Jump to content

What is the importance of Scarabs


The Ratt

Recommended Posts

Huh. My guess is they're some kind of modification. Possibly similar to charms or jewelry, but with four oddly placed slots. On the other hand, the slots aren't with the other equipment, so something else seems likely. Maybe they interact with the new skill system.

 

—Alorael, who will bring further wild speculation when he's less in his right mine. It's more exciting that way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since this Black Fortress thing is supposed to be some sort of magical portal place, I'd guess that the scarabs have something to do with portals. Perhaps they're Avadon's equivalent of the amulet of recall, and... they each are specific to different parts of Linnaeus?

 

On the other hand, maybe they are tools used for assassination. Teleport in, use a poisonous scarab on some poor bloke, and teleport out? I doubt it, but it's possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Assuming the beetle-looking things at the top of the inventory window are the scarabs themselves, I note that they appear to be non-usable (which rules out the possibility that they cast spells) and non-stackable (which rules out the possibility that they are spell components consumed by player spells).

 

As I understand Jeff's game design philosophy, he doesn't want the player to be able to make horrible mistakes, so I doubt that the scarabs are plot-related or increase character growth or anything like that (since losing such items would be a horrible mistake).

 

So ... I'm guessing they're another kind of equipment, notwithstanding the placement. Maybe they'll differ from standard equipment in some way: e.g. by affecting skills instead of attributes, or by not contributing to encumbrance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, that could work very nicely. Instead of regularly buffing before battles or frantically getting buffs set up during, you could just choose buffs you like, the catch being that of course there aren't enough slots for all the buffs you want.

 

—Alorael, who can only imagine that the endgame scarabs give you bless, haste, shield, and reduced bad breath. You can't have stinky exhalations during climactic final battles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What strikes me is that the character has two scarabs in his inventory but doesn't seem to have any equipped. At least, it looks like there aren't any equipped. There is a faded picture of a scarab in the equipment slot, but I don't think it's an actual scarab.

Anyway, unless the character just picked them up and hasn't had an opportunity to equip them, there may be a reason to not have scarabs equipped. It might be that they're consumed in some way when equipped.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted By: once we were earth and salts
—Alorael, who can only imagine that the endgame scarabs give you bless, haste, shield, and reduced bad breath. You can't have stinky exhalations during climactic final battles.
Actually, it may help if you get close enough to your opponent. You shoot some bad breath at him/her/it, causing a split second of revulsion from your foe and allowing you a tiny window of opportunity to go in for the kill.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

To me, it seems most likely they are either a charm or a storage place for beasts to summon. Avadon looks to me like a singleton party throughout the game, so I'm leaning toward the latter.

 

Edit: I was stupid, but came up with a slightly intelligent comment. I thought it better than double posting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted By: Txgangsta
Avadon looks to me like a singleton party throughout the game, so I'm leaning toward the latter.


Nope. Party of three.

—Alorael, who could still see that as a use for the scarabs. There is a summoning class, and scarabs are in many ways similar to tiny red and white balls.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted By: Absolutely perfect, peerless PDN
There is a summoning class, and scarabs are in many ways similar to tiny red and white balls.

There is probably not a "summoning class." Jeff commented that the shaman might summon beasts to aid her, while he was talking about different classes using different tactics. That hardly means the class revolves around summoning.

The four classes are transparently a facelift of good old fighter/mage/cleric/thief. We have also already seen recycled spells in the screenshots (Daze and Charm Foe). So I think it is a safe bet that the "shaman" will have a variety of spells, mostly the sort of things Jeff has put in Priest Spells in the past.

My high hope for his comment is that it means the shaman won't have Flamestrike, Divine Retribution, or other attack spells that are comparable to or better than sorceror attack spells.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES
The four classes are transparently a facelift of good old fighter/mage/cleric/thief. We have also already seen recycled spells in the screenshots (Daze and Charm Foe). So I think it is a safe bet that the "shaman" will have a variety of spells, mostly the sort of things Jeff has put in Priest Spells in the past.


Because, you know, it's totally not like Jeff has designed many, many games revolving around mage/warrior/summoner. Oh no! No, Jeff has gone fighter/mage/priest/rogue all the way, in every game he has ever made! [/sarcasm]
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted By: Celtic Minstrel
To be fair, he has less Geneforge games than non-Geneforge games. tongue


Well, if you drop the sarcasm, what I was trying to say is that he's made five games (six...? Does Nethergate have priest spells?) where he completely ditched the whole "priest" concept, and that worked out just fine. If anything, he'll be trying to break somewhat witht the standard "Avernum/Exile" mold and come up with a new system, and I see no reason why priest spells shouldn't be axed in favor of a more Geneforge-style spell distribution (4 schools instead of 2), or even Nethergate if he wanted to go really overboard(NG had how many schools? 6? Beast, War, Spirit, Nether, and what am I forgetting?)

Of course, you could play devil's advocate and say that he'd want a complete break with the past. Entirely possible, and it'd be a refreshing change. So I think that the only conclusion we can draw is that we can draw no conclusions.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, what we're really talking about here is class/skill mechanics design. While there have been some wrinkles here and there, he's basically done this three or four times: Exile, Nethergate, Geneforge, and you might count Avernum -- you might not since most of its system derives from either Exile or Nethergate.

 

While Jeff has never used F/M/C/T classes -- and indeed has railed against the whole idea of having classes at some length -- he has always marked his skills as F/M/C/T. Exile had fighting skills, magical skills, and "Other Skills" which including picking locks, disarming traps, assassination, item lore, and luck -- all skills traditionally in the rogue's province. Nethergate, Avernum, and Geneforge all inherited this divison of skills. Avernum added prestige skills and Geneforge adding shaping skills, but you can always find a skill to open locked doors in the thief section, a skill to improve your hit rate in the fighter section, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Every spell in Nethergate is a druid spell. smile

 

This is the first game where he has broken out the thief skills into a separate class instead of just a skill set where the mage spells could overlap them.

 

Originally Posted By: Jeff Vogel
For example, a shadowwalker can duck in, do a lot of damage very quickly, and use evasive abilities to confuse foes and leap to safety.

 

It seems from his interview at rpgcodex that a thief class would have stealth skills to infiltrate an enemy stronghold and attack before being detected. In all the other games any character could do this with the Geneforge agent being the closest to this description.

 

Shaman class seems to be a cross between priest and summoning creatures to provide the attack.

 

What I know will be annoying is that with scripted fights Jeff has set it up so you have to use all 4 classes at least once for a fight. There's nothing like being forced down a highly linear path in how to fight to irritate the players. I'm hoping that somewhere along the way he makes it so you can get through the game with any combination and no forced choices.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted By: Randomizer
Every spell in Nethergate is a druid spell. smile

This is the first game where he has broken out the thief skills into a separate class instead of just a skill set where the mage spells could overlap them.

Originally Posted By: Jeff Vogel
For example, a shadowwalker can duck in, do a lot of damage very quickly, and use evasive abilities to confuse foes and leap to safety.


It seems from his interview at rpgcodex that a thief class would have stealth skills to infiltrate an enemy stronghold and attack before being detected. In all the other games any character could do this with the Geneforge agent being the closest to this description.

Shaman class seems to be a cross between priest and summoning creatures to provide the attack.

What I know will be annoying is that with scripted fights Jeff has set it up so you have to use all 4 classes at least once for a fight. There's nothing like being forced down a highly linear path in how to fight to irritate the players. I'm hoping that somewhere along the way he makes it so you can get through the game with any combination and no forced choices.



I'm sure you can make it through with any combo. But there will be easier ways to get through certain fights. That is perfectly reasonable.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...