Kyshakk Koan Juan Carlo Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Anyone know what is a good number to aim for for tool use and cave lore skills? I know super high totals in either aren't always necessary, but what's the max you need to find every cache and open every door? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Maximum needed: Tool Use (TU) 15, the TU 20 door can be entered by paying for a room Cave Lore (CL) 12 There are Tinker's gloves for +1 TU and Forager's Boots for +1 CL. A quest reward gives +1 CL to the first party member. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Mea Tulpa Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Those are absolute maximums. You miss almost nothing (and nothing unique) by getting TU to 10, which means 9 plus Tinker's Gloves. Cave Lore is never actually profitable at any level. I recommend skipping it unless you really want the achievement, and in that case, just buy training from Tor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt Mechalibur Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Not profitable (unless you're willing to farm herbs, in which case it is), but holy crap being able to skip encounters makes it worth it for me. Unless you're a dual wielder, you usually have plenty of skill points to go around. Also gives slight acid/poison resist, but whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Lilith Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Those are absolute maximums. You miss almost nothing (and nothing unique) by getting TU to 10, which means 9 plus Tinker's Gloves. Also, if you care about having level 3 Icy Rain, make sure to put at least 8 points of that Tool Use on a single character, because it's behind a hidden switch in a solo area with a Tool Use requirement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt Mechalibur Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Oh, and if you have 15 TU (or 14 + gloves), you can get +1 hardiness to all characters in the Empire Archives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Mea Tulpa Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Whoa. I stand corrected. TU 14 + Gloves it is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt TriRodent Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Also, if you care about having level 3 Icy Rain, make sure to put at least 8 points of that Tool Use on a single character, because it's behind a hidden switch in a solo area with a Tool Use requirement. Speaking of stacking TU on a single character, make sure to have 5 TU on someone before starting the big one way rafting trip. There is a chance for some nice grave robbing (without a big fight unlike the original A2) in a solo area halfway down the river. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Mea Tulpa Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 That's not strictly necessary. You can just set off the trap and kill the Revenant. ...okay, on Torment maybe it's strictly necessary EDIT: Actually, I bet you could set off the trap, run back to the portal, leave the zone and return, and the spawned monster would be gone. Not sure though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 If you want to waste a speed potion there since you need to move past the summoned monster and will get slowed down all the way out of there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Mea Tulpa Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Can't you set off the trap in combat mode and then get ahead of it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgeoning Battle Gamma Languorous_Maiar Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 EDIT: Actually, I bet you could set off the trap, run back to the portal, leave the zone and return, and the spawned monster would be gone. Not sure though. He won't. But if you went with your tank character, you should be able to take all items during 2 turns, and your tanky char should easily survive this and following escape. I did like this, leaving that undead behind teleporter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 You can also change characters after finishing up the main part with the boss monster. Rotating out the one that cleared out the place to open the gates with one to finish off the remaining monsters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasoned Roamer Vee Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 One of those solo areas seems to be an unreturnable spot. I'm guessing it's the Icy one. I'm pretty sad to not get that point, since I use that spell in pretty much every encounter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Lilith Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Can't you set off the trap in combat mode and then get ahead of it? You can, but getting past the trap to the treasure and back involves some backtracking, so summoning a monster as a decoy before setting off the trap would be a very good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Juan Carlo Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 That's not strictly necessary. You can just set off the trap and kill the Revenant. ...okay, on Torment maybe it's strictly necessary EDIT: Actually, I bet you could set off the trap, run back to the portal, leave the zone and return, and the spawned monster would be gone. Not sure though. I just used my priest, summoned a shade before triggering the trap, then grabbed the stuff and ran while the shade was dealing with the revenant. Shades have tons of hitpoints, but if he starts to die you can always just heal him until you get past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt TriRodent Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 One of those solo areas seems to be an unreturnable spot. I'm guessing it's the Icy one. I'm pretty sad to not get that point, since I use that spell in pretty much every encounter. The icy rain spellbook is in a solo area that you can go back to later if you need to (or if you find out that you missed the book on the first time through...not that I know anyone who did that...). Unfortunately it's at a point in the game where you're more than likely on to bigger & better spells so it's usefulness is questionable. The solo area I mentioned earlier in the thread is an unreturnable one but the only things you get are just some good equipment earlier than you normally would find similar items. Not a huge deal if you miss it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt mikeprichard Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Also, if you care about having level 3 Icy Rain, make sure to put at least 8 points of that Tool Use on a single character, because it's behind a hidden switch in a solo area with a Tool Use requirement. Is that 8-point requirement met by Nimble Fingers (e.g. 6 "regular" TU points + 2 Nimble Fingers)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Lilith Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Is that 8-point requirement met by Nimble Fingers (e.g. 6 "regular" TU points + 2 Nimble Fingers)? I haven't tested it myself to confirm, but it should be. You can also get a point of Tool Use from the Tinker's Gloves, so if you're having trouble finding the skill points you should be able to spend as few as 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt mikeprichard Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Thanks, Lilith - I'd think so too, since NF counts as regular TU points for everything else as far as I know (at least, it did in A:EFTP). And with this, I've now completed my OCD party build planning - bring on the game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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