A:EftP - Can't decide where I'm supposed to be.

[madrigan]

I like the new game. It certainly is more open in terms of where you can go when. That is my problem. I have been to Silvar and Fort Duvno, and Fort Draco, and Cotra. I have completed most of the quests for the first two, and then I noticed I could just row down to the great cave and go to Almaria and the Castle. My characters are level 9, and the king wants me to kill Sss-Thsss (sp?). This seems like a bad idea. Should I complete all the quests from Silvar/Cotra/Duvno/Draco/Mertis/TofM/Almaria and then go to the castle?

 

Edit: I have also done quests in Formello.

[Walker White]

Go to Mertis and Tower of Magi on way to cave.

[Vent]

I haven't played it since a long time, I mean Avadon. But if I remember well there's no real best path, just choose your path in term of curiosity and then you'll see if you met some too rude encounters you'll change your target.

 

It's not secret but in game description there's three main quests and you can do them all or only one or two. You can progress them in parallel or make them more sequentially. You can focus more on one then switch elsewhere, and so on. Other than that it's fully your choice tempered by difficulty.

[Jerakeen]

You should have some quests to Formello. Going north is a good idea at this point.

[Randomizer]

It's a matter of how powerful you are when you reach an area and the game difficulty setting. If you keep dying when you fight, then go back and do some other quests in areas you skipped. I've wandered all the way to Bargha to use the trainer there early in the game and a few other places to get some useful loot.

 

Keep several saves so you don't get trapped in an area where you die and can't get back to a safe area.

[Alorael at Large]

You're welcome to try to kill Sss-thss, but it'll be tough going. Often you'll get a bunch of similar quests of different scope: clear out a small cave full of nephils, clear out a fort, assault their castle. Kill a band of sliths, wipe out a town, assassinate their leader. Generally speaking, nephils are easier than sliths, and you're better off doing the quests in order of difficulty. Partly so you gain levels, but also partly because you'll pick up some stuff you really ought to have on the way.

 

—Alorael, who thinks you could do a lot worse than doing Silvar, Cotra, and Mertis-area quests first, then Formello and Fort Draco, and then whatever you feel like doing next. But feel free to try your own order.

[Jerakeen]

In Formello you can buy/upgrade some useful spells.

[Arch-Mage Solberg]

Here's what I remember doing in Exile and Avernum.

 

1. Taking everything I could in Fort X and selling it in Silvar.

 

2. Saving my game as soon as I left Fort X.

 

3. Get in a few fights outside to increase money and items.

 

4. Go to Silvar and do the quests.

 

5. Go to Fort Duvno and do those quests.

 

6. The Bat Cave in the northeast corner has a few things to sell as well as experience to gain.

 

7. Onward to Formello. (All of your characters should be at least lvl 5 by then)

 

8. Go check in with some GIFTS west of Fort Draco.

 

9. Head back and go south of Silvar to Mertis.

 

10. Go to the Tower of the Magi.

 

11. Do a little sightseeing in the Honeycomb.

 

12. Head to Almaria.

 

13. The Castle ('nuff said). Should be around lvl 12-15.

 

That's just what I did when I played. Your results may vary.

 

Post #643

[Vent]

Originally Posted By: Arch-Mage Solberg

Here's what I remember doing in Exile and Avernum.

1. Taking everything I could in Fort X and selling it in Silvar.

2. Saving my game as soon as I left Fort X.

3. Get in a few fights outside to increase money and items.

4. Go to Silvar and do the quests.

5. Go to Fort Duvno and do those quests.

6. The Bat Cave in the northeast corner has a few things to sell as well as experience to gain.

7. Onward to Formello. (All of your characters should be at least lvl 5 by then)

8. Go check in with some GIFTS west of Fort Draco.

9. Head back and go south of Silvar to Mertis.

10. Go to the Tower of the Magi.

11. Do a little sightseeing in the Honeycomb.

12. Head to Almaria.

13. The Castle ('nuff said). Should be around lvl 12-15.
...

Mmm not the Slith quests in between? Level 11 and the first Slith keep still resist me at the entrance. What's bother me is I have a vague remembering to have done those sooner. I have started doing some south caves like the ogre mage and Alamria sewers and still get stuck at entrance of this Slith keep. I defeat two smaller group in that entrance but the third one is mpf.

I even used the character editor to mimic a party build as some post suggests but it didn't help, possibly it's really too soon or my set of spells is to small.

I don't think I'm blocked and have probably stuff doable elsewhere but it bother me.

EDIT: And for the GIFTS I haven't found at all yet how manage the constant cast of Daze spells.

EDIT2: Bat cave level 5, dam I made it quite later.

[Randomizer]

Sliths are quite a bit tougher than previous versions. Come back with more health in the fighters for shields and spell casters to damage them.

[Vent]

Originally Posted By: Randomizer

Sliths are quite a bit tougher than previous versions. Come back with more health in the fighters for shields and spell casters to damage them.

Thanks for the tips, I'm not sure why, but I tend have hard time to clearly identify the difficulty level of stuff. That should be obvious but it isn't. I have to check again constantly after level up or significant equipment change or new spell learned to know the difficulty. Not to mention to search how manage new situations or new types of opponents so check once could not be enough.

Knowing that I have a full page of quests on the go, it's a bit strange. Now I'm using flee to make less weird those numerous check and fail. It's not always possible but when it is it feel less weird than too many try fail and reload.