Avernum: Escape from the Pit - Avernum Remix 1.1 Released

[Lilith]

That's not a bug. It was included to make up for the fact that L3 Haste no longer has a chance to give a Battle Frenzy effect.

[TriRodent]

Ah, so I shouldn't sit there casting it again & again trying to get BF?

 

(not that I'd know anything about that..... )

[Enobarbus World]

Heh heh. I think we all did that

[Caisy]

Guess it was some kind of glitch, but the Mertis Spiral problem seems to have solved itself and the lights came back on after the final battle, I have no clue what caused the problem, but it was temporary.

[dave s]

I can't seem to get Sword dance to hit anyone aside from the first enemy targeted.

[Enobarbus World]

Glad to hear the Mertis Spiral issue was not a Remix problem after all.

 

As the tooltip explains, Sword Dance will only work if you have enough skill in Riposte.

[Varil]

If haste always leaves you with 3 AP when cast, couldn't you theoretically use it to move 2 spaces per cast?

 

8 AP->move 7 spaces->cast haste(3 AP)->move 2 spaces->cast haste(3 AP)->repeat?

 

I haven't actually tried it(your remix is somewhere on my 'todo' list), so I'm not sure if this actually works, but it sounds like it might.

[Lilith]

You can't move after casting a spell: you're rooted in place until the end of your turn.

[Enobarbus World]

Yeah.

 

I originally considered making Blink more expensive, but allowing it to let you act after blinking, which would make it far more useful. However, I then realized that would allow you to chain-blink pretty much anywhere, and give rise to fairly absurd exploits.

[Randomizer]

I see you adopted Jeff's hatred of getting two actions per turn with the Quicksilver Sandals. They have a really nasty damage modifier.

 

I see with comparing the builds of a range weapon and melee weapon specialist that damage build quickly with range weapons.

 

For range you have dexterity as the primary stat and that gives damage evasion for most monster except for cleave attacks that hit primary if the character is the second target. Then for abilities you get range weapon, sharpshooter and sniper as the early ones.

 

For melee weapons you have strength and then for damage avoidance you need hardiness and parry before going for blademaster and quick action. So it takes longer to increase damage.

[Zoreiss]

Very nice remix of the game btw!

 

I was wondering how haste and sniper worked. Playing on torment, with my archer doing most of the damage dealing, and I have not seen him get more then 1 snipe or 1 haste proc yet.

 

With adrenaline rush or battle frenzy activated I can usualy shoot 3 times (first shot then 1 haste or snipe proc then 1-2 ap left for another shot).

[Enobarbus World]

You get a maximum of 1 AP-save per round. This means Sniper can only work once, Haste can only work once, and if you have both active, only ONE of them can work! It's too bad, really.

[Jerakeen]

To me, well-balanced combat means that I could lose a (level-appropriate) fight, or I could win it, depending a bit on luck but mostly on what I do — in terms of both character building and combat tactics. I don't mind reloading a few times if necessary, but I do mind chipping away at an enemy for ages and then having to reload.

 

This is what I like about the remix on Torment. I didn't get very far on my previous Torment run, not because I was unable to progress, but because it was tedious doing so little damage per hit; I got bored and frustrated. Having much more effective missile (and pole) users obviously must make the game somewhat easier by shortening fights, but since my party is usually in serious danger, it still feels like a satisfying challenge. Many fights can go either way, so the difficulty feels right thus far. (Level 11, I haven't been playing steadily.)

 

I'm still waiting for Slarty to fix Flawless Shot, though!

[Enobarbus World]

Sorry. Super busy. Will try to get out a 1.2 in the next few days.

[SapientCrow]

Playing through again with your remix and I like what has been done so far with missile weapons. especially early on using hard and torment difficulty. It evens out the flow.

[Jerakeen]

I'm reaching a point where the nerfing of magic is starting to get painful. But Torment is supposed to be painful, so I don't know. I realize that Slarty wanted priests to be less about offense and more about controlling the battlefield, but a flat 44 damage from level 3 Call the Storm seems like a cruel hoax. Probably be fine on Normal, though.

[SapientCrow]

I am worried about the magic nerfs for me on torment as well.

 

What does add 100% (50% bonus) mean

is that add 100% dmg and additional 50% on top of that?

