How does anyone complete A2? Seriously.

[madrigan]

So I decided to try A1 again, but I just couldn't do it. I got as far as Formello and I couldn't take the little tiny figures and the no quest list anymore. I just felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. The plot was too vague for too long.

 

So, I decided to try A2, which I think is the only one I haven't even started. I like it much more than A1. I was going along ok for a few minutes, and figured out how to rest, and made my way through part of the Nephil fort.

 

One of the things I like best about A4 and 5 is that you have to get beaten really badly to lose a character. As long as you know when to run away, you can revive the party and try again. Whereas in A2, I lost a guy part way through the fort, and not only do I need to spend a bunch of money to get him back, I have to find a healer in a part of the map I haven't explored yet!

 

I am playing on Easy. I tried reloading, shielding everybody and trying the battle again. Same result. I tried going on with the three survivors, but nearly lost another character in the next battle. This is not going to work. Aside from accepting that I suck and just playing A5 again, is there some Original Trilogy Trick that I don't understand? How can you keep all of your cash flow from going to resurrections?

[Alorael at Large]

Mostly, you reload whenever someone ends up dead. Character deaths should be fairly unusual, especially on easy. The real trick in the original trilogy is the lack of linear challenges. You can easily stumble into something way over your party's ability to handle, and you need to know when to give up and try building experience somewhere else.

 

—Alorael, who for example recommends trying a large number of quests in the area before heading straight into the nephil fort. Oh, and if you're assaulting the front, you're making life unnecessarily difficult.

[Dikiyoba]

The biggest trick to know is that you never let a character die, because it is indeed a major hassle when that happens. (Avernum's in a war and doesn't have the resources to enchant every gate with a resurrection spell, you know. )

 

Make sure everyone in your party has enough priest skill to cast heal and cure, because healing any PC that hits zero health as soon as possible will keep you alive. Cast bless on everyone and haste on your hardest hitter before battles. I really like having one and preferably two characters with repel spirit. I also like giving every character the ability to cast bolt of fire too. Kill the really nasty stuff (like giant lizards that get in three attacks at once) from a distance. Position yourself in a tunnel or doorway so only one PC can be attacked by one enemy at a time whenever possible.

 

Dikiyoba assumes you found the supply rooms in Fort Ganrick and equipped yourself. (Hint: There is a secret room in one of them, though all it has is a not-very-good shield, some rocks, and a healing potion.)

[Lazarus.]

I just started playing A2 the other day, for the first time. I didn't have many problems with the nephil fort (on torment), although I did do the bandits beneath Fort Draco first, to gain a level and buy arrows for my archers. If you enter the fort from the back, haste/bless/shield before you kick down any doors, and keep healing throughout the fight, you shouldn't have problems.

 

There isn't much else to do to prepare yourself for the fort, its pretty much the first dungeon. The bandits beneath Fort Draco are a good option, and there are random outdoor encounters with goblins and crap that can give you some experience. Not much else that I can think of.

[Tyranicus]

The last time I played A2, I used a God party.

 

But seriously, as long as you bless, haste, cure, and heal, you shouldn't have too many problems with the Nephil fort, especially on Easy.

[Randomizer]

Also since this is Avernum and not Exile, you don't have to do it all at once. Clear a room or two and retreat so you don't run low on spell energy. When you get some money, go to Formello by the northern route to get some more powerful spells. Also it's easier to deal with outdoor encounters.

[Ishad Nha]

I use custom parties, so I find the Avernum games to be easy enough on Normal. All prefab Spiderweb parties have skill points spread all over the place. I choose two fighters, one priest and one mage. Both spellcasters have a few levels in the other spellbook too. (Also I give the two fighters one level in Priest spells, to increase the healing options.)

 

Buffing spells like Bless and Haste are cheap and useful.

[madrigan]

Thanks to all. I did equip myself at the fort, and I found the Wall of Foreshadowing in the northernmost supply room, but I don't think I found the secret room. I think I will start over and use Custom characters like I usually do in A4 and A5. In those newer games I usually have a party of four specialists, but I will try giving everyone Priest and Mage spells in A2. I might have to overcome my urge to follow the Flow of the Game and do some other stuff before the Nephil Fort. By the way I did find the secret entrance. I always take the Richard Marcinko approach when I can.

[Toby-Linn]

I use the character editor to bring my party back to life, unless I'm outside in which case I reload the game.

 

Also, save before you click on a body at the end of a corridor, or drink from a pool in a tunnel, or explore a cave in the wall.

 

One of the best things about Avernum is that there's so much stuff to do, you can do tons of training before you tackle the hard parts.

[Ghaldring]

From memory, Avernum 2 isn't that difficult if you take it slowly, and don't rush into big battles unprepared. For example, I wouldn't attempt to take on the Empire encampment south of Fort Draco until Chapter 4.

 

What's important is knowing which traits are good, and which are bad. Elite Warrior, Natural Mage, Fast on Feet, Nimble Fingers, Strong Will and Toughness are all good 'good' traits, whereas Divinely Touched, Beastmaster and Great Renown suck big time. If you want to take two good traits per character, you might want to ditch your fourth character to make up the XP. I usually only need three characters anyway.

