About to face the slimes in their home...

[Joseph Kerstein]

Again... I've played and beaten this section of the game multiple times before, and once beat the roaches' quest, but the last time I tried to play the whole thing some things in life came up and I got burnt out.

 

Recently, I started a new game and made a six member party (using the "don't delete and create new people, instead, edit the current members" trick) and so far I've done fairly well. Last time I played the game I discovered that courier or whatever job where you go back and forth from Libras and Squiggus buying and selling the goods, clothing, and herbs. After a couple of trips I got myself a nice stash of gold, although my run-ins with the undead heading to and from Squiggus were... bothersome. Overall this playthrough is probably by far the best.

 

 

My characters are named after various comic book/game/role play characters.

 

Guts: My lead tank. He's currently got a greatsword and lots of armor on, also has about 117ish health. He's the highest leveled character at 12. Probably will continue to build him up, then perhaps add some form of ranged attack or something... Don't know just yet.

 

Dias Flac: A solid fighter with assassination, cave lore, woodsman, and some other trait I've forgotten. I'll probably give him some form of spell casting later, but only until I'm sold on his fighting skills.

 

Lightning: She's a good fighter and my sole thief. I might give her the ability to self-bless and/or self-haste, among other spells. Either that, or I'll give her the ability to throw 'missiles' with high accuracy for an added offensive tactic. Not too sure yet.

 

Serina Bolter: My primary mage. I think she's at the max, if not very close to max intelligence. She's not a melee fighter in the least, has the lowest health points and a weak constitution, but is a strong spell caster. I'm going to see about giving her a secondary job, but for now I'm going to let her continue to grow as a mage first. She's the only other character to be at double digits at level 10. She can also cast "simulacrum".

 

Aizen Sousuke: At first a priest, and is now growing into a fighting priest who can self-bless to up his steadily growing swordsmanship. So far a solid character.

 

Ordune Krystal: My mage/priest mix, has the most spell points out of my 3 spellcasters, and is growing into a sword fighter as well who can self-bless AND haste. He's also the one who can cast "capture soul" and "simulacrum".

 

 

Overall, I want Dias and Lightning to gain some minor/medium spellcasting later on, and to help protect Serina my other two spellcasters can be in front of her and defend not only with their own spells, but with their swords as well.

 

Like I said, I'm just outside the entrance to the slime cave and confident in my team's ability to crush splat the opposition. If anyone's got any suggestions for my party, or comments, please feel free to speak up. =)

[Joseph Kerstein]

Defeated the alien slime! Been slaughtering most of the random monsters I come across now. More or less are just an annoyance more than anything now.

[Thaluikhain]

Greatsword? Not a fan of those, pole weapons do more damage. Though, there's the advantage of being able to use the same stats for single handed weapons.

 

What does your thief do? Just disarm traps, or do you muck about with lockpicks as well.

 

I find mages can be very useful warriors under certain circumstances, as they can't wear encumbering armour, so they can have lots of AP...also, lack of a shield promotes 2 weapons or double handers. With the right magic gear, they can have base 6 AP, goes up to 18 with hasting.

[Joseph Kerstein]

Nah, I don't mess with lockpicks in the least. I'd sooner just have Guts smash through a door than that, and even then the "unlock" spell is a thousand times more efficient. I just like the greatsword, but it's true the pole weapons do more damage. I'm probably going to do another playthrough with a different team set-up. Perhaps all Sliths, or something. After I complete this round of course.

 

And it's very true that mages, and magic users in general can be solid fighters if built right. They can do as good amount of damage as anyone else, they can bless and/or haste the entire team, and have all sorts of other offensive/defensive spells ready to be cast at the drop of a hat.

 

I definitely am rethinking my plans for my warrior characters, though. I've defeated the slime monster, defeated the roaches, killed Elioch or however you spell his name -- the khazi the King Troglo wants you to kill -- and enacted revenge upon that Vampire spirit that occasionally would curse my entire party with disease and dumbfoundness. For the longest, I was unable to go into his inner lair and finish him off because of the lack of a "dispel barrier" spell. It was annoying occasionally having to blow a LOT of spell points to remove the disease from everyone, and then the dumbfounding that was on my 3 magic users. (I didn't bother removing it from my warriors since to my knowledge it only affects magical knowledge.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guts is now about level 24-25, and the others aren't too far behind. Ordune and Aizen are both doing pretty good as back-up warriors, ofttimes watching the flank and protecting Serina (whom by the way has shaped up into an excellent mage). We've got all sorts of spells at our disposal, too. Anti-magic clouds (which came in handy against that khazi boss fight, since he was immuned to magic and would often cast his own spells to render my warriors ineffective) all of the "barrier" spells, "bless party" and "major haste". While I don't summon creatures often to kill the enemy, I do like to have some back-up in case I come across a particularly nasty foe I didn't mean to come across, and would find defeating on my own to be highly difficult. Otherwise, I use them to either just goof around or to run interference.