Also what happened to radiate ice. I select target an enemy and the character runs around aimlessly until he/she loses her turn

[Jerakeen]

Radiating attacks are buggy in this version - you have to select a target that's adjacent to you or your character will run around like that. Slarty is supposed to be fixing that in the next release.

[Randomizer]

I'm waiting for the update since magic is getting less useful on torment above level 20. It looks like the priest is going to be for buffs and healing especially because of Quicksilver Sandals are more useful for getting a second action than for the weak priest damage.

[Enobarbus World]

Call the Storm was majorly nerfed. Most magic was MINORLY nerfed -- the upper level spells lost about 20% of their damage capacity, or less at the higher spell levels.

[Jerakeen]

Well if I can survive the next few levels, we'll see. At this point, the only thing CtS is good for is de-mobbing my javelineer. Which might be useful, but often leads to priest-mobbing. Seldom used. Also not loving the new version of Blade Sweep - why cardinal directions? I do love the fact that Shield Breaker actually does that now, though.

[Enobarbus World]

Fighter's Sweep does cardinal directions, but the bonus hit can be on any square in the 8 directions.

 

The cardinal directions is an engine limitation, only way to include diagonals is to include enemies 2 squares away in cardinal directions. That's too much.

[Serekh]

House of S this is an amazing looking mod, thanks for putting in the time and effort to make it! I'm a couple hours into the demo but am sure I'll want to restart with this mod for my real play through.

 

Having said that, do you know when version 1.2 will be coming out? Looking forward to diving in and to avoid any potential compatibility issues I don't want to switch halfway through.

 

Thanks again

[Enobarbus World]

Honestly, no -- I'm on a trip until monday night, far busier than I expected, and I will be busy again when I get home. Sorry. I know people are waiting and I'll do it as soon as is practical.

[Serekh]

Don't be sorry, this mod is great (Not to mention Free) so it's not like I'm complaining! I think I'll give in and start a game now with it and if 1.2 turns out to not break saves then I'll continue on with it.

 

Thanks!

[Jerakeen]

While I'm still enjoying the remix and don't want to seem to be constantly complaining, I do have a couple of comments about some recently acquired battle disciplines.

 

Adrenaline Rush gives you one extra action (which you have a good chance of getting with Haste anyway) and inflicts weakness curse for 20 turns!?!? Not likely to be used ever.

 

The other thing I think is a bug: Bladeshield says it gives you 8 AP, but my turn ended immediately after using it.

 

I'll keep playing with it, try out more spells, and keep you posted.

[Enobarbus World]

If you use Bladeshield when you have 1 AP left, it might cause that, as it takes 9 AP to use the action, plus 8 for Bladeshield, leaves you at zero.

 

1 extra action right away matters HUGELY. It is by far the best possible thing that can happen. Weakness curse is frankly not such a huge deal. I'm not going to argue this one; read my strategy guide if you want to hear more about the reasoning.

[SapientCrow]

Are all spell scrolls supposed to be melee range now. All scrolls except healing and curing ones are useless for mages since they have no armor and if they are in an adjacent square they tend to get mobbed and cleaved.

Also is splinter intentional as well?

It seems odd since priests is not wearing a lot of armor to force an adjacent cast. Also since the ai of pets seem to have some serious issue I often will get in an adjacent square get my shade up then get destroyed by too many enemy cleaves and my pet still stands there doing nothing.

If that was intentional with splinter I suggest going back to the old way. My priest simply can not take cleaves or 2 hits for that matter making the shade a non use spell for me.

[Enobarbus World]

See posts above re those points.

[Jerakeen]

Originally Posted By: HOUSE of S

If you use Bladeshield when you have 1 AP left, it might cause that, as it takes 9 AP to use the action, plus 8 for Bladeshield, leaves you at zero.

1 extra action right away matters HUGELY. It is by far the best possible thing that can happen. Weakness curse is frankly not such a huge deal. I'm not going to argue this one; read my strategy guide if you want to hear more about the reasoning.

Nope, Bladeshield ends my turn every time, even if I start with 8 AP. As for AR, I'm finding it more useful for my ranged character, who is pretty hard to hit anyway. And I was wrong - the weakness curse lasts for 32 turns. Repeated curings will chip away at it, but my priest usually has better things to do.