 

Use magic to buff your fighters, especially shielding and battle rage, and upgrade buffing spells to lvl 2 as soon as possible. Incapacitate and damage the enemy with your spell casters. Use Bind Foe a lot, but DON'T upgrade it to level 2. Bind Foe is one of the rare spells which you don't want upgraded. Heal when you get damaged.

 

I dunno, I'm surprised that you are finding the game difficult on Easy. Like I said earlier, perhaps you need to slow down, explore more, and pick your battles more carefully.

[madrigan]

Originally Posted By: Ghaldring

What's important is knowing which traits are good, and which are bad. Elite Warrior, Natural Mage, Fast on Feet, Nimble Fingers, Strong Will and Toughness are all good 'good' traits, whereas Divinely Touched, Beastmaster and Great Renown suck big time. If you want to take two good traits per character, you might want to ditch your fourth character to make up the XP. I usually only need three characters anyway.

This could be part of my problem, though not most of it. I figured Divinely Touched would be a good idea because it's good in A4 and 5. Great Reknown doesn't seem to do very much. What about Well Educated, or whatever it's called? I like the idea of sort of a Rogue Scholar-type character.

By the way, does Natural Mage work for Clerics in A2? There's no Pure Spirit.

[Dikiyoba]

Natural Mage works a bit differently in the original trilogy. Without it, you can only cast the first six mage spells if you are wearing armor, so you definitely want your dedicated mage to have it. Priest spells don't have that limitation, so a dedicated priest doesn't need it.

 

Divinely Touched mostly just gives you access to a few special abilities that you can easily duplicate with spells, anyway.

 

Dikiyoba likes taking Sickness Prone to level up a bit quicker, and between the Safe Travel spell and the Pathfinder skill, it's not bad at all.

[madrigan]

With all this in mind, I used the editor to revive Hank and told him to be more careful next time. However, having read all these responses, I think I might backtrack out of the fort and kill some more stuff before I try those guys again. I mean, that has got to be the toughest kitchen staff of all time.

[Ghaldring]

madrigan:

Quote:

This could be part of my problem, though not most of it. I figured Divinely Touched would be a good idea because it's good in A4 and 5.

 

Divinely Touched is next to useless in both Avernum 1 and Avernum 2. It gives you a couple of weak 'use-once-a-day' abilities, and that's it. And for that, you suffer a huge XP penalty, and are also prevented from taking a more decent trait.

 

Quote:

Great Reknown doesn't seem to do very much.

 

It gives you a slight boost in your reputation, which is next to worthless. Not only does reputation decide very little, you can easily bump it up by just playing the game normally (ie. completing the necessary quests).

 

Quote:

What about Well Educated, or whatever it's called? I like the idea of sort of a Rogue Scholar-type character.

 

Well Educated isn't necessary. If you're playing a three/four member party, then you'll have enough Rune Reading skill to learn all of the lvl 3 spells.

 

Quote:

By the way, does Natural Mage work for Clerics in A2?

 

Yes, Natural Mage gives a boost to ALL spells cast, priest or mage, so you might want your priest to have it. Also, as Dikiyoba pointed out, it allows you to cast mage spells while wearing armour.

 

I never bother with negative traits, although I can see some sense behind Diki's comment regarding Sickness Prone.

[madrigan]

Unfortunately, I'm in Formello now and I've become emotionally invested in my characters which have basically every bad positive trait. Oh well. It's more RPGish to stick with the character concept.

 

By the way, everyone was right about the Fort Draco bandits. They are way easier than the Nephil fort. Actually, I think the hardest thing in Fort Draco is figuring out that Anford is one of the statues standing by the water.

 

After I revived my dead guy in the Nephil fort, we were able to remain death-free. It was just the one battle. Does anyone know how the AI chooses targets in A2? They seem to really like hitting my Slith warrior/mechanic.

 

Also, are swords really hard to use in this game? My sword character has 7 in melee weapons but she seems to miss at least half the time.

[Alorael at Large]

Swords and spears are equal. Are you heavily weighed down with armor? Armor will reduce your accuracy, and if you don't have the stats to compensate you can make combat hard.

 

—Alorael, who no longer remembers the skill that specifically reduces armor penalty. Defense? Hardiness? It's been a while since he Avernumed.

[Callie]

Defense.

 

Originally Posted By: madrigan

Also, are swords really hard to use in this game? My sword character has 7 in melee weapons but she seems to miss at least half the time.

You probably need more dexterity.

[Ishad Nha]

If you have a registered version of the game you can change traits with the Edit Statistics feature of the Character Editor.

[Pig Catapult]

It switches to Hardiness from Av3 on, though, right? Or am I mistaken?

[La paix]

Defense lowers encumbrance in the first three Avernums.

[Pig Catapult]

Ah. Okay.

[Ghaldring]

I thought hardiness lowered encumbrance?

[Nioca]

For A1-3, it's Hardiness.

[Ghaldring]

Wow, Nioca and me are in agreement for once. How novel.