The Bunker: Questions abound (spoilers ahoy)

[Maledictis]

Alrighty. The bunker. If you don't know what it is, you should probably stop reading right about now. Seriously.

Now.

I've got two questions. I know that if you say the Dragons are responsible for the plagues, that they make you Wyrmsbane, or whatever they call the bloody thing, and that if you say the Vahnatai are responsible, they give you the thought crystal. In Exile, you were given Cooling Amulets if you said Erika was responsible. However, when I randomly attacked Erika on a whim in A3, there were no nasty, deadly fire traps present to my eye. Are the cooling amulets still in the game? Do they actually serve any purpose?

And my second question... The thought crystal. We all know what happens if you have it. Or we should, anyway. But what if you don't? In Exile, you had to fight a bunch of Crystal Souls, IIRC. I assume it's the same in A3, but the guide I read said, quote, "you'll have to avoid killing the crystal souls. I say 'avoid' because it would be bad if they were destroyed."

Does anything nasty happen? Should I stop being a greedy, min-maxing, optimizing, powergaming little prick and just get the thought crystal?

 

I welcome your valued input.

-N

[Princess Starlight]

The cooling amulets are in the game, but I have trouble remembering their exact effect.

 

As for the crystal, it indeed allows you not to face the crystal souls in a direct battle. Without it, you'll have to attack and kill the souls, after which a certain character won't help you in the end.

 

Not a big loss, though, since it's in the end pretty easy to figure out what to do in the final fortress even without the hints from the mentioned certain character.

 

I, personally, just bashed the crystal souls into oblivion and were done about it.

[Maledictis]

Well. Now I'm interested. I've never taken that route before. Now... Do the cooling amulets have any actual effect? I seem to recall they gave minute fire resistance in Exile. So should I nab those, or Wyrmsbane for my collection?

Decisions, decisions. Every time I play these games...

[Callie]

I always choose the thought crystals, but it's really up to you.

[Alorael at Large]

It's quite possible to avoid killing the crystal souls without any scripted help. Haste, abuse the wait command, and charge for the secret passage before anyone can start frying you.

 

—Alorael, who just didn't have the patience to wait for the Bunker weapons. Those profoundly powerful makers of magical precision tools need to learn how to cut corners and speed up.

[Maledictis]

Yeah, but if you've come without the thought crystal, then you're probably powergaming, and would relish a chance to whale on some ancient Vahnatai elder spirits. I know I will.

I ended up getting Wyrmsbane for my little collection in Hawke's Manse, because I wanted to whale on ancient Vahnatai elder spirits, and if the cooling amulets do, indeed, offer any sort of fire protection... Well, I won't need it. I'm at 90% fire resistance right now, and that's before the Naturewalker's Torc, too. This is freakin' ridiculous. I should go single character more often.

[Brock The Archmage]

if you manage to successfully kill Erika without dying, THEN the fire trap activates. get the amulets for some fire resist and immunity tothat trap. also, if i remember right, the tower disintegrates when the trap goes off