[Enobarbus World]

Ah, this might be a bug that has already been fixed for 1.2 then.

[Randomizer]

Frozen blade is giving physical damage when description is cold.

[SapientCrow]

so what is the point of focus spirit?

if I use it to cure a snare or immobilize I cant move after i use it. if I wait a round I can use my priest and have the same effect.

some things are very odd about movement.

[SapientCrow]

looking at quickfire sandals...

do they reduce missile magical and melee damage incoming or do they reduce it outgoing?

[Randomizer]

From the way it's phrased it seems that Quicksilver Sandals make you do less damage. I can't be completely sure, but that's what I seem to be getting.

 

Playing on torment I'm sucking up a lot of damage when I get hit because shields no longer increase armor and resistances.

[ratpizza]

There is one thing in the remix that confuses me. The tooltip for Cloak of Curses says that it's at level 5 just after having started a new game and when my party have reached level 7 Cloak of Curses is displayed as level 12. Isn't it's max-level supposed to be just 3? I'm not really sure if this is a bug or if it actually is a conscious change in the remix.

 

Anyway, I have only tried the remix very briefly but I must say that I think it looks really cool, especially the changes that have been made to spells and battle-disciplines and I'm really looking forward to version 1.2.

[Enobarbus World]

QuickFIRE Sandals, Randomizer.

 

The Cloak thing is an error, I believe I've already fixed it for 1.2.

[SapientCrow]

I figured they might be worded strangely and actually give those reductions which would seem better than armor% which is very cool.

I like a lot of what the remix does excluding the bugs.

Have to go test the sandals. Hard to truly test them though.

Are warmth rings mis-labeled or do they really give 15% melee dmg?

[Randomizer]

@ Slarty - I see the Quicksilver Bulwark is now the Enscrolled Bulwark *sigh*

 

I missed seeing that Bladeshield now gives Weakness for a very long time. That kind of reduces it value on torment a bit.

 

I'm thinking how to do a torment level singleton and it seems that speed elixirs and potions are replacing bonus action point items.

[Randomizer]

Bug - Divine Echo for the Minister of Shadows in Foul Cavern causes him to vanish leaving behind just the vengeful shade.

[Enobarbus World]

That's ENSORCELLED.

 

Bladeshield weakness is a bug fixed for v1.2.

 

Divine Echo should not be used by monsters, ever, already in v1.1. Maybe there is an ability-assignment mechanism for uniques I haven't looked into, though.

[Jerakeen]

I did see Mandvi running aimlessly around in a way that suggested he had tried to cast Splinter. I don't have Divine Echo yet.

[SapientCrow]

I have also seen unique encounters do the run around scenario and the cast sound gets played as if they cast a spell sometimes.

[Enobarbus World]

Thanks for identifying this. I will take a look at it.

[Randomizer]

I see Spite no longer gives the bonus AP of Smite.

 

Nine more dungeons to go to see what other item changes exist. I should have kept a list. Oh well next play through as a singleton.

[ratpizza]

Does anyone know which variable(s) one should change in order to fix the incorrect animation for throwing javelins? I've tried to edit the remix scripts myself in the meantime waiting for version 1.2 and it seems I've been able to fix most of the incorrect variables. I have no idea how to fix that darn javelin-animation though so if someone could point me in the right direction I'd appreciate that.

[Deckard]

Waiting new ver for my playthrough...

Any progress towards 1.2 ??

[Lightning Spammer]

Given the somewhat recent update to the game on the Mac end, would the remix be compatible with that at all? I'm curious to play around with this, but also don't want to break the update when this remix was designed for an older version of the base game.

[Enobarbus World]

That's an excellent point. I will double check that for version 1.2. I am still backlogged with stuff to do; maybe next week?

 

For now: this should not break anything. Looking at the version notes on the SW site, the remix should have no interaction with the junk bag, window, upgrade cost, and arena foe fixes, and probably not the return life fix either -- not sure on that one, but I also never heard of the problem occuring before. The broadsword fix was already implemented in the remix.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: HOUSE of S

probably not the return life fix either -- not sure on that one, but I also never heard of the problem occuring before.

I've seen it happen: if you cast Return Life in a very narrow hallway, the game is likely to complain that it has nowhere to put the revived character and the spell will be wasted. This is especially likely if you're reviving more than one character at once.