 

I typically line my 3 main warriors up in front of my spell casters, some distance ahead of them, position Serina behind Ordune and Aizen (or in front if we're being flanked) and before her last action point is spent, I cast "major haste" to haste everyone, have Aizen bless the entire party, and then as a follow-up I can have Ordune either cast bless party as well to up it, or if the enemy is close by and in a large enough number, I'll simply do a "curse all" spell to really turn the tide in my favor. Often find that my entire team can slaughter oodles of opponents in moments, especially when a cast a fire storm attack on 'em. *evil chuckle*

 

Oh, I lost my horsies when I set the filth factory ablaze. =( I knew I shoulda left them outside. Oh well. I've got oodles of gold thanks to that fairly cushy job as a courier between Squiggus and Libras, and a bunch of manna spells fix my party up with some food in a jiffy.

[The Mystic]

Originally Posted By: Joseph Kerstein

Like I said, I'm just outside the entrance to the slime cave and confident in my team's ability to crush splat the opposition. If anyone's got any suggestions for my party, or comments, please feel free to speak up. =)

Dude, that's one massively overpowered party for taking on one little alien slime. I'm actually feeling a bit sorry for it.

Originally Posted By: Thaluikhain

I find mages can be very useful warriors under certain circumstances, as they can't wear encumbering armour, so they can have lots of AP

Give your mage some mithral chain mail, and he makes a pretty good tank.

Quote:

...also, lack of a shield promotes 2 weapons or double handers.

Who says you have to have shields at all? I haven't used a single shield in the entire Exile trilogy. Just give everyone a second weapon instead of a shield, and you have what's known as buzzsaws.

Originally Posted By: Joseph Kerstein

Oh, I lost my horsies when I set the filth factory ablaze. =( I knew I shoulda left them outside.

There are several places to get horses, and you could always use the character editor to get them back.

Quote:

I've got oodles of gold thanks to that fairly cushy job as a courier between Squiggus and Libras

There is a much easier way to get money, especially if your alchemy level is high enough (spoilers available on request).

[Joseph Kerstein]

Well I've long since past that point of the game. I've slain the roaches, completed the little quest that the Troglo King wanted me to tend to, and am currently in the Giants' lair trying to free the Empire soldiers and recover their belongings. My team is super strong.

 

And I've never bothered with alchemy myself, and it only takes 2 or 3 trips tops to get so much gold I don't need to bother with it until much much later.

 

I also prefer not to use the editor unless I make a VERY big error, and losing my horses really isn't that bad compared to other, far more game breaking mistakes. I'd also prefer no spoilers for this game, but thank you for the suggestions at least. My next playthrough will probably be a solo warrior, or a duo perhaps. Something far smaller and more manageable. That "dual wielding" from what I recall was rather useful for "buzzsawing" through enemies.

[The Mystic]

Originally Posted By: Joseph Kerstein

it only takes 2 or 3 trips tops to get so much gold I don't need to bother with it until much much later.

Lucky you. I need to max out my gold supply about ten times over with my usual party (6 priest/mages, one of whom is an alchemist for making the untold number of energy potions I require).

Quote:

I also prefer not to use the editor unless I make a VERY big error, and losing my horses really isn't that bad compared to other, far more game breaking mistakes.

Yeah, I'm kind of to that point too. I normally use the editor only when I've done something extremely stupid and saved the game (Backup? What backup?).

Quote:

That "dual wielding" from what I recall was rather useful for "buzzsawing" through enemies.

You have no idea. Just for fun, you should try a game where you max out strength, dexterity, and luck on your dual wielders; no enemies you meet will live to tell the tale.

[Joseph Kerstein]

So while I was trying to rescue all of the Exile soldiers in the Hill Giants' caves, one of the people I found was killed by a giant. Now I don't know if I've found EVERY last thing possible to return to the commander in Lorelei, or every single prisoner, but did I screw up letting the other prisoner die? Will I not be able to continue with that one prisoner dead?

