Avernum Interesting Playthrough Idea

[ZeratulsDownfall]

Hello to all!

 

I have an interesting idea to play through the Avernum series with. I myself did this in A4, and was pretty fun. Still quite difficult, and at times I got completely annihilated unless I planned out. At first I tried this out until I died (at which point i'd restart), but I play quite recklessly and die far too often for that.

 

 

Basically I've found it quite fun to do this:

One hero. Torment. Max out one stat to 40 (your choice). If you wanna max out a Special Skill, make sure you have the prerequisites required for it first.

 

 

Lemme know what you pick and why! Also when you first die!

 

In Avernum 4 I went Slith Warrior, maxing out Luck. First died at the necro (got mind control locked >.<) Was pretty interesting, I liked the idea of maybe living. Never being quite sure if I was gonna die or not (I didn't put any points into endurance until... Tower Colony or so?).

 

Starting to go through Avernum 5 now, probably still gonna go Slith Warrior, maxing Luck. That or maxing Lethal Blow, I'm kinda wavering between the two.

[Randomizer]

The main problem with a single attack type is eventually you run into a monster that is immune or highly resistant to that damage type (95% blocked by armor/resistance). A warrior can use other swords that will do fire, poison, or acid damage.

 

Potions that you really need are limited so they can't completely replace spells.

 

Luck isn't as good in the Great Trials Trilogy (Avernum 4-6) as it is in the First Trilogy (Avernum 1-3) where you could luck out and avoid death by dropping to 0 health from an extremely damaging attack.

 

Lethal Blow has so many prerequisites that you can only get a few levels by the end of the game.

 

Parry is easier to get (6 dexterity and 6 defense) and can make you take no damage from all but area attacks. It's generally recommended for a fighter since it is so powerful.

 

Torment level difficulty has a hidden penalty of -30% to armor and resistances (36% multiplicative factor) so you will take more damage than you think.

 

Good luck, I used a multi-class single character for my torment play throughs. An Anama priest/fighter can be fun.

[ZeratulsDownfall]

I'll probably put some points into Priest spells rather than going 100% warrior, mostly to heal myself up the few times I can and have the few non-physical spells Priestery offers (Priestery?...). I've read a little bit about this Anama thing, and it does look interesting, especially the reading some Priest books without needing AL. I'm curious about what loot I might miss without having Dispel Barrier though.

 

Ah yes, I do remember the "avoid death" thing when I played 1-3 back in the day. Imagine what max luck would do in one of those 3 games XD

 

I'm not sure how much chance/damage Lethal Blow adds, but 40 points in it sounds like it'd be devastating. But yes, it would be difficult to get to, though with the maxing one stat, should I max Lethal Blow I'll probably get ruined fairly quickly.

 

Wait wait wait, you can Parry single target spells? I know Luck gives you some evasion chance. 40 Luck makes the first chunk of the game only have a 1% chance to hit you, but spells still obliterate you (even with the huge resist you get from luck).

 

The resist and armor neg would explain a bit why I'm getting hit for so much. Is it possible to "immune" something in this game? (I guess in Torment it'd be... ~140% resist or so?)

[Randomizer]

You don't miss out too much loot not having dispel barrier spell at level 3. There are enough piercing crystals as an Anama to get the good stuff. You miss a few wisdom crystals/knowledge brews.

 

Parry gives a slight chance per level versus single target spells. I guess you didn't get to the part of Avernum 4 where the Vahnatai blademaster keeps parrying your spells.

 

Slarty did a game with a singleton character maximizing dexterity and skills to evade damage and did well until he hit Nicodemus in the Eastern Gallery. He quit after that revealed the flaw in his test.

 

Jeff reduced the ability to become immune to damage. Using items to maximize armor and resistance, the battle discipline bladeshield, and using spellward or bladeward will reduce damage. For key fights there are invulnerability potions and elixirs especially for the last part of the last Lark quest in Avernum 5. That's why Parry is capped at 50%.

[ZeratulsDownfall]

Ahh good to hear that I won't miss out on anything fancy really. Was worried I might miss out on a nifty weapon or armor

 

For the Vahnatai Blademaster I didn't have a chance to notice, I kept summoning stuff and buffing as far as casting spells, and I polearm'd him to death for the damage portion.

 

I'm shocked that one would still die even from maxing Dexterity Luck Defense and Parry (assuming that's what he maxed).

 

For my current playthrough I'm trying to get to Lethal Blow, though this is proving to be absurdly difficult as I don't want to sacrifice any required survivability. Alas, I miscalculated and now I'm stuck. I might cheat engine the skill points in without working my way up to the skill, I just have to find out where its offset is. But it will be fun regardless!

 

 

PS. I also tried a 40 dex bow user, and was actually shocked at how little damage it did (was using the 5-10 damage bow). Did Jeff nerf bows or something or did I just need a better bow to see the real glory of a bow user.

[Randomizer]

Jeff has nerfed all missile attacks compared to melee weapons. The damage per level is lower and the best bow isn't until near the game's end.

 

Biggest reduction was when you could no longer poison weapons which gave them a chance for bonus damage against mages.

[Mosquito---Slayer]

You can see the real glory if you use the heartstriker, most other bows are crappy or almost crappy in terms of damage, however they aren't useless since they have lesser chance to be parried , also some enemies are only reachable by bows or do nasty things on being struck in melee.

[ZeratulsDownfall]

however they aren't useless since they have lesser chance to be parried

I do notice that ranged attackers have a HUGE chance of hitting me (usually around 50% higher!). I will have to take mental note of that during this play through.

 

 

Also, found the memory address for Lethal Blow, 00B27BDA if anyone is curious (browse memory region really helped with this). Not sure if it'll be the same for every client. Also, it's not as good as I had hoped, as it does absolutely nothing against any bosses in the game.

[Randomizer]

Lethal blow is a +50% to damage. It's called critical hit in other games.

[ZeratulsDownfall]

Oh, it's worded strangely when I get the skill. Says something like "when you attack something much weaker than you this skill gives you a chance of killing it outright". Thought it was like a 1-shot skill, though I guess by the time you get it, it is >.>

[Lilith]

Yeah, sometimes the in-game documentation lies a little bit.