pacifist prevent summoning spells? If not, that's an obvious out. Granted, Garzahd would be pretty tough to deal with with summons, even with Simulacrum and a huge pile of energy potions.

[Alorael at Large]

Does Pacifist prevent walls? That's another good solution.

 

—Alorael, who can't remember how much of a bonus Pacifist gives. However much it is, it's not enough to make up for the fact that the rest of the party is losing experience to an essentially useless character.

[Randomizer]

I suppose you could make the pacifist a pure healer, blesser, alchemist, and thief. But it still wouldn't make up for the loss in attacks that would prevent damage.

[The Mystic]

To be honest, I've never tried Pacifist with any PC.

 

Cryptozoology - I never thought of always using Completely Inept, though with my spell-heavy playing style, using Natural Mage is pretty much a given. One thing I haven't tried yet is coupling Completely Inept with Cursed at Birth, which to me sounds like a real headache, at least in the early stages of the game.

Quote:

What about divinely touched?

 

Dikiyoba.

I haven't tried that either. Sounds like fun.

 

(warning: somewhat off-topic) Thanks everyone for the ideas. They're now on my ever-growing list of things to do once I finish my current project--designing a leveset for SubTerra.

[Lilith]

Quote:

Originally written by The Mystic:
Cryptozoology - I never thought of always using Completely Inept, though with my spell-heavy playing style, using Natural Mage is pretty much a given.

The bonus to spell effectiveness is pretty minuscule, so really all Natural Mage lets you do is cast high-level mage spells in armour. Your mages usually shouldn't be taking hits, and even if they are, armour isn't all that useful anyway.

Quote:

One thing I haven't tried yet is coupling Completely Inept with Cursed at Birth, which to me sounds like a real headache, at least in the early stages of the game.

Eh, I'd rather take Sickness Prone. Same XP bonus, much less broadly-applicable drawback. I think I tried CI+C&B once and my fighter ended up not being able to hit the final boss of Bahssikava, although that was partly because of bad skill point investments.

Sluggish, on the other hand, is the flat-out worst thing ever and you should never take it.

[Wizzywig]

Has anyone actually beaten the game using sluggish?

[Imban]

In BoA, I've been doing okay with Pariah, even though he is Sluggish and wearing encumbering enough armor that his base AP is 2.

[The Mystic]

Quote:

Originally written by Cryptozoology:
The bonus to spell effectiveness is pretty minuscule, so really all Natural Mage lets you do is cast high-level mage spells in armour. Your mages usually shouldn't be taking hits, and even if they are, armour isn't all that useful anyway.

Natural Mage is nice because I have an extra target for multitarget spells, but I mainly take it for the armor. The armor I get for my PCs usually does something more than just give more armor (give resistance to heat or cold, +1 AP, etc.). The fact that they end up as tanks is a mere byproduct of this. Regardless of the situation, the only real hits I end up taking are from magic-resistant, high-level mages and priests, mostly because I sometimes face them too soon.

Quote:

I think I tried CI+C&B once and my fighter ended up not being able to hit the final boss of Bahssikava, although that was partly because of bad skill point investments.

Sluggish, on the other hand, is the flat-out worst thing ever and you should never take it.

I'll still try that combo anyway, I'm quite resourceful. If I can get a game for Windows 3.1 (some really old-school RPG I found once) to work in XP, I can find a way to kill that boss. (Maybe you should've bought a few levels of luck?)

And I never use Sluggish, unless I take some advantage(s) to compensate for it.

[Lilith]

Quote:

Originally written by The Mystic:
If I can get a game for Windows 3.1 (some really old-school RPG I found once) to work in XP, I can find a way to kill that boss. (Maybe you should've bought a few levels of luck?)

I just killed it with archers instead; they seem more accurate than fighters. Luck has a pretty small effect on hit rate.

I suspect my main problem with the fighter is that I didn't bother going for Blademaster, though. Exodus has equally high-level monsters, but my fighter (who did have several ranks in Blademaster this time) had no trouble hitting them, despite being Completely Inept.

[The Mystic]

I hadn't thought of that, but then again, I'm not very big on archery; I'm much more of a spellcaster, and can do some fairly decent hand-to-hand fightning when necessary. And about the Luck: I find it rather useful at higher levels of the skill.

 

I guess it only goes to show that you should buy special skills like Blademaster at every opportunity; I never refuse to learn something unless I don't have the cash.

 

Also, with what I said earlier about trying E2 with all disadvantages: I started a game with 6 Pacifists, and got nowhere. Combat is useless with an all-Pacifist party. You can't use melee weapons or fire missiles, and you can't use any spells that might cause damage.

Quote:

Does Pacifist prevent walls?

Yes it does, as they too have the potential to cause damage.