Level 30

[Abdulla AlBinali]

I'm currently on level 30 and realized that there is no next level as it does not show the amount of experience needed to reach level 30. Is this the maximum level a character could reach? I find it hard to believe as I'm struggling to kill many things and my character is a warrior with very good items alongside another warrior and the shadow walker. Any idea as to what can be done will be appreciated.

[Callie]

It is indeed the maximum level, unfortunately.

[Lilith]

How is each character in your party built? Dexterity-based missile builds work better than Strength-based melee builds in the later parts of the game, so if your party is built for melee that could be part of the reason you're having trouble. Strategy Central is full of links to build advice and other helpful tips.

 

Remember that you can retrain your characters' stats and skills at any time by visiting the trainer in the Beraza Woods.

[Abdulla AlBinali]

Its a shame that its stops at 30. Anyway, I took your advice Lilith and have retrained my characters, with an emphasis on endurance and dexterity. In the quest, return to Avadon, I still find killing the 6 soldiers at the bridge impossible. As they stun my party and kill them in one or two rounds. The best I've done is to kill 1 of the 6. Bearing in mind, before the fights starts, I use blessings, battle frenzy along with a couple more things. I also find that having pets is more of a liability than an asset as if they are near anyone of my party there is always a chance that when the pets are attacked, my party will also get injured and they always miss. So any advice as to how I could win this battle? As if I couldn't, it'll essentially be game over.

 

Is there a way in which I could lure a couple of soldiers away from the rest and essentially kill them one by one?

[Randomizer]

Some of the soldiers move off on patrols and you can wait off the road for them to move on. Others require finding a path that they don't guard.

 

Daze or control foe usually works well to keep them from fighting you. Otherwise it's hope you can heal faster than you take damage.

[Abdulla AlBinali]

I just defeated the soldiers, needed to use about 11 resurrections but did it in the end. Very pleased with it . Thanks for the advice guys

[Juan Carlo]

Yeah, this is one of my major gripes with the game as well.

 

I did all the side quests and wiped every level of enemies so I reached level 30 somewhere around the time I fought Lady Antje. There's actually a good deal of game left after that point, so I'm playing the last portion of the game with no leveling at all.

 

I know leveling isn't all the fun of RPGs, but feeling a sense of progression and planning your characters' stats is a large part of it.

 

So it's kind of a let down to have to play the entire final section of the game with this element of the game taken out (especially since, as I said, this element is a huge part of what makes RPGs fun). I find myself actually skipping fights and sneaking around alot more just because without gaining experience there's no real incentive to fight anymore.

[Earth]

yea I reached level cap on 3rd mission to Dhorla Stead and had many big quests left.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Juan Carlo

I did all the side quests and wiped every level of enemies so I reached level 30 somewhere around the time I fought Lady Antje. There's actually a good deal of game left after that point, so I'm playing the last portion of the game with no leveling at all.

For what it's worth, this was unintentional. According to beta-testers, players generally reached the level cap a lot sooner than Jeff was expecting. He lowered experience gains throughout the game in response, but it doesn't seem to have solved the issue completely.

Word on the grapevine is that Avadon 2 is going to have a much higher level cap.

[Abdulla AlBinali]

I feel fortunate for reaching this level so late on in the game, as I also, lost interest in the game and especially getting into fights as I no longer see the point. I'll finish the game asap and move on to the next game. Speaking of moving on, are there any games I should consider purchasing? I'd like something similar to Avadon for the ipad.

 

Lilith, when will Avadon 2 be released and will it be released on the ipad?

I saw Spiderweb's website and saw a couple of games that appear to be great, sadly neither of which are released on the ipad.

[Lilith]

I don't think there's an official release schedule for Avadon 2 yet, although if I had to guess I'd say you can probably expect it some time in the second half of next year. You can probably expect all future Spiderweb games to have an iPad release, too.

[nikki.]

Yeah, and the Avernum remake is due out at the end of this year, and that's gonna be an iPad release, so you might want to check that out - the Avernum series is a firm fan favourite.

[Earth]

we can expect Avadon 2 at end of next year or start of year after that.