[The Mystic]

From what I understand, it's a side quest, so you shouldn't worry too much; it's also an ongoing quest, so you can always return and rescue him later after the dungeon resets. (minor spoiler) Just remember to rediscover the route for the prisoners to escape.

[Joseph Kerstein]

Thanks, Mystic.

 

Slightly off-topic question. Last year or so I had an issue where Exile III often caused my computer to blue screen. I recall joining this site to try and figure out the problem, and ended up discovering what it was but have since lost that thread including who I was. For all I know my account was deleted due to being inactive.

 

Anyhow, I believe I'm having that issue again (since I recently had my computer reformatted) so if it's a somewhat common issue, I'd appreciate any help in the matter. Thanks again.

[Thaluikhain]

Originally Posted By: Joseph Kerstein

So while I was trying to rescue all of the Exile soldiers in the Hill Giants' caves, one of the people I found was killed by a giant. Now I don't know if I've found EVERY last thing possible to return to the commander in Lorelei, or every single prisoner, but did I screw up letting the other prisoner die? Will I not be able to continue with that one prisoner dead?

You'll be ok, there's just a bunch of things to find, and you get X amount of gold for each, you don't need to do it.

How did the person die, BTW, I thought they were placed to avoid that.

[Joseph Kerstein]

Originally Posted By: Thaluikhain

Originally Posted By: Joseph Kerstein

So while I was trying to rescue all of the Exile soldiers in the Hill Giants' caves, one of the people I found was killed by a giant. Now I don't know if I've found EVERY last thing possible to return to the commander in Lorelei, or every single prisoner, but did I screw up letting the other prisoner die? Will I not be able to continue with that one prisoner dead?

You'll be ok, there's just a bunch of things to find, and you get X amount of gold for each, you don't need to do it.

How did the person die, BTW, I thought they were placed to avoid that.

I'd go into each room to see if there was anything special that would happen, and then leave them be until I found the secret exit. Apparently, one of the randomly spawned giants was able to go to the door now that it was unlocked, searched the room and killed the person with one rock throw. Their placement is actually JUST enough for giants to go downward (since they're two spaces tall, not long) and then interact with the door to open it. Since the rooms are no bigger than two spaces max, they can easily see in and lob a boulder at the poor defenseless prisoners.

[The Mystic]

Originally Posted By: Joseph Kerstein

Last year or so I had an issue where Exile III often caused my computer to blue screen.
...
Anyhow, I believe I'm having that issue again (since I recently had my computer reformatted) so if it's a somewhat common issue, I'd appreciate any help in the matter.

What's your operating system?

[Ishad Nha]

Was the blue screen of death topic moved to the Tech Support forum where it belongs?

[Joseph Kerstein]

Originally Posted By: The Mystic

Originally Posted By: Joseph Kerstein

Last year or so I had an issue where Exile III often caused my computer to blue screen.
...
Anyhow, I believe I'm having that issue again (since I recently had my computer reformatted) so if it's a somewhat common issue, I'd appreciate any help in the matter.

What's your operating system?

XP pro. It's a pre-built Gateway 506gr I believe. I had this problem once before and was able to fix it, and curiously enough the problem has yet to reoccur since that last time yesterday.

The blue screen of death topic is nowhere to be seen, and it was never moved. I don't even remember where it was originally post in, but I can find no traces of it anywhere no matter what my search terms.

[Ishad Nha]

You might have some luck in the Archives section:

http://pied-piper.ermarian.net/forum/7/

[The Mystic]

If you haven't already, try running in compatibility mode for Win95 or 98. You may also want to try some kind of emulation/virtualization software like DosBox or VirtualBox.

 

Surprisingly, I've never had any kind of trouble running the Exile trilogy in WinXP.

[Joseph Kerstein]

Originally Posted By: The Mystic

If you haven't already, try running in compatibility mode for Win95 or 98. You may also want to try some kind of emulation/virtualization software like DosBox or VirtualBox.

Surprisingly, I've never had any kind of trouble running the Exile trilogy in WinXP.

Neither have I, except on this specific computer. The problems so far have been rather random both in frequency as well as the type of crash whether it be a crash to the desktop or a complete blue screen. So far, however, they've been fairly rare. *shrugs*