[Cerin Laz]

I reached the level 30 cap early on (Killing Caste'Ari) And the game has become pretty much boring. Leveling up is such a large part of the fun of RPG's and putting a cap on this feature- especially this early in the game, makes me want to never play it again.

I feel like it was a total waste of time and money. What's worse, I emailed Jeff about it and have yet to receive any response. That was over a week ago. All my years of play Avernum and being a loyal customer have just been flushed down the toilet. There is no better way to lose a one's customer base than to ignore them.

Goodbye Spiderweb Software. Sorry I won't be seeing you or recommending you to any of my friends......

[Sterno]

I'm starting to see that Jeff's blog posts about "When I do <x>, some people hate me and my games and will never buy one my games again" aren't even remotely exaggeration.

 

Cerin, I'd say hang in there, dude. I thought the story got a lot more interesting right around the point that I hit the level cap, and I did it right about the time you did. The fights started getting a bit more challenging, too.

[nikki.]

Originally Posted By: Cerin Laz

I reached the level 30 cap early on (Killing Caste'Ari) And the game has become pretty much boring. Leveling up is such a large part of the fun of RPG's and putting a cap on this feature- especially this early in the game, makes me want to never play it again.
I feel like it was a total waste of time and money. What's worse, I emailed Jeff about it and have yet to receive any response. That was over a week ago. All my years of play Avernum and being a loyal customer have just been flushed down the toilet. There is no better way to lose a one's customer base than to ignore them.
Goodbye Spiderweb Software. Sorry I won't be seeing you or recommending you to any of my friends......

I dunno. I felt that Jeff's choice of having the level cap come before the very end of the game was a pretty good idea. I've heard stories from beta-testers who basically said that in testing you could reach the cap far earlier than you can find it in the released game, so on the one hand, it's probably fair to say that the timing may still be a little off. At the same time, though, I really liked having a full set of spells and abilities for a little bit before the end fight, rather than unlocking the last one right as I was finishing the last dungeon. It gives you time to play about with them, and it really made me feel like I'd done all that I could as a Hand and that it was time for a promotion.

[ĐªгŦĦ Єяŋϊε]

there is to that.

on one hand you're constantly leveling up so you can always go kill things and come back and plow through the opposition

on the other hand being capped means you need to to skill your way through enemies

[Alorael at Large]

Yes. I like having an RPG where you can't level your way to victory. The hard fights are hard no matter what you do outside the fight.

 

—Alorael, who on the other hand agrees that the grind treadmill is an important source of fun. Some minor benefit for gaining extra levels was considered but ultimately rejected as still causing balance problems.

[A less presumptuous name.]

Originally Posted By: Sterno

I'm starting to see that Jeff's blog posts about "When I do <x>, some people hate me and my games and will never buy one my games again" aren't even remotely exaggeration.

Alas, I have to agree. It really is a shame that a single change can cause people to leave the game.

Originally Posted By: Darth Ernie

[O]n the other hand being capped means you need to to skill your way through enemies

This is nice for me, particularly with turn-based combat. Thinking about how to take on enemies that will always be stronger than me adds another element to the game play, an element that I hope grows on me as my skill increases.

[Ceiling Durkheim]

I prefer RPGs where you can level your way to victory, but don't have to. The level cap seems to me much more a bug than a feature, albeit one used to correct for a larger problem (balance issues in the endgame). Nevertheless, while I think the current level cap has no real advantages beyond correcting a problem that could be corrected in other ways, and hopefully won't find its way into Avadon 2, I still like Avadon a lot. Unlike certain other posters, I don't find the inability to grind in the last 10-15% a game-ruining problem.

[ex post slarto]

Yeah, for some reason that attitude wasn't so visible before, but since Avadon came out, it's been popping up everywhere. *shakes head*

[A less presumptuous name.]

There is one thing I feel I should add, though. While I am okay with the level cap, it does seem like a mistake that you can't raise the top skills to the top levels. Adding a few more levels (say 35) would fix that problem without skewing endgame balance.

[Randomizer]

The games have always had level caps, it was just that unless you played with few characters you were unlikely to encounter them. I would have preferred a few more levels to reach the highest abilities at maximum level, but Jeff was set on the 30 cap right from the start. Jeff twice adjusted experience needed per level to delay reaching the cap.